Totalitarianism Destroys Humanity Essay Example for Free

Totalitarianism Destroys Humanity Essay Totalitarianism is a form of government that is ruled by a leader who possesses absolute power and permits no privacy and freedom among its citizens. Countries that practice totalitarian government have unhappy citizens because the government has complete control of their lives, like Oceania in Orwell’s novel, 1984. Totalitarianism is harmful because it dehumanizes citizens in so many ways and as a result, it only leads to human extinction. Living in a country like Oceania in 1984 without freedom of thought, action and expression is horrible because these things are fragments of humanity and without these reedoms, it makes people ignorant, unintelligent and unhappy. Moreover, a totalitarian government invades peoples’ privacy to track everything they do in their lives even in their own homes to make sure they obey the totalitarian government laws and rules and this is unfair because people need privacy to preserve their anonymity and individuality. Additionally, totalitarian government uses torture to punish and convert people so that people will obey the government without hesitation and this causes people to become comparable with animals. Therefore, totalitarianism is a serious threat to humanity because t makes human beings incapable of thinking and unable to do things on their own which causes them to stop thinking and considered as mentally dead. To begin, totalitarianism takes away people’s freedom, which is essential for humanity, and it gives the government complete control over people’s lives. In 1984, Newspeak is enforced by the government to limit the expression and thought of people; consequently, making the citizens of Oceania easily controlled by the government. This is evident when Syme says, â€Å"Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible because there will be no word to express it† (Orwell 55). This is important because the limitation of words affects people’s mind because there will be not enough words to express their thoughts and people might become illiterate. When people become illiterate, they will follow and believe anything the government tells them and they cannot defend themselves because of their inability to put their thoughts together and their inability to speak. Hence, lacking freedom of thought and expression makes eople become unconscious of reality and this is a problem because consciousness plays a vital role for human beings. Furthermore, totalitarian states restrict their citizens to act independently which causes most people to become depressed because they can never reach eternal state of happiness without freedom. A prisoner from Thailand says, â€Å"Without freedom, humans are not human† (Pruksakasemsuk 2011). The ability to act freely is important to human beings because it is the main factor of happiness. Freedom permits human beings to do things that make them happy and taking this away from them is asically like taking their happiness as well. For instance, in North Korea people are not allowed to leave their country because it is one of their totalitarian rules. In 1984, Oceania citizens are also not allowed to escape their country and they are separated from the rest of the world. They are completely clueless of what is outside of their country aside from knowing there are Eastasia and Eurasia. If a person’s dream from North Korea or Oceania is to travel the world, their dream is automatically crushed because they are not allowed to leave their country. Therefore, lack of freedom makes people despair, unresponsive and passive which cause human beings to become unable to think and unknowing. Also, privacy is important to human beings because this is where people express their true emotions. A totalitarian state has completely no privacy and this causes people to restrict from showing their true self because they are being watched all the time. In 1984, telescreens can be found everywhere in Oceania even in their own homes so that the government can see everything they do. This becomes clear when the narrator explains, any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plague commanded, he could be seen as well as heard† (Orwell 4). This is significant because it makes people to become self-conscious and afraid all the time and thus, causes them to fake themselves into whatever the government wants them to be. In a place like this, expressing one’s self is almost impossible and their emotions might build up inside them and it can lead to self-destruction. Hence, emotions are important for human beings but the government’s invasion of people’s privacy restricts its citizens to do so. In addition, privacy is also needed to preserve individuality and to have our needs of respect and dignity because these are foundations of humanity. According to Schneier, â€Å"Privacy is an inherent human right and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect† (Schneier 2006). This is significant because living the way you want in a totalitarian state is so unlikely to happen because the government technically tells people how to live heir lives. In 1984, telescreens are also found in people’s homes and the government literally sees everything people do in their houses which means respect and dignity do not really apply to people anymore because they have no privacy. People have things that they want to keep only for themselves but things do not work like that in a totalitarian state and living the way you want is considered as thoughtcrime. Therefore, totalitarianism destructs the necessities of human beings to have respect, dignity and individuality and ultimately disturbs humanity which can lead to ur extinction. Finally, torture is practiced by totalitarian governments to control and reform people so that a rebellion would be impossible. Continuous torture makes people believe in something they are totally against with due to the unendurable pain that affects one’s mind. This is evident when Winston gets tortured and says, â€Å"I don’t know. You will kill me if you do that again. Four, five, six, in all honesty I don’t know† (Orwell 264). This brainwashing makes people ignore their knowledge and go with whatever the government wants them to say or believe just to stop the pain. Torture causes people to change and forget what they used to believe to survive. By being submissive and ignorant, people are incapable of realizing the reality and they become incapable of thinking which is bad because thinking is the most important thing for human beings. For that reason, torture shouldn’t be practiced by anyone because they do not only physically hurt the person but the mentality of the person is also affected causes them to become unconscious. Also, psychological torture such as using fear to torture people makes them elfish and causes them to become isolated. This becomes clear when Winston says while he is being tortured, â€Å"Do it to Julia! Not me! Julia! I don’t care what you do to her†¦. † (Orwell 300). This torture causes betrayal to someone no matter how important or how much they love that person. Torture makes people selfish because fear is something people cannot bear and thus, makes them become isolated. Isolation is what exactly the government wants to establish but humans are not supposed to be isolated because that causes them to their downfall. When people are alone, they die because they have no one to share their problems with. Therefore, torture makes people depart away from humanity because it makes them alienated and forces them to ignore their own knowledge and reality which cause them to become like a sheep. Human beings must be knowledgeable of what’s happening around them and they must also not lose their ability to think because without thinking humans are mentally dead. Thinking is very critical to all human beings because that is the only thing that differentiates us from animals. Totalitarianism robs this ability from us, human beings, causing us to become unaware of reality and believe in some things that are totally untrue. Freedom of thought, act and expression are essential for humanity because they keep us conscious and do things that make us happy. Privacy is also important to humanity because human beings need dignity, respect and individuality because these things make humans live their own lives the way they want to and totalitarianism objects this idea. The use of torture in totalitarian state is also against humanity because it does not only physically abuse human beings but s well as psychologically and this is an issue because torture affects people’s brain that causes them to become unknowledgeable and oblivious of their surroundings. That’s why people should fight for their freedoms to live happily without the government controlling their own lives. No countries should practice totalitarian government because they are useless and it will only cause human beings to cease to exist in this world. Overall, totalitarian government should be ban in the world so we can save humanity and keep people to exist on Earth as conscious and well aware human beings.

