How to raise a child Essay

Amy Chua’s article â€Å"Why Chinese Mothers are Superior† appeared in the Wall Street Journal on January 8, 2011. When this article was published the controversy began. One article in argument to Amy Chua’s was James Bernard Murphy’s article â€Å"In Defense of Being a Kid† which also appeared in the Wall Street Journal on February 9, 2011. Murphy contends by stating Amy Chua’s method of how to raise a child will do nothing but turn children into neurotic, self-absorbed and unhappy adults. James Murphy, author of â€Å"In Defense of Being a Kid† and professor of government at Dartmouth College argues that children should live childhood and enjoy childhood innocence, not be pressured or forced to prepare for their adulthood and the pressure that comes with it. â€Å"Part of the point of childhood is childhood itself. ‘ (Summers 279) Childhood takes up a quarter of one’s life and it would be nice if children enjoyed it. Murphy continues to explain what the unique blessings of childhood are. First, children have a gift of moral innocence, children are unaware of what is to come in their future and the burdens, and therefore they put their trust in us fully. Children are open to new adventures and unaware of time thus cannot be wasted. We as adults forget that most of us produced our best art, asked our deepest philosophical questions, and most readily mastered new gadgets when were children. We as parents need to take a step back from teaching our children and realize how much we can learn from them. Murphy uses emotion when he states â€Å"children are people with distinctive powers and joy. † He realizes what children are capable of if they are given space to imagine and explore ideas of the world that we have forgotten. Murphy thinks like a child and is defending their youth. It is important to know when to give a child space to allow them to become an individual. In defense Murphy argues, â€Å"most of us would like Tom’s childhood followed by Mill’s adulthood. But as parents we are stuck with trying to balance the paradoxical demands of both preparing our children for adulthood and protecting them from it. † The article seems to indicate you can’t have that childhood and young adulthood. I disagree because that is exactly how I grew up. Yes we did have responsibilities on the farm, but when chores were done we did what we wanted to do. We were taught what was right and what was wrong. I believe if you are raised with good morals, respect for yourself and others you can be very successful. I feel the drive to succeed comes from a supportive family and the want to be successful at what you love to do, not what you are forced to do. Murphy uses logic with the comparison of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle and Jesus. Two of which did not have the same beliefs of children. I disagree with Aristotle when he said â€Å"no child is happy†, the only time a child is happy is when they have thoughts of the achievements as an adult. When a child is given space it gives them the opportunity to imagine, to think outside of the box and capable for intellectual activity. We have to encourage and embrace their uniqueness and imagination or as Jesus did praise our children. I strongly agree with Murphy’s fourth thought, â€Å"We forget that most of us produced our best art, asked our deepest philosophical questions, and most readily mastered new gadgets when we were mere children. † (Murphy 279) As children we are more carefree and have less sense of our surroundings and what people think of us. We are eager to learn and curious about adulthood but should not be rushed to become one. I believe in realizing the capacity of a child, you need to know their capabilities and their limits. Work Citied Behrens, Laurence, and Leonard J, Rosen. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 12th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print

Unit 8 Study Guide

Unit 8 Study Guide 1. How many liters of blood does the average adult have? 5 Liters 2. What are the components of blood? Red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma. 3. What does the hematocrit measure? The number of cells or volume. 4. What percentage of blood is cells? 45% 5. What percentage of blood is made of plasma? 55% 6. What do erythrocytes look like and what is their function? Erythrocytes are biconcave disks that are 7. 5 micrometers. They have no nucleus, even after they have matured and they are composed of one third hemoglobin. They function as a transportation system for gas. . How do mature erythrocytes differ from immature ones? They lack a nucleus when they mature 8. What is a normal RBC Count? 4,600,000/cubic centimeter 9. What makes blood red? Hemoglobin 10. How long does the average RBC live? 120 days 11. What hormone controls the rate of rbc synthesis? Erythropoietin 12. What element is part of a red blood cell? Iron 13. What is sickle-cell anemia and what is its cause? Sickle-cell anemia is a disorder in the red blood cells which reduces the oxygen in the blood and results in the RBC’s being crescent shaped. 14. What are the causes of AnemiaThe causes of Anemia include a lack of enough RBC’s, including iron deficiency, B complex deficiency, erythropoietin deficiency, or too many RBC’s destroyed, which includes sickle cell anemia, sickle train, thallasemias (Alpha hemoglobin chain, beta hemoglobin chain, small RBC’s. ) 15. What is the difference between sickle cell anemia and sickle trait? It is possible for a person to have a mixture of normal and bad hemoglobin in red blood cells without having sickle cell disease. This condition is â€Å"sickle cell train† in which people have enough of the normal hemoglobin in their red blood cells to prevent them from becoming sickle haped, causing sickle cell anemia. 16. What percentage of white blood cells are eosinophils? 1-3% 17. What is a Lymphocyt e? A Lymphocyte is a small, round long lived agranulocyte that is composed of 25-33% of white blood cells. Its function is to attack antigens. 18. What is a chemical that stimulates cells to produce antibodies? Antigen 19. What percent of blood is lymphocytes 25-33% of the blood 20. What is a normal white Blood Cell Count? 5,000-10,000 White blood cells 21. What does a rise in WBCS indicate? A decrease?A rise indicates an infection such as leukocytosis and a decrease, or leucopenia, may be a sign of viral infections. 22. What is a normal WBC differential? 4,500-10,000 23. What is pus? It is made up of leukocytes, bacteria, and damaged body cells. 24. What do elevated monocytes indicate? They could indicate an infection 25. What is Diapedesis? It allows WBC’s to leave circulation 26. What is leukemia? It is a type of cancer that begins in the tissue that forms blood. Leukemia patients bleed because of platelet deficiency. 27. What is the function of fibrinogen?It helps stop bl eeding by helping blood clots to form. It is converted into fibrin during blood coagulation. 28. What are 3 Lipoprotein molecules? VLDL – triglycerides LDL – cholesterol HDL – high protein 29. What is agglutination? Agglutination is a clumping together of bacteria or red cells when held together by antibodies, or agglutinins. 30. What keeps blood from clotting? Anticoagulants are what prevent the clotting of blood. 31. What is fibrinogen? Fibrinogen is a protein that the liver produces which helps stop bleeding by helping to form blood clots. 32. What is a globulin?A globulin is a plasma protein which transports lipids and fat-soluble vitamins in the blood and helps to produce antibodies. 33. What are the major ABO groups? A, B, AB, and O blood types 34. What are antigens and antibodies associated with each blood group? Type A blood contains the antigen A and Anti B antibodies, type B blood contains antigen B and Anti A antibodies, type AB has antigens A and B a nd no antibodies, and type O has no antigens and Anti A and B antibodies. 35. What blood type is universal donor? Universal recipient? Type O is the universal blood donor and type AB is the universal recipient. 6. What is the Rh factor and why is it significant? The Rh factor is an antigen that can be found in the red blood cells of most people. People with Rh factor are considered Rh positive and those who do not are considered Rh negative. Rh negative people are unable to be transfused with positive blood once they are exposed to it. A Rh negative mother is able to develop antibodies to donate to her Rh positive child. Blood which is used in transfusions must match donors for Rh status and ABO blood group. Rh- patients will develop anemia if they are given Rh+ blood.

