Laputa, Castle In The Sky Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Laputa, Castle In The Sky - Essay Example â€Å"Laputa- Castle in the Sky† was enthused by â€Å"Gulliver's Travels† by Jonathan Swift. The film is the first one that came from Japanese animation thrust Studio Ghibli. It was also the third major film produced by its master Hayao Miyazaki. Young Pazu lives in a charming mountain town. He is a worker in a coal mine that is located in the mountain. One day as he carried on with his daily activities, an unconscious girl fell from the sky and landed on his arms, to his amazement. Sheeta was being chased by several people who wanted her for interrogation thinking that she was connected to the secret of Laputa, castle in the sky. These people comprised of a group of military, pirates and some government officials. They followed her because of the blue crystal that was tied on her neck. This crystal made her almost weightless and allowed her to fly in to the sky without much effort (Books, Macias & Aoyama, 2003). Pazu carried her into his house. They did not take long before they became acquainted. However, their stay at Pazu’s house was short-lived because after a short time, the bad people who were in search of her showed up at Pazu's doorstep wanting to arrest Sheeta and take the crystal that was tied around her neck. Pazu could not allow them take Sheeta and the crystal. Therefore, he helps her escape with him. The people who wanted to capture Sheeta did not give up. They chased them across the mountains, through the mines and into the air. The escape helps the audience understand the flying castle of Laputa and the fact that Sheeta knows more information about it than she reveals. Laputa follows Pazu and Sheeta who fly in a floating castle in the sky. On the other hand, the family of pirates and the military personnel follow them using an aircraft that flies through a steam-powered engine (Beck, 2005). Hayao Miyazaki tells the story through the beauty of the animation. He uses a design that is phenomenal and constructs mechanical cont raptions that fly. The landscapes where the chase occurs have been developed with a magical touch that gives the film beautiful environments where the action occurs. The scenes are painted using deep earthly colors that fill up the large spaces that follow the action. The action happens without stopping from the very beginning through the whole film to its final stages. Despite the fact that the film features a lot of action that constantly occupies the screen, Laputa, castle in the sky, features quieter moments that have strong characterization and diverse humor. This is achieved through the use of fully fleshed-out back stories and motives that are created from the adventurous ways of the characters. For instance, the family of pirates is handled in a way that depicts them as simple caricatures. Their domineering mother is given best dramatic scenes that bring out her character as a pantomime villain that, in turn, develops into a full-fledged protagonist (Cavallaro, 2006). As the story develops, the audience is led to a switch that occurs between opposites. It happens in a rather fulfilling manner. At one time, the audience is led to scenes where Pazu and Sheeta find themselves as partners in an unlikely situation characterized by a shady bunch. Pazu takes the duty of ensuring that the enemies do not get them by surprise by constantly paying attention to what happens in the crow’

Futuristic Theory in Designs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Futuristic Theory in Designs - Essay Example The future of technology is still promising. Futurologists have used designs to predict today’s impossibility that may become a reality tomorrow. The challenges and problems are many and require people to think beyond the current situation. Given that the problems can be predicted, designs can be used to predict the preferable solutions and alternatives for future problems.   The Foragers, Stop and Scan, Afterlife and EM Listeners will be the designs that will be analysed in the paper. The four designs are a representative of four significant concerns: the state of food security when the globe is overpopulated as represented by Foragers, dilemma of insecurity posed by terrorism as represented by Stop and Scan and EM Listeners. Finally, Afterlife is meant to be used domestically when euthanasia will become so common that it will be allowed in private homes for personal use. The designers in these projects are concerned with the expressive, functional, and communicative possibilities of the emerging technologies as well as the ethical consequences of the technology in social and cultural milieu. The designs, which are presented in photographic forms, are not predictive. They are meant to pose the question, â€Å"what if?† The designs create, imagine, dream and speculate on the technology that can mediate the world preferred by the people. As it will be seen, Dunne and Raby designs classified under the banner â€Å"between reality and the impossible† are a reflection of the complex and troubled people who are ready to explore solutions to the future challenges. The essay will argue that these designs are worth critical consideration and are a wake call by the designers to the concerned stakeholders to see the possibility and or impossibility of the projects and act before it is too late. The essay will propose that more critical designs are supposed to be created considering the technological future of the world. One such design is the one that could predict the future when the resources are completely depleted and the people turn to the unimaginable polythene materials for food. The theory about the future Between Reality and Impossible is a series of designs that Dunne and Raby made and were exhibited at the international design biennial in Saint Etienne (Regine 1). The designers also produced three dimensional designs that have been used to comment on the pressing issues about the development and growth of mankind. As speculative designs, the selected pieces heighten the experiences of the viewers to understand future themes. They depict four different scenarios that speculate on four pressing issues in the globalised society.The future is said to be unpredictable time period after the present, but is can be foreseen based on the present situations (Gaddis 56). The occurrence of the future is inevitable because time and other laws of physics exist. The resulting inevitability of the future has prompted the present to classify existence into permanent, temporary, and eternity (Gaddis 56). Permanence refers to that existence that will see the whole of the future while temporary is designated to the existence that will come to an end. The study of future or futurology has been stressed by modern practitioners, especially the emphasis of the prediction of an alternative future that is probable and p referable. Future has been explored through art, cultural practices, designs and other ways. For example, there was a futurism movement during the early 20th century that explored most media of art such as sculptures, theatre, music, architecture, and painting among others for their predictability. During this time, futurists were highly interested in the ideas of the future and were not held captive by the issues of past.

