Utilitarianism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Utilitarianism - Essay Example Self – interest is the main thread that binds egoism. In this case, what seems to be ethical with egoism is the importance of taking into account the effects of one’s exercise of ego, with rational thinking coming into play. There are some complications that come along with is a pointed out by Huemer, where ethical egoism cannot really give the personal satisfaction that is tantamount to the effort exerted (Huemer). With this condition, there is a need to understand that the philosophy itself is oftentimes problematic in terms of application and of practice. On a critical level, there is nothing wrong about being self – centered when it comes to needs or desires. However, indulgence might be a problematic condition that emerges henceforth. These two possibilities make egoism rather unwelcoming since both appear to be lacking rational self – judgment.  Self – interest is the main thread that binds egoism. In this case, what seems to be ethical with egoism is the importance of taking into account the effects of one’s exercise of ego, with rational thinking coming into play. There are some complications that come along with is a pointed out by Huemer, where ethical egoism cannot really give the personal satisfaction that is tantamount to the effort exerted (Huemer). With this condition, there is a need to understand that the philosophy itself is oftentimes problematic in terms of application and of practice. On a critical level, there is nothing wrong about being self – centered when it comes to needs or desires. However, indulgence might be a problematic condition that emerges henceforth. These two possibilities make egoism rather unwelcoming since both appear to be lacking rational self – judgment.   The weakness of ethical egoism comes when it lacks rational thinking. In most cases, egoism is used to underestimate others. This is no longer beneficial for an individual even if self – centered age nda comes with it. Pragmatically, people are always reinforcing their egos and use it to get what they need. Sometimes, some will use it not just for personal gain or personal glory. They use it for the benefit of others. If the self – centered tendencies are diverted to a greater good for that matter, then things will surely be better for everyone. That seems to possible and rational way to diverted egoism that is a way to egocentric to an egoism that can be more socially relevant.  

Why Do Sunnis (Taliban) Hate Shias Essay Example for Free

Why Do Sunnis (Taliban) Hate Shias Essay Taliban the worlds most extreme and radical Islamic organization that inspires fascination, controversy, and especially fear in both the Muslim world and the West has been brought into sharp focus in Ahmed Rashids book Taliban. This enormously insightful book gives an account of Talibans rise to power, its impact on Afghanistan and the Central Asian region. The book also analyzes the wider regional and geopolitical implications of the Talibans advent to power and the role that Taliban has to play in oil and gas companies decisions. The author also discusses about the changing attitudes of various countries like America and Saudi Arabia towards Taliban and its effects on Afghanistan. The word Taliban has been derived from the term talib, which means a student of an Islamic seminary. These seminaries have existed for thousands of years and Islamic boys have gone to these schools to study the Koran, Islamic law, in order to become preachers. The Taliban took this name because it is a symbol of Islam, and a symbol of doing good, and bringing people around to an Islamic viewpoint, and imposing law and order. It was a name that was initially welcomed by the Afghan people. To understand the enmity between the Hazaras and Iran and the Taliban it is very important to clarify here that the Hazars and Iranians are Shias while the Taliban are mostly Sunnis. And for me, the main reason why the Taliban hate Hazaras and Iran and why Iran and Hazaras hate Taliban is because of the one mentioned above. The enmity between the Sunni Pashtuns and the Shia Hazaras goes a long way but the Taliban brought a new edge to the conflict for they treated all the Shias as hypocrites and beyond the pale of true Islam. The earliest clashes between the Shia Hazaras and the Sunni Pashtuns can be traced all the way back to 1893 about 100 years before the creation of the Taliban. Pashtun king Abdul Rehman, who initiated the first anti-Hazara program, killing thousands of Hazars, moving thousands more to Kabul where they lived as serfs and servants, and destroying their mosques (Rashid 68). The first most important event that soiled the reputation of the Taliban in  the eyes of the Hazaras, and their main patron Iran was the controversial death of the Hazara leader, Abdul Ali Mazari while in Taliban custody. Masud, the Mujaheddin leader launched a surprise attack against the Hazaras, sending tanks into Kabuls southern suburbs, smashing the Hazaras and driving them out of Kabul. In desperation the Hazars cut a deal with the advancing Taliban, yielding their arms and their positions to them. But while in the custody of Taliban the Hazara leader died. The Hazaras contest that he was pushed out of a helicopter, because he tried to grab a rifle when he was being taken to Kandahar as a prisoner. But the Taliban continue to deny their involvement in it and continue to say that it was an accident. The death of Mazari, accidental or intentional was one of the first events that soiled the reputation of the Taliban in the eyes of the Hazars (Radhid 35). There have been numerous clashes between the Hazaras and the Taliban. Probably one of the most significant clashes that took place between the Hazaras and the Taliban was in 1997. Malik who was the second in command to Dostum betrayed Dostum when a feud broke out between them. Malik went to the Taliban and asked them to help him oust Dostum. This was just the opportunity that Taliban had been waiting for. Together with Dostum and his few accomplices Taliban attacked Dostum on 19 May 1997. This created an unrest within his ranks, and soon a group of 2500 heavily armed Taliban men entered Mazara. The Taliban troops, most of whom had never been to the north before, arrogantly started disarming the fierce Hazara troops, took over mosques where they declared the imposition of the Sharia law, shut down schools and drove women off the streets. This of course created a lot anti-Taliban feeling amongst the Mazars. On 28 May 1997, when a squabble broke out because group of Hazaras were resisting disarmament, hell broke out. First Mazars Hazaras then the rest of the population rose in revolt. Untrained in street fighting and not knowing the maze of city alleyways, the Taliban were easy victims as they drove their pickups drove right into dead ends. Within 15 hours some 600 Taliban soldiers were massacred and 1000 more were at the airport as they were tried to flee. Soon Malik organized his troops and then took control of four northern provinces, which the Taliban had captured. The remaining Taliban troops were either shot dead or buried in mass graves. Encouraged by this, Masud recaptured the territory that had  fallen to the Taliban just a week before. Thousands of more Taliban were either killed or captured. Meanwhile the Hazaras, spurred on by the Mazar victory also counter attacked, breaking the nine month Taliban siege of their homeland, Hazarajat. It was one of the worst defeats of the Taliban with over 3000 casualties, killed or wounded, and some 3600 men were taken as prisoners (Rahid 58-59). This sort of massacre of the Taliban left a permanent dent in the minds of the Taliban and made them even more anti Hazaras than they already were. The Taliban responded to this brutal massacre of their forces, in 1998. It was on 12 July when it all began, the Taliban swept northwards after sweeping Dostums forces. They later moved on as they bribed the Uzbek officials who were guarding the western road into Mazar, leaving the 1500 Hazara force susceptible to a sudden attack. It came in the early hours of 8 August 1998, when the Hazara force found them to be surrounded. They fought till their ammunition lasted and then it happened. Taliban soldiers entered Mazara on an unsuspecting public. What followed was a brutal massacre, as the Taliban took revenge of their losses from the previous year. The killing went on for days. The Taliban went on a frenzy, killing and shooting everyone they saw including children and women. Then the Taliban went into the houses of Hazaras and massacred entire families. Bodies were not given proper burial and were left to rot for days on the streets. Although it was impossible to get a correct body count but it was estimated that 5000 to 6000 people were killed in the massacre (Rashid 72-73). Once in control of the north the Taliban aimed to cleanse the north of the Shias. Shias were given three choices convert to Sunni Islam, leave for Shia Iran or die. All prayers services that were conducted by the Shia in mosques were banned. The Taliban governor general of Mazar, Mullah Niazi declared The Hazaras are not Muslims and now we have to kill the Hazaras. Wherever you go we will catch you. If you go up we will pull you down by your feet; if you hide below, we will pull you up by your hair. This clearly shows us that the hate between the two main groups of Muslims had reached a new level which was based on pure hate and abhorrence (Rahid 74). The Talibans brutal treatment of the Shia Hazaras made Iran which is a Shia country very anti-Taliban. Iran became very critical of the Taliban and tried to stop their movement at every step. They supported anti-Taliban alliances and started interfering in the politics of Afghanistan. They funded many leaders and many kings who were anti-Taliban in a desperate attempt of restricting Talibans advancements. Iran declared publicly that it would support any anti-Taliban alliance and appealed to Russia, India and the Central Asian states to help them also. In fact Iran was flying 22 flights a day to Mazar carrying arms. The reaction of this sort of support of Iran to any anti-Taliban alliance was that the Taliban officials were furious and accused Iran of supporting the opposition and grew even more hostile to Iran (Rashid 61). One of the most significant events that permanently damaged the reputation of the Taliban before Iran was the fall of Baimyan. Taliban occupied Baimyan and destroyed nearly 2000 year old Bhudda statues there. Iran responded to this by organizing a military exercise of some seventy thousand men, backed by guns and tanks along the Iran-Afghanistan border. This was followed by some 200,000 Iranian troops that were placed along the Iran-Afghanistan border. The Taliban also mobilized some 5000 fighters to prevent the Iranian invasion. Tensions between Iran and Taliban subsided when the UN Security Council sent Lakhdar Brahimi and met Mullah Omar (Rashid 76). In conclusion, I would like to say that Taliban has been a very interesting and fascinating book. In the end everyone comes out looking bad, in this book. Every nation, every economic faction, and every ethnic group acts purely out of short-term self interest without worrying about the people of Afghanistan, whose lives they were damaging. The United States firstly supports Taliban and then tries to eliminate them because they had lost interest in the Taliban regime and it no longer served their (United States) propose. Even Iran interfered in the life and politics of Afghanistan because they wanted to save the Shias there. They never really cared for the other factions of the Afghan population. Even Pakistan and Saudi Arabia interfered in Afghanistan because they wanted to protect the interests of the Sunnis there, and even they did not care about any other factions of the  Afghan population there. I think that before we can even start thinking of a secular and a peaceful Afghanistan, it is very important for all outside governments to stop interfering in the life and the politics of Afghanistan. I think that another reason why Afghanistan is so intolerant of other religions and cultures is because they are forced to be intolerant of other religions and cultures. Like the Sunnis have to be intolerant of the Shias and be brutal to them otherwise they will not be able to impress the Pakistan and the Saudi government which will result in a cut of their donations. For once the people of Afghanistan should once feel that they are independent and that they do not have to work under some government. Also, while I do say that there should be no foreign influence in the politics and the life of Afghanistan, I would also say that foreign governments have to make an honest effort to develop Afghanistan. Governments have to see to it that they make sure that they are developing entire Afghanistan and not just the people they support, because then it will lead to the same situation that we have right now. The whole of Afghanistan needs to feel united; and if only one group develops and the other does not then it will lead to enmity and jealousy between the two groups. Also, by being economically self-sufficient Afghanistan will not be susceptible to foreign influence because they will not be dependent on other countries for aid and loans. And if Afghanistan is not developed then it will lead to a big black hole which will just reach out and take the whole world with it. Which can range from illegal trade across the borders to cheap drugs on American streets to the bombings of the WTC.

