Sammys development through the story

â€Å"A&P†, written by John Updike is considered as an initiation story. It focuses on Sammy, a clerk and his experience with the three girls and Lengel. The main character, at first is dependent on his family and their connections to survive. He was employed by his father and mother’s friend, Lengel and it is hinted that his grandmother had a considerable influence on him and that they were still seeing each other. Also, he was still living with his parents since his mother was the one who ironed his shirt for that day. With this dependence on his family, unfortunately, comes a price: he must do his best not to upset nor disappoint his parents. Like most young boys, Sammy was curious, observant and almost always wonders. With the arrival of the girls, Sammy at first adopts the usual response of a young, immature teenager and that was to admire the girls based on their appearance. Usually one not to commit mistakes, he was scolded by an elderly lady for his lapse. Instead of taking responsibility for his mistake, he comforts himself by saying that the old woman was a witch who had nothing better to do. In the first parts of the story, he was still childish and hormonally driven, especially when he was with his friend Stokesie as they â€Å"checked out† the girls. For him to take such a keen interest and distract him from his responsibility emphasizes the temptation that the girls—or more specifically, the â€Å"Queen†Ã¢â‚¬â€posed on him. The situation was then exacerbated since they started to walk around with nothing but their bathing suits and distract everyone around them, and unwittingly seduce people with their gestures. The dream was broken when Lengel entered and started to admonish them in front of everyone. The girls going around the aisles can be interpreted as a dream for Sammy; three attractive young girls walking slowly around in the air conditioned room under the lights in their bathing suits with no beaches nearby. It was unreal and fantastic; it was a dream for every hormone active teenager. Even the fact that they ended up in his lane and the way that the â€Å"Queen† took out her payment was like a â€Å"dream come true†. The movement of the girls and the way that every aspect of them was emphasized seemed sublime. The pace of the story itself seems to be dreamlike in nature, all seen in Sammy’s eyes. Lengel’s entrance from the outside breaks the dream; his entrance can be interpreted as reality coming back. In reality, a boy like Sammy has to answer to an authoritative figure represented by Lengel. His manager symbolized responsibility and the end of childhood fantasies. Updike narrates that Lengel is the straitlaced type of man, one who teaches Sunday school. He starts to admonish the girls and embarrassed them in front of every body. Sammy watches the girls state their reasons for coming in yet Lengel still admonishes them. In Sammy’s eyes, Lengel was being unreasonable and preferred to have things only two ways: his way or one is a delinquent for not following. At that point, the main character realizes that the situation is more complicated than the girls not following policy. What Lengel did in Sammy’s eyes was a show of power; using his position as manager to not only admonish the girls but to also embarrasses them. Even if the girl was only fulfilling an errand for her mother, he still didn’t listen. It was obvious that the â€Å"Queen† went out of her way to buy the jar of herring snacks since the beach was miles and miles away. Also, the â€Å"Queen† seemed to be of a higher social class than Sammy; he sees this and realizes the difference between the both of them. Before they left, the main character made a show of quitting, an indirect way of telling the girls that he was making a stand and that he thinks that they were untreated fairly. Unfortunately, in contrast to his ideal fantasies of them seeing him as their hero, they left him to fend for himself. A mark of his maturity was shown in the way that he refused to back down despite being alone in his opinion since he has developed the sense that one must go through with one’s actions and take responsibility for them. He then mustered up the courage to question the authority for their actions. Lengel then explained to Sammy his own view of what transpired, ushering another realization for the main character. The realization is that not everything is black and white and that people tend to have differing opinions and their own point of view, never realizing the harm that they cause others. Also, in contrast to what is usually taught, in practice, people will choose their own interests and will care little for the welfare of others. Like in the case of Lengel, the manager thought that they were the ones being embarrassed by the girls and not the other way around. It was then clear that Lengel pulled this exhibition of power since everyone else was watching and that he felt that the integrity of the store was being threatened. In Lengel’s eyes, the girls were putting on an indecent show for everyone and even distracted his most trusty clerk. Yet Sammy still retained some of his dependence and thirst for approval since he briefly thought of his grandmother and how proud she would be of him if she could see him now. Lengel then started to remind Sammy of his responsibility to his parents, a sacred oath that he was not allowed to break. In his transition of maturity, he went through with his decision knowing the consequences and outright told Lengel that he knew what he was doing and that the manager was the one who didn’t know what he himself was doing. At that point, Sammy developed a different opinion based on what he saw and what his point of view was, signaling to the audience that he was exhibiting the same behavior as the adults. He then starts to shed the clothes that symbolized his dependence: the bow tie and the apron. Yet with his actions, Sammy still exuded that idealistic and childlike quality that enabled him to care whether the girls were still there or that he can make a clean exit since it was summer and he didn’t have to fumble around for his winter apparel. Throughout the course of the story, he has addressed the shoppers as â€Å"sheep†, letting themselves herded into one point or the other. His description takes life when the shoppers stood and did nothing to defend the young ladies from Lengel’s verbal assault, unlike Sammy who stood up for what he believed in. As Sammy went out of the store, Lengel is seen taking care of the â€Å"sheep† in his place, the people who were still willing to follow authority despite of its misgivings. The last transition then occurred at that point: Sammy realized that fighting for what you believed in would be hard and most often times would leave you lonely and that since he has divorced himself from his dependence on his parents, he would have to make it out on the world on his own. This transition is symbolized by Sammy standing in the hot summer sun with no one but the mother who is frustrated at her children while the others are inside in the comfort of the air conditioned A&P. Seeing Lengel with such a harsh expression also made Sammy realize that the world has not been friendly to the old man either, and that he had to be strong and be the way he is just to survive. He had to forego other people’s feelings and put his interests first. From being a childish, hormonally driven pampered boy, Sammy matured into a responsible man who is not willing to back down from what he believes in once he sees injustice being committed. Like a young man, he went through with his decisions and refused to be intimidated by threats or emotional blackmail. Yet like a young boy, he still holds his idealism and somehow had a feeling that the world was a lot more complicated that he thought and that not every â€Å"right† thing was rewarded. Standing up for what was right will prove to be difficult in a world of Lengels who all thought that they were the ones who were right. If he were to refuse to see injustice and stand up and oppose authority for what he believed in every single time, then like his experience at A&P, he will have no choice but to leave. Either that or he would have to be harsh like Lengel was. It is also interesting to note that while Sammy was narrating the story, his parents thought that it was sad; yet Sammy himself thought nothing of as if he accepted what transpired.

