Organisational change and development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Organisational change and development - Essay Example Center of discussion in this paper is organisational change management as the process necessary for an association to identify, to organise, to employ and to attain full benefit from the alterations taking place within or outside the organisational environment. The objectives of organisational change management is concerned with effective planning, execution, measurement and preservation of the initiatives of implementing change strategies as well as augmentation of the capacity required for managing changes. Organisational change can be observed when an organisation intends to streamline its available assets and enhance its capacity to generate value by augmenting effectiveness to a sustainable extent. Changes are considered as ubiquitous in nature that helps progressing as well as achieving experiences which escort to the acceleration of the overall organisational growth. In the current era of globalisation, the process of organisational changes is widely considered to be inevitabl e. In order to meet the technological as well as environmental challenges of the situations, the teams should be able to adopt changes in due course of time. The change management strategies of an organisation are often based on diverse approaches such as individualistic, socio-economic and structural aspects among others which help in the development of many theories and functions. Along with the advancement of technology as well as new practices, the organisational change management process continues to alter in order to cope with the enduring changes. There are various types of approaches such as traditional, socio-economic, socio-structural and socio-technical approaches among others which deal with organisational change management from differing perspectives. One of the mostly applied perspectives to organisational change management is observed to be the traditional approach that can be effectively described by the Kurt Lewin’s classical model (Friedman & Shcustack, 2008 ). Kurt Lewin’s classical theory is influential in organisational change management as it focuses mainly on the individual aspects and social psychology rather than observation and problem solving. Lewin proposed that populace respond to any imaginary situation or changes and intends to shape it accordingly. This includes mainly three phases such as unfreezing, moving and refreezing. Unfreezing is a type of challenge faced by every human beings in an organisation. This means that the individual employees are often examined to depict reluctance to change according to the changes occurring within the organisational environment or in its external business environment. However, the reluctant employees ultimately accept the change in order to sustain in the organisation. It involves creation of the preliminary motivation towards the change by communicating the existing problematic situation or scenario to the employees of the organisation. This facilitates to understand the varied viewpoints of the individuals as well as helps to progress people from the ‘frozen’ state to an ‘unfrozen or change’ state so that it can be adopted efficiently by all. Next is the moving or transition stage. It involves recognition of the need of change, that can be in terms of cultural change or structural change in order to ascertain new principles and rules. Refreezing refers to the fortification of the new adjustments in order to accomplish rehabilitated stability among the organisationa

As an ecologically concerned engineer or anthropologist, critically Essay

As an ecologically concerned engineer or anthropologist, critically assess the current Japanese nuclear disaster using academica - Essay Example The Fukushima Daiichi facility was apparently unable to withstand the dual shocks of the earthquake and tsunami within a short timeframe and entered into a situation which can be described as nuclear meltdown of the reactors. The information about the Fukushima disaster was initially limited and possibly misrepresented by TEPCO and Japanese government administrators in order to downplay publicly the degree of seriousness of the situation, and this has led to difficulties in academic or public verification of the ecological and social threats that the meltdown portends for Japan. It is not overestimating the situation to state that in the worst instance a significant portion of Japan could have become uninhabitable due to the disaster, and currently there is an evacuation zone in effect around the facility. This essay will examine the ongoing nature of the Fukushima Disaster, highlighting the fact that the facility may still not have been properly brought under control and the degree of uncertainty that exists because of this in determining the over-all consequences of the event. The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster There is now little doubt that a full nuclear meltdown occurred at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan this year. According to Julian Ryall in an article published in the Telegraph as "Nuclear meltdown at Fukushima plant" (12 May 2011), â€Å"Engineers from the Tokyo Electric Power company (Tepco) entered the No.1 reactor at the end of last week for the first time and saw the top five feet or so of the core's 13ft-long fuel rods had been exposed to the air and melted down. Previously, Tepco believed that the core of the reactor was submerged in enough water to keep it stable and that only 55 per cent of the core had been damaged. Now the company is worried that the molten pool of radioactive fuel may have burned a hole through the bottom of the containment vessel, causing water to leak. ’We will have to revise our plans,’ said Junichi Matsu moto, a spokesman for Tepco. ‘We cannot deny the possibility that a hole in the pressure vessel caused water to leak’. Tepco has not clarified what other barriers there are to stop radioactive fuel leaking if the steel containment vessel has been breached. Greenpeace said the situation could escalate rapidly if ‘the lava melts through the vessel’.† (2011: p.1) One of the problems with the design of the Fukushima plant is that it had been storing depleted nuclear fuel rods on the same site as the reactor, cooled with water. After becoming exposed, this fuel may have added to the critical mass of the meltdown reaction and also caused additional radiation to be released into the environment during the initial period of the disaster. The additional force of this reaction may have been sufficient to burn or melt through the very bottom containment layer of the reactor itself, the final protection layer that prevents a meltdown lava flow from entering the l ocal environmental system through the earth and water systems. The use of sea water to flood and cool the reactor following the meltdown has inevitably led to groundwater radiation being released into

Quality of Service (QoS): Issues and Recommendations

