Politics and Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Politics and Government - Essay Example She can start her campaign from advertising on TVs and Radios. Although the costs may be very high for such campaign, but, since she needs to reach out to a vast audience, this type of campaign is necessary. Another reason why we should advertise on TV and Radios is that not all people can read newspapers because of low-literacy rate and since the governor needs to reach out to everyone, from the most learned to an ordinary man, who cannot read or write. Only mass-media like TV and Radio would help her to meet her target of reaching out to everyone in Alaska. Only advertising on mass media would make sure that everyone gets her message and this would make her campaign more efficient, even though it will be costly. Similarly, when she decided to run for the seat in the Senate, she can advertise her campaign on print media such as Newspapers and Pamphlets. The reason behind this is that in this scenario she would need not to reach out to the every single person of Alaska but only selected few. As a PR officer, we would first assess what kind of people we are targeting and then we can design and advertise the campaign accordingly. Similarly, since we do not need to reach out to everyone, we will not waste our money on mass media.

The perception of freshmen computer engineering students Essay Example for Free

The perception of freshmen computer engineering students Essay Poverty is one of the biggest concerns that our world encounters at present. Many solutions have been made to alleviate this problem but none of them seem to work. Everyone thinks that overpopulation is the reason behind why the populace lives in a life of insufficiency. Because of this common thought, the United Nations Organization (UNO), in collaboration with the World health Organization (WHO) started to inform the people concerning reproductive health and everything tied with it. The UNO and WHO thought that this would be the answer to overpopulation. By informing the people about natural and artificial family planning methods, it will be of great help in minimizing and controlling the birth rate. In this world with over 7 billion population, in the years that passed by, we cannot negate the fact that our world will be occupied to spilling level soon. And because of this, poverty might be a greater issue. Our country is considered a third world country. This only indicates that most of the people living in this nation are below average. According to United Nations World Population Prospects, the Philippines is ranked 12th among countries with large population. And to overcome this problem which results to poverty, many programs and solutions were made and one of them is the Reproductive Health Bill which was signed into law on December 21, 2012 and now known as Republic Act 10354. It is an act providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development, and for other purposes. It is also an act which guarantees universal access to methods on contraception, fertility control, sexual education, and maternal care. It is also an act aiming to fight against poverty. But as a Christian country, the Catholic Church emphasizes the rejection of the RH Law. The Catholic Church strongly opposes the said act. The Catholic Church pointed out that the opposition was not about a Catholic decision but a deliberation of the â€Å"fundamental ideals and aspirations of the Filipino people† (Sison 2011). There are also many people and agencies that are against the RH Law. Even so, the Congress, the Senate and the President of the country believe in its potential to answering problems on overpopulation. Saint Mary’s University, as a Catholic School, and a center for excellence, has also a side in this issue. The young students must be knowledgeable of what is going at present. The RH Law is a current issue and a good subject to deal with. Every individual should involve himself in present concerns. Dr. Jose Rizal once said that young people are the hope of the nation. In this context, everyone must know the position of every youth. This study was conducted in order to know the perception of youths particularly the freshmen Computer Engineering students toward the RH Law, if either they say Yes or No. Statement of the Problem Reproductive Health Law is a timely issue and a good subject to talk about. Students who belong to different gender, religion and cultures of Saint Mary’s University should be involved in it. This study was conducted to know the views of freshmen Computer Engineering students towards RH Law and its benefits. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What is the perception of students towards the Reproductive Health Law (Republic Act 10354) and its benefits? 