The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini - 1233 Words

Peace at Last The human body is built to attack infections, cuts, bruises, or bacterial cells as a way to repair the damages caused. The human mind, will not repair the damages by itself; it usually needs an outside source to heal. One outside source that could heal a mind is the act of forgiveness. In the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir’s body could fix itself after the physical injuries Assef caused, but his mind took years to heal from guilt, if it ever did. It can put a guilty conscience at peace. Amir wished for his absolution, but it took decades to find it. â€Å"...it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws it’s way out...I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years† (1). Amir mishandled finding forgiveness in his childhood by treating Hassan and Ali badly, attempting to remove them from his house, demanding Hassan to throw a pomegranate at him and then as an adult, he found relief by being beaten by Assef and a sudden realization of tranquility. Searching for forgiveness is difficult to do at twelve years old since children are clueless to suitable solutions of complicated situations. Twelve year olds usually throw fits or become silent about their problems, instead of talking through them to find a fix. Even Rahim Khan was aware of Amir’s problematic childhood, â€Å"Do not forget you were a boy when it happened...You were too hard on yourself then, and you stillShow MoreRelatedThe Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini883 Words   |  4 Pagesregret from past encounters and usually feel guilty and bitter about the situation. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, revolves around the theme of redemption. Redemption can be used as a cure for guilt. Throughout the novel, the author shows that redemption requires some sort of sacrifice and the only way that is possible is if you can forgive yourself from the mistakes you have m ade in the past. Khaled Hosseini effectively portrays redemption through motifs such as rape, irony and flashbacks, symbolismRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini1651 Words   |  7 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚   The novel â€Å"The Kite Runner† by Khaled Hosseini describes the life of a boy, Amir. Amir’s best friend and brother (although that part isn’t known until towards the end), Hassan, plays a major role in Amir’s life and how he grows up. Hosseini portrays many sacrifices that are made by Hassan and Amir. Additionally, Amir seeks redemption throughout much of the novel. By using first person point of view, readers are able to connect with Amir and understand his pain and yearning for a way to be redeemedRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini1655 Words   |  7 PagesSarah Singer Major Works Data Form Title: The Kite Runner Author: Khaled Hosseini Date of Publication: 2003 Genre: Historical Fiction Historical information about the period of publication: Since the September 11th attacks in 2001, the United States has been at war with Afghanistan. Their goals were to remove the Taliban, track down those in charge of the attacks, and destroy Al-Qaeda. Biographical information about the author: Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. HIs motherRead MoreThe Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini1098 Words   |  5 PagesIn The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, we learn a lot about Amir the main character, and Hassan his servant/brother. In the beginning Hassan and Amir’s relationship was one of brotherly love despite the fact that Hassan was a Hazara and Amir a Pashtun. Back in the 1970’s race and religion played a big part in Kabul and these two races were not suppose to have relationships unless it was owner (Pashtun) and servant (Hazara). Baba Amir’s father had an affair with Hassan’s mother, but it was kept aRead MoreThe Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini1313 Words   |  5 Pagesis not unique to just J.K. Rowling. Khaled Hosseini also incorporates life experiences into some of his novels. A prime example of this is The Kite Runner. The storyline of this novel reflects his past to create a journey of a young Afghanistan boy, whose name is Amir. This boy changes drastically throughout his lifetime from a close minded, considerably arrogant boy to an open hearted and minded man. This emotional and mental trip is partially based on Khaled Hosseini’s own life. Throughout Hosseini’sRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini1908 Words   |  8 Pages​In the novel, â€Å"The Kite Runner†, written by Khaled Hosseini, was taken place in Afghanistan during the 1970’s to the year of 2002. Many historical events happened during this time period and Hosseini portrayed it into his novel. Kabul, the capitol of Afghanistan, was a free, living area for many Afghanistan families to enjoy the life they were given. Until one day, Afghanistan was then taken over and attacked. In the novel, Amir, the protagonist, must redeem himself and the history behind his actionsRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini1050 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"There is a way to be good again.† (Hosseini 334). This quote given by Rahim Khan to Amir holds a great amount of force and symbolism. In theory, this quote symbolizes the beginning of Amir’s path to redemption. The eye-opening Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini tells about the struggles of Afghanistan before and during the Taliban, and one’s struggle for redemption and acceptance. With regards to the opening quote, some see Amir’s actions as selfish. However, others may believe that Amir truly changedRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini1583 Words   |  7 Pagesnovel the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir, the main character, shares his thoughts and actions due to his poor decisions. The problems he encountered were all because of the sin committed in his youth. His sins taunted the beginning of his life and gave him a troublesome memory full of guilt. As the novel continued, Amir attempted to disengage the memory of his sin and forget about it. Amir then faced the long bumpy road to redemption. Khaled Hosseini’s novel the Kite Runner is about sinRead MoreThe Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini871 Words   |  4 Pagesthat person is trying to fix that mistake. This also applies to the novel The Kite Runner. The story revolves around the main character Amir, and his childhood friend, Hassan. After Amir came to America with Baba, his father, he still regrets the things he had done to his childhood friend. He left Hassan getting raped by Assef in a small alley in 1975. Thereafter, Amir always feel regret and seeks for redemption. Hosseini -the author, argues that redemption can be achieved by helping others, teachRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini3402 Words   |  14 Pagestitle â€Å"The Kite Runner† is symbolic as fighting kites and the kite runnings are impacting moments in the novel. Hassan was the best kite runner in Kabul, if not the whole country, after Amir won the kite fighting the running of that last blue kite triggered the monumental changes for Amir. For the beginning of the story the kite running was associated with Hassan’s rape and Amir’s grief. As kites appear throughout the story, they begin Amir’s story and also end it. Amir flying the kite with Sohrab

Analysis Of Melvin Juette And Ronald J. Bergers...

Everyone in life has trials and tribulations, but the way in which everyone responds to them is different. Some people dwell on the negative situations, whereas other people turn their negative situations into positive situations. The book, â€Å"Wheelchair Warrior,† by Melvin Juette and Ronald J. Berger, conveys how a positive mindset, self-efficacy, and support from family and friends are essential when trying to get through difficult times. Juette uses these characteristics as he transforms from being a gang member to being a world-class national athlete. The life story of Juette, contributes to the understanding of sport and society, reveals the American notion of social differences, and portrays sport in similar ways compared to many other†¦show more content†¦This contributes the understanding of society because many people, including myself, have a perceived belief that people who are involved in gangs do not regularly attend church. Juette says, â€Å"Even af ter I became involved in gangs, I still served as an usher and a junior deacon and brought my friends to Sunday services† (p. 28). He was not a person who just went to church every Sunday, but he was extremely active in his church. The church presumably depended upon him to complete specific tasks and to bring young people into the church to keep the church growing. This expanded my thinking because I thought the church would prevent him from becoming a gang member, but it did not. He became associated with the gang known as the Black P Stones (BPSs), which was the rival gang of his area. He was a great fighter and fought any times. Although this was the case, Bobby, who was a part of the rival gang, ultimately shot him in the back and paralyzed him. Moving on to Part II of the book, also known as Transitions, much focus is placed on the effects of Juette’s injury. After being transferred from Northwest Memorial Hospital to Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), Juette realized the severity of his injury. He would probably have to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life. At this time, he had to learn how to perform simple tasks all over again, including going to the

