Health and Safety Project Essay

This work-based project forms an important part of your training. The aim of this project is to familiarise yourself with your working environment and the Health and Safety issues that arise in your placement. On completion you should: Understand the structure your organisation’s; and your role in it Understand the importance of Health and Safety at work Understand the legal requirements of Health and Safety at work Know your organization’s health, hygiene and accident procedures To complete this assignment you may need to make notes in before filling in the information. Take your time and carefully answer every question as fully as possible; the more you write the more criteria you will meet. If you need any help please speak to your workplace supervisor, your colleagues, your College tutor or your Training Co-ordinator. Describe your placement, e.g. busy town/country, client group (age, culture, special needs): The site that Oakland’s is situated on was once the site of the old Parcroft Juniors School, which was torn down and rebuilt with the merger of the Westfield Infant’s. The newly reformed school was named after the old oak tree, which still stands on the grounds of the school and has done for 300 years. So it was only fitting that the school was named Oakland’s, and when you talk to past pupils who attended Parcroft, they always fondly remember playing marbles or chase under the oak trees branches. Oakland’s Primary School is based within the busy town of Yeovil and is situated between Preston Grove, Linden Road and Summerleaze Park. It is a modern High Tec school with all the modern facilities you would expect. The school was built on one level giving easy access to all able bodied and  unable bodied pupils alike to attend the school. The building is quiet self efficient and generates its own electric with solar panels, has under floor heating to heat the school throughout and even the lights run on sensors to turn on and off when you enter and exit a room. Each classroom is fitted with large touch screen boards, which the teachers can run from their laptops giving them a huge range of access to a wide range of teaching resources, enhancing the pupils learning to the up most and keeping them interactive with their learning. Roughly 420 pupils attend the school, ranging from the ages of 4 years up to 11 years old. The school uniform is a purple jumper with the school emblem of an Oak Tree, white sweatshirts, grey trousers or skirts and black shoes. Each of the 14 classes within the school has been named after an animal, giving each class its own identity, including a mascot. There is also four teams throughout the school, which is used within each classroom and the children are encourage to win team points for their team so that at the end of the school year their team can win the team cup. This helps with the pupils taking pride in their achievements and to try hard to earn a point. There are many facilities within the school and on the surrounding grounds of the school, these include: The I.C.T suite where the children learn how to use computers, from word processing to using the internet safely. The school hall which is used for weekly assemblies, indoor sports activities, and even the Christmas nativity plays. The music room which is full of many different musical instruments, letting the pupils express themselves and learn about music. The fully equipped cookery room were the pupils learn about healthy eating and different foods from around the world. This is also where the breakfast club is held every morning. Then there is Forest school which is held in a purpose built log cabin surrounded by trees and a wildlife garden. This is where pupils go for environmental studies, to learn about insects, plants, animals and the environment. The Outdoor facilities include several outside learning areas that are used throughout the day depending on weather. There are also extensive fields, several play areas and two activity play areas. Oakland’s Primary also offers a large range of activities and clubs after school, which range from performance arts, music, sports, computer clubs and gardening clubs. There is also a holiday care  scheme which offers families affordable, childcare. Within Oakland’s there is also an Autism Base which is known as Peacocks Class. This based within it’s own sector of the school’s main building and is solely run by the council and has its own staff. The base consists of two teaching areas, two sensory rooms, a kitchen, a toilet and its own outside area. Non-Statutory requirements (in your workplace) What is the ratio of adults to children? In Foundation and Key Stage One the ratio of adults to children is 1 to 10 In Key Stage Two the ratio of adults to children is 1 to 15 Are the ratios different in any other room at work; if yes please give details? Yes in the Autism base the ratio of adult to children is different. Statutory requirements What are the statutory requirements regarding adult: child ratios? The EYFS states that the adult to child ratio within classes with children over the age of three should be 1 Adult to 13 Children. But must be a qualified teacher, or hold a relevant level 6 qualification. It also states that there should also be at least one other member of staff within the classroom that holds a level 3 qualification. However if the teacher is absent from the classroom then the ratio requirements change and it is recommended that it should be 1 Adult to 8 Children. But must hold a level qualification and the other staff within the classroom should hold a level 2 qualification. On school trips the ratios change again dependent on the type of trip. Also these can change when dependant on certain circumstances and other factors, which could Include if any of the pupils have special educational needs or medical needs. It can also be altered depending on the experience and competence of the staff attending the trip, including the number of first aiders going along. It is recommended that the ratios should follow: 1:6 for years 1 to 3, 1:10 for years 4 to 6, and 1: 15 / 20 for years 7 upwards. Why are these necessary? To make sure that the children are being educated and taken care of correctly and are under the supervision of qualified staff members. What are the statutory requirements regarding space? Class sizes: Schools must make sure that children aged between 5 years and 7 years aren’t taught in classes of more than 30 pupils. There is no legal limit for pupils aged 8 years and over. Why is this necessary? So that schools do not have oversized classes, as then the children do not get the attention they need to learn. Organisation and Structure of the Workplace Every organisation or business has its own basic structure of management. Each manager is responsible for those in their department. The structure can be set out like a pyramid. Responsibilities may differ. Please identify all staff roles and responsibilities; highlighting your own: Governors They school governors are responsible for working with the school to ensure that it delivers a good quality education. Head Teacher Has overall responsibility for the school, its staff, its pupils and the education they receive. Deputy Head Teacher Plays a major role in managing the school, particularly in the absence of the head teacher. Is also responsible for a curriculum area and specific areas of the school management, delegated to them by the Head Teacher. Inclusion Leader The special educational needs coordinator is responsible for day to day provisions for pupils with special educational needs. NQT Mentor They are responsible for the Newly Qualified Teachers, and are there to give support and guidance when needed. Foundation Stage Leader Responsible for children in foundation stage, leading the foundation team of teachers and teaching assistants. KS1 Leader To manage Key Stage 1 team of teachers and teaching assistants. KS2 Leader To manage Key Stage 2 team of teachers and teaching assistants. Phase Leaders Responsible for co-ordinating and motivating staff and children in their allocated phase to ensure high levels of achievement. Teachers Are responsible to plan, prepare and lessons to meet the needs of all their pupils in their care. Setting and marking work and recording pupil’s development as necessary. But also within Oakland’s each teacher is responsible for an area of the curriculum, such as; A curriculum coordinator for Numeracy, which makes them responsible for the leadership and management of the subject. Teaching Assistants To assist the classroom teacher to prepare for lessons such as resources that are required, or to put out equipment at the start of the lesson. To support the teacher in the day to day running of the classroom from up keeping data files, cataloguing resources, maintaining inventories, and photocopying. Undertaking learning activities with a small group of children, who may need extra support. Lunchtime Supervisors They look after the children during lunchtime breaks, so that most of the staff members are able to take their breaks. They take the children who have school dinners to the schools canteen, they also look after the pupils who bring pack lunch. Within one of their classroom or outside weather permitting. They are also first aid trained and look after the children whilst playing outside. Administration Staff There is a wide range of job roles within this department of the school, ranging from: First point of contact for the school either by telephone, email or face to face. Diary management for the Head teacher or departmental leaders Issue visitor passes where necessary and maintain signing in and out books Maintain data bases and filing systems Prepare correspondence and collect fees To contact parent/guardians for specific reasons when requested by staff and to request for collection of sick children on behalf of the staff. And many more jobs besides Site Staff Maintain the school, deal with cleaning, maintenance of equipment and the school building. Catering Staff Cater for the pupils and staff that eat within the canteen, with healthy food within their budget. Volunteers Helping within the school, with assisting the classroom teacher with tasks such as listening to pupils read, taking part on school trips and helping out at school fairs. List the things you have agreed with your employer that you are prohibited from doing: Entering the Autism base, Administering first aid to a pupil this must be done by a qualified first aider. What breaks are you entitled to? When working a full day within the school – from 8.45am to 3pm I am entitled to an hour for lunch. Though on occasions I may be required to cover a lunchtime supervisor duty, which then I will be allocated an hour within the afternoon. This is the same for break times, we are entitled to take the break ourselves or we may be asked to supervise. If you are unhappy with a health & safety issues what would you do? I would have to report this to the site service manager or to the deputy head teacher Risk Assessments Has your placement got a risk assessment policy? Yes – Every school and workplace must have a risk assessment policy. Where is it kept? Within the Administration Office Who has access to it? The HSE, The Governors, The Head Teacher, staff members and parents How often are they reviewed and why is this necessary? It is reviewed on a yearly basis unless any changes have to be implemented within the school. Then the risk assessment will be reviewed as a part of the process. Such as recently the school has had some staff members trained in manual lifting and so the risk assessment has to be updated for this new procedure within the school. Give an example of a risk assessment you have done and why? When reading with the foundation children one to one they have a tendency to swing on their chair. This has risks of the chair flipping backwards and the child following which in turn could cause harm to themselves. So I have had to ask them to sit properly and not to swing on their chair. Identify and list below 4 possible risks/hazards that might occur within your work placement and state how you would prevent each one?, explain how they will be monitored and reviewed 1. Pupils trapping fingers in the internal fire doors. The fire doors are extremely heavy to open to exit the classrooms or to enter the bathroom, especially for the less able bodied and the smaller children within foundation. These doors are on hinges and close back on themselves when opened. Are very heavy as they are designed to protect against fire. However I have witnessed children struggling with these doors. When trying to open these doors by themselves they tend to place one hand on the door frame as they use the other hand to open the door. If they where to lose grip of the door it would swing back and the likely hood of trapping their fingers is a high risk. The less able bodies students struggle even more so and they normally have a buddy within their classroom to open these doors for them. Which in turn takes away their independence, and they normally have a fear of getting stuck in the toilet or in room as they are unable to open these doors by themselves. I would look into adapting the doors by placing an electronic button system. Where the smaller children and the less able bodied children will be able to press a button and the door will automatically open for them. As it is impossible to loosen the hinges on the door as they will no longer work as intended. If this is not possible when a child needs to exit a room then an adult should always be present to assist. Preventing any accidents from happening, or a fear of getting stuck. 2. Tripping over chair leg in classroom When children are moving around the classroom it is often an possibility that they could trip over a chair leg. Either from the chair not being placed under a table properly or whilst another child is swinging on their chair. This could be very hazardous as they could fall and hit a side of a table or land badly on the ground. Add no swinging on your chair and to tuck away chairs properly when not being used onto the classroom rules. I would remind any of the children I see not tucking their chair away to do so, and at the end of class make a check that all chairs are tucked away correctly. I would also do the same with children swinging on their chair; I would ask them not to, and remind them of the class room rules. 3. Slipping on wet floors in the toilets Before break times and lunch times the children are all asked to go to the toilets and wash their hands. The children have a tendency to drip a large amount of water across the floor when walking over to the hand dryer. Which when you have approximately 30 children at once using the toilets the water can accumulate into a puddle of water, which becomes a slipping hazard. Allowing only ten children to use the toilets at a time to wash their hands. So that a teaching assistant could maintain the floor with a mop preventing puddles forming, then let the next ten children in once the teaching assistant has vacated. Another option could be before allowing the children  out of the class to use the toilet the teacher could remind them to shake the excess water off their hands over the sink before drying their hands. However the procedure they have set in the foundation classes works well where they set up two washing up bowls set within the classroom on tables. The children wash their hands under adult supervision and then dry their hands on towels. Makes it less children rushing through the toilets just to wash their hands. 4. Getting caught up and Tripping over Play bibs Within foundation the children are allowed out to play within the soft play area during lessons, but only in a group of five. To keep the group to only five children at a time there are five play bibs supplied which they have to wear whilst outside. However when a child wants to come back inside they have to take off the play bib, which then leaves a bib spare for another child to go out. It works in principle, and keeps the group to only five children at a time. However the children do not maintain putting the bibs back within the box after they are finished and they tend to just throw the play bibs down on the ground. This then becomes a tripping hazard and another child or member of staff could get their feet caught up within the bib and fall over, causing an injury. A box placed outside seems to be over looked by the children, so I would suggest placing a coat hook within the classroom, at their level by the door that they exit and enter to play outside. Then reaffirm that the play bibs must be hung up when not being used and remind the children when they drop the bib to hang it up or no play for them for the rest of the day. Offsite Safety What risk assessments do you need to complete before going of site/ on an outing? Oakland’s Primary employs an external Risk Assessment company, to carry out the risk assessments on behave of the school. They attend the site of the visit and make an assessment of the risks that may apply and forward the report back to the Head Teacher or Deputy Head Teacher. The report will be compiled of recommendations based on factors of the trip, and any control measures and contingencies that need to be set in place relating to the risks that could occur. From the report the school will then set in place the criteria based around the risks, such as: The age / competence / fitness / usual standard of behaviour of the pupils Any special educational / medical needs of the pupils Adult to Child ratios The competence / experience / qualifications of the adults Modes of transport, journey routes and location of the visit The correct attire that may need to be required depended on weather conditions and location of visit. Any emergency procedures When there is a less able bodied pupil attending the trip, the leading teacher will take a visit to the site themselves to evaluate the location and the facilities. This is so they can make sure that no child will miss out. They also take a visit to plan activities accordingly and to talk to any personnel that may work within the location of the visit, and to set out a timetable of the activities. Are the adult: child ratio’s different? Yes the ratios are different, and these depend on the location of the visit. What are your roles and responsibilities? I have done quite a few school trips, some have been to support my son during a school visit and have travelled either via the school mini bus or and in one instance myself and my son travelled by our own means of transport. When arriving at school we are given the activities schedule and what groups we will be in and the names of the children under our care. We check that all the children have brought everything they need, if not the school does try to provide anything that a child has forgotten or does not own, such a wellingtons, spare clothes etc. We run through the plan before leaving the classroom. On the mini bus I would support my son, during the journey and help the other two teaching assistants within the mini bus to keep the rest of the children entertained. We normally share out books, maths tasks or we will start some singing. Once we have arrived at the location I am put in charge of a small group of 4 to 5 children which includes my son and I follow one of the leading teachers during the activities. The last school trip to kingcombe meadows we went hunting within the meadows for wild flowers with a check list, we also caught bugs within nets and did some fishing in the river. I had a small group of 5 children under my care and I helped them with their activities, encouraging them to figure out what bug the found or flower. I have also helped with a foundation school outing, this was up to the post box outside of the school gate and up the road to post their letters home, as part of their Post Office activities in class. I handed out high-viz vests to every child before we left and was put in charge of three children as we walked in a line up and back to the post box.