Effective approaches in leadership and management Essay Example for Free

Effective approaches in leadership and management Essay Healing hospital paradigm represent the whole health care system which mainly focus on the whole recovery of the body mentally physically and spiritualy.The traditional style of cure model is only to eradicate the disease. But in the case of healing health it mainly focus on the total wellness of the entire body by addressing the patients emotional and spiritual needs.There are three major important elements in the hospital paradigm.They are loving care healthy healing surroundings and the technology. In this paper we are going to discuss the elements and challenges of the healing hospital when we implement the healing environment. Components of the healing hospital Patients curing environment is the most highlighting element of the healing hospital paradigm.It always concentrate on the care of the patient, the atmosphere of the hospital while on treatment (Samueli Institute ,2010).In the case of healing hospital paradigm it is not only restricted on the patient’s treatment or the diagnostic procedure nor the medicine but also it consider the patient’s health care person or the care giver or even the family members in the progression of cure.This theory is based on the knowledge that a patient’s full recovery connect with the patient’s emotional and spiritual well beingness.Healing hospital paradigm states if a whole person is to be okay it needs to be his physical body and all its parts ,the mind and the spirit must be healthy.Therefor healing hospital perception , the treatment of a patient is with compassion and a culture of concern and fundamental loving. Under healing hospital paradigm, health care practioners have to support physical wellness as well as the mental health of the patient instead of only taking care of the treatment of the illness or disease(Baptist healing trust).It is important to prepare the patient mentally to receive the treatment. Health practioners need not only show their skills in the treatment but also have to show their ability to deliver their loving care and make extra step to make the patient feel more better(Samueli Institute ,2010).Showing compassion to the patient is also a way of meeting their needs of mental and spiritual needs. Healing physical environment is the second element of the healing hospital paradigm.It clearly says the physical environment is very important for the healing process of a patient(Samueli Institute 2010).Rest is very important in the healing process. A hospital environment supposed to be very calm and quiet in order to make the patient feel better.Eventhough the hospital are provided information about keeping silence inside the hospital ,many of the hospital surroundings are characterized by noisy environment with the nurses spectra link phones,pagers,and nurses conversations. On the top of that family and relative gatherings in the corridors of the hospitals. These challenges always a matter for the entire patients recovery. Most hospital are facing these challenging situations and cannot make a comfortable stay of the patient. The healing paradigm came up with some suggestions which includes providing an relaxing environment by the hospital that improves the service level of the hospital and improve the patients satisfaction. Entertainment program for the patient and decent meals also provides greater satisfaction to the patient. Work design and the technology is the third component of the healing hospital paradigm. Healing hospital has to have a well advanced work design which help the health professional to deliver quality care.(Samueli Institute 2010).Healing has the technologies which aid the patient to have competent service,confidence,cost effective, and confidentiality in their treatment. Patient get satisfied with these psychological needs and which proceed to have a fast recovery from their disease. Healing hospital participate with the patient with their advanced technologies and design to meet such needs. The modern technology and design helps the health practioners to work without difficulty and provide better care that can proceed to an effective healing development to the patient. Challenges involved in implementing a healing environment There are number of challenges to implement the noble concept of healing hospital in the traditional hospital settings.One of the main challenges to implement the noble concept of the healing hospital in the traditional hospital is to do with the finances(Geffin,2004).To provide the healing environment need a huge amount of investment.To provide the advance technology ,recruitment of the skilled people and their training need a big amount of money. Requirement of investment in facilities and technology is necessary to make sure that the hospital physical environment has been incorporated with the healing process. Also it is very important have a terms of mind set ,ability and culture of medical practioners in order to provide a devoted and sympathetic care in regards the requirement of the hospital healing paradigm.It must be a discouraging job for the traditional hospital authorities to accept such expensive projects. One of the other main challenges to implement the healing concept is the legal problems. Hospitals must have already many legal challenges including higher rate of court cases and problems with the insurance. Since this perception is not yet fully activated in the health care the healing concept also may attract the people to file court cases.One of the challenges in these concept is the current employ organizations. The current system treat the employees in a graded system. But the healing hospital system treats all the employees equal. There are philosophical challenges also can see in this. The treatment model is exactly different in the old traditional style .They only focus on eliminating the disease by using the scientific methods and procedures. But the healing hospital always give importance to physical mental and spiritual needs of the patients. This type of treatment based on the patients beliefs and values. Conclusion Holistic approach to the health care is the main element in the healing hospital paradigm.It is a concept of entire wellbeing of a patient. Not only curing or treating the disease but also taking care of the entire physical as well as emotional and spiritual needs of the body by using healing physical environment and high advanced work design and technology. There are challenges to bring this in to live .This assignment discussed about the elements of healing concept and its challenges to bring into practice. View as multi-pages

Performance Management Initiative

