Human Resource Management---How might organizational culture be Essay

Human Resource Management---How might organizational culture be related to the job satisfaction of the employees - Essay Example Wilton (2011) defines organization culture as knowledge and standards that have been combined together by employees in understanding the environment of the organization (Wilton, 2011). The founder of Wal-Mart Sam Walton showed concerns and respected its staff members since the beginning of the company which developed an air of trust which persists to the current day. The founder used to call staff with their first name and encouraged them to perform better which developed trust. Southwest Airlines is known for its relaxed culture which encourages informality at work. Employees are motivated to help each other which reduced the turnover rate of the company as compared to the industry average. This culture was influenced by unconventional CEO Herb Kelleher (McIntosh & Doherty, 2010). Similarly, Virgin Airways culture allows every single person to participate in coming up with innovative ideas for the company. Microsoft considers its employees their assets and they try to make innovatio ns in compensation packages to make their employees satisfied. Toyota is another example that has highest job satisfaction rate recorded because it applies to the procedure of implementing employee morale surveys in a certain period of time (Gilmore & Williams, 2009). These organization cultures are related to job satisfaction of employees which has made these companies successful over the years. A satisfied employee is able to bring revolution inside a company which can transform it into better ways (McIntosh & Doherty, 2010). The people who govern the organization, provides rules and regulations to maintain ethical behavior inside organizations for the perspective of controlling the act of employees. However, too many rules and strict policies can have a negative impact on the satisfaction level of employees and would ultimately result in lower productivity (Sempane et al., 2002). In case of Southwest Airlines, the casualness of a culture provided the company to reduce turnover ra te. Similar with the case of Toyota which performed employee surveys to check their satisfaction rate and make changes accordingly in organization culture. The company monitors the morale rate and find out reasons for employee dissatisfaction and makes changes (Swart et al., 2005). The company that has supportive environment and supervisors tend to support friendly mentoring of their subordinates then it would lead a better career development and would help in decreasing turnover rate (Knights & Hugh, 2007). The culture of organization and their working styles highly impact the performance of employees. A motivated employee who is highly compensated for better performance and is being provided with rewards, tend to have high morale and they strive to exceed expectations for higher growth (Egan et al., 2004). Walters (2010) describes that productivity of an employee is directly proportional to incentives that are provided by the company (Walters & Walters, 2010). The culture of an or ganization determines policies to handle employees’ compensation packages and treatment of employees over their performance (Roos & Eeden, 2008). A company that tends to provide various facilities, attractive packages and fair treatment, are bound to increase job satisfaction. (Greene, 2011). Microsoft introduced a culture of providing good compensation packages for employees which made them satisfied (Herzberg, 2003). Organizational culture is deeply embedded in the organization and it is how

The Churches Mission in the World Research Paper

The Churches Mission in the World - Research Paper Example This paper will look at 2 of the most reliable and popular sources in the world of Christian literature regarding information on the church’s mission. These 2 sources are â€Å"Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World† by Robert E. Webber and â€Å"Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World† by Lee C. Camp. The chapters that are most appropriate for this paper’s questions will be taken studied and assessed. There will be feedback given on these sources and then the paper will provide its own reflection regarding the church’s mission. It will also explain weather or not it agrees with the information from the sources. It will take on these subtopics as such: Discussion on â€Å"Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World† by Robert E. Webber Discussion on â€Å"Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World† by Lee C. Camp. Reflection on both sour ces and personal feedback Discussion on â€Å"Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for A Postmodern World† by Robert E. Webber This paper took information from chapters 17, 18 and 19 from this book by Robert E. Webber as the portions of the book that most relate to the question this research is trying to answer. In this book, Webber’s approach on explaining the church’s role is mainly associated with evangelism or sharing the word of God. His approach in telling us about the church’s role starts with explaining some historical information about how the church’s evangelism began then moved to telling of evangelism’s progression and how this idea changed or evolved thru time. The book also provides information regarding the church’s shift in how it viewed baptism. According to the book, ancient churches treated baptism as the first step toward conversion, while the early