The Convenience of Today’s Technology

Who would have ever thought that you will be able to communicate with a person, just by typing a letter push press and send all from one location. Today’s technology is more convient, faster, and cost effective. As one of the projects that I have worked with for years is preparing the church newsletter, programs, notes, and other resources. In the past we had the manual and then the electric typewriters. When typing and a mistake were made, before the correction ribbon on the electric typewriter, you had to continually hit the back button and retype the correct letter. Your choice of print was very limited with the typewriter. There was no way to do spell check. Every paper had to be carefully proof read by a department of peoples. If you were adding a picture to your paper, you had to find pictures out of books and they were limited. Once the picture was found it had to be cut out and paste or taped to the paper. In order for someone else to add an article to the paper they had to type their part, get it proofread and then transport it to the location of the paper being prepared. In today’s world we have the technology that allows us to do all printing while sitting in one location. There are different types of programs to choose from to publish the newsletter, program, and other resources You have many different fonts to choose from depending on the type of message you are sending. There are thousands of clipart from cartoon, silhouettes, to any thing you can name to add as an image to your project. After finding the set up that fits your needs you can start your project, you can begin to type in your message in the designated area. To insert an image, you can go to the clipart or internet to locate the desired image. The computer does the spell check and some grammar checking as well. Usually when a word is misspelled it is underline with a squiggly red or green line. Some proofreading is still required but it may not take a team of people as in the past. In order from some one else to add a message to the paper being prepared all you need to do is send it to them by email as an attachment. As a downfall to this technology, if everyone is in the same office working with the same programs all will work well. However, if I’m working from home on my personal computer and I send it to another person at home, we may be working with different programs. Some people may have older systems while others may be on a up to date system. In conclusion, the convience of today’s technology and printing is much easier and faster in this day and time. As the years go on we will be amazed at how technology will advance in the future.

Lyric

Originally a lyric signified a song sung to the accompaniment of a lyre. Thus lyric still carries the sense of a poem written to be set to music. A lyric Is a common short poem uttered by a single speaker who is expressing his state of mind very often in solitude. In dramatic lyric the speaker is represented as addressing another person in a specific situation like the poem Connotation by John Done. The genre comprehends a great variety of utterances from say the Dramatic Monologues of Browning complex evolution of feeling in the long elegy and the meditative ode.The recess of observation, thought, memory and feelings may be organized in a variety of ways in deferent lyrical expressions. Lyric is a poem in which the poet writes about his thoughts and feelings. The basic type Is the song, but we use the term to cover all poems that present the poet's Immediate response to life, Including sonnets odes and elegies. Lyric poem deals with a range of experiences such as love, death, nature or religion or some domestic, social or political issue *Abstract Poem: It is a term used by Dame Edith Stilwell for verse that depends chiefly upon its auditory values for Its meaning.Such poetry Is analogous to abstract painting In which the arrangement of colors and shapes is significant though no physical objects are represented. Words are employed with little regard for their usual connotations, but rather for their aural effectiveness in a pattern of full and approximate rhymes and in the manipulation of rhythm. Stillwell own poems In the collection called Facade exemplify the type: These lines from her â€Å"Hornpipe† where, we hear, the dumb Sky rhinoceros-glum Watched the courses of the breakers' rocking-horses and with Glacis Lady Venus on he settee of the horsehair sea! Ambiguity: In ordinary usage the term ambiguity means a vague or equivocal expression. Since William Meson published his Seven types of Ambiguity (1930) the term has widely been used to refer to a poetic device: the use of a single word or expression to signify two or more distinct references, or to express two or more diverse attitudes or feelings. Multiple meaning and popularization are alternative terms for the use of language. Egg: in the play Antonym and Cleopatra when Shakespeare makes Cleopatra say â€Å"Come thou mortal wretch.. He implies a double edge to the word â€Å"mortal. Here it Implies both that the asp Is â€Å"fatal† or â€Å"death- dealing† and at the same time It Is Itself subject to death. *oddball: The popular ballad also called the folk ballad is the song, transmitted orally which tells a story. Ballads are thus the narrative species of folk songs, which originate and are communicated orally among illiterate or partly literate people. In all probability the original version of a ballad is composed by a single author, but he or she Is unknown; and each singer who learns and repeats an oral ballad is apt to introduce changes in OTOH the t ext and the tune, it exists in many variant forms.Typically the popular ballad is dramatic, condensed and impersonal: the narrator begins with the climax and tells the story tersely by means of action and dialogues, sometimes by means of dialogue alone and tells It without self-reference or the expression of personal attitudes or feelings. The most common stanza form called the ballad stanza- is a 1 OFF lines rhyme. Egg: this ballad from â€Å"Sir Patrick Spend† The King sits in Dumpling town, Drinking the blued-red wine: â€Å"O what will I get a GUID sailor, To sail this ship of mine? *Fabian verse: Consists of unrushed iambic (v pentameter (five iambic verse) hence the term â€Å"blank. † Of all the English metrical forms it is closest to the natural rhythms of English speech and at the same time flexible and adaptive to diverse levels of poetic discourse and hence has been more frequently and widely used than any other type of versification. Shakespeare made wide use of the blank verse in his famous soliloquies. *Aegis: It denotes any poem written in elegiac meter (alternating hexameter and pentameter lines).The term was used, however, to refer to the subject matter of change and loss. In the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the elegies were love poems that related to the sense of elegy as lament in that many of them emphasizes mutability and loss. It is in the latter part of the seventeenth century that the term elegy began to be limited to its most common present usage; a formal and sustained lament in verse on the death of a particular person usually ending in consolation. Examples are: W.H Addend's In Memory of W B Yeats', Alfred Lord Tennyson In Memoriam. The dirge is also a versified expression of grief on the occasion of a particular person's death but differs from the elegy in that it is short and is less formal and is meant as a text to be sung. An important variant of the elegy is the pastoral elegy which represents both th e poet and the one he mourns as shepherds. Million's Lucidly is a fine example of pastoral elegy. *Free Verse: It is also called â€Å"open form† or by the French term verse libber.Like traditional verse it is printed in short lines instead of with the continuity of prose. However it differs from regular erase in that its rhythmic pattern is not organized into a regular metrical form?that is into feet, or recurrent units of weak and strong stressed syllables. Most free verse also has irregular line lengths, and either lacks rhyme or else is used only sporadically. The King James translation of the Biblical Psalms and Song of Solomon are examples of free verse.The following section from Longboats Hughes' free verse poem â€Å"Mother to Son† Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me anti been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it, And splinters, ND boards torn up, And places with no carpet on the floor? Bare. *Sonnet: Sonnet is a lyric poem of fourteen iambic pentameter lin es linked by an intricate rhyme scheme. The Italian or Patriarchal sonnet falls into two main parts: an octave and a sestets. The octave is of eight lines rhyming baobab, this is followed by a asset a six line stanza rhyming CDC.The octave presents the theme in the first quatrain and develops it in the second. The sestets dwells on it and brings it to a logical conclusion in the final trace. The Patriarchal form was later used for a variety of subjects by English poets like Milton, Wordsmith Christina Rosette and so on. The the English sonnet or the Shakespearean sonnet after its greatest practitioner. This sonnet falls into three quatrains and a concluding couplet with a rhyme scheme ABA CDC beef egg. These sonnets usually deal hopes of love and themes like pangs of separation.One notable variant of this form is the Spenserian sonnet in which Spencer linked each quatrain to the next by a continuing rhyme: ABA Bcc CDC e. The English form often repeats with variation a statement in e ach of the three quatrains, however in either of the case the final couplet usually imposes a final epigrammatic turn to the whole theme. *Epic: It is a long verse narrative on a serious subject, told in a formal and elevated style, and centered on a heroic or quasi- divine figure on whose actions depend the fate of a whole tribe, a nation or as in John Million's Paradise Lost the human race.The epic was ranked by Aristotle as second only to tragedy and by many Renaissance critics as the highest of all genres. Literary epics are highly conventional compositions and usually share the following features. 1 . The hero is a figure of great national or even cosmic importance. In ‘Iliad he is the Greek warrior Achilles, who is the son of the sea nymph Thesis and Virgin's Names is the son of the goddess Aphrodite. 2. The setting of the poem is ample in scale and could be the whole world or even vaster. . The actions involve superhuman deeds in battle, such as Achilles' feats in the T rojan War or the long arduous wanderings of Odysseus on his way back to his homeland. 4. An the great actions Gods and other supernatural beings take an interest and an active part. 5. An epic poem is a ceremonial performance and is narrated in a ceremonial style which is deliberately assistance from the ordinary speech and rendered in a language in keeping with the grandeur of the heroic subject.The epic conventions like beginning with an invocation to the muse to guide the narrator in the great undertaking are also very often observed. The term epic is also applied by extension, to narratives which differ in many aspects from this model but manifest the epic grandeur and spirit in the scale scope and the profound human importance of their subject. Herman Melville Mob Dick, Leo Tolstoy War and Peace both serve as examples of what is called epic ration. *Ode: A long lyric poem that is serious in subject and treatment elevated in style and elaborate in its stanza structure.The protot ype of an ode was established by the Greek poet Poniard whose odes were modeled on the songs by the chorus in Greek drama. The complex stanzas of an ode were patterned in sets of three: moving in dance rhythm to the left is chanted the strophe; moving to the right is chanted the antiheroes then standing still at the centre is the epode. The regular Pandemic ode in English is written in the Pandemic form with the strophe and intentions written in one stanza pattern and all the epode in a different stanza pattern.The Pandemic odes were written in necromantic style; that is they were written to praise and glorify someone. The Pandemic odes were written to celebrate and glorify the victorious athletes in the Olympic Games. The English odes true to its Greek prototype were songs that were written in praise of someone or something. They were written to eulogies something that aroused the poet's sensibility. Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn is a eulogy to the beauty etched on an Urn that the po et sees.