Performance Management Initiative Significance of Performance Management Initiatives It is known that the performance management is having importance for the both, the employers and the employees. In relevance, employers having the implementation of the performance management system results in having the adequate understanding regarding the effectiveness of the employees contribution to the achievement of the organizational objectives. Kuvaas, Dysvik, Buch (2014), stated that the presence of the effective performance management system enables the HR managers to evaluate the levels of the employee contribution, based on which the changes are considered, either through training and learning development, or analyzing the gaps, in the performances, which can be filled with motivational practices. The integration of the performance management initiatives is perceived as the influential practice. It is mainly because the presence of either of the initiatives reflects the presence of the transparency in the working environment for the employees and the organization contrib ution for their betterment and increasing their value, serves as the motivational attributes Belogolovsky Bamberger (2014). Therefore, through employee performance management, the organizations not only sustain the employees productivity but also structure the directional paths for their future growth. Performance Management System and the Initiatives In concerned with the MiningCo, isolated location and circumstances of working, also involving the frequent traveling, will consecutively result in the de-motivation of the employees or might result in growing number of the employee quitting, overall resulting in the decrease of the organizational productivity. Thus, it is perceived that MiningCo is having the critical need for implementing the performance management and initiative program. According to He, Zhu, Zheng (2014), in order to achieve the superior organizational performance, the major role is played by the employee engagement and devotion, towards the task performance. Therefore, the presence of the performance management system will support in improving the employee productivity, which is reflected in the outcome generated. Also, the improvement of the employee morale, which is built through time to time performance feedback and appraisals, or the rewards employees received based on their contributions. It is also percei ved that the consideration of the performance initiatives, also effectively contributes to the retention of the loyal and skillful employees, efficient for the mining operations, resulting in the increased profitability. Further, the performance management in the isolated mining location can also be sustained through the effective communication. Pulakos, et al (2015), explained that the performance management is a significant communication, which occurs between the managers and the employees, arriving together at the objective point, through engaging the participative behavior. It is perceived that in order to sustain the morale of the employees participative leadership will be required, which indulges motivational gains, through welcoming the inputs of the employees in the decision-making levels. Further, in accordance with the Maslows Hierarchy of Needs theory and pyramid, the presence of the participative communication among the managers, achieves the belongingness and the love s tage (Jerome 2013). However, perceiving the criticality and distinctiveness of the human behaviors, the major issue is that all the employees are not having the similar intrinsic or extrinsic motivational grounds (Ajmal et al. 2015). The level of the physiological needs, such as the water, food, shelter, etc are often covered through the income distribution, but in the case of retention and achieving the strengths for the future growth additional initiatives are significant, while taking into account the employee behavior identification and understanding is mandatory. Hence, it is perceived that apart from the positive feedback, effective communication, and participative leadership, employees working at the isolated mining location, also requires the achievement of the safety and security, the self-esteem development, and the self-actualization levels. Iverson Zatzick (2011), asserted the frequent feedback from the manager within teamwork, delivers the perception to the employees of being valued, consi dered as the morale-raising investment. Moreover, either the intangible or the tangible, such as the appreciations through certificates, medals, or the financial rewards, also develops the valuable perspective for the employees, motivating them to invest more of their hidden and polished skills. However, considering the critical work description in the mining field, the employees might prefer the financial incentive, as the major motivational initiative. Belogolovsky Bamberger (2014), based on the financial incentives, suggested the use of the direct cash bonuses, medical insurances, or the initiation of the retirement plan, or the profit sharing plans, which provides the employees with the future stability. However, it is critiqued that the financial initiatives only work, when combined with the verbal appreciation and the recognition value. Recommendations Under the developed perspectives, generated through the theoretical implications and based on the practical environment analysis of the working at the isolated mining location, it is recommended that the location requires the integration of the motivational performance management system. It is because of the frequent traveling and the criticality of working in the mining fields results in the stressful conditions, which might decrease the intrinsic motivational circumstances of the employees, resulting in increased efforts to be invested in the employee retentions. Further, in regards to the performance initiatives, it significant to sustain the employee interest, based on which the financial initiatives, such as the quarterly or the annual bonuses, the medical insurance, profit sharing or the retirement plan is highly required. The major rationale behind the integration of these initiatives is to enhance the employee morale, through maintaining their intrinsic and extrinsic motivati onal factors, which is supportive for the organization productivity. It is mainly beneficial for the organizational performance, while on the other hand, it will not only enhance the employees skills and their future career growth but will also support in positive decision making for moving forward. Case Two: Staff Rotation Retention Issues Criticality in Single Entity Operations Leisenring et al (2012), defined single entity business operations, as the separate out departments, subsidiaries, or any of the business unit, for which the financial information is reported to the parent company and to the operational legal agencies. However, in