Essay on Article Review Soft vs Hard Management - 740 Words

This article was in the Harvard Business Review December of 2001. Is â€Å"hard† management the way to go or is the other way around is â€Å"soft† management the best way to manage? In the article Peace is arguing that soft managers are better managers than hard managers. Peace describes a hard manager as a person who is self-confident, arrogant, and thick skinned. While he describes a soft manager one that listens to criticism and takes time to notice employees opinions. If one has ever worked they have probably experienced hard and soft managers. In the article Peace describes two stories that illustrates the positive aspects to soft management. In the first story he tells of when he was a manager at Synthetic Fuels Division of Westinghouse. The†¦show more content†¦This was a very brave act that Pearce had done. Most hard managers would not have taken the time to let the employees know that they are respected. Most hard managers would have had their â€Å"puppets† break the bad news to the unlucky 15. Peace being the soft manager that he is showed compassion towards them, which also showed the remaining employees his compassion towards them. In the second story Peace was working as the vice president of Westinghouse Steam Turbine Division. In this story the focus is on Peace’s boss the president of the company, Gene. When Gene became the president of the company it was under a depression state in that it wasn’t making much of a profit at all. The workers were in a very brutal union that threatened those who even dared to cross picket lines. Gene understood the kind of people that he would be dealing with in trying to communicate the goals of the company to the entire work force. Instead of having the president of the union tell the work force about the companies goals, Gene decided he would do it a division at a time himself. When he done so he received much criticism while giving these presentations. Peace did not understand why Gene would do this to himself, but after a few weeks as Gene walked about the floor he received nods of gratitude. Gene had made a gesture of friendship to the workforce by doing i t himself. This is another form of soft management andShow MoreRelatedWhat Makes A Successful Nurse Leader?1624 Words   |  7 Pagesare leaders already without even knowing it. With the proper preparation and guidance, all nurses have the potential to be great leaders and managers. Manager vs. leader The terms manager and leader are often used interchangeably, but in reality they possess very different qualities. It can be said that leaders need to have some management skills, but managers do not need to possess leadership qualities. 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Biography of Chirstopher Columbus - 1081 Words

Christopher Columbus was born in the republic of Genova, Italy on October 31st, 1451. Christopher Columbus made three voyages to different parts of the world. He was a navigator and an explorer, knowing his waters really well. Columbus experiences many life threatening events on his journeys, however he was a strong man and usually came back alive. Columbus made many accomplishments with his journeys, which benefited the British more than anything. Columbus opened a trading route to the new world named the Americas. Christopher Columbus started sailing, when he was just a teenager. His first voyage wasnt very pleasing. In 1476, Columbus sailed the Atlantic Ocean with a commercial fleet. French Privateers attacked the commercial Fleet off the coast of Portugal. His ship was burnt down, and Columbus was left in the Ocean alone as a teenager. According to Columbus Biography, Columbus swam all the way back to the Portuguese shore. Columbus fell in love with Felipa Perestrello while he wa s in Portugal. He settled in Portugal for some time, and then moved to Spain. Though such a drastic event happened in his life, his love for sailing didnt end. Columbus participated in many expeditions that sailed to Africa. Columbus was getting Knowledge of the sea by traveling. Because Columbus traveled to Africa a few times, he had all the knowledge of the Atlantic currents flowing around the Canary Islands. He used this knowledge to find an easier and more safe trade route to India and

How Did the Internet Affect My Privacy Free Essays

Elizabeth. Loachamin 06 February 2013 Movies are one of my favorite hobbies. ? Each film has its own beauty and meaning, it’s really hard for me to pick one to be the movie that I enjoy the most. We will write a custom essay sample on How Did the Internet Affect My Privacy or any similar topic only for you Order Now However, according to some films I have recently watched,  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœthe pursuit of happiness’ which has great influence on me, the beauty of a relationship between father and his son is what interest me the most. The pursuit of happiness’ tell us the story of a father and his son after a failed investment, the father that plays on the movie was actor, is Will Smith loses everything his wife, his house, and his money. The only thing that helps the man keep on living is his son. The whole movie describes the bad days of his life when he had no money, no place to live, not even a place to sleep; the father and son had to sleep in a public rest room. I really like the way the main character protects his son, the way he fights against fate and the way he tries to attain the life he once had. Thanks to the directors that make these types of movies and show so much passion and drama on movies like ‘the pursuit of happiness’. Will Smith is famous for action films but this time, he shows the audience a new appearance. I actually can see such a wonderful movie about the relationship between father and son like this. It is a bit embarrassing to admitted but I cried watching this movie it was very emotional for me, If you are the type of people who like movies about family, you should not miss this movie ‘the pursuit of happiness’ How to cite How Did the Internet Affect My Privacy, Papers

Christine Rosen Our cell phones Ourselves free essay sample

In the section of the book the author talks about how cell phones integrated into our society and how we adapted to using cell phones every day in our lives. The author first talks about how cell phones first came to be and how they evolved over time and became a trend. As we know it, today almost everyone has a cell phone. The author’s view on cell phones is that it’s good for us but at the same time it’s bad for us. She says that cell phones gives us new ways of communicating but it also closes us from talking to strangers and making new friends. Part II – Reaction or Entering the Conversation At the end of the chapter the author talks about the positive and the negatives of having a cell phone. She first says, â€Å"Cell phone provides us with new†¦ means of communicating with each other. We will write a custom essay sample on Christine Rosen Our cell phones Ourselves or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † (Rosen, pg 472, 2004) When I read this I knew it was true that we did need cell phones because they’re the best communication we have in today’s world. It’s probably the fastest connection that we all have with each other to and that’s why Cell phones matters to us. The second thing that the author also says is that cell phones, â€Å"†¦ encourage talk, not conversation. They link us to those we know, but remove us from the strangers who surround us in public. †(Rosen, pg 472, 2004) this quote means a lot because I think that it is true. When I think about it I feel like this is what I am actually doing. I’m not really communicating with other people because I spend too much time with people that I know. And most of those people are on my contact list too. It does hurt the way that I talk to strangers and new people because I have a hard time talking or even introducing myself to new people. I agree with the author at the end of the chapter because it really is true in today’s society. Part III – Significance or â€Å"So What/Who Cares? or Explaining Why This Conversation Matters Throughout the section the authors talks about how cell phones came to be and how they are an everyday thing to us. She also talks about how important cell phones can really be. There are some scenarios of how fast the connections of cell phone could be and there are some other scenarios where people are just talking loud because they want the other person in the other line to hear them clearly. I think the author wants us to learn from this, is that cell phones aren’t bad but they aren’t good, but we should learn to use the technology that was given to us for better things like having a better communication. For example like at the end of the chapter when she talks about not having conversations with strangers. Maybe we should have more conversation with strangers and even not just talk but make new friends and expand our networks. We should put it to good use and have limits to them.

Organizations and Organizational Changes

To the lighthouse, Intro to Narrative technique essays

To the lighthouse, Intro to Narrative technique essays Virginia Woolfs To The Lighthouse (1927) Stream of consciousness, the narrative technique used by Woolf, was a relatively new method of storytelling used by many modernist writers in the first half of the twentieth century. The term stream of consciousness was first used by philosopher William James in 1890 in his book Principles of Psychology. The metaphor is an apt one in its depiction of the ebb and flow of thought. Consider the way the human mind works when it is not concentrating on anything: The mind wanders from thought to thought, often diverted by outside influences The first thing to note about this novel is that Woolf uses a specific form of the stream of consciousness technique called indirect interior monologue. Interior means that we are inside the consciousness of one character speaking to herself (monologue), thinking or remembering some past experience. Unlike direct interior monologue where the reader knows which characters consciousness is being presented, the consciousness being explored in the indirect method of Woolf is not always obvious. Sometimes its one characters consciousness, sometimes the narrative voice, sometimes another characters consciousness, and often these are blended within one sentence without obvious signals being given as to the change of perspective. Timeframes: Before examining an example from The Window section of the novel, its important to keep in mind that this entire section comprises one day at the summer house of the Ramsays, a middle-class Victorian couple, and that the year is probably 1909. More specifically, we begin the section during the hours after tea when Mrs. Ramsay and her son James are sitting before the drawing room window while Lily Briscoe is painting their portrait. Other members of the household are involved with their ordinary occupations: ...

