Affirmative Action Essays (1538 words) - Discrimination,

Affirmative Action Once upon a time, there were two people who went to an interview for only one job position at the same company. The first person attended a prestigious and highly academic university, had years of work experience in the field and, in the mind of the employer, had the potential to make a positive impact on the company's performance. The second person was just starting out in the field and seemed to lack the ambition that was visible in his opponent. "Who was chosen for the job?" you ask. Well, if the story took place before 1964, the answer would be obvious. However, with the somewhat recent adoption of the social policy known as affirmative action, the answer becomes unclear. After the United States Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964,it became apparent that certain business traditions, such as seniority status and aptitude tests, prevented total equality in employment. Then President, Lyndon B. Johnson, decided something needed to be done to remedy these flaws. On September 24, 1965, he issued Executive Order #11246 at Howard University that required federal contractors "to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed . . . without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin (Civil Rights)." When Lyndon Banes Johnson signed that order, he enacted one of the most discriminating pieces of legislature since the Jim Crow Laws were passed. Affirmative action was created in an effort to help minorities leap the discriminative barriers that were ever so present when the bill was first enacted, in 1965. At this time, the country was in the wake of nationwide civil-rights demonstrations, and racial tension was at its peak. Most of the corporate executive and managerial positions were occupied by white males, who controlled the hiring and firing of employees. The U.S. government, in 1965, believed that these employers were discriminating against minorities and believed that there was no better time than the present to bring about change. When the Civil Rights Law passed, minorities, especially African-Americans, believed that they should receive retribution for the years of discrimination they endured. The government responded by passing laws to aide them in attaining better employment as reprieve for the previous two hundred years of suffering their race endured at the hands of the white man. To many, this made sense. Supporters of affirmative action asked, "why not let the government help them get better jobs?" After all, the white man was responsible for their suffering. While this may all be true, there is another question to be asked. Are we truly responsible for the years of persecution that the African Americans were submitted to? The answer to the question is yes and no. It is true that the white man is partly responsible for the suppression of the African- American race. However, the individual white male is not. It is just as unfair and suppressive to hold many white males responsible for past persecution now as it was to discriminate against many African-Americans in the generations before. Why should an honest, hard-working, open minded, white male be suppressed, today, for past injustice? Affirmative action accepts and condones the idea of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Do two wrongs make a right? I think mother taught us better than that. Affirmative action supporters make one large assumption when defending the policy. They assume that minority groups want help. This, however, may not always be the case. My experience with minorities has led me to believe that they fought to attain equality, not special treatment. To them, the acceptance of special treatment is an admittance of inferiority. They ask, "Why can't I become successful on my own? Why do I need laws to help me get a job?" These African Americans want to be treated as equals, not as incompetents. In a statement released in 1981 by the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Jack P. Hartog, who directed the project, said: Only if discrimination were nothing more than the misguided acts of a few prejudiced individuals would affirmative action plans be "reverse discrimination." Only if today's society were operating fairly toward minorities and women would measures that take race, sex, and national origin into account be "preferential treatment." Only if discrimination were securely placed in a well-distant past would affirmative action be an unneeded and drastic remedy. What the commission failed to realize was that there are thousands of white males who are not discriminating yet are being punished because of those who do. The Northern Natural Gas Company

