Developing Early Warning System for Peace and Security in Nigeria Essay

1. Brief Demographic Background of Nigeria: The demographic characteristics of Nigeria set the platform for an understanding of the case for conflict based National early warning system. A historical analysis of major conflicts in Nigeria since independence points to strong linkages to its demographic composition. It has been unarguably regarded as the most populous country in the Africa and also accounts for half of the entire population of West Africa. The last census exercise in 2007 conducted by the Nigeria Population Commision (NPC) put the country’s population at over 140 million.(NPC, 2006). Politically, it practices a three tier federal system of government comprising the Federal, State and Local Government Councils which implies relative levels of autonomy in governance as well as oversight and control which many political analyst has attributed as a mixture of British Parliamentary and U.S Presidential system of governance. It has 36 states with a Federal Capital Territory at Abuja. These are further sub-divided into 774 semi-autonomous local government councils. For political and economic exigencies of governance and development, it is segregated into what is referred to as six geo political zones which include the North Central, North East, North West, South East, South South and South West. With over 240 ethnic groups spread across the country, the challenges of representation, equity in political representation as well as economic accessibility has been the bedrock of many diverse conflicts in the country. This is further complicated by the heterogeneous mixture of Christian and Muslim religion greatly polarised between the Christian south and Muslim Northern region. (op cit.)The population of traditional religion is sparsely located across the six geo-political zones of the country. Despite the immense rich natural resources in the country, crude oil located at the south south, south east and south west geo political zones of the country remain the major revenue source for the country and also the major source of various causative factors of conflict in Nigeria which has led to its reference in many social science research cycles as the ‘resource curse’ to the extent that the country is now considered one of the 20 poorest countries in the world. Over 70% of the population is classified as poor, with 35 percent living in absolute poverty. This is especially severe in rural areas, where social services are limited or non existent. 2. The Peace and Security Dimension in Nigeria: In contrast, Nigeria’s complex political, socio-cultural and economic diversity has been a source of varied and multiple levels of conflicts and humanitarian crises with implication to sustainable peace, security and development within the country and the West Africa sub region. A retrospection of these conflicts highlights six basic conflict types that have pervaded the country in the last two decades. These include communal conflicts, chieftaincy conflicts, ethno-religious conflicts, oil related conflicts, election related conflicts and agro-pastoralist conflicts. These conflicts are the outcome of the deep rooted causal factors of poverty, poor/bad governance and inequitable distribution of resources and development across the country. Between 1999 to 2010 for instance there has been an estimated death of 14,000 people from various levels of these conflicts across the country and about 750,000 – 850,000 Internally displaced persons.(Internal Displacement Monitoring, 2007†¦) Based on the lack of mechanisms to address the root cause of these conflicts, it has continued to reoccur, intensify and impact negatively in Nigerian societies to the extent of creating viscious cycles of violence and complex humanitarian crises. Communities experiencing these conflicts have remained vulnerable and usually face the risks of further conflicts and distablity. Based on the recurrence of these conflicts,the communities have been tagged, ‘flashpoints of conflict’, unusually disaggregated across geo political lines or constellations. 3. The concept of Early Warning for Peace and Security: Based on the negative impact of conflicts to development and human security, there is increasing paradigm shift from conflict resolution mechanisms regarded as reactive to conflict prevention mechanisms which is seen as more proactive and has the capacity to prevent or mitigate destructive conflict or humanitarian crises globally. As core element of conflict prevention, early warning has increasingly gained prominence, credibility and efficiency as a preventive mechanism and solution to conflicts in societies. By definition, Early Warning has been described as a process of communicating judgements about threats early enough for decision-makers to take action to deter whatever outcome is threatened; or failing that, to manage events in such a way that the worst consequences are mitigated† (WANEP: 2008). Dmitrichev Andrei defined it as organizational procedure or mechanism for the structures and systemic collection and analysis of information, and the subsequent communication of results of this analysis to policy makers in a form that would be easily recognized and understood. The recognition and appreciation of the opportunities inherent in this system resulted in the first organised platform for the systematic development of the early warning system led by the Forum on Early Warning and Early Response (F.E.W.E.R.) in 1997 in response to the Rwandan genocide of 1994. It blossomed to become the largest global network of over thirty five (35) organisations across the world that catalysed the creation of the early warning and response networks in the Caucasus (led by EAWARN/Russian Academy of Sciences), Great Lakes Region of Africa (led by the Africa Peace Forum) and West Africa(led the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding) WANEP. Further impetus to the adoption and institutionalisation of the early warning system was boosted by the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan when he stated that, â€Å"For the United Nations, there is no larger goal, no deeper commitment and no greater ambition than preventing armed conflict. The prevention of conflict begins and ends with the protection of human life and the promotion of human development. Ensuring human security is, in the broadest sense, the United Nations’ cardinal mission. Genuine and lasting prevention is the means to achieve that mission. (Koffi Annan: 2001) This further gave rise to the UN Security Council Resolution 1624 of 2005 with the following core declarations: 1. Reaffirms the need to adopt a broad strategy of conflict prevention, which addresses the root causes of armed conflict and political social crises in a comprehensive manner, including by promoting sustainable development, poverty eradication, national reconciliation, good governance, democracy, gender equality, the rule of law and respect for and protection of human rights; 2. Recognises the need to strengthen the important role of the United Nations in the prevention of violent conflicts, and to develop effective partnerships between the Council and regional organisations, in particular the African Union and its sub regional organisations, in order to enable early responses to disputes and emerging crises; 3. Affirms the UN commitment in â€Å"supporting regional and sub regional capacities for early warning to help them in working out appropriate mechanisms to enable prompt action in reaction to early warning indicators; 4. Recognises the important supporting roles played by civil society, men and women, in conflict prevention and the need to take into account all possible contributions from civil society; 5. Supporting regional and sub regional capacities for early warning to help them in working out appropriate mechanisms to enable prompt action in reaction to early warning indicators; 6. Promote coordination with regional conflict management machinery in Africa which provide the Security Council with additional reliable and timely information to facilitate rapid decision-making; 7. Strengthen the capacities of civil society groups, including women’s groups, working to promote a culture of peace, and to mobilise donors to support these efforts (UN: 2005) 4. Developing Institutional Platform for conflict Early Warning System: Reflecting on WANEP-Nigeria’s Experience: The participation and commitment of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) to the FEWER platform strengthened its capacity and hands on skill for civil society based analysis and response mechanisms towards the prevention or mitigation of conflict especially within the great lake region following the post Sierra Leone and Liberian Conflicts of 90’s. This deepened its regional expertise as the reference point for early warning system in the West Africa sub region and subsequently the network of choice for the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) in the implementation of the regional based ECOWAS Early Warning and Response Network (ECOWARN). The system principally works through three basic components of reporting/data gathering, analysis and information dissemination utilised to facilitate response to issues of peace and security within the ECOWAS sub region. WANEP became the civil society partner with ECOWAS in the implementation ECOWARN since 2006. As part of the WANEP regional network, WANEP-Nigeria was mandated as the national civil society focal point to report into the online ECOWARN system. Its task was to provide weekly and daily reports to the incidence and situation reporting template as designed into the online system. This was to give ECOWARN an up to date civil society perspective of the peace and human security threats and opportunities in Nigeria. With the participation of Nigeria in this process came ominous challenges. 1. The first was the pressure from the focal points at Lagos secretariat of WANEP-Nigeria to deliver credible reports in relation to the size of Nigeria 2. With the size of Nigeria, the focal point concentrated in getting information from national newspapers, television and radio For the focal points who were staff of WANEP, it was included as part of their job responsibility. They relied on making phone calls to members of WANEP at the state levels for local or peculiar peace and security information that was not reported in the national media. However, these information were reluctantly or half-hazardly given and also cost intensive to the staff as they often bore liability for these calls. This challenge was partially cushioned when ECOWAS resolved to pay reporters communication allowance in 2007/2008. Inspite of this, the feedback from member organizations providing information at the state level was still half hazard and questionable. To redress this challenge, the program team at the national secretariat organized a brainstorm meeting to develop a framework for a workable national early warning system that not only ensures commitment of member organizations to support the system but also is both functional and cost effective. The first trial system was developed for the Nigeria 2007 elections. An Information, Communication and Technology (I.C.T.) consultant was engaged that worked directly with the program team to capture specific indicators to monitor election related conflicts in what was referred to as the ‘election barometer’. The cost of developing the barometer was wholly borne by the secretariat while the election monitoring was performed by staf f who volunteered to report into the system as an experiential learning process to enhance their understanding of the EW system. The experience motivated the secretariat to consciously plan for a conflict intervention proposal which includes an aspect of a sustainable/operational national early warning system. The submission and approval of the proposal by international partners led WANEP-Nigeria to develop the first locally designed and operated conflict focused National Early Warning system.