Alcoholic beverage Essay Example for Free

Alcoholic beverage Essay The objectives of the study was to examine if consumption of alcohol affect students academic performance, to determine if consumption of alcohol promote flirting , to determine whether the consumption of alcohol lead to road accidents and also to determine whether television adverts of alcoholic beverages lead to increase consumption. The target population of the study included all students pursuing Bachelor of Science Psychology programme in the University of Cape Coast. A sample size of 79 was chosen for the study. The simple random sampling method was adopted in selecting the sample. Questionnaire was the main instrument used to seek answers to research questions. The collected data was analysed using frequency count and percentages. The findings show that, alcohol intake has adverse impact on students’ academic performance through absenteeism, indulgence in examination malpractices and limited study hours. Alcohol consumption make men confident and women accept proposals easily. Also drunk driving was a major cause of accident in Ghana since drunken drivers flout road traffic regulations. It was recommended that, the Motor Traffic Transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service and the Driver Vehicle License Authority should intensify the campaign to curb drunk driving. Drivers found guilty of drunk driving should be banned from driving or have their license withdrawn for three months. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWords alone cannot convey our profound indebtedness to our dynamic supervisor, Professor Rowland A. E. Iheanacho for his fatherly tutelage, affability, time and the invaluable support he provided in the course of this work. To just say we appreciate these individuals will be an understatement: Ms. Mary Adomah Yeboah, Mr. Patrick Duncun Reynold (TOR), Mr. Osei Yaw Boa- Korang(Twifo Praso Rural Bank), Mr. Evans K. Acheampong, and Ms. Dorothy Gabben- Mensah (UCC), Mr. Stephen Doh-Fia (Lecturer Department of Educational Foundations). We are really grateful for every assistance you rendered to bring this work to fruition. 1 / 18 To our supportive parents,Mr. Ransford Oti Fenteng, Mr. Benjamin Asare and Ms, Rose Konamah, we say God bless you all for your prayers, care, encouragement, motivation, ideas, thoughtfulness, deeds of kindness and for every helping hand you offered in the spirit of love to make this piece a possibility. Lastly, kudos to all friends and all who contributed in diverse ways to make this work a masterpiece. DEDICATIONThis work is dedicated, with love, to our parents and siblings. PAGEREF _Toc356649042 \h 28Table 13: Do drunken pedestrians cause danger to themselves and other road users? PAGEREF _Toc356649043 \h 28Table 14: Do drunk drivers like speeding? PAGEREF _Toc356649044 \h 29Table 15: Drunken pedestrians do not flout road traffic regulation PAGEREF _Toc356649045 \h 29Table 16: Do drunken drivers drive recklessly? PAGEREF _Toc356649046 \h 30Table 17: Have you watched any alcoholic beverage advert on television before? PAGEREF _Toc356649047 \h 30Table 18: Do television adverts influence you to buy the product? PAGEREF _Toc356649048 \h 31 LIST OF FIGURES TOC \h \z \c Figure Figure 1: Gender PAGEREF _Toc356649237 \h 20Figure 2: Age range PAGEREF _Toc356649238 \h 21 CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTIONBackground to the study (Bovee, 1992 p. 7) defines advertising as â€Å"a non-personal communication of information usually paid for and persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by an identified sponsor†. From this definition, one can see that advertisements are placed on purpose. This is a three-tier which comprises of introducing a product, generating new customers and attempting to stimulate and sustain consumer consumption (Bovee, 1992 p. 9). Since the invention of television, it can be classified as one of the most effective carriers of adverts due to its audio-visual qualities and captivating nature. Its effectiveness cannot be over emphasized CITATION Ebb07 \l 1033 (Ebbrecht, 2007). Recently, the adverts of alcoholic beverages on almost all television stations in Ghana have been regular, persuading viewers to purchase such drinks without any recourse. There seems to be no programme on television without a brand of alcohol being a sponsor. Programmes ranging from prime-time news to live shows are all full of these types of sponsors. The names of some drinks have become common in our various homes and every child who has the privilege of watching television can mention not less than two alcoholic beverages advertised. It is also interesting to note that, names of some alcoholic drinks even give an impression of its benefit to the consumer before they are even purchased. Example is, ‘wo ba ada anaa’ when literally translated means ‘is your child asleep’ makes people think when you drink that beverage you can be sexually active. In Ghana majority of people who take alcoholic beverage especially, the distilled or locally manufactured ones use it as an appetizer believing that, you can eat well when it is taken the moment food is ready, though there has not been any study confirming or rejecting this assertion. This phenomenon is locally referred to as ye bu didi thus; we drink to eat, when literally translated. Many people in the country are more concerned about the rise in the consumption of alcoholic beverages, and have attributed this phenomenon to the indiscriminate adverts of alcoholic drinks in the media, especially on all the television stations in the country. They have even speculated that, the increase in road accidents in the country is due to drunk driving. This speculation from the public was confirmed by the Ministry of Roads and Highways in June, 2009 when it issued a report on the increasing rate of road accidents in the country and pointed out drunk driving as one of the topmost causes of road accidents CITATION Myj09 \l 1033 (My joy online , 2009). This led to anti drunk driving campaign where passengers were advised not to board cars of drunken drivers and to report such drivers to the police. The MTTU branch of the Ghana police service, as one of the measures of curbing drunk driving, randomly check the breath of drivers to determine their level of alcohol intake with their equipment known as breath analyzer or drunkometer. Any driver whose level of alcohol intake exceeds certain limit is arrested for legal action. The Food and Drugs Board (FDB) CITATION Foo05 \l 1033 (Board, 2005) had also acted towards curbing this problem by directing all media houses in the country to stop the advertising of 3 / 18 all uncertified alcoholic products. Moreover, the FDB’s guidelines on alcoholic beverage adverts (FDB GL05/AD ALC/1-2005) stated that, â€Å"For every alcohol advert appearing on television, an anti-alcohol advert of equal length must be aired within half an hour of the advert promoting the alcoholic