The Case for Year-Round Schooling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Case for Year-Round Schooling - Essay Example Year-round schools also reduce costs to the school system, freeing up more of the budget for student supplies and teacher salaries. Therefore, I advocate a change in public education to the use of year-round scheduling. Year-Round Schooling and Today's Students Year-round education better fits the needs of modern families and will increase access to education. The school calender that is currently in use in most American schools today is based around an outdated model. This model assumes that access to schooling will be increased if students were permitted a vacation for a summer of agricultural labor and remained in classes for the slower winter months. The traditional school calendar is not designed around the needs of children but around the needs of farmers (Ballinger and Kneese). However, the great majority of working adults today work approximately the same number of hours each day regardless of the season (Ballinger and Kneese). This means that during long summer breaks, paren ts are required to find other caretakers for their children. In addition, part of the reasoning behind the use of the traditional school calendar was due to a lack of cooling ability in school buildings during the hot summer months. Avoiding sending students to school meant that they were not trapped in overheated school buildings during the day (Steinbach). However, in today's poor urban neighborhoods, while the schools will have air conditioning, many of the homes the students live in will not. Up to a third of American households have no air conditioning units of any kind (Battles). Use of a year-round schedule would allow the children from those households to benefit from the air conditioning systems in their schools. The environment in their homes would interfere with the ability of poor students to learn and study on their own during the summer; switching to a year-round schedule would increase the educational access of those students. One argument against year-round schooling is the need for high school aged students to take on summer employment. However, the recent economic downturn in the United States has nearly wiped out the teenage job market, as the positions previously taken by the fourteen to seventeen year old segment are often now being taken by high school graduates, seniors, and even college graduates. The struggle to obtain a job under these conditions means that the possibility of earnings does not outweigh the educational benefits of the year-round calendar; a better education means higher earning power in the future, more than offsetting possible lost income while in high school. Also, studies have shown that in order to best boost their earning power later in life, these students should be seeking year-round part-time employment, instead of simply relying on working part time for only a few months of the year. Year-round employment is available in a much wider range of industries than is temporary work, which would also benefit these te enage workers. Far from hurting the earning power of high school students, the year-round educational schedule would force them to expand their horizons and build a relevant resume for a future career (National Youth Employment Coalition). Year-Round Schooling and Academic Success Traditional calendars provide students with a summer break that is almost three months long.

Rebuttal abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rebuttal abortion - Essay Example It’s the abortion that, in many cases, is unwanted by the woman, not the baby. Most often, the father of the child, not wishing to accept responsibility, may beg or even threaten a woman until she agrees to the abortion. â€Å"In 95 percent of all cases the male partner played a central role in the decision† (Zimmerman, 1977). This and other studies have illustrated clearly that most women decide against their own conscience. A myth espoused as fact is that the aborted fetus is no more than a cluster of cells, a bit of tissue unable to even feel pain. A developing embryo has a unique set of fingerprints as well as different genetic patterns than its mother. It is a human being unto itself. If one defines death as the stoppage of a heartbeat and murder as the forceful and intentional stopping of a heart then abortion is surely murder. If the existence of a heartbeat legally defined life, then almost all abortions would be illegal as the heart is formed by the 18th day in the womb. A British medical journal reported that when a pin is stuck into an eight-week-old fetus, it opens his mouth in a crying motion and pulls his hand away. By week five, eyes, legs, and hands begin to develop. â€Å"By week six, brain waves are detectable, mouth and lips are present and fingernails are beginning to form. By the eighth week the baby can begin to hear. Every organ is in place, bones begin to replace cartilage, and f ingerprints begin to form† (National Right to Life Foundation, n.d.).   ‘Pro Choice’ activists argue that women should have access to safe abortions, that ‘a nation founded on and dedicated to civil liberties could allow its citizens to resort to dangerous self-abortion procedures.’ That too is a false premise. Ninety-seven percent of women who have had abortions describe intense pain experienced during the procedure despite the