Business and Admin Research Information

Give Reasons for agreeing Objectives and deadlines for researching information Agreeing objectives is essential for a team or individual to know what they are focusing on to avoid wasting resources and time. Knowing the How, What, When and Why of an assignment will mean being able to complete the task in a timely manner and correctly. Deadlines strongly affect what you research e. g. World news is being update by the hour, with a well-defined deadline; we can better gather the relevant information as equired.There is no point to having a long deadline and present a report of yesterdays news; Who is interested in old news? How much will you pay for yesterday newspaper? Is it worthless? A copy of todays newspaper is worth money, but yesterdays is worthless. Therefore, objectives and deadline must go hand in hand. With the right objective and a set deadline you know what must be done and how long you have. 1. 2 Give reasons for identifying and agreeing sources of information As there ar e many different ways to find out information, for example; The internetBooks and EBooks Word of mouth etc. , Reference material Academic Journals Magazines Statistics Specialist information Interviews Past speeches Pictures Organizations It is therefore crucial that you make sure the information is correct, relevant and at the right time, with all the required information in hand. Only if data is stored in a procedural manner it can be easily retrieved. Information might be retrieved for marketing purposes, for communications, for monitoring purposes; for surveys and other research that an organisation or business might conduct.Information will also be retrieved in situations where information might have to be shared with partner companies and with the police or Tax Services. Storage of data plays a major role in improving the performance of a company and this can happen either offline or online and in various formats. Storing information is essential for many reasons; these includ e Ease of access and readability, The level of detail you are able to store The choice to have various copies of the information in case of loss and ease of transfer.Be Able To Research Information for Others 2. Agree aims, objectives and deadlines for the information search Agreeing aims and objectives regarding tasks will help you to do your work efficiently as they give a clear idea of what is needed and why. Deadlines are also very important as our customers and our reputation is negatively affected if we don't complete work in the required time, so time limits help to estimate the time you have to spend on each one, otherwise you could spend too long researching one source and then find out it was the wrong source.Having deadlines allows you to structure your own deadlines, allowing a certain mount of time on each source of research, so you do not overlook the information of another. 2. 2 Identify sources of information Question 1. 2 answers this question. 2. 3 Search for and o btain data Research comprises of; â€Å"A creative work undertaken on a systematic basis, in order to increase the stock of knowledge. This includes knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications. † (OECD (2002) Frascati Manual: proposed standard practice for surveys on research and experimental development, 6th edition).It is used to establish or confirm facts, reaffirm the results of previous work, solve new or existing problems, support theorems, or develop new theories. The primary purposes of basic research (as opposed to applied research) is documentation, discovery, interpretation, or the research and development (R;D) of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge. There are several forms of research: Scientific Humanities Artistic, Economic Social Business Marketing Practitioner research, etc. Nothing damages someone's professional credibility as quickly as an error, even a inor one.While a simp le calculation error or typo can seem trivial in the scheme of things, it implants doubt into your audience's mind. They now think; â€Å"If this person can make these simple errors, they can also make larger errors†. Errors occur for many reasons; Ignorance Lack of time Poor planning Laziness Incorrect data Invalid source material The most common errors we see are in spreadsheets and written communications. Spreadsheets can be deceiving because they print out or display very professionally and can hide simple calculation errors.Careless manipulation of formulas can cause errors that are difficult to visually detect. that miss detection by spell checker programs due to multiple meanings and basic sentence structure. Also, if the reader finds inconsistences in the flow of the report/ information or if it sounds far-fetched, they being to wonder whether or not the information is plausible. No matter the root cause, errors suggest a lack of caring or attention. Conversely, peopl e notice attention to detail. The customer experience holds true for presentations and report slides.