beverage†- but it seems this has been seriously violated over the years. The 2010 Budget Statement delivered in parliament by the Minister of Finance, imposed a 10% â€Å"Ad Valorem† tax on all alcoholic products in the country. In explaining this, the Minister made it clear that the imposition of this tax on alcoholic products was not for its financial benefits to the government but rather a step towards reducing the problem of alcoholism. Pastor (Dr. ) Mensah Otabil, the General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church (I.C. G. C. ) and the Chancellor of the Central University College is one of the persons to be alarmed at both the rate of alcoholic beverages advertisement in the media especially television and the rate of consumption. CITATION Sam03 \l 1033 (Awuku, 2003) Has argued that, â€Å"If the state can spend billions of Cedis on advertisement urging the youth to keep away from drugs such as cocaine and other prohibited drugs, why can we not use a fraction of such money to warn the youth against the consumption of alcohol? † The above instances mean that, people are dissatisfied about the rate of television advertisement of alcoholic beverages and expect the state to regulate it, thus more specifically to treat alcoholic beverages as it does to cigarette and cocaine so that it can reduce consumption. This means that some people also believe that the state has not done enough to curb the rise in alcoholism and that the problem should be put in the same perspective as any form of drug abuse in the country. This study assesses the effect of television advertisement of alcoholic beverages on consumer behaviour. Statement of the problem In contemporary times, television advertisement has been seen as the most effective mode of advertising because of its audio-visual qualities and captivating nature. Its effectiveness cannot be over emphasised (Ebbrecht, 2007 p. 3). A recent systematic review to assess the impact of alcohol advertising and media exposure on future adolescent alcohol use identified thirteen longitudinal studies that followed up a total of over 38,000 young people. Twelve of the thirteen studies concluded an impact of exposure on subsequent alcohol use, including initiation of drinking and heavier drinking amongst existing drinkers, with a dose response relationship in all studies that reported such exposure and analysis. For example, CITATION Ell05 \l 1033 (Ellickson, Collins, Hambarsoomains, amp; McCaffrey, 2005) examined the relationship between a range of advertisement exposures over the course of one year and subsequent drinking among US adolescents aged 12 to 13 years followed-up for at least two years, and assessed whether exposure to a prevention programme mitigated any such relationship. Forty eight percent of 1206 grade 7 non-drinkers consumed alcohol during the previous year at grade 9. The results of the longitudinal studies are consistent with the findings of econometric studies, in which, for example, a meta-analysis of 132 studies which provided 322 estimated advertising elasticities, found a positive impact of advertising on consumption (coefficient, 0. 029), when controlling for alcohol price and income. The recent increase in television advert of alcoholic beverages has led to the increase in the consumption of such products. In Ghana there is influx of adverts of alcoholic beverages on television. These indiscriminate adverts of alcoholic beverages on television have sparked public outcry over the years with some even attributing most of road accidents to such adverts as many people believe that these adverts lead to irresponsible drinking, like drunk driving. These fears of the public gained grounds when a report released by the Ministry of Roads and Highways in June, 2009 on the increasing number of road accidents in the country at the time confirmed drunk driving (alcohol abuse) as one of the topmost causes of road accidents CITATION Myj09 \l 1033 (My joy online , 2009). The situation has prompted the government to reduce the rate of consumption by imposing 10% ‘ad valorem’ tax on all alcoholic products in the 2010 budget statement presented by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning. 4 / 18. The proliferated television adverts of alcoholic beverages also sparked the FDB to place a ban on alcoholic beverage adverts on television in March, 2007. The Driver Vehicle License Authority (DVLA) has spelt out how drunk drivers should behave, by leaving your car at the point you got drunk and join a public transport home. Due to the aforementioned problems and interventions, it is significant for such a study to be conducted to find out the effect of television advertisement of alcoholic beverages on consumer behaviour. Objectives of the study General objectiveThe overall objective of the study was to assess the effect of television advertisement of alcoholic beverages on consumer behaviour. Specific objectivesTo determine whether alcoholic beverage adverts leads to increase consumption. To examine if consumption of alcoholic beverages affect students academic performance. To determine if the consumption of such drinks promote to flirting. To determine how consumption of alcoholic drinks leads to road accident. Research questionsThe study poses and attempts to answer the following questions: What effect does alcohol consumption have on students’ academic performance? Does alcoholic beverage consumption promote flirting? Does consumption alcoholic beverage lead to road accident? Does television adverts on alcoholic beverages lead to increase consumption? Significance of the study Since advertising is important to the promotion of goods and services in today’s competitive market, the implications of this study will help students to know the impact of alcoholic beverage consumption on their academic performance. The government in performing its role of formulating policies and enacting laws to regulate alcoholic beverages adverts in the country can use this document as a reference guide. Finally, the study will be useful to researchers who will in future undertake similar study as it will serve as a source of reference. Scope of the study The scope of the study covers the theoretical and the geographical dimensions of the study. This mainly covers the concepts of advertising, alcoholic beverages and consumer behaviour. The effect of television advertisement of alcoholic beverages could be viewed from many perspectives but for the purpose of this study, it will concentrate mainly on whether advertising leads to increase consumption and consumption affect students’ academic performance, promote flirting and causes road accidents. The geographical scope covers people in cape coast precisely University of Cape Coast students who are 18 years and above. Limitations The study is not devoid of challenges which might affect the result in one way or the other. There is the issue of time constraint since the period within which this research must