Catullus Poems 5, 58, 75 and 87

Roman poets, similar to other Roman artists of that period, employed an inimitable skill in acquiring exterior influences from outside cultures, effectively assimilating them and then re-engineering a Roman equivalent (Cunningham Reich, 2010, p. 87). In poems 5, 58, 75 and 87 from the Roman poet Catullus, we see this skill exemplified.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Catullus Poems 5, 58, 75 and 87 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Catullus belonged to a generation of poets who dubbed themselves the neoterics, normally translated as â€Å"the modems,† a moniker derived from the Greek term â€Å"neoterikos,† who borrowed heavily from the school of poetry that originated in Alexandria (Burckhardt 2005 p. 122). The â€Å"new poets† like Catullus incorporated the principles and structure of Alexandrian poetry, which included â€Å"short and sharp epyllion, lyric, epigram and elegiac† (Burckhardt 2005 p. 122). Catullus started writing poetry in mid first century B.C.E.. At that time, a poet deemed typically was Greek, and what was classed as the suitable poem was the â€Å"aristocratic epic† that catered to needs of familial honor and social status (Batstone 1999 p. 2). Contemporaries of Catullus included Q. Lutatius Catullus, the Roman consul in the year 102 B.C., and the young Cicero, both of whom wrote Latin verse and lyric poetry designed to attend to the social needs of the moneyed class of conservative Romans, men who had achieved social status through war or statesmanship. However in the era when Catullus began producing his works, at the time of the emperor Augustus, a poetic transformation was afoot. Roman poets began to expand their style and subject matter to include â€Å"personal lyric and erotic elegy† (Batstone 1999 p. 2). Some of the works other than Catullus’ which survive from this period include the works of Horace, Tibullu s, Propertius, Ovid and a large body of work from Virgil. In essence poetry began to be seen more as an art form, and less as an exclusive mechanism of social leverage for the small percentage of elite, powerful and well connected families. The generation of new poets from which Catullus came from combined Roman literary customs in epigram, satire, and comedy with the epic â€Å"learned and elitist aesthetic standards and values of third-century Alexandria† (Batstone 1999 p. 2). The effect became the poetry itself grew to develop an wider, more international scope, and the subject matter itself became more personal, more connected to everyday matters such as art, sex, the state of Rome, individual and erotic passion, education, and life (Batstone 1999 p. 2).Advertising Looking for assessment on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In this way Catullus came to personify a generation of Roman poets that had started â€Å"to think and write in new and complex ways† (Batstone 1999 p. 2). In Catullus’ hands, the principles of the Alexandrian poets came to be used as lyric barbs to criticize other poets, as well as political leaders, who perpetuated the â€Å"utilitarian and patriotic old guard with their moralising epic-bashing endless stanzas† (Burckhardt 2005 p. 122). Catullus dealt with a myriad of themes in his works, and as a rule his poetry can be construed as a union of opposites: â€Å"learning and passion; seriousness and frivolity; conservative values and revolutionary attitudes; ethical â€Å"piety† and vulgar obscenity; accounting and kissing† (Batstone 1999, p. 2). The poet wrote about everything that was important to him at that time, or that he saw reflected in his own life and the lives of his poet friends. Therefore everything became fair game in his poems – from the larger, grander themes indicative of the Roman state, such a s love, betrayal, war, sabotage and death, to somewhat less significant themes such as â€Å"napkin stealing, urine, buggery, and bad breath† (Batstone 1999, p. 2). As an example, in poems 5, 58, 75 and 87 we traverse the affair Catullus pursued with a married Roman noble woman named Clodia, the sister of Publius Clodius Pulcher (Cunningham Reich, 2010, p. 331). Poem 5 begins with a passionate expression of love, â€Å"my darling, let us live and love for ever,† and urges Clodia to ignore the judgment of her peers: â€Å"They with no love to give, Who feel no fever, Who have no tale to tell, But one of warning – The pack of them might sell for half a farthing† (Cunningham Reich 2010, p. 331). Poem 5 includes such lines as â€Å"kiss me, kiss again – The night is falling. Kiss me and kiss again. Nor spare thy kisses. Let thousand kisses rain, A thousand blisses† (Cunningham Reich 2010, p. 332). We can see from poem 5 that while the affair is passionate, within the intricate social network of Roman decorum, Clodia peers frown upon her involvement with Catullus. The instability of the relationship then becomes the subject matter of the poem. As such, Catullus ranks as one of the earliest poets to write about personal subjects that related directly to his own life. By poem 58, we see that the affair is beginning to sour, and Catullus unleashes his venom on his former lover: â€Å"See her where throngs parade, Th’ imperial route. Plying her skill unpaid –, Rome’s prostitute† (Cunningham Reich 2010, p. 332). In poem 75, Catullus shows that even though the affair has ostensibly finished, he is having trouble letting go of Clodia: â€Å"The office of my heart is still to love, When I would hate† (Cunningham Reich 2010, p. 332). Finally, in poem 87, we see the poet admit his regret in a poignantly honest confession: â€Å"I can never think again, Well of you: I try in vain; But – be false – do what you will – Lesbia! I must love you still† (Cunningham Reich 2010, p. 332).Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Catullus Poems 5, 58, 75 and 87 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Catullus played an integral role in the establishment of Augustan poetry, and his personal style displayed the deft art of â€Å"incorporating Roman cultural values into the private world of the lover (Greene, 1995, p. 86). Catullus laid the foundation for later poets to begin to write more directly and emotionally about themes that affected their real lives. Reference List Batstone, W. W. (1999) Catullus. Ancient Roman Writers. Ed. Ward W. Briggs. Detroit: Gale Group. Burckhardt, O. (2005) Catullus, today and always. Quadrant Jan-Feb: 122-125. Cunningham, L. and Reich, J. (2010). Culture and values: A survey of the humanities, Vol. I, with readings (7th ed.). Boston: Wadsworth/Cengage. Greene, E. (1995) The Catullan ego: fragmentation and the erotic self. American Journal of Philology [online], 116, (1), 77-94. Web. This assessment on Catullus Poems 5, 58, 75 and 87 was written and submitted by user Joshua Everett to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Cosmos Episode 6 Viewing Worksheet - Teacher Resources

