My Personal Philosophy of Education Essay - 849 Words

Philosophy of Education We are living in a moment of deep historical mutation in which traditional meanings are dissolving. This makes it necessary to re-think the certainties in which the Essentialist thinks. Bringing us back to the basics of life with core curriculum. My philosophy beliefs on education are based on Essentialism and Progressivism. Essentialism is grounded in a conservative philosophy that accepts the social, political, and economic structure of American society. While Progressivism has a respect for individuality, it is believed that people learn better through active interplay with others. Learning is increased when we engage in activities that have meaning in our lives. I have learned through the years†¦show more content†¦Furthermore, there will be toys for the children to learn by way of playing and books on hand for the children to read. Round tables will be provided for the children so they may work as a group. All of this equipment will help with running the classroom smoothly. The classroom will follow an authoritative structure. The teacher will primarily be responsible for making and enforcing rules. However, we will work together as a group to solve problems. The classroom will be organized in a way that will encourage learning but, discourage bad behavior. The classroom will be set up with a dramatic play corner, a gross motor area, a mathematical quarter, an art and science section, and a reading corner. In the classroom there will be motivation for good behavior. At the end of every week children who have been good will get to pick a prize out of the treasure box. Children who have had a note sent home will have to try harder the next week to do better so they may get a treasure. For discipline there is a three strike and your out rule. The children will be told once to settle down or to stop doing something, the next time they will get their name on the board, the third time a note will be sent home to the parent to help out with behavioral problems. Parents need to be aware of what and how their children are doing. This will help with consistency between parents and teachers regarding what isShow MoreRelatedMy Personal Philosophy : My Philosophy Of Education1046 Words   |  5 Pagesmanipulate the information for their own use in the future. Choosing between the four, I would say my philosophical views line up more as an essentialist. My philosophy of education, is that every teacher and student has an environment where they are challenged, yet still encouraged, in their instructional matter and teaching and learning strategies to prepare them to meet the goals set upon them. A philosophy is a search for wisdom in a particular area; it builds a framework of thinking, and guides instructionalRead MoreMy Personal Philosophy Of Education997 Words   |  4 Pages Philosophy of Education Discovering the place where personal values and expertise meet organizational values and needs offers a dynamic partnership opportunity. Mutual achievement of organizational academic quality and professional fulfillment provides a positive learning environment. Developing a personal philosophy of education enables an educator to understand and communicate the underlying basis for his or her approach to education. Sharing this philosophy provides valuable information forRead MoreMy Personal Philosophy Of Education1476 Words   |  6 Pages871 Foundations of Higher Education Summer 2015 Instructor: Joel Abaya, PhD Personal Philosophy of Education Submitted by: Wessam Elamawy . Personal Philosophy of Education Introduction: From the very beginning of my life I recognized the importance of higher education. I am 34 years old. I am Egyptian. I was born in a highly educated family . My father earned a Ph.D. in chemistry. My uncle earned a Ph.D. in Engineering . My aunt is a doctor. My grandparents were highly educatedRead MoreMy Personal Philosophy of Education958 Words   |  4 PagesMy Personal Philosophy of Education It is customary that on New Year’s Eve, we make New Year resolution. The fact is that we are making a set of guideline that we want to live by. These are motives that we seek to achieve. In a similar way, teachers live by philosophy. This essay focuses on my personal philosophy of education. It unfolds the function of philosophy in a teacher’s life, my view on the purpose of education, the student teacher- relationship and the philosophy which influences myRead MoreMy Personal Philosophy : My Philosophy Of Education1844 Words   |  8 PagesMy philosophy of education is romanticism. According to Ryan, Cooper, and Bolick, romanticism can be defined as â€Å"a child-centered philosophy of education that condemns the influences of society and suggests that a child’s natural curiosity and the natural world should be used to teach.† I am a believer in â€Å"gaining knowledge through sensory experiences and interactions with your peers† (Ryan, Cooper, a nd Bolick, 2016). I agree with this philosophy because it says that the needs of the student areRead MoreMy Personal Philosophy Of Education1443 Words   |  6 PagesThese beliefs of education are known as the philosophy of education. The philosophy of education is defined as the influences of what is taught and how the students will be taught. Throughout my study in my education class and past experiences, my mind was expanded and I acquired sufficient knowledge to develop my own concept of my personal philosophy of education. First, I will clarify the reasons why I choose the profession of being an educator. The first reason has been my parents influenceRead MoreMy Personal Philosophy Of Education966 Words   |  4 Pages Personal Philosophy of Education Allyson C. Taylor EDUC 542 Dr. M. Derrick Regent University The definition of curriculum can be as mysterious as the curriculum itself. Oliva (2013) described the hunt for the curriculum as being similar to â€Å"efforts to track down Bigfoot, the Bear Lake Monster, [and] the Florida Everglades Skunk Ape †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 2). All of these elusive beings have left tracks, yet there isn’t a single photograph to prove their existence—just likeRead MoreMy Personal Philosophy Of Education1335 Words   |  6 Pagesteaching style in the â€Å"Finding Your Philosophy of Education Quiz.† While I enjoyed learning about the different philosophies and psychological influences of teaching, I prefer constructivism, social reconstruction, and progressivism due to their student-centered learning, hands-on or project based learning style, while making efforts to improve the world around them. I will be discussing why I chose progressivism, social reconstruction, and constructivism as my preferences, as well as the role ofRead MoreMy Personal Philosophy Of Education873 Words   |  4 Pagesis a meaningful education? Throughout time many philosopher and educators have pondered on this question, leading to the development of theories and concepts that are present in the classroom today. In my personal experience, an educator philosophy is built over a course of time which is based on their knowledge and experience. An educator belief system is like a river, it changes and matures throughout its course, bending and changing as it progresses. Throughout the course of my educational careerRead MoreMy Personal Philosophy Of Education1152 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction My personal philosophy of education relies on the fundamental belief that every individual has inherent value, therefore designating education as an environment where students may grow in their self-worth through academic and relational support. Thus, the purpose of education is to provide individuals with the opportunity to learn about both content and about self, growing in their identity. Within this personal philosophy of education, I will further detail the aim of education, the role

The Palace Of Versailles Housed The French Government

The Palace of Versailles housed the French government and all its royalty during the reigns of Louis XIV- XVI. After the French Revolution in 1789 however, it was no longer a permanent royal residence for the government or royalty in France. It is located about 10 miles southwest of Paris, beside the settlement of Versailles. Before Louis XIV inherited it, it was little more than a hunting lodge built by Louis XIII, which he turned into a chateau. Soon however, it became one of the largest urban centers, and the housing for many important officials in France. The Complex included the palace, gardens, fenced in royal hunting ground, a structure known as the Grand Trianon, the Royal chapel, an estate for Marie Antoinette the queen an even an†¦show more content†¦However, because of the water they had to supply for the fountains they were only used for special occasions. The Versailles was dressed to impress for shore, with the impressiveness the main goal of the palace. The king built himself a Grand Trianon a mile northwest of the palace as a place for him to work in private. People could only visit him there if invited, and it is said the garden of tuberoses there had an overwhelming sent that drew people away. King Louis XIV’s bedroom was built on the upper floor, located centrally along the east-west axis of the palace. It was considered was the most important room in the palace. There they also had two of the3 important ceremonies there, the lever and the coucher. They were just ceremonies for when the king woke up and when he went to sleep. The king also had a ceremony for when he put on and took of his hunting boots. People would attend the ceremonies as much as possible and did not desire to be absent. the beauty of the palace itself complemented the ceremonies. The beauty emphasized the achievements and power of the king himself. The king’s bedroom and apartment were located near the â€Å"Hall of Mirrors† which told a narrative of Louis XIV as King of France, and depicted many of the battles fought in France. The king’s throne was also located at the â€Å"Apollo salon†, and he worshiped at the Royal chapel at the palace. The queen of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, built the estate

Youth Justice Policy in Britain (1945-1981) †from Punishment to Welfare Free Essays