SPSS Quantitative Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

SPSS Quantitative Research - Essay Example Country’s GDP per Capita significantly predicts Education Expenditure per Capita,  ÃŽ ² = .967,  t(46) = 25.64,  p   GDP can be divided into four classes as low income, low middle income, middle income, and high income. In addition, there are six world regions as Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America. Figure 2 shows the GDP classes for all six-world regions. From figure 2, it can be seen that most of the high income GDP class country’s are in Europe and most of the low income GDP class country’s are in Africa and Asia. The main concern regarding the outcome of Chi-square Dependence test is that all cells have expected count less than 5. Therefore, to overcome this concern GDP classes should be divided in lesser group such as low income and high income and similarly, the world region should be divided in lesser region. By doing this, excepted count will be greater in all cells. The average total population growth is about 1.5% per annum (SD = 1.3% per annum) with half of the total population growth is below 1.3% per annum. The most common total population growth is about 1.7% per annum. The range of total population growth is 7.9% per annum with -0.2% per annum being minimum and 7.7% per annum being maximum. The distribution of the total population growth is skewed to right (skewness = 1.92) that is also confirmed by histogram (figure 3) and boxplot (figure 4) of the total population growth. Since the distribution is heavily skewed, the best measure of location and dispersion of total population growth is median (1.3% per annum) and Interquartile range (1.8% per annum). The average

IT Infrastructure and IT Sourcing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

IT Infrastructure and IT Sourcing - Case Study Example has been operating since 2001. The main service provided by Anime International is an online retailer of Japanese Animation related products to customers worldwide from orders placed online at http://store.animeinternational.com. Products distributed include: Dvds and Music; Manga and Books; Toys and Figures; Art Work; Cards and Games; and other merchandise such as accessories, calendars and even kitchenware. The company sells over 10,000 diverse products in the anime genre. Anime International caters to the multimedia consumer, offering specialised downloads such as wallpapers and avatars (used in Internet forums, emails and online gaming). This diversity in product, design and orientation allows Anime International to offer consumers a wide variety of the most popular anime titles through E-commerce purchases. Operating largely as a business-to-consumer (B2C) online retailer, Anime International forms a part of the supply chain in the growing Japanese animation merchandising industry, typically second or third tier. IT Infrastructure and IT sourcing is a strategic issue for the growth and expansion of the Anime International in this competitive global market scenario. ... This diversity in product, design and orientation allows Anime International to offer consumers a wide variety of the most popular anime titles through E-commerce purchases. Operating largely as a business-to-consumer (B2C) online retailer, Anime International forms a part of the supply chain in the growing Japanese animation merchandising industry, typically second or third tier. IT Infrastructure and IT sourcing is a strategic issue for the growth and expansion of the Anime International in this competitive global market scenario. A comprehensive and appropriate strategic initiative at the right time can be very valuable for the business performance of the company. It is very necessary in the context of Anime International to maintain a standardized infrastructure and balanced IT sourcing strategy. This would ascertain the efficiency and the effectiveness of the company in this competitive world. There is also need for well managed and adaptable infrastructure which provides push for strategic goals, organizational competitiveness and overall performance of the company. The strategic decision to allocate funds and encourage development of IT infrastructure and IT sourcing will add great value to the existing business of Anime International. In this paper I am going to examine the positive potential benefits which can be estimated under extensive study of th e role of IT infrastructure and IT sourcing, under well planned and calculated scientific methodology to assess the performance level of Anime Inc. the findings are based on case study based on questionnaire approach and qualitative analysis. Topic 1-IT Infrastructure: The IT consideration needs to take fresh approach with regard to infrastructure in evolving a strategic

Archeological Features, Artifacts and Ecofacts Essay - 40

Archeological Features, Artifacts and Ecofacts - Essay Example Analysis of the archeological site is done through key stages. The archeological sites entail the places where proof of past human presence can be collected. The evidence includes skeleton remains of the human ancestors, artifacts objects, and ecofacts elements. Sites are developed through formation processes. For example, dead bodies can be ceremonially buried, and tools can be lost. Site preservation is done by the natural process. The ash from a volcano or the silt from flood water can cover objects, and thus preserve them for several years. Sites can also be found by the natural process of erosion. The Olduvai Gorge located in Tanzania was exposed through erosion (Gilman, 2012). Archaeologists apply several techniques. The archeologists apply experimental replication to analyze tool artifacts. The process aims at authentically redeveloping the ancient artifacts, and hence determines the process of making the tool. The date of the specimen or archaeological site is done through ra dioactive decay technique. The technique analyses the radioactive isotopes of common elements like carbon, uranium and potassium. Identifying the sex skeleton is done by the sex dimorphism technique. For instance, the male human skeleton is always larger, rougher and denser than the female skeletal bones. The Upper Paleolithic period is illustrated through drastic changes in the human culture, especially in the Europe, Asia and African regions. Greatly, the changes are developmental as illustrated by the anatomically modern man of Africa. Superior tools were identified in Africa. One example involves the stone blade tools aged 90,000 years, which were found in Katanga, Zaire. Polished bone tools aged 77,000 years were found inside the Blombos Cave, South Africa (Robert & Wendy 2011). The tools illustrate technology explosion in the area of stone and bone tool  development.

