Monday, September 30, 2019

Martin Luther King Jr.: Speech Forum

Kacee Bailey Public speaking 10/06/10 Martin Luther King Forum 1. What oratorical devices does Dr. King use to add vitality and force to his speech? 2. Do you think that Dr. King's dream has become a reality? Why or why not? 3. What changes could you make in your life to help Dr. King's dream become a reality at SWHS? 1. He pause a lot and he repeats himself. The way he talks is also very enticing it makes you want to pay attention. 2. Yes, We are a lot less segregated and there are many minority's in schools and there is no more separation for schools and public places. So I feel that Dr.Kings dreams ave very much come true. although in some states there is still racism. 3. I think that even though there is less segregation and less racism. People still look down to others. So a change we could make is if we see discrimination for race at SWHS we could approach the situation and try to figure things out with the two people. But you don't wanna make the situation worse so make sure t hat actually whats going on before you get in the middle. Ambrias Answers: 1. Dr. King forces his point by uses different points of inflection and volume in his voice when he speaks.There are points when he speaks louder than other points and where he emphasizes more on specific points. Also, he uses specific hand gestures at times when he wants to make a point very specific. 2. I think think that Dr. King's dream has opened up more because of the fact that this county is becoming more tolerant and accepting of others as the years go by. Has his dream been fully fulfilled? I don't think it has yet because there are still many people, especially in the southern states, who are very discriminatory against others.What he is dreaming is the fact that every will view each other as equal and stop the discrimination and until it fully stops the dream hasn't fully been fulfilled. 3. The changes I could make are that I could be more accepting of people with different view points as me. Also, I could go out of my way to be nicer to people everyday and try to make new friends no matter what others think of them or me. My Responses: 1. A agree with you. He uses a lot of volume and inflection. I also like ho you included his hand gestures. 2. I agree with you on this. Although I don't like how you said people are being tolerable.I think its more than just tolerating. But I do agree that it hasn't been completely fulfilled yet. 3. I like your views on this issue and I hope everything works ^_^ Chantalls Answers: 2. Yes, his dream has become reality. Even though there is still discrimination all around the world it has definitely died down. There is no more discrimination in schools or public places. In general people have a much more opened mindset towards other cultures, races, religions and so on. 3. One of the few things I can do to stop discrimination at SWHS is to not tolerate it.Laughing or agreeing with a racist joke that someone has said only allows to think that it s alright to say such things. By not tolerating it eventually teaches people that some things should be kept un-said. My responses: 1. I don’t agree with you on number 2 because I think there is still a lot of racism in schools. But I do agree with you that there is less discrimination in public places. And the island does a good job at not being racist. 2. I agree with you completely. If people would stop laughing it wouldn't want to make other keep doing it. I love your answer I think everyone needs to fallow this exmple

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Ethical Issues in the Pelican Brief

In the hit book, The Pelican Brief, John Grisham's depiction of lawyers who will do anything for money and their clients presents an interesting ethical dilemma. In the book, two Supreme Court justices are killed by a hired assassin, Khamel. FBI, CIA, and the press are working hard to find who the killer is. The only people who know the truth are attorneys from White and Blazevich, Nathaniel Jones (also known as Einstein), Jarreld Schwabe, Marty Velmano, and F. Sims Wakefield and their client, Victor Mattiece.The action commences when Darby Shaw writes a brief about who she thinks is responsible for the deaths of two Supreme Court Justices, Rosenberg and Jensen. She shows the document to Thomas Callahan, her professor and lover. He hands the brief over to his friend Gavin Verheek, he is special council of the FBI Director. That's the way the â€Å"Pelican Brief† goes the round through the FBI, the CIA and of course the White House. The president now has to restructure the Cour t because of Rosenberg and Jensen's death. That is Victor Mattiece's aim.He knows that the president will chose conservative justices who will vote for Mattiece’s  plans  of gaining the oil in Louisiana. Mattiece also becomes aware of the â€Å"Pelican Brief† and decides to kill everyone who is involved in it to keep his  plans  secret. He hires the killer â€Å"Khamel† to murder Darby Shaw and Thomas Callahan. The story develops as Victor Mattiece, as well as, White and Blazevich firm attempt through either illegal or unethical measures to hire someone to kill anyone who knows about the brief and could jeopardize their plans.It is a book, so it all ends up more-or-less happily-ever-after for the young girl and Grantham, the journalist, who meet on the island of St. Thomas after exposure of White and Blazevich and Victor Mattiece. Grantham helps Darby Shaw by publishing a story revealing involvement of White and Blazevich and Victor Mattiece in the death of the two Supreme Court Justices. However, for attorneys of White and Blazevich, one must pause and wonder what their fate, professionally speaking at least, would be after their lie exposes. For these attorneys commit a number of professional ethics iolations, all in an effort to get money. From the outset of their professional relationship with Victor Mattiece – the Supreme Court Judges – attorneys trip over ethics. â€Å"Sims: Advise client, research is complete – and the bench will sit much softer if Rosenberg is retired†¦Einstein found a link to Jensen, of all people†¦Advise further that the pelican should arrive here in four years†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Grisham 340). This memo notifies F. Sims Wakefield, one of the partners supervising Mattiece’s case, who â€Å"†¦had no other clients. And no one client had as much to gain from a new Court as Mattiece† (Grisham 341).This is an unethical practice of law where attorneys help their cli ent plan a murder to financially benefit them and their client. One possible solution for this ethical dilemma could be refusal to help Victor Mattiece in finding out which Supreme Court Judges could be killed. Attorneys from White and Blazevich should think about the consequences of their actions. Better yet, Sims could make a complaint to appropriate authorities about receiving a memo from Einstein and at least free himself and other attorneys, while Mattiece and Einstein would go to jail.The fee agreement between the firm and Mattiece also poses an ethical problem: â€Å"†¦Mattiece was not paying White and Blazevich its standard hourly rate†¦the firm has taken the case for a percentage of the harvest† (Grisham 339). Rule 1. 5(b) of the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct states, â€Å"the basis or rate of the fee shall be communicated to the client, preferably in writing, before or within a reasonable time after commencing the r epresentation† (Miller and Urisko 69). Collecting the fee up front is certainly consistent with the practices of many practical and ethical lawyers.Unless there is a written fee agreement, and there is certainly no evidence to support the existence of one in the book, funds paid by a client at the beginning of the representation are presumed to be an advance fee payment. Advance fees, of course, must be deposited into a trust account, and withdrawn only when earned. Retainers aren’t usually â€Å"†¦ten percent of the net profits from the wells,† and real lawyers must know the requirement (Grisham 339). One of the solutions to this ethical dilemma could be to sign a retainer. If White and Blazevich attorneys want money, why wait?Let Mattiece sign a retainer, pay them, and wait for Court’s decision. Nathaniel Jones (also known as Einstein), Jarreld Schwabe, Marty Velmano, and F. Sims Wakefield are all relying on being paid for their services after the d ecision on the case. They could save a lot of money and avoid jail if they would follow standard Model Rules. Just because F. Sims Wakefield â€Å"†¦was very close to Victor Mattiece and often visited him in the Bahamas,† it is not an exception to conflict-of-interest situations. Even if Victor Mattiece is a friend of F.Sims Wakefield, he should pay for services rendered, or the attorney could refuse to provide services knowing that there could be a conflict-of-interest. The most serious of White and Blazevich attorney’s professional ethics dilemmas is one that few lawyers ever face. In the book, the attorneys do not tell anyone about Mattiece’s plan to execute the two Supreme Court Judges. The Model Rules state that â€Å"an attorney is allowed to reveal a client’s information to prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm† (Miller and Urisko 99). Attorneys’ decision to hide Mattiece’s plan is good for a book, bu t is it professional?This is unethical. Instead of following along with Mattiece’s plan to find a way to win his case in the Supreme Court of the United States, the attorneys could refuse to assist him in his killings plan. If Mattiece’s threat to kill does not seem to result in certain death or cause serious bodily injury, White and Blazevich they could continue representing the client without revealing any confidential information and not jeopardizing their careers. Another ethical dilemma that White and Blazevich firm faces actually leads to their indictment later, involves confidentiality agreement between the client and the firm.A file or a document sitting on your desk, if observed by a third party, may reveal an identity of a client or enough information to suggest the client’s identity† (Miller and Urisko 102). If there is no disruption on Wakefield’s desk and secretaries are not in and out every second, Curtis Morgan, who finds the compromi sing memo, would not take the memo by accident. â€Å"Finally, after waiting fifteen minutes, Morgan picked up his files and documents from Wakefield’s cluttered desk, and left†¦as he reached for a file, he found a handwritten memo on the bottom of the stack of documents he had just brought to his office.He had inadvertently taken it from Wakefield’s desk† (Grisham 340). This ethical dilemma could be avoided if Wakefield would not let secretaries go through his office back and forth, or let anyone put folders, files, or documents on his desk while there are other notes or documents there. If Wakefield is on the phone, he should let everyone know not to bother him. If someone comes into his office to ask to review something, he should tell them to come back. Don’t let that person mix his files with the files that he has on his desk. Unluckily for attorneys and client, lies reveal at the end of the book.Indeed, as the book wraps up, Velmano, Schwabe, a nd Einstein get indicted. Wakefield commits suicide and Mattiece also gets indicted. However, they do not get such punishment without being responsible for the killing of innocent people along the way. They go through all this trouble just so that they would get financial reward. Too bad for them, their plan fails.Works Cited: Grisham, John. The Pelican Brief. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Print. Miller, Roger LeRoy. , and Mary S. Urisko. Paralegal Today: The Essentials. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Manufacturing alumina

