Syllabus En301

English 301 Professional Writing & Communication SUNY Canton Spring 2013 Instructor: Eunjyu Yu, PhDOffice: FOB 520| Email: [email  protected] eduPhone: 315-386-7681| Welcome! Professional Writing & Communication is focused on preparing you to enter any workplace and assess communication expectations: Who is my audience for this document or presentation? What is my purpose? How can I best convince this audience to follow my instructions or learn this concept or respond positively? We’ll focus on the wide range of audiences, genres, and contexts that professionals commonly encounter, including the ethical issues that writers need to consider.To help you develop the skills and strategies you need to create successful communication, this course relies on strong interaction among class members. Each assignment builds toward the next: to be successful, you need to stay actively involved in the class, ask questions, and submit assignments on time. I recommend logging on daily Monda y through Saturday to stay on top of your course work. Course Description Professional communication is specialized writing and communication that helps students respond to the challenges of a technical world.In this course, students, as professionals, will analyze needs and concerns for specific workplace situations, organize effective solutions, and prepare and produce the needed memos, reports, presentations, web-sites and/or other items, which will then be assessed and evaluated by other students acting as intended users. Students will create, design, and package these documents, selecting appropriate communication technology to accomplish the task, and will then display the technical data in writing and visually, as well as present such information orally when applicable.Students should be familiar with desktop publishing and electronic presentations. Course Goals By the end of this course, students will be able to: | Course Objective| Institutional SLO| a. | identify what form s and formats of technical professional writing and communication are traditionally used on the job, choose an appropriate style for communicating specific information, analyze audience needs and interests and then present the information in written or oral form| 1. Communication2. Crit. Thinking4. Inter-Intrapersonal| b. develop and establish their credibility as authors by writing directions, memos, e-mails, reports, manuals, and other workplace oriented material, either individually or as part of a collaborative team, as well as evaluate the ethical implications of their own and others’ work| 1. Communication2. Crit. Thinking3. Prof. Competence4. Inter-Intrapersonal| c. | research specific workplace situations/problems that require a written or oral response or solution using traditional (library, surveys, interviews, etc. ) and/or innovative research methodology as necessary| 1. Communication2.Crit. Thinking3. Prof. Competence| d. | design and develop written items that h ave a clear-cut purpose and will be proficient in delivering such information in the appropriate form| 1. Communication2. Crit. Thinking4. Inter-Intrapersonal | At the top of the Assignment Sheet for each unit, I will review the goals specific to that unit and explain how activities will help you reach those goals. Textbook (Required) Kolin, P. (2012). Successful Writing at Work (Concise Third Edition). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. (The e-book is available for purchase or rent at http://www. engagebrain. com/shop/isbn/9780495901945) Course Expectations This syllabus represents my contract with you for this semester. You will also receive handouts detailing individual writing assignments. You are responsible for reading and understanding all of these documents and for asking questions in a timely manner. Below are some general guidelines for successfully navigating this course. For more information on learning in an online environment, see the folder Your Course Orientation. Al l students are required to adhere to the standards outlined in SUNY Canton’s Student Handbook.Minimum Technology Requirements * Access to a working computer with Windows 2000, XP, or Vista or Mac OS X (10. 3 or higher). The computer should have a minimum 256 MB of RAM and 1GB free hard disk space. * Connection to the Internet (broadband connection such as RoadRunner or DSL is preferred; dial-up users should consult Online Learning Center). * SUNY Canton email address and access to ANGEL (the course management system). * Methods for backing up your work, such as a flash drive. Back-up Plans * Problems happen: prepare now for unexpected snafus and emergencies. Locate another computer (such as a friend or the local public library) you could use to submit your assignments in case your computer crashes or your internet service is interrupted. * Back up all work regularly, using a USB flash drive or other appropriate system. * Keep your virus protection software up to date and use it. Delivery of Assignments * All work should be submitted via ANGEL. Refer to the detailed Assignment Sheet for each unit; instructions for format and delivery are clearly spelled out. * Assignments sent via email will receive a zero. Formal documents must be in MS Word or appropriate compatible format (look for a . doc, . docx, or . rtf extension on the file). Unless otherwise noted, label your work: Yourlastname_AssignmentName. docx Contacting the Professor * Please contact me with any questions or concerns using ANGEL email (click on the â€Å"Communicate† tab). You can expect a response within 48 hours Monday through Thursday. Questions left in an assignment Drop Box or on a Discussion Board may not be noticed in a timely manner. * All email sent for this class must be professional in tone and preparation.Be sure to include an appropriate subject line with the course name (ENGL301). Demonstrate respect for my time and your own ideas by expressing your questions or concer ns in detailed, complete sentences using correct capitalization and punctuation. (See the handout on Netiquette at COURSE DOCUMENTS>SYLLABUS>FAQs for more precise information and examples. ) Demonstrating Respect Online * This class is about communication in professional environments. You are therefore expected to conduct yourself in a professional manner. Treat this like a new workplace where you don’t know anyone—the kind where people don’t wear jeans. In other words, ANGEL isn’t Facebook! ) * Making ourselves understood can be challenging in the best of circumstances. In online environments—from IMs between friends to formal business email—we must be doubly conscious of clarity and tone. (Read the handout on Netiquette at COURSE DOCUMENTS>SYLLABUS>FAQs. ) Attendance and Participation * Class participation is essential to online learning. You are expected to log on daily Monday through Saturday when classes are in session to check for mess ages and submit assignments. Follow the calendar provided below as well as the detailed Assignment Sheets provided. ADA, Family Emergencies, and Other Considerations As in the workplace, it is the responsibility of the student to advise the instructor of any concerns that may impact participation. If you are unfamiliar with course or college procedures, have a documented disability, or are experiencing a family emergency, contact me right away so that we can work out a fair and mutually agreeable solution. Campus Resources The Writing Center The Writing Center isn’t just for standard academic essays.Tutors are available to work with you on all kinds of documents. Located on the second floor of Southworth Library, the Writing Center is available throughout the school year to assist at any stage of the process, from making sense of an assignment to final editing. On campus, call the Writing Center at 386-7308 or drop by to learn more. Online students may access the Writing Cent er via email: [email  protected] edu. Online Learning SUNY Canton’s Online Learning experts are available to help you with the logistics of taking an online course. Check them out at http://www. anton. edu/ol/current. html. If you need technical assistance with ANGEL, go to http://sin. suny. edu/sin_helpdesk. htm. Career Services Don’t wait until you’ve finished your degree to learn about the amazing resources at Career Services! From exploring career options to crafting a resume, they’re the experts: http://www. canton. edu/career_services/. Southworth Library The library is an excellent place to begin your research, with databases and ebooks as well as 24/7 help from reference librarians: http://www. canton. edu/library/. Evaluation and GradingEvaluation criteria for individual assignments will be included on the handout for each unit. Generally speaking, â€Å"A† work begins by fulfilling the basic requirements of an assignment, but also demon strates superior understanding, careful preparation, and creativity. An awareness of audience and purpose is essential for producing quality work. Please note: drafts indicated on the Calendar and Assignment Sheets are required; final work will not be accepted for grading unless drafts are completed on time. Your semester grade will be based on the scale below.Should you have questions about your grade on any assignment, at any point in the semester, please contact me promptly so that we can discuss your concerns. A| Above 90%| B+| 85-89. 9%| C+| 75-79. 9%| D| 60-69. 9%| | | B| 80-84. 9%| C| 70-74. 9%| F| Below 59. 9%| Deadlines and Late Work: Your successful completion of this course depends upon your completing assigned work on schedule. Please consult the Calendar and Assignment Sheets for specific due dates; unless otherwise indicated, work due on a specific date must be properly posted by midnight on that day.Late work will not be accepted unless you can provide a legitimate, d ocumented excuse. If a problem arises that may prevent you from submitting your work on time, contact me right away. Feedback and Revision: I encourage you to seek out additional feedback from me, the Writing Center (see below), or colleagues. Please note: drafts indicated on the Calendar and Assignment Sheets are required; final work will not be accepted for grading unless drafts are completed on time. Rewrites and Extra Credit: There will be no opportunities for rewrites or extra credit.Plagiarism: While this course, with its emphasis on working collaboratively, may challenge traditional ideas about plagiarism, integrity and honesty are just as important in the workplace as in the classroom. Failure to cite sources (including colleagues or information found online) is a serious ethical breach, intentional or not. Work you submit for this course must have been written by you for this course during this semester. If you have any questions or want to coordinate writing for this class with a project you are completing for another professor, please talk to me in advance.Overview of Assignments Below is a brief overview of the assignments you will be expected to complete over the course of the semester. Please refer to the complete Assignment Sheet for each unit (see COURSE DOCUMENTS) and the Calendar below for further details and email me with any questions. Unit I: Communicating with Potential Employers This unit will focus on developing and refining strategies for successfully communicating with organizations you hope will hire you. In addition to quizzes and Discussion Forum posts, you will complete a questionnaire analyzing a job ad, resume, and cover letter.Unit II: Communicating Across Organizations In this unit, you will form teams of three to four members. Each team will be responsible for researching a current issue and communicating that information to two distinct audiences. Each team must produce a series of working documents, including a contract out lining how the team plans to work together and guidelines for resolving possible conflicts. Formal documents will include memos, an informative brochure, and a short report. Course CalendarNote: Please be aware of all relevant deadlines. Assignments must be posted by midnight on the day they’re due. For example, your first Discussion Forum post needs to be submitted by midnight on Sunday. MODULE| ASSIGNMENTS DUE| NOTES| Module 1Week of 1/21| * Read Syllabus, Netiquette, Discussion Forum Guidelines and the Unit I Assignment Sheet by Sunday 1/27 * Discussion Forum 1 (DF1) due Sunday 1/27 * Quiz 1 available until Sunday 1/27 midnight| | Module 2Week of 1/28| * Read Chapters 1 & 5 plus pp. 76-381 in Successful Writing at Work (SWW) by Wednesday 1/30 * DF2 Initial Post due Wednesday 1/30 * DF2 Reply due Thursday 1/31 * Job Ad Questionnaire due Sunday 2/3 (I will grade by 2/10) * Quiz 2 available until Sunday 2/3| | Module 3Week of 2/4| * Read SWW Ch 2 & pp. 381-394; also â€Å"Mi xing and Managing Four Generations† (on ANGEL) by Wed 2/6 * DF3 Initial Post due Wed 2/6 * DF3 Reply due Thursday 2/7 * Quiz 3 by Sunday 2/10| | Module 4 Week of 2/11| * Read SWW Ch 3 & Ch 4 * Resume draft due Sunday 2/17 (expect feedback by 2/24) * Quiz 4 by Sunday 2/17| | Module 5 Week of 2/18| * Read SWW Ch 6 &Ch 10 * Cover Letter draft due Sunday 2/24 (expect feedback by 3/4) * Quiz 5 by Sunday 2/24| | Module 6Week of 2/25| * No class. Winter break (2/23-3/3)| | Module 7Week of 3/4| * Final Resume & Cover Letter due Sunday 3/10| | Module 8Week of 3/11| * Read SWW Ch 7; â€Å"Everyday Writing† (on ANGEL) * Quiz 6 by Sunday 3/17| 3/13-16 CCCC| Module 9 Week of 3/18| * Read SWW Ch 8 & Ch 9 and Unit II Assignment Sheet * Finalize Groups for Unit II by Sunday 3/24—see Discussion Forum! Midterm grades on 3/19| Module 10 Week of 2/25| * Group Contract due Sunday 3/31| | Module 11 Week of 4/1| * Group Proposal due Sunday 4/7| | Module 12Week of 4/8| * No class. Sprin g break (4/6-4/14)| | Module 13Week of 4/15| * Draft of Report due Wed 4/17; expect feedback by 4/24| | Module 14Week of 4/22| * Draft of Informative brochure due Wed 4/24; expect feedback by 4/30| | Module 15Week of 4/29| * Final report due Tuesday 4/30| 4/27-5/1 AERA | Module 16Week of 5/6| * Final Informative brochure due Tuesday 5/7| Final grades available on 5/23|THE INSTRUCTOR HAS THE RIGHT TO MODIFY ANY SECTION OF THE SYLLABUS. EACH STUDENT IS RESPONSIBLE TO READ AND UNDERSTAND THE SYLLABUS. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. ADA is the abbreviation for the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please consult the SUNY Canton website at http://www. canton. edu/accommodative_services/ for more information.

