Education Is the Powerful Weapon Essay Example

Education Is the Powerful Weapon Essay Example Education Is the Powerful Weapon Essay Education Is the Powerful Weapon Essay Notes from Provincial Meeting with Colgate-Palmolive re-Partnership for Oral Health Education: 19 May 2011: Natalia, Pietermaritzburg. 1. Welcome: Dr Zungu welcomed the representatives from Colgate – Palmolive and from National Department of Health: Oral Health Programme. The Head of Department acknowledged the work previously done by Colgate – Palmolive in the school based brushing program. Dr Zungu stated that the Province and the Department would benefit from this health promotion and prevention of dental carries programme, as part of re-engineering of PHC. Dr Zungu acknowledged the oral hygienists attending the meeting as leaders in oral health, especially promotion and prevention. 2. Present and Apologies Oral hygienists from each District, except Umzinyathi (where there are no Oral Hygienists), were present. Umzinyathi was represented by the Oral Health Programme coordinator. 3. PHC and Oral Health Ms Dalton restated the partnership as being part of health promotion and that oral health is an important component of PHC. The oral hygienists should be the leaders in enrolling the schools onto the programme, and re-enforcing messages through partnership with School Health Nurses, Dieticians and nutritional advisors, PHC Nurses and Department of Education. The initiative should be a District wide, and a District managed initiative. 4. Presentation by Ms Rowel from Colgate-Palmolive The project was outlined. Purpose: To establish oral health education in as many schools in KZN as possible within the funds available. Process: a) Each Health District in Partnership with Department of Education should identify schools, and introduce the education programme. b) A registration form with the details of school is required to be sent to Colgate – Palmolive. c) The required number of Oral Health Education School Kits will be sent to the school. d) The teachers will be given some training on the use of kits, lesson plans, etc. Target: Grade One pupil only, there are insufficient funds to extend at this time. Sustainability: The programme / project can only be sustained in partnership with the two Departments. Health Department will need to supplement toothpaste and brushes – as Colgate / Palmolive only provided the start up consumables. Indicators: Number of schools with brushing programmes (already on DHIS) Number of children exposed to Oral Health Education. Project outcomes Project should be a strategy to introduce and identify children for fissure sealants. Reduction in dental carries Reduction in tooth extractions in schools children. 5. Discussion |Item |Decision |Action by whom | |5. 1. Provincial target schools |Target the â€Å"Full service Schools† and |Dalton to write to District to inform| |Not all schools can be reached. Discussion was around whether to target the â€Å"Full |Quintile One schools. |them of the project, targets etc. | |service Schools† and Quintile One schools, or target the largest schools to enroll the| | | |maximum number of children; especially as some of the Quintile One schools are small | | | |schools. Another suggestion was Health Promoting schools, however Oral Health is | | | |already part of the criteria used. | | | |5. 2. Project Leaders |Oral hygienists would lead the project at|Dalton to write to District to inform| |Oral hygienists stated that this was their field, but would require District |District level. However a team approach |them of the project, targets, etc. | |Management support, especially to access consumables to sustain the Programme in |was essential | | |schools. | | | |Hygienists were reminded to work in teams with School Health Nurses, Dieticians and | | | |Nutritional Advisors, NPO’s and PHC Nurses. | | |There are no Oral Hygienists in Umzinyathi, the Oral Health Programme Coordinator | | | |would facilitate the project, it was suggested the District offer bursaries for this | | | |cadre. | | |5. 3. Funds for consumables to sustain brushing programmes. |Ms Dalton would undertake to ask Dr. |Dalton to add financial support to | |The brushing programmes started previously have stalled as it was not seen as a |Mansvelder if funds can be accessed. And |the letter to District Managers. | |priority in the financial constraints. And Hospital CEO’s were reluctant to let |to add financial support to the letter to|Dalton to ask Dr Mansvelder if some | |hygienists take consumables from Hospital premises to distribute to schools. |District Managers. |funds can be made available. | |It had been reported that there were funds available for PHC, this is truly a | | | |promotion and prevention intervention and should be funded. | | |5. 4. Fissure Sealants The project should be used be used to identify children in need |Oral Health Programme to monitor the |Vayej: Oral Health | |of sealants. |number of children being reached for | | |eThekweni District requires a light for the light cure sealant. |fissure sealant. | | | | | | | | | |In Uthukela there was a complaint that School Health Nurses are not identifying dental| | | |carries correctly, and over referring to dentists†¦ however no action to teach the |MCWH and Uthukela District to facilitate | | |Schools Health Nurses has been offered. |the School Health Teams being skilled to |Manickum, | | |recognise dental carries in children. Uthukela District Oral Health | | | |Coordinator. | |5. 5. Transport Oral Hygienists often experience challenges in accessing transport to |Dalton to write to District to inform |Dalton | |visit schools. |them of the project and need for | | |Oral hygienists can also at times travel with School Health Teams, or dieticians to |transport to be allocated for project | | |schools. | | | |5. 6. Stakeholders the following stakeholders must be involved at District level: |All stakeholders must be involved in the |Dalton to include in letter to | |School Health Teams, Community Care Givers, Oral Health Programme Co-odinator, |District Plan for the Project |Districts. | |District based Dietician, NPO’s, Dentists participating in the Colgate â€Å"Bright Smiles,| | | |Bright Futures† , and the PHC clinics nearest to the schools where the project | | | |commences. | | | |6. 7. District Plans: District plans involving all stakeholders are required to |Oral hygienists to approach Oral Health |Dalton to include in letter to | |finalise a Provincial plan and enable Colgate Palmolive to support the roll out in the|Coordinators in each District to maximize|Districts | |Province. |the project opportunity. | | |The â€Å"war rooms† must be included and informed about the project so that Community care| |District plans by end of June 2011. | |givers can participate at home and school level. | | | |6. 8. Indictors: New indicators would not be added to DHIS at this stage. The |The Oral Health coordinators are expected|Provincial Oral Health Programme to | |Quarterly reports from Districts include the number of brushing programme at schools. |to report on the project in the Quarterly|request inclusion of other indicators| | |report in the narrative section. |at a later stage. | 7. Closure: Colgate Palmolive was thanked for introducing the project and giving a â€Å"kick start† to Oral Health Education as part of PHC re-Engineering, and assisting the Province to move toward health promotion and prevention strategies. The Oral hygienists were thanked for being enthusiastic about their work and the project.