Impact Of Emotional Intelligence On Conflict Management

Impact Of Emotional Intelligence On Conflict Management Purpose This paper aims at exploring the role of emotional intelligence in affecting the conflict management styles used. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 233 employees from several banks. Correlation and regression was used to analyze the results. The findings are discussed in the paper along with some recommendations for managers and researchers. Findings The results revealed a significantly positive relationship between high emotional intelligence and usage of integrating, compromising and obliging styles of handling conflict. Low emotional intelligence was found to be associated with high use of avoiding and dominating style. Research limitations/implications The study has limitations which hold suggestions for future research including self-report issue, focus on only one sector i.e. banking sector for analysis located in Islamabad/ Rawalpindi. Also, the study was one shot therefore there is need for longitudinal research to validate the findings. The need for applied research is also emphasized. Practical implications The paper provides practitioners with some advice about understanding and managing conflict through usage of emotional intelligence and the importance of its training is highlighted. Originality/value The paper is a contribution to the existing limited research on the topic. However previous researches offered an important base for the study regarding the consequences of emotions on conflict management; nevertheless, they have not addressed the particular approaches that people are more likely to use when confronted with conflict. It explores the link between the EI and all the five styles of conflict management which has not been yet researched by any academician. Keywords Emotional intelligence, Integration, Compromising, Avoiding, Competing, Obliging Paper type Research Paper INTRODUCTION The study particularly focuses on the individual emotional intelligence abilities to manage a conflict as emotions play a key role in effecting behavior in general (Weiner, 1992) and negotiation behavior in particular (Barry Oliver, 1996). Emotional intelligence shall be analyzed for its connection to the recognition of conflict formation and its influence on the selection of conflict management strategies under different situations. The concept of emotional intelligence can be traced back to Thorndikes (1920) concept of social intelligence, Wechslers (1940) proposition of non-intellective abilities as well as Gardners (1983) conceptualization of personal intelligence. However, the term of emotional intelligence (EI) was originated by Salovey and Mayer (1990). Thereafter, it was the work of Goleman (1995) which globally popularized the construct of emotional intelligence and as a result of that, both practitioners and academia have started recognizing its importance in the world of organizations. In recent years the construct of emotional intelligence has been advanced as providing greater insight into organizational behavior (Mayer, Salovey Caruso, 2000). Thus, this research focuses on analyzing the impact of individuals emotional intelligence on individuals ability to effectively manage the conflict. Therefore, it was analyzed that which of the conflict management styles are mostly used by individuals with high emotional intelligence. Findings regarding the relationship between emotional intelligence and conflict management and conflict resolution patterns have mixed results. A very little research has been done on this topic, as to analyze the impact of emotional intelligence on all the five styles of conflict management. Previous researches have offered an important base for the study regarding the consequences of emotions on conflict management; nevertheless, they have not addressed the particular approaches that people are more likely to use when confronted with conflict. Other studies have explored limited, only two to three conflict management styles. This study explores all the five styles of conflict management. Moreover, the study aims to find out that the individuals high in emotional intelligence are inclined to which of the conflict management styles i.e. relationship between EI and conflict management styles. Further, it aims to recognize the importance of emotional intelligence and constructive and d estructive conflict management styles. Exploring these relationships will prove to be a great contribution to the existing body of knowledge by revealing important findings in the study. This study will prove to be a source of understanding the benefits of using emotional intelligence in context of realizing conflict management. It will prove to be beneficial for the organizations in a way that it will induce them to recognize the importance of emotional intelligence for the healthy functioning of their organization which will result in several training programs for employees to develop emotional intelligence abilities. A foundation is laid to better explain the construct of emotional intelligence as supported by various researchers. Further, research investigates the emotional competencies of individuals within the organization that promote constructive conflict management styles. LITERATURE REVIEW Emotions Emotion in organizations as an academic field in its own right did not emerge until recently (Yeomans, 2007). Understanding the behavior in the workplace requires grasping the nature and effect of human emotion. Our behavior and feelings at work are affected when we experience emotions. This situation is particularly prevalent in the state of conflict in which emotions are experienced regularly when individuals interact with each other (Jordan Troth, 2004). Whether focus is placed on distinguishing between felt emotions and revealed emotions, recognizing distinct emotions that appear in workplaces or the temporary effects of negative mood, each of the authors see emotions an important determinant of employees response to workplace situations (Jordan, Lawrence Troth, 2006). Emotional Intelligence The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) was first proposed by Mayer and Salovey (1990) which was then popularized by Goleman in his famous book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, in which he made strong claims about contribution of emotional intelligence to individual success and specifically in workplaces. He identified intellectual intelligence as a contribution of 20 % towards success in workplace and remaining 80% may be attributable to emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995). Since then, this area has got much attention in the field of leadership, Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior. Researchers have defined EI as a distinct psychological skill that can be consistently gauged. Interest among social scientists on emotions as a domain of intelligence has grown in recent years. Before the importance of EI was realized in organizations, IQ was supposed to be sufficient for good human performance. Workers were indeed advised to put away their emotions at their homes before coming to work. But it is unrealistic to suppose that emotions can be left home or set aside when you arrive at work. Some people may assume, for a variety of reasons, that emotional neutrality is an ideal, but it is usually not good for an organization for it can hinder people to move into management roles. As emotional intelligence is critical to high performance, a person who knows how to stay motivated under stress, motivate others, manage complex interpersonal relationships, inspire others and build teams who are recognized specialists on a product or service are likely to get better results (Goleman, 2005). Thus, the idea of EI has attained some attention from some researchers in this age of customer-focused organizations due to the perception of it as a means to survive in present era of unfriendly, competitive and volatile environment (Suliman Al-Shaikh, 2007). According to some scholars, e.g. Johnson and Indvik (1999) and McGarvey (1997), an employees emotional intelligence is likely to be higher when the organization is richer in the terms of emotions. It is easy to recognize low emotional intelligence in others. If the insensitive managers try to bulldoze their staff through steady criticism, loud voice, and veiled threats of joblessness will prompt the staff to great efforts. This attitude is emotionally unintelligent. The behavior of people to start having a dispute shouting match is also an emotionally unintelligent attitude. And once this behavior starts, it creates a downward spiral of low morale, avoidance and negative politics (Dreu, 1997). The reason for this behavior stems from emotions. Emotions provide us energy. Negative emotions create negative energy and positive emotions create positive energy. However, the emotionally intelligent are aware of this. They do not continuously think about how they feel. They do not reach the extremes of showing or hiding everything. They express what they feel when suitable, so that molehills do not grow into mountains (Bagshaw, 2000). The significance of emotions in work settings has been well-known. Emotional intelligence is a multi-dimensional concept that links emotion and cognition to improve human interactions (Jordan, Peter, Lawrence, Sandra, 2009). Salovey and Mayer (1990) defined emotional intelligence as the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor ones own and others feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide ones thinking and actions (p. 189). This definition is comprised of three categories of abilities: evaluation and expression of emotion, regulation of emotion, and using emotions in decision making. Based on Mayer and Saloveys model of emotional intelligence, Wong and Law (2002) devised their own model of emotional intelligence which comprises of four abilities, Appraisal and Expression of Emotion (own and others), Use of Emotions and Regulation of emotions (own and others). Recognizing emotional intelligence as a set of cognitive abilities involves that a degree of individual effort is required for these abilities to be successfully utilized (Mayer, Salovey Caruso, 2000). Appraisal and expression of emotion is the ability to properly determine and express ones own emotions as well as to be sympathetic, appraise and express emotions of others (Zhou George, 2003). Management of our own emotion can help us avoid annoyance, worry and grief and guide to become dynamic in our jobs and personal lives. Thus for a content life, one should learn how to manage ones emotion. Emotions and cognitions are highly interconnected and emotional intelligence allows people with the ability to use emotions to aid the effective cognitive processing of information. Individuals vary not only in awareness, appraisal and expression of emotions but also in their ability to use emotions in collaboration with their cognitive processes to enhance effective functioning (Gross, 1998). Individuals with low emotional intelligence cannot effectively use their emotions to aid cognitive processes and may find it difficult to coordinate among how they feel and what are they doing (Zhou George, 2003). People not only understand the emotions of others but also make an effort to manage these emotions. The management of emotion enables an individual to join or not to join himself from an emotion in a given situation depending on its utility at that given time. This is apparent in the individuals ability to have control on his immediate reactions and postpone his judgment and then to communicate them in a measured and careful manner (Dodgson, 1993). Conflict Conflict is a collective dilemma in which two or more individuals, families, societies or regions disagree with each other (Dzurgba, 2006). Interpersonal conflict comprises of two or more persons in disagreement. Organizational conflict refers to a disagreement between or within groups in an organization. The groups might be of employees, workers union or management. Organizational conflict is the one mostly prevalent in the workplace due to the fact that people continuously hold opposing views on different issues, interests, beliefs, objectives and ambitions (Deutsch, 1990). Some harmful consequences of conflict can demoralize an organizations efforts. However, handling them correctly can be useful for individuals and organizations by creating effective, more flexible working relationship which would enhance innovative output and create novel solutions (Omoluabi, 2001). Conflict Resolution During previous number of decades, researchers took a keen interest in conflict and its impact on organizations. Many researchers have focused on numerous factors such as styles of handling conflict Jehn, 1997; Jehn, Northcraft Neale, 1999), resolution strategies (Van de Vliert Euwema, 1994), conflict and justice (Ohbuchi, Suzuki Hayashi, 2001), theories of managing conflict (Rahim, 2002), conflict of interest and objectives (Vilaseca, 2002) and conflict management techniques (Fillbeck Smith, 1997). Conflict resolution is an alternative approach to handling conflicts. It is a procedure in which parties in conflict, through interpersonal communication are reached to an acceptable and harmonious point of agreement (Omoluabi, 2001). Based on the conceptualizations of Follett (1940), Blake and Mouton (1964), and Thomas (1976), Rahim and Bonoma (1979) differentiated the styles of handling interpersonal conflict on two basic dimensions, concern for self and for others. The first dimens ion explains the degree (high or low) to which a person attempts to satisfy his or her own concern. The second dimension explains the degree (high or low) to which a person attempts to satisfy the concern of others. These two dimensions result in five distinct behavioral conflict management strategies: integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising. Integrating (high concern for self and others) style involves openness, exchange of information, and assessment of dissimilarities to reach an effective solution acceptable to both parties. It is associated with problem solving, which may lead to creative solutions. Obliging (low concern for self and high concern for others) style is associated with attempting to minimize the differences and focusing commonalities to satisfy the concern of the other party. Dominating (high concern for self and low concern for others) style has been linked with win-lose orientation or with forcing behavior to win ones position. Avoiding (low concern for self and others) style has been associated with withdrawal, or escape situations. Compromising (intermediate in concern for self and others) style involves give-and-take whereby both parties give up something to make a mutually acceptable decision (Rahim, 2002 ). Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Management The basic notion throughout this paper is the intrinsically emotional nature of conflict. According to Gayle and Preiss (1998), a small amount of research has explored the emotional understanding of conflict in the workplace. However, Jehn (1997) suggests that emotions are an important component of conflict. Others including Thomas (1992), Ashkanasy and Daus (2002), and Bodtker and Jameson (2001) advocate that workplace conflict and emotions are strongly linked. They argue that as conflict is related to stress and pressure, it escalates emotional response and negative stimulation. Pinkly (1990) found a discrete rational versus emotional dimension to conflict management frame from his study on the disputants interpretations of conflict. Individuals, in the emotional frame which includes feelings such as jealousy, hate, anger and frustration, are more likely to work less effectively because emotions infest and generalize the rational and instrumental way of thinking (Thomas, 1992). Weisinger (1998) recognized emotional management as a major ability essential to handle conflict in the workplace and improve relationships in workplaces. Subsequently, Goleman (2001a) listed conflict management as a core competency in his model of emotional intelligence, noting that effective conflict management is important for retaining business relationships. Lubit (2004) stated that emotional intelligence is a competency that increases the individuals capability to deal with toxic managers by means of enhanced conflict resolution skills. Suliman Al-Shaikh (2007) concluded in their study that employees with higher levels of emotional intelligence are expected to have more established life due to fewer conflicts and calmness which evokes creativity and innovation in employees. One needs to have good relationships with co workers and supervisors and should have an understanding of their emotions and feelings to be creative. Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Handling Styles Influence of personality characteristics, interpersonal needs, individual behaviour, organizational status, emotions, power, rewards, beliefs, basic values amongst others also have a direct impact on the styles applied (Bodtker Jameson, 2001). Jordan and Troth (2002) study discovered that individuals with higher levels of emotional intelligence were more likely to search for integrative solutions when confronted with conflict and preferred not to avoid. They asserted that, for the emotionally intelligent individual, integration in the appropriate conditions may be a sign of their ability to recognize and regulate emotions. As a result, integration serves to enhance employees relationships with their co-workers and assists to accomplish their goals during times of change. Indeed, in move ahead with their research, Jordan and Troth (2004) showed that groups having higher levels of emotional intelligence were more likely to inform using integrative conflict resolution style to settle o n a real decision-making task. Alternatively, those teams having less ability to deal with their own emotions had more chances to engage in greater use of avoidance tactics which resulted in lower performance. The study by Jordan, Ashkanasy and Ascough (2007) also found out the less use of avoidance techniques by those having high emotional intelligence. However, Foo, Elfenbein, Tan, and Aik (2004) in their study using student groups in a simulated negotiation, somewhat surprisingly found that individuals with high emotional intelligence actually landed up with low performance in the negotiation due to the reason that to reach an integrative solution, these individuals agreed to the lowest to achieve an integrative solution. However they noted that their findings needed to be approached with some caution. However, Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) indicated that integrative style dealing with intergroup conflict was considerably used to a greater extent in higher performing organizations than in low performing ones. Ogungbamila (2006) found that the forcing strategy had a direct significant relationship with work frustration while confronting, withdrawing, smoothing and compromising strategies did not. Burke (1970) suggested that the integrating style was related to the effective management of conflict, while forcing (dominating) and withdrawing (avoiding) were related to the ineffective management of conflict. Goleman (1998) suggests that emotionally intelligent employees are well able to negotiate and effectively handle their conflicts with organizational members. Silvia (2002) determined that high emotional self-awareness acts as an impediment on individuals experience of strong emotions. In other words, individuals with higher emotional self-awareness will experience lower levels of emotional response in reply to emotion generating situations, and will be better able to resolve conflict effectively with their fellow members. The management of own emotions involves an individuals ability to connect or disconnect from an emotion depending on its usefulness in any given situation (Mayer Salovey, 1997). In some conditions, emotions of other members need to be managed to ensure that working relationships are sustained. For instance, unmanageable anger in the workplace can have a negative impact on relationships, particularly if the anger is communicated to specific individuals (Davidson, MacGregor, Stuhr, Gidron, 1999; Fitness, 2000). On this basis, managing own and others emotions may be the key to avoiding these negative consequences during a conflict situation. For example, when faced with personal injustice during a conflict episode, an individuals feelings of anger may motivate or distract them for resolving the conflict. The individual with high emotional intelligence would be attentive of their anger, be able to administer their anger and regulate it to motivate their behavior beneficially. On the other hand, an individual with low emotional intelligence may not be aware of their emotions or the source of their emotions and allow anger to consume their feelings and reside on the unfairness that may have hurried their anger in the first place. Each of these emotional abilities has suggestions for how individual perform in organizations and in particular how they resolve conflict (Suliman Al-Shaikh, 2007). Extending the benefits of EI to the negotiation context, we expect that by regulating ones emotions, and by maintaining a positive negotiating environment, a negotiator high in emotional intelligence can create an environment in which both negotiating sides are satisfied with the way the negotiation was performed. Despite the possible benefit of high EI individuals to create a positive negotiating experience for both themselves and for the negotiating partners, it is uncertain whether an individual benefits by negotiating with a high EI partner. One dimension of EI is to direct their emotion abilities to improve personal performance (Law, Wong Song, 2004). Conceivably the high EI partner can extract greater value from the negotiation; for instance a high EI person can use abilities at understanding others (Wong, Law, Wong, 2004) to recognize that his or her partner is satisfied with the offer and not increase the offer further. Despite this possibility of personal performance at the expense of the partner, we expect that individuals profit by negotiating with high EI partners. Individuals high in EI can better gain the trust of others and trust encourages integrative bargaining (Naquin Paulson, 2003). Further, positive emotions lead to cognitive elasticity and innovative strategies in fashioning integrative negotiation outcomes (Kumar, 1997). In contrast, negative emotions guide negotiators to identify the situation as distributive rather than integrative. Integrative bargaining is helpful because the negotiation parties can discover each others interests and find ways to increase joint outcomes (Fisher, Ury Patton, 1991). THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Independent Variable Dependent Variable In order to give a clear picture of the proposed research, a conceptual framework has been developed. This gives a logical sense of the relationship between the selected dependent and independent variables. According to the above literature review the variables defined are as follows: Emotional Intelligence (Independent Variable) Integrating (Dependent Variable) Compromising (Dependent Variable) Dominating (Dependent Variable) Obliging (Dependent Variable) Avoiding (Dependent Variable) As it is evident from the conceptual diagram that as the increment in one variable i.e. Emotional Intelligence, produces a positive increase in the integrating, compromising and obliging style. The relationship is said to be direct and highly positive as the increase in Emotional intelligence produces a positive effect on the three styles. Whereas, high emotional intelligence will have a negative impact on dominating and avoiding styles of conflict management. In short, high emotionally intelligent individual will be less likely to use the dominating and avoiding style to manage a conflict. HYPOTHESES H1: Individuals high in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt integrating style during conflict. H2: Individuals high in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt compromising style during conflict. H3: Individuals low in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt dominating style during conflict. H4: Individuals high in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt obliging style during conflict. H5: Individuals low in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt avoiding style during conflict. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Participants The targeted population for this research was banking sector of Pakistan. As like other organizations, banks also have their own hierarchy including chain of command, span of control. This organization structure and psychological contract may often result in various conflicts within the organization. Hierarchy describes the structure of the management from top to down. Chain of command is mechanism in which power and authority is exerted and delegated from senior management to every employee at every level of the organization. Whereas, span of control, is the number of people who report to one manager in a hierarchy. Psychological contract refers to the perception of the two parties including the employee and employer where their mutual obligation may be viewed as promises and expectations towards each other. These all may have negative impact on job satisfaction, organization commitment and low trust level causing various task and relationship conflicts (Ali, 2008). Moreover, due to differences in personalities, a conflict can also occur e.g. a quality oriented person will have conflict with quantity oriented person. So to cope up with these issues, this study presents the importance of emotional intelligence in dealing with the individuals who cause conflict. The sample was selected from the private banks located in Islamabad/Rawalpindi. Total number of employees among which questionnaires were distributed was 260 employees out of which 233 employees returned the filled questionnaires. Response rate was 89 %. Each employee was working at managerial level.66 % of the respondents were male and 33% were female. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was applied to check whether the sample used was adequate or not. The value of our measure was 0.584 which showed that the sample selected was adequate and the results of the factor analysis would be useful. If the value is less than .50, the results of the factor analysis probably wont be very useful. Procedures The total questionnaires distributed were 260 in number among the participants. The questionnaire was self administered as by visiting the banks, employees were individually requested to fill out the questionnaire. Before giving the questionnaires, all questions were explained to the participants so they can easily complete the questionnaire and provide the accurate and relevant information. Only one questionnaire was provided to each respondent. After the completion of the experiment, 15 participants were excluded from the study as they were found to fill the questionnaire randomly without reading the questions. In addition, 12 of the returned questionnaires were not completed correctly. Therefore, these 27 were also excluded from the study, leaving a total of 233 usable questionnaires, with an overall response rate of 89%. The chances of error in the responses were also reduced by this method. The convenient sampling technique was followed as the data collection was done from the e mployees of private banks who were conveniently available to provide information. The data collected from the 233 questionnaires were analyzed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) 13. Regression and Correlation was applied to the data to achieve the results regarding the relationship between the variables. Measures A single questionnaire (See Appendix) was distributed among employees of the bank, which was adopted from Wong and Law (2002) and Rahim (1983). The questions were carefully worded to avoid misinterpretation. The questionnaire layout was formatted in logical manner to ensure a higher response rate. Questionnaire included only closed-ended questions. Structured questionnaire was designed to measure all the independent and dependent variables on a 5-point likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree (coded as 5) to Strongly Disagree (coded as 1). The questions also sought data on demographics of respondents. Conflict Management For getting responses on conflict management styles, one of the most commonly used models, Rahim (1983) who developed an instrument known as the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II or ROCI-II (Rahim, 1983) was used. This instrument measures the five conflict management styles of dominating, avoiding, obliging, compromising and integrating. The ROCI-II comprises 28 statements, seven of which relate to the integrating style, six each to the obliging and avoiding styles, five to the dominating style and four to the compromising style. Notwithstanding the different terminology, these styles are broadly parallel to those of Blake and Mouton (1964). The items were measured on a 5 point likert scale. The instrument has been tested in numerous studies and has been found to have a high degree of validity and internal consistency (Rahim, 1992; King and Miles, 1990; Weider- Hatfield, 1988). The respondents typically require 8 minutes to complete the ROCI II (Rahim, 1983). The population appropriate for taking responses is any member of the organization. As employees at the workplace has not much time to spend on filling out the questionnaire correctly, so this questionnaire was selected keeping in mind the time factor as well as the comprehensives of the questionnaire. The questionnaire measures all the conflict management styles in a brief and concise manner. Emotional intelligence As emotional intelligence is all about keeping ones own as well as others emotions in mind, regulating them and using them to solve a conflict, so a questionnaire having all these dimensions was aimed to be used. Emotional Intelligence was assessed using Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) (2002), based on the model developed by Davies, Stankov and Roberts (1998) and Mayer and Salovey (1997).This scale consists of 16 items. The WLEIS was designed as a short measure of EI for use in organizational research. It comprises of 16 items, responded to on a 5-point Likert scale and measuring four dimensions: Self-Emotion Appraisal, Emotion Appraisal of Others, Use of Emotion, and Regulation of Emotion. Wong and Law (2002) report good internal consistency reliabilities for their measure. RESULTS The targeted population for this research was the employees of the banking sector of Pakistan. However, sample considered was 233 employees from several private banks in Islamabad/ Rawalpindi. All the result and analysis were based on these 233 responses. Data Analysis Technique Results were analyzed by using the statistical analysis software named Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 13.0. The demographic data included gender, name of organization, type of work, department, and duration of job. Correlation and regression tests were applied to analyze the variables where emotional intelligence was treated as independent variable while integration, compromising, dominating, obliging and avoiding were considered a