Cosmos Episode 6 Viewing Worksheet - Teacher Resources   The most effective educators know they must vary their teaching style in order to accommodate all types of learners. One fun way to do this that students always seem to like is to show videos or have a movie day. A great science based Fox television series, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, will keep the students not only entertained but also learning as they follow along on the adventures of affable host Neil deGrasse Tyson. He makes the complicated science topics accessible for all learners. Below are questions that can be copy and pasted into a worksheet for use during or after the showing  of episode 6 of Cosmos, entitled Deeper Deeper Deeper Still,  to assess students learning. It can also be used by the students as a sort of guided note taking worksheet during the video to jot down the main ideas. You are free to copy and use this worksheet as you feel necessary to best fit your class. Cosmos Episode 6 Worksheet  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Name:___________________    Directions: Answer the questions as you watch episode 6 of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey    1.   About how many atoms does Neil deGrasse Tyson say that he’s made up of?    2. How many hydrogen and oxygen atoms are in one molecule of water?    3.   Why do the water molecules move faster when the sun hit them?    4.   What has to happen to the water molecules before they can evaporate?    5. How long have tardigrades been living on Earth?    6. What are the â€Å"holes† in the moss called that take in carbon dioxide and â€Å"exhale† oxygen?    7. What does a plant need in order to break water into hydrogen and oxygen?    8. Why is photosynthesis the â€Å"ultimate green energy†?    9. How long can a tardigrade go without water?    10. When did the first flowering plants evolve?    11. What did Charles Darwin conclude about the orchid based on his idea of Natural Selection?    12. How much of Madagascar’s rain forests have been destroyed?    13. What is the name of the nerve that is stimulated when we smell something?    14. Why do certain scents trigger memories?    15. How does the number of atoms in every breath we take compare to all the stars in all the known galaxies?    16. What idea about nature was first expressed by Thales?    17.   What was the name of the ancient Greek philosopher who came up with the idea of atoms?    18. What is the only element that is flexible enough to create different structures necessary to sustain life?    19. How did Neil deGrasse Tyson explain that the boy did not really touch the girl?    20. How many protons and electrons does an atom of gold have?    21.   Why is the Sun so hot?    22. What is the â€Å"ash† in the Sun’s nuclear furnace?    23. How are heavier elements, like iron, made?    24. How much distilled water is in the neutrino trap?    25. Why did neutrinos reach the Earth 3 hours before anyone knew of the Supernova 1987A?    26. What law of Physics made it possible for Neil deGrasse Tyson not to flinch when the red ball came swinging back at his face?    27. How did Wolfgang Pauli explain the â€Å"breaking† of the law of conservation of energy in radioactive isotopes?    28.   Why can we not go further back than 15 minutes into January 1 on the â€Å"cosmic calendar†?    29. About what size was the universe when it was a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second old?

Impact of HESI Specialty Exams Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Impact of HESI Specialty Exams - Dissertation Example These two theories were used as the basis for formulating a model for constructing Critical Thinking Test objects that were used in this study. This same model was used for the previously concluded eight studies that were carried out to study the effectiveness of E2 in predicting the success of NCLEX-RN (Zweighaft, 2013).The E2 and the HESI Specialty Exam produced by the Elsevier, and the Ninth Validity Study Questionnaire, which was a design of the researcher, were used for data collection. The E2 is always administered during the final semester or quarter of the nursing curriculum. Its blueprint is a reflection of what is there in the NCLEX-RN plan. The HESI Specialty Exams always come at the end of the nursing curriculum. The study mainly used the HESI exams with testing units that are greater than 300. The questionnaire, which had 19 multiple-choice with open fields for comments, was used mainly to gather information from the deans and the directors of the respective schools rega rding their policies on E2 and HESI Specialty exams. It also asked questions about the outcomes of the NCLEX-RN (Zweighaft, 2013). This study made use of Non-Experimental design. All user and none user schools were enumerated and a Random Number generator was used. Deans and directors from 97 schools of nursing were invited. Stratification of random samples of the schools was done based on the three levels, Baccalaureate, Associate degree and diploma. A sample of 3790students from 63 randomly selected schools participated in this study and power analysis indicated that this was a good sample.The study found out that the E2 are highly accurate in predicting the success of NCLEX-RN. The students who took part in Specialty Exams also showed higher means in their E2 scores than those who did not take the Specialty Exams. This was determined using the Welch-Satterthwaite’s test (Zweighaft, 2013). Since the data obtained in this ninth study are consistent with those of the previous studies, it shows that E2 scores can be good predictors of the success of the NCLEX-RN.

Financing Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Financing Terrorism - Essay Example Terrorism comprises an insensate assault on humankind's most elemental ideals and principles -- the prerogative to a life lived in amity, independence and self-respect. The terrorists' premeditated and arbitrary carnage of innocent civilians is a disparaging refutation of the deference for the inviolability of human life. Ideally, everyone has the right to life, emancipation and security of person, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights explicitly declares. Hence, feats of terrorism are on no account valid and reasonable by considerations of a religious, political, philosophical, or other reason of like nature. Principal objective of this treatise is to address the dilemma on terrorist financing, likewise probe and assess the issues related to the economics of terrorism. And based on the investigation, it attempts to advocate ways that will lead to the curtailment of these nefarious activities and possibly for their total eradication. The subject matter proved to be an appealing issue since this writer strongly believes that by adhering to the "follow the money" philosophy, terrorist finances can be spotted, identified, located and eventually its flow can be interrupted thereby disrupting terrorist activities and ultimately preventing further success of terrorist acts and all other forms of global terrorism. Preceding researchers and writers have explicitly tackled the problem of terrorism. However, many of them have focused only on the events themselves and the ramifications on the commission of such crimes, or who are the perpetrators and the possible retaliation of the aggrieved parties and its effects on the global economy. Ignored and overlooked are some highly significant issues and one of them is the financing of such activities which is dealt with in this work. This paper then begins with brief references to the manifold definitions of the term and proceeds to address issues like: 1) Where and how terrorist organizations secure their funds; 2) How these radicals/fanatics transfer money; 3) What steps have been taken by governments to stop terrorist financing; 4) The difficulties in tracking down terrorist financiers; and the important question of 5) how regimes and governmental agencies combat terrorist financing. Literature Review Definition Crisis Providing for an explicit definition of the term "terrorism" and giving it accurate characterization has become a problematic task. It has grown to be so subjective that according to one author, the effort to define it has been likened to an art rather than a science (Burgess, 2003). Reporting of terrorist activities in media over the years has further contributed to the confusion of trying to define the word, which is diversely depicted as the work of, among others, "extremists," "guerillas," "commandos," and "fundamentalists." In addition, the adverse undertones associated with the word 'terrorism' have complicated

