Spirituality and the Creative Spirit, (Portfolio#1) Essay

Spirituality and the Creative Spirit, (Portfolio#1) - Essay Example As it is also observed that in the text it is stated, â€Å"His (Davis) mother took him regularly to catholic church hoping that somehow provide comfort instead it filled him with fear, ‘I found the whole thing terrifying’† (17). Davis’s terror is explicable as the fear of punishment and the manner in which the church portrays God. However it is apparent that he is a spiritualist the reason being that he has strived to find meaning of life and was ultimately able to discover solace in nature and his catharsis was writing poetry. It is highly stressed upon that church and the Christian theology or any other religion does not governs spirituality reason being that spirituality is not simply confined to the search of God. Although for some people spiritualism is the exploration of one’s relation with God and importance of religion. Yet it is not true for the majority of the people because in the twenty first century a large number of people do not belie ve in God anymore as it is stated about Davis, â€Å"on many occasions he still believes that the Gods have fled† (17) it is more about self contemplation than about God. Nevertheless the importance of religion cannot be denied because in a large number of cases it acts as a catalyst for initiating or introducing an individual to spirituality. Since the Church plays an integral role in the exhibition of a large number of paintings regarding mysticism and also because religion has the power of instigating or putting an individual in a contemplative mood. So it is the process of questioning that leads a man to explore the mysteries of life and reason with the logic and principles of his existence. Spirituality can also be elucidated as a form of expression in which an individual gets a chance to express one’s every feeling of anger, love, hatred and admiration. Hence any form of art i.e. music, poetry, painting and dancing are all modes of expressing one’s interpretation of life as well one’s

Assess the view that ethnic differences Essay Example for Free

Assess the view that ethnic differences Essay ?An Ethnic minority background increases your chances of arrest and conviction, some people argue that police racism in itself results in higher suspicion against black people in general. According to official statistics there are significant ethnic differences in the likelihood of being involved in the criminal justice system. Black and Asians are overrepresented in the system. For example black people make up 2. 8% of the population, but 11% of the prison population. Contrastingly whites are underrepresented. However such statistics do not tell us whether members of one ethnic group are more likely than members of another ethnic group to commit an offence in the first place; they just tell us about involvement in the criminal justice system. For example differences in stop and search or arrest rates may be due to police racism, while differences in rates of imprisonment may be the result of courts handing down harsher sentences on minorities. There are other sources of statistics to reveal link of ethnicity and offending. Victim surveys ask individuals to say what crimes they have been victims of. We can get information on ethnicity and offending from surveys when we ask what ethnicity of the person who committed the crime against them. For example in the case of mugging blacks are overly represented among those indentified by victims as offenders. Victim surveys show much crime is intra-ethnic; it takes place within rather than between ethnic groups. For example the British crime survey (2007) found 90% of where the victim was white; at least one of the offenders was also white. However while victim surveys are useful in identifying ethnic patterns of offending, they have several limitations. They rely on a victim’s memory of events. Ben Bowling and Coretta Phillips (2002) found whites may over identify blacks, saying the offender was black even when not sure. They only cover personal crimes, which make up 20% of all crimes. They exclude under 16s; minority ethnic groups contain a higher proportion of young people. They exclude crimes by big business; thus tell us nothing of ethnicity of white collar criminals. Thus victim surveys only tell us about the ethnicity of a small proportion of offenders, which may not be representative of offenders in general. Self report studies ask individuals to disclose their own dishonest and violent behaviour. Graham and Bowling (1995) found that blacks and whites had similar rates of offending, while Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis had lower rates. Similarly Sharp and Budd (2005) note that the 2003 offending, crime and justice survey of 12,000 people found whites and mixed ethnic origin groups were more likely than blacks and Asians to say they had committed offences. The Home Office have conducted nine self report studies on drugs since the early 1990s, all with similar findings. Sharp and Budd (2005) found 27% of mixed ethnicity individuals said they had used drugs in the last year, compared to 16% of blacks and whites, and 5% of Asians. Use of class a drugs, such as heroin or cocaine was 3 times higher among whites than blacks and Asians. The findings of self report studies challenge stereotypes of blacks more likely than whites to offend, though they support the widely held view Asians are less likely to offend, however self report studies have their limitations in relation to ethnicity and offending. Overall the evidence of ethnicity and offending is inconsistent. For example while official statistics and victim surveys point to the likelihood of higher rates of offending by blacks; this is generally not the results of self report studies. There are ethnic differences at each stage of the criminal justice process. To explain them we need to look at main stages of the process that an individual may go through, possibly culminating in a custodial sentence. Phillips and Bowling (2007) argue since the 70s there have been many allegations of oppressive policing of minorities, including stop and search, deaths in custody, police violence and failure to respond effectively to racist violence. Minorities are more likely to be stopped and searched by police. Statistics show Asians were three times more likely to be searched under this act. Its thus unsurprising minorities are less likely to think police acted politely when stopped, or think they were stopped fairly. Phillips and Bowling (2007) argue these communities feel over policed and over protected and have limited faith in the police. There are three possible reasons for the disproportionate use of stop and search against minorities. Police racism; the Macpherson Report (1999) on the police investigation of the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence concluded there was institutional racism in the Metropolitan police. Other have found deeply ingrained racist attitudes among individual officers. For example Phillips and Bowling point out that