be completed for submission was less than one academic year. Also, there were financial constraints because there was no financial assistance to aid in the study. This situation forced us to limit the geographical area of the study to only University of Cape Coast which forms a small part of the entire geographical area. Also the number of questionnaires to be used for the study was very few. Organisation of study This study has been organised in five chapters. Chapter one covers various areas of the introduction which include the background to the study, the statement of the research problem, the objectives of the study, research questions, the significance of the study as well as the scope and the organization of the study. Chapter two covers the review of related studies. Chapter three is the methodology used for the study which comprises of research design, population, sample and sampling techniques or methods, data collection methods and instruments, as well as data analysis. Chapter four covers the discussions of the findings and presentations with chapter five covering the summary, conclusions and recommendations of the study. CHAPTER TWOLITERATURE REVIEWIntroduction In this chapter, various literatures are reviewed to give an insight into the present study. This chapter will be written under the following sub-titles: concept of television advertising, television advertising and consumption of alcoholic beverages, alcohol and students academic performance, alcohol consumption and sexual risk 5 / 18 taking. Concept of Television Advertising Television advertising is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization or an individual, which conveys a message, typically to market a product or service. Advertising revenue provides a significant portion of the funding for most privately owned television networks. The vast majority of television advertisements today consist of brief advertising spots, ranging in length from a few seconds to several minutes. Advertisements of this sort have been used to promote a wide variety of goods, services and ideas since the dawn of television. (Health, 2009) asserted that, television engagement is mainly of the subconscious kind and it is effective at building strong brands, due to the low attention to television adverts, the emotional stimuli are more effective because the viewer does not notice and therefore counter-argues against them. (Unsal amp; Yuksel, 1984) state that advertised products generally are to find more favour in consumers’ eyes than unadvertised ones. (Galbraith, 1958) examined that advertising as manipulating the public by creating artificial needs and wants. He did much to popularize the understanding of economics and society. Aspects of advertising that received emphasis in other fields is persuasion (psychology) regulation (political science) gender, race and class (sociology, cultural studies, and culture (anthropology). (Williams, L. M, amp; H, 2003) focus on the institutionalization and professionalization of advertising that is its commercial functions and its persuasive force. As a social critic, he locates advertising in a social context. For him, advertising belongs to a particular historical moment. It is a part of modern capitalist society, and it distinguishes it from attention- grabbing devices in non-capitalist societies in other times and places. For Williams, advertising cannot be decoupled from the way it comes into being and the work it does in society. He drew attention to sponsorship of art in modern times. His definition said advert is the official art of capitalist society. (Diamond, July,1972) defined advertising as a form of communication intended to persuade its viewers, readers or listeners to take some action. It usually includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer, persuade potential customers to purchase or consume that particular brand. Commercial advertisers seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through branding, which involves the repetition of an image or product name in an effort to associate related qualities with the brand in the mind of consumers. According to CITATION Dar09 \l 1033 (Darrin, 2009), television depends on advertising as a way of making profit and to cover up the cost of the shows being aired. Conversely, television has been and is now a good medium for letting advertisers reach a large audience to promote and raise awareness of their products. Despite the availability of other medium of advertising, television remains one of the most popular and cost effective avenues for reaching the advertisers goal. There are a lot of reasons behind every advert which include the following: to create awareness of the existence of a product, to persuade potential targets to buy the product, encourage the public to buy more of the product than previously, to convince the public that its product is superior to other products, create image and goodwill, building up confidence in a business, identifies a business with the goods and service it offer. Forms of Television Advertising There are various forms which can be effectively used in advertising. Mentioned below are the various forms of television advertising. Announcement: in this form, the announcer appears before the camera and conveys the message of the product or service of the advertiser. Examples include: announcements regarding the extended date of sale, gift scheme, concession rates. Slides: this is where only the visual image of the commercial is presented through slides or cards on television, which does not have motion and sound. This form is generally found in local and regional programmes. Here the pictures of the product being advertised appear at the bottom of the 6 / 18 television. Demonstration: this form of television advertising shows the skills through dramatised demonstration to emphasise how a particular product works. The demonstrator or announcer gives explanation on how the product is being used. Advertisements of products such as detergents and blood tonics widely use this form. Dramatized: it is the commonly used form of advertisement which is more persuasive and entertaining in nature. Advertisements of the importance of social issues like girl child education and immunization use this form of television advertising. Animated commercial: this form of television commercial involves cartoon technique. It is more time consuming and this makes it very expensive because the cost of an advert depends on its length. For instance the advertisements on family planning used this technique. Sponsorship: this is where a sponsor (a person who purchases a given amount of broadcast time or advertising space to tell you why you should buy his or her product. There are two types of means to get the sponsorer’s message across: direct and indirect. This form of television advertising is very common in Ghana because every programme being aired on our television station has more than one sponsor, the