Vegetarianism Essay Example for Free

Vegetarianism Essay Our daily life routines mainly revolve around food and what are we going to eat. We wake up thinking about breakfast, lunch is a must, either at work or with friends, and of course dinner; the one thing we do not forget. Food and diets consume a lot of our thoughts. People nowadays are more aware of their health and habits. One of the types of diets that some follow is the vegetarian diet. Vegetarianism is mainly eating all types of food, but any animal related products. Vegetarians follow this kind of diet because they believe that killing animals to eat them cause many negative effects. The question here is, should people be vegetarian or not? Some are for and some are against this. However, in my opinion, I think people should not apply the vegetarian diet in their lives for more than one reason. Firstly, vegetarians’ main reason for their belief is that eating animals is killing them, and killing them is against animals’ right as animals feel fear before their death, which is unethical. However, eating meat is not unethical, it is the natural part of the cycle of life. Research shows that plants respond electrochemically to threats and may feel fear exactly as animals (D.Jensen, The Plants Respond: An Interview with Cleve Backster, The Sun, July 1997†¨). So, eating plants also lead to the threat of it, if they see it from this perspective. Every organism on earth exists for the sake of another organism. Secondly, some might think that vegetables and plants will save more food for hungry people rather than feeding them to the animals. Nevertheless, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) stated that the world currently produces enough food for everybody, but many people do not have access to it. Therefore, it is not about the quantity of the food, it’s the way of distribution that causes the problem. Vegetarian diets can cause the death of animals too. To support this idea further, it was proven that about 52-77% of the animals, like rabbits and birds, get killed during the harvest process, they live in agriculture crop fields (S. Davis, 2003). Thus, cutting meats from your diet is not the solution. To wrap up, vegetarianism should not be a healthy habit for people. Animals are here for us to take advantage of, as well as plants and they are both living organisms. If you could live without both, then do it. At the end, they both feel and have emotions, so killing animals does not differ from killing plants. Moreover, it was proven that the hunger problem worldwide is the reason behind the availability of the food and not the quantity produced. Lastly, many other ways do kill animals, and cutting them from your diet will not protect them. I think people should not take vegetarianism as a life of style. Refrences: Derrick Jensen, The Plants Respond: An Interview with Cleve Backster, The Sun, July 1997 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Hunger: Frequently Asked Questions, www.fao.org (accessed Apr. 13, 2011) Steven L. Davis, The Least Harm Principle May Require That Humans Consume a Diet Containing Large Herbivores, Not a Vegan Diet, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 2003 http://vegetarian.procon.org/#

Effectiveness Of Motivational Strategy In Habib Bank

Effectiveness Of Motivational Strategy In Habib Bank In this modernized world where globalization is fast crating an effect, the workplace realities of the ancient organizations no longer exists (Roberts, 2003). It has become past and needs to be revised very carefully before any aspect of it can be implemented nowadays. It has become increasingly important for the organizations to introduce new methods and meet the new motivational needs of the employees. The reality of workplace, the changing work environment has increased the end for the managers to reconsider the methodologies of developing durable and strong relationship between the employees and organization that ultimately leads to the achievement of the organizations goals and objectives. A thorough and complete understanding of the employees motivational need has became important for the management in order to accomplish what employees expect from the organization in order to return what organization expect from them ( Beer et al, 1984).. Therefore it becomes clear from the re searches that a motivated work-force is an instrument of success for full filling the needs of a rapidly changing work environment for both, the employees and the organization. It also becomes clear that a well- motivated workforce will eventually lead to the organization achieving its goals and objectives in a better an efficient manner. To serve this purpose ob building a strong bond between the management and workforce, the role of the top management is very crucial in this respect. According to Carnige (1985), human capital is capable of playing a pivotal role compared to financial capital, in the effectiveness of the organization. In modern times people are believed to me a source of competitive advantage and carry more importance in leading a company towards success, rather than finance. What is actually motivation and how and why does it matter? In business terms, motivation is the desire of a firm to see a job done well and quickly. The highly motivated workforce becomes an instrument for the business to achieve its goals and objectives as cost effectively as may be possible. Motivated worker also try to reach their own personal objectives. The employers should be well aware of what these are .This is because the greatest motivation will develop if workers feel that working towards the business objectives is ultimately helping them achieve their own goals. A milestone in a success of an organization is fulfilling the continually changing needs of employees and the organization. A heavy responsibility rests on the shoulder of the management to develop durable and strong relationships between them. Companies expect workers to follow the rules according to the terms and conditions set for them. Employees in return expect fir pay, good working conditions, secure career, fair treatment, involvement in decisions and power. These expectations of both groups vary from company to company. For any business to deal with these expectations successfully a complete understanding of the employee motivation becomes necessary. (Beer et al, 1984 from pdf file motivation pak bank). It is usually that it is the organization and not managers that fail to hold managers responsible for creating motivation among the people. They fail to understand the role of motivation and its connection to job performance. One of the biggest challenges for HR is to persuade line managers to develop and manage people. These line managers should be able to build string and personal relationship with the employees through effective communication. There is a need for the line mangers to understand the nature of the employee and his subordinates and should be able to deal with the problems of workers effectively. A thorough understanding of the needs of the subordinates will eventually let the managers know what the employee aims for and what are their goals and objectives. They can then decide how to develop and implement strategies that will achieve the objectives of the company while letting the employees achieve their personal goals. Staff that is unmotivated will be reluctant to do their jobs quickly and efficiently and will only provide the minimal of what is required of them from the organization. It is important to know how well motivated staff will alter the levels of productivity and performance within a company, thus affecting the competitiveness of the business. A well motivated staff is not only able to increase productivity and performance but is also prepared to accept responsibility, willingly and happily. There is low labor turnover which reduces the business cost of hiring and training new labor. With a highly motivate staff, a business also benefits from low absenteeism rate and employees participate on making suggestions