Choosing the best method Essay Example for Free

Choosing the best method Essay Two approaches to the development of automation for organization that are moving from a manual system have been adopted. An organization moving from an old system may choose to either develop their own or buy an already made system. There are several issue involved in deciding on whether to buy or to build a system and thus every organization must look at these factors keenly before making a decision as it has a great bearing on the effectiveness of the organization in meeting the needs of its customers and their expectation at the time of implementation and in future. Furthermore, such strategic decisions that affect an organizations future invariably have an effect on almost all aspects of the organization including the stakeholders. Development of in-house software requires long term commitment in terms of resources and time from developers who often have too much to do and not enough time (Jenny, 2004). On the other hand, if a company decides to purchase the software it effectively enters a long term business relation with a vendor who not only charge high amounts for the purchase of the license but a considerable chunk of the organizations finances will be directed towards the customization and installation of the software. The organization which is medium sized and in its active growth period faces a tough decision on the implementation of the software especially in consideration of the relative advantages and disadvantages of each approach. The advantages of building an automated help desk support system may include the reduction of the cost involved, moreover the organizations labor force are presented with a chance to understand the in details with regards to the working of the automated support system. Furthermore, the need for training of supports staff for information technology is eliminated as they are responsible for the systems existence and are thus well conversant on its operations. On the other hand, the disadvantage may include the need for IT labor can be significant in the organizations budget, furthermore the approach does not have any form of guarantee that will help the organization in recovery in case the system crashes as they are solely responsible for the existence and maintenance of the system. In addition, the approach is associated with a considerable amount of pain experienced by the customers and the end users of the system in case of system malfunction or lapse in performance. Lastly the building process can be so demanding on an in-house IT department or team that is not well conversed with the application that the organization intends to come up with. A decision to buy the office help support system involves a thorough survey and the calculation of the total cost involved in ownership, determination of the best software company and product and the actual purchase of the automated office support system (Coldwell, 1999). The determination of what the company needs is a very critical part in the decision making process as most individuals and executive often fail at this phase and instead state what the organizations wants. Moreover, the considerations on the financial stability of the software company and their level of experience all come in handy in the decision making process. After the determination of all these, the focus hen shifts to what the organization needs after which a purchase is made. Some of the benefits associated with this approach include increase in user satisfaction, well developed user support, reduced need for internal help support and easy access to support any time of the day. The disadvantages may include increased cost associated with training of staff on the use of the new software, furthermore the process of buying which is quite length may ignore some aspects leading to the purchase of a poor help support system. Lastly, customization of the systems to meet the needs of the customers is done by an outsider which often lead to conflict of interest.

Pharmacists Role in Complementary Alternative Medicines

Pharmacists Role in Complementary Alternative Medicines Pharmacists Role in Complementary Alternative Medicines The first section of this paper will provide background information on the use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) and their associated risks and benefits. Additionally, information on the pharmacists’ role in CAMs and services in their pharmacies will be discussed. Next, the theory that potential ethical conflicts arise for pharmacists between keeping the health and wellbeing of clients and the community as their primary concern versus the prospect of turning a profit will be considered. Before concluding, other important ethical issues including duty of care, and liability will be discussed. Background The term CAM refers to any healing practise that doesn’t fall under the heading of conventional medicine. It encompasses not just pharmaceutical preparations, but diet, and traditional forms of health care including acupuncture, Chinese medicine, homeopathy, etc.1 In the past, people who sold CAMs were sometimes referred to as quacks, or someone who promotes unsupported methods that lack scientifically credible rational.2 CAMs were regarded as old wives tails, and their claims dismissed by the medical community.3   More recently CAMs have become a prominent feature in today’s health care regimens. In 2000 according to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) 52 percent of Australians were using at least one non-prescribed complementary medicine.4 The Therapeutic Goods Act of 1989 effectively legitimised CAMs by allowing them to be entered into the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) as a listed medicine. They have to meet a lesser set of standards than conventional medicines, which is one of the major concerns of allopathic practioners.5 With the passing of this act, pharmacies could legitimately sell two types of products; medicines for which there is scientific evidence   (prescription and over the counter products) and unproven medications (some CAMs) that may lack efficacy.   There are many risks associated with using CAMS including direct risks, substitutions made, nonprofessional advice received, and unreliable diagnostic tests.6 In some cases, CAMs have caused serious harm. The adverse effects range from infection due to dirty acupuncture needles, altering the effectiveness of other pharmacologically proven agents, to death from chiropractic manipulation. Substitutions pose a great risk for serious conditions. Replacing conventional treatments with CAMs can lead to many adverse effects. For example, treating melanoma with a herbal ointment rather than surgery, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy can have disastrous consequences. Some patients, especially those with life threatening illnesses, will try anything to improve their symptoms. Some CAM practitioners take advantage of this and recommend treatments that are very costly and at the expense of other proven treatments. Unproven tests include, but aren’t limited to, reflexology and electro-dermal t esting.6 The danger in this type of testing is the high likelihood of misdiagnosis.   