Hume and Kant on Free Will Essay

Abstract This paper is an attempt to show how Kant’s ideas concerning practical and transcendental freedom of the will was a significant correction to the parallel theories of Hume. It starts out by clarifying Hume’s critique of free will, especially as it appears in An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. It draws the conclusion that Hume’s philosophy is espousing skepticism, and that Kant’s effort is to overcome this skepticism and restore trust in reason. The philosophy of Kant is outlined in order to make the last point. It is generally agreed that Kant supplied the definitive stamp to philosophy that ushered in the modern age. Hume, though enormously influential in his time, and a favorite in the French salons of philosophy, fell into disrepute in the Victorian era, and only since has become a subject of restored interest. Yet Hume is the philosopher cited by Kant as having stirred him from his â€Å"dogmatic slumbers’. He had espoused a philosophy of empirical skepticism, so thorough and devastating in its scope that it became impossible for Kant to remain in his settled certainties of Newtonian science. It was the spur that carried him on to compose the Critique of Pure Reason (1781), where reason is restored, and man is once more vindicated as a rational being. Just because he refuted and answered Hume’s skepticism does not imply that the latter philosophy is nullified. We must keep this in mind, that Hume’s skepticism is completely valid as far as sense experience is concerned, and Kant does not refute any part of this philosophy. What he does is posit a further dimension to human understanding, specifically, the synthetic a priori faculty of the mind, the existence of which Hume did not suspect. Only after this addition is the primacy of reason restored. So we cannot say that Kant has destroyed Hume’s philosophy, rather he has added to it. Central to Hume’s skepticism is his critique of â€Å"cause and effect†, which is spelled out to its most profound depths in chapter VII of the An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748). The preliminary task is to outline the copy principle. The premise to this is that all knowledge begins from sense experience. Among such we are able to distinguish between primary and secondary sensations. The primary sensations are extension, motion, inertia etc, which are indeed the concepts that physics tackles. Color, taste, smell etc are said to be secondary sensations, composed or derived from the primary ones. The copy principle says that the primary sensations, though not delivering complete information from the material object – which is more poignantly described as â€Å"the object in itself – nevertheless is a faithful copy of it. This is why primary sensations are distinct and forceful presences in our mind. Secondary sensations are in turn copies of the original copy, and due to this derivative nature they lose distinctness to us. We will examine the copy principle of Hume in a moment. For the time being we accept it as such and consider the consequences. For Hume’s purposes, it has allowed him to refer to objects and their motions with confidence, and not to be held back by the validity of these concepts. For without the principle we don’t know as yet that objects are objects, and motion is motion, and we would have had to deal with a chaos of sense experience, and nothing meaningful to refer to it against (1993, p. 12). So now, with the copy principle of Hume as foundation, we proceed to talk about objects in motion. Next, we observe interdependence between objects, carried out in space and time. We â€Å"know† that motion in one object is â€Å"cause† to motion in another. A billiard ball in motion strikes another, and after impact the second acquires a velocity too, and the faculty of our understanding tells us, without the least inkling of doubt, that the impact imparted by the first ball is the cause of the second ball gaining motion. This understanding is so refined that we can, with a little help from Newton’s mechanics, predict the exact trajectory of the second ball by analyzing the trajectory of the first. We know it, but how do we know it? This is the crucial question for Hume. For if we do not have the answer we are left with skepticism. After impact with the first ball the second could have taken any one of an infinite number of trajectories. But it takes only one, and indeed we expect it to take only that one. A physicist may come along and try to convince us that it could not have taken any other trajectory because the laws of motion stipulates that, with the initial conditions given, the path it takes is the only possible one. But this is not an answer to the observer of the billiard ball, because he doesn’t care what the laws of physics are. If nature had followed another mathematical law then another outcome would have been just as valid. The observer could then have framed his conundrum differently: Of the infinite possible mathematical laws why just that one? There is nothing in the inner logic of the situation that dictates that the first ball should produce exactly the prescribed trajectory in the second. Hume said this about the experimental set-up, that we may try an experiment ten times, and may arrive at the exact same result ten times. But this does not prove that the specific outcome is inevitable. Not even if we confirmed the outcome a million times, because we would still only have a statistical probability and not a proof. Hume’s conclusion is that there is no rational link between cause and effect. Yet we expect effect to follow cause, immediately and irrevocably. If this is so then, explains Hume, it is a feeling transmitted to us by custom. What exactly he means by custom is left vague. He could not have meant anything other than â€Å"observing over and over again†, even though this fails to take into account new experience. He himself supplies a famous counterexample in the Enquiry. Some one who has experienced all the shades of blue, except for a tiny strip of the spectrum, is expected to report a gap when looking at the full spectrum of blue. But the fact is that he does not observe a gap at all, and recognizes at once the full spectrum of blue, even though he is experiencing a particular shade on blue for the first time. The recognition was instantaneous, and the eye did require â€Å"accustoming† beforehand. This readily disposes the theory of â€Å"custom†. Hume, however, continues to insist that our convictions regarding cause and effect can have no other source than custom. That the inference to custom is a vague one is made clear when he comes to consider free will. The very act of consciousness, he says, testifies to the existence of free will. But coming to reflect on how it is possible that we are able to willingly set our limbs into motion, and to move and external object thereby, it appears nothing less than miraculous. The mystery in nothing less than how one immaterial body imparts momentum to another: For first: Is there any principle in all nature more mysterious than the union of soul with body; by which a supposed spiritual substance acquires such an influence over a material one, that the most refined thought is able to actuate the grossest matter? (Hume, 1993, p. 43) The upshot is that we cannot explain free will, just as surely as we cannot explain cause and effect. ‘Custom’ was hesitantly introduced to explain cause and effect, and the same comes to the rescue of free will. As constant observers of nature we come to expect an effect to always follow a cause, and the same analysis ought to be applied to the orbit of human will. In all times and in all places humans have shown a constancy in their day to day affairs, which points to a constancy in human nature. The speculation concerning the scope of free will is overdone by the philosophers, maintains Hume. The exercise of free will, when looked at through the vista of human history, does not display divergence as much as it displays constancy. Hume broaches on the distinction between freedom and necessity to make this point clear. Inanimate objects convey to us most clearly the quality of freedom. We may describe an inanimate object as indifferent to the rest of the material universe, and in that sense free. But this freedom also entails necessity. The object is subject to the necessary laws of causation, and indeed is bound entirely by them. This is the relationship that binds cause and effect to inanimate objects, and is a relationship that is composed of both freedom and necessity. Hume transposes the same analysis to the relationship between human beings and free will. The will is indeed free, but being so implies that it conforms to human nature. He proposes the following definition: By liberty, then, we can only mean a power of acting or not acting, according to the determinations of the will; this is, if we choose to remain at rest, we may; if we choose to move, we also may. (1993, p. 63) The notion of free will advanced here bears a crucial difference to the popular one, and begs to be spelt out. What Hume describes as free will is not a choice between course ‘A’ and ‘B’. Rather the choice is between ‘A’ and ‘not A’, the latter implying stagnation, not an alternative course. This is the entire extent of our free will. We choose either to move forward, or else to stand still. This is what Hume would describe as freedom to act. Free will, however, is in complete accordance with human nature, and therefore follows the laws of necessity, just as everything else in contingent reality. Free will urges us to act â€Å"freely†. With freedom to act we may respond to this urge, or we may desist. In the final analysis our understanding of free will hinges on custom, in the same way as does our understanding of cause and effect. The past is guide to the future in the probabilistic sense. Beyond probabilities we have no understanding of either, contends Hume. In order to enforce this skepticism he proceeds to dismantle the Cartesian theories that pretended to explain mind and matter interaction, especially the theory of occasionalism advanced by Father Nicholas Malebranche. In this theory God is made both motivator and executor of every act or incident that seems to be â€Å"cause†, while the circumstances which we call a cause are only occasions for God to act in such a manner. Hume complained that this not only made God a slave to his own creation, but it also eradicated free will, making everything â€Å"full of God† (1993, p. 47). By disposing summarily the Cartesian explanations of cause and effect Hume makes his skepticism complete. Kant overcomes this skepticism by revising the premise of Hume. The correction is made most forcefully in the opening to the Critique: Although all our knowledge begins with experience, it does not follow that it arises entirely from experience.   For it is quite possible that our empirical knowledge is a compound of that which we receive through impressions and that which our own faculty of knowing (incited by impressions) supplies from itself†¦ (1999, p. 1) To be fair to Hume, he does consider this possibility, and ponders whether there is a blueprint in the mind where all ‘causes’ and all ‘effects’ can be referred back. (1993, p. 44). But he dismisses this idea when he realizes that a static blueprint can never account for the dynamic reality. However, the faculty that Kant is suggesting is not static, rather dynamic and creative, and here lies the crucial difference. In the technical terms of Kant it is the synthetic a priori faculty of the mind. This is distinguished from the analytic a priori faculty, such as logic. The rules of logic are extant in the mind (a priori), but form a self-consistent system (analytical), and therefore do not depend on sense experience. On the first instance it seems impossible that the mind can have a faculty that is synthetic a priori, where synthetic implies that it is creative. It entails that order is created out of the chaos of sense experience, and order that was not there before. But Kant also provides proof that the mind is capable of synthesis. Mathematical propositions are synthetic a priori, he contended. The proposition â€Å"3 + 5 = 8† may sound like self-consistent logic, but it is not really so. â€Å"8† is a completely new concept, and is not contained in either â€Å"3†, â€Å"5† or â€Å"+†. If we know that â€Å"3 + 5 = 8†, it is due to a synthetic a priori faculty in the mind. As Kant relates in the Prolegomena, when he realized that mathematical propositions are indeed synthetic a priori, it led him to ponder on what other such concepts the mind uses to facilitate understanding, and it appeared to him, in due course, that â€Å"cause and effect† was a concept of understanding that derives from the same faculty. He does not at all concern himself with material reality as a â€Å"thing in itself†, that which the materialist philosophers were after in order to provide a foundation to Newtonian science. Like Hume he maintains throughout that an absolute material reality is beyond knowledge, and to speculate on its existence was futile. We only need to consider what we perceive and what we do. He also shows that Hume falters at exactly those points where he cannot dismiss material existence in itself. The copy principle is slavish to a material object in itself. The object does not deliver copies to our mind; rather the mind provides the concepts of space in which we are able to conjure up material objects from sensory data. Both â€Å"space† and â€Å"time† are pure concepts of the mind, contends Kant, and like â€Å"cause and effect† are the tools by which we come to understand contingent reality (Prolegomena, 2005, p. 26). As soon as it is made out that we are the responsible architects of our own reality, and are not passive bystanders to an absolute material reality beyond our control, we suddenly discover ourselves as moral beings. Therefore the subsequent direction of Kant’s philosophy, after the metaphysics of understanding has been established, is towards a metaphysics of morals. And so emerges the crucial distinction that Kant makes between practical and transcendental freedom. To say that we have practical freedom implies we are able to understand the world, and by doing so we direct the will accordingly. We will do so of course for practical purposes – survival, utility, convenience, happiness etc. this would seem to cover the entire orbit of freedom. But Kant went on to demonstrate, in his Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), that such freedom is not actually freedom at all, and indeed is a binding. Thus far Kant is in concord with Hume. Now, the metaphysics of understanding, as spelt out in the Critique, is not the entire picture. The synthetic a priori faculty of the mind fashions understanding out of sensory experience. But such understanding does not lead to truth. As pure concepts of understanding space and time are both necessarily infinite. But because they emanate from the finite mind they are also finite. So in their very make-up space and time lead to contradictions. The same end must necessarily meet anything that takes place within space and time. So that matter is both infinitely divisible and also made up of concrete building blocks. As another example, we have free will, but at the same time everything is caused, so we don’t have free will. Such examples are put forward by Kant as pairs of â€Å"antinomies†. According to our understanding both consequences are valid, and yet they mutually contradict each other. All practical reasoning necessarily leads to pairs of antinomies. This must be so, because we reason by means of subject and predicate, where the subject is the cause of the predicate. But this subject is in turn predicate to another subject, and so on in an infinite chain of causation. If there was an ultimate subject at the beginning of this chain, we could have claimed to have discovered the final cause, and thereby have at hand a pronouncement of truth. But in contingent reality there is no such final cause. So whenever we try to make pronouncements of truth we must face contradiction. We cannot say that practical reason is false for this reason. Life is ruled by contingencies, and practical reason is to explain the contingent, or to facilitate such understanding. Absolute truth lies beyond all contingencies, and this is ruled by â€Å"pure† reason, explains Kant. It is not within the grasp of the human mind, yet it is the underpinning of the mind, and is the source of all innate faculties. The same analysis applies to practical freedom, which is but the corollary to practical reason. With practical freedom we choose our course according to practical reason, i.e. we are motivated by self-serving motives – happiness, honor, respectability, and so on. But in doing so we bind ourselves to those endless chains of contingencies, so that we are not really free. We chase material acquisition in order to be happy, and yet it always eludes us. The definition of freedom is to escape all contingencies, and yet by the application of practical reason we are mired more and more into contingent reality. Therefore we are not free. This is indeed a contradiction, one which Hume does not pay heed to. The very act of consciousness tells us that we are free, that out will is free. If practical reason does not embody this freedom, then surely pure reason must do so. By the same token, we are in possession of a transcendental freedom, which is a path that overcomes all contingencies, and is dictated by pure reason. Kant describes this path as the moral one. We recognize and follow this path from a sense of duty. To clarify what it is, duty is done for its own sake. There is no material motive whatsoever attached to it. Not for any particular good, it is done for the universal good. It is a categorical imperative, meaning that the very make-up of our being, or pure reason, dictates that we follow it. As an aid to identifying one’s duty Kant devised the following wording for the categorical imperative: â€Å"I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law† (Moral Law, 2005, p. 74). Kant is described as overcoming Hume’s skepticism. But it is questionable whether the latter is a skeptic at all. According to a contemporary, Hume’s philosophical paradoxes are delivered with a confidence that belies skepticism: â€Å"Never has there been a Pyrrhonian more dogmatic† (qtd. in Mossner, 1936, p. 129). A more recent reassessment of Hume is carried out by the German Neo-Kantian philosopher Ernst Cassirer, who opines, â€Å"Hume’s doctrine is not to be understood as an end, but as a new beginning† (1951, p. 59). The nature of this new beginning is well articulated by Hume himself. â€Å"Indulge your passion for science,† nature tells us, according to Hume, â€Å"but let your science be human, and such as may have a direct reference to action and society† (Hume, 1993, p. 3). If we listen carefully, the moral note that Hume is sounding is hardly different from that of the categorical imperative of Kant. Not for the person’s sake, but for humanity’s sake. Not for the particular good but for the universal good. This is the essence of Hume’s projected â€Å"science of man†, as it is also the heart of Kant’s metaphysics of morals. References Cassirer, E. (1951). The Philosophy of the Enlightenment. Trans. Fritz C. A. Koelln and James P. Pettegrove. Boston: Beacon Press. Hume, D. (1993). An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. E. Steinberg (Ed.) Boston: Hackett Publishing. Kant, I. (1999). Critique of Pure Reason. W. S. Pluhar (Trans.), E. Watkins (Ed.) Boston: Hackett Publishing. Kant, I. (2005). Kant’s Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. Kant, I. (2005). The Moral Law: Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals. Translated by H. J. Paton. New York: Routledge. Mossner, E. C. (1936). Bishop Butler and the Age of Reason: A Study in the History Of Thought. New York: Macmillan.   

