Evaluation on Companies’ Social Accounting

Evaluation on companies’ social accounting Executive summary This report explains the concept of â€Å"social accounting† and analyzes the execution of social accounting in the two companies Corning incorporated and AM-PM Glass Company. The analysis is based on the â€Å"good† principles of social accounting and the accordance to the global standards.And the analysis shows that Corning’s sustainability has a better understanding and consideration about the requirement of social accounting and it makes its own evaluation system based on ISO 14001, and build up a series of standards, but the standards of EMS can not match with GRI on the completeness and concreteness. AM-PM begins well in the practicing of social accounting. But it is not that easy to do well in all aspects of the social accounting, so it has only considered four â€Å"good† principles.While AM-PM takes both AA1000 and GRI as the evaluation standards to assess its performance, and got clear and systematic report results and good reference to its development in the future. Contents Evaluation on companies’ social accounting1 1. Introduction3 2. Definition and explanation of the concept of Social Accounting3 2. 1 Definition and development of concept3 2. 2 Reasons for producing social accounting4 2. Principles of â€Å"Good† and global standards5 3. Critical evaluation on quality of social accounting of two glass companies5 3. 1 Corning Incorporated6 3. 2 AM-PM Glass & Mirror Company8 4. Conclusion10 Reference12 1. Introduction Social accounting is a voluntary process that organizations use to account for their environmental and social impacts. There are both pros and cons telling why organizations decide to engage with this concept of social accounting.The purpose of the report is to evaluate the two glass companies Corning and AM-PM’s social accounting according to the â€Å"good† principles and global standards of social accounting. 2. Definition and explanation of the concept of Social Accounting 2. 1 Definition and development of concept Social accounting refers to the process dealing with organizational assessment and communication of its impacts and activities on relevant issues related to ethics, society and the environment with their appropriate stakeholders (Yanovsky, 2006).It aims to address companies’ social and environmental impacts. Social accounting is also known as social and environmental accounting, corporate social responsibility reporting, or sustainability accounting, and different individual companies usually give different titles, like in Corning, it is called corporate social responsibility report, and in AM-PM Glass & Mirror, it is called sustainability report. The concept of social accounting has got more than 40 years’ development.Abt Associates is among the earliest social accounting practitioners, its social concerns included contribution to knowledge, environment and so on, but there is no specific definition for social accounting. In 1980s, the short book â€Å"Social Audit- A Management Tool for Co-operative Working† is the basis of the early private sector companies’ social responsibility reporting (Spreckley, 1981), and â€Å"Social responsibility reporting† is the early relative formal concept.And in this book, an internal organizational social accounting and audit model are designed to measure individual companies’ social and environmental performance. And with the development of economy and society, the concept of social accounting also gets to a broad and deep domain, which includes the evaluation about every aspect of companies’ social and environmental impacts (Rohinson, 2001; Schwartz and Carroll, 2003). 2. 2 Reasons for producing social accountingThe reasons that individual companies develop social accounting and related reports are as follows. On the negative aspect, employees’ internal pressur es in their urge of wanting to report the environmental and social impacts of the company (Crane and Matten, 2007) can make companies practice the social accounting; and external forces by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, consumers or investors as they seek the company to disclose its impacts of social accounting can also lead to the social accounting.On the positive aspect, social accounting can help individual companies identify and utilize opportunities for cost effectiveness, introduction of profitable eco-friendly products and services, energy saving and environmental protection (Defourny and Thorbecke, 1984). Also, both current and future concerns of stakeholders forewarn companies about any possible area of conflict. Yanovsky (2006) further claimed that companies become aware of the probable risk factors that are capable of affecting their business operations, which afford the chance for companies to prepare the coping mechanism. . 3 Principles of â€Å"G ood† and global standards â€Å"Good† accounts must accord a series of principles. In general, good principles of social accounting have to be inclusive, involving dialogue with stakeholders; to be complete, highlighting the key areas of the individual company’s activities; to be embedded within the organization; to be comparable, undergo external verification, and give room for continuous improvements.These principles should take both companies own management practices and the performance measurements comparison with other companies into consideration (Montgomery and Porter, 1991). Such principles have to be incorporated within the organizational structure, be verified by external auditors and be reviewed on regular basis in order in relation to the targets of its performance and cost effective business opportunities. There are some global standards that are available for companies’ social and environmental reports.For example, Social Accountability Inter national produced SA8000, and it provides workplace issues standards; AccountAblility developed the AA1000S Assurance Standard; The SAN framework, which is suitable for third-sector organisations; ISO1400, which are series of international standards that deal with issues related to environmental management (Porter, et. al. 2009) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which is one of the most practiced standards across the globe and is in its third generation format (G3). 3.Critical evaluation on quality of social accounting of two glass companies This report provides a critical evaluation of two case studies of how the organizations have made use of social accounting concept. The Corning Glass and AM-PM Glass & Mirror Company will be used as examples of companies which have fully put into consideration the social accounting concept. It is a reflection of organizational values and evidence-based actions they undertake towards showing concern to their stakeholders in dealing with thes e issues.The evaluation about the two companies is mainly focus on analyzing the adoption of the â€Å"good† principles and their accordance to the global standards. 3. 1 Corning Incorporated Corning is a multinational company which has about 160 years’ history. Corning is among the best social responsibilities practitioners. The history practicing social responsibilities began before World War One. The chairman James Houghton laid out Corning’s seven Corporate Values: Quality, Integrity, Performance, Leadership, Independence, Innovation, and the Individual.Corning’s strategies are based on the attributes of collaboration, risk-taking, and long-term thinking and so on. According to Corning’s strategy and value system, the best form of corporate social responsibility is equal to â€Å"simple good business† or â€Å"enlightened self-interest† and the good business is constructed by a series of good behaviors including constant interacti on with customers, local communities and government. The social accounting in Corning is named sustainability report. 3. 1. 1 The adoption of â€Å"good† principlesFirst, Corning emphasizes the care and feeding of its major stakeholders, especially the care and feeding for its customers and employees, according to Houghton’s speech in 2004’s company strategy conference. Corning clearly obeys its seven values and takes a set of stakeholders into consideration. It puts attention to labor, women and minorities. Since 1970s, Corning began made efforts to employee women and minorities (Graham, 2010). Second, Corning has complete consideration on social accounting, and highlights impacts of the company’s producing activities to the society and environment.Corning put attention to working conditions, products safety and efficacy, and the environment. According to Corning’s sustainability report, the central elements of the companies’ operation exce llence are protection safety, health and environment (Graham, 2010). Specifically, in order to protect the air, Corning produces ceramic substrates for catalytic converters and tries to eliminating hazardous chemical materials. Third, Corning has a continuously improvement in practicing the social responsibility. Since 1970 to now, Corning consistently shows its care to its stakeholders and the environment.The recent sustainability report is also planed for a long period, and forms a completed environmental protection system, which is including mission, vision, strategy and specific action plans. In process of the energy management, Corning track and measure its greenhouse gas emission, and conducts its related inventory, also, corning launched a global energy management program to guarantee the energy productivity and environmental negative influence. Fourth, Corning has got verification from external organization.Corning reports its previous greenhouse gas emission and got the Reg istry from California Climate Action and the Registry can give a consistent supervision on the continuous execution of the environmental protection and energy management. Fifth, Corning emphasize find the potential improvement, especially those related to performance targets, cost-saving and profitable business opportunities. Corning commits to maintain a long period view of energy and the advanced view require its facilities to utilize energy in a cost-effective and environmentally responsible way.Sixth, corning has embedded professionals related to the social accounting in the process key to success. Corning’s approach embeds an environmental, health and safety professional in the designing group. This embedibility enhance the safety and facilitate the health management system in Corning. 3. 1. 2 Accordance to the global standards In the year of 2004, Corning developed and deployed an Environmental Management System, short for EMS, whose format and substance follows ISO 140 01(Corning Environmental Health & Saftey Brochure, 2007).ISO 14001 is a very series of recognized global standards, and it affords clear and specific requirement for the corporate environmental control group in Corning. Corning facilities have gained many benefits through instituting and adopting the management systems, and due to the rigorous execution, the bad influence to the environment has been reduced. Corning has a pyramid system about EMS, the ISO 14001 stands in the center of the pyramid. And the pyramid shows clear the social accounting procedures. 3. 2 AM-PM Glass & Mirror CompanyAM-PM Glass & Mirror is a residential and commercial glass company that provides exceptional craftsmanship, unsurpassed satisfaction to their customers and gives prompt service through their sustainable innovation and social accounting concept. The company recently outlined its values and objectives in the annual sustainability report, which encompass support to community trade of glass products and its internal judgments on environmental and social performance in relation to achieving its objectives (AM-PM, 2012). 3. 2. 1 The adoption of â€Å"good† principlesAM-PM Glass & Mirror Company follows the three principles of completeness, materiality and responsiveness. First, AM-PM’s sustainability report relates to complete contents of the social responsibilities. It has put attention to both inside and outside of the organization, for example the employee relationships, the sexual and racial ratio, the consideration of the disabled people inside of the organization; and the communication with communities, the campaigns to protect environment outside of the organization. Second, AM-PM’s emphasize the materiality of the action.It stresses that social responsibilities should not only be written in the sustainability report, it must be based on specific actions first, the real practice result and data of the protection, but not only the plans in the report. T hird, responsiveness is the main part that is stressed in the report, it means that AM-PM not only like to be the pioneer in the practice of environmental protection, but also would like follow other companies’ environmental steps. Forth, the values reported in the sustainability report have been externally verified by auditors and a panel of stakeholders.The customers, employees and the communities all give positive comments on the values and actions of AM-PM. 3. 1. 2 Accordance to the global standards AM-PM Glass & Mirror values follow the AA1000 standards of assurance. And its three principles are from these standards. Also, the company values are compliant with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Level A guidelines. And the third generation version of GRI gives a series of very clear standards for AM-PM to evaluate its performance comprehensively, which is with respect to specific assessment according laws, codes, norms, and voluntary initiatives.Specifically speaking, the compilation of AM-PM Glass & Mirror Company report was based on covering all the company activities that is vital as far as environmental and social impacts are concerned (AM-PM, 2012). Its social accounting also responds to issues that arise out of its previous reports. The wholesomeness of this report is also realized in that it covers all the areas that the company operates on as required by global reporting initiative which covers the company management approaches, overall company profile, and the categories for measuring performance. . Conclusion In summary, it can be deduced that social accounting is a voluntary process that organizations use to account for their environmental and social impacts. Both pros and cons exist why organizations decide to engage with this concept of social accounting. The analysis of Corning Glass Company and AM-PM Glass & Mirror gives a specific evaluation about their execution of social responsibilities. The result shows that the two organizati ons both have embraced the concept of social accounting.Corning incorporated is a big multinational which has long history of practicing social responsibility, and it has enough experiences to evaluate what kinds of actions would do well to both the company and the environment, and afford benefits to all the shareholders. So in the adoption of â€Å"good† principles, Corning’s sustainability report shows that it has a better understanding and consideration about the requirement of social accounting. In the accordance to the global standards, Corning makes its own evaluation system based on ISO 14001, and build up a series of standards.Corning has not used GRI as its standards to evaluate performance. To some extent, the standards of EMS can not match with GRI on the completeness and concreteness. AM-PM is also a glass company that has short history. It enters the glass industry in a new age that stresses environmental protection and the full communication with sharehol ders. So, it begins well in the practicing of social accounting. But to a new company, it is not that easy to do well in all aspects of the social accounting, so it has only considered four â€Å"good† principles.While AM-PM did well in the accordance to the global standards, it takes both AA1000 and GRI as the evaluation standards to assess its performance, and got clear and systematic report results and good reference to its development in the future. Reference 1. Spreckley, F. (1981). Social Audit: A Management Tool for Co-operative Working. Wales: Beechwood College. 2. Rohinson, S. et al. (2001). â€Å"Updating and Estimating a Social Accounting Matrix Using Cross Entropy Methods†. Economic Systems Research. Vol. 13, No1:47-64. 3. Schwartz, M. S. , Carroll, A. B. (2003). Corporate Social Responsibility: A Three-Domain Approach†. Business Ethics Quarterly. Vol. 13, No. 4:503-530 4. Defourny, J. , and Thorbecke, E. (1984). â€Å"Structural Path Analysis and Mu ltiplier Decomposition within a Social Accounting Matrix Framework†. The Economic Journey. Vol. 94, No 373:111-136 5. Graham, M. B. W (2010). â€Å"Corporate Responsibility at Corning. Incorporated†. History of Corporate Responsibility Project. No. 7 6. Crane, A. , and Matten, D. (2009). Business Ethics. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 9-286. 7. Montgomery, C. A. , and Porter, M. A. 1991). Strategy: Seeking and Securing Competitive Advantage. New York: Harvard Business Press. 8. Porter, M. E. , Kramer, M. R. , and Zadek, S. (2009). Corporate Social Responsibility (HBR Article Collection). New York: Harvard Business Press. 9. Yanovsky, M. (2006). Accounting Systems. London: Transaction Publishers. 10. Corning Environmental Health & Saftey Brochure, 2007. Available at http://www. socialfunds. com/csr/reports/Corning_Incorporated_2007_EHS. pdf [Accessed 10th JUNE 2012]. 11. AM-PM. , 2012. Available at http://www. ampmglass. com/ [Accessed 10th March 2012].