Child Custody and Support Laws Should Be Changed Essay

Present child custody and support laws do not make any sense. They often penalize hard working parents and alienate parents from children they love. These laws must be re-examined and revised so that the best interest of children be served at all times. John Smith lives with his new wife and her four children, ages 4 to 14. He is the only father that these youngsters have known, and he provides for them in all the ways that a father must. John Smith must pay $1,000 to his ex-wife, a woman he divorced 12 years ago, but with whom he had two children, ages 14 and 15. He barely sees his children, and when he does, the situation is strained and the children act like they would rather be somewhere else. John believes that he would rather have had primary custody of his children: he would have participated more actively in their upbringing, and he would have stayed closer to them, and he would have made a better parent that their mother. He resents that he was not given the opportunity to be closer to his children; instead, the courts had given custody to her; she was their mother, and that was all that counted. Now, they are almost strangers to him. John is angry that the system is holding him hostage to his ex-wife by mandating that he pay her $1,000 a month, even though they’ve been divorced for 12 years, even though she refuses to seek employment to contribute to her children’s support, even though he must struggle to make ends meet with his new family. John Smith is one of 3 million divorced men who have had very little control over decisions of custody and child support. These men feel that as implemented, these laws favor the mothers and force men into choosing to become deadbeat dads. Show status of situation: how many children live in divorced homes; what percentage of das get custody; show how in a typical situation, mothers get custody, and fathers paay support. This situation must change, laws must be designed to treat all equitably and fairly, and in this particular case, the primary concern should be the best interest of the children in divorce situations. I.Custody decisions should be based on who is the better parent II.As much as possible, both parents should have equal access to their children III.Child support rules should demand equally from both parents IV.Rules should allow non-custodial parent enough finances to live his/her life V.Payment should be linked to visitation, etc

Men an Endangered Species Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Men an Endangered Species - Essay Example This threatens the productivity of men in the near future if the trend continues. The major reason is that men are consuming a lot of estrogen from plastic liners of cans, some paints, and even soy-based foods (1). Another explanation for the threatened extinction of men is that there is lose of testosterone and a significant rise in estrogen as men age. When men start producing more estrogen, which is the main female sex hormone they are likely to become more feminine or womanly. On the contrary, as a woman age there is an equal fall of their hormones levels hence little or no major changes. The rise of estrogen levels and the falling testosterone in older men could also explain why there is a sudden attraction to members of their own sex even if it had not occurred before. This premise implicate that as older men become more feminine, there is an increase in susceptibility of the extinction of the male species (Parker, 2). Several studies also indicate that there is a threat for th e extinction of the Y chromosome, which majorly determines the male sex. These studies deem that the Y chromosome had approximately 1,400 genes on it three hundred million years ago, and presently it has only got 45 left (Perloe, 2). Possibly significant genes from the Y chromosome will adopt habitation on another chromosome (3). In the 1970s, scientists developed a method of separating X and Y-chromosomes from sperm. The assertion behind its development was to make couples naturally choose males (the Y chromosome). This trend however becomes the opposite since 2 to 1, selects baby girls over baby boys (Baehr, 2). However, the only reason why scientists are not sure if men are susceptible to... This paper analyzes in detail the various reasons as to why men are an endangered species. Some of the reasons that men are susceptible to extinction are scientific, while others are sociological. Scientific reasons, assert the possibility of gradual extinction of the male chromosomes, while the sociological reasons deem the loss of social roles. The major reason why men are an endangered species is that of loss of the reproductive power. Several studies indicate that men are increasingly having reduced sperm count due to various environmental toxins. The toxins that make men infertile include Teflon, pesticides, plastic, cosmetics and hormones found in food. In addition, some men, especially in many parts of Africa are vulnerable of loosing their reproductive potential due to taking illicit homemade brews. There has been extensive research and several debates concerning the susceptibility of extinction of the male species. Proponents of this premise assert that there is overwhelming evidence that support this connotation. These reasons include the gradual extinction of the Y chromosome, reduced sperm counts as well as rise in estrogen levels in older men. Other reasons include the loss of social and reproductive roles by men due to increased awareness of women and artificial forms or fertilization respectively. Moreover, other chemicals that mimic the effects of estrogen for instance 'Xeno-Oestrogens accelerate this susceptibility.' These chemicals are present in most of the common products that men use presently.

Corperate Finace- Financial report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corperate Finace- Financial report - Essay Example As of now, the financial condition of Balfour is stronger. However, there is a lack of efficiency in the company’s receivable management system. The company must look into this matter with more concern. As of now, Balfour seems to be a better choice for the investors as this is offering a good return on the equity invested. This report aims to offer a comparative study of the financial statements of the two companies. The analysis has taken into consideration different parameters of financial analysis. To assist in understanding, the analysis has been done after taking into account the financial data of three years. In the end, a conclusion has been inferred from the entire analysis. The company is one of the leading property development companies in the United Kingdom. The company’s operation is based on its imaginative design and quality customer service. At the time of financial downturn, the entire housing and infrastructure market was experiencing a difficult time. In such a situation, the company started dealing in mid market residential houses. As the economy is on its way to recovery, the company is required to place its strategies to make its mark in the industry. Balfour Beatty is a leading organisation in road infrastructure, electrical and mechanical engineering, support services and a number of other such disciplines. Institutionalized back in the year 1909, the organisation is now one of the prominent fixed rail infrastructures contracting company, worldwide. In the last year, the company ranked 19th in the international league of contractors. Balfour Beatty deals in infrastructure building which includes a wide range of civil and rail engineering products. In the United States, the organisation deals in asset management and capital products. The company is expected to retain its prominent position with the help of well developed strategies. The above image displays the current and

Strategic Planning (Southwest Airlines) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategic Planning (Southwest Airlines) - Essay Example Strategic management has been defined by Meyer as â€Å"the process by which managers understand organisational goals; examining the future threats to, and opportunities for, an organisation; identifying strategies for dealing with these threats and opportunities; ensure organisational capability to implement these strategies; and continually monitoring the entire process to provide direction and support for accomplishing the strategic management objectives† (Tyndall, et al., 1990, p.9). The strategic management practices of Southwest airline have been discussed in the later part of this project. Strategic planning Southwest Airline has its unique business model that has been planned after considering the corporate strategy and business environment. The company has a strategic planning committee whose members possess an in-depth understanding of different functional activities. These members are responsible for analysing the business environment in the local market. They also use different business reports to analyse the core competency of the business. On basis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, this committee formulates the business strategy for Southwest Airline. The activity system formulated by the strategic planning committee is as follows: Figure 1: Southwest Airlines’ Activity system (Source: Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2009, p.104) The above given plan resents the factors like low profit margin, attraction and retention of local passengers, point to point routes and limits customer services. These are some of the core strategies on which whole of the Southwest Airline’s business model is based. Strategic implementation The responsibility of the strategic planning committee does not end only by formulating the strategies; it is also responsible for implementing these strategies. As for example, to achieve the strategy of limited passenger services, the management under guidance of the planning committee has list ed out the process to active this goal. The company decided not to offer free meals, no baggage transfer facility, just 15 minutes for gate turnaround and limited use to travel agents. All these actions assist the company to achieve the objective of low customer service. The company’s vision statement reflects that Southwest Airline is highly focused on its employee base. The strategic planning committee has planned to enhance productivity of the employees. For this the company is implemented higher play structure for the work force. Flexible union contracts have been developed to meet specific requirement of the employees. The company also offers high level of employee stock ownership. All this is done to motivate the employees as this will not just enhance their performance but will also reduce the employee turnover rate. Again, the company has identified business travellers as the target customer group because this group travels t a higher rate and prefer to go by low cot airline. With time the size of their customer group will increase and it will assist the airline to expand its market share. Strategic control The process of strategic management often fails in spite of a well developed strategic plan and a successful implementation process. This is because often the company fails to control the change introduced in the business process for long run. As a result, whole of the capital and the managerial time