Oral and Verbal - Commonly Confused Words

Oral and Verbal - Commonly Confused Words The adjective oral means pertaining to speech or to the mouth. (The homophone aural, by the way, refers to listening and hearing.) The adjective verbal means pertaining to words, whether written or spoken (though verbal is sometimes treated as a synonym for oral). See the usage notes below. In traditional grammar, the noun verbal refers to a verb form that functions as a noun or a modifier rather than as a verb. Examples of Oral and Verbal Oral language has existed much longer than written language, and most people speak more often than they read or write. (Elizabeth Coelho, Adding English: A Guide to Teaching in Multilingual Classrooms, 2004)Although candidates with defective foreign speech were likely to be screened out early on by teacher training programs, even well-spoken Jewish immigrant girls frequently failed the oral exam. (Joyce Antler, The Journey Home: Jewish Women and the American Century. The Free Press, 1997)Copy is the verbal portion of an advertisement and may include headlines, sub-headlines, body copy, and signature. (William Pride and O.C. Ferrell, Marketing, 2006)Jargon is the verbal sleight of hand that makes the old hat seem newly fashionable. (David Lehman, Signs of the Times, 1991) Usage Notes [A]ll language is verbal, but only speech is oral. (Henry Hitchings, The Language Wars: A History of Proper English. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011)Oral communication is speech, conversation. Verbal ability is ones skill with words, and the verbal section of the SAT, the college entrance examination, tests a high school students knowledge of written language. . . .Verbal and oral are now so inextricably confounded that the tautological phrase verbal and written has become entrenched: The position requires . . . strong verbal and written communication skills (RenewableEnergyWorld.com) . . ..This may seem like a morass, but dont despair. Avoiding this accident of style is easier than you may think. Just remember that oral refers to spoken words, written refers to written words, and verbal refers to anything expressed in words, whether spoken or written. (Charles Harrington Elster, The Accidents of Style: Good Advice on How Not to Write Badly. St. Martins Press, 2010) Verbal  Redundancies The misuse of verbal for oral has a long history and is still common. Nevertheless, the distinction is worth fighting for, especially in legal prose. . . .Because verbal is always used in reference to words, verbal definition is redundant, as there can be no definition without words. . . . Similarly, verbal is redundant in such phrases as verbal promise, verbal denial, verbal affirmation, and verbal criticism, as these activities usually cannot occur without words. (Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 1995) Practice Exercise Test your knowledge of the difference between oral and verbal by filling in the correct word. (a) Like Corso, Ray had spent his time in jail reading, writing poetry, and educating himself. His poetry was designed to be the _____ equivalent of jazz. (Bill Morgan, The Typewriter Is Holy: The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation, 2010)(b) It would be unlawful for an employer to administer a written employment test to an individual who has informed the employer, prior to the administration of the test, that he is dyslexic and unable to read. In such a case, the employer should reasonably accommodate the applicants disability by administering an _____ test as an alternative. (Margaret P. Spencer, The Americans With Disabilities Act: Description and Analysis. Human Resource Management and the Americans With Disabilities Act, 1995) Answers to Practice Exercises (a) Like Corso, Ray had spent his time in jail reading, writing poetry, and educating himself. His poetry was designed to be the  verbal  equivalent of jazz. (Bill Morgan,  The Typewriter Is Holy: The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation, 2010)(b) It would be unlawful for an employer to administer a written employment test to an individual who has informed the employer, prior to the administration of the test, that he is dyslexic and unable to read. In such a case, the employer should reasonably accommodate the applicants disability by administering an  oral  test as an alternative. (Margaret P. Spencer, The Americans With Disabilities Act: Description and Analysis.  Human Resource Management and the Americans With Disabilities Act, 1995) Answers to Practice Exercises: oral and verbal. (a) Like Corso, Ray had spent his time in jail reading, writing poetry, and educating himself. His poetry was designed to be the verbal equivalent of jazz.(Bill Morgan, The Typewriter Is Holy: The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation, 2010)(b) It would be unlawful for an employer to administer a written employment test to an individual who has informed the employer, prior to the administration of the test, that he is dyslexic and unable to read. In such a case, the employer should reasonably accommodate the applicants disability by administering an oral test as an alternative.(Margaret P. Spencer, The Americans With Disabilities Act: Description and Analysis. Human Resource Management and the Americans With Disabilities Act, 1995) Glossary of Usage: Index of Commonly Confused Words 200 Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs

Home Depot Case Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Home Depot Case - Research Paper Example Further research reveals there is a top management challenge to develop a good Strategic Plan, one that will retain the accomplishments of the previous CEO in terms of process and at the same time add missing ingredients. HD needs a Strategic Plan that will provide the finest customer services across all branches and that will convince the financial analysts in the stock market to recommend HD shares so as to push up the prices of its shares of stock. To win in that challenge without much experimentation, it is advisable for the new CEO to tap one expert financial adviser who is familiar with the stock market and has contacts with financial analysts, and another expert in the field of Retail Management and Customer Relations for the industry wherein HD belongs. With these two experts, and with good relationship and coordination with the Board, the right performance indicators can be agreed upon. Once people are all directed towards the accomplishment of action plans in the Strategic Plan, Home Depot value of shares will soar to the satisfaction of the Stakeholders. II. Background A.Problem Statement After the resignation of Home Depot’s CEO, Robert Nardelli, who had served the organization from the years 2000-2006, the new CEO, Frank Blake, has to decide what to do in order to satisfy Home Depot Stakeholders who wanted the value of the corporation to increase. Re-stated in a question, what should be the strategies of the company to achieve desired results? B.Symptoms Although the profit margins and sales increased during the term of office of CEO Nardelli, and the number of store outlets grew yearly, the Stakeholders were not impressed and were in fact dissatisfied. The cumulative shareholders’ returns in 5 years was reported in the case to be at negative (-13%). This obliged them to tie up the income of the CEO to the share prices of Home Depot which have been down. In terms of financial performance, more details are in the Appendix Figure 1B. In one article by Simpson, Stephen D. (2006), the author noticed how sales growth of Lowe was much faster than that of Home Depot. He said: â€Å"All that said, it is clearly true that Lowe’s is the pluckier and faster growing of the two concepts. Sales in the 4th quarter climbed over 26%...and earnings per share rose nearly 36%. Certainly those numbers outstrip what Home Depot managed to accomplish.† Stephen furthermore added that it was generally known that Lowe’s had â€Å"better customer service†. Compared to Lowe in 2006, Home Depot was growing in sales by only 11.14%. C.Critical Factors The experiences of both CEOs Robert Nardelli and Frank Blake were not in the Retailing or Marketing Industry. Both came from GE or General Electric. Nardelli came from the Power Systems Division while Blake was a lawyer. Thus, the former CEO was good at cost cutting and improvements in the process, but weak in customer handling and probably even marketing. The new CEO, on the other hand, was faced by circumstances he did not have expertise on. Shareholders were dissatisfied by the relatively poorer performance of the share prices of Home Depot in the stock market. The graph showed HD shares declining in value. Checking on the financial side, it can be seen that Nardelli actually did a fine job of providing the profitability, growth in sales, and liquidity. Further research revealed the presence of an aggressive competitor, Lowe, which was penetrating the market of HD since it opted to expand by

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 48

English - Essay Example Then it gives a list of the site’s contents that also is the steps that you need to take to write a paper. These steps are decide on a topic, prepare an outline or diagram of your ideas, write your thesis statement, write the body with subheadings on how to do that, write the introduction, write the conclusion and add the finishing touches. This site is intended for ESL learners to help them improve their reading skills, but it can be used by native speakers who want help, too. The site offers several famous texts that you can read through to practice reading skills. What makes this better from just reading by yourself is that these are followed by vocabulary lists, vocabulary quizzes, comprehension quizzes and comments. It also makes graded papers available so that users can see where students have made their mistakes. This helps to make the uses of English understandable. This site is a grouping of lessons related to English grammar. There are six major sections. These are titled word and sentence level, paragraph level, essay and research paper level, ask grammar/search devices, peripherals and power points and grammarpoll/awards. Each section has a list of submenus that are appropriate to the main menu and are all designed to help users learn better