Despite the large body of evidence in the scientific community of the poor efficacy of CAMs, there is some evidence for their use as seen in cranberry for urinary tract infections St. John’s Wart for depression and a variety of others.7 In 1993 Australians spent an estimated 1 billion dollars on CAMs and by 2000 that number had risen to 2.3 billion.8   Shockingly, only 57 percent of Australians reported or discussed the use of these products to their doctors.9 The potential dangers outlined above and these statistics show the need for a pharmacists intervention. Pharmacist’s Role Pharmacists are a vital part of the allopathic health care team, often being the first port of call for patients requesting CAMs.10   The community pharmacy is an ideal environment to deliver quality, cost effective, and professional services to the general public. Patient’s safety and access to this high quality care is of paramount importance.11 Pharmacists counsel life style choices, recommend an appropriate non-prescription medication, or refer patient’s to a physician to improve outcomes.12      When responding to enquiries about CAMs pharmacists need to consider a variety of issues. The customers’ cultural and social beliefs and desire to take control of their own treatment should be viewed non-judgementally. Pharmacists need to stay up to date, and be aware of evidence to support the use of different products. Information about CAMs should be provided on an evidence-based level so the most accurate information is delivered to the patient. Pharmacist s also need to be aware of potential interactions with conventional products, and report adverse drug reactions to both the Adverse Drug Reaction’s Committee and the product’s sponsor.7 Furthermore, pharmacists must remind patients that CAMs are medications and should be openly discussed so potential interactions and side effects can be identified. Ethics and profit In a 2005 study of 484 community pharmacists in New South Wales 77% of respondents personally used CAMs and said that they offered CAM products for sale in their pharmacies. A majority of the pharmacists believed CAMs enhanced customers’ image of the pharmacy and 87% reported they increased customer numbers and annual sales.13 From these results it is evident that a potential conflict between promoting and selling CAMs and ethics could arise. Pharmacists are intrinsically placed in an ethical dilemma daily. They have dual roles as health care providers and businesspeople. As health care professionals they are expected to provide a high level of unbiased health care, while their business side is expected to sell products and generate a profit. Professional and business roles are generally believed to be in conflict with each other and roles are traditionally viewed as being exclusive. According to Chappell et al community pharmacists are one of the few occupations where professional and business values co-exist.   They found no correlation between the value placed on business and the level of care or â€Å"professionalism† displayed by the pharmacists. This suggests pharmacists are able to act dually as a salesperson but still deliver professional information.14 The degree of professionalism has been called into question by Kennedy et al. They demonstrated that in some cases pharmacists, especially proprietors, sometimes recommend more expensive products when a cheaper generic version is available, but the overall outcome was satisfactory. All pharmacists recommended an appropriate treatment for the condition but the product selected differed among owners and employee pharmacists. Although the patient received a high level of care, the fact that he or she had a cheaper option calls the level of professionalism into question.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Further evidence for professionalism is seen in a study by Perepelkin et al. where they found pharmacists, regardless of their ownership structure, are professionally oriented in their practise. The difference in services provided was only seen in terms of professional autonomy, decision-making and amount of control. There was no difference in the amount of profit-driven goals between the groups.16 Similarly, in a recent study, Kronus found that pharmacists, regardless of their role orientations (business versus professional), were similarly motivated by service and income values. She suggested that the theoretical model suggesting that business is based on extrinsic values and professionalism is based on altruistic values should be revised when talking about pharmacy. She found altruism (professionalism) was the dominant factor in the field of pharmacy. Since most pharmacists are salaried employees there is little pressure to increase profit by pushing CAMs with no supporting evidence. It would be very easy to jump to the conclusion that the need to make a profit would in some way have a negative effect on pharmacy owners or employed pharmacists (reward systems) to act as independent ethical health care providers when CAMs are viewed as huge profit generators.17 Wingfield et al suggest that ‘ethics is so integrated and intrinsic to daily practise that there is no need to single ethical issues for special attention,’ as demonstrated by a lack of a journal dedicated to pharmacy ethics (there are ethical journals for medicine and nursing). Rather the ethical behaviour of the pharmacist is displayed in all aspects of daily practise culling the drive for profits.18 In Australia the behaviour of pharmacists is guided by the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia’s Code of Professional Conduct (PSACPC).7 Pharmacists sell CAMs in pharmacies that does give credibility to CAMs and to some extent promote their usage.   