The production of aluminum begins with the mining and beneficiation of bauxite. At the mine (usually of the surface type), bauxite ore is removed to a crusher. The crushed ore is then screened and stockpiled, ready for delivery to an alumina plant. At the alumina plant, the bauxite ore is further crushed or ground to the correct particle size for efficient extraction of the alumina through digestion by hot sodium hydroxide liquor. After removal of â€Å"red mud† (the insoluble part of the bauxite) and fine solids from the process liquor, aluminum trihydrate crystals are precipitated and calcined in rotary kilns or fluidized bed calciners to produce alumina (Al2O3). (Bounicore & Wayne 1992) Some alumina processes include a liquor purification step. Primary aluminum is produced by the electrolytic reduction of the alumina. The alumina is dissolved in a molten bath of fluoride compounds (the electrolyte), and an electric current is passed through the bath, causing the alumina to dissociate to form liquid aluminum and oxygen. The oxygen reacts with carbon in the electrode to produce carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Molten aluminum collects in the bottom of the individual cells or pots and is removed under vacuum into tapping crucibles. . Depending on the desired application, additional refining may be necessary. For demagging (removal of magnesium from the melt), hazardous substances such as chlorine and hexachloroethane are often used, which may produce dioxins and dibenzofurans. (Bounicore & Wayne 1992) Industrial forms of aluminum include commercially pure metal and alloys with other metals such as chromium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, nickel, titanium and zinc. Aluminum alloys may contain as much as fifteen percent of the alloying metals. In powder form, aluminum and its alloys are combustible in air and present a potential explosion hazard. In sheet or block forms, aluminum will not normally propagate or sustain combustion. (Metals & Alloys, 1976) Hazards and Risks Entail in Processing At the bauxite production facilities, dust is emitted to the atmosphere from dryers and materials- handling equipment, through vehicular movement, and from blasting. The dust is not hazardous; it can be a nuisance if containment systems are not in place, especially on the dryers and handling equipment. Other air emissions could include nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and other products of combustion from the bauxite dryers. (Paris Com, 1992) Ore washing and beneficiation may yield process wastewaters containing suspended solids. Runoff from precipitation may also contain suspended solids. At the alumina plant, air emissions can include bauxite dust from handling and processing; limestone dust from limestone handling, burnt lime dust from conveyors and bins, alumina dust from materials handling, red mud dust and sodium salts from red mud stacks impoundments), caustic aerosols from cooling towers, and products of combustion such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from boilers, calciners, mobile equipment, and kilns. The calciners may also emit alumina dust and the kilns, burnt lime dust. Although alumina plants do not normally discharge effluents, heavy rainfalls can result in surface runoff that exceeds what plant can use in process. (Brady & Humiston, 1982) Hydrogen Generating Reactions Aluminum is a very reactive metal, and the greatest industrial hazards associated with aluminum are chemical reactions. Aluminum is an excellent reducing agent, and should react with water readily to liberate hydrogen. However, the protective aluminum oxide coating protects it from reaction with moisture or oxygen. If the protective coating is broken, for example, by scratching or by amalgamation (the process of coating with a film of mercury in which the metallic aluminum dissolves; the aluminum oxide coating does not adhere to the amalgamated surface), rapid reaction with moisture and/or oxygen can occur. The significance of this reaction is dependent upon the quantity of aluminum available to react. Aluminum is also oxidized by heat at a temperature dependent rate. (Ogle, Beddow, Chen, Butler, 1982) Aluminum metal is amphoteric (exhibits both acidic and basic characteristics). Therefore, aluminum will react with acids or bases; both reactions liberate hydrogen, a flammable gas. However, aluminum does not react with concentrated nitric acid because the oxidizing potential of the acid contributes to the formation of the protective aluminum oxide coating. (Martin, 1976) Thermite Reactions Aluminum readily extracts oxygen from other metal oxides to form aluminum oxide with the simultaneous release of large amounts of heat (enough heat to melt the products of the reaction). For example, the reaction of aluminum with ferric oxide to produce liquid aluminum oxide and liquid iron produces temperatures approaching 3000 °C (5400 °F). This reaction, referred to as the â€Å"thermite reaction,† has been used to weld large masses of iron and steel; when enclosed in a metal cylinder and ignited by a ribbon of magnesium has been used in incendiary bombs; and, with ammonium perchlorate added as an oxidizer, has provided the thrust for the space shuttle booster rockets. (May & Berard, 1987) Dust Explosions A dust explosion is a complex phenomenon involving simultaneous momentum, energy, and mass transport in a reactive multi-phase system. Aluminum particles, when in dust, powder, or flake forms from operations such as manufacturing powder, grinding, finishing, and processing, may be suspended as a dust cloud in air and consequently may ignite and cause serious damage. If the dust cloud is unconfined, the effect is simply one of flash fire. If, however, the ignited dust cloud is at least partially confined, the heat of combustion may result in rapidly increasing pressure and produce explosion effects such as rupturing of the confining structure. Aluminum dust is not always easily ignitable, and, therefore, the hazard of dust explosions is often ignored. Minimum explosive concentrations of aluminum dust have been reported upwards from about 40 grams per cubic meter (0.04 ounces per cubic foot) of air. (May & Berard, 1987) Effects on Health Aluminum particles deposited in the eye may cause local tissue destruction. Aluminum salts may cause eczema, conjunctivitis, dermatoses, and irritation of the upper respiratory system via hydrolysis-liberated acid. Aluminum is not generally regarded as an industrial poison, although inhalation of finely divided aluminum powder has been reported as a cause of pneumoconiosis. In most investigative cases, however, it was found that exposure was not solely to aluminum, but to a mixture of aluminum, silica, iron dusts, and other materials. Aluminum in aerosols has been referenced in studies involving Alzheimer's disease. Most exposures to aluminum occur in smelting and refining processes. Because aluminum may be alloyed with various metals, each metal (e.g., copper, zinc, magnesium, manganese, nickel, chromium, lead, etc.) may possibly present its own health hazards. (Buonicore & Davis, 1992) Implication Aluminum dust is strongly fibrogenic. Metallic aluminum dust may cause nodular lung fibrosis, interstitial lung fibrosis, and emphysema as indicated in animal experimentation, and effects appear to be correlated to particle size of the dust30; however, when exposure to aluminum dusts have been studied in man, most exposures have been found to be to other chemicals as well as aluminum. (Buonicore & Davis, 1992) Safety Measures: Prevention and Control The American Council of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) recommends the need for five separate Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) for aluminum, depending on its form (aluminum metal dust, aluminum pyro powders, aluminum welding fumes, aluminum soluble salts, and aluminum alkyls). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has also established Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) for aluminum. (May & Berard, 1987) Pollution prevention is always preferred to the use of end-of-pipe pollution control facilities. Therefore every attempt should be made to incorporate cleaner production processes and facilities to limit, at source, the quantity of pollutants generated. In the bauxite mine, where beneficiation and ore washing are practiced, tailings slurry of 7– 9% solids is produced for disposal. The preferred technology is to concentrate these tailings and dispose of them in the mined-out area. A concentration of 25–30% can be achieved through gravity settling in a tailings pond. The tailings can be further concentrated, using a thickener, to 30–50%, yielding a substantially volume reduced slurry. The alumina plant discharges red mud in slurry of 25–30% solids, and this also presents an opportunity to reduce disposal volumes. (May & Berard, 1987) Today’s technology, in the form of high-efficiency deep thickeners, and large-diameter conventional thickeners, can produce a mud of 50–60% solids concentration. The lime used in the process forms insoluble solids that leave the plant along with the red mud. Recycling the lime used as a filtering aid to digestion to displace the fresh lime that is normally added at this point can minimize these lime-based solids. Finally, effluent volume from the alumina plant can be minimized or eliminated by good design and operating practices: reducing the water added to the process, segregating condensates and recycling to the process, and using rainwater in the process. (Ogle, Beddow, Chen, Butler, 1982) References Brady, James E. and Humiston, Gerard E. (1982), General Chemistry: Principles and Structure, Third Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Bounicore, Anthony J., and Wayne T. Davis, eds. (1992), Air Pollution Engineering Manual. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Martin, R. (1975), â€Å"Dust-Explosion Risk with Metal Powders and Dusts,† P/M Group Annual Meeting 1975: Handling Metal Powders, Session I: Health and Safety in Powder Handling,† Powder Metallurgy, No. 2. May, David C., and Berard, David L. (1987), â€Å"Fires and Explosions Associated with Aluminum Dust from Finishing Operations,† Journal of Hazardous Materials, 17. â€Å"Metals and Alloys,† (1976), Loss Prevention Data 7-85, Factory Mutual Engineering Corporation. Paris Commission. (1992), â€Å"Industrial Sectors: Best Available Technology—Primary Aluminium Industry.† Ogle, R. A., Beddow, J. K., Chen, L. D., and Butler, P. B. (1988), â€Å"An Investigation of Aluminum Dust Explosions,† Combust. Sci. and Tech.   

