Competition :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Two best friends are torn apart. A man meticulously plots revenge on the person who got the job he was dying for. A nation is full of rage and fear because another country beat them in the race to walk on the moon. Sadly, all of these situations were caused by one thing, competition. In Alfie Kohn’s essay, â€Å"Competition Is Destructive†, he describes competition as having a â€Å"toxic effect on our relationships†(11). Although competition has many positive effects in this world, when talking specifically about relationships, whether it be between best friends, two strangers, or even entire nations, it fuels negative feelings and attitudes that transform people into monsters. Close relationships often have their ups and downs. When one spends enough time with a person it is inevitable that they will have an argument. Best friends, for example, share everything with each other. They laugh together, cry together and trust one another completely. Yet throw a boy that they are both interested in into the picture and they are lying and backstabbing their way into his arms. Or perhaps they are both dying to play Juliet. Suddenly they view each other as enemies who will stop at nothing for the part. One might spread rumors about the other or sabotage her audition. Even something as innocent as grades can turn into a knockdown, drag-out, fight to the finish. They resort to cheating, or anything that will give them a leg up from the other. These crazy situations are just a few of the many examples that show how competition can create feelings of resentment, bitterness and even hatred between people who at one point were inseparable. Competition between good friends is not the only instance in which negative feelings can occur. Surprisingly, the exact same feelings of resentment and hostility can happen between two perfect strangers. With no valid reason, children and adults alike can work up an enormous grudge against a person that they have never spoken to, or possibly never even seen. Take for instance a boy on a high school football team. Off the field he is a respectable student who is always considerate of others. Yet the second he steps on that field he transforms into a monster who is out to â€Å"get† the other team, to â€Å"show them who’s boss.† He has never met these people before and has no reason to feel such anger towards them other than the fact that they are standing in the way of his team winning the game.

Odysseus

Observing the relationship between the polytheistic gods and mortals in the time of Homer seems, in comparison, is odd to our Judeo-christian traditions found in our society. Where some may see a omnishient and powerful being as a inactive in the our everyday dealings, the Gods in Homer's time were consistently involved in either hindering or aiding those they found to their liking or disliking. In the epic poem â€Å"The Odyssey†by Homer (translated by W. H. D.Rouse) Odyseuss is constantly helped and indered throughout the story by a multitude of Gods. —–To begin, in the VII book Odysseus has been blown off course and has been shipwrecked at the island of the Phaecians due to a storm fabricated by Poseidon the God of the sea and earthquakes. Poseidon's motivation to commit such an act was Odysseus's lack of paying proper homage for the pillaging done during the Trojan War and the blinding of his cyclops son, Polythemus. One appauling point of this example is how defined and clear the motivations of Poeseidon were.Usually when an event of tragedy appens to those who are religiously inclined they often ask â€Å"Why would God do this? † and the typical answer used by religous leaders is that God works in mysterious ways that us humans cannot begin to understand. Rather than the Greek Gods residing in an entirely segreated realm from mortals they allow themselves to share in human traits and motivations . —–Contuing on Odysess's dilema on the island of the Phaecians, he is found by the Phaecian princess Nausicaa who was instructed to make her way to him via the Goddess Athena.Athena is the Goddess of wisdom and has built a mentor and savior like relationship with him. After Odysseus's part to play in the troJan war the Goddess advocated on behalf of Mount Olympus. When the Trojan war was happening Gods took sides, at times they interrupted the war and other times they let the two sides brawl it out. Since there was such a n abundance of Gods to follow in the greek polytheistic religon humans favored certain Gods to pray to and worship and in turn the Gods favored certain humans and gave special attention to.The way the gods treated their followers were as if they were using them as pawns on a great chessboard, pushing them all in different paths as if it were somesort of entertainment. Athena knew that Odysseus was a proper man and could win over the Phaecians, but she chooses to intercede his natural path and gifts him with the knowledge of their culture and turns him invisible so he may enter the castle. The Goddess could have Just as easily Just transported Odysseus into the castle properly dressed and fully groomed, but she took a less involved route.The Gods seem to favor slightly altering information available to humans or effecting relationships and Just watching how it would play out. —–Athena doesn't forcefully push Nausicaa to find Odysseus rather she Just implies it and also she supllies miniscule aid on the path to the castle. On the occasion gods appear to humans as their normal selves, but usually they work behind the curtain. The idea of the gods as tricksters who misdirects individuals for simple entertainment is so odd to compare to our modern way of thinking from a judeo-christian point of view.It doesnt seem right that such a powerful deity should nave a sense ot humor. This most likely branches otttne tact that having a sense ot humor is to human and recognizable to us. On the contrary, once we establish these gods in the same category as humans the idea becomes clearer.