Analyse the concepts of social inclusion and exclusion

Feodor is a 31 year old man who was born in the Russian Federation. He served as a Russian soldier and saw active duty, in the 1994-6 Chechen war, during which time there was discrimination bombing and shelling of Chechen towns and villages. Feodor has stated that over 250, 000 people of the Russian federation were killed in Chechnya during the collapse of the Soviet Union ‘that was genocide’. He has referred to hostage situations in both Budennovsk and Beslan when hundred died. He has quoted the Russian Premier Putin as stating ‘that the war was over 3 years ago’, Feodor contends that the brutal conflict goes on unabated. As a soldier he say it is no surprise that they (The Russian Army) did what they did, the Chechens gave them no choice. So he has come to the UK seeking asylum, work, a better life, a chance to start again, to escape from the nightmares fear. He is now opposed to the conflict in Chechnya and has expressed his opposition to many people, som e of them with power and some from the army in senior positions in the Russian Federation; he believes that he may be at risk of retribution from the Russians and the Chechens. The Social exclusion unit (SEU 2004) defines social exclusion as shorthand for what can happen when people or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as disabilities, unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environment, bad health and family breakdown. Sayce (2000) described it as the interlocking and mutually compounding problems of impairment, discrimination, diminishing social role, lack of economic and social participation and disability. Also Jermyn (2001) state social exclusion is complex multi-dimensional in the nature and can occur when various linked problems are experienced in combination. Among the factors at play are social status, jobless, lack of opportunities to establish a family, small or non-existent social network, compounding race and other discrimination, repeated rejection and consequent restriction of hope and expectations. Pierson (2002) suggested that social exclusion is a process that deprives individuals and families, groups and neighbourhoods of the resources required for participation in the social, economic and political activity of society as whole. This process is primarily a consequence of poverty and low income, but other factors such as discrimination, low educational attainment and depleted living environment also underpin it. Through this process people are cut off for a significant period in their lives from institutions and services, social networks and developmental opportunities that the great majority of a society enjoys. Dunn (1999) mentions that the largest UK inquiry into the social exclusion and mental health service users appears to take ‘social model of disability’ perspective and while it discusses social exclusion, the key problem it highlights is discrimination. It states that the inquiry panel receives strong and consistent evidence concerning the discrimination of people experiencing a direct result of their own mental health problems. The report also argues that this discrimination can occur in various areas of life. Especially within jobs and education, this makes mental health service users vulnerable to extreme exclusion from virtually every aspect of society. On the other hand, Repper and Perkins (2001) suggest that social inclusion requires equality of opportunity to access and participate in the rudimentary and fundamental functions of society, for example access to health care, employment, education good housing and ultimately recovery of status and meaning and reduced impact of disability. According to Department of Health (2009) social inclusion in mental health services is improved rights to access to the social and economic world. The new opportunities to recovery status and meaning have reduced the impact of disabilities. However (Bates, 2002) stated that everyone, including people who use mental health services, should be able to enjoy a good standard of health, develop their skills and abilities, earn a wage and live a life in the community in safety. Similarly, the National Service Framework Health Standard One (Department of Health, 1999b) demands that all people whose care is managed through the enhanced care programme approa ch should have a plan that addresses their needs for housing, education, employment and leisure. Within this framework, an inclusive mental health services will address basic standards of living issues. According to the Disability Discrimination Act (1995), and the establishment of the new Disability Rights Commission (2004). Social inclusive perspective, including within the antidiscrimination law, equality and human rights, social justices and citizenship, in addition to clinical perspective, it is from this point that pernicious nature of exclusion and the importance of social inclusion for people with mental health problems and those with intellectual disabilities can be most clearly appreciated. In this case Mental Health Professionals have a responsibility in helping people with mental health problems to make sure they become socially included and not socially excluded. In Feodor’s case mentioned earlier in the assignment that he came to UK seeking asylum, work, and better life. Refuges and asylum-seekers experience a higher incidence of mental distress than the wider population (Future Vision Coalition, 2009). The most common diagnose are trauma related psychological distress, depression and anxiety (Crowley, 2003). In which this is the case with Feodor, much of the distress experienced by him is strongly linked to the events that happened in his home town which have led to his departure. However distress occurs when you are unable to cope with pressure there is also strong evidence that Feodor’s mental distress is as a result of the difficult circumstances experienced in the UK. He was a victim of discrimination and social exclusion and this had very big impact on his mental state. Mental health policy (Department of Health, 2005) recognizes that refugees and asylum-seekers are particularly vulnerable and at risk group, however progr essively more restrictive UK asylum policies have had an increasing negative impact on mental health well being (Royal College of Psychiatry, 2007). Asylum-seekers who are unable to provide accommodation for themselves in UK have been sent to different parts of the country on no choice circumstances. This process does not take into account the community support networks, family of friends. However some of these areas in which dispersed asylum-seekers are housed in many cases are deprived areas with multiple social problems and little experience of diverse communities. This has often resulted in social tension and racism towards refuges and asylum-seekers like Feodor and they are much more often victims than the perpetrators of crime (Leff, and Warner, 2006). Refuge Media Action group (2006) states that accommodation provision for asylum-seekers have improved over the last few years but there are still concerns that it can be poor quality and unstable in some areas. Poor housing, as an immediate environmental stressor, therefore, plays a central role in the psychological well-being of residents both at an individual and community level. (The Acheson Report). Asylum-seekers are prohibited from working or undertaking vocational training and currently receive at around 50% of income support, which has been cut from ?42,16 to ?35,13 a week compared to ?67,50 a week for those on employment support allowance and some are being given vouchers instead of cash (Mind, 2009). As a result many are living in poverty they are deprived of the important integration opportunities which employment can provide (Bloch, 2002). However (Leff, and Warner, 2006) suggested that the working environment offers the opportunity of making friends, gives a structure to the day, increases the person’s self-esteem, and provides an income especially for men like Feodor. Asylum-seekers do not have access to learning opportunities, learning is central to economic success and social cohesion. Feodor was disadvantaged educationally, economically and socially. One problem that will be addressed from the care plan that has great impact on Feodor’s is employment. Unemployment is both a key characteristic and a primary economic cause of exclusion and is linked with poverty, social isolation and loss of status and significantly increase disability and impedes recovery (Percy- smith 2000). It reduces opportunities for good life which lead to social exclusion as people cannot afford the basic necessities, decent food, clothing, holidays and social activities. It has been linked with increased general health and mental health problems (Repper and Perkins, 2003) which means that as long as Feodor remains unemployed he will be socially deprived. Asylum-seekers like Feodor are prohibited from working whilst waiting for a final decision on their asylum claim, but finding work is their main priority just after granted status (Bloch, 2002). For this reason the mental health services could be improving with reference to anti-oppressive and discri mination by assisting Feodor to find voluntary work as short term goal, volunteering for charities or community organisation. Voluntary work will help Feodor with the opportunity to grow in confidence, reduce his own social isolation and increase opportunities to improve language skills; it also contribute to career development and work experience (Refugee Council Online). Voluntary will also provide some evidence of motivation to prospective employers, enhancing job-readiness and prevent going rusty. It also provides opportunity for Feodor to become familiar with other local services, gain experiences of working practices in the UK hence help him to integrate in the society. Feodor does not have the right to get paid job, but voluntary work and study will help him to prepare for employment and alleviate the stress of his situation. (Sainsbury Centre, 2008). Even though this might not change his situation much since there is no income that comes under voluntary work. Paid work is th e only route for Feodor to sustained financial independence, (Askonas and Stewart, 2000) work is an important element of the human condition, it helps fulfil our aspiration-it is a key to independence, self-respect and opportunities for advancement. The other things what the mental health service need to do for Feodor is to refer him to vocational rehabilitation for vocational training. Vocational rehabilitation is a process of interventions whereby people with mental health problems or disabilities like Feodor can build up individual capacity to enable himself to the best he can be, achieving better work related outcomes (Waddell et al, 2008). Access to vocational training and education system is crucial for migrants to enable them to adapt their skills and qualifications to the labour market requirement of receiving countries. These services will offer Feodor opportunity to develop confidence, resilience and work skills. Vocational rehabilitation programmes have a greater emphasis on work skills development and on progression towards employment. Employment has been identified as a primary factor in the integration of migrants’ life Feodor into UK (Phillimore et al, 2006). Research also shows that employment is good for our physical and mental health (Waddell and Burton, 2006). Unemployment can damage our health and lead to a range of social problems such as debt and social isolation (Black, 2008). Inability to provide for yourself or to contribute to the society can have negative impact on self esteem, confidence and mental health especially for men like Feodor (Mind, 2009). Being in employment and maintaining social contacts can improve Feodor’s mental health prevent suicide and reduces his reliance on mental health services (SEU, 2004). Employment can also improve Feodor’s quality of life and well being, reduces his social exclusion and poverty (Waddell and Burton, 2006). As stated earlier by (Askonas and Stewart, 2000) that work is an important element of the human condition, it helps fulfil our aspiration-it is a key to independence, self-respect and opportunities for advancement. Employment has a central role in most people’s lives offering beyond that of income but still there are very large and growing numbers of people with mental health illness who are out of work, most of whom want to work (Bond, 2006). They cannot get a job if they have or have had a mental health problem because of the discrimination by employers. This goes on even though it is illegal under the Disability Discrimination Act. A socially inclusion approach includes recovery-oriented practice, an emphasis on social outcomes and participation, and attention to the rights of people with mental ill health, as well as to citizenship, equality and justice, and stigma and discrimination. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2009). Genuine social inclusion can only be achieved by valuing the contribution people can make to society. Because somebody has mental health problems does not mean that he or she can not make a contribution to the community. People need to be given information, choice and freedom and the opportunity to make decisions for themselves. Within the professional service, it is important that staff develop an awareness that different individuals have different needs, and service users should be involved in the care. The Department of Health (2000) states that patients should not be seen as mere recipient of care, but should be empowered to work in partnership with their health and social providers. In helping people to build their lives, mental health workers need to address social inclusion at both ethnos and demos (Repper and Perkins, 2003). People need to participate in and feel part of the community in which they live and more likely to be able to take part if the have a right to those things that are valued in their community such as decent housing and job. Social inclusion is not treatment or care alone, this means identifying, recovery and social inclusion as explicit goals and taking the opportunity of policy initiatives both within and outside the mental health arena to work for the reduction of discrimination against service users. The complementary concepts of inclusion and their application to mental health practice, provide a significant new basis for common between multi-disciplinary team and service users. To conclude Mental Health does not exist in isolation a good Mental Health is linked to good physical health and is fundamental to achieve improved education attainment, increased employment opportunities, reduce exclusion and criminality and social participation. REFERENCE LIST BATES, P. (2002). Working for inclusion. London, Sainsbury for mental health Publication. BLOCH, A. (2002). Refugees, opportunities and barriers in employment and training. Department for Work and Pension, Research Report 179. Leeds: Corporate Document Services. BOND, G. R. (2006). Supported Employment: evidence for an evidence-based practice. Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Journal 27, pp. 345-360. CROWLEY, P. (2003). An Exploration of Mental Health Needs of Asylum-seekers in Newcastle, The Tyne, Wear and Northumberland Asylum-seeker health group. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (2000). The expert patient. London: The stationery office. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (2005). Delivering race equality in mental health care: An action plan for reform inside and outside services and the Government’s response to the independent inquiry into the death of David Bennett. Department of Heath (1999) National Service Framework for Mental Health: DH Department of Health (July 2009) New Horizons: Towards a shared vision for mental health consultation: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.dh.gov.uk/en/consultations/liveconsultations/dh_103144 Disability Discrimination Act (1995) Meaning of â€Å"discrimination†. Accessed at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/50/section/20 Disability Rights Commission (2004) ‘The Web: Access and inclusion for disabled people’, at: http://joeclark.org/dossiers/DRC-GB.html Dunn, S. (199) Creating Accepting Communities: Report of the Mind Enquiry into Social Exclusion and Mental Health problems. Mind FUTURE VISION COALITION (2009). A future vision for mental health. London. The stationery office. LEFF, J and WARNER, R. (2006) Social Inclusion of People with Mental Illness. PERCY-SMITH, J. (2000). Policy Responses to Social Exclusion: Towards InclusionOpen University Press. Maidenhead. PIERSON, J. (2002) Tackling social exclusion. PHILLIMORE, J., ERGUN, E., GOODSON, L. and HENNESSY, D. (2006). Employability initiatives for refugees in Europe: Looking at, and learning from, good practice. Report for Equal and the Home Office. Birmingham: Centre for Urban and Regional studies, University of Birmingham. REFUGEE COUNCIL ONLINE: Volunteering in Leeds. REFUGEE MEDIA ACTION (2006). Seeking asylum: a report on the living conditions of asylum-seekers in London, Migrants Resource Centre. REPPER, J. and PERKINS, R. (2001). Voting as a means social inclusion for people with mental illness. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 9, pp. 697-703. REPPER, J. and PERKINS, R. (2003) Social Inclusion and Recovery: A Model for Mental Health Practice. Bailliere Tindall Elsevier Science Limited. ROYAL COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRY, (2007). Improving the lives of people affected by mental illness. ROYAL COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRISTS, (April 2009). Approved by the Central Policy Coordination Committee of the Royal College of Psychiatrists at: http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/social%20inclusion%20position%20statement09.pdf SAYCE, L. (2000). Psychiatric patient to citizen. Overcoming Discrimination and social exclusion. London Macmillan. SAINSBURY CENTRE (2008). Briefing 35: Employment support, mental health and black and minority ethnic communities. London: Sainsbury centre for mental health. SOCIAL EXCLUSION UNIT (2004). Mental Health and Social Exclusion. London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. SOCIAL INCLUSION Possibilities and Tensions, (2000). Edited by: PETER, ASKONAS and ANGUS, STEWART. The Acheson Report. (November 1998) Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health. WADDELL, G., BURTON, K. and KENDALL, N. (2008). Vocational Rehabilitation- what works, for whom and whenLondon: TSO. Analyse the concepts of social inclusion and exclusion Feodor is a 31 year old man who was born in the Russian Federation. He served as a Russian soldier and saw active duty, in the 1994-6 Chechen war, during which time there was discrimination bombing and shelling of Chechen towns and villages. Feodor has stated that over 250, 000 people of the Russian federation were killed in Chechnya during the collapse of the Soviet Union ‘that was genocide’. He has referred to hostage situations in both Budennovsk and Beslan when hundred died. He has quoted the Russian Premier Putin as stating ‘that the war was over 3 years ago’, Feodor contends that the brutal conflict goes on unabated. As a soldier he say it is no surprise that they (The Russian Army) did what they did, the Chechens gave them no choice. So he has come to the UK seeking asylum, work, a better life, a chance to start again, to escape from the nightmares fear. He is now opposed to the conflict in Chechnya and has expressed his opposition to many people, som e of them with power and some from the army in senior positions in the Russian Federation; he believes that he may be at risk of retribution from the Russians and the Chechens. The Social exclusion unit (SEU 2004) defines social exclusion as shorthand for what can happen when people or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as disabilities, unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environment, bad health and family breakdown. Sayce (2000) described it as the interlocking and mutually compounding problems of impairment, discrimination, diminishing social role, lack of economic and social participation and disability. Also Jermyn (2001) state social exclusion is complex multi-dimensional in the nature and can occur when various linked problems are experienced in combination. Among the factors at play are social status, jobless, lack of opportunities to establish a family, small or non-existent social network, compounding race and other discrimination, repeated rejection and consequent restriction of hope and expectations. Pierson (2002) suggested that social exclusion is a process that deprives individuals and families, groups and neighbourhoods of the resources required for participation in the social, economic and political activity of society as whole. This process is primarily a consequence of poverty and low income, but other factors such as discrimination, low educational attainment and depleted living environment also underpin it. Through this process people are cut off for a significant period in their lives from institutions and services, social networks and developmental opportunities that the great majority of a society enjoys. Dunn (1999) mentions that the largest UK inquiry into the social exclusion and mental health service users appears to take ‘social model of disability’ perspective and while it discusses social exclusion, the key problem it highlights is discrimination. It states that the inquiry panel receives strong and consistent evidence concerning the discrimination of people experiencing a direct result of their own mental health problems. The report also argues that this discrimination can occur in various areas of life. Especially within jobs and education, this makes mental health service users vulnerable to extreme exclusion from virtually every aspect of society. On the other hand, Repper and Perkins (2001) suggest that social inclusion requires equality of opportunity to access and participate in the rudimentary and fundamental functions of society, for example access to health care, employment, education good housing and ultimately recovery of status and meaning and reduced impact of disability. According to Department of Health (2009) social inclusion in mental health services is improved rights to access to the social and economic world. The new opportunities to recovery status and meaning have reduced the impact of disabilities. However (Bates, 2002) stated that everyone, including people who use mental health services, should be able to enjoy a good standard of health, develop their skills and abilities, earn a wage and live a life in the community in safety. Similarly, the National Service Framework Health Standard One (Department of Health, 1999b) demands that all people whose care is managed through the enhanced care programme approa ch should have a plan that addresses their needs for housing, education, employment and leisure. Within this framework, an inclusive mental health services will address basic standards of living issues. According to the Disability Discrimination Act (1995), and the establishment of the new Disability Rights Commission (2004). Social inclusive perspective, including within the antidiscrimination law, equality and human rights, social justices and citizenship, in addition to clinical perspective, it is from this point that pernicious nature of exclusion and the importance of social inclusion for people with mental health problems and those with intellectual disabilities can be most clearly appreciated. In this case Mental Health Professionals have a responsibility in helping people with mental health problems to make sure they become socially included and not socially excluded. In Feodor’s case mentioned earlier in the assignment that he came to UK seeking asylum, work, and better life. Refuges and asylum-seekers experience a higher incidence of mental distress than the wider population (Future Vision Coalition, 2009). The most common diagnose are trauma related psychological distress, depression and anxiety (Crowley, 2003). In which this is the case with Feodor, much of the distress experienced by him is strongly linked to the events that happened in his home town which have led to his departure. However distress occurs when you are unable to cope with pressure there is also strong evidence that Feodor’s mental distress is as a result of the difficult circumstances experienced in the UK. He was a victim of discrimination and social exclusion and this had very big impact on his mental state. Mental health policy (Department of Health, 2005) recognizes that refugees and asylum-seekers are particularly vulnerable and at risk group, however progr essively more restrictive UK asylum policies have had an increasing negative impact on mental health well being (Royal College of Psychiatry, 2007). Asylum-seekers who are unable to provide accommodation for themselves in UK have been sent to different parts of the country on no choice circumstances. This process does not take into account the community support networks, family of friends. However some of these areas in which dispersed asylum-seekers are housed in many cases are deprived areas with multiple social problems and little experience of diverse communities. This has often resulted in social tension and racism towards refuges and asylum-seekers like Feodor and they are much more often victims than the perpetrators of crime (Leff, and Warner, 2006). Refuge Media Action group (2006) states that accommodation provision for asylum-seekers have improved over the last few years but there are still concerns that it can be poor quality and unstable in some areas. Poor housing, as an immediate environmental stressor, therefore, plays a central role in the psychological well-being of residents both at an individual and community level. (The Acheson Report). Asylum-seekers are prohibited from working or undertaking vocational training and currently receive at around 50% of income support, which has been cut from ?42,16 to ?35,13 a week compared to ?67,50 a week for those on employment support allowance and some are being given vouchers instead of cash (Mind, 2009). As a result many are living in poverty they are deprived of the important integration opportunities which employment can provide (Bloch, 2002). However (Leff, and Warner, 2006) suggested that the working environment offers the opportunity of making friends, gives a structure to the day, increases the person’s self-esteem, and provides an income especially for men like Feodor. Asylum-seekers do not have access to learning opportunities, learning is central to economic success and social cohesion. Feodor was disadvantaged educationally, economically and socially. One problem that will be addressed from the care plan that has great impact on Feodor’s is employment. Unemployment is both a key characteristic and a primary economic cause of exclusion and is linked with poverty, social isolation and loss of status and significantly increase disability and impedes recovery (Percy- smith 2000). It reduces opportunities for good life which lead to social exclusion as people cannot afford the basic necessities, decent food, clothing, holidays and social activities. It has been linked with increased general health and mental health problems (Repper and Perkins, 2003) which means that as long as Feodor remains unemployed he will be socially deprived. Asylum-seekers like Feodor are prohibited from working whilst waiting for a final decision on their asylum claim, but finding work is their main priority just after granted status (Bloch, 2002). For this reason the mental health services could be improving with reference to anti-oppressive and discri mination by assisting Feodor to find voluntary work as short term goal, volunteering for charities or community organisation. Voluntary work will help Feodor with the opportunity to grow in confidence, reduce his own social isolation and increase opportunities to improve language skills; it also contribute to career development and work experience (Refugee Council Online). Voluntary will also provide some evidence of motivation to prospective employers, enhancing job-readiness and prevent going rusty. It also provides opportunity for Feodor to become familiar with other local services, gain experiences of working practices in the UK hence help him to integrate in the society. Feodor does not have the right to get paid job, but voluntary work and study will help him to prepare for employment and alleviate the stress of his situation. (Sainsbury Centre, 2008). Even though this might not change his situation much since there is no income that comes under voluntary work. Paid work is th e only route for Feodor to sustained financial independence, (Askonas and Stewart, 2000) work is an important element of the human condition, it helps fulfil our aspiration-it is a key to independence, self-respect and opportunities for advancement. The other things what the mental health service need to do for Feodor is to refer him to vocational rehabilitation for vocational training. Vocational rehabilitation is a process of interventions whereby people with mental health problems or disabilities like Feodor can build up individual capacity to enable himself to the best he can be, achieving better work related outcomes (Waddell et al, 2008). Access to vocational training and education system is crucial for migrants to enable them to adapt their skills and qualifications to the labour market requirement of receiving countries. These services will offer Feodor opportunity to develop confidence, resilience and work skills. Vocational rehabilitation programmes have a greater emphasis on work skills development and on progression towards employment. Employment has been identified as a primary factor in the integration of migrants’ life Feodor into UK (Phillimore et al, 2006). Research also shows that employment is good for our physical and mental health (Waddell and Burton, 2006). Unemployment can damage our health and lead to a range of social problems such as debt and social isolation (Black, 2008). Inability to provide for yourself or to contribute to the society can have negative impact on self esteem, confidence and mental health especially for men like Feodor (Mind, 2009). Being in employment and maintaining social contacts can improve Feodor’s mental health prevent suicide and reduces his reliance on mental health services (SEU, 2004). Employment can also improve Feodor’s quality of life and well being, reduces his social exclusion and poverty (Waddell and Burton, 2006). As stated earlier by (Askonas and Stewart, 2000) that work is an important element of the human condition, it helps fulfil our aspiration-it is a key to independence, self-respect and opportunities for advancement. Employment has a central role in most people’s lives offering beyond that of income but still there are very large and growing numbers of people with mental health illness who are out of work, most of whom want to work (Bond, 2006). They cannot get a job if they have or have had a mental health problem because of the discrimination by employers. This goes on even though it is illegal under the Disability Discrimination Act. A socially inclusion approach includes recovery-oriented practice, an emphasis on social outcomes and participation, and attention to the rights of people with mental ill health, as well as to citizenship, equality and justice, and stigma and discrimination. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2009). Genuine social inclusion can only be achieved by valuing the contribution people can make to society. Because somebody has mental health problems does not mean that he or she can not make a contribution to the community. People need to be given information, choice and freedom and the opportunity to make decisions for themselves. Within the professional service, it is important that staff develop an awareness that different individuals have different needs, and service users should be involved in the care. The Department of Health (2000) states that patients should not be seen as mere recipient of care, but should be empowered to work in partnership with their health and social providers. In helping people to build their lives, mental health workers need to address social inclusion at both ethnos and demos (Repper and Perkins, 2003). People need to participate in and feel part of the community in which they live and more likely to be able to take part if the have a right to those things that are valued in their community such as decent housing and job. Social inclusion is not treatment or care alone, this means identifying, recovery and social inclusion as explicit goals and taking the opportunity of policy initiatives both within and outside the mental health arena to work for the reduction of discrimination against service users. The complementary concepts of inclusion and their application to mental health practice, provide a significant new basis for common between multi-disciplinary team and service users. To conclude Mental Health does not exist in isolation a good Mental Health is linked to good physical health and is fundamental to achieve improved education attainment, increased employment opportunities, reduce exclusion and criminality and social participation. REFERENCE LIST BATES, P. (2002). Working for inclusion. London, Sainsbury for mental health Publication. BLOCH, A. (2002). Refugees, opportunities and barriers in employment and training. Department for Work and Pension, Research Report 179. Leeds: Corporate Document Services. BOND, G. R. (2006). Supported Employment: evidence for an evidence-based practice. Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Journal 27, pp. 345-360. CROWLEY, P. (2003). An Exploration of Mental Health Needs of Asylum-seekers in Newcastle, The Tyne, Wear and Northumberland Asylum-seeker health group. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (2000). The expert patient. London: The stationery office. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (2005). Delivering race equality in mental health care: An action plan for reform inside and outside services and the Government’s response to the independent inquiry into the death of David Bennett. Department of Heath (1999) National Service Framework for Mental Health: DH Department of Health (July 2009) New Horizons: Towards a shared vision for mental health consultation: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.dh.gov.uk/en/consultations/liveconsultations/dh_103144 Disability Discrimination Act (1995) Meaning of â€Å"discrimination†. Accessed at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/50/section/20 Disability Rights Commission (2004) ‘The Web: Access and inclusion for disabled people’, at: http://joeclark.org/dossiers/DRC-GB.html Dunn, S. (199) Creating Accepting Communities: Report of the Mind Enquiry into Social Exclusion and Mental Health problems. Mind FUTURE VISION COALITION (2009). A future vision for mental health. London. The stationery office. LEFF, J and WARNER, R. (2006) Social Inclusion of People with Mental Illness. PERCY-SMITH, J. (2000). Policy Responses to Social Exclusion: Towards InclusionOpen University Press. Maidenhead. PIERSON, J. (2002) Tackling social exclusion. PHILLIMORE, J., ERGUN, E., GOODSON, L. and HENNESSY, D. (2006). Employability initiatives for refugees in Europe: Looking at, and learning from, good practice. Report for Equal and the Home Office. Birmingham: Centre for Urban and Regional studies, University of Birmingham. REFUGEE COUNCIL ONLINE: Volunteering in Leeds. REFUGEE MEDIA ACTION (2006). Seeking asylum: a report on the living conditions of asylum-seekers in London, Migrants Resource Centre. REPPER, J. and PERKINS, R. (2001). Voting as a means social inclusion for people with mental illness. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 9, pp. 697-703. REPPER, J. and PERKINS, R. (2003) Social Inclusion and Recovery: A Model for Mental Health Practice. Bailliere Tindall Elsevier Science Limited. ROYAL COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRY, (2007). Improving the lives of people affected by mental illness. ROYAL COLLEGE OF PSYCHIATRISTS, (April 2009). Approved by the Central Policy Coordination Committee of the Royal College of Psychiatrists at: http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/social%20inclusion%20position%20statement09.pdf SAYCE, L. (2000). Psychiatric patient to citizen. Overcoming Discrimination and social exclusion. London Macmillan. SAINSBURY CENTRE (2008). Briefing 35: Employment support, mental health and black and minority ethnic communities. London: Sainsbury centre for mental health. SOCIAL EXCLUSION UNIT (2004). Mental Health and Social Exclusion. London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. SOCIAL INCLUSION Possibilities and Tensions, (2000). Edited by: PETER, ASKONAS and ANGUS, STEWART. The Acheson Report. (November 1998) Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health. WADDELL, G., BURTON, K. and KENDALL, N. (2008). Vocational Rehabilitation- what works, for whom and whenLondon: TSO.

