Love In Poems Brings Great Emotions Essay - 884 Words

When one thinks of poetry, love is something that will definitely appear in the process. Love in poems can bring a sense of great joy or can be the cause of sorrow and pain. It’s something that has been here for eternity and will continue to affect people and poems. Especially in early modern poetry, love was expressed in various ways and brought different and unique features to the poems. Many poems would use the very familiar, romantic love, which is quite intense with feeling and emotions and can be portrayed in many ways. There is also tragic love, where it causes pain as a result of the love created, and mystifying love is a type that comes from something bigger than one’s self. Romantic love has been used by authors everywhere and†¦show more content†¦Even when he was sorry for the things he did to her and told his friends to be kind to her no matter what, she returns her gratitude by leaving him. It helps show how love can sometimes be one sided and does n’t always end up how you want it. Romantic love doesn’t always mean that the intense passionate love is shared among two lovers, and this poem was a great portrayal of that. An enjoyable part of romantic love would also be wooing and doing whatever one possibly can to obtain their one true love. There are countless way to pursue someone, but a very common way is to bring gifts. In The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, it begins with, â€Å" Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove.† The shepherd in this poem tries to entrance his love with the various gifts that he can create from the earth, which is all he can afford. They are the finest goods that he can possibly retrieve, and he offers them all to his love so that she may live with him and love him. It shows how this love can cause one to do some crazy things for their love. However, there are times when these gifts will not be enough. Another type of love would be tragic love, which brings heartache and misery to many people. This can occur when the love was hidden inside one’s heart until it was too late. Barbara Allan has a great example when it wrote, â€Å"every jow that the dead-bell geid, it cried, â€Å"WoeShow MoreRelatedThe Comparison of Two Love Poems634 Words   |  3 PagesThe poem â€Å"How Do I Love Thee†, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and â€Å"What Lips My Lips Have Kissed†, by Edna Vincent Millay are both well-known poems that both have themes of love. (LIT, Kirszner Mandell, Pg. 490). In both poems the poet helps the reader experience a lot of emotion with the use of certain words. There are speakers in both poems. In Mrs. Browning’s poem, the speaker is undefined, leaving open that the speaker could be a he or she. Millay’s poem which is written in first person, theRead MoreHate Poem by Julie Sheehan790 Words   |  4 PagesTone is a major contributor to the work of the â€Å"Hate Poem†. â€Å"Tone is an aspect of point of view since it has a great deal to do with the narrator. Tone is the narrator’s predominant attitude toward the subject, whether that subject is a place, event, character or idea† (Writing Essays about Literature, Kelley Griffith page 46). When analyzing the â€Å"Hate Poem† by Julie Sheehan, â€Å"To understand the tone of the poem, we need to listen to the words, as we might listen to an actual conversation. TheRead More`` Magic Of Love `` By Sherman Alexie997 Words   |  4 Pages Emotions of all kinds Love is a wonderful thing but can be very dangerous. It leads to very different experiences and there is a major difference between love and infatuation. It has gotten to the point that social media adds to the effect of infatuation and love. The two poems â€Å"Magic of Love† by Helen Farries and the â€Å"Facebook Sonnet† by Sherman Alexie come to together in one common factor, when these authors channel all types of emotions, and have the same feelings about two different experiencesRead Moremeeting at night897 Words   |  4 Pagesthis poem by Robert Browning, †Meeting at Night†, is that to find true love, one will endure tough times before finding the right person. The narrator describes his journey along the beach to arrive at a place where he finds love. The speaker goes through an enchanting adventure and in the end, finds true love like in a Disney movie. Browning’s use of imagery and personification made the poem easy to understand and enjoyable to read. In each stanza, the speaker uses tone and emotion as great poeticRead MoreDeath of a Naturalist: a Study of Seamus Heaneys First Book of Poems.1503 Words   |  7 PagesDeath of a Naturalist: A study of Seamus Heaneys first book of poems. Seamus Heaney, the famed Irish poet, was the product of two completely different social and psychological orders. Living on a small farm of some fifty acres in County Derry in Northern Ireland (Nobel eMuseum), Seamus Heaneys childhood was spent primarily in the company of nature and the local wildlife. His father, a man by the name of Patrick Heaney, had a penchant for farming and working the land. Seamus mother MargaretRead MoreMy Favorite Poem By Carol Ann Duffy Essay1031 Words   |  5 Pagesanthology of five poems. The theme of our anthology was based on love. We chose love because we thought it applies to all aspects of life, including career, business, personal relationships, personal development, self-care and more. What stands out to most to me about these poems is that in all these poems it shows that love is something that part of our life. My favorite poem is â€Å"you† by Carol Ann Duffy who happens to be my, favorite author. I felt strongly connected to our th eme of love because it experiencedRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock1529 Words   |  7 PagesAnalysis of the setting of the poems â€Å"The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock† and â€Å"Something Whispered in the Shakuhachi† â€Å"The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock† and â€Å"Something Whispered in the Shakuhachi† are poems written by T.S. Eliot and Garrett Hongo correspondently. Both poems put a great emphasis on the depiction of the narrator’s emotion. The poems are focused on feelings and emotions of their narrators. At the same time, it should noted that a lot of attractive in both poems is given to the settingRead MoreLove is the greatest human emotion one can experience. In the poem Leaving the Motel by W. D.800 Words   |  4 PagesLove is the greatest human emotion one can experience. In the poem Leaving the Motel by W. D. Snodgrass and Sex Without Love by Sharon Olds each poet shares different views on the theme of love. Snodgrass poem focuses on a couple having an affair in a motel. As they are leaving they go through a checklist to make sure they keep their secrecy. While, Olds poem focuses more about how people have sex without being in love. Both of these poems illustr ate a strong sense of love in different waysRead MoreEssay about Writing About Childhood Memories Through Poetry1053 Words   |  5 Pageshave done for you? In the poems â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz†, by Theodor Roethke and â€Å"Those Winter Sundays†, by Hayden White both narrators have felt the same feelings towards their parents. Writing about childhood memories can be a great method of symbolizing emotional experiences of one’s childhood. Both poems are very similar themes. Each of the poems tell a story of a child who reminisce on their lives by telling about certain events that occurred during their childhood. Both poems are sentimental and emotionalRead MoreThe Presentation of Love in Poetry Essay1726 Words   |  7 PagesThe Presentation of Love in Poetry Compare in detail the presentation of love (and loss) in How Do I Love Thee by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, First Love by John Clare and Remember by Christina Rossetti with further reference to My Last Duchess by Robert Browning, When We Two Parted by Lord Byron and A Woman To Her Lover by Christina Walsh The three poems, First Love by John Clare, Remember by Christina Rossetti and How Do I Love Thee by Elizabeth Barrett Browning were

Plugged In or Plugged Out Free Essays

The technological age has dawned upon us. 80 percent of Americans own a computer; they’re constantly sucked into their iPods, iPhones, Blackberries, TVs, computers – you name it – from the time they awaken to the time they fall asleep. American teenagers, born into this world of technology as soon as it began to take off in the 1990s, find themselves completely at ease with computers, a trait that is, so far, unique to their generation. We will write a custom essay sample on Plugged In or Plugged Out? or any similar topic only for you Order Now Schools have slowly started to implement new technologies into the classroom – the latest computers, tablets, projectors, smart boards – however schools must be weary of introducing too much new technology, because as instructive as they can be, they can also be disruptive and dangerous. When the right balance is found, the public school system – and the students – will surely prosper. The Internet, bursting into the homes of Americans in the 1990s, revolutionized American life. Entire businesses can be created and destroyed with the click of a mouse; doctors and nurses rely on it to store medical records and ensure the health of their patients. Newspapers, once so imperative to American life, and in shaping the history of our nation, have been completely replaced with online news websites, and businesses have learned to adapt to advertise and sell in the online world, when they had previously been limited only to print, television and radio. Countless numbers of student help websites have opened; the college application process simplified. Yes, the Internet is an incredible place, bursting with knowledge, but it is also a breeding ground for cheating and plagiarism. To accompany the honest educational websites, there are sites with prewritten essays – pay a small fee, copy and paste, and you’re done. Students abuse websites such as Sparknotes and Cliffsnotes instead of reading the book that they’re assigned, and they rely on search engines such as Google to do their homework for them. The lewd content, displayed so boldly and proudly, splashed across the pages of millions of websites, is also a problem for schools – one wrong click on a search engine and you could be viewing something you never wanted to see. It’s a free-for-all in cyberspace, and there is certainly no quality control, as the Supreme Court ruled it a violation of privacy to regulate free speech on the web. Although technology to conquer these problems is in wide use – Turnitin, a plagiarism detector, and variou s Internet blocking systems are just a few – they are never 100 percent successful in their quest to make the Internet a less vile place. However, by taking proper safety precautions, schools can protect their students and still ensure they have access to the educational tools the internet provides. Read also Twitter Case Study Technology has impacted our daily routine so much that rarely do we ever find ourselves using the â€Å"old-fashioned† pen and paper. Why would we need to? We have cell phones to store phone numbers in and word processors to write papers in. Even keeping a journal seems like a thing of the past when our lives are documented so well by Facebook, Twitter, and various blogging sites. Pens and pencils have been exchanged for a keyboard, paper exchanged for a word processor. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing; with less paper consumption comes a healthier Earth. This is what e- books such as the Kindle attempt to accomplish. They read just like a book, store upwards of 10,000 books, are extremely lightweight and portable, and, of course, use no paper. Textbooks are available for purchase through these e-books for half the cost of traditional textbooks, and implementing them in schools could not only save the environment – they could also save money. The world is at the fingertips of students using the Internet – literally. One can take a tour of Paris, London or Rome, and even walk on the surface of the Moon or Mars using Google Maps. Google Art Project gives students the chance to explore art museums around the world, viewing old and new masterpieces with the click of a button. They can easily have a casual conversation via webcam in the foreign language of their choice with someone who lives halfway across the world. The can communicate with their teachers instantaneously outside of school and learn like never before. So what’s stopping schools from investing in this new wealth of technology for the betterment of their student body? With sufficient Internet protection in place, students can learn better, and more quickly and effectively, than ever before. If the next generation is properly equipped with the right technology, they sky will no longer be the limit; they can reach for the stars and beyond. How to cite Plugged In or Plugged Out?, Papers

Traditions free essay sample

Traditions BY Jacob_1977 Tradition can be both useful and harmful. Consider some of the ways in which it is an obstacle to progress. Tradition is some ancient practice built into the fabric of any society. Every nation and every society has got its tradition. Thus when a Westerner shakes hands with a friend or an acquaintance, or a musalman says salam it is in the best of traditions. Traditions may speak of good breeding. Tradition is reflected in ones manners. Traditions help in the free and unobstructed flow of life. Traditions are almost an unwritten code of life. Thus if a good Christian family says the Lords Prayer before taking food, it is a good and fine tradition. Tradition is found in all walks of life. It is found in the market, in the assemblies of people, in the councils of governments and so on. Traditions are carried down from generation to generation. We will write a custom essay sample on Traditions or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The mother or the mother-in-law is the Jealous keeper of the tradition at home. We speak of parliamentary tradition and every parliament has set up very healthy traditions. To keep up traditions means following rituals which have become part and parcel of ife. Rituals make life more meaningful. There is no human activity without rituals. People guard rituals very Jealousy. Some rituals may be meaningless but they make life enjoyable. Even putting on a button or combing ones hair has been reduced to a ritual. Traditions and rituals are very common among militia. Every regiment, every rank in the army has some tradition. What is common in the naw may not be there in the army. The traditions of the Air Force are different from those of other wings of the defense forces. Traditions help to identify people. Thus one can easily identify if a man is a Hindu, a Muslim and so on since beliefs and traditions go together. But there is no denying the fact that these traditions are slowly disappearing with the advance of civilization, modem modes of travel and life in flats. There are some good traditions which should be saved on all accounts. For instance, the Hindus have the tradition of decorating their houses with beautiful designs and it may make others Jealous of them. Observing Sabbath among the pious is a very good tradition though one should not confine to observe only Sabbath. Any discerning man can see and observe good traditions among others. For example, a pious Muslim who has returned from Mecca would never lend money on interest. Not all traditions are good. For instance, attributing chicken pox; measles and smallpox to evil spirits is to be condemned. Very often traditions smack of superstition. Walking under a ladder, spilling of salt from a Jug, and throwing shoes for luck are all meaningless. Even discerning people carry mascots as a protective force. Where traditions verge on superstition, they must be done away with. But those who help in the upkeep of beauty or any significant culture must be preserved. Traditions of honesty, truthfulness, straightforwardness, and integrity will have to be built and cheris ed. n Traditions are like the color and tragrance ot a tlower. They either attract or repel people. However traditions keep coming and going though, good traditions may stick on. After all when all has been said and done, traditions are essentially a human institution. In the end I am for traditions and think everybody should have at least some.

