Pros and Cons of Compulsory Voting

Pros and Cons of Compulsory Voting Over 20 countries have some form of compulsory voting which requires citizens to register to vote and to go to their polling place or vote on election day. With secret ballots, its not really possible to prove who has or has not voted, so this process could be more accurately called compulsory turnout because voters are required to show up at their polling place on election day. Facts About Compulsory Voting One of the most well-known compulsory voting systems is in Australia. All Australian citizens over the age of 18 (except those of unsound mind or those convicted of serious crimes) must be registered to vote and show up at their polling place on election day. Australians who do not show up are subject to fines, although those who were ill or otherwise incapable of voting on election day can have their fines waived. Compulsory voting in Australia was adopted in the state of Queensland in 1915 and subsequently adopted nationwide in 1924. With Australias compulsory voting system comes additional flexibility for the voter. Elections are held on Saturdays, absent voters can vote in any state polling place, and voters in remote areas can vote before an election at pre-poll voting centers or via mail. Voter turnout of those registered to vote in Australia was as low as 47 percent prior to the 1924 compulsory voting law. In the decades since 1924, voter turnout has hovered around 94 to 96 percent. In 1924, Australian officials felt that compulsory voting would eliminate voter apathy. However, compulsory voting now has its detractors. The Australian Electoral Commission provides some arguments in favor and against compulsory voting. Arguments in Favor Voting is a civic duty comparable to other duties citizens perform (e.g. taxation, compulsory education, or jury duty).Parliament reflects more accurately the will of the electorate.Governments must consider the total electorate in policy formulation and management.Candidates can concentrate their campaigning energies on issues, rather than encouraging voters to attend the poll.The voter isnt actually compelled to vote for anyone because voting is by secret ballot. Arguments Used Against Compulsory Voting Some suggest that it is undemocratic to force people to vote and is an infringement of liberty.The ignorant and those with little interest in politics are forced to the polls.It may increase the number of donkey votes (votes for a random candidate by people who feel that they are required to vote by law).It may increase the number of informal votes (ballot papers which are not marked according to the rules for voting).Resources must be allocated to determine whether those who failed to vote have valid and sufficient reasons. Source Compulsory Voting. Australian Electoral Commission, May 18, 2011.

Learn About the Associative Property in Math

Learn About the Associative Property in Math According to the associative property, the addition or multiplication of a set of numbers is the same regardless of how the numbers are grouped. The associative property will involve 3 or more numbers. The parenthesis indicates the terms that are considered one unit. The groupings (Associative Property) are within the parenthesis. Hence, the numbers are associated together. In multiplication, the product is always the same regardless of their grouping. The Associative Property is pretty basic to computational strategies. Remember, the groupings in the brackets are always done first, this is part of the order of operations. Addition Example of the Associative Property When we change the groupings of addends, the sum does not change:(2 5) 4 11 or 2 (5 4) 11(9 3) 4 16 or 9 (3 4) 16Just remember that when the grouping of addends changes, the sum remains the same. Multiplication Example of the Associative Property When we change the groupings of factors, the product does not change:(3 x 2) x 4 24 or 3 x (2 x 4) 24.Just remember that when the grouping of factors changes, the product remains the same. Think Grouping! Changing the grouping of addends does not change the sum, changing the groupings of factors, does not change the product. Simply put, regardless of whether you show 3 x 4 or 4 x 3, the final result is the same. In addition, 4 3 or 3 4, you know that the outcome is the same, the answer remains the same. However, this is NOT the case in subtraction or division so when you think of the associative property, remember that the final result or answer remains the same or its not the associative property. The understanding of the concept of associative property is much more important that the actual term associative property. Titles often confuse students and youll discover that youll ask what the associative property is, only to be returned with a blank look. However, if you say to a child something like If I change the numbers in my addition sentence, does it matter? In other words, can I say 5 3 and 3 5, will the child that understands say yes because its the same? When you ask if you can do this with subtraction, theyll laugh or tell you that you cant do that. So in essence, a child knows about the associative property which is really all that matters even though you may stump them when you ask for a definition of the associative property. Do I care that the definition escapes them? Not at all, if they indeed know the concept. Lets not trip our students up with labels and definitions when concept understanding is the key ingredient in math.

Annotated Bibliography for Africa's Hunger Essay

Annotated Bibliography for Africa's Hunger - Essay Example This has made it impossible for some African countries because they lack personnel to work in industries for production of food. For this reason, the rate of poverty still goes high as people do not earn an income. HIV/AIDS has resulted further to deaths resulting in desperation amongst some Africans to the extent that they are discouraged to work and produce food. In the end, they die of hunger. The contents of this newspaper article give information on how this situation has become life threatening in Africa. Hunger in Africa: Hearing before the Subcommittee on African Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-eighth Congress, Second Session, March 1, 1984. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1984. Print. This book was written following a hearing that had been held in 1984, on the basis of African affairs; inclusive of the hunger problem that had started become a problem in the continent. They spoke of the unfair trade markets and how it affected the peopleâ €™s trading of goods across continents Unfair trade markets has also contributed to hunger in one way or another, the exportation of food crops has become very lucrative in Africa, but the problem arises because the crops being exported are being underpaid and the freight charges are high. This still hinders the growth of GDP. It contributes to hunger as it increases the rate of hunger in the population due to poverty. Pantaleo, C. and S. Jaspars. Cash Transfer Programming in Emergencies, Oxfam Skills and Practice series, Oxford: Oxfam. (2005). Print. C. Pantaleo has written this book on how the aids are distributed and how effectively that should be done. He speaks of Africa’s dependency on some of his funding. Dependence on donor funding has made more people in Africa not work for their food. They do not look for sustainable measures to end poverty and food insecurity in their regions. The wait for donor funding and food aids from the various donors for their survival. He mentions that this is what is pulling down Africa in terms of being funded throughout and not working on sustainable means of survival. Karapinar, Baris and Christian Haberli. Food Crises and the WTO: World Trade Forum. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2010. Print. B. Karapinar wrote a book that capitalized on issues to do with the food crises in Africa. He mentioned the dire effects of the hunger in the continent. He gave a brief explanation on what this crisis entails and its relations with the WTO. The results of hunger in some of these regions are death due to starvation, malnutrition in children and adults due to lack of nutritious foods; there is a loss of population that is brought about by the deaths that occur due to hunger, the economy is crippled even more because of poverty. Hunger also makes people to migrate a lot as they evade the death due to hunger. There is loss of biodiversity and habitat disturbance that come about due to cutting down of trees by people to grow fo od crops. The latter also brings about human wildlife conflict as a result of deforestation too. People end up encroaching forested areas as they search for fertile lands to grow their foods. Child mortality due to hunger also increases. Diseases caused by hunger have become rampant due to the condition, for example, children get malnourished and eventually die. For example, in East Africa, Kenya, there have been instances when people died of hunger in Turkana. Lavy,