Friday, September 27, 2019

IT questions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

IT questions - Coursework Example The sockets enable applications in different software to communicate through inbuilt network hardware and operating systems. In my daily communication, I get to use socket programming in different ways. The instant messaging applications that I use to connect with people in different parts of the world are coordinated by socket programming. At one point computers at our working place were connected through multiple sockets to enable us network together easily (Shuang, 2013). In any case where a server is used to connect some data or users of different software at distributed places, threads are used. A local database server that I was once involved in managing used java threads to respond to requests sent to the database server (Batenkov, 2012). Thread pools were created to keep track of the number of requests handled at a time. This was possible due to java concurrency that enables many programs to run parallel. The java threads were also helpful in synchronization of worker queues (Silas, 2012). Some times in our teams and organizations we are required to coordinate with other team members who are situated far from us. We use distributed processing in such cases since it enables us exchange data as messages are passed across processors. Several processors with their own memories are used here. Apache Storm is an example of distributed real-time computation systems we adapted. This application synchronized streams of data from many processors in different time zones (Kivi, 2012). With the advanced technology in the world today, many messaging applications have been introduced into the telecommunication industry (Sultan, 2014). Some of these applications have been of importance in coordinating me with my colleagues and friends. Google hangouts are one of the messaging applications that I use to connect with my partners found in other continents. Whatsapp is another application that helps me in communicating across continents

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Richmond Park - Playground & Horse Track Management plan Research Paper

Richmond Park - Playground & Horse Track Management plan - Research Paper Example Most important of these are the actual physical transformations of the park contributed by additional installation of facilities, buildings and the cultivation of additional trees and animals. For instance, drainage has been added and that buildings are constantly being built, renovated or torn down as new replacements are erected. The park has also seen massive tree planting initiatives, the introduction of deer farming and game preservation. By the turn of the twentieth century, the park has been opened to the public and the ensuing transformation during this period was mostly done to accommodate the invasion of people and traffic. These changes, however, were always faithful to what the park has stood for in years of existence. In 1843, Rowton commented that â€Å"the utter quieted and solitude that reigns in its distant recesses – the poetical character of its scenery, its softy swelling lawns, its noble trees, its placid lakes, and the herds of deer that wander, its nobl e trees, its placid lakes, and the herds of deer†¦ all combine to render it a place to those who would see nature in her sunny and poetic garb.† (p187) This observation still rings true today. Thanks to the meticulous management of the successive park administrations despite the different issues and challenges they faced during their times. One could consider the Richmond Park’s continuous development as some form of evolution that is required in order for this outstanding public space to survive. Indeed, it is still very much in use today and is actually considered by many as an island of natural landscape, and a remnant of old England, deserving of recognition and preservation. The changes have been and will be endured through the initiatives guided by the successive management plans such as the one being outlined by this paper. Introduction: Today, Richmond Park is still the largest of all the Royal Parks in the United Kingdom occupying more than a total of 955 hectares. It is situated in South-West London in Richmond-upon-Thames. The outer fringes of the parkland are bordered by mostly residential and commercial areas, in addition to other public spaces such as the local Boroughs and the Wimbledon Common Conservators. Its main utility lies in its facilities for passive recreations and activities for visitors. For example, the park boasts of an educational centre, cafe, golf courses, ballet school, several refreshment points and the Pembroke Lodge, which could accommodate staying visitors as well those who want to avail of its conference facilities. It is important to underscore that the Park is part of the chains of spaces that are open to the public, strategically placed in West London. The Park is also an internationally significant location because of its nature conservation value. It is specifically recognized for its work on wildlife, particularly in areas of sanctuaries, the preservation of its grasslands as well as its existing san ctuaries for biodiversity. Currently, it has numerous local and national designations such as being part of the English Heritage Register of Parks and Garden of Special Interest, a Site of Specific Scientific

Compare and Contrast Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 7

Compare and Contrast Research Methods - Essay Example Through observation, the researcher is able to identify particular aspects of the research (Poynter, 2010). Also, through observation, researchers learn more information about research aspects, thus being able to determine attitudes and behaviors. Both observation and in-depth interview methods are important because they will increase the objectivity of the study (Poynter, 2010). Informal and in-depth methods are largely qualitative. Researchers use in-depth interviews in collecting data, because it is a highly interactive, multivariate and objective method of conducting study, which makes it different from observation method (Wilson, 2010). Using interview, the interviewer seeks more explanation from the interviewees as opposed to observation, where the researcher simply looks at the objects of study (Wilson, 2010). Under this methodology of in-depth interview, the participants will be drawn from four departments within the research population (Wilson, 2010). Since there will be many prospective participants from each department, out of the available participants, the researcher will select a given sample for the study. This is similar to observation because in the latter, the researcher can chose from the available research items to carry out the study (Wilson, 2010). In addition, the selection of participants in informal and in-depth interview is done usi ng random sampling, which is representative and non-discriminative, a situation which makes the methods resemble observation. Under informal and in-depth interviews, the different categories under which the participants will be divided would be based on the management levels, where as in observation, the researcher carries the study alone (Wilson, 2010). Interviews will also increase the participation between the researcher and respondents. Indeed, using interview will increase the interaction and the researcher would get more relevant information about the topic, a situation that

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The relationship between advanced technology and Green supply chain Research Paper

The relationship between advanced technology and Green supply chain - Research Paper Example Source: LMI, 2005 In short, it integrates supply chain management with environmental management to achieve positive, sustainable results. This rooted to the acknowledgment on the role of manufacturing and other business processes on their disproportionate environmental impact with the understanding that operations are improved and savings are accrued in the process. Savings may not always mean cut in direct operational costs but environmental in nature through less reliance on raw or new materials that directly impacts on the environment. Objectives and Research Questions In the adoption of green supply chain techniques, many corporations or business entities have resorted to either age-old environmental practices or emerging technologies that facilitate green practices. It is therefore the aim of this paper to Provide the history and background in the development of green supply change Explain the significance of greening the supply chain Point our issues relating to the flow of pro ducts and services within the green supply chain context Explain how green supply chain management as a practice has been changed over time. These will be achieved by answering the research questions: 1. What is the importance of the history of green supply chain? 2. How green supply chain management as a practice has changed over time? 3. What is significance of greening the supply chain? 4. What are the issues relating to the flow of products and services within a Green Supply Chain context? Relevance of the Study The continuing depletion of natural resources, growing population, consumption, and lifestyle demands, negative changes in the environment and many other major problems have alarmed policy-makers, businesses, and even individuals in the last several decades. Current conditions of many of the world’s population and projections of the future are seen as very bleak so that it has become imperative to adopt short and long-term measures to address these issues. Thus, t he birth of eco-related movements such as the green supply chain in the business process. The importance of exploring background and history of the green supply chain lies on the possibilities of fast-tracking ways to improve production and design of consumption products. This study hopes to contribute in that segment. Background Extensive efforts are forwarded by nations and international organizations not only to their governments but also to the business and private sector to step up and address environmental problems. Climate change global warming, environmental degradation, and insurmountable economic and social problems directly linked with the abuse and neglect of the environment have been hounding humanity for several decades now so that the need to integrate acceptable business practices were proposed in order to reduce or decrease negative impacts. These are strengthened by governmental regulatory mandates as well as organisational requirements for acceptable continuance o f business operations in a given community or industry. It has been found that day-to-day practices from population growth to consumption are all connected to the continuing environmental changes which resulted to depletion of natural resources that may soon unable to support the population, increased carbon dioxide releases by each individual that leads to trapping of heat, increased temperatures elsewhere, water shortages, among others as reported by World Bank. Specifically, there are more than 2 billion people without access to clean water and sanitation, or roughly 40%

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Wi-Fi Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wi-Fi - Research Paper Example It is the name given to a type of network connection that does no need any cords or physical connections to connect. Technically, it represents a type of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) that adheres to the 802.11network standard of the IEEE. The term Wi-Fi is often mistakenly thought of as an acronym for Wireless Fidelity. What is its History? The AT&T Company’s wireless uses spread spectrum radio technology and multi carrier OFDM radio technology. This spread spectrum technology used in Wi-Fi was first introduced in the year 1985 by the US Federal communications Commission. Vic Hayes chaired IEEE for ten consecutive years. He was involved in designing standards 802.11a and 802.11b upon which Wi-Fi works. He is thus named as the â€Å"father of Wi-Fi†. The actual predecessor to Wi – Fi was invented in 1990 by the NCR Corporation/AT&T in the Netherlands. WaveLan was the name given to the first wireless products that were bought into the market. They incorporate d the speeds of 1Mbit/s to 2Mbit/s. Finally, the CSIRO, an Australian research body filed the original patents behind the Wi-Fi technology in the year 1986. How it works? Wi-Fi uses radio waves to transmit the information across a Wireless Local Area Network. It transmits information to and from the internet. Any data transfer from a website is done when the website sends information to the modem. This information is then passed on to a wireless router. This device routes data (converts information to radio waves and beams it) to your computer. This information is then interpreted by the computer with the help of wireless networking specific hardware/software. Exactly the same process occurs but only in the opposite direction when the computer wants to send information over the internet. Very often, a wireless connection operates faster than a wired broadband internet connection. Who invented? An Australian research body CSIRO was the first formal inventors of Wi-Fi in the year 1996 . How safe is it? Majority of the scientists who have assessed the safety of Wi-Fi networks advocate the fact that there is no particular evidence to the Wi – Fi connections being hazardous to health. The technology however is not very old. Thus any health hazards that may be slow would only be evident after a certain number of years. Till then it cannot certainly be judged whether a Wi Fi is safe or not. The radio waves that are used by a wireless device or network are relatively low in frequency. The 2.4GHz of radio waves used in the case of Wi-Fi are the non-ionizing type of radiation. This radiation, also used in microwaves and mobile phone communications etc., is not known to have destructive effects on human cells. There is however, one school of thought among scientists that advocates that such a frequency of radiation is harmful to chromosomes. Also, this school of thought thinks that the radiation does not merely heat up the human atoms but does much more than that. There however is no scientific evidence to prove the above facts. Another school of thought emphasizes that exposure to microwaves and cell phones using low level radiation may scientifically be harmless as yet but the exposures to these waves in the above mentioned devices are relatively for a very short period of time as compared to the exposure to a Wi-Fi router that may be located in your office or home. The spectrum that these low radiation emitting devices cover is very large and is constant. The Wi-Fi routers in the vicinity of a human being are turned on twenty four hours a day and seven days a week throughout the year. Though no scientific evidence may yet be present but Wi-Fi devices are suspected to me more of a risk than any other devices using the same low level frequency of radio waves. The WHO (World