many officers hold negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities as criminals, leading to deliberate targeting for stop and search. Such stereotypes are endorsed and upheld by the canteen culture of rank and file officers. Ethnic differences in offending; an alternative explanation is that the disproportionality in stop and searches simply reflects ethnic differences in levels of offending. However it’s useful to distinguish between low discretion and high discretion stops. In low discretion stops police act on relevant information about a specific offence, for example a victim’s description of the offender. In high discretion stops police act without specific intelligence. It is in these stops police can use stereotypes that disproportionality and discrimination are more likely. Demographic factors; ethnic minorities are over represented in the population groups who are most likely to be stopped such as the young, the unemployed, manual workers and urban dwellers. These groups are all more likely to be stopped, regardless of their ethnicity, but they are also groups who have a higher proportion of ethnic minorities in them, so minorities get stopped more. Figures in England and Wales show that in 2006/07, the arrest rates for blacks was 3. 6 times higher than for whites. Contrastingly once arrested blacks and Asians were less likely to receive a police caution. One reason for this may be more likely to deny the offence and likely to exercise their right to legal advice. However not admitting the offence means they cannot be let off with a caution and are more likely to be charged instead. The crown prosecution service is the body responsible for deciding whether a case brought by the police should be prosecuted in court. In doing so CPS must decide whether there is a realistic prospect of conviction and whether the prosecution is in the public’s interest. Studies suggest the CPS is more likely to drop cases against minorities. Bowling and Phillips (2002) argue this may be because the evidence presented to the CPS by the police is often weaker and based on stereotyping of ethnic minorities as criminals. When cases do go ahead minorities are more likely to elect trial before a jury in the Crown Court rather than the magistrates court, perhaps due to mistrust of magistrates impartiality. However crown courts can impose more severe sentences if convicted. Thus is interesting to note minorities are less likely to be found guilty. This suggests discrimination, in that the police and CPS may be bringing weaker or less serious cases against ethnic minorities that are thrown out by the courts. In 2006/7 custodial sentences were given to a greater proportion of black offenders (68%) than white (55%) or Asian offenders (59%), whereas whites and Asians were more likely than blacks to receive community sentences. This may be due to differences in seriousness of the offences or defendants previous convictions. However a study of 5 crown courts by roger Hood (1992) found even when such factors were taken into account, black men were 5% more likely to receive a custodial sentence, and were given sentences of an average of 3 months longer than whites. Another reason for harsher sentences id pre sentence reports (PRs) written by probation officers. A PRs is intended as a risk assessment to assist magistrates in deciding on the appropriate sentence for a given offender. However Hudson and Bramhall (2005) argue that PRs allow for unwitting discrimination. They found reports on Asian offenders were less comprehensive and suggested that they were less remorseful than white offenders. They place this bias in the context of demonising Muslims in the wake of 9/11 attacks. In 2007, one quarter of the male prison population was minorities. Blacks were five times more likely to be in prison than whites. Black and Asians were more likely to be serving longer sentences. Within the total prison population all minorities had a higher than average proportion of prisoners on remand. This is because minorities are less likely to be granted bail whilst awaiting trial. There are similar patterns in other countries, for example in USA two fifths of prison population is black. There was large scale migration from the Caribbean and Indian subcontinent in the 50s, at this time it was agreed minorities had lower crime rates. However by the 70s there was conflict between blacks and the police meaning â€Å"black criminality† became more of a problem. Contrastingly by the 90s Asian crime also became viewed as a problem. Events e. g. 9/11 cemented the idea that Asians were a threat to public order. There are two main explanations for ethnic differences in crime; left realism and neo-Marxism. Left realists Lea and Young (1993) argue ethnic differences in statistics reflect real differences in the levels of offending by different ethnic groups. Left realists see crime the product of relative deprivation, subculture and marginalisation. They argue racism had led to economic exclusion of ethnic minorities who face higher unemployment, poverty and poor housing. At the same time the Medias emphasis on consumerism promotes a sense of relative deprivation by setting materialistic goals that many minorities are unable to reach by legitimate means. One response is formation of delinquent subcultures, especially by young unemployed blacks. It produces higher utilitarian crime to cope with relative deprivation. Furthermore as these groups are marginalised and have no groups to represent their interests their frustration is liable to produce non utilitarian crime such as rioting. Lea and Young acknowledge police often act in racist ways and results in unjustified criminalisation of some members of minorities. However they don’t believe discriminatory policing fully explains the statistics. For example over 90% of crimes known to the police are reported by the public rather than discovered themselves. Under these circumstances even if police act discriminatory it’s unlikely it can account for ethnic differences in statistics. Similarly Lea and Young argue we cannot explain differences in minorities in terms of police racism. For example blacks are more criminalised than Asians. The police would have to be selective in their racism for racism to cause these differences. Lea and Young thus conclude that the statistics represent real differences in levels of offending between ethnic groups and these are caused by real differences in levels of relative deprivation and marginalisation. However Lea and Young can be criticised for their views on the role of police racism. For example arrest rates may be lower for Asians because police stereotype them differently. Stereotypes may have changed since 9/11, explaining rising criminalisation of this group. While left realists see official statistics reflecting real differences in offending between ethnic groups, other sociologists have argued differences in statistics do not reflect reality. These differences are the outcome of a process of social construction that stereotypes ethnic minorities as inherently more criminal than the