Reflective Independent Learning Essay

1. A critical part of being an independent learner is reflecting on your learning. Go to the following link from the University of Hull and learn more on how to be a reflective learner: University of Hawaii Reflective Learning 2. Being an independent learner is a guiding principle for university learning and success. Clearly, learning independently is a complex activity that involves many things but crucially it requires the ability to take responsibility for and to reflect on your learning so that you can achieve the goals that you set for yourself. Find out more about what it means to be an independent learner and how you can improve in this area by going to the following link and reading this article from Hull University: â€Å"Study Advice† 1. Write a short paragraph answering the following questions: a) Describe several things that you have done or are doing at university that would be defined as independent learning. b) Being motivated, confident and reflective were highlighted in the article as key to independent learning. How do you rate yourself in these areas? c) Referring to the articles above, describe how you can improve your independent learning. One of the important things that I use and I define as independent learning is portfolios. I use them not only for all my classes but also for everything I take a picture of or draw or write or even tutorials that shows how to make things. I consider that very important because it helps me to remember everything I did and I liked, so every time I take my portfolio and browse it, I remember all the good and positive things I did and that make me happy. In my opinion, motivation, confidence, and reflection are the fundamental keys to be an efficient independent learner because they give energy that make you feel that you want to do something that you like. And when you do something you like it gives you motivation and confidence. It‘s a kind of cycle that never ends. And personally I think those three elements are what keep artists doing the good work. In my case I use normal portfolios, but the negative thing about that is that a certain time I will end up having many portfolios which will take a lot of space.

