Thursday, October 31, 2019

Elder Ause and Mistreatment Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Elder Ause and Mistreatment - Research Proposal Example The last part of the paper covers standards of the research method and some aspects of the elder abuse and mistreatment in the modern society. Organization of the research under NASW standards also is very important. Elder abuse and mistreatment is a many-sided social problem in the modern society, as it touches such spheres as health care, social services rendering, socio-economic protection and observance of human rights. The elderly are the most vulnerable social group due to their age, low capacity for work and competitiveness on the labor market or serious illnesses. During the previous century level of their social protection has been increasing owing to approval of international social standards and signing of international conventions. Social workers should not only prevent development of these phenomena, but consider them from scientific point of view. Efficient counter-measures should be taken to identify reasons and sources of the abuse of this social group. A developed hypothesis relates to interrelationship of level of social and law knowledge of the elderly and prevention of abuse/mistreatment. This problem has been previously examined by Aurora Salamone, Marion Brickner, Luciana Oginoni and others. For example, Silvernet Study focused upon the elderly mistreatment in the home care programs and their fallacious behavioral patterns. Nikki DiFranks discovered the issue under dissection through the prism of Code of Ethics and social workers’ competency. The proposed research will aim to identify interdependence between social workers’ competency and abuse and mistreatment of the elderly. Research Proposal Question: Do attitudes toward reporting elder abuse negatively effect the likelihood of repor ting elder abuse? Hypothesis: The attitudes toward reporting elderly abuse negatively effect the likelihood of reporting elder abuse. Code of Ethics (NASW) is a basic source of regulation

Monday, October 28, 2019

The Impact Of Global Climate Change On The U.S Market Essay Example for Free

The Impact Of Global Climate Change On The U.S Market Essay â€Å"In the history of science, no subject has been as meticulously reviewed and debated as global warming† (Weart, Spencer cited in Doughton, Sandi 2005). Yes, it is true that climate change, commonly referred to in literatures as Global Warming has grown from an environmental issue, to moral and ethical one. Today, with the debate over the issue is continuously being placed on headlines in broadcast and print media, climate change heats up to a serious political issue and then as an inevitable economic issue. Due to economic considerations, the United States, with President Bush refused to sign in the Kyoto Treaty which compels signatory countries to reduce carbon dioxide emission. For Bush, to sign in the treaty would mean compromising the United States economy due to the fact that the compliance requirements will be too expensive and that it would â€Å"hobble the economy† (Lynch, David 2006). Europe and Japan have already adopted the Kyoto Treaty in 1997. Despite Bush’ stand on the issue of global warming, economists and business analysts have positively pointed to the benefits of climate change to the world’s economy and indeed agreed that climate change has indeed provided a sound business opportunity for specific industries. Lynch, in the March 31, 2006 online issue of the USA Today, has cited several companies that recognized the business opportunity offered by the issue on global warming. Planktos is a small Silicon Valley company developed a business idea of selling its carbon-eating phytoplankton to countries in Europe which have plans of cutting down the carbon-dioxide emission. In 2005, the company had initially made a sale of $1.3 million to Solar Energy Ltd., based in Vancouver despite the fact that the product was still at the testing stage (Taylor, Chris, 2006). Another well-established company, the General Electric Company, has also recognized the huge business opportunity for signing up in the Kyoto Treaty. GE adopted a project called â€Å"Ecomagination Initiative† which focused on developing and producing environment-friendly technologies that it sees will make a sound market share for them. As early as 1988, DuPont started to stop making use of chlorofluorocarbons in their products and had reduced its carbon dioxide emission by 72% by the year 2003. What started as an effort to address our carbon footprint has turned out to be financially a very good thing (Fisher, Linda cited in Lynch, David 2006). One more thing that has improved in today’s view of climate change is that more and more private companies have recognized the truth of global warming and that there really is the need to take action at the most immediate time possible. Lynch reported that there are already forty companies who are joining business council organized by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, among them are IBM, Whirlpool, John Hancock and Boeing. These companies did not seem to make a significant appeal to the United States economy which currently has not so far started taking economic steps to encourage the business community to curtail or at least curb their carbon dioxide emissions. The United States government might have good reasons to do so. Setting aside examples taken by European companies, government and private U.S. sector made estimates that Kyoto Treaty would cost its economy about $125 billion to $400 billion out of its $13 trillion annual cost (The USA Today, March 31, 2007). On the issue of economic impact of climate change, the United States got an ally in the person of Sir Nicholas Stern, a former World Bank Economist. Stern estimates that at the worst case scenario, â€Å"Global warming could cut the worlds annual economic output by as much as 20%† or at least 1% of the annual economic output (BBC News, October 27, 2006).   