Legal Environment Essay

Sexual harassment is always a legal topic in the work environment because the ramifications are so severe, but at the same time very abstract to describe what can constitute sexual harassment. This paper will take into consideration different elements of the law including Employment Law and cases tried before the U. S. Supreme Court. It will also offer suggestions for corrective action pertaining to the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. In corporate America, sexual harassment is a huge concern amongst many organizations. The matter of sexual harassment is an issue that needs to be immediately attended to in order for companies to avoid large costs associated with lawsuits stemming from allegations of being sexually harassed in the workplace. Sexual harassment is usually an immediate damage. According to Crucet et al. (2010), â€Å"sexual harassment can cause damage to a company’s representation, status, customers, as well as their proceeds†. Sexual harassment can be identified as any unwelcome sexual jesters or advances, request for sex, and/or any physical or verbal conduct that may be considered in a sexual nature. The legalities circling sexual harassment can be broken down into two particular categories. According to Crucet et al. (2010), â€Å"the first category is quid pro quo and the second one consists of a hostile environment†. The first category of quid pro quo (this for that) sexual harassment usually involves an employee and a supervisor because in most situations only supervisors have the power of hiring and firing an employee. It also â€Å"involves some express or implied linkage between an employee’s submission to sexually oriented behavior and tangible job consequences† (Mallor et al. 2010, p. 1328). An example of quid pro quo could be related to a supervisor telling his female employee that â€Å"if you do this sexual favor for me, then you will be promoted†. According to Tyner & Clinton (2010), â€Å"other examples include managers requesting sexual favors, and the receipt or non-receipt of those favors as a condition for making hiring, termination, promotion, and other placement decisions. † Quid pro quo is easier to identify than hostile environment harassment. The second category of sexual harassment is called hostile environment harassment. According to Mallor et al. 2010), â€Å"hostile environment harassment, occurs when an employee is subjected to unwelcome, sex-related behavior that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to change the conditions of the victim’s employment and create an abusive working environment† (p. 1328). The key element of any type of harassment is unwelcomed sexual advances but in hostile environment harassment it is definitely a bit tricky and at times hard to define (Tyner & Clinton, 2010). Both categories of sexual harassment violate Title VII of Employment Law that is in place to protect equal opportunity in the workplace. In order to avoid or limit their liability for sexual harassment allegations, an employer must act immediately when issues of sexual harassment are brought to their attention in addition to providing adequate training on sexual harassment along with having an effective policy in place that identifies the definition of sexual harassment. A current ethical situation that I have encountered in the workplace involves hostile environment harassment. I have an employee by the name of Bob Doe that has been accused of sexual harassment in the workplace. Bob has been working as an Admissions Counselor under my supervision since January of 2011. Bob is married with three young children between the ages of ten to sixteen. Bob is a great worker but people still feel uncomfortable around him and comes off much different that the other male employee or co worker. He carries around an aura or vibe that makes the female employees feel uncomfortable. For instance, when Bob has a conversation with other female employees he tends to get too close and invade personal space. He is often caught saying vulgar and raunchy remarks that are HR inappropriate and has a habit of speaking under his breath a lot. Many of the female employees have claimed that he stares at them for periods of time without saying anything. He is medium to tall height, with a muscular build and tends to wear tight articles of clothing to reveal his muscles. Bob is middle aged and is about 5-10 years older than the average of other Admissions Counselors. In August of 2011, one day another male employee approached me and said that Bob had made some remarks to him regarding another female employee. Bob told this male employee â€Å"that he would love to catch her drunk† about that female employee. As a supervisor, this remark made me feel very angry that one of my employees would make comments like that about another employee and I immediately reported this action to my Director, Steve. Steve said that he really couldn’t do anything about that comment because I could not confirm whether or not he said it based off of the word of another employee and that the comment was not heard by the female employee. The director then told me to stay away from the gossip in the workplace and not to get involved in drama, He reminded me that I am suppose to be above that sort of office slander and that I was put in this position to make others people at their job and not be a whistle blower. I acknowledged what he told me and agreed that I would do a better job moving forward, but I still asked him to please report this incident to Human Resources. Steve said that he would handle the situation and would report the incident to Human Resources. Steve likes to handle all HR issues as he calls, â€Å"in house†. Steve wants the managers to run an incident by him before going to HR because he feels that he can handle the issues and that only if the cause was serious enough and if he was not present then we could go to Human Resources, otherwise we were to seek his approval or direction first. The second incident that involved Bob was in November 2011, when he approached another female employee on the team and grabbed her from behind and hugged her. Although he was not being overly aggressive and had a smile on his face, the female employee named Helen was caught off guard and felt violated and asked Bob not to touch her again because it made her feel uncomfortable. Bob laughed it off and said â€Å"Gezz girl relax! You know it’s not like that† and pointed at his wedding ring and walk away. Helen approached me and told me what happened. I immediately pulled Bob into a conference room and told him very sternly that it was inappropriate to hug and/or touch another employee in the workplace especially if it is unwelcomed because it could be viewed as sexual harassment. He said he understood and apologized for his behavior. At this time, I felt that this particular incident did not need to be reported to Human Resources since I felt I had a pretty good handle of the situation. I, however did document the incident in his employee activity log and mentioned it to my director who also said I handled the situation appropriately The third incident that happened regarding Bob was in January 2012. Bob was flirting with a female employee named Lisa who was not an employee on my team but still in the same division. Bob then began to grab Lisa’s hand and hold it with his hand. As Lisa pulled away, she asked Bob â€Å"why are you trying to hold my hand? † Bob’s response was â€Å" you’re so hot you’re making my hands clammy. † This was another sexual harassment issue that could have blown up. Once Lisa’s manager brought this situation to my attention, I once again called Bob into the conference room and explained to him that this was his second warning not to touch another employee, especially a female employee because it is inappropriate and unwarranted and if it were to happen again, then I would have no choice but to personally report him to Human Resources. Once again, I turned to my Director, Steve to seek his advice. Steve again told me that as long as you feel that you handled the situation appropriately and documented it then Bob should be fine. At this point I started getting the feeling that Steve didn’t care about the safety of my female employees and that he just wanted to avoid HR to avoid a situation. I felt as if Steve was allowing this to happen to prevent himself from looking bad. I then decide that I had to take the situation into my own hands and be more cognizant of Bob’s behavior with other employees. There have been a number of other times that Bob continued to make inappropriate comments to other female employees. He would compliment girls on their dress and say how nice their legs looked or that a certain color really brings out their figure. However, there were no mo complaints from Bob in regards to touching another employee inappropriately. He eventually decided to move onto another role with a different company and that was that. Sexual harassment is subjective because everyone identifies and perceives sexual harassment differently. Bob did come from the food and beverage industry where he was a bartender and a lot of his employees were cocktail waitresses in a night club in downtown. He did mention that in his previous job that he was very friendly with his staff because the culture would be more tolerable, especially with alcohol being involved. So, he may not have viewed his actions as being sexual harassment to his female employees, but obviously the employees felt otherwise. Author Tyner and Clinton write that â€Å"According to the law, the victim must be a â€Å"reasonable person† (Tyner & Clinton, 2010). The â€Å"reasonable person† standard initiated in the landmark case of Rabidue v. Osceola Refining back in 1986. According to Tyner & Clinton (2010), â€Å"in this case the majority ruled that vulgar language and the sexually oriented posters did not result in a working environment that could be considered intimidating, hostile, or offensive under the guidelines. † Essentially Judge Keith felt that â€Å"sexual harassment should not be judged by a reasonable person but rather by a reasonable victim† (Tyner & Clinton, 2010). It is the victim that feels uncomfortable and is claiming the allegations of sexual harassment. They are the one that feel that the acts of another are unwelcomed and violating their legal rights. Unfortunately, as a manager of fourteen Admissions Counselors, at times I don’t have the presence to be everywhere at all times. I have frequently not been present at urgent moments because I was helping or assisting another employee. I always made it a conscience effort to praise in public and coach or criticize in private. This was the course of action I took with Bob whenever I witnessed an inappropriate behavior from him. I took him into the conference room and let me know that what he just did is not acceptable. I did not want him to feel that he was being discriminated against because he was an older male. I know that it was my ethical duty to make sure that all of my employees have the right to feel safe in the workplace. This topic really sticks out to me because as a manager of a big company we are constantly having sexual harassment trainings and seminars on how to identify and prevent instances from occurring. A manager at the training shared with the rest of the managers a horrific case of sexual harassment from one of her employees. The employees name was Tim and he was a very skilled and tenure Admissions Counselor and often looked at as a great example of a successful hard working Admissions Counselor. When a female new hire Kristy was added onto the same team as Tim the manager advised that the new hire learn from Tim and create best practices and habits that Tim has. Kristy was near Tim a lot because she was given orders to learn from Tim. Tim would use this opportunity to flirt with Kristy constantly and asking her very intruding questions about her personal life such as, if she is dating anyone or if she is interested in a relationship or just â€Å"hooking up. † Kristy became very ucomfortable when Tim started to text message her at night saying that he is bored now that he is divorced and that he wants to meet her early in the morning to go over performance strategies. When Kristy finally confided in another employee the manager was brought to attention. The manager immediately told Kristy to go to HR right away and the manager went to her supervisor and they both took immediate actions. Because of Tim’s behavior Kristy was about to quit her job and she would attempt to be sick in order to stay away from Tim’s desk. Tim’s behavior created a hostile environment because Kristy was in fear of encountering Tim. This incident not only saddens me for Kristy, but also made me sad because of what Bob had done in the past to my fellow employees and I had not taken immediate actions like I should have. Legal Viewpoints: The U. S.  Supreme Court According to Crucet et al. (2010), â€Å"in 1980 the Supreme Court said that sexual harassment was a breach of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. † Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 â€Å"prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin in hiring, firing, job assignments, pay, access to training, and apprenticeship programs, and most other employment decisions† (Mallor et al. , 2010, p. 1323). An important case that first appeared the â€Å"reasonable person† argument was in the Rabidue v. Osceola Refining in 1986 mentioned earlier in this paper. This case is often cited as the predecessor to the landmark Supreme Court case of Ellison v. Brady in 1991. In Ellison v. Brady (1991) the Supreme Court rules that â€Å"it is unreasonable to use a â€Å"reasonable person† standard since the rules were established by men† (Tyner & Clinton, 2010). This is where the â€Å"reasonable victim† came into existence. The court went on to say that â€Å"we note that the reasonable woman victim standard we adopt today classified conduct as unlawful sexual harassment even when harassers do not realize that their conduct creates a hostile working environment† (Tyner & Clinton, 2010). This Supreme Court ruling is of great importance. Many of times, harassers don’t even realize what they are doing is wrong because their perception of reality is off. Two important Supreme Court cases in 1998 created the framework for deciding whether or not employers were held liable for sexual harassment committed by its employees. The first was Burlington Industries v. Ellerth (1998) and the second was Farragher v. Boca Raton (1998). According to Cabassa (2011), â€Å"employers in jurisdictions where courts have allowed indemnity claims against employees for actions giving rise to harassment cases† are on the rise. There are many cases linking to sexual harassment in the workplace that they have launched a litigation committee that covers employment law to covering all legal issues related to the employment relationship (Cabassa, 2010). The question still stands on whether or not a company is liable for sexual harassment committed by one of its employees. The answer to that question lies on â€Å"whether the harasser was a coemployee or a supervisor of the victim, whether the victim suffered tangible job detriment and whether the company had sexual harassment policies, training, and grievance procedures† (Mallor et al. , 2010, p. 1328). Therefore, in order for a company to release themselves from association and allegations of sexual harassment a number of things need to be considered. Suggestions for Corrective Action According to Das (2007), â€Å"sexualization itself, as a precursor to signaling, could arguably stem both from a targets developmental trajectory and from later-life experiences that get layered onto this basic personality substrate. † Therefore, although Bob had these precursor straits of sexualization prior to him going through divorce, the later-life experiences of divorce layered into his life may have caused him to be more relentless. Regardless of his personal life experiences, Bob needs to be in line with the Employee Handbook and follow its policies. It is imperative each company have a Human Resource or Employees Relations Representative that can handle any allegations of sexual harassment. It is first and foremost important for a company no matter of size small or large, to have an Employee Handbook in place to identify what is considered acceptable and what can be recognized as sexual harassment. Then adequate training needs to be in place to help identify what may be considered as sexual and/or ostile environment harassment. After the training, each employee should be required to sign off on an acknowledgment form acknowledging that they know and understand the sexual harassment policy. Once those guidelines are set then it is important for managers and supervisors to take the allegations of sexual harassment very seriously and prevent any further occurrences to take place. If allegations of sexual harassment are made, it is important for Human Resources to open an investigation immediately to determine the facts of the case and to get each sides of the story.  Once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, then the next step is to take appropriate disciplinary action up to and including termination of the harasser. This measure will hopefully prevent sexual and hostile environment harassment. Conclusion In conclusion, the Employment Law has been established by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 allowing every person the right to pursue a career and economic gain with the absence of sexual harassment in the workplace. The U. S.  Supreme Court has been a huge help in identifying the law surrounding and interpreting the U. S. Constitution as it pertains to sexual harassment. According to Tyner & Clinton (2010), â€Å"the Society for Human Resource Managers reported in 2002 that 97 percent of employers have written sexual harassment policies and that 62 percent of those employers provide training on sexual harassment. † Therefore, as a society we are on the right track to preventing harassment of any type in the workplace especially unwelcomed and unwarranted sexual advances.