the current era, in which the businesses are widely expanded, the single entity exposed to the major issues of external threats, and requires, adequate environmental management. The similar are the circumstances, reflected by the provided case. Iossa Martimort (2012), explained the rationale behind corporate perceiving the use of single entity operations, stating that through the single entity business structure, the risk allocations are effective, the operation costs remain low, and also include certain legal benefits. Nevertheless, in relevance to the Economic Theory, it is also reflected that the engaging of the single entity, in the present initiates the controlling and decision-making issues, for the managers; while o n the other hand, it makes the responsibilities of the managers, difficult for protecting the business assets (Foss, Foss, Nell 2012); (Ellis 2016). Therefore, it is perceived that although having certain benefits, the single entity business operations are comparatively having the critical issues, such as the protection of the operations and the business assets, the control management, the less staff rotation, and the criticality of decision making. Under similar consequences, the single entity operations at the isolated locations are also having the external threats, which are pressurizing the internal management of the skilled workers. The major issue at the MiningCo. single entity regions is the presence of the limited number of employees, which is mostly managed through the number of fly-in and fly-out, however, overall increasing the complexity in the staff rotations. Further, another complication is the growing exposure to the terrorist threats, such as the presence of the ISIS in the Middle East regions. In addition, the economic crisis of Greece, are further acting as the major de-motivational consequences, which are potentially provoking the senior executives to quit from the company. Altogether, for the MiningCo, it will create the drastic impact, as the continuous threatening will result in the inefficient decision making, loss of the control, and the emergence of the retention complexities. Nevertheless, under such c ritical circumstances, the corporate is not having the significant control on the external threat reductions, however, the motivational rationales and the employee retentions can be considered at the prior level. The Motivational Attributes Retention Policies Van De Voorde, Paauwe Van Veldhoven (2012), stated that the considering the significant concept of motivation is associated with the number of factors, which the companies considers and integrates, in order to either obtain the satisfactory levels of the organizational performances or in order to manage the critical issue occurred. It is evaluated that for integration of the motivational options, the development of the motivational strategies and its planning is critical, as the human behavior and understanding of the motivational aspects are distinctive. Further, if the company is previously having financial incentives, as the major motivational factor, the major issue will be satisfying the employees on the new motivational grounds (Kehoe Wright 2013). In the light of the Maslows Hierarchy of needs, the major issue at the MiningCo is related to the ineffective management at the isolated location, that is reflecting the absence of the physiological and the safety motivational fact ors, which are having the potential impact of the external threats and the absence of fundamental employee retention policies. Under such circumstances, the corporate can consider the initiation and distribution of the potential security plans, not only provide the monetary safety for the employees, such as the profitability share or the retirement plan but the environmental security, which can develop the perspective of working in the secure environment. In accordance to the Hawthorne Effect, the change in the physical working environment, such as through lightening effects, the safety and security systems, or the comfortable working and break hours, results in increased employee productivity (Miller Cockrell 2015). In addition, Twemlow (2012), revealed that generally in the economic crisis the leaders or the managers, get engaged with the one-sided focus, taking organizational pressures. However, it is more effective to actively engage with the employees, involving the support and feedback mechanism, which results in the positive impact on the employees, signifying the attribute of value, and hence, resulting in increased productivity. Similarly, perceiving the financial motivation critical during economic crisis, employees motivation and their retention can be practiced by rewarding the individual contributions, increasing the attribute of recognition in the working environment. Recommendations For the MiningCo, the two of the major issues, faced by the entity, mainly include the isolated workplace environment and the outside security threats. In order to overcome this, the recommended option is given in the light of the Maslows hierarchy of needs, whereby, the entity needs to focus on the physiological needs of employees. It is the second most important need of employees, that they want security at their workplace, and in their job, from the inside, as well as, the outside threats. Otherwise, such the security threats disrupt employees, in fulfilling their duties, and put unnecessary pressure on them, leads decline in the level of productivity. The second recommendation is provided to MiningCo, in the light of the Hawthorne Effect, that suggests that employees want the attractive working environment, group involvement, appreciation and attention of the management. Such the factors have importance, more than the financial incentives, provided to the workers, mainly in the times of economic crisis. However, while making isolated sites of the company, it causes separate the workers, through the other sites, as well as, the head office. Hence, it needs to develop the innovative working environment, through installing hi-tech lightening and the safety and security systems. Further, the communication and coordination, and the feedback, among the different sites, are required, which will not only result in the requirement of the staff rotation but will develop the integration of the activities of the members of different sites, generating efficient productivity. Last, in regards of considering the economic crisis in Greece, it is recommended that the MiningCo, isolated fields, should implement the individual reward perspective, along with the above-articulated recommendations. In case, the workers can be provided with the monetary rewards, such as discount vouchers, a gift or the complementary box, etc. However, the major criticality, which is to be considered, is