Introduction The discussion of the youth justice policy in Britain has re-gained importance in the aftermath of the August 2011 riots, which spread across London and other major cities in the country. Think tank analysts and policy experts argued, that the youths which allegedly took part in the riots, were disillusioned and de-motivated young people from broken homes (Politics UK, 2011). The deep societal problem behind youth engagement in the London riots raised the question about the efficacy of the youth justice system in Britain, and debates about its institutional reform permeated the political discourse. We will write a custom essay sample on Youth Justice Policy in Britain (1945-1981) – from Punishment to Welfare or any similar topic only for you Order Now After the gruesome murder of James Bulger in 1993 by two ten-year old boys the public and policy-makers became convinced, that only a general policy reform of the youth justice system is not sufficient. Rather a reform of specific sectors such as the ones dealing with anti-social behaviour and gang crime was much more urgent (Guardian, 2011). The purpose of this short essay is to critically review the different phases in the development of the youth justice system from the 1940s to 1981. Based on the conclusions, in the final section recommendations for policy reform will be made. Research question The purpose of this essay is to critically approach the different stages in the evolution of the youth justice policy in Britain. Based on this observation, the paper will provide an assessment of how the system has evolved and what the main trends in its transformation are. For clarity the author has decided to separate the observations in the following stages – from punishment to welfare, young offenders enter the community, and the strengthening of the Intermediate Treatment. Each one of them will be critically analysed in the following sections. The youth justice system in Britain: a review Before we proceed with the examination of the main developments in the youth justice system in the set period, it is important to provide a brief overview of the main components and structures of this system. Similarly to other types of youth justice systems, the British one inclines towards prevention, rather then retribution (Bottoms Dignan, 2004). Bottoms and Dignan (2004) refer to the British youth justice system as a correctionalist and committed to the prevention of committing offences. The idea of the correctionalist system implies stronger intervention on behalf of the state, as opposed to earlier views such as letting young offenders grow out of the crime. This characteristic trend, experts argue, reflects a much more complex and multi-level approach to dealing with youth crime, involving different elements such as parents and agency teams. The trend has been accompanied with an intensive institutional reform, such as the introduction of the semi-independent body of the Youth Justice Board with the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act (Community Care, 2010). In the years to follow, there has been a trend for the unification of all activities related with youth justice under the umbrella of a single department – the Ministry of Justice, in order to create accountability and higher levels of responsibility in one of the most important and problematic policy areas in Britain. The 1940s – from punishment to welfare It is now clear that society’s views on crime change over time and are susceptible to historical and social conditions. The youth justice system in Britain is an example of the transformation of the concepts of crime and offender in social and political terms. Therefore the way young criminals have been treated by the criminal justice system has been a subject of reform throughout the years. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, perhaps one of the most important developments in the youth justice system is that a line between children and adult offenders was finally drawn. For the first time in the early 30s and 40s, the courts were obliged to consider the welfare of the child (Thorpe et. al, 1980). This marked a significant transformation of the whole justice system, because it determined a different role of the courts, related not only with taking punitive action, but also correction and care for the young offenders. It is now clear that the transformation from punishment to welfare has been later underpinned in another important document – the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Youth Justice Board, 2008). As the later stages of the British youth justice system demonstrate, the latter has always been responsive to the developments, taking place in the field of human rights at any particular time. The 1960s – young offenders and the community The trend towards welferism which started in the early 1930s continued in the next several decades, and had its peak in the 1960s, when a special legislation, concerned with the social integration and correction of the young offenders was passed (Youth Justice Board, 2008: Thorpe et. al, 1980). In 1969 the Labour government passed a legislation to introduce a revised youth justice system, based on welfare principles and reformation of criminals (Thorpe et. al, 1980). The 1969 Children and Young Persons Act emphasized the role of the community as the environment, which would play a major role in the social integration of those who committed offences. The act also established the so-called â€Å"halfway house† which was the middle way between being subject to a Supervision Order (which requires minimum contact between supervisor and young person) and being taken into care (Youth Justice Board, 2008; Children and Young Persons Act, 1969). This new establishment came to be defined as Intermediate Treatment (IT) and according to some observers was the foundation of the modern youth justice system. Another intended development of this period, which however, did not come to fruition, was the attempt to increase the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years. Prior to the 1969 Act, the criminal responsibility age was only 8 years (Thorpe, et.al, 1980). The developments which took place between the 1940s and the late 1960s are a result of the rise of the welfare state in Britain and the rest of Europe. A major historical and sociological trend, the rise of the welfare state, which affected almost all policy sectors, was provoked by the advent of capitalism and consumerism, which according to social historians, exacerbated the class divisions in British society (Greenaway et. al, 1992). The youth justice system was no exception of this trend, and the establishments of the 1969 Act were a signifier of the fusion between community and policy. Youth crime was no longer a detached criminal activity for which only courts had responsibility – in the late 1960s it became a priority for the whole of the British society. The 1970s and 1980s – the strengthening of the Intermediate Treatment This decade was marked by persistence in the community-based treatment of young offenders. The role of community remained strong, and some judicial changes, such as the inclusion of â€Å"specified activities† in the Intermediate Treatment occurred. These were used to persuade magistrates to use communal sentences, instead of custodial sentences (Youth Justice Board, 2008). In this sense, the young offenders were made to participate in the welfare of the community as part of their correction process. In the light of these developments, it is interesting to notice that the connection between the community and young offenders remained twofold – young offenders were still treated as part of society, despite their violations. At the same time they were expected to contribute to its development. In its turn, society was to participate in their rehabilitation and integration in the post-offence stage. This is an important characteristics of the British youth justice system, because it reveals two things – that there is no positive connection between decreased custody and the level of youth offences, and that the British society took a middle stance between two types of justice – restorative justice, focusing on repairing the harms, resulting from the offence, and retributive justice, which relates to facing the consequences of the punishm ent imposed. This middle stance was about to change in the 1990s, when the cruel murder of two-year old James Bulger by two ten-year old boys was to push back the youth justice system towards punitive actions. Conclusion and recommendations This essay has attempted to critically examine the main stages in the development of the British youth system between 1945 and 1981. Two major developments have been discussed – the transition towards welferism and the steps towards correction, rather than punishment and custodial action. The role of the society has remained significant, and despite the developments of the early 1990s, the re-integration of young offenders has remained on the agenda. After the murder of James Bulger in 1993, public attention was once more shifted towards the reform of the youth justice system, and more specifically against the prevention of offending and re-offending, rather than mending the consequences of it. Therefore it is important that government efforts targeted towards bringing all the institutions involved in the British youth system under a coordinated scheme of action. Different units such as social workers, community volunteers, the police and those involved in education are to work together through enhanced dialogue. This means that the sectoralism in the criminal justice system needs to be reduced, and replaced with harmonization of efforts of different actors on all levels. This would ensure a holistic, rather than sectionalized approach to solving issues, related with youth crime in Britain. Bibliography: Bottoms, A. Dignan, J. (2004) â€Å"Youth Justice in Great Britain†, Crime and Justice, Vol. 31 Children and Young Persons Act (1969), 22 October, The National Archives, Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1969/54 Retrieved 03.03.2012 Community Care (2010) â€Å"Ministry of Justice to take control of Youth Justice Board†, 20th May, Thursday, Available at: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/20/05/2010/114543/ministry-of-justice-to-take-control-of-youth-justice-board.htm Retrieved 03.03.2012 Greenaway, J.R., Smith, S. Street, J. (1992) Deciding Factors in British Politics, London: Routledge ch. 2 pp. 29-39, ch 3. Guardian (2011) â€Å"What next for youth policy†?, August, 25, Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/public-leaders-network/blog/2011/aug/25/tony-blair-youth-policy-intervention-reform Retrieved 03.03.2012 Politics UK (2011) â€Å"Comment: What is causing the riots in London?, Nick Cowen, Monday, 8th of August, Available at: http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2011/08/08/comment-what-is-causing-the-riots-in-london Retrieved 03.03.2012 Thorpe, D.H, Smith, D., Green, C.J, Paley, J.H (1980) Out of Care: The Community Support of Juvenile Offenders Allen and Unwin Youth Justice Board (2008) â€Å"A Brief History of the Youth Justice System†, Available at: http://labspace.open.ac.uk/file.php/5193/YJ_k523_1/sco.htm Retrieved 03.03.2012 How to cite Youth Justice Policy in Britain (1945-1981) – from Punishment to Welfare, Essay examples

Prison Systems free essay sample

Should prison inmates be allowed to take college courses? Prison inmates should be allowed to take college courses as education plays a vital role in rehabilitation, Job opportunities, improves life skills and increases the self- esteem and confidence of inmates once released from prison. College courses would assist in the process of proper decision making and the chance to become positive role models (for ex-convicts and the communities of which they reside and eradicate the rate of poverty and unemployment. By providing educational programs such as the college courses in prisons it would decrease the rate of prison population and decrease the crime rate. Prisoners upon completion of their college courses would be re-accepted into South African communities. Prisoners also build a solid foundation of providing a sense of hope for themselves and a second chance at starting a better life. College courses would also improve the reading and writing skills, ability to make informed decisions and access information easily. These inmate educational facilities vive South African authorities the chance to design technology and incorporate these college course programs in prisons and also including a variety of persons who are willing to obtain degrees. Re-integrated programs are available that assist ex-convicts in obtaining Jobs, as well as reducing the possibility of becoming a repeat offender. This demonstrates the counter-productive effect that political influence can have on efforts to combat crime and improve the quality of education in South Africa. Access to these good quality educational programs whilst in prison imposes many advantages for the prison inmates and the South African communities thereof. Rehabilitation plays a crucial role in in shaping prison inmates during and after imprisonment. According to studies conducted at the Harvard University, education ranks in the highest form of rehabilitation for prisoners as compared to other facilities such as counseling. Rehabilitation provides prison inmates with a solid foundation, equipping them with the necessary skills and tools to start over. It is also evident that prison inmates and ex-convicts increase their self-confidence enabling hem to form a rigid self-esteem body and allowing change to take place. College courses in prisons would assist inmates with the skills of proper decision making. Buckley (2013), who is serving a 10 year sentence at Westfield prison, stated that education allows one to think critically and make better decisions on what is deemed to be acceptable in South African law and societies. Prisoners are Judged negatively by their communities once they have been released that they feel unmotivated and resort to crime as a solution. Most prison inmates come from an unstable community, where the crime, poverty and unemployment rates are high, therefore causing the community to degrade and be little those who have been previously and currently convicted. Further tertiary education equips persons with the necessary qualifications and tools to obtain employment, meeting the required format of employment requirements. South Africa rate of poverty and unemployment, individuals who take college courses whilst in prison improve their chances to attaining and keeping their employment period, thus reduce the rate to unemployment and poverty. Political influence on efforts to combat crime in South Africa may do so with the implementation of educational facilities in prisons as they are very rare in South Africans prisons today. Fighting against crime with use of tertiary education would be successful because this hinders ex-offenders of becoming repeat offenders. According to Kenneth, (2012), education is a fundamental tool in fighting the battle of crime. Furthermore, this reduces the rate of up to 0. 5% for every three prison inmate who was to receive the opportunity to take up a college course. A thesis conducted y a student in the United States of America on the tertiary education of prison inmates, highlights the fact that offenders are less likely to become repeat offenders when they have acquired the qualification to secure employment. (Lang and Levin 2002). An offender recidivists when he/she either reverends, is rearrested, or is reconnected in the three-year period following release from prison (Lang and Levin 2002). There are various reintegrated programs that are available to ex-offenders who are seeking employment. The purpose of these reintegrated programs is to accept ex- offenders of which many businesses based facilities are skeptical on hiring because of their criminal record. It also serves to allow ex-offenders to work in community based projects, such as building construction projects. A businessman, based in a small suburb in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, was awarded a certificate by the Social Development and Special Programmer department, for plugging back into the community by allowing ex-offenders to learn a trade skill course. This trade skills course should be offered to prison inmates because it also guarantees the possibility f attaining employment. Such reintegrated play a significant role in employing, rehabilitating and the acceptance of ex-offenders back into their communities. However, it is argued that prisoners should not receive college courses. The first issue arises when it comes to the funding of these facilities in prisons Bibliography Buckley, K. 2013. Prison inmate. Personal interview. 10 August 2013. Kenneth, M. 2012. Changing minds. College during imprisonment, [blob] 6 June. Available at: http:// wry. Invoices. Com [Accessed 10 September 2013]

John Locke Essays - Property, Rights, John Locke,

John Locke In the Second Treatise of Government by John Locke, he writes about the right to private property. In the chapter which is titled "Of Property" he tells how the right to private property originated, the role it plays in the state of nature, the limitations that are set on the rights of private property, the role the invention of money played in property rights and the role property rights play after the establishment of government.. In this chapter Locke makes significant points about private property. In this paper I will summarize his analysis of the right to private property, and I will give my opinion on some of the points Locke makes in his book. According to Locke, the right to private property originated when God gave the world to men. Locke makes the argument that when God created the world for man, he gave man reason to make use of the world to the best advantage of life, and convenience. What he means by that is, that God made this world for man, and when he made it he gave man the right to use what is in this world to his benefit. Locke explains that every man has property in his own person, and that nobody has any right to that property but that person. The author states that "whatsoever then he removes out of the state of nature hath provided, and left it in, he hath mixed his labour with, and joined to it something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property (Locke pg. 19)". What Locke means by that statement is that once a person removes something out of its original state of nature that something becomes that persons property. After someone gains this property are there any limitations on that property? Locke believes that there are limitations on that property. Locke believes that God has given us all things richly, and that man may use those things as long as he takes what he needs. Men can have property as long as they obtained it rightfully, and as long as they use discretion. If those limitations were overlooked when the person was getting the property the property was not obtained rightfully. In the chapter the rights of property, Locke tells the role that the invention of money plays in property rights. Money was invented because people were abusing their property rights. With the creation of money things were given value, and this invention prevented people from taking more than they could afford. Money was an invention that men could keep without spoiling. Men could exchange money for truly useful, but perishable supports of life. This invention plays a big role in the property rights. Now that there is money people have to use that money to get what they need instead of taking whatever they want as was the case before the invention of money. According to Locke, individual property rights change after government was established. He believes that in governments, the laws regulate the right of property, and the possession of land is determined by positive constitutions. Before the establishment of government Americans had the rights to property as long as they used it before it spoiled, and as long as they didn't take more than they needed, and as long as they obtained it rightfully. After government, there were laws and restrictions pertaining to property. These laws and restrictions were established to secure protection of those who had property. I believe that some of Locke's views on the rights to private property are right. I agree with his thoughts of the way property rights originated, the limitations he said were placed on property rights, and his thoughts of why money was invented. I also agree with his take on the role property rights played after government was established. I think that government plays a very important part in the protection of property. Without the laws that are made by the government there would be many problems with property rights. People still have the right to have any property they want as long as they can afford it and as long as it is obtained properly. The points that Locke makes in the chapter Of property are very important and pertain to American society today. I feel that he was extremely accurate in some of his views and he is an important figure in world history.

