Causes of the Arab-Israeli Conflict Essay Example for Free

Causes of the Arab-Israeli Conflict Essay The origins of the conflict between Arabs and Israelis lie deeply in religious and historical times. The aftermath of World War Two instigated the rise of Zionism and Arab nationalism, escalating the religious and cultural differences between the two nationalities. Foreign interference from western nations negatively intervened in the tensions between Arabs and Israelis. The decline of the Ottoman Empire gave opportunities for Britain to impose the Mandate System which increased hostilities between Arabs, Israelis and the Western world. Conflict between the Arabs and the Israelis were mainly due to the rise of Zionism and Arab Nationalism. Following the Holocaust and other events in WWII, Jewish people were even more displaced and were encouraged by Herzl and Weizmann’s Zionist movement to migrate back to the homeland, modern day Palestine. This was perceived by the Arab inhabitants as an invasion. The Jewish brought with them international expertise to boost the economy, dominating the finance and agricultural industries. Arabs reacted with violence, attacking Jewish settlements of Tel Aviv and Haifa in 1920. The Jews in response created the Haganah, the Jewish Defence Force dedicated to maintaining the security of the settlements. Another factor was the shared religious interest in Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock, which is a central focal point in the conflict over borders. The Arabs mobilised very slowly but eventually the Arab Nationalism movement was founded, their aim to establish Arab rule in the Middle East, directly contrasting with Zionism thus inevitably leading to conflict. Their strong religious and cultural differences were crucial to the Arab-Israeli conflict. International interest in the nature of the Arab-Israeli relationship was counterproductive to reconciling the differences between the two ethnicities. Early attempts by interested parties to make agreements ended in failure and abandonment due to contradictory and inconsistent promises. The Hussein-McMahon Correspondence of 1915 was a series of a letters between the Arabs and the British. The correspondence promised British support for an Arab independence if the Arabs revolted against the Ottoman Empire family. This alliance however, was juxtaposed by the next agreement, the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. Made between Britain, France and Russia, it discussed the division of the Middle  East with Arabia as an independent state while Palestine would be jointly ruled by the three co-conspirators. The revelation reinforced the determination of the Arabs to be independent. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 complicated the situation further since it appeared to be promising the establishment of a Jewish National State in a letter between the British and the Jewish. The UN Partition Plan in 1947 gave the opportunity for Zionist leader Ben Gurion to declare the establishment of the State of Israel and was the catalyst for the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, one of many violent conflicts that would perpetuate as the conflict continued to be unresolved. The uncoordinated, duplicitous and irrational efforts by the western world to intervene in the Arab-Israeli conflict were weaknesses clearly thought to be necessary and instead increased the tensions between the two nations. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire left the fate of the Middle East to the League of Nations. They implemented the Mandate System, a form of governance designed to assist the fractured Arab community to establish independence by administering regions until they were ready for self-governance. However, their ulterior motives to maintain access to key resources in the area, mostly oil deposits and the Suez Canal prevented both Arab nationalist and Zionist aims. The actions of these nations were detrimental to the relations between Arabs and Israelis and contributed to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The major causes of the Arab-Israeli conflict were foreign interference, nationalism and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. These factors were critical to the development and escalation of hostilities between the two nations torn over one land.

Effectiveness Of Information Technology On Supply Chain Management

Effectiveness Of Information Technology On Supply Chain Management Supply Chain Management is the concept known as the management of the materials and the information across all the partners within an industry including customers customers and suppliers suppliers. Supply Chain Management introduces the initiatives for competitive advantages to companies and it reinforces the use of technology for more accurate and faster communication among supply chain partners. The field of supply chain management has become tremendously important to companies in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. The term supply chain refers to the entire network of companies that work together to design, produce, deliver, and service products ( Hausman, 2001) Generally speaking, the supply chain is the sequence of enterprises from suppliers to end customers. The National Research Council refers to it is an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..association of customers and suppliers who, working together yet in their own best interest, buy, convert, distribute and sell goods and services among themselves resulting in the creation of a specific end product ( National Resource Council, 2000) According to the Mentzer Supply chain management is defined as the systemic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain, for the purposes of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and the supply chain as a whole. (Mentzer et al.,2001 in www.emeraldinsight.com) Companies cannot work for themselves and are hence automatically part of at least one supply chain. The key participants are the manufacturers and their respective suppliers that collaborate to create and support the end-product as well as the customers that purchase the latter. A typical supply chain comprises the following layers.( Werner, 2002) Primary producer Multiple tiers suppliers Ones own company Intermediary trade in the form of wholesale and retail End-users A supply chain is the process of moving goods from the customer order through the raw materials stage, supply, production, and distribution of products to the customer. All organisation have supply chains of varying degrees, depending upon the size of the organisation and the type of product manufactured. These networks obtain supplies and components, change these materials into finished products and then distribute them to the customer. Managing the chain of events in this process is what is known as supply chain management. ( Ligus, 1999) The bullwhip effect is a major cause of supply chains problems. It describes how small fluctuations in demand at the customer level are amplified as orders pass up the supply chain through distributors, manufacturer, and suppliers. As an example consider disposable diapers. Babies generally consume diapers at a more or less consistent rate when aggregated over a large group of customers. Nevertheless, order fluctuations invariably become considerably larger as one moves upstream in this supply chain. Consequences of the bullwhip effect can be severe, including excess and fluctuating inventories, shortages and stock outs, longer lead times, higher transportation and manufacturing costs, and mistrust between supply chain partners.(Fisher, 1997) The Supply Chain Operation Model (SCOR) was designed to enable companies to communicate, compare and learn from competitors both within and outside of their industry. It only measures supply chain performance but also effectiveness of supply chain reengineering. Further it has the ability to test and plan future process improvements. The SCOR is a process reference model. Process reference models integrate the well-known concepts of business process reengineering, benchmarking, and process measurement into a cross functional framework( SCC,2001) The evaluation of supply chain management information technology enables companies to integrate activities and organisations that were previously separate. Inside a larger organisation the key element for forging new efficient processes is sharing data between functions in real time. The objective is to eliminate administrative tasks that were develop when information could only be shared by sending documents between these areas. ( Eloranta, E Holmstrom, J et al., 2001) Information technologies are no longer considered as nice to have instead it is believed that is a must. Whoever uses the information technologies effectively in managing his business will have more chance to succeed in todays world. Capturing the necessary data is one part of the race but filtering and changing the data into information effectively is the most important concept. Companies produce vast amounts of data everyday but they require advance tools to manipulate the data to reach the informative data which helps to manage their business. The purpose of this research is to introduce the supply chain management concept and initiatives; and point the information technologies used in this area to achieve the expected benefits from the management of a supply chain. It emphasis how information technologies effect supply chain management and how can it be used to manage the supply chain more effectively. In this piece of work, the basics of Supply chain management and the initiatives of the supply chain management are being described. The effects of information technologies, as the inevitable backbone of the supply chain management, will be explained in detail. 