Teenage Drama Shows Essay -- Communication, Media, MTV

Teenagers are a significant segment of the American population. However, teenage drama shows did not make a significant emergence until the 1990’s. Before the 90’s, there were a handful of shows that had adolescents as supporting or main characters but the shows were not geared towards a teen audience. Never Too Young was one of the first so- called â€Å"teen drama† shows that premiered in 1965 and aired for a single season. The show had soap opera elements and chronicled the lives of teenagers. Teen dramas as opposed to teen situation comedies have soap opera elements to them. Some teen dramas can be understood in relation to the long-running serial form in their emphasis on repetition and deferral of resolution, and in this respect, are close to soap opera in narrative organization (Moseley 54). A school setting or home residence is where many teen dramas take place. Similar to soap operas, teen dramas also center around place, character, and relationships, a nd emotional drama is often heightened through the use of close-up and (generally romantic pop) scoring (Moseley 54). Teen drama is geared towards an adolescent audience, therefore episodes address teenage issues: sex, drugs, self -esteem, love, and school violence. The short-lived teen drama, My So Called Life dealt with these issues but due to low ratings was cancelled. My So Called Life was a realistic and dynamic show that should not have been terminated abruptly. One of the original teen dramas, Degrassi Junior High and later Degrassi High, became very popular in both Canada and the US while airing on PBS in the late 80s and early 90s (Silverblatt 21).Several years after Degrassi's premiere, Darren Star created Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1990, along with famous producer Aar... ...MSCL. It was not overly dramatic but not overly artificial in its depiction of teenagers and their parents. There were not many shows of its kind in the mid 1990’s and there are still not many teen dramas of its kind today. In general, there are not many teen dramas period. Many of the teen shows are sitcoms or situation comedies. The few teen dramas on television include Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Out of these three shows, only The Secret Life of the American Teenager has any broad realism to it. Gossip Girl highlights the life of wealthy teenagers and Vampire Diaries is a fantasy show. My So Called Life had a good balance of addressing real topics like homosexuality, sexual harassment, parental arguing, and drug use in a realistic fashion. MSCL captured the anxiety of teen life without becoming overly idealistic. Teenage Drama Shows Essay -- Communication, Media, MTV Teenagers are a significant segment of the American population. However, teenage drama shows did not make a significant emergence until the 1990’s. Before the 90’s, there were a handful of shows that had adolescents as supporting or main characters but the shows were not geared towards a teen audience. Never Too Young was one of the first so- called â€Å"teen drama† shows that premiered in 1965 and aired for a single season. The show had soap opera elements and chronicled the lives of teenagers. Teen dramas as opposed to teen situation comedies have soap opera elements to them. Some teen dramas can be understood in relation to the long-running serial form in their emphasis on repetition and deferral of resolution, and in this respect, are close to soap opera in narrative organization (Moseley 54). A school setting or home residence is where many teen dramas take place. Similar to soap operas, teen dramas also center around place, character, and relationships, a nd emotional drama is often heightened through the use of close-up and (generally romantic pop) scoring (Moseley 54). Teen drama is geared towards an adolescent audience, therefore episodes address teenage issues: sex, drugs, self -esteem, love, and school violence. The short-lived teen drama, My So Called Life dealt with these issues but due to low ratings was cancelled. My So Called Life was a realistic and dynamic show that should not have been terminated abruptly. One of the original teen dramas, Degrassi Junior High and later Degrassi High, became very popular in both Canada and the US while airing on PBS in the late 80s and early 90s (Silverblatt 21).Several years after Degrassi's premiere, Darren Star created Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1990, along with famous producer Aar... ...MSCL. It was not overly dramatic but not overly artificial in its depiction of teenagers and their parents. There were not many shows of its kind in the mid 1990’s and there are still not many teen dramas of its kind today. In general, there are not many teen dramas period. Many of the teen shows are sitcoms or situation comedies. The few teen dramas on television include Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Out of these three shows, only The Secret Life of the American Teenager has any broad realism to it. Gossip Girl highlights the life of wealthy teenagers and Vampire Diaries is a fantasy show. My So Called Life had a good balance of addressing real topics like homosexuality, sexual harassment, parental arguing, and drug use in a realistic fashion. MSCL captured the anxiety of teen life without becoming overly idealistic.

Coca Cola Marketing Mix Essay

Soft Drink demand market is very strong all over the world. Now there are 2 major Company of Soft Drinks †¢ Coca Cola †¢ Pepsi Co they are competitors to each other. The world’s largest beverage’s company Coca Cola began more than a century ago. The Coca Cola company world headquarter is at Atlanta Georgia, USA. Formation of Coca Cola company was in a simple way, but today it is spread worldwide. It has a Wonderful history and an exciting future. From sometime before 1970-s Coca Cola had started doing business in India. But due to changes in the policy of Indian Government, Coca Cola had to wind up its business from India in 1977. After 16 years, in 1993 it again started doing business in India through one of its subsidiary company Coca Cola India Private Limited. It gradually went in for merger by acquisition the various well known products to stop the direct competition from the local market. Coca cola is the brand with the highest brand equity. No doubt it has gone through the ups and downs of business to reach that position. The marketing mix of Coca cola has been changing over time with more and more products being added such that today it has 3300 products. So what is the marketing mix of Coca cola? Product The company has the widest portfolio in beverage industry comprising of 3300 products. Beverages are divided into diet category, 100% fruit juices, fruit drinks, water, energy drinks, tea and coffee etc. As per Nielson’s data, Coca cola is the No.1 brand in sparkling beverages, juice, and retail packaged water in 2010. Coca cola has its market presence around 200 countries. Coca cola brands in India are Fanta, Maaza, Limca, sprite, Thums up, Minute Maid, Nimbu fresh, Nested iced tea etc. Coca-Cola made its return to India COCA – COLA in 1993 and made significant investments to ensure that the beverage is available to more and more people, even in the remote and inaccessible parts of the nation. Sprite has not only established itself as a brand which successfully boasts it’s ‘cutthru’ perspective with an authentic, edgy, irreverent, urban and straight forward style, but has also achieved status of an undisputed youth ‘badge‘ brand. Fanta entered in the year 1993. Perceived as a fun youth brand, Fanta stands for its vibrant color, tempting Taste and tingling bubbles that not just uplifts feelings but also helps free spirit thus encouraging one to indulge in the moment. Limca has remained unchallenged as the No.1 Sparkling Drink in the Cloudy lemon Segment. The success formula is the sharp fizz and lemoni bite combined with the Single minded proposition of the brand as the provider of â€Å"Freshness†. Maaza has today come to symbolize the very spirit of mangoes. Universally loved for its taste, color, thickness and wholesome properties, Maaza is the mango lover’s first choice Price Due to the availability of wide range products the pricing is done according  to the market and geographic segment. Each sub-brand of coca cola has different pricing strategy. Their pricing strategy is based on the competitors pricing, Pepsi is the direct competitor to coke. Beverage market is said to be a oligopoly market (few sellers and large buyers), hence they form into cartel contract to ensure a mutual balance in pricing between the sellers. Price strategies are important to Coca Cola because the price determines the amount of sales and profit per unit sold. Businesses have to set a price that is attractive to their customers and provides the business with a good level of profit. Long before a sale was ever made Coca Cola had developed a forecast of consumer demand at different prices which inevitably determined whether or not the product came on the market, as well as the allocation of adequate money and resources to produce, promote and distribute the product. Place Coca cola is the world’s most favourite brand and is available all over the world. The distribution system of coca cola follows the FMCG distribution pattern. The effective distribution network of coke has almost eroded the small and middle level players in the market. In India they have captured even the rural market by extensive distribution and have eroded the market share of Bo onto, Kalmar etc. Promotion Coca cola adopts various advertising and promotional strategies to create an increased demand in the market by associating with life style and behaviour and mainly targeting value based advertising. You are more likely to see a coke ad individualised for a particular festival or in with a general positive message. Coca cola uses CSR as its marketing tool to gain emotional benefits in consumers mind. The current promotions through CSR include â€Å"Support my school† campaign with NDTV. It has many brand ambassadors like Shahrukh khan, Hrithik Roshan, South Indian Actor Vijay and Trisha , Ghambir, Aamir khan etc and has signed contract recently with Imran khan. It allows price discounts and allowances to distributors and retailers in order to push more products into the market. It employs both push  strategy through promotions and pull strategy through advertisements and campaigns. Company introduces different themes and concepts to sell their product and advertises mainly in electronic media and out of home advertising. These advertisements build brand image and create awareness. ïÆ'ËœBig names of Indian film industry mainly become the brand ambassadors of the Company. ïÆ'ËœThroughout the years, the slogans of the Coca-Cola have been memorable. For E.g. Thanda Matlab Cola-Cola Jo chaho ho jae Cola-Cola enjoy Coca-Cola-Piyo sir utha ke Brrrrrrr!!! Coca Cola on a regular basis Advertise through Billboards, Hoardings. They occupy the prime locations of the Urban and Semi Urban areas to advertise their products †¢ Bill Boards are used on Highways, main City roads, Across big buildings, Shops etc. †¢Also in India the Coca-cola can be seen painted on walls, bus stands, dhabas etc focusing in rural areas if India Coca-Cola uses direct marketing in many ways. First, the company partners with various restaurants, movie theatres, etc. to carry its product. This way, when a customer orders a drink, the only brand they are offered is Coca-Cola, which forces them to buy a drink from that brand. By doing this, Coke forces out other competition, and keeps the restaurants, or other businesses, purchasing their product over and over again. E.g. Mc Donald’s. According to mobilemarketingmagazine.com, Coke uses mobile graphics and texts to appeal to markets on a more personal level. Coca Cola also sponsors various sporting events in India and around the world in major sport events like Cricket, Football, Hockey, Olympic and Motor Racing etc. Coca-Cola uses the internet to promote its products. The company has its own website, which is quite simple to navigate through. The website allows customers to become interactive through various games, contests, shopping, and through a special section of the website that enables consumers to find out how they can help their community. ïÆ'ËœAlso in the modern era of communication and networking, the company uses various social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter to connect with the consumers. The  internet marketing thus helps to reach to those consumers who can’t afford to spend time on T.V and are always online

