Nature, Nurture and Personality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nature, Nurture and Personality - Essay Example I believe that it is this base personality that is genetically determined and is the most important factor in determining the true nature of personality. While there remains a number of external factors that contribute to the development and change of an individual’s personality, my personal understanding is that ultimately personality is most closely linked to these genetic factors that are affected upon in a variety of ways by external cultural and environmental factors. Personality is related to culture in a number of prominent ways. Indeed, this question can be considered on a micro and macro level. On a micro level, immediate social relations affect personality as individuals must tailor their personality and demeanor to fit into a variety of social situations. While this is not directly considered an element of culture, it is culture that determines the social structures in which human beings interact. As culture is a learned phenomenon and has evolved over the centuries there are many such elements that influence personality. It’s important in these regards to consider what constitutes personality. While the outward expression of an individual’s actions has become the accepted definition of personality, can one more accurately identify personality as an entity that is more highly personal? In terms of the first definition, culture greatly determines how a person acts in nearly all situations. In this understanding, personality is also an evolving thing that is directly connected to the evolution of culture. As social mores and appropriateness change with the progression of time, or even with the change of one’s culture surroundings (poor New Orleans vs the Hamptons, for instance) personality continues to be strongly linked to culture. While psychoanalytic thinkers believed that personality was greatly affected by early childhood events that become rooted in unconscious desires and impulses (some of which can be

Religious Traditions and History Essay Example for Free

Religious Traditions and History Essay Polytheism, the belief in many gods, is perhaps the oldest known religion. The best known example is the Greek/Roman mythology, which included Zeus, Apollo, and Aphrodite, among others. One trait that is true of most Polytheistic sects is that there is a god that is above all others. â€Å"All African religions are monolithic in the sense that there is a single High God, who is said to be the creator of the world, and of mankind, and a central source of order and of whoever sense is to be found. † Another example would be Zeus. Most ancient societies believed in gods that were in charge of specific areas, such as rain, fertility, and a god of nature. These types of societies cooperate with nature. This doesn’t mean that all Polytheistic societies revered the natural world. The Romans exploited the natural resources of their surroundings. One common thread in most of these societies is that, compared to other religions, Polytheism is much more tolerant with the individual. Hinduism and Polytheism Hinduism is a religion founded in India around 1000 B.C. The religions practice a form of Polytheism. This religion doesn’t believe in one form of a god. They believe in the authority of the Vedas and Brahmans. These fundamental beliefs differentiate Hinduism from monotheistic, believing in one god, and most of the world’s major religions. There are many different gods in the Hindu religion. The most common are Ganesha, Shiva, Hanuman, Durga, and Lakshmi. What developed was a caste or class system called ‘varnas’. The different castes were assigned a task that was fitting for their class. â€Å"The expansion of towns brought about an increase in the number of artisans who were organized in guilds (shreni).† This system was good for commercial activities. The main goals of Hinduism are life-affirming goals of Dharma (virtue), Artha (success) and Kama (pleasure), while the life-negating goal is that of moksha (release). All except moksha can be done in any part of a person’s life. Confucianism and Buddhism People think that Confucianism and Buddhism are one and the same. Confucianism, which originated in China, teaches honesty, kindness, respect the earth, and good moral character. Confucius had a distain about gods and spirits and preferred to try to understand man. â€Å"Confucius (the Master) is more correctly Kong Qiu or Kong Fuzi (551-479 B.C.). He was the founder of a way of life, philosophy, or religion named Confucianism after a Latinized form of the founders name.† Buddhism, which started at about the same time as Confucianism, was started by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. Buddha, which means â€Å"the enlightened one†, which was the name he received from his followers. Buddhism is different from Confucianism in that it didn’t teach about the family or rituals of this world, rather it taught enlightenment which leads to nirvana. There are eight awarenesses of enlightenments. â€Å"Freedom From Desire, Satisfaction, Serenity, Meticulous Effort, Correct Remembrance, Samadhi, Wisdom, and avoiding idle talk.† The Chinese during this time asked the Buddhist monks, why do you not marry? Their answer was â€Å"Wives, children, and property are the luxuries of the world, but simple living and inaction are the wonders of the Way.† The Buddhist’s wanted was to live a simple life and reach enlightenment and thus nirvana. Christianity Christianity is a salvation religion. Christians and Buddhists turned to the idea of salvation around the same time. Salvation means escape your earthly bonds. If you don’t follow a righteous path, meaning free of sin, then you are destined to be cast into the pit of darkness, otherwise known as hell. The new testament of the bible is what guides these true believers. The Catholics say, for instance, that if you sin and repent by going to confession your sins will be forgiven. This is the only way to ensure that the soul is clean. The idea of all Christian orthodoxy is that they follow the teachings of Christ, which has many different interpretations. Thus it follows that when you die you will go to heaven. Some believe that the Earth is 6000 years old and believe that the bible is literally god’s word. They refuse to believe in science, saying that it’s flawed in some way. Others believe that the Earth is indeed older than 6000 years. These Christians believe that the bible is a parable, teaching them how to live everyday life as a Christian. Modern orthodoxy believes that Christian’s are observers of nature, rather than one with the Earth. Religion, Science and Nature Religion has a profound imprint on our natural surroundings. In general, the Eastern and most Polytheistic religions are more reverential toward nature. The Western religions tend to abuse nature. The invention of the plow is a prime example. The West thinks of it as a means to increase the food supply and disregards the environmental impact. The East and the Polytheist refer to it as â€Å"Mother Earth† and treat her much more delicately. The contrast between the two couldn’t be more stark. The East will try to balance their needs with nature. The West uses nature and sometimes destroys parts of it. The idea that we are separate from nature is a Western ideal. The East, in general, believes that we are one with nature and must take care of it. Science in the West was not in tune with medieval orthodoxy. It was interested in facts. The Eastern philosophy used science with a spiritual twist. Fang Yizhi observed of western science, â€Å"use a variety of techniques for swift computations, but they are still out of touch with general principles.† They used the mind and not the natural world. Summary There are many different religions that teach many different methods of how to live your life while on this world. Most worship one god, monotheistic, others worship many gods. Polytheists, which literally mean many gods, roots are seen in Greek/Roman mythology. Buddhism believes that there is no god, just a path to enlightenment. Once they’ve reached enlightenment, they’ve achieved nirvana. Confucianism and Buddhism are from China, but have very different belief systems. â€Å"Confucianism is perhaps best understood as an all-encompassing humanism that neither denies nor slights Heaven.† They believe that they are one with nature. Christians recognize only one god. They are labeled as a salvation religion. They hope to be able to break the bonds of this Earth by living a relatively good life with the reward being heaven. If you don’t accept Jesus into your life, you are destined to eternity in hell. It’s safe to say that the world’s religions have varied belief systems. Some believe in the after-life, while others believe that feel that we are Earth bound only. Most of the world believes in a single god. Polytheism and Hinduism say that there are many gods. They differ from Eastern religions in that they see themselves as observers rather than one with the Earth. The East and West see nature differently. While the West observe nature, the East embraces the idea of being part of nature. This is a very fundamental philosophy that can’t be overstated. The bottom line is that there are almost as many belief systems as there are people on Earth. It includes, but not only, monetary considerations, faith, and devotion. The only ones that know what’s going on, assuming there is an after-life, are the dead and buried. Citations The West and the World, A History of Civilization, From the Ancient World to 1700, Kevin Reilly, 95 2 The West and the World, A History of Civilization, From the Ancient World to 1700, Kevin Reilly, 334 3 The West and the World, A History of Civilization, From the Ancient World to 1700, Kevin Reilly, 146 4 http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/china/f/022808Confucius.htm 5 http://buddhism.about.com/od/basicbuddhistteachings/tp/awarenesses.htm 6 The West and the World, A History of Civilization, From the Ancient World to 1700, Kevin Reilly, 103 7 Kevin Reilly, The West World: A History Of Civilization from the Ancient World to 1700, Page 349 8 http://www.religionfacts.com/a-z-religion-index/confucianism.htm

Free College Admissions Essays: I can fly a kite :: College Admissions Essays

"I can fly a kite" I can fly a kite, make a great roast beef sandwich, read an entire Patricia Cornwell paperback book in less than a day and change a diaper without flinching. These characteristics combined are what separate me from the hundreds of other students that apply to Lynchburg College, that and the fact that I am applying with only one week left before classes start. Writing this college essay seven days before the start of the spring semester at Lynchburg College is a very unusual move for me to be making; but I have come to the conclusion that this is the only place I want to be. My entire life I have never been spontaneous. All my decisions have been well thought out and planned, this decision is no different, I just went about it a little quicker, with a lot less time to spare. I began my freshman year at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. Choosing Roger Williams University was a decision that I made without understanding the important issues I needed to consider in orde r to thrive in a college environment. Now, after experiencing college for myself, I realize that Roger Williams does not have what I am looking for. I didn't consider quality of education when I chose Roger Williams, the school had the major I wanted, communications, but when I started taking classes there the program was not as developed as I would have liked. Although I did well in all my classes, I felt that the education I would continue to receive if I stayed at Roger Williams would not be as beneficial to me as the educational oppurtunites elsewhere. Looking at Lynchburg I saw that not only was there Communications Print/Broadcast journalism major, but a Speech Communications major as well. My original plan was to finish freshman year at Roger Williams, and then go someplace that could meet my needs; this was until I visited Lynchburg College. When I saw the college, all I could think of was how much I would love to attend school there, but I never even considered it an option . I thought I was stuck at Roger Williams, until I realized that the only way I was going to be happy was if I made things happen for myself. I realized that Lynchburg College was exactly what I had been looking for, and everything about the educational opportunities, social opportunities, location and just the general environment I observed was something I wanted to be a part of, and contribute to.