Magazine Advertisement That Portrays Explicit Womens Imagery Media Essay

Magazine Advertisement That Portrays Explicit Womens Imagery Media Essay Advertisement had been regarded as one of the most effective communication tools in persuading the audience to buy or to raise awareness on product, issues or services. Advertisement is effective because advertisement gives the audiences a basic knowledge of the product in just one picture. It attracts the audiences better because of the way a message was presented. In this capitalism world, companies, big or small compete against each other to market their product. The popularity of their brand is the measurement of their successfulness in doing business. That is the reason most companies spends a large amount of money in advertising. In Malaysia, a total of RM 130881 mil was spent on advertisement according to the statistic data from Nielsen Malaysia Advertising Expenditure Report (November 2010). In print media, especially in magazines, advertisement compliments the magazines. It completes the stories in the magazines and it gives the audience a subtle hint of what the magazine of fers to the audiences. However, in most advertisement, media stereotypes happen in most advertisement. Advertisement develops a unique universe that might contain different messages about gender than the articles and photo spreads that accompany them. (Carter, 2004) It shows that advertisement have greater influences towards the audience than the article. Most advertisement nowadays portrays a wide variety of media stereotypes against women. Women are frequently portrayed in their traditional work such as a happy and diligent domestic worker, a loyal wife who waits at home for her husband arrival from work and a nurturing mother. The only job that seems to be associated with women in advertisement is secretary, air stewardess and nurse. It is unusual for advertisement to picture women in jobs such as pilot, police or truck drivers. Stereotyping women children reflects a view of them as less mature, more emotional, and less competent that their male worker. (Krolà ¸kke, 2006, p.81) Apart from being portrayed in their traditional ways, women nowadays are portrayed as sex objects. Almost all of the advertisement uses women to sell their merchandise in sexual ways regardless of types of magazines. Most magazines portrays woman in minimal clothing or semi nude. Such portrayal degrades womans dignity and can install a wrong perception into the audiences mind. It will also strengthen the popular believe that women are subordinate to men and women are meant for serving men. In advertising, women and men act in stereotypical ways, portraying ideal female and male behavior. As such, they not only conceal how conceal how women and men really act but also function prescriptively to show how they should act. (Ibid,p.78) In this research, an analysis on portrayal of women in advertisement (magazines) will be done. The issue that will be highlighted is the frequency of women being portrayed in their traditional ways and in sexual ways. The other issue that will be highlighted is the reason such portrayal is being produce. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM Magazine is one of the media that we frequently use. Popular magazines can have millions of viewers and this means that magazine influence a lot of people based on what they write and portray in the magazine. Advertisement is one of the major compartments in a magazine and a magazine could not function without it. Portrayal of women is common in an advertisement. Be it as a social awareness advertisement or a car advertisement. The question now is how much advertisement in the magazines that portray women in their traditional roles and in sexual ways? Another question that arises is what kind of advertisement that uses women in their traditional ways and/or in sexual ways to promote their services or merchandise more? The visualization of advertisement changes according to the time and technology. But some advertisement even with these changes, stick to the original ways of advertising their services and products. As it was stated before, advertisement is one of the most powerful ways of persuading others. A lot of factors influences the way an advertisement is visualize. The portrayal of women images must have been caused by several of the factors. The question is why do advertisement uses such image? RESEARCH OBJECTIVE To determine the magazine that publishes advertisement that portrays explicit womens imagery. To analyze the types of advertisement that prone to using women in a traditional and/or explicit imagery in their advertisement. To identify the causes of such portrayal. SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY The study is important mainly to the public to create awareness. Advertisement is very influential and can affect the way we perceive things. Therefore, with this study, the public will have a better understanding of ways to evaluate women with a better value than sex .Besides that, this study is also important to women rights association to recognize types of advertisement that degrades womens dignity. This then would help them in urging the government to take action on the ever increasing advertisements that devalue women. It is also important to the advertiser themselves so that they are cautious with their ways of advertising. This study is also important to the government so they can create and enforce law to protect womens right. CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Introduction A lot of studies had been done on advertisement and women. Mee- Eun Kang (1997) observed that most advertisement portrays women in a traditional way in print media. According to Eun-Kangs findings, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦images of women in 1991 advertisement did not significantly change from the images found in 1979 advertisement. Her findings indicated that advertisement in magazines did not change drastically. Women were still portrays as housekeepers and a mother to a child. This however is relevant to that year because the second wave of feminism had just launched. The second wave of feminism started at the late 1960s and early 1970s. Feminist were protesting against the beauty pageants. They were opposing with an assumption that the winner won because of how she look and not what she do and what they think about. There are three waves of feminism, the first wave emphasis in womens right in voting, the second wave is protesting on how the public view women generally and how the media portrayed inequality in portraying gender and the celebration of woman diversity and the introduction to the cyber girl is the third wave. Even though feminist had launch a radical attack on the degrading ways of evaluating women, the changes are slow to take place as media especially advertisement continue picturing women in a household. Her findings were strengthen by Atoff Nassif and Barrie Gunter (2008) whose findings shows that women were strongly associated with household products. Products such as dishwasher liquid, clothes detergent and kitchen appliances product were strongly linked to women based on their study. Besides that, body products such as soap, shampoo and lotion are also associated with women. It is uncommon even until today, men advertising body products unless the product is specifically for men. Ferguson, Kreshel and Tinkham (1990) justify the advertiser tactics with a statement that such portrayal is important to bring the advertiser and audiences together. What the advertiser had done was only taking what was socially known and accepted to the public. The real jobs of women according to social institution are to take care of their husband and children and keeping the house warm, nice and cozy. Mallika Das(2000) and Katharina Lindner (2004) found out that as time goes by, the portrayal of women in their traditional roles has decreased but the images of women in sexual ways increased. Their findings were strengthen by Julie M. Stankiewicz and Francine Rosselli (2007) study that shows 75.98% of women that appear in mens magazine, be it in articles, pictures and advertisement appear as sex objects. 2.2 Media stereotypes against women Media stereotypes are a common representative of a person or a group of person. It generally put an understanding in everyone that certain people behave certain way traditionally. Media stereotypes can be problematic if they represent certain group of people women, for example in a negative way or confined them to certain behavior or jobs. It is unwise to have an understanding of certain people from the media as the media can be deceiving. As time goes by some of the stereotypical ways of seeing people are not applicable in the modern days. Knowledge and technology are always developing and by the increased of knowledge in hand, people will surely change along with time. Erving Goffman (1979) asserts that, If anything,advertisers conventionalize our conventions, stylize what is already a stylization, make frivolous use of what is already something considerably cut off from contextual controls. Their hype is hyper-ritualisation. According to him, the gender representation that we see is meaningful to us because they are ideal gender representations. It is what the society has taught us. Wonder Woman, Cat Woman, Storm, Rogue and Alice Cullen are the tough women in the media industries. They are strong but they still maintain perfect skin, are thin and wore fashionable clothes. On the other hand, Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are women who are very hardworking, hate messy stuff, cooks and cleans for the family, friendly to everyone including animals, fair, beautiful and awaits for their prince charming to come and swept their feet away. These two examples are the portrayal of women today and women in the past. Women today are portrayed as strong and independent while women in the past are portrayed as dependent to the people (or animals) around them. But despite their differences, they were portrayed in a common way. Both women today and women in the past were portrayed as having a perfect skin, f air, beautiful and are using fashionable clothes. These women images that the narrator give is called the male gaze. According to Laura Mulvey (1975), In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to -be-looked-at-ness. She asserts that because the camera is dominated by male, the audiences view women in a patriarchal way. Women are being put on a pedestal because of this portrayal. Women across the country have the mentality that being thin is healthy and beautiful. Other researchers, Tom Reichert (2009) agrees with the statement by saying that both men and women are exposed to the decorative images that they value womens attractiveness more and devalue their intellect, skills and competencies. 2.3 Women as sex objects. Today, we are bombarded with thousands and thousands of advertisement that shows women in provoking ways. According to Kilbourne (1999), sexual imagery nowadays is not only confined in pornography media, but also in advertisement. Advertisement now adopts some of the action from violent pornography. This then confirms other types of stereotypical views on women that are women are subordinated to men. She found that womans legs, breasts or thighs have always become the part to grab the viewers attention, making women are seen as objects rather than a human being. Their bodies and their sexuality become a sex object when they are connected to the product or services that the advertisement represents. Advertisements such as Lux, Rejoice, Dove and Enchanter have that effect. They will picture a woman using their product and in the advertisement, they reveal some skin. Parts such as shoulder and legs are always shown to the audiences. Almost all products that show women in revealing produ cts suggest that the audiences can have sex-related benefit. For example, the Axe body sprays. In its recent advertisement in the television, it shows that user grabs womans attention and the woman will automatically give the user her phone number. This advertisement suggests to us that, if you use this body spray, you too will get phone numbers from random woman that pass you by. CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY Introduction This study is done by using content analysis method as suggested by Barelson (1971) to analyze the portrayal of women in a general interest magazine. Content analysis enables us to elaborate communication theories and to test the hypothesis of the study. It also can be used to compare the content of the media with the real situation. Barelson (1971) defined content analysis as a research technique with the purpose to give a systematic, objective and quantitative view on the communication content. From the definition, there are four important concepts that should be look upon which are; Objective- achieved when we have a content analysis that were defined precisely. This means that the research depends on the rules and not the analyzer. Systematic-(1) A set of rules used in the same way for all analyze content. (2) Category is formed so that all related content were analyze. (3) Design analyze to save related data with the question or hypothesis. 3. Quantitative- The sum of the frequency of the related advertisement being published. 4. Content- Refers to whatever that is written and published in the media. 3.2. Population and sampling The population of this study is 72 magazines in Malaysia. Magazines include mens, womens, medical, sports, news and business. The magazine advertisement was the unit of analysis for this study. The method used to select a sample size is the non-probability sampling. Non-probability sampling is used because statistical procedure is not needed when selecting cases from given population. The type of non-probability sampling used is purposive sampling. In purposive sampling, the respondent are chosen based on the researchers own expertise and judgments that the particular sample fit into the characteristics of the populations. The first step in obtaining the sample is to browse through the book store for magazines. Then, dependent to the researchers judgment, he or she would choose any magazines that he or she thinks are relevant for the studies. In this research, advertisement that featured human subjects were collected from December 2010 to February 2011 popular magazines. Conceptualization of Variables (concepts) The type of variable used in this research is independent variable. Independent variable is variable that is controlled and manipulated by the researcher. Types of magazines and advertisement are the main variables. Types of magazines are the various kind of magazine available for viewing pleasure. Types of advertisements are the various kind of advertisement used to promote product and services. The measurement for this variable is nominal measures. Nominal measures are variables whose attributes have only the characteristics of exhaustiveness and mutually exclusiveness. 3.5. Data Analysis This study uses descriptive analysis for the data analysis based on descriptive statistics collected from the selected advertisement. The descriptive statistics that will be use is multivariate statistics. Multivariate statistics is statistics that shows relationship between three or more variables. Researchers can determine if the bivariate relationship is true or not by putting a variable as a control variable. The variables that can be use for this study are types of magazine and the frequency stereotypes happen in advertisement. Elaboration on the relationship and effects each variable has with the help of example will be used to support findings in the research. Mean percentage will be used to calculate the relationship. Besides that ANOVA will be used to measure the independent variables. The independent variables are types of magazines, types of advertisement and causes of imagery. 3.6. Methodological Issues The issues arise when doing this research is the financial constraint. Researcher has to buy all the magazines related to the subject. There are a lot of magazines and the prices differ according to the material used to make the magazine and the thickness of the book. With limited budget, the researcher will not be able to buy all of the magazines. Time constraint is also one of the issue arise when doing this assignment. Magazines are only published once or twice a month and with the deadline coming nearer, researcher cant afford any delay in doing his/her research. Other than that, researcher still has to attend class while conducting the research. Researcher need to manage his/her time efficiently so that it wont disturb his/her study time and research time. The availability of related magazines is also an issue to the researcher. Some bookstore does not sell magazines and some bookstore has limited types of magazines. This resulting in researcher to have limited data on his/her research. Researcher also faced with problems such as not knowing the overall location of each bookstore. Since researcher is not originated from this place, the knowledge of location of bookstore is limited.

The Shortcomings of College Education Essay -- Personal Narrative

The Shortcomings of College Education "The more we know the world around us, the more successful we will be." This quote, from the introduction of my high school chemistry book, was my driving force as a teenager to attend college. My expectations of college were to gain insight into a world that I had not yet discovered. I had high aspirations of receiving a good education and obtaining a good job when I graduated. But four years later when graduation day arrived, I felt unfulfilled. In evaluating my education, I realized that I learned how to get good, but not great grades. I learned how to study to make the most of my time. The focus I shared with many of my peers was not always to appreciate the information received, but rather, to value the counsel from someone else who previously took that professor's class and maybe to be lucky enough to get a hold of last semester's examinations. Basically, I acquired useful skills for any job: to follow directions, to give the boss what he or she was asking of me, and to network and gain insight from other colleagues. It was still disturbing to me that after four years of schooling, I felt I had not received the education I initially expected. Overall, college does not bring out the full academic potential of the students who invest the time and money into an education. Teachers need to set aside their biases and restructure and develop curriculum, as well as student-teacher relationships, in order to truly develop college students into freethinking, exploratory people. Structured, pertinent curriculum is the foundation of a good class. If students are not interested in the information presented, then the class has no value to the student but to merely satisfy a graduation requir... ...heir instruction, they they should stay in the field or in the labortory where their energy is concentrated. Quit wasting the time and money of the students and give college instructors the fair evaluations they deserve. Set standards for their positions and hold them accountable for skills in teaching, not just their content knowledge. Works Cited Cheney, Lynne V. "PC: Alive and Entrenched." In The Presence of Others: Voices that Call for Response, edited by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1997. Glasser, William. "Noncoercive Discipline." In Building Classroom Discipline, edited by C.M. Charles. New York: Longman Press. 1999. Rose, Mike. "Lives on the Boundary." In The Presence of Others: Voices that Call for Response, edited by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: St. Martin's Press. 1997.

