Critique of the Hawthorne Experiments

Written by Fritz J. Roethlisberger (1898 – 1974), The Hawthorne Experiments, explores the experiments, results and conclusions of studies performed at the Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company. The Hawthorne Effect is the theory that resulted from the studies. Roethlisberger, a key member of the team, joined the team in 1927 and actively participated in the research until 1936, first as Elton Mayo’s assistant and later as his collaborator (Roethlisberger, 2007). Roethlisberger earned a BA in engineering from Columbia University, a BS in engineering administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a MA in philosophy from Harvard University (Roethlisberger, 2007). When Roethlisberger became Elton Mayo’s assistant and a member of the Harvard Business School Department of Industrial Research, his studies towards a PhD in philosophy were halted (Roethlisberger, 2007). Roethlisberger held multiple positions while at Harvard University including: Instructor of Industrial Research (1927-1930), Assistant Professor of Industrial Research (1930-1938), Associate Professor of Industrial Research (1938-1946); and Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Human Relations (1950-1974) (Roethlisberger, 2007). Roethlisberger also served as a consultant to the Training within Industry Program of the U. S. Governments Office of Production Management from 1941 to 1942 (Roethlisberger, 2007). Roethlisberger is also responsible for multiple other essays and books including, â€Å"Man-in-Organization: Essays of F. J. Roethlisberger† (1968), â€Å"Counseling in an Organization; A Sequel to the Hawthorne Researches (1966)†, and â€Å"Management and Morale† (1941) (Biography – Fritz, 2010). Critique The article uses the experiments performed at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company as illustration to prove Roethlisberger’s theory . He wrote: It is my simple thesis that a human problem requires a human solution. First, we have to learn to recognize a human problem when we see one; and second, upon recognizing it, we have to learn to deal with it as such and not as if it were something else. Too often at the verbal level we talk glibly about the importance of the human factor; and too seldom at the concrete level of behavior do we recognize a human problem for what it is and deal with it as such (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, p. 30). Roethlisberger also said, â€Å"A human problem to be brought to a human solution requires human data and human tools (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, p. 30). Again the results from these experiments reiterated Roethlisberger’s theory of treating human problems with human solutions. There were multiple experiments performed at the Hawthorne plant. â€Å"In the illumination experiments†¦we have a classic example of trying to deal with a human situation in nonhuman terms (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, p. 31). The illumination studies were performed from 1924 until 1927 and were to study the effect of lighting changes on employee productivity (Kirchner, 1992). Within this experiment, various degrees of illumination were experimented on a ‘test’ group and most of the experiments performed on the group showed an increase of productivity. According to Roethlisberger, â€Å"in still another experiment, the workers were allowed to believe that the illumination was being increased, although, in fact, no change in intensity was made† (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, p. 31). Again the researchers saw an increase in productivity. Some of the researchers were beginning to develop their basic ideas and assumptions with regard to human motivation (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, p. 31). In the next set of experiments, also known as the Relay Assembly Test Room Experiments, Western Electric Company drew support from Harvard researchers. The experiments (with five young women from the Relay Assembly room of the plant) involved manipulated a number of factors including, pay incentives, length of workday and work week, and the use of rest period (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, p 32). While researchers kept tons of data regarding this experiment, including the temperature and humidity of the room and the amount of slept each women had the night prior, the physical changes had little change on the productivity (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, pp. 32 – 34). The experiments at the Hawthorne Plant continued with interviewing the actual employees. These interviews began in 1928 and were the â€Å"first real attempt to get human data and to forge human tools to get them† (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, p. 35). In the beginning of the interviewing process, the interviewers found it difficult to not input their feelings, advice, etc into the interviews (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, p. 35). Over time and with practice: They discovered that sooner or later a person tends to talk about what is uppermost in his mind to a sympathetic and skillful listener. And they become more proficient in interpreting what a person is say or trying to say (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, p 35). It was the data from these experiments that supported the research of the Harvard team and lead them to conclude that productivity increase when management/supervisors began to pay attention to their employees. In the final set of experiments at the Hawthorne Plant, also described as the Bank Wiring Observation Group (1931-1932), researchers observed a group of employees that represented three occupational groups – wiremen, soldermen, and inspectors (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, p. 8). All of the work done in this room was piece work and what the researchers discovered while observing was† To be an accepted member of the group a man had to act in accordance with these [the] social standards. One man in this group exceeded the group standard of what constituted a fair day’s work. Social pressure was put on him to conform, but without avail, since he enjoyed doing things the other disliked. The best-liked person in the group was the one who kept his output exactly where the group agreed it should be (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, p. 8) It was these observations that lead the researchers to the conclusion: informal groups operate in the work environment. According to Roethlisberger, â€Å"most of us want the satisfaction that comes from being accepted and recognized as people of worth by friends and works associated. Money is only a small part of this social recognition (Natemeyer & McMahon, 2001, p. 39)† Despite the modern criticism the Hawthorne res earch receives, the studies changed the landscape permanently. These experiments help disprove, Frederick Winslow Taylor’s theory of scientific management. According to his theory, management should scientifically design the job, scientifically select and train the right worker, reward for performance (Dessler & Phillips, 2008, p. 12). The study at the Hawthorne plant shows that management can not be a separate identity in the workplace but needs to be actively involved and available to employees. While the findings of the Hawthorne Experiments disproved Taylor’s theory they do support Abraham Maslow’s theories. In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, he points out there is more to motivation and an enjoyable workplace, then a paycheck. According to his theory, an employee has numerous needs including: physiological needs (food, water, etc), safety and security needs, social needs, self esteem, and self actualization (Dessler and Phillips, 2008, p. 12). In these experiments, the employees included in the group received more attention and were included into ‘special’ social groups. Today’s Workplace Fritz J. Roethlisberger’s conclusions from the Hawthorne Experiments are still relevant in today’s workplace. Employees need to feel as though they are a member of a group and their thoughts and opinions matter to the company they work for. While some researchers criticize the Hawthorne Experiments, the experiments, flawed or not, point to a key point – the employees in the Hawthorne experiment were pleased and thrived when receiving attention from the resea rchers. As Roethlisberger, pointed out one can not solve human problems or concerns without a human solution and he is correct. Social needs, self esteem needs, and self actualization needs, as defined by Maslow, are all human needs and can not be completed or satisfied with changed lighting, rest periods, increased pay, etc – they need human interaction and human solutions. These needs are even more important in our society and many companies do recognize these. Many companies now offer mentoring programs, employee groups (including health committee, activity committees, etc), rewards, and acknowledgement programs. When employees are made to feel special their physical and intellectual performance improves and thus a company will experience success.

Traditional Marriage

Marriage Marriage is a legal agreement with a long history, which provided for males and females who willing to build a family with each other. However, in the modern society, with the divorce rate tend to be higher and higher, there are more and more controversy on whether it is necessary to get married for modern lifestyle. It is suggested that marriage can bring a great deal of pressure. They have the free right to have more choice by themselves. Whereas marriage can build commitment relationship between person to person, which is important not only to a family, but also to the whole society. This essay will analyse the reasons why marriage is outmoded firstly, and then why marriage is still necessary for modern society will be proved. At present, there is an increasing number of citizens argue that marriage institution is out of date. According to The Economist(2011), it shows some statistics on marriage change. The three main change are later marriage, less marriage and more divorce. It appears that marriage tend to be less and less popular in the modern life. Besides the higher divorce rate make people scare about it. A large amount of married people make the wrong decision and end up by divorce or in a passionless and frustration relationship. Therefore, it appears to argue that the paperwork of marriage is unnecessary for the modern lifestyle. It is time to change the institution. Furthermore, a growing number of individuals stand up for same-sex marriage. However, under the current laws, each parent should belong to different sex, so the gay couples have no legal right to get married, also to the children. That is the part of reason that an increasing number of individuals are opposed to traditional marriage. Last of all, more and more superstar will not choose married, especially in western countries. That might have an effect on individuals. Diaz(2011) claims that marriage is an old tradition, which do not suit this world any longer. There is no divorce without marriage, therefore when love break up, change could be moved on at nay time. As the Archbishop of Canterbury, Williams(1999) pointed out that people will always find something better, faster, shinier just around the corner. Thus it is commonly believed that couples live together for a lifetime is unreasonable for modern age. There is increasing pressure on social work, individuals might have the free choice and right on their own marriage. It seems that the traditional marriage institution might be in crisis in modern society, but marriage is still play an important role for current and future society. There are widely positive meaning for both children and adults. While the idea that marriage is obligatory is still held by many others. First and foremost, family is not just mean love, in fact, it is more important for couples realize friendship, trust, support and commitment. A study on Waite and Gallagher(2000) conducted that it would be happier, healthier and better off financially on married people. The evidence suggests that getting married and keeping a wife could improve a man's income as much as an education, the health of a man would be as well as improved. While being single might take almost ten years off a man's life. Marriage can reveal the emotional, physical, economic and sexual benefits to individuals and whole society. It might be one of the most basic and universal of all human institutions. Besides, the commitment of marriage probably could improve not only the stable society, but also a better environment for children grow up healthy. If children grow up with not committed parents, they would be hard to learn the sense of responsibility. It would appear negative effects on a generation relationships. Lee(2011) claims that as half of marriages end up with divorce in some western countries, half of all children are born out of wedlock, the possible main cause of recent riots in Britain is the absence of each parental guidance or filial respect. A growing number of young individuals do not want a relationship with strings attached any more, they have less willingness to take any family responsibilities. Therefore, a solid family could give a better education and status for their children, it would appear less problem. Furthermore, as high rates of divorce and unmarried childbearing cause a larger portion of social problems, some governments carry out relevant law and public policy to support marriage and reduce unnecessary divorce. Though, it is perhaps that marriage connect up with boring and limiting life. The commitment of marriage is important for both individuals and whole society. Great efforts should make by person to person to create harmonious environment. Griffith(1963) states that the best way to solve marriage problem is by availably education for family life. On the evidence of the findings presented in other nations and civilizations, made marriage preparation could help a couple to create a better stable life environment. It is possible that marriage crisis situation might be improved with the widespread marriage education. The issue on whether the traditional marriage is out of date is highly debatable, particularly for modern individuals. Ideals vary from person to person. Some would claim that the marriage with higher divorce rate could not meet the needs of individuals, it tend to be a redundant constraint for current free and open society. While some other may suggest that marriage is probably essential for all over the world and bring a large amount of benefit for individuals and whole society. Otherwise, there might be cause a growing number of society crisis. To summarize, there is a strong argument that marriage have the function for developing relationship between person to person, adults to children and whole society. With the situation of current marriage crisis, marriage education and preparation might be necessary and useful for individuals. Bibliography The Economist (2011). The flight from marriage. Available from:http://www. economist. com/node/21526350 [Accessed 30/08/2011]. Diaz, C. (2011). Cameron Diaz thinks marriage is outdated. Available from: http://anythinghollywood. com/2011/05/cameron-diaz-thinks-marriage-outdated/? cAC=1&page-album=1 [Accessed 28/08/2011]. Williams, R, (1999). Is marriage an outdated institution? Available from: http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/talking_point/452257. stm [Accessed 31/08/2011]. Waite L. J. and Gallagher M. (2000). The case for marriage: why married people are happier, healthier, and better off financially. America: Doubleday. Lee K. Y. (2011). Asia's lonely hearts. The Economist. (Aug 20th 2011). Available from: http://www. economist. com/node/21526350 [Accessed 31/08/2011]. Griffith E. F. (1963). Modern Marriage. 26th ed. Britain: Richard Clay.

