Problem Solving Mini Project Report Essay Example for Free

Problem Solving Mini Project Report Essay 1.Introduction NTU students spend lots of time in tutorial rooms studying. However, the chairs in NTU tutorial rooms are uncomfortable. Seat pans and backrests are plastic and tables attached to right armrests are 20cm above the seat pans and too small to place taptops. Students complain about these chairs. According to our group’s survey, 70 of 72 SM2 students suffer backaches after long hours of writing sitting on the chairs. Since tables are fixed, most students are forced to bend down to write on the table for a long time, which puts a great strain on their backs and causes pain. Also, half students interviewed feel the illumination of rooms is inadequate. Therefore, we have modified the TR chairs to solve these problems. 2.Body 2.1 Criteria for solution The modified chairs should meet the following requirements: †¢Tables are adjustable and easy to fold; †¢Backrests support the back of the body; †¢Seatmats are soft; †¢Tables can generate light according to indoor lighting conditions; †¢Chairs are aesthetically pleasing; †¢Cost is low. 2.2 Description of the solution Our ‘wonderchairs’ are like glossy silver eggs made from hard glass-fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP). Chairs have three foldable layers with two wheels at the bottom. The top layer with one side stuffed with rayon can be flipped over as a backrest. The backrest is positioned at an angle of 100 °and stuffed with soft Rayon stuffing which supports the back of the body comfortably. The second layer serves as a table with a 22cm-radius, overcoming the existing defect of being too small which hinders comfortable writing. It can be easily lifted and pushed forward by 20cm by pulling or rotating a lever to suit a student’ personal need so that he can write comfortably on the table. The third layer is a relaxing 24cmÃâ€"24cm seat with a beige corduroy cover and Rayon stuffing. The tables can automatically generate light from LED lamps on the desktop. Lamps are 25cm sticks in a groove on the table when not working. By rotating them 90 °we connect the lamps to a circuit and they start working. Tables consist of three layers. The first is made from transparent GFRP to allow maximum light to pass through and be absorbed and turned into electricity by the photo-voltaic panel in the second layer. The second layer also contains a light sensor detecting lighting condition and accordingly adjusting the intensity of the lamp light. Powered by photo-voltaic panel, the lamp produces proper light according to the indoor illumination conditions. This ensures appropriate room lighting. The third layer is opaque GFRP to strengthen the table. The self-lighting system utilizes solar energy to create light, so it is energy-saving and environmentally-friendly. 2.3 Cost The wonderchairs have low cost and predict great potential for mass use in colleges. One chair: SG$ 1 (Rayon)1 SG$ 1 (Aluminum lever+wheels)2 SG$ 2 (GFRP)3 SG$ 2.5 (solar panel)4 SG$ 0.1 (light sensor)5 SG$ 1 (lamp)6 Total: SG$ 7.51 3 Conclusion Our wonderchairs are targeted at reducing present NTU TR chairs’ discomfort and harm to the human body. Their soft seatmats, supportive backrests and adjustable tables minimize backaches and maximize comfort levels for students. The lighting system provides appropriate light. Their revolutionary egg-shaped design also appeals to students. Moreover, they are cheap enough to be used on a great scale and their use can be extended to homes and offices to benefit more people.

