Monday, September 30, 2019

Advocacy and the Mentally Ill

When needed medical treatment Is not made available, those ho suffer often end up homeless, and frequently cycle In, and out of the Judicial system because their behavior is mistaken as criminal instead of as a mental illness that can be treated given proper services are provided. Traditional Advocacy Services Advocating services for the mentally ill most often involve raising awareness by influencing legislation to make policy changes through educating the public about the facts of mental illness and rebuffing common stereotypes and negative views often associated with mental illness.The effort is typically centered on changing rent and ineffective policies so proper treatment and equal opportunities can be provided to those who suffer. Putting pressure on policy-makers for increased support, â€Å"denouncing stigma and discrimination, and fighting for improved services† (World Health Organization, 2003, p. 3) are common services for advocating for the mentally ill. Barriers to Service Delivery Numerous barriers exist that continue to affect delivery of needed services for the mentally ill.Many of those barriers relate to lack of available mental health services, or the inability to pay because of rising out of pocket expenses. Quite often there Is no link made between mental health and physical health. Mental health is not regarded with the same importance as physical health which often results in misdiagnosis or lack of any diagnosis. Stigma attached to mental illness affects service delivery by causing exclusion and lack of adequate mental health policy implementation.Although some of these barriers are now easier to overcome than decades past, they still exist today requiring Increased advocacy efforts toward education and awareness In effort to change the perceptions of society on mental Illness. Advocacy Services Available There are numerous advocacy services available ranging from services that advocate for the same basic rights those who do not suffer from mental illness receive. For example, Advocates Inc. Was founded in 1995 to assist the mentally ill homeless secure housing by offering legal advice and assistance as well as clinical referrals, and finding benefit entitlements (Advocates, Inc. N. D. ). Active Minds is an organization devoted to stamping out societal stigmas attached to mental illness, as well as nurturing and inspiring future â€Å"generations of mental health advocates† (Active Minds, 2013). Lastly, and possibly the largest and most well- known advocacy organizations is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, otherwise known as NAME, which offers a number of advocacy services including addiction treatment, services that fight against budget cuts that put tremendous strain on providing proper mental health services, as well as unemployment services Just to name a few (NAME, 2014).Emerging Social Issues Preventing Service Delivery Some of the major emerging social issues preventing service deliver y to those offering from mental illness relate to factors in the workplace which prevent promotion, and workplace issues that have a large impact on the mental health of the employee's within. Companies are beginning to be forced to take a harder look at the workplace environment and how it affects mental health. Steps are slowly integrated to focus on â€Å"promoting good mental health† (Harness & Gabriel, 2000, p. ) in the workplace and new policies are created requiring employers to accept responsibility for a workplace environment which may have a negative effect on an employee's mental health. Integrating new policies that require employers to treat someone suffering from mental illness the same way they treat someone suffering with physical illness has not come easily. A history of overlooking mental illness, or mistaking it for what has often been called â€Å"stress† in the workplace makes the process of helping to change the past negative thoughts often associ ated with mental illness a slow process.In essence, these new policies are requiring organizations to change the way think, which is not always easy given decades of false and misleading information about mental illness. Evolution of Advocacy Advocacy had evolved into its own specialized field Just like medicine and politics, for example. It has gone from centuries past when someone first made the decision that someone needed assistance that person should have been getting but was not, so an idea was put into action to help that person get that assistance. Whatever that need may have been, or that idea or the century may never be known.Maybe a neighbor noticed that his or her widowed neighbor was only able to provide a meal for her children Just a couple times a week. So it was decided that if business owners were asked to offer up one five cents a week, that widow would be able to feed her children daily. This may be a long example; nevertheless, it could possibly be the first Huma n Services effort at advocacy. Today, it has expanded to a relentless effort for equal rights for members of society who may have physical or mental disadvantages and thereby labeled â€Å"different by society for centuries.Because of this labeling, the opportunities and rights of these individuals have been â€Å"different,† unequal, and unfair. These indifference's have become normal and almost unrealized to members of society who are unaffected. Of the few who are unaffected, but do realize these rights that are withheld from certain individuals, we helping themselves possess the same opportunities, and quality of life that anyone else it entitled too. As long as there is a person who does not have access to anything in life that someone else has, but should, advocacy will continue to evolve and change lives.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Frontier Printers Case

Problem Statement Frontier Printers is lacking strategic human resource objectives that are necessary to address the organizational growth and incorporate changing technological trends. As a result they are at risk of not being able to attract/retain valuable employees and could face potential legal litigation. Critical Facts Frontier Printers is a small-family business and has seen a 50% growth in the number of employees in the last three years. The departure of the press operator and the driver was attributed to a lack of opportunities for growth within the company.The firm plans on focusing on computer skills and cross-training. In the next two years the firm plans on integrating vertically by introducing new equipment that’ll allow the production of color separation which will reduce cycle time tremendously. This should help the company to increase its outputs more efficiently. The industry has experienced the introduction of various new technological advancements, one whi ch will allow â€Å"direct-to-film† to occur that will eliminate the need for two of the employees in the Pre-Press department but will require two new jobs requiring technical skills in another department.The firm does not have any contingency plans for departure of current employees. Currently, a very limited amount of employees have the knowledge to operate the current software which could potentially have serious implications. There is also no formal job analysis evident or list of job descriptions to properly implement performance evaluations. There are no formal qualifications or training for new recruits as it is done on an ad hoc basis by the management team. Analysis: Starting as a small-family business, Frontier Printers has been operating in the industry for longer than 60 years.Within the last three years, they’ve seen an enormous growth which has resulted in the realization that they need to develop strategic human resource objectives. This will be further analyzed in three main sub-issues; lack of job analysis, the need for human resource expertise, and adapting to technological improvements. Job Analysis Job analysis is the formal process of identifying the particular aspects of the job duties and requirements. Conducting a job analysis allows a firm to know the necessary skills and abilities that are expected from an employee to fulfill the job responsibilities.When there is a vacancy in Frontier Printers the job requirements and abilities are discussed by the business owners, Bonnie and her father, who later determine which employee fills the vacancy. Nevertheless, the firm does not have any explicit list of job requirements. This has caused other issues within the organization especially in terms of recruitment, selection, training and development of employees as well as their job evaluations. Recruitment becomes an issue when previous job analysis has not been conducted because the firm cannot give a realistic list of job descr iptions and requirements to attract the proper applicants.If one does not know the details of a job than it is impossible for them to recruit accordingly. Upon a vacancy, Frontier Printers would initially search the current employee base, and then look at the pool of job applicants that are already on file. If they cannot find someone, only then will the organization advertise the vacancy to the public. If a proper job analysis was conducted it would become very critical for the firm to use it as a guideline to recruit rather than using a trial-and-error method to find employees.Since the organization does not have clear strategic objectives that it needs to pursue, recruitment takes place without a clear direction. Selection is a process of choosing the best fit applicant for the job from the pool of applicants. Selection is also an issue the firm faces because there are no set guidelines to follow when comparing people’s skills and abilities to the job duties and responsibi lities. The firm has to initially determine the most important set of skills and capabilities (through a job analysis) before judging applicants fit or unfit for the vacancy.Training is an important component of highly technical jobs, and these jobs will be increasing in Frontier Printing. However, because the company has no formal qualifications for any jobs the training is informal and conducted on an ad hoc basis. This has resulted in departure of valuable employees because although the employees may have seen themselves succeeding in other positions, they were unable to get any exposure to it. If job analysis on all the jobs were conducted, job descriptions would be available to everyone and employees wishing to ransfer to another position would have been able to do so. Departure of employees also arose due to other factors such as lack of strategic alternatives for retention of employees. For example, cross-training could have been utilized as a method of retention. However, on ce again, because there was no formal job analysis conducted, it would have been difficult to implement such a project without any guidelines. Thus, strategic human resource objectives are necessary to resolve the issue of proper training and improve plans for retention of employees.Currently, Frontier Printers does not have any development programs to improve the skills of its employees. This has caused retention issues as valuable employees left because they did not see any opportunities for growth within the organization. With the proper strategic human resource objectives in play, these types of problems can be prevented. Performance evaluations are a major issue in the company. There have been terminations based on â€Å"poor performance† where the paperwork detailing the reasons why is inadequate.This is a major issue because terminated employees may sue on the grounds of wrongful dismissal. In order for an accurate evaluation to take place, there needs to be pre-establ ished criteria and organizational objectives which can be compared to the performance and productivity of an employee. These are currently lacking in Frontier Printers and needs to be addressed. It is evident that when Frontier Printers was a smaller company a proper job analysis was not critical to the operations of the business.However, with a growing company this lack of job analysis can cause negative results regarding HR issues as it does today. The growing employee base is making it a necessity for Frontier Printers to implement human resource objectives in order to best resolve problematic issues from occurring. Need for Human Resource Expertise Frontier Printers has no strategic management objectives and needs to bring in some HR expertise to help them to create and implement these. Bonnie’s father Randall has been owner of Frontier Printers for over 60 years.In the last three years they have experienced 50% growth in employees and revenues are growing at projected ra tes. Bonnie has known for the last year that changes were needed but knows the company can’t afford to hire a full-time human resource professional. In order for Frontier Printers to address the organizational growth and to adapt changing technological trends they need to invest in HR expertise and develop strategic management goals and objectives. Frontier Printers has already created a mission and vision statement but have not defined its values and goals.The stakeholders will have to lead, support, implement and measure its strategic objectives while being competitive and consistent. With efficient HR expertise, they should be able to access, forecast, predict, design and implement its strategies in direct sync with the organizational goals. Along with strategic management Frontier Printers also faces challenges adapting to technological changes. Adjusting to Technological Improvements Frontier Printers is going to be facing some challenges trying to incorporate new techno logies into their everyday activities.The introduction of new technologies will require the development of technical skills. This has the potential to provide good career and skill-building opportunities for the employees. It will also allow the company to gain a competitive advantage by improving its efficiency. However, Frontier Printers already has some troublesome situations present when dealing with technology and could potentially face more problems in the future if the integration of technology into their workplace isn't properly managed.The current problematic situation that's present within Frontier Printers and their technology is the fact that a very limited amount of employees know how to use their software. Randal and Ida Harris are the only two employees that know how to use the software for billing, payroll and/or financial reports. Also, Randall and Thomas are the only ones who know how to use the software for estimate pricing. This is a problem because if one of the se three employees left the company replacing them would be costly and difficult.Also, if all three of them decided to quit then nobody would know how to use the software! The introduction of new technologies into the organization is inevitable and necessary to keep up with the competition and demand of the market. Challenges involved with this will include training the employees on how to use the new technologies, and what to do when some jobs will be depleted while other ones are created. If Frontier Printers can successfully handle these adaptations of new technologies it will help them to achieve continued success.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Human Resource Management in Context Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Human Resource Management in Context - Essay Example The review of the literature related to this subject has revealed the following problem: the criteria on which the recruitment and selection policies are based can be highly differentiated across organizations. In practice, this means that the decisions of HR managers in regard to these activities cannot be controlled either in regard to their credibility or in regard to their reasoning. The values and the rules applied in each organization are critical, at the level that they can set the limits of key organizational practices, such as the recruitment and selection practices. 2. People resourcing and business environment 2.1 HR planning – overview and key characteristics The first step for developing an effective HR strategy is to secure that the whole process will be carefully designed. HR planning helps HR managers to secure the success of their decisions. According to Rahman (2010) HR planning is a demanding process. Errors during the development of a firm’s HR plans could result to severe problems in regard to employee performance and communication (Rahman 2010). For eliminating the chances for such failures, Rahman (2010) suggests the gradual development of HR planning. It is suggested that the process should incorporate three key phases: ‘the quantitative HR planning, the qualitative HR planning and the planning of personal actions’ (Rahman 2010, p.158). The quantitative HR planning focuses on the identification and the evaluation of the needs of the organization in terms of the number of employees (Rahman 2010, p.158). The qualitative HR planning refers to the attitudes of employees and the nature of the tasks assigned (Rahman 2010, p.158). The issues of time and space, as related to the HR needs of a particular organization are addressed through both the above processes (Rahman 2010, p.158). Another critical part of HR planning is the planning of personal actions (Rahman 2010, p.158), a process that focuses on the transformati on of ‘actual performance into the target performance’ (Rahman 2010, p.158). From another point of view, the HR planning can be used for making the connection ‘between recruitment/ selection strategies and the organisation strategies’ (Millmore 2007, p.286). In other words, HR planning verifies the relationship between the recruitment/selection processes and the business environment. Amos et al. (2009) note that HR planning does not focus solely on the needs of the organizations in terms of staff but also on the philosophy and values on which the recruitment of the staff would be based (p.99). According to the above view, HR planning defines the framework used for the recruitment and selection processes (Amos et al. 2009). Moreover, HR planning should be developed using specific criteria: a) the rules on which various HR processes will be based, as decided by HR planners, should be flexible enough so that they can be changed if necessary (Amos et al. 2009), b) the structure of HR plans should be also open to changes; this means that HR planning should set alternatives, available in cases of emergent organizational needs or of unexpected pressures in local or the global market (Pravin 2010). In regard to the above, Amos et al. (2009) note that rules are necessarily included in all HR plans. It is noted that these rules help