Citizen United vs. Federal Election Essay

Analyze the arguments presented in the â€Å"Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission† case to determine which arguments you find the most persuasive. Explain both your rationale and the probable impact of the outcome of this case on corporate governance moving forward. Prof Armstrong I must agree with the argument of Justice Stevens†¦.In the context of election to public office, the distinction between corporate and human speakers is significant. Although they make enormous contributions to our society, corporations are not actually members of it. They cannot vote or run for office. His argument was based on the distinction between corporate and human speakers. I feel that because corporations contribute a vast amount of money to political candidates for election they believe they have the right to dictate our countries policies. The breakdown of this argument basically shows the more Money you have (Corporations) the greater your Power (voice) in the political arena. (Halbert, T., & Ingulli, E., 2012 p. 34). The breakdown of this argument basically shows the more Money you have the greater your Power (voice) in the political arena. From the e-Activity, discuss ways in which the company you researched could leverage corporate social responsibility as a competitive strategy. Provide specific examples to support your response. I believe this argument fits in well with my discussion on the attempted merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. According to the wall street journal AT&T is one of the top 10 companies to give political contributions in the current election cycle (2012). The donations include monies give to political parties, candidates, and political action committees. AT&T attempted to gain a monopoly in the telecommunications arena by merging with their small competitors. The more money you have the deeper you power and influence over politics. Sources: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/02/corporate-political-donations_n_1644375.html Halbert T., & Ingulli, E. (2012). Law and Ethics in the Business Environment. (7th ed.) Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Music Reaction Essay