Addiction: Effects of Playing on-Line Computer Games Essay

Introduction In present times , computer gaming has been popular mostly within the students’ societies worldwide. Like a virus , excessive gaming has also been contagious within the society , creating an indestructible and unstoppable problem concerning its effects. In local concept , students and non-students here in the Philippines has been massively influenced with the habit of computer gaming even it sometimes affects their daily productive activities such as work , studies or even family relations. Same as in other countries , computer gaming can only be declared as a problem , if and only if it is in excess. And this problem has been uncured until now , and this also affecting mostly the student society’s educative and productive activities. See more: The Issues Concerning Identity Theft Essay Related Studies: Title:The Effects of playing on-line computer games in academic performance of students? Background of the study: The aim of this paper is to investigate a comparatively untouched area of research into games and education: whether or not there is a link between the frequency with which computer and video games are played, and academic achievement, as measured by traditional examination results, of those who play them. An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems. The expansion of online gaming has reflected the overall expansion of computer networks from small local networks to the Internet and the growth of Internet access itself. Online games can range from simple text based games to games incorporating complex graphics and virtual worlds populated by many players simultaneously. Many online games have associated online communities, making online games a form of social activity beyond single player games. The rising popularity of Flash and Java led to an Internet revolution where websites could utilize streaming video, audio, and a whole new set of user interactivity. When Microsoft began packaging Flash as a pre-installed component of IE, the Internet began to shift from a data/information spectrum to also offer on-demand entertainment. This revolution paved the way for sites to offer games to web surfers. Some online multiplayer games like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI and Lineage II charge a monthly fee to subscribe to their services, while games such as Guild Wars offer an alternative no monthly fee scheme. Many other sites relied on advertising revenues from on-site sponsors, while others, like RuneScape, or Tibia let people play for free while leaving the players the option of paying, unlocking new content for the members REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Most of our youth and students today are fond of going into internet shop to use computer, without knowledge of their parents what they are up to. They will ask money from their parents telling that they have something to search in the internet for their project or assignments, although others do so, but there are some who just make it as an alibi so that they can compete skills with their peers through playing games online like for example war craft, battle realms, DOTA etc. Related Literature Foreign Since Time named the microcomputer their â€Å"Man of the Year† in 1983 there has been a continued drive for public school teachers to become computer literate. A nationwide study concluded that although teachers have increased computer availability in their classrooms, they are not integrating computers into the standard curricula. The present study examined â€Å"technophobia† as an explanation for low levels of computer utilization. Elementary teachers (N = 171), secondary science teachers (N – 117), and secondary humanities teachers (N = 200) in 54 schools across five urban school districts completed three measures of technophobia and a measure of demographic characteristics, computer/technology experience, computer availability, and current computer use. Results indicated that: (1) computers are available at all schools, but are not being used by many teachers; (2) many teachers are technophobic, particularly elementary teachers and secondary humanities teachers; (3) teachers are most worried about dealing with the actual computer machinery in their classroom, about computer errors, and about learning to use computers; and (4) predictive models showed that although computer experience is the most prominent predictor of technophobia, it is not the only predictor — age, gender, teaching experience, computer availability, ethnicity, and school socioeconomic status also play an important role in predicting technophobia.

Muslims are betrayed in the Media Essays

Muslims are betrayed in the Media Essays Muslims are betrayed in the Media Essay Muslims are betrayed in the Media Essay Name: Course: Lecturer: Date: Muslims are betrayed in the Media In this essay, I have noted the influence and impact that the media has on people’s opinions and of their perception concerning something. This is in all areas and sectors, including the economy, social life, and politics. The media’s portrayal of Muslims and the Islamic religion in general, has had a profound impact on the way people think about Muslims. This is because the media portrays Muslims as violent people, when they only choose to focus on the terrorist activities committed by a few people who proclaim to be Muslims. Because of this portrayal, many people tend to think that only Muslims can be terrorists, and they think that Islam is a religion that encourages violence. Muslims in the country feel victimized because of the media, and the influence that it has had on people. The 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks continues to affect people’s opinions. The media fails to realize the rising stereotypical attitude that it continues to raise in people when it focuses on the negative nature of Islam. The issue of this negative portrayal of Muslims is especially personal for me, because I am a Muslim. I feel the different way that people view me because of my religion. In the UK, Muslims continue experiencing marginalization, and it becomes increasingly hard for them to interact and socialize with people from different religions and beliefs. Were it not for this influence, I believe that people would not develop an Islamophobia kind of attitude. They would see the religion of Islam like any other religion, say like Christianity or Buddhism. However, because of the negative images of the Islamic faith, many people fail to realize the benefits of Islam and the positive effect that it can have on the followers. The marginalization that Muslims go through has led to increased prejudice and discrimination. This has led to the harassment of some Muslims, which is carried out even by the law enforcers. My decision to do this topic is to make other people aware of the problems that Muslims go through because people have a bad and mistaken image of them. Many people in the British society are not aware of the problems and challenges that Muslims go through everyday because of their religion. I have experienced some of these problems, and this has led me to the realization that other people need to know about them. I hope that increasing people’s knowledge through this awareness will reduce the Islamophobia attitude that people have developed. I hope to do this by noting the lack of information, which people have because they tend to rely on the media for most of their information I have carried out extensive research for this essay. This has included researching many newspaper articles that have focused their attention on the Muslim community. I have used two of the most recognized and accessible newspapers, and these are the Daily Mail and The Telegraph. Many people read these newspapers, whether online or in print form. I have conducted primary research by speaking to many Muslims of all ages and genders. All the Muslims that I have spoken with feel that the media continues to betray them. I have spent a lot of time on the internet, to see the different reactions of the British society on people, and to see what the other forms of media have to say about Muslims. By consulting different media forms, I have realized that even the media does not have a clear definition and understanding of Islam.

GIS

GIS GIS in Fighting Wildfires Recently there has been an onslaught of wildfires throughout southern California, New Mexico and Florida. GIS and the USGS have come to the aid of firefighters fighting these wildfires. New digital maps that are the combination of aerial photographs and the geometric qualities of a map were used in the recent New Mexico wildfires. These maps DOQ's (Digital Orthophotoquads) which are aerial photographs are supplied by the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park California. DOQ images can also be found on the Microsoft TerraServer site at http://terraserver.microsoft.com/default.asp These maps allowed firefighters to have a more accurate picture of the terrain where a fire is burning and where it might spread. On DOQ's trees look like trees rather then a green shaded area on a topographic map. Buildings are more visible and there shape and possible use can possibly be determined. Because these maps were in high demand during the wildfire, these maps were delivered electronically, downloaded and printed by the recipient, thus speeding up the process of determining a way to get these fires out.Topographic map of the OxbowThis is in sharp contrast to a time when topographical maps had to be updated by hand scribers and printed on special presses.USGS began producing these maps in 1991. Images are derived from the archives of the National Aerial Photography Program (which is housed in Sioux Falls, S.D.). Today nearly 165,000 DOQ's available in the U.S. Because DOQ's can serve as a layer in a GIS system, they are especially useful for community and special event planners. Ex.. They were used in Atlanta for the 1998 summer Olympics and are being used to create maps for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics to layout event sites and plan transportation corridors.With USGS's DOQ's New Mexico was able to contain...