Friday, September 27, 2019

We are Seven(Lyrical Ballads) Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

We are Seven(Lyrical Ballads) - Term Paper Example Wordsworth wrote the poem ‘we are seven’ at the age of 18 when he was going on a journey with his best companion Coleridge. ‘Wordsworth’s most deeply held conviction is his belief that the scope for poetry was often best provided by memory.’ As we also observe in this particular poem that the little girl that he talks about is actually someone he had met on his journey in a similar setting. As stated, ‘We Are Seven was inspired by a little girl he met in the area of Goodrich Castle.’ The poem comprises of sixteen four lined stanzas with the exception of the last stanza that consists of five lines. The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABAB. The poem is in the form of a conversation between a stranger and a little girl. The technique of writing the poem in a dialogue form enhances the beauty of the poem as it helps in retaining the interest of the reader, as he is curious about the end result of the conversation. The title of the poem hints about a sense of security that is related to the knowledge of having strong family bonding as observed from the word ‘We’. It has a tone of finality to it. The two letter word hold a lot of meaning as it also indicates the element of stubbornness and conviction of belief that nothing can change the reality i.e. we are seven. Number ‘seven’ can in itself be a reference to ‘Shakespeare’s seven stages’ of a man’s life as the readers later observes that this poem also draws a contrast between the perspective of life from the eyes of a child and an adult and shows the manner in which a person loses his idealism in order to grow up. The poem is basically about a conversation between a man and a little girl about her family and loved ones. The stranger inquires about her brothers and sisters and the girl replies that we are seven. This reply leads to the formation of the whole conversation that takes place in the poem.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

District School and School Boundary Research Paper

District School and School Boundary - Research Paper Example Some schools or districts use an alternative term for this category and usually refer to it as intermediary school or junior high school. Junior high schools usually refer to schools that engulfs grade seven through nine, while intermediate schools cover grades three through five or sometimes when these grades are separated from elementary schools. Finally, the high school category that includes grades nine through twelve. Sometimes it may incorporate grade seven and above. There are numerous cases where high school covers only grades ten to twelve, and this category is sometimes regarded as senior high school. All categories of the schools that have been discussed herein are responsible for the management of district schools. Public schools are public learning institutions that are managed by school districts that are independently instituted dependent school systems or special purpose governments. These management systems are controlled and closely governed by local and state gover nment (Suzanne and O'Neill, 2007). Notably, district schools are never interfered with by the nation’s politic since they are legally independent body corporate and politic (Daniel and Aladjem, 2006). District learning institutions or the district schools are regarded as local government that have the same mandates and powers as those of a county or township that include eminent domain and taxation. However, the Virginia district divisions have taxing system within its district authority; thus, depends it must seek aid of other local governments including city, county, or town authorities for funding the school. The district school governing body is typically elected through the direct voting system. Nonetheless, the entire governing organ can be appointed by officials within the government (Suzanne and O'Neill, 2007). The district school governing body also known as stakeholders include school board, board of education, board of trustees, school committee, local school board s, district leaders, district accountability committee, school leaders, and school accountability committee. The superintendent is appointed by this body. Normally, an experienced pubic school administrator is appointed in the position of the superintendent. The superintendent’s functions are likened to those of districts chief executive. That is carrying and executing everyday’s decision making and implementing the institutions policies and strategies. Additionally, the school board may be mandated with responsibility such as quasi-judicial functions in matters relating to a serious student or employee discipline matters (Tierney and Fairchild, 2011). All the stakeholders within the school system have varies responsibilities; thus, they are expected to be accountable and supportive along their lines of duty. Other than the mentioned above, the district school stakeholders also include the parents (Suzanne and O'Neill, 2007). Every stakeholder has its own different con tribution to the school success. The Education Department is responsible for ensuring that high-quality information is provided to varied stakeholders including the students, especially concerning the school and district performance. This department is mandated to evaluating the performance of each and every public school, districts, and states applying the already stipulated set of common academic performance indicators (Tierney and

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

NUMMI Case Study External Environment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

NUMMI External Environment - Case Study Example Discussion The effects of the government`s laws and regulations to the business. The aspect of a government`s involvement in the operations of a given business is an external factor that can either have a positive or negative impact on the business. In this case, the government of the United States has stipulated various regulations to guide various aspects in the production of motor vehicles; the main role of the set benchmark was to govern the construction of motor vehicle engines in a manner that emits limited quantities of exhaust whose final impact on the business became negative. These regulations forced the company to increase their production cost since the production of the required engines was very expensive thus leading to a negative influence on the General Motors Company which at that time focused on production of large vehicles with bigger engines that emitted large quantities of exhaust since the production cost was favorable. This presented the Company with a major ch allenge that involved seeking for better ways that that could not agree with the financial status of the company since the customers started demanding for high quality vehicles thus leading to a left shift in the demand curve of the vehicles manufactured before the new regulations came were enforced. Despite the fact that the General Motors struggled to produce vehicles that met the government and customer standards, they experienced frequent losses as their products were of low quality since they could not meet the required standards of both the customers and the government. The management of the NUMMI had to modify their strategies used in terms of production so as to face the challenge. As a result, the above challenge created the need to seek external assistance in order to improve their productivity hence profits; a solution was formulated which could see the Company form a partnership with the Toyota Company in Japan. The agreement was that Toyota could assist General Motors C ompany to produce smaller cars with higher operational qualities. The merger led to the formation of the New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI). However, General Motors Company did not implement most of the modes of car production systems employed by Toyota Company hence leading to the closure and failure of some of its branches such as the Van Nuys in the year 1992 (Glass 9). Economic Recession The second aspect of external environment that led to the failure of the General Motors Company is the economic recession experienced in the United States of America that resulted to the loss of the Company’s market share from forty seven percent to thirty five percent from the late 1907’s to the early 1980’s (Glass 10). At that time, the recession was characterized by excessive car production that led to deflation in the markets. The reduction of the market share of the General Motors Company enabled many of the customers to develop a negative perception to wards the products produced by the company due to the fact that they were of low quality. The media and the consumer report magazine also played a big role in the failure of the company since they portrayed a negative perception of the company towards the consumers thus enabling them to ignore the NNUMIS`s products (Glass 12). By the year 1992, the Company had made a loss of approximately twenty billion US dollars propagated by the recession and the

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Impact of the environment to human behavior Essay