sponsors products are advertised once or twice during the show. Television advertising and Alcoholic Beverage Consumption. The potential underlying mechanisms for a direct link between alcohol advert portrayals and individual alcohol use are related to norm setting, habit formation and imitation. First, movies, soap operas and advertisements mostly portray substances in a positive way by using prototypes of the â€Å"ideal† person in an appealing context CITATION Eve98 \l 1033 (Everett, R. L, amp; J. L, 1998). Similar findings have been found elsewhere, such as CITATION McC08 \l 1033 (McCreano, Barnes, Borell, Kaiwai, amp; Gregory, 2008) who interviewed youth and found that alcohol advertising was often enjoyed. These advertisements established a climate or association that alcohol is cool, exciting and fun. CITATION McC08 \l 1033 (McCreano, Barnes, Borell, Kaiwai, amp; Gregory, 2008) concluded that alcohol advertising creates an environment which maintains unhealthy expectations, norms and behaviours around alcohol consumption. Secondly, when people associate a specific cue or event to a specific behavioural pattern, example, watching an advert where the intake of alcohol led to admired behaviour like bravery. In essence, the alcohol cues imbedded in this specific context might lead to direct responses thus craving and subsequent alcohol use, especially when this link becomes automatic. Also, alcohol cues in adverts and watching characters consuming alcohol on screen might lead to drinking through the mechanism of imitation. (Quigley amp; Collins, 1999) conducted a study which strongly supported the assumption that when people are in company of a drinker, the drinking pace of the other affects individual drinking rates. According to (Quigley amp; Collins, 1999) there are at least two reasons why this effect occurs: direct imitation and identification. There is a great deal of evidence from neuroscience and psychology showing that people automatically and unconsciously are wired to take over each others behaviour. When we observe someone perform a certain action, the pre–motor representation of that action is activated in our brains as we are about to perform that action ourselves. The presentation of alcohol in the media has received both scrutiny and criticism. As a result of this, researchers begun to explore the effect of such adverts on consumption. Correlation study indicates that media exposure is associated with the attitudes, perceptions and behavior of young people. A study conducted by (Turker, 1985), involving high school males indicated that viewers who watched a great deal of television had significantly higher levels of alcohol use per month than did viewers who watched comparatively less television. (McCreano, Barnes, Borell, Kaiwai, amp; Gregory, 2008) also conducted a study to find the link between television viewing and alcohol consumption. The study followed participants over several years. Respondents were queried about their television viewing habits at ages thirteen and fifteen and their alcohol consumption at age eighteen. They found that, the more television the female subjects watched overall at ages thirteen 7 / 18 and fifteen, the greater were their reported alcohol beverage consumption at age eighteen. For males there was no significant relationship between viewing at ages thirteen and fifteen and consumption at age eighteen. (Grube amp; Wallack, 1994) interviewed fifth and sixth grade students about their awareness of alcohol advertising and their perceptions, attitudes, and behavioural intentions regarding alcohol consumption. They reported that the more aware students were of alcohol advertisements, the more positive their beliefs about alcohol drinking. More positive beliefs about alcohol were associated with indications of likelihood to drink as an adult. Alcohol and students’ academic performance Cognitive and learning impairments from chronic heavy exposure to alcohol can arise from the neuro-toxic effects of ethanol on vulnerable hippocampus and limbic structures. Research findings from animal models and observational human studies have shown that persistent alcohol abuse can result in a decrease in the overall volume of the hippocampus, the area responsible for long term learning and memory. Cell volumes have been found to be consistently smaller in alcohol abusing adolescents and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the degree of hippocampal damage increases with the number of years of alcohol abuse. In one observational research study cited by CITATION Zei05 \l 1033 (Zeigler, C. C, Yoast, B. D, amp; McCaffree, 2005) 38 adolescent alcohol abusers were compared with 69 non alcohol users on neuropsychological tests. The former scored consistently less well in verbal IQ, spelling and reading tests compared to the latter CITATION Lov04 \l 1033 (Loveland- Cherry, 2005) reports that school attachment and receiving good grades have been associated with less adolescent alcohol use, while absenteeism and poor grades are associated with early initiation and increased levels of alcohol use. CITATION Per02 \l 1033 (Perkins, 2002) found that male students who drank more than 5 drinks, and female students that drank more than 4 drinks, in a session one or two times in a 2 week period were over three times more likely to report getting behind in school work compared with more moderate drinkers. When the drinking frequency increased to 3 times in a 2 week period, they were more than eight times more likely to report this problem. CITATION Ber87 \l 1033 (Berkowitz amp; Perkins, 1987) found that women students were as likely as men to experience impaired academic performance due to alcohol. Most reviews which looked at educational performance related to American college students and the majority evidence points to the fact that the association between academic performance and college drinking is inconclusive. A number of reviews have discussed the methodological limitations of studies that investigate the relationship between alcohol and academic performance. Much of the cited evidence for a relationship comes from cross sectional studies which cannot ascribe a causal link. However, there is emerging evidence from longitudinal studies which suggests that binge drinking may impair academic performance over time. Nevertheless, it is noted that most college students who drink go on to lead successful lives. Indeed CITATION Gil02 \l 1033 (Gill, 2002)  argues that alcohol may be a scapegoat for other factors that may limit poor academic performance. CITATION Roy11 \l 1033 (Royce, 2011) in United States argued that the amount of alcohol consumed by students correlate with their grade point average. Thus, there is a negative relationship between alcohol consumption and students academic performance, as the more alcoholic beverage taken by students, the lesser time available for studies or academic work. CITATION Wil03 \l 1033 (Williams, L. M, amp; H, 2003)  .