Discuss the application of each of following in biology today and Essay

Discuss the application of each of following in biology today and include three examples of each with a brief description - Essay Example Similarly, forensic scientists utilize the hair to profile the DNA in order to identify the culprits involved in crimes. DNA blood typing is important in paternity testing. The technique identifies the biological parent of a child. Fundamentally, the forensic scientists compare the baby’s DNA with that of the potential father. The commonly DNA blood typing is ABO. The process involves the determination of the antigens on the red blood cells encoded by ABO locus on the human chromosome (Brown, 2010). Notably, the typing can solve the cases of paternity. Similarly, the DNA forensic science can determine the gender by analyzing the Y chromosome. The scientists utilize the amelogenin marker located on the sex chromosome. The theoretical principle in the technique centers on the identical combination of alleles between the son and father (Brown, 2010). Population evolution and microbial life examine distribution, as well as, changes in allele frequency in a particular population. Notably, the population is subject to evolutionary processes that entail genetic drift, natural selection, gene flow, and mutation. The field of population evolution and microbial life is important in enhancing the comprehension of genome changes, plant breeding systems, and medical research. Genomic changes involve the evaluation of particular genes that have evolved in successive generation. It is possible to map the genes to identify the genetic material, which has a casual connection to the phenotypes. Notably, the mapping of genes has been instrumental in the discovery of genetic variants that influence the physical attributes of organisms (Pepper et al, 2009). The plant breeding systems utilize the principles of natural selection to select the plants with the beneficial traits. The technique entails systematic production of the crop populations that possess desirable