Tv Talk Shows - Jerry Springer And Oprah Winfrey Essays

Tv Talk Shows - Jerry Springer And Oprah Winfrey Essays Tv Talk Shows - Jerry Springer And Oprah Winfrey Compare and Contrast In the world of entertainment, TV talk shows have undoubtedly flooded every inch of space on daytime television. Many of us have seen and heard the often recycled topics found on such shows as Jerry Springer and Oprah Winfrey. And anyone who watches talk shows on a regular basis knows that each one varies in style and format. One might enjoy watching the sometimes trashy subject matter found on Jerry Springer, while someone else might prefer the more serious and light hearted feel of the Oprah Winfrey show. But no two shows are more profoundly opposite in content. Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of trash talk. The topics on his show are as shocking as they get. For example, the show takes the ever common talk show themes of love, lust, sex, sexuality, adultery, cheating, guilt, hate, conflict and morality to a different level. In a vintage Springer show, one finds women who cheated on their boyfriends and are ready to confess. But the boyfriends are in for a bigger surprise. As it turns out that all the women haven't been secretly seeing other guys, but seeing other women, who also happen to be waiting backstage. Another episode tells of a John Wayne Bobbit type case, but with a more twisted plot. A male cuts off his own manhood because he claimed that his homosexual neighbor was stalking him. Shocking, indeed, but the list of talk material goes on from dangerous love triangles, broken homes, pregnant strippers, teenage prostitutes, adult film stars, devil worshippers and the ever popular talk show regulars, the members of t he Ku Klux Klan. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is a display and exploitation of societies mora catastrophes, yet people are willing to eat up the intriguing predicaments of other peoples lives. Oprah Winfrey was once a follower of the trash TV format, but her long running popular TV talk show has since been reformed. Like Jerry Springer, the Oprah Winfrey show takes talk TV to its extreme, but Oprah goes in the opposite direction. Oprah is probably the most immaculate talk show there is. It is unlikely that you will find guest on Oprah that have committed adultery, have sold their souls to the devil, or are part of a racist hate group. Instead, the show focuses on the improvement of society and an individuals quality of life. Topics range from teaching your children responsibility, managing your work week, proper etiquette, getting to know your neighbors and entertaining interviews with celebrities. Not many talk shows are interested in taking time to teach children right from wrong, or give techniques to get along with people better, but it seems that the Oprah shows top priority is to educate first, and then entertain. Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like toxic waste being dumped on society. Still, there are times when Jerry Springer has made an effort to help the troubled people on his show. The most notable is when he has helped extremely obese people get to the hospital and help them turn their lives around. The entire process is still taped for its entertainment value, but at least something good came out of it. Jerry also ends every show with a final word. He makes a small speech that sums up the entire moral of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable. Even if Oprah is as squeaky clean as it is, the show is not for everyone. The shows main target audience that are working middle-class Americans. A vast majority of these people usually have the time, money, and stability to deal with life's tougher problems. Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of an association with the young adults of society. These are your 18 -21 year-olds whose main troubles in life involve love, relationship, sex, pregnancy, money, peers and influence. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned underneath the show's exploitation. While these two talk shows are as different as night and day, both have ruled the talk show circuit for many years now. Each one

Job Satisfaction Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 16500 words

Job Satisfaction - Dissertation Example The level of employee’s job satisfaction is related to his or her expectations towards the job (Porter and Steers; 1973); this depends on many factors such as pay, promotion, or autonomy. For these expectations, each employee has certain preferential values and these preferences vary across different individuals. The above view is supported by Pearson (1991) who had found that when the level of unmet expectations becomes large, there is low job satisfaction level and the probability of negative behaviour and turn over increases. There is no doubt that Job satisfaction is an interesting subject to both, people inside and outside the organisation (Spector 1997); Spector (1997, p.2) looked at job satisfaction as a humanitarian perspective and stated that people deserve fair and respectful treatment. While Ali (1985) looked at job satisfaction as a function of individual and organisational variables, Metle (1997) believed that individual demographic characters are likely to be the sources of variations in job satisfaction. Locke also points out that job satisfaction is related to other phases of the employee’s life. It has been shown to affect positively, towards family, and towards self. Job satisfaction has also been shown to affect positively on the employee’s physical and mental health (Shell & Dunken 2006). Job satisfaction is considered as an important factor for establishing an organisation’s health; the quality of service rendered by an employee is affected by the job satisfaction level of the employees (Fitzgerald et al. 1994). ... ariables on quality services, such as infrastructures and internal relationships, should also be recognised as factors affecting job satisfaction (Crossman and Abou-Zaki 2003). 2.1 Importance of Job satisfaction: In recent times, Job satisfaction has been one of the most significant topics in organisational research. Job satisfaction has a direct relationship with the organisational climate. In view of the fact that satisfied employees create additional positive working environment for organisations, it is worthwhile to do a research on the employee job satisfaction in organisations (Shell & Duncan 2006). On the other hand Okpara (2006) explained that job dissatisfaction leads to negative job attitudes (i.e. absenteeism, poor performance and low productivity), which is supported by Al-Ajmi (2001) and according to him, these negative job attitudes results in low productivity and lesser profits. Moreover, Barrie (2001) has also reported that a lack of personal satisfaction is the reason of quitting the job. Literature show that satisfied workers tend to be self motivated and self motivated behaviours exceed the formal requirements of a job (Schnake 1991; Organ and Revan 1995). In contrast, dissatisfied workers according to Spector (1997) show an increased tendency for counterproductive behaviours (i.e. withdrawals, burnout, and workplace aggression). Moreover Everts (2001) argues that the behaviour of the employees who are not satisfied, may impact negatively on their performance, as well as those around them. According to Whinghter and Blazer (2005) knowledge, understanding and improving job satisfaction can contribute positively towards the organisational goals, so the study of job satisfaction is important because of the following reasons: 1- Reduced Employee

Social Networking and the Impact on College Life Research Paper

Social Networking and the Impact on College Life - Research Paper Example Social media websites have been thus affecting school and college students’ grades because students end up spending more time on websites rather than studying. Most students, when asked how they spend their day, reply by stating that they spend their hours after school or college in front of the computer, on websites like Twitter and Face book. These websites take up all their time because the new generation is obsessed with documenting their every thought on the internet. Moreover, they like checking into places on their Face book, updating their status and spend hours on a single photograph that someone would have tagged them on, commenting. All these activities eat up into their study time and they fail to get good grades or concentrate in the classroom due to being so hooked on to these websites all the time. The focus of this paper is on college students because school children can still be controlled by their parents and are under the regulation of their parent’s watchful eye. Once in college, a student is on his own, leading his own life and seldom listens to what the parents say, especially if he lives away from home. Such f reedom tends to override the child’s life, leading him into spending his time in the most non productive and enjoyable manner possible. By this I mean to say that the internet can be a very productive place to be as it has so many websites full of information and learning; one can enrich himself by reading the news as well, however college students seldom tend to do that, unless the news presents itself in the form of a Face book update. Almost 96% of college students are on Face book all the time and even if they study, they tend to keep checking their Face book page for updates every half an hour, if not lesser. This hinders work because it reduced the concentration span of the student. (Akhtar, Shabbir) Â  

Importance of reserch and development to an innovative company Assignment

Importance of reserch and development to an innovative company - Assignment Example With reference to the context, it can be observed that Exxon Mobil Corporation from the United States has comprehensively introduced R&D management into its business process. With due consideration to the aspect, the paper intends to discuss about the ways in which Exxon Mobil makes use of R&D in its business operational process to obtain an edge over its market competitors. Exxon Mobil is one of the leading multinational and publicly traded oil and gas companies of the world having its headquarters in Irving, Texas, United States. It was created in the year 1999 after the merger between Exxon and Mobil and is recognized as a decedent company of Standard Oil founded by John D. Rockefeller. In serving the local communities with oil and gas along with other petrochemicals, Exxon Mobil has been able to expand its business operations on a global basis. Consequently, it has been able to achieve certain milestones which can be identified as the business segments of Exxon Mobil has expanded overseas within a very short span of time. Furthermore, in expanding business to overseas, Exxon Mobil has been capable to possess 31 refineries of oil. With the help of the final products produced in these refineries, Exxon Mobil is serving 21 countries with their products. Contextually, with the help of the sustainable performances in the recent years, Exxon Mobil has ach ieved the status of being the number one corporation in the USA according to Forbes Global 2000 list of the year 2012 by increasing its organizational revenues and profits (Forbes, 2012). Moreover, for surviving in the competitive marketplace, Exxon uses innovative and modern technologies in order to develop an aggressive and advanced operational process for serving the customers. In accordance with the aspect, it is observed that Exxon Mobil has introduced R&D management into its operational process (Exxon Mobil, 2012). R&D management can be defined as the management