Professional Practice And Ethics of One Tel †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Professional Practice And Ethics of One Tel. Answer: Introduction There can be several ethical issues that might be faced by an information and communication technology practitioner. The individual could have had training in ethics from Australian Computer Society. In the following report a case study of One. Tel a telecommunication company has been taken. The company was facing problems with its billing system. Customers were being issued wrong bills and this raised many ethical issues for the information technology professionals in the company (Buttle and Maklan, 2015). The problems of stakeholders in this situation have been discussed. The actions that information technology professionals in the company could have taken have also been discussed. One.Tel case study One.Tel was an Australian company which became insolvent in 2000 (Bloomberg, 2017). There were many reasons for this company becoming insolvent but the major one was the mismanagement by the topmanagement of the company of its information technology department. The directors of the company followed hands on control of the company. The top management of the company was non technical. The middlemanagement of the company was almost non existent. There were technicians who were highly paid and were young. Systems were built in the company for billing, call centre, dealermanagement and debt collection. The systems outsourced were the financial system and a data warehouse used to generate performance indicators. The billing system was developed in house by the company. It was one of the leading telecommunication companies in Australia at the time. Billing system in any company is very important. The billing of goods and services is essential for any cash flow to take place. When bills are presented to the customer, the individual makes a payment to the company. The billing system in One. Tel became faulty. There were cases of wrong calculations being made in the bills (Atrill, McLaney and Harvey, 2014). This can happen if the sales staff of the company and the employees taking the payment are inefficient or corrupt. They do not properly understand how the computer software for billing operates. Other reason could be that the billing system put in place is faulty. Then it is the information technology professionals in the company who are to be blamed. There was lack of proper internal controls in the company (Chron, 2017). The accounting staff could be responsible. Stakeholders It was found that the accounting system in the company was inadequate. The customers were getting hurt by the wrong billings (Searchcrm.techtarget.com, 2017). This was a question of ethics. It is the right of the customers to get correct bills. They should not be asked to pay a wrong amount. Moreover the bills from the company were getting delayed especially after the implementation of the Goods And Services Tax. This indicated that the accountants of the company were not aware of the taxation rule (Atrill, McLaney and Harvey, 2014). There was a need to train the staff of the company better. There was a damage to the companys reputation because of wrong billings. The major stakeholders in this case are employees, shareholders, directors, customers, government and other regulating bodies. This is a case of fraud and mismanagement of the company. There are employees of the company who are suffering because of the faulty billing system in the company. They are otherwise honest employees but their work is faulty because the software in the computers is not working properly. They have to take the blame for the wrong output. As the billing is incorrect, the company loses customers and the profitability of the company is adversely affected. This would have an impact on the owners, that is, shareholders of the company. The customers are harassed as they are asked to pay the wrong amounts, that too, not in time. The government is another stakeholder which would like to stop this kind of fraud and inefficiency. The auditors of the company and the accounting regulation bodies would also be concerned by the wrong accounting in the company (ASIC, 2017). The company employed information technology professionals including ICT which are known as Information and communication technology practitioners (The Australian, 2017). These people plan, design, test and improve information technology systems. They manage databases and ensure data integrity and security. They are programmers and data analysts. These people knew what was going on in One. Tel. They would have been disturbed by the wrong bills being made. It is there ethical duty to take some actions when wrong billings are being made in the telecommunications company. Australian Computer Society wants its members to follow certain ideals as they work in different areas (ACS, 2017). The information technology professionals who become members of the society have to abide by certain rules or ethics. Ethical issues In the case of the company the employees of the company knew what was going on and still not protesting or taking steps to improve the situation. The conduct of the information technology professionals was against the code of ethics of Australian Computer Society, namely, 1.2.3 Honesty (acs.org.au, 2017). According to this provision the member of the society should not breach the specific trust of the stakeholders. In the given case the customers trusted that the company was handing them over the right bills. But this was not being done. They were being given wrong bills. Their trust was being broken. One. Tel was a big company and people trusted the company to be honest in its dealings. This provision of the code of conduct requires that the member should be honest and integrity must be there in all decisions and actions (The Australian, 2017). The person must not be deceptive and truthful. In accordance with this value one should not knowingly mislead a client regarding the suitabi lity of a product or service. The employees of the company were being paid handsomely. They did not care much if the billings were wrong. In this case there was a breach of ideals or ethics. The employees were misleading the customers by knowingly giving them wrong bills. According to code of conduct provision 1.2.4 Competence, the information technology professional should accept only that work which the person believes can be performed by the individual. Otherwise the person should take the services of qualified people who can do the work correctly (acs.org.au, 2017). An information technology professional cannot know everything but at least the person should know the ones work for which the individual is paid. If the person cannot do the individuals work it amounts to cheating if the person continues doing inadequate or wrong work. The person should provide services which meet the needs of the stakeholders which are customers and employees of the company. The person should not misrepresent ones skills and knowledge. The person should accept responsibility if the individual has done any wrong. In this case wrong is being done. The billing system in One. Tel was developed by the information technology professionals of the company (Fts-soft.com, 2017). They must have committed some mistake while developing the system. It means they did not know their work well. They knew wrong bills were being produced which could be due to the defect in the designing of the billing system. One.Tel was a telecommunication company. It provided mobile telephony and internet services to people of Australia and other countries. As an individual made a call using the services of the company, the call time and charges were recorded. Such charges were outstanding against that customer who made a number of calls during the month. The total number of calls made during the month by that customer were recorded by the company and bills were to be made in accordance with number of calls and total duration of calls. The recording of the call duration and destination of the call were recorded automatically by the machines of the company. There was use of computer software in the entire operation (Fts-soft.com, 2017). If the computer software is not proper, that is the programming is faulty, there would be errors in recording the call duration and destination. This leads to wrong billing. This was happening at One. Tel. This means that information technology professionals have done wrong work. The seniors of the company should have replaced the information technology professionals as they were hurting the interests of the stakeholders. According to code of conduct provision 1.2.5 Professional Development, Information and communication technology practitioners should know new technologies, practices and standards which are required in the work (Acs.org.au, 2017). Customers expect them to have special skills and they need to refresh their knowledge. This knowledge should not only benefit your customers but also other staff of the company. One. Tel was a leading telecommunications company in Australia. The customers of the company expected the staff of the company to be professionals. Billing is an important and crucial function for a telecommunication company. One.Tel like any other big company should have information technology professionals who would ensure proper systems are put in place to ensure proper billing. The topmanagement of the company which was non technical should have been properly informed what was the exact problem with the billing system (Billview, 2017). The technical staff of the company lacked p roper knowledge of how to put in place a proper billing system. The system was not properly installed or the other staff of the company including the accounting personnel did not know how to operate the billing system properly. It was the responsibility of the information technology professionals to train the accounting staff on how the billing system software was to be handled. If there was any defect in the system, the information technology professionals should have promptly repaired it. This is how the things should be done in a professional company. Conclusion The customers of One.Tel had been suffering because of the wrong bills they were being handed over. The billing system which was faulty was not being corrected. There was a defect in the management information system in the company (Gray et al., 2014). The senior management and the directors of the company were not being properly informed about the ground situation. The software of the billing system was not properly working. The senior management should have called the technical staff and asked them to correct the situation. The junior information technology professionals should have explained the problem in the software to the senior management and told them of their inability to rectify the system. Then the senior management would have taken the services of more qualified and experienced information technology professionals. The company should have apologised to the customer for wrong bills and issued correct bills. References ACS (2017) CPD education [Online]. Available at: https://www.acs.org.au/ (Accessed: 6 September 2017) Acs.org.au (2017) ACS Code of conduct [Online]. Available at: https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/rules-and-regulations/Code-of-Professional-Conduct_v2.1.pdf (Accessed: 6 September 2017) Acs.org.au (2017) ACS code of ethics [Online]. Available at: https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/acs-documents/Code-of-Ethics.pdf (Accessed: 6 September 2017) ASIC (2017) About ASIC [Online]. Available at: https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/ (Accessed: 6 September 2017) Atrill, P., McLaney, E. And Harvey, D. (2014) Accounting: an introduction. Australia: Pearson. Billview (2017) Telecommunication expense management [Online]. Available at: https://www.billview.com.au/reporting.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwub7NBRDJARIsAP7wlT-NJrDF357lHldUmTNRxH8r5VQIYrkyFySBrRZLyZO3ObpmPyxQmEkaAqfREALw_wcB (Accessed: 6 September 2017) Bloomberg (2017) One.Tel Ltd [Online]. Available at : https://www.bloomberg.com/profiles/companies/1382642D:AU-one-tel-ltd (Accessed: 6 September 2017) Buttle, F. and Maklan, S. (2015) Customer relationship management: concepts and technologies. Australia: Taylor Francis Ltd. Chron (2017) Five common features of an internal control system of business [Online]. Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-common-features-internal-control-system-business-430.html (Accessed: 6 September 2017) Fts-soft.com (2017) Telecom billing [Online]. Available at: https://www.fts-soft.com/solutions/telecom-billing/ (Accessed: 6 September 2017) Gray, H., Issa, T., Pye, G., Troshani, I., Rainer, R., Prince, B. And Watson, H. (2014) Management information systems. Australia: John Wiley Sons Australia Ltd. Searchcrm.techtarget.com (2017) Customer relationship management (CRM) [Online]. Available at: https://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/CRM (Accessed: 6 September 2017) The Australian (2017) A code of ethics in IT: just lip service or something with bite? [Online] . Available at : https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/business-spectator/a-code-of-ethics-in-it-just-lip-service-or-something-with-bite/news-story/aad385c4a02f951422f7055a58c17699 (Accessed: 6 September 2017) The Australian (2017) Ethics essential for ICT professionals [Online]. Available at: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/opinion/ethics-essential-for-ict-professionals/news-story/78307af0586683a61e7a0d537c5f6cf8 (Accessed: 6 September 2017)

