The Fundamentals of Cognitive Theories of Motivation

In this paper I will be aiming to cover the following areas. Firstly an overview of the fundamentals behind the cognitive theories of motivation, focusing on three main theories – Equity theory, Expectancy theory and Goal setting theory. Within these theory bases I will outline some of the developmental research that has been occurring, particularly those studies which have added empirical evidence to consolidate or expand on the basic theories. Secondly I will show some practical applications of these theories and evidence of how successful they have been or could be within an organisational environment. Finally a short comment on the adaptability of these models to an international context which has become a dominant feature of current literature in this increasing time of globalisation. The Cognitive Theories – An Overview Motivation can be visualised as the energising force that provides the impetus to make people act. More specifically it is â€Å"the individual internal process that energises directs and sustains behavior; the personal force that causes one to behave in a particular way† (Olsen, 1996, p.1). It is a fundamental concept for management to understand in learning to comprehend the way individuals will behave within a work place context. The cognitive theories of motivation aim to develop this understanding by focusing on the action and choices made in the motivation process. The focus is on the processes that occur within a person's mind, which influence their decision to act. (Wood, Wallace, Zeffane, Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn (1998)) They rely on the assumption that behavior is purposeful and being undertaken to achieve a desired outcome or goal. This means that analysing the way choices are made between a variety of perceived outcomes can provide valuable insight into understanding why and how individuals choose to act. Equity theory relies on the way people make comparisons of both effort/return and with those around them, arguing that â€Å"when people gauge the fairness of their work outcomes in comparison with others, felt inequity is the motivating state of mind.† (Wood et al p 183) People resolve the felt inequities by working in such a way as to restore a sense of equity. The equity comparison occurs on two levels. The first is an individuals subjective assessment of whether the effort required will be commensurate with the benefits achieved. The second comparison occurs on a social level using those around as a yardstick against which to measure the individuals own sense of equity. Studies (Adams 1963 in Wood et al; Vecchio 1981) have generally supported this theory. A number of recent studies have sought to develop this principle further. By looking at the relationship between Equity theory and Interpersonal Attraction (Griffeth, Vecchio & Logan 1989) the authors were seeking to determine whether an attraction (or hostility) between the individual and their referent other had any influence upon the way they perceived and reacted to inequities. Their research, through a cross referencing technique of equity factors and attraction factors, provided results that indicated that attraction was indeed a contributing factor in the way individuals perceived equity balances. Although this does not undermine the essentials of equity theory, it adds the need to consider how and with who referent comparisons are made, as extra considerations when using the model. Meanwhile Barr & Conlon (1994) have been looking at the impact of distribution of feedback (both group and individuals) upon individual intentions. In particular for us, this study brings into question the applicability of equity theory assumptions within a group context. It proposes that, in a group setting, where other members would act as referents and rewards are distributed equally based on group performance, individuals would make equity comparisons within the group before deciding whether to persist. This was thought to override the impacts that feedback would otherwise cause. The results supported this contention. It showed that where the impact of individual feedback worked to create a perception of underpayment (due to perceived greater effort than other group members) that individuals were less interested in continuing the behavior that they believe led to the underpayment. Thus the social comparison effect was strong enough to override any of the individual positive feedback received. The study illustrates that social comparison within a group, where felt inequity is present, can have an impact on performance, and equity theory provides a good model for predicting this impact. Once a goal is selected, it allows people to channel their energies toward goal achievement. Four factors are stated as being important in goal setting to stimulate performance (Knowles 1991). These are The theory comes into use within the domain of â€Å"purposefully directed action.† Basically it states that the simplest and most direct motivational explanation of why some people perform better on work tasks than others is because they have different performance goals. (Ryan 1970 in Latham & Locke 1990). While much of the research has previously surrounded assigned goals, more emphasis is now being placed explicitly on self regulation. That is, the extent to which individuals will use goal setting, self monitoring and self rewarding/ self punishing behavior to attain a goal. (Latham & Locke 1990) This may especially be useful in breaking a larger goal down into more specific stepping stone goals. The implication for managers from the study is that the addition of skills in self regulation, acquired through experience, training or effort will lead to a greater likelihood of goals being achieved. Victor Vroom (1964, cited in Wood et al, 1998) developed one of the most widely used models for the understanding of the motivation process. It aims to predict the effort that will be expended by a person in completing a task. It argues that goals are chosen according to the relative attractiveness of the outcome. Diagrammatically it can be represented as follows The contention is that the motivation to work results from the product of Expectancy, Instrumentality and Valence. (M=E x I x V) These elements are defined as follows: Expectancy is the probability of the extent to which the individual believes that a given level of achieved Work Performance will follow work effort. Instrumentality is the probability assigned that a given level of achieved performance will lead to various work outcomes. Valence is the value attached by the individual to those work outcomes. (Wood et al 1998) The implication of the model is that managers need to take into account the importance of the task being achieved along with the likelihood of the task being achieved and the likelihood that the task achievement will lead to a reward that has value to the individual. An individual requires all these factors to provide the impetus to exert the work effort. The fact that the theory does not attempt to specify the types of rewards that will motivate particular employees gives it a robustness that can be useful in application. Klein (1991) has been looking to clarify the relationship between goal setting and expectancy theories. Traditional theoretical approaches suggested viewing â€Å"expectancies and attractiveness as interacting to influence goal choice, with goals being the more direct determinants of effort† (Klein 1991 p 231). However there is also some competing evidence (Garland 1985) which contradicted this view contending that goal attributes affect expectancy theory constructs rather than resulting from them. Klein's study hence sought to expand evidence of how the expectancy theory constructs relate to goal choice, goal commitment and performance. His findings replicated those of Garland. The perceived explanation for this for this was that goals form a dual role of being targets to shoot for as well as standards for evaluating one performance. The research into combining the two theories is continuing, with much discussion currently surrounding â€Å"issues of causal ordering, measurement and the meanings of those measurements†. (Klein 1991 p 230) It appears that we have to wait on the world of academia to conduct more research before a widely accepted combination of the two models evolves. Practical Applications of the Cognitive Theories I now wish to bring in a number of specific examples of how and where these theories can and have been applied. Using Goal Setting to improve Safety Behavior. An application area of particular interest has been the use of goal setting techniques in improving safety performance On an anecdotal level I have seen this prove successful at my own work site at a steelworks at Western Port. I have seen much evidence of the positive use of goal setting techniques in an attempt to address the behavioral component of safe working practices. The focus upon systematic monitoring of safety related behavior and the provision of extensive feedback in conjunction with widely accepted goals on injury performance at a crew and organisational level has seen safety performance improve by over 50% in under two years (BHP Western Port Lost Time Injury Statistics). However it is difficult to read too much into the improvement given that a number of other initiatives are also being concurrently undertaken. A study into the UK construction industry (Marsh, Robertson, Phillips, Duff 1995) provides some empirical support for the premise that hard, specific goals with wide feedback of the results of ones behavior can lead to positive changes in safety behavior. This study found that by using quantitative measures of awareness and review sessions, that the intervention was having positive impacts, supporting my own anecdotal evidence. It supports the notion that clearly identified and well publicised safety targets can perform a crucial role in influencing safety behavior.