The Eye Of The World :: essays research papers

Setting:The setting of this story is a fantasy world, with your basic medieval background. It has magic, swordplay, large-scale armies on grassy plains, and a touch of technology. There is the ‘big evil power’ off to the north somewhere that will apparently figure into the series five books down the road, and various evil creatures that battle the good guys. The ‘big good power’ can’t interfere, so it lets the meager humans handle things. Men and women are each clearly defined, with each sex even having different kinds of magic. The guys go insane from theirs, and the women use their power to hunt down those men. Character:There are countless characters in this story, ranging from one-shot guards who die in obscurity, to the Really Big Monsters. All of them are chock full of personality and character, no matter their roles and life span. The main characters, those that live long enough to be considered such, are as follows. There is Rand, a youth from a village who discovers he has strange powers that will one day drive him insane. Egwene, from the same village, also has this power, but apparently the women don’t go insane, and she will have to kill Rand. Naturally, there is a relationship between the two, one that will be put to the test. There are also Moiraine, a sort of elder witch, Lan, the big brawny swordsman, and a whole slew of others that split up and go their separate ways in other books in the series. Plot:The plot follows several different people at once, jumping back and forth when you least expect it. The basic plot is this; an evil entity, namely the antithesis of all that is good and pure, is trying to destroy the world and remake it in his own image. The Creator, a sort of god, has bound him away for all eternity, but a hole is bored into his prison. The Creator uses several young people as his unwitting avatars in the struggle between good and evil. They run away from hideous monsters that chase them through this world, such as a trolloc, a sort of man-beast, and various others. They make their beleaguered way north, until a path is found to a source of ultimate power. In the end, this power is used for good, and the Evil darkness is bound away. Until the next book in the series†¦ It seems like your basic ‘Light against Dark, Good vs.