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Movement, 1 and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite are two compositions that initially sound quite similar. They are both dramatic, extremely intense, and have the ability to leave a lasting impression upon listeners. There are, however, several key differences that separate the two, including expression, timbre, and overall effect. Although the melodies and general manner of the two pieces may seem alike, Symphony No. 5 is much more grand and composed while the Firebird Suite is more erratic and less sophisticated as a whole. Symphony No.5 is arguably one of the most famous compositions in the world, and begins with a melody with which most people are familiar. Within the first four notes, it is evident that the piece was written in a minor key with a respective melody. There is a vast range of notes throughout the symphony, with the high and low pitches resulting in two different effects. In many compositions, the most dramatic part of a song will typically consist of notes in higher octaves; but in Symphony No. 5, it is the lower pitches that make up the main melody and seem to be the most dramatic. By building the song around lower pitches, Beethoven has created an air of potential energy, with light runs and scales from the string sections providing the harmonies and escalating the drama of the lower notes. One of the most noticeable characteristics of the main melody line is the rhythm and repetition of the phrase. It consists of a triplet that stays on one note, and then jumps to a lower note that is sustained. As this phrase is repeated, it also starts to create the beat of the symphony, which is extremely clear. Even as the instruments add in quicker-paced scales that go up and down in the background, there is a strong and steady pace that is maintained by the melody line. With the melody line being able to stand out amongst all the other symphony parts, it develops a very bold and brooding musical expression. It is so vivid and moody, that one can picture Beethoven himself, walking briskly through the streets of Vienna while everyone else automatically clears the way for him. Symphony No. 5 has essentially became an extension of its composer, reflecting everything he was trying to express—the various components of his own personality and outlook. Beethoven also adds variation to the song through changes in tempo and dynamics. The quicker tempos tend to serve as a way of building up each musical phrase, yet are played at a fairly piano to pianissimo level. Like the drama that the lower pitches create, the parts that are played quietly also create potential energy that makes the louder, slower, and lower parts of the song that much more impactful. In terms of texture, Symphony No. 5 is surprisingly simple considering the intricacy of the notes and the way all of the instrumental parts are pieced together. There are several pauses that add tension to the song, while also eliminating too much unnecessary sound or instrumentals. This symphony, overall, has a very dark and intense timbre. It is dramatic and moody, but at a sustainable level that is not too harsh on the listeners’ ears—that is, it is relatively easy to listen to for a lengthy period of time due to the lower pitches and pianissimo parts that allow for the audience not to be overwhelmed. Stravinsky’s Firebird, similar to Beethoven’s piece, also begins with an introduction of accented notes and lower pitches. In this song, however, it is the higher notes that are accented rather than the lower pitches. The melody is also not nearly as easy to follow, as there is significantly less repetition. Even though both compositions involve similar instruments, Firebird uses many of the higher voices as the focal point of the song rather than the lower instruments. Throughout the piece, high strings, the xylophone, and even higher octaves played by the trombone can all be heard. The Firebird harmonies are also much more muddled and not necessarily played in sync with the melody line. There seems to be several different rhythms that are being played simultaneously during the louder, more dramatic sections of the song. This makes it quite difficult to find and maintain the beat of the piece, whereas Beethoven’s symphony is easier to follow. Regardless of its lack of simplicity, Firebird is just as expressive as Symphony No. 5. The significant change in tempo and dynamics create emotion within the piece, adding depth to the song. Firebird’s dynamic changes, in fact, may be even more dramatic as it ranges from pianissimo to fortissimo; and since the higher pitches are the tones being emphasized, it is much less understated than Beethoven’s piece. It is also more complex in terms of texture. Not only does the showcasing of more instruments add to the composition, but Firebird also has more measures that serve as a relief from the otherwise frantic nature of the song. While most of the piece is intense, there are bits of it that sound light-hearted and carefree. During these sections, the tempo is not always slower but there are fewer instruments overlapping each other, resulting in less chaos. Still, it is Firebird’s timbre that makes it clear how different it is from Symphony No. 5. It is bright, brilliant, and harsh, simply because of the pairing of high pitches with a loud dynamic marking and a quick tempo. Perhaps this is a clever decision by Stravinsky, trying to mimic the calls of a wild bird—shrill, shrieking, and somewhat harsh on the ears at times. When comparing the two compositions, it is clear that Stravinsky’s Firebird is more complex; but Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 is much more composed overall. It is not as aggressive in terms of loud, shrieking high notes, but rather understated and intense. This also evokes more emotion out of the audience, as it plays on the darkness and moodiness of Beethoven’s personality. Firebird is undoubtedly entertaining and a complicated work of art; but when it comes to which piece is easier to listen to and which makes more sense upon first impression, it is surpassed by Symphony No. 5.

Morals, Utilitarianism, Social Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Morals, Utilitarianism, Social - Essay Example His nine year old adopted daughter is not bleeding but she has is slowly passing out and is complaining that she is feeling dizzy, cannot breath properly and her vision is hazy. The ambulance arrives and can only competently attend to one patient, take her to the nearest hospital, which is 20 kilometers away, and come for the other victim. If they take his seven year old daughter, it is relative his nine year old daughter will make it that long. His seven-year-old daughter is his real daughter and there is that risk that she might pass out if they take his nine-year-old daughter first. He is torn between which is a lesser wrong; letting his adopted daughter who is at the verge of becoming vegetative be left behind, or his seven year old daughter who is bleeding profusely. Utilitarian theories are based on utility, which is aimed at generating excellent results. These theories intend to maximize the good in every situation by selecting the best possible alternative, while curtailing t he negative alternatives to an event. Utilitarian theory associate a good act with happiness and a bad act with sadness, and use this to determine if an action to be performed is morally right or morally wrong. If the net effect will lead to happiness, then it is morally right but if it will lead to sadness, then it is morally wrong (Hull 1-10). ... Utilitarian theory calls for you to always put the interest of others first before your own personal interest. The ultimate positive goal like honesty, chastity, charity outweighs all the risks and shortcomings of procuring the activity. This means there is a standard in which each activity is performed to elicit the same results over a period of time (Hull 1-10). Kant’s deontology theory asserts that every divine being has the duty to do what is right at all times. Unlike other theories, this theory does not prescribe a formula that needs to be followed but rather provides tests that have to be performed when evaluating the conduct as pertains to a morally significant situation. This theory asserts that good will is intrinsically good hence every individual should be compelled to do good at all times. Whether doing well causes sadness to some people and happiness to others, this call for a duty to do good at all times. Consequently, Kant’s theory states that through ha bitual performance of what is right, it translates to good will and one does not feel compelled to do it. The good will comes automatically (Hull 1-10). Kant’s deontology theory asserts that the consequences of an action do not determine its being right or wrong. This determination is made by the motive and the intentions that are compelling the individual to do the act. Kant’s theory confers that for an action to be morally sound; it has to be on principle not on impulse. The latter does not justify it to be a morally right action since it is majorly done because of sympathy, which might not be standard for every individual. However, the former is standard for every individual and hence qualifies an act done out of principle (ethics) to be morally right (Hull 1-10). Applying the component

