Monday, September 30, 2019

Market Revolution

The worldwide presence of the United States of America in terms of a gigantic political and economic power, as we see it today, is a result of the creative and relentless efforts of many political geniuses. After the War of Independence, the country was thrown in a state of depression and the late 17th century era marked a period of instability. The country had war debt of millions of dollars, negative speculation for foreign investment was inevitable, the army was negligible, the navy fleet was almost non-existent, relationship with England had severed and the Congress was unable to impose taxes until a proper law and order system was in place. Heavy adjustments to the political and economic regulations were required to drive the country out of the financial crisis. It were only through the relentless vision and efforts of Alexander Hamilton, the First Secretary of Treasury and Thomas Jefferson, the First Secretary of State, that a new political and economic ideal for the country was created and later, a stage was set for   full scale development of the American society and economic growth to all parts of the world. Similar article: Rise of Political Parties in the 1790s In a revolutionary era marked by political battles and public discord, these symbolic figures provided different, yet talismanic views of the power of government and enterprise in shaping the political and economic orders of the country that has enabled the rulers of the future to legitimatize their decisions for sustainable development. 2. THE FEDERALIST APPROACH: ALEXANDER HAMILTON Hamilton believed that the revival of the economy and subsequent growth depended on the creation of a strong central government that was increasingly proactive in the affairs of the country. He believed that a central, energetic government will not only be able to supersede the powers of the individual states in order to provide national stability but also provide a common framework for effective development and unionization of the big country. He denied the notion of self-interest, which he believed was prevalent in the political structure and destructive for the nation. His philosophy of centralizing the national economy was a product of his political stance. Hamilton believed that a structure of public credit facilities, immediate repayment of foreign debts and responsibility of states war debts, establishment of a new bank and protection of young industries were essential to promote business and develop competitive industries. Public credit facilities were to be financed through issuing government securities like bonds which can be used to settle the domestic debt and extended towards the industrial and manufacturing sector. The government should take over the responsibility of the debt incurred by the individual states during the war since the war was fought for the independence of the entire nation and â€Å"A national debt attaches many citizens to the government who, by their numbers, wealth, and influence, contribute more perhaps to its preservation than a body of soldiers† (Finseth). A banking structure with diversified branches will help the national government to carry out its basic functions like collecting taxes, financing debt and issue payments, issuing currency and generating income through interest on loans. A structure of no-tax for interstate commerce and protective tariff on imports will protect and promote national competition and young firms. Through his notion of a strong economic plan for a mechanized society, Thomas Hamilton gained support of a number of Congressmen and formed a Federalist Party in 1792. 3. THE REPUBLICAN APPROACH: THOMAS JEFFERSON In contrast to Hamilton’s view of an orderly mercantile economy, Thomas Jefferson advocated an agrarian economy, based on individual rights and a limited, decentralized government. He feared that the system proposed by his counterpart threatened the majority of the population who were agrarian laborers and resembled the British economic system. This would result in an emergence of tyranny against such a centralized rule. Jefferson compounded on a weak government structure because he believed that a proper government will not only restrict the liberty of individuals but also limit itself from creating individualism. He emphasized this concept in one of his political writings: â€Å"rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’, because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual† (Appleby). Thomas Jefferson reject Hamilton’s proposal of setting up a national bank, fearing that such a bank would serve the rich at the expense of the poor people and emphasize federal powers over state powers. In response to the Federalist movement, Jefferson formed the Republican Party in 1792 along with James Madison to oppose the policies of the Federalists. 4.THE MARKET AND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION The influences set forth by the two politicians shaped the constitution of the country and paved way for a rapid development of the economy from 1815 to 1860. In 1792, the king of France was overthrown and a republic was established. France attempted to extend its powers throughout Europe and Britain was trying to curtail it. This resulted in Napoleonic Wars, of which the United States was a major victim in terms of foreign relations. The victory of the Republican Party in 1800 resulted in the nomination of Thomas Jefferson as the third President of the United States. This event marked the first significant change in American politics. After the War of 1812, Jefferson realized that his vision of an agricultural market economy was incompetent with the competition in global markets. This led to the adoption of a policy of expansion and competition for power in the global economy. The Industrial revolution had begun in the 1700s in Europe and was marked by new inventions and efficient methods of production. This revolution spread to the United States and local inventors came up with unique ideas to mechanize the agriculture sector and spur new industries. Cotton gin was a notable invention which revolutionized the cotton industry by creating new industries, promoting inter-commerce relations between the West and the East and exports. Manufacturing of shoes, woolen clothing and machinery were also expanding. By 1860, almost a third of the country’s income came from the manufacturing sector. The concept of agrarian labor was transformed to that of a wage worker who was paid to run the automated machines in the factories. Most of the urbanized industries were located in the South, whereas the agricultural sector was primarily located in the South. Government provided social capital in the form of national roads, waterways and railroads. These initiatives enabled the nation to establish a firm base for rapid industrialization that followed. Financial industry diffused with new scheme through which some investors made wealth and others lost their savings. Protective tariffs were imposed to sustain the growing industries and bank branches were set up in every city. Rapid development also attracted a great deal of domestic and foreign investment. 5. CONSEQUENCES OF THE TRANSFORMATION The market and Industrial revolution had several consequences, including religion and reform, for the American Society in the eighteenth century. In the north, Evangelicalism or individual holiness, emerged in the new republic and was the â€Å"grand absorbing theme of American religious life† (Religion and the American Republic 7). Progressive and conservative religious forces often differed in terms of religious opinions with the former advocating a mass dedication to the materialism of the market society. Reformism, as a result was an opposing view to that of the individual revivals. Nevertheless, the underlying belief was that â€Å"religion was a necessary spring† for the government to operate efficiently and people believed in â€Å"a close association between Religion and Patriotism† (Religion and the American Republic 7). Societies and communities sprang up with a clear objective of devotion towards the removal of social evil and re-enlightenment of the individual soul as a result of the energy created from the evangelical movement. The six largest societies created during 1826-1827 were the American Education Society, the American Board of Foreign Missions, the American Bible Society, the American Sunday-School Union, the American Tract Society, and the American Home Missionary Society (Religion and the American Republic 7). WORKS CITED: 1.   United States History, The Formation of a National Government, Retrieved on Mar 10, 2006 from: http://countrystudies.us/united-states/ 2. Finseth, Ian. The Rise and fall of Alexander Hamilton, Retrieved on Mar 10, 2006 from: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/ham/hamilton.html 3. Religion and the Founding of the American Republic, Retrieved on Mar 10, 2006 from: Market Revolution The Market Revolution AP U. S. History The impact of the Market Revolution was the dawn of new markets in land, labor and produce. It ultimately changed American society and reflected a turn away from agrarian ideals through various changes in business, transportation, and society. Overall, the Market Revolution impacted the nation through different regions; the northeast became industrial, while the south relied on farming. The Northeast was booming in industrial growth from the Market Revolution.With the new textile mills, there were many jobs and the economy was on the rise. However, two of the biggest ways the Northeast was able to improve was with its improvements on transportation and various innovations. For example, in 1825 the Eerie Canal was created by Dewitt Clinton and set the stage for faster and easier transportation for goods and people. Also, with New York growing into one of the nation’s largest cities, there were various railroad networks that linked major ci ties. Lastly, the Northeast region was also improving with the creation of companies.For example, in 1813 Francis Cabot Lowell created the Boston Manufacturing company created the first large scale manufacturing cities in the United States of America (Lowell, Massachusetts). With this company, Lowell was also able to create 6,000 jobs by 1836. Because of these important improvements, the Market Revolution industrialized the Northeast and definitely set it apart in comparison to the Southwest region. While the Northeast was improving vastly on industrialization, the South was concentrated on their growth of farming.Even though, the South lagged in the growth of industrialization and urbanization, they had just as fast growth in their economy. It was Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin that made slaves last longer and the production of cotton much faster. For example, cotton growth went from around 75,000 bales in 1800 to over 2 million bales in 1850 with the improvements on producing cotton. Because of the faster production of cotton, the South was able to export to Europe and the Northeast for an advantageous profit. Even though the South obviously had most of their growth due to cotton, they were still able to improve technologically wise.They did have factories and large ports and harbors. For example, the Mississippi transportation helped businesses export across the country with the advances of the steamboat. Thus, having a similar growth in transportation in comparison to the north. From 1815-1860, the Market Revolution was able to have growth in both the Northeast and the South regions and even though they had many differences, the regions were brought together with their booming economies. The large improvements in farming and industrialization were able to shape America into a powerful and wealthy country.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Obesity: Nutrition and Fast Food Essay