Also, pharmacists are in a unique position to influence the sale of certain products. For example, CAMs are used by 60 to 80% of oncology patients. According to the British Columbia Cancer Society the psychosocial needs of patients including ‘increased anxiety, need for information, maintenance of a sense of hope, a sense of control, negative experience with conventional medicine, and perceived holistic nature of complementary medicine,’ is the reason for the high percent of people using the medicine and not the availability of the product in pharmacies.19 Pharmacists don’t need to promote these products as psychosocial needs are very powerful and patients are clamouring for these medications in increasing numbers. Although the pharmacy is a business, business objectives wouldn’t necessarily suffer, as knowledgeable and honest patient counselli ng plays an important role in customer satisfaction and thus profitability. An unsatisfied customer would certainly seek another pharmacy.20 These satisfied customers will keep coming back to the pharmacy not just for CAMs but for prescription and personal products as well. This is a win-win situation for both the customer and the pharmacist who now has the opportunity to play an active role in the health of the patient as well as make a decent living. It is the pharmacist who provides the factual advice for patients who seek out these products. Through professionalism this temptation to take advantage of this behaviour is easily removed. Pharmacists develop close relationships with their customers by taking time to talk about medications. Professional orientation happens because patient counselling of all medications including CAMs is at the cornerstone of ethical pharmacy practice and high quality care. As previously stated, the pharmacist’s role in counselling in the use o f CAMs is the most effective in ensuring the health and safety of patients.   When counselling patients, pharmacists follow the PSACPC. By following the PSACPC pharmacists remain in the scope of their practice, are covered for malpractice liability for negligent care and for informed consent issues, and foremost, ensure the health and well-being of clients and the Australian community. Under the 9 key principles of PSACPC, counselling advice for CAM usage is about adhering to the principles of evidence based medicine and critically examining and honestly informing patients of unproven medications and therapies. Pharmacists must also respect the beliefs and judgements of patients and other health professionals while regarding the patient’s autonomy to make decisions regarding their own treatment but at the same time offering guidance and advice based on evidence-based information.21  Ã‚   Thus, when a pharmacist gives advice on the use of Cams based on PSACPC guidelines after considering clinical and patient factors there may be commercial benefits but they do not necessarily compromise the quality of the recommendations. In pharmacy, ethics and profit can and do exist without conflict in the sale of all products.   Duty of care regarding informed consent As outlined above a majority number of Australians are using and want to use CAMs. It is therefore the duty of pharmacists to discuss these treatments with their patients.22 A study in the US found almost three-quarters of the pharmacists surveyed worked in stores where herbal medicines were sold.23 Almost half of the pharmacists agreed with the statement, ‘herbal medicines are not accepted by the majority of my colleagues’ and only a quarter agreed with the statement ‘herbs are efficacious’.24 25 It can be seen that most pharmacists don’t believe in the products so recommending them is difficult. But, they have an ethical obligation to adhere to the PSACPC and respect the autonomy and dignity of the patient to make informed decisions.21 Once the pharmacist has disclosed and openly discussed the different treatment options his or her ethical obligation has been fulfilled. In the United States this is taken one step further.   It is a legal obligatio n for practioners to disclose information for CAMs if they are generally accepted within the medical community. Failure to do so can result in legal action.26 Liability in referring to CAMs Liability issues are new territory for pharmacists recommending CAMs to patients. Homeopathy, for example, is completely contradictory to the principles of modern pharmacology. The incompatibility of homeopathic paradigms with all of basic science must be taken into consideration.22   Keeping in line with the PSACPC, pharmacists cannot ethically recommend a product or service to which they know there is no evidence to support its use, and is not in the best interest in the health and well being of the patient or community. In Canada, The Pharmacy Code of Ethics requires pharmacists to never knowingly provide any products which are not good quality.27   In the United States medical practitioners can be held liable for referring patients to a CAM practitioner if they â€Å"should have known† the CAM practitioner might be â€Å"incompetent†. This shows that medical professionals are not just ethically but legally responsible for protecting patients from inferior medical treatments.28 CAM practitioners argue that their treatments are holistic and some of the therapeutic benefits are unmeasurable. Because western medicine supports evidence based on quantifiable outcomes the two doctrines of practise often clash. It is very difficult to compare the s piritual healing power of CAMs to the physical healing of western medicine.28 As long as the CAM treatment is not interfering with a patient’s level of care, there is no reason to discredit a potential treatment that may make a patient ‘feel’ better. An honest answer to the efficacy of a specific CAM and reporting that some people say it makes them feel better is the best course of action.     Further compounding the issue is the training level of the CAM providers. Most are not ‘health care professionals’ and have inadequate understating of biology, pharmacology, patho-physiology, and other sciences that govern western medicine. Since pharmacists cannot ethically refer a patient for a treatment that they believe may affect their health or wellbeing the ethical dilemma of whether to recommend this option is exacerbated. Although, a recent Canadian study reported only 2% of pharmacists felt they had adequate information about complementary and alternative health care, they are still better suited than CAMs to provide information on the prodcuts.10 A pharmacists guidance is based on principles 1 and 8 of the (PSACPC), advising patient of the scientific evidence available while still respecting their autonomy.28 Where CAM providers have no such code of ethics. Conclusion This paper examined the background issues associated with complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) and the associated risks and benefits that go along with them. Additionally, the pharmacists’ role in providing CAMs was discussed. The many ethical issues, including profit, although seemingly complex can and should be negotiated using the PSACPC guidelines. The introduction and sale of CAMs have not changed the pharmacist’s code of ethics where the patient’s well-being and health remains the focus. As CAMs are becoming more popular and accepted by the public, pharmacists need to have a high level of understanding of the many issues associated with them. The ethical issues pharmacists face daily are apparently being handled appropriately according the literature cited, and based on the public’s perception of pharmacists being one of the most trusted health professionals.