Collectivism vs. Individualism Essay Example for Free

Collectivism vs. Individualism Essay The research to examine the cultural norms of Korea as compared to that of US, is based on two particular core dimensions: United States as an individualistic country, and Korea as a collectivistic country. In fact, this is the first thing that comes to mind, knowing that collectivism vs individualism is a major characteristic that differentiates these two countries. Lifestyle and living arrangements In a study by Lee and Ro Um (1992), it is discussed about the major difference between Koreans and Americans in their evaluations of product attributes was the different weights each put on the importance of the family. Koreans tended to be more family oriented in their product evaluations than the Americans. This meant that the products were selected. Korea has a family-oriented culture. For a young couple, living with elders (parents) has been a cultural norm in Korea, although in United States this living style is unusual normatively and behaviorally. According to Korean National Statistics office, 1993, almost three out of four Koreans people aged 60 and over live with their children, a percentage of 74.7%. The percentage that lives with a spouse only is 13.2% and living alone, 10.6%. Explore the gaming culture of Korea Why South Korean people play games In South Korea more than half of the 50 million populations play online games frequently. Gaming in this country is not just a hobby but a way of life. Currently in the country are 10 professional gaming leagues which are sponsored from the successful corporations such as SK Telecom and Samsung.   According to a news article published CNN , in South Korea almost half of all games have been sold since the game launched in 1998. StarCraft is a legitimate business, ranking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in earning. According to a news article published in BBC [4], in South Korea games are nationally televised and they fill-up stadiums. Extremely popular is the multi-player gaming. Being a professional video-gamer is a serious business. They attract huge sums in sponsorship and can make more than $100,000 a year. Professional players in South Korea are treated like  sports stars. Some of the most famous players from league matches and sponsorship could earn more than $400,000 per year. South Korea hosts the annual World Cyber Games. The country registered more than 15 million people for online gaming, which is 30% of the population. Gaming Addiction and the Government Intervention in South Korea As a consequence as a strong video game culture, South Korea since early 2000s reports of addicted gamers dying or murdering loved ones in order to satisfy their addiction. When a mother tried to stop her son from playing games, he killed her. Approximately 14% of Koreans between ages 9 and 12 suffer from Internet addiction because there are cable channels devoted solely to the games.[5] South Korea has been treating the disorder for years. In 2002 the government opened an Internet-addiction treatment center. In 2005, a 28 years old South Korean man went into cardiac arrest and died after reportedly playing an online game called StarCraft for 50 hours straight. The man did not sleep properly and did not eat well. He just made few bathroom breaks and for very short periods of sleep. In 2006 the government opened a hotline for gaming addicts. Moreover, hundreds of private hospitals and clinics in the country opened specializes units to treat the disorder. In 2010 the government ordered a â€Å"nighttime shutdown† for gamers. This happened after police discovered a 3-month old baby who starved to death while her parents were busy with their virtual baby on a game. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism ordered the three most popular operators of the games to block people under age 18 from playing games between midnight and 8 a.m. The government has significantly slowed down the Internet connections of young players if they play for lots of hours into the night. More over in the National Assembly several other bills were pending that would control kids gaming habits. Where South Korean people play games South Korean entertainment industry is note based on home entertainment system such us console video game system, home theater etc. Instead it is created outside of the home in various places called â€Å"Bangs†. Recently South Korean people play games in the country’s Internet cafes, known as â€Å"PC- Bangs†. The PC Bangs are especially dominant in big cities like Seol, where  is a density of population. It is important that the PC-Bang industry now can provide computers and Internet service to those that previously did not have the economic conditions to possess these technologies. Analysts consider that the social environment of the PC-Bang is the most important factor to make the PC Bang attractive and popular to users. Other factors are: the high-performance computers, high-speed internet connection and low fee usage. [6] Most bangs are cheap; the patrons pay an hourly fee, ranging from $1.00 to $1.50 USD an hour. In South Korea going to a bang is the sam e as going to the bar in USA. Economic Conditions According to an article in About.com , the industry of video game has a large share of South Korea’s GDP. â€Å"According to the Ministry of Culture, in 2008 the online-gaming industry earned $1.1 billion dollars in exports. Nexon and NCSOFT, South Korea’s two largest game development companies reported a combined net income of over $370 million in 2012. The entire game market is estimated at approximately $5 billion dollars annually, or about $100 per resident, which is more than three times what Americans spend. Games like StarCraft have sold over 4.5 million copies in South Korea, out of a worldwide total of 11 million.† The same article says that video games stimulate the black economy of the country. What they play Relatively a small number of games are played in South Korea, the most popular of them are: League of Legends, FIFA Online 3, Sudden Attack, Lineage, Dungeon Fighter, Blade Soul, Aion: The Tower of Eternity, Echo Soul, Cyphers, World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Warcraft 3. [9] StarCraft- The most popular game in South Korea of all the times is StarCraft. Star Craft is a military strategy game, which is developed by Blizzard Entertainment. [10] World of Warcraft (WOW) Another popular game at most of the time is the World of Warcraft, developed by Blizzard Entertainment. World of Warcraft is a massively multi-player online role-playing game or MMORPG.

The Study of Literature Essay -- English Literature Essays

The Study of Literature I finally understand the study of literature. As an English major, a reader/ writer/ poet who has spent a great deal of time reading the works of others and writing about them, I am reminded of something I have heard my father, a teacher, say repeatedly about the modern American attitude toward education. "Nobody learns just to learn," he observes sadly, pointing out the way in which students often view particularly higher education as some kind of training ground for a career. I know exactly what he means. Every time someone asks me what I plan to do with a degree in English, I am reminded of the inquisitive student who interrupts a classroom lecture to ask in earnest "Is this going to be on the test?" or the equally deplorable "Do we have to know this?" The clear message in these questions is that nobody wants to waste their precious time learning something that won't immediately benefit them in some way. The majority of students insist on expediency and efficiency in educatio n. Our goal oriented society has resulted in a student that retains necessary information in short term memory long enough to regurgitate onto an exam, pass the course, grab a degree, get a job, make money, prosper. Next. Occasionally, however, there comes the English major the enigmatic, bookworm type, who puzzles his classmates by carrying fiction while they tote science, mathematics, and Business. They examine this strange creature, fascinated by one who displays such a blatant disregard for wealth and success. They poke this animal, wondering why he would live this way, and what possible good can come from poetry. And once in a while, the prodding and gawking gets to him. The English major is forced to ... ...ve to know this?† my answer is a resounding â€Å"yes.† â€Å"Will this be on the test?† Daily. The test is daring to live in a world where sometimes it seems that all is lost. Love, friendship, sadness, grief, even contentment are better understood in the context of a heartfelt poem or story. Thoreau's Walden romanticized my isolation; however, it may have been Updike's Rabbit or Edith Wharton's sad portrayal of cold in Ethan Frome that brought me to that state. Poetry and literature are so passionate as to inspire the reader in spite of himself. I can no more control the effects they may have on me, than I can the way in which I react. They are practical guidelines, manuals of living. They can hurt or heal, create or destroy. When one has a better understanding, though, the experience is wonderfully enlightening. And I need to know. I use them everyday.

