Columbus and the truth behind the legend

When a group of people are different from us their way of living Is wrong. That Is what it seems to come down to when most conflicts in history are broken down. Men vs.. Women. Hippies vs.. Government officials. Blacks vs.. Whites. Jews vs.. , well, everyone. All kidding aside it is very true. When Columbus first arrived in the Americas in 1492 he wrote, speaking of the Native Americans, â€Å"They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features†¦.They do not bear arms, and do not know hem, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane†¦. They would make fine servants†¦. With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want. † Just because they were kind and offered gifts to the new comers Instead of only suspicion, as his culture was use to always doing with strange people, he thought them Inferior and easily controlled. Later on he obvious ly finds out that It Is not as simple as he thought.Yes he took control but he also lost a lot of them due to illness, rebellion, and massacres. Native Americans thought of the Europeans culture to be barbaric and distrustful. Some of the tribes didn't take to the intruders as well as other tribes did. They took some time getting organized due to tribes usually fighting against each other but by the sass, according to West Virginia Archive & History, a Confederacy was created. The Iroquois Confederacy. They fought to get their land back. Did they win? Obviously not. But they didn't go down without a eight.Afro Americans had a big issue as well when they first arrived in the Americas. In 1619 when the first â€Å"slaves† arrived, even though they weren't labeled as slaves at this time, they were automatically considered Inferior to the white Europeans simply because they were of a darker skin and a different culture. They thought them uncivilized even though back In Africa the y had, at the time, a longer living civilization even than to the mother lands themselves. But the African culture believed their servants to be equals.Some even had them join the family through marriage. Sadly in the Americas they treated them as dirt. Both the African â€Å"servants† and the European servants. A good one to compare is the privileged Europeans and the Europeans sent over to the Americas to simply work for 2-7 years as a servant and then maybe make a name for themselves. Just because they were different not by skin color, not by culture, but by status alone. Even with something so small the upper Europeans act as if the other Europeans are from a different world ND outcast them.Just in the beginning of America's history the very simply truth is that the human race Is afraid of anything different. Change Is something that goes against our very nature so Instead of compromising with people that we meet that are different from us we simply cast them out as If th ey are plagued with something other than another view or opinion than our own. It is sad to think what the discovery to expanding their minds and accepting the Native Americans instead of destroying them for being â€Å"uncivilized†.

History, Architecture, and Significance of Islamic Mosques Essay

The Islamic mosque is a simple sacred place of worship; equivalent to the other religions’ places of worship like the Catholic church. It is also considered as Allah’s home on earth, which explains why it is such a sacred place. Like its counterparts, the architectural design of Islamic mosques is greatly significant to the practices of Islamic religion. The mosque has also become one of the Islamic world’s most revered symbols. History of Islamic Mosques The Mosques appeared around the Arabian Peninsula when the Islamic religion had been established. The first mosques were not like the ones that people can see today. These were just simple open-air spaces wherein Muslims can worship Allah. Over the course of a thousand years or so, it gradually evolved to the familiar places of worship that people may often see today. As the Islamic religion progressed and expanded, so did the mosques. The Islamic armies which expanded into other territories also brought the mosques with them hence the mosque appeared in different parts of the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, Eurasia, and some parts of India. Trade also brought these mosques in these parts of the world, including some islands from South East Asia. The Design of Mosques The Architecture of Mosques has been greatly influenced by the different Arabic states which expand their territories (e. g. Ottomans, Persians). They brought their cultural architectural designs with them upon conquering an area. This explains why a lot of old mosques—the ones that lasted throughout the Ancient and Middle Ages—vary in design, both interior and exterior. Even so, the general structure of mosques does not vary since every, if not most, mosque possess these important parts: Minaret (tall slender towers), Domes, Prayer Hall, and Ablution Facilities. Makeshift mosques are exempted from this. The interior of the mosques would vary in design but most would generally possess the following: Iwan, Sahn, Gardens, Arabesque, and Calligraphy. The Importance of the Mosques Mosques are generally places of worship for the Islamic people, making them sacred. The violation of its sanctity would often result to immediate execution—a punishment fit for a grave crime. The mosque generally represents the house of Allah, their God, on earth: â€Å"Mosques are the houses of Allah and those believers who enter therein are the guests of Allah† (Al Islam website, line 3). This shows how integral the mosque is for the Muslims. Since this is the house of Allah, it should be properly maintained and revered. This explains why Muslims would take off their shoes and wash their feet before entering the mosque. Those who are non-Muslims, especially pagans, cannot enter this sacred place simply because they follow a different set of beliefs. The mosque also has different functions besides serving as places of worship and prayer. One of these is various Ramadan events such as iftar dinners, in the evenings or after sunset. They would also invite the less fortunate members of the Muslim community in order to share their blessings with them. Symbol of the Islamic World The mosque has been one of Islam’s greatest symbols. An Islam town or city, in the middle ages, or a community, in the contemporary period, can be immediately identified by the sight of Islamic mosques—since they follow the same structural plan. Since the mosques are regarded as Allah’s houses, they symbolize the core of Islam hence making them one of the most well-known symbols of the Islamic world. The religion’s long history has asserted this fact even further since most non-Muslims have identified these places in different mediums like history books, novels, and films. As the course of time would take its toll on the architectural design of the mosque, the traditional structural scheme, which entails the mosque in possessing the four most important parts or structures, remains the same. References Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. (1995). The Holy Prophet on the importance of mosques. Retrieved March 30, 2009. Islam. com Inc. (2000). Mosques & its significance. Retrieved March 30, 2009. World History Project. (2002). The Mosque as a Symbol of Islamic Civilization. Retrieved March 30, 2009.

The company structure of Ford and Toyota Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The company structure of Ford and Toyota - Essay Example Each center was self-sustaining with its own functional staff, planning group, etc" (Multi-Project Management 2005). Ford has poorer teamwork which influences productivity and efficiency of work. In Ford, leadership is centralized with one person while in Toyota leadership is potentially shared among members (Toyota Home Page, 2007). In Ford, the group's purpose is set in response to organizational directives; also, the group measures its effectiveness by individually meeting the stated objectives. In Toyota, the group's purpose is set in response to both organizational directives and a shared group mission, and the group produces one collective work product (LaFasto and Larsen, 2001). The structure of both companies is defined as a 'lean enterprise system'. Mass production is organized around smaller units and subgroups. Both Toyota and Ford have matrix organizational structure. The decentralized decision-making that exists is likely to be more rapid, more efficient in the choice and pricing of new products and processes, more perceptive in the recognition of opportunities emerging from technological and market trends, and more accurate in its assessment of the competence of specific firms to explore these opportunities. In both companies, it is possible to distinguish functional and product departmentalization. Product departmentalization is organized around product lines. Functional departmentalization is organized around such unites as finance and marketing, technology and HRM (human resources management). In both Toyota and Ford, the product is the result of a large measure of collective effort (LaFasto and Larsen, 2001). In addition to each member's individu al accountability, the group also has mutual accountability. In Ford, the small group is a subsystem within the larger organization. As such, it is subject to the same forces as the larger system. The behavior of one group member affects all of the others. Influencing behavior carries beyond the face-to-face meeting. Individual members interact "off-line" in settings other than meeting rooms (Stacey, 1996). The main forms of work coordination include informal and formal communication, and standardization. There are no great differences between Toyota and Ford, because of the nature of business and production processes. Standardization is achieved through rules and procedures, work requirements and production standards (Goris et al 2000). The systems approach to organization and management also gives recognition to the importance of groups in influencing behavior at work. Span of control is a vital part of both organizations. In Ford, a manager supervises about 8-10 employees while in Toyota a manager controls 7-8 employees. As professional decision-making is decentralized, the centre keeps control through a new regime of regulation, performance management and quality control. Tactics and organizational politics depend upon corporate and national culture (Gleason, 1997). In Toyota, Japanese management style and national traditions have a major impact on politic and tactics. The tactics a nd organizational politics are based on ideas of strict codes of values and collective will of the groups. Direct cooperation and support from the top are the main tactics utilized by Toyota's management. Ford follows American management style based on

Recognizing Contract Risk and Opportunities Case Study

Recognizing Contract Risk and Opportunities - Case Study Example 1. C-S has demanded immediate transfer of all unfinished code; asserted rescission of contract. 2. C-S claims SPAN'S deliverables low on quality and behind schedule. 3. Requirements have grown disproportionately since originally determined 4. Difficulty to accommodate the requirements within earlier budget and timelines. 5. C-S's approval and review times were affected due to change in project management structure Several guidance are listed below to be review and perform by both parties to ensure that the simulation had provided assurance. They bear the primary responsibility to identify the strategies involved, thus reducing the risks associated with the legal benefits from the opportunities found din the simulation. 1. Conduct risk assessment of the system done in the contract. 2. Map identified risks to the applicable system. 3. Select a technology based on technical guidance. 4. Validate that the implemented system has achieved the required level. 5. Periodically reassess the system to determine the refreshed requirements. Like any contract creation and management simulation required considerations, it is very important that the benefits listed below, are to be taken into account. It is also important to match the required level of assurance against the cost and burden of business policy and technical requirements of the chosen solutions 1. Increased speed of any transaction 2. Increased partner's participation and costumer's satisfaction 3. Improved record keeping system efficiency and data analysis opportunities. 4. Increased employee productivity and improved quality of final product. 5. Greater information benefits to the public. 6. Improved security 7....Every thing that is to be written in it must come, and agreed from both ends. Based on the data gathered, the following needs to be studied to be included in the contract: User and system requirements have grown since originally determined in the system study stage, making them difficult to accommodate within the originally agreed upon cost and timeliness. Ordinary requirements changes had been agreed to in the contract, the actual change request have been anything but ordinary. Also C-S's approval and review times have been affected lately due to change in its project management structure. Several guidance are listed below to be review and perform by both parties to ensure that the simulation had provided assurance. They bear the primary responsibility to identify the strategies involved, thus reducing the risks associated with the legal benefits from the opportunities found din the simulation. Like any contract creation and management simulation required considerations, it is very important that the benefits listed below, are to be taken into account. It is also important to match the required level of assurance against the cost and burden of business policy and technical requirements of the chosen solutions The project is a complex multi-faceted project that involves sales, contract administration, finance, and service organizations.