Childhood Obesity And Epidemiology Health And Social Care Essay

The survey of distribution and determiners of health-related jobs or events in a specific population is epidemiology. The application of this survey is to command the wellness job ( Stanhope & A ; Lancaster, 2008, p 220 ) . Epidemiologists study wellness related jobs like infective disease, chronic unwellnesss, environmental issues, and identified hazard factors and interventions. These surveies â€Å" enable us to understand the association between larning disablements and exposure to lead-based pigment dust, asthma aggravation and air pollution, and GI disease and waterborne Cryptosporidia. Environmental surveillance, such as childhood lead registers, provides informations with which to track and analyse incidence and prevalence of wellness results † ( Stanhope & A ; Lancaster, 2008, 240 ) The epidemiology triangle long-run effects of being an fleshy stripling is that there is a 70 % opportunity of them going overweight or corpulent grownups and 80 % if one or more parent in the place A is fleshy or corpulent. When fleshiness in childhood falls over into maturity, it increases the hazard of a general hapless wellness position. â€Å" In 2000, the entire cost of fleshiness for kids and grownups in the United States was estimated to be $ 117 billion where $ 61 billion are direct medical costs. † ( The World and I, 2006 ) . Childhood fleshiness has many finding factors, the most outstanding factors being theA deficiency of physical activity, unhealthy feeding, genetic sciences and societal factors, † socio-economic position, race/ethnicity, media and selling, and the physical environment. ( Kumanyika, 2008 ) . In general, eating more foodsA at fast nutrient eating houses than they are eating at place, imbibing more sugary drinks, and noshing on more unhealthy nutrients like french friess and french friess often has become prevailing among kids and striplings. This alteration is contributed to the American demand for convenience. A big per centum of kids ‘s leisure clip comes from Americans ‘ demand for watching telecasting, utilizing the computing machine, and playing video games occupy, which are act uponing their physical activity degrees. â€Å" It is estimated that kids in the United States are passing 25 % of their waking hours watching telecasting and statistically, kids who wat ch the most hours of telecasting have the highest incidence of fleshiness. † ( Department of Health and Human Services, 2010, p1 ) . This tendency is evident and a major hazard factor to child goon fleshiness because while the sedentary activity of watching Television and picture games normally involves the composing of repasts high in fat. Along with the dietetic alterations that affect childhood fleshiness, schools are besides lending by diminishing the sum of free drama allowed for kids during school. There are merely a 3rd of American simple schools, allow kids to hold day-to-day physical instruction, and merely a 5th of the simple schools have extracurricular actives for the kids to take part in. â€Å" Daily registration in physical instruction categories among high school pupils decreased from 42 % in 1991 to 25 % in 1995, later increasing somewhat to 28 % in 2003 † ( Department of Health and Human Services, 2010, p 1 ) . Surveies have showed that when parents eat fruits and veggies and they are readily available the penchants for kids to wantA such an point as a pick of bite are increased † ( Department of Health and Human Services, 2010, p1 ) . Researchers besides indicate that the societal context in which a kid is introduced to or has experiences with nutrient is instrumental in determining nutrient penchants the feeding environment that a kid is involved in will find the feeding pattern the kid will do in his or her life-time ( Birch, 2006 ) . â€Å" For many kids, feeding is a societal event that frequently times occurs in the presence of parents, other grownups, older siblings and equals. Children typically observe the behaviours and penchants of others in their milieus. This becomes the function theoretical accounts. Children observation in unhealthy eating wonts and behaviours has brought a rise in childhood weight jobs † ( Department of Health and Human Services, 2010, p1 ) . i‚ ·A A A A A A A A Constraints on parent ‘s clip potentially contribute to kids ‘s weight jobs, as working parents likely rely more to a great extent than non-working parents on prepared, processed, and fast nutrients, which by and large have high Calorie, high fat, and low nutritionary content. i‚ ·A A A A A A A A Children left unsupervised after school may do hapless nutritionary picks and prosecute in more sedentary activities. i‚ ·A A A A A A A A Childcare suppliers may non offer as many chances for physical activity and may offer less alimentary nutrient options. i‚ ·A A A A A A A A Unsupervised kids may pass a great trade of clip indoors, possibly because of safety concerns, watching Television or playing video games instead than prosecuting in more active out-of-door chases. â€Å" ( Department of Health and Human Services, 2010 ) . In short, the alterations in American society, peculiarly societal and economic alterations, have encouraged unhealthy wonts of extra ingestion. â€Å" These alterations have [ influenced ] the nutrients available in the places, the grade of influence parents have when kids make nutrient choices and has led to additions in sedentary behaviours among young person. † ( Department of Health and Human Services, 2010, p1 ) . Finally there has been a big argument over whether or non overexposure to nutrient advertisement has increased the incidence rates of childhood fleshiness. â€Å" Furthermore, an accrued organic structure of research reveals that more than 50 per centum of telecasting advertizements directed at kids promote nutrients and drinks such as confect, convenience nutrients, bite nutrients, sugar sweetened drinks and sweetened breakfast cereals that are high in Calories and fat and low in fibre and alimentary denseness. The statistics on nutrient advertisement to kids indicate that: i‚ ·A A A A A A A A Annual gross revenues of nutrients and drinks to immature consumers exceeded $ 27 billion in 2002. i‚ ·A A A A A A A A Food and drink advertizers jointly spend $ 10 to $ 12 billion yearly to make kids and young person: more than $ 1 billion is spent on media publicizing to kids ( chiefly on telecasting ) ; more than $ 4.5 billion is spent on youth-targeted public dealingss ; and $ 3 billion is spent on packaging designed for kids. i‚ ·A A A A A A A A Fast nutrient mercantile establishments spend $ 3 billion in telecasting ads targeted to kids † ( Department of Health and Human Services, 2010, p1 ) . There are a figure of root causes of fleshiness in kids. However, taking merely one or two chief causes or factors is impossible given the current information because the possible influences of fleshiness have many interlacing factors. â€Å" Another research spread stems from deficiency of a perspective longitudinal survey that links dietetic and other behaviour forms to development of fleshiness. Another complication of current informations is that there is a demand for more precise and dependable steps of dietetic consumption and activity degrees, as single callback of events and diet are non the most reliable beginnings for information † ( Department of Health and Human Services, 2010, p1 ) . Early bar of fleshiness is indispensable in more is understood about how genetic sciences is involved. â€Å" Research is merely get downing to explicate how gustatory sensation penchants develop, their biochemical underpinnings and how this information may be utile in controling chi ldhood weight addition. † ( Department of Health and Human Services, 2010, p 1 ) . â€Å" Primary bar is non an option for many kids who are already fleshy. Research on successful intercessions for kids who are fleshy or at hazard of going corpulence is highly of import to cut down efficaciously childhood fleshiness in this state. † ( Maternal and Child Health Library, 2008 ) . â€Å" However, the basicss are clear, to remain healthy, eat a balanced diet and give equal clip to physical activity. † ( Department of Health and Human Services, 2010 ) . This will assist epidemiologists and maintain down the cost of going healthy.