Stages of Development free essay sample

Stages of Development through a Time line, Birth to 19 Years. Physical, Intellectual, language and communication, social and emotional Development. (P. I. L. E. S) Contents Page Physical Development is one of the 5 areas of development that we can actually see such as physical appearance, the change in height, weight, body shape and physical movement such as reflexes, movement and motor skills. Intellectual (Cognitive) Development is also often referred to as Cognitive Development. Intellectual Development is strongly influenced by experiences from childhood. Intellectual Development is learnt by children being tough such as being shown colours, shapes, numbers and animals. Intellectual Development applies to almost all intake of knowledge of skills shown to the child fromvarious sources. Language and Communication Development begin before a baby is born, the unborn bay will respond to loud noises or distress by moving around in the uterus. The communication from a new born baby is through crying and quietening. We will write a custom essay sample on Stages of Development or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Different cries are used for different needs to be met. The carer does not take long to understand the difference in cries and communication. Language and communication can also be non verbal as well as verbal, this can include, body language and gestures as well as sign language and makaton. Social and Emotional Development is about learning to live with others, both our family and in general society and our families and friends play a very big and important part in this, The emotional development begins with the deep feelings between parents, carers and their children and comes from a process of bonding and attachment. Physical Development Examples of physical development within the normal characteristics are as follows:- 0-3 Months Natural instinct for primitive reflexes such as rooting, sucking, grasping and stepping movements when held upright. Will lie on back with their head to one side. Can hold her hands in a tight fist Can grasp a finger or small soft object if placed into the palm. 3-9 Months Can turn from their back to their side. Will use their arms for support when laying on their front. Will sit with support Will roll over from back to front. 9-18 Months Will reach out for a toy when sitting Will use the index, middle finger and thumb in the pincer grasp to pick up a small toy or object. Will lift and hold blocks but will release by dropping. Will stand alone and use furniture or aids to walk, this is know as cruising. 18 Months to 2 Years Can walk downstairs with their hands held. Will assist with dressing, undressing and putting own shoes on. Can walk up and downstairs with both feet on one step at a time. Starts to show a preference in hands and will draw circles and dots. 2 -3 Years Will build a tower of up to 6 bricks Will use a spoon to self feed. Will stand and walk on tip toes. Can thread large beads. 3-5 Years Can peddle a tricycle. Can draw a face. Will build a bridge or tower with blocks/bricks when shown. Can aim, throw and catch a large ball 5-7 Years Will dress and undress easily. Can do a 20 piece jigsaw. Can balance on a wall or beam. Has improved finer manipulation skills when building bricks and doing jigsaws. 7-12 Years Will have improved physical skills with practice. Has much steadier gross motor skills such as balance and bike riding. Neater skills using the pincer grasp to preform clearer letter formation and detailed drawings. Puberty will often begin to show and develop at around the age of 10 for girls. Growth spurts in height, weight and build to the human frame. Growth and increase in body strength, particularly in boys. 12-16 Years The brain will develop at a much faster rate. An increase in reaction times to situations. Development of co-ordination skills. Girls Puberty is under-way and is usually complete by the age of 14. Change in body shape and size. Periods have usually started by 16 years. Boys Puberty usually begins between the ages of 13 and 16. Stronger physically than girls Facial features are defined and sculpted. 16 – 19 Years Puberty is complete by 19 years of age. Has matured physically. Features of the physique are shaped and defined. Acting on sexual desires are increased. Intellectual (Cognitive) Development Examples of Intellectual development within the normal characteristics are as follows:- 0-3 Months Will blink into the direction to a bright light. Stares and fixes eyes on a main carer. Will cry when basic needs are not being met, such as feeding, changing and a nursing. Will follow the movements of a dangling toys/object. 3-9 Months Is increasingly curious of their surroundings. Is very easily distracted by nearby movements/sounds. Fixes sight on small objects, toys or main carers close by. Reaches hands out to grasp a close toy/object. Months Will look into the direction of falling toys within the range of vision. Puts everything in their mouth to explore. Finds amusements from deliberately dropping toys and objects to watch them fall. Will recognise familiar faces, places and objects from about 6 meters away. 18 Months to 2 Years Can copy and build a tower of approximately 3 bricks when shown. Will turn several pages of books at a time and can point to pictures on pages if named. Will point to objects outside such as passing people and transport. Will point to body parts when named such as eyes, nose and ears. Years Will copy drawings of circles, crosses and dots when shown. Can match 2-3 primary colours Will hold and paint with a large brush Can cut with scissors. 3-5 Years Can draw a man with a body, head, arms, legs and features Can name primary colours and match 10 or more colours. Can talk about an understand events in the past and future. Increased memory skills, such as previously visited places up to 7 months prior. 5-7 Years Can read simple books with basic words. Knows their full name, address and often special dates such as there own birthday. Can count up to 100 confidently. Begin to develop concept of length, weight, height, etc. 7-12 Years Can use a computer mouse and keyboard for simple word processing. Have an increased ability to retain information and pay attention and express their ideas. Seeks enjoyment from other types of activities, such as joining clubs and playing group games wit rules. Begins to understand the motives behind the actions of themselves and others. Begin to devise memory strategies. 12-16 Years Has developed the ability to think abstractly. Clear preferences for subjects and activities. Begin to have a clear ideas of their choices relating to future education and employment. Begin to understand and respect the choices and actions of others. 16-19 Years May lack in self esteem and skills to seek information and advice about themselves. May lack in self confidence about personal skills and abilities. Be seriously concerned or confused about their future. Can take in and integrate knowledge leading to decisions about their future. Language and Communication Development Examples of Language and Communication development within the normal characteristics are as follows:- 0-3 Months Cries when basic needs are not being met and require attention, such as hunger, tiredness, needs changing or general distress. Will react to sounds close to their ears by moving their head towards the sound and freezing to listen. Will often stop crying at the sound of a familiar carers voice (unless very distressed). Will Coo in response to carers talk 3-9 Months Vocalises when alone or being spoken to. Will laugh, chuckle and squeal aloud in play. Will vocalise for communication and attention. Will babble aloud and tunefully in long strings, making Dada, mama, gaga and goo. 9-18 Months Understands the words no and bye-bye. Knows their own name when heard. Will chant jargon in conversations and will include most vowel sounds. First recognisable word will start to appear, uses about 6-20 but understands many more. 18 Months to 2 Years Can use two words linked together to make a simple sentence, such as want cup and get toy. Can use round 200 words by 2 years of age. Will refer to their own name in communication and play. Will talk to themselves during play. 2-3 Years Has a rapidly expanding vocabulary, including plurals. Can hold a simple conversation with peers and adults. Enjoys repetition of favourite stories and catchy rhymes. Can count to 10. 3-5 Years Will imitate adult speech. Language can be understood by strangers. Can form grammatically correct sentences. Frequently asks questions such as why? what? and how? . 5-7 Years Speech is fluent and correct, using descriptive language wit confidence. Can give their full name, address, age and birthday. Has a rapidly expending vocabulary, usually around 5000 words by the age of 5. Can speak about past, present and future with a good sense of time. 7-12 Years Produces most sounds, with some residual difficulty with some letter groups. Will use and understand complex sentences. Are highly verbal and enjoy making up stories and telling jokes. Can read stories with increasing confidence. 12 – 16 Years Will continue to develop and expend on their speaking and listening communication skills. Will continue to develop and expend on their writing communication skills. Will use made up or slang words which are familiar and relates to their peer group. Will use a wider variety of communication, such as texting and email. 16-19 Years Will use their existing reading skills with full confidence. Will use their existing listening skills with greater care. Will use their writing skills with sophistication and pride. Will confidently communicate through other forms of media such as texting and email. Emotional and Social Development 0-3 Months Responds positively to main carer and gazes intently. Imitates facial expressions stares at bright shiny connects S at main carers 3-9 Months Smiles, engages and vocalises with carers as well as seeking attention Becomes more interested in social interaction Shows distress and fear of strangers at separation from carer Uses comfort object, such as toy, teddy or blanket 9-18 Months Very interested in surroundings Shows stranger anxiety and shyness Temper tantrums may start Will play alone 18 Months to 2 Years Starts toilet training Has little idea of sharing and a strong sense of self (mine) May show concern when others re upset Learning to be separate from carers for a short period of time. 2-3 Years May have close friends Greater social awareness Fears loss of carers Less anxious about separation 3-5 Years Responds to reasoning and negotiation as well as taking turns Can wash and dry hands and face as well as clean teeth Develops fears of ghosts and â€Å"things under the bed† Concerned about being disliked and having no friends 5-7 Years Are able to form friendships mainly based on similar personalities and interests Are very supportive of each other Plays in separate sex groups Increasing sense of morality, knowing right from wrong 7-12 Years Fairly independent and confident yet easily embarrassed Friendships become very important and often the same sex Concern over how others think/feel about them Often unsure about changes in settings 12-16 Years Body changes such as puberty and maturation can unsettle self esteem Wants to spend more time with friends tan family Per pressure becomes a more significant influence Need to resolve changes into adulthood 16-19 Years Relationships with family and adults can range from friendly to hostile May be in a single, romantic and sexual relationship Worries about failure and the future May appear moody, angry, lonely,confused and stubborn

Medical Marijuana essays

Medical Marijuana essays Marijuana is a drug that has been in the media for years. There is a constant debate about if it should be used medically. The world is afraid of what they do not know about marijuana; for years weve been told, say nope to dope. While marijuana can help for medical purposes it can also be of great danger. This is not true however, if it is used correctly. Historically, marijuana has been used to treat a multitude of illnesses such as AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and chronic pain. Currently, the treatment that is promoted most is the use of marijuana for its ability to control nausea in cancer and AIDS patients. In 1986, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug in a pill form, which contained THC, a major component for the treatment of nausea from cancer chemotherapy. It has been determined that the pill, which is called Marinol, acts differently than marijuana that has been smoked and is not effective. Marijuana also has been found to be useful in the treatment of arthritis. Aspirin, commonly used for arthritis pain is believed to have caused more than 1000 deaths in the US annually. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which are also routinely used for arthritis treatment, have caused more than 7,600 deaths and 70,000 hospitalizations. Even with the numerous deaths these drugs are still used to treat patients everyday. Marijuana, however, can be smoked several times a day without harming the body as Aspirin would. Also, there are no reports of death from the use of marijuana. Still there are long-term effects from marijuana that can put many people at risk. For example, smoking marijuana is even more damaging to the lungs than tobacco smoking is. Marijuana smoke as 50-70 percent more carcinogens than tobacco smoke does. Marijuana smokers can be found to have more microscopic damage to the lungs defense against inhaled contaminants and microbes, an ...

