Rhetorical, Textual, or Source Analysis worksheet

Write a short, clear summary of the article: This article tackles the problem of unhealthy self-esteem among women allegedly caused by media-generated concepts of femininity and how best to confront this problem, which is through social activism and social marketing. It is fuelled by the results of numerous studies which suggest a strong link between the portrayal of unrealistic images of women in the media and the increasing tendency towards unhealthy eating and dieting behaviours of women. What is the context of the article? In â€Å"The Media’s Influence on Body Image Disturbance and Eating Disorders: We’ve Reviled Them, Now Can We Rehabilitate Them,† Thomson and Heinberg (1999) illuminate the growing concern among the American women population on the adverse impact of images portrayed in the mass-media on the self-perception and self-esteem of women who are exposed and vulnerable to subscribing to media-generated conceptions of femininity that have been linked to the increasingly unhealthy lifestyles taken up by more and more girls and women. What seems to be the author’s purpose? The authors discuss the mechanism by which the media is able to influence the lifestyle patterns of women in the aim of identifying ways by which girls and women would be able to resist or combat the ill-effects of media images on their behavioural, psychological, and physical health. They present a relevant perspective on how women can counter the psychological manoeuvres of the mass media. In what type of publication did this appear? Describe it. The article appeared in the academic â€Å"Journal of Social Issues,† a quarterly publication which publishes contributions from social scientists and academics that tackle the relationship between society and human beings and issues that arise from this. The journal is published by Blackwell Publishing in behalf of The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Write a brief analysis of the author’s credentials and possible expertise or bias. If no information is available on the author, try to take a guess based upon his or her knowledge and writing ability, which you might derive from the article. Thomson and Heinberg (1999) are obviously academic experts in the field of psychology who have extensively studied the impact of media-mediated concepts on the feminine psyche. In fact, the result of their own research on the effect of media images on the self-esteem and self-concept of women was among the evidence they presented in the article. Who seems to be the target audience? Be specific. Judging from the language and tone of the article, the authors’ target audience are policymakers, development workers, and academic researchers. Here, Thomson and Heinberg (1999) clearly advocate for the creation and implementation of education-based programs that would benefit women by arming them with the knowledge to decipher the subliminal messages they are often bombarded with through advertisements and other forms of media. In short outline form, show the author’s stance. Then, explain and evaluate the presentation of the author’s stance. In other words, what’s the thesis? What reasons are given for this stance? Are the reasons supported well? The authors contend that social activism will encourage women to be active in challenging the social structures that profit from and reinforce the prevailing social biases and gender stereotypes of women, while social marketing will teach women not only to pursue the demystification of the â€Å"feminine ideal† but more importantly, in the generation of positive and realistic concepts of being women. The article therefore summarizes the results of recent research which support the contention that the mass media is one of the biggest source of poor self-concept and self-confidence for women, and proposes the combination of two-strategies, social activism and social marketing,   that would enable women to counter the concept of the â€Å"feminine ideal† portrayed in the media—that of the thin, airbrushed, and computer-generated model—by empowering them to see through this images and helping them develop a multi-dimensional concept of being a woman. Analyze the writer’s language. What is the writer’s tone? Why might he or she have chosen this tone? Is it effective? What words are defined or left undefined? Give examples. The writer’s language is formal and academic, which might have been chosen because its target audience are those from the academe such as social scientists and intellectuals. It effectively conveys the weight of the problem at hand and lends seriousness to the discussion of the solutions presented. Based upon your analysis, is this a credible piece of writing? Explain. Yes, because it presents extensive evidence to its claim gained from years of academic research by social scientists interested in the issue. While the authors have recognized that a direct link between the images propagated by the media vis-à  -vis women’s self-esteem has yet to be proven, the article manages to support its contention in an ample manner by showing how media images, even indirectly, shapes the way women think, consume, and behave. In turn, its argument of using the media itself to turn things around becomes more convincing and relevant especially for women and other sectors involved. Finally, and in detail (really think about this—refer to specifics) how do the stance and language choices relate to the author’s purpose and target audience? Explain. This article is written in a persuasive manner, and shows the authors’ capability to use relevant information to support their thesis. It is also written in a way that could be understood best by development practitioners and students of the social sciences, which is suited with its intention of convincing those who might be involved in advocacy or policy-making to seriously address the rise in the number of weight-related issues affecting women that is attributed to the pervasive influence of the media. Work Cited: Thomson, J. Kevin, and Heinberg, Leslie J. â€Å"The Media’s Influence on Body Image Disturbance and Eating Disorders: We’ve Reviled Them, Now Can We Rehabilitate Them?† Journal of Social Issues, 55.2(1999):339-353.

Geography Coursework – Merry Hill

Course Work Aims: The aim of my course work is to investigate if three shopping centres in the west midlands can be placed into shopping hierarchies. Hypothesis: My hypothesis is that * Merry hill will have a bigger sphere of influence than Kidderminster and Dudley * Merry hill will have a better environment than Kidderminster and Dudley * Merry hill will have more comparison shops than Kidderminster and Dudley Justification of hypothesis: I predict that the settlements will fit in the following hierarchy. First Prediction: People will travel farther – I predict that Merry Hill will be at the top of the hierarchy because it is more accessible (roads, bus routes, railway links and motorway), it contains better facilities (shops, restaurants, car parks), it will also have high order goods. As Merry Hill contains all of the following, it will be at the top of the hierarchy. I predict that Dudley will be at the bottom of the hierarchy because it is less accessible than Merry Hill and Kidderminster, it has low quality facilities compared to Merry Hill and Kidderminster and it mainly supplies low order goods. To prove this I will collect car registrations and shopper surveys. Second prediction: Environment Quality – I predict that Merry Hill will have the highest quality of environment because it is undercover, there is no litter and it has good air conditioning, weather doesn't affect the shoppers, there are lots of bins, greenery all around the car park, CCTV, guards and cleaners o clean up the area so everything is very hygienic. I predict that the environment with the lowest environmental quality will be Dudley because there isn't any cover as it is outdoors, litter everywhere, no air conditioning, and no bins, not a lot of greenery, no CCTV and no guards. To prove this I will carry out an environmental survey. Third Prediction: Tourists and Comparison Shops – I predict that Merry Hill will have the most tourists and comparison shops because the large number of shops means that there will be a wider range of shops to compare and also as most shops sell high order goods, they are well known and this will help attract tourists. I predict that Dudley will have few comparison and convenience stores because it's a small shopping centre, which means that there will be fewer shops meaning you will have less shops to compare. To prove this I will carry out a shop survey, listing all the shops each settlement consists of. Geographical Information: Shopping habits have changed due to the new technology and, the higher prices of products having been introduced, meaning more and more people are likely to compare prices in different shops before buying anything, whereas before all prices were rather similar. More shops have also been introduced, which has also caused shopping habits to change. In the future shopping hierarchies may have totally changed. There is a possibility that the smaller shopping centres may slowly start to increase moving higher in the hierarchy. Also larger shopping centres may slowly deteriorate especially as there are so many shops all around that are closing down. The advantages of out of town shopping centres are: * Firstly, the shopping centres have a lot of comparison shops, so shoppers can buy the cheapest product. * As there are more shops in one area shoppers have a larger variety of products to choose from, so there are bound to be a larger number of comparison shops. * Another advantage of having an out of town shopping centre is that people are likely to go there and it increases tourism. The disadvantages of out of town shopping centre: * Firstly out of town shopping centres increase traffic jams as there is an increasing of traffic * Out of town shopping centres increase the level of noise pollution on the road * Next out of town shopping centres allow more congestion on the road * Lastly, out of town shopping centres increase pollution on a whole and also contribute majorly to global warming Methods of data collection: Data was collected over a period of two days. On the first day, we visited Kidderminster (Old and New). On the second day we visited Merry Hill and Dudley. We worked in a group of three or more because then we would be able to get other people's opinions and so we can collect data faster, before time runs out. Primary Data: We recorded 50 car registrations for each area to work out how far people had travelled to come to these shopping centres. This data was collected in order to work out where the cars had been registered to give us some idea as to the sphere of influence of each settlement. At each location we completed 5 environmental surveys to access the quality of the environment. This was done by scoring the environment on a number of indi9cators on a sliding scale from (o-5), with 0 being poor and 5 being excellent. The surveys were taken at roughly equal spacing in each settlement and marked clearly on the map. The scores were our own personal feeling of the environment and may have been skewed by bad weather conditions and time of day i.e. rush hour. We listed all of the shops recording if they were comparison or convenience shops. We collected this data because it gave us an idea of whether the shops were mainly sold high or low order goods and it helped show us the sphere of influence of the location. Secondary Data: To support my primary data I collected background information for each settlement from the internet, I looked at bus routes for each settlement which would show the accessibility of the areas, I looked at maps of each area o show the size of each area and I collected data on the history of each settlement.