Age and gender influences on fashion

Age and gender influences on fashion Fashion orientation In our contemporary society, we may not understand fashion, you may not like fashion, but most of us can not not come into contact with fashion. Craik (1994) said that fashion is confusing, interesting, exciting, obsessive-compulsive. Whether we like it or not, it has greatly influenced with people even those who want to avoid it. What is the fashion? Fashion have experienced a serious of style popular during a specfic period of time(Nystrom,1928).Craik (1994) can divided into two ways: West High Fashion and Everyday Fashion; High Fashion refers haute coutureor elite designer fashion, Everyday Fashion is people everyday clothing, so everyday Fashion Street Fashion another similar statement. Fashion can be explained as psychology, sociology, and consumer behaviour studies. fashion will be described as a social and psychological response to the external environment (Westers,1966). What is the fashion orientation? Fashion Orientation defined wearing different style of clothing items make a gorgeous overall look(Evelyn,2005). Fashion orientation can be describes when consumer go shopping, they always look for fashionable items(Ko and Kincade 2007). consumer do not lost interested in fashion even time goes by. fashion orientation represents when it come out with fashion awareness, it can not ignore how important people’s life-style are. Because fashion comes from human daily life, life style includes people living and spending time and money† (Engel, Blackwell, Miniard, 1990, p. 342). People can be not mentioned about their values in their lifestyles and a life style has great impact on fashion orientation. Moreover, according to GutmanMills (1982) study, it described fashion orientation comprised of four dimensions: fashion interest, importance of being well dressed and anti-fashion attitude and fashion leadership. Darley johnson (1993) mentioned that fashion orientation is fashi on innovativeness together with fashion leadership. Both Jonathan and William defined fashion orientation is in relation to shopping orientation. a few studies analysis that fashion orientation should be separated from shopping orientation together. In this study, it consist of four dimensions based on Gunmans study: fashion interest, fashion leadership and importance of being well dressed and anti fashion attitude. Gutman and Mill theory According to Gutman and Mills(1982)mail survey with 6,261 female respondents, it created a fashion scale with its four dimensions: 1) fashion leadership, 2) fashion interest, 3) importance of being well-dressed, and 4) anti fashion attitude. This study was cited in many researches currently. Fashion Leadership The character of Fashion leadership is a good sense of fashion trends, knowledge of fashion trends and a self conscious concept of clothing.Many people think that if someone is very familiar for a product, and often ask them related questionsto this person can be called opinion leaders, the advantages of fashion leader is that they can influence people attitudes or behavior toward fashion due to the wealth of knowledge, expert ability and correctly filtering variety of product information. Because the new fashion styles need to be adopted for a period of time(Barber Lobel, 1952), fashion leaders should be very active in social activities and close to other people, they play a vital role in the community and make people accept style innovation by influential power.(Workman Johnson, 1993). Moreover, because fashion leaders affect not only customer purchase decision but also give the marketers fashion ideas and advice. Summers and King (1969) defined female clothing fashion opinion le aders are care about trying new products and building up fashion knowledge about new clothing collection. Similarly, Myers and Robertson (1972) examined opinion leadership should have wide range of fashion knowledge such as women’s clothing, fashion, cosmetics, and personal care and are willing to discuss fashion thing with people and spend lot of time women’s clothing and fashions. Because fashion leaders prefer share new fashion collection and propose a unique opinion, these features of fashion leader can good to develop the other aspects of fashion orientations such as fashion interest, importance of being-well dressed, and antifashion attitude (Evan, 1989; Morganosky Vreeman, 1986; Wilkie, 1990). Fashion interest According to Katz Lazarsfield (1960), the definition of fashion interest is that a person who is interested in clothes, makeup and hair styles. High level of fashion interest people prefer spend a large amount of time on exploring the latest fashion collections and trends such as reading fashion magazine and purchasing lastest clothes collection. Also, they collect widely various clothes associated with different events. The Importance of Being Well Dressed Importance of being well-dressed refers that standing out group with appropriate dressing, reflecting one’s good life, and dressing representing their opinion of themselves(Summers,Belleau Wozniak 992). For example, when people go to interview with a well dress, they think the clothes make people have good impression on them. Another example is that people with high attire believe their clothes show that the self-image is. The important part of goals is their self- satisfaction. When it is low, people do not care about their outfit. In other word, they think there is no correlation between their clothing and their self image. Anti-fashion attitude Anti-fashion attitude means that people do not care about fashion and not buy so-fashionable clothing. They think that buying fashion clothing is a way to waste money and they do not like listening so-called fashion expert what to wear. In other word, in term of their shopping process and attitudes, they are often apathetic. people who have the antifashion attitude do not regard current fashion and fashion leaders’ opinions when they make a decision on their clothes. Thus, those with antifashion attitudes tend to display unfavorable attitudes toward fashion. Fashion is a visual communication of one to others, and fashion orientation as a theory of fashion expresses the psychological aspects of self through a self-concept. An individual’s own ideas of self develop self-concept theory, and self-concept influences fashion orientation. Relevant studies on fashion orientation In this study, the authors intend to test the scale, originally developed for females, with current male and female fashion shoppers. Gender roles have greatly impact on fashion shopper in social environment.(Otnes and McGrath, 2001). According to Kwon(1987)research, it found that current male and female fashion shoppers.are affected by different motivating factors. For woman, their concept of clothing may in relation to self-enhancement, whereas man may have positive relationship between the concept of appeal and social status. Another research is that Kwon (1991) found that when woman chose their fashion clothing, they will affect by mood states more than man do. There are many conflict findings about fashion consciousness. Kinley, Conrad and Brown (2001) found that woman are more fashion awareness than men counterpart, other research findings show that young male shoppers are more fashion awareness than female young shoppers(Manrai et al. 2001). Another similar research is that fashion conscious for generation Y male shoppers in the UK were important but there is not clear relationship between fashion consciousn ess and new fashion style (Bakewell, Mitchell, and Rothwell2000). In terms of clothing-fashion lifestyle segment, Gutman and Mills (1982) proposed that there is correlation between the concept of fashion orientation and shopping orientation. According to some studies, it examined that people purchase product, shopping orientations will generate different preferences(Darden Reynolds, 1972). Gutman and Mills(1982) reported that fashion orientations consist of four major dimensions: fashion leadership, fashion interest, importance of being well dressed, and antifashion attitude which connect with shopping behavior, clothing-fashion lifestylesegment, and compulsive consumer purchase behaviour.(Chung, 1996; Darley Johnson, 1993; Huddleston, Ford, Bickle, 1993; Lee, Park, Chung, 2004; Park Burns, 2005). GutmanMills (1982) defined that fashion orientation to have three dimensions:fashion priority(fashion interest, importance of being well dressed and anti-fashion attitude), time frame and initiative (fashion leadership). Darley johnson (1993) defined fashion orientation to comprise of fashion innovativeness and fashion opinion leadership. Both Jonathan and William analyzed fashion orientation together with shopping orientation. Little work has been done on fashion orientation separately since many scholars consider fashion orientation and shopping orientation together. Although Huddleston (1993) used fashion orientation to identify lifestyle characteristics that directly related to shopping behavior and Lumpkin (1985) included it as a variable in identifying shopping orientation segments, it might still be necessary to indentify shopping orientation and fashionOrientation separately. In this thesis we define fashion orientation to consist of three dimensions based on Gunmans elimita tion: fashion interest, fashion leadership and importance of being well dressed. The younger, the more fashionable Rose (1989) indicated that in the nineteenth century, the difference between children and adult was officially appeared on legal and social, before that children are living with what adults think such as children clothing follow the footsteps of adult clothing. design the children wear was not special in the past. As long as adult clothing are immersed in fashion concept, they will be extended to the field of childrens clothing. This phenomenon from a historical point of view is quite reasonable. How do fashion enter the field of childrens clothing? Firstly, it is common global phenomenon that our birth rate is gradually dropping. In competitive society, people are busier and busier, the population are getting married at a more and more later age. Under the circumstances, salary figures are is out of proportion to the number of children. According to United Nations estimation, the worlds total fertility rate from 1950 to 1955 of 4.92 people, down to 2000 to 2005 of 2.67 people (United NationsPopulation Division, 2009); lower total fertility rate in Taiwan, Taiwans fertility rate of women in 2006 only 1.115 people, compared to 2.515 in 1980, and plentifully reduced by about 56% (Ministry of the Interior Department of Justice, 2007). Whether or not in Taiwan or other developing or developed countries, falling birthrates might lead to childrens products a considerable change on supply and demand market. In term of consumer demand , after the raise of quality of life the awaking of individual consciousness, parent are focus more on all aspects of their daily life quality for example, they see the children as their own unique treasure and they expect give them enjoyable ilfe in the material and spiritual life. In modern times, parents are willing to spend the money on their baby; therefore childrens clothing demand will be more and more branding and fashionable, meanwhile and also promote the development of brand management on childrens clothing. Moreover, going out with the well dressed children do not only show their parents own taste, but also meet their unique personal style. and even some parents want children go to school wearing designer clothing to care about their own and their children feeling. Consumer demand for childrens wear has entered emotional consumptionthe stage, high purchasing power family toward childrens wear is to meet childrens emotional and spiritual life. When parents chose the children wear, the clothing which is to meet social status of the family or to reflect the style and personality is very important factors for parents. brand clothing in Japan is expensive, but it is always able to break record of high sales figures in the annual Golden Week in Japan. Those fashionable and young Japanese female consumers who have children usually pursuit fashion, it will not stop because of the mothers identity, and even want to wear the same style of clothing as their children. These situation has expanded childrens wear market. In the market of supply aspect, due to a small number of children, the amount of consumers are naturally failing. In this case, the children industry wants to survive and trys to introduce high-priced goods to the market to get customers attention who has a small number of children and good economy. In Taiwan, there are lots of luxurious childrens wear reports, it refers a market phenomenon that in many countries high-priced adult clothing brands are starting to have to join with childrens wear. For instance, according to the Apple Daily news, it reported the famous Taiwan brand les Enphants decided to start selling Armani Junior childrens clothing; also liberty Times Holiday introduced many Hollywood celebritiess childrens fashion wear. Changes in consumer attitude and purchasing power lead high spending power on childrens market the important reason is that fashion concept fights into childrens market. Childrens clothing industry holdsof high spending power parents and focus on parent mind that care about childrens appearance so the industry introduce stylish clothing to childrens wear market. Fashion in contemporary world show how influential on childrens clothing. Moreover the word fashiona gradually emerges by many foreign magazines, designers and consumer society and so-called Kids Fashion Expertappears in response to childrens fashion trends. For example, a New York childrens fashion expert Michelle Kouzmine (2005) indicated that children fashion has begun to seriously attention in today.

Bad Euthyphro :: essays research papers

Bad Euthyphro   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Euthyphro did not act pious toward his father at all. If he had been trying to be a pious human he would to think deeper in to what he did. Euthyphro turned in his father for killing one man, but he only satisfied one part of being a pious person. According to the American Heritage Dictionary being a pious person has â€Å" devotion and severance towards his god and family.† Euthypro only pleased his god; by bring justice towards his father. He maimed his family and betrayed them. Being thoughtful towards his own family name; Euthyphro only considered him and his money. He only wanted vengeance over the mans death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Looking for revenge never brings any thing good back only bad memories and shame. When Euthyphro found out about his workers death he was mad. Nobody can blame him for it but he acted so abruptly and we out thought he jumped to accuse his father for the murder. He was so quick to blame his father he refused to stop and think. If he had thought about the repercussions that where going to happen, he would of realized that his family name would be put to more shame.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One must also remember what era this story is been told. During the time murder was just another thing that happened daily in the streets. The time that this all takes place is at a time in the world’s history that savageness was still part of the society. The only difference between the ear of Socrates, and today’s society’ is the acceptance of some crimes. When Euthyphros father killed his hired hand, he still had a just reason for doing so. The two main ways to have a pious soul is by having devotion to god and family. Euthyphro showed obviously that he denied honoring his family. It is hard to prove that he did not show devotion to his god. He showed that he felt there was a need for justice. Even thought he went and told on his father, he for goad his own mistakes by sending someone who might be able to kill another.