for improvements. (Peter) Theories of motivation and their significance in today world: There are many theories of well known theorists that deal with the factors that affect motivation. F. W Taylor- theory of scientific management. F.W Taylor proposed a theory of scientific management that emphasized that money is the motivating factor that affects the employees to the most. Scientific management defines a method of establishing an idea after studying, analyzing and recording performance at work, then altering working conditions and recording performance. This is the approach that Taylor used to establish his idea. This method of scientific management is still used in the companies today. Taylors theory was based upon the notion of economic man and he believed that when wages are based on output, it increases workers productivity. He maintained his belief that a fair days pay for fair days work is what motivated staff to do better. But critics also say that money moves the workers to work, not motivate them. The other renowned theory of theorist is the Elton mayo Hawthorne affect. He carried out some experiments with a group of line workers. Changes in rest periods, canteen food, assembly bench lay out were made at a particular interval. Before every major change, the upcoming change was discussed with the workers. At the end of the experiment when working conditions were returned to the original, it was noticed that the output rose far above the level before the experiment. He drew some conclusions from his work that is as follows: Alterations in financial rewards or changes in working conditions have little or no effect on a workers productivity When management consult with workers before any major changes are made that affects them, motivation is improved When some control over their own working lives is given to workers, there is improved motivation Groups can establish their own targets and goals, and these can be greatly influenced by the informal leaders of the group. Taylors approach is important but not widely held today. Many workers, now a days seek for a respectable job rather than a one which is not valued but is being paid. Workers who have money as their basic need still moves towards a job offering a handsome wage/salary but they are unable to be motivated and still continue the job for money. This reduces job performance and productivity is affected. Maslow- hierarchy of needs One of another major theorist that takes a good position among the motivation theorist is Maslow. He extensively wrote on the subject concepts of the hierarchy of needs. He became a leader of the humanistic school of psychology and looked at the needs of human beings arranged like a hierarchy. The Maslow theory consists of two parts. The first one concerns the classification of the needs and the second part relates theses needs with each other. Maslow arranged the needs in a pyramid. Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs that workers have. He suggested that these have to be fulfilled step by step. He identified and classified the basic needs that a human being has. The pyramid starts from physical needs that occupy the lowest level of hierarchy. The top level becomes the self actualization with three levels of needs in between. Maslow suggested that once a worker achieves the lower level of need, he strives for the next level. Management should be aware on what level their employees a re, and moving them trio next level, thus keeping him motivated for his job. The sequence of the Maslows pyramid is as follows: Physiological needs: these are the strongest needs. This is because if a person is deprived, the physiological needs would come first to fulfill his satisfaction. The physiological needs consist of needs like oxygen, clothing, food and shelter. These needs are the priority before any other class of need. Safety needs: this class of needs includes job security accompanied with a secured working environment. A sense of job security is essential for an employee to stay motivated towards his work with the addition of a hygiene environment with safe equipments if required. Love and belonging: the need of belonging and affection is necessary to overcome the feeling of loneliness. To overcome this, team work should be encouraged within an organization along with other social activities that instill in an employee a feeling of belonging and being a part of the organization. Esteem needs: this class of need is defined by the receipt of recognition of what the employee has achieved at work. There are chances that a worker may feel worthless and in valuable if he is not appreciated. This level of need can be achieved by the announcement of achievements publicly at events. Self actualization: this is the top level of the hierarchy. Very few workers have the potential to reach this level. This class defines need as to be given added responsibility with new challenges and promotions in his career. This theory has its own complications. Maslow did not suggest any criteria to measure which level of need has actually been satisfied. Each kevel is dependent upon the level below. The whole system might collapse if a level goes missing in between. It is also hard to say that a particular level is achieved of an employee and now the next level must be targeted. Adam- equity theory Another theory of motivation, widely recognized is the Adams equity theory of motivation. Adam proposed a very simple theory that suggested that employees balance their inputs against their out. The input is not only in the form of time that is put into work measured against the financial reward that is received as output but input also includes all the factors affecting working conditions and the worker at work. Similarly, output also includes the response, the recognition and the praise or the negative attitude experienced as a result of the job being done. The attitudes that lead to positive outcomes is repeated and attitude that lead to negative outcomes is avoided. It becomes difficult for the managers to know exactly what the employee perceives of the output against their input. Moreover inputs of the work and out puts of the work cannot be measured literally in order to calculate and balance both against each other. Herzberg- two factor theory But here our major focus would be on the Herzberg motivational theory that we desire to implement on our project. Herzberg (1923-2000) proposed a theory recognized by the world as the two factor theory. Herzberg, despite basing his research on just 200 professional workers, Herzbergs two factor theory and his conclusions has left the greatest impact on motivational practices. A survey was conducted through interviews and questionnaires that aim to know the following things: Identification of these factors that lead the workers to think very positively about their work and those factors that led them to think very negatively about their job. His conclusions reveled the following: Advancement, work itself, responsibility, achievement and the recognition for achievement were the factors relating to job satisfaction. Administration and company policy, salary, supervision, relationship with others and working conditions were these factors that lead to job dissatisfaction. These factors were termed as hygiene factors by Herzberg. Conclusions of Herzbergs work. Herzbergs two factor theory carried the hygiene factors and the motivators. Hygiene factors included working conditions, pay rates etc. these hygiene factors can eb improved in order to remove dissatisfaction from the jab but they will not help creating a motivated albor for ce. Herzberg argued that it was readily possible to move someone to do a job by paying him but it will not actually motivate him for doing the job. Similarly, he proposed that motivators, that are principles of job enrichment (encouragement, added responsibility, recognition), need to be in place to motivate the labor force to perform a task. These principles of job enrichment include Offering complete units of work: a typical mass production method only allows