Frozen Souls Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Frozen Souls - Essay Example This is not to say that I had no apprehensions about the move, just that any the upside was much greater than the alternative. After all, this was America, an entire nation composed of immigrants that had once made the same journey, both metaphorically and physically. On the flight I remember the airline playing the Arnold Schwarzenegger film True Lies. At the time Schwarzenegger, himself an immigrant, was the governor of California. For a moment I allowed myself to entertain similar notions of grandeur; I too could do great things one day. When I reflect back on my perceptions before arriving in the United States I recognize my idealism. It is not that I am a gullible person; I just bought into the narrative of American, and more specifically Californian, wealth and prosperity. It was this feeling of excitement and expectation that I felt as the plane landed and I looked onto the world that is now my home. The plane landed on a grey and rainy day, but I didn’t notice, instead expecting the country to soon embrace me. For the first time I would not be held back by an inefficient government or a lack of opportunity. After exiting the plane I walked to retrieve my bags. There were many beautiful people and people of varying ethnicities all moving rapidly about. I retrieved my bags and walked towards the LAX gates and waited around for a cab to the apartment complex I had set up. I was so filled with excitement and anxiety that I could not sleep that night and instead contemplated my upcoming weeks, months, years. I spent my first week with such anxiety-filled excitement and wonder that I never gave myself the chance to notice my loneliness. After exploring all day I would come home and pass out reading a book or watching the Los Angeles Lakers. This week, however, soon turned into a month and then two and three. Instead of finding the joy and prosperity I figured awaited me, I found nothing but society’s self-interest. Every day I woke up to a Calif ornia sun that stood in stark juxtaposition to the cold and lonely conditions of my current existence. I attended school during the day and would many times have my afternoons free. Not knowing anyone I would walk on the beach or through Downtown areas, hoping I would meet someone and California would finally make sense and my life would be warm and wonderful. I would walk past the sorts of beautiful people I once watched on television, all of them on their cell phones, with their perfectly coiffured hair and stylish clothing. For a period, I continued to tell myself that I merely needed to penetrate this wall of their existence and they the world would open to me; that while I had immigrated to the country, I had just not entered the true California yet. As a child in my home country I was raised in a conservative Catholic family. Towards the end of my adolescence I came to reject this family as overly constricting and naive about the true world out there. In my solitude and loneli ness for the first time I could appreciate the true love and warmth they supplied. Such instances of love and warmth are rare. I made a few acquaintances during these early days, but no one I would consider a friend. After math class I would visit a coffee shop adjacent to the college and read and watch people. Rarely did I talk to anyone and rarely did anyone talk to me. One day, however, a girl named Vanessa was forced to share my table as the

Black Poems Essay Example for Free

Black Poems Essay In the past during apartheid being black meant you lost out in many privileges it also showed how black people where oppressed. In this poem we see that Mbongeni Khumalo uses the word black in connection to all the bad things. He highlights that there is this darkness associated with the colour black and that in the 1960’s when someone called you a black person it showed nothing good and that no one should be proud of being black. He also looks at all the words that start with â€Å"black† and if one looks deep into them then we see that there’s a deeper meaning to that particular word and that it has got something to do with wrong doing or bad happenings. The first line of the poem reads â€Å"you don’t need a BLACK-BELT to write blackpoems†, if one looks at this line and critique it then we see that he says that one doesn’t need a black belt to write black poem and the way it is written from the small letter at the beginning of the sentence to the to the black belt in a big font and black poems as one word this shows that as a black person no one really paid attention to the diction of the poem. â€Å"B/LACK† when one looks at this word and the way it has been written then you can interpret it as be lack, as if he’s trying to point out that when you are black you lack in something. He further one uses the word â€Å"prac-teasing† and instead of writing practising he uses the teasing showing that he was isolated for mocking black art but in his own right one can argue that he was not mocking it but just highlighting the points that were true and that there was a time when anything that was done by a black person was just done and not taken seriously, a black person could only go so far with their art. â€Å"Trampling my so(u)l/e/† the way he has chosen to break down the word soul in a way that one can say he is trampling the word himself and he also adds an â€Å"e† at the end which shows that he can do anything to this poem since it is a black poem. â€Å"Served sausages made from minced pork and call(ed) it BLACK PUDDING† one can say that it was called black pudding because in the black culture the only time that the families ever ate pudding which consisted of custard and fruit was during Christmas otherwise black people always feasted with meat he could also have been referring to himself as the black sheep because he did not eat meat and in that case being black and not eating meat meant that you were a different type of black person and therefore you were out casted and you were a black sheep. â€Å"I suffered a BLACK DEATH at the hands of a BLACK GUARD†, what the writer brings out in this line is how black people still killed each other regardless of the fact that they were all oppressed by the same people for the same reason. The guards were also said to be puppies for the oppressors so that the hit on them could be lighter and that they could spare them their lives. So it shows that black people were also turned against each other and killed each other just so that they can hold their own end. The language that he has chosen to use is simple but the was in which he has broken down his words and placed them in way that one could clearly see the point he is trying to make about black poems. As one carries on to read this poem you could say that this is not a black poem but a poem about black people. He uses a playful tone but at the same time the way he stresses some words to show his point and the double meanings behind them. He also used the words to show what was happening in that time to black people trying to pass on the torch of awareness so that people could stop being naive and actually know how things were done in that time. He attracts the reader by his title which is â€Å"BLAK POWEMS† which shows the way he wrote it as if he were a actually saying it in a Bantu accent, so he chose to write it the way he would say it because no one really paid close attention to the diction and the style of the way black poets wrote their poems because it always ended up being black people reading each others poems. The way this poem has been written it shows well that it is protest poem in such a sense as when one looks at the diction used in this poem and the style of writing that the poet has chosen to use. He plays with associations surrounding blackness to put his point across of how blackness is associated with bas things and in this case particularly back in the 1960’s during times of black oppression and apartheid. The tone of this poem is in a playful but honest manner, not harsh but it keeps one intrigued that there could be so many things associated with the colour black that represent a darker side of life and the poet does a good job of bringing them out and also highlighting them. This poem makes the reader see the problems that the past could add on to a simple phrase or word. The word black in this poem has been separated and put on a spectrum whereby we can all see the negatives that could and that are surrounding this one word in particular. The poet has also made us think of how history played out and he did this not by writing that in the 1960’s this is what happened but he used words that show or highlight the main events of the 60’s.