Fasb Topics Research Paper

Adjustments to Lower of Cost or Market 330-10-35-1 A departure from the cost basis of pricing the inventory is required when the utility of the goods is no longer as great as their cost. Where there is evidence that the utility of goods, in their disposal in the ordinary course of business, will be less than cost The inventory has a financial importance as it is purchased and recorded at its historical cost or original cost.With respect to a perpetual inventory system, inventory accounts are continually controlled as goods are purchased and placed directly into the inventory account and then later taken out when sold. Therefore the inventory is properly recognized within the period it is sold. Furthermore valuing the inventory with FIFO correctly reports the ending inventory at its market value. When ending inventory is reported at market value, before making proper year adjustments unexpected changes occur in the ordinary course of business causing the market to be lower then the co st basis of the inventory.This departure from the cost basis of pricing the inventory requires the utility of inventory is no longer as great as its original cost. The ASC allows assets to be valued with Lower of Cost or Market when evidence is proving the future utility of the inventory drops below its historical cost. The determination of the businesses cost basis for their current inventory and determination of the market calls for ruling the LCM with the conservatism principal to resolve the issue between these two divergent amounts (original cost of inventory and the market).Justification for applying Lower of Cost Or Market is the recognition of the holding loss resulting from the market being less then the company’s current inventory. Which requires a decision between reporting the inventory at its actual cost or it’s replacement cost. The conservatism principle applies with LCM by reporting the inventory on the balance sheet at replacement cost in the period it occurred also recognizing the loss in the income statement during that same period.Therefore the inventory is reported at its net realizable value on the balance sheet, and the reduction (holding loss) is properly recorded on the income statement. Question 2. Your company has acquired land that is not undergoing activities necessary to get it ready for its intended use. You have been told to capitalize interest costs (the lesser of the actual or avoidable interest costs) associated with the acquisition of the land. Should you capitalize any interest costs? FASB ASC CITATION: Capitalization of Interest 35-20-25-3 The capitalization period shall begin when the following three conditions are present: a. Expenditures for the asset have been made. ? b. Activities that are necessary to get the asset ready for its intended use are in progress. ? c. Interest cost is being incurred. ? Interest capitalization shall continue as long as those three conditions are present. We recognize the gene ral facts stated; the land for the businesses investment is purchased, and with respect to the land, activities have not been started yet to prepare it for the intended use deeming it as an asset or investment.In order for the land to be considered expenditure, it would to prove it meets ASC’s three requirements of capitalization of interest. The land generally speaking the land must be capitalized to provide evidence capitalization rates will be applied, which furthermore qualifies the land to have payments of cash, transfer of other assets, or accruing the liability of recognized interest. Only if the activities of the land are in preparation for its intended use then capitalization of interest is added to the construction of the long-term asset.From a current stand point of the land, expenditures for the land have not been made yet, the activity required for its intended use is not undergoing, and therefore interest cost incurred can not be capitalized but rather expensed on the current periods of the income statement. With respect to the facts stated on the lands current progress the interest incurred can not be capitalized. Question 3: You are to allocate an asset retirement cost (initiated by an asset retirement obligation). What guidance is given over the manner in hich the asset retirement cost should be allocated to expense? FASB ASC CITATION: 410-20-35-2 An entity shall subsequently allocate that asset retirement cost to expense using a systematic and rational method over its useful life. Asset retirement obligation requires properly allocating the asset retirement cost over the assets life of the asset. The allocation of asset retirement cost that is initiated by the asset retirement obligation includes items that that fall under FASB’s issued Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts also known as SFAC No. 6 â€Å"Elements of Financial Statements.The proper manner of allocating requires the retirement cost to be properly measured, r ecognized, and recorded when involving elements in the financial statements. The measurement of the asset must be measured properly at its historical cost. During the ordinary process a business has outflows or using up of its assets in which the expenses are then recognized under the SFAC No. 6 as Expense Recognition Principle. During the period the assets are used up from operational procedures (delivery, and production). The expense accounts recognize accumulated depreciated cost of the asset over its useful life until it fully depreciated.The combination of the assets cost minus its accumulated depreciation results the asset to its net realizable value, when fully depreciated the net amount will have a zero value. The retired asset must then be properly reported in the balance sheet. When a company decides to retire an asset it must reflects the cost properly in the financial statements. When circumstance arise and its liability of the retirement obligation incur over more repor ting periods, the incurring liabilities must be considered as an additional liability over the original liability of allocating the retirement costs.Thus stated the business must recognize and measured as an additional liability (layer) at its fair value. Furthermore guidance to allocate the retirement cost must be expensed in the required systematic way over its useful life. Applying the allocation method doesn’t enable the business from capitalizing any amounts of retirement costs and allocating the same amount to the expense account in the same period. Question 4: A warehouse located in Central Iowa was destroyed by an earthquake, the first earthquake ever reported in Central Iowa.You are questioned why you reported it as an extraordinary item, net of tax, rather than a â€Å"normal† loss related to the business operations. FASB ASC CITATION: EXTRAODINARY and UNUSAL ITEMS 225-20-45-2 Extraordinary items are events and transactions that are distinguished by their unu sual nature and by the infrequency of their occurrence. When reporting extraordinary and unusual items in the income statement some requirements must be met upon reporting the items.The extraordinary items are events and transactions that are 1. Unusual in nature meaning that underlying event or transaction has a high degree of abnormality that it is unrelated to and 2. Infrequent in occurrence meaning its underlying event or transitions is not reasonably expected to recur in the future. The ASC requires that both of the criteria stated above must bet met in order to report any items as extraordinary or unusual.Reporting extraordinary items in the income statement will be reported by its gross amount and then at net after deducting the income tax expense or saving associated with the item. With respect to Iowa, reporting the warehouse as an extraordinary item from the result of an infrequent earthquake that was unusual in nature since this was the first occurring earth quake ever re ported and infrequent because it is a natural disaster and therefore cannot be considered part of normal business operations. Furthermore deeming the warehouse as an extraordinary item.

Risk Management - International Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Risk Management - International Trade - Essay Example Wikipedia explains the process of risk identification, "After establishing the context, the next step in the process of managing risk is to identify potential risks. Risks are about events that, when triggered, will cause problems. Hence, risk identification can start with the source of problems, or with the problem itself." A similar condition comes under scrutiny when Australia considers to invest in UK. It is not only about another country, but about another continent, another culture, another geopolitical scenario. So the economic stance takes somewhat of a back seat unless other important issues are taken care of. Under mentioned is an analysis of the investment scenario in UK vis--vis Australia, and what can be the most effective strategy for market research in the former. Nothing negative, but factually speaking, when one has to conduct marketing research and ultimately trade in a country, it is very important to consider the political scenario within the country. Based on Australia's position in the Commonwealth, Australian relations with UK are active. As the current Chair in Office of the Commonwealth, UK plays a substantial role in Commonwealth affairs creating opportunities for close participation with Australia in a broad range of Commonwealth issues. These issues are imperative to be considered, as any country that wants to invest elsewhere, must undergo this process. As is evident, it cannot be accomplished without help and expertise from the localities. Keeping all this in view, it only seems rational and pragmatic to rely as much as possible on UK market researchers. The fact of the matter remains, that it is not a country with an ideal infrastructure of communication and regulations. Therefore, the theoretical marketing research that a book of marketing may teach, may not be wholly applicable upon UK. The importance of local knowledge in this instance cannot be over emphasised. Hence, in the execution phase, certain modalities of risk inference may differ inherently. That is by no means a flaw, but actually a characteristic in its own

Raise or Lower Tuition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Raise or Lower Tuition - Essay Example On that note, we are going to comprehensively study the ways in which this institution can generate more income, for instance through the increase of tuition fees among other strategies that need to be undertaken in a bid to achieve this goal. Evidently, another way in which in the nobody state university can raise its income is through the reviewing of some of the mechanisms that involved in the enrolling of students into the institution. Notably, in the study of the manners in which institutions of higher learning can increase revenue, it is essential to discuss on the enrollment exercise since the major earner of capital in this line of business is largely dependent on the number of individuals that enroll in the particular institution which in this case is the nobody state university. Consequently, in the subsequent sections we are going to highlight some of the ways that revenue can be increased in this institution giving account of the impact they will have in the institution a s whole. Will an increase in the tuition fee automatically contribute to an increase in revenue? From a literal point of view, a rise in the tuition fees will result in the increase in the revenue in the institution of higher learning; nobody state university. ... Thus, in the case of lower population, the capital generated may not be as pleasant. On the other hand, high tuition fees may cause huge loses. On a similar theme, if the tuition fees are raised by significantly with comparison to other educational institution, the enrolment rates will drop and as a result the revenue collected will be less. Furthermore, with high tuition fees many students who are enrolled may opt out in search of other institutions that offer favorable fee structures and therefore it follows that huge revenue loses will be recorded. Although, an increase in tuition requires an increase in revenue generation, it is essential to monitor the margin of the rise to avoid exploitation of the individuals in the educational institution; students who are the major earner of capital. Describe conditions under which the revenue will rise? Apparently, one of the most logical approaches to increase the revenue of nobody state university, is the incorporation of business strateg ies founded on the principle of unit elastic demand. On that note, this business principle postulates that, a change in the price of a commodity results into an equal change in the quantity demanded for. In this case, incorporation of this business strategy into the education institution requires that, an increase in the tuition fee will consequently lead to the increase in the revenue collected since the enrolment rate will increase due to an increase in the demand for the educational services. On the same note, the rise in revenue will be attributed to the increase in the student population. Describe conditions under which the revenue will fall? The revenue collected

Market Model Patterns of Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Market Model Patterns of Change - Essay Example In the year 1981, it introduced a Nordic mobile telephone (NMT); NTM was the first mobile phone or cellular phone which was able to permit roaming network. In 1987 the Nokia Corporation launched a mobile phone that was capable to be handled, the phone used NTM network. Regardless of its price and its weight, the phone became classic as it recorded biggest sell of the time. In the year 2002 the Nokia Corporation launched Nokia 3650, the phone had camera feature. Later in the year, the company launched Nokia 6650; it was the first 3G phone in the market. Currently, Nokia has made a major step on the models of the phone they are manufacturing. In the year 2011 February, the Corporation declared to work together with Microsoft Company to improve features of Smartphones they plan to manufacture. After the two major company united, in October they launched two models; Nokia Lumia 880 and Nokia Lumia 710 (Pulkkinen, 2011). Previously, Nokia Corporation was enjoying monopoly; it was the firs t company to develop hand mobile phone. Despite the size and the price of the phones, in made highest sell than what the company was expecting. In 2005, the company manufactured Nokia 1100 which recorded billion sell even though it was having less features. The monopoly of the industry Nokia to enjoy profits and failed to concentrate on the advancement of their products. As the industry evolved, new technologies were brought into the market. Small industry entered into the market and impressed technology, these new companies in the industry started manufacturing products that had more features, hence attracting more customers. With the increase in competition, Nokia Corporation started to follow new drift of the technology and started to manufacture better phone models. Initially, Nokia Corporation enjoyed monopoly, currently there is pressure in the communication industry. Different and new companies have entered into the market and are making remarkable profits; therefore, Nokia C orporation is facing oligopoly. At present, other companies that are into the market includes; Motorola Corporation, Samsung company, apple industry, Alcatel, Sony Ericson, and blackberry Corporation. Each new product brought into the market by one company, it is countered by other company by producing a more advanced technologically handset. With these competition trend seen in the market, consumers or the buyer of the product are the ones who enjoys better product. Also with this tendency of competition, consumers have a wide variety of product to choose from and at an affordable price (Morris, 2009). Presently, it is viewed that the market or the industry trend has changed to a perfect competition; there is no dominant company in the market. Each company is trying to manufacture best possible product than what the other company can produce. In the short term run, the major dominant or the giant company in the industry will enjoy the market as a result companies known and trusted names. This dominancy with major company will hinder penetration of the emerging businesses into market. The new company has never been on the market before and there product has never been used before; it will be difficult for them to penetrate into the market. Therefore, in a short run, the dominant corporation including Nokia, and Samsung; they will prevent entry of the new companies into the market (Gruber, 2005). In the long