Death Penalty Persuasive Essay Essay

The death penalty is an issue that has the United States quite divided. While there are many supporters of it, there is also a large amount of opposition. There are five different forms of execution in the United States: hanging, electrocution, lethal injection, lethal gas, and firing squad. All of these should be illegal. Capital punishment is defined as killing of someone for a crime. But also, murder is defined as killing one human being by another. Both are acts of violence. There is nothing more inhumane than tolerating the killing of another human being. According to the Abolitionists, capital punishment is nothing but an act of violence. There are 32 states with the death penalty, and they must change. These states need to abolish it on the grounds that it carries a dangerous risk of punishing the innocent, is cruel, and for religious reasons. The United States needs to abolish capital punishment in the states that allow it. To fully understand why they should abolish the death penalty, I will first analyze the reasons why they should. First reason the death penalty should be abolished is because the risk of punishing somebody innocent. â€Å"We’re only  ­human, we all make mistakes,† is a commonly used phrase, but it is tried and true. Humans, as a species, are famous for their mistakes. However, in the case of the death penalty, error becomes too dangerous a risk. The innocent lives that have been taken with the approval of our own government should be enough to abolish capital punishment. The wrongful execution of an innocent person is an injustice that can never be rectified. There’s always the chance of the innocent being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A handful of evidence from a strong lawyer could sentence someone to life in prison, and even the death penalty. One could be spending and ending his life in captivity for simply walking down the wrong street on the wrong day. That person does not deserve to serve the time that’s not rightfully his. It’s a small fault in the justice system that is not easy to overcome. In the case of the death penalty, error becomes too dangerous to risk. The innocent lives that have been taken with the approval of our own government  should be enough to abolish capital punishment. Another reason to abolish the death penalty is because it is cruel. Many people favor the death penalty because it helps families get over the wrong done to the family; however, in most cases, closure is not the result. Losing a loved one, no matter how that person is lost, is unbearable. Pain like this is shocking and the victim’s family holds onto the hope that the execution of the murderer will bring relief and closure. Nevertheless, when execution day arrives, the pain is not eased. No relief can be gained, for their pain is an unavoidable, natural process of life. They believe that they are different from those who have taken their loved ones and they demonstrate their  ­difference by refusing to sink to a murderer’s level. According to Edna Weaver, whose daughter was murdered in New Jersey, expressed relief that the defendant was spared the death penalty. She said that she did not want William Severs Jr. executed for killing Tina Lambriola in 2002 because she wanted to spare his mother the pain of losing a child. â€Å"I’m so thankful it came out the way it did. . . . I wouldn’t want another mother to feel like I do — it’s a feeling I could never put into words. . . . At least his mother will be able to write to him, she will be able to send things to him,† Weaver stated. Finally, the last reason they should abolish capital punishment is because religious reasons. Many religions, such Catholicism, follow the rules that God sent to use through the Ten Commandments. One of the most important of those ten states, â€Å"Thou shall not kill.† If you are executing an individual, that clearly violates this commandment. Murdering any person, no matter what the individual has been convicted of, is a mortal sin. In the Old Testament; the Lord said that it is okay to give a man Capital punishment if he has committed serious crime. Then in the New Testament he said we should not take the life of another man but if that man disobeys the laws of his country then he shall be punished equally according to what he had done. With the many advances that society has made, executing people for crimes the person may have or may not have committed is still practiced. It violates so many religious beliefs. It is a cruel and unusual practice that must be done away with. Society must advance and eliminate the death penalty. We need to understand that the best way to prevent any possible  murders in the future is not let the killer walk free. Nothing good comes of hate, and nothing good can ever come from capital punishment. It cannot continue to be accepted by a nation that claims to have liberty and justice for all. The death penalty is murder on the sly and it’s dead wrong.

