Importance of Being a Global Citizen

Importance of Being a Global Citizen Introduction Globalization is the process by which national and international economies are integrated through the global network of trade, communication and transport. It implies the opening of nationalistic perspectives to a larger outlook of an interconnected word that enables free transfer of goods and services across all corners of the world. Globalization is mainly aided by the evolution of transport and communication networks. However globalisation has brought about numerous world issues with it. It is in this context that the term global citizen comes in. On the other hand a global citizen is someone who identifies himself/herself as being a part of the growing community. The actions of a global citizen are always focused toward building the values and practices of the community. We live in a world where people are different. People have different cultural practices, different background experiences and different perspectives about life. However through globalisation all these people are brought together as one common community. For this common community to exist people have to the emotions and behaviour of others. Understanding the value of all these differences enables people to co-exist peacefully in the world. This serves as the sole context of understanding the importance of being a global citizen. Most problems or global conflict whether they take place very many miles away from us or just next door are global issues and require the actions of global citizens .Being a global citizen brings people together to solve these international issues affecting the world. It also enables good interaction practise which build great connections with others. One is able to learn from others from other parts of the world and exchange various educational ideas giving them a different perspective of viewing other people. Advancement in communications technology has enabled one to easily learn online and interact with various professional from different world institutions (Isin, 2013). As a global citizen one not only makes friends but is able to advance his professional career .For me being a global citizen has served to help me advance in all fields of my life possible be it personal life or professional goals. There have been numerous disagreements between different theorists about the concepts of global citizenship. Some theorists use seemingly synonymous terms to describe the concept of global citizenship which lead to the disagreements. As most theorist study different fields they may derive their definition from the field they study. This makes their definition of global citizenship biased to their field of study. In an effort to integrate the various fields and come up with a common definition Reysen and Katzarska-Miller reviewed global education literature and conducted various interviews with global citizens and came up with consistent themes regarding the topic. Global citizenship is the valuing of diversity, social justice, environmental sustainability and the urge to feel responsible for the betterment of the world (Reysen Katzarska-Miller, 2013). However in all these aspects of global citizenship two of serve the most important of them all. The first is valuing diversity. This is the understanding and appreciation for varied cultures in the world .Through appreciating these cultures one is able to interact openly with people from different cultures and background. This is very important as in the current world co-existence with others who are different from us is not an option. No matter where one lives in the world you are bound to meet people who are different from you. Though understanding this concept becoming a global citizen becomes easier. Intergroup helping is the other aspect of global citizenship that is very important. It involves providing aid to people who are outside ones group and people who one is unfamiliar to. One is able to do this through providing financial assistance or food donations to people who are in dire need of them. People can also volunteer to work in some of the hunger stricken areas or simply join organizations which provide such assistance and work with them. These actions build good relationships with other people. Through intergroup helping one is able to build a large connection of friends around them while reducing the effect of some of the global catastrophes on other people .This brings out the true picture of a global citizen. Two instances in my life have taught me to appreciate the above mentioned aspects of global citizenship. I once resided in a neighbourhood of people from different cultures as a kid. Playing and interacting with kids from different races and nationalities was very difficult for me. However things became very easy when i learnt to understand and appreciate them. I began making friends and enjoying the neighbourhood. The other one is last summer I visited a childrens home where I observed the various problems the kids experience while in there. I could only see sad faces observing me .However when i came back to the same home with some donations, the kids were very happy to see me .I was able to easily interact with them and we shared very many stories learnt that when you show kindness to the kids they really appreciate your effort. That is the most important thing for a global citizen. A short course on international Affairs helped me understand all these problems that face the world and the various ways of coming up with solutions as a global citizen. I would encourage other global citizens to take the course too. References Isin, E. F. (2013). Democracy, citizenship and the global city. Routledge. Chicago Reysen, S., Katzarska-Miller, I. (2013). A model of global citizenship: Antecedents and outcomes. International Journal of Psychology, 48(5), 858-870.