Mercer Investment Consulting survey resulted to a 44% institutional investors agreeing that climate change is very important or somewhat important in economic terms, while 14% said it would take five years more before the issue becomes significant (The USA Today, March 31, 2007). Looking back at the issue, climate change has divided even the scientific community, the climatologists in particular, into believers and skeptics. Do the Kyoto signatories belong to the believers’ side and the United States on the skeptics’ side? What is the truth behind the issue of global warming? What is in it that made it so controversial even in the field of science? According to recent results of Time, ABC and Standard polls, the Americans 85% believe that global warming is true and is happening right now (Taylor, Chris 2006). However, in the science world, results of surveys relative to the issue generally implies that the scientific community recognizes that there the world’s climate is changing and is warming. Skepticism is however a normal part of the scientific community. â€Å"Skepticism plays an essential role in scientific research, and, far from trying to silence skeptics, science invites their contributions. So too, the global warming debate benefits from traditional scientific skepticism† (Hansen, James 1999). So when skeptics are persistent on denying the threat of global warming while others agreed, the scientific community expects it. . â€Å"Such challenges eventually strengthen our understanding of the subject, but it is a never-ending process, as answers raise more questions to be pursued in order to further refine our knowledge†, said Hansen. One well-known researcher at the University of California, Naomi Oreskes found that there is bias on the part of the skeptics especially on the issue of global warming. â€Å"Few skeptics publish in peer-reviewed journals, which check for accuracy and omissions† (Oreskes, Naomi cited in Doughton, Sandi 2005). Doughton also stressed that most skeptics get government funding for their researches which also affect the objectivity of their research results. Regardless of the presence of the skeptics, there are evidences that climate change is real and that the scientific community recognizes its occurrence and serious threat. Oreskes of the University of California found that out that 1,000 studies published between 1993 and 2003, randomly selected by Oreskes, all point to the same conclusion that people are warming the planet (Doughton, Sandi 2005). The skeptics offer alternative causes of climate change, such as natural forces that mitigate the effects of greenhouse gases, although Doughton stressed that they were not so far able to explain these well. The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC), a body of reputation established by the United Nations in 1988, finally have released its official stand on the issue in 2001:   There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities (The Seattle Times, October 11, 2005).   The IPCC reviews scientific reports every five years by 2,000 scientists, by the governments of every member country and the United States is not exempted. In 2006, the United States National Center for Policy Analysis released its official statement relative to its position in the 1992 UN Global Warming Treaty held at Rio de Janeiro, which calls for the voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction of member countries. NCPA made a cost analysis of the economic impact of the said treaty to the US economy and were summarized as follows (National Center for Policy Analysis, No. 213, September 6, 1996): Commitment to greenhouse gas emission reduction would consequently reduce US’ Gross Domestic Product y $200 billion annually. It is important to stress that the computation was based only on 10% greenhouse gas emission reduction rate based on 1990 records. The treaty would force the government to increase prices of gas by 60 cents per gallon in order to cover for the 10% reduction quota. The same also requires the government to double the price of heating oil (Burnett, Sterling 1996). The 1992 Rio commitment would cause half million Americans to lose their jobs in the next 14 years, according to the study conducted by DRI/McGraw Hill. In a separate study conducted by Constad Research Inc., 1992 Rio commitment would cause the United States to close 1.6 million job opportunities in nine years of its implementation. The above statements were made and released during the administration of Bill Clinton, who favors the Rio commitment. These could have been the same basis used by Bush who, unlike Clinton, opposed the updated version Kyoto Treaty. Even as UN member country, Bush has not yet signed into the treaty to cooperate with Japan and Europe on the effort of halting the effects of climate change. Let us consider that the technological changes in the United States economy would be expensive when it finally decided to make commitment to the Kyoto Treaty. Let us also assume that the cost analysis of the skeptics is accurate. But still, this writer believes that the cost of inaction would overturn the cost expensive cost of taking action for the US economy. This is based on the study prudently conducted by the University of Maryland, of which the results were summarized in Five Lessons as follows: Lesson 1: Economic Impacts Will Occur throughout the Country- All sectors of the economy will be negatively affected by climate change especially the agriculture, energy and transportation sectors.   