RESEARCH PHILOSOPHIES AND PRINCIPLES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

RESEARCH PHILOSOPHIES AND PRINCIPLES - Essay Example As such, quantitative methodologies generally involve statistical or mathematical models of data analysis. Qualitative research methodology is relatively new when compared to quantitative methods. Qualitative research emerged towards the later parts of the 20th century through an increasing acceptance of post-modern epistemological formations that greatly complicate the very nature of reality (Denzen & Lincoln, 2011). Rather than being something that could merely be measured and determined through statistical models, qualitative research involves researcher interpretive processes (Denzen & Lincoln, 2011). It follows that in many ways qualitative research compliments quantitative by articulating abstract concepts that can be refined and understood by later quantitative investigations (Creswell 2003). Still, it’s noted that in other ways qualitative knowledge runs counter to quantitative claims to validity, as some qualitative epistemological foundations contend that knowledge i s personal or perspective based (Creswell 2001). Additionally, there are mixed method pursuits that implement both quantitative and qualitative research (Brannen 2005). This essay specifically examines four research studies – some with quantitative and others with qualitative approaches -- in terms of a variety of analytical criteria. Analysis 1. Quantitative analysis of defects in Malaysian university buildings: Providers’ perspective This specific research investigation implements a qualitative methodology. The research question this study aimed to resolve was the areas of university buildings that required repairs. The research argued that it was important as increased levels of knowledge regarding defects in the buildings could aid the university by contributing to the development of a system that would more efficiently address these concerns. There is the tacit recognition then that the current system is unstructured and implemented in ineffective ways. It is reco gnized that qualitative research assumes a great many analytical methods. Within the specific context of this research the primary data collecting method is the questionnaire. This study sent out questionnaires to maintenance managers at the university. Each questionnaire contained five options: not at all urgent, not very urgent, urgent, very urgent, and extremely urgent. There is a clear challenge in that certain maintenance managers could consider an area more urgent than another area more strenuously than another manager’s perspective. That is, one managers understanding of the linguistic elements of the questionnaire would be different from another manager. The study indicates these challenges are circumvented, as urgency is determined through comparison between studies. As such if there is one area that managers frequently rate as urgent then these multiple perspectives are interpreted as a valid conclusion. Specifically 50 questionnaires were sent out to the maintenanc e departments in universities in Malaysia. While 50 questionnaires were sent out, only 33 were returned. This is discrepancy is significant as it indicates that certain departments were more receptive to the study than departments at other universities. This discrepancy could indicate that the questionnaires are biased in that the organizations that responded had more pressing concerns or were more receptive to changes in the university. Still, research on questionnaires attest to this response rate as

1.How are many-to-many relationships addressed in the relational model Essay

1.How are many-to-many relationships addressed in the relational model Provide a specific example other than the one in your textbook. Illustrate your answer using IE Crows Foot E-R diagrams - Essay Example In a relational model, the many-to-many relationship cannot directly be modeled. Such a relationship has to be converted into multiple one-to-many relationships first. Therefore, a many-to-many relationship is represented in the form of three tables in the model; the two original tables and a junction table. For the country-language example stated above, the relationship is formed as shown in the figure below. The many-to-many relationship between country and language is converted into two one-to-many relationships between the two entities and the the junction table. In the junction table (CountryLanguage), the unique primary key is a composite key (CountryID, LanguageID) which is formed by the two foreign keys which refer to the primary keys of the ‘country’ (CountryID) and ‘language’ (LanguageID)

Landscape regeneration project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Landscape regeneration project - Essay Example Landscapes are usually taken for granted and become so much a part of everyday life that they go unnoticed, till something happens to disturb the placidity. A landscape is never static; as cultures evolve, the concept and ideas underlying the definition of landscape also change. Landscapes contain myriad aspects, those of family history, familiar landmarks, historic buildings, art and antiques, plants and animals. Concerns with regard to landscape conservation are so widespread and growing so fast that it becomes extremely difficult to define a landscape. Most interpretations of the landscape reflect personal and collective self interest - things valued as mine or ours. Societies may be modest about what they are but are always proud of what they were. The Environment Act of 1995 places a duty on National Park Authorities aimed at 'conserving and enhancing natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the National Park' and 'promoting opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of areas by the public'. National policy explicitly defines 'heritage' as ancient archaeological remains, sites and historic structures, and thus largely conceives of landscape in terms of the role it plays as a setting or backdrop for these remains, structures or sites. The time-depth this framing brings with it is clear: 'heritage' is to be defined more closely in line with the impressions it has of the past, as opposed to the impressions it may leave in the present. As such, the idea of heritage, and thus landscapes, as a process in itself is overlooked (Ross, 1995). In recent years, the world's waterfronts have provided a particular focus for culture led regeneration. Marshall (2001, p. 3) describes the waterfront as space "in the city which allows expressions of hope for urban vitality". "These waterfront redevelopment projects speak to our future, and to our past. They speak to a past based in industrial production, to a time of tremendous growth and expansion, to social and economic structures that no longer exist. . . ." (Marshall, 2001, p. 5). In this paper, we revisit the regenerative development work carried out in Newcastle-Gateshead Quayside and the West End to discover whether the stated objectives of the project have actually been achieved and to examine how the new developments have achieved different results in localities adjacent to each other. Landscape and Regeneration The meaning of the English word landscape both encompasses framed views of specific sites and the scenic character of whole regions; it applies equally to graphic and textual images as to physical locations (Daniels and Cosgrove: 1989). Landscape holds a broad intellectual scope as a theoretical concept across the arts humanities, and social sciences. It is easy to theorise and redefine landscape into distinct parcels of 'culture', 'history', 'environment', 'prehistory', 'associations' and 'nature' (Cosgrove, 1998, Olwig, 2002, Corner: 1999, Smith: 2003, Bender: 1993), but what and how does one combine these to define a landscape that takes all these within its ambit. How a person interprets a landscape depends upon the individual's background, knowledge and experience. The opinion of the 'expert' and that of the 'common man' on the street may, and is most likely to, be substantially different as to what represents the landscape of a

Online Relationships Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Online Relationships - Essay Example In fact, virtual teams have become so important that many companies cannot do well without them because of the fact that some of the most brilliant ideas tend to come from such teams. The heavy reliance of these companies on the virtual teams has come to make them indispensable and because of this, they have come to attract dynamic groups of individuals from all over the world and this has enabled the development of ideas at a grand scale since they are a merger of ideas from diverse cultures. As a result, virtual teams have become essential in the modern economic world and it is most likely that they are here to stay. Working in virtual teams can be said to be a way through which employees of some organizations or institutions are allowed to work away from a centralized workplace, using available information technologies. In such cases, these individual do not have to go to work, and instead, they send and receive whatever assignments they have online, and this ensures that they are able to work from the comfort of their own homes and at their own time. Such working arrangements involve individuals within the virtual team working at a place, which is convenient for them. This may include at home, or at a coffee shop and this trend can be said to have been growing for more than thirty years and it is increasingly becoming popular especially because of the fact that many companies have little office space to spare. Virtual teams have been taken advantage of by many companies because they not only save on office space, but they also allow these companies to get more work done by having more employees without having to create space for them to work. In addition, because of the global availability of the internet, it has become easier to employ individuals from all over the world irrespective of their nationalities or cultural backgrounds. When working within virtual teams, the home might up becoming the workplace of those individuals involved in them and to make i t more of a comfortable working environment, such an individual will always equip with the necessary accessories. Even if the individuals in the team work at the office, on the other hand, it also gives them the ability to be able to collaborate with others on the same field not only in writing but also in the development of projects that come from the different ideas from the various members of the team. Since most of the individuals who work in virtual team can work from anywhere, either in their homes or at their offices, the differences between home and work eventually become blurred, and the privacy, which the home previously provided, is lost. This means that the home is no longer seen to be a refuge from a hard day’s work, but an extension of the workplace and it is possible that such situations may be problematic for some of these individuals because it leads to an increase in work related stress. In addition, the traditional way through which people worked and intera cted at the office is lost, since the close proximity and interpersonal interactions, which could be achieved at the workplace, is lost. Virtual teams encourage the isolation of an individual from any form of social life and this may be detrimental to their mental health. In conclusion, it can be said that virtual teaming is a growing trend

