How to write law essays and exams: October 2019

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Realism And Its Role In The Novel Farewell To Arms Annotated Bibliography

Realism And Its Role In The Novel Farewell To Arms - Annotated Bibliography Example This novel applies a prose form that explains events as they occur, describing the characters with a simple and clear language that does not call for further analysis (Corkin, 86). The novel uses language in a form that is easier to understand, making its language use, a reality. While reading the novel, the story flows as if it was being narrated orally (Lewis, 55). This fully depicts the realistic application of language diction. Considering that simple and common language is the major aspect of realism, this novel qualifies the style by applying common language that is easily comprehensible (Furst, 105). The essence of realism is to eliminate all situations where the reader will be forced to think deeply, to come up with the meaning of a literary work (Lehan, 33). The novel is based on the actual happenings during the war, making it a realistic narration of events and occurrences (Monteiro,

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Salaah, the second pillar of Islam Essay Example for Free

Salaah, the second pillar of Islam Essay In this project I will propose to deal with one of the most important major exercises of faith as laid down by Islam. This is prayer (Salaah). Salaah is the second pillar of Islam. It refers to the five compulsory daily prayers. Salaah is the most special act of worship, which a Muslim can do for Allah. The word Salaah, itself, literally means Connection. So the act of Salaah is our way of making a connection with our Lord, Allah. There are many versus of the Quran and many sayings of the blessed Prophet which call us to this important act. We offer Salaah to remember Allah. It brings us closer to Him. The Quran says: Indeed, I am Allah; there is no god except Myself; so worship Me and establish Salaah to remember Me. (20:14) Islam is known as the foundation of Religion. After accepting the truth of the Shahadah, Salaah is the doorway to knowledge. Salaah is the key to paradise. Allah reminds us in the Quran of the importance of Salaah again and again, telling us everything about it from the rewards of it to the punishments of it. The word Ibadah comes from the Arabic Abd, which means slave or servant. Man is a born subject and servant of Allah. When he turns to Allah with humility and devotion, he performs an act of Ibadah. In Islam, every good deed performed to seek the pleasure of Allah is an act of worship. One example of Ibadah is prayer (Salaah).The Salaah, which is the subject of this project, is an essential part of Ibadah. The Prophet (S.A.W) is reported to have said: Salaah is the pillar of Islam and whosoever abandons it, demolishes the very pillar of religion. Prayer is the second pillar of Islam. It refers to the five daily compulsory prayers. Any Muslim who fails to observe his prayers and has no reasonable excuse is committing a major sin. This is a very grave sin because it is not only against God, but is also against the nature of man. The benefit man can get from praying is immeasurable. Here are some explanations of the effectiveness of the Islamic prayer: 1. It strengthens the belief in the Existence and Goodness of God. 2. It purifies the heart and comforts the soul. 3. It keeps man close to good and decent actions and away from bad and evil actions. This is the Islamic prayer and that is what it can do for man. The best way to understand Salaah is to perform it and then one will really know what it really means. There are certain conditions regarding prayer. The offering of prayer is obligatory upon every Muslim whether male or female if they are: 1. Sane and responsible. 2. Relatively mature, normally about fourteen. Parents should advise their children at a young age so as they grow older they are used to praying Salaah. 3. Free from serious sickness. Prayer is not valid till the following requirements are fulfilled: 1. Performing the ablution (Wudu), which will be explained later. 2. Purity of your whole body, the clothes worn on it, and the ground used for prayer from all kinds of dirt and impurity. 3. Dressing properly in such a way as to meet the moral regulations. 4. Declaring the intention of prayer (Niyyah) by both heart and tongue whenever possible. 5. Facing the right direction of Qiblah, the direction of the Kabah at Mecca. There are many ways to decide the direction, if a person cant tell the direction he should follow his best judgement. Every Muslim, male or female, must offer at least five daily prayers on time, if there is no reasonable excuse, or temporary delay, they are: 1. The Early Morning Prayer (Fajr), which may be offered any time after the dawn and before sunrise, a total period of about two hours. 2. The Noon Prayer (Zuhr). This prayer may be offered after midday until afternoon. 3. The Mid-Afternoon Prayer (Asr), which begins right after the Noon prayer time and extends to sunset. 4. The Sunset Prayer (Maghrib). The time of this prayer begins immediately after sunset and extends till the end of daylight. Normally it extends over a period of one hour and twenty to thirty minutes. 5. The Evening Prayer (Isha), which begins at night and extends till midnight or dawn. Fajr 2 Sunnah, 2 Fard Total = 4 rakah Zuhr 4 Sunnah, 4 Fard, 2 Sunnah, 2 Nafl Total = 12 rakah Asr 4 Sunnah*, 4 Fard Total = 8 rakah Maghrib 3 Fard, 2 Sunnah, 2 Nafl Total = 7 rakah Isha 4 Sunnah*, 4 Fard, 2 Sunnah, 2Nafl, 3 Witr, 2 Nafl Total = 17 rakah These five prayers are the minimum requirement for a Muslim. We must try to offer Salaah at the right time and make every effort not to miss our Salaah. If you miss your Salaah, you must do it at the first opportunity. Performing a missed Salaah after its proper time is called Qada. We must make up our Fard Salaah. Before we can begin to perform Salaah, we must first prepare ourselves. This preparation includes making sure we are clean. We do this by carrying out Wudu. These are the steps to take: 1. Make Niyyah (intention) saying the Tasmiyah (Basmalah or Bismillah). 2. Then wash both hands up to the wrists three times making sure that water has reached between the fingers. 3. Put a handful of water into the mouth and rinse it thoroughly three times. 4. Sniff water into the nostrils three times to clean them and then wash the tip of the nose. 5. Wash the face three times from right ear to left ear and from forehead to throat. 6. Wash the right arm, and then left arm, thoroughly from wrist to elbow three times. 7. Move the wet palms of both hands over the head, starting from the top of the forehead to the neck. 8. Rub the wet fingers into the grooves and holes of both ears and also pass the wet thumbs behind the ears. 9. Pass the backs of the wet hands over the nape. 10. Wash both feet to the ankles starting from the right foot and making sure that water has reached between the toes and all other parts of the feet. At the end of all the steps, recite: Ash-hadu alla ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh. I testify that there is no god except Allah and He is One and has no partner and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. This completes the process of Wudu. You should repeat your Wudu after: 1. Natural discharges 2. Flow of blood or pus from any part of the body. 3. Full mouth vomiting. 4. Falling asleep or losing consciousness. 5. Touching the sexual organs. Adhan When the time for Salaah comes, it is the practice of the Muslim community to announce from the masjid that prayer-time has come. This melodic and enchanting call is called the Adhan. A man called a Muadhdhin, or, prayer-caller, is chosen for his good voice to do this task. He faces the Qiblah (the direction towards the Kabah in Makkah). He raises his hands up to his ears and calls out: 1. Allahu akbar, Allah is the Greatest. 2. Allahu akbar, Allah is the Greatest. 3. Allahu akbar, Allah is the Greatest. 4. Allahu akbar, Allah is the Greatest. 5. Ash-hadu alla ilaha illallah, I testify that there is no god except Allah. 6. Ash-hadu alla ilaha illallah, I testify that there is no god except Allah. 7. Ash-hadu anna Muhammadur rasulullah, I testify that Muhammad is Allahs messenger. 8. Ash-hadu anna Muhammadur rasulullah, I testify that Muhammad is Allahs messenger. 9. Haiya alas salaah, Rush to Salaah. 10. Haiya alas salaah, Rush to Salaah. 11. Haiya alal falah, Rush to success. 12. Haiya alal falah, Rush to success. 13. Allahu akbar, Allah is the Greatest. 14. Allahu akbar, Allah is the Greatest. 15. La ilaha illallah, There is no god except Allah. Iqamah Iqamah is the second call to Salaah said inside the masjid at the beginning of Salaah in congregation. When the people praying Salaah stand in rows, the Muadhdhin says Iqamah which is the same as the Adhan except that after Haiya alal falah, the following words are added: 1. Qad qamatis salaah, Salaah has begun. 2. Qad qamatis salaah, Salaah has begun. Usually, Iqamah is said in a lower voice than Adhan. At this stage you should be ready to start saying your Salaah. Make sure you have Wudu, a clean body, clean clothes and a clean place. This is how you should do your Salaah: 1. Stand upright on your prayer mat facing the direction of the Qiblah. This position is called the Qiyam. 2. Say your Niyyah (intention) either verbally or in your mind. 3. Raise your hands up to your ears (women and girls up to their shoulders) and say Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest). This is called Takbiratul Ihram, meaning that all worldly things are now forbidden. 4. Place your right hand on your left hand just below the navel or on the chest (women and girls put their hands on their chest) and recite Thana. Audhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim, I seek refuge in Allah from the cursed Satan (Shaitan). Bismillahir rahmanir rahim, In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Kind. 5. Recite Suratul Fatihah (opening chapter) of the Quran. Then say, quietly or loudly: Amin. The recitation of al-Fatihah is a must in all prayers. 6. Recite any other passage from the Quran. 7. Bow down saying Allahu Akbar. Place your hands on your knees and say Subhana rabbiyal azim (Glory to my Lord, the Great) three times. This position is called Ruku. 8. Stand up from Ruku saying Sami allahu liman hamidah (Allah hears those who praise Him), followed by Rabbana lakal hamd (Our Lord, praise be to You). This is called Itidal as you return to the position of Qiyam (standing). 9. Prostate saying Allahu akbar, with your forehead, nose, palms of both hands, your knees and your toes touching the floor. Recite Subhana rabbiyal ala (Glory to my Lord, the Highest) three times. This position is called Sujud. Your arms should not touch the floor. 10. Get up from the floor saying Allahu akbar and sit upright with your knees bent and palms placed on them. After a moments rest prostrate again saying Allahu akbar and recite Subhana rabbiyal ala three times. Get up this position saying Allahu akbar. This completes one rakah or one unit of Salaah. The second rakah is performed in the same way, except that you do not recite Subhanaka Taawwudh (Audhu billahi) or Tasmiyah (Bismillah), then after the second prostration you sit upright and recite quietly at-Tashahhud. In a three-rakah Salaah (as in Maghrib) or a four-rakah Salaah (Zuhr,Asr and Isha) you stand up for the remaining rakah after Tashahhud. But for a two-rakah Salaah you remain seated after the second rakah and recite as-Salaah alan nabiy (blessings for the Prophet) or Darud. After this say the following dua: Rabbijalni muqimas salati wa min dhurriyati rabbana wa taqabbal dua. Rabbanaghfir li wa liwaalidaiya wa lilmu minina yawma yaqumul hisab. 11. Now turn your face to the right saying Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah and then to the left repeating the words. This completes the two-rakah Salaah. In the four-rakah Salaah of Zuhr, Asr and Isha, the whole procedure is repeated except that when you get up to complete the remaining two rakahs (one rakah in Maghrib and Witr) after Tashahhud, you only recite al-Fatihah in Fard prayers and no other Surah. In a four rakah Sunnah Salaah you should recite another Surah or part of the Quran after al-Fatihah. Jumuah (Friday) Prayer Beside the daily Salaah, the Friday prayer is also obligatory upon Muslim men. For Muslim women it is not obligatory, but is desirable if they are able to do so without upsetting their household work. The Friday Salaah is offered in congregation on Friday at Zuhr time. First the Imam delivers a sermon (Khutbah). Then he leads the congregation in a two rakat Salaah. After this two or more rakaat of Sunnah or Nafilah prayers are offered individually. The Eid Prayer There are two Eid or occasions of great festivity for Muslims. The first is called Eidul-Fitr or the festival of fast breaking. It is celebrated on the first day of the tenth Islamic month (Shawwal) following Ramadan, the month of fasting. It marks great thanks-giving for the Muslims all over the world. The second Eid is the Eidul-Adha or the festival of great sacrifice, which is observed on the tenth of Dhul-Hijjah, the last Islamic month. The animals are sacrificed to celebrate the great sacrifice of the Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him), On both these Eids, Eid prayers are offered in congregation any time after sunrise and before noon. There is no Adhan (call for prayer) or Iqamah (second call before congregation). The Eid prayer consists of two rakaat (offered just as the two rakaat of Jumuah prayer are said) with six to sixteen additional Takbirs (ALLAHU AKBAR). You say three or more Takbirs in the second rakaat before you bow down for Ruku. The Imam (leader of the prayer) delivers a sermon (Khutbah) after the two rakaat Eid prayer unlike the Jumuah prayer when it precedes the prayer. The presence of all Muslims, women and children included is strongly recommended. By now you should have a very clear understanding of how important Salaah is, and why we have been recommended many times by the Prophet and Allah through the Quran and Hadith. Without prayer a Muslim is incomplete and he should realise this. However many young Muslims have chosen to go astray and follow the non-believers and their actions. May Allah guide us to the way of His Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and keep us away from going astray and following false desires. May Allah accept our prayers and grant us good rewards for them. To gather various types of information I used a few books that I thought would be most appropriate. I used the following books to extract information and include it in my project: 1. Islam Beliefs and Teachings (Ghulam Sarwar) 2. Islam in Focus (Hammudah Abdalati) 3. Salaah (The Muslim Prayer)

