Healing Hospital and Spirituality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Healing Hospital and Spirituality - Essay Example Today, most hospitals promote medical healing and spiritual nourishment in the treatment of patients. The primary concern of this paper is to outline the relationship between components of a healing hospital and spirituality. The paper will also major on the biblical aspects supporting a healing hospital and the challenges faced in creating a healing environment. Setting up a healing hospital goes beyond the physical structure of the institution. Remarkably, modern healing facilities focus on key components relating to spirituality in the process of providing quality healthcare. A healing physical health care setting focuses on constructing an environment that helps patients and kins cope with the pressures of sickness. That is attainable by ensuring the patients’ connection to nature through customization of physical and built structural features (Huisman et al., 2012). A healing physical environment is quiet to allow patients to have sound and uninterrupted sleep, for instance. The body performs most healing when the patients are asleep. Because of that, the component ensures that noise is reduced to the lowest levels by fitting silencers (Seifert & Hickman, 2005). Facilities such as cleaning machines should not generate noise to the surrounding environment. Quiet environments allow patients to engage in spiritual practices like med itation and prayer. These practices foster social support to the patient reduce anxiety, depression and encourage relaxation that is essential for the patient’s recovery. Integration of a work design and technology is a key component of a healing health institution. A majority of modern health centers have single rooms that give patients privacy when in prayer sessions. Technological advanced equipment such as sky-light system provide in-room entertainment allowing patients tune to spiritual songs and watch healing programs that are significant for their recovery. A number of hospitals

Analysis Of Claude Steeles Whistling Vivaldi

Analysis Of Claude Steeles Whistling Vivaldi This semester has proven to be a very useful for the development of both my reading and writings skills. For me, as for a person who merely five months ago came from a country where English language is known by a few, this experience was vital in a way that it opened up the secrets of effective reading, writing and analyzing in English language. Before taking the College Writing course I had a hard time understanding the proper writing process, which seemed very vague to me, but as I began taking my first steps in trying to understand it I have realized that it was only fear that took over me. Although many would think that the final result is only what matters, for me the process was more engaging. The course has offered a wide range of reading and writing techniques and styles, thus taught me to transfer my ideas to paper clearly and effectively. However, applying theory in practice would have been much harder if there were not the preparatory writing assignments that we had throug hout semester. The essays and papers we wrote throughout semester helped me to trace my progress in writing process. They helped me comfortably and very efficiently write papers based on academic journals and articles. In the beginning of the semester, one of my weaknesses was the organization of sentences and paragraphs. The process of writing an essay has changed over the semester. At first I would start writing essay by putting all of my ideas onto paper thus making an inappropriate organization. But having realized the importance of making a thesis statement I have less trouble organizing main points of each paragraph. Even though it is hard to develop a solid and clear thesis, I understand its significance as it states the argument that reader will be reading. The first major assignment that we did this semester was the paper on Robert Sapolskys Ego Boundaries, or the Fit of My Fathers Shirt. This assignment was unique in its nature, as it demanded us to deeply analyze each and every part of the text: summarize it, reflect upon the ideas of the text by explaining them, and finally exploring our own experiences with those ideas. Clearly, the assignments goal was to teach us the proper way to understand texts, and integrate ideas that are present in texts with our own lives. I have to admit that in the beginning I had no idea how to complete the assignment, but with the clear directions that were provided, I managed to do it. It was very surprising when I realized that the writing process for this paper was very mechanical and precise. Before this paper, I always thought that writing such complicated papers required a lot of imagination, which I thought I did not have. However, now I understand that all that I needed to do is to read the tex t thoroughly, brainstorm for ideas, and to formulate the final version of the paper based on my ideas and on drafts that I previously wrote. I felt a huge satisfaction and relief after completion of the assignment, because I have learnt a huge lesson for myself from this assignment and I was ready for this type of tasks in the future. However, as confident as I felt after completing the Sapolsky paper, I had never imagined that there were different approaches to writing these kinds of essays. One of the major tasks was to write an essay based on a very complicated book by Ervin Goffman The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. This book was intended for large audiences with no particular knowledge about the study of psychology. Nevertheless, the text was very difficult to analyze as it contained many complicated words, intricate sentence structure, and allusions to other works on similar topics. . I felt overwhelmed by reading long and complicated literature because I thought I needed to remember every single detail that I read. However I learned to highlight the main ideas as I read so that I could go back and find details if I needed to recall on them for my essay. Due to this technique, I improved my analytical skill tremendously and was able to extract the main ideas throughout the text, and combine them to w rite a decent essay. The primary difficulties I faced doing this task were the abundance of scientific terms and the overall difficulty of the text. In order to understand the text, I had to read it carefully, part by part, so that I could get the connection between the ideas in the text. By taking notes every time I encountered something interesting and provoking, I managed to construct the outline for the essay. Then, writing the essay itself became much easier since I had all the ideas on my notes. The only thing I had to do to finish the assignment was to assemble the notes and combine them in meaningful sentences and in correct order to provide the essay with a proper flow and preciseness. The course has offered a wide range of reading and writing techniques and styles, thus helping me formulate the notion of clear, rich, and focused writing. The essays and papers we wrote this semester helped me formulate my own writing process, with help of which I can comfortably and very efficiently write papers based on academic readings that the university classes offer. As far as I am concerned, I have become a much more attentive reader and a much