workers to assemble small units of a finished product. This is not motivating as the repetitive and small, invaluable task is not interesting. It also prevents workers to receive the appreciation and the importance what they are contributing to the production process. When workers are offered the complete tasks, it gives them the motivation to do a job effectively. It bears in them feeling of achievement of producing the goods themselves. Herzberg puts this idea as if u want your employees to perform a good job, offer them a good job. Feed back on performance: this communication enables workers to feel recognized and they are motivated to achieve more. A range of tasks: a range of tasks, when offered to workers is challenging and makes it interesting as their first experience if given them the first time. This provides the employees the opportunity to explore their abilities and provide incentive for the business to achieve the full potential of the workers. Analysis and evaluation of Herzberg work: As we will be implementing Herzbergs approach to her research, an analysis and evaluation of its work becomes necessary. Team working and delegation of complete tasks with much less close supervision is becoming increasingly popular in todays industrial world. Organization ensure effective communication is present between management and the workforce and this two way effective communication itself becomes a motivating factor. There is little doubt that that the increasing trend towards Herzberg approach is fast becoming popular, but many researchers who have used Herzbergs methods still argue and theory experimenting failed to arrive at such a clear cut conclusion. This wouldnt be wrong to hold Herzberg responsible for this evolution and this change would have been slower without the theories put forward by the Herzberg. Herzberg identified five main factors that resulted in job satisfaction. These factors can easily be identified in an organization and can be used for evaluation. The five main factors include achievement, recognition for achievement, responsibility, nature of work itself and advancement. These are the factors which can easily be identified if they exist in an organization. Similarly Herzberg gave five main factors that resulted in job dissatisfaction. These are termed as companys administration and policy, salary, supervision working conditions and relationships. This factor can easily be searched for in an organization to determine the effects of motivation. Service sector throughout the world is greatly dependent upon the human resource. Be it Habib bank ltd in Pakistan or RBS in Scotland, the banking sector and its success mainly depends upon the level of skilled, capable and most important motivated workforce. A motivated workforce does not only increase the performance at work but increased performance and satisfactory interaction among the clients and colleagues leads to high productivity. This in turn creates satisfied customers which forms the basis of success for any organization. Significance of motivation for commercial banks: Commercial banks are structures that are maintained and developed my human resources that ensure the delivery of a good service. The process that ensures the delivery of a good eservice is affected by the individual motivation of labor force whether skilled, unskilled, professional or unprofessional. The increased growth of service industry, commercial banks are struggling foe workers possessing the ability of providing quality service. And their labor is the best source if providing best services to their customers. Excellent services being offered and provided by the employees is able to create a positive perception among the eyes of the banking consumers. ( pdf file motivation pak bank petcharak 2004) Commercial banks play a vital role in the world wide economy. Research concludes that today it is becoming challenging for management in Pakistan to motivate their employees, especially those employed at commercial banks, to provide a quality service with increasing competitive market in the specified sector, i.e. commercial banks. The tough competition is making difficult to provide best of services to its clientele, thus satisfying their needs effectively. Theoretical frame work. Our research aims to find out the effectiveness of motivation strategies at HBL. To measure the effectiveness, the first step is to find out the variables that are creating motivation within the employees at HBL. Once the variables are identified a sample of 75 respondents will be selected from various departments of various posts, qualification and experience. These sample size is selected to determine the research question and research objective. The questionnaire will carry pout the research and will obtain the result that will identify the factors that create little or no, and high motivation among the employees. These factors when identifies will be classified under the motivators and the hygiene factors. These motivators and hygiene factors must be forming a part of the motivational strategy of the management at HBL that will effective or ineffective in creating motivation. The highly effective and the little effective will then be measured against the performance level of the workers when implemented. According to the results, those strategies will be labeled as successful or unsuccessful. For the unsuccessful strategies recommendations will be made . Research conducted through a questionnaire Identification of the factors affecting the level of motivation Identification of factors creating job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction Classifying them into hygiene factors and motivators Result on motivation result on motivation when When hygiene factors motivators implemented. implemented. Measure the effect Measure the effect on work On work performance performance. Employee motivation and work performance: Improving the work performance has always been and will continue to be the major concern of all businesses. It is the performance of work that creates satisfied managers and/or dissatisfied managers. The work performance has always been an important issue for the businesses as their success and failure depends upon the performance displays by their workforce. A manager when pays the employee, expects to return the worth of what is paid to him. In case of failure to do so, many workplace issues are created that managers then need to deal with. It is not always possible for managers to repay the accurately the input employee has put into work. This is because there exist no method to measure the input against the output wh9ich the employee receives or perceives. Failure to come up to the expectation results in demotivation. Is also seen, as described by the expectancy theory that workers expect according to what they see around. Now it becomes difficult for managers to know how they pe rceive their work output and it is compared to whose job. The performance at work is not only dependent upon the skills and abilities the worker possesses but there are many factors that exist which creates and leave an impact upon the performance of the employee. A well-motivated employee results in well performed job and an unsatisfied employee who is unmotivated towards his job naturally results in a poor job performance. But the question what motivates man to perform better has many answers. There are many motivational factors as discussed above that leaves an impact upon the motivation of the employees. When discussing and implementing the Herzberg theory, we see the hygiene factors create job satisfaction and not motivation but the motivators when placed creates motivation that results in a high performance of the job. For instance providing hygiene conditions at work place will not create motivation for the worker to perform the job but the satisfactory working conditions will make the employee continue the job a and not create a desire to do the job. Therefore a hygiene working environment will have no effect upon the performance of the job. But, if on