Quality of Service (QoS): Issues and Recommendations The Effects Of Movement On QoS – As the mobile device moves from a cell protected from one base station to an adjoining cell of a different base station during a connection handover takes place. This hand over time may just result in a short loss of communication which would possibly not be obvious for voice interplay however can outcomes in loss of information for different applications. For mobile computing, the base station may have to provide regional processing, storage or other services as good as communication. Variations in link quality will additionally be caused by atmo ­ circular conditions such as rain or lightning. These effects need additional refined dynamic QoS management than fixed systems. It is therefore the variation in QoS that is that the crucial distinction between mobile systems and communications based on wired networks. This implies for adaptive QoS management that specifies a variety of acceptable QoS levels, instead of attempting to ensure specific values. The QoS management is additionally accountable for cooperation with QoS aware applications to support adaptation, instead of insulating applications from variation in underlying QoS. The effects of quality on QoS need then that algorithms utilized should be capable of managing frequent loss and reappearance of mobile device within the network, and that overhead ought to be reduced in periods of low connectivity. This is in contrast to traditional distributed applications, wherever moderately stable presence and systematically high network quality square measure usually assumed. The Restrictions Of Portable Devices On QoS – Portability of the mobile computing device imposed variety of problems that place limitations on QoS. The main limitation is within the physical size of mobile computers. Systems usually are designed with the limitations of batteries in mind. Current battery technology still needs appreciable area and weight for modest power reserves, and isnt expected to become considerably additional compact in future. This then places limits on the style due to the ought to offer low power consumption as a primary style goal: low power processors, displays and peripherals, and the observe of getting systems powered down or sleeping once not in active use are common measures to reduce power consumption in portable PCs (Personal computer) and PDAs (Personal digital assistant). Low power consumption elements are usually grade of processing power below their higher consumption desktop counterparts, so limiting the complexness of tasks performed. The practice of intermittent activity might seem as frequent failures in some situations. Similarly, mobile technology needs vital power, notably for transmission, thus network association should be intermittent. The second purpose is that of user interfaces: giant screens, large keyboards, and refined and straightforward to use pointer systems are commonplace in a desktop surroundings. These facilitate data wealthy, complicated user interfaces, with precise user management. In portable computers, screen size is reduced, keyboards are typically additional incommodious, and pointer devices less refined. PDAs have tiny, low resolution screens that are usually additional suited to text than graphics and will solely be monochrome. They have stripped miniature keyboards, and pen based mostly, voice, or easy cursor input and selection devices. These limitations in input and show technology need a considerably totally different approach to user interface style. In sush type of environments where users may use a variety of systems in different situations, the interface to applications may then be heterogeneous. QoS management in a mobile environment should enable for scaling of delivered information, and also less complicated user interfaces once connecting using a common combination of portable devices and higher power non-portable devices [1, 6] and field of context aware computing provides groundwork during this area, wherever instead of treating the geographical context (as for mobility), one can treat the choice of end system as giving a resource context. The Effects On Other Non-Functional Parameters – Any style of remote access will increase security risks however wireless based mostly communication is especially likely to unseen undetected therefore mobility complicates traditional security mechanisms. Even nomadic systems can build use of less secure telephone and net based mostly communications than workplace systems using LANs. Some Organizations might place restrictions on what knowledge or services will be accessed remotely, or need a lot of subtle security than is required for workplace systems. In addition, there are legal and moral problems rose within the observance of users locations. Cost is another parameter that might be stricken by the employment of mobile communications. However, whereas wireless connections are frequently more expensive, the basic principles of QoS management in relevancy price are the same as for fixed systems. The only major extra quality is formed by the risk of a bigger range of connection, and therefore price, options, and the risk of performing accounting in multiple currencies. WORK ON MANAGEMENT OF QoS IN MOBILE ENVIRONMENTS Management Adaptivity As declared within the section The Effects of Movement on QoS, one of the key ideas in managing QoS for mobile environments is adaptation to changes in QoS. In the following we tend to discuss 3 categories of change that have to be catered for. Large-grained change is characterized as changes due to varieties of end system, or network connection in use, generally these can vary infrequently, often only between sessions, and therefore are managed mostly at the initialization of interaction with applications, probably by suggests that of context awareness. Hideable changes are those minor fluctuations, some of that could be peculiar to mobile systems, that are sufficiently little in degree and period to be managed by traditional media aware buffering and filtering techniques. Buffering is often used to take away noise by smoothing a variable (bit or frame) rate stream to a constant rate stream. Filtering of packets could differentiate between those containing base and improvement levels of information in multimedia streams, e.g., moving from color to black and white images and are like those in fixed network systems [35]. However, as mobile systems move, connections with totally different base stations have to be set up and connections to remote servers re-routed via the new base stations. This needs moving or putting in filters for these connection, different connection could not give the same QoS as the previous one, and so the needed filter technique could differ. To manage this needs an extension of the traditional interactions for migrating connections between base stations. The choice and handover of management should realize of offered QoS, needed QoS, and the capability of the network to accommodate any needed filters. Wherever the network cannot maintain the current level of service, base stations ought to initiate adaptation in conjunction with handover [14, 41]. Fine-grained change are those changes that are often transient, however vital enough in vary of variation and period to be outside the range of effects that will be hidden by traditional QoS management ways. These include: Environmental