Sainsburys Team And Leadership Behaviour

Sainsburys Team And Leadership Behaviour Introduction In this assignment I need to understand the team and leadership behaviour. The organisation I have chosen to look at is Sainsburys where I was a former employee. Sainsburys plc is a leading food retailer supermarket. The Scenario that I have presented took place when I was working at Sainsburys which will highlight what team skills took place. The main focus in my report is on leadership I will analyse the group interactions and interdependence that were implicated by applying appropriate theories from the Team Skills. This will then enable me to draw conclusions and offer recommendations for improvement. Sainsburys background Sainsburys plc is a leading food retailer supermarket, founded in 1869; it is the longest standing and the third largest supermarket in the UK. Not only is Sainsbury Britains largest retailer of food and wine but it is also the most respected, according to the reportings of the nationwide surveys of industry analysts and company directors. The company has received top or near-top ratings for product and service quality, successful development, profitable pricing, overall financial performance, advertising and marketing, and superior management, as well as recruitment, training, and retention of high-calibre employees. Characters The four characters that I have chosen to look at have different roles within the company however; they all play an important part in the scenario which shows their great team working skills. I have highlighted their roles within the store (Please see appendix 1). The Scenario I used to work in Sainsburys as a cashier and one day when I was working over-time there was a power cut. The store manger Clive called all the supervisors down to the check outs department and said we need to get all the customers out of store and so the check out manager Kristina done a tannoy on the speaker telling all the customers to leave the store due to the power cut. Meanwhile the store assistant manager, Duncan was calling the Head Office to inform them that the store had a power cut. Imran the supervisor of frozen foods than done a call out to all the staff asking them to leave the building and come to the main entrance of Sainsburys. After arriving to the main entrance of the building all the staff got in groups of 8 which were led by a supervisor. We then had to take the customers cold products and put them in the big fridge at the back of the warehouse which was running on a generator. The staff got told by the store manager Clive that all the cold products of the shelf had to be taken off and put it in to big plastic boxes which then went in the big fridge at the back of the warehouse. There were four supervisors; Amy, Dave, Steve and Imran, I was in imrans group and our task was to take of all the milk products off the shelves and put it at the back to the warehouse where the big fridge was. After we done the milk section we were then asked to do the yogurt section, in total it took us 3 hours, 1 hour more than we expected, this meant that the store lost out on 3 hours of business. After the store reopened I got told by my group supervisor to stand on the door n greet all the customers and tell them all the cold products cant be sold due to a power cut. After a few hours we got the power back and Clive the store manager asked a lot of the staff to do overtime and put all the cold products back on the shelves. The staff doing the over time were split in to 3 groups of 5 and in total it took us four and a half hours to put all the cold products ba ck on the shelf. Transcription of Interaction The dialogue that took place between the main characters in the scenarios described above shows the team work that took place (Please see appendix 2). Theories The trait approach to leadership arising from the great man theory identifies the key characteristic of a leader as being successful. Stodgill (1974) identified a list of main traits and skills that a successful leader should acquire. According to Stodgill, a good leader should possess the trait of being able to adapt to different situations, should be alert to social environments, be ambitious and achievement-orientated. As well as this a good, successful leader should be assertive, cooperative, decisive, dependable and dominant in the sense that they should have the desire to influence others. Stodgill also highlighted a good leader to be energetic, persistent, self-confident, tolerant of stress and willing to assume responsibility. The key skills that Stodgill identified as vital for a successful leader are that they should be creative, conceptually skilled, diplomatic, tactful, knowledgeable about group task, organised, persuasive yet socially skilled. The contingency theory proposed by fiedler (1964) states that they is no one way that is best for managers to lead, different situation will require different leadership style for a manager. The managerial situation depends on various internal and external factors such as the working environment. Fiedler identified 3 situations that could describe the condition of a managerial task; leader member relation, this refers to how well the managers and staff get along, task structure which relates to how structured the job is, position power which associates with how much authority the manager possesses. It has been noted that task oriented managers tend to be better in situation in which they have good relationship with good leader member relationship, structured task and a strong position of power. Leader member relation refers to the amount of dependability and support that the leader receives from his or her employee. The Herschey-Blanchard situational theory (1977) suggests that the appropriate leadership style depends upon the developmental level of maturity of the subordinates. This means that in order to establish the appropriate leadership style, the leader must first establish the maturity level of the subordinates in relation