New HR Strategy Makes Lloyd’s a “Best Company”

Bohlander discussed in chapter one. One of the biggest things I took from the chapter was evolution of HR managers from being a person consumed by company personnel matters to playing an active role in improving the business model a company has through innovation and providing advice to company executives. Ms. Black spoke of the need of Lloyd’s employees to be challenged in their work. In Human Behavior in Organizations, Sinclair, Cuttell, Vandeveer and Menefee write about how it is essential to provide employees with work that challenges them, because challenging work is viewed as being rewarding work, this in turn provides for an increase in employee motivation and makes them feel as though they are true stakeholders in the organization (pgs 50-51). Additionally, the workers cited community involvement and health incentives as reasons for their continued motivation. Clearly, these workers prove Snell and Bohlander to be correct when those authors wrote about the need for companies to be seen as being socially responsible and offer innovative incentives to keep their employees not only motivated, but wanting to work for a company (pgs 10,11,20,28). This ability to think outside the normal work paradigm of salary raises and promotions with regards to employee benefits backs up Blacks claim that HR managers will need to be able to see change and work within in that change. This is vital with the changing American demographics(Census Bureau) and the values that younger workers and different cultures have when it comes to work motivation and success. The idea of attracting these new workers highlights the concept of strategic thinking that Black spoke of to be successful in the new HR. From reading the case study, it appears as though Blacks strategy has been a success. It has been a success not only for Lloyds, but it appears as though it also successful for the employees. Often when one thinks about improving the company the image of layoffs, furloughs and other morale crushing decisions come to mind. It seems that these changes have positively changed worker attitudes, with Lloyds being ranked as one of the most desirable companies to work for. Even the website Payscale shows employees at Lloyds giving the company four out of five stars for workplace environment (Payscale). This recognition as a great place to work from respected media outlets like the Sunday Times can only help to recruit and retain the best talent for Lloyds. The ability for the employees to develop their career, and know that they can be rewarded for their work, has to provide incentive for those workers to make Lloyds a more successful company filled with happy, productive workers. Companies are finding that many advantages can be gained by going global. As with anything however, there are also pitfalls to entering into global markets to sell, or make items. If I were the HR manager for a company that is creating offices around the globe, I would lobby for each country to have separate culture specific HR policies. What works for American companies will not even work in many parts of France. Snell and Bohlander spoke of the French workers taking their managers hostage(pg 19). While such an action would be cause for termination without much protest in America, the French have a different attitude towards work relations. If another western nation has such a different outlook towards work issues, imagine the pitfalls inherit with going to Asia, Africa, or Latin America with totally different norms and societal expectations. Not only would it be a necessity to learn and become adroit in that cultures values and ways of work, you would need to ensure to meet compliance for all laws in that nation, which could be very different than our laws. The need for precise translations would be paramount to ensure that all employees know precisely what the companies expectations are and how the employees are expected to act and what they are expected to do. The power of â€Å"no† is immense. Employees, managers and executives alike need to be bound by the rules and regulations that run a company for that company to have success. Since I have not worked in an office environment, I am more limited in the potential conflicts that I could see arising where as an HR manager, I would have to be firm and follow the guidelines established by the company and their protocols. One instance I could see arising, that has happened in a school setting, is habitual employee tardiness. Many companies, in order to retain talent and keep their employees happy and motivated, have adapted flex time. The schools systems can not do this, as we have a set bell schedule. If an employee consistently asked to come in late, or leave early, the time would come when you would have to say no to the employee. Hopefully, the prior incidents had been documented so that you could prove you tried to accommodate the employee to the extent possible. If other workers notice what they see as another employee receiving preferential treatment, I imagine a cascading effect where the other workers would naturally insist upon being treated the same, or they may become resentful towards the company and the employee who seems to be treated differently. Any situation that violates company policy, or more importantly the law, must be told no. As an HR manager I am responsible for protecting the company, the executives and the employees. Recently at school we had an issue with coworker harassment and bullying. While I do not know the specifics of that incident, I do know that if the administrators or anyone from the Board of Education had received information about the issue, they would have to explain to the parties that such things are not acceptable, damage the school community and open the possibility of civil litigation. Whenever a potential conflict exists that could violate company procedure, or the law, HR must be firm and stand by their convictions and ensure that all workers are treated equitably and fairly.Works Cited Barnes, N.G. (2010, Spring). How do the most successful companies use social media? Marketing Research, (10). Retrieved June 1, 2013 from http://www.marketingpower.com/ResourceLibrary/Publications/MarketingResearch/2010/1/Tweeting.pdf Payscale. (2013). Retrieved on June 1, 2013, from Payscale website: http://www.payscale.com/reasearch/UK/Employer=Lloyds_of_London/Salary Reinhart, C. (2013). The Relationship between Marketing and Human Resources.Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 1, 2013, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/relationship-between-marketing-human-resources-10287.html Sinclair, G., Cuttell, D., Vandeveer, R., & Menefee, M. (2002). Human Behavior in Organizations (4th ed.) Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing. Snell, Scott & Bohlander, George. (2013) Managing Human Resources. (16th ed.) Mason, OH: South-Western. U.S Census Bureau. (2013, May 15) Population Projections. Retrieved May 30, 2013 From the World Wide Web: http://www.census.gov/population/projections/data/national/2012/summarytables.html

Exam Study Guide Essay

Attitude is determined by beliefs on performance of the attribute and importance of that attribute To change their attitude on a brand/competing brand change their belief on attribute and their perception of the value of that attribute and add a new attribute to the mix. Classical Conditioning vs. Operant Conditioning vs. Psychoanalytic Research Classical Conditioning (Association) using an unconditioned stimulus to generate an unconditioned response which eventually becomes a conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus Pavlov’s Dog Operant Conditioning (Instrumental) behavior is followed by a positive or negative consequence which determines probability of behavior reoccurring Use positive reinforcement to encourage behavior Psychoanalytic Research (Freud) motivation to purchase is determined deep in subconscious mind Need qualitative research- in depth interviews, focus groups, etc. Source Attributes Power Ability to reward or punish recipient through their perception of source’s power based on recipients perceived control/scrunity/concern of the source over them Can induce to respond to their position Credibility Expertise (experience,skill) trustworthiness (honest) Attractiveness Similarity btwn source and recipient Familiarity through repeat exposure Likeability through affection for source caused by looks/behavior/traits Elaboration Likelihood Model Ways consumers change/form attitudes in response to persuasive messages Routes to attitude change Central highly motivated/able to process message, pays close attention Peripheral less motivated/able to process message, pays attention to peripheral cues not message Ex. An attractive endorser Meaning Transfer Model Celebrity effectiveness as endorser dependent on meaning culture has associated with them and how they are brought into the endorsement process Ex. Status, class, age Stage 1: Culture Objects/persons/context popular to culture transferred into meaning associated with popular celebrity Stage 2: Endorsement Cultural meaning of celebrity Celebrity transferred onto Product Stage 3: Consumption Product is consumed by consumer transfer meaning of product onto consumer Consumer Decision Rules Simplified Heuristics rule of thumb used to make quick decision Affect Referral Decision Rule overall impression instead of detailed comparison Non- Compensatory short cut to making a choice, a product with low standing on one attribute can’t compensate by being better on another attribute and is eliminated Compensatory allow product to make up for lack on one attribute by being better at another Response Hierarchies Traditional Hierarchy of Effects Alternative Response Hierarchy FCB Planning Model Traditional Hierarchy of Effects Model Stage 1: Cognitive Stage (Learn) Awareness Knowledge Stage 2: Affective Stage (Feel) Liking Preference Conviction Stage 3: Behavioral Stage (Do) Purchase Alternative Response Hierarchies Based on level of involvement in purchase and perceived level of differences in alternatives Learning Model High involvement, high differentiation- learn then develop attitudes then behave based on Cognitive (learn) Affective (feel) Conative (do, action) Dissonance/Attribution Model High involvement, low differentiation- behave first then develop attitudes then learn/process the behavior Conative(do) Affective (feel) Cognitive (learn) Low Involvement Model Low involvement, both high and low differentiation- learn first, then behave, then develop attitude Cognitive (learn) Conative (do) Affective (feel)

Red Drum essays

Red Drum essays THE IMPORTANCE OF RED DRUM ON THE TEXAS COAST The red drum is an important part of Texas coast. It faces many challenges to survive without the help of man. It has an interesting life cycle, which in itself limits the number of red drum who survive within the first week after hatching. In the 1970s, the red drum was almost faced with extinction. Many causes can be attributed to the decrease in numbers, the biggest factor being human interaction. Laws and regulations were passed to help the red drum maintain its numbers and the hatcheries have done a fine job in restoring the natural stock. Today, Texas has some of the best hatcheries in the United States (Colura 1990), which not only help numbers of the red drum population, but also inform the public of the importance of caring for natural resources. The restocking effort has done a lot to give the red drum an advantage, but the size and bag limits help keep red drum numbers high. With all the red drum offers anglers, it is not a surprise that it is one of the most coveted fish along the coast. Anglers spend lots of time and money in the search for a red drum. That commitment and interest translates into money for the government and into private industry. There is not a worthier program to continue then the Texas State Hatchery Program. The red drum (Sciaenops Ocellatus) is a marine fish that is characterized by its color and body markings. (Matlock 1984) The most distinct marking is a black spot on the upper half of the tail.(see figure 1) Most red drum have at least one spot and very often two or more, but it is very rare to find a red drum that does not have any spots at all. The body color ranges from a dark blackish, coppery color to a silvery color. Normally, the topside of the fish is reddish-brown and the underside is silvery or white. Their tail is fairly square in shape and is similar in color to the back. Red drum have blunt noses and downward ...