The Coming Food Crisis :: essays research papers

China has big problem with its food production and providing it for its people. People have resorted to rice husks, hemp leaves, grass soup, toads, rats, body lice, and even their own dead. Many moves toward industrialization have put China behind in its production of food for its people. These moves toward industrialization have taken farmers off their fields and into industrial factories. The result is cropland disappearing and water becoming scarce in some areas. China’s huge population increases by about 15 million each year, even with one child per family. China’s booming economy has made some people wealthy enough to pay off government restrictions of one child per family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  China has been trying to solve this problem in many ways. It has put a restriction on the number of children a family can have, which is one. This for some families who are wealthy enough isn’t a problem. China has also looked to importing food, but this has had a dramatic effect on the world’s trade prices. If China continues to import food the international prices will skyrocket resulting in developing countries being unable to import food. In addition to importing food China has also been researching and developing so called â€Å"super rice†. This â€Å"super rice† has an increased amount of seeds on it when it matures. Thus increasing food production. The â€Å"super rice† is supposed to increase production by some 20 percent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If China’s problem keeps increasing and China can’t figure out a way to support itself they may have to turn to importing. This can have a dramatic effect on the rest of world. China may begin importing a lot of its food, which can drive up trade prices. The result is developing countries won’t be able to import food due to lacking of funds. Also if China keeps developing its â€Å"super rice† this may help the rest of the world by being able to increase production by 20 - 25 percent. This is a very interesting thing for many countries especially for those countries that are still young and could use the increase in production.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are a lot of things that I have learned from this article. I now know that some of China’s people have been resorting to eating their own dead to survive, due to food shortages.

cultrual cultural deprivation the hispanic challenge Essay -- essays r

Cultural Deprivation: The Hispanic Challenge   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Why do some groups not succeed in academic settings? One theory brought up in â€Å"Understanding inequality† suggests that the gap in the socioeconomic status drives the inequalities in the school system. The low and working class have less time and income to intervene with schooling. This means they have less time to meet with teachers, hire tutors, and provide continuous transportation. Therefore the lower class can’t possibly compete with the middle and upper classes. Angela Valenzuela gives the accounts of some Hispanic students’ experiences in school. These students feel that it is the inferior nature of the schools in the US that contribute to the low success levels. The schools in Mexico have â€Å"teachers [that] value and nurture in their students an ability to communicate and express themselves with confidence† (Valenzuela). This is what leads to success in schooling, which the United States does not provide them. Another exp lanation to this is a theory of cultural deprivation. This is the idea that certain cognitive styles connect to different ethnic groups. It just so happens that what school demands from students is a characteristic of the White and Asian races, which is abstraction , while other less successful groups like African Americans and Latinos possess more concrete thinking. Current manifestations of this can be seen from Samuel Huntington’s article â€Å"The Hispanic Challenge.†   Ã‚  ...

L’Oreal : Strategies for the Indian Market Essay

1. Evaluate L’Oreal’s entry strategy in the Indian market with respect to the product, promotion, pricing and place decisions? 2. What have been the changes in the marketing strategy of L’Oreal in the last 8 years? Evaluate them with respect to selection of product / market and each element of the marketing mix? 3. What factors helped the rapid adoption of Excellence colorants among its target customers? 4. Evaluate the options available to the management to achieve target sales of Rs. 1 billion in the year 2000. Prepare an analysis of various marketing mix options and decisions within individual mix elements – target market, product, channel, promotion, and price. a) Show the calculations and refer to these clearly as they are used in evaluating options for decisions in the marketing mix. b) Which product/markets should the company focus upon? Mediquip S. A. Session 5: Preparation Questions 1. What were Thaldorf’s major strengths and weaknesses as a representative of Mediquip? 2. Identify each member of Lohmann Hospital’s decision making unit (DMU)? 3. What were the needs, concerns and motivations of each DMU member? 4. What was the relative power position of each DMU member? 5. How well did Thaldorf interact with each member of the DMU? 6. On what date did Thaldorf effectively lose the sale to Lohmann University? Rosewood Hotels & Resorts: Branding to Increase Customer Session 9: Preparation Questions 1. Why is Rosewood considering a new brand strategy? 2. What are the pros and cons of moving from individual brands to a corporate brand? 