Open a new restaurants that serves the best and health foods based on Term Paper

Open a new restaurants that serves the best and health foods based on body metrics - Term Paper Example describe the challenges and risks when it comes to the opening of the restaurant and a recommendation of how the challenges and risks can be properly mitigated. The first challenge is privacy concerns in regards to the information given on the health status of a person, the age as well as the weight of a person. These are often personal matters that many people want to remain private (Reuvid, 2013). It is imperative to understand that there are a variety of reasons as to why people place high value when it comes to protecting their privacy, confidentiality as well as their security of health information. Many psychologists often depict privacy as a basic need which has a right intrinsic value. For this reason, they often see privacy being objectively valuable in itself and they believe that it is an essential component of any human being. Privacy of information ensures that several human fundamental values are observed. For example, personal autonomy which is the ability to make personal decisions is observed, secondly, privacy ensures individuality in that a person can be able to become oneself and do whatever one likes. Thirdly, a person often values his or her privacy in order to obtain respect from the society. Finally, privacy is often safeguarded by persons in order to ensure that they still remain with their dignity as well as worth as human beings. For this reason, it can be seen that most of the potential customers might be reluctant to give out information that they consider private. Further, they do believe that there is no law that exists that prevents the restaurant from revealing information about their weight, state of health and age to the public. For this reason, most people will be reluctant when it comes down to giving out the vital information needed to run the restaurant. Further, there may also be fears regarding the safety of the information with the employees. There are several employees that are malicious and might spread personal and

To what extent can Hesketts Service Profit Chain be supported by Essay

To what extent can Hesketts Service Profit Chain be supported by empirical evidence and other arguments - Essay Example The linkage in the chain which is in fact the prepositions are between profit and growth. These two are particularly inspired by customer loyalty. Very clearly, loyalty is the direct attribute of customer satisfaction. The reason behind a customer being extremely satisfied about the product or a service is the value of the services that were provided to the customers. Hence, it can be otherwise stated that Value is created by satisfied, loyal and productive employees. The Service-Profit Chain (SPC) is a conceptual framework, which describes a process for delivering superior service value (Heskett, Sasser, & Schlesinger, 1997). According to the framework, positive business outcomes result when service delivery activities lead to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. However, managerial implementation of the SPC has remained problematic, primarily because of certain limitations in the modelling methods commonly employed. Providing managers with the ability to model this process in a way that is of practical value to decision makers would be a considerable contribution (Anderson, 2004). Based on the Service Profit Chain model, profitability and growth are determined primarily by maximizing the lifetime value of your customers, and that value is fully realized only when you earn the customer's loyalty. In one study, a 5% increase in customer loyalty produced profit increases from 25% to 85%. A loyal customer is one who obeys the three R's: Retention, Repeat Sales, and Referrals. Major corporations (many of which are household names) subscribe to the Service Profit Chain model and have achieved a level of success that is enviable. The diagram below outlines the links in the Service-Profit Chain. From the diagram given below, it can be clearly noticed that one of the most important links in this chain is the interface between the external service value and customer satisfaction. The external service value represents the service concept: the results for the customers. This is the interface of your installers, sales reps and managers, and your client (SENCORE). Now, the above diagram clearly suggests that customer loyalty is driven by customer satisfaction, customer satisfaction is driven by value, and value is driven by employee productivity, and so on. As already noticed the beginning of the chain is Internal Service Quality. It becomes clear that employee satisfaction and loyalty are directly proportional to the service they provide to your customers. The success of any business thus depends on how the organization cultivates its employees into a productive, passionate, quality-oriented team (SENCORE). Also,

Anwar Sadat Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Anwar Sadat - Assignment Example   During his 11-year reign, he was responsible for the transformation of Egypt from the once retrogressive state to the now progressive state.   His achievements are well documented.Upon ascending to power, Sadat embarked on a corrective initiative that was meant to amend the supposed damage done by his predecessor.   The arrest of the secret police generals and the subsequent diluting of the secret police powers caused shock waves in Egypt. The expulsion of the Soviet Union military from Egypt and the transformation of the Egyptian military brought confidence amongst Egyptians on his determination to address the unchecked misuse of the military powers in the country (International Relations, 2015).In 1973, President Sadat led Egypt into the Yom Kippur War that helped in reclaiming Egypt’s land. During the Six Day War that his predecessor Nasser took part, the country was overwhelmed by the Israeli military that resulted in the country losing some of its lands. As presid ent, Sadat made the recapturing of Egypt’s land lost during the war his priority. As a result, Sinai Peninsula, which was captured by the Israeli army during the war, was returned to Egypt.   Later on, he engaged in finding a peaceful resolution between Egypt and Israel; an act that earned him a Nobel Prize Award. Even though the supposed treaty elicited negative reactions and resistance from the Arab world, it was successfully signed on 26th March 1979 in Washington D.C(Rubin, 2014).