Law for Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Law for Business - Essay Example Since the two directors constitute the majority, their decision prevails. In the general meeting, the vote in favour of the motion must at least be 75% for the motion to pass, since this is the required majority to pass a special resolution. Another way of passing a special resolution is to directly circulate the motion in writing without calling for a meeting and have the same percentage of voting rights approve the proposal. The objective of this report is to outline a legitimate procedure, on behalf of Francesca, that will allow a change in the company name of Toys4U Ltd despite the objection of one of the three directors to the proposal. According to the Companies Act 2006, a company may change its name in compliance to an extraneous mandate such as one coming from the Secretary of State, an adjudicator upholding a protest on the company name’s use, the court or as a result of company name restoration. The company can also effect a change of its name upon its own initiative (Â § (1) & (2), s 78, Companies Act 2006). It is the latter that is the concern of this report since it is the directors who are interested in pursuing a company name change. According to the relevant provision of law, a change of company name effected by the company’s own initiative can be made either through a special resolution or through any other means prescribe by the company’s Articles of Incorporation (Â § (1)(a) & (b), Companies Act 2006). Under the British company law, there are two ways by which a company decides: an ordinary resolution, or; an extraordinary or special resolution. The two types of resolutions are distinguished from each other by the number of votes required to pass them. Whilst an ordinary resolution requires only a majority vote to be passed, an extraordinary or special resolution needs at least 75% of the votes cast by members (van Gerven & Storm 2006 468). Since the law mandated a special resolution to effect a change of a

Competent to Counsel...by Jay Adams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Competent to Counsel...by Jay Adams - Essay Example The first chapter of the book, 'Christianity and Psychiatry today', deals with psychiatry in general in relation to Christianity. According to the author, "psychiatry, that illegitimate child of psychology which historically has made the most grandiose claims, is itself in a serious trouble." (Adams, 1986, P 1). The main subtopics of the chapter include 'Psychiatry is in Trouble', 'The Freudian Ethic', 'Freudian Theory and Therapy', 'The Revolution in Psychology', 'Freud: An Enemy, not a Friend', and 'Where Does This Leave Us'. The ideas disseminated through the various chapters of the book, especially with regard to nouthetic counseling, have a great relevance to the ministry of a pastor in developing a general approach to Christian counseling and specific response to particular problems faced by the people. The second chapter of the book, 'The Holy Spirit and Counseling', establishes that counseling is the work of the Holy Spirit and effective counseling cannot be done apart from Him. "Counseling, to be Christian, must be carried on in harmony with the regenerating work of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called 'Holy' because of his nature and his work. All holiness stems from His activity in human lives. All of the personality traits that might be held forth to counselees as fundamental goals for growth (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) God declares to be the 'fruit' of the Spirit." (Adams, 1986, P 20). Through the main sub-topics of the chapter, 'Counseling is the Work of the Spirit', 'How does the Holy Spirit work in Counseling', 'The Holy Spirit's works through Means', 'The Holy Spirit's Work is Sovereign', and 'The Holy Spirit Works by means of His Word', the author establishes the link between counseling and the Holy Spirit. The next chapter, "What is Wrong with the Mentally Ill", deals with the issues related with psychological problems of the individuals through the analysis of the case of Leo held. To the author, mental illness is a misnomer and he discusses other topics such as 'People with Personal Problems often use Camouflage', 'Homosexuality Fits the Pattern', and Adrenachrome or Schizophrenia' In the fourth chapter of the book, "What is Nouthetic Counseling", Jay Adams investigates the various aspects of nouthetic counseling in relation to the works of the Church and the main points include 'Nouthetic Confrontation: By the Whole Church', 'Peculiarly the Work of the Ministry', 'Three Elements in Nouthetic Confrontation', Nouthetic and the Purpose of Scripture', 'Nouthetic Involvement', 'Love is the Goal', 'Authoritative Counseling', 'Failure in Nouthetic Confrontation', 'Some Reasons for Failure', 'Qualifications for Counseling' and 'Pastoral Applications'. As the author establishes in the chapter, Jesus Christ is at the center of all true Christian counseling and the nouthetic activity specifically characterizes the work of the ministry. "Nouthetic confrontation consists of at least three basic elements. The word is used frequently in conjunction with didasko (which means 'to teach') Nouthetic confrontation always implies a problem, and presupposes an obstacle that must be overcome; something is wrong in the life of the one who is confronted." (Adams, 1986, P 20). Therefore, the author gives convincing explanation of Nouthetic confrontation and helps us realize nouthetic counsel

Autobiography - original writing Essay Example for Free

Autobiography original writing Essay I had five months to sort out my work experience placement and thought that I had more than enough time in which to do so. Before long, however, I was called to Mr Williamss office, the man in charge of finalising the work experience. I had just found out that I had overnight to get a placement somewhere, otherwise Ill be stuck in school with year 9 for the week. My ideal placement would be something to do with sports because thats my favourite subject in school but I knew I couldnt find somewhere and get a reply all in one night. The only placement I knew I could go without having to wait for a reply was with my mother! My mother works at Cardiff University in the Biochemistry Unit. Im still not sure exactly what she does, but I think its something along the lines of teaching and researching into cells. Before I knew it work experience had almost arrived. It was very tense around the house; I suppose I was excited because I didnt have a clue what I was going to be doing and also a little scared for the same reason. The first morning was pretty easy because I had no dress code, and as my mother is her own boss, I had no strict hours either. Also I didnt have to be polite around my mother, so I could just be my self. I was sort of expecting it to be boring working with my mother but nothing could prepare me for what I did on my first day. My first chore of the day was to fill, empty, sterilise and prepare bottles for other people. This wasnt very challenging, so I got bored quickly. In the afternoon my mum noticed I was bored, so let me do the jobs she hates. Firstly, she made me sort out the bookshelves in her office. This included sorting out a 6ft long shelf full of catalogues, into alphabetical order and to date. The earliest being from 1992. After finishing that, she put my keyboard skills to good use by making me type out the register on the computer for four of her classes. At the end of my first day I was disappointed for not having had a fun day. I also felt worried in case my whole week would be this boring. The second day was a little bit more challenging. In the morning I had to draw pictures on a computer for my mothers poster. This was irritating because nothing was perfect enough for her. She kept on making me change the smallest details, and I realised that day that she was the fussiest person I knew, but the finished product managed to satisfy her. In the afternoon I worked with my mothers friend, Mike Turner, who works in the Electro Microscopy Unit in the university. This is where they take pictures with really big powerful microscopes. At first I was quite shy because Ive never met him before. I suppose I was expecting him to be a shy brainy man that wouldnt really talk to me. On the contrary, he would not stop talking and make jokes. I felt like I could talk to him easy and that made me feel comfortable beeing there. He sat me down by one of the microscopes and made me look at bugs and flowers through it. This was different and I enjoyed it more than my mothers office, although it got boring after a while sitting in front of a screen just looking at bugs. On the third day, I met another of my mothers friends, Guy Pitt. He is a photographer and developer in the university. I wasnt that nervous because my older sister did the same for her work experience and told me he was the best man to work with, and he was by far the best person who looked after me that week because he thought about what I might like to do. He gave me an expensive camera and sent me around town to take photos of anything. I took pictures of Cardiff Castle and animals like birds and squirrels. In the afternoon I met Mike Turner again and took pictures of cells with his microscope camera. Although he was enthusiastic about the cells I didnt find them that interesting and just pretended to like the pictures I took. The fourth day was the best day of the week. I was in Guys hands for the day. I met him in the morning and he gave me the camera with a new film and sent me to town again and told me to return at two oclock. In town I met a lot of my friends and went shopping and took pictures of a burnt building that was in ruins. When I returned we changed the films into negatives in the dark room by using all sorts of chemicals, and let them dry for Friday. On Friday, Guy and I changed the negatives into real pictures. He was very impressed with the pictures I took of the burnt building and asked if he could keep some. This made me feel good of my self and made me consider a career in photography, maybe sport photography. We finished by eleven oclock so he gave me the afternoon off and I went home. I enjoyed the experience despite having doubts about it at the beginning of the week. The best part of the week was working with Guy, he really made me think about my career.