Observation Essay †The Clown -- Observation Essays

Observation Essay – The Clown He’s a young man, the clown, with white socks striped in black, and black suspenders over a white T-shirt. White face, red nose. His MO is to follow people and imitate their motion without their noticing, to the glee of the sizeable, ever-changing audience. We’re sitting here on the steps of the Museum, hot and sweaty, watching the show. The clown can follow anyone: a slinky woman wearing pink ruffles, a kid with a mountain bike, a muscle-shirted dude talking Spanish on a cell phone, an old man walking his schnauzer, a big gray pigeon bobbing this way and that in search of food, and then taking flight. Now he slides behind high-school girlfriends, floppy-sandaled flirts leaning toward each other and flinging back their hair with unthinking charm, the clown their vampy shadow. When he bids them goodbye, he flourishes a soft, velvet-bodied top hat, and you can see his head is shaven, except for a forelock. Now he’s got a routine with a bottle of water. It’s stuck in his mouth and silently he implores a guy to get it out for him. He has a way of getting sudden spurts of water to cascade from it, while he looks surprised and delighted at once. I have persuaded my friend Kati to leave me here for an hour in the afternoon sun while she completes her tour of the Impressionists inside. She’s in New York this once, visiting from Hungary, while I live in Philadelphia and can come back any time I choose. I became hot and dizzy while standing on a Rouen street, basking in the sun before Monet’s Cathedral. A red tide rose inside my eyeballs. Kati found me clinging to a bench in front of Seurat’s Circus Sideshow and hauled me off to the Ladies’ Room, where she sprinkled cool water on my neck an... ...e gently, informing me that I have a virus, melodramatic old fool that I am. The clown has taken his place at the foot of the stairs and conducts us spectators like an orchestra, getting us to applaud in counterpoint. Then he mimes a family, three kids, all of whom need to eat and drink, and proffers his floppy hat for our sustenance. When I hold out two dollars, he comes over and mimes opening the doors of his chest, so that the heart within flutters out to me. Kati comes and we head home, our minds full of the art we saw today. As I rise from my spot on the steps, I see the clown shadow a man walking six dogs all at once, working his body back and forth on the leash of the unruliest, a sheep-dog. Then he takes a bottle of water offered by a vendor and puts it in his ear. Water squirts from his mouth, and he smiles, looking briefly skyward, one hand on his hip.

Educating On Obesity And Exercise Health And Social Care Essay

There are two types of metabolic reactions, catabolic and anabolic which fundamentally mean to interrupt down and construct up. This is of import when looking at exercising and the construct of firing fat and edifice of musculus. During exercising energy is released when big molecules are broken down into smaller 1s. This is called the katabolic reaction. The energy is so used during the anabolic reaction to construct up complex molecules needed by the organic structure to keep life and develop new tissue. A individual ‘s metamorphosis establishes the rate at which the organic structure burns Calories and how rapidly weight is gained or lost. The higher a individual ‘s metamorphosis is, the quicker they will lose weight. Using the construct of anabolic and katabolic reactions, the short term weight loss is best achieved by aerophilic exercising to interrupt down molecules into energy that the organic structure can utilize to construct musculus. Muscle burns more Calories than fat, so the edifice of musculus will hike a individual ‘s metamorphosis in the long term and increase the sum of Calories burned. A After any type of surgery, the organic structure is susceptible to infection. Clostridium perfringens infections have a high mortality rate. This being multiplies in the myometrium and can distribute to the womb and circulatory system to go a systemic infection if non treated rapidly. It can do serious jobs such as myometriosis which may take to sterility. Surgical intercession such as a hysterectomy may be performed early nevertheless, for a patient that is merely 33 old ages old this may be lay waste toing. 3. Stephanie and Daryl Donnelly are both 31 old ages old and would wish to get down a household. Stephanie has a household history of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and admirations what the impact will be in footings of her ain kids holding the disease. The twosome has come to the clinic to discourse their options. I would explicate to the twosome that although Stephanie does non hold symptoms of the disease, she may be a bearer. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is an familial disease where males are more likely to develop symptoms than are adult females. The boies of females who are bearers of the disease each have a 50 % opportunity of holding the disease. The girls each have a 50 % opportunity of being bearers. If the account of the disease was indicated, I would discourse the class of the disease, clinical manifestations, life anticipation and the effects on the kid and health professionals. I would rede familial guidance since Stephanie has a household history of the upset. A Although there is no remedy for this disease, the familial mutant has been identified. This can let for a more informed determination as to whether the twosome wants to travel frontward with get downing a household. Stephanie can undergo DNA analysis of blood samples to set up bearer position of the mutant. Besides, antenatal diagnosing is possible as early as12 hebdomads by trying chorionic villi. If the sample was positive for the cistron mutant, the household would hold adequate clip to fix for the kid or the option to end the gestation. This would be a hard determination either manner, but with current research at the least the household would cognize prior to the birth of the kid. If a kid is born affected by the disease, ongoing research is being conducted to diminish the badness of the symptoms. These include root cell replacing therapy, exon-skipping, linear up-regulation and cistron replacing, every bit good as drug therapy to decelerate disease patterned advance. 4. The households of two kids are concerned about the integrating of their kids into the local junior high school. Melissa, age 13, has Turner syndrome, and Timothy, age 14, has Klinefelter syndrome. The households are non related. They approach the community wellness nurse for counsel. Adolescence and the demand to â€Å" suit in † create fright and anxiousness in most adolescents. The organic structure is traveling through emotional, physical, and hormonal alterations. Adolescents are concerned about their outward appearance.A Some of the most of import elements to discourse with the household about Turner syndrome are the physical alterations that develop in females. Females with this status be given to be shorter than mean misss of the same age. They besides may hold excess tegument on the cervix dropsical custodies and pess and skeletal abnormalcies. Other medical jobs that may originate from Turner syndrome may include bosom mutters, high blood force per unit area and kidney jobs. About 10 per centum of misss develop scoliosis or an under-active thyroid. The ovaries of females with Turner syndrome do non bring forth estrogen and Lipo-Lutin. Tiffany will non develop chests or get down her period unless she is treated with endocrine therapy. Although sterility may non be an issue during adolescence, this should be addressed as Tiffany ages as the ovaries are non-functional due to the disease. Although non all males with Klinefelter syndrome have the same symptoms, I would turn to the physical, linguistic communication and societal facets of the status. As Timothy is considered pubescent adolescent, he will non do as much testosterone as other male childs. This may ensue in less musculus mass and less facial and organic structure hair than other boys his age. He may besides hold wider hips, larger chests and lower energy degrees. A big per centum of males have some kind of linguistic communication jobs, such as reading, treating spoken linguistic communication and showing ideas and demands efficaciously. From a societal point of view these male childs tend to be quiet and diffident. They may fight in school and athleticss, which may ensue in trouble adjustment in with their equals. 5. Margaret, age 3, has merely taken a bath. She wants to demo her ma a new fast one that she ‘s learned and bends rearward. As Margaret extends rearward, her female parent notices a big, stick outing mass from her venters. Her female parent instantly takes Margaret to the local clinic for farther appraisal. A I would discourse the most common tumours found in kids, and other possible causes of the mass such as hernia, ascites. The possibility of a hernia may bring forth no symptoms but have the hazard of going an exigency state of affairs if it becomes strangulated. Besides, I would discourse scrutinies, diagnostic proving such as CT scans, lab draws, and echography. If indicated more testing of blood, bone marrow may be done if malignance is suspected. 6. Mary, 82 old ages old, lives in a residential senior attention place. Her household has noticed the following bit by bit happening over the past hebdomad: agitation, crossness, and confusion ; musculus vellication of appendages ; and ailments of being thirsty all the clip, even after imbibing. They have noticed that her urinary catheter bag does n't hold every bit much fluid in it, and she looks flushed at times. Mary has had frequent episodes of diarrhoea. The nursing staff drew blood for complete blood count ( CBC ) , serum osmolarity, and electrolytes and has been supervising her BP and bosom rate every 4 hour. Her BP has ranged from 86/60 to 88/66, and her pulse scope is 105 to 118 and regular. The staff besides reviewed her medicine profile and discovered that Mary received two excess doses of lactulose that were non ordered. 7. Vanessa, age 33 old ages, is a individual female parent of two adolescent misss and works as a director full clip with a fiscal investing house. She has merely enrolled in an MBA plan part-time. She comes to the exigency section today because her â€Å" bosom has been rushing for about 30 proceedingss. † She was at place working on her first assignment and making house work in between. Her girls were inquiring for money to purchase some new school apparels when she says she merely â€Å" lost it † and get downing shouting at them. The nurse placed her on the bosom proctor, and Vanessa ‘s beat showed sinus tachycardia at a rate of 142/min. Vanessa has no other symptoms. A Stress is about impossible to extinguish, but with good techniques it can be successfully managed. I would discourse with Vanessa some ways to director her emphasis such as inquiring her kids to assist with family jobs, and perchance acquiring occupations. This would assist the misss with money to purchase their ain school apparels and give Vanessa some quiet clip to analyze. Meditation, deep external respiration and yoga may assist Vanessa loosen up when holding nerve-racking minutes. She may besides seek a warm bath, loosen uping music or taking a walk outside. Although she is busy with kids, work and school, everyone needs clip to loosen up. Just a five minute interruption may be all person needs when they feel a nerve-racking minute coming.