3. Rationale for Chosen Topic: Companies strive to improve market share, grow corporate profit, and gain strategic advantage. In order to achieve these goals, supply chain competency must be placed at the heart of a companys business model. Firms realize that the competition is driven by customer demand. Effective supply chain management can offer customers high quality products and services with low prices. Effective SCM can help lower production and distribution costs through seamless cooperation between business partners in their supply chain. The big retail chains have fought to a standstill in price wars over the last decade. Now they are realising that the lending edge IT is an invaluable weapon in the battle for market share ( Masters) 4. Research Questions: Formulating a series of questions adds clarity to the research process. Therefore, the fundamental questions for the proposed research topic are: What are the benefits of IT on management of supply chain? What are the effects of IT system on supply chain management? What are the benefits of vendor managed inventory in supply chain management? 5. Research Objectives: The research objectives explain the purpose of the research and define standards for what the researcher is going to do. The objectives specify the information needed to accomplish the research process. The aim of this research is to gain a better understanding of supply chain management and how affect IT on management of Supply Chain by analyzing the vendor managed inventory (VMI). This VMI concept will be introduced and its benefits to supply chain management 6. Literature Review: Information is crucial to supply chain performance because it provides the foundation on which supply chain processes execute transactions and managers make decisions. Without information, a manager will not know what customer want, how much inventory in stock, and when more products should be produced and shipped. In short, without information a manager can only make a decision blindly. Therefore, information makes the supply chain visible to a manager. Given the role of information in a supply chains success, managers must understand how information is gathered and analysed. This is where IT comes into play. IT consists of the hardware and software throughout a supply chain that gathers, analyses, and acts on information. It serves as the eyes and ears of management in a supply chain, capturing and analysing the information necessary to make a good decision. Using IT systems to capture and analyse information can have a significant impact on a firms performance. For example, a major manufacturer of computer work-stations and serves found that much of the information on customer demand was not being used to set production schedules and inventory levels. The manufacturing group lacked this demand information, which forced them to make inventory and production decisions blindly. By installing a supply chain software system, the company was able to gather and analyse data to produce recommended stocking levels. Using the IT system enabled the company to cut its inventory in half because managers could now make decisions based on information rather than educated guesses. Large impacts like this underscore the importance of IT as a driver of supply chain performance. (Chopra, S. and Meindl, P., 2001) An efficient way to improve the effectiveness of SCM is to use Information Technology (IT). IT-solutions improve the integration with other actors in the supply chain and make the business processes more effective. This is done by reorganizing the processes and automating the information-flow between the businesses involved (Wu et al., 2004). Information technology has developed in a very fast pace in the area of supply chain management. This has generated new tools and solutions to handle the information sharing between different actors in supply networks. These types of supply chain technologies are of great current interest which is indicated by a research made by AMR Research Inc. The research indicates that nearly $15 billion been spent on SCM software since 1999 in the US alone (Ruppel, 2004). The most typical role of IT in SCM is reducing the friction in transaction between supply chains partners through cost-effective information flow. Conversely, IT is more importantly viewed to have a role in supporting the collaboration and coordination of supply chains through information sharing. Present IT as one of the key cures for bullwhip effect in supply chains. IT can be used for decision support. In this instance the analytical power of computers is used to provide assistance to managerial decisions. (www.emeraldinsight.com) Supply chain management is a vital part of the search for competitive advantage, today there is a wide range of software technologies that help to provide lean and efficient supply chains. All of which enable data, which might previously have been seen half way around the world by mail, to be delivered almost instantly with little cost or effort. (Johannson, M., 2003) A fast development of information technology has given the information flow within the supply chain a more central role than before. IT is a very important component within supply chain management and the development of IT has created many new opportunities for managing the supply chain. (Paulsson, U., Nilsson, C-H., Tryggestad, K., 2000) The internet is seen as the next big supply chain opportunity as it has gained increased reliability and security over recent years. As businesses have gained experience of this technology they are now able to take full advantage of sales automation through the internet. (Johannson, M., 2003) The supply chain absorbs as much as 60 to 80 percent of a sales dollar. Therefore it is of great importance to evaluate and analyze how the supply chain activities can be done more efficiently. This thesis focuses towards these types of activities, when a real-time IT-Logistics solution is implemented within the supply chain. This is done by many companies and the supply chain is becoming more and more essential to the firms competitive strategy. (Ballou, R. H., 2004) Information Technology (IT) is playing an increasingly critical role in the success or failure of the supply chain. IT ranks highly as the essential ingredient and backbone for the success of supply chain integration.(Barut, M., Faisst, W., and Kanet, J.J., 2002). IT has become one of the keys to operating success. It is impossible to achieve an effective supply chain without IT. Since suppliers are located all over the world, it is essential to integrate the activities both inside and outside of an organization. This requires an integrated information system (IS) for sharing information on various value-adding activities along the supply chain. (Gunasekaran, A. and Ngai, E.W.T., 2004) As customer demand steadily increases the importance of the application of information technology became clear, However success is not guaranteed by the technology itself, but by its application. (Eloranta, E Holmstrom, J., 2001) Over time, there have been numerous initiatives that have attempted to create efficiency and effectiveness through integration of supply chain activities and process. They have been identified by names such as quick response, electronic data interchange ( EDI), short cycle manufacturing, vendor-manage inventory (VMI), continuous-replenishment planning ( CRP), and efficient consumer response (ECR). (Coyle, J.J, Bardi, E.J., Langley, C.J., 2003) Electronic Data interchange ( EDI) allows companies to place instantaneous, paperless purchase orders with suppliers. EDI is not only efficient, but it also decreases the time needed to get products to customers as transaction can occur more quickly and accurately than when they are paper based. (Chopra, S. and Meindl, P., 2001) Prior to installing EDI many retail outlets would place orders for goods during stock out situations. For manufacturers this meant unpredictable peaks and falls in the order process, therefore making it difficult to establish a manufacturing cycle for their products. Retailers would stock up at the beginning of the season and face increasing stockholding costs plus the risk of having to mark down products at the end of the season to make way for new products. (Stafford, J., 1997) Continuous Replenishment Program (CRP) is an efficient replenishment concept within the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) arena. It focuses on improving the flow of products in the supply chain, both forward to the customer and eventually the end customer, and backward to the supplier.(Ahlerup, T., 2001) Vendor manage inventory process can be defined as A mechanism where the supplier creates the purchase orders based on the demand information exchanged by the retailer/ customer To say this is a simple terms, VMI is a backward replenishment model where the supplier does the demand creation and demand fulfilment. In this model, instead of the customer managing his inventory and deciding how much to fulfil and when, the supplier does. The Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) concept is one type of joint chain scheduling which takes care of the customers demand. This leads to increased flexibility for the supplier and efficient replenishment for the customer. (Vollmann, T. E., et al 2005) In order to make this work, it is necessary to have compatible systems that can support several standards of information flows from different actors. According to Vollmann this can be done through an open IT-architecture with a common platform for all actors within the network. VMI also helps by conveying customer demand data to the manufacturer, who can then plan production accordingly. This helps improve manufacturer forecasts and better match manufacturer production with customer demand. (Chopra, S. and Meindl, P., 2001) Vendor managed inventory (VMI) is a technique that allows suppliers to be empowered by managing inventories of agreed-upon items. VMI is now a widely practiced initiative in the retail industry. For example, Procter and Gamble (PG) and Wal-Mart have developed well-functioned VMI systems. A Web-based VMI system, in which the suppliers monitor inventory information via the Internet and replenish the items according to a predetermined contract, will improve customer service, reduce inventory buffers, reduce administrative costs, and reduce uncertainty for the supplier. The literature review identifies that IT is expected to have a pivotal role in managing supply chains, now and in the future. In fact it seems that the use of IT is crucial, especially in fast-moving industries, and particularly for managing contemporary supply networks. Moreover, the close relationship of the concept of SCM and IT sometimes makes it hard to assess which one contributes benefits. For example implementing a VMI model with EDI information transmission can lead to substantial reduction of inventories and at the same time increase material availability. 