African American Reconstruction Essay

?Reconstruction in the 1800’s can have a lot of different meanings. For some the reconstruction was the rejoining of the two sides that fought in the civil war, the North and the South. For others in government it was the presidential reconstruction after the death of Lincoln. Most importantly for some reconstruction mean finally being a free man with right and who could vote and provide for his family. The African Americans were a big part of reconstruction, just being freed by the passing of the thirteenth amendment which was adopted on December 6, 1865. This new law stated â€Å"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, nor any place subject to their jurisdiction. † Being freed was a step in the right direction for the African American, but anything not properly followed through with can end up undoing itself. Unfortunately for the African Americans in the south the progress towards freedom and citizenship and equality had hoped for took a terrible turn for the worse and most of their dreams were crushed. The north removing their army from the south to settle a dispute over who would be president undid what the 14th and 15th amendment were set to do and with no enforcement of them and the black codes life for the average African American remained one filled with difficulties and racism. In 1863 the emancipation proclamation was written to give freedom to all slaves in the rebel states, soon following that the Thirteenth amendment was passed. This Thirteenth amendment took the emancipation proclamation one step further and freed the slaves wherever they may be. Now the mass of newly freed African Americans in the South had to face the difficulties of getting a life started while being surrounded by many angry white Southerners. It granted them their freedom, but did nothing to guarantee them with voting rights, benefits, or the same opportunities as their white countrymen. Imagine you spent your whole life surrounded by people who considered you less than a person. To them you were just a mass of living space that only had the brain capacity to do simple jobs. Once you received a certain document, that says you are a full human being with all the capabilities of others, do you think those people would instantly accept this change and consider you an equal in society? When the civil war came to a close, the White Southerners moved quickly to put an end to the African American’s newfound freedom. They wanted a way to return African Americans back to what they were before the war, which were slaves. In order to do this without getting in too much trouble from the north they had to do it in a way that seemed neutral and fair to all races. Anyone with common sense however could tell that these laws were passed specifically to limit African Americans. These laws started out as what were commonly referred to as the black codes. These were a set of laws that were applied specifically to African Americans to help keep them in a form of slavery. Some of these laws were. â€Å"No person of color shall migrate into and reside in this state, unless, within twenty days after his arrival within the same, he shall enter into a bond with two freeholders as sureties†. â€Å"Servants shall not be absent from the premises without the permission of the master†. â€Å"Servants must assist their masters â€Å"in the defense of his own person, family, premises, or property†. â€Å"No person of color could become an artisan, mechanic, or shopkeeper unless he obtained a license from the judge of the district court – a license that could cost $100 or more. † These laws however didn’t stick around forever and then the Jim Crow Laws were put into place. The Jim Crow laws stated that it is okay for African Americans and whites to be separate as long as they were equal. Even the Supreme Court said that Jim Crow Laws were constitutional even though the stuff that the African Americans got was so much less quality. â€Å"For we colored people did not know how to be free and the white people did not know how to have a free colored person about them. † This quote was stated by the name of Houston Hartsfield Holloway following the passing of the thirteenth amendment. Most of these African Americans didn’t know how to be free and adapting to this new life was extremely difficult. These Freeman had to now face the difficult task of not only dealing with the racism of the white southerners living around then but also needed to get jobs. The freedman bureau was then created to try and help newly freed slaves get on their feet. The freedman bureau created March 3, 1865 main focus was to† provide food and medical care, to help the freedmen to resettle, to ensure justice for the freedmen, to manage abandoned or confiscated property, to regulate labor, and to establish schools. † Now that it was legal for these newly freed men to learn, establishing school in which they could learn was very important. These schools would help them learn trades and skills to help them get jobs. While the freedman’s bureau did not establish schools itself, it coordinated and helped to finance the activities of northern societies committed to black education. It is stated in the Voices of Freedom book written by Eric Foner that by the year 1969 only four years after the thirteenth amendment was passed nearly 3000 schools were established in the south. More impressive than that, these schools have more than 150000 pupils. The bureau was able to give former slaves most of the basics like food, shelter, clothing, and a way to make a living. Without being given the basics there is no way the African Americans would ever be able to take care of themselves and support their families. They needed help adapting to the new freedoms they were given, just as white men had to adapt to them being free, (although most of the time white men still treated them like dirt). The passing of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments helped to make great strides towards equality for African Americans. This amendment was the â€Å"heart† of Congress’ reaction to Johnson’s reconstruction plan and said that all people born in the United States are citizens. This upturned the 1857 Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford. In this case it stated that persons of African descent were not citizens and therefore not entitled to constitutional rights. On top of that it also prohibited states from revoking â€Å"life, liberty or property† without due process of law. Finally it required states to guarantee equal protection under the law. All states were required to ratify it. It was of course to get some of the southern states to ratify a law like this that on top of giving freedom to African Americans would also give them civil rights. Just because the fourteenth amendment said something, which did not mean that it would be enforced. The Military and Reconstruction Act of 1867 however, was passed to make sure that it was. The funny thing about this act is, on the very last day of session for congress, and the congress that was currently fighting with the current president to the point where they tried to kick him out of office overrode his veto and had it passed. The Ten Confederate States that had refused to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment were divided into five military districts. Each military district was put under the direction of a military governor authorized to appoint and remove state officials. Voters were registered, and suffrage was extended to freedmen. State constitutional conventions were called, and elected delegates were charged with drafting new constitutional provisions providing for black suffrage. Finally, states were required to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment before readmission. The congress didn’t stop here however; they later passed even more military reconstruction acts. â€Å"The new acts directed military commanders to register voters, call conventions, and organize elections, rather than wait for state officials to act. In the face of recalcitrance from Johnson’s executive branch and white southerners attempting to subvert the law, Congress in July 1867 passed a third Reconstruction Act, declaring the existing state governments in the South illegal and subject to military control and the U. S. Congress. † In an attempt to delay the creation of new state governments, some southern whites turned to a provision of the first Reconstruction Act requiring that a majority of registered voters was necessary to ratify a new constitution and called for a boycott of the ratifying election. On March 11, 1868, Congress passed a fourth and final Reconstruction Act that allowed a majority of those voting to ratify a new constitution, regardless of the size of the attendance. President Johnson, being the leader of this nation at the time, worked to delay and obstruct the army from enforcing these laws. The main job of the fifteenth amendment was to give the right of vote to any male of any race. Section two of this article also said â€Å"The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. † This sounds great at first that the African Americans will not be able to vote with no problems. This, as good as it looked in writing, would ultimately fail in some places due to the terrorist threats that were places upon African Americans who planned on voting. During reconstruction African Americans were brandished political power in the south for the first time. Most of these men were those who either lived in the north or lived abroad, and were educated. Before holding political power most were either lawyers or teachers. Black political power was unfortunately short-lived. Northern politicians grew increasingly conciliatory to the white South, so that by 1872 virtually all leaders of the Confederacy had been pardoned and were again able to vote and hold office. The white men were able to take back the south by putting economic pressure on the blacks and by threatening them. One of the biggest ways in which the blacks were threatened was by the Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK. The Ku Klux Klan was originally organized in the winter of 1865-66 in Pulaski, Tennessee as a social club by six Confederate veterans. It started out small and was kept secret at first. When the Klan was first formed they had no violent intentions in mind. After they had a large amount of growth however it turned from a group of people into a terrorist organization. The Klan systematically murdered black politicians and political leaders. It beat, whipped, and murdered thousands, and intimidated tens of thousands of others from voting. The African Americans of course tried to fight back to this injustice at first but because they were outnumbered and had no guns, they didn’t have a chance. â€Å"A 103-year-old woman was whipped, as was a completely paralyzed man. In Georgia, Abraham Colby, an organizer and leader in the black community, was whipped for hours in front of his wife and children. † The KKK’s main objective was white supremacy but President Grant responded to their attacks. In the year 1868 Ulysses S. Grant ran for office and used the slogan â€Å"let us have peace†. After getting the fifteenth amendment passed, the Enforcement Acts were passed, which made it a crime to interfere with registration, voting, office holding, or jury service of blacks. Because of this new law over a 1000 members of the KKK who violated it and interfered were convicted. On top of this act to protect the African Americans there was also the Ku Klux Klan act. These new acts made it so it was okay for the government to interferer and help put a stop against terrorist acts. This act although it did help a little was not greatly enforced. In the year of 1876 was the presidential election of Samuel J. Tilden vs. the Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. In this election Hayes ended up winning the popular vote, but as far as electoral votes went it was a tie. This was a big problem and a hard decision to appease until there was the Compromise of 1877. This Compromise would swing the vote away from the Democrats and to the Republicans in return for the removal of all remaining troops from the south. It was on that day that the period of reconstruction would end and the reconstruction for African American would begin to go backwards in the south. Africans Americans were given a sliver of hope and promised to be free equal man just to have the government not follow up on its promise. With all of the troops now removed from the south there was no one there to help protect them or to enforce the laws in which gave them freedoms and rights. They never did go completely back to the way it was before the civil war, but because of how in those net couple of years segregation and discrimination could have been eliminated it is just as tragic. African American Reconstruction helped lay out a great pathway for African Americans to become truly equal and free men in the United Stated. Unfortunately because of their not being enough support from the government they would get to walk down that path to equality for many years later.