effects in wireless networks. Other flows beginning and stopping in a part of the system so affecting resources available. Changes in accessible power inflicting power management Functions to be initiated, or degradation in functions like radio transmission. These types of change should be informed with the applications involved, as they need interation between QoS management and the application for adaptation. In several conditions it is a reasonable to assume that the wireless connection will determine the overall QoS. However, an end-to-end QoS management is still needed, specially for multicast systems, and those using the internet for their connection. The impact of price on patterns of desired adaptivity also becomes more pronounced in mobile systems, wherever connections usually have a charge per unit time or per unit data. Adaptation paths connected with QoS management ought to be able to describe how a lot of the users are willing to pay for a certain level of presentation quality or timeliness. The heterogeneousness inherent in systems that might offer network access through more than one media also will be a issue here, as certain sorts of connection can cost more than others, and cost of connection will vary due to telecoms supplier traffic structures. Resource Management And Reservation – Some researchers contend that resource reservation isnt relevant in mobile systems, as the accessible bandwidth in connections is just too extremely variable for a reservation to be meaningful. However, some resource allocation and admission control would appear reasonable once resources are scarce, even if laborious guarantees of resource provision are not practical. [44, 47] proposes that guarantees be created in admission control on lower bounds of needs, whereas providing best-effort service beyond this. This is achieved by creating advance reservation of minimum levels of resources within the next predicted cell to confirm accessibility and smooth handoff, and maintaining a portion of resources to handle unforeseen events. The issue of resource reservation is given some thought by those engaged on base stations and wired elements of mobile infrastructures, as these high bandwidth elements should be shared by several users, therefore the traditional resource management approach s till applies. Context Awareness – A further aspect of resource management is that of large grained adaptivity, and context awareness. [49] defines situation as the entire set of circumstances close surrounding agent, including the agents own internal state and from this context as the elements of the situation that ought to impact behavior. Context aware adaptation may include migrating data between systems as a results of mobility; dynamic a user interface to reflect location dependent information of interest; choosing a local printer or power conscious scheduling of actions in portable environments. The QoS experienced is also dependant on awareness of context, and applicable adaptation to that context [11]. A elementary paper on context awareness is [13], that emphasizes that context depends on more than location, i.e., vicinity to alternative users and resources or environmental conditions such as lighting, noise or social things. In consideration of QoS presentation, the problems with network connectivity, comm unications price and bandwidth, and location are obvious factors, poignant data for interactions as well as how end systems are used and users preferences, for instance, network bandwidth may be available to supply spoken messages on a PDA (Personal digital assistant) with audio capability, however in several situations text show would still be the most applicable delivery mechanism speech might not be intelligible on a noisy factory floor, and secrecy is also required in conferences with customers. Quality will therefore cover all non-functional characteristics of information poignant any aspect of perceived quality. CONCLUSION We discussed the critical issues faced by QoS in a mobile environment, the time those challenges emerged and the techniques that were put forward to tackle those challenges following literature to discussed work. The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalà ­: An Analysis The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dalà ­: An Analysis The Persistence of Memory is a surreal landscape created in 1931 by the famous Spanish artist, Salvador Dali. This oil painting measures 9 1/2 x 13 inches, or 24.1 x 33 cm and is on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA). It has been displayed in galleries worldwide and is a symbol of Dalis work. The Persistence of Memory contains a light blue horizon, which slowly fades downward from blue to yellow across the top quarter of the painting. Under the skyline sits a body of water, or what looks to be a large lake or a reflecting pool. The body of water traces the skyline until it interacts with neighboring mountains to the right. In front of the mountains there is lone pebble. On the left close to the water, Dali places a reflective, blue, elevated, rectangular platform with dark brown trimming around the edges. Placed in front of this platform, there is another single pebble. A lifeless tree with a hollow top, is in front of it, missing all of its leaves and branches but one. The single branch holds a silver pocket watch which appears to be melting on the end of the branch showing the numbers three through nine. Only one hand of the watch is shown, pointing at the 6. The tree is located on top of a light brown square object that looks desk-like. The brown object takes over the bottom left corner of the painting, and even goes off the canvas. On this object there are two more pocket watches residing. One of them is gold and melted, hanging half way off the light brown cube. The hands of the gold watch are stopped at five of seven and there is a fly on the face near the 1 oclock mark. The fly is also casting a very small shadow, which is shaped more like a human. The other pocket watch is bronze and shut. The exterior of the pocket watch is covered with a swarm of black ants. Unlike the other clocks, this is shut, and the only one that is not warped or melted of the four. The ground in The Persistence of Memory is a dark brown that almost turns black in certain areas. On it lies a white figure on its right side with another silver-colored melting clock on its back. The white figure is human-like, with over emphasized large eyelashes. It has a what looks to be a trade mark Salvador Dali moustache and lips where eyebrows would be on a human face. Its nose is flared and has another small brown object coming out of the right nostril. The white figure has no limbs or other human-like characteristics. The rest of the scenery around the white figure is dark and barren. The Persistence of Memory uses the basic elements of art including a plethora of lines, values, shapes, form, colors, and texture (Glatstein). The lines that Dali uses in the painting vary on the shape which he is working with. Most of the painting contains lines that are relatively thin and similar in width, with the exception of the mountains, and the eyelashes of the white figure. The lines on the mountains are