The University of Maryland cited examples of forest fires which is blamed to global warming, cost California (Oakland, 1991) and the counties of San Diego and San Bernardino in 2003 over $2 billion damages. In 1997, floods in North Dakota and the Midwest in 1993 cost $1 billion and $6-8 billion in agricultural losses respectively (University of Maryland, p.3). Lesson 2: Economic Impacts Will Be Unevenly Distributed across Regions and Economic and Social Sectors – the study calculated that the maple sugar industry in the Northeast will suffer 15%-40% of revenue losses due to reduced sap flow. The dairy industry in California will suffer about $287-$982 million losses due to changes in temperature. Changes in temperature are also seen as one significant cause of the spread of pests and disease (University of Maryland, p.4). The adverse effects of the spread of spruce bark beetle which struck Alaska costs $332 million annual loss in its timber industry. Lesson 3: Negative Climate Impacts Will Outweigh Benefits for Most Economic Sectors – New York’s agricultural industry for example would be severely affected by the severe shortage of water supply especially in dry seasons wherein the Central Valley of the said state depends on their economic resources. Climate change would then expect to result in $6 billion losses. On the other hand, Texas will suffer losses up to $6.5 billion in 2030 and $10.13 billion in 2090 (University of Maryland, p.5). Lesson 4: Climate Change Will Place Immense Strain on Public Sector Budgets- due to the damages of frequent flooding and storms, the government would naturally be forced to allocate more funds for the rehabilitation of the damaged properties. Aside from this, the budget allocated for disasters or that part of the budget called calamity fund will necessarily increase as there will be more people to be rescued and relocated to safer areas. According to the calculation of the study, rise in sea levels by 20 inches in the year 2100 would require the federal government to allocate $23-$170 billion for damages in coastal properties. Increased global warming is also estimated by researchers to cost Washington State about 50% increase in fire-suppression in 2020 and over 100% increase by 2040 (p.6). Lesson 5: Secondary Effects Can Include Higher Prices, Reduced Income, Job Loss – damages in the agricultural sector would normally increase the prices of its products and therefore would be too heavy for consumers to carry. Reduced income in climate affected sectors, for example in the timber industry, in the aquaculture sector, in the amusement centers (beach resorts) would force investors and business owners to cut down on their expenses and so their employees too. More people will the lose their jobs as more and more economic sectors will be affected by the damages brought about by calamities attributable to global warming. Let us weigh things objectively. We have seen that both taking action and of non taking action would cost the United States economy significant amount of dollars. But we have seen the evidences that the cost of not taking action surpasses the costs should the US economy take action now. Technological changes to cope up with the Kyoto commitment quota are one-time investment efforts that will save millions, maybe billions of lives and trillions of properties and future revenues. The truth of the occurrence of global warming has already been well-established as well as the evidences of its adverse effects to different sectors of our society. If the US government is concerned about its economy for hesitating to sign in the Kyoto Treaty, they should seriously consider the economic opportunities taken by European companies as well as the Japanese nation over the issue.    WORKS CITED    Burnett, Sterling H (1996). US National Center for Policy Analysis. â€Å"Global Warming Treaty Costs for the U. S. Brief Analysis No. 213†. September 6, 1996. Retrieved on November 24, 2007 from http://www.ncpa.org/ba/ba213.html Doughton, Sandi (2005). â€Å"The Truth about Global Warming†. The Seattle Times, October 11, 2005. Retrieved on November 24, 2007 from http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002549346_globewarm11.html â€Å"Global Warming Threat to Growth†. BBC News, October 27, 2006. Retrieved on November 24, 2007 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6093396.stm Hansen, James (1999). â€Å"The Global Warming Debate†. Retrieved on November 24, 2007 from http://www.giss.nasa.gov/edu/gwdebate/ Lynch, David (2006). â€Å"Corporate America warms to fight against global warming† .The USA Today, May 31, 2006. Retrieved on November 24, 2007 from http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2006-05-31-business-globalwarming_x.htm Taylor, Chris (2006). â€Å"Why global warming is good for business†. CNN News Online, April 17, 2006. Retrieved on November 24, 2007 from http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/13/technology/business2_futureboy0413/index.htm University of Maryland (2007). â€Å"The US Economic Impacts of Climate Change and the Costs of Inaction†. A Review and Assessment by the Center for Integrative Environmental Research (CIER). October 2007. pp.1-7

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Stereotypes And Preconceptions In Workplace Cultural Studies Essay