7. Research Methodology: The research design phase starts with the election of research methodology for the proposed study. The objectives of the study, the availability of information, cost of obtaining data, and appropriateness of the topic determines the research methodology used for the study. As the research is exploratory in nature, Qualitative research will be deemed more appropriate by choosing a case study, exploration of question of what the benefits of IT in SCM are. For the purpose of this investigation many different forms of primary research will be gathered by doing email and telephone interview. The goal is to understand the current state of IT implementations in SCM and what practical benefit they have recognised in SCM. Through the gathering of this primary research the information is mainly qualitative, this type of research does not involve numbers and figures or analysis of part performance but rather finding out peoples opinions and feelings, this type research also becomes increasingly important as a way of trying to predict further into the future. ( Dooley, D. Dransfield, et.al.1999) I will also use secondary data from the previous researcher, surveys and some contemporary issues. Secondary information will be used as a starting point for the further primary research, therefore it will be used in a majority of the research, this is due to the limitation of primary research and there is also a great deal of valuable information available through secondary research that the researcher fell need to be included, as it provides a good foundation for which to compare primary information and will therefore ensure validity. 8. Data Collection Methods: The data collection or gathering process is the stage in which the researcher collects data about the proposed topic. In this study, primary and secondary data collection method will be used to identify the nature of the problem. The articles from the business journals, the business books and other publicized material will be investigated to present the ideas of different academics on the issue of managing strategic change. Their findings on the issue will be included and research process and the comparison of opposite ideas will be based on the ideas of these academics. Athens Online Journals, University Libraries, Barnet Libraries, City Business Library , and British Library will be used to collect the required articles and books for the investigation. 9. Data Analysis: This is the stage where the researcher accomplishes several procedures to transform the data into useful information which helps answering the management problem and phenomenon. The proposed data analysis approach is qualitative data analysis method for this research. Data obtained through email surveys and telephone interview, various text books, journals and articles will be critically analysed by using a structured and systematic approach. The first aim here is to approach to the concept systematically and rigorously by doing so. The second aim is to establish a relationship between different ideas and structure them to reach to a conclusion. 10. Resource Requirements: The library facilities will be helpful to find sources such as published copies, course books, journals and samples. Internet is the most powerful source to gather information about companies, published copies, journals, samples, literature and secondary data. The other researches about the same subjects will be obtained through Internet websites and library.

The Media Influence on Public Perceptions of Crime

The Media Influence on Public Perceptions of Crime Introduction The publics knowledge of crime is primarily derived from its depiction in the media. The media affects the publics opinion of crime and punishment, and its perception of the police. If the media is responsible for the headlines, the conclusion is that it influences the publics attitude regarding crime incidents. (Muraskin and Domash 2007). Crime stories are covered extensively by the print-based media seemingly because they help to sell newspapers. Stories are often sensationalised with the intent to make attention-grabbing headlines that do not always represent the true facts; but do these articles play a part in needlessly fuelling the publics fear of crime? This dissertation will attempt to answer this question by conducting primary research in the suburban village of Stannington in Sheffield. Aims/Objectives/Hypothesis The objective of this research is to analyse the relationship between crime and the media, more specifically fear of crime levels and print-based media articles. Due to the geographic location in which the research will be conducted, two specific crime types have been chosen; personal crimes such as burglary and theft and community-based crimes such as vandalism and anti-social behaviour. These crime types were chosen as a result of the suburban area in which the study will be conducted. These crimes are those which are more likely to be of a concern to the respondents of the study and are therefore more suitable for this particular piece of research if I wish to collect an accurate data set. More serious crimes like rape, murder and assault are less likely to occur on a private, middle class housing estate and thus these crime types would probably not be a major concern to residents living in the area. Prior to conducting any research; the hypothesis chosen which predicts the outcom e of the research is that respondents who are female and who read print-based media more frequently will have an increased fear of crime in comparison to males who dont read print-based media articles. Literature Review Fear of crime Garofalo (1981:840) defined fear of crime as an emotional reaction characterized by a sense of danger and anxiety produced by the threat of physical harm elicited by perceived cues in the environment that relate to some aspect of crime. The definition of fear of crime can vary depending on the individual and their own personal experiences of crime; and this is in fact similar to how people have differing levels of fear. An individuals level of fear could be influenced by several factors. Personal experience of crime is one of many factors which can significantly increase the level of fear which a person has, with the fear of repeat victimisation a key issue in this. Balkin (1979) and Hough (1985) argue that a commonly accepted belief is that people who have been victimised, particularly in their neighbourhood, or who know others who have been similarly victimised, will tend to be more afraid. Similarly, a report published by the Beth Johnson foundation in 2006 looked at the fear of c rime in people over the age of 50. It found that several respondents who had been mugged and/or burgled had a particularly high level of fear of crime as a result of their previous experiences. This publication shows many interesting opinions of the elderly, however it does not take into account the opinions of a larger demographic of people with varying ages. As a result it allows an opportunity to conduct research on a broader scale to investigate fear of crime from people of all ages. Jewkes (2010:155) acknowledges that victims of crime will probably become more fearful about the likelihood of future victimization as a result of their experiences, however many more individuals will experience fear as a result of indirect contact with crime. Fear of crime has become a major social problem and although some of this fear can be accounted for by the actual amount of criminal activity, particularly in the neighbourhood (Kinsey et al.1986). People may come to be fearful of criminal victimisation because they perceive their immediate environment to be threatening, thus noisy neighbours, teenagers hanging around street corners and flats with broken windows may all signify to some individuals that their neighbourhood is threatening (Baumer 1985; Hunter and Baumer 1982), however much of it is caused by other subjective/perceptual and social structural factors. A substantial amount of research has already identified several factors which appear to make a contribution to fear. Box, Hale and Andrews (1988: 341) classify these under the following headings: vulnerability, environmental clues and conditions, personal knowledge of crime and victimisation, confidence in the police and criminal justice systems, perceptions of personal ris k, and seriousness of various offences. The research for this piece of work will be carried out by households in close proximity to each other; consequently the environmental conditions should be very similar for each respondent. However other factors, in particular vulnerably; personal knowledge