Monday, September 23, 2019

ARTICLE CRITIQUE Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

ARTICLE CRITIQUE - Assignment Example The title of this article is precise and discusses the topic in a transitory description of the chronological and premeditated framework of the advancement of diplomacy. The title also aids in a number of roles. The purpose of this essay is it offers us mutual ground and terminology to sightsee the occurrences in a scientiï ¬ c and simpliï ¬ ed manner. Specifically, it assist us institute the element that the diplomatic establishment has been established as a result of political leaders’ response to the political and strategic atmosphere. This essay also demonstrates that patterns and norms are self-implementing as political rulers and leaders have preserved and replicated them for quite a long duration. This essay is particularly useful for those who are not acquainted with the disparities of the establishments and roles of diplomacy throughout past (Henrikson,1976, Pg. 1). The role of this analysis is to offer a complete criticism on the chronological development of diplomatic institutions. The audience targeted draws comprehensively on the empirical literature on the antiquity of diplomacy and the English school. Nevertheless, this work entails other noteworthy and tremendous evidence with more wide-ranging dealings of the antiquity of international relations reviewed by many authors in this case analysis. In inference to this work, the description of the ordinary history here omits several significant features of diplomacy that are not immediate applicable to transnational rows or conï ¬â€šict resolution. According to this work, the author has disaggregated the historic development of diplomatic establishments into numerous chronological eras. All descriptions of the past chronologies are factual well documented through some important inherited institutional elements of current diplomacy evolutions in the â€Å"Future of Diplomacy†. It also accounts a calculated problem both domestic and international behind the

Sunday, September 22, 2019

First Cars Ltd Essay Example for Free

First Cars Ltd Essay Critical path analysis is a method that is used to plan out the many activities involved in a project to be able to find the most efficient way of complete it and how to complete it on time. From a research and development point of view, the decision to go ahead with this project relies solely on the critical path analysis provided by Amy Jones. In light of this, the operations director is rightly concerned about how valuable the data provided by the critical path analysis is. The arguments for and against seem to be balanced. Therefore, I present the most significant argument of how valuable a critical path analysis – which is how Amy’s data allows the business to be have a clear outline of when and where money is spent in the project. This means that the critical path analysis will help First Cars plc with their cash flow which would allow them subsequently to be able to plan out careful spending to ensure they are able to fund the project. This would allow them to under go an investment appraisal before starting the project as they also have specific dates in which each part of the development would be ready. This is vital because of First Cars plc’s limited financial reserves it would mean they would be able workout the payback period and the average rate of return which could mean they are able to work out expected profits for the coming year from the which would mean shareholders would feel happier with the business as they are able to see a clear direction in which the business is improving, but most importantly it will show if the project is viable as they will be able to know how quickly it will allow the business to generate cash quickly to ensure they do not face a poor cash flow situation which could see the business dipping into liquidation. Another potential benefit of using critical path analysis is that it allows such an important project to be planned thoroughly in order to make sure everything is completed properly and on time. This is important because the business has a very clear deadline to make (August 2010) any issues which could mean they are not reached on time would result in the business failing to reach this deadline. Amy makes it clear that it is important to enter this market early to ensure a strong competitive market position because this is so vital it allows the critical path analysis to be used constructively to ensure everyone keeps to the same deadlines, this is because the tasks on the critical path analysis are completed by various other departments meaning the business has a Matrix structure so therefore it is important to highlight how important it is to reach deadlines and a clear outline on what deadlines should be met and how long the project teams have to reach them because there could be confusion due to the overlapping authority which is held in a Matrix structure. On the other hand, there is evidence that makes the credibility of the critical path analysis doubted. The most important argument supporting this would be the accuracy of the information provided in the diagram. In the case study it says ‘information provided by Amy Jones’ because of this it is hard to determine if the numbers are correct. Whilst it is important to remember that this is a completely new venture and there are hardly any competitors there is relatively no previous data to be obtained from competitors, because of this Amy has no where to be able to validate her own data with which could be worrying to the Operations Director because these numbers could have been come up with in thin air with no chance in reality to be reached on time. This concern could stem from the fact that all the data comes from Amy, who is pushing this project extremely hard to get through in to production. As the business is relying on this proposal to put the business ‘back o n to the road of success’ having only a critical path analysis could be of none value at all to First Cars plc. Another argument doubting the value of critical path analysis in this proposal is that most of the activities to take place are not in Amy’s marketing division which could mean she could underestimate the time needed to complete other tasks resulting in the time needed to complete the project being set back by many weeks. Which could mean they do not reach their important deadline of August 2010 which could possibly mean that they have thrown the whole project down the drain; this is because it is extremely important for the business that they reach the deadline if they want to become a strong competitor in the given market. Not only could the project be in jeopardy but the whole of the business if any of the deadlines aren’t met because it would put them in a poor state regarding their cash flow. All in all, even though the argument seems to be relevantly balanced I believe there is a lot to loss on this project, a considerably amount more than what is at stake to be gained. The project is so unsafe for a business which is already struggling to survive. I think that First Car plc needs to hold fire and invest in a project which will guarantee to bring in profits and cash quickly rather than one that is extremely risky with no previous data to compare it on and one that entails extremely high costs – cars could be sitting around for days or even weeks in expensive city centres with staff having nothing to do, I suspect it could be a seasonal business in regards to when someone might want a car and what for. Due to the reasons above I believe that in this case the value of the critical path analysis is extremely poor and that other factors need to be taken in to consideration, I would have liked to have seen more supporting evidence of the payback figures.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

What Is Plagiarism And The Ethics Of It Philosophy Essay

What Is Plagiarism And The Ethics Of It Philosophy Essay Plagiarism comes from the Latin word plagio. It is translated as to steal. It is better to formulate a definition of plagiarism from the verb plagiarize. To plagiarize means to steal or to borrow someones ideas, works or thoughts. In such a way, plagiarism is copying the work of others and turning it as your own. On the one hand, plagiarism is a deliberate action. It is cheating. People assume the intellectual property rights for their realization in our world. It is the easiest way for realization. Therefore plagiarism is an obstacle for society. It doesnt let society develop in science and technology. It is a process of destruction a man as a person. Plagiarism kills intention to be the first and wish of something new. In our childhood we often hear such words: Dont take it! These things are others! And you mustnt take them! Plagiarism is the same thing. We know that it is wrong, but we do it. In my opinion, plagiarism is usual for young people, who went to achieve fame or to be generally recognized very quickly and without any effort. This kind of people is very lazy and doesnt want to work hard. But their aim is to be famous and they achieve these goals. We can meet plagiarism in many spheres, for example, in literature, music, science, art etc. All people know the composition Lambada. The author of this composition was an unknown composer. Lambada has remained unnoticed for a long time. But then two young boys used this idea. They made new arrangement, changed this composition a little and gava a new life for this melody. Lambada has become very popular in many countries. When this composition began to bring in return, a real author proved his case in court. And then he got ten million dollars. He was satisfied with money, because he didnt want to achieve a success and fame. Provided to be, if somebody use more than seven notes from another composition, it will be real plagiarism. It is a good example of copying the work of others. In art we meet plagiarism very often too. Artists draw their pictures and then these works are copied by somebody else. There is a good example of this process in Kiev. The most popular are Gustav Klimts works. He has made his works in one copy with oil painting. But now people, who replicate them, use china, wood, posters etc. And the most interesting thing is authorship of these copies. These people dont forget to write the name Gustav Klimt. In my opinion, it is absurd. Pictures must be in one copy and be kept in museums. But there is one big problem. If pictures arent duplicated, many people cant see them, because they dont have a chance to travel. We can meet plagiarism in journalism too. Many journalists sit at home and only copy articles of other authors. And then they diffuse it with the help of Internet. Who knows what results will develop from this work? But I think that this work is useless. Authors can cope with it themselves, if .they want. But people like to make a profit out of somebodys work. And it is a pity. Another important thing, which I want to discuss, is our education. Plagiarism is found here very often. It becomes a part of our education. And this problem is eternal and nobody can solve it. Students copy essays, term papers, degree woks. And they dont want to develop. They only seek easy ways. And it begins from the school, when we copy tests; ask our parents or friends to help us with our compositions or to paint a picture. We explain our actions in such a way, we cant do it ourselves. But it is deception and our cunning. Of course, we can, but we dont want to try. We dont want to think. Pupils get into the habit of plagiarism. Their parents must explain them what is good and what is bad. Parents are their tutors during our life. And their purpose is to teach them how children must behave, because then it can be worse. And when children grown up and become students, they think, that whole world center around them and all must be at their feet. I know that I behave sometimes in s uch a way. But I try to wrestle with myself and advise it everybody. In my opinion, this habit is awful. And people cant be stead on their legs, if they dont want to improve. We should improve and improve every day. But plagiarism prevents it. We shouldnt rely on somebody; we must achieve a success themselves. But it is very difficult for some people. They are used to plagiarize and cant live without this process. How can we discuss our education, if we copy somebodys work? We dont want to develop our thinking. We dont aspire to be well-educated, independent, purposeful, and self-confident and we dont want to be a person. We must know that our education only depends on ourselves. Laziness and unwillingness are motives of plagiarism. But how we can tell the difference between plagiarism and borrowing? When is borrowing over and plagiarism begins? At first sight these two notions are the same. But this opinion is deceptive. We meet borrowings in literature. New literary work is based on other ideas in literature, which are well-known for us. Problems, actions, themes and sometimes dialogues and inner monologues are very similar in each novel or story. Authors write about issue of the day. There are many problems, which will be vital at any time, in our life. But authors develop a subject in different ways. And of course they have different plots, characters and their own views on this problem. But we should be very careful with borrowings and know a distinction between borrowing and plagiarism. On the other hand, plagiarism possesses positive qualities. With plagiarism many things are passed on from generation to generation. For example, all inventions had appeared many years ago. But then somebody uses this idea and improves it. In such a way we get a new invention. In my conclusion I want to say, that plagiarism has more negative qualities, than positive. And it is a criminal action. We must remember that it is sued at law. But these things stop people very seldom. It is impossible to struggle with plagiarism, because people choose their life themselves. If they want to use somebody for the sake of their purpose, they will do it. One can show the right way to another, but he must choose how he wants to live.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Psychological contract breach effects and violation on employees