Approaches to Psychology Essay Example for Free

Approaches to Psychology Essay The psychoanalytic approach was started and developed mainly in Europe between 1900 and 1939 by Sigmund Freud, a Viennese doctor who specialized in neurology. As a doctor, he became interested in the field of hysteria the manifestation of physical symptoms without physical causes and became convinced that unconscious mental causes were responsible, and could be responsible for all mental disorders and even our personality. He created the theory of personality, and based his ideas upon intensive case studies of a considerable range of patients, especially his infamous study on Little Hans, a young boy who Freud carried out psychoanalysis upon. Bowlby (1946) applied Freuds theories when he used psychoanalysis on a large group of children with various ages on a study of habitual delinquency. The central emphasis is on dynamic, biological processes especially those taking place in the unconscious mind, and involves the idea of psychic determinism, i. e. Freudian slips. Freud said that we all have instinctual drives wishes, desires, needs, or demands, which are hidden and suppressed from the consciousness because society disapproves of their open expression. Freud proposes three main components of the mind; the id, the ego and the superego. The id operates on the pleasure principle and its goal is immediate gratification and reduction of tension caused by irrational impulses. The ego operates on the reality principle, and controls the id in its reaction with the world. The superego operates on the idealisation principle, with norms and values of society being internalised. According to this approach, we all undergo psychosexual stages oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital which gradually motivate the individual to focus on the libido, and can be linked with the Oedipus complex. The libido is described as psychic energy behind primary drives of hunger, aggression, sex and irrational impulses. Fixation at any of these stages can lead to behaviour in our adulthood reflecting earlier stages of our childhood, which are caused by unresolved conflicts. For example, fixation at the oral stage can cause adult behaviour that is centred on the mouth (eating, smoking, etc. ) The purpose of psychoanalysis was as a therapy to treat mental disorder by means of treating the unconscious mind. The methods that Freud used for investigating the unconsciousness were by means of case studies, and deep analysis and interpretation. Free association involves the uninhibited expression of thought association, no matter how bizarre or embarrassing, from the client to the analyst. Dream analysis involves the analyst attempting to decode the symbols and unravel the hidden meaning (the latent content) of a dream from the dreamers report (the manifest content). Freud used his theory to explain a number of topics. He explained that the development of personality came from fixations or defence mechanisms, and that aggression was caused by hydraulic drives and displacement. Abnormality was seen as the consequence of early traumas and repression, which subsequently could impair our moral and gender development, the latter being the result of the Oedipus complex. The psychoanalytic approach has been greatly influential within psychology, in areas such as psychotherapy and developmental theories, and also beyond in art, literature and other sciences, some 100 years since Freud first developed his ideas. His theory has had some experimental support in certain areas, such as repression and fixation. Freud introduced the world to the concept of the unconscious, and regarded his case studies like Little Hans and Anna O as firm empirical support for his theory. He thought his belief in determinism and detailed collection of data were scientific, yet many psychologists today argue that his theories and ideas are too biological, that is that they rely too much on the influence of basic instincts and physical drives. Most of Freuds ideas and concepts came from only a handful of results on the study of children. Freud could have allowed his own prejudices to shape his analysis, leading to no objective measures. His close interventions and feedback to the childs family could have changed the childs behaviour and that of its family. Psychoanalysis lacks rigorous empirical support, especially regarding normal development, and leads to reductionism, i. e. it reduces human activity to a basic set of structures, which cant account for behaviour. Freuds ideas have been accused of being irrefutable, and are therefore theoretically unscientific. Another approach to psychology is the behaviourist approach, which concentrates on the theory of learning and behavioural therapy, and tries to explain behaviour in terms of its relation to environmental events (stimuli), rather than any innate factors. The view that behaviour should be the sole subject matter of psychology was first advanced by the American psychologist John B. Watson in the early 1900s. His position came to be called behaviourism. He believed that psychologists could not afford to speculate upon the unobservable inner workings of the mind, since they are too private to be studied scientifically. For the behaviourist, much of their research focuses on objectively observable behaviour, rather than any internal process. The approach proposes that behaviour is radical, and that it is caused and maintained in this way.

European Model Of Corporate Governance

European Model Of Corporate Governance Corporate governance comes into play in cases where the management of the organization has to be carried out by a manager or a group of managers who are not the owners of the organization. In essence, corporate governance is implemented by a business financers in order to monitor and regulate the organizations utilization of their investments (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). In this case, the individuals hired to manage the business are paid employees and are responsible for the effective execution of the organizations processes. As a result of this arrangement, it is only natural for a separation to exist between the ownership of the organization and the management of the organization (Brickley, Coles Jarrell, 1997). While this may appear to be a simple concept, modern day business models have allowed corporate governance models to develop rapidly over the last few years and this has led to the development of differing corporate governance models. The implementation of these cor porate governance models generally varies in accordance with the region in which the organization is functioning and the nature of business of the organization. This paper will attempt to compare and contrast the Anglo-American model and the European Model of Corporate Governance. The paper will attempt to perform this comparison in order to ascertain which of the two models more accurately reflect emerging corporate trends. Furthermore, the discussion will make international comparisons based on a variety of different economies. Before moving on with the discussion, it is essential to come