majority of the population. The work of neo Marxists Paul Gilroy (1982) and Stuart Hall (1979) illustrates this view. Gilroy argues the idea of black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes of African Caribbean’s and Asians. In reality these groups are no more criminal than any other. However as a result of the police and criminal justice system acting on these racist stereotypes, ethnic minorities came to be criminalised and thus to appear in greater numbers in official statistics. Gilroy argues ethnic minority crime can be seen as a form of political resistance against a racist society, and this struggle has roots in earlier struggle against British imperialism. Gilroy holds a similar view to that of critical criminology which argues working class crime is a political act against capitalism. Most blacks and Asians in the UK originated from former colonies where their anti imperialist struggles taught them how to resist oppression, for example through riots and demonstrations. When they found themselves facing racism in Britain they adopted the same form of struggles to defend themselves, but their political struggle was criminalised by the British state. However Lea, Young and Gilroy are criticised on several grounds. First generation immigrants were very law abiding, so it’s unlikely they passed their anti colonialist struggle onto their children. Most crime is interethnic, criminals and victims usually have similar ethnic backgrounds, so it can’t be seen as anti colonial struggle against racism. Lea and Young argue Gilroy romanticises street crime as revolutionary. Asian crime rates are similar to or lower than whites. If Gilroy were right then the police are only racist towards black and not Asians, which seems unlikely. Stuart Hall et al adopt a neo Marxist perspective. They argue the 70s saw a moral panic over black muggers that served the interests of capitalism. Hall et all argues the ruling class can normally rule the subordinate classes through consent. However in times of crisis this becomes more difficult. In the early 70s British capitalism faced a crisis. High inflation and rising unemployment provoked widespread industrial unrest and strikes. When opposition to capitalism was growing the ruling class may need to use force to keep control. However the use of force needs to be legitimated or provoke more resistance. The 70s also saw a media driven panic of the growth of mugging. In reality mugging was a new name for street robbery and Hall et al suggest there was no significant increase of this crime at the time. Mugging was soon to be associated by the media, police and politicians with black youth. Hall et al argues that the emergence of the moral panic about mugging as a specifically black crime at the same time as crisis of capitalism was no coincidence; the moral panic and crisis were linked. The myth of the black mugger served as a scapegoat to distract attention from the true cause of problems of unemployment, namely the crisis of capitalism. The black mugger symbolised disintegration of social order. By presenting black youth as a threat to the fabric of society the moral panic served to divide the working class on racial grounds and weaken opposition to capitalism as well as winning popular consent to authoritarian forms of rule to suppress opposition. However Hall et al do not argue that black crime was solely a product of media and police labelling. The crisis of capitalism was increasingly marginalising black youth through unemployment and drove them to a lifestyle of hustling and petty crime to survive. However Hall et al have been criticised on several grounds. Downes and Rock (2003) argue that Hall et al are inconsistent in claiming that black street crime was not rising, but also that it was rising because of unemployment. They do not show how a capitalist crisis led to a moral panic, nor do they provide evidence that the public were in fact panicking or blaming crime on blacks. Left realists argue inner city residents fears about mugging are not panicky but realistic. Until recently the focus of the ethnicity and crime debate was largely about the over representation of blacks in the criminal justice system. However recently sociologists have studied racist victimisation of ethnic minorities. Racist victimisation occurs when an individual is selected as a target because of their race, gender or religion. Racist victimisation is nothing new, but brought into public view with the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and the subsequent Macpherson inquiry into the police investigation. Information of victimisation comes from two main sources; the British crime survey and police recorded statistics. These generally cover racist incidents, any incident perceived to be racist by the victim or another person. They also cover racially or religiously aggravated offences where the offender is motivated by hostility towards members of a racial or religious group. The police recorded 60,000 racist incidents in England and Wales in 2006/7, mostly damage to property and verbal harassment. However most incidents go unreported; the British crime survey estimates there were 184,000 racially motivated incidents in 2006/7. The police recorded 42,600 racially or religiously aggravated offences on 06/7, mostly harassment. 10,600 people were prosecuted or cautioned for racially aggravated offences in 2006. The risk of being a victim of any sort of crime varies by ethnic group. The 2006/7 British crime survey shows people of mixed ethnic background had a higher risk of becoming a victim of crime than blacks, Asians or whites. The differences may be partly the result of factors other than ethnicity. For example for violent crime factors such as being young, male and unemployed are strongly linked to victimisation. Ethnic groups with a high proportion of young males are thus likely to have higher rates of victimisation. However some of these factors such as unemployment are themselves partly due to discrimination while the statistics record the instances of victimisation they don’t capture the victim’s experience of it. As Sampson and Phillips (1992) note racist victimisation tends to be over time with repeated minor instances of abuse with periodic physical violence. The resulting long term psychological impact needs to be added to the physical injury and damage to property caused by offenders. Members of minority ethnic communities have often been active in responding to victimisation. Responses range from situational crime prevention measures such as fireproof doors to organised self defence campaigns. Such responses need to be understood in the context of accusations of under protection by the police who often ignore the racist dimension in victimisation and fail to investigate incidents properly. For example the Macpherson enquiry (1999) concluded the police investigation into the death of black teenager Stephen Lawrence was marred by incompetence, institutional racism and failure of leadership by senior officers. Others have found deeply ingrained racist attitudes among individual officers.