Starbucks Sustainability Report free essay sample

They do not mind about using chemical products that destroy the nature or exploiting workers. Thankfully, more and more companies are aware of this kind of situation and try to change. This is especially the case for companies producing and retailing beverages. Coffee beans and tea leafs are mostly produced in Asia, Africa and Latina America. It is difficult for companies which want to be eco-friendly to be sure that important exploitations respect their workers and the environment. That raises some questions: Do coffee companies can manage to know where their raw materials come from? Is it possible to reduce their impact on the environment on a fair and honest base? To answer these questions our group decided to study the biggest coffee brand of the world: Starbucks Coffee Company. evaluated and commented. present and future eco-friendly operations are analyzed, Starbucks is known as an organic retail store offering a range of coffee, tea and other products. We will write a custom essay sample on Starbucks Sustainability Report or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Since a couple of years, Starbucks has cooperated and supported its farmers in a way which does not only benefit the company itself, but also helps farmers and their communities to develop and receive basic services like education or clear water provision. The coffee company has developed its own sustainability report in 2008 and consistently went for improvement since then. Its detailed report shows its current status and its future goals with exact strategies how to reach them. Based on its experiences, partnerships and commitments, Starbucks was able to create a global network by serving ethical sourced coffee and supporting its communities. Nevertheless, global crisis and the increasing struggle to satisfy basic needs on the on hand but operate a business on the other hand, changed Starbucks perspective on the world and its strategic tools. The company had to find an honest and sustainable way to protect the environment and be responsible for the society in the long run. 3|P age 2. Company A nalysis 2. 1 Foundation and Development The story begun in 1971 and offered some of 40 years ago. The first Starbucks Coffee opened in -roasted whole bean coffees. In 1982, Howard Schultz, the current chairman, joined the company as the director of retail operations and marketing. In 1983, he travelled in Italy and was impressed by the coffee bar popularity in Milan. Back to USA he wanted to develop the same coffee culture in Seattle. For him, you can create connection between people with a tasty coffee. Starbucks one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a (Our Starbucks Mission Statement, 2012). The company continued to grow and in 1987, II Giornal acquired Starbucks and became Starbucks Corporation. The same year, stores opened in Chicago and Vancouver, Canada. This step stresses the beginning of Starbucks Company. The coffee served in Starbucks using ethical sourcing practices. In 2002, the company made an agreement with F airtrade. 2. 2 Internationalization Starbucks Starbucks stores. n started in 1987 with its first shop in Vancouver. In 1996, the s first store in Europe in 1998. One company opened its first stores in Japan and Singapore. There were a total of 1,015 stores. year later, Starbucks entered the Chinese, Kuwaiti and South Korean markets and owns 2,485 The number of stores more than doubled each year. Nowadays, with more than 17,000 stores in 55 different countries, Starbucks is an interactive and comfortable (Our Heritage, 2012) 2. 3 Products and Services Starbucks Corp. Best Coffee, Tazo Tea and Torrefazione Italia Coffee. Four product categories are offered in Starbucks stores: Coffee, Handcraft Beverages, Fresh food and Consumers Product (see Figure A). 4|P age 2. 4 Recognition and A wards Thanks to its implication, Starbucks Corp. won unique awards in different business aspects as ethical business, sustainability in business and many others. According to Starbucks its rewards and recognition, the following titles can be attributed to the company: o o o o o o -2011) 1998-2000, 2002-2012) -2012) -2012) 3. E thical Sourcing 5|P age 3. 1 C . A. F. E . Practices In the course of Starbucks Conservation International (CI), the C. A. F. E. Practices (Coffee and Farmer Equity) have been developed in 2008 and focus on product quality, economic accountability, social responsibility and environmental leadership. In terms of product quality, the coffee must meet standards of high quality; economic accountability includes financial transparency regarding fair payments to farmers; Starbucks social responsibility guidelines include human working conditions, minimum wage, living conditions and labor requirements on third-verified standards; those standards manage water and energy conservation, recycling, the reduction of agrochemical usage and the protection of biodiversity as well. Generally, C. A. F. E. impacts are evaluated by grouping its guidelines. The classified indicators include social (people), environmental (planet) and economic (product) factors. For example, the results of the C. A. F. E. Practices are measured in Guatemala and Colombia where annual results assessments concerning farmers, workers and conservation take place. So far, higher income and sales, higher health rates due to fewer pesticides and herbicides, better education systems and a valid biodiversity have been observed (Starbucks, 2012). C. A. F. E. erified producers exist in 20 countries with cultivating their coffee on 102,000 hectares each year; for instance in Papua New Guinea, Zambia, Panama and China. In 2011, 86% (367 million pounds) of its total coffee purchased has been C. A. F. E. verified coffee (Starbucks, 2012). 3. 2 Coffee Purchasing By 2015, Starbucks aims to purchase 100% ethical sourced coffee (Starbucks, 2012). That means, the coffee must be verified by either Starbu cks C. A. F. E. Practices, F airtrade or another third-party program. For C. A. F. E. Practices 3. 1 C. A. F. E. Practices. Starbucks has offered F airtrade coffee since 12 years. Lately, it purchased 34. 3 million pounds F airtrade coffee which presents 8% of its coffee amount bought in 2011 (Starbucks, 2012). By that, Starbucks contributed $26 million to the F airtrade program comprehending environmental protection, fair treatment of farmers and F airtrade awareness building. In 2011, the company purchased 9. 6 million pounds of organic coffee accounting for 2. 2% of its overall coffee purchases (Starbucks, 2011). Organic grown coffee beans can be found in Organic Yukon Blend and other local special reserve coffees, for instance. Organic cultivation maintains the 6|P age iodiversity by protecting the soil health, abstaining from admixtures and using agriculture methods which have a low impact on the nature. Starbucks uses the Green Coffee Pricing Model . This involves purchasing coffee at premium prices in order to foster price stability and support relationships with suppliers. Starbucks paid $2. 38 per pound of unroasted coffee in 2011 (Starbucks, 2011). 3 . 3 F armer Support Starbucks supports its farmers by providing access to credits at reasonable terms and helping them in their risk management. In 2011, Starbucks invested $14. 7 million in famer loans to Root Capital , Verde Ventures and the Calvert Foundation famers in seven countries (Starbucks, 2012). non-profit social investments funds. By 2015, this amount shall be increased by 26. 5% (Starbucks, 2011). Currently, Starbucks supports 45,000 Starbucks F armer Support Center opened in San Jose, Costa Rica, in 2004. Those F armer Support Centers help agronomists and quality experts to improve the coffee quality and simultaneously to find sustainable cultivation practices needed for the long-run. Today, you can find F armer Support Centers in Kigali, Rwanda (opened in 2009), Mbeya, Tanzania (opened in 2011) and Guatemala (Starbucks, 2012). In 2012, Starbucks is expanding to China to serve the Asian communities. 3. 4 Forest C arbon Programs Due to the climate change and the decreasing biodiversity in regions like Mexico and Indonesia, Starbucks started to launch its Forest Carbon Programs to decrease the polluting impacts, improve facilitate farmer access to forest carbon markets in coffee2011, p. 8). The pilot was implemented in North Sumatra and Aceh Tengah, Indonesia and focused on trainings on composting and pruning and simultaneously, motivated 14 communities to sign conservation coffee agreements. The first program was set up in Chiapas, Mexico, in 2010. Forest fire management and reforestation plans have been established. Furthermore, 13 communities are now trained on strategies regarding the mitigation of the climate change. In 2011, 3 nurseries have been built which then supplied about 92,500 seedlings for the reforestation activities (CI, 2011). As the carbon credits are sold on voluntary markets, Starbucks was able to sell 5,042 tons of CO2 at $9 per ton (CI, 2011). The Forest Carbon Programs are conducted by CI with whom Starbucks is planning to launch its third program in Brazil in 2012. |P age 4. G reen Store Design 4. 1 E nergy Conservation Most of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be traced back to Starbucks -store energy usage. In 2011, 23. 3% of 979,963 metric tons of CO2 presents direct emissions from store operations and assets (see Figure B). The rest (76. 7%) is attributed to the electricity usage (Tackling Climate Change, 2012). Although, GHG emissions ha ve been reduced by 2. 7%, Starbucks focuses on energy conservation and renewable energy usage (please refer to 4. 2 Renewable Energy for renewable energy usage). The areas of lightening, operational equipment, heating and cooling are aimed to be efficiently reduced to conserve energy. Despite the fact that Light Emitting Diode (LED) light bulbs are dim and expensive and burn out quickly, Starbucks replaced its incandescent and halogen lightening with those LED bulbs. Installing the new lightening systems in more than 7,000 stores worldwide, its overall electricity consumption decreased by 7% in 2011 (Starbucks, 2011). Furthermore, it is aimed to replace existing machines like ice makers, ovens or blenders with high-efficient alternatives as soon as they reach the end of their useful life. In order to reduce heating and cooling consumption, Starbucks tested the new established EMS (Energy Management Systems) and by that, decreased its HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) intensity by 20% (Starbucks, 2012). Starbucks was able to reduce its total energy consumption by 7. 5% from 2008 on. To reach its goal of a 25% decrease by 2015, it works with companies to find sustainable energy alternatives. 4. 2 Renewable E nergy Starbucks aims to purchase 100% of renewable energy by 2015 (Starbucks 2011); In 2008, it has been 20%; in 2011, Starbucks was able to increase that amount by 30. %, so that the current energy consists of more than a half of renewable energy sources (Starbucks, 2011). As Starbucks is based on the use of energy, the company decided to support the generation of renewable energy by purchasing Renewable Energy Credits (REC) currently coming from wind farms in the United States. Each REC encourages the development of renewable energy sources and incr eases the revenue of wind farm owners, so that they stay competitive with the providers using fossil fuels. In 2011, Starbucks entire Conservation, 2012). By 2015, Starbucks wants to purchase RECs equivalent to 100% of its energy used and support solar energy and offsite renewable energy sources additionally (Starbucks, 2011). 8|P age 4. 3 W ater Conservation Water is an essential key ingredient for Starbucks needed for coffee, tea and to run machines like the dishwasher. 1,000 new filtration systems provide high water quality, save water and have decreased Starbucks waste water by 50% in 2011 (Water Conservation, 2012). Starbucks Energy and Resource Management commissioned analytics to find out in-store leaks. By that, leaks in toilets, floors and sprinkler systems have been detected. Millions of gallons have already been saved since a couple years. One of the main environmental-friendly replaces is presented by the low-use water faucets. The latter replaced Starbucks dipper wells used for cleaning spoons, but wasted 15% more water. The faucets have been mainly responsible that the water consumption decreased by 17. 6% (76. 2 liters) in 2011 (Starbucks, 2011). By 2015, Starbucks aims to present a 25% decrease in water intensity on a 2008 baseline (Starbucks, 2011). Through C. A. F. E. Practices and CI, Starbucks encourages its famers to conserve water for coffee processing, to protect the rivers and lakes in coffee-growing communities, so that they have access to clean drinking water continuously. 4. 4 L E E D ® C ertification and G reen Building Together with the U. S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Starbucks has established certification systems for retail projects. One of them is called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ®) and has been developed in 2008 (Starbucks, 2011). Starbucks is now building its new company-owned stores according to LE E D  ® standards to achieve the LE E D  ® certification. The first LE E D  ® certified store opened in 2005 and more followed. All stores show environmental improvements: Firstly, energy consumption decreased through LED lightening and energy saving heating and cooling solutions by 30% (Starbucks, 2011). Plus, less-toxic materials are used to improve the indoor air quality. Water has been saved by 60% due to conserving fixtures and waste could be reduced, because milk cartons and cardboard are recycled (Starbucks, 2011). Furthermore, all stores are built from only ecological-friendly materials sourced regionally and resulted in 60% less waste and consequently a lower carbon footprint (Starbucks, 2011). Lastly, Starbucks makes customers aware of the environment and informs about green alternatives in stores. In 2011, Starbucks built 75% (121 of 161 new stores) of its new company-owned stores LE E D  ® certified; the goal is to build all new company-owned stores to achieve LE E D  ® certification (Starbucks, 2011). Global Green U SA awarded Starbucks for its green building efforts with the Sustainable Design Award (Starbucks, 2011). |P age 5. Recycling 5. 1 Reusable C ups Starbucks is worldwide known for the great amount of take-away products which are served in their famous white cups. The struggle consists of the problem that the company produces a lot of paper and plastic cups which have a huge impact on the environment. In order to reduce this negative influence, Starbucks is working on solutio ns to reduce the waste they produce and sets a goal to make 100% of their cups reusable, so recyclable by 2015 (Starbucks, 2011). In order to create long-term recycling strategies, together with Peter Senge from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Society for Organizational Learning, Starbucks established the Three Cup Summits in 2008, 2010 and 2011 (Starbucks, 2011). The F irst Cup Summit examines that the cup material presents an enormous key contributor to recyclability. The Second Cup Summit resulted in a pilot project with International Paper and Mississippi River Pulp which came up with comprehensive reusing strategies of used cups. With the Third Cup Summit, in 2011, Starbucks started a partnership with the Foodservice Packaging Institute and formed the Paper Recovery Alliance (PRA) (Starbucks, 2011). This coalition develops and promotes recyclable solutions for single-used cups and other packaging. Starbucks also encourages its customers to use their own tumblers for the beverages they buy at the stores. To meet the goal of serving 5% in personal tumblers, the company offers a 10% discount in the U. S. and Canadian stores and creates campaigns like the ones in 2010 and 2011 in which customers bringing their own cups get a free brewed coffee (Starbucks, 2011). In 2011, Starbucks served coffee in personal tumblers more than 34 million times which shows a 1. % amount of all beverages served (Starbucks, 2011). The modified goal of 5% has to be reached by 2015 (Starbucks, 2011). Due to their constant effort to use reusable cups, Starbucks was able to save 1. 5 million pounds of paper in 2011 (Recycling Reducing Waste, 2012). 5. 2 Store Recycling Another main challenge involves the front-of-store recycling systems. As they differ from city to city, it is rather challenging to implement efficient recycling solutions. However, 18% of the Starbucks stores in the U. S. and Canada have now front-of-store recycling bins (Starbucks, 2011). It is the goal to install front-of-store recycling in all locations by 2015 (Recycling Reducing Waste, 2012). 10 | P a g e Due to the fact that the majority of the waste is produced behind the counter in their stores, Starbucks emphasizes its development of back-of-store recycling systems more and more. In 2011, more than 2,400 company-owned stores in the U. S. and Canada had recycled cardboard boxes and other back-of-store items for example. But Starbucks still experiences a lot of barriers such as limited space in the stores or a lack of strategic recycling services in some municipalities. 11 | P a g e . Corporate Social Responsibility 6. 1 Community Initiatives In every neighborhood in which Starbucks is present, it takes upon itself and does not only serve top quality coffee, but also contribute to the communities well-being. It helps the area to strive and progress. Both the staff, so called partners, and the community work together and dedicate extra time to create a change in that area. There are a couple of initiatives Starbucks participates in to implement this idea. For instance, they created the Global Month of Service in which volunteers help certain communities on satisfying basic needs. In April 2011, almost 60,000 volunteers coming from 30 countries contributed more than 150,000 hours of services in gardening and painting to refurbishing schools and parks (Starbucks, 2011). In water-stressed countries, the Starbucks generates $0. 05 with each bottle of Ethos ® water purchased. In 2005, 420,000 people benefited from a total grant of $6 million (Starbucks, 2011). Starbucks has even created a community service website to connect partners and to invite customers to join events organized throughout the country. Events range from free thanksgiving meal for the poor to assistance to abandoned dogs. However, projects with the tea and coffee growing communities are mainly emphasized. Starbucks wants to encourage the economic and social development in those areas. In Guatemala in 2005 for example, the Guatemala Education Initiative supported educational programs for all villages in the highlands of that country. The investment of $1 million shall help children of farmers who consistently suffer from marginalized economy and from poverty (Starbucks, 2011). The sanitation (Starbucks, 2011). In 2011, Starbucks was able to mobilize partners and customers to contribute 442,353 hours of community service. This is more than double the amount of what the company has reached in 2010. Hence, the goal for 2015 is to engage people to participate in projects accounting for 1 million hours of service (Starbucks, 2011). According to Starbucks, Service, 2012). 6. 2 Youth G rant Actions The Starbucks Corporation strongly believes that the youth can influence and lead innovative and positive solutions for local needs and future ecological improvements. In order to support this 12 | P a g e (CHAI) supports tea-growing regions like India for instance, in order to increase the level of education and ese achievements are a powerful (Community development, the company created the Youth Action Grants in 2008. In 2012, this project supported peace programs in northwest Pakistan, microcredit poor entrepreneurs in Brazil and provided livelihood skills training in Uganda (Starbucks, 2011). In 2011, Starbucks awarded over 100 grants accounting $2. 6 million (Engaging Young People, 2012). Furthermore, Starbu cks set the goal to mobilize at least 50,000 young people to support their communities through innovative projects by 2015 (Starbucks, 2011). The company has exceeded that goal in 2010 and again in 2011: 53, 000 young people took action in their communities in 2010 and 50,050 in 2011 and generated more than 2 million hours of community service (Starbucks, 2011). 13 | P a g e 7. Conclusion At the beginning, our group was interested in how coffee companies can improve their impact on the environment. Thanks to our studies on Starbucks we are now able to figure out strategies to preserve the nature and help communities, but also their environmental impacts. The importance of sustainable reports has been established while researching for and writing on our report. In order to serve ethical sourced coffee beans, Starbucks has established its own C. A. F. E. Practices and produced under F airtrade and organic standards. These latter organizations limit the sourcing, production and selling process to not only have good quality products which processes respected the environment, but also to protect labor ri and the necessity of environmental protection. Reducing energy and water consumption is also extremely important for Starbucks. The company developed LE E D  ® certified stores that use renewable energy, LED light bulbs and others alternative systems mentioned in the report in order to save water and energy. Starbucks fixed longterms goals and used accreditation as a proof. Recycling and reusing is an essential action to preserve the environment and energy consumption. Starbucks was able to reduce its wastes through recycling or reusing mugs. It could further mobilize customers to bring their own tumblers which did not only result in a lower water and energy areness of adequate recycling. Furthermore, Starbucks is enrolled in many programs and social project to help communities to improve their living situations. This part can be considered as a basic CSR activity, because Starbucks purchases and works with farmers and people in developing countries like Guatemala where their rights are trembled and basic needs not yet fully satisfied. Concluding Starbucks ethical sourcing and water and energy saving solutions, it can therefore be observed, that the company has a distinctive and well established sustainable report including strategic future toolkits. Nevertheless, Starbucks has created a strong global network consisting of farmers, communities and customers. It depends on its consumers loyalty and farmers growing experiences. Especially Starbucks farmer relation is rather controversial as the farmers are now dependent on Starbucks high farmer loans in order to keep their living standards. Nonetheless, Starbucks ecological footprints are steadily decreasing and the company has exemplary strategies for operating its business in a sustainable way in the long-term. 14 | P a g e 8. A ppendix Figure A: Coffee 30 blends and singleorigin premium Arabica coffees H andcraft Beverages fresh brewed coffee, hot and iced espresso beverages, coffee and non coffee blended beverages Merchandise coffee and tea brewing equipment mugs and accessories, packaged goods, music, books, gift items Consumer Product (only available in 13 countries) Coffee T ea whole bean and ground (Starbucks tea filter bags, tea latte concentrates Ready-to-D rink bottled Frappuccino, coffee drinks, chilled cup coffees, Iced Lattes, bottled iced and juiced teas Ice C ream super premium coffee and coffee free flavors F resh Food baked pastries, sandwiches salads, oatmeal, yogurt parfaits, fruit cups Starbucks, 2012 References: Ballou, Brian, et al. The future of corporate sustainability reporting. Journal of Accountancy 202.6 (2006): 65. Argenti, Paul A. Collaborating with activists: How Starbucks works with NGOs. California Management Review 47.1 (2004): 91-116. Kiron, David, et al. Sustainability nears a tipping point. MIT Sloan Management Review 53.2 (2012): 69. Dauvergne, Peter, and Jane Lister. Big brand sustainability: Governance prospects and environmental limits. Global Environmental Change 22.1 (2012): 36-45. Bridges, Claudia M., and Wendy Bryce Wilhelm. Going beyond green: The â€Å"why and how† of integrating sustainability into the marketing curriculum. Journal of Marketing Education 30.1 (2008): 33-46. Peloza, John, et al. Sustainability. California Management Review 55.1 (2012): 74-97.