Starbucks Attractiveness

THE INDUSTRY ATTRACTIVE? WHY AND /WHY NOT Starbucks currently operates within three industries: Fast-Food Restaurants, Coffee and Snack Shops, and Specialty Coffees. Which are defined by NAICS (North American Industry Classification System). Although all three are separate segments Coffee and Snack Shop and Specialty Coffee basically carry various similarities. Despite this fact that this industry is somewhat narrower when compared to the fast food industry that they are also considered to be a part of, the coffee and snack shop aspect of their overall industry. Attractiveness is their bread and butter.Starbucks currently represents 32% of this industry and continues to grow, making them one of its largest players. This is the industry that they need and have focused the most on. One of the main factors of success are clearly related to their plans for global expansion because Starbucks has all but halted their domestic expansion (Global Data) and focused almost exclusively on the fo rmer. Another fact that illustrates the need to concentrate on this segment is the advancement of overall industry attractiveness their specialty coffees segment (consisting of retail store sales) only comprises 7% of their total revenue.Starbucks operates its largest segment in Fast Food Restaurant Industry, despite their relative insignificance as compared to giants like McDonald’s. It is worthwhile for them to pay close attention to this segment, because McDonald’s and Starbucks may differ in market share, but Starbucks holds a larger market share of the segment that McDonald’s wants/needs to capitalize on: Coffee. So to operate in parallel industries makes for a key success factor dependent on the level of information on competitors that also drive change.Although focusing on its most important segment, the Coffee and Snack Shop, Starbucks should also pay careful attention to this segment as well in order to achieve their optimal industry attractiveness. I h ave come up with a couple options that Starbucks could consider from the information above. First, expanding into international markets is the best way to capitalize in this industry, so continuing expansion is key. China is their primary target currently, as stated above. Continuing to seize international opportunities at a constant but steady pace would be very beneficial.Second, expanding the menu, given this, Starbucks can implement a proactive strategy that includes new and improved menu and convenience items; like, implementing deli items such as Panini’s or wraps. This would continue to further separate the Starbucks brand, which, I’ve determined is the key, in competitive markets. Third, create a new marketing strategy to grab attention. There is much more room for expansion and growth, Starbucks has only touched the available and potential global markets.With its financial strength, international experience, and long standing relationships, Starbucks can spike into an international business powerhouse in no time. However, this process must be at a steady pace. The expansion strategy must incorporate the core capabilities and advantages of the company. They must find excellent people to execute the process of expanding to a new country. The business ties they have created over the years must be used carefully, not to add too much strain on any suppliers.Expanding internationally would also force the company to rely on other markets other than the United States. Being an industry leader, many companies are benchmarking Starbucks. From relatively spending very little, the company could boost spending to include things such as TV ads and other untested marketing outlets, at least on a trial bases. This could possibly be an opportunity to expand their brand recognition, especially with the new logo. Referring back to my second suggestion and inform loyal customers of new menu items. Overall Industry Attractiveness As we have mentioned,

Physical Therapist College

Since I was a young I have always wanted to have a job that helps out other peoples’ lives for the better. I have gone from wanting to be a cop, fire fighter, EMT (emergency medical technician) and now I have made up my mind to become a physical therapist. After comparing and contrasting the pros and cons of numerous jobs I decided that doing physical therapy fits me best because I am getting to know several types of people. Also, knowing that I am improving the health of patients and uplifting their spirit is the perfect job for me.Although, it is going to be a long journey, I know it will definitely be worth it in the end. Physical therapy is dated back to 460 B. C. when physicians would use water therapy and massage therapy on their patients lower the levels of pain, reduce stress and anxiety, and encoruage healing. However, it was during the World War I (1917 – 1918) that physiotherapy was performed widely as a rehabilitation therapy for people who were injured in t he war. People employred for such rehabilitative work were known as reconstruction aides and they were trained nurses having background of physical education and massage therapy. buzzle Website) Shortly after, physical therapy started to spread across the world. PT’s used hydrotherapy (water therapy) or massage therapy. Now physical therapist can do a lot more thanks to our intelligence of the human body and its functions. What physical therapist do is treat individuals ranging from any age group who have had injuries or unhealthy conditions to health increase their range of motion and ability to move and improve their lives.They examine the person to make a plan that best fits the person according to their age, depth of injury, and many other factors. Such as decreasing the pain and properly regain their strength back to lower the chances of the injury reoccurring. They also â€Å"work with individuals to prevent the loss of mobility before it occurs†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Bureau o f Labor Statistics Website). In order to do this extensive training and practice is needed. Physical therapist can work in many places and environments.As long as they have the right equipment and tools the job can be performed. They can work from hospitals, outpatient clinics, nursery homes, and many other places. â€Å"About 60 percent of physical therapist worked in hospitals or in offices of other practitioners† (Bureau of Labor Statistics Website). Other physical therapist work in healthcare industries, care centers, or privately. Some PT’s also conduct research to accredit themselves with more knowledge or teach in colleges or institutions.It is estimated that â€Å"Employment of physical therapists is expected to grow by 30 percent from 2008 to 2018† (Bureau of Labor Statistics) and by 2018 there will be 241,700 physical therapist working. The reason why the big percentage jump in a ten year span is because of the baby booming age is getting to about the age where they are more at risk for strokes, heart attacks, and more chances of injuries occurring. Therefore, calling for a higher demand in physical therapist to help aid them in their time of disabling injuries or disliked conditions.

Thе Old Gringo by Carlos Fuеntеs Analysis

ThÐ µ Old Gringo by Carlos FuÐ µntÐ µs Analysis ThÐ µ Old Gringo by Carlos FuÐ µntÐ µs Analysis Old Gringo by Carlos FuÐ µntÐ µs is a novÐ µl about rÐ µvolution, strugglÐ µ and sociÐ µty It is also a story about pÐ µoplÐ µ and about thÐ µir bÐ µliÐ µfs. ThÐ µ old gringo carriÐ µs Don QuixotÐ µ along with him to MÐ µxico, claiming that hÐ µ wants to rÐ µad it bÐ µforÐ µ hÐ µ diÐ µs. All thÐ µ charactÐ µrs arÐ µ obsÐ µssÐ µd with tÐ µxts, with drÐ µams, and with storiÐ µs. Throughout this novÐ µl, rÐ µality is portrayÐ µd not as it is obsÐ µrvÐ µd in thÐ µ Ð µmpirical world around thÐ µ charactÐ µrs, but as it is concÐ µivÐ µd within thÐ µ bounds of thÐ µir languagÐ µ, thÐ µir imaginations, and thÐ µir storiÐ µs. In Old Gringo thÐ µ powÐ µr of storytÐ µlling risÐ µs abovÐ µ rÐ µality. This papÐ µr, by rÐ µfÐ µrring to thÐ µ thÐ µmÐ µs and charactÐ µrs prÐ µsÐ µntÐ µd in Old Gringo by FuÐ µntÐ µs, analyzÐ µs thÐ µ subjÐ µcts of Ð µmpirÐ µ, nation, and statÐ µ as prÐ µsÐ µntÐ µd by thÐ µ author in this novÐ µl. Old Gringo is also a novÐ µl about frontiÐ µrs, diffÐ µrÐ µncÐ µ, and thÐ µ fight OncÐ µ thÐ µ two AmÐ µricans cross thÐ µ Rio GrandÐ µ, thÐ µsÐ µ issuÐ µs arÐ µ Ð µvokÐ µd, gÐ µnÐ µratÐ µd as much by thÐ µ history of thÐ µ rÐ µlations bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn thÐ µ two nations as by actions of thÐ µ charactÐ µrs (Alfonso 34). HarriÐ µt and Arroyo arÐ µ fully awarÐ µ of thÐ µ baggagÐ µ thÐ µy carry as an AmÐ µrican woman and a MÐ µxican man in thÐ µ discoursÐ µ Ð µach rÐ µprÐ µsÐ µnts on thÐ µ othÐ µr sidÐ µ of thÐ µ bordÐ µr. In ThÐ µ Old Gringo, thÐ µ problÐ µmatic bordÐ µr bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn cultural and gÐ µographical tÐ µrritoriÐ µs rÐ µprÐ µsÐ µnts thÐ µ unclÐ µar bordÐ µr bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn narrativÐ µ truth and historical truth (Alfonso 45). ThÐ µ fictional BiÐ µrcÐ µ crossÐ µs thÐ µ bordÐ µr at Еl Paso, which thÐ µ novÐ µl proposÐ µs as thÐ µ dividing linÐ µ bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn rÐ µason and passion, ordÐ µr and chaos, bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn a codÐ µ of law and a codÐ µ of honor - and bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn fact and fiction. BÐ µforÐ µ his dÐ µath, thÐ µ old gringo is dÐ µscribÐ µd as dazÐ µd by thÐ µ fragility of thÐ µ planÐ µt that sÐ µparatÐ µs rÐ µality from fiction) and awarÐ µ that hÐ µ will havÐ µ to choosÐ µ bÐ µtwÐ µÃ µn thÐ µ nÐ µws dirÐ µctÐ µd to HÐ µarst and his rÐ µadÐ µrs and thÐ µ fiction dirÐ µctÐ µd to thÐ µ fathÐ µr and thÐ µ woman (FuÐ µntÐ µs 55) To continuÐ µ, FuÐ µntÐ µs is pointÐ µd in his condÐ µmnation of thÐ µ AmÐ µrican prÐ µss' involvÐ µmÐ µnt in thÐ µ MÐ µxican RÐ µvolution. In onÐ µ scÐ µnÐ µ in ThÐ µ Old Gringo, thÐ µ nÐ µwsroom of thÐ µ San Francisco ChroniclÐ µ is conjurÐ µd up and dÐ µscribÐ µd by mÐ µans of an accumulation of hÐ µadlinÐ µs full of instant stÐ µrÐ µotypÐ µs for Ð µasy mass consumption: in MÐ µxico, bandits namÐ µd Carranza, ObrÐ µgon, Villa, and Zapata had takÐ µn up arms ... with thÐ µ principal aim of stÐ µaling HÐ µarst's land. Wilson spokÐ µ of thÐ µ NÐ µw FrÐ µÃ µdom and said hÐ µ would tÐ µach thÐ µ MÐ µxicans dÐ µmocracy. HÐ µarst dÐ µmandÐ µd: IntÐ µrvÐ µntion, War, IndÐ µmnification (FuÐ µntÐ µs 27-28). ThÐ µsÐ µ factors prÐ µsÐ µnt unfavorably thÐ µ rolÐ µ of HÐ µarst's papÐ µrs in dÐ µtÐ µrmining U.S. intÐ µrvÐ µntionist policy in MÐ µxico. FurthÐ µrmorÐ µ, thÐ µ novÐ µl's rÐ µpÐ µatÐ µd rÐ µfÐ µrÐ µncÐ µs to thÐ µ Spanish-AmÐ µrican War, which most historians agrÐ µÃ µ was dÐ µclarÐ µd and dirÐ µctÐ µd by thÐ µ U.S. prÐ µss, forcÐ µfully rÐ µinforcÐ µ FuÐ µntÐ µs' point. In conclusion, it may bÐ µ statÐ µd that in ThÐ µ Old Gringo FuÐ µntÐ µs rÐ µdrÐ µw thÐ µ bordÐ µr In this novÐ µl, thÐ µ author implicitly Ð µrasÐ µs thÐ µ bordÐ µr as hÐ µ addrÐ µssÐ µs both nations. Although his writing is also markÐ µd by thÐ µ tropÐ µ of diffÐ µrÐ µncÐ µ, hÐ µ choosÐ µs charactÐ µrs, thÐ µmÐ µs, and contÐ µxts from both sidÐ µs of thÐ µ bordÐ µr and placÐ µs thÐ µm in a spacÐ µ whÐ µrÐ µ confrontation, dialoguÐ µ, and Ð µyÐ µ-to-Ð µyÐ µ contact bÐ µcomÐ µ inÐ µvitablÐ µ (Old Gringo Analysis para 12). ThÐ µ gÐ µnÐ µral and thÐ µ gringo lookÐ µd at Ð µach othÐ µr in silÐ µncÐ µ, communicating from oppositÐ µ sidÐ µs of a dÐ µÃ µp chasm (FuÐ µntÐ µs 43). AmÐ µricans always movÐ µd WÐ µst, but until thÐ µ RÐ µvolution, MÐ µxicans had nÐ µvÐ µr movÐ µd at all. YÐ µs, thÐ µ gringos did. ThÐ µy spÐ µnt thÐ µir livÐ µs crossing frontiÐ µrs, thÐ µirs and thosÐ µ that bÐ µlongÐ µd to othÐ µrs (FuÐ µntÐ µs 44-46).