Early Childhood Education Program Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Early Childhood Education Program - Term Paper Example This center has a goal of providing the best training and education for eight hours a day operation. For ages three to five years old, the curriculum will be conducted for four hours and five days a week. This is to ensure that the development of the children of this age will be observed. This center is very essential to provide the positive impact and nurture on the children within the community. As a center designed to provide quality education for infants and toddlers as well as preschoolers, this school is important in the community. Vision To be the best in providing the children the finest life and career skills using the comprehensive classroom technology plan. To be committed to provide true service where teachers and educators are knowledgeable and responsible and who truly care to their students. We believe that we can offer and develop the learning and innovation skills of the students. We desire to inspire to our valued students the importance of learning the information, media and technology skills by providing the best classroom environment and teaching plan that suits every need of the students. We dedicate all our gifts, efforts and power to its realization. With God’s help, this vision will be upheld. ...To be able to instil the value of classroom development and provide the best learning environment to the students for the common good. Philosophy Children are the most precious gifts to parents. For a teacher, a second most valuable guide to each student, teaching is a very essential job that contributes to intellectual growth and future of a child. Subjects and activities included in each curriculum are expertise of the teacher. The students should be moulded into active participants of a learning process through classrooms equipped to teach the students and a well organized curriculum to fit the needs of the students. In the end, the students should meet the premiere standards and assessments. The proposed vision, mission and philosoph y are based on the Constructivist Theory of child development and learning. This theory was popularized by Jean Piaget, Maria Montessori and Lev Vygotsky who believed that interaction of young children with their environment and their peers greatly influence their learning and development (Theories of Child Development and Learning, n.d., par.6). According to this theory, it is thus important that physical environment and curriculum must be given importance and utmost groundwork. Thus in the vision, mission and philosophy, it has been reiterated that the best classroom environment and curriculum must be provided as fundamentals for excellent education. The stated vision, mission and philosophy were founded on my belief that education is the foundation of a child’s learning and intellectual growth. Thus, teachers must be capable of the expertise when instilling values and learning to children.

Managerial Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Managerial Economics - Essay Example les may not aim for high salaries at the beginning of their careers as they have future plans of settling a family whereas males aim for extremely high salaries and strive hard to get there. The height of aim possessed by both the genders also reflects upon the amount of earnings that they are able to get in the business world. Many organisations may show biasness against men and women. The men in these organisations may be favored more for their competency and performance level as compared to females. The males are considered as satisfying the customers in a better way as compared to females and therefore they are paid high against female employees. The female employees working at a higher designation in the organisations are expected that they may be taking maternity leaves and later on child nursing leaves more frequently and this is not the case with male employees, therefore the males are paid higher salaries than the female employees. The gender gap in the pay issues are related to the gender differences that are present and this causes differences in the entitlements of pay that is set up for both genders. Men are entitled to be more worthy of pay than women in most of the societies. One of the factors are that while negotiating the starting salaries at different jobs the male candidates tend to negotiate salaries many times more as compared to the female candidates who easily settle down on a low pay. Male employees negotiate their entire compensation packages in greater details as they have to run their families by looking at all the elements and benefits they are receiving from the organisation as compared to female employees who may not bother in detail about the benefits in detail. The male employees are willingly ready for taking up jobs that are physically dangerous whereas female employees may show definite reluctance in this case. Therefore this is also the reason that male employees are preferred more for physical jobs and also paid highly

Social Policy in Healthcare of Germany and France Essay - 1

Social Policy in Healthcare of Germany and France - Essay Example Apart from this, the essay will also discuss the key characteristics of the social policies with respect to the aforementioned two countries. On a further note, the essay will relate to the implications of the healthcare policies with respect to France and Germany. Furthermore, the social policy field i.e. healthcare would be analyzed from the perspective of two comparative perspectives i.e. convergence/functionality and path dependency/institutionalist. The healthcare policies are formulated with the sole intention of providing the society with better the  healthcare prospects. The approaches with respect to healthcare services generally include proper financing framework and effective governmental regulations (Mahmud & Parkhurst, 2007). In relation to determining the key characteristics of German healthcare system in recent years, it can be apparently observed that the system has undergone massive changes with the aim of developing the healthcare reforms and regulations. These changes being executed in an effective manner would certainly assist the government in reducing the ‘Spiralling costs’ that are associated with the healthcare reforms. In Germany, it has been often observed that the individuals who earn below â‚ ¬49,500 are usually provided with the benefit of ‘statutory health insurance scheme’ (SHI). Apart from the insurer, the SHI scheme provides coverage to the insurer’s dependence al so. Germany’s social insurance system was established in the year 1883. In this respect, there exist few principles related to health care policies in Germany. These principles being identified as solidarity, subsidiarity, and corporatism (Reibling, 2010) The principle of solidarity signifies taking responsibilities by the governments of helping the society at large in terms of indulging into the conduct of various initiatives. It is worth mentioning that these funds are basically financed through the payroll taxes.

Supply Chain Management Performance Measures as a competitive Essay

Supply Chain Management Performance Measures as a competitive advantage for Qatari Organization - Essay Example Various concepts that are included in the supply chain management are discussed. The various criteria that have to be focused for improving the SCM are also discussed well. The various recommendations given for improving the SCM in Qatari organizations are to upgrade the technologies, maintain a minimum stock level to avoid interruptions in work, train the workforce engaged in the SCM activities. The supply chain management is a complex task. It increase the over all productivity of the organization if they are managed properly and controlled well. Complications in supply chain vary with the size of the business and also with the number of manufactured items. The origin and end point of a supply chain is the customer itself. The Elements involved in a supply chain are customer and the planning, purchasing, inventory, production and transportation departments within the company. Supply chain should be strategic and equipped. A perfect supply chain needs the use of technological investments like use of enterprise resource planning suites. The study is about measuring the supply chain management system in the Qatari organizations. The term supply chain management has augment to the importance in the earlier days. A supply chain system is a set of connections of amenities and allotment options that executes the task of procurement of raw materials, conversion of these materials into semi-finished and finished products and the delivery of these finished products to the ultimate customers. The concept of supply chain management system is implemented in both product and service manufacturing industries. The intricacy of the value chain differs tremendously based on industry category and nature. The supply chain management is considered to be the central part of the organization which serves both customer and organizations requirements. It helps in the procurement of the raw material from the right

A bird came down the walk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

A bird came down the walk - Essay Example The purpose of the dashes is to indicate longer pauses at the end of the lines for emphasis and dramatic effect. There is personification in the poem, where the speaker likens the bird’s actions to a person’s. In the second stanza, the speaker employs the word â€Å"raw† to signify uncivilization yet it is ironic in that a bird cannot cook the worm. The action of coming down the walk is seen as civilized and likened to a person walking down the road yet the bird does something so uncivilized by eating the bird raw. In stanza two the speaker goes on to personify the bird’s actions by saying, â€Å"he drank a Dew† (2, 1) –there is alliteration of the’ sound- and he also goes on to say that he drank â€Å"from a convenient grass† (2, 2) just like a human would drink from a glass, and also that the bird hopped aside for a beetle to pass, another human like action. The speaker also describes the bird as civilized by using capital letters in saying the birds eyes were like Beads and that he had a Velvet Head. All these grammatical effects enabl e the speaker to be more vivid and allow the reader to form actual images in the mind when

Differences in Marketing products or Services to Organisations and Essay

Differences in Marketing products or Services to Organisations and Customers - Essay Example Marketing is the core of any business and the success or failure of marketing can affect the future of the organization. Different marketing strategies are used for different products and services. Moreover, marketing strategies used for marketing a product or service to a customer and to an organization is different as both an organization and a customer have basic differences in their buying habits. This paper briefly explains the basic differences in marketing a product or service to a customer and an organization. Organizations purchase and use goods for further production, operations, or resale whereas the customers always buy finished goods for their personal use. In other words, organizations always look for the utility of the product or service they purchased for making the profit whereas customers always look for quality, reliability and cheaper price of the product. Advertisements and sales promotion techniques can usually attract more customers whereas such things alone may not convince organizations. For example, a tire manufacturing organization purchases rubber for making tires. So they will be keen in getting rubber for the cheaper price and in better quality rather than the attractiveness of the branding or packaging of it. On the hand, a customer who purchases a tire will definitely be attracted by the brand value and attractive packaging.