to the task that they are trying to accomplish. According to Blanchard the key situational factors are the readiness and developmental level of the subordinates and therefore four different leadership styles have been recognized; directing, coaching, delegating and supporting. The path-goal model of leadership proposed by Evans (1970) and House (1971) suggests that an individuals motivation depends upon their expectation of the reward. According to Evan the most important way that managers can motivate employees is by offering them reward and indicating what they must do to earn that reward. Analyse scenario Although the staffs at Sainsburys have been trained on what to do when there is a power cut, it still occurs unexpectedly, there is no one best way of leading that particular situation, moreover, a leadership style that is effective in one situation may not be effective in another although they may be similar situations. The optimal leadership style is dependent upon many of the internal and external factors; therefore, in this instance the contingency theory of leadership can be applied (Fieldler 1964) as nobody including the store manager Clive expected this to happen however, he was alert and adapted quickly to the situation. As the store manager to be a successful leader, Clive had to think quickly and act fast, therefore the situational leadership theory proposed by Hersey and Blanchard (1977) can also be applied to this scenario. He took the leader role and communicated well with all the staff by keeping them all informed and assigning them to jobs. Mullins (2002) describes leadership as the relationship through which one person affects the action or behaviour of another, from the scenario we can see that Clive leadership qualities affected the rest of the staff as they felt more motivated and knew what they had to do. Duncan used his initiative and thought of calling the head office and informing them nevertheless he still asked for Clives advice. The same applied to Imran as he thought of gathering all of the staff together however, he still asked Clive first. Clive possesses many of the traits and skills identified by Stodgill (1974) we can see from the way he handled the situation that he has the ability to adapt to different situations and is alert to what is happening around him. In addition to this we can see that as a store manager he is a good leader because he is cooperative with his staff, dependable because the rest of the staff rely on him and empowering because off the influence he has on others. We can also see that he did not panic, was organised and tactful in his approach. Clive assigned job roles according to the level of maturity of the workers; this is in consistent with the Hersey-Blanchard theory. From the scenario we can also see that Kristina took lead as well as she was assigning the supervisors on what section of the cold products to work. Imran was also a leader of his group and took a leading role of his group. Recommendations for improvement Conclusion The scenario shows that relevant leadership skills were in place and therefore the situation was handled successfully although some faults that did occur could have been avoided which has led me to present recommendations for improvement that could be used for future reference. The leadership skills presented in the scenario are also in consistent with the leadership theories that have been established. All the characters displayed leadership qualities even though they had different roles within the company; they still worked as a team to resolve the issue. References Evans, Martin G. (1970). The effects of supervisory behavior on the path-goal relationship. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 5: 277-298. http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=380 Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K. H. (1977). Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources (3rd ed.) New Jersey/Prentice Hall House, Robert J. (1971). A path-goal theory of leader effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly 16: 321-339. Fiedler, F. E. (1964). A Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol.1). 149-190. New York: Academic Press. Mullins, L. (2002) Management and Organizational Behaviour. 6th ed. FT/Prentice Hall Mullins, LJ (2007), The Nature of Leadership, Management and OB (8e) Stogdill, R.M. (1974). Handbook of leadership: A survey of the literature, New York: Free Press Appendix 1 Character Position Duties Behavior Clive Male, 35 years old Store manager Clives main duty as the Store Manager is to look after the whole store meaning that all managers of all departments report to him. He has the leading role in the store and has to support all staff. He is very charismatic, a strong leader always interested in getting results. Although at times he can be described as authoritarian and arrogant. Duncan Male, 28 years old Store assistant manager As the store assistant manager Duncans main role is to assist Clive in supporting staff and managing the store when he is not present. He is a reliable, organized and motivated individual. Kristina Female, 38 years old Checkout manager Kristinas main duties are to supervise all staff working in the check-outs departments as well as cashing up the money at the end of the day. She is a very friendly, sociable, confident leader that looks for attention to detail although sometimes may appear to be bossy and dominant. Imran Male, 36 years old Supervisor Imran is a supervisor of the frozen foods department. His main duties are to supervise all workers in that department as well as assisting his manager and managing the department when his manager is absent. Although experienced and of a very helpful nature, Imran is lazy and does not keep to his time keeping. Jessica Female, 20 years old Checkouts operator Jessica is a check-out staff, her main duty is to serve the customers the products they want and to help them with any queries that they have. She is a bubbly and friendly person.