How have journalists and academics investigated current themes and Essay

How have journalists and academics investigated current themes and issues in the US presidential elections - Essay Example This research tells that the Presidential elections in the United States generate plenty of interest both within and outside the country.   Ascending into the role of a superpower at the culmination of the Second World War, the US foreign policies have had a significant impact in determining the political and economic success of nations all across the globe.   In this context, the scholarship, reportage and opinion editorials published in the lead up to the elections can reveal the contentious issues and underlying themes.   Such a study will help assess the merits and drawbacks of the American democratic enterprise, which the rest of this essay endeavors to. An issue that is always at the forefront of American politics is domestic economic policy and more importantly the issues of taxes and their expenditure.   In spite of political rhetoric about America being a â€Å"classless society, the statistics don't measure up to this claim. As Paul Krugman points out, â€Å"Thirt y years ago we were a relatively middle-class nation. It had not always been thus: Gilded Age America was a highly unequal society, and it stayed that way through the 1920s. During the 1930s and '40s, however, America experienced the Great Compression: a drastic narrowing of income gaps, probably as a result of New Deal policies. And the new economic order persisted for more than a generation: Strong unions; taxes on inherited wealth, corporate profits, and high incomes; close public scrutiny of corporate management--all helped to keep income gaps relatively small.... While Roosevelt's New Deal economic and social reforms met with outstanding success, it remains to be seen how the new President would cope with the Wall Street collapse of late. The historical similarities between the two don't end there. They both come from the Democratic Party and as Lichtman points out, piggybacked on a message of "change". And change is all the more imperative now than ever before in the post Second World War American history. For, irrespective of the fact that the country is the richest in the world, the extreme disparities in standard of living among its demography is a symbol of failed economic policies of previous presidents. According to estimates by the economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez, based on statistics released by the Congressional Budget Office, "between 1973 and 2000 the average real income of the bottom 90 percent of American taxpayers actually fell by 7 percent. Meanwhile, the income of the top 1 percent rose by 148 percent, the income of the top 0.1 percent rose by 343 percent and the income of the top 0.01 percent rose 599 percent. (Those numbers exclude capital gains, so they're not an artefact of the stock-market bubble.) The distribution of income in the United States has gone right back to Gilded Age levels of inequality" (Lichtman, 2008). While these statistics represent the systemic injustices of the American economic system, which all Democratic Party candidates point to in their campaigns, there is also a dedicated conservative press and its team of scholars, who attempt to discredit blatant realities with ideological rationale. A case in point is the conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation, which has published articles supporting the reactionary policies of the Republican Party even as the

TEXTBOOK CJ2012 FAGIN-Select 5 of the following Essay

TEXTBOOK CJ2012 FAGIN-Select 5 of the following - Essay Example Thus, the concept of general deterrence is based on the premise that the fear of punishment will act as a deterrent for people from committing crimes. Besides, deterrence also relies on the idea that the punishment awarded to a person who commits a crime discourages others from committing a crime. On the other hand, specific deterrence, also known as special deterrence focuses on the principle of avoiding recidivism by the criminal. Thus, the punishment awarded for the crime is specific to the person who commits the crime. Specific deterrence further encompasses the tenet that the harsher the punishment is, the lesser is the chance of the offender to recidivate. Thus, the theory of specific deterrence attempts to prevent crimes by inflicting a specific punishment on the offender to remove in the tendency in him or her to commit such offences in the future. This will also serve as a warning to others so that they also will not commit such crimes. Determinate Sentencing and Indetermina te Sentencing The Bureau of Justice Assistance, US Department of Justice, defines determinate sentencing as â€Å"sentences of incarceration in which an offender is given a fixed term that may be reduced by fixed time or earned time† (National Assessment of Structured Sentencing xi). On the other hand, indeterminate sentencing is â€Å"sentences in which an administrative agency, generally a parole board, has the authority to release an offender and determine whether an offender’s parole will be revoked for violations of the conditions of release† (xi). The system of indeterminate sentencing has several inherent problems such as offering discretion to jail authorities and parole officers the time of stay of an offender under the sentence and the length of sentencing tended to depend on individual criminals and not on the crimes. On the other hand, determinate sentencing, a system introduced after the â€Å"sentencing reforms of the late 1970s† replaced th e parole release concept with a â€Å"fixed (flat) sentence that could be reduced by a significant good time provision† (14). Thus, convicts under the determinate system are mandated for a specific period of incarceration as opposed to indeterminate sentencing where they were released on parole. Determinate sentencing relies on just deserts concepts rooted in the â€Å"utilitarian or crime control model† and the length of incarceration depends on the gravity of crime 915). Thus, the concept of determinate sentencing encompasses a mandatory minimum incarceration, depending on the offence committed, whereas indeterminate system involves release of the convict on parole, without having to under a prison sentence. The Difference between Legal Insanity and Incompetence to Stand Trial The criminal justice system takes into the account the mental competency of an offender, at the time of committing a crime, before awarding a punishment to him or her to determine whether the p erson has been mentally competent to understand the consequences of his or her action. Thus, courts reserve the right to declare an offender â€Å"not guilty by reason of insanity if at the time of the offence, because of a mental disease or defect, he or she did not understand the nature, character, and consequence of the act, was unable to distinguish right from wrong† (Warren et al 381). On the other hand, a person can be considered for acquittal on the grounds of his lack of â€Å"