Saturday, October 26, 2019

The Benefits Of Bim Challenges Information Technology Essay

The Benefits Of Bim Challenges Information Technology Essay On January 21, 2008 the stock markets around the world tumbled. No one has felt the effects of the recession more than here in the United States. Many have compared these events to as the worst economical events since the great drepression. Thousands of companies have had to close doors because of the lapse in the economy. Construction type companies are some of those companies that have struggled emensly during the recession. Construction companies have had to do many things they would normally not do just to keep the doors open. Many cconstruction companies have had to look at inovaitive stratagies just to stay ahead of the competition. Companies such as J.F. Ahern Co., have began to use one strategy that that has cost them both time and money. Innovative stratigies are risky, they dont always work. However in this case the J.F.Ahern Co. has use this stategy to not only improve the product side of there product, but has also used this strategy to help inprove the experience for the customer. J.F.Ahern Co. has introduce the use of building information modeling as a strategy to keep them ahead of the rest. Body The use of BIM (building information modeling) has started to become very popular in the construction industry. It is being utilized by all parties involved in current building projects including architects, engineers, contractors, and even owners. BIM started out as a design tool as preliminary ideas but is now implemented into all the project phases from initial design to final completion. The questions about BIM in todays industry is, are contractors utilizing BIM to its full potential and is it worth the cost of implementing BIM? Its seems that larger contractors will be able to make the transition to BIM more easily than smaller subcontractors or specialty contractors. J.F. Ahern Co. is a mechanical and fire protection contractor that has been using BIM since 2003. What caused J.F. Ahern Co. to start using and continue using BIM during these challenging and tough economic times? They were using BIM before contractors were taking fewer profit margins on projects and prior to the building industry slowing down. J.F. Ahern Co. described the implementation of BIM in their company by saying we will continue to use it because it is the way the industry is going. Embrace it or be passed up by the competition. (Eichers) This shows that the industry is evolving into one that will be dependent on BIM in the near future. As a company if your competitors are utilizing BIM it will cause you to adapt in the same way. This means that small and large contractors will be caused to shift to using BIM practices sooner or later. The case study is to determine how contractors are affected by BIM and the cost to benefit. J.F. Ahern Co. has decided to be a leader in the industry regarding BIM so they can use it as a marketing tool to acquire more work. This would be worth the cost of implementing BIM because they are obtaining more work as a result of its use. They have continued to invest time and money to become knowledgeable and trained in order to better utilize BIM. J.F. Ahern Co. explained that many architectural and engineering firms are using 3-D modeling software like Autodesk Revit to model buildings and systems or equipment. The challenge is using the Revit models and converting them into usable models for design fabrication without having to completely redraw everything. Some contractors are hiring design technicians to work with 3-D model s and make them functional. This requires extra labor and is a cost of BIM that some contractors are willing to pay while others are not. J.F. Ahern Co. has not needed to hire staff for this position but they are keeping up with training due to changing technology and software. Another cost of using BIM technology for a contractor is the equipment needed to run the software. In their case they had to invest in computers capable running multiple 3-D programs at one time, RAM space, video cards and more. In their company not everyone needs to be BIM technology savvy. Only the CAD mangers of each disciplin e are the people directly working on BIM and the 3-D models. It seems the future of BIM is already here in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. In the summer or 2009 Wisconsin became the first state to require architect and engineers to use BIM on large public buildings explained by Jeff Brown in the article Wisconsin Bets on BIM. The Wisconsin Division of State Facilities (DSF) is the authorities who issued the requirements and guidelines on public projects. BIM will be required in all phases of design and up to date models will be provided throughout the construction process. The owner will receive a finished model at project completion. This shows that contractors of all disciplines and size will need to adapt to the changing industry. Companies like J.F. Ahern Co. are already ahead of the curve and seeing the benefits of using BIM. When asked about their company being ahead or behind the curve in the use of BIM they said Just ahead but everyone is catching up. At least everyone that wants to be a player in the industr y. (Eichers) They see that BIM is a vital part in the industry and will soon be a must. Large Contractors like Barton Malow Co. has been one of the leaders in the industry coordinating subs to work with BIM. They have seen some disciplines in the industry adapt to using BIM but others are behind. Alex Ivanikiw of Barton Malow Co. says The steel fabricators are clearly out in front of all other trades. The mechanical and electrical specialty contractors are getting on board, particularly the HVAC and their shop drawing guys. The ones behind the curve are the architectural trades. The concrete, curtain-wall and interiors people are well behind in adopting and implementing BIM stated in the article Subcontractors Take Their Time Adoption Follows Uneven Paths by Tom Sawyer. BIM has been utilized in the most costly part of construction projects. 3-D modeling software can be expensive and using the software can be difficult and timely. J.F. Ahern Co. uses several softwares including Autocad, Bentley Autoplant (industrial piping), Cad Mech (HVAC piping and plumbing), Cad Duct (HVAC Ductwork), Revit, and Navisworks. They use these 3-D modeling tools every day in many aspects. Each project is unique and requires different practices in utilizing BIM. They represent HCAV systems for design, coordination, and fabrication. BIM is a commonly used term in the industry and may refer to different things as contractors will use it for various benefits. J.F. Ahern Co. uses Building Information Modeling as a process of embedding information in the model that will be useful at a later date such as shop drawings, manufacturer data, service manuals and more. Contractors have only begun to use BIM as a project tool. When used effectively contractors can visualize and track other project data such as submittals. With better collaboration and co mmunication among party members in the project change orders and requests for information may be reduced. Another reason why contractors will need to transition into using BIM is the utilization in all construction phases. J. F. Ahern Co. uses BIM in design, pre-construction, coordination, fabrication, and installation. As a mechanical and fire protection contractor J.F Ahern Co. uses BIM for fabrication purposes. Prefabrication is the process of assembling systems and equipment in the shop and transporting them to the site for installation. BIM can be a great tool for prefabricated components in construction. There are many advantages of prefabrication including quality control, less construction waste, reduced labor in the field, and construction time is reduced. All these advantages can drive project costs down and lower the contract price. J.F Ahern Co. does a lot of prefabrication on the plumbing side that issued directly from the fabrication shop from the 3-D coordinated drawings. They do some prefabricated work on the duct side when it is possible to logistically get prefabricated items into the building. Their goal is to greatly increase the amount of prefabrication in the future. Using BIM and 3-D modeling enables J.F. Ahern Co. to make the installation of their systems and equipment go more smoothly. This is one of the aspects where BIM offers a great advantage over contractors who dont have the same technology. BIM offers various advantages throughout a construction project form initial design to final completion. The use of BIM allows J.F Ahern Co. to identify problems much earlier in the project and hopefully get the issues worked out before anything goes to fabrication and causes costs impacts due to changes that have to be made. The use of BIM also allows them to identify areas where architectural changes may have to be made to accommodate the mechanical systems. The earlier these changes can be made the less of a cost impact they have for the owner. J.F Ahern utilizes BIM as a quality control issue to make sure there are no mistakes that drive up costs in the end. This will increase the cost to benefit ratio because it will help keep clients and obtain work in the future. This requires coordination between multiple members on a project to ensure the entire project as a whole is problem free. Dave Morris is director of virtual construction for EMCOR Construction Services and on the Asso ciated General Contractors BIM forum subcommittee. In an article by Tom Sawyer Subcontractors Take Their Time Adoption Follows Uneven Paths, Morris explains that risk and liability to all parties can be eliminated by brining all trades early in the project phases to ensure constructability. Problems exist when underperforming subcontractors dont implement BIM when all other parties on the project do. This is when special coordination and collision problems arise causing delays and inefficiencies in projects. Morris explains that these types of problems have led to a recommendation by the AGCs BIM subcommittee to add protocol to contracts in an appendix or instruction to bidders that anything a subcontractor decides not to model cannot be installed until all modeled components have been. This is a sign that BIM will be mandatory on future projects. Companies like J.F. Ahern Co. are already ahead of the curve using BIM technology and will only benefit more as the industry changes. The y already have the infrastructure in their company and will keep seeing the benefits in the future. BIM can be used as a project management tool among other purposes. The question is how effective is it in a project being completed more smoothly with better coordination and communication among project participants. BIM is intended for everyones use from the general contractor to the smaller subcontractors. With better collaboration on a project there would be a lower number of requests for information and change orders. J.F. Ahern Co. hasnt seen a reduction in change orders or request for information but issues are identified much earlier in the project and reducing cost impacts. They feel in the future when BIM becomes more common in the industry they will see a reduction in change orders and requests for information when implemented as its intended use initial concept and design stages. BIM also offers much improved communication between the owner and project participants. Communication between subcontractors and general contractors is more efficient on BIM utilized projects. J.F Ahern Co. thinks it helps communicate a lot of the information in a much clearer venue. The information was always available but there was never a good way to convey it unless you were dealing with someone that understands the industry and construction. BIM is a great visual representation and easy to understand. It is a great tool to present to owners because they can understand how the construction process will work very easily. This is a great benefit of BIM and makes it worth the costs and time used to implement it. J.F Ahern Co.is maximizing its use for profit. The real question behind BIM is the cost to benefit ratio. J.F Ahern Co. wasnt able to quantify this in a number but the perception is that it does save money. Their process of design and installation gets done sooner, smoother with fewer problems so one would think that cost savings have occurred. They have seen savings in field labor on previous projects with the upfront work done correctly. Other subcontractors and specialty contractors do report savings in regards to BIM. Form the source of Ghafari/Barton Malow subcontractors report BIM savings in these categories: fabrication cost (3%), overall schedule (21%), shop drawing time (14%), installation cost (12%), material cost (11%), field supervision (10%). These are all substantial costs on a project and the argument would be that investing in BIM is worth its costs. Return on Investment Between Project Participants Return on BIM Investment Architects Engineers Contractors Owners Over 100% 5% 4% 10% 11% 50-100% 7% 2% 8% 2% 25-50% 14% 6% 11% 7% 10-25% 19% 11% 27% 34% Less than 10% 13% 22% 17% 16% Break Even 23% 22% 16% 25% Negative 19% 32% 13% 5% Source: ENR: Engineering News Record The above table shows the perceived return on overall BIM investment. The numbers in the table represent the percentage of respondents from the various disciplines of the construction industry. The information in the table was taken from the article Market Study Finds Engineers Get Lowered Return From BIM by Nadine Post. This information shows that contractors and owners benefit the most by using BIM. This is evident with J.F. Ahern Co. that they do save money and generate profits because of BIM. Larger contractors are able to invest more in BIM while medium size and smaller contractors have to make a financial decision based off of the return on investment. According to the market report, The Business Value of BIM issued by ENR showed that nearly 50% of the contractors who responded say BIM utilization increased profits. On another positive note about BIM is that 63% of participants say they see a positive return on BIM investment. Contractors of all disciplines and sizes should inv est in BIM and there are numbers to back it up. Even in the tough economic times contractors are finding ways to gain an advantage over competition. BIM and 3-D modeling is a great way to acquire future work and stay profitable. Its worth the cost to use BIM because even owners see a return on investment. Conclusion Even though the economy and the times have been tough, companies like J.F. Ahern Co. have used innovative strategies to help grow their business. They have seen quantitative benefits to their efforts of introducing strategies such as BIM. The widespread use of programs such as BIM can be seen throughout the construction industry and the results seem to vary. However, companies that are using BIM and using it well seem to be a cut above the rest. Its not easy for companies to begin new and expensive strategies during hard time, but J.F. Ahern Co. have seemed to have made the most of the opportunity. In the end, innovate strategies very well might be the piece of the puzzle that keeps midsized construction companies alive. The economy and construction industry might not see the immediate end to their struggles, however companies that are willing to adapt to new innovate strategies continually place themselves in positions to succeed.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Reincarnation :: essays research papers

