Is Facebook Making Us Lonely Essay

In Stephen Marche’s article â€Å"Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?† (2013) Marche suggests that over time, loneliness is becoming more prominent in today’s society. Marche develops his claim by using many published research and scholarly articles. In order to make readers aware of this growing epidemic, Marche’s purpose is to show that by using Facebook people are becoming more isolated. The target audience for this article is Facebook users and people who are interested in joining. Although Marche argues that Facebook is making people lonely, Facebook doesn’t isolate people because of the many networking features such as sending messages and writing on walls. After reading Marche’s article, I was confused because I disagree with his opinion of Facebook. Marche suggests that Facebook is making people lonely, but I believe that Marche’s correlation between Facebook and loneliness is mere speculation. Marche begs the question â€Å"Does the internet make people lonely or are lonely people more attracted to the internet?† (278) I agree with the Australian study â€Å"Who Uses Facebook?† The study concludes, â€Å"People who have unhappy family relationships in the first place seek companionship through other means, including Facebook.† (279) Marche’s argument is weak because his lack of evidence, despite his research. Marche states â€Å"Facebook arrived in the middle of a dramatic increase in the quantity and intensity of human loneliness.† (275) This statement proves that Facebook is not the cause of the increase in loneliness. Some of Marche’s research disproves his correlation between Facebook and loneliness. Moira Burk (graduate student) conducted a study that does not support the assertion that Facebook creates loneliness. Burke concluded â€Å"People who experience loneliness on Facebook are lonely away from Facebook. Facebook is a platform for lonely skulking.† (280) Work Cited Marche Stephen. â€Å"Is Facebook Making Us Lonely.† Connections: Guide to First Year Writing Clayton State University. Mary Lamb. Southlake: Fountain Head Press. 2013. 273-284. Print

Activity Based Costing †Glaser Health Products Case Essay

Introduction Glaser Health Products manufactures medical items for the health care industry. Production involves machining, assembly and painting. Finished units are then packed and shipped. The financial controller is interested to introduce an activity-based costing (ABC) system to allocate (or distribute) indirect costs to products. Indirect costs, as distinct from direct costs, cannot be unambiguously linked to specific products. The controller would like to calculate product costs based on ABC for planning and control, not inventory valuation. Under an ABC system, the allocation of costs to products is achieved through at least four analytical steps. Firstly, costs are grouped into activity levels. Secondly, cost drivers are selected for each activity level to link activities with costs. Thirdly, for each activity level, a cost function is defined to arithmetically describe the relationship between cost drivers and costs. Finally, a unit allocated cost is calculated for each product (Schneider, 2012). This paper outlines a process for introducing an ABC system at Glaser. The paper is divided into six sections. The first section groups cost categories identified at Glaser by division. The second section groups cost categories by division and activity level. The third section identifies specific cost drivers for each activity level. The fourth section explains preliminary stage allocation. The fifth section explains primary stage allocation. The final section summarizes the main conclusions. Cost Categories by Division Glaser is organized into three functional divisions – Operations, Sales, and Administration. Operations is the only cost or activity center. Glaser recognizes 22 cost categories. These cost categories are grouped by division in Table 1, shown in the appendix. Cost Categories by Division by Activity Level The second step in an ABC system involves grouping costs based on the level of activity at which they are generated. An activity involves the movement or handling of any part, component, or finished product within the relevant organizational unit. The rationale for this grouping is that costs at each activity level are determined by different cost drivers. Four levels of activity are commonly recognized – unit, batch, product and facility level.  Unit-level activities are the most granular level of activity. They are performed each time a sub-unit is produced. Unit-level activities are on-going and reflect basic production tasks. Direct labor or direct materials are examples. Costs of these activities mainly vary according to the number of units produced. Batch-level activities are relevant to batch (rather than continuous) production processes. They are performed each time a batch of product sub-units is produced. Typical examples of these costs relate to machine setups, order processing, and materials han ¬dling. Costs of these activities vary mainly according to the number of batches produced, not the number of units in each the batch. Product-level activities support production of each product. The costs of these activities vary mainly according to the number of separate product models. Examples include maintaining bills of materials, processing engineering changes, and product testing routines. Facility-level activities are common to a variety of different products and are the most difficult to link to individual product-specific activities. These activities sustain the production process at an overall production plant or facil ¬ity. Examples include plant supervision, rental expense and other building occupancy costs. Some firms, including Glaser, choose not to allocate facility-level costs to product costs. Based on these activity level distinctions, the 22 Glaser cost categories may be grouped by division and activity level as shown in Table 2. By way of digression, it is worth mentioning that as a broad generalization, unit-level activities tend to generate mainly variable costs while and facility-level activities tend to generate mainly fixed costs, although there can be exceptions. Activities in the other two activity levels tend to generate a mixture of variable and fixed (Hansen & Mowen, 2006). Cost Drivers by Activity Level by Division Cost drivers can be identified for each activity or cost category based on observation, discussions with management, simulations and statistical studies. The key is to determine the behavior of indirect costs with respect to activity or resource usage in each activity center (Leslie, 2009). These efforts have identified the eight cost drivers shown in Table 3. Direct  labor assembly costs are, by their nature, directly traceable to individual products. Therefore the relevant cost driver for this cost is the number of Direct Assembly Labor Hours. The other 21 cost categories are indirect costs. At the unit activity level, electricity assembly costs are likely to vary with Direct Labor Hours, Assembly. Similarly, the three machining costs grouped at the unit-activity level are likely to vary with by the number of Direct Labor Hours, Machining. Secondly, at the batch activity level, paint cost is likely to vary mainly with the Number of Batches Processed. Painting activity is the only batch activity at Glaser. Thirdly, at the product activity level, the two Operations costs are likely to vary mainly with the Number of Units Produced and the three Sales costs are also likely to vary mainly with the Number of Units Produced. Finally, at the facility-level, the five Operations costs are likely to vary mainly with the Number of Units Produced, the Square Feet of Building Space Used, Payroll Costs, the Number of Employees, and the Change in Number of Employees. The three Sales costs are also likely to vary mainly with the Number of Employees. The three Administration costs are likely to vary mainly with the Number of Employees, the Change in Number of Employees and the number of Square Feet of Space Used. In summary, eight separate cost drivers may be used by Glaser to link activities with indirect costs and finally allocate those costs to individual products. These cost drivers are summarized by activity level by division in Table 3. Preliminary Stage Allocation Direct costs can be linked immediately to a product without the need for a cost driver. This is not true for indirect costs. An indirect cost requires a cost driver to link that cost with an activity and finally a product (Kimmel, et. al., 2010, Chapter 5). The first step in allocating indirect costs to products is to complete a preliminary stage allocation. This involves allocating the support center costs to the activity centers. In the case of Glaser, there is only one activity center, Operations. The Glaser controller has decided that the ABC system implemented at Glaser should allocate all indirect cost categories to products except for the three Sales and three Administration categories classified as facility-level costs. The only non-activity center costs that need to be assigned are the three product-level Sales division costs. This allocation may best be demonstrated  with an example as summarized by Table 4 provided in the appendix. The table assumes Glaser produces two products, A and B, with 30,000 units of each product produced during the period. It also assumes that product-level Sales division costs total $300,000. Allocation of these non-activity center costs result in unit costs of $5 for Product A and $5 for Product B. These unit costs are identical at $5 because the number of units produced is equal at 30,000 units for Product A and 30,000 units for Product B. These non-activity center unit costs need to be added to unit costs derived from the primary stage allocation. Primary Stage Allocation In the primary stage allocation, activity center (that is, Operations division) costs are assigned to each of the two products. In the example summarized by Table 5, the 13 costs assigned to Operations totaled $2,041,000. Allocation of these costs based on the various cost drivers results in unit costs of $40.60 for Product A and $27.43 for Product B. Once the $5 non-activity center unit cost is added to each product, the total allocated unit cost is $45.60 and $32.43 for Product A and B respectively. Conclusions Accounting provides information about the financial health of a firm. That information is used by a variety of stakeholders and other interested parties including managers, investors, investment analysts, employees, suppliers, customers, financial journalists, and regulators. At the broadest level, the information is used to improve resource allocation. ABC is a good example of accounting data being used to raise resource efficiency. ABC allows management to methodically identify activities and resources used to produce a product. The system distributes indirect costs to individual products and in that way improves product costing and pricing which ultimately affects buying decisions by consumers and investment decisions by management and investors (Edmonds & McNair, 2012). Finally, the Glaser controller decided that the ABC system at Glaser will not allocate all indirect cost categories to products. The three Sales and three Administration division cost categories classified as facility-level costs are excluded from the allocation process. To that extent, costs are not fully distribute or allocated to products. The excluded sales and Administration costs must be recognized at some stage during the product price setting process otherwise those costs will not be recovered by the resultant product prices. References Edmonds, T.; Olds, P. & McNair, F. (2012). Fundamental financial accounting concepts. Kindle Edition. Hansen, D. R. & Mowen, M. M. (2006). Cost management accounting and control. Ohio: Thomas South-Western. Kimmel, P.D., Weygandt, J.J. & Kelso, D.E. (2010). Financial accounting: Tools for business decision-making (5th ed.). John Wiley Sons: Hoboken, NJ. Leslie, C. (ed.)(2009). Management accounting: information for creating and managing value. McGraw-Hill Australia. Schneider, A. (2012). Managerial accounting: Decision making for the service and manufacturing sectors. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.