to terms with the role of the board of directors of the organization. The board of directors play a pivotal role in corporate governance models. This is because of the fact that they serve as the bridge between the stakeholders of the organization and the management team responsible for the organizations processes (Brickley, Coles Jarrell, 1997). The sensitivity of the role of the board of directors can be judged through the fact that an extensive degree of research has been performed on the functions and composition of the board of directors. Regardless of the corporate culture in the organization, the board of directors remains present as a critical connection between the organizations human capital and the organizations stakeholders. Another reason because of which the board of directors are given extensive relevance is the fact that almost all corporate governance models look towards the board of directors when it com es to the implementation of the corporate governance models (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). The characteristics of the board of directors tend to vary with regard to the size of the organization, the region/regions in which the organization is functioning, the existence of the company as a listed or unlisted company and the industry/industries in which the organization is operating. A practical example of the implementation of the European model of corporate governance and the Anglo-American model of corporate governance can be observed in the case of the US and Europe respectively (Brickley, Coles Jarrell, 1997). In Europe, a small number of investors are capable of making pivotal investment decisions and these decisions are generally aligned with the interests of the selected investors responsible for the decisions. In comparison, the system generally followed and proffered in the US calls for the inclusion of multiple opinions and perspectives (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). The corporate strategy that is developed and eventually implemented is not finalized until all the investors are and shareholders are in unanimous agreement. Managements role In the case of the Anglo-American countries, it is often considered that the Anglo-American system of corporate governance gives unquestioning support to the management (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). This creates a scenario in which the management appears to have a role that is limited to the short run and does not encompass the long run. It can therefore be surmised that the management, in the case of the Anglo-American system of corporate governance, frequently communicates with the stakeholders. As a result, managers in the Anglo-American system of corporate governance try to implement strategies that will show outcomes within the span of a year or two (Brickley, Coles Jarrell, 1997). In comparison, when the management implements the European model of corporate governance, decisions are taken with outcomes expected around five years. In such cases, the shareholders generally hold more decision making authority than that which is given to the managers. Furthermore, controllin g and holding structures are significantly common in organizations making use of the European model of corporate governance. In such cases, the European model of corporate governance is also often referred to as the concentrated shareholder model because of the extensive authority that it gives to the shareholders. This concentration of ownership can often lead to the development of complications in cases where financial resources have to play their part (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). The number of equity suppliers is generally deficient in the European model of corporate governance because of the concentration of ownership. Another characteristic of the European model of corporate governance that merits highlighting at this point is that which pertains to the role of the capital market. The capital market holds importance for corporate governance on account of the fact that the developments in the capital market have a direct influence on the corporate controls of the organization (Brickley, Coles Jarrell, 1997). While the Anglo-American model of corporate governance relies heavily on the capital market and seeks to takeover threats in the capital market, the European model of corporate governance gives primary relevance to the stakeholders. Internal Differences Labour motivation is a critically important factor when it comes to the organizations performance. Since labour in the European model of corporate governance is always a part of the decision making process, it is generally more motivated than the labour force in the Anglo-American model of corporate governance. Since the labour is relatively highly motivated, they choose to contribute to the organizations development aggressively (Brickley, Coles Jarrell, 1997). This active participation on the labours part tends to place a limitation on the degree to which the supervisory board can exercise authority (Hanson Song, 2000). Influences of the labours active participation can generally be seen in the development of the organizations human resource management policies. The realist theory of codetermination understands co-determination as labour representation. Labour as the most important stakeholder group besides the shareholders should be represented and have a right to participate in the decision making on the level of the second board, i.e. the advisory board in the two-tier-board system (Hanson Song, 2000). Co-determination as representation does not aim at consent about all matters of corporate governance. It is rather geared towards the right to participate and to be included and heard in corporate governance for the sake of workers recognition as well as for the sake of other stakeholders of the firm because workers participation in decision-making enhances the quality of board decisions. If the shareholders prevent the shirking of the employees of the firm according to the theory of the firm introduced by Alchian and Demsetz (1996), codetermination by labour results analogously in the prevention of shirking by shareholders and managers th at causes damage to labour as shirking by employees causes damage to the shareholders. If the shareholders and/or managers do not perform optimally labour will prevent them from shirking, from not making their contractual contributions to the firm. Industrial relations are traditionally better in continental Europe than in the USA which leads to higher work place satisfaction and higher identification with the firm (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). These, in turn, cause higher productivity rates. In the last two decades since 1988, the process of the globalization of capital markets seemed to support the shareholder principle, not the participation principle. In the context of globalization As globalization continues to influence the development of the global economy, corporate governance also becomes subjected to standardization based on the successful implementation of strategies by management teams around the world (Hanson Song, 2000). The case of General Motors and Ford presents an excellent example in this regard. General Motors and Ford have produced in Germany in huge production sites for over seventy years and did not find it unprofitable to adjust to codetermination legislation which is about 35 years old in 2008. In the European institutional setting, there is a greater complexity on the second board level that causes certain additional costs. There is, however, also the gain of additional information about the firm and of greater labour alignment with the aims of the firm as a result of labour representation in corporate governance on the level of the second board level. The participation or co-determination principle can increase corporate performance if it is understood as a principle of representation and not as a consensus principle and if it is instituted together with the control principle of hostile takeovers (Hanson Song, 2000). Codetermination as representation of the employees on the board increases the learning capacity of the organization and also fulfils a pacification function in conflict situations within the enterprise as long as the majority vote of the shareholders or owners is safeguarded. The synthesis between the Anglo-American principle of the capital market as the market for corporate control and the German principle of co-determination as employee representation in corporate governance on the second board level is possible, even under conditions of globalization (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). The point to which the two systems of corporate governance, the USA and the Continental European, converge to is the strengthening of capital market control of management in Europe and the strengthening of labour repr esentation in corporate governance in the USA. The purpose of the firm Another difference between the Anglo-American and the Continental European theories of corporate governance concerns the idea of the purpose of the firm (Lipton Lorsch, 1992). The purpose of an institutional part or subsystem of a society is the major resource from which ethical analysis and decision-making draws from since the purpose of action is the most important and defining feature of an action. The purpose of any human action is the major criterion for the ethical assessment of an action or institution (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). The reason is that the purpose or aim of an action or institution is the central cause of an action or institution and, therefore, the central criterion for its success and value in economic, cultural and ethical respect. Ethics gives the conditions under which value creation must take place as constraining and as enabling conditions (Hanson Song, 2000). Value creation can take place under the neglect of the personal right of the person or of human dignity if the market conditions cause such groups of individuals to have a weak competitive position. If there is an over-supply of labour its competitive position is weak. The law might have to protect human dignity against exploitation and abuse when competition in the market does not preserve the human rights of the market participants (Becht, Chapelle Renneboog, 2000). Situations of prisoners dilemma in which it is advantageous for the individual to behave opportunistically require the affirmation of ethical and legal rules independent of the utility calculus of the acting individual. Loyalty to contracts e.g. is a principle that cannot be derived from individual utility maximization for each act but must be asserted by the individual on its own meri t for ethical reasons (Thompson Wright, 1995). It can only be justified by rule utilitarianism for the general rule and not by act utilitarianism for each single act. This implies that one has the duty to be loyal to a contract even if a more advantageous contract is available instead. The non-conditional hyper-norm of the economy must be distinguished from the second order positive norms of the institutional setting of business. Some of these positive norms are sometimes suggested to be ethical or normal rules of the first order although they are in fact norms or virtues of economic organization that imply some degree of freedom of specification although their organization touches on ethical virtues, or norms of the second order. The European model of the firm emphasizes that the firm is a multi-purpose institution in which shareholder value plays the central but not the only role (Becht RÃ ¶ell, 1999). The Anglo-American model of the firm emphasizes shareholder value as the onl y or last purpose of the firm to which the other (stakeholder) purposes are instrumental or, at least, functional. At this point, the development will go in the direction of the European model since it is more inclusive and interprets the stakeholders to be of more then instrumental value to the firm. The recent global recession has led to the development of a scenario in which it has become imperative for organizations to exercise corporate governance. It therefore comes as no surprise that the last few years have seen a significant increase in the volume of literature on corporate governance. Furthermore, the increasing trends in globalization and the rapid developments in international businesses have placed organizations in a position where it has become crucial for them to revisit their corporate governance methodologies (Becht RÃ ¶ell, 1999). These recent changes in corporate governance, and the processes of globalization that have induced them, are obviously of historic proportion, radically altering as they have economic, political and social structures. The stakes in these reforms are high and they may be literally life and death for the most vulnerable organizations. Conclusion In the literature of corporate governance, there has been an on-going debate about whether financial or banking models are more effective. As noted above, it is currently being argued that the key to effectiveness does not depend upon whether a country adopts one or the other model, but whether it has a well-functioning legal system which allows for the timely enforcement of contracts. If this position is correct, then the ability of developing countries to enforce a model of corporate governance may be ultimately tied to larger questions of democratic political reform a prospect which many critics feel is being undermined by the very forces of globalization promoting an Anglo American model of governance. An important question that the experience of developing countries raises but one which it was not possible to systematically investigate in this issue is whether individual countries acting alone will be able to effectively enforce an Anglo-American model of governance in a globa l economy. The above discussion attempted to present an in depth insight into the differences between the Anglo-American model of corporate governance and the European model of corporate governance. The discussion made it clear that the fundamental distinction between the two models lies in the fact that they are present in differing business contexts (Warner, Watts Wruck, 