Memo Review

Occasionally a person working with a department at a company is required to pass on information to another department or a supervisor. Because the executive vice president has requested information on inventory valuations, it is necessary to make this memo professional and accurate. The use of information must be explained to the company officers so it should be considered that they are not aware of the jargon used by accountants. Summarized below are the changes in the interoffice memo relating to accounting jargon and abbreviations.Also included is the requested information on First In First Out (FIFO) and Last In First Out (LIFO) method, but this topic is changed for easier understanding. When revising the memo it is changed from casual to professional and formal. In this case the memo in question is concerning the FIFO and LIFO methods and the effects of the methods on the company. This requires explaining each valuation method in terms of the profit and loss on the income statem ent and the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).This needs to be detailed without being condescending. The last paragraph about the lawsuit by Macy’s is not necessary to include since this information does not affect the retail industry’s inventory valuations methods. The accounting jargon of elastic pricing and an inflationary economic time needs to be changed to professional wording. In the case of elastic pricing, it would be appropriate to state that the company’s prices are flexible because of the industry demands, so the inventory methods need to reflect this to maintain a profit.Inflationary economic time can be explained as coming into a period of inflation. These two changes will advise the senior officers what is important to consider without adding unnecessary information The last part of the memo that must be stressed is the law that state no matter which inventory valuation the company decides to use it must continue to use this method for the complete accoun ting cycle.An accompanying recommendation based on the previous financial statement could be added to help with this process or an explanation on how each inventory method would affect the company’s profit would be important. Upon completing the review of the interoffice memo an employee will often find there must be changes made before it can be sent on to the intended recipient. This will require eliminating interoffice jargon and abbreviations. The memo must meet the requirements of the demand of information and the station of the person receiving it.Business communication can be formal or casual depending on the relationship of the people interacting and the final destination of each communication. This is important to remember when composing any business communication.References Leisker, R. V. , Flatley, M. E. , & Rentz, K. (2008). Business communication: Making connections in a digital world (11th ed. ). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. University of Phoenix Online. (2010). Bus iness Communications for Accountants. University of Phoenix: Accounting Memo. Memo Review Memo Review XBCOM/230 Whenever an individual is doing work for a division of an organization, it is important to transmit information to other divisions and the supervisors. The executive vice president wanted information on stock values therefore the memo should have been professional and correct. The data in the memo should have a description to the organizational officials. The use of jargon in a memo is not professional. Jargon, rubber stamp, and cliches are usual for accountants to use when they are interacting with other accountants.Rubber stamps convey the result of usual treatment, unlikely to win over readers positively. This kind of treatment inform readers that the author does not have particular concern for them, and the current case is dealt with in the same manner as others (Rentz, Flatley, & Lentz, 2011). Summarized under are the modifications in the interoffice memo pertaining to the accounting jargon and abbreviations. The interoffice memo requested that we provide a review of last in/first out (LIFO) against first in/first out (FIFO).The memo alters from casual to official while revising the data. In this instance, the memo is about the FIFO and LIFO techniques and the outcomes of the techniques of the organization. Description is needed for each valuation technique with regard to the profit and loss on the income statement as well as the cost of goods sold (COGS). The final part regarding the legal action by Macy’s is not required to incorporate since this information has no effect on the retail industry’s inventory valuation techniques.The accounting jargon of elastic pricing as well as an inflationary economic time alters to professional phrasing. In the matter of elastic pricing, it will be suitable to say that the company’s rates are flexible within the industry requirements. Thus, the inventory techniques must reflect this to keep a profit. As getting into a time the rising cost of living, inflationary economic times have a description. Both of these modifications will suggest the senior officials what is important to think about without adding useless information.The final portion of the memo should stress the regulation; regardless of what inventory valuation the organization determines to use it should carry on using this technique for the whole accounting cycle. An associated suggestion, depending on the last fiscal statement adds this to assist with this process or a reason of how each inventory technique would impact the company’s profit would be essential. After doing the overview of the interoffice memo, a worker will frequently find there are modifications made prior to delivery to the supposed receiver.Proofreading and editing is essential to get rid of interoffice jargon and abbreviations. The memo should meet the requirements needed information and the place of the individual receiving it. Business communication can be official or casual based on the relationship of the indiv iduals communicating, and the ultimate location of each communication. This is important to keep in mind when crafting any business communication. References: Rentz, K. , Flatley, M. E. , & Lentz, P. (2011). Lesikar’s business communication: Connecting in A digital world (12th ed. ). Boston, Ma: McGraw-Hill.

Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Changes

Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Changes The federal and provincial governments started to make changes to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) in 2011 to give more options to those who want or need to receive the CPP before the age or 65 and to those who want to postpone taking their pension until after the age of 65. The changes are being phased in gradually from 2011 to 2016. Adjustments have been made to improve the flexibility of the CPP, and to adapt to the different ways that Canadians are approaching retirement these days. For many, retirement is a gradual process, rather than a single event. Personal circumstances, from employment opportunities, or lack of them, health, and other retirement income, affect the timing of retirement, and the gradual adjustments made in the CPP may make it easier for individuals, at the same time keeping the CPP sustainable. What is the Canada Pension Plan? The CPP is a Canadian government pension plan and is a joint federal-provincial responsibility. The CPP is based directly on workers earnings and contributions. Nearly everyone over the age of 18 who works in Canada, outside Quebec, and earns over a basic minimum, currently $3500 a year, contributes to the CPP. Contributions stop at the age of 70, even if you are still working. Employers and employees each make half the required contribution. If you are self-employed, you make the full contribution. CPP benefits can include a retirement pension, a post-retirement pension, disability benefits, and death benefits. In general, the CPP is expected to replace about 25 percent of your pre-retirement earnings from work. The rest of your retirement income can come from the Canada Old Age Security (OAS) pension, employers pension plans, savings and investments (including RRSPs). Changes to the Canada Pension Plan The following changes are in the process of being implemented. CPP monthly retirement pension started after age 65Since 2011, the CPP retirement pension amount has increased by a larger percentage when you start taking it after the age of 65. By 2013, your monthly pension amount has increased by 8.4 percent for every year after 65 up to age 70 that you delay taking your CPP. CPP monthly retirement pension started before age 65From 2012 to 2016, your monthly CPP retirement pension amount will decrease by a larger percentage if you take it before age 65. The monthly reduction for taking your CPP early will be 2013 - 0.54%; 2014 - 0.56%; 2015 - 0.58%; 2016 - 0.60%. Work Cessation Test has been droppedBefore 2012, if you wanted to take your CPP retirement pension early (before the age of 65), you had to either stop working or significantly reduce your earnings for at least two months. That requirement has been dropped. If under 65 and working while receiving a CPP retirement pension, you and your employer must pay CPP contributions.These contributions will go to a new Post-Retirement Benefit (PRB), which will increase your income. If you have an employer, the contributions are split evenly between you and your employer. If you are self-employed, you pay both the employer and employee contributions. If between 65 and 70 and working while receiving a CPP retirement pension, you have a choice about whether you and your employer pay CPP contributions.You do have to complete and submit a CPT30 Form to the Canada Revenue Agency to stop making contributions, however. General Drop-out Provision IncreasesWhen your average earnings over your contributory period are calculated, a percentage of your lowest earnings are automatically dropped. Beginning in 2012, the provision was increased to allow up to 7.5 years of your lowest earnings to be dropped from the calculation. In 2014, the provision allows up to 8 years of lowest earnings to be dropped. Note: These changes do not apply to the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP). If you work or worked in Quebec, see the Rà ©gie des rentes Quà ©bec for information. See Also: Applying for the CPP Retirement PensionCanada Old Age Security (OAS) Pension Changes

Paper Essays - Unemployment, Labour Economics, Social Justice

Paper Essays - Unemployment, Labour Economics, Social Justice Paper Discussion Board 1The recession of 2007-2009 has impacted many industries, but few have been hit as hard as the newspaper industry. From a loss of subscribers to a loss in advertising revenue, print newspapers are experiencing economic change unlike any other time in history. Last year, Denver?s Rocky Mountain News stopped publishing in February, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer ceased printing their publication and converted to an online-only format in March (and in the process, laid off 145 of their 165 employees), McClatchy Co., owner of the Miami Herald, announced in March it was cutting 1,600 jobs and reduce wages throughout the company, and even the venerable New York Times made a deal to sell its share of its headquarters and lease it back, raising a much needed $225 million in the process. These are just a few of the many examples of hard times in this industry. Why do you think the newspaper industry has been hit so hard? What sources do you use to get news? Why? Do you subscribe to a local paper, and if so, do you receive a print copy or receive it electronically? How have changes in the news industry affected unemployment? Discuss how changes in this industry have resulted in not only cyclical unemployment, but also frictional and structural unemployment.

Cultural Context & Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cultural Context & Design - Essay Example f the ad design, not only can the careful observer learn much about the company, but can also assess how the advertisement is impacting or contributing to the general thought and behavior of society. This examination of the signs of a given advertisement is what Roland Barthes referred to as semiotic analysis. This process of looking at an advertisement for its deeper cultural meanings and associations enables us to gain a better understanding of the relationship that develops between the product or the advertiser and the viewer or consumer. After examining a little bit about what Roland Barthes meant by semiotic analysis, this process will be applied to two advertisements as an illustration of the process. Roughly speaking, semiotics refers to the process of analyzing the ‘signs’ of a given culture for indications of meaning at varying levels. â€Å"Semiology therefore aims to take in any system of signs, whatever their substance and limits; images, gestures, musical sounds, objects, and the complex associations of all these, which form the content of ritual, convention or public entertainment: these constitute, if not languages, at least systems of signification† (Barthes, 1964). Perhaps appropriate to the application of semiotic analysis to the field of advertising, philosopher Umberto Eco refers to it as â€Å"a discipline for studying everything which can be used in order to lie† (1976). Thus, it refers to language, image, color, shape, expression, placement and a number of other contextual clues that combine together in some unique way so as to convey a sense of meaning to a particular cultural group. To discuss these various elements, Barthes and other s have provided us with specific terms that help to keep things within an understandable framework. The primary elements that will be concentrated on in this study include signifiers, signified and sign. The sign is the compound element formed by the signifier and the signified. The signifier is