Organizational Development Change Management of UCS

Organizational Development Change Management of UCS The purpose of this paper is to choose an organization and prepare the first section of a detailed Organizational Development Proposal. Sectin 1., consist of describing the chosen organization in terms of primary purpose, location(s) and size, mission and vision, history as well as the internal and external conditions in which the organization operates. Additionally, this paper will conduct an internal and external analysis of the organization in terms of competencies and competitiveness through the use of relevant analysis tools. Section 1: Organizational Setting Name of the Company Universal Consulting Services, Inc. (UCS) Primary Purpose According to Bloomberg (2017) business profiles, UCS, Inc. provides business and information technology (IT) consulting services for government and industry. It offers consulting services, in areas such as federal acquisition that includes contract close-out, wide area workflow program support, and standard procurement system program support services. It also provides enterprise IT solutions, such as customizable solutions, requirements design and development, testing and evaluation, implementation and training, and help desk and production assistance, as well as system integration, development, and architecture. Additional services include program management, project management advisory services, financial analysis and services, and administrative support for government agencies. Its clients include Department of Defense, such as Department of the Navy, Department of the Army, and other defense agencies; as well as federal civilian agencies, including Department of Treasury, Departm ent of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Peace Corps. Location(s) and Size UCS is headquartered out of Fairfax, Virginia with a satellite office in Frederick, Maryland. The company currently has 265 employees with the majority of the employee working in the Washington, D.C. metro area, and multiple other States across the country, Hawaii and overseas in Japan and Spain (Ascentis UCS, 2017). UCS has experienced a three year growth of 43% with a reported 2015 revenue of $48.3 million (INC. 5000, 2017) Mission and Vision Mission. According to Universal Consulting Services, Inc.swebsite (2017) their mission is as follows: Launched in 2000 by a couple with a vision, UCS has evolved into a robust health and IT service provider armed with a solid reputation for quality and core capabilities aligned with the Governments requirements. Since our founding, we have prided ourselves on employing smart people who give their best to the customers we serve by creating smart solutions that save the Government time, money, and stress. The industry has recognized our services by awarding us with CMMI Level 3, ISO 9001, ISO 20000, and ISO 27001 certifications all of which underscore the quality, ingenuity, and reliability of both our services and our people. In that vein, our goal is to deliver innovative solutions that enable our Government clients to transform their missions into reality. Vision. According to Universal Consulting Services, Inc.s website (2017) their vision is as follows: Our vision is to be a top brand name for federal consulting services thats known for our people-driven culture, innovative perspective, and results-oriented mindset. We will: Be an agent of change for our customers by combining forward-thinking technology with practical problem solving, ultimately creating a distinct, lasting improvement in our customers performance. Empower our employees to develop their unique strengths, build strong teams, and make a tangible impact on the direction of both the company and our customers. Develop a brand that continues to catapult our company to the top of our industry, achieved through winning large, complex opportunities. History UCS is a woman owned business that was founded in 2000 by Mrs. Charu Dhumne and her husband Abhijit Dhumne with the mission of becoming a highly professional and trusted provider of business and technology solutions to the government and industry. Until 2015 UCS was a registered 8(a), minority owned, small disadvantaged business. In 2015 they graduated the Small Business Administrations (SBA) advantage program and now compete outside of the SBA programs. The 8(a) program offers a broad scope of assistance to firms that are owned and controlled at least 51% by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and allows participants to receive sole-source contracts up to a ceiling of $4 million for goods and services and $6.5 million for manufacturing (U.S. Small Business Administration, 2017). The majority of UCS growth was realized under this program. UCS has consistently developed their quality programs and currently hold certifications for ISO 9001-2008, ISO 20000, ISO 27001 and CMMI Level 3 DEV. Conditions in Which the Organization Operates External. UCS currently operates as a mid-sized government consulting firm with limited to no protection or advantages afforded them as an 8(a) small, disadvantaged business which allowed them to receive direct contract wards without having to compete for them. The completion of the 8(a) has placed new economic challenges on the company in that they must now openly compete for work, or partner/subcontract with other small businesses under small business development programs, to gain new work or to retain current work as a re-award. Being located in the Washington D.C. metro area places even greater challenges as it is a highly competitive market for government contractors not just for work, but recruiting talent as well. This is in part due to higher wages and competitive benefits for highly sought after skill sets. Internal. UCS is structured as a typical functional organization which is one of the most common of the organizational structures (Galbraith, 2014) and are set up so that sections of the organization are grouped according to their purpose. Galbraith (2014) discusses how under this type of organizational structure companies divide out into sections and may for example, have a marketing department, a sales department and a production department. UCS is organized by functional and support areas. Under the support areas there is Operations (Administration, Human Resources, IT Management, Security, Facilities Management, and Contracts Management); Finance (Accounting and Payroll); and Business Development (Proposal Management, Graphics, and Marketing). The functional areas consists of client services grouped into Enterprise IT Services (Systems Engineering and Application Development, System Implementation, System Integration, Infrastructure and Operations, and Information Assurance and S ecurity Compliance); and Health Services and Solutions (Strategic Development and Performance Improvement, Advisory and Assistance Services, Portfolio and Program Management, Biomedical Services, Clinical Research and Development, and Health IT and Informatics. The structure is fairly straight forward and is a structure that works very well for many small to medium sized businesses (Galbraith, 2014). The senior leadership is comprised of the President, CEO, Executive Vice President, one support Vice President and three functional Vice Presidents. The culture is one of small business (family) but has recently been feeling the strain of growth and unclear guidance with the appointment of a new Executive Vice President. The workforce is one of diversity in characteristics and talents. The average age of the workforce is 32 (Ascentis UCS, 2017), of which the majority are located on client sites. Internal and External Analysis According to Burk (2014), in order for leadership to identify problems or issues impacting the organization they must understand the environment in which they operate and be able to analyze areas of strengths and weaknesses. Senior leadership and management teams must then determine how to respond to what the environment is telling them and how to establish a more effective alignment for their organization which can allow them to maintain or gain competitive advantages (Burk, 2014). External. One of the tools often used to provide such an analysis is one developed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School, called Porters Five Forces of Competitive Position Analysis. It was developed in 1979 as a simple framework for assessing and evaluating the external environment by focusing on the competitive strength and position of a business organization (Grundy, 2006). Grundy (2006) states that Porters theory proposes that there are five forces which determine the competitiveness of an organization by helping to determine the strengths of an organization and their current competitive position. Identifying strengths of an organization may then be used to align the organization to its current direction or move in new directions. Analysts often use Porters five forces to predict whether a new product or service will be profitable and to identify areas to improve weaknesses and to avoid mistakes (Porter, 1980). The justification for the use of this tool is that it provi des an easy to understand method of analyzing some of the biggest areas of external impact on virtually any organization. According to Porter (1980) the five forces to analyze are: Threat of new entry: This is an analysis of new entrants to the market that may dilute the customer base and erode profitability. It also looks at the organizations durable barriers to entry like patents, cost of entry, and external factors like government regulations and policies, all of which can impact profitability. Supplier power: an assessment of how easy it is for suppliers to drive up prices. This can be driven by the number of suppliers for each product, the number of suppliers in an area, the size of the supplier, the uniqueness of their product or service, or even the cost associated with changing from one supplier to another. Buyer power: an assessment of how easy it is for buyers to drive prices down. Key factors here are; the number of buyers in the market or area that can dictate terms, the relevant importance of the buyer to the organization, the cost to the buyer associated with changing from one supplier to another. Competitive rivalry: This is an analysis of the number and capability of competitors in the market to determine how many competitors are offering the same products and services and their strength which could reduce market attractiveness to the product or service being offered. Threat of substitution: This is an analysis of products or services that exist in a market that may be close