Representation of Gender In the film Ma Vie en Rose Essay

Representation of Gender In the film Ma Vie en Rose - Essay Example Gender representation in film takes many forms to the extent of having children portrayed on the films to show the state of confusion that occurs between different genders and the troubles they have to overcome in order to come to terms with their state of being. This is especially for people grappling with issue of identity crisis into which gender they belong and how they should behave and relate to their situations. As such, gender in this text is depicted as a state of conflict and as an entity with which one has to identify and belong devoid of one’s opinion lest it lead to confusion. The film generates a clear image of the troubles people go through and assists them in creating a sense of belonging in relation to assisting them cope with their situations. This is especially so in the case of drawing lines between the different genders and bringing out an expressionist side to the whole issue of gender in film and its relation to real life situations (Greven, 2009). In ad dition, the film highlights the aspects of the film director in question to draw and form a background from which the reader can build up information in order to evaluate deeper into the film and analyze its different aspect. This is in particular to those topics that relate to gender identity and roles, as well as the different misconceptions that the audience may have in real life situations regarding their state of confusion in gender issues. ... w its audience deeper into the pertinent gender issues at hand that pertain to the film in review, as it offers a form of middle ground between the positive and negative aspects of gender issues. This is particularly in providing an opportunity for the viewer to associate his or her own life experiences with the film, this is Evidence to support this lies in the depiction of the opening scene, where the main character, 7-year-old Ludovic, who is a boy walks in dressed fully as a girl (Riding, 1997). The language used to highlight this is devoid of any form of ridicule that would be evident in other films offering opinion on the film and the reversal of gender roles, as well as the state of confusion in the boy’s state of identity in relation to what gender he belongs (Zucker and Bradley, 2005). The further highlight and attention paid to the reaction of adults with a subtle sense of neutrality towards Ludovic by the author shows genuine concern in that a sense of confusion is to be expected and that it is natural. This is especially so with the depiction of the state of seriousness that Ludovic expresses after the adults laugh. This shows a profound sense of confusion in gender roles and who is expected to do what in society, especially when it comes to dress codes and a strict following of social norms. With this in mind, the film’s language does not bear negativity, but instead offers a form of understanding in that film should act as a place through which gender problems in society can be aired. The film goes ahead to indicate that which happens in life, where representation of gender in film is brought out as one in which social norms pertaining to gender must be followed and carried out in every aspect of film. Evidence supporting this can be found in the part

Reputation and talent Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reputation and talent - Essay Example The negative media coverage creates bad publicity and inadequate talent development. Reputation and talent management ensures solutions to these labor challenges. As a potential Human Resource manager for the company, I have developed strategies that ensure effective and efficient management of talent and reputation in the company. Implementation of the strategies will be discussed during the meeting with the CEO of Foxconn, Terry Guo. Talent management is significant in ensuring superior results, through employing, advancing and retaining effective talent. Corporate reputation means the general estimation of the organization by stakeholders, according to previous performance. Many companies view their reputation as the most significant asset. Reputation is very significant for knowledge-based corporations, handling information technology products, like Foxconn. The paper analyzes the recommendations of improving talent and reputation of the company. Superior talent management at Foxconn entails several issues. The staffs should understand the present and future strategic goals of the company. The understanding ensures proper realization of the goals. The company uses a highly effective recruitment and staff advancement processes. This ensures entry of competent individuals in the organization. Staff advancement opportunities include adequate promotion and training opportunities. The factors driving talent management at Foxconn are also very important. Better talent ensures superior performance of the company; hence increase in customer base and profitability. Talent enhances value creation at Foxconn. Value creation ensures production of superior technology products that exceeds customer expectations. Talent management is appropriate for companies in the increasingly complex and changing global market environment. The staffs should be trained on

The Ethics of Citibank Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Ethics of Citibank - Research Paper Example As a means of understanding the ethical ramifications of the collapse and the contributing factors that ultimately led up to it, the analysis will first delve into something of a historical analysis of the collapse so that the key decisions that Citibank made leading up to and just prior to the collapse can be understood within a broader appreciation for the means by which successive ethical oversights and dependency behavior created the perfect something of a perfect storm that has affected untold millions around the world and cost untold trillions in loss to the global economy. Moreover, it is the hope of this author that such an analysis will help the reader to not only come to an appreciation for ethical factors and the impacts that they can have but to create a sense of urgency within the mind of the reader to integrate with ethical decision making at each and every step of the business process. As such, the forthcoming analysis will break down the financial collapse and subsequ ent ethical oversights into two main sectors; those dealing with the ethical oversights that existed prior to the crash and contributed to the global financial meltdown (evidenced within Citibank), and those ethical oversights that took place after the crash and fundamentally concerned appropriation and disbursal of stimulus funding. Taking the more recent situation first, it can be noted that in excess of 220 billion USD was allocated to Citibank by the Federal government as a result of TARP. The initial reason for this allocation was of course the fact that the Federal government and key decision makers within the Federal Reserve felt that without TARP stimulus it would be highly possible that the poor investment structure of Citibank could lead to its collapse. Due to the fact that Citibank and others were labeled as â€Å"too big to fail†, it was determined that it was vitally necessary to transfer this massive amount of money from the taxpayers into the coffers of some of the largest financial institutions in the world. Not surprisingly, Citibank and others were none to alarmed with such a rapid increase in the overall level of money that they could leverage to meet their liabilities. Unfortunately, rather than leveraging this money and immediately doing a thorough audit of their firm to ensure that k ey standards were being met and no such situation as had been witnessed the following year could ever occur again, the key ethical oversight of merely continuing to conduct business as usual was witnessed. Certainly, it can be noted that Citibank and others met minimum federal requirements; however, a proactive stance in seeking to maximize their shareholders utility and minimize any potential and lingering levels of ethical oversights was not engaged. Moreover, it can also be noted that one of the first major managerial decisions that was made after the financial collapse and subsequent federal disbursal of bailout funds was with relation to liberal bonuses for many of the top leadership positions within Citibank. This serves as perhaps the most visible ethical oversight that this brief analysis will analyze. The news media soon picked up on this revelation and broadcast the names and actual bonus levels that many of these upper