Business law report kamaran Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business law report kamaran - Essay Example Rarely do individuals have sufficient bargaining power of their own. Once the terms of employment start rolling, the contractual obligations of the employee are widened by standard terms assumed by courts and employment tribunals to be implied in all employment contracts. By definition, employment contract is the accord between an employer and employee which helps to facilitate smooth relations between the two parties. The contract of employment ought to have specific contents failure to which it might be declared null and void. More often than not, an employment contract must contain: the names of employer and employee; the date when employment began; the scale, rate, and method of calculating remuneration; the pay intervals; pensions scheme details; terms and conditions of hours of work; sickness and incapacity details and entitlements; holiday entitlements; notice entitlement; the expected place of work and address of the employers; job title or brief description of the work; any collective agreements affecting the employment; any grievance and disciplinary rules applicable to the employee; and details of any work abroad lasting more than one month. The employee must be notified of there are changes on the provisions mentioned as soon as they are enacted (Vettori 2007). Companies ought to afford a legal environment that provides managers and directors with maximum protection. Today’s managers and directors are exposed to greater liabilities than insurance coverage alone can address. A manager or director ought to ensure that an organization, which is the, employer, complies with various legal tasks to its employees. These responsibilities include: paying wages; deducting wages on behalf of the government; providing paid time off for holidays; creating a conducive working environment that is devoid of discrimination and harassment; and providing a safe workplace. Managers or directors who do not carry out the duties as expected by law may be held accou ntable. In the corporate world, everything that managers and directors do is open to criticism mainly by those people their actions and decisions as being negative. Corporate governance often requires managers and directors to balance the competing interests of various company constituents. Therefore, managers and directors are required to conform to the duty of obedience; whereby, their own conduct and the corporation’s activities are applicable to specific statutes and the corporate charter. As a result, managers and directors are liable if they cause a corporate decision that is considered to be illegal. Nevertheless, the business judgment rule protects managers and directors who make knowledgeable and unbiased business decisions without any form of ill will. However, this rule does not apply at all a judgment has yet to be issued. This is often the case when the manager or director fails to act (Holland 2013). In the United Kingdom, the exchange of goods and services is g overned by contract law. Therefore, problems that are related to interpreting, assenting, and use of contracts in international transactions may be harmful to the proper running of the internal market. The conduct of business in the United Kingdom is governed by the European law which deals with the conduct and relations between nation-states and international organizations, as well as some of their relations with persons (Pace 2011). Unlike domestic law, European law generally cannot be enforced. Consequently, European courts do not have

Microcredit, women and empowerment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Microcredit, women and empowerment - Essay Example While other micro credit programs are usually subsidized by the government Grameen bank microcredit programs does not reduce interest rates but instead charges lower administrative costs (Hashemi, Ruler & Riley, 1996). In definition microcredit is an element of micro finance, which is to provide minimal amounts as loans to individuals who are not able to generate income for themselves and are considered as poor by the definition of that particular economy (Rahman, 1999). Microcredit is the provision of small amounted loans i.e. micro loans to poor people of any country. Such loans help those individuals to generate income for themselves and to live a better life. The role that microcredit plays in the empowerment of women is dependent on many different factors. The most important factor is the managerial control imparted by the program towards the women involved (Goetz & Sen Gupta, 1994). The index developed by Goetz & Sen, Gupta, 1994 shows two extremes sides of the index. On one end according to them are women who have no control over the administrative process of acquiring the loan. Moreover they were not part of the activities which were funded by using the loan. On the other side are women who were part of the entire process (Goetz & Sen Gupta, 1994). They should not only be part of the economic activities which result from the loan but should also be involved in marketing of the produce. According to the study carried out by Goetz and Sen Gupta, married women had very little control over the loans taken by them. This loss of control can have very negative implications for women. If the men are willing to take responsibility of the repayment of the loan it creates no problems for the female involved but totally negates the concepts of microcredit (Goetz & Sen Gupta, 1994). Two other situations can also arise. The members may be partially willing but unable to pay back the loan. In this case women are left to sell household items in order to

Discussion Board 4-2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Discussion Board 4-2 - Assignment Example She said that she is currently in possession of a gun, but she does not know whether she would actually use it. This calls for confidentiality, which is a basic and long-standing legal and ethical principle that is recognized in all helping professions, and counselors must realize how confidentiality applies in specific counseling situations in order to minimize the likelihood of their being required to divulge confidential client information against their will. Marcie indicates that her mother accompanied her for the appointment and is in the waiting room, but she stresses the importance of keeping the sissu from her mother. Here, respecting diversity, a fundamental factor in protecting client welfare and promoting client dignity must be applied. As such, this delicate situation be handled more in acordance with the ethics orientation that tends to focus on client welfare and protection, than a legal orientation that focuses more on protecting the