2. Is there a difference in the perception of students in terms of: a. Gender, and b. Religion? Conceptual Framework Figure 1. Conceptual Framework The study is about the Reproductive Health Law. This topic was chosen for it is timely and a good subject to talk about. The perception of the students will be known through the perceived benefits of the Reproductive Health Law. As the study goes further, the researchers will determine the relationship of gender and religion on the perception of the respondents. Significance of the Study This study was conducted to help people widen up each and every individual’s mind setting about our society nowadays. This study will relatively serve the following. The Students. This study will be of great help to them in becoming aware and knowledgeable about the current situations. This will also help the students to think of their stand on the subject of this study. The Church. The results of study will help the church become aware of the thoughts of the young generation particularly the students. The Government. The results of this study can be one of the basis of the government to know whether the implementation of RH Law is significant or not in the present times. The Future Researchers. This study will also be important to the researchers that will study the same subject in the future. With this study, it will help them think of the ways to improve this research. Because the topic of this study is a current issue, with its limited resources, the results will be helpful to them. Serving as a supplement to their study. Scope and Delimitation This study is only about the perception of the young generation particularly the freshman Computer Engineering students of Saint Mary’s University towards the Reproductive Health Law (Republic Act 10354). This is conducted during the second semester of the School year 2012-2013. Moreover, this study is also conducted to determine if there is a difference in the perception of students in terms of their gender and religion. Other students of different courses are not included for easier data gathering process. Definition of Terms The following terms are defined operationally to facilitate comprehension of the study. Bill. This term in the political process refers to a proposed law placed before a legislative body for examination, debate, and enactment. Law. This term refers to body of official rules and regulations, generally found in constitutions, legislation, judicial opinions, and the like, that is used to govern a society and to control the behavior of its members. Perception. This refers to the view, opinion, and stand of the respondents towards the benefits of the RH Law which reveals if they disagree or agree with the subject. Reproductive Health. This term refers to the state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, reproductive health or sexual health/hygiene, that address the reproductive processes, functions and system at all stages of life. Chapter 2 METHODOLOGY Research Design This study used descriptive and survey type of research in determining the perception of the respondents. It aimed to find out if there is a difference of the respondent’s views in terms of gender and religion. Understanding the sections of the Consolidated Reproductive Health Law and classifying the benefits of the Law made it descriptive. The study was made a survey type of research because of the manner of data gathering. Research Environment This study was conducted at Saint Mary’s University, a Roman Catholic institution owned by the Belgian missionary congregation CICM located in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. This learning institution is comprised of 8 college departments, namely School of Engineering and Architecture, School of Accountancy, School of Business, School of Health Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, School of Public Administration and Governance, School of Education, and School of Computing Science and Information Technology. Subjects of the Study The participants of the study are the freshmen Computer Engineering students of the Engineering and Architecture Department of Saint Mary’s University S.Y. 2012-2013. The researchers randomly chose 40 respondents. The participants are 28 males and 11 females. They are again classified according to their religion. There are thirty (30) Roman Catholic respondents, five (5) Born-Again, four (4) United Methodist, and one (1) Jehovah’s Witnesses. Research Instrument This study used questionnaires. The questionnaire contained the benefits of the Reproductive Health Law as stated in the sections of the Consolidated RH Law. The sections which the benefits were derived from are the following: Data Gathering Procedure Figure 2. Data Gathering Procedure Everyone was given the task to get information about our subject in the library. The researchers gathered data from newspapers and some used the internet in finding resources. With the information sought, we formulated our research problem. Given the needed information and the problem, we were able to create and formulate the questionnaire. The questionnaire was verified and was readied for distribution. The questionnaire was distributed to 40 freshmen Computer Engineering students. The results were gathered, classified, assessed and interpreted. Data Analysis To answer the questions, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages. The researcher tallied the respondents’ answer on component numbers 1-15 and also if it was â€Å"strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, or strongly disagree†. After it, the tallying the result were summed up. To get the percentage, the frequency count was divided by the total respondents multiplied by 100. Chapter 3 presentation, analysis, and