Autonomy in Death Essay

Physician-assisted suicide is a controversial topic with only a few states having legalized it; however, many groups are advocating for its approval. Physician-assisted suicide has ethical limitations that only allow a doctor to prescribe, not administer, a lethal dose of medication for a patient who has been deemed terminally ill with less than six months to live by two physicians. The prescription allows the patient to choose both the timing and setting of death and the physician’s only role is provision of medication. This gifts patients with autonomy in their death and relieves the doctor of any moral burden in participation with death keeping this action an ethical practice. Oregon was the first of few states to have legalized physician-assisted suicide but I would like to argue its potential advantages to the entire United States. Ball (2010) said, â€Å"In Oregon — the one state in the U.S. where assisted suicide is legal – doctors are allowed to help onl y state residents who are expected to die within six months† (p.1). Giving terminally ill patients the power to choose a peaceful death demonstrates empathy toward the ill patients and their families. Terminally ill patients without this empowerment face the difficult choice of using limited resources to end their lives if not given the legal freedom to choose how and when they die. The Code of Ethics for Nurses provision 1.4 is the right to self-determination and it states that Respect for human dignity requires the recognition of specific patient rights, particularly, the right to self-determination. Self-determination, also known as autonomy, is the philosophical basis for informed consent in health care. Patients have the moral and legal right to determine what will be done with their own person; to be given accurate, complete, and understandable information in a manner that facilitates an informed judgment; to be assisted with weighing the benefits, burdens, and available options in their treatment; to accept, refuse, or terminate treatment without deceit, undue influence, duress, coercion, or penalty; and to be given necessary support throughout the decision-making and treat ment process. Such support would include the opportunity to make decisions with family and significant others and the provision of advice and support from knowledgeable nurses and other health professionals. Patient should be involved in planning their own health care to the extent they are able to choose to participate (American nurses association, 2001, p.148). Giving this added right to chose physician assisted suicide allows patients the autonomy described in the Nursing Code of Ethics. The purpose of this paper is to argue that physician-assisted suicide is ethical and beneficial because it allows for patient autonomy. â€Å"I would argue that by denying terminally ill people recourse to death with dignity via physician prescribed medication, they are inflicting their own brand of coercion and abuse. The concept of a â€Å"merciful death† needs to be part of this discussion. It is a sad commentary that our society responds to our pets’ terminal suffering more humanely than to our fellow human beings’ end-of-life struggles†(â€Å"Death is best approached†, 2012, p. 1). Many feel that denying patients the right to choose is not advocating for their b est interest and is a form of abuse. We wouldn’t leave our ill family pet alive to suffer so why wouldn’t we consider letting our loved ones put themselves out of their misery in a peaceful way? The entire point is to give the public a choice. It would still be up to each individual to decide whether or not to exercise that right if their physician deemed their situation appropriate. The Code of Ethics for Nurses says that â€Å"Respect for human dignity requires the recognition of specific patient rights, particularly, the right of self-determination† (American nurses association, 2001, p.148). This statement implies that the patient should have the right to make end of life decisions on their own. When terminal patients are in pain and suffering, they may not have the strength or will to fight any longer. It is cruel to prolong a patient’s pain and suffering and deny their autonomy to make the decision of having a peaceful death. Also, it can be argued that when patients have their mind set on ending their lives, they tend to follow through on their own even if their physician cannot assist them. This may lead to a more traumatic death and a scene that can be quite traumatizing for the family member or friend who finds their loved one’s remains. The alternative is a prescribed medicine that the patient may take home, choosing the preferred place to die, to allow the patient to die peacefully without sustaining disfiguring injuries thus allowing them a more dignified burial if the family chooses to view the body one last time. However, in most of the United States, physician-assisted suicide is still illegal so very few Americans are afforded the right to choose to end their life when they are terminally ill. Because physician assisted suicide was brought to the public’s attention as an option by the unconventional tactics of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the idea of legalizing this was tainted from the beginning, making many states hesitant to allow assisted suicide. Miller (2011) notes that â€Å"Jack Kevorkian rose to national prominence as â€Å"Dr. Death,† a physician who insisted that sometimes a doctor’s first duty to his patient was to help him die. The retired pathologist, who became an assisted suicide advocate claiming to have had a hand in 130 deaths in the 1990s, helped spark a national debate over euthanasia† (p. A5). Jack Kevorkian’s tactics were questionable because he publicized the deaths of elderly, disabled, and terminally-ill patients using inhaled carbon dioxi de or using his self-made suicide machine. Although the patients had asked for Dr. Kevorkian’s assistance to end their suffering by assisting in their suicide, he received a lot of negative attention because he publicized his assistance in this process by encouraging CBS to broadcast a video of himself injecting a cocktail of lethal drugs into a patient suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease (Miller, 2011). After much backlash from the public over the fact that he actually injected patients with lethal drugs, he developed a suicide machine which allowed the patient to press a button that caused the machine to administer a mixture of sodium pentothal and potassium chloride which was first used on Janet Adkins, a 54 year old sufferer of Alzheimer’s disease (Miller, 2011). â€Å"The last thing Janet Adkins said was, ‘You just make my case known,'† Dr. Kevorkian told the Associated Press† (Miller, 2011, p. A5). Although his tactics were extreme and caused a lot of public controversy, his patie nts wanted to end their suffering and his actions caused others to advocate for ethical standards to be put into place for legal physician assisted suicide while at the same time completely turning others away from the concept of legalizing euthanasia. Dr. Goodwin, a general practitioner, said he began advocating for the right to help terminally ill people die after listening to his patients (Miller, 2012). â€Å"They want autonomy at this time, to be allowed to die at home with the comfort and support of their families,† Dr. Goodwin said in a 2001 interview (Miller, 2012, p. 1). Because of the extreme tactics used by Jack Kevorkian, who initiated the debate on legalizing euthanasia, many people view those who advocate for the client’s right of physician assisted suicide as cruel or lacking in empathy for patient and families. However, â€Å"Peter Goodwin, a family physician who wrote and campaigned for Oregon’s right-to-die law in the 1990s, died after taking a cocktail of lethal drugs prescribed by his doctor, as allowed under the legislation he championed. Dr. Goodwin, 83 years old, had been diagnosed with a degenerative brain disorder similar to Parkinson’s disease and had been given less than six m onths to live.†(Miller, 2012, p. 1). Dr. Goodwin believed in a patient’s autonomy in death so much that he chose to exercise his own rights in the same fashion in order to end his own suffering. In an interview with the Oregonian, the local newspaper in Oregon, Dr. Goodwin said that his health was deteriorating and he would soon end his life. â€Å"His family gathered to bid him farewell. ‘The situation needs thought, it doesn’t need hope,’ he said. ‘Hope is too ephemeral at that time’†(Miller, 2012, p. 1). This clearly articulates the feelings of a terminally ill man towards the importance of autonomy in concern of his own death. â€Å"End-of-life decisions are not arbitrary or impulsive. Why shouldn’t a person choose to end his or her life with dignity if it is obvious that all options for leading any kind of meaningful life are non-existent? I would think any modicum of compassion would respect such a momentous, personal decision. Suffering, physical and mental, and the anguish it causes should produce empathy for the patient’s wishes and desires, even if they run counter to our own sense of rectitude. It is not about us. It’s about the patient’s right of autonomy. We need to understand that it is ultimately his or her decision to make, not ours†(Death is best approached, 2012, p. 1). In this statement, an unknown author expressed the utmost sympathy for those suffering from terminal illness. Physician assisted suicide is ethical as it demonstrates compassion and empathy towards someone else’s pain, suffering, and rights. There is nothing cruel about autonomy over the decision to die. These kinds of laws need to be considered using a deep emotional understanding of the terminally ill’s feelings and problems. Other countries have legalized euthanasia and have less restrictive laws which allow them to provide services for foreigners. Because of this, if all United States citizens aren’t granted the autonomy they desire in their own country they will still be able to get the results they so desperately want but the outcome may be more painful to family members whose loved ones would end up dying in other countries and in less desirable conditions. Mr. Minelli, who is head of Dignitas, a Swiss company that provides euthanasia services only to foreigners, said that â€Å"a memory of his seriously ill grandmother’s pleading in vain with her doctor to help her die left him with a particular interest in Switzerland’s growing right-to-die movement, and he joined one of the main groups. In 1998, he quit to found Dignitas†(Ball, 2010, p. 2). In 2008, his neighbors’ complaints forced Dignitas out of his rented apartment that he had been using to conduct the assisted suicides and Zurich city officials refused permission for a new venue. In response to this Mr. Minelli organized suicides in cars, a hotel room, industrial sites, and his own home which drew the attention of local officials. â€Å"Someone who is used to a five-star hotel can’t come to Dignitas and expect the same,† says Mr. Minelli†(Ball, 2010, p. 2). Is it really beneficial to force terminally ill patients into a foreign country to a harsh environment to grant them the freedom to end their own lives? If terminally ill patients really want a physician assisted suicide, they will find another setting in which they can achieve one but allowing patients to have one in their own country optimizes the setting and allows for more family support near the time of death. It also saves the family the trouble of getting the body of a loved one from a foreign country after the time of death and allows the family to begin funeral arrangements sooner so that they can go through the stages of grieving that they need to in order to move forward with their own lives. This act of ending the life sooner also spares the family the pain of watching their loved one suffer longer than they want to. Another benefit to approving physician assisted suicide is that just know that the option is available can be therapeutic for terminal patients. â€Å"Mr. Minelli argues that making assisted suicide available removes a taboo around suicide, helping people who want to kill themselves open a dialogue and seek help. About 70% of people who get the green light from Dignitas for an assisted suicide never contact the group again, proving the palliative effect of knowing help is available, he says†(Ball, 2010, p. 2). This clearly proves that just knowing that euthanasia is an option is enough to help patients carry on with terminal illness. Even if a patient chooses never to exercise the right to a physician assisted suicide, the knowledge that they have an option for a way out of their suffering is comforting in itself. Craig Ewert was a retired university professor who suffered from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease. He decided to end his life because he wanted to make this decision before he lost the ability to decide his own fate, overcoming the resistance of his doctors (Ball, 2010). â€Å"When you’re completely paralyzed and can’t talk, how do you let someone know you are suffering?† he told a television interviewer before his death in September 2006. â€Å"This could be a complete and utter hell† (Ball, 2010, p. 3). Mr and Mrs. Ewerts were from the U.K. but they traveled to Switzerland and chose Mr. Minelli’s group, Dignitas, because it accepts foreigners. Mrs. Ewert said that had she not been able to travel to get her husband the assisted suicide services that he desired she may have been forced to help her husband die and she worried that she wouldn’t have known exactly what to do (Ball, 2010). She defended Mr. Minelli saying â€Å"Sure, there have to be some protections for people, but I think we’re going way beyond what there needs to be, I admire Minelli for being willing to take the heat† (Ball, 2010, p. 3). Because Craig Ewert was allowed to make his own decision to die, his wife was spared the pressure that he may have put on her to help him end his life. Furthermore, had he been denied the right to make his own decision and his wife Mary had been coerced to help him commit suicide, there would have been extreme emotional and possibly even legal consequences to her action despite the fact that it was her husband’s wish. This is a situation that may Americans are also threatened with because physician assisted suicide is illegal in most of the country. All United States citizens should be afforded the right to choose a physician assisted suicide if they have been deemed terminally ill because this freedom shows compassion and empathy towards the patient’s suffering. If patients aren’t allowed to legally choose death here, they may travel to another country to receive services or chose to carry out suicide on their own. If patients chose to take matters into their own hands this would be harder on the patient as the death would probably not be as peaceful as the lethal injection that the physician would prescribe and if would also be harder on the patient’s loved ones. If patients decide to go to another country to achieve the death they desire they would lose the privilege of dying in their own comfort zone and the distance would make the death harder on the family to make funeral arrangements and move on with their own lives. The Code of Ethics for Nurses stated that â€Å"Respect not just for the specific decision but also for the patient’s method of decision-making is consistent with the principle of autonomy† (American nurses association, 2001, p.149). Regardless of whether or not we understand an individuals motivation for seeking a physician assisted suicide, nurses should support the autonomy that patients needs to make this choice on their own. Giving terminally ill patients autonomy in their death, by making physician assisted legal for every United States citizen, is only giving patients additional rights that they may or may not chose to exercise and is the most compassionate way to show empathy for those who are dying.

