Daimler Ag and Chrysler

1. In what ways did the cultures of the two companies differ? What do you think the terms ‘innovation' and ‘entrepreneurship' meant to Chrysler employees? What about to Daimler employees? In 1998 when German industrial giant Daimler-Benz AG merged with American automobile manufacturer, Chrysler Corporation, Daimler Chrysler came into existence. This merger didn't result for the big picture that was expected after this merge. It was thought that this merger would create a global economy not only between two of the world’s greatest economy but also capturing the market in various part of the world.Whereas, underneath this view there were many issues, which were involved in this merger of totally two different cultures. Daimler-Benz was an aggressive firm, which believed in hustling every possible way to make its company the number throughout the world. But, Chrysler was on the other hand an easy going and slow progress firm which believed in the production and flexib ility of operation. At DaimlerChrysler, differences in compensation systems and decision-making processes caused friction between senior management, while lower level employees fought over issues such as dress code, working hours and smoking on the job.Language also became an issue. While most managers on the Daimler side could speak some English, not all were able to do so with the fluency needed for effective working relationships. Also, only a few Chrysler managers had any knowledge of the German language. For Chrysler ‘innovation' means to Look forward for new changes, converting ideas into profit, Passion of designing, developing and building greatest cars and For Daimler ‘innovation' means more analytical, more long-term looking, more technology-minded. 2. Compare and contrast the two companies’ organizational structures.What challenges do you think these different structures created? Structure of Daimler| Structure of Chrysler| 1) The company had traditiona l intrusive bureaucratic structure | 1) It established a matrix management structure for the senior managers. | 2) There were issues between the middle and lower management levels. | 2) Many of the traditional vice presidents were replaced with people who not only had functional expertise but who were able to work together. | 3) Significant level of streamlining and restructuring was needed. 3) Each vice president under the new structure had to create Mutual dependencies among them. | Chrysler management had bulldozened its traditional functional organization structure. It created platform for the whole organization, assigning all functional to one of five teams,large,car,small car,minivan,truck or jeep. In significant changes at Daimler due to Lack of proper organization structure many employees left organization and many of the people working for century old company were unable to keep pace or keep track of changes going on around them. 3.What issues do you think the different lea dership styles of the three DaimlerChrysler leaders (Schrempp, Eaton, Stallkamp) created? SCHREMPP He believed in the creative side, to find an optimal solution, according to him, it's the arguments which count. However, for him â€Å"leadership means at some stage you have to summarize the arguments and make a decision. Decision is not a matter of committee, you have to take responsibility. Debate is not forever. Speed is a competitive factor. It's better to have 80% than to wait for 100%†. At some places I found him a strict leader which causes the lack of unity among employees.EATON Eaton historically is more willing to listen to the opinions of others and delegate authority, which should help create a culture of teamwork and consensus building at Chrysler. Empowering lower level managers to make more decisions removes the fear of being overridden by the CEO, and develops confidence. Emphasizing teamwork and empowering more people within the organization will help to shift the company's focus to designing and building the best automobiles in the world. STALLKAMP The number two American executive behind Eaton has played a key role in melding the German and U. S. perations since the combination of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler Corp. Stallkamp, who was president of the former Chrysler Corp. , was credited with pioneering a new system that involved suppliers earlier in the vehicle development process. The result was lower costs and improved relations. 4. Assess Stallkamp's power base as head of integration and president of Chrysler. What strategy did Stallkamp employ to achieve integration between Daimler and Chrysler? As a president Stallkamp did so well as: 1. He was self effacing and having the ability to generate consensus. 2. He put great efforts on quality improvement. . For him, Chrysler was a business and its reputation was very important and he believes in bringing the same ethnics into business as he has in his personal life. 4. He tried to obtain something new to increase sales. 5. He was always ready to accept challenges. 6. He focused on cost saving and improve marketing. Quality problems are rarely with one part of the corporation. The problem is usually the process. He gets design, engineering, procurement, sales and manufacturing working together to solve the problem. He identifies more with real-life customers; accelerate the response time whenever a problem occurs.He also meet with all the executive vice presidents, to make sure they are all on the same team and are working on common goals. 5. What would you have done differently? Why? What should Stallkamp do next? According to me, Stallkamp has done up to his maximum ability, but still he should also do following: 1. Put some more efforts to reduce the culture mismatch. 2. Connection between lower ; upper management should be improved, by enhancing organization structure. 3. Implementation of a system where individual can put his views. 4. Policy execution process i mprovement. 5. Put some efforts to improve the skills of existing employee.

Why Secondary Kids Act in a Laddish Behaviour

Context and concepts Paul Willis conducted a study called â€Å"Learning to labour† in 1977 in which he studied 12 working class students in their last 18 months at a school in the West-Midlands, the methods he used were observation and participant observation. The boys he studied were known as the â€Å"lads†. These boys knew what they needed to do in order to achieve and get qualifications but instead they chose to reject school and developed laddish behaviour, because they believed that education was unmasculine and uncool and that they would get a job even if they didn’t have any qualifications. They thought that manual labour was more worthy than work at a desk or an office. This is where my first concept â€Å"laddism† stems from. This is a male script of toughness which is characterised by negative feelings towards school. Willis found that there were two types of pupils in the class, the â€Å"earoles† who commit themselves to their education and the lads who took little notice of school rules, teachers and work, instead they thought school was all about having a â€Å"laff†. These are all coping strategies the boys had developed in order to cope and minimize the boredom of school and the future routine based jobs they would ultimately end up in. The boys thought that manual labour was more worthy than work at a desk or office. Mitsos and Brown also looked at why boys underachieve in education and thought it was mainly due to what teachers expected of them, which leads me to my second concept â€Å"teacher expectations†. They found that teachers tend to be less strict with boys, expecting low standards of work from them, leading them to underachieve as they failed to push them to achieve their full potential. This also means that the boys started to become overconfident and also started to overestimate their abilities to do something and so making themselves believe that they don’t need to work as hard in order to gain qualifications. Boys were also more likely to be sent out of the classroom or get expelled (80% are boys) from school than girls, which means they lose valuable school time. Another reason for their underachieve could be due to the decline in manual labour, which has resulted in them losing their motivation as they see little point ion education as it wont lead them to the type of job they seek. The lack of opportunities for these young men has given them a low self-esteem. It is these problems which have lead to an â€Å"identity crisis for menâ€Å". As there is a rise in the more â€Å"female† jobs and a decline in the more traditional â€Å"male† jobs, the future of some males look bleak as they lack a clear purpose. On the other hand according to Hargreaves et al the underachievement of boys in education may be due to the way the pupils are perceived by the teachers. Hargreaves at al analysed the processes that led to pupils being classified, and they put forward three stages which are: ? Speculation- this is where the teachers make presumptions about the type of pupils they are dealing with, this leads to the formation of a hypothesis. ? Elaboration- It is here that the established hypothesis is either gradually confirmed or rejected. ? Stabilisation- when this stage is reached the teacher will feel like that they are familiar with the type of pupil they are dealing with. It is this third stage of stabilisation, where the behaviour of the pupil is compared against the type of pupil they are thought to be. If some pupils are regarded as being badly behaved, then it will be hard for their good behaviour to be seen, which is the â€Å"labelling theory†. Nevertheless it is the predictions made by the teacher that has lead to the â€Å"self-fulfilling prophecy†, where the pupils start to live up to the predictions that the teacher have made about them, which is my fourth concept. So if a teacher labels pupils as being bright and expects a higher standard of work from them then these pupils will start to believe they are indeed bright and as a result work hard and obtain good examination results. Thus the actions of pupils are partly a refection of what teacher expect from them. Sociologists Rosenthal and Jacobson decided to carry out an experiment which lasted over a year, which was designed to test the â€Å"labelling† and â€Å"self-fulfilling prophecy† theories and how they affected educational achievement . They conducted their study in an elementary school were they selected 20% of the students, whom they expected to show rapid academic growth. In order to prove this they tested the IQ of the pupils before and one year after the experiment started and the selected pupils had gained IQ. Rosenthal and Jacobson explained that this was due to the teacher conveying the message that the selected sample had more potential than the rest. This led to the sample believing that they were capable of achieving highly and live up to the label they were given and subsequently led to the self-fulfilling prophecy. Main research methods and reasons The main method of research that would be most suited to my topic is non-participant observation in a classroom. Paul Willis also used non-participant observation when he was conducting his research in order to see boys behave in a â€Å"laddish† way. I will take up an iinterpretivist approach like Willis, where I will collect my qualitative data rather than quantitive data. This type of research method could help me explore the concepts of â€Å"teacher’s expectations†, as teachers can show different attitudes to the two opposite sexes which could lead to underachievement and form â€Å"laddish† behaviour. While observing I will be looking out for signs of â€Å"laddish† behaviour and levels of standards that are set by the teacher and if this affects the amount of work that is produced by the pupils. For example teachers tend to be less strict with boys and they tolerate low standards of work from them, which leads to them overestimating their abilities and they become overconfident and not work hard enough in order to achieve highly, which links to my second concept of â€Å"teacher’s expectations† Before I operationalise my research method I will need to design an observational framework that meets the needs of my research and that corresponds to my contextual studies. It will also help me to be consistent in what I observe. The things that I will need to look out for are: they way that the pupils are seated, the amount of times that the lesson has been stopped due to disturbance and if this was mostly from boys, and how the badly behaved pupils react to the good kids, do they bully them? Also I will be looking at the way that the boys contribute to the lessons, are they keen to learn? This will show that the boys are behaving in a â€Å"laddish† way, which operationalises my first concept. However before I officially observe the classes I will conduct a pilot study in which I will test the efficiency of my observational framework. In this research I will be observing four English classes all in year 11. all four classes will be observed in the second period of the morning through the week, as pupils tend to be more focused in the morning on a Monday compare to a morning on a Friday. Before I can observe a class I will need to gain permission from the subject teacher. Then I will enter the classroom before the pupils get there and sit somewhere unobtrusive where hopefully students will not pay too much attention to me, which would also improve my data. Whilst observing the class I might also come across situations where issues of confidentiality are raised. Potential problems Potential problems that could be met while conducting my research are that the behaviour of some pupils and teachers might change as the sense the presence of a stranger in the classroom. This could mean that I will not be obtaining accurate or valid data to show why boys are underachieving in education. The data obtained will be qualitative which means that I will not be able generalise the findings to the wider society, which means that my study will lack ecological validity. Another problem could be getting the permission to observe these classes, the teacher might not be comfortable with the fact that I will be observing their class while they are teaching and so refuse me access, leaving me with no data. Also there might be timetabling issues, which means that I may not be able to observe the class I intended to, because my timetable might not let me, as I can also have lessons at that particular period of the day. While observing the class I will record my findings on an observational framework and as I am doing this I might miss some crucial events that have taken place while I was recording my data. Due to this I might also end up being biased and focus only on certain events or even add my own interpretations to actions, which means that I will be selective as I am trying to prove a point. During the time I am in the classroom observing I may come across an event that has taken place in my presence which is serious and so automatically I am put in a position where I have to take a certain action which can be: do I report what has happened, or do I keep it to myself as the teacher has allowed into their classroom, do they expect me to be trustworthy? So issues of confidentiality may arise.