Reincarnation Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ A weird idea of much interest is that of reincarnation. What is reincarnation? Some say it's the fact that a person's soul lives without a body and throughout the years possesses different bodies. Is this true or is reincarnation the result of a mentally unstable person's vivid imagination or even the result of cryptomnesia, when a person takes something they have heard or seen, forgets about ever hearing or seeing it and then remembers the event(s) as happening in another life. These three hypothesizes each seem plausible in there own right. With the help of the SEARCH method it will be shown which hypothesis fits best. Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Hypothesis 1: When a person dies the soul undergoes a process called reincarnation, in which the soul lives another life in the future. Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ The evidence I have to back up this particular claim is that of a story I read in People magazine awhile back. In this story a woman, who goes by the name of Jenny Cockell, claims to have experienced reincarnation. She claims she was once a woman, who went by the name of Marry Sutton, who died 21 years before Jenny's own birth. Jenny believes this because of dreams she has had since the age of three. These dreams were unlike ordinary dreams in how vivid and real they seemed. In the dreams Jenny saw herself in another time and place. She saw herself as a young mother living in a small cottage somewhere in Ireland. In one dream particularly Jenny saw herself with a terrible fever on her own deathbed, terrified of what was to become of her children. One day Jenny decided to find out what had become of these children. So Jenny went to Ireland and while looking at a map of Ireland she sensed that Mary had lived in the small town of Malahide. Then she checked local church records for any mothers of eight named Mary that had gone there. Since from her dreams Jenny recalled there being eight children and the only name she could remember from the dreams was Mary. Sure enough Jenny found a Mary Sutton had lived and died in Malahide. Mary's children had been scattered among family members and orphanages. Then through much search and hard work to find these children Jenny eventually found all of Mary's children. Before Jenny met with any of the children she and the children both agreed to allow a BBC researcher to test Jenny's memories of Mary and Mary's children The tests resulted in a 98 percent agreement. Jenny knew what pictures were on the walls of the Sutton home, other objects in the house,

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Publix Supermarket History Essay

Publix Supermarkets, Inc. is the largest employee supermarket chain and fastest growing company in the United States. It was founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins and opened the first Publix store in Winter Haven Florida is a employee- owned privately held corporation. Publix is has over more than 1,061 supermarket stores, eight grocery distribution centers, twelve brand manufacturing facilities, and 820 Publix Pharmacies. The manufacturing facilities produce its dairy, deli, bakery, and other food products. Our stores are located in Florida- 752, Alabama-51, Georgia- 180, South Carolina- 45, and Tennessee- 33. Publix built its first distribution in Lakeland, Florida and moved its headquarters there from Winter Haven in 1951. At that same time, the All American were closed and replaced with Publix Supermarkets. The donut shops in each store expanded their bakery into full- service in 1957. Each Publix store provides specific services and products in its grocery, produce, deli, floral, bakery, seafood, and meat departments; some of the stores contain sushi bars, cafÃƒ ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s liquor store and pharmacy department. Publix created and introduced Greenwise Markets to increase awareness of nutrition providing organic and natural items. Publix mission statement is Ã¢â‚¬Å"Our Mission at Publix is to be the premier quality food retailer in the world. To that end we commit to be: Passionately focused on Customer Value, Intolerant of Waste, Dedicated to the Dignity, Value and Employment Security of our Associates, Devoted to the highest standards of stewardship for our Stockholders, and Involved as Responsible Citizens in our Communities. PublixÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s slogan is Ã¢â‚¬Å"Where Shopping is a PleasureÃ¢â‚¬ . We have more than 153,000 associates employed with Publix Supermarkets, Inc. A variety of services are offered by Publix. Services such as presto atms, gift card center, floral, special item request, online easy ordering, apron recipes and event planning, prescription refills, and Publix merchandise. They also have several fascinating clubs and programs; wine guide, baby club, preschool pals, family style magazine, Publix paws and upromise program. Publix states the nine reasons why youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll feel great about working at Publix good, friends, benefits, ownership, stability, career growth, helping others, community spirit, diversity and planet earth. There are several services offered by the pharmacist to help manage your health. They offer a diabetes management system, free prescriptions on selected medications, flu and immunizations, health screenings, Medical I.D., prescription transfer, Flavorx, insurance plans, health center and generic drugs. The main competitors in the national grocery chain are Kroger, Whole Foods, IGA, and Supervalu; several regional grocery chains including BI-LO, Winn-Dixie, Ingles, Fresh Market, Sweetbay, Piggy Wiggly consolidated with warehouse and retail chains including Wal-mart, Costco, Kmart, Target, BJÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Wholesale and SamÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Club. Publix for 15th consecutive years has been named as one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to work. It has never had any layoffs even though some stores have closed and new ones have opened. Each year, the company issues shares of its stock to eligible full- and part-time employees, and cash dividends earned on these shares are paid directly to employees. Publix is a highly established and successful supermarket with friendly service and an immense array of products. They offer Ã¢â‚¬Å"buy- one- get- one- freeÃ¢â‚¬ deals which vary from week to week on several products within the store. Publix Supermarkets budget along with other facts are made available to the public. SEC documents contains several of Publix annual, quarterly, proxy, current and other reports where you can retrieve the specific report. Even through the terrible economic hardships we have had worldwide Publix has managed to make a good profit, offer promotions, still open new stores, and never layoff any employees. References http://www.publixstockholder.com/servlet/ProxyServlet?path=/stockholder/Document.do&seq=1&SECDocumentId=7958&curPage=1&selectedDocumentType=-99&selectedYear=-99 http://www.publix.com/careers/Home.do

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Free Essays on Airplanes Saftey

Airport management Ã¢â‚¬Å"McCarran AirportÃ¢â‚¬ The McCarran International airport is located in Las Vegas Nevada just one mile south of the strip. The McCarran International Airport is part of the Clark county Airport system which owns and operates six airports, including five general aviation airports. These airports are operated under the policy direction of the Board of County Commissioners, the authority of the County Manager and the management of the director and Deputy Director of Aviation. The Department of Aviation is a self sufficient enterprise and operates without county general fund tax revenues. The areas of the McCarran airport that we will attempt to analyze are: the AirportsÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ history, current status, the future plans; design factors and an evaluation whether or not these factors are suitable for the existing and future needs of the airport. First we will discuss the current facts of the Airport. McCarran International is the fifth busiest airport in North America, and 12th in the world as of the year 2000. In 2001 passenger traffic was 35,203,808. Currently McCarran airport averages 96,449 passengers per day compared to the 1991 average of 55,266 per day. Between 1991 and 2000 passenger traffic has increased 74.5%. Currently more than 30 airlines provide nonstop service to more than 70 international and domestic destinations. All of the major airlines fly into the airport including United, southwest, American west, Delta, American, Continental and Northwest. This adds up to 30 Domestic Airlines, 23 International and 21 Charter. More than 900 daily schedule flights fly in and out of the Airport. McCarran offers nonstop scheduled service to Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico and London. Also fourteen airfreight companies provide service through McCarran. McCarran consists of 92 aircraft gates at two separate terminal buildin gs. Terminal 1 has gates A-D with gate A totaling 19 gates, B 20 gates, C19 gates and D has 26 gates.... Free Essays on Airplanes Saftey Free Essays on Airplanes Saftey Airport management Ã¢â‚¬Å"McCarran AirportÃ¢â‚¬ The McCarran International airport is located in Las Vegas Nevada just one mile south of the strip. The McCarran International Airport is part of the Clark county Airport system which owns and operates six airports, including five general aviation airports. These airports are operated under the policy direction of the Board of County Commissioners, the authority of the County Manager and the management of the director and Deputy Director of Aviation. The Department of Aviation is a self sufficient enterprise and operates without county general fund tax revenues. The areas of the McCarran airport that we will attempt to analyze are: the AirportsÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ history, current status, the future plans; design factors and an evaluation whether or not these factors are suitable for the existing and future needs of the airport. First we will discuss the current facts of the Airport. McCarran International is the fifth busiest airport in North America, and 12th in the world as of the year 2000. In 2001 passenger traffic was 35,203,808. Currently McCarran airport averages 96,449 passengers per day compared to the 1991 average of 55,266 per day. Between 1991 and 2000 passenger traffic has increased 74.5%. Currently more than 30 airlines provide nonstop service to more than 70 international and domestic destinations. All of the major airlines fly into the airport including United, southwest, American west, Delta, American, Continental and Northwest. This adds up to 30 Domestic Airlines, 23 International and 21 Charter. More than 900 daily schedule flights fly in and out of the Airport. McCarran offers nonstop scheduled service to Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico and London. Also fourteen airfreight companies provide service through McCarran. McCarran consists of 92 aircraft gates at two separate terminal buildin gs. Terminal 1 has gates A-D with gate A totaling 19 gates, B 20 gates, C19 gates and D has 26 gates....

Monday, October 21, 2019

Greenpeace History Essays - Greenpeace, Irving Stowe, Free Essays

Greenpeace History Essays - Greenpeace, Irving Stowe, Free Essays Greenpeace History The year 1996 is a year of celebration for greenpeace. They are celebrating their 25th year anniversary. Everything startde in 1969; Members were part of the Don?t make a wave committee in vancouver. This committee was founded by Jim Bohlen. He was a forty-three year old American and was a composite-materials researcher. Another founder of the committee was Irving Stowe; he was a Philadelphia lawyer. A jew who had joined the Quaker religion. Paul Cote, a canadian lawyer in his mid twenties who had just gotten out of shool when he joined the committee. During this year, the United States had chosen to test its nuclear arsenal in Amchtka, which is a small island off the west cost of alaska. This was a home for many animals including eagles, falcons, endangered sea otters,etc... These three men decided to produce means to end nuclear testing in Amchitka.Next they decided to sail a boat they?d name it Greenpeace because they wanted the earth to be green and yhey wanted peace. It was Bill Darnell who came upwith that name. Suddenly, more peaple joined the commitee to stop nuclear testing in Amchitka, including Terry Simmons, a cultural geographer. Bohlen and Stowe were attracting journalist, columnist, writer, anyone who had somthing to do in the media. It took them two years to get them ready for their journey towards justice for a land. Bohlen and cote were in charge of fiding a boat. Meanwhile, Stowe took care of fiding the money. He used contacts from the United States; he was a very serious man and did everything possible to get the money they needed, he even organized a benefit concert which made seventeen thousand dollars. The first boat they found Phylis Cormack was first seen as old and used that wasn?t going to be capable of sailing to Amchitka, so they weren?t sure of using this boat; it would carry twelve crew members and the trip would last six weeks. During this year the Don?t Make a Wave committee changed their name to Greenpeace foundation. The day of the Greenpeace departu! re to Amchitka, it was allover the news , everybody wanted a story on it. During their voyage they ran through some complications and the day they were suppose to be in Amchitka they were miles away from it.In that year, Greenpeace I (the Philys Cormack) and the Greenpeace two (the Edgewater Fortune) finally sailed toward Amchitka. During their voyage, they stayed with the cree Indians who described to them the legend of ( UNESCO Courrier, 1994:p38 ). From then they were looked upon as the Rainbow Warriors since their goal was to help the environment from unfortunate diasters. Unfortunately, their first voyage was defeated but the American government announced the ending of nuclear tests, whaling fleets, protection for seals, etc.... In 1972, Greenpeace III was sent ( the Vega ) to sail to Moruroa Atoll in France Polynesia to stop french atmospheric nuclear tests. On board of this boat David Mctaggart, a Canadian founder of Greenpeace. The french Marine?s reaction to the greenpeace boat was very aggresive so the Vega turned back to were it came from. But that wasn?t the end, in 1973 , David Mctaggart went back but was severely beaten by the French Marine. Word got around fast and it was all the madia it gave a bad reputation to the French government. In 1975, France announced the of atmospheric blasting but transfers the testing underground. This was Greenpeace?s first victory.Greenpeace was expanding all around the world : Canada, Australia, England, Scotland, U.S.A ,Europe, Danmark, Germany, U.S.S.R, Spain, Japan, Mexico, Antartica, etc... I will write some of their past realisations: In 1977; three Toronto Greenpeacers invaded by canoe the ungarded Bruce Nuclear Power Station on Lake Huron to expose the reactors vulnerability to attack. In 1979; Canadian Greenpeacers parachute into the world?s largest nuclear power plant constuction site at Darlington, Ontario as part of a mass ocupation with other antinuclear groups. In 1980; the Rainbow Warrior boat is seized and held for several months by the Spanish government for interferring with illegal Spanish whaling operations.Five months later, the shipand crew mae a daring night time escape pursued by the Spanish Navy. In 1982; two Canadian Greenpeacers activists spend