church viewed baptism as â€Å"the culmination of a pr ocess of personal salvation†. (Webber 141-42) According to the book, this is also why the medieval church used force as a tool for evangelism. The book also tells us about the church’s role or its purpose. It tells us that there came a time where reform was needed in the church’s ideas and methods, but despite these reforms, the role of the church was still understood and still remained the same. In essence, the church’s role is to â€Å"Christianize† the world, all while emphasizing the importance of faith, rather than works. The reform movements worked toward letting people know that God initiates salvation. Many movements also worked thru evangelism in their own ways and making sure to introduce God and his teachings into society. The book tells us of â€Å"The great commission† which is the church’s ultimate goal, to convert people to Christ. (Webber 143) The book also tells us about â€Å"problems inherited from the enlightenment †. This tells us about the movement’s association with individualism as being the major problem in the situation. It tells us that this approach focuses too much on â€Å"You† and loses the ultimate message of the gospel. This section of the book also provides deeper differentiation between evangelical and Baptist movements. It provides us both the positive and negative sides of these movements as well as tells us about evangelism’s apparent separation from the church. Along with this information is the

Business Administration Essay Example for Free

Business Administration Essay You should use this file to complete your Assessment. †¢ The first thing you need to do is save a copy of this document, either onto your computer or a disk †¢ Then work through your Assessment, remembering to save your work regularly †¢ When you’ve finished, print out a copy to keep for reference †¢ Then, go to www.vision2learn.com and send your completed Assessment to your tutor via your My Study area – make sure it is clearly marked with your name, the course title and the Unit and Assessment number. Please note that this Assessment document has 8 pages and is made up of 7 Sections. Name: Sophie Griffith-Allen Section 1 – Know the employment rights and responsibilities of the employee and employer 1. Identify four main points that would be included in a contract of employment. If possible, use an example contract to support your answer (feel free to obscure any confidential information). In a contract of employment there are certain details which need to be included about the employer and employee, such as their names. Other information that must be included are about the job itself, such as job title, date of employment, duties and responsibilities that are expected from the employee. At Morrisons a probationary period of 13 weeks is included in a contract of employment and the employees contracted hours of work per week. 2a) List three key points of legislation that affect employers in a business  environment. Health and safety Act 1974 Copyright designs and patents Act 1988- Copyright refers to laws that control the use of the work of a creator, such as an artist or author. For a copyright to apply to a piece of work it must be an original idea of their own that is put to use. Data protection Act 1998 2b) List three key points of legislation that affect employees in a business environment. †¢ Pensions- Are very important for employees as the government think that people aren’t saving enough money towards pensions, as of 2012 pensions will undergo a considerable amount of change. †¢ Pay-there is lots of legislation about employee pay. Some examples include: The Equality Act 2010 which contains measures to protect women from being paid less than men for doing the same job. †¢ The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 an Act that was introduced to prevent very low pay. †¢ Employment rights and responsibilities- ‘Employees are expected to carry out their work in a way that has regard to the safety of others. Employers are expected to abide by a range of requirements governing such aspects as providing safe machinery and equipment, carrying out regular health and safety checks, ensuring the training of employees in health and safety issues, and carrying out a risk assessment to assess the dangers of particular work activities.’ http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/business-theory/people/rights-and-responsibilities-of-employers-and-employees.html#axzz2ENr4by5I 3. Identify a range of places where a person can find information on employment rights and responsibilities. You should identify at least two internal and two external sources of information. Sources of information where a person can find information on employment  rights and responsibilities are internal sources, such as books and documents held within the organisation, informed colleagues and line managers. Another source of information is external which are found outside of an organisation, such as libraries, the government, equality and human rights commission. 4. Describe how representative bodies can support employees. Representative bodies are one of the ways that employees can receive help and support in the work place. The best known examples of representative bodies are trade unions, which are a large organisation that represent the interests of their membership, they can offer assistance through work based representatives and they will also have regional and national expertise that they can use. Union representatives have a right to paid time to help employees, some of the areas where they can support employees are health and safety, workforce agreement, pensions, information and consultation representation. 