Free Essays on Mr. Pirzadas Lilia

Mr. Pirzada’s, Lilia The many characters, of â€Å"When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,† by Jhumpa Lahiri, view the non vocal antagonist (the war in Pakistan) differently. The central character, or protagonist, is a ten-year-old girl, whose name is Lilia. Lilia is curious, inquisitive and compassionate. She becomes aware of the similarities and the differences among people not only in her household, but also, in her day-to-day life. She tries to understand the matters of war torn Pakistan, and how it relates to her, her family and the family’s friend, Mr. Pirzada. Lilia, is born and so far, raised in America. She participates in American customs, and learns American history without any clue that there is another culture that she is linked to other than being Indian. She takes note that her parents, often complained that the social customs and courtesies familiar to them in their native India, do not exist here. Thus creating a need to interact with others that are familiar with and have a desire to practice these customs. Lilia, became most aware of Mr. Pirzada’s presence, when she found out Mr. Pirzada was not, indeed, Indian but Bengali. This small discovery became a major turning Pearson-2 point for Lilia’s character because this is when she begins to develop into a round character. She gets an impromptu geography lesson from her father. He goes in to explaining the reasons why Mr. Pirzada is not Indian and shows her, what he thinks she needs to know for clarification. Lilia, on the other hand, doesn’t get it. She notices he looks the same and is the same religion as her and her family, but still wonders what makes him different. She began to pay more attention to Mr. Pirzada and to the situation in Pakistan. She became aware of his mannerisms and became more aware of the conversation amongst the adults. Lilia begins to feel sorry for Mr. Pirzada. Lilia be... Free Essays on Mr. Pirzada's Lilia Free Essays on Mr. Pirzada's Lilia Mr. Pirzada’s, Lilia The many characters, of â€Å"When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,† by Jhumpa Lahiri, view the non vocal antagonist (the war in Pakistan) differently. The central character, or protagonist, is a ten-year-old girl, whose name is Lilia. Lilia is curious, inquisitive and compassionate. She becomes aware of the similarities and the differences among people not only in her household, but also, in her day-to-day life. She tries to understand the matters of war torn Pakistan, and how it relates to her, her family and the family’s friend, Mr. Pirzada. Lilia, is born and so far, raised in America. She participates in American customs, and learns American history without any clue that there is another culture that she is linked to other than being Indian. She takes note that her parents, often complained that the social customs and courtesies familiar to them in their native India, do not exist here. Thus creating a need to interact with others that are familiar with and have a desire to practice these customs. Lilia, became most aware of Mr. Pirzada’s presence, when she found out Mr. Pirzada was not, indeed, Indian but Bengali. This small discovery became a major turning Pearson-2 point for Lilia’s character because this is when she begins to develop into a round character. She gets an impromptu geography lesson from her father. He goes in to explaining the reasons why Mr. Pirzada is not Indian and shows her, what he thinks she needs to know for clarification. Lilia, on the other hand, doesn’t get it. She notices he looks the same and is the same religion as her and her family, but still wonders what makes him different. She began to pay more attention to Mr. Pirzada and to the situation in Pakistan. She became aware of his mannerisms and became more aware of the conversation amongst the adults. Lilia begins to feel sorry for Mr. Pirzada. Lilia be...