Current Events and U.S. Diplomacy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Current Events and U.S. Diplomacy - Assignment Example Though most of these relationships are positive and peaceful ones, there are some relations that are not so good. This is especially apparent with US relations with many Arab countries in the Middle East. This relationship culminated with the twin tower attacks on 9th September 2011 by Arabic terrorists, and the US response to the attacks by invading Afghanistan, and later on Iraq, in order to quash any terrorist groups intent on attacking the USA. One country whose diplomatic ties have seen developments since the cold war ended with the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 is Germany. During the cold war, the Berlin Wall separated east and West Germany, and by extension separating Eastern and Western Europe. Therefore, Germany was in the midst of all the chaos that marked the cold war decades. The two separate parties had completely different ideologies, and this difference split Europe between those two camps, hence a physical separation in form of a wall was built to separate them. Aft er the fall of the Berlin war, most countries changed their political ideologies to those of Western Europe. Germany, which had been split into two, had difficulties settling into being one large country with Western Europe ideologies, especially concerning democratic rule. The reason for this was due to the fact that the elements that advocated for socialist and communist rule were still resisting the inevitable change that was prevailing in the country. However, in the end, the western ideologies and democracy prevailed (Stiftung, 2003). Germany’s cold relations date back to the Second World War when the two countries were indifferent camps. USA allied with Britain and other countries to end the Nazi rule in Germany and brought the Second World War to an end. After the fall of the Berlin wall, the USA was a very significant force in ensuring that peace was brokered between the two former camps of eastern and western Germany. Furthermore, the US retained a large number of it s military personnel in Germany after the end of the cold war to protect its trade, educational and other institutional interests in the country. This was, however, a friendly agreement between the two countries. When the USA invaded Afghanistan after the September 2001 attacks, Germany sent troops to back up the NATO forces in bringing down the middle eastern country, which was seen as protecting the terrorist attacks mastermind Osama bin Laden and other terrorists operating under the A Qaeda emblem. However, the relations between USA and Germany turned sour when the then German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder refused to back the USA in invading Iraq, opting for more diplomatic and peaceful solutions to the problem. This problem was neutralized when the US-backed Angela Merkel became chancellor. Recently, the relations between the USA and Germany have had tensions again after a series of secret documents from the US embassy in Germany were leaked to the public by Wiki leaks. In these documents, information passed between the US embassy in Berlin and the USA painted a bad picture of the leadership in Germany, especially of the current chancellor, labelling her names. Furthermore, the leaked information criticized nearly the whole German cabinet and leadership, with very few pro-American members left untainted (Norton, et al., 2011).

Islamic Law and the Modern World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Islamic Law and the Modern World - Essay Example Thesis statement: The Islamic Law is less important in the modern world because the same does not support democratic ideology, limits individual freedom, less secular, hijacks politics, manipulates economics, against modernity, and limits basic human rights within religious belief. The concept of democracy envisions equal opportunity for all within national boundary. Besides, democracy is totally against the influence of royal families and religions groups over national politics. This is important for a modern state because democracy allows equal opportunity to all citizens. On the other side, an individual’s religions belief determines his/her worth and rights in an Islamic nation. To be specific, the laws related to Islam limits the scope of democracy within Islamic nations. For instance, the Islamic nations never allow democracy within national politics because democracy allows citizens to choose their government. Fatima Mernissi (2009, p.16) states that, ‘The pouring of masses onto the streets during the Gulf War, their calling for democracy, passed unnoticed in the Western media’. But some nations (Muslim majority) try to inculcate democracy within the mainstream society, known as Islamic democracy. For instance, some secular nations l ike Turkey try to redefine Islamic principles to inculcate democracy into the society. Still, this is not an easy task because Islamic principles, especially Sharia, are not in favor of democratic thought. Similarly, some other Islamic nations, like Pakistan, are not totally against democracy because Islamic law is not the one and only law in these nations. So, one cannot plainly blame Islam for the less scope of democracy within nations because the political elite and religious elite classes are responsible for the same. On the other side, the religious fundamentalist groups are in favor of the strict implementation of laws related to Islam.

What causes structural unemployment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

What causes structural unemployment - Essay Example In most cases, unemployment occurs when the economy in the recession. Globally, more than 200 million people are unemployed which is equivalent to 6% of the global workforce. There are different types of unemployment. These include classical unemployment, cyclical unemployment, structural unemployment, frictional unemployment and hidden unemployment. This paper seeks to discuss about the causes of structural unemployment as well as the ways of dealing with this kind of unemployment. Structural unemployment is defined as a type of unemployment whereby at a given wage level, the labour demanded is lower that the labor supplied. This happens when there is a mismatch between the number of jobs available in the economy and the number of people who are willing to work (Romer, 2011). The mismatch may occur if the unemployed individuals lack the necessary skills as needed by the organizations or they may be residing in different parts of the country far from where the job opportunities are available. Being one of the permanent types of unemployment, most economists argue that improvement on causes of structural unemployment can only take place in the long run. Based on the changing level of technology and obsolescence of certain technology, some experts and systems become of less importance (Ford, 2009). For example, with the emergence of modern forms of printing by use of computers, the use typesetters became insignificance. Another scenario of structural unemployment can be indicated when the economy experience an increase in the level efficiency. In most cases, when any of the economy sectors has high level of efficiency, the number of workers required goes down. For example, by mechanizing the work in the agricultural sector, few employees are needed to carry out the duties in the sector. This implies that some individuals who have qualification in agricultural related

Organisational Analysis (case study) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Organisational Analysis (case study) - Essay Example With the intense competition, the customers’ alternative sources of supply increase along with the threshold level of acceptable quality in terms of product and service. Therefore, product quality, innovation, delivery reliability and shorter lead times have become prerequisites in business world rather than competitive advantages. Thus, the importance of streamlining internal processes and aligning the organisational structure to act as a combined force becomes a key necessity. Agility in organisational process in responding to market demands can only be achieved through organisational structures, which are well-integrated, less bureaucratic and collectively aligned towards achieving the organisational objectives (Thomson & Strickland 2003). The case study analyses the current issues being faced by Rondell Data Corporation, a well established manufacturer of Data Transmission units and electronic Testing Equipments, with regards to its internal business operations, especially pertaining to the interdepartmental conflicts leading to reduced productivity and profitability resulting from mismatch in its organisational design and structure with the required business process. The analysis will take in to account the current status of the operations with the use of contingency models and identify the problem areas being encountered by Rondell. The insight gained from the analysis will aid in explaining the past background and how the company has developed to its current stage as well as what the future may hold if the organisation proceed without interventions. Lastly the analysis will also provide suggestions and recommendations for intervention and creating change at Rondell Rondell Data Corporation which has been incorporated in 1930 has grows steadily over the decades with a dedicated team of employees who are mainly from engineering background. The company

Multimedia in the school curriculum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Multimedia in the school curriculum - Essay Example So if applied properly, the multimedia can give wide range of utility in various fields including the curriculum in school. The children can acquire a lot of awareness and fascinating experience when provided with the benefit of multimedia in their learning of their subjects. The learning process of children should always be attention-grabbing, otherwise they will get uninterested and their mind will be block to the process of learning. Their capacity to acquire the new thing will decrease. The mixing of audio and visual together is the solution for the purpose, though not new. The black boards, charts, maps etc. along with lecture in the class room is the old fashioned mixing of audio and visuals to give effective learning. This concept is used in multimedia with invent of the computers in recent decades to provide better aid to the process of learning. Slack (1999) has find out that â€Å"students are seen to be more motivated when using multimedia† increasing their curiosity level extremely elevated. With the use of multimedia the interest level of not only the students but also the teacher gets accelerated. â€Å"Teachers have also suggested that they regard students as learning co-operatively when multimedia is used (Slack 1999).† When teachers along with the students get motivated the outcome of the teaching and learning is a great result. But such enormous advantage is not adeptly used in teaching process. Research seems to suggest that there has been little primary research into issues concerning the use of multimedia technologies in schools over the transition from primary (elementary) to secondary schools (STOA 1997). Concerning the learning process of children the need is to provide extensive research in the field to find out the methods and to study the feasibility of implementation of multimedia in each and every possible field of teaching and learning. â€Å"Portuguese PEDACTICE teachers are working with researchers to develop strategies

Japan modernization vs tradition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Japan modernization vs tradition - Essay Example Japan invited the West to it and not the other way around. Western curiosity led it to Japan to try and peel layer after layer to get at the truth. Modernism seems to have reached Japan quite late but Japan absorbed Western influence in its own way - yet the trappings of modernity which other countries of Asia were eager to flaunt, were not visible to outsiders - a predilection for technology, scientific institutions and American education. Japan exists in its paradoxes. Japan has no technological institution worth the name yet produces some of the world's best known and loved electronic goods and automobiles. Until a couple of decades back Japanese employees remained deeply loyal to the organizations they worked in and were similarly rewarded by their employers. The paradox can only be explained by a deep reverence for the Samurai ideals of dignity, honesty, tradition and loyalty- and this might perhaps explain the attitude of the Japanese - their ability to absorb other influences. Make Japan a world power and yet remain true to their inner life endowed with a certain stoicism which they bear the intrusion of modernity in Japan and its constant threat to traditional Japanese values as reflected in the Samurai.2 Mishima was a writer, essayist poet and writer. ... is grandmother Natsu Hiroaka till the age of twelve, Mishima's first short story 'The Forest in Full Bloom' has the protagonist describing how his ancestors lived in him - possibly laying the seeds for his philosophy and violent death . He rose to write several full length novels and plays. Yukio Mishima believed in the power of Japan and was devoted to his Emperor - a metaphor for Japan and not the ruler. Dismayed by the invasion of modernity on traditional Japanese values, he felt that modernity brought with it certain barrenness. He later went on to join the tatenokai, a radical martial army. From here, he preached that Japanese should take to the Samurai tradition. He practiced sword fighting and martial arts and the group swore to protect the 'Emperor'.3 On that fateful day in 1970, before Mishima committed hara kiri or ritual suicide, he stood in public view and delivered a speech on the need to protect Japanese traditions. Mishima was the one who brought this devotion to tradition before the whole world, because he was a very well known figure. But what he lived and died for might not be seen as very relevant to contemporary Japanese m specially the young. Japan still remains true to tradition overall but is faces the inevitable globalization and therefore its concerns are primarily economic. The emperor still remains a loved symbol but Japanese are too bothered coping with rising , inflation , recessionary figures and concerns about competitiveness to ever brood .4 The more philosophical concerns are probably discussed by Japanese as much as in any other country and m in the final analysis there is only so much we can learn about a country's traditions. Japan has a lot to offer and from this young vibrant country, come the drivers of the next generation of