Attitudes Towards Test Tube Babies

Attitudes towards Test Tube Babies [pic] Name of Student: Yuhan Huang (Sheley) AE teacher: Michelle Crockford AE Class: February 4 Abstract The objective of this report is to present the attitudes and ideas shared by International Education Services Limited (IES) students and students from the university of Queensland (UQ) in relation to their knowledge and personal opinions concerning Invitro fertilization The survey used data collected from male and female students between the ages of 15 and 30 living in the State of Queensland.The participants were given 20 questions to answer in privacy and without any degree of pressure. The questions related to their personal details and to the IVF program in particular. The aim of the investigation was to gather an overall point of view as to whether IVF was indeed seen as an accepted type of program among this age group. In conclusion it is reasonable to think that another survey with an older more experienced age group would more likely give a variation in results. Because this selected age group were students, their knowledge and experience directly with IVF was limited.However, it is important to recoginse the opinions of youth as they are the future generation of adults. Introduction In recent years, babies conceived through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) have been a topic of moral discussion around the world. This form of reproduction is not considered a natural and acceptable way of giving birth in some people’s eyes. Many infertile couples in particular, rely on this new technology since it allows them the choice of having their baby using this method. In-vitro fertilization is defined by, â€Å"a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the womb (Papanikolaou et al. 006)†. The definition of a test tube baby is one which is the result of a female ovary or egg having been fertilised with a male sperm inside a test tube, the resulting impregnated egg is implanted in the uterus of a fem ale, growing into a foetus and developing baby by the time of birth. (Muffin, 2007). According to Walsh (2008), three million test tube babies have been born throughout the world in this way so far, and this number continues to increase at a rate of eleven thousand each year.In 1978, the world’s first successful â€Å"test-tube† baby, Louise Brown, was born in Great Britain. The baby girl weighed five-pound 12- ounces and was delivered early via Caesarean section. The process had been a success; this process proved Dr. Steptoe and Dr. Edwards had accomplished the first of many test tube babies (Rosenberg, 1970). In Australia, the first test tube baby, Candice Elizabeth Reed, was born in 1980 (Screen Australia, 1982). Infertility afflicts thousand’s of married couples feeling frustration at being childless.In India, there is an infertility clinic which provides moral, emotional and the most advanced technical support for couples wishing to solve their fertility i ssues. However, the religion of Islam is totally against IVF and has been banned by the by Islamic Fiqh Council (1986). In addition, they thought that in-vitro fertilization was unlawful because it could result in confusion with regard to parentage (Islamic Perspective, 2007). Prior to the birth of the first test tube babies such as Louise Brown, people worldwide were hesitant to use this method thinking that there could be risks involved.However, in time the health and well being of those babies born through IVF programs have proven to the world that this method is indeed safe. Hence the fears have almost disappeared. However, many people still have many misconceptions about a test tube baby and some countries do not allow the manufacturing of test tube babies. If a baby can be created in a test tube, then infertile couples stand a better chance of having a family then by other means. The aim of this report is to examine the attitudes of people towards the adoption of in vitro-fert ilization.This paper will first discus the methodology and select the survey question from this research, then a summary of the questionnaire results will be introduced,   followed by a discussion, conclusion and recommendations. Method In this report, quantitative methodology was chosen for this research. Because of the complexities associated with unstructured interview technique and time constraints. A questionnaire was designed to examine the different opinions of International Education Services Limited (IES) and University of Queensland (UQ) students attitude towards the adoption of in vitro-fertilization (refer Appendix A).The main types of questions asked included; those about personal details and personal experiences together with questions on people’s points of view about in–vitro fertilization. There were 30 students who were all volunteers. 10 out of participants were male and 20 of them were female. The students were chosen randomly from state library an d UQ library all full time students between the ages of 15 to 30. Religion, political affiliation and socio-economic status were considered unimportant. Confidentiality was ensured by not recording names.Questionnaires were completed by students and the data was then collated and analysed. The questionnaire was limited by the fact that many of the participants were too young to have had any real personal experience in dealing with IVF, however some were able to relate to friends or family who had used the IVF program successfully. Some of the participants only vaguely knew any of factual or historical knowledge about IVF. The interest that the questionnaire generated among participants and their honest and forthright answers proved to be a bonus as far as the questionnaire was concerned.Interpretation of Results Questions 1 and 2 were basic and asked about personal knowledge of in vitro-fertilization (IVF) and test-tube babies. The participants generally have heard about IVF. There are about 83. 3% students know about this topic as can be seen in the results, the ridiculous thing is that there are five students who have never heard of IVF, but one of them knew the process involved in making a test-tube baby. Questions 3 to 13 were probing and in-depth in order to obtain the participant’s sincere and knowledgeable reaction to each question.It was rewarding to see that so many agreed with the IVF program and its aims and benefits. In addition, a high percentage of participants were neutral about many of these questions. This could have meant that they really didn’t know a great deal about IVF or weren’t sure of the answer. Questions 14 through to 19 extended the questioning into the sphere of Government funding. Here 70% of males and 80% of females believed that the Government should provide funding for the IVF program. 6 months to 1 year in Question 18 seems a short time time for most to choose, however this would reflect the experience of the participants.The respondents were generally concerned about this topical issue and its bearing on modern society. They all saw the positive outcome where couples could become happy and have a baby of their own. They concerned themselves with the possibility of defective babies being born. Their eagerness to be involved in the questionnaire showed the openness which they had in being part of the solution to any problem involving IVF. Because their was no influence give by other parties to participants in answering the 20 questions, it can be said that this was a survey with genuine results.Notwithstanding that there were factors which did not fit in exactly with the aim of the survey, such as the young age of some participants along with people having limited knowledge there was sufficient suitable data collected to give a commendable result. The language used in the questionnaire was understood by all participants. Key words such as: in-vitro fertilization, partially, afflicts, infertile, federal funding, prohibitive, DNA did not require any explanation, however some Asian students did request help in sentence meanings.Most people showed a basic understanding on what IVF was meant to do; that is to enable pregnancy to take place, surprisingly in the same question, number 16 very few saw any real concern for safety, acknowledging the medical competency that exist with this program. Recommendation As the findings have indicated, most people were concerned with couples having the need to have a baby if they so desired. It would therefore be in the interest of the â€Å"powers to be,† that Government and medical bodies proceed vigorously with greater implementation and assistance for the IVF program.Question 17 showed that most participants saw two important concerns; that of costing, and concern for babies having defects. Both government and medical procedures can overcome these potential barriers with more funding and improved research respectively. I t is interesting to note that in question 13, 30% of females strongly disagreed with the concept of the IVF program producing babies as if they were some kind of commodity or product. No males registered any comment.It appears from this statistic that there is no need to educate people further on this ethical side of any argument brought forward. It can be deduced that the data obtained will in some way enlighten readers of this survey, thus strengthening the argument for a continued IVF program existing in the forefront of society for years to come. . The implications of these results are that more research needs to be carried out to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how other age groups see the IVF program.There could also be surveys done involving those of mixed ethnic backgrounds as well as those of different religions and those with ethical and moral demands. Such surveys would need to address a different kind of questioning but it would still be a recommended that can be made here. Researches in the field of Social Science would definitely find this convincing survey beneficial in exploring the human condition surrounding the human condition, be it only for the point of view of 30 young people.