interpretation of data This chapter describes the analysis of data followed by a discussion of the research findings. The findings relate to the research questions that guided the study. Data were analyzed to identify the perception of Computer Engineering students toward the Reproductive Health Law. The data were also analyzed in order to describe the relationship and difference in the perception of the respondents in terms of gender and religion. A total of 40 questionnaires were received, however, only 39 were usable in classifying the male and female respondents because 1 respondent did not complete the questionnaire and left the gender unchecked, and so in tallying, 1 respondent checked twice under the component number 6 making it null and void. The table shows the perception of Catholic Computer Engineering students about the RH Law. It can be seen that 13 or 43.33% strongly agree on the component number 6 (Parents will be instructed and become knowledgeable about responsible parenthood.); 20 or 66.66 agrees on the component number 5 (All serious Reproductive Health conditions such as HIV and Aids will be given maximum benefits as provided by Phil Health programs.); 11 or 36.66% are undecided on component number 2 (Hospitals will be established and upgraded.); 6 or 20% disagree on component number 15 (Unwanted pregnancies will be avoided.); and only 1 respondent strongly disagree on component number 8, 11, and 14 (Children will know the limitations in their sexual life/aspects; Individuals will have an easier access in purchasing Family Planning Supplies; and Abortion will be prevented). We can see that Catholic Computer Engineering Students supports the benefits that RH Law gives. We can infer in the table above that opposing the RH Law is one of the teachings inside the Roman Catholic Church. This implication is in accordance with Sison (2011) in which he said that there is an obvious and strong disagreement of the Catholics toward the RH law. Table 4 shows that 3 out of 4 or 75% of United Methodist Computer Engineering students answered strongly agree on the benefit of RH law which is stated on item 8 (Children will know the limitations in their sexual life/ aspects.); 4 or 100% agreed on the component number 10 (Maternal death will be lessened.); 3 or 75% are undecided on components number 5 (All serious Reproductive Health conditions such as HIV and Aids will be given maximum benefits as provided by Phil Health programs.) and 9 (Violation against women will be eliminated.); 1 or 25% disagreed on components number 2 (Hospitals will be established and upgraded.) ,11 (Individuals will have an easy access in purchasing Family Planning supplies such as contraceptives, pills, etc.), and 13 (The youth will become more responsible through sex education.); and none strongly disagreed on the benefits stated. This implies that United Methodist Computer Engineering students are pro-RH Law. This is contrary to Silverio (2012) in which she said that the non-Roman Catholic Churches in the Philippines (NCPP), which includes the United Methodist Church, supports the RH Law mainly because it dwells on the issues of responsible family and recognizing the right of couples to determine how to plan their family. Alonto, N. (2011). Unknown voice: A Muslim’s view of the RH Bill. Retrieved January 15, 2013, from http://fightrhbill.blogspot.com/2011/04/young-muslim-versus-rh-bill.html. Amores, A. Capistrano, J. (2007). Pills be with you: A comparative content analysis of thecoverage of reproductive health bill issues by the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the Philippine Star from 2008-2010. Comparative Content Analysis, University of the Philippines Diliman, College of Mass Communication.p.34. Bill. Microsoft ® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008. Cabradilla,P.M. and Malaki,N.M.R. (2007). The allocative efficiency of the devolved Department of Health and its impacts on family planning. Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines Diliman, School of Economics.p.6. Diaz, J. (2012, December 3). RH fight in final stage. The Philippine Star, p. 22. Gonzales, J. (2011). Reproductive Health Bill in the Philippines (Part 1): Facts and salient features. Retrieved on January 4, 2013 from the website http://politikalon.blogspot.com/2011/02/reproductive-health-bill-inphilippines.html. Introduction to Jehovah’s Witnesses. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14, 2013, from http://www.ethnicityonline.net/jwitnesses.htm Macaraig, A. (2012). Senators approve RH bill on final reading. Retrieved January 4, 2013, from the website http://www.rappler.com/nation/18112-senators-approve-rh-bill-on-final-reading. Probert, Walter. Law. Microsoft ® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008. Silverio, I. (2012). Non-Catholic groups recognize value of RH bill to maternal health. Retrieved January 4, 2013, from the website http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/08/10/non-catholic -groups-recognize-value-of-rh-bill-to-maternal-health/. Tinoco, M.L.A.K. (1999). A study on the perception of child-bearing couples on themessages conveyed by television advertisement on contraception. Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines Diliman, School of Economics.p.10, 13.