Throughout the past ten years, childhood obesity rates have skyrocketed in the United States. Many experts and studies claim that parents are the ones to blame for their children’s unhealthy eating habits. However, today kids live in a world where marketing innovations have made eating fast food the norm, so how much influence do parents really have on their children? In my view, America’s childhood obesity epidemic is a direct result of fast-food marketing techniques that expand advertisements throughout schools, promote junk food on television, and increase portion sizes in restaurants. Schools are powerful marketing sites of fast food, seeing as they provide students the option of eating from outlets such as McDonald’s and Pizza Hut on a daily basis. Writer, David Barboza claims how numerous schools have special agreements with fast-food chains to sell their products. For example, he mentions how, â€Å"Vending machines now dominate school corridors. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have pouring rights contracts in hundreds of schools nationwide,† (2). By offering sugary beverages and other snacks all over campuses, schools are advocating unhealthy eating habits that in turn lead to obesity. When educators make fast food available at their schools, they are increasing funding yet they are providing students with meals that contain hundreds of calories. Although many schools do not have contracts with fast food companies, they still make junk food accessible by having special days dedicated to fast food. For example, writer Barboza describes how a school in Garden City, Kansas has â€Å"Pizza Hut Days,† (2). Ultimately, by virtue of scheduling days where fast food is often the only lunch option, schools are forcing students to decide between preparing their own meals or simply consuming the junk food that they offer. Since many students are not able to prepare their own meals, they end up consuming an incredible amount of calories from the fast food offered at the school that eventually leads to obesity. All over the United States, schools advertise fast food in order to make profits and do not pay attention to how they are influencing  childhood obesity rates. Apart from schools, television is one of the most influential marketing mediums for the selling of fast food to children because advertisements are constantly impacting kids via children’s networks such as Disney Channel or Nickelodeon. Barboza claims that fast food advertisements using program characters as pitchmen are taking over television channels. For instance, he describes how â€Å"SpongeBob SquarePants has his own show, but also sells Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Popsicles, Kleenex, etc,† (2). Barboza then discusses how Nicky Greenberg who is six years old knows the SpongeBob SquarePants song and eats Kellog’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch because she loves the commercials that feature SpongeBob (2-3). Through the use of a Nickelodeon characters such as SpongeBob, television is influencing young kids to develop unhealthy eating habits that can lend to obesity or Type 2 Diabetes. Fast food companies take advantage of these well-known television characters and use them as pitchmen to increase their profits, without caring that by promoting their high calorie foods they are in turn expanding waistlines. All in all persuasive fast-food advertisements on television are making kids believe a lie: that the consumption of junk food does not lead to obesity. Another significant advertising technique that contributes to childhood obesity is the increase of portion sizes. Writer David Zinczenko describes how fast food companies add on various ingredients and sugary beverages that make even a healthy meal unhealthy. For example, he describes a chicken salad that initially contains 150 calories, but turns out to be more than 1,040 calories with the additional almonds, noodles, dressing, and Coke (10). Not only are portions increased in fast food restaurants by adding more ingredients to the meal, but also by super-sizing foods. For instance, writer Susan Brownlee communicates how McDonald’s supersized its products when they introduced the 32 ounce â€Å"super size† soda and â€Å"super size† fries (5). Whether fast-food restaurants add more items to the overall meal or make food bigger, kids essentially end up consuming unnecessary calories and this gives rise to obesity at an early age. As soon as fast food restaurants change their portion sizes, childhood obesity rates will begin to decrease because kids will consume fewer calories. Although an increased portion  sizes bring in high profits now, this process will deteriorate when consumers see how the extra calories are affecting their lives. Overall dozens of fast-food marketing techniques are at fault for the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States. Yet the most influential of these techniques are the advertisements in schools and on television, as well as the increase of servings at chain restaurants. Critics might say, that parents must take the personal responsibility to prohibit children from watching certain channels or going to certain places. However, what happens when children are at their friend’s house where there are no restrictions on T.V., or out and about with their friends at the mall’s food court, who protects them then? One way to resolve increasing childhood obesity rates due to persuasive fast food promotions is to inform kids how to prepare healthier meals. Unless people take action against fast food marketing, childhood obesity will remain a problem across the United States.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

International banking and financial markets coursework Essay

International banking and financial markets coursework - Essay Example This exposes a gold mining company to commodity price risk. Another example is such, a U.S. equipment manufacturer can contract to supply machinery to a foreign buyer in its local currency if the dollar strengthens against the local currency before the buyer makes payment, and the U.S. manufacturer loses. This exposes the U.S. manufacturer to foreign currency risk. As still another example, a real estate financier can offer a fixed-rate mortgage in a profitable manner. This exposes the real estate financier to interest rate risk. To lessen these markets risks, companies enter into hedging transactions, or hedges for short. Hedges are contracts that seek to insulate companies from market risks. A hedge is similar in concept to an insurance policy, where the company enters into a contract that ensures a certain payoff regardless of market forces. A hedge is possible because different parties are affected in different ways by market risks. For example while a gold mining company is concerned with a drop in gold prices, a jewelry maker are potentially interested in a contract to sell (buy) gold at a future date for a fixed price. This is called a forward contract, and often is transacted in a commodities market. Financial instruments such as futures, options, and swaps are commonly used as hedges. These financial instruments are called derivative financial instruments, or simply derivatives. A derivative is a financial instrument whose value is derived from the value of another asset, class of assets, or economic variable such as a stock, bond, commodity price, interest rate, or currency exchange rate. However, a derivative contracted as a hedge can expose companies to considerable risk. This is either because it is difficult to find a derivative that entirely hedges the risk exposure or because the parties to the derivative contract fail to understand the potential risks from the instrument. Companies also use

Friday, September 27, 2019

Student motivation or engagement in high school urban students Research Paper - 1

Student motivation or engagement in high school urban students - Research Paper Example In this paper, I have research the problem of student motivation. I wanted to know what additional instructional strategies engage students as well as any incentive system that would influence their participation. In this study, I included different rewards both intrinsic and extrinsic in trying to improve participation in preparation for an upcoming professional certification exam. Keeping the students engaged with their learning would bring success and value to their education. Subsequently, this could be behavior modification for the classroom. In a school’s computer lab, students are posting on their Facebook pages and listening to music. No this is not a study or the library, but a computer lab in an urban setting during classroom instruction. How do we enhance student’s motivation toward learning? With so many obstacles present in the urban school districts such as poverty, lack of parental involvement, high drop rates, substance abuse and gang involvement, it is a struggle to get students to recognize the need for education. The level of student engagement is directly connecting to teaching practices (Adkins-Coleman, 2010). As a teacher, you are responsible for classroom management and the instruction that you provide to your students. If you can engage your students in the classroom and motivate them to learn; this will assist in behavior management and move the students toward academic success. With behavior being an obstacle in a classroom, how are new teachers prepared to work in an urban environment? To prepare future teachers more adequately for urban schools, teacher educators need to provide the opportunity for them to learn from teachers who successfully facilitate engagement (Adkins-Coleman, 2010). Schools need to find appropriate mentors for new teachers as well as provide professional development to educational staff with new instructional strategies for the classroom. The level of student engagement is

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Cold War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cold War - Essay Example In post WW2 scenario, America’s image as powerful democracy and its efforts to contain communism had received considerable jolt when its racial segregation and other such problems had caused international backlash. The Cold War has become pertinent part of history as it had divided the nations into democratic and communist political platforms. The two powerful nations: USA and USSR had different political ideologies. While America was a devout democracy with strong capitalistic economy, USSR was a communist country which was founded on the philosophy of socialism and state control on the economic activities. Belmonte (2007) emphasizes that Cold War was hugely critical motivator for American leadership to introduce constitutional amendments like Civil Right Act which had promoted social justice and equality across race, culture and color. The cold war era had therefore emerged as a highly critical phenomenon that had significantly influenced the world polity with wide ramifications on the national issues of the countries across the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Abdul Qadeer Khan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Abdul Qadeer Khan - Essay Example The U.S government however, states that Khan remains a serious explosion risk to people. The appropriate judicial punishment of Abdul Qadeer Khan for his actions in arranging for the illegal sales of nuclear materials; he should be arrested, detained and his career ruined for being an embarrassment to the Pakistani government and the source of illegal bombs. According to Bernstein  (2009), through the sale of illegal nuclear materials, Khan posed as a security threat. The Pakistan government should charge Khan with espionage activities and criminal charges for these activities. They should also dismantle his network to eliminate sale of illegal weapon. The Pakistani government should agree to work with U.S. government to curb the sale of illegal weapons. This would control trafficking of illegal nuclear materials and security risks to people in countries such as Iraq and North Korea. They should also restrict his movements and he should not be allowed to meet his relatives and friend since the offence is one that affects nationals’ security. The people involved in the deals such as Bhutto and the president who also knew his deals deserve summoning for supporting Khan’s

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Dilemma in business communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Dilemma in business communication - Essay Example The new employment opportunity could improve the issue that the employee has and at the same time challenge him to be the best. If I tell the truth about the employee’s drinking problem, the employer will be able to know what kind of employee they are taking in and will be in a position to curtail him to live up to the standards of the organization. However, this would diminish the employees chances of being employed. My rationale behind hiding the truth from the employer will be based on the fact that by searching for a new employment opportunity, the employee has changed positively and realized that sticking to a company’s policies and values is a requisite. My choice will also give the employee a new chance to grow career wise (Snoeyenbos, Almeder & Humber, 2001). Although it is in the best interest of companies to hire efficient employees, people with ethical issues should also be given chances to improve. This can be done through training, formulation of company policies which encourages ethical values at the workplace and having the managers in the forefront in the elimination of unethical