National News Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

National News - Essay Example The broadcast networks CBS, on the other hand, focus on the national consumers and therefore it broadcast national news. In this perspective, the first three news broadcasted in the two newscasts differs. The top stories from satellites news, MSNBC were the six theories, four words concerning the Malaysia is missing jet, Biden’s Europe trip in an attempt to find a solution for Ukraine crisis, and 10 years imprisonment of TV pitchman, Kelvin Trudeau. The broadcast networks CBS top news was the new findings from the Malaysian missing jet, the claims made by antitrust suit that the NCAA is unlawful cartel and the arrest of Calif. Man in subway-bombing terrorist plot. Although the two broadcasts differ in terms of news transmission, the first top story, the Malaysian jet misery, was similar. However, information and focus on news broadcasted differs. CBS News attempted to examine the recent report of the misery while MSNBC explains the current situation and efforts of the authorit ies concerned (Orlik, 2014). The two news-casting stations differ in terms of the time the news is aired. The time the newscaster takes, depends on the strict regulations of the company and the authorities concerned. MSNBC utilized a lot of time in explaining the situation of Malaysia missing jet and time it takes to cast videos to accentuate and authenticate the information provided by the news anchor. The broadcast utilizes prolonged videos and explanations on various issues anchored. In addition, the broadcast provides additional information based on issues anchored outside the report recorded in the field to increase viewer understanding of the issues. In this perspective, the broadcast explains causal factor of Ukraine crisis and underlying factors that lead to imprisonment of the TV pitchman (Murray, 2014). On the other hand, CBS News also took time since the news anchor took time in explaining the situations that lead to the

Interpretative Panel of Cypriot Bichrome III equestrian figurine, Article

Interpretative Panel of Cypriot Bichrome III equestrian figurine, Cypro-Archaic II, c. 600475 BCE - Article Example The artifacts had originally been excavated from Cyprus between 1955 and 1961 after the famous James Stewart’s expeditions to Cyprus.2 Despite being a professor of archeology at Sydney University, James Stewart received significant support for his archeological expeditions from the University of Melbourne. As a result, the expeditions were largely known as Melbourne Cyprus Expeditions and many artefacts such as Cypriot Bichrome III equestrian figurine were later allocated to the University of Melbourne. Historically, figurines of horses mounted with riders were particularly common in during the cyproarchaic II periods. Cyprus the origin of the figurines is a Mediterranean island situated south of Turkey, Easy of Greece, North of Egypt and west of Syria and Lebanon3. Equestrian figurines are small sculptures of horses and their riders. Generally, similar historic artifact of equestrian figurines like the one currently housed in the university of Melbourne art collection have been found in various sanctuaries and tombs belonging to stone age Cyprus societies4. It is widely believed that during the antiquities (particularly between 600 and 475 BCE), little figures were commonly left by worshippers at sanctuaries as part of the offerings of the ancient Cypriots to their gods and goddesses5. However, it was expensive to own a horse during the cypro achaic II period and it is only probable that the figurines like the cypriot Bichrome III equestrian sculpture may have been left by the wealthy and nobles who may have wanted to emphasize how important or wealthy they were. Sagona, A., ‘Horse and rider figurine’, in C. McAuliffe and P. Yule, Treasures: Highlights of the Cultural Collections of the University of Melbourne, The Miegunyah Press: Carlton, 2003, pp. 134–

Social Issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Social Issues - Assignment Example Introduction One of the key arguments of the civil rights together with Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LBGT) movements have for long advocated is the fact that the state has no rights in determining or getting itself involved in what happens between two consenting adults in the privacy of their bedroom (Querbes, 2004). In these two cases, first in Georgia and then in Texas, police officers came into the citizen’s home and found him and his partner engaging in the act of consensual sodomy, which was outlawed in these states. In the first case, even after the Georgia Court and the Court of Appeal had ruled in favor of the respondent, the Supreme Court overturned the decision and ruled that sodomy was not a fundamental right. In the second case, the Supreme Court basically ruled that they had no right to interfere with what happened in the confines of the bedrooms of consenting adults (Querbes, 2004). 1 There were numerous societal factors that led the US Supreme Court to abandon the rule of stare decisis. The stare decisis is a principle that basically holds that judges usually allow previously made decisions to stand. In the case of Lawrence v. Texas the Supreme Court saw need to completely rule in the opposite of the judgment in Bowers v. Hardwick due mainly to the changes in attitudes, perceptions and views on homosexuality in the country (Harms, 2011). In 1986 when the initial Bowers v. Hardwick decision was made the country had just come out of the rather â€Å"freewheeling† permissive society of the 1960s and 1970s and a decidedly conservative candor was more the norm (Hanon, 1999). It was therefore no wonder that more than half the states still had rules in place that outlawed sodomy which was viewed as one of the practices that many felt made homosexuality abhorrent. The American society then was much much stronger in intolerance with the homosexual lifestyle (Harms, 2011). For the court also by the time the second (Lawrence v. Texas) decision was taken there had been quite a change in the Supreme Court with nearly half (four out of nine) judges having either retired or died and been replaced, giving the Supreme Court a totally new outlook which made it easier for them to make such a radical change in decision. The majority in the Bowers v. The Hardwick decision was only 5-4 and one of the judges in the majority later changed his opinion and said he would have voted differently had he thought the matter was as important as it turned out to be (Harms, 2011). Historically mainstream United States Culture has always condemned homosexuality and any other type of â€Å"deviant† sexual practices hence the enactment of anti-sodomy laws in many US states up to the eighties. Gay men and women were seen and depicted as degenerates and sexual criminals and they, their practices, views and lifestyles by the medical profession, government and the mass media. In the early 1980s, the Bowers v. Hardwick was therefore not an unpopular or an unusual decision at the time that it was made. 2 At the time of the Bowers v. A Hardwick case in 1986, the American public’s attitude toward homosexuality was very conservative. In fact as late as 1988, only

Describe and evaluate a large-scale planned organisational change that Essay

Describe and evaluate a large-scale planned organisational change that had major implications for an organisation, branch, division, department, office or agenc - Essay Example management does not click with the existing workforce or does not hold any value to the employees as the existing environment is comfortable for them, they believe in the existing values and see any change as a threat. There are many times when firms give out changed or revised mission statements that look dramatic and appealing but as it is taken as threat and creates so much confusion, that the purpose of the change does not materialize, eventually the hype and excitement of such a change disappears. Bringing about a structural change is extremely time consuming, stressful and most of the times difficult to change once implemented. Once an organization changes the structure or the system new processes are made in exchange of the old ones, it is extremely difficult to the way things were. This is because of the huge amount of investments that are made to change to the workforce, the environment and the way people think in the firm. If in such a situation a firm makes a wrong decision, it will have to suffer the consequences for a long time. for example with the change in time people have started to shift from written records to completely computerized systems, if now they are asked to go back to doing manual work it will be extremely difficult for them. Corwin Corporation, previously known as Vaughn Machine Company started in American in Peabody Massachusetts during the early 1900’s. It is a company that initially dealt in automobile parts and was a huge part of the American brass automobile parts industry. After its formation, the company added many other products to its business and with time, the company’s reputation boomed due to it product quality and dedication toward customer satisfaction. Its growth has been significant and has shown results in terms of profits. By the year 1983, Corwin Corporation’s net earning was about one hundred and fifty million dollars per year. It was known internationally for its low cost rubber components of excellent

Strategic Audit For Lowes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic Audit For Lowes - Essay Example Back in 1962, the company had got only 15 stores and sooner the number kept increasing and so as the number of states. Today, the company is having more than 1250 stores in 49 states across U.S. Last year's sales were $43.2 Billion and the company employees are over 185,000 people. The future goals of Lowe's are simply to delight more and more of population by providing them with a luxury to feel. Lowe's uses the latest technology to assist customers and provide solutions for their home improvement projects. The majority of customers are retail customers (Do It Yourself) who are individuals buying Lowe's products, however there is a considerable amount of commercial customers as well, such as professional house builders, contractors and architects etc. The company is strategically identifying places to enter, there is a lot of gap in the market and Lowe's has got the immediate focus on filling the existing gaps in the society and to move itself from number 2 spot to number 1. The company has targeted states where the population is more than 500,000 and it is still trying to increase the number of stores by 16% a year. Lowe's is currently expanding to new markets across the U.S, also targeting metropolitan cities and recently opened new stores in metropolitan cities like New York and Chicago. ... o the strategies the company is using are in relation to the market growth and expansion which exactly is their objective apart from serving the people at their homes. The company's vision statement says, "We will provide customer-valued solutions with the best prices, products and services to make Lowe's the first choice for home improvement"(vision statement). Policies: Lowe's doesn'tjust offer the tools to help you create your dream home. We're helping lay the foundation for a better place to live. As one of the world's leading retailers, we realize everything we do impact the people and environment around us. That's whywe're committed to helping communities grow stronger. By investing in people and communities, promoting measures that protect the environment and providing opportunity in the workplace, Lowe's is raising the bar in every aspect of the way we conduct our business. To us, the best way to do business is by being a good neighbor. In the company's laws and regulations part from the employee's view point, it has been clearly stated that, Lowe's values its reputation for complying with applicable governmental laws, rules and regulations in the conduct of its business. Therefore, every Employee, while acting on behalf of the company, shall comply with all applicable governmental laws, rules and regulations, and should avoid engaging in any conduct that, even though legally permissible, is inconsistent with the ethical principles to which Lowe's subscribes. If there is any uncertainty about what is required or is prohibited by law or by regulations adopted by federal, state or local government agencies, Employees should seek guidance from the company's General Counsel. Strategic Managers Board Of Directors: The company has got a list of 11 board of