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Example for Free

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Good morning/afternoon Executives of the Board of Studies. In the topic of powerful to powerless, To Kill A Mockingbird is a classic novel that is relevant and appropriate. It possesses many admirable qualities that prove its worth to be on the new curriculum. The novel explores many ideas regarding the use and abuse of power, different forms of power, the consequences of power, and how the composer has used language to portray power. To Kill A Mockingbird explores a number of different types of power throughout. There are four types of power: personal, instrumental, projected and official power. One clear example of power is that of Atticus Finchs regarding his children. As their father, Atticus has official power over Scout and Jem. He also has instrumental power as he provides a home, as well as other basic necessities for his children. Another example of power, although it is negative, is the projected power that Bob Ewell possesses over Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson highlights his fear of Bob as he testifies Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me, youd be scared too. Bob Ewells power demonstrates that power can be taken and abused by others. Despite whether if you have an abundance of power of you are miserably lacking so, there will always be certain consequences that follow. Bob Ewell, as an example, believed that he was better than the African Americans despite the fact that he was considered the lowest class in white society. Bob Ewell abused his power, although it was still lacking. Ewell, was too prideful, that after being humiliated in court and stripped of dignity by Atticus, he decided to attack Atticus children. Furthermore, Arthur Boo Radley can depict a lack of power. Boo Radley had lived most of his life trapped inside his home by his oppressive family members. He was feared because of the negative connotations that surrounded him. The stories that were told of him portrayed his character as a monster, or something to fear. Furthermore, another figure in the novel that lacked power was Tom Robinson. In society, African Americans were looked down upon by the white society. Tom Robinson was racially discriminated against by Bob Ewell, who framed him for a crime he did not commit. As white people were the superior race, they had power over the African Americans. As Tom Robinson lacked power, he also lacked the ability to act against the threats of Bob Ewell because of his fear. Even though Tom Robinson was a man of great stature, and seemed adequate to engage in a physical brawl despite his injury, he was still afraid. Harper Lee employs a range of language techniques in order to convey ideas about power. Lee has described Arthur Boo Radley as having cheeks that were thin to hollowness, gray eyes that were colourless and hair that was dead and thin. It has been acknowledged that Boo is considered one of the novels most powerless figures. His name is an aptronym, it portrays his character and highlights his mysterious nature. It is also an example of onomatopoeia, hinting at negative connotations. Additionally, there are other aspects that can also assist the portrayal of his character. The author describes the Radley house as droopy and sick, this parallels to the descriptions made of Boo. Harper Lees many descriptions of Boo Radley creates a vivid picture in the readers mind, the reader is immediately drawn to the connotations that surround Boo. It is because of ideas explored previously that prove To Kill A Mockingbird to be a worthy contender on the new school curriculum. It explored the concept behind power and powerless and therefore is relevant.