Psychological contract breach effects and violation on employees Abstract The goal of this study is to examine the influence of personality on the relationship between psychological contract breach and violation and its respective impact on employees work-related outcomes such as turnover intentions and counterproductive work behaviors. In this paper, personality was assessed on the basis of the Five-Factor model of personality (Goldberg, 1990) that is comprised of the following dimensions: Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability and Openness to Experience. Introduction In difficult times when companies must adapt to different changes in the global economic climate work behaviors are of great interest to organizations. In trying to retain the best employees, managers are interested in reducing turnover and preventing counterproductive behaviors. In order to understand employee responses and reactions to the work environment, contracts become vital as they create a behavioral guideline for both the employee and the organization. The psychological contract is a major element of any employee organization relationship, and consists of an employees beliefs concerning the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between that focal person and another party (Rousseau, 1989, p.123). Employees often feel that their organization has not fulfilled at least some of the promises it has made; and when they do their psychological contract is said to have been breached (Robinson and Rousseau, 1994). Numerous studies have analyzed the consequences of psychological contract breach on employees work-outcomes and generally conclude that there is a positive relationship between psychological contract breach and job dissatisfaction and turnover intentions (Zhao, Wayne, Glibkowski, Bravo, 2007; Bal, de Lange, Jansen and Van der Velde, 2008). Psychological contract violation has been defined as feelings of betrayal and deeper psychological distress à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [whereby]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the victim experiences anger, resentment, a sense of injustice and wrongful harm (Rousseau, 1989, p129). While psychological contract breach may not always lead to undesirable work-related attitudes, it is expected that employees who experience intensely negative feelings might take different measures against the organization they work for (Suazo et al., 2005). This is why in this paper we focus on the role of psychological contract violation as the mediator between psychological contract breach and employees work-related outcomes. But do all people have the same reactions to contract breach or could it be that there are individual differences in personality that lead some employees to react more strongly to psychological contract breach than others? Many authors have investigated the relationship between personality traits and job related outcomes (Judge, Heller and Mount, 2000; Tallman and Bruning, 2008), but there is little research on the relationship between personality and psychological contract breach and violation. Raja, Johns and Ntalianis (2004) is one of the few articles that report on the impact of personality on psychological contracts. These authors found that people high in neuroticism and low in conscientiousness are the ones that are more likely to perceive psychological contract breach. Moreover, the paper revealed that some personality traits moderated the relationship between psychological contract breach and violation. People high in neuroticism tended to perceive a stronger relationship between breach and violation than people high in locus of control. The main focus of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the psychological contract breach and violation relationship by analyzing whether this relationship is moderated by the Five-Factor model of personality (Goldberg, 1990).The study tries to fill in a gap in the existent psychological contract literature by examining the extent to which personality can explain changes in employees attitudes. Compared to other studies in the field, this study focuses on all five personality traits of the Five-Factor model of personality (Goldberg, 1990). This study is structured as follows: the next section describes the current state of the art with respect to psychological contract breach and violation; section three includes the research method and data collection; results will be discussed in section four and the main findings and implications for study and practice along with limitations and suggestions for future research in section five. Literature review and hypotheses The psychological contract As explained in the introduction, the term psychological contract is used to explain the relationship between an employee and an employer and the promises they have made to one another. Many researchers have explained the psychological contract in terms of social exchange theory. This theory (Blau, 1964; Robinson and Morrison, 1995) suggests that individuals enter relationships which consist not only of economic exchanges but also of more diffuse social obligations. These obligations change over time, but research has shown that individuals feel most comfortable when they are in a balanced exchange environment (Gouldner, 1960; Wayne, Shore and Liden, 1997), an environment where they feel that there is a fair equilibrium between what they offer the organization and what they receive in return. When the organization fails to fulfill its promises, employees might feel that there is inequality in the employment relationship (Lester, Turnley, Bloodgood and Bolino, 2003) and might as a result be inclined to take actions to rebalance their work situation, by for example reducing their contribution to the organization (Rousseau, 1995). Psychological contract breach and violation The psychological contract is a subjective perception, so the employee and the organization can possess radically different views of what are the obligations or promises that they have made to one another (Robinson and Rousseau, 1994). This is why often employees feel that their psychological contract has been breached and that the organization has failed in keeping its promises (Robinson and Rousseau, 1994). Although both the employee and the employer can feel that the contract has been breached by the other party, in this paper, as in many investigations on the psychological contract (cf. Zhao et al., 2007) the focus is on the perspective of the employee. In the early phases of research into the psychological contract there was not a very clear distinction between psychological contract breach and psychological contract violation and researchers used these terms interchangeably (Suazo, Turnley, Mai, 2005). In 1997, Robinson and Morrison made a clear distinction between the two. These authors defined psychological contract breach as a cognitive perception, while psychological contract violation was defined as the emotional or affective reaction that can sometimes arise from the perception of a breach of the psychological contract (Morrison and Robinson, 1997). Research has shown that not all breaches lead to emotional reactions on the part of employees (Morrison and Robinson, 1997; Turnley and Feldman, 1999a) because these emotional reactions can be influenced by different individual differences such as personality (Raja et al., 2004) or fairness perceptions (Morrison and Robbinson, 2000), but in those cases where emotional reaction do es occur the employee may have feelings of anger, injustice, resentment and distrust toward the organization that has not honored its promises (Raja, Johns and Ntalianis, 2004). Several studies have linked psychological contract breach to violation. Zhao, Wayne, Glibkowski, Bravo (2007) have summarized these studies and report a meta-analytic correlation of 0.52 (p In line with research findings and with social exchange theory, it is proposed here that psychological contract breach is positively related to psychological contract violation. Hypothesis 1: Psychological contract breach is positively related to psychological contract violation. Psychological contract breach and employees responses Previous studies have linked psychological contract breach to negative work outcomes (Robinson and Rousseau, 1994; Robinson and Morrison, 1995). When psychological contract breach occurs, employees start reducing their contribution to the organization as they feel that the organization has failed them (Robinson, 1996). Turnover intentions and counterproductive behaviors are employee possibilities of reducing their efforts and contributions towards the organization they work for. Zhao et al. (2007, p.651) define turnover intentions as the subjective probability that an individual will leave his or her organization within a certain period of time. The meta-analytic study shows that there is a positive correlation between psychological contract breach and turnover intentions (r=.42, p Hypothesis 2a: Psychological contract breach will be positively related to turnover intentions. Counterproductive behavior can be seen as destructive reactions toward an organization (Kickul, Neuman, Parker, Finkl, 2002). When employees feel that there psychological contract has been breached their level of commitment and trust in their organization decreases (Ball, Trevino, Sims, 1994) and they might react destructively toward the organization (Kickul et al., 2002). This reaction may be characterized by a set of different deliberate acts that harm the organization or even the organizations stakeholders such as clients, owners or supervisors (Spector and Fox, 2005). Counterproductive behavior is a very broad construct which contains behaviors ranging from theft or sabotage to violence against others (Gruys and Sackett, 2003). Each one of these actions create great problems to the organization and are also economic threats as organizations need to spend money to protect themselves against such actions (Bennett and Robinson, 2000). The employees counterproductive actions may even escalate until the level where they interfere with co-workers jobs or where they give a disrespectful treatment to their supervisors (KicKul et al., 2002). Bordia et al. (2008) found that the psychological contract breach was positively related to both minor offenses (ÃŽÂ ²=0.44,pË‚.001) and major offenses (ÃŽÂ ²=0.49, pË‚.001) of the employees at the work place. Following on their results, we propose that psychological contract breach will be positively related to the employees counterproductive behavior. Hypothesis 2b: Psychological contract breach will be positively related to counterproductive behavior. Psychological contract violation Prior to 1977, the terms psychological contract breach and psychological contract violation were used as synonyms, so much of the existent literature focused on the relationship between psychological contract breach and employees responses. Only after the paper of Robinson and Morrison (1997) the two became the separate concepts as we know them now. In this part of the paper we introduce psychological contract violation as a mediator of the relationship between psychological contract breach and employees reactions. As not all contract breaches results in feelings of violation and not all employees respond negatively to their psychological contract being breached (Morrison and Robinson, 1997; Rousseau 1995, Turnley et al., 2003) we believe that it would be interesting to test whether psychological contract violation could have a mediating effect on the psychological breach employees reactions relationship. One paper that focuses on the mediating role of psychological contract violation is the meta-analysis of Zhao et al. (2007). The authors use affective events theory to explain the relationship between psychological contract breach, affect (violation and mistrust), job attitudes and individual effectiveness. Following this theory, a negative event at the workplace causes negative emotional reactions, which in turn are taught to cause negative work attitudes (Bal et al., 2008). In their study, the authors find psychological contract breach to be a negative event leading to emotional reactions and job attitudes. The authors found that psychological contract violation fully mediated the relationship between psychological contract breach and job satisfaction, organizational commitment and intentions to quit. While psychological contract breach may not always lead to undesirable work-related attitudes, it is expected that employees who experience intensely negative feelings (psychological contract violation) will take some measures (such as leaving the organization or working less) against their organization (Suazo et al., 2005). Based on the affective events theory we expect that psychological contract violation will mediate the relationship between psychological contract breach and employee responses toward the organization they work for. Hypothesis 3a: Psychological contract violation will mediate the relationship between psychological contract breach and employees turnover intention. Hypothesis 3b: Psychological contract violation will mediate the relationship between psychological contract breach and employees counterproductive behavior. 