“Globalisation is a good thing” to what extent do you agree with this statement? Essay

Globalisation is the growth to a global or worldwide scale. It is the increase of trade around the world, especially by large companies producing and trading goods in many different countries. When available goods and services, or social and cultural influences, gradually become similar in all parts of the world. Examples of globalisation are Companies such as Toyota, a Japanese company that has become globalised and is now a worldwide company. Another example is Nike which was originated in Beaverton, Oregon, United States and is now a worldwide company. MEDC’s and LEDC’s are linked through trade. The poorer countries produce and import products and merchandise to MEDC’s at a very low salary. Primark is an example of trading with other countries for unfair prices. From the clothes being made and brought many different countries have been involved Many other clothes companies to this as well. This is known as world trade system and can often be described as unfair for some. China is located in Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam, in the Northern hemisphere. China’s climate is Humid, sticky, dry and hot. Some major crops that are grown in China are rice, wheat, corn, soybeans and tuber crops. China has an extremely high population, just over 1.3 billion people with a birth rate of 12.17 births/1000. Its capital city is Beijing. One of it’s most famous landmarks is the great wall of chine, which is one of the seven wonders of the world. In recent years China has changed and developed rapidly especially economically. It is now the fourth largest economy in the world. A lot of Asian countries are now known as â€Å"newly industrialising countries†. This means that a country whose level of economic development ranks it somewhere between the developing and first-world classifications. These countries have moved away from an agriculture-based economy and into a more industrialized, urban economy, with higher and more technology. Globalisation is a good thing for china as it helps bring in higher profits as the products are kept extremely low as they do not need to pay people a high salary to make them. TNC’s have chosen to locate in china because employers are able to pay a lot less for a job than in the UK or a lot of other countries.†¨ Consumers in the UK and the rest of the developed world benefit from Chinese goods as to produce them in China rather than in the UK and then import them is a lot cheaper than to produce them in the UK as the minimum wage is a lot lower. Workers in China think globalisation is a good thing as it means employment and jobs for them, otherwise they would unemployed and couldn’t earn anything at all. This is why today most products have labelled on them â€Å"Made in China†. Globalisation is a bad thing for China as most of the time all globalization really does is make the rich richer and the poor poorer. In most LEDC’s standards of living are dropping further behind the richest countries. The gap in incomes between the 20% of the richest and the poorest countries has grown from 30 to 1 in 1960 to 82 to 1 in 1995. The increasing interdependence of countries in a globalised world makes them more vulnerable to economic problems like the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990’s. Many environmentalists are against globalisation because it causes a lot of transporting of exporting and importing products which cause pollution. Another reason why globalisation is a bad thing for china is that the national culture and languages can be eroded and destroyed by the modern globalised culture. China is helped a lot by globalisation as it provides many jobs which brings in money, but it is also a bad thing as it is making the difference between rich and poor a lot greater. Personally I think that globalisation is a good thing for China and helps them a lot as without it China would not make as much money as it does currently and China would not be the same country and would not be as developed either.

An Examination On How Enlightenment Values And Science Have Impacted The 20th Century Society