Migration From The Countryside To Cities Environmental Sciences Essay

Migration From The Countryside To Cities Environmental Sciences Essay The desire to increase income encourages people who live in rural areas to leave their lands and homes. This movement is called Urbanisation which means the migration from countryside to cities in particular in developing and poor countries. This terminology or buzzword emerges in Latin conference. It may be defined in different ways. MEDCs (more economics developed countries) and LEDCs (less economics developed countries), for example, have examined it in different ways. LEDCs have defined it as the encouragement of people who reside in rural areas to migrate to cities whereas MEDCs has defended it as a process of dysfunctional movement of people from country sides to large cities. In other words, urbanisation means disappearance of many aspects of life in areas which surround cities such as agriculture, as a consequence of the migration to large towns and cities. It may also be defined as Elliot (1999) says the movement of people from communities concerned chiefly or solely with ag riculture to other communities generally larger whose activities are primarily centered in government, trade, manufacture or allied interests(Elliot. J.A. 1999). The negative influences of this phenomenon have exceeded the positive effects. Therefore, most countries, in particular developed ones, have been attempting to reduce the population inside cities and towns. This step is responsible for maintaining sustainability for those countries particularly in the field of development. Sustainable development is known as the ability of an activity or development to continue in the long term without undermining that part of the environment which sustains it (SNH, 1993). In addition, it may be defined as the searching for high quality of living without affecting the environment (English Nature, 1993). However, there is a contradiction between urbanisation and sustainable development, because urbanisation has tremendous problematic effects on environment whereas sustainable development seeks to create healthy cities and towns. Urbanisation in all countries has many negative effects therefore there are a considerable number of policies have been suggested to deter these problems. This project will present two problems of urbanisation, lack of space and increasing private cars owners then will highlight some causes of it and finally will suggest three solutions in order to solve these problems of urbanisation. 1. LACK OF SPACE 1.1 CAUSES The prime reason behind peoples movement from rural areas to urban ones is that they seek higher living standards because they believe cities are more desirable than where they live. However, moving to cities without planning will cause many problems for both settlers and governments. Some troubles that may face squatters as a result of sudden and unplanned moving to cities are lack of basic living standards and pollution. 1.2 EFFECTS Because most migrants who desire to improve their income by moving to industrialised areas are poor and they cannot afford renting flats or buying houses, they will accept living anywhere even in ill developed places. As a result of this, settlers always reside in the edge of cities and it is known as shanty town. These settlements are always built in illegal ways therefore they lack of the basic elements of services such as water, sewerage system and health care (Bilham-Boult et al, 1999). In advanced countries or even in developing countries, governments usually attempt to build cities in modern ways by establishing great infrastructures. These infrastructures are built to present good facilities for people such as road networks, transportation and sewerage systems. Also one of these facilities is to connect houses with main sources of water by constructing pipes of water. However, as discussed earlier, most settlements are built randomly, thus they have access to these important facilities. Hence, squatters are required to pay for water carts and this will cost them a considerable amount of money and sometimes paying for water will be unaffordable for them because most settlers are poor. In Accra, for example, only 35 per cent of houses have been connected to water sources and 24 per cent use basic pipes whereas 28 per cent of citizens buy water from water vending carts (Bilham-Boult et al, 1999). Lack of pipes of water means lack of sewerage system, according to Bilham (1999) the pollution in shanty towns in particular the pollution in water has increased rapidly because some cities have no sewerage system therefore sewage is still drained directly to rivers and to main sources of water. Moreover, settlers build pits dug to gather the sewage into it, further, these pits dug may construct among the cities which responsible for bringing a huge numbers of bacteria and diseases for people who reside near it. 1.3 SOLUTIONS After discussing the main problems which may face squatters in shanty towns, the following paragraphs will point out some problems that may encounter governments due to urbanisation. Unplanned moving from country sides to cities causes many problems for governments because that requires construct new infrastructures or even builds new territories for new comers and this will be very costly. Furthermore, the demands to create jobs for squatters will take place because most squatters sale their farms and lands to help them shift from rural areas to urban ones. Another problem is that the necessity of establishing social services such as health care, education and transportation will rise as well. However, many solutions have been suggested to solve the problems of urbanisation. One of these solutions is that governments should encourage their farmers who live in rural areas to stay there by making all facilities which exist in cities available in countryside such as schools, health care centers and transportation. In addition, by making this step that will be very helpful to solve the problem of unemployment because that will increase the opportunities of migrants who desire to move to urban areas to find a job in their areas instead in urban areas. 2. TRANSPORTATION Another problem that may be increased due to urbanisation is the increasing of private cars owners. Therefore, the following paragraphs will examine the causes and effects of rising vehicle use. 2.1 CAUSES The most considerable cause of depending on private automobiles is the price because most cars companies have reduced the prices of the cars by making it very affordable. Hence, most people prefer buying cars rather than using public transportation because they believe using public transportation wastes time and money. Wasting time is due to the commuters are must walk from their homes and work to the nearest station and vice versa and they also spend a considerable amount of money because they must buy tickets for all travels even for small journeys. This was not only the reason of increasing the number of private automobiles, but the reasonable price of fuels also encourages people to purchase cars. Moreover, the price of fuels compare with the tickets prices of journeys seems to be much more affordable for people in particular for large families. However, the most significant reason beyond the reliance on cars is the shortage of public transportation. In many cities the rail networks and high ways do not cover all areas which surround cities. Therefore, most people are required to purchase cars particularly people who work away from the urban areas or people who live in rural areas and work in cities. In addition, some cities were built since 19th or early 20th century, thus they lack planning and good organisation which means they lack infrastructures. Because of this, it is very difficult for governments to rebuild and reorganise cities because that will cost the governments a huge amount of money. 2.2 EFFECTS As a result of increasing the number of private cars, many effects will emerge such as congestion, energy consumption, air pollution, noise, health and a significant number of accidents. However, the most important effect is air pollution because it is a consequence of congestion and energy consumption. Air pollution not only effects the environment of cities but it will also harm the health of people because it carries many emissions such as carbon dioxide. 2.3 SOLUTIONS Many solutions have been suggested to solve the problems of urbanisation. One of these solutions is to connect all areas which include the city itself and all areas surrounded it by one system. It may cost governments an enormous amount of money, but by taking this step public transportation will be more desirable than private vehicle. It will save time and money for commuters who move from place to place frequently. Moreover, issuing uniform tickets of buses and railway with affordable and reasonable prices will be a most grateful solution in particular for large families. This step will ease transferring between public transportation by establishing short distances of travelling. Finally, if governments want to reduce the number of cars they should raise taxes, parking fees and the price of fuels. This stage will encourage people to use public transportation. This encouragement also needs to create informative programmes to raise the awareness of people particularly in the harm of using private cars such as the pollution and the rapid increasing of accident rates. CONCLUSION The former paragraphs have stated the negative impacts of urbanisation in particular the problems of lack of space and the increase of private cars owners. A number of policies have been discussed by some governments which may be mainly helpful to solve the problematic negative influences of urbanisation. As discussed earlier, urbanisation has a great deal of harmful impacts, they could be exceeded its benefits. One of these negative effects is that most settlements are built randomly therefore they lack basic living standards as well as basic elements of services. One of these services is to connect those settlements by main sources of water. Therefore, when these shanty towns lack pipes of water that will lead to another problem which is lack of sewerage system. As a result of lack of sewerage system, sewage is drained directly to rivers and main sources of water which is responsible for bringing a huge number of bacteria and disease for squatters who live in those towns. Furthermore, these settlements are lacking to transportation because they were built in illegal ways which make governments unable to construct infrastructures in these shanty towns. In other words, if governments want to destroy these towns and rebuild it in modern ways that would cost them an enormous amount of money. This step may be unaffordable for some governments in particular for developing countries. This issue has led to another consequence, the lack of infrastructures encourages settlers use their own cars which lead to traffic congestion, air pollution then healthy problems for people who reside in shanty towns and surrounded areas. Moreover, the reasonable prices of cars and fuels encourage people to purchase private automobiles because they have already an illustration which says having a car will save time and money, but sometimes this illustration may be wrong. Hence, many countries attempt to reduce cars uses by encouraging people to use public transportation as the best way to solve the problem of air pollution and traffic congestion. To reduce cars uses, some solutions have been suggested; one of them is to connect all areas by one system of public transportation. This step may be very costly for some governments, but it will reduce the uses of private vehicles. Moreover, issuing a uniform ticket for buses and railways will make public transportation more desirable than using private cars. On the other hand, some solutions have been suggested to solve the problems of urbanisation in general. One of these solutions is to encourage people to stay in rural areas by establishing all the desirable facilities which exist in large cities such as schools, hospitals and public transportation in countryside. Also governments must produce informative programmes for those squatters who want to migrate from rural areas to megacities. For those people who want to continue searching in this area, this project recommends them to search how governments can set up informative programmes effectively to persuade migrants to stay in rural areas. BIBIOLGRAPHY Adams, W.M. (1999). Sustainability. In P. Cloke, P. Crang M. Goodwin (Eds.), Introducing human geographies (pp. 125-130). London: Arnold. Bilham-Boult, Blades, H., Hancock, J., Keeling, W. Ridout, M. (1999). People, places and themes (pp. 202-205; P. 208). Oxford: Heinemann. Elliot, J.A (1999). An introduction to sustainable development. London: Routledge. Newman, P. (1999). Transport: reducing automobile dependence. In D. Satterthwaite (Ed.), The Earthscan reader in sustainable cities (pp. 67-92). London: Earthscan Publications. UK Government. (2004). Sustainable development; the UK governments veiw. Retrieved October 10, 2004, from government website: http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk

Resource Based And Market Based View Of Strategy

Resource Based And Market Based View Of Strategy Resource based view (RBV) of strategy concentrates in recognising and utilising the organizations resources. It is an important, essential and an inside out management concept that is useful in developing a successful strategy. The company evaluates the environment on the basis of available resources at its expense. Market based view (MBV) of strategy designs the company policies and strategy based on the trends and the nature of the industrys environment. It helps in selecting the market combination for the product, in which the company utilises its strategy. The strategy helps in designing the structure and strategy of the company based on the market analysis of the industry. Dells Strategy Dell had moved on from its prior resource based view of strategy to market based view of strategy, due to the hurdles faced after recession and from its market competitors like HP. Dell started outsourcing for its product manufacturing like Taiwans Foxconn Group and sales to stores like PC World, Wal-Mart and many more. The company started to restructure its strategy just as it lost the position as the worldwide market share leader in computer industry to HP. According to research firm IDC, HP had a worldwide PC market share of 19.3% for the quarter ending June 30 compared to Dells 16.1%. In 2005, Dell dominated the playing field with 18.2% market share compared to HPs 15.7%. (Can Dells Turnaround Strategy Keep HP at Bay, 2007). Dells success had been its customer approach, You tell us what you want and we will build it for you. That approach has worked well with corporate [information technology] people and professional users. But that is a cut-throat market since these people have a good knowledge of prices. Dell always had a hard time with the non-expert buyers. (Can Dells Turnaround Strategy Keep HP at Bay, 2007). Dell started to refashion the companys strategy to largely compete with its rival HP. With the change in the companys strategy challenges were faced, with its two pillars of business model supply chain efficiency and built to order product sales to its customer (Can Dells Turnaround Strategy Keep HP at Bay, 2007). Strategic Options Product Development Pursue Mid-Range Server Growth By 2001, Dell was the market leader in entry level servers, but had no presence in the mid-range server market. Pursuing this growth option could result in increased market share and higher profits due to the higher selling prices and markups of these units, but could be risky if technology suddenly changes. Increased post sale costs are also a concern, as server sales dont just stop upon delivery; they require continued service regarding reliability, serviceability, availability, and manageability. Pursue Associated Services Growth within the US, 2000 service revenues accounted for over 37% of $2 billion in total revenues. This business unit was becoming an increasingly important part of Dells portfolio with longevity, able to stand the test of time and market uncertainty, no matter what turn technology took. Market Stagnation While the market is recovering from recession, Dell should focus on its current market share. Once, the market is up and moving, Dell can start employing its strategies for achieving traction. Though, this option could prove risky and increase the gap between its competitors in the process. RECOMMENDATIONS IMPLEMENTATION Since, the market growth has stopped significantly compared to late 20th and early 21st century. The only improvements are required in the form of limited PC software/hardware upgrades until the state of the economy is revived. Thus, Dell needs to start investing in other areas like mass storage, servers and services in new markets. Dells ability to offer its products at minimal rates, would allow it to gain a competitive advantage against its rivals. Also, the customer service provided by Dell would aid the company in keeping hold of its customers. An expansion of the services group should also be pursued based on customer needs, which will vary around the globe. While, Dell continued to partner with third-party services firms, it should also bulk up on its own services capabilities so it can provide customers with more competitive broad services offerings. Dell needs to realize that it would have to expand its services capability significantly in order to be taken seriously in the industry (Breen, Bill, 2004, living in Dell Time. Fast Company). Dell should also consider its entry in new markets with its current products which have been left untapped such as Chin in Asia, Brazil and Argentina in South America. Being the first to enter these markets would allow dell mark it dominance. The company should study the trends and nature of the new markets in minute detail to gain complete advantage and increase its market share segment around the globe. Hence, Dell should need to consider a wide range of options, including the ones mentioned above and, plan and design its strategy in accordance to its resources. References: Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania, 2007, Can Dells Turnaround Strategy Keep HP at Bay viewed 10th April 2011 Breen, Bill, (2004), Living in Dell Time, media release, November 2004, Fast Company, viewed 12th April 2011, Bibliography Nanette Byrnes and Peter Burrows, Where Dell Went Wrong, Business Week, February 19, 2007, pp. 62-63 Stefan Stern, Dells Chief Kevin Rollins-My Part in His Downfall, Financial Times, Febru ­ary 6, 2007, p. 10. Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr., In Search of Excellence: Lessons from Americas Best-Run Companies (New York, NY: Warner Books, 1982). About Dell Ventures. 2004. Dell Computer Corporation. 30 Apr 2004. http://www.dell.com. Hill, Charles W. L., and Jones, Gareth R. Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach. USA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Pearson Publication, Exploring Corporate Strategy by Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes and Richard Whittington Answer 4) Dell is the worlds leading computer systems company. They design, build and customize products and services to satisfy a wide range of customer requirements. From the server, storage and Premier Services needs of the largest global corporations, to those of consumers at home. They do business directly with customers, one at a time, and believe. They do it better than anyone on the planet. We attribute Dells success within the computer industry to its unique, low-cost business model, direct sales approach and collaborative research and development. By focusing on leveraging its core competency in supply-chain management and low-cost manufacturing within mature technology segments, such as PCs, Dell has a proven strategy to disrupt traditional technology business models that rely on proprietary technology or multistage sales and distribution. A key part of Dells success stems from leveraging widely available industry technology within a low-cost manufacturing framework as a way of displacing the competition. All this was made possible because of the Vision of one man, Michael Dell. Michael Saul Dell (born February 23, 1965) is an American business magnate and the founder and chief executive officer of Dell Inc. He is one of the richest people in the world, ranked 44 with a net worth of US$14.6 billion in 2011. Michael Dell is considered a very accessible CEO and a role model for young executives because he had done what many of them were trying to do. He delegated authority to subordinates, believeing that the results came from tuning loose talented people who can be relied upon to do what they are supposed to do. He was a visionary leader!! Visionary leadership goes beyond charisma. Visionary leadership is the ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, attractive vision of the future for an organization or organizational unit that grows out of and improves upon the present. This vision is so energizing that it in effect jump-starts the future by calling forth the skills, talents, and resources to make it happen. A vision differs from other forms of direction setting in several ways: A vision has clear and compelling imagery that offers an innovative way to improve Vision taps peoples emotions and energy ( Leadership Team Management) Michael Dell had them both. The key properties of a vision seem to be inspirational possibilities that are value-centered, realizable, with superior imagery and articulation. A vision is likely to fail if it doesnt offer a view of the future that is clearly and demonstrably better for the organization and its members (Inspirational Approaches to Leadership, 2008). Desirable visions fit the times and circumstances and reflect the uniqueness of the organization. People in the organization must also believe that the vision is attainable. Michael Dell has created a vision of a business that allows Dell Computer to sell and deliver a finished PC directly to a customer in fewer than eight days. The uniqueness of Michael Dells management style lies in its combination of reaching for the heights of perfection while burrowing down into every last data point. No rival has been able to imitate it. He believes that the status quo is never good enough and that once a problem is discovered, it must be dealt with quickly. He refuses to dwell on success, and instead focuses upon how improvements can be made. Excuses are not accepted. Being a hero at Dell means saving money and every employee is expected to focus on cost control. Michael Dell appears to embrace the following Fayol principles: Authority and Responsibility: Michael Dell exhibited his right to give orders and his power to exhort subordinates for obedience when he fired his top European managers because they didnt cut costs deeply enough. Unity of Direction: There is a singleness of purpose (continuous improvement and cost control) that makes possible a single plan of action to guide managers and workers in their use of organizational resources. Initiative: Initiative is required by employees, who are expected to identify ways to continuously improve upon the companys past accomplishments. Discipline: only highly disciplines employees are capable of overcoming the temptation to make excuses and consistently strive towards the achievement of corporate goals. Dell announced an aggressive global target of $62B in revenue by 2006, which meant the firm would need to make talent acquisition and development a global priority. At the same time, Dell wanted to continue to focus on cost effectiveness and operational efficiency. The companys cornerstone values and philosophy are expressed as five elements, which together comprise The Soul of Dell: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Customers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The Dell Team à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Direct Relationships à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Global Citizenship à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Winning The company was at a point where it was asking its managers and leaders to lead differently than they ever have before. While reaching the aggressive numbers was essential, it was not enough. Instead, leaders were being called on to get to the numbers while engaging their people by offering inspiration and extraordinary leadership, integrating the Soul of Dell into their leadership styles (Kathleen Woodhouse, Michael Reidy; 2004). Below is the diagrammatic view of strategic decision making and leadership skill development at Dell. Image courtesy of : http://www.interactionassociates.com/sites/default/files/Dellcase.pdf Outcomes: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Prepared for greater leadership roles à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Expanded support network à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Greater insight into self and others à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Development Plan For any organization to be successful, leadership and management style should get altered with the life cycle of the organization. The style should match the organizations phase. Figure below shows different leadership and delegation of authority styles with organizations life cycle. Image courtesy of : http://www.interactionassociates.com/sites/default/files/Dellcase.pdf Dells strategies were also very well matched with organizations internal and external environments. Five Forces Analysis The framework formed using Michael Porters Five Forces model helps the managers to analyse the competitive forces within an industry, which assists in identifying threats and opportunities to an organization within the industry to which it belongs. Rivalry among the established firms, substitute products, potential competitors, bargaining power of buyers and, bargaining power of suppliers are the Michael Porters Five Forces. Another force, which is referred very rarely, called the complementors. Following three of the five forces, which primarily affect the personal computer industry and Dell in particular, are discussed, proving the personal computer industrys unfavourable features. The Rivalry among established firms is the most dominant forces within the personal computer industry. Based on Dells Strategic group, the industry can be studied as a consolidated industry sector, due to the industrys nature of limited competition established by the leaders like Dell, Hewlett Packard and Gateway. As a reason of oligopoly nature of the industry, the stakes for rivalry are high, as a result of a particular companys actions or moves directly aimed at affecting its competitors. A primary example can be made of HPs action selling home computers for $500, as a result of which other manufactures like Dell were forced to offer similar low-end systems. This affected the profit of rival manufactures, as the customers started flocking to get their hands on the new low-end systems, rather than the mid-range computers priced at $1000 which were sold prior to that time. Additionally, the demand has been declining, as the customers were satisfied or the real urge to upgrade their computers. As a result of which, the intensity of rivals rose, compelling the manufactures to combat to maintain their share of the market and customers. Due to these factors and high exit barriers for large manufacturers the rivalry between the established organizations within the personal computer industry is very high. The second force is the bargaining power of the buyers, which is also high in this industry. The common masses may not have the ability to bargain at large with the computer manufactures. However, large buyers like corporations and, educational institutions have significant power, due to the simple reason of buying products in massive quantities, enabling them to influence the price of the products set by the manufacturers. Whether large or individual customers the cost for switching from one manufacturer to another are minimal. Since most of the systems are based upon Wintel standard design specifications. Lastly, the ease of configuring a system yourself by purchasing the necessary components directly from the hardware suppliers or from retail outlets allow the customers to back away from the manufacturers, threatening the industry as a whole. The last force is the power of the suppliers of the industry, that is the industry providing the computer components, is also high. The primary reason to account for this force to exist is, because of the limited substitutes to majority of the components, like microprocessors and operating systems. Moreover, the costs for switching between the suppliers are significant. It would also cause problems due to hardware and software incompatibilities. For instance, was a company to move from Intel to AMD processors, they would have to go to another supplier for their motherboards, which could ultimately cause other incompatibilities, forcing them to find yet other suppliers for other components. Another example is if a company decided to move from Windows to a variant of Linux. While the operating system itself is less expensive, it is much more difficult to find applications for Linux, there are many hardware components which do not have the drivers necessary to run upon Linux, and the le arning curve is quite steep for customers, which would force a manufacturer to invest in a larger customer support staff. This analysis provided a great deal of insightful and intriguing information into Dells success, both within the personal computer industry, as well as their other ventures into the consumer electronics and computer peripheral industries. Although extremely successful in its own right, this analysis proves that without their competition, Dell would most likely not have been so successful. Much of their success came from the fact that their rivals, namely HP/Compaq and Gateway pushed Dell to improve their customer service to differentiate themselves from the competition. Furthermore, due to significant price wars within the industry, Dell had to improve their manufacturing process, quickly adopting a just-in-type system, in order to keep their manufacturing costs low, allowing them to pursue a low-cost leadership strategy alongside their differentiation strategy. References:- Kathleen Woodhouse, Michael Reidy, Accelerating the Development of High Potentials: Strategic Leadership @Dell, 2004, viewed on 8th April 2011, Inspirational Approaches to Leadership, April 2008, viewed on 8th April 2011, Leadership and Team Management, Transactional, Charismatic and Transformational Leadership, viewed on 6th April 2011,