5. Briefly describe employer and employee responsibilities for equality and diversity in a business environment. You should give at least two employer responsibilities and two employee responsibilities. If possible, provide relevant equality and diversity procedures from your workplace (or place of study) to support your answer. These documents should be annotated to highlight the relevant sections. In any organisation it is important for everyone to be treated equally. Employees and employers should be treated in a fair way and to be given equal opportunities. This is why there are certain responsibilities to be followed by employees and employers to prevent discrimination, such as people who are doing the same job equally well should all be rewarded fairly. It is morally right to treat people fairly and to avoid unfair discrimination. To prevent discriminatory and unfair behaviour there have  been many laws put in place. Both employers and employees should make sure that inappropriate labelling, stereotyping and prejudice do not influence the way an organisation operates. ‘At Morrisons the issue of equality and diversity are taken very seriously. They recruit, develop and keep the most talented people regardless of gender, race, disability, age sexual orientation, religion and nationality. Morrisons is dedicated to being an equal opportunities employer and support all employees to make the best of their skills’. ‘’Our policy aims to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment. We will treat staff, potential staff and the public fairly and with dignity’’. 6. Briefly explain the benefits of making sure equality and diversity procedures are followed in a business environment. Your answer should include one benefit for the employer, one benefit for the employee and one benefit for the overall organisation. Benefits of making sure equality and diversity procedures are followed in a business environment are: Employer: Reduces the incidence of bullying and harassment. Employee: Employees will want to work harder, they feel valued, happier and more efficient. It will increase the chance of open competition for opportunities. Overall organisation: As employees are treated with equality organisations will be more successful. Helps to maintain morale and motivation of the workforce leading to increased quality of products, overall it will become more of a successful organisation. Section 2 – Understand the purpose of health, safety and security procedures  in a business environment 1. Identify employer and employee responsibilities for health, safety and security. If possible, provide relevant health, safety and security policies / documents from your workplace (or place of study) to support your answer. These documents should be annotated to highlight the relevant sections. Employers and employees in any organisation have a legal duty that the working environments are safe and secure. The health and safety Act should be followed at all times. Employer responsibilities: Are to provide a secure, healthy and safe workplace that is free from hazards recognised by the organisation. Ensure that employees have safe tools, equipment and materials. Ensure that equipment provided is always properly maintained. Employers must report any fatal accidents. Employers must provide employees with accurate training and medical examinations when required. Employees responsibilities: Are to inform employers of any hazards that have accrued in the workplace. Report job-related accidents that result to injuries and illnesses. Follow the regulations of health and safety that are set by the employer. Familiarise and obey with the organisations standards. ‘Morrisons are committed to achieving and maintaining the highest standards of health, safety and security standards across the company. All staff at Morrisons receives regular health and safety training. There are many rules that all staff at Morrisons must follow in order to prevent any harm not only to staff but to their customers as well, such as always checking floor surfaces are clean with no spillages etc. Morrisons makes sure that there are always staff present that are first aid qualified in case of any incidents or accidents that have taken place. If any accidents or incidents  did occur within Morrisons all staff recognise that they must be reported as soon as possible.’ 2. Explain the purpose of following health, safety and security procedures in a business environment. The purpose of following health, safety and security procedures in a business environment include: Ensuring the safety and welfare of the individual and others is kept at all times. Ensuring the business/organisation is following relevant legislation. 3. Describe three different ways of maintaining a safe and secure business environment. Ensuring all employees have the necessary safety equipment. Taking time to find where health, safety and security responsibilities lie. To promote a safe working environment is to make sure that safety equipment used by employees is often maintained. Workers must always wear suitable clothing given for the job. Organisations should require that each new member of staff receive and read a company handbook highlighting all safety procedures, and receive regular health and safety training. Having an employee sign a statement that he/she understands and is willing to follow all safety and regulations at all times.