Leadership Management Essay

Introduction In this report, a research regarding leadership was conducted through observation and interviewing of an effective leader. The leader that was chosen for this research report is Tan Kee Boon Valdric. Valdric was a commissioned officer in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Singapore Armed Forces is a military organisation and its main purpose is to protect Singapore from any form of external threats. Upon commission, he was assigned to be the platoon commander for my platoon during national service in the 40th Singapore Armour Regiment (40SAR) and later on in our reservist unit at 473 Singapore Armour Regiment (473 SAR). By observing and interviewing him, the observation and interview results were compared with each other to see if there was any coherence in the results. These results were later compared in the reflection portion of this report to identify the complexities of leadership, the new understanding that was gained from this research and how undertaking this research and gaining new understanding of leadership would benefit my leadership abilities. Observation during National Service and Reservist As a platoon commander, Valdric would often plan and conduct many activities, exercises and trainings in camps. While planning for such activities, he would have to assign tasks to various personnel to complete the different tasks required of such activities. For instance, when conducting an Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT), he would have to assign personnel to do various tasks required for the activity to proceed smoothly. When conducting such routine test activities in camp, he would often just assign tasks to soldiers in the platoon without further explanation as most of the people in the platoon are experienced and competent in doing the tasks. However, when assigning tasks to the newer inexperienced soldiers in the platoon, he would often give advices and guide them. For instance, when he was assigning tasks to the new batch of inexperienced sergeants who had just completed their training course, he would follow them and guide them accordingly on how to go about completing their tasks and encourage them. This changing leadership style based on the level of experience of personnel under him can be seen as a form of situational leadership II. Situational Leadership II is a model of contingency leadership in which leaders select different leadership based on their behaviour and the level of competency and capability of group members whom they are leading (Dubrin 2011). According to Blanchard (2010), situational leadership II model has four leadership styles which are namely directing, coaching, supporting and delegating which effective leaders adopt based on matching the level of competence of their group members. In Valdric’s case, when assigning tasks to the new inexperienced sergeants, he could be seen as choosing to exhibit a coaching leadership style which requires more supportive and directive behaviours and while assigning tasks to experienced personnel, he would exhibit a delegating leadership style which requires a less supportive and directive behaviour of the leader. Based on this observation, it could be seen that Valdric applies the Situational Leadership II model to alter his leadership style based on the level of competence and experience of his personnel. When problems or difficulty arises during activities or duties, Valdric would always keep calm and be open to suggestion for ideas and would accept any idea that sounds feasible in handling the problems or difficulties that arises. By keeping his composure and accepting feasible ideas suggested by those in the platoon, it can be seen as having self-confidence and flexibility which are some of the personality traits of an effective leader (Lussier & Achua 2009). On a few occasions, difficulties such as a sudden vehicle breakdown occurred during training. Instead of panicking, he kept his composure and called the sergeants and commanders together to discuss what they should do. Valdric would often decide upon a solution through participative discussion and consultation of personnel that are of lower ranking, usually the sergeants, in the platoon. During the planning of training programmes, which was something he had to do monthly, he would always discuss with the other commanders, the sergeants, in the platoon and decide on what training programmes they should include for the upcoming month. Participative leadership style in decision making is a style in which the leader would discuss and consult with members of a lower rank in the group before making a decision (Barman 2009). It can be seen that Valdric exhibits this participative leadership style through his use of participative discussion and consultation in planning training programmes. Valdric was always planning and thinking of ways to improve the platoon’s efficiency in terms of expertise skill levels and physical fitness which are crucial attributes required of soldiers in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). He would always plan new goals and visions to constantly improve the platoon’s expertise skill level and fitness and then communicate and inspire the platoon about the importance of constant. This constant seeking of improvement through creating new goals and visions to improve the platoon and efficiency of the military organisation could be seen as exhibiting a socialized charismatic leadership style. Socialized charismatic leaders are leaders who would use their influential powers to try and motivate groups and people in the organisation to improve organisation effectiveness and efficiency (Gardner, Avolio and Walumbwa 2005). Valdric’s desire to constantly improve the skill level of the platoon in order to help improve the progress and efficiency of the SAF is similar to a socialized charismatic leadership style. Interview Results An interview was conducted to find out more about how Valdric felt about his leadership characteristics and what he thinks are some of the leadership characteristics required to be an effective leader. Through the interview, a better understanding of his leadership characteristics and experiences was captured. From the interview, Valdric felt that some personality traits like self-confidence, trustworthiness and flexibility were key personality traits required to be an effective leader. He believed that self-confidence was required as he felt that leaders should have a certain level of confidence in order to lead. The second trait that he believed was a pre-requisite for effective leaders was trustworthiness as he felt that effective leaders need to build trust between his followers and himself in order to effectively lead them. Flexibility was another personality trait that he felt was important as he believed that leaders should be flexible so that they can change their leadership styles depending on the different environment and situation they are required to work in. Based on the interview results regarding personality traits, it can be seen that personality traits of self-confidence and flexibility are consistent of what with the observations results in which personality traits of self-confidence and flexibility was observed in Valdric. Another finding obtained from the interview session with Valdric was that he would change his leadership style based on the level of experience and expertise of the group members that he led. Valdric believed that group members who are inexperienced and lacking in skill required more nurturing and support from leaders and in such situations, leaders should give more specific instructions and support to help group members to gain experience and learn the skills required for the job efficiently. When questioned about another scenario in which he was leading a group which consists of experienced and skilled members, Valdric mentioned that he would switch to a less directive leading style in which he would be less specific in terms of giving instructions but he would continue to support his group members in terms of motivating them and encouraging them to keep the morale level within the group high. This finding is coherent with the observations results regarding how Valdric manages and assigns tasks to personnel in the platoon based on their level of experience. Based on the observation and interview results, it can be seen that Valdric uses the contingency approach to leadership to lead effectively. The alteration of leadership style based on the level of experience of the group they are leading is based on the situational leadership II model (Hellriegel and Slocum 2007). Valdric also felt that leaders should have different leadership styles and the ability to match the correct leadership style to the correct situation. He felt that given a situation, if the leader chooses the incorrect style to lead, it would wane the effectiveness of situational leadership. Another important role for leaders is decision-making for the group or organization. Valdric felt that decisions made by leaders would affect the effectiveness of the group or organisation which they are leading. In his opinion, the decision made by the leader should be a decision which is agreed upon by majority of the individuals in the group or organisation. To achieve this, Valdric mentioned that he often call for meetings with group members to discuss about issues and problems before he makes a decision. This was coherent with the observations results. Both the observation and interview results converge to show that Valdric uses group participation in decision-making. The use of such meetings to discuss ideas and suggestions before the leader makes a decision can be seen as a form of participative leadership style in decision-making. A leader exhibiting participative style involves his group members in the decision-making process by allowing group members to voice their opinions before the leader himself makes the final decision (Saxena 2009). However, Valdric mentioned that there are some disadvantages in the use of participative leadership styles during decision-making. In situations when there are a wide range of differing opinions in the group, it can be extremely difficult to obtain a consensus on a decision that is accepted by everyone in the group. Furthermore, he also mentioned that in situations when a decision needs to be made quickly, this leadership style would not be as effective as it tends to consume too much time before the leader makes a decision. Reflection and Improvement From this assignment, I have learnt about the various complexities of leadership through analysing and reflecting on the observation and interview results. From analysing the observation and interview results a comparison can be made between my findings regarding the complexities of various leadership styles and the theories taught in this leadership and management course. Based on my observation and interview results regarding participative leadership style, I learnt that although leaders exhibiting this style allows group members to have a feel of participation in the decision-making process and creates a sense of belonging to the group which further drives them to work harder for the leader, this style may