How Do You Become a Pharmacy Technician

How Do You Become a Pharmacy Technician a pharmacy technician is responsible for assisting the pharmacist on duty to help patients or customers and fill prescriptions. you’ll need a keen eye for detail, a great deal of patience, and training that covers basic pharmacology, medication dispensing, and an understanding of pharmacy law and ethics. education and trainingyou will need a high school diploma or a ged equivalent to qualify for on-the-job training- many aspiring pharm techs find getting such  training is easier after post-secondary training at an online certification program or vocational school, community college, or technical institute. it may take anywhere from 3 months to a year.vocational school and community college coursework will emphasize commonly used mathematics, chemistry, and medication orientations to familiarize aspiring pharm techs with names, side effects, interactions, and dispensing protocols. some training programs even offer internships for hands-on experience, a great way to get to kno w a pharmacy before committing to the 6 year process of becoming a pharmacist.certificationsthe pharmacy technician certification board (ptcb) requires you to have a diploma and pass a certification exam. the national healthcareer association (nha) requires you to be 18 years old and have a high school diploma, a formal training program, and a year of work under your belt.you’ll be required to re-certify every 2 years because of the rate of change in healthcare policies and advances in the field. pursuing 20 hours of continuing education will keep you up-to-date. many pharm techs report that this process of staying current (along with the patience of keeping up with a busy pharmacy) are the most challenging parts of the job.employersmost pharm techs are found in hospitals, retail pharmacies, assisted living and education institutions, and veterinary offices. the bureau of labor statistics predicts employment growth of about 20 percent for the field through  2022- faster tha n the average growth rate for all occupations. those stats amounts to  70,700 new positions to be filled during that period.here are some of the biggest current employers in the field:salarythe average salary is $38,600 nationally, with rates increasing with seniority, specialty certifications, and competitive institutional pay scale policies. the metropolitan areas that offer the highest compensation are all located in california, including the metropolitan areas of oakland, napa, san francisco, san jose, and madera.sample job postingpharmacy technician,   orlando, flunder the direct supervision of the pharmacy services call center supervisor, the pharmacy call center technician is responsible for providing knowledgeable and courteous customer assistance and response to members, providers, and pharmacy call center technician inquiries.position qualifications/requirementseducation and training:  high school diploma or the equivalentexperience:  2 years pharmacy technician ex perience in a healthcare, long term care or retail environment; minimum 35 wpm typingrequired experience:  pharmacy tech, high school, national pharmacy technician certification: 3 yearslicenses, registrations or certifications:  national pharmacy technician certificationprincipal accountabilitieshandles calls and correspondence regarding pharmacy issues from providers/physicians and members. documents calls in inquiry tracking system. facilitates problem resolution and acts as customer advocate.performs initial research of pharmacy issues. reconciles plan information utilizing department-generated procedures and reference materials. utilizes internal pharmacy systems to update, modify and extract member information.assists network pharmacist in processing prescription claims. reviews claims for accuracy and adherence to contract guidelines maintained.assists with entering prior authorizations when required; provides follow up assistance for prior authorization requests, follows up with requests from physicians for denial letters, provides assistance in gathering historical claim information as required.discriminates between routine and significant matters; apprises management of issues which can negatively affect service and business. identifies provider/physician/member issues and refers to appropriate departments.maintains a balance of productivity, quality, and timeliness of job accountabilities.demonstrates flexibility and cooperation when faced with changing priorities to meet shifting needs.creates and supports an environment which fosters teamwork, cooperation, respect, and diversity.assists with training of new hires. attends required training as requested. develops and maintains desktop procedures.apply here: pharmacy technician

Enhancing Communication through Intensive Interaction Essay

Enhancing Communication through Intensive Interaction - Essay Example As the discussion stresses  disabilities in communication and learning have become an important issue since the beginning of the 18th century. Learning disability is the failure to communicate with society and which in turn allow the protagonist  to live within a  rigid circle of interaction, understand things etc. These sorts of problem have been identified both in children and in adults. Special studies, theories and teaching styles are now in practise among the teachers and the parents.This study discusses that categorising people who have severe learning and communicating difficulties and analyzing the aspect of successful communication through Intensive Interaction is one of the key concepts insisted by many theorists of today, such as Nind, Hewett, M.J.Connor etc . Learning disability does not always arise out of common inborn factors such as a deaf, dumb, or blind. However, these factors might also lead to learning difficulties. There are other factors such as the enviro nment factor and neurological problems contribute a lot to these issues. The lack of ability to listen, to speak, to read, to write , to spell, and the most important the lack of ability to rationally look into things contribute a lot for the psychological failure of a person. Intensive interaction, has been implemented with the a deep intension to help the disabled in at least achieve a partial understanding and communication between the disables and the society.

Empowering Employees on Team Processes Research Paper

Empowering Employees on Team Processes - Research Paper Example However, the range of resolutions the employees can take part in is dependent on the organizational policies. Some of the areas employees may have a voice in include, the working conditions, vocational hours, company policies, the manner in which jobs are to be undertaken, peer reviews as well as how supervisors are appraised. To achieve employee empowerment, the management has to undertake capacity building and the development of the human resources under their control or payroll. In view of this, employees and teams ought to possess the self-belief and capacity to perform assignments and ought to have the opportunities to grow and shine. Performance and employees self-assurance is boosted when they gain additional skills in organizational as well as management issues, and when they obtain fresh skills and expertise. Employees’ empowerment is not a one-day undertaking and it is not straightforward.   Employee empowerment in an organization setting Human resource professiona ls believes that businesses can increase their productivity by empowering their employees. Other human resource scholars put forward that the majority of organizations take part in employees’ empowerment because of its potential to augment organizational innovations and value (Boudrias, Brunet, Morin, Savoie, Plunier, & Cacciatore, 2010). In an organizational setup employee involvement, entails the supervisors supporting immediate workforces in taking part in decisions concerning their vocational responsibilities, and offering them power over their working environment. This strategy is believed to increase workforce enthusiasm and in due course makes them increase their output. However, some researchers have downplayed this hypothesis by arguing that employees empowerment is influenced by many factors other than giving employees control over their work environment. Boudrias, Brunet, Morin, Savoie, Plunier, and Cacciatore, (2010) ascertain that the empowerment of the employee does not take place in an organizational void. This is because the supervisors may endeavor to boost the empowerment of their workforces through awarding the workforces decision-making tasks and offering them the chance to take part, but other organizational system aspects such as procedures governing decision-making, capacity building as well as the reward process may be contradicting to the power given to the employee. Hence, the probability of an empowerment effort by the supervisor to enhance the employees’ empowerment could be conditional to the existence of organizational sustaining features. Therefore, empirical research suggests that effectual empowerment of employees necessitates the creation of an organizational environment distinguished by acknowledgment, support, autonomy support and justice (Boudrias, Brunet, Morin, Savoie, Plunier, & Cacciatore, 2010).  Ã‚  

Example of a Small Business Performing a SWOT Analysis Essay Example for Free

Example of a Small Business Performing a SWOT Analysis Essay Learn more about performing a SWOT analysis before reading the case study. Background The three members of the leadership team at a small marketing consulting firm were interested in expanding their offerings to their clients. Currently the firm has 20 employees (including the three members of the leadership team) many of whom are consultants with the balance being administrative and marketing staff. The last time the company had done a SWOT analysis was when they were first starting up in business and were working on their business plan. The SWOT session enabled them to develop their business plan by having them think through their business goals and objectives for viability and feasibility. At the time, the three of them, plus a few members of their Advisory Council participated in the SWOT analysis. The goal of this SWOT session would be to: * Determine ways to better position the company in marketplace. * Determine new products and services to offer clients to better compete in a crowded marketplace. Preparing for the SWOT session The leadership team wanted to set aside 3 hours for the SWOT session. Given that the business was small, the leadership team felt that everyone should participate. The following decisions were made: * All 20 employees would participate in the SWOT session * A Friday morning in mid-summer would be set aside for the session (and†¦as a â€Å"thank you† for participating – employees would be given the balance of the day off to spend with family and friends) * The focus of the SWOT session would be toward determining products and services to offer to clients and that information would be provided to participants beforehand so they can begin to think about it * A professional facilitator would be brought in to lead the session since this SWOT exercise was essential to the company’s continued growth and success Additionally, the leadership team was going to provide all participants with a copy of the SWOT analysis done at the very beginning – before the business venture began. While it had a different purpose, it would be valuable for the SWOT session participants to view it and, from the leadership perspective, it would be interesting to compare then to now. The SWOT session Brainstorming was used during the SWOT session to gather data for the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The facilitator led the group – starting with strengths and working through to threats. An hour was allocated for this task. Each participant spent time writing on sticky notes their thoughts, ideas, opinions, beliefs and known truths regarding the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. When done, all of the information was posted on the walls under the appropriate heading (e.g. Strengths, etc.) Prioritizing the information The next hour and a half was spent reviewing the data with an eye toward: * Looking for themes/commonalities – combining similar sticky notes under themes (e.g., Customer Service) * Prioritizing based on: * Significant information/data provided by large numbers of participants (e.g, ineffective use of social media was mentioned 15 times!) * What could be â€Å"quick hits† for the company to start to effectively compete against the competition * Products and service ideas that can be created within a year’s time frame The table below is a small sampling of the data gathered during the brainstorming session. This particular data is selected as when they prioritized their efforts these were the areas of focus. STRENGTHS| WEAKNESSES| OPPORTUNITIES| THREATS| * Long-term employees committed to the company * Customers love the work done by the company * Customer retention is high * Well-known brand in the local area * Company has made a profit every year in business * Client base was growing| * No blog on the website * Ineffective use of social media * No global customers * The business hasn’t expanded in the last few years and seems stagnant. * No presence at trade shows or industry events/ conferences * No â€Å"new blood† bringing in fresh ideas * Client base not growing as quickly as in past| * Ask current customers to refer business * Use social media and blogging to build brand name and gain new customers * Expand business nationally * Target smaller start-ups who needed strong marketing to get their business off the ground * Provide sales support services for clients * Offer dashboards for tracking marketing| * Competition was increasing * A number of local competitors were already blogging and utilizing social media * Current customers wanted social media consulting and it was difficult to do so when the company doesn’t do social media themselves * Lots of individuals and other new small businesses â€Å"popping† up who do marketing consulting| Based on the information gathered during the brainstorming sessions and what the participants believed could be accomplished in a one to two year timeframe to have a significant impact on the business, the following was decided to meet the objectives: Objective: Better position the company for success in the marketplace | Objective: New products and services| * Develop a blog * Assign responsibilities for social media accounts: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook * Ask current customers to refer business * Expand business nationally| * Develop and offer dashboards for customers to manage marketing initiatives * Provide services to start-ups who need a strong marketing initiative * Provide social media services and support| Next steps The company’s next steps were to take the projects they decided to accomplish toward achieving their goals and: * Assign responsibility for that project * Develop a project plan including a timeframe and budget needs * Prioritize the projects further * Begin work! A survey done of all participants after the SWOT session showed that they were excited about the process and the path they had developed to help meet company goals. By getting all employees involved, the leadership team showed that they valued all employees and wanted their contributions to help make the company a success. Once a month the leadership team would meet with each project lead to check on project status. It was decided that on an annual basis employees would participate in SWOT sessions to work on strategy for the upcoming year. As the company grew, employees would have the opportunity to participate on a rotating basis.