An Examination On How Enlightenment Values And Science Have Impacted The 20th Century Society Explain how science and enlightenment values (E values) produce various kinds of social engineering in the 20th century that are designed to produce a better world. The Enlightenment values espoused by the philosophers of the 18th century were a significant shift for Western culture, and guided individuals and governments to carry out both good and bad decisions. The core Enlightenment values were based in freeing humans from the old order, or Acien Regime, using reason and power of human intellect. Kant’s essay â€Å"Was ist Aufklarung?† describes the fundamental principle that â€Å"Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his†¦inability to use [his] understanding without another’s guidance†¦Have the courage to use your own understanding is therefore the motto of the Enlightenment.† The notion that the standard of living and human happiness could improve through greater knowledge and progress fueled Rousseau’s argument for a society based on reason, and a new civil order based on natural law and science. During this period, politics began to focus more on the citizenry and the protection of indi vidual rights through a fair rule of law by democratic process, shown in documents such as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Declaration of Independence. Such political freedom was hard to come by in the feudalistic system. One proponent of such ideas was John Locke, who argued for democracy, individual liberties, and the eradication of religious authority all opposing the old order of Feudalism and religious rule. Locke also proposed an idea that all Enlightenment thinkers could agree on: liberty is impossible without a guarantee of property, which the state must protect. Locke said that â€Å"the State†¦is a society of men established for the sole purpose of the establishment, preservation, and promotion of their civil interests†¦life, freedom, the possession of external goods, such as are money, land, houses, furniture, and things of that nature.† This is based on the idea that only those owning property can defend and take care of the state. Enlighte nment thinkers hoped that all could own property, an impossible concept in previous centuries where property ownership was limited to certain echelons. The progress of man could come through better policies and a better use of reason through not only political thinking but also science. The â€Å"enlightened† saw science’s potential to improve the standard of living through harnessing nature via industrialization and the liberation of man. Andrew Ure theorized that steam-engines not only employ many workers, but also leave â€Å"thousands of fine arable fields free for the production of food to man, which must have been otherwise allotted to the food of horses.† Through industrialization, man could have a better life and consume more. The rise of science and technology through an increasingly literate population contributed to the downfall of religious authority as they delivered tangible benefits in a manner controllable by humans, unlike religion. Additionally, the availability of technology allowed some to gain more wealth from their property. Science and technology resulted in the success of many industries in countries that adopted Enlightenment values. They were embraced by many â€Å"enlightened† politicians and leaders, as it gained them support from the improved lives. For some, science was a means to better technology and a better standard of living, and for others science was practiced to discover more and advance reason. Charles Darwin fell into this second general category, and while his work became the basis for evolutionary studies it was also perverted by those who turned Darwin’s natural evolutionary theory into â€Å"Social Darwinism.† Simply put, Darwin proposed that members of a species that were more suitable for an environment and responsive to change would more likely succeed and reproduce. Species could evolve through changes in populations, not through individuals, and nature is unable to determine who is fit and who is not. His ideas contradicted the Lamarckian Theory of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics, which state an individual’s changes due to its environment could be passed on to its offspring. Interestingly, both theories of evolution would be used to justify social engineering in the 20th century. Through the Enlightenment and its accompanying values, Europeans produced new standards for humanity through quantifying the presence of democracy, social mobility, and individualism for all. One problem with the Enlightenment and factors for the future manipulation of its ideas was their Eurocentric nature. People, namely Europeans, could use reason and could therefore use it to reform less perfect societies into utopias. Those embracing Enlightenment values considered themselves superior to the â€Å"uncivilized,† and believed that the triumph of Europeans was due to a natural superiority in their political and financial skills, which was thought to be grounded in science. Some elites adopted Lamarck’s theory of evolution to justify their position, since they believed their acquired cultural skills could be passed on to offspring, marking the beginning of population genetics. Enlightenment values implied that humans could control their destiny, and had a right to eart h and its resources. While nature could not determine who was fit, the appropriate combination of reason and science could identify the fit (Europeans) for their protection to produce a superior human being. It was through this thought that the success of science and technology began to be used to legitimize social systems/policies and ideologies. The European superiority in science and technology jumpstarted the carving of empires in Africa and Asia through the mission to â€Å"civilize.† Then Prime Minister of France, Julien Ferry, championed colonial expansion using social Darwinist and Lamarckian ideas when he declared la mission civilisatrice: â€Å"indeed the higher races have a right over the lower races†¦because they have a duty†¦to civilize the inferior races†¦I maintain that European nations acquit themselves with generosity, with grandeur, and with sincerity of this superior civilizing duty.† At the same time, however, it was intended to spread French civilization, and therefore a better life, freedom, and ownership of property. This was the beginning of the twisted application of Enlightenment ideas to legitimize superiority abroad and domestically. The beginning of Enlightenment-fueled superiority complexes came through a mixture of the idea that man could progress through advancements of science and reason, and the idea that only finite resources and property exist. As a population depletes resources and takes property, competition will ensue and only the best adapted will survive and possess the right to the available property. Through an interpretation of Darwinist evolution, it was proposed that all populations have a distribution of characteristics, and some members have exclusive advantages making them an elite, favored group that is adaptable to change. Once a favored group became so distinct, it could no longer breed with the original, now deemed lesser group, and the new group became a higher species. It was through prejudices and the previously mentioned quantifiable Enlightenment traits (i.e. democracy, reason) that Europeans could identify the superior group and use social policies to advance it. One glaring issue w ith Enlightenment values was that the emphasis on celebrating reason led some to classify non-homogenous belief systems (i.e. indigenous beliefs) as irrational, therefore making them illegitimate. A divide materialized as some Europeans thought those who were inferior to them could be civilized through education or colonialism, whereas others saw a lack of successful characteristics as a lack of a qualification to breed. Herbert Spencer, who coined the term â€Å"survival of the fittest,† and strongly supported Social Darwinism said that â€Å"the forces which are working out the great scheme of perfect happiness, taking no account of incident suffering, exterminate such sections of mankind as stand in their way, with the same sternness that they exterminate beasts of prey and herds of useless ruminants,† with a comparison of the inferior to beasts of prey and herds of useless ruminants. From here, the tenets of Nazi and Soviet social engineering emerged. While the Nazi and Soviet political elite had differing views on the definition of a perfect society and what the standard of humanity should be, both used Social Darwinism and Enlightenment values to justify social planning and their respective ideology. The NSADP saw value in Social Darwinism, and the perversion of the Enlightenment values manifested themselves in Nazi ideology as they believed they were applying scientific facts to produce the ÃÅ"bermensch. While the application of the ÃÅ"bermensch in Nazi Germany was racial, the concept of the ÃÅ"bermensch from Nietzsche derived from the Enlightenment struggle to free the population from the old religious order. Nietzsche himself declared â€Å"God is dead. God remains dead,† and the â€Å"ÃÅ"bermensch shall be the meaning of the earth!† Humans now created new values, as the value system given by the religious order was dead. To the Nazis, politics was simply applying science to further the struggle for Lebensra um by removing â€Å"lesser† peoples and repopulating the land with the Aryan ÃÅ"bermensch. Hitler stated that â€Å"this earth is a trophy cup for the industrious man. And this rightly so in the service of natural selection. He who does not possess the force to secure his Lebensraum†¦must step aside and allow stronger peoples to pass him by.† The Nazis manipulated science, in this case, natural selection to justify their ideology and programs of racial superiority. From here, the Nazi eugenics program was born to select favorable characteristics for the ideal Aryan and proliferate those, while deselecting unfavorable ones through the extermination of weaker peoples. Another domestic program following this science was the Lebensborn program, which had â€Å"pure-blooded† Aryan women mate with SS officers to birth Aryan children along with kidnapping Aryan-looking children from occupied countries. The Nazis had a vision of the ÃÅ"bermensch and specifically had an image of what the master race would look like, and sought to create that. On the other end of the political spectrum, the idea of the Soviet man came from the Communist Manifesto, which defined liberation through a proletarian revolution, resulting in the rational allocation of property by the state. Soviet planning revolved around the idea that enlightened people could accelerate transformation of the unenlightened to an enlightened, elite, cooperative race through re-programming as according to Kant â€Å"reason†¦requires trial, practice, and instruction†¦to progress gradually from one stage of insight to the next.† Ideally, communism strives for the equality espoused by Enlightenment thinkers, but Soviet materialism sought to create a definite social group. To achieve these goals, the Soviets used Lamarckian theory (genetics was looked down upon), determining party officials could reprogram a society that could pass down cooperative traits. Lamarckian the ory and evolution was the science used by Stalin to legitimize his policies when he declared the â€Å"Party†¦undergoes a process of metabolism: the old and obsolete passes away, the new and growing lives and develops†¦and leads the cause forward†¦it will merely rid the Party of people who are getting in its way and hindering its progress.† This was attempted through the creation of gulags and the disappearances of noncompliant individuals by the NKVD. This thought that the government could control man to control his destiny is reminiscent of Enlightenment ideals of man’s ability to use reason to reform a more perfect society. Based on A, consider whether or not the 19th and 20th Century actions and policies of little e has actually resulted in the achievement of big E goals in the real world. Is the current world Enlightened in the manner that E principles would have anticipated. If so, how. If not, why not? The current world is both in some ways Enlightened and not as anticipated by Enlightenment values. Indeed, many first-world citizens enjoy liberty to an extent, can own property, have their individual rights protected by law, and are not under religious law. These were impossible under the Ancien Regime. Yes, social security, welfare, and insurance are present now in many societies. Science and technology mostly make life better for individuals in the world through technological and medical advances, and the standard of living has greatly increased since the 18th century. However, it is important to note the significance of â€Å"many first-world citizens† and the word â€Å"mostly.† Enlightenment values envisioned equality for all, and that is very much not the case. The equality gap is massive in the current world, and is growing larger through the very means that guarantee Enlightenment-envisioned rights for some. Citizens here in the U.S. can struggle to own propert y and receive care that improves their standards of living and guarantees their rights. Citizens abroad may not be liberated at all and subject to oppression by the government or an entity that considers itself superior. Similarly, science continues to be abused just as it was in previous centuries to either harm individuals (i.e. weaponization of diseases) or to raise individuals above others. While many live under a society that grants them Enlightenment values, even more live under conditions opposing Enlightenment values. Ultimately Enlightenment values are about the relationship between humans, and as a whole we have not, and may not, fully realize these ideals yet.

Co-evolved relationship between two organisms Essay - 1

Co-evolved relationship between two organisms - Essay Example Mycorrhizal association are due to a relative diffusion process of co-evolutionary. While the initial mycorrhizal symbioses events may have included reciprocal changes in the genetic composition of free-living fungi and ancestral plants, the existing evidence indicate that the current parallel partners evolution as they respond to the changes in the environment. Co-evolved relationships involve a vast number of relationships between animals and plants and in some cases between plants with other plants. Among the many co-evolved situations, there is commensalisms where different species coevolved so as to intimately live with each other without any harm on the participants and symbioses where the coevolving species live together literally (Cairney and Burke 63). Such relationships which are intertwined may assume a mutualism form where no partner involved is harm and they both benefit from each other or only one benefits. An example of such relationships includes algae and fungi in lichens, roots and fungi in mycorrhizae and acacia trees and ants in symbiotic mutualism where the ant protects the acacias from herbivores (Cairney and Burke 64). In parasitism relationship, one of the partners stands out to benefit at the others expense. A good example of such relationship is between the oak tree and mistletoe parasite. The interaction of organisms encompasses the entire ecosystem and it influences the communities and natural population’s structure. For example, more than ninety percent of the terrestrial plants exist naturally through mutualistic symbiosis together with soil fungi, to form what is referred to as mycorrhizal association (Read 380). Such symbioses have proved to be fundamental to most plant’s biology in the environment as they enhance the ecological fitness and nutrition of individual plants while at the same time shaping the dynamics and structure of plant communities and