noticeable, and give them a rough realistic approach. On the white figure Dali uses different lengths and widths to create individuality in each lash. He also makes everything detailed down to the very last ant on the bronze watch. The lines that make up the watches are so detailed that they even show each number on the faces. The use of lines also improve the realistic look of the reflection of the mountains in the water. The lines on the platform and brown object are straight and symmetric. He does not leave many visible sketch marks in this painting, so it is not clear o r easy to distinguish his lines from shading. The lines that he does show usually complement the dark shadows of his surrealist landscape. The values and shading in this painting are very drawn out and detailed. The shadows in Dalis Persistence of Memory are the heart and soul of the piece, creating a universe that has never been seen before. Thick values highlight details and color, giving a three dimensional illusion to this piece. On the tree, the values are implied to create the illusion of bark, while the limp clock it is holding on its branch uses value to create a tarnished and three dimensional effect. The brown object also uses shading to get this effect. The watches on the brown cube have detailed shading on and around them, and use color to shade and give a shiny effect. The melting one uses a great deal of color on the face, while the watch with the ants draws attention to the insects covering it. The ground is primarily solid brown, with vivid black shadows overpowering the landscape. This stresses the amount of sunlight that is shown in the landscape, reflecting off of other interacting objects. The mounta ins use a combination of light and darkness mixed with color rather than only black to create this style. Some of the ridges on the mountains are shaded with black, along with other parts of the painting such as the white figure and the brown cube where the two pocket watches are placed. The ants are all black, and have very little shading, while the fly on the other watch only has a blue shadow of a human figure. The white figure has shading throughout its entire body. There is heavy shading on his head, nose eyelashes, and where its body touches the ground. This painting contains a variety of shapes and forms that add to the uniqueness of its style. There are noticeable figures and shapes, and unidentifiable ones throughout the painting. The blue platform in the far corner is a solid three dimensional rectangle, as is the large brown cube in front of it. In these objects the lines are straight and solid, and although the object is not identifiable, the geometric shapes are (Jirousek). The way that the clocks are melting adds a sense of movement and flimsiness. The mountains are recognizable shapes, along with the body of water surrounding them. The tree is easily identified, as are ants and the fly. The white figure is almost cubist, missing parts and anatomical structures, somewhat resembling a Picasso or Braque painting. It still contains human qualities, like the eyelashes and the nose but lacks a solid form. Many of the objects in this painting interact with others, either resting on or touching. The clocks are an example of this be cause they almost mold to whatever object they come into contact with. This painting is three dimensional, geometric, and abstract, and does not stick to all traditional shapes or forms (Jirousek). The color scheme along with the shading work to bring the painting to life. The colors are not vivid or bright, but more saturated and dark. Dali uses shadow and color together to create a different experience. The colors in The Persistence of Memory are primarily warm including a lot of yellow, gold, black, and brown (Warm Colors). The browns on the cube and the scenery range from light to dark. The mountains are a shade of yellow, along with a lot of what the sun touches in the painting. The watches are gold, silver, and bronze and have a shine to them because of the color and shading. There are also cool colors in this piece including blue, white, and silver (The Meaning of Color). The faces of the clocks, tree, the flys shadow, the sky and water are all a blue tint, working with the warm colors to balance the painting. The texture of the painting mainly focuses on senses such as sight and touch. From smooth surfaces to rough and jagged objects, Dali intensifies the visual experience to create an imaginary sense of touch. The blue platform appears to have a smooth reflective surface, with a rough wooden underside. The tree in front of it has a course exterior with deteriorating bark. The clock on its weak branch has a flexible but noodle like appearance to it. The large brown object with the other two clocks on top looks smooth and almost wooden. The pocket watch with the ants on it looks smooth and shiny, but still covered in small black ants. The gold pocket watch looks melted and squishy. The hands on the watch appear to go in every direction and never stay in sync with each other. The mountains in the background look narrow, ancient, dangerous, with noticeable signs of erosion. The water looks still, clear, reflecting the mountains in the landscape. The two pebbles that are separated on the far left and right in the background have a smooth exterior. The white figures skin is smooth as well, although the shading gives the impression that the figures body is wavy and ameba-like. Its moustache and lips where his eyebrow appear to be drawn on and unnatural. The large eyelashes have a rough and soft texture, as does his nose and the rest of his face. Salvador Dalis painting The Persistence of Memory, uses a variety of artistic methods and principles (Glatstein). The emphasis of the piece are the four melting clocks scattered throughout the painting. Some may argue that its his mysterious white figure that draws more attention to the work. The painting carries a strong sense of movement as well. The melting clocks create an optical illusion, giving the viewer the impression that they are actually dripping metal. The ant colony on the bronze watch also creates a sense of motion as they scatter on its surface. The cracked and crumbling mountains add to this movement too, while the water below and the white figure stay completely still. The use of shadows in the picture builds a strong contrast between sources of light and darkness. The lighting projects emphasis on several objects and builds three dimensions using shadow and color. The contrast also brings the three dimensional illusion to life, giving the painting its distinguishin g features. The painting lacks a definite pattern or motif, and the only reoccurring object is the pocket watches. Its scenery changes throughout the piece from geometric objects, to empty space, to mountains. In this piece the vanishing point appears to make sense and the water touching the skyline gives an illusion of distance. The proportion of the other objects in the painting however, do not follow traditional standards. The pocket watches seem ridiculously large and warped in every direction, while the tree holding the silver watch up is similar in size to the pocket watch. The overall unity of Dalis painting