Methods for Prevention of Post-ERCP Pancreatitis

Methods for Prevention of Post-ERCP Pancreatitis Prevention of post endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis Abstract: Pancreatitis is the most common and important complication of ERCP. Several risk factors exist that help to formation and progress pancreatitis. These risk factors may be factors that are related to patient, and factors that related to Procedure, or factors related to operator. All of the risk factors should be considered and as far as possible may be lowered with attention to pathogenesis of the development of post-ERCP pancreatitis. These pathogenesis are include: sphincter spasm, infection, contrast toxicity and pancreatic secretion that induce activation of proteolytic enzymes and inflammatory process. Some of methods and pharmacologic agent assessed for prevention pathogenesis pathway to decrease post-ERCP pancreatitis. Introduction: In about 75 percent of patients after endoscopic retrogradecholangiopancreato-graphy (ERCP) may have elevation in serum amylase ; but acute clinical pancreatitis (defined as a clinical syndrome of abdominal pain and hyperamylasemia) is less common. However, acute pancreatitis is the important complication of ERCP and need to pay attention it to prevent from its morbidity and mortality [1]. Mechanism for post ERCP pancreatitis: The exact mechanism for PEP is unknown. It needs to be a trigger event that turn on the inflammatory process, that can be the fallowing: thermal injury from sphincterotomy, mechanical obstruction to outflow of the pancreatic secretions , papillary edema from attempted multiple cannulations, sphincterotomy etc., injury from guide wire, chemical injury of the contrast, microbiological injury due to introduction of duodenal flora into the pancreas etc [2]. Risk Factors for Post-ERCP Pancreatitis: It is important to identify cases in which there are high risks for pancreatitis that we can prevent the complications of the prophylactic method such as pancreatic stenting or pharmacological prophylaxis. Assessment of both patient- and procedure-related factors is necessary to detect the high-risk cases (Table 1) [3]. Table 1: Risk Factors for Post-ERCP Pancreatitis [3]. Definition of post ERCP pancreatitis: To diagnose PEP need to be at least two of the following criteria: Epigastric pain with radiation to the back, Elevation of amylase and / or lipase at least 3 times higher than normal. Radiological imaging that suggests pancreatitis. Amylase and lipase may have an elevation despite the patients does not has any symptom. Radiological imaging is helpful when the diagnosis is difficult [4]. Methods and pharmacologic prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis A. the Following techniques should be adhered to in order to decrease the risk of post-ERCP pancreatitis: 1. Endoscopic techniques 2. Cannulation 3. Electrocautery 4. Pancreatic stenting B. Pharnacologic prophylams: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs Steroidal anti-inflammatory agents Other anti-inflammatory agents   Allopurinol semapimod- interleukin 10- pentoxifylline- Platelet-activating factor-Epinephrine Inhibitors of pancreatic secretion: Somatostatin- Somatostatin combined with diclofenac- octerotide- calcitonin Agents that stimulate pancreatic secretion and reduce sphincter tone: Secretin Agents that reduce of sphincter tone: Nifedipine-Nitrates-Glyceryl trinitrate botulinum toxin-topical lidocaine Inhibitors of protease activation: Gabexate mesilate- Nafamostat- Ulinastatin- C1-inhibitor- Heparin Antioxidants: N-acetylcysteine- Sodium selenite- Beta- Carotene Antimicrobial agents Antimetabolites : 5-FU (5 Fluoro Uracil)[5]. Some of the drugs that tested in different trials are described below: Pharmacological Prevention for Post-ERCP Pancreatitis: Since the introduction of ERCP, numerous pharmacologic drugs have been assessed to prevent post-ERCP pancreatitis based on their pharmacologic mechanism and their effect on one or more of the factors associated with pancreatic damage (Figure 1) [6]. 1- NSAIDs: NSAIDs (diclofenac or indomethacin) are the most drugs that are using for prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis [7]. The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy recommends routine rectal administration of 100 mg diclofenac or indomethacin for prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis [8]. 2- Glyceryl trinitrate: Glyceryl trinitrate reduces sphincter of Oddi pressure and may uses to prevent post-ERCP pancreatitis. ManuelMoretà ³ in his study assessed that could transdermal glyceryl trinitrate be effective in the prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis? The results of his study show that transdermal glyceryl trinitrate patch significantly reduces post-ERCP pancreatitis [7]. 