Women and Unions

The reason why it represents the matter of crucial importance for the unions to seek into organizing the unorganized is that by doing it, unions increase the extent of their own bargaining power – hence, ensuring their continuous existence.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Women and Unions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Even though that unorganized workers may appear utterly powerless and unprivileged, the fact that they are being represented in great numbers implies their potential to exert a powerful influence onto the very essence of socio-economic dynamics in a particular society. According to Lee (2007): â€Å"As working-class interests are organized and channeled into political arenas, citizens are provided more realistic sets of political alter ­natives, which drive heated contests between political forces seeking electoral power† (p. 592). Nowadays, the validity of an earlier statement ap pears particularly self-evident, because due to an ongoing introduction of technology into just about every sphere of industrial manufacturing and commerce, commonly referred to as ‘post-industrialization’, the representatives of a working class continue to grow progressively underpowered, in social sense of this word. Even as far back as in early eighties, Gorz (1982) was able to define the subtleties of such a tendency with perfect clarity: â€Å"Workers no longer ‘produce’ society through the mediation of the relations of production; instead the machinery of social production as a whole produces ‘work’ and imposes it in a random way upon random, interchangeable individuals† (p. 71). The reading of Reiter’s (1986) article, will confirm the full validity of Gorz’s insight. According to the author, the fact Burger King’s employment strategy is being closely associated with high turnover rate among workers does not ev en slightly undermine the extent of company’s overall competitiveness. On the contrary – it is namely because King Burger can well afford replacing employees with new ones, due to high standardization of work-related procedures (just about anyone can be trained to flip burgers within the matter of minutes) and due to the abundance of an unskilled workforce (newly arrived immigrants from Third World countries), which provides this company with the strong competitive edge: â€Å"Since the motion of the factory proceeds from the machinery and not from the worker, working personnel can continually be replaced.Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Frequent change in workers will not disrupt the labor process – a shift in organization applauded† (p. 312). Just as it used to be the case during the era of ‘classical capitalism’, today’s large commercia l companies that feature high automatization of manufacturing processes, deliberately strive to ‘atomize’ employees so that they would not be able to unite, while pursuing some common professional agenda. And, an ongoing process of Western economies becoming increasingly technology-intensive and service-oriented (Globalization) helps corporate employers rather substantially in their attempts to disfranchise the very notion of workers’ solidarity. As it was pointed out by Ebbinghaus and Jelle Visser (1999): â€Å"The transition from an industrial to a service economy erodes the basis for union organization (p. 141). Given the fact that in very near future, the demand for low-skilled labor would virtually cease to exist, it will create objective preconditions for millions and millions of people to be left without even a formal source of income. Yet, once organized into unions, even low-skilled workers will realize themselves capable to effectively oppose corporate greediness. After all, it does not represent much of a challenge to break a single tree-branch. However, many of such branches, binded into a bundle, would prove quite impossible to break. One of the major challenges, experienced by women who seek unionizing, is the fact that very often; employers refuse to recognize them as professional employers, in full sense of this word. This especially appears to be the case in Third World countries, where there is an acute lack of legislations, meant to ensure women’s civil rights. In her article, Datta (2003) provides us with the example of how India’s governmental authorities brush aside the very idea that working women should be referred to as ‘workers’ per se:Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Women and Unions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More â€Å"When†¦ 600 (female) garment workers approached the Labor Commissioner of Gujarat to regis ter the garment worker’s union, the Commissioner did not recognize them as workers; they were simply women, who stayed ‘home and stitched garments’† (p. 354). It goes without saying, of course, that governmental authorities resort to rationale-driven reasoning, while justifying their often strongly defined unwillingness to recognize that fact that women are being just as valuable of employees as men are. For example, it is being commonly suggested that, during the course of their menstrual periods, women become utterly irrational and therefore, unsuited for executing particularly demanding professional duties. This, however, does not conceal the fact that this kind of reasoning, behind women’s employment-related dehumanization, derives out of men’s deep-seated sense of sexism. In fact, this can be well referred to as another major obstacle, on the way of women’s union-movement. In her article, where she elaborates onto gradual transform ation of Justice for Janitors (J4J) union from essentially men-governed body into organization where women are being more or less equally represented among its policy-makers, Cranford (2007) points out to the fact that women-janitors never ceased experiencing subtle sexism, on the part of their male coworkers and simultaneously J4J members. According to the author, even though women played rather major role, while participating in J4J-sponsored rallies against an unfair treatment of janitors in L.A., they have been rarely given an opportunity to take part in designing union’s policies: â€Å"There was no overt exclusion of or direct discrimination toward women entering more formal positions (in J4J) but neither was there a concerted effort to bring (female) janitors into formal leadership positions and this absence of leadership development had gendered effects† (p. 367).Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, it comes as not a particular surprise that, until recently, J4J paid little attention towards protecting the interests of women-janitors. Two other unionization-related major challenges, experienced by women, can be defined as unions’ reluctance to recognize childrearing as productive work and the lack of education, on the part of many informal female workers. As it was pointed out by Cranford in the article, from which we have already quoted: â€Å"Men’s wage earning in the public realm of production is valued and visibly contributes to the family’s reproduction while women’s reproductive work of caring for children and housework is unpaid† (p. 363). This is the reason why it is specifically socially underprivileged male workers (especially those temporarily unemployed), who benefit the most from social assistance programs. According to Glass and Beth (1997): â€Å"US welfare state has been fashioned around direct provision of services to families with heads unable to secure employment† (p. 291). As a result, low-skilled female employees are being put is clearly disadvantageous position, as compared to what it is being the case with their male counterparts. And, as it appears from Datta’s article, it is namely the fact that many such female employees in Third World countries lack even basic education, which contributes rather significantly towards their inability to realize a simple fact that, by indulging in childrearing activities, they prove themselves being quite as productive members of society as informal male workers. After all, the popular perception of employed mothers often implies that the fact that they have to take care of children undermines their professional adequacy. Nevertheless, as soon as such women attain basic literacy, they become increasingly aware of what constitutes their constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms at workplace, which naturally predisposes them towards a dopting an active stance, while addressing their unionization-related anxieties. There can be little doubt as to the fact that the experiences of organizing informal workers in India, or immigrant janitors in the United States, outlined in Cranford and Datta’s articles, do provide lessons as to how unions can adopt new strategies that will increase women’s trade union participation. For example, as it was shown by Cranford, although women often lack formal power to actively partake in unionizing, they nevertheless posses plenty of an informal one. The reason for this is simple – unlike what it is being the case with most men, women tend to assess unionization-related challenges as being closely related to what they perceive as ‘family issues’. And, given the fact that, when it comes to ensuring family’s well-being, it is women who end up wearing pants, in allegorical sense of this word, this provides them with an effective tool for leveraging dynamics within a particular union – thus, becoming active players in the process of low-skilled workers’ unionization. Another important lesson, learned from reading earlier mentioned articles, is the fact that, in order for more and more women to be willing to join trade unions and to be considered eligible for unions’ membership, they should never cease educating themselves about what the concept of empowerment stands for. The reason for this is simple – after having gained an awareness of this concept’s actual meaning, and after having affiliated themselves with empowerment-facilitating activities, women will be more like to adopt a proper stance, while dealing with work-related challenges. For example, as it was shown by Datta, Indian female street-vendors used to be initially harassed by police for bribes. And yet, after they joined Self-Employed Women Association (SEWA), and consequentially began exerting political influence, as the body of highly organized workers, the problem with police demanding bribes became substantially less acute: â€Å"SEWA organizers have surveyed women who were subjected to such extortion, held meetings in the presence of the police superintendent, and ensured that the women vendors were not harassed anymore† (p. 356). In other words, women workers are being more then capable of protecting their interests. However, in order for them to be able to do this, they would have to get rid of an inferiority complex, imposed by male-chauvinistic society. After all, the process of women’s empowerment is consistent with dialectically predetermined laws of history. As it was pointed out by Bergquist (1993): â€Å"The history of women workers’ struggle for control over the way they work is replete with clues to a different, more democratic and sustainable, vision of human progress† (p. 764). Therefore, even though that, while struggling to unionize, female workers continue to be opposed by the number of counter-progressive forces, there are good reasons to believe that eventually, working women will be able to reach the full spectrum of their objectives, in this respect. References Bergquist, C. (1993). Labor history and its challenges: Confessions of a Latin  Americanist. The American Historical Review, 98(3), 757-764. Cranford, C. J. (2007). Constructing union motherhood: Gender and social  reproduction in the Los Angeles ‘Justice for Janitors’ movement. Qualitative  Sociology, 30(4), 361-381. Datta, R. (2003). From development to empowerment: The self-employed  women’s association in India. International Journal of Politics, Culture and  Society, 16(3), 351-368. Ebbinghaus, B. Visser, J. (1999). When institutions matter: Union growth and  decline in Western Europe, 1950-1995. European Sociological Review, 15(2),  135-158. Glass, J. Beth, S. (1997). The family responsive workplace. Annual Review of  Sociology, 23, 289-313. Gorz, Andre. (1982). Farewell to the Working Class. Boston: Pluto Press. Lee, C. (2007). Labor unions and good governance: A cross-national,  comparative analysis. American Sociological Review, 72(4), 585-609. Reiter, E. (1986). Life in a fast-food factory. In C. Heron R. Storey (Eds.), On  the job: Confronting the labour process in Canada (pp. 309-326). Kingston  and Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press. This essay on Women and Unions was written and submitted by user Daken 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.