Joseph E. Johnston in the American Civil War

Joseph E. Johnston in the American Civil War Joseph Eggleston Johnston was born February 3, 1807, near Farmville, VA. The son of Judge Peter Johnston and his wife Mary, he was named for Major Joseph Eggleston, his fathers commanding officer during the American Revolution. Johnston was also related to Governor Patrick Henry through his mothers family. In 1811, he moved with his family to Abingdon near the Tennessee border in southwestern Virginia.   Educated locally, Johnston was accepted to West Point in 1825 after being nominated by Secretary of War John C. Calhoun. A member of the same class as Robert E. Lee, he was a good student and graduated in 1829 ranked 13 of 46. Commissioned as a second lieutenant, Johnston received an assignment to the 4th US Artillery. In March 1837, he left the army to begin studying civil engineering. Antebellum Career Later that year, Johnston joined a surveying expedition to Florida as a civilian topographical engineer. Led by Lieutenant William Pope McArthur, the group arrived during the Second Seminole War. On January 18, 1838, they were attacked by the Seminoles while ashore at Jupiter, FL. In the fighting, Johnston was grazed in the scalp and McArthur wounded in the legs. He later claimed that there were no less than 30 bullet holes in his clothing. Following the incident, Johnston decided to rejoin the US Army and traveled to Washington, DC that April. Appointed a first lieutenant of topographical engineers on July 7, he was immediately brevetted to captain for his actions at Jupiter. In 1841, Johnston moved south to take part in surveying the Texas-Mexico border. Four years later, he married Lydia Mulligan Sims McLane, the daughter of Louis McLane, president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and prominent former politician. Though married until her death in 1887, the couple never had children. A year after Johnstons wedding, he was called into action with the outbreak of the Mexican-American War. Serving with Major General Winfield Scotts army in 1847, Johnston took part in the campaign against Mexico City. Initially part of Scotts staff, he later served as second in command of a regiment of light infantry. While in this role, he earned praise for his performance during the Battles of Contreras and Churubusco. During the campaign, Johnston was twice brevetted for bravery, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel, as well as was severely wounded by grape shot at the Battle of Cerro Gordo and was hit again at Chapultepec. Interwar Years Returning to Texas after the conflict, Johnston served as the chief topographical engineer of the Department of Texas from 1848 to 1853. During this time, he commenced writing Secretary of War Jefferson Davis a series of letters requesting a transfer back to an active regiment and arguing over his brevet ranks from war. These requests were largely declined though Davis did have Johnston appointed lieutenant colonel of the newly-formed 1st US Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth, KS in 1855. Serving under Colonel Edwin V. Sumner, he took part in campaigns against the Sioux and helped to quell the Bleeding Kansas crisis. Ordered to Jefferson Barracks, MO in 1856, Johnston took part in expeditions to survey the borders of Kansas.    The Civil War After service in California, Johnston was promoted to brigadier general and made Quartermaster General of the US Army on June 28, 1860. With the beginning of the Civil War in April 1861 and secession of his native Virginia, Johnston resigned from the US Army. The highest ranking officer to leave the US Army for the Confederacy, Johnston initially was appointed a major general in the Virginia militia before accepting a commission as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army on May 14. Dispatched to Harpers Ferry, he took command of troops that had been gathering under the command of Colonel Thomas Jackson. Dubbed the Army of the Shenandoah, Johnstons command rushed east that July to aid Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregards Army of the Potomac during the First Battle of Bull Run. Arriving on the field, Johnstons men helped turn the tide of the fighting and secured a Confederate victory. In the weeks after the battle he aided in designing the famed Confederate battle flag before receiving a promotion to general in August. Though his promotion was backdated to July 4, Johnston was angered that he was junior to Samuel Cooper, Albert Sidney Johnston, and Lee. The Peninsula As the highest ranking officer to leave the US Army, Johnston firmly believed he should have been the senior officer in the Confederate Army. Arguments with now Confederate President Jefferson Davis over this point further soured their relationship and the two men effectively became enemies for the remainder of the conflict. Placed in command of the Army of the Potomac (later Army of Northern Virginia), Johnston moved south in the spring of 1862 to deal with Major General George McClellans Peninsula Campaign. Initially blocking Union forces at Yorktown and fighting at Williamsburg, Johnston began a slow withdrawal west. Nearing Richmond, he was forced to make a stand and attacked the Union army at Seven Pines on May 31. Though he halted McClellans advance, Johnston was badly wounded in the shoulder and chest. Taken to the rear to recover, command of the army was given to Lee. Criticized for giving ground before Richmond, Johnston was one of a few who had immediately recognized that the Confederacy lacked the material and manpower of the Union and he worked to protect these limited assets. As a result, his frequently surrendered ground while seeking to protect his army and find advantageous positions from which to fight. In the West Recovering from his wounds, Johnston was given command of the Department of the West. From this position, he oversaw the actions of General Braxton Braggs Army of Tennessee and Lieutenant General John Pembertons command at Vicksburg. With Major General Ulysses S. Grant campaigning against Vicksburg, Johnston desired Pemberton to unite with him so that their combined force could defeat the Union army. This was blocked by Davis who desired Pemberton to stay within the Vicksburg defenses. Lacking the men to challenge Grant, Johnston was forced to evacuate Jackson, MS allowing the city to be taken and burned. With Grant besieging Vicksburg, Johnston returned to Jackson and worked to build a relief force. Departing for Vicksburg in early July, he learned that the city had capitulated on the Fourth of July. Falling back to Jackson, he was driven from the city later that month by Major General William T. Sherman. That fall, following his defeat at the Battle of Chattanooga, Bragg asked to be relieved. Reluctantly, Davis appointed Johnston to command the Army of Tennessee in December. Assuming command, Johnston came under pressure from Davis to attack Chattanooga, but was unable to so because of a lack of supplies. The Atlanta Campaign Anticipating that Shermans Union forces at Chattanooga would move against Atlanta in the spring, Johnston built a strong defensive position at Dalton, GA. When Sherman began advancing in May, he avoided direct assaults on the Confederate defenses and instead began a series of turning maneuvers which forced Johnston to abandon position after position. Giving up space for time, Johnston fought a series of small battles at places such as Resaca and New Hope Church. On June 27, he succeeded in halting a major Union assault at Kennesaw Mountain, but again saw Sherman move around his flank. Angered by a perceived lack of aggression, Davis controversially replaced Johnston on July 17 with General John Bell Hood. Hyper-aggressive, Hood repeatedly attacked Sherman but lost Atlanta that September. Final Campaigns With Confederate fortunes flagging in early 1865, Davis was pressured to give the popular Johnston a new command. Appointed to lead the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and also the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia, he possessed few troops with which to block Shermans advance north from Savannah. In late March, Johnston surprised part of Shermans army at the Battle of Bentonville, but was ultimately forced to withdraw. Learning of Lees surrender at Appomattox on April 9, Johnston began surrender talks with Sherman at Bennett Place, NC. After extensive negotiations, Johnston surrendered the nearly 90,000 troops in his departments on April 26. After the surrender, Sherman gave Johnstons starving men ten days rations, a gesture that the Confederate commander never forgot. Later Years Following the war, Johnston settled in Savannah, GA and pursued a variety of business interests. Returning to Virginia in 1877, he served one term in Congress (1879-1881) and was later commissioner of railroads in the Cleveland Administration. Critical of his fellow Confederate generals, he served as a pallbearer at Shermans funeral on February 19, 1891. Despite cold and rainy weather, he refused to wear a hat as a sign of respect for his fallen adversary and caught pneumonia. After several weeks of battling the sickness, he died on March 21. Johnston was buried at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, MD.

English - Police Brutality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

English - Police Brutality - Essay Example Sometimes this use of force is morally and ethically wrong and turns out to be followed along the lines of misuse of power. This paper is thus a discussion on the insight of how police force and brutality should be countered in certain situations; how the same has its pros as well as cons and how such physical as well as mental intimidation might or might not be suggested as the action to carry out in most cases. The very first occurrence of police force took place in the year 1893 and was reported in the New York Times as a police officer had badly beaten up a civilian man because of some issue. Since officers have the power to use force according to the legal structure of most countries and thus they feel obliged and completely within the line when they carry out actions like dealing too harshly or beating up people if they do not obey the law. However, the question lies in whether or not this should be carried out. In some cases, it seems important to carry out police force and br utality in order to correct a mob or groups of people because there are many those do not understand what doing the right thing means. Many a times, it may so happen that people anger other people and it turns out to be a complete brawl. â€Å"Of course, police officers and civilians are not similarly situated: Officers act with state authority, they are often not permitted to retreat, and they are trained and expected to use force. These differences affect how the concepts of imminence, necessity, and proportionality that comprise the justification standard should be applied to police uses of force and these differences are not incidental. Instead they reveal the deep structure policing. Police officers use force as an authorized form of state coercion, but they do so intense and often emotionally charged interpersonal encounters.† (Harmon, Rachel A.) Even though it is sometimes alright for the police to use force and try to assert their authority in some situations, it is n ot morally alright for them to do so. In some cases around the world there are groups of police that harass people in order to meet their sadistic wishes and achieve a sense of pleasure in doing so. There are many groups of police that try to keep people in check by using some amount of force. The force used is mostly always proportionate to the kind of mischief or nuisance that the civilian has created. In many cases, there are a number of people who disobey rules of traffic, and other public conduct and thus need to be put in their place. There are many people that do such things on purpose and hamper the lives of others in the process. In such cases, the police has a duty to intervene and take corrective measures even if it involves the use of force because here it is necessary to do so. However, there are many times when people do not deserve the kind of force that the police provide to them. This might even happen without people offending the police or having an intention to ca use nuisance. Some police have a habit of overusing or abusing their powers and authority which is not allowed. Most of the times, this even goes unheard because they are let off the hook easily and do not get punished for any miscreant work that they might create. For example, the Davis family faced such an issue when the boys of the family soon reported that the police were harassing them because of their skin color being black. In their neighbourhood,