The Atkins Diet Essays -- Weight Loss Health Nutrition Papers

The Atkins Diet:Too Good to be True? The American population is fat. What’s worse, we are getting fatter. For many years, a body mass index (BMI) of 27 or more (weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) was the standard criteria for being overweight, and a BMI of 30 or more was the criteria for obesity. This meant that more than one third of U.S. adults were overweight. In recent years the criteria has been reduced to a BMI of 25 or more to be considered overweight, with the obesity criteria remaining the same. Now, more than 50% of U.S. adults are classified as being overweight. Interestingly, as the number of overweight individuals skyrockets, so too does the number of various diets that Americans are willing to try in their search for the thin standard that our culture idolizes. One of the most popular, and many claim successful, of the conglomerate of diets is the Atkins protein diet, named after its founder and guru Dr. Robert C. Atkins. With more than six million copies in print, Dr. Atkinsâ €™ New Diet Revolution proclaims to be "the amazing no-hunger weight-loss plan that has helped millions lose weight and keep it off" (Atkins). Sounds great, but what is this diet, and is it too good to be true? How does the diet work? The purpose of the Atkins diet is to change one’s metabolism and lose weight easily by eating foods high in protein and limiting foods high in carbohydrates, which tend to raise blood sugar levels the most. The diet works on the principle of ketosis – the process by which excess, stored body fat (the body’s secondary energy source) is burned, resulting in weight loss. A background understanding of the body’s natural energy system helps to understand Atkins’ rationale. Diets high i... ... National Cholesterol Education Program, and the American Cancer Society who endorse a diet that is composed of 10% to 15% protein, 55% to 60% carbohydrates, and 25% to 30% fat. The entire process of ketosis is suspect, and may cause fatigue, nausea, and lead to dehydration and loss of potassium, which consequently may affect cardiac function. Other less serious symptoms of a ketone-producing diet are general tiredness, abrupt or gradually increasing weakness, dull headache, abdominal pain, increased breathing, nausea and vomiting, and bad breath. A lifestyle consisting of daily exercise and balanced nutrition is one diet that will never go out of style. The weight may not miraculously melt off, as diets such as Atkins claim to happen, but it is more likely that in 5 years you will maintain your weight loss, whatever it is, and you will be healthier in the process.

Violent Crime Research Paper -- Criminal Murder Jail Prison Essays Pap

Violent Crime Research Paper Nothing does more to tear our families apart than violent crime, guns, gangs, drugs, and the fear that walks alongside those terrors. Violent crime and victim rights have become a major concern for most citizens in the United States of America. Statistics indicate a decline in violent crimes in our country and an increase in our national prison population. Released prisoners commit most violent crimes. Gun control legislation, reform programs, victim rights awareness, and other programs are abundant in our country, but do little to alleviate violent crime. In this paper I will try to present the liberal and conservative views on this issue as well as my own views. Violent crime is a complex problem and can only be responded to in complex ways. "Quick fix" solutions to the problem are likely to be misguided. There was a decline in crime during the 1990s. Our country enjoyed seven years of declining crime for the period 1991-98, the most recent data available. During this period crime declined by 22% and violent crime by 25%. These are welcome developments, particularly following the surge of crime and violence of the late 1980s. This decline occurred during a time when the national prison population has increased substantially, rising from 789,60 in 1991 to 1,252,830, a 59% rise in just seven years and a 47% increase in the rate of incarceration, taking into account changes in the national population (Mauer 21-24). Many observers have drawn a simple correlation between these two trends. Putting more offenders in prison caused the reduction in crime. The Sentencing project has just completed a study that examines this issue in great detail and concludes that any such correlation is ambiguous at best. In examining the relationship between incarceration and crime in the 1990s the picture is complicated by the seven year period just prior to this, 1984-91. In this period, incarceration also rose substantially, at a rate of 65%. Yet crime rates increased during this time as well, by 17% nationally. Thus we see a continuous rise in incarceration for fourteen years, during which crime rose for seven years, then declined for seven years. This does not suggest that incarceration had no impact on crime, but any such connection is clearly influenced by other factors. A comparison with other nations is instructive in this rega... ... â€Å"Megan’s Law† requiring that people should be told if a sex offender lives in their area. (Federal Sentencing Reporter 10). Statistics indicate that strangers commit only one percent of violent crimes against women (The New American Magazine). I want to be protected, if I am in this small percentage. When a woman awakens and sees a male stranger crawling through her window and heading toward her bed, he is not a small percentage. He is a 100 percent fiend. But, if she had a pistol under her pillow and knew how to use it, she could make him a 100 percent corpse, and the world would be a far better place (The New American Magazine). That is my reason for supporting the second amendment. Bibliography Hammer, Marion. â€Å"United We Stand, Divided We Fall.† American Hunter June 1998 James Dao, New York Times, p. A18 May 3, 2000 Lee, Robert, â€Å"Gun Report† The New American Magazine, November 11, 1996 Mauer, Marc. "Preventing and Fighting Crime, What Works?" FDCH Congressional Testimony, 10/02/2000 â€Å"Where They Agree: Regarding Guns,† Associated Press. Los Angeles Timesn April 21, 2000 www.AlGore2000.com/issues/crime. May 16, 1999 www.georgebush.com/crime

Comparing the Innocent Criminal in Black Boy, Uncle Toms Children, Nat

The Innocent Criminal in Black Boy, Uncle Tom's Children, Native Son, and The Outsider      Ã‚   "It is probably a mere accident that I never killed," Richard Wright commented offhandedly in an interview with Robert Moss (596).   After reading several of Wright's works, one can easily understand what Wright means by this statement.   In his books Black Boy, Uncle Tom's Children, Native Son, and The Outsider, Wright suggests that white society has transformed black people into criminals.   The source of this claim comes from Wright's personal experiences as a Negro in the Deep South.   Whether pushed to crime from necessity or for personal fulfillment and self-realization, the protagonists of Wright's works are innocent criminals; they know that the ultimate crime for which they are being punished is the crime of being black.   Circumstances created by a racist social order place the characters in intolerable positions that coerce them into villainous activities.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In his autobiographical novel, Black Boy, Wright supports this theory using himself as an example.   In the tradition of the slave autobiography, Black Boy provides details of Wright's life from early childhood to his arrival in Chicago.   As Joyce Ann Joyce says, Black Boy:      Ã‚  Ã‚   ...is a realistic and poetic account of the hunger Wright endured as a child, his  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   closeness to his mother, the effect of his mother's illness, his problems with his father, his father's desertion, the violence he experienced from his mother's relatives, his love of words and books, his discovery of racism and his developing racial consciousness, his fight against his mother's and grandmother's religion, his scanty education, ... and the development of his individuality... ...chard Wright.   New York: Harcourt, 1969.   Rpt. in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Richard Wright's Native Son: Modern Critical Interpretations.   New York: Chelsea House, 1988. Moss, Robert F.   "Caged Misery."   Saturday Review.   Jan. 21, 1978, 45-7.   Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 14.   Detroit: Gale, 1980. Skerrett, Joseph T., Jr.   "Composing Bigger: Wright and the Making of Native Son." in Richard Wright's   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Native Son:   Modern Critical Interpretations.   New York: Chelsea House, 1988. Wright, Richard.   Black Boy.   New York: Harper, 1944. _____.   "How Bigger Was Born."   Saturday Review.   June 1, 1940, n.pag.   Rpt. in Native Son.   New   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   York: Harper, 1940. _____.   Native Son.   New York: Harper, 1940. _____.   The Outsider.   New York: Harper, 1953. _____.   Uncle Tom's Children.   New York: Harper, 1936.