Causes and costs of inflation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Causes and costs of inflation - Essay Example Inflation is defined as "an increase in the overall level of prices in the economy" (Mankiw & Taylor, 2006, p. 817). The rate of inflation which is the percentage change in the overall level of prices, varies greatly from time to time depending on the condition of the economy and the stage of development of a country. Inflation is generally measured by calculating the cost of a basket of goods and services bought by an average consumer. This is measurement is represented in the form of an index known as the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The rate of inflation is a cause of concern for policy makers, economists and the public alike. While most laypeople consider the existence of inflation to be undesirable, (because an increase in price levels without a corresponding increase in wages signifies a fall in purchasing power) economist tend to discount the much overplayed costs of inflation. To arrive at a conclusive opinion about the significance of the costs of inflation, it is first necessary to understand what causes inflation The main reason behind cases of high or persistent inflation is the growth in the quantity of money available in the economy. Monetarists believe that changes in the quantity of money are a direct cause of inflation. The quantity of money available in an economy is known as the money supply and is usually under the control of the government. The money supply in an economy is usually measured by the availability of currency (notes and coins), checkable deposits (demand deposits) as well as saving deposits, plus wholesale currency deposits, and in the broadest sense foreign currency deposits may also be included. Different measures of money are used according to need but the most common is M2 (Cash in circulation plus demand deposits). (Sloman, 1999, p. 560) The quantity theory of money states that people hold money because they wish to engage in transactions to buy goods and services. The greater the need for transactions the greater will be the amount of money held. The amount of money held is expressed through the following equation, where M=quantity of money, V= velocity of money-the rate at which money circulates, P= average price of a transaction and T= total number of transactions over a period of time. M V = P T It is more useful and practical to substitute T with Y, which is the level of Output of an economy. The level of output will determine the number of transaction over a period of time and thus the equation changes to M V = P Y This equates the quantity of money available to the value of goods and services of an economy (GDP). The velocity of money is held to be constant to make the model simpler. If one variable on the left side of the equation increases then there should be a corresponding increase in one of the variables on the right side. If velocity is taken to be constant, and level of output of an economy is taken to be a function of the factors of production, then any changes in M will result in corresponding change in the price level: P. Thus if an increase in money supply causes the nominal GDP to increase and the there is no increase in the output of goods and services then it is an obvious conclusion that the price levels have increased. The quantity theory thus implies that the price level is proportional to the money supply (Mankiw, 2003, pp.

The battles of Trenton and Princeton altered the course of the Essay

The battles of Trenton and Princeton altered the course of the American Revolution - Essay Example ate the spirit of the debilitated and, thanks to the poor oversight of an inept Continental Congress, nearly-destitute army of disillusioned soldiers in the wake of an initial series of major setbacks and stinging retreats. Conversely the battles of Trenton and Princeton might be said to mark a point in the war when the over-confidence and inscrutable miscalculations of conquering British troops and Hessian mercenaries left their better-equipped ranks susceptible to unexpected Patriot maneuvers and stunned alarm at the remarkable tenacity of the all-but-subjugated revolutionary upstarts. New York had recently fallen, and the Continental army had fled in full retreat across New Jersey, with the superior British forces at their heels (Ellis 96). Frightened citizens, fearful the colonial capital was doomed to fall to the British as well, were fleeing Philadelphia with their families and possessions (Rodney 13). Washington and his men had managed to traverse the Delaware river into Pennsylvania and to prevent the British from following by demolishing every sea-worthy vessel, save those required for the troops, for sixty miles along its banks (McCullough 263). Without the slightest hesitation or apology, two brigades, a full two thousand of Washingtons men, had simply abandoned the fight, their enlistment up (McCullough 256). Inexplicably, rather than go after his clear advantage, the British General Howe opted for wintering down on the opposite side of the Delaware river, establishing outposts in a chain of forts stretching from New York through New Jersey, fully antici pating victory over the hapless insurrection by the following spring (Green and Pole 301). It was December of 1776, and a Hessian brigade led by Colonel Johan von Rall was stationed in Trenton, directly across the Delaware from the Patriot forces. The Hessians typically maintained outposts on round-the-clock watch, and had been alerted by a Loyalist to a possible attack (Ellis 98). The Hessians, who

Your Lot in Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Your Lot in Life - Essay Example Research studies indicated that the period following divorce could result in serious disorders that could affect the child emotionally as well as psychologically. However, generally, a higher majority of adults do not exhibit such risks. Adult mental health was impacted upon by the negative effects of divorce because of lower levels of achievement at school, economic status of the family at 16 years of age and other problems related to the adolescent’s feelings and emotions. [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Though the pain and trauma of divorce cannot be totally done away with, the use of the right interventions at the right time could help a great deal in minimizing this impact and encouraging good coping strategies. According to (Gardner, 1985) Guidance and support from other family members and developing skills that help us cope with life is of prime importance. Erik Erikson, (1902 – 1994) a great child psychologist explains that a child passes through 8 stages from an infant to an adult in relation to a divorce in the family and if guided in the right manner will help the child to adjust better in a shorter period of time. 2. Effects of Alcoholism A happy family is one where every member fulfills their duties to each other in the right manner. ... greatly impacts upon the growth and development of their children that leads them to early bouts of depression in their childhood which in turn grossly lowers their IQ and cognitive skills. Our contemporary society is faced with the scourge of one of the greatest menaces being Alcohol and Drug abuse. The addiction creeps upon them so insidiously that at most times people are not even aware of it. The adverse effects of Alcohol abuse are far reachable and deteriorating especially within families where children have to face the ugly brunt. Studies have shown that abused children of alcoholic parents suffer immensely with low confidence and self esteem and never seem to get over it even in their adulthood. While some research studies show that children of Alcoholics (COAs) do suffer a lot of negative consequences. Detecting such problems at an early stage would help to prevent them in the school and later on in life as the child matures which include depression, anxiety and in turn subs tance abuse. 3. Safety of children in unsafe communities The safety of children is of prime importance for any devoted parent and more so when they are aware that they live in an unsafe neighborhood or community. Such surroundings necessitate heightened vigilance by the parents because it poses a hindrance to their daily activities. According to the ((U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000) families living in a large number of communities have neighborhoods that are rampant in violence and crime and both children and parents are exposed to robberies, murders and assaults either directly or indirectly. (Veenema, 2001) In trying to ensure the safety of their children many parents have taken an active part in the community and are trying to make it a much safer place for the

Professional Development Plan Essay Example for Free

Professional Development Plan Essay Each person has a certain personality type and each person has strengths and weaknesses members will bring to the group. Understanding how to use the group member’s strength will help to overcome the potential weaknesses. By using one group members strength for one task can allow another team member to use her strengths in other areas. Developing a professional development plan can help the team work together to get the job done. In evaluating the group member’s personality types, there are three dominate personalities considered â€Å"The Producer,† and one group member who is an interactive personality known as â€Å"The Impresser. † By having three dominate personalities, the team will have to make sure that the members are not all trying to take control of the situation and leading the group in three different ways. We will also have to make sure that we can delegate tasks to other group members to make sure we are not overwhelmed and making other members think their work is not good enough. The assessment of myself was spot on from the behavioral evaluation. Even though I have worked hard not coming across so blunt to people and understanding that people have their own way of getting the job done. I am a person who sometimes does not like to express my feeling and just want to get the job done. I am a person who likes to get large tasks accomplished in a short amount of time to have the achievement of accomplishment. I do like to finish a task from start to finish, and it bothers me if I have to jump to another task before I am finished. I am a fast-paced person and can change my pace depending on if the business picks up. Possessing a dominate personality also has its downfalls. Dominate personalities can be stubborn, impatient, and tough. Sometimes this can be an issue when I become close-minded to others ideas and impatient with other group members. Dominate personalities like to be in control and do not want to lose that control. I will have to say this is  an issue that I need to work on. I do not like losing control and when I do analysis how I could have changed it instead of letting go of the situation. Another area that dominate personalities do not handle well is d ealing with feelings. I have had to overcome this over the years and learn that sometimes I may not mean to come across harsh, but to some people it can come across that way. I have learned that I have to take into consideration the person I am dealing with and make sure I take the group members feelings into consideration before speaking. Dominate personality types also have to understand that we will not always prevail on every issue that comes up. The section of the assessment that was very interesting but also very true was how dominate personalities react under stress. The assessment stated that dominate personality types are restless, critical, blunt, intrusive, uncooperative, irritable, aggressive, and pushy (Alessandra, 2013). I can see myself going through these behaviors when I am stressed and understand why it is important not to take things out on others and that the situation will get resolved even if I am not in control of it. Another area that was interesting was how to reduce conflict. The section that stated their anger is directed at the situation and the lack of desired results (Alessandra, 2013). These outbursts and behaviors may appea r to be personal attacks when they are not meant to (Alessandra, 2013). I have had this happen a few times when I am speaking with my husband, and he always thinks I am mad at him instead. I have to learn to state I am stress over the situation and not make people think I am blaming them. In evaluating the other team member’s personality type, one member is considered to be the interactive style. The interactive personality style actions are spontaneous, dislike working alone, work quickly and excitedly with others, and have good persuasive skills (Alessandra, 2013). Some weaknesses for the interactive style is that they can be disorganized, careless, exaggerates, and poor follow-through (Alessandra, 2013). The interactive personality type main focus is people and dominate personality type are goal focused. Interactive personality types like to brainstorm and interact with colleagues. Dominate personalities like to work alone to make sure the task is completed. They also like freedom from control and like to have the chance to influence or motivat e others. Dominate personalities like to be in control and strive for results. The interactive personality type can  express anger as a general response to a personal attack on them. Interactive personalities tend to be more emotional that dominate personality types. Dominate and interactive personality types are direct and fast-paced people. We frequently us gestures and voices to emphasize our point, tend to be less patient and more competitive, frequently contribute to groups and can express opinions readily (Alessandra, 2013). Dominate personalities tend to be guarded and direct behaviors, whereas interactive personalities are direct and open behaviors. Even with both personality types preferring fast-paced work styles some tension may result based on that interactive personality’s emphasis is on people and dominate personality’s emphasis is on the goals. Some degree of tension is likely to result in our interactions because of the difference in priority (Alessandra, 2013). In evaluating the team’s personality types, we will have to make sure we are taking into consideration people and goals to get tasks accomplished. Both personality types like a fast-paced environment and can become impatient. The interactive personality type will help to contribute the emotional component need and the dominate personality will help to give order and structure in a timely manner. When working in a group each member must take into consideration that not every team member functions as another one may. If each team member can use each person’s strengths forward and whatever weaknesses come up can be benefited by another team member. When working in a group make sure to be open minded and make sure that everyone is heard and not overlooked. Work Cited Alessandra, T. The DISC Platinum Rule Behavioral Style Assessment. (2013) Retrieved from: http://UOP.BlanchardAssessment.com.