Ten Facts About Port au Prince, Haiti

Ten Facts About Port au Prince, Haiti Port au Prince (map) is the capital and largest city based on population in Haiti, a relatively small country that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. It is located on the Gulf of Gonà ¢ve on the Caribbean Sea and covers an area of nearly 15 square miles (38 sq km). The metro region of Port au Prince is dense with a population of over two million but like the rest of Haiti, the majority of the population in Port au Prince is extremely poor although there are some wealthier areas within the city. The following is a list of the ten most important things to know about Port au Prince: 1) Most recently, much of Haitis capital city was destroyed in a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake which hit near Port au Prince on January 12, 2010. The death toll in the earthquake was in the thousands and most of Port au Princes central historic district, its capital building, the parliament building, as well as other city infrastructure such as hospitals were destroyed. 2) The city of Port au Prince was officially incorporated in 1749 and in 1770 it replaced Cap-Franà §ais as the capital of the French colony of Saint-Domingue. 3) Modern-day Port au Prince is located on a natural harbor on the Gulf of Gonà ¢ve which has allowed it to sustain more economic activity than other areas of Haiti.4) Port au Prince is Haitis economic hub as it is an export center. The most common exports leaving Haiti through Port au Prince are coffee and sugar. Food processing is also common in Port au Prince. 5) The population of Port au Prince is difficult to accurately determine because of a large presence of slums in the hills adjacent to the city. 6) Although Port au Prince is densely populated the citys layout is divided as commercial districts are near the water, while residential areas are in the hills next to the commercial areas. 7) Port au Prince is divided into separate districts that are administered by their own local mayors who are under the jurisdiction of the entire citys general mayor. 8) Port au Prince is considered the educational hub of Haiti as it has several different educational institutions which range from large universities to smaller vocational schools. The State University of Haiti is also located in Port au Prince. 9) Culture is an important aspect of Port au Prince museums featuring artifacts from explorers like Christopher Columbus and historic buildings. Many of these buildings, however, were damaged in the January 12, 2010 earthquake. 10) Recently, tourism has become an important part of Port au Princes economy, however most tourist activity focuses around the citys historic districts and affluent areas. Reference Wikipedia. (2010, April 6). Port-au-Prince - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port-au-Prince

Management Report Addressed to the UK National Health Services Essay

Management Report Addressed to the UK National Health Services - Essay Example In addition, there is no benchmark for measuring financial performance. (Ramos et al, 2007) Public sector organisations also differ from private sector organisations in their mode of fundraising and reporting. Most public sector organisations are still financed by the state with revenue generated from taxes. Common types of public sector organisations include: Central and local Government Departments, Agencies, Trading Funds and Public Corporations. (Ramos et al, 2007). Public sector organisations like all other organisations have stakeholders who expect the organisation to satisfy their unique needs. The major stakeholders in public sector organisations include: Barrows and Mclnerney identifies taxpayers, government Ministries, customers, Trade Unions, social responsibility interest groups, local government and other government ministries as major stakeholders of a public sector organisation. Section 2 provides and overview of the UK National Health Services, when it was formed, the rationale for its formation and how it has been financed. Section 3 provides some major problems faced by the UK National Health Services, and proposes a Strategic Management tool to solve the problems. It also explains how the management tool can be put into practice within the context of the UK National Health Services. ... Section 3 provides some major problems faced by the UK National Health Services, and proposes a Strategic Management tool to solve the problems. It also explains how the management tool can be put into practice within the context of the UK National Health Services. Section 4 prioritises the major change drivers and gives recommendations on how to tackle each change driver to achieve organisational efficiency. Section 5 concludes the paper. 2 Overview of the UK National Health Services: Mission and Main Issues The UK National Health Services (NHS) remains one of the largest public sector bodies in the world and the largest public sector organisation in the United Kingdom. The NHS was established in 1948 by the post-war labour government and it was the first health system in any western society to offer free medical care to the entire population. (Goodwin, 2000). Its objective was to be universal in its coverage and comprehensive in terms of the services to be provided, available on the basis of clinical need and not based on income. It has been financed through taxation. (Goodwin, 2000) Unfortunately, however, funding crises have resulted in the introduction of prescription, dental and ophthalmic charges. The social conception of health care has lost and two issues have dominated the UK NHS ever since. These include financial resources and politics. (Goodwin, 2000). Major challenges for the NHS include the persistent push for structural reform in state health provision, within the UK. The NHS operates today in an economic climate that is faced with escalating costs thus making it difficult for it to meet diverse patient and community needs. (Hill et al, 2001). According to Chang et al, (2006) other challenges for the UK Health Services today