Observing a four-month-old baby Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Observing a four-month-old baby - Assignment Example At four months, babies are able to express themselves, making themselves an active part of their social environment. Observation The focus of the observation was a male baby named Sean Darren from Pennsylvania. This baby boy is developing fast under the care of his mother. He was born with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD), thus he was recommended to avoid certain foods like beans and soya. Some drugs or medications may also be harmful for him, thus he should not be given any medicine without the doctor’s advice. At his age, Sean is beginning to show funny tricks that make him look lovelier. He can recognize familiar faces of people around him; hence he calls the attention of his mother if he sees her around when he awakes. Similarly, he does not want to go with strangers and seems to choose people he goes with. He recognizes his own platter and jolts when he sees his mother holding it. He also takes his milk to his mouth and holds the bottle with the support of a cushion or pillow. Sean cries when he is hungry and wet. He feels uncomfortable to wear wet diapers so his mother makes it a point to change his diapers every 3-4 hours or earlier when needed. At the time of the observation, he was playing with his mother who was holding a rattle. Sean focuses his attention on the little toy, and grabs the toy from his mother and drops it on the sofa. His grip at this stage is not yet strong. He does this repeatedly, while his mother keeps on picking the toy and giving it to Sean. At times, Sean would hold the toy to his mouth and attempt to bite it but fails to do so because he could not place the handle of the toy exactly into his mouth. When he got tired, he turned to his mother’s ring and tried to take it but failed because the ring is in her mother’s finger. After a while, his attention was led to his feet, and he held his feet for more than three minutes while he laughed at his mother whom he thought was talking to him. Sea n smiles a lot when he is playing with colorful things. He has some colorful toys hanging above his crib. He tries to get hold of them by raising his hand while lying on his sleeping cushion. When carried by his mother, the little boy would grab anything, especially colorful things he sees around him. If he is successful in taking what he wants, he would usually take it to his mouth and chew. He drools while he plays with the object in his mouth. Age Based on his behavior and actions, Sean looks like a four-month old baby. Four-month-old babies are nice to hold because they can already react to stimuli in their environment. From looking at things and staring at them, four-year-olds are able to grab them and explore using their hands and mouth. Just like other four-year-old kids, Sean would take something and bring it to his mouth. At his age, he can roll on his side and sleep on his chest and crawl at short distances. With support from his mother, Sean can put his weight on his feet but is unable to stand on his own or even with support. Moreover, four-month-old babies can interact with people around them. They smile and giggle at people who are smiling at them. According to the Cooperative Extension Website, when tickled, these babies could laugh loud and babble. Additionally, four-month olds prefer sitting with support than lying on their backs. They can roll from side to side, lift their head forward, grab things around them, and put things inside

Explanation of liability, strict liability, accountability and moral Essay

Explanation of liability, strict liability, accountability and moral accountability in relation to obligations and duties as individuals and as parts of business organizations - Essay Example If he or she fails, such student is accountable for it and no one else. We can again cite as an example of the student. While the student is accountable for his or performance in class, he or she has also moral accountability to his or her parents to do his or her best because of their hopes for the student to be better prepared for the future. This is also a recompense for the sacrifices made by the parents for the student to send him or her to school. These terms relate to our obligations and duties as individuals - or as part of an organization in a way that they serve as the building block of ethics and integrity. Liability compels us to do good realizing that we are answerable for the consequence of our action. Our sense of accountability makes us responsible as a person and as a professional for we make sure that the trust and responsibility entrusted to our care are kept or done properly. Moral responsibility on the other hand enables us to perform duties and responsibilities even without the expectation of reward or repercussion but rather the internal drive to do good and be better. In the context of an organization, these terms make us ethical employees and/or managers. It makes us watch out for our actions because we can be held responsible for their consequences. On a positive note, these terms can help us become successful because it makes us responsible for any duties and tasks assigned to us. We also become trustworthy of a responsibility because we will not do anything that will have negative consequence both to us and the

Unit 7 Case Manegment Seminar Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Unit 7 Case Manegment Seminar - Research Paper Example However not all people accept change as some become very resistant. Recovery in this context refers to a process of change that an individual goes through in order to improve their health and wellness and try to reach their full potential. It can’t be confined only to people suffering from addictions only; it applies to all other people who are receiving human services. For example a person with a mental health issue and a disabled person will undergo recovery. So for a human service worker, recovery would be viewed as way of gradual change that helps clients to accept their situation and move on whereas for the client, it is the only and most important hope they can have once they get themselves in those situations. As a human service professional, when a client gets discouraged, I will ensure they learn to accept the situation and encourage them that they are not the only ones in that state. I will try and make them understand the purpose of life and ensure that I am in close contact with them so that they don’t feel neglected. I will also encourage and help them speak with others who have same experiences but have managed to overcome. When on a working service for a client, not one worker can be able to do all the activities. Different skills will be required at same time which on worker can’t deliver. For example, there could be people with different problems ranging from drug addict, mental illness, disabled etc. All these people would require different kinds of guidance and counseling which can’t be provided by one social worker hence need for many professional in that particular

Business submission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business submission - Essay Example ch activities include; shifting manufacturing techniques or method, adopting new, better input materials, re-utilizing materials on site, and adoption of new product changes as well. Note that this has no exclusion to other firms under the same industry (Leipziger 2010). Precautionary approach to environmental challenges on the other hand involves organized use of risk assessment through identification of hazardous features or characteristics, management, as well as risk communication. This is based on the degree of certainty as shown by scientific evaluation techniques which must be conducted prior. Under this principle, the following activities by the organization in question (Microsoft) and its competitors have been witnessed. Provision of better information to the clients, communicating possible risk to the customers, the surroundings, or even the public and obtaining prior permission before certain commodities, are thought to be potentially harmful (Akhtarkhavari 2010). My position is to encourage these organizations to continue with such practices since they are essential in the compliance with the two principles of Global Compact. Despite the fact that the above business practices aim at compliance with the two principles I mentioned earlier, they also come with little side effects which we must agree to take charge of. To begin with, there are positive lessons learnt from the activities of Microsoft as it aims to comply with the two principles under the Global Compact. These include; the implementation of environmental friendly technologies that help in reduction on the use of raw materials, which in turn result into increased efficiency. Secondly, innovations pertaining to technology create a new whole world of more superior business opportunities which in turn helps the business to remain or win competitive advantage over others in the same industry. Furthermore, such technologies that use input materials more efficiently and even cleanly may be applied

Labour Laws Application Practice and Implementation Coursework

Labour Laws Application Practice and Implementation - Coursework Example In order to understand an employee’s right to imply law and regulation, to place an appeal against unfair dismissal, a case will be studied thoroughly. Lastly, the paper aims to study the maternity rights which are granted to the employees and how they accommodate in the present society. Background to the Context: Employment law has been considered as an integral area of law which has received imperative attention from international law as well. As evident from the provisions associated with the Employment Act, there are many guidelines, obligations, rights, and criteria for different cases and their consequences on both for the employee and the employer. Since there is an increased number of obligations, it has become a complexity for both the parties to implement relevant provisions in their respective cases. It should be noted that employment law is being practiced in almost every country of the world with their alliance to international labor law (Barnard, 2006). Part 1 (a ) Rights of Employees under Section 1- Employment Particulars During the period of employment, the employee and the employer both should be aware of their rights and authorities. i. Sub- Section 3 and 4: Where on one hand, it is important for the employer to have complete information and trust of the employee; ii. CONT: it is also very significant for the employee to know what his rights are and to know what he can claim in the case of a conflict with his employer. Employment Rights Act of 1996 clearly defines these situations for both of them. The section 1 of the law deals with the employment particulars and the employment statement. This section of the law is a kind of guideline for the employee to know what his rights are during employment and at the time of termination fair or unfair so they get to know what sort of word and conditions to expect from the tribunal in case of any breach from the employer(Barnard, 2006) Subsection 1 of Section1 states: Where an employee begins emp loyment with an employer, the employer shall give to the employee a written statement of particulars of employment† (Gavin Mansfield, 2011, p. 581) Under the statement of particulars of the section 1 subsection 1 of the Employment Rights Act of 1996, any employee is provided with a statement of particulars when he starts any job (Section 1, sub section1). 1 The subsection 2 of section 1 further explains the subsection 1 stating that: The statement may (subject to section 2(4)) be given in installments and shall be given not later than two months after the beginning of the employment (Gavin Mansfield, 2011, p. 581)† The statement of particulars must be given to the employee within eight weeks of the start of his employment (Section 1, Subsection2). Subsection 3 & 4: i. The section 1 of the law basically deals with this statement of particulars, the details and the terms and guidelines for the deal between the employer and the employee. ii. The statement has a list of thin gs entitled, from the name of the employee and the job description to the salary wages and its payment schedule (Section 1, Subsection3 & 4). As stated in the clauses of the Subsection 3 & 4: 3- â€Å"The statement shall contain particulars of: (a) the names of the employer and employee, (b) the date when the employment began† 4- â€Å".