DuPont’s Divestiture of Conoco

DuPont began life in 1802, as a gunpowder manufacturer supplying the US Army under President Thomas Jefferson. The company had a long tradition of technological innovations in business and it continues to serve worldwide markets including food and nutrition; health care; agriculture; fashion and apparel; home and construction; and electronics. Among some of its inventions are nylon stockings invented in 1939, Teflon for pans, Kevlar for bullet-proof vests, stainmaster for carpets, the synthetic fabric lycra, and Dacron for clothing. In 1999 the company held a portfolio of 2000 trademarks and brands. DuPont was the 15th largest company in the US with its 1998 revenue reaching $45. 1 billion. The company operated 200 manufacturing and processing facilities in 65 countries with 98,000 employees worldwide. Conoco began in 1875 as the Continental Oil and Transportation Co. , one of the first petroleum marketers in the West. The company has made it through plenty of tough and challenging times from the stock market crashing just a month after Conoco took its stock public, to overseas expansion, to the oil crisis of the 19070’s. Then in 1981 a simple proposal by Canada's Dome Petroleum about acquiring a Conoco subsidiary, Hudson's Bay Oil and Gas left the company wide open. In order to assure an adequate supply of petroleum products to use as chemical feed stocks, DuPont bought Conoco on Sept. 30, 1981. Conoco became a wholly owned DuPont subsidiary in the largest merger ever at that time, costing DuPont $7. 8 billion. As a subsidiary of DuPont, Conoco became a major, integrated, global energy company operating in 40 countries worldwide. The company was involved in both downstream and upstream activities like exploring for, developing, refining, marketing, transporting, and selling crude oil and natural gas. In 1998, Conoco ranked 8th in worldwide production of petroleum liquids by US companies, 11th in natural gas production, and 8th in refining throughput. In 1997 both DuPont and Conoco planned to pursue new corporate strategies: DuPont wanted to transform into a life sciences company focused more on biotechnology and less on petrochemicals, and Conoco desired financial independence to make significant foreign asset investments. While part of DuPont, Conoco doubled its value between 1986 and 1996, and realigned its assets. By late 1998, DuPont divested Conoco in a two-step process. First it would sell a minority stake in Conoco through an IPO otherwise known as an IPO carve-out. Then it would execute a spin-off and sell the rest of its ownership interest in the subsidiary at a later time. Under the split-off, DuPont shareholders would be given the opportunity to exchange their DuPont shares for shares in Conoco at a predetermined ratio of 2. 5 to 1. Participation in the exchange rate would be completely voluntary. On October 22, 1998 the Conoco IPO netted $4. 4 billion for 30% of Conoco culminating in the largest IPO in history. Then on August 9, 1999 the swap of DuPont stock for Conoco stock was finalized. DuPont secured about $21 billion in after tax value through the IPO and stock swap. I think DuPont’s two-stage divestiture worked the best because the company was able to make the transaction tax-free at both the corporate and personal levels. This basically means that DuPont sold off shares of Conoco in two separate stages. The company avoided the corporate capital gains tax by structuring the deal as a primary offering, which is the first of issuance of stock for public sale from a private company. Under this approach Conoco would sell new shares to the public and use the money from the offering to pay down an equivalent amount of its debt. If a second offering had been used, DuPont would directly sell a portion of its Conoco shares for cash, possibly creating a capital gains tax liability for itself if the sale proceeds exceeded its tax basis in the shares. The primary public offering of 25% of Conoco by DuPont was also good for shareholders because it met the objectives of maximizing shareholder value and it also allowed Conoco to capitalize on different investment opportunities for energy companies going on at the time. In order to make the second stage completely tax free DuPont had to satisfy a number of IRS rules and regulations. These rules stated that DuPont had to control Conoco immediately before the split-off, meaning that it had to control at least 80% of Conoco’s stock. In addition the split had to be motivated by a valid business purpose. Also DuPont had to get rid of all Conoco stock so it would not have any control over the company after the deal was completed. Conoco had to be recapitalized or reorganized into two classes of common stock. Class A stock that carried one vote each, issued to the public and Class B stock with five votes each, retained by DuPont for later disbursement to DuPont shareholders in the exchange offer. Prior to the IPO, Conoco would have to issue a $7. 5 billion promissory note to DuPont as a dividend. The payment would be tax free to both parties because at the time DuPont owned all of Conoco. Conoco would in turn, use the proceeds to pay back part of the note and other intercompany notes with DuPont. While I do agree with the Chief Operating Officer that a 100% IP of Conoco would raise a significant amount of cash to use in our core business growth internationally, allowing us to expand our global operations. I think the equity care-out was the best choice for DuPont to do instead of a complete 100% IPO. The reason I say that is because the deal still allowed DuPont to raise some capital but it also allowed DuPont to retain firm control of the subsidiary before, selling the remaining shares in a tax-free spin-off at a later date. A 1998 working paper from Pennsylvania State University examined 83 equity carve-outs done between 1981 and 1990, and found that carved-out companies had significantly higher revenue and asset growth, higher earnings, and higher capital spending than the industry average during the first three years after the carve-out–achievements, the authors say, that are a direct result of 80 percent of the deals tying executive compensation to the share price of the carved-out company at the time it goes public. â€Å"It's a way of providing a stronger incentive for subsidiary executives to perform,† says James A. Miles, one of the authors of the study, along with Heather Hulburt and J. Randall Woolridge. Parent companies also benefit from a carve-out. The Penn State study, in fact, found that these companies had a higher return on assets in the first year after the carve-out. And a similar study by J. P. Morgan & Co. , which examined 101 carve-outs between 1986 and 1997, documented that, on average, the share price of the parent rose between 3 and 4 percent in the 90 days following the announcement of a carve-out. The company’s ownership of Conoco has added great marketing and purchasing clout to DuPont’s operations just like the Executive VP for Research and Development and Product Development suggests, but again I don’t think that owning a majority share would benefit the company like getting rid of all ownership would do. The decision to retain majority ownership, however, may limit the upside to the deal. The J. P. Morgan study found a distinct difference in the share price performance of carve-outs that later became spin-offs and carve-outs that did not. In the case of 12 carve-out companies in which the parent announced there would be a later spin-off, the share price of the carve-out performed 11 percent above the market 18 months after the initial public offering. The shares of all other carve-outs–those without an announced spin-off later–actually underperformed the market by 3 percent. In closing I think DuPont did the right thing when they decided to go through with a two-stage divestiture of Conoco. I think they got the most bang for their buck by doing the deal this way. DuPont was able to net $4. 4 billion for 30% of Conoco resulting in the largest IPO in U. S. history. DuPont was also able to spin-off the rest of their shares of Conoco and secured about $21 billion in after tax value through the IPO and a stock swap. I think this was the best move because both companies were looking to go in different directions. DuPont wanted to transform into a life sciences company focused more on biotechnology and less on petrochemicals, and Conoco desired financial independence to make significant foreign asset investments.References: 1. England, Robert Stow. (1999). How companies are unlocking value by carving out pieces of their business.† CFO Magazine, March 1999, Retrieved April 2011, from http://www.spinoffadvisors.com/articles/cfomagazine0399.htm 2. Conoco Phillips Web Site. Retrieved April 2011, from http://www.conocophillips.com/EN/about/who_we_are/history/conoco/Pages/index.aspx3. Chemical Online. (1998, May 11). Chemical Online.   DuPont Announces Plans to Divest its Conoco Energy Operations. Retrieved April 2011, from http://www.chemicalonline.com/article.mvc/DuPont-Announces-Plans- to-Divest-its-Conoco-E-0001. 4. Ohio University. DuPont spins off Conoco: Good Move for Conoco Retrieved April 2011, from   http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~rm663596/esp/case.htm

Writing Greek Letters on the Computer

Writing Greek Letters on the Computer If you write anything scientific or mathematical on the internet, you will quickly find the need for several special characters that are not readily available on your keyboard. ASCII characters for  HTML  allow you to include many characters that dont appear on an English keyboard, including the  Greek alphabet. To make the correct character appear on the page, start with an ampersand () and a pound sign (#), followed by a three-digit number, and ending with a semicolon (;). Creating Greek Letters This table contains  many Greek letters  but not all of them. It only contains uppercase and lowercase letters that are not available on a keyboard. For  example, you can type the capital alpha (A) in Greek  with a regular capital  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹A  because these letters look the same in Greek and English. You can also use the code #913 or Alpha. The results are the same. Not all symbols are supported by all browsers. Check before you publish. You may need to add the following bit of code in the head part of your HTML document: meta http-equivcontent-type contenttext/html; charsetutf-8 HTML Codes for Greek Letters Character Displayed HTML Code capital gamma Γ #915; or Gamma; capital delta Δ #916; or Delta; capital theta ÃŽËœ #920; or Theta; capital lambda Λ #923; or Lamda; capital xi Ξ #926; or Xi; capital pi ÃŽ   #928; or Pi; capital sigma ÃŽ £ #931; or Sigma; capital phi ÃŽ ¦ #934; or Phi; capital psi ÃŽ ¨ #936; or Psi; capital omega ÃŽ © #937; or Omega; small alpha ÃŽ ± #945; or alpha; small beta ÃŽ ² #946; or beta; small gamma ÃŽ ³ #947; or gamma; small delta ÃŽ ´ #948; or delta; small epsilon ÃŽ µ #949; or epsilon; small zeta ÃŽ ¶ #950; or zeta; small eta ÃŽ · #951; or zeta; small theta ÃŽ ¸ #952; or theta; small iota ÃŽ ¹ #953; or iota; small kappa ÃŽ º #954; or kappa; small lamda ÃŽ » #955; or lambda; small mu ÃŽ ¼ #956; or mu; small nu ÃŽ ½ #957; or nu; small xi ÃŽ ¾ #958; or xi; small pi Ï€ #960; or pi; small rho Ï  #961; or rho; small sigma ÏÆ' #963; or sigma; small tau Ï„ #964; or tau; small upsilon Ï… #965; or upsilon; small phi φ #966; or phi; small chi χ #967; or chi; small psi ψ #968; or psi; small omega ω #969; or omega; Alt Codes for Greek Letters You can also use Alt codes- also called quick codes,  quick keys, or keyboard shortcuts- to create Greek letters, as displayed in the  table below, which was adapted from the website  Useful Shortcuts. To create any of these Greek letters using the Alt codes, simply press the Alt key while simultaneously typing the listed number. For example, to create the Greek letter Alpha (ÃŽ ±), press the Alt key and type 224 using the keypad at the right side of your keyboard. (Do not use the numbers at the top of the keyboard located above the letter keys, as they will not work for creating Greek letters.) Character Displayed Alt Code Alpha ÃŽ ± Alt 225 Beta ÃŽ ² Alt 225 Gamma Γ Alt 226 Delta ÃŽ ´ Alt 235 Epsilon ÃŽ µ Alt 238 Theta ÃŽËœ Alt 233 Pi Ï€ Alt 227 Mu  µ Alt 230 Uppercase Sigma ÃŽ £ Alt 228 Lowercase Sigma ÏÆ' Alt 229 Tau Ï„ Alt 231 Uppercase Phi ÃŽ ¦ Alt 232 Lowercase Phi φ Alt 237 Omega ÃŽ © Alt 234 History of the Greek Alphabet The Greek alphabet went through several changes over the centuries. Before the fifth century B.C., there were two similar Greek alphabets, the Ionic and Chalcidian. The Chalcidian alphabet may have been the forerunner of the Etruscan alphabet and, later, the Latin alphabet. It is the Latin alphabet that forms the basis of most European alphabets. Meanwhile, Athens adopted the Ionic alphabet; as a result, it is still used in modern Greece. While the original Greek alphabet was written in all capitals, three different scripts were created to make it easier to write quickly. These include uncial, a system for connecting capital letters, as well as the more familiar cursive and minuscule. Minuscule is the basis for modern Greek handwriting. Why You Should Know the Greek Alphabet Even if you never plan to learn Greek, there are good reasons to familiarize yourself with the alphabet. Mathematics and science use Greek letters like pi (Ï€) to complement the numeric symbols. Sigma in its capital form (ÃŽ £) can stand for sum, while the uppercase letter delta (Δ) can mean  change. The Greek alphabet is also central to the study of theology. For example, the Greek used in the Bible- called  Koine (or common) Greek- is different than  modern Greek. Koine Greek was the language used by writers of the Old Testament Greek Septuagint  (the earliest existing Greek translation of the Old Testament) and the Greek New Testament, according to an article titled The Greek Alphabet published on the website  BibleScripture.net. So, many theologians need to study ancient Greek to get closer to the original biblical text. Having ways to quickly produce Greek letters using HTML or keyboard shortcuts makes this process much easier. Additionally, Greek letters are used to designate fraternities, sororities, and philanthropic organizations. Some books in English are also numbered using the letters of the Greek alphabet. Sometimes, both lowercase and capitals are employed for simplification. Thus, you may find that the books of the Iliad are written Α to ÃŽ © and those of the Odyssey, ÃŽ ± to ω.