The Apollo 11 Space Flight: Man Explores the Moon and Gains Perspectiv

The 1960's brought cultural transformation through outbreaks of violence and contention. The "Love and Peace" slogan led to a bloody fear of "War and Hate." It was an era of protest and revolt. The decade began with the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., escalated with the viciousness of Vietnam, and ended with the suspicion of Watergate. And somewhere in the terror of freedom, we saw two Americans walk on the moon. It was while staring at that crystalline sphere hovering above us that we pondered the scope of our opportunity. On that warm summer night it was a miracle of technology, a step into a new world, a celebrated triumph. We engaged in a political race to the moon against the Communists with a democratic pride that launched us to a new age of scientific exploration. They were footsteps that would be talked about for centuries bringing information that would influence us for decades. America's Race for the Moon Following the Atomic Bomb of World War II, the United States was a recognized "Superpower," the technological king of advancement. Through our new Elvis albums and poodle skirts, we were enjoying the satisfaction of being the "winning team." However, in 1957, our pride was pierced when news hit that Russia had successfully launched "Sputnik," the first artificial satellite to circle the earth. As President Kennedy said, "We are behind and will be for a period in the future" (Sullivan 142). We were no longer the superior champions we once were. The Soviet Union seemed unstoppable; by 1961 Russian Major Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the earth in a spaceship. Less than two months later, the United States publicly announced their 20 billion dollar space program, Project... ...s. By viewing the Earth as a whole, we discovered truths about humanity that sparked a new perspective of thought and understanding for our generation and the generations to come. "We touched the face of another world, and became people without limits" (Chaikin ix). Works Cited Chaikin, Andrew. A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts. New York: Penguin Books, 1994. Folger, Tim, Sarah Richardson, and Carl Zimmer. "Remembering Apollo." Discover July 1994: 38-58. Spirit of Apollo: A Collection of Reflective Interviews. AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1989. Sullivan, Walter, ed. America's Race for the Moon: The New York Times Story of Apollo. New York: Random House Publishers, 1962. Wilford, John Noble. We Reach the Moon; the New York Times story of Man's Greatest Adventure. New York: Bantum Books, 1969.

Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History by Romila Thapar Essay

It was during the year 1026 that Mahmud of Ghazni raided the Somanatha temple for its wealth, leading to the destruction of its many idols. In Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History, Romila Thapar explores the distinct narratives that were written at the time by placing them into the historical context of the period. Her goal, through this monograph, was not to reestablish how we perceive the history of the raid, but to instead study the diverse perspectives and views represented in the various sources collected on the topic. Historical interpretations range from the Turko-Persian narratives of the period to the Colonial writings long after the raid. Through the investigation of the sources one would hope to point out the variations in the texts, and then analyze why these deviations in the story came to be. Thapar’s findings would assist any historian in determining the nature of these sources and the way they are currently used. One must remember that any and all sources co uld be of significant importance when looking at the attitudes of the individuals of the time. The Turko-Persian narratives contain a multitude of different versions of the raid on the Somanatha temple by Mahmud of Ghazni. Persian scholar Al-Biruni provides historians with the most realistic version of the events surrounding the raid. He believed that because the Somanatha temple was constructed of stone and placed in an area surrounded by sea on three sides it had to be guarding wealth. Mahmud was in fact able to conquer the Somanatha temple for its wealth, subsequently taking pieces back to Ghazni. Turkish raids to India were originally focused on obtaining animal herds, but the reason for them now was to loot urban treasuries and capture prisoners of war... ...itish Colonials’ short term goals, but this course of action would leave long lasting effects on the people of these two cultures. All in all, Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History hopes to study the diverse perspectives and views represented in the various sources collected on the topic. The hope is that this will allow historians to better understand the various perspectives on the period. In order to get the true picture of an event one will need to analyze all of the possible views of what actually occurred. Historical interpretations range from the Turko-Persian narratives of the period to the Colonial writings long after the raid. Any event, such as the raid on the Somanatha temple, can prove to be more complicated then one would ever believe at first sight. Works Cited Thapar, Romila. Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History. London: Verso, 2005. Print.