the behavioral perceptions of the senior executives, analyzing the factors of their motivation, and hence, designs the motivational and the retention packages. Case Three: Crisis Management Team According to Vaiman Collings (2013), the Crisis Management Team is structured, in order to provide the support to the organizational management through reducing the level of the issues, which may reflect during the crisis time frames. Hence, below is the description for the need of structuring the CMT at the MiningCo, covering the increasing risk of talent management, knowledge transfer, and the employee retention. The Substantial Talent Gap Under my evaluation, the MiningCo, individual site, has impacted by the major talent gap, prevailing in the industry. It is identified that the employee retention is becoming difficult, while on the other hand, the workers talent pool, is shrinking in number and the productive skills, as the older generation, is either retiring or leaving the organization, taking the profound pool of knowledge and experience. Hence, it is perceived that within no time, the transfer of the adequate knowledge and the learning of skills will become non-existent. In addition, forming the collaboration, with the external learning and training schools of the mining industry, will require the additional investment and the long time durations, hence, making the worker shifts adjustments difficult. Therefore, in concerned with the substantially growing talent gap, I consider the development of the Crisis Management Team is the appropriate option, as for certain time, it will control the employee retention and the sustains the motivational grounds, based on which the talent gap generated will be recovered. Team Structure and Function The team structure of the Crisis Management Team (CMT), will be similar to the organizational structure of the MiningCo, under such circumstances, the employees will be having the adequate understating of the knowledge inflow and transfer and communication, exhibiting effective familiarity. Moreover, the structured team will act as, or resembles the structure and the functionality of the Regional Emergency Management Team. The selected members of the team will act as the knowledge and the support provider at the emergency sites, sharing their experience and the skills with the less experienced or the newly employed workers. The team will also be responsible for managing the specific region issues and the overall impacts, through effective communication with the workers, analyzing and discussing their concerns. It will also function, as the training personnel for the specific site region, developing the training agenda, the scheduling of the groups, and analyzing the aftereffects of t he training sessions, while also providing the active and spontaneous participative feedbacks. In addition, the leader of the team will be elected through the mutual consent of the potential stakeholders, generated through voting practice, and the leader, referred as the Regional Crisis Manager, is entitled to integrate the transformational and the participative behavior. Selection Criteria Referring to the selection criteria for the CMT, the most appropriate and the skilled members will be considered, comparatively having the valid and the significant experience. The skilled criteria will be developed, including the qualification bar, the presence of all the skills required, and the years of experience, additionally taking into account the past evaluations of the members of the crisis management. Further, the current employees, having the critical thinking ability, for analyzing the coming challenge and the ability of spontaneous decision making will be selected. However, it is considered that most of the senior executives will be positioned in the CMT, as it will act as the value for them, proving them with the substantial responsibility, while also covering the effectiveness of retention. Further, the member will be appointed through different regions, in order to perform the effective mechanism of the staff rotation, providing the opportunity to the members for revi talizing their skills and the motivational level. Team Format The positions within the CMT includes, the CMT (Regional Crisis) Manager, the Human Resource Advisor, and the two of the immediate HR training, retention, and strategic reporting officers, the Environmental Evaluator and the Advisor, responsible for analyzing the chances for the emerging crisis, through evaluating the internal and external environment. The position will also contribute to planning and decision making, coordinating the planned implementations, training needs, and scheduling, and updating the incident plans, in order to mitigate the threat of the uncertain or certain challenges. The Crisis Management Advisor will support the functions, through approving the decisions and the changes required, by taking into consideration, the legal, financial, and employee productivity and concerns. The CM Advisor will also be responsible for assigning the tasks or the changes in the regional operations. In addition, the Subject Matter Experts will be selected, for assisting the CMT Ma nager, the CM Advisor, and the HR training personnel, as needed. Reward Strategies The crisis management is the crucial responsibility for the employees, as it requires highly attentive behavior and the adequate and spontaneous decision making, which also results in the increase of the workload and the stress. However, under such circumstances, I perceived that major role will be played by the CMT leadership, that is the CMT Manager, high responsible for initiating and encouraging the effective communication. Hence, the employees will understand the value of their presence, resulting in holding of the motivational impact. Further, the feedback generation on the certain intervals will also exhibit the sense of recognition and responsibilities. In addition, as discussed earlier, small monetary rewards shall be provided to all the team members, such as participating bonuses, additional paid leaves, or either the certification for CMT skills, etc. In regards of overcoming the crisis of the continuous decline in the presence and the transfer of the adequate knowledge an d the learning of skills, the HR managers can be provided with the technological systems, for managing their responsibilities, resulting in decreased workload, through presence of hi-tech systems, under the influences of the innovative technology strategies. Further, the senior executives, considering leaving the organization should be hired in the CMT, exhibiting the staff rotation, and assigning them the role of the training leader, will provide them with the additional recognitions, as their service and experience will be transferred and recognized.