Alexander I - Reformer or Autocrat Research Paper

Alexander I - Reformer or Autocrat - Research Paper Example Nevertheless, quite a few of those rulers have proved to be so influential that people and history have remembered them since time immemorial. In fact, these chronicles of ancient civilizations have always reigned over the credentials of history. Likewise, these emperors and their ruling periods have left a noticeable and ineradicable imprint in the history of the universe. Amongst the few incomprehensible autocrats that the world has witnessed, Alexander I is one of those enigmatic tsars that has tyrannized the region of Russia for more than a span of twenty years. While looking at the historical background of Russia, it has come under observation that Russia has been a foremost power of Europe that has played a significant role for the peace settlements of the greater parts of it. In addition, history enlightens that for over several centuries; Russia indulged itself as a curb for the European countries in front of the emperors that in quest of having the power over them1. Despite the fact that Alexander I had been a prominent personality of the history, several historical episodes deal with him but only a few meticulous analyses on his personality and policies have come under presentation. The autobiographical epic of Alexander I elucidate the piece of information that he was born in the latter years of the sixteenth century and the last quarter of decade 1770s in one of the largest cities of Russia. Alexander I the Blessed was another name given to him by the people of Russia as he ruled over Russia as an emperor for nearly twenty-five years during his shot span of life. Alexander I was also the Russian King of Poland for approximately ten years. He also gained recognition by becoming the â€Å"first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania†2. Although Alexander I was the eldest son amongst his siblings, yet he became the successor to his father of the throne and came into power at a very young age. Alexander I became the czar of Russia when this state was in a turbulent and uncontrolled position due to the happening of Napoleonic Wars. According to the historians, the ruling period of Alexander has come under dissection in two periods primarily. The first period comes under remembrance mostly as progressive and the concluding years of the power deemed as orthodox or counterrevolutionary stage. The historical records reveal the fact that noninterventionist or liberal improvements and reforms were the highlighting facets during the earlier period of the sovereignty of Alexander I. Alexander I carried out the liberal reforms with an intention to transform Russian empire into a highly democratic and modernized society. Moreover, restructuring of the country and codify the legislation of Russia were amongst the numerous distinct reforms of Alexander I3. In addition to it, education and spread of knowledge was one of the fundamental aspects of the early reforms by Alexander I that came under key emphasis during his early reign in terlude. However, the latter period of his dominion states that he practiced much more arbitrary manner of conduct that even abolished or rolled back several preceding reforms consequently4. This is because he became quite conservative after defeating Napoleon who made an endeavor to surmount Russia. This defeat to Napoleon endorsed Alexander I as the most supreme and powerful ruler amongst all of the European emperors. Actually, the alliance of Russia with France deteriorated after this defeat to Napo

Confidentiality in Relation to Nursing Practice Essay

Confidentiality in Relation to Nursing Practice - Essay Example One of the major ethical aspects that nurses should adopt is confidentiality. In relations to nursing practice, confidentiality depicts that any information about the health situation of the patient should be shared with other nurses and third parties only after the approval of the person under care. However, if the nurses perceive that the information is vital in preserving life and needs to be released to third parties, they are still allowed to release it without necessarily seeking the permission of the patients. This paper seeks to discuss the aspect of confidentiality in relation to nursing practice. Confidentiality in relation to nursing practice As indicated in the introduction part, the consent of a patient is vital as far as releasing of information that relates to his or her health is concerned. This means that nurses should take adequate precaution to ensure that information related to their patients is safeguarded. One of the key issues that nurses should not ignore is r espect of the right of each individual to the privacy of the information. This means that a person should be allowed to have a significant control over the use of the information. In the same way, patients should be allowed to disclose and access all the information that relates to their health. ... In this regard, nurses should adhere to such laws so at to propagate professional relationship that is vital in the provision of effective health care. Another fundamental aspect that is covered by the confidentiality is that if other individuals who are involved in the provision of health care do not maintain confidentiality during their duties, nurses especially those who directly deal with the patients should intervene (Armstrong, 2007). It is important to note that lack of team work among the providers of health care is a major factor that is detrimental to maintenance of confidentiality in the nursing profession. Thus, it is imperative for hospital nurses to train their colleagues on the importance of safeguarding the information that relates to individuals under care. Legislation relating to confidentiality in the nursing practice The section below discusses some of the major legislations that guides hospital nurses during the duties. Data Protection Act of 1998 Data Protection Act of 1998 regulates the processing of the information that relates to patients who are alive. The Act, that covers all types of media including the electronics forms and paper records, governs processing, recording, obtaining, and disclosing of the information by the nurses (Tuckett, 2004). Embryology and Human Fertilization Act of 1990 This legislation seeks to control the provision of reproductive services using the modern technology. For example, nurses are banned from disclosing the information relating to gamete donors to the third parties (McHale & Gallagher, 2003). According to International Council of Nurses (2000), nurses should not disclose the identity of the individuals who are using the technology reproductive services.

Utilitarianism - Morality Essay Example for Free

Utilitarianism Morality Essay The use of utilitarianism when making moral decisions leads to an injustice society, evaluate this claim. The use of utilitarianism is a controversial subject for many people, some believe by using it, it can bring happiness to the majority of society, others say by using utilitarianism it can take away peoples own judgment making our society unjust. Strengths of Bentham’s theory begin with the fact that utilitarianism offers a relatively straightforward method for deciding the morally right course of action for any particular situation we may find ourselves in. Utilitarianism treats everyone the same, no one gets special treatment due to their emotional or social attachments, and Bentham wanted us to strive for happiness, his principle of utility states the greatest happiness for the greatest amount of people. In order to make sure we follow this statement Bentham devised the hedonic calculus as a way of measuring happiness; this name was chosen based on its Greek meaning of pleasure. For many people happiness is an important aspect of decision making as it is their main aim in life, the Hedonic calculus assists us in our moral decision making because it covers all the aspects of happiness for not one but all, the outcome is not bias and takes everyone’s feelings into account, by having happiness as a basis behind how we make decisions it allows us to adopt a flexible relativistic approach to each situation, aiming for the greatest happiness for the greatest number is discourages selfishness which then leads to a better society due to everyone being fair and reasonable. Mel Thompson agreed with Bentham, he said that Act utilitarianism appears to be simple to follow, just aim to achieve the greatest happiness for the greatest number†. The positive and negative consequences of our actions can be measured. This gives us an objective, independent way of deciding on what is right and wrong. Utilitarianism doesn’t rely on specific beliefs about God; this is helpful to all religious people and the growing number of atheists in our society. Utilitarianism is straight forward and based on the principle of minimising pain and maximising pleasure and happiness, it does not take into account religion, meaning the outcome may be more fair, some religious people have prejudices towards certain minorities meaning that women or homosexuals may be victimised, people who are religious may choose to do something because the bible says it, for example the slave trade was in the bible, but if they had used the hedonic calculus instead of the bible then it wouldn’t of happened, furthermore is would of lead to a just society, another example would be if someone was racist and was about to make a decision about a black person using their mind then the outcome would be unjust, but if they used the hedonic calculus it would lead to justice because the hedonic calculus does not take personal views into account. There are also many weaknesses to Bentham’s theory starting with the idea that some things are unpredictable and we should not base our ethical choices on something that may or may not happen. Utilitarianism has a different strategy when it comes to justice, our normal idea of justice would relate to everyone being treated fairly, utilitarianism allows some people to be sacrificed for the greater good, some people would argue that this in unfair and leads to an unjust society. One of the main weaknesses of Benthams version of Utilitarianism is that there is the potential to justify any act. This is because Benthams version is based, yes on the consequences of an action, but on the pleasure gained from an action. For example, if seven men were walking down an alley and stabbed a girl to death, then according to Benthams device The Hedonic Calculus the amount of the mens pleasure would completely outweigh the amount of the womans pain, and would therefore make the action of killing the women morally right. If you get rid of rules and allow people to choose to act in the greater good, they will actually act selfishly, and then try to justify their actions by claiming they were in the greater good, this would also lead to an unjust society because people would and argue that they were trying to follow the hedonic calculus. Imagine someone killed one healthy person and gave their organs to save 5 others. The balance of happiness over harm supports doing this according to the hedonic calculus, but we know that it is not right, Another argument against utilitarianism would be the idea of happiness and how it differs depending on the individual, happiness is not the same for everyone, one person’s happiness could be meaningless to another, this flaws utilitarianism due to the idea that it predicts that everyone’s idea of happiness is the same. Utilitarianism ignores the motives of actions, so long as the end is good, sexually this could mean that immoral means could be taken to obtain pleasure, so long as the pleasure outweighs any pain. In conclusion all the information shows that utilitarianism can help many people in the situations they may face throughout their life, but altogether does lead to injustice with in society, this is because utilitarianism assumes you can know the definite answer to every decision you make, this would be impossible for any human to achieve, the information leads to a conclusion that can justify evil acts, for example, if eight prison guards find a sense of happiness from beating the prisoners, then their acts of evil will be overlooked if someone was basing their decision on the hedonic calculus because in theory the happiness of the guards will out way the prisoners.