EE Cummings essays

EE Cummings essays E. E. Cummings, who was born in 1894 and died in 1962, wrote many poems with unconventional punctuation and capitalization, and unusual line, word, and even letter placements - namely, ideograms. Cummings' most difficult form of prose is probably the ideogram; it is extremely terse and it combines both visual and auditory elements. There may be sounds or characters on the page that cannot be verbalized or cannot convey the same message if pronounced and not read. Four of Cummings' poems - l(a, mortals), !blac, and swi( - illustrate the ideogram form quite well. Cummings utilizes unique syntax in these poems in order to convey messages visually as well as verbally. Although one may think of l(a as a poem of sadness and loneliness, Cummings probably did not intend that. This poem is about individuality - oneness (Kid 200-1). The theme of oneness can be derived from the numerous instances and forms of the number '1' throughout the poem. First, 'l(a' contains both the number 1 and the singular indefinite article, 'a'; the second line contains the French singular definite article, 'le'; 'll' on the fifth line represents two ones; 'one' on the 7th line spells the number out; the 8th line, 'l', isolates the number; and 'iness', the last line, can mean "the state of being I" - that is, individuality - or "oneness", deriving the "one" from the lowercase roman numeral 'i' (200). Cummings could have simplified this poem drastically ("a leaf falls:/loneliness"), and still conveyed the same verbal message, but he has altered the normal syntax in order that each line should show a 'one' and highlight the theme of oneness. In fact, the whole poem is shaped like a '1' (200). The shape of the poem can also be seen as the path of a falling leaf; the poem drifts down, flipping and altering pairs of letters like a falling leaf gliding, back and forth, down to the grou...

Calculate Empirical and Molecular Formulas

Calculate Empirical and Molecular Formulas The empirical formula of a chemical compound is a representation of the simplest whole number ratio between the elements comprising the compound. The molecular formula is the representation of the actual whole number ratio between the elements of the compound. This step by step tutorial shows how to calculate the empirical and molecular formulas for a compound. Empirical and Molecular Problem A molecule with a molecular weight of 180.18 g/mol is analyzed and found to contain 40.00% carbon, 6.72% hydrogen and 53.28% oxygen. How To Find the Solution Finding the empirical and molecular formula is basically the reverse process used to calculate mass percent or mass percentage. Step 1: Find the number of moles of each element in a sample of the molecule.Our molecule contains 40.00% carbon, 6.72% hydrogen and 53.28% oxygen. This means a 100-gram sample contains: 40.00 grams of carbon (40.00% of 100 grams)6.72 grams of hydrogen (6.72% of 100 grams)53.28 grams of oxygen (53.28% of 100 grams) Note: 100 grams is used for a sample size just to make the math easier. Any sample size could be used, the ratios between the elements will remain the same. Using these numbers, we can find the number of moles of each element in the 100-gram sample. Divide the number of grams of each element in the sample by the atomic weight of the element to find the number of moles. moles C 40.00 g x 1 mol C/12.01 g/mol C 3.33 moles C moles H 6.72 g x 1 mol H/1.01 g/mol H 6.65 moles H moles O 53.28 g x 1 mol O/16.00 g/mol O 3.33 moles O Step 2: Find the ratios between the number of moles of each element. Select the element with the largest number of moles in the sample. In this case, the 6.65 moles of hydrogen is the largest. Divide the number of moles of each element by the largest number. Simplest mole ratio between C and H: 3.33 mol C/6.65 mol H 1 mol C/2 mol HThe ratio is 1 mole C for every 2 moles H The simplest ratio between O and H: 3.33 moles O/6.65 moles H 1 mol O/2 mol HThe ratio between O and H is 1 mole O for every 2 moles of H Step 3: Find the empirical formula. We have all the information we need to write the empirical formula. For every 2 moles of hydrogen, there is one mole of carbon and one mole of oxygen. The empirical formula is CH2O. Step 4: Find the molecular weight of the empirical formula. We can use the empirical formula to find the molecular formula using the molecular weight of the compound and the molecular weight of the empirical formula. The empirical formula is CH2O. The molecular weight is molecular weight of CH2O (1 x 12.01 g/mol) (2 x 1.01 g/mol) (1 x 16.00 g/mol)molecular weight of CH2O (12.01 2.02 16.00) g/molmolecular weight of CH2O 30.03 g/mol Step 5: Find the number of empirical formula units in the molecular formula. The molecular formula is a multiple of the empirical formula. We were given the molecular weight of the molecule, 180.18 g/mol. Divide this number by the molecular weight of the empirical formula to find the number of empirical formula units that make up the compound. Number of empirical formula units in compound 180.18 g/mol/30.03 g/molNumber of empirical formula units in compound 6 Step 6: Find the molecular formula. It takes six empirical formula units to make the compound, so multiply each number in the empirical formula by 6. molecular formula 6 x CH2Omolecular formula C(1 x 6)H(2 x 6)O(1 x 6)molecular formula C6H12O6 Solution: The empirical formula of the molecule is CH2O.The molecular formula of the compound is C6H12O6. Limitations of the Molecular and Empirical Formulas Both types of chemical formulas yield useful information. The empirical formula tells us the ratio between atoms of the elements, which can indicate the type of molecule (a carbohydrate, in the example).  The molecular formula lists the numbers of each type of element and can be used in writing and balancing chemical equations. However, neither formula indicates the arrangement of atoms in a molecule. For example, the molecule in this example, C6H12O6, could be glucose, fructose, galactose, or another simple sugar. More information than the formulas is needed to identify the name and structure of the molecule. Empirical and Molecular Formula Key Takeaways The empirical formula gives the smallest whole number ratio between elements in a compound.The molecular formula gives the actual whole number ratio between elements in a compound.For some molecules, the empirical and molecular formulas are the same. Usually, the molecular formula is a multiple of the empirical formula.

Case study for the Nutrition Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

For the Nutrition - Case Study Example Subcutaneous fats insulate the body against the adverse effects of cold temperatures while carbohydrates are normally broken down in the cell to readily provide energy for bodily functions. Question 4: Olive oil has various therapeutic qualities which include reduction or prevention of diseases such as blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, reduce the probability of stroke and certain cancers. Research also proves that it counters aging and promotes positive immune and inflammatory responses to certain conditions such as stroke hence reducing risk of occurrence. Question 7: Since it is winter I would suggest a steamy bowl of macaroni and cheese; brightly coloured fruits, vegetables and healthy fats such as the ones found in nuts and fish which can actually strengthen the body to fight the seasonal depression. He may also microwave frozen raspberries and eat with topping for yogurt; he may also prepare vegetables and a change to whole-grain pasta as healthy alternative. Question 8: You avoid saturated fats found primarily in red meat and dairy products. Eliminate trans-fat which is generally found in fried foods and commercial product such as snack cakes, crackers and