become ineffective when there are various differences in opinion and it is often too time consuming. This is coherent with the theories regarding the complexities of democratic leadership style or participative leadership style. One of the common problem that leaders exhibiting participative leadership style during decision making was that such the use of such group meeting requires too much time (eds Muenjohn, Boucher & Tran 2010). This shows that what I have learnt and understand through the conducting of this research is coherent with the theories that I have learnt in this leadership and management course. Another similarity in finding which I have made from this research that is coherent with leadership theories is regarding the situational leadership II model in which leaders selects an appropriate style of leadership based on the level of experience of the members in the group which they are leading. From the observation and interview results, I have learnt that in order for situational leadership to be effective, a leader has to be flexible enough to change his leadership style to correctly match the situation. If a leader is not able to match his leadership style to the situation effectively, the effectiveness of situational leadership would be diminished and the use of this model for leadership could result in more problems rather than effectiveness. This is consistent with what was mentioned in the theories regarding the effective use of situational leadership styles such as the situational leadership II model. For situational leadership model II to be effective, leaders have to be able change their leadership style, in terms of supporting and directing, to match the level of experience of the group members they are leading (eds Muenjohn, Boucher & Tran 2010). A failure to do so would bring about an effective leader that would hinder the development of their group members or followers and indirectly affect the development of the organization as a whole (Blanchard 2010). Based on this, it can be seen that the findings that I have made regarding leadership styles such as participative leadership style and situational leadership is similar to what is taught in the theories in the course. In the process of conducting this research, I have learnt that many of the leadership styles are useful but they have flaws as well. Most leadership styles are effective if used at the correct time. However, if a leadership style is used inappropriately, it may bring about more problems and lead to leadership ineffectiveness. For instance, from this research, I have learnt that the use of participative leadership style in decision making is effective in helping the group makes a decision that is based on consensus of everyone. However, the use of participative leadership style in decision making may become ineffective when a decision has to be made quickly. One of the flaws of a participative style of leadership in the decision making process is that it often requires too much time before a consensus on the decision is made (eds Muenjohn, Boucher & Tran 2010). Other than the use of participative leadership style, the use of contingency approach of leadership styles would also lead to ineffectiveness if leaders use the wrong contingency leadership style for the wrong situation. For example, situational leadership II requires leaders to use appropriate leadership styles that can be more supportive or directive based on the level of competency and experience of the group members (Hellriegel & Slocum 2007). Based on situational leadership II, an effective leader would adopt a leadership style that is more directive and supportive when leading group members who are inexperienced. However, if a leader uses a leadership style that is less directive and supportive instead of one that is more directive and supportive, it may bring about ineffectiveness among the group due to ineffective leadership. In the process of conducting this research, I have understood that leading a group of people effectively is not a simple task. In order to be an effective leader, an individual has to learn how to effectively manage the group of people he is assigned to lead. In organisations, members of the organisations tend to have varying characteristics, working style, behaviour and experiences. Leaders would probably have to lead groups of people with varying characteristics or work with different groups of people throughout their lives. In order to be an effective leader, a leader has to be able to switch their leadership style to one that matches the people or situation they are leading in order to be effective. To be able to lead groups effectively regardless of situation, flexibility in a leader is required. According to Gamage (2006), effective leaders are usually flexible, allowing them to alter their leadership styles to one that is most appropriate and effective in whatever situation they are in. This means that for a leader to be able to use the contingency approach to leadership and be effective, flexibility is essential. Personally, other than the time I was serving National Service as a sergeant, I did not really have many opportunities to take on a leadership role. Hence, from this research, I have gained many insights that would be extremely useful for my leadership practice in the future. The importance of flexibility is one of the key takeaways from this research. During the time that I was serving National Service, I tend to use the same leadership style to lead my soldiers regardless of situation as I believed that it was the most appropriate and suitable leadership style for me. However, through this assignment, I learnt that there are many leadership styles that are effective and that a leader should be flexible to change their leadership style to one that best fits the situation in order to become an effective leader. Reddin (1970, cited in Gamage 2006, pp. 102) mentioned that the effectiveness of leadership styles depends on the situation. This means that leadership styles can either be effective or ineffective based on the situation in which they are used. If a leadership style is used in the wrong situation, it would be ineffective. However, if the same leadership style were to be used in an appropriate situation, it would be seen as an effective leadership style. What is important is that the leader needs to know which leadership style is appropriate for whatever situation they are given. From this, I have learnt that flexibility is an important trait that leaders should possess or develop and developing flexibility would allow me to be able to use the contingency approach of leadership styles better. Other than flexibility, another key takeaway that I have obtained from this research that would help me in my future leadership role was the understanding of using a contingency approach of leadership which requires me to select the correct leadership style for whichever situation in order to be an effective leader. Based on the theories taught in this course and the results of this research, I have come to an understanding that there are no ineffective leadership styles. All leadership styles are effective and the only reason why some people view certain leadership styles as ineffective is because they fail to match the correct leadership style to the situation (eds Muenjohn, Boucher & Trans 2007). From this, I learnt that there is no such thing as ineffective leadership style and that I should focus on matching leadership styles to situations in order to be an effective leader in the future. Conclusion In conclusion I believe that in order to be an effective leader, one must be able to understand the complexities of leading and how to handle these complexities. The leadership theories taught in this course and the insights gained from conducting this research has allowed me to gain a better understanding of some of these complexities of leadership. Some of the key takeaways that I have gained from this research were the importance of flexibility in a leader and the use of contingency approach to leadership style especially the situational leadership II model. The theories in this course have provided me with a basic understanding on leadership and through conducting this research, it further reinforced what I have learnt and understood from the course by allowing me to observe the application of some of the leadership theories. Through the observations and interview, I have learnt about various complexities of some of the leadership theories such as using a participative leadership style in the decision making process and the use of situational leadership II model. I believe that this understanding and knowledge that I have attained would greatly benefit me in my future endeavours as a leader. Reference List Barman, K 2009, Leadership Management: Achieving Breakthroughs, Global Indian Publications, New Delhi. Blanchard, K 2010, Leading at a Higher Level: Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performance Organizations, FT Press, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Dubrin, AJ 2011, Essentials of Management, 9th edn, Cengage Learning, USA. Gamage, DT 2006, Professional Development for Leaders and Managers of Self-Governing Schools, Springer, Netherlands. Gardner, WL, Avolio, BJ and Walumbwa, FO (eds.) 2005, Authentic leadership theory and practice: origins, effects and development, Elseiver, USA. Hellriegel, D and Slocum, JW 2007, Organizational Behaviour, 11th edn, Thomson South-Western, USA. Lussier, RN and Achua, CF 2009, Leadership: Theory, Application & Skill Development, 4th edn, Cengage Learning, USA. Muenjohn, N, Boucher, C and Tran, N (eds.) 2010, Leadership and Management, Cengage Learning, Melbourne. Saxena, PK 2009, Principles of Management: A Modern Approach, Global India Publications, New Delhi. Appendix Interview Questions 1) What are some of the skills that you think a leader should possess? Why? 2) What are some of the traits that you think an effective leader should possess? Why? 3) What are some of the leadership roles that you think leaders have and which leadership role do you think is the most important? 4) When making decisions for your group as a leader, would you consult your group members before making a decision? Why? 5) Between building relations with group members and completing the task, which do you think is more important for a leader? 6) What are some of the ways by which you motivate people in your team as a leader? 7) How would you describe your leadership style as? 8) In your opinion, should an effective leader change his leadership style to match different situations or stick with the same leadership style for all situations? 9) When leading a group of inexperienced member, would you alter your leadership style to cater to them? 10) When leading a group of highly experienced and skilled personnel, how would your leadership style be different? 11) Do you think an effective leader should be more directive or supportive? 12) If there was a conflict among members in your group, how would you attempt to resolve the conflict? 13) Do you think that constant improvement is required for leaders and their groups to be effective? 14) Is effective communication required for a leader to lead his group effectively?