Essay of Comparison between The Tiger and The Lamb, poems by William Bl

Essay of Comparison between The Tiger and The Lamb, poems by William Blake "The Tiger" and "The Lamb" were poems by William Blake, a poet who lived in the 18th century. In this essay I am going to compare the two poems and examine links between them relating to rhymes, patterns and words used. Blake's background relates on the poems he wrote, and many of his works reflected his early home life. Blake in his childhood was an outcast, a loner, and didn't have many friends. His family believed very strongly in God and were extremely pious Christians but did not agree with the teachings of the church, so young William Blake often was made to think about God and his teachings during his studies. Because his parents were rebels against the Church of England, and most schools were affiliated with the Church in those days, Blake was made to find education somewhere else. He was educated from home by his parents, a practise not done much nowadays. Blake found he had a lot of free time to think about his many ideas, his poetry, life and the like, and also found that he had a very strong imagination. In his poems, many biblical and religious undertones are found as he often wove double meanings into his works. By the time he was an adult his active imagination allowed him to create vivid poetry and paintings, like the paintings that have recently been displayed at the National Gallery. Blake's most famous books of poems are entitled "Songs of Experience" and "Songs of Innocence", and the two most famous poems from these two books are the ones I am comparing in this essay. Poems from the "Songs of Experience" are all about the type of God who brought all the evil and suffering into the world, the vengeful God w... ... Industrial Revolution troubles) and would not have the time or money to take a trip into the countryside. So it too is like a dream, and a fantasy, and it is also a sign of hope and peace, because in those days the industrial revolution was taking place and fields and open space would be disappearing. In its place would be smoggy factories, slum towns and waste tips. This imagery by Blake I find is very effective in also making us remember the conditions most people (but not Blake) had to live in back in those days. "The Lamb" is obviously a poem of questions - the main difference form "The Tiger" being that "The Lamb" provides the answers for the reader and the metaphorical lamb in the second verse, whilst the latter's questions remain unanswered. I personally feel that the poem is asking one main question that is "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"

Alphonse Mucha

Alphonse Mucha: Job Cigarettes During the 19th century, many changes were taking place in modern European society, which was noticeable through art at that time. A different kind of style that was moving away from the traditional, standard art that were taught at art academies and was heavily influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement was developed. This â€Å"modern† style of art was known as Art Nouveau. Alphonse Mucha was an important figure and had a strong influence in this new style.Alphonse Mucha had a style that garnered a lot of public attention in America and Europe and it also influenced many artists to mimic what many called the â€Å"Mucha style. † Mucha’s Job Cigarettes poster illustrates the â€Å"standard’ of the Art Nouveau style and notes some of the changes taking place in modern society. Alphonse Mucha’s Job Cigarettes was not the first poster that brought him fame and put him in the eye of the public; however, it is a poster th at could be said was his best piece. It one of several commercial art ads he did for the rolling paper company known as Job.It features a female holding a cigarette in one hand. The female has a faint smile with her eyes closed and her head raised a bit high to indicate she is really enjoying her cigarette and perhaps getting some sort of physical or emotional satisfaction from her smoke. She seems to go beyond the border giving this piece a sense of depth perspective. It seems to say that she cannot be contained and that she is free to do as she pleases and enjoy her smoke. She has very long and curly stylized hair that was traditionally used by Alphonse Mucha known as macaroni or vermicelli.The hair serves as an essential adorning, decorative component of the poster, which also serves to display the sensuousness of the woman and gives it a more aesthetically pleasant look. The smoke from the cigarette flows upwards in a left and right manner which guides the eye from the cigarette to the head of the female and then finally towards the â€Å"Job† logo. The poster seems to have a decorative border that was most likely influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement. The colors are soft and pastel-like which gives a feeling of serenity and peace.Mucha’ technique in his Job Cigarettes poster and his treatment of the three main elements, flowing lines, heavy curves, and organic subject matter, which traditionally found in Art Nouveau depicts the standard in this style of art. There are no hard-edged lines found in the main figure of the poster. The only hard-edged line work is found in the ornamented border. Mucha also used heavy and light strokes, which was most likely influenced by Japanese woodcuts/art, throughout the female figure and the smoke. He seems to create a heavier stroke on he outside lines, which creates a sort of silhouette giving it a dynamic feel.The heavy curves are easily identifiable in the woman’s hair adorning the female fig ure. They are very long and exaggerated in form, which was traditional of Mucha and the Art Nouveau style. The hair on the female has an organic feel that seems to look like vines or something of that sort. The decorative border seems to frame the whole piece and makes it seem like the woman is leaning outside of a window and into nature to freely enjoy her smoke. As a teenager, Mucha had applied to the Prague Academy of Fine Arts art but was rejected because he did not have the skill to be a â€Å"true† artist.His rejection was even followed up with a note saying that he should find a better profession where he would be more useful. Perhaps Mucha was not the only artist who was rejected in such a manner, which is why many artists probably felt the need to rebel against the traditional style of the Academy, and decided to make art in their own style. They wanted to try something new and move with the rapid changes taking place at that time. One example of change in modern soc iety was the heavy use of posters in commercial art.Mucha decided to use a lithographic poster for his Jobs Cigarettes ad and it made such a great impression on the Job Company that they actually hire him to create additional advertisement posters for them. Another change with Art Nouveau was the constant presence of female figures in the artwork. Female illustrations played an important factor in advertisements. Artwork was sexually charged to sell market commodities. Although Mucha’s Job Cigarettes poster is not overly sexual, he does use a female figure that seems to be getting some sort of pleasure from the product to sell to consumers.Mucha’s illustration perhaps seems to show the rise of women’s social position. Mucha shows a female doing what was traditionally a male activity, smoking. As a result of mass production from the Industrial Revolution, there were a lot of mechanical looking objects in society. These massproduced items just made the world look more ugly, generic, and bland. Mucha gathered much influence from the organic shapes and curves from nature and heavily adorns his illustration to bring more beauty, life, and freedom to society.Alphonse Mucha’s Job Cigarettes poster had a freeing, unique style that was much different than the traditional standards taught at art academies. Mucha’s technique was so evident and admired that the Art Nouveau style was often referred to as the â€Å"Mucha style† and highly imitated by other artists. Through his technique, style and subject matter, he comments on the changes occurring in modern society and in art, and it has influenced not only artists from his time but also many other artists today.

Local Law Enforcement’s Role in Anti-terrorism and Home Land Security

The intensity of the September 11 attacks on American soil led to massive destruction of property, besides leaving thousands of innocent civilians dead. To many, the attacks revealed just how vulnerable the United States was to the cruel hand of global terrorism. The lessons learnt from the tragic incidences prompted immediate action on the part of the federal authorities, culminating in what became known as the war on terror whose overall objective was to completely eliminate, or at least minimize the potential danger posed by terrorists and terrorist organizations spread all over the globe. Beginning then, the fight against terrorism has become a shared responsibility, with various security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies involved in checking terrorist activity. Some of the major responsibilities include have included training on technologies such as airborne insertion equipment, rescuing hostages and using anti-terrorist weaponry. Although most of these have been assigned to specialized task forces such as the military and the Delta force, a critical evaluation also depicts the local enforcement agencies as instrumental in fighting terrorism and enhancing national security. Indeed, the attacks led to a significant redefinition of the role that federal, state, as well as local law enforcement authorities ought to play in as far as the prevention and interdiction of terrorist activity in the U. S. is concerned (Middlemiss and Gupta, 2007). Besides the traditional role of acting as critical incident managers and first responders, these agencies have been assigned a new task: that of handling the uncertainties occasioned by the threat of terrorism. The Role Played By Local Police Agencies in the Fight against Terrorism. As opposed to the military whose main preoccupation is that of protecting the country from eternal aggression, the main domain of local law enforcement agencies lies in the provision of homeland security. Due to the numerous security connections that state and local officials have established with institutions such as the Intelligence Community and the society in general, they usually tend to have an upper hand in detecting and preventing terrorist activity (Sauter and Carafano, 2005). It is in view of this reality that governments within the state and local levels have since embarked on an initiative of establishing antiterrorism and counterterrorism programs. The former entails the defensive or passive strategies employed to curb terrorism, while the latter involves proactive measures such as pursuing terrorist perpetrators and supporters (Sauter and Carafano, 2005, p. 261). In essence, the failure of such initiative to suffice in equipping law enforcement personnel with the basic as well as specialized skills of fighting terrorism implies that the local law enforcers assisted by other personnel would be the in the forefront should a terrorist attack occur. A preliminary study carried out by the Police Executive Research Forum in 2001 found that the local police played a vital responsibility in critical incidence response, information and intelligence sharing, enhancement of community stability after a major incident, and the establishment of multi-agency task forces (Police Executive Research Forum, 2003). However, one of the most remarkable findings of the survey was the strong belief expressed by these law enforcement agents: that they were now faced with an expanded role of terrorism prevention in such subfields as increasing community policing systems, intelligence gathering and information-sharing with the civilian fraternity. Nevertheless, training and conversancy with the nature of global terrorism as well as the need for upgrading terrorist attack-preparedness emerged as critical components if these agencies are to perform a greater role in antiterrorism initiatives. Since 2001, the role of local law enforcement agencies in the fight against terrorism has been transformed from a relatively amorphous form into a more distinct one with specific responsibilities and tasks. One of the areas in which the local police have continued to play is in the domain of terrorism prevention. In essence, the very complex nature of terrorism and terrorist groups makes it impossible for the federal law enforcers to effectively handle the threat posed by global terrorism. Working in close collaboration with the local communities, the local law enforcers have played a critical role of collecting vital information on personalities suspected to have links to terrorist groups. A critical evaluation depicts these agencies as better placed to make a objective assessment of community security fears and concerns identified as critical in effective fathering of intelligence information, particularly considering the ability of community policing to engage citizens, foster collective problem solving, and encourage information sharing based on mutual trust (Middlemiss and Gupta, 2007). By receiving and sharing information with state as well as federal agents while at the same time maintaining confidentiality especially in reference to sensitive information, the local police have been, and continue to be of great help in the fight against terrorism. Other terrorism prevention initiatives that they could be involved in include the identification, evaluation and reduction of the terrorist threat posed to local targets (Sauter and Carafano, 2005). Another domain in which the local law enforcement agencies should be actively involved in is in the domain of critical incident prevention, preparations and response (). One of the traditional roles in which the local police have been involved in is preparing and promptly responding to disasters such as Katrina. With the increasing threat of global terrorism however, such an approach has similarly been transferred to terrorist operations. Such efforts have included initiatives geared towards the derivation of early warning systems to detect the possibility of a terrorist attack. However, this role has also been expanded to security operations enhancement as well as establishing emergency medical teams. Besides, they have been involved in the establishment and implementation of local critical incident plans essential in the evaluation of the various waves of domestic and global terrorism (). However, the successful management of terrorist scenes requires that the local police work in close collaboration with state and federal agencies. Although numerous precautionary measures have been undertaken to prevent terrorist attacks similar to 9/11, the possibility of another attack, either by a foreign or domestic organization can not be ruled. As witnessed in 2001, such deadly attacks cause unprecedented trauma on those involved or their relatives. Thus, the local law enforcement agencies have to work closely with the local leaderships and the community in general in ensuring that such individuals recover from post-terrorist trauma. This could involve adopting effective strategies to alleviate the fear of potential attacks in future. In addition, the local police have to brace themselves with the complex security expectations that the affected community may place, including the provision of information and other extra services (Lyons, 2002). Besides the maintenance of manpower skilled in handling various terrorist challenges, local law jurisdictions have the responsibility of availing the resources necessary to implement antiterrorism and counterterrorism initiatives. Indeed, the reallocation of existing resources as well as the identification of new ones goes a long way in improving the security-preparedness of state and local officials (Sauter and Carafano, 2005). Such resources have been deployed to upgrade the capabilities of old security units in addition to establishing new ones. However, majority of the state and local authorities have increasingly faced numerous counterterrorism budget constrains which have posed as significant obstacles in the initiatives aimed at scaling up security measures. A number of these security initiatives have been funded by the federal government. Notably, the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security was aimed at consolidating most of the federal aid inclined to homeland security within the new department under the Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness (Sauter and Carafano, 2005, p. 64). Some of the activities currently funded include the provision of equipment as well as training of officers on domestic counterterrorist procedures and activities. Nevertheless, the limited funds availed have sometimes precipitated a reduction of existing security functions, for instance, redirecting local intelligence fraternity from the traditional role of unraveling organized crime to that of countering terrorist activity. Conclusion. Although relative calm has been witnessed since the 2001 attacks on American soil, the fight against terrorism is far from over. This calls for concerted efforts amongst all the stakeholders involved. Based on past experience, the local law enforcement agencies can indeed play a pivotal role in the antiterrorism and counterterrorism initiatives. These not only include the initiation of preventive strategies, but also extend to prompt response during actual attacks, as well trauma management. However, various factors continue to present insurmountable challenges in the realization of this noble mission. Particularly, a significant number of local law enforcement agencies still grapple with the reality of maintaining a balance between the fight against terrorism on the one hand and deterrence, and prevention of other crimes on the other. In essence therefore, greater federal support and cooperation is essential in supplementing the efforts of local law enforcement agencies.