the other hand, a worker is praised for his achievements and efforts, he will be happy and will be eager to achieve more, thus increasing his job performance. Increasing job performance includes increased productivity, putting in extra effort in the job and probably low absenteeism with happy workers who look at the golas and objectives of the company through which they can not only achieve their personal objective but companies goals become their goals and business objectives as their objectives. When performance at work is increased in any of the forms mentioned above, the company benefits from it. For a manufacturing business increased quality and quantity of it products will attract consumers which will benefit the company. In the service sector, a motivated staff will result in a cooperative and positive attitude and interactions with the customers and colleagues which will create thousands of satisfied customers. Customer service being very important in the service sector is completely dependent upon the attitude and behavior of the employees which is directly proportional to their motivation level. This motivation level is depended upon many factors like motivators described by Herzberg and others as described by many of the other renowned theorists. Linkage between objectives and questions with the theories and concept Research question/objectives Theories and concepts

Importance Of Outdoor Recreation

Importance Of Outdoor Recreation Leisure, recreation and tourism are generally viewed as key components in peoples lives (Lynch and Veal 1996). Outdoor recreation brings happiness to people as it gives recreational opportunities to them. Leisure means various things to different people and therefore it consists of many definitions given by many researchers. For instance, Fava(1964) stated that leisure is the time which an individual has free from work or other responsibilities and which may be used for the purpose of relaxation, diversion, or personal development. In contrast, according to Godbey (1999), a leading researcher in the field of leisure education said that leisure is typically related with spare time or situations in which people have the luxury of choice. Sylvester (1999) stated that , it must not neglect the fact that in ancient time, leisure was considered as a luxury and was affordable by affluent people only. Recreation The term recreation is derived from the Latin word of recreatio and recreate which means to refresh and to refresh and to restore (Edginton et al 1995). Examples of outdoor recreation involve: Visiting parks and natural areas. Visiting historical and archaeological sites. Outdoor concerts and festival. Golf and kite flying Forest activities like wildlife safari, camping and tree climbing. Importance of Outdoor recreation Research has shown that outdoor recreation activities undoubtedly contribute positively to one health as well as well being (Boniface 2000; Dickson et al; 2008). Through recreation activities, people get the opportunity to enjoy the natural environment if they are doing adventure activities, interact with other people (Berman Davis-Berman, 1995, 2000). Moreover, study has illustrated that the way life alters with the loss of link which inevitably result to poor lifestyles (Godbey et al; 2005). Nowadays, the new generation mainly children are more likely to be at risks than their parents. Children currently have more possibilities of health problems to such children, such as asthma, obesity, vitamin D deficiency since they have inactive lifestyle as well as lack of physical exercises, consequently, it may lead to cardiovascular, pulmonary and mental health problems in adulthood. Children from poor background are more likely to be away from green space as they have built environment such as bad housing condition, traffic congestion and so forth. Today the world is connected with technological gadgets and children tends to stay more in front of their computers, television, playing video games and after school hours they need to complete their homework therefore youngsters miss the contact with the natural setting, they also miss the chance for stress reduction, healthy development , physical activity and restoration. Motivation for outdoor recreation According to Iso-Ahola (1980), individuals are encouraged through defined objectives as well as rewards which can be either extrinsic or intrinsic. When a particular activity is occupied in to acquire compensation, it is known as extrinsically motivated. In contrast, intrinsically motivated is when a person is self motivated to achieve something or engaged in the activity for its own sake. Moreover, Iso-Ahola thinks that leisure behavior is mainly caused by intrinsic aspects which are linked to self-expression, competence as well as agreement which implies freedom of choice. Nevertheless, recreation choice should not be regarded as unlimited. The ability for individual to choose from a range of recreational activities cannot be compromised due to the fact that individuals motivation to be indulged in a given outdoor recreation is projected in the selection made from various outdoor activities. Furthermore, choice is encircled by many pitfalls such as physical capability, affordability, awareness, time restrictions and family obligations. These limitations differ among people and the demographic, socio-economic and other groups. Demand and Participation Demand is an economic term used in order to illustrate the link that exists between the quantities of a good that people will buy as well as the prices that they will have to pay. In other words, it refers to the ability and willingness to pay for a particular product. The elements of demands are as follows: Effective, expressed or actual demand is the actual number of participants, for instance it reflects the number of people that participate in countryside recreation. The number of people involved in such activity might be expressed per day or per year. Latent or suppressed demand refers to unfulfilled demand. Therefore, it is where an individuals desire to participate has not been fulfilled due to some reason. But if the situation alters such a desire may ultimately become effective demand. However, such demand is not easy to quantify as it relies on peoples wishes and desires as well. When taking into account suppressed demand it can be emphasized that the latter gives rise to two elements namely: deferred demand and potential demand. When reference is being made to deferred demand refers to demand that is unfulfilled due to a lack of amenities, for example, if a large number of people wish to go to the swimming pool but the problem is that if there is no swimming available then this want will be unfulfilled and demand will be postponed until a swimming pool is provided. In contrast, potential demand is demand that is unfulfilled simply because there is a shortage of personal resources such as income or mobility. But, if there is an improvement in terms of personal situation it can undoubtedly be fulfilled in the future. Lastly it can be said that there will be people who will surely prefer not to involve in recreational activities and this is known as no demand. Factors affecting demand for outdoor recreation can be classified into : Demographic characteristics Socio-economic characteristics Situational characteristics Demographic Characteristics In terms of demographic characteristics there are several factors that affect the recreation preference and it includes age, sex, marital status and family diversity. Research has shown that young male who are single are more likely to involve in outdoor recreation and even if they are married they are unwilling to have children (Booth, 1989; Genet 2001; Booth Peebles, 1995). These participants are really interested in their education and they inevitably want to get well paid jobs. Socio -economic characteristics Price From an economists perspective, price is considered to be a key factor in determining price as customers decision but the price of leisure is complicated with regards to many other