How Religion is Detrimental to Human Enlightenment Essay

Religion has bequeathed us with numerous powers to live, breathe in peace, and capture our soul to realize the truth of ourselves and divine. The whole concept of religion lies in the fact that it binds us with our imperceptible creator and enables us to visualize our self and our esteem perquisite hidden power. But to this religion only, we owe extreme form of fundamentalism and fanaticism that since centuries and as far as our history goes have been detrimental to the basic core of all our religions and religious faiths. Religious doctrines of almost all over the world laid down principles of the life for their respective societies: how they will live and follow their religious rituals? These religious practices prepared persons in their respective societies to live in harmony with each other and maintain the cordial ambience with their environment. Almost all the religions of the world adopted their own religious belief systems. But when these systems take an extreme form of fundamentalism and show their aggression and disbelief against other religious groups and faith, they hurt at the most fundamental concepts of human lives on which religions are based. They make religion as the most hatred thing in the world and turn it into the most inauspicious aspect for human enlightenment. Religion enlightens by inculcating within the people the moral values on which the human life and society is flourishing but when the propagators of these moral values use the religious beliefs and religion to instigate their fame and for their own commercial purposes, this religion only becomes a darker phase in their life. Just when 16th century began to shower the new rays of hope on the mother Earth, Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, an Italian political philosopher, diplomat poet, playwright and musician wrote, â€Å"We Italians are irreligious and corrupt above others. †¦.. because the church and her representatives have set us the worst example. †1 According to Machiavelli, religion became just a mere tool in the hands of ruling powers to change the mind set of the public according to their own needs and aspirantions. And its happening till today. This world of today is witness to the massive force of ruling class using religion to meet their political and commercial needs. Cotton Mather, writing of a former condition which he would admired to have renewed in his own time, said: â€Å"New England being a country whose interests are remarkbaly in ecclesiastical circumstances, ministers ought to concern themselves in politics. † 2 Further said by Cobb, in the early days, the clergy had a greater influence on the minsteral affairs and the influence was so much that they with their ruling power could bring magistrates and courts too to their dictate. This led number of clergies to misuse the power and made the religion as an instrument of bigotry and superstition. 3 The clergy, political class and other religious fanatics made religion an arena of superstition and doctrine of blind faith that did not believe in the new thoughts of this scientific and highly technological advanced world of today and made religion deterimental to Human enlightenment. Human enlightenment endows the knowledge and awakening of human values and the knowledge of scientific truths and temperament that has made our life at ease. Science wants us to solve all problems of our life through deep regressive thoughts and our own efforts. Atheists began to instigate the adherance to religion and God within us. They believe that no divine power can solve our problem and prayer is just a wastage of time. 4 1 Burckhardt, pp. 272 2 Cobb, pp. 237 3 Cobb, pp. 237 4. Cronish, para 2, Online Edition In fact even Albert Ellis, PhD, said, â€Å"If religion is defined as man’s dependence on a power above and beyond the human, then, as a psychotherapist, I find it to be exceptionally pernicious. Religion, first of all, is not self-interest – it is god-interest. Religiosity is essentially masochism and both are forms of mental sickness. All religions contend that their super-human entities cannot be humanly experienced and that their gods and their principles are beyond science. Religion is†¦ directly opposed to the goals of mental health. †5 Religion beckons us to follow spiritual life but the way religious doctrines are propagated and publicized and mould the mental attitude of the people, they are going even against the moral values that are so basic for a person to be human. The politicians, religious heads and other fanatics are misusing the religious doctrines to spread among human race superstition, blind faith, sins, violence chaos and disorder. History is clear proof to show how since ages poltical rulers and religious heads are degrading the religious doctrines and misrepresenting them to fulfill their own aims and are spreading useless dogmas, corrupt powerhouses, chaos and confusion and thus result in making the religious values as a sole detrimental to Human enlightenment. The religious texts of almost all the religions of the world have been written by humans, that are centuries old, in their own language and style that people of today’s generation are not able to comprehend and take out the extract what lies beneath the hidden text. This lack of understanding belies the own faith and life style of the contemporary world. As Christopher Hitchens in â€Å"God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything† said that as religion has impeded people to treat other persons in a just manner and it is not necessary to learn the basic human values and human relations from religion or religious doctrines. Human relations come 5 Cronish, para 2, Online Edition from human own needs and aspirations. Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens state that â€Å"Religion and churches are manufactured, and this salient fact is too obvious to ignore. †6 And according to Dawkins, â€Å"The manufacturing and growth of religion is best described in evolutionary terms: Religions, like languages, evolve with sufficient randomness, from beginnings that are sufficiently arbitrary, to generate the bewildering – and sometimes dangerous – richness of diversity. †7 And Harris delving into the historicity of the religious tradition and doctrine states that â€Å"The Bible, it seems certain, was the work of sand-strewn men and women who thought the earth was flat and for whom a wheelbarrow would have been a breathtaking example of emerging technology. †8 He further states that it was not even the work of sand-strewn men but several written pieces were pierced together and compiled to give shape to the bible. Further elaborating Dawkins states that, â€Å"Ever since the nineteenth century, scholarly theologians have made an overwhelming case that the gospels are not reliable accounts of what happened in the history of the real world. †9 It implies that the bible and almost the majority of the religious texts were written taking in view the social, culture, political turmoil that were affecting the people of that time and period but that can be relevant to this time and period too if properly interpreted and comprehended. But unfortunately this is not happening, Hitechens wants to tell us that all our academic studies, like â€Å"the sciences of textual criticism, archaeology, physics, and molecular biology have shown religious myths to be false and man-made. †10 Science has proved that all religions are construed by 6 Fish, para 1,Online Edition 7 Fish, para 1, Online Edition 8 Fish, para 1, Online Edition 9 Fish, para 2, Online Edition 10 Fish, para 3, Online Edition men for their own purpose and it was the man of that time and age who wrote the textual books. Titus Lucretius Carus, Roman poet of first century B. C in his magnificent rendered opus De Rerum Natura postered the view that, â€Å"But ’tis that same religion oftener far Hath bred the foul impieties of men. †11 He held the belief that the world was made up of matter and void, and everything in the world is learned and understood purely from nature and that all the religions of the world are born because of the fear that people faced because of the dangers that nature had in store for them in their primitive stage and their ignorance about the world around, about themselves and about everything that were part and parcel of their life. Humans were afraid of fire that is why they started worshiping fire, they were afraid of animals so they made many of the animals their deity. Slowly and slowly, they turned their worshipping into rituals that necessiated them to follow in their lifes. Their religious freedom and beliefs strangled their hold on the people’s freedom. Initially they made this beginning to give protective cover to people against discrimination, persecution and oppression but in this momentum, the religious fundamentalists and fanatics made religion too symbol of slavery, persecution and oppression of weaker sects and women. For e. g. many of the propagators of the religions thought it their right to confer discriminatory attitude against gays, force women and children to cover their face with veil. 12 And above all their rights to threaten to death or kill anyone and everyone who comes in front of their religion. In many religions, women’s place is inferior to men. Rev. Jill Nelson, pastor of the Sunshine Cathedral Metropolitan Community Church, commenting on Leviticus 20:13, said, â€Å"It is grounded in the old Jewish understanding that women are less worthy than men. For a man to 11 Lucretius, Book I – Proem, Line 3-4. 12 Namazie, Online Edition. have sex with another man ‘as with a woman’ insults the other man, because women are to be treated as property. †13 The most essential needs of our human beings are food, clothing, shelter, leisure and the most important being freedom. It’s the freedom that we all cherish and along-with the freedom need awareness, emotional satisfaction, responsibility towards ourselves and for others. Human beings are enlightened if they get freedom and independence of thoughts and sexuality and many of the religions are snatching this only freedom by putting before us several of their religious doctrines. Though many of the religions like Buddhism and Christianity say that feeling of essence of spirituality itself is the freedom for you. The New Testament of the Christianity says, â€Å"You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free† implying that knowing the spiritual truth and freedom of choice will give you freedom but in this materialistic and scientific world of today we are not seeking just the freedom of spirituality but freedom in all the way’s of our life, and in all our breath. We cannot grow unless we are free. Karl Marx had an ardent belief that religion is socially construed, and is harmful for human lives as it discourages the down trodden human beings from participating actively in the political, social and economic upheavals of the society as it promises that the faithful people shall be rewarded in the life after. Ruling class treat religion as a tool to suppress the sufferings and down trodden by implying their own modifications of religious doctrines. For their own commercial and social gains, they imbibe the religious textual principles and traits among the poor and hamper their economical progress and independence. 13 Kinney, Online Edition. 14 Muhammad, Online Edition Marx labeled religion as an opium of people because the religion could give poor the momentarily relief but could not make them rid of their prolong sufferings. Secondly, religion gives them dreams of better life after their death. In other words, Marx treats religion as a rout of Escapism. In the words of Marx, â€Å"The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo. †15 Marx says that the concept of sin so highly delivered by Christian doctrine is anti-social as Christian doctrine is inherent in the nature of human beings that becomes the part of the misery and Marx says that sins are socially planned and implemented and ought to be changed. It is the world of man, man is a part of this state and society, and it is this society that religion own its existence to. To ignore religion means to ignore the roots of our civilization, its monuments, its beliefs and practices, achievement and the legacy that it had bestowed onto us by our ancestors. If we do not have our own religious faith, its bound to have venomous effect on our own personality but this very religion becomes our enemy when we begin to use its doctrines and principles to embellish our own selfish ends. And this misinterpretation of the religious doctrines, selfishness of the ruling and powerful elite make our religions detrimental to Human Enlightenment. WORKS CITED Burckhardt, Jacob. â€Å"The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy† (Translated by S. G. Middlemore) USA: Penguin Classics, 1990 Cobb, Sanford H. â€Å"The Rise of Religious Liberty in America: A History† Ayer Publishing, 1970. Cornish, Keith S. â€Å"SECULAR SYSTEMS† atheist foundation. org. au Internet (19August 2002) Available: http://www. atheistfoundation. org. au/secularsystems. htm, 10 December 2007 Fish, Stanley. â€Å"Is Religion Man-Made? † Internet (24 June 2007) Available: http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/is-religion-man-made/

