Addictions and Phobias Through Classical and Opperant Conditioning Essay

Phobias and Addictions through Classical and Operant Conditioning This paper will explore how phobias and addictions are formed through both classical and operant conditioning and show just as addictions and phobias can be formed, they can also become extinct. Classical conditioning is the use of a conditional stimulus such as a person, place or object that forms an unconditional response. An unconditional response is one that does not require thought, but instead, is a natural reaction of the body (Kowalski & Weston, 2010). Irrational fear of an object or a situation is called a phobia. Phobia’s can make a person become paralyzed with fear for no apparent reason. Phobia’s can be created by putting together an object or a situation with an irrational thought or feeling. Singularly, the object or situation does not provoke a fearful reaction, put once a fearful, irrational thought is associated with the stimulus, the object or the situation creates a fearful response. Phobia’s can be created by classical conditioning. This happe ns when a stimulus is repeatedly paired with a negative reaction. Over time, the brain begins to associate the stimulus with the negative reaction and creates a fight or flight response. Take for example agoraphobia, the fear of being in certain places such as crowds, public transportation or being outside their home without another person. At some point, while doing one of these activities, the individual probably had a panic attack. In his or hers mind, the association between the place and the panic attack has started to take hold. The next time the individual returns to the place or activity, he or she may become worried that he or she will again have a panic attack. The stress from the worry may then elicit another panic attack, which then conditions the brain to have the same fearful reaction to the stimulus. The individual then becomes extremely stressed when faced with the stimulus, or he or she avoids the place or activity completely. This is how agoraphobia is created through classical conditioning. Operant conditioning is a reinforcement of behavior that is controlled by the environment rather than then being a natural  reaction of the body (Kowalski & W eston, 2010). When an individual avoids a situation or an activity because of even the slightest fear, this reinforces the effects and the intensity of the fear. It can become a phobia through operant conditioning. A phobia created by operant conditioning takes place when the negative reaction to the stimulus is reinforced by the avoidance of that stimulus. Over time, the negativity escalates and the individual will have a much harder time dealing with and overcoming his or her fear. While classical and operant conditioning can create phobias, they can also cause addictions. According to the book â€Å"Addictions: A Comprehensive Guidebook† (McCrady & Epstein, 1999) classically conditioned addictions are created when the mind begins to associate a person place or object to the stimulus of the addiction such as shopping, drugs or food. These associations then begin to have a trigger effect and that causes the cravings or urges for the stimulus. With operant conditioning, a person is conditioned to use his or her stimulus of choice because of the feelings or emotions that are aroused due to the use of the individual’s stimulus. These feelings are a positive reinforcement of his or hers behavior directly related to the use of that person’s â€Å"drug† of choice. In the case of an individual who is addicted to food, if he or she is feeling upset or anxious, they may choose to binge on food and in the moment, start to feel less anxious or less irritable. These feelings are a positive reinforcement of their choice to binge. Thus they are conditioning themselves to feel better through the use of food bingeing. This is operant conditioning. Just as classical and operant behaviors are able to take hold, they can also become extinct. In the case of phobia’s or addiction’s, the classical conditioning extinction process starts to take place when the body’s natural reaction, i.e. panic attacks or cravings, start to take place without the person, place or object being posed. Eventually the mind starts to disassociate the original stimulus and the response, leading to the extinction of the classically conditioned behavior. Much in the same way as classical conditioning becomes extinct; operant conditioning begins the extinction process when the reinforcement of the behavior no longer takes place. For the binge eater, if they no longer are comforted by the food, the food starts to become less effectual as a means to control feelings  bringing about the extinction of the addiction (Kowalski & Weston, 2010). Simply put, phobia’s and addictions can be learned and reinforced by way of conditioning and also can be extinguished by lack of the same conditioning. Bibliography Kowalski, R., & Weston, D. (2010). Learning. In R. Kowalski, & D. Weston, Psychology 6th Edition (pp. 162-194). Hoboken: R.R. Donnelley & Sons, Inc. McCrady, B. S., & Epstein, E. E. (1999). Etiology of Alchohol and Other Drugs. In B. S. McCrady, & E. E. Epstein, Addictions: A Comprehensive Guidebook (p. 61). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Online Games

The effect of Online Games to the academic performance of the Students.. .. it is a habit that many of us teenager get hooked up. College students studying general physics constituted the population of the study. Due to the organizational system of classes at the community college level where this research took place, random sampling was not used. Existing classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental group or the control group. There were 20 students in the experimental group and 20 students in the control group.The t test was conducted to compare the means of two independently sampled experimental and control groups. College students studying general physics constituted the population of the study. Due to the organizational system of classes at the community college level where this research took place, random sampling was not used. Existing classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental group or the control group. There were 20 students in the experimental g roup and 20 students in the control group. The t test was conducted to compare the means of two independently sampled experimental and control groups.College students studying general physics constituted the population of the study. Due to the organizational system of classes at the community college level where this research took place, random sampling was not used. Existing classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental group or the control group. There were 20 students in the experimental group and 20 students in the control group. The t test was conducted to compare the means of two independently sampled experimental and control groups. College students studying general physics constituted the population of the study.Due to the organizational system of classes at the community college level where this research took place, random sampling was not used. Existing classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental group or the control group. There were 20 students in the experimental group and 20 students in the control group. The t test was conducted to compare the means of two independently sampled experimental and control groups. College students studying general physics constituted the population of the study. Due to the organizational system of classes at the community college level where this research took place, random sampling was not used.Existing classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental group or the control group. There were 20 students in the experimental group and 20 students in the control group. The t test was conducted to compare the means of two independently sampled experimental and control groups. College students studying general physics constituted the population of the study. Due to the organizational system of classes at the community college level where this research took place, random sampling was not used. Existing classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental group or the control group.Th ere were 20 students in the experimental group and 20 students in the control group. The t test was conducted to compare the means of two independently sampled experimental and control groups. College students studying general physics constituted the population of the study. Due to the organizational system of classes at the community college level where this research took place, random sampling was not used. Existing classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental group or the control group. There were 20 students in the experimental group and 20 students in the control group.The t test was conducted to compare the means of two independently sampled experimental and control groups. College students studying general physics constituted the population of the study. Due to the organizational system of classes at the community college level where this research took place, random sampling was not used. Existing classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental group or the control group. There were 20 students in the experimental group and 20 students in the control group. The t test was conducted to compare the means of two independently sampled experimental and control groups.College students studying general physics constituted the population of the study. Due to the organizational system of classes at the community college level where this research took place, random sampling was not used. Existing classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental group or the control group. There were 20 students in the experimental group and 20 students in the control group. The t test was conducted to compare the means of two independently sampled experimental and control groups.College students studying general physics constituted the population of the study. Due to the organizational system of classes at the community college level where this research took place, random sampling was not used. Existing classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental group or the control group. There were 20 students in the experimental group and 20 students in the control group. The t test was conducted to compare the means of two independently sampled experimental and control groups.College students studying general physics constituted the population of the study. Due to the organizational system of classes at the community college level where this research took place, random sampling was not used. Existing classes were randomly assigned as either the experimental group or the control group. There were 20 students in the experimental group and 20 students in the control group. The t test was conducted to compare the means of two independently sampled experimental and control groups.

How did Ronald Reagan deal with the end of the Cold War Do you think Assignment

How did Ronald Reagan deal with the end of the Cold War Do you think he and Mikhail Gorbachev were partners or opponents - Assignment Example The SDI had lasers and other expertise to wipe out Soviet missiles in USA which lead to huge economic crisis in Soviet Union (D’Souza). The alarming situation of Soviet Union during the end of 1987 was the main reason for the Cold War to end. Mikhail Gorbachev took many reforms and policies to end the Cold War rivalry. His opinions were opposite to Reagan and followed the policies of Stalin. A summit was held in 1986 where Reagan and Gorbachev could not reach any negotiation due to difference in their agreements over missile defence (D’Souza). Later in 1987, new arms treaty was signed between USA and Soviet Union. The main focus of the treaty was to eliminate intermediate range nuclear force from Europe. This was done to reduce the nuclear attacks, collection of weapons and develop peace between the nations. The summit of 1987 addressed on eliminating nuclear forces and use of nuclear powers during war. Regan, Ronald, Cold War, Reference Library, Vol. 4, 2004, Web. August 4, 2014 from:

Culture shock Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Culture shock - Article Example The more one tries to learn and accept the new culture, the quicker the culture shock goes away. I agree to the description of culture shock presented in the article. The article gives a detailed insight into the topic of culture shock. Aspects discussed in the article include but are not limited to the definition of culture shock, how is it caused, the psychological and emotional effects of culture shock, what can be done about it, and which community is at the greatest risk of experiencing culture shock. After reading this article, one completely understands the concept of culture shock. I particularly agree to the author’s view that culture shock is experienced the most by people moving from advanced countries to the third world country because it is easier for the poor to adopt the culture of the rich country but people who have lived in a technologically developed environment with a lot of facilities find it very difficult to adjust into a country where there are not many

Case St. Marks Hospital and Oscar Yanez Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

St. Marks Hospital and Oscar Yanez - Case Study Example The researcher states that the healthcare providers in the hospital have to live with the fact that they did not do as their mission statement stated that they would do as they were busy thinking of ways of saving their income. Although this kind of operation is meant to help the larger community get better basic healthcare services, mismanaging one of their patients does not justify their seemingly good intentions. In any case, the hospital’s mission does state that it will provide the best healthcare services to everyone. It does not single out the uninsured and unregistered immigrants as undeserving of quality medical care. Furthermore, in its bid to help Oscar get repatriated back to Mexico, the hospital failed to consider the welfare of the family considering that Oscar is the family’s sole breadwinner. Even though the hospital cares to ensure that Oscar is discharged without being submitted to immigration authorities, it is clear that the rest of the familyâ€℠¢s welfare is not taken into account. Therefore, the way Oscar was treated was hardly ethical. Once again considering the mission of the hospital, it is beyond doubt that its actions regarding the priorities it has set highly are clearly against its mission statement. The hospital mission states that the organization will provide quality and emergency care to all patients. Ignoring the care of patients in need of emergency care or making this objective secondary to the provision of services such as immunizations, prenatal care, and other community programs clearly goes against ethics and the hospital’s mission. The hospital is a legal organization has the responsibility to report the existence or presence of illegal immigrants to appropriate authorities. In this case, the hospital is legally required was supposed to report Oscar’s presence as an undocumented immigrant to immigration authorities.