Monday, September 23, 2019

Aristotle and the humanities Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Aristotle and the humanities - Research Paper Example The Greek philosopher Aristotle made contributions to the humanities through his ideas about art, as well as philosophy, specifically through his ideas regarding ethics and politics. When it came to art, Aristotle’s Poetics was an answer to Plato’s accusation against the artists for their alleged destruction of rational harmony, as stated in the Republic (Wolff 64). In the field of ethics, Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics provided the basis for showing how to live one’s life in the virtuous way and helped people of his times decide on which things were more important in their lives and what they could do to make them better.Lastly, it is a fact that ancient Greece during Aristotle’s time was a period of confusion – a time of war among city-states who fought for territorial expansion, a time for poverty and slavery, and a time when the nobility never shared their power with their constituents (â€Å"Explore Greece†). In order to address the current situation and the pressing need for â€Å"order, security and peace† amidst â€Å"the turmoil and disaster that had come out of Athenian democracy† (Durant 80), Aristotle wrote his Politics. Aristotle is relevant to the humanities because his works helped address the aesthetic, ethical and political dilemmas surrounding the Greek society in the 4th century BC, and helped shaped the thinking of the Greeks during his time as well as that of the world at present. Aesthetics: Poetics Aristotle’s rationale as to aesthetics is that â€Å"art takes us closer to essential form, not farther away† (Wolff 65). He means here that through the study of art and through the study of the works of man, man himself is able to learn a great deal not only about himself but also about his essence. Wolff’s statement further implies that people who observe art, according to Aristotle, may just be observing certain specific things but through which, they can â €Å"grasp the real nature of things.† (65) The Poetics also tells the reader about Aristotle’s theory of catharsis, which means that â€Å"art has a psychologically healthy effect on the spectator† (64). According to Wolff, this statement implies that art is an effective means of self-expression and one which brings not only wisdom but also release (64). However, these principles contradict those of Plato. In the Republic, Plato criticizes art as something that destroys the rational capacity of man and something that leads him away from the world of forms, which, according to Plato was the real world (64). However, Aristotle maintains that not only does art promote a healthy psychological make-up but that it also leads one to a realization of his essence. These teachings of Aristotle has remained helpful not only to the Greeks of his time but even to the world at present, thus Aristotle’s relevance to the humanities. Ethics: The Nichomachean Ethics Aristo tle’s contributions to aesthetics cannot, however, equal those he gave ethics. It is a fact that the ideas of right and wrong, of good and evil, and of morality itself can never be derived from scientific inquiry but only through the humanities, specifically through ethics. Aristotle’s glorious masterpiece on ethics, the Nichomachean Ethics, has provided people the guidelines on how to live a virtuous life since the time of 4th century BC Greece until now. In the Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle makes it clear that â€Å"the good for man is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue [or] the best and most perfect [virtue]† (Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, I.7). This virtue, or moral virtue, that Aristotle has ascribed most of his ethical principles on is â€Å"the submission of one’s feelings and outward acts to reason (Kilcullen) since â€Å"man, in the Aristotelian system, is a rational animal† (Durant 59). The key words therefore are †Å"rational† and â€Å"reason† and it follows that one who abides by the dictates of his reason is one is who is virtuous. This simply means that if one does

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Nashville International Airport (BNA) Research Paper

Nashville International Airport (BNA) - Research Paper Example Though the airport was initially built on just 337 acres of land, the airport has since acquired adjacent land for expansion. Finch (2009) reveals that the airport currently sits on more than 4,500 acres of land. Finch (2009) reports that, apart from the acquisition of more land for expansion, the airport has also undergone a series of renovation, which has transformed it be one of the safest airports to board a plane. For instance, the airport has four runways, which are long enough to handle all types of aircrafts. The longest runway measures about 3,360 meters, which meets the RSA standards for handling all kinds of aircrafts. Finch (2009) noted that Nashville International Airport (BNA) currently handles a very large number of travelers and cargo. Finch (2009) reveals that BNA has 12 airlines that serve the various cities in North America and beyond. The airport is reported to be witnessing about 400 arrivals and departure daily. Finch (2009) reveals that about 8 million passenge rs currently fly either from or into the airport. For instance, it is reported that about 4.67 million passengers boarded flights on Nashville International Airport (BNA) in 2011. The airport also handled more than 84,000 tons of cargo in the same year. Currently Nashville International Airport (BNA) ranks 34th-busiest passenger airport in the U.S. ... As earlier indicated, Nashville International Airport (BNA) handles about 7 million passengers each year which is more than 1% of Americas total passenger boarding’s, according to Surhone, Timpledon and Marseken (2010). Nashville International Airport (BNA) recognizes the fact that the airport serves even the physically challenged. As a result, the airport has elevators and ramps used by these passengers for alighting and boarding the plane. The airport also has an ample parking bay for vehicles with handicap license plates. In this regard, it is a requirement that each airline makes its own arrangement for assisting the physically challenged to get to and from the plane. In addition to the parking lot for the physically challenged, the airport also has a packing bay for all provided free of charge as long as the vehicle is not packed for more than 30 minutes. Moreover, there is also a short-vehicle servicing garage for passengers who travel via the airport (Romine, 2012). Nas hville International Airport (BNA) also has many entertainment facilities at the airport that ensures that its passengers are not left the board while waiting their flights. Finch (2009) reveals that the airport has some of the several hotels and restaurants at the terminus where passengers can enjoy their meals. The hotels and restaurants serve a variety of meals and drinks to passengers at affordable prices. In addition, the airport also features live bands on a daily basis ranging from jazz to county music (Surhone, Timpledon, and Marseken, 2010). The terminus of the airport is also well illuminated by skylights designed by Robert Lamb Hart, the famous New York architect. This contributes to the general atmosphere of accessibility and openness. Security is also beefed up at the

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Extra Credit for Reflective Essay Essay Example for Free

Extra Credit for Reflective Essay Essay My writing is nowhere near what I would consider good. I am the only one to blame. As I previously stated in other class assignments, I dropped out of high school in the middle of ninth grade. Ever since then, I never did any sort of writing, unless it was for work. Instead of working on my writing and education in general these past 6 years, I have been ignoring the fact that being educated will get me further in life and help me live more comfortably. What pushed me get back into school was the birth of my daughter as well as my interest in becoming a police officer. Aside from my horrible credit history, I knew from the start that my writing needs improvement if I even want to get through the screening process for new hires. In class, I realized how much there is to writing certain texts. Specially with essays, there was terms mentioned that I was not thought with or I just simply forgot about them. Learning grammar was of great help to me as I see grammar as my biggest weakness when it comes to writing. I specifically remember the presentation about proper usage on the apostrophe, because I was guilty on using it incorrectly with plural nouns. What I would have liked, however, is that grammar should have been taught not by the students, but by the professor. Some of the presentations seemed very important and essential to writing but they were not all clear to understand. Others had good information but it was hard for me to keep interest as the speaker read line after line of text of what seemed to be copy and paste definitions. Aside from that minor flaw, I thought the class was good overall. I just wish I had more free time so I can take  another class that supersedes this one. If I get thru the hiring process, I will have to be a good writer as police officers have to generate many accurate reports throughout their work day. Since incorrect grammar can completely change the meaning of something, I do not want it to be my weakest link when it comes to my law enforcement career. Especially since being a bad writer is correctable. Whether I take another class or buy a  book on grammar, I will attempt to improve it. Even if its a little at a time. As long as I am moving forward and not backwards, my future looks brighter than before I got back into school.