Impact of the environment to human behavior - Essay Example Environment is a vital component to the development of individuals’ behavior living in distinguished areas. People develop some traits through exposure to culture of the evolving world.This paper entails information concerning the basis of human behavior in various communities. Much of the information relates to that of Gladwell and Jean Twenge. The study further denotes the environmental theory of human behavior by Gladwell in relation to individuals having a better understanding of their real selves and environmental triggers.Finally, the study looks down to establish how individuals understand themselves and environmental triggers through the human behavioral theory. The Power of Context by Malcolm Gladwell In the power of context, Gladwell states the root of shaping behavior of individuals. The culture people grow in determines their (individuals) success in their lives1. It is clear that the development of individual behavior begins at the early ages. The environment of s everal individuals at a childhood level is the primary determinant of the behavior that they exhibit at adulthood stage. Gladwell asserts that what people in the community instill in the younger generation is significant in what they grow to be and believe. An army of one: me by Jean Twenge Twenge looks much into the modern generation and refers the generation to as Generation Y. â€Å"An army of one: me† is a slogan, which denotes individuals assertive character2.Individuals try to adopt such behaviors of present day activities and deviant techniques used by particular characters. For instance, some youths view some of the artists as their role models. This is of great impact in that such youths end up exhibiting odd actions (especially those done by the artists). This becomes difficult especially for parents aiming at imposing good morals in their children. Most of the individuals under this generation focus on their personal interests. The slogan helps individuals develop better ways of living with individuals from other societies. The relationship between the Power of Context and An army of one: me Both Gladwell and Twenge had several segments in common. This results from the subject of their main argument. For instance, both had a concern on the behavior of individuals in various societies. Secondly, they deepened their thoughts to the impact of the environment on the behavior of individuals. In addition, Gladwell and Twenge depicted the result of an environmental changed behavior. This involves a change in the way individuals show respect to others, undertake tasks, and have interest regarding their culture. Learning about human behavior and the environment is important for individuals to be assertive in order to avoid much effect caused by the environment. Gladwell’s environmental theory of human behavior The Tipping Point is the theory by Gladwell and has a concern on the effects of social media on the behavior of particular individuals. This involves such things as, television, internet access devices such as personal computers and laptops. Communication and access of information through internet access helps children learn about other cultures. As noted, the internet changes much of what people know about their culture. The internet use makes users to adjust to the desires of other individuals3 . This leads to a desire to practice some of what they see done by people from other communities. Children do what they have seen parents do and inhibit what other non-family members offer or suggest. Therefore, parents should ensure that their actions towards children are in a manner that will depict good manners. Behavior through politics depends on the reason why various people get involved in a political environment. This helps individuals to have a change in the way they approach or handle difficult situations. The behavior of individuals largely depends on the behavior of

Monday, September 23, 2019

Methodology Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Methodology - Term Paper Example The aim of this analysis is to assess Sartre’s theory of the emotions and how he, in his arguments, follows general scientific standards and the use of (appropriate) methods for the enquiry. As a core requirement in the presentation of an argument any scientific work has to begin by introducing the topic chosen in terms of a â€Å"research question† and a â€Å"hypothesis† (a â€Å"preliminary†, i.e. ahead of the actual research, answer to the question). One then has to proceed by clearly stating the aim of the research and how one wants to â€Å"explore the problem† by comparing one or the other â€Å"literary source and concept†. Importantly, one also has to define the topic by qualifying it and the literature in terms of a particular set of â€Å"methods† to be used and deemed appropriate, be they person-oriented and qualitative, or of a more quantitative nature, or a mix of the two groups. At this stage, follows the â€Å"results- section†, an analysis and discussion of the data collected. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are made, and one also notes in which sense one’s study has tested the research question (Ellen, 1984). ‘ The Research Process Research, the search for knowledge and problem-solving, is a process whereby one continually adds to knowledge (Ellen, 1984). By this understanding, research is an ongoing process. There are, however, certain procedures to be followed and standards to be adhered to, be they of an â€Å"inductive† (experimental: â€Å"arriving at a theory based on facts†) or â€Å"deductive† (â€Å"facts are organized to match theory†) nature. Based on this division, one arrives at a â€Å"positivistic† and â€Å"relativistic stance†, resulting in a contrast of â€Å"explanation† (deduction, positivism, quantification) and â€Å"understanding† (induction, relativism, qualification) (Alexander, 1983; Gel lner, 1985)1. Thesis and hypothesis In his Sketch For A Theory Of The Emotions Sartre proposes a social and interactionist perspective by stressing the concept of â€Å"the social basis of emotions and the self†. His approach is inductive and grounded in arguments and examples to prove his thesis. His work is, he contends (and the present author tends to agree), an important critique of the â€Å"classic† literature on the constitution of emotions, consciousness and mind represented by such philosophers-psychologists as William James and Pierre Janet. Their focus is on the â€Å"individual† and his/her â€Å"consciousness†/†mind† as an analytical point of departure, an entity that exist a priori to one’s argument (Sartre, 1985, pp. 32 ff.)2. Opposed to this – and very revealing in terms of his empirical theory of emotions that are grounded in various fields of interaction with the social world (e.g., Mead, 1950) - Sartre states: â€Å" It [consciousness] arises as a relation of our psychic being and the world; and this relation –or rather our awareness of it – is not a chaotic relationship between the self and the universe, it is an organized and describable structure† (Sartre, 1985, p. 34) In the latter words, â€Å"organized and describable†, lie his procedure of proving his hypothesis regarding the social

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Human factors in aviation accidents Essay Example for Free