What is the relationship between leadership and stress?

In a rapidly changing world where individuals and communities live 24 by 7, communicate with different cultures at increasing internet speeds, work two to three jobs a day just to support a standardized lifestyles, leaders take the toll a level higher. Stress is evident in leadership brought about by both internal and external elements. But stress and leadership cannot be taken apart. These two elements interact and connive to bring out the best and the worst in the individual who is mandated to show the vision and lead the way no matter what. â€Å"Stress levels rocketed in 2005 – all around the world, whether economic activity was picking up or slowing down,† said Andrew Godfrey, partner at Grant Thornton. Keeping up with fast growth or combating recession are both equally stressful, although Asian business leaders are under particular strain, as their businesses and markets continue to show phenomenal growth.† (BBC, 2006) But John C. Maxwell relates adversity that causes stress as great opportunities for leaders to develop the limits of their potential. When leaders find themselves stressed out, their wisdom is challenged because it is those very moments when an individual gives in to his weaknesses. But for leaders who are experienced enough they would very well know what to do when they find themselves in the middle of a stressful situation. Congruently, leaders would often times cause stress themselves as they aim for more efficient, effective and economical ways of leading the community or the team. In this light, stress becomes a tool of the leader to forge new paths, new solutions and innovations to help the team reach their goals. In many ways, stress and leadership has always been in tandem with each other. The relationship between these two concepts has essentially led to greater heights of civilization, socialization and camaraderie between individuals, groups and cultures. At best, stress and leadership has always forged man to develop into the best possible leaders an individual can become. References BBC News. (2006, February 17) Business stress levels ‘double' BBC News Retrieved October 30, 2006, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4720684.stm Blanchard, Kenneth Ph.D. and M.D. Spencer Johnson. 1983. The One Minute Manager. Berkley Trade Maxwell, John C. 2003. Real Leadership: The 101 Collection. Maxwell Motivation Inc. Georgia.   

Is Atticus a good father? Essay

However, I think that they were acting somewhat childish. In reverse, Atticus is definitely an excellent role model and a good father for Jem and Scout. Firstly, Atticus raised two children – Jem and Scout on his own and was always there for them. He was affectionate with his children and he was always ready with a big hug when they needed comfort. Also, he was a loving and caring father who cared about their education and tried to use as much time as possible out of his packed work schedule to teach them how to read. Moreover, he spent father-child bonding time with them by reading stories to them at night. Secondly, he taught his children about morals and values patiently. He guided them with everyday lessons in life. He set such a good example for his children, even when it means risking his safety. Obviously there was a case where he defended Tom Robinson though no one else would. This shows that he was showing his children that everyone deserved to be treated equally regardless of their skin colours and that one must do what is right even when that means doing something difficult. Thirdly, he taught his children valuable lessons through trivial incidents. For instance, he accepted payment in any form that his clients were able to give it, e. g. turnip greens, stove wood and hickory nuts, etc. It shows that he was teaching his children that money meant less than helping one’s human beings and that all people regardless of income or status deserved his help and friendship. Fourthly, although he allowed his children to play and explore freely, he was also a firm disciplinarian who always taught his children to think of how their actions will affect others and gave suitable punishments to them. For example, when Jem damages the camellia bushes of Mrs. Dubose, Atticus advised him to say sorry to such an old and sick lady. Mrs Dubose then punished him by asking him to read to her every afternoon for two hours. Atticus used this experience to teach Jem what real â€Å" courage† meant and focus on the principles of life and respects while upholding fairness and justice. To conclude, although Atticus is not a perfect father, he was very responsible and easily gained trust of Jem and Scout, which is something essential in every parent-child relationship.

Renovascular Hypertension Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Renovascular Hypertension - Essay Example Renovascular hypertension may be also caused by malignant hypertension or renal artery stenosis. The most common cause of renovascular hypertension is artery stenosis, a narrowing of the artery pathway due to a buildup of plaque. The low blood flow to the kidneys results in an increase in the production of renin, which results in peripheral arteries to constrict and raising the body's blood pressure. Renovascular hypertension is evident in approximately 6 out of 100,000 people (Renovascular Hypertension 2006). Age of onset varies depending on the cause but is most common in men over the age of 45 with atherosclerosis, and in women under the age of 45 with fibromuscular dysplasia (Renovascular Hypertension 2006). Children with fibromuscular dysplasia are at high risk as are people whose diets are high in salt, heavy metals, suffer stress, or have a family history of renovascular hypertension. A patient that has unusually high blood pressure for an extended time that is difficult to control should be suspect for renovascular hypertension. In addition, the presence of abdominal, epigastric or flank bruit, a noticeable decrease in kidney size, or a recurrent pulmonary edema may also be noticed in a patient suffering from renovascular hypertension.