Alternative Energy Sources

The depletion of conventional and non-renewable sources of energy i. e. fossil fuels, which include coal, gasoline and natural gas, has caused concern among the policy makers and the consumers. Moreover, the recent increase in oil prices has caused inflation due to higher transportation costs of the commodities. However, the biggest drawback of using the non-renewable sources of energy has been an increase in environmental pollution, and the phenomenon of global warming.When the fossil fuels are burnt by millions of vehicles on road, ships on water, and by aeroplanes in air, toxic emissions including deadly hydrocarbons, and lethal carbon monoxide are released into the atmosphere. These poisonous gases cause severe respiratory diseases, and cancer in the most vulnerable human population i. e. children and elderly. Is it beneficial to continue the use of fossil fuels whose emissions cause deadly diseases in humans?Also, one of the emissions is carbon dioxide, which is the main cause o f global warming. Since the fossil fuels are limited in supply, scientists, environmentalists and policy makers have been striving to find the alternative sources of energy, which are replenishable, easily available, non-polluting, non-detrimental to the health of humans, environmental friendly and do not cause global warming. Isn’t it beneficial for us to explore and deploy the alternative energy sources?I strongly feel that we must develop technology to commercially exploit the alternative energy sources. Some of the types of alternative energy sources along with their utility to humanity are highlighted in the following discussion. Discussion Different definitions of alternative energy have been given by different thinkers and organizations. Economy Watch reported that Material Management Services defined it â€Å"as an alternative for the renewable energy forms,† which has â€Å"not been extracted from fossil fuels.† Further, as defined by Natural Resources Defense Council, Economy Watch stated that alternative energy is peripheral and environmental-friendly. According to Economy Watch, Responding to Climate Change 2007 has defined alternative energy as the one â€Å"that is drawn from the untraditional sources of energy like winds, compressed natural gases, hydroelectricity and solar sources. † When different definitions are merged, the complete meaning of alternative energy sources becomes evident. Alternative Energy Sources The consumption of natural resources has come to dominate the minds of policy-makers and general public in the US, given the limited range of these resources and concerns associated with the burden the growing population places on the reserves.The most obvious problem the US encounters in the realm of natural resources consumption is undeniably the consumption of energy resources.In addition to increasing the efficiency of oil production, the nation will sooner or later have to turn to alternative energy sources. While these sources still remain too expensive to be operational, their technology is undergoing rapid transformations to make them more cost-efficient. Wind mills are already effectively used in Spain where the climate is characterized by strong winds.Solar energy, geothermal power, tides, hydroelectric power plants – all these are ways to receive energy in a way that is less dangerous for the environment and can with time fully replace oil as a source of energy. Con sidering the dangers posed to the US society by the resource depletion, we will also try to look at alternative solutions that will enable us to replace the reserves.Current StateSolar energy is attractive because the energy received by the earth annually exceeds the amount of energy used by humanity by 35,000 times, although â€Å"about 1/3 of this energy is either absorbed by the outer atmosphere or reflected back into space† (University of Utah).Geothermal energy that stems from the inner heat of the earth is of lesser importance as it can be used only to replace a small amount of human needs. The temperatures of 100 degrees Celsius are located only three miles away from the surface, which gives man an opportunity to use geothermal energy.Tidal facilities like the one operated by the former Soviet Union in Lumkara, use the power of the water â€Å"to fill reservoirs, which are then slowly discharged through electricity-producing turbines† (University of Utah).The at traction of tidal power, in contrast to solar and wind energy is its predictability and rich supply that can be calculated since it comes on a regular basis. In contrast, in the case of solar and wind energy, the industry often has to wait for days until the sun comes out or the wind begins to blow. However, the Survey of Energy Resources published by the World Energy Council in 2001 points to â€Å"long construction times, high capital intensity and low load factors† as preventing economic efficiency of this type of energy (World Energy Council). Alternative Energy Sources The move to alternative energy sources is inevitable for most of the modern world. Reasons for the move include sheer economics, geopolitics and environmental protection.Through the years, the world has gotten used to using fossil fuels for their energy needs. Products derived from fossil fuels are used in transportation, in electricity generation, in petrochemicals and even in road construction.The primary reason for the move is the inadequacy of fossil fuels to meet future energy demands at an economically feasible price. Fossil fuels, due to their nature, are of finite supply. Even though no estimates show that the amount of fossil fuels in the Earth is not about to run out, economic forces will cut the fossil fuel supply even before it runs out.As the amount of fossil fuels extracted decreases, the greater the demand for it becomes, particularly because of rising economies. Economics will thus dictate that the price of fossil fuels go up due to shifts in global supply and demand. Sooner or later, the price of energy will rise to unsustainable prices – prices which can cripple economies and cause great financial problems for the common man due to inflation.Already, we have seen evidences of this scenario happening. The price of oil has risen continually over the years and has already sparked unrest in some countries.Alternative energy sources, especially renewable energy sources are clearly better in the long run. Renewable energy sources will not face the problems faced by rising oil prices today simply because these energy sources are not finite.Alternative energy sources like biomass, wind, hydro and solar energy will always be replenished. Moreover, these energy sources are also less polluting than fossil fuel sources. The use of fossil fuels has been linked to the phenomenon of anthropogenic global warming.Carbon dioxide emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels are said to cause Earth’s temperature to rise abnormally – a situat ion which can have disastrous effects on a global scale if left unchecked. Renewable energy sources do not suffer from this drawback which makes them more attractive from an environmental perspective.Nuclear energy is also another alternative energy form. While it is not exactly renewable due to the finiteness of the Earth’s Uranium deposits, the high yield of nuclear energy means that the accessible Uranium in the Earth can last us for centuries before running out.Nuclear energy is clean, already available and can supply energy at a large scale. While there are concerns regarding its safety as well as what to do with spent nuclear waste, newer technologies have managed to reduce the dangers from these nuclear side effects. These make nuclear energy an attractive stopgap until the development of more advanced energy sources.In the pipeline are also some more futuristic energy options. Hydrogen power is a promising alternative to using oil products in transportation. Unlike oi l combustion which releases pollutants into the air, the by-product of Hydrogen consumption is harmless water vapor. Lastly, Helium-3 fusion is an attractive solution which can potentially end all of Earth’s energy problems. Helium-3 fusion is a form of nuclear energy which utilizes Helium instead of Uranium and has no radioactive by products.ReferencesNational Renewable Energy Laboratory – www.nrel.govSchmitt, H. (October 2004). Mining The Moon. In Popular Mechanics. Retrieved August 26, 2008, from http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/1283056.html?page=4.Whitlock, J. (2008). Uranium. In Canadian Nuclear FAQ. Retrieved August 26, 2008, from http://www.nuclearfaq.ca/cnf_sectionG.htm#uranium_supply.    Alternative Energy Sources It is undeniable that global warming has been one of the most pressing issues facing the world today. Global warming is due to the greenhouse effect wherein greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide trap the sun's heat in our atmosphere and prevent it from radiating back into space. However the issue of global warming is not about global warming.The greenhouse effect has been around for millions of years and is indeed responsible for the development of life as without it the earth would be too cold to support the variety of flora and fauna we see today. The issue of global warming has been accelerated global warming.The issue is how the rate of heating by the earth's surface is proceeding at a much faster rate than mother nature can adapt to. If the predictions are correct, this will result in a multitude of changes. Environmental changes such as the rise in global sea levels due to the melting of the ice caps, an increase in the frequency of extreme weather due to changing precipitation patterns, and massive rates of extinction.These massive environmental effects also translate to massive economic effects especially in agriculture. Drought will affect the production of essential foodstuffs like grain especially in the equatorial regions. The retreat of glaciers will also affect farms which are dependent on glacier runoff for irrigation.Global warming will also strain government pockets as the need for preventive infrastructure like floodgates as well as for repair and reconstruction of old infrastructure which is damaged by the increased temperature variation. Increased health costs will also be a burden on social services.One of the key methods for mitigating the advance of global warming is by the reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Some of the ways of reducing greenhouse gases include changing practices in agriculture, stopping deforestation, as well as restoring and conserving degraded land.Another way for reducing greenhouse gases is by switching our energy production from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Some renewable energy sources include solar power, wind power, hydrogen, and nuclear power. This paper discusses these alternative energy sources and the prospects for their use.Most of the energy needs of the United States comes from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. The combustion of these fossil fuels drive generators which provide electricity as well as engines that power our transportation.However, these fossil fuels are considered nonrenewable energy sources simply because these fossil fuels are of limited supply. Sooner or later, the world's fossil fuel deposits will reach a point such that their extraction would not be economically feasible. Already, the huge demand for oil is pushing its price to record levels with each   passing year.As opposed to fossil fuel based energy sources, renewable energy comes from sources that wont run out in any anthropological time frame. Renewable sources suc h as wind or solar power come from sources which are constantly replenished, and will be constantly replenished barring major changes of geological or astronomical scale.As such, investments in renewable power is much more future proof. Because these renewable sources of energy wont run out, we can be sure that succeeding generations will be able to benefit from renewable energy sources we develop today. That much cannot be said for sources of energy from oil, gas and coal.