Business Strategy - case study of Apple Inc, and Dell Computers

Business Strategy - of Apple Inc, and Dell Computers - Case Study Example Dell Computers and Apple Inc. are two major ICT companies in the world. Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Computers started his business in 1984 by actually peddling his custom built PCs to users who are looking for bottom price PCs. Dell Company, named after the founder, rose to its heights in growth of sales and since then, from 2001 to 2006 led the PC market, getting a 19% share of the worldwide PC market, topping its from closest rival of Hewlett-Packard. (Enclyclopedia of eCommerce.) In late 2006s, Dell lost its lead to HP as sales began to decline and market share became 13.95 as against HPs 17.496 Apple Computer, was formed in 1976, but its name was later changed to Apple Inc. in January 2007. With continued strong sales of the Apple II, and the introduction of the Macintosh, Apple's sales reached new highs and the company had its initial public offering on September 7, 1984. (Associated Content. 2007) The PC industry is very competitive, and some of its closest rivals are Microsoft Corp, Dell Computers and Palm Inc. (Shlinds 2007) During its inception, demand for its products has been stagnant, and this led to the remarks of Dell CEO to say: "That if he ran Apple, he would shut it down and give the money back to its shareholders". [wikipedia] Because of innovations and new products the company introduced to the market, Apple's success has become tremendous. From 2003 to 2006 its stock price had increased to more than tenfold, from the initial offering of $6 to $80, with market capitalization going over Dell Computer. [wikipedia] Strategies utilized Dell Computers. Strategies of the company centered on three golden rules: disdain inventory, always listen to the costumer and never sell indirect (Kotelnikov. Vadim.) * Indirect selling practices thru mail order services limits its inventory, cuttingdown on handling costs. * Retail outlets were discontinued to cut on discount price practices of stores. * Delivering the best possible customer experience. Listening to customers, byintensifying their customer services approaches, putting service sites andmanufacturing plants in strategic places. Trained employees to satisfycustomers demands. Apple strategies. Apple Inc. was always one step ahead of its competitors as the company continued to think of innovative ways, new products and designs for their consumers. Shown below are strategies taken by the company in line with their innovations. 1. After the fall of sales in 1989, apple reinvented its products in 1991 and introduced laptops and PowerBooks models which helped the company regained its market. However, other lines developed were a flop and did not help the company in sales. 2. Allied with other companies to come up with new

Nursing Qualitative research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Nursing Qualitative research Proposal - Essay Example This reality shock occurs due to the transition from the educational to the service setting, which poses different priorities and pressures. Researchers have suggested that factors that cause the exit of new nurses can be related to work environment, lack of power, lack of opportunity for career development, lack of support from RNs, patient care issues and work schedules. Researchers have also suggested that mentoring and professional development opportunities are very important factors for new nurses' job satisfaction. For the purpose of this study I will use a qualitative approach to explore the research question. The use of qualitative research is appropriate since it helps in gaining a better understanding of an existing phenomenon. By conducting this research I hope to contribute to the existing literature by identifying factors that positively and negatively impact graduate nurses' experience. Although this phenomenon has received some attention in literature, it is still not very widely explored especially in its influence in the acute care setting. By conducting this research I also attempt to come up with recommendations on how the negative experiences can be mitigated to retain the nursing staff. By using the perspective of Parse's Human Becoming Theory I hope to be able to make sense of such nursing experiences and hope to apply them in a practical way. Research Design Qualitative research is proposed for conducting the proposed study. This will require qualitative data to be collected which will be based on narratives, impressions, ideas, concerns and attitudes of new graduate nurses, interviewed and observed in various interactions. As qualitative research seeks illumination and understanding it is considered appropriate for this study since it will help understand the phenomena of new graduate nurse experience. A qualitative descriptive design will be used for this study and Spradley's (1979) domain analysis approach will be used to conduct this qualitative research .In addition, historical analysis will also be undertaken. Domain analysis requires the following steps: Identification of domains that reflect the concerns of the interviewees rather than the researcher's own notions. A domain, is a collection of categories that share a certain kind of relationship. In order to familiarize with the issues that really concern the interviewees the researcher needs to read the data several times. Semantic relationships are then defined as suggested by Spradley (1979). An example of how semantics are described by Spradley is given below. Table - Identifying Semantics using Spradley (1980) Doctor Nurse is a part of

Managing Job Design and Flexibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managing Job Design and Flexibility - Essay Example   Right from the data collection and analytics of job information to incorporating dynamics into static job design documents, several challenges mar the success of job design as a useful management tool in today’s competitive environment. Impartial ratings by supervisors and non-familiarity on the part of incumbents worsen the effectiveness of job design. As a result, HR practitioners have to rethink the ways of job design in terms of various approaches which include all the essential components of work as well as worker characteristics. Background Flexibility and innovation have been the talk of the town lately in business. With the introduction of new activities every day in business practices, it has become a pre-requisite to change the structure and contents of jobs so as to make them compatible with the current job demands. This feat encounters numerous challenges and hurdles in terms of analytical hiccups and consensus building between people supplying information for job designs. As such, identification and removal of such shortcomings in the inception stages of job design are crucial to the human resources and organizational success. This paper allows making an attempt into finding out what challenges or threats are posed in front of HR practitioners when job design is the task. The discussion extends further to recommend the choices which these HR practitioners can adopt in tackling those challenges. The paper will commence with an introduction of job design and its components. Factors affecting job design have also been discussed in brevity to equip the reader with a thorough understanding of the background and enable him to correlate the recommendations well with the initial problem. Challenges of job design in terms of static job analysis output documents, more emphasis of a job designing on work rather than the worker, behavioral challenges in job design, reliability and validity issues in data collection techniques and the trade-off betwe en generalist and specific work design have been elaborated upon in detail. The four approaches to job design will form the basis of knowledge and future comparison for recommendations. Findings Objective of the paper The objective of the assignment is to delve deep into the job design aspect of human resource management by identifying and elaborating upon its probable challenges and available remedies to handle those challenges. Building upon the basic knowledge of job design, the primary task is to critically examine the topic of job design by highlighting how it has become ineffective and obsolete in today’s business scenario.  