Gregor Samsa as the Existentialist Hero essays

Gregor Samsa as the Existentialist Hero essays When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin (The Metamorphosis, 3). So begins Franz Kafkas masterpiece, "The Metamorphosis," written in 1912. This work can be viewed as an exploration of the outcast in European society. It was written in German, rather than Czech, by a Jew in a chiefly Catholic country with an extensive history of anti-Semitism. Therefore, since Kafkas fiction is set in an alternate reality that is threatening, one always has the sense of an individual unfairly trapped in an absurd world, as he was. The weirdness of this transformation or change makes us evaluate Gregors role as the symbolic prototype of the Existential hero because the story was written from an existentialist viewpoint, proven by its emphasis on loneliness, isolation, and the autonomy of ones existence. Gregor lived in an absurd world full of suffering and peculiarity. After Gregor inexplicably woke up one morning as a monstrous vermin, he remarked that he saw no way of bringing peace and order into this mindless motion and that all his efforts to go about his daily routine were for naught (The Metamorphosis, 7). If Gregors predicament is taken to be symbolic of mankinds, then this effort indicates the fundamental struggle of each individual against the alien and hostile world. This fundamental realization that he was entirely helpless in the world came after his reconciliation with the fact that as for adopting another profession, he was not only too old for that but too fanatically devoted to fasting and led him into a deep depression, which led to his death. As the only human bug, Gregor was alone and alienated in his world. Even before his metamorphosis, Gregor was a traveling salesman who was constantly seeing new faces and could have no relati...

8 Places to Practice Italian in Italy

8 Places to Practice Italian in Italy You’ve taken all the community classes your town has to offer, chat with a language partner whenever you can, and listen to Italian music while you drive. Now you’re ready to go to Italy and put all of your hard work into practice. What’s more, you’ve been to the bigger, touristy cities, like Florence, Assisi, and Pisa, which were all lovely, but you want to experience a side of Italy that’s less populated by tour groups and their flags. You want to spend time in a town where very few people speak English or where they’re more willing to play along with you as you figure out this Italian-language thing that you’ve come to love. If that’s you, I’ve put together a short list for you of eight places to visit in Italy if you want to practice your Italian. Of course, there are thousands of towns, large and small, that I could have listed, and no matter where you go, you may still encounter the niece of the proprietor who spent her summer in London and wants to practice her English. I can’t promise you a 100% English-free experience, but I can give you a fighting chance to avoid being â€Å"English-ed.† 8 Places to Visit in Italy If You Want to Practice Italian Northern Italy 1. Bergamo Bergamo is a city (just over 115k in population) in northern Italy that’s around 45 minutes away from Milan by car. While it has a decent-sized expat community, you’ll find less American influence and more Germanic influence. Past visitors recommend taking a walk at Citt Alta (accessible both by way of the funicolare and walking), visiting Castello di Vigilio, and of course, il Duomo. If you’re looking to try a traditional dish, the recommended one is casonsei alla bergamesca, also called casoncelli alla bergamesca.   2.  Reggio Emilia With just over 163k people, Reggio Emilia is well-populated, but don’t let that fool you. I’ve been assured that there are plenty of opportunities to practice your Italian while also learning how to be buone forchette (good forks- those who eat plenty and well). If you have a full day at your disposal, start new conversations while you gawk at Santiago Calatrava bridges from the station, after having walked quietly through il Tempio della Beata Vergine della Ghiara, and as you lounge in Piazza Prampolini (also called Piazza Grande). Oh, and make sure to try l’erbazzone, a type of pot pie made with simple ingredients that’s famous in the region. For more tips on what to do in Reggio Emilia (and to learn some new Italian vocabulary), check out this article from Tasting the World. 3. Ferrara At just over 359k, Ferrara is no small town, but just like Reggio Emilia, there are numerous chances to stretch your Italian to its limits. If you want to hang out with the farreresi, take a passeggiata along le mura  (the walls), eat il pasticcio di maccheroni (and about 47 other nap-inducing dishes), and then ask for directions to Via delle Volte, a characteristic alleyway of the city. For more tips on where to meet people and speak Italian, check out this article from Viaggiare, uno stile di vita. Central Italy 1. Volterra At just over 10.5k residents, Volterra is the third smallest of the places to visit in Italy to practice your Italian. This borgo in Tuscany has Etruscan origins and yep, it was used as the setting for the second Twilight movie (which, to be accurate, was actually filmed in Montepulciano- a town that made the honorable mentions list down below). If you happen to find yourself in Volterra (whether you came hoping to live the magic of New Moon or not- seriously, no judgment), here are a few suggestions for making sure you open your mouth to speak- and eat, of course. First, to start the day off on a ultra positive note, chat about the devices used while browsing il Museo della Tortura, have some cinghiale alla volterrana for lunch, and then hang out in a local bar with the intention to start as many conversations as possible about calcio.    2. Montefalco You’ll find the tiny town (just over 5.6k in population) in Umbria- one of, I might add, my favorite regions in Italy full of green rolling hills and truffles†¦ but I digress. After visiting the main piazza, buy some pan mostato from a nearby panificio, do a tasting of the Sagrantino di Montefalco, and then check out one of the many pathways that hold the same name. Nearby you can also visit  Spello and Bevagna. 3. Viterbo While Viterbo- the city, not the province- does have some beautiful attractions, like Palazzo Papale and Le Terme, which are hot springs, the real beauty of this city in the Lazio region is in its ordinariness. While there is a university with plenty of international students and an exchange program for Americans, the majority of the people who live there don’t speak English. If you’re hanging out there for the day, go straight from the train station to Pizza DJ and grab a slice of the freshest pizza that you can get. Then, take a walk down the corso, stop in a bar and start a conversation with whoever looks friendly. Before settling down for dinner at either the pizzeria Il Labirinto or pasta at La Spaghetteria- famous for having over 300 types of saucespop in and out of the bookshops or grab a gelato from L’antica Latteria. For more suggestions on what to do in Viterbo, check out this article from Trekity. Southern Italy 1. Scilla This small town, or paese, in Reggio Calabria boasts a population of 5k. Besides having a mythologically-based namethe monster that was transformed by Circeit’s characterized primarily by small alleyways that, when followed, lead directly to the sea and houses next to the water that look perpetually sleepy. Besides eating ridiculously fresh seafood on the terrace of a restaurant, the best way to spend your time here is by visiting il borgo di Chianalea, learning some Calabrian dialect from the locals at the bar, or take a dive and learn all kinds of marine-related vocabulary. 2. Lecce Our final place to visit is Lecce, in Puglia, with a population of just over 94k. You can start your day on the more touristy side by having un caffà ¨ at Caffà ¨ Alvino, right in front of the Anfiteatro, or you can seek out a more local place to start your giornata leccese. Then, take a walk at one of the many beaches, get your fill of museums, and then try some sagne torte, or Sagne ‘ncannulate in dialecta pasta dish. For more suggestions, take a gander at this article from Vacanze Lecce. In the event you’re wanting to visit towns with a bit more activity and practice your Italian, here are five that are touristy, but may still play along with your attempts. 3 Other Italian Places to Practice Italian 1. Orvieto - Umbria: You can more about how you can learn Italian in this city in this article. 2. Montepulciano - Tuscany: If you’re interested in learning Italian here, check out Il Sasso school. 3. Monteverde Vecchio in Rome - Lazio: While Rome can generally be categorized a very English-driven tourist city, there are zones, or neighborhoods, that will humor you when you make your best efforts to speak Italian, and Monteverde Vecchio falls squarely in that department.

Critically analyze Walter Lees Perspectives of the American dream. Why Research Paper

Critically analyze Walter Lees Perspectives of the American dream. Why is Walter determined to achieve the American dream - Research Paper Example Loraine Hansberry, one of the eminent African-American writers, wrote the play ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ in the year 1959. With all the vow of equality since ages, America was not able to establish the term to its truest sense has been well depicted through the play. Experiences of the two generations of the Younger family and their struggles and challenges encountered owing to the laws pertaining to the labor and housing discriminations in America have been made very explicit in the play. The black populace in America genuinely suffered from a hollow vision of American Dream due to the discriminative policies taken by government in the areas of work and stay. The agendas are different for two generations but the oppression remains the same and the contrast of experience in the case of Big Walter Lee as evoked through Mama’s voice in the play with that of Walter Lee’s perspective of American dream as a younger generation definitely helps to build a coherent and concise panorama of American Dream in the Afro-American society of the United States. ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ tries to throw light on the racial issues and impact of those issues on the notion of American Dream covering the agony of almost two generations. This essay intends to present the conflict and contradiction of generations manifested through the comprehension of American Dream by Walter Lee. A close introspection into the plot of the play ‘ A Raisin in the Sun’ launches its readers into a plethora where they get the opportunity to comprehend the hardships and the challenges encountered and undertaken by the African–American labor class from 1920s to 1950s. One must definitely take into consideration about the fact that Loraine Hansberry has covered a great span of time in her play, ‘A Raisin in the Sun’. Walter Lee (younger) is present in the play and the readers are aware of

Menu Selection Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Menu Selection - Research Paper Example This paper discusses some of the important ways to interact with App. Additionally, there are many other types of menus, which have their own advantages and disadvantages, for instance, the pop up menu saves space on the screen as they are not existed physically on the screen. In this way, it provides an advantage to the users that they need to know only the selected area options. Menu-driven interfaces have been becoming more popular due to a number of advantages they provide. Each strategy has its own advantages, however, all advantages of menus are related to the user interaction. In order to attract the user, menu-driven interfaces play their role, as they allow the user to select any option easily. If the user has not selected a right option, then it provides the facility to go back to the previous state. Menu-driven interfaces enhance the usability of the system. Each section has its own color, which helps the user to differentiate between different screens (BBC, 2014). A good user interface, along with the menus, enhance the usability, simplicity, attraction and other factors that become effective due to the presence of nice menu-driven right according to the user requirements as well as the user interests (Digital Zoo, 2014). Menu-driven interfaces basically follow some fundamental principles of a good interface, which are right according to the users’ demands and requirements regarding any type of menu strategy design. These principles are: the structure principles, visibility principles, feedback principles, tolerance principles, and reuse principle (Ward, 2013). Menu-driven interface hides the complexity in the background, and users can check only those options, which they want to check. And the most important thing is the aesthetic sense of these menus, as they are pleasing to eyes. As the number of websites and applications are resulting in an increasing number of users, where there are several kinds of users, like novice user and

Evaluating Websites Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Evaluating Websites - Essay Example It is a very motivating website for the kids of grade 1 and grade 2 and it is sure to intrigue them. There are several mathematical concepts that have been described very well on this website and the same can be incorporated from this website. It will simply things for the young students. This website is ideal for grade 2 and grade 3 students and it is little advanced than the first website, it talks about noble prize, flags of different countries, various animals and a host of other stuff. The special feature about this website is its trivia; it is intriguing and makes learning very easy. It can teach the students a lot and hence it should be shown to the students in order to ensure that the students learn a lot of new concepts. This is a very advanced level website and it can even be shown to the 5th grade students, it offers a lot of help on subjects like math, science, social studies. It also provides a lot of information on computers, this adds to the utility of this website. The other websites mentioned above don't offer much help on computers but this website is different and hence it should be shown to the students. This website is very useful when it comes to learning English, it offers a variety of stories to choose from. All the stories have intriguing pictures on them and this is a good way of luring the students to read these stories. This website can of good use to the students, this will surely make their language skills sharper and better than never before. This is why this website must be used in the class. Grade5: Kids.Yahoo Link: http://kids.yahoo.com/science Subject: Science This is another very interesting website and certainly the most matured of all the other websites. This website throws light upon concepts like the movement of planets and other related material. It should be shown in the class in order to explain abstruse concepts and in order to make the students understand those abstruse concepts easily. This website has a lot to offer and it must be shown to the students in order to ensure that they learn new concepts with interest.