Examining The Definition Of Western Orientalism Cultural Studies Essay

Examining The Definition Of Western Orientalism Cultural Studies Essay Orientalism transfigures the study of Middle East. Edward Said defines, Orientalism as the ethnocentric way Europe approaches the Asian regions.  Europeans looked upon the people of the Orient or the East and Arabic states as gullible and devoid of energy and initiative.   The invasion of European nations proved a radical decline in the natural prosperity of every nation they stumbled upon. The matters of the European sense of superiority and interest in control can also be seen in orientalist scholarship. Backward and barbaric, fundamentally incapable of social, political, or technological modernization, these were the descriptions of the non-western societies given to them by the people of west. Orientalism is the term that signifies the existing dislike and discrimination at the bottom of the political, economic, social and cultural discourses that were created to justify the imperialist Wests invasion and domination over the non-West. In other words, Orientalism was brought o ut as a matter of historical judgment. He illustrates Asian and Islamic Cultures during European imperialism and Europes goals of maintaining power and domination of non-Europeans.He argued that Europe used the Orient and imperialism as a symbol of its strength and superiority. Said suggested that Orientalists are treated as others-in this case, Muslims and Asians-and as objects defined not in terms of their own discourses, but solely in terms of standards and definitions imposed on them from outside. Among the influences underlying these definitions was, in Saids view, a long-standing Western concern with presenting Islam as opposed to Christianity. Said divided orientalism into two categories, one is the latent Orientalism which  is the unconscious, untouchable certainty about what the Orient is. Its basic content is static and unanimous. The Orient is seen as separate, eccentric, backward, silently different, sensual, and passive. It has a tendency towards despotism and away from progress. It displays feminine penetrability and supine malleability. Its progress and value are judged in terms of, and in comparison to, the West, so it is always the other, the conquerable, and the inferior whereas manifest Orientalism  is what is spoken and acted upon. It includes information and changes in knowledge about the Orient as well as policy decisions founded in Orientalist thinking. It is the expression in words and actions of Latent Orientalism. Any humanist would see that before the west intervened, each individual culture followed to their habitat, past experiences, and past knowledge.   Even though they were not modernized they still would have survived on their own just as they had been doing it for centuries.  Ã‚   However, a race of people could not be heartless enough to admit their destruction with a clear conscious and no remorse.   They would not pack their bags and leave a deserted crippled country. Orientalism and Western domination of the rest of the world. Understanding Orientalism is useful in the context of South Asia, as it enables us to understand the relationship between political hegemony and knowledge. Said says Orientalism exposes the European will to domination to create an orderly discipline of study a set of institutions, a latent vocabulary a subject matter, and subject races. It represents the power to make philological distinctions and the institutional force to make statements about Oriental mentality, the inscrutable Oriental, the unreliable and degenerate Oriental. The concept of Orientalism is useful in analysing prevailing literature, generalised and essentialised ideas such as Hinduism and Islam. It is also important in understanding womens movements and feminist discourses in South Asia. Many South Asian women used the criticism of Orientalism to criticise literature, imaginations and situations affecting women. Yet, the idea of Orientalism and the Western imagery of the Orient can be used ideologically by extremis t nationalists and fundamentalists who suppress the freedom of thought under the pretence of defending the Orient and fighting with the West. Misunderstanding the project of Orientalism may increase hostility between people and glorify myths such as West and Orient. It is no longer desirable, in our globalised world, to say that only South Asians can talk about South Asia, or only Hindu can talk about Hinduism and explain Indian religious traditions. For example, Tibetan Buddhism was scorned again during the Victorian period, when Buddhist studies were growing into an academic discipline. As depicted by Prof Lopez, The nineteenth-century constructions of Tibetan Buddhism are part of the heritage of Orientalism, described by Edward Said as a European mode for gaining authority over the Orient, a mode whereby Orientals were controlledpolitically and epistemologicallyby scholars in Europe and colonial officials in Asia. An important part of this scholarship was the self-aggrandizing ab ility of European scholars to write histories of Oriental civilizations that identified their origins, their classical periods, and their decline. The last of these (also called the modern period) was marked by decay and impotence. The modern period was also contemporaneous with European colonialism, one of whose products for the West was knowledge about the East. According to the exponents of this new field of knowledge, the facts and artefacts of the classical period were rescued by the emergent Western scholarship from the custody of the Orientals, who failed to recognize them for what they were and hence lost any right to them. The Orientalist would henceforth speak for the Oriental through heredity of scholarship whose task it was to represent the Orient because the Orient was incapable of representing itself. This representation of the East by the West carried with it the valuation of what was true and what was false, what was worthy and what was worthless. Furthermore, accord ing to Edward Saids  Orientalism, the texts produced by European Orientalists had the power to create not only knowledge but also the very reality they appear to define by delimiting the object of knowledge. Said argues that Orientalism also had more directly political effects: its representations of the Orient provided a justification for imperialism and a foundation for colonial policies and institutions. (Prof Donald S. Lopez Jr, 1994) Iraq is the ultimate illustration of how Orientalist conventional wisdom had it wrong.   