Stereotypes And Preconceptions In Workplace Cultural Studies Essay Stereotype is a natural function of the human mind, it is standards of person who was set to identify a outside nature of person or any a group through images. When applied to people, stereotypes refer to forming immediately or fixed image of a group of people, usually based on restriction or incomplete information. Stereotypes often lead to results is to form preconceptions, negative comments about others. Stereotypes and preconceptions are the reason of failure in communication, moreover lead to action or bad feeling. Preconceptions based on limited images, negative stereotypes can result in bad consequences such as discrimination or violence. Because any society has different orientation, it is limited and it owns its benefits. Therefore nobody can not comment any personal according to their attitude and viewpoint that he or she is bad or good and vice versa. It is often suggested personal that individuals run follo ­w by their own merits and isolated group, so people always censure that person who has promoted collectivism unconsciously. In my opinion, I think in cultures follow individualistic, organizations are tools. They are set and designed to serve individuals, groups, staffs, employees and customers. Members of the organization established in this relationship that is abstract, follow by the law and stipulated of contract. Organization is a means and foundation in order to each member of organization performs their desires. They cooperate together because their own interests that are threatened. Each member of organization represents a particular special function and received an award from the outside for that. The ability is proceeding from the capacity of personals on order to complete their tasks, and knowledge of personals are used to help their organization work effectively. Meanwhile, the culture in group or organization is not tool for sharing that was created by the founders. The organization is often compared with a family, community, it develop and bring up members who can exist long term. The development and prosperity of the organization are not considered good luck for the individual shareholders or the  ­way to make money illegally for directors, which is the valuable purpose. However, this aspect is not entirely accurate, because sometimes there have cases will need to have acumen and harmony, it will not a rigid stereotype. And the example of Japan will show this aspect in the example part. Discuss on examples Case in America One case occurred at a university in the U.S. in 2009, now it has not resolved because the discrimination problem In New York, a professor has just been fired  ­who claimed that he was discriminated because of his Hungarian origin. He is male and not gay, but his boss just like colleagues gay, and he lost his job because he complained about it That professor is Marosan Csaba (53 years old), who graduated from Budapest medical university, currently lives in Williamsville, New York (USA), taught at Trocaire medicine college which  ­is a small private school locate in Buffal, founded by o The Sisters of Mercy. His denunciation of the two dignitaries, Robert Mock and Thomas Mitchell has sought to discipline and forced him to resign. The human rights investigators found the evidence to support accusations from Marosan, that he was really fired because he submitted a complaint of discrimination. Documents of the investigation team wrote that the evidence shows unprecedented problems in behavior as well as the quality of the complainants, until after he brought the complaint. Even the evidence als o shows that people can promote Marosan with current qualities. April 2009 Marosan has filed the first complaint to the New York State Department of Human Rights (Human Rights Division), argue that managers  ­as critical Hungarian voice and his hungarian customary behavior. They proved to like other young workers, less capacity than, but also treated him with less favorable than female teachers. By December 2009 he was expelled, and last April he has complaints agian, this time adding discrimination based on gender trends. He report, there are two male employees under groups of Robert Mock and Thomas Mitchell has been promoted to director of the scientific field, although they have less experienced, less qualified than anyone in department. In fact, it would be very difficult to predict how the results  ­would. But this isnt the first instance of reported discrimination against heterosexuals. Fox News reports a recent Google policy that allegedly pays homosexual employees with domestic partners more to make up for the taxes they are required to pay on their health insurance. United States is a country with cultural multi-ethnic, multi-cultural. But hide after that multiculturalism curtain still exist discrimination, racism. It can be public or hidden subtly and discreetly that no fewer immigrants living in America understand it. Whatever case of Marosan has been reflecting on the existence of discrimination in situation of American business about gender, race, age, etc which are ­ factors that social and the law are condemning. In terms of Trocaire College is Trocaire dealing  ­with damage of its brand name, if the problem went worse, the risk of this school to be closed by other teachers will quit because of working in an environment of discrimination. Morover, students will not register on this school. A good teaching group is a valuable asset of a school, providing quality, brand name for the school. Thus Trocaire School should have a change in behavior, especially in the management of diversity, respect for differences. http://dantri.com.vn/c25/s119-442091/my-apple-bi-kien-phan-biet-doi-xu-voi-nhan-vien-cao-tuoi.htm KKK cai nhom do la nhung nguoi My Trang ho ghet My Den cho nen ho thuong hay kiem chuyen voi nguoi MY den va co khi thi giet nua Case in Europe Recently in Europe, there