3- Nifedipine: Calcium channel inhibitors can prevent the development of experimental pancreatitis. Nifedipine is from the calcium channel blocker drugs and its effect is reducing sphincter spasm. Part done randomized, placebo-controlled trial to determine whether the calcium channel blocker nifedipine prevents post-ERCP pancreatitis. Nifedipine or placebo was administered before and within 6 hours after ERCP. This study failed to show significant effect of nifedipine in the prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis [8]. 4-Antibiotics: Infections that occur when ERCP is done can activation proteolytic enzymes and lead to pancreatitis. Now there is this question that antibiotics can use in the prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis. One prospective randomized controlled trial showed that the ceftazidime administration before ERCP significantly decreased the incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis in the control group that did not receive antibiotic [9]. The quality of the study is questionable because the control group did not received no antibiotic [10]. 5- Risperidone: Ulinastatin inhibited systemic inflammatory responses and may benefit for prevention post-ERCP pancreatitis. Tsujino assessed the effect of risperidone (a selective serotonin 2A antagonist) combined with ulinastatin for the prevention of PEP in high-risk patients. In a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial, patients were randomly compared to administration ulinastatin with or without risperidone. The incidence of PEP was not significantly different between two groups, but pancreatic enzymes level were significantly lower in the risperidone+ulinastatin group as compared with ulinastatin alone [11]. 6- Indomethacin Indometacin is from nonstroidal antiinflamatory drugs that are used for prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis. Joseph Elmunzer in a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial assigned patients that were high risk for post-ERCP pancreatitis to receive a single dose of indomethacin or placebo immediately after ERCP. Among patients at high risk for post-ERCP pancreatitis, rectal indomethacin significantly reduced the incidence of the post-ERCP pancreatitis [12]. Yaghoobi also assigned one meta-analysis to assessed rectal indomethacin for the prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis. This meta-analysis showed that the rate of pancreatitis was significantly lower when using indomethacin as compared with placebo. [13]. 7- Corticosteroid: Corticosteroids are anti-inflammatory drugs and may be able to decrease the risk of post-ERCP pancreatitis. In a prospective randomized controlled multicentre study, administration of prednisone did not reduce the incidence of pancreatitis rather than placebo [14]. 8- N-acetyl Cysteine: N-acetyl Cysteine can reduce inflammation and may be useful in post-ERCP pancreatitis. Pezhman Alavi Nejad wants to evaluate efficacy of N-acetyl Cysteine for the Prevention of Post-endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography Pancreatitis. He assigned a prospective double blind randomized study. There were significant reduce in the prevalence of acute pancreatitis between the groups. This study shows that NAC could be used for the prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis [15]. 9- Aprepitant Aprepitant is one drug from the classification of neurokinin-1 receptor antagonists. Upendra Shah wants to assess the efficacy of aprepitant at preventing post-ERCP pancreatitis in high risk patients. A randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial assigned. Patients received either placebo or oral aprepitant. Aprepitant could not decrease the incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis against placebo [16]. pancreatic stents: Abhishek Choudhary assessed a meta-analysis and to determined effect of pancreatic stents for prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis. This meta-analysis of the RCTs showed that pancreatic stent placement reduces the incidence pancreatitis and hyperamylasemia [17]. Conclusion: Considering the fact that pancreatitis is the most important of the ERCP complications we should pay attention the methods for prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis. Pancreatic stents are useful for this aim. From the pharmacologic agents, Glyceryl trinitrate, Indometacin and N-acetyl Cysteine could significantly decrease the incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis. Other drug that assessed in this review article such as Nifedipine, Risperidone, Corticosteroids, and Aprepitant did not show significant effect for prevention of post-ERCP pancreatitis.