Public Policy Issue in Healthcare Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Public Policy Issue in Healthcare - Assignment Example The greatest impediment to the efforts to create a healthy society is the high cost of healthcare services in the country (Bryant, 2009). The high cost of health care casts a substantial number of people to premature deaths thereby subjecting millions of children to poor living conditions in the absence of their parents. The government acknowledges the problem and has since enacted a number of policies including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), or Affordable Care Act (ACA). The challenges the legislation continues to prove the importance of costs in seeking high-quality health care services there showing the need for a lasting resolution of the problem of high costs as the research report below investigates. Health is an integral issue in any economy. The health of a society influences the stability of the government while safeguarding the future of the population. The government must, therefore, seek to address the problems facing the community in relation to health care. So far, the high cost of managing some of the leading causes of death in the country such as cancer and heart diseases has proven to be a major factor that continues to frustrate the population. As such, the government should formulate realistic policies that enable the population to access high-quality health care services. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is such a legislation that introduces a way for the citizens to afford high-quality services. However, the act has faced immense criticism and objection from politicians. The Congress among other organs of the government should strive to amend the law

Discuss Explanations of Forgetting Essay Example for Free

Discuss Explanations of Forgetting Essay We forget things for two reasons, firstly the memory has disappeared- it is no longer available or secondly the memory is stored in the memory system but cannot be retrieved. The first theory is more likely to be applicable to forgetting in the short term memory and the second in the long term memory. You can differentiate between availability and accessibility. Availability is whether the information has been stored in the memory or not and accessibility is the ability or inability to retrieve information if it has been stored. Forgetting information from the short term memory can be explained using the theories of trace decay and displacement. In reference to the multi store model of memory the theory states that in the STM both capacity and duration are limited. The capacity of STM is about 5-9 units of information and the duration of STM is given at only a few seconds, to a maximum of a minute or so. As information cannot stay indefinitely In STM, if it is not transferred into LTM it will be forgotten. Therefore theories of forgetting in STM are based on availability. There are two main theories about how information is lost from the STM, trace decay and displacement theories. Trace decay theory of forgetting (STM) relates to both long term and short term memory and also relates to lack of availability. The theory suggests that the STM can only hold information for between 15 and 30 seconds unless it is rehearsed. After this time the information decays (fades away). This explanation of forgetting in short term memory assumes that memories leave a trace in the brain. A trace is some sort of physical/chemical change in the nervous system. Trace decay theory states that forgetting occurs as a result of the automatic decay or fading of the memory trace. Trace decay theory focuses on time and the limited duration of short-term memory. Decay theory assumes that memories have a physical or biological basis in the brain, and that the encoding of memories involves a structural change in the brain. The physical representation of a memory is called a memory trace or an engram. This theory sees forgetting as the physical breakdown or decay of the memory trace. Assuming that rehearsal does not take place, the mere passage of time will cause the memory trace to break down. This explains why forgetfulness increases with time. According to the theory, metabolic processes happen over time which causes the structural change to break down if it is not maintained through repetition. Strengths of the decay theory are that it appeals to common sense that if we don’t use/activate the memory we will lose it. However the theory also has weaknesses and it does not explain why some older memories (especially in those who have Alzheimer’s) are not lost and can still be remembered whereas newer memories seem to decay more easily/quicker. A theory that supports decay theory is Peterson and Peterson (1959). They provide evidence for this theory. They conducted a study where they asked participants to recall a string of consonants selected so as to be difficult to pronounce. Recall delay was set to 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 during which rehearsal was prevented by participants counting backwards in threes from a target number (e. g. 397). Each subject was tested a total of 8 times at each of the 6 delay intervals. The findings of the study showed that while after a 3 second retention interval trigrams about 90% of trigrams were recalled, after 18 seconds only 10% were. The duration of STM without retention is very short. In terms of decay theory, the engram could not grow stronger and so broke down. Another theory of forgetting in the short term memory is the displacement theory. This theory suggests that new information received by the STM overwrites or displaces previous information. In a system of limited capacity, forgetting would take place through displacement in STM. According to this theory, when the system is full, the new information will push the old information out. A strength of the displacement theory would be that it provided a good account of how forgetting might take place in Atkinson and Shiffrin’s (1968) model of short term memory. However it does have its weaknesses, it did become clear that the short term memory was much more complex than Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed. Forgetting from the STM can occur due to displacement or decay but it is difficult to specify which. Forgetting information from the LTM can be explained by the decay theory; we forget things because the physical memory trace has disappeared due to the passage of time. It can also be explained by interference theory, when one set of learning interferes with another. For example, things learned in the past may interfere with things learned now or vice versa. Or cue dependant forgetting can also explain forgetting information from the LTM. This theory suggests that information is not lost from LTM, but is simply inaccessible until an appropriate cue is given which triggers the memory. The multi store model of memory states that LTM has an unlimited capacity and memories have duration of potentially forever. However, we know from our own lives that we o forget from LTM. But does that mean the memories are gone, or we just can’t reach them? Theories of forgetting in LTM therefore are a mixture of accessibility and availability. An experiment that supports decay theory in the long term memory is Lashley (1931) he investigated whether by making physical alterations to the brain, he could induce forgetting. If this was the case, then it would suggest that memory has a physical basis and that forgetting is a result of the decay of the memory trace. He trained rats to learn mazes and then removed sections of their brains. He found a relationship between the amount of brain removed, and the amount of forgetting. This study supports decay theory although there are issues of ecological validity and whether it is generalizable from rats to humans. However if decay was the only explanation for loss of memory in the LTM we would expect that all memories would decay at the same time regardless of what happened in the intervening time. Generally there is little support for decay theory, as it cannot explain how we are able to remember things from many years ago. Another theory that may be able to explain why we forget in the LTM is interference. According to this theory there are two types of interference, proactive interference and retroactive interference. Proactive interference is when previous learning interferes with later learning and retroactive interference is when later learning disrupts earlier learning. A common everyday example of proactive interference is placing household objects in a different place in a room and going back to the place where the object used to be to try and find it rather than where you have now put it. Underwood and Postman (1960) used a pair associate learning task to test the effect of interference. Participants were asked to learn a series of word pairs, so that they can be presented with the first word (the stimulus word) and recall its paired word (response word). They are then given another list of word pairs to learn which have the same stimulus word, but a different response word. Participants have their recall tested on either the first or second list of words. As expected, recall of the response words is poorer, and affected by both previous learning (proactive) and later learning (retroactive). However this effect is only present when the stimulus words are kept the same throughout the lists. Overall the proactive and retroactive effects are reliable and robust; however there are a number of problems with interference theory as an explanation of forgetting. Firstly, interference theory tells us little about the cognitive processes involved in forgetting. Secondly, the majority of research into the role of interference in forgetting has been carried out in a laboratory using lists of words, a situation which is likely to occur fairly infrequently in the real world. As a result it may not be possible to generalise the findings of the studies supporting interference theory. The final theory that may explain why we forget in the LTM memory is cue dependant forgetting. This theory states that forgetting is not due to the loss of a memory, but rather is due to the inability to access it. This is known as retrieval failure. The memory is still there but it is inaccessible. The reason that it is unavailable is because you do not have the right cue. Cues can either be external (something about the environment or context) or internal (something about your own state or mood). There is lots of evidence to support this theory of forgetting from laboratory experiments. The ecological validity of these experiments can be questioned but their findings are supported by evidence from outside the laboratory. Context dependant learning (external) was demonstrated by Abernethy (1940) who found that students who sat a test in the same room with the same teacher as their normal lessons got higher results. Therefore, the environment acted as a cue to memory in this study. Our internal mental or emotional state can also act as a cue. This is state dependant learning. Goodwin et al (1969) found that people who had forgotten things when sober could remember once they had drunk sufficient alcohol. Repression may also cause forgetting because it causes traumatic memories to be repressed into the unconscious where they cannot be retrieved. Depression is also another factor that can cause forgetting because due to either the shrinking of the hippocampus due to a rise in cortisol of depressed people or possibly due to low motivation and inattention. Out of all the theories of forgetting discussed, you can see that not one theory covers all aspects of memory. There are many different theories to suggest why we forget different types of information and the theory that applies depends on many things such as whether the information is stored in the STM or the LTM. Not one theory can explain every result that is given from these studies but they are matched to the theories they support the most. A theory that is supported by a particular study can also have studies going against it. For example, evidence for interference would be underwood and postman (1960 however the Tulving and Psotka (1971) study goes against the interference theory.