The Internet and the Music Industry Essay Example for Free

The Internet and the Music Industry Essay The internet and the music industry are in a lot of conflict with each other due to the associated copyright and piracy issues.   Recorded music created by several artists can be accessed over the internet free of cost.   This has simply resulted in several changes as to the ways in which music is created and delivered.   The public has great access to the internet and is also a very convenient mean to help disseminate music.   However, copyright laws are an instrument which needs to be utilized more effectively to transmit music.    The main objective of copyright is to reward the creator for his/her work and make the work more accessible to customers, rather than to act as a hindrance to effective distribution of music.   However, with respect to copyright and the distribution of music over the internet, there are two issues or concerns:- There are issues regarding the cost of transactions and payment over the internet.   A single piece of work would involve two separate works which are individually copyright-protected.   This includes the musical work and the second includes the sound recording.   The musical work includes the musical notes and the words.   A sound recording on the other hand is the fixation of sound and could be a performance of a musical work.   When the recorded musical performance is transmitted over the internet, both the musical work and the sound recording are transmitted.   According to copyright laws, various rights and limitations are present with relation to musical work and sound recording.   This makes copyright issues application very difficult with relation to the internet. There may be several copyright exemptions and compulsory licenses given by the government for musical works.   This is to encourage dissemination of music.   However, using the internet to download music would mean that frequently the owners of the musical performance (including the musical work and the sound recording) are usually not contacted.   This makes the process of providing licenses and exemptions by the government as completely null and void.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The owner of the musical work and the sound recording would have certain rights to reproduction and public performance.   The owner of the musical work can:- Make copies or reproductions of the musical work Make licenses available to other parties Can give permission to public performance The owner of the sound recording can:- Make copies or reproductions of the sound recording Cannot provide compulsory licenses to other parties Limited right to public performance   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many people feel that copyrights are becoming more and more unenforceable due to the internet.   The internet has made imposing intellectual property rights very difficult indeed.   However, some other people feel that the law is unable to meet the demands of technology currently, and within a short period of time it would be able to control the flow of music over the internet.   The Napster case is a classical example of how technology can overcome copyright justification.   However, sooner or later there would be return addressed in some way.   In the Napster case, the service provider Napster had a web service that permitted music to be swapped.   People were able to connect to each other and share and distribute music.   Several music artists began to sue Napster for alleging infringing their copyrights by distributing their music illegally. However, Napster said that it was not storing the music files in its servers, but rather the music lovers were doing so.   Napster was merely acting as a connecting media between the peers, and was only encouraging peer-to-peer exchanges, rather than making an attempt to infringe the copyright of the artists.   Napster said that if it had a centralized structure and stored the music on a central server, it would be infringing upon the rights of the artists by encouraging illegal distribution of music.   The beginning of the digital age meant that copyrights began to be overlooked, disrespected and often abused. One of the landmark cases in this regard was the Sony Corporation case, which ensured that copying could be performed.   In this case, Sony Corporation developed the video cassette recorder and marketed its product.   Several parties who felt that Sony’s VCR would be infringing upon their copyright filed laws suits against the company alleging contributory infringement of their copyrights (Sony helped the people to enable copying of copyright protected videos).   However, Sony gave the justification that the VCR use was mainly for time shifting rather than infringing on the Copyrights of the artists.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Today there is very poor ethics and morals regarding the need to protect the copyrights of the true owners.   Greater amount of public awareness and educational processes need to be conducted to ensure that people are aware of the need to protect copyrights.   Internet service providers are not merely peer-to-peer distributers, but are acting as strong contributory infringers of copyrights.   The legal processes should be made more stringent to ensure that internet service providers do not develop the justifications to enable illegal and mass transfer of music over the internet.   Other people feel that technology could itself be utilized as a protective mechanism to help prevent privacy and illegal transmission of music over the internet. One of these mechanisms has been encryption, which effectively helps to encode and decode music whilst transferring it over the internet.   Hackers may not only be attacking websites and servers but also clients who store music on their systems.   Another technological device to help protect copyrights has been the Digital Rights management system (DRMS).   This system helps to permit only limit copying and any excessive copying would be prevented.    The user would also have to use a key in the form of a password to gain access to the system.   With time, more and more advanced systems are coming up which could help prevent excessive copying of music over the internet.   Other system that could help prevent piracy includes watermarking, permitting music listening on a pay basis, greater use of advertisements, etc.   THE WIPO to a certain extent has prevented excessive copying by developing a strong international policy and also ensuring proper enforcement of copyright laws in member nations.   Besides, music should be made more attractive to shop online.   The music artists should ensure stronger sale of adverstisements and shopping of music online. References: Reesem, R. (2001). Copyright and Internet Music Transmissions: Existing Law, Major Controversies, Possible Solutions, University of Miami Law Review, 55, 273. http://www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/treese/Miami_Fi.pdf Reesem, R. (2001). Copyright and Internet Music Transmissions: Existing Law, Major Controversies, Possible Solutions, University of Miami Law Review, 55, 273. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=276333 Long, M. (2000). FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT: Enforcing Copyright rules on the Web, Interative Week, 7(34),