to what the organization is offering, thereby increasing the ability of customers switching to alternative sources in response to a price increase. This reduces both the power of suppliers and the attractiveness of the market. Applying Porters five forces technique to UCS would yield the following analysis: Threat of new entry: Given the market and location in which UCS operates (government contracting in the Washington D.C. area) there is constant threat of new entries to the market. These new entries have relatively low barriers in the form of cost due the service nature of the business. Most new start-ups begin by offering their personal knowledge and skills. Additionally, new entries to the market can most often take advantage of SBA assistant opportunities in helping to succeed in the market. The strongest barrier benefiting established companies is the bureaucracy (time it takes) associated with establishing/registering for certain credentials such as 8(a), Veteran Owned, Service Disabled Veteran Owned, obtaining and meeting security clearance requirements etc. Additionally, it takes time for new entries to build a reputation and past performances in order to expand their services. Supplier power: Suppliers abilities to drive up prices are relatively negligible in that the buyer drives the market more so than the supplier. However, that being said there are certain niche areas in the market such as the newest and hottest programing and development skills that the buyer is looking for and only specific competitors or individuals have, coupled with security clearance requirements, that can in fact drive up prices for talent and drive competitive recruiting/bidding wars for the individual talent to offer to the client. Buyer power: the primary client for UCS is the U.S. Government and as such is subject to extreme scrutiny in pricing as well as performance. Pricing is based on what the client/buyer determines to be fair and reasonable for the services requested. This accomplished through what is known as Independent Government Estimates and level of effort of services being requested. All of which are dependent upon the governments budget and funding levels that are being made available for the requirement. Additionally, the procurement strategy can also have an impact on the pricing (i.e. is the government looking for lowest price for technically acceptable bids or for best value of services based on what they receive for the amount bid). Competitive rivalry: For UCS this one of the primary concerns. The number and capability of competitors in the market are vast. Given that UCS is no longer under a SBA small business advantage program they must now compete with globally recognized companies such as Deloitte, Booz Allen, Northrop Grumman, CACI and more, all of which are offering the same services and have significant resources and brand recognition not just to the clients but to potential talent as well. Threat of substitution: Threat of substitution for UCS is significant due to the buyers ability to determine the procurement strategy and the requirements to assist small businesses in receiving government contracts. As such, the buyer could choose to accept a company that is technically acceptable but not as capable or proven as UCS in order to comply with the procurement strategy and check off their requirement to provide work to small disadvantaged businesses. Basically substitute a lesser qualified competitor in order to demonstrate adherence to procurement guidelines. Internal. My preferredmethod of analysis would be targeted surveys to collect data on areas where we are strong, weak or perceived threats. Burk (2014) discusses how psychologists have long relied on questionnaires for data collection, diagnosis and assessment of various studies. He goes on to discuss how leadership and Organizational Development are also leveraging this tool for data collection and has spawned what is known as the Organizational Survey Feedback Method. He also noted that when discussed the survey results with subordinates, particularly through group discussion, positive change typically occurred. The justification for use of this method is that it is a low cost, simple to use, customizable method of collecting a great deal of information. Additionally, once a survey is sent out, it sets an expectation and a responsibility within the organization for follow-up actions. However, for the purposes of this paper, it would be virtually impossible to conduct an organizational survey in time, so instead I would recommend getting much of the same data through the use of a SWOT analysis. Bradt and Davis (2014) discuss a SWOT analysis as a tool used to analyze the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project, product or service venture, or the organization as a whole. It analysis the internal and external factors that can impact the objective being analyzed. A SWOT analysis can be used to help understand the factors that drive or hinder success in an organization and helps to think through potential scenarios to complete the question of so what? and set up the actions of now what? (Bradt Davis, 2014). This in turn can help get members aligned with the organizations vision and strategy and has been often used in executive brainstorming sessions. For UCS the SWOT Analysis must first define a desired end state or objective and in this case it would be to position itself to compete in a larger pool of competitors. The following will provide the basic analysis criteria as interpreted from Bradt and Davis (2014) and then followed by the specific UCS application. Strengths: These are characteristics of the business, team or individual members that give it an advantage over others in the industry. In the case of UCS the following would apply: Young energetic and dedicated workforce demographic. Ability to attract hard to find skill-sets. More organizationally flexible and able to adapt to change quickly. Focus on low overhead expenses allowing for better rates. Weaknesses: These are characteristics that place the firm at a disadvantage as compared to others and can include those found in business, team or individual. In the case of UCS the following would apply: Weakened communications from senior leaders. Inexperienced member in top leadership position. Lack of strategic focus on NEW clients outside of current client base. The start of disharmony among other senior leaders. Too much focus on biggest client which detracts from the many other clients. Fear of dedicating resources to potential new opportunities. Hyper-focus on reducing already good overhead costs, to the possible detriment of losing talent. Opportunities: These are external chances that can make greater sales or profits, improve market position or stakeholder perception. This can be applied to external from the team, business objective or members. In the case of UCS the following would apply: Use of senior business development leaders talents to open new doors outside of current client base. Rely more on experienced leaderships input to accomplish strategies and change. Be less risk aversive in going after new market segments. Threats: These are external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business. This can be applied to external from the team, business objective or members. In the case of UCS the following would apply: Hyper-focus of overhead cost reduction policy of making overhead personnel billable. Up and coming companies participating in the SBA small and disadvantaged business programs that can redirect contracts UCS is going after to direct (non-competitive awards to the smaller companies. Employee dis-satisfaction that can result in a damaged reputation thereby impacting recruiting and retention. Summary of Analysis. Review of the external and internal factors impacting UCS show that the company faces its greatest challenges from external forces and should be concerned with the new arena of competition it finds itself in. The loss of the SBA advantage programs significantly impacts the ability to gain new work or retain re-awards without a strong strategy to overcome the barriers it now faces. From the internal perspective UCS has some considerable strengths to leverage in its talented workforce, predominantly experienced leadership and ability to adapt to change. In its new highly competitive environment its ability to be lean and control overhead cost is an advantage and will allow them to be more competitive in pricing. However, while controlling cost is a strength, it can also be a weakness if cost reductions are at the risk of reputation, comfort and confidence of employees, and the ability to attract and retain the needed skills. Additionally, companies must grow and ac hieve new heights through controlled risk. By being overly risk adverse in order to conserve resources, a company may end up moving backwards instead of forwards. References Ascentis UCS (2017). Human Resources Automated Information System. Retrieved from https://selfservice2.ascentis.com/UCS/STS/signin.aspx?c=UCS Bloomberg.com. (2017). Universal Consulting Services, Inc.: Private Company Information Bloomberg. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=108719433 Bradt, G. B., Davis, G. (2014). First-Time Leader: Foundational Tools for Inspiring and Enabling Your New Team (1). Somerset, US: John Wiley Sons, Incorporated. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com.libproxy.edmc.edu Burke, W. W. (2014). Organization Change: Theory and Practice, 4th Edition. [Argosy University]. Retrieved from https://digitalbookshelf.argosy.edu/#/books/9781452257242/ Galbraith, J. R. (2014). Designing Organizations: An Executive Guide to Strategy, Structure, and Process (3). Somerset, US: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com.libproxy.edmc.edu Grundy, T. (2006). Rethinking and reinventing Michael Porters five forces model. Strategic Change, 15(5), 213-229. doi:10.1002/jsc.764 INC. 5000. (2017). Universal Consulting Services Fairfax, VA. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/profile/universal-consulting-services?cid=full500016-list-1455 Porter, M. E. (1980). Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. New York: Free Press. U.S. Small Business Administration. (2017). About the 8(a) Business Development Program | The U.S. Small Business Administration | SBA.gov. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from https://www.sba.gov/contracting/government-contracting-programs/8a-business-development-program/about-8a-business-development-program Universal Consulting Service, Inc. (2017). Homepage. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from https://ucs-inc.com/