Financial Group Work 1 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial Group Work 1 - Coursework Example Venture capital is very significant in job creation and also as an innovation tool within geographical area or an economic sector. Before 1985, China had no venture capital activities on board, but in the following years it succeeded in fostering a venture capital industry through government funded initiatives. Due to China’s ambitions to cultivate a more innovative economy, China’s State Science and Technology Commission in 1985 developed the China New Technology Venture Capital Investment Corporation (CNTVI) which was the first VC firm to operate in China. Although investment activities geared up in 1990’s, in 1980’s several other government funded VC firms had joined the market (Zhang 35). Tax benefits were put in place (early 1990’s) to incentivize investment in VC in young Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SME’s). By creating state operated and funded VC firms, several provinces started to participate in VC markets (by early 1990’s). There was a major shift in VC policy in 1998 after CNTVI was shut down because it failed to commercialize development and research projects and was replaced by the Innovation Fund for Small and Medium Technology-based Enterprises (Innofund) which was one of the first hybrid VC funds. Though Innofund had no much impact, it led to the rise of additional hybrid VC in the following years (Zhang 76). By the start of mid-2000’s, increased VC market participation among several other implemented policies like encouraging foreign investment and diversifying VC sources were very successful. In 2010 total VC investment was 30 times greater than that of 1999 (Zhang 154). Some of the current Chinese economic policies include; In the late 1980s, the first generation of VC began its operations and the movement gained momentum in 1990s. As the number of start-up companies expanded, the international

Recommendation for Incentive Programms and Plans Essay

Recommendation for Incentive Programms and Plans - Essay Example It is imperative to go through some of these drawbacks to ensure that they do not get in the way of the company’s development. One of the incentives introduced by a manager is that of having the employees receiving a promotion or a salary raise anytime that they produce results that appeal to the expectations of the manager (Muller, 2013). This is important in that most people get into the corporate arena with the aim of earning a lot of money for them to manage or rather improve their living styles. It is important to understand that this incentive has a drawback that revolves around it failing to have negativity. Negativity in this case is the employer does not impose any challenge to the employee if he or she fails to deliver appropriate jobs as expected. It is important to have this challenge as it makes the employee realize that there is a negative side to failure. One way through which to challenge this incentive is by ensuring that the employee is charged in the case of him or her failing to deliver appropriate work. One way through which to charge the employee is by having them deducted their commissions (Hartman, 2011). Commissioning is one of the ways through which employers motivate their employees as an incentive to have them work harder save from the monthly salary they receive. It is thus only fair to ensure that they are charged for poor performance by ensuring that part of their commission is actually deducted. Another incentive that employers have is buying or rather treating employees after they achieve certain goals. This is a very motivation appropriate plan as the employees get to work even more knowing that they will receive additional benefits. However, it is imperative to understand that increased working of the employees can create or rather creates the drawback of having them not providing quality work. In the contemporary environment, there is the issue of quality and quantity. The major drawback that