Performance appraisals in improving employee performance

Performance appraisals in improving employee performance All organization faces the problem of directing the energies of their staff to the task of achieving organization goals and objectives. In doing so, organization need to devise means to influences and channel the behavior of their contributions. Performance appraisals constitute one of the major management tools employed in this process. This is based on the perception of an individuals performance in a job is improved by having definite goals, feedback about their performance and complemented by an appropriate reward system. Therefore, performance appraisal are been implemented. Performance appraisals are used in nearly all organization in worldwide. Corporations use different tools and have a number of goals for performance appraisal often resulting in some confusion as to the true purpose of performance appraisal systems. However, it is core because it allows an organization to measure and evaluate an individual employees behavior and accomplishment over a specific period of time (DeVries et al, 1981). There are many advantages in using performance appraisal in facilities organizational decision employees decision such as reward allocation, promotion or demotions, layoffs or recalls and transfers (Murphy and Cleveland, 1995). It also assists manager to develop employees. Additionally performance appraisal may increase employee commitment and satisfactions due to improvements in organization communication. The outcomes of performance appraisal are in the form of work performance, affective organizational commitment and turnover intention are very crucial to support the overall growth of an organization. According to business dictionary, Performance Appraisals define as a process by which a manager or consultant and evaluates an employees work behavior by comparing it with present standards, documents the result of the comparison and uses the results to provide feedback to the employee to show where improvements are needed and why. Performance Appraisals are employed to determine who needs what training, and who will be promoted, demoted, retained or fired. Besides that, the employees merit like initiative, dependability, and personality to compare with others and ranked or rate base on their performances. Although the performance appraisal is very importance for every kind of organization, it does have several functions. The primary purpose of performance appraisal is to justify the individual performance most often through (1) Clarifying job requirement and standards. (2) Providing feedback to the employee regarding his or her progress toward meeting these standards (3) guiding future performance by formulating an action plan and allocating rewards and opportunity. The purpose of providing feedback is to improve performance in the future for employees and team leaders. Managers able to get valuable information from their staff regarding about the employee and it will help the employee to make their jobs more productive. This process can go through by providing feedback in performance appraisals work units can identify problems that interfere with everyones and take steps to rectify them. Besides that, it also provides an opportunity to discuss strength and resolution of performance deficiencies of an employee. By this, it will allow the employees to move in his/ her direction. The employers promote a positive attitude, advancement and motivation to make the employee to understand their own special potential and find the roles which they really fit well. This also helps the employee to develop as a whole-person which is an important aspect of modern corporate responsibility. The advantage of it is the employment market in which all employers com pete to attract the best recruits and to retain the best staff. Second purpose of performance appraisal is to guide future performance by formulating an action plan and allocating rewards and opportunity. This is where the action plan put into place. The employee should be given time frame for the implementation of the plan in the future. So that the employee can spelled out completely and know what actions should be taken and when it should implement. The organization should inform the employee regarding the plan. Therefore the employee know what is to be accomplished, once the implementation of the plan. Besides that the manager and employee should communicate on a regular basis to discuss the effectiveness of the plan. Therefore, the business moves one step closer to the achievement of their set goal and objectives. This also helps to maintains record of workers that are legally viable which can protect the business when dealing in cases of dismissals and demotions. Importance of performance Appraisal The need of the performance appraisal system is mainly to find out the area of strengths and weakness of the employees. These strengths and weakness are studied by the HR managers carefully and are discussed with the employees the time of the appraisal. The performance appraisal process involves setting of performance standards which can help the comparison of the performance of all the employees. Communication of these standards to all the employees of the company is also one of the most crucial processes in the performance appraisal process. Performance measurement is a process which taken time and lot of efforts on part of the senior management of the organization. At many places, marks or grades are given to the employees by comparing their actual employee performance with the desired performance. Performance appraisal strengths and weakness can help employees conduct a reality check on them and improve their performance. The last step in the performance appraisal process is that of decision making in which the employees