Blood Clotting Essay

Coagulation, or thrombogenesis, is the process by which blood clots in an attempt to restrict blood loss from an injury site, and repair the damaged vessel. Most of the time clotting is a good thing, however there are circumstances when a clot can form abnormally, leading to heart attack, stroke, or other serious medical problems. A blood clot forms almost immediately after the bleeding occurs, which is possible through enzymes and other substances in blood that respond to breaks in vessel walls. The clot is a temporary fix preventing further blood loss. There are four major parts of blood clot formation. The first step in clotting is the formation of the platelet plug. Platelets are the smallest of the three major types of blood cells whose primary function is to prevent bleeding. When encountering a damaged blood vessel, the platelets become stimulated and rush to the injury site where they clump together, forming a plug and restricting the bleeding. They also release substances to begin the chemical reaction of the clotting process. These chemical reactions are responsible for growing the blood clot. Dissolved proteins, also referred to as clotting factors, are contained within the blood for the purpose of promoting blood clots. These proteins send signals to each other and enhance each other’s activity exponentially at the site of injury, resulting in a rapid chemical chain reaction which produces fibrin, the main protein forming clots. This blood clot formed with fibrin is tougher and more durable than the platelet plug. Once the blood clot forms, it is important that it not grow and spread to the rest of the body, which can cause serious damage. This is where â€Å"anti-clotting† comes in to play. Proteins such as antithrombin, protein C, and protein S, are known anti-clotting proteins and exist in a natural balance with the clotting factors. These substances work to neutralize excess clotting factors, preventing the clot from going to places it should not. The final part of the process is where the clot is slowly broken down by the body. Once the damaged tissue heals, the body gradually degrades the clot and reabsorbs it. The tough fibrin strands in a blood clot are dissolved by an enzyme called plasmin. Plasmin is activated by other substances working together to help the clot break down. The whole process of blood clotting is whenever the blood is exposed to certain substances. These are known as thrombogenic substances because they promote the formation of thrombus (clot). Many of these substances, such as tissue factor, collagen, and von Willebrand factor, are located in the skin or in the blood vessel walls, typically separated from flowing blood. If they come into contact with flowing blood, this typically means the blood vessel wall is ruptured and bleeding. A clot may also form when blood is not flowing properly. http://www.hematology.org/patients/blood-disorders/blood-clots/5233.aspx http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/blood-clots