Review of Resisted Sled Towing for Sprint Training

Review of Resisted Sled Towing for Sprint Training Sprinting consists of three phases: acceleration phase, transition phase and a maximal velocity phase (Cronin Hansen, 2006). Acceleration is a major component in making a successful performance in many different sports and it can also be seen as potentially pivotal in determining the outcome of a sports game. Therefore training for acceleration is an essential component of many athletes’ strength and conditioning programme (Kraemer et al. 2000). When choosing methods to improve sprinting certain parameters need to be considered. The acceleration phase includes a longer stance time, increased trunk and knee flexion and greater propulsive forces (Kraemer et al. 2000). The muscular structure of the lower leg needs to have the necessary capacity to contribute to the acceleration performance and this is done through specific strength training activities. When an athlete improves strength, it produces greater force and decreased ground contact time which increases stride frequency (Spinks et al. 2007). Various training modalities including sprint loading improve the elastic energy during the support sage of the sprint cycle, increasing stride length. Resisted sprint training is a basic conditioning method used by coaches to lengthen running stride (Makarur et al. 2013). It is carried out by adding an external load to the athlete, such as pulling a tyre, a loaded sled, running up hill or using parachutes. Hunter et al. (2005) observed that running velocity and increasing strength are greatly increased by resisted sprint training due to the increased strength and power of the leg extensor muscles in the acceleration phase. This critical review will analyse previous studies and their findings when using resisted sprint training using weighted sleds on athletes. Lockie (2003) and Letzelter et al. (1995) stated that towing causes acute changes in sprint kinematics of acceleration phase. Certain loads may be more appropriate for sprints performed from a block start compared to a standing start. Mero and Komi (1990) found mean contact time of foot to floor in the acceleration phase after a block start to range from 0.15s to 0.22s. This coincides with Spinks et al. (2007) findings of decreased contact time of first step of acceleration phase in the resisted sprint group of 11.8% and recording 0.15s to 0.19s contact time. Spinks et al. (2007) also found that the biggest increase in overall velocity was achieved in the 0-5m interval. Rimmer and Sleivert (2000) found that carrying out 8 weeks of sprint and plyometric training improves the velocity over the first 10m of the sprint. However Kafer et al. (1993) studied resisted sled training and found that there was a significant improvement of 0.35 seconds (P Harridge et al. (1998) found that resisted sled towing can alter myosin heavy chain expression of muscle fibres. Increases in speed occur due to a shift in fibre type distribution and speed of shortening cycle which might contribute to increased power generation. 8.4% significant increases were found on resisted sprint trained athletes when compared to a control group (Spinks et al. 2007). If power output of knee extensors are increased, improved ground contact time results in greater propulsive acceleration efforts. However Maclean () disproved this as he found that after testing this hypothesis across 6 weeks of training increase in muscle performance occurred without any significant change in myosin heavy chain or fibre type distribution. Letzelter et al. (1995) after studying 16 female sprint performances found that performance was decreased by 8% and 22% respectively for the loads of 2.5 kg and 10 kg. Results showed that this was predominantly due to the reduced stride length in athletes. Decreases in stride length by 5.3% and 13.5%, stride frequency 2.4% with 2.5 kg load and 6.2% with a 10 kg load. Across all loads were found to be an increased stance time to lean and hip flexion angle. Lockie et al. (2003) reported similar findings when testing 20 males’ field sport athletes. Athletes performed 15m sprints using no resistance, 12.6% or 32.2% of body mass load. These were chosen as previous findings show a decrease in 10/20% of max velocity. Decrease in stride length of 10% +24% were documented. Stride frequency was only found to decrease by 6% in each load. In agreement with Leztler et al. (1995). Makurak et al. (2013) found running stride length increased in their resisted sled training group when compared to the standard training group. Findings were also supported by Delecluse (1997). Increasing stride length is said to be the result of performing fuller extension at the knee found by the increased knee angle at toe off. This change could be directly due to the strength between hip and knee extensors. Bhowmick and Bhattacharyya (1988) suggest the horizontal acceleration of the arm swing increases stride length and during ground contact time the vertical element enhances the leg drive. Ropret et al. (1988) tested adding load to the athlete’s arms however no significant reduction in initial acceleration over 30 m was found. Lockie et al. (2003) state that 32.2% body mass was better for the development of upper body action. As the load increases shoulder range of motion increases. However Spinks et al. (2007) in terms of their study of upper-body kinematics found that it had little impact on acceleration performance. The critical analysis of various studies showed that results were contradictory. More investigations into optimal load, changes in strength shortening cycle and training distances should be undertaken to find ideal training focus. References Bhowmick, S., Bhattacharyya, A. (1988) ‘Kinematicanalysis of arm movements in sprint start.’ Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness; Vol: 28: pp315–323. Cronin, J., Hansen, K. (2006) ‘Resisted sprint training for the acceleration phase of sprinting’ Journal of Strength and Conditioning; Vol: 28 (4), pp.42-51 Delecluse, G. (1997) ‘Influence of strength training on sprint running performance: Current findings and implications for training’ Journal of Sports Medicine; Vol. 24 (3), pp.147-156, Harridge, S.., Bottinelli, R., Canepari, M., Pellegrino, M., Reggiani, C., Esbjornsson, M., Balsom, P.,Saltin, B. (1998) ‘Sprint Training, In Vitro and In Vivo Muscle Function, and Myosin Heavy Chain Expression’. Journal of Applied Physiology; Vol 84: pp.442-449. Hunter, J., Marshall, R., McNair, P. (2005) ‘Relationships between ground reaction force impulse and kinematics of sprint-running acceleration.’ Journal of Applied Biomechanics; Vol: 21(1), pp.31-34 Kafer, R. Adamson, G., O’Conner, M., Faccioni, A.(1993) ‘Methods of maximising speed development’ Strength and Conditioning Coach; Vol. 1, pp.9-11 Kraemer, W., Ratamess, N., Volek, J., Mazzettil, S., Gomez, A. (2000) ‘The effect of the Meridian Shoe on vertical jump and sprint performances following short-term combined plyometric/sprint and resistance training.’ Journal Strength Conditioning Research. Vol; 14: pp.228–238 Lockie, R., Murphy, A., Spinks, C. (2003) ‘Effects of resisted sled towing on sprint kinematics in field sport athletes;. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research; Vol 17: pp760-767 Mero, A., Komi, P. (1990) ‘Reaction time and electromyographic activity during a sprint start.’ European. Journal of Applied. Physiology and Occupational. Physiology; Vol: 61:pp. 73–80. Rimmer, E., Sleivert, G. (2000) ‘Effects of a plyometrics intervention program on sprint performance.’ Journal of Strength and Conditioning. Research; Vol. 14: pp. 295–301. ROPRET, R., M. KUKOLJ, D. UGARKOVIC, D.MATAVULJ, AND S. JARIC. ‘Effect of arm and leg loading on sprint performance.’ European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology; Vol: 77: pp.547–550. Spinks, C., Murphy, A., Spinks, W., Lockie, R. (2007) ‘The effects of resisted sprint training on acceleration performance and kinematics in soccer, rugby union and Australian football players’ Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research; Vol: 21 (1), pp.77-85