3. Will the move to corporate branding maximize customer lifetime value? SaleSoft Inc. Sessions 10 & 12: Preparation Questions 1.What is your plan? Do you plan to continue with PROCEED or will you introduce the TH product? Provide support for your plan. 2.What is the buying cycle for PROCEED ? Who are the people involved in the purchase of a CSAS solution ? What is the role of consultants? 3.What is SaleSoft’s current approach to selling PROCEED ? 4.Quantify the benefits of CSAS to a customer using the information given in Exhibit 7. 5.What value does TH provide a customer ? How is this different from the customer value delivered by PROCEED ? 6.What is a Trojan Horse ? How does it facilitate customer acquisition and retention ? 7.How will you price TH ? Assume variable costs of $200. 8.How do you think SaleSoft’s organization structure will affect its ability to sell PROCEED or TH ? 9.How will you support the customers of PROCEED and / or TH? HP Consumer Products Business Organization : Distributing Printers via the Internet Session 13: Preparation Questions 1.What kind of on-line presence do you think HP should have ? Why ? 2.What risks do you see in your strategy? How would you manage them ? 3.Should printers and printing supplies be treated differently ? 4.What would the people at Best Buy think of your plan ? Would it be any different at CompUSA or the same ? What reactions might they have to news of your plans ? Tanishq Session 15: Preparation Questions 1. How did the positioning of Tanishq brand evolve? What factors influenced the changes in its positioning? 2. Why was GoldPlus launched? How do you rate its performance? 3. What is your recommendation to Bhaskar Bhat to target the plain gold jewellery market in India? List the strategic, economic, organizational and brand investment impact of your recommendation. Centra Software Session 16: Preparation Questions 1. What are the customers of Centra buying? What benefits are do customers get from Centra’s products? How should Centra segment its market? 2. Does Centra need a strategy to decide which customers to select or should it fish where the fish are biting? 3. Should Centra use all three channels to sell the three products to all customers or should it use some products and channels to target some segments? 4. How would you resolve the dispute between Reed and Lesser on how to deploy the telesales team? Would you expand telesales? Tata Ace Session 17: Preparation Questions 1. What factors influenced the development of Tata Ace? 2. Is Tata Ace successful? Why? 3. Describe the approaches adopted to develop the Tata Ace, covering product design, distribution, marketing, service, sourcing, etc. which influenced its value to the company and the customer. 4. Evaluate options to the managers of Tata Ace for growth and strategies to face competition? Suggest options for growth in existing segment, new markets, exports, etc. CRM at ICICI Session 18: Preparation Questions 1. List the factors in the macro environment which impacts ICICI’s retail business. 2. What is ICICI’s strategy in the retail financial services business? 3. Why does ICICI want to build long term relationship with its customers? 4. How did it go about selecting and implementing a CRM solution? 5. What lessons on CRM can be generalized from ICICI’s experience?

Communication Exersise Formal Report Essay

By Business Consultant Executive summary: Mirror Image needs an overhaul in communication between management and workers. After collecting information collected through the CEO and a resent staff survey, it is apparent that certain things are restricting good communication. With the help of great pre-existing research this report identifies several major issues. Distrust of management has led to limited communication, as the workers feel this protects them. I suggest this course of action: 1. Create a transparent workplace and reassure staff about future redundancies. 2. Invest in communication courses for managers that deal with open conversation. 3. Actively encourage ‘two way’ communication between managers and workers. 4. Promote team leaders (foremen) that communicate well. This report was commissioned by the CEO and will help identify the communication problems at Mirror Image, particularly between factory workers and managers. Firstly the report will bring together relevant information on the subject, secondly identify the problems with provided information and lastly it will suggest some causes of action to help improve communications at IM. 2.0 Analysis of communication: 2.1 Literature review: Communication Managers need more than technical skills, communication is a leaders main channel for inspiration and engagement, whilst helping avoid serious problems. Communication classes for management have been proven effective by large pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, large amounts of evidence suggest educating managers about communication is very beneficial (Walters & Norton 2007). Communication classes for management can be tailored to address concerns. It’s usually hard to identifying issues resulting in poor communication. Luckily there is a wealth of information on the subject. Newberry & Conrad (2010) delivered a journal dedicated to improving communication skills in the workplace. Relevance established, the authors list twenty four key communication guidelines to aim for. Relevant key ideas: * Initiate open Discussion(Organizational communication) * Create information networks â€Å" * Provide feedback â€Å" * Building trust(Interpersonal, involve