Arts along with the downward Essay

Due to factors related to funding for the arts along with the downward turning in the United States economy, a proposal was made for the merger of the Utah Symphony along with the Utah Opera companies. The dire situation confronting the arts community became more and more apparent reaching a crisis level in 2001. The Utah Symphony Orchestra was close to a deficit as noted by Scott Parker, â€Å"Speed of action was essential†¦I knew that there was a possibility that we could quickly find ourselves over the edge,† (DeLong & Ager, 2004).There is very little precedence for mergers between a major symphony orchestra and opera companies in the history of the United States. The two examples offered in the history, the merger of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Madison Opera in 1963 along with the Chattanooga Symphony and the Chattanooga Opera in 1985, resulted in either the companies remaining intact for a period of time or in them separating due to different ideologies an d methodologies. The two significant characters are Anne Ewers, who was asked to consider the position of CEO of the combined opera and symphony companies, and Keith Lockhart who is the very respected, long-time, music director and conductor of the Utah Symphony Orchestra. Both were invited to lead the merger in December, 2001. Given two very divergent cultures, they faced a very challenging process of uniting the two companies. The symphony environment is slow to change where as the opera was more adept to challenges and change. The executive committee felt ambivalent initially about the merger but due to the need to alleviate some of the financial pressures the organizations faced, they eventually agreed. However, opposition to the merger include members of the community as the audience and the musicians. Lockhart has a very delicate position as the musicians look to him to protect their interests. So he held in tension the trust of the musicians and the viability of the organization as a whole. The musicians came up with some guiding principles they felt the merged entity needed to honor. The community also expressed its concern regarding the possible â€Å"loss of status† of the symphony if merged with the opera. They also questioned Ewers’ ability to manage the new entity due to her lack of experience in running a symphony orchestra. Both Ewers and Lockhart faced a tremendous task as they set out to bring in the reigns on the merger. The board needs to utilize their motivation skills as they help drum up support  for the merger. Ann also needs to understand her power and utilize it to persuade the community and the musicians that a merger would ultimately benefit the future of both entities. We will also explore her influence tactics. Bill Bailey: Motivation is the reason or reasons that a person has for behaving the way he or she does and those reasons are typically a very complex phenomena. One of the most popular explanation for motivation is based upon the needs of the individual. This is also known as the â€Å"basic needs model,† referred to as the content theory of motivation (Cliffs Notes, 2012). Basically, all individuals want their basic needs satisfied. Those needs are either primary such as the biological need for food, sleep, and basic survival; or secondary needs such as those needs of psychological well-being such as the desire for power, success, and love. The identification of the secondary needs are much more complex since they vary in their definition by the individual due to cultural and experiential factors. Several different theories exist to explain the needs of individuals as the source of motivation because unmet needs motivate individuals to pursue and satisfy them. Abraham Maslow has a theory which involve five basic needs (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010). His list of basic needs include, â€Å"physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization,† which influence behavior. He ranked these needs in a hierarchical order since there are levels of need which come into play when a lower need has been satisfied. These needs influence a person’s attitudes and behaviors in that they create a compulsion to satisfy the deficiencies. His theory holds to the premise that unsatisfied needs motivate and influence behavior. A satisfied no longer motivates since people do not need to act to fill a deprivation. The physiological needs motivates an individual to find comfort, rest, refreshment and reasonable work conditions. The safety needs motivates an individual to look for job security, adequate compensation and benefits, and safe work conditions. The love/social needs motivates one to find friendly co-workers, a pleasant and supportive supervisor, and good interaction with customers. Esteem needs motivates an individual to seek an important job which may offer a promotion to a higher status level and greater recognition. Self-actualization needs  may cause an individual to seek participation in the decision-making process also with creative and challenging tasks. Leaders may tap into the different needs as described by Maslow to motivate individuals towards a particular agenda. Mr. Bailey is the chairman of the board for the Utah Opera Organization. He may utilize Maslow’s five basic needs theory to raise support for the merger. Both the Utah Opera and Symphony Orchestra want to survive the financial implications of reduced funding and a dire economy which has contracted the patrons’ ability to support the arts. Mr. Bailey could appeal to satisfying their safety needs in that a merger would provide job security with the same amount of vacation for those involved. He could appeal to the social needs of the performers in the Orchestra by letting them know that Lockhart, who has been a trusted  leader, would continue to provide them with supervision as their conductor and leader even after the merger. Many of the musicians also expressed a concern that their artistic excellence would not be protected. Mr. Bailey could could appeal to their high-level needs as a means of motivating them to support their future as performers both individually and corporately. This involves motivation based upon their need for self-actualization. By letting them have autonomy in creativity and a role in decision-making, the performers could find continued challenge in their work. This would overlap with meeting their esteem needs in helping them to realize the importance of their roles. Understanding and utilizing Maslow’s theory can help Mr. Bailey with influencing the behavior of those involved in both organizations by appealing to their personal interests. Scott Parker: Scott Parker holds the position as the chairman of the board of the Utah Symphony. As a leader of that organization, he also faces the challenging task of finding influential supporters who would back the merger of the two companies. He could consider applying David McClelland’s theory of motivation (Kreitner & Kinick, 2010). McClelland recognized that each individual prioritizes their needs differently since individuals are not born with innate needs but the needs are learned through one’s life experiences. He identified three specific needs: the need for achievement  which drives one to excel towards accomplishments, the need for power which causes one to exert influence or encouragement for others to achieve, and the need for affiliation which is a desire for close interpersonal relationships. Individuals may have distinct needs demonstrated through their work preferences. Those wanting to motivate these individuals may shape the environment to meet these needs. For example, the high achievers would desire to do things better. Therefore, they find motivation in job situations with personal responsibility, feedback, and a moderate level of risk. Those with a high need for power would want to follow a path of subsequent promotions over time. They would desire to be in charge and have the opportunity to have status. Those with a need for affiliation would seek satisfying interpersonal relationships which would lead to companionship and approval. They would desire relationships with a high degree of mutual understanding and social approval. Mr. Parker identified Mrs. Abravanel as an influential individual who may help him persuade others to vote for the merger if he could motivate her to support this endeavor. Mrs. Abravanel ’s late husband, Maurice, was the maestro and music director for the Utah Symphony Orchestra for 32 years. Therefore, Mrs. Abravanel would be greatly interested in sustaining the prestige and excellence of the Symphony which her late husband had secured during his prime. Several of the musicians felt concerned that the orchestra would become â€Å"the appendage of the opera,† (DeLong & Ager, 2004) if Ewers became the CEO of the merged organization. They felt that Ewers would leave the Symphony with  a less significant role as the Opera. Since the musicians represent the largest internal interest group, Mr. Parker could appeal to Mrs. Abravanel’s desire to keep the Symphony in a place of power and stability for the future. It is said that Maurice Abravanel, â€Å"had a reputation of defending his musicians vociferously,† (DeLong & Ager, 2004). Perhaps Mrs. Abravanel shares her husband’s passion for a position of status for the Symphony. McClelland theorizes that those with a high need of power is likely to want a position of status and influence. Mr. Parker could appeal to Mrs. Abravanel and entrust her with the responsibility of influencing others towards the merger due to her husband’s legacy. Mr. Parker could also appeal to her need for achievement. High achieving individuals, according to  McClelland would want to know whether they are improving the quality of job situations. Maurice Abravanel secured full-year contracts with full-time salaries for his musicians. Mr. Parker could pitch this goal as a potential for the musicians if Mrs. Abravanel became a supporter of the merger. This would provide the Symphony with continued professional status as as achieved by her husband in his fight for the musicians. â€Å"The relationship between orchestra musicians and the Utah Symphony Board and management had not always been amicable. The board members had reopened the collective bargaining agreement and altered it such that the musicians were worse off in terms of their salaries,† (DeLong & Ager, 2004). McClelland in his theory sees each individual prioritizing their needs through learned experiences. Mr. Parker could appeal to Mrs. Abranavel’s desire and possible emotional need for continued affiliation with the Symphony because the success of it’s future is strongly related to her husband’s life endeavors. She would be representing her husband by her defense of the Orchestra’s future. Anne Ewers: Though the term â€Å"power† potentially evokes some negative connotations and strong feelings in some. It is, however, an essential part of effective leadership as managers and leaders need to influence subordinates towards organizational goals. Anne Ewers, as the future CEO of the merged organization has both positional power and personal power. Her positional power is legitimate due to her formal position. Thus, the power that she will use is necessary given her authority as a leader to effectively get things done. However, she could have a legitimate role as a leader and expect her subordinates to comply due to her role as their boss. This legitimate role could be expressed either positively or negatively in getting others to comply. Positive legitimate power would result in constructively improving those she would influence to work more effectively. Having negative legitimate power would influence subordinates to comply out of fear, shame, and intimidation. Anne also has referent power which is a power  which comes from her personality. As a leader, she could use charisma and magnetism to appeal to her followers. An effective leader ideally needs to  utilize all the â€Å"tools of the trade† which would include both positional (legitimate) and personal (referent) powers. A leader could have a legitimate role and lead others by authority because he or she is the â€Å"boss†. However, an employee could have referent power but not be the â€Å"boss† of a company, attracting and inspiring many by a force of personality. If Anne utilized both powers together, she would not only lead by her authority, but also inspire and appeal to her subordinates with charisma. Having a leader who uses both positive legitimate power and referent power together would foster a committed staff. She would make an excellent leader since, â€Å"Commitment is superior to compliance because it is driven by internal or intrinsic motivation,† (Kreitner & Kinick, 2010). We will further discuss Anne’s use of these two powers below. Ewer’s Positional Power: Ewers has positional power as the current director of the opera and the future CEO of the merged entity. Her position as the leader/director gives her legitimate authority thus, positional power is the same as â€Å"legitimate power.† Those who work under Ewers must comply if they want to keep their job since she has the authority to make decisions and fire those who refuse to comply with her decisions. She could either use this authority in a positive manner as she manages her employees for in a negative manner. If she utilized her power positively, she would improve job performance and morale with her decisions. She could also use her power in a negative way by threatening to fire her employees and coercing them by fear tactics or shaming her employees by publicizing their failures. Ewers would want to call meetings with leaders of the opera and orchestra so that she may utilize her legitimate power to build confidence and commitment. She wants to foster leaders who will be committed to the endeavors of the company rather than merely comply with the new company because they want job security since â€Å"employees who merely comply require frequent ‘jolts’ of power to keep them headed in a productive direction. Committed employees tend to be self-starters†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Kreitner & Kinick, 2010). Anne Ewers would expect that her new team of leaders share her commitment towards forming a successful new company. Ewer’s Personal Power: The use of personal power that Anne Ewers would use to influence managers is necessary as a positive force for the organization. She will need to enlist the support and empower Keith Lockhart by utilizing what Kreitner &  Kinick calls, â€Å"referent power.† This power is gained through a leader’s strong personality and relational skills which influences the follower’s loyalty and admiration. A leader needs to â€Å"organize a group of people to achieve a common goal,† (Wikipedia, 2012). This power becomes an integral part of a leader’s personal power and plays an important role as the leader needs to collaborate and influence the followers’ support. Leading by influence has increasingly replaced leading by coercion and control. If Ewers utilizes her referent power, she could influence Keith Lockhart to towards leading the Symphony towards the merger. Ewer’s relationship to Lockhart is one in need of referent power. Ewers has a talent for reducing debt as she retired a $450,000 debt as the general director of the Boston Lyric Opera. She has a knack for fund-raising as well. She could empower Lockhart with these skills as they work side-by-side. Because Lockhart has the loyalty of those in the symphony, Ewers needs to use referent power in order to secure his commitment. Ewers could have a meeting with Lockhart and promise him the co-leader position in the merger process. He knows the history of the symphony and has the trust of the musicians. She can empower him by helping him to see the benefits of the merger. By appealing to Lockhart and endorsing his support, Ewers has a better chance of diminishing the opposition from the musicians. If she increases in her referent power, then a need for coercion which often necessitates the use of punishment, would decrease. Musician Platforms: The symphony musicians have secured through their union, an annual salary between $50,000 and $85,000 which is above the average salary for a musician. Their salaries, benefits, and payroll taxes, were to increase even more over the next two years due to the union’s bargaining agreement. Given an organization change, their salary agreement would be challenged. More than their concern regarding their salaries, they were concerned about the  future of their artistic excellence and whether the new organization would support them. They also have a felt need for a successful fund-raising effort, an improved budget strategy for the orchestra, and a strong collective bargaining agreement. Having the stability provided by the union with a good salary, support for their artistic excellence, and a strong bargaining agreement, the possibility of a merger comes as a more of a threat than as an opportunity for advancement. If Anne does not address the issues which the musicians raised, the organization would not survive on multiple levels. First, with the faltering economy, the orchestra still had a contractual obligation to pay the above average salaries as secured through their union. The organization would collapse under the financial pressure due to the economy, the high salaries, and the decreased funding for the arts. Second, there needs to be a strong leader with business savvy  who could challenge and revise the bargaining agreement of the musicians since their salaries, benefits, and payroll taxes were scheduled to increase even more over a couple years which would push them over the edge financially. Third, the organization is in dire need of a quality leader who would command their respect but who would also hold to the same standards of artistic excellence. The organization is in jeopardy due to a lack of leadership since the CEO of the symphony would be leaving after 2002. Recommendations: Since the musicians have presented their set of guiding principles through Christine Osborne, the musicians’ chairwoman, Ewers with the support of the board need to provide a response. The support of the musicians in the merging process is paramount to the future of the new organization. The future of the musicians in the newly organized symphony also depends upon Ewer and Lockhart as the future leaders. Ewers has positional power which is legitimate given her authority as the future CEO of the merged organization. The question is how she would utilize her legitimacy. Would she exert a positive or a negative legitimate power? She can use her power as a constructive force to unite the two organizations with a mutual vision for profitability and artistic excellence. Anne could use her referent power to solicit participation in fund-raising efforts. By using her referent power,  she can forge a team built on loyalty and commitment. Given the principles presented by the musicians, Ewers has the opportunity to demonstrate her positive legitimate power, her expert power in fund-raising, and her referent power in fostering commitment. First, Ewers needs to influence the leaders of both the Symphony and the Opera as the legitimate future CEO of the merged organizations. As a leader, she would need to cast her vision for the future and hopefully motivate the support of both organizations. She needs to use her referent power to develop selfconfidence and passion in her managers to lead their subordinates successfully. Secondly, she needs to address the financial implications of a failing organization by coming up with a revised budget which would prevail over the contracting financial resources. She would need to utilize her fund-raising experience to seek other sources of funding. Though the musicians have an agreement through the union for a certain salary, Anne would need to renegotiate a revised salary and benefits contract for all the performers which would fall within the revised budget. Ewer’s appeal for the musicians’ willingness to take a pay cut would pose a great challenge. However, she may place an emphasis on their self-interest and organizational interest to continue with the new organization. In order to succeed, she needs to utilize a political tactic of striking a balance between the musician’s self-interest with the interests of a new organization. Third, Anne needs to develop and empower a team of trusted individuals who she could target for specified needs of the merger. As we discussed earlier, the better outcome is to have subordinates who are internally motivated and committed towards the merger. Hopefully, she would develop a base of support by promoting the interest of the whole. Anne would rely on these individuals through â€Å"consultation, strong rational persuasion, and inspirational appeal,† influence tactics which we will further explore below (Kreitner & Kinick, 2010). Influence Tactics: Research performed in the 1980’s by David Kipnis and his colleagues resulted in him developing nine tactics which could be used in the workplace by managers in order to influence their subordinates (Kreitner & Kinick, 2010).  The first tactic is using rational persuasion which utilizes reason, knowledge, or facts to convince someone to comply. Second, a leader can use inspirational appeals to individuals’ emotions, beliefs, and values in order to build enthusiasm. The third tactic is called â€Å"consultation† which invites others to participate in the process of planning and decision making. The fourth tactic is to use ingratiation which uses flattery, praise, and friendliness to get individuals in a positive mood prior to making a request. The fifth tactic is to make personal appeals as with a friend. The sixth tactic is to make an exchange for a personal trade of a favor. The seventh tactic is to form a coalition by asking others to join and support the effort as a group. The eighth and ninth are negative tactics where by one uses pressure or intimidation to demand compliance. The last tactic is make a request (or demand) based on one’s legitimate authority, position, organizational rules, policies, or the support of the boss. The more effective tactics are the former ones since pressure, instillation of fear, or forcing compliance fosters a greater discontent in subordinates and can backfire. Anne Ewers can develop her power in order to synchronize and collaborate a newly established organization. She can use the influence tactic of inspirational appeal since many of those involved share the goal of wanting an organization which will protect their personal interest of a competitive salary and benefits package. The also want to build an excellent organization which will continue to foster their artistic talents. All involved agree that funding is diminishing and new sources need to be found. Ewers can use rational persuasion as an influence tactic to demonstrate her knowledge and experience in developing an effective fund-raising effort given her background. She could also use the tactic of consultation in order to invite others to join her endeavors. This will also allow her to delegate some of the necessary tasks in order to transition into a new organization. Conclusion: The task of bringing about a merger between the Utah Symphony Orchestra and Opera will involve the key people with the skills, knowledge and charisma. It will require not only a concerted effort from the board and the identified leaders, namely Anne Ewers and Keith Lockhart. Ewers has proven skills as a fund-raiser and a devoted manager. However, she will need to  learn new skills by utilizing her position and power to motivate and influence a teams with different cultures, the community, and challenge the opposition. She realizes that the task is far from easy but she seems to have a handle on the priorities in order to integrate the two organizations. References: Cliffe Notes, (2012). Retrieved from http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/ Motivation-Theories-Individual-Needs.topicArticleId-8944,articleId-8908.html DeLong, T. and Ager, D., (2004). HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http:// www.hbsp.harvard.edu. This document is authorized for use only in JFT2 — Organizational Management —14 by Faculty at Western Governors University from October 2012 to July 2014. Kreitner, R., Kinicke, A. (2010). Organizational Behavior, 9th Ed., McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York, NY. Wikipedia, (2012). Leadership retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Leadership.