Learning Styles Essay

Having studied a small number of learning styles I will evaluate my own personal learning style and how I can use this through the next three years of my life at Bucks New University. I will look at the most popular theories in use today and their value in today’s world. The theory of individual learning styles began in the 1970’s and developed thoroughly in the 1980’s becoming more and more popular in recent years. The use of MRI scan data was added to already developing theories to understand how the brain processed information. (Revell, P, May 05) A learning review carried out in 2004 by the ‘Learning and Skills Research Centre’ revealed that there are 71 established learning style theories, a number of these are very similar in style. I am going to focus on 3 widely used theories methods, David Kolb’s learning style model, Honey & Mumford’s Learning Style Questionnaire and Fleming’s VARK. (Image) This diagram shows the ‘cycle of learning’ created by Kolb. David Kolb, began developing his Learning Style model in 1971, he then published his learning style model in 1984. The model is made of 4 learning styles; experience, reflection, reflecting and planning. In his cycle of learning Kolb describes that we will experience something, reflect on what happened, think how we can change or what we can use again and then act upon this and do it again changing any mistakes we made first time round, therefore repeating the cycle. For example when learning to ride a bike you may fall off due to hitting a tree (the experience,) look at what why we hit the tree, not looking up? (reflect,) think about how we can change why we fell off, look forward as we are riding (plan) and then finally try again to ride looking forward. This cycle may repeat itself many times before we get right what we was trying to learn. Honey & Mumford’s questionnaire (IMAGE) In 1992 Peter Honey and Alan Mumford created a questionnaire for learners to identify their learning style. The questionnaire originally consisted of 80 questions but this has been shortened and made available with only 40 question’s. Honey and Mumford’s model is based heavily on the Kolb model but focuses in on the in-between stages of the cycle. They agree with Kolb that all stages are crucial to learning, they suggest that some people tend to be happier with one stage of the cycle over others. (Cameron, S 1995) Honey and Mumford determined four learning styles that people may prefer to use than trying to use the whole cycle of Kolb’s model. The four stages are, activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists. Activists are very open minded, will try new things without much thought, are very sociable and probably prefer group work. However they are likely to get bored very quickly and find it hard to sit still for long periods of time. Activists will most likely be the planners within the marketing industry as they have lots of experiences and enjoy overcoming obstacles, they will most likely be watched closely by the manager due to their tendencies to jump in, act and think afterwards. Reflectors are much more passive and will think in much more depth before reaching any decision’s, they will tend to take more of a back seat role and observe others. A reflective member of staff would make be good in a manager role because they think with their heads, not their heart and would therefore make decisions that are more informative. Theorists enjoy approaching problems logically and having information to back up theories. Theorists are very good at analysing data and researching in depth. They can struggle to work with activists as they act first then think whereas theorists will think (a lot) before acting. Theorist would be best at doing marketing research and analysing the information as this something they excel at. Pragmatists like the freedom of creating something new, they don’t like being restricted to set ideas. They enjoy problem solving and are very practical but they do get bored very quickly. Pragmatists would be fantastic in a creative environment and therefore perfect for creating advertisements using their initiative. Flemings VARK VARK stands for Visual, Aural, Read/write and Kinaesthetic. Fleming developed his theory based on previous VAK modes but added the read/write in 1987. ‘From what I read and observed, it seemed obvious that some students had a distinct preference for the written word whilst others preferred symbolic information’ (Fleming, N. 2006) Fleming’s questionnaire has 16 question, so that people take it more seriously and do not get bored while filling out the questionnaire. Visual learners prefer to look at images and the use of colour. When making notes a visual learner will use images, symbols and highlight key words with colour. When planning a piece of work visual learners may use mood boards and mind maps for them to get inspiration from before forming into words. Audio learners prefer to listen to lectures or having things explained to them, they enjoy group discussions and are very good at describing visual things in great detail. Audio learners can benefit from reading aloud their notes while recording themselves. When planning for a piece of work an audio learner may find it better to speak through their ideas with a friend. Read/write learners much prefer to write down notes and take information from text books, when breaking down statistical information they will describe any trends instead of drawing them. Read/write learners will excel at essay writing and when planning a piece of work they will write lists and notes. Kinaesthetic learners prefer to just try new things and touch things to help them learn. Field trips for the ideal for kinaesthetic learners as they can take in all the information around them, without getting bored. When completing a piece of work they will just use trial and error until they get it right. Without acknowledging your own style you may encourage your team to focus on issues from a certain perspective and miss the opportunities that result from different approaches. A team has a collective learning style all of its own. (Haygroup) My learning style After completing the 1982 version of the Honey and Mumford questionnaire I scored: Activist 6 Reflector16 Theorist15 Pragmatist 8 From these results I now understand that I prefer to step back and observe others, I require more time and information to make decisions. From previous experience I would say that I totally agree with this for example when making a decision about any expensive purchase I will always look at information about and research the best prices before making a decision. So I do regularly use the reflector and theorist styles. From completing the 13 question VARK questionnaire I have scored: Visual1 Audio0 Read/write4 Kinaesthetic 7 From these results I can see that I am kinaesthetic learner, this contradicts my findings from the Honey and Mumford questionnaire where I found id rather observe and take in information. Where as from this VARK questionnaire I have found that id rather use trial and error and learn using hands on methods. This contradictions surprise me as the styles are so different but I do understand that this is true to me, I do prefer to learn on my own and take in a lot of information before creating an essay but when it comes to learning how to use something new I prefer to just hold it and try it out. Conclusion From my research I have found that many of the learning styles are very similar but are constructed in their own way and helps the learner to establish their style in its individual way. Kolb’s learning theory would not be able to be broken up into sections but the Honey and Mumford theory is based on Kolb’s so I can be compared to the VARK theory I have also looked at. I do believe I can pair these up as follows because they have very similar tendencies. Active and Visual learners like images to stimulate them. Reflectors and Audio would prefer to look back at a lecture and re-do their notes to suit them. Theorists and Read/Write learners prefer looking at information in texts. Pragmatists and kinaesthetic learners are both creative and get bored quickly. From what I have learnt form this essay and have found out about how I learn will help me study through the next three years without me struggling or getting bored. Learning style is the way human beings take in new and/or difficult information, how they process, store and retrieve it. (Prashnig, B: Debating Learning Styles) Having studied a small number of learning styles I will evaluate my own personal learning style and how I can use this through the next three years of my life at Bucks New University. I will look at the most popular theories in use today and their value in today’s world. The theory of individual learning styles began in the 1970’s and developed thoroughly in the 1980’s becoming more and more popular in recent years. The use of MRI scan data was added to already developing theories to understand how the brain processed information. (Revell, P, May 05) A learning review carried out in 2004 by the ‘Learning and Skills Research Centre’ revealed that there are 71 established learning style theories, a number of these are very similar in style. I am going to focus on 3 widely used theories methods, David Kolb’s learning style model, Honey & Mumford’s Learning Style Questionnaire and Fleming’s VARK. (Image) This diagram shows the ‘cycle of learning’ created by Kolb. David Kolb, began developing his Learning Style model in 1971, he then published his learning style model in 1984. The model is made of 4 learning styles; experience, reflection, reflecting and planning. In his cycle of learning Kolb describes that we will experience something, reflect on what happened, think how we can change or what we can use again and then act upon this and do it again changing any mistakes we made first time round, therefore repeating the cycle. For example when learning to ride a bike you may fall off due to hitting a tree (the experience,) look at what why we hit the tree, not looking up? (reflect,) think about how we can change why we fell off, look forward as we are riding (plan) and then finally try again to ride looking forward. This cycle may repeat itself many times before we get right what we was trying to learn. Honey & Mumford’s questionnaire (IMAGE) In 1992 Peter Honey and Alan Mumford created a questionnaire for learners to identify their learning style. The questionnaire originally consisted of 80 questions but this has been shortened and made available with only 40 question’s. Honey and Mumford’s model is based heavily on the Kolb model but focuses in on the in-between stages of the cycle. They agree with Kolb that all stages are crucial to learning, they suggest that some people tend to be happier with one stage of the cycle over others. (Cameron, S 1995) Honey and Mumford determined four learning styles that people may prefer to use than trying to use the whole cycle of Kolb’s model. The four stages are, activists, reflectors, theorists and pragmatists. Activists are very open minded, will try new things without much thought, are very sociable and probably prefer group work. However they are likely to get bored very quickly and find it hard to sit still for long periods of time. Activists will most likely be the planners within the marketing industry as they have lots of experiences and enjoy overcoming obstacles, they will most likely be watched closely by the manager due to their tendencies to jump in, act and think afterwards. Reflectors are much more passive and will think in much more depth before reaching any decision’s, they will tend to take more of a back seat role and observe others. A reflective member of staff would make be good in a manager role because they think with their heads, not their heart and would therefore make decisions that are more informative. Theorists enjoy approaching problems logically and having information to back up theories. Theorists are very good at analysing data and researching in depth. They can struggle to work with activists as they act first then think whereas theorists will think (a lot) before acting. Theorist would be best at doing marketing research and analysing the information as this something they excel at. Pragmatists like the freedom of creating something new, they don’t like being restricted to set ideas. They enjoy problem solving and are very practical but they do get bored very quickly. Pragmatists would be fantastic in a creative environment and therefore perfect for creating advertisements using their initiative. Flemings VARK VARK stands for Visual, Aural, Read/write and Kinaesthetic. Fleming developed his theory based on previous VAK modes but added the read/write in 1987. ‘From what I read and observed, it seemed obvious that some students had a distinct preference for the written word whilst others preferred symbolic information’ (Fleming, N. 2006) Fleming’s questionnaire has 16 question, so that people take it more seriously and do not get bored while filling out the questionnaire. Visual learners prefer to look at images and the use of colour. When making notes a visual learner will use images, symbols and highlight key words with colour. When planning a piece of work visual learners may use mood boards and mind maps for them to get inspiration from before forming into words. Audio learners prefer to listen to lectures or having things explained to them, they enjoy group discussions and are very good at describing visual things in great detail. Audio learners can benefit from reading aloud their notes while recording themselves. When planning for a piece of work an audio learner may find it better to speak through their ideas with a friend. Read/write learners much prefer to write down notes and take information from text books, when breaking down statistical information they will describe any trends instead of drawing them. Read/write learners will excel at essay writing and when planning a piece of work they will write lists and notes. Kinaesthetic learners prefer to just try new things and touch things to help them learn. Field trips for the ideal for kinaesthetic learners as they can take in all the information around them, without getting bored. When completing a piece of work they will just use trial and error until they get it right. Without acknowledging your own style you may encourage your team to focus on issues from a certain perspective and miss the opportunities that result from different approaches. A team has a collective learning style all of its own. (Haygroup) My learning style After completing the 1982 version of the Honey and Mumford questionnaire I scored: Activist 6 Reflector16 Theorist15 Pragmatist 8 From these results I now understand that I prefer to step back and observe others, I require more time and information to make decisions. From previous experience I would say that I totally agree with this for example when making a decision about any expensive purchase I will always look at information about and research the best prices before making a decision. So I do regularly use the reflector and theorist styles. From completing the 13 question VARK questionnaire I have scored: Visual1 Audio0 Read/write4 Kinaesthetic 7 From these results I can see that I am kinaesthetic learner, this contradicts my findings from the Honey and Mumford questionnaire where I found id rather observe and take in information. Where as from this VARK questionnaire I have found that id rather use trial and error and learn using hands on methods. This contradictions surprise me as the styles are so different but I do understand that this is true to me, I do prefer to learn on my own and take in a lot of information before creating an essay but when it comes to learning how to use something new I prefer to just hold it and try it out. Conclusion From my research I have found that many of the learning styles are very similar but are constructed in their own way and helps the learner to establish their style in its individual way. Kolb’s learning theory would not be able to be broken up into sections but the Honey and Mumford theory is based on Kolb’s so I can be compared to the VARK theory I have also looked at. I do believe I can pair these up as follows because they have very similar tendencies. Active and Visual learners like images to stimulate them. Reflectors and Audio would prefer to look back at a lecture and re-do their notes to suit them. Theorists and Read/Write learners prefer looking at information in texts. Pragmatists and kinaesthetic learners are both creative and get bored quickly. From what I have learnt form this essay and have found out about how I learn will help me study through the next three years without me struggling or getting bored. Reference List 1)Cameron, S. (2005) The business students handbook. March 2005. Essex. Pearson educated limited 2)Prashnig,B. (n. d) Debating Learning Styles http://www. creativelearningcentre. com/downloads/Debating%20LS. pdf 3)Revell,P. (May 2005) Each to their own:The Guardian http://www. guardian. co. uk/education/2005/may/31/schools. uk3 4)Fleming, N. , and Baume, D. (2006) Learning Styles Again: VARKing up the right tree! , Educational Developments, SEDA Ltd, Issue 7. 4, Nov. 2006, p4-7. http://www. vark-learn. com/documents/Educational%20 Developments. pdf 5)Haygroup http://www. haygroup. com/tl/Downloads/Why_People_Learn. pdf 6)Chapman,A (2005) Kolb learning styles http://www. businessballs. com/kolblearningstyles. htm 7)Kolbs learning cycle diagram http://www. ldu. leeds. ac. uk/ldu/sddu_multimedia/kolb/static_version. php 8)http://www. vark-learn. com/english/page. asp? p=hel[sheets