Friday, September 20, 2019

An Analysis Of The Critical Period

An Analysis Of The Critical Period The critical period hypothesis cites a commonly observable phenomenon, the fact that children find language learning much easier than adults, and learn language remarkably quickly, to claim that language learning is more difficult, or impossible after puberty. The concept of critical periods was initially introduced in the study of animal behavior, where it was noticed that certain behavioral responses only emerged when stimulus was given within a particular time frame. This concept has been applied to many species, including humans, with regard to the development of specific emotional responses such as stress.  [1]  In 1967 Lenneberg proposed that this concept also applied to human linguistic development, seeing language as a response and exposure to language as the stimulus.  [2]  There are two versions of this hypothesis: the strong version, which claims that no language acquisition is possible after puberty, and the weak version, which maintains that language learning wil l be much more difficult. A distinction is often made between language acquisition, the way in which children unconsciously learn their native tongue, and language learning which implies formal instruction, and Lenneberg maintains this distinction himself. Age is not the only variable when comparing groups of learners. We cannot simply compare children and adults, but must differentiate between children acquiring their first language, children learning additional language(s) naturalistically, child and adult classroom learners, both in the country where the language is spoken and outside of it, and immigrants immersed in a foreign language and culture, learning language through induction. With these groups, different social and psychological factors, as well as age, affect their language proficiency, and these must be explored alongside the role that age may play. Some psychologists and psycho-linguists, such as Steven Pinker, claim that language learning stops at puberty because before that an innate language learning mechanism is present in the brain, enabling children to flawlessly acquire any language, given enough input.  [3]  Once puberty is reached, this language acquisition mechanism is shut down, and language acquisition becomes impossible. Chomsky claims that another variety of innate device, a Universal Grammar capability, allows the child to extract grammatical rules from the input that he receives, and to use them to generate an infinite number of further grammatical sentences.  [4]  In claiming that these devices shut down at puberty, these theories make no allowances, for example, for the fact that vocabulary is added to the corpus of language knowledge throughout life, and that adults can be successful in learning foreign languages. If a child acquires substandard forms, this does not mean that as an adult, he or she wi ll not be able to modify these forms. It is also possible to acquire a first language after puberty, as some cases, which will be discussed later, have shown Both Pinker and Chomsky allude to the ease of language acquisition as proof of an innate device behind it. We do not ascribe innate knowledge to other fields that children excel in, simply because they find them easy. For example, any child who is physically able to can learn to ride a bicycle, yet it is doubtful that a theorist would propose that evolution has provided an innate bicycle-riding apparatus. One element of the skill, balance, is innate, and is controlled by a specific part of the inner ear, the semicircular canals.  [5]  Once the child has achieved good enough control over its muscles, it can build on the innate function of balance to learn to ride a bicycle. To learn language, a child must process the data to which it is exposed, deduce rules from regularities occurring in this data, and apply these. In addition, it must have control over the muscles that govern articulation. There is no need to suppose that a specialized linguistic device to extract these rules exists, however. The entire left hemisphere of the brain is constantly constructing theories regarding the world around it, based on sensory evidence.  [6]  Language heard by the child is a part of this sensory data, existing in its aural form and in a visual or aural referent, which must be simultaneously processed. Brain function experiments have shown that the left hemisphere of the brain is indeed more active when grammar is being handled.  [7]  Like bicycle riding, language is an ability based entirely on an innate function, but is not entirely innate in itself. Without exposure, language doesnt appear; therefore it is not innate. Rather than supposing that vague, un located language acquisition or universal grammar mechanisms exist in the brain, the ability to extract theories from data could be seen as a wider function of the brain itself, rather than being language specific. If these specialized mechanisms cannot be proven to exist, then the decline in language learning ability cannot be accounted for by the shutting down of these mechanisms. Such theories also seem to suggest an erroneous concept of the brain itself. Were the brain designed it would doubtless include specific linguistic structures, and some kind of mechanism for language acquisition. But it has evolved to contain not innate knowledge or skills, but the potential for knowledge and skills to develop. The fact that the same areas of the brain handle language in approximately 90% of the population  [8]  is no reason to regard these areas as empty containers waiting to be filled with language, or with their own mechanism to enable this to happen. In any case, the brain is so richly provided with interconnections that it is impossible to describe any boundaries within it. Language is organized in the same way in most humans, but the organization is not rigid. If that part of the brain is injured in youth, language can be relocated to a different place without detrimental effect, suggesting that, although a preference may exist, no sector of the brain is mo re or less suitable than any other for language processing, and negating the possibility that one particular area of the brain is equipped with a language acquisition device.  [9]   Brain injuries also shed light on another important issue. If a young child suffers a head injury to the region of the brain that controls language, it suffers minor temporary language handicap, followed by normal development. The language centers develop again elsewhere without detriment. An older child will also be able to recover language ability, but other abilities, such as spatial skills, will be compromised. An adult suffering the same injury would be terribly and irrevocably handicapped by aphasia.  [10]  As well as suggesting that language can exist normally in other parts of the brain, it suggests that there is a difference between child and adult brains. Also, children become gradually more like adults, reflecting a gradual change in the brain as maturity is approached. In his original critical period hypothesis, Lenneberg cited this change undergone in the brain as the main physiological basis for the critical period.  [11]  Children were constrained in their language ability until the brain was mature enough, but once the brain achieves maturity, as occurs at puberty, language acquisition is again impossible. This is because lateralization is complete, with all brain functions being localized to a particular area, and cerebral plasticity not longer possible. This is supported by the experience of brain injured people. In younger children, brain organization is incomplete, and so if one part of the brain is injured, it is straightforward for the language centre to be re-established. Older children can also re-establish their language ability, but at the expense of other skills, suggesting that language is supplanting these skills in a particular area of the brain. Adults inability to do this suggests that functions previously flexible have now become immovable, supporting the idea of brain lateralization, and its effect on language. However, this does not provide proof that language learning is impossible after puberty. Adults learning a second language are not attempting to establish another centre of language function. The same areas of the brain are used to process all languages, even sign language. They are adding to their linguistic knowledge, acquiring new grammatical rules and vocabulary, but the same part of the brain will handle such knowledge. We acquire much of the vocabulary of our native language during our teens and beyond, as well as learning more complicated grammatical structures, so there is no reason to suppose that we cannot do the same with a foreign language. We can discount these claims, and still be left with the observation that children learn languages much quicker than adults do. If a family immigrates to a new country, the children will pick up the new language quickly, leaving their parent far behind, and probably acting as their interpreters. Children undoubtedly have advantages, yet these are not inextricably linked to their age. When a child is learning language, circumstances are uniquely supportive, and these circumstances are not usually replicated in later life. Physiologically, children have advantages. Hearing declines with age, and so the child is better able to identify different phonemes, and because children have better control of the articulatory muscles, they are better able to reproduce what they have heard.  [12]  Young children also have an amazing ability to learn by rote, and so can retain more data for analysis. Psychologically, they are unaffected by inhibitions or previous experiences. Young children acquiring a second language may not even have a conception of language itself, since it is many years before children can discuss language reflexively. They are usually free from prejudice against the new language, or any cultural concepts that may accompany it. In terms of hours spent on language acquisition, it is no small task. Children are attuned to language from birth, and are aware of sound in the womb.  [13]  Yet it is many months before they begin to vocalize, and years before they consistently produce grammatical sentences. From a vast amount of input, numbering many hours every single day, the child still takes much time, and much experimentation, before it is consistently accurate in its application of grammatical rules. It would take years of weekly language lessons for an adult to have experienced similar exposure, and undoubtedly the adult would then have acquired a good deal of the language, and would perhaps be approaching native-speaker fluency. The input is therefore superior on terms of quantity, but also in terms of quality. Caretaker language is a common phenomenon, including foreigner talk as well as Parentheses. This is due to the obvious fact that in communication, we are aiming to be understood, and will naturally produce what we judge that our listener will understand. Parentheses and Foreigner talk share many common features, but Parentheses is superior for language learning for many reasons. Firstly, the parent or other has a much better idea of what the child can understand and can modify their output accordingly. Secondly, Foreigner talk is often ungrammatical, with, for example, infinitives being overused to aid comprehension. Parentheses is mostly grammatical, unlike adult to adult speech,  [14]  and therefore provides the child with a large amount of perfect data from which to extract rules, whereas the foreigner is more likely to extract erroneous rules from the false data presented. And of course a pare nt has a much greater interest in the language skills of their children than a colleague or acquaintance will have in the language learning of their foreign friends. The child is also favored by the relative unimportance of comprehension. If a baby does not understand what an adult with whom it is playing says, it doesnt matter. If needs be, the adult can physically move the child or otherwise compel it to do something. If the baby is at the top of the stairs, and doesnt heed instructions to move, the adult will simply pick it up. However, an immigrant will have to perform some tasks, such as finding work, shopping, or applying for a driving license, and not