Parent Power Guide to Responsible Rearing, written by Logan Wright Essay

Parent Power Guide to Responsible Rearing, written by Logan Wright - Essay Example But there is something more basic and more important that must come first. Certainly, as noted from the authored reading of Logan Wright, parenting involves a lot of issues especially in terms of developing the personality that could help one be successful in life in a young child who simply is still waiting to bud out to maturity. Whatever it is that the parents would want to imply on their children, those lessons would surely stick to the minds of the children and would thus guide them throughout their lives. Yes, this is most certainly the reason why many readers note Logan's book as the practical guide towards successful parenting procedures needed to be taken into consideration when trying to train the children towards maturity. From this reading, it is made certain that the authoritative parent is warm and involved, but is firm and consistent in establishing and enforcing guidelines, limits and expectations. Adolescents raised in such homes are higher achievers, are happier, and are therefore less likely to engage in antisocial behavior and crime. Yes rightful parenting results to better development, and better individual development leads to a better society.

Prevalence Of Community Policing And Its Effectiveness In United Research Paper

Prevalence Of Community Policing And Its Effectiveness In United States - Research Paper Example Thus, policing involves the process of dealing with the lawbreakers and thereby maintaining law and order in the city. Implementing new ideas and reforming the concepts of decision making and creating a new culture in the police departments in relation to a particular geographical place, city or community is defined as community policing. â€Å"Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnership and problem solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues† (Community Police Defined, n. d). Thus, the concept of community policing is comprised of various components such as the community partnerships, organizational transformation, and problem solving methodologies. This paper will discuss the prevalence and effectiveness of the community policing in the United States of America. As stated above, one of the vital components in community policing would be the community partnership, under which government agencies, private businesses, media, non profits and service providers would be involved. Particularly, they will assist the police in developing solutions to the problems which mainly affect the public safety such as crime, social disorder, fear of crime, etc. The other element includes the organizational transformation where the basic structural components such as organizational structure, policies, information systems, etc., are optimized effectively, which allows the effective structuring in the community policing. The problem solving aspects involve the process of engaging in the proactive and systematic examination of public safety problems to develop optimum solutions, and then rigorously evaluate the responses to those solutions. Thus, some of the problem solving activities in the policing include: a) Scanning b) Analysis c) Response d) Assessment (Fri edman, 1992). The concept of scanning includes identifying and prioritizing the problems. Analysis part mainly focuses on researching and collecting the details about the problem. Developing solutions for the problem and implementing the solution encompasses response step in problem solving. The final step includes evaluating the success of the response and assessing the solution. Therefore, from the above sentences the major components in community policing can be well understood. Consequently, â€Å"Community policing is a policy and strategy aimed at achieving more effective and efficient crime control, reduced fear of crime and improved quality of life† (Friedman, 1992). From both community as well as police perspectives, the community policing can be clearly defined as a way to control the crimes which mainly arise due to the societal factors. Some proactive measures need to be implemented in some instances through the way of replacing the reactive policing. Above all, t he decentralized implementation of the community oriented policing is the major prerequisite. This part of the paper will mainly focus on the framework of the community policing. The frame work of the community policing is mainly based on two major entities which include the community encompassing the people and the police departmen

Opus Dei and Vatican Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Opus Dei and Vatican - Essay Example The organization is officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church. It grew rapidly in membership and power. Templar knights, known as the Holy Crusaders, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. The non-combatant members of the Order managed large economic establishments, introduced new financial techniques that were noted in the literature as formation of banking, and built many fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land. When the Holy Land was lost, King Philip IV of France who was deeply in debt to the Order, pressured Pope Clement V to move against the Order. Pope Clement disbanded the Knights Templar in 1312. In the early 20th century , the Roman Catholic church in Spain was anxious on the growing anti-religious skepticism and a great fear of losing the bourgeoisie evolved. A Spanish priest, Jos Mara Escriv de Balaguer, decided to start a new Catholic movement and founded the Opus Dei or "Work of God" in 1928 to face struggle against perceived enemies including secularism, Republicanism, communism and Freemasonry. Opus Dei was formed as a new Catholic group that combine traditional theology with modern methods of spreading the Word of God (Beckett, 2005). The Opus Dei is primarily a lay movement, 98% of which are lay Catholics with some priest members. It is governed by an apostolic convention headed by a bishop. The lay people are taught to sanctify their daily lives, especially in work. It places great emphasis that God should be a part of daily life. Opus Dei is centrally organized with specific categories and classes for its members. It is very powerful and influential to the Catholi c Church and well-funded and very wealthy. The organization gained power by recruiting agents of influence within the banking, industry, communications and the academic professions. It exerted significant influence on church policy. The movement found favor from Pope John Paul II who elevated the order to the status of "Personal Prelature, "meaning that it is ultimately accountable only to the Pope. This authorizes the organization to go on with their business without being regulated by the bishops. Opus Dei is considered as the elites of the conservative wing of the Vatican, surpassing other Orders such as the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in influence. Opus Dei is able to influence the Vatican's agenda through the presence of its members in secular governments and institutions, academic, medical and grassroots sectors of society. From this perspective, Opus Dei is the Roman Catholic is like the Knights Templar in the Middle Ages. It is also the equivalent of militant Christian Re constructionist Protestant groups and other religious dominant groups who claims mandate from God to take dominion of governments, societies, nations and all individuals. Its rapid success brought suspicion/speculation about new Opus Dei takeover of Rome" (Allen, 2001). The Opus Dei is facing a lot of criticisms. Their desire for secrecy, their overreliance on authority like having people read their mail if a full member, and having people tell you what you can read or not read if you are a subordinate, and the heavy-handed recruiting techniques, made the Opus Dei appear like a cult. The press in the United States describe Opus Dei as secretive, powerful, cultlike, dangerous, and mysterious. The Opus Dei claim that their belief is the only way to holiness for a lay person. Another practice of Opus