The Legendary Invention of Silk

The Legendary Invention of Silk Is the fabric known as silk 7000 years old? Did people wear it from as long ago as 5000 B.C. before civilization began at Sumer and before Egyptians built the Great Pyramid? If silkworm cultivation or sericulture is as much as seven millennia old as the Silk Road Foundation says it may be the chances are poor that we will ever know exactly who invented it. What we can learn is what the descendants of the people who discovered silk wrote about it and what their legends say about the origins of processing silk. Although there are other stories and variations, the basic legend credits an early Chinese empress. She is said to have: 1. Cultivated the silk-producing caterpillar (Bombyx mori).2. Fed the silkworm the mulberry leaf that was discovered to be the best food at least for those interested in producing the best silk.3. Invented the loom to weave the fiber. Raising Silk On its own, the silkworm larva produces a single, several hundred-yard-strand of silk, which it breaks as it emerges as a moth from its cocoon, leaving residue all over the trees. In preference to gathering the tangled silk caught in the trees, the Chinese learned to raise the silkworms on a fattening diet of the leaves of carefully cultivated mulberry trees. They also learned to watch the development of the cocoons so they could kill the chrysalis by plunging it in boiling water just before its time. This method ensures the full length of silk strands. The boiling water also softens the sticky protein holding together the silk [Grotenhuis]. (The process of pulling out the strand of silk from the water and cocoon in known as reeling.) The thread is then woven into beautiful clothing.   Who Was the Lady Hsi-ling? The main source for this article is Dieter Kuhn, Professor, and Chair of Chinese Studies, University of Wà ¼rzburg. He wrote Tracing a Chinese Legend: In Search of the Identity of the First Sericulturalist for Toung Pao, an international journal of sinology. In this article, Kuhn looks at what the Chinese sources say about the legend of the invention of silk and describes the presentation of silk manufactures invention across the dynasties. He makes note of the contribution of the lady of Hsi-ling in particular. She was the principal wife of Huangdi, who is better known as the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor (Huangdi or Huang-ti, where Huang is the same word we translate as Yellow when used in connection with the great Chinese Yellow River, and ti is the name of an important god that is used in the names of kings, conventionally translated emperor) is a legendary Neolithic era ruler and ancestor of the Chinese people, with almost godlike proportions. Huangdi is said to have lived in the third millennium B.C. for 100-118 years, during which he is credited with giving numerous gifts to the Chinese people, including the magnetic compass, and sometimes including silk. The principal wife of the Yellow Emperor, the lady of Hsi-ling (also known as Xi Ling-Shi, Lei-Tsu, or Xilingshi), is, like her husband, credited with discovering silk. The lady of Hsi-ling is also credited with figuring out how to reel silk and inventing what people needed to make clothing from the silk the loom, according to the Shih-Chi Record of the Historian. Ultimately, the confusion seems to remain, but the upper hand is given the empress. The Yellow Emperor, who was honored as the First Sericulturalist during the Northern Chi Period (c. A.D. 550 - c. 580), may be the male figure depicted in later art as a patron saint of sericulture. The lady Hsi-ling is more often called the First Sericulturalist. Although she had been worshiped and held a position in the Chinese pantheon since the Northern Chou Dynasty (557-581), her official position as the personification of the First Sericulturalist with a divine seat and altar only came in 1742. Silk Clothing Altered the Chinese Division of Labor One could speculate, as Kuhn does, that the job of making fabric was womens work and that therefore the associations were made with the empress, rather than her husband, even if he had been the first sericulturalist. The Yellow Emperor may have invented the methods of producing silk, while the lady Hsi-ling was responsible for the discovery of silk itself. This legendary discovery, reminiscent of the story of the discovery of actual tea in China, involves falling into an anachronistic cup of tea.   Chinese scholarship from the seventh century A.D. says that before the Yellow Emperor, clothing was made of bird (feathers can protect against water and down is, of course, an insulating material) and animal skin, but the supply of animals didnt keep up with demand. The Yellow Emperor decreed that clothing should be made of silk and hemp. In this version of the legend, it is Huangdi (actually, one of his officials named Po Yu), not the lady of Hsi-ling who invented all fabrics, including silk, and also, according to legend from the Han Dynasty, the loom. Again, if looking for a rationale for the contradiction based on the division of labor and gender roles: hunting would not have been a domestic pursuit, but the province of the men, so when clothing changed from skins to cloth, it made sense that it would have changed the storied gender of the maker. Evidence of 5 Millennia of Silk Not quite the full seven, but five millennia puts it more in line with important major developments elsewhere, so it is more easily believed. Archaeological evidence reveals that silk existed in China as far back as around 2750 B.C., which puts it, coincidentally according to Kuhn, close to the dates of the Yellow Emperor and his wife. Shang Dynasty oracle bones show evidence of silk production. Silk was also in the Indus Valley from the third millennium B.C., according to New Evidence for Silk in the Indus Valley, which says copper-alloy ornaments and steatite beads have yielded silk fibers upon microscopic examination. As an aside, the article says this raises the question of whether China really had exclusive control of silk. A Silken Economy The importance of silk to China probably cant be exaggerated: the exceptionally long and strong filament clothed a vast Chinese population, helped support the bureaucracy by being used as a precursor to paper (2nd century B.C.) [Hoernle] and to pay taxes [Grotenhuis], and led to commerce with the rest of the world. Sumptuary laws regulated the wearing of fancy silks and embroidered, patterned silks became status symbols from the Han to the Northern and Southern Dynasties (2nd century B.C. to 6th century A.D.). How the Secret of Silk Leaked Out The Chinese guarded its secret carefully and successfully for centuries, according to tradition. It was only in the 5th century A.D. that silk eggs and mulberry seeds were, according to legend, smuggled out in an elaborate headdress by a Chinese princess when she went to her groom, the king of Khotan, in Central Asia. A century later they were smuggled by monks into the Byzantine Empire, according to the Byzantine historian Procopius. Silk Worship Patron saints of sericulture were honored with life-size statues and rites; in the Han period, the silkworm goddess was personified, and in Han and Sung periods, the empress performed a silk ceremony. The empress helped with the gathering of the mulberry leaves necessary for the best silk, and the sacrifices of pig and sheep that were made to the First Sericulturalist who may or may not have been the lady of Hsi-ling. By the 3rd century, there was a silkworm palace which the empress supervised. Legends of the Discovery of Silk There is a fanciful legend about the discovery of silk, a love story about a betrayed and murdered magic horse, and his lover, a woman transformed into a silkworm; the threads becoming feelings. Liu recounts a version, recorded by Tsui Pao in his 4th century A.D. Ku Ching Chu (Antiquarian Researches), where the horse is betrayed by the father and his daughter who promised to marry the horse. After the horse was ambushed, killed, and skinned, the hide wrapped up the girl and flew away with her. It was found in a tree and brought home, where some time later the girl had been transformed into a moth. There is also a fairly pedestrian story of how silk was actually discovered the cocoon, thought to be fruit, wouldnt soften when boiled, so the would-be diners got their aggression out by beating it with sticks until the filament emerged. Sericulture References: The Silkworm and Chinese Culture, by Gaines K. C. Liu; Osiris, Vol. 10, (1952), pp. 129-194 Tracing a Chinese Legend: In Search of the Identity of the First Sericulturalist, by Dieter Kuhn; Toung Pao Second Series, Vol. 70, Livr. 4/5 (1984), pp. 213-245. Spices and Silk: Aspects of World Trade in the First Seven Centuries of the Christian Era, by Michael Loewe; The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland No. 2 (1971), pp. 166-179. Stories of Silk and Paper, by Elizabeth Ten Grotenhuis; World Literature Today; Vol. 80, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug. 2006), pp. 10-12. Silks and Religions in Eurasia, C. A.D. 600-1200, by Liu Xinru; Journal of World History Vol. 6, No. 1 (Spring, 1995), pp. 25-48. Who Was the Inventor of Rag-Paper? by A. F. Rudolf Hoernle; The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (Oct. 1903), pp. 663-684.