positive verbal/non-verbal communication) Trust is gained by a manager, when subordinates have certainty about events. Certainty gained from open discussion, where both parties have a say. Trust leads to increased productivity (Bach, 2006). â€Å"The best disinfectant is sunshine (Allen, 2012)† Power Bases Gupta and Sharma (2008) believe Power bases play a pivotal role in worker compliance. They make a distinction between harsh power bases (HPB) and soft power bases (SPB). They conclude that SPB are more effective in conjunction with quality communication then HPB. The SPB categories are expert, referent, information and dependence legitimacy. The HPB categories are coercion, reward, position legitimacy (French & Raven 1959). Silence The theory ‘the spiral of silence’ by Noelle-Neumann (1974) talks about how in groups, individuals will not raise comments or arguments, when they feel their views aren’t shared by the other members. The idea is important when considering employee involvement in the decision making process. Silence also occurs when there are trust issues. If someone believes what they say will be used against them, they will remain silent. Comment made by UK charity ‘Public Concerns at Work’, in a UK newspaper: â€Å"The knowledge that there is a culture of silence in the workplace both encourages and shields the corrupt and dishonest (stern, 2008).† In this instance the negligence of management was extreme. However silence can still facilitate negligence in management, no matter the severity. Therefore, silence in its adolescence is bad, if left untreated it could turn into something much worse. When participants in an organization discuss issues at meetings, certain points should be taken into account. Levasseur (1995) provides ten points, the relevant ones are: 2. Agree on a shared purpose. 4. Record ideas, issues and agreements. 6. Manage tasks and teamwork simultaneously. 7. Answer 4 key questions about every agenda topic. 8. Decide on next steps as a group. This list highlights the fact that communication is a ‘two way street’. Silence occurs in Organisations when these recommendations are not met. 2.2 Staff survey: (full results can be found in the appendix) The staff survey highlighted serious problems, with MI’s factory workers. The majority of workers gave a negative response to nearly every question. The workers seem to be more aware of the issues then the managers. The survey provided an anonymous outlet for factory workers where there previously wasn’t one. The survey should therefore be regarded as an accurate representation of worker/manager views. However some questions contain results that suggest ‘attribution errors’. Attribution errors effect perceptions of positive or negative situations, and whether it’s internalised or externalised (Philip, 1985), evidence will not be taken from these afflicted questions. Figure [ 1 ]~ 60% of workers believe they are insufficiently educated on their job role. Workers don’t receive enough instruction about their specific role in the company. This leads to enormous inefficiencies, as workers are left to pick up the pieces. Figure 2 ~60% of workers do not have confidence in management. The lanes of communication needed are not there. A workplace without trust is inefficient. Figure [ 3 ] ~80% of workers are prevented from voicing their concerns. Workers are scared that what they say will be viewed favourably. They are also worried about getting fired. They are already inherently disadvantaged, because their only form of vertical communication is ‘logical persuasion’. Figure 4 A lot of managers don’t involve workers. Decisions are probably made without them knowing. The workers probable feel helpless. Figure 5 All managers consider themselves approachable. Question three was the most unanimous result from the entire survey. This suggests managers don’t openly discourage communication. They most discourage communication other ways. They are in positions of power, making them more accountable then individual workers. 2.3 Case Study: Mirror Image shows a general lack of communication between management and their respective subordinates, brought about by distrust and fear. Management is distrusted because the workers fear clear communication will ultimately leave them jobless. Fear keeps what little interpersonal communication they have focused on safe subjects, like the ‘Rugby world cup’. Fear is a powerful tool used by harsher power bases. Managers at MI resort to harsh power bases because they come with the job (legitimate and coercive bases). Softer more progressive bases require reform and effort. The need for softer bases is evident in the formation of several factory leaders. One mentioned was ‘Rick’ who became a ‘go between’ for workers. Workers like Rick display reverent power that managers and the foreman lack. This is an obvious inefficiency. Effectively doubling the time spent communicating. The ‘spiral of silence’ impacts employees, because their ideas are not considered my management. Previously efforts in communication where hampered by an uninterested CEO. Relying on memo boards is extremely impersonal and should only be used for functional information. This lack of effective communication set a low standard for workers and managers, this caused the distrust between them. Managers didn’t involve workers and don’t ask for their opinions, while workers used inefficient mediums of exchange. The loss in productivity isn’t easy to quantify, however managers being disinterested in workers activities may further decrease productivity (Mayo, 1930). 