brings mixed emotions. The interpretation of the piece always has a critics bias either directly or indirectly. The Persistence of Memory seems to have a darker impact on people because of its style and subject matter. It is not seen as a cheerful or happy painting, but more eerie and disturbing. According to the Salvador Dali Museum this painting is known to cause fear a nd anxiety of the unknown surroundings (Clocking in With Salvador Dali). Dalis creation of this painting was not drug induced, but from melting cheese and bizarre dreams (Rochfort). The message Dali is trying to spread is that life is fast paced and full of choices which sometimes produce unfavorable outcomes, but we move on. The clocks are only stepping stones into the real meaning behind the painting. The silver watch on the tree is symbolic of a time which has recently passed (Being second closest to the white figure). The gold watch symbolizes the best years of life slowly escaping. The closed bronze watch with the ants could symbolize a time which the artist wanted to move on and forget. The one on top of the white figure symbolizes the place that he is at now and currently trying to live through. The pebbles painted on opposite sides of the canvas symbolize separation between a lover. The cracks in the mountains are obstacles that one faces before they can reach a stable point in life and find happiness. The raised blue platform in the back symboliz es the path to a higher quality of life, while the dead tree shows mortality and that nothing lives forever. The flys shadow in the form of a person could be another symbol of Dalis love escaping, or that he wishes to escape reality. Many sources state that Salvador Dali had fallen in Gala, his only love and muse included in her many pieces (Salvador Dali-A Soft Self-Portrait). This piece defines surrealism, breaking many of the norms previously adopted by artists and critics. The painting itself reflects a lot on Salvador Dali, and the way which he viewed life. His artistic style is incredible, and his dream photographs (Clocking in with Salvador Dali) are mind blowing. His use of colors and lighting creates a three dimensional experience that was never seen before. The lifelike qualities and absurd creatures that inhabit the piece make it so good, and separate it from the rest. It has even been noted that the white figure seen in the painting is a self portrait of Dali, (looking at the moustache above its eyelashes) (Clocking in with Salvador Dali). The clocks themselves make The Persistence of Memory an iconic piece and have been emulated and parodied in popular culture as well. It surpasses much of the Modern Art of its time, involving more talent than just throwing paint buckets at a canvas. I was able to see this painting in person at the Philadelphia Art Museum in 2005 when the Dali Exhibit was on display.

And Then There Were None by Christie Agatha Essay -- Vera and Lombard,

Vera felt as though it was only right to follow the poem. Every time somebody died or disappeared a little china figure would break or disappear but at the end Vera toke the last one standing with her as a token saying that they made it to the end. While she was hanging herself the little figure broke, â€Å"The little china figure fell from her hand. It rolled unneeded and broke against the fender† (Christie 268). She also thought that’s what Hugo wanted her to because she was responsible for his nephew death. The antagonist of And Then There Were None is Judge Justice Wargrave. He was also known as Issac Morris to hide his real identity from all the other characters. He was the judge of all of the characters cases and he found them guilty and thought it was right for them to die. He knew almost everything about all of the characters, how they would think, how they would react to certain things, and some of the decisions they would make. Wargrave lead the characters to have both internal and external conflicts. For example external conflicts â€Å" They felt now like the people just awaking from a nightmare. There was danger, yes, but it was danger in daylight. That paralyzing atmosphere of fear that had wrapped them round like a blanket yesterday while the wind howled outside was gone† (Christie 243). These people are so terrified they are not getting sleep, barely eating, and hardly talking. They are living they worst nightmare. Not only that Wargrave is killing people but he is also scaring the people that is alive more and more which is causing them to have internal conflicts. For example Vera Claythorne ,the protagonist went through the deepest internal conflict â€Å"What was that-hung from the hook in the ceiling? A rope with a noose ... ...why. They all did a crime and thought they got away with it. In conclusion Agatha Christie wrote this very popular novel called And Then There Were None , to teach the readers that free or not you are never free from justice. By using both external and internal conflicts with the characters, symbolism with the poem Ten Little Soldiersand the china figures both symbolizing each character and irony of Justice Wargrave. This book is one of the reasons why Christie became the first grandmaster recognized by the mystery writers of America Works Cited â€Å"Christie, Agatha.† Literary Lifelines. 1998. Print. Christie, Agatha. And Then There Were None. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1939. Print. Kunitz, Stanley J., ed. Twentieth Century Authors. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1973. Print. Stade, George and Karen, Karbiener., eds. British Writers. 2003. Print

Obesity Essay

First literature review When people talk about obesity and health in America, it is usually all the same kinds of things. People are aware that America has a problem with obesity, but is anyone really doing anything about it? There are different programs that try their hardest to get people active and eating healthy but that only does so much. When older folds talk about the subject, they bring up the conversation of â€Å"when I was a kid, we didn’t have any of the unhealthy fast-food restaurants like we do today. They see this generation today as lazy and unwilling to try to make an effort to eat healthy. On the other hand, there are the kids that think the fast-food industry is the greatest thing ever invented. It’s the â€Å"easy way out,† to eating. Fast-food chains are overly available so in the time and need to eat, it is so easy to just run through the drive-thru and grab some food. The advertising of fast-food restaurants is so appealing these days that they are looked at as a good thing. They may try to provide a healthy menu, but is it really any better then the rest of the unhealthy menu? Think about how the food is really made, how it got to the restaurant, and how the factories process the food. I’m sure a salad is no doubt healthier then a hamburger but is that salad fresh? Do the workers at McDonalds go out to the back garden and pick the lettuce and tomato? It comes from factories that manufacture the â€Å"healthy product. † This topic on obesity and health is complicated in a number of ways. First is, is it really Americas problem to define the country as a whole as being obese and unhealthy? The second