Against stricter gun control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Against stricter gun control - Essay Example Antigun control activists assert that disarming the public is not the answer to removing the threat of civilian shootings, but arming those who are in those situations is the answer. For instance, teachers should be legalized to carry guns if it helps to improve their safety since they are often targets of attacks by rowdy students in different locations (Weissert, 2013). This should not only apply to teachers but to all the citizens alike if their lives are under threat from assailants who are bent on robbing them of their valuable possessions. In such a case, it can be seen that guns help to protect the safety of the citizens. In the United States, there are more incidents of armed civilians, guards, and off-duty police officers saving people through the use of guns than there are also incidents of armed civilians firing on innocent crowds. In such a scenario, it can be seen that guns are used to protect innocent civilians against violence by other unknown assailants hence stricter gun laws may threaten the safety of the citizens if they are implemented. The use of guns has to be regulated such that only those people with the legal right should use the guns to protect themselves and the members of the society rather than to commit crimes using the same guns. The other reason why I argue against stricter gun laws is that the state has the duty to regulate as well as to vet the people who are legible to get the guns. If the state makes it a law that guns should not be easily accessed by anyone especially young children, gun violence is likely to be maintained at a lower level. Gun violence can also be reduced if all guns are licensed such that the state can clearly control the activities of the people who are armed with guns. If efforts are put to eradicate all illegal fire arms being possessed by different people, it can be seen that the levels of gun violence

Commercially Available Firewalls Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Commercially Available Firewalls - Essay Example Application-Layer Firewall, is the type of firewall that can address the vulnerabilities faced by NBK bank, since once the Application-Layer Firewall is installed, it will safeguard the bank’s data, since this type of firewall prevent all unwanted outside traffic from reaching protected machines (Venkatesulu & Kumar, 2012). This type of firewall works towards monitoring all browser traffic, or all telnet traffic, and intercepts or blocks the packets that do not match the set data traffic rules, since they are considered to be intrusive (Venkatesulu & Kumar, 2012). To enhance the effective operation of the firewall once it is installed, fellow workers are supposed to understand that firewall does not protect the computers from all sort of harm, and thus should observe the following set of procedures: Avoid the use of any unauthorized connections such as Modems or wireless connection, since firewall does not protect against traffic or software that does not come through it (Venkatesulu & Kumar).

Personal Philosophy of Education Essay Example for Free

Personal Philosophy of Education Essay Education is an important part of growth of the individual. Education can mean a lot of things. One of the definitions of education is the experience of the individual learning and gaining knowledge while inside the structured educational system. Today, one of the strongest beliefs when it comes to education is that learning starts during the early childhood years of the individual. Because of that, education philosophies have strongly revolved around this particular idea. This in turn has created many different perspectives and ideas in learning and education. The three important aspects of this philosophy on education are hinged on the consideration of children, teaching and learning. Generally, the philosophy is about the belief that children should be exposed to learning with focus on two different areas as soon as they are in the age fit for school-based learning. This usually ranges from five to seven years old onwards, depending on the mental, emotional and psychological disposition of the individual. This philosophy of education puts important consideration to the differences among individual children. This means younger children already fit for structured learning is not discouraged from starting even at a younger age. Those who are not yet fully ready are not discouraged either but will be the target of additional stimulation to be at par with the capabilities of those who are in the same age bracket as the child is. This philosophy in education is inspired by the Montessori Method. The belief of this method is that the children all possess natural inner guides inside them. The structured academic learning experience only acts as a means to provide for material and additional assistance to the children as they learn by themselves through their instincts, something that the creator of the Montessori approach recognized through observation. Montessori developed a new philosophy of education based upon the intuitive observation of children (Lillard, 1988, p. 29). In using the Montessori approach to creating the philosophy of education, the approach and perspective towards learning is strongly influenced by the ideals of Montessori approach. Examples are the treatment in learning, its ideas about children and the role of school and education, etc. , using the Montessori results in the consideration and inclusion of the learning theories that this particular approach entails. In this paradigm of teaching style and educational philosophy, the teacher takes the role of the mature overseer. In realization of the ability of the children to naturally learn via their experiences in the environment, the teacher makes sure that children are placed in an environment free from obstacles that could hamper, hinder, impair or impact negatively their learning experience. This approach is more focused on preparing the environment wherein the children are, for most of the time, left to their own devices to learn via experiential processes, and, when necessary providing the necessary and sufficient intervention. The philosophy of education is focused on the belief that what the children need to learn (in communication, in mathematics, in logic development, in interpersonal skills, and in other academic and non-academic components of child education) can be found in the childs experiential learning in a controlled environment where the learning experience has the potential to reach its optimum growth and development. The philosophy of education in this particular condition puts importance in the instincts of the child, in the effort to encourage the children to develop their instincts and to not put a stupor on such natural capacity which is crucial and important for long term learning. Perspective on Children This philosophy of education sees children as individuals who are created with the natural ability for learning. However, because of their lack of experience as well as necessary knowledge to make themselves fully capable and full developed individuals, they need to undergo educational experience beginning at their young years. Children is viewed not as individuals who need to be spoon-fed with things that can improve their own knowledge and skill set. Rather, they are individuals who need to be guided especially in their learning stages so that they can develop as capable, competent, learned and mature individuals in the future. Children are not viewed as entities that are commanded to follow. Rather, they are individuals whose own self compass is sufficient for them to move in the direction they need and want to since they are created with the natural tendencies for learning and knowledge development. They are not robots with minds that are like computers programs that can be tweaked, altered and changed depending on the perspective and disposition of the educational institution. On the other hand, the main responsibility of the school and its teachers is to make sure that each of the autonomous and independent minds be able to grow and develop towards each individual’s own complex and unique entity. Children are individuals who are sufficiently equipped, physiologically, but nonetheless requires intervention if only for the sake of maximizing, harnessing and developing the potential that each child has. Perspective in Teaching The teacher or teaching component of this philosophy of education is about the role of teachers and the teaching process as a tool. It guides and provides necessary intervention sufficient enough to guide the children into learning and knowledge building but not excessive enough to dictate the educational experience and the learning process of the child. This is considering the fact that the child is depended upon to use his/her natural instincts for learning. Perspective in Learning The learning perspective of this philosophy in education revolves around the central idea that learning is something that is natural to an individual, something that he or she experiences even when the individual is at his or her very young age. In this philosophy of education, learning is something that should be experienced by the child by allowing the child to interact with his or her environment, the creation and set up of which is a result of the conscious effort of the teacher and the school. Learning is something that comes naturally. Learning results to knowledge and information set in an individual to which the school and the teacher has a strong influence on, especially in guaranteeing the absorption of information that the child needs to know during the learning process. Reference Lillard, P. P. (1988). Montessori: A Modern Approach. New York: Schocken Books.