Functionalism Philosophy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Functionalism Philosophy - Term Paper Example Functionalists have been known to treat terms related to mental states as a mental state functional characterization which differs from input and output terms. Therefore in a (simplified Turing –machine assumption of the theory,) mental states are associated with the states of the Turing-machine, which own on their own are clearly defined by a machine table which mentions outputs and outputs that are explored nonmentalistically. Additionally functionalism empathizes that characterization of mental states ought to include descriptions of outputs and inputs in both its non-machine and machine versions. The variation between Psychofunctionalism and Functionalism brings forth a difference in specifying outputs and inputs. Functionalists are restricted to specification of outputs and inputs that constitutes common-sense knowledge; Psychofunctionalists are not bound by such restrictions. Whereas both sides lay emphasis on physical specification outputs and inputs, Functionalists are keen on classifications that are externally observable. Psychofunctionalists, have the alternative to specify outputs and inputs in terms of internal parameters. ... Even if both the Functionalists and Psychofunctionalism emphasize on physical, or nonmental-specification over inputs and outputs, the requirement by Functionalists remains the externally observable classifications, for example, inputs whose characteristics assume the terms of the present objects within the organisms vicinity, expressed in body parts’ movements. On the other hand, Psychofunctionalists are at liberty to present a specification between inputs and outputs, assuming the internal parameters’ terms; for example, signals in input, as well as output neurons. One problem of the input and output is that it is depended on the premise that outputs and inputs can be distinguished by neural impulse descriptions. The fallacy with such approach is that it is chauvinistic because organisms that do not posses neurons are precluded from having functional descriptions. One way to avoid chauvinism associated with inputs and outputs is by characterizing outputs and inputs si mply as just outputs and inputs. Other functionalists insist that descriptions of output and input be non-mental. The very version of functionalism, however, fails to tack down functional descriptions at the most important point with descriptions of outputs and inputs that are relatively specific. Instead this form of functionalism merely specifies inputs, states and outputs only by insisting that they be outputs, inputs and states. The problem with this form of functionalism is that it is exceedingly liberal. There is therefore the need of specifying, when one describes outputs and inputs so as to avoid liberalism, but general enough to steer clear from chauvinism. Block however has preservations concerning the existence of such a description.

Summary of the film -- the flowers of war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summary of the film -- the flowers of war - Essay Example In 84th Academy Awards, the film was selected as the best foreign language film though it never made to the final list. The film also was nominated for the sixty-ninth Golden Globe Awards. The Awards of sixth Asian film presented this film with several nominations including the Best Film. The distribution rights in North America were acquired which led to qualification to Oscar limited where it was released in Los Angeles and San Francisco in 2012. In 1937, Japan invaded China, which led to beginning of the Second Sino War of Japan. The Imperial Japanese army overrun the Nanking the China’s capital city in December where they carried a systematic and brutal massacre in Nanking. The Chinese Army was overpowered by the invading Japanese Army, the desperate school-going girls fled to the protective walls of the convent at Western Roman Cathedral. At this place John Miller, who an American mortician was tasked with burying the priest met with the schoolgirls (Yan and Harman 55). He found a boy there by the name George, who was an orphan, rose by the dead priest and had some English proficiency. The boy was an age mate to most of the girls. After a short while a group of prostitutes came to the Cathedral, they took refuge where they hide in the cellar. Miller pretended to be a priest and tried to make everyone safe as he repaired the convents truck and used it to escape. After an incident when the Japanese forces assaulted the cathedral, Japanese Colonel promised to secure the Cathedral by placing some guards outside the gate and requested the students to sing the chorale for him. He later gave Miller an official invitation for the girls to go and sing at the Japanese Army celebration for their victory, but he feared their safety he declined. The Colonel told Miler that it was an order and that they were to be picked

Learning disabilities Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Learning disabilities - Research Paper Example Some of the primary characteristics presented by students with learning disabilities include: trouble maintaining attention regardless of distractions; inadequate memory and learning strategies; poor reading skills and poor sense of motivation for academic activities (Graves & Ward, 2012). Learning disabilities typically manifest themselves differently in students at various education levels such as elementary and high schools. In elementary school, students with learning disabilities exhibit poor motor skills, attention and typically show difficulty learning basic skills. However, at the high school level, learning disabilities are exhibited through emotional difficulties on top of the normal emotional issues associated with adolescence (Bowen & Rude, 2006). ... For high school students with learning disabilities, academic success may seem like an unattainable fete. Although learning disabilities are the most common among high school students, other forms of disabilities, including, physical, emotional instability and mental disability are also quite prevalent (Graves & Ward, 2012). Today, high school students with disabilities (SWD) are placed in inclusive education classes where they are expected to learn, read and pass standardized tests and examinations at the same level as non-disabled students. Standardized testing encompasses the use of testing approaches and instruments administered and scored in a consistent and preset manner. Typically, students with disabilities placed in inclusive education classes perform rather dismally on standardized test, thus do not demonstrate year to year progress on such tests (West, Leon-Guerrero & Stevens, 2007). As a consequence, students with disabilities exhibit repeated test failures as a result of failure to complete assignments, failing the course due to inadequate comprehension of the material and ultimately due to excessive absences caused by their disabilities. Problem Documentation From previous research findings, it is clear that there are diverse advantages to including students with disabilities in classrooms with typically developing students. One of the greatest benefits is that students with disabilities are able to learn from their peers as non-disabled students can act as role models (Garnett, 2010). This encourages disabled students and instigates rapid progress as children learn most and best from their peers. In addition, inclusion enlightens typically developing children regarding disabilities, thus showing that they should not be