What is IMF Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

What is IMF - Essay Example Good governance is a set of principles that have been adopted by both the World Bank and the IMF to guide them and help them to achieve their objectives and goals in their member countries. The current scenario is that these organizations now are in the process of applying similar standards as the, good governance techniques to various other aspects of the institution, such as transparency and accountability. Other facets include fairness, impartiality, efficiency and ownership (Woods 2000). Though IMF itself is a vast topic, I would like to target solely the governance aspect of the organization. Only good and sound governance of an organization can result in the complete and adequate implementation of its policies. According to Beke (2002) the underlying rationale for governance in IMF is to eliminate corruption and to encourage transparency as well as accountability in all economic policies and issues of any given country. Since, 1997 the IMF has introduced methods to look after the resources of the organization so as to prevent laundering of monetary funds. In addition, means are also taken to track all sorts of expenditures specifically those on poverty related issues. Therefore, governance is required in all phases. Be it the way the money is lent or discharged to a country, in the implementation of certain economy related policies, or be it in within the IMF itself. Therefore, I would like to research all three of these aspects of governance in my study. There are practical reasons behind the adoption of the good governance criteria by the IMF. One of the foremost according to Woods (2000) is ownership and participation. The reason behind them is that these two means will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of IMF. It has also been stated that in the past any unpopular or unjust act of a country's government was blamed on IMF. Therefore, these policies also enhance the image of the government by stating that there is no imposition by the IMF upon any country to adopt its policy. Any country that does to take the advice of the IMF and follow its policies and guidelines does so of it's own accord. In the past, the IMF consisted of an enclosed group of policy makers, however, in recent years due to its good governance criteria the organization has opened-up. This induces the concept of transparency. The reason behind this is that when an organization in enclosed (in the form of financial institutions and governments only), transparency is difficult; thus, corruption prevails. In such a scenario bribery takes place and the government can easily deceive its citizens by putting the blame for economic upheaval on an institution such as the IMF. In order to prevent such dire situations from arising it is imperative that good governance policies (especially those that include transparency procedures and processes) are included. Research Methodology The research methodology will such that the background and scope of the paper will be given. The basic scope of this paper is that it will help future policy makers as well as researchers to further their studies. In the practical sense this

Analysing Amazon Website From The Usability Point Of View Dissertation

Analysing Amazon Website From The Usability Point Of View - Dissertation Example Literature Review 3. Research Methodology and Design 3.1 Tools Employed in Evidence Gathering 3.2 Questionnaires 3.3 Interviews 3.4 Observations 4. Implementation 4.1 Visual Appeal of Amazon 4.2 Homepage of Amazon.com 4.3 Log-in Screen 4.4 Shipping to Multiple Addresses 4.5 Learn Availability of Products 4.6 Product Search and Satisfaction 4.7 Reliability and Uptime 4.8 Product Pages 4.9 Integration with International Websites 4.9.1 Co-Branding with Multiple Retailers 4.9.2 The Help Centre 4.9.3 Usability Support for People with Disabilities 5. Evaluation 5.1 The Suggested Solutions 5.2 Limitations of Suggested Solutions 5.3 Works Comparison 6. Conclusion 6.1 Thesis Overview 6.2 Future Works References Appendices 1. Introduction 1.1 Project Overview As the internet has evolved and more industries saw the potential money that could be earned from this platform, shopping and retail companies were not as well left out. An industry that allows internet users to sit in the comfort of thei r own home and use their personal computers to buy goods was created. Throughout the years, there have been various challenges and opportunities that have confronted this industry that ultimately led to the demise of most of them. One company has stood the test of time throughout the various technological and market changes that have confronted e-commerce. That company is amazon.com. From a modest start as an online retailer, it is now a market leader in online retailing. In this project, attention is being paid to the in-depth analysis of amazon.com as an online retail giant, with the primary focus being on the usability of the website from the perspective of the user. This is achieved by analysing existing literature on amazon.com and the conducting of surveys on sample users of the...Limiting factors that affect the usability of amazon.com will be discussed and recommendations made according to the opinions generated from cross-section of the website’s users. As the intern et has evolved and more industries saw the potential money that could be earned from this platform, shopping and retail companies were not as well left out. An industry that allows internet users to sit in the comfort of their own home and use their personal computers to buy goods was created. Throughout the years, there have been various challenges and opportunities that have confronted this industry that ultimately led to the demise of most of them. One company has stood the test of time throughout the various technological and market changes that have confronted e-commerce. That company is amazon.com. From a modest start as an online retailer, it is now a market leader in online retailing. In this project, attention is being paid to the in-depth analysis of amazon.com as an online retail giant, with the primary focus being on the usability of the website from the perspective of the user. This is achieved by analysing existing literature on amazon.com and the conducting of surveys on sample users of the website. Upon these conclusions will be drawn the site’s usability, the challenges that face it and recommendations made on the way forward.

Infant Toddler Curriculum Essay Example for Free

Infant Toddler Curriculum Essay Developmental domains are one way to describe and think about the different aspects of development in the areas of: motional; physical, social, cognitive; and language skills of young children. And while we use the domains as a way to organize our thinking and observations of children, in reality all domains are function together simultaneously, especially in the first three years of life. This holistic development is separated into the developmental domains for the purpose of observation, study, developmental assessment, and planning (Blackboard, 2013). Therefore, it is important to understand how the developmental domains relate to the three themes of infant development; in order to provide DAP care and activities for children in each stage of arly childhood development. For instance, an understanding of the young infant stage, babies develop a sense of security from their caregivers. It is this sense of security, that allows the baby to build an urge to explore, later motivating them to take risks and advance their current knowledge of their environment. This may require removing all sharp objects from the area and covering electrical outlets and ensuring. However, prepping the room for child safety is not the only concern. It is imperative to play close attention, and respond to the needs of young infants. Nery oung children need adults who listen, smile, and talk with them or babble when they babble; watch for when they need quiet and solitude; and notice and communicate pleasure over such newfound skills as creeping, climbing, holding, dropping, or adding new sounds and words (Greenman, Stonehouse, and Schweikert, 2008, pg. 61). An understanding of the mobile stage of development will make one aware of the safety precautions needed to allow mobile toddlers to explore the environment. Mobile infants often explore by mouthing and must be protected from small parts and fragile toys. In addition a rich learning environment for mobile nfants should include safe structures to climb and explore. Moving around is essential to learning; it gives babies different perspective and vantage points, which they need in order to move from an entirely egocentric view of space toward a more sophisticated sense ot relationship between selt, space, and other people (Greenman, Stonehouse, and Schweikert, 2008, pg. 53). An understanding of the toddler stage of development enables caring adults to guide and assist young childrens emotional development. The first two years of a persons life can set the foundation for the way hey create relationships, view others, and understand emotions and how to control them. A toddlers sense of self, of I and me, emerge in a group environment and a culture which private property and the acquisition of things are somewhat scared. This makes the learnin g of related concepts like mine particularly challenging (Greenman, Stonehouse, and Schweikert, 2008, pg. 9). Toddlers learn about who they are in the world through relationships and experiences with adults who care for them. They learn to trust that their needs will be met, or that they will not. The motional domain includes the infants perception of herself and of herself in relation to others. (Blackboard, 2013). The most important thing a caregiver can do to help a toddlers emotional development is to create a safe and loving environment for the toddler to learn in. Caregivers should understand that each toddler is different and has different needs. Attending to each individual child in a well-organized and inviting learning environment is essential during his stage early childhood development. Infant Toddler Curriculum Because of the specific needs of infants and toddlers the term curriculum is during he early stages of development is complex. To summarize all of the ideas of curriculum, as defined by leaders in the field (Gonzalez-Mena, Eyer, Dodge, Greenman, Stonehouse, Schwikert, Swim, and Watson), you must think about curriculum as an organized framework. To make curriculum DAP for infant and toddlers, it must be based on sound and relevant knowledge such as infant/ toddler development and research; so that it guides early care professional practices in providing purposeful and responsive learning opportunities for each child through daily routines and experiences (Blackboard, 2013) Infant and toddler curriculum plans focus on how to best create a social, emotional, and intellectual climate that supports child-initiated and child-pursued learning. The interests of the child and the belief that each child has a curriculum are what drive practice (Blackboard, 2013). It is understood that very young children need to play a significant role in selecting their learning experiences, materials, and content. Curriculum plans, therefore, do not focus on games, tasks, or activities, but on how to best create a social, emotional, and intellectual climate that supports child-initiated and child- ursued learning and the building and sustaining of positive relationships among adults and children. Responsive curriculum planning focuses on finding strategies to help infant-toddler teachers search for, support, and keep alive childrens internal motivation to learn, and their spontaneous explorations of people and things of interest and importance to them (Blackboard, 2013). This should begin with study of the specific children in care. Detailed records of each childs interests and skills are kept to give guidance to the adults for the roles t hey will take in each childs learning Greenman, Stonehouse, and Schweikert, 2008, pg. 30). It should also be realized from the start that plans should not be static. Adaptation and change are critical parts of the learning process and should be anticipated. Once an interaction with a child or small cluster of children begins, the teacher has to be ready to adapt his or ner plans and actions so they work tor all children, no matter what kind ot physical , mental or emotional challenges individual bring to the program (Greenman, Stonehouse, and Schweikert, 2008, pg. 30). Another essential component of planning s attention to a responsive learning environment and specific attention to how environments should be changed. The planning of learning environments is more important to infant-toddler development than specific lessons or specific activities. The environment must be seen as part of the curriculum, creating interest and encouraging and supporting exploration (Blackboard, 2013). Research has shown that much of how infants and toddlers learn best comes not from specific adult- directed lessons but from teachers knowing how to maximize opportunities for each child to use natural learning inclinations. The philosophy of routine care as learning opportunities for infants and toddlers is based on the premise that, Relationships develop through all kinds of interactions, but especially during ones that happen while adults are carrying out those essential activities of daily living sometimes called caregiving routines (Greenman, Stonehouse, and Schweikert, 2008, pg. 5), such as: feeding, diapering; toilet training/learning; washing; bathing and grooming; dressing; napping. For caregiving routines to become curriculum, they cant be done mechanically.