Arguing that this Orientalism has driven America to contempt and discriminate against the Orient, and eventually to invade Afghanistan and Iraq as well as arousing certain public opinion against North Korea, may be criticized for its ignorance or exaggeration, especially when the world has observed the events of September attack (9/11) and the North Korean nuclear weapon issue.During the past two centuries Europe has ideologically constituted Asia in relation to itself with the purpose of putting its hand in it. In the past decade, Asian music and culture has spread throughout the West like poppies. The problem is that this Orientalism is still present, long after the imperialist invasions. Bushs policies are the evidence for the existence of Orientalism. The Bush administration invaded Iraq claiming that Iraq had Weapon of Mass destruction (WMD) and that Saddam Hussein was an unforgivable dict ator. As the supposed Weapon of mass destruction (WMD) have not yet been found and as Hussein was the representative of Iraq, chosen by its people, it is natural that the Iraqi people pronounce curse against Bush. With the amount of west intervention in Iraq, it was not possible for the US military force to occupy Iraq forever. During the Bush administration, he announced that the US military force will be withdrawn upon the establishment of a democratic government in Iraq, the US will probably still try to dominate Iraq in one way or another as long as they have an oil interest in Iraq. Their dominance, however, will not last for long, and the US army cannot help but leave Iraq. This is just a matter of time. Americans or people in the world felt over 9/11 attack. Nobody can deny that 9/11 was an atrocity that aroused anger around the world. The world, however, is aware that the broad antagonism of the west especially Americans against the Arab world was one of the main causes of 9 /11, and that the terrorist Bin Laden himself was, in the past nurtured by the US to fight against the USSR. In other words, 9/11 was a trap set by the US themselves then. The war in Iraq, perceptions have proven particularly relevant to the conduct of military operations. However, because Western outlook of this critical region, and forming the personal collection of most Westerners, are predetermined by each individuals experience within his/her culture. This experience is mostly shaped by the images, ideas and impressions retained from exposure to popular culture, media and more or less elaborate programmes or readings, and depending on ones educational accomplishments, personal or professional interests. The common characteristic between all these individual experiences, as far as the Middle-East is concerned, is that they are all immersed in a predominant consensus or discourse about the representation of this critical region of the world. Likewise, the launch of the Arabic lan guage Al-Jazeera satellite channel nearly ten years ago, transformed the television landscape in the Middle East. And over the past three years the channel has gained global reputation and became a name which governments and decision-makers across the world can hardly ignore. Even, In  The Lord of the Rings  film trilogy, the costumes of the Haradrims, a human race who allies itself with the enemy, are Middle-Eastern in style. When children are fed this kind of negative bias against the Middle-East, the subliminal cultural consciousness of whole generations is enduringly and profoundly impacted. The normality of such bad depictions clearly illustrates what several Western intellectuals qualify at best as acceptable political in correctness directed against Middle-Easterner The war declared on terrorism after the massacre of 9/11 in New York, with the subsequent military operations in Afghanistan and in Iraq, revives this tradition of improving interventionism by carrying on the old orientalist-related topic. Far from destroying the Great Divide between the West and the Rest, the wars of a new type support and separate the division between civilized and barbaric in the era of globalization. The explanation of ideology of the American, according to which there would no longer be outside or inside, because no country would now be released from terrorism. What now prevails is a sober vision of globalization, that of a fight to the death between two worlds, extending over all continents, between America, and the Islamic terrorism. But this originality goes back to schemes that are as old as the United States itself, insofar as this self-proclaimed exceptional, autonomous and providential imperial republic has an idealistic or ideal component qualified as es sential. Edward Said also refers to the medias ability to control and filter information as an invisible screen, releasing what it wants people to know and blacking out what it does not want them to know. To accomplish his goal Said sets up a methodological argument within which he addresses three main concepts. First, that imperialism is not about a specific