United States Declaration of Independence Essay Example for Free

United States Declaration of Independence Essay In contemplating the relation of freedom and identity, the Latin maxim libertas non datur sine veritate aptly reminds us that there can be no freedom without truth. While certain aspects of who we are, such as nationality or ethnic ancestry, may be cul? turally or serendipitously determined, there is a truth to hu? man nature which, if not observed, corrupts or destroys life and any exercise of freedom dependent upon it. Human nature and the natural law it reflects are inescapable, and, insofar as the Constitution of the United States was consciously fashioned with an outline of human nature in mind, natural law is an in? dispensable aid to proper constitutional interpretation. This essay explores the founding conception of liberty and its interrelationship with human nature. It then addresses how the Constitution reflects these aspects of human nature. Finally, it contains some concluding perspectives on aspects of human nature understated in the constitutional design and what ought to be done when there are disputing conceptions of human na? ture. I. LIBERTY The founding view of liberty was taken up directly by Ham? ilton. In Federalist 15, Hamilton asks â€Å"why,† if man1 is naturally * Caruso Family Chair and Professor of Constitutional Law, Pepperdine Uni? versity; Dean and St. Thomas More Professor, The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, 2001–2003; Professor and Director of the Center on Law Government at the University of Notre Dame, 1980–1999; Assistant Attorney General and Head of the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice, 1985– 1989. 1. The use of the masculine in this essay is intended to include the feminine; the masculine usage is continued in the essay so as not to raise in the mind of the reader any inference that the thoughts expressed are somehow at odds with the quoted material from the founding period, which reflected a different custom in 34 Harvard Journal of Law Public Policy [Vol. 29 free,2 â€Å"has government been instituted at all? †3 Hamilton’s an? swer is blunt and rests squarely on a claim about human na? ture. Government is instituted, Hamilton asserts, â€Å"[b]ecause the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint. †4 Liberty without restraint will not lead to private or public good. How does Hamilton know this? Well, he says, just look around; and further, if the evidence of our own eyes does not convince us and we seek something beyond this empirical claim, he urges us to draw yet another inference about human nature: It is to be expected that men in a collective or group will act badly because the â€Å"[r]egard to reputation has a less ac? tive influence. †5 Think about it, Hamilton admonishes: Liberty will be badly used if joining together obscures accountability. Moreover, â€Å"a spirit of faction† will aggravate these intrinsic human aspects, thereby magnifying the resulting harms. 6 In a group, we will ally with others of like mind in a shameless way to disadvantage or harm others. We will be inclined to use our liberty to pursue â€Å"improprieties and excesses, for which [we] would blush in a private capacity. †7 The desire for liberty to be well used, once â€Å"we the people† were united in political society, greatly motivated the Foun? ders. It will be argued below that this founding conception of liberty informed by human nature accounts for much of the constitutional structure and the express limitations upon gov? ernment power within and appended to it. The justification for the new Constitution is forthrightly anchored in the mainte? nance of human nature as the â€Å"great principle of self? preservation. †8 As such, the precondition for liberty to be used well is honoring the core principle of preserving the truth of oneself—a proposition traceable, as Federalist 43 expressly af? using the masculine pronoun alone, but which this author believes is applicable to all persons without gender distinction. 2. Note that any other presupposition is counterfactual, except to extreme be? haviorists. See, e. g. , Thomas Szasz, Against Behaviorism: A Review of B. F. Skinner’s About Behaviorism, 5 PSYCHOL. NOTES (1991), available at http://www.libertarian. co. uk/lapubs/psycn/psycn005. pdf. 3. THE FEDERALIST NO. 15, at 110 (Alexander Hamilton) (Clinton Rossiter ed. , 1961). 4. Id. 5. Id. at 111. 6. Id. 7. Id. 8. THE FEDERALIST NO. 43 (James Madison), supra note 3, at 279. No. 1] The Human Nature of Freedom and Identity 35 firms, to â€Å"the transcendent law of Nature and of Nature’s God† upon which the nation is founded and all human action de? pends. 9 The question whether identity is a limitation or starting point for freedom may be a puzzler for twenty?first century man, but it is an easier question when tossed the way of Pub? lius. The authors of The Federalist Papers knew human nature or identity to be the starting point for human freedom or liberty. II. HUMAN NATURE What is the law of nature? An early twentieth century lec? turer put matters nicely: Every living creature is the embodiment of some form of natural law. Its duration of life depends upon its obedience to the law of its nature, as embodied in its organism. It lives by being itself, by persisting in being itself, and when it vio?lates the law of the kind of being it is, it renounces life and perishes . . . . All animated beings are subject to the laws of cause and effect, as Nature has prescribed them for each species . . . . [I]n any complex organization, like human soci? ety, something must be freely granted to the individual. This is what we mean politically by â€Å"liberty. † On the other hand, something must be insisted upon for the benefit of the group. This is what we mean by â€Å"law,† in its social sense . . .. Without liberty, there is no initiative, and hence no progress. Without law, there is no survival of the group. 10 It is within the will of man to have positive law either ad? vance human nature or undermine it. It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the constructed, positive law of soci? ety can disregard the law of nature without consequence. We can construct governments and other social structures beyond our individual natures, but these perform well only if nature’s truths are observed. â€Å"What we must never forget is that Nature never ceases to govern; and that, if men wish to govern, they must govern under Nature’s Laws, or they will be doomed to failure. †11 9. Id. 10. DAVID JAYNE HILL, HUMAN NATURE IN THE CONSTITUTION 24–25 (1926). 11. Id. at 29. 36 A. Harvard Journal of Law Public Policy [Vol. 29 Human Liberty or â€Å"Right† Derived from Assumed Duty The founding generation was studied in the dismal history of societies that sought the false freedom of governing against human nature. If one begins the history of human government with the patriarchal clan, one sees force, but little acknowl? edgment of human liberty or freedom. 12 As the clan gave way to various forms of warrior chiefs and kingships, there was a natural mindfulness of the well? being of one’s group. Several thousand years before Christ, Hammurabi’s famous legal code would describe the clan leader as a shepherd chosen â€Å"to care for the people [and cause them] to dwell in peace and security, that the great should not oppress the weak. †13 The Greeks would give a name to these assumed natural duties of care, and these in turn would later become encapsulated into the notion of rights or liberties. Rights, therefore, arose as correlatives from the reasoned objection of man’s intellect when leaders defaulted on their expected duty of care and irrationally de? prived man of the necessary goods or sustenance to survive. Stoic philosophers like Cicero would bring this conception of human right or liberty derived from duty to Rome, but, with Rome’s fall, barbarian kings once again obscured the concept of natural rights. It would not re? emerge until the American Founders decided to build a government upon human nature and its associated rights. B. Affirmation of Creation as Source of Natural Right or Liberty â€Å"When . . . the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, [and] a decent respect to the opinions of mankind re? quires . . . .†:14 With these words, the Founders gave explana? tion not only for the formation of a new sovereignty, but also the human liberty the newly established United States sought to advance. It was an explanation premised upon the pro? claimed truth that man is not self? creation, but created. That the handiwork of the Creator came with a conscious endow? ment of unalienable rights—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—led to the conclusion that any governmental form 12. This is not to say that force within the clan was always contrary to human nature. 13. HILL, supra note 10, at 37 (quoting Hammurabi’s legal code from approximately 2250 B. C. ). 14. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE para. 1 (U. S. 1776). No. 1] The Human Nature of Freedom and Identity 37 that followed would need to have one overriding end: to secure human nature and the rights associated with it. There is much speculation as to why America in the late Eighteenth Century was the locus of natural law rediscovery. Possibly, it was the wide sweep of land, and nature, itself, that the colonists daily inhabited and sought to harness. Perhaps it was the extraordinary discoveries of the era in natural science. Or it may simply have been that no people so distant from their country of origin could rationally continue to think of them? selves as â€Å"subjects. † American colonists were persons enjoying natural liberty. However it was, â€Å"[t]he American colonists came upon this idea in their own way . . . . It was the result of their own experience in self? government, coupled with their faith that their human nature had a Divine origin and involved a moral responsibility of which freedom was a necessary corre? late. †15 If freedom, and the new government that aspired to it, were to be guided by human nature, then that nature would need to be understood. At a very basic level, giving proper attribution to a Creator put human nature off? limits to human redefini? tion16 and secured unalienable rights against the government,17 but a workable government would require some greater identi? 15. HILL, supra note 10, at 51–52. 16. Such attempted human redefinition of truth, unfortunately, is all too common. For instance, disputes abound over what legal protection to extend to an unborn child ever since Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (1973), but the legal dispute has absolutely no effect on the truth of the child’s humanity. So too, any association of persons can be legally called a marriage, but such domination has no effect on the truth of what marriage is in terms of conjugal unity and procreative potential. Moreover, because legal assertions have no discernible power to redefine the natural essence of these matters, man ought not to seek to have positive law and nature work toward different ends. Justice James Wilson, who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, sagely counseled that â€Å"law can never attain either the extent or the elevation of a science, unless it be raised upon the science of man. † JAMES WILSON, Man as an Individual—Abstractly Treated, in 1 THE WORKS OF JAMES WILSON 206, 207 (James DeWitt Andrews ed. , 1896). It was obvious in the 1850s that black men and women were human. Nonetheless, the law pointedly chose to treat them inhumanly. The bloody consequences of the law’s impertinence in ignoring human nature are etched in history. 17. See Thomas L. Pangle, The Philosophic Understandings of Human Nature Informing the Constitution, in CONFRONTING THE CONSTITUTION 9, 74 (Allan Bloom ed. , 1990) (â€Å"This means . . . while the majority retains supreme political power, it does not retain and never had unlimited power. The supreme (irresistible) power governing every rational person’s behavior is the desire for self? preservation and every individual retains the inalienable right to resist perceived threats to his property and existence, no matter what the source of those threats. †). 38 Harvard Journal of Law Public Policy [Vol. 29 fication of the particulars of human nature. A few of these par? ticulars are explored below. III. MAN IS FREE, BUT NOT APART FROM OR ABOVE, SOCIETY In the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, it was under? stood that man was not intended to live alone, but in society. Of course, part of this sociability was a product of pure neces? sity. â€Å"From his beginning [man] was born into [society], and without it he could never have been. Helpless in his isolation, he could be exterminated even by swarms of insects. †18 But the yearning for community was more than a utilitarian means of defense against predatory animals or other threats to physical existence. The Founders read Aristotle and accepted his propo? sition that â€Å"man is by nature a political animal . . . . There is . . . a natural impulse in all men towards an association [with others]. †19 This natural desire, according to Aristotle, arose from two sources: reasoned reflection on right and wrong (which is only a comprehensible exercise in relation to others) and our love of others. 20 A. Jefferson: Man Has a Moral Sense Developed Out of Service to Others Thomas Jefferson most notably made reference to man’s so? cial side, observing in correspondence to John Adams that man is â€Å"an animal destined to live in society. †21 For this reason, Jef? ferson would deliberately criticize the anti? social, atomistic conceptions of Hobbes as a â€Å"humiliation to human nature. †22 Thomas Pangle records that Jefferson had derived from the Enlightenment philosopher Helvetius that we experience pleasure â€Å"when we aid or even when we seem to sacrifice for others. †23 Jefferson was not fully satisfied that Helvetius had explained the origin of the pleasure derived from the service to 18. HILL, supra note 10, at 17. 19. ARISTOTLE, THE POLITICS 10–11 (Ernest Barker trans. , 1995). 20. Id. at 106. 21. Letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Adams (Oct. 14, 1816), in 2 THE ADAMS? JEFFERSON LETTERS 492 (Lester J. Cappon ed. , 1959). 22. Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Frances Gilmer (June 7, 1816), in THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 24 (Albert Ellery Bergh ed., 1905). 