1988). These contexts are dictated by the shareholder identity, shareholder concentration, stock liquidity and interlocking ownership. It can be observed here that there is a difference between the two approaches in how they address the two issues of ownership and control. The strengthening of labour representation in the American firm can improve the firms ability to discover chances and weaknesses within the organization and to use this knowledge for increased performance. The strengthening of the market for corporate control through a more active capital market in Europe will improve the performance of management. Furthermore, globalization will move corporate governance in the direction of such a synthesis. It is likely that this model will radiate to the global market. The question of whether economies will converge towards a common corporate Anglo-American governance system, or sustain the present diversity of institutions is one of the key issues facing countries in Europe, the Asia Pacific and throughout the rest of the world (Malette Hogler, 1995). Lower economic growth and higher unemployment in Europe compared to the Anglo-American countries since the mid-1990s, undermined some of the confidence in Europes social model (though by 2005 Germany had returned to its former position as the worlds largest exporter). Despite the pressures towards adopting Anglo-Saxon modes of corporate governance, the divergences in both the policy and practice of corporate governance in Europe have thus far resisted any move towards European standards. However with greater market integration and the developing influence of Anglo-American institutional investors, it is possible the market will play a greater role. Yet debates on company law harmonization in the Eur opean Union have been held up by countries not wishing to see elements of their own systems of corporate governance disappear in the process. One explanation for this impasse is the institutional complementarily thesis which justifies the continuing diversity of systems, rejecting the one-best-way strategy adopted by the convergence thesis. Instead a plurality of models is assumed, each corresponding to local circumstances, supported by a cluster of social norms and regulation, enabling balanced economic development. It can also be argued that the Anglo-American models can serve as an effective method for breaking unhealthy state business relationships and imposing more discipline on domestic corporations (Yermack, 1996). The diversity of corporate models is valuable and is rooted in societal characteristics that together shape the competitiveness of the different models. Though shareholder value may be gaining ground due to the influence of Anglo-Saxon institutional investors, a stakeholder approach is closer to the reality of European social democracies, and the outcome of the confrontation between the two competing philosophies is highly uncertain. It is unlikely that imported Anglo-Saxon capital market related features of corporate governance will work well with Continental labor-related aspects of corporate governance as represented in supervisory boards. It is likely any such European compromise would be more unstable than existing systems. The attractiveness of the Anglo-American finance and governance institutions permeated with inequality and subject to recurrent severe market cycles and financial crisis is open to question as a model for universal applicability. Indeed the damaging consequen ces of the 2008 financial crisis will impact severely upon the world economy, and could well dislodge the faith that the market based governance system is the only rational and efficient one for the future. It is more likely that solutions will be found to pressing problems of equity, sustainability and innovation in a diversity of finance and governance systems, responsive to deeper and wider concerns than the self-interest of the executives who control corporations, financial institutions and hedge funds. The paper served to clarify that while the Anglo-American model of corporate governance seeks to implement external discipline methodologies. This entails the concentration of the organizations resources and attention towards elements such as proxy fights in the competitive landscape, handling liability management claims and the sustenance of management reputation. The Anglo-American model of corporate governance is somewhat aggressive and appears to be a model that continuously demands the organization to function as a challenger in the competitive landscape. In comparison, the European model of corporate governance seeks to make use of extensive alignment between the organizations stakeholders. The external methodologies brought into use by the European model of corporate governance tend to increase coordination and communication across the organization in an attempt to streamline the organizations functions in accordance with the organizations objectives. In addition, the European model of corporate governance also seeks to ensure that the organizations objectives are understood and that the management, stakeholders and board of directors are in mutual agreement on the objectives of the organization. The comparison of the two corporate governance models has served to reveal that the Anglo-American model of corporate governance is an aggressive corporate governance model and in order to exercise the Anglo-American model of corporate governance the organization needs to have a strong foundation (Wolfenzon, 1998). This is because of the fact that the Anglo-American model of corporate governance often requires the managers to make decisions that are in favour of their own perspectives and require over-investment. In this case, the managers do not seek the approval of external stakeholders and proceed with the implementation of their decisions. In this regard, the European model of corporate governance comes forth as the preferred corporate governance model. This is because of the fact that the European model of corporate governance gives the organization the margin of deciding on an orientation that is best suited for the competitive landscape in which the organization is functioning (Wolfenzon, 1998). While the Anglo American model of corporate governance demands that the organization plays aggressively continuously, the European model of corporate governance gives the organization the margin it needs to adapt to changing needs. As a result, the organization can choose to function passively and steadily when it chooses; and functions aggressively when it chooses. In essence, the increased communication and coordination between the strategic, operational and tactical elements of the organization allows the organization to ensure that it does not get exposed to any high-risk scenarios. The recommendation of the European model of corporate governance is based on the pretext that recent global economic trends have proved that it is feasible for organizations to adopt an organization that minimizes their exposure to risk. Managerial reputation and status cannot be given importance over the organizations sustained growth because most