better writer since I took this class. I have to admit that I was rather skeptical about what the class had to offer me, but now I understand how important it was for me to be a part of this class and had such a valuable experience. With the knowledge that I have acquired during this semester, I am very eager to start working on papers and essays regarding my own field of specialization. Understanding other peoples stories In his article Understanding Other People Stories Roger Schank discusses the challenges people encounter when trying to understand each other. According to Schank, people frequently do not understand what others tell them. It is easier to remember a notion or a belief if it is told in a form of a story. He presents a theory that all the information, experience and events we understand are incorporated in a story that that we remember and share with others. Schank states that understanding means to respond to the speakers stories with stories of listeners own memory. People learn from stories if they can relate it to something that they previously knew. Moreover, we truly understand a new story only if it made us reexamine our previous stories. Throughout the text author talks about different things that are important to know about understanding other peoples stories. There is an interesting point that the author describes is a selective listening. People hear only some parts of the stories they are told and tend to listen to the ones that interest them. The reason for that is that we care about topics that we can understand and relate to. We cannot think of about all the possible ramifications of something we are being told. So we pay attention to what interests us (Schank, 374). He presents a notion about index, which is a kind of symbol that helps people classify all the stories they have in the memory. Schank describes it as [a]n index is a juxtaposition of another persons beliefs, made evident by statements or actions, with ones own beliefs (Schank, 380). We use them to label some stories of beliefs that we had before in our system of values. Furthermore, the author describes the topic about the way people understand stories as that they do it by reflecting their own stories onto the speakers stories. Understanding process of other peoples stories involves identifying ourselves to our own memories. We can use our own stories to confirm the beliefs of others that were imposed on a particular object. An example of this is my recent conversation with my parents. Last time using Skype, we were talking about my new life at Berkeley. I told them my story of getting used to my new environment that involved the difficulties and obstacles that I struggled with during the first month. There were a lot of challenges; I told them that it is really hard to study abroad, and particularly at such a place as Berkeley. I have troubles with a lot of things ranging from studying unfamiliar subjects to living in the dorm. Interestingly, their response was recalling their own time when they were students in college as I am now. And what they told me is that everybody goes through this process that I am neither the first one nor the last one. The academic year will pass quickly before I even notice it. I just need to be patient and do my best to succeed in college. I found their answer interesting, since I could see the relation of it to the idea that people understand stories by reflecting their own stories. My parents reflected my story to their own experience when they were in college. They saw my story as a story about them as a Subject 5 from the text did. They found an index of studying at college is difficult time and that everyone goes through this process. As a result they just confirmed their previously held beliefs about hard time at university. This is an example of the process when people understand a story by recalling their own memories. Another interesting idea that the author highlights in the article is that people often misunderstand other peoples stories by relating their own experience to the new story. When the listener hears a new story he finds an old story from his memory, which he can use to relate it to. However, the idea is that we usually find only one principle to relate a story, because it is enough for us. That is why each person understands stories in a different way. A good example of that could be how I personally got confused when I was reading Robert Sapolskys Ego boundaries or the Fit of my Father Shirt. At first, I misunderstood the nitroglycerin bottle as the bottle containing the ashes of the authors father. This happened because of the word frailty, which I thought to be remains of his father, but having discussed this article in the class I realized that this was just a medicine that his father used to take. This misunderstanding happened because of my previous experiences with the word fr ailty. I related the context of the text as a story about people who hold ashes of their ancestors in a vase, since it is important and sacred remains of their loved ones. Because I initially knew a story about such people I just related it to the new story that I have read. My index was that people remember and honor deceased relatives in way of storing their ashes. I had a belief that people often keep the ashes of their ancestors after the death, so that they have some part of the deceased person to relate to him. Thus recalling a previously known story to understand a new one led me to misunderstanding the core context. This example proves the idea that people often misunderstand stories by reflecting their own meanings on it. To learn from the story you need to enhance the old story with details that you matched with a new one. Because people tend to understand other peoples stories mainly through reflecting the stories they previously knew, the question then arises: How do people get beyond this circle of understanding and learning new things? Schank answers this with a contradictory approach. He argues that it happens due to irregularity in understanding stories. By not fully understanding the story they learn something new easily since that piece of information gets stuck in their memories for a while when they identify the mistake afterwards., as he points this out, [w]e really only learn when the stories we hear relate to beliefs that we feel rather unsure of, ones that we are flirting with at the moment, so to speak. When we are wondering, consciously or unconsciously, about the truthà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, then the evidence provided by others can be of some use (Schank, 388). Schank believes that people c an learn something new only when they ask questions and analyze their views. For example, in the Sapolskys article Ego boundaries or the Fit of my Father Shirt, the author describes the relationship with his father, and the way he thought about his father as a mentally ill person. He tries to use his previously known stories such as scientific knowledge of the disorders to explain the illness of his father. His index is that science can explain everything. He uses his understanding of mental disorder to examine the behavior of his father. As a result, Sapolsky considers his father as a scientific case not as a father. Using his scientific knowledge he tries to explain that his father had split brain disorder that led to vanishing of his ego boundaries. However, through