Literature Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Literature - Research Paper Example Barn Burning and Silence of the Lambs develop on the theme of good and evil and individual conscience through interactions between a powerful paternal figure and a younger pupil figure. Barn Burning is commonly considered a coming-of-age story, but the way that Sarty comes of age is precisely through the development of his own conscience and the hardest lesson that someone might learn: That their father is far from a good person. Meanwhile, in its own sense, Silence of the Lambs  is a coming-of-age story: A very young FBI agent is thrown into a very dangerous case and has to learn how to deal with serial killers, both investigating them and interacting with them. In both of these stories, the main characters are struggling to understand the true nature of their mentor: Sarty's father, Snopes, and Clarice's guide through the Buffalo Bill case, Hannibal Lecter. At the end of the story, Sarty sees that his father is going on an increasingly self-destructive path. His last attempt to b urn down a barn had succeeded and he had gotten away with it, but Snopes cannot help himself from responding to what he viewed as disrespect by again turning to the torch. Sarty knows he has to stop this imminent act of arson and escapes from his own family to do so, but as he runs, he tries to reconcile the monster he knows with the stories he's been told. â€Å"My father, he thought. "He was brave!" he cried suddenly, aloud but not loud, no more than a whisper: "He was! He was in the war! He was in Colonel Sartoris' cav'ry!" not knowing that his father had gone to that war a private in the fine old European sense, wearing no uniform, admitting the authority of and giving fidelity to no man or army or flag, going to war as Malbrouck himself did: for booty - it meant nothing and less than nothing to him if it were enemy booty or his own†. Sarty can't know Faulkner's omniscient narrator's aside here, but the information is important to confirm that Sarty's judgments about his father are right, that his instincts are correct: There is little redeeming in the character of Snopes. Similarly, Clarice goes into her discussions with Lecter knowing that he is a monster, but struggling to come to terms with his intellect and his strength of character. She never expected someone as refined, elegant and ultimately usually quite polite. Lecter respects strength, and repeatedly rewards her insistence with information; however, he despises weakness and a lack of independence, so he sometimes refuses to aid her more. In this respect, their relationship is truly that of parent and child: The child seeking more aid, the parent being careful with how much to dole out. The truly interesting element, however, is that Lecter is offering her moral advice. He gets at the core of her psychology: Like Sarty, Clarice once saw something in her childhood that she thought was unimaginably cruel, the bleating in panic and pain of lambs (a symbol of purity and sacrifice). Clarice's m otivations are to make sure she does not idly sit by again while something is butchered. The problem, though, is that Lecter's moral advice is not free and it comes from a truly questionable source. At every point, Clarice has to ask herself if Lecter is trying to get into her head to satisfy his own cravings or to advance a circuitous escape plot, or out of something resembling empathy or friendship. The last call at the end of the movie,

Cost Benefit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cost Benefit - Essay Example In the case stated, reducing expenditures compared to raising taxes have various repercussions even if both course of action are unpopular. Reducing expenditures meant foregoing the opportunity to serve the people and to provide services that could potentially prevent future problems. For example, health care programs could make the population healthier with an implication of lesser health cost in the future. In the case of education, reducing its expenditures may not be immediately felt but it will undermine the country’s competitiveness in the future because it would mean having less educated workforce. Raising taxes however is unpopular. But it will enable the government to fund its social services such as health and education. Excessive taxation however invites social unrest that could defeat its intent to provide services to the people. The repercussion of high taxation is political as policy makers may lose public support and will no longer win in elections. Ultimately, governments have to balance between increasing taxes and reducing social services. Ideally, taxes should be low and social services should be high but that would not be possible since social services is expenditure and it needs income through taxes to fund it. This explains why social services and taxation should be

Tree Plantation Essay Example for Free

Tree Plantation Essay Introduction: Since the dawn of civilization man has a close relation with nature. Man has made friendship with nature. Nature helps us in many ways. Similarly trees are closely related with our life. They are our friends. They play an important role in our life and economy. Proper place for plantation: In Bangladesh June and July are the best time for tree plantation. Bangladesh is a lower riparian country. So, Upper levels are the best suitable places to plant trees. Sea beaches and low lying unused lands can be used for tree plantation. There are many roads and highways in our country. We can plant trees on the both sides of these roads and highways. Again in the villages there are many proper places which can be used for tree plantation. The sides and areas that are lying unused can be used too. Our role to make the tree plantation program effective: Tree plantation program should be expanded to the remote corner of the country. The officers connected with this program should take proper steps and needful measures to make it a success. They should try to make it popular all over the country. Most of the people of our village are illiterate. They have no knowledge about the importance of trees. Attempt should be made to make them aware of the importance of trees. Role of trees for our living: Without oxygen we cannot live for a moment even. Without oxygen, the animal world will die away. Trees make the oxygen and spread it in the air. While inhaling air we take the oxygen with it into our bodies and live in life. Carbon dioxide makes our atmosphere or rather our environment poisonous for us. Trees consume this carbon dioxide and thereby make our environment safe for us. Trees provide us with furniture: Trees are our constant companies in our day to day life. We use them for various purposes. We cannot think of our homes, houses, residence etc, without trees. We use trees to make furniture, windows and doors for our domestic use. Again valuable furniture is made from these trees. We also sell some of the valuable furniture to foreign countries. Trees provide us with food and vitamins: Trees are a great source of food and vitamins. There are various kinds of fruit trees. They give us various kinds of fruits which are rich in food value and vitamins. They meet up our need and keep our body fit and sound. Again we export fruits to many other countries and earn a lot of foreign exchange. Its impact on climate: Trees bear a great impact on the climate. If we destroy trees at random, one day the country will turn into a great desert. The country will bear the consequences of green house effect. Again there will be no rain and as a result the country will face a great crisis because ours is an agricultural country. And our economy is dependent on agriculture. Again our agriculture is dependent on rain. So trees play a vital role on our climate. Trees also save us from flood and many other natural calamities. Conclusion: It is needless to speak the importance of trees. It is not possible to describe the importance and uses of trees in words. They are part and parcel in our day to day life. We cannot think of our existence without them. So, we should not use and destroy trees at random. Rather we should plant more trees for a better, happier and healthier life.