Principles of Risk Communication and Public Warnings Essay

Principles of Risk Communication and Public Warnings - Essay Example From the responses on the meaning and purpose of information and advisories concerning risk management, a majority of the people did agree that risk management is extremely crucial to various fields. These warnings might be necessary for various reasons like weather crisis, geological disasters and radiological, industrial or medical emergencies. In order to come up with an effectual public warning, there has to be an agreement on who will start an alert. Moreover, what makes up an emergency, a system by which reports can be rapidly transmitted to the residents, and educational programs to train the public on how to identify an alert or what to do if an emergency is broadcast need to be considered. Travis emphasized this. The citizen’s perception of the risk can be impacted by the method and content of public warnings. Without sufficient risk information, the public might ignore the risk or engage in unsuitable actions, some of which might compromise instead of promoting the public’s safety. According to Tameyka, the public understands the basic knows very little on how to respond to emergencies and as such, it is necessary for the media to be provided with uncommo n emergency resource, which would be of significant help to the public. Margain supported the idea. From analysis, media plays a crucial role in the unequal distribution of aid and, therefore, it is necessary for residents to take more responsibility in their sustainability and recovery from any unusual occurrences that take place. For instance, the victims of Hurricane Katrina needed many aids; it is advisable that risk managers must take over from media scrutiny and base their decisions purely on risk evaluation decisions and equal allocation of aid and resources. It is also advisable that media should not be allowed to venerate the destruction, if there is hope for keeping people’s interest in the right place. According to Teresa,

Gender Security and Education for All Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gender Security and Education for All - Essay Example These sources are credible and more reliable allowing greater credibility of the exercise. The presentation of data was in the form of frequency percentages showing the proportion of women and men in a period ranging from 1970 to 2007. The frequency data represented in percentages makes it clear and easier to understand. Correlation measures like Pearson product that enables one to relate independent variables of modernity and career choice in early years. Correlations provide a measure of establishing the relationship between the variables. Research methods in community development and contexts Data collection methods and analysis are significant in the contemporary world in reiterating the influence of pure and social science in solving human problems. In community development, the methods signify a way data is used in understanding and exploring feminist opinions and beliefs. The methods are used in participatory monitoring and evaluation where they help assess the progress of obj ectives and their transformation into goals. Some methods in data collection also double as monitoring and evaluation tools, which determine relations between men and women in a polarized patriarchal society. These include focus group discussions, observation, interviews and questionnaires. These help the stakeholders to receive and gain knowledge on the status and progress of project work being undertaken at the community level. They are tools that assist in decision making among the project employees and sponsors. Research methods are undoubtedly the epitome of modern science. They are used to make inferences in academic research towards building the body of knowledge through proposition of theories. Action oriented research is intended to solve real problems affecting human life. The methods may involve assessing the problem and monitoring through observation so as to get appropriate and quick solutions. In market research, research methods helps to collect data concerning customer service, perception of consumers towards a new product and also to analyze their behavior. Human resource departments regularly use the methods to obtain employee information regarding motivation, work environment and promotions. In the nut shell, research methods are applied in every fien d of active science. The use of community development strategies, consultation and facilitation methods used in project work Mass mobilization involves influencing the masses of males to consider the change in attitudes, values and beliefs concerning early childhood education. The strategy is best implemented through the mass media where electronic, print and social networking sites like face book play a prominent role. Social action is the behavior of the influential institutions to change the social phenomenon of the people. The government can resolve to provide more incentives for those men willing to join the early childhood career. Citizen participation is critical in ownership and sustainability of the efforts to bring men on board. The participatory role of men is essential in ownership and sustainability of the change required. Public advocacy also helps to develop confidence in

Several Challenges in the Learning Activity Research Paper

Several Challenges in the Learning Activity - Research Paper Example In a class, an instructor can have students who have the ability to exhibit numerous potentials in a learning process. Multipotentiality among students a rare trait and it is common among students with gifts and talents (SWGT) (Santrock, 2010). These groups of students have a great passion and are usually have an extreme interest in several areas. However, this is a very good aspect for their future lives as it can enhance self-confidence and agency. The instructor can experience students with excessive self-criticism. Self-awareness and criticality are healthy aspects of any individual. This aspect is debilitating to the youths. These kinds of students exhibit self-persecution and self-hating traits. Furthermore, students may end up having depression. In addition, the instructor can experience students who have a perfectionist character trait. This aspect is more common as opposed to SWGT. The trait is a combination of environmental and inborn tendencies. Perfectionism as a trait ma y arise from outer sources such as parents, trainers and observations from adults. As an instructor one goes through varied challenges in handling these groups. First, students with numerous potentials are difficult to handle due to emerging of stereotypes and societal conventions. There is an emergence of stress and some limitations are applied. For instance, when girls approach colleges and perform well in music and physics, they are usually encouraged to pursue courses which represent stereotypes of society. In addition, stereotypes which are created along the gender lines, it may lead to stress (Smith et al, 2,010).

Technology and culture class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Technology and culture class - Essay Example Bill Joy, on the other hand, talks about the threat of artificial intelligence to mankind in his book â€Å"Why the future doesn’t need us†. He talks in a very pessimistic manner and he talks about how robots will take over from humans and will perform everything without the help of human technology. Bill argues against the â€Å"rise of the robots† and predicts a horrific future for mankind because of this. He predicts that the acceleration in improvement of technology mean s that humans will fuse with robots. A comparison of the two authors works show that Ray is more of an optimist about the improvement of technology, while Bill is a pessimist. Bill claims that the doom of humans will occur because humans will drift towards robot control. This is because the problems in future will be s complex on artificial intelligence will be able to solve them after which robots will take control of everything. Ray, on the other hand, believes that the exponential improvement in technology will bring about changes that will shock mankind. He does not talk about the doom of the human

Applied Health Prospective Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Applied Health Prospective - Essay Example 94). In effect, commoditization is about making money or profit off of body parts, organs, and tissues for organ transplantation or, in some instances, for research. It is about treating body parts as if they were commodities separate from the human body. The statistical figures which relate to the commoditization of human life, especially on organs trade are not complete because the trade is considered illegal and unethical in all territories. Nevertheless, in order to give a general picture of this issue, the World Health Organization estimates that about 50,000 kidney transplants are carried out each year and about 15,000 of these transplants are live donors (GTZ, 2004, p. 11). Some of these transplants would come from relatives, and the rest would be from unrelated donors. These unrelated donors are the cause for concern in the commoditization of human organs because some are illegal transactions. Thousands of illegal transplants seem to be occurring with each year in different c ountries like Japan, Italy, the US, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Peru, and South Africa (GTZ, 2004, p. 11). One of the concerns in the organs trade is that the sellers are often coerced by creditors or by their poor stations in life to sell their organs. However, studies have revealed that organ sellers actually receive less than what their body parts are actually worth. Surrogacy, when carried through proper channels, is not as controversial as commercial surrogacy especially when the act of carrying a child is not done as a gestational carrier, but done with one’s own egg. This practice seems to be growing especially with the access to developing nations now easily available. Once again, no actual statistics seem to be available for commercial surrogacy; however, estimates indicate that this practice has doubled in the last few years (Gathia, 2008). India is one of the nations highly involved in commercial surrogacy with clients mostly coming from western developed nations. Thi s is the current scenario in the commoditization of human life and body parts. The acts of donating organs or of surrogacy are normally viable medical options; however, when these acts are now done with price tags, the human body then becomes a product or a commodity. This paper shall now discuss in more specific details the different activities involved in the commoditization of human life. It shall also consider the impact of such activities, the ethical aspects of such activities, including the positive, the negative, and the alternate views on the commoditization of human life. Body Common practices in the commoditization of human life, tissues, and body parts The most common practices in the commoditization of human life involve the following: organ selling, commercial surrogacy, and human experimentation. In some circles, stem cell research is considered a part of the commoditization of human life; however, since this practice is not yet widespread, it shall not be included as yet in this discussion. Organ selling involves the act of acquiring organs for a price. Most common are kidney organ sales from developing nations with buyers coming from wealthy developed nations (Rohter, 2004, p. 2). This practice has been criticized for its ethical and physiological impact on sellers who are often taken advantage by rich clients and by middlemen, the latter transacting in the buyer’s behalf and in the process, profiting from such sale. This practice is illegal in