Impact of Work-Related Stress, and Treatment

Impact of Work-Related Stress, and Treatment Stress as the modern day back pain Abstract It has been estimated by MIND, the mental health charity, that in excess of five million people in the United Kingdom are suffering such an extreme level of work related stress as to put them at risk of a complete breakdown (cited in Laurence 2005). The pressures on individuals suffering from stress frequently results in them being absent from work although, whilst they remain in work there are effects on the level of accidents and the productivity rates. With the significant financial loss that this gives business, it would be expected that managers are highly proactive in reducing the causes and effects of stress. This report sets out to determine if this is true and to measure people’s knowledge of stress, their awareness of its prevalence and the ways in which it is being controlled. The research suggests that managers have very little knowledge of any of these areas. Despite the increasing level of publicity in both the public and professional press, the problem of stress remains unmonitored and its effects inaccurately measured by the majority of the companies questioned. The guidelines produced by the Health and Safety Executive and the legal requirements under the Health and Safety at Work Act have seemingly had no impact on organisations. Failure to recognise and address the issue of work-related stress will, therefore, lead to it becoming a blight on British industry, being misunderstood, unchecked and poorly measured, as the problem of non-specific back pain was for much of the second half of the last century. The costs of work-related stress are well reported. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work reports that over 40 million days a year are lost to British industry because of stress-related problems (Health and Safety Executive 2004). A recent report by the mental health charity, MIND, states that more than five million people in the United Kingdom are suffering such as extreme level of work related stress as to put them at risk of a complete breakdown (cited in Laurence 2005).Their report goes on to say that for every  £10 generated in the economy,  £1 is lost due to stress related issues and that â€Å"less than 10% of companies have a policy to deal with it† (cited in Laurence 2005pg. 16). ACAS report the Health and Safety Executives findings of 1995 that the cost to society of work related stress was  £3.7 billion. Lord Layard reported to a Government seminar more recently that he estimates the current costs to be  £25 billion (cited in Laurence 2005). It is noted that they do not define what is included in these costs. The most recent statistics show that disability claims due to mental and behavioural disorders has risen from 28% of the total claims submitted in 1997, to 37% in 2003 and is expected to continue to rise (Personnel Today magazine 2005). The subject of stress is appearing more often in both the popular press and professional publications. O’Driscoll et al refer to the work offset and Schuler who suggest that there are four main reason for this: â€Å"concern for individual employee health†¦the financial impact on organisations†¦organisational effectiveness and legal obligations on employers to provide safe and healthy work environments† (O’Driscollet al 2002 pg 188). The question remains as to how organisations are monitoring, reducing and managing the stress experienced by their employees and how they can improve in these areas. Literature Review Stress is not a new phenomenon. It was first identified in 1910 by Sir William Osler who identified that some patients appeared to be under strain during medical treatment. In was not until 1936 that a specific definition of stress as a reaction to a demand on a person was reported by Selly (O’Driscoll et al 2002). A major period of research was in the1950s, when Lazarus et al examined the effects of stress on work performance. McGrath noted that stress is due to â€Å"environmental demands exceeding a person’s resources and capacity, when the outcomes are important for the person† (cited in O’Driscoll et al 2002 pg 190) and French et al formalised the role of the environment in stress by saying that â€Å"strain can result from the mismatch between the person and the environment on dimensions important to the well-being of the individual† (cited in O’Driscoll et al 2002 pg 190). Lazarus continued his work to examine the three phases of cognitive appraisal of stress. He identified that these are primary – the initial reaction to a risk, secondary the assessment of how to overcome the source and reappraisal judging whether or not the reaction to the source of stress was successful (cited in O’Driscoll et al 2002). This work was important as it initiated more investigations into coping mechanisms. Behr and Franz’s work differentiated between the concept of stressors as â€Å"the environmental stimulus or event† and strains â€Å"the person’s response to the stimulus or event† (cited in O’Driscoll et al 2002 pg192) and this differentiation became and has remained important when looking at how to reduce stress in the workplace (Fontana 1989). It is recognised that stress is a natural aspect of life, but also that work-related stress is becoming global in nature and affects both manual and professional staff in industrialised and developing countries. The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology have measured certain jobs as being prone to more than 6 one stress scale rating of 1 to 10. These include miner, police officer and prison officer (Health and Safety Executive 2004). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the American equivalent of the UK’s Health and Safety Executive. NIOSH is a Federal agency responsible for â€Å"conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related illness and injury†(Saunter et al 1999). Their report, publication number 99-101, cites three statistics to illustrate the problem of work-related stress in the USA. Northwester National Life found that work is the main stressor for a quarter of people, Princeton Survey Research Associates report that three quarters of workers think there is more stress at work than the previous generation experienced and St Paul Fire and Marine Insurance found that health complaints are much more likely to be duet factors associated with work than with family or financial problems(Saunter et al 1999). This leads us to determine the exact nature of stress. Fontana makes the point that it is not so much â€Å"the events that determine whether we’re stressed or not, as our reaction to them†(Fontana 1989 pp. 3). He goes on to call individual’s reaction to potentially stressful situations as a result of their cognitive appraisal of the situation i.e. what one person sees as being stressful, someone else will not. He cites the philosopher, Epictetus, who said â€Å"men are not disquieted by things themselves, but by their idea if things† (Fontana 1989 pg. 63). The Health and Safety Executive echo this view in defining stress as â€Å"the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed on them† (Sautà © ret al 1999). Similarly, the European Commission’s definition is: â€Å"the emotional, cognitive, behavioural and psychological reaction to aversive and noxious aspects of work, work environments and work organisations. It is a state characterised by high levels of arousal and stress and often by feelings of not coping† (Health and Safety Executive 2004). Selly noted that stress is not always a detrimental emotion. He defined the difference between â€Å"eustress†, which is seen as positive, motivating and challenging circumstances, which give people an opportunity to stretch themselves and achieve self-satisfaction, and â€Å"distress†, which is where people cannot cope (cited in Foot et al1999). Within the human resources professional publications, it is frequently cited that there is no actual definition of stress or its symptoms as it is not a recognised medical term (Personnel Today magazine 2005).However, several writers have described the body’s reaction to stress and the effects it has. Fontana defines stress as the demand on the adaptive capacity of the body and mind and highlights that too little of this demand leads to boredom and under stimulation, whereas too much results in being overstretched and overwhelmed. When faced with a challenge, the natural reaction of the body is that of fight or flight – either standing the ground and confronting the source of the challenge or by strategically withdrawing. This fight or flight reaction is meant to be a short term, immediate reaction to perceived danger as a method of survival. If its allowed to continue, it can have an adverse effect. As Fontana points out, â€Å"our modern society doesn’t usually allow us physically to fight or run away when we face stressors so that we are allowed to relax. We remain in a state of preparedness for action which we aren’t permitted to take† (Fontana 1989 pp. 6). The body’s responses to stress can be divided into four categories. Firstly, several chemicals are released into the bloodstream including adrenalin, no radelin, thyroid hormones and cholesterol. These stimulate the body through increasing the reflex rate and increasing the blood supply and blood sugar levels to increase the metabolism. However, if this increase in metabolism is not dissipated through physical activity, it can increase the likelihood of heart disease, strokes and kidney disease and aggravate diabetes (Fontana 1989). A racing metabolism can lead to tiredness and exhaustion. The second response is the redirection of blood from those organs which can cope with this forth short term, such as the skin and the stomach, to the air passages in the lungs to increase the aeration of the blood to feed the muscles. Again, if this continues over an extended period of time it can resulting digestive problems, bouts of unconsciousness and malfunctions of the body’s natural temperature control mechanism. The third reaction is an increase in concentration abilities. This is caused by the release of endorphins and cortisone which lowers the body’s natural immunity system and decreases the body’s sensitivity to pain. Again, over the long term, this can result in increased susceptibility to infection, ulcers and extreme allergies. Finally, because the blood thickens to accelerate the clotting process in the case of injury, it also becomes more difficult to move round the body, putting pressure on the heart and possibly leading to heart disease and str okes (Fontana 1989). The phenomenon of â€Å"burn out† is described by Malachi as the state where â€Å"emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation of others in the work context, and feelings of low personal accomplishment on the job† lead to an inability to function in the work environment (cited in O’Driscoll teal 2002 pg. 202) and is seen as the end result of unchecked stress. The causes of stress may come from several sources. Work is seen by many as being a primary source. General organisational problems include insufficient or poorly communicated process and procedures, unclear roles and responsibilities and a lack of basic tools and facilities. A lack of support functions which are often viewed as non-essential, not only increases the workload of individuals who have to do more in their day-to-day activities, but can also lead to feelings of worthlessness. The increased tendency to long or unsociable hours can not only affect the body’s natural circadian rhythm, but can make it difficult to establish and maintain those things which people find help to diffuse their stress e.g. relationships and hobbies. Lack of prospects in apposition can be stressful, although, as will be discussed later, thesis not the case for everyone. A lack of job security is seen as an initiator of stress and becomes particularly significant during a time of change when other stressor may be encountered such as having to alter established work routines and methods. Apart from these general organisational problems, there are a whole host of specific conditions which lead to high levels of stress (Fontana 1989). NIOSH summarise these as: â€Å"the design of tasks, management style, interpersonal relationships, work roles, career concerns and environmental conditions† (cited in Saunter et al 1999). NIOSH relate a list of eighteen work-related areas that can produce stress (cited in Saunter teal 1999). These are referred to in more depth later in the report. What also needs to be taken into account are the sources of stress outside the workplace which lead to the symptoms being displayed whilst artwork. These include domestic problems and also more deeply seated psychological issues such as obsessionality, sensation seeking and over-identification (Fontana 1989). It has been suggested that certain personality types are more susceptible to stress. Commonly used is the distinction between Type And Type B people, as initially defined by Cooper and Bram well (cited in O’Driscoll et al 2002). Fontana describes this distinction impersonality types as being generally accepted by psychologists and medical doctors. A Type A person displays the characteristics of competitiveness, impatience and inflexibility. They work better when given tough deadlines and will tend to take a leadership role. They set themselves high standards to achieve and our highly self-critical if they don’t achieve them. Although Fontana does not provide details, he claims that Type A people are more likely to develop heart disease and high blood pressure. He goes on to suggest that Type A people are more likely to be susceptible to stress as they are highly competitive and â€Å"mobilised almost permanently for action† (Fontana 1989 pg. 72). Other writers, Gangster and Schaubroeck 1991, Haskins, Baglioni and Cooper1990 and Froggatt and Cotton, all cited in O’Driscoll et al 2002,debate whether Type A people are subject to increased stress because they put themselves in more situations that can be deemed as being stressful because of their competitive nature, or that they are more likely to experience stress in any given situation NIOSH report that whilst some employers believe that remain competitive in the economy, organisations need to exert pressure on their employees to maximise productivity and reduce costs, research shows that organisational performance is adversely impacted by th e increase absenteeism, error rates and poor motivation. Similarly, they have found that those organisations that incorporate policies that encourage good health in employees showed a corresponding healthiness in their competitiveness in the economy (cited in Saunter et al 1999). This differentiation as to the relative importance of environmental factors over personality traits has remained an important factor in stress research and, consequently, the approaches to managing stress in the workplace. Ivancevich et al suggest three approaches to managing organisational stress. These are: â€Å"reduce the number or intensity of stressors experienced by employees, help employees modify their appraisal of the stressfulness of the situation or help employees in coping more effectively with stressors and their consequences† (cited in O’Driscoll et al 2002 pg 213). Kahn and Bossier, 1992, identified that the majority of action taken in relation to stress occurred at the second level i.e. involved in changing the way people viewed stressful situations through training and employee assistance