Caribbean Society Essay -- Plantations Caribbean History Essays

Caribbean Society An Essay on the Culture of Incarceration A suggestion was made, in the context of the classroom setting that an interesting assignment would be to question shoppers at a suburban mall about slavery in the Caribbean and to capture the responses on videotape. An initial thought in response to this suggestion was to wonder just how one would go about eliciting any sort of meaningful response from a likely ill-informed and possibly disinterested group of consumers in central Connecticut on this subject. Obviously, to ask questions in survey fashion regarding which Caribbean Island the respondent might prefer to vacation at during these cold weather months would produce some informed opinions. That being the case, it seems only fair, even logical, that one should have some understanding of the nature of slavery that once existed there, from which its present population has emerged. Given the desirability and popularity of such vacation destinations, it would be of paramount insensitivity to not understand its history of slavery, the foundation of its society. A Society Imposed from Europe and Africa The arrival of Columbus and the Spanish at the end of the 15th century represented an economic ‘consolation prize’ of sorts for failure to make the East India connection. The discovery of precious metals soon helped them forget the spices of the Orient, however, and the indigenous Arawak people were rapidly pressed into service in the mining of them. In subsequent decades, greater quantities of gold and especially silver were found further west, in Mexico and Peru, and the imperial attentions shifted there. Left behind were the now Spanish controlled islands of the Caribbean to function primarily as provisions... ...ation arrangement was its capacity to regimentally control the activity of the overwhelming majority of the population in the service of monocrop production for export. The implications are that the degrading and dehumanizing nature of slavery was subinfeudated into the dependency of an entire island’s population on the success of the plantation enterprise. Since nearly all suitable land was devoted to the plantation, usually sugar, importation of food was often required. This then translates into the dismal reality that, while life as a slave on the plantation was an unbearable existence that portended a short life-expectancy, life outside of it may have an even less certain survival, particularly on the smaller, plantation-saturated islands such as Barbados. It is this entrapment that defined the masses of humanity residing in the Caribbean for several centuries.

Drunk Driving

Persuasive Presentation Outline Example Driving While Intoxicated Topic: Local San Marcos Problem Organization: Problem/Solution Specific Purpose: I would like my audience to believe that an alcohol education class should be taken before one can receive his/her license Introduction I. Attention Getter: In the past decade, four times as many Americans have died in drunk driving accidents as killed in the Vietnam War (NHTSA, 2006). II. Relevance: How close have you come to losing your life as a result of an alcohol-related accident? III.Credibility: Recall story about my boyfriend receiving phone call that his brother, Jeremy, had been killed in a drunk driving accident. IV. Propositional Statement: Driving while intoxicated remains a problem in the United States and in the city of San Marcos. Because young people do not know enough about alcohol and its effects. I propose that a mandatory course in alcohol education be required before one can receive his/her driver’s license. B ody I. The first part of the problem is that we continue to drive while under the influence of alcohol.A. Drinking and driving is a problem on a national level. 1. 16,189 people were killed in alcohol related accidents in 2005. This is one death every 32 minutes (NHTSA, 2006). 2. Three in every five Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in his/her life (NHTSA, 2006). B. Drinking and driving is a problem on a local level. 1. San Marco police department reported 196 arrests in 2005 related to alcohol-related crimes. Of those arrests, 67 were driving while intoxicated. San Marcos Police Department, 2005). 2. 50% increase from arrests made in 2000 (San Marcos Police Department, 2005). Transition: Not only is drinking and driving a major problem, young people are often very uniformed of its effects.II. The second part of the problem is that young people do not know enough about alcohol and its dangerous effects and they received mixed messages about alcohol. A. Young people lace an awareness of alcohol’s severe effects. 1. In 2004, 2. million teenagers did not know that a person could die from an alcohol overdose (Dunning, 2005). 2. Young people believe myths, not facts. (Dunning, 2005). B. Young people receive mixed messages about alcohol and its effects. 1. Less than one in three parents of tenth grade students gave their children a clear â€Å"no-use† message about alcohol (MADD. 2004). 2. When parents â€Å"bargain† with youth, the youth are more likely to drive after drinking or be in a vehicle driven by someone who has been drinking (MADD

Personnel to Human Resource Management Essay

Personnel management refers to a set of functions or activities including recruitment, training, pay and industrial relations performed effectively but often in isolation from each other or with overall organisation objectives. In 1991, Hilmer noted that the Australian tradition of many sub-specialities or functions (industrial relations, compensation, training and pay) was out of date. The early 1990s was an are of great speculation on the future of the functions in managing people. The concept Human Resource Management (HRM) began to influence the practice of integrating functions with each other and organisation objectives. Coppleston (1991) explained â€Å"the HR function within any enterprise must first of all serve the organisation†¦ an investment area rather than a cost to the organisation.† Reinforced by other writers, human resources should be viewed as ‘human capital’, and that HR managers should strive to use them as investment creating an environm ent where the appropriate strategy is likely to emerge. (Williams, 1991) Alternate perspectives of HRM emphasise either the effective management of employees through greater accountability and control, the greater involvement in decision making processes, or both of these. (Nankervis, Compton & McCarthy, 1993) In countries such as Australia, the personnel management function arrived more slowly than its USA counterparts and came from a number of avenues. The orientation of personnel management was not entirely managerial. In the UK, its origins were traced to ‘welfare officers’ where it became evident that there was an inherent conflict between their activities and those of line managers. There were not seen to have a philosophy compatible with the view of senior managers. The welfare officer orientation placed personnel management as a buffer between the business and the employees. In terms of organisational politics this was not a viable position for those wishing to further their careers, increase their status, earn high salaries or influence organisation performance. Industrial relations further compounded the distinction through their intermediary role between unions and line management. (Price, 2005) However, during the 1970s, many Australian organisations found themselv es in turbulent business and economic climates with major competition from the USA, Europe and Asian markets. Concurrently, the Institute for Personnel Management (IPMA) and training institutions such as TAFE and universities were becoming more sophisticated in their approaches incorporating more  recent approaches such as ‘Excellence† and ‘Total Quality Management’. During this period the IPMA held national and international conferences, initiated relationships with the Asia-Pacific region, developed an accreditation process and the now titled Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources. (Nankervis et al, 1993)By the 1980s, personnel had become a well-defined but low status area of management. Traditional personnel managers were accused of having a narrow, functional outlook. Storey (1989) comment that personnel management â€Å"†¦has long been dogged by problems of credibility, marginality, ambiguity and a ‘trash-can’ labelling which has relegated it to a relatively disconnected set of duties – many of them tainted with a low status ‘welfare’ connotation.† In practice, the background and training of many personnel managers left them speaking a different language from other managers and unable to comprehend wider business issues such as business strategy, market competition, labour economics and the role of other organisational functions. (Price, 2005) This set the scene to integrate personnel management with wider trends in management thinking. In 1999 (cited in Gollan 2005), Hunt suggested, ‘the key link to the success of the function lies in the struggle to acquire more influence, something that is being carried out in a climate of downsizing and outsourcing. Even the change of name from personnel to HR is indicative that the way people view and perform this role is changing – with the new name communicating a desire to break with the past and to throw off an image that was limp and limiting†¦ The future of the HR function may be far from certain †¦ [however] †¦ In situations of uncertainty, it is the confident who win through †¦ I know of no organisation whose senior managers believe their company will operate, in the future, without any human beings. Whether ensuring the supply of those human beings resides in a function called HR or not is rather irrelevant. Such themes included ‘human capital theory’ and human resource accounting, however, HRM gained further ground and prominence once introduced to the Harvard Business School MBA course in 1981. The four main approaches founded during the 1980s were: The strategic matching theories from the Michigan and  New York Schools; Multiple Stakeholders theory from the Harvard School; Political and Change Process Theory from the Warwick School and a Behavioural Transformation Theory from the Schuler School. (Price, 2005) Each theory expressed models that stress people as human resources which are a resource different to any other the organisation may have and therefore require to be managed