Effectiveness of Health Management Program

Effectiveness of Health Management Program Abstract The purpose of this study is to determine if the SoonerCare health management program and its associated practice management program, in a rural family practice setting, is an effective program to decrease hospital admission, improve patient care, and is a financially viable system. Data was obtained through chart review of two clinics in Durant, Oklahoma. Durant is a town of just over 15,000 as of the 2010 census. Both clinics are considered rural family medicine clinics. Out of the 170 patients enrolled in the health management program 115 patients were included in the study. The Data showed that over a period of seven months there was a significant reduction of patients going to the hospital for admission. A reduction of 50% was demonstrated with a significant p-value of 0.025896. There was no significant reduction in the office visit rates seen over the same time period. Emergency room visits did decrease by seven percent over this time period, but this was not found to be statistically significant. This reduction correlates to a savings of $551 per patient per year enrolled in the program. The study concurs with the Pacific Health Policy Group that shows a significant cost savings to the state due to the SoonerCare health management program and with practice facilitation. With the decrease in hospital admissions and subsequently the cost savings to the state of Oklahoma this program is an efficient means to provide good health care to the SoonerCare population. Background The cost of health care to the nation, private and public, in 2013 was 2.8 trillion dollars (1). This constituted 18% of the GDP (1). The average cost of health care was 9.5% of GDP for industrialized countries (1). This puts the average cost per capita in the United States at $8,508 in 2013 (1). This is two and a half times the world average of $3,322 per capita in the industrialized world (1). Add to this the projected growth of health care to increase by 5.8% each year until 2022 (2). Total health care costs, in the United States, are expected to grow to 19.9% of the GDP by 2022(1). This could be tolerable if the outcomes correlated with cost but they don’t. The United States is currently ranked twenty sixth out of thirty four in the world for life expectancy, twelfth out of thirty two in heart attack fatalities, and twenty seventh out of twenty eight for unmanaged asthma(3). With the continued increase in health care costs and diminishing return on health care dollars the state of Oklahoma has instituted a health management program and included in this program is a practice management program. The practice management program consists of an in office nurse that is a personal health coach for patients qualified for the program. My concern for this program is whether the benefit of the program outweighs the administrative costs. The purpose of this study is to determine that in a rural family practice patient population does the use of a health coach improve the care of my patients and by extension decrease hospital admissions. My hypothesis is that the use of an in office health coach allows for better care, decreased hospital visits, and at the same time saves money for the state. Methods A 14 month chart review was performed over the 7 months after the installation of a health coach in both the Gastorf Family Clinic and Durant Family Medicine Clinic. The same time a year ago, in the involved clinics, the charts were also reviewed to take out seasonal bias. Charts were reviewed in office and at the local hospital for office visits, hospital admissions, and emergency department visits. No data were obtained regarding the reasons for the office visits, emergency room visits, or for the admitting diagnosis. Data and Results The total enrollment of patients in both the Gastorf Family Clinic and the Durant Family Medicine Clinic was 170 patients. Total of 55 patients were eliminated from the study. Of the 55 patients, 31 patients were eliminated from the study due to not being established with Durant Family Medicine Clinic prior to August 2012 or no longer a patient of the involved clinics after the start of the study. Another 22 patient were eliminated from the study due to not being established with Gastorf Family Clinic prior to August 2012 or no longer being a patient after the start of the study. 2 patients enrolled in the health management system did not have any records in either of the clinics. Total patients used for the study was 115 patients. The average age of patients was 42.8. The distribution of patients in the study was 30.4% male and 69.6 % female. The Durant Family Medicine Clinic had 44 patients or 38.3% of the participants in the study. Gastorf Family Clinic had 71 patients or 61.7% of the participants in the study. The study evaluated inpatient and outpatient data from August 2012 through February 2013 and August 2013 through February 2014. These dates were determined due to the start of the practice management program was in August 2013. The August 2012 to February 2013 dates were used for comparison, in an attempt to negate seasonal admission changes. Data was obtained from a chart review at both involved clinics. Upon discovery of those patients who qualified, with continued care through the study time period, a hospital chart analysis was performed. Data was obtained from the local regional medical center in regards to emergency room visits, hospital admits, and total hospital days. Office Visits Emergency Visits Hospital Admits Pre-study 605 81 14 Study 617 75 7 p-value 0.371 0.317 0.026 Analysis of the data showed a 50% reduction in the number of individuals who were admitted to the hospital at least once in the same time period over 7 months. A one-tail paired t-test was performed and demonstrated a significant result with a p-value of p=0.026. The International Federation of Health Plans 2013 Comparative Price report shows that the average cost per hospital day in the United States is $4,293 (4). Based on evaluation of emergency room visits and hospital costs per day, this program saved about $63,387 over a seven month period for a total of 115 patients enrolled in the study. That is a savings of $551 over a years’ time per patient. Study did not show any significance with regards to a decrease in office visits and emergency room visits. There was an absolute difference of 6 emergency department visits or decrease of 7.4%. Discussion What are the cost savings if we extrapolated the results to the entire SoonerCare population? The current enrollment of Oklahoma SoonerCare as of the end of December 2013 was 555,436 (5). The annual budget of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority is over 5.3 billion dollars with 4.7 billion going towards Medicaid payments (6). If you use the results of the study with the total SoonerCare enrollment the savings would be $306 million dollars. The value of $306 million is overstated due to may issue. The extrapolation this number is unfair and inaccurate. The program as stated is for those patients with chronic conditions that are at risk, or potentially at high risk. This is but a minority portion of the SoonerCare population, which I will discuss below. The other issue is the population size of the study. This study included less than 0.03% of the total SoonerCare population. To extrapolate any data from that small sample size is fraught with inaccuracies. That being said, this study did show a significant decrease in hospital stays for the population involved in the study. Why is there so much focus on reducing cost associated with patients with chronic conditions? A 2010 report by the Agency for Health care Research and Quality found that the top 1 percent of patients ranked based on health care expenses amassed 21.4 percent of the total health care cost (7). The annual cost for these patients was estimated to be $87,570 per year per person (7). They also found that the top 50% of health associated expenders correlated to 97.2% of all health care dollars (7). Further analysis of this study also showed that those patients with four or more chronic conditions are responsible for 29.7% of health care expenditures (7). Who is enrolled in the SoonerCare health management program? Those members with, or at risk for developing chronic disease and are high risk for adverse outcomes and increase likelihood of a health care crisis. By addressing those with multiple chronic medical conditions you are addressing the most concentrated cost centers and will get the best return on investment of health care expenditures. This has been shown through analysis of the SoonerCare health management program. Currently there is over five thousand patients enrolled in the program (8). What is the cost of the program in relations to the cost savings? Study done by the Pacific Health Policy Group has shown that the SoonerCare health management program had an aggregated savings of $214 million for the 2013 fiscal year (9). The Practice facilitation component was shown to decrease the cost per patient from $678 down to $634 including the administrative costs of the program (9). In the same study it was found that the total cost of the program and administrative costs was $32 million (9). When taken from the overall medical savings it showed a return on investment of 562% (9). The SoonerCare health management program saved $5.62 for every dollar spent on the program. So what about patient care? The Study from the Pacific Health Policy Group did show of the 21 clinical performance measures 16 showed increased compliance with standards and of those 11 were statistically significant (9). This study showed the most significant improvements in the area of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes and hypertension (9). So do clinical performance measures correlate with patient outcome improvement? First health care professionals need information on performance to develop quality care that is also efficient (10). This is where the diagnostic specific measures fit in. The new PQRS standards for Medicare for 2014 there are 287 separate diagnostic measures over 25 groups. The scope of this research was not to address the specific patient care outcomes, but in a retrospective review of each of the clinic’s clinical performance measures before and after the institution of this program did show increase compliance with c linical performance measures being studied in the clinics. So what is the practice management program? It involves a health coach, which is a RN, to assist primary care practices in building a high quality care delivery processes through evaluation and coaching patients with chronic medical conditions, to oversee data capture to identify gaps in care delivery, implement and teach quality improvement methods to close gaps and improve the practice’s ability to effectively manage its patients population through data analysis and process design. Through the SoonerCare health management program patient receive the following services in table 1 (11). Through the practice facilitation portion of the program the patients receive the following services in table 2 (12). Conclusions There were many limitations to this study. As mentioned above, this study was a very small population compared to the affected group. The study only reviewed seven months before and seven months after the start of the program. As with any study group local effect must be accounted for. A larger study with multiple clinics in different locations throughout the state would give a more reliable result. An example of this study was performed by the Pacific Health Policy Group, which showed similar results to this study. In conclusion, in the practices involved in the study, it was shown that there was a significant decrease in hospital visits with the use of an in office health coach and the SoonerCare health management program. A significant financial benefit for the state with the SoonerCare health management program was also seen with a cost savings of $551 per patient per year. This study did not address specific diagnostic measures, but with decreased hospital admissions an assumption can be made in regards to improved patient care. Also in retrospective review of clinical outcome measures did show improvement in both clinics after the institution of the SoonerCare health management program.