Recitatif Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Recitatif - Essay Example hildhood relationship, it is the difference in their race which ultimately comes between them and leads to the conflict in their dwindling relationship. The inactive character of Maggie, the mute lady who worked at the orphanage where the two first met, serves as a very active symbol through which the development of Twlya and Roberta’s racial separation can be traced (Androne 134). As children, the pair formed a strong friendship based on a shared background. During this time, race did not play a very central role beyond the difference in their physical appearance. In future recollections, neither can agree on the actual race of Maggie, which highlights the fact that racial identity was not an important factor during their time at the orphanage. Whereas Roberta asserts that Maggie was black, Twyla admits â€Å"I actually couldn’t be certain. She wasn’t pitch-black, I knew, or I would have remembered that. What I remember was the kiddie hat, and the semicircle legs,† (Morrison 2697). Instead, the vulnerability of Maggie’s character is what stands out to them as the hierarchal structure of the orphan age and fighting for their place in this, was their shared preoccupation during this time. Instead of the actual experience of the incident with Maggie in the orchard, it is in memories and shared recollections that the two consistently disagree on. As the two meet again, their racial separation slowly becomes a growing issue. They both live in different parts of a racially-segregated society and they each come to represent different economic classes, as each marry men of varying wealth and professional status. The significance of race manifests when the town becomes engaged in bussing activities and each takes an opposing position. Here, the two must embody their own racial identity which inevitably leads to a direct confrontation about their racial differences. These differences are deepened even further by their diverse socio-economic statuses. The ensuing

Radio Broadcast and the FM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Radio Broadcast and the FM - Essay Example The information was now made available at distances ranging from hundreds of kilometers without the transfer of any physical thing and also the same data was available to a large population at the same time. This technology also paved a whole new way of entertainment and music and the business associated to these industries. The technology associated to the radio was initially developed for the purpose of transmitting messages in coded format and the same can be termed as wireless telegraphy and found its usage in maritime and sea navigation and for defense purpose with messages being sent in Morse code format. Later it was found that the technology could also transmit human voice. With the discovery of modulation technology, the terms like AM and SW started making rounds and the whole new world of electronic media came into existence. A very simple step that began on December 16, 1907 with the broadcasting of a song by singer Eugenia H. Farrar from the Brooklyn Navy Yard has been the reason behind the very success of today's electronic media. It was Lee De Forest who had facilitated the broadcasting of song on a radio (FCC, 2005). ... The College radio became very popular among audiences in San Jose. In 1917, with the beginning of World War I with all resources being used for public broadcasting were diverted for defense use and public broadcasting saw a long halt. The radio transmission came under the purview of Navy and the two way telephony was given the importance. But things are actually going to begin rather than facing an abrupt end. The licensed radio broadcasting came into existence with Frank Conrad's company Westinghouse obtained the first commercial radio license and launched KDKA in November, 1920 (Adams, 2003). KDKA broadcasted the election results and the sold radios to the home users. Peace time usage of the broadcasting technology had arrived to make its first broad presence. The success of KDKA The KDKA era led to something which can be termed as the golden period of Radio based broadcasting services. May be for the first time in the history, the public was showing more interest to the product than the producers and this public sentiment gets visible with the unprecedented growth in the demand of radio receiving equipments and at the same time the Westinghouse Organization had to work for opening up other broadcasting stations. The company installed the most powerful broadcasting transmitter known as WSJ on the roof of its plant at Newark, N. J. and the same building roofed the studio (White, 2007). The studio was designed in such a way that it was sound proof equipped with several musical instruments. The studio was meant for artists basically single and players and speakers and news readers. The WSJ used to serve a region within a radius of

British Press in 1840-1860s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

British Press in 1840-1860s - Essay Example However, these attempts failed, and when the editor of a radical paper was sued in 1819, "The paper's circulation rose by over 50 per cent" (Curren, 1991, 12). Even the Stamp duty on paper, which was increased massively between 1789 and 1815 (Curren, page 13), was not enough to control the radical papers, and in 1836 the Government reduced the duty by three quarters: the intention was to "Put down the unstamped papers" (Curren, page 14). In fact, by the middle of the 1840's the intent had changed to influencing the workers "To secure the loyalty of the working classes to the social order" (Curren, page 27). The beginnings of the popular press, were therefore in the intention of the government to suppress and smother the radical working-class papers which had appeared in the later Georgian era. Influenced by the rise of newspapers backed by men with money, the campaigners in the 1830's demanded the development of a free market: "Free tradewould 'give to men of capital and respectability the power of gaining access by newspapersto the minds of the working classes'" (Curren, 1991, 29). Other developments also influenced the growth of the press in this twenty-year period. The first was the blossoming of working class literacy, from about two-thirds of men and half of women in 1841 to four fifths of men and three quarters of women in 1871: In addition, the twent... In addition, the twenty years between 1840 and 1860 saw a growth in the industrialization of the press, which meant that each paper could now achieve higher sales, with numbers of papers rising from " 200 in 1846 to 750 in 1865" (Newsome, 1998, page 144). There were nearly four times as many papers available in 1860 than were there in 1840; but these were not the same papers which had been produced in the 1790's. The huge machines which now printed newspaper runs, and the repeal of taxes served to increase the running costs of the papers: by 1855, the prime minister was told "That a capital of about 20,000 was needed to start a London daily paper" (Curren, 1991, page 36). What this meant is that by the 1850's, most of the newspapers being produced where owned and established by the wealthy: land magnates, factory owners, and the upper-middle and upper classes. Other papers, such as the Morning Post, began as Whig supporters, and were turned into Tory publications by new owners (Cambr idge, chapter 9). In addition, the price of a newspaper had risen from about 1d before the Stamp Duty repeals to 3 or 4d afterwards. These were the first effects upon the social fabric of the working class; between 1830 and 1840, the popular press became more and more focused on capitalism, and its readership centered upon the middle classes, and the lower classes fell back into pamphlets, or 'penny dreadfuls' as they were known in the Victorian era. Much of the concern came from clergymen, journalists and magistrates Who seem to have assumed that the penny dreadful readership was Almost entirely young, working class and male (Chris Willis, 2000) The

LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL, the trial and death of socrates book Essay - 1

LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL, the trial and death of socrates book - Essay Example He knows that his own death comes with the morning and he doesn’t really want to die, but he continues to reject his friends’ attempts to save him by helping him escape. Socrates feels that a virtuous man is a man who stands up for what he believes in even when this is not the common practice of his countrymen or when it means hardship for himself. For his defense, Socrates relies on logic and reasoning to present his case to the people of Athens, clearly summarizing his actions and demonstrating them to be neither harmful nor malicious toward the state. His friends try to convince him to adopt a different approach in his defense by turning to the cultural norms of working on pity and family need, but Socrates felt it more important to uphold the ideals of logic, truth and justice. However, Socrates has wisely already calculated his chances to escape death and chooses instead to be judged by history based upon his own merits rather than attempt to win over a group of individuals who are already disposed against him. In his example, Socrates reveals that the virtuous man does not worry so much about things like danger or fear of death because as long as he is standing up for truth, his spirit cannot be long overcome. According to Socrates, a man can know whether his decisions are virtuous or not based on his feelings of shame, which is an emotion that signals wrong action. It arises from feelings of guilt and remorse when one breaks contracts made both with himself and with others and can only be avoided when one acts in perfect acco rdance with what he knows is right without fear or pursuit merely of self-interest. In drinking the hemlock, Socrates is able to prove to history, if not to the jurors, that he has consistently acted in ways that he deems to be in the right, in support of the laws and in the best interests of the people. Finally, in accepting his punishment, he is able to prove the depth of his convictions and continue

The Al-Qaeda Terrorist Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Al-Qaeda Terrorist Organization - Essay Example The 9/11 created such a deep global impact that almost overnight, it virtually created a new breed of foreign, immigration and security policies not only of the United States but its allies as well. Al Qaeda, which means â€Å"the base’, is an international terrorist organization that was born at the heel of the Soviet retreat from Afghanistan in 1989. It was created out of the remnants of Arab participation in the Afghan resistance against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan since 1978. As the defeated Soviets left Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden created al Qaeda to maintain the roster who participated in the resistance for future jihads. When bin Laden returned to Afghanistan in 1996 after he was driven out of Sudan through American pressure, he set up training camps for the training of Islamic militants under the noses of the hospitable Taliban. The group came under public glare in 1998 when it was linked to the bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. It virtually became a household name, however, after the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, an incident now known as 9/11 (Robinson 17). Al Qaeda’s advantage over other terrorist groups is its global reach. It is most noted for its use of suicide terrorism directed at multiple targets simultaneously. It is believed that the purpose of al Qaeda is religious – that is, the establishment of a caliphate in the Middle East. Some quarters believed however that its motivations are political and religion is a mere front concealing a goal geared at establishing global dominion.

Identify the regulations and requirements relevant Essay Example for Free

Identify the regulations and requirements relevant Essay Learning Outcome 1 – Understand the principles and practices of assessment 1.4 Identify the regulations and requirements relevant to the assessment in own area of practice Our policies for management of assessment evidence eg portfolios, assessment records, observation records, physical evidence, learner and witness statements; management of assessment records, are all in accordance with the Data Protection Act (2003). We use the Act’s mandatory guidelines to help us protect the personal data we hold and/ or process. All work and information is processed fairly and lawfully and obtained and used only for specified and lawful purposes. It is made clear to the students that we only keep adequate, relevant and not excessive information so as to keep accurate information that provides an up to date record that we do not keep for longer than necessary. All assessment information is processed in accordance with the individual’s rights and kept secure with the admin team who, all the while, provide learners with the opportunity to request to see the information public authorities hold about them in line with the Freedom of information act (2000) Our storage and retrieval of information is password protected when online/ digital, and under lock and key when physical. The confidentiality of the data is paramount and our use of technology to share information with relevant parties eg learners, other assessors, employer, colleagues, organisation must abide by our protocol before it is considered. The college follows regulations covering sharing of assessment/ personal information following Ofqual’s lead as we protect the interests of learners and promoting ‘public confidence in the national qualifications system’ (Ofqual, 2008, p3) through our thorough and rigorous approach to safeguarding information. By following these procedures the college follows the recognised standards for the Regulatory arrangements for the Qualifications and Credit framework (2008), Health and safety at work (1974), and the Equality Act (2010) to help its own reputation as a good/ outstanding awarding organisation. This in turn helps the organisations vocational links to the SSC sector skills council and its industry standards of data protection while also increasing the skills and productivity of our  respective sectors workforce under safe, professional circumstances. These guidelines provider us with influence as to how we can better development our own qualifications and apprenticeships. Edexcel is our primary awarding organisation so their policies and guidelines are arguably the most regularly used every day.