Cathedral Essay -- essays research papers

Cathedral The story is about a blind man who visits a married couple. He is an old friend of the wife, but the husband does not look forward to see the blind man (called Robert) because he does not know what to expect. He has never known any blind persons and his picture of these is based on a very little foundation. He has a lot of prejudices against Robert, but during his visit he changes his opinion about him. While watching TV together they get each other to know better and the husband finds out that he actually likes his company. They watch a program about cathedrals and while talking about cathedrals, Robert says that he does not even know how a cathedral looks like. The husband tries to explain what a cathedral is and how it is built, but Robert does not understand it. Therefore he suggests that they can draw one together. In that way Robert gets a picture of a cathedral in his mind and even though it is not as good as seeing it with his own eyes, it is good enough to give him an idea o f what a cathedral is. I think there are may different themes in this short story. For instance, I think that prejudices is one of the main themes which is shown through the husband’s way of react, when he hears that a blind man is coming. Because he does not know what to expect, he imagines a man, totally different, who does not have the same habits or knows the same thing as “normal'; people. “I remembered having read somewhere that the blind did not sm...

Behavior Leadership Theory

What really makes a good leader? Psychologist and managers tried to answer this question. â€Å"Chronologically, the first answer to what makes a good leader was that leaders are not made, they are born† (Fairholm, 1991). This was the first theory of Leadership, the Great Men Theory. Many other theories were divided by Fairholm and these are the following: theories based on who the leader is, wherein this group focuses on the leader‘s characteristic; theories based on what the leader does, wherein the behavior theory belong to this group.It is focused on studying leaders’ behavior so that it can be reproduced by followers; and the theories based on the Environment of the Leadership. Leadership is a difficult topic to study because leadership is a â€Å"fuzzy† concept. For decades, social scientists and practitioners have been struggling to come up with the ultimate definition of leadership, to explain its mechanisms, and to draw the line between leadership and management. They have produced a number of definitions and theories.Long time ago, determinants of leadership has been identified by behavioral theorists, so that people could be trained to be leaders. Since the best styles of leadership can be learned, training programs have been developed to change managers' leadership behaviors. During the World War II, the leaders of the academy left the Isle of Traits and set sale for the Isle of Behaviors by the 1940s. They suspected that the X and Y Theory of Leadership of Myers or Briggs, was some kind of fraud. The military wanted to know if leaders could be trained, and if so, what behaviors made them most effective.The Academy of Leader Professors wanting to get tenure, fame in time of world crisis, and fortune decided that some new theory of leadership must be found or all their jobs would be as extinct as dinosaurs. Working with the Army and with universities, two biggest â€Å"Page#2† bureaucracies in the world, it was mostl y about transactional behavior, being autocratic or democratic to increase the transaction rate or quality. The game of life in organizations was never to be transformed and their quest was to find universal leader behavior styles that correlate with effectiveness and are optimal transactions in all situations.Squire Fleishman and Sir Katz set off for the Isle of Behavior in separate ships as they are desperate to establish a behavioral settlement, but found out that Scribe Lewin had already established a behavioral settlement and an Iowa University since 1938. On the Isle of Behaviors, leader (transactional) behaviors became observable and their study turned objective and measurable. Different Universities wanted to make its mark and study what do leaders do by using some statistical methods, then the Ohio State and Michigan University competed for the education of the peasants.Fleishman became King of Ohio State and Katz was made King of Michigan University. Lewin was already King at Iowa. Each mustered their armies and prepared to battle for leader behavior territory. Sir Mintzberg, knighted by the Canadians, resettled in the Isle of Behavior and decided to go and look to see if leaders did any planning, organizing, controlling, or leading. He actually observed and recorded the progress what transactions that leaders do. The world was shocked to discover, that leaders had a hectic, frantic, and fragmented transaction life, and did little of the behaviors thought to take place.Some leaders were only figureheads, but he did confirm Sir Merton's view, but noting all the roles that leaders do. While the Isle of Behavior was oversupplied with two-factor studies of behavior and observations of roles here and everywhere, that great explored, Prince Yukl decided that process was more important than some list of universal behaviors. And by 2001, Prince â€Å"Page#3† Howell and Knight Costley joined the search for process. They still liked to isolate and measu re behaviors, but wanted to do this in the study of processes. They made great maps of the world of leadership, charting each territory.Leaders were reduced from traits or greatness to just psychoalgebraic behavioral equations, to styles or just transactions. But alas most of the Leader Behavior Academy had already set sail for the Isle of Situation. It seemed obvious that Traits and Behaviors to be effective depended upon the Situation. If there were universal behaviors, they are not optimal in all situations. Therefore a great expedition set forth to the Isle of Situation in the 1960s, with new waves of migration each decade since. This is where the arts of transformation were rekindled. The behavior of Leadership has two main theories, transaction and transformation.This is what we call the â€Å"X† dimension of behavior leadership theory. It is the X dimension that focuses on the Behavioral School of leadership. The X dimension runs from Transactional to transformational leadership, as studied by Burns (1978) and Bass (1985). This is a classic dualism in leadership studies. Burns looked at modal thinking (the means over ends reasoning) in the early stages of development and held that the leaders are transactional in their behaviors. Transactional leadership requires a shrewd eye for opportunity, a good hand at bargaining, persuading, reciprocating (Burns, 1978:169).A transformational leader, on the other hand, recognizes and exploits an existing need or demand of a potential follower and looks for potential motives in followers, seeks to satisfy higher needs, and engages the full person of the follower. Eventually transformational leaders were thought to engage in behaviors that â€Å"Page#4† changed the game, even changed the world. Douglas McGregor described Theory X and Y in his book, The Human Side of Enterprise, that X and Y theory each represent different ways in which leaders view employees.Theory X managers believe that employees are motivated mainly by money, are lazy, uncooperative, and have poor work habits. Theory Y managers believe that subordinates work hard, are cooperative, and have positive attitudes. Theory X is the traditional view of direction and control by managers. The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid if he or she can. Because of this human characteristic of dislike of work, most people must be controlled, directed, and threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort toward the achievement of organizational objectives.The average human being prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition, wants security above all. This theory leads naturally to an emphasis on the tactics of control – to procedures and techniques for telling people what to do, for determining whether they are doing it, and for administering rewards and punishment. Theory X explains the consequences of a particular managerial strateg y. Because its assumptions are so unnecessarily limiting, it prevents managers from seeing the possibilities inherent in other managerial strategies.As long as the assumptions of Theory X influence managerial strategy, organizations will fail to discover, let alone utilize, the potentialities of the average human being. Theory Y is the view that individual and organizational goals can be integrated. The expenditures of physical and mental effort in work are as natural as play or rest. â€Å"Page#5† External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means for bringing out effort toward organizational objectives. Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement.The average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept but also to seek responsibility. The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity, and creativity in the solution of organizational problems in widely, not narrowly, di stributed in the population. Under the condition of modern industrial life, the intellectual potentialities of the average human being are only partially utilized. Theory Y's purpose is to encourage integration, to create a situation in which an employee can achieve his or her own goals best by directing his or her efforts toward the objectives of the organization.It is a deliberate attempt to link improvement in managerial competence with the satisfaction of higher-level ego and self-actualization needs. Theory Y leads to a preoccupation with the nature of relationships, with the creation of an environment which will encourage commitment to organizational objectives and which will provide opportunities for the maximum exercise of initiative, ingenuity, and self-direction in achieving them. Note that with Theory Y assumptions, management's role is to develop the potential in employees and help them to release that potential towards common goals.Theory X is the view that traditional management has taken towards the workforce. Many organizations are now taking the enlightened view of theory Y. A boss can be viewed as taking the theory X approach, while a leader takes the theory Y approach. Notice that Maslow, Herzberg, and McGreagor's theories all tie together: Herzberg's theory is a micro version of Maslow's theory (concentrated in the work place). McGreagor's Theory X is based on workers â€Å"Page#6† caught in the lower levels (1 to 3) of Maslow's theory, while his Theory Y is for workers who have gone above level 3.McGreagor's Theory X is based on workers caught in Herberg's Hygiene Dissatisfiers, while Theory Y is based on workers who are in the Motivators or Satisfiers section. Whatever theory applied by any organization , the greatest chance of being successful is when all of the employees work toward achieving its goals. Since leadership involves the exercise of influence by one person over others, the quality of leadership is a critical determina nt of organizational success. Thus, leaders study leadership in order to influence the actions of his followers toward the achievement of the goals of the organization.Leadership studies can be classified as trait, behavioral, contingency, and transformational. Earliest theories assumed that the primary source of leadership effectiveness lay in the personal traits of the leaders themselves. Yet, traits alone cannot explain leadership effectiveness. Thus, later research focused on what the leader actually did when dealing with employees. These behavioral theories of leadership sought to explain the relationship between what the leader did and how the employees reacted, both emotionally and behaviorally. Yet, behavior can't always account for leadership in different situations.Thus, contingency theories of leadership studied leadership style in different environments. Transactional leaders, such as those identified in contingency theories, clarify role and task requirements for employ ees. Yet, contingency can't account for the inspiration and innovation that leaders need to compete in today's global marketplace. Newer transformational leadership studies have shown that leaders, who are charismatic and visionary, can inspire followers to transcend their own self-interest for â€Å"Page#7† the good of the organization.