Biography of Samuel Morse, Inventor of the Telegraph

Biography of Samuel Morse, Inventor of the Telegraph Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791–April 2, 1872) is famous as the inventor of the telegraph and Morse Code, but what he really wanted to do was paint. He was a well-established artist when his youthful interest in electronics resurfaced, leading to the communications invention that changed humanity until it was overshadowed by the telephone, radio, television, and, finally, the internet. Fast Facts: Samuel F.B. Morse Known For: Inventor of the telegraphBorn: April 27, 1791 in Charlestown, MassachusettsParents: Jedidiah Morse, Elizabeth Ann Finley BreeseDied: April 2, 1872 in New York, New YorkEducation: Yale College (now Yale University)Spouse(s): Lucretia Pickering Walker, Sarah Elizabeth GriswoldChildren: Susan, Charles, James, Samuel, Cornelia, William, EdwardNotable Quote: What hath God wrought? Early Life and Education Samuel F.B. Morse was born on April 27, 1791, in Charlestown, Massachusetts, the first child of noted geographer and Congregational minister Jedidiah Morse and Elizabeth Ann Finley Breese. His parents were committed to his schooling and the Calvinist faith. His early education at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, was undistinguished, except for his interest in art. He next enrolled in Yale College (now Yale University) at age 14, where he focused on art but found a new interest in the little-studied subject of electricity. He earned money by painting small portraits of friends, classmates, and teachers before graduating in 1810 with Phi Beta Kappa honors. He returned to Charlestown after college. Despite his wishes to be a painter and encouragement from famed American painter Washington Allston, Morses parents wanted him to be a booksellers apprentice. He became a clerk for Daniel Mallory, his fathers Boston book publisher. Trip to England A year later, Morses parents relented and let him sail to England with Allston. He attended the Royal Academy of Arts in London and received instruction from Pennsylvania-born painter Benjamin West. Morse became friends with poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, several accomplished painters, and American actor John Howard Payne. He adopted a â€Å"romantic† painting style featuring heroic characters and epic events.  In 1812, his plaster statuette The Dying Hercules won a gold medal at the Adelphi Society of Arts exhibition in London, and his painting of the same subject received critical acclaim at the Royal Academy. Family Morse returned to the U.S. in 1815 and opened an art studio in Boston. The next year, seeking portrait commissions to earn a living, he traveled to New Hampshire and met Lucretia Pickering Walker, 16, in Concord. They soon became engaged. Morse painted some of his most notable work at this time, including portraits of military leader  Marquis de Lafayette  and President  George Washington.   On Sept. 29, 1818, Lucretia Walker and Morse were married in Concord. Morse spent the winter in Charleston, South Carolina, and received many portrait commissions there. The couple spent the rest of the year painting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A year later, Morses first child was born. While living with his family in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1821, Morse painted more distinguished individuals, including cotton gin inventor Eli Whitney and dictionary compiler Noah Webster. Morses second child was born in 1823 and his third child arrived two years later, but tragedy followed. One month after the birth of his third child, Lucretia Morse died suddenly at age 25 and was buried in New Haven before he could return. Interest in Electricity Resurfaces In 1827, Columbia College Professor James Freeman Dana presented a series of lectures on electricity and electromagnetism at the New York Athenaeum, where Morse also lectured. Through their friendship, Morse became more familiar with the properties of his earlier interest. In November 1829, leaving his children in the care of relatives, Morse left for a three-year tour of Europe, where he visited friends Lafayette and novelist James Fenimore Cooper, studied art collections, and painted. While raising his family, painting, lecturing on art, and viewing works by the old masters, Morses fascination with electronics and inventions never disappeared. In 1817, he and his brother Sidney patented a human-powered water pump for fire engines that worked but was a commercial failure. Five years later, Morse invented a marble-cutting machine that could carve three-dimensional sculptures, but it couldnt be patented because it infringed on an earlier design. Meanwhile, advances in electronics had been moving the world closer to a device that could send messages over vast distances. In 1825, British physicist and inventor William Sturgeon invented the electromagnet, which would be a key component of the telegraph. Six years later, American scientist Joseph Henry developed a more powerful electromagnet and demonstrated how it could send electric signals over long distances, suggesting the possibility of a device such as the telegraph. In 1832, on his voyage home from Europe, Morse conceived the idea of an electromagnetic telegraph during conversations with another passenger, a doctor who described to Morse European experiments with electromagnetism. Inspired, Morse wrote in his sketchbook ideas for a prototype of an electromagnetic recording telegraph and a dot-and-dash code system that would bear his name. Later that year, Morse was appointed professor of painting and sculpture at the University of the City of New York (now New York University), but he continued to work on the telegraph. Developing the Telegraph In the fall of 1835, Morse built a recording telegraph with a moving paper ribbon and demonstrated it to friends and acquaintances. The next year he demonstrated his prototype to a professor of science at the university. Over the next several years, Morse demonstrated his invention to friends, professors, a House of Representatives committee, President Martin Van Buren, and his cabinet. He took on several partners who helped with the science and financing, but his work also began to attract competitors. On Sept. 28, 1837, Morse began the patent process for the telegraph. By November he was able to send a message through 10 miles of wire arranged on reels in a university lecture room. The next month, after completing the paintings he was working on, Morse set aside his art to devote his full attention to the telegraph. At this point, other men- including the doctor on Morses 1832 return voyage from Europe and several European inventors- were claiming credit for the telegraph. The claims were resolved and in 1840 Morse was granted a U.S. patent for his device. Lines were strung between many cities, and on May 24, 1844, Morse sent his famous message- What hath God wrought?- from the Supreme Court chamber in Washington, D.C., to the B O Railroad Depot in Baltimore, Maryland. By 1849, an estimated 12,000 miles of telegraph lines were being run by 20 American companies in the United States. In 1854, the Supreme Court upheld Morses patent claims, meaning that all U.S. companies using his system had to pay him royalties. On Oct. 24, 1861, Western Union completed the first transcontinental telegraph line to California. After several breaks, a permanent undersea Atlantic Cable was finally laid in 1866. New Family Back in 1847 Morse, already a wealthy man, had bought Locust Grove, an estate overlooking the Hudson River near Poughkeepsie, New York. The next year he married Sarah Elizabeth Griswold, a second cousin 26 years his junior. The couple had four children together. In the 1850s, he built an Italian villa-style mansion on the Locust Grove property and spent his summers there with his large family of children and grandchildren, returning each winter to his brownstone in New York. Death On April 2, 1872, Samuel Morse died in New York. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn. Legacy Morses invention changed the world, as it was used by the military during engagements, newspaper reporters filing stories from the field, far-flung businesses, and others. After his death, his fame as the inventor of the telegraph was obscured by other communication devices- the telephone, radio,  television, and the  internet- while his reputation as an artist grew. At one time he didnt want to be remembered as a portrait painter, but his powerful, sensitive portraits have been exhibited throughout the United States. His 1837 telegraph instrument is in the  Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington,  D.C. His Locust Grove estate is a national historic landmark. Sources Samuel F.B. Morse: American Artist and Inventor. Encyclopedia Britannica.Samuel F.B. Morse: Inventor. Biography.com.

Criminal Law 5.3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Education - Essay Example In contrast to such medicinal procedures Eastern medicine in some cases support the use of acupuncture and may even reduce stress. Effects of acupuncture would not be explained through traditional medical models and patients have experienced stress reduction by using acupuncture. The physiological effects of acupuncture can also be theoretically supported with evidence and in this essay I would argue which model of philosophy best fits in with our own belief systems and how this claim could be justified or established. The focus here is thus on differentiating and yet finding common grounds between constructivist and positivist philosophies. The similarities and differences of these two systems of thought could be highlighted not only with regard to stress but several other examples could be used to show exactly where these two systems vary and how they would differ. Positivism relies on strict scientific method and empirical understanding of events. Advocated by Comte, Popper and by scientists, positivism was considered as the most important approach to philosophy of science that could bring about scientific progress with natural or material approaches defined or understood empirically (Mill, 1993). Positivism is generally considered as the scientific method as science is based on certain statements which are empirically testable and verifiable (Morris, 2006). The logical structure and coherence of these statements would make a phenomenon scientifically explicable and only then this would be accepted as explaining the events of the world. Positivism being the best scientific explanation is also closely related to reductionism which shows how one type of entity would be reducible to another. The basis of positivism would relate to quantitative and objective measurement of the events or phenomena studied. Scientific information is thus informatio n that can be quantified and objectively studied. Apart from

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The Demand for Dark Tourism in Prague (Reasons) - Essay Example t few research papers on the topic of dark tourism and so this research study is a contribution towards the goal of developing this potential to its fullest. Like the previous trend of eco-tourism, dark tourism is one way to develop tourism especially if a town or city has just very few exciting natural sceneries to offer domestic and foreign tourists but instead has lot of old sites, castles, former prison or concentration camps, execution squares, and dungeons as alternatives sites worthy to visit and spend their tourism dollars. Academic literature is also very few on this niche of the tourism industry and new research on this niche can be very helpful indeed. The forecast demand and growth potential of dark tourism is very optimistic with people always attracted by a morbid curiosity to see and perhaps re-experience the tragedy and death of the deceased people associated with dark sites; people want to re-create the grief of

Walthers Social Information Processing Theory (SIPT) Essay

Walthers Social Information Processing Theory (SIPT) - Essay Example SIPT has developed in reaction to the theories of social presence, media richness, and social cues that criticized CMC. The social presence theory asserts that CMC deprives users of the actual presence of people, which results to CMC that is â€Å"more impersonal, individualistic, and task-oriented† than face-to-face communication (Griffin et al., 2015, p.122). This theory suggests that face-to-face communication has higher social presence than CMC, which results to more personalized and collective communication processes and effects (Noy, Raban, & Ravid, 2006, p.179). Media richness theory states that the bandwidth of the communication medium affects its ability to offer rich relational messages (Griffin et al., 2015, p.122). It insists that CMC has a narrower bandwidth compared to face-to-face communication, so the latter is more capable of successfully building close social relationships. Another theory asserts that CMC filters out social context cues (Griffin et al., 2015, p.122). It asserts that CMC users cannot determine and properly respond to their relative status and that CMC lacks social interaction norms, so CMC users tend to be less controlled when expressing their emotions (e.g flaming easily online since the sender is not in front of the receiver) (Griffin et al., 2015, p.122). In 1992, Walther developed the SIPT to assert that CMC users can maximize the limited cues they have to foster close relationships online (Griffin et al., 2015, p.122). Media richness theory states that the bandwidth of the communication.