Statement of Purpose for pursuing graduate study Essay

Statement of Purpose for pursuing graduate study - Essay Example I have always yearned to listen, speak, read, write, and understand the Chinese language. Although it has been more than 20 years, I still remember a couple of my Chinese teachers’ names from the elementary school that I attended at the time. My major was Chinese Literature, and my test scores in Chinese have been relatively higher than my other subjects in high school. My feelings towards furthering my graduate studies in Chinese became stronger after studying in an art school for a couple of semesters. I have realized that Art has been an interest to me as well as a hobby. I have found that my passion is in the study of Chinese. I studied at the San Francisco State University where I obtained my baccalaureate degree in Criminal Justice. My experiences as a student were very positive, therefore, I wish to pursue my graduate Chinese studies at the same institution of higher education. I would like to engage in Chinese performance arts with a modern Chinese literature focus. Being bilingual in Chinese and English will give me the opportunity to perform research using primary sources and translating those research documents taking into account the differences and similarities of the western and eastern worlds: languages, cultures, traditions, customs, idiomatic terms, and non-verbal communication. This will be an asset for professors that are performing research given the Chinese language and any other dialects I may know for translation purposes given the above mentioned elements that need to be taken into consideration. I have faith and trust that a good college education will be the embodiment of one’s academic hopes and dreams for a better life. It will not only prepare me for my chosen profession, but it will also provide me with the social and individual interactive skills that are necessary for my personal and professional life. I hope that the Chinese Program at the San Francisco State University gives me the opportunity to become part of its

Reflections on The Biblical Model for Discipleship Research Paper

Reflections on The Biblical Model for Discipleship - Research Paper Example For people to grasp and stay in the word of God, all three aspects related with gospel spreading have to be employed. These three humanity aspects include full involvement in God’s work using the soul, heart and mind. According to Paul, there is an importance in developing education in relation to Christianity as it is founded in the bible teachings. However, it is important to have the Christian teachers develop and find their strength and power from the Lord. According to Malphurs, leaders driven by value have the impression that they are not in errand of being followed, but all their actions can be used and aid the congregation with the hope that they get pleased. In his argument, he provides examples stating that having leadership in the church does not assurance one to happen to a excellent leader. This is because, a good leader is that one who has the best will and tirelessly works towards realizing the best of his leadership abilities. He emphasizes on the need to have humility, which results to respect and coordination. Christian Leader With reference to Malphurs writing on Christian leaders, serving and pleasing God is the main emphasis. He used recent research and scriptures to define biblical leadership while explaining different aspects related to Christian leaders1. Christian leaders are recognized as servants the capabilities and abilities of influencing people in contexts that can direct them into God’s ways. For this reason, Christian leadership entails a process that has servants using their abilities to woo people into the word of God. Marphurs in his argument uses Paul to show and teach about Christian leaders. Paul begins by greeting all Christian saints in Philippi who comprise of deacons and overseers. This takes us to some two popular Greek word in the New Testament; episkopos and presbuterous, which mean ‘bishop’ and ‘elder’ respectively. This renders the universal role in practice in the early chu rch as one that was centered at developing a large number of church leaders. This is in the perspective that leadership should only have exaltation directed at Jesus Christ. This is because leadership by one man would result into the exaltation of that particular icon, of which the latter should be accorded to Jesus according to the bible. Since Jesus is the sole head of the church, Paul gives a leadership example in Christianity that fosters on accrediting only Jesus. Therefore Paul never settles on greeting either the overseer or the pastor but addresses the overseers in plural. This was a sign of discouragements on one-man exaltations which contradict with the one pastor phenomena in most churches today. Paul gives another notion by clearly referring to the Philippi faithful as a people ‘along with’ their leaders rather than, a people under their consequent bishops and deacons. This gives the impression of ever Christian as a minister; every Christian has a role in t he ministry. This calls for the eradication of the general perception that there exists a unique minister responsible for overlooking on others. Some ministers may dedicate more time and energy when compared to others but the basement line calls harmonious degrees in all Christians in a ministry. Every Christian is a leader to them with only Jesus as the sole icon that deserves exaltation regardless of the roles played in the entire ministry. There exists no intermediary between the church and God in the perspective

Examine and discuss the influence of individual resistance to change, Essay

Examine and discuss the influence of individual resistance to change, potential sources of stress, and consequences in organizations. Recommend approaches to managing change and stress - Essay Example But it is equally true that people tend to resist any kind of change within and outside their professional life for variety of reasons. Hence, organizations need to implement the changes in a manner that mitigates the resistance of the individuals and instills confidence in them. In the book ‘Organization Behavior’ the authors Hitt et al, have cited four basic causes of resistance to change: lack of understanding; different assessment; self interest; and low tolerance (Hitt, A. Miller, C. Chet Miller and Colella, 2005). The first factor normally happens when the employees and staff are not clear about the changes that need to be made which creates fear of the unknown among the persons who need to adapt to the changes. The second factor is crucial because the management may resist to the change as a result of assessing the change in a differently perspective, mainly due to lack of communication on the part of management. This type of resistance develops when organization is in the process of adopting newer technology which creates self doubt of the new technology and at the same time they become unsure about their own ability to successfully adapt the changes in their work practice. Finally self interests and low tolerance for change is usually o bserved when people in the organization do not anticipate changes and therefore often undergo different modes of emotional resistance before accepting the changes. These are major factors that create irrational fear, emotions like anger, frustration and reluctant acceptance that promotes non-congenial atmosphere for work. They fight against any change to defend their position and job in the organization, keeping their self interest in mind. A good leader ensures that all types of changes must be gradually introduced with full participation of the employees so that at each stage, they are able to understand the necessity and viability of the changes that must be

Miisconceptions about Evolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Miisconceptions about Evolution - Essay Example One of the misconceptions that have been greatly discussed in the past and current generation is ascribed to the theory of evolution of life. The misconception in this sense is that evolution is basically a hypothesis concerning the manner by, which life developed. To some extent, this misconception is true; to begin with, evolution theory has not provided many with any form of evidence regarding the process of evolution of life i.e. what was the initial chemical process that facilitated the beginning of life. However, this theory has only focused on the manner by, which one form of life changed from different times and periods. On the other hand, there has also been a misconception the evolution theory asserts that life has been changing from time to time and that there is a probability that life will continue changing over time. An analysis of various issues may lead to the conclusion that this misconception is correct. Scientific evidence has proved that life may change in differe nt ways. The first manner through, which life can change is by adaptation. Usually living things adapt to various conditions of life i.e. one person may move from a desert region characterized by hot weather conditions to an extremely cold place characterized by ice and snow and adapt to the new environment. Additionally, evolution may also occur through the process of natural selection, which is also facilitated by adaptation. In many cases, when an organism fails to adapt to its new environment, it dies and those that can survive adapts and continue living. However, science has not provided any substantial argument whether or not such form of evolution is usually random or occurs in a specified manner. There is also another misconception that evolution only occurs in a slow and gradual manner (evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/misconceptions_teacherfaq.php). This is not correct. To begin with, there is not proof that has shown that evolution only occurs gradually and in a slow man ner. The misconception is usually based on the fact that evolution processes i.e. adaptation may not be physically perceived. Most scientists who have made efforts to provide proof that evolution has been occurring, base their argument on comparing two forms of life i.e. one that is expected to have occurred in the ancient times and the others that currently exist. These comparison are usually undertaken through analyzing various physical features of the animal and the ways by, which they have changes. It is crucial to point out that evolution may occur slowly and randomly at times and it may also occur faster and gradually at some point. The process of evolution may be facilitated by certain physical conditions such as temperature, wind et cetera. On the other hand, anthropogenic activities that basically involve a direct interaction with the environment may also influence at which certain forms of evolution occurs, for instance: When a forest is cleared, certain inhabitants i.e. b irds may be forced to relocate to new habitats that have different environmental conditions, hence compelling the birds to undergo adaptation. Consequently, there is also a misconception that human-beings are currently not evolving (evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/misconceptions_teacherfaq.php). The basis of this argument is that many people do not see any physical change or biological changes that have occurred on human-beings. What the supporters of this misconception have failed

Wholesalers in the business world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Wholesalers in the business world - Essay Example But they have certainly been around for centuries. The role they have played depended largely on the merchandise or service they represented. â€Å"Wholesaling includes all activities involved in selling goods or services to those who buy for resale or business use (Kotler 532)†. There are three main differences between wholesalers and retailers. Wholesalers are not concerned about the location of their establishment, the ambience or about promotion, because their customers are resellers and not the final consumer. The transactions of wholesalers are usually bigger than retail transactions, and they cover a much larger geographic area. Even governments treat wholesalers differently, in that the tax and legal parameters concerning them are different from those for retailers. As we will see later in this paper, there are different types of wholesalers, providing a variety of services. Some wholesalers provide selling and promoting services. These services complement the functions of manufacturers who cannot attend to these functions themselves for whatever reasons. Sometimes manufacturers are compelled to use these services of wholesalers, as local customers are more prepared to trust a local wholesaler, than some far away manufacturer. Wholesalers offer their customers a wider choice. By representing many manufacturers, they are able to offer customers the wares of all the entities they represent. Sometimes wholesalers buy in bulk, and offer their customer smaller units of a product – quantities that customers cannot buy - by approaching manufacturers directly. Wholesalers also offer inventory holding services and transportation. Wholesalers sometimes render financing services by offering credit terms to their customers. They also assist their customers by providing them market intelligence. In addition, they counsel their customers on such topics as inventory management, operational excellence and store layout and displays. There are