products. For example, a normal product consists of a single price but while comparing it to the price of leisure activities it is different as it consists of separate elements such as the valid nature of the leisure, other price like costs of transport, parking, equipment, clothing and accommodation might be charged. Economists stated that as leisure involves time, therefore the opportunity cost of that time in terms of its possible earning power should also be included in the list mentioned above. According to Gratton and Taylor (1985) he argued that the price of a product affects demand in two different ways. First and foremost, the average cost of participation which involves all types of costs such as entrance fee, equipment and so forth might affect demand in terms of decision making to involve in the activity. Thus, the higher the average cost, the lower the participate rate. Secondly, marginal cost is the cost that has an impact on the frequency of participation. For example, in association with leisure activities there may be fixed costs involved like membership fee, buying of equipment and so on. Income Income can be viewed as a feature that enables people to buy a leisure product. Research has shown that in the second half of the nineteenth century there has been a drastic change with regards to income growth. It was then that the development of mass leisure started and simultaneously there was a constant increase of income and this has definitely an impact on growth of leisure. Affluent people have always enjoyed their leisure; therefore it can be made crystal clear as income increases people will surely have more leisure. Situational characteristics Time Self-employed people generally have better control concerning their time plan and these people are more likely to have more leisure time. Mobility Car ownership has increased dramatically because the income of people has risen and cars are more affordable to buy and run. If a person does not possess a vehicle, therefore he or she might be disadvantaged in terms of site, journey, timing and duration of the trip. External factors affecting demand for outdoor recreation are: Recreational opportunity is highly dependent upon availability and accessibility of recreation sites. Thus, the nature of recreation sites as well as availability will surely rely upon several things such as carrying capacity, ownership, distribution, quality, access and degree of development. These reflect three important elements which consist of economic, behavioral and political. Hence, it helps both private and public sectors in terms of good decision making with regards to recreation provision. While making decision to visit any particular recreational sites, accessibility is considered to be a key element in influencing participation. Moreover, how crucial it is, as an element in decision making in influencing the what and where of recreation involvement is explained by Chubb and Chubb (1981:153) : People participation will increase if all other external and personal factors support participants, however if the site is not accessible it might certainly be a problem. Recreation travel behavior While going to any particular site for recreation, distance is really important and for most movement, a distance-decay effect can be known so that the power of interaction diminishes as distance increases. In this context, if a recreational site consists of greater distance and involve more effort and time, might not be supported by participants. But, not all activities are time consuming as it relies on the types of activities that one is taking part in. The impact of longer distances will be negative to some extent as the more a person travel, he or might be tired and found it to be unpleasant. On the other hand, such effect may be encouraging in situation where a person is travelling by cruise. The latter may enjoy and the longer the distance the greater the desire to extend it. Recreation choice behavior Forecasting of recreation behavior would have been taken into account if more was known with regards to factors influencing decision-making to attitudes, motivations and perceptions. This would be very helpful as it would explain: Why some sites and activities are suitable; Why some recreational firms are failures while others are satisfied by participants; Why and how alternative recreation are ranked. The recreation alternative process is influenced by peoples perceptions of what recreational opportunities are available. Natural environments as recreation settings Driver et al. (1987) demonstrates that natural surroundings are really crucial in attaining the preferred result from leisure. Research conducted in Colorado have shown that participants like to enjoy mostly in nature, therefore, natural environment plays an integral role in achieving the result as well as satisfaction required from involvement in certain forms of recreation. According to Kaplan and Kaplan (1989), participants satisfaction is associated with natural settings through integration mind and body in the leisure activity. Hence, environmental aspect beyond doubt is considered to have a dominant influence on recreation behavior and this has first derived from gurus like Schreyer et al. (1985), he propose that the most helpful demonstration of the environment for the explanation of behavioral choice is considered as important. They also stated that people are more likely to explore the natural environment location which will undoubtedly allow them to behave in the ways they wish and consequently this will enable them to achieve a desired cognitive state. Thus, the theory that recreation experiences are closely linked to recreation location is fundamental with regards to the notion of the recreation opportunity spectrum.

Critique La Ventura :: Art

Critique La Ventura La Ventura is widely regarded as one of the greatest films to date. Michelangelo Antonioni didn’t win the Palme D’or, but it did get a Special Jury Prize during the Cannes film festival of 1960. No surprise he didn’t win the Palme D’or, but why give him an award in the first place? The reason for winning the title seemed unclear at first because the film had serious issues with breaking the rules of standardized filmmaking. For example having his actors enter the scene from opposite directions from where the came the shot before. However L’Avventura is a whole other world of its own. The title translates to English as â€Å"The Adventure† and indeed that’s what it is. The movie is relaxing to watch thanks to the scenery, but it’s slow and a bit boring. The film is over two hours long (2:20 or so) and it takes a while to get anywhere. This is disturbing because the plot didn’t seem to have as much importance as the camera angles, framing shots or dialogue. These aesthetics had more importance than in most other movies. It also had an unusual way of telling the story - done mainly by showing images to transfer the main message. Technically, it’s a photographic journey! Well, kind of. Mainly because the whole island shoot is done through wide angle lens that squeezes the nice black-and-white landscaping in the background. Also effective is how people seem to disappear in it. Another beautiful shot was on the roof of the church where the two main characters are ringing the church bells like kids playing, and then other church bells respond. That was a very nice sequence and a very nice symbol. The initial problem that the characters have to deal with however was Anna and her disappearing. In a typical film, finding Anna would have been what the story would follow. But as L'Avventura goes on, the script allows us or makes us forget about Anna. This process is done slowly, and we never stop thinking about Anna. We are struck back to Anna especially in the end when Claudia mentions her. The movie picked up pace after Anna disappeared especially with the kiss of Sandro and Claudia. There are two main characters: a man and a woman. Sandro wants sex from his girlfriends and refuses to commit himself to one, while Claudia needs love and more love.