are given sufficient time to learn new technologies, be more efficient, increase their working speed and improve the quality of their work. The performance appraisal methods adopted by companies can differ depending on their needs. In many organizations, the feedback on job performance is ambiguous or is given annually as a ritualistic exercise. Many subordinates therefore haven trouble in gasping how their efforts are perceived by the organization. Almost everyone who has worked at a job can remember times when they were unclear on how their performance was being judged. The annual performance appraisal system tends to serve only a little purpose such as salary administration, training and succession planning, but this is not the sole objective of performance appraisal. These objectives will only dilute and weaken the clarity and validity of any appraisal system. Most organization ties the formal appraisal system directly to salary increase, which decrease their validity. Performance appraisal systems are important for organization because it proper enforcement of personal decisions, help works as control device and also give guide the employee development. Performance appraisals provide employee and manager w ith opportunities to discuss areas in which employees excel and those in which employees need improvement. Performance appraisal should be conducted on a regular basis and they need not be directly attached to promotion opportunities. Performance appraisal is importance in term of personal attention because during the review, supervisor and an employee discuss the employees strengths and weakness. This give an opportunity for the employee personally face the supervisor and able to address personal concerns. Besides that, it also importance to communicate about the divisional and also company goal. These help the management to communicate with employee regarding about goal of the company and also highlight the way in which the employees can participate in the achievement of those goals. Benefit of appraisal Most significant benefit of performance appraisal is conducted properly by both supervisors and subordinates have reported the experiences as beneficial and positive. Many supervisor avoid administering performance reviews because the fear of criticizing their employees and also the paperwork. Employees also fear because of negative feedback, being refused a raise or punished for issues out of their control. But appraisal offers a valuable opportunity to focus on work activities and goals, to identify and correct existing problems and to encourage better future performance. Thus the performance of the whole organization is enhanced. Performance appraisal benefits the employee in (1) increased employee productivity and (2) improve areas of weakness. Increased employee productivity Supervisors use performance appraisals to help employees to get a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities within the framework of the company goals. When the employees know that they are an integral component to the overall performance of the company, they will feel more accountable with their duties. Therefore, the supervisor can accurately identify their weaknesses and assist employees in improving and also able to increase the productivity of the employee. Improve areas of Weakness Performance appraisals can expose employees weaknesses and enables them to improve for further career development. Employees have to use the feedback to expand their skill base and focus on areas that need coaching and education. Motivate employees Performance appraisal enables supervisors to formally recognize the achievements and contributions of their employees. The appreciation which receives from subordinates help to increased retention of highly productive employees. During the performance appraisals, supervisor may use incentives such as raises and promotions to motive the employees. For management, performance appraisals bring out the key and non-key performers. The management then takes steps to hone the key performers and develop the non-key into putting in their best. Performance appraisals identify the areas where training and development are needed. This is to expose their weakness and enable them to improve for future career development, if an employee desires to become a manager, yet leadership are lacking, performance reports reveal this incompetency. Employees use review to expend their skill base and focus areas that need coaching and education. This is to assist employees in deciding if they are in the industry that matches their values and personality. Besides that it helps the management to generate idea for improvement. How to improve employee performance Implementing employee appraisal is an important responsibility for a company manager and supervisor. Employees are highly praised for their contribution and given constructive ways to improve the area that are still being learned. Therefore, well designed appraisal systems can strengthen good relationships between supervisors and employees. To improve the appraisal system, there are several ways such as (1) a collaborative approach, (2) Clear objective, (3) Focus on observable behavior (4) Avoid personal feedback. A collaborative approach If both supervisor and employees help to develop the appraisal system, they are likely to endorse it. Therefore, the collaborative approach has several advantages. The appraisal system is likely to be accepted and endorsed by both supervisor and employees since it was created by their peers. Besides that, the actual appraisal form will probably be more meaningful and appropriate since it directly reflects the objectives of their peers. In addition, performance dimensions are tailored to the organization and are clearly defined in appropriate terms. The policies and procedures take into account