understanding warning signs such as Beware of the Dog or Electrified Fence. The need to understand and been understood is much greater, and accompanying stress and frustration may hinder the learner. In addition, the world is favorably disposed towards children, whose mistakes they find endearing, but often hostile towards foreigners with a similar language capability. For children, the vast majority of social interaction is not based on conversation but centered on a particular activity, such as a ball game, or painting. Therefore, a child may gain acceptance into a group of his or her peers without a common language, and through participation is able to learn the language. For adults the reverse is true. Little interaction will take place if adults without a common language meet, reflecting the central role that conversation plays in most adult interactions. Again, this is a sociological factor. On a German exchange, for example, a student would participate in events like family meals, at which they would understand little of the conversation. They would be able to acquire several items of vocabulary, and phrases such as Guten Appetit. However, it is unlikely that an adult would be able to have the benefit of such an opportunity. In the first place, it is unlikely that he or she would have been able to make such a friendship as to prompt an invit ation. Were this possible, conversational conventions would not allow for a silent participant, making the hosts feel as if they were in some way excluding their guest, and the guest as if he was not providing his or her share of the evenings conversation. Used to being able to participate, the guest would no doubt feel frustrated at being unable to express opinions already thought through in the second language. In this way, inhibitions bar the older learner from excellent language learning opportunities. Our life experience shows us that adults can indeed be successful in learning a new language, whether it is stock phrases from a phrase book, or the entire language. If enough time can be devoted to the language, fluency is achievable at any age. The main area where children are superior to adults is pronunciation. A child can easily sound like a native speaker, yet few adults manage to acquire a perfect accent, however hard they study. This may be because children have superior hearing and better control over their articulatory organs. Even within the native language, accents appear to become fixed after puberty. A Scottish child who moves to England will quickly exchange his accent for the one he hears at school, whereas a Scottish adult may spend the vast majority of his life in England, and yet retain his accent. But adults can alter their accent, through elocution classes, and an actor may possess a vast repertoire of regional accents. In both cases, acquiring a new accent is ad vantageous; therefore there is a genuine motivation to do it. Research substantiates this: Neufeld developed a successful pronunciation technique that moves gradually from listening to speaking. After eighteen hours of instruction, nine out of twenty students convinced listeners that they were native speakers of Japanese, and 8 out of twenty that they were Chinese.  [15]  Where there is no need to alter ones accent it is unlikely that the effort will be made. A native speaker of English, with a regional accent, will have no problem with being understood in any part of the country, and therefore has no motivation to adapt it. While children are more likely to alter their accent, and have physical advantages enabling them to do so, adults do not lack this ability. Some kind of choice, probably subconscious is made. Children wish to be like their peers, and adults wish to retain their developed sense of personal identity. The importance of accent is perhaps overrated. Fluency is the ability to communicate as well in a second language as in the native tongue, to be able to generate and to understand an infinite number of sentences, not to pass as a native speaker. A foreign accent doesnt often hamper comprehension if the sentence is grammatically correct; therefore accent is not a vital part of language. It is merely a social factor. The fact that adults do not acquire native-like accents is not proof of a critical period for language acquisition. Although children seem to have the upper hand in naturalistically acquiring language, for these various reasons, research shows that classroom learning actually favors the older learner. When language is not taught in a formal context, children excel. Perhaps it seems effortless because the young child is not told that it should be laborious. But a child introduced to language in the classroom, who has experienced school as boring and demanding, and is told that much learning of grammar will be required, and is constantly informed of his mistakes, will see language learning as an effort. Krashen recognizes these factors in his Affective Filter hypothesis,  [16]  basically an exploration of the different factors that may influence motivation, obviously an important factor influencing learning of any kind. Studies concentrating on a variety of first and second languages have shown that when older and younger students learning by the same method are compared, older students make better progress. When immigrants to Holland were compared, adults made faster progress than children did in learning Dutch  [17]  ; Swedish pupils were shown to make better progress in their English lessons the older they were  [18]  . The Total Physical response method of language teaching is supposedly more suitable for children, yet in a Russian study adults achieved better results.  [19]  Even in a supposedly more naturalistic technique, the French immersion system as practiced in Canada, where children acquire French through being taught a range of school subjects only in that language, those who entered the immersion program at a later stage were judged more proficient than those who participated from the start.  [20]  The situation is of crucial importance here. Effectiveness in a classroo m situation increases with age in all other subjects, and in adulthood, when education is by choice not compulsion, learners are even more motivated. Childrens physiological advantages do not produce greater success when they are compared with adults in an identical situation. This suggests that it is the situation in which the language learning is taking place that is of vital importance. Children mostly learn naturalistically, in a supportive environment, whereas adults learning through immersion often find society hostile. The constraints of a classroom mean that language learning is not as effective as naturalistic learning. An important part of the debate over the critical period has focussed on the Wild Children the few children who have been raised entirely without language and have been later discovered. These children cannot provide proof of anything in scientific terms. They are unfortunate human beings rather than a scientific experiment, with their lives before discovery shrouded in mystery. We could not use the fact that these children do not always acquire language to prove that no child would be able to under the same circumstances, since we cannot discount factors such as mental retardation, or the effects of their often brutal earlier lives. However, their achievements do challenge some theories advanced. History has provided us with two known examples of children who did not begin to learn their native language until past puberty. Two cases, Caspar Hauser and Victor, the wild boy of Aveyron, are distant in time and complicated by claims of hoaxing in the first instance and mental retardation in the second, which obviously cannot be proved or disproved. For what it is worth, both cases acquired language, Caspar (aged 16) perfectly, and Victor (aged around 12) imperfectly, but he is said to have attained a useful communicative ability.  [21]   More recently, other cases of children being raised without language have occurred, and have been subject to more stringent scientific exploration, and can therefore be more useful in a discussion of the critical period. Genie is perhaps the most notable example, being the eldest at the time of discovery, at thirteen years old, and subject to complete isolation before that time.  [22]  The case of Isabelle, aged six, is also notable for her perfect acquisition of language within two years, to the normal childs five. Genie was discovered in November 1970, having been isolated in the same room between the age of twenty months and 13 and a half years. Her only human contact was with her father and brother, who used only growling noises and violence to communicate with her. Genie was handicapped not only in her language development, but also in all forms of socialization. She had no reaction to temperature, no concept of ownership or of personal space, and could not even chew her food. At first, she was disinclined to vocalize at all, having been beaten by her father for making any noise whatsoever, and even in her tantrums she tended to use items of furniture to make sound, remaining eerily silent herself. Children begin to use words to describe a world they have already become familiar with, but Genie was faced with the task of acquiring words to describe an environment she could barely even understand. Under these circumstances it is not remarkable that she did not develop complete language compe tency over the first five years of her rehabilitation. However, her achievement in these years was not inconsiderable, as one researcher, Susan Curtiss points out: Genies language is far from normal. More important, however, over and above the specific similarities and differences that exist between Genies language and the language of normal children, we must keep in mind that Genies speech is rule-governed behavior, and that from a finite set of arbitrary linguistic elements she can and does create novel utterances that theoretically know no upper bound. These are aspects of human language that set it apart form all other animal communication systems. Therefore, abnormalities notwithstanding, in the most fundamental and critical respects, Genie has language.  [23]   Here we have an example of an individual past puberty who has made considerable progress in mastering her first language, has succeeded in the most fundamental and critical respects even if not completely. At the very least, Genie shows that the term critical period is misleading, since language exposure before puberty is not critical, and no fixed amount of time or developmental stage can be cited.  [24]   Isabelle, like Genie, was completely isolated from the speaking world, being imprisoned with her deaf-mute mother. Unlike Genie, she was not treated cruelly, and interacted with her mother using gestures of their own devising. On being discovered aged six, in 1938, she was thought to be uneducable, but within a week had begun to use words. She was noted to pass through the normal developmental stages of language acquisition, but at a vastly accelerated rate, catching up with her age group two years later.  [25]  The fact that Genie was more than twice Isabelles age is not necessarily the decisive factor here. Isabelle was not traumatized by her upbringing, and was not an unsocialised creature, like Genie. She understood the concept of communication, and had developed a language of a sort, the gestures she used with her mother. Her task was not so great as Genies, and so her greater achievement is proof only that a six-year-old can acquire language, and not that a thirteen-year-ol d cannot. The Critical Period hypothesis suggests that age is the primary reason for childrens apparent superior language learning ability. This may be a factor, but is far from being the only reason. Language is more complex than a simple response to a simple stimulus, as Lennebergs hypothesis may suggest. Even if it were proved that childrens ability proceeds entirely from their more suitable circumstances, the impossibility of exactly replicating these circumstances for an adult would mean that the discovery would not be of much functional use. As an adult language student it would be most useful to note that it may be my inhibitions rather that my inabilities that hinder me most in my studies, and that regarding grammar as laborious may indeed make it so!