Can You Teach Compassion?

Can You â€Å"Teach† Compassion As nurse educators, who could be a better example of teaching compassion to us than the Son of God Himself, Jesus Christ? Jesus was the ultimate teacher, healer, and lover of mankind. Matthew 9:35-39 states: â€Å"Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. ’†(NKJV) As Christians, Jesus Christ is our example of how to live. If Jesus could have compassion for those who He loved, so should we. We should show this compassion to our patients as we seek to help them reach healing. We should see k to teach our students how to have compassion for those that they will serve. Compassion, or caring, can be viewed as â€Å"nursing’s most precious asset† (Schantz, 2007), a fundamental element of nursing care (Dietze and Orb, 2000), and as one of the strengths of the profession.One can think of few other professions that are known for their â€Å"caring†. But this act of caring does not come naturally to the nursing student-it must be taught. The nurse educator must seek out specific exercises to instill caring practices in the nursing student. According to Wright (2004), â€Å"Society has witnessed an increase in the power of technology, and this appears to be mirrored in nursing, where the technical and managerial aspects of care take priority over care delivery – possibly because the expansion of nurses’ role has eroded the essence of nursing. The nurse of today is so busy with computer charting, monitoring, and the technical duties of nursin g that little time is actually left for â€Å"caring† for the patient. The nurse of today’s technology overloaded healthcare field must make a special effort to learn how to show compassion to his/her patients. Do nursing students understand compassionate care? According to Pearcey (2007), â€Å"student nurses considered that it was doing the little things for patients that constituted a caring approach. Pearcey goes on to offer the perspective that â€Å"nursing has a functional component or ‘doing’ role, as well as a ‘being’ role. † As human beings, we have all been touched by someone’s compassion for us. Therefore, most of us, including nursing students, have a basic understanding of what compassion is and how to administer it. That being said, nursing students do not automatically know how to integrate compassion into their daily nursing care and must be taught these skills. Dr. Patch Adams, M. D. (2011) of the Gesundheit In stitute has studied the value of compassionate care and its positive effect on holistic care.He has encouraged, challenged, and enticed medical schools to include compassion training in their programs. Dr. Adams has suggested that medical (and nursing) students be included in a two-year study of compassion to help them learn to recognize, appreciate, and integrate compassion into every aspect of the care they give. His suggestions for a small student group study of compassion include: 1. Keep a journal about your relationship to love and compassion. What is it? Ask everyday—How are you giving it? (Pay close attention. Be present. ) How are you receiving it? From everything, from strangers, from trees, etc. ) 2. Do outrageous things for love, like clowning. 3. Actually see if you can produce the vibration of compassion for prolonged periods. What sustains it? (friends, having meaning, fun †¦ ) What hurts it? (arrogance, apathy, tight underwear †¦ ) Are there times yo u do not want to be compassionate? 4. Be observant of compassion in action around you, everywhere. Give details of its languages. 5. Become aware of compassionate projects around the world and plan on at least one elective at a project.Post these projects on this website and ideally how to contact them. 6. Explore the language of love and compassion. Read psychologists and poets, write essays on things you love. Add books you love to our book list. 7. How do you recognize love/compassion? Are there measurements? 8. Do we invite professors in on our exploration? Who? 9. How do you change performances of compassion in different situations? 10. At the small weekly meetings, find easy ways to present your findings to the group. Mention difficulties and ways they were overcome.Search for common languages to speak of these things. Keep notes. Bring questions for the group and preceptor. Integrating these discussion topics to be used in small nursing student groups could effectively teach the nursing student to administer compassionate nursing care. Not to say that teaching compassion to nursing students is an easy job. Not only is compassion difficult to define, but even more difficult to measure, leading to a broad range of definitions and measurements that confound and discourage the teacher and the student.Newton (2010) argues that â€Å"the key to developing a compassionate nurse is being a role model for them so they know how to act with patients and what kinds of approaches to care they should take. Too often, we make assumptions that a junior nurse instinctively â€Å"knows† how to wash or feed a patient or how to deliver fundamental care. † In conclusion, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2008) emotions like compassion can be taught. The healthcare providers and patients expect and demand that nurses provide compassionate care.The challenge exists for nurse educators to model and teach compassionate nursing care i n an ever-demanding, technologically growing nursing profession. References: Adams, P. (2011, March). Education of compassion. Patch Adams M. D. & Gesundheit! Institute. Retrieved from http://patchadams. org/education-in-compassion-update-march-2011 Dietze, E. V. , Orb, A. (2000) Compassionate care: a moral dimension in nursing. Nursing Inquiry; 7: 3, 166-174. Fields, J. (2008, March 27). Can you really teach compassion? New study says yes. jonathanfields. Retrieved from http://www. jonathanfields. com/blog/can-you-really-teach-compassion-new-study-

Unhealthy Diets

Final Draft Compare and Contrast: Unhealthy Diets Fast food as we all know; its tasty, handy, and inexpensive. In our day and age it is extremely easy to maintain an unhealthy diet, as opposed to a healthy one. There are some main factors to why, unhealthy and fast food is cheap and easy to get, second reason is because fast food is located almost everywhere and the advertisements can be very persuading, and last is because people simply do not have enough time to make a home cooked meal. This overall can be avoided and healthy food can be the healthy alternative.But fast food is still the priority for the majority of people when looking for a meal. The first reason is that unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy food, which causes more people to buy unhealthy food that is bad for you. Buying higher priced healthy food would do much better for you than any fast food place. Fast food causes people to become unhealthy, gain weight, and maybe even gain a disease. Fast food has bad conseq uences but still is bought constantly on a daily basis. But healthy food prevents you from gaining weight, unhealthy diseases, and keeps you healthy.So why is healthy food not acknowledged as much as unhealthy food is, because of the cheap attractive prices for fast food. Not all healthy food is actually expensive but people do not have the time to find alternatives that would actually benefit them. For example, sharing a foot long sub from subway with a co-worker or classmate can be better than the occasional fast food. This is not the only way you can avoid an unhealthy diet but there is no way to avoid the advertisements. Eating healthy is not as easy as it seems to be, or is it?There seems to be a lot of fast food advertisements everywhere but not so many healthy choices are on their menu, which brings up the second reason. Is it really harder to keep a healthy diet rather than an unhealthy one, maybe? Or people are not looking good enough for other options. In our society, it i s very easy to even fall into an unhealthy diet because of people and media influencing us to do so. There many advertisements for unhealthy fast food but not as much for healthy food. You will see all the advertisements of new cheap deals for unhealthy fast food such as billboards, television product placement, or ven friends trying to inform you on cheap meals. But that should not give you a reason to give in and start an unhealthy diet. You can as easy as look around your area for fast food restaurants that offer healthy food. Or it can be as simple as continuing going to the fast food restaurant you usually attend but instead order something healthy. These are small but important ways of how to avoid an unhealthy diet. There are in fact at least a few other ways you can get out of eating unhealthy junk food.Here comes the option of having to cook for yourself, but not many people have that time or are too lazy to. Even cooking home meals has almost become obsolete because of eve ryone being in a rush to eat. Finally, people might not even like the frequent visits to fast food restaurants but are â€Å"forced to† just because they do not have enough time to have a home cooked meal. This can be the result of having a family to provide for, with having to work long hours, to much time spent in class, studying, or maybe even both. And even young students are accustomed to an unhealthy diet on a regular daily basis.There also people who just are too lazy to cook or at least make a sandwich at home for their next day at work or school. Money is also a main result of this because students do not have enough money to spend everyday on food that is more than their 0. 99-cent cheeseburger. That seems to be more amusing to people and they rather do that everyday then staying healthy and preparing healthy food. This is why there should be more advertisement that persuades people to buy healthy cheap affordable food. Fast food will probably be the most common foo d resource only because of the laziness of people not eating healthy food.Also because of the appealing cheap prices and delicious taste. And healthy food will probably stay underrated even though should be the first choice for fast food. Hopefully home cooked meals will be considered more often and taken into action. Unhealthy fast food restaurants will always have more advertisements than healthy advertisements because of all the customers that the restaurant receives. So instead of giving into a simple unhealthy diet, take your time to notice the healthy food and start your own healthy diet. 1