Managing Team Conflicts Essay Example for Free

Managing Team Conflicts Essay Why do you think that Carly didn’t come to you sooner to discuss the project delays? Carly didn’t come sooner to discuss the problem delays with the supervisor because of the affective conflict that arises between her and Morris (Team Conflict: How to Manage it, n.p.). Truly, it is quite undesirable to present â€Å"human conflict† as a reason in the delay of a certain project. It is obvious that Carly was threatened by the wits that Morris have. Since Morris obtained a higher level degree than Carly, the manager seems to be insecure about her status. She sees Morris as a competitor in her position and not as a member of the team. 2. Why do you think Carly hasn’t had a conversation with Morris, or vice versa, about their differences? How do you think each of them would respond to this type of conversation? Explain. Both person (Carly and Morris) did not initiated to have a conversation regarding their differences because both parties are afraid that upon the conduct of their conversation, they might not be able to work on and come out with the proper solution to address the problem. On the conduct of the conversation, they may reach a point that both of them would be in denial regarding the delay of the project. Both people possess different personality and dealing with their differences might be a critical approach to be done. Carly, being insecure with the wits that Morris have, might put all the blame on the latter mentioned person. On the other hand, if Carly would over impose her power in the conversation, the immediate reaction of Morris would be to defend his self and try to make Carly realize that she also has a fault regarding the problem. What would happen in this conversation is that, both parties would tend to throw off their own defence regarding themselves thus, rather than solving the problem of conflict, the outcome could be to worsen the situation. What is the biggest problem with the way these team members interact? What could they do to remedy the problem? Explain. The biggest problem with these team members is that they do not know on how to deal with their own differences. Differences in terms of personality as stated above is just but common in a team. Such differences could be positively or negatively affect the team. In the case given, Carly and Morris chooses to embrace the negative side thus, bringing the project to a delay. Communication is the element that is missing in the case presented. Communicating in a constructive manner would give each person a chance to express his thoughts and ideas clearly and directly. Coupled with his expression of thoughts, respect (for each other and for the work of the team) should also be reflected (Ten Qualities of an Effective Team Player, 2005, n.p.). The scenario being pictured out in the case is that Morris seems to be tongue tied to express his thoughts while Carly is too much dominating in expressing her thoughts, thus the communication process is not working well. Another element that is lacking in the case is the quality of active listening. In order for a team to function effectively and meet its goals, every member should be a good listener. Every member should consider and listen to the ideas of other team members and should avoid biased reaction regarding the proposed ideas. Arguing or debating every idea presented would not do any help (Ten Qualities of an Effective Team Player, 2005, n.p.). Members should also be prepared and willing to hear and accept criticisms. It would be better if one would listen first and then react to have an effective conversation and get things settled. Firmness of thought is important as a team player, but one should make her mind open to what other members has to offer. Do you think Carly should continue to serve as Project Manager? Explain. Yes, Carly should continue to serve as Project Manager but she should first change her attitude in handling the job. She should note that she is part of the team. Although she has a higher position compared to the other members, it is not right to over used this power because of being threatened by others wits and guts. As a project manager she must be confident in her own capability and sees the ability of other members of the team as an asset and not as a threat. She should reassess her self and avoid being a problem-blamer. She should not look for others to fault but instead, she should look at the problems that arise as a common thing that occurs in a team. Being regarded as the project manager, she should address problems (not create problems) and bring this out for discussion with other members of the team (Ten Qualities of an Effective Team player, 2005, n.p.). Upon doing such, she would be most likely to find the right solutions for the problem. Though Carly obviously has a fault on the delay of the project, she should continue to work on as the project manager because she was given that job and trusting her that job means that she is knowledgeable enough and rightly fitted for it. 5. How would you begin to address this situation? Come up with a plan to remedy this problem and outline a plan for getting the project back on track for the January 1 release. The first action had been done, that is to talk with the persons involve in the conflict as well as with other team members. The next step would be to review to the team regarding their purpose and goal. I would be emphasizing on their role as a team in achieving the targeted goal and meet the targeted deadline. I would preferably design a team building activity that would reunite them and develop their working ability as a team. I would consistently remind them that there is no â€Å"I† in a team and that presence of conflicts is inevitable. I would also relay to them the essence of conflict management. Rules in order to lessen conflict would be implemented incorporating processes or behaviours that the group will be allowed or prohibited (Team Conflict: How to Manage it, n.p.). The following will serve as a guide in getting the project back on track for the January 1 release: Conduct Team building activity Relaying the concept of conflict and conflict management. Assess the characteristics of members in position. Assess the overall coordination of the team. Project Plan Guide Review the goal and extent of the project. Identify weaknesses and strengths in the conduct of the project. Retain strengths and address the weaknesses. Strategic Planning for the Completion of the Project Address conflict in the workplace. Set timeframe and task to be completed within a week and make sure that all materials to be used would be provided (How to Organize Successful Project Teams, n.p.). Constantly check and collaborate with the team regarding the progress of the project Acknowledge the team’s effort upon the completion of the assigned task. References AllBusiness.com, Inc. (2005, August 12). Ten Qualities of an Effective Team Player. Retrieved May 16, 2008, from http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/employee-development-team-building/8516-3.html How to Organize Successful Project Teams. Retrieved May 16, 2008, from http://www.ehow.com/how_2156392_organize-successful-project-teams.html Team Conflict: How to Manage it. Retrieved May 16, 2008, from http://www.chumans.com/skills3.htm.

Water short essay Essay Example for Free

Water short essay Essay Water is one of the natures precious gifts to mankind. All living things consist mostly of water eg. the human body is of two thirds of water. It is clear, colourless liquid that appears blue when viewed through a thickness of 20 ft. The colour reflects not only from physical causes but also from suspended impurities. The freezing point of water is 0degree centigrade and its boiling point is 100 degree centigrade. Water is the most essential component of life and is vital for sustenance. The importance of water in our diet is apparent as it helps the body to perform specific metabolic tasks and regulates our body temperature, moreover water is unique as its density is similar to that of cell protoplasm. There is no doubt that water is everywhere and it is very important to our Earth and the life inhabiting it. Water contains no calories and is a significant factor in losing weight. It is the key component in determining the quality of our lives and is a universal solvent. We should teach children to turn off faucets tightly after use, adjust sprinklers to water your lawn. Plant in the fall when conditions are cooler and collect water used for rinsing fruits and vegetables to water house plants, wash your pets outdoors in an area of your lawn that needs water and repair leaking pipes, harvest rain water. People use up our planets fresh water faster than it can naturally be replenished so, save water for the Earth, family and community. Cultural views of water are based on predominent religious views, like the Ganges river in Hinduism. Water is known as the elixir of life. So Conserve water to save life.

Petrozuata Case Study

Petrozuata Case Study Petrolera Zuata, Petrozuata C.A. Voilis Athanasios 1) Introduction – Case Study In 1976, after nationalization of the domestic oil industry a stated owned enterprise Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) was established for the purposes of managing the country’s hydrocarbon resources and promoting economic development. It was the world’s second largest oil and gas company with reserves in Venezuela and refineries across the Europe, United States, and the Caribbean. Domestically, PDVSA provided 78% of Venezuela’s export revenues, 59% of the government’s fiscal revenues, and 26% of nation’s GDP and had a reputation of being one of the best managed national oil companies. In 1990, PDVSA started an ambitious long-term project, which main aim was to double its domestic production and expand international markets. For the implementation of this venture, the company needed to raise investments for approximate amount of USD$ 65 bn. At that time neither PDVSA nor Venezuelan government had the possibility to finance the underlined expansion. As a solution, it was decided to establish a strategy called â€Å"La Apertura†, which opened the Venezuelan oil sector to foreign companies through profit sharing agreements, operating service agreements, and strategic joint ventures associations. Unfortunately, such initiative overlapped with political instability and economic turmoil in the country. Only in the early 1990s two failed military coups and the impeachment of President Perez took place. In late 1993, because of the severe crisis in the banking system, the administration suspended a number of constitutional rights, imposed price control on basic goods and services, and took direct control over most of the banking system. Moreover, the foreign exchange markets were closed and began rationing foreign currency to the private sector. Few years later, by the time of the deal closing, due to an economic and social reform program of President Caldera, the economy had begun to recover, but with coming presidential elections, public tension was also growing. All in all, the feasibility of the project was under the pressure of  the sovereign risk. The rating agencies were considering three principal risks: possible government action, currency market volatility, and Venezu elan business conditions. The first development project of reopening Venezuelan oil sector to foreign investments was Petrozuata. It is a USD$ 2.424 bn joint venture between Conoco and Maraven as a part of PDVSA. Conoco was the petroleum subsidiary of one of the largest chemical producer in the world E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont). That time Conoco recently completed projects in Russia, Norway, USA and was a recognized leader in refining technology and project development. Underlined parties started feasibility studies and negotiations for a joint project in 1992. After four years of planning, Conoco and Maraven had made a mutual decision to finance this deal on a project finance basis, because of financial and organizational benefits provided by such structure. PDSVA could not have built the project alone because of its lack of specialized assets needed to extract and upgrade syncrude oil. On the other hand, foreign ownership of domestic hydrocarbon resources is prohibited by law, closing all ways for a sole expansion by Conoco. In terms of ownership structure, it was strategically decided that PDVSA subsidiary contributed less than 50% of the total equity amount but, through its preferred shares, would retain voting control. Because PDVSA would be the minority shareholder, the company would be classified as private. As a consequence, it would not consolidate into PDVSA’s balance sheet and, more importantly, they would not be bound by legislation for public companies (public procurement bidding procedure, excessive accountability, etc.). Final association agreement had a term of 35 years beginning once production started in 2001. The equity ownership contributions were set up in such way that Maraven had 49.9% of shares and 50.1% for Conoco. After accomplishing of the agreement, Conoco has an obligation to transfer its shares to Maraven at no cost. Also, to give incentive to the project, the government agreed to decrease the royalty rate during early operation years and the Congress agreed to lower the income tax rate from 67,7% to 34%. The sponsors agreed to use USD$ 975 mn of equity and USD$ 1.45 bn of debt to finance the project, which corresponded to 60% of debt-to-equity ratio. Such high percent of equity contributions to the project were chosen to show the sponsor’s commitment to the project. In 1996, for the beginning of the project, sponsors contributed USD$ 79 mn of paid-in capital. Additional contributions including contingency fund were projected to infuse in the following 4 years for the total amount of USD$ 366 mn. For the outstanding sum of USD$ 530 mn, shareholders chose a risky plan to use cash flows from the sale of early production crude, after completion of the oil fields and pipeline in August 1998. It is necessary to mention that risks peculiar to underlined financial mechanism were mitigated through a good execution plan and strong sponsor guarantees. Concerning the sources of debt financing, Petrozuata raised USD$ 450 mn as a loan from commercial banks with loan guarantees from bilateral and multilateral agencies, such as U.S. ExIm Bank, Export Development Corporation of Canada, OPIC and IFC. Those agencies would mitigate Venezuela’s political and economic instability by providing political risk insurance. However, the major funding source of the project was the American private placement market. Petrozuata received USD$ 1 bn of debt from the Rule 144A market. These bonds were chosen because of the additional advantage of speed and less onerous disclosure requirements imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Petrozuata project had three main components: a series of inland wells to produce the crude, a pipeline system to transport the crude to the coast, and an upgrader facility to partially refine the crude. It was unusual and a highly complicated to finance multiple component projects on a standalone basis. A special system of contracts and commitments were designed and implemented to make the project feasible. A detailed scheme of contracts and commitments is provided in Figure 2. For instance, sponsors mitigated the incentive problem and managerial inefficiency by creating a small board of directors comprised of two directors from each sponsor, and using compensation contracts for managers that were linked to the project performance. Also was realized the major benefit of project finance: public-sector management was substituted for private-sector. The construction risk was allocated to sponsors. Conoco and Maraven agreed to provide funds for any cost overruns prior to completion. Also, the parent companies guaranteed these obligations. The guarantee has a unique structure in terms of the difference in ratings between parties – DuPont (AA-) and PDSVA (B). The parties agreed to include severe penalties for failing to meet their obligations and incentives to cover the other party’s shortfalls. It was a good example of how project finance could substitute the lack of development in emerging countries. After construction would be completed, together with major risks, the sponsor guarantees would also end and the project would become non-recourse to the sponsors. Figure 2: Petrozuata contracts and commitments Source: (Esty 1998) 25 Secondly, sponsors considered within the budget, a USD$ 38 mn contingency for upstream facilities, a USD$ 139 mn contingency for downstream facilities, and sufficient funds to pay premiums on a construction all risk insurance policy covering up to USD$ 1.5 bn of physical loss or damage. Another risk allocation mechanism in the current project was the use of an off-take agreement with the guarantee from the parent company DuPont. According to this agreement, Conoco took an obligation toward Petrozuata to purchase the first 86.6% of Petrozuata’s syncrude, for the whole 35-year life of the project, based on the market price. Moreover, the project company had the right to sell the syncrude to third parties if it could get a higher price. Such scheme eliminate ex post bargaining costs, and deter opportunistic behavior by providing incentives to both sponsors to act in the project’s best interest in the area where contracts would have been costly or impossible to write. Also, with an arrangement authorized by the Venezuelan government the project had a prioritization of cash flows as a main element of the contractual agreements. Petrozuata’s customers would deposit their dollar-denominated funds from the purchases into and offshore account maintained by Banker Trust, governed by the law of New York. Afterwards, the Trustee would disburse the money according to a payment hierarchy. First, the Trustee would make the transfer to a 90-day operating expense account; second, to service the project’s debt obligations; and, third, make deposits to a Debt Service Reserve Account as needed to maintain six months of principal interest. Finally, the project implemented a â€Å"cash trap† basically meaning that if the project maintains an one-year historical and one-year projected Debt Service Coverage Ratio of 1.35X, then the Trustee would transfer any remaining funds to Petrozuata for distribution to its equityholders. To sum up, Petrozuata is an example of the effective use of project finance in developing countries. The adverse circumstances following financial closure provide further evidence of the durability and merits of the project finance structure. The deal set numerous precedents in the bank and capital markets. For these