moment in history, but rather a continuing interdependent dialogue between subject peoples and the dominant hegemony of the empire. Secondly, through the production of popular western literature authors have maintained a sense of continued supremacy upon subject peoples. This theorization that postcolonial domination has been institutionalized within western literature is a reference to the idea of a continuing interchange of ideas between dominant culture and oppressed peoples. Lastly, Saids comparison of colonialism to racism is integral to his argument about the continuation of oppression in a postcolonial environment. Throughout his analysis of culture, he focuses on the limitations of subjugated peoples within western culture and the reasons for their continued oppression. In Covering Islam (1997), Said postulates that, if knowledge is power, those who control the modern Western media (visual and print) are most powerful because they are able to determine what people like or dislike, what they wear and how they wear it, and what they should know and must not know about themselves. Said claims that untruth and falsehood about Islam and the Muslim world are consistently propagated in the media, in the name of objectivity, liberalism, freedom, democracy and progress Conclusion In this contemporary world, there is at least more than fifty percent intervention of the west towards the rest of the world. Edward Said argues in Orientalism, his landmark 1978 study of the relationship between the production of knowledge and the exercise of imperial power, the attitudes and images created by this tradition compose a closely bound system of created knowledge, of willed human work, about the Eastern other which the imperial powers of Europe and North America have historically used to invite and justify political and economic intervention and imperialism. Critics who have studied Orientalism in Europe, especially in nineteenth-century literature, have pointed out that there is much that can be learned about the Wests image of itself through the way Western writers have depicted the Orient. The influential popular magazine, The National Geographic, established in 1988 used to represent a window on the world for millions of middle class Americans at a time when movies and televisions were either not yet invented or in their infancy. The plain picturesque coverage of the Middle-East, by this magazine, showed the Arabs as exotic Orientals Mass media and movie industry developed throughout the twentieth century to become the main spreader of information, images and attitudes about the region to the public at large. The Arab Muslim progressively became a figure in American popular culture. No one can deny that orientalism has made great contributions to the study of Arab culture and history, and to the religion of Islam. Orientalists were and still are standing as experts in Arab-Islamic culture. They accumulated very rich knowledge and experience in this field of inquiry. In fact they made tremendous contribution to research, translation, and ultimately to the preservation and indexing of Arab-Islamic heritage.

John Stuart Mill’s Education Essays -- John Stuart Mill Education Essa

John Stuart Mill’s Education John Stuart Mill’s education was intense at all times, but at different stages in his life he learned different things and in different ways. Though his education was unique by all accounts, it embodied many virtues that modern educational systems strive to include. These include: close parent involvement and one-on-one work between students and teachers; exposure to intellectual role models; emphasis on independent thought, logic, and pursuing curiosities; being held to high standards for achievement; being free from invidious comparisons to peers; and learning the value of seeking out peers for intellectual support and stimulation. He also learned, during personal struggles to understand his relationship with his father and to rediscover passion for life after his mental crisis, that the responsibility for his education and his happiness ultimately lay with himself. Most stunning in his account is what he learns about his father during his process of evaluating the way his father educated him, judging his father’s ideas and abilities, and navigating his relationship with his father over time. During his early childhood Mill’s father tutored him in classical languages and history through structured lessons overseen by his father. His father’s patience encouraged him to ask questions and made him understand that his education was a priority. In retrospect he described his early education as an example of how much can be accomplished in a period of life that is generally wasted. Though he was reading Greek by age three, he attributes his achievements not to his own genius but to his learning environment. While the modern reader is inclined to disbelieve this modest assertion, his unique up... ...his education at different stages of his life, but I think I presented it here much as I read it – which is to say, I’m more inclined to praise Mill’s education than my professor and classmates are. I hope I’ve done a good job of explaining why I think his early education prepared him for everything, even his mental crisis, because I consider that personal struggle a vital part of his education. Learning about oneself and having to provide one’s own meaning for life is an important part of education, and the foundation of logical thought, facing and meeting challenges, and persevering with tough tasks, helped Mill through his mental crisis. I still really like Mill, and though I’m obviously no where near the extreme of his life, I identify to some extent with the way he thinks, the way he was raised, and the personal struggles he’s had to work through on his own.