Define The Word Digital Forgery

Define The Word Digital Forgery According to Merriam-Webster, forgery is defined as the crime of falsely and fraudulently making or altering a document (Forgery, Merriam-Webster). So therefore, digital forgery involves falsely altering digital contents such as pictures and documents. Digital forgery has occurred for many years and still remains a relevant topic today. We see it every day in newspapers, magazines, the television, and even the internet. Whether altering the way someone looks, using digital photography in a courtroom, or even bringing a celebrity back from the dead, digital photography and digital television stimulate countless questions and queries about the ethics and morals of digital forgery, with respect to todays technology, and the involvement of digital forgery in our daily lives. The questions that arise because of digital forgery can be addressed and evaluated successfully only through consideration of the history, usage, and ethics of digital forgery in order to determine how and in what wa ys restriction or limitation of digital forgery should occur. Figure Understanding the history of photography and digital forgery helps one realize exactly how digital forgery became a commonly utilized method. Photography dates back to as far as 1826 when a French inventor, Joseph Nicephore Niepce, produced the first everlasting photograph (Photograph, Wikipedia). As time went on, photography got more advanced and more complicated. Soon enough, color photographs were being produced. The first color photograph was produced by a Scottish physicist named James Clerk Maxwell (Photograph, Wikipedia). After the production of color photograph came the invention of film, which led to instant cameras, automatic cameras, and finally digital cameras. Digital photography started first in 1951 with a video tape recorder that produced live images from television cameras by altering the information into electrical impulses and then saving the data onto a magnetic tape (Inventors). Several years later, in the 1960s, NASA used similar technology when they stop ped using analog and began to utilize digital signal with their space probes to map the surface of the moon. This led to the government usage of digital technology with spy satellites and then finally led to digital photography. The first filmless camera was created by Texas Instruments in 1972 followed by the release of the first commercial electronic still camera, the Sony Mavica, in August 1981 (Inventors). The ability to create digital photographs opened up the doors for producing counterfeit images and made it easier for this to be done. However, it wasnt the first time weve seen manipulation in pictures. As a matter of fact, photo manipulation dates back to the 1860s when a picture of John C. Calhoun was edited to have his body with the head of Abraham Lincoln (Photo Manipulation, Wikipedia). Digital forgery escalated in severity during World War II when Joseph Stalin altered photographs for propaganda purposes. For instance, there was a picture taken of Joseph Stalin and NKVD leader Nikolai Yezhov. After Yezhov was executed, the picture was rereleased with Yezhov missing. The photo was manipulated using censors. Figure 1 depicts the before and after pictures regarding this instance. In another case, John Heartfield, who utilized a photo altering technique called photomontage, mocked Adolf Hilter and the Nazis in order to demoralize their misinformed purpose (Photo Manipulation, Wikipedia). The use of digital photography has made it a lot easier for one to manipulate photos today. A program that is exceptionally recognizable is Adobe Photoshop. This is the software used by Adnan Hajj, who manipulated pictures and published them during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict (2006 Lebanon War Photographs Controversies, Wikipedia). Some of the pictures depicted an emphasis of the aftermath of an IDF attack on Beriut. Another one resembled a photograph of an IAF F-16 flying over Southern Lebanon deploying multiple missiles, when it really only deployed one missile (Adnan Hajj Photographs Controversy, Wikipedia). These pictures were removed and Hajj admitted to editing the pictures. After understanding the history and numerous uses of digital forgery, one can begin to assess the ethics involved with digital forgery.http://www.youropinionsarewrong.com/images/random/stalin-airbrush.jpg Based on the previous history and utilization of digital forgery, several relevant questions arise: What ethics are associated with digital forgery? Is digital forgery generally right or wrong? Who or what should take the blame for misleading digital forgery? Should we ever fully believe anything we see anymore in pictures? What can be done about digital forgery? Unfortunately, none of these questions have definite, factual answers. Rather, opinions permeate the essence of the responses to these questions. The significance and validity of each question and response can only be determined by the reader. With the current availability in photo-editing technology, one can alter almost anything in a picture. Often, despite the obvious ethical dilemmas that arise from digital forgery, the individual himself or herself is solely responsible for how cases of digital forgery are evaluated. However, even opinionated evaluation of digital forgery can lead to judgments, laws, rules, limitations, and restrictions on the future of digital forgery, making the ethics involved in digital forgery a necessary topic to consider. In general, is the idea of digital forgery ethically acceptable? To determine whether altering an image is right or wrong, we must establish the reason for which the image is being used. Adjusting a photo for the news, whether digitally or otherwise is most likely not ethical, even though there are understandable exceptions for alteration, such as editing a picture to brighten the details, reduce the blur of a street sign in the distance, or other similar examples. In contrast to the previous application of digital forgery, an image that serves the purpose of providing evidence regarding a crime scene or creature would preferably be void of digital forgery except to bring out inherent detail already contained in the photo. In general though, the majority of digital forgery occurs because digitally altered pictures often appeal to the viewers eyes. As long as these images are not used to mislead, then I believe that digitally altered images are ethically permissible as long as they la ck malicious intent or potential. Another fact to consider regarding this question involves the broad utilization of digital forgery in current times. Picture-editing software often comes readily installed with most current computers, meaning that most people with current computers or lap tops have access to technology for digital editing. Social networking websites, such as facebook.com and myspace.com, give users the ability to post up almost any type of picture or photo, regardless of whether the picture has undergone some type of alteration. Though often misleading, especially in the cases of digital forgery with pictures of the actual user, the question of whether the altering of the picture itself is right or wrong depends on the users viewing the image and their opinions. Depending on the intent of those who partake in digital forgery, the misleading appearances of digital forgery could potentially be detrimental to the other people. Hypothetically, a user of a social network ing website might try to establish a relationship with another user based on the viewing of digitally altered pictures or photographs of that user. What is conveyed on a computer screen with a digitally forged picture may differ greatly from the actual appearance of a user, and this will likely cause a variety of problems for users who try and establish a relationship that is even partially based on the appearance of the other user. However, the user with the altered picture benefits in the sense that he or she increases the likelihood of establishing a relationship with another person based on the digitally altered picture and not the truthful portrayal of that person in reality. Whether the previous situation is overall benevolent or detrimental for both users can only be determined by those users, and whether this application of digital forgery is generally right or wrong can only be determined by an unbiased opinion of another person. Since no test or definite way to prove wheth er an application of digital forgery is generally right or wrong, the decision regarding the ethics of such situations ultimately falls on the individual. Yet, if a ubiquitous verdict is reached conveying that some usage of digital forgery is unethical, who or what should take the blame? Almost indubitably, no individual desires taking blame for any type of situation, regardless of who was responsible for any discommodity associated with the situation. So in reference to the detrimental effects of digital forgery, who or what should be at fault? To understand even the possibilities of who or what should be at fault for negative effects of digital forgery, one must consider the wide array of factors influencing that usage of digital forgery. Technology plays a pivotal role in digital forgery. Because of technology, digital forgery often lacks credibility and believability. Advancements in technology allow people today to alter almost any picture to their preferred specifications, often still believable, but untrue and therefore misleading. Technology, in many ways, provides the means by which digital forgers are capable of producing altered pictures or photographs. However, another point to consider involves the fact that human beings are responsible for these advance ments in technology that allow digital forgery to be accomplished with ease. Though maybe not directly responsible, the people who provide the software or technology for common people to digitally forge do, in a way, provide access to digital forging opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to them. Another influencing factor to consider is societys usage of digital forgery. Magazines, newspapers, websites, and a plethora of other media portray digitally forged pictures, photographs, and images. Countless recalls and cases have formed around excessively exaggerated pictures in magazines and newspapers. Though often not intentionally detrimental, society does place pressure on individuals actions. For example, magazines influence other magazines to use digitally altered pictures. As yet another example, people often succumb to the pressures of being slim and obtaining the socially desired model bodies that society conventionally expects and conveys through magazines and othe r such media. This may cause individuals to take action by harming themselves through unhealthy weight loss practices or even partaking in digital forgery themselves. But since it is ultimately one individual or a group of individuals that are directly responsible for the digital forgery of a specific image, one must consider whether the fault of digital forgery should lie within the individual or group of individuals that directly altered the image itself. Obviously, blaming the misleading or detrimental digitally forged image itself can provide no compensation for those effected in a destructive manner, so only by placing blame on an individual, a group of individuals, technology, society, or other possible culprits can