The Iliad of Homer :: essays research papers

The Iliad Important Characters: Agamemnon king of Mycenae; brother of Menelaos Hektor Prince of Troy; son of Priam and Hekuba Achilles greatest warrior of the Achaian army Aias song of Telamon; he has brute strength and courage Menelaos husband of Helen; brother of Agamemnon Paris a prince of Troy; also son of Priam and Hekuba Priam King of Troy; very old man Helen wife of Menelaos; most beautiful woman In the world Diomedes one of the best Achaian warriors Hekuba wife of Priam Aeneas son of Aphrodite; Trojan Aphrodite Daughter of Zeus; goddess of love; mother of Aeneas; patron of Paris; on the Trojans' side Athena daughter of Zeus; goddess of wisdom; on the Achaian side Ares son of Zeus; god of prophecy, light, poetry, and music; on the Trojans' side Zeus supreme god and king of Olympos Poseidon younger brother of Zeus; god of sea   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chryseis and Briseis who were captured during a raid in Troy are awarded as ‘war prizes' to Agamemnon and Achilles. Chryseis for Agamemnon and Briseis for Achilles. Chryseis is the daughter of Chryses which prays Apollo to help get back his daughter. Apollo causes a deadly plague in the Achaian camp. Achilles asked Kalchas to explain the cause of Apollo's anger. Apollo plagued the Achaians because Agamemnon refused to return Chryseis to her father. Agamemnon demands Achilles' war prize in place of Chryseis. Achilles because angry at Agamemnon's demand and withdraws his troops from the Achaian army. Agamemnon returns Chryseis to her father then collects Briseis from Achilles. Strangely, Achilles gives him the girl. Then, Achilles decides to tell his mother about the problem. Achilles asks his mother to ask Zeus to make sure that the Trojans win. Thetis goes to Zeus and asks and he agrees to help the Trojans.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Agamemnon has a dream that he can defeat the Trojans so, full of false hope, he planned a mass assault on Troy. Agamemnon orders his army to prepare themselves to attack. When the news of the Achaian plan arrived in Troy, Hektor ordered his troops to meet the Achaians on the plain in front of Troy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Paris dares any of the Achaian warriors to fight him personally. Then, Menelaos accepted the challenge. But, Paris is suddenly scared and backs out. Hektor then fines Paris and scolds him. The agreement was whoever won gets Helen, then the war would be over. They fight on a large open area between the armies. Menelaos hurts Paris then Aphrodite saves Paris and brings him to his bedroom in Troy, where she also brings Helen. Then Agamemnon announces that Menelaos has won.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hera wants the complete destruction of Troy so Zeus sends Athena to get them fighting again.

Not All is Cheerless, Dark and Deadly in Shakespeares King Lear Essay

Not All is Cheerless, Dark and Deadly in King Lear      Ã‚  Ã‚   'All's Cheerless, Dark and Deadly' Are Kent's Words a Fair Summary of The Tragedy of King Lear? Samuel Johnson asserted that the blinding of Gloucester was an 'act too horrid to be endured in a dramatic exhibition', and that he was 'too shocked' by the death of Cordelia to read the play again until he was given the task of editing it.1 Nor was Dr Johnson alone in finding himself unable to stomach the violence and apparent injustices that unfold in King Lear. The 18th century certainly found the play 'all cheerless' and preferred Nahum Tate's 1681 watered-down version of Shakespeare's original.    King Lear is a dark play, with the near triumph of the malcontent Edmund, the intense sufferings of Lear and Gloucester, and the seeming lack of justice at the piece's conclusion. Shakespeare locates his tragedy in an extreme and entropic universe that makes his audience uncomfortable, and indeed is supposed to. On its own, the sheer violence of Act III.7 bears witness to Kent's nihilistic utterance at the plays close. However, Lear's universe, as I have just stated, is one of extremes, and not merely negative ones. As A.C. Bradley notes:    There is in the world of King Lear the same abundance of extreme good as of extreme evil. It generates in profusion self-less devotion and unconquerable love.2    The play contains a cluster of characters that are unequivocally good. Kent, for instance, is a paradigm of devotion. In Act I.I he is publicly insulted and humiliated. In spite of Lear's threats, Kent remains determined to serve his master, even braving the storm to be near him. Cordelia too, is traduced and punished by Lear, and yet she is the... ... condemned to short lives - 'nor live so long'. Edgar's closing words are disturbingly equivocal. They allude to the antithesis constantly at work in the play   a mixture of hope and despair. Perhaps the couplet is ultimately nihilistic, and the play as a whole equally so. Redemption remains unattained. However, while I would agree that Kent's words that 'All's cheerless, dark and deadly' may be the overriding message of the tragedy, I do not believe that King Lear can be simply summed up in such a comment. To do such a thing would be to see the drama two-dimensionally   to ignore the world of polarities, of good as well as evil, which Shakespeare creates in which to hold his play.       Works Cited: 1 Johnson as Critic, ed. John Wain, Routledge & Kegan Paul 1973, pp. 216-217 2 A. C. Bradley, Shakespearian Tragedy, Macmillan 1908, pp. 304 -305    Not All is Cheerless, Dark and Deadly in Shakespeare's King Lear Essay Not All is Cheerless, Dark and Deadly in King Lear      Ã‚  Ã‚   'All's Cheerless, Dark and Deadly' Are Kent's Words a Fair Summary of The Tragedy of King Lear? Samuel Johnson asserted that the blinding of Gloucester was an 'act too horrid to be endured in a dramatic exhibition', and that he was 'too shocked' by the death of Cordelia to read the play again until he was given the task of editing it.1 Nor was Dr Johnson alone in finding himself unable to stomach the violence and apparent injustices that unfold in King Lear. The 18th century certainly found the play 'all cheerless' and preferred Nahum Tate's 1681 watered-down version of Shakespeare's original.    King Lear is a dark play, with the near triumph of the malcontent Edmund, the intense sufferings of Lear and Gloucester, and the seeming lack of justice at the piece's conclusion. Shakespeare locates his tragedy in an extreme and entropic universe that makes his audience uncomfortable, and indeed is supposed to. On its own, the sheer violence of Act III.7 bears witness to Kent's nihilistic utterance at the plays close. However, Lear's universe, as I have just stated, is one of extremes, and not merely negative ones. As A.C. Bradley notes:    There is in the world of King Lear the same abundance of extreme good as of extreme evil. It generates in profusion self-less devotion and unconquerable love.2    The play contains a cluster of characters that are unequivocally good. Kent, for instance, is a paradigm of devotion. In Act I.I he is publicly insulted and humiliated. In spite of Lear's threats, Kent remains determined to serve his master, even braving the storm to be near him. Cordelia too, is traduced and punished by Lear, and yet she is the... ... condemned to short lives - 'nor live so long'. Edgar's closing words are disturbingly equivocal. They allude to the antithesis constantly at work in the play   a mixture of hope and despair. Perhaps the couplet is ultimately nihilistic, and the play as a whole equally so. Redemption remains unattained. However, while I would agree that Kent's words that 'All's cheerless, dark and deadly' may be the overriding message of the tragedy, I do not believe that King Lear can be simply summed up in such a comment. To do such a thing would be to see the drama two-dimensionally   to ignore the world of polarities, of good as well as evil, which Shakespeare creates in which to hold his play.       Works Cited: 1 Johnson as Critic, ed. John Wain, Routledge & Kegan Paul 1973, pp. 216-217 2 A. C. Bradley, Shakespearian Tragedy, Macmillan 1908, pp. 304 -305   