the process, he realizes that he is not able to justify his previously believed thoughts about his father as a mentally ill patient, because the science could not answer all of the questions the author had. In the end he understands that the problem was not in the diagnosis, but in the attitude towards the problems he had with his father. Thus, he teaches himself a new story: by reexamining his previously held beliefs about an index that scientific approach can explain everything in the life. In the conclusion we can see that the process of understanding other peoples stories is complicated. Understanding involves such process as indexing, finding old stories to relate, and reflecting them to the new ones. We usually do it by relating our own stories to the new stories that we hear, but finding similar elements in our own story and the story being told is different to all people. Therefore, we learn from new stories if we rethink our previously held beliefs. The Role of Thefts in Theft The main topic in Joyce Carol Oatess Theft are the different kinds of thefts. Theft in the story appears to take both physical and intangible forms such as stealing pens, wallets, personalities, authority and reputation. Theft is a zero-sum game with no win-win outcome. That is a fundamental idea which lies throughout Oates story. Peoples vulnerabilities, bad habits and motivations of hatred are resembled through these thefts. The author presents several facts of theft to allow a reader to analyze motives of a thief, his/her psychology and consequences of such their acts. The main character, a college sophomore, Marya Knauer has a complex and ambiguous attitude towards theft. She perceives it as a weakness, which prevails over her sense of moral duty and voice of reason, but also as a tool that she believes can empower her. Her first stealing experience began with silly little shoplifting expeditions which insensibly rose into a sequence of spontaneous, rash and pointless thefts (143). Admittedly, stealing gave her a feeling of elation and triumph when she appropriated someones genuinely valuable possessions. It can be inferred that Marya clearly understood that her habit to steal was disgusting but she could not resist any opportunity to do so. It seems she sought excitement and a dose of adrenaline by getting involved in risky and morally unacceptable affairs. Moreover, Marya considered theft as an act of liberating herself when her personal life was constrained and dictated by others will, when she had had to submit to the routine schedule of Wilmas household and she was living her life as it were nothing more than an extension of theirs (142). Stealing made her feel free because she could transgress the bounds of decency, disregard rules, and neglect prohibitions without being caught and taken into accountability. She could hardly fight her impulse even though her euphoria lasted fraction of a second. For Marya stealing was a way of seeking revenge from people who tried to take advantage from her. She stole a pen from a professor who did not give her a good grade, because he lost some of her work during grading. Having put much effort in studying, she took everything too seriously what resulted in professor calling her rather grim as she was always thinking only about academics. The reaction to such rude remark was her lying about her mo ther serious illness and stealing the professors pen. Marya felt her pulses were beating hot, in triumphed for a way of defeating the professor for the words he said and for the grades he gave (158). Moreover, she did not feel guilty or ashamed because she believed that professor deserved this. She started using this pen signing her name repeatedly, hypnotically: Marya, Marya, Marya Knauer, Marya Marya Marya Knauer, a name that eventually seemed to have been signed by someone else, a stranger (159). She saw this act of stealing as triumph over the professor, who tried to hurt Maryas identity. Interestingly, theft takes on a more sophisticated form when it comes to reading. The reading she did acquired an aura, a value, a mysterious sort of enchantment (142). It was perceived as a forbidden fruit, something illicit, precious beyond estimation (142). Indeed, she could be completely immersed in reading, slipping out of her consciousness and into that of the writers (142). She found herself entirely absorbed into writers ideas and mentality as if her mind was led by an invisible hand, and that experience was electrifying and hypnotizing. It prompted her to conceive life as an ephemeral and to regard everything as superficial and trivial. Mere life was the husk, the actors performance, negligible in the long run (142). Reading as a process was equally elating and exciting as stealing but not criminal and risky. Maryas personality was splitting and she started losing authenticity while making her way through writers imagination, greedily reading every word as it was her own, tr eating every emotion, idea expressed and the plot itself as her own creation. Maryas addiction to reading can be expressed by absence of any intrigue in her personal life, which Oates describes as isolated, ascetic, and monotonous (143). Reading is treated as a one-sided relationship which she benefits from without giving anything back. When the book Marya read seemed to take life through her, she could get her emotions, which are usually experienced and nurtured through building relations with other people. The first theft that is depicted in the story happens with Marya, when her wallet with a month salary from part time job at university library and her favorite pen were stolen from her room in Maynard House. These incidents made Marya become anxious and angry, feeling unprotected before the real world. It ruined her previous impressions of the university life and made her very cautious and even distrustful for other students. Marya decided to isolate from the world by staying in her room all the time and reading every book she could find. (142). As a consequence she became a complete robot, having a derelict life, because she could not trust anyone in her dormitory anymore. Marys isolated living and unsocial behavior reflects her attitude towards friendship. She asserts that friendship is a waste of time on something ephemeral and not worthwhile (154). Marya is completely obsessed with studying; her energy is devoted to maintaining high grades. However, relationship with Imogene alters her perception of the friendship. It evolves from a friendly acquaintance to admiration, mutual benefit, envy, competition, ignorance and culminates in break up. Imogene is presented as a chameleon playing various roles in public, quickly adapting her behavior to changing circumstances, and changing her mood and attitudes frequently. Her inquisitive character and easygoing informality are seen by Marya as intrusion into her privacy, her secret isolation. Marya and Imogene become interdependent but they are not interested in the actual friendship. Maryas life changed drastically when she met Imogene Skillman. The first time when Imogene appeared in the dorm room, Marya was depressed and reduced the protection level from the world. Marya recognized from the first look that Imogene was somewhat unique person, not resembling other student on the campus. But Marya could not fully understand what Imogenes real personality was. After spending more