Religion Is Seen as Not Promoting Social Change for Marx and Durkheim. Essay

Religion is a powerful role in influencing a society and the lives of it’s members. The sociological traditions of Marx and Durkheim view religion totally differently, yet they both agree that religion is a very important aspect of a society. Durkheim and Marx each had their own definitions of religion. However, we will learn that they both see an important role that religion plays in a society, as well as the ways in which society creates and shapes their religions. Unlike Durkheim and Weber, Marx was not much concerned with the studying religion although his ideas on religion are very influential. For marx religion He further feels that a world that requires illusion (religion) has something wrong with it. Marx talks about two primary functions of religion in what he calls the â€Å"real world†. First he says that religion is the opium of the people. Marx feels religion provides anesthesia to the masses. To him, religion is a way for people to escape from some of the suffering in their lives or to somehow feel better despite all of their suffering. Religion deters suffering of the present situations of people. It allows people to put off their suffering because they believe it will be taken care of in heaven, or where ever, after they die. And as it would follow, religion helps people put more hope into â€Å"the year after†. People who are religious really do believe â€Å"life† will be better for them after they die. Also religion helps to maintain the oppression of the lower classed people by the people who make up the upper classes. The second primary function of religion in a society, according to Karl Marx, is that it is the sigh of the oppressed creature. Religion brings with it a safety value. People end up being lulled into the protection religion seems to offer them, and people do feel the need to feel and be safe. Religion also gives people an opportunity to complain about the ways of the world. The world is not the way religion says it should be and therefore people complain about the way it actually is, as a way of feeling like a good member of their chosen religion. Religion allows people to acknowledge the dehumanized state of their lives. It helps people to see the horrible way in which we are in and it helps keep us in this horrible way. We realize through religion that we are not finding fulfillment in our lives. Marx would view a relationship between religious belief and progressive social activism as a display of a dehumanized society yearning for self actualization. The people of a progressive social activist society are not getting self actualization because there political system allows for scarcity of necessities, goods and jobs, and they also oppress the people of their society. According to Marx, if people are without self actualization they will create a place where they can find self actualization. Religion helps people do that. Durkheim dedicated a considerable part of his academic life to the study of religion especially religion in small scale traditional societies. Allotting a single sentence to Durkheim in a kind of appendix to The Sacred & The Profane, Eliade comments that the French founder of sociology ‘believed that he had found the sociological explanation for religion in totemism’. Durkheim bases his work on the totemism practiced by Australian aborigines and argues that totemism is the most elementary or simple form of religion. Durkheim starts Forms by looking at how religion may be defined and here the sacred profane dichotomy comes immediately into play: the primary characteristic of religion is that it divides the world into the two domains of sacred and profane. In fact, the two are opposed so fundamentally that they are seen as separate worlds. In Durkheim’s view the sacred is far from being synonymous with the divine. Not only may gods and spirits be sacred, but also things like rocks, trees, pieces of wood, in fact anything. For what makes something sacred is not that it is somehow connected to the divine but that it is the subject of a prohibition that sets it radically apart from something else, which is itself thereby made profane. Durkheim describes religion in terms of beliefs and rites. For him, the details of these in particular religions are particular ways of dealing in thought and action with the fundamental dichotomy of sacred and profane.

Brain control

The brain controls all aspects of our functioning, from the moment we were conceived until the last of our breath. Much of what we do is not a result of just one action or function of the brain but a series of simultaneous processes that all work at the same time to be able to accomplish a task. In this particular scenario wherein an individual, like myself for example, is in the middle of a room and has a table and two different colored balls, red on the left side and green on the right, is asked by another person to pick up the ball placed on the left side with my left hand.After which the instructor, which is behind the table asks what color is the ball that I picked. In accomplishing the aforementioned tasks, my brain will go through several processes that might seem insignificant when looked at in real time due to the immediate and rapidly firing neurons happening in an instant that we are not even aware that these minute details are happening. I am in the middle of the room; I know where my position is. Being aware of one’s position also requires that the brain recognize where I am. The parietal lobe of the cerebrum is responsible for orientation and movement (Serendip).This part of the brain will be able to tell me that I am in the middle because one of its functions is to construct a spatial coordinate system to represent the area where I am to be found. The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain that is thought to control higher brain function like that of thought and action (Serendip). This information will reach our brain through an ascending pathway. The afferent fibers will travel through the posterior column, like other functions such as sterognosis, graphesthesia, among many others (University of Idaho).The