Ethics and Social Responsibility Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethics and Social Responsibility - Coursework Example Within a business setting, the making of ethical decisions relies on the values set by the owner for the employees. Business owners should set up an adequate plan of action that observes social ethics while setting up the business. The plan of action is a three step approach that adopts listening, communicating and recognizing skills. Stage one involves listening to employees. The relationship between the organization and employees is a critical aspect of the company. The issue of ethics does not exist in isolation. Therefore, the manager should establish a proactive approach that entails listening to their employees and getting their concerns about the situation at hand. The acknowledgement of the moral issues of employee motivates them to participate in the process. Stage two entails proper communication: The process of listening generates a lot of ideas. In return, communication offers a chance to build the ideas through understanding the failures and the progress of a company. The progress gives a manager a clear outlook of the concerns addressed in the prior stage. It also gives the manager an opportunity to comprehend the problems faced within the organization. Communication is established through public forums, one to one dialogue and electronic media. Stage three requires recognition of the accomplishments of the company. In this case, the manager recognizes the accomplishments of the employee towards the goals of the firm and adopts new ethics that can motivate employees to produce the best results. The manager uses formal initiatives, informal gestures and public recognition as a means of motivating the employee. 2. Dunkin Donuts has social and economic responsibilities to accomplish among the employees, the customers, the investors and the community at large. In an independent perspective, the company has full responsibility to the customers in order to meet its objectives. This involves ability to develop proper ethics of service delivery in the

Walthers Social Information Processing Theory (SIPT) Essay

Walthers Social Information Processing Theory (SIPT) - Essay Example SIPT has developed in reaction to the theories of social presence, media richness, and social cues that criticized CMC. The social presence theory asserts that CMC deprives users of the actual presence of people, which results to CMC that is â€Å"more impersonal, individualistic, and task-oriented† than face-to-face communication (Griffin et al., 2015, p.122). This theory suggests that face-to-face communication has higher social presence than CMC, which results to more personalized and collective communication processes and effects (Noy, Raban, & Ravid, 2006, p.179). Media richness theory states that the bandwidth of the communication medium affects its ability to offer rich relational messages (Griffin et al., 2015, p.122). It insists that CMC has a narrower bandwidth compared to face-to-face communication, so the latter is more capable of successfully building close social relationships. Another theory asserts that CMC filters out social context cues (Griffin et al., 2015, p.122). It asserts that CMC users cannot determine and properly respond to their relative status and that CMC lacks social interaction norms, so CMC users tend to be less controlled when expressing their emotions (e.g flaming easily online since the sender is not in front of the receiver) (Griffin et al., 2015, p.122). In 1992, Walther developed the SIPT to assert that CMC users can maximize the limited cues they have to foster close relationships online (Griffin et al., 2015, p.122). Media richness theory states that the bandwidth of the communication.

Gulf country orientation of Renewable energy Research Paper

Gulf country orientation of Renewable energy - Research Paper Example Given the potential for renewable energy in the GCC and the need for renewable energy due to large scale infrastructure development and reliance on energy, a number of renewable energy projects have been undertaken in the GCC states (Alnaser and Alnaser, 2011). This paper presents an overview of the renewable energy orientation in the Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) make up the six states in the GCC and are regarded as among the world’s ‘major oil and natural gas producing countries’ (Reiche, 2010: 2395). The GCC states are ranked among the world’s top 25 carbon dioxide emitters ‘per capita’ (Reiche, 2010: 2395). Due to infrastructure and economic development in the GCC, the demand for electricity has increased exponentially and the GCC states have been forced to consider renewable energy sources. With an abundant source of solar and wind energy, it is hardly surprising that the GCC countries have taken the initiative to plan for the implementation of renewable energy as a solution to the pending energy crisis brought on by high demands for electricity (Hertog and Luciani, 2009). There are three main advantages to GCC states in implementing renewable energy sources. The first advantage is a reduction in the cost of power plants together with reduced costs in the transmitting and distributing operations. Secondly, with reliance on renewable energy sources at home, the GCC states can increase their oil and natural gas exports which would normally be put to use locally and finally, GCC states would benefit from a reduction in carbon monoxide emissions from conventional power plants (Sharples and Radhi, 2013). The European Union (EU), as a driver of renewable energy elsewhere signed the EU-GCC Clean Energy Network agreement with the GCC in 2010. In signing the EU-GCC Lean Energy Network, the EU has undertaken to and taken action for the promotion and ‘transfer of expertise and

Development of Complex Societies Essay Example for Free

Development of Complex Societies Essay In the early stages of the development of complex societies, many different factors had a powerful impact on the way the societies developed. In some areas of the world, religion was the primary force that led to the creation of organized societies. Other areas developed on trade routes that made it necessary to develop complex societies to incorporate the growth of different economic classes and the wealth they generated into the structure of the government. In each part of the world where complex societies emerged, the communities were responding to different types of challenges and the complexities each society created forced them to confront new challenges which then led to the great, complex societies of history. The urban society of Mesopotamia developed because of the engineering discoveries that allowed residents of the area between the Tigris and Euphrates to increase food production, while the predictability of the Nile River allowed the Egyptians and Nubians to build large, complex societies around their commercial and religious activities. Many simple early societies were based around farming. Through cultivating crops and the land, people learned they could settle down in one place instead of being nomads and support a larger population of people. These villages needed a social structure, but their sizes were limited by the amount of food they could produce. In Mesopotamia, especially Sumeria and Babylon, there is not much rainfall, but farmers learned they could artificially irrigate their crops using the fresh water in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers[1]. The large-scale engineering projects required greater social organization than the simple farming communities that came before, but they also resulted in increased food production that allowed them to build cities. The urban centers that resulted required more sophisticated organization to make sure that the population was productive: that building projects could be completed, that resources were distributed fairly, and that the city could continue to grow[2]. The division of labor also created different economic classes, which resulted in various social classes as well. Some merchants grew wealthy catering to customers who came to the city from other places, and community building projects required supervision, organization, and funding[3]. Such a large society could not exist as small farmers trading with one another. Political authority was needed to maintain order between the citizens and protect the interests of the entire community, especially the cropland that existed outside the city walls. An example of the way that authority influenced society is the codification of laws by Hammurabi, especially as they related to family relationships and how husbands could treat their wives. Upper-class people whose marriages represented political and economic alliances were subject to the same law, so that even if a husband had a right to punish his wife for a suspected affair, he could not do anything to her unless he caught her in the act. If he did act out on his jealousy, he would be punished. Hammurabi’s laws treated women like the property of their husbands and fathers, but they also described certain standards of behavior that citizens should be expected to follow for the sake of stability and to reign in people’s behavior[4]. The innovation of urban development also led to the Sumerian creation of military power, as each city-state had to protect its farmland and irrigation projects from one another and from outside invaders. Once the city-states had organized themselves into relatively peaceful social organizations united under a single government, their growing populations often led them to go out and try to conquer other city-states or areas with more resources to increase their wealth[5]. In Mesopotamia, the social organization created in the first cities led to the establishment of the first empires. Along the Nile River in northern Africa, small city states also emerged due to the increased production of food that agriculture made possible. Agriculture first developed in Sudan, where people first cultivated wheat crops and domesticated animals that roamed the grassland. The growing populations made these cities into cultural and commercial centers, as well, and they also required political authority to keep the peace and maintain the functioning of all of the complex institutions of a city: dividing up resources, keeping the peace, and protecting their resources from other city-states[6]. These cities were often ruled over by Kings who were not only thought of as political authority but were also considered to be divine themselves, so they also held a great deal of religious authority[7]. Over time, the grasslands became desert and agricultural activity centered along the floodplains of the Nile River in Egypt and Nubia. Egypt, particularly, had a very wide and predictable floodplain which attracted immigrants and allowed the population to grow. United under one ruler, who was also considered to be divine, Egyptian society became increasingly complex. Massive amounts of resources, especially wheat from the fertile harvests, had to be dealt with, marketplaces had to be managed, and armies had to be raised to protect the fertile land from invaders. The main organizing force in Egyptian society was its strong religious component. The Pharaoh was considered a god as well as a king, and the religious power he held was just as important as the political power. The colossal building projects that the Egyptians embarked on, such as the pyramids and temples, required a very complex society and highly skilled workers and engineers[8]. They developed a very complex writing system not only to keep commercial records, but also to record their spiritual beliefs and the history of their empire. Harkhuf used it to document his exploration of Nubia and opening of trade routes there, showing the high levels of complexity that each of those societies had risen to[9]. Both the African and Mesopotamian civilizations developed out of small farming communities who practiced small-scale agriculture. In both areas, advances in agriculture led to increased populations living in densely-populated cities, which allowed the people to divide labor and specialize in different things. The division of labor led to advancement in almost every area: from engineering and agriculture to art and, especially, the political organizations that organized the whole society and made all of those things possible. Both civilizations developed writing systems, originally developed to keep records, but soon used to express imaginations, beliefs, and to write down the histories of their nations. While Mesopotamian cultures were organized around the complex building projects needed to irrigate their fields, societies in the Nile River had other pressures. Their cropland was regularly fertilized and irrigated, so their complexity developed out of a need to organize the wealth of the city-state and the empire that came as a result. Without the pressure of constantly trying to keep their crops irrigated, the Egyptians organized around religious beliefs, which they expressed in their greatest building projects and influenced almost everything they did. The pressures that led smaller societies to develop more complex structures were different in each case, but they both resulted in the building of the first great cities which are necessary for the political, social, and technological innovations of complex society. Although the places they lived were very different, the Sumerians and the Egyptians both developed writing to record their progress, political innovations to maintain control of growing populations, and laid the foundations for great building projects and the great civilizations that would come after them. Bibliography Bentley, Jerry H. and Ziegler, Herbert F., Traditions and Encounters Vol. 1 from The Beginning to 1500, 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010 [1] Jerry H. Bentley and Herbert F. Ziegler, Traditions and Encounters Vol. 1 from The Beginning to 1500, 5th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010), 25 [2] Bentley and Ziegel, Traditions, 27 [3] Bentley and Ziegler, Traditions, 33 [4] Bentley and Ziegler, Traditions, 36 [5] Bentley and Ziegler, Traditions, 29 [6] Bentley and Ziegel, Traditions, 50-51 [7] Bentley and Ziegel, Traditions, 52 [8] Bentley and Ziegel, Traditions, 53 [9] Bentley and Ziegel, Traditions, 56