are two suicides shock at Disneyland Paris. France opened an investigation after two ­Ã‚ ­ suicides of employees at this park that related to w ­eak working conditions of Disney. In early April 2010 a chef of Disneyland hanged at his home near Paris, at the time he expected to return to work after a period of sick leave. This man is not only a unique chef of Disneyland suicide. At Febuary 21, there is a 30 years old chef also suicides at the park in which related to working conditions. Also in late 2009 Disneyland was sued with because of discrimination in the recruitment process. Accordingly, Disneyland only hired recruit who have white skin with the reason that talmost tourists come here also have white skin. Candidates applied for jobs might w ­rite in recruitment form of Disneyland Paris which including detail part of nationality, skin color, place of birth. Even extremely recruiting section extremely allergy with profiles came from the Indian Ocea n and the Caribbean because of dark skin color. This scandal is completely true because the criteria of the Disney Paris mostly serve for the Europeans, white race, and only little tourists are other skin color from Asia, Africa. Thus Disney Paris had basis for explain their action that aimed to serve to visitors. But they violated completely racial discrimination laws in Europe while European has been vehemently eliminating stigma through Acts, especially in France. DisneyParis knew ­Ã‚ ­ that because it has business experience in Europe nearly 20 years. Mean while there was a big scandal of  ­Adecco in 2005 about Discrimination. Increasingly Disney is less famous, it affect the business situation in France and instability in personnel management. Recalling the historical development of the Disney Paris we will partially understand the understanding of its  ­weak diversity management. Founded in 1992 originally called Euro-Disneyland, located in Paris the capital of France be cause France is a potential market with high welfare policies and there ­ was over 17 million people living around Paris with less than 20 minutes driving, which is added to the large volume of potential customers in EuropeBut the lack of understanding of European culture created barriers for Disney executives to succeed. Due to differences in habits between Americans and Europeans, most of the Disney executives are American and workers are mostly French, after that recruiting more staff across Europe. However there al ­ways has disagreement and discomfort of staff due to different habits of European and American. Approximately 1,000 employees who come from countries in Europe (accounting for 10% of total) had gone away within the first nine weeks ­. They said that training here as brainwashing and Americans did not know any thing about Europe. As the result more than $ 2 billion, data was reported in late 1994. Besides that the process of entering to European market was also fail completely because of lack of cultural understanding. The implementation of Euro Disney went completely the wrong direction with the actual needs of the Europeans. After two first years of failure, in 1995 Euro Disney might realize mistake and starting to change its organization, first of all renaming of Euro Disney to Disney Paris. Moreover, in the first time Disney Paris had the seeds of race discrimination, most black people were just doing a poor job and the team of actors  ­as almost not there. How Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and Tokyo organized as well, Disney Paris did much less. The reason might be because of stereotypes in the application of business forms. Disney had applied what has been successful in the U.S., Japan to the European market, but not mentioned much about cultural differences. I think Disnyland is a type of entertaining bussiness that existed on cultural diversity. Its main asset is not the machinery or anything that is good will. To get good s ervice for all the visitors, it needs to have a staff really good as actors, chefs, service staffs and both security guards. To achieve this, the first elements of Disney need to respect of differences. In order to limit the conflict and discord on staffs and litigations bring legal factors affect brand name. http://vietbao.vn/The-gioi/Cong-dong-Hoi-giao-chau-Au-doi-mat-voi-nan-phan-biet-doi-xu/30158565/159/ Case in Japan Another example comes from Asia, but no mention of discrimination anymore, issues around the harmony between individualism and collectivism, in other words, this example will illustrate the concept of stereotypes and preconceptions. The story told about Jean Safari, an inspector is investigating a serious mistake by an employee working at the Japanese subsidiary of a multinational company in the U.S. A division was installed wrong and both series have to dismantle reinstall the system. Cost pay for this mistake is very high. But when Jean asked the plant manager here about information of people who caused the incident and the penalty for that person, but the manager confirmed that he did not know anything. He told Jean that all working groups will be responsible, they did not talk to him about women employee might be responsible and he did not also asked them about that. Even supervisor also does not know and if he knew he would not tell the director. Jean said that if all of workers had been responsible. In fact, noone wanted, they are simply protecting mistake of others blindly. After that the manager has negative comments what she said politely but firmly, I understand that employee was very sad, she would ha ve tried to resign. The group also knows she must take responsibility and she felt ashamed. That group also knew that she was