Parasitic Plants and Their Hosts: Types and Characteristics

Parasitic Plants and Their Hosts: Types and Characteristics Survival of one life form is dependent not only on its ability to search and utilize available life sustaining resources but also upon its healthy competition for various such requisites with other life forms belonging to either the same or different species. To facilitate this, different life forms have evolved with special assets of abilities to exist, work and exhibit a tendency to proliferate so as to flag their dominance on ecological niche. Scientific communities at times are amazed by the kinds of interaction in which different life forms co-exist with each other and also with the surroundings. In plants, interaction science has emerged as a major area of research which deals with investigating and studying such phenomena in detail, their mechanism, reasoning for interactions of plant with plant, animals, and/or micro-organism. Evolution of a new species from an existing ancestral mob assures adaptation to new and more efficient modes of existence, wherein lesser inputs are in vested for more possible benefits. One such example is the parasitic plants or epiphytes. Parasitic plants comprise 19 families in angiosperms and constitute to about 4,100 species (Nickrent. and Musselman, 2004). Among these with various parasitic habits, mistletoes are well known as perrenial, polyphyletic group of angiospermic aerial plant parasites (Devkota, 2005) infecting generally host stem and/or branches, and belong to families, Viscaceae and Loranthaceae. Mistletoes are considered as an important component of biodiversity (Watson, 2001; Shaw et al., 2004), and have been appraised not only due to their unique parasitic relationship with their respective hosts, their growth habits, mechanism of seed dispersal but also because of their miraculous medicinal values which includes their use as sympathetic medicine to take down abnormal tissue growth under cancer (Kunwar et al.2005). They are predominantly known to occur on fruit trees. Mistletoes are characterised by the development of a root like absorptive organ called haustorium which forms the host parasite interface and draws nutrients from the host conductive tissues to the parasite (Devkota, 2005). Dendrophthoe falcata is a hemi-parasitic plant belonging to the Loranthaceae mistletoes and is considered as the commonest of all other mistletoes widely occurring in India (Parker acnd Westwood, 2009). The genus Dendrophthoe comprises of about 31 species spread across tropical Africa, Asia, and Australia (Flora of China, 2003) among which 7 species are found in India. The sp. falcata has its hold in India since ancient times and has been in use as traditional folklore medication for various ailments. Though a parasite incurring huge losses to commercial fruit and timer production, it is considered and welcomed as a sacred sign of prosperity in few areas of rural India. Well globally, much of the advanced scientific investigations have centered on other mistletoes such as Orobanche, Viscum etc. These studies have aimed towards understanding the parasite behaviour, sap flow dynamics at the host parasite interface, chemical compositions of floral organs, designing successful control st rategies, evaluating medicinal potentials etc. The present review will focus on the existing literature earlier attempts aiming study of various scientific aspects associated with D.falcata. The review considerably outlines the variety of studies performed revolving around the host-parasite relationship, morphology and geographical distribution, and studies aiming towards in vitro establishment and attempts towards scientific justification of the ethno-medicinal properties, and various existing and possible control strategies for this mistletoe family member. Morphology and biogeography: Evolutionarily, mistletoes belonging to Loranthaceae are considered older than those of Viscaceae and ever since their origin from dense Gondwanan forests; they have successfully encompassed tropics, subtropics and arid portions on the globe through their nutritional competition-driven conquests (Devkota et al, 2005). Notes on floral morphology and embryology in D.falcata have been provided by Singh (1952). D.falcata bears grey barks, thick coriaceous leaves variable in shape with stout flowers (Wealth of India. 2002). The flowering inflorescences in D.falcata was previously referred to as axillary or as developing on the scars of fallen leaves, but Y.P.S Pundir (1996) verified it to be of strictly cauliflorous nature and also notified that it shares fundamental similarity to that of Ficus glomerata, F. pomifera and F. hispida. Two of its varieties are widespread in India namely, var. falcata (Honey Suckled Mistletoe) and var. Coccinea (Red Honey Suckled Mistletoe) distinguished by occurrence of white and red flowering, respectively (Flowers of India, a World Wide Web resource). A comprehensive list of almost all the species within the genus Dendrophthoe can be availed (from web source at http://www.naturekind.org/taxpage/0/binomial/Dendrophthoe_falcata). Haustorial polymorphism, leaf mimicry, explosive flowering, fruit adhesive pulp etc. Singh, B., 1952. A contribution to the floral morphology and embryology of Dendrophthoe falcata (L. f.) Ettingsh. Jour. Linn. Soc., Lond., 53, 449. Dendrophthoe homoplastica (mistle- toe) mimic those of its common host, Eucalyptus shirleyi. (Robert L. Mathiasen, David C. Shaw, Daniel L. Nickrent, David M. Watson,2008 Plant Disease / Vol. 92 No. 7) Hosts and host-parasite relationships: Mistletoes occur mostly on forest, fruit and ornamental host trees preferentially harboring zones rich in biodiversity and thus are found excessively on mountain ridges provided with favorably optimum light intensities and in few in slopes and plains (Devkota, 2005 and references therein). Mistletoes do not follow a uniform pattern of distribution which is affected by local environments and effected by habits of seed dispersing avian visitors. Host range: Earliest, B.Singh (1962) reported that the leafy mistletoe D.falcata is parasitic on over 300 hosts in India, Pakistan, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia. Indiaà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s rich plant biodiversity in 1977 could report exclusive host range numbering 345 plants susceptible to infection from this mistletoe (Siva Sarma and Vijayalakshmi 1977) which is a significant number as it contributes to its comparatively recent global record for 401 hosts (Shaw 1993). Till date, D.falcata represents the only known mistletoe with the largest global host range (Calvin and Wilson, 2009) which is continuously and rapidly widening. Haustoria: Mistleoes are known to form haustorial structures at the point of attachment to the host. Among angiosperms, parasitic relationship through the formation of haustorial linkages is known to be widespread (Wilson and Calvin, 2006). In general, haustorial connections among 72 (of the 75) ariel parasitic genera may belong to either of the four types viz., epicortical roots (ERs), clasping unions, wood roses, and bark strands (Calvin and Wilson, 1998). ERs may run along the host branches in either direction forming haustorial structures at variable intervals while à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½unionsà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ occur as single points of attachment of individual parasites hence pronounced as solitary. In D,falcata on different hosts two of the haustorial kinds have been observed viz., solitary unions as on Sugar apple (Annona squamosa), and epicortical roots as on sugar apple (Achras sapota), guava (Psidium guajava), pomegranate (Punica granatum) have been observed. It is unknown about what factors decide formation of different haustorial types by the leafy mistletoe on different hosts. The host branches infected with D.falcata show a gradual reduction in growth and diameter as compared to other healthy uninfected branches (Karunaichamy et al, 1999). It has also been reported that the development of mistletoe plants on the host tree is a dynamic process which necessarily leads to the death of the host tree and that the whole process may last for about a decade (Karunaichamy et al, 1999). It is known that mistletoes have higher nutrient titer than their host (Lamont, 1983; Karunaichamy et al, 1993) and this could probably be attributed to a competitively higher water (including dissolved nutrient and growth promoting metabolite) uptake rate by the parasite at its haustorium at a point in the host branch in comparison to that in the protruding lateral ends of