being, it’s a lifestyle that America has adapted to, meaning we are so used to being around fast-food restaurants, that it’s a ‘normal’ thing to do. America is the land of the free. Why should it be anyone else’s business what others put into their bodies? It all goes back to the personal accountability aspect. What you decide to put into your body is up to you. It shouldn’t be America’s problem. America has gotten used to eating unhealthy because it’s so easy to do so. We have so many options in restaurants and in food choices. If America really had a problem with the obesity in this country, why isn’t anyone desperately trying to end it? People can talk all they want but actually accomplishing that is a whole other story. Obesity and unhealthy lifestyles as a topic is an important issue. Our bodies replicate as a â€Å"factory,† you need to put healthy things into it to keep all the equipment from shutting down. Your body needs specific ingredients to maintain function. Some examples would be, water, fruits, vegetables, and meats. Water hydrates your body and keeps what needs to be flowing, flowing. Fruits and vegetables run as an energy source for your body. They keep you running. Without the maintenance in the factory, it will shut down. Your body acts in the same way. There are many different people that think about the topic in many ways. There are arguments that are both pro and con. Some of the people that are going to be talked about throughout the essay are Zinczenco, Balko, Warner, Haygood, Obama, Pollan, Maxfield, Orbach, and Freeman. A brief description about each of these authors will first be addressed and then further along in the essay they will be covered in more detail. Zinczenco talks about in his article, â€Å"Don’t Blame the Eater,† government and the statistics about the fast-food industry. Balko goes into detail about how people are becoming less responsible for their own health and more responsible for everyone else’s. Warner says in his article that people have gotten used to the bad eating habits. It’s the simple and easy way to satisfy their hunger. Those are just a few of the articles that are going to be discussed. Before 1994, diabetes in children was generally caused by a genetic disorder. Only about 5 percent of childhood cases were obesity related, or Type 2, diabetes. Today, according to the National Institutes of Health, Type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 30 percent of all new childhood cases of diabetes in this country. Also money to treat the diabetes has gone up extremely high. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that diabetes accounted for $2. 6 billion in health care costs in 1969. Today’s number is an unbelievable $100 billion a year. Zinczenko has a very valid point when he says, â€Å"advertisements don’t carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do. Prepared foods aren’t covered under Food and Drug Administration labeling laws. The fast-food industry would be doing well in protecting themselves if they were to provide the nutritional information people need to make informed choices about their products. If you were to drive down any road in America, there is a really good chance you’d see more then one of the 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants, but trying to find somewhere that sells a healthy grapefruit is another story. The fast food industry will contain a calorie count of the food you will be eating but it will be the bare minimum. They will not add in the dressing for the salad or the almonds and noodles, those will come separately. There will be a small print on the back of the container saying the dressing actually contains more than one serving. Adding it all together, you have yourself a over 1,000 calorie meal, which is half of the government’s recommended daily calorie intake. Radley Balko says in his article that congress is now considering menu-labeling legislation, which would force restaurants to send every menu item to the laboratory for nutritional testing. People are becoming less responsible for their own health and more responsible for everyone else’s. Our government should be working to foster a sense of responsibility in and ownership of our own health and well-being. Balko says that President Bush earmarked $200 million in his huge budget for anti-obesity measures. School boards across the nation have begun to ban snack and sodas from school campuses and vending machines in order to bring the obesity level down. The best way to alleviate the obesity â€Å"public health† crisis is to remove obesity from the realm of public health. If policymakers really want to stop obesity they would stop the socialization of medicine and move to return individual Americans’ ownership of their own health. The government should also give the option of rolling money that is reserved for health care into a retirement account. Like Zinczenko says in his article â€Å"Don’t Blame the Eater. † â€Å"Kids taking on McDonald’s this week, suing the company for making them fat. Isn’t that like middle-aged men suing Porsche for making them get speeding tickets? † It all comes back to personal responsibility. Your well-being, shape, and condition have increasingly been deemed matters of â€Å"public health† instead of matters of personal responsibility. All of the Democratic candidates for president boasted plans to push health care further into the public sector. At a time when more than two thirds of American adults are indeed far and 17 percent of children and adolescents are obese, declaring war on unhealthful eating, as the Obama administration has done to an unprecedented extent, could be fraught with political liability. Trying to teach children and Americans, healthier eating habits seemed so commonsensical a venture, Michelle Obama chose it for her apolitical personal project. She has succeeded in enlisting some bipartisan support, and some much hyped cooperation from the food industry. You can’t change specific eating behavior without addressing that way of life, without changing our culture of food. You need to present healthful eating as a new, desirable, freely chosen expression of the American way. David Kessler, the former U. S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner, says â€Å"in the space of a generation, cigarettes stopped being portrayed as â€Å"sexy and cool† and started to be seen as â€Å"a terribly disgusting, addictive product. But because of the unique emotional power of food, it’s hard, if not impossible, to similarly stigmatize unhealthful eating. † Americans will not adopt a new way of eating any time soon, because for years now, people have gotten used to eating the way they do. It’s the simple and easy way to satisfy their hunger. People have gotten lazy in the way they eat and look for the easy way out. Instead of taking the time to prepare something healthy and nutritional, people tend to sit in their cars, drive around a building in which they are buying food, and eat it on the way home. What happened to setting the table in your home and preparing a home cooked meal in which everyone participates in and then enjoying it all together afterwards? It all comes down to laziness. Trying to change the way people see