organizational objectives and concerns. Clear objective In formal performance appraisal system there will be two objectives that compete during the appraisal process. Firstly is to provide feedback to the employees. This is to help the employees to develop themselves and improve their performance. Secondly is to document the performance and to communicate and support administrative decisions about salary increase, promotions, and transfers. Therefore, an effective appraisal system is to focus on one objective during the interviews. These help the supervisor to conduct the interview to improve performance as often as necessary for the benefit of employees, supervisors and the organization as a whole. Focus on observable behavior In appraisal process, discussion between supervisor and employee is most important. In this process, supervisor are not been trained to handle the interview with their employees. The main reason why this process is importance because it help the employees to understand and use the feedback to develop themselves and improve their performance in future. If the feedback it not clear, then it will be difficult for the employee to understand. Avoid personal feedback In all appraisal form contain a section on employee strengths and weaknesses where supervisors comment about the employees aptitudes and qualities that will contribute to or interfere with an employees job performance. In the form, the supervisor need to rate the employees on the personal traits such as maturity, attitude and personality. The problem arises when the supervisor gives feedback to their employees. The employees often become suspicious when they receive general comment such as rate between 3 on a 5 point scale of maturity or poor interpersonal skill. This type of feedback are often disagree by the employees because the characteristic being evaluated are not directly observed. The supervisor does not see the initiative, aptitude, maturity or even job knowledge and interpersonal skill of the employees but they see in a large number of individual behavior form they infer traits and aptitudes. The supervisors who evaluate their employees in these vague, subjective terms may find themselves in court defending their performance appraisals against charges of EEO violations and discrimination against women and minorities. Summary To summarize, performance appraisal should be viewed as a beneficial process within the context of an effective systems of personnel management. It should be accepted as a normal management responsibility to review the performance of all employees and for all managers to discuss performance with their subordinates on a regular basis. Performance appraisal can be an effective tool if they are used in a constructive and motivating manner. The appraisal should target specific areas of weakness and strength. It is importance for employees to know the areas where they are under performing as well as the categories where they excel. A performance appraisal should be a well-though out instrument designed to bring about a desired behavior. When you communicate with an employee using a performance appraisal, it provides an opportunity for clarification of any discrepancies. Those elements will help to ensure that performance appraisal conducted in any organization will yield the desired benef its and be more readily accepted by all concerned.

Zora Neale Hurston :: Zora Neale Hurston

	Zora Neale Hurston was an astounding Afro-American author who was recognized not for being the first Afro-American writer, but rather for her ability to bring forth her cultural language and imagery. If not for Zora's pioneering effort as a female black writer, the world of modern literature would have never seen the cultural insights of the African American culture in such a candid way. 	Zora's date of birth is said to be in January of 1891, however her actual date of birth is debated today due to the fact that records of African Americans during the 19th century were not accurately kept (Lyons 2). Zora's home town, which was not disputed, was Eatonville, Florida, which was founded by African Americans and was the first all-black town incorporated into the United States (Cheryl@geocities [online] ). Her father John Hurston was a tall, heavy muscled man who often seemed "invincible" to Zora (Lyons 2). John was a community leader and was influential member of society. His positions in Eatonville included: Baptist preacher, town mayor, and skilled carpenter (Lyons 2). Though John was a revered member of Eatonville he had is faults as well. His eye for other women often left his family home alone for months out of a time (Lyons 1). Zora's mother, Lucy Potts Hurston was the "hard-driving force in the family."(Lyons 2) Lucy was a country schoolt eacher, who taught all her children how to read and write, which lead to six out of her seven children earning a college degree (Lyons 2-3). Unfortunately, Lucy Hurston died when Zora was nine years of age (Otfinoski 46). Zora was the seventh child out of a family of eight (Otfinoski 45). During her childhood she felt unloved by her father and thus was seen as the odd on out (Lyons 2). 	Zora's education was comprised of six years of grammar school, high school, and several prestigious colleges. Zora attended grammar school in Eatonville, Florida at Hungerford School around 1907 (Lyons 3). The summer of 1917 Zora began the next step of her education by attending Morgan Academy in Baltimore, Maryland. By 1918 when she had finished her high school requirements, Zora had attended multiple schools, in order to gain the best education as an African American female. 1918-1919 Zora attended Howard Prep School in Washington D.C. In 1920 she earned her associates degree and in 1924 earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology at Howard University (Lyons 24-6).