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Kids Should be Tried As adults essays

Kids Should be Tried As adults essays The Federal Government should have kids tried as adults. What happens to the teachers families who are killed in school shootings? I feel that the federal government should change these laws for the following reasons. It filters out bad kids, helps keep them off the streets, and lowers crime rates over all. It will help a lot of kids learn from their mistakes a lot faster due to the more severe punishments. And the most important of all, itll save lives. It keeps bad kids off the streets. The kids obviously need help, and for the government to make the laws more strict, it will help keep them off the street longer. A good example is a brutal slaying the occurred in March of 1989. a 13-year-old girl let two boyfriends into her home so they could kill her father, who was strangled, stabbed and beaten on the head with a fireplace poker. Thats just not acceptable in our society today. The police said that the father could have died from all three of the methods they used. Can you imagine your daughter having two of her boyfriends come over, and then stab you, strangle you, and beat you to death? Its more like torturing to death rather than killing. That doesnt sound too appealing if you ask me. I also feel that if kids like this know that they are too young, then they will just go off and kill someone knowing that they wont be severely punished. What is unusual about this one [case] is the age of the defendants and the brutality of the crime, Halford said. Halford was a detective at the scene of the crime. The defendants cannot be tried as adults because they are under the age of 16, so the maximum penalty they can face is sentencing to the California Youth Authority until the age of 15, the judge said. I believe that if theyre old enough to commit a crime like an adult, then they can serve the time like an adult. What happens if some ...

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Pizza Hut Restaurants Chain within the UK Analysed with Marketing Mix Assignment

Pizza Hut Restaurants Chain within the UK Analysed with Marketing Mix Elements - Assignment Example After passing several phases, today the chain is one of the well-established pizza chains of the world. Pizza Hut is the worldÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s leading pizza chain presently operating approximately at 13,000 locations in more than 90 countries. The chain, started by only two brothers, today has links in more than 90 countries across the world with more than 30,000 employees are working day and night (Yahoo Finance). Today it is entertaining more than 171,000 customers by serving 97,000 pizzas per day in the United Kingdom alone. Financially, Pizza Hut is one of the largest pizza chains as in 2007; it sold 35.4 million pizzas in the UK. During 2010, among other companies of Yum, Pizza Hut went from worst to first in its value ratings (Yum Annual Report, 2010). Pizza Hut provides a huge variety of pizza items in different tastes and flavours which is comprised of its flagship Pan Pizza, stuffed crust pizza, Sicilian Pizza, pasta, snacks, and diversified nature of soft, hot and cold beverages. Beside these items, the chain also offers salads, pasta, and sandwiches. The new Pizza Hut branch will operate at Cambridge, therefore, in order to attract the young generation and student of Cambridge University, Pizza Hut is going to introduce Ã¢â‚¬ËœYouth PizzaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢, one of the most appealing pizza of the companyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s history. The main objectives of new Pizza Hut Restaurant are listed below. Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ To attract the target market by producing innovative products of extra-large size of pizza and other items and make them to remain loyal with the Cambridge restaurant Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ To collect a fairly healthy amount of revenue so that restaurant remain in competition To catch a preferable double figure profit margin To create an innovative, peaceful, respectful, and enthusiastic working environment To make and maintain strong customer relationships with local community to gain their loyalty on permanent basis 2. Pizza Hut Marketing Mix Pizza Hut will carry out its operations by introducing and developing innovative products in rapidly changing local fast food industry. The new restaurant will invest heavily in research to discover the innovative trends and demands through public surveys and questionnaire. By compiling a substantial database, necessary improvements will be done and therefore Pizza Hut will ensure that it will pay attention to its customersÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ need and their demand regularly. A trend of UK customers to eat the pizza food is presented in the chart as Appendix-I while the external and internal factors which may affect the performance of Pizza Hut are discussed in Appendix-II and Appendix-III as PESTEL analysis and SWOT analysis respectively. 2.1 Product Pizza Hut Restaurant has a well sorted plan to launch exclusive products to remain prominent from the style of other competitors of UK fast food industry especially in Cambridge. The menu of Pizza Hut will be centered on a variety of dishes that will include a variety of burgers and pizzas, Cheesy Bites, Stuffed Crust, French fries, chips, snacks, and a variety of sauces and salads. The most

Friday, October 18, 2019

Small and Medium Enterprises Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Small and Medium Enterprises - Essay Example OECD (2009) in one its recent reports states that SMEs happen to be key generators of employment and income while driving the innovation and growth potential. In the OCED area half of the labour force has been employed by the SMEs only. Figures of UK employment indicate that out of 4.7 million business establishments in UK 99.3 percent were small firms with about 50 employees, while only 0.6 percent firms were there with 50-249 employees. With globalisation, the management of SMEs have now started giving more thought towards the viability of the venture in the long-term before making strategic decisions for acquiring different types of resources. The global financial crisis has also impacted the functioning of this sector quite adversely, because they do not have the desired backup of resources, which is available to the larger enterprises. While on the one hand many multinational enterprises have started leveraging the economies of operation in different regions or countries the SME s are bound to look for ways to contain the damage within the limited areas of their operation. While it is believed that even under normal circumstances, SMEs require specific policies and programmes for their survival and growth, under the global financial crisis, it appears all the more crucial that they are in a position to find out a friendly government. While on the one hand the government wishes to have more investment from abroad, thus facilitating the MNCs entry into the country, on the other the safeguard of SMEs interests happens to be a major political issue in the country. Definition Though SMEs exist in good numbers everywhere around the globe, but there is no uniformity on the definition of SME because of practical considerations. Each country has different classifications of SMEs. Some countries define SMEs based on the number of employees, while others depend on the value of the assets. In general, the lower employment limit for a small enterprise is between five to ten workers and the upper limit is between 50 to 100 workers. Similarly the upper limit for a medium enterprise is usually set between 100 and 250 employees. However, it is difficult to adopt one definition of SMEs in all the countries, because the state of the SMEs also depends on the size of the markets or the economy in which they are operating. For example, a firm with 50 employees in the USA would be considered smaller (relative to the size of the U.S. economy) than a firm of this size in Bolivia. In UK, sections 382 and 465 of the Companies Act 2006 define SME based on the turnover and numbe r of employees1. A company with a turnover of not more than 3.26 million and not more than 50 employees is considered a small company and a company with turnover of not more than 25.9 million, with not more than 250 employees is termed as medium sized company. Importance of SMEs Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in a nation's economy. They are resources for innovation and they provide a wide base of employment. In addition, SMEs are the most essential sector for a healthy dynamic market economy. Chew

Change Management and Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Case Study

Change Management and Maslows Hierarchy of Needs - Case Study Example As we see upon examination, something as small and as large as language or time expectations can lead to tremendous difficulties in motivation, and ultimately market demand and revenues. A fascinating insight into the world of work and human resource management, the GE Medical CGR case serves as a foundation for further inquiry into change management and equity incentive strategies. In consideration of organizational leadership and human resource management practices, the essay also infers the importance of a rather old, yet 'universal' paradigm from Psychology, Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs;' premise to fulfillment of the state of human nature as a means to consensus building and the inculcation of 'desire' in work. At the time that GE entered into the French market with its take-over acquisition of Companie Generale Radiology (CGR), an existing high level of specialization, low change professional environment was resilient to U.S. business protocol. The business practices at the Parisian based CGR reflected France's Scurit Sociale system. Like other medical suppliers, most of CGR's customer basis was drawn from a clientele state relationship that had held a low competition as an expectation of a 'civil service model.' Indeed from everyday aspects of employee motivation and performance on the job to standards of regulatory adherence, and attendant rules of conduct in response to those public partnerships, CGR was run on a model of a low participatory, low change management model that was experienced by most employees as stasis. No change meant that little challenge to normative modes of low productivity and national expectations of leave of absence, whether it be maternity, vacation, or merely a 'mental health break' all contributed to what GE found in a confrontation with U.S. models of high productivity, and low absence employee relations. CGR employees were nothing short of shocked by GE's protocols which reinforced high change, aggressive capitalist market practice. CGR employees also complained about communicative practices, arguing that the English introduction to GE's new management oversight meant that it was not they, who were being addressed. CGR employees were met characteristic literalism (i.e., plain talk 'means' what is said, not inferred) by North American managers, who were equally shocked at what they thought to be unmotivated and unproductive long-term workers who had been working under the former system at the Paris based firm. In short, globalization of the corporation really required localization of GE in the preliminary stage, in order for the corporation to assess its human resources accurately and adequately, and to foster good faith ground in order to effectively translate the company's corporate culture and standardized expectations in a fertile context that would be receptive towards company centered ideas such as capital growth.Ã‚

Solving problems and making decisions Coursework

Solving problems and making decisions - Coursework Example For instance, a while ago we in the business-planning department observed that the companies have fallen out there track in one of the major business elements. Therefore, we start digging the facts to try to rectify the problems to enable reinstatement in the right path. After we identify the problems, we escalated the solutions to the management to take the decision for the problem solving. We are currently undergoing various challenges regarding our attempts to manage the flow of oil and gas production especially after the collapse in oil prices. The greatest challenge is that the business continuity, the nature and effectiveness of the staffs will help the organization in overcoming any problems. As a member of the organization, we face significant workforce challenges because of collapse in oil prices. This calls for a reevaluation of our problem cycle regime specifically as it appertains to an economic recession. The report offers a guidepost for identifying and solving problems in my organization; I sought out various guideposts to effective problem identification and compiled various solutions drawn from the best practices The falling out of the company in one of the major business elements requires a managerial team that who gather data and analyze the business element as the first step in finding the solution to the problem. Additionally, the team needs to identify some possible solutions while weighing up the advantages, disadvantages and risks of the business element in within the organization. Finally, the team needs to decide the most appropriate action to bring back the business element on track. The solutions to the problems of bringing back the business element need to gain acceptance among the administrative team through theproper analysis of the advantages, disadvantages and risks of the business element.Moreover, the team must follow the appropriate model in developing the solutions as going through various stages such as

Thursday, October 17, 2019

The Operating Principles for a Community to which I Belong to Essay

The Operating Principles for a Community to which I Belong to - Essay Example In a detailed analysis of these activities and interactions, I can definitely prove that our communities provide us with a sense of stability, serve our needs and, more importantly, accept us for who we are. In my community setting, I have often realized that my family accepts me for what and who I am. Thus, I share my activities and interactions with my daughter and we protect each other, which has always helped me in my family life as a single mother. One of the important operating principles of my community has been to be faithful and frank to the members of the community and we share our activities and interactions. Thus, my daughter and I enjoy great fun in our system of instant messaging or texting family and friends. Many often, I introduce my daughter to my chat friends and she has no online friends whom I don't know. Most of the friends of my daughter in her Facebook account came through my contacts and she never retreats an illegitimate relationship through her online activities. Another significant operating principle of my community life is not to blame or to indict others with or without strong reasons for their actions. Instead, every member of my community strongly supports each other and understands each other completely.