Importance of Knowledge of Culture to Business Managers Essay

Importance of Knowledge of Culture to Business Managers - Essay Example The knowledge of the differences in the cultural dynamics is important to the business managers as it helps in the interaction process among the business organizations. For one to understand the impact that cultural differences have on the business organizations, it is important to understand what the concept of culture entails. Culture can be said to consist of the patterned thinking processes and ways in which different human groups acquire and transmit symbols. It also involves the ways in which the different groups react, and their values and ideas. Culture is also said to be a subjective perception of the environment in which one is living. This environment includes the social stimuli, roles, beliefs, and the value system that is shared by the members of the group. Language and religion are said to play a great role in culture. It is important to note therefore that any given organization exists within a given culture and are therefore influenced by the cultures in which they ex ist (Simms 18). The elimination of trade barriers and the increasing ease of penetration of national boundaries have led to the increase in the need to transfer knowledge and skills between the subsidiaries of the various multinational organizations. This means that the work places in these organizations have become multinational and in the process created a new challenge for the business managers in the management of the workplace as they have to ensure that the new employees who are from different nationality and cultural background have been able to transfer the skills and knowledge that they possess. The knowledge of the differences in culture by the business managers is important as it will help in the facilitation of knowledge transfer. Knowledge transfer involves the attempt by a given entity to copy and apply a specific knowledge or practice from another entity. Knowledge transfer involves ensuring that the efforts that are put in place are effective and that the new knowled ge that was being learnt or acquired from a different organization has been learnt to the extent that it becomes embodies to the practices of the organization. In the transfer of knowledge, the business managers are often faced with the challenge of cultural hindrances in the transfer process. There are some instances in which because of their cultural backgrounds, those involved in are unable to transfer the knowledge in such a way that it contributes to the desired outcome. This is because the knowledge to be passed is embedded in the individuals and therefore can only be transferred by interacting with the individual. The knowledge also has a social dimension to it in that it has been acquired through a process of socialization and as such can only be transferred through socialization. People of different cultures socialize in different ways and it is therefore important for a business manager to be aware how the particular culture interacts. This will help him in facilitating th e interactions necessary for the transfer of knowledge to take place (Pauleen 223). It is also important for the business managers to have knowledge on the difference between the individualistic and the collective cultures. This will help them in the process of ensuring knowledge transfer. It is important for a b

Intuitive Eating Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intuitive Eating - Assignment Example After further reading, however, I came to the conclusion that the book was making a very serious contribution to the field of nutrition, and that it was based on some good scientific evidence. The first chapter made it clear to me that the starting point of the book was one of the biggest problems faced by readers who have difficulty achieving and maintaining a healthy weight: a process that I would describe as diet fatigue. From my own experience I know that it is very difficult to stick to any diet and that there is a tendency for dieters to have a cycle of enthusiasm, initial weight loss, failure to maintain momentum, and finally a regaining of the pounds that have been lost and a search for a new diet. It was a new idea for me to consider this issue from the angle that dieting is the problem and not the solution. In fact the term that the authors use for this is â€Å"diet backlash† (Tribole and Resch, 1995, p. 2). The authors make the point that serial dieting is not only unsuccessful, it is actually harmful because it teaches the mind and the body to acquire all kinds of bad habits that counteract any good effects of the changes made in calorie intake. So far I was convinced by the argument, but I had a nagging worry that the authors would need to come up with something special to replace the tried and tested means of dieting for those who want to achieve a healthy body weight. Chapter two was an interesting exploration of different personality types which are reflected in eating habits. The three main categories of â€Å"Careful Eater, Professional Dieter and Unconscious Eater.† In my opinion this is an over-simplification because I have encountered many different personality types, both in my professional life and in my private circle of friends. The value of the descriptors is, however, that it encourages the reader to focus on the underlying motivations for people’s behavior in relation to food. I have one friend, for example,

The theoretical rationale for the NPV approach to investment appraisal Essay

The theoretical rationale for the NPV approach to investment appraisal - Essay Example 383). It is originally attributed to Irving Fisher in his 1930 book, The Theory of Interest. The most common application of the Fisher model of NPV is in deriving the value of the net contribution of a potential investment to shareholder value, or for budgeting purposes, when deciding among alternative projects when available capital is limited and may not be sufficient to finance all the projects. In fact, the NPV is a valuation method that may be used to decide situations for which a stream of future returns and future payments may be estimated. The power and allure of the NPV is that it serves so well the role of financial markets that allows individuals and corporations to transfer money between dates (MacMinn, 2005:1). By creating a rationale valuation tool linking money in two different points in time, it becomes possible for the individual to â€Å"save by transferring dollars from the present to the future,† while the corporation may â€Å"invest and finance the investment by transferring dollars from the future to the present† (p.l-2). However, for the model to work requires knowledge of the cost of capital from which the discount rate is derived. The NPV is derived by discounting all future cash inflows and outflows to the present. By â€Å"discounting† is meant calculating the equivalent value in the present of all future cashflows, assuming these cashflows appreciated over time by an annual compound rate such as the cost of money. This â€Å"discount rate† is that rate of return that an investment (of similar risk) in the financial markets may be expected to earn. Otherwise stated, if an amount equivalent to the net present value were invested today in a financial instrument of similar risk as the alternative or project being considered, the rate of return of which is equal to the expected return on the investment, then such amount would represent the same benefit that may be derived from th entire stream of future cash flows yielded by the instrument invested in. When the discount rate has been determined, the present value of a single sum N years in the future may be found by multiplying this single sum by t he discount factor pertaining to the discount rate applied over N number of years. In mathematical terms: Where: PV = present value of the future single sum R = the future single sum N = the number of compounding periods from the present to the time the single sum is realized or expected i = the discount rate The discount factor is equivalent to the factor multiplied by the single sum to obtain the present value. It is denoted by the expression Discount factor (single sum, discount rate i, N periods) = Where there are more than one cash flow, the several cash flows together make up a cash flow stream. In this instance, the sum of the present values of the individual cash flows is equal to the present value of the entire cash flow stream. When the cash flow is an inflow (or revenue), then the cash flow is positive and its present value is also positive. When the cash flow is an outflow (or cost), then the cash flow is negative, and its present value is also negative. Therefore the su m of present values for the inflows and outflows nets out the costs from the revenues, resulting in the net present value. Illustrating the theoretical rationale of the NPV To illustrate the rationale of the NPV approach, assume that management has to choose from three possible investments A, B and C, each with a life of five years and none of which are mutually exclusive, with the following expected future cash inflows and outflows: The cash flows at year 0 (the present) represent the initial investments which are costs and therefore are denoted by the

Analysis of The Warning vs. The Untouchable Movie Review - 1

Analysis of The Warning vs. The Untouchable - Movie Review Example He stars Mrs. Brooksley Born, a lawyer who had been friends with Hillary Clinton before the Clinton Administration. Due to this friendship, Hillary had hoped to see her friend appointed as Attorney General once Clinton was elected president. Unfortunately, her attempts failed and she could only secure Born head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC. It is this position that Mrs. Born becomes important in warning people about the impending collapsing of the US economy. On the other hand, the film documentary The Untouchables is produced by Martin Smith is an investigative film that provides viewers with the insight of the prevailing lack of justice regarding Wall Street executives. Similar to the film the warning, Martin exposes the inefficiency of the judicial system to prosecute Wall Street executives who permitted in illegal trading of mortgage-backed. This, together with the crisis in the derivative market catalyzed the deterioration of the economic situation in the US in 2008. In the documentary, Martin explains the unregulated issuance of expensive home loans to a growing number of borrowers. In the film, he constantly criticizes the Wall Street official for selling bad mortgages to borrowers. He says that it is due to this fact that the economic collapse in 2008. He adds that this phenomenon led to other adversaries on US citizens. Some of these include the millions of people who lost their houses as well as the massive laying down of labor ers in the country at the time. In another part of the interview, Steve describes how the subject caused a sink in demand for goods and services. This, as he explains, had an immense impact on most industries of the country. The adverse effects associated with this would be a decline in national production which led to the inevitable laying down of workers.