time with Imogene, Marya still did not acknowledge that they are becoming friends. She always questioned herself if she appreciated Imogenes friendship and even accepted that she liked Prhyllis more (153). This girl majored in mathematics and lived next-door, and according to Maryas system of values of true friendship Philly was a best match as an appropriate company. In spite of Phyllis being more likeable friend, Marya could not stop thinking that she is more inclined towards Imogene. Marya is flattered by Imogenes attention; she accompanies her to coffee shop, meets with her friends trying to impress them. Marya cautiously succumbs to Imogenes admiration and tolerates flattery since she fears becoming dependent on her friendship, for dependency is equivalent to limited freedom. Her protest against Imogenes influence and domination is expressed in the intense concentration on her academic performance. She threw herself into work with more passion than before, eager to face challenges and vindicate that her intellectual achievements demonstrate her wealth, thus soft power (154). The difficulties in friendship that Marya and Imogene had with each other originate from different backgrounds they had before. First, Marya came from a poor family, where she had to obey restrictions and authority. On the contrary, Imogene being from a rich family had a nonchalant life with lots of freedom and opulence. The thefts that are illustrated in the story had a great influence on the development of the relationship between main characters. Thus, thefts caused Marya and Imogene to realize what true friendship is. However, Marya and Imogene have never become best friends, because Imogene, in contrast, had plans of her own about Marya. Imogene stole Maryas time by spending time in the coffee shops with her friends, stole characteristics of Maryas personality like mimicking in order to perform on stage, and rumored bad things about Maryas reputation. But when Marya realized that Imogene was using her for own purposes, she immediately felt deceived and angry. However, even though Marya understood Imogenes true intentions, she could not stop having relationships with Imogene. Marya discovered Imogenes true nature at the dinner in a sorority house where Marya was invited as a guest. When she heard that Imogene made Matthew write a paper on Chekhov for herself, Marya began suspecting the true Imogenes intentions and desires (163). Her suspicion grew up more when Marya knew about Imogenes cheating on her fiancà © with a stranger. Imogene did it on purpose to make Marya and Matthew jealous of her. After all these underprivileged activities of Imogene, Marya begins to realize that she has become Imogenes possession, a trophy displayed to her alleged admirers, just a decoration in her one-actor performance. Marya rethinks her concept of friendship writing that it is play-acting of an amateur type and a puzzle that demands too much of imagination (154). Maryas protest against Imogenes influence and domination is expressed in the stealing the earrings of Imogene the Aztec ones, the barbarian-princess ones (175). The author wittingly emphasizes the earrings design to show that they symbolize Imogenes social status, popularity and dominance on the campus. Stealing in this case epitomizes betrayal and presumably attempt to appropriate Imogenes privileges. Unlike Maryas previous inconsequential thefts this case has a major impact on both characters. She did it on purpose to get everyones attention to her, to show that Marya was stronger than all the disloyalties and intrigues against her. She even pierced her ears, risking infection and sickness, and showed everyone that she is truly a nut that cant be cracked (174). Marya felt triumphant, she did not fear being caught up and punished. In contrast, Marya had worn earrings everywhere, for everyone to see, to comment, and to admire and she had been amused at Imogenes shocked expression (17 6). That theft left no winner. Imogene and Maryas friendship was completely ruined. Both students driven by envy and competition have been contributing to gradual erosion of their relationship by covertly and sometimes explicitly stealing each others intangible possessions. Various thefts depicted in the story tell readers about the many different circumstances that Marya and Imogenes friendship had to go through. Marya Knauer is a vivid instance of a strong willed personality. Despite all of the hostile and embarrassing obstacles and actions towards her, she managed to overcome and keep the perfect record, so that to save her status and character unbroken. The effects of stereotype threats Whistling Vivaldi by Claude M. Steele is a thorough analysis of a concept known as identity contingency. According to Steele, contingencies are circumstances you have to deal with because of a given social identity. Identity contingencies from the authors perspective represent constraints, both formal and implicit, tied to social, ethnic, religious, gender or any other recognized identity (3). Identity contingencies negatively affect individuals since they deprive those prone to being stereotyped or discriminated of equal opportunities, and abilities. Steeles research interest in identity contingencies and the roles they play in peoples lives stems from his personal experience of segregation. He reflects on his childhood when he was a victim of racial order in the 1950s, which placed a number of restrictions tied to the identity, from housing and school segregation to employment discrimination (3). Those conditions made individuals feel their racial identities and deal with their neg ative implications in everyday life. Steele focuses his research on educational issues tied to identity contingencies and their influence on academic performance among minority college students. The author argues that identity contingencies and specifically stereotype threats negatively impact the intellectual abilities of students; moreover he encourages exploring and implementing solutions to alleviate the stress and underperformance in academic setting in order to help students succeed at university. The aim of the research is to prove the importance of identity contingencies and of understanding identity threat to personal and societal progress (Steele, p.15). Steele comes up with several general patterns of findings. The first is the role identity contingency have in shaping individual lives. The second suggests that their negative impact contributes to the most important social problems in society, thus undermining social integrity. Third is a general process by which stereotype threats interfere with a broad range of human functioning. Finally, they offer a set of solutions that can alleviate effects of the identity threats. At the forefront of Steeles analysis is a stereotype threat, a particular kind of identity contingency. He speculates that stereotype threat embodies a standard human predicament, powerful enough to constrain behavior simply by putting a threat in the air. It is a widespread phenomenon found in any given society and any potential identity group can become subjected to it. It can be applied to any situation to which stereotype is relevant. Thus, it follows members of the stereotyped group into these situations as a balloon over their heads (Steele, p. 5). The author asserts that it is hard to eradicate stereotype threats, though the