organizations that have been successful in the last few decades have chosen to follow their expansion strategies with consistency; regardless of the speed at which they grew. While some organizations chose to grow rapidly by intentionally engaging in high-risk investments, others chose to implement the European model of corporate governance by reducing their risk exposure. Organizations such as these proceeded by studying internal and external scenarios closely before finalizing and implementing a strategy. It is because of this reason that such organizations were able to minimize the degree to which they were impacted by the recent global recession. It can be observed that the European model of corporate governance requires the management to engage in a level of coordination that the Anglo-American model of corporate governance does not call for. As a result, the European model of corporate governance places the management in a position where every decision that materializes into action is of a nature such that is supports the organization and is not influenced by a desire to drive up managerial reputation and status. Another key reason because of which the European model of corporate governance is recommended over the Anglo-American model of corporate governance is because the European model of corporate governance satisfies the need for the generation of shareholder profitability. The Anglo-American model of corporate governance does not give primary relevance to shareholder profitability because the authority to make investment decisions is placed and limited in the hands of a few individuals. In comparison to this, the European model of corporate governance places the organization in a position where the generation of shareholder profitability enables the organization to attract more investors. In this regard, it would be just to bring the paper to a concluding note with the statement that the European model of corporate governance accurately reflects emerging corporate trends. The examples and elaborations presented in the above discussion make it clear that the European model of corporate go vernance responds far more adequately to modern day business needs than the Anglo-American model of corporate governance.

Death by Highlighter :: Graduate College Admissions Essays

Death by Highlighter I woke up Tuesday morning with a strange sense that I was not alone in bed. Something was jabbing me in the left hip. I opened one eye tentatively. It was 8:47 a.m., and I did not want to be awake. I investigated the source of the jabbing feeling to discover, to my horror, a florescent yellow, uncapped highlighter that I had let slip after falling asleep while reading a report on science and engineering at Duke. I shuddered, moved the higlighter to a more innocuous location on the floor, and went back to sleep. The perils of highlighters, however, extend well beyond my now-fluorescent-yellow sheets, nightgown and left hip. Having highlighted my way through three years of college, four years of high school and a few years of junior high, I have reached the shocking conclusion that highlighters have undermined my education. Before the days of transparent yellow markers, readers took notes on reading, or wrote in ball-point pen in the margins, forcing themselves to transmit information from words on a page to coherent thought to at least somewhat coherent squiggles on the page. The highlighter offers a seductive shortcut--the reader can bypass the "coherent thought to squiggle" step of the process and simply smear interesting passages with fluorescent ink, no analysis required. Particularly impressive phrases may merit an emphatic mark in the margin, and, on rare occasions, the holder of the fluorescent wand may even add a note in blue or black ink. Regardless, however, the marker-wielding reader generally smears large tracts of text with ink, never bothering to summarize or paraphrase information. I know the pathological symptoms of highlighter-addiction because I am a victim. I shouldn't have turned out this way--I had a strictly traditional fifth-grade history teacher who required us to take notes on our reading in outline form. But something happened in high school, I think in European History, when I realized I could never write down every iota of information in our menacingly dense text book--so I grabbed hold of a highlighter and started marking interesting facts in bright yellow. I meant to make notes in the margins, but there wasn't time . . . and so I launched myself down the highlighter path to mental oblivion. Highlighters should shoulder at least as much of the blame as MTV for Generation X's short attention span and anti-intellectual leanings. Death by Highlighter :: Graduate College Admissions Essays Death by Highlighter I woke up Tuesday morning with a strange sense that I was not alone in bed. Something was jabbing me in the left hip. I opened one eye tentatively. It was 8:47 a.m., and I did not want to be awake. I investigated the source of the jabbing feeling to discover, to my horror, a florescent yellow, uncapped highlighter that I had let slip after falling asleep while reading a report on science and engineering at Duke. I shuddered, moved the higlighter to a more innocuous location on the floor, and went back to sleep. The perils of highlighters, however, extend well beyond my now-fluorescent-yellow sheets, nightgown and left hip. Having highlighted my way through three years of college, four years of high school and a few years of junior high, I have reached the shocking conclusion that highlighters have undermined my education. Before the days of transparent yellow markers, readers took notes on reading, or wrote in ball-point pen in the margins, forcing themselves to transmit information from words on a page to coherent thought to at least somewhat coherent squiggles on the page. The highlighter offers a seductive shortcut--the reader can bypass the "coherent thought to squiggle" step of the process and simply smear interesting passages with fluorescent ink, no analysis required. Particularly impressive phrases may merit an emphatic mark in the margin, and, on rare occasions, the holder of the fluorescent wand may even add a note in blue or black ink. Regardless, however, the marker-wielding reader generally smears large tracts of text with ink, never bothering to summarize or paraphrase information. I know the pathological symptoms of highlighter-addiction because I am a victim. I shouldn't have turned out this way--I had a strictly traditional fifth-grade history teacher who required us to take notes on our reading in outline form. But something happened in high school, I think in European History, when I realized I could never write down every iota of information in our menacingly dense text book--so I grabbed hold of a highlighter and started marking interesting facts in bright yellow. I meant to make notes in the margins, but there wasn't time . . . and so I launched myself down the highlighter path to mental oblivion. Highlighters should shoulder at least as much of the blame as MTV for Generation X's short attention span and anti-intellectual leanings.