University Foundation :: University Foundation Education Essays

University Foundation The presentation I choose to summarize is Greg Gissendanner’s presentation on the university foundation. Like most of the other presentations in class, Greg used the standard outline of presenting the unit’s history, mission, organizational structure, funding and financial concerns, and current issues. History. Greg showed that while many foundations look fairly similar today, the history of foundation development took on many different forms at different institutions. Greg’s primary examples of Harvard and Rutgers compared stories of how each foundation got its start with early donations (in a foreign currency!) as well as donations of other types – those that we might call in-kind today. These donations of materials and labor were instrumental in getting these two institutions the boost they needed for their continuing growth. Mission. Greg went on to define a â€Å"shared† mission statement of university foundations in general. This shared mission, securing gifts and grants, maximizing donor interest and commitment, and distribution of gifts to the university community, came from five specific mission statements which Greg then shared with the class. These individual mission statements while variable, all seemed to contain this shared definition within them even though they came from a variety of large public institutions. It would have been interesting to compare these with the mission of some smaller publics and also private institutions. Organizational Structure. Greg used a nice technique to discuss the organization structures of university foundations. Instead of just showing several examples, he asked the class to take a look at two universities which he had outlined some basic characteristics such as enrollment, location, cost of tuition, age of institution and endowment. He then asked us how we thought each of their foundations would be organized. It was a good tactic to make us think about what factors might affect the organization of a foundation and why. He went on to give details and his own explanation of why the foundations were organized the way they were. Funding and Financial Concerns. Next Greg discussed how the university foundation is typically funded. He explained that the foundation typically has five funding streams, endowment management fees, unrestricted gifts, gift fee, investment income fee, and a university services fee.

Ethics in Our Everyday Lives Essay

This paper will discuss how ethics relate in our everyday lives and more specifically how ethics are used in our workplace also how ethics are used by companies. This paper will also cover how businesses have implemented ethical procedures, standards and how these businesses flourished because of the effective use of ethical standards. â€Å"I consider ethics, as well as religion, as supplements to law in the government of man.† Thomas Jefferson Ethics in our Everyday Lives. As a society we are faced with ethical problems every day, and how we handle these situations shape our culture and lives. However, what are ethics? The meaning of â€Å"ethics† is hard to pin down, and the views many people have about them are shaky. People tend to associate ethics with their feelings. But being ethical is clearly not a matter of following one’s feelings, nor should one identify ethics with religion, the law or â€Å"whatever society accepts.† Ethics refers to the constant effort of studying our moral conduct, and our own moral beliefs, and striving to ensure that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are reasonable and concrete. It is not enough to be able to do the right thing when we ourselves have nothing to lose. We must be willing to fulfill our ethical obligations at the expense of our self-centered desires and vested interests. (Dr. Richard Paul & Dr. Linda Elder, 2003) In short, ethics is doing what is right even when no one is looking. Well-founded standards of right and wrong that advocate what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, benefits to society, obligations, fairness, or specific virtues stem directly from having ethics. Ethical standards also impose the judicious obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, and fraud, therefore a society with a strong code of ethics tends to run smoothly. A society with no code of ethics could very well develop into anarchy. Although arguments have been made, to the contrary, ethics are just as vital in the workplace. Ethics are essential in the workplace because a tough ethical code provides a non-threatening environment with high employee morale, a company that exhibits clear-cut ethics tends to show higher profits, and simply because it is the right thing to do. Perhaps most important, attention to ethics in the workplaces helps ensure that when leaders and managers are strugg ling in times of crises and confusion, they retain a strong moral compass, and this goes for the workers as well. The Ethics Resource Center, a non-profit, non-partisan organization devoted to business ethics, released the results of its 2005 National Business Ethics Survey, polling more than 3000 workers across America. The results were disheartening; 21% observed abusive or intimidating behavior toward employees. 19% observed lying to customers, employees, vendors or the public. 18% observed situations that placed employee interests over company interests. 16% observed violations of safety regulations and misreporting of time worked (Verschoor, 2000, pp. 19-20) Environments that accommodate these low ethical standards tend to feel hostile to the average employee. When this behavior is witnessed repeatedly over time, it lowers morale. And low moral easily leads the employee feels no loyalty towards the company and in turn the company feels no loyalty towards its employees. A workplace that encourages the effective ethical administration, however, is a workplace that breeds strong morale. Patricia Harned, ERC president, states â€Å"Creating a strong ethical environment should be a top priority of all companies.