Evaluate One Philosophical Theory That Tries to Deal with Agrippa’s Trilemma.

Evaluate one philosophical theory that tries to deal with Agrippa’s Trilemma. Agrippa’s Trilemma gives us the three possibilities when trying to justify a belief. The first is that our beliefs are unsupported; the second that there is an infinite chain of justification; the third being that there is a circular chain of justification. One theory that tries to deal with this is foundationalism, which suggests the first option of Agrippa’s Trilemma is true. Throughout this essay I will argue why although one of the more popular theories, it still has its flaws.Foundationalism suggests that the first option of Agrippa’s Trilemma- that there are beliefs that can be unsupported- is correct for certain ‘foundational’ beliefs. The epistemic regress argument, as explained well Richard Fumerton, shows how this is likely to be the case. It’s best to explain this with an example. Let’s say, a man comes up to you and tells you it is going to rain tomorrow, and as evidence he says ‘because the winds are going to change direction’. You ask him why he thinks this, and he says he just ‘has a feeling’.Naturally you take this as nonsense, a poor justification for his claim, and don’t believe him. This shows us then that to be justified in believing something, P, because of E, you must be justified in believing E. However, let’s say his justification for believing E- that the winds were changing bringing rain- was that he saw it in a gypsy’s crystal ball. Though he may think this is a good justification because he believes in that sort of thing, you are sceptical and again dismiss his claim.This brings us to expand our first principle to what is known as the Principle of Inferential Justification (PIJ): ‘To have justification for believing P on the basis of E one must not only have (1) justification for believing E, but (2) justification for believing that E makes probable P . ’ (Fumerton, 2002) From the PIJ we can easily show how the epistemic regress argument unfolds. Going back to the example, if you were to believe P, there must be another proposition you could legitimately infer it to be true; E1.But, surely the only way E1 could justify you that P is true is if E1 is itself justified, and if justification is inferential then it would mean E1 would have to be legitimately inferred from another proposition; E2. As you can see this would go on and on infinitely, hence why it’s a ‘regress’ argument (Fumerton, 2002). The solution would be to reach a proposition that didn’t need any further justification, one that was noninferential- self-justifiable- and so could be a ‘foundational’ belief.One foundational belief thought up by Rene Descartes is that he existed, in his famous Cotigo Ergo Sum ‘I think, therefore I am’ meditation (Descartes, 1641). From being sure of his existence he then tried t o build more beliefs, which is how foundationalism works. The idea of his existence is, to him, infallible, and therefore it could theoretically be used as foundation on which to build more beliefs. However, even such foundations such as the existence of one’s self can be called into question. It is believed that truly infallible beliefs are very few, or arguably do not exist at all (Pritchard, 2006, 41).This is a problem because, even if a truly infallible belief or beliefs can be deduced, they would be too few and too narrow to be able to build a complex series of beliefs on top of. What I mean by this is that the path from basic foundational beliefs to derived beliefs would be very tricky to bridge. Pritchard used the example of believing 2+2=4 as infallible. How then, he argued, would he deduce from this belief that he is sitting at his desk? The problem with suggesting the foundational belief must be infallible is that it is too strict. Logical entailment’- where p logically follows a proposition q, therefore p cannot be true without q being true- is a key part of foundationalism, and so foundationalists with the belief that foundational beliefs must be truly infallible have to deal with this problem (Foundationalism, n. d. ). In response to this, Pritchard goes on to say you could argue that fallible beliefs perhaps could be used as a foundation. The reasoning for this is because infallible beliefs are too strict so perhaps the only option is to open up to such beliefs.An example would be sensory beliefs; perhaps these should be accepted as foundational beliefs. However he acknowledges that this does create another problem: that you would have to argue why you think these deserve to be foundational beliefs. Surely though, sensory beliefs such as ‘there is a book on my desk because ‘I can see it’ have some doubt, and still require justification of their own? The doubt I am referring to is you could, however unlikely, be ha llucinating the book and therefore are not fully justified in believing it is there.Your senses cannot be fully trusted. You would have to then justify, surely, ‘how do you know your eyes are seeing a book and your brain isn’t just hallucinating’, and by doing this you are proving that sensory beliefs are not fully grounded foundational beliefs. This argument is similar to the ‘evil demon argument’ and dream argument’, as they also dismiss sensory beliefs as foundational (Descartes, 1641). This shows that fallible beliefs also have their problems. Some argue that these non-inferential justified beliefs simply don’t exist.Let’s say that statement P is claimed to be a non-inferential justified belief. For subject S to be justified in believing P is true, he must have a reason. He must also therefore have a belief in which gives him this reason to justify his believing in P. But how can this be, that S relies on another belief? By b eing inferentially justified, it has just contradicted itself (Pojman, n. d). However a counter for this by some foundationalists would simply be that there needn’t be a reason for believing P but P itself, as is the definition of a ‘self-justifiable’ belief.So, I believe the argument for foundationalism is a good one because as finite beings we cannot deal with an infinite chain of justifications. There must be a bottom, such as Descartes foundational belief. I cannot, however, ignore the arguments against foundationalism. Fallible beliefs should be dismissed as they are flawed from the start, because claiming a belief that can be doubted as fully-grounded is doomed to fail from the start. The problem of moving basic beliefs on to more complex derived beliefs is harder to counter, but I’d still say that infallible foundational beliefs are still the strongest argument for foundationalism.Perhaps it is just that no philosopher has yet discovered undeniable non-inferrential foundational beliefs so far. Word count – 1140 Bibliography Descartes, R (1641) ‘Meditations on First Philosophy’, in John Cottingham (ed) ‘Meditations on First Philosophy: Cambridge University Press, 13-15, 17 Fumerton, R. (2002) ‘Conditions and Analyses of Knowing’, in Moser, P. (ed. ) The Oxford Handbook of Epistemology Oxford: OUP, 204-33. Foundationalism. (1999) [ONLINE] Available at: ]. Pojman, [ONLINE] Available at: [Accessed 18 November 12] Pritchard, D. (2006) What is this thing called knowledge? London: Routledge, 39-41