Myanmar Government a Help or a Hindrance Research Paper

Myanmar Government a Help or a Hindrance - Research Paper Example It is the hope of this author that such a level of discussion and analysis will be beneficial in engaging a more definitive understanding of the issue of systemic corruption and the means by which it impacts upon a society. Regardless of the metric or scale that is employed, it is clear and apparent that the issue of corruption and the manner through it affects the economy is differentiated and cannot be understood categorically. Complicating this issue further is the fact that corruption exists to a different degree and different level within regions, counts, states, provinces, and governments throughout the world. On the whole, scholars have focused upon research questions that discuss the negative ramifications that corruption has upon overall economic growth. Whereas this particular discussion is certainly useful, it fails to capture the underlying truth that corruption is not a static force with respect to reducing overall economic potential/output. Instead, as has been briefly noted above, the differentials that have been enumerated help to create a situation in which corruption affects different entities and people/groups/governments in unique ways.1 Beyond this understanding, it should also be realized that certain countries with a very high degree of corruption can exhibit a surprising level of overall economic growth; whereas other countries that exhibit nearly the same level of corruption face a situation in which static or negative economic growth takes place. As a function of seeking to expound upon this seemingly incongruous fact, the following analysis will be concentric upon analyzing why this might be the case. It is the hope of this author that such a level of discussion will provide the reader with a more definitive and differentiated understanding of corruption within the modern world and the means through which certain nations are able to continue to grow under

Women in Muslim Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Women in Muslim Society - Essay Example Therefore, the requisite of belief for Muslims is a relatively simple one; if you recognize that the ancient prophets had some conception of the true nature of God, then you are capable of leading a holy and virtuous path. Faith demands adherence to the code of laws, and a recognition of the nature of mankind and his place within the world. The Qur'an makes it clear that no restrictions should be placed upon who can be saved spiritually based upon sex, culture, race, class, or the actions of others. However, these stipulations upon entry into heaven do not formally empower women in their social relationships. Although a person of any sex or ethnicity possesses the capacity to recognize Allah as the one true God and Muhammad as his prophet in virtually all Muslim societies, many of these societies rely upon tribal law and gender traditions to determine particular power structures. The consequence of this is that in a number of Muslim societies women are explicitly identified as being inferior to men and, accordingly, are forced to occupy purely subservient positions. Of course, violence against women has been recognized as a global pandemic, which is not at all exclusive to the Islamic world: "The situation has lead public health experts to consider violence against women a global public health issue, one requiring a public health approach."1 Domestic abuse is common across virtually all cultures and religions to a very high degree; but in many Islamic societies - the Arab world in particular - violence against women could be far more prevalent than in the West, stemming partially from the underground, behind-closed-door character of women in these societies and partially from the widespread acceptance of domestic violence by the male-dominated, ruling sects. As a result, "Research carried out in several Arab countries, however, shows that at least one out of three women is beaten by her husband."2 It has been argued by a number of Western theorists that violence is endemic to Muslim societies; violence against those of other religions and violence against those occupying a lower-rung on the social ladder - women - are both justified within the overall Muslim worldview, according to these theorists. In Islam, within any given community, the rights of the underprivileged are such that they are justified in overthrowing those institutions that are deemed unjust, so long as the injustice lies clearly outside the teachings of the Qur'an. One of the difficulties with this position is that if the practices of other societies are unjust with respect to the teachings of Muhammad and Islam, then there is good reason to work to physically bring down these societies so they better adhere to the paths of virtue. So, quite often, cross-societal violence is clearly justified. But the reverse of this situation is also superficially justified; if the underprivileged of society are deemed to be behaving in an immoral manner, then violence against them is also justified. Although comprehensive studies and, therefore, accurate data is scarce, is has been often suggested that this justification for violence against women is quite prevalent in nations such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.3 Efforts to overcome these rationalizations for such violence have come largely from the West, though much of the propaganda has been aimed at appealing

Analyzing the Value in the Arts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analyzing the Value in the Arts - Essay Example This relates to the initial question in this discussion. Would I buy an artwork not created by the one who signed it? Would I buy if it was an exact copy? There are four ways this problem can be argued or viewed against. The first is the aesthetic valuation. The artist who copies the original also copies the aesthetic value of the original. Everything that the original artist created or wished to depict has been reproduced and visually offers the exact same aesthetic experience. So, aesthetically speaking, the valuation would be equal. However, if we have prior knowledge that this work of art was originally created by someone else, historically, the value would be otherwise. The historical value of an â€Å"original† Monet would be different from a reproduction. In today’s world when making copies has become much easier through newer mediums such as screening, copies made by the artist himself or herself would hold well on the ethical scale. But if the copy was not sanc tioned by the artist, the ethical value would drop. We must remember that the value of originality is a composite: that is, the value of this piece would still remain high on visual and aesthetic grounds but may fall on ethical and historical grounds. Finally, let us see what the above analysis have an effect on the value of the art piece in monetary terms.

Business plan brief Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business plan brief - Research Paper Example In other circumstances, sun block is also incorporated in moisturizers. Hawaiian Tropics aims to provide a new sun block makeup line which incorporates the sun protection offered by typical sun block together with the physical enhancements of makeup. The new product is aimed to be a fusion of these two typically separate products. In so doing, the line will be addressing the need of women on the go as this requires lesser application time. The two-in-one product will allow women to retouch their makeup and put on sun block anytime they need them. After looking at the market, Hawaiian Tropics' decision is to target transitioners who are either A or C. In terms of age, these markets are seen to be often seeking for beauty products in order to enhance their physical appearance and have confidence in themselves. Being in the stage of transitioning from teens to adulthood, this age group desires to have products which will enable them gain confidence when dealing with other people and are more likely using both makeup and sun block. The choice of going after customers using makeup and sun block together or separately is justified by the fact that these are the most profitable market.

Hazard and Vulnerability Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hazard and Vulnerability Analysis - Essay Example Hazard vulnerability analysis is defines as the identification of potential disasters or emergency situations and the effects, both direct and indirect, that these situations may have on operations (Cutter 9). The main purpose of hazard and vulnerability analysis is to help the affected community to make the right choices that will help them address the vulnerabilities that they face. The analysis also helps in mitigating hazards and in the preparation for response and recovery efforts. Every emergency program should have a mechanism for hazard and vulnerability analysis (Wisner, Blaike and Cannon 17). In order to make accurate predictions for future events, it is important that the analysts collect the relevant information from different sources. This information should be relevant to the current situation and it should help in the creation of mitigating measures. The kind of data that should be collected during analysis includes everything about the nature and the causes of previous events. The frequency and/or intensity of previous disasters, as well as their magnitude should be included in the analysis. Information about the effects that the disaster may have had in a given area is also important for the purpose of analysis of the current situation (Turner and Kasperson 37). When the data has been collected, it is easy for the analyst’s to map the location of the potential and past hazards. This way, it easy to get information through the use of satellite images, aerial photography and remote sensing technology (Cutter 52). Predictive information can be derived from hydrology, seismology, meteorology and volcanology data. This kind of information can be found in most government agencies and some private institutions (Wisner, Blaike and Cannon, 47). Other data can be found in core databases to help in decision making (Turner and Kasperson 42). The business sector is most likely to be affected by earthquakes. This is because

To what extent did the Cuban intervention shape Angola (1975-1991) Assignment

To what extent did the Cuban intervention shape Angola (1975-1991) - Assignment Example I will also refer to the Library of Congress Country Studies. In section B, I will discuss the first Cuban intervention, global response to the event, Cubas second involvement, and The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. In C, I will evaluate my sources and in D, provide an analysis of evidence. In consequence, to analysis, I will formulate a conclusion to my research in E. The Portuguese colonization of Angola began in the sixteenth century and continued until 1975. In 1974, following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, an extreme right wing Portuguese government was replaced by a moderate democracy (Birmingham 184). At the time, three major revolutionary factions operated in Angola; MPLA, UNITA and FNLA. In January 1975, at a meeting held in Kenya, Portugal recognized the MPLA, UNITA, and FNLA as three independent and equal political movements (LOC). Further meeting in Alvor, Portugal, resulted in the agreement of independence on 11 November 1975 with a transitional government in place until that date (LOC). The transitional government, which was an equal unity between all three movements, was sworn in on 31 January 1975 (Smith 66). Disputes quickly erupted between members of the newly formed government. Pro-western FNLA which was heavily influenced by the United States was at odds with Soviet and Cuban-backed MPLA (LOC). The U.S refused to accept MPLA as a major player in the unity government due to their strong Soviet ties and Marxist inclinations (Smith 69). An arms race began between these two factions leading to the U.S. funding UNITA for the first time (LOC). Fighting which initially began in Luanda spread to the entire country. In July 1975, in response to a request by MPLA leader Antonio Neto to provide support against international imperialism, Cuba set up four centers for military training in Angola (CIA). On 11 August 1975, Cuban Major Raà ºl Diaz Argà ¼elles proposed to Fidel Castro a military

Ecotourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ecotourism - Essay Example The World Tourism Organization (WTO) (n.d., p.4) defines ecotourism as a form of tourism having the characteristic of a â€Å"nature-based form of tourism† that attracts travellers who are seeking to visit natural spots, especially those that have preserved their â€Å"traditional cultures and natural sceneries.† Other characteristics of ecotourism are the following: (i) â€Å"contains educational and interpretation features; (ii) organised for small, locally-owned businesses and foreign operators that organised ecotourism tourism tours for small groups; (iii) lessens the negative effect on the natural and socio-cultural environment† (WTO, n.d., p.4). Ecotourism opens vast opportunities to local areas and small-sized companies, which eventually improves the status of living (WTO, n.d., p.5). It also encourages the local communities and tourists on paying attention to environmental preservation, especially nowadays in which the impact of environmental destruction is highly apparent (p.5). Argument: Ecotourism as a Minor Market Segment Ecotourism has found a competent position in a niche market within the tourism industry where it is being run by certain market forces and policies (Wood, 2002, p.10). In the market, ecotourism is usually being promoted as nature tourism (p.10). Nevertheless, this small, but gradually growing market segment is being developed to become a key driver of growth in the tourism industry.... In the market, ecotourism is usually being promoted as nature tourism (p.10). Nevertheless, this small, but gradually growing market segment is being developed to become a key driver of growth in the tourism industry. Still, there is a growing concern over the social and environmental policies and programs that nations implement to support ecotourism. Some nations are determined to enforce socio-environmental policies and programs for the improvement of ecotourism, but other nations are not that stern to implement such programs and policies (Wood, 2002, p.10). As a consequence, there is a variation with regard to how nations interpret ecotourism, and why it is deemed a major or minor sector of the tourism market in different nations. Ecotourism is under nature tourism, but it is as well connected to rural and cultural tourism. Most often, ecotourism is categorised as a small-scale tourism, since it caters only a limited number of tourists with them, seeking for the services of small tour groups and hotels; these hotels are those that have no more than 100 beds usually owned by small and medium-sized companies (Wood, 2002, p.11). Ecotourism is a market segment that focuses on the accommodation of small groups, hence, guiding them to natural areas in a way that is educational enough for them to realise the value of the place (p.11). Ecotourism in the UK There is not much of information with regard to the sector of ecotourism in the UK. Most of the time, the information is more on the tourism industry as a whole and not on ecotourism as a major part of the industry. Nevertheless, it has been stated that ecotourism comprised 20% of the entire tourism market (Hodgson, 2012). With this

Sources of Power in an Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sources of Power in an Organization - Essay Example He asserts that many researchers have been struggling to come up with more sources but â€Å"For the most part, French and Raven’s list remains intact†. Therefore, we keep our discussion restricted to these five sources of power of which the first three are about power that the person receives from the organization because of his position, and the last two are about power that a person brings to the organization. 1) Legitimate Power It is that power which is given to the members from the organization with the help of which they can demand certain behaviors from other members. Members of one position can ask members of other positions to do a task for them, for example, employees may be empowered to ask for customer information from the database if need be. This legitimate power involves mutual agreement between employees with which they are able to respond to each other. If a project manager demands that his subordinate should spend extra hours on the module, his power can be restricted if the latter has not signed the mutual agreement. 2) Reward Power It is the power that an employee enjoys when he has â€Å"to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove negative sanctions (i.e., negative reinforcement)† (Alexandrou). Managers have the power to decide which employees are liable for rewards like bonuses, vacations, promotions and allowances. Employees also have the power to influence the promotions of their supervisors through 360 degree feedback system. 3) Coercive Power This power enables employees to ask their authorities to punish other employees like firing or demoting them. Team members have the power of, for example, sarcasm to make the team members work efficiently and conform to the norms. The main aim of coercive power is to control the negative behavior shown by employees in an organization so that overall wellness of the organizational culture is achieved. This way, the overall co-worker performance is also enhanced. Hence, this source is considered as a beneficial aspect of power. 4) Expert Power This power comes from within the person, with which he is able to influence others through his skills, capabilities and knowledge. Military persons can be helpful in organizations due to their military capabilities. Doctors can bring their expertise to the organizations and can help others with their doctoral capabilities and power. Lawyers can be helpful to organizations because they provide their expert advice in many situations. This is all expert power that enables them to bring changes to the organization through their informed decisions and expertise. Expert power has gained significance since the concept of knowledge based organizations have arise where different sorts of expertise group together to form a powerful union. 5) Referent Power This power enables an individual to inspire others so much that others start following them and referring them to others. People start liking and re specting these persons and talk about their charisma. My Organization My hospital setting mostly enjoys legitimate power. Here, I give examples from my organizational environment to make my point clear. Employees in my organization are required to sign a mutual agreement according to which they give their consent whether they are ready to provide their services when they are required by employees belonging to any other position. A resident physician can ask the authorities to assign him an internee physician to

Reflective Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Reflective - Essay Example Besides, the aspect of professional behaviour is amalgamation of two different words profession and behaviour in which profession referred as the work that requires particular skill and involve high-level education as well as competencies in an individual. On the other hand, behaviour is regarded as way of acting or behaving in a particular scenario. Thus, based on the above analysis and discussion, I understood that professional behaviour is the approach of reflection of professionalism. Besides, in the overall respect, if we behave in a professional manner, then we will be able to uphold good respect over the public. On the other hand, it has also been reflected that if we tends towards behaving in a professional manner, it will significantly assist in uplifting our career and improve the overall working environment. The learning module assisted me with the aspect that in order to ensure professional behaviour, we must tend to compel the assigned rule and law in the professional ground. For instance, in a business, the accountants are needed to ensure that their work is conducted in accordance with the rules and the standards, which are applicable in the field of accounting. Moreover, the aspect not only emphasis the written rules and conduct, but also includes unwritten aspects in much ethical manner ensuring reduction of possible disrepute over the professions. Nevertheless, in the working environment, professional activities are highly interlinked, as an individual breaking his/her professional practice and code of conduct will create significant impact over the entire profession. Based on discussion of the learning module, I can affirm the fact that professional conduct is acting and governing the activities in a professional manner. In this respect, code of conduct is regarded as an important approach of ethical benchmark of the professional practice. Additionally, I can

How does the media shape our perception of crime and the criminal Research Paper

How does the media shape our perception of crime and the criminal justice system - Research Paper Example The media have a role in informing and even educating the public about such themes, but it must always be remembered that this is not the only, and often not the primary, function of mass media. Media exist in a business world where they must generate revenue, and they are driven by market forces as much as ethics and attention to veracity and an accurate representation of reality. Against this background it is important to ask the question whether, and in what way the mass media change people’s perception of crime and whether this increases their own fear of crime occurring in their own personal sphere. A number of empirical studies, mostly based in the United States of America, have tried to pin down exactly what the effects of media are on people’s perceptions of crime and the criminal justice system. ... al news does have an effect on people, but that â€Å"when the news is closer to the everyday lives of the viewers, it will have more input to their fears,† (Chiricos, Padgett and Gertz: 2000, p. 779) The frequency of viewing local news was found to be significant for viewers’ fear of crime and the authors note that a preoccupation with violent crime in local news is doubly harmful for residents in high crime areas because it resonates with them much more than with residents in affluent and low crime areas, who see it as something distant which does not affect them. Another large study looked at differences in the way that local news media, and especially local television, depict urban and suburban crime, in a sample of 7,667 local news stories drawn from the whole of the United States. (Yanich: 2004, p. 541) This study is important because it provides statistical evidence of the proportion of news broadcasting time devoted to crime (around 28%), which makes it the pred ominant or second-most frequent story in all of the newscasts. When the crime reporting was analysed further, it transpired that court stories were prominent, 35-38% which is explained by the relative ease of obtaining information in the local area, the cost-saving ability to use material from previous reporting of the actual crime, and, significantly, â€Å"court stories offer court news as miniseries – the media trial – in which the media co-opt the criminal justice system as a source of high drama and entertainment. (Yanich: 2004, p. 544) Yanich also observed a phenomenon which he describes as â€Å"crime creep† whereby crimes occurring in suburban areas are more often reported than crimes occurring in urban areas, using a motif of advancing waves of crime spreading out from the core city to the

Will come Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Will come - Essay Example Dean Black wood represented Revenant Records and was relevant in deriving fundamental information about phantoms project (Sullivan 274). Moreover, John Jeremiah Sullivan conducted various interviews on the dynamics of music and artists. Indeed, Sullivan interviewed Gayle Dean Wardlow about Booker Miller. Apparently, the interview helped Sullivan to understand prewar. Notably, Booker Miller derived fundamental authority since he was a prewar player (Sullivan 276). Moreover, the interview helped Sullivan to connect with Charley Patton since Booker Miller had an apprenticeship with Charley Patton (Sullivan 276). John Jeremiah Sullivan also used readings to research about music, artists, and music scholars. He quoted the works of Robert Palmer who referred to rock n’ roll music as deep blues. The research helped Sullivan to establish how rock n’ roll music became dominant among the youth across the globe (Sullivan 275). John Jeremiah Sullivan also referred to the works of Wald who helped the author to analyze Robert Johnson and his music. Through Wald, Sullivan derives how, when, and the types of songs played by Robert Johnson in different occasions (Sullivan 269). The research methods and sources used by Sullivan were fundamental in understanding the origin of different genres of music. Apparently, the essay was relevant as a story ab out

Current Trends Within the Mobile Phone Sector Essay

Current Trends Within the Mobile Phone Sector - Essay Example This is obviously a recent phenomenon with the advancement of the smartphone, which now has captured as much as 70 percent of the entire mobile phone market in many Western countries (Azizi 2012). Because of this, it is found that the average mobile phone user now spends as much as seven hours more per month with their phone than they did just a mere year ago. This trend is further reflective of the reality that mobile phone devices themselves are much more ubiquitous today than they were in yesteryear, as they can do so much more for us than was ever really envisioned. In fact, this trend leads one to believe if the actual word ‘phone’ will be replaced in the future, as the devices do so much more than allowing for just simple voice to voice communication, the likes of which many today do not even consider to be the primary use of the mobile phone in the first place. Individual consumers and organizations alike are beginning to learn new capabilities and demanding more for their mobile phones, which is certainly setting a trend for future competitiveness within the industry itself for years to come. One leader researcher for consumer trends notes that people today, globally, are looking for and expecting a new experience with the technology that they purchase and utilize in their daily lives (Borges 2012). Within this discipline, mobile phones are at the cutting edge of a technological revolution because so many people depend on them for their productivity and communication needs today.This assignment and module have proven most effective as it has enabled to gain a perspective of how modern day consumer needs are being driven largely by technology.   Something as basic to a human organization as a telephone continues to be driven by feature-rich applications, ever light models, and a propensity to outdo competitors with new technology that there is seemingly no end in sight.   Two worldwide companies were highlighted, and they certainly refle ct the lion’s share of this particular industry, but they are by no means the only players in the business.   In the end, any company who can gain a certain level of name recognition with a particular demographic group, and can provide the consumer with the features and ease of use that they desire, will have a role to play in the future.   The Chinese firm of Huawei, for example, has capitalized by the lack of interest in the developing world to this world expressed by the major phone manufacturers, and they have risen to become the world’s fourth-largest smartphone maker.   That has solidified in my mind the power of developing a niche.   One does not have to be the largest to be successful.   With a bit of ingenuity and forward progressive thinking, the marketplace can be opened in new and profitable ways.        