On-Boarding Invervention in Bank of America Case Study

On-Boarding Invervention in Bank of America - Case Study Example Its 2008 Merrill Lynch acquisition made it the largest corporation in wealth management in addition to making it a crucial player in investment banking. As of 2009, it held at least 12.2% of all US bank deposits. Its main competitors are wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Citigroup. As well as operating in all 50 states, it its retail banking footprint covers at least 80% of the United State’s population and serves up to 57 million consumers. The premise of this paper is to study the Bank of America’s talent management program that has a vital part to play in the bank’s phenomenal success, identify its strengths, how it can be improved, and finally to suggest other effective approaches to meet future challenges. In today’s corporate market, the bank of America probably has the best approach to on-boarding, its main form of executive talent management (Goldsmith& Carter, 2009). This has led to a 12% turnover in hiring of executives, having fired 24 out of 19 6. Some higher corporations have a 405-turnover rate for hiring. The program is designed to aid just hired executives in learning facility, build, and leverage relationship networks for company initiative implementation and career success. On taking the job, the executive, is faced with three dilemmas: mastering a demanding ad complex role, high expectations, and a high derailment probability. On-boarding interventions are underpinned by fundamental assumptions (Goldsmith& Carter, 2009). The baseline assumption contends that it occurs over time that is, specifically in the executive’s initial 12-18 months. Interventions occur at given intervals in the 12-18 month period, not the first couple of months on the job. The on-boarding also should be supported via multiple resources, that is, stakeholder resources. Finally, these interventions are dependent on the stakeholder- executive interaction. On-boarding consists of four major phases. The first is the selection phase, which c onsists of the selection process. At the Bank of America, cultural fit and leadership ability are added dimensions to the usual criterion of experience and expertise. The HR function thus gives added attention to its executive search firm’s partnerships to avoid derailment of executives lacking cultural sensitivity, interpersonal skills, and leadership ability. The bank’s leadership development partner assesses the candidate’s leadership approach, team value, and cultural fit. The LD partner then formulates questions for the interviewers that provide insight into the misfit or fit potential of the candidate into the bank’s culture, and their leadership credibility. On hiring, the candidate is given the interview questions and answers, though the feedback source is kept anonymous. The LD partner acquires a calibrated and clear job specification supported and spelled out by the stakeholders about what is required for the job (Goldsmith& Carter, 2009). The n ext phase is the entry phase. The first few weeks are critical for the new executive. He or she must complete four outcomes: develop specific business acumen for the role, learn the culture of the organization, master leadership demands of the role, and build relationships critical to the organization. In order for these demands to be met, three intervention categories are utilized. These are support and coaching, operational forums, and processes and tools. There are three primary givers of support and coaching; the LD collaborate, HR generalist, and hiring executive.

Mitigating Toxic Leadership Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mitigating Toxic Leadership - Case Study Example Risk avoidance and risk reduction are the possible strategies that should be considered in helping the SVP, his employees, and the organization. Risk avoidance, according to Baker (2009) involves application of an alternative approach that eliminates a problem or its effects. Conflicting attitude from employees and clients identifies situational leadership approach that is yielding returns, though with employee turnover as a consequence. Introducing a management level between the SVP and his staff, while retaining the SVP’s direct contact with clients, is likely to eliminate the employees’ negative attitude, risk of high turnover, and its effects. Cost of employing the supervisor will be less than the long-term cost of recruiting and training employees and the negative image that the employees’ experience can have on the organization. Risk reduction, according to Boehm, Lane, Koolmanojwong, and Tuner (2014), involves lowering probability of risk occurrence and un derstanding the SVP’s expectations from his employees and training employees to meet the expectation is an example. This is better than recruitment and training of new employees but is relatively costly. The SVP’s strengths identify need for his retention in the organization. Risk avoidance and risk reduction are the possible mitigation strategies but relative cost effectiveness of risk avoidance, through changing structure, is the best option for managing the situation. Boehm, B., Lane, J., Koolmanojwong, S., and Tuner, R. (2014). The incremental commitment spiral model: Principles and practices for successful systems and software. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley

Background of Wal-Mart and Current Challenges-300 Research Paper

Background of Wal-Mart and Current Challenges-300 - Research Paper Example The organization needs to operate as an equal opportunity player in rendering an equitable climate that would contribute in the gaining of employment, fiscal and economic opportunities by both the gender groups working in the organization. Similarly other types of organizational changes also relate to bringing about new policy directions that would help in the reduction of harassment activities in the workplace. The organizational management needs to set strict policy guidelines and regulations aiming at curbing the event of sexual harassment or emergence of pay and employment discriminations (Bell, McLaughlin and Sequeira, 2002, p.71). Moreover further organizational changes can be introduced pertaining to the reduction of hierarchal job layers in the concern such that the organizational structure can be transformed from the vertical to the horizontal state. This strategy rendered would contribute in the development of empowered teams in the concern and also in the enhancement of organizational communication. Rendering organizational flexibility in the concern through the enhancement of empowered teams would contribute in the development of organizational and performance skills of the people in the concern. This model of organ

Reducing Prejudice and Stereotypes Essay Example for Free

Reducing Prejudice and Stereotypes Essay Prejudice is an opinion or judgement without due examination toward one side of a question from other considerations than those belonging to. Or we can say that prejudice is a bias on the part of judge, juror or witness which interferes with fairness of judgement. Prejudice involves negative feelings when they are in the presence of or even think about members of the group. Prejudice often involves stereotypes, suggesting that all members of a group behave in certain ways and have certain characteristics. Therefore, prejudice has both cognitive and affective components. Affective component is the positive or negative attitude/ feeling. Beside the cognitive component contains stereotypes. Prejudice will be dealt as a single set of dynamics that function to dehumanize people who are identifiably different in some way from the people whose perceptions are limited by the dysfunction we called prejudice. This approach is taken for two reasons. First, it is easily defensible through the uderstanding of the dynamics of prejudices and second the continued separation and classification of prejudices according to the superficial categories of those who are prejudiced is a disservice to those who are the targets of discrimination and a distortion of reality. Much of prejudice stems from our pre-judging other people’s habits, customs, ways of speaking and value. We often do this with no basic for the judgement other that the fact that they (the customs, values, ways of speaking, etc) are different form our own. When we are confines to a single culture, it’s incredibly difficult to see that one’s way is not the only way, that one’s truth is not the only possible way in which things are done. To travel around the world and seeing the variousity of culture may become the nicest thing to do for reducing prejudice. There is no better way to be convinced of this than to go to another country where millions people are doing something different from you. Another way to reduce prejudice is to make a friend with many background culture. From that, we can learn that we are all different and we have to accept that differences. By accepting and learning that differences, the number of prejudicing people will be decrease. Prejudice reduction refers to a collectionof techniques designed to break down these destructive stereotypes. Most often prejudice reduction programs take place on a small scale for example in workshops which bring together people from different groups to help them develop a better mutual understanding. At times, efforts are made to reduce prejudice among the general population. This can be done with wide spread media efforts and public education programs often implemented during the grade school years. In both small scale and large scale efforts, a first step which is critical to the success of these programs is an ability to overcome the many communications problems cited elsewhere in this training program. This is because a great deal of prejudice arises from simple misunderstandings and the tendency to make worse case assumptions in the absence of reliable information. At the workshop level, facilitators can help people explore their stereotypes, and learn to communicate with eac h other in a more open, trusting, and receptive way. At the community or societal level, misunderstandings can be addressed through carefully crafted public media campaigns and/or education programs designed to counter common stereotypes and present all groups in their best possible light. Still, correcting poor communication may is not usually enough to overcome prejudice. Better communication may simply prove that the parties do, in fact, hold each other in mutual contempt, or that they are, indeed, trying to undermine each others interests. Often such hostility is the result of escalation processes which transform relatively minor provocations into intense confrontations. For this reason strategies for limiting escalation are also an essential component of effective prejudice reduction. This also can be attempted in workshop settings or at the larger, community level. On the other hand, we will talk about stereotypes. Stereotypes are generalizations or assumptions that people make about the characteristics of all members of a grup based on image that often wrong about what people in that group are like. Most stereotypes probably tend to convey a negative impression. By stereotyping we infer that a person has a whole range characteristics and abilities that we assume all members of that group have. Researches have found that stereotypes exist of diffe rent races, cultures or ethnic groups. Although the terms race, culture and ethnic groups have different meanings, we shall take them to mean roughly the same thing at the moment. Not surprisingly, racial stereotypes always seem to favor the race of the holder and belittle other races. It is probably true saying that every ethnic group has racial stereotypes of other groups which can be seen to benefit each group because it helps in the long run to identify with one’s own ethnic group and so find protection and promote safety and success of the group. A brief description of stereotyping includes: grouping people together based on their race, ethnicity, religion, languange, customs, appearance, gender or culture; denying people rights because of the group belong to; believing that one’s own group is superior beside other groups are inferior. And the ways to reduce stereotyping includes: promoting first hand knowledge through personal experiences; putting one self in another’s shoes and considering multiple perspectives; working toward a meaningful goal with others when all share equal status. It will naturally be difficult to change stereotypes and prejudice, because such change will need to overcome all of the cognitive processes such as biased information search, interpretation and memory behavioral confirmation, as well as social processes, such as pressures to conform to the beliefs of others, all of which work to maintain stereotypes intact. Nevertheless, social psychologists have developed numoerous theories about when and why stereotypes will or won’t change and some interventions have been effective at changing stereotypes. In general, there are three types of change in beliefs that can help reduce negative intergroup encounters. Perhaps the most obvious change involves creating more positve perceptions of the group as a whole. When we reduce an individual’s level of prejudice or change his or her stereotypes to be more positive. But change does not always have to involve becoming more positive about the group. If we change the perceptions of the variability of a group such that the individual no longer believes that all of the group members are the same, we have also reduce stereotyping, even if the beliefs have not become more positve overall. Finally, we will have been succesful if we have been able to reduce the tendency for an individual to use social categories when judging others, with the result that they are more likely individuate others instead.