pressure they impose on individuals can be eased. Stereotype threat is an intrinsic part of human interrelations, a tool used by individuals, driven by a basic instinct of competition. Unlike discrimination in its gross forms, stereotype threats are formed subconsciously to benefit privileges of one social group, competing for opportunity and decent life, at the expense of the other group. The correlation between identity contingency and intellectual performance, in particular academic, preoccupies Steele throughout his research. He sheds light on the issue of academic underperformance of students from underrepresented backgrounds. The problem he believes has repercussions at a nationwide level, even though people think they live in a racially fair and identity-fair society (212). He perceives it as a core American struggle, wherein institutions try to integrate themselves racially, ethnically, class-wise (Steele, p. 17). In his attempt to reveal what factors account for persistent academic struggles of minority students, Steele uses a concept known as observers actors perspective. The actors perspective emphasizes students characteristics, their intellectual luggage, aspirations, values, skills, and expectations. He accesses that the actors perspective can be essential in explaining underperformance since the observers perspective alone cannot provide the full pictur e of the problem. His research appeals to E. Jones and R. Nisbett concept of the difference between those two perspectives. They argued that the observers perspective is subject to bias because it stresses the things we can see, the actors traits and characteristics. But it deemphasizes these traits and characteristics which fall out of the observers literal and mental visual field, namely circumstances the actor responds to and the environment he has to adapt to. Steele believes that the actors perspective can offer a plausible explanation of the link between identity contingency and intellectual performance. The feedback he receives from minority students supports his view. Students noted the university environment, wherein their social status was subtly accentuated and social life which was organized by race, ethnicity, and social class. This organization led to a rather racially homogeneous teaching staff and faculty. As a result, their social networks were organized by race. They were also puzzle d by the fact that minority styles, interests and preferences were marginalized on campus (Steele, p. 19). Steele in his book presents several experiments conducted to demonstrate how stereotype threat indirectly affects behavior and interferes with physical or intellectual performance. Experiments he refers to, Michigan Athletic Aptitude Test and the one done at Princeton University, clearly show that the pressure stereotype threat is distracting enough to lead to individuals failure in particular task. The task in experiment measured the very trait and ability the group was stereotyped as lacking. Knowledge of the negative stereotypes relevance in the given situation made the assessed group fear that frustration on the task could be misinterpreted and seen as confirming the stereotype. Hence, any deviation in performance, whether mental or physical, or a false move could cause an individual to be reduced to the stereotype and treated accordingly. Steele admits that it is hard to prove that something abstract like stereotype threat can have a substantial effect on the individuals perform ance. Nonetheless, the research and experiments he undertakes supports his hypothesis of stereotype threats detrimental effect on individual performance. His research focus raises a number of thought-provoking questions about the ways stereotypes affect our intellectual functioning, stress reactions, and the tension that can exist between different groups. Moreover, he explores strategies that alleviate these effects in order to help solve societal problems (Steele, p. 13). Steele conducts an experiment to prove that academic achievement problem of minority students is not entirely due to skill and ability deficits. He contends that external factors and social and psychological aspects of academic experience can be powerful enough to directly or indirectly impair intellectual performance. Hence, the environment and status of a student can be an actual component of ability. Steele comes up with a stigmatization idea, an idea that a devalued social status can cause und

Security, Software, and Ethics Essay -- Software Computers Ethics Mora

Security, Software, and Ethics Introduction Every day, we use computer software to perform everyday tasks. These can range from sending e-mail, balancing your checkbook, web browsing, shopping and much more. Most people don't stop to think about the security of the software that we use on a daily basis. Users are more concerned about getting their work done, and security is little more than an afterthought. Security is a very important and often overlooked aspect of software development. Security is used to authenticate users, manage access to resources, and to ensure that data hasn't been compromised. Recent events such as the Sasser, SQL Server, Blaster and Nimda worms have been devastating throughout the world. They've cost companies and everyday people billions of dollars worth of wasted time, money and productivity. In some cases, data gets corrupted, modified or deleted. Businesses are unable to function normally, which can result in heavy financial losses. Some of these worms are still taking over computers to this day, long after patches have been readily available to fix the problem. Security professionals have been telling computer users to patch their systems and keep them up to date, but it their words aren't being listened to in spite of their warnings. Why is this scenario constantly being repeated? Who's responsible for ensuring that software we use is secure? I feel that software companies and software engineers are ethically responsible for making sure that their software is secure. We're becoming more dependent on computer software, which makes us more vulnerable to virus attacks from a security bug in a widely used piece of software. They must be able to ensure that our software is more secu... ...3] Peter Mell and Miles C. Tracy, "Procedures for Handling Security Patches", National Institute of Standards and Technology, August 2002 http://www.csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-40/sp800-40.pdf Suggested resources SANS Institute - Computer security web site, with information about computer security training http://www.sans.org SANS Institute Reading Room - Articles on a variety of security topics http://www.sans.org/rr Security Focus - Web site with news and analysis of security issues http://www.securityfocus.com The Register - Web site with IT-related news http://www.theregister.co.uk Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University http://www.sei.cmu.edu/ National Institute for Science and Technology http://www.nist.gov The CERTÂ ® Coordination Center - A reporting center for Internet security http://www.cert.org

The New Plant Manager