Successful management and team development

Successful management and team development Due to the nature of this essay it will be discussion and analyses of the following; firstly successful management process on the field work. Secondly, Team make up and team development. Thirdly, leadership effectiveness in field work and what influences making them taking responsibility. The discussion will be attached with examples of ‘2009 Outreach trip. For any successful organization need a successful management. Management is a difficult term to define. The simplest definition of management is the use of people and other resources to achieve the objectives (Boone Kurtz 4:1992). An effective teams and individuals depends on varies factors. The most important factor is the management process (Chambers, Johnston Slack 1:2010). Management process contains four functions: planning, organizing, leading and controlling (Boone Kurtz 4:1992). There are two important factors lead an organization that work in field (such a disaster organization) to success: team work, and the right management process. Strategy in management is sets the objectives and goals for the organization into a framework of time to allow people know what must be achieved, when and by whom (QuickMBA 2007). Strategic analysis process is looking on the organization externally and reflect back internally to identify weaknesses, strengths and culture to enable a strategic direction to be chosen. After identifying yourself then you can choose the organization structure and use short term tactics to achieve your goals. (QuickMBA 2007). In the field trip our main strategy is to absorb the maximum of information and experience from the exercises. We used different tactics which are get full participation in exercises and take different roles and responsibilities in each exercise. Team make up and team development is important be understood between the individuals. There are many definitions define what is team, Katzenbach and Smith (1993) stated that â€Å" A team is a small number of people with complementary skill who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable† (Sheard Kakabadse 2004:13). As in the field trip my team doesnt exceed twenty people and we all complementary skills with common goal to achieve it in exercises. Team make up is together individuals with different abilities and skills to make up a perfect group/team for achieving the objectives (Hayes 1997:45). A team should be defined in terms of purpose, power, place, people and plane (5 ps). If one of the â€Å"Ps† fail the team may be slightly more than a group of individuals whose work is related but not coordinated in any efficient manner (Holpp 4:1999). Individuals in the team pass through different stag es of development. Tuckmans model of team development (1965), his four stages model; forming, storming, norming, and performing. In (1977) the model reviewed by Tuckman and Jensen and the added the fifth stage ‘adjourning (Rickards Moger 2000:276). Referring to the Outreach trip experience that this year development stages happened quicker, and individuals settle with the team members quicker, this because the team already passed through the stages last year and every individual understand his/her role and abilities in respect of others. Furthermore, Belbin showed that successful of teams consisted mixture of different individuals. He argued that successful teams would always need involve people with different roles (Hayes 1997:47-48). See appendix 1 for Belbin team role. Different roles in the team may be crucial to the overall success. In Outreach we tried to make the team balanced in the context of person personality which every team have a range of doing/acting, thinking/problem-solving and people/feeling so the team balance up. The roles identified in one of our lectures which everyone has identified his/her role and some people have multiple roles. Moving forward, any team need a leader to guide them to the right track. Leader responsibility is to protect productivity, minimize risk and motivate the team members so they perform and realize the teams objective, furthermore, leader coordinate team effort and set direction, goals, targets and purpose for the team (Foster Wellingtom 2009:27). Claire Rubin stated the importance of leadership in emergency management. She reveals that there are several characteristics associated with good leaders in emergency management. She discussed the quicker you able to put resources to work and let people know what their task are the more effective recovery operation will be (David 2007:437). However, most of the times in disaster situation the leader need to think regather all the information so to make the right decision, the first few mints are valuable for reviewing and thinking on the situation rather than rushing to the incident knowing nothing what to do that may cause significant mistak es. Communication is a very important aspect between the leader and the team. Lumsden Wiethoff (2010) defined leadership as verbal and nonverbal communication that assist a teams transactional and task processes in achieving individuals and teams needs and goals (p.28). Mainly there are three leadership styles; authoritarian, laissez-faire leadership and democratic leadership. Each style determine to the leader and the participation level between the leader and the team. The diagram below explain the participation level in each leadership style. Leadership takes place on three levels: teams, operational and strategic. The essential kind of leadership refers to ‘Adair three circles; task, team and individual. The leader must be in awareness, understanding the three circle model (Adair 2007:65). The focus may be more in one aspect, for example, in exercises the individual learning and team development is more crucial then the task, but in a real situation as an earthquake then the task be more important than individual learning or team development. Reflecting back in the field trip individual learning and team development was more important than the task. The diagram below show the difference of exercises and earthquake. However, there are five key functions of leadership linked with Adair model which are; define objectives, plan organize, inform confirm, Support monitor and evaluate. Within this communication is crucial a factor (LMC 2008) Communication is crucial factor of team success. A successful information sharing make the objective clear and each individual in the team will have a clear view of role. Hayes said â€Å"effective communication between members does more than simply remove status barriers it lead to the team success† (41). McGregor stated that an effective group/team include; participation, leadership, trust, communication, respect, commitment to common aim, team spirit and congenial atmosphere (Heller 2006). Reflecting back to the outreach trip the team was in full participation, leadership role was understood and took effectively, there was respect between members of the team, for example when someone talk everyone listen, the communication between the team was good made the aims and objectives clear to everyone, the motivational spirit was attend in which every member want to finish the task even if we have been stopped by the supervisor. Any operation must come to a decision on the balance between using specialist, dividing the total task down into smaller parts, each which is accomplished by team or single person (Chambers, Johnston Slack 242:2010). For example in the Outreach earth quake exercise the task accomplished by dividing into teams (like the logistic team, map reading team and search and rescue team) this made the task carry out easier. The division of teams made by individual preference and knowledge, for example the map reading team include members who are most familiar with maps and maps reading. Decision-making beside to leadership and communication is one of the most import aspects of a successful manager. Decision making is a key element to reaching goals and objectives. It is about the why, who, when, where of a course of action and how to overcome difficulties and solve problems. It is important to have contingency plans to backup and avoid failure (Adair 2008:48). The effective decision has six elements: Defining the