Human traficking Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human traficking - Assignment Example Women and young girls may engage in prostitution in their accord and is mostly not a mandatory involvement(Kligman & Limoncelli, 2005). Another type of human trafficking is immigration purposes where many people wished to join other countries. Countries in Europe like German are prime countries, and many people want to enter the (Kligman & Limoncelli, 2005). Statistics shows that over thousands of people were trafficked to and away ofEastern Europe. Most countries that had less Visa regulation made more people be trafficked into the country because trafficker could freely roam across the countries border. Poverty and low economic level in our society mostly faces women. From a statistic carried out it showed that the number of women being unemployed keeps raising this had pushed women to search for low paying jobs. Most women, therefore, are exploiting new ways of making the ends meet leading them to be victims of human trafficking. Push and pull factors are like gender discrimination where women are discriminated and seen as lesser beings. Pull factors like human trafficking are profitable businesses in many European countries (Kligman & Limoncelli, 2005). There should a complete shutdown of human trafficking in Europe. All underground ready markets for human trafficking are illegal. The United Nations define human trafficking as the process of using threat, deception, fraud or coax people so that they can be recruited and transferred to the individual country. Trafficking is mostly due to the greed of money by traffickers so that they can have people to work as slaves, laborers or slaves in their host country. The humans trafficked are prone to be exploited so that their body organs can be removed and sold or given to an influential person (Kligman & Limoncelli, 2005). In Eastern Europe, socioeconomic factor links to vulnerable people in a number of ways. Vulnerable individuals in societies face challenging life

Military leaders role Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Military leaders role - Essay Example For Clausewitz, by the time he was writing his book "On War," his thoughts on war had evolved towards notions like "War is a continuation of politics with an admixture of other means" and that there could be different ways and means of warfare. Here the concern is particularly towards his views on the practical uses of military history to and his "critical analysis" where he distinguished carefully between the historian and the military critic, despite his admission that both roles were often complementary.According to Clausewitz for a military historian, there had to be a use of the critical analysis which would involve the tracing of effects back to their causes which would be essentially an investigation into what military steps were taken and whether they were effective at a tactical, operational, strategic and political level. Before I revisit Clausewitz on his notions of a military leader it would be fair to discuss what Machiavelli and Sun Tzu have to say about the military le ader's role in defining national interests and military objectives in war. Machiavelli Machiavelli is much known for his book "The Prince" in which he has described how a prince or in other terms a military leader can keep his control on his jurisdiction.For him, control is particularly a difficult matter for a new prince whose status is not established by lineage or popular consent amongst the masses. The new prince or military leader would have a hard time creating a stabilized framework of power. Many times the prince will have to do carry out unpleasant, perhaps evil things to carry out his task. Machiavelli has refrained from discussing the ideal price or leader.Instead, he gives examples as to which of the military leaders/princes were successful in establishing their rule and most of these examples are drawn from his own analysis of history. As a renaissance writer, he uses an amount of classical historical examples. At first sight, his ideas seem  to hard to swallow as he seems to endorse any evil act by such rulers to gain power and control. A more profound understanding of his views,  however, indicates that he has actually qualified such measures with restrictions like the  philosophical view that any evil action can be justified if it is done for a good purpose. The work faced much negative criticism even in its time and was banned by the Catholic church. For Machiavelli, a good military leader would know how to use good and evil as instruments of power. Essentially he was trying to promote a more practical approach lined with pragmatism. However, realism is a bitter medicine and many people including myself find the idea of an undemocratically elected military leader abhorrent and dysfunctional. Such a military leader would invariably not be able to strike any balance between good or evil and keep tilting towards evil whenever his survival is threatened. An example is the current military crisis in South Asia particularly Bangladesh and Paki stan.  

A Short Story Essay Example for Free

A Short Story Essay During Maytag’s final surrender to Whirlpool, appliance parts are now in surplus. As a result, the warehouse has been shipped an overabundance of parts. The likes of which we rarely see. Because the market has gone down in flames, the demand for appliance parts is sky-high. Thus we have a beautiful supply and demand ratio between our suppliers and our customers. Since no one has the capital to go out and purchase a brand new washing machine or refrigerator, in spite of Obama’s Energy Star credit stimulus, more and more appliances are being serviced. This allows servicers to keep in business and increase profits. Their increase in business requires that they purchase more parts from us, of which we are consistently replenishing due to the business deals made by our suppliers. Thus the servicer is never thrown into hysteria over a lack of parts. Thus we keep in business. Thus we keep our jobs. We even manage to allocate overtime on occasion. I know all this because the warehouse hides nothing from me. The warehouse needs me. The warehouse is me. Or else I’d like to think. By the end of the shift we are all manifesting the last of the packages that are to be shipped out via UPS and FedEx. The trailers are closed. The semis drive off. The workers go home. I stay to close shop. I print the manifest reports and shut down the computers. I record our shipping quantities and turn out the lights. The doors are locked, the security enabled. I shut the last door before I stroll to the bus stop. The driver sees my monthly pass purchased online at the warehouse’s very own computer, addressed to my own PO box. The driver lets me on. There are a couple of folks onboard. One works at Chili Works not too far from the warehouse. The other is a Wal-Mart employee. We are all considered workers of the underclass. The only difference is that I have approximately ten grand in my savings. Most people are ten grand in dept. Of course, not too many take microeconomics as seriously either. When my girlfriend cheated on me and insurrected herself from our apartment, I decided to take control of my cash. I realized that I was spending nearly six thousand dollars a year in rent money. When the lease was up, I took the capital gained from the security deposit, including the five dollar interest they were required to give, and invested in a bicycle. Of course, I invested in the bicycle after I totaled my Pontiac grand prix. I did this because for the next year I would have to spend three thousand dollars in car payments and two-thousand dollars in gasoline. The insurance forked me four grand. At this point I was a bit of an alcoholic anyway so I decided that the car was an opportunity cost. If I wanted to continue to go to the bars each night and have my juicy burger and tray full of cigarette butts, I would need to sacrifice the Pontiac. This capital was generally inadequate when compared to my personal entrepreneurship. My taverns, my coffee and reading clubs, my model-crafting. I’m getting to the point at which I can sell World War II naval ship recreations for a profit. No one would know my storage cell housed the Battle of Midway. Then there are my books that I buy and sell later to used book stores. It may be cheaper to go to a library, but the city doesn’t give cards to homeless folk. Still, I manage. The only real resources I depend on is my own personal entrepreneurship, my labor, and the permanence of the land. The capital built up over the years is strictly a luxury. Since my supply of bar beverages is at a constant growth, the supply of such beverages usually comes at a low cost. More and more I see laid off engineers and factory machinists come night after night, drowning their miseries away. Winter approaches, so the construction jockeys are hitting Bourbon Street like an army from hell. Meanwhile, the bars are ordering more and more of their stock. More than probably necessary, as I feel they have built a surplus. Everyday I see trucks stocked with Miller products and Coors make dock. By Tuesday night the bartenders are giving drinks away, they have so much. If their bands of laid-off workers don’t make a buck soon, the bars will start to run into a massive deficit without having a stable consumer base. An unemployed man can only spend for so long. Still, I reap the benefits. And if ever there is a time when someone may ask me why it is I chose my life without shelter; perhaps an intrigued lady aroused by such mystery or a confused little boy who was always taught to work with what they got; I shall tell them both that I live in the market of the free. My entire essence is dedicated to what I want and how accessible it is to make such an acquisition. Everything else is simply an unnecessary expenditure.