Rhetorical Analysis Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rhetorical Analysis Assignment - Essay Example Poissant has had an extensive career as an author whereby he has written several publications in The Atlantic, One Story, New Stories from the South among others. In addition, he has also authored a book titled The Heaven of Animals, which is a collection of short stories, and set for publication in 2014. After a number of publications, he found himself contemplating on how one can be friends with Republicans. This essay explores the elements of subject, thesis, purpose, audience, persona, ethos, authoritative testimony, and analogy in PoissantÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s persuasive and compelling piece of writing. The subject of the essay is how one can interact and make friends with Republicans without being judgmental, but at the same time also airing your political opinion about certain things. The author thinks that it is possible to make friends with Republicans because they are just normal people in the society. He gives example of individuals whose daughters go to the same school with his daugh ters, and that they are not issues or votes, but just people. Yes, he agrees it is challenging to be friends with the Republicans, but it can work. He gives several examples to relate to his thesis that it is possible to be friends with Republicans because they are just ordinary people, but this should not restrict one from airing his political views. In this essay, Poissant presents several purpose, which is to inform, persuade, and engage his audience. He starts the article with an interesting opening that immediately engages the audience, he says, Ã¢â‚¬Å"The trouble started the night Jeff, one of the guys I drink and talk about God with, announced that heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d been summoned to court for the Zimmerman trial jury poolÃ¢â‚¬ . With this, the audience immediately registers that there is an issue here in the form of a conflict. Next, he informs the audience contrary to peopleÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s perspective, there can be an interaction and a relationship between republicans and democrats. Ho wever, he asserts that this works better when the friendship stays away from politics and discusses other matters such as God related subjects. Nevertheless, the author also informs his audience that it would be better if such relationship were allowed to flourish, while also giving room for personal political opinions on certain issues. He says, Ã¢â‚¬Å"I want to be friends with Republicans, but I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t want to be friends with Republicans if I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t also get to talk about why I think food stamps and socialized medicine are good ideasÃ¢â‚¬ in addition, the author informs the audience that republicans are ordinary human beings, and thus, it is possible to be friends with them. Finally, he informs the audience that people who act in the way they do, it is because of what they are taught that they develop. Finally, the author persuades the audience to listen to his subject by telling them that being friend with Republicans is not such a bad thing. However, he seeks to mo ve them to be cautious of the things involved in being friends with Republicans such as limited political opinions, and that it would not be easier since it calls for compromise from both parties for things to be better. The author hopes to pass his message to The New York Times readers composed of audience of several kinds. He wishes that this article were read by

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Solving problems and making decisions Coursework

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Rhetorical Analysis Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

College Goals Essay Example for Free

College Goals Essay Attending college is the first step to a better future. Throughout life there will be many goals to accomplish but some of the most important goals to accomplish will be during the time you are in college. My first goal is to pass every class this semester. After completing this goal my next goal to complete will be to graduate from Hudson County Community College with an AssociateÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Degree in Liberal Arts. Finally my last goal to complete is to further my education and get the job I want. Passing every class this semester will help me feel positive and confident about my future and future goals. In order to complete this goal I will have to attend every class and be on time. By missing one class I will miss out on a lot of work and may not be able to catch up. I will have to finish every assignment on time because if I write the best essay I could possibly write but hand it in late, my grade will drop dramatically. Finally I will have to ask for help if I need it. Even though it is my first semester of college and I do not know what to expect, asking for help is easy and can help improve my college experience. To be able to obtain my AssociateÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Degree in Liberal Arts by August 2015 I will have to work harder than I ever have. I will have to be sure to complete all my assignments and be sure to attend all my classes. I will have to put school first in life and avoid activities that will have a negative impact on my education. Prior to achieving this goal I also want to choose the career I want so I can know what direction my life is going. My final long-term college goal is to go on to obtain my BachelorÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Degree and possibly my MasterÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Degree, depending on the career I choose. I have not chosen the career I want yet but I want to have the best education possible to qualify me for the job. To be able to obtain the best education possible I want to keep my grade point average high and be able to attend a good university. I have not really thought about all the details since I have not chosen a career yet but I am going to better my education as much as I possibly can. After completing all my education I will have the job I want and be happy and financially stable. In conclusion, my college goals are some of the most important in my life because they greatly help shape my future. By passing all my classes this semester I will have the confidence to continue my education and do well. By obtaining my AssociateÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Degree I will be able to go on and obtain my BachelorÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s and possibly MasterÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Degrees. And finally when I finish completing all my education I will be able to get the career I want and be happy with my life. My entire future depends on the choices I make in college.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Rapid Migration Test

Rapid Migration Test The RMT involves subjecting a 4-inch (102- mm) diameter by 2- inch (51-mm) thick saturated samples to an external electrical potential to force chlorides ions to migrate into the specimens (NT BUILD 492 1999). To account for varying concrete resistances, the initial current flow through the specimen is measured and the applied voltage is adjusted accordingly. The samples are fit into silicone rubber sleeves where one of the sides of the specimens is immersed in a 0.3 N NaOH (1.2% NaOH) solution and the other side to a 10 percent NaCl solution. After a specified duration, the samples are removed and axially split into two pieces. A depth of chloride penetration is determined in one half of the specimen using a colorimetric technique; spraying silver nitrate solution on the freshly cut surface. The originally proposed method called for the concrete sample to be exposed to a voltage gradient for 8 hours, after which the specimen is sliced and sprayed with an indicator for chlorides, AgNO3 to determine the depth of chloride penetration. This time period makes the procedure difficult to fit into a normal working day of a laboratory. Consequently, Tang and Nilsson revised their method to use varying voltages and test durations depending upon the initial current measured (NTBuild 492). This improved test was standardized as a Nordtest procedure. The standardized method NTBuild 492 still presented further problems. The most critical is the extended time duration of the test (as long as 4 days in some cases) and the wide range of applied voltage that must be used. A simplified testing protocol was developed in which the effect of several different voltages and test durations were evaluated (Hooton, Thomas and Stanish 2001). Based on the results of their research, a fixed test duration of 18 hours was selected, with a varying applied voltage. The voltage selected for the test is based on the initial current values for that sample under a 60-volt potential. The new proposed voltage values were selected to avoid chloride breakthrough that would occasionally occur in the NTBuild 492 procedure 2.2.6Ã‚ SURFACE RESISTIVITY TEST USING THE FOUR-POINT WENNER PROBE (FM 5-578) Concrete conductivity is fundamentally related to the permeability of fluids and the diffusivity of ions through a porous material (Whiting and Mohamad 2003). As a result, the electrical resistivity can be used as an indirect measure of the ease in which chlorides ions can penetrate concrete (Hooton, Thomas and Stanish 2001). The resistivity of a saturated porous medium, such as concrete, is mainly measured by the conductivity through its pore solution (Streicher and Alexander 1995). Two procedures have been developed to determine the electrical resistivity of concrete. The first method involves passing a direct current through a concrete specimen placed between two electrodes. The concrete resistance between the two electrodes is measured. The actual resistance measured by this method can be reduced by an unknown amount due to polarization at the probe contact interface. The second method solves the polarization problem by passing an alternating current (AC) through the sample. A convenient tool to measure using this method is the four -point Wenner Probe resistivity meter (Hooton, Thomas and Stanish 2001). The set up utilizes four equally spaced surface contacts, where a small alternating current is passed through the concrete sample between the outer pair of contacts. A digital voltmeter is used to measure the potential difference between the two inner electrodes, obtaining the resistance from the ratio of voltage to current (see Figure 5). This resistance is then used to calculate resistivity of the section. The resistivity Ã of a prismatic section of length L and section area A is given by: Ã = A.R L where R is the resistance of the specimen calculated by dividing the potential V by the applied current I. The resistivity Ã for a concrete cylinder can be calculated by the following formula: Ãâ‚¬ .d 2 1 V Ã¢â€¹â€¦ Ã = 4 L I where d is the cylinder diameter and L its length (Morris, Moreno and SagÃƒ ¼es 1996). Assuming that the concrete cylinder has homogeneous semi-infinite geometry (the dimensions of the element are large in comparison of the probe spacing), and the probe depth is far less than the probe spacing, the concrete cylinder resistivity Ã is given by: V Ã =(2.Ãâ‚¬ .a)Ã¢â€¹â€¦ I where a is the electrode spacing (see Figure 5). The non-destructive nature, speed, and ease of use make the Wenner Probe technique a promising alternative test to characterize concrete permeability. Current Applied (I) Potential Measured Concrete Surface a a a (V) to be Tested Equipotential lines Current Flow Lines Figure 5. Four-point Wenner Probe Test Setup. Results from Wenner Probe testing can vary significantly if the degree of saturation or conductivity of the concrete is inconsistent. Techniques to achieve more uniform saturation, such as vacuum saturation or submerging in water overnight, can be performed in the laboratory. However, the laboratory pre-saturation procedure still presents some inconsistencies. The known conductivity of the added solution changes when mixed with the ions (mainly alkali hydroxides) still present in the concrete pores after the drying process (Hooton, Thomas and Stanish 2001). To overcome this problem, Streicher and Alexander (1995) suggested the use of a high conductivity solution, for example 5 M NaCl, to saturate the sample so that the change in conductivity from the ions remaining in the concrete is insignificant.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

The Road Essay -- Literary Analysis, McCarthy

Why do you think McCarthy has chosen not to give his characters names? How do the generic labels of Ã¢â‚¬Å"the manÃ¢â‚¬ and Ã¢â‚¬Å"the boyÃ¢â‚¬ affect the way you /readers relate to them? While reading The Road, a novel written by Cormac McCarthy, I was jerked from the warmth, comfort, and safety of my home and thrown into a cold, dark, and desolate world, walking alongside Ã¢â‚¬Å"the manÃ¢â‚¬ and Ã¢â‚¬Å"the boyÃ¢â‚¬ . McCarthy composes his work so graphically that readers are drawn right into the story. I believe Cormac McCarthy wanted the figures in this book to be universal, so that the reader could imagine him/her self as Ã¢â‚¬Å"the boyÃ¢â‚¬ or Ã¢â‚¬Å"the manÃ¢â‚¬ at any given moment, and to be able to feel as they do. To do this McCarthy did not designate the characters in his book with names, and because of this, I was able to connect with Ã¢â‚¬Å"the manÃ¢â‚¬ and Ã¢â‚¬Å"the boyÃ¢â‚¬ on a personal level and envision myself uniting with them in their chilling journey. As the reader, I was deeply overwhelmed with many mixed emotions such as compassion, sadness, happiness, disgust, remorse, and fear. I have pity for the characters in the book The Road, because Ã¢â‚¬Å"the manÃ¢â‚¬ and Ã¢â‚¬Å"the boyÃ¢â‚¬ have to pass day to day struggling to survive in a frigid bleak world where food is scarce Ã¢â‚¬Å"They squatted in the road and ate rice and cold beans theyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d cooked days ago.Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å"Already beginning to ferment.Ã¢â‚¬ (McCarthy 29). The landscape is blackened, and mankind is almost extinct Ã¢â‚¬Å"The mummied dead everywhere.Ã¢â‚¬ (McCarthy 24). As I read on I noticed myself connecting more deeply with the characters. When the boyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s mother takes her own life, I was deeply saddened and my heart broke for Ã¢â‚¬Å"the boyÃ¢â‚¬ simply because his mom, someone he cherished and loved so much, had given up on hope and faith and deserted him. I just wan... ..., I jumped in the bed got as close to my husband as possible and eventually drifted off to sleep. When I finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, I was astonished at how deep I was able to connect with the characters and the fact that this book touched me as deeply as it did. It also made me think what ifÃ¢â‚¬ ¦? In reality if this were to happen would I have the courage and strength of Ã¢â‚¬Å"the manÃ¢â‚¬ and Ã¢â‚¬Å"the boyÃ¢â‚¬ or would I be like the mother as McCarthy states it Ã¢â‚¬Å" Ã¢â‚¬ ¦a faithless slutÃ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ (57), who has taken death as a new lover. Over all I personally believe that this novel was absolutely fantastic, even though I had nightmares for a few nights after I had completed the book. This just goes to show what a great writer McCarthy is, he touches his readers so deeply they even dream about his work. I would defiantly pick up this book and read it again just for fun.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Irony in Hamlet Essay -- GCSE Coursework Shakespeare Hamlet