Free Essays on An Occurance At Owl Creek Bridge

Throughout the story, we are able to see of different of a world Ambrose Bierce lived in compared to the one that we know. This is the first part of the story that noticed, because in today’s world, no man would ever be hung, let alone executed for tampering with a bridge. Peyton Farquhar grew up as a rich southerner. He had everything that a man could want at that point in time: a wife, children, land and slaves. However, he had always felt something was missing. Due to the fact he was unable to fight in the army, he did not feel like he was really a man. This is why he was willing to anything as â€Å"no service was too humble to him to perform in aid of the south, no adventure too perilous for him to undertake if consistent with the character of a civilian who was a soldier at heart†. Farquhar was blinded by his enthusiasm at it ultimately resulted in his demise. His actions to tamper with the bridge did not completely end in failure. The illusion of escape and heroism that he went through prior to his death, was the most alive he has ever felt. Looking back at Farquhar imagined journey back to his house, you begin to realized the pains and emotions that we was experiencing were more of a man hanging, than of one that just escaped from one. The first example is when Farquhar enters the forest and is surprised to see how dense the forest was, as â€Å"he had not known that he lived in so wild a region† and the stars were in an unfamiliar pattern that night as well. He also refers to the pain he experiences in his neck and his were feeling â€Å"congested† and he could not close them. This is because there is great force being applied to his neck and head from the noose. Farquhar was also because to experience thirst so great that his tongue was beginning to swell, but his tongue was really swelling from the pressure applied by the rope. He began to walk on the untraveled avenue, which symbolizes the avenue of death, and could no lo... Free Essays on An Occurance At Owl Creek Bridge Free Essays on An Occurance At Owl Creek Bridge Throughout the story, we are able to see of different of a world Ambrose Bierce lived in compared to the one that we know. This is the first part of the story that noticed, because in today’s world, no man would ever be hung, let alone executed for tampering with a bridge. Peyton Farquhar grew up as a rich southerner. He had everything that a man could want at that point in time: a wife, children, land and slaves. However, he had always felt something was missing. Due to the fact he was unable to fight in the army, he did not feel like he was really a man. This is why he was willing to anything as â€Å"no service was too humble to him to perform in aid of the south, no adventure too perilous for him to undertake if consistent with the character of a civilian who was a soldier at heart†. Farquhar was blinded by his enthusiasm at it ultimately resulted in his demise. His actions to tamper with the bridge did not completely end in failure. The illusion of escape and heroism that he went through prior to his death, was the most alive he has ever felt. Looking back at Farquhar imagined journey back to his house, you begin to realized the pains and emotions that we was experiencing were more of a man hanging, than of one that just escaped from one. The first example is when Farquhar enters the forest and is surprised to see how dense the forest was, as â€Å"he had not known that he lived in so wild a region† and the stars were in an unfamiliar pattern that night as well. He also refers to the pain he experiences in his neck and his were feeling â€Å"congested† and he could not close them. This is because there is great force being applied to his neck and head from the noose. Farquhar was also because to experience thirst so great that his tongue was beginning to swell, but his tongue was really swelling from the pressure applied by the rope. He began to walk on the untraveled avenue, which symbolizes the avenue of death, and could no lo...

Epicatechin content in green tea (Camellia sinensis) supplements and their antioxidant activities The WritePass Journal

Epicatechin content in green tea (Camellia sinensis) supplements and their antioxidant activities Introduction/background Epicatechin content in green tea (Camellia sinensis) supplements and their antioxidant activities ). Their most important role in the body is to protect cells against the effects of free radicals. Free radicals are the unstable molecular species containing an unpaired electron that are able to exist independently. Most of these species are highly reactive and are potentially damaging to the cells (Lobo, et.al. 2010). Some of the common oxygen- free radicals that are involved in many human diseases include hydroxyl radical, superoxide anion radical, hydrogen peroxide, oxygen singlet, hypochlorite, nitric oxide radical, and peroxynitrite radical. Increased levels of these reactive species in the body cells induce damage of the DNA, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. Thus, a balance between free radicals and antioxidants is necessary for proper physiological function (Lobo, et.al. 2010). Any dis-balance in this may result the initiation of various diseases including cancer, vascular diseases and degenerative diseases. Hence, the study of antioxidants and their sources have been the focus of intense research. 1.4. Brief information on herbal supplements to use in the project This project studies the presence of epicatechin content in Camellia sinensis; thus, the project uses herbal capsules from Camellia sinensis as herbal supplements. Camellia sinenis is taken as green tea and contains antioxidants in it, which is why it is commonly used in herbal medicine. Epicatechin is abundantly found in Camellia sinensis herbal supplement. Cameillia sinensis also contains various active compounds as extracts. Some of the major active compounds found in Camellia sinensis include catechins, caffeine, flavonols and proanthocyanidins (Charles, 2013). The health benefits of green tea (Camellia sinensis) epicatechins are being extensively studied and explained . Endothelial cells are associated to vascular function and homeostasis whose dysfunction may have implication in cardiovascular disease including atherogenesis. (Moore, et.al. 2009). Moreover, some studies suggest their anticancer role by enchaining apoptosis (Ravindranath, et.al. 2009). With findings emerging fro m several new studies regarding the health benefits of the green tea from Camellia sinensis, it is being increasingly popular among the people. Methods Simple and reliable techniques will be chosen in this project to investigate epicatechin content in Camellia sinenis. Experiments will be carried out using reflux extraction to determine the biologically active compounds present in the test supplement (herbal capsules from Camellia sinensis). This will be confirmed by NMR analysis. NMR analysis will be done to confirm that determination of correct biological compound including antioxidants from Camellia sinensis. Crude extract will be made from the material extracted from herbal capsules using a suitable solvent under reflux, which will then be run on thin layer chromatography (TLC) to see if a corresponding band for the standard also appears in the extract. This will tell whether or not the compound is present in the extract, as the study of organic compounds present in the supplement of Camellia sinensis can be made using this technique. To cut of the evaporation time, rotary evaporation method will be employed while evaporating th e solvent. Reverse phase analytical high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) will be used to identify the standard compound in the extract and then to quantify the amount of compound in it. Finally, the antioxidant assay will be carried out to determine the antioxidant activity of the extracted compound; as a control, plant Flavonoid quercetin, which has antioxidant activity, will be used. REFERENCES Charles, J.D. (2013). Antioxidant Properties of Spices, Herbs and Other Sources.  Natural Antioxidants.   39-64. Chan, E.W.C, Eu, Y.S, Tie, P.P, Law, Y.P. (2011). Pharmacognosy Research.  Antioxidant and antibacterial properties of green, black, and herbal teas of Camellia sinensis.  3(4), 266-272. Irshad, M and Chaudhuri, P.S. (2002). Indian journal of experimental biology.  Oxidant-antioxidant system: role and significance in human body..  40(11), 1233-1239. Lobo, V, Patil, A, Phatak, A, Chandra, N. (2010). Pharmacogn Rev.  Free radicals, antioxidants and functional foods: Impact on human health.  4(8), 118-126. Moore, R.J, Jackson, K.G, Minihane, A.M. (2010). The British journal of nutrition.  Green tea (Camellia sinensis) catechins and vascular function. 96(4), 597-605. Ravindranath, M.H, et.al.,. (2006). Evid Based Complement Alternat Med..  Epicatechins Purified from Green Tea (Camellia sinensis) Differentially Suppress Growth of Gender-Dependent Human Cancer Cell Lines.  3(2), 237-247. Ravindranath, et.al., (2009). Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine.  Differential Growth Suppression of Human Melanoma Cells by Tea (Camellia sinensis) Epicatechins (ECG, EGC and EGCG).  6(4), 523-530. Roman, M, (2001)  Natural Products Insider, naturalproductsinsider.com/articles/2001/04/the-benefits-and-pitfalls-of-standardizing-botanic.aspx, 11/12/2013. Uzunalic, A.P, et.al.. (2006). Food Chemistry.  Extraction of active ingredients from green tea (Camellia sinensis): Extraction efficiency of major catechins and caffeine.  96(4), 597-605. Yang, Z, Xu, Y, Jie, G, He, P and Tu, Y. (2007). Asia Pac J Clin Nutr.  Study on the antioxidant activity of tea flowers (Camellia sinensis)  .  16(1), 148-152.