College Summit The Joys of Surprise and Making a Difference (and Even the Travails of a Norovirus)

College Summit The Joys of Surprise and Making a Difference (and Even the Travails of a Norovirus) I recently heard Anthony Robbins say that as long as you have your attention on other people, and as long as you are making a difference for others, there is no way you can possibly be depressed. He is so right. This past week, despite contracting a norovirus that gave me serious gastrointestinal distress as well as flu-like symptoms, I was in as good a mood as I’ve been in in a long time. Why? I was making a difference for a group of low-income high school students at College Summit, a national program that supports young leaders to create a culture where kids go to college. I’m like a proud mother when it comes to the small group of four â€Å"peer leaders† I worked with in Berkeley. Every one of them surprised me in their own way. Let me kvell just a little (names are changed for confidentiality)! Keylon Keylon wrote his first two â€Å"free writing† exercises about topics like his relationships with girls and how he was going to find one that would make him be the man he wants to be. I feared he was bland and would not identify a relevant topic for his college admissions essay. On a break, however, he shared his real story- a story about abuse and how he turned to destructive behaviors and friends to compensate for his pain. It was also the story of how he changed direction, in part through a music program that saved his life. Keylon’s story surprised me when it came forth, and so did how industrious and focused a student he was. When I gave him questions to answer in writing, he sat down and didn’t stop until he was done. And when it came time to edit his essay, he was able to devise seamless transitions where they had been missing, and to cut out excess words without my even pointing out the spots where he could do so. Keylon says he wants to be a singer, and perhaps he will succeed. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds his stride as an editor! Keylon was also a great sport when we got realistic with him about his college choices. His top choices were out of his reach, and he needed to consider community college options. He adjusted course without protest or external upset. We could all learn a thing or two from this young man about acceptance and adaptation. Jaquon Jaquon had a sweetness to him and a clear, passionate life purpose under his non-plussed attitude. On the first day, he slumped down in his chair, hood over head, clearly not 100% enthusiastic about being asked to write †¦ anything. His first free write was not about much, and I had to remind him multiple times over the 10-minute time period to keep writing. Initially he would not volunteer to answer a question and would only participate if I called on him directly (though he always had something great to say when I did). Jacquon’s second free write was the big surprise. A saxophone player, he hit on the theme of music, and I’m telling you, it was pure poetry. He called music a â€Å"20-20 all access path†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and spoke about his purpose in life being to connect with people off all cultures through his gift. This goal was not just a pipe dream; Jacquon has already performed both in concert halls and on the street in the U.S. and abroad. Jacquon mentioned in his essay that he gets nervous when playing only because he is afraid people won’t connect with his music. When I asked him what it would be like for him if they didn’t connect with his music, his answer popped out: â€Å"It would be like I don’t exist.† An excerpt: â€Å"[I] put my all into every breath, note and melodic phrase so that whoever hears that will feel my passion, my struggle, my story, and my dreams.† That’s a man with a life purpose. A purpose, when not fulfilled, that makes him feel like he doesn’t exist. If only every one of us had one so clear. Rodrigo Rodrigo was my volleyball captain. He was a meticulous, methodical worker who edited himself as he wrote. The core story that emerged from Rodrigo’s free writes was about his father, who recently started working as a janitor in Rodrigo’s school. Although Rodrigo had weathered various insults as a volleyball captain for being short and young, he had a thick skin- until the insults started being aimed toward his father. Rodrigo wrote about how his father had taught him to stay positive and not judge others, and how ultimately he used what his father had taught him to rise above his anger toward his insulting classmates. Another thing that came out of Rodrigo’s writing was that he liked to make up words and had a penchant for metaphor. In one of his last drafts, his creativity emerged in a surprise conclusion: â€Å"I’m like a volleyball. You may kick me, push me around, hit me, or abandon me, but in the end I’m still persevering and surviving the ugliest actions against me.† Talisha Eager to participate and answer questions, Talisha was fast out of the gate but as the writing process went on, she somehow found a way to look like she was working when she really was spinning her wheels. I gave her what I thought were clear questions and instructions and she would nod and put her pen to paper, but 10 minutes later she would not have made progress. In my mind, we finally reached a growth point when Talisha realized that growing up as the middle of two sisters and taking care of both of them gave her management skills that have helped her in her production design projects at school. I’m not sure I’ll ever see the essay she writes on this topic though, since she only saw this connection for herself literally at the last hour. Really the biggest surprise from Talisha was what she told me at the end of the program: that I helped her learn things about herself that she might never have known- not just on the last day, but from the time we started doing free writing exercises. And all that time I thought she was refusing to let me make a difference for her. Brenda As I mentioned, there was a norovirus that went around and knocked out almost every one of the writing coaches in the program for some period of time. I barely made it through my part of the Saturday night banquet presentations- but it was worth it to hear Rodrigo say in front of the entire program, â€Å"Your joyous, encouraging, and gentle nature brought us to fully understand how and what to write †¦ [and] created a bond within our group that will never be forgotten. I will definitely not forget the experience I had with these motivated leaders from the East Bay. And I will be back next year.

French King Pie Traditions and Vocabulary

French King Pie Traditions and Vocabulary On January 6th is the Christian holy day of Epiphany, when the three kings, also called the three wise men, guided by a strange star in the sky, visited baby Jesus. On that day the French eat La Galette des Rois, a delicious puff pastry pie. The lighter version is just the puff pastry, eaten golden out of the oven and then topped with jam. But there are many scrumptious versions, including various fruit, cream, apple sauce filings and my personal favorite: frangipane!   In the South of France, they have a special cake called le gà ¢teau des rois which is a brioche with candied fruits, shaped in a crown, and perfumed with orange blossom water. French King Pie Secret Now, the secret of la galette des rois is that hidden inside is a little surprise: a small token, usually a porcelain figurine (sometimes plastic now...) called la fà ¨ve. The one who finds it is crowned the king or the queen of the day. So, when you eat this delicacy, you have to be extremely careful not to break a tooth!   The French King Pie is sold with a paper crown - sometimes, kids do one as a project for their home, or sometimes they do two since a king gets to pick his queen and vice and versa. French Galette des Rois Traditions Traditionally, the youngest one at the table will go under the table (or really close his/her eyes) and designate who gets which slice: the one serving asks: Cest pour qui celle-l ? For whom is this one? And the kid answers:Cest pour Maman, Papa... Its For Mom, Dad... Of course, this is a very practical way for the grownups to make sure one of the kids gets the porcelain figurine. Another tradition dictates that you cut the pie according to the number of guests plus one. Its called la part du pauvre (the paupers slice) and was traditionally given away. I dont know anybody who does this nowadays however.     So, the person who finds la fà ¨ve proclames: Jai la fà ¨ve (I have the fava), s/he puts one the crown, then picks someone at the table to be crowned as his king/queen, and everybody yells Vive le roi / Vive la reine (long live the king / long live the queen). Then everybody eats their slices, relieved that no one broke a tooth :-) French Kings Pie Vocabulary La Galette des Rois - French King Pie Puff PastryLe Gà ¢teau des Rois - South of France King CakeUne fà ¨ve - the little porcelain figure hidden in the pieUne couronne - a crownÊtre Courronnà © - to be crownedTirer les rois - to draw the king/queenUn roi - a kingUne reine - a queenPuff pastry - de la pà ¢te feuilletà ©eCest pour qui celle-l ? For whom is this one?Cest pour... - Its for...Jai la fà ¨ve ! I have the fava!Vive le roi - Long live the kingVive la reine - long live the queen I post exclusive mini lessons, tips, pictures and more daily on my Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest  pages - so join me there! https://www.facebook.com/frenchtoday https://twitter.com/frenchtoday https://www.pinterest.com/frenchtoday/