Factors Affecting Hand Washing Compliance

Factors Affecting Hand Washing Compliance Factors Affecting the Compliance of Hand Washing Among Healthcare Workers in a Long-term Care Facility in Los Angeles, California Noela Gadingan Samantha Tweeten, PhD Healthcare workers deal with different types of patients every day. Every patient has their own microorganisms that contributed to the development of their diagnosis. Hand hygiene plays a critical role especially among healthcare workers as they deal with not only one but several patients. Hand washing is vital in the prevention of the different hospital acquired infections or also known as the nosocomial infections. The increasing incidence of nosocomial infection is very alarming knowing that there are many organizations such as the Joint Commission and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who exert effort to implement the guidelines of hand hygiene among healthcare workers. A research article on a survey on hand washing practices and opinions of healthcare workers shows that healthcare workers knew the importance and benefits of hand washing, but still, they tend to overestimate their own compliance. It also shows that healthcare workers were more concerned on the different interventions that would make hand washing easier (Harris et al., 2000). Another research article on hand hygiene compliance rate in the United States of America presented a 12-month multicenter collaboration where researchers measured the product usage and provided feedback about hand washing compliance to assess the hand washing compliance rates in the United States of America. The result shows that the rate of hand washing among healthcare workers is still at or below 50%; the researchers suggest that with the combination of monitoring and providing feedback, compliance rate would increase (http://ajm.sagepub.com.ezproxy.nu.edu/content/24/3/205). The researcher of this study chose this topic because there are many programs and organizations that exerted efforts, time, and money to implement hand washing, yet there are still incidences of non-compliance. The topic on hand washing seems is common and seems to be easy yet ignored by some individuals. As a result, there are a lot of unanswered questions on the aspects of hand washing compliance. The increasing incidence rate of nosocomial infections among the patients provides a significant reason to conduct this research study. Healthcare providers are expected to care, cure, and help patients achieve a quality of life; thus, hand washing should not be a want but rather a need. However, there are some knowledge gaps that still need answers and limitations that may not have given a complete solution to address this issue. The purpose of the study is to know the different factors that affect the compliance among healthcare workers in a long-term care facility in Los Angeles California and to assess the knowledge and attitude of the healthcare workers concerning the practice of hand washing. The hypothesis is that there are several factors affecting the compliance of hand washing among healthcare workers, such as lack of awareness, lack of education on the importance of hand washing, personal attitude of healthcare workers, and insufficient supply of hand washing materials. The researcher believes that through knowing the different factors that affect the compliance of hand washing among healthcare workers, it would give benefits not only among individuals but also to the community and society as a whole. Individuals, both patient and healthcare providers, protect themselves from different infectious diseases knowing that proper hand washing is the universal precaution. It would also help build a healthy community if there will be an absence or decrease incidence of infectious diseases. To the society as a whole, it would help in developing appropriate planning to identify the different solutions that would address the different factors identified. It would contribute to the different healthcare organizations and health policy makers to implement suitable actions and would hopefully achieve 100% compliance among healthcare workers and decreasing incidence rate of nosocomial infections among patients. Review of Literature A research study by assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practice of hand washing among healthcare workers in Ain-Shams University Hospital and had an inspection of 10 wards on that hospital for facilities needed for hand washing (Elaziz, 2009). A cross-sectional study was being conducted from the period of June until November 2006. For the data collection of this study, 10 infection control nurses were trained on how to carefully observe hand washing opportunities and to fill out forms needed for the study. There were three research instruments used: observation form on hand washing, form on ward inspection, and, to assess the knowledge and attitudes of healthcare workers regarding hand washing, a self-administered questionnaire was used. The results showed that doctors had a 37.5% compliance, which is significantly higher compared with the other groups of healthcare workers, but only 11.6% executed the proper hand washing correctly. Routine hand washing, which is 64.2%, was the mo st common type of hand washing that is being practiced among healthcare workers, compared with the antiseptic hand washing, which is only 3.9%. In addition, inadequate supply of paper towels was identified as another factor. Nurses were identified to have more knowledge on hand washing compared with doctors. They believed that to increase the compliance on hand washing, administrative orders and a continuous observation as well must be implemented. The researchers of this study suggested that to give solution to theses factors that affect the compliance of hand washing, there should be an implementation on multifaceted interventional behavioral hand hygiene program that would monitor and provide performance feedback, an increase in hand washing supplies, and an institutional support. McGuckin, Waterman, and Govednik (2009) studied on hand hygiene compliance rates in the United States of America. Their study is a 1-year multicenter collaboration with the use of a product/volume usage measurement. All healthcare facilities were offered the measurement program. The only criteria for enrollment that was used in the study was the site’s willingness to submit the monthly summaries of the volume of the product usage and patient bed days to a more secure protected database that is important in generating, measuring, and benchmarking reports. The sites that were enrolled were encouraged to make use of the reports in giving feedback to the healthcare workers. They received as well an implementation manual, and they would also receive a support from the researchers of the study in implementing the program at their site. The researchers made use of three reported methods of measuring the hand washing compliance. These are as follows: direct observation, healthcare wor kers self-reporting, and an indirect calculation based on the product usage of hand washing. The results showed that hand washing compliance in an intensive care unit were 26% and 36% for non-ICUs. Meanwhile, after 12months of measuring the usage of product and giving feedback, the compliance rate increased to 37% for ICUs and 51 for non-ICUs. However, the compliance rate on hand washing among healthcare workers is at or below 50%. The researchers suggested that to give solution to this, there must be a combination of monitoring and feedback to increase the compliance rate. Aziz (2013) studied on how availability of materials improved the hand hygiene compliance. The annual National Health Survey provides healthcare workers the opportunity to share their opinions on the availability on the materials used in hand washing. There were three community buildings and 31 wards that were reviewed to assess the availability of materials needed in hand washing, as well as alcohol hand rub located on wards and at entrances. The results showed based on the audit that in 30 out of 34 areas, the availability of hand washing materials was good. Both staffs in ward and in community emphasized what other materials were required for hand washing. After knowing the inadequacies, steps were made to provide these. The audit carried out made the practice of hand washing to be benchmarked across the trust and enhanced the awareness of the staff on the importance of hand washing. Therefore, as a result of this, compliance of hand washing among healthcare workers increased from 80% to 95%. A survey on hand washing practices and opinions of healthcare worker was conducted (Harris et al., 2000). The research instrument that was used in this study is a 74-question survey that was given to healthcare workers in two tertiary care hospitals. The result of the study shows that healthcare workers knew the importance and benefits of hand washing, but still, they tend to overestimate their own compliance. It also shows that healthcare workers were more concerned on the different interventions that would make hand washing easier. The different literature review from the four researches provide an explanation to conduct further studies to enhance the compliance rate of hand washing practices among healthcare workers. Alhough there are many studies conducted previously from different researchers, there is still a need to know more on the different factors why we cannot achieve a 100% compliance among the healthcare workers who were known to care and cure the sick. Methods The participants of the study are the healthcare workers, which includes the following: doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, and therapists. It will include both male and female, all types of ethnicity, and age. They must be a current employee in a long-term care facility. This research study will make use of a cross-sectional study design that will be conducted in a long-term care facility in Los Angeles in a period of 2years. The researcher will conduct a study observation where different areas in the healthcare facility will be checked. The observation will be carried out where healthcare workers usually do invasive procedures, have personal contact with the patients, and perform non-invasive procedures such as taking the vital signs of the patients and obtaining specimen for the laboratory, during waste disposal. For the data collection, it will make use of the same process that was carried out on the research study by Elaziz (2009). In collecting data, there will be two infection control nurses who will be trained on doing the hand washing observation and in filling out the observational and ward inspection form. In a covert manner, the nurses that were trained will fill out the observational form, which records whether hand washing was carried out or not and if it is carried out appropriately or not. He or she will also record the type of hand washing that was carried out by the person observed and note what type of errors that was committed when it was done incorrectly. In checking the availability of the hand washing materials, which include soaps, sinks, towels, drying materials, and hand washing posters and guidelines, a ward inspection form will be filled up. There will be three research instruments that will be used in gathering the data for this research study. The same research instruments that were used by Elaziz (2009) in her study will be used. The three research instruments are observation form of hand washing, form for ward inspection, and, to know whether there is lack of awareness and education and whether a problem on healthcare workers attitude is a factor, a self-administered questionnaire will be used as part of the research instrument. The self-administered questionnaire would assess whether lack of awareness and education, and personal attitude among healthcare are factors affecting the compliance on hand washing. The questionnaire to assess for lack of awareness and education will include different questions covering different aspects of hand washing practices, including the use of time, proper execution, and materials needed for hand washing. A Likert scale will be used in assessing the attitude of healthcare workers. Th e program that will be used for data entry, checking, and analysis will be the Statistical Package for Social Science. For the ethical consideration, the approval of the design and the different steps of the study were conducted with the different members of the infection control unit in a long-term care facility in Los Angeles, California. This study will prepare informed consent forms that will provide prospective study participants information regarding the research. The observation of hand washing practices among healthcare workers is already considered as a routine checking of infection control activities by the infection control nurses. The bias that may include in this study is information bias because participants may not provide honest answers to appear in compliance to the guideline on proper hand washing. Another bias that might happen is the measurement bias when a research cannot control for the effects of the data collection and measurement, knowing that self-administered questionnaire is one of the types of the research instrument used in this study The limitation of the study will include the possible biases that might be present especially in the data collection process, which will affect the credibility and reliability of the result of the research study, and the time and resources in conducting this research study. References Aziz, A. (2013). How better availability of materials improved hand-hygiene compliance. British Journal of Nursing, 22(8), 458–463. Elaziz, K. (2009). Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice of hand washing among health care workers in Ain Shams University hospitals in Cairo. Journal of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene, 50(1), 19–25. Harris, A. D., Samore, M. H., Nafziger, R., Rosario, K. D., Roghmann, M. C., Carmeli, Y. (2000). A survey on hand washing practices and opinions of healthcare workers. Journal of Hospital Infection. doi: 10.1053/jhin.2000.0781 McGuckin, S., Waterman, R., Govednik, J. (2009). Hand hygiene compliance rates in the United States—A one-year multicenter collaboration using product/volume usage measurement and feedback. American Journal of Medical Quality. doi: 10.1177/1062860609332369