a new staff, moreover she is Korean and they were not helping her or considered that she has been trained properly or not. That is the reason why the group might apologize. I have their letter here. They are willing to say appology you openly. Jean really did not want that, she did not need apology, what she really wanted  ­that these mistakes would not happen anymore. Jean wondered if she should be investigated for the culprit or not? If that employee should be punished or not? And shes been founding out a way to change perspectives of the staff here, could be related to culture. In this example, the group would never reveal who has caused mistakes. The perpetrator of mistake will escape punishment. That depends on the group support or oppose in high quality and high productivity. If the group support the objectives of directors and thus the community associated  ­together, peple make mistakes will be ashamed. She would rather resign than face colleagues. But the crux of the problem is that members of the group should helpe her learn about what they know. And above all, directors should have the acumen to manage thier working groups, creating a tendency of working group correspond to the companys environment. The case of this company has had integration of individualism and collectivism. But it  ­went to bad tendency while the group did not share between individuals and did not give clear targets that need personal responsibility leaded to success. Untill mistakes occur, hold of the group was only responsible and apologized while individual make mistakes felt ashamed w ­ith the group and tried to resign. Both director and supervisor even did not know anything about the internal situation othe offending team, exactly they did not also want to know. All of these things were based off wrongful stereotypes. Conclusion Barriers of Communication are inevitable in the workplace. These barriers ­ alter the normal flow of information. The factors make distort the process of communication is called Interference. Interference can occur at any time, any stage in the communication process. Managers should be aware of the importance of understanding the communication process at work, outlines the good direction, the strategy correspond to context of a company legally, avoid cases of discrimination, stereotype and preconceptions.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Women and Obstetrics: The Loss of Childbirth to Male Physicians Essay

Women and Obstetrics: The Loss of Childbirth to Male Physicians "Woman" is often referred to as a diseased state of the male norm. Medical testing is done on men, with men as the norm. Women's bodies are diseased and dysfunctional. Female processes are not normal occurrences in the female body. They are deviant processes, needing male consultation and male solutions. This medicalization of women's bodies occurred during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as medicine became professionalized and men came to be in control of women's bodies and their processes. During the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth and part of the eighteenth century, midwives oversaw women's medical needs. Childbirth and diseases of the reproductive organs were the domain of midwives. Books on midwifery taught midwives to diagnose problems, to suggest treatments, and to oversee birth. As men sought to professionalize medicine and to further their control they began to become involved in midwifery and developed obstetrics and gynecology. The shift from midwife to obstetrician and gynecologist occurred from the early eighteenth through the nineteenth centuries. Relinquishing control of their territory was not something midwives did voluntarily, rather it happened as a result of questions of women's place and innovations in technology. Men's access to education and to technology provided them with an advantage over female midwives. Female midwives and women in general were denied medical education. They were not exposed, nor allowed to use certain technologies. In order for midwives to keep their job, they were forbidden from practicing medicine. Using technology was practicing medicine; midwives could not use technology to ease labor or to diagnose... ...d (New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 1986) Leavitt, Judith Walzer, ed., Women and Health in America (Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1984) Mitchinson, Wendy, "Hysteria and Insanity in Women: A Nineteenth Century Canadian Perspective" Journal of Canadian Studies 21 (1988): 1199-208 Morantz-Sanchez, Regina Markell, Sympathy and Science: Women Physicians in American Medicine (New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 1985) Moscucci, Ornella, The Science of Woman: Gynecology and Gender in England 1800-1929 (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1990) Tatlock, Lynne, "Speculum Feminarum: Gendered Perspectives on Obstetrics and Gynecology in Early Modern Germany" Signs 17 (1992): 725-56 Wajcman, Judy, Feminism Confronts Technology (University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1991)

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

The Disadvantages of Technology in Education