victims of the detrimental effects of digital forgery hope to acquire some type of compensation. Legal action can be taken regarding digital forgery, but the decision of the courtroom or judge can not universally determine who or what should bear the full or partia l burden of blame regarding digital forgery. Unfortunately, once again, who or what is at fault for malevolent results of digital forgery can only be determined by the individual. But disregarding who or what is to blame for digitally forged images, if so many images are truly so misleading, to what extent should people believe what they see in digital images? The existence of some guidelines for what people should believe and not believe when viewing digital images would seem beneficial. Any digital image, or even non-digital images in some cases, present details to a viewer that are not necessarily readily distinguishable from reality. Basically, an individual often finds it difficult to determine whether an image has been digitally altered or not. Very few ways exist of distinguishing a picture that has been altered from a picture that has undergone no such alteration. Because of this fact, viewers of images are often rightfully suspicious of the details conveyed by images. By being too suspicious however, one might neglect to realize the beauty or significance of an image that contains no digital alteration, and this beauty or significance might have been comprehended if one simply was not so suspicious of image details. So, once again, there exists no such guidelines in regards to the extent one should give credibility to an image oth er than the opinions and personal beliefs of the individual. I, being an individual myself, possess personal beliefs on the ethics, credibility, and accountability of digital forgery. My personal beliefs regarding digital forgery possess heavy influence from my past experiences. While pursuing my degree in computer engineering and simply experiencing the world in general, I have come to several personal conclusions about digital forgery. Regarding the ethics of digital forgery, I believe that digitally altered images that are intended to please the viewers aesthetic preferences and are generally benevolent should be ethically permissible. Images that do otherwise or basically digitally forged images that are intentionally malicious or mislead the viewer into believing a false aspect should be subject to some form of compensatory action and are unethical. With reference to who or what is to blame for the detrimental consequences of digital forgery, I feel that the person who digitally altered the image should be held accountable for his or her pessimistic intentions if it truly did result in someone being harmed through viewing that image. And considering how suspi cious or to what extent people should assign reliability to images in current times, I feel that most images should simply be appreciated and not analyzed with scrutiny. The images I feel that people should be suspicious of include those conveying evidence in a crime scene, details supporting assumptions about some phenomenon, or details that persuade an individual to believe an aspect not previously assumed or proved by other corroborations or support. Of course, as in almost all cases, there remain exceptions to my beliefs depending on the details of the situation itself just as there exist exceptions to almost every rule, law, or belief of mankind. My ethical standards concerning digital forgery basically revolves more around the situation in which digital forgery was used and less on the actual digitally forged image itself. Therefore, my ethical views remain dependent on the situation itself in which digital forgery was used before I can make a finalized ethical decision, and I feel that people should adopt a similar system of perception and inspection so all that cases of digital forgery are evaluated successfully. After understanding the history, ethics, and forming well-informed opinions concerning digital forgery, the question one would likely ponder now is: What can be done to stop the unnecessary use of digital forgery? Several steps have already been taken to stop distasteful digital forgery. Webster University Journal came up with a policy for the ethical use of photographs. They published that the manipulation of photographs is commonly allowed when adjusting the brightness and contrast of the photo, burning and dodging to control the tonal range, correcting the color, cropping a frame to fit a certain layout, and retouching either dust or scratches from the photo. The policy further explains that there are certain manipulation techniques that should never be allowed. These include adding, moving, or removing objects within the frame, changing the color other than to restore what the picture originally looked like, cropping a frame in order to alter its meaning, flopping an image either left or right reversal, and finally painting a photograph in other than its true orientation (Webster). These policies are very ethical in the sense that one can still alter images as an artistic sense, but when it comes to proof, evidence, or publishing, the policies are very accurate and maintain credibility. When using a photograph in a published document, images that are manipulated are often used but should be labeled a certain way. The editor simple cannot include an altered picture and hope the readers assume the picture is edited. Altered pictures should be labeled as a photo illustration and shall never be represented as news photographs. Also, there are cameras out now with special technology to avoid digital forgery. Examples of this include cameras that digitally print a custom signature at the bottom of every picture that is taken and processed. This goal of these specially designed cameras is to stop people from not only stealing what could be copyrighted and publishe d material but also to prevent it from being manipulated and used in media and the courtroom. In fact, many courtrooms prefer evidence and take photographic evidence only with the special signature. Another example is an image authentication system the uses fingerprint technology. The creator of many imaging products today, Epson, previously created new image authentication software that was installed in many of their digital cameras. These cameras function by automatically imprinting a photo with an invisible digital fingerprint immediately after the photo is taken. Since the fingerprint is implanted in the image file, the image can then be verified as unedited and all natural by a computer with the software installed (Digital Cameras). This leads to another way to stop malicious digital forgery, with certain software. The most popular known software that lets users edit digital images is Adobe Photoshop. This software had previously been frequently brought up in scandals of images being altered as forgery. Recently, Adobe created a way for users to still use their product for artistic and personal use, but also for publishing use. They created a suite of photo-authentication tools that released in 2008. Basically, it is a plug-in that users install onto their Photoshop software that adds two photo authentication tools to the program (Wired.com). The first one is the Clone Tool Detector and it determines whether a section in a picture is too similar to another part of a picture. The other tool is the Truth Dots tool, which determines whether there are any missing pixels in a digital image. Determining if the pixels are missing results in a sign that the picture has been cropped, which cannot be noticed by that human eye (MandarinMusing.com). Of course, all these things can help in stopping digital image forgery, but pictures that have been taken without the special authentication signatures or fingerprints, or images edited without Photoshops plug-ins still l ack a system to prevent digital forgery. This can be solved with other special software that can detect digital image forgeries. Today, there are many companies who have produced software that have the ability to detect traces of digital image manipulation without relying on the signatures and watermarks. As a computer science doctoral thesis proposal, Micha Kimo Johnson, of Dartmouth College, created three digital image analysis tools to detect digital image forgery. These consist of illuminant direction, specularity, and chromatic aberration (Network World). The illuminant direction tools focus on the light sources of the image. It looks for consistency through the entire picture and different shadows. The light source is not limited to only sun light but also light from electricity. If the sources of light in the image were not in the same direction, the tool would detect the inconsistencies. The other tool is the specularity tool, which basically analyzes the reflective highligh ts in a picture. For example, if a picture of a group of people were taken and someone was digitally added to the image, the tool would detect the reflection in the eyes of all people in the picture and identify that someone was added. The last tool is the chromatic aberration tool, which scans images based on the camera lens used. When a digital picture is taken, natural distortion occurs and is presented on the image. The tool will identify if any of the distortions do not match the surrounding and categorize the image as a forged copy (Network World). Collectively, there exist numerous ways of detecting digital forgery through the use of specialized software, which helps to inhibit the malicious use of digital forgery. Conclusively, the issue of digital forgery has caused controversy for many years, yet recent advances in technology have helped to detect and discourage unethical uses of digital forgery. Since the creation of photography, photographic manipulation started and led into the forgery of images. Digital forgery has been apparent from the time when Soviet officials would disappear from authorized photographs in World War II to current times as we commonly view countless altered pictures in magazines, depicting celebrities with flawless skin and enhanced physiques. There exist ways to prevent digital forgery, such as special cameras that add signatures and invisible fingerprints when they are digitally processed, special programs plug-ins that prevent the altering of images, and even special software that can detect whether a picture is forged or not. While complete termination of digital forgery is nearly impossible, prevention of digital forgery and its reckless usage is quite possible. However, the altering of digital images is now not only used to deceive, but it has been incorporated into an artistic movement in which people manipulate images to represent different aspects of life for non-harmful purposes. Though it might technically be classified as digital forgery, it only becomes an problem when these forged images are used for the media or as evidence in courtroom. The history, evidence, discussion of ethics, and preventative methods for digital forgery helps inspire this encompassing idea: the manipulation of digital images is not necessarily unethical because of the abundance of benevolent or neutral alteration of photos, yet digital forgery with a criminal or malicious motive can most definitely be classified as unethical, for which identification systems exist to discourage and prevent detrimental digital forgery.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Hybrid Vehicles Engineering Essay