Human factors in aviation accidents Essay As a result of researches that recognized the existence of human factors in error management, the aviation industry also began to take initiatives to reformat aviation organisations. The aviation industry shifted to a more open culture that valued communication and at the same time recognized that human error will always be present but through time and more advanced studies can be reduced further (Sexton, Thomas Helmreich, 2000). Almost all aspects have been looked into. Selection and training processes were raised to a different level. While technical skills were highly valued before, they have been found to be inadequate in dealing with safety concerns. Selection of aircrew now includes processes that determine their ability to learn from errors and to become team players. There also has been a new approach for training – not only the pilots, but the entire crew is trained. There are also a mounting number of interventions that are being tested for their effectivity to modify behavioral patterns that could injure a system’s safety. Because crew resource management (CRM) failure is implicated in most aircraft accidents, CRM training programs, which began as a part of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA] program in 1979, began to be widely received by aviation organisations. Now on its 5th generation, CRM trainings for the crew have been conducted by major airlines and even the navy. The CRM training program encompasses many aspects of aviation safety such as situation awareness, task management and communication (Thomas, 2004). The 5th generation CRM programs can be viewed as a tool to effectively manage errors. CRM combats errors in three ways: obviously, the first one is the avoidance of error; the second Human Factors in Aviation Accidents 10 one is the â€Å"suppression† of the error before it happens; and third, the mitigation of the effects of the errors should it not be avoided (Helmreich, Merritt Wilhelm, 1999). The focus of the 5th generation CRM is the normalization of errors – whether due to active or latent failures – and the development of strategies to manage these errors (Helmreich, Merritt Wilhelm, 1999). Although CRM programs focus on human errors and its effects on aviation safety, it is never entirely a behavioral training. After all, if you recall, a â€Å"productive system† is an interaction of human and technological factors. Therefore, CRM is not to be taken as a stand-alone program. It is meant to be incorporated to technical trainings where the crew has to be adept in the operation of modern aviation technology and at the same time has to learn non-technical skills such as effective communication, coordination and teamwork. Despite the fact that intervention programs like the CRM has been introduced and conducted for crews in major and regional airlines for the two decades, the percentage of CRM failures in aviation accidents remained relatively flat (Wiegmann Shappell, 2001). Although initial results of CRM programs have been found to be encouraging such that positive results were seen almost immediately after the conduction of the program, it was soon obvious that such results were short-lived (Taneja, 2002). What could have happened that prevented such interventions to perform as expected? Helmreich Merritt (2000) offers an explanation at least for CRM. First, not everybody responds to CRM training. Some may have become less accepting of CRM after the training. Although attitudes do not necessarily define behavior, it has been a well-known maxim that those who reject a concept are more likely not to follow the principles that it imparts. (Helmreich, Merritt Wilhelm, 1999). Human Factors in Aviation Accidents 11 Culture – national, professional and organisational – is also a significant factor that determines the level of acceptance for a CRM concept (Helmreich Merritt, 2000). When CRM was introduced to other national cultures, it soon became evident that certain CRM concepts can either be readily accepted or rejected depending on the national culture. Cultures such as China and many Latin American countries that stress the importance of absolute power and authority of their leaders will necessarily be less receptive to the idea of subordinates questioning the decisions of their leaders, than cultures that are less hierarchical (Hofstede, 1980 as cited by Helmreich, Merrit Wilhelm, 1999). While CRM programs encourage subordinates to be more assertive in questioning their leaders, junior crew members in these cultures are quite disinclined to do this because of fear of showing disrespect. These same cultures are also collectivists who stress interdependenc and the necessity to work together for a common goal. In contrast, American and European cultures, which are highly individualistic, give more value to independence and more priority to individual goals. The value of teamwork and the need for coordination will most likely be readily accepted in the former than in the latter. There are also High Uncertainty Avoidance cultures like Greece, Korea and many Latin American countries that prefer CRM concepts already specifying required behaviors. Cultures that are low in Uncertainty Avoidance tend to be more flexible when it comes to behaviors but have difficulty adhering to standard operating procedures. Furthermore, this kind of culture, along with non-collectivist cultures are more questioning with regards to the usage of automation while High Uncertainty Avoidance and collectivist cultures accept the idea of automation usually without, or relatively less, questions. Intervention programs such as CRM should therefore not be patterned after a single national culture. From the discussion it can be seen above that autocratic cultures can also Human Factors in Aviation Accidents 12 value teamwork and interdependence than non-autocratic cultures (Helmreich, in press). Cultures exhibiting difficulty of adherence to SOPs may be more innovative when dealing with novel situations not covered by procedures. In contrast, cultures who stress strict adherence to rules may find it difficult to be more flexible in new situations. Although CRM programs require behavior modification, certain beliefs ingrained into a culture are quite difficult to modify. If CRM has to attain widespread global use, it has to design programs that are congruent to national culture and yet still enhances safety. Error management should therefore be embraced as a culture in itself. Focusing on threat and error management as goals, training programs should not aim for a total reversal of norms and beliefs but rather for a drawing out of positive behaviors without directly confronting national culture. Many professions, including aviation, have strong cultures and develop their own norms and values (Helmreich, in press). Each culture encompasses both positive and negative aspects. Aircrew for example has a high level of motivation and a strong sense of professional pride. The negative component, which is seen to be universal, is the inability to admit vulnerability to stressors. Majority of pilots in almost all national cultures agree that their decision-making abilities are not hampered by personal problems and that it is as good in emergency situations as in normal situations. Furthermore, most of these pilots have indicated that they do not make errors even while under stress. This â€Å"macho† culture, when left uncorrected, can lead to risk taking, failure to coordinate with other crew members and error. Indeed, one focus of the 5th generation CRM program is to help pilots acknowledge that human error does occur and they are more vulnerable to it if they continue to deny the existence and effect of stressors. As stated earlier, the organisational culture determines the principle of the organisation towards safety. One reason why CRM does not deliver results when it should is Human Factors in Aviation Accidents 13 the organisational context on which the program was delivered (Helmreich Merritt, 2000). Organisations may have a highly evolved safety culture and possesses a positive outlook on safety. Such organisations will most likely benefit from CRM and other intervention strategies. Others react only to safety threats once they are looming while some organisations give perfunctory attention to safety issues without really embracing a safety culture that works towards a highly effective accident prevention program. The current process of investigating errors during accidents also contributes to the apparently limited success of intervention strategies. Most accident reporting systems are primarily technological and have been designed with little regard to human factors. Such systems are on their way to being perfected in terms of identifying mechanical failures but in itself is also a bit of a failure when it comes to assessment of human errors (Wiegmann Shappell, 2001). An examination of an accident investigation process may help drive down the point. When an accident due to mechanical failure happens, investigators examine objective and quantifiable information such as that obtained from the flight data recorder. The data is processed and the probable causes of the accident are recorded so that safety recommendations can be identified. After the investigation, the data obtained is entered into a database which can be periodically accessed to provide feedback to investigators. The information in the database can also be used by funding organizations to determine which researches to fund. As a result, intervention strategies are further developed to prevent mechanical failure from happening or mitigate consequences once they do happen (Helmreich Merritt, 2000). Either way, the number of accidents due to mechanical failures has been greatly reduced. Human Factors in Aviation Accidents 14 In contrast, investigations of accidents due to human errors produce results that are not tangible and are difficult to quantify. And because the studies of human factors came later than studies of mechanical failures, investigative techniques used in human error analysis are less refined than those used to assess engineering and design concerns. When these techniques are used to analyze accident data, the results are rarely very useful and safety issues cannot be readily addressed. Therefore any intervention strategy designed using this data is not assured of success. Taneja (2002) echoes this concern stating that human errors have been implicated in 70-80% of aircraft accidents demonstrating the very limited success of current intervention strategies and also proposes a solution: a holistic approach to intervention strategies. To date, most researches on human factors in aviation have focused on specific aspects of aircraft accident prevention. Sarter and Alexander (2000) have observed that current researches on human error focus mainly on three key aspects: the development of error classification schemes, the design of error-tolerant systems, and error prevention through improved design and additional training (as cited by Taneja, 2002). Because accident prevention is such a wide field of study, it is very possible that certain aspects have been missed out or overlooked. Error framework also abound as almost every human factor researcher comes up with his own error framework. With so many intervention strategies proposed by researchers and some even practiced in the industry, there have been inadequate attempts to integrate these strategies into a holistic solution. A holistic approach to intervention strategies involve looking at all the possible links to an aircraft accident in order to come up with an intervention that best fits an organisation. Basing on all the links, an organisation must assess in what area their weaknesses lie and determine if these need intervention. The intervention strategy to be used in a certain Human Factors in Aviation Accidents 15 organisation will therefore be customized according the weak links in the organisation’s system. The two links that are directly related to aviation accidents are the aircraft and the aircrew. Although accidents due to mechanical failures have been greatly reduced to advancement in technology, there needs to be constant assessment of the aircraft in general and the human factors affecting the man-machine interface in particular (Taneja, 2002). Intervention strategies that can be applied to aircrew can be divided into two broad categories: selection and training. Ever since the knowledge that human factors contribute to aviation accidents, the selection process have been amended such that the pilots are not chosen based on technical skill alone but more so on their ability to coordinate with fellow aircrew, recognize their own errors and be willing to work with others to deal with these errors. Once chosen, the pilot’s training will have a great impact on his proficiency and possibly, on his ability to avoid accidents. Possible interventions on these two main links can have a major influence on the number of accidents encountered by the organisation. The process of accident investigation, although a secondary link, should also be looked into in for possible intervention strategies. To date there is no benchmark as to the training and expertise a safety investigator must have. In order for a standardised level of investigation to be achieved, there needs to be a minimum with regards to the exposure an investigator must have. The investigative tools that the safety investigator uses could also be subject to an intervention. As discussed earlier, investigation techniques for human errors are inadequate at present and needs further researches in order the reach the level of refinement of evaluative techniques for mechanical failures. The kinds of human errors as discussed by Wiegmann and Shappell (2001) while developing HFACS, are also links that could be used to come up with more effective Human Factors in Aviation Accidents 16 intervention strategies. Furthermore, autopsy results during aircraft accidents, although unable to prevent future accidents, can be used to design intervention strategies that will make an aircraft accident more survivable. Upon carefully assessing the links just mentioned and determining the areas that need intervention, it is recognized that the success of any strategy ultimately depends on the Organisational Safety Culture (Taneja, 2002). Toft (1989) defined an organisation’s safety culture as â€Å"the set of norms, beliefs, attitudes and roles, social and technical practices that minimizes the exposure of the managers, employees and the general public to conditions considered dangerous or injurious† (as cited by Taneja, 2002). Discussed in brief earlier, the way an organisation handles errors and error management strategies depend on its safety culture. A safety conscious organisation will not treat an accident as just another unavoidable circumstance but rather will focus its efforts in preventing future accidents from happening. A careful investigation that searches for the possible factors leading to the occurrence of the accident will be performed. Ideally, an organisation with a highly effective safety culture will aim to plug the hole in the Swiss cheese model before another opportunity for a catastrophe will be created (Reason, 1990 as cited by Taneja, 2002). Even organisations that have a sound safety culture however can still be plagued by errors caused by human limitations such as fatigue, severe workloads, inadequate training, poorly-maintained equipment and errors caused by the air traffic control which would consequently affect the aircrew and the organisation. Even if the organisation has tried to remove every conceivable active and latent failure, chance errors can still take place (Heimrich Merritt, 2000). But every organisation is bound to have a loophole. Thus, constant monitoring of all aspects in the organisation , whether directly related to safety or not, is essential. Human Factors in Aviation Accidents 17 Because errors can arise from a variety of sources, any single intervention strategy, such as the CRM must not be taken as a panacea for eliminating error. CRM is only a tool that organisations use to perform error management. All intervention strategies have its limitation – the effects it will have on an organisation depends on the national culture, the strengths and weaknesses of the professional culture, and the organisational safety culture. Furthermore, the way the people at the frontline perceive the intervention strategy will affect the outcome of such a strategy. In summary, the study of human factors affecting aircraft accidents has fostered an abundance of researches in this field. With the conception of CRM almost three decades ago, numerous error frameworks and intervention strategies have been proposed and used. Unfortunately, such a plethora of studies have not created a significant reduction on human error-related aircraft accidents. Presumably because it is still a relatively young field, the researches need more focus and the intervention strategies need more refinement. Intervention strategies have to address differences in national, professional and organisational culture. It is also important that intervention strategies be customized to a certain organisation to ensure a greater amount of success. With the continuous development and improvement of researches in this field, there will bound to be a breakthrough in time, and the success that has long been sought will finally be at hand. Human Factors in Aviation 18. References Helmreich, R. L. (in press). Culture, threat and error: Assessing system safety. In Safety in Aviation: The Management Commitment: Proceedings of a Conference. London: Royal Aeronautical Society.Retrieved October 2, 2007 from http://homepage. psy. utexas. edu/HomePage/Group/HelmreichLAB/Publications/pubfiles/Pub257. pdf. Helmreich, R. L. Merritt, A. C. (2000). Safety and error management. The role of Crew Resource Management. In B. J. Hayward and A. R. Lowe (Eds. ), Aviation Resource Management. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. 107-119. Helmreich, R. L. Merritt, A. C. Wilhelm, J. A. (1999). The evolution of Crew Resource Management training in commercial aviation. International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 9(1):19-32. Reason, J. (2000). Human error: Models and management. BMJ, 320(7237): 768-770. Sexton, J. , Thomas, E. J. Helmreich, R. L. (2000). Error, stress and teamwork in medicine and aviation: cross sectional surveys. BMJ, 320:745-749. Taneja, N. (2002). Human factors in aircraft accidents: A holistic approach to intervention strategies. Retrieved October 1, 2007 from www. humanfactors. uiuc. edu/ReportsPapersPDFs/humfac02/tanejahf02. pdf. Thomas, M. J. W. (2004). Error management training: Defining best practice. ATSB Aviation Safety Research Grant Scheme Project 2004/0050. Retrieved October 1, 2007 from www. atsb. gov. au/publications/2004/pdf/error_management_training_best_practice. pdf. Wiegmann, D. A. Shappell, S. A. (2003). A human error approach to aviation accident analysis. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Human Factors in Aviation Accidents 19 Wiegmann, D. A. Shappell, S. A. (2001 February). A human error analysis of commercial aviation accidents using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System [HFACS]. Office of Aviation Medicine. Retrieved October 2, 2007 from www. hf. faa. gov/docs/508/docs/cami/0103. pdf.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