Ethical Responsibility Of The Airline Industry Management Essay

Ethical Responsibility Of The Airline Industry Management Essay The internal and external environment of an organization is related to managerial ethics and also corporate social responsibility in the process of management. This report focuses on the airport industry. In my report, there is the meaning of all factors and also an analysis of the airport industry. I expect that this report will help us know more about some key areas that need to be improved and understand key management. Ethical Responsibility of the Airline Industry Introduction The business of international airline has developed as businesses progressively are rotating worldwide in periods of their investments, provide and output chains and their consumers. The fast development of world business in items and services and worldwide direct buying have furthermore supplemented in the development of enterprise travel? One thing that actually influenced people about the industry of airline was their proficiency to sustain high earnings and sustain high clientele groundwork even after the September 11 attacks and the 2002 recession (John, 2005). The worldwide charges have expanded due to advanced security methods while localized or nationwide charges are very inexpensive to consumers. Discussion Airlines achievement is mainly due to their pointed aim. This is apparent through their no-frills, low-cost model; their aim is to supply the safest and cheapest pattern of air travel between two destinations. Driven through the concept that consumers can be persuaded without having costly choices accessible for them, International Air Transport Association, IATA, outlooks a boost in worldwide air travel through an mean 6.6% a year to the end of the ten years and over 5% a year from 2000 to 2010 (John, 2005). These rates are alike to those of the past 10 years. According to the last four years, outcomes of airlines economic advancement have sustained stable snare sales. In 1999, they had a mean snare sale of $6,739 million, which is an increase to $7,565 million. Their minor fall in 2002 to $7,225 million was due to the September 11th occurrence (Graham, 2010). However, this is not anything contrasted to other foremost commerce that had lost so much more. Since then, numerous airline s and airports have filed for insolvency and have been compelled to close down. In detail, airlines are the only foremost US carrier to stay money-making since then; airlines were influenced through the poor financial situation (John, 2005). A number of components are compelling airlines to become more proficient. In Europe, the European Union (EU) has directed that authorities must not be permitted to sponsor their loss-making airlines. In several other countries, governments anxieties over their own investments and acknowledgement of the advantages of privatization have directed to a stepwise move of possession of airlines from the state to the personal area. In alignment to apply to potential shareholders, the airlines have become more effective and aggressive. There are other causes as to why there has been a boost in air travel. Firstly there has been a decline in employed time since 1971 producing and boost in free time. Emerging trends Fast rising volumes of traffic and estimations of continued expansion into the next decades has damage on the airport capability. Industries of Airbus, for instance, expects a standard yearly traveler traffic development rate of 5.0 percent throughout the next 20 years, which means that throughout this time traffic will raise by 168 percent. At the same time, tolerance of the public environmental effects of air traffic around airports like noise, air contamination and third party danger would emerge and have to be reduced. These contradictory styles of direct airlines, airports , organizations of air traffic control and the industry of equipment and aircraft to plan latest innovative ways and technologies of working aircraft and airports in order to gather both the capacity demands and the environmental limitations. Safety is not the objective of these developments; it is a mere constraint. Consequently, new hazards emerge and accessible dangers become complicated to maintain unless proper concentration is given to security features in this arrangement of rising trends. A latest aspect, third party danger, presented itself as a security distress in a rising number of European states. Airports are centers in the system of air transport. Therefore, their attendance causes a junction of air traffic over the region nearby the airport. For the people living in the surrounding area of an airport this involves unintentional experience to the danger of aircraft mishaps. Even though the possibility of a mishap per flight is extremely small (normally in the order of 1 in one million), local danger levels around airports are higher than one may think. The resulting yearly possibility of a mishap at a distinctive large airport is so much larger than the small possibility of being concerned in an aircraft mishap as a passenger. In addition, mishaps have a propensity to happen throughout the landing and take-off stages of flight and therefore close to an airport. Security information from researches describes that approach and landing stage mishaps account for a major part of fatal air transport mishaps. It can be observed that 82 percent of the accidents of world jet aircraft fleet 1988-1997 happened in these flight stages and recorded for 58 percent of every wounded. Historical information verifies that accidents of aircraft relating significant numbers of third party sufferers happen numerous times a year. Perhaps the best recognized example is the terrible mishap of a Boeing 747 in suburban Amsterdam in 1992. Latest mishaps happened in Taiwan (Taipeh), Russia (Irkoetsk), Paraguay and Zaire (219 3rd party victims). This environmental effect is of rising consequence to airports security liability and decision making on airport improvement and land-use development for airports. Airports play a significant function in the security of air travel. A current study of mishaps described that around 30 percent of these mishaps related at least one airport concerned aspect in the fundamental chain leading up to the accident. Airport related factors in this case are taken as those factors which are specific to the airport environment but are not necessarily owned by the airport (and can therefore include concerns like fog, snow, inadequate ATC guidance, etc.). The comparative value of airport fundamental aspects can be anticipated from their comparative frequency of incidence in fundamental series of mishaps in the dataset. To this end, the 76 various airport connected fundamental aspects discovered, were grouped into seven groups. These groups are:  · Marking and Lighting  · Taxiways and runways  · Information  · External dangers  · Ramp and apron and  · ATC procedures and operations  · Aerodrome Definition of social responsibility Social responsibility is the managerial obligation to take action that protects and improves both the welfare of society as a whole and interests of the organization means, not an end. To be socially responsible, the airline industry must have a clear, rational definition of social purpose, a system of setting priorities based on their social implications, and a structured, integrated approach to financial and social action (Graham, 2010). Implicit in social responsibility is a new definition of success for small business. Area of Social Responsibility When defining its sense of social responsibility, airline industries typically confronts four areas of concern: responsibilities toward the employees, environment, customers and its investors (John, 2003). Social responsibility towards employees In the best tradition of participative management, the airline industries invited all its employees to join in forging a new statement of values to avoid massive layoffs. These included teamwork, mutual respect, and professionalism, all duly inscribed on, among other places, coffee cups at office, so that, every time you had some coffee, you drank the values, too (Gurpreet, 2003). Employees needs must be met if the business itself is to prosper. Relationships of decency and trust are central to the achievement of the airline industries aim. Employees who in the form of dirty lavatories, lack of privacy or unjust wage structures, will be unwilling to contribute to the airline industries. Do people imagine a worker might be inclined to maximize his/her profits by stretching out the work to get more overtime or perhaps even a little Sunday double time? And just as employees need to believe in the companys commitment to treating them with decency, they expect to be treated justly and fai rly, not be used and then arbitrarily rejected. If they can strike a fair deal with people theyll come back for more. In the long run, airline industries will do that much better. Social responsibility towards investors The views of shareholders / investors might have encouraged responsibility in the airline industries. Stockholders want the company to make as much money for them as possible (Gurpreet, 2003). Their objectives differ and they are not confined to furthering the strictly economic role of companies. Indeed, recent developments in the area of ethical investment trusts would seem to indicate that many investors, like employees, are very keen to feel good about the firms in which they are involved. Certainly not all of them are simply after a quick financial return and they are often clear about areas like tobacco, alcohol, gambling, or arms into which they do not want to, put their money (John, 2003). Social responsibility towards customers Obviously, a company should act responsibility towards its customers and provide quality products and pricing product fairly based on consumer rights (Graham, 2010). Consumers have a right to safe products, most completed instruction and product testing. Consumers have a right to be informed about all relevant aspects of a product. Social responsibility towards environment Good environmental management can improve employee morale and help attract better quality staff, cut costs by eliminating waste and saving energy, and bring competitive advantage by putting the company at the forefront of technical and regulatory development. Firms in numerous other industries have also integrated socially conscious thinking into their production plans and marketing efforts. The production of environmentally safe products, for example, has become a potential boom area, designing products to be environmentally friendly. Sales of vegetable-based cleaning products, recycled paper products and all natural toiletries are a few examples. Approaches to social responsibility There are four approaches to social responsibility. First is obstructionist approach. Second is defensive approach. Third is accommodative approach. And fourth is proactive approach. Advantages of behave social responsibility Using social responsibility to spot out new markets isnt a matter of recognizing that these opportunities exist. That means we may have to be content with a smaller profit margin in exchange for gaining a new market, and never make the mistake of assuming that a less-affluent market is any less choosy than the well off when it comes to buying habits. Disadvantages of behaving in an unsocial manor Unethical and irresponsibility business practices towards customers can result in government fines and loss of clientele. Collusion occurs when two or more firms agree to collaborate on such wrongful acts such as fixed pricing. However irresponsible behavior towards investors means abuse of a firms financial resources. In such cases, the ultimate losers are indeed the owners who did not receive there due earnings or dividends. Companies can act irresponsibility by misrepresent ting company resources such as improper financial management, check kiting, insider trading, and misrepresentation of finances (John, 2003). Case study There is an example of Malaysia Airlines System (MAS) as a case study. As an employer, insurer, consumer and investor, MAS has studied that the social responsible can be reflected in its environment, community, workforce, human rights, health and safety, suppliers, customers and standards of business practice. Every member is committed to continuous improvement in the corporate social responsibility program and this encourages those business partners to strive for matching performance. Thus, they recognize that the business activities have direct and indirect impacts on the society in which is operating all the time and carried out some policies as below: a) Employee appreciation and prizes: MAS realizes that workers are inclined to enlist in demeanor that is identified and paid and bypass demeanor that is punished. The system of employing, chartering, encouraging, reimbursing and openly respecting workers all may be conceived to encourage business communal duty. b) Communication, education and training: MAS identified that workers will not be held responsible if they are not cognizant of its significance and supplied with the data and devices they need to proceed properly in bearing their job requirements. They announce the significance of business communal blame internally, encompass it as a subject in administration teaching programs, and supply managers and workers with decision-making methods that support them accomplish to blame results. c) Environment: MAS has an encouraging dream of a cleaner, smarter development in aviation which maximizes the affirmative advantages for humanity facilitating prosperity, regeneration, local and UK competitiveness, heritage exchange and communal addition while minimizing contradictory communal and ecological influences (David, 2009). d) Practices of business: It has habitually integrating schemes, inducements and pay schemes to make sure that sustainable improvement main concerns are echoed in day-to-day conclusions and procedures at each of the airports. By advancing presentation through objectives, externally audited goals, key presentation signs and by mirroring these main concerns in connections with enterprise suppliers and partners. By looking through MAS past accomplishments, they have struggled to assist the buyer better and have obtained worldwide acclaim from numerous unaligned associations for diverse facets of their services. Their peak administration group obtained an accolade from the Asian Institute of Management and the World Executive Digest, for its excellence in general administration and achievement in positioning itself in the airline industry. Going as far back as 1957, they obtained the Cumber Batch Trophy for no misfortune record (John, 2003). In year 1995, the Boeing Commercial Aircraft Company provided Malaysia a Pride in Excellence Award in accomplishing reliability excellence for the B737-400 fleet (David, 2009). Malaysia Airlines performance has a crucial function in projecting Malaysia as a favored and worth for cash tourist place traveled to through comprehensive on-going junction advancements with tourism in Malaysia at main markets to boost tourist appearances into Malaysia. Conclusion Malaysia Airlines can play a role of leadership in influencing the behavior of others, from business partners to industry colleagues to neighboring businesses. The entire company has been acting conscientiously and thinking long term because they recognize that eventually it is in everyones best interests to have as several companies as possibly honoring the expectations and requirements of responsibility of corporate social. It endeavors to control every procedure in a responsible approach, believing that sound and provable performance in relation to business social responsibility rules and practices is a basic element of business success.