Reliance Industries Limited and CSR activities Essay Example for Free

Reliance Industries Limited and CSR activities Essay EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Flagrantly, nowadays CSR approach has been immensely exploited by the organizations and non-governmental organizations in a negative manner since the global markets are becoming competitive. The term corporate social responsibility has become a trend of symbols to explicit the company’s corporation as being socially responsible, however intrinsic intention has been self-regulation and private interest of the company. Hence, the reliance industry limited has taken the corporate social responsibility as their mainstream of profit maximization in terms of being socially responsible to educational, environmental, health care, and agricultural perspectives. Introduction The aim of this report is to apply sufficient knowledge’s for the importance of (CSR) and its contribution to strategic corporations, critically review the (CSR) functions of businesses as well as delivering efficient  information regarding the (CSR) activities of Reliance Industries Ltd. To demonstrate the above objectives it is essential to explain what is meant by CSR? What are the objectives of CSR? And furthermore brief description of Reliance Industries Ltd profile. In recent years, there has been greater attention to the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility. The term is described as the businesses responsibility towards their stakeholders’ legal, ethical, social and environmental expectations. Different scholars have defined (CSR) in various ways. First effort for defining (CSR) was made by Bowie (1953) who was observed as the father of academic debate for Corporate Social Responsibility (Carroll 1979, p.479). Bowie stated, that it is the businesses oblig ation to manage business process for the betterment of a society and enhancement of its value. Moreover, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) illustrated CSR as the commitment of business while behaving ethically and cooperating to the economic development by strengthening the quality life of workforce, families and local communities. Furthermore, Davis and Blomstorm elaborate the term CSR as an activity in order to improve the quality life of a society as well as developing the status of the organization by expanding its interest. However, Carroll defined (CSR) â€Å"Social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations that society has of organizations at a given point in time† (Carroll, 1979, p.500). Relatively, Carroll illustrated the pyramid of CSR by differentiating the four concept of social responsibility: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic obligations. To sum up CSR can be defined, managing the business processes with being responsiveness to the economic, legal, ethical and environmental expectations of stakeholders so that to produce a positive impact to the society. Consequently, as far as the report do concerns to the CSR activities of Reliance Industries Ltd, it is important to take a look after the mentioned company’s profile. The largest private sector of India, The Reliance Group founded by Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002) with operating in energy and material businesses value chain. The flagship company, Reliance Industries Ltd, owes an excess of Group annual revenues of US $ 66 billion and is apart of Fortune Global 500 Company. Starting with textiles in late seventies, Reliance expanded their business by pursuing the backward vertical integration strategy while  producing fiber intermediates, plastics, polyester, petrochemical as well as petroleum refining and oil and gas exploration and production. Reliance company proud itself for being the largest polyester yarn and fiber producer among the top five producers in the world. IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBLITIES: Conduction of Corporate Social Responsibility strategy has became vital trend for the companies in a current highly competitive global market. Inherently, the CSR strategy has remained the pillar of the sustainability of a business as far as the consumers and markets taste and preference changes are concerned. Moreover, the CSR-Asia has described CSR as the business operations incorporation in environmental and social perspectives with the interaction of their stakeholders. Hence, CSR approach owe following features: Firstly, it observes for the increasing of the shareholders profit in order to preserve the long-term viability of the business. Secondly, environmental and social improvisation has been the core objective of the CSR approach. Thirdly, the CSR concept is not a crowding out effect for the business, but it is about the way that business is operated. In this sequence, CSR concept is concerned with the long-term sustainability of the business while maximizing the shareholders interest and plays an active role in the development of community (http://www.scribd.com/doc/3934672/Importance-of-CSR-to-Business). CRITICAL REVIEW OF (CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: Inherently, above discourse explicit that mainstream of CSR does concerns with social, legal, and economical expectations of stakeholders. Therefore, CSR is flagrantly accountable for capitalist apparatus that business solely considers their own private benefits of raising their shareholders profit. For instance, on the one hand, Coca Cola company do informs African nations of HIV in order to vest a vast reputation to its company, qua profit is considered as core objective of business. On the other hand, it is a shame that they do not implement a program for telling the world regarding tooth decay as such program would affect their brand name reputation. Subsequently, in a survey of 1100 chief executives, 62% of those chief executives have underpinned the CSR concept as vital for profitability. Relatively, CSR has a risk of compelling chief executives to be sociopolitical players. As the government shrinks and loses its power, the business chief executives remains with huge power in which the businesses might acquit the power for their self-regulation profitability of the business. Companies, such as, Glencore company, whose enjoying an immense portion of political power in some Africa’s nation, is conducting the child labor extra-legal function for the purpose of cost reduction. Relatively, CSR has been criticized by excluding the local communities from policy-making decisions while working on Corporate Social Responsibility strategy. Moreover, many contradictions exists in CSR approach, such as lack of financial incentives, lack of legal literacy, etc. those disincentives the poorer group to use laws for their protection of their civil rights. CSR is also criticized in some arenas as the source of gaining access to the market while using it as a factor of price. Furthermore, some industries conducts the CSR program for not considering the government’s strong laws and regulations, as far as their CSR project implementation are concerned with profit maximization. Therefore, mentioned CSR project implementation may lead the NGO’S for protesting and boycotting in which firms may endure a huge expenditure on such projects. However, CSR approach compels companies who cannot cover their costs, to impose high prices to the society while catering their products with high prices. In a sequence, critiques have been arisen against CSR policy of companies for its none existence of accountability and corporate accountability, where lack of transparency, a sophisticated analysis of the political economic dimensions of corporate power and immense inequities of power exists (Ray Broomhill, corporate social responsibility: key issues and debates, 2007). To sum up, according to Rhys Jenkins (2005) the UK political economist, many CSR projects of high profiled companies has ample the scope of tax avoidance, transfer pricing and the misusing of market power which contradicts to the legitimacy of CSR. Relatively, some reforms of corporate policies has been exploited by the act of CSR in which consequently brought vast disparities to the society such as destructing the labor conditions associated with outsourcing and labor market liberalization, increases in the level of pollution, and the promotion of macro economic policies through the acquitting of corporate lobbying which has a negative impact on society and  environment (Ray Broomhill, corporate social responsibility: key issues and debates, 2007). RELIANCE INDUTRIES LIMITED CSR ACTIVITIES: Reliance industries have performed major social responsibilities towards the betterment of the community. The company has valuable contribution in terms of health, education, environment, corporation in natural disasters, and infrastructure development. Following are vast disclosure regarding CSR activities of Reliance Industries Limited: 1. Education: Reliance Industries has constructed nine schools with improving the 13,251 students education level across the India. Furthermore, the company conducts â€Å"the Kanya Kelvani† program, which plays a vital role to the contribution of supporting Indian Governments projects towards education of girls across all over the India. Relatively, RIL’s are implementing (Jagurti Project) for those students who are suffering mentally from social and economical backwards and support them to obstacle with dyslexia. Under the Jagurti Project, 35 trainees are spending 8800 hours in order to arise the tolerance of underprivileged children to tackle with dyslexia. Consequently, the company owes partnership with UNESCO and BBC for the awareness of dyslexia to the other villages’ students. (http://www.ril.com/html/aboutus/social_resp_comm_dev.html). 2. Community Health Care: Reliance Industries has brought pivotal improvisation to the Community Medical Centers for providing ample health care services to the neighboring villages. For instance, the Reliance Company is acquitting Drishti project, which is cooperated with the Association of Blind and made contribution to 9000 free corneal grafted surgeries for those blinded folks who are suffering from being underprivileged. Moreover, one of the manufacturing divisions of Reliance Company (Hazira Manufacturing divisions) has commenced an Anti-Retroviral Treatment Center in the country and specifically for the cleaners and drivers of all product transport vehicles. The program mainstream is for HIV / AIDS awareness. (http://www.ril.com/html/aboutus/social_resp_comm_dev.html). 3. Environment Initiatives for the Community: The Reliance Industry initiated a zero garbage campaign to develop the disposal of solid wastage concept in its surroundings and residential area. The aim of the campaign is to provide a cleanliness drive in order to sustain a disease-free environment for its employee’s residual sites. The industry is acquitting a social and economical security program for woman rag pickers with assistance of an NGO. The core objective of the project is to reduce the plastic litter for preserving its commitments of being responsible care. Relatively, the company has stretched a 900-meter road through the usage of 5% plastic waste in order to deduct the construction cost and as well as to improve the roads construction quality and life. (http://www.ril.com/html/aboutus/social_resp_comm_dev.html). 4. RELIANCE RURAL DEVELOPMENT TRUST: Reliance Rural Development Trust (RRDT) has initiated a rural infrastructure development program by undertaking 797 projects in 760 villages of 24 different zone of GUJARAT states. The project is consisted of 58 Concrete Cement Roads, 61 underground, and 06 Check Dams. Subsequently, all the check dams are constructed with accordance to the 8.7 mcft water storage capacity and 1065 Hectors of the land would have access to the Check Dams water. (http://www.ril.com/html/aboutus/social_resp_comm_dev.html). 5. Livelihood Support Program: Reliance Industry has undertaken the self-help group (SHG) program for women and youth generation of the surrounding villages in order to enhance their quality life while being â€Å"self sustaining† to support to their families. The program has facilitated the women by providing various courses such as dress making and designing, beauty culture, health care, nursing and hospital attendant. However, the program implement pumping and hand pump repairing, mobile repairing, computer hardware repairing, vehicle motor driving, and etc. courses. (http://www.ril.com/html/aboutus/social_resp_comm_dev.html). 6. Improving Quality of Agriculture Produce: Reliance Industry Limited has also participated in assistance of farming in terms of advanced technologies, storage, handling and distribution of products. For instance, the company vested Leno bags, which are made out of polypropylene and such bags are effective for reducing the handling losses of fruits and vegetables. Explicitly the company enforced the formers for the usage of advanced techniques (plastic) as it increases the productivity, contributes to the reduction of losses and in enhancement of earnings and distributed promotional materials (http://www.ril.com/html/aboutus/social_resp_comm_dev.html). RELIANCE INDUSTRIES CSR CONTRIBUTION TO ITS STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT): In a current competitive global environment, corporations does exist vastly where social responsibilities are concerned (Halme, Roome, Dobers, 2009). Therefore, to make more flagrant the contribution of corporate social responsibility with corporate strategy, it is essential to explicit what is corporate or strategic management? And what is mean by social responsibility? Essentially, strategic managements core objective is to accomplish goals through standard decision-making that concerns with determining objectives, policies and plans (Andrew, 1987). According to Andrews (1987), strategies main observations are regarding the implementation of companies and businesses goals, their economic and non-economic corporations and nature, and the relationship between the stakeholders, he furthermore stated that corporate strategies are a complex concept as the top managements decisions reflects an impact to the stakeholders who are independent with the company. However, undoubtedly the strategic management decisions covers both the social as well as economic aspects. According to Porter and Kramer (2006), there is a strong correlation between corporation and society. This is due to the fact of direct influence of company’s activities to the communities of their work and the strategic management department executives should have strictly consider the society’s needs and decisions with accordance to their  expectations. Hence, Reliance Company has processed various CSR activities in order to make ease to their decision-making trends towards policies and plans in order to accomplish the organization’s goal. For instance, the Reliance Limited Industries is conducting educational programs, health care services, agricultural development services to give a boost to their status of their company as wells as implement environmental initiatives community program while procuring a clean environment to their working community for the purpose of being safe to provision an ease way for acquitting policies and plans. As a result, the strategic management executives undertake the corporate social responsibilities as an intrinsic factor for the purpose of catering sustainable profits to the stakeholders (BAR, Curitiba, v. 7, n. 3, art. 5, pp. 294-309, July/Sept. 2010). Conclusion: To sum up, virtually the corporate social responsibility concept considers the ethical, social, and environmental aspects of the stakeholders. Relatively, the organizations exploit the corporate social responsibility as maximizing their shareholders profit through satisfying the stakeholders mentioned expectations. Many organizations make the CSR approach as their mainstream trend and apparatus for gaining reputation and catering a better working environment for their employers in order to enhance the quality status of their organization as well as acquitting the organizations prime goal. For instance, Reliance Industries Limited process the environment initiatives, education programs, health care programs, rural development program, etc. at their own working community for enhancing the quality life of the company’s employees and maximizing the shareholders profit. Although, CSR approach owes indispensible positive impacts to the society, the concept has extralegal and negative disparity to the community. As far as the core objective of the organization concerns with maximizing their profits, organizations misuse the CSR approach for their own private interest in terms of power (in case government shrinks the company remains with mass power), cost (in order to recover the CSR projects cost the company rises the their products cost for the consumers), accountability, and etc. Lastly, CSR concept can be observed as the utility apparatus for the stakeholders, owing negative impacts with it. RECOMMENDATION: Since many companies are interlinked with extralegal activities while implementing the CSR activities due to owing immense power after the government in some Asian and African countries and goes to disparity of their trends and code of ethics such as exploiting the child labor method, they are recommended to follow the code of ethics they have established as it might affect to the quality and status of the organization through the media revealer. Furthermore, companies are required to motivate their CSR projects employees via catering training facilities, bonuses, developed salary system in order to enhance their productivity, thus, to reduce their total cost of the CSR project as higher cost for CSR project remains the company with higher prices of the products to the customers. Therefore customer tends to change their preferences to other market. REFERENCES: Benn, Suzanne and Bolton, Dianne (Key concepts in corporate social responsibility, 2011). Broomhill, Ray (Corporate Social Responsibility: Key Issues and Debates, 2007) El Ghoul, Sadok, Guedhami, Omerane, C.Y. Kwok, Chuck, R.Mishra, Dev ( Banking of Journal and Finance, 9th September 2011, p.g. 2388-2406). Volume 35. Lober, Heike (corporate management, corporate social responsibility and customers, 2012). Ril.com (N.D.) Social Responsibility and Community Development (Online). Available from: http://www.ril.com/html/aboutus/social_resp_comm_dev.html (access on 29th May 2012). Ril.com (N.D.) Reliance Group (Online). Available from: http://www.ril.com/html/aboutus/aboutus.html (access on 29th May 2012). Scribd.com (N.D.) Importance of CSR to Business (Online). Available from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/3934672/Importance-of-CSR-to-Business (access on 26th May 2012).