The Traditional Tok Diagram Essay Example for Free

The Traditional Tok Diagram Essay The traditional TOK diagram indicates four ways of knowing. Propose the inclusion of a fifth way of knowing selected from intuition, memory or imagination, and explore the knowledge issues it may raise in two areas of knowledge. Our whole life is a continuous process of gaining information. This information is our basic knowledge about the world. It is coming in different forms, from different sources. And it is vitally important to store this information, in order to understand your own present. That is why I think people have a memory. My personal interpretation of memory is similar to a log-book. My experience is the notes I am writing in my life journey. Like memories, many of notes will eventually vanish, other will stay forever. But, is it possible for memory to function as a way of knowing (WOK)? Can I use my memory to gain knowledge about something? In TOK, I used to think that we cannot gain knowledge through memory, as it depended on WOKs as a source of knowledge. Memory is interpreted as storage for the gained knowledge and experience. However, is possible for WOKs themselves be depended on memory? My life, views and tastes are result of my past experience. So, it can be said that our reasoning is coming from analysis of previous experience and memory. In this essay, I will exploit reliability of memory as way of knowing and issues it may rise in areas of knowledge (AOK). We are living in building up our memory. It changes and vanishes like paintings. My first issues about memory were consisted in area of art. I thought how I our knowledge of the past influencing view on art? In the past, Shakespeare wasn’t famous in England. Only after decades his name became known to whole England, and now, he is standing among the greatest writers of all time. Same thing with me, I remember how I read Shakespeare poem once and I didn’t know who he was. It meant I didn’t have knowledge about him, so when I read it I didn’t like it that much. I thought it was too simple. However, when I studied about his past, his works and poems in school, my opinion about him changed. I updated my memory, thus knowledge about him and it changed my perspectives about his writing. Now when I see one of his poems, I automatically make a reason about this poem as a good piece of work before actually reading poem itself. So, can it be considered that memory is central WOK in art? What kind of connection between WOKs and memory? For example perception, e.g. seeing by itself is nothing than just lighting is interacting with eye. Use of memory helps to verify these â€Å"pictures† and classify them. Thus, our experience of the past helping us to understand the present. But, can we use memory as source of knowledge? For example, sculpture or drawing in art. Painter should have some information about an object that he wants to draw, as for making sculpture you need to memorize body forms. From all WOKs, reason is mostly depended on memory, as we can’t make decisions without using our past memory. Here is another issue arising. How somebody can propose knowledge claims without using a memory? Can I make a logically correct reason without using previous information that already stored in my head? This is a tricky part about memory being a WOK. It is assumed that memory is depended on other WOKs and knowledge stored in memory gained by traditional WOKs, e.g. perception. However, use of these four WOKs imply help of memory, we always use our previous experience in understanding present. Memory is connecting new knowledge to information from our past experience, so items are stored in relation to each other and their meaning coming from the knowledge which they are associated with. This is why for instance thinking about ocean, fish, danger and blood automatically pops shark into my conscious mind. Better example for that claim will be Gestalt Theory. It is based on pictures of different shapes which are forming different elements or things. Whole process is depended on point of your personal view, mainly memory that will trigger from seeing those forms. Famous example of this theory will picture of young lady and old woman. Both of images are correct, but knowledge we get from these shapes are different. It shows significance of using of memory. We see different relations to our memory, thus different pictures. Brain is not interested in storing exact copies, it interested in storing information and it distils and organizes this information for future use. We continually update information in circles. But, sometimes it creates bags in our brain. Example for that will be testimony; there is a lot of evidence of false decisions in courts. Memory influenced by our eyewitness and WOKs is giving us incorrect information. By now, I assumed memory as a depended element of gaining knowledge. But, can role of memory be considered as independent source of knowledge, while other WOKs are depending on it? Consider this knowledge claim. Good example for that can be shown in Human science area. Specifically in performance of football player on TV program called â€Å"Tested to the limit†. This player was tested in four categories: body strength, mental ability, technique and skill. In mental ability category, the coach was asked to give a corner kick to the player. However, as soon as the coach’s foot touched the ball, the lights went out. Player had to stroke in darkness. So, in TOK terms it meant that football player should use only his experience in order to make a reason of the ball flight and succeed. His basic sources of knowledge like perception and language were eliminated. Thus, his memory played a key factor. However, I questioned myself â€Å"How football player can use his memory to reason without any precondition for using his past experience?† Memory wasn’t his initial source of knowledge. In the beginning, perception was used e.g. he saw how ball was kicked. Reading the body language and subconscious analyze of the ball flight is a result of memory which was triggered by perception. It shows how closely WOKs are interacting with memory. Although, it wasn’t initial knowledge, memory took role of basic source of knowledge. Reason was fully depended on memory experience, and produced as result of memory process. Football player succeeded, his subconscious ability has come from thousands of practice hours which filled his mind with so many permutations of game to tap in to. It is a same as you studying another subject, like learning a new language. You are basically building up experience, learning basic rules of grammar and vocabulary. Thus as you become more fluent in a language, you don’t think about it as much. Same with football player, his vast experience gives him inability to intuitively read the game. I could say memory and experience his main weapons in football. To conclude my essay, it is important to evaluate position of memory in theory of knowledge. As I said before, memory is very tricky concept, it is hard to tell, are the WOKs depended on memory or reverse. In my opinion memory is not a WOK. However it is already included in each of traditional WOKs, as it is playing role of connecting bridge between them. Memory is overlaid on top of each other. So, things you learnt make past information you remembered look little bit different. Our memory explains knowledge we gain and relates it to our experience. Role of memory is vital, but its power stored in its ability to be storage of our knowledge and experience, because these elements are base of our life.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Analysis Of A Whole Tourism System Tourism Essay