of crime; and confidence in the police and criminal justice system should be different for every respondent. As a result, the findings of the research should be particularly diverse. In terms of fear of crime, the British Crime Survey offers an in depth insight into the British publics perception of crime, in comparison to actual crime statistics. The BCS is a face-to-face victimisation survey in which people inhabiting households in England and Wales are asked about their experiences of crime in the 12 months prior to interview. The 2009/10 BCS shows that a large proportion of people (sixty six per cent) believe crime has risen across the country as a whole in the last few years. There has been a large majority of respondents who think crime has risen at a national level since the questions were first included in 1996. Statistics provided by the Home Office (2010) show an actual decrease in a large number of crimes between 2002 and 2010. The total of sexual offences, robbery, burglary, fraud, drug offences, and the total of all recorded crime have decreased every year for the past 8 years. These figures would suggest that the publics fear of crime is unjust base d on the number of crimes which have fallen throughout Britain in recent years. It would appear that the publics perception of these high crime levels is influenced by more than just official statistics released by the Home Office, the most obvious contributor to this fear of crime being the media. Fear of crime and the media It is often argued that the media exaggerate the extent of crime in Britain. This includes newspapers, news and entertainment on television and radio, as well as crime fiction (Greer,2005). These exaggerations of crime stories which are in the public eye daily can have a substantial impact upon the publics perception of crime, but more significantly their fear of it. As previously mentioned, personal experiences of crime can often result in victims becoming increasingly fearful of being victimised; while accounts of crime from family, friends and neighbours may also have this effect. However as previous research has discovered; the most influential source to fuel fear of crime is usually the media. As Jewkes (2010) states numerous writers have examined the proposition that the media present crime stories (both factual and fictional) in ways which selectively distort and manipulate public perceptions, creating a false picture of crime which promotes stereotyping, bias, prejudice and g ross oversimplification of the facts. Their conclusion is that it is not just official statistics that misrepresent the picture of crime, but that the media are also guilty of manipulation and fuelling public fears. Roberts and Doob (1986) and Surette (1998) reaffirm this view of crime and the media in their analysis of how influential the media can be. The publics perception of victims, criminals, deviants, and law enforcement officials is largely determined by their portrayal in the mass media. Research indicates that the majority of public knowledge about crime and justice is derived from the media. Western society is fascinated with crime and justice. From films, books, newspapers, magazines, television broadcasts, to everyday conversations, we are constantly engaging in crime talk. In this sense; the mass media play an important role in the construction of criminality and the criminal justice system. Research conducted by Ditton and Duffy (1983) came to a similar conclusion to Jewkes in regards to coverage of crime stories in the media after their analysis of three Scottish newspapers. An analysis of the crime content of the newspapers (in terms of the numbers and page areas of crime reports) was completed and found that six per cent of the news involved crime, with forty five per cent of this being violent or sexual crime. This figure was then compared with actual police statistics which showed just two per cent of crime in the locality to be of a violent and/or sexual nature (Williams and Dickinson 1993:35). As a result of their findings, Ditton and Duffy came to the conclusion that this research exemplifies the level of sensationalism and exaggeration of crime stories which appear throughout print-based media. Consequently, they called for further research to be conducted to determine whether the misrepresentations of crime in newspapers influence the general perceptions of re aders. Despite a large percentage of violent or sexual crimes covered in the newspapers, it is arguable as to weather a percentage of just six out of the total of all articles in them is substantial enough to conclude that print-based media exaggerate and sensationalise as Ditton and Duffy suggested. This research took significant steps to examine the content of crime stories in print-based media and be regarded as a successful study, however it was conducted almost thirty years ago which means in terms of quantity and coverage of crime stories in modern Britain, it is somewhat outdated. In addition; the research fails to determine any links between media coverage and fear of crime, so with this in mind, the study which will be conducted for this piece of work primarily aims to investigate if there is any sort of correlation between print-based media and fear of crime in an attempt to come to a conclusion which Ditton and Duffy were unable to achieve. When the discussion takes place surrounding how influential the media can be on crime levels and fear of crime; the theory of moral panics often surfaces. This model made famous by Stanley Cohen in the 1970s with the publication of Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The creation of Mods and Rockers refers to public and political reactions to minority or marginalized individuals and groups who appear to be some kind of threat to consensual values and interests. (Jewkes 2010:74) By labelling certain groups as deviant; missing out key facts and extensively covering crime stories; the creation of moral panics by the British press has becoming arguably one of the more damaging aspects of crime coverage, causing unnecessary for fear and apprehension amongst the public. These fears when compared to actual crime statistics do appear to be uncalled for, but figures from the British Crime Survey suggest that they are still present in the minds of newspaper readings. The British Crime Survey has been conducted by the Home Office since its introduction in 1982 and from 2001 it has run continuously each year. The survey of around forty thousand adults is conducted to gain an insight into public attitudes to crime as well as other criminal justice issues, with the findings often used to assist the Government in their policy formations (Home Office 2010). The 2003 edition of the BCS was the first to ask respondents directly about their newspaper reading habits. The results showed that attitudes to crime are very much influenced by newspaper reports. Forty three per cent of tabloid readers believed that crime has increased a lot with seventeen per cent also claiming to be very worried by the threat of physical attacks (Guardian 2003). These findings are based on a very large scale with the respondents geographically located across most parts of Britain. They offer an accurate representation of the populations fear of crime and how this is influenced b y newspapers articles, however due to its large scale, a more appropriate approach to use in order to get a localised view on crime would be a study of households in one particular part of a city. This method then allows the researcher to investigate if the immediate area in which the respondent resides is influential in their levels of fear. Several other pieces of research have been carried out to understand fear of crime in both the elderly and in women respectively. A recent Age Concern reported entitled The Fear Factor: Older people and Fear of Street crime reported that forty seven per cent of those over 75 years of age and thirty seven per cent of those over fifty no longer take part in social and community activities after dark because of fear of street crime (Help the Aged 2006). Similarly an article in the Independent (2005) entitled Women and Crime: Fear in Suburbia goes into depth about the fear which single women have about being attacked in their own homes. In this article many women interviewed agreed that the media has a role to play in increasing womens fears despite official Home Office statistics suggesting total recorded crime is down by six per cent year-on-year (Independent 2005). Both pieces of research gain insight into two separate groups of society with valid and reliable data collection, however they fail to make comparisons of fear of crime levels with other groups of people. By conducting research from both men and women of varying ages, this allows for more in depth analysis, where comparisons and correlations can be made between all respondents to determine if age and/or sex are an influential factor in fear of crime levels. There has been extensive criticism of the empirical and theoretical validity of the claims that media images cultivate a misleading view of the world of crime (Howitt 1998; Ditton et al. 2004); and according to several critics, there is still not enough sufficient evidence to suggest that exposure to the media as well as other variables such as class, gender, race, place of residence and actual experience of crime can and do effect an individuals fear of becoming a victim of crime (Reiner 2006). Despite these criticisms; the research carried out for this piece of work will attempt to gather enough evidence to show that the media along with other variables does in fact influence fear of crime. Methodology The data collection method which will be used for this research is a cross-sectional questionnaire consisting of both qualitative and quantitative