Technology can be rightly said to have impacted every occupation. Technology application and the changes it brings are in fact intended and necessitated, as it is a part of the larger development of the society. Technology has been introduced in all fields and occupations, either directly or indirectly, and its benefits are evident in terms of time, quality, process etc. As technology has been broadly introduced in all walks of life, no occupation can claim to be independent of either direct or indirect use of technology, since it is integrated to the society.It is therefore obvious that the fields of education and learning have also incorporated technology, resulting in unprecedented possibilities and results. The advantages of technology cannot be disputed, particularly given the recent trends in e-learning, however despite this; its disadvantages shouldn’t be ignored. The need and maintenance of the associated infrastructure for technology introduction may itself look chall enging for many. New technologies may require special wiring and any breakdowns would be disruptive and need repair by experts.Also when high costs on software, hardware and connection costs are borne, the equipment might soon be outdated (NCRTEC, 2005). The teacher has now become more of a learning facilitator rather than an instructor or information provider. The teacher’s methodology has changed from traditional, teacher-centered teaching to learner-centered, interactive teaching. The teacher has moved away from being a fact teller and an expert to being a collaborator and occasionally an expert, with learning emphasis being on relationships and inquiry rather than facts and reproduction.Students are moving away from passive learning, given the lesser lecturing; towards cooperative learning. Focusing more on information literacy, the teacher helps in guiding students to identify and access required information. With students being capable of resourcing all relevant informa tion, the teacher now needs to help them to analyze, evaluate and judge the suitability of the information; they have required. With the involvement of technology, the traditional skills and exercises of students are being increasingly abandoned.The use of calculator by students avoids them the benefits of manual calculations. Manual calculations involve deeper analysis of the problems which develop brain activity and mental capability. Introduction of technologies, while helping students, are in fact doing away with the crucial mental exercises and reasoning efforts of the students, depriving them of the associated valuable benefits. With most schools accepting electronic submission of answers or essays, students no longer need to be concerned of spelling and grammar usage.These are automatically highlighted or corrected, saving them the effort to do it by themselves. In the long run, they do not develop the skills necessary for identifying and correcting these. The use of internet in education not only exposes students to wrong or misleading information, but also to engage in plagiarism. Assignments and tests are quickly completed by reproducing available information rather than producing it by themselves. The use of technology in education is definitely doing away with the skill sets that have been acquired by individuals with much effort and pain, traditionally.Music education is also an area where technological changes have done away with traditional requirements. Today, the sounds of drum, piano or other instruments can be electronically created without learning the fundamentals of that instrument. Thus experts only need to manipulate these sounds effectively, which would otherwise have required the performance of so many musicians. Although there are several advantages of a computer, the use of computers in language learning has its own restrictions. One of its main disadvantages is that it would lead to an increase in education costs (Gips, DiMattia & Gips).Low budget schools and poor students would not be able to buy a computer, when computer become a basic necessity for students. This would cause unjust conditions on the part of poor schools and students, with regard to education. Even when computers are bought, the need for expensive software or hardware would again be another financial strain on the part of the schools and students. For computer assisted second language learning, it becomes necessary that both the teacher and student be proficient in the basics of computer use.Students cannot use computers in language learning when they lack training in computer technology. Most teachers unfortunately do not have the technological training to guide their students through computer assisted language learning programs (Lai & Kritsonis). Another problem with regard to computers in language learning is that the software for language learning if far from perfect. Many language learning programs are recent and its functions are high ly limited. The computers need to be capable of not just evaluating the correctness of a spoken word, but also the appropriateness of the said word.It should also be capable of evaluating student’s response with respect to pronunciation, syntax and context of usage. Second language learners face several situations in the course of their language learning and computers cannot handle such unexpected situations. As the artificial intelligence of the computers is limited, it cannot handle unexpected learning problems and queries of learners’. It should be noted that there is a fundamental difference in the way humans and computers analyze information. Computers with such a level of intelligence cannot be expected for at least quite sometime (Blin, 1994).With the emergence of newer technologies, the fact that it is indeed beneficial cannot be disputed. However, these new technologies are doing away with the requirement for development of personal skill sets that have been t raditionally followed. Our education is moving away from a totally technology independent field to highly technology dependent. Education is our basics to understanding of the world, survival and success tactics. With much of this education being technology backed, we step into the harsh world, largely backed with technology use. The change here is irreversible like that in other technology aided fields.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