Young people 's attitude to health (young people who eat McDonald's Essay

Young people 's attitude to health (young people who eat McDonald's more than once a week do not care about their health) - Essay Example nald's more than once a week. The researcher has used two separate hypothesis regarding health awareness and hedonic value drivers of eating in fast food restaurants in order to develop research problems. As research methodology, the researcher has used triangulation approach in order to address the research problem in robust manner. Close ended questionnaire and open ended interview were used in order to collect the data. On the basis of data analysis, influence of hedonic value drivers on fast food consumption of young people has been identified but the study has failed to find any significance of the primary hypothesis: â€Å"Young people who eat McDonald's more than once a week do not care about their health†. It is not the fact that the research paper has only the academic value of fulfilling gap in the literature but the research findings will also have commercial value such as, findings of the research can be used by fast-food marketers to decide their marketing strateg y. Chapter 1: Research Background In the last couple of years, fast food industry has witnessed phenomenal growth in terms of both value and volume across different countries. Ali, Kapoor and Moorthy (2010) found that demand for fast food among customers have increased due to three reasons, 1- convenience for customers to consume fast food in quick succession in contrast to waiting in long queue to dine out in traditional restaurants, 2- fast foods are low cost food offerings which can satisfy the hunger of consumer without costing them huge chunk of money in contrast to dining in posh restaurants and 3- while consuming fast food, consumers often pass through health-indulgence antinomy which helps them to establish trade-off between immediate gratification and prophylactic reward. According to Ali, Kapoor and Moorthy (2010), children, adolescents, young people and working professional are the prime target market for fast-food marketers like McDonald, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Pi zza Huts, Domino’s, US Pizza etc. Anand (2011) and Ali, Kapoor and Moorthy (2010) identified reasons why fast-food marketers target young people and the identified reasons can be summarized as, 1- income of young people is low as compared to adults, therefore they show the preference for low cost fast-food items in contrast to high end food items, 2- young people prefer to eat out in fast food joints with friends due to convenience, 3- health consciousness among young people regarding the ill effects of fast foods is less as compared to young people and 4- young people prefer to indulge themselves in fast-food experience in order to satisfy hedonic value. Now the question is whether eating fast-food offered fast-food marketers like McDonald, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Pizza Huts, Domino’s, US Pizza has only benefits or there is presence of dark side of the story? The answer is yes and health related issues regarding fast-food consumption among people are central the me of the research paper. Consideration of the research works of Ritzer (2001) and Williams (2006) reveals the fact that periodic and frequent consumption fast food can lead to multiple health problems such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even cancers. Ali, Kapoor and Moorthy (2010) found a direct link between growing obesity among young people

Importance of Netpulses Technologies for Beach Bum Essay

Importance of Netpulses Technologies for Beach Bum - Essay Example It has been apparent from the fact that the application of different information systems has augmented at a faster rate over the previous years. Moreover, it has been noted that the aspect of information technology (IT) has relentlessly become a vital constituent in the working life as well as the personal environment of every individual. Most of the business organizations belonging to different industrial segments extensively rely upon the feature of information technologies or systems at a considerable level. With the rapid appearance of the feature of electronic commerce or e-commerce, the implementation, as well as the application of information systems, has been raised at large. The business organizations enthusiastically use the different information systems not only for the motive of increasing their operational standards but also to generate new business opportunities in order to remain competitive in this present situation of the global business market (Ward & Peppard, 2002) . In order to deal with the information technologies strategically, it is quite important to understand the function of technology-based information systems which significantly facilitate to develop the business organizations. In today’s contemporary world, the organizations desire to execute an advanced strategic approach in order to manage the information systems. The various strategic applications linked with information systems as well as technologies which are quite vital for the businesses include computer-incorporated manufacturing programs and electronic mail or electronic data interchange (EDI) systems among others (Ward & Peppard, 2002). In order to deal with the information technologies strategically, it is quite important to understand the function of technology-based information systems which significantly facilitate to develop the business organizations.

Justice and Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Justice and Law - Essay Example Lay judges work together to decide upon whether or not there is sufficient evidence for a defendant to be sent to be tried at a higher court. They also settle some matters involving family law. (Clark, 1992). In Germany, laypeople serve as judges in the commercial and criminal sections of state district courts. Serving on a panel of two or three, they work for a fixed term and are paid for their services. While in other countries, lay judges are only used at lower court levels, in Germany they are also used in the appellate Federal Labor Court and the Federal Social Security Court. In these instances they serve in a mixed tribunal, where professional judges constitute the majority. (Clark, 1992). France uses laypeople to a great degree in a series of specialized tribunals. Commercial hearings involve the use of business people elected by their peers, who serve for an initial two year term and then up to four more four year terms. Cases involving labor disputes make use of five groups of laypeople that represent the five sections of the economy. Each group is made up of the same number of people, and within each group there are the same number of employee representatives and employer representatives. These laypeople are elected to serve a term of six years. Similarly, social security cases involve the use one employee representative and one employer representative; these laypeople are chosen by organizations to serve a five year term. Cases involving rural leases use two representatives of farm leasers and two elected representatives of farm lessees that are elected to serve a term of six years. In all of the aforementioned specialized tribunals, laypeople are not paid for th eir services. (Clark, 1992). Historically, socialist countries such as China have used laypeople to quite an extensive degree. China used to use a large number of lay judges elected by residents to serve alongside professional judges. In the last couple of decades, however, the use of judges has become more professionalized; less and less laypeople are being used. Many cases are now being determined by a single judge, which gets rid of the need for laypeople. (Clark, 1992). In Japan, on the other hand, laypeople are being used to an even greater extent than ever. Beginning in May 2009, jury duty for laypeople will sometimes include cases that involve the death penalty. (Peters, 2008). In contrast to Japan giving weighty decisions to laypeople, Saudi Arabia barely uses laypeople. Based on the highly religious Sharia (Islamic Law), laypeople are not considered to understand Sharia; nor is this sort of material made easily accessible to them. In addition, many people in Saudi Arabia are illiterate. The scant use of laypeople in Saudi Arabia has led to much corruption in the courts there. (Human Rights Watch, 2008). While the United States sometimes uses fines as punishments for minor offenses, this is much more commonly done in Western Europe where it is also used for major criminal offenses. Judges in the United States have faced difficulty punishing criminals with fines that are fair in terms of what they did and what their economic situation is like. In Western Europe, however, day fines are used. Day fines are the fines that are adjusted to be proportional to an

The Sources of Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Sources of Law - Essay Example The federal and the state administrative regulations are set by the executive branch and are passed by the legislature. The constitution is the written rules that are agreed upon by the state union of people. This constitution remains in control until it shall be changed by the authority which created it. Though constitutions are long lasting and are not easily amended. It sets the parameters of the state and hence is formulated in a very general language. It’s composed of decisions that are made by courts in individual cases. It originates from specific facts and therefore the court resolves the disputes between the parties involved based on the individual facts. The judges make laws by applying and interpreting laws based on a case to another. A court uses an earlier and similar case to give a legal action in order to decide on an individual case. These sources may be given a lesser or a greater weight. These include writing of legal scholars which may either is in civil law jurisdictions or in academic writings and interpreting the legislation; it could be an edict from a ruler or from the king or even from Islamic religion like the Sharia

A meeting with the security auditor of your firm Essay

A meeting with the security auditor of your firm - Essay Example It is every customers concern to visit and work with an e commerce website that guarantees privacy and confidentiality of the data they feed to the websites (Ghosh 2001). Several site security aspects are of great importance in the safeguarding of customers confidential information. Notably, privacy or confidentiality is the most major concern of every online business transaction. In consideration of the emerging limitations, flaws and risks being posed by current state of internet technologies, a great mistrust and confusion is ranging from the customers engaging in e-commerce. This e-commerce website values this key concern to foster the trust of our customers to our business platform. In view of this the website is designed to safeguard the information given by the consumers of our services and goods away from unauthorized parties. Several measures have been taken to ensure the above endeavor is met. A minimum of six character password has provided with an encryption mode to protect against hacking. Though the transactions are carried out in a public key infrastructure, only the authorized recipient has a private key to access the encrypted data. More over high secrecy will be exercised to secure the private keys from being manipulated by unauthorized persons (Ghosh 2001). Authentication of a customer’s data is another significant aspect which has been considered to secure our online customers. We note the extensive threats being posed to e-commerce through SQL Injection and the Cross-site scripting. These are the major applications being used by cyber crime enthusiasts to enhance vulnerability of e-commerce sites. Objectively, Secure Socket Layer certificate has been installed in the website to ensure the security of all financial information entered by the clients. It is a common issue that the clients will need to use their debit cards, credit cards, pay pal and other payments methods which leaves traces of their vital and personal

The Sources of Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Sources of Law - Essay Example The federal and the state administrative regulations are set by the executive branch and are passed by the legislature. The constitution is the written rules that are agreed upon by the state union of people. This constitution remains in control until it shall be changed by the authority which created it. Though constitutions are long lasting and are not easily amended. It sets the parameters of the state and hence is formulated in a very general language. It’s composed of decisions that are made by courts in individual cases. It originates from specific facts and therefore the court resolves the disputes between the parties involved based on the individual facts. The judges make laws by applying and interpreting laws based on a case to another. A court uses an earlier and similar case to give a legal action in order to decide on an individual case. These sources may be given a lesser or a greater weight. These include writing of legal scholars which may either is in civil law jurisdictions or in academic writings and interpreting the legislation; it could be an edict from a ruler or from the king or even from Islamic religion like the Sharia

Design and Build of Movable Chair For Handicapped Hunters Assignment - 2

Design and Build of Movable Chair For Handicapped Hunters - Assignment Example Odland and Schafer modeled the joystick control which moves the gun or bows up and down or side to side after the joystick found on modern wheelchairs. There is a tiny camera mounted behind the scope of the gun which projects the image of crosshairs and the target onto a video monitor the hunters can easily view from their wheelchairs† (Yankovich, 2010, par. 6). The author is actually an entrepreneur who owns a jewelry shop in Lowell, Michigan. He had first-hand access to the information knowing Pete Odland personally from their common demographic location. The article provided relevant information as a unique and useful design to assist handicapped hunters in regaining mobility to enjoy what they love most. The innovative design was able to help hunters regain â€Å"the freedom for physically challenged people to â€Å"do it themselves†. The very design puts control back into the hands of those who feel they have lost any vestige of control over their lives† (Yankovich, 2010, par. 14). The article provided information on the quad chair designed by Steve Peeples initially for Aaron McMikelk, a handicapped hunter who lost the use of his legs due to viral infection. As indicated by the author, â€Å"Peeples purchased a used wheelchair, removed all the parts, such as brakes and wheels, and mounted the apparatus on the front of his quad runner. His hope was that his "Quad Chair" would open a whole new opportunity for people with limitations† (Ottesen, 2009, par. 13). The innovative way to mount a disabled chair to a vehicle enabled ex-Marine McMikelk to enjoy hunting despite immobility. The author is an outdoor columnist who is on the lookout for stories that would inspire readers to enjoy outdoor activities. As indicated, â€Å"with less than $200 needed to outfit his quad, Peeples hopes his idea will catch on around the country with veterans and handicapped shooters,  and those fewer mobiles† (Ottesen, 2009, par. 17).