National bank regulation of commercial bank Term Paper

National bank regulation of commercial bank - Term Paper Example Nevertheless, every banking institution come under the regulatory fold either under a state government of federal body. The regulations are enforced in many respects and cover many aspects. The Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve, the Fed, can be called as banker's bank and a regulator of majority of commercial banks and financial institutions and also country's money manager. The Federal Reserve is the United States central bank. This is the biggest regulatory body of the nation. All national and commercial banks take cue from the Fed in their day to day activities. The Fed's mandates aims at promoting sustainable growth, stability of prices, high levels of employment, and maintain the purchasing power of the dollar keeping moderate long-term interest rates. In the U.S, the term ‘National bank’ has a clear definition: those who come under the purview of the National Bank Act. They are supervised by the Office of Comptroller of the currency (OCC), under US Treasury Depar tment. Banks forms under this act are required to follow the designation â€Å"National Association† or in short â€Å"N.A.† in their title so as to indicate their affiliation with the governing body. Many banks however are regulated by the state governments under respective state laws. Deposits of National and State banks are insured by the FDIC, known as Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It should be noted that banking regulations in US are not governed by a single body unlike UK or Japan. The U.S banking sector works under the highly-regulated environments in the world. Some of them can be listed as anti-money laundering, anti-usury lending, fraud prevention, promotion of lending to lower-income population, disclosures and many more. It will be worthwhile to have a look at some of the regulations that are in force to regulate the various aspects of national or commercial banks. Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-terrorism Certain acts are promulgated to control mon ey laundering activities which are stated as per the following. (Regulations) The Bank Secrecy Act This act has been formulated keeping in mind money laundering aspects where in all national or commercial establishments are required to assist government agencies. Banks under this act keep necessary records that are necessary to detect the suspicious activities of the transactions exceeding $10,000 on aggregate daily basis. (Regulations) USA Patriot Act This act necessitates banks to place limits on new accounts until the identity of account holder is verified. (Regulations) Deposit Account Insurance Regulation It was Glass–Steagall Act who paved the way for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for insuring deposits at commercial banks. In 1933, U.S was the first country to implement insurance for deposit holders to protect the depositors from bankruptcy of the banks. (Regulations) Regulation D or Withdrawal Limits Federal Reserve has put a limit on number of withdrawa ls and transfers from any saving or money market account. This regulation is applicable to all U.S banking institutions who offer such accounts. The limit is placed at six for all outgoing transactions through any method. Lending Regulations Regulation Z or the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) of 1968 is meant for consumer credits that informs the standard interest rate

Why gas prices are so high in America Speech or Presentation

Why gas prices are so high in America - Speech or Presentation Example The rising fuel cost has compelled people to drive less. The rise in the prices of gas has resulted in a change in the American life style. (Keen and Overberg) The price rise resulted in a trade deficit in the country as it rose to 15 percent in January 2011. (U.S. trade deficit rose 15% in January on higher oil prices) Texas the second largest state in US experienced a steady rise in the gas prices. The latest data available shows that in the year 2011 the oil price in the state of Texas showed a slow but decreasing trend, where the retail gasoline price has changed from $3.727 per gallon on the 23rd of May 2011 to $3.589 per gallon on 6th June 2011. But considering the same month last year that is in 2010, the gas price has increased by 0.976 dollar per gallon. Houston the largest city of Texas has also experienced an escalation in the price of gas by 1.023 per gallon in 2011 from that of the previous year. (Retail Gasoline Historical prices)

Multimedia and design Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Multimedia and design - Article Example first understanding of Multimedia and design would be the fusion of audio and art translated into a material that is ready to be translated to digital format or medium. However, upon taking up the course where we have tackled three of the most insightful books: Simple and Usable by AColborne Giles, Steve Jobs by AIsaacson Walter, and. Massive change by AMau Bruce I realized that multimedia and design is indeed another world of digital media that would make every user of the web today more powerful than ever before. I learned from the book Simple and Usable that to be able to be successful in multimedia and design does not always mean creating a grand website that is very catchy to people’s eyes. Yes, it is another factor that a website would be visited however, catchy should never compromise with pleasantness. Thus, it is important to know that simplicity is really an objective one could carry out in any multimedia work that would never lead you astray to success. I learned that it does not mean creating an almost empty site perhaps but one that is of utmost functionality and at the same time with consideration to the basic needs of a user such as including a â€Å"help† link. Another book I learned a lot from would be â€Å"Steve Jobs by AIsaacson Walter† that tackled how Steve Jobs was able to revolutionize six industries from personal computers, movies, music, phones, digital publishing and etc. This opened my eyes for the need to innovate and never let your imaginations end as it is. The success in multimedia could be achieved with inventiveness, a couple of multimedia engineering, and most especially a creation that would give a solution to a need or even a want. One of which would be that he made it possible to legally download songs which is of great value especially to the kind of lifestyle we have today and the booming music industry being experienced like never before in history which is made possible by the web today. With AMau Bruce’s Massive

Boots-PLC Financial Report Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Boots-PLC Financial Report - Case Study Example 53). The net profit was 501.7 m in 2005 and 550.1 m in 2004 (Boots Group PLC Annual Report 2005, p. 46). The net profit margin has changed from 0.103 (2004) to 0.092 (2005). The following graph supports the information on the changes of group turnover, net profit, and net profit margin throughout the last 5 years. It is important to notice that while the group turnover is increasing (more goods are sold), the net profit are decreasing (non-operating costs are rising), and the profitability of the company is falling. Nevertheless it is high enough in compare with the main competitors: Alliance UniChem had the same net profit margin of 0.022 over two years (Alliance UniChem Key Financial Data, 2005); and J Sainsbury has decreased its net profit margin from 0.031 in 2004 to 0.020 in 2005 (J Sainsbury Financials, 2005). More detailed comparison is available in Appendix 1. Current assets of Boots PLC in 2005 were 1575.8 m, while the current liabilities were 1074.1 m (Boots Group PLC Annual Report 2005, p. 47). Therefore current liquidity ratio for 2005 is 1.47, which means that a company can meet its short-term obligations without serious troubles. The current liquidity ratio for the year 2004 was 1.52, which means the ratio of current assets to current liabilities has decreased - definitely, not a good sign for the company. Looking at the cash flow statement of the Boots PLC one can see that cash inflow from operating activities has significantly decreased from 637.8 m in 2004 to 514.7 m in 2005 (Boots Group PLC Annual Report 2005, p. 48) due to lower operating profit and larger increase in working capital. Still the main cash inflow comes from operating, which is a sign of financial health of a company. Also the company has increased its debt significantly by 668 m (Boots Group PLC Annual Report 2005, p. 64) returning funds to shareholders to make the balance sheet more efficient. Therefore overall closing net debt in 2005 was 594.1 m comparatively to 148.5 m in 2004 (Boots Group PLC Annual Report 2005, p. 48). Long-term debt/equity ratio=long-term debt/shareholders' equity Long-term liabilities of Boots PLC are 588.7 m (Boots Group PLC Annual Report 2005, p. 47). Equity shareholder's funds are equal to 1,609.4 m (Boots Group PLC Annual Report 2005, p. 47). Therefore debt-to-equity ratio is 0.37, which is a low number indicating that a capital structure of a company can be shifted more towards using debt. The high liquidity ratio shows that it is possible to use debt furthermore. 1b. Currently the company's use of retained earnings for financing its operations is low in compare to its use of debt. Nevertheless, high liquidity allows further use debt for financing. The capital structure of Boots PLC is not optimal; the company should take the opportunity of increasing its debt for financing. The other ways of financing operations of Boots PLC can be achieved through the use common or premium stock. 2a. I. 'Dividends

Psychobiology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Psychobiology - Essay Example Many researchers use both these terms interchangeably. Bio psychologists use empirical experiments to study changes in the nervous system activation in response to a stimulus. There are various techniques/ methods used to measure this activation (Abraham, F. D, 1992): The main essence of this approach is to emphasize on the assessment of person. Although mind is contingent on the brain, the central therapeutic concern should be the life story of the individual patient interacting with others in the context of society and culture (Adler, N. E, Matthews, K. A, 1994) In this theory the rather vibrant nature of psychiatric infirmity is more highlighted, and is considered that was opposed to the idea that a hypothetical underlying lesion should be postulated just because mental disorders may seem unintelligible (CYNTHIA SCHUPAK, 2000). According to this assumption there is an absolute differentiation between normality and mental illness. As an alternative the relative nature of the range between mental illness and normality is emphasised. Psychosocial factors dominate in the understanding of the functions mental illness. For example schizophrenia is explained as a mal-adaptation that could be understood in terms of the patient's life experiences (Meyer 1906). A difficulty in explaining a mental illness in the psychological context does not necessarily means a brain abnormality. (iv) The mechanisms by which mental illness emerges in an individual are psychologically mediated Mental illness is not a single word analysis. The main emphasis is on a detailed human action analysis rather than a reductive analysis of physical cause (Bonnes, M Gianfranco, 1995). Advantages of Human Behaviour On Genetic Constitution Migration from traditional lifestyles and environments to more sedentary lifestyles and calorie-dense environments has, therefore, been posited to increase the likelihood of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and