Breed Specific Legislation

INTRODUCTION Capture Attention Last week this man attacked and wounded another man at Mt. Scott Park, here in Portland, OR. Because of his actions I need all of the students with facial hair, dark shirts, tattoos and long hair to stand up. Effective immediately, all of you will be detained by local authorities because you have been deemed a threat to the safety of our community and the citizens who reside here. Significance/Relevance Breed Specific Legislation is not a new way to manage aggressive dogs.These changes in laws tend to happen after a highly publicized dog attack takes place. This type of legislation punishes the breed, not the deed. Credibility As a dog owner who spends everyday of his life with a breed of dog often found on breed ban lists, researching BSL is as much a part of my life as my dog, Lucky. Thesis Breed Specific Legislation aims to keep citizens safe by punishing innocent and guilty dogs alike. Preview Today, I’m going to share some information on wha t Breed Specific Legislation is, how it affects dogs and dog owners. The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated† – Gandhi BODY I. What is Breed Specific Legislation? A. Breed-specific legislation is the banning or restriction of the ownership of a dog solely based on the dog's breed regardless of the dog's personal history or temperament. i. BSL has been around for years, but according to www. dogsbite. org â€Å"in the last decade over 650 U. S. cities have enacted BSL as a preventative measure to reduce dog attacks and bites to protect citizens. B. Breed-specific legislation is based on the premise that certain breeds are inherently dangerous and that public safety can be accomplished by banning or restricting only those dogs. C. Currently, BSL focuses not on a specific breed, but rather a type of dog. That type, as most of you know, is referred to as the â€Å"pit-bull†. The term pit bull general ly refers to a Staffordshire bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, American pit bull terrier, or any dog that is a cross or mix of the aforementioned breeds.A pit bull may also mean any dog that has the appearance and physical characteristics that are substantially similar to the above listed breeds. Therefore, pit bull is a type of dog not a breed. Breed Specific Legislation exists, this is a fact. Facts create norms, but truth creates illumination. II. How it affects dogs A. Breed specific laws target and punish all dogs of a particular breed (the guilty ones as well as the innocent). Well-behaved dogs of that particular breed are seen, classified, and treated the same as the dogs that have in fact bitten or attacked individuals. i.According to an article run in the October edition (2009) of the Westword, a local publication in Denver, in 2006 â€Å"after a one-year moratorium Denver began to again enforce the pit bull ban in 2005, causing a 77 percent increase in the num ber of dogs impounded in Pit Bull Row. City records show that between 2005 and 2006,  1,454 pit bulls were put down, leading to the large pile-ups of dead dogs. † ii. Unfortunately, many of these dogs were deemed pit bulls simply because the animal control officer, shelter worker, dog trainer, politician, dog owner, police officer or newspaper says they are. B.BSL doesn’t acknowledge the fact that a dog of any breed can be dangerous. Furthermore, opponents of BSL have pointed out that those in charge of law enforcement do not always accurately identify breeds, and that the imposition of penalties on dogs merely as a result of breed identification can be unjust and arbitrary. i. In July of this year, after a nearly 2-year legal battle between the City Council of Belfast, Northern Ireland and dog owner Caroline Barnes, her American Bulldog / Labrador mix, Lennox, was euthanized for resembling a pit bull, which pose a threat to society. ii. As stated on latimes. om, â₠¬Å"The Belfast City Council declared Lennox had a severe personality disorder, but his owners, the Barnes family, said he was a well-handled American bulldog-Labrador cross. After measuring his legs and snout, dog wardens declared Lennox a â€Å"possible pit bull type† and in 2010 seized him under the UK’s dangerous dog act. † Dogs are only as good or bad as their owners III. How it affects owners A. Banning a specific breed punishes responsible dog owners who have well trained dogs of that breed, while irresponsible owners who seek a â€Å"dangerous dog† as a status symbol will simply choose a different breed. . According to the AKC, â€Å"this often leads to increased costs to the community, as many owners abandon their household pets at local shelters because they are no longer permitted to own them, or are unable to comply with the strict regulations imposed on them. † ii. In many cases, the owner must choose between relocating to a different to wn or getting rid of their dog. Many of these dogs end up being housed and/or euthanized at the shelters at the taxpayer’s expense. iii. As reported in Canada’s weekly newspaper, Macleans (2004), â€Å"Experts in canine control and behavior have all said the same thing.Breed-specific bans are reactionary and ineffectual because they don't address the root of the problem: high-risk owners. † According to Dr. Gary Landsberg, a Thornhill, Ont. , veterinarian and president of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, â€Å"people who want to breed and/or own vicious dogs will simply turn to other breeds. † It only takes one rotten apple to spoil the whole bunch CONCLUSION Summary Statement So now you have a general idea of what Breed Specific Legislation is. Dog attacks and bites are real problems for communities and need to be addressed.Being informed on how BSL affects both dog & owner, innocent and guilty alike, has hopefully provided you with a fou ndation for further exploration. Concluding Remarks Is Breed Specific Legislation the right answer to keep communities safe from aggressive dogs? I honestly don’t know. But in closing I will say this. If those of you that resembled this man were actually detained, based solely on similar appearance, would your partners, families & friends accept it as a way to keep our community safe? You be the judge. Breed Specific Legislation INTRODUCTION Capture Attention Last week this man attacked and wounded another man at Mt. Scott Park, here in Portland, OR. Because of his actions I need all of the students with facial hair, dark shirts, tattoos and long hair to stand up. Effective immediately, all of you will be detained by local authorities because you have been deemed a threat to the safety of our community and the citizens who reside here. Significance/Relevance Breed Specific Legislation is not a new way to manage aggressive dogs.These changes in laws tend to happen after a highly publicized dog attack takes place. This type of legislation punishes the breed, not the deed. Credibility As a dog owner who spends everyday of his life with a breed of dog often found on breed ban lists, researching BSL is as much a part of my life as my dog, Lucky. Thesis Breed Specific Legislation aims to keep citizens safe by punishing innocent and guilty dogs alike. Preview Today, I’m going to share some information on wha t Breed Specific Legislation is, how it affects dogs and dog owners. The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated† – Gandhi BODY I. What is Breed Specific Legislation? A. Breed-specific legislation is the banning or restriction of the ownership of a dog solely based on the dog's breed regardless of the dog's personal history or temperament. i. BSL has been around for years, but according to www. dogsbite. org â€Å"in the last decade over 650 U. S. cities have enacted BSL as a preventative measure to reduce dog attacks and bites to protect citizens. B. Breed-specific legislation is based on the premise that certain breeds are inherently dangerous and that public safety can be accomplished by banning or restricting only those dogs. C. Currently, BSL focuses not on a specific breed, but rather a type of dog. That type, as most of you know, is referred to as the â€Å"pit-bull†. The term pit bull general ly refers to a Staffordshire bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, American pit bull terrier, or any dog that is a cross or mix of the aforementioned breeds.A pit bull may also mean any dog that has the appearance and physical characteristics that are substantially similar to the above listed breeds. Therefore, pit bull is a type of dog not a breed. Breed Specific Legislation exists, this is a fact. Facts create norms, but truth creates illumination. II. How it affects dogs A. Breed specific laws target and punish all dogs of a particular breed (the guilty ones as well as the innocent). Well-behaved dogs of that particular breed are seen, classified, and treated the same as the dogs that have in fact bitten or attacked individuals. i.According to an article run in the October edition (2009) of the Westword, a local publication in Denver, in 2006 â€Å"after a one-year moratorium Denver began to again enforce the pit bull ban in 2005, causing a 77 percent increase in the num ber of dogs impounded in Pit Bull Row. City records show that between 2005 and 2006,  1,454 pit bulls were put down, leading to the large pile-ups of dead dogs. † ii. Unfortunately, many of these dogs were deemed pit bulls simply because the animal control officer, shelter worker, dog trainer, politician, dog owner, police officer or newspaper says they are. B.BSL doesn’t acknowledge the fact that a dog of any breed can be dangerous. Furthermore, opponents of BSL have pointed out that those in charge of law enforcement do not always accurately identify breeds, and that the imposition of penalties on dogs merely as a result of breed identification can be unjust and arbitrary. i. In July of this year, after a nearly 2-year legal battle between the City Council of Belfast, Northern Ireland and dog owner Caroline Barnes, her American Bulldog / Labrador mix, Lennox, was euthanized for resembling a pit bull, which pose a threat to society. ii. As stated on latimes. om, â₠¬Å"The Belfast City Council declared Lennox had a severe personality disorder, but his owners, the Barnes family, said he was a well-handled American bulldog-Labrador cross. After measuring his legs and snout, dog wardens declared Lennox a â€Å"possible pit bull type† and in 2010 seized him under the UK’s dangerous dog act. † Dogs are only as good or bad as their owners III. How it affects owners A. Banning a specific breed punishes responsible dog owners who have well trained dogs of that breed, while irresponsible owners who seek a â€Å"dangerous dog† as a status symbol will simply choose a different breed. . According to the AKC, â€Å"this often leads to increased costs to the community, as many owners abandon their household pets at local shelters because they are no longer permitted to own them, or are unable to comply with the strict regulations imposed on them. † ii. In many cases, the owner must choose between relocating to a different to wn or getting rid of their dog. Many of these dogs end up being housed and/or euthanized at the shelters at the taxpayer’s expense. iii. As reported in Canada’s weekly newspaper, Macleans (2004), â€Å"Experts in canine control and behavior have all said the same thing.Breed-specific bans are reactionary and ineffectual because they don't address the root of the problem: high-risk owners. † According to Dr. Gary Landsberg, a Thornhill, Ont. , veterinarian and president of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, â€Å"people who want to breed and/or own vicious dogs will simply turn to other breeds. † It only takes one rotten apple to spoil the whole bunch CONCLUSION Summary Statement So now you have a general idea of what Breed Specific Legislation is. Dog attacks and bites are real problems for communities and need to be addressed.Being informed on how BSL affects both dog & owner, innocent and guilty alike, has hopefully provided you with a fou ndation for further exploration. Concluding Remarks Is Breed Specific Legislation the right answer to keep communities safe from aggressive dogs? I honestly don’t know. But in closing I will say this. If those of you that resembled this man were actually detained, based solely on similar appearance, would your partners, families & friends accept it as a way to keep our community safe? You be the judge.