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Hybrid Vehicles Engineering Essay Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) entered US market in the end of 20th century and during the last years have been highly developed and they succeeded entering the European market. [3] The purpose of this report is to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of HEV compared to conventional and electric vehicles. Hybrid Electric Vehicles Overview Hybrids are a combination of conventional and electric vehicles. They can have an internal combustion engine, a fuel cell or a gas turbine as power source, an electric motor, a regenerative braking system, a power inverter/motor controller, hybrid system controls and a battery. [4] [3] [5] There are four types of HEV: series, parallel, series-parallel and complex hybrid. [2] In this report hybrid vehicles are considered to be the HEVs with an ICE, the conventional vehicles are the typical internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV) and electric vehicles are considered to be the battery electric vehicles (BEV). Advantages and Disadvantages of HEV HEV have many advantages in comparison to ICEV and BEV but as they are still an emerging technology they do have some disadvantages. This report will present the advantages and disadvantages of HEV in three areas: cost, efficiency and performance, and environmental impacts. 267 Cost Typically HEVs have a higher retail price than CV but a lower one than EV. A typical retail price of a Honda Civic (ICEV) in USA is $18,655, of a Toyota Prius (HEV) $22,000 and of a Chevrolet Volt (EV) $40,000. (Mitchell) It is estimated that a consumer needs about 8 years to breakeven the bought of a HEV instead of a CV and 39 years to breakeven buying a BEV instead of a HEV and that gives ICEV advantages over the alternative technologies. [6] The Total Ownership Cost (TOC) over a 10-year period (life-time period that includes maintenance and operation costs) gives HEV an advantage. For instance, a parallel HEV has the lowest net present value, about $69,000, an ICEV about $71,000 and a BEV about $80,000, under certain financial parameters. [7] Usually HEV have higher maintenance and insurance costs and higher batter costs per kilometer but they have much lower fuel costs. [3] The main reason that HEV has an advantage against BEV is the high cost of battery for the latter. [8] [2] [9] A typical ICEV has a fuel consumption of 4.2 l/100km and 6.2 l/100km for diesel and gasoline respectively, a HEV 3.8 l/100km and a BEV 0 l/100km. The average fuel prices for EU are 1.35 and 1.48 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ for diesel and gasoline respectively and the average EU electricity price is 0.16 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬/kWh. [10] During the life-cycle a conventional car will change the battery once for 100$, a HEV for $1020 and a BEV needs to change it tw ice with total cost of $30,800. [8] 255 Efficiency and Performance In European Union (EU 27) transportation sector consumes 37% of total energy, where 85% of this comes from road transportation. [1] In general the HEV has an advantage over ICEV in all stages of energy usage: during energy generation (wheel-to-tank, WTT), during operation (tank-to-wheel, TTW) and on a full fuel cycle (well-to-wheels, WTW). On the other hand, BEV has an advantage over HEV in TTW and WTW stages but uses more energy in WTT stage for the electricity generation. A typical HEV has lower specific fuel consumption than an ICEV and higher than a BEV. A HEV has lower energy annual cost than an ICEV but higher than a BEV. Also, HEVs have bigger driving range than ICEVs and BEVs. [8] [1] [11] Regarding the energy conversion efficiency (energy consumed at the wheels divided by total energy supplied to the vehicle) a HEV has higher conversion efficiency than an ICEV but lower than a BEV. [12] [2] But, in a well-to-wheel analysis a HEV could have higher conversion efficiency from B EV too depending on the electricity generation source. From a consumers point of view an HEV has lower top speed than an ICEV but bigger than a BEV. Moreover, a HEV can have higher acceleration than both ICEV and BEV. [2] Typical values of the efficiency and performance of vehicles with different technologies are presented in Table . The main reasons for the advantages of HEV in comparison to the ICEV are the lower engine size, the use of regenerative braking energy and the ability to operate only in battery when is available. [13] [14] [5] 260 Table Efficiencies and performance of each vehicle technology. (Source: ref. [2]) Conventional Hybrid BEV Reference car VW Golf 1.4TSI Toyota Prius III Nissan Leaf Top speed (km) 200 180 161 Acceleration (s) 9.5 10.4 7 Range (km) 888 1152 117-175 Net Power (kW) 90 100 80 Effective Storage capacity (kWh usable) 105 143.1 22.1 Average conversion efficiency (%) 21 35 92 Environmental Impacts Transportation sector accounts for about 19% of the total CO2 emissions and road transportation is responsible for 94% of this amount. HEV have an advantage over ICEV as they produce lower CO2 emissions, which is the main greenhouse gas, during the driving stage (TTW). As far as BEVs are concerned, they have zero emissions in TTW stage. [1] [16] Regarding the total GHG emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O and SF6) and the total air pollutants emissions (AP: CO, NOx, SOx and VOCs) HEVs have lower GHG emissions in all stages (WTT, TTW and WTW) than ICEVs, but regarding BEVs the emissions produced in WTT and WTW stages are depending on electricity generation mixture and that could lead to high variations. [8] [15] At the production stages of a vehicle, a HEV has higher GHG and AP emissions than an ICEV but lower than a BEV one. That is due to the high environmental impact for the production of batteries. At the fuel utilization stage and during the total environmental impact (assuming 10 years lifecycle and that a car drives 241,350km) a HEV has lower GHG and AP emissions than an ICEV. For the BEV emissions there are variations because of the electricity production. Under three scenarios for electricity generation: (1) electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) and nuclear energy; (2) 50% from RES and 50% from natural gas with efficie ncy of 40%; (3) all electricity from natural gas with 40% efficiency a BEV will have lower emissions at both, fuel utilization and total environmental impact, than a HEV. [8] [17] Typical values of GHG and AP emissions for each type of vehicle are presented in Table . Table Emissions for each type of vehicle during production and utilization stages (source ref. [8]) Vehicle Production (kg) Production of NiMeH battery (emissions per life of vehicle, kg) Fuel utilization usage (kg per 100km of vehicle travel) Total environment impact (kg per 100km of vehicle travel) GHG AP GHG AP GHG AP GHG Conventional 3595.8 8.74 19.9 0.0564 21.4 Hybrid 4156.7 10.10 89.37 0.507 11.6 0.0328 13.3 Electric 4758.3 15.09 1087.6 6.167 1a 0.343 0.00131 2.31 2 5.21 0.0199 7.18 3 10.1 0.0385 12.0 a Numbers in this column refer to the electricity production scenarios. Moreover, Hawkins et al. [18] compared the total lifecycle Global Warming Potential (GWP) for vehicles of each technology and the results show the advantages of HEVs over ICEVs and the high variations of BEVs, and those can be seen in Fig. 1. Fig. . Comparison of lifecycle global warming potential per km driven. (source: ref. [18]) 314 Conclusions In conclusion, HEVs have many advantages over ICEVs and can also compete with BEVs because of the high price for latters. They have good energy efficiency and high performance and can compete with both, ICEVs and BEVs. In terms of environmental impacts, in lifecycle they have significant lower emissions than ICEVs and in some cases against BEVs too as those are depending on electricity generation mixture. Despite their high initial price HEVs are considered to be a very good choice today and it is estimated that in the next few years their percentage in the car market will get higher. As BEV are still in their early stages for being fully developed and enter the market in competitive terms HEV can be the bridge to the future road transport. (129) (1225 total)

Jack Roosevelt (Jackie) Robinson Essay -- Biography Robinson Baseball

Jack Roosevelt (Jackie) Robinson He was the first black person to ever be at bat in the Major Leagues, and made his name famous. But now, everyone seems to have forgotten this great legend. So I hope that this will refresh your memory, had if you’ve never heard of him this is what happened in his life: Born on January 31 1919 in Cairo Ga., Jack Roosevelt (Jackie) Robinson, he was raised on the Sasser Plantation. He grew up without a father who left for Florida with another mans wife, leaving his real wife (Mallie Robinson) to raise five kids: Mack, Jack, Edgar, Willa Mae, and Franck, on her own. After his father left Jack’s family became poor and had to live in a cabin. Soon after that, in 1920, Mallie sold a few of her family’s things and the family boarded a train to California. They bought a house on Pepper Street in Pasadena. As child, Jackie enjoyed sports as much as the next kid did. Just before he started school, he became ill with Diphtheria and almost died! He was an average student at his school, in the playground he realized that his amazing talent in sports made him stand made him stand out. More than once he came home with a pocket full of change or an extra lunch, because the kids bribed him into playing on their team. But his childhood wasn’t all-good, because all of his friendships ended after each game. Lucky for him he had four siblings to spend time with, who were all great athletes, including Willa Mae who was amazing at basketball. He also had some immigrant friends who called themselves "The Pepper Street Gang". Together they challenged white groups in sports for money. Jack’s skills bloomed all the way through grade school and into high school. At Washington Junior High Scholl, he played basketball, baseball, football, and track, leading his team for each sport. They made it to many of the championships to. Jack’s significant Atlanta exploded when he entered Muir Technical High School. He excelled at every thing. He became faster, and more agile making the football, baseball, basketball, and track teams. As for baseball, Jackie played catcher, even earned a spot on the state All Star team. Despite all that, baseball was his least favorite sport, and which gave him the most difficulty later on. During his senior years at Muir, Jack’s life wasn’t the best. At his last football game he was injur... ...Jack’s hard work, dedication, and love for the sport paid of when he won the MVP and "Rookie of the year" award with a batting average of .297, 125 and a record setting 29 stolen bases. That year he made the black people proud, and paved the way for current stars like Michael Jordan, Joe Carter, and others. Soon Jackie got married to Rachel Isum (whom he met at UCLA and by 1950 they had 2 kids Jackie Jr., and Sharon.) Jackie was soon the target of most commercial offers. He had his own game, stared in the movie, "The Jackie Robinson Story", and even had his own 15minute TV show, "Jackie Robinson’s Sports Classroom." He continued his career, and won many awards like the silver bat or the golden shoe award for best athlete. He ended his career in1956 with a batting average of .311 and by all. He made many public appearances, including his last one on October 15 1972. Jackie Robinson died 12 days later on October 27 1972. He won many awards and still had to put up with lots of abuse. But he was the best he could be. In conclusion I would like to quote Jackie by saying: "I was a black man in a white mans world. I never had it made."