Comparing Japanese and American Diets Essay -- Health Nutrition Diet E

Comparing Japanese and American Diets The typical diet of the average Japanese citizen is much healthier than that of an average American citizen. The Japanese diet is vastly different than the common western diet in terms of ingredients used, portion size, preparation, and relationship between its users and their food. While Americans commonly opt for unhealthy food high in calories, fat, cholesterol, and sodium, many people of Japan benefit from their healthy choice of rice, fish, vegetables, and soy products. The Japanese style of preparing and serving food is also very intricate and deliberate, which encourages diners to truly appreciate their food, instead of rushing through each meal without much thought, as done in the United States. The typical Japanese diet offers its users increased immunity and can help prevent against some cancers, heart and cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes, among other illnessesi. The diet typically followed in the United States is grossly opposite in that many commonly consumed u nhealthy foods have been determined to actually cause the same diseases that the Japanese diet works against, including but not limited to heart disease, some cancer, and diabetes. The combined factors surrounding both the Japanese diet and the typical American diet are reflected in the percentage of overweight people in each country; approximately 65% of people are overweight in the United States, while only 25% of Japan’s population is overweightii. These percentages are compiled from Body Mass Index (BMI) data, which is a scientifically formulated relation between a person’s weight and height that helps to determine a healthy weight range for a person to maintain. A person is classified as overweigh... ...tml xv http://members.tripod.com/~Doc_In_The_Kitchen/japan.html xvi http://www.caloriecountercharts.com/chart1a.htm xvii http://www.statistics.gov./STATBASE/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=7445 xviii http://www.cspinet.org/sodapop/liquid_candy.htm xix http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/Handouts/reducesodiumdiet.html xx http://www.dietsite.com/dt/diets/HeartHealthy/fatdictionary.asp#SATURATED%20FATS: xxi http://www.mercola.com/2003/feb/5/food_portions.htm xxiihttp://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/Food_and_Drink/Restaurants/Fast_Food/ xxiii http://www.ynhh.org/online/nutrition/advisor/fastfood.html xxiv http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/healthmedical/a/hhsobesity.htm xxv http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/08/27/2003200438 xxvi http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/portion/portion.cgi xxvii http://www.choicesmagazine.org/2004-3/obesity/2004-3-02.pdf

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X philosophies Essay -- civil rights

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. The Civil Rights Movement began shortly after the end of World War II. The United States took a big turn with the Supreme Court’s decision in the Brown vs. the Board of Education case. This decision sparked a revolution that forever changed America. Once this movement began, it didn’t stop, there was no turning back and Martin Luther King Jr. realized this while Malcolm X didn‘t. He preached a change that African Americans would grow but only through nonviolence. Martin Luther King’s philosophy made more sense for America in the 1960’s because it pushed America forward, it stopped killings through nonviolence and love, and it called to make everyone equal and together. Although Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X seem to have mutual respect and warmth, their philosophies were quite different from each other .Malcolm X made it clear that he believed that the African Americans and the White people should remain separate but should be considered equal to each other. He told white people â€Å"work in conjunc...