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Community of Female Voices in Arab Women Literature :: Fatima Mernissi Arab Culture Cultural Essays

The Community of Female Voices in Arab Women Literature In her memoir, Dreams of Trespass, Fatima Mernissi remembers asking her grandmother Yasmina how one can discern a true story from a false one. The wise old woman, Yasmina, told her granddaughter to relax and not look at life in extreme polarities because "there are things which could be both [true and false] and things which could be neither" (Dreams, 61). "Words are like onions," Yasmina explained further and "the more skins you peel off, the more meanings you encounter" (Dreams, 61). Thus, according to Yasmina, the real power of finding the "true" answer for oneself is to discover "multiplicities of meanings" because then right and wrong become irrelevant (Dreams, 61). Yasmina's image of words as onions can be used in one's understanding of the multilayered complexity of oppression in Arab women literature. Although in some novels, such as The Pillars of Salt and Drams of Trespass, female oppression is an obvious result of social norms, in other texts (In the Eye of the Sun, for example) the main female character, Asya Ulama, seems to be free of any form of social pressure. However, one has to keep in mind that no woman ever stands alone in her oppression, whether it is physical or psychological oppression, or both. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to "peal off all the skins of an onion" or to uncover all the different layers of female oppression presented in the five books: Pillars of Salt, A woman of Five Seasons, A Balcony Over Fakihani, Dreams of Trespass and In the Eye of the Sun. The Feminist Theory The feminist writer, Gloria Anzaldua, argues that in order for silence to "transform into speech, sound and words," the silence must first ‘traverse through our female bodies" (Making, XIII). According to Anzaldua, the female silence is richly layered and it hides important voices which once discovered lead to women's liberation. Many feminist writers would argue that women can only tell their stories when they listen to (and follow) their inner voices. These inner voices are not only singular voices of the "self" but also communal voices that connect women with past and future generations. Thus, if one is to explore the oppression of Muslim women through the work of Arab women novelists, one must keep in mind the multilayered complexity of women's voices, or what I call the "community of

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Ultimately Disgusting :: essays research papers

Ultimate fighting is one of the most brutal and barbaric sports ever to be seen on television. Ultimate fighting is a no-rules fighting competition, designed to provide violent entertainment for its viewers. In this competition a fighter is allowed to punch, kick, and choke his opponent to win a fight. Ultimate fighting first came to the United States in 1993 when SEG began promoting it as, 'The Ultimate Fighting Championship.'; Ultimate fighting is an unsafe sport and people should not be permitted to view or compete in such violent competitions. Dr. George Lindberg editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association says, 'Someone's spinal cord could be fractured, an arm could be broken, and choking could result in brain damage. The possibility of injury is very high'; (Sokolove 1). The American Medical Association wants an all out ban on boxing and ultimate fighting. Senator John McCain, the leader in the opposition wants it banned because he is concerned about injury to the competitors (Kirby 20). In the UFC competitors have received broken arms, damaged their spinal cord, and been knocked out on several occasions. In a recent event in the Ukraine, a competitor died after he was beated badly. After the fight he collapsed, was taken to a hospital, and later died (Kodi). Cockfighting is banned in almost all states in this country, however in most states ultimate fighting still goes unregulated. Why are we allowing humans to compete in events that we have decided is too dangerous for animals (Sokolove 1)? Isn't allowing this type of event to go on telling our children that it is ok to fight? This type of event serves no positive purpose, and only increases the tolerance for violence in our society. Fans and promoters of ultimate fighting argue that fighters should be allowed to compete in any type of violent event if both participants are consenting. Isn't there a point then where all of this goes to far though? Suppose someone wants to televise the death of someone who consents to being killed. Under their logic this type of thing would be ok because everyone is consenting. We have already banned such consenting activities such as prostitution, drugs, and assisted suicide; we should just add this to the list. John McCain believes that the fighter's consent is deceptive. He says a fighter is, 'driven by profits or the enticements of publicity associated with it and unknowingly is placing his or her life at risk (Kirby 20).

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Feminism and Equal Rights Essay -- Opportunities, Organized Activity, W

Feminism is the belief in equal rights and opportunities, in organized activity, in support of women’s rights and interests, and also in the theory of political, economic, and social equality of the sexes (Merriam-Webster). Typically, the word â€Å"feminism† has a negative connotation associated with it and feminists are stereotyped as closed minded, man hating, ugly, and whiny, among many other things. However, these stereotypes are much exaggerated and while they may be true of some feminists, most are normal women who could not be picked out from a crowd. Modern day feminists are following in the footsteps of their ancestors who starting in the late 1800’s have participated in three major feminist movements (Stockton). The first of these movements occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The goal of the first wave was to open more opportunity doors for women with a main focus on suffrage. The wave officially began at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 (Stockton). Here, over 300 men and women rallied for the equality of women (Ruether). In its early stages, feminism was often related to temperance and abolitionist movements. This first wave of feminism movements if often referred to as the â€Å"Suffrage Movement† (Gender Press). This movement helped give voice to many early stage feminist advocates who are famous today, some of which include Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony. These women fought for the right to vote, a privilege that was reserved for men (Stockton). This movement transformed into something much larger when the National Women’s Rights Convention was formed a few years later. This movement led to the 19th Amendment being passed in 1920. The 19th Amendment outlawed gender- biased vot... ...//genderpressing.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/feminism-the-first-wave-2/>. 9. "." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. . 10. "The History of Second Wave Feminism." Suite. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. . 11. "Third Wave Foundation." Third Wave Foundation History Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. . 12. "A Manifesto for Third Wave Feminism." Alternet. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. . 13. Duca, Lauren. "A Definitive Guide To Celebrity Feminism In 2013." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 Dec. 2013. Web. 15 May 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/22/celebrity-feminisn_n_4476120.html.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Euthanasia Essay