World War II Essay Example for Free

World War II Essay II (WWII), 120,000 Japanese Americans, US citizens or not, were forced out of the west coast after the attack of Pearl Harbor. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 which allowed local military commanders to establish exclusion zones from which any or all persons may be excluded. Americans of Japanese descent were forcibly interned in different camps in the US. The military felt that this was a necessary action to prevent any espionage and pro-Japanese actions in the west coast. Regardless of the mass evacuation, a number of Japanese Americans served in the military forces. In fact, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) is the most highly decorated unit in US military history. Asian discrimination The discrimination against the Asians in the United States started even way before the incarceration of Japanese Americans in WWII. In the late 1900s, laws were passed that explicitly prohibited Japanese to become citizens of the US. They could not have a land of their own and were not allowed to marry outside their race. They could only buy homes in certain areas and were prohibited to work in certain industries. The Immigration Act of 1924 stated that aliens who were ineligible for citizenship would not be allowed to immigrate to the United States. When Japan had been establishing its colonial rule in the 20th century, news of brutality of Japan came into the US. In particular, Japans colonization of China was widely condemned by the US government. As a result, prohibitions on oil and supplies were placed on Japan. The Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 further strengthened the anti-Japanese sentiment of the Americans especially when eyewitness reports of violence reached the country. The anti-Japanese sentiment reached its peak when the appalling attack on Pearl Harbor transpired on December 7, 1941. This impelled the United States to wage war against the Japanese Empire. This anger was further fuelled by how Japanese treated American and other western prisoners of war, the Bataan Death March, and the Kamikaze attacks on American ships. Internment Executive Order 9066 Starting 1939, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been compiling information on prominent members of the Japanese community. These data in the Custodial Detention Index (CDI) were used to classify the persons according to their possible danger to the country. A few hours after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Attorney General, given a presidential blanket authority, announced that the FBI, using the information in the CDI, would be detaining dangerous enemy aliens who may put the security of the nation in jeopardy. Some believed that Japan would launch an attack on the west coast. Many officials doubted the loyalty of the Japanese residing in this area, their judgments mostly based on racial bias. They also feared a possible tampering of water system or arson. The distrust to the ethnic Japanese was more strengthened by the fact that many of them were educated in Japan, where schools emphasized reverence for the Emperor. This planted suspicion of espionage by the Japanese Americans. On December 30, the Attorney General authorized raids even without search and warrant arrests to all houses of Japanese lineage provided that there is at least one Japanese alien. General John L. DeWitt, commanding officer of the Western Defense Command, advocated the removal of enemy aliens from zones in the west coast. He insisted that there were indications of sabotage by the Japanese Americans. Although various agencies, such as the FBI, found no evidence of such a claim, their reports were suppressed by high officials. DeWitts recommendation easily made its way to the War Department who readily approved it. When President Franklin Roosevelt was presented the order, he readily signed the order without consulting the Cabinet. His support of the internment was a great show of support to the Americans that would be rewarding in the coming election. Exclusion, removal, and detention On February 19, 1942, Executive Order 9066 authorized the Army to designate military areas from which any person may be excluded. Although there was no explicit command to evacuate the Japanese Americans, the order was carried out only to people of Japanese ancestry. The Italians Americans and German Americans, whose countries of origin were also at war with the allies of the United States, did not experience the same fate as the Japanese Americans. On March 11, the Office of the Alien Property Custodian was given discretionary authority over alien property interests. Many of the assets were frozen, causing financial difficulty for the people affected and hindering them from moving out of the exclusion zones. On March 24, Public Proclamation No. 3 enforced a curfew from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am for all enemy aliens and people of Japanese ancestry within the military areas. A few days later, another proclamation prohibited them from leaving Military Area No. 1, which is the entire Pacific coast to about 100 miles inland, until an order allows them to leave. On May 3, Japanese Americans were ordered to live in the assembly centers until transferred to relocation centers. The unfounded mass removal of the Japanese Americans took place around 8 months. Japanese Americans lost most of their properties since they were allowed to bring only what they could carry, such as clothing and personal effects. Numbered tags were given to them as a means of their identification and their belongings. Residents of twelve Latin American countries with Japanese ancestry were also interned to US internment camps. After WWII, most of the Japanese Latin Americans were not allowed to return to their countries and instead were deported to Japan, where they suffered hardships as Japan was severely damaged by the war. Of more than a hundred thousand Japanese Americans subjected to the mass removal program of the government, two-thirds of them were US citizens by birth. Farming as a cause of anti-Japanese sentiments Much of the prejudice against the Japanese Americans was intensified due to the competence of the Japanese in the agriculture industry. Being ingenious people, they eventually had their own farms and other businesses. A number of thriving businesses owned by Japanese Americans were strong competitors in the agricultural industry. The Japanese Americans had developed sophisticated means of irrigation that allowed the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, and flowers on lands that could not be used for farming previously. The first-generation Japanese Americans, the Issei, indeed prospered in the 20th century, but their fate turned when they lost their farm during the internment. This, however, pleased the white farmers as they could take over Japanese farms. Because the Japanese Americans were removed from their farms, laborers were needed to take over the lands of the Japanese. Immigrations from the Mexican border started coming to Mexico. However, thousands of Nisei, children of first-generation Japanese that were US-born, were still needed to save the farming industry so thousands of them were released from camps. But for the Japanese Americans who remained in camp, they strived to irrigate and cultivate barren lands in areas near the internment camps. Because of their hard work, they were able to build farm lands that are still productive until the present.