the branch (that extends after the haustorium). This might render key nutrients be unavailable to the host branches that could repress growth post-infection (Stewart and Press, 1990). But in work by Karunaichamy et al (1999) one D.falcata seed per stem of Azadirachta indica seedling has been tested which has shown the life threatening effect on whole plant which again itself i s at an immature seedling stage (so death of the whole plant could be expected). In a broad sense, physiological and metabolic perturbations induced by the parasite in the whole host plant outlined at the seedling stage surmised by the reduced host leaf area, leaf number, growth performance upon infection cannot be correlated to that in a fully mature host. (statement in bold italics) could be justified by that there may be an increment in the probability of multiple mistletoe seed dispersals or extended reach of haustorial structures to other branches of the same tree (as we saw in Guava) that might possibly lead to a gradual depletion of key metabolites (thereby lowering an essential threshold titer for the same) required for growth of the host plant altogether. Alternatively though unknown, it might also be possible or still unknown if the hemi-parasites dissipate any unknown metabolite in to the host xylem at the point of anchor formation that may inhibit growth and metabolism in the hostà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s axillary meristems and the whole host plant life may only be at stake if such inhibitory effects are perceived by all plant parts. This again is contradictory hypothesis as evident from fact that the haustorial connections of the parasite with the plant are devoid of any retranslocation system (Smith and Stewart, 1990, also see later). Once more, a report by Sridhar and Rama Rao (1978) unraveled the infection of D.falcata surprisingly hosting itself directly on the fruit (Table 1) of Acharas sapota (Sapota). Almost all the hemi-parasitic members of the Loranthaceae tap the xylem vessels of their host to avail water and minerals but to a considerable extent produce their own supply of assimilates (Kuijt, 1969). D.falcata does not have an indigenous rooting system and is dependent on the host for water and minerals. Nutrient dynamics have shown that a higher titre of N, P , K, Mg and Na in the leaves of mistletoe than the leaves of uninfected and infected hosts which may be due to differential translocation of elements within the host phloem (Prakash et al, 1967; Karunaichamy et al, 1999). Nitrogen loss is well pronounced in mistletoe infected hosts and a higher potassium levels in mistletoe is an indicative of higher transpiration rates and a lack of re-translocation system (Karunaichamy et al, 1999 and references t herein). Though outlined above that the total phosphorous in mistletoe leaves is present in excess as compared to that the host leaves, fractionation studies have elucidated that percentage acid-insoluble phosphate is comparatively lesser in the parasite and also that further fractionation again infers a lower percentage of phospholipid, RNA, DNA and phosphoproteins. The DNA content of the infected host leaves however demonstrate a dramatic increase compared to the healthy uninfected leaves (Prakash et al, 1967). Mistletoes are believed to mimic their hosts in floral structures. At some instance it was supported by a hypothesis which explains that such behaviour imparts protection to the mistletoe from the herbivores. Later, the hypothesis was field tested, rejected and replaced by a belief that a host parasite resemblance might help to safeguard hostsà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ individual fitness by signaling the birds to expel mistletoe seeds on other uninfected hosts (Atsatt, 1979). Moreover, the hosts and parasite follow individual developmental scheduling of events under which the parasite might experience an influence from a firm epigenetic hormonal control on leaf size and shape thus evolving the mimicry or resemblance to the host(). List of hosts: Loranthaceous parasites were known in India since 1885 and until then only 35 species were known. Specifically for D.falcata from among the earliest of the reports, 268 host species have been known to be under the clutch of the deadly hemiparasite (Ravindranath and Narsimha Rao, 1959), and shortly later B.Singh (1962) reported its parasitic relation with over 300 hosts reported in India, Pakistan, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia. Until 1993, a report by Shaw III depicts a global increase of host range to 401. In Indian tropics 37 species of tree have been reported as the favourite hosts for D.falcata (Ghosh et al., 2002). Due to the ever increasing host range (Sridhar and Rama Rao, 1978) currently it is difficult to draw a margin between the more and less common host genera. Vectors for seed dispersal and pollination: Seed dispersal as well as pollination is usually mediated by the birds that thrive on fruits from the parasite and/or host. Particularly in southern India, Tickelà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½s Flowerpecker which is also named as Pale-billed Flowerpecker (Dicaeum erythrohynchos, Latham) is reported to facilitate seed dispersal of D. falcata among Neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss. belonging to Meliaceae) through fecal excretions or regurgitations (Karunaichamy et al, 1999; Hambali, 1977 and references therein). The mistletoe bird also eats insects and therefore has a grinding gizzard. When eating the mistletoe berry the bird is able to close the gizzard and the toxic seeds are usually swallowed as a whole and are shunt through their gut in about 3-4 minute (Murphy et al., 1993) and because the seed has a sticky coating, to get rid of the seed the bird applies its vent to the edges of the host tree branches and may turn around whereby the seed then sticks onto the branch where it may subsequently germin ate (Ali, 1931; Ali 1932; Davidar, 1985). These birds also act as vectors for pollination in the hemi-parasite whose flowers bear a mechanism that causes pollen to explosively spray on the plumage of the visiting flowerpeckers (Karunaichamy et al., 1999; Vidal-Russell and Nickrent, 2008). Studies conducted in the higher altitudes of Western Ghats (where both the mistletoes and the flowerpeckers occur predominantly), which parallel the western coast of India infer that the flowerpecker pollinated mistletoes have particularly developed feature specialized to attract a unique vector both to facilitate pollination and seed dispersal: the fruit and flowers have similar resemblance and more significantly, the fruiting time overlap with the next flowering season (Davidar, 1983). Hair-crested Drongo or Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus hottentottus) is an Asian bird of the family Dicruridae and sunbirds (family=Nectariniidae) also known to feed on the nectar from the D.falcata flowers also adds to the list of pollinators to this mistletoe (Kunwar et al, 2005 and references therein). Phytochemistry: Results for the preliminary tests in phytochemical screening analyses using ethanolic extract of the whole plant reports the presence of carbohydrates, glycosides, steroids, tannins phenolic compounds, flavonoids and triterpenes (Sahu et al, 2010). Chromatography of D.falcata fruits has recently added new members to the list of naturally occurring terpenes which has taxonomically been considered significant (Mallavadhani et al., 2006). Total phenolics in mistletoe have a comparatively higher concentration but it failed to correlate to any resistance by the host or its susceptibility to infection by the hemiparaste (Khanna et al,, 1968). Later a phenolic inhibitor of the enzyme a-glucan phosphorylase was reported ((Khanna et al,, 1971). A study by Ramchandra and coworkers (2005) indicated that an elevated antioxidant potential in the mistletoe is due to sequestration of phenolic compounds from the host plants. Their HPTLC data on samples from mistletoe hosted on Mangifera indica (Mango), reportedly contained mangiferin, a C-glucosyl xanthone synthesized by the host plant. The report raises query concerning further investigations for whether the transfer of phenolics to the hemi-parasite indicates a preliminary host mediated defense or a mode of host identification by the parasite or as a mechanism from within the parasite to bypass rejection from the host plant. In mature seed embryo 0.65 mg chlorophyll/g fresh wt; chlorophyll a : b ratio of 1.6 per mg chlorophyll has been evidenced. Moreover, in context to titre of enzymes for photorespiration, phosphoglycolate activity in the embryo has been