Graduation Speech :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Do we look like fortune tellers? Declare a major? Chart a course? Have a burger instead of a dog? What do you want to do when you grow up? There are more forks in the road ahead of us than at the Country Buffet -- and we're asked to choose just one! What is your favorite color? Blue. But are orange and red and puce out of the question? Banished from possibility? Put on the eternal yuck list? It just means that blue works today, but the rest of the rainbow is at our fingertips -- to use later, or not at all. We are full of secrets. We have lives and interests and talents that exist independent of math, and English, science and social studies. Secrets in the shadows of assemblies, football games, clubs, sports, dances and homework. We have friends who paint murals, write poetry, build cars, manage computer networks, train for the Olympics and save lives. Underneath these goofy caps are talents and dreams, ambitions and hopes -- enough to last decades, to build families, to change communities, to change lives. And our real destinations are secret -- even from ourselves -- and that's OK. We may have an idea, a plan, a passion. But we can't tell for sure. We will arrange flowers, electrons, words and water. We'll shape ideas, images, politics, missions and metal. We'll be productive and worthwhile, but where do we start? I'm starting with cows! While fussing over what I would do for my application project, I said to myself, "Sarah, what do you really want to do? What do you wanna have fun learning about?" and my answer was, "I would like to hang out with cows." Now, let me tell you, it is not easy to walk up to a dairy farmer and say, "Hello, can I come hang out at your farm and play with your thousand-pound puppies?" but I was fortunate enough to find an incredible mentor and family who welcomed me into their lives. A year later, I continue to learn from my "farm family," and my "cow friends." In fact, one week from today I plan to pile into a pick-up truck and head to Boise to attend the National Holstein Convention to learn more about cows and spend more time with the people who love them -- talk about great stuff! Someday, it may be because of my secret life that you've "got milk.

Environmental Concern Issues

Did you ever think that something meant to aid in the advance of humans could be potentially fatal at the same time? What about a disease that was considered â€Å"dead†, resurfacing and killing unsuspecting people? What about the fact that we as human beings are ruining the only place for us to live, the earth? These questions sound outrageous, right? Wrong, these issues are considered environmental problems that we will soon face. These issues are very serious and many people have no idea that they even exist. To have problems and not even know about them is definitely grounds for destruction. We as a people, must look at the problems of antibiotic resistance, increasing diseases, weapons as wastes, and waste disposal and reduction and, if left unaddressed, these issues will become fatal problems in the near future. Many Americans get sick everyday; this usually warrants a trip to the doctor†s office. The doctor will usually examine the patient and prescribe an antibiotic. Antibiotics are being used as a way to solve medical problems. The heavy use of antibiotics is causing a threat to the population. They are so widely used and are beginning to become a contaminant in the environment. When used so frequently, antibiotics are found in the sewers, septic tanks, and even receiving waters. With antibiotics being so abundant in these places, the microbes here are now becoming resistant. With all of the sterilization and sanitation precautions, we would not expect to come in contact with these microbes. Reality is, we do. We come in contact with these microbes and sometimes become sick. Being sick means another trip to the doctor; only this time, the antibiotics that the doctor prescribes won†t work. This is due to the fact that the microbes that caused the sickness are resistant to the drugs, being that they are so abundant in microbe breeding grounds. In order to treat sickness, doctors must evaluate their patients more efficiently and choose other methods of treatment before they prescribe antibiotics. If the amount of antibiotics being released into the environment can be reduced, there won†t be a time when simple infections can†t be treated. Conditions that can†t be treated with antibiotics are called infectious diseases; they are on the rise and kill over 17 million people per year. The importance of this is that most dying are young. Young people are dying from recurring tuberculosis, and the AIDS epidemic. The reasons for these deaths are new strains of the viruses, increased poverty, declining public health measures and increased human contact. To halt the increase of the deaths, we must educate the public. If the symptoms, causes for, and methods of prevention are not taught to the public, they will continue to die