Effect of Sleep Quality on IQ Experiment

Effect of Sleep Quality on IQ Experiment Project Report Title: Do sleeping qualities affect IQ? Abstract As sleep is so important that we cannot live without, there must be some reasons. Research has proven that it is associated with many other aspects of our lives such as IQ and mood. It is a process to maintain the wellbeing of our internal functioning and an activity that we necessitate, not an option. The present research examined the effects of the quality of sleep people have on IQ. 100 individuals participated in the research and were asked to complete a sleep scale made by the researchers and an IQ test. The results signify that there was a significant positive correlation between one’s quality of sleep and how intelligent they are. There was also a surprise finding of a significant difference between genders, where the results for females was significant but not for males. Introduction Why do we sleep? Every single creature on earth needs to spend time sleeping every day as a natural part of our lives; we spend on average a third of our lives sleeping. Many people decide however to spend less than the recommended time to accomplish certain tasks, there are many theories as to the exact reason why humans spend time sleeping although none of them ultimately conclusive. Investigation carried out by the National Science Foundation (1999-2004) showed that nearly 12% out of the 320 million American population suffer from different sleeping disorders. Moreover, 69% of children have reported having sleeping difficulties once or twice a week. In many cases when these symptoms occur, they are often being ignored and untreated (F. Dinges et al. 2005). In light of this we can see the ways in which sleep has an effect in many people’s lives, as well as the effects it can have on our external and internal environment. It is essential that we have good understanding of the importance of sleep, as factors such as having a higher IQ score is reflective variables such as better mood states, having the recommended hours of sleep and having a good sleeping quality. Recent research by Blackwell et al. (2014) has found that older men have developed an cognitive decline as they have an appalling quality of sleep. However, they have found no association between sleep duration and decline of the cognitive system. Even though it has no link between sleep duration and cognitive functioning, humans still need a certain amount of sleep everyday in order to have a good sleep quality. The following are some factors that will affect sleeping quality or being affected by the lack of sleep. 1. Using phones Using phone or any other electronic appliances before sleep might associate with bad sleeping quality as it can causes cognitive stimulation.(Adams et al. 2013) Just before you sleep, your brain’s electrical activity should start to decrease and neurons begin to slow down. However with the use of an electronic device, the opposite effect takes place; the light from electronic appliances such as your phone can prevent your body from resting. The light will essentially pass through the retina into the hypothalamus, making your body become tense thus causing a production of the stress hormone cortisol. As a result the body’s â€Å"fight or flight† response would occur. Thus delaying the secretion of the sleep-inducing hormone, melatonin, ultimately leading to a bad sleeping quality. 2.Mood Throughout the day many of us experience events or situations that can ultimately affect our mood. However if someone is experiencing a bad or low mood it can be found there is an association between this variable and sleeping quality. Some researchers have found relationships between the mood of an individual and the quality of sleep they receive. (Zawadzki et al. 2013) They found that people who have certain emotion disorders such as depression or anxiety are at a higher risk of developing certain disorder such as insomnia, which ultimately decreases one’s sleeping quality. Research by Meltzer, L. J., Mindell, J. A. (2007) has also proved that people with sleeping disorders are likely to have mood disorders and stress related illnesses too; it is found that having difficulty in and lack of sleeping are normally the first symptoms and a great risk factor when a mood disorder first develops. 3. Hours of sleep The amount of sleep one receives ultimately varies among different age groups. There was a study in 2005 by Ursin et al. that showed how the amount of sleep people received varied across populations. There were 3531 males and 5329 females, a total of 8860 participants, age ranged from 40 to 45. Participants were from Bergen and other four communities. They found that people with different work shifts, place of living education and marital status have variations in sleep duration. It was genuinely suggested that an adult should have at least 7 to 8 hours sleep a day. If taken from a biological perspective, it was also proposed that there were certain traits to indentify within genes that provide a predictor of on average how much sleep one is likely to engage in. With regards to previous research the goal of our study was to investigate whether sleep quality has an effect on IQ. This was a correlation study using 100 participants and our predictive hypothesis would be that the quality of sleep people receive does in fact have an association with IQ levels. Method Participants For this research, a sample of 100 participants (57 Females and43 Males) aged 18 or above were selected(M=23.56,SD=6.08) and obtained through opportunity sampling which included Psychology Undergraduates from University of Warwick as well as their families and friends. Their participation in the study was voluntary and they were not paid for their participation. Design This was a correlation study. This was a within subject design under self-report condition. The independent variable for this research would be the sleeping quality (mood, hours of sleep and use of electronic devices) of the participants which was being measured through a sleep scale. The dependent variable was the participants’ IQ , that they would scored on in IQ test given after completing their sleeping scale. Material A Sleeping Quality Scale which was developed by the researchers, driven by the formed hypothesis and literature reviewed. The scale consisted of 7 questions and an IQ test of 30 questions which was found on (www.iqtest.com). Please refer to Figure 1 for the sleeping quality scale used. The questions in the IQ test were generated through the following aspects: General knowledge, solving problems through mathematics, logic and analogy. The Brief Mood Introspection Scale by John D. Mayer was also used in the research, using these symbols ‘ XX,X,V,VV’ to indicate their mood state. Procedure Firstly, participants were informed of the procedure, were given a consent form and asked to sign and write their require contact details. They were then given a short semi-structured questionnaire (the sleeping quality scale) which stated â€Å"Please put a tick in the box which suits you the most† at the beginning of the page. The questionnaire consisted of seven questions about their sleeping quality such as the amount of sleep they have every night and the amount of time they took to fall asleep. They were also asked about their use of electronic devices, the number of electronic devices they own, hours spent on electronic devices as well as the hours spent each week using one at their place of employment. A Brief Mood Introspection Scale was given afterwards, there were two groups of adjectives about mood which were in positive and negative aspects, XX, X, V, and VV were used to indicate their mood. If they definitely did not feel that particular mood at that mo ment they would select â€Å"XX† and select â€Å"X† if they do not feel in that mood. Similarly, if they feel that particular mood slightly, they would select â€Å"V† and they would select ‘VV’ if they were definitely in that specific mood. After completing both of the scales, they were given an IQ test which contained 30 questions. In each question there was a statement, the participants had to indicate whether it was true or false. They were asked to complete the scales and the IQ test in silence and were given as much time as they needed to complete both. The participant’s identity was left as anonymous. The Sleeping quality Scale was marked out of 142 (M=110.75,SD=13.75) and the IQ test was marked out of 150 (M=91.08,SD=12.64). If a participant was to score (142) on the sleep quality questionnaire, the sleep scale would determine that they have high sleep quality and therefore a score of 0 would determine a low sleep quality as 142 is t he maximum score that can be obtained. Correspondingly, if a participant was to score (150) in the IQ test would determine they are highly intelligent. The higher they got in the IQ test, the higher their level of intelligence. After the study was completed, participants were debriefed of the aims of the study and thanked for their time. Results Please refer to Table 1 for all the means and standard deviations of the sleeping scale and the IQ test. Our hypothesis was that the score of the sleeping quality scale participants would positively correlate with their IQ test score and was successfully proved by our results. There was nothing major went wrong in the conduct of the study. When examining the effects of sleeping quality on IQ, researchers created a sleep questionnaire and an IQ test found online. The dependent variable was the score participants gained in the IQ test. In the IQ test, participants will be awarded 5 marks for each question that they have answered correctly. There were 30 questions, so the highest they could get was 150. We used the scores they got from the IQ test to determine how intelligent they were. The Sleep Scale consisted of 7 questions and was marked out of 142. The higher they scored on the Sleep Scale, the better sleep quality they have. Referring to results Table 1, participants’ mean IQ score was above national average (M=110.75, SD=13.75) and their scores from the sleeping scale was rel atively high (M=91.08,SD=12.65). However, when looking at the genders separately from Table 3 Table 4, females (M=109.91, SD=13.61) was slightly less intelligent than males (M=111.86, SD=14.02) based on their performance on this IQ test; males also show slightly better quality of sleep (M=92.42,SD=11.67) than females (M=90.07,SD=13.35). Pearson Correlation test had surprisingly shown that females had a significant result r(57)=.306,p.05. This corresponded to sleep quality does have an effect on females’ IQ score while for male, the two factors do not associate with each other. Overall, it was found that sleep quality was positively correlated with IQ score gained, r(100)=.269, p Descriptive Statistics Table 1 Means and standard deviations of measures taken. Table 2 Zero-order correlations among measures taken. Note – N = 100. Correlations are controlling for other variable. Figure 1. The correlation between the scores participants gets in the sleeping scale and their IQ. Figure 2. The correlation between the scores females gets in the sleeping scale and their IQ. Table 3. Means and standard deviations of measures taken (female). Table 5. Zero-order correlation among measures taken (female). Figure 3. The correlation between the scores males gets in the sleeping scale and their IQ. Table 4. Means and standard deviations of measures taken (male). Table 6. Zero-order correlation among measures taken (male). Discussion Our hypothesis was that sleeping quality does have an association with IQ test performance. The predicted hypothesis was supported by the results obtained. However there is divergence exists in the gender. It has always been suggested that there is a link between sleep quality and cognitive functioning and IQ. Not only does the outside elements that might affect our quality of sleep but also the inside elements that we cannot ignore. The time participants took the test also has an impact on the score they gained, besides, it has been purposed that IQ does change over life span. Barter, E. A. (1997). Recent research from Gruber et al. (2013) has found out that sleep quality does have an effect on children’s IQ measures, however the underlying mechanism stay unidentified. They found that when the frequency of the sleep spindle was lower, it was associated with better performance on WISC-IV scales (a working memory scale) So, when considering the environment that affects our sleep quality, we should also consider the biological aspects (e.g. the sleep spindle). Gruber et al. (2013) conducted a research to investigate whether sleep quality does have an effect on children’s IQ performances. They hypothesised that sleep spindles frequencies, amplitude and duration would be associate with the performance on perceptual reasoning, verbal comprehension and working memory. However, after completing the study, they found that although there was an association between sleep spindle frequency and better performance on the perceptual reason and working memory but not with the per formance of the IQ test. Also, as sleep is such an essential part of our lives, government and companies should purpose more policies that encourage and ensure their citizens to have more sleep. Research from Kyle Stanyar (2012) has proved that high workload, lengthy shift work and work weeks has an association with poor sleep quality. Therefore, government should not just place emphasize on school children but also working adults. The research stresses the importance of the quality of sleep to IQ. Significance difference were indicated in the results, the quality of sleep does affect IQ in Females. This might be because of the biological difference in genders that researchers might consider when replicating this research. Reference Adams et al. adolescent Sleep and cellular Phone Use: recent trends and implications for research. Health Services Insights 2013:6 99–103 American Academy of Sleep Medicine. (2014, March 31). Poor sleep quality linked to cognitive decline in older men. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 5, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140331170557.htm Barter, E. A. (1997). Stability and change in IQ scores: An eleven-year study in children ages 6-17. (Order No. 1384630, California State University, Fullerton). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 77-77 p. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/docview/304428718?accountid=14888. (304428718). Dewald, J. F., Meijer, A. M., Oort, F. J., Kerkhof, G. A., Bà ¶gels, S. M. (2010). The influence of sleep quality, sleep duration and sleepiness on school performance in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 14, 179-189. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2009.10.004 Epstein, L. J. (2008) Sleep and mood. Retrieved on 4/5/14 from http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/need-sleep/whats-in-it-for-you/mood. Gruber, R., Wise, M. S., Frenette, S., Knà ¤auper, B., Boom, A., Fontil, L., Carrier, J. (2013). The association between sleep spindles and IQ in healthy school-age children. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 89, 229-240. Gruber, R., Laviolette, R., Deluca, P., Monson, E., Cornish, K., Carrier, J. (2010). Short sleep duration is associated with poor performance on IQ measures in healthy school-age children. Sleep Medicine, 11, 289-294. Hatfield,H. (2008). Power down for better sleep. Retrieved on 4/5/14 from http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/power-down-better-sleep. Kong, F., Li, Q., Liu, S. (2011). Poor sleep quality predicts decreased cognitive function independently of chronic mountain sickness score in young soldiers with polycythemia stationed in tibet. High Altitude Medicine Biology, 12, 237-242. Meltzer, L. J., Mindell, J. A. (2007). Relationship between child sleep disturbances and maternal sleep, mood, and parenting stress: A pilot study. Journal of Family Psychology, 21, 67-73. Ursin R; Bjorvatn B; Holsten F et al. Sleep duration, subjective sleep need, and sleep habits of 40- to 45-year-olds in the Hordaland health study. SLEEP 2005;28: 1260-1269. Zawadzki, M. J., Graham, J. E., Gerin, W. (2013). Rumination and anxiety mediate the effect of loneliness on depressed mood and sleep quality in college students. Health Psychology, 32, 212-222.