Is genesis discriminatory towards women?

Is genesis discriminatory towards women? Is Genesis 1-3 Discriminatory Towards Women? The first six chapters of Genesis are about the creation of the universe and the beginnings of humanity. Perhaps more than any other biblical story, those which make up the book of Genesis are considered to embody cultural, religious, and political symbols. Thus, Genesis is significant to this day because it is an etiological text. In particular, the story of Adam and Eve is essential in understanding gender roles and differences today. Discussing the relationship between Adam and Eve and the creation of the two figures by God often brings about controversy. It is obvious that the Bible, in particular chapters 1-6 of Genesis, has an abundance of examples where sexism towards women exists; however, some may interpret these examples with different meaning. Phyllis Trible, for instance, rejects the notion that Eve is an inferior or dependent being, but is rather the culmination of creation. These two opposite views are so frequently argued because Eve represents the fundamental characte r and identity of all women today. By examining the instances in Genesis which, to some, are seen as sexist, one can understand the reasoning behind gender role differences. The notion that women are the inferior sex originates in the Bible at the very beginning. It is in the creation story itself where controversy arises over gender equality. In Genesis 1:26-7, it appears as though equality between the sexes exists: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. The statement male and female created he them denotes equality because both sexes were established at the beginning; however, we later learn that God did not create them at the same time nor did he create them in the same way. Because Adam, representative of all men, was created first, Eve and all women alike, are viewed as the second sex. The order in which God created humankind is significant because it stresses the primacy of man and his superiority while emphasizing that women play a subordinate role. Does this mean that God favors man and intended for this set-up of gender roles? Phyllis Trible writes on this topic in her book, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality. While many see the book of Genesis as a patriarchal text, proclaiming male superiority and female inferiority as the will of God, Tribles interpretation of Genesis offers a different perspective. She argues that the traditional interpretations of male superiority and female inferiority are inaccurate and they fail to respect the integrity of this work as an interlocking structure of words and motifs with its own intrinsic value and meaning. In short, these ideas violate the rhetoric of the story (73). The way in which Trible argues against the traditional view of the book of Genesis is quite interesting. She is realistic and does not disagree with the fact that the texts are sexist; rather, she states that the Bible is patriarchal and that the literature comes from a male-dominated society. Her point of view is fair; she does not reject the obvious notion that sexism exists in Genesis. She adds that the intention of the Bible is not to create nor perpetuate patriarchy but rather to f unction as salvation for both women and men (73). Trible believes that the Bible is commonly seen as sexist because of the challenge readers face in being able to translate biblical faith without sexism. Chapters one through three contain five points which are the most argumentative in all of Genesis. While there are interpretations for each point that take the sexist approach, Phyllis Trible challenges these interpretations by construing them as non-sexist. The first of these argumentative points that appears in Genesis is the creation of humankind. When God creates humankind he says, Let us make man in our image, after our likenessSo God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (Gen:26-27). Earlier I mentioned how it appears as if God is equally creating the male and female sexes-he creates them in his own image, blesses them, and says unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earthand have dominion overevery living thing that moveth upon earth(Gen:27). At this point-before Adam and Eve are created-the notion that God created the sexes equally is mostly indisputable; however, once we get to the creation of Adam and Eve, controversy arises. The mere fact that God creates Adam first and Eve second implies that the male sex is of greater significance because in general, first means superior and last means inferior. Trible argues against this interpretation by focusing on the language of the text. She notes that the singular word humankind, shows that male and female are not opposite but rather harmonious sexesFrom the beginning, the word humankind is synonymous with the phrase male and female, though the components of this phrase are not synonymous with each other (18). This point can be argued because in some versions of the Bible, the word humankind is replaced with man, which clearly denotes male dominance. She concludes her argument by stating, Thus, the vocabulary of humanity in the poem disallows interpretations of the sexes as either antonyms or synonyms. It recognizes distinction within harmony (18). I find this argument to be weak because actions speak louder than words. The way in w hich something is written and the pronouns used are not half as important as what actually happens. For example, the way in which God creates Adam and Eve goes above and beyond to support the notion that the male sex was created superior. When God created Adam, He formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Gen 2:7). Adams creation is extraordinary and required God to use His divine power to form this being. On the other hand, Eves creation is less significant: the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribsand made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man (Gen 2:21-3). The means by which Eve was created is enough to be extremely suggestive that the woman is inferior to man. To begin with, Eve is a derivative of Adam. She is literally created from the rib (a very small part) of Adam, and thus is dependent on him for life. The words she was taken out of Man emphasize this point and indicate that Eve will occupy a place secondary to Adam. There is no suggestion here that woman mi ght be superior or even equal to man after reading this passage. While it is impossible to argue with the written words that woman was taken from mans rib, Trible challenges the interpretation that man was responsible for womans creation. She states that human life is Gods gift; it is not possession (81). She believes that for both man and woman, creation is an act of God and that when the man says bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh he is not implying that she is derived from him or subordinate to him. Rather, he is saying that he shares equally with the woman the dust of the ground and the origin of their lives. If the order in which man and woman came to life and the means by which they were created are not enough to convince you that Genesis is a sexist text, then perhaps we should observe the reason why woman was created in the first place. After putting man on earth, God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him (Gen 2:18). It is only then that God formed every living creature and subsequently woman is created. When God created Adam, He gave him a purpose on earth and tasks to fulfill: The Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it (Gen 2:15). Additionally, Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him (Gen:20). It is only at this point-after Adam accomplished his tasks such as naming the creatures of the earth-that Eve is created. Thus, it is obvious that woman is created for the sake of man, merely t o cure his loneliness. Trible argues this notion that Eve was created for the sole purpose of being Adams helper by discussing the translation of the Hebrew text: The Hebrew word ezer, rendered here as companion, has been traditionally translated as helper-a translation that is totally misleading because the English word helper suggests an assistant, a subordinate, indeed, an inferior, while the Hebrew word ezer carries no such connotation (90). Tribles argument is interesting because one would never know this fact by just reading the King James Version of the Bible. However, I still find that even if Eve were a companion she would still be subordinate to Adam because of her role on earth. If it hadnt been for Adams existence (and loneliness), Eve would never have been created; thus, she is produced for the sake of man. The fourth point I found to be one of the most argumentative in all of Genesis is the naming of Woman. The fact that man names her clearly signifies that he has power over her, which in turn extends to universal male authority. Adam has just finished naming all the other creatures on earth after God brought them unto [him] to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof (Gen 2:19). Immediately after Adam names the creatures, he names the woman: she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of Man, (Gen 2:23). The scene where Adam names Eve demonstrates his authority over her in a way similar to that by which he named the animals. While I feel it is obvious that man named woman in this scene, Phyllis Trible rejects this entire notion. Just as she did with the arguments regarding the order in which humankind was created and the purpose for Eves existence, Trible focuses on the language of the text to support her argumen t. zeroes in on the wording of the text: she shall be called woman (Gen 2:23). She believes that this does not imply Adam specifically named her, but rather she was to simply be called Woman. She explains that the verb call by itself does not mean naming; only when joined to the noun name does it become part of a naming formulaHence, in calling the woman, the man is not establishing power over her but rejoicing in their mutuality (100). I consider this argument to be particularly weak because she unreasonably discards this scene and generalizes that in order for the man to have named the woman, the wording in the text must be altered. While Trible focuses on the rhetoric, I feel that it is not the wording that is so essential to the text but rather the point that gets across. The final point that is necessary to discuss in order to fully understand why the Bible is a sexist text is the notion that women are considered to be responsible for the sin in the world. This belief is a result of the story of the Garden of Eden. When Eve is tempted to eat the forbidden fruit and in turn, tempts her husband to eat it as well, fault is placed on Eve and she is portrayed as the cause of humanitys fall. Both Adam and Eve are punished by God; however, Eves punishment is more severe than Adams: I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee (Gen 3:16). Eve is held responsible for the fall of humanity despite Adams free will; even though he listened to his wife and ate the forbidden fruit, he was not forced to do so. Obedience is the act of a choice. Why is it that, even though Adam and Eve committed the same crime, Eve is punished with pain during child birth and submission to her husband? This can only be explained by the fact that male authority is favored in this misogynist text. However, some, such as Trible beg to differ. She believes that, because God curses the serpent (cursed are you) and the man (cursed is the earth because of you) and not the woman anywhere else in the story, any claim that Yahwehs judgement upon her is the most severe of the three falters at this very point (126). Additionally, she states that at the same time, the lack of a curse does not mean that she is less responsible than either the serpent or the man-or that she is less a human being than the man (126). Trible considers Eves punishment to be equal to Adams and that they are both held accountable for eating the forbidden fruit: At their trial, the questions of God made clear their individual accountability; similarly, their confessions, although given separately, indicated mutual responsibility. Thus in judgement the woman is neither more nor less responsible than man (127). If Tribles perspective is valid, then how can we explain the reasoning behind Eves subordinate role to Adam? The answer is we cannot; it takes a perception such as that of Trible to understand the text in a non-sexist way. By recalling the five scenes I mentioned from Genesis, it is likely that one will perceive them to be obviously misogynistic. However, in order to find the significance behind these scenes, one must relate them to how they affect us now. It is easy to draw parallels between Eve and modern day women due to problems concerning gender equality. Eve is representative of all women because she symbolizes the origin of female inferiority. Although feminist efforts are becoming more and more successful in equalizing gender roles, there has long been discrimination towards the female sex. Not only in the workplace and at home, but the reputation of women has been seen as inferior to that of men. Now that we have analyzed a few crucial points in Genesis, we can draw conclusions as to where and why female inferiority began. Works Cited: The Holy Bible, King James Version. New York: Penguin Group, 1974. Trible, Phyllis. God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality. Philadephia: Fortress Press, 1978.