Irony in HamletÃ‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ This essay will discuss the issue of irony in Hamlet by dealing with the problems that arise as a result of Hamlet's attempt to avenge his father's death. One of the central problems is the clash between Hamlet's overpowering need to believe in the ghost of his father, who is the authoritative figure in his life, and the awareness that he lacks empirical knowledge of the truth. In trying to achieve this knowledge, Hamlet sets out on a mixed mission of accusation, revenge and the search for truth, finally causing the upset of the original revenge plot when it ricochets off Polonius' dead body and hits Hamlet in the name of Laertes. Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ As a tragedy, Hamlet deals very heavily in anguish and frustration that are not necessarily allowed the means to be resolved or dissipated.Ã‚ Marvin Rosenberg notes in his essay, "Subtext in Shakespeare", that in tragedies, there are greater uncertainties and the "mystery of the character deepens, and the subtext is subtler, more open to variable interpretation"(82). Hence, unlike Viola, Hamlet's actions overlay motivations of greater ambiguity and these actions, as the play progresses, seemed that they are not primed to make the situation come a full circle. Instead of a an equilibrium, therefore, one finds a form of usurpation where the crown of Denmark, represented by both Claudius and Hamlet, is removed and taken by a foreign prince, Fortinbras. Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Hamlet's desire for vengeance came about as a result of the ghost's appearance and his accusatory speech in which he extorts his son to "Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder" (1.5.25). Hamlet is at once struck with the problem of whether he should believe that the ghost is really that of his father and ... ... 1998. Kreiger, Elliot. "Malvolio and Class Ideology". Bloom (19-26). Leverenz, David. "The Woman in Hamlet: An Interpersonal View". Schwartz, Murray M. and Coppelia Kahn, eds. Representing Shakespeare: New Psychoanalytic Essays. Baltimore: John Hopkins U P, 1980. Nevo, Ruth. Comic Transformations in Shakespeare. London: Methuen & Co., 1980. Rosenberg, Marvin. "Subtext in Shakespeare". Thompson, Marvin, and Ruth Thompson, eds. Shakespeare and the Sense of Performance. Newark: U of Delaware P, 1989. (79-90). Shakespeare, William. The New Cambridge Shakespeare: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Philip Edwards. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1985. Thatcher, David. Begging to Differ: Modes of Discrepancy in Shakespeare. New York: Peter Lang, 1999. Vickers, Brian. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven: Yale U P, 1993 Ã‚ Irony in Hamlet Essay -- GCSE Coursework Shakespeare Hamlet Irony in HamletÃ‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ This essay will discuss the issue of irony in Hamlet by dealing with the problems that arise as a result of Hamlet's attempt to avenge his father's death. One of the central problems is the clash between Hamlet's overpowering need to believe in the ghost of his father, who is the authoritative figure in his life, and the awareness that he lacks empirical knowledge of the truth. In trying to achieve this knowledge, Hamlet sets out on a mixed mission of accusation, revenge and the search for truth, finally causing the upset of the original revenge plot when it ricochets off Polonius' dead body and hits Hamlet in the name of Laertes. Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ As a tragedy, Hamlet deals very heavily in anguish and frustration that are not necessarily allowed the means to be resolved or dissipated.Ã‚ Marvin Rosenberg notes in his essay, "Subtext in Shakespeare", that in tragedies, there are greater uncertainties and the "mystery of the character deepens, and the subtext is subtler, more open to variable interpretation"(82). Hence, unlike Viola, Hamlet's actions overlay motivations of greater ambiguity and these actions, as the play progresses, seemed that they are not primed to make the situation come a full circle. Instead of a an equilibrium, therefore, one finds a form of usurpation where the crown of Denmark, represented by both Claudius and Hamlet, is removed and taken by a foreign prince, Fortinbras. Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ Hamlet's desire for vengeance came about as a result of the ghost's appearance and his accusatory speech in which he extorts his son to "Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder" (1.5.25). Hamlet is at once struck with the problem of whether he should believe that the ghost is really that of his father and ... ... 1998. Kreiger, Elliot. "Malvolio and Class Ideology". Bloom (19-26). Leverenz, David. "The Woman in Hamlet: An Interpersonal View". Schwartz, Murray M. and Coppelia Kahn, eds. Representing Shakespeare: New Psychoanalytic Essays. Baltimore: John Hopkins U P, 1980. Nevo, Ruth. Comic Transformations in Shakespeare. London: Methuen & Co., 1980. Rosenberg, Marvin. "Subtext in Shakespeare". Thompson, Marvin, and Ruth Thompson, eds. Shakespeare and the Sense of Performance. Newark: U of Delaware P, 1989. (79-90). Shakespeare, William. The New Cambridge Shakespeare: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Ed. Philip Edwards. Cambridge: Cambridge U P, 1985. Thatcher, David. Begging to Differ: Modes of Discrepancy in Shakespeare. New York: Peter Lang, 1999. Vickers, Brian. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven: Yale U P, 1993 Ã‚

Friday, October 11, 2019

How Does OthelloÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Character Change Throughout the Play? Essay

In order to understand how Othello changes throughout the play, we have to first take a look at the types of the relationships in the play as his behaviour changes directly links to the influences by the other people whom he has deep relationships. There are two types of relationships, one that is between female characters and between male characters. Both have deep bonds between each other. However women friendships are more emotional. Emotions are very strong and are deeply intertwined with trust. Love, hatred, jealousy and admiration are often mixed up and polar emotions show how strong the bond is. This also links that women are more vulnerable to be influenced, however once a strong bond is formed, it is hard to tear it apart, even though they can be quite sensitive. Within the men friendships, it is apparent that men do not heavily rely on their emotions and they have mutual understanding, Ã¢â‚¬Å"I have your back and you have my backÃ¢â‚¬ . Othello did try to not believe Iago so easily but the circumstances were in his favour because IagoÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s wife was doing IagoÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s dirty work without even knowing. He was also wrong about Iago not only about the fact that he was honest but the fact that he thought Iago would be truthful to him even after not giving the promotion to him. Shakespeare transformed the one he found in the story, and invented the character of Roderigo to bear that vulgar part. Then he invents a second motive for Iago, and makes him hate Othello also for his supposed relations with Emilia. By way of revenge for this offence, IagoÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s first impulse is to try to corrupt Desdemona, and thus get even with Othello. But how little this was his intention is seen by the fact that he never seems to have seriously considered it. In place of this, however, he has an alternative that becomes his ruling motive, to put Othello into a jealousy of Cassio. This he thinks will serve to revenge himself on Othello for both offences at one blow: And nothing can, or shall content my soul Till I am evenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d with him, wife, for wife. Or failing so, yet that I put the Moor At least into a jealousy so strong That judgment cannot cure. (II. i. 331-5.) Othello is also gullible, he trusts men more than women because he might not understand women and their relationships. He gives us feeling that he believes in stereotype women which are wicked, vulnerable, twisted and are traitors who lie all the time. Ironically, that stereotype applies to Iago whom Othello trusts more than his beloved Desdemona. The main villain who affected Othello the most has a hatred motive however hatred is supposed to have a cause, some concrete event or insult that inspires a lasting rage. But in Othello, the playÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s villain is motivated by a hatred that seems to elude any reasonable definition. IagoÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s hatred and his determination to destroy his boss Othello, seems out of proportion with the reasons he gives for it: anger that Othello did not promote him or jealousy that Othello might have slept with IagoÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s wife. IagoÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s loathing has been famously called a Ã¢â‚¬Å"motiveless malignancyÃ¢â‚¬ that redefines our understanding of hatred, making it seem a self-propelling passion rather than the consequence of any particular action.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