Correlation Between Student S Grades and-Social Networks Essay

Abstract Social networking sites (SNS) have created a new social dimension where individuals can develop increased levels of their social awareness and getting information in many more aspects of everyday lives. SNS help people to enhance their knowledge, which is very beneficial especially for students. However, some argue the use of SNS also entails negative effects that overrule the gains. This may be reflected on students’ grades. The main objective of this research is to analyse the relationship between student’s academic performance and use of SNS. The research was conducted through the use of online questionnaires. Excel and SPSS software were used to analyse the data collected. Findings from this study showed that there is a weak, negative relationship between these two variables. Chapter 1: Introduction There is no doubt that the global revolution of SNS has brought great changes to many aspects of everyday life. People use them to keep in touch with distant friends and relatives or to make new social and professional acquaintances. Whatever the reason behind this increased use, SNS have for many become a way of life. Especially for young people, SNS are the most innovative tools that enable them not only to contact other individuals, but most importantly to create a positive ‘self-image’ (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). At the same time, however, there is an increasing concern about the threats arising from the excessive use of SNS. Although there is prior research on how SNS affect people’s relationships, the literature on how they affect students’ academic performance is still in its infancy. The main objective of this research is to fill this gap in literature and examine how the use of SNS affects academic performance. Paper Structure This paper commences with a short review of prior literature on the topic where some information about the various SNS will be given. It will then continue to Chapter 3 where the methodology followed to approach the objective and gather the necessary data will be explained. Chapter 4 follows, where the collected data will be analysed using statistical analysis tests and findings will be reported. The paper will then finalise with some conclusions and recommendations given in Chapter 5. Chapter 2: Literature Review The section of literature review has a purpose to put this study into context with previous research on SNS providing some examples of such sites and students use of SNS. Finally, prior research on the relationship of SNS and academic performance will be examined. Definition and Examples of SNS Social networking sites have been defined as â€Å"an online community of Internet users who want to communicate with other users about areas of mutual interest† (William, 2009). Globally there are many SNS, but the most popular ones are the Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. Facebook is the most widely used SNS with currently more than 1.2 billion users. It was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, with the initial intention for students in a certain college to keep in touch with each other. According to recent statistics, the average time a user spends on Facebook per month is 15 hours and 33 minutes. Twitter is a real-time communication platform where users are able to interact and build relationships with their network of contacts by posting and receiving messages. It started in 2006 as an experiment of short online announcements and it now has more than 555 million users. Google+ is a social networking platform created by the search engine giant, Google, in an attempt to outperform Facebook. It was launched in 2011 and it currently has around 500 million users. Google+ enables targeted sharing of information within certain subgroups of users’ contacts and the viewing, managing and editing of multimedia. LinkedIn is the professional social network launched in 2003. People join this network mainly to make professional connections and use them to build a career. Companies that are in search of qualified employees and job-hunters also use LinkedIn. The profile created by users is like a resume but with the option to include extensive information in each field. Use of SNS Statistics reveal that 98% of people aged between 18-24 are using some form of SNS. Apart from socialising and staying in touch with friends, people in those ages use SNS for a variety of other reasons. As in the age of 18 most people are going to be in higher education, there is evidence showing that students use those sites to research colleges and assist their decision on where to enrol (Tisley, 2012). They also use them during their university life to enable their communication with other students or even staff. According to Oradini and Saunders (2007), students can use SNS to initiate a discussion and decide what information they would like to share and with whom. Many universities have recently recognised this increased use of SNS and their ability to act as a platform of online learning and have therefore taken steps to incorporate them into their strategy. SNS and Academic Performance The term academic performance is used to measure the ‘success’ of a student in terms of their achievements and their ability to meet certain standards defined by the institution they are attending. Reference? It can be assumed that by having access to the latest information available, either through visiting companies’ and broadcasting profiles or through the exchange of useful information, students increase their awareness towards a better achievement of results. However, there is a contradiction of views relating to the use of SNS and their effect on students’ grades. While some studies show that there is no link between SNS and academic performance (Truong, 2010) others provide evidence that there is an adverse effect of SNS on students’ grades mainly due to the fact that too much time is spent on them, leaving limited time for studying. Chapter 3: Research Methodology In this chapter, a methodology for collecting the necessary information for the research will be defined. This will include a description of the method for collecting information and an explanation of why the methods chosen were the most suitable, providing reliability to the report. Research Approach Selecting the right research approach is fundamental in order to answer the questions that were presented successfully. In this study, the researchers carried out scientific research and aimed to develop a hypothesis, which was then tested and examined to establish a theory. Therefore, a deductive research approach was considered to be most suitable (Hussey and Hussey, 1997). According to Robson (2002), the researchers had to deduct hypotheses from theory and then express them in operational