differently. This could be conceived as rather confusing, however Townley (1994) argued that much of the confusion over the role of human resource managers is due to two factors: 1. The conflict between the welfare tradition of personnel management and the strategic orientation of more modern HRM and; 2. A gender divide between female or soft personnel management at lower management and administrative levels and male, hard nosed human resource managers within upper management. Benchmarking and best practice have become widely used terms in the past decade. HRM benchmarking is a process which provides knowledge of the key HR levers which are important to business outcomes; comparison with other businesses with better performance and ways of using that information to improve HR processes. This allows HR processes and outcomes to be quantified so that objectives can be set meaningfully and realistically. This was a revolutionary approach for many HR professionals who were used to subjective job descriptions and values with a focus on process rather than outcome which did not gain much credibility with other business units who were used to objective and quantifiable measures of performance. (Nankervis et al, 1993; Price, 2005) Vilinas and Harper (2005) explored the impact of performance management on staff, the organisation and the business. Performance management was found to be useful in improving role clarity, identifying and standardising performance objectives,, increasing performance feedback and assisting in the development of more useful and meaningful performance measures. The authors found that how performance management was viewed depended on the performance of the team. That is, if the team were performing well, it was viewed positively, if the team were not performing well, it was viewed negatively. Furthermore, Vilinas and Harper (2005), found difficulty in evaluating the impact of performance management systems in organisations. There fore it is difficult to determine the impact this human resource strategy on organisation performance in a  quantitative sense. Royal and O’Donnell (2005), argue that qualitative human capital analysis would assist in predicting organisation sustainability and future financial performance by providing substantial evidence indicating the link between particular HR practices and organisation performance. These practices included learning and development, flexible work policies and performance management. The focus on long term relationships between the organisation and staff was the impact on organisation performance rather than an economic exchange. Exploring the impacts of downsizing on organisation performance, Farrell and Mavondo (2005) reported on the contradictory evidence in the literature about this relationship and surveyed manufacturing companies in order to test the impact. The findings concluded that when redesign of organisations drive downsizing the impact on the business is positive, but it is negative when the organisation redesign is driven by downsizing. This indicated that good HR practice linking with the organisation strategic plan is more likely to provide a positive business outcome. According to McGrath-Champ and Baird (2005), HRM practices and the role of HR and employee relations practitioners have been undergoing major changes since the 1980s. Particular changes include the shift to enterprise bargaining. The authors used data from numerous surveys aimed at exploring the changing role of HR practitioners and the implications on the skills required in order to fulfil the changed role. This, in turn, impacts on the capability of the HR area in its ability to support and influence organisational performance. Given that small business is a significant employer in Australia, Bartram (2005) found they are not as likely to use participative management techniques, invest in training in the area of employee relations or develop organisation strategy. However, without the use of HRM practices, small business can be effected detrimentally particularly in a global economic climate. The evidence suggests that organisation performance will usually benefit from the integration of human resource management and product and market strategies, improved understanding of the needs of employees at the workplace, and better use of their skill and ingenuity. Strategies designed to achieve a more comprehensive use of employees’ human potential, desire to learn, flexibility and personal responsibility would appear capable of delivering higher levels of performance (Gollan & Davis, 1998). This is at the heart of the argument for more attention to HRM. Other things being equal, it will assist improve profitability through changing employee attitudes, overcoming resistance to change. (Gollan & Davis, 1998) Moreover, there will be experience of mutual advantage. Management can benefit from improved performance and reduced levels of turnover and absenteeism and being an employer of choice in the current labour tight market. As a result employees may enjoy more job security, development opportunities, autonomy and incentives to take ownership and responsibility for quality outcomes. (West & Patterson, 1998) While HRM approaches are worthwhile in terms of improving organisation performance, it can be difficult to measure the link between the improvement and the HR practice. The length of time can be fraught with problems when considering the impact of HRM on organisation performance. A short term consultation with staff could pay off years ahead in performance. The most difficult obstacle is in the change of organisation culture for both managers and employees in terms of leadership skills, strategy and resources for development. Based on research statistics of over 30 000 HR professionals, Brockbank (2005), stated ‘the HR field is outstanding at doing what it says it will do, in terms of delivering the basic HR infrastructure activity †¦is an intersection of HR competencies and agendas that have to do with managing the culture, contributing to strategic decision making, managing change and creating process of information flows that continually integrate the organisation†¦ HR professionals are mediocre at this set of activities†¦ the logic of HR’s role in bringing critical information about the external business world into the firm, disseminating it and using that information on  a broad scale within the organisation as the basis for integration, unity and ultimately organisational responsiveness.’ Brockbank (2005) further identified that HR’s market driven connectivity rates at 17 per cent of strategic contribution’s impact on organisation performance. The direct impact of HR on business performance has increased about 300 per cent since 1992. This is factored around the shift from focusing on traditional personnel functions and moving towards strategic input into the organisation’s development coupled with technological change and a global economy. In other words, this indicates that in order to make an impact, HR needs to understand the business their organisation is in including the customers, shareholders and stakeholders. To surmise, the evidence suggests there is a great deal of participation taking place in Australia, (Morehead, Steele, Alexander, Stephen & Duffin, 1997) however, findings from the research highlight the quality of many HRM practices need to be appropriate measured and reported in order to continue to develop the link between HR practices and organisation performance. From the research synthesised in this paper, it is evident that some human resource practices can contribute to high levels of organisational performance. Explored from a range of perspectives, the problems in demonstrating this relationship are highlighted. The number of dimensions to the problems making study comparisons difficult include: definitions used as a basis for the research; the ability to draw a relationship between human resource practices and organisational performance; methodological issues and; differences and variable measurement. There is further interest in identifying and demonstrating the impact HRM has on organisation performance none more highlighted than through the importance of people in the knowledge economy and organisation sustainability in a global market. References: Bartram, Timothy 2005, ‘Small firms, big ideas: The adoption of human resource management in Australian small firms’, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol 43Brockbank, Wayne 2005, ‘Turning Inside Out’, HR Monthly, April. Coppleston Peter 1991, ‘Present issues and future trends’, HR Monthly, April p8-9Farrell, Mark A., & Mavondo, Felix 2005, ‘The effect of downsizing-redesign strategies on business performance: Evidence from Australia’, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol 43Gollan, Paul 2005, High involvement management and human resource sustainability: The challenges and opportunities, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol 43Gollan, P. & Davis, E. 1998, High involvement management and organisational change: Beyond rhetoric. Macquarie Graduate School of ManagementHilmer F 1991, ‘Hilmer discusses the future for Australians at work’, HR Monthly, August p9. McGrath-Champ, Susan & Baird, Marian 2005, ‘The mercurial nature of Australian HRM under enterprise bargaining’, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol 43Morehead, A., Steele, M., Alexander, M., Stephen, K. & Duffin, L. 1997, Change at Work: The 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey. Melbourne: LongmanNankervis, Alan R., Compton, Robert L. & McCarthy, Terence E. 1993, Strategic Human Resource Management, Thomson Nelson Australia. Price Alan 2005, Human Resource Management in a Business Context, 2nd ednRoyal, Carol & O’Donnell, Loretta 2005, ‘Embedding human capital analysis in the investment process: A human resources challenge’, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol 43Storey, J. 1989, Human Resource Management: A Critical Text. Thomson Learning, 2nd ednTownley B. 1994, Reframing Human Resource Management: Power, Ethics and the Subject of Work, Sage. West, M. & Patterson, M 1998. People Power: The link between job satisfaction and productivity. Centrepiece, Autumn, p2-5Williams Ross 1991, ‘Transformation or chaos? HR in the 1990s’, HR Monthly, November, p10. Vilinas, Tricia & Harper, Sarah (2005), ‘Determining the impact of an organisations performance management system’, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, vol 43