PROJECT 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

PROJECT 1 - Essay Example The use of the mobile phone for the group was advanced to the extent that they knew how to download music from online sites, but the usage had not been used to improve levels of literacy considerably. The researchers reported the use of mobile phones as exceptionally advanced for the group, and therefore a channel that promoted levels of literacy. The researchers emphasized the role that the use of mobile phones played in the social lives of the people living in the remote community, and went further to maintain that the usage was core to the levels of literacy attained. The ideas used to support the arguments include that the exchange between the mother and the child showed considerably developed uses of the phone as a tool for fostering literacy among the members of the community. 2. Connolly, T. M., Boyle, E. A., MacArthur, E., Hainey, T., & Boyle, J. M. (2012). A systematic literature review of empirical evidence on computer games and serious games. Computers &Education, 59(2), 661–686. The analysis of the findings and the context reported from the 129 studies showed that exposure to computer games improved some skills, including those that were important to the learning of students. The skill areas reported to benefit from playing games included cognitive, perceptual; affective and also the learner’s levels of motivation for learning. The study revealed that the positive effects of playing digital games is widespread, therefore an area that calls for the exploration of the relationship further, so that it can be used to foster learning. The authors emphasized the importance of digital games in the learning of the students aged 14 and higher, by pointing out that it affected a variety of the skill areas that foster or limit learning. In conclusion, the position taken about the materials was that more study is needed, so as to

Outsourcing Information Technology and Security Essay Example for Free

Outsourcing Information Technology and Security Essay This can be defined as the employment done to another company by an organization for the service provision in information technology or security services rather than the use of the corporate workers in the performance of such a duty. With the growing intensity of commercial activities the concepts of strategic management has been of importance in formulating various structures and economies in the business activity. Managers have consistently understood the role played by external outsourcing. Such is done is the recognition of the economies of scale and economies in the cost factor which the organization would have been affected. The Elite Supercars can be voted in as one of the global organizations where outsourcing has never been compromised. However a deep concern into the principles of economies of cost factor have been put into consideration. Firstly, an importance is attached to the scale of adequacy in terms of levels of ability for the service provider. Since the provision of both the information technology and security services call for technical pursuits from the providers, the choice of service providers has been in recognition of their technical abilities and competencies. Either, the outsourcing activity has still been in evaluation of the cost parameters. Through this activity, the company was to get a relatively lower scale in its costs. However, a scrutiny and evaluation was done by the management in accordance with the cost factors in choosing various clients against their quality of services. The choice of the clients by the company was indeed a compliment of lower costing service sales above high quality service inputs. Above all other factors, the evaluation of the environmental factors in the activity was a factor. However the two choices were complimentarily environmental friendly within the organizational setup With Elite Supercars, outsourcing information technology and security has been important complements in its activities. This is a car manufacturing company with its roots at Singapore. However to it, outsourcing of the above two corporate factors draws a question of high concern. Firstly, with its increased manufacturing activity, the company had to outsource development of various software useful in the organization’s processes. In the 1st November 2006, the company’s CEO released a press release, where it had contracted the Northern Ferrari Hire for developing an outsourcing program through the web marketing. This was to involve various software on strategic marketing modalities. Perhaps, the impressive sales turn over embraced by the company can be credited to this fact. Through the program, the company is able to adequately provide an attractive package of marketing services to its customers. Through this method, customers have closer relationship with the company where it can adequately communicate with them through the Internet. Suchan, Charles, 2006) Some various examples show the implementation success of this activity. This activity by the organization’s implementation of the program has even driven it to its extended boundaries of its activities. The program was provisional and to a strategy in various accounting components. Firstly, it was a way of optimal costing. As an important tool in an organization, optimal costing implies efficiency in the activity performance. Optimal costing is also seen as the economical method in use of organizational resources. To the Elite Supercars, outsourcing of information technology is a complement of various efficiency-costing benefits. The information outsourcing therefore shows a big success in the company’s costing system where it has obtained various efficiencies related to the program. Through use of an external supply, the organization had various benefits ascribed to it in terms of the costs. Like an external contract, the activity itself was less costing than the use of its own staff. Either, this activity by its own required a high scale of technological know how about it. In regard to its inexperienced employees, outsourcing is still fundamental in the implementation success of the program. Elite Supercars was not strong and able enough to provide the set of competent staff allied to this facility. Either well, to the organization, the provision of a set of technical staff on information technology was not economical enough in relation to the cost factor of the broad organizational activity. However to the company, perhaps the greatest benefit from the project was the consequent development and growth of its sales turn over. Since the enactment of program, the company has continued to experience high sales volume. Above this, there have been various efficiencies in terms of the marketing factor. There has been a continued reduction in the cost of marketing through the various effecienciess and economies of scale borne out of the process. (Cantwell, Alfonso, Granstrand, 2004) Outsourcing, by the Elite Supercars on security has been fundamentally one its management activities. From the past experience in insecurity and theft of its cars at their manufacturing site, the company had to seek refuge of finding a storage facility for its cars. To the company, it chose to use the facility of storage that had been constructed by Dutch Authorities. With the same storage facility, the organization experiences lower cases of theft (if any) to its highly priced cars. Formerly, the increasing state of loss of cars had become a problem which threatened the company in being out of the industry. It had continued to get higher levels of losses through the theft of its cars. At one level therefore, the facility offered cost saving attributes through reduced scales of care theft. (Domberger, 1998) The move to use the storage facility provided by the Dutch Authorities was perhaps one of it strategic management goals. Construction of its own facility was a factor seen as increasing the level of its cost factor consequently. The construction of its own shortage facility was to involve a high level of cost factor compared to the level of its operational capacity. This is an attribute of success in the implementation of the program. Since prevention of car from theft was still a factor of consideration, the opportunity cost of not constructing its own facility was basically to be through the use of another facility. Otherwise, the loss that could accrue from the loss of the cars through theft was far beyond the cost outlay got from the payment to the external shortage. Therefore, the security outsourcing program was itself a factor of high attribute in the success of the company’s activities. To the current period, security problem is no longer an issue and the company continues to embrace the broad economies allied to these out sources. Broadly therefore, outsourcing activity by the company shows a strategic management tool towards the organization activity. The company embraces the long run benefits of these two programs.

Significant Meanings Regarding the Myth of Cronus Essay Example for Free

Significant Meanings Regarding the Myth of Cronus Essay As Hesiod stated in Theogony (126-491), the Titan son, Cronus was born to the Greek God of the sky Uranus, and Gaia, the mother of earth. Cronus had eleven Titan brothers and sisters, and was the brother of three Cyclops, as well as the invincible Hecatonchires. For no particularly defined reason, after each of his children were born, Uranus chose to hide them in the depths of the earth or Gaia. At one point, Gaia devised a plan to free her children, which led to the removal of Uranus from power. In doing so, Cronus was now in control of the throne during the Golden Ages. After doing so, Cronus chose his sister Rhea as his mate. For fear that his promised destiny envisioned him being dethroned by his offspring, much like the fate of his father, Cronus swallowed each of his offspring as they were born, until one day being deceived by Rhea; which allowed his son Zeus to become the new ruler of all. (Pages 60, 67-70). The story about Cronus is one of the most important myths in Greek Mythology as it explains the very basics of human nature, thoughts and desires when combined with greed, overconfidence, and power. Although Cronus strived for everlasting power, and was willing to do anything to stay in control, he may have been emotionally torn in regards to the methods he took. This is stressed repeatedly in the fact that as stated by Morford, Lenardon and Sham in Classical Mythology; most depictions of Cronus show him to be sad or depressed and always with his sickle in hand (Page 70). The fact that he is displayed as sad demonstrates that with all the power in the world, he still is not happy with what he is. The sickle represents the fact that he is continuously on guard against possible actions against him as well as the brute force that he will use in order to retain power. Although not mythical creatures, political figures have allowed this to occur in our recent history. Regardless of their initial reasoning for taking office, at times political leaders get so wrapped up in the power that their office represents that they imprison or slaughter political opponents, and strip certain rights away from citizens due to the aranoia that they face. Modern day examples of this could be seen in countries such as North Korea, Iran and a fragment of the United States population may also claim America is headed in this direction. This demonstrates that regardless of initial motivations, leaders occasionally stray from their natural behavior once they are faced with possible resistance. The harsh actions carried out by Cronus may have also been fueled by the harsh treatment and abandonment that he felt was carried out by his father Uranus. Based on the tactics Cronus carried out once he was in power, it is safe to conclude that he did not necessarily oppose the actions his father carried out as much as he simply opposed the fact that those actions were directed at him, and limited his rise to power. Cronus had every opportunity to become a hero in this story, however due to the fall of grace that he witnessed with Uranus; the idea that he may lose control of his kingdom quickly controlled his actions and turned him into a paranoid villain at the end. It is quite possible that if Uranus as a role model to Cronus chose a different path in regards to handling his power, Cronus may have reacted differently if or when he was given the chance to lead. Another lesson this story exhibits is that regardless of people thinking they know best, human beings more often than not repeat the same mistakes that their previous generations made in the past. As Hesiod stated in Theogony (459-467), there would be negative repercussions for the actions that Cronus was taking, regardless of this, he continued on his path for absolute power (Page 69). Common day examples of this phenomenon can be seen in everyday life. Individual action such as the tragic results of drinking and driving or smoking still take place today, regardless of the fact that we already know the possible long term repercussions of these actions. On a larger scale, it can also be seen with global events such as repeated wars with no foreseen positive outcome. Repeated mistakes and consequences have tainted both our world and Classical Mythology throughout the ages. The fact that Cronus was deceived into believing a simple stone was Zeus as Hesiod stated in Theogony (481-491) displayed that Cronus fell victim to overconfidence regarding his plan to retain control of power, or at the very least was an example a lack of vigilance. (Page 70). Regardless of all the protocols that Cronus was taking in order to retain complete power; one remote instance of carelessness during a critical moment in his life eventually led to his downfall. Hesiod was attempting to demonstrate that regardless of the situation one fines themselves in; you should never be so overconfident that you become complacent. In a time before modern science and vast exploration of the earth, the story surrounding the life of Cronus was a means to clarify the unexplainable negative actions some people make in regards to human nature and society. The classical mythology surrounding Cronus demonstrated missteps, lack of judgment, greed and insecurities that led to his eventual downfall. The actions of Cronus were simply driven by his ambition to gain and retain power. The downfall of Cronus was mostly brought upon by his insecurities as well as greed. Cronus was brought into existence by Hesiod in order to display the insecurities and irrational behaviors of some of those in power. It served as a metaphor at that time, one that is still effective as displayed in politics today. Politics aside, it also served an example of the common evil and greed that is displayed on a daily basis in our world. The rise and fall of Cronus has taught many important lessons that were significant when it was written and the lessons still hold true to this day.