Dr. Gregory House Essay Example

Dr. Gregory House Essay Example Dr. Gregory House Essay Dr. Gregory House Essay Dr. Gregory House is the chief character in the House telecasting series. He is presently working as the Head of Diagnostic Medicine with a dual forte in infective disease and nephrology at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. He is portrayed as egotistic. sarcastic. and appears to dislike most people. He prefers superficial relationships with others. sometimes utilizing cocottes to fulfill his sexual demands. Descriptive Information: Gregory is a 52 twelvemonth old Caucasic male. He prefers to be called House. as he views being called Greg as excessively personal. Dr. House has a lasting disablement in his leg. Dead musculus tissue had to be removed and left a divot in the tegument. He is besides really sensitive about the visual aspect of his thigh. being severely scarred from multiple operations. He is really loath to speak about this disablement and is easy offended if it is brought up. House has been in changeless hurting since the surgery and has become addicted to analgesics. He does non admit his utilizing as a drug job ; he reports it is a hurting job. He states that it does non interfere with his ability to work. At the present clip he has been to npatient intervention for detoxification. nevertheless still struggles with his dependence. House is above norm in his intelligence. holding been accepted to John-Hopkins University for his pre-med surveies. It is his neglect for moralss and protocol that has caused him jobs. He lost an chance for an internship at the Mayo Clinic when he was caught cheating and expelled. His inability to work good with others has been a beginning of employment issues for him in the yesteryear. House’s male parent was a Marine pilot. and he spent most of his childhood traveling to different states. As a consequence he isolated. and concentrated on a assortment of involvements. He is fluid in several linguistic communications. and plays the piano and guitar. At the age of 12. detecting the timing of his construct did non correlate with a clip his male parent was about. he confronted his parents on the paternity. It was revealed to him that his female parent had an matter with the household curate. House feels this was the turning point in his relationship with his male parent. John. He feels he was mistreated by John for this ground. John was cold and commanding. demoing House limited fondness. House was rebellious and was frequently punished harshly both physically and emotionally. House and his female parent had a loving relationship. nevertheless in his desire to avoid his male parent he does non hold her in his life. Showing Problems: House’s showing jobs at this clip are: his dependence to analgesics. his fright of familiarity. and anti-social traits. He besides displays a job with impulse control. Dr. House states his chief ground for utilizing Vicodin was for hurting direction. nevertheless he has admitted to recreational drug usage in his yesteryear. His dependance has caused him professional jobs. acquiring him into problem on several occasions. His dependence has besides caused him jobs with Lisa. the adult female he has feelings for. Dr. Lisa Cuddy and House have had an on-going attractive force crossing 25 old ages. They were get downing to organize a relationship when she had a panic with malignant neoplastic disease. When House couldn’t face losing her. he turned once more to the Vicodin. Lisa ended their relationship when she realized his inability to get by without the usage of drugs. Dr. House has been afraid to see any existent intimacy to others in his life. He has issues of trust due to his mother’s dishonesty and his father’s distance and ill will towards him. This is the primary beginning of his fright of familiarity and cynicism. He hides his frights with a egotistic attitude. and pushes people off alternatively of exposing any exposure. House can be highly defensive. and it is likely he uses his personality in a deliberate effort to estrange anyone who tries to acquire near to him. He is conflicted when confronting his feelings for Lisa. while seeking to keep onto his belief he is wholly self-sufficing. House has acted on legion occasions without respect to his wellness and safety. He besides takes his behaviours to the extreme. When Dr. Cuddy starts dating after their reak-up. he reacts by driving his auto through her forepart window. He states his ground as merely returning her hairbrush. He uses himself as a trial topic for drugs and medical trials. sometimes merely to fulfill his wonder. He has taken experimental drugs in hopes of reconstructing his leg musculus. which finally led to tumours. House has besides injected himself with questionable blood received by an sick patient to see if a blood transfusion caused their symptoms. Model: I believe that person-centered therapy would be the theoretical account best suited for House. I would besides integrate some cognitive-behavioral techniques. House would non react good to any theory that is confrontational. he needs to experience in control. I besides recognize that although his past dramas a large portion in why he has relationship issues. he does non look to desire to revisit these happenings. I believe really small clip should be spent on the topic of his parents specifically. with more clip spent on how he’s covering with relationships now. House would be a hard client to construct a curative relationship with ; nevertheless I do experience it could be done over a period where he felt he was in a safe and non-judgmental environment. He is intelligent and lives to calculate out the pieces in hard medical diagnosings. House may hold a small problem in utilizing this in respects to his ain mental wellness. since he is so enveloped in denial. but he does hold the capacity to make so. The person-centered theoretical account plants on the premises that the client is the expert. and I believe it is one he would react to outdo given his personality type. Treatment Goals: House’s primary issue is addiction. and a deficiency of holding a recovery program. He has been seeking to cover with this on his ain footings. and has had backslidings. His untreated status contributes to his anti-social personality. interferes with his relationships. and causes issues at work. I feel his other showing jobs can neer be to the full addressed until he can derive control over his habit-forming behaviours. Until he comes to footings with his dependence. he will stay stray and go on to be suicidal. Dr. House needs to turn to his trouble with any type of relationship. It is evident at times that he does hold the capacity and this aspect of him is non portion of a personality upset. He displays a demand for people despite his non desiring to. He shows green-eyed monster when Lisa dates others and does has a close friendly relationship with Dr. James Wilson from the infirmary. Dr. Wilson provides House with audience about instances. and frequently personal issues. James is one of the few who can off with naming House out on behaviours. They sometimes have existent minutes on a deeper degree. and at times they can allow travel and portion laughs. House has displayed many cases of debatable impulse-control. He has experimented with Methadone. self-induced insulin daze. and tested deep encephalon stimulation with an electrical goad. The electrical current caused him ictuss. encephalon leeding. and finally led to him being in a coma. He frequently shows no respect for his wellbeing. Once in an agitated province. he dove from a balcony into a pool. These behaviours horrify others around him. Techniques: The person-centered therapy is flexible plenty to be adapted to most personalities. I feel a technique constructing a individual profile would assist House to turn to his dependence issues and in constructing a program. This would get down with naming his properties and strengths. Learning what is sympathetic and worthy about himself. alternatively of concentrating on negatives. will show to him a position of himself in want he wants to be seen. Next he should verbalise what is of import to him. Having clear. concrete believing on what he wants in his life can assist when turn toing what his drug usage will take away from him. and how it is a barrier in accomplishing his coveted result. Finally House should look at what has been working and what is non working as support in his life. This includes relationships. both 1s that may be unhealthy and those he needs to construct. Recovery is greatly impacted by support systems. These can include relationships on a personal degree. and outside support groups. House needs to see what should be changed. what should remain the same. and what makes sense every bit far as being realistic. Rational affectional behavioural therapy ( REBT ) could be good to House in covering with his fright of familiarity. The basic hypothesis is that people are non disturbed by events. but by the positions in which they take on them. Therapy would challenge his irrational beliefs and prosecute him in activities that can counter them. Showing House the faulty belief system he imposes on everyone he meets. he can get down to work on seeing how his actions are self-sabotaging. If he can truly hold on how his beliefs are barricading him. he can happen ways to alter and command them. It will assist him to pass on more efficaciously with others. I believe societal accomplishment groups could assist House with his impulse-control. Group therapies aid with answerability of the behaviour. and supply for feedback. This therapy is a powerful locale for growing and alteration. Participants receive enormous apprehension. support. and encouragement from others confronting similar issues. House could besides derive different positions. thoughts. and point of views on those issues. I feel a discrepancy outside of one-on-one would be good for House. As egotistic as he can be. I think excessively much attending to entirely his issues at one time would coerce him to go more defensive and less unfastened to intervention. Appraisal: House’s intervention ends will take some clip to be actualized. Addiction is rooted non merely in behaviours. but besides his biological science. He will necessitate to hold some strong support built in along with get bying accomplishments. Given the fact relationships with others need to be for the support to be effectual. these intervention ends are dependent on one another. His intervention with dependence will non demo promise until a lower limit of a twelvemonth without usage has been met. and regular engagement in a self-help group has been established. I do non anticipate House to develop newer relationships at this clip ; nevertheless I will estimate his success in furthering his bing 1s. His alterations should include larning how to show his feelings maturely. and larning to give of himself without the usage of irony to conceal when it feels uncomfortable. There is besides a strong correlativity between dependence and impulse-control. by placing get bying accomplishments for impulses. House could use some of these with his behaviours. In add-on. low self-esteem can be portion of the job in prosecuting in such unsafe and high hazard activities. House needs to turn to both his physical status that causes him embarrassment. and his forsaking issues with his household. I feel as clip goes on. and he gives recovery and relationships with others a opportunity. he will get down to see himself as a individual deserving caring for. Once he begins to experience that he is valuable and deserving of love from others. he should be able to accept this within himself. It is my hope through those alterations his neglect for his safety will disperse.