December 11, 2012 Section 1: Who is the one to delineate fault for a miscommunication and misunderstanding between two cultures? In Anne FadimanÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s novel, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, she begins the novel as an attempt to allocate responsibility for the mistreatment and exacerbation of Lia LeeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s epilepsy. The tension between the Hmong and United States medical culture exemplified the strain in America between a foreign culture dependent on rituals and societyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s norm. As the novel progress, Fadiman realizes that neither culture is truly at fault.LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s situation stemmed from a clash of cultural beliefs and practices that could have been solved by a respect and empathy of the significance of cross-cultural communication. Throughout the narrative, there were characters that were able to be culturally empathetic while some were unable to appreciate the cultural differences between the two entities and realize the necessity for cooperation and unders tanding. The Hmong have a saying that they repeat at the beginning of every story, Ã¢â‚¬Å"Hais cuaj txub kaum txub,Ã¢â‚¬ which means, Ã¢â‚¬Å"speak of all kinds of thingsÃ¢â‚¬ (Fadiman 13).These words depict the belief in the Hmong culture that the world is full of things that might not appear related but actually are. This concept relates to the HmongÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s history. Their development as a culture is tainted with inconsiderate counter cultures that restricted their freedom to practice their cultural rituals. This greatly influenced their ability to trust cultures that are not their own. Their general distrust in any culture different from their own can be mainly traced back to the Chinese and Indochinese portion of their saga.Basically, the Hmong have been chased out of any home they have ever had due to their unwillingness to take orders, their affliction to losing and the imperative detail that they would rather flee, fight, or die than surrender. This all boils down to the fact that they are not easily swayed by other cultureÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s customs. This ethnocentric attitude has greatly attributed to the Hmong cultureÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s general distrust and distaste for any culture but their own. LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s parents, Nao Kao and Foua Lee, and much of the Hmong community were skeptical of trusting the Ã¢â‚¬Å"white peopleÃ¢â‚¬ in the medical profession and in the community.In fact, LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s case became the litmus test for Hmong community and turned out to be a deciding factor as to whether the Hmong community in Merced, California would trust the medical professionals when they found themselves at MCMC in a similar state as Lia. Despite this inherent distrust of any culture dissimilar to their own, the LeeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s were able to trust one CPA worker, Jeanine Hilt, who took the LeeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s case very personally. Jeanine made it her mission to fight the medical industry tyranny on behalf of the Hmong culture and became the only person to ask the Lees their opinion .Because of the language barrier, many medical professionals saw talking to the LeeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s as a lost cause to communicate with, which led the Lees to believe they were being taken advantage of. Jeanine was the only one who thought to ask how the Lees felt about how the doctors were treating Lia and their culture. Because of this openness to communication and genuine interest in their answers, she explained to the hospital how the Lees, and the Hmong culture, felt about LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s epilepsy and why they were running into to so many conflicts with the Hmong culture.JeanineÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s open approach allowed her to see what the barrier was between the Lees ad the medical profession. The LeeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s and the Hmong culture considered Lia an anointed one and her Ã¢â‚¬Å"illnessÃ¢â‚¬ as a blessing rather than a weakness. In the Hmong culture, people born with epilepsy are believed to be the anointed ones and are destined to a life as a shaman. They call it Ã¢â‚¬Å"qaug dab peg,Ã¢â‚¬ or Ã¢ â‚¬Å"the spirit catches you and you fall down. Ã¢â‚¬ People in the medical profession did not understand the concept of spirits and the importance of epilepsy for the Hmong. Jeanine was the only white person who adamantly fought for the rights of the Hmong.She was able to do this by the ability to effectively and cross culturally communicate. A similar problem occurred when the Lees refused to give their daughter her daily medicine regimen. Lia was taken away from her family and put into foster care. Jeanine fought to get Lia back to her family as her epileptic episodes became more frequent and dangerous. After she succeeded, it was JeanineÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s mission to educate the Lees, especially Foua, on the drug regimen and explain to her the importance of the drugs and to understand Nao Kao and FouaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s aversion to medicine.Hilt was the only person that took the time to listen to Foua and her concerns regarding the unnatural substances. And after LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s large grand mal seizu re, she was the only one who tackled the problem of how the Hmong family was treating LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s developmental delays. JeanineÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s key to success was always keeping the lines of communication open between herself and the Lees and therefore between the Lees and the MCMC. In order to cross culturally communicate, Jeanine focused on a caring approach that was Ã¢â‚¬Å"culturally empatheticÃ¢â‚¬ and used the Lees daughter, May, as her translator.She did this because having another unfamiliar person in the room, especially a translater, would make the Lees uncomfortable and less open to effective communication. Hilt also took the time to get to know the Lees. She knew the names of all their seven surviving children and most importantly never abandoned Lia or her family even in Nao KaoÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s darkest moments. As part of the Hmong culture, they are naturally very violent and are not deterred by being outnumbered. Nao Kao threatened a translator that came and told the Child Protect ive Services were taking Lia away.Jeanine understood the aversion to having someoneÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s child taken away and made sure the threats Nao Kao made didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t affect the courts decision to let Lia return. JeanineÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s empathy was deepened by two factors. She understood the burden of a chronic illness because she had asthma. She also admired the connection and closeness of the Hmong families. She was deeply connected to this family and to this child so she harassed the government and the hospital until the Lees got what they deserved. This included a pediatric hospital bed for LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s last days at home.This led the Lees to hold Jeanine in high esteem and allowed for a trust that was incredibly hard to earn from the Hmong culture. While Jeanine took the time to understand the Hmong culture, Nao Kao, LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s father, did little to reciprocate. He greatly appreciated her attempt at being understanding, however he never believed it was his responsibility to do the same. Even then, Foua was usually the most receptive to JeanineÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s triumphs. Historically Hmongs have become the pariahs of society.With this in mind, Nao Kao never really made the effort to be part of a society that he knew went against his beliefs and therefore was rejecting him. It is also prominent in Hmong culture, that the man is the strongest part of the family and the most emotionally disconnected. While the Hmong were fighting the Chinese, they even killed their wives and children so they wouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t be emotionally distracted. Nao Kao hyper masculine attitude led him and his wife to be passively obedient. In the book, Fadiman writes Ã¢â‚¬Å"It was typical or Hmong patients to appear passively obedient Ã¢â‚¬â€œ thus protecting their own dignity by concealing their ignorance and their doctorÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s dignity by acting deferential Ã¢â‚¬â€œ and then, as soon as they left the hospital, to ignore everything to which they had supposedly assentedÃ¢â‚¬ (Fadiman 68). This is no way to effectively communicate between two cultures. By Nao Kao affirming that he would give the medicine and not at least trying to explain that it is against his belief and/or he does not understand how to give the medicine, he falsely gives the impression to the doctors that Lia will be cared for at home.Not only does not communicate that he will not give the medicine, but he also doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t communicate that he has not given the medicine to Lia when the Lees continue to take her to the hospital seizure after seizure. While the Hmongs believed being epileptic was a sort of blessing, they also understood the repercussions and knew the disease was at least semi-dangerous. That is the reason the Lees continued to take Lia to MCMC over and over again, despite their hatred for the medical culture and the inability to effectively communicate. However Nao Kao Lee was most definitely stuck in his ways.Fadiman explains a observation by Francois Marie Savina as to his first impressions to the Hmong in 1924. Savina, a missionary, stated Ã¢â‚¬Å"ethnic durability can be attributed to six factors: religion; love of liberty; traditional costumes; refusal to marry outside their race; life in the cold, dry mountainous areas; and the toughening effects of warÃ¢â‚¬ (Fadiman 208). The Lee family did little the acculturate themselves into the United States culture and came here to merely escape prosecution. When the Lees came to America, their relatives had to show them how the country worked. They relied greatly on their children.After Seventeen years of living here they still speak only Hmong and practice only Hmong traditions. The Hmong culture is famously stuck in its ways and it was no different for Nao Kao. The mixture between his role in his culture as well as the culture itself lends itself to the inability to communicate between the Lee family and the MCMC medical staff. The first thing that would allow two cultures, such as the Hmong and the United States medical culture, to effectively communicate is knowing what their core values, core distinction, and some key elements to their culture in regards to value dimensions.The HmongÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s value dimensions tend to fall on one extreme, while America falls on the other side of the spectrum. For example, in the Identity value dimension, the Hmong are highly collectivist, which means their core value is group harmony and their core distinction is whether youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re in group/out group. However, the United States population is based on individualist side of the identity spectrum. This means they believe in individual freedom and the core distinction is whether its me/others (Hofstede Pederson Hofstede 94-97).This has a large impact in how two cultures interact with each other because while the United States will believe that the Hmong should do whatever it takes to protect themselves while the Hmong believe they should maintain the peace with the gods or else they will be punished which focusÃ¢â ‚¬â„¢ on group harmony. The virtue value dimension also has a strong effect on the differences between these cultures. The Hmong are considered extreme long-term orientation, which values the long-term benefits. The US medical culture is more oriented on todayÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s effects, otherwise known as extreme short-term orientation (Hofstede Pederson Hofstede 109-112).This shows why the Hmong are so superstitious because they are worried about the futures of their children and even their grandchildren. The medical industry is not superstitious and therefore believes in saving the life that needs saving now and not later. They do not discriminate on between now and later. A lot of lessons can be learned from how Jeanine was able to effectively communicate between the Hmong and US medical cultures. First of all, it is important to be open to new ways of communication between cultures and to not only find similarities, but also understand the differences between cultures.The Hmong culture a nd the Medical culture in the United States seem on opposite ends of the cultural spectrum. In that brief period of LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s seizures being decreased and her seemingly getting better, the Lees understood that they had to give Lia her medicine regularly and the hospital understood why the Lees were hesitant about giving their child too many unnatural substances. When the two entities understood each otherÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s culture and cultural differences, LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s health improved and they were able to understand each other beyond the most basic level.This is called being culturally empathetic. LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s illness was a test for the two cultures. It was a situation that forced a broken system to recognize its faults and demonstrate how it needs to be fixed. At the end of the day, it doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t matter who worsened LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s illness because placing blame wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t help either culture understand each other. By the end of the text, as Fadiman is reflecting on the case, she writ es Ã¢â‚¬Å"I do not know if Lia would be able to walk and talk today had she been treated by Arthur Kleinman instead of by Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp.However, I have come to believe that her life was ruined not by septic shock or noncompliant parents but by cross-cultural misunderstandingÃ¢â‚¬ (Fadiman 262). The MCMC has learned multiple lessons from LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s epilepsy. They learned to be culturally conscious, they removed the organ donor box from the hospital waiver and posted details about LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s case so her illness wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t be mistreated ever again. The key to communicating effectively is to realize that a culture is different from yours and value their judgments just as much as you value your own.Jeanine was able to do it, hopefully Nao Kao will one day do it as well as every doctor in the medical profession, and especially the doctors that are in heavily populated minority areas. Bibliography 1. Fadiman, Anne. The spirit catches you and you fall down: a Hmong chil d, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1997. 2. Hofstede, Gert Jan, Paul Pedersen, and Geert H. Hofstede. Exploring culture. Yarmouth, Me. : Intercultural Press, 2002 Section II: Throughout my life, I have always been a person who loved traveling.I will always love traveling and someday, I hope to have a job where traveling is a requirement. When I travel, I hoped to come as close to emersion as possible in the time span IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m there. I believe interacting with other cultures can seriously give you a whole new outlook on life and learning perspectives of different cultures and humans always fascinates me which is why, next year, I am planning to take a year off to work at a bed and breakfast in France. People from all over the globe come to bed and breakfasts, which will give e a lot of face time with a lot of different cultures and learn a little bit about everything. My housing and dining will be paid for while I meet people, make lifelong connections and put all the things I learned about in cross cultural communication to work. Cross Cultural Communication opened up my eyes to some pretty basic things that you just never really put names to. The best lesson I learned was on cultural empathy. The idea that you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t only tolerate another culture, but you understand it at its most basic level is incredibly important in how you connect with other people.A lot of my best friends are actually international and live in other countries. One of my best friends ever lives in Greece and looking back on our friendship, I realize how I subconsciously underwent the process of cultural empathy by asking her about the different practices she went through and the different ways she understood American culture and society. Unfortunately, I did not do the same with my German ex-boyfriend who lived in Germany which probably could have saved a lot of grief on my end.Another lesson I found interesting in cro ss-cultural communication was reflexivity. Reflexivity is the ability and willingness of a researcher to acknowledge their bias. When I went to H Street, I realized my bias growing up in small town liberal suburbia. I realize my bias everyday when I meet people who grow up in different countries, parts of the country or even socio economic class. While interviewing Josh Parrish for my interview project, I saw how different our lives were and yet how similar we were.Reflexivity is not only important to acknowledge for reliable research, but for dependable relationships as well. Talking about white privilege really interested me throughout the course. Growing up as white, I kind of always resented the doors that automatically opened for me in some sense of the word. I canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t pinpoint why, but I like the challenge of overcoming adversity. In the School of Public Affairs Leadership Program, we talked about the idea of Privilege and Power and we watched an interesting TED talks tha t introduced the idea of Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Power of a Single Story. Acknowledging the different presets in society is important to society and to be able to communicate with each other. If I could change one thing about this class, it would definitely be about the reading. The readings were incredibly numerous and sometimes, I couldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t finish everything, which led to a serious cycle of me falling incredibly behind. I wouldÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve loved for a way to cut down the readings, perhaps only read important excerpts or something because the workload was either really hard or very laid back.The lessons I learned in cross cultural communication feel less immense than other classes, but I already notice how I look around and see how these lessons are applicable in real life. I constantly look back at my history and realize how helpful these skills would have been months and even years ago. Being culturally empathetic is the most important lesson I could have learned and I feel was the overar ching theme to the whole course. I found it helpful to learn how to properly acculturate into a foreign culture and while I may not become a foreign diplomat because of this class, I definitely learned some important imformation. Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down December 11, 2012 Section 1: Who is the one to delineate fault for a miscommunication and misunderstanding between two cultures? In Anne FadimanÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s novel, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, she begins the novel as an attempt to allocate responsibility for the mistreatment and exacerbation of Lia LeeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s epilepsy. The tension between the Hmong and United States medical culture exemplified the strain in America between a foreign culture dependent on rituals and societyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s norm. As the novel progress, Fadiman realizes that neither culture is truly at fault.LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s situation stemmed from a clash of cultural beliefs and practices that could have been solved by a respect and empathy of the significance of cross-cultural communication. Throughout the narrative, there were characters that were able to be culturally empathetic while some were unable to appreciate the cultural differences between the two entities and realize the necessity for cooperation and unders tanding. The Hmong have a saying that they repeat at the beginning of every story, Ã¢â‚¬Å"Hais cuaj txub kaum txub,Ã¢â‚¬ which means, Ã¢â‚¬Å"speak of all kinds of thingsÃ¢â‚¬ (Fadiman 13).These words depict the belief in the Hmong culture that the world is full of things that might not appear related but actually are. This concept relates to the HmongÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s history. Their development as a culture is tainted with inconsiderate counter cultures that restricted their freedom to practice their cultural rituals. This greatly influenced their ability to trust cultures that are not their own. Their general distrust in any culture different from their own can be mainly traced back to the Chinese and Indochinese portion of their saga.Basically, the Hmong have been chased out of any home they have ever had due to their unwillingness to take orders, their affliction to losing and the imperative detail that they would rather flee, fight, or die than surrender. This all boils down to the fact that they are not easily swayed by other cultureÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s customs. This ethnocentric attitude has greatly attributed to the Hmong cultureÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s general distrust and distaste for any culture but their own. LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s parents, Nao Kao and Foua Lee, and much of the Hmong community were skeptical of trusting the Ã¢â‚¬Å"white peopleÃ¢â‚¬ in the medical profession and in the community.In fact, LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s case became the litmus test for Hmong community and turned out to be a deciding factor as to whether the Hmong community in Merced, California would trust the medical professionals when they found themselves at MCMC in a similar state as Lia. Despite this inherent distrust of any culture dissimilar to their own, the LeeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s were able to trust one CPA worker, Jeanine Hilt, who took the LeeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s case very personally. Jeanine made it her mission to fight the medical industry tyranny on behalf of the Hmong culture and became the only person to ask the Lees their opinion .Because of the language barrier, many medical professionals saw talking to the LeeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s as a lost cause to communicate with, which led the Lees to believe they were being taken advantage of. Jeanine was the only one who thought to ask how the Lees felt about how the doctors were treating Lia and their culture. Because of this openness to communication and genuine interest in their answers, she explained to the hospital how the Lees, and the Hmong culture, felt about LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s epilepsy and why they were running into to so many conflicts with the Hmong culture.JeanineÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s open approach allowed her to see what the barrier was between the Lees ad the medical profession. The LeeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s and the Hmong culture considered Lia an anointed one and her Ã¢â‚¬Å"illnessÃ¢â‚¬ as a blessing rather than a weakness. In the Hmong culture, people born with epilepsy are believed to be the anointed ones and are destined to a life as a shaman. They call it Ã¢â‚¬Å"qaug dab peg,Ã¢â‚¬ or Ã¢ â‚¬Å"the spirit catches you and you fall down. Ã¢â‚¬ People in the medical profession did not understand the concept of spirits and the importance of epilepsy for the Hmong. Jeanine was the only white person who adamantly fought for the rights of the Hmong.She was able to do this by the ability to effectively and cross culturally communicate. A similar problem occurred when the Lees refused to give their daughter her daily medicine regimen. Lia was taken away from her family and put into foster care. Jeanine fought to get Lia back to her family as her epileptic episodes became more frequent and dangerous. After she succeeded, it was JeanineÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s mission to educate the Lees, especially Foua, on the drug regimen and explain to her the importance of the drugs and to understand Nao Kao and FouaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s aversion to medicine.Hilt was the only person that took the time to listen to Foua and her concerns regarding the unnatural substances. And after LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s large grand mal seizu re, she was the only one who tackled the problem of how the Hmong family was treating LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s developmental delays. JeanineÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s key to success was always keeping the lines of communication open between herself and the Lees and therefore between the Lees and the MCMC. In order to cross culturally communicate, Jeanine focused on a caring approach that was Ã¢â‚¬Å"culturally empatheticÃ¢â‚¬ and used the Lees daughter, May, as her translator.She did this because having another unfamiliar person in the room, especially a translater, would make the Lees uncomfortable and less open to effective communication. Hilt also took the time to get to know the Lees. She knew the names of all their seven surviving children and most importantly never abandoned Lia or her family even in Nao KaoÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s darkest moments. As part of the Hmong culture, they are naturally very violent and are not deterred by being outnumbered. Nao Kao threatened a translator that came and told the Child Protect ive Services were taking Lia away.Jeanine understood the aversion to having someoneÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s child taken away and made sure the threats Nao Kao made didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t affect the courts decision to let Lia return. JeanineÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s empathy was deepened by two factors. She understood the burden of a chronic illness because she had asthma. She also admired the connection and closeness of the Hmong families. She was deeply connected to this family and to this child so she harassed the government and the hospital until the Lees got what they deserved. This included a pediatric hospital bed for LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s last days at home.This led the Lees to hold Jeanine in high esteem and allowed for a trust that was incredibly hard to earn from the Hmong culture. While Jeanine took the time to understand the Hmong culture, Nao Kao, LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s father, did little to reciprocate. He greatly appreciated her attempt at being understanding, however he never believed it was his responsibility to do the same. Even then, Foua was usually the most receptive to JeanineÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s triumphs. Historically Hmongs have become the pariahs of society.With this in mind, Nao Kao never really made the effort to be part of a society that he knew went against his beliefs and therefore was rejecting him. It is also prominent in Hmong culture, that the man is the strongest part of the family and the most emotionally disconnected. While the Hmong were fighting the Chinese, they even killed their wives and children so they wouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t be emotionally distracted. Nao Kao hyper masculine attitude led him and his wife to be passively obedient. In the book, Fadiman writes Ã¢â‚¬Å"It was typical or Hmong patients to appear passively obedient Ã¢â‚¬â€œ thus protecting their own dignity by concealing their ignorance and their doctorÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s dignity by acting deferential Ã¢â‚¬â€œ and then, as soon as they left the hospital, to ignore everything to which they had supposedly assentedÃ¢â‚¬ (Fadiman 68). This is no way to effectively communicate between two cultures. By Nao Kao affirming that he would give the medicine and not at least trying to explain that it is against his belief and/or he does not understand how to give the medicine, he falsely gives the impression to the doctors that Lia will be cared for at home.Not only does not communicate that he will not give the medicine, but he also doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t communicate that he has not given the medicine to Lia when the Lees continue to take her to the hospital seizure after seizure. While the Hmongs believed being epileptic was a sort of blessing, they also understood the repercussions and knew the disease was at least semi-dangerous. That is the reason the Lees continued to take Lia to MCMC over and over again, despite their hatred for the medical culture and the inability to effectively communicate. However Nao Kao Lee was most definitely stuck in his ways.Fadiman explains a observation by Francois Marie Savina as to his first impressions to the Hmong in 1924. Savina, a missionary, stated Ã¢â‚¬Å"ethnic durability can be attributed to six factors: religion; love of liberty; traditional costumes; refusal to marry outside their race; life in the cold, dry mountainous areas; and the toughening effects of warÃ¢â‚¬ (Fadiman 208). The Lee family did little the acculturate themselves into the United States culture and came here to merely escape prosecution. When the Lees came to America, their relatives had to show them how the country worked. They relied greatly on their children.After Seventeen years of living here they still speak only Hmong and practice only Hmong traditions. The Hmong culture is famously stuck in its ways and it was no different for Nao Kao. The mixture between his role in his culture as well as the culture itself lends itself to the inability to communicate between the Lee family and the MCMC medical staff. The first thing that would allow two cultures, such as the Hmong and the United States medical culture, to effectively communicate is knowing what their core values, core distinction, and some key elements to their culture in regards to value dimensions.The HmongÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s value dimensions tend to fall on one extreme, while America falls on the other side of the spectrum. For example, in the Identity value dimension, the Hmong are highly collectivist, which means their core value is group harmony and their core distinction is whether youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re in group/out group. However, the United States population is based on individualist side of the identity spectrum. This means they believe in individual freedom and the core distinction is whether its me/others (Hofstede Pederson Hofstede 94-97).This has a large impact in how two cultures interact with each other because while the United States will believe that the Hmong should do whatever it takes to protect themselves while the Hmong believe they should maintain the peace with the gods or else they will be punished which focusÃ¢â ‚¬â„¢ on group harmony. The virtue value dimension also has a strong effect on the differences between these cultures. The Hmong are considered extreme long-term orientation, which values the long-term benefits. The US medical culture is more oriented on todayÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s effects, otherwise known as extreme short-term orientation (Hofstede Pederson Hofstede 109-112).This shows why the Hmong are so superstitious because they are worried about the futures of their children and even their grandchildren. The medical industry is not superstitious and therefore believes in saving the life that needs saving now and not later. They do not discriminate on between now and later. A lot of lessons can be learned from how Jeanine was able to effectively communicate between the Hmong and US medical cultures. First of all, it is important to be open to new ways of communication between cultures and to not only find similarities, but also understand the differences between cultures.The Hmong culture a nd the Medical culture in the United States seem on opposite ends of the cultural spectrum. In that brief period of LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s seizures being decreased and her seemingly getting better, the Lees understood that they had to give Lia her medicine regularly and the hospital understood why the Lees were hesitant about giving their child too many unnatural substances. When the two entities understood each otherÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s culture and cultural differences, LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s health improved and they were able to understand each other beyond the most basic level.This is called being culturally empathetic. LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s illness was a test for the two cultures. It was a situation that forced a broken system to recognize its faults and demonstrate how it needs to be fixed. At the end of the day, it doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t matter who worsened LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s illness because placing blame wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t help either culture understand each other. By the end of the text, as Fadiman is reflecting on the case, she writ es Ã¢â‚¬Å"I do not know if Lia would be able to walk and talk today had she been treated by Arthur Kleinman instead of by Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp.However, I have come to believe that her life was ruined not by septic shock or noncompliant parents but by cross-cultural misunderstandingÃ¢â‚¬ (Fadiman 262). The MCMC has learned multiple lessons from LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s epilepsy. They learned to be culturally conscious, they removed the organ donor box from the hospital waiver and posted details about LiaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s case so her illness wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t be mistreated ever again. The key to communicating effectively is to realize that a culture is different from yours and value their judgments just as much as you value your own.Jeanine was able to do it, hopefully Nao Kao will one day do it as well as every doctor in the medical profession, and especially the doctors that are in heavily populated minority areas. Bibliography 1. Fadiman, Anne. The spirit catches you and you fall down: a Hmong chil d, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1997. 2. Hofstede, Gert Jan, Paul Pedersen, and Geert H. Hofstede. Exploring culture. Yarmouth, Me. : Intercultural Press, 2002 Section II: Throughout my life, I have always been a person who loved traveling.I will always love traveling and someday, I hope to have a job where traveling is a requirement. When I travel, I hoped to come as close to emersion as possible in the time span IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m there. I believe interacting with other cultures can seriously give you a whole new outlook on life and learning perspectives of different cultures and humans always fascinates me which is why, next year, I am planning to take a year off to work at a bed and breakfast in France. People from all over the globe come to bed and breakfasts, which will give e a lot of face time with a lot of different cultures and learn a little bit about everything. My housing and dining will be paid for while I meet people, make lifelong connections and put all the things I learned about in cross cultural communication to work. Cross Cultural Communication opened up my eyes to some pretty basic things that you just never really put names to. The best lesson I learned was on cultural empathy. The idea that you donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t only tolerate another culture, but you understand it at its most basic level is incredibly important in how you connect with other people.A lot of my best friends are actually international and live in other countries. One of my best friends ever lives in Greece and looking back on our friendship, I realize how I subconsciously underwent the process of cultural empathy by asking her about the different practices she went through and the different ways she understood American culture and society. Unfortunately, I did not do the same with my German ex-boyfriend who lived in Germany which probably could have saved a lot of grief on my end.Another lesson I found interesting in cro ss-cultural communication was reflexivity. Reflexivity is the ability and willingness of a researcher to acknowledge their bias. When I went to H Street, I realized my bias growing up in small town liberal suburbia. I realize my bias everyday when I meet people who grow up in different countries, parts of the country or even socio economic class. While interviewing Josh Parrish for my interview project, I saw how different our lives were and yet how similar we were.Reflexivity is not only important to acknowledge for reliable research, but for dependable relationships as well. Talking about white privilege really interested me throughout the course. Growing up as white, I kind of always resented the doors that automatically opened for me in some sense of the word. I canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t pinpoint why, but I like the challenge of overcoming adversity. In the School of Public Affairs Leadership Program, we talked about the idea of Privilege and Power and we watched an interesting TED talks tha t introduced the idea of Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Power of a Single Story. Acknowledging the different presets in society is important to society and to be able to communicate with each other. If I could change one thing about this class, it would definitely be about the reading. The readings were incredibly numerous and sometimes, I couldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t finish everything, which led to a serious cycle of me falling incredibly behind. I wouldÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve loved for a way to cut down the readings, perhaps only read important excerpts or something because the workload was either really hard or very laid back.The lessons I learned in cross cultural communication feel less immense than other classes, but I already notice how I look around and see how these lessons are applicable in real life. I constantly look back at my history and realize how helpful these skills would have been months and even years ago. Being culturally empathetic is the most important lesson I could have learned and I feel was the overar ching theme to the whole course. I found it helpful to learn how to properly acculturate into a foreign culture and while I may not become a foreign diplomat because of this class, I definitely learned some important imformation.