questions. The questionnaire will be given to twenty four randomly selected respondents living on a housing estate in the semi-rural village of Stannington, in Sheffield. At the last census (2001), the population for Stannington village was listed as 16,600 (www.stannington.org.uk). This number is far too large as it would require a significant amount of questionnaires to be produced which is unrealistic given the resources and time-frame available; therefore a combination of both cluster and systematic sampling will be used to select certain roads and houses within a small geographical location. Kalsbeek (1998) defines cluster sampling as: sampling in which sampling units (that is, households) at some point in the selection process are collections, or clusters, of population elements. For the primary sample group; eight roads on the housi ng estate will be selected as part of the cluster sampling process, then house numbers two; five and eight are to be chosen systematically. This approach eliminates any potential bias, allowing the validity of the research to be increased. Similarly; for the secondary sample group, four roads will be selected with house numbers one and ten chosen to receive the questionnaire if not all twenty four primary respondents decide to complete the questionnaire. In order to be courteous when addressing the respondents, the electoral register will be accessed at the Sheffield Town Hall to gather the names of those chosen to participate in the study. Doing this should allow for the respondents to be contacted formally whilst making it more manageable to record which households responded and those who declined. When the collection of data from the primary sample group commences, personal introductions will be made informing the randomly selected respondents what the research study is for and how they have been chosen. If the respondents then decide to take part in the study they will be given the questionnaire along with a cover sheet, outlining the instructions on how to complete the questionnaire and a brief letter explaining the purpose of the study. If the there is no one in at the chosen addresses; the questionnaire will be posted to the respondents and will be collected a week from that date. The decision to utilise a cross-sectional questionnaire was made because this method allows data to be collected relatively quickly and at a single point in time. These characteristic of data collection are very much suited for this type of research study due to the time and transport limitations which apply. A questionnaire is preferable over other designs such as a longitudinal survey or case study as it lends itself well to quantifiable data, allowing for variations to be established which may appear throughout the different variables. According to Bryman (2008:45) cross sectional studies are very effective in terms of replicability because the researcher can spell out procedures for selecting respondents, designing measures of concepts; administrating research instruments and analysing data. When the questionnaires have been collected from all respondents and the required amount of data has been gathered; it will then be analysed using the data analysis software SPSS. This software allows complex data to be interpreted very easily through the use of bivariate and multivariate crosstabulations as well as frequency tables. This data can then be used to create graphs which allow for patterns of correlation to be identified. SPSS was elected due to its capability to eliminate any issues regarding inter-coder reliability. It also lends itself well to quantitative closed-ended question data (which I intend to collect) because this form of data requires very little coding and can therefore be inputted into the programme with ease. Data Analysis Following the collection of twenty four questionnaire responses; the data was inputted into the SPSS software and the variable values were coded. After compiling frequency tables and crosstabulations it appears that the research has identified some interesting findings, which do not necessarily agree with the original hypothesis stated at the beginning of the study. Table 1 (below) shows how participants responded to the question Do newspapers influence your fear of crime? It appears that only 37.5% of people felt that their fear of being a victim of crime was influenced by newspapers. 50% stated that they werent influenced which is reasonably more than those that answered yes to the question; however it is not significantly high enough to suggest a majority because there were 3 respondents (12.5%) who were undecided. (Table 1) Do newspapers influence your fear of crime? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 9 37.5 37.5 37.5 No 12 50.0 50.0 87.5 Dont know 3 12.5 12.5 100.0 Total 24 100.0 100.0 When the variable of gender is factored into the same question, it appears that men are more influenced by print-based media than women. A crosstabulation of the two variables shows that 6 males in comparison to just 3 females stated that their fear was influenced by newspapers. This figure at first appears to be a surprise when compared to the Independent (2005) article (referred to earlier); which stated that the media has a role to play in increasing fear of crime levels amongst women. However when a crosstabulation was formed which analysed the gender and how often do you read national newspapers? variables; it appears that the male respondents in the study read newspapers more regularly than the females. Table 2 (below) shows that half (6) of all male respondents read a national newspaper once a week in comparison to only 2 female respondents. It also illustrates that all of the male respondents read a newspaper at least once a month in comparison to 5 females who stated that th ey never read a newspaper. (Table 2) How often do you read national newspapers? * Are you male or female? Crosstabulation Are you male or female? Total Male Female How often do you read national newspapers? Every day 2 3 5 Several times a week 2 1 3 Once a week 6 2 8 Once a fortnight 2 0 2 Once a month 0 1 1 Never 0 5 5 Total 12 12 24 With this in mind; the statistics appear to suggest that those who are subject to newspaper articles more frequently appear to be influenced by them more in terms of fear of crime. Lichtenstein et al (1978: 575) state Fear sells. Past research by Ditton and Duffy (1983) amongst others, primarily focused upon newspaper content analysis. Some evidence was found to suggest that certain crime types; in particular violent or sexual crimes appeared continuously throughout newspapers articles. This research along with several other studies has collectively suggested that sensationalism of crime stories does occur in order to sell more copies. The questionnaire given to respondents asked them Do you think newspapers sensationalise crime stories? The pie chart above shows the overwhelming majority (91.7%) of participants felt that sensationalism does occur in British newspapers. This figure is particularly high considering that 5 out of the 24 respondents stated that they didnt read newspapers. In this case the assumption could be made that those who dont read newspapers would not be fully aware of the extent to which sensationalism appears to occur. However this statis tic confirms that this is irrelevant. In a similar manner, many newspapers (and the media in general) have been accused of creating moral panics. These accusations have especially

Whats at Stake in The Graduate :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast

What's at Stake in The Graduate    Every time somebody rents a video or watches a movie on television there is always that little blurb right before they begin viewing about the picture being formatted for the screen. Usually, it is ignored or merely taken as a cue that the film is about to start. That little forewarning actually holds a lot of significance, for when one views a movie in its original, wide screen version, a whole new world opens up. When a movie is altered from its initial state, and cropped in the editing room for home viewing, an overwhelming amount of the film is unsuspectingly missed. This has become extremely obvious when viewing any movie, and in The Graduate a lot of innovative things are adjusted and lost. There are various shots edited, cut off, and many dynamic camera techniques lose their effect when The Graduate is transformed from the intended wide screen version to the formatted television edition. Edits are a very apparent change in The Graduate when one witnesses the wide screen version compared to the cropped format. For example, in one of the beginning scenes, when Mrs. Robinson is asking Ben for a ride home, she casually tosses his keys into the fish tank behind him. In the letter boxed edition, the viewer is able to see her deliberately throw the keys over Ben's shoulder and into the fish tank in one single shot, thereby watching Ben actually follow the arc of the keys' path, and their decent into the water. In the formatted version there is an edit, splitting the two characters into different shots. All the viewer sees is a medium shot of Mrs. Robinson throwing the key, then an immediate medium shot of Ben turning around and then all of a sudden the keys are floating in the tank. The viewer does not see the obvious attempt of the throw, the actual flight of the keys, nor Ben's reaction to it, therefore missing the important effect that reveals Mrs. Robinson's immediate c ontrol over Ben. Another example is in the scene at the Robinson's house, immediately following Mrs. Robinson's seduction as Ben is talking with Mr. Robinson. The two of them are talking in the foreground, when Mrs. Robinson is finally seen descending the stairs. In wide screen, Mrs. Robinson is shot walking in the distance right between Ben and Mr.