Biography of Kate Chase Sprague, Political Daughter

Biography of Kate Chase Sprague, Political Daughter Kate Chase Sprague (born Catherine Jane Chase; August 13, 1840–July 31, 1899) was a society hostess during the Civil War years in Washington, D.C. She was celebrated for her beauty, intellect, and political savvy. Her father was Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, part of President Abraham Lincolns Team of Rivals, and later served as secretary of state and chief justice of the United States Supreme Court. Kate helped promote her fathers political ambitions before she became embroiled in a scandalous marriage and divorce. Fast Facts: Kate Chase Sprague Known For:  Socialite, daughter of a prominent politician, embroiled in a scandalous marriage and divorceAlso Known As:  Kate Chase, Katherine ChaseBorn:  August 13, 1840 in Cincinnati, OhioParents: Salmon Portland Chase and Eliza Ann Smith ChaseDied:  July 31, 1899 in Washington, D.C.Education: Miss Haines School, Lewis Heyl’s SeminarySpouse: William SpragueChildren: William, Ethel, Portia, Catherine (or Kitty)Notable Quote: â€Å"Mrs. Lincoln was piqued that I did not remain at Columbus to see her, and I have always felt that this was the chief reason why she did not like me at Washington.† Early Life Kate Chase was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 13, 1840.  Her father was Salmon P. Chase and her mother was Eliza Ann Smith, his second wife.   In 1845, Kate’s mother died, and her father remarried the next year.  He had another daughter, Nettie, with his third wife Sarah Ludlow. Kate was jealous of her stepmother and so her father sent her to the fashionable and rigorous Miss Haines School in New York City in 1846.  Kate graduated in 1856 and returned to Columbus. Ohio’s First Lady In 1849 while Kate was at school, her father was elected to the U.S. Senate as a representative of the Free Soil Party.  His third wife died in 1852, and in 1856 he was elected as Ohio’s governor.  Kate, at age 16, had recently returned from boarding school and became close to her father, serving as his official hostess at the governor’s mansion.  Kate also began serving as her father’s secretary and advisor and was able to meet many prominent political figures. In 1859, Kate failed to attend a reception for the wife of Illinois Senator Abraham Lincoln. Kate said of this occasion, â€Å"Mrs. Lincoln was piqued that I did not remain at Columbus to see her, and I have always felt that this was the chief reason why she did not like me at Washington.† Salmon Chase had a more momentous rivalry with Senator Lincoln, competing with him for the Republican nomination for president in 1860. Kate Chase accompanied her father to Chicago for the national Republican convention, where Lincoln prevailed. Kate Chase in Washington Although Salmon Chase had failed in his attempt to become president, Lincoln appointed him secretary of the treasury. Kate accompanied her father to Washington, D.C., where they moved into a rented mansion.  Kate held salons at the home from 1861 to 1863 and continued to serve as her father’s hostess and advisor. With her intellect, beauty, and expensive fashions, she was a central figure in Washington’s social scene. She was in direct competition with Mary Todd Lincoln. Mrs. Lincoln, as the White House hostess, had the position that Kate Chase coveted. The rivalry between the two was publicly noted. Kate Chase visited battle camps near Washington, D.C. and publicly criticized the president’s policies on the war. Suitors Kate had many suitors.  In 1862, she met newly elected Senator William Sprague from Rhode Island.  Sprague had inherited his family business in textile and locomotive manufacturing and was very wealthy. He had already been something of a hero in the early Civil War. He was elected Rhode Island’s governor in 1860 and in 1861, during his term in office, he enlisted in the Union Army. At the first Battle of Bull Run, he acquitted himself well. Wedding Kate Chase and William Sprague became engaged, though the relationship was stormy from the beginning. Sprague broke off the engagement briefly when he discovered Kate had had a romance with a married man. They reconciled and were married in an extravagant wedding at the Chase home on November 12, 1863. The press covered the ceremony.  A reported 500 to 600 guests attended and a crowd  also assembled outside the home. Sprague’s gift to his wife was a $50,000 tiara. President Lincoln and most of the cabinet attended. The press noted that the president arrived alone: Mary Todd Lincoln had snubbed Kate. Political Maneuvering Kate Chase Sprague and her new husband moved into her father’s mansion, and Kate continued to be the toast of the town and preside at social functions.  Salmon Chase bought land in suburban Washington, at Edgewood, and began to build his own mansion there. Kate helped advise and support her father’s 1864 attempt to be nominated over incumbent Abraham Lincoln by the Republican convention. William Sprague’s money helped support the campaign. Salmon Chase’s second attempt to become president also failed. Lincoln accepted his resignation as secretary of the treasury.  When Roger Taney died, Lincoln appointed Salmon P. Chase as chief justice of the Supreme Court. Early Marriage Troubles Kate and William Sprague’s first child and only son William was born in 1865.  By 1866, rumors that the marriage might end were quite public. William drank heavily, had open affairs, and was reported to be physically and verbally abusive to his wife. Kate, for her part, was extravagant with the family’s money. She spent lavishly on her father’s political career as well as fashion- even as she criticized Mary Todd Lincoln for her purported frivolous spending. 1868 Presidential Politics In 1868, Salmon P. Chase presided at the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson.  