Housing Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Housing Market - Essay Example The dominant contingent valuation approach has been used for many years in the research field work in Europe and unfortunately, is very likely to continue its prevalence in the near future, too. 2. In the article Kartin Rehdanz, presents an interesting and problematic view about the climate change impact on British households. Her study is based on investigating the amenity value of climate on households in Great Britain. She applies the hedonic price approach, which traces the marginal willingness of individuals to pay for changes in the climate. 3. The article claims that climate should be regarded as amenity and thus prices for houses in geographical regions with more sunny days on average have to affect the property price. The study is unique, because it uses for the first time geographic information system to derive the data. In comparison with other researches done, this one is exceptional, because attention is paid to problems of endogeneity when applying the census tract date. Furthermore, various specifications of the climate variables are taken into consideration and at the end, the study conducts an analyses if British households will gain from the global warming. 4. One of the shortcomings of the study is that besides Maddison's empirical work in 2001, there are no other investigations made on the amenity value of climate. ... 5. The administrative boundaries create data limitations, which influence the final results and their interpretations. Thus, the evidence collected varies not only between different counties, but also within Great Britain. Roback (1982) first examined the effects of climate and how they affect both wages and the price of housing. Moreover, obtaining the required information and measures of local amenities, requires mainly distance evaluation. 6. A number of problems into this research also cause the two hedonic equations that have to be estimated. The regression analysis becomes too complicated as the two equations need to be determined. 7. All extensive data collection has to be taken from the specific local areas, which requires extra control of the variables on which the location choices are based. Therefore, the variables must be accurately chosen, to eliminate the variable biases, and to decrease the problems of multicollinearity. The further avoid difficulties in measurements, the proposal given in the articles divides Great Britain into smaller geographical areas, where the local amenities like the climate variables vary, but they are adjusted with the local housing market, because the labour market can not be modified (Englin, 1996). Gayer (2000) took an instrumental variable approach to a hedonic analysis. In his study he estimated a bi-causal relationship between house market prices and the environmental risk. 8. The starting point of all hedonic analysis if the presumption of equilibrium in hedonic markets - salary and rents are adjusted in such a way that people stay indifferent in what location they are living and working (Mler, 1977). Another problem is that

Regional Archeology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Regional Archeology - Essay Example As the report declares the emergent of states in China is a crucial research topic in the archeological world, with significant recent archeological findings contributing to the growing interest in the topic. The survey area presented in the article is called Gongyi, which is located in the eastern part of the Yiluo River valley. The goal of the settlement pattern in the research was to comprehend the factors that determined the arrangement of settlement sites in the region. The study compares social transformation in the core area with the surrounding regions to obtain a more complex picture of the developmental process of early states. This is based on the fact that there is a positive correlation between population growth and social complexity. The study uses data from Brac Island, which is in Central Dalmatia, Croatia. The island is the largest of all the islands in the region with a total surface of 395 Km2. The survey technique used here involved the collection of surface artifact and the known archeological sites revisited and properly recorded. For the analysis and predictive model generation, archeological work presented in the paper needed extensive social and natural environment data, which would have influenced the settlement pattern in the island. Methods such as systematic dating and recording ceramic remains and comparison of the characteristics of the archeological site to previously excavated and studied sites, archeologists are able to determine the settlement pattern.

Leadership Essay Example for Free

Leadership Essay Values of great leaders can be found in various types of people. People who are of different ethnicities and are from different points of the world have shown to have unusual characteristics of leadership. There were many different approaches developed in studying leadership, one being the trait approach. The trait approach is based on the presumption that leaders are not developed into the leadership role but born with the characteristics of leadership that permits them to be great leaders. It has been discovered that there are strengths and also weaknesses within the trait approach relating to studying leadership. Strengths From a trait approach, there are many strong characteristics in leadership. A big role of a leader’s success is their personality. Their personality allows them to be effective when interacting with other people. Sometimes it takes a leader’s personality to set or change the tone in a work place, helping to create a positive mood and encouraging an environment of motivation to succeed and goal achievement. High energy, optimistic, a strong motivator, the ability to communicate and constancy are signature abilities that are believed to be recognized in the trait approach which aids a leader to be successful driven and adaptable (American Library Association , 1997-2013) Although this trait has been known to be very valuable in a successful leader it is has also been said that, â€Å"this massive research effort failed to find any traits that would guarantee leadership success. (Gary Yukl, page 13, 2010)† Weaknesses Although a personality has the ability to be effective it also has the ability to be  ineffective as well. A leader’s personality can be felt as being too strong and overwhelming at times causing some resistance and rebelling to take place with the followers. Many employees function on different learning levels in the workplace. If a supervisor leads with a sense of expectancy, his expectations may be seen as little high by the employees which in turn may damage the positive work environment. Also a supervisor’s personality can be taken as negative one if they do not take the employees’ feelings into consideration. To believe that a great supervisor is born with the leadership traits means that, as a company, the employees cannot be developed or effective in the workplace. When a company refrains from filling management positions from the inside of the company, employees can began to believe that they are in a glass ceiling environment. Creating future leaders within the company has been proven to build the morale of the employees. Conclusion Many abilities that identify great leaders have been found through the trait approach. Although these abilities are good, leadership is not limited by them. It has been exemplified through President Obama that in life, being a leader can be learned. President Obama was not born a leader, but through education and leadership experiences, he now has the ultimate leadership position in this country. Knowing this to be true, other approaches to studying leadership were developed such as the situational approach, the integrative approach, the behavior approach, and the power-influence approach.