Comparison Between the Play and Movie Versions of Death and the Maiden :: English Literature

Comparison Between the Play and Movie Versions of Death and the Maiden There is a significant difference between the play and movie versions of Death and the Maiden. The movie version emphasizes visual and sound effects, while the play highlights the importance of language. The movie version starts by playing a section from Schubert’s quartet Death and the Maiden. After the melodious music, viewers immediately see and hear lightening outside a small house as well as ocean waves clash against rocks. This contrast not only shocks the viewers, it also prepares them for the upcoming â€Å"action† in the movie. However, the play presents a different perspective. There are only two sentences that cover the above scene, â€Å"Sound of the sea. After midnight.† This simple language will generate imaginations inside readers’ mind and let them create their own movies. The movie version adds more stage directions to create an additional dramatic situation. We first saw Paulina cooking in the kitchen while listening to the radio. She then hears from the radio that Gerardo Escobar has been selected to be the head of the commission. She immediately drops the knife and walks out of the kitchen furiously. However, the above situation does not actually exist in the play Death and the Maiden. The play states that Paulina was sitting in a chair drinking before she heard a car stopped in front of her beach house. The movie version gives viewers evidences that Paulina knew Gerardo Escobar and was not happy about him being the head of the commission. The movie also adds a dialogue between Gerardo Escobar and Roberto Miranda. The main focus in the dialogue is the same as the â€Å"monologue† by Gerardo in the play. However, we can learn from the dialogue that a guy named Roberto Miranda helped Gerardo to get home. We can also tell from Paulina’s facial expression that she was shocked to hear Miranda’s voice. I like the added stage directions in the movie because it made me became very curious about what is going to happen next. The play’s beginning was no as interesting as the movie’s. I also liked the acting in the movie.

Promoting good governance makes vigilance awareness Essay

Vigilance makes preparedness to be watchful always and sense the happening around oneself. People always have wrong approach towards vigilance as they perceive vigilance as enquiry, fixing responsibility etc. Vigilance is not investigation but it is prevention. To punish and not to prevent is like pumping the water through a pump without arresting the leakages which result in wastage of water, energy and time. Why do organizations need vigilance:- An organization protects itself from external dangers through creating security and posting manpower to guard against such threats. The role of vigilance is to protect organization from internal dangers which are more serious than external threats. Responsibility of Employees in Vigilance Matters: Vigilance officer should be own officer;All men are vigilance people-raising awareness level. Vigilance very essential ; All officers should work for the same target/goal. Vigilance is not confined to a particular individual or set up. All public servants should be honest. They also have a responsibility towards the nation to help the organization to discharge vigilance functions effectively by bringing to the notice of organization about the activities of dishonest employees. Need for Preventive Vigilance Preventive vigilance plays an important role in strengthening the vigilance set up of any organization. There has been a wide spread realization that punitive vigilance alone cannot be the foundation of an efficient vigilance machinery. In punitive vigilance, the vigilance wing reacts to complaints or information of specific instances of mala fide action, verifies such information and then proceeds against the erring officials. VIGILANCE AND E-GOVERNANCE Vigilance means watchfullness or to bring awareness. Vigilance came into existence mainly for the purpose of fighting corruption. Corruption involves misuse of power , money ,government property etc. Though corruption can’t be brought down to zero level, we can try to bring it as low as possible. This can be ensured by watchfulness, caution and vigilance. Or in other words it can be achieved by E-Governance. Corruption is anti national, anti poor and anti economic development. According to the UNDP Report on Human Development 1999 on South Asia, if the corruption level in India goes down to that of Scandinavian Countries, the GDP will grow by 1.5% and Foreign Direct Investment will go up by 12%. Corruption is anti poor because nearly 30% of the food grains and sugar meant for the public distribution system disappear in the black market. Corruption literally takes away the food from the mouths of the poor people for whom food security by way of the public distribution systems is devised by the government. Corruption is anti national as revealed by the Bombay blasts of 1993 when the customs officials who were bribed permitted the smuggling of the RDX which resulted in the death of 300 people. M/s Transparency International, a Berlin based non-government organisation has ranked India 73 out of 99 countries in the Corruption Perception Index. This refers to the perception of the degree of co rruption as seen by business people, risk analysts and the general public. It ranges from 10 (highly clean) to zero (highly corrupt). Denmark appears at the top of the list with a score of 10 and India figures at 73 with a score of 2.9. Fighting corruption is too important an activity to be left only to the Central Vigilance Commission. The Commission therefore proposes to launch a systematic campaign against corruption by involving all members of the civil society in fighting this social evil. The first step in this campaign is to educate the people about the dangers of corruption and sensitize them about the evil consequences of corruption. Participative Vigilance Definition Participative Vigilance refers to participation of everyone in curbing the corruption. At organization level it refers to participation of all internal and external stakeholders in curbing the corruption. Necessity In recent times many scams such as 2G, COLGATE, Procurement of Tatra Trucks and allocation of defence spectrum by ISRO has rocked the country. The spread and magnitude of the amount involved indicates that the corruption is deeply rooted in our democracy. Widespread corruption cannot be rooted out â€Å"just by 300 people sitting in the CVC but each and every citizen of the country must contribute towards building a TEAM India where T stands for technology and transparency, E for efficiency and empowerment, A for audit trail and accountability and M for metrics measurement and mutual cooperation,† After the move by the Civil Society led by Anna Hazare the awakened citizens might ask from themselves what is it that I can do to check corruption in my country instead of merely expecting that somebody else can do something to check corruption. CVC Approach First time on 31 October -2011 Participative Vigilance was the theme of Vigilance Awareness Week circulated by CVC. The practice of observing the Vigilance Awareness Week was initiated by the CVC in 2000. 31st October was chosen as the commencement date for the Vigilance Awareness Week, because that was the birthday of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who represented the best tradition of integrity in Indian politics. CVC has recently-launched â€Å"Vig-Eye†, a user-friendly platform for citizens to complain against corrupt officials by an SMS, was aimed at participative vigilance and would be able to reach 50 million people in the country. Tools in the hands of citizen to curb Corruption At the individual level, there are adequate resources available for any concerned citizen to play a role in checking corruption. 1. Right to Information Act 2005. 