food and the way they eat is something that will not happen overnight. It will take time for people to realize that the things they eat at fast-food restaurants will hurt them in the long run, whether it’s a once a week thing, or a once a day problem, it is going to affect people’s health. There are organizations that try so hard to teach everyone the risks and problems of unhealthy eating, but is anyone really listening? Do people see the advertisements and really take the time to sit down and study it more closely? In a magazine there might be a page that shows a picture of a person that has been eating fast food their entire life and now has many health problems, but is that going to be the page you stop on and suddenly change your way of eating? Or are you going to continue on some more and stop where you see a big juicy burger from McDonalds and go out and buy one? It all comes down to laziness. In a town where everyone knows everyone it is difficult to keep yourself hidden. The town of Manchester, Kentucky has an overall population of 2,100 people. Everyone is very close with each other due to the bake sales, and volunteering. But it is what goes uncelebrated and even ignored that has become Manchester’s defining feature. In an increasingly unhealthy country, it is one of the unhealthiest places of all. The national obesity rate for adults is 24 percent; in Manchester and the surrounding counties, its been estimated as high as 51 percent. The article explains the layout of the town in a way that just makes it seem miserable. â€Å"The town has a retro, lived-in look. The downtown movie theater is gone, through the marquee is still visible. There has clearly been economic suffering. There is a medium-security federal prison on the edge of town, out past the gas stations that sell fried chicken and pizza. The intersections leading into town features a McDonald’, a Wendy’s, and Arby’s and a subway. And just beyond that, there’s a Burger King, A Long John Silver’s, a Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken and a Pizza Hut. Hardly anyone in the town gets out and is actually active anymore. A father of two girls, says that ever since he went through the breakup of his wife, his eldest daughter had gone into an emotional tailspin, that has lead her to overeat and seclude herself in her bedroom where she spends hours on her computer. The daughter had gone to the doctors and was told that she was 30 pounds overweight and is on the borderline of diabetic. Jill Day has been studying for her doctorate in kinesiology and health promotion. She grew up in Kentucky and decided to go back to do a study on the obesity rate. Her subjects were fourth and fifth grade students. Her study would be the first of its kind that focuses on the underlying causes of obesity. The students fell into the categories of healthy, underweight, overweight, and obese. She says she had estimated in her head that one-third of the kids in Manchester would be overweight or obese. It happened to be half of them. Jill Day had spent two years on her study. Michelle Obama addresses the people and then proceeds to express her gratitude by thanking the members of NAACP. Michel Obama and her husband believe that this organization is one whose legacy is not to take advantage. They believe it’s an obligation that shall be fulfilled with the upmost respect. We as mothers need to prepare are children for the future and the challenges that lie ahead. Michelle Obama believes that childhood obesity is a major epidemic in America today. Obesity can lead to harmful conditions such as heart disease, cancer, asthma, and diabetes. This isn’t about the way are children look but the health and how they feel. This is a major issue in which has effected many communities but more likely to effect African American children than white. We need to address this problem and reverse this trend. We need to take this issue seriously by asking are selves how we got here in the first place. We live in a society today that is extremely different than what it was when Obama grew up. Michelle grew up in a time where kids walked to school and schools offered recess twice a day. A time where kids didn’t have video games and played outside for fun. Meals consisted of healthy food of reasonable sizes where there were hardly seconds. People these days don’t grow are own food as when are grandparents did. People will now take a trip to the local grocery store or run through a fast food franchise. We can build exceptional schools but without proper nutrition to concentrate they are rendered useless. We can create positions for outstanding job opportunities but without the energy and enthusiasm to perform them they are as well useless. You can offer the best medical care they can buy but when continuing to live unhealthy life styles such as improper nutrition these facilities are as well useless. Michel Obama has made making improving children’s health one of her top priorities. Obama has launched the â€Å"Let’s Move† campaign, which is a program to solve childhood besity so that children of today make it to adulthood at a proper weight. The â€Å"Lets Move† campaign has four components. The first provides information to parents allowing them to make healthier decisions for their families. Health care legislation requires the nutritional information to be posted on all fast food menus. The second component is to establish schools to provide healthy food. This will eliminate sugary foods and provides foods that are more nutrient rich. The third part is to make children more active by encouraging them to ride bikes and walk to school. The fourth component is to ensure all families had easy access to health foods within their communities. If the option is available more people will take advantage of this healthy opportunity. Childhood obesity is a growing trend in America in which is very preventable. With the â€Å"Lets Move† campaign this is the perfect four components to establish a way to save many children from going down the wrong path. Changing the people’s nutritional diet is a difficult task but it can be done, simply by providing more healthy options in schools and in the community. Nutritionist consisting of fats, carbs and antioxidants is a powerful science. Yet the explanation of diet makes this an imperfect science. This article is implementing ways to â€Å"escape from the western diet. † There are as many truths to nutrition as there are myths. For there are many scientific theories on nutritionism, all on which dictate the way you eat. The western diet is characterized by the intake of processed foods and high fatty foods. Many individuals define the western diet as being unavoidable. The western diet is believed to be responsible as the major factor of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Many scientific phenomenons’ all appear to have very much the same solution â€Å"stop eating the western diet. † Theories of nutrition and the curiosity of how things work is valued more by the food industry and the medical community. In order for the food industry to design new processed foods they must first come up with theories that allow them to develop a new line of products. The food industry will use scientific