CASE 1: THE NEW PLANT MANAGER I. TITLE: The New Plant Manager II. POINT OF VIEW: As a Manager III. THE PROBLEM: How can the company even without Toby Butterfield meet its budget and productivity quotas? IV. OBJECTIVES: 1. To understand why organizational behavior is important in an organization. 2. To know the appropriate attitude of a manager in an organization. 3. To analyze organization behavior from the perspective of learning of an organization. V. AREAS OF CONSIDERATION: 1. The Organizational Behavior Organizational behavior speaks about how an individual or a group of people acts within an organization.As a plant manager he must consider how to act professionally. He must know how to act the proper organization behavior even though he is the head of the plant. 2. The Newly Assigned Assistant Plant Manager The Montclair Company is having difficulty meeting its budget & production quotas, the main reason why Toby Butterfield was promoted as the new assistant plant manager of the company. 3. The SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is a structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths- Butterfield as a new assistant plant supervisor produced a remarkable result in the company’s production quotas in which the productivity quickly exceeded by 7 percent and within five months the plant was within budget. †¢Weaknesses- Butterfield being ambitious and power-oriented wherein he dismissed three supervisors who had failed to meet their production quotas and as a result five other supervisors resigned. †¢Opportunities- Promotion to New York home office because of his outstanding record. †¢Threats- The fall of productivity after Butterfield left the Houston Plant. VI.ALTERNATIVE COURSES: 1. The remaining employees should plan for what is the best thing to do in order to meet its budget and productivity quotas. Advantages: †¢They can come up to new ideas to improve their productivity. †¢They can prove to themselves that even without Butterfield they can still help the company to meet their quotas and budget. †¢They could gain unity. Disadvantages: †¢It is not easily for them to meet their quotas and budget for a few moments because it takes time to plan for new ideas. †¢Planning needs a lot of time in order for it to be implemented to the company. 2.Even without Butterfield, the company would still adopt the organization behavior of him being power-oriented because it helped a lot the company in meeting its budget and productivity quotas. Advantages: †¢It is easy for them to cope up with this kind of organization behavior because Butterfield had already ruled them when he was still in the company. †¢In this way, the company will easily meet their budget and quotas just like few months when Butterfield was still the plant manager of the Houston Plant. †¢Adopting the said organization behavior would help the employees be more competent. Disadvantages: This may be the reason of some employees to resign because they do not like the way of ruling them. †¢This can also be the reason of some supervisor-employee issues. †¢Newly employed employees will have a hard time adjusting with this kind of supervision. 3. Each of the employees must be assigned of their own areas of responsibility to work with in order to help their company meet their budget and production quotas. Advantages: †¢Each of them can focus to the area in were they are assigned only. †¢They could help themselves improve the way they handle responsibilities. †¢They could gain self-confidence in handling responsibilities.Disadvantages: †¢They will not have company unity. †¢This may be the reason of some employee conflicts because the work of the other did not complement to the work of others. †¢This may be result of the delay of work because some may not meet the target time of passing the reports. VII. RECOMMENDATION : Based on the situation given the best alternative the company must use is the alternative no. 2, adopting the organization behavior of Butterfield that is being power-oriented because it is a big helps to the company. Because of this, it is easy for the company to meet their budget and productivity quotas.

The strategic role of the Royal British Navy in the First World War

Introduction The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom (UK) is the oldest part of Britain’s combat forces and is often referred to as the â€Å"Senior Service†. The Naval Service is comprised of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Fleet Auxiliary, Fleet Air Arm and reserve forces. From the 18th century up to the end of World War II, the Navy was the world’s principal and most powerful navy. Therefore it played a very important role during the period in keeping Britain’s position as the ultimate ‘superpower.’ The Royal Navy used various strategies and tactics such as the Antwerp, Mesopotamia, Gallipoli and the Zeebruge campaigns. The involvement of various sections of the Royal Navy helped to make sure of victories against serious enemies and opponents of British interests (Benbow 2011). This paper discusses the role of the Royal British Navy during the First World War by analyzing the war tactics they used in varying campaigns both on land and on sea. In the first place, the Royal Navy was crucial from a defensive point of view, a point made all the more acute by the fact that Britain is an island nation that is relatively isolated geographically. In terms of the home front, therefore, the navy was the first and more imperative line of defence. It must be considered, as an adjunct to this, that the wealth and power of Britain relied in large part on his expansive Empire, which could not have been protected by means other than naval power. It might be argued, of course, that Britain had established effective naval supremacy at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 (Benbow 2011; Halpern 1994). However, despite the nation’s best efforts in conflicts such as the Seven Years War, among others, the state of affairs in 1805 had in actual fact been reversed to a significant extent by the turn of the 20th century. By the time of WWI, Britain’s navy was fairly outdated and its competitors were on the ascendant (Benbow 2011). The changing status quo by WWI made the burden on the navy heavier than ever. It still remained its 19th-century reputation as the ultimate military power and it had massive capacity to move soldiers and vessels across large international spaces territories. It still, moreover, had the capability to prevent rivals from doing similar strategic moving of troops and equipment (Halpern 1994). The floating gun vessels in particular were a devastating tool in the arsenal that frequently made it impossible for foreign leaders to act against Britain. The crucial fact was that the Royal Navy was able to stymie the efforts of foreign powers, making certain that there was always a supply of tradecrafts and raw materials so that Britain’s factories could make and distribute their products overseas. The Laissez Faire economic model that Britain adopted as the basis of its trading would not have been possible without the authority of the Royal Navy (Friedman 2001; Halpern 1994). It is clear , therefore, that regardless of apparent historical supremacy, the navy as important as ever in economic and defensive terms during WWI. Another aspect of the Royal Navy’s powerful role was control of communications and supply lines, so that it was possible to link up the Empire and control activities across the globe. Throughout the whole period, the Royal Navy’s war preparation and entry into the First World War demonstrates its state-of-the-art operation. This ability, however, arose