Animal Farm and A Modest Proposal Essay -- Animal Farm A Modest Propos

Animal Farm and A Modest Proposal Although 'Animal Farm' and 'A Modest Proposal' were written over two hundred years apart, and one is non-fiction and the other is not, there are distinct similarities between the two. Both of the pieces are political, with 'Animal Farm' based on the Russian Revolution, and 'A Modest Proposal' based on the situation of homelessness in Ireland. Also, both of the pieces are satirical. Animal Farm ridicules the ordinary Russian people for being gullible, and 'A Modest Proposal' mocks politicians who ignore sensible suggestions and come up with extreme ones. In the build up to his speech, Old Major first clears his throat, to gain all of the animals' attention. The fact that all he has to do is clear his throat to do this, gives the impression that he is authoritative, and in control. We are given the idea that the other animals respect him. In the following paragraph, Old Major mentions a dream, but he says "I will come to the dream later". The dream is the whole reason the meeting has been called, and by saying that he will talk about it later holds all of the animals in suspense. They are willing to listen to what he has to say, to hear about the dream. He also mentions his imminent death, which will gain the audience's sympathy, and again make them listen. To guarantee that the animals are going to listen to him, he says that he will "pass onto to you such wisdom as I have acquired". This makes it seem like everything he is going to tell them is wise, true and worth listening to. In the third paragraph of his speech, he is brutally honest, and works up the animals, to get them angry. He tells them "our lives are miserable, laborious and short". This is the 'problem'. He then tells them the 'sol... ...ing their bastard children; alas!" Again though, Swift uses a lot less exclamation marks than Old Major. This is mainly because his piece is meant to be formal. Both Old Major and Swift use alliteration in the pieces to make themselves sound stylish and eloquent. In one part of his speech, Old Major says " as sure as I see this straw " The repetition of the 's' makes certain words in that sentence stand out, making his message more clear. Swift says "Four females". Although Old Major's speech and 'A Modest Proposal' were written over two hundred years apart, they both use very similar techniques and development of their argument to get their point across. Both of the pieces are politically based and satirical, both use formal and emotive language, differing sentence types and structures and in sparse amounts, alliteration. This makes their arguments fairly similar.