Establishing a Case for Murder

Establishing a Case for Murder There is little doubt that Gharmi will be charged with Peter’s murder, unless any autopsy carried out shows that his death was completely unrelated to his ingestion of the rat poison. On the given facts this seems extremely unlikely. In order to establish a case for murder it is the responsibility of the prosecution to prove that Gharmi was in the correct state of mind (mens rea) when she placed the rat poison in Peter’s rice-baryani. For murder this is malice aforethought[1] either express or implied[2]. This can also be described as an intention to unlawfully kill the victim (express malice) or cause grievous bodily harm (implied malice). Grievous bodily harm is defined for these purposes as really serious harm[3]. In addition to this mental element the Crown must establish that Gharmi actually did the act which caused Peter’s death (actus reus), that is she placed the poison in the food – clearly a very simple process in this instance. Dependant upon the evidence available it may be the case that the Crown Prosecution Service does not feel that it will be possible to sustain a murder charge. In this case they may downgrade the charge to one of involuntary manslaughter. This would be the case if it was felt that Gharmi had not intended to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to Peter[4], but had simply intended to ‘injure, aggrieve or annoy’[5] him. For a charge of involuntary manslaughter to be possible, the act which causes[6] the death must be unlawful, meaning it must constitute a criminal offence[7]. There is little doubt the poisoning of Peter’s food and tea would constitute an unlawful act[8], regardless of Gharmi’s intentions, unless it can be shown that she intended no harm, which seems unlikely. Gharmi can only be guilty of involuntary manslaughter if it is thought by a jury that it would be inevitable to the reasonable person that her actions would pose the risk of at least some h arm to Peter[9]. It is important to note that it is irrelevant whether Peter’s death was caused by Gharmi’s poisoning of his food or his tea. Since it was possible for either to cause his death it is not necessary to draw a distinction between the two[10]. Involuntary manslaughter has been described as a homicide which occupies ‘the shifting sands between the uncertain †¦ definition of murder and the unsettled boundaries of excusable or accidental death’[11] and it is this uncertainty that Gharmi would need to rely on. Is it possible for a jury to be sure that she intended to kill Peter? Clearly the facts of the case are extremely relevant here, namely the amount of rat poison used and Gharmi’s knowledge of its possible effects. If convicted of manslaughter Gharmi may, at the discretion of the court, face up to life imprisonment[12]. If the Crown Prosecution Service intends to persist with the charge of murder against her Gharmi will need to consider whether she is a position to try to defend the charge in some way. The most likely defence available to Gharmi is that of voluntary manslaughter by provocation. The jury must be satisfied that Gharmi was ‘provoked (whether by things done or by things said or both together) to lose [her] self control’[13]. It is interesting to note that despite this being a defence the onus of proof is placed on the prosecution to demonstrate that there was not any provocation. The judge must make this clear to the jury[14] and should indicate to them any evidence that might indicate that provocation took place and therefore support the defence[15]. In essence whether this defence is available is purely a decision for the jury based on the evidence. Section 3 of the Homicide Act 1957 raises two questions which must be considered by the jury. The first is the subjective question of whether the Gharmi was provoked to lose her self-control by the things that Peter had said or done to her. In order for provocation to be considered it must be decided that Gharmi was so affected by Peter’s words and actions that she suffered a sudden loss of self-control so that she was ‘so subject to passion as to make [her] for the moment not the master of [her] mind’[16]. Clearly the longer the time between the provocation and the actions of the defendant the less likely it is that the provocation can be said to result in a sudden loss of control[17]. This is more likely to be considered to constitute a situation where the defendant simply exacts revenge on the victim for their actions, and this level of deliberation would be inconsistent with the defence of provocation. Whilst it is essential in order for the defence of provocation to be valid that the act of the defendant follows immediately upon the provoking acts of the victim, it is not essential that the victim’s last act is the only one that triggers the defendant’s actions[18]. This is clearly hugely relevant to Gharmi, in that she has suffered a level of abuse from Peter for the last two years. Since Gharmi has been involved in a series of abusive and violent arguments with Peter over time, the jury are far more likely to be asked to consider that this, on the face of it, relatively minor argument constitutes a ‘last straw’ for Gharmi[19] and that she suffered a loss of self-control following it. It is irrelevant for the purposes of the defence of provocation that Gharmi may have at this or any point in the past induced Peter with her comments, especially regarding Dhoop, to act in the way he did. Since section 3 of the Homicide Act 1957 does not expressly preclude circumstances where the defendant has induced an action or a reaction from the victim, which in return caused the defendant to lose control the defence of provocation must be put before the jury[20], as it would if the defendant had not caused any kind of provocation to the victim. It seems likely that Gharmi would meet the requirements of this subjective test, but in order to successfully plead provocation as a defence to murder she must also meet the requirements of the objective test in section 3. The jury must consider not only that the defendant lost their self-control, but also whether all of the things done or said as a provocation might have provoked the reasonable man to do as the defendant did[21]. The directions that would need to be given to a jury at this point are somewhat complex and would need very careful consideration. The jury must assess the level of provocation in relation to any particular peculiarities that the defendant might have[22]. If the defendant is of a particularly sensitive nature regarding some aspect, this must be taken into account when the jury are considering the level of provocation applied by the victim. When this has been assessed however, the jury must then weigh up the standard of the defendant’s self-control against that of the reasonable person, of the same sex and age of the defendant, exercising ordinary powers of self-control[23]. The jury can not take into account any of the defendant’s particular peculiarities when assessing whether they have exercised reasonable self-control. It is not necessary for the act which has been provoked to be in any way proportionate to the provocation, but the jury should consider this when deciding whether the reasonable man might have reacted in the same manner as the defendant[24]. What this means for Gharmi is that whilst a jury will take into account any personal traits that she might possess with regards to the level of provocation which might provoke a reaction from her, they will then need to decide whether a woman of the same age as her, with a normal level of self-control, might have acted in the same manner. They will take into consideration the level of abuse Gharmi has received from Peter and the period over which it has been received for the purposes of assessing whether it is of a serious enough nature to support the defence of provocation. Having done this they cannot take it into account further when deciding whether Gharmi acted reasonably, this must be assessed against the standard described above. There are one or two matters which may be of concern to the jury when considering provocation in relation to Gharmi’s killing of Peter. The first is that her reaction did not follow the provocation immediately. Gharmi spent time cooking Peter’s meal and, it may be considered, took time to plan her revenge in a controlled manner. The counter argument to this would of course be that Gharmi must have been aware that her actions would result in her arrest and in that circumstance it seems far more likely to have been a moment of loss of control on her part. It would seem unreasonable to think that she might prefer to kill Peter and leave her son without either parent, instead of exacting some other kind of revenge on him; such as leaving and marrying Dhoop. The other concern would be that her revenge, given the fact that the relationship was a tempestuous one, was not proportionate to the provocation. It has been mentioned that this does not need to be the case, but it is s omething that would be considered by a jury when deciding whether Gharmi’s reasonable counterpart would have acted in the same manner she did[25]. At this stage of their deliberations the jury cannot take into account any of Gharmi’s personal characteristics, such as the possibility that she might be more sensitive to Peter’s comments as a result of the length of time the abuse has continued for. They must simply say that if provoked would the reasonable woman of Gharmi’s age have reacted as she did. It is far less likely that a person who has not suffered sustained abuse would have reacted by killing Peter, but this is how Gharmi must be judged. If found guilty of murder Gharmi will face a mandatory life sentence, which means, for the type of murder she has committed, she will face a prison sentence of not less that fifteen years[26]. It has already been stated that if convicted of involuntary manslaughter she could also face a life sentence[27] there is however some discretion in sentencing. The same applies if Gharmi successfully pleads voluntary manslaughter through provocation[28]. The court will take into account the level of provocation, the time span between the provocation and the unlawful killing and the length of time that the provocation has taken place for. Clearly the less the provocation and the shorter its duration the longer the sentence that will be issued to the defendant, providing there are no other mitigating circumstances. The sentence range is from life imprisonment to no custodial sentence at all. It seems likely on the facts that Gharmi would face some kind of custodial sentence, but given the length of time the provocation continued for it, would be lessened from life, however it is recognised that actual physical violence or anticipated violence are considered a greater provocation than verbal abuse alone. On the given facts Gharmi did unlawfully kill Peter. If this was not intentional she may face a charge of manslaughter. In 1989, the last year for which figures are available, the number of indictments for homicide was 371 of which there were only 28 convictions for involuntary manslaughter as opposed to 131 for murder and 110 for other types of manslaughter[29]. With this in mind it seems, on the facts, that Gharmi is far more likely to be successful in a plea of manslaughter through provocation in order to reduce her conviction from murder than have it reduced to involuntary manslaughter by claiming that she did not intend to kill Peter. 2000 words Table of Cases A-G’s Reference (No. 4 of 1980) [1981] 2 All ER 617 A-G for Jersey v. Holley [2005] UKPC 23 DPP v. Camplin [1978] AC 705 Phillips v. R [1969] 2 AC 130 R v. Ahluwia [1993] Crim. LR 63 R v. Cascoe [1970] 2 All ER 833 R v. Church [1966] 1 QB 59 R v. Dias [2001] EWCA Crim 2986, R v. Kennedy [2005] 1 WLR 2159 et al R v. Duffy [1949] 1 All ER 932 R v. Humphries [1994] 4 All ER 1009 R v. Inner South London Coroner, ex p Douglas-Williams [1999] 1 All ER 344 R v. Johnson [1989] 1 WLR 740 DPP v. Smith [1961] AC 290 R v. Stewart (Benjamin James) [1995] 4 All ER 999 R v. Taylor (1834) 2 Lew CC 215 R v. Thornton (Sara Elizabeth) (No.2) [1996] 2 All ER 1023 Woolmington v. DPP [1935] AC 462 Table of Legislation Criminal Justice Act 2003 Homicide Act 1957 Offences Against the Person Act 1861 Bibliography Allen, M. J., Elliott and Wood’s Cases and Materials on Criminal Law 8th Edition (2001), London: Sweet Maxwell Halsbury’s Laws of England, Criminal Law, Evidence and Procedure (Volume 11(1)) (2006 Reissue) Paragraphs – 92 – 101: Web Version Holton, R. and Shute, S., Self Control in the Modern Provocation Defence (2007), Oxford: Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (27(1), 49 – 73) Office for National Statistics, Criminal Statistics for England and Wales (1998), Cm 4649 Ormerod, D., Smith and Hogan Criminal Law 12th Revised Edition, (2008), Oxford: Oxford University Press Ormerod, D., Smith and Hogan Criminal Law: Cases and Materials 9th Revised Edition, (2005), Oxford: Oxford University Press Reed, A., Jury Directions on Provocation (2006), Criminal Lawyer (158, 1 – 3) Sentencing Guidelines Council Guideline: Manslaughter by Reason of Provocation (2005) Slapper, G. and Kelly, D., The English Legal System 7th Edition (2004), London: Cavendish 1 Footnotes [1] Homicide Act 1957, s.1 [2] Woolmington v. DPP [1935] AC 462 [3] DPP v. Smith [1961] AC 290 [4] R v. Taylor (1834) 2 Lew CC 215 [5] Offences Against the Person Act 1861, s.24 [6] R v. Inner South London Coroner, ex p Douglas-Williams [1999] 1 All ER 344 [7] R v. Dias [2001] EWCA Crim 2986, R v. Kennedy [2005] 1 WLR 2159 et al [8] Offences Against the Person Act 1861, s.24 [9] R v. Church [1966] 1 QB 59 [10] A-G’s Reference (No. 4 of 1980) [1981] 2 All ER 617 [11] Hogan, ‘The Killing Ground: 1964 – 73’ [1974] Crim. L.R. 387,391 [12] Offences Against the Person Act 1861 s.5 [13] Homicide Act 1957 s.3 [14] R v. Cascoe [1970] 2 All ER 833 [15] R v. Stewart (Benjamin James) [1995] 4 All ER 999 [16] R v. Duffy [1949] 1 All ER 932 [17] R v. Ahluwia [1993] Crim. LR 63 [18] R v. Humphries [1994] 4 All ER 1009 [19] R v. Thornton (Sara Elizabeth) (No.2) [1996] 2 All ER 1023 [20] R v. Johnson [1989] 1 WLR 740 [21] Homicide Act 1957 s.3 [22] DPP v. Camplin [1978] AC 705 [23] A-G for Jersey v. Holley [2005] UKPC 23 [24] Phillips v. R [1969] 2 AC 130 [25] Phillips v. R [1969] 2 AC 130 [26] Criminal Justice Act 2003 s.269 [27] Offences Against the Person Act 1861 s.5 [28] Sentencing Guidelines Council Guideline: Manslaughter by Reason of Provocation (2005) [29] Criminal Statistics for England and Wales Cm 4649 (1998)