terms, proposing a relationship between two variables. The objectives this research had led to the following hypothesis: Hypothesis: There is a relationship between the use of SNS and students’ academic performance. Therefore the Null Hypothesis is: There is no relationship between the use of SNS and students’ academic performance. This hypothesis was chosen as prior literature focused exclusively on the effect of the use of Facebook on academic performance and not the use of SNS in general. Time horizon This research is cross-sectional study, as the data collection methods were designed to â€Å"gather data at a particular point in time with the intention of describing the nature of existing conditions† (Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 1994). This approach was a suitable method to use given the limited time that was available to undertake the research. Data collection Methods The research was conducted through the use of online questionnaires. They were distributed to students via email from December 2012 to January 2013, a research period that is â€Å"distinct and discrete phase of the investigation† (Johnson, 2004). Respondents were informed that all material they provided would remain confidential while anonymity was promised. A briefing statement (See Appendix I) informed participants as to the purpose of the research and the extent of confidentiality. The full list of questions can be found in Appendix II. Data analysis methods Quantitative data was analysed using the SPSS analysis software, where correlation was used to examine the existence of a relationship between the variables and regression analysis to assess the strength of those relationships. In order to carry out regression statistics, it was essential to distinguish the factors between the dependent variable (y) and the independent variables (x). Since the purpose of this analysis was to discover the extent to which academic performance is dependent on changes in the variables investigated, academic performance was identified as the dependent variable while hours spent on homework, social networking sites, playing games and surfing on the internet were defined as the independent variables. It should be noted here that academic performance is defined using the latest available grades of the participants. This led to the following model being developed: Academic Performance = b0 + b1Hours spent studying + b2Hours spent on social networks +b3Hours spent on other activities The data was analysed by bivariate correlation and linear regression. Once this technique was completed, each variable was analysed explicitly in order to assess individual relationships and test the hypothesis by stressing the most noteworthy relationship between independent and dependent variable. Validity & Reliability In order for the research to be useful, actions had to be taken to safeguard the validity and reliability of results. According to Joppe (2000), the extent to which results are reliable depends on how consistent they are over time and whether identical results can be acquired if the investigation is repeated. Validity is concerned with whether the findings are what they appear to be and whether a relationship between two variables is merely a coincidence. There are many threats to reliability and validity. The subject error and participant bias are threats to reliability (Saunders et al., 2009) that can be tackled by carefully selecting the right research population. Mortality is a threat to validity, since it would result to a very small sample size that would be unable to determine whether relationships between variables were simply casual. In enhancing the validity and reliability, the research was conducted at the University of Southampton and the questionnaires were handed both to undergraduate and postgraduate students in various programs. Also, a pilot questionnaire was conducted with 10 students to complete that provided feedback. Chapter 4: Results & Analysis The purpose of this section is to present the findings of this study, which will be critically evaluated to identify their reliability. Implications will be acknowledged. Descriptive Statistics In total 303 responses were collected by students of the University of Southampton. Out of the total number of participants, 8 abandoned the survey without saving it so only 275 responses were used. The demographics of the sample are summarized in the figures below. The sample consisted of 149 males and 126 females (See Figure 1) and most participants (n= 193) aged between 21-24 (See Figure 2). Figure [ 1 ] – Participants’ Gender Figure [ 2 ] – Participants Age Out of the total sample, only 5 participants were not part of a SNS where as the rest 270 participants had a profile on either one or multiple SNS. Out of those who were part of an SNS, the majority of participants (n= 273) had a profile on Facebook (See Figure 3). Also, most of the participants (n=234) have been using SNS for more than 3 years (See Figure 4). Figure 3 – Number of Participants; profiles on SNS Figure 4 – Time period participants use SNS When asked about the reasons participants use SNS, many corresponded to keep in touch with their family and friends (n=108) whereas a significant amount of them (n=70) replied to keep updated on current affairs (See Figure 5). Figure 5 – Reasons for using SNS In relation to the academic performance of participants, most of them (n=76) study between 1-4 hours (See Figure 6) with 50 of them managing to get grades between 70-100 (See Figure 7). The average grade the participants received is 68. Figure 6 – Participants’ Time allocation on an Average Day Figure 7 – Participants’ Grades Data Analysis It is now necessary to relate these findings back to the initial hypothesis. We use correlation analysis in order to examine the relationship between two variables. Pearson’s r statistic is the one, which will determine if there is any relationship between our variables. As it can be seen from the table above, the Pearson’s r for the correlation between the ‘Hours spent on doing homework’ and the ‘Hours spent using SNS’ is -0.117, which is relatively close to 0. This means that there is a negative relationship between those variables, indicated by the negative sign, and as the one variable increases in value, the second variable decreases in value. However, since this valued is very close to 0, this is a week relationship and it is unlikely that changes in one variable are correlated with changes in the other. Observing the Sig. (2-tailed) value we can determine the significance of the relationship. If that value is less or equal to 0.05, we can conclude that there is statistically significant correlation between the hours spent on homework and the social network use. Here the value (0.052) is extremely close to the benchmark so the relationship is statistically significant.