Analysis of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Essay -- Character, Greek

The fact that Percy Jackson has friends is incredible. It’s an unshakable fact that any friend of his within a ten mile radius will be in a life or death situation with him by dinner, and they aren’t always so lucky as him. But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. Over the course of the five-part contemporary young adult series Percy Jackson & The Olympians, titular character Percy Jackson must embrace his Greek God parentage and save Olympus with the help of his fellow demigods. The aim of this paper is to discuss his Hero’s Journey throughout the series, provide an in depth character analysis, and draw parallels between Percy and the three classic Greek heroes of mythology: Perseus, Theseus, and Hercules. The first novel of the series, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief , is where Percy’s Hero’s Journey begins, encompassing the first five stages. The Ordinary World, the first stage, is the introduction of the main hero. â€Å"The hero, uneasy, uncomfortable or unaware, is introduced sympathetically so the audience can identify with the situation or dilemma† (Campbell). Percy Jackson, a twelve year old diagnosed with both dyslexia and ADHD living in New York with his loving, over-worked mother and abusive stepfather, begins his story attending a boarding school for â€Å"troubled youth† and having a less than spectacular time being the new kid. Despite his good intentions of protecting his only friend Grover from a bully, Percy gets in trouble at school and is pulled aside by one of his teachers, whom is revealed to be the Fury Alecto, one of Hades’s servants in disguise. It is at this point in the story in which the second stage, The Call to Adven ture, comes into play. Percy defeats the Fury with the help of a centaur named Chiron, t... ...Journey and examine the heroic parallels between Percy Jackson and the great Greek heroes Perseus, Theseus, and Hercules through a timeless lense. Works Cited Campbell, Joseph. "The Hero's Journey Outline." Hero's Journey. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. . Eliade, Mircea. "In Search of Cupid and Psyche: Chapter Two." In Search of Cupid and Psyche: Chapter Two. Harper & Row, 1 Jan. 1963. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. . Riordan, Rick. Percy Jackson & The Olympians. Neu bearb. Ausg. ed. Hamburg: Hyperion, Print. Wistrom, Elizabeth . "Percy Jackson: Character Analysis." Bright Hub Education. N.p., 20 Jan. 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. .

Social psychology seems to have many origins; critically discuss the hi

There are many explanations for the origins of modern social psychology. It is therefore important to consider that social psychology cannot be traced back to one single source of origin (Burr, 2003). Hence, this is the reason why there are debates of what social psychology is. Allport (1985) described social psychology as â€Å"the study of people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours which are influenced by the actual, imagines, or implied presence of others†. As seen from this definition there is a direct link between social science and the individual psychology (Sewel, 1989). Social psychology cannot be seen as a linear phenomenon. This is because social psychology has derived from combination of influences. The development of social psychology can be discussed in two different ways. Firstly, social psychology is argued to be found upon political movements and social philosophies in the United Stated of America (US). Secondary, it can be argued that social psychology developed due to the response of social and political needs. 3. There have been debates regarding whether social psychology should be dealt as a natural science or not. The ideology of natural science is very important as it affects the way the social psychologist deal with situations. For example, if there are specific scientific objectives then the study is laboratory based and uses experimental procedures in order to gain knowledge. Psychologists who use this positivistic method are classified as experimental social psychologists. On the other hand, critical-social psychology has competed with experimental-social psychologists. The strength of the critical-social psychologists is that they use a range of different methods in research, and are not limited to scienti... ...ocial psychology now has a great impact on social cognitive approach. Social cognition includes attribution, stereotypes, autism, (Striano & Reid, 2008). The European roots of social psychology have led to social constructionism and social representation. The modern social psychology is now constructed with the American and European doctrines. However, due to the political events and developing researches in social psychology, the disciple has only been able to contain within America (Cartwright, 1979). On the other hand, Gergen (1973) argued that social psychology cannot be interpreted as a science because social psychology is historically and culturally specific, which is the reason why the discipline is continuously changing. Critically speaking, there is an advantage of different approaches to social psychology, as it views dilemmas in different perspectives.

francis of assisi Essay -- essays research papers

Francis of Assisi was a poor man who astounded and inspired the Church by taking the gospel literally—not in a narrow fundamentalist sense, but by actually following all that Jesus said and did, joyfully, without limit and without a mite of self-importance. Francis was famous for his love of all creation. He called for simplicity of life, poverty, and humility before God. He worked to care for the poor. Thousands were drawn to his sincerity, piety, and joy. In all his actions, Francis sought to follow fully and literally the way of life demonstrated by Christ in the Gospels. My report is going to discuss the life and contributions of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis of Assisi lived about eight hundred years ago. He was born in the city of Assisi, Italy, in 1182. He was the son of Peter Bernardone (A wealthy merchant) and Madonna Pica. His father sold spices and fabrics and was often out of town on business. While Peter Bernardone was traveling in Provence on business, Madonna Pica gave birth to his son. Far from being excited or apologetic because he'd been gone, Pietro was furious because she'd had his new son baptized Giovanni after John the Baptist. The last thing Pietro wanted in his son was a man of God -- he wanted a man of business, a cloth merchant like he was, and he especially wanted a son Francesco -- which is the equivalent of calling him Frenchman. Francis spent a happy childhood under the watchful eye of Madonna Pica and the attention heaped on him by his father, who was certain that Francis would follow him in the merchant business. His strict education and healthy moral upbringing gave everything he did a sense of balance . Francis enjoyed a very rich easy life growing up because of his father's wealth and the permissiveness of the times. From the beginning everyone loved Francis. He was constantly happy, charming, and a born leader. If he was picky, people excused him. If he was ill, people took care of him. If he was so much of a dreamer he did poorly in school, no one minded. In many ways he was too easy to like for his own good. No one tried to control him or teach him. As he grew up, Francis became the leader of a crowd of young people who spent their nights in wild parties. Francis himself said, "I lived in sin" during that time. Francis fulfilled every hope of Pietro's, and despite his dreaming, Francis was also good at busin... ...tous. Perceiving that he had come to the end of his days, he asked to be brought to the Porziuncola, in Santa Maria degli Angeli, the place from which his message was spread. During the last years of his relatively short life (he died at 45) he was half blind and seriously ill. Two years before his death, he received the stigmata, the real and painful wounds of Christ in his hands, feet and side. On his deathbed, he said over and over again the last addition to his Canticle of the Sun, "Be praised, O Lord, for our Sister Death." He sang Psalm 141, and at the end asked his superior to have his clothes removed when the last hour came and for permission to expire lying naked on the earth, in imitation of his Lord. Francis' final years were filled with suffering as well as humiliation. When he began to go blind, the pope ordered that his eyes be operated on. This meant cauterizing his face with a hot iron. Francis never recovered from this illness. He died on October 4, 1226 at the age of 45. Two years later, on July 16th, he was canonized a saint by Pope Gregory IX. Francis is considered the founder of all Franciscan orders and the patron saint of ecologists and merchants.

Robert cobb essy

Since 1937, more than 4 million Cobb salads have been sold at Brown Derby restaurants, according to the Brown Derby Restaurant Group, which, now that the two original Hollywood restaurants have losed, is what the company calls itself. It licenses the restaurant name for merchandise (Including bottled Cobb salad dressing), as well as to Disney, which opened a reproduction of the original Brown Derby in Orlando, Florida, in 1989 and, In 1990.Signed a 20-year agreement for Brown Derby restaurants In Tokyo, Paris and Anaheim, California. As a culinary art student it's Important that you know about your chef because If you're making one of their recipes you have a little background information on the person. I chose to write about this chef for my essay because I was CUri0US If estaurants still make Cobb salads exactly the same way that chef cobb did. Something that surprised me the most would have to be that he made this salad on accident and it was a big hit.The most important thing tha t's memorable about my chef is that he sold over 4 million of his salads since 1937. robert cobb essay By tethridgel 4 My famous chef was Robert Cobb. He was born February 8, 1899 in Moberly, MO. age 16. He later got into real estate and opened the famous Brown Derby restaurant Street, Just south of Hollywood Boulevard, that was the most famous. It opened on Cobb, who was the combination food checker, steward, buyer, cashier, and occasional cook when the first Derby opened.After the deaths of Mizner and Somborn, it was Cobb who took over the restaurants in 1934. prowled hungrily in his restaurant's kitchen for a snack. Opening the huge merchandise (including bottled Cobb salad dressing), as well as to Disney, which in 1990. Signed a 20-year agreement for Brown Derby restaurants in Tokyo, Paris and As a culinary art student it's important that you know about your chef because if person. I chose to write about this chef for my essay because I was curious if