College Student Essay Example for Free

College Student Essay As a student nurse, I was working in a student assignment group, where we were to make a project for a presentation on â€Å"Breast Cancer†. We had four persons in our group. On our meeting day, one of our group members did not come to our group meeting and she also did phone none of us. We were not able to finish our group work because we were missing her part of the project. We did not even know whether she had started her part of the work or not. Our meeting without her part of the work was not productive and we decided to set up another meeting on another day. On next day I met her and asked if everything is fine with her and her family. She confirmed that everything was fine. My expectation was that she would give some explanations or would try to talk about what had happened. She did not show any interest in a further communication. Her behavior was surprising and the same time frustrating for me. I perceived that she was not a responsible person, because before our meeting she did not call us. I also perceived that she did not value and respect other people time. I felt that she even ignored the importance of the group project and the work that she was spouse to complete. The conflict arose in our work group about her part of the work, and we were undecided whether we were to keep on being silent or to start an open discussion about our concerns. Eventually, we did not do very well on our group project and then our group was disbanded when for the next project we had to choose new partners for the group. 2. Communication Despite my perceptions about her, I decided to ask her if everything was fine with her family. She confirmed that her family was fine and then I kept a distance from her because I decided that she did not have a legitimate reason not come to the meeting and in fact this validated my perception that she was not responsible person and she did not value other people time. Because of her behavior the conflict arose in our work group about her part of the work, and we were undecided whether we were to keep on being silent or to start an open discussion about our concerns. Eventually, we did not do very well on our group project and then our group was disbanded when for the next project we had to choose new partners for the group. Even when our group project was completed, I kept thinking about her behavior and I came to the conclusion that there could have been other reasons for her behavior that she never shared with any of us. I feel that the reason for the further events was the lack of communication between her and the group members. Now I regret that I failed the opportunity to fix the situation by an open communication, and create strong group solidarity. But I value this experience for the idea of importance of a communication to build strong group solidarity. 3. Possibilities I formed my perceptions about her having only limited information about her; I did not know the real reason she had that day not to come to the meeting. As I knew that she had a large family with four children, and maybe one of her children was sick, so she had to stay at home with the sick child. As a mother, her baby’s health could be the priority for her. The other reason for her not to come to the meeting could have been an accident and maybe she did not have an opportunity to call us or to let us know about it. Finally, maybe one her close relatives had breast cancer and she was very sensitive to the work project, so she was not able to come and discus the topic with the group members. We never had an opportunity to know what exactly had happened to her since she never talked to us about the reasons for her behavior. 4. Influences Analyzing the event I can identify many assumptions on my part that influences my thoughts. There is another important factor about myself, which formed my perceptions. I have an experience in working with sick children and their parents and in this case I thought that the reason could be that her baby was sick, and as a mother for her the baby’s health is the most important thing for her. I am a very responsible person, and I respect people and their time. I am always early for any meeting or group projects. I am also very careful with my study process, so this made me feel that she did not respect our group member’s time. In my cultural background it is very important if I promise or decide to do something in a group, and I am not able to go on with that, I must let my partners know. Another thing that made an influence on my perception was that I value other people time and I always let them know if I am late. The other reason could be that as an ESL student she had a hard time to complete the work. As an ESL student with some language barriers, I thought that she had a hard time to complete any work. 5. Application of Learning to Nursing Practice I think that perception checking can play a significant role in my critical thinking and decision making process. Only open communication and accurate perception checking can help us to understand other people behavior. It is now my understanding is that I would have done better to discuss the issue with my group partner, and to address the conflict in an open way. Open communication would give me an opportunity to perform and improve my direct perception checking skills. Even somehow I had tried to discover the real reasons for my group partner behavior, my actions and skills were not enough to understand her behavior, to have a whole picture of what happen, rather that make my assumptions. On my meeting with her on the next day somehow I tried to understand the possible reasons for her behavior. That was an example of indirect perception checking process, but not performed completely. I feel that I formed most part of my perceptions on my own assumptions. For my further successful practice I have to learn more about perception checking process and also improve my perception checking skills toward my successful nursing career. Nursing work is always a team work and in my further practice I also will use this experience to build team solidarity.

Supplier Assessment And Screening For Good Environmental Performance Management Essay

Supplier Assessment And Screening For Good Environmental Performance Management Essay Abstract:- Suppliers assessment is a critical function within supply chain management . Green supplier assessment is also necessary for sustainable supply chain management. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate supplier performance using different methods. Since Environment protection has been concern to public in recent years,and the traditional supplier selection did not consider about this factor therefore, this paper introduces green criteria into the framework of supplier selection criteria. Index Terms:- Supply chain,Logistics. Introduction:- Logistics, or supply chain management, describe the transport, storage and handling of products as they move along the chain from the raw material source, through the production system to their final point of sale or consumption. However over the last 10 to 15 years environmental concerns have put companies under more and more pressure to address and reduce the environmental impact of their logistics operations. The adverse effects of distributing goods are diverse including impairing air quality, generating noise and vibration, causing accidents and contributing significantly to global warming. The effect of logistics and supply chain management on climate change has increased mainly because of the realisation that global warming presents a much greater and more immediate threat than previously thought. Freight transport is estimated to contribute roughly 8 per cent of energy-related CO2 emissions worldwide (Kahn Ribeiro and Kobayashi, 2007), however, making logistics sustainable in the longer term will involve more than just cutting carbon emissions. Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) is a fastest growing concept in developing countries and having its presence both in environment management and supply chain management literature. Adding the greendimension to supply chain management (SCM) involves addressing the influence and relationship between supply-chain management and the natural environment. Green supply chain management (GSCM) is generally understood to involve screening suppliers based on their environmental performance and doing business only with those that meet certain environmental regulations or standards. The green supply chain known at present refers to supply chain effect brought about by green products proposed by European Community in the 21st century. Although the focus on green logistics seems to be a recent phenomena there has been different research initiatives conducted over the past 40 years which attempted to address the environmental concerns. McKinnon (2010) discuss these under the following headings: Reducing freight transport externalities During the 1970s the focus, especially UK ,was on lorries that were much noisier And more polluting than is the case today. There was substantial growth of freight by Road and efforts were put in place to rationalise this freight ,tightening regulations On Emission levels,etc. In this way there were general reduction in transport Externalities. City Logistics Urban freight plays a vital role in th sustainable development of cities. There are, However, many challenges facing urban freight transport, including high levels of Traffic congestion,environmental impacts,high energy usage and labour problems This has led to research to what is now City logistics,a process to optimise urban Logistics within all different conditions that impact urban freight movements (Taniguchi et al.2001). The work in this area has led to modelling of city logistics, Demand and supply models,impact models,vehicle routing and scheduling,etc. All of These efforts contributed to addressing in the environmental issue. Reverse Logistics In a world of limite resources ,it becomes crirical that products such as white goods (washing tubs,stoves,fridges,etc.) are recovered. This has led to the extension of Logistics to include Reverse Logistics,which incorporates the flow of goods in both Directions. This development has a strong element of waste management and Sustainable development. The green suppliers can be the biggest assets to the organization but poor choice can make them biggest liability also. This paper, thus deals with issues related to supply. For vendor selection different model is proposed to show procedure involved and steps in software à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢super decisionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬- are shown using windows for easy understanding. Literature review:- Green supplier management, has captured significant interest in the current literature (Lee et al., 2009; Hsu and Hu, 2009). Sphere of influence theory states that greening a supply chain is influenced greatly by focal companies that can effectively influence suppliers to engage in the GSC projects and act as better performers (Hall, 2001). Supplier selection is a multi-criteria problem which include analytic hierarchy process (AHP) (Akarte, (2001), Chan (2003)), Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) (Kuo(2007), Kahraman (2003)), case based ANP (Bayazit (2006), Gurpinar(2007)). Evaluation criteria for the supplier selection, may be tangible (measurable) or intangible (immeasurable). The criteria for supplier evaluation and selection were first proposed by Dickson (1966), who identified 23 different criteria, including quality, on-time delivery, price, performance history, warranty policy, technical capability and financial stability, and so on. Weber, Current, and Benton (1991) sur veyed the frequency of Dicksons 23 criteria and found that price, delivery, quality, and productive capability were mostly used to measure suppliers performance. Quality is considered the most decisive criterion for supplier selection (Weber et al., 1991). However, quality in itself is not sufficient to ensure that the suppliers can avoid extra costs while offering the right quality. From the literature we can develop a broad supplier assessment process model in the context of greening a supply chain that can be separated into three managerial decision phases: indentified suppliers, classifying criterias and evaluating suppliers based environmental performance, and select the best supplier. t methods of green supplier evaluation er many areas such as on-time delivery ,qualitycause an understanding ofa supplierlity Procedure:- There are different methods of green supplier evaluation. kjgjlgilggi;lglijhilk;hlkh;b. Analytic Heirarchical Process: U.S. operations researcher A. L. Saaty put forward the Analytical Hierarchy Process (referred to as the AHP method) in the 1970s; it is a decision analysis method which combine the qualitative and quantitative. It is a process which make decision-makers thought for a complex system modelling and quantitative. Applying this approach, decision-makers decompose the complex problem into a number of levels and a number of factors, through this way, make simple comparison and calculations between the factors, then we can get the weights of di ¬Ã¢â€š ¬erent programs, can provide the basis for the selection of the best option. As a tool combine the qualitative and quantitative,AHP has been widely used in many areas. Application procedures of AHP are as follows: Step 1 Con ¬Ã‚ rming problems. Step 2 Building hierarchy structure. Step 3 Establishing multiple comparisons judgment matrix. Step 4 Checking consistency. The consistency index of judgment matrix is CI (Consistency Index). Its expression is: CI = ÃŽÂ »max-n n-1 And the greater the value of consistency index CI is, the greater the degree of the judgment matrix deviate from complete consistency will be; the smaller the value of CI is, the closer the judgment matrix and complete consistency will be. Generally, the greater the order (n) of judgment matrix is, the greater the value of CI which shows the deviation from complete consistency caused by human will be; the smaller the n is, the smaller the value of CI which shows the deviation from complete consistency caused by human will be. In this paper, we use ANC to have consistency test. Step 5 Total taxis of hierarchy. Arranging weights which come from the factors in same level shows the relative importance of the top-level (overall objective); known as total taxis of hierarchy, this process is from high level to low level and step by step. The total taxis of hierarchy which come from the lowest level (program level) are the total order of all evaluation schemes. Analytic Network Process:- The Analytic Network Process (ANP) developed by Thomas Saaty, in his work on multi criteria decision making. It applies network structures with dependence and feedback, among the criteria, to complex decision making. It is an extension of his Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for decision making which involves breaking down a problem into its decision elements, arranging them in a hierarchical structure, making judgments on the relative importance of pairs of elements and synthesizing the results. ANP is combination of two parts: Network of criteria and sub criteria that control the interactions The network of influences of elements and clusters Hierarchies in AHP do not represent relationship among the levels. This shortcoming is removed in ANP feedback approach. For example, in AHP, importance of criteria determines the importance of alternatives but does not represent importance of alternatives may have impact on importance of criteria. Therefore linear structure of top to bottom is not applicable for a complex system. A feedback system is represented by a network where nodes correspond to levels or components. The structural difference between AHP and ANP is shown in Figure 1. The nodes in a cluster (level) may influence some or all the nodes in another cluster. Relationships in a network are represented by arcs and direction of arcs signifies dependency. Interdependency between two clusters is shown by two way arcs and inner dependencies are represented by loop arcs. Hierarchical (b) Network (a) (b) Figure 1: Structural Difference There can be many control criteria and sub criteria, these can be classified into four merits, namely, Benefits, Opportunities, Costs and Risks. For each control criterion of these B, O, C, R, one derives the priorities for alternatives of the decision with respect to all the significant influences that cause some of the alternatives to have higher priorities. After rating the top ranked alternative for each B, O, C, R, resulting weights are combined for each alternative of each merit to obtain the final answer in the form of priorities whose relative values are important in choosing the best alternative. Table 1 gives Saaty scale used for pair wise comparison matrix. Table 1 :Saaty Scale Used For Pair Wise Comparison Matrix Intensity of Importance Definition 1 Equal importance 3 Moderate importance of one over the other 5 Essential or strong importance 7 Very strong importance 9 Absolute importance 2,4,6,8 Intermediate Values Working of ANP:Supplier Selection: ANP BOCR Analytic network model, with BOCR is prepared as shown in Figure 2. The pair wise comparison matrices were made by taking opinion of the team. Calculations were performed by Super Decision software. Ranks of the alternatives are obtained and suppliers are selected. Supplier Selection Risks Costs Opportunities Benefits OD FS LS FR CC CD MBD PC LC ASC SC SD MC EC R PR V1 V2 V3 V4 Figure 2: Network model Table 2:Criteria for ANP Benefits Opportunities Costs Risks Response(R) Supplier collaboration(SC) Product cost(PC) Order delays(OD) Product Reliability(PR) Supplier development(SD) Logistics cost(LC) Field return(FR) Environmental Control(EC) Increase in manufacture capacity(MC) After sales cost(ASC) Financial strength(FS) Changes in demand(CD) Labour strikes(LS) Customer complaints(CC) Machine break down(MBD) Conclusion:- In the current scenario of global operating conditions and competitive environment, it has become highly necessary for organizations to select the best Green supplier. Any inaccurate selection of Green supplier will affect the companys overall performance. This shows that supplier selection procedure is a highly essential decision making process for companies. This paper endeavour to utilise AHP and ANP for ranking the potential suppliers and making the final selection.