Water resources management in India

Water resources management in India CHAPTER III India is facing a serious problem of natural resource scarcity, especially that of water in view of population growth and economic development[1]. The annual average rainfall in the Indian terrain is a healthy 1869 cu/Km[2] which is much more the world average. The rainfall in India shows a very high spatial and temporal variability[3]. That indeed is the reason for water resource management becoming a complex affair in India, for, the rainfall that is received during this short period has to be distributed for a variety of activities. Traditionally India has been agriculture based economy and hence is the importance of development of irrigation schemes so as to reduce the dependence on ground water by effective utilisation of the river waters. The annual potential groundwater recharge from rainfall in India is about 342.43 Km3, which is 8.56 % of the total annual rainfall of the country[4]. While rain is a vital source of water for almost the whole of the Indian peninsula, the snowmelt from the glaciers of the Himalayan belt is a significant contributor to the water source to the valley parts and the foothill region of the Himalayas. While an exact value of water resources of the country is a difficult ask, estimates of the water resources has been done in a comprehensive manner by the Ministry of Water Resources. An analysis of the resources gives a very rosy picture, however the complexities involved in harnessing the resources in an optimum manner is what is causing nightmares to the ministry. There is a need t o ensure a delicate balance between the inflows to the water resources of a region and the outflow components. The National Water Policy[5] stipulates that the total quantity of nations ground water pumped out must be limited to annual recharge. Scientist using NASAs Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites have determined that ground water in North Western region of India is decreasing at a alarming rate[6]. If the ground water table goes down the government will be forced to think of alternatives which is more efficient use of river waters. The facts state that though water resource availability is adequate till year 2020 but because of the current rate of growth of the population the availability will become critical after 2020. Also the fact that India will be forced to look at other sources of river water than those granted by the IWT. Drought The drought prone area assessed in the country is of the order of 68% of the total land mass[7] which is roughly equivalent to 51.12 Mha[8] . Many interior parts of peninsular India, such as the Deccan plateau, Southern and Central India come under the grips of dry spells even in the monsoon season itself due to scanty rainfall. Drought is not the result of a single cause, but a cumulative effect of many causes. Not only the availability of water for irrigation of agricultural lands is acutely hit, but also the day to day human life is subjected to inconvenience due to shortage of water for personal use. History has chronicled several droughts in India, and no part of India has escaped dry spells due to failure of monsoons and the resultant drought. A disturbing fact as an offshoot of drought conditions is that even crime rates such as robbery and looting steeply increase, as a sequel to the migration of people affected by drought looking for a decent life, but taking to unsocial activities in the absence of job opportunities. Also it is during these times that sharing of river water by riparian states is a cause for concern. What is paradoxical is that states which have a long coastline or lesser water resources at their areas have not taken any steps to come out of this problem by way of concentrating on desalination, drip irrigation, rain harvesting changing crop pattern requiring less water etc. Drought prone areas in India The total area affected by inadequate rainfall is a little over one million square kilometres. The areas which are drought prone are Thar Desert terrain, Kalahandi- Koraput belt, areas such as North Arcot, (Tamil Nadu) Anantpur and Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh) Bellary and Bijapur (Karnataka) Osmanabad and Aurangabad ( Maharastra).[9] Most of the areas in this rain shadow zone is densely populated with hard working, knowledgeable and enterprising people. There are several towns having more than 100,000 population, besides innumerable villages situated in this zone. Sparse vegetation, Pediment type of wastelands and deep levels of ground water table make life difficult in these places. Wastelands dominate over cultivable fields and in the cultivable lands too only one crop is grown in an year. Proper water management in this terrain is capable of transforming the arid to semi arid conditions to a highly productive areas This area is ideal for drip/ sprinkler irrigation to reclaim the drou ght affected areas. Examples exist as is done at Israel. A few more pockets of chronic drought prone areas are- Ramanathpuram and Thirunelveli districts of Tamil Nadu, the linear corridor between Coimbatore and Pallakad and the Saurashtra and Kachchh regions of Gujrat. Also reports of arable lands situated slightly further away from the flood plains and the Deltaic regions of Ganges, Godavari, Krishna and Cauvery rivers coming under the grip of water scarcity for agricultural activities. Locations like Kodaikanal, Udhagamandalam and Nilgiri hills in Tamil Nadu,[10] and Dehradun and Mussorie in Uttaranchal are examples of excessive human interference leading to unsustainable urban development and decadent imbalance in availability of water resources in areas otherwise known for copious rainfall. A generation ago farmers in Gujrat used bullocks to lift water from shallow wells in leather buckets. Now farmers draw water from 300 metres below ground using electrical pumps. According to state water officials, water tables are dropping by 6 metres every year. India had a pump revolution in the last four decades and farmers have drilled approximately 21 million tube wells into the saturated strata beneath their fields. Every year farmers bring another million wells into service mostly outside the control of state irrigation authorities.[11] These pumps powered by subsidised electricity work day and night to irrigate fields of more water consuming crops like rice, sugarcane and alfalfa. The problem is serious and severe and keeping in view that agriculture is the backbone of our economy, replenishment methods like placing numerous dams across river beds, water harvesting and water shed schemes to recharge our underground resources besides flood management need to be given the right impetus. In crop production there is a need to encourage modern methods of irrigation. In spite of an abundance of water resources it has not been easy for the state to tap these resources. Discussion of internal water disputes is far beyond the scope of the dissertation and is therefore not being mentioned; however one disagreement due to the distribution of water of the Indus river system is worth having a look. Disagreement over the sharing of river waters from the Indus river system has been one of the major causes of the violent secession movement in the Punjab province of India in the 1980s and 1990s. This Sikh dominated province has been traditionally provided with a water supply from the Beas, Sutlej and Ravi Rivers. The demands of the downstream provinces of Rajasthan and Haryana persuaded the Indian government to construct canals and divert 60 per cent of Punjabs water and energy to Hindu majority regions[12]. This became a major point of confrontation due to which insurgency was encouraged. Water Demand and Resource Management If the total water availability in India is analysed that the logical conclusion would be that that there is adequate water for all. However water availability on the Indian subcontinent is strongly influenced by a number of climatic and geographic factors. Together these combine to provide India with enough freshwater to meet the various demands arising from the agricultural, industrial and domestic sectors. However, the actual distribution of water resources over space and time limits access to certain geographic regions and during a few months of the year. Government policies and economic incentives have also influenced the water distribution and consumption across India[13] Alarming Scarcity of Water in India, NK Garg and Q Hassan, Current Science Vol 93 No 7 10 Oct 2007. National Water Resource at a Glance Wrmin.nic.in accessed on 18 Nov 2009 Rakesh Kumar, R D Singh K D Sharma Water Resources of India Ibid p4. Indian Ministry of Water Resources, National Water Policy. Retrieved 09 Nov 2009 from www.nic.in/writereaderdata/linkimage/nwp2002.pdf GRACE reveals ground water depletion in India. Retrieved on 11 Dec 2009 from www.environmentalresearchweb.org Drought in India , Challenges and Initiatives, p5 , PACS Programme 2001-08 Water Resources of India, Rakesh Kumar, RD Singh and KD Singh, Current Science, Vol 89, No 5 , Sep 2005 ,pp794. H Sarvotham, Water Resources Augmentation, Management Policies p45. Peter P Molinga, On The Waterfront,p61. Harendar Raj Goutam Water Crisis and Rain Water Harvesting Kurukshetra Quaterly p4. Managing Water Conflicts by Ashok Swain , pp 21 Water privatization and Implications in India, Anitha Sampath , Association for Indias Development.