Internet Traps and False Information Essay

Internet very popular important with everybody. Nowadays, everybody also use internet. It connect people on the world. Traditional class and internet class very diffenrent Internet is the traditional system, it will help our have more knowledge, good information, good news†¦ In the past, people used internet is the search system. It have a lot of good thing in the internet. It help we have friends , forum , search everything we want. We can know more knowledge But everything will be have negative and positive. We just know a good thing in the internet , we do not need to know a lot of bad thing on the internet . Social also have two face and internet too . It has troubles , traps †¦ we need to be thought wise, we certainly know right from wrong. Therefore , we should fully exploit the advantages of the internet, that advantage should not do bad things or negative. Internet always contains interesting things. Internet is one of the greatest inventions of human history. When old does not have internet, humans can be difficult to share the necessary information useful life, thanks to the internet, today we know a lot of things good. We need to know to take advantage of the internet to be useful, or exploitation of useful things in this life. It will help you feel better love life, more interesting things. But sometimes we take advantage of it in a bad job, bad purposes will cause the opposite effect. It makes us inadvertently lead us to wrong path that they want and go against positive thinking. If we take advantage of the bad things on the internet, it will lose the good thing is its capital. Because the internet sometimes contain false information about the problem, negative nature, does not serve the purpose well. Traditional classroom is the class just come to class and do homework, construct and develop courses. Traditional classes can help students become more active in this life. Students can hardly develop the capabilities as well as their knowledge. Traditional classroom is very limited and restrictive. It is difficult to create a sense of comfort and good environment for students to learn. It gives the students a feeling extremely uncomfortable, passive. The school on the internet is extremely beneficial, it helps us to easily absorb everything without hard working. Classroo m based courses offer more focus than online courses. In a classroom, students are forced to be quiet and listen to the teacher or their peers. They can even switch to a different tab with their favorite social network instead of what they’re supposed to be learning. the Internet  classroom is convenient for professors, too! They can give us a quiz without any paper, which can reduce the consumption of trees. At the same time, it may be easier for some teachers to make corrections or comments on student’s work on the computer. In this way, the professors can concentrate more on teaching. They don’t need to care about students’ behavior like eating, talking on the cell phone, or going to the toilet. Traditonal class makes sense to attend classes in person if you decide to live in the dorms or are an incoming freshmen who wants the real college experience. There are certainly more opportunities to join clubs, associations, or fraternities/sororities while taking classes on campus.

present essays

Farming 19th century/present essays Agriculture has been the most important activity in America from the 1600s to the present but is rapidly declining in economic importance in the 21st century. The farm equipment has improved drastically, from hand labor to gas and diesel machinery (Fite 1). In the 1860s, farmers made up fifty-eight percent of the labor force (ARS). The agriculture business was the foundation of the west. The most common farm tools used in the 19th century were made from wood and metal strips. These tools were used by hand labor or pulled by a strong workhorse (Fite 1). Most of the farmers went to a near town and purchased a few slaves for a good price. Slaves were the main farm workers in the north until the end of the Civil War. They would do the farmers hard work for little, or no pay. Due to the end of slavery the blacks were able to become shareowners on several farms. They were granted their freedom, as well the right to own and harvest their own land (Duane 156). One hot invention in the 1800s was the harvesting machine and thresher. The harvesting machine was created by an American inventor searching for an easier way to cut down the grain stalks. This young inventors name was Cyrus McCormick, and this machine was built in 1824. The thresher was a machine, capable of separating the grain from the head. This was created by two brothers in 1836, but wasnt used much until the early 1900s. Later in the 20th century an inventor came up with the idea to combine the harvesting machine with the thresher. He called this invention the combine after his great thought. This combine was able to do both of the last two machines jobs, this helped shorten the harvesting time period and labor needed (Duane 156). A man named John Deere invented the first steel plow. He was a blacksmith in the state of Illinois. This was done in the 1830s. This was made because the earlier versions of ...