Why Kissinger Helped Pinochet :: Foreign Policy Chile Governmental Essays

Why Kissinger Helped Pinochet The United States â€Å"hands have not always been clean† (Landau 1999, page 16). It seems that as time passes more and more of past United States foreign policy actions are discovered to have been a cause of corruption rather than security. Recently numbers of declassified documents show the fraud of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. It is apparent that Kissinger directly assisted General Augusto Pinochet into power in Chile and despite his knowledge of Pinochet’s human rights violations he deliberately ensured his stay in power (Landau 1999; page 16). Currently the legal action being taken against Henry Kissinger must be taken seriously to show current United States officials, the cruelty of our nations past and how we are guilty of initiating and helping a brutal dictatorship for sixteen years. One must wonder; what was Kissinger’s motive? Being pushed by â€Å"his boss† President Nixon to prevent communism in Chile at all costs is apparent, as is his friendly relationship with Pinochet that he developed. â€Å"I want to see our relations and friendship improve,† Kissinger states in a memoir to Pinochet during his trip to Chile that was intended to speak about human rights concerns (Kornbluh 1999; page 5). But what was truly the underlining motivation that caused Kissinger to risk his job and reputation to keep Pinochet in power? Could it simply be a lack of sympathy? Or was Kissinger just overly fanatical about stopping the spread of Communism? In lieu of the unclassified documents it is apparent that Kissinger had formed a liking to Augusto Pinochet. Recent memorandums show that Kissinger told Pinochet that he was a casualty of â€Å"Communist propaganda† and reinforced Pinochet, while hundreds of Chilean citizens were being jailed without cause, that the United States would not punish him for human rights violations. In September 1976 Kissinger sent out a warning to some South American nations about the rumor of an â€Å"Operation Condor† but intentionally excluded warning Chile in fear of how Pinochet would react (Duke 2005, page D01). Reveled in the transcripts are â€Å"Kissinger’s expression of ‘friendship,’ ‘sympathetic’ understanding and wishes for success to Pinochet at the height of his repression†¦Ã¢â‚¬  After receiving an overwhelming amount of pressure from congress to deal with Chile’s human rights issues Kissinger â€Å"gave a speech at an OAS c onference in Santiago.† However,

Six Hours Of Television :: essays research papers

Six Hours of Television   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In looking at modern television programming there are hundreds of shows to choose from. Picking six hours of television to analyze from the prospective of an anthropologist is by no means easy. It is easy however, to talk about what our nation looks like to others who have never been here. Everyone is gorgeous, lives happily, and overcomes all problems, but more on that later. Four hours of the programming I chose is perhaps the most popular programming this year, consistently topping the Nielsen ratings. For the remaining two hours of programming I decided to look at two police drama shows, one that was brand new this season and one not brand new, but still going strong. For the two hours of police dramas, I looked at programs with different angles. NYPD BLUE is the story of police detectives, and HIGH INCIDENT was a new show that looked at the view of policing from the Å’beat.' HIGH INCIDENT represented one of the first t.v. shows to come from the SKG works of Steven Spielberg. However, just like Spielberg's previous AMAZING STORIES, HIGH INCIDENT has already ceased to air. This could still change though, with the next season. Of the remaining four hours, three are on television every Thursday night, and include the tremendously popular FRIENDS, the SINGLE GUY, the hits SEINFELD and CAROLINE IN THE CITY, and the most popular show this year, ER. For the remaining hour I choose to look at THE TONIGHT SHOW, with Jay Leno. Between these shows there are many similarities and many differences. All of these shows can be directly compared with each other, having some of the same qualities. Looking at these shows in the perspective of an anthropologist some disquieting trends emerge. I will present the information as if an outsider, from another nation, were watching American shows, and believed what he/she was seeing to be true of what goes on in America. Perhaps more realistic than the other shows, NYPD BLUE, and HIGH INCIDENT represent the closest what life is really like. To a foreigner seeing these shows, they would probably believe that America is a blood bath of crime and ill will towards other people. While this isn't true the whole nation over, there are many cities like those portrayed in these two shows. Like the other shows I will discuss, these two have casts made up of predominately Caucasian males and females. Other nationalities, such as Asian, Afro-American, and Latino are sprinkled in just enough to make sure the shows are politically correct. To an