23. THOMAS L. PANGLE, THE SPIRIT OF MODERN REPUBLICANISM: THE MORAL VISION OF THE AMERICAN FOUNDERS AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF LOCKE 120 (1988). No. 1] The Human Nature of Freedom and Identity 39 others and was unprepared to ascribe the origin of man’s moral sense solely to God since that would leave unaccounted for the moral sense or like sensation in a disbeliever. Therefore, on a philosophical level, Jefferson would conclude that, like other aspects of the moral sense in man, nature simply reveals the pleasure of service. 24 As he grew older, Jefferson would come to value tranquility over continued public service,25 but he would continue to lean upon the theorem that the pursuit of happi? ness was dependent upon the virtue of knowing oneself and being useful to others. The â€Å"moral instinct† that inclines us to do good out of a love of others is, Jefferson would conclude, â€Å"the brightest gem with which the human character is studded, and the want of it as more degrading than the most hideous of bodily deformities. †26 B. Wilson: Man Has Moral Sense Because He Has an Innate Conscience James Wilson would question Jefferson’s reliance upon the pleasure or utility of serving others as a sufficiently reliable ba? sis for the development of a moral sense. Unlike Jefferson, Wil? son would insist that human nature intrinsically includes not only a desire to be social and socially useful, but also a con? science. 27 Relying upon Thomas Aquinas by way of Richard Hooker, Wilson would insist that it is conscience that guides reason. 28 The first principles of virtue are self? evident to man, and, were it otherwise, most men would find the pursuit of vir? tue to be impossible and beyond their capacity. Wilson’s attachment to innate conscience contrasts with John Locke, who, in his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, opines that not even the Golden Rule is innately known. Locke is often quoted in a way that makes his writing seem highly relativistic, and certainly the statement, â€Å"[c]onscience . . . is noth? ing else, but our own Opinion,† seems to be just that. 29 Locke was obviously a stronger influence on Jefferson than on Wil? 24. See id. 25. Pangle quotes Jefferson as advising a young James Monroe that â€Å"public service and private misery [are] inseparably linked together. † Id. at 121. 26. Id. at 120. 27. Id. at 121–22. 28. JAMES WILSON, Of the General Principles of Law and Obligation, in SELECTED POLITICAL ESSAYS OF JAMES WILSON 215, 222–24 (Randolph G. Adams ed. , 1930). 29. JOHN LOCKE, AN ESSAY CONCERNING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING 70 (Peter H. Nidditch ed., 1975) (1689). 40 Harvard Journal of Law Public Policy [Vol. 29 son, as Locke’s denial of conscience as innate fits nicely with Jefferson’s proposition that men always inquire further to seek an underlying reason for a moral rule. 30 For Jefferson again, it was the utility of service that brought happiness, not following an inner voice guided by an objective, knowable virtue. Locke would similarly write that â€Å"[p]ower and riches, nay Vertue [sic] it self, are valued only as Conducing to our Happiness. †31 C. Man’s Created Nature Bridges Jefferson and Wilson But Jefferson (and Locke) may not be as far from Wilson as it first would seem. What unifies them is reference to the tran? scendent. All three concede that acknowledgment of a Creator influences man’s moral sense. Locke makes repeated reference to man’s creation, and Jefferson’s â€Å"endowed by their Creator† reference in the Declaration is well known. Nevertheless, Jef? ferson is sometimes described as a â€Å"materialist,† a term he bor?rowed from Locke, or often as a â€Å"deist. † These terms obscure more than they clarify because it was Jefferson’s concession of a Creator God that had real consequence for filling out his con? ception of human nature. As Father John Hardon, S. J. , wrote in apprising the so? called Jefferson Bible, the Life and Morals of Je? sus of Nazareth: That Jefferson believed in God is evident first from his ready acceptance of the teachings of Christ on the subject, the Lord’s Prayer, the Eight Beatitudes, the Parables of the Un?just Steward and the Ten Talents, the Sermon on the Mount—all of which presuppose a belief in the existence of God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Correlative with this goes the belief in prayer and some kind of Providence, and to that extent, at least, an acceptance of some kind of grace, requested for example in the petition, â€Å"Deliver us from evil,† in the Pater Noster. Also the Morals of Jesus allows us to conclude that Jeffer? son believed in some sort of future life, where the good are rewarded and the wicked punished. Besides the Parables of Lazarus and Dives, of the Pharisee and Publican, and the Wedding Feast, Jefferson accepted and extracted the whole discourse of Christ about the Day of Judgment, in the twenty? fifth chapter of Matthew, not excluding the classic 30. See id. at 65. 31. John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, in THE EDUCATIONAL WRITINGS OF JOHN LOCKE 109, 249 (James Axtell ed. , 1968). No. 1] The Human Nature of Freedom and Identity 41 verse 46, in which Christ foretells: â€Å"These will go into ever?lasting punishment, but the just into everlasting life. †32 What, then, of Jefferson’s self? description as a materialist in the Lockean sense? Hardon writes that it was not a denial of the spirituality of the human soul, but merely the humble con? fession that there is no human proof anchored solely in reason of the soul’s spiritual nature. 33 Hardon’s explanation is persua? sive. Even though Locke (and by extension Jefferson) was un? able to prove the imprint of a moral sense in man and questioned whether reason is naturally inclined toward seek?ing the good, as Aquinas taught, Locke nevertheless insisted on the existence of natural law, knowable only by means of the Divine creator and legislator. 34 By this, Locke meant that hu? man beings are the creation or â€Å"workmanship† of God; there? fore, they belong to God and are His property. From this declared status as created beings, a set of prescrip? tions under the natural law can be deduced. For example, the presupposition of creation allows man to deduce moral pre? cepts in support of â€Å"unalienable rights† derived out of his rela? tionship with a Creator? Owner and other created human beings. These moral precepts themselves then encourage habits of virtue, especially including Jefferson’s insight of service to others. Habits of virtue yield happiness. Disregard the presup? position of man as a created being, however, and think of man as his own self? creation living outside or above society, and the process would work in reverse: unhappiness resulting from practices of vice and self? interest unchecked by any moral sense derived from human nature. Without the public ac?knowledgment of man’s created nature, the derivation of moral sense would be impossible, because there would then be no 32. Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. , The Jefferson Bible, AM. ECCLESIASTICAL REV. , June 1954, available at http://www. catholicculture. org/docs/doc_view. cfm? recnum? 6040. 33. See id. John Locke writes, â€Å"we do not owe our origin to ourselves . . . .† JOHN LOCKE, QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE LAW OF NATURE 161 (Robert Horowitz et al. trans. , Cornell Univ. Press 1990) (1664). Locke was sure that this is not a religious doctrine, even as such doctrines may confirm â€Å"the truth of our argument that man can, by making use of sense and reason together, arrive at knowledge of some su? preme power . . . .† Id. at 165. Locke admitted that reason may prompt some to doubt God’s existence, but he said â€Å"there exists nowhere a race so barbarous, so far removed from all humanity† that is not suited to â€Å"infer from sensible things that there exists some powerful and wise being who has jurisdiction and power over men themselves. † Id. at 165, 167. 34. See Michael P. Zuckert, Do Natural Rights Derive from Natural Law? , 20 HARV. J. L. PUB. POL’Y 695, 721 (1997). 42 Harvard Journal of Law Public Policy [Vol. 29 stable conception of human nature. Human nature would, of course, be factually constant, but insofar as it would be subject to legal redefinition by those in the possession of force, it would not yield moral clarity for public or private decision. Of course, man is not assured of happiness merely by public acknowledgment of his created nature. When man enacts laws or undertakes personal action in defiance of that created na?ture, he is acting in a way that is contrary to a state of happi? ness. For this reason, if a government of law is to be successful, it must be formed to meet the reality of man’s nature: a reality which recognizes both man’s created nobility and rebelling imperfection. Hence, Wilson insightfully comments: [G]overnment is the scaffolding of society: and if society could be built and kept entire without government, the scaf? folding might be thrown down, without the least inconven? ience or cause of regret. Government is, indeed, highly necessary .. . to a fallen state. Had man continued innocent, society, without the aids of government, would have shed its benign influence even over the bowers of Paradise. 35 he Founders believed man had not â€Å"continued innocent† T and so shaped American government to meet his shortcom? ings. IV. MAN’S IMPERFECT NOBILITY The seventeenth? to? eighteenth? century period out of which the Constitution emerged was, as Arthur O. Lovejoy records, a period of transition between the denigration of man and the celebration of his potential. 36 Theologians and religious writers reminded the Founders of man’s creation in the image and like? ness of God and man’s supernatural destiny, but one satire writer after another demonstrated that man, in action, failed regularly to live up to this nobility. These satires of the Seven? teenth Century were but the flowering of earlier writing. Father James Gillis writes: Shakespeare—the myriad? minded Shakespeare—probably knew man better than any other poet or dramatist or phi? losopher. Certainly he made a life study of man; he tracked 35. JAMES WILSON, Of the Study of Law in the United States, in SELECTED POLITICAL ESSAYS OF JAMES WILSON, supra note 28, at 210. 36. See ARTHUR O. LOVEJOY, REFLECTIONS ON HUMAN NATURE 20 (1961). No. 1] The Human Nature of Freedom and Identity 43 every emotion and mood and thought and passion of man to its secret lair in the human heart, dragged it out, incarnated it in man or woman, king, peasant, soldier, student, lover, clown, clothed it in ermine or fustian or in mourner’s weeds, and made it â€Å"strut and fret its hour upon the stage. † If ever a man revealed ourselves to ourselves, it was that all? But? omniscient Shakespeare. But even he was compelled in the end to confess that he couldn’t solve the riddle of man. Wit? ness the famous monologue, â€Å"[w]hat a piece of work is man! † continuing â€Å"how like an angel! † but concluding, â€Å"this quintessence of dust! †37 A. Man Rationalizes Himself as an Exception: The Self? Interest Problem Thirty years before the Declaration, the French writer Mar? quis de Vauvenargues noted how much we enjoy pointing out human defect, thinking we can somehow exempt ourselves from the same criticism. Vauvenargues lamented, â€Å"We are so presumptuous that we imagine we can separate our personal interest from that of humanity in general, and malign the hu? man race without implicating ourselves. †38 n response to this criticism, man would assert as a defense I his commitment to reason. However, one would have to cau? tiously wonder if â€Å"reason† was itself rationalization and self? deception. Man reaches a conclusion favoring passion over rea? son, then finds reasons to justify the passion and deceives him? self into thinking the reasons discovered were the cause for the initial decision. Again, satirists of the Seventeenth Century regularly pointed out that â€Å"[t]he passions always seek to justify themselves and persuade us insensibly that we have reason for following them. The gratification and pleasure to which they give rise in the mind which should be judging them, corrupt its judgment in their favor. †39 hese insights were best represented in the founding genera? T tion by John Adams. He observed that men tend to act first and think after. Men have a tendency to flatter themselves, and Ad? ams thought this self? deception was responsible for many ca? 37. JAMES M. GILLIS, THIS MYSTERIOUS HUMAN NATURE 5 (1956) (quoting WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, HAMLET act 2, sc. 2). 38. LOVEJOY, supra note 36, at 20 (citation omitted). 39. Id. at 26. 44 Harvard Journal of Law Public Policy [Vol. 29 lamities. 40 Caught up in the various political controversies of his day, Adams wondered why those against him sought to â€Å"blacken and discredit† his motives, rather than address under? lying issues. 41 This trait of human nature has not changed. 42 B. A Government to Bring Perfection from Imperfect Human Nature Richard Hooker had faithfully recorded the noble, but imper? fect, aspects of human nature: Laws politic, ordained for external order . . . are never framed as they should be, unless presuming the will of man to be inwardly obstinate, rebellious, and averse from all obedience unto the sacred laws of nature; in a word, unless presuming man to be in regard of his depraved mind little better than a wild beast, they do accordingly provide not? Withstanding so to frame his outward actions, that they be no hindrance unto the common good for which societies are instituted: unless they do this, they are not perfect. 43 et all was not lost. God had created a universe by counter? Y balancing the forces of physical science, as Newton explained, and man could likewise construct a successful polity by follow? ing His model. So the Constitution came to be, following this instruction of counterpoise or balance, reflected in the planets as well as literature. The Founders, already having declared their fidelity to â€Å"the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God,† pro? 40. See generally JOHN ADAMS, ON SELF? DELUSION, in 3 THE WORKS OF JOHN ADAMS, SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 432, 433–36 (Charles C. Little James Brown eds. 1851). 41. Id. at 436. 42. Why, for instance, did environmental groups seek to demonize then? Judge John Roberts as anti? environment because of his dissent in Rancho Viejo v. Norton, 334 F. 3d 1158 (D. C. Cir. 2003), rather than take up the jurisprudential difficulty that animated the Supreme Court decisions upon which preced.