The Role of Reflexivity in Ethnography Essay -- Anthropology Science E

The Role of Reflexivity in Ethnography Reflexivity, as I understand it, is very well named.It is the practice of reflecting upon oneself and one’s work, of being self-aware and self-critical. In anthropology, it is well exemplified by the work of Renato Rosaldo, Ruth Behar, and Dorinne Kondo, among others. In its most obvious form (or at least the form most obvious to me), reflexivity is manifest in the practice of an ethnographer including herself in her own ethnographic research---seeing herself not as an â€Å"unbiased, impartial† (Malinowski 18) observer, but as an essential and un-removable part of her study. The effect of reflexivity on ethnographic writing has been, however, much broader than just that. It signals â€Å"a departure from the ideology of objectivity [and] distance† which for so long pervaded ethnography (Marcus 189). For those who choose to employ it, reflexivity offers the (often daunting) liberty of not presuming to have all the answers. While this obviously presents logistical problems for anthropology (such as: If we can’t ever come to an answer, then what’s the point?), reflexivity has had a hand in producing some of the most compelling, unassuming texts that I’ve read. Anthropology is, in my opinion, not a science.It’s simply not that static. Culture is not something that can be understood the way one can understand gravity or electricity.It is open for interpretation, open for many different interpretations, and I like it that way. I’m immediately turned off by an ethnographer who claims to know the truth about his subject: frankly, I don’t believe it. And even if something is â€Å"true† for a given culture at a given time, who’s to say it won’t have completely changed in five years? I think that formulating a... ...e only one, and that no one ethnographer can prove that they’ve â€Å"gotten† a culture any more than any one else (197). Again, this brings me back to the â€Å"then what’s the point?† problem. In my opinion, what we need are more interpretations of cultures. In that case, there is even more of a need for the work that we do as ethnographers. The â€Å"point† is actually larger now than it was before. How much would critical thinking be facilitated if we had something compare with and be critical about? Any interpretation of culture is worth looking at because, since a human thought it up, it’s within our realm of study. As Rosaldo writes, â€Å"the truth of objectivism---absolute, universal, and timeless--- has lost its monopoly status† (21). The goal now is to find a reflexive, self-critical medium between objectivism and self-indulgence. I feel like we might actually get there.

Rape as a Weapon of War

In recent years, global organizations have fought successfully to protect women’s rights and gender equality, and Gabon is determined to play its role in maintaining this trend. Gabon is against all forms of violence against women, and recognizes rape as a serious violation of women’s rights. Gabon also recognizes that sexual violence is perpetuated by War . Currently, armed conflicts across Africa are forcing many women and children to migrate to unsafe territory, and increasing their vulnerability to poverty, abduction and human trafficking . These conditions directly expose them to rape and forced prostitution .Prisoners of war are trafficked into Gabon from Benin, Nigeria, Togo and Mali for prostitution, while others are brought as housemaids and eventually forced to become prostitutes . Human trafficking forces many innocent women and children to live in fear of being exploited. However, Gabon is committed to policies which will bring an end to sexual violence, as well as the conflicts which cause them . In 2001, Gabon enacted strict laws for the prosecution of child traffickers. Gabon has also established a national commission to fight child trafficking, chaired by the nation’s vice president .The Gabonese government also set up a free hotline to fight human trafficking and sexual violence in April 2003, in collaboration with UNICEF. This was the first initiative of its kind in Africa. Gabon recognizes that raising awareness of sexual violence against women is crucial to ending it. The government of Gabon is also confident that a centre to provide protection and assistance to the victims of human trafficking established with the assistance of the European Union in March 2002 will help to rehabilitate the lives of many war-ravaged and sexually abused victims .In January 2002, Gabon joined the the First Specialized Meeting on Child Trafficking and Exploitation in West and Central Africa, in Cote d’Ivoire along with representative s of African countries and UN agencies. Following this meeting, the Yamassoukro Declaration was adopted, upon which Gabon committed to collaborate with other African countries in campaigns against human trafficking . Gabon recognizes the Declaration as a crucial step in uniting womens’ vulnerability to rape across the region.As stated by former Prime Minister Jean- Francois Ntoutoume Emane, the ‘empowerment of women’ has been a major priority for Gabon. Gabon recognizes that women must be empowered to fight sexual violence, for the battle must be fought with them ang not for them.Country Report < http://www. protectionproject. org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/gabon. doc> Ibid Ibid Policy Paper No. 14. 2(E) Human trafficking in Nigeria: Root Causes and Recommendations Country Report < http://www. protectionproject. rg/human_rights_reports/report_documents/gabon. doc> Ibid Troubnikoff, Anna. Trafficking in Women and Children: Current Issues and Developments. Nova Publishers, 2003 Country Report < http://www. protectionproject. org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/gabon. doc> Press Release No: UNIS/GA/1655. General Assembly Special Session Continues, as Heads of State, High-level Ministers Discuss Initiatives for Social Development. < http://www. unis. unvienna. org/unis/pressrels/2000/ga1655. html >