Investigation of Process Parameter Optimization of High Speed CNC Research Paper

Investigation of Process Parameter Optimization of High Speed CNC Milling for Composite Materials using Combined Genetic Algorit - Research Paper Example Machinability in terms of quality and productivity is of great concern in a competitive market. CNC milling performance is evaluated in terms of surface roughness, material removal rate, taper and facing. CNC machining is done initially in a number of passes an final end milling is done in a single pass. The most common machining parameters are cutting speed, feed, depth of cut. To have a balance between productivity and quality, the machining parameters need to be optimised. High speed CNC milling process needs to balance between productivity and quality of the end product. While quality is measured in terms of surface finish, the productivity is measured in terms of material removal rate. Good machinable materials acquire a smooth finish as they can be easily cut with less power. They also cause minimum damage to the tool. If the material has improved material properties then it’s machinablity becomes difficult. Hence improving machinability without sacrificing performance is a challenge. Predicting the optimal parameters for CNC milling is difficult as the milling process depends on several factors. The important factors relative to the material include the thermal conductivity, toughness, chemical properties and the microstructure of the material. The other important factors are the geometry of the cutting tool and the parameters of CNC milling process. Objectives : The aim of this research work is to †¢Find the important factors that characterise the best performance of the high speed CNC milling process. †¢Using combined Genetic Algorithm and Artificial neutral networks techniques to optimise these high speed CNC milling parameters by identifying the correlation between the factors like feed, depth of cutting and cutting speed. Based on the correlation of these parameters, the optimal set is to be determined for perfect output parameters like surface roughness and material removal rate. (4) High speed CNC Milling : CNC milling is the most fundamental operation in industrial machining. According to Mike S. Lou et al (1999 ) â€Å"The quality of the surface plays a very important role in the performance of milling as a good-quality milled surface significantly improves fatigue strength, corrosion resistance, or creep life. Surface roughness also affects several functional attributes of parts, such as contact causing surface friction, wearing, light reflection, heat transmission, ability of distributing and holding a lubricant, coating, or resisting fatigue†. Speed of the milling depends on the tool size used. If the tool size is smaller, then to avoid breakage of the tool the spindle speed required will be more. For milling with using micro tools the speed range of the spindles may be up to 60,000 rpm ( Datron white paper, 2005). Thus high speed milling involves higher RPM rates with more feed rates and small step overs. The advantage of this high speed is that there is less heating of the parts because of less time for the heat to feedback. The generated heat is 40% due to the friction and 20% due to deformation. For better quality in machining, the low milling force and cooler tools can be used so that the vibration is less. A white paper of DATRON (2005) states that â€Å"The high spindle speed reduces the chip load to less than 0.005†. Such a low chip load significantly reduces the forces between the tool and the material. High-speed/low-force machining yields less heat, reduces tool deflection, and allows machining of thinner walled work pieces. This all results in cooler machining, superior surface and edge quality, better accuracy and, as a

Foundations of Conflict Resolution MODULE 3 CASE ASSIGNMENT Essay

Foundations of Conflict Resolution MODULE 3 CASE ASSIGNMENT - Essay Example The cooperation showed by the parties was an over ridding principle which allowed the two parties to continue on with the discussion. In the case there is a strong possibility of a Pareto – Optimal settlement. The case meets a number of the conditions like: â€Å"Despite conflicting interests, the parties recognize that they also share a problem of some urgency which, if not promptly resolved, may have adverse consequences for them all. Despite differences of perspective, the parties communicate easily with one another. No psychological problems or hidden motivations stunt or disturb the flow of communication. The parties and their attorneys are genuinely interested in possibilities of settlement without the distractions of posturing or jockeying for strategic advantage. Neither party is able or "willing to exercise overwhelming power or influence in the negotiations to force a decision in his or her favor." Each party understands the others arguments and interests, and neith er party is willing to risk the possibility of a judgment adverse to it in a court of law. Objectively based criteria can be identified on which to build a settlement. The dialogue of negotiation discovers win/ win possibilities via "expansion of the resource to be traded." The parties may have an actual or potential relationship that each perceives as worth maintaining or cultivating. Both parties are willing to coordinate their actions in order to implement win/win solutions† (Selig, 2002). Practical points that can derived from this case is that if the disputants have a strong understanding and ability to communicate and resolve the issue among themselves, it can prove to be very beneficial for all the parties and can create a win – win situation for all. Also if all the aspects of the case are considered, it is seen that the cooperative behaviour along with the need for and willingness to genuinely have a need for settlement.

The Downfall Of The South In The Civil War Essay Example for Free

The Downfall Of The South In The Civil War Essay The Civil War had continued to be a subject of interest by many Americans than any other event in their history. Even the Revolution that marked the birth of the republic pales in comparison, in terms of popularity, with the bloody fratricidal conflict of 1861-1865. Such popular imagination perhaps had been fueled by the thousands of books and articles, movies, and television performances. Furthermore, commemorative monuments, museums, parks, and cemeteries dot every state that saw battle. No skirmish, however minor, lacks at least one historical marker to remind visitors of the event, and every state that raised troops has its mementos flags, uniforms, guns, and equipment which it treasures. To mark anniversary dates, old veterans used to make appearances that would recount their experiences real and imagined in the war. Not immune to such fascination, are historians who continue to recount the battles many times over - describing, attacking or defending the actions of key actors (and many not so important) on both sides of the conflict. Of course, it was a costly war: one which demanded one million casualties, including a half million deaths and millions of dollars in destroyed property which served ample evidence that the Civil War marked a sharp conflict in American history. It is not therefore unusual that many historians have looked into the many facets of the war. Others focused on what could be the causal factors which brought on the war: How significant were the differences that led to war between North and South in 1861? Was it caused by differences in ideologies? A struggle for political power waged by representatives of two economic systems†¦that the conflict was between industrialism and agrarianism? Or a moral issue that served as the basis of a complex web of ideas that led both sides to accept ideologies, or world views that they were convinced, which put them in sharp conflict with one another? This paper however, primarily looks into the underlying issues which greatly influenced the outcome of the war. How the South was placed at a disadvantage - being deficient in terms of population and economy that ultimately led to its downfall in the Civil War. II. Two Main Differing Views Concerning the Cause of War A. Conflicting Economies A highly accepted argument spearheaded during the 1920’s by Charles Beard, who presented that it was the conflicting economic systems of the North and the South which caused the war. He believed that the two economic structures did not remain static which brought about the tremendous change effecting immense dislocation in the social structure, and thereby resulting to igniting the inherent antagonisms outside the bounds of diplomacy. Within each section of the country, the necessities of the productive system were generating significant results. The periphery of the industrial vortex of the Northeast was daily enlarging; agriculture in the Northwest was being steadily supplemented by manufacturing, and the area of tillable land by planters was steadily diminishing a shift by which statesmen had to contend in order to maintain peace. An increase in population concentration was much facilitated by the construction of railways, the telegraph system. Travel and communication was cheap and readily available. It facilitated the clustering of people similar status and parallel opinions into cooperative activities. It contributed to the growth of the intellectual force released by the increase of accumulated wealth - as stimulated by the expansion of the reading public and the literary market. That on the other hand, the South resisted the shift of system and had to defend its economic structure. Beard believed that this opposing system became an â€Å"irrepressible conflict† between the industrial North and the agricultural South, that each was contending for economic and political domination over the nation as demonstrated by the victory of the industrialists in Congress when the North won on the battlefields. The Civil War had put an end to the dominance of agricultural interests, and as such the Civil War was described by Beard as a â€Å"Second American Revolution†. According to Beard’s interpretation, the issue on slavery only played a secondary role in the war and that it was used as a cover up for other purposes. However, historians today by and large disagree with that of Beard. There were reports from early historians indicating that a clash of economic system and interests were none existent between the North and South prior to the war and thereby could not have precipitated the war. B. The Issue on Slavery Eric Foner’s interpretation in contrast to that of Beard makes slavery the central issue. Foner agrees with Beard that the Civil War resulted from a basic conflict in American society. However he rejects the notion that the conflict arose out of industrialism and agrarianism. For Foner, the key issue was slavery, not merely as a moral issue (as some historians have argued), but as well as a sharp contrast of viewpoint that propelled them to a point of conflict. Statesmen of the North expressed concern not only on the extension of slavery, but against its very existence. It was widely accepted that slavery required expansion to survive, and that confinement to the states where it already existed would kill it. In each ideology was the conviction that its own social system must expand, not only to insure its own survival but to prevent the expansion of all the evils the other represented. The Republicans believed that free society, with its promise of social mobility for the laborer, required territorial expansion and how this was combined with a messianic desire to spread the benefits of free society to other areas and peoples. Southerners had their own grandiose design. Writers C. Stanley Urban and Eugene Genovese have emphasized how essential expansionism was in the southern ideology. The struggle for the West represented a contest between two expansive societies only one of whose aspiration could prevail. For the North Americans, slavery could not be allowed to expand, because it would bring upon the West a scar whose fatal influence will be felt for centuries. The Southerners counter-argued that expansion of their own system would prevent the extension of the â€Å"evils† of free society as embodied by the North. Containment meant an indirect admission from the South that slavery is wrong, and should be abolished. Furthermore, it indicated that the South had to abandon its whole ideology, which had come to see slavery as a positive good. Slavery, the Southerners justified, had â€Å"refined† and greatly â€Å"developed† the Negro race. III. Comparison of the North and the South At first glance it seemed that the 23 states of the Union were more than a match for the 11 seceding Southern states South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. There were approximately 22,000,000 people in the North compared with some 9,000,000 in the South (of whom about 3,500,000 were Negro Slaves). In addition, the Federals possessed over 100,000 manufacturing plants as against 18,000 south of the Potomac River, and more than 70 percent of the railroads were in the North. Furthermore, the Union had at its command a 30-to-1 superiority in arms production, a 2-to-1 edge in available manpower, and a great preponderance in commercial and financial resources. It had a functioning government and a small but efficient regular army and navy. But the Confederacy however, despite the many odds against them was not to be snuffed out easily. While at the outset the South without doubt, could have been easily perceived to be on the losing end, there were certain factors which could have made victory possible. Proof of which is that the war dragged on for four years, incurring heavy losses on both sides. The Southern armies had the advantage of fighting on interior lines, and their military tradition had bulked large in the history of the United States before 1860. Moreover, the long Confederate coastline of 3,500 miles (5,600 kilometers) seemed to defy blockade; and the Confederate president, Jefferson Davis, hoped to receive decisive foreign aid and intervention. Finally, they were strongly driven for survival by fighting for the intangible objectives of home and white supremacy. Indeed, other nations had won independence against equally heavy odds.