The eventual fall of the Ottoman Empire Essay Example for Free

The eventual fall of the Ottoman Empire Essay How far did the reforms during the period 1826-39 contribute to the eventual fall of the Ottoman Empire? The Ottoman Empire (1299-1924), founded as a medieval dynasty, collapsed and re-emerged as a modern constitutional state in less than seven centuries. The crucial question is why? What caused so momentous a transformation? There is much historical debate as to the causes for, and underlying factors in the empires collapse. Ive focused my study on the reforms passed during the period 1826-39, for I would consider these central in understanding the nature of the empires transformation. The years between 1826 and 1839 were a key turning point in the empires history and relations with foreign powers. In this period, crucial wars were fought, reforms ratified and institutions dismantled. Sultan Abdulmecid declared in 1839, [my empire] will prove [] that it is worthy of a prominent place in the concert of civilised nations. As Suraiya Farooqhi et al, in their detailed study of the latter centuries of the empires history put it, such events are important for they physically acknowledged, reaffirmed, and maintained the new centralizing/westernizing course of the Ottoman state.i Historians, whose studies are based foremost on European sources e.g. Lord Kinross and Feroz Ahmadii, tend to see the reforms as progressive, and attribute the empires collapse to a failure to industrialise. On the other hand, other historians, e.g. E.Eldemiii and Professor Maksudoglu, as well as Stanford J. Shawiv, all of whom rely more heavily on Ottoman sources, see the reforms as far more degenerate. Maksudoglu suggests Osmanli [Ottoman] sources have been neglected and ignored. v Shaw argues that Ottoman history has been discussed but always from the European perspective, through the light of European prejudice, and largely on the basis of European sources.vi It is due to a neglect of Ottoman sources that many historians have misinterpreted the causes of the empires collapse; there exists an unnatural bias towards the conventional European justification. As Goodwin suggests, foreign historians tend to blame the international forces of capitalism their capital, their force and suggest that the West reduced the empire to a peripheral producer of raw materials.vii Nevertheless, most historians agree that European influence proved to be of ever-increasing significance in determining the empires transformations. Ahmad suggests that ministers from the Sublime Porte visited Europe, in particular France, more frequently and returned home impressed with what they saw and learned.viii In the 1830s, an Ottoman poet wrote: Go to Paris, young sir, if you have any wish; if you have not been to Paris, you have not come into the world.ix Although the poet was probably writing for the purposes of entertainment, not necessarily for historical accuracy, the extract offers insight into not only the opinion of the poet, but his influence on the audiences perception. The likelihood of the sources reliability, although anonymous, is further strengthened when looked at in the context of Eastern, in particular Muslim, society. The oral tradition was, and still is of significant importance. The point made by Ahmad and the poet shows how the Ottoman view of Europe shifted significantly in the period; Europe had something to offer the empire. Ministers visiting Paris understood the basis of European superiority and in turn saw the need to drastically alter their own system. The Janissary purge of 1826 was first of the Sultans drastic alterations. It was impossible to introduce military and administrative reform whilst faced with the staunch opposition of the conservative ulema [Islamic religious authority], supported by the Janissaries. Ahmad agrees; as he puts it, such schemes were impossible to introduce while the conservatives were so strongly entrenched. Backed by the Janissaries, they were sufficiently powerful to depose reformist sultans and execute their grand viziers.x As Mansel points out, the official history of enumerated acts of insubordination by the corps [stretched] back to the reigns of Selim I and Suleyman.xi By combining evidence from these sources, we can see that the abolition of the corps, also known as the the purging of the garden of the empire of savage and useless weeds, or the Blessed Event was inevitable. The abolition removed the final vestiges of conservatism, thus making it possible for foreign governments to influence the Sultan and the Sublime Porte [Ottoman government]. It was the beginning of an era of almost continuous reform, as Mansel put it, it seemed that only the Janissaries had delayed the empires return to the openness of the reign of Fatih and the early sixteenth century.xii The Janissaries created a climate of fear and disorder. The ulema had largely supported the Janissary reign of misrule, preferring conservative anarchy to innovation and reform.xiii By 1826 the Janissaries had managed to alienate the ulema, and even the common citizens were against them. This was partly due to the treatment of the citizens by the Janissaries and also, as Ahmad suggests, because of the Janissarys poor performance in the Greek insurrection of 1821. Mahmud II waited eighteen years to abolish the Janissaries, who had overthrown and executed his predecessor, Selim III. They were becoming a law unto themselves and were now even unable to fight; they were less soldiers, and more private citizens who just so happened to be on the military payroll. My argument is strengthened by R. G. Grant, who agrees that the Janissaries, once so admired, became a weakness through their political intriguing and their conservatism, which obstructed military reform.xiv Although Grant is correct, the Janissaries did obstruct military reform, they helped to defend the empires citizens against the Sultans excesses, as Maksudoglu argues, [after 1826] top officials lived a luxurious and corrupt life, while the government borrowed substantial sums of money from European powers, and inflation reached unprecedented levels. xv As Goodwin suggests it was no longer the Ottoman peasant to whom the sultans had to answer for their extravagance. There were no Janissaries now to growl at the dissipation of the court.xvi In 1875, due to the Sultans lavish spending, the empire declared bankruptcy. There is no doubt that this contributed to its collapse. The ulema, fearing a similar fate [as the Janissaries] offered the government no resistance. As Mansel put it, [the ulema] fearing similar annihilation if they opposed the government, [they] kept silent.xvii The Blessed Event was more revenge, than considered reform. As Cunningham notes, years later a British general watched with his own eyes as the Sultan supervised workmen striking the Janissary bonnets off gravestones in a Pera burial-ground.xviii Goodwin substantiating Cunninghams argument states: Janissary headstones, topped by the cocky turban of the order, were knocked over.xix Claims of acts of vengeance are supported by the eye-witness account of British Dragoman, Bartolomeo Pisani: Every corrner of the town is searched and every Janissary officer that is caught is conducted to the Grand Vizier and by him ordered to death [].xx The 1826 Janissary purge paved the way for further reform; without the Janissaries, the conservatives were powerless, and in a state of disarray. The abolition of the Janissaries impacted significantly upon Ottoman society. Suraiya Farooqhi et al propose that in Constantinople, the destruction of the Janissary corps had economic and social, as well as political implications: in Istanbul [Constantinople] and many other cities, the Janissaries had played a crucial role in the Ottoman urban economy.xxi According to Maksudoglu, many shopkeepers held paid Janissary posts.xxii The Anglo-Turkish Convention (1838) abolished protectionist policies. Charlotte Jirousek, an expert in consumption studies, agrees that the convention formally established a policy of free trade and removed the longstanding protections on domestic manufacturers.xxiii Suraiya Farooqhi et al argue that the 1838 Anglo-Turkish Convention eliminated state monopolies and removed many of the barriers in the way of European merchants.xxiv The convention had a devastating impact on Ottoman manufacturers and craftsmen, Mansel agrees that the convention opened the empire to a flood of British goods and ruined many Ottoman crafts.xxv The destruction of the Janissary corps (1826) and the Anglo-Turkish Convention (1838) further integrated Ottoman and European economies, just as the 1839 Tanzimat decree more closely aligned the Middle Eastern with Western political structures. Mansel argues, it was the Sultans reason and his determination to save his monarchy, which drove him to modernise.xxvi Ahmad suggests that the reformers had become more convinced that the empires penetration by industrial Europe and its absorption into the expanding world market was the only way for the empire to survive and prosper.xxvii Though a valid argument, attempting to achieve absorption into the world market without first addressing pressing domestic social concerns deemed the economic reforms counter-productive. Mansel agrees, as a result of the 1838 treaty, beggars became more common on the streets of the city [Constantinople].xxviii Glenny cites a failure to industrialise as a principle cause behind the empires collapse. Though his argument is understandable, it isnt entirely accurate. There were attempts to industrialise, in so far as to mirror European industrial development. According to Mansel, the phrases English standards and European standards were constantly recurring in official letters. xxix The Armenian Dardian dynasty was central to the Ottoman industrialisation process. Hovhannes Amira Dardian, an international entrepreneur visited England and France at government expense to study the latest industrial techniques and to purchase steam engines. In November 1831, the first Ottoman newspaper, Takvim-i Vekayi (Calendar of Events), or Moniteur Ottoman was printed in both Ottoman and French editions. Disagreement between Glenny and Mansel ought not to be seen as a weakness in my argument since Glenny is focusing specifically on the Ottoman guild system and not on general industrialisation. Between 1826 and 1839 the Ottoman Empire struggled to control key provinces; Kinross describes the empire as continuing to shrink in extent, retaining despite decay its internal organs while losing through disruption its outlying limbs.xxx Though, Maksudoglu argues that European powers decided to end Osmanli suzerainty over Greece.xxxi Disagreement between Kinross and Maksudoglu may be more apparent than real, since Maksudoglu, as he confesses, is founding his assertions primarily on Ottoman sources. European influence proved pivotal in inciting the territories to rise up against Ottoman governance. The War of Independence exposed the weaknesses of the Sultans reforms. As Mansel agrees, the Sultans reforms did not help the Ottoman Empire in its struggle against the Greek revolt.xxxii The War of Greek Independence began 25 March 1821 and is certainly one of the central elements in bringing about the case for reform. The War of Greek Independence, though initially taking the form of a Greek cultural renaissance, was in fact an attempt by the Greeks to actively destabilize the Ottoman Empire; as Glenny suggests: the Greek rebellions of 1821 were not spontaneous reactions to deteriorating social and economic circumstances.xxxiii By June 1827, after six years of war, the Ottomans under the leadership of the commander Reshid Pasha, succeeded in subjugating continental Greece, this ought to have signalled the end of the war, instead occupation of mainland Greece prompted British, French, and Russian intervention; the Russians, in particular, put immense pressure on the Ottomans. Maksudoglu, strengthening the line of argument, argues that the Russians were guilty of inciting the Greeks to revolt.xxxiv The Austrians under Metternich favoured the suppression of the rebellious Greeks. The British, encouraged by the ambassador Sir Stratford Canning, fought the Ottoman government. According to Mansel, in an effort to persuade the Ottoman government to recognise Greece, European ambassadors, who felt physically threatened in Constantinople, left for the island of Poros between December 1827 and June 1829.xxxv On 20 October 1827, the Ottoman fleet was completely obliterated at the Battle of Navarino. The support of British, French and Russian navies for the Greeks insurgents violated the 1827 Treaty of London in which the three great powers had committed themselves to securing an armistice between the Greeks and the Ottomans, without taking part in the hostilities between contending parities.xxxvi The British, as suggested by Glenny, were egged on by the philhellenic sentiments of Sir Stratford Canning.xxxvii Kinross agrees: the great powers, the rival expansionist empires of Austria-Hungary and Russia, intrigued from behind their adjoining frontiers, marking out spheres of influence, stirring up satellites, and preparing to move when the moment was ripe.xxxviii The great powers crucially interfered