Java Calendar Tutorial Essay

Introduction This tutorial is designed to provide you with an understanding of the Java Calendar class, it’s backgrounds, purpose and uses. It is created in such a manner as to allow even beginning Java programmers an understanding and feel for the uses of the Java Calendar class. The Java Calendar class was added to the Java Development Kit in JDK 1.1. It is designed to permit the conversion between a specific instance in time and a set of Calendar fields. (Oracle, 2004, 2010) What exactly does this mean? The Calendar class uses a huge array of tables to keep track of time based on daylight savings time, timezones, and calendar history, the calendar class uses a system time to determine where whatever event is being tracked falls on in the internal calendar tables. Some confusion is caused by this as Java does keep track of specific location time, and the programmer needs to keep this in mind when using the Calendar class even when it isn’t relevant to the problem being addressed ( Roedy Green, Canadian Mind Products, 1196-2011). How to use the Calendar Class The Calendar Class and it’s associated methods are used by three methods. The programmer can import the calendar class and whatever specific method or constructor they will use in their program by importing it as importjava.util.specificfunction; For instance, if the programmer wished to set the date within a program, but that was all that was needed, for instance no date specific math was needed as in a log file, then the programmer could use, importjava.util.Calendar.set; If the programmer needs to have greater functionality associated with the dates being used within a program the programmer should use the entire Calendar class. This takes up more space within a program, however provides a much simpler method of calling items from the Java Calendar class as all of it’s functionality is available to the entire program. This format would simply be, importjava.util.Calendar; Finally the programmer can call within the program any specific function required within the Calendar class by using a fully qualified name for the method being used, if the programmer wished to use the set function once within a program and that was all that was needed the programmer could simply use public void java.util.Calendar.set For ease of use of associated Java Calendar methods and constructs however it is generally recommended that the programmer use the import function and import the entire Calendar class. This provides for significantly less time coding, and less possibility of mistakes in typing out commands and code as less code is necessary. Melissa Robinsons Section Every so often a program wishes to know something about a date, such as what day of the week something took place or maybe you would like to know which of the 12 months have 30 days. This can be completed with the Calendar class within the java.util package. The very first thing that should be done is to import the package: import java.util.Calendar; The next thing to do is to get an instance of the Calendar class: Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance( ); Be aware that the constructor cannot directly be called upon with new Calendar( );, since it’s an abstract class. The next thing to do is set the date and time of what is wanted to know about certain things: cal.set(year,month,day); For the month parameter, January is 0, February is 1, March is 2, etc. The constants Calendar.MONTH can also be used. Each and every calendar has a set of boundaries that are automatically updated when the calendar is altered. The get ( ) method can access these and a set of constants that characterize a number of available fields. So it can be noted that some very precise things can be done with the calendar now. For example, the week of the year that a day falls on can be found by using: int week = cal.get(Calendar.WEEK_OF_YEAR) Or  For example. Use the getActualMaximum() to find the number of days in a  certain month: intdaysInMonth = cal.getActualMaximum(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH); Here are some fields that may be useful within the Calendar Class: * DAY_OF_WEEK – Returns the day of the week that a day falls on, 1 through 7 days. * DAY_OF_YEAR – Returns the number of days into the year that the date occurs * WEEK_OF_MONTH – Returns the week number in the current month where the date occurs * DAY_OF_MONTH – Returns the current day of the month Andrew McCutchan’s Section Examples of Calendar Class Use: Below are some typical examples of the usage of the java calendar class. /* Java Calendar Follow along with this example in a text editor to have java show todays date and time. */ import java.util.Calendar; public class JavaCalendar { public static void main (string[] args) { Calendar cal = Calendar.getInstance() ; System.out.println(â€Å"Today is : † + cal.getTime() ) ; By following the formats for cal.get instances mentioned above, one can find the various dates, times, weeks, and months in current formats, or in predetermined periods. This method allows programmers to set specific time constraints when coding for specific results. End of Section Methods Within the Calendar Class There are many methods within the calendar class. Methods are used for querying, setting, and doing arithmetic on the various fields of the date and time. The most commonly used methods are: * add( ) * set( ) * roll( ) References 1. Oracle. (2004, 2010). java.util Class Calendar. Retrieved from http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/api/java/util/Calendar.html#set(int, int) 2. Roedy Green, Canadian Mind Products. (1196-2011). Calendar : Java Glossary. Retrieved from http://mindprod.com/jgloss/calendar.html

Why was the Supreme Court built in 2010 and how effective has it been at upholding civil liberties?

The Supreme Court was introduced in 2010 as a replacement for the House of Lords as the top law court of justice in the UK, Wales and Northern Ireland. This court has cost approximately 59 million pounds to build and was officially open on 1st October 2009. The enactment of the Supreme Court came about under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (The Supreme Court [Online], 2010) and currently stands as the chief justice in the UK. The main focus of this essay is to examine how The Supreme Court prioritises in the development of the United Kingdom Law thus playing an important task at maintaining fundamental individual rights. Being the most prominent judiciary in the UK, it is also vital to see the difference between The Supreme Court and the previous House of Lords Committee in which The Supreme Court has replaced. The major differences are visible in terms of power and the impact it has on the British Constitution. The main reason The Supreme Court was built is due to the Government’s decision on separating the judicial making functions and the legislative duty of the House of Lords, making this the last step in separation of powers. Lord Philip, 2009) stated that it has come to a situation where the adjudicator are absolutely separated from the Legislature and Parliament. (Raynsford, 2010) claimed that it was right for the Prime Minister, prior consultation from the Parliament, to relocate the Ultimate Court of Appeal (The Supreme Court) from the House of Lords as to avoid confusion between the role of the House of Lords and the role of the Court of Appeal. In addition, this separation of power avoids the judiciary from holding absolute power, thus discouraging corruption and bias from the judiciary through politics and media. (Casciani, 2010) stated that after the running of the Supreme Court, 12 Law chancellor from the House of Lords who were hearing appeals in the Parliament is now the Justices of the Supreme Court and are no more partaking in the House of Lord’s affair. Before the enactment of the Supreme Court, senior judges that are currently in the House of Lords were nlightened to apprehend cases that are of great significant to the public and constitution inside the House of Lords itself (The Supreme Court [Online], 2010). They were eligible to vote for the outcome of the cases and sometimes, if any, would have a major relation to personal political interest. However, with a new key reform in place, Parliament will be responsible for making law on favour of the electorate whilst the judges from the Supreme Court focus on the fairness of the new law when applied to cases (BBC News, 2010). Lord Falconer, 2009) suggested that this new reform would strengthen the judiciary, making it possible for the judiciary to go against the executive’s decisions (Prime Minister and his Cabinet) Moreover, a leading judge has told BBC that Britain’s Supreme Court could be more authoritative than the House of Lords department and Lord Neuberger anticipate that the new court of appeal could hold more power than the government (Rozenberg, 2009). It is believed that the judgment of the justices from the Supreme Court will affect the decisions in the lower courts which, in this case, apply to all the courts in the UK (BBC News, 2010). The Supreme Court also emphasise on corruption issues involving governing authorities in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, making sure that they abide and commit within the powers granted to them or whether they successfully complete the duty given to the authoritative government in each state. Lord Neuberger argued that there is a real danger that judges will seize more power than what they currently have (Rozenberg, 2009). Therefore, it is likely that the Supreme Court operates the way the United State’s Supreme Court functions which, upon the Court’s decisions, bind every local law in individual states. For instance, if The Supreme Court decides to change the laws in London (the Capital city), other cities have to follow. (Lord Philips, 2009) stated that such situation is ‘possible’ but is ‘not probable’. However, although the Supreme Court has shown many advantages so far in America, criticisms have arisen on the decisions made by the Supreme Court claiming that it weakens the Court as an institution where the institution is the ultimate guardian under the Constitution of the rights and liberties (Fraenkel, 1960). Lord Phillips who has commented on various contentious subjects in the past states that there was no reason to why Sharia law could not be used to resolve disputes amongst Muslims provided that the sanctions complied with the laws of England and Wales. Furthermore, he openly defended the Human Rights Act, calling it â€Å"a crucial constituent of the basic of our fight against terrorism† and was responsible for handing down the judgement requiring the Director of Public Prosecutions to clarify with certainty the law on assisted suicide (Mitchell, 2011). Lord Phillips added that the decree of the Human Rights Act by the previous administration was an absolute contribution to the maintenance of the rule of law in this country and one for which it deserves great credit (Rothwell, 2010). The Human Rights Act 1998 has played its part since the World War on protecting civil rights and allowing immigrants into the UK where Human Rights are not considered vital in their own country. (Lord Philips, 2009) emphasised on the importance of Human Rights, claiming that the rise and support of terrorism lies in the feelings of discrimination in individuals. Therefore, the need to protect every individual’s family members from discrimination in their foster country is vital. However, Charles Clarke criticised the Supreme Court, claiming that the judiciary do not hold inconsiderable accountability for defending the public and occasionally ignorant about their decisions on how it would affect the public society (Rothwell, 2010). Lord Philips defended the liberty of The Supreme Court stating that the judiciary is only responsible for applying the laws that have been constitute by Parliament, not creating it (Rothwell, 2010). Another case reported in BBC news where the Supreme Court is proven to be effective in its duty to defend individual rights is shown when two homosexual men who said they faced persecution in their homeland have the right to asylum in the UK as ruled by the Supreme Court. According to the judgment made by Lord Hope in the case, to restrain a homosexual person to act that his state does not suppress the attitude by which to distinct itself is to deny his domestic right to be who he is hence homosexuals are as much entitled to the freedom which are given to the people who are traight (BBC, 2010). Ultimately, this essay has thoroughly examined the historic foundation of The Supreme Court, its motive to why the government took a stand on separating the Court of Appeal (The Supreme Court) from the House of Lords as well as the colossal impact it has ranging from the public society to the British Constitution. Even though the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, some disadvantages should be considered such as one stated by Charles Clarke, the previous Lord Chancellor in the House of Lords, claiming that the judiciary does not consider the public’s well being. I am very conscious that I have failed to spot on a few vital and intriguing points and other matters on this subject. The Supreme Court is credibly to be not perfect and widely opens itself to criticism, Although the Supreme Court is new (2010) it may seem to remain as the highest court of appeal for all UK’s domestic cases and criminal cases from Wales, Northern Ireland and England, flourishing as the top court in the UK and uphold its liberty as the forefront in the case law world (The Supreme Court, 2010).Biblography * Casciani, D., 2010. Supreme Court quashes Treasury terror assets order. [Online] Available at: < http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8482630.stm> Assessed on May 1st 2011 * Fraenkel, O.S., 1960. The Supreme Court and Civil Liberties: How the Court has protected the Bill of Rights. p.4. * Mitchell, N., 2011. Pen Portraits – Lord Phillips. UKSC Blog. [Online] Available at: < http://ukscblog.com/pen-portraits-lord-phillips> Assessed on May 1st 2011 * Raynsford, N, 2009. Creation of the Supreme Court [Online] Available at: < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ojsQA2W81I> Assessed on May 2nd 2011 * Rothwell, R., 2010. Lord Phillips defends Human Rights Act. Law SocietyGazette. [Online] Available at: < http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/lord-phillips-defends-human-rights-act> Assessed on April 25th 2011 * Rozenberg, J., 2009. Fear over Supreme Court impact. BBC News UK. [Online] Available at: < http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8237855.stm> Assessed on May 2nd 2011 * Supreme Court, 2010. Gay asylum seekers from Iran and Cameroon win appeal. BBC News UK. [Online] Available at: Assessed on May 4th 2011 * Supreme Court, 2010. Role of the Supreme Court, [Online] Available at: < http://www.supremecourt.gov.uk/about/role-of-the-supreme-court.html> Assessed on May 4th 2011