Chase already had his eye on the presidential nomination for later that year and Kate recognized that if Johnson was convicted, his successor would likely run as an incumbent, reducing Salmon Chase’s chances of nomination and election. Kate’s husband was among the senators voting on the impeachment. Like many Republicans, he voted for conviction, likely increasing tension between William and Kate.  Johnson’s conviction failed by one vote. Switching Parties Ulysses S. Grant won the Republican nomination for the presidency, and Salmon Chase decided to switch parties and run as a Democrat.  Kate accompanied her father to New York City, where the Tammany Hall convention did not select Salmon Chase. She blamed New York governor Samuel J. Tilden for engineering her father’s defeat. Historians deem it more likely that it was his support for voting rights for black men that led to Chases defeat.  Salmon Chase retired to his Edgewood mansion. Scandals and a Deteriorating Marriage Salmon Chase had become politically entangled with financier Jay Cooke, beginning with some special favors in 1862.  When criticized for accepting gifts as a public servant, Chase stated  that  a carriage from Cooke was actually a gift to his daughter. That same year, the Spragues built a massive mansion in Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island. Kate took many trips to Europe and New York City, spending heavily on furnishing the mansion. Her father wrote to her to caution her that she was being too extravagant with her husband’s money.  In 1869, Kate gave birth to her second child, this time a daughter named Ethel, though rumors of their deteriorating marriage increased. In 1872, Salmon Chase made yet another try for the presidential nomination, this time as a Republican.  He failed again and died the next year. More Scandals William Sprague’s finances suffered huge losses in the depression of 1873. After her father’s death, Kate began spending most of her time at her late fathers Edgewood mansion.  She also began an affair at some point with New York Senator Roscoe Conkling, with rumors spreading that her last two daughters were not her husband’s. After her father’s death, the affair became more and more public. With whispers of scandal, the men of Washington still attended many parties at Edgewood hosted by Kate Sprague. Their wives attended only if they had to. After William Sprague left the Senate in 1875, the attendance by the wives virtually ceased. In 1876, Kates paramour Senator Conkling was a key figure in the Senate’s deciding the presidential election in favor of Rutherford B. Hayes over Kate’s old enemy, Samuel J. Tilden. Tilden had won the popular vote. The Marriage Breaks Kate and William Sprague lived mostly separately, but in August of 1879, Kate and her daughters were at home in Rhode Island when William Sprague left on a business trip.  According to the sensational stories in the newspapers later, Sprague returned unexpectedly from his trip and found Kate with Conkling. Newspapers wrote that Sprague pursued Conkling into town with a shotgun, then imprisoned Kate and threatened to throw her out a second-floor window.  Kate and her daughters escaped with the help of servants and they returned to Edgewood. Divorce The next year, 1880, Kate filed for divorce. Pursuing a divorce was difficult for a woman under the laws of the time. She asked for custody of the four children and for the right to resume her maiden name, also unusual for the time. The case dragged on until 1882, when she won custody of their three daughters, with their son to remain with his father. She also won the right to be called Mrs. Kate Chase rather than using the name Sprague. Declining Fortune Kate took her three daughters to live in Europe in 1882 after the divorce was final. They lived there until 1886 when their money ran out, and she returned with her daughters to Edgewood. Chase began selling off the furniture and silver and mortgaging the home.  She was reduced to selling milk and eggs door to door to sustain herself.  In 1890, her son committed suicide at age 25, which caused Kate to become more reclusive. Her daughters Ethel and Portia moved out, Portia to Rhode Island and Ethel, who married, to Brooklyn, New York.  Kitty was mentally disabled and lived with her mother. In 1896, a group of admirers of Kate’s father paid the mortgage on Edgewood, allowing her some financial security.  Henry Villard, married to the daughter of abolitionist William Garrison, headed that effort. Death In 1899 after ignoring a serious illness for some time, Kate sought medical help for liver and kidney disease.  She died on July 31, 1899, of Bright’s disease, with her three daughters at her side. A U.S. government car brought her back to Columbus, Ohio, where she was buried next to her father.  Obituaries called her by her married name, Kate Chase Sprague. Legacy Despite her unhappy marriage and the devastation wrought on her reputation and clout by the scandal of her infidelity, Kate Chase Sprague is remembered as a remarkably brilliant and accomplished woman. As her fathers de facto campaign manager and as a central Washington society hostess, she wielded political power during the greatest crisis in United States history, the Civil War and its aftermath. Sources Goodwin, Doris Kearns. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Simon and Schuster, 2005.  Ishbel Ross. Proud Kate, Portrait of an Ambitious Woman. Harper, 1953.â€Å"Notable Visitors: Kate Chase Sprague (1840-1899).†Ã‚  Mr. Lincolns White House, www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/residents-visitors/notable-visitors/notable-visitors-kate-chase-sprague-1840-1899/.Oller, John. American Queen: The Rise and Fall of Kate Chase Sprague, Civil War â€Å"Belle of the North and Gilded Age Woman of Scandal. Da Capo Press, 2014