Cyprus’ Accession in NATOs Partnership for Peace

Cyprus’ Accession in NATOs Partnership for Peace ABSTRACT: The contemporary political debate which has emerged recently in the political arena of Cyprus regarding the issue of Cyprus’ accession in NATO’s programme Partnership for Peace (PfP) provoked a rich discussion concerning the historical orientation of the country’s foreign policy. Although Cyprus has been a full member of the European Union since the 1st of May 2004, its comprehensive participation to European Security and Defence Policies and structures is questioned and partly limited. This statement is an emanation of the fact that Cyprus constitutes the only Member State in the EU, which is neither a member of NATO nor of the PfP. Therefore, the Cypriot indirect absence from ‘Western’ security and defence structures combined with the Turkish intensive participation causes several internal and external implications and raise doubts concerning, both the exact role of Cyprus in the European Security system, as well as the future of the dialogue regar ding relations between NATO and the EU. This paper explores three different phases of Cyprus’ foreign policy and tries to evaluate the reasons which led to the partial adjustment in its directions. In particular, throughout the Cold War, Cyprus implemented a policy of the Non-Aligned Movement. However, in 1990 it applied for EEC membership transforming its foreign policy and shaping a European orientation. Nevertheless, since February 2008 the new elected President Demetris Christofias – a former leader of the communist party AKEL- has been categorically rejecting to put Cyprus in the path of accession into the NATO’s PfP. As the conclusion states, although Cyprus’ foreign policy is Europe-oriented, there are particular cases which prove that the country’s foreign policy is not linear and is partially modulated depending on the government’s political and ideological orientation. The final assessment of whether the foreign policy transformati ons are rational and beneficial for Cyprus remains controversial and open to different interpretations. Introduction The exercise and implementation of foreign policy comprise a decisive parameter which marks and defines the state’s external behaviour, as well as its politico-ideological placement in the international system. Undoubtedly, the establishment and cultivation of external relations, as well as the ability to inaugurate diplomatic contacts with other states and international organizations, are all fundamental elements of international relations, which enhance and reinforce the state’s position in the international scene and improve the climate of cooperation between states. However, a basic question that needs to be addressed and evaluated concerning the implementation of foreign policy is whether it remains steady and linear, or is being transformed and adjusted depending on evolving national interests and the rapid changes which are observed in the international environment. If the latter scenario is the case, the question which arises has to do with the variety of differ ent factors which contribute and lead to the transformation and the partial redefinition of the national foreign policy direction. Despite the fact that it is a relatively small island, the Republic of Cyprus has had a rich and diverse history, . This paper will examine the case study of Cyprus’ foreign policy, analysing and critically approaching its evolutionary process throughout the years, trying to contribute to the discussion concerning the orientations and transformations of the country’s foreign policy throughout its existence. As the methodological type of this research is a case study, this paper tries to focus on the historical process of Cyprus’ foreign policy seeking to assess the factors which led to its partial redefinition and rethinking during three crucial stages of its history. It is worthy to clarify that the purpose of this paper is not to present and examine the Cyprus Problem per se, but how Cyprus saw and still sees its place in Europe through the exercise and implementation of its foreign policy. This explanatory case study attempts to evaluate three different stages which reveal the ‘asymmetric nature’ and non linear orientation of the country’s foreign policy . As the conclusion states, although Cyprus after 1990 has been following a steady European orientation, its foreign policy has not changed, but is partly modulated and adjusted depending on the ideological background of the party in government. The following analysis will prove that despite the fact that Cyprus’ foreign policy is Europe-oriented, some of its aspects are now hostage to the government’s ideology. What diversifies this paper from the existing literature is the interplay between internal and external dynamics in foreign policy perceptions. The structure of the Work This paper is divided into three parts based on three different approaches and periods of Cyprus’ foreign policy. The first chapter examines Cyprus’ foreign policy in the very early years of its existence, when it faced the dilemma of either being a satellite state, expressing support to either of the two superpowers, or to remain neutral. Bypassing the intensive disagreement from the Turkish Cypriot Vice President, President Makarios, took the decision to participate in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 1961 keeping the country away from the direct epicentre of the Cold War. After following a non-aligned foreign policy during the Cold War and with the Cyprus problem being unresolved, the Cypriot political leadership decided that the country needed to dramatically change the orientation of its foreign policy.    Following the brief examination of Cyprus’ non-aligned foreign policy during the Cold War, the second chapter deals clearly with the immediate post Co ld-War era, where one could notice a total shift and a significant alteration of the country’s foreign policy. This chapter argues that the period after 1990 can be characterized as an effort from the Cyprus government to approach and join the Western European structures maintaining at the same time, friendly relations with the former Soviet Union countries. In 1990, Cyprus applied for membership of the EEC in order to achieve a series of national, political, and economic goals. The third chapter will present and analyze one of the most recent and contemporary political debates, concerning the issue of Cyprus’ comprehensive participation in European Security and Defence structures and policies, with additional emphasis on the issue of Cyprus’ prospect of joining NATO’s PfP. After the examination and analysis of the above three periods which showed a different motivation from Cypriot governments concerning the orientation of foreign policy, this paper concludes with an overall assessment of the aforementioned issues. Although the purpose of this paper is not to make predictions and speculations for the future, it is necessary to pose some crucial questions for further research about how Cyprus sees its place in Europe. Literature review – Methodological approach – Conceptual clarifications It is widely accepted that the Cyprus problem is by its nature a very tenebrous, sensitive, ambiguous and controversial political problem which can be approached from a variety of different political angles depending on the way one understands the various balances and realities in Cyprus. When studying cases like Cyprus, an objective researcher must take into account a series of different variables concerning the politico-ideological ambiguities in the context of the Cyprus political arena in order to be objective and formulate realistic arguments. A significant limitation which emerges in research methodology, as well as in the process of the examination and evaluation of recourses is the question of subjectivity and the realistic interpretation either of the primary sources or of the historical proceedings. The way the political life in Cyprus is structured, provides a rich philosophical tradition of debate between the political tendencies, which offers different explanations, diff erent interpretations and even different conclusions. If we apply the theory that a coin has always two sides and an argument has two different explanations, in the case of Cyprus, many coins have too many sides. The present brief literature review presents the major works published in the English language on the Cyprus issue in general. It is worthy to note that the vast majority of social scientific works on Cyprus are focused on Cyprus’ political problem and the conflict between the two communities and their political and territorial aspirations in the island. The impact of the factors which led to the reformulation of foreign policy attitude, or indeed the impact of the political debates in Cyprus’ political arena on foreign policy is comparatively little explored. The works contained herein have been chosen because of their relevance to one or more of the major themes running through the paper. Regarding the three key areas of this research, i.e. ‘Cyprus’ foreign policy’, ‘Cyprus’ EU accession process’ and ‘Cyprus and PfP’ the majority of the literature on Cyprus is extremely vast and enlightening on the second, less so o n the first, and virtually nonexistent on the last. In particular, one contemporary, objective and realistic account is offered by James Ker- Lindsay, [2004,2005,2008]. Ker-Lindsay and Hubert Faustman [2009] also undertook a comprehensive research on the politics and government of Cyprus, providing us a solid argumentation about the country’s political realities. Other historical backgrounds and analysis are offer by other authors like [Markides, 1977] â€Å"The Rise and fall of the Cyprus Republic† [Bitsios, 1975], â€Å"Cyprus: the vulnerable Republic†, [Polyviou, 1975] â€Å"Cyprus: The tragedy and the challenge†. Theophylactou Demetrios presented in 1995 his interpretation concerning the security, identity and the nation building offering a comprehensive work on the Cyprus issue based on a combination of domestic and external factors. Concerning Cyprus’ EU accession process there is an extensive literature. Nattalie Tocci [2004] examined the prospect of Cyprus’ accession process as a catal yst for peace to the political problem and offered an evaluation of the role of the EU to the conflict resolution in Cyprus. Moreover, Theophanous [2005] analysed the role of the EU in the Eastern Mediterranean, and its impact on the Cyprus question.   Additionally, Brewin [2000], Christou [2004] and Stephanou [2005], analyzed the period of accessions negotiations and assessed the implications which emerged in the country’s accession process and in the path towards the final membership. Nevertheless, the focus of the third chapter, concerning the Cyprus’ application for PfP membership constitutes a very contemporary issue and thus almost absent from the current literature. However, this does not mean that it will be consumed in speculation theories, as it is a useful example which proves that Cyprus’ foreign policy is not linear and is being adjusted depending on a series of political, national and ideological factors. Therefore, the author has used many comprehensive accounts on Cyprus and the Cyprus problem which also evaluate some of the basic foreign policy aspects that are assessed in this paper. Furthermore the works of [Howorth 2007] on European Security and Defence Policy and [Kentas 2005] on Cyprus and PfP were very helpful for this particular analysis Moreover, as there is a need to understand the position of the political parties, it was attempted to take interviews from all political parties, as well as from members of the core-executive. I t can be argued that the interviews offered the author the opportunity to better understand the existing political perceptions especially about the issue of PfP. A ‘diplomatic neutrality’:   Cyprus’ Foreign policy of the Non-Aligned Movement The agreements negotiated in Zurich and London in February 1959 between the three guarantor powers Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom led to the declaration of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960 . Apart from the domestic political implications, President Makarios, who was the first President of Cyprus, faced an early challenge and a significant dilemma. The specific dilemma and foreign policy decision has partly marked the country’s path and participation in international politico-economic affairs. In the apex of the Cold War, and with the international balances being sensitive and fragile, Cyprus’ government had three options regarding its foreign policy position and reaction to the global and political classifications. Firstly, there was a weakened assumption that Cyprus should have joined NATO as it belongs in the sphere of its influence and due to the fact that the three guarantor powers of the Republic are members of NATO. Besides the island’s strong indirect bonds with NATO, one could argue that, according to the informal and secret agreement between the Greek Prime Minister Constantinos Karamanlis and his Turkish counterpart Mederes, which was signed in Zurich in February 1959, Greece and Turkey, agreed to support a future Cyprus accession in NATO. However, the paradox of this case implies the fact that Makarios was informed and agreed to the specific provision of the agreement. Secondly, there has been a perception that Cyprus would have drifted to the Soviet bloc, due to the impact, the friendly relations and the significant power of the communist party in Cyprus – AKEL with the Soviet executive structures. However, those who knew and understood the political philosophy of Pre sident Makarios, realized that the most appropriate foreign policy option for Cyprus was the direction of the Non-Aligned Movement, as an effort to approach the third-world countries and the Arab world. The Non-Aligned Movement constitutes an international organisation of states considering themselves not formally and directly aligned with or against any major power bloc . As James Ker-Lindsay accurately observes, in 1955 ‘Makarios was one of the many leaders who attended the Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung in Indonesia’ . However, all scenarios that Cyprus would have joined and expressed support to either of the two superpowers remained only speculation, as Makarios decided that the best foreign policy direction for Cyprus was to join the NAM. An observation of the Cypriot daily press of the period shows that the decision generated slight repercussions in some political and social lobbies on both a domestic and international level. In particular, it is worthy to note that the Non-Aligned orientation provoked the intensive disagreement of the Turkish Cypriot vice president Dr. Fazil Kutchuk, despite the fact that he did not exert his veto right to block the decision . It is commonly believed that the Turkish Cypriot vice president was urged by Ankara to accept Makarios’ decision to make Cyprus a member of the NAM. Turkey’s political leadership believed that if Cyprus joined NATO and participated in the political and security structures of the Western alliance, Turkey’s ability to i ntervene in Cyprus on any occasion under Article 4 of the Treaty of Guaranty would be severely curtailed and subject to delays as it would need the essential approval of the other NATO member states. During the procedures of the Belgrade Conference in 1961 Cyprus became one of the twenty five founder states of the NAM. A basic explanation of this choice, which does not require any political analysis is that Makarios maintained excellent and friendly relations with a number of leading figures from Bandung’s Conference, especially Yugoslavia’s Josep Broz Tito and Egypt’s Abdul Gamal Nasser, and he was already forging a reputation as a leader across the Arab world . Moreover, the fact that Makarios’ first official overseas visit was to Egypt to see his very good friend and colleague President Nasser instead of visiting Greece was unexpected.    