unfounded deaths. Education and prevention are the only way that these diseases can be defeated. Weapons are contaminants of the environment also. The disposal of obsolete weapons is a problem being faced due to military tensions diminishing. Explosives, chemical weapons and nuclear weapons are being dumped into landfills and water bodies, causing contamination and posing serious health risks for those who come in contact with them. To prevent this, a way to dispose of these weapons without causing health risks must be developed. Until then, they must be kept out of everyone†s reach to prevent harm. Other contaminants include solid and toxic waste. With the increase of economy, comes the increase of waste. Waste is anything that is not desired by an organism; releasing waste into the environment causes health risks for all organisms. To reduce these risks, government regulation must be initiated. Recycling, reducing and reusing must also be executed. If not as much waste is produced or it can be reused, this problem may be decreased. All in all, to keep what we have and maybe improve it, antibiotics use must be reduced, infectious diseases must be prevented, weapons must be disposed of properly and we must reduce solid and toxic waste. These problems will be facing the population very soon and unless we are equipped with knowledge and know-how in these areas, we will suffer immensely from what can seem to be such simple problems. We must initiate defense mechanisms against these problems so that these â€Å"secret killers† do not kill us off. As the presidential election approaches, American citizens will be hearing many campaign speeches. It has been said that Vice President Albert Gore plans to address the issue of increased climate change in his campaign. With increased climate change, the population must be made aware of this issue; in addressing this potentially dangerous issue, there are some points that should be made to successfully get the point across. To successfully get this information out, the causes, influence, and possible ways to correct this problem must be addressed. The main cause of this issue is human behavior. With humans being a more advanced population, they also increase the production of a major climate-changing factor. This factor is the overproduction of greenhouse gases. Increased population, causes the increased production solid waste that is harmful to the environment. Fossil fuel burning is also a result of human behavior, which contributes to the production of the greenhouse gases. The overproduction of greenhouse gases is the immediate issue that must be addressed to increase knowledge of the increased climate change. The greenhouse gases are gases that are responsible for the heat trapping capability of the atmosphere of the earth. With a higher capability to trap heat, the temperature of the earth is greatly affected. Fluctuation in the temperature is the effect of human behavior and overproduction of the greenhouse gases. With the fluctuation of temperature, come the impacts of overproduction of the greenhouse gases. The impacts must also be addressed to acknowledge this problem. These impacts can be seen in raised sea levels, change in precipitation and change in local climate conditions. The temperature can also alter forests, crop yields and the water supply of the Americans. These alterations will then threaten human health conditions, harm birds and fish and cause imbalances in many other ecosystems. Along with animals being affected, it has been said that deserts may expand into rangelands and some National Parks may be affected. To better control this issue, some solutions must be planned and executed. The first step, must be the education of the population. With the threats of these human behaviors being known, governmental programs will be able to be implemented. These programs must include the encouragement of switching to carbon fuels and education of the causes, impacts and solutions of this problem. The development of reusable energy alternatives, solid waste reduction and recycling, as well as waste prevention are some effective solutions that should be put into play. The management of agricultural systems as well as energy efficiency could aid in the prevention and reduction of greenhouse gases. When these programs and ideas are put into play and discussed as solutions, this problem may be effectively addressed and eventually under control. To discuss the issues of climate change, the causes, influence on society and probable solutions must be addressed. In the upcoming months, the presidential candidates will need to address many issues; to address these issues and get the points across to Americans, effective presentation must be used. To effectively present the issue of climate change and almost any issue, the causes, the effects and the corrections to these problems must be addressed. If humans are able to cause such enormous problems, they must know be educated about them and must try to correct these problems, if humans are to survive as a population.