City and the Soul Plato Essays

City and the Soul Plato Essays City and the Soul Plato Essay City and the Soul Plato Essay How compelling is the city-soul analogy and to what extent does the picture of â€Å"Platonic justice† that emerges from it differ from conventional justice? Much has been written about the inadequacy of the city-soul analogy in establishing what justice is, and further about how Plato fails to adequately connect his vision of justice to the conventional one and so is unable to address the original challenge. I mean to show that the city-soul analogy is in fact compelling, or at least that is it sufficiently adequate to allow us to move on to a discussion of how Platonic justice compares to conventional justice. At that point I will attempt to show that Platonic justice is relevant to the challenge posed to Socrates, and that despite objections to the contrary the Platonic and conventional views are sufficiently aligned to allow Socrates to conclude that he has shown that it is better to be just than unjust. Vlastos, and others, argue that describing the city as just is simply a generalization about its members, and so the city is not just in the same way that a person is just. I wish to argue, as Wilson does, that there are other grounds for Plato to attribute justice to the city. As Wilson puts it, â€Å"[Plato’s] central question is not the analytical philosopher’s question ‘What does ‘justice’ mean? ’, but the substantial question ‘What is justice? ’†. Thus, it is wrong to criticize the Republic as one would criticize a formal argument towards a definition, as Plato is actually searching for what justice actually is. Wilson’s doctor metaphor is helpful: Plato is investigating the nature of justice just like doctors inquire into the nature of a disease. Doctors notice a variety of systems and become convinced they are caused by a single underlying condition, to which they attribute a name. Eventually someone discovers this underlying condition and the initial assumption is justified. In this way, something like polio can be understood, not by investigating the meaning of the word polio but by looking at possible examples of it and by studying its nature. Plato, Wilson argues, is doing something similar with justice. What is it that makes the connection between justice in a city and justice in an individual plausible? To avoid the objections to the city-soul analogy, it is important that justice and other virtues not be found in the city only in a derivative way, that is, only as a generalization about the city’s members. Luckily, Plato is able to avoid this method. Wilson proposes that Plato does so by equating the structural features of the soul and of the city. Then, when some virtue V is indicated by certain characteristics C of a city, and by those same characteristics C of a soul, and that after inquiry we find that the structural feature of both the city and the soul that gives rise to C is the same structural feature S, then like the doctor we can conclude with certainty that V is S. Whether or not Plato successfully equates the structural features of the soul and the city is a large question, but he certainly thinks that he does. I do not mean to go into a discussion of this separate question here, but just wish to have shown that the use of the city-soul analogy is perfectly reasonable, since it provides an adequate method for investigating the nature of justice. Another potential problem Plato faces is the connection of Platonic justice to conventional views of justice. The original challenge is to show that it is better for a man to be just than unjust, regardless of anything else. This question would certainly not be sufficiently answered by inventing a new definition of justice that was unconnected from conventional views of justice, for example if the new definition permitted acts that commonly would be considered unjust; it is necessary for Plato to demonstrate a connection between Platonic and conventional justice. This issue comes most pointedly from Sachs, who asserts that Plato has to prove two different things: ) A Platonically just person will always act in conventionally just ways b) Someone who is conventionally just will necessarily also be Platonically just In other words, Sachs is of the opinion that Plato must equate Platonic justice to conventional justice in both directions, so that anyone who is one will necessarily be the other. Sachs claims Plato is aware of the need to prove a), though does not do a great job of doing so, but never mentions any need to show that b) is also true. I would argue that proving b) is unnecessary to establish Plato’s argument. Plato wishes to show that it is always better to behave justly, and Sach’s point is that Plato needs to show that someone who is conventionally just will always be better off than someone who is conventionally unjust, and so that person who is conventionally just must be Platonically just. However, I think that this is not actually required of Plato, as it is possible to think of cases where someone who meets the definition of conventionally just is not actually a just person in the way Socrates and the group are considering. As Sachs describes, the vulgar or conventional conception of justice is the idea of not doing certain acts. According to this definition, it would be possible to act in a conventionally just way- not simply seem just, but actually act in a way that makes one just- while in fact being unjust so that even those who hold the conventional view of justice would agree that such a person was unjust. As an example consider an â€Å"incompetent evildoer†. Such a person might have horrible intentions, but every single time he does a bad thing he not only fails to complete the action but fails to do so at all. Every action he does is a just action, and he never does any actions that are considered unjust, yet he has terrible intentions and constantly desires to harm others. He not only seems conventionally just to everyone around him, he actually is conventionally just because this vulgar, conventional view of justice is simply concerned with how he acts. It seems, however, that he is not a just person. Plato does not need to show that this man is someone who is Platonically just, and he very clearly is not. Thus, Plato is not required to demonstrate b), because there are some people who meet the definition of conventionally just but are not just in the sense that Socrates and company are discussing- they want to establish that it is better to be just, and would all agree that the incompetent evildoer is not just although he technically meets the conventional definition. On the other hand, it is important that Plato prove a). At first glance, it seems entirely plausible that someone with inner psychic harmony may be capable of stealing, murdering, or committing other unjust actions. This would totally invalidate Plato’s argument, as it would do nothing to show that everyone should act in what Glaucon and Adeimantus think of as a right way. So it is necessary to demonstrate that someone who is Platonically just will also be conventionally just, that is, everyone who has a well-ordered soul must always act in ways that we think of as just. I argue that an adequate proof of a) does exist for Plato, even if he himself does not include it. As Demos says, â€Å"mathematicians often skip steps in an inference, thinking them obvious†, and even though Plato may fail to provide the proof of a) himself, he is still justified in believing it. Demos gives a good way of approaching the defense of this point. Basically, the soul of the Platonically just person is ruled by reason, which is both a desire and an appreciation of the truth and of the good. This good which reason aims at involves justice, and aiming at the good means also aiming at the production of good things. So, an individual aiming at justice cares not only for justice abstractly, but is concerned with justice being embodied in humans in general. For the soul to be healthy requires its reason to be fulfilled, and reason’s concern is that the good should be exemplified everywhere. Being inwardly just means wanting everyone to have his due, and that means not committing the types of actions that are thought of as conventionally unjust. While this does not thoroughly prove a), it seems to show that the aims of an inwardly, Platonically just person will require them to be externally, and thus conventionally, just as well. Annas follows Sachs in insisting that Plato fails to prove a), and further thinks that there is no possible link between Platonic and conventional justice. One particular criticism is Plato’s view of truth-telling, which she sees as devastatingly inconsistent. As she points out, Plato would allow for the Guardians to occasionally tell lies, but the working class may not. She sees a big issue with the fact that the Guardians â€Å"cannot bear to be deceived, but they sometimes deceive others†. This criticism, however, seems to rest on an apparently quite stringent deontological view. I believe that Plato’s idea of the occasional rightness of lying fits perfectly well with conventional morality. Consider: i) Truth-telling in general is good ii) Lying is occasionally acceptable I would argue that conventional morality would accept both i) and ii), or at the very least, since some people might not accept ii), that it is at least an open question of conventional morality of whether ii) is acceptable. Certain times, it seems, lying is an obviously right act, such as the case of the murderer at the door inquiring about the whereabouts of his victim. Plato, I take it, takes a more consequentialist view of morality and would agree with both i) and ii). Because of the difficulty of saying when it is acceptable to lie and when it is not (both ethically, as it is hard to define exactly in which cases it is acceptable, and logically, as if everyone knows lying is allowed in certain cases the lie won’t be believed anyway), it is better to encourage a general culture of truth-telling but to permit some exceptions, and for Plato the way that makes most sense to balance on that fine line is to state that people shouldn’t lie, but in some instances the Guardians may. Thus, it is not the case that it is an inconsistency, but in fact Plato’s idea of truth-telling fits in well with conventional views of morality. Platonic justice aligns with conventional justice. Another objection, raised by Annas and others, is to ask why the Platonically just philosophers Plato imagines might not steal in order to fund their intellectual pursuits. If these pursuits are so important to their lives, wouldn’t they feel it right to take money through any means necessary to allow themselves to continue with their life goals? One possible response, following from Demos’ argument, is that being Platonically just involves not being selfish. Someone with a well-ordered, just soul would put the general good above their own personal good, since the form of reason mentioned above would guide their actions. Selfishly stealing from others to pursue their own goals would contradict those very goals. Similarly, another objection is that philosophers would avoid ruling in favor of intellectual pursuits if society needed them and asked them to rule, but the same reasoning applies. The goal of pursuing intellectual reasoning would in fact be contradicted by so selfishly avoiding this duty. The very reason they would want to develop and explore would require them to do the (conventionally) just thing and take on the responsibility of ruling. In this way again, Platonic justice coheres with the more conventional form. I hope to shown that the city-soul analogy is at least adequate as a tool for exploring justice and discovering its nature. While it may not be very useful in giving a technical definition, it does its job as far as it needs to in understanding what justice is. Accepting this allows us to move on to discuss Platonic justice, which I hope I have demonstrated to entail conventional justice. Despite the irrelevance objections of Sachs, Annas, and others, I have argued that Plato’s account of justice is sufficient to respond to the challenge set out at the beginning of the Republic.