Frankenstein: Creating a Human

Timmy Harder Mr. Reynolds English February 20, 2010 Frankenstein vs. Modern Science When Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, was written, it was seen as a novel warning scientists and people of the time of the dangers that could follow from exploring unknown scientific fields. In Frankenstein, the unknown field of study is the creation of a live human being. At the time, this was seen as an unthinkable and impossible task, but Victor completes it, although poorly. He began the experiment with little preparation and most of the procedures were done without care.His experiment was way before its time and most people were confused or scared by his creation. Even today creation of a human being is unheard of. However, today, one of the major issues that is being discussed is that of stem cell research. The scientists of Stem Cell Research and Victor Frankenstein share many aspects that could greatly inhibit their overall findings. Victor had many problems that could scare off modern scientifi c research but the two major fears are the side-effects that the creation may cause and scientist’ unpreparedness of their actions.The first problem with exploring a new scientific field is that not much is known about it including the procedure and just the knowledge of the subject. Victor began his initial research when he returned from England after visiting fellow scientists. He wanted to make his name famous, but he totally disregarded the necessities of the experiment. When he completed his creation, it was so hideous that he had to leave because he could not handle the ugliness. He planned to make a human like himself; instead he created a monster with yellowish skin and a height of eight feet.Needless to say, this creature was about as far away from a human as he could have gotten; it was more of a giant. When Victor first sees the monster he says, â€Å"The beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart. † (pg. 38) Victor could not even force himself to look at the monster because it was too hideous. When Victor first began the experiment, he believed that he had the complete set of tools to perform the experiment but, in the end, he was not prepared enough.Today, Stem Cell research is in the same sort of mold that Victor’s experiment was in. Stem Cells were discovered in the late 1960s and real live experiments did not begin until the 1980s. At first, the experiments were performed on animals and many resulted in extra limbs and mutated body parts. The experiments were then tested on a set of twins, who were in dire need of a bone marrow transplant. The initial experiment went perfect, but afterwards their legs did not function properly, and they went in for another surgery.However, stem cells were researched for about 10 years until the first experiment was conducted, while Victor conducted his first experiment just four years after he completed medical school. The only problem was that both expe riments were conducted with total disregard of what could happen after the experiment, and in the case of the twins improperly functioning legs for life. Once the experiment or surgery was completed there are multiple side-effects that could follow each procedure. Side-effects are the things that may occur after the experiment that could damage the person for whom the experiment was completed, or the population.For example, Victor created the creature, and with the creature followed many problems that affected the creature itself, and many people in the city were bothered by the monster. The creature killed many people on accident, and the creature was affected by his ugliness and his lack of communication skills. He was unable to communicate with other people and he eventually became lonely. Although many of the creature’s side-effects were emotional and could have been avoided by the creature itself, the side-effects in total could have been prevented if Victor never create d the monster in the first place.However, many of the side-effects that follow stem cell transplant are only harmful to the person for whom they were transplanted. Several side-effects include no-stop bleeding, Anemia, and Infertility. None of these directly affect the population, although Infertility would prevent children from being born. However, the most devastating side-effect is a mutation of several body parts. One example was a kid growing an extra bladder because the environment prevented him from growing an extra kidney. Unfortunately, the man perished from cancer.Mary Shelley did as best as she could to warn the future scientists of the danger of engaging in an unknown field of science. Today, with stem cell research it is a relatively new topic that scientists are still researching. Many initial experiments have been performed, and when done correctly, can create scientific medicals. But stem cell research is still young, and with its relative newness, many experiments h ave gone wrong and have resulted in deaths and terrible side-effects. Citation: http://www. quackwatch. org/06ResearchProjects/stemcell. html

Project Management Essay

A. The Five Project Management Process Groups The five project management process groups begins with ‘The scoping process group’ which can also be referred to as the initiating process. The process includes all processes that relate to one question ‘What is the task?’ and ‘What do you need to do?’. Thus, NASA’s vision is to constantly develop flight technologies and from this NASA embarked on on the Autonomous Rotorcraft Project. The project entails developing an unmanned helicopter that ideally operates with the decision making skill of a piloted aircraft. The scoping process means that project management team can establish what is need to achieve the clients needs, in this project they include; -manoeuvre around obstacles without human supervision  -accomplish top level mission goals -conduct vehicle health management activities, which is diagnosing and fixing problems on the machine automatically – to be able to re plan the mission if unforeseen obstacles occur. Secondly is the process of project planning process relates to the question ‘How will you do it?’. The complexity of this process is unrealised as it requires technologies that are yet to be discovered. For example, just to travel from point A -B the autonomous helicopter will need to sense, classify and identify surrounding landmarks and then reconcile those landmarks with stored maps. It will then have to localise itself with those specific landmarks, rapidly compute a path that would keep it away from various oncoming obstacles and closely follow its chosen path. These ideas remain difficult in the project planning stage as there is a lack of available autonomous technologies and resources. Not only do NASA want to create an Autonomous Rotorcraft it also seeks to advance unmanned vehicle operations for future projects( Whalley, 2003). After the project planning process, comes the project launching process. This process includes all processes related to recruiting and organising the team and establishing operational rules. It also largely includes getting the project started. The project manager allowed the team members to incorporate changes and agree on their own responsibilities as it allows them to carry out their tasks in a more efficient manner. To ensure this was the case was to schedule regular demonstrations of the teams accomplishments, ensuring a specific amount of work was completed before it was presented. The monitoring process, includes all processes related to the ongoing work of the project. An example of this is the ARP project website that was created to keep information of the project so upper management and stakeholders are aware of the projects progression. The last process group is the closing process, this specially entails the notion of ‘How well did the project go?’ After the completion of the project, the project manager learned that the needs needed to be met of each team member and communicate individual responsibilities effectively. Whilst there was not too many on going challenges the project manager learned that the time spent scheduling flights took long than expected, it will be taken into consideration for the future to minimise any delays. B. Classify the project Risk: Is an integral part of this project. It usually includes; risk identification, risk assessment, risk mitigation and risk monitoring. Risk regarding project management is a future event which happens with probability and induces change. The autonomous rotorcraft is subject to risk, these can most commonly include delays which can create a loss for the project, and therefore subjecting the project to cost increases. Business Value: The notion of business value supports the companies strategic goals and meets user information requirements. Thus it needs to be a good investment for NASA. Consequently the autonomous rotorcraft is an investment for the organisation as it allows future developments to be based of this project for other differing autonomous vehicles. Duration: The duration of the project began in 2002 and was up for ARP teams nominations for 2005 project of the year. It has been flying autonomously since March 2004 and has been flight tested weekly for 30-60 minutes per flight. The system in the current Rotorcraft has been flown in the same configurations since November 2005. Complexity: The complexity of this project is very difficult as mentioned earlier, this is because the rotorcraft is unmanned and needs to make various decisions through its Linux based software. Technology: The technology used in the Autonomous Rotorcraft is complex and due to this faced many hardships and obstacles. The technology is complex. NASA’s mission was to extend its technology and expertise regarding automated systems. Specifically the project management team would create a flying laboratory consisting of technologies such as advanced flight controls, a reactive planner and an all digital camera system with tracking and passive ranging capabilities. The Autonomous rotorcraft is a Yamaha RMAX helicopter, which was selected as the project UAV platform. It was originally developed for remote control seeding and spraying and therefore was notably sturdy and reliable. Due to this numerous modifications were made to the rotorcraft to support autonomous operations. These include the additional avionics which in turn carries out navigation and flight computer control, an experimentation computer, a GPS receiver and radio communications (Freed, 2006). Cost: The cost for this project has not been disclosed, although budget was kept. C. How did the project fit against the nine Project management Knowledge areas Integration Management focuses on the larger tasks that must be done for the project to work. Thus it is the practise of ensuring that every part of the project is coordinated. The project manager must be very competent at this to ensure that the project runs smoothly. The Autonomous Rotorcraft project manager planned well, as they took many things into consideration regarding this. As mentioned earlier, the project manager used techniques to establish motivation for team members. The main technique was scheduling regular meetings and demonstrating the teams current accomplishments. From these meetings the project manager could then provide additional recourses for the project in areas that need supplemental information. Thus the project was executed successfully and a high level of integration management was achieved. The second knowledge area of Scope Management is the details and processes of the project. It is important to have a detailed plan before beginning the project. This meaning a clear goal. Which is very clear; ‘To develop an unmanned helicopter’. Whilst it is beneficial to understand the scope of the project it is also important to understand that changes may occur during the project, which fall under this specific knowledge area. Due to the favourable outcome of the project, scope management was achieved, as challenges and communication were met effectively. Similarly to this is time management, the ARP met all scheduling goals and completed each phase with no scheduling delays. Thus it is understood that, the project had sufficient resources and a good time management plan. Cost management is just as valuable as time management. This knowledge area includes cost estimating and budgeting. Once the cost for the ARP project was estimated, the project manager must control the cost and make changes to the budget as needed. The cost of the project would have been fluctuating as the accuracy changes as the project would have progressed. Furthermore, quality management is an important knowledge area as the ARP would have had to have been measured against a similar predetermined acceptable measure. The project manager would of created a quality management plan early on in the project, as this effects other areas such as scope, time cost and most importantly risk. Human resource management is responsible for the project organisation, the selection of team members on the ARP (assigning staff) and project organisation. Whilst the project manager assesses the performance of the team, so does human resource management from a different perspective – this also includes the project manner. Along with this comes communication management, which is very important in the ARP. This includes the ARP project website, that was created to keep NASA computer information and communications technology program for upper management and stake holders to be aware of the projects progression. The team also provided project updaters to potential customers, which include; The Department of Homeland Security, the National Technology transfer centre and other NASA researchers. . This type of communication management offers dual benefits as it is marketing the rotorcraft and maintaining a strong customer base for future projects. As well as this, all the material communicated was accessible to the team via the website, these included; flight plans, authorised documents, scheduling and media. Another project management area is Risk management, this involves how risks are managed on the project. The project manager must identify these challenges and plan how the team will respond to them in a positive manner. These risks included, coordinating the ARP project team, as it consisted of people from a plethora of different backgrounds and thus the project manager ensured communication stayed strong. Another challenge that the team was faced with as scheduling flight tests, this took more time than originally anticipated and therefore ran risk of delays, to combat this more time was put foreword to ensure that there was no future delays. Lastly is procurement management, this is a set of processes that links to the supply chain sector of the ARP project. It is when goods or services need to be obtained from an outside organisations. The project manager plans these purchases of products that cannot be provided from their own company. This is important as it links directly with quality management, this is because it is difficult to ensure quality is delivered from an outside supplier at an appropriate cost that meets budget. Conclusion It must be reiterated that The Autonomous Rotorcraft Project was executed successfully. There are many areas that need to be covered by the project team in order for this to be a smooth operation. Whilst there are some areas that are of more importance to others, it is ideal to have a team that can respond to all positive and negative situations that the project may encounter. The ARP project, fitted well against all nine Project Management areas, thus NASA expressed a high level of satisfaction with the project.