Essay --

In modern society, the advanced technology sets a trap for people, especially for students. Therefore, students go to the trouble of calling and texting over and over again, which dose does much harm to students' physical and mental health. As for study, students spend so much time in calling or texting that they waste a lot of time that should be spent on study. On the other hand, taking cellphone with you all the time is bad for your body health. So, as students, you should not take cellphones at to school. First of allï ¼Å' playing with cellphones really makes students waste a lot of time. Now, many students lower their heads, staring at the screen of cellphone and texting. Usually, if students take cellphones at to school, they are not old enough to control themselves and can not help using phone, even get the habit of living with cellphones. Over time, they will be increasingly dependent on mobile phones. Then, they are calling or texting, all the time but not communicating with their friends classmates or teachers face to face, which has a bad influence on students' study. According to study, Japanese students always get higher grades than other countries. The reason is that Japanese teachers and students spend much time together--the usual year is about 40 days longer than in other countries. (Glenn Zorpette. n.d.) But, now, students spend less and less time in sharing ideas and thoughts with classmates and teachers, which makes their study terrible. What's more, th ere are lots of violent games that attracts students a lot. And they are addicted to games and even imitate characters in games. As a result, they become violent or fierce, which could have a bad effect on students' mental health badly. In t... ... become more and more terrible and your brain can be influenced badly. What’s more, most cellphones have high radiation which must do much harm to your body.(The Harm of Phones’ Radiationï ¼â€° Students usually use cellphones on the bed and do not take then them away before sleeping, just putting it closed to your head. Then, the radiation influences your brain little by little. Maybe when you notice that, there is something terrible happening. Therefore, we should know the disadvantages of taking cellphones, and leave them at home. All in all, as for students, the most important thing is study but not using cellphones. I believe that we students can lead a colorful school life without cellphones. We just spend more time study or other activities to spread our horizon. So, we students should not take cellphones at school but put our heart into meaningful things.

Investigation looking At the Speed of Reactions :: GCSE Chemistry Coursework Investigation

Investigation looking At the Speed of Reactions Introduction The aim of this experiment is to find out how a variable can affect the results from a scenario set up in scientific environment. The experiment is to see how a certain variable will affect the amount of Gas produced from a Calcium Carbonate and Hydrochloric Acid Reaction. The Science Calcium Carbonate is a generally white or colourless mineral that is translucent. When compressed or exposed to great heat the mineral binds together in small to large clumps forming calcium Carbonate Chips, however left in it's formed state it is powder, a chalk like substance. I could use either forms of the Calcium Carbonate for the experiment. Hydrochloric Acid, is a clear, colourless to slightly yellow liquid with a sharp, pungent and irritating odour. It is a strong highly corrosive acid, soluble in water and alcohol but insoluble in hydrocarbons. The reason I am using Calcium Carbonate and Hydrochloric Acid for my experiment is due to the reaction when they are put together. A fizzing reaction takes place letting loose Calcium Chloride, Carbon Dioxide and Water. Word Equation ============= Calcium carbonate + Hydrochloric Acid ===> Calcium Chloride + Water + Carbon Dioxide Symbol Equation =============== CaCO3 + 2 HCl ---> CaCl2 + H2O + CO2 Prediction My prediction is that if the concentration of the acid increases there will be an increase in output of Carbon Dioxide from the reaction for example the highest concentration produce the most gas in the given time. I used a preliminary test to help in the prediction. I went and prepared marble chips and concentrated acid we tried the experiment, the results was clear that as in a few seconds it was almost finished. When we used very dilute acid it took so long for it to react and the amount of bubbles were much less than the first one. By using the results I can make the prediction of that, the rate of reaction is affected by concentration. Hypothesis If the concentration of an acid increase than output of gas will also increase. When the acid has a high concentration that means in that solution, compared to a dilute one there are more particles available to react with therefore the amount of times they will collide with the each other is more. Factors ------- There are many different factors, which effect the rate of reaction. Below is most of the known factors which effect the rate of a reaction: 1. The size of the particles of a solid reactant 2. The concentration of the reactants solution 3. Temperature of experiment 4. Amount of time available for reaction 5. Amount of solid reactant 6. Amount of reactant solution Particle size The reaction between calcium carbonate and dilute hydrochloric acid is

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Essay -- Food Drug FDA Essays

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The FDA has many responsibilities which include overseeing the production of safe foods and the manufacture of safe and effective drugs and medical devices. The FDA has responsibility for protecting the rights and safety of patients in the clinical trials of investigation medical products. The FDA also has to review and approve in a timely manner the safety and efficiency of new drugs, biologics, medical devices, and animal drugs. They have to monitor the safety and effectiveness of new medical products after they are marketed and acting on the information collected. The FDA is responsible for seeing that the public has access to truthful and non-misleading product information by: monitoring the promotional activities of drug and device manufacturers, and regulating the labeling of all packaged foods.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Science is a big part of the FDA organization. The scientific evidence needed to back up FDAs legal cases is prepared by the agencies 2,100 scientist, including 900 chemist and 300 microbiologist, who work in 40 laboratories in the Washington, D.C., area and around the country. Some of these scientist analyze samples to see, or example if products are contaminated with illegal substances. Other scientist review test results submitted by companies seeking agency approval for drugs, vaccines, food additives, coloring agents and medical devices. The FDA also operates the National Center for Toxicological Research. They investigate the biological effects of widely used chemicals. The agency also runs the Engineering and Analytical Center, which test medical devices, radiation-emitting products, and radioactive drugs. Assessing risk, for drugs and medical devices, weighing risks against benefits is at the core of FDAs public health protection duties. By ensuring that products and producers meet certain standards, FDA protects consumers and enables them to know what they are buying. In deciding whether to approve new drugs, FDA does not itself do research, but rather examines the results of studies done by the manufacturer. The agency must determine that the new drug produces the benefits its supposed to without causing side effects that would outweigh the benefits.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1992, the U.S. Congress passed the Prescription Drug User Fee Act. This legislation provided additional resources ... ...f the drugs should be approved. Once the FDA approves the drug, it does not mean it is perfectly safe. Some medicine may have side effects, but the FDA considers both the benefit and risk of all medication before approval.. In addition, FDA makes the labeling outlines the benefits and risk reported in the tested population. For a drug to be approved by CDER, by current law, all new drugs need proof that they are effective and safe before they can be approved for marketing. CDER decides as quickly as a thorough evaluation allows. When a proposed drug’s benefit outweighs know risk, CDER considers it safe enough to approve. Once a drug gets the CDER approval, the drug is on the market as soon as the firm gets its production distribution system going.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The FDA is prohibited from releasing information on any medicine under development, review or pending approval unless the information has been in the public. The FDA has no legal authority to investigate or control the prices charged for marketed drugs. Manufacturers, distributors and retailers establish these prices. FDA recognizes the other factors beyond its purview, including insurance coverage and drug pricing.

Balance Scorecard Essay

A Balanced Scorecard is a framework that focuses on shareholder, customer, internal and learning requirements of a business in order to create a system of linked objectives, measures, targets and initiatives which collectively describe the strategy of an organization and how that strategy can be achieved. † The Balanced scorecard retains the traditional financial measures and complements them with measures that are drivers of future performance. The objectives and measures of the scorecard are derived from an organizations vision and strategy and these view organizational performance. The balanced scorecard is a management system (not only a measurement system) that enables organizations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action. It provides feedback around both the internal business processes and external outcomes in order to continuously improve strategic performance and results. When fully deployed, the balanced scorecard transforms strategic planning from an academic exercise into the nerve center of an enterprise. The balanced scorecard is a tool developed by Kaplan and Norton to articulate, execute and monitor strategy using a mix of financial and non-financial measures. It is designed to translate vision and strategy into objectives and measures across four balanced perspectives: financial, customers, internal business processes and learning and growth. It focuses on all the activities that generate financial results rather than the financial side alone. The scorecard depicts strategy as a series of cause-and-effect relationships between critical variables and gives a framework for ensuring that strategy is translated into a coherent set of performance measures. The use of a hierarchy of scorecards cascading through the organisation ensures that strategy and performance measurement is closely aligned. The Balanced Scorecard can act as both a control system and a management tool. In other words, it can be used for monitoring performance as well as for strategic planning. Its versatility may be one of the reasons why so many companies have chosen to adopt it.