Development Of Language Through Communication

Development Of Language Through Communication The need to share and relate to our environment made way for the formulation of a means of communicating and further allowed for the development of language. The view that Language is an innate ability and not develop through learning may be flawed in the sense that it can be developed through basic interaction of ones surrounding as well as a more advance development which well require some external assistance. Language is defined as a set of rules shared by individuals who are communicating, that allows them to exchange thoughts , ideas and emotions, where as innate abilities can be seen as skills which are genetically or biologically hardwired into an individuals being. There are many theories as to the development/acquisition of language, such as the Babbling Perspective, Social Interactionist Theory and The Nativist Perspective. The Babbling Perspective as put forward by BF. Skinner argues that adults shape the speech of children by reinforcing the babbling of infants that sound most like words (Skinner, 1957). Dr. C. George Boerees claim is that language all begins in infancy, he states that from conception to the first 6 months babies make a significant amount of noise; they Yell, Squeal, Growl and gives Raspberries, They also Coo; Cooing is what he recognized and theorized as the production of what will later become Vowels (A,E,I,O,U). From 6 Months to about 10 Months they produce somewhat more complicated sounds called babbling, first they produce their vowels starting with the more round back vowels (oo, oh, ah.) working their way the unrounded vowels (ee,eh,ah..) they usually form their first consonants H,M and B which can be combined with t he vowels to make syllables, soon after they will add P,T,D,N,W,F,V and Y, a little later K,G and NG. He also recognized that infants will further add S and Z and took awhile longer to form SH, CH, J and TH, the very last sound would be L and R. Boeree further acknowledge that because the way language is develop in infants it causes them to pronounce words oddly, for example Fis does fine for Fish, Wobbut for Robert and Cawa for Carla. He also stressed that they can perceive far more than they can pronounce, this is sometimes called the Fis phenomenon. Infants he argues might not be able to say certain words, but they will not put up with adults mispronouncing them. Boeree went on to state that both parents plays a huge role in the forming of the childs language, this means that even if we are pre-programmed in some way to speak language, we need to learn a specific language from the people around us, he also state that a mother wouldà ¿typically adjust their speech to fit the childs level, this he says is called Motherese.à ¿ Motherese is a universal feature that is found in practically every culture, it takes the form of a sing-song quality and many special baby words. It is also embedded into the context of theà ¿immediateà ¿surroundings, with constant reference to things nearby ad activities that are on going. Motherese also involves subtleà ¿shapingà ¿called protoconversations, here mother involves infants that do little more than just coo and babble. For example: Mother, Child (one year old) MotherChild Look! (Getting the childs attention)(Baby touches picture) What are these? (Asking question)à ¿(Baby babbles and smiles) Yes, they are doggies (naming Object) à ¿ (Child vocalizes smiles and looks at mom) (Mom laughs) Yes, Doggies! (Repeating) (Child vocalizes and smiles) (Laugh) Yes! (Giving feedback)(Child laughs) Mother would also ask questions like Where is it? and What is it doing? any response would be rewarded with happiness. The conversation however becomes more meaningful when the child is able to use their own words. Boeree concluded that by 10 months most children are able to understand between 5-10 à ¿words, he also observed that a significant portion are able to learn up to 40 words. One other theory is that of the Social Interactionist formulated by Lev Vygotsky, in the 1950s and 1960s. This theory argues that language development is both biological and social; it further states that language learning is influenced by the desire of children to communicate with others within their environment. (Shaffer, 2003). Other Interactionist believes that children are born with powerful brains that slowly predispose them to acquire new understandings that they are motivate to share with others. (Bates, 1993, Tomasella, 1995) Interactionist focuses onà ¿collaborative learning; this is the view that with older people will help children to develop both cognitively and linguistically. (Shaffer, et.al, 2002). Learning is promoted through collaboration collaboration among students, and between students and teacher. From a social Interactionist perspective as students share background knowledge and participate in the give and take of collaborative and cooperative activities they are actually negotiating meaning. They are building knowledge, not as individuals, but as a group. People who surround the individual student, and the culture within which that person lives, greatly affect the way he or she makes sense of the world. This is an ongoing process through out the development of the individuals life; this can take the form of simple task early in the childs life, which may include team sports, and jigsaw puzzles. As the child develops other forms of collaborative learning would include networking, and mentoring. Each of these activities would help the child to interact with those around them, to ask question, and to find solution for said questions. Noam Chomsky (1950) played an integral role in language development with his theory known as the Nativist perspective, this perspective is of the view that humans are biologically programmed to gain knowledge. Chomsky further argues that all humans have a Language Acquisition Device (LAD). The LAD he states contains knowledge of grammatical rules common to all language. (Cited by Shaffer, et.al, 2002). The LAD also allows children to understand the rules of whatever language listing to. Chomsky also developed the concepts of transformational grammar, Surface Structure and Deep meaning. Transformational grammar refers to grammar that transforms a sentence; Surface structures are words that are actually written and deep meaning refers to the underlining meaning or message of a sentence (Mothn, 2005). Chomsky argues that children know about deep structure and they are also able to apply a rule that allows them to manipulate these structures, he called these grammatical transformations. One such example of this is in my view is crying, a newborn who is hungry might not be able toà ¿readilyà ¿say Mom Im hungry but its need to communicate is discomfort stimulates a neurological response (Crying) that will not get the attention of the parent but also convey the childs message, not to say the parent may immediately know that the child want to be fed, but its here her own need to understand the child causes her to perform a series of check for example a diaper check and th e child realizing that its need its need for food is not being address may now begin to cry louder until satisfaction is present, this in return creates a form of language between child and parent that will later take them on a journey of a more advance level of language development which involve proper vocalization. In essence Chomskys perspective that if a child has a properly functioning Language Acquisition Device(LAD) then language will develop regardless of the kind of language the exposed to, as long as the child is raised in an otherwiseà ¿nurturing environment.(Fitch,W.T.S,2009) Chomskys views areà ¿criticized saying it focuses mainly on the internal mental structure and thinking process of the child. Critics have argued that this is unlikely,à ¿stemmingà ¿from their own researched and evidence gathered they say that it would not fully enable us to understand what exactly going on in aà ¿childsà ¿mind. Further critiques were based on the role of people assisting the child to learn language which tends to be overlooked. Researchers have observed that adult speech is fraught with hesitations,à ¿repetitions, slip of tongue and so on and therefore provide an imperfect model. however research have shown that adults make considerable modification to their speech when talking toà ¿childrenà ¿, theses modifications are designed to assist the child with language learning(Fitch,W.T.S,2009).

The War Of Nerves History Essay

The War Of Nerves History Essay The Cold War was a war that began after WWII between the United States and USSR. It was called the Cold War because this was a war of nerves. fought without using any type of artillery. This whole war was fought completely with words. [No, it was also fought in little countries] It was way to dangerous for both The USSR which was Russia [Russia was one segment of the USSR] to fight with the United States so they fought they basically pulled strings and fought using other countries. The United States helped [What about Korea?] South Vietnam as well as Afghanistan while Russia helped supply North Vietnam. That in a sense is how it evolved from the countries talking to war. These things coming forth lead to the Truman Doctrine being born. This doctrine clearly stated that the US would lend aid to all countries and free people who were willing to take a stand against the Soviet Union. Truman recognized that the growing of communism would be very to not just the US but other countries such as Greece who were already involved in civil wars would easily fall into communism with the promise of financial and military backing. Following the decree the US sent 400 million and the Union of NATO would then be formed. It then became known as a form of containment because the US used it to stall the spread of communism. Not only did it stall the Communists it helped the US expand their security as well as their influence. This tatic would prove to be very helpful and slow down the expansion in Korea, China, and Vietnam. NATO is beginning to step in and take affect as well. NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It provided military defenses and began to allow some trade which the Soviet Union did not want. Many people believe it was the best defensive plan for slowing down and eventually somewhat controlling communism. Countries aligned and the Us sent troops to help over sea being clear to not try to envoke the the already angry soviet union. Therefore NATO had a really big affect in the Cold War. Upon slowing down the Soviet Union the US established the Marshall Plan. It helped rebuild the economic foundation for the countries in Europe. Even though the US was involved in war with the USSR they offered them the same kind of help but they chose to decline it seeing it as a slap in the face or rather a taunt. George Marshall put the plan together and it was his idea to offer it to the USSR. It helped in the Industrial and Agricultural production in the countries. To many people it was believed to be a very important part of the recovery of those countries that needed it. The Marshall Plan also allowed some form of trade between the countries. It still remains a key reason to ending the war. The US basically ran a close hand over the Cold War. They over seen just about everything and pretty much won the war without having to take up arms. They won the war using strategy and carefully placed plans and power of the dollar. We became the most influential and powerful nation as far as political and militarily. We did it militarily even though we did not have to fight at all. The US basically did not want the Soviet Union to become window to foreign trade like they wanted to become. They basically controlled the war while the Soviet Union tried to find ways around the US continuously running into road blocks such as the Marshall Plan and the Truman doctrine. There were many events that took place in the Cold War. The Berlin blockade was a major event. Stalin did this so that the people in West berlin could not receive food, supplies and anything else they might need. This then brought about another major even the airlift in which the US, Britain, France, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia air lifted good to west Berlin. Another event was the cancellation of the radio in Europe. But the last of the major events was the Berlin crisis. It kept the immigrants from coming in and getting out. Many people refereed to it as a Brain Drain to the younger people and generation. This just brought on more drama such as with the missles that almost brought in nuclear warfare. The Cold War lasted a very long time. From (1947- to 1991). It all started fall apart in 1989. The soviet Union was beginning to lose its power. Many believe the loss in power truly started when the Moscow Pact began to fall thorugh and major leaders and authority figures began to abandon the Union. The final blow to the Soviet Union began when the Berlin Wall came down that showed they had no more power and the people were taking back their freedom and their lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. In conclusion this whole war really could have been avoided if they would have just stopped trying to control the people of Eastern Europe. With Stalin in power in the USSR there was no way it could have been avoided. Unless you are William Faulkner, this essay should have been divided into paragraph. Where are your sources for this information?