† (Verschoor, 2000, pp. 19-20) According to â€Å"Workplace Ethics†, a company with strong ethical guidelines has a few commonalities. Companies watch encouraged communication; the staff feels open and unthreatened about reporting and discussing ethical concerns. They also clarify rewards and punishments, which provides a meaningful context to what otherwise seems arbitrary. Businesses that encourage trust between management and employs well tend to have a much easier time enforcing their ethical standards. Also businesses found out that by promoting this strategy that it was much less expensive and more effective than legally defining and enforcing their ethical standards. These organizations also build corporate values, which improves the corporate image. (Compilation, 1999) This creates an environment that employees find a joy to work in. Furthermore, from a corporate perspective it is just as significant to note that an ethical company tends to be a profitable company. Can a company have ethical practices, and still show a profit? Yes, according to Business Ethics magazine. By concentrating on the effects of business decisions made and how they enhance or diminish the well being of others, benefits can be seen for the company, the employee, the stockholder, and the consumer. Many of the corporations that show up on the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Business magazine also show up on Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in America and Working Mother magazine’s Best Companies to Work For. (Do Good, Do Well, 2001, p. 28) Starbucks is one of these companies and has been a regular on these lists. Starbucks is working to empower farmers in East Timor, where coffee provides the livelihood of 25% of the population. The company also participates in various external programs to help benefit the envir onment and provide relief efforts after disasters. Internally, Starbucks offers many benefits to its employees-including tuition reimbursement, partner benefits, a wellness program and a 25 to 150% match in its 401(k) plan. (Examining the benefits of corporate social responsibility, May1 2006) These factors are just some that contribute to the success of Starbucks and provide the company with the foundation to build a coffeehouse on every street corner. Another company that is perennially honored for its ethical conduct is Southwest Airlines. Although the airline industry has been through what some may characterize as catastrophic circumstances over the last several years Southwest has never cut employee pay. In fact, the organization’s employees took a voluntary pay cut after Sept. 11, 2001, rather than allow surging costs to force Southwest to reduce its flight schedule. â€Å"I’ve been here 28 years,† states Donna Conover, Southwest’s executive vice president of customer service, â€Å"and from the beg inning, we’ve felt that employees are our greatest assets.† (Examining the benefits of corporate social responsibility, May1 2006) An unethical company, however, can expect none of these benefits, and it may actually be part of the reason for failing. A perfect example of an unethical fallout would be that of the oil giant Enron. Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay, discussing his company’s collapse due to fraud, and insider trading and tax evasion, recently insisted that his once great and honest company adhered to prevailing business practices. â€Å"The Enron task force investigation is largely a case about normal business activities typically engaged in on a daily basis by corporate officers of publicly held companies throughout the country,† Lay insisted in a December 2005 speech. Lay went on to say that the Enron task force was â€Å"attempting to criminalize† what he characterized as common business practices. Under Lay’s perverted ethics code, transactions meant to deceive are not wrong if these transactions, legal or not, are commonly practiced by corporate America. Stockholder s often paid the price of such as moral relativism. (Zamansky, 02/01/2006, p. 11a) This points out what should be the overriding reason for expecting high ethical standards in the workplace-it’s the right thing to do. A recent survey by The Society for Human Resource Management found that 54% of human-resource professionals surveyed had witnessed conduct in the workplace which violated either the law or common practices of their organizations. Some of the violations witnessed ware, Fair Labor Standards Act, violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employees engaging in fraud, falsifying records, altering the results of product tests, and misusing insider information. (Schumann, Spring/Summer 2001, p. 93) The survey found that 47% of those surveyed felt pressured to compromise ethical standards to achieve business objectives. They stated that they did not report observed conduct due to factors such as fear of retribution, lack of trust in the organization’s procedures, the desire to be part of the team, or a feeling that ethics were unimportant to the organizations. (Schumann, Spring/Summer 2001, p. 93) The main culprit for this pervading ethical dilemma is moral relativism. Moral relativism is the belief that because different people have different moral principles, there is no way to pass judgment on these principles as to their validity or lack thereof. Taken to its extreme, this belief would allow any action, from lying to murder, if the perpetrator simply believes his moral framework does not preclude that action. An excellent example of this new moral relativism is recounted by Rhonda Gibbs. â€Å"About three years ago,† she recalls, â€Å"My daughter’s high school basketball coach, (also a teacher), was having a relationship with a minor.† The relationship, she details, was very obvious to those who had daily contact with the pair. Staff, faculty, and students watched the relationship develop over a period of nine months to a year; however, not a single person spoke up about the impropriety of this relationship or the seriousness of this crime. Whether for reasons of not wanting to upset the coach, not wanting to look like a whistle blower, or simply to maintain the status quo, this teacher’s colleagues, the very people charged with protection of the young girl, allowed him to violate her for at least nine months. The school was only forced to deal with the issue when outside parties informed the police. Although the landscape sometimes looks bleak for the proponents of a strong ethical society, ethics do get used in a moral fashion, as this next example illustrates. Some surplus land adjacent to a shopping center was donated to a city by the developers who owned the mall. The land was earmarked by the builders to be used for community soccer fields. They then spent large sums of their own money to develop the fields. The donated land was adjacent to a river, and after many years of spring floods swamping the fields, the city abandoned them. The developers, realizing that the land was no longer being used for their intended purpose, contacted the city. Developers are notorious for taking otherwise useless land and turning it