3.0 Conclusion: MI has significant issues between factory workers and management. Brought about by lacklustre communication, the issues were mostly caused by distrust. When analysing the workers survey it was obvious that they sore serious problems with the way MI was run. NOT FINISHED 4.0 Recommendation: These recommendations will help managers and workers communicate more efficiently, remembering as CEO you should lead by example. Transparency should be deployed in every facet of the organisation, to tackle the large trust issues hampering communication. Start by reassuring staff that jobs will not be going under your leadership, making shore you don’t promise something you can’t keep. Try having reviewable performance evaluation  systems. If transparency is achieved certainty will result, certainty in time will bring a trusting workforce. Use communication classes to teach the basics, from subtle nonverbal communication to lifting the level of communication entirely (extensive list provided in index). Include shifting manager’s power bases from harsh to soft. Only bother teaching the managers as it will cost less, while achieving more. Managers should be encouraged to show an interest in the workers and the work they are doing. Managers should encourage ‘two way’ communication, make them answer employee questions fully. If they are not receiving questions have them rhetorically answer some of their own. Enforce these measures by increasing the transparency down the chain of command. Ask for updates on progress regularly. Removing the memo board is a good idea, in favour of orders being communicated down the chain of command, to ensure ‘two way’ communication. Only process information should be distributed through other mediums. Goals should be produced by both the workers and managers. This should reduce some of the ‘spiral of silence’ effects. Finally the team leaders (foremen) have proven to be a bottle neck in communication. Seek to promote workers who display natural ability to communicate. For example ‘Rick’ the employee mentioned by you would be a fine candidate. These leaders will hopefully bridge the gap between workers and management. 5.0 List of references: 1. Allen, Christopher J,D.V.M., J.D. 2012, â€Å"4 Ways to Provide Transparency in the Workplace†, DVM, vol. 43, no. 10, pp. 54-55. 2. Bach, P. 2006, Workplace trust hard to gain, but consistency, transparency key, Washington, United States, Washington.(ProQuestID- 463161676) 3. Daniel A. Wren, Arthur G. Bedeian, John D. Breeze, (2002) â€Å"The foundations of Henri Fayol’s administrative theory†, Management Decision, Vol. 40 Iss: 9, pp.906 – 918 state: It was not until the Storr’s translation that Fayol’s (1949) 4. French, J. R. and B. Raven (1959). â€Å"The bases of social power.† Studies in social power 150: 167 5. Gupta, B. & Sharma, N.K. 2008, â€Å"Compliance with Bases of Power and Subordinates’ Perception of Superiors: Moderating Effect of Quality of Interaction†, Singapore Management Review, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 1-24. (ProQuestID-226850816) 6. Levasseur, R.E. 1995, â€Å"Breaking the silence†, Successful Meetings, vol. 44, no. 13, pp. 61-61.(ProQuestID-206037363) 7. Mayo, Elton (1930). Hawthorne and the Western Electric Company. The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilisation. Routledge. 8. Newberry, R. & Conrad, D. 2010, â€Å"Identification of Outcome Based Business Communication Skills†, Allied Academies International Conference.Academy of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict.Proceedings, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 28-32.(ProQuestID- 807539416) 9. Noelle-Neumann, E.(1974) â€Å"The spiral of silence†: A theory of public opinion. Journal of Communication, 24, 43-3 10. Philip E. Tetlock. Sept 1985, â€Å"Accountability: A Social Check on the Fundamental Attribution Error†, Social Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 227-236 11. Stern, S. Sept 9 2008, Pssst . . . get smart and wipe out whistleblowing, The Financial Times, United Kingdom 12. Walters, D. & Norton, D. 2007, â€Å"Leadership communication – the AstraZeneca way†, Strategic Communication Management, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 16-19. (ProQuestID-203573719) | | 6.0 Appendix: 6.1 Question from Survey: Factory Worker Questions 1. I have a clear idea about my job role. 2. I am satisfied with the performance evaluation system. 3. Sometime I’m given tasks without the required resources (including time and knowledge) to complete them. (possible attribution error) 4. I have confidence in the intentions of the top management team 5. I feel comfortable voicing my concerns to senior managers. 6. I have a voice in the organizational decision making process. 7. I trust the people with which I work 8. I am treated fairly at work 9. I am satisfied with my work. 10. I feel committed to this organisation Management Questions 1. I try to seek employees’ input when making decisions. 2. I tend to closely supervise my subordinates. 