Iago the Conniver in Shakespeares Othello Essay -- Othello essays

Iago the Conniver in Othello  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   If there were more than one evil presence in Shakespeare’s Othello who had the intensity of Iago, the play would be unbearably pessimistic. Let us examine the character who is unexcelled in his evil ways.    Lily B. Campbell in Shakespeare’s Tragic Heroes expounds on the self-centered philosophy of Iago:    To Iago love is merely â€Å"a lust of the blood and a permission of the will†. Self-love, which is in the thinking of   Shakespeare’s day the mother of all vices, is the only love that Iago respects. [. . .] It is thus that the villain is defined. Will is directed to the gaining of ends set by passion and judged by reason. The passion which escapes reason the leads men on to their destruction is the passion which marks the tragic hero. But the passion which sets the ends and has the means judged by reason is the passion which we have already seen is mortal sin. And such is the passion that has brought the judgment and the will into its service in Iago and the other villains. (157)    Is there any doubt as to how vital Iago is to the narrative of the play? Helen Gardner in â€Å"Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune† elaborates on Iago’s exact function and place in the play:    . . . Iago ruins Othello by insinuating into his mind the question, ‘How do you know?’ The tragic experience with which this play is concerned is loss of faith, and Iago is the instrument to bring Othello to this crisis of his being. His task is made possible by his being an old and trusted companion, while husband and wife are virtually strangers, bound only by passion and faith; and by the fact that great joy bewilders, leaving the heart apt to doubt the reality of its joy. The strange and... ...ho Each Other.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare: The Pattern in His Carpet. N.p.: n.p., 1970.    Gardner, Helen. â€Å"Othello: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from â€Å"The Noble Moor.† British Academy Lectures, no. 9, 1955.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wright, Louis B. and Virginia A. LaMar. â€Å"The Engaging Qualities of Othello.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Introduction to The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare. N. p.: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1957.   

Cultures in Harper Lees To Kill A Mockingbird :: Harper Lee Kill Mockingbird Essays

‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ is a brilliantly written novel by Harper Lee. The novel is set in Alabama, USA, in the 1930’s and tells the story of a lawyer who defends a wrongly accused black man while trying to raise his two children, Scout and Jem, as they go through childhood and adolescence, life’s most active learning stages. The book is written through the eyes of Atticus’ naà ¯ve young daughter, Scout, and southern ways enhance the plot of the story to give it a realistic and historical perspective. The portrayal of southern culture is shown in an array of subjects. Family, racism, hypocrisy, poverty and hatred are just some of many. The novel is set in the sleepy town of Maycomb, which, although a fictional town, is based on Monroeville, Alabama and is a perfect microcosm of the ways and culture of people during the 1930’s Depression. Maycomb was not on any major routes. It was â€Å"an island in a patchwork sea of cotton fields and timberland† Harper Lee describes Maycomb as a â€Å"Tired old town†. The often-humid climate made summers almost unbearable, and the seasons couldn’t clearly be distinguished. It didn’t rain or snow often, (it hadn’t snowed since 1885). When it rained the streets turned to red slop. The town basically consisted of an oak tree-lined square with one main street. There was a courthouse, which sagged in the square and a jail â€Å"a miniature gothic joke one cell wide and two cells high†. There was also a newspaper office, a few general stores and a school, which was mainly populated by children from outlying farms. The coloured neighbourhood was behind the town dump, completely separated from the white community. People rarely came and left Maycomb, because it was not on any major routes. It was the administrative centre of Maycomb County, but too far from the river to grow from commercial wealth. The town grew â€Å"inward† according to Harper Lee, which, by 1933, led to a caste system in which people had become â€Å"utterly predictable† to each other. Atticus doesn’t believe one should judge people on what their backgrounds are like, and tries to teach Jem and Scout this. But when Aunt Alexandra arrived she â€Å"fitted into the world of Maycomb like a hand into a glove.† Some families in town were respectable, and others weren’t. For example, no matter how poor the Cunninghams were, they still had standards. If they borrowed some money, or someone did a job for them, they would always pay them back. If they could not afford to pay them in money, they would pay them in kind. For example, when Atticus

Apple’s Competitive Advantage Clearly Lies

Apple’s competitive advantage clearly lies in its organizational culture. However the leadership for maintaining the specific cultural orientation comes from Steve Job’s vision of the future direction of product development. Without his leadership, the company might not be in a position to develop products that will transform the market.This has been the core competency of the company. By transforming the market dynamics, the company has managed to create a market leadership position. Therefore new product development has been the critical success factor at Apple and the guiding force behind the success of this strategy has been Steve Job’s vision.Once he relinquishes his position, it is not clear whether Apple would be able to maintain its competitive advantage. In this respect, the issues of succession planning become relevant. If Apple is to make its competitive advantage sustainable, then it would have to develop the necessary human capital that would maintai n the company’s momentum in new product development.According to Michael Porter’s framework for strategy formulation, a business organization has three strategies at its disposal for developing a competitive advantage: differentiation, cost minimization and quick response.The problem with these strategies is that they cannot lead to the development of a sustainable competitive advantage because they can be easily copied by competitor organizations.However when it comes to the competitive advantage rooted in the organizational culture, then it becomes sustainable because the organizational culture in each company is unique, therefore the best practices in this regard may not be immediately transferable.This unique organizational culture at Apple has been created by Steve Jobs’ vision for the continuous improvement process. Essentially he is implementing the strategy of differentiation through a continuous process of new product development.However it is his leade rship which facilitates the continuous process of managing change which new product development entails. Therefore whether the company would survive Steve Jobs’ departure is a valid question.The general public is clearly of the opinion that Apple will lose its competitive advantage once Jobs no longer provides the creative force. The share prices of the company fluctuate depending on the health condition of the CEO. In order to boost public confidence, the management of the company should clearly develop its internal resources so that dependence on Steve Jobs’ leadership may be slowly diminished.However no matter how much of strategic human resource management the company practices, its glory days may be gone with the departure of Steve Jobs. His vision guided the product development strategies of the company and they were the core competencies of the company.Once this mental connect with the market is no longer there, the company may no longer be in a position to deve lop products that will draw an enthusiastic response from the market. Apple’s competitive advantage is based on reshaping markets and rethinking products to the core. The implementation of both these strategies has been driven by Steve Jobs’ vision.The critical need for Apple at the moment is to conduct a rigorous process of succession planning. The company needs to recruit manpower from external sources in order to maintain the innovative spirit of the company. The most important strategy for the company is to maintain the strategy of differentiation. However the innovative cultural orientation must be maintained.The management should therefore develop human capital accordingly. Employees must be made to see how their work links to the strategic focus of the company, so that they can be involved in the new product development process. In this respect, the importance of creative thinking must be stressed at all times.In this respect, the management has to invest in tra ining and development programs. Once the employees are involved in the decision making process, it will be enriched and as a result, the company will be able to maintain its momentum in continuing to develop revolutionary products.Dess, Gregory G., et al. (2007). Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantage. McGraw Hill/Irwin.