Thesis: Euthanasia, and a common form of euthanasia, assisted suicide, should be legal processes through which aterminally ill individual may voluntarily end his or her own life. Summary: As of 2009, assisted suicide was legal in only three states: Oregon, Washington, and Montana. Since itsinception in those states, assisted suicide has proven to be an effective, but rarely employed means of allowing a terminallyill person to end his or her life in a dignified manner. Though the United States federal government has opposed measures toenact federal legislation that would legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, the time has come for the federal governmentand the remainder of the states to recognize that, inherent in the right to live freely is the right to decide when to humanelyend one’s life. Introduction To understand the debate surrounding euthanasia, one must first understand euthanasia and its related variations. Theterm euthanasia, taken from the Greek word for â€Å"easy death,† refers to the process by which a physician prescribes andadministers a fatal dose of drugs to a terminally ill individual in a controlled medical environment, thus causing their death ina quick and painless manner. Euthanasia is commonly referred to as physician-assisted suicide. Assisted suicide, a relatedform of euthanasia, describes the process by which a physician or pharmacist only prescribes the fatal drugs, leaving theterminally ill individual to ingest the drugs on their own, at a time of their choosing. As of 2009, physician-assisted suicidewas not legal in any state in America, while assisted suicide was legal in three states. The Federal Government & the Courts A quartet of United States Supreme Court cases (Washington v. Glucksberg, Vacco v. Quill, Gonzales v. Oregon, and Cruzanv. Director, Missouri Department of Health) have helped to shape the legal landscape in the debate over euthanasia and anindividual’s right to refuse medical treatment. In Glucksberg and Vacco, companion cases decided in 1997, the SupremeCourt ruled that states have the authority to prohibit assisted suicide and against the notion that the right to die isguaranteed in the Constitution. More recently, in the 2006 Gonzales case, the Court held in a 6-3 opinion that the UnitedStates attorney general could not enforce a drug law, the Controlled Substances Act, against physicians   and pharmacists as ameans of punishing them for prescribing fatal doses of drugs to terminally ill patients. Finally, in the Cruzan case, theSupreme Court upheld the right of competent persons to refuse medical treatment, but ruled that clear and convincingevidence must exist of that person’s desire to limit the life-saving measures to be performed on them. The practical impact of these rulings is that, because the federal government cannot prosecute physicians and pharmacistswho prescribe drugs to terminally ill patients, the debate over euthanasia and assisted suicide in the US has primarily takenplace on the state level. Furthermore, while individuals have the constitutional right to prevent physicians from taking life-saving measures in the event of their incapacitation, they must make clear their desire, usually through a living will or a donot resuscitate order. Success at the State Level In 1994, Oregon became the first state to pass an assisted suicide law. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act has served as amodel statute in other states’ attempts to pass assisted suicide legislation. The act has several important provisions that, readtogether, provide safeguards for the terminally ill, the physicians that diagnose their terminal illnesses, and the pharmaciststhat prescribe lethal drugs. The act requires first, that a patient be diagnosed by a physician as having a terminal illness thatwill end the patient’s life within six months. Then, upon the patient’s request, a physician or pharmacist that has no moral orprofessional objection to assisted suicide will prescribe a lethal dose of drugs that the patient can ingest at a time of theirchoosing. Notably, the act has several safeguards, among them a requirement that the patient’s initial request for aprescription be witnessed by two people; that a second physician concur in the initial diagnos is of a terminal illness givingthe patient no more than six months to live; a conclusion that the patient is of sound mind; and a waiting period underwhich the patient must wait fifteen days before making a second, and final, oral request for the lethal prescription. These rules and safeguards ensure that only those who are both terminally ill and of a sound mind are able to obtain a lethaldose of drugs after having made a voluntary and informed decision. Additionally, and importantly, the act does not requirethose physicians or pharmacists opposed to assisted suicide to participate in, sanction, or play any role in bringing about thedeath of a term  inally ill person. The Washington Initiative 1000, passed by voters in 2008, was based on the Oregon act and, consequently, wassubstantially similar in its provisions and safeguards. Most recently, in December, 2008, a Montana trial court judge ruled thatcompetent, terminally ill patients have the right to self-administer lethal doses of drugs prescribed by a physician, thoughthat decision has been appealed to the Montana Supreme Court. Because assisted suicide in Washington and Montana is relatively new, Oregon is the only state in which data concerning theuse of lethal drugs by the terminally ill has been compiled. In the eight-year period from 1998 to 2006, 455 lethalprescriptions were written for terminally ill individuals, and 292 of those individuals used that prescription to commit suicide. Analysis of this data indicates that only around thirty-five terminally ill individuals die each year in Oregon as a result of theassisted suicide law. This data further suggests that physicians are carefully screening applicants, issuing on average onlyfifty-seven prescriptions per year. Finally, it is also clear that applicants carefully weigh the decision to use the prescription,judging by the fact that 35 percent of prescriptions issued to terminally ill patients—who have satisfied the numerousrequirements under Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act—went unused. International Law Oregon, Washington, and Montana are not the only jurisdictions in the world in which forms of euthanasia are legal.Notably, assisted suicide, in some form, is legal in both Belgium and the Netherlands, the latter of which has also legalizedphysician assisted suicide. Additionally, Germany has no law legalizing assisted suicide, but has not traditionally penalizedthose who have helped to end the life of a terminally ill person. As researchers have noted, however, death and suicide havedifferent stigmas attached to them depending on, among other factors, where one lives and the culture in which one wasraised. Consequently, it is not surprising that assisted suicide has been legalized in certain parts of the world, while it remainsa crime elsewhere. In the United States, however, where an individual has always in been control of their mind, body, souland destiny, death and suicide do not have as negative a cultural connotation as they may have in other parts of the world. The Social, Et hical, Medical & Economic Reasons Assisted suicide places the individual in control of his or her future, allowing the individual to decide how, when, and wherethey die. While an issue of self-determination, there are practical concerns that face the dying. Often, a terminally ill personwatches their savings account plummet while his or her medical costs and insurance premiums—assuming they are fortunateenough to have medical insurance—skyrocket. If they do not have insurance, it is unlikely they are able to afford even the most basic medications to controltheir pain or reduce their symptoms. Though their disease is incurable, in the later stages of their illness, they often take up a hospital bed and medicalresources, as well as the time of doctors, nurses and other hospital staff—time and health care dollars that could be expended on a person who can successfullybe treated and released. Friends and relatives watch their loved one suffer without remedy, knowing that the illness is fatal, but unable to do anything besideswait. Assisted suicide provides a quick and painless death, in contrast to the expected months of suffering a terminally ill patient must endure under normalcircumstances. The decision to end life on their own terms saves precious medical resources, ensures that the patient’s family will not financially sufferunnecessarily as a result of the illness, and allows the patient, and their family and friends, to say goodbye on their own terms in a quick and painless way.Notably, these arguments apply with equal force to physician-assisted suicide, wherein a physician not only monitors the patient to be sure they remaincompetent, but also administers the drugs at a time of the patient’s choosing, thus helping to ensure that the patient’s death is quick and painless. Opposition to Euthanasia Opposition to euthanasia comes in part from religious and social organizations that generally oppose measures that result in the death of an individual. Suchfeelings are indeed understandable, and it is difficult to change a person’s moral convictions. These organizations are free to petition their elected officials andto champion their causes—that right is fundamental to a democratic system. They also must, however, recognize the decisions made through a democraticprocess, as those initiatives in Oregon and Washington, where the majority of voters approved assisted suicide. (It is worth noting that some of these sameorganizations support the imposition of the death penalty for certain crimes,  citing the biblical passage â€Å"an eye for an eye.† In other words, some of thesegroups support the death of an individual when society has deemed it acceptable, but not when the individual himself seeks to end his life.) Other opponents include some doctors and physic ians, who have, as a condition of their license to practice medicine or dispense prescription medication, takena Hippocratic Oath requiring that they do no harm to patients. Importantly, however, the assisted suicide laws that have passed in Washington and Oregon donot by any means require the participation of physicians or pharmacists. Consequently, those physicians or pharmacists with a moral, professional, or religiousopposition to assisted suicide need not participate in any way in the assisted suicide of a patient. The same holds true for physician-assisted suicide which, inthe countries where it is legal, is practiced voluntarily. Finally, some in the medical field express concern over whether the terminally ill are of sound mind whenconsenting to suicide. While this is a valid and serious concern, the laws passed in Oregon and Washington, requiring multiple examinations, medicallyconsistent diagnoses, a waiting period, and a conclusion that the patient is of sound mind, serve to dramatically lessen any possibility that an incompetentpatient could be prescribed a fatal dose of drugs. Choosing for Others, but not for Oneself The death penalty is an authorized form of punishment in the federal criminal justice system, and also exists in well over half of the states. Through participationin the jury system and by electing officials into office who are charged with enforcing the death penalty, citizens have a role in determining which individualsare eligible for the death penalty and, more fundamentally, whether the death penalty as a form of punishment should persist, or should be repealed. Similarly,the United States Supreme Court has ruled that pregnant women have the right to choose—in many circumstances—whether to terminate their pregnancy. These examples demonstrate the contradiction that exists in forty-seven of the United States, under which average citizens are capable of playing a vital role indeciding whether other individuals live or die. These same citizens, though, are not entrusted with the same authority to make that decision when it comes totheir own lives in the extreme case of an incurable, terminal illness. Such a contradiction cannot stand. To preserve the dignity of human life, it is imperativethat the remaining states and the federal government legalize   euthanasia, whether in the form of physician-assisted suicide or assisted suicide, to provide asafe and dignified way for terminally individuals to end their suffering. With the advent of drugs that can both prolong and terminate life, as well as medical technology that can keep patients technically alive even in comatose or vegetative states, many questions have been raised about the quality of life each person deserves and identifying the fine line that demarcates the end of life. In addition, in the United States—a country marked from its inception by the hallmarks of individuality and personal responsibility—citizens and lawmakers alike are wrestling with issues regarding the degree to which an individual or family member should be empowered to make personal, private decisions about whether to continue medical care or choose the time, place and manner of death. Activists on both sides of the euthanasia debate have lobbied lawmakers to enact legislation in support of their views. The right to die movement is gaining support as a humane alternative to a poor quality of life maintained solely through continuous medical intervention. U nderstanding the Discussion Euthanasia: The practice of ending a person’s life either through an intentional act or by withholding medical care. The action is performed without malice, but with the intention of alleviating suffering or ending the pain of a terminal illness or poor quality of life. Hospice: An alternative program of care for patients in the final stages of life, in which efforts are not designed to treat the patient’s underlying illness but rather to provide pain management, symptom control, and family support. Informed consent: A patient’s expression of knowledge and acceptance of the risks, benefits, and alternative treatment options of a medical procedure and subsequent permission to a physician to perform the procedure. Physician-assisted suicide: A procedure in which a physician deliberately and knowingly provides lethal drugs at the individual’s request for the purpose of self-administration. Right to die: A belief that individuals should have the authority to c hoose the time, place and manner of their death. Terminal illness: A medical condition that is so advanced that treatment options are no longer available. History Although modern medical advancements and increased patient autonomy have renewed public interest in the right to die, the practice of euthanasia has been in existence for centuries. Numerous Greek and Roman writings have revealed a belief that death, even if initiated by self or another person, was preferable to prolonged suffering. However, this belief was not universal. The Hippocratic Oath, which medical practitioners in the United States have traditionally recited or agreed to uphold as a basic tenet of their practice, is believed to have been penned about 400 BCE by the Greek physician Hippocrates, known as the â€Å"Father of Medicine.† The oath includes promises not to provide deadly medicine to any one if asked or even suggest such a course of action, and to never cause any patient harm. In the US, prohibitions against intentionally aiding in the death of another date back to the country’s formation. Early American statutes outlawed both suicide and assisted sui cide. In the early 1900s, a physician’s grim decision brought euthanasia to the forefront of public debate. On November 12, 1915, a badly deformed child was born to Anna Bollinger. Her doctor conferred with the hospital’s chief of staff, Dr. Harry J. Haiselden, who advised against performing surgery to save the child. Five days later, the baby girl died, and the case and Dr. Haiselden’s decision were widely debated. During the 1930s, widespread distress caused by the Great Depression and its accompanying economic turbulence led to a spike in suicide rates and discussions of euthanasia and a right to self-determination over end-of-life matters. Public opinion polls revealed a growing belief that euthanasia was acceptable under certain circumstances. While it seemed that public support for legalizing euthanasia was coalescing, World War II broke out and the world recoiled in horror as news of Nazi death camps and the calculated mass extermination of vulnerable members of society made international headlines. Such atrocities dampened support for any form of legalized assistance in initiating another’s death. For several decades, discussions of euthanasia simmered largely in the background. In 1976, the tragic case of twenty-one year old Karen Ann Quinlan once again moved the euthanasia debate to national headlines. After consuming alcohol and prescription drugs at a party, Quinlan lost consciousness and ceased breathing. Quinlan was rushed to the hospital, where doctors declared that she was in a â€Å"persistent  vegetative state,† with full recovery unlikely. Her adoptive parents fought a year-long legal battle for rights to make the final decision to remove her respirator, thereby likely ensuring the end of her life. Although the New Jersey Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of the Quinlan family, Karen continued breathing naturally after her respirator was removed for nearly a decade, until she finally succumbed to complications from pneumonia. In 1980, right to die advocate Derek Humphry formed the Hemlock Society, a grassroots organization that has worked to advance euthanasia legislation. In addition, growing consensus for patients’ rights, including the right to refuse medical care—and even life-sustaining care—refocused attention on the right to die m ovement. Over the next several decades, public support for autonomy in end of life decision making has increased, with several states enacting legislation that recognizes living wills, or a legal document in which a person expresses his or her wishes regarding life prolonging medical treatments, including the withdrawal or refusal of life-sustaining medical treatment. Euthanasia Today The history of euthanasia in the US has been marked by several significant cases. The Quinlan case, although decided by a state supreme court, led to the advent of formal ethics committees in hospitals, nursing homes and hospices that provide support in complying with a patient’s advanced health care directives, or written instructions to family members and health care professionals about end of life care. In 1990, the US Supreme Court first ruled on the right to die movement in Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health. A car accident left Nancy Cruzan permanently unconscious and her parents requested that her feeding tube be withdrawn. After years of continuous care, most of the costs for Cruzan’s hospitalization were being paid by the State of Missouri. Although a Missouri district court granted the Cruzan family’s request to remove the tube, the director of the Missouri Department of Health took the case on appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court, arguin g for clear proof of Nancy Cruzan’s end of life wishes. The case went before the US Supreme Court, which ruled that a competent person has a constitutionally protected right to refuse any medical treatment, although states have a right to insist on clear and convincing evidence as to a patient’s wishes. In this case, there