buy custom Organization Downsizing essay

buy custom Organization Downsizing essay Introduction With the issue of ineffective personnel being a critical issue in business environment, many organizations are resolving to a trim of their workforce. The following research focused on downsizing with regard to its advantages and disadvantages to both the employer and employees within an organization. During the study it was assumed that individuals who maintained their jobs after the downsizing had a conviction that their organizations were doing so in the best interest of all stakeholders. Organizational downsizing can be defined as an organizations strategy of permanently reducing the number of employees so as to improve on its efficiency or effectiveness. While layoffs are concerned with the analysis at individual level, downsizing deals with other levels of analysis other than at the individual level only. Whereas leadership is vital to any organization, it can be a great disappointment to employees if no good rapport is developed between all the stakeholders. The management may view it necessary to inspire subordinates to do more work with less labor. Downsized employees seldom find new jobs with a comparable pay. A study by Daft and Richard showed that average hourly wages in the United States fell from $11.37 in 1973 to $0.34 in 1991, while the annual working hours increased from 1,683 hours to 1,781 hours in 1973 and 1990 respectively. Research Materials and Methodology A five-point Likert survey instrument was used to examine data pertaining to downsizing and its implications to both the organizations and the laid-off individuals. A study by Weber in regard to business ethics showed that there are six major considerations that have to be given appropriate attention while downsizing. These include: a)Making of the critical decision to downsize. b)Communicating the criterion to be used for downsizing employees. c)Opportunities for transition and transfer within the organization. d)The process by which employees are laid off. e)Motivation of the remaining employees to ensure that production and performance of the organization are not compromised. f)General relations of the employees and the management after the downsizing. Methodology Question surveys among remaining employees and the downsized employees were used to investigate the degree of fairness during the process and also seek their views in regard to the fate of each stakeholder. The main objective of the survey was to obtain precise information on the impact of the downsizing process. Reasons for Downsizing Although organizations justify their cause of action by citing involuntary loss of resources, employees view it as an intentional move to take away their jobs. However, there are varieties of reasons as to why organizations may result to downsizing their employees. These include: To reduce expenses being incurred by the business organization so as to ensure that it remains competitive and in operation for a longer period of time. The management may consider it an informed decision to trim costs by getting rid of some jobs with an aim of maximizing their profits. Technology obsolescence leading to elimination of some of the products produced by the employees. This is an often excuse cited by many employers to terminate and reduce the number of employees. Incompetence of the employee in the evolved technology with the organizations claim of having eliminated the product being produced by a particular employee and consequently, eliminating their job. The organizations claim of running short of funds thus forcing it to lay-off some of its employees to avoid financial crises that would bring it down on its knees. Causes of Downsizing A report by Twentieth Century Fund (1995) indicated that the major cause of downsizing within organizations was as a result of short-term investments. Since corporatemanagers operate under pressure from financial markets, they are forced to focus more on quarterly profits rather than long term investment. An organization is made up of three pertinent stakeholders, namely: board directors, corporate managers and investors, all of whom give little priority to long term investments. Instead, they pay attention on how fast they meet their short term objectives of which are the basis used by others to judge their performance. Primarily, downsizing is attributed to the problem of an organizations budget especially in regard to personnel expenditure reduction. Therefore, with a great quest for maximizing profit by making significant budget changes, organizations result to firing personnel to reduce the cost incurred in paying out wages. Various discussions which have taken place indicate existence of three levels of organizational downsizing, namely: global, industrial and at individual level. At the global and industrial levels mergers and acquisitions characterize downsizing within an organization. Advantages of Downsizing It reduces expenses and costs incurred in paying out salaries and wages to a large number of employees within an organization thus maximizing on profits. For example, Oracle Corporation laid-off about 5,000 employees on acquisition of PeopleSoft Company. In addition, Jamaica Air also reduced its number of employees by 15 percent in an effort aimed at trimming the cost of operation. Improves in economic growth in the long term within organizations when overall job availability outweighs the lay-offs as argued by economists. As such, economists are always optimistic and criticize those opposed to the idea of downsizing. In addition, they suggest that employees who lose their jobs do so due to the effect of outsourced jobs. It gives laid-off employees the advantage to utilize their skills in other technological fields which are growing at a fast rate. Economists often argue that such moves enable organizations to maintain their competitiveness in a fast growing domestic and global economy. Disadvantages of Downsizing It disrupts an organizations ability to incorporate new ideas since it breaks down entrepreneurial networking within the organization. Due to loss of personnel, organizations end up losing the skills that had been gained by the employees during their stay at the company. Leads to disappearance of skills within the working environment thus compromising on the quality of the production process. Consequently, creativity diminishes as employees who are left out during the process of downsizing shift attention to meeting short term objectives in time to secure their jobs. This renders the products of a business organization to be at the risk of becoming obsolete with the fast growing technology. It creates lower team performance as employees begin to adapt to the new changes and diverse areas of work allocated to them to cater for the lost personnel. As such, the management finds itself engaged in many formal controls to ensure that quality is not compromised. Little control can have great implications on the future of the organization since the products may lose out to the competitors. At the individual level, it reduces an employees opportunity to implement his or her creative ideas and consumes a lot of time as the project is being developed. Production process would also consume a lot of time as individuals working together struggle to achieve integration and coordination between them. At the project level, an organization suffers from a shortage of information and ideas since a communication breakdown occurs between the project managers and members from other functional areas. Diversity of information is critical for any organization to realize its goals and objectives. With a downsized labor, information diversity and innovative ideas for improving on the organizations development process are often lost. Information greatly affects process performance and enhances team tenor thus improving on the efficiency of the production process. In addition, the organization loses many informal contacts which might provide it with the opportunity of learning from other organizations thus improve on the quality of its production process. Leads to loss of highly-skilled labor aand extra expenses being incurred in training new workers as well as the increase of overtime wages for workers since they are forced to perform more duties. An increase in the number of lawsuits filed in court by employees who feel aggrieved by the move to lay them off. This leads to loss of time by the organization while trying to defend their course of action. In addition, efficiency in production may take quite a long period of time as new employees adapt to new roles and responsibilities. Results Considerations while downsizing No. of respondents in % Decision making 60 Communication of criteria used 76 Possible transition and transfer 55 Process used to downsize 68 Motivating employees 70 Employer-employee relations 82 Interpretation of Results The survey sampled the response of 100 respondents, all of whom were employees drawn from different organizations and who still maintained their jobs and others who lost it after the downsizing process. The survey was based on the analysis of six considerations made in the process of downsizing as proposed by Ambrose and Delorese. From the table above, 60 percent of the interviewees argued that the decision to lay-off the organizations workforce was as a result of economic recess. In regard to communication criteria used, 76 percent of the respondents agreed that the reasons given to them to justify the organizations course of action were not convincing enough. When asked whether the laid-off employees would consider a possible move to other places of work within the organization, 55 percent of them said that it was almost impossible and not an option in the circumstances. Further still, 70 percent agreed that the organizations would suffer huge losses while motivating the remaining workforce. 82 percent doubted whether the normal employer-employee relationship would remain after the lay-offs. The above results from the survey indicate that employees are not in support of the downsizing trend growing up in many organizations today. Conclusion From the results of the survey its evident that many employees are not for the idea of downsizing as opposed to the management who think that the move is in the best interest of the company as well as the employee. Many of the employees appear to be of the fact that such moves cannot be justified and that they are only aimed at oppressing them financially. All in all, organizations continue suffering from loss of skills and innovative ideas and their reasons for lay-offs cannot be justified in the eyes of the employees. The reason behind this can be due to the fact that the management and other stakeholders put more focus on short-term returns other than the long-term investments. As such, they result to laying-off their personnel so as to achieve their goals and objectives. As organizations compete with each other and struggle with the issue of personnel reduction in an increasingly competitive world, cooperate managers, executives and investors should put more focus on long-term investment rather than shot-term solutions. Strategic planning should also be implemented so as to ensure that downsizing is the last alternative to the organization. Buy custom Organization Downsizing essay

US Supreme Court Procedures and Decisions

US Supreme Court Procedures and Decisions From the day the U.S. Supreme Court votes to hear a case to the day some nine months when we learn its decision, lots of high-level law happens. What are the daily procedures of the Supreme Court? While the U.S. has a classic dual court system, the Supreme Court stands as the highest and only federal court created by the Constitution. All of the lower federal courts have been created over the years in one of the five â€Å"other† methods of changing the Constitution. Without vacancies, the Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, all appointed by the President of the United States with the approval of the Senate. The Supreme Courts Term or Calendar The annual term of the Supreme Court runs begins on the first Monday in October and continues until late June or early July. During the term, the Court’s calendar is divided between â€Å"sittings,† during which the Justices hear oral arguments on cases and release decisions and â€Å"recesses,† when the Justices deal with other business before the Court and write their opinions to be attached to the Court’s decisions. The Court typically alternates between sittings and recesses about every two weeks throughout the term. During the brief recess periods, the Justices review the arguments, consider upcoming cases, and work on their opinions. During every week of the term, the Justices also review more than 130 petitions asking the Court to review recent decisions of the state and lower federal courts to determine which, if any, should be granted full Supreme Court review with oral arguments by lawyers. During sittings, public sessions start at 10 a.m. sharp and end at 3 p.m., with a one-hour recess for lunch starting at noon. Public sessions are held on Monday through Wednesday only. On Fridays of weeks during which oral arguments were heard, the Justices discuss the cases and vote on requests or â€Å"petitions for writ of certiorari† to hear new cases. Before hearing oral arguments are made, the Court takes care of some procedural business. On Monday mornings, for example, the Court releases its Order List, a public report of all actions taken by the Court including a list of cases accepted and rejected for future consideration, and a list of lawyers newly approved to argue cases before the Court or â€Å"admitted to the Court Bar.† The much-anticipated decisions and opinions of the Court are announced in public sessions held on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and on third Mondays during May and June. No arguments are heard when the Court sits to announced decisions. While the Court begins its three-month recess in late June, the work of justice continues. During the summer recess, the Justices consider new petitions for Court review, consider and rule on hundreds of motions submitted by lawyers, and prepare for oral arguments scheduled for October. Oral Arguments Before the Supreme Court At precisely 10 a.m. on days the Supreme Court is in session, all present stand as the Marshal of the Court announces the entrance of the justices into the courtroom with the traditional chant: â€Å"The Honorable, the Chief Justice and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting. God save the United States and this Honorable Court.† â€Å"Oyez† is a Middle English word meaning â€Å"hear ye.† After having submitted countless legal briefs, oral arguments give lawyers representing clients in cases before the Supreme Court a chance to present their cases directly to the justices. While many lawyers dream of arguing a case before the Supreme Court and wait years for a chance to do so, when the time finally comes, they are allowed only 30 minutes to present their case. The half-hour time limit is strictly enforced and answering questions asked by the justices does not extend the time limit. As a result, the lawyers, for whom brevity does not come naturally, work for months to hone their presentations to be concise and to anticipate questions. While oral arguments are open to the public and the press, they are not televised. The Supreme Court has never allowed TV cameras in the courtroom during sessions. However, the Court does make audiotapes of oral arguments and opinions available to the public. Prior to oral arguments, parties interested in, but not directly involved in the case will have submitted â€Å"amicus curiae† or friend-of-the-court briefs supporting their views. Supreme Court Opinions and Decisions Once oral arguments to a case have been completed, the justices retire to closed session to formulate their individual opinions to be attached to the Court’s final decision. These discussions are closed to the public and press and are never recorded. Since the opinions are typically lengthy, heavily footnoted, and require extensive legal research, the justices are assisted in writing them by highly-qualified Supreme Court law clerks. The Types of Supreme Court Opinions There are four main types of Supreme Court opinions: Majority Opinions: Forming the Court’s final decision, the majority opinion represents the opinions of the majority of the justices who heard the case. The majority opinion requires at least five justices unless one or more justices have chosen to recuse themselves (not take part) in the decision. The majority opinion is vital as it sets a legal precedent which must be followed by all future courts hearing similar cases.Concurring Opinions:   Justices may also attach concurring opinions to the Court’s majority opinion. As the name implies, concurring opinions agree with the majority opinion. However, concurring opinions may focus on different points of law or agree with the majority for a totally different reason.Dissenting Opinions: Justices who disagree with the majority typically write dissenting opinions explaining the basis for their vote. Not only do dissenting opinions help to explain the Court’s reasoning in its decision, they are often used in majority opinions in similar future cases. Confusingly, justices will write mixed opinions that agree with parts of the majority opinion but disagree with others. Per Curiam Decisions: In rare cases, the Court will issue a â€Å"per curium† opinion. â€Å"Per Curiam  is a Latin phrase meaning â€Å"by the court.† Per curiam opinions are majority opinions are delivered by the Court as a whole, rather than authored by an individual justice. Should the Supreme Court fail to reach a majority opinion arrive at a tie vote the decisions reached by the lower federal courts or state supreme courts are allowed to remain in effect as if the Supreme Court had never even considered the case. However, the rulings of the lower courts will have no precedent setting value, meaning they will not apply in other states as with majority Supreme Court decisions.