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Choose any of the activities on the website. What did you learn by completing the activity? Based on the information provided, why do we still live in a largely segregated country? What do you think about the state of race relations in our country today? I learned that appearance doesn't always tell you about someone's ancestry or self- Identity. Most people base a person's race off of the way they look and In most cases they are wrong because they don't know exactly what race they are by Just looking at them.In the human diversity quiz I was shocked to find out that fruit flies have the most genetic variation. In the split Identity part they mentioned that black women have the highest chance of being strip-searched out of all US citizens. That amazed me because I would think black women would get treated the same as a white women while getting searched In public. I feel Like people still live In a largely segregated country because people allow It to soul be segregated. Most people still group others by race, class, and choices they make in life.I don't think it's segregated cause it's supposed to be its just that way because people make it that way by following one another and doing as others do by separating others from themselves based on characteristics. I hate when I fill out applications for certain things and seeing the check box for race. I think that things should be based off a persons as a whole not the color or race that they are. I think that right there leads people to think that others still need to be segregated and put into groups based on color and race. People at the end of the day are Just people and that's how it should be looked at.

Assignment on Hr Promotion & Transfer Essay Example for Free

Assignment on Hr Promotion & Transfer Essay Flippo †A promotion involve a change from one job to another that is better in term of and responsibility† Chruden and Sherman†A promotion involves a change of assignment from a job of a lower level to one of level with in the organization† Dale Yoder†Promotion is defined as a movement to a position in which in which responsibility and prestige are increased† Pigors and myers â€Å"Promotion is the advantage of an employee to a better job better in term of gather responsibilities more prestige and status gather skill and specially increased of pay or salary†. Employer to support employee higher position, sales, duties, response everything increased is as well as employees enjoy self-determination, (a)progress (b)preferment (c)promotion (d) position Promotions are used to fill the positions which are more important to fill rather than the present position of employee. It can be filled by external recruitment but employees having eligibility and experience must be appointed for their motivation. Also it will decrease labour turn over as external recruitment costs more. Also increase in salary and status will increase job satisfaction. When scale of pay is increased without changing job it is called  up-gradation  and promotion involves changes in job as well as high salary. When higher position is given without change in salary it is known as  Dry Promotion. All these,  Promotion Up-Gradation and Dry Promotion  are used by management to increase morale of employee and as giving reward also. Promotion means the employee present position to superior position . more obviously promotion is the association to the higher position where more responsibility and more power exits with more occurrence. In the higher position, sales, duties, response everything increased is as well as employees enjoy self-determination. The advancement of an employee within a  company  position  or  job  tasks. A job promotion may be the  result  of an  employee’s  proactive  pursuit of a higher ranking or as a  reward  by  employers  for good  performance. Typically is also  associated  with a higher  rate  of  pay  or  financial  bonus. In terms of a career, a promotion refers to the advancement of an employee’s rank or position in a hierarchical structure. Assignment on Hr Promotion & Transfer. (2018, Oct 29).

Systems Thinking and Organisational Learning Essay

Systems Thinking and Organisational Learning - Essay Example In the final part, self reflection about how Self Organized Learning Environments promotes the creativity in the organizations will be discussed. Mental models are the vast range of processes that include the people, their hobbies and music, how to performs as a politician, sportsman, religion and host for the business phenomena. New mental models are quickly developed by the minds when they interact with the novel or a new process. Mental models are less or more complete and show the cognitive representation. For example, a favorite sport or hobby of individuals might be complete, which represents the knowledge about peripheral aspects or features of a hobby. On contrary to this complete mental model, a less understood mental model contains the cursory or abstract understanding (Duhaime et al., 2012). Mental models perform the function of information filtering and focus upon the attention. People read newspapers and look at headings instead of spending whole the day on reading the editorials. Other people read newspapers very quickly. Selective perception about newspaper reading is about the mental models. Business executives are often overloaded with the meetings, calls and emails; they access more data that can be possibly processed. Their mental models are focused upon the most required and critical as per their perception. It is learnt from â€Å"The bear of game† that reality understanding is built through the constructs of mental models. All players in a business can understand the complex dynamics systematically and helps them to keep away from hindering and reinforcing their beliefs. It is difficult to present the precise definition of emotions in people from various sectors. However, individuals’ everyday activities for social communication, adaptation of tasks and in decision making are affected by people’s distinct states of their emotions and moods. Emotional

Crowdscourcing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Crowdscourcing - Term Paper Example Today through crowd sourcing, the company can use a huge number of less technical people to carry out complex and highly ingenious tasks at very low costs. As a result, the basic idea behind crowdsourcing is to increase productivity while at the same time reducing involved costs in the production process (Mau, 2004). This involves the use of internet where the company solicits feedback from a community of many active and passionate people, which will help the company in significantly reducing the time that it would take to collect data about the same information in the field through a research or other formal focus groups. Therefore, by having customers involved in the branding activities, marketing and the product design and development processes, the organization can greatly save on the staffing costs required and cater for the numerous risks and uncertainties in the market place (Mau, 2004). History The process of requiring customers to have an input in developing products is not new. However, open-source software has changed the approach by making it possible for many people to be involved in such a process. In today’s technology, it is possible to have numerous people undertake tasks that would seem too complex for their level of technical knowledge, mainly driven by factors such as the development of blogs social networks such as Facebook, twitter, MySpace and YouTube. This has made the traditional differences producers and consumers to vanish and leave a thin line that becomes hard to isolate, leading to a market that has a collective intelligence (Brabham, 2008). In other words, in the market today, it is possible to access people’s passion, knowledge, their creative ideas and insightful thinking. This translates to improved production and increased innovations numerous minds are brought together in an economy driven by intellectuals. Open source code, the invention of Stallman an MIT graduate that dates back to 1983 has made crowdsourcing in the IT a great success and has helped companies to reap big from crowdsourcing. This led to development of Unix operating system by 1991 where the developer Linus Torvalds, a computer scientists based in Finland requested ideas from people on how to develop a free operating system, which led to the current Linus operating system, which is the globally largest and world most successful open code software today (Howe, 2008). In interface design, users create socially adaptable interfaces that address interface complexity where users come up with customizations linked to specific tasks, which are then made available to an online community through an online repository. Once the users have created a collection of test sets, the users then customize the interfaces created with a keyword search in finding and installing specific task sets, resulting to a situation where users can issue direct commands to the interface. Therefore, crowdsourcing has its origin from academic researchers w ho designed digital resources that supported research and data interpretation methods, which involved visualization of data, computational analysis, data mining and simulations (Oomen & Aroyio, 2011). Consequently, in interface design, the result was that users were henceforth able to automate difficult tasks to compute,