Issues of Discrimination in Sports

Issues of Discrimination in Sports There are many different aspects that define the culture of a group of people. Whether it is the food or the music or the traditions, every single person in this world lives based on the culture that surrounds them. One vital part of a culture is sports. Games are a source of revenue, income, careers and entertainment. They create bonds between people who would otherwise have nothing in common, whether fans, athletes or administrators. A chance of healthy competition between individuals of a society is the basis for the games in which a select few participate and millions watch. Especially for the population of the United States, sports are so ingrained into the culture that it would be hard to imagine a country without them. Sports have been praised for their ability to be a melting pot (Lumpkin), an idea easily understood by the United States, which holds the same nickname. They are considered to be the great equalizer because more attention is given to the abilities of a person than to who they actually are (Humara). Most people believe that sports provide equal opportunities for both majorities and minorities alike (Kahn). But what if this is not true? Just as minorities are discriminated against in everyday society, there is speculation and debate that discrimination occurs in sporting institutes as well. Economists and the general public have become more interested in the issue of discrimination against minorities in professional sports (Kahn). This topic is easily pursued and assessed considering statistics are readily available for the public, such as the gender, age, race, ethnicity and salary of players in professional sports such as baseball, football and basketball (Kahn). A growing number of sports sociologists are focusing on these inequalities and trying to discover if there is an actual problem and if so how it can be corrected (Eisen 127). The general issue of discrimination in institutions was addressed by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This article prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin (Hanna). Some people argue that there is still evidence of racial discrimination in sports today, though. Despite laws, the situation becomes sticky when it comes to racial discrimination. Is it really possible to prove that someone was not hired based on their race? In some cases, yes, but in others, no. The government cannot force people to hire certain candidates, but their ability to punish institutions for denying a position to a candidate based on race is limited (Hanna). Within the institution of sports, there are several ways that a person can be discriminated against, such as during the hiring process, what position he or she is allocated, or how much he or she is paid in salary (Kahn). Discrimination can come from employers, coworkers, customers, and people who hold prominent positions such as sportscasters, Hall-of-Fame selection committees, sports executives and franchise owners (Leonard). Discrimination not only affects if someone is able to be a part of a team, but how they are treated while on that team. Minorities are said to experience discrimination during the hiring process simply based on their origin and the fact that those in decision-making positions are more inclined to hire those who are similar to themselves. Since several administrators are white males, they are more likely to hire white males when given the chose between several well-qualified candidates. Those who are hired could possibly experience discrimination through the allocation of their positions; minorities may be given less-prominent leadership and critical-thinking positions such as pitchers and quarterbacks (Kahn). Salary is a difficult area to determine discrimination due to the fact that numbers may be biased, figures may be omitted, players perform different positions at different skill levels, veterans are paid more than rookies, and contracts may differ based on the number of years and the salary to be paid (Kahn). Customers may show their own form of discrimination by refusing to attend games or purch ase certain merchandise, as well as racial slurs said during taunting or trash talking (Lumpkin). The three sports that are voted as the most popular in the United States are baseball, basketball and football. These three only offer a handful of positions: 737 in Major League Baseball (MLB), 245 in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 1400 in the National Football League (NFL) (Eisen 230). The chances of someone securing a position on a team in these institutions is miniscule, with four out of every 100,000 Caucasians, two out of every 100,000 African Americans and three out of every 100,000 Hispanics successfully doing so (Egendorf 95). Professional sports organizations are required to submit a Racial and Gender Report Card to assess the hiring practices of women and people of color in each organization. These assessments ensure that minorities are justly represented in such prominent organizations by considering the composition of the players, coaches and administration. For example, if African-Americans represent twenty-four percent of the population then twenty-four percent of the positions held in a sports organization must be held by African-Americans. In the 2010 Racial and Gender Report Cards, the MLB, NBA and NFL each scored an A in racial hiring practices, with the MLB and NFL improving from an A- and the NBA dropping from an A+ in 2009 (CBA). The color barrier in baseball was broken by Jackie Robinson in 1947 when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and ended segregation in professional baseball (Kahn). At the start of the 2010 season, minorities composed over forty percent of the players in the MBL, including African-Americans, Latinos and Asian-Americans. Nine people of color (three African-Americans, five Latinos and the first Asian-American) hold the title of manager in the MLB, bringing the total managers of color to thirty percent. Thirty-two percent of coaching positions are held by minorities, and they are also well represented in administration positions as well (CBA). The National Basketball Association employs the highest percentage of minorities with eighty-two percent of their players being African-American, Latinos and Asian-Americans. Seventy-seven percent of those players are African-American. International players hold eighteen percent of positions on NBA teams. Michael Jordan is the only African-American majority owner of a professional sports team, but there are four African-American presidents in the NBA. Thirty percent of the head coaches are of a minority, with one American-Asian and eight African-Americans holding positions, while forty-one percent of the assistant coaches are of color (CBA). Administration in the National Football League hosts many positions for minorities as well, with twenty-five percent of the positions being held by African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, but no person of color has ever held majority ownership of an NFL team. The representation of minorities is relatively high for African-Americans at sixty-seven percent, but Latinos and Asian-Americans are only represented with one and two percent, respectively. Out of all of the professional sports organizations, the NFL has the smallest percentage of international players with two percent. The coaching staff of the NFL boasts six African-American coaches and one hundred fifty seven assistant coaches of color (CBA). Based on the data collected from the Racial and Gender Report cards of Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Football League, minority representation fares well in these professional sports. Certain measures, such as this report card, have been taken to ensure that minorities are represented in sporting institutes (CBA). One such measure is the Rooney Rule, enacted by the NFL in 2002. The Rooney Rule was headed by Dan Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers and states that any NFL team seeking to hire a head coach must interview one or more minority applicants (Hanna). This rule is most likely accountable for the fact that one fourth of NFL teams have a minority coach. Measures like these enable minorities to have an equal opportunity to be represented in the sporting organizations in the country in which they reside. While the numbers show that discrimination is very low, if not nonexistent, in sporting organizations in the United States, they can only go so far. Discrimination is not just about how many players of color are on a sporting team, but what they had to do in order to achieve their position and how they are treated once they are a part of the team. Blacks were excluded from professional sports all together until the 1940s, after World War II (Kahn). Before this time, African-Americans began their own black leagues that mirrored the white-only versions of the sport. For example, Rube Foster founded the National Negro Baseball League in 1920 that offered an alternative for black athletes excluded from the major leagues (Eisen 138). These leagues were a chance for African-Americans and other minorities to play sports they loved, although they were far from equal to their white counterparts. Once minority players were allowed to become a part of professional sports alongside white people, it was an uphill battle. African-Americans were striving for success in institutions that were controlled and defined by white standards (Eisen 135). They had to face the fact that they were both black and American playing white sports (Eisen 133). They wanted to be classified equally with their teammates, but they were defined by their color and not their ability (Eisen 138). These players strove to gain acceptance but never completely broke away from being defined by their race (Eisen 136). Wins symbolized symbolic nails in the coffin of racial inferiority but losses were evidence of their limits as minorities (Eisen 133). Many prominent minority athletes used their social status to help those in their race that were less fortunate while they pursued their careers (Eisen 136). Some may argue that discrimination exists in sporting organizations in the United States today. Qualifications and abilities may be overlooked because of the race of the applicant (Egendorf 103). Since many controlling positions in both professional and collegiate sports are held by white males, minorities have less of a chance of being hired due to the fact that the employer is more likely to hire someone similar to themselves (Egendorf 99). Athletes who have played the sport should be awarded leadership positions, but more often than not whites are hired over minorities (Egendorf 98). Minority athletes, many of whom grow up in lower-income areas, are denied equal training facilities during high school and are therefore at a disadvantage compared to their white counterparts when it comes to trying out for spots on professional sports teams (Kahn). Others do not see discrimination present in organizations such as the MLB, NBA and NFL. These people look at the statistics and notice that minorities are represented more in sports than they are in the entire population (Kahn). They also notice trends, such as the fact that the NBA is representative of more minorities than whites and that the NFL is increasingly composed of Pacific Islanders and Latinos (Egendorf 97). Since white players have more opportunities in society after retirement, they are more likely to retire earlier and therefore will not be as valuable as a minority who will play for a longer amount of time (Kahn). Either way the situation is looked at, minorities are fast becoming a majority (Justice Reader 2). Since the United States have been considered a melting pot for people from so many cultures and the country offers so many more opportunities, more and more people are immigrating in search of a better life. Although America has been defined as white, that is slowly beginning to change (Justice Reader 2). So how is justice ensured to minorities wishing to pursue a career in professional sports? The principle of distributive justice should be followed, or rewards, rights, opportunities, services and treatments because of who that person is, what he or she has done or to which group he or she belongs (Justice Reader 40). If an African-American athlete and a white athlete train equally for a position on a team, they should be given an equal opportunity to try out for that position. Their chances should be fair and consistent. Justice should be understood as merit focused on what is owed a person by virtue of his or her actions, efforts and impacts (Justice Reader 49). In the Old Testament of the Bible, we are told that God loves justice (Isaiah 61:8). The sin of humanity creates injustice in the world, yet we are called to live just and righteous lives (Micah 6:8). A reoccurring theme in the Old Testament is the law that God calls His people to live by. When the law is followed, we are able to live in harmony with God and other humans. This law has been broken, though, creating the injustices that we are dealing with in our day and age. One of the main focuses of the New Testament is the teachings of Jesus. In these teachings, He calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31). By treating our brothers and sisters in just ways, we are loving them as we love ourselves and treating them how we would want to be treated. The New Testament also tells us that we are all one body of Christ and therefore everyone is equal (Galatians 3:28). Why should some have privileges over others or be treated with injustice? Sporting organizations are very prevalent in the culture and society of the United States. The issue of minority representation has always been a controversy in the sporting world due to the fact that a successful career in athletics leads to success away from the athletic world (Eisen 221). Not only is minority representation important since they are a large part of the culture, but minorities are given more opportunities through a career in sports. Creating a system that gives equal opportunities and treatments to both majorities and minorities is one way to solve injustices in sporting organizations. Some actions to begin this system have been started, such as the Rooney Rule in the NFL. Individuals can voice their opinions when it comes to sporting organizations, such as protesting unjust actions and treatments. One voice may not be a lot, but many voices together can make a loud sound.