Womens Brain Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Women's Brain Women have smaller brains than that of their male counterpart. Since the ability to think is partly determined by the size of the brain it is obvious to an accurate researcher if I were to ignore the differences between the male and female brain. The question to be posed is, with the knowledge of the function of the human brain, can a scientist accurately determine if the differences in the way males and females perform various tasks is a biological phenomena, or rather as a result of social persuasion? All kinds of research have shown that the bigger the brain, generally, the smarter the animal. (1) However, as Emily Dickinson might agree, it is not the size of the brain that counts, but rather what is contained within the brain. Human male brains are, on average, approximately 10% larger than that of the female, but this is because of men's larger body size: more muscle cells imply more neurons to control them. (3) If the size of the brain is not the determinate factor of the diffe rences between the male and female brain what is? Of special interest to researchers of this subject was the amount of gray matter, the part of the brain that allows us to think. The researchers wanted to know if women have as much gray matter as men. (1) It would be logical to conclude that if there is less gray matter, the component of the brain associated with the thinking process, than obviously, biologically men and superior in intellect to women. However, as is the case with many biological researches, more questions arose than were answered. According to one psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, there is no difference in the amount of gray matter in men and women. To make up for the smaller brain size, women ... ...s. The political brain. http://www.home.aone.net.au/think/brainsx.html 3. 3}Are There Differences between the Brains of Males and Females?,Intellectual differences among the sexes. http://www.epub.org.br/cm/n11/mente/eisntein/cerebro-homens.html 4. 4}Left/Right Brain?,Left or right brained. http://www.helpself.com/brain.htm 5. 5}La Difference,Who is the better sex? http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/07/11/reviews/990711.11holtlt.html&OP=bd2d6ebQ2F@Q25Q7BD@!PqQ7DQ5BPPQ23@DPPIQ7D@Q24Q24@F5@xx@Q5BQ7BNdQ7BQ25Q7D@Q24Q24F5xxfxx_PQ51Q23Q51Q23f_Q23iQ51 6. 6}Traumatic Tests: Gender Bias and the SATs,SAT statistics.conclude that men are superior to women in intellect, right? Now I would not be a proud Bryn Mawr woman if I were to agree with this logic. However, I would not be http://home.earthlink.net/~lfdean/sat.html

Art & History Essay

Confucianism and Daoism were the dominant moral, religious and political doctrines in China for many centuries. As in the case with Catholicism and Orthodox Church, which significantly influenced the development of arts, Confucianism and Daoism formed many of Chinese artistic currents. Confucianism and Daoism influenced Chinese art in various ways. First of all, their impact on visual arts refers to the usage of moral and philosophical themes in Chinese paintings. The Confucian moral themes, which were often included into such paintings, include the relations between members of family (respect for wife and parents etc. ), obedience to authorities. This is particularly true of the paintings by Gu Kaizhi, such as Admonitions of the Instructress to the Palace Ladies and Wise and Benevolent Women, which portray different social situations and proper ways of social behavior. The latter is a primary trait of Confucian moral philosophy. Taoist moral and philosophical insights are evident in the paintings of Huang Gongwang, who was a Taoist priest. For instance, his painting named Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains created in 1350 uses traditional Taoist art form of landscape painting, which best transmits the spiritual character of Taoism and its preoccupation with harmony of people and nature. Using black ink, Huang Gongwang tried to portray the presence of Tao spirit in everything and its power represented in mountains. Moreover, it should be noted that Huang Gongwang, following Taoist and partially Confucian tradition, does not limit himself to painting of bare mountains, but portrays ‘dwelling’ as the symbolic Taoist practice of cognition and ethical behavior (Cooper and Cooper 87-90). Confucianism had strong influence not only on Chinese fine arts, but architecture as well. For instance, famous Forbidden City is a perfect realization of Confucian principles of hierarchy in society and family. Forbidden City is a 720000 square meters imperial court complex with nearly 10000 rooms. The Emperor’s private and official area was situated at the front of the City and the large halls for ceremonial and official purposes were constructed on the high platforms, which stretched from south to north. The whole official construction, hence, was located in the center of Forbidden City, manifesting the respect for and magnificence of imperial power (Ho 43-46). The rest of the buildings, including emperor’s wives houses, were located outside of the central axis. 2. Tea ceremony (cha no yu), which was important cultural phenomenon in Japan since its inception, significantly influenced the development of Japanese visual arts through the wabi-sabi aesthetics, which is characterized by simplicity of forms, asymmetry and naturalism. The development of visual arts was particularly influenced by Takeno Joo, who elaborated the doctrine of ichi-go ichi-e, which pays attention to the unique nature of every tea meeting and every thing in general. This concept was essentially based on the notions of harmony and purity. Wabi-Sabi aesthetics is particularly evident in the interior of Taian teahouse in Myokian Temple near Kyoto, created by famous master Sen no Rikyu during Momoyama period (1573-1615). One of the basic points of Sen no Rikyu philosophy, which also was essentially influenced by Zen-Buddhism, was the perception of ordinary objects’ spiritual value and simplicity of beauty. Taian teahouse is very small (only 1. 