Growth And Development Reflection English Language Essay

Growth And Development Reflection English Language Essay Through the video lectures in this course and the previous course, I have gained a great deal of new knowledge that will assist me in being a better teacher to my English language learners. The top five ideas that will stick with me throughout the rest of my teaching career include: Krashens Affective Filter, Cummins Common Underlying Language Proficiency theory (CULP), the importance of being a Culturally Responsive teacher, the Four Domains of Language, and how to Differentiate Instruction. I am not a fluent Spanish speaker, but after teaching at a school with a high ELL student population and taking many conversational Spanish classes Ive picked up enough of the language to help me get by. However, I still do not feel comfortable speaking Spanish in front of my peers, students, or their parents. The Affective Filter theory (Krashen, 1981) helped to explain the reasons why I was so uncomfortable in speaking the Spanish language around others. I finally understand why some of my students arent picking up the English language as fast as others. They may have the skills necessary to communicate in English, but they lack the self confidence and motivation needed to try something new such as learning a new language. It can be very intimidating to learn a new language. Not only are you trying to transfer your native language skills into a new langauge, but you also have to worry about your accent, grammar and correct pronunciation. The fear of making a mistake can hinder the process of acquiring a second language; therefore, I will try to lower my students affective filter by making my ELL students feel as comfortable as possible when speaking English. I will try to speak more Spanish around them so they can see that they arent the only ones trying to learn something new. We will go through the learning process together and they will know that it is okay to make a mistake. I truly belive in the Common Underlying Language Proficiency (CULP) theory developed by Cummins (1991). Ive seen first hand that when my students are proficient in their native language, it makes it easier for them to transfer those skills into the English language. Ive had some students come to me with little or no native (L-1) language skills. Its a very long and difficult process to help those students acquire the English language since they have virtually no knowledge base to work with. Its almost like teaching an infant a new language only more challanging since you cant spend all of your time working one-on-one with just that student. You cant give them all the attention they need in order to catch them up to the rest of their peers. Also, you have no control over what happens when they leave the classroom. Most of those students get no exposure to the English language once they go home. The course lectures have taught me how important it is to be a culturally responsive teacher (Gay, 2000). In the past, I have tried to incorporate a lot of my students culture into my lessons. However, I have not done a very good job of teaching them about cultures other than their own. I have a few non-Hispanic students in my classroom whose cultures Ive neglected this year. I put too much emphasis on my Hispanic students and did not do a very good job of making my students aware of all the other cultures throughout the world. Now that I am more aware of what it means to be culturally responsive I will do a better job with the students I have next school year. I plan on teaching them about the Italian culture since that is my heritige. I also would like my students to do a research project on themselves. They would get to interview their family members, bring in pictures about their life, and present their findings to the class. Not only would this activity give the students a chanc e to find out more about themselves, but it would also teach my students to appreciate the fact that we are all unique. The Four Domains of Language are listening, speaking, reading and writing. I learned that listening and reading are receptive while speaking and writing are expressive forms of language. I find that many of my ELL students have great receptive language, but are lacking when it comes to expressive language. I can attribute that to the fact that we spend so much time trying to teach our ELL students the rules of the English language such as phonological awareness, phonics and vocabulary. As a result, we dont put enough emphasis on fluency or writing. My ELL students are able to decode and can read in English if I were to put a grade level passage in front of them, but they are not fluent and would have a very difficult time writing a summary of the text they just read. In order to address the lack of expressive language, I conduct timed fluency checks will all of my students on a regular basis. My students chart the amount of words they read in a minute and are constantly trying to increase their fluency. I also have a fluency center in which my students can work on their rate and accuracy through the use of repeated readings. They enjoy working with a partner and list ening to each other read. We also do a lot of readers theatre, poetry and plays to work on making them more comfortable with speaking the English language. In the area of writing, we use graphic organizers in every core curriculum area. My students also have a journal in which they have five minutes of free writing each day. I want them to have as much practice as possible in the areas of reading, listening, speaking and writing so they will be proficient in all four domains of language. Finally, in the area of differentiated instruction I think Ive come the farthest. With the influx of Response to Intevention/Instruction (RTI), Ive made more of an effort to differentiate my instruction not just for my ELL students but for all my students. I not only take into account my students language codes when planning a lesson, but now I also look at their proficiency levels and background cultural factors. When I plan center activities I now try to have lessons that will fit the needs of all my students. I want to challenge my advanced learners as well as provide activities that will make my below grade level students feel successful. For whole group lessons, I make sure to tap into my students prior knowledge of a subject, set the stage for learning, place a large emphasis on vocabulary, incorporate graphic organizers, provide realia, and ask higher level thinking questions. These are great strategies not just for ELL students, but for all students.

R.V. Keilty :: essays research papers

R. v. Keilty In the case R.v.Keilty the accused, Keilty, was charged and convicted of trafficking in narcotics. He then appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada on the grounds that the trial judge erred in law. The facts in the case were not disputed but the actual definition of possession under section 2 of the Narcotic Control Act was the issue. The appellant never actually did sell the narcotics nor did he at anytime have possession. It is illogical to convict a person of possession when they don't actually have possession as defined in the Criminal Code. Therefore is it logical to convict a person of trafficking if there were no narcotics? Crown arguments The actual possession is irrelevant because section 2 of the Narcotic Control Act states that trafficking means: (a) to manufacture, sell, give, administer, transport, send, deliver, or distribute, or (b) offer to do anything referred to in paragraph (a) otherwise than under the authority of this Act or the regulation The appellant obviously offered to sell the narcotics to the officer and as in R.v.Mancuso he should be found guilty. Also the actual physical possession is not necessarily needed to be proven as was in R.v.Russo where the defendant was convicted of possession and trafficking even though he did not posses at any time the narcotics. In the case R.v.Piscopo it was demonstrated that an accused can be convicted upon circumstantial evidence. The accused can be convicted using all of the aforementioned cases. Another issue is that if this case becomes precedent it would open a "floodgate" or loophole in the law where other criminals may escape through. This would allow for more dangerous dealers of narcotics, who operate their business "long distance" to escape prosecution because they never actually had the narcotics in their possession. Appellant arguments A person should not be stigmatized by conviction for a criminal offense they did not actually commit.. The case R.v.Vallancourt illustrates the use of the "stigma" test. A person who is convicted of possession should not be also branded as a trafficker of narcotics also. Another principle brought to the court from the R.v.Vallancourt case is that a crime requires a minimal state of mental blameworthiness. This means that the person must bear a certain degree of moral fault for what he did. To convict the accused of trafficking in narcotics when everyone acknowledges that there were no narcotics would seem to violate this principle. Using the rational connection established in the R.v.Oakes it would appear as if the government of Canada is trying to reduce trafficking but if a person who did not posses or sell any narcotics is