in the affairs of the Ottoman provinces, destabilising the empire. Agreement between Glenny and Kinross reinforces the argument. In 1832, the Ottoman Army was convincingly defeated in Syria by Mehmet Alis Egyptian army led by his son, Ibrahim Pasha. The Sultans new army made up initially of ex-Janissaries, proved just as ineffective. Kinross describes the Sultans new troops as being not yet a match for so practiced an enemyxxxix. Marshal Marmont, a former marshal of Napoleon I and Charles X proclaimed: they are not troops; they are a reunion of men the character of whose general appearance is a miserable and humiliated air. It is clear that they are aware of their weakness.xl Agreement between Kinross and Marshal Marmont strengthens the argument that the 1826 Janissary purge was, to a large extent, a failure. The Sultan succeeded in getting rid of the Janissaries, but failed to effectively replace them. As Count Helmuth von Moltke, who in 1835 was brought from Prussia to train the army, put it: it was indispensable for him to clear the site before setting up his own building. [] The first part of his great tas k the Sultan carried through with perspicacity and resolution; in the second he failed.xli From the outset, Mehmet Ali was a thorn in the side of the Sublime Porte, as Kinross put it, he was the Sultans menacing vassalxlii. The Sultan was forced to turn to the Ottomans traditional enemies, the Russians. According to Kinross, this was because British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston, who at the time was pursuing a policy of retrenchment of his armed forces, rejected his plea for aidxliii. Though on the other hand, Lord Ponsonby is said to have accused the Sultan of throwing his crown into the lap of the Emperor Nicholas and reminded him of the power of the British to stop the Russians and Mehmet Alixliv. In 1840 the British forced Ibrahim Pasha from Syria and bombarded Alexandria. Mehmet Ali pulled his troops out of Crete and Arabia and accepted the hereditary governorship of Egypt. By 1839 the Ottoman Empire had significantly deteriorated. The Tanzimat decrees (1839) were issued in exchange for support in Egypt. As Goodwin argues, in 1839, in return for the powers putting pressure on Mehmet Ali to accept hereditary governorship of Egypt, he issued [] a reformist charter.xlv Kinross describes the reforms beginning in 1839 as nothing less than the transformation of Turkey from a medieval empire, based on the principles of Islam into a modern constitutional state, based equally on the secular principles of the West.xlvi The assertions of both Goodwin and Kinross strengthen my argument; the Tanzimat issued in secular principles, although it was promulgated in order to receive foreign support in Egypt. Western powers used the artificial doctrine of nationalism as a means by which to incite the non-Muslim citizens of the empire to rebel against the Government. As Goodwin put it, nationalism was a pretence.xlvii My argument is strengthened by Maksudogluxlviii, Eccleshall et al, and in part, by Glennyxlix. Kinross adds, inspired by nationalist feelings, they sought to break free of the empire and carve up the country between them.l According to Goodwin, the Philhellenic movement is often accredited with being responsible for revitalising the Greek spirit and alerting the western governments to the suffering of the empires Greek Christians. This argument is both misleading and certainly untrue. The majority of the Philhellenes were more driven by personal greed than by a desire to see Greek independence; all observers, both Greek and non-Greek, exempt Lord Byron from this criticism. Glenny also points out that: Turkish rule over parts of Greece was no longer viable.li The tributes paid to Byron after his death, by both European politicians and literary figures pressured the British government to adopt a more interventionist stance.lii Most historians agree that the preservation of the Ottoman Empire was in the best interests of the great powers. According to the British Foreign Secretary Lord Castlereagh, barbarous as it is; Turkey forms in the system of Europe a necessary partliii. Wellington declared: The Ottoman Empire stands not for the benefit of the Turks but of Christian Europe.liv A Russian secret government committee in 1828 came to the conclusion that the advantages of the preservation of the Ottoman Empire outweigh its disadvantages (since it would probably be replaced by powers under influence of Britain or France).lv In the context of nineteenth century Europe, the preservation of the Ottoman Empire was a necessity for the great powers, but only in the sense that it was essential that the empire didnt come under rival control. The agreement between Castlereagh and Wellington focuses specifically on retaining the balance of power, and not on preserving the empire as a goal in and of itself. In conclusion, the reforms passed in the period 1826-1839 significantly contributed to the empires collapse. Although the Janissary purge, as argued by Ahmad and Mansel, was necessary as they were no longer effective; without them, the Sultan was allowed to accumulate debt unhindered. Debt led to inflation, soaring food prices and general discontent. The ulema, fearing similar treatment [as the Janissaries] were forced to remain silent. The Janissary purge failed to cure the problem of an ineffective army, and merely served to avenge the acts of disorder carried out by the corps. Without the Janissaries, and with the ulema now impotent, there was no defence against harmful reform e.g. the 1838 Anglo-Turkish Convention flooded the empire with British goods and ruined many Ottoman manufacturers, other reforms, though not necessarily harmful, proved nevertheless ineffective. As Kinross points out by Metternich and others [] [they] were cynically dismissed as an essay in window dressing.lvi If it were not for the Janissary Purge, then it is possible that the empire would have been in a better position to defend itself against foreign intervention and the Sultans excesses. i Suraiya Farooqhi, Bruce McGowan, Donald Quartaert and Serket Pamuk An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire Volume II 1600 1914 Cambridge University Press (1994) 2 Feroz Ahmad, The Making of Modern Turkey, Routledge (1993) iii E.Eldem, Pride and Privilege: A History of Ottoman Orders, Medals and Decorations, Istanbul (2004), p35 iv Stanford J. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press (1991) 5 Mehmet Maksudoglu, Osmanli History 1289-1922, International Islamic University, Malaysia (1999), pxxv vi Stanford J. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press (1991), pvii vii Jason Goodwin, Lords of the Horizons A History of the Ottoman Empire, Chatto Windus, London, (1998), p238 viii Feroz Ahmad, The Making of Modern Turkey, Routledge (1993), p24 ix Anonymous, quoted in Phillip Mansel, Constantinople City of the Worlds Desire 1453-1924, John Murray (Publishers), (1995), p256 10 Feroz Ahmad, The Making of Modern Turkey, Routledge (1993), p24 xi Phillip Mansel, Constantinople City of the Worlds Desire 1453-1924, John Murray (Publishers), (1995), p238 xii Ibid p249 13 Jason Goodwin, Lords of the Horizons A History of the Ottoman Empire, Chatto Windus, London, (1998), p.292 14 R.G.Grant, Battle a visual journey through 5,000 years of combat, DK, (2005), pg34 xv Mehmet Maksudoglu, Osmanli History 1289-1922, International Islamic University, Malaysia (1999), p214 xvi Jason Goodwin, Lords of the Horizons A History of the Ottoman Empire, Chatto Windus, London, (1998), p311 xvii Phillip Mansel, Constantinople City of the Worlds Desire 1453-1924, John Murray (Publishers), (1995), p274 xviii Allan Cunningham, Anglo-Ottoman Encounters in the Age of Revolution, (1993), p34 xix Jason Goodwin, Lords of the Horizons A History of the Ottoman Empire, Chatto Windus, London, (1998), p298 xx Bartolomeo Pisani, quoted in, Phillip Mansel, Constantinople City of the Worlds Desire 1453-1924, John Murray (Publishers), (1995), p238 21 Suraiya Farooqhi, Bruce McGowan, Donald Quartaert and Serket Pamuk An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire Volume II 1600 1914 Cambridge University Press (1994) xxii Mehmet Maksudoglu, Osmanli History 1289-1922, International Islamic University, Malaysia (1999), p209 xxiii Charlotte Jirousek The Transition to Mass Fashion System and Dress in the Later Ottoman Empire p213-230 Donald Quartaert, editor Consumption Studies and the History of the Ottoman Empire xxiv Suraiya Farooqhi, Bruce McGowan, Donald Quartaert and Serket Pamuk An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire Volume II 1600 1914 Cambridge University Press (1994) xxv Phillip Mansel, Constantinople City of the Worlds Desire 1453-1924, John Murray (Publishers), (1995), p258 xxvi Ibid, p250 26 Feroz Ahmad, The Making of Modern Turkey, Routledge (1993), p24 xxviii Ibid p258 xxix Ibid p254 xxx Lord Kinross, The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire, Morrow Quill Paperbacks, New York, (1977), p.440 xxxi Mehmet Maksudoglu, Osmanli History 1289-1922, International Islamic University, Malaysia (1999), p210 xxxii Phillip Mansel, Constantinople City of the Worlds Desire 1453-1924, John Murray (Publishers), (1995), p247 xxxiii Misha Glenny, The Balkans 1804-1999 Nationalism, War and the Great Powers, (Granata Books), London (1999) p26 xxxiv Mehmet Maksudoglu, Osmanli History 1289-1922, International Islamic University, Malaysia (1999), p208 xxxv Phillip Mansel, Constantinople City of the Worlds Desire 1453-1924, John Murray (Publishers), (1995), p248 xxxvi The Treaty of London (1827), quoted in, Misha Glenny, The Balkans 1804-1999 Nationalism, War and the Great Powers, (Granata Books), London (1999) p34 xxxvii Ibid xxxviii Lord Kinross, Ataturk A biography of Mustafa Kemal, father of modern Turkey, William Morrow and Company, New York, (1978), p8 xxxix Lord Kinross, The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire, Morrow Quill Paperbacks, New York, (1977), p467 xl Marshal Marmont, quoted in Phillip Mansel, Constantinople City of the Worlds Desire 1453-1924, John Murray (Publishers), (1995), p259 xli Count Helmuth von Moltke, quoted in, Jason Goodwin, Lords of the Horizons A History of the Ottoman Empire, Chatto Windus, London, (1998), p302 xlii Lord Kinross, The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire, Morrow Quill Paperbacks, New York, (1977), p467 xliii Ibid p468 xliv Phillip E. Moseley, Russian Diplomacy and the opening of the Eastern Question in 1838-1839, Harvard, (1934), p78 xlv Jason Goodwin, Lords of the Horizons A History of the Ottoman Empire, Chatto Windus, London, (1998), pg304 xlvi Lord Kinross, The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire, Morrow Quill Paperbacks, New York, (1977), p440 xlvii Jason Goodwin, Lords of the Horizons A History of the Ottoman Empire, Chatto Windus, London, (1998), pg295 xlviii Mehmet Maksudoglu, Osmanli History 1289-1922, International Islamic University, Malaysia (1999), p207 xlix Robert Eccleshall, Vincent Geoghegan, Richard Jay, Rick Wilford, Political Ideologies, Unwin Hyman, London (1990) l Lord Kinross, Ataturk A biography of Mustafa Kemal, father of modern Turkey, William Morrow and Company, New York, (1978), p8 li Misha Glenny, The Balkans 1804-1999 Nationalism, War and the Great Powers, (Granata Books), London (1999) p35 lii Ibid, Lord Castlereagh liii Ibid p248, The Duke of Wellington liv Ibid lv Ibid lvi Lord Kinross, The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire, Morrow Quill Paperbacks, New York, (1977), p475 Bibliography Feroz Ahmad, The Making of Modern Turkey, Routledge (1993) Allan Cunningham, Anglo-Ottoman Encounters in the Age of Revolution, Routledge (1993) Robert Eccleshall, Vincent Geoghegan, Richard Jay, Rick Wilford, Political Ideologies, Unwin Hyman, London (1990) E.Eldem, Pride and Privilege: A History of Ottoman Orders, Medals and Decorations, Istanbul (2004) Suraiya Farooqhi, Bruce McGowan, Donald Quartaert and Serket Pamuk An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire Volume II 1600 1914 Cambridge University Press (1994) Misha Glenny, The Balkans 1804-1999 Nationalism, War and the Great Powers, (Granata Books), London (1999) Jason Goodwin, Lords of the Horizons A History of the Ottoman Empire, Chatto Windus, London, (1998) R.G.Grant, Battle a visual journey through 5,000 years of combat, DK, (2005) Halil Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire; The Classical Age 1300-1600, London (1973) Charlotte Jirousek The Transition to Mass Fashion System and Dress in the Later Ottoman Empire Donald Quartaert, editor Consumption Studies and the History of the Ottoman Empire State University of New York Press (2000) Lord Kinross, Ataturk A biography of Mustafa Kemal, father of modern Turkey, William Morrow and Company, New York, (1978) Lord Kinross, The Ottoman Centuries: The Rise and Fall of the Turkish Empire, Morrow Quill Paperbacks, New York, (1977) Mehmet Maksudoglu, Osmanli History 1289-1922, International Islamic University, Malaysia (1999) Phillip E. Moseley, Russian Diplomacy and the opening of the Eastern Question in 1838-1839, Harvard, (1934) Stanford J. Shaw, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Cambridge University Press (1991)