Measuring Concentration of Natural Gas in Air

Measuring Concentration of Natural Gas in Air Valentin Haemmerli Measuring concentration of natural gas in air using a catalytic bead sensor and a Wheatstone bridge circuit Abstract. A vacuum system and a catalytic bead combustible gas sensor were used to calibrate and test an apparatus for measuring the concentration of natural gas in air. Total concentrations ranged between 0%-5% and total pressure from 0.5 bar to 1.5 bar. A Wheatstone bridge circuit was used to measure the output voltage of the sensors and relate this to concentration over the range of pressures. The linear relationship between reaction rate (given by initial rate of change of output voltage) and concentration was most strongly observed at pressures of 1 bar and above. The constant of proportionality for the equation (1) was found to be 8.7  ±0.4 10-4 Vs-1 per % methane for a total system pressure of 1 bar. The relationship broke down for pressures significantly below 1 bar, indicating that the sensors are not reliable in this range. Introduction Catalytic bead sensors, also known as pellistors [1], are used in a wide range of applications in industry to monitor levels of combustible gases. One such combustible gas is the mixture consisting mainly of methane referred to as natural gas. The catalytic bead sensors can be used to monitor the concentration of natural gas in production facilities, coal mines and industrial processes. This is important because if the concentration of natural gas in air exceeds 5% it becomes explosive [2]. It is especially important to monitor methane concentration because it is usually colourless and odourless [3], making it very difficult to detect without sensors. An apparatus to measure concentration of natural gas in air can be used to trigger an alarm when there is a concentration greater than the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL), given as a percentage. At this concentration the mixture of gas and air becomes explosive. The apparatus may need to be applied for different pressure environments, not only atmospheric pressure, for example in applications with chemical processes requiring lower or higher pressures. The apparatus has therefore been tested for a range of pressures from 0.5 -1.5 bar. Theory Sensors The sensors used are catalytic bead sensors. One sensor is made up of two elements, one sensitive and one non-sensitive. The sensors work by catalysing the oxidation reaction of combustible hydrocarbons in the sensitive element which consists of a platinum wire coated in a compound which facilitates the oxidation reaction and also contains the catalyst for this reaction. The non-sensitive element is identical in most regards, but crucially is missing the oxidizing chemical or has had it poisoned, depending on the specific sensor design used. Poisoning means that the catalyst has been reacted with another chemical to make it inert. The non-sensitive element does not react with combustible gases. The elements are supplied with 3V, and heated up to 400-500ËÅ ¡C to speed up the reaction. When the oxidation reaction of combustible gases occurs on the sensitive element, the heat of reaction increases the temperature of the element, which changes the resistance in the platinum wire. Th e non-sensitive element acts as a control for ambient temperature, meaning that in the absence of any combustible gas, the two elements will output exactly the same voltage. This is very useful as it means that change in temperature due to external factors is controlled and the difference in output between the sensitive and non-sensitive elements can be measured using a Wheatstone bridge circuit as described below. This design means that these sensors detect a multitude of different combustible gases and are therefore not useful for distinguishing between them, meaning they are nonspecific [4]. However, they are very useful for situations where monitoring combustibility is of importance, and they can be applied readily to the task of measuring concentration as they are accurate and have a fast response time. The sensors used are sensitive, with a measurement range of 0-100% of the LEL. This corresponds to 0-5% concentration of methane. One downside of these sensors is that they cannot operate in a vacuum as they rely on combustion, which usually requires at least 15% oxygen [4]. They are also at risk of poisoning since they rely on a coat of catalyst and the presence of certain chemicals can result in a reaction with this catalyst, meaning the sensitive element would no longer facilitate the oxidation reaction and the difference in output between the elements would always be zero. Wheatstone Bridge Circuit Jeong-Yeol Yoon states that â€Å"A Wheatstone bridge is an electrical circuit used to measure a very small change in resistance† [5]. A circuit as shown in Figure 1 can be used to measure the output from the sensors, where a small resistance change is expected as a result of the sensitive element heating up due to the presence and reaction of combustible gases. A voltage is supplied at the top and bottom of the diamond of resistors, and the voltage across the middle, between V1 and V2 is measured. The right leg of the bridge should have a large resistance compared to the other leg so that a small change can be detected. The variable resistor allows one to slightly vary the resistance on one leg and so balance the bridge before measurements, zeroing the output. Experimental Method The first step was to test how sensor output related to concentration for a total pressure of 1bar (atmospheric). Care was taken to ensure that all joints and seals of the vacuum system were tight and that all valves were firmly closed. The vacuum system used to prepare test mixtures is shown in Figure 2. P1 and P2, the pressure sensors shown in the figure, were used to measure concentration of natural gas and air. P1 had a range of 3 bar, with the zero set to atmospheric pressure (1bar), and vacuum (0bar) set to -1. This was not very precise, with an uncertainty of  ±0.1bar and was used to fill up the system with compressed air and the pressure shown by this corresponded to total pressure. P2 was a more precise pressure sensor, ranging from 0 to 50 mbar with uncertainty  ±0.5mbar. It was used to carefully add the correct proportion of natural gas to the vacuum, before topping up with compressed air. Using this vacuum system, concentrations ranging from 0-5% natural gas were prepared. Figure 2 also shows the position of the pellistor sensor’s two elements and the connection to the Wheatstone bridge circuit. The output of this circuit was connected to a ÃŽ ¼V meter which was connected to a computer for dat a logging. This had a range of -30.00 to 30.00mV with uncertainty  ±0.01mV. Data logging was carried out for 5 minutes and 30s for concentrations of 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% at a total pressure of 1 bar. Errors were reduced by zeroing the Wheatstone bridge output using the variable resistor between measurements. This was done to reduce the effect of a natural drift in the output due to very slightly varying conditions in the lab such as temperature and the resistance in the circuit, as well as mechanical vibrations. The bridge circuit supply voltage was kept at a constant 3.00V. Care was taken to leave little time between sealing the system under vacuum and filling with natural gas and air as the seals were not perfect and pressure rose slowly, but noticeably if the system was left at vacuum for an extended period. This procedure was then repeated for a suitable range of concentrations at total pressures of 0.5, 0.75, 1.25, and 1.5 bar. The same considerations were made for reducing error as above. One thing to note is that at total pressures of less than atmospheric there was always a slight influx of outside air, due to the imperfect seals, however the effect of this was negligible. Experimental Results To find a correlation between the concentration of methane and the bridge output voltage we took the gradient of the initial increasing linear section of the raw data. Figure 3 below shows this for the case with concentration 5% of methane with a total pressure of 1 bar. As can be seen, the measured data falls away as reactant, the natural gas, is used up in the reaction. Figure 3 also shows that there is a very sharp spike as the output voltage varied greatly when the sensor was first switched on. This illustrates that care was needed when selecting which section of the curve to use to calculate the gradient. This is the right method to use to find concentration because, according to Hammett, â€Å"the rate of any chemical reaction is proportional to the product of the concentrations of the substances actually involved in the reaction.† [7] and the gradient of Figure 3 is a rate of reaction. The next step was to establish the gradients, or initial reaction rates, of 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4% methane mixtures. These are shown in Figure 4, along with 5%, for a total pressure of 1 bar. Figure 5 shows these gradients again, but all in order and passing through the origin to better show the steady increase in gradient. Figure 6 shows processed data for 1 bar total pressure. The gradients of the lines from Figures 4 and 5 are plotted against their concentration. This allows us to find a constant linking the raw data to the concentration for this pressure. Table 1 goes on to show the values of this constant for the other pressures analysed. The raw data for these is not shown here, but the process and data is similar to that for 1 bar. Figure 7 shows the relation between the pressure and the concentration. Also included are a second order polynomial and a linear trend line (fitted by least squares). Vertical error bars are from standard error in Table 1 and horizontal error bars from  ±0.1bar uncertainty in total pressure. Discussion Figure 6 shows the gradients of the lines in Figures 4 and 5, meaning the rates of reactions at different concentrations, plotted against the concentration of methane. This gives us a relationship between concentration and the initial rate of reaction, the quantity derived from the raw data, for a specific total pressure. For 1 bar this was 8.7 ±0.4 10-4 Vs-1 per % methane. The error in this comes from a combination of the uncertainty in the pressure measurement leading to uncertainty in concentration corresponding to  ±0.1% in the worst case and a small random error in the output voltage of the bridge circuit corresponding to  ±2Ãâ€"10-4V. Figure 7 includes both a polynomial fit and a linear fit. It is unclear if the relationship remains linear or takes some other form at low pressure. The polynomial is almost linear for the three higher pressures, which indicates a strong relationship between pressure and reaction rate for higher pressures. The values and their associated errors in Table 1 come from each plot of initial reaction rate (rate of change of voltage) against concentration for the different pressures. The error is the standard error for these plots. There was a breakdown of the relationship at low pressures. Data for 0.5 bar total pressure was not included in the results because no clear relationship between output and concentration was found. This indicates that the sensors are not suitable for low pressures, especially when coupled with low concentrations. This resulted in very little output from the sensors, making it difficult to reliably determine an initial reaction rate, which is vital for obtaining a relationship between the raw data and the concentration. The reason for this lack of output was that not enough natural gas particles were interacting with the sensitive element to cause it to heat up and also due to a lower oxygen concentration also slowing down the reaction. This is not a problem in the commercial applications of these types of sensors as they are typically used to detect high concentrations of combustible gases at atmospheric pressure. This does highlight a weakness in the apparatus when used for finding unknown concentrations, however. Another weakness was the inability to measure large pressures precisely, leading to large errors in the total pressure measurements. This has an increased effect on low pressures, which is a further reason for the less reliable data. Empirical Relationship If we give the initial rate of reaction a constant,, and a function of pressure, , then (2) where is the concentration of methane, is determined experimentally from the sensor data and is the polynomial relationship from Figure 7, (3) with the appropriate total pressure, found experimentally from the pressure sensors on the vacuum system, substituted. Using this equation it is possible to use the sensors to determine the concentration of an unknown mixture. Conclusions The aim was to build an apparatus capable of determining the concentration of natural gas in air up to 5%. In order to do this it was necessary to first establish the relationship between sensor output and concentration. This was then repeated at different pressures to understand the effect of a different pressure on the relationship between sensor output and concentration. Finally it was possible to use these relationships to determine the concentration of an unknown mixture of gas and air. The constant of proportionality for 1 bar pressure was found to be 8.7 ±0.4 10-4 Vs-1 per % methane. For 0.75 bar it was found to be 6.5 ±1.6 10-4 Vs-1 per % methane, 1.25 bar was 16.2 ±0.8 10-4 Vs-1 per % methane, and 1.5 bar was 25.3 ±1.9 10-4 Vs-1 per % methane. No correlation was found between sensor output and concentration for 0.5 bar. Appendix Division of labour among group members: Giuseppe Guarino –main tasks were constructing bridge circuit on protoboard and constructing and soldering strip board circuit which was finally used in data collection David Griggs –main tasks were configuring CassyLab software and importing raw data into Microsoft Excel Valentin Haemmerli –main tasks were preparing mixtures of natural gas and compressed air in vacuum system and researching sensor operation guidelines Shared responsibilities –everyone shared the tasks of checking the circuit, building the vacuum system apparatus and preliminary data analysis. References [1]Operating Combustible Gas Sensors, ed: Sixth Sense (sensor manufacturer). [2]Material Safety Data Sheet: Methane, ed: Air Products, 1999. [3]J. G. Speight, CHAPTER 1: History and Uses, in Natural Gas: A Basic Handbook, ed: Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC / Gulf Publishing Company, 2007, pp. 1-33. [4]L. T. White, 4 Hazardous Gas Monitoring Sensors, in Hazardous Gas Monitoring (Fifth Edition), L. T. White, Ed., ed Norwich, NY: William Andrew Publishing, 2001, pp. 81-116. [5]J.-Y. Yoon, Wheatstone Bridge, in Introduction to Biosensors, ed: Springer New York, 2013, pp. 75-86. [6]Catalytic Elements CAT16, ed: Sixth Sense (sensor manufacturer). [7]L. P. Hammett, Physical organic chemistry reaction rates, equilibria, and mechanisms. New York; St. Louis; San Francisco [etc.]: McGraw-Hill, 1970.