Stages of Alzheimers Utilizing Machine Learning Techniques

Stages of Alzheimers Utilizing Machine Learning Techniques Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the general type of dementia that affects the elderly population globally. An accurate and early diagnosis of Alzheimer is crucial for the treatment of patients suffering from AD. In this paper, two different classifiers, SVM (Support Vector Machine) and an ANFIS (Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System) have been employed to classify patients between AD control, mild control and normal control. The system employed MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) data obtained from the ADNI dataset of 150 subjects consisting of 75 normal controls, 50 mild controls and 25 AD controls. Initially, image processing techniques like segmentation and feature extraction are applied on these MRI images to enhance the classification accuracy. The segmentation is performed using k-means clustering and a GLCM (Gray Level Co-Occurrence Matrix) are used to extract the 2D features of the left ventricle of the brain. The extracted features are then utilized to train the classifiers and the results obtained from both classifiers are then compared. It is shown that the classification accuracy of ANFIS is more when compared to that of SVM classifier. Keywords: Alzheimer, MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), ANFIS (Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System), SVM (Support Vector Machine). 1. Introduction Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative syndrome [1] of the brain tissues that results in progressive and permanent loss of mental function. The disease generally starts with mild indications and ends with severe damage in brain. The pathophysiology of the disease is associated with the damage and death of the neurons, originating in the hippocampus region of the brain that is involved with learning and memory, then atrophy impacts the whole brain. According to epidemiological information Alzheimer affects approximately 26 million people all over the world. In order to give proper care to AD patients, it is vital to measure the amount of atrophy present in the cerebral cortex during the initial stages of AD. The early detection of these diseases can greatly enhance diagnosis. But, diagnosis of this disease depends on the history, neuropsychological tests and clinical assessment. However, the clinical assessment is biased and the neuropsychological test does not provide high accuracy for early stage detection of the disease. In addition to neuropsychological analysis, structural imaging is greatly utilized in order to provide support to AD diagnosis. The whole brain approach utilized for describing the brain atrophy might be capable of differentiating between AD and MCI (mild cognitive impairment) patients. Recent researches [1, 2] show that the analysis of brain scan images is more consistent and subtle in identifying the presence of Alzheimer’s disease than the conventional cognitive assessment. In this circumstance, several machine learning approaches have been presented in order to perform neuroimaging analysis for classification of AD. In addition, all these approaches require training sets that is well categorized structure in order to classify each new subject that belongs to the test set. Recently MRI data have become center of several machine learning techniques for classifying subjects as CN vs. AD or CN vs. MCI. The focus of this paper is to classify between the different stages of AD utilizing machine learning techniques. Here, all the MRI brain scan images are segmented using k means clustering and the 2D shape features of the ventricles are obtained using GLCM based feature extraction. Then the extracted features are utilized for classification. First, an SVM based classifier is employed to classify the test data into three categories: normal, mild and AD. Second, an ANFIS based classifier is utilized for classification. Finally, the results of the two classifiers are compared and have been shown that ANFIS classifier outperforms SVM classifier. 2. Related Works Alzheimer’s disease (AD) classification is vital for early detection and diagnosis of the disease. Several studies explored machine learning techniques and artificial intelligence for detecting the cerebral changes and differentiate between normal aging and AD patients [1-3]. In [4] a support vector machine (SVM) based machine learning approach has been utilized for automatic classification entire brain anatomical MRI data to differentiate between elderly control and AD control patients. In this study, 16 patients with AD control and 22 patients with elderly control were used. Depending upon the gray matter characteristics extracted from region of interest (ROI), the SVM algorithm is used for classifying the subjects and the arithmetic procedures are based on bootstrap resampling in order to ensure the strength of the results. In [5] a local patch based subspace ensemble approach has been proposed that constructs several different classifiers depending on the various subsets of local patches and they are combined for robust and more accurate classification. Here, every brain image is segmented into number of local patches and the subset of patches is selected from the patch pool and a sparse representation based classifier technique has been used in order to construct a weak classifier. The multiple weak classifiers are then combined for making final decision. [6] A framework for classifying Alzheimer’s disease utilizing ADNI dataset is presented. The framework fuses overlap based and registration based similarity measures that are enhanced employing a self-smoothing operator. These enhanced metrics are then employed for the classification of Alzheimer disease. In [7] an automatic classification system for recognizing AD in MRI (structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging) has been developed. The system utilizes visual content description of anatomical brain structure (hippocampal region) and fuses two biomarkers CSF and hippocampus in order to enhance the classification accuracy. It is shown that the classification accuracy is more in case of fusion than when utilizing CSF volume or visual features separately. In [8] support vector machines (SVM) were assessed to determine whether data combined from various scanners would provide effective classification. Here, a linear SVM has been employed to classify GM (grey matter) portion of T1 weighted MR image. The results show that about 96% of clinically verified AD patients were accurately classified exploiting the entire brain image. [9] Classified between healthy, MCI and AD patients with the help of support vector machine (SVM). The author also analyzed the accuracy of classification when several a natomical brain regions and various image modalities are combined. Therefore, global and regional grey matter, regional asymmetry coefficients, Ti- quantitative MRI data and regional with matter volumes are combined. It shows that an accuracy of 88.3% in case of CTL vs. AD and 81.8 % in case of CTL vs. MCI was attained. In [10] a binary SVM has been proposed to classify patients between mild cognitive impairment and elderly control subjects from MRI images. This approach utilized a Java Agent DEvelopement Framework (JADE) in order to reduce the computation time. 3. Materials and Methods In this section, the data set and methods utilized in this study as well as the description of the proposed framework depicted in fig 1 are presented. 3.1 Subjects The data employed in this study were obtained from ADNI (Alzheimers disease Neuroimaging Initiative) database [11]. ADNI utilizes biomarker measures and neuroimaging in order to track the changes taking places in the brain of the subjects under study for diagnosing AD at an early stage. Fig 1 Block Diagram of the step involved in the classification of stages of AD 3.2 Image Preprocessing The collected T1 weighted MRI images were free from noise, missing data and outliers. In preprocessing step all the MRI brain images are segmented into VM, GM, CSF and Ventricle tissues that represent vital information about brain degeneration disease. A clustering based segmentation approach has been employed for this purpose. The k means clustering is exploited in order to extract the VM, GM and CSF features the entire MRI brain image. It partitions the data points into k clusters [12] based on the inherent distance between the data points. The intent is to minimize inter cluster variance. For a healthy MRI brain image, k is usually three (corresponding to grey matter, white matter and CSF). After segmenting the MRI brain images into GM, WM and CSF, morphological operations are applied to obtain the binary ventricle tissue. Here, morphological operators such as erosion and dilution are applied. 3.3 Feature Extraction In order to accurately classify AD patients ventricle shape features are extracted. In this work, the 2D shape features are extracted from the ventricles based on Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) feature extraction. This method computes the co-occurrence matrix of each image present in the database by calculating how frequently pixel x with certain intensity value take place in relation with other pixel y at a specific orientation ÃŽ ¸ and distance d. The eleven features calculated from every co-occurrence matrix, generates set of feature vectors. These feature vectors include contrast, homogeneity, energy, correlation, mean, variance, rectangularity, elongation, circularity, area and perimeter and listed in table 1. Table 1: Extracted Features