Sylvia Plath :: essays papers

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath is a writer whose life has generated much interest. This may be because of her tragic, untimely death and her highly personal writings. Studying Sylvia^s life lets her readers understand her works better. Many of the imagery and attitudes in her poetry are based on her life experiences. Throughout her short life, Sylvia Plath loved the sea. She spent her childhood years on the Atlantic coast just north of Boston. This setting provides a source for a lot of her poetic ideas. Sylvia Plath was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 27, 1932. Her parents were Aurelia Schober and Otto Emil Plath. Her father was a professor of biology and German at Boston University. He was of German descent and had emigrated from Grabow when he was fifteen. Her mother was a first generation American, she was born in Boston of Austrian parents. Both of them being German indirectly lead to their meeting in 1929. Aurelia Schober took a German class taught by Otto Plath. She was working on a master's degree in English and German at Boston University at the time. Otto Plath was guided by discipline. As his young family grew, Otto Plath's career flourished. He published the book Bumblebees and Their Ways not long after Sylvia's birth. During this time, his writing occupied most of his time. This excluded any chance for a social life. In 1936, the Plath's moved to Winthrop, Massachusetts. Otto's health had began to fail. He diagnosed his own illness as lung cancer and refused to see a doctor. Sylvia spent much of her time by the ocean. She would go exploring by herself or she would play with her younger brother, Warren because her father needed quite. She would also visit her grandparents who lived nearby on the ocean at Point Shirley. Four years later Otto Plath died of diabetes mellitus. In 1942, the family moved away from the sea. Aurelia Plath decided she must return to work in order to support her family. Despite her own health problems, she began teaching nearby. In the summer of 1942, Aurelia was offered the job of designing and teaching a course at Boston University. She accepeted and the whole family moved. Sylvia Plath's eight years in Wellesley helped her grow and develop her writing skills. Sensitive, intelligent, compelled toward perfection in everything she attempted, she was, on the surface, a model daughter, popular in school, earning straight A's, winning the best prizes. Yet her success only bred problems. When she moved to Wellesley, she was

american gods :: essays research papers

American Gods There was silence as they crossed the bridge. "Who did kill those men?" she asked. "You wouldn’t believe me if I told you." "I would." She sounded angry now. He wondered if bringing the wine to the dinner had been a wise idea. Life was certainly not a cabernet right now. "It’s not easy to believe." "I," she told him, "can believe anything. You have no idea what I can believe." "Really?" "I can believe things that are true and I can believe things that aren’t true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they’re true or not. I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and Marilyn Monroe and the Beatles and Elvis and Mister Ed. Listen-I believe that people are perfectible, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones that look like wrinkledy lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women. I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone’s ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline in good sex in America is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state. I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste. I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we’ll all be wiped out by the common cold like the Martians in War of the Worlds. I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman. I believe that mankind’s destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it’s aerodynamically impossible for a bumblebee to fly, that light is a wave and a particle, that there’s a cat in a box somewhere who’s alive and dead at the same time (although if they don’t ever open the box to feed it it’ll eventuall y just be two different kinds of dead), and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself.

Mark Twains The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn English Literature Essay

4. In Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn it is clear as to how the characters have been influenced by their environments. The narrative is set during a clip where bondage and racism are held as socially acceptable and justified by faith in some instances ; this is seen legion times throughout the novel. Although the two major characters Huck and Jim have come from and lived in the same environments, the fortunes of their lives are uncomparable. Society has conditioned Huck to accept bondage and racialist attitudes. Slavery has resulted in Jim ‘s attempts to seek his freedom, but besides his deficiency of instruction and to some degree his superstitious notion. Couple uses the environment environing Huck and Jim non merely to portray how it impacts their actions and beliefs, but besides to do a statement about the lip service, immortality, and unfairness found in civilised society at this clip. At the clip period this novel is set in, bondage is an mundane portion of life. As a reader, we see Huck invariably trying to decide the struggle within himself as he struggles between the dogmas of the South and his ain consciousness and morality. Huck ‘s position about the establishment of bondage is the result of what society has ingrained within him, he was born into it. Huck blindly accepts the societal and spiritual values that the Widow and Miss Watson insist he uphold until his ain witting interferes with what he has been taught. Whenever Huck can non follow societal regulations, he blames it on himself and fails to see any mistake in the regulations. He sees his male parent ‘s bibulous harangue in chapter 6, â€Å" †¦ but when they told me there was a State in this state where they ‘d allow that nigger ballot, I drawed out. I says I ‘ll ne'er vote once more†¦ I says to the people, why ai n't this nigga put up at auction and sold? – that ‘s what I want to cognize † ( Twain 117 ) . Huck hears his male parent ‘s words but does non denounce him because in his universe this position is the norm. Huck is an perceiver and he gives realistic word pictures of what he sees and Twain uses his narrative to exemplify the ailments of society. There are many times in the novel where Huck sees Jim more as a slave, a mere piece of belongings instead than a individual. In chapter 16, Huck begins to panic when he realizes the determination he has made to assist Jim towards freedom, â€Å" †¦ it made me all over trembly and hectic, excessively, to hear him, because I begun to acquire it through my caput that he was most free- and who was to fault for it? † ( 162 ) . Because he believes the values of society are just and merely, Huck feels that he is an confederate for the offense of non turning in Jim back to Miss Watson when he had the opportunity. He goes on to state, â€Å" I got so average and so suffering I most wished I was dead † ( 162 ) . In chapter 23, we see Huck ‘s attitude toward Jim Begin to alter, â€Å" He was believing about his married woman and kids, off up yonder, and he was low and homesick ; and I do believe he cared merely every bit much for his people as white folks does for thei r'n. It do n't look natural†¦ He was a mighty good nigga, Jim was † ( 204 ) . Huck is able to project aside the racialist values which he has grown up with. Here we see him believing for himself. What Huck sees as natural is that slaves do non care for and love their households the same manner as Whites do, but his sentiment is changed when he sees Jim. It is obvious that Huck has non associated with anyone who was non white and it is possible that he sees Jim as person who is rareness among African Americans due to the fact that he loves his household. As the novel progresses, Huck becomes more and more detached from society but non wholly. He and Jim sail down the Mississippi, making a universe of their ain and it is through these experiences that Huck ‘s friendly relationship with Jim grows and where the influences of the exterior universe are repressed to a certain extent. The best illustration of this is when Huck decides to compose the missive to Miss Watson stating her where Jim is, nevertheless his internal struggles are clearly seeable as he debates with himself whether or non he should make this. Before he precedes to compose the missive Huck says â€Å" And at last, when it hit me all of a sudden that here was the apparent manus of Providence slapping me in the face and allowing me know that my evil was being watched all the clip from up at that place in Eden, whilst I was stealing a hapless old adult female ‘s nigga that had n't of all time done me no injury†¦ † ( 238 ) . Huck still can non look to get away the impression that because Jim is a runaway slave helping in his attempts to get away is a wickedness. Although Huck can do his ain determinations, society ‘s rules still influence him greatly and after he writes the missive he even goes on to province that it was the first clip in his life he felt wholly â€Å" clean of wickedness † ( 239 ) . Religion is something that Huck does non clearly understand so his fright of the possible spiritual effects such as snake pits take precedency over his ain morality. However, instantly after composing the missive, Huck begins to believe about Jim and all the good he has done for him and makes a important determination, â€Å" All right, so, I ‘ll travel to hell- and tore it up. It was atrocious ideas, and atrocious words, but they was said † ( 239 ) . At this point we see that Huck denounces himself for his actions, but by making this he has in a manner rejected what society has instilled in him and established himself as an improbable hero. So as Huck ‘s universe alterations from civilized society to life on the Mississippi, from the influence of society at big to the influence of Jim, we can see how Huck besides changes. The Widow and Miss Watson introduced in chapter 1 can be seen as a representation of Southern society. They attempt to educate Huck, but he merely feels constrained by the regulations and ordinances they impose on him. Society besides fails to protect Huck from his opprobrious male parent as he is forced to travel unrecorded with Pap. All of these experiences contribute to Huck ‘s withdrawal from society and consequence in his disbelieving attitude of the universe. The idea of being sold down South and separated from his household prompts Jim to run off. Bing a slave, Jim is uneducated. For illustration when Huck is explicating to him that Frenchmen talk French he can non look to hold on the construct. In many ways he is like a kid. Jim has besides accepted the positions of his racialist milieus. He is convinced that the inequality and biass inkinesss face are rooted in truth. In chapter 36 it is clear that Tom is utilizing Jim to populate out his imaginativeness, â€Å" And told him how to maintain a diary†¦ He told him everything. Jim, he could n't see no sense in most of it, but he allowed we was white common people and knowed better than him ; so he was satisfied. Despite the manner Jim is being treated, in Jim ‘s head Huck and Tom are white so they must be right. Here, Jim is inactive and self-satisfied which merely emphasizes the subject of bondage in the novel. Couple uses the universe of the characters and how it influences them to supply a societal commentary on his pessimistic positions of humanity. The fresh exposes the jobs he saw in society including the immorality of bondage, spiritual lip service, and the weaknesss of society in general. Jim is treated cruelly by every character throughout the narrative. It is through Huck that bondage is presented as we see him fight between what is jurisprudence in society and what is morally right. The spiritual lip service is abundant from Miss Watson to the Phelps ‘s who have no concern over the establishment of bondage, yet claim to be good citizens. Twain makes it clear as to how racism can misinterpret the beliefs of those who impose bondage and the victims of it. When Huck is handed over to his male parent, this can be seen as Twain ‘s manner to notice on a society that gives whites the right to have other human existences which are considered belongings. A society that claims t o be morally merely and civilized can non warrant bondage.