Aristotle Ethics Essay

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics provides a sensible account for what true moral virtue is and how one may go about attaining it. Aristotle covers many topics that help reach this conclusion. One of them being the idea of mean between the extremes. Although Aristotle provided a reliable account for many philosophers to follow, Rosalind Hursthouse along with many others finds lose ends and topics which can be easily misinterpreted in Aristotle’s writing. Aristotle explains his concept of â€Å"mean between the extremes† by the following quote: â€Å"In everything that is continuous and divisible it is possible to take more, less, or an equal amount, and that either in terms of the thing itself or relatively to us; and the equal is an intermediate between excess and defect† (Book II. 6, p. 1747 l. 25-28). Here he defines human virtue as an arrangement or disposition to behave in the right manner or as a mean between the extremes (excess and deficiency). However, later he continues to add how this mean or intermediacy is not the same for every person. A mean, according to Aristotle is determined by one’s needs and capacity. Not everyone has the same mean hence; everyone does not have the same needs or capacities. The mean, Aristotle goes on to explain, is relative to the person, not the object. It has to be relative to not only you as a person, but also relative to your situation, not just your opinion. â€Å"If ten pounds are too much for a particular person to eat and two too little, it does not follow that the trainer will order six pounds; for this also is perhaps too much for the person who is to take it, or too little- too little for Milo, too much for the beginner in athletic exercises. † (II. 6, 1747 l. 36-39) According to Aristotle, there is a right answer or an objectively correct mean for everyone when you take inot account their situation. Aristotle tries to paint a picture of how one should go about determining this mean in a situation. He provides several examples and instances and even presents the excess, defect and intermediate in each for the reader to analyze. Briefly, Aristotle classifies the mean as being the main characteristic in achieving excellence. He explains how moral excellence can only be attained through figuring out these excesses, deficiencies and intermediates. He also adds in how simply knowing these three is not everything, but feeling them at the right time, the right place, in the right situation, etc is just as important. â€Å"For instance, both fear and confidence and appetite and anger and pity and in general pleasure and pain may be felt both too much and too little, and in both cases not well; but to feel them at the right times, with reference to the right objects, towards the right people, with the right aim, and in the right way is what is both intermediate and best, and this is characteristic of excellence† (II. 6, 1747, 1106 l. 19-23). In book two, chapter seven, Aristotle begins to form an outline of general means that every person should be aware of. He talks about anger, pride, honor, the giving and taking of money, etc. By discussing these subjects he constructs an outline of summary of these states to help one better understand the principles behind attaining moral virtue. In chapter eight of book two, Aristotle discusses how one extreme may be closer to the mean than the other. He gives two reasons for this: one being drawn from the thing itself and the other from ourselves. In other words, when he states â€Å"for because one extreme is nearer and liker to the intermediate, we oppose not this but rather its contrary to the intermediate. E. g., since rashness is thought liker and nearer to courage, and cowardice more unlike, we oppose rather the latter to courage; for things that are further from the intermediate are thought more contrary to it? another is drawn from ourselves; for the things to which we ourselves more naturally tend seem more contrary to the intermediate† (II. 8, 1750, 1109 l. 4-14), he implies that when assessing the mean in relevance to the object itself, it can be seen that sometimes it falls closer to one end than the other. For example, as Aristotle explains, a coward lies further away from the mean (having courage) then rashness does. In a way, being rash implies being courageous because one who is rash does not think too hard before acting therefore shows courage, even though he/she does so in an illogical way. On the opposite end, someone who is referred to as a coward shows no courage and does not act bravely but rather chooses to hide and do nothing. The second method Aristotle discusses is related to ourselves and what we assume to be closer to the mean. He says that the things we mostly tend to do are the things we consider further from the mean. In other words we consider ourselves to be deficient in a sense because what we do seems to be the flip side of the intermediate. He says that since the extreme which is furthest from the mean is that which is the most contrary to the mean we describe the things we are most likely to lapse inot as contrary to the intermediate. In addition, referring back the courage example, people know that we are more likely to be cowardly than rash, so we are more aware of being deficient in courage. Aristotle goes on to discuss how one may figure out what extreme the mean is closer to. He says that to do so, one must follow three rules: 1) avoid the extreme which is furthest from the mean, 2) notice what errors we are most likely to commit and avoid them diligently, and 3) be wary of pleasure because it often slows or blurs our judgment. If these three rules are obeyed, Aristotle says that we shall be able to hit the mean between the extremes. When Aristotle uses the bent stick example, he is just showing a comparison between someone dragging themselves away from the bad extreme and trying to straighten a bent stick. They are both hard to do but they must be done for the overall good. When you straighten the bent stick, you are drawing it away from one side and bringing it back to the middle, just as one must do with themselves. Rosalind Hursthouse does a very good job in discussing Aristotle’s concept of phronimos. Hursthouse believes that the phronimos is different from a person who is not truly virtuous but nonetheless hits the mean between the extremes on a particular occasion in the sense that the phronimos is a master in all the v-rules presented by Aristotle in his account. It is these v-rules that help the phronimos be as good at making decisions and making the right choices as Aristotle suggests he is. Hursthouse says that even though these v-rules exist, they do not capture what gives the phronimos his special knowledge. Therefore, she goes on to say â€Å"What is special about the phronimos’s knowledge is the especial understanding he brings to these rules, his unique mastery of the concepts involved. All the difficult work, one might say, is done by this superior understanding, not by the rules themselves. To lack phronesis is to lack such mastery; so these rules, the v-rules, cannot be fully understood by those lacking phronesis† (13). So pretty much, even though a person can comprehend these rules and then hit the mean between the extremes after following them, he is still not doing that as well as the phronimos can because he/she is not capable of truly understanding those rules for what they are. Hursthouse thinks that there is no set code for the phronimos to follow. This code, often referred to as the v-rules discussed earlier, are not guidelines because they are not very hard to comprehend. They are only statements of simple moral virtue that anyone who has had a decent upbringing knows to some extent. Therefore she argues, how can these rules be a code for the phronimos when it is so far ahead of the normal person and sees what normal, non virtuous individuals cannot. This debate was primarily between the generalists and the particularists. The generalist said that the phronimos must know a code but the particularist denied it. Since the phronimos does not attain virtue through a code, Aristotle explains that his virtue is due to a proper upbringing mixed with the right lectures in adult hood. In other words, unless someone does not have the right childhood and does not learn the appropriate and virtuous ways of life during this childhood, he cannot grow up and attain phronimos by listening to a philosopher’s lectures because he is not equipped with the right â€Å"tools† to truly understand the essence of moral virtue. As Hursthouse states, â€Å"Phronesis-excellence in practical reasoning, moral knowledge- can be acquired only by habitually engaging in virtuous action, not, for example, just by learning a written code of conduct† (16). This statement holds true because once again, the phronimos differs from the normal non virtuous man not because he knows this â€Å"code of conduct† but because he knows how to properly interpret and apply it to life and his surroundings. He knows what to look for in every situation whereas someone that only has a general understanding does not know what to look for. That is how the phronimos is able to make certain decisions that an ordinary person may not be able to make. Therefore, the phronimos not only has knowledge of these code-like rules, but he has â€Å"special knowledge†. Given the nature of virtue, it can be said that Aristotle does not give the best account one can in regards to moral living because he focuses too much on phronimos. His concept of phronesis seems to be unattainable almost because he repeatedly states that it cannot be attained through normal means. In a way he even insults philosophers by saying that a person cannot attain this perfect moral virtue through their lectures. Another reason is because Aristotle relies too much on emotions to get a person through. Kant argues this by saying that emotions are not everything. Reason is just as important if not more because it provides a way to incorporate those emotions inot a logical explanation or even to better understand them. Aristotle incorporates reason inot his work but stresses emotions even more so. Aristotle has provided a very strong base frame for moral virtue. He covers all the main concepts and points that should be noted. However, there are many lose ends in his work as well. He does not go inot much detail about the different situations that can arise when trying to do what is morally virtuous. However, overall Aristotle provides an accurate account. Aristotle’s Ethics are the ground work for many philosophers in trying to understand what moral virtue truly is. He provides a definition of what every man should try and achieve (phronimos). Many philosophers not only argue his points but also agree with them. At the end of the day, it is he who set the main rules for virtue.