Convergent Evolution

Convergent Evolution Evolution is defined as a change in species over time. There are many processes that can occur to drive evolution including Charles Darwins proposed idea of natural selection and the human-created artificial selection and selective breeding. Some processes produce much quicker results than others, but all lead to speciation and contribute to the diversity of life on Earth. One way species change over time is called convergent evolution. Convergent evolution is when two species, that are not related via a recent common ancestor, become more similar. Most of the time, the reason behind convergent evolution occurring is the build-up of adaptations over time to fill a certain niche. When the same or similar niches are available in different geographical locations, different species will most likely fill that niche. As time passes, the adaptations that make the species successful in that niche in that particular environment add up producing similar favorable traits in very different species. Characteristics Species that are linked through convergent evolution oftentimes look very similar. However, they are not closely related on the tree of life. It just so happens that their roles in their respective environments are very similar and require the same adaptations in order to be successful and reproduce. Over time, only those individuals with favorable adaptations for that niche and environment will survive while the others die off. This newly formed species is well suited to its role and can continue to reproduce and create future generations of offspring. Most cases of convergent evolution occur in very different geographic areas on the Earth. However, the overall climate and environment in those areas are very similar, making it a necessity to have different species that can fill the same niche. That leads those different species to acquire adaptations that create a similar appearance and behavior as the other species. In other words, the two different species have converged, or become more similar, in order to fill those niches. Examples One example of convergent evolution is the Australian sugar glider and the North American flying squirrel. Both look very similar with their small rodent-like body structure and thin membrane that connects their forelimbs to their hind limbs that they use to glide through the air. Even though these species look very similar and are sometimes mistaken for each other, they are not closely related on the evolutionary tree of life. Their adaptations evolved because they were necessary for them to survive in their individual, yet very similar, environments. Another example of convergent evolution is the overall body structure of the shark and the dolphin. A shark is a fish and a dolphin is a mammal. However, their body shape and how they move through the ocean is very similar. This is an example of convergent evolution because they are not related very closely via a recent common ancestor, but they live in similar environments and needed to adapt in similar ways in order to survive in those environments. Plants Plants can also undergo convergent evolution to become more similar. Many desert plants have evolved somewhat of a holding chamber for water inside their structures. Even though the deserts of Africa and those in North America have similar climates, the species of flora there are not closely related on the tree of life. Instead, they have evolved thorns for protection and the holding chambers for water to keep them alive through long periods of no rain in the hot climates. Some desert plants also have evolved the ability to store light during the daytime hours but undergo photosynthesis at night to avoid too much water evaporation. These plants on different continents adapted this way independently and are not closely related by a recent common ancestor.

The role of the UN during the could war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The role of the UN during the could war - Essay Example mandate it was bestowed, Krasno (4) argues that the United States Charter allocated more power to five major states, which were further given veto powers and permanent representation in what was known as the upper chamber where exclusive jurisdiction were taken into consideration. Additionally, there were six nonpermanent members who later increased to ten. As such, the charter principle of sovereign equality expected all members to abstain in their international relations from threat or forceful use against territorial integrity or any state political independence. Thus, the United Nations issued the Security Council with the responsibility of ensuring that peace and security was maintained internationally (Krasno 5). Importantly, the United Nations first role during the Cold war happened in Korea when the Korean peninsula was divided through the occupation of the Soviet occupied territory in the Northern part while the Southern part was taken over by the United States. According to Sachleben (36) the state of unrest was thought to be between Communist and non communist states, and as such the United Nations was compelled to provide international legitimacy to the United States reaction on Korean peninsula although president Truman was determined to counter the threat until 1953 when the peace was finally restored. Similarly, the United Nations was engaged in the role of ensuring that Soviet Union was not involved in the unrest in Congo after the killing of the Secretary- General Dag Hammarskjold through a plane crash. During this unrest, there was conflict between the western powers and the then President Kasavubu who was supported by the United Nations through their peace keeping mandate (Downs 14). It is worth noting that the unrest in Korea and Congo were perfect examples of how the anticipated roles of the United Nations were influenced by the East- West divisions. As such, critics have argued that it is highly likely that the United

Differences between Chimpanzees and Human Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Differences between Chimpanzees and Human - Essay Example Chimpanzees make friends and strengthen by mentoring each other. Researchers state that chimpanzees shave an estimate of 50 close friends and links compared to those of human being that is estimated to be around 150 and 200 (Dale, 26). The human anatomy has a skin that has limited areas that are covered in hair, in a chimpanzee, all parts of the body other than the face is covered in hair. The skull of a human brain is sustained by a vertebral column while the skull of a chimpanzee dangles forward from the vertebral column. Human beings walk in an upright manner that is enabled by the legs that are stronger than legs, feet that are arched and the capability to straighten the knees that enabling walking, on the other side, the chimpanzees walk on four legs since they have longer arms and knees that are bent. The social life of chimpanzees is largely based on survival while that of human beings s based on needs. Human beings show advanced forms of communication whereas chimpanzees use sounds and gestures that are only known to them. In this film, the social behaviors of humans surprised me, especially the fact that their social closeness is based on survival. Unlike in other animals such as the lion, there is no territory for the strongest; the chimpanzees live as one big happy family. The other thing that I found impressive is their ways of displaying affection, love, and kindness. They often play with each other, cuddle and hug each other. The adult chimpanzees take care of the young ones by ensuring that they get food and that they are safe from external threats and risk. Finally, I did not realize that chimpanzee s mourn for the sickness or loss of one of them, they are very compassionate (Dale, 34).

Intoduction Development Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Intoduction Development Economics - Essay Example Moreover, the document will discuss the prevalence of the inequality in the years. Assessment of the poverty evolution in the country in the last two decades and the factors that led to the performance will be elaborated in the document. The population growth of the country will be part of the subject of the paper since the year 1980. Lastly, the paper will tackle the poverty levels in the country in the nation given its poverty levels in the last two decades. Ecuador is one of the poor countries in the Latin America and the level of inequality of the country’s resources keeps bloating in the developing years. The country’s inequality is a trending feature that gives the country bad reputation on the priorities the government has put in place to counter the inequality in the country. As the countries natives suffer the economic devastations, some parts of the country enjoy the fruits of tourism and high end bars. This land termed as ‘gringolandas’ are known for the rich culture of using American luxury products and the few elite enjoy the resources generated from the tourist revenue in the country. Marginalization of the Afro-Ecuadorians in the nation has contributed to the inequality in the country as the communities have the notion that they are the lazy and criminals. A few miles into the Atacames a touristy beach town could benefit the Esmeralda residents but the mindset in the country give the vicious cycle of poverty a chance in the country by fueling the stereotypes on the Afro-Ecuadorians. Racism in the country is a big issue in the country ingrained from the Spanish colonial eras is still evident in the country aggravating the population’s marginalization. Inequality in the recent years is partly fueled by the environmental devastation in the country. The deforestation and oil spills in the countryside where many indigenous Ecuadorians live become more prominent because the legislature is very corrupt and lacks protect ive measures to control the companies given the contracts. This degradation of the environment brings the country to depravation of morals and defined greed in the system that governs the country. The constant westernization of the urban Ecuador is very instrumental in the promotion of inequality. The supermaketization of the urban areas gives convenience to the wealthy but puts the local farmers out of business creating further inequality in the country. In comparison to other countries that have the same income levels, Ecuador has a lower prevalence of the poverty levels compared to the Dominican Republic. However, the level of poverty in Costa Rica is reduced and low in comparison to both countries. Inequality in the countries has declined in the recent years but not in all countries. The level of inequality in Costa Rica has seen a stagnation trend as compared to the other countries. The evolution of the inequality has evolved in the country citing the new discoveries of natural resources that attract companies that mine without the care for the environment and the natives. Furthermore, the country has had a lot to do with racism, which is a good aggravator of inequality. These changes are occurring because the government and the appropriate bodies are doing little to protect the common person in the country and instead enjoy the luxury that comes with the resources the country contains. The presence of deeply rooted corruption gives the common person a hard

Book Report from List Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Book Report from List - Essay Example that began with the New Hampshire Primary on the 1st of June to the eve of the elections in November 1972, Crouse assembled his observations into a series of articles that became the basis for the book. The book became an instant best-seller. Surprisingly, it was the only book that Crouse wrote. Soon after, he dabbled in freelance writing, spending some time as Esquire’s Washington correspondent, before going into his real love: writing for the theater. The son of well-known Broadway producer Russell Crouse, whose credits include â€Å"Sound of Music†, â€Å"Life with Father†, and â€Å"Call Me Madam†, and the brother of respected actress Lindsay Crouse, Timothy left journalism in the 1980s and ventured into playwriting. The captivating narrative of the book highlights Crouse’s storytelling talent. Combining real-life drama with humor, he painted an amusing portrait of the main characters – the journalists, media supporters, and the candidates – on the campaign bus. The bus was a mere metaphor for the closed, cozy, and clubby group of journalists on the campaign trail, but it projects a precise picture of the riotous, fun, and chaotic feel of a school bus packed with a bunch of immature, eccentric, and hyperactive kids. Crouse’s book sheds a theatrical light on the dramatic aspects of U.S. history in the making. By using as backdrops for his story-telling Nixon’s desperate re-election drive until his political blunder at Watergate, and McGovern’s futile campaign to put up a worthy challenge, Crouse chronicles the minds and characters of the people who tell the stories to America and the whole world. At the same time, he also presents an image of America at a crossroads, caught in the maelstrom of civil unrest at home, a bloody war in Vietnam, and a cold war with Communist Russia. The journalists that covered the elections moved around like wolves, giving rise to the term pack journalism that marks much of the craft’s contemporary practice,