National Parks By Visitor Management Tourism Essay

National Parks By Visitor Management Tourism Essay The recreationists who visit and enjoy the planets protected natural areas cause serious ecological damage to the very lands they enjoy. To maintain ecosystem integrity, park managers must increasingly focus on recreation management as a vital part of their jobs. Managers agree on the importance of pursuing objectives using the least cost mix of tools. To make this choice wisely, the efficacy of various tools in influencing recreationists behavior must be assessed. Natural resource managers often confront the dual objectives of encouraging recreation while simultaneously preserving the ecosystems they manage. Unfortunately, human behavior often degrades natural processes. To maintain ecosystem integrity, park managers must increasingly focus on recreation management as a vital part of their jobs. The choice of recreation management strategy requires that objectives be delineated and that the efficacy of the many tools at their disposal be evaluated. Visitor management in parks, wilderness and other protected areas requires information about visitor environment interactions and, particularly, the distribution and flow of visitors in space and time. Such information is usually sketchy and based largely on the verbal reports of visitors. Many of the worlds natural parks, wilderness areas and other protected areas are established for the dual purposes of ecological preservation and recreational use. Managers of such places must balance visitor use and environmental protection. Regardless of the balance selected, policy development and implementation requires fundamental information about visitors, their needs and wants, the impacts of their visits, and their distribution and flow in space and time. While well-established protected areas in developed countries often receive large numbers of visitors, newly established ones can struggle to attract them. This is especially so in some developing countries, where protected areas often depend on tourism income, and the number of visitors may be too low to provide even a small portion of the necessary income to run the park. Therefore strategies to manage the problems of large numbers of visitors in some protected areas often need to be complemented by other strategies designed to attract them to other areas. Managers have at their disposal a wide array of strategies to manage the impacts of park tourism. Their choice will be determined by any restrictions that legislation or agency policy places upon them, by the efficiency and appropriateness of the management strategy, and the resource implications. The main features of these strategies to control, influence and mitigate visitor impacts are described below. There are four strategic approaches which can be used to reduce the negative impacts of visitors on protected areas: 1. Managing the supply of tourism or visitor opportunities, e.g. by increasing the space available or the time available to accommodate more use. 2. Managing the demand for visitation, e.g. through restrictions of length of stay, the total numbers, or type of use. 3. Managing the resource capabilities to handle use, e.g. through hardening the site or specific locations, or developing facilities. 4. Managing the impact of use, e.g. reducing the negative impact of use by modifying the type of use, or dispersing or concentrating use. Literature review: The requirement of Environment Canada, Parks mandate to protect heritage resources and to facilitate visitor use of those resources has not been met in park management plans or operations. Care of the physical, biological, and cultural heritage resources led Parks Canada to develop objective data about natural resources within park boundaries but minimal data about the dimensions and nature of human use. Park planning reflected a protection bias with the result that issues related to the mix of opportunities, activities, services and facilities were not well analyzed or taken seriously. In practical terms, management action in national parks suffered. Facilities were badly located and sometimes too large or too small. Managing the tension between the resource and the visitor requires that park visitors and their activities be treated seriously. This requirement has led to the development of the Visitor Activity Management Process (VAMP). The advent of VAMP represents a fundamental change in orientation in Parks from a product or supply basis to an outward-looking market-sensitive one. Traditionally, park agencies have utilized a product orientation to visitor activity planning and management. Park planners and managers, believed their primary task to be providing facilities, services and programs which they consider to be most appropriate, as efficiently as they are able. This approach involves deciding what the public wants and how the park agency can best provide for visitor and local wants. The resulting facilities, services and programs are offered to the public with the hope that they will be utilized. Ensuing management then becomes operation-orientated, focusing on the facility or resource being offered rather than on the recreation experiences or benefits provided. Natural resource information is collected through the Natural Resources Management Process and is assessed to identify resource opportunities and constraints. The inclusion of such information in VAMP is important because it helps achieve integration between visitor use and resource protection. From the recently revised US National Park Service (NPS) Management Policies, provides a strong mandate to guide recreation management decisions in protecting park resources and values at some 375 parks. This policy guidance recognizes the legitimacy of providing opportunities for public enjoyment of parks. However, the Management Policies also acknowledge that some degree of resource impact is an inevitable consequence of use and direct managers to `ensure that any adverse impacts are the minimum necessary, unavoidable, cannot be further mitigated, and do not constitute impairment or derogation of park resources and values (NPS, 2001). Most protected areas internationally operate under similar mandates. Success in achieving an appropriate balance between recreation provision and resource protection mandates requires professional management of park natural resources and visitor use. Managers must have the ability to assess and find out visitor impacts and determine what their acceptability with respect to park management objectives is. Objective of the research: National Park Service lands are administered under dual legal mandates requiring managers to achieve an acceptable balance between resource protection and recreation provision objectives. While some degree of environmental degradation is inevitable, managers are challenged to develop recreation resource management policies that can preserve environmental conditions and processes, while sustaining high quality recreational experiences. Recreation ecology knowledge can assist managers in this challenging task by providing procedures to monitor resource conditions and evaluate the effectiveness of management actions. Provisions of (physical) facilities in recreational areas often have a double purpose. They offer service to the visitors, but their primary purpose might equally be as management actions with the purpose of limiting impacts on the natural environment. Research in the outdoor recreation field shows that land managers usually are more sensitive to ecological impacts from recreation than are the visitors. 1. How do the two groups judge the need for facilities? 2. Which management actions are regarded as good or acceptable tools in order to repair or minimize impacts? 3. How we can apply visitors management tools to integrate protection and use of national parks and facilities at the same time? Methodology: This project will utilize both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools, but is rooted in a qualitative method. It means combination of quantitative and qualitative method but rely on qualitative one. Data collection will consist of primary data and secondary data. In secondary data collection, using of magazines, books, articles, journals, internet, websites and conferences papers are common ways and primary data can be gathered by: communication methods and observation methods such as interview and questionnaire. Expected benefits to the society: Protected areas provide opportunities for visitors to develop a sense of perspective, to begin to appreciate that the past played an important role in shaping the present, and to understand that what we now hold dear came because others before us made sacrifices, were worried about the future or were simply far-sighted. Parks are thus highly valued for their opportunities for these experiences. The potential pressures that tourism may place on cultural resources are significant, yet such tourism is highly dependent on maintaining the integrity of the site. National parks and protected areas provide important reserves for biological habitats, ecological processes, pure air, clean water and individual species. These functions serve the important role of providing the security that cultures need for maintenance of natural processes important to the survival of human life. National parks and protected areas provide critical habitats for humans to enjoy, appreciate and learn about natural processes.

Unity Amid Diversity Essay -- essays papers

Unity Amid Diversity The 1950’s and 1960’s was a dawning of a new age. Many changes were occurring within America’s society. Segregation was prominent with the passing of Plessy vs. Ferguson, however, the Jim Crow laws of the south were being challenged. Negroes in the south wanted equality and justice. The nation was in need of an ethic of caring and a solid identity of what it meant to be an â€Å"American.† With the war in Vietnam and the war for equality, people were fed up with all of the hate. The public cried, â€Å"Make love, not war (Tallulah).† During this time of hardship, the Civil Rights Movement introduced us to many influential Americans that helped make equality possible and also made everyone proud to be American. From the famous court case of Brown vs. Board of Education and the refusal of Rosa Parks to the ideas and actions of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Anne Moody, equality emerged in the United States and a positive, patriotic and respectful outlook was placed on what it is to be an â€Å"American.† The Civil Rights Movement was like a time bomb waiting to go off. African-Americans throughout the south looked at each other as if saying, â€Å"wait, just wait.† Surprisingly, the initiation came from a young, black girl who had to travel several miles to attend a segregated school even though she lived right next door to a white elementary school. This famous court case, known as Brown vs. Board of Education, determined that segregation in public schools based on race was unconstitutional. This decision was the result of decades of efforts by black segregationist opponents. With black and white children attending the same schools, having equal opportunities elsewhere became increasingly desirable. It was during this period of waiting that a petite, middle-aged woman named Rosa Parks was the person to officially begin the fight for racial equality in America. On the afternoon of Thursday, December 1, 1995, Mrs. Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man and was arrested. This simple action of dominance and defiance began one of the most important struggles in American history. As the small yet strong-willed woman was hauled off to jail, word of her refusal spread throughout the country. People of all races and ages were inspired by her actions and the news traveled through telephone lines and word of mout... ...to every privilege, law and punishment. We, black and white, attend the same schools, churches and shop in the same grocery stores; we live in the same neighborhoods and swim in the same pools. America is the diverse yet unified country that it should be. As a result of the success of the movement, the rest of the world admires the U.S. and what it stands for. Without the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, who knows where we would be in the world society. I wonder. I really wonder. Works Cited 1.â€Å"1963.† http://net4tv.com/color/60/16Bombing.htm Copyright 1997, Iacta IIC, (22 April 1999) 2.Cohen, Jeff and Norman Solomon. â€Å"The Martin Luther King You don’t see on TV.† http://www.fair.org/media-beat/950104.html (27 April 1999). 3.Dancier, Tallulah. â€Å"Dawning of an Age.† http://net4tv.com/color/60/60about.htm Copyright 1997, Iacta IIC, (22 April 1999) 4.Haley, Alex. â€Å"The Autobiography of Malcolm X.† New York: Ballantine Books, 1965 5.Moody, Anne. â€Å"Coming of Age in Mississippi.† New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, 1968. 6.Robinson, Jo Ann Gibson. â€Å"Excerpts from the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women who Started it.† Primis.

Technological Advancement is Natural Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive

Technological Advancement is Natural As we enter the twenty-first century, it is clear that many things about our method of interacting with our environment are different than in previous centuries, and that, in fact, the very philosophy of the man-nature interaction may change again. Some look forward to these changes. Others are fearful or condemnatory. In many cases, people implicitly or explicitly argue that certain technologies are unnatural. They claim that while certain technologies may be useful, other technologies represent a form of Nature manipulation and this that tinkering is unwise. Since this argument may appear in many places, it is important to critically analyze it. I feel that this argument is the arbitrary reaction of one philosophy against another, and does not by itself prove anything. Examining perceptions of the natural from history and certain exemplary situations, along with modern thinking on the subject, may illuminate the deeper issues that lie behind this argument. Aboriginal humanity seems to have had various religious systems designated broadly as "nature-worship". Objects in nature, places, and the spirits of friends or relatives (living or dead) were to be worshiped, feared, and appeased. For instance, a native American might leave an offering to the soul of a deer he had hunted. Other societies would gather in groves or caves to celebrate religious ceremonies. In agrarian and feudal societies, more complex and technical religious systems were developed. They might be designated "Polytheism", "Monotheism", and "Universalism". For the purposes of this discussion, let us define these terms as follows: Monotheism identifies exactly one transcendent supernatural being, who, by his own nat... ...nded tones of fear of the alien and suspicion of the mixed." I also worry that, in the debates over modern technology, many people fear change and use the word "unnatural", as well as others, to draw unwarranted assumptions into the debate. There are cases where "tinkering" with nature can have major unintended consequence, just as a man manipulating the works at a hydroelectric dam could cause a flood in the valley below. However, these consequences arise not because it is evil to play with nature but because Nature herself is both extremely powerful and morally neutral. Man has always tried to subdue Nature and hold her at bay. This becomes easier as we understand her better, so I claim that technology is perfectly natural. Work Cited Holy Bible. Authorized King James Version. Ed. C.I. Scofield. New Scofield Reference Edition. New York: Oxford UP, 1997.