Critical Reasoning (The Personal Characteristics that enable leaders Essay

Critical Reasoning (The Personal Characteristics that enable leaders to be Effective ) - Essay Example Thesis: effective leadership is based on different features and not only professional features are important, but also personal characteristics matter a lot. Employees are members of a team, who are able to implement innovative and creative ideas of a leader. Consequently, there is a need for stable and trustful relations between them. Taking into account modern researches and studies in business filed, it is evident that the main attention of researchers and scientists concerns effective leadership. Elving (2005) claims that effective leader can establish changes by means of communication. Basically, the employees are not ready for changes and perceive innovations or changes from a negative perspective. It is on behalf of the effective leader to enable employees to accept organizational changes. In accordance with Elving, there are five basic steps to be taken by leaders: a humane attitude to employees; communication in a friendly and a simple atmosphere; individual treatment for every employee; joking and easy-going manner of communication. In this case, changes and innovations in organizations are perceived â€Å"as is†, because organizational changes will be perceived as self-evident (Bovey 2001, p. 536). Caldwell (2003) claims that â€Å"leaders are transformed managers† (Caldwell 2003, p. 285). Change managers embody ideas and practices of change leaders. Actually, effective leaders invent and embody organizational changes and effective managers have implemented these actions at different organizational levels. Nevertheless, there are different leaders in the Western and the Eastern worlds. Consequently, in order to determine the effective leadership and change management in the Eastern world and Western world, it is relevant to take into account cultural and social peculiarities of different businesses, which are rooted in historic contexts of

Social Networks in Work Places Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Networks in Work Places - Essay Example On the other hand, there are no given limitations that employees can deal with the websites that are work related without involving themselves with the recreational or personal sites that influence their level of output. The involvement of employees and employers in the online networks facilitates the publicity to malware, lack of privacy and other related factors and hence the concentration of the employees on their daily routines are affected and influenced negatively. This results to decreased production and profit levels.2 Since the discovery and introduction of technological advanced, electronics that are used to ease the communication gap between different individuals from different locations there has been complaints from many employers of the effects of these social networks on the productivity of the employees. There has been debates on the effects of these social networks on the general economical development and growth of different companies. The online social networks hav e been regarded as the most influential since their access is commonly by use of mobile phones or computers. The employees in most companies have access to these electronic gadgets and to the internet in their work places.3 This illustrates that the employees can engage themselves with the social networks online during working hours. This usually causes negative effects on the level of their productivity and the levels of realized profits from the employers. This aspect has caused most of the employers to install other gadgets to regulate and control the use of the internet in their companies. Some of the employees as a barrier or abuse can regard this to privacy and social life involvement. On the other hand, the employers see it as a way of controlling and sealing the degree of idleness and loopholes that influence productivity. The rights of both parties, employees and employers, seem to be violated but there should be an understanding between rights, privileges, work responsibil ities and abuse of work contracts. The realization and introduction of aspects that involves the concepts of the employers’ expectations from the employees with respect to their social life should be addressed in advanced and in most cases included in the employment contracts. Consequently, a closer look on the effects of employees involvement to social networks, mostly online should be critically analyzed since they are at times beneficial to the company or organization if used properly.4 The fact that the employees at times visit the websites that are not work related does not mean that they do this every time they access the internet. The social networks that are usually accessed online can assist in the beneficial part of the organization or company. From a deeper perspective, social networks can be termed as areas where people obtained all sorts of data and information.5 The interconnection of the system allows the users to assist one another, take steps to achieve goals and objectives and transmit the different information from one section to another. Social networks cannot be abolished in the work places due to their importance and improvement degree on the business world. On the other han