The Use of Symbols in Adrienne Richs Poem, Aunt Jennifers Tigers Essa

The Use of Symbols in Adrienne Rich's Poem, Aunt Jennifer's Tigers Freedom has always been an important value in the United States that most people are not willing to give up. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a writer who lived in the 1800s, reminded Americans of their rights of liberty at a time when many people started to conform to established norms. He voiced his opinions about the loss of freedom and invited society to realize that they were relinquishing their rights. Years later, his views still had an impact on citizens. Adrienne Rich, a poet of the mid-1900s, also found her autonomy a necessity in life. She wrote a poem in 1951 called "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers," which exhibited her opinions about living a life of reliance on others. The poem illustrates a woman sewing a scene of tigers roaming through a field, whose hands are weighed down by the heavy wedding band that she wears. Rich uses the symbols of the ring and the tigers to convey her belief in Emerson's ideas of self-reliance. An Emerson-influenced world would be one without interdependence, as his principles of self-reliance would be employed. In the 1800s, the American "government and literary movement . . . were calling for conformity" (Loving). During this time, Ralph Waldo Emerson decided to express his disagreement with the movement by publishing "Self Reliance" in 1841, which explained his ideas of the importance of personal independence. He states, "Nothing can bring you peace but yourself," illustrating his negative view of relying on others (Loving). His audience, the Americans, grew to agree with his individualistic concepts, leading focus from conformity in society. Throughout her life, Rich's experiences led her to wish for more independence. In her marr... ...ctly what Rich discovered through her experiences, primarily from her marriage. The freedom of each person to live as they wish to live is a common value between the two writers. Rich uses the two different symbols in order to express her negative feelings about dependence. By showing her dislike toward the control that one may have over another, she implies her agreement with Emerson's established principles of self-sufficiency. Works Cited Litlinks. www.smpcollege.com/litlinks/poetry/rich.htm. Bedford/St.Martin's. March 28, 2000. Loving, Tim. "What If Aunt Jennifer Had Listened?: Responding With Consequence". www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~nick/evans/firstpapers/tlovingpaper.html. March 28, 2000. Rich, Adrienne. "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers". Discovering Literature Stories, Poems, Plays. 2nd ed. Hans P. Guth and Gabriele L. Rico. Upper Saddle River: Blair. 1997. 590

Mexicos War for Independence :: essays research papers fc

Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mexico is the northernmost country of Latin America. It lies just south of the United States. The Rio Grande forms about two-thirds of the boundary between Mexico and the United States. Among all the countries of the Western Hemisphere, only the United States and Brazil have more people than Mexico. Mexico City is the capital and largest city of Mexico. It also is one of the world's largest metropolitan areas in population. Hundreds of years ago, the Indians of Mexico built large cities, developed a calendar, invented a counting system and used a form of writing. The last Indian empire in Mexico, the Aztec, fell to Spanish invaders in 1521. For the next 300 years, Mexico was a Spanish colony. The Spaniards took Mexico's riches, but they also introduced many changes in farming, government, industry and religion. The descendants of the Spaniards became Mexico's ruling class. The Indians remained poor and uneducated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the Spanish colonial period, a third group of people developed in Mexico. These people, who had both Indian and white ancestors, became known as Mestizos. Today, the great majority of Mexicans are Mestizos, and they generally take great pride in their Indian ancestry. A number of government programs stress the Indian role in Mexican culture. In 1949, the government made an Indian the symbol of Mexican nationality. The war for independence is sometimes considered a revolutionary war. It is not, however. The war for independence was fought to end colonial rule. The war was based on politics and a separation of powers. In this essay I will start from the rising discontentment amongst the indigenous population and how the higher ranking classes exploited their failures for their own societal class gain in a system where they have always been favored more by societal leaders. Once New Spain settled in its new territory, inner cores were created as part of the system. New Spain, from now on, would be under direction of the mother country Spain. Its colonial system would be entrenched in the new colony and therefore, its economy would strive to gain profit and make Spain richer and stronger. The economy was based on agriculture, ranching, mining, industry, and commerce. The majority of labor that would go into doing these jobs would be from the indigenous people, or â€Å"Indians†. Although some â€Å"Indians† were paid decent wages, most were treated unfairly or poorly. They worked long, hard hours.