Analysis Of A Whole Tourism System Tourism Essay Introduction Nowadays, the world tourism industry is growing very fast. Tourists are now visiting more remote areas and amazing places. Tourism in presents world is no more a basic sightseeing. The tourism systems are the arrangement of people, places and organizations in particular roles and it is named as a geographical extremities. Many of the tourism systems are modeled as arrangements of five common elements which are interactive to environments (Leiper, 1990). So, this paper would like to present the Whole Tourism System (WTS) in a peaceful destination like Auckland city in New Zealand as it is famous about Eco-tourism Adventured-tourism and wonderful nature. Almost all of foreign tourists visit the Auckland city as a first city when they come to New Zealand. In This paper will analysis Bangkok and Auckland and case study from my experience when I was an international student and stay there for 10 months. I took a Thai airway (TG) direct flight from Bangkok to Auckland. I paid for booking the round trip air ticket around 40,000 Bath. Normally, if you stay for holiday the air fares much cheaper. Maybe the price between 25,000 35,000 Bath. It depends on which airline you choose. During I studied in Auckland, my cousin come to travel in Auckland. At that time, He arrived by Thai airways direct flight but his air ticket was cheaper than my ticket because he plan to stay in Auckland for 2weeks. So, I taught him about Transit Route (TR) and also we went to Waiheke Island by Ferries boat to get into. It not far from Auckland city. However, we collected the information from Tourist Information centre at the Aucklands Sky Tower. So, Auckland city is quite easy for travel without agency because New Zealand concern about this and also the local peo ple speak English language. WHOLE TOURISM SYSTEM (WTS) Whole tourism system will help to understand about the tourism WTS is huge because every itinerary route followed by one or more tourists it is an open system its models are recognize that facts and its implementation the closed system is the one does not interact with the environment (Leiper, 2004). In other word, many people are seeing the tourism as an industry rather than understanding the tourism as a system which includes the elements which are interrelated parts working together to complete general purposes. This is called tourism system (Mill and Morrison, 2002). The whole systems will tells about all tourism industry business hotels, resorts airlines other business and organizations affected by the tourism. And it provides the better understanding to the people who are working the hotels and resorts to not basically provide service to customers but to understand why they are coming to the hotels (Mill and Morrison, 2002). And Leiper said that the system he thought that there should be a model of whole tourism system (WTS) to present a way of bearing in mind the complete scope of tourism. Also the whole tourism systems focus and develops tourism market for meets the requirement of a tourist. So the propose of this paper will describe and analysis a whole tourism system. Tourists Tourism has become a popular in a global leisure activity. According to Leiper said that the tourists are the people who travel away from the home to another place for a short-term period of at least one night, to the extent that their behaviour involves a search for leisure experiences from interactions with features or characteristics of places they choose to visit. (Leiper, 2004) And also Leiper said At least one tourist is elementary. Without tourists there can be tourism (Leiper, 2004). In this case, from the information of Tourism New Zealand show that the visitors who come to the New Zealand spend 6.2 billion us dollars by international visitor in the year to Dec 2009. So, New Zealand tourism industry from the last couple of years has emerged as a major factor in the growth of New Zealand economy with substantial foreign exchange earnings. As tourism constitutes various other related sectors including hotels, resorts, and other industries it has a significant contribution to the overall revenue. However, Tourism New Zealand show the table about the most number of tourists will come to see the Auckland city which is once the biggest city of New Zealand before they visit another place in New Zealand. In this case, Bangkok is traveller generating region (TGR) and Tourism New Zealand said the number of Thai people come to travel in New Zealand at least 3,500 visitors, followed by March, May and October. There were 19,296 visitor arrivals from this market in the year ended November 2009. Except the number of tourists from Thailand airport comes to visit Auckland city who is not Thai people. So, Bangkok able to be a first of traveller generating region or second traveller generating region as well. Traveller-generating region (TGR): Bangkok, Thailand Traveller-generating region (TGR) is places where a tourists trip begins and normally ends (Leiper, 2004). The generating regions are the place for the essential markets of the tourist business and it is the basis of tourist industry (Bhatta, 2002). Traveller-generating region (TGR) is the origin of tourist or a place that inspire the desire to travel (Leiper, 2004). However, Auckland city concerned about Traveller-generating region (TGR) is important. That can show from the number of travel fair which New Zealand come to promoted themself. Because New Zealand attracts a steady number of visitors from the South East Asian markets of India, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The markets have shown resilience during the global economic downturn, proving their value for New Zealand tourism. Although these markets are smaller in visitor numbers, awareness of an interested in New Zealand holidays is strong. These markets also offer good opportunities to boost visitor numbers to New Zealand in autumn, which is the peak time for travel from Thailand. And visitor arrivals from Thailand decreased by 3.4 per cent in the year ended June 2008 from one year prior followed by a slight increase of 1.3 per cent in the year ended 2009. So Bangkok not only Tourist destination region (TDR) for every traveller it can be come to a Traveller-generating region (TGR) for the people who live or come to travel in Bangkok and the tourists who comes to visit can plan to next travel to go to Auckland city before go back home or other destinations anyway. Transits Route (TR): Bangkok to Auckland Leiper said that Transits Route (TR) is places that tourist passing through along the way in order to get to their tourist destination regions (Leiper, 2004). So, there are many international flights to New Zealand and from there are several ways to reach the main destination for Auckland city. Unfortunately, availability of airline seats is a concern for New Zealand in South East Asia, particularly for India, which is not currently served by direct flights to New Zealand. Tourism New Zealands Regional Manager for South East Asia is based in Mumbai, but we also have offices in Bangkok and Singapore. Anyway, there are many direct international flights from Bangkok to Auckland. Thai Airways now flies four 777-300 non-stop services per week between Bangkok and Auckland. The airline is looking at increasing services between the two cities in the near future. In Auckland city, you can rent the car or take a punctually bus (Stagecoach Auckland) when tourist want to go travel in the city. However, the information of Tourism New Zealand showed that 50% of visitor from Thailand are coming with a group. So, it much easier to go travel in every main tourist attraction. Tourist destination region (TDRs): Auckland, New Zealand Tourist destination region (TDR) are places where a tourists main visiting activities occurs (Leiper, 2004) and Tourist destination region (TDR) can be defined as places where travels choose to stay awhile for leisure experiences(Leiper, 2004). Followed by Leiper said, New Zealand is one of the well-known destinations of the World Tourism map with peaceful city. Auckland city is one of peaceful city in New Zealand. Population of Auckland city without traveller are around 1.3millions. Local people said Auckland city as a city of sail or queen city because Auckland city is a biggest and grow up fastest in New Zealand. Nowadays, Auckland is a centre of business and industry. Not only this, Auckland city is a city with natural resources and green the atmosphere so Auckland city becomes popular for international student and traveler more. Moreover, there are plenty of shopping areas, lot of souvenir and the tourist attraction. Form my advised which are push factor of Auckland city; Aucklands Sky Tower is highlight of Auckland city. There are casino, restaurants, high jump activity and the best view point inside the tower. Mount Eden is old volcano mountain area and the highest point of Auckland city. Auckland Zoo is fantastic place to see Pacific Oceans animal. Traveler also can found Kiwi bird as the symbolic of New Zealand. Auckland Museum is the one of biggest museum in New Zealand. National Maritime Museum is the museum which collects the history of ocean 1,000 years before. Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Tamaki is collecting every kind of arts of New Zealand including Maori arts too. Victoria Park Market as a creative market for teenager and traveler. One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie) is a volcanic cone which dominates the skyline in the southern inner suburbs. Also it is history place of negotiation about Maori people and European people. Ericsson Stadium is a rugby stadium. It is a famous place of local people because rugby is the most famous sport in New Zealand. Auckland Harbour Bridge is also the highlight and one of Auckland citys symbolic. However, Maori Culture and Maori Art easily found. Also Auckland is the best place for sheep products it is pretty cheap and the tourists can find different verities of sheep product and best quality too. Tourist visit Auckland in early morning, afternoon, or evening and also a special part of Auckland city is a night time. Especially sky tower changes colour every month. So, it is very beautiful to visit Auckland city as a Tourist destination region (TDR). Tourism industries Normally, tourists are booking everything from travel agency but some just booking only air ticket so Tourism industries quite important for tourist. Leiper said that Tourism industries are an organizational element which is collections of managed organizations in the business of tourism that work together to some degree in marketing tourism and providing services, goods and facilities and Tourism industries represent organizations that engage or influent the tourists activities (Leiper, 2004). The tourists arriving in Auckland were welcomed by local people. And there are various tourism industries to accommodate tourists visiting to Auckland. Kiwiexperience.com one of many choice about tourism information service which is reasonable price and many of tourist from this site are around 18-35 year old. Tourismnewzealand.com is recognized by ministry of government for give every information to traveller. However, Auckland city has a many information centre service and also there are off icer who wearing a red suit will help you to give information for traveller in every main street. So it quite helpful for traveller without travel plans. ENVIRONMENTS AFFECTING WHOLE TOURISM SYSTEM (WTS) Environments nearby a tourism destination interrelate with tourism actions happening in the destination. Following are some environments affecting WTS in Auckland. Physical environment The Atmosphere in the city the architecture of the buildings reflects European style and elegance. Some of architectural is Maori style. It is the one of many major tourist attractions in Auckland. And also Auckland city is a green city and safe. So, this kind of physical environment is the first reason for the city to be a Tourist destination region (TDR). Climate change At the present, Auckland is facing some world environmental problems call climate change or global warming. So some time Auckland meets some bad effect of this problem too. World economy crisis World economy crisis effects to every tourist from worldwide. Tourist least spent their money and also they slow down for many holiday plan. So, just like Leiper said no tourist no tourism. WHOLE TOURISM SYSTEM (WTS) AFFECTING ENVIRONMENTS The environments of anything are the nearby circumstance that may have an effect on it in any way and that might be affected by it (Leiper, 2004). Physical impacts Mainly in Auckland mostly at weekend it is seen as physical impacts caused by the growing number of tourists coming from everywhere and the domestic tourists are visit in the weekend time. So it a lot of traveller in every beaches or tourist attractions. It is main worst part and the pollution. So, water pollutions and urban waste are increased because of activities done by tourists. Economic impacts Tourism has major effects on the economies of destination areas (Mathieson and Wall, 1982). So, A number of factors are responsible for the rapid growth and development of the tourism industry in New Zealand. These include the strong economic growth increase in income, breakdown of political barriers, easing of travel restrictions, liberalization of air transport, and focused marketing campaigns. Strong economic growth in New Zealand is attributed to a focus on market reforms, export oriented industries, stable currencies, diversification of the economy, and massive injection of foreign capital. Billions of Us dollars are being poured into the tourism infrastructure to accommodate a rapidly increasing Indian tourism industry. This has intensified trade, investment, and travel within the region and with the rest of the world. Tourism also helps to generate additional job placements for its people (Mathieson and Wall, 1982). Tourists are spending money in Auckland as a Tourist destinat ion region (TDR) and also give involvement in rising per person wages in the places and also improve various businesses for other communities. CONCLUSION This report showed how the model of Whole Tourism System (WTS) is applied in Auckland city. There are five elements in whole tourism systems they are Travellers Generating Regions (TGR), the Transit Route (TR) and the Tourist Destination Region (TDR) Tourism Industries and Tourist. Knowledge of how Leipers Basic Whole Tourist System aids in the development of a destination such as Auckland city. Throughout my study in this area I have looked at this whole system will helps the tourism planners the planners need to understand this system because this paper gives the brief understanding about each and every element in this system and how it will after the other system as well. All the system are interrelated to other systems so each and every element should work properly as if one fails to function properly wit will affect the whole tourism system. According from my point of view after studying about the whole tourism system each and every element is important to be a success full trip if one of the elements is missing from the Whole tourism system (WTS) there is no tour and then there is no tourism.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Golem At Large, What You Should Know About Technology. :: essays research papers

â€Å"The Golem at Large: What you should know about technology†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Technology can be regarded as a phenomenon with vast uncertainties. Technological change is rapid and we are struggling to keep up to date with the latest advances, while learning new ones and trying to prepare for the next changes proposed for the future. In order to do so, however, we need to be clear about what we mean, and what we consider to be a technology and evaluate some of the assumptions of our understanding of our technologically advanced society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In ‘The Golem at Large, What we should know about technology’ The authors’ main purpose is to show their audience that we trust technology too much and don’t take into consideration that human error occurs. Much of the world of technology, as suggested by the authors, is built on trust: â€Å"Trust that the engineers have done their job responsibly, trust that they have the right expertise to do the job properly. â€Å" The idea that even the best intentions go wrong, and that even well designed technology can go wrong at times. They also emphasize that we tend to blame technical failure rather than the human consumption failing itself. By contrast, they chose to link technology to the golem. The golem was a creature from Jewish mythology and while not evil, is marked by a clumsy drive. Technology, at its cutting edge, will always rage with controversy, because there is no neutral place, nor a central point, in the search for responsib ility and accountability of a failed technology. The authors’ also try to accomplish certain biased viewpoints throughout this book. They prove this by showing us how the imperfections of technology are related to the uncertainties of science. They are basically trying to show the audience that we need not trust technology completely, because we are the ones who developed it to originally and that humans are really the ones not to be trusted. Many of these cases have a main point to be accomplished by the authors’. For example in the Patriot missile story, they try to bring a certain message across to their audience to prove their thesis. Sometimes, issues that the authors attempt to address are raised in the context of technology the are discussing. However, these instances are few and far between and the proposed solutions ,I feel ,can be criticised. It would seem that the audience that they are trying to capture in this book, I think, are the type of people that pay close attention to media that occur with these type of events.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Metaphors For War :: essays research papers