Marketing and Citibank Essay Example for Free

Marketing and Citibank Essay ACKNOWLEDGMENT Alhamdulillah, first of all i would like to thank God as finally I was able to finish my assignment that have been given by Marketing lecturer to me. Besides that, not forget also a to my friends Muhammad Kharusani because without his guide me assignment cannot be done properly like this. He always gives supports and guide to me how to do the assignment in purpose to produce a good outcome from research that been studied. Credits also are given to friends class HND1B which help each other to complete this task. Topic that been given by me are regarding concept and process of marketing citibank company. Finally, thank to our beloved friend that always stick together and also work hard to produce a good assignment with all afford and responsibility. Hope that all the effort will give a lot of benefits to me . Not forget also for those who help me complete this assignment direct or indirectly. ABOUT CITIBANK Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York. As of March 2010, Citigroup is the third largest bank holding company in the United States by total assets, after Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase. Citibank has retail banking operations in more than 160 countries and territories around the world. More than half of its 1,400 offices are in the United States, mostly in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, D.C. and Miami. More recently, Citibank has expanded its operations in the Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, and Dallas metropolitan areas. In addition to the standard banking transactions, Citibank offers insurance, credit cards and investment products. Their online services division is among the most successful in the field, citation needed claiming about 15 million users. As a result of the global financial crisis of 2008–2009 and huge losses in the value of its subprime mortgage assets, Citibank was rescued by the U.S. government under plans agreed for Citigroup. On November 23, 2008, in addition to initial aid of $25 billion, a further $25 billion was invested in the corporation together with guarantees for risky assets amounting to $306 billion. Since this time, Citibank has repaid its government loans in full. Q1. Present two definitions of marketing and compare both definitions. Provide relevant examples which relate to Citibank case study. Based on Philip kotler definition, Marketing is a social and managerial process whereby individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. In other words, customer will exchange what their value (e.g money), only if their want is met. Based on my opinion, Philip kotler saying that people change what they want is to gain profit and use their valuable item to change it. In daily life also, we need to satisfy our demand by used exchanging process otherwise we cannot improve in a way of how we live. In wanting to possess such a product, we have to pay a price (cost). Hence, in making a decision to purchase an item, the customer will consider both the value and the price. After we have decided on the product, it can then be procured via the process of exchange or transactions. Based on Citigroup, they are using this strategy to satisfy their customer needs and wants. Based on Rochelle Rucker, Citibank faced a few problems to initiate manual fund problems. When they want to send money from their accounts, they call their banker and then fax, phone or mail in requests to have the transaction processed. Because the process was so complicated, customers complained. Most of the complaints lodged with the department dealt with the time it took to complete the process. So, in order to overcome this problem, Citibank use six sigma program methods to solve it. Six Sigma is a business management strategy seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. Six sigma used a simple method which is Pareto chart. This chart gives data which has the highest problem occur most often. A team composed of bankers and operations people identified the entire funds transfer process, tabulating defects and analyzing them using a Pareto chart. One of the methods is using internal call-back procedure, which required staff to call the person requesting the funds transfer to make sure that the instructions were correct and hadnt been altered. So in this way, Citibank can ensure that their customer has no problem and problem solved. By using this six sigma method Citibank strives for perfect processes to satisfy customer. In Citibank Malaysia, they have proved their commitment for their customer and community live. A large aspect of Citibank’s corporate citizenship in Malaysia focuses on helping people of all ages better understand and practise financial management. In 2010, Citibank Foundation allocated grants totalling USD208,000 for their community-based projects. They have worked with Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and invited a new collaboration with ERA Consumer Malaysia to launch the second season of the â€Å"Stretching Your Ringgit† program on TV1, TV2 and Radio RTM. The initiative followed encouraging survey findings that showed more than 70% of Malaysians polled realised the importance of financial management, especially those in the low-middle income bracket. According to American Marketing Association Board of Directors Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customer s, clients, partners, and society at large. In this case, AMA said that marketing occur when both of the company involve when there is activity among them. Citibank use the same concept which they provide services to their customer to save the money and make it easier. Citibank also provide bank loan, Credit card, Deposits, Investment, Citigold which gives benefit to customer. Citibank also use communicating to contact with their customer to provide services or solving problem. Citibank provide services to customer which can give both benefit. for example Citibank provide bank loan and this can reduce burden for people which has low income. As for the Citibank also, they make interest for those who borrow bank loan and this will give benefit to the firm. Both of definition gives the same meaning in different way. Philip kotler emphasize of the customer needs and wants. We can say Citibank really care about their customer so they will try the best to overcome any problem that customer faced. In india Citibank care their customer, this can be shown by their customer â€Å"I can safely say that Citi provides the best card services for India, which is why most of my spend is on Citi and I recommend it to my friends. A lot of the success is the result of having passionate, committed, service oriented people like Manish. My kudos to him†. (J sajeev, 2011).American Marketing Association which more to creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society. The difference between this concept is AMA is more to set of activity which no related to customer needs and wants. Citibank satisfy their customer and this is the key of how Citibank more success than the others banker in Malaysia. Compare to Maybank Malaysia, Citibank is much older than the others banker in Malaysia. We can say that Citibank is more experience in handling money. Q2. Identify at least three main characteristics of a marketing-oriented organization of Citibank case study and provide an examples for each characteristic. What is marketing orientation? Marketing orientation is a philosophy focused on discovering and meeting the needs and desires of its customers through its product mix. Unlike past marketing strategies that concentrated on establishing selling points for existing products, market orientation works in reverse, attempting to tailor products to meet the demands of customers. In essence, market orientation can be thought of as a coordinated marketing campaign between a company and its customers. Nowadays, business firm use this concept to make their customer stick with their product. We can say that the idea that companies can create a product and sell its features to an eager buying public is no longer concrete. With an increasingly global economy and more and more choices for consumers, companies must be willing to adapt their mark et orientation to stay competitive. Based on my opinion, nowadays in Malaysia, we can see a lot of bank is available. So the competition becomes higher than before. In order to attract more people to use their services, Citibank has to adapt with current situation. Citibank use marketing oriented business to identifying customer, consumer needs and wants. In Malaysia, Citibank provide Islamic banking way to satisfy their customer. By using PEST analysis, we can say that Malaysian people are majority muslim and the idea of Citibank to provide Islamic banking which satisfy customer are brilliant. So people can enjoy with low interest rates given. Citibank in Malaysia facing a problem regarding high interest rate offered, so they make a research and develop a new system which enable customer use their Islamic banking. Another services that they provide is Citibank Guard Savings is The first savings account in Malaysia that’s enhanced with free Takaful coverage against critical illness. Citibank Home i Partner provide Capped Rate, Flexible Payment and Daily Calculation, Citibank Checking Account I is a system provided by checking account that honours the Islamic banking principle of guaranteed safe custody approved by the Shariah body. Based on the services provided by Citibank, we can conclude that Citibank care about their customer needs and develop a new system according to community lived. Just like the others bank, Citibank online will make all the transactions become much easier as customer can save valuable time and money. No more hassles with long queues, parking and travelling. As we can see, Citibank developing products to meet customer needs and wants. So they come out with product and services which give benefit to their customer Credit Cards, Ready Credit, Home Loans, Loans, Deposits, Investments, Insurance, Islamic Banking. So this is basic need in any of bank in Malaysia. What is the differences between Citibank and the other bank? So let’s take an example of Citibank ready card. Citibank Ready Credit is an Unsecured Personal Overdraft with Checking Facility that allows you to access cash easily in any amount in excess of your credit balance up to the approved overdraft limit. With ready card, we can access our balance in credit card even if the amount has exceeds the limits. As a fact, Maybank did not have their owned ready card. Citibank ready card is benefit to their customer as it is convenient to pay, pay for amount that we use. Another