3. I consider myself an approachable manager(possible attribution error) 4. I tend to customize my communication with employees to fit specific situations 5. I consider my workplace as rather political 6. I am satisfied with my work. 7. I feel committed to this organisation 6.2 Results from Survey: | Workers n=100| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | q1| q2| q3| q4| q5| q6| q7| q8| q9| q10| Completely Disagree| 20| 15| 10| 35| 60| 72| 36| 23| 0| 5| Mostly Disagree| 40| 45| 15| 25| 20| 24| 25| 32| 19| 55| Neither| 20| 20| 10| 25| 10| 4| 30| 28| 52| 25| Mostly Agree| 10| 20| 40| 15| 10| 0| 9| 7| 23| 10| Completely Agree| 10| 0| 25| 0| 0| 0| 0| 10| 6| 5| | | | Managers n=20| | | | | | | | | q1| q2| q3| q4| q5| q6| q7| | Completely Disagree| 2| 0| 0| 3| 1| 0| 0| | Mostly Disagree| 7| 2| 0| 5| 2| 2| 3| | Neither| 10| 3| 0| 4| 3| 3| 3| | Mostly Agree| 1| 4| 0| 3| 5| 5| 5| | Completly Agree| 0| 11| 20| 5| 9| 10| 9| | 6.3Newberry & Conrad (2010) extensive list of valuable communication skills â€Å"Organizational Communication Skills 1. Initiating open discussion – the ability to create the act of discussion and dialogue exploring opposition by individuals who advocate their positions and convince others to adopt those positions through logic, argument, or debate 2. Resolving conflict – the ability to employ a range of processes aimed at alleviating or eliminating sources of conflict through processes including negotiation, mediation, and diplomacy 3. Creating information networks – the ability to design and institute formal or informal systems for managing the flow of information and providing person-to-person relationships through which information flows 4. Teaching important skills – the ability to provide skill remediation to employees in areas such as job performance, technical competency, interpersonal  communication, and problem solving 5. Using information technology – the ability to employ equipment (usually computers) that enables managers and staff to access ongoing and relevant company information including reports, planning data, and employee and customer feedback 6. Providing performance feedback – the ability to assess employee performance and provide performance feedback as a review of the performance of employees, which helps to set targets for future performance targets 7. Negotiating – the ability to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage, or to craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. 8. Writing business correspondence – the ability to produce written communication used in business including letters, memos, bulletins, and reports 9. Making convincing presentations – the ability to provide informal or formal talks delivered to decision making groups to convey information or make a point Leadership Communication Skills 1. Arousing enthusiasm – the ability to inspire a whole-hearted devotion to an ideal cause, study or pursuit, or merely being visibly excited about what one’s doing 2. Being a change catalyst – the ability to initiate change through provision of information to employees that will convince them of why a change is necessary and will compel them to embrace it 3. Creating group synergy – the ability to compel organizational members to interact and produce a joint effect that is greater than the sum of the members acting alone 4. Building team bonds – the ability to establish team cohesiveness, which is the extent to which members stick together and remain united in the pursuit of a common goal 5. Expressing encouragement – the ability to provide support and confidence raising or increasing one’s self-esteem and confidence to make choices and decisions 6. Providing motivation – the ability to move a person or group toward desired goals by increasing their willingness to exert effort and energy to achieve the goals 7. Being persuasive – the ability to guide people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational, and logical means relying on appeals rather than coercion 8. Building optimism – the ability to create a disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome despite obstacles and setbacks Interpersonal Communication Skills 1. Active listening – the ability to employ an intrapersonal and interactive process to actively focus on, interpret, and respond verbally and nonverbally to messages 2. Building rapport – the ability to create a harmonious relationship, bond, or kinship based on mutual respect, friendship, camaraderie, or emotional ties making someone feel comfortable and accepted 3. Demonstrating emotion self control – the ability to display balanced moods through retaining, mastering, and dominating one’s reactions provoked by pleasant or unpleasant emotion 4. Building trust – the ability to construct the reciprocal faith in others’ intentions and behavior through a shared belief that you can depend on each other to achieve a common purpose 5. Relating to people of diverse backgrounds – the ability to recognize and respect differences in people and communicate appropriately in verbal and nonverbal exchanges 6. Demonstrating respect – the abil ity to show esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability 7. Building relationships – the ability to establish a relatively long-term association between two or more people based on liking, trust, and respect creating regular business interactions, interdependence, or some other type of social commitment (Newberry & Conrad 2010)†

A Tragic Heroine