Poetics by Aristotle Essay

Aristotle’s most famous contribution to logic is the syllogism, which he discusses primarily in the Prior Analytics. A syllogism is a three-step argument containing three different terms. A simple example is â€Å"All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal. † This three-step argument contains three assertions consisting of the three terms Socrates,man, and mortal. The first two assertions are called premises and the last assertion is called the conclusion; in a logically valid syllogism, such as the one just presented, the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises. That is, if you know that both of the premises are true, you know that the conclusion must also be true. Aristotle uses the following terminology to label the different parts of the syllogism: the premise whose subject features in the conclusion is called theminor premise and the premise whose predicate features in the conclusion is called the major premise. In the example, â€Å"All men are mortal† is the major premise, and since mortal is also the predicate of the conclusion, it is called the major term. Socrates† is called the minor term because it is the subject of both the minor premise and the conclusion, and man, which features in both premises but not in the conclusion, is called the middle term. In analyzing the syllogism, Aristotle registers the important distinction between particulars and universals. Socrates is a particular term, meaning that the word Socrates names a particular person. By contrast, man andmortal are universal terms, meaning that they name general categories or qualities that might be true of many particulars. Socrates is one of billions of particular terms that falls under the universal man. Universals can be either the subject or the predicate of a sentence, whereas particulars can only be subjects. Aristotle identifies four kinds of â€Å"categorical sentences† that can be constructed from sentences that have universals for their subjects. When universals are subjects, they must be preceded by every, some, or no. To return to the example of a syllogism, the first of the three terms was not just â€Å"men are mortal,† but rather â€Å"all men are mortal. † The contrary of â€Å"all men are mortal† is â€Å"some men are not mortal,† because one and only one of these claims is true: they cannot both  be true or both be false. Similarly, the contrary of â€Å"no men are mortal† is â€Å"some men are mortal. † Aristotle identifies sentences of these four forms—â€Å"All X is Y,† â€Å"Some X is not Y,† â€Å"No X is Y,† and â€Å"Some X is Y†Ã¢â‚¬â€as the four categorical sentences and claims that all assertions can be analyzed into categorical sentences. That means that all assertions we make can be reinterpreted as categorical sentences and so can be fit into syllogisms. If all our assertions can be read as premises or conclusions to various syllogisms, it follows that the syllogism is the framework of all reasoning. Any valid argument must take the form of a syllogism, so Aristotle’s work in analyzing syllogisms provides a basis for analyzing all arguments. Aristotle analyzes all forty-eight possible kinds of syllogisms that can be constructed from categorical sentences and shows that fourteen of them are valid. In On Interpretation,Aristotle extends his analysis of the syllogism to examine modal logic, that is, sentences containing the words possibly ornecessarily. He is not as successful in his analysis, but the analysis does bring to light at least one important problem. It would seem that all past events necessarily either happened or did not happen, meaning that there are no events in the past that possibly happened and possibly did not happen. By contrast, we tend to think of many future events as possible and not necessary. But if someone had made a prediction yesterday about what would happen tomorrow, that prediction, because it is in the past, must already be necessarily true or necessarily false, meaning that what will happen tomorrow is already fixed by necessity and not just possibility. Aristotle’s answer to this problem is unclear, but he seems to reject the fatalist idea that the future is already fixed, suggesting instead that statements about the future cannot be either true or false. Organon: The Structure of Knowledge Summary The Categories, traditionally interpreted as an introduction to Aristotle’s logical work, divides all of being into ten categories. These ten categories are as follows: Substance, which in this context means what something is essentially (e. g. , human, rock) * Quantity (e. g. , ten feet, five liters) * Quality (e.g. , blue, obvious). * Relation (e. g. , double, to the right of) * Location (e. g. , New York, home plate) * Time (e. g. , yesterday, four o’clock) * Position (e. g. , sitting, standing) * Possession (e. g. , wearing shoes, has a blue coat) * Doing (e. g. , running, smiling) * Undergoing (e. g. , being run into, being smiled at) Of the ten, Aristotle considers substance to be primary, because we can conceive of a substance without, for example, any given qualities but we cannot conceive of a quality except as it pertains to a particular substance. One important conclusion from this division into categories is that we can make no general statements about being as a whole because there are ten very different ways in which something can have being. There is no common ground between the kind of being that a rock has and the kind of being that the color blue has. Aristotle’s emphasis on the syllogism leads him to conceive of knowledge as hierarchically structured, a claim that he fleshes out in the Posterior Analytics. To have knowledge of a fact, it is not enough simply to be able to repeat the fact. We must also be able to give the reasons why that fact is true, a process that Aristotle calls demonstration. Demonstration is essentially a matter of showing that the fact in question is the conclusion to a valid syllogism. If some truths are premises that can be used to prove other truths, those first truths are logically prior to the truths that follow from them. Ultimately, there must be one or several â€Å"first principles,† from which all other truths follow and which do not themselves follow from anything. However, if these first principles do not follow from anything, they cannot count as knowledge because there are no reasons or premises we can give to prove that they are true. Aristotle suggests that these first principles are a kind of intuition of the universals we recognize in experience. Aristotle believes that the objects of knowledge are also structured hierarchically and conceives of definition as largely a process of division. For example, suppose we want to define human. First, we note that humans are animals, which is the genus to which they belong. We can then take note of various differentia, which distinguish humans from other animals. For example, humans walk on two legs, unlike tigers, and they lack feathers, unlike birds. Given any term, if we can identify its genus and then identify the differentia that distinguish it from other things within its genus, we have given a definition of that term, which amounts to giving an account of its nature, or essence. Ultimately, Aristotle identifies five kinds of relationships a predicate can have with its subject: a genus relationship (â€Å"humans are animals†); a differentia relationship (â€Å"humans have two legs†); a unique property relationship (â€Å"humans are the only animals that can cry†); a definition, which is a unique property that explains the nature or essence of the subject; and an accident relationship, such as â€Å"some humans have blue eyes,† where the relationship does not hold necessarily. While true knowledge is all descended from knowledge of first principles, actual argument and debate is much less pristine. When two people argue, they need not go back to first principles to ground every claim but must simply find premises they both agree on. The trick to debate is to find premises your opponent will agree to and then show that conclusions contrary to your opponent’s position follow necessarily from these premises. The Topicsdevotes a great deal of attention to classifying the kinds of conclusions that can be drawn from different kinds of premises, whereas the Sophistical Refutations explores various logical tricks used to deceive people into accepting a faulty line of reasoning. Physics: Books 1-4. The Physics opens with an investigation into the principles of nature. At root, there must be a certain number of basic principles at work in nature, according to which all natural processes can be explained. All change or process involves something coming to be from out of its opposite. Something comes to be what it is by acquiring its distinctive form—for example, a baby becomes an adult, a seed becomes a mature plant, and so on. Since this the baby or the seed were working toward this form all along, the form itself (the idea or pattern of the mature specimen) must have existed before the baby or seed actually matured. Thus, the form must be one of the principles of nature. Another principle of nature must be the privation or absence of this form, the opposite out of which the form came into being. Besides form and privation, there must be a third principle, matter, which remains constant throughout the process of change. If nothing remains unchanged when something undergoes a change, then there would be no â€Å"thing† that we could say underwent the change. So there are three basic principles of nature: matter, form, and privation. For example, a person’s education involves the form of being educated, the privation of being ignorant, and the underlying matter of the person who makes the change from ignorance to education. This view of the principles of nature resolves many of the problems of earlier philosophers and suggests that matter is conserved: though its form may change, the underlying matter involved in changes remains constant. Change takes place according to four different kinds of cause. These causes are closer to what we might call â€Å"explanations†: they explain in different ways why the change came to pass. The four causes are (1) material cause, which explains what something is made of; (2) formal cause, which explains the form or pattern to which a thing corresponds; (3) efficient cause, which is what we ordinarily mean by â€Å"cause,† the original source of the change; and (4) final cause, which is the intended purpose of the change. For example, in the making of a house, the material cause is the materials the house is made of, the formal cause is the architect’s plan, the efficient cause is the process of building it, and the final cause is to provide shelter and comfort. Natural objects, such as plants and animals, differ from artificial objects in that they have an internal source of change. All the causes of change in artificial objects are found outside the objects themselves, but natural objects can cause change from within. Aristotle rejects the idea that chance constitutes a fifth cause, similar in nature to the other four. We normally talk about chance in reference to coincidences, where two separate events, which had their own causes, coincide in a way that is not explained by either set of causes. For instance, two people might both have their own reasons for being in a certain place at a certain time, but neither of these sets of reasons explains the coincidence of both people being there at the same time. Final causes apply to nature as much as to art, so everything in nature serves a useful purpose. Aristotle argues against the views both of Democritus, who thinks that necessity in nature has no useful purpose, and of Empedocles, who holds an evolutionary view according to which only those combinations of living parts that are useful have managed to survive and reproduce themselves. If Democritus were right, there would be as many useless aspects of nature as there are useful, while Empedocles’ theory does not explain how random combinations of parts could come together in the first place. Books III and IV examine some fundamental concepts of nature, starting with change, and then treating infinity, place, void, and time. Aristotle defines change as â€Å"the actuality of that which exists potentially, in so far as it is potentially this actuality. † That is, change rests in the potential of one thing to become another. In all cases, change comes to pass through contact between an agent and a patient, where the agent imparts its form to the patient and the change itself takes place in the patient. Either affirming or denying the existence of infinity leads to certain contradictions and paradoxes, and Aristotle finds an ingenious solution by distinguishing between potential and actual infinities. He argues that there is no such thing as an actual infinity: infinity is not a substance in its own right, and there are neither infinitely large objects nor an infinite number of objects. However, there are potential infinities in the sense that, for example, an immortal could theoretically sit down and count up to an infinitely large number but that this is impossible in practice. Time, for example, is a potential infinity because it potentially extends forever, but no one who is counting time will ever count an infinite number of minutes or days. Aristotle asserts that place has a being independent of the objects that occupy it and denies the existence of empty space, or void. Place must be independent of objects because otherwise it would make no sense to say that different objects can be in the same place at different times. Aristotle defines place as the limits of what contains an object and determines that the place of the earth is â€Å"at the center† and the place of the heavens as â€Å"at the periphery. † Aristotle’s arguments against the void make a number of fundamental errors. For example, he assumes that heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones. From this assumption, he argues that the speed of a falling object is directly proportional to an object’s weight and inversely proportional to the density of the medium it travels through. Since the void is a medium of zero density, that would mean that an object would fall infinitely fast through a void, which is an absurdity, so Aristotle concludes that there cannot be such a thing as a void. Aristotle closely identifies time with change. We register that time has passed only by registering that something has changed. In other words, time is a measure of change just as space is a measure of distance. Just as Aristotle denies the possibility of empty space, or void, Aristotle denies the possibility of empty time, as in time that passes without anything happening. Physics: Books 5-8 Summary There are three kinds of change: generation, where something comes into being; destruction, where something is destroyed; and variation, where some attribute of a thing is changed while the thing itself remains constant. Of the ten categories Aristotle describes in the Categories (see previous summary of the Organon), change can take place only in respect of quality, quantity, or location. Change itself is not a substance and so it cannot itself have any properties. Among other things, this means that changes themselves cannot change. Aristotle discusses the ways in which two changes may be the same or different and argues also that no two changes are opposites, but rather that rest is the opposite of change. Time, space, and movement are all continuous, and there are no fundamental units beyond which they cannot be divided. Aristotle reasons that movement must be continuous because the alternative—that objects make infinitesimally small jumps from one place to another without occupying the intermediate space—is absurd and counterintuitive. If an object moves from point A to point B, there must be a time at which it is moving from point A to point B. If it is simply at point A at one instant and point B at the next, it cannot properly be said to have moved from the one to the other. If movement is continuous, then time and space must also be continuous, because continuous movement would not be possible if time and space consisted of