Corruption in the Canturbury Tales by Gefforey Chaucer Essay -- greed,

The Canterbury Tales, penned by Geoffrey Chaucer gives its audiences insight on the corruption that exists to this day in humanity. As you read through the chapters Chaucer reveals the dark sides to supposedly respectable people such as the Summoner, along with people he favors like the Knight, the Wife of Bath, and women in general. His comical descriptions and stories that coincide with each character express his thoughts on real people in his society. My perception of the Summoner’s tale moral is that greed is the root of all evil. The Summoners tale introduces us to a greedy Friar who only begs at the homes of the rich. Instead of praying for the people he meets the Friar erases their names from his tablet after taking advantage of their accommodations and stealing their money. When the greedy Friar makes a stop at Thomas’ home he is greeted by his troubled wife who had recently lost her child, the Friar sees the wife’s vulnerability as an opportunity to make more money and tells her he had a vision of her son in heaven. This leads to Thomas’s wife reaching out to the Friar about her dieing husband being in a nasty mood. Thomas sees the Friars transparency so he questions him about his health â€Å"God knows† said Thomas, I feel no benefit therefrom. So help me, Christ, in the few years I have spent many a pound on all sorts of Friars, yet I never get better. Truly, I have almost used up my mon ey. Farewell by gold it is all gone!† (Page 192-193)The Friar then turns the tables on Thomas and blames his illness on him giving money to other friars â€Å"Why does a man who has a perfect physician need to seek other doctors in the town? Your infidelity has ruined you. Do you think that it insufficient that I, or rather our group, should pra... ...d fair, And take your chance on those who will repair To your house now and then because of me (Or to some other place, it may well be). Choose for yourself the one you'd rather try." (Pages 1119-1125) The Knight seems to have learned his lesson for he leaves the decision up to the old woman, the story ends with the Knight living happily ever after with is beautiful and faithful wife. This story reflects on how strongly Chaucer believed in women’s rights because it reveals women’s desires and opinions. In conclusion, The Canterbury Tales reflects Geoffrey Chaucer’s view on medieval society. From his writings we are able to visualize and learn about different social classes’ from an honest point of view. The Knight, the Wife of Bath, and women character we greatly favored throughout the tales while others were highly unlikeable. Works Cited the cantubury tales