The use of metaphors are an important factor with any piece of literature. Metaphors add color to creative writings, also establishing depth. A story without metaphors is lifeless, unable to compose another way to view it. The term for a metaphor is a figure of speech in which term is transferred to something it does not literally apply to, this helps the brain create a mental picture which the person might easily understand what the character is feeling. When a person finally makes the connection between the metaphor and the idea, the story takes a deeper meaning. In the story by E.M. Remarque, 'All Quiet on the Western Front', you see a vast quantity of metaphors to connect the characters thoughts together. While reading this book, you may decide to ignore the metaphors, by not truly understanding the meaning they portray. In this, you fail to grasp the emotions that the author relates to you in the tale of the soldiers of the book. If you take the time to appreciate what the author writes by using metaphors the story will be more enjoyable. Understanding metaphors is not always easy, many people get similes and metaphors mixed up. A simile is nothing more then a baby metaphor. You must be able to pick out a metaphor in the story, no matter how minuscule. For even though it may appear small, it might be a lead to another far bigger metaphor. Through this, the intended meaning will appear. When Paul the main character, refers to the front as a whirlpool, this is quite a large metaphor, with a deeply rooted meaning. "To me the front is a mysterious whirlpool. Though I am in still water far away from its centre, I feel the whirl of the vortex sucking me slowly, irresistibly, inescapably into itself" (Ch.4,Pg55) This is saying that though he is not even close to the front, he still feels the effects from his position. It creates the mental picture that Paul is a boat in a large ocean, and far in the distance the whirlpool is barely seen on the horizon. Though slowly, maybe without him even realizing it, he is being pulled towards the whirlpool. This is an example of a metaphor and the mental images it creates to help people understand the book. The author also has a cage represent the front, "The front is a cage in which we must await fearfully

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Oral History Essay

In recreating the historical aspect of life and experiences, one particular area has already flourished and created a definite voice and way to elucidate what other things that were missed by the historians. Oral history became popularized through its ability to generate a powerful narration of a personal account of what other historical artifacts may be found. It seems that oral history has paved the way of giving out the accounts of our forefathers as a way of a hand-me-down run-down of the past. Although normally most people have certain qualms or reservations regarding this arena, it still could not be helped when most cultures generate their own historical marks through this process. This might be due to this particular regeneration and recreation that people are skeptical about. The verification of these orally transmitted histories would take a lifetime to discover or it might take a rigorous process. In a way, it would not be helped then that oral histories are taken with much doubt. These doubts then could be alleviated by means of meticulous and precise research and background study. It might not eradicate all the skeptics but it could give justice and justification in regarding oral histories as merely hearsays. True enough that oral histories would come to be formulated though word of mouth but giving a certain backdrop could, at the least, make it acceptable. Oral history then provides us with an alternative into viewing history as a whole. There could be two general reservations for oral history. The first is its inclination towards a more personalized view of historical aspects. Lastly, the discussion on oral history’s inclination towards the artistic implications would be tackled in giving a light to the personalized input of the subject matter, oral history. It is the aim then of this paper to view oral history as a part of a broader argument for it being a form of art of which art as another contributor to history. Suffice to say, oral history would then be investigated as a form of an art work through its personalized and artistic quality. In connection to this then, an argument for art being a contributor to history would be played to reveal that oral history too could be a source of history, albeit a particular view but a source nonetheless. This ambitious event would take place then through arguing that narratives from oral history could recreate a more artistic ideal and with this generates a whole new perspective regarding the personalized approach to oral history. It would not be scraped then that oral history has a hint of a more personalized quality. It would seem that life stories are generally tainted with the perspective of the speaker and at the same time the views are â€Å"reportable† in nature (Linde 20-21). In the advent of this occurrence, it could be seen then that autobiographies and/or biographies are personalized in nature through the prospect that it is in the perspective of the speaker. It was generally known that autobiographies and the like are written in this approach. To come to terms with this aspect then is to be able to recognize that some of these biographies are taken orally through interviews and just as final output it was written to be published. What is essential though is that this form of story is just apart of the whole perspective of culture, event, etc. The person or the self then greatly contributes to the whole (Linde 50). Given that these personal accounts could contribute to the whole, it would not then be amiss to claim that there are certain indications where the personal quality of oral history, in this case autobiography and/or biography, is useful for the historical aspect of a tribe, or a country. These accounts then could be verified through the more holistic and objective aspect of history. The danger that is presented in this aspect is that it could become a mere novel where fictional attribution is heavily distinguished in the work. A good resolution for this danger is to be able to have a certain framework that would surely not deviate from the purpose of the literary work. The realization and the recognition of the aim then are through seeing that the work as needed to generate a particular view of the general historical event. It is in this view that narratives could work through framing, where it becomes a â€Å"sharing of memory within a culture (Bruner 56). † What could be inferred here is that although the works are personal in nature, it should be case that these accounts are used in accordance to what constitutes the factual events of the time. In a way, these aspects then could be seen in the light of certain historical and cultural hints in the work. It was said that â€Å"schematic† basis should be generated through the institutional and historical aspect where the experience of the speaker came from (Bruner 57). The best recourse then is to be able to identify a written output as a plain autobiography and/or biography with a certain aim and balanced fictional input, just enough to heighten the affective quality that it would have on the reader. It could also be seen that this personalized contribution could be seen in a collective manner. This is, again, with the implication that these works were â€Å"canonical interpretation† of an event. In this aspect, it could then be viewed that a collective memory of a group could become an ideology set for reporting an event or even a particular conception in relation to societal factors (Billig 60-61). It was said then that this memory could be a process in reconstructing the past through a certain discourse (Billig 62). In a way, a retelling of the past then occurs through a conversational way and at the same time it could commemorate what had happened. It was said that oral history could take the form of a narrative concerning a person’s perspective regarding his/her culture. One way of looking at this is the way it could generate an autobiographical and/or biographical sketch of a person’s life. In a way, it would seem then that an interview or of same sort could recreate a different milieu of the more generalized objective report of historical accounts. What is meant by this is that some people tend to portray their culture through a more literary perspective. The stories that could be compiled then from word of mouth from ancestors could become a way in recreating historical accounts at the same time it gives out an artistic quality to it. Folk tales are recognized as traditional input of legends that could become a way in extracting a more cultural approach in history. This tradition not only secures the cultural aspect in it but also secures that the belief system of a group and be passed down from generation to generation. As was mentioned earlier, a popular approach to oral history is through the usage of the autobiography and/or biography. It is in this case that life stories could be used in producing a historical account. Although this form may be written when published but the part where it was oral is the fact that these written forms could come from the interviews that was done to compile such work as was mentioned earlier. It is the case then that a certain goal or aim should be realized and reached when giving out the interview. It would be the goal where a more detailed aspect of, for example, a war or a detailed aspect of what was happening at a certain event. Only that these detailed reports would come from a certain perspective or angle rather than a more holistic approach the way the usual writing of history is done. In the light of this occurrence, it could then be said that the narrative has a tinge of a dramatic approach to the cultural basis of which the story could introduce. This dramatic attempt then makes it hard for the people to actually count these autobiographical and/or biographical sketches as an authentic output of historical events. But what is fascinating about these narratives is that it suggests a certain value of combining the seemingly obvious to the obscure (Bruner 47). This could happen through generating a more personalized way of construing the historical account. What could be said about narratives is that it could be real or imaginary without ever taking the power that it could create for the readers (Bruner 44). In this case then, life stories could provide a tableau for both events without succumbing to a more fabled or fictional function of narratives and/or stories. The problem of folktales is that it has a more fabled approach to it that generally it could not reassure the readers of the authenticity that they are inclined with. In the autobiographical and/or biographical approach, it has a minimal problem with regards to authenticity that it would not create a major problem among readers. The literary input then could be balanced by the factual input of the biographer that this authenticity problem would not be a major concern. What could be the major concern is that whether or not the synchronicity of factual to a more literary approach is well balanced so as to not make the work look more literary than necessary. Given this attribute then, it would seem that the life stories could generate a backdrop for the wider and objective view on history. A good example is the book is the autobiography of Delfino Cuero. The book contains a concise historical documentation of the tribe of which Delfino Cuero belongs and a historical chronology of what was happening during a certain time span as well as the cultural history of Delfino Cuero (Shipek 7-18). It could then be presumed that a right combination of the narrative and the factual input could create certain oral historical outputs that are both informative and recreational. The mundane and the objective then combined could produce a historical deviation from the usual report style documentation of events. The artistic implication set then is the fact that biographies and/or autobiographies could be deemed as literature. It was generally seen that literature is a form of artwork. It generally gives a certain hint of the cultural background of a certain place, people, or country. It could be seen that literature has become one of the paths on providing certain backgrounds on the cultural aspect as well as the events of a given place. It is a leeway of which historical events are colored to produce the necessary outcome. In lieu of what was mentioned above it could be seen then that these works formed as a literature could be seen as an artwork of some sort. In this aspect, a view on art as one of the contributors of history could be seen. It would seem that art and artworks could generally create the necessary background of the cultural aspect of history as well as certain accounts of the historical aspect of a place or country. Take for example sculptures, there chronological and sequential updates could view a certain aspect of the progress of civilizations. Another area of which these form of artwork tackle is the direct or indirect influence of other countries or civilizations in the country. It could then be a way to produce certain evidences needed for accounting the historical events of a place. In autobiographies and/or biographies, it could be seen that the accounts made by the speaker or author could generally pinpoint a certain area of the countries’ progress. As was repetitively implied earlier, the particular perspective would then come from a general view of the historical event. It could then be deduced that oral historical forms could come through interviewing and would generate an autobiographical and/or biographical production that is generally written in format. This production then could be personalized in nature but given a much canonical interpretation, it could produce a credible and authentic output for a particular view in history. What could be essential is that these memories should become a recollection of the past at the same time it could commemorate the episodes in the past. It could then be further deduced that the artistic implication of these works are more intended through the mixture of the literary inputs that could be used. A balanced work would then mean that fictions are not at the majority but they are used for the aesthetic purpose of the said productions. In this light, it could then be said that the written output could be seen as a literature where it was known to be a form of artwork. It would then be discovered that the contributions that artworks have in history is a way in handing out evidences of the cultural and general accounting of the events that was happening before. The contribution then of oral history could also be recognized by the fact that it could not be limited to folktales but that it could generate a more particular view of the events that happened in history aside from one of its aspect as a form of artwork.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Up in Arms: Nuclear Weapons and North Korea