A Chronology of the Stone Age

A Chronology of the Stone Age The Stone Age in human prehistory also referred to as the Paleolithic Period, is the period between about 2.7 million and 10,000 years ago. Youll see different dates for the starting and ending dates of the Paleolithic periods, in part because were still learning about these ancient occurrences. The Paleolithic is the time when our species Homo sapiens,  developed into the human beings of today. The people who study the past of humans are called archaeologists. Archaeologists study the recent past of our planet and the evolution of physical human beings and their behaviors. Those archaeologists who study the very earliest human beings specialize in the Paleolithic; scientists who study the periods prior to the Paleolithic are paleontologists. The Paleolithic period begins in Africa with the earliest human-like behaviors of crude stone tool manufacture about 2.7 million years ago  and ends with the development of fully modern human hunting and gathering societies. Domestication of plants and animals marks the beginning of modern human society. Leaving Africa After decades of debate, the majority of scientists are now convinced that our earliest human ancestors evolved in Africa. In Europe, where humans finally arrived after about a million years in Africa, the Paleolithic was marked by a cycle of glacial and interglacial periods, during which time glaciers grew and shrank, covering massive portions of land and forcing a cycle of human depopulation and recolonization. Today scholars divide the Paleolithic into three categories, called Lower Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic, and Upper Paleolithic in Europe and Asia; and Early Stone Age, Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age in Africa. Lower Paleolithic (or Early Stone Age) about 2.7 million-300,000 years ago In Africa, where the earliest humans arose, the Early Stone Age begins some 2.7 million years ago, with the earliest stone tools recognized to date in the Olduvai Gorge of East Africa. These tools were simple fist-sized cores and whole flakes created by two ancient hominids (human ancestors), Paranthropus boisei and Homo habilis. The earliest hominids left Africa about 1.7 million years ago, arriving at sites such as Dmanisi in Georgia, where hominids (probably Homo erectus)  made stone tools suggestive of those from Africa. Human ancestors, as a group, are called  hominids. The species that evolved in the Lower Paleolithic include  Australopithecus,   Homo habilis,   Homo erectus,   and  Homo ergaster, among others.   Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age (about 300,000-45,000 Years Ago) The Middle Paleolithic period (ca 300,000 to 45,000 years ago) witnessed the evolution of Neanderthals and the first anatomically and eventually behaviorally modern Homo sapiens. All of the living members of our species, Homo sapiens, are descended from a single population in Africa. During the Middle Paleolithic, H. sapiens first left from northern Africa to colonize the Levant between about 100,000-90,000 years ago, but those colonies failed. The earliest successful and permanent Homo sapiens occupations outside of Africa date to about 60,000 years ago. Achieving what scholars call behavioral modernity was a long, slow process, but some of the first glimmers arose in the Middle Paleolithic, such as the development of sophisticated stone tools, caring for the elderly, hunting and gathering, and some amount of symbolic or ritual behavior. Upper Paleolithic (Late Stone Age) 45,000-10,000 Years Ago By the Upper Paleolithic (45,000-10,000 years ago), the Neanderthals were in decline, and by 30,000 years ago, they were gone. Modern humans spread all over the planet, reaching the Sahul (Australia) about 50,000 years ago, mainland Asia about 28,000 years ago, and finally the Americas, about 16,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic is characterized by fully modern behaviors such as cave art, hunting a range of techniques including bows and arrows, and making a wide range of tools in stone, bone, ivory, and antler. Sources: Bar-Yosef O. 2008. ASIA, WEST - Palaeolithic Cultures. In: Pearsall DM, editor. Encyclopedia of Archaeology. New York: Academic Press. p 865-875. Close AE, and Minichillo T. 2007. ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORDS - Global Expansion 300,000-8000 years ago, Africa. In: Elias SA, editor. Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science. Oxford: Elsevier. p 99-107. Harris JWK, Braun DR, and Pante M. 2007. ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORDS - 2.7 MYR-300,000 years ago in Africa In: Elias SA, editor. Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science. Oxford: Elsevier. p 63-72. Marciniak A. 2008. EUROPE, CENTRAL AND EASTERN. In: Pearsall DM, editor. Encyclopedia of Archaeology. New York: Academic Press. p 1199-1210. McNabb J. 2007. ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORDS - 1.9 MYR-300,000 years ago in Europe In: Elias SA, editor. Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science. Oxford: Elsevier. p 89-98. Petraglia MD, and Dennell R. 2007. ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORDS - Global Expansion 300,000-8000 years ago, Asia In: Elias SA, editor. Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science. Oxford: Elsevier. p 107-118. Shen C. 2008. ASIA, EAST - China, Paleolithic Cultures. In: Pearsall DM, editor. Encyclopedia of Archaeology. New York: Academic Press. p 570-597.