See the dis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

See the dis - Essay Example What is more important is the content transferred and the copyrights attached to the content. Thus, if there has been a transfer of some content that has been protected by copy right, then this means of file sharing is considered to be illegal. On the other hand, if the content is not protected by copyright, then file sharing may or downloading may not be illegal. Thesis The main reason why unauthorized file sharing is illegal in most countries is that it is considered equitable to theft. Arguments However, sharing or downloading may not always classify as theft. The famous economist and noble prizewinner, F. A. Hayek explains how conventional property rights and copyrights are different in reference to their supply capacities. While it may not be possible for the supply of a material property to be unlimited, it may very likely be that an intangible object has an unlimited supply (Hayek, pp. 23-25). Consequently, because there is an unlimited supply of an intangible asset, accessing that object may not affect the availability of that object to anyone. This implies that theft, where one takes the object of possession away from the owner cannot materialize in case of the intangible asset because the owner would still posses the intangible object. Thus, in essence, unauthorized file transfer is not illegal. Karl Sigfrid, the author of the op-ed submission, who has been arguing in the favor of decriminalizing file sharing and downloading, has also argued along similar lines to support his stance. Another strong arguments that have often being used to support the imposition on copyrights and thus, to make file transfers illegal is that of the potential loss that the owner of the file or the programme might have when his files are transferred to people. Take the instance of a music composer who is at loss when his music files are transferred to others. However, at a closer look the transfer of such files does not bring about any loss to the owner because in the end the owner still has an access to his files at the same time when others do (Lemely, pp. 30-34). More importantly, many artists, musicians, and composer have noted how file sharing benefits them by providing a forum for displaying and publicizing their work. Despite these arguments, the practice of file transfer and downloading is illegal when the file is copyrighted. This is because the owners of the intellectual property (the files that are transferred) state that their intangible property is subject to the same protection as a tangible asset because that intellectual property has some value attached to it. In other words downloading files without the permission of the owner is the same as encroaching on a private property or stealing. Skeptics may argue against this notion by explaining how stealing causes a loss to an individual. On the other hand, the acquisition of the files via file sharing does not add up to the cost of the owner. Nor does it cause any form of a loss of value , so comparing intellectual property with a tangible possession is absurd. However, there needs to be a closer inspection of how the usage of the intellectual property without paying for it is a cost to the owner in terms of the loss of the potential monetary benefits that he/she may have been entitled to receive otherwise. Using that intellectual

Discuss whether or not the media is a reliable source of knowledge Essay

Discuss whether or not the media is a reliable source of knowledge about crime and criminality, and utilise examples to illustrate the concept of 'media and moral panics' - Essay Example Determining the crime rate based solely on reported crime and number of arrests can be inaccurate because not all crime is reported and not all arrests turn into convictions. According to Crimestoppers U.K. (2009), recorded crime provides a majority of the crime statistics and can determine the amount of police manpower necessary to keep crime in check. However, it is the surveys that provide more valuable information about unreported crime. Crimestoppers states that â€Å"The BCS (British Crime Survey) count also gives a better indication of trends in crime over time because it is unaffected by changes in levels of reporting to the police and in police recording practices.† In Pfeiffer’s (2007) preface, she states that her motivation to write a book about mentally ill persons in prison stems from a statistic regarding suicide that had been prepared about conditions of New York State prisons. In her further research, the high suicide rate that she had read about turned out to be a conservative figure. Pfeiffer realized that the statistics reported were grossly inaccurate and decided that she needed to find out the truth for herself. Throughout her book, she follows the stories of six mentally ill inmates who ultimately took their own lives. On page eleven Pfeiffer states, â€Å"When people commit suicide, rarely is the information released to the public. When reporters ask for it, they are given minimal details and told to wait for official reports.† Pfeiffer’s discovery opens another aspect to why the media is not always an entirely reliable source of information regarding crime. A reporter can only relay the facts they are given. The reporter has no choice but to relay the information he has been given, and if the information is inaccurate that is how it will be reported. Where the information comes from initially plays a huge role in the accuracy of the report. Leighton (2007) states that, â€Å"Statistics are tricky. For every statistic designed to

See the dis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

See the dis - Essay Example What is more important is the content transferred and the copyrights attached to the content. Thus, if there has been a transfer of some content that has been protected by copy right, then this means of file sharing is considered to be illegal. On the other hand, if the content is not protected by copyright, then file sharing may or downloading may not be illegal. Thesis The main reason why unauthorized file sharing is illegal in most countries is that it is considered equitable to theft. Arguments However, sharing or downloading may not always classify as theft. The famous economist and noble prizewinner, F. A. Hayek explains how conventional property rights and copyrights are different in reference to their supply capacities. While it may not be possible for the supply of a material property to be unlimited, it may very likely be that an intangible object has an unlimited supply (Hayek, pp. 23-25). Consequently, because there is an unlimited supply of an intangible asset, accessing that object may not affect the availability of that object to anyone. This implies that theft, where one takes the object of possession away from the owner cannot materialize in case of the intangible asset because the owner would still posses the intangible object. Thus, in essence, unauthorized file transfer is not illegal. Karl Sigfrid, the author of the op-ed submission, who has been arguing in the favor of decriminalizing file sharing and downloading, has also argued along similar lines to support his stance. Another strong arguments that have often being used to support the imposition on copyrights and thus, to make file transfers illegal is that of the potential loss that the owner of the file or the programme might have when his files are transferred to people. Take the instance of a music composer who is at loss when his music files are transferred to others. However, at a closer look the transfer of such files does not bring about any loss to the owner because in the end the owner still has an access to his files at the same time when others do (Lemely, pp. 30-34). More importantly, many artists, musicians, and composer have noted how file sharing benefits them by providing a forum for displaying and publicizing their work. Despite these arguments, the practice of file transfer and downloading is illegal when the file is copyrighted. This is because the owners of the intellectual property (the files that are transferred) state that their intangible property is subject to the same protection as a tangible asset because that intellectual property has some value attached to it. In other words downloading files without the permission of the owner is the same as encroaching on a private property or stealing. Skeptics may argue against this notion by explaining how stealing causes a loss to an individual. On the other hand, the acquisition of the files via file sharing does not add up to the cost of the owner. Nor does it cause any form of a loss of value , so comparing intellectual property with a tangible possession is absurd. However, there needs to be a closer inspection of how the usage of the intellectual property without paying for it is a cost to the owner in terms of the loss of the potential monetary benefits that he/she may have been entitled to receive otherwise. Using that intellectual