8 meters) with tatami mats, where host and guests sat. Closed and narrow space was designed to make the process of tea ceremony more concentrated and intense in order to maintain its solemn and spiritual character. The interior’s space is fixed with a small door, called nijiri-guchi, designed to make the tearoom look bigger. The tearoom also has a niche called Tokonama with a hanging scroll with minor and simple decorations, making emphasis on purity and austerity of a tea ceremony (Pitelka 165). The traditional tea ceremony tools such as teabowls, flower containers, lid rests were also modernized by Sen no Rikyu, who designed them in correspondence with the demands of wabi-sabi aesthetics. Another notable example of tea ceremony’s influence on Japanese arts is Katsura Imperial Villa, built during 1624 and 1645 years, and considered to be an extraordinary combination of imperial court style and wabi-sabi canons. Stroll gardens, which were designed in the Villa, represent clear destination of the path, were accurately graveled, embellished by stones and bridges and garden buildings located along the paths. It is noteworthy that water was always to a viewer’s right, which created an effect of division between different spheres of nature and postulated their divine and unique character. Gardens of the Villa represented the idealized vision of natural lakes and rocks, trees and even various buildings and teahouses were developed in a way emphasizing nature’s power and simplicity. 3. The duality as opposed to monism or syncretism was among the basic characteristics of religious worldviews of many civilizations, including Aztec civilization. First of all, the concept of duality was applied to different spheres of universe – the earthly life was contrasted with heavenly life, the power of emperor was contrasted with the power of gods etc. There is no denying the importance of the fact, that the theme of duality played important role in Aztec architecture and Aztec Great Temple (Temple Mayor) is a vivid example of this. Built during Postclassical period of Mesoamerica (the construction began in the beginning of 14-th century) in Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, it represents some basic themes, peculiar to dualism. First of all, the theme of duality is represented in Temple’s conceptual purposes. It was dedicated to two Aztec gods – Tlaloc, a god of rain and farming, and Huitzilolochtli, a god of war. To realize this twofold dedication, two separate shrines for each of the gods were constructed at the top of the temple and separate staircases were designed. The temple is constructed in the traditional form of Aztec pyramid. As Kowalski notes, â€Å"From the Templo Mayor the four quarters of the universe and the cardinal points were partitioned. In its architectural form was expressed the concept of duality, and the mass of its basal platform subdivided into terraces incorporated the concept of different levels of ascent† (Kowalski 210). Apart from two-sided architectural structure of the Temple, it should be noted that it contained symbolical representation of duality between life and death. It was associated with the transition point for those who died naturally from earthly to the underground world called Mictlan. Hence, the Great Temple was a point, where cosmic levels united and provided access to the underworld. To sum it up, the themes of duality were realized in the Great Temple both in architectural and symbolic levels of Aztec culture. 4. Gender relations in Oceania societies found their full realization in the products of Oceania people’s culture. The majority of Oceania societies, including Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia tribes still have patriarchal societies and matriarchy is rare. Gender relations are symbolically embedded in various products of Oceania arts, which in their turn have strong functional connection with Oceania religious, spiritual and social rituals. For instance, Melanesian masks, which are one of the most complex forms of Melanesian art, play important ritual and gender role. As far as their design in concerned, these masks have much in common. The majority of them are covered with the bark cloth, which forms a certain background for painted symbols. The structure of masks is strengthened by coconut fronds or light woods. The masks are usually worn with various leaves, which are to conceal the nudity of the mask’s wearer. Those, who wear masks (called in Lakalai tribe valuku or tubuan) often engage in various performances of ritual and spiritual character. Masks play gender function as well, because only men in Melanesian societies are allowed to wear masks. Moreover, not every man is consecrated into the masks’ art, but only those that possess the biggest privileges and social power, that is tribe elders and initiated. Women and children play the role of spectators and victims in tribal mask performances. One of such rites include mapakuo (‘the head’) chasing women and children around Melanesian village and those whom he catches may be unlucky to be beaten with palm branches, sticks or punished in other ways. This rite, as we see, represents both gender and social power of men over their inferiors (Valentine 29-31). The spiritual role of masks in Melanesian societies is also very important. As Valentine notes, ‘Lakalai masking is a prime ceremonial expression of the traditional magico-religious system. It is intimately associated not only with sacred traditions of the past but also with present-day contacts between men and the spirit world’ (Valentine 48). The mystic element of mask art is also evident, because it keeps men’s identity in secrete and provides them with possibility to transform it in coherence with the laws of dramatic performance or ritual. It should be mentioned that Melanesian masks have strong ties with traditional crafts and Lakalai graphic arts. Another element of Oceania arts, which reveals gender roles and statuses, is the art of fetish objects, which exclusively belong to men and are designed to represent their masculine strength and control over women. Usually they are phallic symbols, which are presented in the form of trumpets, flutes or bullroarers. Bullroarers play crucial frightening role, which helps control the inferior members of community. As Gregor and Tuzin note with this respect, ‘They produce sounds, usually in deep registers, that are inherently dramatic and haunting. In being heard but not seen, these objects are perhaps ideal for conveying mystery and instilling fear in the naive listener’ (Gregor and Tuzin 317). These artistic and ritual symbols, hence, represent men’s power and hegemony and this is also proved by the fact that the ‘the most brutal punishments of all, rape and death, are meted out to women who see the flutes and bullroarers, and why the men often equate the act of women seeing the flutes with chaos and the destruction of society† (Gregor and Tuzin 318). 