Shouldice Hospital Limited Abridged

3/26/2013 Shouldice  Hospital  Limited   (Abridged) Summary  of  case  discussion Indicators  of  success †¢ Profits – Revenue  =  7600  *  (320*4  +  650  +  300*20%)  =  $15  mil. – Costs  =  $8. 5  mil  for  hospital  +  $3. 5  for  clinic $ $ – Profits  =  $3  mil †¢ Word? of? mouth  advertising – Afraid  of  advertising  for  fear  of  generating  too  much  demand †¢ Backlog  of  demand – Currently  2400,  growing  at  100  /  6  mo. †¢ High  percentage  of  doctors  as  patients †¢ L Low  recurrence – 0. 8%  vs. 10%  at  other  hospitals †¢ Patients  reunions †¢ Low  employee  turnover 2 1 3/26/2013 Capacity  at  key  resources Examination – 6  rooms  x  3  patients/hr  x  3  hrs/day  (1? 4pm)  x  5days/wk  =  270   patients/wk †¢ Ope rating  rooms – 5  rooms  x  7hrs/day  x  5days/wk  x  1  patient  /(hr. room)  =  175   patients/wk †¢ Surgeons – 10  surgeons  x  1  patient/(hr. surgeon)  x  8  hrs/day  x  5  days/wk  =   400  patients/wk †¢ Rooms – Assume  patients  stay  for  4  nights,  and  level  demand – Number  of  patients  per  day  (Sun  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Thur)  =  89  rooms/4  =  22 – Capacity  =  5days/wk  x  22/day  =  110  patients/wk â€Å"Rooms†Ã‚  is  the  bottleneck. So  indeed  capacity  expansion,  if  any,  should  start  with  this  resource.Notice  that  this  processing  rate  does  not  add  up  to  7600  patients  per  year  that  Shouldice  is   handling. Possible  reasons:  patients  stay  for  fewer  nights,  or  they  admit  more  patients  toward   the  end  of  week,  or  there  is  an  Ã¢â‚¬Å"overflow†Ã‚  area  in  the  hospital. 3 Why  patients  like  Shouldice? †¢ Low  price – $1990  (excluding  travel)  vs. $5240  at  other  hospitals †¢ Low  recurrence  rate †¢ Facilities/decor – Investments  made  in  assets  such  as  carpeting,  common  areas  (the   Florida  room  e. g. ),  low  stairs,  nice  grounds. †¢ Socialization/ambiance Schedule  patients  with  similar  backgrounds  in  the  same  room – Group  activities  (e. g. ,  tea  and  cookies)  to  alleviate  anxiety  and  build   p relationships – Create  pleasant,  non? hospital? like  atmosphere †¢ Fast  recovery – Days  vs. weeks  at  other  hospitals – Early  ambulation  (confidence,  medical  benefits) 4 2 3/26/2013 Why  employees  like  Shouldice? â⠂¬ ¢ Doctors – Regular  hours,  on  call  but  rarely  called g , y – Good  pay – Low  risk  surgery,  opportunity  to  be  the  best  in  class †¢ Nurses – Minimal  physical  assistance – Counseling  activities,  instead  of  changing  Ã‚  bedpans Staff – Cross  training,  helping  each  other – Interactions  (e. g. ,  in  dining  room) – Strong  concern  for  employees,  nobody  is  fired 5 The  focused  factory  model †¢ A  narrow  market  segment  (a  simple  type  of  hernia  repair),  ensured  by  a   careful  screening  process †¢ An innovative procedure that emphasizes early ambulation which leads to An  innovative  procedure  that  emphasizes  early  ambulation  which  leads  to   quick  recovery †¢ Standardized  procedure,  not  to  be  varied †¢ Patient s  are  basically  well,  allowing  demand  to  be  inventoried  (and  thus   easy  scheduling) †¢ Family? tyle  management  allows  a  highly  specialized  workforce  to   â€Å"decompress,†Ã‚  leading  to  happy  employees  with  low  turnover †¢ Low  investments  by  sharing  resources  (e. g. ,  anesthetists,  nurses) †¢ Help patients help themselves (e g tea and cookies to mix pre? operative Help  patients  help  themselves  (e. g. ,  tea  and  cookies  to  mix  pre? operative   patients  with  post? operative  patients) †¢ Attention  to  details:  no  TV  in  room;  carpeting;  low? rise  stairs  for  easy   walking;  walk  from  the  operating  table;  gardens;  good  food,  etc. 3 3/26/2013 Options  for  capacity  expansion †¢ Saturday  operations – Pros:  no  investment – Cons:  in terferes  with  regular  work  schedules †¢ Invest  to  build  more  rooms – Pros:  keep  regular  work  schedules – Cons:  heavy  utilization  of  other  resources †¢ Another  hospital – Pros:  there  is  a  market  (1  million  hernia  operations  a  year   ( p y in  the  U. S. ),  save  travel  costs  for  patients – Cons:  Quality  control? Sources  of  doctors. †¢ Another  procedure – What? Expertise? Markets? Too  many  questions.Most  students  chose  either  the  second  or  the  third  options. 7 Key  learning  points †¢ The  focused  factory  approach  leads  to  more   added  value  (and  thus  higher  competitive   added value (and thus higher competitive advantage):  it  increases  the  customer’s   willingness? to? pay  and  lowers  the  cost,  at  the   same  time. †¢ The  devil  is  in  the  details:  many  operational   details,  although  seemingly  routine  and  minute,   play  an  important  role  in  shaping  strategic   decisions  (such  as  capacity  expansion  here). 8 4