2. Lokpal bill E-Governance is the use of various modern information and communication technologies such as internet, local area networks, mobile phones,etc., by the government to promote democracy and minimize the corruption level. Simply e-governance is electronic management and electronic controllership. Therefore vigilance and e-governance are required for ensuring corruptionless functioning of any private, public or government organisation. In order to achieve this purpose, govenment has implemented various online services under national e-governance plan like property registration, railway reservation, pensions, passport, visa , company affairs, land records, e-courts, etc.Here we will discuss some of the examples and we will see how they are proven to be effective, not only for fighting against corruption but also for improving the efficiency, effectiveness and comfortness of public. Following are the examples of online service under National E-Governance Plan Income Tax A. Central Excise B. Passport/VISA C. Road Transport D. Property Registration E. Pensions F. Gram Panchayats (Rural) G. Agriculture H. Municipalities I. Employment Exchange J. Land Records K. Company Affairs L. Police M. Railway Reservation N. E-Courts Here we will discuss some examples and we will see how they are proven effective tools of vigilance for not only fighting against corruption but also improving effectiveness, efficiency and comfortness of public. Online Delivery of Land Titles in Karnataka, India Previously(i.e. Before the computerization of The Department of Revenue in Karnataka), farmers had to seek out the Village Accountant to get a copy of the Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops (RTC) — a document needed for many tasks such as obtaining bank loans. There were delays and harassment. Bribes had to be paid. Land owners find it difficult to access the Village Accountant, as his duties entail traveling. The time taken by Village Accountants to provide RTCs has ranged from 3 to 30 days depending upon the importance of the record for the farmer and the size of the bribe. A typical bribe for a certificate could range from Rs.100 to Rs.2000. If some details were to be written in an ambiguous fashion, out of selfish motives, the bribe could go up to Rs.10,000. Land records in the custody of Village Accountant were not open for public scrutiny. But Now (i.e. after the computerization of The Department of Revenue in Karnataka) for a fee of Rs.15, a printed copy of the RTC can be obtained online at computerized land record kiosks (Bhoomi centers) in 140 taluk offices. Without delaying and any bribe. The Bhoomi software incorporates the bio-logon metrics system, which authenticates all users of the software using their fingerprint. A log is maintained of all transactions in a session. This makes an officer accountable for his decisions and actions. The government also has plans to web-enable the database to make available to the farmer a copy of the land record locally through an Internet kiosk — although without signature such a copy will only have an informative value. This scheme also useful for preventing lands-scam Due to availability of all the data related to land is at a common server. Computerized Interstate Check Posts in Gujarat Gujarat has an extensive road network, which carries a large volume of commercial traffic. Major highway systems link Dehli to Mumbai and provide the principal link to the Kandla sea port on Gujarat’s west coast. Gujarat’s 10 check posts are positioned at the border with three neighboring Indian states. Nearly 25,000 transport vehicles enter daily through these check posts. Trucking companies want to maximize their earnings from each vehicle. Often this has prompted transporters to load their trucks beyond permissible axle load, creating a serious safety hazard. Previously (i.e. before the computerization), a suspect vehicle is flagged to a stop, and then weighed on a weigh bridge located away from traffic. The legal penalty for overload is Rs 2,000 per ton. However, any fine often has been (illegally) negotiated The problem of corruption was particularly difficult to attack as the corrupt were backed by politicians. In the absence of any systematic inspection of vehicles, the transport companies also adopted various illegal practices. Duplicate copies of a single registration book from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) have been used for many different vehicles, using fake license plates. In the computerized process, all the check posts are monitored at a central location using video cameras installed at every check post cabin. The video camera captures the registration number of all trucks approaching the check post. (There are flood-lights and traffic lights which make the check posts appear like a runway at night.) Software converts the video image of the registration number to a digital form and the details of the truck are accessed from a central data base. An electronic weigh bridge captures the weight and the computer issues a demand note for fine, automatically. Through the use of computers and other electronic devices at 10 remote interstate border check posts in Gujarat, India, a team of savvy public officials have reduced corruption and significantly increased the state’s tax revenue. Online Indian Railway Train Status and reservation System: Before the computerization system it was very difficult to know the availability of seat and getting reservation without paying additional money. Passenger has to pay additional money inside the train also. But after computerization availability of seat are known to all also passenger can himself book ticket online, it reduces the money handling (dealing) in other words we can say its reducing the corruption. Also auto up gradation of passenger tickets increases the revenue to Indian railways and decreases the additional income (bribe) to TTC. Work Progress Monitoring System: This software is intensively used in all type of industry to monitor the work progress of company/ section/ individual. This is not directly relate with money corruption but it is dealing with monitoring corruption which include delaying of projects/works which leads to increase hidden cost of company also leads to inefficient work. Conclusion: Now we can say vigilance and e governance are complementary to each other. To prevent or minimize the corruption we have to have transparent system which can be achieve by deploying E-governance in all sector and everywhere. But the biggest challenge of deploying e-governance is not technology but change management. Change management is important not only in terms of cultural change but also in terms of changing operations and processes workflow that the automated environment will introduce. â€Å"E-governance, however, is not really the use of IT in governance but as a tool to ensure good governance. E-governance does not mean proliferation of computers and accessories; it is basically a political decision which calls for discipline, attitudinal change in officers and employees, and massive government process re-engineering

Worldview Paper for Nursing

Tina Abraham Nyack College Professor Inseon Hwang NUR 301: Christian Nurse Christian Worldview: Christianity vs. Naturalism Introduction A worldview is not determined simply by a single factor, value, belief or view. It can be described as a collection of beliefs a person has about his or her life and the world around. This worldview can include aspects such as a consistent decision making process, an idea of what is right or wrong, and also who or what authority do I respect and follow. This view can modified constantly by factors including experiences that a person might face, a changing environment, and different values.There are many different types of worldviews and perspectives people have about the world that help to shape who they are. In many professions it is critical to have a strong foundation and a firm worldview to help endure everyday battles and difficult situations that may arise. Nurses especially are faced with different and difficult situations almost every day of their working careers. In these situations it is important to have a constant decision making process and a strong belief in what is moral and ethical.I believe that my worldview as a Christian has helped me to make moral and ethical decisions in my life and has shaped my character, and will continue to do so as a nurse. What is a Christian Worldview? I believe Christianity is based on life and teaching of Jesus as presented in Old and New Testament. There are three largest groups of Christianity in the world; they are the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the protestant sect which has many other denominations in it (McCalman 2009). As a young Catholic, I was to memorize many prayers, one being the Apostle Creed.In the creed it is stated that â€Å"Jesus suffered, died and was buried and in the third day He rose again, He will come to judge the living and the dead. † I was taught that He will return to judge and everyone who believes in Him and they will be given eternal life. The spread of Christianity extends from the cities of Hellenized Roman Empire to East Africa and gradually towards the South Asia (Robert 2011). Many Apostles traveled widely and established new communities in many of the major cities and regions throughout. In reality Christianity is an infinite personal God exists.He created everything in the world that we live in now. We know that the universe as we know it has a beginning and will have an end. We are unique creation of God, in Genesis 1:27 it is stated â€Å"so God created man in His own image of God he created him; male and female he created them. † That means we are personal, eternal, spiritual, and biological human beings to God. We learn the truth about God through revelation and having faith in God. We learn the truth about the world he created through the Bible. Christian’s have many moral and ethical values which are objectively expressed of an absolute moral being.Also Christians bel ieve in the Ten Commandments, the holy sacraments and the apostle’s creed, which we learn about moral values. In early Christian belief, Judaism came into existence before Christianity and believed that it was divided into a new religion from Judaism soon after the destruction of the second Temple that happened in the year 70 CE (Schrijvers 2009). In Christian belief, Jesus Christ is the prophesied Messiah in Torah or the Hebrew Bible. The foundations of Christianity and all the chief claims that are accepted by the followers can be seen in the ecumenical creeds (Robert 20110.As a