English Commentary – Maiden Voyage

The prescribed passage, Maiden Voyage from Denton Welch’s novel is rich in action and suspense. Several literary devices are employed by the author to create such an appealing effect. The first person narrative is introduced in the first line of this passage and is very important throughout the prose, especially when the protagonist encounters the decapitated head. The narrative style enhances the sensations of utter surprise and horror by describing the experience in a more personal viewpoint. Simple descriptions such as â€Å"I stared into its raw eye-sockets until waves of sickness spread over me. Then I ran’’ enhances the disgust of the scene for the reader, and such feelings can only by the protagonist, which is why first-person view-point is made very effective here. The setting plays a big role in this passage, especially in the lines leading up the climax point of discovering the head. Welch describes everything as being ‘’still and silent,’’ and along with the aid of the line ‘’ Harsh spears of grass stuck up through the sand. The soles of my shoes began to burn and I looked round vainly for some shady place. ’’ the reader begins to envision a serene but hot afternoon setting, although this slowly alters towards the eerie when it is revealed that the wind is the only sound. It gives the impression that as if the place is deserted. Mr Welch also spends considerable time describing the setting of the house that the protagonist was staying in before leaving to venture outside. There is sense of confinement as if the protagonist is trapped in the house and is being held back against his own will thus the word – ‘’imprisonment,’’ . The contents of the house is simple for example ‘’moth-eaten’’ worn out balls and the â€Å"old tennis racket† were the only objects lying in the hall for entertainment. The sombre setting as described by Mr Welch would allow the reader to understand the ardent desire of the protagonist to leave the villa and explore the surroundings. Welch’s usage of diction is also very successful in this passage. By describing the flies as with the simile ‘’buzzing like dynamos,’’ Welsh enhances the disgust the protagonist encountered at the scene. When the protagonist finally realises what the object that appeared to cat crouching in the middle of the road actually was, Welch describes the protagonist reaction as awaking (‘’my numbed senses suddenly awoke again’’), This gives the impression that she is shocked by how only then she realised what the object really was, hence the line â€Å"I stared into its raw eye-sockets until waves of sickness spread over me. Then I ran†. However, the words used to describe the decapitated head stand out the most in this passage, as they are well applied to convey repulsion. ’Shrivelled lips,’’ ‘’ coarse hairs growing out of its ears,’’ ‘’raw eye-sockets’’ as well as the simile ‘’old white teeth stood up like ninepins in the dark’’ all portray intense repulsion, to the extent of invoking nausea to the reader. The shock to the reader upon the revelation that t he object is a human head is heightened by the fact that the protagonist initially thought it was a cat lying in the middle of the road which to the actual object seems to be a contrasting and innocent suggestions. After seeing the head the protagonist decides to run for safety along the bare hills maybe he has realised the meaning of the line Mr Butler said earlier – ‘’Foreigners are not very popular here, so I don’t think you ought to go out alone. ’’ This would enhance the sense of peril towards the protagonist herself, thus making him suddenly fear for his life. The irony in the final passages is clearly evident. The protagonist wants nothing more than to return to the house (‘’my only idea was to get back to the house’’) however, not too long ago she was desperate to leave the house. There is suspense at the end of the passage as the protagonist still feels in harm’s way as he turns desperate in his attempt to find safety (â€Å"I began to feel desperate†). This is also emphasised by the short sentence ‘’I was wondering if I could climb up to it in any way. I knew that I could not. ’’ This passage is effectively portrayed by Denton Welch to entice the reader to immerse the reader into the story. The reader is provided with the means to do this by first-person narrative, ample descriptions to depict the scenario, as well as the usage of various literary tools.