ASIGN5_SMT312 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

ASIGN5_SMT312 - Essay Example Energy costs take 8% of the GDP of the United States. The United States is conducting a geological survey to evaluate its oil reserves. OPEC refers to organization of the petroleum producing Exporting countries. This is a cartel of twelve countries namely United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Iran, Qatar, Libya, Nigeria Kuwait, Angola, Iraq and Algeria. The headquarters of OPEC are in Vienna. They hold regular meeting represented by member countries oil ministers. In 2008 Indonesia withdrew from the group due to its declining reserves. The countries with the most coal reserves in the world are the United States, Russia and China respectively. There are about 847 billion tones in the world. These are enough deposits to last the entire world for the next 130 years at the existent level of production. A survey conducted by the United States Geological Survey show areas around Arctic Alaska, Amerasia, East Greenland Rift Basins in North America have large deposits tar sand. It’s estimated that 84% of gas and oil production would take place off shore. Like any non-renewable energy source tar sand affect the environment. When being mined toxic chemical infiltrate rivers and other water bodies. In addition because of the high carbon emission it causes deforestation. Most of time a large section of trees, bushes, top soil are cleared thereby causing environmental degradation. The oil crisis in 1973 emanated when the then Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting placed an oil Embargo on the United States of America. It came about after the United States supplied Israeli with military equipment during the Yom Kippur War. The embargo was placed on October 1973 to march 1974 (Campbell, 89). 16 The 1979 oil crisis which is also known as the second oil crisis resulted from the Iranian Revolution. Massive protests that led to the fleeing of Mohammed Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, also disrupted the county’s oil sector

Wheelchair Basketball Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Wheelchair Basketball - Essay Example The fact that these soldiers were recently paralyzed led to a lot of frustration and no outlet for them to channel their energy. As they began rehabilitation and searched for a physical outlet to relieve stress they decided what better than sports? (Schweiker: 1954) The soldiers began with sports such as ping-pong, catch and pool, then it went to bowling, volleyball and swimming, then to the more energy requiring sports such as water polo, touch-football, softball and basketball. Although several other sports have now been added, it was basketball that overshadowed the others in a few years time in overall popularity. In 1946, other historical documents reveal that the California Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America played the very first match of organized wheelchair basketball, two weeks prior to the New England Chapter. According to these facts, it thereafter spread across the nation to the VA hospitals in Chicago, Memphis, Boston, Richmond and New York. Not before long, the sp ort had spread across the border to the UK and to Canada as well. (Schweiker: 1954) By time 1948 rolled around, there were six teams in total in the United States. All were members of the PVA and all functioned from Veteran hospitals. This was the same year that the Birmingham, California team obtained a sponsored tour to travel by plane, and play other paraplegic teams across the nation. The immediate result of the first sponsored tour of the Birmingham Flying Wheels was the development of the first wheelchair basketball team outside of VA hospitals in Kansas City. The first ‘civilian’ hometown team was known as the Kansas City Wheelchair Bulldozers (later known as the City Rolling Pioneers). (Schweiker: 1954) In 1955, the Touring U.S. Pan Am Jets team was the first to bring wheelchair basketball to England, when they participated in the first international competition at Stoke Mandeville. (GBWA.org: 2011) Now, there are several teams throughout the United Stated, UK, and rest of the world. The first World Championships for Men, the G old Cup, took place in Bruges, Belgium in 1975, but has long since continued on thereafter. In the UK, The Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association governs wheelchair basketball. The GBWA is a registered charity and forms the representative body of wheelchair basketball in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Teams in the GBWA league consist of the RGK TCAT Rhinos, Sheffield Steelers, Teamside Owls, GLL Capital City Raiders, Essex Outlaws, Knights and Aces. However there are several more teams at different divisional levels. GBWA.org: 2011) Aside from the GBWA there is also the Welsh Wheelchair Basketball Association WWBA. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) governs the sport itself. The height of the basket and the size of the court are the same as in the running version of the game (10 feet from the floor and 28mx 15m, respectively). The duration of for all international games is 40 minutes. In terms of eligibility, athletes using wheelchairs play wheelchair basketball, and whose disabilities might include lower limb amputations, paraplegia, polio and cerebral palsy. In general terms, any individual who cannot participate in stand-up running basketball as the direct result of an injury, disabling condition, etc. is eligible to play wheelchair basketball. It is important to note that not all participants in wheelchair basketball use a wheelchair for daily living. (Paralympics.org: 2011). Other important classifications to notice are the points rating system. Athletes in wheelchairs are classified by their physical