Ethical considerations Essay

Deception; the participants were not aware that they were taking part in a psychological study about memory until after the study had taken place in order to reduce the risk of bias in the experiment. Afterwards they were informed and were given the opportunity to withdraw their responses without prejudice. They were told that no names would be recorded and that confidentiality was assured of their result. Another risk would be if people then realised the experiment tested memory they could think it was to do with intelligence and worry that they would be judged as stupid’ if they did not remember many words. This could cause psychological distress to that person and might confirm personal fears of insecurity causing further damage. This could be controlled by warning the participant what the study was going to be about before they did it so if they felt embarrassed or worried about their result they could make a more informed decision not to take part. Results This table shows how many words were recalled by each participant. It shows that the mean average number of words recalled in Condition A was 15.08; 1.59 less than condition B at 16.67. It also allows us to see that 2/3 of the participants recalled more words with classical music playing than they did in silence.  Summary table to show the number of words recalled by each participant in condition A and. Condition B This bar chart shows condition A results in red and condition B in green. From this we can see that both the highest and lowest numbers of words recalled were in condition B. This bar chart clearly demonstrates the difference between condition A and B to vary greatly throughout the experiment.  This pie chart shows the difference between the average scores to be quite insignificant as there is only a 5 % difference which means that although most of the numbers of words recalled did increase from condition a to condition b there was not a big difference when taking into account what their scores actually were and working out the average. I also deduced the range to be 12 for condition A, the lowest/ highest values being 8 and 20, and 17 for condition B, the lowest/ highest values being 7 and 24. The median, however, for both was the same at 16.5. This means there was a wider spread list of values for condition B therefore more variation in how many words people remembered than in condition A.  However the descriptive statistics used above only describe what has been found. In order to suggest the probability of achieving the scores that we did, an inferential sign test was used. A sign test was used as the experimental design was a repeated measures design and the data collected was nominal. When we applied our raw data to the sign test analysis a sign value of 4 was achieved. As this exceeds the critical value of 2, for 12 participants, we can suggest that the raw data achieved is more than 5% due to chance factors and less than 95% due to the manipulation of the independent variable which means our original hypothesis is only partially supported. Discussion From the results obtained in this experiment, we can suggest that our one tailed experimental hypothesis of ‘playing classical music during a memory test will increase the number of words remembered’, is only partially supported, in that only 2/3 (66.67%) of participants recall improved when tested with classical music. This was not found to achieve a significant level of probability < 0.05, which means that recall was not 95% or more due to the manipulation of the independent variable i.e. whether or not classical music was playing in the background. Therefore on this occasion we must accept our null hypothesis of ‘there will be no significant relationship between whether or not music is played in the background and how many words the participants remember’ as there was not a high enough probability to suggest that the variation in number of words recalled was a direct effect of the manipulation of the independent variable. In our experiment we found that classical music did improve performance of memory as 2/3 of the participants recall improved. This disagrees with the findings of Cohen whose study suggested that participants who were exposed to background noise were cognitively impaired. Our experiment was similar to Cohen’s in that it tested the effect of environmental stimulants on recall ability. Cohen, however, tested the participants under exposure to aircraft noise which is much louder and more distracting than a relaxing piece of music such as Mozart. Our findings, therefore, may be more appropriately compared to the findings of Dr. George Lozanov. Lozanov designed a way to teach foreign languages to children in a fraction of the learning time. He did this by teaching whilst using certain 60 beats per minute Baroque music and found that his students had a retention rate of 92% and an accuracy of 85- 100% after only thirty days. The findings of which reflect our own in that he used classical music, with the typical 60 beat per minute pattern, to improve performance of memory in the recollection of vocabulary in foreign languages. However, the percentage of improvement in his experiment was 92%, whereas ours was only 66.67% and therefore shows that his experiment was more accurate than our own However, as our participants were young adults and not children, as in the above, direct and reliable comparisons may not be fully appropriate. This could be due to wider social influences upon adults in relation to children for example a young adult would understand the instructions better and therefore might feel under more pressure to perform than a child. This could have adverse effects and make their performance worse or make them try harder than a child would. Due to this ignorance on the child’s behalf, an experiment involving children is often more natural. Also, differences in procedure and experimental design may have led to the difference in findings. For example Lozanov choose to teach foreign languages to children and it has been proven that children have a higher capacity than adults for learning language, as they are not as set in speaking their own language as an adult is. The differences found may have related to this factor and so had an effect upon the data that we achieved. If my experiment had been carried out on children instead I think I would have gotten more positive results due to the above reasons. Other limitations include our choice of method; an experiment is not a natural setting as participants would feel pressurised by the fact that their results were being analysed and might have not been able to concentrate on recalling the words. An improvement could have been a test administered by a normal teacher in a classroom environment, where students would be more used to getting a test and might be more relaxed. This would be unethical, however as it is deceptive. The repeated measures design used meant that the list of words in the second experiment had to be changed because the same participants had seen it in the first experiment and therefore might recall more words after looking at it for a second time. This would have meant the results were inaccurate therefore another list of words was devised. This could however have caused even more problems because, although care was taken not to use more confusing or longer words from one list to another, the experiment was not standardised and therefore direct comparisons could not be made. A matched pairs design would have allowed comparisons to be made between the lists, but not as accurately between the participants, as every participant will be different. The opportunity based sample that I used meant that there weren’t an equal number of males and females, therefore it wasn’t representative. A better sampling technique would be to use stratified sampling, in which equal numbers of the same sex can be selected. If the target population was larger, the sample would have been more representative but we needed to use similarly aged participants, as there would have been difference in recall ability between, for example, a four and an eighteen year old. Using people from our own class could have interfered with the result because the participants knew who they were doing the experiment for and could be biased to the experimenter. Also, I think that using younger participants would have given a more natural element to the experiment, as they would not ask too many questions, worry about the results or interfere as much with the experiment by not trying their best. The participants did not seem to be confused by the standardised instructions but they might not have been clear on why they were doing the experiment, which could have had an effect on their performance. The participants were also talked through the experiment as we carried it out and everything was plainly stated to them. A better way of presentation of the words however, might have been to present them on an over head projector, so that timing could be controlled better; in our experiment, participants were in control of turning over the sheet of paper with the list on and therefore could have turned it over before the test started. The paper was only one sheet thick as well so participants might have been able to see the words even when the sheet was face down. To expand the experiment further, there are many different variables and different aspects of memory which I could test. The serial position effect, mentioned in my introduction, would be an interesting aspect of memory to test as I noticed in the lists of words there were a significant number of words from the start and the end of the actual list, included in the words the participants remembered. We could test this by setting a quota at, say, the first five and last five words and seeing what percentage of the recalled words were within one of these quotas. We could have used a recording of background noise to repeat Cohen’s experiment or used music with words to test the participants. A really interesting experiment would be to use children against adults in a memory test with the classical music, as I believe children would give a more positive result in relation to my hypothesis. I don’t believe that there would be a significant difference between males and females, if any, but it would be worth considering. We could have tested different amounts of words see if there is a difference in capacity of recall between a list of one hundred words and thirty words; would the participants be put off by the amount of words and not remember as many for the long list as the short? There are clearly many different experiments relating to memory that could be tested.