Can Legalistic mechanisms be effectively used to promote organizational safety

Can Legalistic mechanisms be effectively used to promote organizational safety Can legalistic mechanisms such as corporate liability be effectively used to promote organizational safety? Use two specific cases to illustrate your argument. In the era of globalisation and battle of business for expansion to foreign markets, large organisations in a form of legal entities (i.e. corporations) is seem to be taking the dominant role over the worlds economy. The growing size of corporations, their complexity and control of immense resources provides ground for misconduct that often results in adverse effects to both individuals and the community. Great numbers of incidents that resulted in a large scale harms caused to society in the past decades has brought the responsibility of corporate misbehaviour and the way they treat risks to many debates both in professional and lay public. The idea of attempting to manage organisational risks is recognized as a relatively new concept (Institute of Lifelong Learning, 2006: 5-6) and the complexity of social interactions of individuals that constitute organisations adjacent to fast development of advanced technologies in contemporary society may prove for identification of hazardous circumstances that affect safety within organisations, extremely challenging. As observed by the Institute of Lifelong Learning (2006: 5-6) there are some acknowledged professional and academic courses in Britain, but since the management of organisational risks is not a mature activity, it does not possess the same level of legitimacy that some other institutionalised concepts do. It appears that legal reforms in Europe and some other countries intend to make it easier to impose legal sanctions on corporations for serious wrongdoings. One might suggest that such reforms are logical consequence of some mayor harms produced by corporations that were later unsuccessfully prosecuted under existing laws and deemed insufficient to protect the public interests. In the United Kingdom (UK) some large scale accidents such as the train crash at Paddington, the fire at Kings Cross underground station, the capsizing of the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise are few that were catalysts for reforms making it easier to impose strict liability on corporations for physical injuries or deaths. The adoption of Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 might be perceived as an important indicator of these reforms. This paper will examine a much controversial aspects of the extent to which risk management regimes should be more or less blame orientated (Hood et al., 1996: 46) and, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ whether, in the event of an avoidable accident, the company as well as (or perhaps rather than) identified individuals might or should be held morally or legally responsible for an act or omission (Institute of Lifelong Learning 2006, 4-22). The essay question opens a much discussed notion of corporate liability which this paper will discuss in the context of organisational aspects of health and safety as an integral part of managing risks in organisations. The essay will also discuss legislative aspects that are regulating corporate responsibility. However, the intention of the author is not to summarize the arguments on legislation basis in detail. It needs to be recognized that legislation that regulates corporate responsibility varies worldwide. Therefore, the paper will discuss some of the broader aspects that might affect health and safety compliance in organisations. Finally this essay will throughout the discourse provide an argument that strict financial and legal liability posed on corporate bodies can significantly contribute to a better organisational safety. This will be achieved by using two specific cases for discussion in order to support the argument. The case studies used in the discussion are the fire at Kings Cross underground station in London, UK in 1987 and the fire of the cable car in Kaprun, Austria in 2000. Definitions of terms For further discussion the key terms from the essay question needs to be defined. Bergman, (2000: 20) in his critical perspectives on corporate responsibility in UK uses the term company and corporate in the context of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦companies set up with a view to profit that have been registered under the Companies Act 1985. In the same explanation, he further also considers a set of those companies that befalls under variety of other legal provisions, including a number of organisations in public sector. Despite some important distinctions can be made, this essay considers the term of corporation, company and organisation in the same context, with potential to produce a certain kind of harm. According to online dictionary a corporation is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a large company or group of companies authorized to act as a single entity and recognized as such in law; and liability is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the state of being legally responsible for something (Ask Oxford, 2010). In order to merge the terms, this paper will use the definition on corporate liability of another internet source, namely Wise Geek (2010), which defines corporate liability à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦as an assessment of the activities that a corporation may be held legally liable for in a court of law. The general point to be made here is that in principle a corporation can be held legally liable as a single entity for corporate activities (acts or omissions) that is breaching the law through the group or an individual it employs. Such breaches of law might have severe adverse effects on society, resulting in harm to health and safety of either the people or environment, where health is regarded more in the context of wellbeing of people. For further discussion the definition of the term safety is taken from a dictionary. Shorter Oxford (1973; quoted in Institute of Lifelong Learning, 2006: 4-11) regards safety as: The state of being safe; exemption from hurt or injury; freedom from danger the quality of being unlikely to cause hurt or injury; freedom from dangerousness; safeness. In order to merge the terms health and safety in the context of organisational structures and their legal responsibilities, the example is taken from an explanation provided by the Institute of Lifelong Learning (2006: 4-7), which argues that the term is not only about enforcement of legislation related to protection of employees. The argument goes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦It is much more of a generic concept, which has developed the status of an ethos, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦which is demonstrated by the use of the term `Safety Culture for the attitude of an organisation towards risk-taking. One might already observe that targeting the essay question in the context of effectiveness of corporate liability towards organisational safety in an affirmative manner might be considerably narrow. It becomes visible that managing safety in organisational framework requires further examination in a broader context of Risk, Crisis and Disaster management, if complementary progress on safety through imposed strict liability measures on corporations desires to be achieved. However, before the discussion on specific case studies, the term safety culture requires additional attention, since it was illustrated that it might play an important role in attitudes towards risk taking in an organisational context. Explanations of the term safety culture flourish. A very concise one was given by the CBI (1990) as the way we do things around here. Pidgeon et al. (1991: 249) define safety culture as those sets of norms, rules, roles, beliefs, attitudes and social and technical practices within an organisation which are concerned with minimising the exposure of individuals to conditions considered to be dangerous. As such defines individuals attitude and beliefs about organisations, their perceptions of risks and the importance, practicality and effectiveness of controls regarding organisational safety. The case studies The case studies used in this paper are both disastrous events caused by the sudden occurrence of fire which resulted in fatal outcome to many involved. The first, fire at Kings Cross underground station in London in 1987 claimed the lives of 31 people and injured many more. The fire followed a number of less serious hazardous fire incidents on the London Underground. The official report concluded the immediate cause of the fire as a failure to clean and lubricate the running tracks of the escalator where the fire took place after the match fell (Department of Transport, 1988; quoted in Bergman, 2000: 24). Kletz (2001: 116) argued that approximately 20 fires per year between 1958 and 1967 were à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦called smoulderings to make them seem less serious. Similarly, the November 1988 Public Inquiry report observes the London Underground managements reaction to earlier escalator fires from 1956 to 1988 as imperfect, describing the managements approach as reactive rather than proactive (Department of Transport, 1988; quoted in Bergman, 2000: 24). In particular, the report summed up in the evidence of the then Director General of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, that many recommendations after previous fires: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦had not been adequately considered by senior managers and there was no way to ensure that they were circulated, considered and acted upon. Londons Underground failure to carry through the proposals resulting from earlier fires such as the provision of automatic sprinklers, the need to ensure all fire equipment was correctly positioned and serviceable, identification of alternative means of escape and the need to train staff to react properly and positively in emergencies was a failure which I believe contributed to the disaster at Kings Cross. (Department of Transport, 1988; in Bergman, 2000: 25) Despite the fact that the report recognized collective failure for disaster from the level of most senior managers downwards over many years to minimise the risk of fire outbreaks, the sound blame was placed mainly to senior management of the company. The official report into the disaster claims the responsibility of management systems as playing a significant role in development of precipitating causes that triggered the disaster (Fennell, 1989; in Institute of Lifelong Learning, 2006: 3-5). However, was the applicability of existing legal instruments effective enough to reach the corporate decision makers and to what extent? Apparently, at the time of the accident there were sufficient instruments in place to find the London Underground legally liable for a criminal act of manslaughter or for a lesser offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (Bergman, 2000: 29). Regardless sustainable grounds provided for legal punishment, the London Underground and its senior managers gained immunity from any form of criminal accountability (Bergman 2000: 29). It is beyond the scope of this paper to examine further in details all the failures that led to disaster and the debates that followed in the aftermath. Though, the failures summed above can already pinpoint that organisational safety culture was poorly maintained. The November 1988 Public Inquiry report specifically stated that the London Undergrounds understanding of statutory responsibilities for health and safety at work was mistaken and that many of the shortcomings which led to the disaster had been identified in earlier investigations and in reports by the fire brigade, the police and the Railway Fire Prevention and Fire Standards Committee (Department of Transport, 1988; in Bergman, 2000: 24-25). This exemplifies that the London Underground management was made aware of non-compliance with safety standards. Even though a history of small fire outbreaks was excessive, the London Underground failed to consider reported hazards seriously and to introduce safe guards to minimise t he risk of a fire with a potential for large scale loss of life. Such a conclusion stands much in favour of those who argue that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦effective risk management depends on the design of incentive structures that place strict financial and legal liability onto those who are in the best position to take action to minimize the risk (Hood Jones, 1996: 46). The claim is that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if liability is not precisely targeted on specific and appropriate decision-makers, a poorly designed institutional incentive structure will allow avoidable accidents to occur. Without close targeting of liability, there will be too little incentive for care to be taken by those decision-makers in organizations who are capable of creating hazards, and (the argument goes) risk externalization will be encouraged. Policies should, therefore, aim to support expanded corporate legal liability, more precisely targeted insurance premium practices, and regulatory policies that have the effect of criminalizing particular management practices and of laying sanctions directly on key decision- makers within corporations, rather than trusting corporations as undifferentiated legal persons. (cf. Fisse Braithwaite, 1988; in Hood Jones, 1996: 46) Was the looseness of regulatory and legal instruments in hands of the safety investigators that did not make it possible to enforce the London Underground to remove the identified hazards and that led to the disaster, this paper was not able to fully determine. However, it is of believe that strict liability imposed on those who represent a guiding mind and will of the company for non-compliance with safety regulations, would be effective to prevent an avoidable accident to occur. An absence of criminal charges against the senior company managers might to some extent support a positive answer on the essay question with Bergmans argument in criticising the authorities of their failure to prosecute directors. He suggested that it is often argued that only when proper action is taken against directors-with a real threat of imprisonment-will other companies take notice (Bergman, 2000: 90). Though, some wider perspectives of corporate liability in relation to organisational safety need to be further discussed before any conclusions drawn. This brings the discussion to the next case study, where all the regulations were complied and yet the disaster occurred. The second example that this essay considers is the fire of a funicular train in a tunnel that happened near Kaprun, Austria in November 2000. The fire on a Gletscherbahnen Kapruns funicular railway, carrying 167 people up to the Kitzsteinhorn glacier claimed lives of 152 passengers on board, the driver of the second train in the tunnel and two people near the top portal of the tunnel. In total 155 people lost their lives, injured not tallied (the total number of people involved in the incident varies throughout different articles. Figures presented in this paper are matching the majority of them). The 12 survivors who managed to escape out of the train through smashed windows were those who fled downhill away from the smoke. Others who fled uphill were overcome by smoke and fume. Those survived witnessed that smoke was emanating from the rears driver cabin before the train entered the 3.5 kilometres long and 3.6 meters wide tunnel with an average incline of 45 degrees. The immediate cause of the fire was a leaky tube of hydraulic oil that came into contact with a glowing heater at the rear cabin, nearby wooden panels and isolation materials. After the heater caught fire, the hydraulic line exploded and the oil was sprayed into the flames. This was stated as the reason why flames spread so quickly. The official results of the investigations confirmed belief of the experts that fire was caused by an electric heating ventilator, which was illegally installed into the drivers cabin (Transit Cooperative Research Program, 2006: 26-28; Beard Carvel, 2005: 6; Faure Hartlief, 2006: 31). Although the train driver reported the blaze to his base station, the train continued and stopped 600 meters into the tunnel. Following, as the Transit Cooperative Research Program (2006) suggests that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the fire continued and the steep tunnel acted like a giant chimney, sucking air in from the bottom and sending toxic smoke billowing upwards. Despite an alarm signal and contact with the base station instructing the driver to open the doors, the train stayed at the location with its door sealed. Later investigation revealed that this was the immediate cause of death of most of the passengers. (Transit Cooperative Research Program, 2006: 27) Some observed that the accident has parallels with the Kings Cross fire. As Transit Cooperative Research Program (2006: 28) suggests that the Kings Cross escalator shaft at the centre of the fire had a 30 degree incline that, like the Kaprun fire created a chimney effect. The Kaprun blaze moved faster because of the steeper incline. Though, unlike the Kings Cross disaster, where several small fires were excessively observed before the accident, in the Kaprun case a regular inspection of an independent civil technicians performed two months before the first day of skiing season and also the day of the accident, has found no safety breaches or non-compliances with safety regulations. However, does that make the existing safe guards to prevent the accident sufficient and, nonetheless, the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun any less culpable for the disaster? As Tyler (2000) put forward à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there was no sprinkler system to put out the flames in the tunnel, fireproof emergency refuges or an evacuation tunnel through which the passengers might have escaped. The BBC News (2004) stated that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the blaze was worsened by the fact that the tunnel was not lit, had only one narrow service stairway and the doors of the train could not be opened by the trapped passengers from the inside. Another author (Beier, Unknown: 3) in his paper claims that there were no emergency exits, lights or a method to pull the burning train out of the tunnel. Similarly the Transit Cooperative Research Program (2006: 28) stated that the train did not have enough fire extinguishers and that an evacuation drill never took place. The listed above illustrates that significant safety measures were ignored downwards many years of operating the Gletscherbahnen Kapruns funicular train. In recognition of that, sixteen people including company officials, technicians and government inspectors were arrested and charged with criminal negligence. The centre of the prosecution was to claim liability for those responsible for installing and servicing a non-regulation heater in the drivers cabin, which sparked the blaze by leaking oil. However, on February 19, 2004, Austrian court acquitted all sixteen with explanation of the judge in Salzburg that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there was insufficient evidence to find the 16 train operators, suppliers and inspectors responsible for the blaze (BBC News, 2004). The appellate court in Linz in 2005 confirmed the verdict of the Salzburg court with the decision that no criminal acts were demonstrated despite the obvious failure to take care. The defendants had complied with the regulations ( Beier, Unknown, 3). Many affected announced that they would continue with civil proceedings. Though, these cases are still pending. The main problem was that designers of the electric heater complied with the existing regulations. However, the regulations failed to distinguish required standards for different types of trains. The design of the heater installed was inappropriate for a train in a tunnel and obviously different hazards were not foreseen. As Beier (Unknown, 4) argues: A horrible risk caused entirely by the design and construction of the technical system had slipped through the entire legal and regulatory system because everyone focused on the compliance with the regulation not whether the system was safe. As he suggested in the paper, no one thought about a fire nor did regulators ask anyone to think about it (Beier, Unknown: 3). One of the conclusions drawn by Beier (Unknown: 4) on Kapruns accident is that even major companies will do only the exact minimum to comply with regulations and that compliance with regulations does not guarantee a safe outcome. It is important that, he as many argues that simple product can create extremely complex risk systems and assuming that risks in technologically advanced -complex systems can be effectively managed by regulations they might prove as inefficient as in the case of Kaprun disaster. However, short before the accident in Kaprun took place, there were several occurrences of disastrous events that befell the road and rail tunnel users in the Alps and elsewhere (BBC News, 2000). Therefore, it should not be neglected that the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun managers together with the authorities inherently failed in the management of organizational risks by, as Toft and Reynolds (1994; quoted in Institute of Lifelong Learning 2006: 5-10) suggest, not taking advantage of the l essons learned by others. Conclusion The case studies revealed serious recklessness of the companies in their regard to safety, which unfortunately in both cases resulted in disastrous events with great losses of lives, many injured and large numbers of grievous families that lost their loved. Despite the fact that great harm was caused to society, neither companies nor their managers were prosecuted or found guilty in front of court for any kind of criminal behaviour. Though, it needs to be recognised that the concept of criminal corporate liability is only one perspective in a broader context of responsibility claimed in case of corporate wrongdoing. In the case of Kings Cross fire it is suggested that strict liability imposed on senior managers could stipulate the companys proactive respond in dealing with identified hazards that later led to disaster. In the case of Kaprun fire the possibilities for cross-organisational isomorphism to cover the gap of being unaware of the consequences that could happen and actually did happen, were obviously missed. In both cases this paper suggest that the companies regarded safety with gross negligence, with the main aim to do only exact minimum to comply with safety standards and regulations. Bergman argues that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦unlike the minds of individuals, which cannot be re-modelled, the components of a company can be analysed and reformed. New policies can be adopted, new job positions created and new management systems set up. The organisational defects of a company itspsyche can be taken into pieces and put together. Unsafe companies can be turned into safe ones. (Bergman, 2000: 99) Both companies operated in an inherently unsafe manner before the accidents occurred and responded with significant safety improvements only after the disasters. One might argue that such safety improvements were not out of sight in terms of available resources on both sides already before the accidents. With strict financial and legal liability incentives, avoidable accidents might be prevented. Bergman (2000: 90) argues that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there is a great need to increase the accountability of directors and senior company officers; the backbone of any system of deterrence in preventing corporate harm, must be action against those in control of the company. There are many that are sceptical of such an argument and consider it as possibly ineffective or even counterproductive. Such opponents can point to some other policy areas where criminalization leads to the adoption of artificial legal devices to limit liability, rather than to real changes in behaviour (The Royal Society, 1992: 157-158). Fitzgerald (1986; quoted in Hood Jones, 1996: 62) claims that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦person should not be punished for occurrences over which they could not exercise no controlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if such targeting is to be implemented, then it must be accurate. Indeed, safety concerns should not be placed in the hands of management only. It should be overall responsibility of all aspects within organisational structures. However, it should be vested at the highest level of each organization (Bergmann 2000: 126). Wells (quoted in Hood Jones, 1996: 60) suggest, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if safety managers want to make themselves weatherproof, their barometers need to be tuned as much to the pressure of social constructions of accidents as to the legal categories into which they potentially be placed. The managers should exercise whatever is reasonably possible to prevent avoidable accidents to occur. Therefore, incentive structures that place legal liability on those corporate bodies that are in the best position to take action to minimize risks can be an effective mechanism to promote organisational safety. Regular safety audits or inspections could present an important instrument not only to penalize non-compliances of safety regulations, but to expo se hazardous circumstances that could develop into any mayor accidents. Gray and Scholz suggest that: Inspections imposing penalties result in improved safety because they focus managerial attention on risks that may otherwise have been overlooked. It is not the miniscule penalty that makes OSHA inspections effective in reducing injuries, but rather the concern of managers to prevent the costs associated with accidents once they are aware of the risks. (Scholz, 1997: 256)