programmes (EAPs),rather than trying to remove the actual source of the strain (cited in O’Driscoll et al 2002 pg 213). O’Driscoll (2002) argues that the evidence for the effectiveness of these programmes is limited and that there are questionable benefits to training employees to be able to cope with poor working conditions or practices. Despite this, NIOSH report that nearly half of large companies in the United Sates offer stress management training to their employees, usually involving such topics as time management and relaxation techniques. They point out that these types of interventions have only a short-term effect on the symptoms of stress as well as emphasising the need to alleviate the root causes of the stress (cited in Saunter et al 1999). Elkin and Rosh have put forward a number of actions that could be taken to resolve the stress at source. These include task redesign, allowing flexible work patterns, empowerment of employees and reviewing reward systems to ensure they are equitable. Evaluations of these interventions are reported by O’Driscoll as being positive, but he goes on to emphasise that their use has been limited (O’Driscoll et al2002). Burke noted that the â€Å"removal or reduction of stressors is the most direct way to reduce stress since it deals with the source† (Burke1993 pg. 85). Whilst he does concede that â€Å"these approaches may entail immediate costs for the organisation†, he also notes that â€Å"these will be offset by long-term benefits not only for individual employees but also the organisation as a whole† (Burke 1993 pg. 85). NIOSH recommends combined approach, as even if the causes of stress for the majority of employees were removed, because of individual appraisal of stressors, it would be impossible to remove them all. They also emphasise the need for the size and nature of the organisation to be taken into consideration, as what is possible and desirable for a large multinational may not be appropriate or practical for a small enterprise (cited in Saunter et al 1999). NIOSH identify that the three main factors required for an individual to be able to â€Å"reduce the effects of stressful work conditions† are: â€Å"balance between work and family or personal life, a support network of friends and co-workers and a relaxed and positive outlook† (cited insurer et al 1999). They also advocate a basic programme to initiate actress prevention programme. This involves awareness building for all employees, securing the support and commitment of the senior management team, seeking an utilising employee input to all areas of the programme and ensuring the technical skills of stress management are incorporated through training specific employees of using the resources of consultants. They see employee involvement as being particularly useful when looking at the job design causes of stress and the employee have first-hand knowledge of the tasks (cited in Saunter et al 1999). The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations of 1999 made employers legally bound to undertake risk assessments in the workplace to identify the potential hazards and to take measures to reduce them. Within the definition of potential hazards was stress. As there remained some confusion as tithe nature and causes of stress, the HSE developed a series of standards to be used by employers to identify and manage the key causes of stress at work. These are: â€Å"the demands made on employees, the level of control employees have over their work, the support employees receive from managers and colleagues, the organisational policies in place, the clarity of the employees role within the organisation, the nature of relationships at work and the way that change is managed†(ACAS 2004). In the second half of the last century, a common problem for businesses was the amount of absence from work due to no specific back pain. As it’s difficult to prove that someone is not suffering from back pain, concerns existed as to how it could be controlled. It is suggested that, not only may work-related stress take this position as the main cause of absence from work, but also that the two conditions are related. Occupational Health magazine has reported the findings of research which indicates that musculo skeletal disorders (MSDs) are one of the most common symptoms of stress (Occupational Health 2004). It is suggested that the rise in incapacity benefit claims related to mental or behavioural problems is directly linked to the decrease in claims for back problems and this is due to doctors being more likely to diagnose mental problems as they have less of a stigma than previously for patients. It is therefore possible, that there has been no actual increase in the amount of stress related illness, rather that it is now called that whereas previously people reported one of the symptom of stress which was back pain (Personnel Today magazine 2005). The difficulties in determining whether a reported illness is merely symptom of the deeper underlying problem of stress leads to questions being raised as to amount of stress experienced by today’s workers. Charlesworth (1984) suggests that â€Å"as many as 75% of all medical complaints are stress related† in the United States. Methodolgy The questionnaire was divided into two parts. The first section was asked only of those in senior management positions such as general managers and personnel managers. This was done to determine organisational policies, procedures and measurement of stress. The second set of questions was asked of everybody and included the senior managers so that the effects of stress on them could also be measured. The questionnaire was sent out to variety of business types including catering, production and financial services. The objective was to gain an overall view of the effects of stress on businesses, not to concentrate on those industries which have been classed as particularly stressful as this would have given a distorted view. A limitation of this approach is noted however, as being that some of the respondents indicated low levels of stress or no stress at all and may have therefore been unable to answer all the questions from personal experience. The main objective of the questionnaire was to collect information on the effects of stress in the workplace, the cost of stress and the benefits of a stress free environment. The questionnaire included admixture of quantitative questions to determine factual information and qualitative questions to collect opinions. As the research did not want to suggest answers to the respondents, all the questions were asked aspen questions. Providing multiple-choice answers may have had detrimental effects on the replies received, as it would provide options the respondent may not have considered. However, it is accepted that there may have been an effect in that people did not realise that point was relevant. For example, in the question regarding the symptoms of stress, the respondents might not consider backache unless it was suggested to them. Two exceptions to this were question nine in the manager’s questionnaire and question eight in the general questionnaire which examined the respondents views on the sources of work-related stress given by NIOSH (cited in Salter et al 1999). The replies given to all the other questions were then categorised byte writer. When collating the replies on managing stress, the guidelines set out by the Health and Safety Executive were used and the writer determined which category the answer came under (demands, support, control, policies, role and change). It is accepted that this was a potential weakness in this part of the questionnaire as it was based on the writer’s opinion. The questionnaire was distributed in a postal format to non-senior managers following personal visits to the organisations to conduct separate survey with the senior managers and to gain their consent. Whilst this method has benefits in that respondents would be more likely to be honest as the replies were anonymous (except for those in specific management positions), there are also drawbacks in that a low response rate was expected. To overcome this, the number of questionnaires sent out allowed a population sample of one hundred tube expected with a return rate of 20%. The actual number returned was seventy-five. The questionnaire was conducted on a face-to-face basis for the management roles, as it was important that their questionnaires were returned to provide important information as to policies and procedures. This resulted in a 100% return rate of management surveys. The responses from the general questionnaire were subdivided into those from management and non-management with the supervisors being defined as managers. This allowed better analysis of the results. Where appropriate, it is indicated whether the respondents were manual workers, office based and/or customer facing as this is seen as being relevant to the research. As stated earlier, as the purpose of the research was not to determine which job sectors are more stressful, the results do not differentiate between organisations. Questionaire Managers 1. What do you understand by the word â€Å"stress†? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents An inability to cope with something that causes panic 4 31 Anxiety 5 38 Fear of failure or not being able to continue 7 54 Depression 2 15 When you have too much to do and not enough time or resources to do it 8 62 When you cannot remain rationale about a situation 2 15 Losing control 1 8 Don’t know 0 0 2. What causes stress? Answer Number of respondents % of respondents Too much to do and not enough time to do it 6 46 Different things for different people 4 31 Don’t know 2 15 Other 1 8 3. What would indicate to you that an employee is suffering from work related stress? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Through being absent and giving stress as the cause 10 77 They would submit a grievance 1 8 They would tell their manager 1 8 Other 0 0 Don’t know 1 8 4. Do you or your organisation, actively measure stress levels amongst your employees, and if yes, how? Answer Number of respondents Percept of respondents Absenteeism reported as due to stress 10 77 Performance measures 1 8 Combination of these 1 8 Do not actively measure 1 8 5. How do you evaluate the success of any interventions to reduce stress? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Look for a reduction in absenteeism with stress given as the reason 12 92 Don’t measure 0 0 Staff surveys 1 8 Don’t know 0 0 6. Where is the emphasis of your efforts to manage stress Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Reducing or eliminating the causes of stress 1 8 Helping employees to modify their appraisal of the stressfulness of situations 0 0 Helping employees in coping more effectively with stressors and their consequences 2 15 Managing attendance issues 8 60 None of these 0 0 No effort 0 0 Don’t know 2 15 7. How do you balance people’s needs for challenge and achievement under pressure with ensuring they are able to cope? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents By setting realistic targets 9 69 By allowing people to work at a rate they feel comfortable with 0 0 By asking them 0 0 By identifying when stress occurs and reducing it 2 15 Bu setting consistent expectations 2 15 Other 0 0 Don’t know 0 0 8. What do you feel are the main causes of stress in life in general? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Financial problems 10 77 Relationship problems 6 46 Peer pressure 2 15 Work 3 25 Traffic 7 54 Concerns over the environment 3 25 Concerns over politics 4 30 Concerns over war or terrorist attacks 4 30 Concerns over family members 9 75 Don’t know 0 0 9. Which of the following factors do you believe cause stress to your employees in your workplace? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Workload – too much or not enough 2 15 Pace/variety/meaningfulness of work 6 46 Autonomy 2 15 Shift work/hours of work 3 23 Physical environment (noise/air quality etc.) 2 15 Isolation at the workplace (e.g. working alone) 0 0 Role conflict 0 0 Role ambiguity 0 0 Level of responsibility 0 0 Under/over promotion 0 0 Job security 0 0 Supervisors 0 0 Co-workers 0 0 Subordinates 0 0 Threat of violence 0 0 Participation in decision making 0 0 Management style 0 0 Communication patterns 0 0 None of these 0 0 10. What are your legal obligations in terms of identifying and managing work-related stress? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents There aren’t any 7 54 Comes under HASAW Act 2 15 Have to complete risk assessments which includes assessing possible sources of risk 1 8 Other 0 0 Don’t know 3 23 11. What are the HSE standards that organisations should use to identify and manage stress? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Don’t know 13 100 Could name all six 0 0 Could name five 0 0 Could name four 0 0 Could name three 0 0 Could name two 0 0 Could name one 0 0 12. What actions do you take under each of the HSE standards: Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Demands 7 54 Support 6 46 Control 4 31 Policies 7 54 Role 0 0 Change 5 38 Other 0 0 Don’t know 0 0 a. demands – ensuring employees do not become overloaded and unable to cope with the amount of work they are asked to do (job design, flexible hours and training) b. support – management style and degree of intervention c. control – allowing employees to have input into how they complete their tasks d. relationships – personnel policies on grievance, poor performance etc. e. role induction, objectives f. change – managing change 13. How would one of your employees alert management if they were experiencing work-related stress? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Through grievance procedure 8 62 During appraisal 7 54 Through formal representatives e.g. union of employee consultative committee 4 31 Would just say 0 0 Don’t know 0 0 Other 0 0 14. What are the symptoms of stress? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Being absent from work 4 31 Panicking 4 31 Nervousness 2 15 Heart problems 1 8 Crying 7 54 Alcohol and drug use 6 46 Accidents in the workplace 1 8 Don’t know 0 0 Other 15. What is the absence rate in your organisation? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents 0 – 2% 7 69 2 – 4% 5 8 4 – 6% 0 8 6 8% 1 15 Don’t know 0 0 16. What percentage of this absence level is due to stress related illnesses? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Less than 10% 9 69 More than 10% but less than 30% 1 8 More than 30% but less than 50% 1 8 More than 50% but less than 75% 2 15 More than 75% 0 0 Don’t know 8 62 17. What is the financial impact of stress in your workplace? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Calculated the same as any absence from work 13 100 Don’t measure 0 0 Don’t know 0 0 18. What do you include when you measure the financial impact of stress which you do not include when measuring the cost of other reasons for absenteeism: Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Reduced productivity 0 0 Employee turnover 0 0 Absenteeism 0 0 Medical costs 0 0 Recruitment 0 0 Use of temporary staff 0 0 Retraining costs 0 0 Loss of production 0 0 Poor customer service 0 0 None 13 100 19. Which level of employee do you feel is more susceptible to stress in your organisation? Answer Number of respondents Percentage of respondents Senior managers only 0 0 Blue collar workers only 3 23 Middle managers only 0 0 All management levels 8 62 Everyone is equally susceptible 2 15 Don’t know 0 0 20. What type of