A Game of Thrones Chapter Six

Catelyn Of all the rooms in Winterfell's Great Keep, Catelyn's bedchambers were the hottest. She seldom had to light a fire. The castle had been built over natural hot springs, and the scalding waters rushed through its walls and chambers like blood through a man's body, driving the chill from the stone halls, filling the glass gardens with a moist warmth, keeping the earth from freezing. Open pools smoked day and night in a dozen small courtyards. That was a little thing, in summer; in winter, it was the difference between life and death. Catelyn's bath was always hot and steaming, and her walls warm to the touch. The warmth reminded her of Riverrun, of days in the sun with Lysa and Edmure, but Ned could never abide the heat. The Starks were made for the cold, he would tell her, and she would laugh and tell him in that case they had certainly built their castle in the wrong place. So when they had finished, Ned rolled off and climbed from her bed, as he had a thousand times before. He crossed the room, pulled back the heavy tapestries, and threw open the high narrow windows one by one, letting the night air into the chamber. The wind swirled around him as he stood facing the dark, naked and empty-handed. Catelyn pulled the furs to her chin and watched him. He looked somehow smaller and more vulnerable, like the youth she had wed in the sept at Riverrun, fifteen long years gone. Her loins still ached from the urgency of his lovemaking. It was a good ache. She could feel his seed within her. She prayed that it might quicken there. It had been three years since Rickon. She was not too old. She could give him another son. â€Å"I will refuse him,† Ned said as he turned back to her. His eyes were haunted, his voice thick with doubt. Catelyn sat up in the bed. â€Å"You cannot. You must not.† â€Å"My duties are here in the north. I have no wish to be Robert's Hand.† â€Å"He will not understand that. He is a king now, and kings are not like other men. If you refuse to serve him, he will wonder why, and sooner or later he will begin to suspect that you oppose him. Can't you see the danger that would put us in?† Ned shook his head, refusing to believe. â€Å"Robert would never harm me or any of mine. We were closer than brothers. He loves me. If I refuse him, he will roar and curse and bluster, and in a week we will laugh about it together. I know the man!† â€Å"You knew the man,† she said. â€Å"The king is a stranger to you.† Catelyn remembered the direwolf dead in the snow, the broken antler lodged deep in her throat. She had to make him see. â€Å"Pride is everything to a king, my lord. Robert came all this way to see you, to bring you these great honors, you cannot throw them back in his face.† â€Å"Honors?† Ned laughed bitterly. â€Å"In his eyes, yes,† she said. â€Å"And in yours?† â€Å"And in mine,† she blazed, angry now. Why couldn't he see? â€Å"He offers his own son in marriage to our daughter, what else would you call that? Sansa might someday be queen. Her sons could rule from the Wall to the mountains of Dorne. What is so wrong with that?† â€Å"Gods, Catelyn, Sansa is only eleven,† Ned said. â€Å"And Joffrey . . . Joffrey is . . . â€Å" She finished for him. † . . . crown prince, and heir to the Iron Throne. And I was only twelve when my father promised me to your brother Brandon.† That brought a bitter twist to Ned's mouth. â€Å"Brandon. Yes. Brandon would know what to do. He always did. It was all meant for Brandon. You, Winterfell, everything. He was born to be a King's Hand and a father to queens. I never asked for this cup to pass to me.† â€Å"Perhaps not,† Catelyn said, â€Å"but Brandon is dead, and the cup has passed, and you must drink from it, like it or not.† Ned turned away from her, back to the night. He stood staring out in the darkness, watching the moon and the stars perhaps, or perhaps the sentries on the wall. Catelyn softened then, to see his pain. Eddard Stark had married her in Brandon's place, as custom decreed, but the shadow of his dead brother still lay between them, as did the other, the shadow of the woman he would not name, the woman who had borne him his bastard son. She was about to go to him when the knock came at the door, loud and unexpected. Ned turned, frowning. â€Å"What is it?† Desmond's voice came through the door. â€Å"My lord, Maester Luwin is without and begs urgent audience.† â€Å"You told him I had left orders not to be disturbed?† â€Å"Yes, my lord. He insists.† â€Å"Very well. Send him in.† Ned crossed to the wardrobe and slipped on a heavy robe. Catelyn realized suddenly how cold it had become. She sat up in bed and pulled the furs to her chin. â€Å"Perhaps we should close the windows,† she suggested. Ned nodded absently. Maester Luwin was shown in. The maester was a small grey man. His eyes were grey, and quick, and saw much. His hair was grey, what little the years had left him. His robe was grey wool, trimmed with white fur, the Stark colors. Its great floppy sleeves had pockets hidden inside. Luwin was always tucking things into those sleeves and producing other things from them: books, messages, strange artifacts, toys for the children. With all he kept hidden in his sleeves, Catelyn was surprised that Maester Luwin could lift his arms at all. The maester waited until the door had closed behind him before he spoke. â€Å"My lord,† he said to Ned, â€Å"pardon for disturbing your rest. I have been left a message.† Ned looked irritated. â€Å"Been left? By whom? Has there been a rider? I was not told.† â€Å"There was no rider, my lord. Only a carved wooden box, left on a table in my observatory while I napped. My servants saw no one, but it must have been brought by someone in the king's party. We have had no other visitors from the south.† â€Å"A wooden box, you say?† Catelyn said. â€Å"Inside was a fine new lens for the observatory, from Myr by the look of it. The lenscrafters of Myr are without equal.† Ned frowned. He had little patience for this sort of thing, Catelyn knew. â€Å"A lens,† he said. â€Å"What has that to do with me?† â€Å"I asked the same question,† Maester Luwin said. â€Å"Clearly there was more to this than the seeming.† Under the heavy weight of her furs, Catelyn shivered. â€Å"A lens is an instrument to help us see.† â€Å"Indeed it is.† He fingered the collar of his order; a heavy chain worn tight around the neck beneath his robe, each link forged from a different metal. Catelyn could feel dread stirring inside her once again. â€Å"What is it that they would have us see more clearly?† â€Å"The very thing I asked myself.† Maester Luwin drew a tightly rolled paper out of his sleeve. â€Å"I found the true message concealed within a false bottom when I dismantled the box the lens had come in, but it is not for my eyes.† Ned held out his hand. â€Å"Let me have it, then.† Luwin did not stir. â€Å"Pardons, my lord. The message is not for you either. It is marked for the eyes of the Lady Catelyn, and her alone. May I approach?† Catelyn nodded, not trusting to speak. The maester placed the paper on the table beside the bed. It was sealed with a small blob of blue wax. Luwin bowed and began to retreat. â€Å"Stay,† Ned commanded him. His voice was grave. He looked at Catelyn. â€Å"What is it? My lady, you're shaking.† â€Å"I'm afraid,† she admitted. She reached out and took the letter in trembling hands. The furs dropped away from her nakedness, forgotten. In the blue wax was the moon-and-falcon seal of House Arryn. â€Å"It's from Lysa.† Catelyn looked at her husband. â€Å"It will not make us glad,† she told him. â€Å"There is grief in this message, Ned. I can feel it.† Ned frowned, his face darkening. â€Å"Open it.† Catelyn broke the seal. Her eyes moved over the words. At first they made no sense to her. Then she remembered. â€Å"Lysa took no chances. When we were girls together, we had a private language, she and I.† â€Å"Can you read it?† â€Å"Yes,† Catelyn admitted. â€Å"Then tell us.† â€Å"Perhaps I should withdraw,† Maester Luwin said. â€Å"No,† Catelyn said. â€Å"We will need your counsel.† She threw back the furs and climbed from the bed. The night air was as cold as the grave on her bare skin as she padded across the room. Maester Luwin averted his eyes. Even Ned looked shocked. â€Å"What are you doing?† he asked. â€Å"Lighting a fire,† Catelyn told him. She found a dressing gown and shrugged into it, then knelt over the cold hearth. â€Å"Maester Luwin—† Ned began. â€Å"Maester Luwin has delivered all my children,† Catelyn said. â€Å"This is no time for false modesty.† She slid the paper in among the kindling and placed the heavier logs on top of it. Ned crossed the room, took her by the arm, and pulled her to her feet. He held her there, his face inches from her. â€Å"My lady, tell me! What was this message?† Catelyn stiffened in his grasp. â€Å"A warning,† she said softly. â€Å"If we have the wits to hear.† His eyes searched her face. â€Å"Go on.† â€Å"Lysa says Jon Arryn was murdered.† His fingers tightened on her arm. â€Å"By whom?† â€Å"The Lannisters,† she told him. â€Å"The queen.† Ned released his hold on her arm. There were deep red marks on her skin. â€Å"Gods,† he whispered. His voice was hoarse. â€Å"Your sister is sick with grief. She cannot know what she is saying.† â€Å"She knows,† Catelyn said. â€Å"Lysa is impulsive, yes, but this message was carefully planned, cleverly hidden. She knew it meant death if her letter fell into the wrong hands. To risk so much, she must have had more than mere suspicion.† Catelyn looked to her husband. â€Å"Now we truly have no choice. You must be Robert's Hand. You must go south with him and learn the truth.† She saw at once that Ned had reached a very different conclusion. â€Å"The only truths I know are here. The south is a nest of adders I would do better to avoid.† Luwin plucked at his chain collar where it had chafed the soft skin of his throat. â€Å"The Hand of the King has great power, my lord. Power to find the truth of Lord Arryn's death, to bring his killers to the king's justice. Power to protect Lady Arryn and her son, if the worst be true.† Ned glanced helplessly around the bedchamber. Catelyn's heart went out to him, but she knew she could not take him in her arms just then. First the victory must be won, for her children's sake. â€Å"You say you love Robert like a brother. Would you leave your brother surrounded by Lannisters?† â€Å"The Others take both of you,† Ned muttered darkly. He turned away from them and went to the window. She did not speak, nor did the maester. They waited, quiet, while Eddard Stark said a silent farewell to the home he loved. When he turned away from the window at last, his voice was tired and full of melancholy, and moisture glittered faintly in the corners of his eyes. â€Å"My father went south once, to answer the summons of a king. He never came home again.† â€Å"A different time,† Maester Luwin said. â€Å"A different king.† â€Å"Yes,† Ned said dully. He seated himself in a chair by the hearth. â€Å"Catelyn, you shall stay here in Winterfell.† His words were like an icy draft through her heart. â€Å"No,† she said, suddenly afraid. Was this to be her punishment? Never to see his face again, nor to feel his arms around her? â€Å"Yes,† Ned said, in words that would brook no argument. â€Å"You must govern the north in my stead, while I run Robert's errands. There must always be a Stark in Winterfell. Robb is fourteen. Soon enough, he will be a man grown. He must learn to rule, and I will not be here for him. Make him part of your councils. He must be ready when his time comes.† â€Å"Gods will, not for many years,† Maester Luwin murmured. â€Å"Maester Luwin, I trust you as I would my own blood. Give my wife your voice in all things great and small. Teach my son the things he needs to know. Winter is coming.† Maester Luwin nodded gravely. Then silence fell, until Catelyn found her courage and asked the question whose answer she most dreaded. â€Å"What of the other children?† Ned stood, and took her in his arms, and held her face close to his. â€Å"Rickon is very young,† he said gently. â€Å"He should stay here with you and Robb. The others I would take with me.† â€Å"I could not bear it,† Catelyn said, trembling. â€Å"You must,† he said. â€Å"Sansa must wed Joffrey, that is clear now, we must give them no grounds to suspect our devotion. And it is past time that Arya learned the ways of a southron court. In a few years she will be of an age to marry too.† Sansa would shine in the south, Catelyn thought to herself, and the gods knew that Arya needed refinement. Reluctantly, she let go of them in her heart. But not Bran. Never Bran. â€Å"Yes,† she said, â€Å"but please, Ned, for the love you bear me, let Bran remain here at Winterfell. He is only seven.† â€Å"I was eight when my father sent me to foster at the Eyrie,† Ned said. â€Å"Ser Rodrik tells me there is bad feeling between Robb and Prince Joffrey. That is not healthy. Bran can bridge that distance. He is a sweet boy, quick to laugh, easy to love. Let him grow up with the young princes, let him become their friend as Robert became mine. Our House will be the safer for it.† He was right; Catelyn knew it. It did not make the pain any easier to bear. She would lose all four of them, then: Ned, and both girls, and her sweet, loving Bran. Only Robb and little Rickon would be left to her. She felt lonely already. Winterfell was such a vast place. â€Å"Keep him off the walls, then,† she said bravely. â€Å"You know how Bran loves to climb.† Ned kissed the tears from her eyes before they could fall. â€Å"Thank you, my lady,† he whispered. â€Å"This is hard, I know.† â€Å"What of Jon Snow, my lord?† Maester Luwin asked. Catelyn tensed at the mention of the name. Ned felt the anger in her, and pulled away. Many men fathered bastards. Catelyn had grown up with that knowledge. It came as no surprise to her, in the first year of her marriage, to learn that Ned had fathered a child on some girl chance met on campaign. He had a man's needs, after all, and they had spent that year apart, Ned off at war in the south while she remained safe in her father's castle at Riverrun. Her thoughts were more of Robb, the infant at her breast, than of the husband she scarcely knew. He was welcome to whatever solace he might find between battles. And if his seed quickened, she expected he would see to the child's needs. He did more than that. The Starks were not like other men. Ned brought his bastard home with him, and called him â€Å"son† for all the north to see. When the wars were over at last, and Catelyn rode to Winterfell, Jon and his wet nurse had already taken up residence. That cut deep. Ned would not speak of the mother, not so much as a word, but a castle has no secrets, and Catelyn heard her maids repeating tales they heard from the lips of her husband's soldiers. They whispered of Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, deadliest of the seven knights of Aerys's Kingsguard, and of how their young lord had slain him in single combat. And they told how afterward Ned had carried Ser Arthur's sword back to the beautiful young sister who awaited him in a castle called Starfall on the shores of the SummerSea. The Lady Ashara Dayne, tall and fair, with haunting violet eyes. It had taken her a fortnight to marshal her courage, but finally, in bed one night, Catelyn had asked her husband the truth of it, asked him to his face. That was the only time in all their years that Ned had ever frightened her. â€Å"Never ask me about Jon,† he said, cold as ice. â€Å"He is my blood, and that is all you need to know. And now I will learn where you heard that name, my lady.† She had pledged to obey; she told him; and from that day on, the whispering had stopped, and Ashara Dayne's name was never heard in Winterfell again. Whoever Jon's mother had been, Ned must have loved her fiercely, for nothing Catelyn said would persuade him to send the boy away. It was the one thing she could never forgive him. She had come to love her husband with all her heart, but she had never found it in her to love Jon. She might have overlooked a dozen bastards for Ned's sake, so long as they were out of sight. Jon was never out of sight, and as he grew, he looked more like Ned than any of the trueborn sons she bore him. Somehow that made it worse. â€Å"Jon must go,† she said now. â€Å"He and Robb are close,† Ned said. â€Å"I had hoped . . . â€Å" â€Å"He cannot stay here,† Catelyn said, cutting him off. â€Å"He is your son, not mine. I will not have him.† It was hard, she knew, but no less the truth. Ned would do the boy no kindness by leaving him here at Winterfell. The look Ned gave her was anguished. â€Å"You know I cannot take him south. There will be no place for him at court. A boy with a bastard's name . . . you know what they will say of him. He will be shunned.† Catelyn armored her heart against the mute appeal in her husband's eyes. â€Å"They say your friend Robert has fathered a dozen bastards himself.† â€Å"And none of them has ever been seen at court!† Ned blazed. â€Å"The Lannister woman has seen to that. How can you be so damnably cruel, Catelyn? He is only a boy. He—† His fury was on him. He might have said more, and worse, but Maester Luwin cut in. â€Å"Another solution presents itself,† he said, his voice quiet. â€Å"Your brother Benjen came to me about Jon a few days ago. It seems the boy aspires to take the black.† Ned looked shocked. â€Å"He asked to join the Night's Watch?† Catelyn said nothing. Let Ned work it out in his own mind; her voice would not be welcome now. Yet gladly would she have kissed the maester just then. His was the perfect solution. Benjen Stark was a Sworn Brother. Jon would be a son to him, the child he would never have. And in time the boy would take the oath as well. He would father no sons who might someday contest with Catelyn's own grandchildren for Winterfell. Maester Luwin said, â€Å"There is great honor in service on the Wall, my lord.† â€Å"And even a bastard may rise high in the Night's Watch,† Ned reflected. Still, his voice was troubled. â€Å"Jon is so young. If he asked this when he was a man grown, that would be one thing, but a boy of fourteen . . . â€Å" â€Å"A hard sacrifice,† Maester Luwin agreed. â€Å"Yet these are hard times, my lord. His road is no crueler than yours or your lady's.† Catelyn thought of the three children she must lose. It was not easy keeping silent then. Ned turned away from them to gaze out the window, his long face silent and thoughtful. Finally he sighed, and turned back. â€Å"Very well,† he said to Maester Luwin. â€Å"I suppose it is for the best. I will speak to Ben.† â€Å"When shall we tell Jon?† the maester asked. â€Å"When I must. Preparations must be made. It will be a fortnight before we are ready to depart. I would sooner let Jon enjoy these last few days. Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well. When the time comes, I will tell him myself.†