5. African art was for a long time interwoven with religion, which resulted in direct impact of ritual forms and traditions on African works of art. African art reflects religious content, and hence, may be conceptualized as ritualistic art. In its turn it results in specific type of relation between ritual, art and its objects. Ritual or mythological symbols may be embedded in art to amplify their divine meaning and vice versa – art meaning may be used to increase the appeal of rituals. For instance, Yoruba people (of West Africa) have their distinct art techniques of human body representation in sculptures and other variants of plastic art, which are deeply tied with their rituals and mythology. The majority of Yoruba’s sculptures of human body have disproportionate size of torso and head: Yoruba masters make sculptures’ head bigger, than normal human heads. It is explained by the fact, that Ori (‘head’) is the symbol of inner head, which unites Yoruba with a deity. Yoruba culture, therefore, considers head to be the most important part of human body (Lawal 499). For instance, female twin figure (ere ibeji), created in the first half of the 20-th century is totally disproportionate from traditional point of view. The head is significantly bigger than the other parts of the body, while the latter deviate from natural proportions. This is not the lack of art techniques, but conscious design to meet the demands of ritual procedures, which should follow the main canons of Yoruba religion. Another interesting cohesion between art and ritual in Yoruba culture is decoration of worship sites and sanctuaries of goddesses and gods. Various emblems, doors ornaments and sculptures form such ritual complex in Osun groove. Osun, which is the goddess of the River Osun, has her own symbols, including various pots (oru), beads and brass (ide). This cultural and ritual site is located in the forest, which traditionally was regarded as the home of spirits. Another example of African ritual art includes Jomooni (men) and Jonyeleni (women) figures, produced by Bamana culture of Mali. The figures bear both ritual and decorative function. The decorative function is represented by jewelry and the ritual one by their usage during rituals of Jo society (Colleyn and Laurie 19). The rituals include initiations, following living in the bush during a week. The ritual includes dances and performances, ritual baths, during which the presents are given to initiates by spectators. Works Cited Colleyn, Jean-Paul, and Laurie Ann Farrell. â€Å"Bamana: The Art of Existence in Mali. † African Arts 34. 4 (2001): 16-27. Cooper, Rhonda and Cooper, Jeffrey. Masterpieces of Chinese Art. Todtri Productions, 1997. Gregor, Thomas A. , and Donald Tuzin, eds. Gender in Amazonia and Melanesia: An Exploration of the Comparative Method. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001. Ho, Bronson. Splendors of China’s Forbidden City. London, Merrell Publishers, 2004. Kowalski, Jeff Karl, ed. Mesoamerican Architecture as a Cultural Symbol. New York, Oxford University Press, 1999. Lawal, Babatunde. â€Å"Aworan: Representing the Self and Its Metaphysical Other in Yoruba Art. † The Art Bulletin 83. 3 (2001): 498-516. Pitelka, Morgan, ed. Japanese Tea Culture: Art, History, and Practice. London, Routledge Curzon, 2003. Valentine, C. A. Masks and Men in a Melanesian Society: The Valuku or Tubuan of the Lakalai of New Britain. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas, 1961.

African Americans Essay

African Americans No matter where or when a person lives, skin color, beliefs, class, or history he/she will see a difference in the way every ethnic group is treated. This world has never been fair for anyone. Life can treat a person with the greatest of care or it will treat a person as if he/she is lower than dirt. African Americans are no different. They have faced great hardships and triumphs throughout the years. Since they had been forced from their homeland they have been treated as if they had no rights or thoughts of their own. They were placed in the status of slaves even though they were human beings too. No matter if they were placed in the minority group by the dominate majority group of white Americans they remind structurally pluralism by keeping to their beliefs and traditions. Before and after slavery African Americans did not receive equal treatment. â€Å"Even when slavery ended, Jim Crow laws went into effect meaning that the very best of everything was reserved for white’s only-school, jobs, neighborhoods, hospitals, etc. † (Moore, 2008). In other words, the African Americans took the subordinate status to the dominant white Americans. Their race was used to dictate what rights they would be allowed to have in America. At one point, they did not have the right to be free and over the years they were given that right back. Even though they regained their right to be free, they still were not very free. They were only allowed to eat in certain places, drink from certain fountains, and ride in the back of the bus. This is not what would be called very free. They were not even given the opportunities to receive a quality education or to vote. â€Å"With the 1896 Supreme Court decision in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the separate by equal doctrine was upheld, and the system of segregation in the South was securely in place† (Merger, 2012, pg. 169). When it came to getting a quality education, they were placed at the bottom of the totem pole. The whites receive the best opportunities for receiving a quality education while the African Americans were not. It was not until the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case that African Americans were allowed a better education. â€Å"Separate schools were inherently unequal and imposed an inferior status on black children, causing irreparable psychological change† (Merger, 2012, pg. 173). The rights as citizens were also being denied by not allowing them to vote and make a proper living to take care of their families. Years ago, African Americans were not allowed to vote, so they had no say in the laws that were made that would deny them their rights as American citizens or human beings. This kept them from changing the laws that kept them from achieving economically and politically. The Civil Right Movement began a new era for African American. It was their gain of the right to vote and be elected to office that gave the some power over their rights as human beings and citizen in the economic and political environment. Even after everything that the African Americans have gone through, they still face prejudice and discrimination in all areas of their lives. It is no wonder that for some it feels as if it is never over. No matter what a person looks like, how he/she talks, their beliefs, where he/she lives, how much money he/she has, or what race he/she may come from we all bleed red and where cut from the same cloth. We all deserve to have the opportunities and resources that are out there to help better ourselves. African Americans are human beings too and they have the same rights as everyone else.