Definition and Examples of Interjections in English

Definition and Examples of Interjections in English An  interjection,  also known as an ejaculation  or an  exclamation, is a word, phrase, or sound used to convey an emotion such as surprise, excitement, happiness, or anger. Put another way, an  interjection is a short utterance that usually expresses emotion and is capable of standing alone. Though interjections are one of the traditional parts of speech, they are grammatically unrelated to any other part of a sentence. Interjections are very common in spoken English, but they appear in written English as well. The most widely used interjections in English include hey,  oops, ouch, gee, oh, ah, ooh, eh, ugh, aw, yo, wow, brr, sh, and yippee.  In writing, an interjection is typically followed by an  exclamation point, but it can also be followed by a comma if it is part of a  sentence. Knowing the different kinds of interjections, and understanding how to punctuate them, will help you use them correctly. First Words Interjections  (such as  oh  and  wow) are among the first words human beings learn as children- usually by the age of 1.5 years. Eventually, children pick up several hundred of these brief, often  exclamatory  utterances. As the 18th-century  philologist  Rowland Jones observed, It appears that interjections make up a considerable part of our language. Nevertheless, interjections are commonly regarded as the outlaws of English  grammar. The term itself, derived from Latin, means something thrown in between. Interjections usually stand apart from normal sentences, defiantly maintaining their syntactic independence. (Yeah!) They arent marked  inflectionally  for  grammatical categories  such as tense or number. (No sirree!) And because they show up more frequently in spoken English than in writing, most scholars have chosen to ignore them. With the advent of  corpus linguistics  and  conversation analysis, interjections have recently begun to attract serious attention.  Linguists  and grammarians have even segregated interjections into different categories. Primary and Secondary Its now customary to divide interjections into two broad classes: Primary interjections  are single words (such as  ah, brr, eww, hmm,   ooh, and  yowza) that are not derived from any other word class, are used  only  as interjections, and dont enter into syntactic constructions. According to linguist Martina Drescher, in her article The Expressive Function of Language: Towards a Cognitive Semantic Approach, which was published in The Language of Emotions: Conceptualization, Expression, and Theoretical Foundation, primary interjections generally serve to lubricate conversations in a ritualized manner. Secondary interjections  (such as bless you, congratulations, good grief, hey, hi, oh my, oh my God,  oh  well, rats, and shoot) also belong to other word classes. These expressions are often exclamatory and tend to mix with oaths, swear words, and greeting formulas. Drescher describes secondary interjections as derivative uses of other words or locutions, which have lost their original conceptual meanings- a process known as  semantic bleaching. As written English grows more colloquial, both classes have migrated from speech into print. Punctuation As noted, interjections are more commonly used in speech, but you might also find yourself using these parts of speech in writing as well. The Farlex Complete English Grammar Rules gives these examples: Ooh, thats a beautiful dress.Brr, its freezing in here!Oh my God! Weve won! Note how punctuating both primary and secondary interjections in writing depends entirely on the context in which they are used. In the first example above, the term  ooh  is technically a primary interjection that generally does not enter into syntactic constructions. It often stands alone, and when it does, the word is generally followed by an exclamation point, as in  Ohh!  Indeed, you could reconstruct the sentence so that the primary interjection stands alone, followed by an explanatory sentence, as in: Ohh! Thats a beautiful dress. In the second sentence, the primary interjection  brr  is followed by a comma. The exclamation point, then, does not come until the end of the connected sentence. But again, the primary interjection could stand alone- and be followed by an exclamation point- as in: Brr! Its cold in here. The third example contains a secondary interjection  Oh my God that stands apart from the second sentence, with the interjection and sentence both ending in exclamation points. You can also use secondary interjections as integral parts of  sentences: Hey, why did you let the dog in here?Oh my, I knew I should have turned off the oven!Good grief Charlie Brown! Just kick the football. Of course, the creator of the Peanuts cartoons would have likely used the secondary interjection more like a primary interjection. Indeed, a biography of the famed illustrator uses the phrase in just that way: Good Grief! The Story of Charles M. Schulz Since interjections depend so heavily on how they are used in speech, the punctuation they take varies greatly, according to context, but they are usually followed by an exclamation point when standing alone or a comma when introducing a sentence. Versatile Parts of Speech One of the more intriguing characteristics of interjections is their multifunctionality: The same word may express praise or scorn, excitement or boredom, joy or despair. Unlike the comparatively straightforward  denotations  of other parts of speech, the meanings of interjections are largely determined by  intonation,  context, and what linguists call  pragmatic function, such as: Geez, you really had to be there. As  Kristian Smidt wrote in Ideolectic  Characterisation in  A Dolls House published in Scandinavia: International Journal of Scandinavian Studies: You can fill it [the interjection] like a carrier bag with twenty different senses and a hundred different shades of meaning, all dependent on context, emphasis, and tonal accent. It can express anything from indifference to comprehension, incomprehension, query, rebuttal, rebuke, indignation, impatience, disappointment, surprise, admiration, disgust, and delight in any number of degrees. With interjections fulfilling such a large role in English, grammarians and linguists are calling for more attention to and study of these important parts of speech. As  Douglas Biber,  Stig Johansson,  Geoffrey Leech,  Susan Conrad, and Edward Finegan note in Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English: If we are to describe spoken language adequately, we need to pay more attention to [interjections] than has traditionally been done. In an era of increasing communication via text messaging and social media- which is often laced with interjections- experts say that paying more attention to these loud and forceful parts of speech will help create a better understanding of how human beings actually communicate. And that thought certainly deserves a loud and forceful  Youwza! Sources Biber, Douglas. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Stig Johansson, Geoffrey Leech, et al., Longman, November 5, 1999. Farlex International, Inc. The Farlex Complete English Grammar Rules, 2016: Grammar. Bukupedia, June 16, 2016. Johnson, Rheta Grimsley. Good Grief!: The Story of Charles M. Schulz. Hardcover, First Edition edition, Pharos Books, September 1, 1989.