Descriptivism in Linguistics

Descriptivism in Linguistics Descriptivism is a nonjudgmental approach to language that focuses on how it is actually spoken and written. Also called  linguistic descriptivism.  Contrast with prescriptivism.   In the article Beyond and Between the Three Circles,  linguist Christian Mair has observed that the study of human languages in the spirit of linguistic descriptivism has been one of the great democratic enterprises of the past two centuries of scholarship in the humanities. . . . In the twentieth century, structuralist descriptivism and sociolinguistics have . . .  taught us to respect the structural complexity, communicative adequacy and creative-expressive potential of all the worlds languages, including socially stigmatized working-class and ethnic speech (World Englishes: New Theoretical and Methodological Considerations, 2016). Views on Prescriptivism and Descriptivism Excepting only in certain educational contexts, modern linguists utterly reject prescriptivism, and their investigations are based instead on descriptivism. In a descriptivist approach, we try to describe the facts of linguistic behavior exactly as we find them, and we refrain from making value judgments about the speech of native speakers. . . .Descriptivism is a central tenet of what we regard as a scientific approach to the study of language: the very first requirement in any scientific investigation is to get the facts right.(R.L. Trask, Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics. Routledge, 1999) The Realm of Descriptivism When we observe a linguistic phenomenon, such as the ones we observe on the Web, and report on what we see (i.e., the ways people use language and the way they interact), we are usually within the realm of  linguistic descriptivism.  For instance, if we take inventory  of the specific linguistic features of the discourse of a given speech community (e.g., gamers, sports enthusiasts, technology majors), we are within the realm of descriptivism.  A speech community, as Gumperz  (1968:381) points out, is any human aggregate characterized by regular and frequent interaction by means of a shared body of verbal signs and set off from similar aggregates by significant differences in language usage. Descriptivism involves observing and analyzing,  without passing too much judgment, the habits and practices within speech communities, focusing on language users and uses without attempting  to get them to modify their language according to standards external to the language itself .  Descriptive linguistics aims to understand the ways  people use language in the world, given all of the forces that influence such use. Prescriptivism lies at the other end of this continuum and is usually associated with stipulating rules and norms for language use.(Patricia Friedrich and Eduardo H. Diniz de Figueiredo, Introduction: Language, Englishes, and Technology in Perspective.  The Sociolinguistics of Digital Englishes.  Routledge, 2016) On Speaking With Authority About Language Even the most descriptive of linguists have not shied away from describing theirs as the only acceptable approach to grammar nor from ridiculing and condemning the prescriptivist statements of others.To a great extent, this is a story of a contest about who speaks authoritatively about the character of language and the methods for analyzing and describing it. The story reflects a continuing struggle to gain the exclusive right to speak authoritatively about language. The details reveal that prescriptivism remains entrenched in ostensibly descriptive as well as admittedly prescriptive approaches. For one thing, despite a professed commitment to descriptivism, professional linguists sometimes espouse prescriptivist positions, though not often about particular items of style or grammar.(Edward Finegan, Usage. The Cambridge History of the English Language: English in North America, ed. J. Algeo. Cambridge University  Press, 2001) Descriptivism vs. Prescriptivism [D]escriptivism is like common law, which works on precedent and accumulates slowly over time. Prescriptivism is an authoritarian version of code law, which says precedent be damned: if the rule book says this is the law, thats that.(Robert Lane Greene, You Are What You Speak. Delacorte, 2011)At more rarefied levels, prescriptivism  has become a four-letter word, with scholars arguing that it is neither desirable nor feasible to attempt to intervene in the natural  life of language. A deliberate renunciation of prescriptivism is more like atheism than agnosticism: a conscious nonbelief is, itself, a belief, and a refusal to intervene is essentially prescriptivism in reverse. In any event, in their rush away from prescriptivism, linguists may have abdicated a useful role as arbiters and many have left much of the field open to those stylized as language shamans by Dwight Bollinger, one of the few linguists who was willing to write about the public life of language.  Bolinger rig htly criticized  the obvious crank elements, but he also understood the desire, however ill-informed, for authoritative standards.(John Edwards,  Sociolinguistics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press,  2013) Pronunciation: de-SKRIP-ti-viz-em