backing to further its production in processed foods. The medical community uses scientific theories about diet to boost their business. They let the new theories allow them to develop new drugs to treat the western diet’s diseases. New treatments and procedures are a major profit beneficiary for their industry. Dennis Burkitt, an English doctor believes the only way to escape from the western diet is to rely on the lifestyles of our ancestors. Burkitt believes to go back to a more primitive way of nutrition where hunting and gathering food was a way to survive. a big majority of the way we get food today is looked at by driving next to a building and having food handed to us through a window. In today’s society the most important factor about food is not the nutritional value but in the way it is processed. The western diet is inexpensive and easy, thus making it America’s number one diet. Throughout history, gathering and preparing food was a career in the survival of daily life. So how do we escape form the western diet? The answer is simple, stop eating the western diet. How is it that other countries can eat so unhealthily yet stay on average, healthier than Americans? Other countries perceive Americans as being unhealthy, yet the word healthy has a broad of definitions. Who defines the nutritional science of healthy and unhealthy? The journalist Michael Pollan, believes that the food industry is the main confusion on how to eat. Pollan believes that the food industry contributes to the cultural society of food. Pollan implicates the elimination of processed foods will encourage a healthier nutritional lifestyle. Pollan is a food critic and a firm believer of the food science of health and nutrition. Pollan has published manuals for better eating in which the guidelines defer the prescriptions of food scientists. Pollan’s food guidelines are more of eating algorithms that produce a number and variety of meals. Many nutritional geniuses back up their information through the concerns of American health. America is a nation that has many western diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Our culture we live in today correlates unhealthy eating to unhealthy weight. Pollan believes that over eating leads to the greatest threat to our survival. America’s government fights against the obesity epidemic, which threatens our national health. Cultural has a major influence on the health-based problems. Despite academic knowledge, common sense can connect diet, health, and weight. Pollan believes that processed foods make us sick and fat, yet no evidence can support that claim. The question of today is, why have Americans become more obese? America has a $50-billion-per-year diet industry that develops weight loss drugs, and articles of the obesity crisis. Throughout the research, BMI, a tool that uses height and weight, was developed to predict heart disease and other maladies. To totally eliminate the American anxiety of nutrition, we need to rise above our animal nature and not complicate the practice of eating food.

Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: American Perspective Many of the pieces if literature have different perspectives on the American society and government and also have different affects on the readers. One piece of literature that really deals with American society in the 19th century is Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. This piece of literature deals with racism and the different reforms the government was trying to enforce, which made some people quite upset, along with giving different perspectives of society at this time.One of the character's in this story is referred to as Pap. This is Huck Finn's father and he seems to be in the lower social class of society. He is an alcoholic who thinks the government is against him and also believes the government is stupid for its different reforms, especially the one that lets Negros be free and not slaves in the South if they have not been there for a long enough time. He believes that all Negros should be slaves and that the government is stupid for not implementing that belief.The whole issue with slaves is not an issue anymore, but still many people are racists, including the older generation. This type of attitude is still held by some people, that Negros should be held at a lower class because they are not good as white people or that the Negros think they are better than white people. Pap also believes the justice system is corrupt and it is all about power. He refuses to give custody of Huck to Judge Thatcher and the Widow because he feels like he has more right to Huck because he is his father, even though he has a history of neglect and abuse.This reflects some of the lower class even now because some people feel like their children should not be taken away from them, even though they abuse them or neglect them or something that is just not legal. They will disrespect the justice system and say several crude statements about our justice system. Pap is a character in this novel that reflects some of the lowest in the lower class in American society from the 19th century and now. Pap makes one think about how the members of the lower class act.Some of the lower class are proud people and refuse to act this way, but there are the alcoholics and drug addicts of this class that gives everyone a bad name. Pap represents the worst of the lower class for the 19th century and he displays that not much has changed for these types of people, other than now they take money from the government and then say the government is horrible. This novel shows other perspectives of American society. There is Jim, who is a slave, which gives almost the opposite perspectives to Pap.Jim is a genuinely nice person when he is even lower than Pap in social ranking. The Widow gives a different perspective. She does not speak much about her view of the government but she is perceived as lower class to middle class. She believes everyone should be civilized, which Pap and Huck are not. She g ives a very different perspective then Pap, Huck, or Jim. Then there is the perception of society Huck has. He wants to run away from it all. He does not want to be part of a society where he has to be civilized.He is a typical teenager and some teens in the present think and act in these ways. The different perspectives represented in this book seem to be represented even now, in 2013. This piece of literature changed my perspective on America because it made me realize that this is still how many Americans act in society today. There might be different issues, but there is still the attitudes that are displayed in this piece of literature. People think we have moved forward and become better, but we truly have not done this.This book may not be modern, but it applies to many modern situations and behaviors of the different social classes and the government. All one has to do is read this book and think about the ignorant people in our society and realize we have not really changed at all in the past 150 to 200 years other than more equal rights and we have all gotten lazier because of technology. Those are the only differences in our society now, and this novel made me realize this.