not just through the navy itself but also the vast and sophisticated underpinning of expertise and strategy. For example, the Royal Navy was backed by a comprehensive research programme into maritime history, careful studies of allied and defensive maneuvers, and knowledge of politics and power in various regions across Europe and beyond (Friedman 2001). An important part of this was that Navy’s role in reconnaissance and observation. It was able to procure information about the capabilities of rivals, for example, whether political, military, or economic. The strategic role of the navy is best discussed in the context of contemporary events. The Germans marched into France and Belgium in August 1914 and desperately needed a â€Å"flying column†. At this time, Britain had between 20 000 to 30 000 navy reservists but could not make sure that all these reservists played a full role. Those parties in charge of strategy concluded that there were enough reserve soldiers to create two groups that would form vital brigades. So, in Britain the Naval Brigades and the Royal Marines Brigade were set up. The brigades became publicly recognized as the RND (Royal Naval Division) and soon after they were sent to Ostend, where they took part in a fierce battle in Antwerp. This battle demonstrates a number of different things about the strategic important of the navy. On the one hand, it indicates a clear purpose: the opposing of a German threat on the continent which, if unimpeded by the reservists, might have become a serious threat. The Marines were among the only British forces participating at the battle of Antwerp, and they brought about Germany’s withdrawal of a large proportion of their troops from the French front in order to capture of Antwerp (Stephenson 2011). However, the extent to which these soldiers struggled in due to poor training and shortages of proper equipment suggests that at this stage the Royal Navy was of limited strategic value. Thus, the Belgium army, which was comprised of mainly six divisions, was overcome by the Germans at Liege and the River Gate and had to retreat to the stronghold city of Antwerp (Halpern 1994). Had the Royal Navy been more adept in the first place this might never have occurred. However, the strategic role of the navy in this instance was salvaged to an extent when Winston Churchill, astutely realizing the important of Antwerp, bolstered the city using the Royal Navy Division. In this way, a key strategic position, in terms of Allied shipping, was saved by virtue of the navy. This point is made all the more compelling by the fact that the Belgians were forced to withdraw their forces from the fray on 6t October 1914, opening the path to a German victory. The intervention of the Royal Navy therefore came at a critical moment, heightening its importance (Grove 1987). The tactics of the Royal Naval Division on this occasion also suggests strategic relevance. An innovative plan was devised by which the troops dug trenches so that they could position themselves strategically during the battle. The aftermath of the battle is also worth mentioning. On 11 October 1914, the residual divisions of the Royal Navy Division arrived back home in England and immediately commenced their training camp in Blanford in Dorset (Jolly 2000). Crucially, they brought with them Belgian experience and the innovation of British armed forces. Changes were made to the training to better prepare the Naval Division as well as the Marine substitutes, that in the future would be selected and serve in Royal Marine battalions. Thus, through the navy’s combat experience and later role in Britain, the capability of the armed forces was enhanced. The French believed the Germans were on maneuvers in Belgium and sent some ships to trouble the German cavalry which were by now in North of Dunkirk. This maneuver was successful, which managed to give the impression that it was the central army. The British forces began to move ahead towards Brasa and captured Fort Zain. They also stopped efforts by the Turks to obstruct the river so the Turkish forces retreated from Brasa. Then, General Sir Arthur Barrett, the commander of the British army, deployed regiments to the city and the British forces established a strong occupation on 23 November 1914 (Knight 2006). The triumphant campaign allowed the majority of the British troops to return home, leaving only a small garrison. This episode is more than mere narrative. It reveals that for certain periods the Royal Navy was rendered almost redundant in a military sense due to a lack of conflict at sea. This is suggested by the fact that on 28 August, marines were located on ships during t he battle of Heligoland, with no lives lost. Later, however, at the Battle of Coronel in November, the British forces experienced a loss of 196 soldiers. One of the last encounters at sea was in 1914 during the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December. The importance of the navy was brought back into focus when, towards the end of 1914, the deadlock between the Western and Eastern Fronts ceased (Friedman 2011). This allowed the British Navy to establish and consolidate maritime control and superiority, but it was not practical to have the opening of a similar instance as Trafalgar. The British administration therefore needed to begin searching for an alternative that would conclude the war. During December 1914, the strategic importance of the navy on the Western Front became apparent. The British government had responded to a request for assistance from Russia, which was struggling to fight the Turks in the Caucuses. On 2 January 1915, the Secretary of State for War, Field Marshal Lord Kitchener agreed to demonstrate British strength to support Russia (McMillan 2013). Kitchener could not take any troops from the Western Front, so he turned to naval capacities for active involvement. As a result, the best location for action would be the tapered strip of water from the Mediterranean into the Sea of Marmara. The purpose and plan, masterminded by Winston Churchill, was to avoid the Turkish capital, First Lord of the Admiralty. Churchill created a complicated structure of a ‘third Allied front’ which gave tremendous assistance to Russia. The Royal Naval Division, moreover, went on to form an important part of the Mediterranean Expeditionary force (MEF), was wh ich also included the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), the 29th Division (British Army) and the Royal Naval Division (RND) (Dupuy 1967). Responsibility for the division was given to General Sir Ian Hamilton, The marines’ first conflict was in March 1915, where they targeted Turkish citadels and 22 individuals lost their lives while several others were injured. On 25 April the Plymouth Battalion with a group of 2nd South Wales Borderers landed on â€Å"Y† beach where a number of soldiers lost their lives (Churchill 1940). However, these successes were not without setbacks, and it should not be concluded that the Royal Navy was unequivocally of strategic value in these cases. There had been an early problem when the navy initially landed on 25 April and this had given Turkey chance of help to organize their defenses from Germany especially on top of cliffs that gave a direct view of the neighboring beaches and into the interior of the land (Dupuy 1967). On 28th April, the Chatham Battalion landed on the Anzac shoreline