Hollywood moves influence in society Essay

Hollywood movies have had an important effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period. Is clear that Hollywood movies have an impact and influence in society. From my point of view the Hollywood movies are not a bad influence to society. Most of these movies are made after books and we don’t say that books have a bad influence on us. The combinations of themes that have these movies are magnificent so we can’t say that because they have some violent movies the whole industry is bad. Also the movies that contain violence tell us that violence is not the right way of doing things. Almost every movie has his good teaching. Even that they have some of this kind of movies that people can understand are a bad influence from society these haven’t been proved. Movies should be taken as what they are not reality. Movies are just a way of entertainment. I personally think that Hollywood films can be positive as they offer different views and concepts to many people and in turn allow people to think over certain ideas and formulate their own ones. The main objective of these movies is entertainment. People choose the stars of these movies as a role model, and these movies became a part of or life. Also I don’t agree with the ideal of beauty the media does obviously show, but you can’t really blame them when is just the reality, these ideal is show not only in movies but everywhere. Hollywood produces are in fact a mixture of our life or of some of us. It is a mixture of biographies, love stories, dramas, science fiction, horror stories, action films and documentaries. If some people get bad habits from seeing these movies we can blame the movie because they are not maid to cause any problem.

Criminal Theories Essay

An in-depth knowledge of theories is not required at this level, rather demonstration of knowledge of two of the biological, sociological and psychological explanations for criminal behaviour and how factors such as  negative family influences, lack of education, poverty and unemployment may impact on the behaviour of the offender and how society’s views of criminal behaviour have changed over time. â€Å"I confirm that the work that I am submitting is entirely my own, and I have not copied from any other student or source, unless referenced†. P3 – Describe two theories of criminal behaviour and the factors that contribute to them When looking at crime, it is essential that we explore the definitions of crime and the theories that explain why crime happens and how this affects both individuals and communities. The study of crime is commonly known as â€Å"Criminology†. Criminology originated from many other disciplines such as sociology, psychology, biology, geography, law and anthropology. It is generally accepted that there are three main categories that are used to explain why crime happens. To dive deeper into the theories surrounding criminal behaviour we can  analyse the three main and biggest theories behind a Criminal and their Behaviour: A) psychological models; B) sociological models; and C) biological models. All infer different methods of control and actions. It’s actually difficult to separate the three categories completely as it is generally accepted that all three theories contribute large factors that play a role in the expression of behaviour. Moreover, psychological science consists of several disciplines including biological psychology and social psychology, so psychological principles could be applied across all three domains. However, there are some general principles associated with each of the above three paradigms that would be associated with some specific crime control policies. This results in admittedly narrow definition for each of the categories but it does simplify the discussion herein. Psychological Approaches There a many different psychological models of criminal behaviour ranging from early Freudian notions to later cognitive and social psychological models. I cannot review them all. Instead, there are several fundamental assumptions of psychological theories of criminality (and human behaviour in general) that follow. These are: 1. The individual is the primary unit of analysis in psychological theories. 2. Personality is the major motivational and influencial element that drives behaviour and their actions within individuals. 3. Normality is generally defined by social consensus. 4. Crimes then would result from abnormal, dysfunctional, or inappropriate mental processes within the personality of the individual. 5. Criminal behaviour may be purposeful for the individual insofar as it addresses certain felt needs. 6. Defective, or abnormal, mental processes may have a variety of causes, i.e., a diseased mind, inappropriate learning or improper conditioning, the emulation of inappropriate role models, and adjustment to inner conflicts. Given these six principles to establish psychological explanations of criminal behaviour we can suggest first that traditional imprisonment, fines, and other court sanctions are based on operant learning models of behaviour for crime control. Operant learning models are based on  the utilitarian concepts that all people wish to maximize pleasure and minimize pain or discomfort. Skinnerian based social psychological theories of reinforcement and punishment are influential in this model of criminal control although the idea of punishment for crime has a much longer history (Jeffery, 1990). Technically speaking, punishments are any sanctions designed to decrease a specific behaviour; thus, fines, jail sentences, etc. are all forms of punishment. However, Skinner himself recognized that punishment was generally ineffective in behaviour modification and that reinforcement worked better (e.g., Skinner, 1966). Actually, a caveat should be applied here. Punishment is effective if applied properly, but unfortunately it rarely is applied properly. Punishment needs to be immediate (or as close to the time the offence occurred as possible), inescapable, and sufficiently unpleasant (in fact the more it is subjectively perceived as harsh the better). Given the judicial system in the U.S. it would be hard to apply punishment to its maximal effectiveness, thus it is not an effective deterrent as seen in the stable homicide rates of states that carry the death penalty. Nonetheless, punishments and sanctions for criminal behaviour are based on behavioural psychological principles. Because harsh forms of punishment do not appear to significantly decrease recidivism rates, other psychological principles have been applied. In terms of cognitive behavioral psychological principles, rehabilitation and relearning, retraining, or educational programs for offenders are forms of psychologically based methods to control crime. These methods are based on the cognitive behavioural methods of teaching an alternative functional response in place of a formally dysfunctional one as opposed to simple punishment. These programs can take place in prisons or outside of the prison and have long been demonstrated to be successful (e.g., Mathias, 1995). So any form of retraining, re-education, or re-entry program is based on psychological principles of criminality and reform. Rehabilitation programs are often rarely implemented in jail or prison however. Many of these programs appear to be especially beneficial for drug and alcohol offenders. Likewise, any form education such as the DARE program and recent efforts to curb bullying in schools are based on these methods. In line with this, changing the environment of the offender such as providing more opportunities would be a psychological behavioural principle designed to cut  crime. In line with other psychological methods are policies aimed at maintaining a visible presence of law enforcement and methods to maintain self-awareness of people in tempting situations. Such methods are preventative. For instance, it has been a well-known social psychological principle that situations that diminish self-consciousness and self-awareness lead individuals to being less restrained, less self-regulated, and more likely to act without considering the consequences of their actions (e.g., Diener, 1979). The simple act of placing mirrors in stores can increase self-awareness and decrease shop-lifting. Likewise, the presence of visible law-enforcement can cut down on substantially crime. Making sanctions and the consequences for crime well-publicized and available to the public is another psychological method to control crime in this vein. Various forms of criminal profiling are based heavily on psychological principles and represent an effort to either apprehend existing criminals or to identify persons at risk for certain behaviour (Holmes & Holmes, 2008). More recently there have been efforts to develop methods to identify individuals at risk for certain forms of deviant behaviour including criminal activities based on personality and social variables. Sociological Approaches Sociological principles and psychological principles of criminality are intertwined and technically not independent. As with psychological theories there are numerous sociological formulations of the cause and control of criminality. For purposes of this paper we will define sociological notions of criminality as: 1. Attempting to connect the issues of the individual’s criminality with the broader social structures and cultural values of public, social, familial, or peer group. 2. How the contradictions of all of these interacting groups contribute to criminality. 3. The ways these structures ,cultures and contradictions have historically developed and evolved. 4. The current processes of change that these groups are undergoing. 5. Criminality is viewed from the point of view of the social make up and construction of criminality and its social causes. Traditional sociological theories proposed that crimes was a result of anomie, a term meaning â€Å"normlessness† or a feeling of a lack of social norms, and feeling departed from a social peer group or departed a lack of being connected to  society. The term was made popular by Émile Durkheim (1897). Durkheim originally used the term to explain suicide, but later sociologists used the term to describe the dissociation of the individual from the collective conscience or the criminality resulting from a lack of opportunity to achieve aspirations or by the learning of criminal values and behaviours. Therefore criminality results by the failure to properly socialize individuals and by unequal opportunities between groups. Durkheim believed that crime was an inescapable fact of society and advocated maintaining crime within reasonable boundaries. A feature of sociological theories is that society â€Å"constructs† criminality. Thus, certain types of human activity are harmful and are judged so by society as a whole. But it is also true that there are other behaviors recognized by society as â€Å"criminal† that do not result in harm to others and are therefore criminalized without sufficient ground, these are the so-called â€Å"victimless† crimes. These include drug use, prostitution, etc. Therefore according to this view if carried to its extreme 100% of the members of a society are lawbreakers at some point. One of the sociological policy methods of crime control would be to advocate for decriminalization of these victimless crimes or at least a vast reduction in their penalties (Schur, 1965). Social programs aimed at socializing children properly and providing support for single family homes are also examples of sociological methods to control crime. There are a number of these programs including care er academies (small learning communities in low-income high schools, offering academic and career/technical courses as well as workplace opportunities). Finally, sociological policies to control crime would enable stronger and harsher penalties to be enforced when regarding serious crimes such as murder, rape, are more effective law enforcement. Again, sociologists accept the reality that crime is a social phenomenon that will not disappear no matter how many interventions are enacted to control it. Sociologists note that of every 100 crimes committed within the United States, only one is sent to prison. A vast number are unreported and of those that are reported only a small portion goes to trial as a result of the victim being too scared to come forward and fear for their social morbidity. If a justice system is to work properly it must be able to rely on its law enforcement system and judicial system to bring to justice and prosecute serious offenders. The purposes of  imprisonment include punishment, rehabilitation, deterrence, and selective confinement. All of these should be utilized where appropriate for the individual (Hest er & Eglin, 1992). Biological Approaches Biological theories of criminality basically purport that criminal behavior is the result of some flaw in the biological makeup of the individual. This physical flaw could be due to (Raine, 2002): (1) Heredity (2) Neurotransmitter dysfunction (3) Brain abnormalities that were caused by either of the above, improper development, or trauma. Biological theorists would also endorse a harder penalty and better law enforcement techniques for crime control, but there are several methods of crime control that are specific to the biological theories of criminality. I will discuss these briefly here. Psychosurgery: Brain surgery to control behaviour has rarely been applied to criminal behaviour. Certainly much more common between the 1930’s to the late 1970’s there were over 40,000 frontal lobotomies performed. Lobotomies were used to treat a wide range of problems from depression, to schizophrenia. However, while widely discussed as a potential treatment for criminal behaviour a perusal of the literature could not find a court ordered case for a lobotomy as a sentence for a convicted criminal Lobotomies were also used for people who were considered an annoyance because the demonstrated behaviours characterized as moody or they were children who were defiant with authority figures such as teachers. The lobotomy involves separating the prefrontal cortex from the rest of the brain either surgically or in the case of the transorbital lobotomy with a sharp ice-pick like instrument that was inserted in the eye socket between the upper eyelid and the eye. In this method the patient was not anesthetized, not even children. The psychiatrists hit the end of the instrument with a hammer to disconnect the nerves in the frontal lobe of the brain. Afterwards behaviours were changed, but at a high price as you can imagine. Today the lobotomy has fallen out of favour due medications used to co ntrol behaviour, although some view the use of medications as equivalent to a lobotomy (e.g., see Breggin, 2008). Psychosurgery appears to be an option that will most likely not be put into use due to the stigma associated with it. Chemical methods of control: The  use of pharmacological treatments to try to control crime has been ongoing in two major areas: chemical castration for sex offenders and pharmacological interventions for drug or alcohol addicts. However, addicts can stop the medication and return to use. Sex offenders are closely monitored and there is some evidence that this policy has been efficacious. Sometimes mentally ill people in the criminal justice system been ordered to take medications to treat their mental illness. Other pharmacological interventions to control crime seem plausible and are being investigated, but do not appear to have been widely used. Others: Deep brain stimulation is used for some disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, but has yet been investigated for criminal behaviour. Biological theorists have advocated changes in diet to deal with criminality (Burton, 2002) and better relations between parents. There is also the famous genetic XYY combination that was once thought to be a marker for a criminal type, but as it turned out these individuals were found to be less intelligent or more likely to have learning difficulties as opposed to being criminal types. While there are many studies indicating a connection between antisocial personality disorder or criminal behavioural and heredity, there are no policies being implemented to advocate for selective breeding, genetic testing etc. for criminals. I do not yet envision a policy of genetic testing for criminals as the variables are not stable enough in order to predict with set of gene combinations are predictive of a biological criminal type (Rutter, 2006) alt hough this is certainly a possibility. If the biological model of criminality has any significant effect on policy outside the use of chemical castration for sex offenders, it would be the policy that certain forms of criminal behaviour or certain individuals may not be rehabilitated and the advocacy for harsher and stricter imprisonments or even executions are viable methods of control in these instances. The issue for the community is how to recognize a significant biological contribution to criminal behaviour since genetic testing is unreliable and there are no other physical markers of criminality. It seems that currently in the absence of very harsh crimes like murder and rape one must be recognized as a repeat offender before we can acknowledge a possible innate tendency towards criminality. By that time the damage, which is often irreparable, is done. Perhaps the answer lies in stricter probation and parole practices for first-time offenders. However,  this policy is expensive and tax payers may not support it. The policy mandating convicted sex offenders to be monitored over their lifetime and certain restrictions placed on them is a result of the acknowledgment of a biological predisposition to engage in this crime and therefore traditional forms of treatment or remediation do not appear to be effective. Similar policies might follow with habitual criminal offenders based on the biological theories of criminality. Reference List American Psychiatric Association (APA, 2002). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th Ed.). Arlington, VA: Author. Breggin, P.A. (2008). Brain disabling treatments in psychiatry: Drugs, electroshock, and the psychopharmaceutical complex. (2nd Edition) New York: Springer University Press. Burton, R. (2002). The Irish institute of nutrition and health. In Diet and criminality. Retrieved June 17, 2011, from http://www.iinh.net/health_and_nutrition_articles/diet_and_criminality.htm. Diener, E. (1979). Deindividuation, self-awareness, and disinhibition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(7), 1160-1171. Durkheim, Emile (1897) [1951]. Suicide: A study in sociology. New York; The Free Press. Hester, S. & Eglin, P. (1992). A sociology of crime. London: Routledge. Holmes, R. M., & Holmes, S. T. (2008). Profiling violent crimes: An investigative tool (Fourth Edition). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc. Jeffery, R. C. (1990). Criminology: An interdisciplinary approach. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Mathias, R. (1995). Correctional treatment helps offenders stay drug and arrest free. NIDA notes, 10 (4). Merton, Robert K. (1968). Social Theory and Social Structure. New York: Free Press. Mischel, W. (1968). Personality and assessment. New York: Wiley. Raine, A. (2002). The biological basis of crime. In J.Q Wilson & J. Petrsilia (Eds.)Crime:Public policies for crime control. Oakland: ICS Press. Rutter, M. (2006). Genes and Behavior: Nature-Nurture Interplay Explained.Boston: Blackwell. Schur E. (1965) Crime without victims. Englewood: Cliffs. Skinner, B. F. (1966). The phylogeny and ontogeny of behavior. Science, 153, 1204– 1213.