2.5 The moderating role of personality Robinson and Morisson (2000) showed that attributions and fairness perceptions moderate the relationship between psychological contract breach and violation. The authors explain that when employees felt that they were treated unfair there was a stronger relationship between the breach of the psychological contract and an emotional reaction to it, so lower levels of fairness were predicting violation. Other papers suggested that organizational influences and also employees personal dispositions may be predictors of psychological contracts (Rousseau, 1995; 2001). But only little research has been conducted on the relationship between personality and psychological contract breach (Raja et al., 2004; Tallman and Bruning, 2008) even though there are a lot of papers that emphasize the importance of personality on work attitudes such as job performance or job satisfaction (Barrick and Mount, 19921; Judge and Bono, 2001). The focus of this study is to analyze whether personality might moderate the relationship between psychological contract breach and violation. We consider that personality could significantly influence this relationship because personality can explain how people differ in their social interactions, reaction to perceived injustice and attachment of importance to various extrinsic and intrinsic outcomes (Raja et al., 2004, p354). Zhao et al. (2007) also state that future research should focus on personality as a moderator when studying psychological contract breach and outcomes. The personality dimensions used in the paper are derived from the Five-Factor model of personality (Goldberg, 1990) and consists of 5 personality types: Extraversion, Neuroticism (Emotional Stability), Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience. We chose this model of personality because it has been used in a variety of studies (Barrick and Mount, 1991; Judge, Heller and Mount 2002, Raja et al. , 2004) and have been related to numerous work attitudes and behaviors (Costa and McCrae, 1992). Raja et al. (2004) article is one of the very few studies that established a connection between personality and psychological contract breach. These authors studied only the effect of Neuroticism, Extraversion and Conscientiousness, because they were unable to establish a reliable level of measurement for the Agreeableness dimension and considered Openness to Experience to be a too controversial structure. Still, in a more recent study of Tallman and Bruning (2008) the authors were able to measure all of these personality dimensions with the help of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory questionnaire, so we decided to also focus on all five personality aspects and their relation to the psychological contract breach and violation. The authors (Raja et al., 2004) found that employees personalities are related to their contract choice, as people high in neuroticism will tend to choose transactional contracts, while people high in conscientiousness or extraversion prefer relational ones. Transactional contracts are characterized by short-term economically focused attitudes and relational ones by a set of long-term attitudes that include features like loyalty or security (Raja et al., 2004). The authors also found that people who were more sensitive to equity issues (equity sensitivity dimension) were more likely to feel negative emotional reaction when there psychological contract was breached, than people who were more internal (external locus of control dimension). Tallman and Bruning (2008) extended the study of Raja et al. (2004) and the research on the relationship between psychological contracts and personality, by studying the link between employees personality and their beliefs regarding the employees obligations and organizational behavior. The authors linked personality to nine employee psychological contract obligation dimensions: commitment to the organization, commitment to the job, stewardship behaviors, showing initiative, serving the needs of the organization, support in the job, growth, support as a person and existence and their results showed that employees personality explained the variance for 4 out of 9 dimensions. Even more, they found that each of the Five-Model Personality dimensions was related to at least one of the dimensions, indicating that using all the 5 personality types was important for the study. As research has showed personality is an important factor in employees beliefs regarding their psychological contract; this is why we believe that personality might moderate the relationship between psychological contract breach and violation, influencing the extent to which employees perceive there psychological contract being violated and not only breach. The next part of this chapter will be divided according to the Five-Factor Model: Extraversion (1), Neuroticism (Emotional Stability) (2), Conscientiousness (3), Agreeableness (4) and Openness to Experience (5). Extraversion (1) Extroverts are highly sociable, talkative, energetic, ambitious and assertive (Costa, McCrae, 1992). The assertiveness of extroverts is associated with a desire for increased status and salary (Cattell, 1981). Extraversion is associated with high job performance, job satisfaction and team performance (Judge and Ilies, 2002; Judge and Bono, 2000; Kickul and Wiesner, 1997). Previous studies have shown that there is a positive relationship between extraversion on the one hand and job satisfaction (Judge et al., 2002) and organizational commitment (Erdheim et al., 2006) on the other. Even though extroverts are seeking for monetary rewards they tend to form long-term relationships, because in these ones they can develop themselves and have better opportunities to gain a better status and a better income (Tallman and Bruning, 2008). Tallman and Bruning (2008) found that there was a positive correlation between the extroversion personality dimensions and the perceived obligation extrovert people felt organization towards them in fulfilling their growth needs (ÃŽÂ ² = .25, p Extroverts are high performers and they are committed to their organization (Tallman and Bruning, 2008), in addition they are assertive, so they will tend to stand up for their rights. Breaching the psychological contract of extroverted people will probably lead to stronger negative emotional feelings toward the organization they work for than when comparing to introverted people. This is why it is proposed here that extroverts will be more likely to react emotionally to their psychological contract being breached than non-extroverts. Hypothesis 4b: Extraversion moderates the relationship between psychological contract breach and psychological contract violation, so that the relationship between psychological contract breach and psychological contract violation is stronger for extroverts than for introverts. Neuroticism (2) People high in neuroticism are anxious and lack trust in people, and it is said that they are more prone to perceive failures in life (Judge, Higgins, Thoresen, Barick, 1999). They have a greater tendency to pay attention to the negative side of a situation than other people who have a more balanced view of things (Ho, Weingart, Rousseau, 2003). They are usually poor team performers and they fear change (Kichuk and Wiesner, 1997). Previous research has shown a negative relationship between neuroticism and job satisfaction (Judge et al., 2002). Other authors have linked neuroticism to a preference for transactional psychological contracts (Raja et al., 2004) because these contracts do not require much initiative or confidence (Raja et al., 2004). Tallman and Bruning (2008) showed that neuroticism is positively related to the organizations obligations to provide support for the employees and to stewardship behavior. Because people high in neuroticism are more worried and anxious we believe that their reaction to a psychological contract breach would be stronger than that of people emotionally stable. This is why we propose that people high in neuroticism will have stronger emotional reaction and will tend to perceive their psychological contract as being violated. Hypothesis 4a: Neuroticism moderates the relationship between psychological contract breach and psychological contract violation, so that this relationship is stronger for people high in neuroticism than for those low in neuroticism. Conscientiousness (3) Conscientiousness is related to an individuals degree of self-control, need for achievement, order and also persistence (Costa, McRae Dye, 1991). Conscientious people tend to be more concerned with tasks accomplishment than with the task rewards (Stewart, 1996) and are interested in forming long-term employment exchange relationships (Zhao and Chen, 2008). Research has shown that there is a positive relationship between conscientiousness and work-related outcomes such as job satisfaction (Judge et al., 2002) or commitment (Erdheim, 2006). Orvis et al. (2008) tested the hypothesis that conscientiousness moderates the relationship between psychological contract breach and work outcomes. In their study, the authors showed that lower levels of conscientiousness led to a higher level of perceived psychological contract breach and lower levels of job satisfaction, organization loyalty and higher levels of intentions to quit. Raja et al. (2004) also found that there is a strong relation between conscientiousness and psychological contract breach: people with higher levels of conscientiousness perceived lower levels of psychological contract breach. Thus, it is expected here that it is unlikely that conscientious people will feel that their psychological contract has been violated upon perceiving a breach of their psychological contracts. Hypothesis 4c: Conscientiousness moderates the relationship between psychological contract breach and violation, so that the relationship between psychological contract breach and psychological contract violation is stronger for people low in conscientiousness than for those high in conscientiousness. Agreeableness (4) The agreeableness personality dimension refers to a persons preferences for interpersonal interactions that can range from compassion to antagonism (Costa McCrae, 1992). One of the few papers that investigated the relationship between agreeableness and psychological contract breach and work-related outcomes is the paper by Tallman and Bruning (2008). In their research, the authors show that there is a positive correlation between the agreeableness personality dimension and that perceived obligation agreeable people feel their organization has in supporting its employees (ÃŽÂ ²=.20, p Agreeable people value their interpersonal relationships and are characterized as being very interested in maintaining positive relations with the people that surround them (Ho, Weingart, Rousseau, 2003). The fact that agreeable people are more prone to maintaining long-term and pleasant relationship with others might have an effect on their perception of their psychological contract being breached. Because the psychological contract is an agreement made between two parties and involves an interpersonal element, agreeable people might be more tolerant and forgiving so it might make agreeable people feel fewer negative emotional reactions to breach than other personality types. Hypothesis 4b: Agreeableness moderates the relationship between psychological contract breach and violation, so that this relationship is stronger for people low in agreeableness than for those high in agreeableness. Openness to Experience (5) Openness to Experience represents open-minded individuals, who are imaginative, inventive, creative, curious and unconventional (Costa and McCrae, 1992). Open people have a high need for autonomy and tend to be creative and adaptive to change (Costa and Mcrae, 1992). Furthermore, open employees are less likely to feel that they must serve the organization or their managers and will look for organizations that will allow them enough freedom to try new ideas and approaches in their activities (Tallman and Bruning, 2008). Because open employees will look for interesting and challenging jobs, we would consider that they will also seek an organization that supports their decisions and that allows them to grow and satisfy their needs (Tallman and Bruning, 2008). This is why we expect that they might feel strong negative emotions when their freedom is limited or when they dont feel their organizations support. Hypothesis 4e: Openness to experience moderates the relationship between psychological contract breach and violation, so that this relationship is stronger for people high in openness than for those low in openness. Research model In the previous sections four sets of hypothesis were established. As shown in the figure, the principal relation in the paper is the one between psychological contract breach, violation and employees responses (turnover intentions, counterproductive behavior), while personality traits are hypothesized to moderate the relationship between breach and violation. Figure 1. Research model 3. Method 3.1 Sample The study was conducted in the Netherlands and used 3 data sources: full-time or part-time employees in the Netherlands, their supervisors and one of their friends. The questions related to psychological contract breach, psychological contract violation and turnover intentions were answered by the respondent, the questions regarding counterproductive behavior were answered by the respondents supervisor and personality was assessed by obtaining ratings from the respondents friend. We consider that the employee is the best source of information when considering psychological contract breach or violation as he is the only person who knows exactly what were his expectations and beliefs regarding his psychological contract. For the turnover intentions we use the employee as a respondent for similar reasons: he is the only one who can tell about his thoughts on leaving the company he works for. In what concerns the measurement of counterproductive behavior we expect that employees will be more reluctant to state the situations were they were acting accordingly, so we consider that their direct supervisor will give more objective responses. Supervisors ratings were previously used to assess counterproductive behaviors in Bordia et al. (2008) or anticitizenship behaviors in Kickul et al. (2001). We also ask one of the respondents friends to fill in the personality survey because employees might distort their personality scores (Rosse, Stecher, Miller and Levin, 1998) and answer the questions the way they think that they should be answered (Mahar, Cologne and Duck, 1995). The respondents were approached through a press release and invitation which were available to them through different websites like: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The total number of questionnaires spread among the employees was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ from these, only a number à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ participants responded. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. In the beginning the employees were sent an email with the link for completing the survey and after 1 week they also received a reminder. The supervisors and friends were approached through the employee, who received a separate link to forward to its supervisor and friend so that they could participate at the survey. X% of employees were male, X% were female, Y% completed their university education, Y% their secondary education programThe average age of respondents was from à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, X% of them were working X hours a week, Y% of them were working Y hours a weekà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ X% of employees reported an organizational tenure of X%, Y% of employees reported an organizational tenure of Y yearsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Y% of the supervisors were male and Y% were female, Y% completed their university education, Y% their secondary education program The age of ranged from supervisors was from à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, X% of them were working X hours a week, Y% of them were working Y hours a weekà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The average organizational tenure of supervisors was T%. The frequency of contact between the supervisor and employee was for X% daily, for Y% weeklyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Z% of the friends were male, Z% were female. Their age range was from X to Y years, X completed their university education, Y% their secondary education program. 3.2 Measurement of variables Control variables The results of this study were controlled for the effects of: gender, age and organizational tenure. Gender was controlled for because employees might be evaluated differently according to gender (Turnley, Bolino, Lester and Bloodgood, 2003). Age was controlled for because age could affect work behavior or could also influence the kind of job people choose and finally, organizational tenure was necessary as a control variable because the length of employment might be related to the number of psychological contracts breaches an employee might experience (Turnley at al., 2003). Psychological contract breach The scale of Robinson and Morrison (2000) was used to assess psychological contract breach (Cronbachs ÃŽÂ ± = .92). The scale consisted of five items that assessed the employees perception of psychological contract breach. An example item is: I feel that my employer has come through in fulfilling the promises made to me when I was hired. Thr