Analogous Structures in Evolution

Analogous Structures in Evolution There are many types of evidence supporting evolution, including studies in the molecular biology field, such as DNA, and in the developmental biology field. However, the most commonly used types of evidence for evolution are anatomical comparisons between species. While homologous structures show how similar species have changed from their ancient ancestors, analogous structures show how different species have evolved to become more similar. Speciation Speciation is the change over time of one species into a new species. Why would different species become more similar? Usually, the cause of convergent evolution is similar selection pressures in the environment. In other words, the environments in which the two different species live are similar and those species need to fill the same niche in different areas around the world. Since natural selection works the same way in these environments, the same types of adaptations are favorable, and individuals with favorable adaptations survive long enough to pass down their genes to their offspring. This continues until only individuals with favorable adaptations are left in the population. Sometimes, these types of adaptations can change the structure of the individual. Body parts can be gained, lost, or rearranged depending on whether their function is the same as the original function of that part. This can lead to analogous structures in different species that occupy the same type of niche and environment in different locations. Taxonomy When Carolus Linnaeus first began classifying and naming species with taxonomy, the science of classification, he often grouped similar-looking species into similar groups. This led to incorrect groupings compared to evolutionary origins of the species. Just because species look or behave the same doesnt mean they are closely related. Analogous structures dont have to share the same evolutionary path. One analogous structure might have come into existence long ago, while the analogous match on another species may be relatively new. They may go through different developmental and functional stages before they are fully alike. Analogous structures are not necessarily evidence that two species came from a common ancestor. It is more likely they came from two separate branches of the phylogenetic tree and may not be closely related at all. Examples The human eye is very similar in structure to the eye of the octopus. In fact, the octopus eye is superior to the humans in that it doesnt have a blind spot. Structurally, that is the only difference between the eyes. However, the octopus and the human are not closely related and reside far from each other on the phylogenetic tree of life. Wings are a popular adaptation for many animals. Bats, birds, insects, and pterosaurs all had wings. But a bat is more closely related to a human than to a bird or an insect based on homologous structures. Even though all these species have wings and can fly, they are very different in other ways. They just happen to fill the flying niche in their locations. Sharks and dolphins look very similar due to color, placement of their fins, and overall body shape. However, sharks are fish and dolphins are mammals. This means that dolphins are more closely related to rats than they are sharks on the evolutionary scale. Other types of evolutionary evidence, such as DNA similarities, have proved this. It takes more than appearance to determine which species are closely related and which have evolved from different ancestors to become more similar through their analogous structures. However, analogous structures themselves are evidence for the theory of natural selection and the accumulation of adaptations over time.

The Various Ways of Financing Educational Boot Camps Research Proposal

The Various Ways of Financing Educational Boot Camps - Research Proposal Example According to the report findings Czech Republic is a country located in the Central Europe and it is landlocked. This country has around 1.3million citizens and out of this there is the youth group, in which many of them do not have basic education but are gifted and talented in many skills. To help these youths/students, there are educational boot camps operating in the country and in the countries around. Boot camps are units that began as government’s initiative or by corporate as a form of social responsibility to provide training for students who are talented and gifted in various skills but cannot afford to go to institutions that provide high education. Czech Republic’s government has taken some measures for it to become a renowned country in relation to human development. Currently, it is among the top 30 countries that have implemented measures to achieve the goal of human development within its borders. According to the World Bank, Czech Republic is a develope d country from 2006. As the research stresses there are many sponsors around the world who try to give back to the society even through charity and providing funds to improve the face of their company or improve their brand image in the market. Therefore, it will be of great importance if such sponsors who can take on this responsibility for a longer period of time and provide support to these students can be approached.