Tragic Heroine that Triumph Margaret Edison’s play Wit is about Vivian Bearing, a professor of seventeenth century poetry, specializing in John Donne. She is a strong willed intellectual being treated for ovarian cancer. Vivian lives a very secluded life and avoids human emotional contact. Just like any tragic hero, Vivian has flaws that prevent her from human kindness, which leads to her downfall. Her treatment of cancer causes her to realize that she needs emotional connection, which she has missed her whole life. Although her flaws are her intellect and wit that cause her an inability to connect emotionally with people around her, she becomes noble because she begins to express her emotions and accept kindness. Vivian Bearing has lived an intellectual rather than emotional life. As a child, education was very important to her family. On her fifth birthday which she recalls as her best birthday she read a book (Edson 41). She would rather read a book than have a party, cake or even having friends over. Reading a book during her birthday is very ironic because she claims this to be her best birthday which is really unique, because this is horrible as any standard for a fifth birthday. Most five year olds want a party and cake. Vivian takes the book and she reads its spine intently. Reading a book attentively on her birthday proves Vivian’s obsession with learning and expanding her horizons. She is only interested in learning, not worried about connecting with people her own age or even her family. While she is reading her book, her father sits on his chair â€Å"disinterested but tolerant† (Edson 41). Since her father does not pay any attention to her, Vivian is emotionally detached from her father. She only knows education and learning. She never mentions receiving any affection as a child. This is the only time she mentions her childhood. One can only assume that because of this the character’s own remote personality reflects that of her father’s. It is very likely that she never received the gentle touch of affection from her dad, the way she probably would have from her mother, if the mother had been in the picture. We know that her mother died at the age of forty, but other than that, nothing else is either mentioned or displayed regarding her. Vivian’s intellect and crave for knowledge continues to prevent her from human emotional connections. We meet Vivian as a student in a flashback. Her scholarship was her consuming and unrelenting passion, blinding her to other concerns of life like making friends. Despite being advised by her professor to enjoy life, she resorts to withdrawing into the library instead of going out (Edson 15). Her toughness and strictness towards her education blinds her treatment of humanity. She remains lonely and uses her education to cover her need for showing and needing emotional attachment. She does not enjoy her college life like most students do. Her intellect refuses her to show a need of emotional connection with students her own age. Her emotional detachment is apparent when she is told that she has ovarian cancer. Instead of crying and being afraid of death, she begins to analyze and think. â€Å"Must read something about cancer. Must get some books, articles. Assemble a bibliography,† she explains (Edson 8). The character’s excessive need for knowledge, which can be perceived as her tragic flaw, causes her to be oblivious to the reality of her diagnosis. Vivian is consumed with learning that she is unable to grasp with the reality that she has a disease that is slowly killing her. Her need for knowledge can be seen as a flaw because this prevents her from becoming psychologically attached to anything or anyone. Vivian thrives on knowledge and her ability to learn and understand things and uses her intellect to avoid human contact. The character’s addiction to intellect has shut down her need for any human emotions. Vivian’s wit appears as rude and uncaring when she uses her wit to push people away. Vivian’s smart remarks to everything cause people around her and also people that meet her to be unable to create a relationship with Vivian. When Vivian is diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Dr. Kelekian uses the word â€Å"insidious† and defines it as â€Å"undetectable† (Edson 8). Vivian is unable to control her witty comments and could not resist the urge and decides to tell him the correct definition saying â€Å"treacherous†. Dr. Kelekian has a negative attitude towards her because of these corrections. Instead of treating her cancer, he decides to use her as research. Dr. Kelekian is unable to feel any compassion for her because she is rude. Vivian’s wittiness also appears as being uncaring. She is not liked very much by others, due to her unkindness. Previously, when a student asked for an extension on his paper, Professor Bearing rejects his request with a heartless comment. â€Å"Don’t tell me, your grandmother died† (Edson 63). Then she goes on to say, â€Å"Do what you will, but the paper is due when it is due† (Edson 63). Instead of showing some sentiment for the student, she is inconsiderate and cold-hearted towards him. She is so evil towards the student that no other student is able to feel comfortable around her and even speak to her as a person. She terrorizes her students inconsiderately and dispassionately. Vivian Bearing uses her wittiness to push people away so she does create an emotional attachment. Being put in hospital causes Vivian to reflect on her life and to realize how much she needs kindness. She even admits to craving kindness. She wants Susie to come see her to the point where she creates an emergency (Edson 64). She begins as an intellect, witty professor who is lonely, but now she is thirsty for a drop of kindness. Vivian’s hunger for kindness becomes apparent when she allows her nurse to call her sweetheart† (Edson 64) or honey(Edson 65). These are words Vivian has never been referred to in her life and she is comfortable with them. She realizes that it is acceptable to allow people to treat her like a person and be kind to her. Vivian starts to open up and shows her emotions without any problem or hesitation. At the end of the play when Vivian is lying in her deathbed, alone, shivering scared, and in