Benchmarking Sustainability Practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Benchmarking Sustainability Practices - Essay Example Benchmarking sustainability practices is an important area for all businesses to focus on strongly. Sustainability issues maintain the level of success and profitability for the organization and allow them to reap further rewards and benefits from the business that they are conducting. The use of benchmarking practices can be successful for all organization in implying those business practices that can derive the optimum level of successful results. The economic benefits, the environmental benefits and the growth of the tourism business can allow it to measure its success with the sustainability benchmarking practice. Tourism business is a very versatile business and to maintain its success level its sustainability elements need to be worked upon closely and made sure that the best benchmarking practices are implemented. The other businesses in which sustainability benchmarking practices can be used are the pharmaceutical sectors. The pharmaceutical business needs to be constantly making sustainable improvements and maintain their level of products. Sustainable benchmarking practices are extremely important to practice in the pharmaceutical industry. The housing sector business can also use the sustainability benchmarking practices for making their business successful and profitable in the industry. The housing sector may be faced with constant change in demands from the customers and therefore they need to maintain their level of quality and price. Sustainability benchmarking practices can be used widely in the housing sector business.

Creating False Memories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Creating False Memories - Essay Example The act of recall enhanced later remembering of both studied and nonstudied material. The results reveal a powerful illusion of memory: People remember events that never happened. False memories-either remembering events that never happened, or remembering them quite differently from the way they happened-have recently captured the attention of both psychologists and the public at large. The primary impetus for this recent surge of interest is the increase in the number of cases in which memories of previously unrecognized abuse are reported during the course of therapy. Some researchers have argued that certain therapeutic practices can cause the creation of false memories, and therefore, the apparent "recovery" of memories during the course of therapy may actually represent the creation of memories (Lindsay & Read, 1994; Loftus, 1993). Although the concept of false memories is currently enjoying an increase in publicity, it is not new; psychologists have been studying false memories in several laboratory paradigms for years. Schacter (1995) provides an historical overview of the study of memory distortions. Schacter (1996) spoke of the fragile nature of memory and the Seven Sins of memory, discussing how our memories can fail us in certain situations. Where is the weakness in a memory system that functions according to the principle of semantic relatedness and integration There is one well-known case of false memories being produced in a list learning paradigm: Underwood (1965) introduced a technique to study false recognition of words in lists. He gave subjects a continuous recognition task in which they decided if each presented word had been given previously in the list. Later words bore various relations to previously studied words. Underwood showed that words associatively related to previously presented words were falsely recognized. Anisfeld and Knapp (1968), among others, replicated the phenomenon. Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of human memory and mental processes, including such activities as perceiving, remembering, using language, reasoning and solving problems. There are two important lessons in cognitive psychology. First, mental processes can occur with very little conscious awareness. This is especially true of processes that have received a great deal of practice, such as reading skills. Second, even though these processes can operate very quickly, they are quite complex, involving difficult motor, perceptual and mental acts. Their complexities make it even more amazing how efficient, rapid, and seemingly automatic they are. Intuitive analysis of examples such as "How many hands does Aristotle have" indicates that many important mental processes can occur automatically, that is, very rapidly and below the level of conscious awareness. Memory consists of the power, act, or process of recalling to mind facts previously learned or past experiences. It also refers to process, mental act in which stored information is recovered for some current use. Aside from this, memory also refers to a place, a location, where all the events, information, and knowledge of a lifetime are stored. Cognition, on the other hand, refers to all the processes by which the sensory input is