The Neverending Story: A Classic Novel Essay -- Neverending Story

The Neverending Story:   A Classic Novel  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Neverending Story by Michael Ende perfectly draws the image of a successful novel because it’s overall effect on the reader is intimate and it recognizes itself as a different novel from others especially using a metaphor of stories giving birth to other stories.   Considered as a children’s novel, it should be given a chance to prove itself in the realm of other such intelligent novels. The novel expands this idea that stories are a result of other stories, it resembles the monomyth cycle for a simplified and similar understanding of its complex aspects and it finally reminds the reader of belonging and loving needs.   Thus, this novel by Michael Ende should be considered a major part of English literature because it clearly demonstrates an archetypal flare similarly to how a classic novel would furnish.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Moo-oo-oon Child!† (Ende 225) Screams Bastian.   His hopes of this endless story to rid its endless entity has nothing but created a nightmare in his and Atreyu’s world.   From the Gnomics project of the mammoth-like Sphinxes to the rescue of the Child-like Empress to the Water of Life, Atreyu and Bastian are two separate characters who are parted by two different kingdoms but unknowingly pursue on strange adventures in the same settings.   Not only do they live out tremendous and significant journeys but ironically have a comparable mission in which to save the life of the Child-like Empress, ruler and leader of Fantastica.   Bastians’ peaceful character and Atreyu’s determination sets The Neverending Story apart from the classic scene o... ...ed and the setting is a happy one.      The Neverending Story by Michael Ende perfectly draws the image of a successful novel because it’s overall effect on the reader is intimate and it recognizes itself as a different novel from others especially using a metaphor of stories giving birth to other stories.   Considered as a children’s novel, it should be given a chance to prove itself in the realm of other such intelligent novels. The novel expands this idea that stories are a result of other stories, it resembles the monomyth cycle for a simplified and similar understanding of its complex aspects and it finally reminds the reader of belonging and loving needs.   Thus, this novel by Michael Ende should be considered a major part of English literature because it clearly demonstrates an archetypal flare similarly to how a classic novel would furnish.

Attila The Hun: One Of Historys Great Leaders Essay -- essays researc

Barbarian is defined as, "a rude, coarse or brutal person"(Funk & Wagnalls 50). When one hears the name, Attila the Hun, one tends to think of him in such a negative way. Contrary to this popular belief, Attila the Hun was not a barbarian, but one of history's great leaders. The Hun kingdom was in modern-day Hungry. The Huns were a Turkish-speaking nomadic people. Attila and his brother Belda succeeded their uncle as leaders of the Huns in 434 A.D. Attila was in the junior role, until his brother's death 12 years later. It is often said that Attila murdered Belda to obtain the throne. When Attila became leader he found a rusty old sword; he said it was the sword of Mars. The empire which he inherited was dependent on tribute, without it, the Huns could not survive. Attila brought about a turn of events for his people. To ensure the survival of his people, in 447 AD, Attila launched an invasion of Eastern Europe. Attila created an empire that reached from the Black Sea to Germany. He was known in the west as ‘The Scourge of God'. . Compared to the leaders who had ruled before him, he was aggressive, ambitious, shrewd, intelligent, charismatic, and arrogant. Attila showed his great leadership by his army of magnificent proportions. It is thought to have been the largest army of the late fifth century. Attila also showed his leadership abilities by his motivational speaking. Attila was able to speak to his soldiers before battle, inspiring them to fight even harder. Finally, Attila revealed himself as a great leader in his ability to be a military strategist. The battle of Chalons, in which Attila fought, was one of the most decisive battles in history. One of the most important factors in Attila being a great leader was his army. Attila had an army of amazing proportions for the fifth century. Attila was able to make his army so large by taking the men from conquered cities and forcing them into his army. His army grew so large it invoked fear throughout the people of Europe. Ancient accounts from the time say that the number of men in Attila's army, " range between 300,000 and 700,000 for the army of the Huns. Whatever the size, it was clearly enormous for the fifth century AD" (I'm a Barbarian). Other accounts say that the size of Attila's army at the battle of Chalons was actually half a million men in... ...p; "Attila The Hun." COSMIC BASEBALL ASSOCIATION-1997 ATTILA THE HUN. 23 Oct. 1999. http://www.clark.net/pub/cosmic/attila7.html "Attila The Hun (aka The Scourge of God) (406-453)." Malaspina.com. 23 Oct. 1999. http://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/attila.htm "Attila the Hun." How Not To Die: The Dumbest Deaths in Recorded History. 23 Oct. 1999 http://www.alink.net/~tomki/Funnies/death2.txt "Barbarian." Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary. 1984. Ferrill, Arther. "Attila the Hun and The Battle of Chalons". Medieval Sourcebook. 1999 http://www.msstate.edu/Archives/History/scholarship/attila.art (23 Oct. 1999). Furnival, Mark. "The Huns." The Huns. 1998. http://www.btinternet.com/%7Emark.furnival/huns.htm (23 Oct. 1999). "Medieval Sourcebook: Pricus on Attila the Hun 448." Medieval Sourcebook. 1999 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/attila1.html "The Huns." I'm A Barbarian. 23 Oct. 1999. http://art1.candor.com/barbarian/attila.htm Attila The Hun: One Of Historys Great Leaders Essay -- essays researc Barbarian is defined as, "a rude, coarse or brutal person"(Funk & Wagnalls 50). When one hears the name, Attila the Hun, one tends to think of him in such a negative way. Contrary to this popular belief, Attila the Hun was not a barbarian, but one of history's great leaders. The Hun kingdom was in modern-day Hungry. The Huns were a Turkish-speaking nomadic people. Attila and his brother Belda succeeded their uncle as leaders of the Huns in 434 A.D. Attila was in the junior role, until his brother's death 12 years later. It is often said that Attila murdered Belda to obtain the throne. When Attila became leader he found a rusty old sword; he said it was the sword of Mars. The empire which he inherited was dependent on tribute, without it, the Huns could not survive. Attila brought about a turn of events for his people. To ensure the survival of his people, in 447 AD, Attila launched an invasion of Eastern Europe. Attila created an empire that reached from the Black Sea to Germany. He was known in the west as ‘The Scourge of God'. . Compared to the leaders who had ruled before him, he was aggressive, ambitious, shrewd, intelligent, charismatic, and arrogant. Attila showed his great leadership by his army of magnificent proportions. It is thought to have been the largest army of the late fifth century. Attila also showed his leadership abilities by his motivational speaking. Attila was able to speak to his soldiers before battle, inspiring them to fight even harder. Finally, Attila revealed himself as a great leader in his ability to be a military strategist. The battle of Chalons, in which Attila fought, was one of the most decisive battles in history. One of the most important factors in Attila being a great leader was his army. Attila had an army of amazing proportions for the fifth century. Attila was able to make his army so large by taking the men from conquered cities and forcing them into his army. His army grew so large it invoked fear throughout the people of Europe. Ancient accounts from the time say that the number of men in Attila's army, " range between 300,000 and 700,000 for the army of the Huns. Whatever the size, it was clearly enormous for the fifth century AD" (I'm a Barbarian). Other accounts say that the size of Attila's army at the battle of Chalons was actually half a million men in... ...p; "Attila The Hun." COSMIC BASEBALL ASSOCIATION-1997 ATTILA THE HUN. 23 Oct. 1999. http://www.clark.net/pub/cosmic/attila7.html "Attila The Hun (aka The Scourge of God) (406-453)." Malaspina.com. 23 Oct. 1999. http://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/attila.htm "Attila the Hun." How Not To Die: The Dumbest Deaths in Recorded History. 23 Oct. 1999 http://www.alink.net/~tomki/Funnies/death2.txt "Barbarian." Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary. 1984. Ferrill, Arther. "Attila the Hun and The Battle of Chalons". Medieval Sourcebook. 1999 http://www.msstate.edu/Archives/History/scholarship/attila.art (23 Oct. 1999). Furnival, Mark. "The Huns." The Huns. 1998. http://www.btinternet.com/%7Emark.furnival/huns.htm (23 Oct. 1999). "Medieval Sourcebook: Pricus on Attila the Hun 448." Medieval Sourcebook. 1999 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/attila1.html "The Huns." I'm A Barbarian. 23 Oct. 1999. http://art1.candor.com/barbarian/attila.htm

What is Online Discussion? Essay -- Technology, Communication

Many benefits of online discussion have been recorded in the literature. For example, participation in an asynchronous online discussion is time and place independent (Morse, 2003: Williams etal., 2001). Participants who involved online discussion can contribute whenever they have a useful input and wherever they are as long as they have access to a network based computer. Williams (2002, p. 266) explained the freedom from temporal and geographical constraints international students have â€Å"flexibility in the time, place and pace of communication† with others. In contrast, the traditional face-to-face discussion does not have this flexibility. Online discussion allows students taking time to think about the messages they receive from their peers as well as what they postings. After a long time practice they can send without the pressure as an immediate responder (Biesenbach & Lucas, 2003). Therefore, online discussion is also defined as "a powerful tool for the development of critical thinking, collaboration, and reflection" (Williams et al., 2001, p. 151). Online discussions are deeply engaged and benefits the diverse students compared with traditional classroom discussions (Crevener, 1999, cited in Pinch & Graves, 2000). Students tend to participate more as they are aware that their participation is being monitored and recorded (Tullar et al., 1998). Online discussion within small groups or learning sets also affords a growing sense of community and a feeling among students that they can get to know each other through this medium (Curtin, 2002, cited in Lewin & Jerram, 2003; Hammond, 2000). Another major benefit of online discussion relates to the fact that in the traditional classroom situation, a few students often domi... ...e way it is used by instructors and students and how it is contribute to the course work (Elgort et al., 2003; McKinlay, 1999, cited in Biesenbach-Lucas, 2003; Weasenforth et al., 2002). The length of the discussion, the number of postings required, the size of any one contribution, the role of the instructor, the students' technical preparedness and so on, need to be carefully considered. Otherwise, the discussion may consist of contributions that are not strongly interactive and the students may simply "play the game" of assessment whereby they make postings that earn marks but do not really contribute to the development of the conversation (Oliver & Shaw, 2003, p. 56). Therefore, some authors offer tips for designing and running a good discussion in a networked environment based on their experiences (Hawisher & Pemberton, 1997; Kimball, 1995; Sullivan, 2002).