in order to safeguard a beach, and they stayed there until 12th May despite many deaths and casualties. On the 29th April, the Admiralty gave control of the Royal Navy Division to the British War office and it became the 63rd Royal Naval Division. The 63rd also had control of the RM training division located at Blanford (Herwig 1987). During May and June, Royal Marines participated in warfare at the 2nd and 3rd Battles of Krithnia. Additionally, there was action at Achi Baba on the 12th June. The MEF held their initial position at Gallipoli to try and find a conclusion to the struggle (Herwig 1987). One point of important to note about this episode is that the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF), along with the Royal Navy, experienced various levels of difficulties and higher levels of casualties. This prompted MEF’s withdrawal from Gallipoli, moreover. Winston Churchill’s administration has received severe criticism for the large number of lives lost over this period, and it can reasonably be questioned whether such as campaign can be deemed of strategic value. One might even say it was a strategic folly in human terms; and as Osbourne (2004) points out, the fact that Churchill stepped down from the Admiralty as a result is damning. Following the activities of this period, more action then took place in the sea rather than on land. The Battle of Jutland was the largest wartime conflict that occurred at sea during World War I. The battle commenced on 31st May 1916 when Germany fired against the British Battle Cruiser regiments. Royal Marines proved their strategic value here, as they were involved in 10% of the most important naval attack on crafts (Osbourne 2004). This proportion comprised mainly RMA whose job during this time was to operate guns. As it got bigger, the battle looked like it was getting out of control. The next day, British demolisher vessels attacked and sunk the Pommern. However in total, the Germans lost 11 ships while the British lost 14 ships, which suggests strategic folly in numerical terms (Osbourne 2004). In May the same year, RMLI brigades arrived from Gallipoli and were repatriated to France where new resources and weapons were organised. In addition, they were given more manpower and upgraded weapons to machine guns. In July, the RM Company was joined by companies called Howe and Anson the 188th Brigade of the re-titled 63rd RND (Herwig 1987). This group moved to a fairly quiet region of the Western Front. At this point, because of new weapons technology it was necessary to safeguard the line using three trench positions. Common Trench warfare was intended for use in heavy infantry but that was not commonly experienced through the commando tactics of RMLI (Friedman 2011). These battalions became a vital element to the Battle of Ancre Heights near Beaumont Hill. There were financial implications for this battle, as well as many casualties. On 17th April 1917 the 1st and 2nd regiments participated in armed combat at Miraumant and also during the 2nd Battle of the Scarpe later that m onth. During this armed effort, troops from the 63rd Division took over captured Gavrelle, led by General C. Lawrie. Immediately afterward, the 63rd Division also participated in the Battle of Arleux (Friedman 2011). The RND marched to various regions including Arras and Ypres during the winter weather, carrying heavy army equipment. In Ypres, the battalions trained very hard to prepare for a key offensive on the German border, north of Ypres. When it happened, the attack would take the forces to the strategic location of the Paddebrek stream, in the north region of the canal (Randier 2006). Because of significant losses earlier that year the 1st and 2nd RMLI contingents joined together to increase their masses numbers. However, at this point, there were some signs that the war was moving towards an end and the Germans begun realizing that their momentum begun to slow down. Finally, on 8th August the British put into place their counter plan to impact on German troops, disturbing all levels of hierarchy in the army, including the German High Command. This appeared to be a possible chance for victory, although it is vital to point out that victory was not guaranteed. On 2nd to 3rd September 1918, the 1st and 3rd Armies fought at the Battle of Drocourt-Queant, alongside the 63rd (RN) division in the Third army (Morison 1942). On 27th September to 1st October 1918, the 1st and 3rd Armies also engaged in combat at the Battle of the Canal du Nord. During this time, the 63rd RN group was once again a component of the third Army (Stephenson 2011; Osbourne 2004). As has emerged through this essay, the strategic value of the Royal Navy was mixed. Many historians viewed Gallipoli as a catastrophic tragedy, facilitated by confusing tactics and problems that allowed the enemy to prepare for the attack (Stephenson 2011). However, despite awful circumstances, the Marines still managed several successes demonstrating that they were a significant force on the ground in the capacity of infantry. Many of the experiences acquired by soldiers in World War I were valuable resources that were applied again in the experiences they would go through in WWII (Stephenson 2011). This essay has detailed the many triumphs of the Royal Navy; however, of them all the Zeebruge campaign was arguably the most important in strategic terms (Koerver 2010). After dealing with frightful conditions and dreadful weather, the Marines still managed to carry out their responsibilities and sabotage the canal (Stephenson 2011). Their accomplishments led to an unintentional benefit of giving a confidence boost and momentum for all British soldiers involved in the conflict in other places (Knight 2006). As a final, but by no means insignificant point, the importance of the Royal Navy as a blockading force deserves a mention. The efforts of the marines and the navy kept Germany surrounded, creating barrier to many trade routes and ports, causing starvation and eventually defeat. This contributed to higher levels of bankruptcy, as Germany exhausted its finances trying to keep up with Britain (Stephenson 2011; Osbourne 2004). In conclusion, is clear that the Royal Navy was an indispensible strategic tool during WWI. It had the capacity to fight effectively in different environments and landscapes, as has been outlined in the narrative sections of this essay. It was also useful in observing and introducing a wide range of tactics, strategies, and military equipment to Britain, which helped to evolve many modern aspects of warfare that are still with us today (Knight 2006). Its versatility on land and sea, moreover, which has been outlined throughout this essay in description of campaigns, was enormously useful. In concrete terms, the most essential raids that consolidated included Antwerp, Mesopotamia, Gallipoli, and Zeebruge, all of which involved the Royal Navy. Of course, it certainly had its shortcomings, and some of its failures and blunders have been discussed. However, this is an inevitable part of the operations of any force. In the end, while the Germans lost the war for a wide range of reasons, the impact of the British Royal Navy was certainly one of them; it was undoubtedly of great strategic value. Reference List Benbow, T Naval Warfare 1914-1918: From Coronel to the Atlantic and Zeebrugge. 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