Does Original Voice Exist? :: Ernest Hemingway Literature Essays

Does Original Voice Exist? From Ernest Hemingway's _The Sun Also Rises_: "Mike was a bad drunk. Brett was a good drunk. Bill was a good drunk. Cohn was never drunk. Mike was unpleasant after he past a certain point. I liked to see him hurt Cohn. I wished he would not do it, though, because afterward it made me feel disgusted at myself. That was morality; things that made you disgusted afterward. No, that must be immorality. That was a large statement." Does this sound like a man mumbling? Or is this a complete thought? Hemingway's voice is simple. His voice also allows interpretation from the reader. Does that mean it is also open and vague? Maybe, but you get to make the decisions. Hemingway allows it. The character sounds simple. He thinks on simple terms. He also calls the series of simple comments a " large statement". If the reader delves into the literature, it is a large statement. If the reader takes it for face value, it's a simple statement. The character speaking makes a revelation to himself. That is why I think it is a "large statement". He finds something out about himself. He is honest with himself. Dialogue and exact spelling of pronunciations can show ya what the writer's all about. It's not clear all the time, but it'll be more personal than a bunch of scientific hogwash. Not that that writing doesn't serve a purpose.... Anyway if your gonna be personal, your readers better be able ta understand your tongue, otherwise the communication stops flowing for'em and they hafta look at your words more than your ideas. Does this flow for ya? "Well, I warn't long making him understand I warn't dead. I was ever so glad to see Jim. I warn't so lonesome now. I told him I warn't afraid of him telling the people where I was. I talked along, but he only set there and looked at me; never said nothing. Then I says: 'It's good daylight. Le's get breakfast. Make up your campfire good.' 'What's de use er makin' up de camp fire to cook strawbries en such truck? But you got a gun, hain't you? Den we kin get sumfin better den strawbries.' (Mark Twain from _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_) It may or may not flow, but ya get a good feel for the characters. You can make assumptions and fit them inta stereotypes so they're recognizable.