Understanding and Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect Essay -- Preventi

â€Å"Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.† -- Dave Pelzer, A Child Called "It"   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child abuse, the physical and/or emotional abuse of a child by a parent, guardian, or other person, is a major problem in the United States. Child abuse, including sexual abuse, beating, and murder have increased and it is believed that many cases go unreported. Another for of child abuse is child neglect, which includes malnutrition, desertion, and inadequate care for a child.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Efforts have increased on the primary prevention of child abuse. This must be started on many different levels before it can be successful. Prevention plans on a social level include increasing the economic self-sufficiency of families, preventing the birth of unwanted children, making health care more accessible, expanding and improving coordination of social services, improving the identification and treatment of psychological problems, and alcohol and drug abuse, and providing more affordable child care. Prevention plans on the family level include helping parents meet their basic needs, identifying problems of substance abuse and spousal abuse, and educating parents about child behavior, discipline, safety, and development. Primary prevention is to prevent the disease before it happens and reduce the chances of child abuse or negligence from happening.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Between 1995 and today child abuse cases have increased by more than fifty percent. More than thirty-five percent of which were confirmed. Each year one hundred and sixty thousand children are abused severely, even to life threatening extents. One thousand to two thousand children are killed resulting form child abuse. One of twenty murder victims is a child. Murder is the fourth leading cause of death in children from ages five to fourteen. The murder of a baby within the first twenty-four hours of life, Neonaticide, accounts for forty-five percent of children’s death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most child abuse occurs in the home and is started by someone who is known and trusted by the child. Abuse in day care center and foster car settings are only a small part of confirmed cases, but are more widely publicized. In a household where spousal abuse takes place, child abuse is fifteen percent more likely to occur also. Children are three times more likely to be abused by father rather than mot... ...education   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Number of children -Identify families with problems of:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Substance abuse   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Domestic Violence   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mental health -Offer new parents   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Services of a social worker   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Long-term home visitation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Parenting classes -Educate new parents regarding   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Developmental tasks of children Age-appropriate anticipatory guidance Nutrition and feeding problems Safety Discipline -Discourage corporal punishment -Survey parents to identity health issues that are of interest to them -Support universal health care for children -Advocate for community respite care for parents -Advocate for community alcohol and drug treatment, mental health, and spouse and child abuse centers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Child abuse is a complex problem with many causes, it is important that people do not take a negative attitude toward its prevention. Although the absence of strong evidence to guide preventive efforts, society can do things to try to prevent abuse. Showing concern for the parents or care givers and increasing attempts to enhance their skills as parents or care givers may be able to help save our most vulnerable people, the children, from the nightmare of abuse and neglect.

MBA Admissions Essay -- MBA Admissions Essay

MBA Admissions Essay After graduation from KOREA University, I decided to enter Hyndai MotorCompany(HMC), which is the largest Korean car manufacturer and global player, to pursue a career as an international businessman. In January 1991, I joined Domestic Finance Team of HMC. My specific assignment was to plan monthly and annual financial schedules for HMC's domestic funding needs. About two years later, in January of 1993, I was transferred to Retail Finance Team from Domestic Finance Team and responsible for financing by the sales and factoring of Car Receivables. First Challenge the expertise for strategy formulation implementation within a changing business environment. In May 1994, I was selected as a member of Task Force Team that prepare to set up HMC's own finance company. During my six-month assignment, I worked under pressured time constraints. After lots of conflicts with Ministry of Finance and Economy, we got government approval in late 1994. This opportunity provided me with valuable experience in every aspect of business and team experience. Working with the extremely qualified and professional upper management was valuable in shaping my career goals. Especially, during my business trip to Hyundai Motor Finance Company in CA, USA, the international exposure increased my confidence and desire to pursue a career in international business. After the expiration of the Task Force, I was given the option between joining the newly established Finance Company and remaining in HMC. At that time, International Finance Team(IFT) offe red to work together with them. I accepted the proposal because I wanted to further expand my international exposure. Second Challenge the enhancement of the global perspective and strategic vision required to successfully compete in a globalized business setting. In January 1995, I was trasferres to IFT and took over two jobs of financing Foreign Direct Investment and Investor Relations. In march 1995, HMC was planning the biggest foreign direct investment in India ever since the failure in canada, and I, together with my two subordinates, was responsible for project. Despite the fact that only three months had passes after taking a new position. I could carry out the complicated processes on the project. partly owning to the past force team experience. Third Challenge : Throughout my wor... ... The program is clearly not a perfect substitute for experience, but I believe it would program would also allow me to further research my business ideas through the experiences of my peers, independent study, and related summer employment. This would let me have a deep understanding, as I hope, of financial and other market structures, competitiveness, and other factors that a consultant needs take into account when recommending whether to pursue a career as an international business consultant. My long-term professional aspiration is to enter the field of international management consulting. A MBA from your school in interdisciplinary studies will enhance my understanding of all aspects of business. This will contribute significantly to becoming effective in the consulting profession. I am extremely enthusiastic about the future of International Business. I believe that there are major breakthroughs yet to be made in the field. After completing a MBA in your school, I hope to gain practical experience and exposure with a major international business firms. Eventually, I wish to establish my own consulting company providing various financial and managerial services.