Fair Labor Standards Act

Today we are fortunate to have laws to protect us from being forced to work excessive hours without being fairly compensated. We have laws to protect our children from being forced to work at an early age and these laws protect us from working in unsafe and unhealthy conditions. In 1938 our 32nd president Franklin D. Roosevelt was able to have the â€Å"Fair Labor Standards Act† passed and signed into law. This piece of legislation was a land mark in our history.It banned most child labor; it set a minimum hourly wage and set the standard work week. This was the beginning that made employers develop records to keep track of the wages that they paid to their employees and records of the hours the employees were working. The Supreme Court had been one of the major obstacles to wage-hour and child-labor laws. In the 1936 Presidential race wage-hour legislation was a campaign issue and Roosevelt promised to seek some constitutional way of protecting workers.When President Franklin D. Roosevelt won the 1936 election by a landslide he was determined to overcome the obstacles of the Supreme Court’s opposition as soon as possible. Roosevelt and his Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins tried to make a model for employers of government contractors in all fields, not just construction. But the Federal Government actually encouraged employers to exploit labor because the Government had to award every contract to the lowest bidder.President Roosevelt and Frances Perkins continued to try to get congress to pass acts to prohibit the labor of children and set minimum wages and hours. The â€Å"Fair Labor Standard Act† in a draft form was sent to the White House where two trusted legal advisers of the President, and with the Supreme Court in mind, added new provisions to the already lengthy bill. Roosevelt had told his Secretary of Labor, that the length and complexity of the bill caused some of its difficulties with Congress, and asked for it to be shortene d.Lawyers tried to simplify the bill but faced the problem that, although legal language makes legislation difficult to understand, bills written in simple English are often difficult for the courts to enforce. Because the wage-hour, child-labor bill had been drafted with the Supreme Court in mind, the bill could only be cut from 40 pages to 10 pages. The bill was voted upon May 24, 1938 and after the House had passed the bill, the Senate-House Conference Committee made more changes to reconcile differences.During the legislative battles over fair labor standards, members of Congress had proposed 72 amendments. Almost every change had exemptions, narrowed coverage, lowered standards, weakened administration, limited investigation, or in some other way worked to weaken the bill. What had survived was approved by the conference committee and passed the House on June 13, 1938 and then the Senate approved it. Congress then sent the bill to the President, and on June 25, 1938, the Presid ent signed the Fair Labor Standards Act into law. This affected industries that employed about one-fifth of the US workforce.About 700,000 workers were affected by the wage increase and 13 million more were affected by the hour’s provision. It mostly affected white males, and about 14 percent of women (http://www. u-s-history. com). Children under the age of fourteen were no longer legally allowed to work with some exceptions in the agricultural industries and family businesses. Children under the age of eighteen were banned from working â€Å"hazardous† jobs in mining and some factory jobs. This had greatly reduced the number of children injured by bad working conditions.Children between the ages of 14 and 16 have had additional restrictions on the number of hours they are allowed to work to encourage them to stay in school. During a school day they are only allowed to work three hours and no more than eighteen hours in a school week. Children are not allowed to work before 7a. m. and after 7 p. m. , and from June 1 through Labor Day they are not allowed to work after 9 p. m. The 14 and 15 year old also have addition al restrictions in addition to the â€Å"hazardous† jobs that they may not perform.These jobs include the food service industry such as baking, cooking, working in the freezers and meat coolers, operating food slicers, grinders, choppers and bakery mixers. Fourteen and fifteen year olds are also not to perform jobs that require loading or unloading goods on or off of trucks, railcars or conveyors and they are not to work in connection with maintenance or repair of buildings, equipment or machines. Employers may be assessed civil monetary penalties of up to $11,000 for each employee who is the subject of a violation of the Act’s child labor provisions.A civil monetary penalty of up to $50,000 may be assessed for each child labor violation that causes the death or serious injury of any minor employee, and these assessmen ts may be doubled, up to $100,000 when the violations are determined to be willful or repeated (LindenMeyer, 2004). In the â€Å"Fair Labor Standard Act† the federal minimum wage began at 25 cents per hour in 1938 and it has had over twenty amendments made over the years for increases. The latest rate of $7. 25 per hour was effective on July 24, 2009.In addition to a minimum wage employers must pay the employee’s wages in cash or something that can easily be converted to cash or legal forms of compensation, for example food and lodging. Employers cannot pay their employees with coupons or tokens that can only be used in a store owned by the employer. Discounts that are granted to employees by the employers cannot be used towards meeting the minimum wage requirement. There are a number of employment practices which ‘Fair Labor Standard Act† does not regulate.They are vacation, holiday, severance, or sick pay; meal or rest periods, holidays off, or vacations; premium pay for weekend or holiday work; pay raises or fringe benefits; or a discharge notice, reason for discharge, or immediate payment of final wages to terminated employees. The standard work week in 1938 was reduced to 44 hours per week, and if employees were to work over that they would be paid over time at a rate of their wages plus one-half wages for the additional time worked. By 1940 the standard work week was reduced to 40 hours per week (www. dol. gov/dol/oasam/programs/history/flsa1938. htm).Despite this law in 2006 a class action law suit was brought against Wal-Mart for not paying its employees for their overtime and forcing them to work through their breaks. Wal-Mart lost the law suit and the workers won $78. 4 million (Worth 2008 p 12). In 1961 an amendment was added to the â€Å"Fair Labor Standard Act† called â€Å"enterprise coverage†. It applies to employers whose annual sales total $500,000. 00 or more, or who are engaged in interstate commerce. The courts interpreted that the term interstate commerce to cover companies that regularly use the U. S. mail to send and receive letters to and from other states.The courts included that employees that use company telephones or computers to place or accept interstate business calls or take orders would make the employers subject to the â€Å"Fair Labor Standard Act† (Steingold, 2009). There are also exemptions to the â€Å"Fair Labor Standard Act† where some employees do not qualify for the provisions of overtime or the minimum wage requirements. These employees who are not entitled to it are called â€Å"exempt† employees. Employees that are always entitled to the overtime and the minimum wage pay provisions are â€Å"nonexempt† employees and they are blue-collar employees and first responders.Blue-collar employees include carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, iron workers, craftsman, operating engineers, construction works, and laborers. First responders are workers that are on the front lines of protecting safety and health. They include police officers, firefighters, medical technicians, ambulance personnel, and hazardous materials workers. Employees that are always exempt and are never entitled to overtime or a minimum wage are employees of seasonal amusement or recreational businesses, employees of newspapers with a circulation of less than 4,000 and newspaper deliver people, and workers of small farms.Some employees are exempt if they meet certain requirements; this is usually because the employees are being paid a salary that compensates them enough for the extra duties and responsibilities that they have. Executive, administrative and professional workers are exempt if they meet the specific guidelines. The requirements for an exempt executive worker are that they must manage other workers as a primary job duty and have at least two full time employees that they are in charge of. They must have the ability to hire , fire, discipline, promote, and demote others or make recommendations about these decisions.The executive worker must earn a salary of at least $455 per week. The requirements for an administrative employee to qualify as exempt are that they must primarily complete their work directly for the business’s management or administration. They must be independent workers and primarily use their own discretion and judgment on their work duties. The administrative employee also must earn a salary of at least $455 per week. The requirements for an exempt professional are that they complete work that requires invention, imagination, originality, or talents in the arts such as music, writing and acting.They may need to be a highly intellectual and have been trained in extensive studies such as law, medicine, theology, accounting, engineering, architecture, teaching, and pharmacy. The must also earn a salary of at least $455 per week. Outside sales people are exempt if they regularly wo rk away from the employers’ office and make sales or obtain orders or contracts for services or facilities. Exempt salespersons are generally paid through commissions and will require little to no supervision to complete their job.The exemption from the minimum wage and overtime pay provisions also applies to computer specialist that receives a salary of at least no less than $455 per week or not less than $27. 63 per hour. The law specifies that computer specialist’s primary duties involve applying systems analysis techniques and procedures. Designing, developing, documenting, analyzing, creating, testing, or modifying computer systems or programs, prototypes and/or machine operating systems. There are a number of employees that are exempt from only the overtime pay requirements.These include taxicab drivers, announcers, news editors, and chief engineers of radio and TV stations that have fewer than 100,000 people located in a town or city (Repa, 2007 and Steingold, 2 009). In 1963 an amendment called the â€Å"Equal Pay Act† had been added to equalize the pay scales for men and women who work at an equal skill, effort and responsibility. Congress felt that the differential in pay prevented the maximization of the available labor resources, they wanted to prevent labor disputes, and they did not want an unfair method of competition.They also felt that the wage differentials depressed the wages and the standard of living. Congress also wanted to eliminate stereotypes about the value of work performed by women. Congress exempted several forms of discrimination from the operation of the Equal Pay Act. These exceptions include shift differentials, restrictions on or differences based on the time of day worked, hours of work, and the lifting or moving of heavy objects. The Equal Pay Act also excluded differences based on experience, training or ability, as well as unusual or higher than normal wage rates which employers maintained for valid rea sons.The Equal Pay Act allows for unequal pay for equal work only when wages are set pursuant to a seniority system, a merit system, a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production, or other factors outside of sex (The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc, 1963 and Landsberg, 2004). In 2004 a class action suit was brought against Wal-Mart were 1. 6 million female associates that worked for Wal-Mart felt that they were discriminated against because they were women. These women tried to advance into higher paying positions but were passed over by men/boys who did not have the experience and knowledge that these women had.More than seventy percent of the Wal-Mart workforce is women, sixty-five percent of the cashier and greeter positions are held by women and only thirty-five percent of the assistant managers for Wal-Mart are women. The female employees of Wal-Mart are paid less than the male workforce for jobs that are of equal skill, effort and responsibility all for keeping prices lower for the consumer (Worth, 2008 p 8-12). The Fair Labor Standard Act requires employers to keep records of wages, hours, and other regulated items by the Department of Labor.Most of the information is generally obtained by employers in ordinary business practice and in compliance with other laws and regulations. Employees that are subject to the minimum wage provisions or both the minimum wage and overtime pay provisions must have employers keep the following records with personal information, including employee's name, home address, occupation, sex, and birth date if under 19 years of age, the hour and day when workweek begins and the total hours worked each workday and each workweek.These records also need to indicate the total daily or weekly straight-time earnings and the regular hourly pay rate for any week when overtime is worked and total overtime pay for the workweek. In addition to records for hours worked and paid the records also must include deduction s from or additions to wages, total wages paid each pay period and the date of payment and pay period covered. The Records required for exempt employees differ from those for nonexempt workers. Special information is required for employees that work from the home and for employees to where lodging is provided (http://www. ol. gov/dol/whd/regs/compliance/hrg. htm). The constitutionality of the â€Å"Fair Labor Standard Act† was unanimously supported by the Supreme Court it has been altered and amended on at least 43 occasions between 1938 and 2009. Those alterations and amendments have provided and clarified benefits to workers in various employment sections, and made increases to the minimum wage. As a hardworking American we have a right to be paid fairly for our work. It is unfortunate that many unscrupulous employers attempt to manipulate laws intended to protect workers in order to avoid paying just compensation.When this happens, employees can turn to the legal system to ensure that their rights are protected without being discriminated against or discharged for filing a complaint or participate in any proceeding under the Act. ? Repa, Barbara Kate. â€Å"Your Rights in the Workplace† Consolidated Printers Inc, July 2007 Steingold, Fred S. â€Å"The Employers Legal Handbook† â€Å"Manage you employees & workplace effectively†. Delta Printing Solutions, Inc, June 2009 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. â€Å"Equal Pay For Equal Work† BNAIncorporated, 1963 Worth, Richard â€Å"Open for Debate Workers’ Rights† Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2008 â€Å"Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. † Gale Encyclopedia of U. S. Economic History. 1999. Retrieved from Encyclopedia. com: http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1G2-3406400301. html Newman, Roger K. â€Å"Fair Labor Standards Act (1938). † Major Acts of Congress. 2004. Retrieved from Encyclopedia. com: http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1G2-3407400107. html LINDENMEYER, KRISTE. â€Å"National Child Labor Committee. † Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society. 2004.Retrieved from Encyclopedia. com: http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1G2-3402800297. html Grossman, Jonathan. â€Å"Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage† www. dol. gov http://www. dol. gov/dol/topic/discrimination/agedisc. htm http://www. dol. gov/dol/oasam/programs/history/flsa1938. htm http://www. dol. gov/dol/whd/regs/compliance/hrg. htm http://www. u-s-history. com/pages/h1701. html â€Å"Equal Pay Act of 1963. † Major Acts of Congress. Ed. Brian K. Landsberg. Macmillan-Thomson Gale, 2004. eNotes. com. 2006. http://www. enotes. com/major-acts-congress/equal-pay-act