Systems in Organizations for Safety and Improvement Essay

Systems in Organizations for Safety and Improvement - Essay Example (Don Fienley). It is a fact that there is actually a medical revolution as far as medical improvements are concerned, such as fertility treatment, cancer cures, cardiac care and AIDS management are some of them to mention, on the other hand, in the United States health care system often fails to deliver on the promise of science it employs (Spear S. 79). This paper will look at some of the possible errors in this field and their remedies to prevent harm and injuries to the public. An earlier study showed that as many as 98000 people succumb to medication errors each ear in United States hospitals (Burke J). If this is the case of the health care conditions of country which leads the world in medical science, the situations in the third world can be beyond any calculations. Firstly, the medical errors include mistakes such as administering wrong dose, wrong drug or wrong time. Then, the eventualities such as misread prescription due to poor handwriting, mismanagement due to look-alike and sound-alike medicines and adverse drug reaction. Broadly, every nation and governments have made every possible step to make sure that the health care professionals are typically intelligent lot. ... The hospitals and organizations are to integrate systems to improve primary care, nursing care, medication administration and a great lot of clinical processes. All this improvements will have a direct impact on the safety, quality, efficiency, reliability and timeliness of healthcare (Spear S. 79). Improvement and understanding will only take place when the gap between the health care system and the professionals working in it will narrow. Communication Errors It is common knowledge that poor communication will lead to adverse effect and results. Unless and until all in a team becomes completely sure of the situation that must be dwelt with and work that is to be completed and who are responsible for what aspect of work, moreover, the way it should be accomplished, the chances of error will always be there. When a problem arises in between a task the best way is for everyone to work closely around the problem. 80% of errors were initiated by miscommunication, including missed communication between physicians, missing information in medical records, mishandling of patient requests and messages, inaccessible records, mislabeled specimens, misfiled or missing charts, and inadequate reminder systems (Smith Peter). Most of the communicative error will round up to one staff member's failure to inform the other staff member of a patient's condition or verbal instructions are misunderstood. Often, a subordinate is smart enough to identify the problem but bit nervous to mention it to the senior who may not give the deserved appreciation for the hard work. Lack of proper and purposeful communication often ends up in a failure to perform medical procedure properly for example placing a feeding tube into the lungs and cutting an organ

Critically examine the claim that people are an organisation's most Essay

Critically examine the claim that people are an organisation's most valued asset. How this claim would be translated into prac - Essay Example Different approaches have been developed in the literature regarding the role of people within modern organizations. In accordance with a common view, people are the most valued asset of each organization. The specific issue is examined in this paper. Reference is made to the potential translation of the above statement in practice, especially regarding the development of organizational strategies. The research on the particular subject has revealed that people are, indeed, the most valued assets in modern organizations; however, their contribution in the development of the organizational practices is not always appreciated, an issue highlighted in the study of Lawler et al. (2008). The common statement that employees are key assets of an organization does not always reflect the actual thoughts of organizational leaders – a problem mostly related to the different perceptions of organizational leaders on the role of employees within organizations. The literature published in th e specific field is presented – followed by a critical analysis of the finding, at the level that such activity would help to understand the role of employees as part of the organization. 2. ... In the literature, additional perceptions on the role of people within organizations have been developed. In accordance with Sveiby (1997) the role of people within organizations could be explained as follows: the balance sheet of each organization has a series of invisible assets: ‘employee competence, internal structure and external structure’ (Sveiby 1997, p.10). It is made clear that employee competence refers to the ability of employees to develop the various organizational tasks, i.e. to respond to the organizational needs, no matter even if these needs are related to tangible or intangible assets (Sveiby 1997, p.10). The above explanation of the role of people within modern organizations is based on the perception that people are indispensable part of organizations, since no organization would exist and operate without the employees who manage its various activities. A similar approach of employees as assets is presented in the study of Storey (2009, p.140); in th e specific study emphasis is given on the role of employees as intangible assets of organizations. On the other hand, Holbeche (1998) notes that employees are a valuable asset of each organization; however, the specific asset is different from the other organizational assets at the level that it is extremely ‘volatile and easily damaged’ (Holbeche 1998, p.10); it is explained that the organization that has not secured the position of its employees is likely to face severe organizational failures. It is also mentioned that the organizational leaders are likely to develop different views on the value of employees in their organization. Moreover, if employees within the particular organization are highly motivated, then their value in the