Dealing With Having Back Surgery :: Personal Narrative Athletics Medical Sports Essay

Dealing With Having Back Surgery Starting my freshman year at County High School, I played basketball and loved every minute of it. I wouldn’t be conceited enough to say I was good, but God did bless me with the talent to play. My life revolved around the sport of basketball; some would say I slept, ate, and breathed every part of it. I spent all my time training and practicing to make myself a more dedicated athlete. This dedication not only helped me as a player, but also molded me into the person I am today. It somehow helped to prepare me for what defeat I would face with back surgery in the future. Beginning as a freshman I started every game never, but to sit on the bench unless there was a major problem. This repetitious cycle mirrored itself over and over again until there was a problem, physically, with my body. I had felt a pain in my back that ran down my leg for some time, but no one other than me knew of this pain. I am a very strong willed and determined person, not letting pain stand in my way. The pain started to vaguely effect my everyday activities, such as walking across Wal-mart which put me in agonizing pain. The only way I played basketball with this pain was by focusing on the goal I was out to achieve. My mother took me to see a back specialist named, Dr. Johnson at the Knoxville Orthopedic Center in Knoxville, TN who explained this pain I was having generated a major problem. It never came to my realization how serious this could be, or what it could do to my basketball career. Tests after tests including MRI’s, X-rays, and experimental procedures were performed to show I had five ruptured disks in the lower lumbar section of my back. Tedious Examination done by a group of doctors concluded I had a crippling disease of the spinal column called spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal that causes compression of the spinal cord. (Lohr,1) If this disease was ignored any longer, it would lead to many other problems affecting other areas of my back to help support this weakness. It was an extremely rare case for an athlete my age.

The Individual and the Court System Essay -- essays research papers f

The Individual and the Court System - Essay The Australian jury trial system is said to have many merits and defects, and as Winston Churchill once said about democracy the Australian jury system is â€Å"not a perfect system, it is just the least worst of all the others†. In analysing the system several major strengths can be seen, but many weaknesses can be found also. It is a matter of great interest in the general community and many people have written on it, ranging from past jurors to university students. Some of the main strengths seen are that juries have established philosophical and historical importance within our community. The jury system is a centuries old tradition of our legal system and in the eyes of the community it remains a vital expression of the importance of justice being adjudicated upon by ordinary citizens. Without a jury system, it is claimed that the liberties of individuals would be adjudicated upon by unrepresentative experts who would further remove the workings of the legal system from those it is meant to serve in the wider community. It is also seen that the random selections of jury members from a cross section of society ensures that the law remains adjudicated upon by a representative sample of society who can reflect the values of the community they serve. In recent years it is argued that juries have effectively expressed community attitudes on diverse matters including passive smoking, reckless drunk driving and self defense claims in murder trials b y women who had suffered repeated physical and mental abuse. The existence of a jury means that lawyers must ensure that their cases are presented in a way that enables community understanding of important issues and principles. Without a jury it is argued the evolution of the principles of our legal system would become increasingly complex and removed from the understanding of the community. In general the community is more likely to have confidence in the decision of a representative group of that community than one made by a single judge or a court appointed panel of experts. If the system was removed it would open the adjudication process of civil and criminal trials up to the possibility of political or monetary influence - the jury is a vital institution for ensuring that 'open courts' remain truly open to public scrutiny. It is also argued by some that 'in diversity... ... and feeling it limited their ability to absorb evidence. "They felt that the barristers hadn't given them information that they required through the evidence," One juror mentioned that "It was a bit like being thrown pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and there were pieces that were missing and they had to fill those pieces with their own experience". It is arguable which side holds more sway, while it seems that the majority of published reports deal with the defects of the system there are a number of reasons for it's continuation. This seems to fate that it unlikely to be abolished entirely in either civil or criminal courts. It seems to me that any changes that are to be made will be focused on the need for specialised jurors and the ability for civil juries to award damages. As crimes become increasingly more complex it seems that changes will need to be made to the system but it will be a heatedly debated subject when it's change is made. Bibliography Structures and Systems, Willmott. J and Dowse. J, 2001, Western Australia, Politics Law Publishing Bulletin with Newsweek, 7/6/2004, Vol. 122 Issue 6428, p22, 4p www.ebsco.com - Jury Problems