into acres of parking lots. These individuals, however, decided to transform the property, at their own expense, into a community wetland park. This transformation took over two years and several hundred thousand dollars. These businessmen, who were well within their rights to demand the land back since it wasn’t being utilized for its donated purpose, instead did the ethical thing at great cost to themselves. As I can be seen, ethics are important in the workplace and our every day life as well because they provide higher profits, higher morale, and ethical behavior is the proper course of action. Whether decisions made affect the operation of a home, small business, large corporation, or a nation, a clear ethical foundation will always serve to improve our society. References Compilation. (1999). Bulletpoint. Retrieved May 6, 2006, from Workplace Ethics Web site: http://web107.epnet.com Examining the benefits of corporate social responsibility. (May1 2006). Employee Benefit News, pITEM0612100B. Retrieved May 5, 2006, from http://find.galegroup.com. Do Good, Do Well. (2001, January). Workforce, 80, 28. Retrieved May 5, 2006, from http://find.galegroup.com. Dr. Richard Paul & Dr. Linda Elder. (2003). The Miniature Guide to Understanding the Foundations of Ethical Reasoning. The Foundation for Critical Thinking. Guest, E. (n.d.). SoFinesJoyfulMoments. Retrieved May 8, 2006, from Mary (Garren) Morand Web site: http://sofinesjoyfulmoments.com/quotes/sermon.htm Schumann, P.L. (Spring/Summer 2001). A moral principles framework for human resource management ethics. Human Resource Management Review, 11 (1/2), 93. Retrieved May 6, 2006, from http://web102.epnet.com. Verschoor, C. (2000, December). Ethical Culture: Most Important Barrier to Ethical Misconduct. Strategic Finance, 87, 19-20. Retrieved May 6, 2006, from http://web107.epnet.com. Zamansky, J. (02/01/2006). At the least, former Enron chiefs are guilty of moral bankruptcy. USAToday, 0734-7456, p. 11a. Retrieved from http://web102.epnet.com.

The Strong and Durable Digging Equipment – Excavator and Its Parts

Digging equipments for construction is a very strong and durable one. They are usually made of steel which can carry heavy materials without breaking and dig to the ground with the use of the excavator bucket teeth. This part of the machine is built like this so that it will break down the materials that it will dig and it would be easier for the machine to do its task because of this feature. As a result also, it is easier for the bucket to dig through the earth and scoop it up for easy loading and unloading. Excavation is part of a construction project that requires heavy equipment machinery specifically an excavator bucket. It is an attachment that is very useful in construction projects that requires a lot of digging like in making bridges, trenches, ditches and also in mining. The bucket is an application that can be attached even at cranes, tractors, and other construction machinery. As the word itself, its main purpose is to dig and load a larger volume of material that is of great help and at the same time convenient to the workers at mining and construction sites. The excavator bucket suppliers have designed this very efficient machine for a lot of purposes. In the construction area, it is used to break the soil and remove it for the purpose of making trenches, ditches or bridges. Aside from the soil, it can dig through any materials that are within its capacity. In landscaping, it generally is used to excavate the earth so that the area will be designed according to the plans. Moreover, it is used for mining wherein it clears the ground for different mining tasks. In addition it can even dig to the ground to gather raw materials like ore and rocks. Operation of the excavator bucket requires you to be responsible of maintaining it in good shape. Like other machines, it must be checked for any damage and parts that needs to be fixed for it to work well in the area. You must be responsible in keeping it functional and efficient for you to accomplish your work according to your plans. The excavator parts all work together in order to appropriately perform its task. The bucket has a point of attachment wherein it is designed to move and be maneuvered easily according to the wishes of the operator. The tasks and the area that the machine will be used will determine its size. Large and heavy equipment ones are more preferable if you are going to use it on larger projects. Moreover, a compact or smaller in size construction machinery is recommended for small areas and not so big projects. The excavator bucket is indeed very useful in different areas especially that it is a very durable and powerful equipment in digging up materials based on its capacity. It serves a lot of purposes to workers and contractors. Maintenance is also easier if you do daily checkups and inspection on the equipment daily before you proceed with your tasks. Jaw breakers: http://www. hxjq-crusher. com/1. html vibratory feeder: http://www. hxjqchina. com/product-list_14. html combination crusher: http://www. hxjqchina. com/product-list_16. html

Orientation for New Employees Essay

Do you believe your design of the detailed organization chart indicates centralized or decentralized lines of authority for decision making? Can you explain your approach in one to two sentences? I do believe that my design is detailed centralized organization. In order for human resources to work, there has to be some type of organization. If there was no organization, HR would not function properly. At the hospital, HR has departments for specific needs. There is a department for Health Benefits and there is a different Coordinator for specific last names. I think it keeps it somewhat organized. Review the chapter text about information flow and Figures 2–2 and 2–3. Do you have â€Å"information flow-sheets† at your organization? What is the purpose for them? Are they always this formalized? Should they be? (If you don’t have a information flow sheet currently make one up for your organization) In the family practice we have two offices, I really did not know about flow sheets. I asked the billing person in the office and she did show me one and it is similar to 2-3. She did explain to me what they  are about and how they function for the office, but I don’t understand it as much. I think because I am more in the clinical side of the office it makes it hard for me to understand how they are used. She did mention they will be changing since the practice was bought out by the hospital. She stated it will be sometime in the upcoming year.