The Hundred Flowers Campaign

The Hundred Flowers Campaign began in 1957 when Mao Zedong declared in a speech, â€Å"Let a hundred schools of thought contend,† effectively encouraging criticism from members of the Chinese Communist Party. After members began pointing out where the party had made mistakes, however, Mao suddenly reversed this new policy and began the Anti-Rightist Movement, condemning the critics whose opinions he had just previously invited. Was the Hundred Flowers Campaign a trick designed by Mao to trap his opponents? Mao reversed his policies, which people may use as proof that the campaign was a trick. Mao first announced his call for criticism to the members of the party on 27 February 1957. After they overcame their initial fears of being labelled ‘anti-party,’ members acquiesced to Mao’s request on a tremendous scale, sending millions of letters complaining of corruption, inefficiency, and lack of realism within the party. But then, suddenly, on 19 July 1957, only five months after its conception, Mao halted the campaign and began the Anti-Rightist Movement, a stark contrast to the Hundred Flowers Campaign. It was now a time of harsh suppression; those who had criticized the party were now reprimanded. This sudden and completely turnaround change in policy seems to suggest that the Hundred Flowers Campaign had been a deliberate manoeuvre to lure Mao’s enemies into the open, where they could be easily identified and removed during the Anti-Rightist Movement. Indeed, Mao seemed to have successfully trapped his opponents with this cunning trick. The harshness of the Anti-Rightist Movement also suggests that the campaign was a trick. Those who responded to Mao’s call for criticism most vehemently were now forced to withdraw their statements. Furthermore, thousands of party members were sent to ‘re-education camps,’ where some spent the next five or more years doing hard labour. Even Zhou Enlai, one of Mao’s most loyal supporters, was forced to make a specious and humiliating self-criticism in front of a large party gathering. Mao’s retaliation was severe, precise, and on an enormously large scale. He was obviously poised to attack, and this hints that the Hundred Flowers Campaign was merely a wily method of enticing Mao’s prey. There is, on the other hand, much evidence to support that the campaign was a genuine attempt at reform. In his ‘Contradictions’ speech, given to leading party workers in early 1957, Mao complained of the oppressive way some party officials were applying policies and hinted that it was time to begin permitting intellectuals to voice their opinions. Furthermore, in 1956, he had been tolerant of Hu Feng, a writer who challenged the idea that all artistic merit should be judged based on Marxist-Leninist values, even as other CCP leaders viciously censured him. These two examples show that Mao, although previously disdainful of intellectuals, may have begun to see their importance, and thus may have been honestly inviting their criticism when the Hundred Flowers Campaign began. In addition, the launching of the Hundred Flowers Campaign may have been triggered by events in other communist states rather than a desire to trick party opponents. In 1956, Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev launched an attack on the previous leader Joseph Stalin, dead now for three years, and his ‘cult of personality,’ Mao probably saw how his own popularity—adulating portraits of him were being hung everywhere—could also be interpreted as a cult of personality. Mao obviously wanted to dispel this notion, and may have attempted to do so with the Hundred Flowers Campaign. The campaign showed that he valued other people’s opinions, and that he was not just a heroic public image that deserved unquestioning flattery and praise. Seen from this light, it seems that Mao was not just aiming to trick his opponents. This theory also explains why the transition from the Hundred Flowers Campaign to the Anti-Rightist Movement was so sudden. If Mao indeed feared being compared to Stalin, his fear was relieved in late 1956 when Khrushchev crushed the Hungarian rising, an attempt to break away from the Soviet Union. This event showed that Khrushchev, although critical of Stalin, did not have any intention of relaxing the Communist Party’s authoritarian control over the USSR and its people. Mao realized that he would not have to compete with Khrushchev in developing ‘Communism with a human face,’ and perhaps this caused him to change his mind about the necessity of the Hundred Flowers Campaign. A quick shift into the Anti-Rightist Movement then resulted. After examining the evidence, it becomes clear that Mao did not design the Hundred Flowers Campaign as a trick to trap his opponents. Rather, he launched the campaign because of his increasing appreciation of the opinions of intellectuals, and more importantly, because of his fear of becoming a victim of de-Stalinisation. Although the sudden reversal of policy into the Anti-Rightist Movement may seem suspicious, it looses significance when juxtaposed against the defeat of the Hungarian rising: Mao simply changed his mind.