Referencing Translated Sources (APA, MLA, and Chicago) - Proofed

Referencing Translated Sources (APA, MLA, and Chicago) - Proofed Referencing Translated Sources (APA, MLA, and Chicago) Poor translators. Without them, we English speakers wouldn’t be able to read sources written in other languages. But are we grateful? Not if the reference lists we see are anything to go by, as most people forget to include translators’ names. So, whether you’re reading Nietzsche, Proust, or Sun Tzu, join us for a quick look at how to reference translated sources in APA, MLA, and Chicago referencing. APA Referencing In APA referencing, if citing translated sources, you need to include the translator’s name in the reference list. This involves giving their name plus â€Å"Trans.† after the source title: Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison (A. Sheridan, Trans.). London, England: Penguin Books. (N.B. We’re using bold text to highlight the translator in these examples, but you don’t have to do this in your own work!) MLA Referencing For translated sources in an MLA list, you should give the name of the translator after the words â€Å"Translated by† before the publication information. For instance: Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Translated by Alan Sheridan, Penguin Books, 1977. If you are focusing specifically on the translation of a text, you can even give the translator’s name in the first position: Sheridan, Alan, translator. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. By Michel Foucault, Penguin Books, 1977. However, you should only do this if you are primarily interested in the translation. This will usually be because you’re discussing two translations of a single source or writing about translation itself. Chicago Referencing (Author–Date) The format for translated sources in Chicago referencing depends on the referencing style you’re using. With author–date referencing, you only name the translator in the reference list. The format here is: Foucault, Michel. 1977. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Translated by Alan Sheridan. London: Penguin Books. Chicago Referencing (Footnotes and Bibliography) With Chicago footnote citations, you need to name the translator in the first footnote and in the bibliography. For the footnote, the format to use is as follows: 1. Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, trans. Alan Sheridan (London: Penguin Books, 1977), 91-93. Repeat citations use a shortened footnote, which doesn’t include the translator’s name. But the translator should be included in the bibliography at the end of the document. The information here is the same as in the first footnote, although the format is slightly different: Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Translated by Alan Sheridan. London: Penguin Books, 1977. Whichever system you’re using, though, remember to get your work checked by a professional before submitting it. This will make sure that all sources are referenced correctly!

Cause and Effect on Gasoline Prices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cause and Effect on Gasoline Prices - Essay Example   The price of crude oil and how its effect is felt at the pumps is an issue of interest in as far as the price of gasoline gases is concerned. Gasoline is produced from crude oil through distillation process whereby crude oil is heated and fumes captured are converted to various products including gasoline. Thus the cost of extracting crude oil as well as the cost of processing it to produce gasoline will definitely affect the price of its products. For instance, the price of crude constitutes up to half or more of the price of gasoline gallon as suggested by Gupta and Demirbas (73). The rise in the price of crude oil has been driven by the increasing demand for oil globally and the political instability in most of the oil-producing countries according to Gallun (723). Therefore these factors end up directly affecting the price of gasoline. The depreciation of the US dollar when compared to other currencies of other countries contributes to the changes of gasoline gas price. This can be attributed to the fact that when the US dollar changes its value, there is a shift in the demand and costs of countries with different currencies. For instance the dollars depreciation against the Euro by half, the Countries using the Euro pay half more in dollars thus increases the demand. If the Us dollar depreciates, investors in return have to shift their capital there is the rise in price of crude oil gases hence affecting price of Gasoline gas according to Obadia (23). The world wide demand and supply for crude oil affects the price of gasoline gases in different ways. This is because demand and supply of crude oil is influenced by the organization of Petroleum Exporting countries it sets price of oil products produced by its members. This organization also holds the biggest percentage of oil supply in the world and thus it dictates the terms of supply of oil products as suggested by Boyes and Melvin (11). In terms of demand, during the summer there tends be to a lot of gasoline gas demand hence if demand exceeds supply the prices bare likely to rise. It is therefore true that imbalance in supply and demand leads to fluctuation in the price of gasoline gases according to International Monetary Fund (56). For instance if there is fast rise in demand or quick fall in supply due factors such as refinery there may occur a rapid depletion for gasoline gases. The future of oil manufacturing and the contracts made on the future date and price for selling oil in a way affect the price of gasoline gases. On one hand with increasing technology, the future may experience increased demand for gasoline gas compared to the source of this gas and thus prices may end up increasing. On the other hand the increasing alternatives of sources of energy replacing the use of gasoline in future are likely to lead to a decrease in price of the gasoline gases. The future increase in retail gas stations which will still share the market with the existing ones will lead to l ower prices in order to attract customers. Some contracts have been established to decide on the future date and price for selling oil products. For instance a Collar contract is a mini-max strategy assuring producers of oil either a minimum or maximum range of prices for the sale of oil in the future as suggested by Gallup and Frank (221).  Ã‚