Internal and External Equity Comparisons Essay

Organizations that has the drive to flourish in a market that is very competitive must have a compensation plan that is well designed and inspires its employees, has benefit programs, guarantees equity, and handles compensation costs. These plans should mirror the culture of its employees. Organizations have numerous of options when designing a compensation plan comes into play, and must consider how the options they have chosen will be suitable for their strategy for engaging and keeping their employees. This paper will identify a total compensation plan for an organization, identify the internal and external equity advantages and disadvantages, and provide and explanation on how each plan supports the total compensation objective and the relationship to its financial situation. Total Compensation Plan Focused in Internal and External Equity Some organizations decisions are based off of the market. They begin by looking at salary surveys to observe what the other competitors are pay ing their employees (known as external equity). Soon as they have access to the market data that is needed, the organization have their option to either establish their salaries and wages equal, below or above the market depending on the financial situation of that organization. For instance, an organization may decide to raise the pay for certain employees pertaining to certain positions in order interest and then keep very valuable employees. Let’s say General Motors (GM) has just opened up a new plant in a city where Ford is well known. They are short on senior creative program designer positions who’s salary ranges from 99,000-125,000 a year. What GM would do is access the salary surveys that are on the market to see how much Ford is actually paying them. From there GM would make the decision to either set the wage for that positon the same, lower, or higher than what Ford is offering. If that position is needed and they want the best employee then the wages would be set higher, maybe starting off at 105,000 a ye ar with the opportunity to advance to making 130,000 max. This would not only gain the attention of the best program designer but also may retrieve the best from Ford. Conversely GM should also deliberate on internal equity, which is whether their compensation plan imitates how much they value certain positions in relation to other positions throughout the organization. In order to guarantee both internal and external equity, GM would have to institute an operative compensation  management program that conducts job analysis (to systematically evaluate and describe each job within the organization), job evaluations (regulating what jobs have a better value to GM), and job pricing (form rate ranges, the minimum, midpoint, and maximum dollar values for each job). Bottom line is that some organizations compensation plans are meant to meet compliance requirements. While GM would be to attract skilled employees, motivate them, and retain them so that the goals of the organization could be achieved. Advantages and Disadvantages of Internal and External Equity Internal equity deals with the perceived worth of a job relative to other jobs in the organization (â€Å"Cite Hr†, 2014). Generally, they consider skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions in this comparison in order to determine the value of their jobs relative to other jobs (â€Å"Cite Hr†, 2014). This structure is made to show employees that they are being treated fairly based on their place or job within the organization. External equity deals with the issues of market rates for jobs (â€Å"Cite Hr†, 2014). This is where an organization looks within the market to see what’s the going pay rate for certain jobs, then they would determine how they are going to pay within their organization so they could seek and retain qualified employees. This system will require a base pay program the pays competitively. There are a few advantages and disadvantages of internal and external equity. The advantages of external equity is that it allows organizations to keep up with the competition within the marketplace (on salary and wages), it allows organizations to raise an employee pay (if they ask for one basically negotiating), the last benefit is that it forces organizations to always be on top of the market. The advantages of internal equity are that it gives the employees the perception of fairness, it decreases the opportunity for discrimination to arise, and it provides consistent standards because when one is paying an employee fairly an organization limits their ability to claim unfair treatment therefor have a lack of motivation and bad performance. The disadvantages of external is that it could lead to overestimated wages, and employee dissatisfaction. This disadvantages of internal equity is that an organization could risk the loss of employees to higher paying competition, and could lose the employees motivation once they realize they are being paid in the internal equity system. Explanation on how each Plan Supports the Organization’s Compensation Objective GM’s much  improved financial structure and our $23.2 billion in EBIT-adjusted since the beginning of 2010 are allowing us to reinvest in the business at a consistently high level, despite the fact that most European economies are in distress and U.S. sales remained below pre-recession levels in 2012.US automaker General Motors gave one of its highest profit-sharing payouts ever (â€Å"Gm†, 2014). Forty-five thousand employees received $189 million in a profit-sharing bonus, which equaled about $4,200 per person (â€Å"Gm†, 2014).. The external plan works great for this because it allows for employees to make even more money when the production of the company rises. The internal plan also works great because it shows that everyone is being paid fairly but at the same time have that option of buying into stock to make more money. In conclusion having a compensation plan can be beneficial for both an employee and organization. Once an organization choose which direction they are wanting to take whether it’s an internal or external approach is on them. An internal approach is more of a peaceful one for the employees, it shows that they are being paid fairly. While the external approach reaches of for the best employees by having the opportunity to pay them more. Either way an organization will have to pick the type of plan that fits them within the market. References Cite HR. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.citehr.com/601-compensation-plans-overview-base-pay.html GM. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.gm.com/content/dam/gmcom/COMPANY/Investors/Stockholder_Information/PDFs/2012_GM_Annual_Report.pdf