discrete, indivisible atoms. Among the connected discussions of change, rest, and continuity, Aristotle considers Zeno’s four famous paradoxes. The first is the dichotomy paradox: to get to any point, we must first travel halfway, and to get to that halfway point, we must travel half of that halfway, and to get to half of that halfway, we must first travel a half of the half of that halfway, and so on infinitely, so that, for any given distance, there is always a smaller distance to be covered first, and so we can never start moving at all. Aristotle answers that time can be divided just as infinitely as space, so that it would take infinitely little time to cover the infinitely little space needed to get started. The second paradox is called the Achilles paradox: supposing Achilles is racing a tortoise and gives the tortoise a head start. Then by the time Achilles reaches the point the tortoise started from, the tortoise will have advanced a certain distance, and by the point Achilles advances that certain distance, the tortoise will have advanced a bit farther, and so on, so that it seems Achilles will never be able to catch up with, let alone pass, the tortoise. Aristotle responds that the paradox assumes the existence of an actual infinity of points between Achilles and the tortoise. If there were an actual infinity—that is, if Achilles had to take account of all the infinite points he passed in catching up with the tortoise—it would indeed take an infinite amount of time for Achilles to pass the tortoise. However, there is only a potential infinity of points between Achilles and the tortoise, meaning that Achilles can cover the infinitely many points between him and the tortoise in a finite amount of time so long as he does not take account of each point along the way. The third and fourth paradoxes, called the arrow paradox and the stadium paradox, respectively, are more obscure, but they seem to aim at proving that time and space cannot be divided into atoms. This is a position that Aristotle already agrees with, so he takes less trouble over these paradoxes. Aristotle argues that change is eternal because there cannot be a first cause of change without assuming that that cause was itself uncaused. Living things can cause change without something external acting on them, but the source of this change is internal thoughts and desires, and these thoughts and desires are provoked by external stimuli. Arguing that time is infinite, Aristotle reasons that there cannot be a last cause, since time cannot exist without change. Next, Aristotle argues that everything that changes is changed by something external to itself. Even changes within a single animal consist of one part of the animal changing another part. Aristotle’s reflections on cause and change lead him ultimately to posit the existence of a divine unmoved mover. If we were to follow a series of causes to its source, we would find a first cause that is either an unchanged changer or a self-changing changer. Animals are the best examples of self-changers, but they constantly come into being and pass away. If there is an eternal succession of causes, there needs to be a first cause that is also eternal, so it cannot be a self-changing animal. Since change is eternal, there must be a single cause of change that is itself eternal and continuous. The primary kind of change is movement and the primary kind of movement is circular, so this first cause must cause circular movement. This circular movement is the movement of the heavens, and it is caused by some first cause of infinite power that is above the material world. The circular movement of the heavens is then in turn the cause of all other change in the sublunary world. Metaphysics: Books Alpha-Epsilon Knowledge consists of particular truths that we learn through experience and the general truths of art and science. Wisdom consists in understanding the most general truths of all, which are the fundamental principles and causes that govern everything. Philosophy provides the deepest understanding of the world and of divinity by pursuing the sense of wonder we feel toward reality. There are four kinds of cause, or rather kinds of explanation, for how things are: (1) the material cause, which explains what a thing is made of; (2) the formal cause, which explains the form a thing assumes; (3) the efficient cause, which explains the process by which it came into being; and (4) the final cause, which explains the end or purpose it serves. The explanations of earlier philosophers have conformed to these four causes but not as coherently and systematically as Aristotle’s formulation. Aristotle acknowledges that Plato’s Theory of Forms gives a strong account of the formal cause, but it fails to prove that Forms exist and to explain how objects in the physical world participate in Forms. Book Alpha the Lesser addresses some questions of method. Though we all have a natural aptitude for thinking philosophically, it is very difficult to philosophize well. The particular method of study depends on the subject being studied and the inclinations of the students. The important thing is to have a firm grasp of method before proceeding, whatever the method. The best method is that of mathematics, but this method is not suitable for subjects where the objects of study are prone to change, as in science. Most reasoning involves causal chains, where we investigate a phenomenon by studying its causes, and then the cause of those causes, and so on. This method would be unworkable if there were infinitely long causal chains, but all causal chains are finite, meaning that there must be an uncaused first cause to every chain. Book Beta consists of a series of fifteen metaphysical puzzles on the nature of first principles, substance, and other fundamental concepts. In each case, Aristotle presents a thesis and a contradicting antithesis, both of which could be taken as answers to the puzzle. Aristotle himself provides no answers to the puzzles but rather takes them as examples of extreme positions between which he will try to mediate throughout the rest of the Metaphysics. Book Gamma asserts that philosophy, especially metaphysics, is the study of being qua being. That is, while other sciences investigate limited aspects of being, metaphysics investigates being itself. The study of being qua being amounts to the search into first principles and causes. Being itself is primarily identified with the idea of substance, but also with unity, plurality, and a variety of other concepts. Philosophy is also concerned with logic and the principles of demonstration, which are supremely general, and hence concerned with being itself. The most fundamental principle is the principle of noncontradiction: nothing can both be something and not be that same something. Aristotle defends this principle by arguing that it is impossible to contradict it coherently. Connected to the principle of non-contradiction is the principle of the excluded middle, which states that there is no middle position between two contradictory positions. That is, a thing is either x or not-x, and there is no third possibility. Book Gamma concludes with an attack on several general claims of earlier philosophers: that everything is true, that everything is false, that everything is at rest, and that everything is in motion. Book Delta consists of the definitions of about forty terms, some of which feature prominently in the rest of the Metaphysics, such as principle, cause, nature, being, and substance. The definitions specify precisely how Aristotle uses these terms and often distinguish between different uses or categories of the terms. Book Epsilon opens by distinguishing philosophy from the sciences not just on the basis of its generality but also because philosophy, unlike the sciences, takes itself as a subject of inquiry. The sciences can be divided into practical, productive, and theoretical. The theoretical sciences can be divided further into physics, mathematics, and theology, or first philosophy, which studies first principles and causes. We can look at being in four different ways: accidental being, being as truth, the category of being, and being in actuality and potentiality. Aristotle considers the first two in book Epsilon and examines the category of being, or substance, in books Zeta and Eta, and being in actuality and potentiality in book Theta. Accidental being covers the kinds of properties that are not essential to a thing described. For example, if a man is musical, his musicality is accidental since being musical does not define him as a man and he would still be a man even if he were not musical. Accidental being must have a kind of accidental causation, which we might associate with chance. That is, there is no necessary reason why a musical man is musical, but rather it just so happens by chance that he is musical. Being as truth covers judgments that a given proposition is true. These sorts of judgments involve mental acts, so being as truth is an affection of the mind and not a kind of being in the world. Because accidental being is random and being as truth is only mental, they fall outside the realm of philosophy, which deals with more fundamental kinds of being. Metaphysics: Books Zeta-Eta Summary Referring back to his logical work in the Categories, Aristotle opens book Zeta by asserting that substance is the primary category of being. Instead of considering what being is, we can consider what substance is. Aristotle first rejects the idea that substance is the ultimate substrate of a thing, that which remains when all its accidental properties are stripped away. For example, a dog is more fundamental than the color brown or the property of hairiness that are associated with it. However, if we strip away all the properties that a dog possesses, we wind up with a substrate with no properties of its own. Since this substrate has no properties, we can say nothing about it, so this substrate cannot be substance. Instead, Aristotle suggests that we consider substance as essence and concludes that substances are species. The essence of a thing is that which makes it that thing. For example, being rational is an essential property of being human, because a human without rationality ceases to be human, but being musical is not an essential property of being human, because a human without musical skill is still human. Individual people, or dogs, or tables, contain a mixture of essential and inessential properties. Species, on the other hand—for instance, people in general, dogs in general, or tables in general—contain only essential properties. A substance can be given a definition that does not presuppose the existence of anything else. A snub, for example, is not a substance, because we would define a snub as â€Å"a concave nose,† so our definition of snub presupposes the existence of noses. A proper definition of a thing will list only its essential properties, and Aristotle asserts that only substances have essential properties or definitions. A snub nose, by contrast, has only accidental properties—properties like redness or largeness that may hold of some snubs but not of all—and per se properties—properties like concavity, which necessarily holds of all snubs but which is not essential. Physical objects are composites of form and matter, and Aristotle identifies substance with form. The matter of an object is the stuff that makes it up, whereas the form is the shape that stuff takes. For example, the matter in a bronze sphere is the bronze itself, and the form is the spherical shape. Aristotle argues that form is primary because form is what gives each thing its distinctive nature. Aristotle has argued that the definitions of substances cannot presuppose the existence of anything else, which raises the question of how there can be a definition that does not presuppose the existence of anything else. Presumably, a definition divides a whole into its constituent parts—for example, a human is defined as a rational animal—which suggests that a substance must in some way presuppose the existence of its constituent parts. Aristotle distinguishes between those cases where the parts of an object or definition are prior to the whole and those cases where the whole is prior to the parts. For example, we cannot understand the parts of a circle without first understanding the concept of circle as a whole; on the other hand, we cannot understand the whole of a syllable before we understand the letters that constitute its parts. Aristotle argues that, in the case of substance, the whole is prior to the parts. He has earlier associated substance with form and suggests that we cannot make sense of matter before we can conceive of its form. To say a substance can be divided by its definition is like saying a physical object can be divided into form and matter: this conceptual distinction is possible, but form and matter constitute an indivisible whole, and neither can exist without the other. Similarly, the parts of a definition of a substance are conceptually distinct, but they can only exist when they are joined in a substance. Having identified substance with essence, Aristotle attacks the view that substances are universals. This attack becomes effectively an attack on Plato’s Theory of Forms, and Aristotle argues forcefully that universal Forms cannot exist prior to the individual instances of them or be properly defined and so cannot play any role in science, let alone a fundamental role. He also argues against the suggestion that substances can be genus categories, like â€Å"animal† or â€Å"plant. † Humans and horses, unlike animals, have the property of â€Å"thisness†: the words human and horse pick out a particular kind of thing, whereas nothing particular is picked out by animal. Genuses are thus not specific enough to qualify as substances. Book Eta contains a number of loosely connected points elaborating Aristotle’s views on substance. Aristotle associates an object’s matter with its potentiality and its form with its actuality. That is, matter is potentially a certain kind of substance and becomes that substance in actuality when it takes on the form of that substance. By associating substance with form and actuality, Aristotle infers a further connection between substance and differentia: differentia are those qualities that distinguish one species in a genus from another. Book Eta also contains reflections on the nature of names, matter, number, and definition. Metaphysics: Books Theta-Nu Summary Book Theta discusses potentiality and actuality, considering these concepts first in regard to process or change. When one thing, F, changes into another, G, we can say that F is G in potentiality, while G is G in actuality. F changes into G only if some other agent, H, acts on it. We say that H has active potentiality and F has passive potentiality. Potentiality can be either rational or irrational, depending on whether the change is effected by a rational agent or happens naturally. Aristotle distinguishes rational potentiality from irrational potentiality, saying that rational potentiality can produce opposites. For example, the rational potentiality of medicine can produce either health or sickness, whereas the irrational potentiality of heating can produce only heat and not cold. All potentialities must eventually be realized: if a potentiality never becomes an actuality, then we do not call it a potentiality but an impossibility. A potentiality is also determinate, meaning that it is the potential for a particular actuality and cannot realize some other actuality. While irrational potentialities are automatically triggered when active and passive potentialities come together, this is not the case with rational potentialities, as a rational agent can choose to withhold the realization of the potentiality even though it can be realized. Aristotle identifies actuality with form, and hence substance, while identifying matter with potentiality. An uncarved piece of wood, for example, is a potential statue, and it becomes an actual statue when it is carved and thus acquires the form of a statue. Action is an actuality, but there are such things as incomplete actions, which are also the potentiality for further actions.