Environmental Inequality Essay -- Natural Disaster, Hurricane Katrina

In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina vigorously tore apart the U.S. Gulf Coast Region killing at least 1500 people, ranking at the third deadliest hurricane in United States history. Author of Survival and Death in New Orleans, Patrick Sharkey (2007), looked specifically at data on New Orleans residents that perished during Katrina in an attempt to look at the communities that were most affected by this unfortunate disaster. The storm took the largest toll on the elderly population and by African Americans, who he argued were overrepresented in comparison to whites. The toll was not only physical but mentally damaging as well, due to the overwhelming amount of loss to their homes, family members, pets, and childhood neighborhoods in which they grew up in. Evidence from Ismail White’s (2007) study entitled, Feeling the Pain of my People, concluded that African Americans felt that the federal governments lacked in response to the hurricane and was so insufficient that had the vi ctims been white, the government would have acted differently. Therefore suggested traditions of economic and racial segregation has misrepresented segments of urban neighborhoods that have been isolated from resources, political influence, and economic gain and are therefore more susceptible to disasters, like Katrina. Images of New Orleans residents stranded throughout the city left a permanent impact towards those who followed media coverage, suggesting that the storm’s damage has been viewed at as anything but a natural disaster. â€Å"Katrina has come to be interpreted by some as a â€Å"metaphor,† for the inequality that pervades urban American, affecting poor, primarily Black segments of the urban populace most directly† (Sharkey 2007: 483). African Americans... ... a separation due to race, but in fact due to environmental justice. Therefore there is not a substantial amount of evidence to support either author’s claims. The studies lacked evidentiary support in both reports, such as the correct number of deaths and had insufficient samples that were not directly affected and could have been influenced by the media’s response or prior opinion. While examples such as the bridge incident did include racism towards New Orleans residents, it did not specify the race or ethnicity of what kind of people were forbidden to walk across the bridge to safety, but instead excluded everyone. Perhaps therefore then the issue is not simply race, but more so geological, economical, and social inequality that has led those citizens to feel that they had been the target of such a tragic disaster that has changed their way of life forever. Environmental Inequality Essay -- Natural Disaster, Hurricane Katrina In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina vigorously tore apart the U.S. Gulf Coast Region killing at least 1500 people, ranking at the third deadliest hurricane in United States history. Author of Survival and Death in New Orleans, Patrick Sharkey (2007), looked specifically at data on New Orleans residents that perished during Katrina in an attempt to look at the communities that were most affected by this unfortunate disaster. The storm took the largest toll on the elderly population and by African Americans, who he argued were overrepresented in comparison to whites. The toll was not only physical but mentally damaging as well, due to the overwhelming amount of loss to their homes, family members, pets, and childhood neighborhoods in which they grew up in. Evidence from Ismail White’s (2007) study entitled, Feeling the Pain of my People, concluded that African Americans felt that the federal governments lacked in response to the hurricane and was so insufficient that had the vi ctims been white, the government would have acted differently. Therefore suggested traditions of economic and racial segregation has misrepresented segments of urban neighborhoods that have been isolated from resources, political influence, and economic gain and are therefore more susceptible to disasters, like Katrina. Images of New Orleans residents stranded throughout the city left a permanent impact towards those who followed media coverage, suggesting that the storm’s damage has been viewed at as anything but a natural disaster. â€Å"Katrina has come to be interpreted by some as a â€Å"metaphor,† for the inequality that pervades urban American, affecting poor, primarily Black segments of the urban populace most directly† (Sharkey 2007: 483). African Americans... ... a separation due to race, but in fact due to environmental justice. Therefore there is not a substantial amount of evidence to support either author’s claims. The studies lacked evidentiary support in both reports, such as the correct number of deaths and had insufficient samples that were not directly affected and could have been influenced by the media’s response or prior opinion. While examples such as the bridge incident did include racism towards New Orleans residents, it did not specify the race or ethnicity of what kind of people were forbidden to walk across the bridge to safety, but instead excluded everyone. Perhaps therefore then the issue is not simply race, but more so geological, economical, and social inequality that has led those citizens to feel that they had been the target of such a tragic disaster that has changed their way of life forever.

Macbeths tragic insanity Essay -- William Shakespeare

Insanity is defined as â€Å"[the] inability to understand the nature and consequences of one's acts or of events, matters, or proceedings in which one is involved.† In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the protagonist turned antagonist, Macbeth, was once â€Å"valour’s minion† (I.ii.16) a loyal and devoted nobleman of Scotland. However, he commits a heinous act of regicide in order to ascend the throne, only to become a tyrant who in the end was regarded as nothing but a â€Å"dead butcher† (V.ix.35). Macbeth was unarguably sane in the beginning of the play, however, at the end of the play its unclear whether or not Macbeth truly was a â€Å"deranged blood hound† (V.ii.32), or if he was still acting on his own accord. Critics may say that this â€Å"Bloody sceptered tyrant† (IV.iii.95), who murdered innocent people indiscriminately through the novel befell the holds of insanity, but in truth, Macbeth, whether for better or for worse, ne ver was truly driven insane. An attribute of insanity was previously defined as the inability to understand the consequences of one’s acts or events around one, which furthers the argument that Macbeth was sane. When Macbeth, due to his insecurity of his position as king starts eliminating his enemies, he does display a certain degree of incomprehension towards the consequences of his actions, saying â€Å"the very firstlings of my heart shall be/The firstlings of my hand† (IV.i.157-158). However, the very fact that he says he will not take into account what he thinks (such as the consequences of his actions), shows that he indeed does still have the ability to understand the consequences of his actions, hence he is not insane. Towards the end of the book is where Macbeth’s sanity is questioned most. One such question arises up... ... towards Macduff, this not only shows Macbeth’s guilt at having committed such a horrible crime towards Macduff, but also has an inkling of a conscience. From Macbeth’s comprehension of the events taking place around him to his repentance to his conscience, its unarguable that Macbeth at the end of the play was insane. From the beginning, Macbeth fabricates his own demise, eventually going on to control his fate right up till his ruinous end. Once a good, and loyal noble man of Scotland, Macbeth, was driven to by whatever motivation to commit acts of such malice, such cowardice and of such malevolence that it’s an insult to the memory of those whose lives were taken by him, to classify him as merely a ‘deranged hell hound’. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth . Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992.

A Vision of Teaching Profession in 2025

TITLE: A VISION OF TEACHING PROFESSION IN 2025 Priyanka Joshi Junior Research Fellow (J. R. F) Dept. of Education Panjab University, Chandigarh ABSTRACT KEYWORDS: Professionals, Modalities, continuous, latest trends, technology, mentors, rethink, updating, knowledge, knowledge explosion.We Lead, Care, Inspire For the future of the Nation passes through our hands as Teachers Technological changes in the era of modernization have significantly affected the role of teachers’ as professionals. As the future of education, rest on the competencies, professional growth and abilities of teachers as professionals so, it cannot be ignored. Related article: HR Map ExplainedAccording to Caroll and Resta (2010) teachers of today and tomorrow must be ready to facilitate learning in multiple modalities embracing; greater diversity of space, time, resources, media and methods for learning as well as the new 21st century environments which are synchronous and asynchronous, face to face and virtual. Further, Garoia(2012) referred that the present century has visioned so much of expectations from education which are so high that the teachers of today and tomorrow have to continuously rethink about their professional development.She further highlighted that this professional development is ought to be continuous in process because of; knowledge explosion and latest trends associated to methodology, technology, social and teacher networking. All these demands and requirements have posed a demand on teachers to assess, update, renew and modify themselves as mentors than teachers. The present paper will highlight; a) The teacher of today b) Changing role of the teacher in the present scenario c) Lifelong learning as renewal and updating of knowledge d) In-service growth and teachers †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Followed by conclusion and suggestions. * The Teacher of TodayThe teacher of today symbolizes himself to be professional in true sense because of the emerging concepts of criteria of appointments in schools colleges and universities. No more, the present century holds teaching as a profession by ‘chance’ but teaching as a ‘choice’. This scenario has placed an emphasis on the teachers to develop their potential, capacities in a way that no more they are called as a ‘simple’ but ‘effective’ in performance by performing a quite range of functions such as ; classroom management, teaching and learning strategies and how to implement them successfully with professional ethics, student learning and so on.These views were strengthened by Travers & Reborc (2 008) who professed that teacher professionalism extends beyond one’s ability to understand content. Here, the educator must discover if the students are being reached in an effective way. This calls for a profession which involves a lifelong career commitment and service to society. Teaching as a profession, no doubt is characterized by intellectual pursuits within a code of ethics and is highlighted by the making of independent professional judgements. But going by the present scenario, our country witness mass bunking from the classes, cheating, private tuitions and so on.To avoid this, this means that the teacher of today needs much more than just a mere subject expert. Further, through extensive training and professional development, they will incorporate in themselves lot of life skills which will not only enhance their performance but quality wise they will help them to grow to greater heights. * Changing Role of the Teacher in the Present Scenario The present scenario is characterized by the changing needs of the teacher which has pressurized him to change, reform and update according to the new teaching strategies, classroom practices and knowledge explosion.Let us have a look at the review how the role of the teachers has gradually changed:- * Koppic and Knapp (1998) highlighted that teacher can develop themselves with respect to practice if they focus on six dimensions narrated as; knowledge, professionalism, instruction, collaboration, agency and authority. He further added by saying that teachers to grow must make initiatives to make sense of new policies, ideas, programs and their own work. * According to Cohen & Ball (1999) review of the federally funded research suggest that the teacher must be a researcher, educator and reformer.The research further highlighted that now is the time that he must understand when curriculum, instructional materials and assessments so that he can focus on the goal and prospects of educational improvement to be enhanced. * Thomson & Zeuli (1999) advocated that if teachers want to see that their students work they must enable themselves to change so that they can make distinctive changes in teaching practice and student learning. They further concluded that the most effective teacher learning is to focus on instruction-as- interaction, rather than on isolated elements of instruction. Lieberman & Miller (2000) described the new professional teacher as researchers, meaning-makers, scholars, and inventors. Also they further stated that teachers establish a firm professional identity through which they act as the role model by updating themselves through the lifelong learning . * Lifelong learning as renewal and updating of knowledge Professional development is a normal part of school culture. Professional development is required in order to maintain certification.School corporations mandate that teachers participate in staff development opportunities offered by the school district throughou t the year. Teachers may also be expected to draft growth plans to give direction to their ongoing learning. Salary schedules also encourage teacher learning by offering higher salaries to individuals with more training, degrees or credits. Occasionally teachers are permitted to attend workshops and conferences outside the school system. Teachers are expected to grow as professionals and need to learn while they are teaching if students are to receive an optimal education.While schools do allocate limited funds and release time to professional development, a view of teachers as life-long learners is a perspective that is missing in most schools given the limited cope, quantity, and quality of professional development available to teachers. It is not uncommon to hear the phrases â€Å"life-long learning† or â€Å"life-long learner. †These terms adorn school mission and goal statements. Few people would malign the importance of developing life-long learners, but fewer su ggest ways in which such an ideal may be accomplished. Such a goal need not remain illusory.It is crucial that schools and communities recognize the importance of developing teachers as life-long learners. It seems foolish to hope to engender life-long learning skills and attitudes in children without paying attention to those same skills and attitudes in developing the teachers of those children. And if a teacher will remain a lifelong learner it would be facilitate him/her to cater to the upcoming problems in the realm to teaching learning process and the demands of the upcoming generation. * In-service Growth and Teacher As professionals we still have a long way to go.Even now in in-service teacher education is seldom conceptualized in practice as the continuation of pre service preparation. Too frequently in service practices are characterized by an aggregate of incidental activities, sporadic in occurrence, lacking in productive purpose, unorganized in structure and unsynchroni zed within the framework of a school district’s total operation. Perhaps a staff does grow or improve through such activities; however, the evidence seems to indicate that the bird of chance wings high on the winds of such uncertainty.Programs or practices of in service teacher education which appear to be producing results of a promising and lasting character are those in which conscious effort is made to reduce the element of chance in the development of staff. At the practical as well as the therotical level, positive and directional growth is enhanced through a program of inservice teacher education which develops activities planned most carefully in terms of directional purposes, organizational structure, and operational processes which are synchronized and complementary. ConclusionKnowledge is no longer considered a commodity which only a subject expertise can provide. In the present scenario knowledge is something which individuals constructs and create from their own experience with the materials, ideas & texts they have. Teachers of today and of preparation (pre-service teachers) have to construct themselves, reform themselves according to the teachers they actually have and develop themselves professionally according to the new and emerging ideas of the knowledge, learning and instruction in their own learning situations in their classrooms.This give a call to teachers to work and learn in a way in which they can compete efficiently, confidently and critically so that he can become efficient in true terms and targeted as a priority. Suggestions * To promote professional values and attitudes such as reflective practice, autonomous learning and collaboration. * To improve Practical teaching competencies. * To consider teaching as a profession and promote teaching as an attractive career; * to keep a balance between theory and practice; All beginning teachers, during their first years in the profession receive professional and personal support (à ¢â‚¬Ëœinduction’); * To engage themselves in regular reviews of their training needs and effective continuing professional development. * To develop and improve themselves as leaders for learning. This means that the role of the teacher in the year 2020 demands him to update and rehearse himself in a seamless continuum so that he has a assured quality. REFERENCES Ball, D. L. & Cohen, D. K. (1999). Developing practice, developing practitioners: Toward a practice-based theory of professional education.Caroll, T. , & Resta, P. (2010). Redefining teacher education for digital-age learners. Summit report from the Invitational Summit on Redefining Teacher Education for Digital-Age Learners. Retrieved from: http://redefineteachered. org/sites/default/files/SummitReport. pdf? q=summitreport Garoia,Valentina. (2012) . A closer look at the future of teachers' profession in 2025. Retrieved from http://insight. eun. org/ww/en/pub/insight/thematic_dossiers/articles/learning_networks/2025. html. Lieberman, A. , ; Miller, L. (2000). Teaching and teacher development: A new synthesis for a new century. In R. S. Brandt