Muslim Article

The New York Times article â€Å"Congressman Criticizes Election of Muslim† (Swarns 2006) reported on the criticism made by Virginia's Republican Congressman Virgil H. Goode Jr. on the recent election of Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison. According to Rep. Goode Jr., the election of Keith, a Democrat and the first-ever Muslim to sit in the United States Congress, is a grave threat to traditional American values. Goode's warning, contained in a letter addressed to his Virginia constituents dated Dec. 5, 2006, asked Americans to â€Å"wake up† or face the likelihood of more Muslim elected officials that would demand â€Å"use of the Koran†.He also called for the adoption of stringent immigration policies as a step towards the preservation both of this country's beliefs and values and resources. Ellison, a former criminal lawyer and a convert to Islam, has planned to use the Muslim bible in January during his private swearing-in. Goode's comments elicited criti cisms of bigotry and intolerance from some Democrats in Congress and from Muslim Americans as they pointed out that the official swearing in of officials, in contrast to private swearing in,   do not use religious texts. For his part, Ellison pointed out that he is no immigrant, saying that he's an African-American whose roots goes â€Å"back to 1742†. He also said he is a politician and not a religious scholar such that Goode has â€Å"nothing to fear†.This article of the New York Times gave a rather fair coverage as it observed the journalistic standard of presenting both sides of an issue. The article gave space to both Goode's and Ellison's statements and counter-statements, attempting to do so from an objective viewpoint. As for the issue of Islam or being Muslim depicted by the story itself, there are obviously two conflicting sides, two opposing viewpoints. The side of Rep. Goode adopts the position that Islam in the country, or at least the practices of Islam (as the use of Koran, instead of the Christian Bible in swearing-in), poses a considerable threat to traditional American culture. He even insinuated that Muslims, along with other immigrants, are a burden to the United States. On the other, the coverage of Ellison and his sympathizers show that Muslim Americans, who could be good citizens, are welcome in this country. U.S. Congressman Criticizes Election of Muslim By RACHEL L. SWARNSPublished: December 21, 2006WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 — In a letter sent to hundreds of voters this month, Representative Virgil H. Goode Jr., Republican of Virginia, warned that the recent election of the first Muslim to Congress posed a serious threat to the nation’s traditional values.Skip to next paragraphRepresentative Virgil H. Goode Jr., left, said Keith Ellison’s decision to use a Koran in a private swearing in for the House of Representatives was a mistake.Mr. Goode was referring to Keith Ellison, the Minnesota Democrat and criminal defense lawyer who converted to Islam as a college student and was elected to the House in November. Mr. Ellison’s plan to use the Koran during his private swearing-in ceremony in January had outraged some Virginia voters, prompting Mr. Goode to issue a written response to them, a spokesman for Mr. Goode said.In his letter, which was dated Dec. 5, Mr. Goode sa id that Americans needed to â€Å"wake up† or else there would â€Å"likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"I fear that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America and to prevent our resources from being swamped,† said Mr. Goode, who vowed to use the Bible when taking his own oath of office.Mr. Goode declined Wednesday to comment on his letter, which quickly stirred a furor among some Congressional Democrats and Muslim Americans, who accused him of bigotry and intolerance.They noted that the Constitution specifically bars any religious screening of members of Congress and that the actual swearing in of those lawmakers occurs without any religious texts. The use of the Bible or Koran occurs only in private ceremonial events that ta ke place after lawmakers have officially sworn to uphold the Constitution.Mr. Ellison dismissed Mr. Goode’s comments, saying they seemed ill informed about his personal origins as well as about Constitutional protections of religious freedom. â€Å"I’m not an immigrant,† added Mr. Ellison, who traces his American ancestors back to 1742. â€Å"I’m an African-American.†Since the November election, Mr. Ellison said, he has received hostile phone calls and e-mail messages along with some death threats. But in an interview on Wednesday, he emphasized that members of Congress and ordinary citizens had been overwhelmingly supportive and said he was focusing on setting up his Congressional office, getting phone lines hooked up and staff members hired, not on negative comments.â€Å"I’m not a religious scholar, I’m a politician, and I do what politicians do, which is hopefully pass legislation to help the nation,† said Mr. Ellison, who said he planned to focus on secular issues like increasing the federal minimum wage and getting health insurance for the uninsured.â€Å"I’m looking forward to making friends with Representative Goode, or at least getting to know him,† Mr. Ellison said, speaking by telephone from Minneapolis. â€Å"I want to let him know that there’s nothing to fear. The fact that there are many different faiths, many different colors and many different cultures in America is a great strength.†In Washington, Brendan Daly, a spokesman for the incoming House speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California, called Mr. Goode’s letter â€Å"offensive.† Corey Saylor, legislative director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, criticized what he described as Mr. Goode’s â€Å"message of intolerance.†Representative Bill Pascrell Jr., Democrat of New Jersey, urged Mr. Goode to reach out to Muslims in Virginia and learn â€Å"to dispel misconceptions instea d of promoting them.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Keith Ellison serves as a great example of Muslim Americans in our nation, and he does not have to answer to you, to me or anyone else in regards to questions about his faith,† said Mr. Pascrell, whose district includes many Arab-Americans.The fracas over Mr. Ellison’s decision to use the Koran during his personal swearing-in ceremony began last month when Dennis Prager, a conservative columnist and radio host, condemned the decision as one that would undermine American civilization.â€Å"Ellison’s doing so will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones, as Islamists, rightly or wrongly, see the first sign of the realization of their greatest goal — the Islamicization of America,† said Mr. Prager, who said the Bible was the only relevant religious text in the United States.â€Å"If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don’t serve in Congress,† Mr. Prager said.In his letter, Mr. Goode e choed that view, saying that he did not â€Å"subscribe to using the Koran in any way.† He also called for ending illegal immigration and reducing legal immigration.Linwood Duncan, a spokesman for Mr. Goode, said the Virginia lawmaker had no intention of backing down, despite the furor.â€Å"He stands by the letter,† Mr. Duncan said. â€Å"He has no intention of apologizing.†

Post natal depression - a challenging Phase for the new mothers Essay

Post natal depression - a challenging Phase for the new mothers - Essay Example If one has a close watch on these mothers, they will exhibit roller coaster of emotions leading to extreme mood swings. In a way, the symptoms of post natal depression could be similar to other mental other depression. Early Signs In most of the cases, the mothers are usually unsure of what is happening and they may not know what needs to be done to solve the problem. Literally they will be cornered. They are often filled with mixed emotions with the joy of the new born and at the same time dissatisfaction with their body conditions and other mental pressures. A common thing that will be visible most of the affected new mothers is the lack of sleep. Some of the other symptoms include low self esteem, negative thoughts, irritability, poor concentration and difficulty in making crucial decisions, loss of appetite, etc. Failure in identifying the post natal depression can cause devastating effects on both the mother and the child. Like any other depression, the post natal depression can also be cured and the patients need not panic because of their condition, as the only step they have to take is identify the symptoms early and get treated immediately. What are the factors that could lead to Post natal depression? Physical changes â€Å"New mothers are experiencing biological, physical, emotional and social changes. It is likely that postnatal depression is caused by a combination of these things.† (â€Å"The Causes for Postnatal Depression†). From the above sentence one can clearly understand that the main causes of the Post natal depression is based on the Physical changes, emotional changes and social changes a mother will undergo after the delivery of her child. Many friends of mine, who were recent mothers, revealed that they felt worn out and was tired all the time, after the delivery. This is one of the major physical changes and it can be described in the form of the exhaustions and the post operative pain, if the expectant mother had a caesa rian delivery. Also the mother’s appetite may be affected due to improper intake of food and as a result they may become physically worn-out. They feel less confident and also less attractive because of the changes in the body conditions and become less inclined to look after themselves. As new mothers will be naturally fat due to pregnancy, they will think that their beauty has all gone, and their husbands will not like them. Emotional Changes The next aspect that could cause this Post-natal depression is the strong emotional changes, which may occur in the mothers’ minds. They may not experience the same positive feelings, which they might have had or expected during the pregnancy, after they had delivered their babies. â€Å"Adapting to parenthood is daunting.† (â€Å"Better health Channel†). As per the statement the new mothers need to fulfill the constant demands of the child which is a highly tiresome process. On the other hand, the tiredness caused due to the delivery pain can also bring about depression and therefore they will not be overwhelmed with their babies. Social Changes The other vital contributing factor for the post natal depression is the social changes, when will be undergone by the mother. It seems that even the whole society could act as a ‘villain’ against the mother. That is, the arrival of the new baby might cause an upheaval in