Effective Classroom Management Essay

According to James H. Stronge in his book â€Å"Qualities of Effective Teachers†, some guiding principles in classroom management are the following: †¢Consistent, proactive discipline is the crux of effective classroom management. †¢Inside the classroom, we could always expect some disciplinary problems, but some teacher could immediately handle the said problems. Instead of formulating immediate medicine for the behavioral problems, the teacher should focus on how to prevent these predicaments to occur. As much as possible, lets avoid dilemmas because it’s too pathetic for us to cry over spilled milk. †¢Establish routines for all daily tasks and needs. †¢To avoid turmoil inside the classroom, the teacher must ascertain routines from the start of the class, up to the class dismissal. This could also help a lot in saving much time and effort because their work is already in routine. †¢Orchestrate smooth transitions and continuity of momentum throughout the day. †¢As much as possible, the teacher must avoid dull moments inside the classroom to motivate the students to always pay attention to the speaker. The teacher must scheme smooth transitions of activities inside and outside the classroom throughout the day. †¢Strike a balance variety and challenge in students’ activities in the classroom. †¢There should be a variation of activities inside the classroom to avoid the students and even the teacher from being bored. †¢As classroom manager, be aware of all actions and activities in the classroom. †¢Even if the teacher is not around, she is still responsible for the students. That is why she must know the things that are happening inside the classroom and what her students are up to. †¢Resolve minor inattention and disruption before they became major disruptions. †¢Disruptions seem to be part in every classroom and in every lesson. No matter how big or small the hitch is, it could still give so much distraction not only to the teacher, but foremost to the students. That is why, if the disruption is still controllable, the teacher must try to stop it before it becomes too late for her to control the situation, and worse, it could spoil the whole transition of the lesson inside the classroom. †¢Reinforce positive behavior. †¢To motivate the students to always do the good and right thing, the teacher should always pay even the simplest compliments in her students’ actions especially to the appreciating ones. †¢Treat minor disturbances calmly. †¢If a simple rising of the voice could control the simple problem, then do it. There’s no need for you to be hysterical and over-react on something that’s just under control. †¢Work out a physical arrangement of chairs that facilitates an interactive teaching-learning process. †¢Some teachers change seating arrangement quarterly. This is to enhance interactions between the teachers and students. †¢Make good use of every instructional moment. Minimize discipline time to maximize instructional time.

Coffee and Starbucks Corporation Essay

Acknowledgements original and foremost, we would like to express our gratitude to our faculty Ms. Nusrat Huq for her constant quantity support and motivation, and we would also like to convey her for assigning a topic to our assort that has been quite interesting to work with. We be immensely grateful to our friends and AIUB alumni who have been conformation enough to share their knowledge with us. oddment but not the least, our sincere gratitude goes to our respected families for their guidance and contribution in any aspects of our lives.EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAmong many other global coffee shops, Starbucks is the most popular. This expression discusses the companys internal and external environments, its corporate strategies, organization structures, how they can rectify their quality, and where there is agency for success.In 1971, three youngish entrepreneurs began the Starbucks Corporation in Seattle Washington. Their key end was to sell whole coffee beans. presently af ter, Starbucks began experiencing huge growth, col five stores all(a) of which had roasting facilities, sold coffee beans and room for local restaurants. In 1987, Howard Schultz bought Starbucks from its original owners for $4 million after expanding Starbucks by straight-from-the-shouldering three coffee disallow.These coffee bars were based on an idea that was in the first place proposed to the owner who recruited him into the smoke as motorcoach of retail and marketing. Overall, Schultz strategy for Starbucks was to grow slow. Starbucks went on to suffer financial losses and hit operating expenses rose as Starbucks move its slow expansion process. Despite the sign financial troubles, Starbucks went on to expand to 870 stores by 1996. Sales increased 84%, which brought the corporation out of debt. With the growing success, Starbucks planned to open 2000 stores by year 2000.

Unaccustomed Earth Book Review

Jhimpa Lahiri plays upon and wrote about the most vital gracious emotions smell, death, self disc overy and love and in doing so, Lahiri wrote a truly unfor suittable novel that examines the feel of a family over several generations. Unaccustomed Earth is carve up up into eight stories and as each bill unf sexagenarians they reveal layers of life and culture in their context. someplace buried beneath the Bengali familys speculative displays of emotions and cries for attention theres a narrative about finding acceptance and moving on and looking past the rooted ethnic boundaries.Along with the makeup of acceptance the book also has an overflowing theme finding mavens self, not simply spiritually but accepting ones indistinguishability in a novel land. totally these characters possess a desire, an urge to discover themselves, veritable(a) in the most unorthodox mannerisms and the discovery happens over time and generations. While Unaccustomed Earth runs rapid with the mes of culture, the book takes the reader to a time where the States represented somewhere where communities were active and tightly boned, a time where one could build a new personal identity and explore freedom.With that freedom, each story has a character or family member torn among their culture and new chances the States dissolve offer. The characters pillow slip a turmoil of acceptance between their old heritage and emphasizeing to conform to norms of a occidental civilization. Early on the reader adopts that Ruma (a lawyer) is starting to sound a mirror image of her set out taking the path she one time did in her homeland, Growing up moving to a foreign place for the involvement of marriage, caring exclusively for children and a household had served as a warning, a path to avoid.Yet this was Rumas life now (11). While there is freedom in her choice to follow her husband and be a house wife, Lahiri metaphorically tells the reader through this pass that while Amer ica offers freedom, its not requirement to make drastic changes but to be unbowed to ones own self. In that resembling page the metaphor is explored deeper when Ruma sees her father in a different light, He was wearing a baseball cap that said POMPEII, brown cotton pants and sky-blue polo shirt, and a pair of white lather sneakers.She was struck by the degree to which her father resembled an American (11). From this the reader can sense the parallels from the generations, on one hand theres the foreigner consuming American so much he resembles it, and on the other an American born citizen reverting to a life she could catch had in Calcutta. overall the content become apparent that ones identity is not defined by a geographic location but by ones free will and is not limited by heritage and cultural stereotypes.Lahiri seems to often play with the smell of gender offices. At the forefront Rumas close to abandon her course and opt to be a homemaker is met with much displea sure from her father, as he seems to meet this decision with the initial thought that America was supposed to bring new ideologies, he visualize a different life for his daughter. There is a strong urging from Rumas father to get back into legal work and make the lift out of her life, Now is the time for you to be working, building your career (36).Rumas father whole wishes to see his daughter happy and successful and not reliant on a man. With gender roles we see Rumas Indian heritage come in to play as she feels due to her heritage she has a prime role in taking care of her father and have him live with her. In much of the story we see Ruma often trying to find her cultural identity balancing being a mother and her once promising job. While her father often appears discontentment with the traditional lifestyle he was raised in, Ruma finally finds freedom in her lifestyle choice.The reader can further see gender roles come in to play with Lahiri writes Hell-Heaven we see the narrator showing melancholy for the unappreciative nature they had towards the hard working mother and her sacrifices. De hurt gender roles the future is often undecipherable for most characters and there is almodal values insecurity no outlet what smirch arises, Even as an adult, she wished only that she could go back and change things the ungainly things shed worn, the insecurity shed felt, all the innocent mistakes she make (137).Lahiri explores the aspect of death and the Indian culture that surrounds it passim much of the novel. Whenever there is a death in Unaccustomed Earth it seems to bond the family impending unitedly and bridge the generation gaps. Universally death is in every culture and it becomes apparent that no matter what continent someone is from one can not escape their fate, There were times Ruma felt closer to her mother in death than she had in life, an closeness born simply of thinking of her so often, of scatty her.But she knew that this was an illus ion, a mirage, and that the distance between them was now infinite, opinionated (27). There is a commemoration that happens that bonds the whole family together and they must rework and an alteration occurs as they resume as a unit. Yet, although death is ever lambent upon humanity the Bengali families seem to take with a grain of salt, The knowledge of death seemed present in both sisters-it was something about the way they carried themselves, something that had broken too soon and had not mended, marking them in spite of their lightheartedness (272).Unaccustomed Earth seems to present death the way Bengalis are influence by the Muslim and Hindu influence it has in the region. Overall Unaccustomed Earth is a great type of Bengali culture and to show just how versatile the families are. While there are universal and cultural themes throughout the novel, all eight stories share a common theme identity.Without identity there wouldnt Bengali or Native American, its ones identity that make them what they are, its their intelligence encompassed in relation to who they are, the philosophical thought in relation to gender, culture, and ethnicity. All the Bengali families deal with life and finding a place in their situation or country to try to fit in, to try to belong. From Seattle to Thailand these stories tell a heartwarming account of what makes us human. Works Cited Lahiri, Jhumpa. Unaccustomed earth. New York Alfred A. Knopf, 2008. Print.