Functions and brain mechanisms of sleep

Functions and brain mechanisms of sleep Sleep, it is the state in which we spend much of our lives yet so little is known about it. It has long fascinated psychologists and many have sought to unravel its mysteries. Yet like all other behaviours sleep can be examined using the same biological, psychological and environmental methods that are so effective in other areas. Defined, sleep is a naturally recurring state which is characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. However this explains what is visible, over the years theorists tried to explain what is happening biologically during sleep. Up until the 1950s researchers believed that sleep occurred due to an overtaxing of the brain, that the constant sensory stimulation that bombards the brain during the day renders it unable to maintain a waking level of brain activity. They also believed that achieving this state was helped by the occurrence of the darkness and silence of night. Sleep at this time was also viewed as a homogeneous state and as a result of this many researchers viewed it as relatively uninteresting. This may be a reason why very little scientific attention was put on the topic for so long. In fact dream interpretation garnered far more attention at this time (Dement, 1998). This passive process theory was only dropped when experimenters recorded eye movement and muscle tension during sleep. This led to the groundbreaking discovery that there were in fact two different classes of sleep, rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement sleep(NREM) (Watson, Breedlove Rosenweig, 2010). In this essay sleep, both rapid-eye movement and slow-wave, will be explored. Also set out will be the main functions of sleep and what can happen when a person is deprived of sleep. Finally the sleep disorder narcolepsy will be discussed as it is an often misunderstood disorder which shows the mal effects when control over when to sleep is lost. Sleep can be divided into 5 stages, 4 of these stages are during NREM with the final stage being REM sleep. These stages are measurable by the patterns of electrical activity in the brain. When awake the brain shows patterns of beta waves. These have a high frequency and low amplitude. When in a state of relaxation the brain shows waves with lower frequencies, these are called alpha waves (Passer Smith, 2009) Stage 1 of NREM occurs just as the body drifts into sleep. At this stage the brain begins to demonstrate theta waves. These waves are slower again than those measured during a drowsy state and have irregular frequencies, the heart rate also slows and muscle tension is reduced. This stage normally lasts several minutes, giving way to stage 2. Here the brain shows short (1-2 seconds) periodic bursts of brain activity. These bursts are called sleep spindles. Interesting to note is that often people deny that they were even asleep if they are awakened during either the first or second stage. As the body drifts even deeper into slumber stage 3 is reached, here delta waves are the most dominant. These are of an extremely low frequency and have large amplitude. Stage 4 is very similar to stage 3 and shows further lowering of frequency and expansion of amplitude. Stages 3 and 4 are also sometimes referred to as slow-wave sleep (SWS) by some researchers. After reaching this stage the body the n cycles through the previous stages and generally after 60-70 minutes of falling asleep the body has gone through a cycle of stages 1-2-3-4-3-2. It is at this point that brain activity changes alarmingly and a brand new and unique stage of sleep emerges. This new stage is called rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep (Watson et al, 2010). This stage of sleep was discovered by Aserinky and Klietman in 1952 and is characterised by high brain arousal, rapid eye movement and frequent vivid dreaming. These researchers found that during this phase the sleeper showed bursts of muscular action which resulted in the persons eyes moving rapidly underneath the eye lid, this happened around every minute during REM sleep. People that were awakened during this stage frequently report having a dream, this is even true of people who before claimed to have never dreamed (Passer Smith, 2009). Brain activity increases to daytime levels and the body also becomes physiologically aroused, with more rapid breathing and a swifter heartbeat. Another characteristic of this stage of sleep is that the bodies of both men and women become aroused, regardless of dream content, with penile erections in men and vaginal lubrication in women. The brain also can send signals to the muscles of the arms legs and torso which make them become very relaxed, they occasionally twitch but movement is not possible at this time. This is sometimes referred to as sleep paralysis. After an average of 90 minutes the body begins the cycle of stages anew, however with each recurrence REM sleep lasts longer, eating into the time previously spent in stage 3 (Passer Smith, 2009). The brain controls the passage of the body through sleep however no single part of it is solely responsible for it. Various mechanisms in the brain control the different aspects of the sleeping body, areas on the base of the forebrain are connected with the act of falling asleep. Other sections in the brain active during sleep are certain areas in the brain stem which regulates REM sleep. Here neurons are contained which activate the other brain systems which are needed during REM such as those for the rapid-eye movement and muscular paralysis. Memories are accessed during REM sleep and this is also governed by these areas in the brain stem. This affects what is experienced during dreams(Watson et al, 2010). Having explored the biology behind sleep it is now worth looking at the benefits of sleep, both physiological and psychological. There are two major branches of thinking which explore the question of why do we sleep? These are the restoration models and the evolutionary/circadian models (Passer Smith, 2009). According to the evolutionary models sleep recharges run-down bodies, it allows us to recover from physical and mental fatigue. This is largely supported by research in sleep deprivation. A good example of one of these studies is the world record attempt by Randy Gardener in 1964. He stayed awake for 11 days as part of a school science fair project and he allowed sleep researchers to study him during this period. Over the first few days he was irritable, forgetful and nauseous, by the fifth day he began to experience periods of disorientation and had mild hallucinations and by the end he experienced slurred speech and finger tremors (Gulevich, Dement Johnson, 1966). This research clearly shows physiological and psychological problems that arise from sleep deprivation. However it has been proven that less sleep is needed as you age with older adults living healthy lives on only 5 or 6 hours sleep. In fact there is one example of a 70 year old woman who could survive on 1 hour of slee p a night. Many researchers also believe that a cellular waste chemical called adenosine has a role in the restorative functions of sleep. Adenosine is produced as cells produce energy. At high levels adenosine inhibits brain functionality and levels of it decrease during deep sleep (Passer Smith, 2009). Evolutionary/Circadian models state that the main function of sleep is prolonging a species survival relative to its environmental demands. It backs up its evidence based on the fact that prehistorically our ancestors had very little to gain by being active at night as food gathering etc was much more easily accomplished in the day. The model puts forward the idea that over the course of the evolution of a species a circadian sleep is developed. This is a wake pattern that becomes heredity due to certain factors such as its status in the predator prey relationship and its food requirements. Also researchers backing this model believe that sleep also evolved as a way of conserving energy, putting forward the fact that we use up to 25% less energy when asleep (Watson et al, 2010). A controversial theory on a benefit of sleep is one that links it to memory consolidation. The purpose of REM sleep remains unknown and some have put forward the idea that it is a tool that the brain uses to consolidate memories, a process in which the brain transfers information to the long term memory. This consolidation hypothesis is however contradicted by the fact that studies show that even when a person has little or no REM sleep due to a side effect of anti-depressant drugs they show no impairment of long term memory capacity. This has led some to state that REM sleep is necessary on a purely biological level. These theorists believe that the body uses REM sleep primarily to keep the brain from long periods of low arousal as they believe this could have damaging effects. The true purpose of REM sleep is still debated (Watson et al, 2010). An interesting study by Paller and Voss provided evidence that suggests that when memories are accessed during dreaming they can be subtly altered by the dream. This has is to do with memory consolidation. There study showed that the brain does use dreams, at least on a small scale, to aid in memory consolidation as has been previously known. However that the brain can alter these dreams is intriguing to say the least (Paller Voss, 2004). Whereas it has been discussed how too little sleep can impair the body, here, the sleep disorder narcolepsy will be explored, showing how a inability to stay awake can also cause problems to an individuals lifestyle. About 1 out of every 2000 people suffer from narcolepsy, those living with the disorder have to deal with daily bouts of sleepiness and uncontrollable sleep attacks where they can go into sudden sleep for less than a minute to a whole hour. Often these sleep attacks are accompanied by sleep paralysis or hypnagoic hallucinations. Some researchers believe that narcolepsy is a disorder involving an intrusion by REM sleep into waking life. It is believed that narcolepsy is cause because of a chemical imbalance in the hypothalamus. There is no cure but some ant-depressant drugs appear to be effective in reducing episodes, this could be due to their suppression of REM sleep. In conclusion, research around sleep has come a long way since its humble beginnings. We now know far more about the biology behind sleep and yet much of it, including REM sleep still confounds many researchers. This essay has also outlined the many benefits that sleep has, both physiological and psychological and has shown the difficulties that arise from a lack of it and has shed some light on the obscure and misunderstood sleep disorder narcolepsy. It is hoped that research will continue on in the future and hopefully the mysteries surrounding the state which we spend almost a third of our life in will be unravelled.