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Teaching Morality More Important than Sex Education in Public Schools E

     Ã‚  Ã‚   A controversy is rising in America about the nature of sex education in the nation's high schools.   Studies show that 81 percent of American adults support a joint program teaching abstinence and contraception as opposed to an abstinence-only program (Roper 0316946), and 79 percent support contraception education regardless of the level of sexual activity in teenagers (Roper 0340807). The sad fact is, contraception is society's attempt at a "quick fix" for a problem that runs far deeper than the issue of teen sex.   In the debate over the "best safe sex," educators and parents must consider not only the health issues, but must also reevaluate the morality of the nation's young people. Leafing through Planned Parenthood's literature on abortion, contraception, and teen sex, it becomes obvious that Planned Parenthood promotes contraception education, and opposes abstinence education:   "These 'abstinence-until-marriage' programs are an unrealistic attempt to reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy by using a 'just say no' approach" ("Reducing Teenage Pregnancy").   A good portion of American teenagers agree, illustrated by the fact that 77 percent of women and 85 percent of men will have sexual intercourse before the age of twenty ("Teen Sex and Pregnancy").   They are encouraged to use contraception.   Interestingly, though, teenagers aren't given all the facts about contraception, as is illustrated by Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler: Not too long ago, I attended a talk during "Safe Sex Week" at the school.   The speaker opened with a statement that sent a rumble of discomfort through the crowd:   "You've been brainwashed!"   When the students settled down, he continued.   "You've had an entire week of 'safe sex' indoctr... ...ssroom."   Time 18 Oct. 2013: n. pag.   Online.   Internet.   URL (4 Nov. 2014). "Normandy Junior Preaches Abstinence, Has High Hopes."   St. Louis Post-Dispatch.   11 Oct. 2011: North Post 5. Okite, Odhiambo.   "Fidelity Urged to Fight AIDS."   Christianity Today 12 July 2012: 22. "Reducing Teenage Pregnancy." Planned Parenthood.URL (21   Oct. 2014) Roper Center at University of Connecticut.   Poll. Accession number 0316946.   Question number 031.   10 May 2014. Roper Center at University of Connecticut.   Poll.   Accession number 0340807.   Question number 087. 19 July 2014. Sommers, Christina Hoff.   "Are We Living in a Moral Stone Age?"   Imprimis Mar. 2010: 1-4. "Teen Sex and Pregnancy."   Sept. 2013.   The Alan Guttmacher Institute. URL (22 Nov. 2014). Zulu, Mabvuto.   "Give Abstinence a Chance."   Times of Zambia 10 Aug. 2013: n. pag.   

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Essay --

Anne Frank also known as Annelies Marie Frank was a sixteen year old girl who got murdered during the Holocaust. She was born in the city of Frankfurt in Germany to her parents Otto and Edith Frank. Anne Frank had an older sister who was three years older than she was and her name was Margot Betti Frank. The Franks were known as a very liberal family who were also classified as a middle class family since their ancestors lived in Germany. In 1933 the Franks decided to move towards Amsterdam since Germany was being overruled by the Nazis. While the family had adjusted to Amsterdam, Otto Frank was really focused on his business since he was new into the city. Anne and Margot were also getting adjusted to the school system and when they were well adjusted they started to have friends who were Jewish and non Jewish. Six years later which was in 1939, Anne’s and Margot’s grandmother decided to join them in Amsterdam as well and be reunited with her two beautiful nieces. In M arch, 1940 a horrible trajedy happened Amsterdam which was that Amsterdam had been attacked by the Nazis who overrul...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Native American Oppression in North America Essay

While many different cultures were and are oppressed around the world, many people tend to forget about the genocide of the Native Americans on the land we call home. In 1492, when Christopher Columbus first sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, he came into contact with the indigenous people of the New World. After returning to Hispaniola, he quickly implemented policies of slavery and mass extermination of the Taino population in the Caribbean. This became the first major impact on Native Americans and eventually led to further oppression of American Indians. The implication of the population as savages helped in the displacement and genocide of the indigenous peoples. The Native Americans faced a lot of discrimination in North America during colonization, consisting of different forms of propaganda causing short-term and long-term effects in the present day. In 1492, a Spanish expedition headed by Christopher Columbus sailed for India to sell, buy, and trade rich spices and other goods, inadvertently discovering what is today North America. European conquest, large-scale exploration and colonization soon followed. This first occurred along the Caribbean coasts on the islands of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Cuba, and later extended into the interiors of both North and South America. Eventually, the entire Western Hemisphere came under the control of European governments, leading to profound changes to its landscape, population, and plant and animal life. From the 16th through the 19th centuries, the population of Indians declined from epidemic diseases brought from Europe, genocide and warfare at the hands of European explorers and colonists, displacement from their lands, internal warfare, enslavements, and a high rate of intermarriage. Epidemics of smallpox, typhus, influenza, diphtheria, and measles swept ahead of initial European contact, killing between 10 million and 20 million people, up to 95% of the indigenous population of the Americas. European expansion also caused many Native American tribes to lose their homes as they were forced by the government to live in certain areas called Indian Reservations. They were often poor and on the verge of starvation on these reservations. Many American Indians had to choose to assimilate to the culture of the colonists in order to live. The phrase â€Å"Kill the Indian, Save the Man† coincides with the assimilation. There were many tools to help with the assimilation of the natives such as boarding schools for Native American children, missionaries to introduce Christianity, and the strategic killing of their main food source, the bison. The Dawes Act was introduced in 1887 to get Native Americans to live like white Americans. Reservations were broken up into â€Å"allotments† that were given out to individual families and the families were supposed to farm and build homes on their allotment in order to support themselves. The plan failed due to the fact that some of the land was unsuitable for farming & ranching and some Natives refused to adopt a different way of life. Propaganda was a very powerful tool when it came to the oppression of American Indians. The term propaganda is derived from the Latin propagare, to propagate, to reproduce, to spread, with the meaning, to transmit, to spread from person to person. One form of early propaganda against Native Americans is the painting American Progress by John Gast in 1872. The painting depicts the iconographic image of Columbia, the American angel floating above the land, leading her pioneers westward. The angel image, intended as a personification of the United States, floats ethereally over the plains, stringing telegraph wire with one hand as she travels, and holding a schoolbook under her other arm. Ahead of her in the West is a great darkness populated by wild animals: bears, wolves, buffalo and Indian people. All are considered wild and savage, and fleeing away from her light. In her bright-light wake, as the figure progresses across the land, come farms, villages and homesteads and in the back are cities and railroads. The light of â€Å"civilization† dispels the darkness of â€Å"ignorance and barbarity†. American Indian people are portrayed along with the wild animals as the darkness, all of which have to be removed before Columbia can bring the prosperity promised to the United States. United States covert agencies working with the mainstream media often used â€Å"grey and black propaganda† to distort or fabricate information concerning the groups they had targeted. Grey propaganda efforts often centered upon contentions that the Indians’ main goal was to dispossess non-Indians of the home-owner, small farmer, or rancher type living within various treaty areas. For black propaganda there have been a number of highly publicized allegations of violence which, once disproven, were allowed to die without further fanfare. There were many short-term and long-term effects due to the oppression of American Indians. Many Native Americans were depicted as marauding, murdering, hellish savages who scalped women and children. They were seen as thieves, drunkards, and beggars, unwilling to work but willing to accept government handouts. The American Indian was often used as the antagonist in old country western films and portrayed in a negative, barbaric manner. Today a majority of the Native American population still resides on reservations. Despite helping shape America in their own way, the oppression of the American Indians is often overlooked in comparison to that of Jews during World War II and African Americans in the U. S.from slavery to the present-day Overall, the Native Americans overcame many things from when Columbus first came across them in the Caribbean in 1492. In the face of European exploration and colonization, genocide, epidemic diseases, and displacement among other things, American Indians managed to stay strong and hold on too as much of their culture as possible, working hard to dispel the false stereotype created by propaganda so long ago. While the discrimination of the past still affects them to this day, first nation peoples play a strong part in the development of this country.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Long Walk to Remember Poem