objective, gathering sufficient information, identifying the feasible options, evaluation, making the decision and testing and implementing (Adair 2008:49). Shared leadership is important in teams field work, which every individual responsibility for practicing shared leadership has increased in importance as teams assume more and more management and decision making roles (Lumsden Wiethoff 2010:35). In outreach in some parts of the exercise the leader need help so Conclusion: I have refered to the importance on the communication in any point of work. Communication in disaster management is one of the key success which the statistics says that about 90% of the disaster failures caused by lack of communication. Communication is the link between teams, individuals, leaders etc. Individuals cannot be perfect but group of people can be perfect. http://changingminds.org/explanations/preferences/belbin.htm Reference: Boone, L.E. Kurtz, D.L. (1992) Management. New York ; London :McGraw-Hill Chambers, R., Johnston, S. Slack, N. (2010) Operation Management Edinburgh Gate: Harlow Holpp, L. (1999). Managing Teams. London :McGraw-Hill. Rickards, T. Moger, S. (2000) British Journal of Management. Creative Leadership Processes in Project Team Development: An Alternative to Tuckmans Stage Model. Vol.11, 273-283 Sheard Kakabadse (2004) A process perspective on leadership and team development. Journal of Management Development. Vol.23 pp.7-106 Foster, N. Wellingtom, P. (2009) Effective Team Leadership. Stevenage :Institution of Engineering and Technology David, A. (2007) Disaster Response and Recovery :strategies and tactics for resilience. Hoboken, NJ. :Wiley Lumsden, G. Wiethoff, C. (2010) Communicating in groups and teams :sharing leadership. Boston, Mass. :Wadsworth Cengage Learning Adair, J ed Thomas,N. (2008) The of Best John Adair on Leadership and Management. London:Thorogood Adair, J. (2007) Develop your Leadership Skills. London ; Philadelphia Hayes, N. (1997) Successful Team Management. London :International Thomson Business Press http://changingminds.org/explanations/preferences/belbin.htm QuickMBA (2007). Strategic Management. [online] available from [25th January 2010] LMC (2008). Adairs model of Leadership Functions. [online] available from [29th January 2010] Heller (2006). Team Management: True leadership and teamwork. [online] available from [2nd February 2010]

Domestic Violence Amd Women :: Violence Against Women Essays

Domestic violence is a terrible problem that we all must face, not only the people who are victims. We need to stop this before the problem develops into anything bigger than it already is. The battered woman, it has been said, lives in a world of terror and her home is her prison (Berger, 1990, pg. 35). For many hundreds of years people weren't worried about domestic violence. In fact, a popular family journal, the Journal of Marriage and Family, did not include a single article on domestic from 1932 to 1969 (Berger, 1990, pg. 27). Suddenly, more women came out and told of the abuse they had once suffered. Researchers report that 1.8-2.9 million women are battered yearly. Not only do the victims suffer physical pain, but they also have to deal with emotional and psychological pain. The victim may have to face reoccurring nightmares, and may never want to trust another man. Much too frequently, the victim blames themselves. The typical response of an abused/battered woman is, "I provoked him . . . I was being a bad wife, mother, and housekeeper," (Peled, 1995, pg. 141). The very sad part about the violence, beside the physical and emotional stress, is that most likely they know the offender or abuser. So, why, why would a person who is loved, want to abuse their spouse or girlfriend? One of the key responses . . . Jealousy. The husband may become very suspicious, afraid of losing his wife. The abuser sees his wife or girlfriend as a possession. The only way, they think, to relieve this built up anger is aggression. To improve their self-esteem, they abuse the victim physically, emotionally, and sometimes, sexually. Another key factor in wife abuse is alcohol. When the man is stressed, he turns to alcohol to relieve it. Little does he know, that the alcohol makes him more irritable. "He started really drinking excessively and that is when the abuse started. He had been drinking . . . I sat down to read the paper and he wanted his supper . . . he kicked the cat to the ceiling . . . he started slapping my face with both hands," (Berger, 1990, pg. 42). Research shows that men who abuse their wives, often saw their own mother abused. Do to witnessing this, the children of battered families usually grow up to have low self-esteem and believe that hitting is right.

Virtual Reality Essay -- Essays Papers

Virtual Reality Although some doubt the potential of virtual reality, the reality is our technologically dependent culture is making virtual reality a part of everyday life. Popular in video games, virtual reality allows the user to totally control a computerized character. Every action the user makes is imitated by the character and instantly displayed for the user. However, since the early 90’s, the use of virtual reality has developed and taken the spotlight past evolving video games. Virtual reality has already made its mark on fields such as aviation, medicine, and even meteorology. Where is this new technology heading in the future? According to the Millennium edition of the Wall Street Journal, â€Å"even conservative forecasts suggest education, entertainment, the workplace and the boundaries of human expression will be greatly transformed by virtual reality† (Cox 40). Increasingly advanced technology could put virtual reality in the driver’s seat of countless ind ustries. In recent years virtual reality has already been involved in several technological areas. Even those who have little knowledge about the production of virtual reality are most likely aware of its use in video games. However, many people may not be aware of the numerous other areas where it has been applied. For example, astronaut trainees have recently used virtual reality to simulate a trip to space. Medical students have substituted a carcass for a fiberglass mould of a body and a headset when training to perform surgery. A popular online chat is developing into a society of interactive, animated users. Introducing virtual reality to the real world has already proven to be beneficial for every industry it encounters. Welcome to the new world of virtual technology, the advantages have only begun. Virtual reality (VR), as defined by The Newbury House Dictionary of American English, is experiencing events that seem like real life by putting on special eye glasses, hearing devices ad gloves attached to a computer. With the help of these hardware devices, the VR user’s actions totally control of the computer’s resulting actions. This control sets virtual reality apart from previously developed technologies. Because of the amazingly fast processing speed of the computer, VR accepts the user’s every move and displays the differences in the virtual environment. .. ...on of any course in the world. After the ball hits the screen, it continues its path in the game. This game is extremely realistic, because the game reads the balls trajectory, power, direction and even spin when it is hit. I once played 18 holes at Augusta, one of the most premier courses in the world, and I didn’t even leave Ohio. These examples are just some of the possibilities virtual reality will bring to our future. Introducing virtual reality into the future will prove to be a benefit for our society. Several important issues involving virtual reality have previously been discussed. Surgery and surgical training are extremely crucial processes in which virtual reality has shown to be beneficial. Astronaut training is another critical procedure. Jim Newman, highly experienced in space, stated himself that without virtual reality it was â€Å"impossible† to train for certain events (Cox 40). Precise forecasts of the weather are not always easy. However, virtual reality has already been incorporated in the study of severe weather, giving forecasters more knowledge and the society more protection. The future is virtual reality, and its benefits will remain immeasurable.