pain, E. M. comes to her side. When her college professor Ashford comes to visit her, she asks Vivian if she wanted her to recite Donne, she replies â€Å"nooooo† (Edson 79). Vivian is finally realizing that her need for intellect and wit is not what she needs because she has received kindness. The emotional part of life is what she needs and not the complicated poems by Donne. As her time draws to a close, a sea change begins to work in the way Vivian thinks about life. As mentioned in the above paragraphs, Vivian has devoted her life to education and it is only through suffering that she learns that being extremely smart is not enough. It takes our heroine fifty years, and an insidious cancer to realize that it does not matter in the end how much you know since knowledge cannot possibly comfort you in death. Vivian says this line in the play â€Å"And death shall be no more, death thou shalt die (Edson 72-73). By these words she learns that death is nothing but a breath, a comma that separates life from life everlasting, Vivian’s last breath was nothing but a comma† and she has now moved on where she will live not by her knowledge, but by her heart. Though her body has died, her soul is awakened. Before Vivian’s final moments of life, she receives the attention and affection that she never had. She dies with a sense of peacefulness. Vivian Bearing is a very intellectual and witty individual who is dedicated to her love for know ledge. But because she is consumed by her incredible love for knowledge she lives a secluded life. Her downfall is that she is incapable of showing any emotions to another person. The play did not leave the audience with a sense of sadness or remorse, but with hope and respect for Vivian Bearing. She lived the final eight months of her life in extreme pain so doctors could gain more knowledge for future cancer patients. In the process, she learns that life is about humanity. This is what brings the audience to believe that this individual is a tragic hero who triumph and leaves one not with a sense of pity but one of empathy for her suffering.

Paramedic Science (Medical) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Paramedic Science (Medical) - Essay Example The area deprived of blood supply is said to have suffered ischemic injury. The ischemic injury, if severe enough to cause the complete block of oxygen and nutrients causes death of the heart tissue, which is termed as Myocardial Infarction (Guyton et al 200, Ganong 2005). The blood vessels supplying the heart are called coronary arteries. There are three main coronary arteries which supply different areas of heart along with their branches. These are 1) Right coronary artery, 2) Left anterior descending artery, 3) Left circumflex artery. Above 90% cases of myocardial infarction occur as a result of coronary artery blockage, thus the disease is also referred to as coronary artery disease (CAD). The most common and dangerous cause of coronary artery obstruction, and thus MI is Atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis refers to the narrowing of arteries because of accumulation of atherosclerotic plaques. These plaques are basically thrombi composed of lipid foam cells (cholesterol) and differe nt cell components including smooth muscle, macrophages and collagen fibres. In most instances, the ischemic myocardial infarction is precipitated by the phenomenon called acute plaque change. Acute plaque change results from the rupture of pre-existing thrombi that partially occlude the lumen. The rupture exposes the underlying thrombogenic endothelium. The plaques are also termed as vulnerable plaques as they contain lipids in high amounts, along with collagen fibres and inflammatory cells. When ruptured, the reactivity of these components causes the inflammatory destabilization and result in the infarction (Libby P 2001). The acute phase reactant, C reactive protein (CRP) is thus found to be high during the acute myocardial infarction (Blake et al 2003). The infarction can occur in either of the two patterns, complete occlusion of a single coronary artery referred to as transmural infarct, which results in complete ischemia of the area supplied by that particular coronary artery. Subendocardial infarcts on the other hand occlude the arteries incompletely, and thus allow some perfusion. But since subendocardium is the least perused area of the myocardium, it is more prone to ischemic death. The aim of reperfusion is to save the viable muscle from necrosis (Huber et al 1996). The myocardial injury is reversible for up to 30 minutes after the ischemic attack, thereafter the injury becomes irreversible. The entire muscle becomes necrotic within six hours, if the collateral arteries are not well developed (Robbins et al 2005, Mohan 2007). The development of atherosclerotic plaques and pathogenesis of the process into the myocardial infarction is a complex one. It is a chronic disease taking years to evolve before it causes any modifiable consequences. The evolvement is subtle and the resultant damage is severe. The pathogenesis of the disease involves several factors. The balance among these factors in the long run determines the outcome of the condition. These factors can either be modifiable or non-modifiable. The modifiable factors are the ones that a person can control by bringing about certain changes. They include controlling the level of fats in diet, cessation of smoking, regular exercise and maintaining the blood pressure in the normal range (Manson et al 1996). The hyperlipidemias, i.e. elevated low density lipoproteins and