My Vision of Future Essay

Reimagining India’s Present most of us have a massive psychological barrier against looking seriously at the future. Many nurture the not unnatural, latent fear that any engagement with the future will turn out to be an acknowledgement of their mortality and the transience of their world. Different cultures handle this fear differently. In India’s middle-class culture, attempts to look at the future often end up as tame, defensive litanies of moral platitudes or as overly dramatic, doomsday ‘propheteering’. Even those who avoid these extremes usually view the future either as the future of the past or as a linear projection of the present. If one is a fatalist, one sees no escape from the past; if not, one often desperately tries to live in the instant present. Those who see the future as growing directly out of the present also often narrow their choices. When optimistic, they try to correct for the ills of the present in the future; when pessimistic, they presume that the future will aggravate the ills. If one views the future from within the framework of the past, one arrives at questions like ‘Can we restore the precolonial village republics of India as part of a Gandhian project?’ or ‘Should we revive Nehruvian nonalignment to better negotiate the turbulent waters of India’s inter- national relations in the post-cold-war world?’ If one views the future from within the framework of the present, one asks questions like ‘Will the present fresh water resources or fossil-fuel stock of the world outlast the twenty-first century?’ Important though some of these questions are, they are not the core of future studies. No environmentalist can claim to be a futurist by only estimating, on the basis of existing data, the pollution levels in India in the coming decades. Exactly as no economist can claim to be a futurist by predicting the exchange value of the Indian rupee in the year 2005. The reason is simple. The future—that is, the future that truly intrigues or worries us—is usually disjunctive with its past. Defying popular faith, the future is mostly that which cannot be directly projected from the present. Actually, we should have learnt this from the relationship  between the past and the present. The present has not grown out of the past in the way the technoeconomic or historical determinists believe. I often give the example of a survey done exactly hundred years ago, at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was done mainly as an exercise in technological forecasting during the Paris exposition. The respondents were the best-known scientists of the world then. In retrospect, the most remarkable result of the survey was the total failure of the scientists to anticipate scientific discoveries and changes the world would see in the twentieth century. Thus, for instance, the scientists thought the highest attainable speed in human transportation during the century was 250 miles an hour and among the innovations that they thought would not be viable or popular were the radio and television. Indeed, novelist Jules Verne’s fantasies often anticipated the future of science and technology more imaginatively and accurately. For a novelist’s imagination is not cramped by the demands of any discipline or the expectations of professionals, not even by hard empiricism. The present too is disjunctive with the past, though we love to believe otherwise. The past nowadays is available to us in packaged forms, mainly through the formal, professional narratives of the discipline of history. We feel that we have a grasp on it. History monopolises memories and offers us a tamed, digestible past, reformulated in contemporary terms. It is thus that 17 History monopolises memories and offers us a tamed, digestible past, reformulated in contemporary terms. No. 123 history fulfils its main social and political role—it gives a shared sense of psychological continuity to those living in a disenchanted world. You cannot do the same with the future, for the future has to be anticipated and it is more difficult to turn it into a manageable portfolio. Ultimately, Benedotte Croce’s aphorism—’all history is contemporary history’— can be applied to all genuine futuristic enterprises, too. All visions of the future are interventions in and reconceptualisation of the present. My quick  peep into the future of India, therefore, can only be a comment on India today. I offer it in the spirit in which my work on India’s pasts, too, has all along been an attempt to ‘work through’ or reimagine India’s present. The future of India in my mind is intertwined with the future of diversity and self-reflection, two values that have been central to the Indian worldview, cutting across social strata , religious boundaries and cultural barriers. I believe that during the last two hundred years, there has been a full-scale onslaught on both these values. Even when some have upheld these values during the period, they have mostly done so instrumentally. Thus, even when they have talked of unity in diversity, the emphasis has been on the former; the latter has been seen as an artefact or a hard, somewhat unpleasant, reality with which we shall have to learn to live. A modern nation-state loves order and predictability and its Indian incarnation is no different. Sankaran Krishna’s brilliant study of Indian intervention in Sri Lanka, Postcolonial Insecurities, shows that, even when the Indian state has gone to war in the name of protecting cultural identities and minority rights, its tacit goal has been to advance the hegemonic ambitions 18 of a conventional, centralised, homogenising nation-state. In response to the demands of such a state, modern Indians too have learnt to fear diversity. That fear cuts across the entire ideological spectrum and is ever increasing. Most Gandhians want an India that would conform fully to their idea of a good society, for they have begun to fear their marginalisation. The late Morarji Desai was a good example of such defensive Gandhism. But even some of the more imaginative Gandhians, the ones who cannot be accused of being associated with the fads and foibles of Desai, have not been different. They have absolutised Gandhi the way only ideologues can absolutise their ideologies. The new globalisers also have one solution for the entire world, though they sometimes lazily mouth buzzwords like ‘multiculturalism’, ‘grassroots’ and ‘alternative development’. The goal of their pluralism is to ensure the transparency and predictability of other cultures and strains of dissent. Likewise, I have found to my surprise that attempts to protect religious diversity in diverse ways is not acceptable to most secularists. They want to fight the monocultures of religious fundamentalism and religionbased nationalism, but feel aggrieved if others  do so in other ways. They suspect the tolerance of those who are believers and trust the coercive apparatus of the state. Secularism for In response to the demands of a centralised, homogenising nation-state, modern Indians too have learnt to fear diversity. such secularists serves the same psychological purposes that fundamentalism does for the fundamentalists; it becomes a means of fighting diversity and giving play to their innate authoritarianism and monoculturalism. Things have come to such a pass that we cannot now stand diversity even in the matter of names. Bombay has always been Mumbai, but it has also been Bombay for a long time and acquired a new set of associations through its new name. Bombay films and Bombay ducks cannot have the same ring as Mumbai films and Mumbai ducks. Nor can Chennai substitute Madras in expressions like bleeding Madras and Madras Regiment. Many great cities like London happily live with more than one name. Indeed, in the Charles De Gaulle Airport at Paris, you may miss a plane to London unless you know that London is also Londres. Until recently, we Calcuttans used to live happily with four names of the city— Kolikata, Kolkata, Kalkatta and Calcutta. Indeed, the first name is never used in conversations, yet you have to know it if you are interested in Bengali literature. In recent years, the city has been flirting with a fifth name, thanks to former cricketer and cricket commentator Geoffrey Boycott—Calcootta. But the Bengalis have disappointed me. Many of them now are trying to ensure that there is only one name for the city, Kolkata. The gifted writer Sunil Gangopadhyay has joined them, because he feels that the Bengali language is under siege from deracinated Bengalis, Anglophiles and Bombay—or is it Mumbaiya?—Hindi. I am afraid the change will not provide any additional protection to the Bengali language. It will only fuel our national passion for sameness. MANUSHI It is my belief that the twenty-first century belongs to those who try to see diversity as a value in itself, not as an instrument for resisting new monocultures of the mind or as a compromise necessary for maintaining communal or ethnic harmony. ‘Little cultures’ are in rebellion everywhere and in every sphere of life. Traditional healing systems, agricultural and  ecological practices—things that we rejected contemptuously as repositories of superstitions and retrogression have staged triumphant returns among the young and the intellectually adventurous and posing radical challenges to set ways of thinking and living. More than a year ago, in the backyard of globalised capitalism, the US citizens for the first time spent more money from their pockets on alternative medicine than on conventional healthcare. The idea of the diverse is not merely expanding but acquiring subversive potentialities. India of the future, I hope, will be central to a world where the idea of diversity will itself be diverse and where diversity will be cherished as an end in itself. By its cultural heritage, India—the civilisation, not the nation-state—is particularly well equipped to play a central role in such a world. However, the Indian elite and much of the country’s middle class seem keener to strut around the world stage as representatives of a hollow, regional super-power. They want their country to play-act as a poor man’s America, armed to the teeth and desperate to repeat the success story of nineteenth-century, European, imperial states in the twenty-first century. India is also supposed to be a culture deeply committed to selfreflection. During colonial times, that No. 123 commitment began to look like a liability. Many critics of Indian culture and civilisation in the nineteenth century lamented that the Indians were too engrossed in their inner life. Others argued that Indian philosophy had marginalised the materialist strain within it and become predominantly idealistic. Their tacit assumption was that the Indians were given to too much of self-reflection and too little to action. ‘We are dreamers, not doers’ came to be a popular, simplified version of the same lament. Whether the formulation is correct or not, it is obvious that we have overcorrected for it. We have now become a country of unthinking doers. Certainly in the Indian middle classes, any action is considered better than doing nothing. As a result, mindless action constitutes an important ingredient of the ruling culture of Indian public life. Even the few knowledgeable, nongovernmental hydrologists who support mega-dams, readily admit that most of the 1,500 large dams built in India are useless and counterproductive. Their main contribution has  been to displace millions of people in the last fifty years. And even these supporters are not fully aware that the millions displaced by dams, often without any compensation, now constitute an excellent pool for those active in various forms of social violence and criminality. Veerappan, son of a dam victim, is only the most infamous symbol of them. Likewise, even in the Indian army, many senior officers now openly say that Operation Blue Star at the Golden Temple was worse than doing nothing. The price for that gratuitous intervention was a decade of bloodshed and brutalisation of Punjab. For years, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi has been ventured as an excuse for every phoney, useless intervention—in nature, society and culture in India. The last time I saw this ploy was when our bomb-mamas justified the nuclearisation of India in the name of Gandhi. The Indian middle 19 classes have always been uncomfortable with the father of the nation and have always believed him to be romantic, retrogressive, and antimodern. They have also probably all along felt slightly guilty about that belief. As a reparative gesture they have now begun to say, given half a chance, that Gandhi was a great doer; he did not merely talk or theorise. This compliment serves two purposes. It allows one to ignore Gandhi’s uncomfortable, subversive thought as less relevant— ‘Bapu, you are far greater than your little books’, Jawaharlal Nehru once said—and it atones for one’s hidden hostility and contempt towards the unconventional Gandhian vision of India’s future. Occasionally, some like philosopher T. K. Mahadevan have tried to puncture this selfcongratulatory strategy. I remember him once saying in a letter to the editor of The Times of India that Gandhi For years, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi has been ventured as an excuse for every phoney, useless intervention—in nature, society and culture in India. went out on the streets only twice in his life; the rest of the time he was thinking. Such interventions are always explained away as esoterica vended by eccentric intellectuals and professional iconoclasts. The dominant tendency in India today is to discount all self-reflection. It has turned India’s ruling culture into an intellectually sterile summation of slogans borrowed from European public culture in the 1930s. Our culture is now dominated by European ideas of the nation-state and nationalism, even  Europeans ideas of ethnic and 20 religious nationalism (mediated by that moth-eaten Bible of the 1930s, V. D. Savarkar’s Hindutva, modelled on the ideas of Mazzini and Herder). Shadow boxing with them for our benefit and entertainment are European ideas of radicalism and progress, smelling to high heavens of Edwardian England. In such a world, it is almost impossible to sustain a culture of diversity, particularly diversity as an end in itself. You learn to pay occasional h omage to diversity as an instrument that buys religious and ethnic peace, but that is mainly to hide one’s eagerness to deploy such ideas of religious, caste and ethnic peace to further homogenise India. I have now learnt to fear the use of any cultural category in the singular. For years, I wrote about ‘Indian civilisation.’ I thought it would be obvious from the contents of my writings that I saw the civilisation as a confederation of cultures and as an entity that coexisted and overlapped with other civilisations. Af ter all, some other civilisations, such as the Iranian and the European, are now very much part of the Indian civilisation. The Islamic and Buddhist civilisations, too, clearly overlap significantly with the Hindu civilisation. However, even the concept of civilisation, it now seems to me, has been hijacked in India by those committed to unipolarity, unidimensionality and unilinearity. Our official policy has been shaped by a vision of India that is pathetically naà ¯ve, if not farcical. It is that of a second-class European nation-state located in South Asia with a bit of Gita, Bharatanatyam, sitar and Mughal cuisine thrown in for fun or entertainment. Those who do not share that idea of earthly paradise are seen as dangerous romantics, Our culture is now dominated by European ideas of the nation-state and nationalism, even Europeans ideas of ethnic and religious nationalism†¦ MANUSHI continuously jeopardising India’s national security. No wonder that even many erstwhile admirers of India have begun to see it as a nucleararmed, permanently enemy-seeking, garrison state. Edward Said will never know that  few Occidentals can be as Orientalist towards India as educated, urban, modern Indians often are. In Indian public life, the standard response to such criticism is to reconceptualise Indian culture as some sort of a grocery store and to recommend that one should take from it the good and reject the bad. This is absurd and smacks of arrogance. Indian culture represents the assessments and experience of millions, acquired over generations. It has its own organising principles. My ideal India †¦ is a bit like a wildlife programme that cannot afford to protect only cuddly pandas and colourful tigers. transparent, because there cannot but be a touch of mystery in the world of cultures. My ideal India celebrates all forms of diversity, including some that are disreputable, lowbrow and unfashionable. It is a bit like a wildlife programme that cannot afford to protect only cuddly pandas and colourful tigers. It is an India where even the idea of majority is confined to political and economic spheres and is seen as shifting, plural and fuzzy, where each and every culture, however modest or humble, not only has a place under the sun but is also celebrated as a vital component of our collective life. That may not turn out to be an empty dream. I see all around me movements and activists unashamedly rooted in the local and the vernacular. They are less defensive about their cultural roots and are working to empower not merely local communities, but also their diverse systems of knowledge, philosophies, art and crafts. Underlying these efforts is a tacit celebration of everyday life and ordinary citizens. Everything in everyday life and ordinariness is not praiseworthy and many of these efforts seem to me harebrained, pigheaded or plain silly. But they represent a generation that is less burdened by nineteenth-century ideologies masquerading as signposts to a new era and at least some of them show the capacity to look at human suffering directly, without the aid of ornate, newly imported social theories. Ashis Nandy is Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. Diversity, to qualify as diversity, must allow those who represent the diversity to be diverse in their own ways, according to their own  categories, not ours. It cannot be used like an array of commodities at the mercy of casual purchasers. Diversity, to qualify as diversity, must allow those who represent the diversity to be diverse in their own ways, according to their own categories, not ours. We shall have to learn to live with the discomfort of seeing people using these categories, even when they are not fully transparent to us. For the true tolerance of diversity is the tolerance of incommensurable multiple worlds of culture and systems of knowledge. In this kind of tolerance, there is always the assumption that all the cultures covered by the idea of plurality are not and need not be entirely No. 123 MANUSHI Handsomely Bound in Maroon Leather in Nine Volumes Price for India, Nepal and Bangladesh : Vol. I Vol. II Vol. III Vol. IV Vol. V Vol. VI Vol. VII Vol. VIII Vol. IX : : : : : : : : : Nos. 1 to 19 (1979 to 1983) Nos. 20 to 37 (1984 to 1986) Nos. 38 to 49 (1987 to 1988) Nos. 50 to 61 (1989 to 1990) Nos. 62 to 73 (1991 to 1992) Nos. 74 to 85 (1993 to 1994) Nos. 86 to 97 (1995 to 1996) Nos. 98 to 109 (1997 to 1998) Nos. 110 to 121 (1999 to 2000) Postage in India : Rs 30 per volume All Other Countries: US$ 60 per volume (including air-mail postage) Send payment by cheque, draft or MO payable to Manushi Trust. : : : : : : : : :