Dead Poets Society: Film Techniques Essay

Keating believed in educating the boys to be â€Å"free thinkers†. How did this teaching of his philosophy have a positive and/or negative impact on the boys? How has Peter Weir used film techniques to reflect this positive and/or negative impact? Throughout the duration of the film, Dead Poets Society directed by Peter Weir, a number of film techniques are expressed to reflect the positive but also the negative impacts of Mr John Keating’s unorthodox and bizarre teaching methods towards his students. The film is set at the conservative and traditional Welton Academy in Vermont, United States in 1959 as it follows the story of the newly appointed English teacher, Mr John Keating. He is conveyed as an inspirational and influential mentor to his students about independent views and living life to its fullest through his teaching of poetry. Weir uses film techniques to show these positive impacts of Keating’s teaching philosophy to be â€Å"free thinkers† on Neil Perry, a student who deals with much pressure from his father to pursue his dream of acting, and Todd Anderson, who is portrayed as a very humble, self conscious and shy character. Keating’s style of teaching; however, led to the negative impact of Charlie Dalton, who is a popular but also a rebellious character in the film. Due to Mr Keating’s philosophy in teaching, Neil’s engagement in acting and poetry expanded significantly eventually leading to his death.  Weir has used Neil Perry as the protagonist to convey a numerous amount of film techniques to display Keating’s belief in educating the boys to be â€Å"free thinkers†. Near the beginning of the film, Neil is shown to have a great amount of pressure applied on him by his father’s high standards so that he graduates from Welton to become a doctor. â€Å"We expect big things from you this year.† â€Å"Don’t worry, he won’t disappoint.† This is said by Mr Nolan, the school headmaster, followed by Neil’s father, Mr Perry, and demonstrates the compression put upon Neil to succeed. This  scene shows a number of close up angles and high angles of Neil to show his apprehension and sense of vulnerability to the audience. From Keating’s first few lessons about poetry and its importance in life, Neil and the other students are inspired to create the â€Å"Dead Poets Society.† This group is created from the motivation of Keating’s beliefs about poetry and expressing your feelings in a positive perspective. Long shots and eerie music are used when the boys are running through the woods to their first meeting in a small and concluded cave. This is to create a rebellious atmosphere, as it is a key theme in the film from Keating’s motives. When the students arrive at the cave, Neil is portrayed as the leader of the group, which shows his confident and friendly characteristics where he reads most of the poetry. This is demonstrated by the use of close up angles and low angles looking up at Neil to emphasise what he is saying and his power over the other students. Soon after the student’s first meeting, Keating shows the boys to look at life in a different perspective by standing on his desk. This helps Neil understand to have his own decisions in life and be a â€Å"free thinker.† â€Å"Look at it another way†. Keating says this in order for the students to have independent views in life. Low angles looking up at the students when they are on the desk are used to show the power and potential they have. Due to Mr Perry’s harsh rules and ideas on him, it caused Neil’s death because of his love for poetry and acting became too great for him where he was allowed to partake in them. This ultimately suggests that Keating’s teaching methods had a negative influence on him. Essentially, these film techniques are shown to indicate Keating’s views about poetry and expressing ones thoughts in a positive outlook, and influencing Neil even though it did lead to his death. Throughout the film, Todd Anderson’s personality and character changes significantly as a result of Keating’s ways in teaching poetry and expressing ones feelings through Weir’s film techniques. Much like Neil, Todd is immediately put under pressure from Mr Nolan when arriving at his new school on welcome day when the headmaster states, â€Å"You have big shoes to fill, Mr Anderson.† A close up angle is shown directly at Todd in order to show his lack of confidence after his brother’s success at Welton. This underlies the traits developed by Todd during the majority of film to show  his characterisation as a very self-conscious and uncertain person. This uncertainty as a person is evident when he states, â€Å"If I say something, people won’t listen.† Moreover, this quote outlines the personal difficulty and feelings Todd is experiencing because of the pressure from his new friends and school. Todd’s character changes however, where Keating’s philosophy in teaching has a very positive outlook on him. A very important turning point in Todd’s character because of this teaching occurs when Keating strongly encourages him to read a made up poem on the spot to the class about a given picture. A 360o tracking shot and fast intense music is used by Weir to show confusion to the audience of what is happening. The music and spinning of the camera becomes faster to increase the tension generated by Todd’s newly created poetry encouraged strongly Keating. From this, it is obvious that Todd’s character differs as he realises the concept of expressing ones’ thoughts from Keating about poetry due to the film techniques shown by Weir. Weir portrays Charlie Dalton as a very rebellious character through film techniques and the negative influence of Keating’s teaching methods on him. This is apparent in Keating’s first lesson of teaching poetry, where he advises the students to â€Å"rip out† the introduction to poetry section in their textbooks. As the students are confused and uneasy about this task, Charlie rips the page out immediately, with a close up angle of him to demonstrate his daring character. Keating’s teaching methods however, cause Charlie to get expelled from Welton. â€Å"Sucking the marrow out of life doesn’t mean choking on the bone.† Keating says this metaphor in order to show how being â€Å"free thinkers† does not mean pulling foolish stunts, which have consequences. Within this scene, Keating states, â€Å"There’s a time for daring and a time for caution and a wise man knows which is called for.† He expresses this to outline the imp ortance of knowing when to be unruly and when to remain in the rules. Weir uses dull lighting within the room to show the despondent and depressed. From evidence, Keating’s philosophy in teaching is shown to lead to the negative impacts on Charlie where he is expelled. The director, Peter Weir, has used many techniques throughout the film to  show Keating’s beliefs for his students to have independent views and live life to its fullest by being their sole mentor and inspiration. Keating caused Neil to open up to his identity to discover a love for acting and create the â€Å"Dead Poets Society† by being the leader in a way. Todd’s character during the film changed dramatically from self-conscious to confident in his own ability due to Keating’s theories about life where he discovered a talent in poetry. Although, apart from the positives, Charlie’s characteristics cause him get expelled because of his daring and rebellious character. Weir has explored these characters to convey their views from Keating and the film techniques of Weir help demonstrate this.