Additionally, the general consensus regarding the choice of NAM is proved by the fact that, even General Georgios Grivas who was the leader of EOKA and then one of the most intensive sources of opposition over Makarios’ policies, claimed that the movement towards the Arab world was promising and successful, expressing simultaneously his frustration at the way the Western allies treated Cyprus. Furthermore, he did not hesitate to call the Greek government to withdraw from NATO . Apart from the above, the general social frustration concerning the way the Western Allies treated Greek Cypriots during several times in contemporary Cyprus history, constituted another reason which demonized NATO in the eyes of the Greek Cypriot people. The initial negative experience the Cypriots obtained from the West has concerned the way the British responded to the demand of self determination and union with Greece. Although Cypriots participated and fought for the British in the Second World War, the British governments misplaced Cypriot hopes that Britain would have taken a more encouraging and positive position regarding the issue of union with Greece. Moreover, another crucial reason which proves the social disappointment to the British attitude has been the content and provisions of the various partitionist plans for a settlement proposed by several British officials. In particular such plans prepared and submitted by Marshal Sir John Harding in 1956 in his negotiations with Makarios, the ideas of Lord Radcliffe in December of the same year and the comprehensive proposal prepared by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1958. All these plans were assessed and rejected as unacceptable by the Greek Cypriot leadership and provoked a general mistrust against British policy over Cyprus. The issue of the Greek appeal in the UN seems to be very crucial. After the referendum organized by the Orthodox Church calling for unity with Greece . Theophylactou, who offers an interpretation of Makarios’ position, claims that Makarios, ‘whose political philosophy was steadily moving away from Athens national policy vis- a- vis Cyprus, had dismissed enosis and adopted a policy of Non-alignment and independence for Cyprus’ . Furthermore, it is noticeable that Greece was highly economically dependent on economic and financial support from the West and did not wish to endanger the loss of its economic lank. As Makarios committed himself to the NAM he began to pursue his own political initiatives. Evaluating his policies one could argue that the vast majority of his decisions were gradually being contradicted with the policies of the National Centre. Makarios was being supported by AKEL and he was trying to implement policies that satisfied the party’s electorate as he was heavily reliant on AKEL’s support. Nevertheless, after the breakdown of peace in Cyprus the US with the active support of Britain tried to propose plans to bring about a settlement. After the rejection of the Acheson plans by Makarios in 1964 and his broader approach to the Soviet Union, the US through their President Johnson had been worried about the possibility of Cyprus eventually becoming ‘the Cuba of Mediterranean’ and Makarios the Castro of the area . However, assessing the role of the NAM in the efforts for a settlement in the Cyprus issue, it is questioned whether it has positively and actively contributed or whether its support was limited in rhetoric. It is worthy to note that interviewing the political party officers in the Greek Cypriot side, there is not an intense assumption that the direction of NAM was wrong and no party criticised Makarios for the specific orientation he attributed to the country’s foreign policy. In the following years the political anomaly had dramatically increased. In July 1974, Turkey found the pretext to impose its partitionist plans against Cyprus, following the coup of 15th of July, perpetrated against the elected government of President Makarios by the Athens military junta. On July 20, claiming to act under article 4 of the Treaty of Guarantee, the Turkish armed forces staged a full scale invasion against Cyprus. Though the invasion was in violation of all rules of international legality, including the UN Charter, Turkey proceeded to occupy the northern part of the island. Later on, the basis for a solution of the Cyprus problem was set in two High Level Agreements. Both agreements, (between President Makarios and the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, in February 1977 and between President Kyprianou and Denktash in May 1979), were concluded under the auspices of the UN Secretary General. Apart from the High Level Agreements several initiatives were attempted especially from the Greek-Cypriot side to find a settlement through UN mediation. In particular until 1990 one could argue that the initiatives of the Secretary Generals of the UN Kurt Waldheim, Javier Pà ©rez de Cuà ©llar and Boutros Boutros Ghali were the most comprehensive efforts for a settlement. All the above initiatives clashed to the intransigent position of the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash. After the subsequent failures to inaugurate negotiations for the resolution of the Cyprus problem, which was the primary foreign policy objective for the Cyprus Government, the Cypriot pol itical leadership decided in 1990 to change the orientation of the country’s foreign policy.   Ã¢â‚¬ËœWesternisation’ of Foreign Policy:   Cyprus’ European orientation as a catalyst for peace or source of further implications? The end of the Cold War, proved that the Western and European structures and values would dominate in the new era which was emerging and uprising. As the most sensitive issue for Cyprus was the necessity to intensify the efforts to find a negotiated settlement to the Cyprus problem, the Cypriot political leadership realised the need to partly transform the country’s foreign policy, implementing a policy aiming at a final accession into the EEC/EU. However, this foreign policy transformation created a strong reaction and opposition from AKEL. The communist party which had positively contributed to the election of President Vasiliou in the Cypriot Presidency in 1988, declared an intensive disagreement concerning Cyprus’ application for EEC membership. According to the official AKEL’s position, they considered the EEC as an imperialistic and neoliberal economic organisation which was using its economic power to pursue its political power in the world against the interests of the poor countries . AKEL saw the EEC as just another Western ally of the United States and NATO and strongly believed that Cyprus has no place and nothing to be benefited from organizations which organized and advocated to the Turkish invasion and the conspiracy of 1974. On the contrary all the other political parties including the right wing Democratic Rally (DHSY), the centre wing Democratic Party (DHKO) and the Socialist Party (EDEK) were vigorously supporting Cyprus’ accession and harmonization to the European structures . In the meantime, in 1993 Glafkos Clerides, the leader of the right wing Democratic Rally, a former President of the House of Representatives (Vouli) and a Greek Cypriot negotiator in the inter-communal talks of 1968-1974, was elected President of the Republic. Initially, his election brought a new prospect for Cyprus, as he was one of the most constant politicians and supporters of Cyprus’ accession into the EU. A central issue of this foreign policy transformation has been the role of the EU and its mediation in the conflict resolution in Cyprus and the outcomes of Cyprus’ EU foreign policy orientation. It is widely accepted that throughout the years, the vast majority of initiatives for a negotiated settlement have been undertaken by the United Nations, with the active support of the United States . Until the early 1990s, the EC/EU was almost absent from the efforts for a settlement. That was because the role of the EC/EU as an international actor until the end of the Cold War was partially undermined. Its contribution to the conflict resolution using civilian and diplomatic instruments was poor. As Olga Demetriou accurately argues, â€Å"the EU has played a minor role in the search for a solution to the Cyprus conflict in comparison with the UN and Britain, and even the US† . However, during the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st a substantial shift to the EU’s role in the resolution of the Cyprus problem is noticed which vindicates the aspirations of Cypriot leadership. With the growth of the European Integration process and the initial empowerment of the EU’s role as an international actor during the early 1990s with the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, European involvement in South-Eastern Europe grew steadily for a variety of different reasons. The political situation in the Middle East, the Euro-Turkish relations, as well as the substantial issue of immigration, have all constituted the main reasons of the EU’s broader interest in the region. Apart from that, Cyprus’ geographical location at the crossroads of three continents, made it inevitably very crucial as regards the security dimension . As aforementioned, Cyprus’ European orientation â€Å"officially† began in 1990 when it applied for membership in the EEC. Since then, and due to the Turkish European aspiration, as well as the continuous Greek support on the Cyprus problem, the impact of the European Union towards the Cyprus conflict was steadily increasing. Moreover, Cyprus’ application for membership transformed the Cyprus problem into a European issue. However, in the initial stage of the accession process, the political problem was considered an obstacle for the accession and it was suggested that a settlement or at least significant moves towards one were necessary for Cyprus’ accession process to move forward . Various assumptions have been formulated regarding the issue of a settlement as a precondition for the accession. The provoked debate in the European Union has been between those who believed that Cyprus’ EU accession process would act as a catalyst for peace . Obviously, an insistence on a solution before accession would undermine the prospect of Cyprus’ EU accession process to act as a catalyst for peace. The question of whether Cyprus’ accession process should constitute a catalyst for peace was at the centre of the political debate and can be examined from different perspectives in regard to the interests of Greek and Turkish Cypriots. According to Tocci, the EU’s role in the Cyprus problem has two dimensions: â€Å"the impact of the EU as a framework on conflict resolution efforts, and the impact of the accession process on the parties in conflict† . This paper argues that the fact which constituted a crucial help in the resolution of the Cyprus problem was not Cyprus’ final accession in the EU, rather the effect of Cyprus’ EU accession process especially during the final stage. Additionally, another factor has been the partial shift in Turkish foreign policy, as a result of the Turkish European aspirations, which became more active after the coming of power of the AKP. The final stage of the EU accession process which coincided with the latest initiative of the Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Anan had diverse effects to the policies of the two communities . It is important to mention that the EU, as well as the international community, tried in several ways to support the Yes campaign in both communities. There is no doubt that on both sides there were several political parties which were more active to the idea of a solution prior to accession. However there were parties which hardened their positions due to the elections in both communities before the referenda. For those who were in favour of a solution prior to accession, the Anan plan constituted an opportunity for a solution. Moreover, the EU had declared and urged the two communities to accept the Anan plan, showing its active support for a solution prior to accession based on the specific plan. Another significant element which shows the EU’s positive involvement in the efforts for a resolution was its vigilance to economically support a possible solution prior to accession, as well as to provide financial aid to the new state, in order to eliminate the economic dispropor tion between the two communities. The decision to apply for membership in 1990 can be interpreted as an aim of â€Å"strengthening the Greek Cypriot bargaining position in negotiations† . Moreover Cyprus’ accession would confirm the Turkish attack and occupation of an EU member state. To put it differently, the EU, in its various structural, institutional and conceptual manifestations, has played, is still playing and is envisioned as having to play in the future, a variety of roles concerning the conflict in Cyprus. It remains to be seen whether this involvement will change in the future and whether the outcome of any mediation will bring a new prospect for Cyprus and its people. An overall assessment of Cyprus’ EU orientation reveals that the decision to apply for EEC membership in 1990 and partly transform the country’s foreign policy was a correct political evaluation and anticipation of the future prospects.   However, Cyprus retained very good and friendly relations with other former Soviet states as well as with countries of the Arab Worlds and the NAM. Nevertheless, Cyprus as a full member of the EU, is implementing a Europe-oriented foreign policy which is relevant with the European structures and values.   Is this statement always the c ase for Cyprus? An observation of some contemporary debates regarding Cyprus’ foreign policy and the country’s role in the international system, shows that sometimes, the country’s foreign policy is hostage to other factors which hamper it from its natural European orientation. The internal political debate about the issue of Cyprus’ application for Partnership for Peace membership which will be examined and assessed in the next chapter will prove the correctness of the above assumption. Cyprus’ Foreign Policy Hostage to ideology:   The issue of Partnership for Peace.   The process of Europeanization defined as a process of domestic change in order to align national policies with European structures as a result of potential membership- . This section will examine the contemporary debate which emerged recently in the Cyprus’ national political arena concerning the issue of Cyprus’ application for accession into NATO’s programme PfP. Nevertheless, before analysing the domestic political debate regarding the issue of PfP, there is a necessity to clarify and examine some basic theoretical issues about the evolving role of the EU as an actor in the international system. This analysis is crucial, as it is related with the uncertain relations between NATO and the EU which directly affect the examined case of Cyprus and PfP. History proves to us that initiatives to create a common defence policy are not inextricable from European Integration but they are its precondition.   The fact that the efforts have been numerous and of dubious outcome underline the complexity of the goal, but also its necessity. Undoubtedly, the failure of the EDC initiative in 1954, ensured that defence related issues were being discussed outside the EEC context .   However, towards the late 1990s, there was a gradual departure from this policy path. A turning point in the progress made towards ESDP was the summit in St-Malo in December 1998 . Furthermore, relations between the EU and NATO came into question regarding this issue. However , despite the efforts and the to date implementation of 23 missions, the extent to which EU’s security and defence role in the new security architecture in the immediate post-cold war period