Long walk to Forever I’m what they call A. W. O. L Was a private first class in the Artillery. Hitchhike since two days, On the fringe of a city, Near fields and woods and orchard. In the early afternoon, I knocked on Catharine’s front door. I want to give Henry a rosy bride, By taking a walk with Catharine. One foot in front of the other, Through leaves, over bridges. That will be my present. I’ve never done anything like this before, Time to time, I softly said to me,I love you. I have never kissed you, I would have before. So let’s take a walk, One foot in front of the other, Through leaves, over bridges. We had always been playful, but never talk of love. What happens next? I let you know I loved you.. â€Å"Too late†, she said. I started walking again. Involuntarily, she bursts into tears, and clenched her hands. A woman couldn’t hide love, As I was seeing love now. I kissed her. The bells in the tower of the school rang. Just dream of m e,Your wonderful Newt. Marry me, Catharine? Not Henry Stewart Chasens. There are many, many good things about me. We say goodbye, shake hands, part friends. I smiled, and walked away quickly. In long perspective of shadows and trees. I stopped, and turned, â€Å"Catharine. † She ran to me. â€Å"I’ll always remember you,† she said. I’m not disappointed. We take a walk, One foot in front of the other, Through leaves, over bridges. I’m sorry Catharine, Because I love you

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Billy Liar: How to play Rita in her first scene

I have been using the Nelson Thornes Dramascripts edition of Billy Liar. I will discuss how I would play Rita in the selected scene. In this particular scene, I think it is important to show how aggravating the character of Rita is to everyone else on stage, and while I want the audience to understand this too, it is also a scene rich in moments with comic potential. For most of the section, Rita is pushy and aggressive; however there are occasional moments when she almost lets her guard down. I wish to explore the subtextual side of Rita's personality including the motives for her wanting the engagement ring from Billy. I view Rita as more complex than she may appear on first impressions, and instead of solely wanting the ring to show off, she may desire the ring to give her a feeling of belonging, to prove to herself and those around her that she can be loved, as in places, she could be seen as a deeply insecure character. At the beginning of the selected section, when Rita first makes her entrance, I want the audience to see how Rita does anything to get what she wants, even if it entails storming into a stranger's house. I would also want the audience to see that she is a formidable character, who will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. I would enter onto the stage by striding from the back of the room, through the gap in the middle of the seating, walking quickly with clenched fists to show aggression. I would pause at the entrance to the stage at the end of the walkway, to allow time for the audience and other characters to take in what has happened. During this pause I would narrow my eyes, as if locking in on a target, and adopt a posture with one hip jutted to the left with my hand placed on it, and one knee slightly bent. I would have a menacing, and almost snarling facial expression, and my breathing would be heavier and more exaggerated to show that Rita is angry, but is trying to control herself. After this, I would strut quickly and purposefully down to the main area of the stage, where I would pause again centre-stage, while scanning the room. This would give an intimidating impression to the audience as well as the rest of the cast. During the 1950's, the Domestic Revolution took place and people began taking more pride in their homes, as they had more money to spend on new appliances for the house. By storming into someone's house at this period in time, it highlights the rudeness Rita displays in this section. As the scene progresses, Rita's anger is exacerbated by other people's reactions to her entrance. Billy tries to â€Å"guide Rita towards the door† which would aggravate her, as she is trying to appear as assertive in front of people which she wants to unnerve. While I want to let the audience know who is in control at this point in the scene, I still want to keep the fast-paced and chaotic atmosphere which prevails through most of this act. I am interpreting Rita's stage direction â€Å"shrugging him away† as something more violent, and when Billy tries to lead her away, I would respond by grabbing Billy's outstretched hand by the wrist and firmly pushing it back to his side. I would then deliver the line â€Å"take your mucky hands†¦ toffee-nosed get† starting on a high inflection to show Rita's indignation at being dragged around the room. I would let the inflection fall towards the end of the line, and practically spit out the last words â€Å"rotten toffee-nosed get†, over-pronouncing each consonant. During the next part of the line, â€Å"you didn't think I'd come in, did you? † I would slowly saunter over towards Billy, as if teasing him for not foreseeing my reaction. I would say the last two words â€Å"did you? † in a patronising tone of voice, almost mocking him. In the 1950's, when this play is set, it was not the norm for a woman to be superior to a man in any way, such as in the home or at work. By showing how Rita is overpowering Billy, it conveys the rebellion and self-confidence Rita possesses. The moment in which Rita notices Barbara for the first time is full of dramatic potential. At this point, Rita has been dominating the argument and when Barbara tells her that she is also engaged to Billy, Rita is taken aback and possibly even stunned into silence for a moment. I would want the audience to register this sudden change in the atmosphere. Barbara would say the line â€Å"Billy's grandma†¦ ill in bed†, at which point Rita first turns to Barbara and, after a sharp flick of her head in Barbara's direction, says â€Å"Oooh, look what the cat's brought in†¦ in a rotten iron lung†. This would be said in a high pitched voice, to sound like I am imitating Barbara and with a varying intonation to add to the childish connotations of imitating someone. Barbara's line â€Å"for your information, I happen to be Billy's fianci† is the one thing during this scene which alters Rita's otherwise constant mocking tone. After her line is said, I would initially begin as I said the previous line, saying the words â€Å"Oooh, for your information† in the same condescending tone as before, and the realisation of what Barbara really said would hit me after this part of the line. I would pause after these words, and slightly furrow my brow in a confused manner and purse my lips plaintively. I would slightly stutter on the next part of the line, as if I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Through the rest of the line, my intonation would rise higher and higher, and I would begin to accelerate my speech as Rita loses control and becomes more agitated, at being lied to by Billy, about someone which she would consider less desirable than her. This also reveals that Rita might care more about the engagement than she outwardly shows, and she might really be hurt that she couldn't make her relationship work. At the end of the line, I would straighten out my clothes as if ashamed of myself for letting my control on this situation momentarily slip. As this section goes on, the audience learns that Billy has given Barbara the engagement ring which was meant for Rita. This induces Rita's short monologue on the subject of the ring. Barbara's one-word line of â€Å"Billy! would be sharply cut into by Rita curtly scoffing, and then beginning her line, by saying, â€Å"Yeah, well you've got another think coming if you think I'm as daft as she is†. This would be said with a heavy inflection on the word ‘she' to indicate that she places herself above Barbara. The next words of â€Å"You gave that ring to me† would be said much slower, with pauses in between each 2 words to highlight her frustration. In each group of three words, I would point firstly at Billy, next to Barbara, and then finally to myself. This would include most of the people onstage in her rage to show that no one is immune to her outbursts. As Rita launches into an anecdote about ‘Shirley Mitchem' seeing Billy give her the ring, I would pace up and down the centre of the stage, with dramatic hand gestures on key words such as ‘witness' or ‘I've got two' to make her point clear to everyone watching. Again, as Rita is quite irate and despairing over Billy at this point, she would have an ascending intonation, but would sound quite flustered. This could be achieved by making her voice slightly breathy, and by sighing deeply at the end of her line. Rita, by this point in the section is aching for control again, and to come back to her usual cheeky self. She sees this opportunity when Alice tells her â€Å"you know as well as I do he's under-age†. After this line, I would pause slightly, turn my head to the audience and raise my eyebrows, in a sceptical fashion, as if letting the audience know that something interesting is about to happen. Leading with a turn of my head, I would begin to sashay gleefully over to Alice, and say the line â€Å"ask him†¦ over-age more like† with a relatively quiet voice, and edge ever closer to Alice, as if taunting her with this information. I think that Rita would be enjoying this particular moment, and so I would let a half-smile play across my face, almost as if I couldn't help but have fun with torturing Alice. I feel this would be a good way to act this line as this is Rita being able to be aggressive in a much more underhand manner, which shows her being a much more intelligent and scheming person than is often outwardly shown. This is in contrast to what a normal 1950's young woman would act like, as in this period, women were still expected to stay at home, look after children and not be as intelligent as men supposedly were. By Rita exercising a clever, sneaky side of her personality, she is opposing the norm in the 1950's, and even taking on the role which was seen as more masculine. At the end of this section, Rita has asserted herself again in the pole position in this dispute. I still want the audience to see the predominant, pushy side of her. As she rudely cuts into Billy's tired explanation, I would hold up my hand in an outstretched stop sign, almost pushing it into his face, to show just how sick of his convoluted excuses she is. After this I would return my hands to my hips and strut downstage while saying â€Å"well she can have you†¦ very much doubt† and during these lines, I would have a smug expression on my face. However, this would quickly change to a scowl with a furrowed forehead, as I begin to reel off the list of insults which Rita throws at Billy. These successive slurs would result in me repeatedly prodding Billy on his chest while quickly walking in his direction, almost chasing him. The volume in my voice would increase, and end in me shouting in Billy's face as I would be closer to him by now. This will end the section with Rita being the leader in the argument, and she has had the satisfying last word, which suits her firm and aggressive nature. In conclusion, I hope I have created a picture of Rita being a forthright and belligerent character, full of determination to achieve what she wants with little or no consideration for anybody else in the situation. However, I feel that her frustration and, at times, slight desolation over the fact that she couldn't make her engagement work with Billy, or she was in some way not all that he wanted, was also displayed in some sections.