Christian or a follower or any worldview it is important to answer the question â€Å"Who am I? † In my belief and understanding I believe that I was created by God, and from His hands I was given into my mother’s hands. The purpose that I live each day on this earth is to serve God and be a testament of his mercy and grace. The Catholic Churches are headed by bishops in a spiritual un ion with the Pope, and the Bishop of Rome is considered as the center of intellect in terms of faith, morals and cathedral matters (Robbins 2010).As a Christian there are values that I believe and I still hold on to, and will continue to hold onto for years to come. Some small examples include belief against abortion and I also believe that sex before marriage is immoral. I strongly believe in the seven sacraments and I believe that we should always pray for the dead. As a Christian I believe in confession and I strongly believe in the afterlife. As a Christian I have learned to always forgive and forget anyone that has sinned against our God. Along with many other Christians, I live in the world that He created and I am patiently waiting for His second coming.It took me a while to know where I was going with my life and I knew the only way that I could get any answer is through prayer and having faith in my God. As I stand here today I know He has a plan for me and I know that with Him by my side there can be nobody against me as stated in Romans 8:31. Also as a Christian we all have went against God’s commandments and we have allowed sin into our lives. Even though we do wrong and sin on a daily basis, we have learned as Christian’s that we need to fix the problem by be obedient to God’s calling and repent so that we can be saved through this compassion and grace.Every person on this earth has a great purpose they are going to fulfill throughout their life. I believe my purpose here is to serve God for what he is calling me for. It took a while to know that he was calling to me to become a nurse, and every day that goes by I know this is my calling to God, to serve people that are ill. I know that being a nurse sometimes can be difficult but I know that God has anointed me to help the sick and take care of them. I know as a Christian when I die, I will die knowing God and I will die having faith in my God.I am not afraid to die because G od granted me my life and he has all the power in the world to take me one when it my time to go. Where am I going after I die? It is still a mystery to all what will happen when their death day comes. As a Christian growing up, I was always taught that God will take our souls to a place called heaven, where we will have eternal and everlasting life. Morals and Ethical Issues in Everyday Living There have been many experiences in my life that did not along with my morals and ethic decision making.It is important to understand that people have worldviews and because of that they will act differently in a situation. In these situations I believe that I would have acted differently than the other person doing the decision making. A family friend of mine who was married lived with both her parents at home. The husband and wife were happily married and were also bother doctors. The sad part of this story was that the parents were both ill, the mother being terminally ill. Because of the busy lifestyles of the husband and wife, they did not have time to take of the parents nor did they have time for each other at times.They both believed that putting their parents into a nursing home was the right thing to do because they are thinking they can get the care that they need from nurses and someone will always watch the parents. I still remember till this day the look on the mother and father s face when they found out they were going to be living in a nursing home. They were scared because they did not know where they were going and they weren’t as fluent in the English language. As a Christian I could not understand why this was happening because in the Ten Commandments it states to honor thy mother and father.That means you will do every measure to keep them safe in your arms as they did for you. The fact that the mother could not get help from their own children hurts me because they are both in the medical profession. The wife needs to know that she is sendi ng that woman that raised her and took care of her and protected her from any evil to a nursing home where she will not be happy or secure. I believed that the husband and wife needed to make time for their mother because the help that she will get from her own daughter will make her feel much better.The pain that her mother is feeling, the daughter will never understand until the daughter becomes a mother herself. Then I asked myself as I left their house is there really people in the world like this who would be cruel to their parents. I remember visiting their parents in the nursing home, and the mother was getting worse and worse each day. When I asked the nurse how she was feeling the nurse told me that she does not take any of her medication and she does not eat anything. All she does is stay in her room with her husband and talk about how she wants to die. When the nurse told me what was going on it simply broke my heart.The nurse explained to me how she was shocked that thei r daughter would do this to them since they were financially stable and could give great care at home being that they were both doctors. At that point I even thought of taking the parents to my own home. I remember telling her that you need to take your medication and eat food because we do not get to chose when we die because that decision belongs to God. I remember as I was leaving her room, she pulled me and told me that her daughter has not even come to see her once this week or even check up on her and she feels she is not wanted by her daughter.To make her feel better I told her, your daughter will come soon and maybe she is busy but she will be here soon. I wanted to make her feel better before I left the room and I wanted her to have a peaceful heart as she was laying the bed. It is sad to say that week later, her mother had passed away in the nursing home. I believe that it impacted them so much that they thought it was best to take their father home. I was praying often fo r them so that God would give her a change of heart. What is a Naturalistic Worldview? I believe that the daughter in this story takes up a naturalistic worldview.Naturalism is based on science and not on traditional religious principles. In comparison, it is not the exact opposite of Christianity. However, it does not believe that there is a God that made the world. The followers of naturalism believe that the universe is governed by natural laws and that the universe only exists because of these laws. The universe gradually unfolds among itself and is interconnected with our minds and bodies. Everything that happens is an effect of the environment and also is a cause of something else to happen not anything related to God.The naturalist believes that they are a result of a series of unfolding events. They believe that there is no great purpose behind my life. They may also believe that there was no special meaning or a will behind it and that everything that happens in their life is a result of a cause and effect situation (Naturalism 2007)). The naturalist is in a universe that unravels itself. The universe has just developed these highly complex organisms (humans) that have the capability to have feelings of self reflection, suffering, wonder, joy, etc†¦our consciousness and feelings of choice are not intertwined with any supernatural touch (Stanley 2011).Conclusion Through the comparison of the two worldviews I have come to an understanding that our actions and decisions help to tell us as who we are as a person. In the nursing career there will be many times when a person is faced with difficulties in different areas not limited too but including patient care and also with co-workers. During these difficult times in our lives it is important to let God in our lives and let his handle the situation instead of worrying.After writing and brainstorming for the paper, I have come to a stronger understanding that I have a very strong foundation in Christi anity and a strong worldview. I know that through prayer and guidance from God, it will help me in my decision making process. . References (2007, August 31). Naturalism. Electronic Ardell Wellness Report (E-AWR). p. 3. Modernism, Christianity, and Business Ethics: A Worldview Perspective David Kim, Dan Fisher and David McCalman Journal of Business Ethics , Vol. 90, No. 1 (Nov. , 2009), pp. 115-121 Robert, D. L. (2011).Cross-Cultural Friendship in the Creation of Twentieth-Century World Christianity. International Bulletin Of Missionary Research, 35(2), 100-107. Robbins, J. (2010). Anthropology, Pentecostalism, and the New Paul: Conversion, Event, and Social Transformation. South Atlantic Quarterly, 109(4), 633-652. Schrijvers, J. (2009). What Comes after Christianity? Jean-Luc Nancy's Deconstruction of Christianity. Research In Phenomenology, 39(2), 266-291. Stanley, M. (2011). THE UNIFORMITY OF NATURAL LAWS IN VICTORIAN BRITAIN: NATURALISM, THEISM, AND SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE. Zygon: Journal Of Religion ; Science, 46(3), 536-560.