The United States and Assault Rifles Essay -- gun control

The United States of America was founded on laws to stop a single person from ruling the country. These laws were later known as the Bill of Rights, which lists every living person’s rights. On this Bill of Rights is what is know as the Second Amendment which gives United States citizens the right to bear arms. Over the years this amendment has been questioned by the government on how it affects the safety of citizens. Safety is important and the new high-capacity magazines could be a true threat to America's safety. As big of a threat as they may seem, assault rifles are not the first major weapon to wreak havoc on the citizens of the United States. If we take a time machine back in time, we can see that when there are weapons crimes can happen. The greatest example of weapons being a threat on the United States would be the lever-action weapons. These weapons had pre-made firing cartridge that fired faster than the common musket. These new rifles were developed and mass produced during the American Civil War. The lever action rifle was more accurate and could shoot two hundred yards further than the standard smoothbore Model 1842. This made the Henry lever action rifles some of the most feared rifles in its era. Now, no mass shootings were recorded using a rifle like this, on civilians that is, but it has been used in some of the biggest and bloodiest battles in the American Civil War.(Pritchard, Russ A. Civil War Weapons and Equipment. Globe Pequot, 2003.). The United States used these n ew fast firing rifles to completely annihilate one another in the Civil War, but the Henry Lever action rifle was just the beginning of the fast firing rifle systems. As the world began to evolve it became clear that the need for b... ...an people. This right should not be taken away or altered like it has been, but it should be tweaked so that it is harder to own a military style rifle. It is a hard choice to make but one is needed now. No longer can the United States allow mentally unstable citizens own guns that our soldiers fight with. This is a topic that undergoes far more discussion than any other subject when it comes to the safety of the people, yet there is still no answer. Works Cited 1. Pritchard, Russ A. Civil War Weapons and Equipment. Globe Pequot, 2003. 2. "United States M16 Assault Rifle." armed forces history museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2014. . 3. "United States Senator Dianne Feinstein." Assault Weapons -. N.p., 5 Dec. 2012. Web. 3 May 2014. .

Glass Ceiling :: essays research papers

Glass Ceiling Women hold just 9 per cent of executive positions in Australia – Candy Tymson Gender Differences It is commonly argued that female and males are very different with respect to their personal characteristics, such as motivational issues and experience. (Liebermale, 2002) Even when female and males have the same characteristics, there is still some difference with respect to their behaviour and the outcome of their activities. Men recognize that what they say to a female is either heard or reacted to differently than expected. Men find themselves thinking carefully about how to approach an issue or how to speak, thereby removing rapport building from the relationship with a female. Because female are more relationship oriented, they tend to lead by consensus. Men tend to be more hierarchical and include only the people closest to them at their level in the decision making process. When females have to make a decision they will often process and look at options out loud while men tend to process internally until they come up with a solution. Females often think that the male is being unresponsive to suggestions because of this and men often think that females are looking for approval when they process out loud or that they don't know what they are doing. Some men think that a female's way of processing is a sign of weakness. Communication Styles. In non-verbal behaviour females will nod their head to show that they are listening. Men leave the conversation thinking that a head nod means agreement and will be surprised to find out that the female didn't agree at all. When a female is speaking to a male and he does not say anything and stays in a neutral body language to show that he is listening, a female will interpret that as the male being bored or not understanding what she is saying.