The History Of Bossa Nova

The History Of Bossa Nova The Brazilian music style Bossa Nova is a music genre part of Brazilian Popular Music created in 1958 and faded out about 1963, lasting officially only six years. This musical style is probably the most known style from Brazil in the whole world, having achieved significant success in the four parts of the world such as the United States, Western Europe, Japan and most importantly in its country of birth. This important music style shall be investigated and analysed carefully in the hope of obtaining valuable and interesting points about the history of this revolutionary musical phenomenon. To understand the musical style it is essential to first understand the origin of the term Bossa Nova. The term Bossa was widely used in the 1930s as a slang word in the city of Rio de Janeiro. It meant to do something in a different but very original way. The term was basically used to describe something in a cool or trendy way. The Portuguese word Nova in simple English term means new. The translation of the whole term would therefore be something like New Trend. The term basically was created by the youth of that time, as a form of opposing everything they believed to be old, ancient and outdated in Brazilian Music. Bossa Nova was heavily criticised when it first came out to the people, mainly due to its strong influences from American music and especially on post war American culture. Big names such as of pianist Stan Kenton were said to be a major influence on the style, due to his new and innovative methods in his American jazz orchestra. Another influence mentioned by critics is of impressionist composers such as Claude Debussy and Maurice Rave, both playing an important role in the creation of the style. The most obvious and most common style influence however to the human ear comes clearly from American music such as cool jazz and even bebop. This is mainly due to the use of dissonant chords which is very common in jazz music. These musical styles and influences, along with the youths discontent with the music scenario at the time, encouraged the musical revolutionaries to modernise music, thus creating the beautiful style known to all of us as bossa nova. Another definite and positive mus ical influence coming from Brazilian popular music is of local singers Lucio Alves and Dick Farney. Both singers were famous in the 1950s for having soft and peaceful vocals, as opposed to the stereotypical stronger and more powerful voice which was very common at the time. Dick Farneys music is considered nowadays to be the Pre bossa nova phase. All of these factors contributed to the creation of the style and practically differentiated the bossa nova style from all of the other existing acts in the world. During the year of 1957 and onwards, a selective group of middle classed young and aspiring musicians would gather together frequently in order to socialise, but most importantly, to play and make music. These people would get together and share their ideas in apartments or houses, at different spots around the city. The main place however where these people played music was at Nara Leaos apartment in Copacabana, a noble district in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The beautiful Nara Leà £o, at the time was only 15 years old, but nonetheless still participated in those reunions and already at that age showed great taste for music and outstanding vocal abilities. Nara Leao would later become a professional singer, touring with artists such as Sergio Mendes and becoming one of the styles greatest female icon, being referred to as thebossa novas muse and becoming forever immortalized in bossa novas history. In those musical reunions great musicians and singers such as Carlos Lyra and Robert o Menescal played part and were frequent attenders. As time progressed, that group gained more visibility and increased in size. Artists such as Ronaldo Boscoli, Chico Feitosa and the great Joao Gilberto soon made part of that same group which would revolutionize Brazilian music. Bossa nova was above all an emerging urban movement in the country during the developing phase of Juscelino Kubitscheks presidency years. It is believed by many critics that the style happened after the re-encounter of two members from the groups, Tom Jobim and Joao Gilberto in the year of 1957. According to writer Sà ³stenes Pernambuco Pires Barros (2001, my translation) Some researchers believe that from those meetings Bossa Nova was created. Poet Vinicius de Moraes agrees however the theme is very controversial. A massive surprise that was introduced by the style was the fact that the lyrics in the songs contrasted heavily with what was being played at the time. The lyrics from the style generally adopted light and easy going themes, something very different to the original samba songs which were usually sad and depressing. As was mentioned before, the form of singing and the way in which the lyrics were delivered in bossa nova style was completely different to the other more operatic voices in the music business. The style brought a form of different singing, instead of actually singing the words, singers would practically speak in a very colloquial way the words, thus singing in a not so loud way. By doing this, the focus of the song was ultimately the lyrics of the song, the way in which they were narrated to the listeners and most importantly the form that the accompaniment and harmony of the song were directly connected to the singing, as opposed to having weak harmonies and powerful vo ices. In order to revolutionise Brazilian music, composers from the style would use extensively the so called dissonant chords, which later rather ironically as a form of manifesto against the critics, Tom Jobim composed the tune called Desafinado (Out of Tune, my translation). It is important to state that the musical revolutionaries didnt in any way dislike the existing national musical styles, but intead believed that the the old samba tunes were especially melancholic and very depressing. The youth of the nation believed that the music had to be changed sooner or later. They would in the future go ahead and create the style bossa nova. A style that contained different harmonies, simpler lyrics and poetries, happy thoughts and most importantly, new rhythms. The style was however not intended to be better or worse than the other styles, it was meant to be simply different. Different from everything, more refined and with more optimistic views on the future. Brazilian writer who li ved and took part in the whole movement Sà ³stenes Pernambuco Pires Barros (2001, my translation) states that In reality, it cant even be classed as a musical genre. It is the form in which the music is treated, in relation to beats and rhythm. The first Bossa Nova mark officially started in May 1958 when female singer Elizeth Cardosos tracks were released in a LP with various artists. One of her two tracks was called Canà §Ãƒ £o Do Amor Demais (Loveful Tune, my translation). The LP featured the legendary Joao Gilberto playing guitar in her both tracks. These turned out to be the recordings that would characterize the new invented guitar accompaniment made by Joao Gilberto, which in a few years would be one of the styles greatest trademark feature. This feature was in actual fact the syncopated guitar groove, which was syncopated on every weak drum beat. That same LP was produced by label Festa and featured the other track by singer Elizeth Cardoso called Chega de Saudade (Enough of Longing) by the genius musical partners Tom Jobim and poet Vinicius de Morais. The LP when released intended to focus mainly on the partners and especially on Vinicius de Moraiss work, since he wished to record his best poetry and as consequenc e release it to the people. Surprisingly enough, according to a famous local journalist at the time Ruy Castro (1990, p.175, my translation) As opposed to what is believed today, that LP was not a hit when it was released in May 1958. Later on that year the same Joao Gilberto went on to record an LP as a solo artists in which for the first time he would sing and play. The LP featured one of the singers own songs, the tune Bim Bom but most importantly featured the same song from before Chega de Saudade of partners Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes. Joao Gilberto brought his own special touch again to the cover version such as the characteristic guitar accompaniment and beat to the music, and in a sense brought to life once more the important features that would later become strong characteristics of the style. Joao Gilberto in his version also innovated and created the new way of singing to fit the style. He had sung the song using the features of the style mentioned previously above, this is singing with a not very loud voice and in a sense, nearly whispering into the microphone. The singer would later achieve both national and international success with that same song which features over 100 different covers by different artists, from those days until nowadays. According to the original composer of the song Tom Jobim The bossa nova of the song Chega de Saudade is practically concentrated on the harmonies, the altered chords which were not so used by musicians at the time, and in the new guitar hand picking groove executed by Joao Gilberto(2002, http://www.dicionariompb.com.br/verbete.asp?nome=Bossa+Novatabela=T_FORM_C). During the initial years, musicians from the old reunion groups formed in 1957 would play and present some of their music in local universities, in order to introduce their music to the people. Bossa nova music was in fact the first Brazilian musical movement to egress from universities, seeing that all of their initials performances took part in those areas. The musical group as a result gained even more visibility and followers, such as of composer Leny Andrade, famous for his instrumental music and the nowadays famous Sergio Mendes. As time progressed, the style was taken slowly to the other parts of the city of Rio de Janeiro, such as small venues and bars in the district of Copacabana, before achieving worldwide success and become a musical epidemic. After a few performances, musician Tom Jobim started to rise in popularity, as people got to listen more and understand better the new style being played. Tom Jobims music plays an important part in the history of classic bossa nova with tunes such as Desafinado and Samba De Uma Nota Sà ³ (One Note Samba, my translation). Those two songs in actual fact were the first songs chosen from the bossa nova style to enter the competitive American music market in the early 1960s. Together with Vinicius de Moraes, Tom Jobim created the all time bossa nova anthem known as Garota de Ipanema(Girl From Ipanema, my translation). That song in actual fact would later become the second most famous Brazilian song in the whole word, after only Aquarela do Brasil by composer Ary Barroso. Following the great acceptance of the style in American grounds, bossa nova artists were invited to play in what is known to many Brazilian musicians, as a historical concert in 1962 in the Carnegie Hall, New York. Some artists that played part in this event were obviously Tom Jobim and Joao Gilberto, Carlos Lyra, Sergio Mendes and many other famous names at the time. The concert was intended to approximate the bossa nova artists to the American people and the event proved to be a great success, opening new doors and boundaries for that style of music internationally. That concert had such great demands and visibility that it was broadcast to the whole world live. Since then, Tom Jobims song Garota de Ipanema has been featured and played in more than 150 different recordings by different artists. The song was such a successful hit that besides being played by the composer himself in 1963, it was also played shortly after by Sarah Vaughan in 1964, Stan Gets in 1966, Frank Sinatra and Tom Jobim together in 1967 and even the great Ella Fitzgerald in 1971, amongst other great national and international artists. Jazz saxofonist Stan Getz and guitarrist Charlie Byrd in 1962 even recorded a cover instrumental version of the song Desafinado by Tom Jobim, showing once more the great acceptance of bossa nova music on international grounds. The chronological end of the style in 1963 didnt by any means signify that the style would whatsoever become extinct. In fact, the style left a great big legacy of fans and followers and especially admirers of the great style. As was mentioned before, songs were extensively covered by great names of jazz music even after the official end of the Bossa Nova Years as a form of paying back what the Brazilian style did to their music. As Bossa Nova grew in America consequently so did Jazz music. In 1965, thus after the end of the musical movement, poet Vinicius de Moraes and musician Edu Lobo composed a song called Arrastao (Dragging, my translation). That same song was covered by singer Elis Regina. That song marked the end of Bossa Nova but only the start of what was going to be called in the future as MPB(Brazilian Popular Music), a style that would fuse many Brazilian styles and influences until the 1980s. In present time concerts are still put on dedicated to the Bossa Nova style suc h as when the style completed 40 years and other celebratory events. Also, in more recent years the style influenced greatly other generations of artists from a post British punk scene such as bands Style Council, Everything but the Girl and even Jamiroquai. The style can still be frequently heard also in electronic music where djs have used bossa nova influences, creating the style bossa electrica. From all of this it can be finally be concluded that although the style only lasted roughly six years, the great impact that it had on the people at those times and even nowadays is unquestionable. Bossa nova was undoubtedly a revolution in Brazilian music for the important changes it brought such as the developed way of singing and especially the syncopated guitar picking, thus creating the classic bossa nova groove. During the years, it was widely recognised as being an exotic style with songs being covered restlessly by many different artists around the world. The style also brought and made people more aware of great composers such as Tom Jobim and Joao Gilberto, which is considered to be the pope of the style for his creations and creations in Brazilian music. Bossa nova left behind a great legacy in music and with no doubts whatsoever will hopefully continue to do so, bringing happier, harmonic and enjoyable music to its listeners. Word Count: 2498 Reference List Barros, S.P.P. (2001) Histà ³rias da Bossa Nova Available at: http://www.almacarioca.com.br/mpb.htm (Accessed: 17 April 2009) Castro, Ruy. (1990) Chega de Saudade, Sà £o Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1990 Dicionà ¡rio Cravo Albin da Musica Brasileira, 2002 Available: http://www.dicionariompb.com.br/verbete.asp?nome=Bossa+Novatabela=T_FORM_C (Accessed): 17 April 2009)