Essay --

I was almost there, just one more turn and a road before I arrived home. When the road was built the turn cut a deep ‘V’ in the hillside, leaving behind prominent walls of dirt on either side of the road. It was a right-angle left turn leading up a steep incline. Being on a road less traveled, as well as being at the bottom of a hill, this particular turn had a lot of accumulated sand left over from the winter. I had forgotten about the sand, since all the main roads had long been washed clean, and went into the turn too fast. As soon as I hit the dirty portion of the road, my front wheels lost grip and caused the car to under-steer straight forward. I was able to catch it a little but knew impact was inevitable. I watched the hillside jump up in front of me and the right corner of my Jeep Cherokee plow into it, as a mountain of new obstacles rose up in my mind. I thought it would be too hard for me to fix it myself and too expensive to have done at a shop. I w as worried about what my parents would say if they saw it. But by the time it was fixed, I had learned a lot about car repair and my own capabilities. Before I crashed I didn’t think I could perform any major car repairs myself, but I learned that it’s not only feasible but quite rewarding as well. I drove the rest of the way home in a calm panic, trying to think straight and form a plan. I pulled my car into the garage nose first, at such an angle that the damage couldn’t be seen from the house if anyone happened to look out and wonder what I was doing. I had an excuse of TLC ready in case someone decided to investigate further than the front window. This was when I did an in-depth inspection of the damage, and it looked bad, really bad. The steel bumper wa... ...f. I fixed up my car on a budget, kept my parents from blowing a head gasket, and picked up multitudes of knowledge along the way. During the course of the project I absorbed copious amounts of information that I will be able to use the rest of my life. I learned many skills and techniques regarding vehicle repair that I can apply to any situation that may arise in the future. Since then, I don’t even know how much money I’ve saved myself, family, and friends by diagnosing and repairing problems in house instead of getting ripped off by mechanics. Before I crashed my car I was limited to doing very basic maintenance only, but after, I felt like I could take on any project. It really sparked my interest in working on my own car. The whole experience was very rewarding and taught me a lot about not only cars but what I was capable of when I put my mind to it.

RE: Corporate Vision/Mission

According to the recent news reports, it has been seen that Turkey has facing some of the serious corruption scandals and other allegations against governments. These scandals creates riots and protests In every cities of turkey ,moreover many high class people and political leaders were accused with money laundering, gold smuggling and bribery. The current situation's impact was reached Turkey's international relation with other countries and put their aids at stake.Another challenge turkey was facing is Labor market. Turkey has a large population and In that about 68. 1% are working age, but In that economically active are 51. 3% in 2013 reports says. This is mainly due to several factors which includes low participation of female with only 32. 9 percentage of the working age women. Second factor Is, Turkey's grey economy is very large and the Council of Europe has been expected about 33 percentage of GAP In 2011 and many of the Jobs are formal sector in outside.The unemployment of youth is also a major challenge in turkey's progress, although it is not unique to Turkey and about 17. 3 percentage nouns people were unemployed as per 2013 report. It is considered that turkey Is one of the world's 10 largest economy In 2023 but now the lack of potential and political issues creates regression to its wealth. Turkey is one of the most important countries in the Middle East which is equal to Egypt and at the same time it has a very powerful military and a fastest growing economy.Turkey's services has been serves as a bridge between the East and West. The U. S. And European powers need Turkeys support In order to Implement Middle Eastern politics and to malting the Syrian conflict. Generally turkey's connection with outside world was very important in every terms like trade, economic and military. This relation not only helpful to turkey but to other countries. Turkey has biggest trading partner in E ( The European union ) and Its trading accounts are more than 50 p ercentage of Turkish exports.For northern Iraq turkey is the largest investor, and these investments and development from them have helped to stabilize this part of Iraq. Turkey is also a major investor in Central Asia and its construction companies can be found at work in many parts of the world. Turkey Is also an Important link between Islam and the West and will likely formed for about many decades and if so to come. Turkey is both east and west and can communicate clearly and effectively in both directions, and also from North to South.Turkey has been a very cooperative country to the Americans to fight against the terrorist activities In our globalization. After the sass's, Turkey anta terrorist activities were bayed very helpful in global reformation to the world and this makes turkey as major targets for terrorists also. At the same time Turkey is also a power resource for the Americans from middle east. Power is a vital element for the progression of every country and for Am ericans this vital element Is turkey. In my perception It Is very important for Turkey to Join with ELI to protect the long- term interests of its nation and people.Mainly there are many reasons behind it and 1 OFF same time it was also a very member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which plays an increasingly vital regional role in the broader Middle East. This relation not only increase the progress of turkey but to reduce the burdens of US and international problems. This will help the Turkey to become more powerful in the globe by the process of designing and creating its future in a industrialization and modern way. In the past Turkey has important position among other countries.In the upcoming year we can see that turkey with become a developing nation after 2016 by the aid of allies and their relations. Turkey literally serves as the bridge between East and West. About 50 percentages of Turkeys trade is with the EX. (European Union). In 1920, the great reformer, M ustang Kamala Taurus emerged from he chaos of World War I to establish modern Republic of Turkey in order to transform several political transitions and development initiatives leading to its position as a growing economic power.Taurus understand that an integrated nation was essential to building new state. Turkey's push to Join the EX. has limited the power of the military. In his regime new progressive actions were implemented to improve turkey, like Religious schools were abolished and Suffix religious orders were closed. By 1934 women were granted the vote in national elections and were able to stand for election and be seated in parliament.