Geo-Political and Economic Organization of Asean Essay

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a geo-political and economic organization of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Its aims include accelerating economic growth, social progress, and cultural development among its members, protection of regional peace and stability, and opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully. ASEAN has emphasized regional cooperation in the â€Å"three pillars†, which are security, sociocultural integration, and economic integration. The regional grouping has made the most progress in economic integration by creating an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. AEC envisages the following key characteristics: (a) a single market and production base, (b) a highly competitive economic region, (c) a region of equitable economic development, and (d) a region fully integrated into the global economy. The implementation of AEC is able to boost economic returns of countries in ASEAN due to cooperative and collaborative as a group could have generated a larger overall pool of benefits to be distributed among than countries than each will ultimately achieve by working on its own. But nevertheless in my opinion, Thailand will be of great concerns to many businesses in the region when AEC is established. Thailand possess in an advantageous geographical position which is located at the strategic center position in ASEAN, foreign companies be obliged to set up a solid foundation for the base material storage and product distribution to export their products to the countries in ASEAN if they are intend to establish market in ASEAN. Other than that, open economy policy of Thailand is closely integrated in the AEC blueprint. Thus it can be seen, Thailand’s markets will be benefit most among the countries in ASEAN when it come into effect in 2015. According to a news report on Thailand newspaper World Journal, also known as Chinese Daily News, a sense of urgency is palpable in enterprises all type and in virtually every industry in Thailand since AEC will be organize soon. A number of listed companies adjusting corporate business strategies and formulating an aggressiveness marketing program are being stepped up without cease in order to meet the new challenges and opportunities that will be  occur after two or three years. Managing director of TICON (Ticon Industrial Connection Public Company Limited), Mr. Virapan Pulges indicated that TICON had already the corporate strategies to cope with the regional economic integration by 2015, focus on the greatly increasing future demand of distribution center and warehouses facilities in Thailand. The Chief Executive Officer of CMO (Creative Management Organization), Sermkhun Kunawong revealed that convention and exhibition industries will be enormously benefit from the establish of AEC because the convention and exhibition industries in Thailand are occupied leading level among ASEAN countries. CMO planned to gain further insight into related convention and exhibition industries regulation of other countries in Asian in order to seek business opportunities and establish close contact with logistic industries in Asian countries. Chairman of the board of DRT (Diamond Roofing Tiles Public Company Limited), Prakit Prathipasen mentioned that his company always maintains their products export to Vietnam and Cambodia, but they will expand their export markets to Malaysia and Indonesia from now on, they planned to set up a warehousing distribution center at Changwat Surat Thani, Thailand to aiming at above markets. The presidents of MFEC (MFEC Public Company Limited), Siriwat Vongjarukorn stated that Information and Technology industries will benefit from establish of AEC. The implementation of open and liberal investment policies and actively encourage inward investment will extremely intensify markets competitive in ASEAN. Company must pay close attention in adjusting corporate strategies, increasing competitive advantages and implement performance evaluation on a more concrete form, herein attract the investment that is in favor of the Information and Technology industries. His company has long been prepared for the establishment of AEC through service integration with various companies to increase competitive advantages and the advantage of fully satisfies known customers’ demand. The new report above let us know about that how the leaders of companies in Thailand deal with the change. Four of them accept the inevitability of change and recognize changes as potential of sources of energy and self-renewal, they develop effective management skills that help organization move towards something better. They shared a common vision of  responsibilities and economy opportunities for their companies and countries, an idolized goal has been created by them to seize the opportunities for expand their markets and try to maximized their benefits from the establishment of AEC. That is every appearance that we can almost certain they possess Charismatic Leadership- they have a vision, they are willing to take personal risks to achieve that vision, they are sensitive to follower needs, and they exhibit behavior that are out of the ordinary. The Key characteristics of charismatic leadership that they possess are: 1. Vision and articulation- They has the clear visions that proposes a future better than the status quo and is able to clarify the importance of the vision in terms that are understandable to others. They planned and implementing the new corporate strategies to meet the establishment of AEC by 2015 and they has a good idea how the strategies can benefit their companies and countries. 2. Personal risk- They willing to take on high personal risk, incur high costs, and engage in self-sacrifice to achieve the vision. According to their narrations, their new corporate strategies involve high costs to build large infrastructure facilities within or outside their country for large scale productions, they has to take on the responsibilities and possibilities of failure at their own risk. 3. Sensitivity to follower needs- They are perceptive of others’ abilities and responsive to their needs and feelings. Due to their company involve in large scale capitals and productions, they must appoint some qualified person to important positions. 4. Unconventional behavior- They engage in behaviors that are perceived as novel and counter to norms. They being as successful leaders will never assumed that if they could just keep things running on a steady without changing and vision, their companies would be successful. AEC is an international collaboration project among ASEAN countries, good workers or followers will be an essential part if the companies endeavor to obtain benefits and advantages from the project. Followers of charismatic leaders have higher task performance, task performance, and adjustment to the leader and to the group than did followers who worked under groups led by noncharismatic leaders. There are four-step process shows that how do  charismatic leaders influence followers. 1. Articulate a vision- It begins by the leader articulating an appealing vision. A vision is a long-term strategy for how to attain a goal or goals. The vision provides a sense of continuity for followers by linking the present with a better future for the organization. The leaders share their vision with followers about the steps to attain goals in future through AEC by 2015. 2. Create a vision statement- A vision is incomplete unless it has an accompanying vision statement. A vision statement is a formal articulation of an organization’s vision or mission. Charismatic leader may use vision statement to â€Å"imprint† on followers an overarching goal and purpose. Once a vision and vision statement are established, the leader then communicates high performance expectations and expresses confidence that followers can attain them. This enhances follower self-esteem and self-confidence. Leaders create framework for all their strategic planning that will apply to entity companies to meet the goals. 3. Create a new set of values- The leader conveys a new set of values and through words and actions by his or her behavior, set an example to followers to imitate. Charismatic leaders were more effective because their employees personally identified with the leaders. Finally, the charismatic leader engages in emotion-inducing and often unconventional behavior to demonstrate courage and convictions about the vision. There is an emotional contagion in charismatic leadership whereby followers â€Å"catch† the emotions their leader is conveying. As I have mentioned at above, AEC is an international collaboration project among ASEAN countries, so leaders should create a new values that can apply to ASEAN countries instead of old values that are relate only with a country. 4. Demonstrate the vision- Because the vision is such a critical component of charismatic leadership, we should clarify exactly what we mean by the term, identify specific qualities of an effective vision, and offer some examples. Leaders implement the visions with their followers to achieve the goals. According to the other news report of Thailand newspaper World Journal, Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce held a round table meeting with regard to tourism recently, discussed the opportunities and development  in tourist industry after Thailand join AEC by 2015. The round table meeting invited the Ministry of Tourism and Sport, relevant departments and travel agencies to participate in discussion. Head of Foreign Trade Department indicate that the integration of ASEAN will mainly reflect the effect in investment and mobility of human resource after the establishment of AEC. By that time, Thailand will see further competitive in tourism markets from other ASEAN countries. Therefore, Thailand is critical to maintain and increase its own competitiveness to adapt to the markets and create great development progress. After the discussion in round table meeting, the methods were considered as effectiveness in increasing competitiveness of tourist industries of Thailand included: 1. Unify the standardization of tourism service, adopt international standard progressively to guild and measure. 2. Train employees with systematically, instill professional knowledge to them and also let them learn to master foreign language. 3. Formulate trade standard, avoid price war break out. 4. Establish good relationship with other ASEAN countries. 5. Create stricter law and legislation, crack down on illegal activities related to tourist industries. Moreover, the round table meeting believed that short term and long term plans should be formulate to guide travel agencies solve their problems in order to accelerated development and faces the competitive from ASIAN countries positively. We can address the foregoing changes of Ministry of Commerce, Thailand as an international and goal-oriented activity, we can also described the scenario as planned change. Essentially there are two goals in planned change. First, it seeks to improve the ability of the organization or industry to adapt to changes in its environment. Second, it seeks to change employee behavior. If an organization or industry is to survive, it must respond to changes in its environment. When competitors introduce new products or services, government agencies enact new laws, important sources of supplies go out of business,  or similar environmental changes take place, the organization or industry needs to adapt. Efforts to stimulate innovation, empower employees, and introduce work teams are examples of planned-change activities directed at responding to changes in the environment. Because an organization or industry’s success or failure is essentially due to the things that its employees do or fail to do, planned change also is concerned with changing the behavior of individuals and groups within the organization. In the above case, Ministry of commerce improves the competitiveness and abilities of tourist industries in Thailand and train employees to improve their qualities to face the changes brought by AEC, like the increase of competitors are fully consistent with planned change. Change agents are responsible for managing change activities, change agents can be managers or nonmanagers, current employees of an organization, newly hired employees, or outside consultants, but the Ministry of Commerce, travel agencies and employees of tourist industries are the change agents in this case. However, when people are confronted with change, resistance to change appears to be natural and positive state. One of the well-documented findings from studies of individual and organizational behavior is that organizations and their members resist change. One recent study showed that even when employees are shown data that they need to change, they latch onto whatever data they can find that suggests they are alright and don’t need to change. Our egos are fragile, and we often see change as threatening. In order to avoid continue walking in the old steps and seclude oneself, seven tactics have been suggested for use by change agents in dealing with resistance to change: 1. Education and Communication- Resistance can be reduced through communicating with employees to help them see the logic of a change. Communication can reduce resistance on two levels. First, it fights the effects of misinformation and poor communication. Second, communication can be helpful in â€Å"selling† the need for change. The changes are most effective if Minister of Commerce communicate its rationale balancing various participants’ interest versus a rationale based on minister or heads of  department’s interest only. 2. Participation- It’s difficult for individuals to resist a change decision in which they participated. Prior to making a change, those opposed can be brought into the decision process. Assuming that the participants have the expertise to make a meaningful contribution, their involvement can reduce resistance, obtain commitment, and increase the quality of the change decision. Therefore, Minister of Commerce should invite particip ations from various industries that are related to tourist industries to increase the success rate of changes. 3. Building Support and Commitment- Change agents can offer a range of supportive efforts to reduce resistance. When employees’ fear and anxiety are high, employee counseling and therapy, new-skills training, or a short paid leave or absence may facilitate adjustment. Research on middle managers has shown that when managers or employees have low emotional commitment to change, they favor the status quo and resist it. So firing up employees can also help them emotionally commit to the change rather than embrace the status quo. Minister of Commerce should fully support all of the participants by effort and money due to they are same sided and share same purposes to benefit their countries and industries. 4. Implementing Changes Fairly- Try as managers might to have employees see change positively, most workers tend to react negatively. Most people simply don’t like change. But one way organizations can minimize the negative impact of change, even when employees frame it a s a negative, is to makes sure the change is implemented fairly. Procedural fairness becomes especially important when employees perceive an outcome as negative, so when implementing changes, it’s crucial that organizations bend over backwards to make sure employees see the reason for the change, and perceive that the changes are being implemented consistently and fairly. Technical support and financial support allocate by Minister of Commerce to participants must be absolutely fair and free of discrimination or bias. 5. Manipulation and Cooptation- Manipulation refers to covert influence attempts. Twisting and distorting facts to make them appear more attractive, withholding undesirable information, and creating false rumors to get employees to accept a change are all examples of manipulation. Cooptation, on the other hand, is a form of both manipulation and participation. It seeks to â€Å"buy off† the leaders of a resistance group by giving them a key role in the  change decision. The leaders’ advice is sought, not to seek a better decision, but to get their endorsement. Ministry of Commerce can conceal the fact that will be against by participants in order to cooperative production. This method is not recommended to change agents unless there are left with no choice, because the tactics can backfire if the targets become aware they are being trick or used. 6. Selecting People Who Accept Change- Research suggests that the ability to easily accept and adapt to change is related to personality. It appears that people who adjust best to change are those who are open to experience, take a positive attitude toward change, are willing to take risks, and are flexible in their behavior. Ministry of Commerce should select participants who are positive self-concept and high risk tolerance because they are coped better with change. 7. Coercion- Coercion is the application of direct threats or force on the resisters. The examples of coercion are threats of transfer, loss of promotions, negative performance evaluations, and a poor letter of recommendation. This method can use to be directed against participants who are not follow instructions or rules that made by Ministry of Commerce. No discussion of resistance to change would be complete without a brief mention of the politics of change because change invariably threaten and the status quo, it inherently implies political activity. In the frame of ASEAN Economic Community, enterprises need to the notion of operation and management to get the best of the achievement of free flow system from essential productive factors. Companies should convert to from the operation strategies that confines only to domestic markets transnational operation though establish relationship with business partners in the area of ASEAN. The most important thing is to put the pressure on formulate a new business planning for strives to adapt the changes and committed to the new business opportunities. The establishment of AEC is expected to create bigger markets for products of Thailand, at the same time, companies of Thailand should examine themselves if they are brace to become a member of AEC while speed up with enhance comprehensive strength. Most of the ASEAN countries are not fully prepare to meet AEC, there are still some disadvantages in various directions for Thailand, especially the  political situation of Thailand not showing any specific development route, some corporation are still lack of related knowledge result in not fully prepare of relevant plans. For this purpose, Thailand should make full use of advantages and rational utilization of resources to increase competitiveness to differentiates their superiority with other ASEAN countries for the in coming of establishment of AEC by 2015. References Aseansec.org (2007) ASEANWEB – ASEAN Economic Community. [online] Available at: http://www.aseansec.org/18757.htm [Accessed: 1 Oct 2012]. Chinaasean.org (2005) Ministry of Commerce of Thailand Appeal Tourist Industries to Increase Competitiveness. [online] Available at: http://www.chinaasean.org/html/report/1259802-1.htm [Accessed: 1 Oct 2012]. En.wikipedia.org (1967) Association of Southeast Asian Nations – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN#From_CEPT_to_AEC [Accessed: 1 Oct 2012]. ROBBINS, S. and JUDGE, T. (2010) Organizational Behavior. 13th ed. Prentice Hall, p.447-450,654-659. News.sina.com.tw (1996) Thailand Listed Company Adjust Strategies to Meet AEC [online] Available at: http://news.sina.com.tw/article/20120626/7156145.html [Accessed: 1 Oct 2012].