characteristic of a marketing oriented business is making the product is available to customer at a righ t time and place. We already know about product and services of Citibank as Credit Cards, Ready Credit, Home Loans, Loans, Deposits, Investments, Insurance, Islamic Banking. Let’s take an example of Credit cards, before this Citibank only produced normal credit for their customer only. But now, Citibank produced a new credit card Citibank at work. Citibank at Work takes Citibanks world-class consumer banking products and services right to the doorstep of employees at their workplace. Apart from enjoying customized privileges across a wide range of products including banking accounts, credit cards, loans, deposits and insurance on-site, employees of these companies also have access to financial seminars and lifestyle events, tailored to their specific profiles and needs. By using Citibank at work, business company can do their job efficiently as they have their own business credit card. Q3. Explain four elements of the marketing concept and relate your answer with Citibank case study. FOUR ELEMENTS OF MARKETING ORIENTED ORGANIZATION Production Concept is a concept where goods are produced without taking into consideration the choices or tastes of your customers. It is one of the earliest marketing concepts where goods were just produced on the belief that they will be sold because consumers need them. It holds that customers will prefer products that are widely available and inexpensive. Manager focusing on this concept concentrate on achieving high production efficiency, low cost, and mass distribution. From my opinion, production concept emphasize on distribution of product. This type of concept are easier to use. Based on the case study, Citibank provided more credit card for their customer. Each customer could have more than one credit card. Product Concept holds that consumers will favor those products that offer the most quality, performance, or innovative features. Managers focusing on this concept concentrate on making superior products and improving them over time. They assume that buyers admire well-made products and can appraise quality and performance. However, these managers are sometimes caught up in a love affair with their product and do not realize what the market needs. Related to the case study, Citibank improved their product to satisfy customer need. Before this, customer got problem to use their credit card where credit card can be used for loan only. But after an improvement, Citibank come out with Citibank Premier Miles card, Platinum, Citi business, Air-Asia Citibank gold. Next elements use is selling concept. It holds that consumers and businesses if left alone, will ordinarily not buy enough of the selling company’s product. Selling concept also is an idea in marketing that if customers are left to themselves, they will not make the effort to buy a companys products. Therefore, it dictates, companies must be aggressive in pushing their sales. Based on my opinion, if company want to sell their product by using selling concept, they have to be aggressive in promoting their product. Not like the older ways where they promote their product by using agents. As for the Citibank case study, nowadays they advertise their product through internet and media more efficiently. Marketing concept is a business philosophy that combines above three business orientation. It holds that the key to achieving it’s organizational goals consists of company being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering, and communicating customer value to it’s selected target customers. These three philosophies are the product, selling, and marketing philosophies. Even though each philosophy has a particular time when it was dominant, a philosophy did not die with the end of its era of dominance. In fact, all three philosophies are being used today. The best way to meet the organizations goals is also by meeting customer needs and wants. The marketing concepts emphasis is to understand the customers before designing and producing a product for them. With the customers wants and needs incorporated into the design and manufacture of the product, sales and profit goals are far more likely to be met. What are Citibank do to satisfy their customer needs based on marketing concept is they make swot analysis to know what can be done to attract more customer in Citibank. Citibank (2009) has mention that their customers can have their banking activities in the Islamic principles. This not only able attracts more customer but Citibank are show that they understand their customer need in the daily banking activities. This principle have apply in Citibank branch in Malaysia. â€Å"What are the reasons behind the recent growth in Islamic finance? One is the strong demand from a large number of immigrant and non immigrant Muslims for Sharia-compliant financial services and transactions.† (Low chee hua, 2010) In order to compete in the rising of the demand of Islamic Banking, Citibank has introduced the Islamic Banking to their customers. So basically, marketing concept is satisfy customer problem and solved it by looking of what customer need. The societal marketing concept was an offshoot of the marketing concept wherein an organization believes in giving back to the society by producing better products targeted towards society welfare. Some have questioned whether the marketing concept is an appropriate philosophy in an age of environmental deterioration, resource shortages, explosive population growth, world hunger and poverty, and neglected social services. The marketing concept possibily sidesteps the potential conflicts among consumer wants. Citibank also take part in their societal marketing. Citibank became a major sponsor of the Sydney Swans in 2005, who is play in the AFL. The marketing concept is about matching a companys capabilities with customer wants. This matching process takes place in what is called the marketing environment. Businesses do not undertake marketing activities alone. They face threats from competitors, and changes in the political, economic, social and technological environment. All these factors have to be taken into account as a business tries to match its capabilities with the needs and wants of its target customers. An organisation that adopts the marketing concept accepts the needs of potential customers as the basis for its operations. Success is dependent on satisfying customer needs. So basically, Citibank use marketing concept to attract more customer to use their services. One of the techniques used is credit card promotion such as Instant Rewards at Shell, Domino’s pizza, Samsung S3, Asia web direct. Before this, if customer wants to pay bill or loan they have to go to Citibank. But nowadays, they upgrade their system to online banking so that customer can pay instantly and reduce waste time. Q4. Provide an indication of the likely costs and benefits to Citibank case study in adapting a marketing approach. In Citibank, there are many advantages and disadvantages of a marketing approach. Customer Satisfaction In customer satisfaction, it refers to which a product’s perceived performance matches a buyer’s expectation. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. We can see based on their services of Citibank do for their customer. In Malaysia, Even the Citibank atm machine is less than the other bank, but their services to customer is good. Citibank will try their best to solve problem of customer credit card so that they will not lose their customer. Customer Care Customer care is a phrase that is used to describe the process of taking care of our customers in a positive manner. The term is used in place of complaint handling due to its positive focus, and is a reminder that customer satisfaction is a priority. Related to Citibank case study, they care about their customer. we can see that Citibank provide customer services so they will know any problem of customer faced. There is a few customer having problem regarding Citibank delay card. As banks are losing their customer fast, they are coming up with different strategies to retain their customers. ‘When/where was the last time you made the transaction with the card?’; I told him I don’t remember anymore since I have a few cards and I have not been using Citibank Card for a while. He insisted me to answer that question before he can proceed, and I insisted I that I don’t remember and suggested him to ask another verification question†. (Kclau, 2010) Quality of services and products. In company, they must have their own quality of services and products. It is designed to constantly improve the quality of their products, services and marketing concept. In Citibank, their main objective at Citibank is to provide reliable and quality services to our customers. Our customer service policy has the overall aim of ensuring that our customers are provided with services which are reliable and best suited to their needs. They have to manage and ensure that quality control standards for services are met. Citibank also have online credit card services so they can login anytime, anywhere to view their account details and activities. DISADVANTAGES OF CITIBANK There is one reason and one reason only that it’s so easy to get a store credit card: they are confident that they will make money off of customer purchase. The interest charged on store cards, as compared to bank credit cards, is at least several percentage points higher and often as much as 10-15% higher. As well, annual fees or sign-up fees may run twice as much as those of standard credit cards. Means that, Citibank charged is higher than the other banks in Malaysia, so that’s why only businessman use Citibank. It involved high cost in retaining the customers. And also, the target market for Citibank is higher because they only target their customer on businessman. CONCLUSION As overall conclusion, Citibank is one of the multinational companies that successful in online based financial institution that operate in Malaysia. Citibank able to understand the culture of local citizen (promo Islamic Banking Services), able to gain their market share by solved the geographical problem (online banking services), able to cost cutting by promo the online banking culture to their customer, and able to compete with the local financial institution. We know that Citibank is really cares about their customer and try their best to satisfy customer needs and wants. Based on this concept of marketing, Citibank now are well known in all around the world. Although it is a foreign company but Citibank is a good model to local financial institution to learn their strategies to increase their competitive capability to compete in the global market.