Nuclear weapons are not merely explosive devices that release an enormous amount of energy through the fusion or fission of atomic nuclei, but the issue of producing and researching it involves a more complex threat. Originally developed for use in World War II (1939-45), these nuclear weapons are among modern warfare's most lethal and destructive weapons. These could decimate cities in seconds and the destruction would advance throughout many years as people affected by it will suffer various diseases. Thus, the issue of nuclear weapons indeed encompass strategic, political and cultural dimensions as these are instruments that pose a global threat. Around the world, there exists a growing clamor that it is not enough merely to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world. People call for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Members of the peace movement have long opposed nuclear weapons on the moral grounds that they have the potential to destroy mankind. For that obvious reason, nuclear arms should not be manufactured, tested or used, and those remaining should be destroyed. Surprisingly, calls for the complete abolition of nuclear arms have come from different quarters, even from a group of former high-ranking military officers. Just recently, North Korea had been embroiled in this controversy when it insisted that they would never dismantle its nuclear program, while the United States maintained a â€Å"hostile† policy toward the country this year. If we look into its history, nuclear weapons and Korea have been entwined for more than 50 years. During the Korean War (1950-1953), the United States threatened several times to use nuclear weapons. This is the reason why the U.S. military forces remained in South Korea (the Republic of Korea). The United States began deploying several types of nuclear weapons to the South in January 1958, a time of extensive worldwide U.S. nuclear deployments. Initially, four different kinds of nuclear weapons were introduced with U.S. Army forces in South Korea: the Honest John surface-to-surface missile, the massive 280-millimeter gun, the 8-inch artillery shell, and atomic demolition munitions (ADMs) (Mack, 1994). However, North Korea is widely believed to have produced and separated enough plutonium for a small number of nuclear warheads. Most or all of the plutonium came from the 5-MWe reactor at Yongbyon, which went critical on August 14, 1985, and became operational the following January. The U.S. intelligence community believes that during a 70-day shutdown in 1989, North Korea secretly removed fuel from the reactor and separated the plutonium. Estimates vary as to how much plutonium was obtained. The State Department believes about 6-8 kilograms; the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency say 8-9 kilograms, an estimate consistent with the careful analysis of the Institute for Science and International Security. South Korean, Japanese, and Russian analysts have made much higher estimates, ranging up to 24 kilograms (Albright and Higgins, 2002). What is incredible with this issue is that North Korea never admitted it possessed nuclear weapons, but it appears likely that it does. NBC Nightly News reported in 1993 that reprocessed plutonium had already been converted from a liquid form to metal, and several U.S. officials concluded that Pyongyang had made it into a bomb. In November 2002, the CIA went further than its previous estimates, stating, â€Å"The United States has been concerned about North Korea's desire for nuclear weapons and has assessed since the early 1990s that the North has one or possibly two weapons using plutonium it produced prior to 1992† (Norris, Kristensen and Handler, March/April 2003). By August 2005, the issue of nuclear proliferation on the Korean peninsula continued to dominate the political landscape. Talks between North Korea and the United States had met with little success, with no narrowing of the gap between those two countries on North Korea’s peaceful use of nuclear energy. The United States continued to insist that all of North Korea’s nuclear facilities had to be dismantled while North Koreans insisted that they had the right to conduct peaceful nuclear activities.   Indeed, North Korean chief delegate Kim Kye-gwan rhetorically asked, â€Å"We are not a defeated nation in war, and we have committed no crime, so why should we not be able to conduct peaceful nuclear activities?† (BBC News, 5 August 2006). With this, several countries warned North Korea that launching a missile would yield undesirable results.   Notably, Japanese Prime Minister  Junichiro Koizumi advised North Korea against test-firing the missile saying, â€Å"Japan has been urging North Korea to stop the attempt to launch a missile. We are making efforts to urge North Korea to act rationally and with self-restraint†.   He went on to warn, â€Å"If it does not listen to us and fires a missile, we have to consult with the United States and take stern measures â€Å". Moreover, the United States Department of State reacted to the launch of the North Korea’s missile Taepodon-2 as a â€Å"provocative† and attention-seeking act.   White House press secretary, Tony Snow, said that President George W. Bush was consulting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the matter.   Secretary Rice called on North Korea to return to the multilateral discussion table (Associated Press, 19 June 2006). For its part, North Korea confirmed that it had test-fired a series of missiles and that further missile tests would be launched.   North Korean officials also warned that they would react strongly to punitive pressures from the international community. Furthermore, North Korea defiantly defended its right to launch the missiles, saying that it was a matter of national sovereignty.   That said, geopolitical analysts observed that North Korea’s latest moves may have been made for strategic reasons rather than simply as an act of national sovereignty. With the seemingly stubborn stance of North Korea, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 1718 on October 14, 2006. The resolution called for the inspections on cargo going to and from North Korea to search for weapons, a ban on the sale or transfer of materials related to North Korea’s unconventional weapons program, and a freeze on the transfer of funds connected with North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs (The Economist 21 October 2006).   Absent from Resolution 1718 was the Chapter Seven [of the United Nations charter] provision, which would enforce the sanctions via military force . Even though the resolution was approved by the United Nations Security Council and welcomed by the international community, total agreement on the matter of North Korea remained distant (Arms Control Today Magazine, November 2006). With these turn of events, we could clearly point out how nuclear weapons became a strategic instrument of North Korea to defy the will of the international community. North Korea is flexing its military capabilities by showing off its nuclear weapons. This underscored the need for the nations to begin disarming as soon as possible. North Korea may have felt an ominous threat that they decided they must acquire nuclear weapons in order to â€Å"catch up† to and achieve equal status with a military giant like the United States. However, their intentions were not well-received by their neighbours because North Korea became a â€Å"threat† itself when it decided to push with their nuclear missile tests. Moreover, the international community is frowning upon the real intentions of these â€Å"tests†, whether North Korea is just out to protect itself or is it a tactical plan to scare off their neighbours by virtually stating â€Å"Don’t mess up with us, or else†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Thus, these strategic moves by North Korea effectively served to further isolate the country and confirm its pariah status within the international community. As we all know, the effect of nuclear weapons is not limited to political and social relations. According to Frey (2003), it is undeniable that nuclear weapons cause destruction in a number of different ways. They create temperatures upon explosion that are, at least initially, millions of degrees hot. Some of their first effects are heat effects, and materials are often incinerated on contact. The heat from the blast also causes rapid expansion of air, resulting in very high winds that can blow over buildings and other structures. A weapon blast also releases high levels of radiation, such as neutrons, x-rays, and gamma rays. Humans and other animals close to the centre of the blast suffer illness and death from radiation exposure. The set of symptoms associated with such exposure is known as radiation sickness. Many individuals who survive radiation sickness eventually develop cancer and their offspring frequently suffer genetic damage. Finally, a weapon’s blast releases huge amounts of radioactive materials. Some of these materials settle out of the atmosphere almost immediately, creating widespread contamination. Others remain in the atmosphere for weeks or months, resulting in long-term radioactive fallout. In the final analysis, the impending danger of the nuclear testing that North Korea is undertaking could be an ominous phenomenon for all of us. As the scenarios above have explained, nuclear weapons encompass strategic, political and cultural dimensions of whether these harmful military arsenals need to be maintained. Experts have already cited that the continued production of nuclear weapons must be halted soon or civilization itself will be imperilled. On the contrary, some military experts disagree, arguing that the existence of sophisticated nuclear weapons is a deterrent to nuclear war, even urging that nations should be ready to use nuclear weapons first, if necessary. In studying the complex issue of nuclear weapons, people should take a closer look at the extent of the nuclear danger facing the world today and debate the best methods for enhancing nuclear security. A â€Å"win-win† solution should be drafted so that the greater good of humanity comes in first, before any strategic or political agenda of any organization or nation. Works Cited Albright, David and Higgins, Holly. North Korea: It’s Taking Too Long: Inspections in North Korea Are Tied to the Reactor Deal, Which Is Far Behind Schedule, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, January/February 2002. Arms Control Today Magazine. US Security Council resolution 1718 on North Korea.36.9  (Nov 2006):  30(2) Associated Press. North Korea Warned of Possible Retaliation, June 19, 2006. Accessed online 14 December 2006 at http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2006-06/19/content_620814.htm BBC News. North Korea Talks ‘Near to Deadlock', August 5, 2006 . Accessed online 14 December 2006 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4748671.stm Frey, R. J. Nuclear Weapons. M. In Bortman, P. Brimblecombe and MA. Cunningham (eds.), Environmental Encyclopedia, 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Kura, Alexandra. Rogue Countries: Background and Current Issues. Huntington, NY: Nova Science, 2001. Mack, Andrew. Nuclear Endgame on the Korean Peninsula. Canberra, Australia: Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1994. Norris, Robert S., Kristensen, Hans M.   and Handler, Joshua. North Korea's nuclear program, 2003. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 59.2 (March/April 2003): 74-77. Accessed online 14 December 2006 at http://www.thebulletin.org/article_nn.php?art_ofn=ma03norris The Economist. Going Critical, Defying the World; Nuclear-Weapons Proliferation. 381.8500: (Oct 21, 2006): 79.