stimulus will travel through the spinal cord and will find itself interpreted in the somatosensory cortex of the parietal lobe (University of Idaho). After interpretation, I will now know my position and where I am. In addition to th at, I see where I am. Without seeing my surroundings, I may not be able to actually predict my spatial location, which is the middle of the room. I know that I am in the middle of the room because I see the room and I was able to calculate that my position is in the middle of this big box of a room.This stimulus, particularly the visual one, wherein I was able to see the room and all of its contents, including the table in front of me with the two balls and another person behind the table will be perceived by the visual area of the brain, which is the occipital lobe (Serendip). I can see where the objects are because there are light rays being reflected off them and these rays enter my eyes and pass through my lens. The image that will be projected through my lens will be an inverted version of what I see and this information will be sent to my retina (Montgomery).Inside the retina there are rod and cone cells that will produce signals to be relayed onto the optic nerve and reach th e lateral geniculate nucleus (Montgomery). The details of the objects and the person I see in front of my will travel to selected areas of the primary visual cortex and then to other areas of the cortex that would process the global aspects of the objects and the person in front of me like their shape, color, or movement (Montgomery). The person behind the table will ask me to pick up the left ball with my left hand. I will hear his instructions.The temporal lobe of the cerebrum is the one to process the auditory stimuli that I receive as he said in his command. My ears will catch the sound and the auditory nerve will receive the stimuli and bring this to auditory nucleus of thalamus, which is the medial geniculate nucleus (Washington University School of Medicine). This will project to the primary auditory cortex in the temporal lobes. After hearing and processing his command, I will now move my left hand to pick up the left ball. I already know which ball I am to pick up with my l eft hand as I saw the balls and the table and I interpreted its position relative to mine earlier.Now all I have to do is move my hands and pick it up. The primary motor cortex found in the precentral gyrus, is the area of the cerebrum that will process this movement (Dubuc). First off, I have already signaled my parietal and frontal lobes to alert my attentiveness in processing his command. Once I know that it is my left hand, which should pick the ball and not my right hand, I can tell my left hand to move already and this involves activation of the supplementary and premotor cortical areas and the application of these information from subcortical structures to the primary motor complex (Dubuc).A closer look at how this happens is through the passing of the stimulus to the corticospinal tract. The corticospinal tract is responsible for stimulating motor neurons located in the spinal cord that are responsible for movement of the axial muscles of body in addition to the arms and leg s (Dubuc). The lateral system pathway is followed to produce this movement and the pathway involves passing through the fibers of the lateral corticospinal tract continuing onto the spinal cord before reaching the motor neurons (Dubuc). However, a unique process is occurring in the junction between the medulla and the spinal cord.Fibers coming from the lateral corticospinal tract cross the midline before continuing their way onto the opposite side of the spinal cord, and is called decussation (Dubuc). The cerebellum also plays a role in movement. The learned movement sequences are stored in the cerebellum, in addition to the coordination of movements and its fine-tuning, avoiding clumsy and large movements (Dubuc). This will help me know how to actually move my left hand and to avoid unnecessary movements. As I am now moving my left hand to reach the left ball, I know from my long-term memory what a ball is and what it looks like.I also know from memory which is left and which is ri ght. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that is known to store our long-term memory. After knowing what a ball is and which is left and which is right, these information will be transferred from our short-term memory to our long-term memory. Information that we need to summon up every time is considered to be categorized as a long-term memory such as names, dates, colors, among many others. Long-term memory is of three types and color is categorized under semantic memory, that contains facts which we do not need an effort to recall (Aetna, Inc. ).The acquisition of memory happens when we learn the different colors and we learn to distinguish which is the left side from the right. Consolidation of this information will make us remember the colors and directions more. Then when needed, we will be able to easily recall this information. Since I have already identified which is the ball on my left and I have been able to move my left arm now to pick up the left ball, I can answer what color the ball is. According to the information given, the left ball is colored red. I know from my stored long-term memory and from what I see that the ball on the left side is red.Works Cited: Aetna, Inc, â€Å"Memory Loss. † InteliHealth. 2004. InteliHealth. 22 Feb 2009 . Dubuc, Bruno. â€Å"The Motor Cortex. † The brain. 2001. Canadian Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health, and addiction. 22 Feb 2009 . Montgomery, Geoffrey. â€Å"The Visual pathway. † Howard Hughes Medical Institute. 2000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute. 22 Feb 2009 . Serendip, â€Å"Brain Structures and their Functions. † Brain and behavior. 2005. Serendip. 22 Feb 2009 . University of Idaho, â€Å"Ascending Pathways. † A self-study module to be used for Med Sci 532. 2004. University of Idaho. 22 Feb 2009 . Washington University School of Medicine, â€Å"AUDITORY AND VESTIBULAR PATHWAYS. † Neuroscience Tutorial. 1997. Washington University School of Medicine. 2 2 Feb 2009 .