Comparative Criminal Justice: United states and China

Comparative Criminal Justice: United states and China Compare and contrast two different types of criminal justice systems. The two criminal justice systems that shall be discussed in this paper are those of the United States and that of the Peoples Republic of China. When comparing and contrasting these two systems one should start with the premises that both are instituted in their reciprocal countries in the attempt to curb the proliferation of crime, offenders and deter potential offenders. Both the U.S. and Chinas criminal justice systems make use of a court system, police enforcement organizations and detention and correctional facilities on a regional biases. However this is as much as similarities go as the two systems are radically different since they are based on ideologically opposing government structures. The U.S government is based on a free market capitalist economy supported by a representative democracy. On the other hand that of China is founded on a social communist ideology. As for demographic figures, the U.S. has roughly 355 million citizens while China has over one billion, which makes up one fourth of the world population. Klaus MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009), in his book Criminal Justice in China, states that Peoples Republic of China (P.R.C.) was established as a socialist country in 1949. From that point onwards efforts have been made to enact basic laws concerning criminal justice administration and enforced nationwide. The U.S. government is hierarchally based on a unified organization where power is shared between the federal and state governments. Therefore this means that the political system secures autonomy of each state in the U.S. but at the same time adopting a centralized government (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The U.S. justice system is derived from the British common law tradition. Common law is the law that is agreed upon by the common people and exists in two forms, Lex Scripta (written law) and Lex non Scripta (unwritten law). On the other hand MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009), says that the Chinese justice system is quite difficult to put under one unitary system. This is due to the fact that the Chinese criminal justice system was repeatedly reorganized in the wake of political changes and internal party disputes. MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009) also notes that the Chinese justice system under socialism is not an independent administrative system but was integrated into a network of social control and political mobilization. The Chinese Criminal Law is based on the ideological precepts of Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong. Its tasks are to use punishments to resist against all revolutionary or criminal acts in order to safeguard the system of the peoples democratic dictatorship. The police forces of the United States are the successors of Militias originally instituted in the early colonies to protect the population and control the Native Americans. The different forming States developed their own security forces and these operated autonomously. Major cities instituted their own police forces, which functioned under the control of a city government (Gaines and Miller, 2006). Currently the U.S. police forces are structured on local/city/county and federal/state levels, thus having a federal system. All local policing duties are shared between local municipalities and counties. Cities, towns and villages have the capability to institute their own police forces, while others, usually rural localities, rely on a county Sheriffs department for the task of enforcement and policing. Usually the size of police forces in the U.S. is directly proportional to the population of the area being controlled. The 50 States forming the U.S. also have their own police forces that are ascribed to different regions and often patrolling undeveloped rural areas. The job of such agencies include investigating crimes against the state such as alcohol licensing violations or welfare fraud, fish and game violations, and highway traffic infractions (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to a statistic of the U.S. Department of Justice (2008), on average the ratio of police to population in the U.S. is about 2.3 officers per thousand residents, however larger cities have higher ratios. That force ratio has remained steady for nearly three decades at around 2.21-2.34 police officers per 1000 civilian population. Next up on the U.S. hierarchal police system is the Federal Governments police force that subdivided into various other agencies. There is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is independent of any administration. The F.B.I. intervenes when federal laws are infringed, an interstate crime is committed, or if national security is threatened. However the last case scenario has been taken over by the Department of Homeland Security established after the attacks of September 11th 2001. The U.S. has about 20 federal law enforcement agencies, which also include the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Marshals Service. Further more there exist the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Treasury Department, the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearm Agency and the U.S. Customs officials that deal with border violations while the Immigration and Naturalization Services deal with illegal immigrants. However this specialization of the diffe rent policing agencies has its drawbacks. Problems can arise due to jurisdictional issues, when what one should really take care of is the upholding and maintenance of the law (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The P.R.C. employs around 2 million police officers, of which most work is small offices that serve communities of roughly 10,000 citizens. The main policing agency in the P.R.C. is the Peoples Armed Police (PAP), which includes about 700,000 officers. This agency was instituted in 1983 and was formed by incorporating disbanded units of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) on domestic defence duty and armed frontier defence and fire fighting. The rise of the PAP shows how Chinese leadership in many ways is more concerned about domestic security than foreign threats (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). The PAPs main task is to deal with domestic disturbances, by acting as riot police, guarding government compounds and also foreign embassies. It usually handles border defence but is called in sometimes to back up local police. Recently it has been employed to suppress anti-government protest. The Public Security Service (PSB) is both a local police and the Chinese equivalent of the CIA in the U.S. The P. R.C. justice system also employs paramilitary armed police and more than 1 million security guards. Quasi-police force known as cheng guan also operates in China. These carry out tasks deemed unpopular by the citizens, such as collecting fines and tax money, often these are just thugs hired by the official police. In December 2008, the Chinese government announced the creation of a new special unit aimed at cracking down on gun-related crimes and organized crime such as organized prostitution, gambling, drug production and trafficking. The public security budget was raised by nearly a third in 2009 to $4.2 billion in part to address concerns about unrest in Tibet and western China and trouble brought about by unemployed workers and other problems associated with the economic crisis in 2008 and 2009 In the past, police agencies in the US have been accused of corruption and the Good-Old Boy network of hiring practices. Recently, charges of racism, racial profiling, and use of excessive force have been made by concerned citizens and organizations. Family members of crime victims often become infuriated with police for their incompetence and unwillingness to make an effort to solve crimes that affect them. Chinese police have a reputation for being corrupt and connected to smuggling. They are regarded with suspicion by ordinary Chinese, particularly in rural areas. Police have traditionally been more involved in maintaining government control than solving crimes. As for the US court system, this is a dual judiciary system, of which the two constituent parts (federal and state) function independent of each other. The federal judiciary system includes district courts, circuit courts of appeals, and the United Stated Supreme Court. The state system includes trial courts at the local and state levels, intermediate courts of appeal, and state Supreme Court (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The primary agents working along each other are the judge, prosecutor, and defence attorneys in the U.S. system. As already stated the U.S. follows the principles of Common law, that were inherited from English jurisprudence. This tradition holds that a decision taken in court is always made on the basis of the Rule of Precedent. This means that each case previously resolved serves as reference and guide for new cases. New aspects of law may be determined or discovered and thus a precedent arises. The U.S. justice system allows for presumption of innocence until proven guilty, plea-bargaining, trial by jury, and the right to a speedy trial (Gaines and Miller, 2006). Such aspects make the justice system in the U.S. more flexible and makes it easier to meet citizens the needs. The penal system of the U.S., like the judicial system, branches into federal, state and local levels. The prison system is supported by governmental funds, in the form of tax revenue from federal (corporate income), state (sales) and local (taxes) revenues. Is also receives funding through Inter-governmental transfer, in the form of federal grants and state grants. Sentences in the US justice system tend to be significantly longer than in China and many states have adopted the three strikes law which forces judges to sentence a defendant to life imprisonment for their third felony offense. The penal system in the US is facing major problems due to overcrowding, gang and drug activity within the prisons, the imprisonment of mentally ill individuals, increase of sex offenders, and extremely violent offenders. Privatization of the prison systems is being adopted in many regions of the country as prisons are becoming more and more overcrowded. Juvenile offenses and crimes in the US vary in each state and all are dependent on the age of the defendant. For example, in New York State, a juvenile status is considered if the individual is more than 7 but less than 16 year old, unless it is murder then the individual can be 13 or if charged with rape then the defendant can be as young as 14. Contrary to the French system, the tendency in New York and possibly in the rest of the US is to treat the offender as an adult and increase the levels of punishment including incarceration. Gaines, Larry K. and Roger Le Roy Miller, Criminal Justice in Action (2006). http://www.project.org/info.php?recordID=33 http://www.lectlaw.com/files/int10.htm Klaus MÃ ¼hlhahn, Criminal Justice in China: A History, Harvard University Press (2009)

The Lovers Tale :: The Lovers Tale Chaucer Canterbury Tales Essays

The Lover's Tale Whan that the goode Wif of Bathe hadde hir tale ytold, with ful light herte thought she, â€Å"Whan that I go again from Canterbury, Sekirly shalle I have a soper at the cost of alle.† Anoon a yonge lovere saide in parfit Englisch, â€Å"Lordings, now leten me tell the tale of most solas and best sentence.† The young lover paused for a moment: â€Å"Surely the tale would be much more enjoyable if we stop with all the Middle English.† The pilgrims nodded in agreement, wondering why they had not decided upon this earlier, and the lover continued, â€Å"Now, permit me to tell the most pleasant and meaningful tale.† â€Å"In the days of old, during the time of the great King Arthur, there was a knight well known for his courage, valor, and good looks; however, this knight was known to no woman, and many people spoke of this in jest. Also, there was a fair maiden, young and coy, who adored the knight. This lovely lady adored him so much that one day, as he was riding his great steed, she winked at him. This gesture greatly offended the courageous man. He dismounted his horse, went up to the woman, and asked her if she knew who he was. She said, ‘Sir, I do know who you are, and I dare say that I have loved you for some time now.’ The knight was horrified by this beautiful, forthright, and bold woman. He said to her, ‘Woman, I am a fair knight, and thou art not my type.’ A few bystanders giggled, but the knight continued, ‘You shall be punished for what thou hast done to me.’ Then, with his great strength, he took hold of the woman, placed her behind him on his noble steed, and brought her to his lord, the great King Arthur. The noble knight smiled gleefully and was full of joy as he greeted the knights of Arthur’s court (he seemed joyful and gay). The great King Arthur listened to the complaints of his brave knight, and after some time told him that he would need time to decide what punishment to give this girl.

Benefits of Employee Collaboration Essay

Within the modern workplace, there is an ongoing debate as to if traditional problem solving or employee collaboration produces the best results. Even though some people see employee collaboration as a waste of time, employee collaboration should be encouraged because not only can it benefit the company, it gives employees the opportunity to grow. When an employer encourages open collaboration with its employees in order to solve a problem, many positive outcomes can occur. In his article Improving Efficiency by Improving Employee Collaboration Brian Middle stated â€Å"Tasks can be completed more effectively since individuals are concentrating on areas that they are well versed in and not in areas they struggle with.† This thought process takes the pressure off of one individual to have all the answers to every problem in front of them. Yes, it is up to the person in charge to ultimately make the final choice as to how to handle a problem, but expecting them to have all the i nformation at any given time is not good business practice. Bringing together a team to solve a problem creates an atmosphere of individual and company growth by giving each employee an opportunity to succeed, and having a more effective way of completing the tasks. At my own place of employment, a lot of the decisions are solely made by one individual on a day to day basis. This individual, while he is a fairly good leader is in no position to make choices concerning my work. As required by the state I live in, in order to perform my duties as a Wastewater Operator, a large amount of schooling and licensing must be obtained. With my job, I must make decisions about what to do when a large amount of rain has fallen in a short time frame. The process, in my opinion should be a combined decision by me, the other operator, and the Town Manager. The operators should be able to give him the vital information about what would happen with each scenario, our professional opinion as to how to best handle it, and then discuss it. This process would take roughly 10 – 15 minutes, and wouldn’t affect the overall plant performance. However, this is not the case. We are told what he wants us to do without our input, and this has at times led to bad outcomes. The mine-is-better habit seems to be the issue within our organization. Working with a lot of older gentlemen, I have noticed that any suggestion given to someone is immediately shot down due to egos. Instead of taking a little bit of time to review all the information from individuals with a more knowledgeable background on the subject, a decision is made from one persons point of view. Luckily, for all major decisions that do not need immediate attention; we have a Town Council who must put it to a vote. As simple as this seems it should be, there are some mine-is-better habits within the council as well. There are many routes I could take in order for my manager to overcome his habit of mine-is-better when making decisions. One of the approaches I can take would be to encourage him to take a moment to listen to what options we have, and how it would best suit him and the town to think things through. Giving him all of the information at hand, even if he hasn’t asked for it plants the seed within his own mind to consider everything before coming to a conclusion. The other option I can think of, is taking it solely out of his hands by involving the Department of Environmental Management. Having them simply explain to him that it is up to the operators themselves to draw the conclusion on what is best based upon the professional standing they have may help him realize that his way is not always the best way of doing things. The town I live in and work for would greatly benefit from open collaboration with its employees. Many of us our highly trained individuals, who take great pride in their field of choice. With so many different departments, no one person can expect to know how everything operates and works within the entire town. Many laws and regulations confront us daily while we perform even the simplest of tasks. Being able to talk to each other, to know how each decision made can affect the other departments and their processes can help us avoid unwanted extra paperwork and fines.