The paper is about the minimum wage Why should the minimum wage be Essay

The paper is about the minimum wage Why should the minimum wage be increased - Essay Example The wave of technological advancements and climate of modernity has given money a different value piling pressure on people to find ways of achieving financial solace and offering labour to industries and has been one of the many actions that people have indulged in especially in UK. People get into the workforce with expectations of earning some money that can support and sustain them. Although minimum wage rates were initially meant for teenagers who offered simple services for low payments, the poor wages have progressed up to today. In 2011, approximately four million American workers sweated for less than seven dollars an hour (Risher, 2013:7). This shocking statistics has brought up several arguments about whether the governments should consider raising the compensation a little bit higher so that citizens working in the ‘employed’ sectors can take home some wages that are worth their toils. Thesis Statement: Increasing minimum wage will bring many benefits not onl y to workers but also to the whole economy. Marx (2007:21) describes minimum wage as the lowest compensation that a labourer gets from their employer on hourly, daily or weekly basis for their informal services that they offer. Wages are compensations paid to unskilled labourers for the manual labour that they offer to their employers. For example, a nanny who baby sits a child when the parents are away can be paid daily once they are done with their jobs. The amount paid may be calculated based on the number of hours that they took with the baby and offered their services. In most states ad nations, there clearly stipulated guidelines that safeguards the lowest compensations that a worker can get. For example in the UK, anyone who is above 21 years is supposed to be paid a minimum wage of  £6.5 (As of 2014 official rates). Other countries also have their limited wages that the employers cannot go below. In a nutshell,

Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Music - Essay Example Moreover, it should be of very high popularity among listeners and performed by various artists over the years. Race music refers to all recordings produced and performed by African American musicians for African American spectators while hillbilly is an old-time music presented by and for southern whites (Starr and Waterman 109). According to them, both terms are used to distinguish and promote music of the south. These are used by the music industry to provide â€Å"racially segregated markets† because racial isolation was still not considered to be illegal during 1954 in United States (Frith, Straw and Street 259). Race records and hillbilly both incorporated popular music in their respective genre. Music was even used to separate the whites from the black. Although some would take it negatively, the blacks used the term race to refer to the African-American people. Twelve-bar blues progression is a very common form of blues. It is a twelve-measure long. It is a standard rhythm with three four-measure segments (Vincent). This progression uses three cords: â€Å"the Tonic (I), Dominant (V) and Subdominant (IV)† (Bennett-Lovsey n. pag.). It commonly has a three-line pattern of lyrics, the AAB pattern, with first two lines repeated or almost the same, and the other one is a response to the previous lines. Austin defined big band as a musical group presenting and performing jazz, which came out to be famous from 1930s to 1940s. It normally has brass, woodwind, and rhythm instruments with almost twenty-five musicians. The rhythm section of the big band is composed of keyboards or piano, synth, guitar, bass, and drums. Often times, percussion instruments are also added such as tumbadora or congas and bongo drum or a pair of smaller and larger Afro-Cuban drums, guiros, and vibraphone (Austin). Austin further added that rhythm section serves as the band’s stimulus and is very important to the band and to

International NGO's and Measurement of Impacts Research Paper

International NGO's and Measurement of Impacts - Research Paper Example Many of international NGOs are charitable and development oriented. Therefore, NGO is distinct entities with many special requirements and needs that differentiate them from profit-making organizations. Most of the support of NGOs comes from individuals willing to commit their energy and time to make difference in communities (Lewis, 2006). This implies that Non- Governmental Organizations are heterogeneous in their nature.  Ã‚   Many of major international Non-governmental organizations work within main international organizations in Geneva. Geneva serves as headquarters of major international Non-governmental Organizations. Many international organizations work across fields such as trade and development, environment, education, health, and human rights. Management of international organizations is independent of any form of government (Lewis, 2010). NGOs are not part of the government and therefore not conventional to for profit making. The mandate of a non-governmental organization is to drive development that transforms societies and nations all over the world. Non-governmental Organization requires sound management in order to carry its activities in the most efficient way. Non-governmental Organizations are privately set up with sufficient autonomous in their activities. To get its activities done, international NGOs have sound management through the creation of Boards. The board of international Non-governmental Organizations comprises of leaders who have similar interests in terms of developments. To increase effectiveness and productivity, Non-governmental Organizations strives to bring together leaders and organizations to the board. The principal aim of these organizations is to build capacity through training and develop governance and management tools.  Ã‚  

UK's Court's Equitable Jurisdiction in Inheritance Tax Matters Essay

UK's Court's Equitable Jurisdiction in Inheritance Tax Matters - Essay Example Since the medieval period, the equity principles in UK have emerged poignantly through the process of chains of various forms of the writ, conceived by the Lords Chancellor. UK courts have applied equitable jurisdiction through the forms of rescission, injunctions, specific performance and through rectification or reversion. An equitable remedy can be explained as a relief or remedy by recognising a loss suffered by an infringement of duty and demanding the fiduciary to make an order for compensation for the loss suffered as held in Target Holdings v Redferns. The court can order to pay monetary damages which are known as â€Å"equitable compensation.† The fundamental principle of the equitable jurisdiction is the concept that it functions or acts in personam. The meaning of in personam can be explained how the Court of Equity is more worried to stop any given individual from functioning unconscionably. Thus, a Court of Equity is therefore giving a verdict, footed on the verac ity of the facts unreasonably or not knowingly. If the defendant does not stop or carryout the court orders, then such person would be held as committed a contempt of court. In East v Pantiles Plant Hire Ltd , the court was asked to consider the background on which reversion or overhaul can be ordered as regards to a deed. In this case, Brightman J observed it is obvious on the officials that an error in a written deed, could, in some scenarios, be ordered to be corrected as an issue of drafting without applying for an order from a court for an order of rectification. To be eligible under this rule, it is necessary to fulfil the following two stipulations namely there should be an apparent and obvious error on the face of the deed, and it must be obvious what rectification has to be made so as to rectify the error. As a matter of construction, if the above two conditions are fulfilled, then such rectification is made. (Marshall2007: 90). Mistake of Fact In â€Å"Ogden, v Trustees of the RHS Griffiths 2003 Settlement†3, the trustees were delegated with revisionary interests in certain shares by the deceased grantor. When executing the deed, the gra ntor was of the opinion that his health was good and hence, he had a reasonable opportunity for living for at least seven years. As under Inheritance Tax Act 1984, if a gift is made, the grantor should live at least for seven years from the date of granting the gift. It is to be noted that after the expiry of seven years, there will be no inheritance tax on the assets so gifted to family members. However, Griffith was actually diagnosed with lung cancer and died after one year after the execution of the gift. Executors contended that a mistake was committed by the deceased in assessing his state of health and prayed for equity intervention. Agreeing with the executors, Lewison J set aside the transfer or gift under the mistake of fact. (Hacker 2008:117). Griffith’s case has permitted tax payers in UK as part of their tax planning to have just and to annul gifts they have made under the mistake of facts. As per s 3A of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, if a grantor lives for seven years immediately after executing a gift to somebody, there

Letter of Advice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Letter of Advice - Essay Example Good communication tips are indispensible in constructive relationships (Allen, 2002). Proper communication skills enable one in effectively conveying one’s feelings, thoughts and information that are crucial for building an interpersonal experience. It is important to note of the barriers that hinder effective communication and relationships. Most barriers in communication stem from self-protection. However, there are unavoidable circumstances, especially, if partners come from backgrounds that possess disparity (Wood, 2012). The intensity of the situation regards the level of disparity. The crucial thing for partners is that they realize these differences. In turn, they should be aware of how the same affects their communication. Individuals possess fears and insecurities that hinder one from wholly experiencing the benefits of a relationship. The light thing about these fears is that people learn about the same. This comes from the fact that partners may fear judgment from the same. Besides, they fear ridicule and appearing stupid in front of partners. This fear is coupled comes with the view that someone is sensitive of being overpowered. In this sense, fear impairs communication in notable ways. To begin with, a partner would not communicate true thoughts because one preempts what the other partner would like. This creates a situation where an individual stifles one’s emotions and thoughts. ... It articulates as a case of personal insulation. Insensitivity expresses in notable ways. For instance, it comes as a method of diverting others’ concerns. In typical instances, one would turn a mutual conversation towards oneself. It deviates from the person who engages in talking. This occurs when a partner does not have proper listening skills. In certain instances, it comes as a method of attracting attention to oneself. Besides, a partner may experience discomfort out of a conversation. A prominent scenario in such situation regards the fact that partners might not be aware of the same. Additionally, assumptions can be momentous barriers to effective communication. In such instances, information that is sent articulates in a different way for the receiver. This creates misunderstanding that hampers the whole relationship. A typical example regards utilizing signs in communication with the belief that the other partner would understand. Furthermore, labeling and judging ma kes a significant obstacle to communication. In many communication instances, a partner gains control of situations by name-calling. On the other end, judging may consist of praising. Both of the situations do not create adequate scenarios for objective interpretation and response to messages. In terms of listening, it is essential for partners to realize that the same goes beyond hearing. In this sense, partners should involve ears, hearts and minds. Partners must be ready to exert efforts in listening. The first step is mindfulness in the same. It involves full presence in communication. This involves striving to understand the other person without imposing one’s thoughts, ideas and feelings (Wood, 2012). Mindful listening involves adopting the perspective of another