Employees are a business’s most important assets Essay

Employees are a business’s most important assets; this is why they created the Human Resource department. Its purpose is to manage, train and look after the workers of the business. It is also their responsibility to implement health and safety legislation at work and look after the employees. There are many roles that this department manages; these ultimately help the business to achieve its objectives. These include: * Manpower planning. * Recruitment and selection. * Induction and training. * Promotion and transfers. * Appraisal and termination of employment. * Rewards and conditions of employment. * Working conditions. * Career development and welfare. * Wage bargaining and disputes. An effective and efficient business manages their employees or human resources well. The better this is done, the more the workers will be happier, better motivated, more productive and more responsive. Badly managed workers are more likely to skip work, be less enthusiastic and less willing to show initiative. The HR department at Chester Zoo fulfils the responsibilities of looking after its staff according to court laws and employees’ rights. It has to deal with employee issues such as equal employment and unjust dismissal, plus in rare occasions, drug testing and â€Å"Aids in the work place†. There are several things involved in human resource, these are: * Planning how to motivate and satisfy workers. * Planning how to develop a certain organisational culture or approach in employees. * Planning how to support or develop employees, i.e. training. * Analysing current employment needs. * Forecasting the likely future demand for employees by the business. * Forecasting the likely future supply of workers that will be available to hire. * Predicting the extent to which workers leave the business. The HR department controls many important parts of the company and without it the business would collapse. There are several areas of importance that the department looks after. * Recruitment, retention and dismissal of staff. There are several stages, which the department goes through to recruit the correct person for the job. Once you’ve got the staff you need, it is very important to keep them happy and inspired about the job, this is where the task of retention comes in. Dismissal of staff can become very expensive if not done properly. Unfair dismissal could mean that ex-employees could sue the company for thousands of pounds. In the Zoo this is done on the advice of the human resources department. If the department has decided to recruit staff they would advertise and read the applications and personal statements. However the department that is looking for staff would undertake the interview. The Zoo’s HR department would do the necessary paper work and help the new employee settle into their job. Retention in the Zoo works around motivating the staff. The HR department has to find ways of motivating staff, other than money. * Training, development and promotion of staff. Through training and development the staff become more experienced and the more experienced they become, the better they’ll be able to do their jobs. Promoting staff not only saves time in having to recruit more experienced staff, but also keeps the employee happy. A disadvantage to promoting staff is that you need to recruit more, less experienced staff that then requires training. At the zoo the HR department would look at the budget and if there was enough money and the rewards out weighed the disadvantages of training then they would go ahead with it. They would also make sure that there were enough staff to cover emergencies. The Zoo’s aims to develop its staff: * Encourage them to attend and be involved in planning meetings. * Give opportunities to attend relevant training courses, conferences and seminars. * Give opportunities to visit other Zoos. * Encourage them to share experiences with other Zoo staff. The Zoo prefers to promote its existing staff, as it not only encourages everyone to work harder, but is also cheaper. * Monitoring and maintenance of good working conditions. Poor working conditions lead to employees becoming unhappy and dissatisfied with their job. Working conditions need to be high to help retain workers. The Zoo ensures that the working environment for its employees remains good by offering coaching, advice and sorting out disputes. * Health and safety. The health and safety standards must be high to keep the workers happy, but also to keep them safe from danger. If a worker had an accident at work then they could sue for thousands if it is proved to be the Zoo’s fault. At the Zoo the HR manager oversees both monitoring & maintenance of good working conditions and health & safety. * Liaison with employee organisations and trade unions. The business needs to get on well with the trade unions and employee organisations, so the groups don’t start making big demands. If the groups are happy with the business they usually don’t start asking for massive pay increases or demands which could cost a lot to the business. The Zoo doesn’t have a union; instead it has a staff association that does the same role. The human resource department has a manager; there are four different types. * Handmaidens. They help other line managers to do their work, but not in a very co-ordinated or systematic way. * Regulators. Set out and put into practice employment rules. They only set out short-term rules about how people should conduct their business at work; they do not develop an overall pattern covering long-term human relations in the workplace. * Advisers. Generally don’t get involved in managing human relations at work, leaving the line managers to do it. However if the line managers need help, the human resource manager is there to advise. * Change-makers. They want to make a deal with issues relating to motivating people. They introduce a range of related initiatives in order that the development of workers is given high priority. Chester zoo has an adviser style manager; they initiate the process of recruitment and decide whether they can afford it. They also decide if they need a full time or part time worker. If they do decide to recruit then the job of interviewing would be handed over to the head of that department, since they would know what type of person would be best for the job. The HR department has the task to make sure that the business sticks to legislation acts, because if they don’t they put the business at great risk of being sued or fined. * Equal pay act 1970. Covers the equal value for the same work performed by men and women. * Rehabilitation of offenders act 1974. Aims to help people who have served prison sentences to have a reasonable chance of securing employment following a period of rehabilitation. * Sex discrimination act 1975. Covers the basic premise that it is unlawful in employment to discriminate on the basis of sex or martial status. * Race relations act 1976. Makes it unlawful to discriminate in employment on the grounds of race, colour, nationality or ethnic origin. * Disability discrimination act 1995. Grants statutory rights to people with disabilities and gives limited protection to them. Chester zoo covers all these issues, except with some cases the disability discrimination act. They can justify that they can’t put a disabled person into the lion cage, because it would be dangerous for both the disabled person and the lion. Cages are designed to house animals in the best possible way, and incorporating disability equipment could be dangerous for the animals. Effective HR management can improve competitiveness of the Zoo by analysing the current and future needs of its workers and what other businesses are doing to recruit skilful workers. HR can improve efficiency and save money with effective operating model, e.g. by preventing accidents at work HR could promote safety at work, with the aim of cutting both on and off the job accidents. The Zoo can’t rely on a cheap labour force to keep them competitive, instead they must invest in human resources to train and develop their staff. With new technologies and IT playing a bigger role in business, they must keep up with the necessary skills to stay ahead and innovate new attractions for the Zoo. The Zoo needs to anticipate the visitors’ needs for the present time and in the future. With the help of the HR department they can analysis data and work out what the public needs are. This information can then be used to decide on new and improved attractions. Competition by other firms for workers may affect the supply of labour available to a business. If competitors offer higher wages to workers with specialist skills then a business may have to raise its wage level to recruit the staff it needs. The Zoo’s HR department has to decided where to draw the line between skilful and cheap workers. Task 2 Major conflicts can occur between the HR department functions. Below are examples of such conflicts and what the Zoo would do to sort out the situation. * Finance and the number of employees. The more employees you have the more work can get done and also the less work each employee needs to do. This makes the workers less stressed, but at the cost of employing more people. It’s a choice between more profit for the business or happier workers. At Chester Zoo if two departments wanted seasonal staff, it would be up to the human resource department to work out how many they can afford in each department. However, because the zoo is a charity, it only has a limited budget and so money is always an important factor. * Need for training and constraints of time. The more experienced and knowledgeable the workers the better and quicker they can do their job. Training workers costs money and also means that whilst they are being trained they can’t do their job. Since the job needs to carry on, with or without the worker, other employees will have to cover or temporary workers hired. Human resources have to keep within the budget so they can only allow so much training. Improving workers skills is essential to keeping them motivated, especially since their pay isn’t very high. The department has to balance these two points successfully. The Zoo is a charity and therefore has a small budget to deal with. This unfortunately could lead to the situation where little training goes on. However, the zoo has a small wage bill and therefore one of the ways in which to retain staff is to train them. It works out cheaper to train and retain staff, than recruiting new staff. * Career progression. If for example there was a promotional job and two people applied it would be up to the human resource department to tell the person who didn’t get the place feedback on why they didn’t. At the Zoo it is very important to retain staff and therefore they would tell the unsuccessful candidate what to improve on and what courses/training needs to be done. It is quite likely that the Zoo will also pay for this training; therefore next time the candidate would be in a better position. If the Zoo didn’t do this, it would have a high labour turnover and lose trained workers. * Getting the job done quickly versus health & safety. The HR department needs to make sure that the health and safety laws and legislation are being meet by all departments. A Zoo is a very dangerous environment and with wild animals means that situations will occur which wouldn’t happen in an office. If a worker had an accident at work and it was found out the HR department had failed to do its job then the worker could sue. But following health & safety regulations can slow the job down. In the induction part of a new job, the HR department at the Zoo puts great emphasis on the health & safety instructions, making sure that everyone knows them as it could mean a matter of life or death. * Personal conflict. Employees who experience conflict with each other would be sent to the HR department to smooth problems out. For example if a managing director disliked a subordinate and this affected his appraisal, then a conflict between the two could occur making the subordinate unhappy. The human resource department would then have to chat to the manager about not bringing personal feelings into work and reassure the subordinate. Conflicts in the business place could end in good workers leaving, law suits against the business and/or that company being know as a tough place to work, discouraging new people to join. The Zoo’s grievance procedure is: * Bring the problem to the attention of the line manager. * Or if the employee feels unable to do this, or feels they have not got a satisfactory result. * Bring the problem to the attention of the personnel manager. * Or if the employee feels unable to do this, or feels they have not got a satisfactory result. * Talk to a member of the staff association who will raise the issue on their behalf and accompany them to any meetings with management. The Zoo can’t afford lawsuits or bad publicity; it is quite concerned about person conflict issues and hope to resolve then as soon as possible. Neither do they want to lose workers and gain a reputation as being a bad employer. If this happens the Zoo would have to increase wages to attracted workers back, which would be bad for their tight budget. * Time keeping, commitment, sickness and holidays. If a worker was being consistently late then the human resources department would need to talk to the worker and find out what is happening and whether the issue could be resolved by them starting work 30 minutes later and adding the time to the end. Workers by law have at least some holiday time off and it is up to the human resources department to organise this. They would approve or decline holiday requests depending on whether the business can do without them for that period of time. If a worker were consistently being sick and having too many sick days then again it would be the HR department responsibility to talk to the worker and find out why and what the problem is. For example it could be a stress-related condition. The Zoo is very concerned about issues like this, as they would have to recruit more staff to deal with the work. The Zoo encourages employees to take holidays when the Zoo is closed and maybe offer more time off if they did. Conflicts might also arise between different HR management activities within the Zoo. Some of these possible conflicts include: * Training v recruitment. Training motivates staff, and ultimately training someone is meant to get them a better job. However it might be cheaper to recruit a new member of staff, rather than training an existing one. * Catering v keepers. The Zoo’s mission statement is saving animals and plants from extinction, this requires keepers to look after the animals. Caterers though aren’t needed for the animals; instead they are needed to feed the visitors. A caterer might be employed instead of a keeper just to increase profits by selling more food. * Gardening v keepers. Again gardeners aren’t a crucial to looking after animals, but they are needed to keep the Zoo looking smart and tidy. If the gardens were poor, visitors might not return, as they didn’t like environment. * Pay v holiday. This only applies to keepers. Workers who don’t take as much paid holiday might expect to get increased salaries. The Zoo wants keepers to take as little holiday as possible, as holidays would require more temporary workers. However the Zoo has limited money and therefore can’t pay as well. Task 3 Chester Zoo uses external data to work out future employment trends, how many males and females are unemployed and whether they are looking for full time or part time work. For example if the trend showed in the future there would be a growing female part time workforce, the Zoo might offer part time jobs catering towards female needs. External data can also predict whether there will be skill shortages, if so the Zoo might increase staff training or increase salaries for workers with more skills. Availability of labour locally and internationally and competition for employees can also be attained from the data. Once Chester Zoo knows what the current and future situation is they can plan how to retain and/or recruit staff in the future.