International Accountancy Quiz Question from Test Bank

* Question 1 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | The following inventory information above was taken from the records of BlobeKom Ltd. :Historical Cost  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $12,000Replacement Cost  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $ 9,000Expected selling price  Ã‚   $10,000Expected selling cost  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $  Ã‚  Ã‚   500Normal profit margin  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   10% of selling priceUnder U. S. GAPP, what should the Balance Sheet report for Inventory? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  $9,000| | | | | * Question 2 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | How should the cost of borrowing funds to acquire or construct property, plant, and equipment be accounted for under IASB rules, as revised in 2007?Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  It should be added to the other costs of acquiring fixed assets to determine the amount for the balance sheet. | | | | | * Question 3 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | The following inventory information above was taken from the recor ds of BlobeKom Ltd. :Historical Cost  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $12,000Replacement Cost  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $ 9,000Expected selling price  Ã‚   $10,000Expected selling cost  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   $  Ã‚  Ã‚   500Normal profit margin  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   10% of selling priceUnder IAS 2, what should the Balance Sheet report for Inventory?Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  $9,500| | | | | * Question 4 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | Under IAS 16 (Property, Plant, and Equipment), subsequent revaluation decreases are:Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  first recognized as a reduction in any related revaluation surplus| | | | | * Question 5 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | Which of the following is generally true about the differences between U. S. GAAP and IASB standards? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  U. S. GAAP tends to be more rule-based, and the IASB standards tend to be principles-based. | | | | * Question 6 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | Th e â€Å"Seventh Directive† issued by the European Commission is a statement to the European Union (EU) members concerning:Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  Consolidated financial statements| | | | | * Question 7 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | What basis does the International Accounting Standards Board use in formulating its IFRS? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  A framework of accounting principles| | | | | * Question 8 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | What was the â€Å"Norwalk Agreement? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  A pledge between the Financial Accounting Standards Board in the U. S. and the IASB to make their reporting standards compatible| | | | | * Question 9 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | How does IAS 34 (Interim Financial Reporting) differ from U. S. GAAP? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  U. S. GAAP takes the position that interim periods are an integral part of the full year. | | | | | * Question 10 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | W hich of the following statements is true about accounting harmonizaiton?Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  All of the above are true about accounting harmonization| | | | | * Question 11 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | From a practical standpoint, what is the goal of accounting standards harmonization? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  Reducing the conflict among national accounting standards| | | | | * Question 12 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | Which of the following inventory valuation methods commonly used in the U. S. is NOT allowed under IAS 2 (Inventories)? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  LIFO| | | | | * Question 13 . 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | Why does the IASB believe that a principles-based approach to standard setting is superior to a rules-based perspective? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  Detailed prescriptions or rules encourage accountants to look for ways to circumvent the rules rather than trying to provide useful information. | | | | | * Question 14 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | In which of the following countries is the use of IFRS not allowed for domestic companies listed on its stock exchanges? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  United States| | | | * Question 15 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | What types of issues cause differences between International Financial Reporting Standards and U. S. GAAP? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  All of the above may be different between IFRS and U. S. GAAP| | | | | * Question 16 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | According to the Framework for Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements of the IASB, what is the definition of INCOME? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  Increase in equity (other than from contributions by owners)| | | | * Question 17 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | In 1990, the European Commission stopped issuing directives related to accounting. Why? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  The EU was leaving the formulation of accoun ting standards up to the IASC. | | | | | * Question 18 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | If a company chooses the revaluation model permitted in IAS 16 for fixed asset measurement:Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  it must update the valuation so that the balance sheet represents fair value on the balance sheet date. | | | | * Question 19 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | Which of the following items is considered to be the most significant impediment to accounting harmonization? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  Nationalism| | | | | * Question 20 2. 5 out of 2. 5 points | | | According to IAS 16 (Property, Plant & Equipment), what is the term used to indicate the amount for which an asset could be exchanged between knowledgeable, willing parties in an arm's length transaction? Answer| | | | | Selected Answer:|   Ã‚  Fair market value| | | | |

Consorcio comes to America

The goal of Be American is the understanding of the reality of the immigrant life, which is filled with the difficulty of getting past the cultural barrier, and of getting acquainted with a new land's idea of ignorance and literacy. Consorcio has a big problem: he wants to become an American. He soon finds out that the times and events will not agree with him. Consorcio comes to America and soon realizes the hard work involved in getting a better life in America. Right away, the reader is greeted with the problem of Consorcio's illiteracy.The story starts immediately with â€Å"it was not Consorcio's fault†, referring to his inability no read or write English and his native dialect. Consorcio has to deal with his own ignorance, which showed in many little ways—he breaks plates because he only knew coconut shells and wooden utensils, sleeps on top of the sheets, does not want to eat bread and butter. Consorcio is typical of most immigrant peasants who came to America for a â€Å"better life†, knowing little but the provincial life full of farm work. Still, Consorcio is intent on becoming American, even buying books to hasten himself along his Americanization.But when he asks his cousin how long he would have to wait, Consorcio is unpleasantly surprised when he discovers from his cousin that he needs to wait five years to become American. A year later, when his cousin visits him, Consorcio no longer has his books. He has sold them because he is unable to read, with no way to learn. Consorcio is now working as a baker's assistant. Consorcio is still intent on becoming American, though. When his cousin suggests a free night school, he agrees to change his job so he can study.Two years later his cousin returns to find Consorcio gone, with an untraceable address. But soon Consorcio sends his cousin boxes of fruit and produce of the company he works for. Consorcio's and the cousin meet again after two years later, in Los Angeles. Consorcio is disa ppointed. He has no job, hasn't finished school, and has become aware that he could not obtain American citizenship. More than two years later the cousin starts to receive letters (Consorcio has finally become literate). Consorcio starts to see the resolution of his dream of Americanization in his literacy.Consorcio becomes American in a different way from what he has been desiring all the years of his stay in America. Consorcio begins a publication defending the rights of American and immigrant workers. Because of his activist literature, Consorcio experiences jail. Here we see that in spite of ongoing contradictions, Consorcio was, in a way, able to control his situation. For want of his American ideal, Consorcio fights with his words. He becomes American in this way, not officially, but in the American way of fighting for the ideal of liberty.This is what America is all about—at least this is what we understand from the cousin—and he did what so many before him did, and that is fight for justice, and equality. Then war comes, and Consorcio's â€Å"crusade† ends. Fifteen years after arriving on America, Consorcio dies. The (anti)climax comes with Consorcio's death. Before his death, as his cousin says, he has become American in his own right. Still, he never really experiences the â€Å"good life† promised by America, and dies with the embers of his dream.

Hunger Games Book Report Essay

â€Å"The Hunger Games† is a the first book in a fantastic series of three books written by Suzanne Collins. It takes you into the life of a scared but quick-thinking, brave girl named Katniss Everdeen who learns how to survive on her own from a very young age when her father died in a mining accident. From that day on, she took care of her little family (mother and little sister, Prim) as well as herself by hunting in the woods of District 12 everyday with her guy friend Gale (who might have a thing for her but no one really knows). District 12 was one of the twelve districts that made up the country of Panem. Panem was once the continent of North America. When an epidemic swept through the continent of North America, Panem was formed and, the people who lived under the rules set by the capitol did not like it. They rebelled against the capitol and lost. Now, every year, children’s names, ages 12 through 18, are put into a bowl and drawn out during a ceremony known as â€Å"The Reaping. † This is a dreaded time and no one wants to be a part of it because they know that if their names are drawn, it is almost like a death sentence. When a name is called, you are then taken and thrown into what is known as â€Å"The Hunger Games. † Our narrator, main character, and hero also known as Katniss Everdeen, offered herself as a tribute in place of her younger sister Prim in an effort to save her life. When her and Peeta Mellark (the boy tribute from district 12) were taken off to the capitol, they went through some pretty intense training and in the end, well, you’ll have to read the book to find out what happened but it was sort of an unexpected ending. This book was so good because it kept you on your toes the whole time. I would rate it a solid 9. 5. I gave it that high of a rating because, the unexpected seemed to happen a lot and things popped up all the time out of no where. The book also kept a good pace and there weren’t to many dull moments; there was just enough detail that you could picture what was going on in your head while the story kept moving. The only thing that I did not like about this book was the fact that it seemed almost too futuristic. Yes, it is true that the story takes place millions of years from our present day but, it seemed almost to realistic. Crazy is a good word that describes what some of the people acted like that lived in the capitol. In all though, I really did think that this was a very good book and I would suggest it to anyone who was considering reading it.