Brazil and India business environment comparison Essay Example for Free

Brazil and India business environment comparison Essay The United States and Brazil entered into a common agreement targeting to improve democracy in the Western Hemisphere and to bring an accelerated growth in regional trade and development so that the governments of the region can ensure its citizens better scope for greater prosperity. (Common Goals and Challenges in Brazil-US’s Agenda) The prospects for conducting business in Brazil are tremendous in view of its 150 million possible consumers, a hugely diversified economy and a gross domestic product worth of US7 billion. However, till the nation attains improved market and economic reforms, majority of the opportunities for US companies are prone to hover around particular sectors and projects. (Jennings, 14) The closed markets and heavy government interventions marked the economic development of Brazil during the last thirty years. During the 1960s and 1970s, such policies of import substitution and huge levels of international debt generated accelerated growth and industrialization however, giving rise to long term problems like long term economic difficulties, inclusive of high inflation, foreign debt difficulties and non-competitive industries. During the year 1990 the Government of Brazil initiated remarkable market liberalization measures including reduction of trade and investment barriers, declining import duties over 100% to a high of 35% inclusive of an average of 14%. Market liberalization also incorporated several tax and regulatory variations that have been of advantage to the foreign investors. The reduction of taxes on profit remittances and simplification of procedures and withdrawal of some of the disincentives to reinvest the profits have provided increasing scope for business activities in Brazil. As a result, the trend of the reaction of US companies was seen to be remarkable. (Jennings, 14) US companies exported goods of worth $6 billion enabling Brazil to be among the top 20 export markets of the world. The United States tends to maintain the position of being the single country supplier to Brazil constituting about one-third of the total of the Brazilian imports. The telecommunication and informatics market of Brazil extends fabulous prospective for US business, for the equipment manufacturers as well as for the service providers. The Telecommunication sector provides a market worth of $3 billion in Brazil. The US companies have presently extended limited involvement in the telecommunication sector and are exploiting the benefits of extending private networks as well as equipments. The energy sector in Brazil also entails good prospects for US technology as well as equipment. The current agreements and subsequent legislations at higher government levels and the private sectors assures for future prospects. The US equipment manufacturers are encouraged to actually take benefit of the opportunities that already prevail and are prone to expand with regard to the internal demand that promotes the expansion of this sector. (Jennings, 15) The Indian markets along with its over one billion population, provides profitable as well as diverse opportunities for US exporters with the right kind of products, services as well as commitment. Such opportunities are accelerated with the depreciation of dollar in the recent years in relation to its competitive currencies. The infrastructure, high-tech, energy, health care, environmental, transportation as well as defense sector are prone to surpass the tens of billions of dollars mark in the mid-term as the Indian economy tend to globalize as well as emerge stronger. In the year 2005, the total bilateral trade was $26. 77 billion. The US exports to India in 2005 was enhanced to $7. 96 billion, which was a 30. 3 percent growth in comparison to the previous year. (India – Market of the month) The potentiality of India for US companies is promising since India is the second largest small car market of the world; India is one among the three countries that manufactures its own supercomputers; India is the one among the six nations that is able to launch its own satellites and; India is having the second biggest group of software developers immediately after the US. The Indo-US relation is presently growing through a remarkable transition. The two nations which were having a gap between them in political and economic terms during the latter part of the 20th century, presently consider their national goals converging on several areas. (India – Market of the month) Indian tariffs have been decreased considerably since the early part of the 1990s. Irrespective of the fact that the tariff and poor infrastructure entails remarkable challenges for foreign investment and development, the infrastructure needs in India also entail trade and investment facilities for US companies. The best prospects for US firms and US exports on the basis of estimated Indian imports from the US has been earmarked to be â€Å"Airport Ground Handling, Computer and Peripherals, Education Services, Electrical Power Generation, Transmission Distribution Equipment, Food Processing Cold Storage Equipment, Oil Gas Field Machinery, Pollution Control Equipment, Safety and security equipment, Telecommunication equipment, Textile Machinery, water etc†. (India – Market of the month) Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State for United States and Celso Amorim, Brazilian Foreign Minister in their meeting on 26th April, 2005 in Brazil had a discussion in relation to the common agenda of the two nations as well as that of the unique challenges which were confronting the entire hemisphere. (Common Goals and Challenges in Brazil-US’s Agenda) Brazil as well as Argentina poses certain particular business challenges to be confronted by the US firms. For example, legal provisions with regard to importing technology materials require payment of duties, tariffs and a value added tax VAT which is as much as 22 percent of the total cost in Brazil. The business is even more complex in Brazil due to the variation of importation laws from one province to another. The fluctuating currency exchange rates as well as local economic issues pose grave challenges for conducting business. (Business Spotlight: Arrow South America) Franklin L. Lavin, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, American Chamber of Commerce, New Delhi on May 1st, 2006 remarked that the Indo-US relationship have improved on many fields and have great prospects in the sphere of trade. However, US face remarkable challenges as well. Irrespective of the fact that India has exhibited good trade statistics and the progress in the sphere of economic reforms and are opening markets during the last one and half decade there still need to be improvement in several spheres in order to reflect India’s important part in the world economy. The economic philosophies of Fabian socialism as well as third world nationalism are holding India hostage for many years. As a result of this it has been pointed out that even with 30 percent growth in US exports to India during the last year, India could constitute only 1 percent of all exports of US. The economic reforms in India is in relation to world reforms as a result of this the momentum of India is not impressive in the context of the competition for global attention. (Remarks by Franklin L. Lavin Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, American Chamber of Commerce, New Delhi) The annual US exports of $8 billion dollar is what the US ships to Canada within two weeks. In terms of the US foreign direct investment in India the cumulative figure is only $6. 2 billion at the end of 2004, US being the largest investor while the US FDI in Singapore remains amounts to be $56. 9 billion. Irrespective of the fact that tariff for non-agricultural products have significantly reduced, it still remains at 40% in case of agricultural products. The vibrant IPR regime is considered critical to the enhancement of a creative, technologically advanced economy. Irrespective of the fact that India has opened up a silver of its retail sector to foreign investment, presently, the sector is still considered to be closed to most of the American retailers. US companies required to obviate the aggressive competition exerted by the companies from Europe, Canada, Korea and Japan by knowing how to adapt their products as well as facilitate their activities in order to take advantage of the huge potential in India. (Remarks by Franklin L. Lavin Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, American Chamber of Commerce, New Delhi) The trading companies are generally prone to four types of risk such as strategic risk, operational risks, internal financial risks and compliance risks. (Sadgrove, 83) The trading risks in Brazil are considered substantially greater in comparison to the developed nations. The political risks like dismissal or appointment of a key government minister can exert influence on the value of the share of the company to have fluctuations. The purchase of shares of Brazilian companies is subject to increasing risks of fluctuations in the exchange rates that may exert considerable losses. Exchange rates also have a tremendous impact on the profitability. Inflationary trends also influence much on the profitability by making the services of the company more expensive. (Sands, 27) For US Government, for over several years Brazil has been a bastion of anti communism while the other states of South America seem to be leaning towards communistic. Moreover, the US companies in Brazil never desire to take the risk by means of their operations being disrupted by that of the shipping turmoil. (Fitzgerald, 20) The US companies engaged in outsourcing of their software development to India are prone to be hurt by the industrial espionage and poor intellectual property safeguards. However, India is seen to have a far outstanding cultural and legal climate for IP protection than many other nations offering offshore coding. (Pedraja; Toman, 164) References Business Spotlight: Arrow South America. Retrieved from http://www. arrow. com/media_center/news/BusinessSpotlightArrowSouthAmerica. htm Accessed 11 December, 2006 Common Goals and Challenges in Brazil-US’s Agenda. 27 April, 2005. Retrieved from http://www. brazzilmag. com/content/view/2207/ Accessed 10 December, 2006 Fitzgerald, Michael. Intellectual property protection. CIO Magazine. 15 November, 2003. pp: 18-21 India – Market of the month. US Commercial Service India. Retrieved from http://www. buyusa. gov/india/en/motm. html? print=1 Accessed 10 December, 2006 Jennings, Horace. Brazil: slowly emerging giant offers enormous potential. Business America. March, 1994. Vol: 115; No: 3; pp: 14-16. Pedraja, Rene de La; Toman, Rene De La Pedraja. Latin American Merchant Shipping in the Age of Global Competition. Greenwood Press. 1999. Remarks by Franklin L. Lavin Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, American Chamber of Commerce, New Delhi. 1 May, 2006. Retrieved from http://www. ita. doc. gov/press/speeches/lavin_050106. asp Accessed 11 December, 2006 Sadgrove, Kit. The Complete Guide to Business Risk Management. Gower Publishing, Ltd. 2005. Sands, Gary. The Risks and Rewards of Investing in Brazil. Brazzil Magazine. 23 March, 2005. pp: 27-30

Prefrontal Cortex The Very Front Of The Brain Psychology Essay

Prefrontal Cortex The Very Front Of The Brain Psychology Essay The Prefrontal Cortex is the very front of the brain, located right beneath the forehead and is the anterior region of the frontal lobe. The prefrontal cortex is a very important area in the brain and is the most susceptible to injury. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for the functions of decision making, whether right or wrong, working memory, personality expression and cognitive behaviors. The prefrontal cortex has major neurotransmitters that are involved directly in its proper functioning for example, glutamate and dopamine. The prefrontal cortex can be affected by diseases for example, Parkinsons disease and Schizophrenia. The prefrontal cortex is among the last regions of the brain to develop therefore its functions and disorders are still being researched. The prefrontal lobe is connected to the anterior region of the frontal lobe. The prefrontal lobe volume increases slowly until the age of eight, then a prefrontal growth spurt increases in between the ages of eight and fourteen years. In contrast with other brain areas the prefrontal cortex is one of the last region to development therefore the functions and disorders are not immediately apparent (Kanemura 195). As studied in an experiment called the Somatic Marker Hypothesis one can infer some of the prefrontal cortex functions. Although these experiments have been performed the results do not apply to the entire prefrontal cortex. A prefrontal cortex function in the human brain is decision making and human reasoning. Some of the decision making depends on consciousness and overt cognition where as others do not. Those processes that depend on conscious and cognition are dependent on the sensory images that are directly coordinated to the early activity of cortices. All of the dependent processes of consciousness and cognition regardless of the imagery are dependent on support processes for example, attention and working memory. Further studies demonstrate that damage to the prefrontal cortex prohibits the use of the somatic signals necessary for guiding decision making in an advantageous direction (Bechara 428). In addition to decision making being a main function working memory is equally an important function. These functions have been assessed and results demonstrate that their functions come from different and distinct areas of the prefrontal cortex. While decision making processes occur in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, working memory processes occur in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Short-term memory is the type of working memory in relationship to prefrontal cortex (Humana Press 204) Prefrontal Cortex Neurotransmitters A neurotransmitter is a chemical substance released by neurons that send nerve impulses from one cell to the next in the nervous system. A major neurotransmitter in the prefrontal cortex is Glutamate. Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and is the most abundant amino acid in the diet. In the prefrontal cortex glutamate is associated with cognitive function. In schizophrenic patients abnormal levels of glutamate impair cognitive function. Another major neurotransmitter involved in the function of the prefrontal cortex is dopamine. Dopamine is commonly associated with parts of the brain that stimulate pleasure, which provide enjoyment and reinforcement to enforce a person proactively to perform certain activities. Reduced levels of dopamine impair working memory in the prefrontal cortex (Damasio 1413). Diseases that affect the Prefrontal Cortex Parkinsons disease and schizophrenia are two diseases that affect the prefrontal cortex. In both of the disorders the reduction of dopamine to the prefrontal cortex impairs working memory. Conversely, increasing dopamine levels in patients with these diseases improves their performance of test that utilizes their working memory. Parkinsons disease has been considered a paradigm of degenerative diseases of the nervous system characterized by motor impairment due to malfunction and loss of dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta. Recent clinical data shows modifications in behavior, personalilty changes, and cognitive impairment that lead to dementia. (Ferrer 89) Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that is characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality. In Schizophrenia working memory and cognitive deficits are in association with prefrontal cortex dysfunction. (Manoach 285) Conclusion In conclusion, the prefrontal cortex is an important region of the frontal lobe that functions in decision making, cognitive behaviors, working memory, and personality expression. The prefrontal lobe has major neurotransmitters that assist in the communication of impulses from cell to cell throughout the nervous system. The reduction of those neurotransmitters in the prefrontal cortex may lead to diseases that affect the important functions of the cortex. The prefrontal lobe is one of the last regions of the brain to develop therefore leaving scientist with many research questions about its functions and possible disorders it may cause.