recorded to be 16.7 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½mol substrate/min and 3-phosphoglycerate phosphatase activity 6.8 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½mol substrate/min. Similarly, NADH-linked glyoxylate reductase activity has been demonstrated in the embryo (0.09 à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½mol substrate/min/g fresh wt) by Kachru, and Krishnan (1979). Chroamatography of the ethanolic extract followed by NMR and Mass spectrometry could isolate and identify Quercitin, a rhamnoside (Shihab et al, 2006). Hexokinase has been partially isolated and studied for its properties from D.falata leaves (Baijal and Sanwal, 1976). In a comparative evaluation of this parasitic plant grown on various host plants, Nair et al.10) reported the accumulation of kaempferol, quercetin, myrecitin, and their glycosides. Medicinal Properties: D.falcata possesses remarkable potentials as a medicinal plant evident from the wound healing, anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, antinociceptive properties of its ethanolic extracts (Pattanayak and Sunita, 2008, Shihab et al, 2006). Medicinal properties of this hemiparasite may vary in effects respective to different hosts it establishes a relation with (Mallavadhani et al., 2006). The whole plant is used in indigenous system of medicine as cooling, bitter, astringent, aphrodisiac, narcotic and diuretic (Alekutty e al., 1993) and is useful in treating pulmonary tuberculosis, asthma, menstrual disorders, swelling wounds, ulcers, renal and vesical calculi and vitiated conditions of kapha and pitta (Anarthe et al., 20081; Anarthe et al, 2010; Sastry, 1952; Pattanayak et al., 2008 ). Also, the decoction of plant used by women as an anti-fertility agent has been evidenced to possess anticancer activity (Nadkarni, 1993). The leaf ethanolic extract significantly and dose dependently inhibits the acetic acid induced writhing in mice (Shihab et al, 2006) and has indicated a low level toxicity in the brine shrimp lethality assays. Besides, a more recent work by Pattanayak and Mazumder (2010) shows significant tumor reduction in induced mammary carcinogenesis in Wistar female rats when fed with hydroalcoholic extracts of D. falcata. Ethno-medicinal aspects: Ethnomedical studies are generally characterized by a strong anthropological and/or biomedical approach and in this context the use of D.falcata as a traditioal remedy for most if not all the ailments has been well appraised. Perhaps, the variety of knowledge available has not yet been exploited full fledgedly due to the currently over-recommended chemial analogs that are predominant over market most of which have side-effects associated under frequent use. In vitro regeneration and gene introgression studies: It is known that long term caulogensis from the endosperm tissue exhibits a high degree of polyploidisation of its cells associated with abnormalities such as chromosome bridges and lagging chromosomes but mistletoe endosperms have exceptional stability in their chromosome number (Razdan, 2003). In the past, in vitro studies aiming towards investigating behavior of mature embryos have been reported in D.falcata (Johri and Bajaj, 1962). The effects of light, endosperm, endosperm extract, and position of the embryo on media have been studied on in vitro germination of D.falcata (Bajaj, 1968). Shoot induction has been successfully achieved in D.falcata (Bhojwani and Razdan, 1983). Shoot buds in Loranthaceae directly differentiate from the peripheral cells of the endosperm cultures though D.falcata may particularly require media supplemented with a combination of cytokinins and a low concentration of IAA or IBA. Among other cytokinins, 2-ip has been most effective and also addition of Casein hydrolysate (2000mg/l) has been necessarily recommended for shoot bud differentiation. For optimal shoot bud growth frequent subcultutres on fresh media is crucial. Caulogenesis from these shoot buds may be followed by differentiation into shoot and haustoria. The latter could be avoided by increased kinetin concentration and for such kinetin induced shoot bud differentiation, a low concentration of auxin (IAA or IBA) is necessary (Nag and Johri, 1971). Ready to use tissue culture strategies have been discussed by a review article by Pattanayak and Mazumder (2008). Advanced molecular level studies are surprisingly lacking for D.falcata with only single report where tests for amenability of this plant in gene introgression studies have been investigated via successful agrobacterium mediated transformation of its embryogenic cultures for GUS expression (Rohini et al, 2005). Diseases of D.falcata: Very little is known about diseases that victimize this hemiparasitc plant. The pathogen species that have been reported in association are generally known to commonly infect a wide range of plants off genera. There are realizations that propose that mistletoe specific pathogens are rare and develop endemism and be localized to favorably optimized areas where their growth requisites and nutritional demands are inline with the host mistletoe species and their host nutrient and sap flow dynamics. Fungal: The hemi-parasite itself is susceptible to diseases such as leaf blight caused by Colletotrichum state of Glomerella cingulata which has been reported on D.falcata which seriously infects Teak (Tectona grandis) plantations (Ali and Florence, 1987) in Kerala, India. Epiparasitism Plant: A surprising evidence of hyper-parasitism has been reported in the Mohand Range Forest (Dehradun, India) where D.falcata itself receives haustoria from Scurrula cordifolia (another mistletoe), both hosted together by Ougeinia oojeinensis (fabaceae) (Pundir, 1979). Similaly, Viscum orientale (Viscaceae) has also been reported to grow on D.falcata (Saxena, 1971). In another instance Cuscuta reflexa (Convolvulaceae) has been shown to act as a rival to the leafy mistletoe (Nath and Indira, 1975). Viscum capitellatum. Sm has also been evidenced from Sri Lanka to be an obligate epiparasite for D.falcata (Calvin and Wilson, 2009) and symplastic continuity exists between their phloem (Glatzel and Balasubramaniam, 1987) which is an indicative of the aggressive epiparasitism depicted more vividly by the presence of graft-resembling à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½unionsà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. Viscum loranthi Elmer, thus has been advocated to have potentials for biological control of Loranthaceae hemiparasites (Pundi r, 1981) damaging commercial timber crops. Well, other species such as D.glabrata has also been reported to be parasitized by Viscum articulatum (Robert L. Mathiasen, David C. Shaw, Daniel L. Nickrent, David M. Watson,2008 Plant Disease / Vol. 92 No. 7). On the whole, 88% of Viscaceae and 61% Loranthaceae epiparasitize Loranthaceae (Calvin and Wilson, 2009). Hyperparasitism in Other mistletoes in the same genus: Notothixos subaureus (Viscaceae), parasitic on Dendrophthoe glabrescens (Loranthaceae) on Eucalyptus (source: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1876445) Insects: Recently, Cockerell Scale insects, Pseudaulacaspis cockerelli Cooley (Diaspididae) have been reported to settle on the leaves, stems and haustoria of D.falcata parasitizing Senna siamea (unpublished communication). These scale insects are known to thrive on sap nutrients and their reproduction and hence their proliferation rate has depicted relation with the nitrogen status of the host. Well in this regard mistletoe particularly D.F indicates a favorable choice as their nutrient uptake seems more biased towards drawing more nitrogen rich species from the host sap. The host S.siamea, though is a non-nodulating leguminous tree specie but can produce more nitrogen than the nodulating relatives. Controlling the parasite: Backed by easy seed dispersal by fruit eating birds, widespread and ever increasing host range of Dendrophthoe falcata continues to pose heavy losses in economically valuable fruit trees and those with medicinal properties whether growing in forests, orchards or gardens (Sridhar and Rama Rao, 1978). Healthy tree hosts can tolerate few branch attachments with mistletoes but a heavily infected host slowly moves towards its decline as the mistletoe feeds upon its nutrients and spreads on all its ariel parts (Aly, 2007). Hostsà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ death is more probable when they become more prone to other forms of biotic ad abiotic stresses. Reports from 1930s evidence that until then no proper control and eradication methods were available rather the only alternative used was excising off the parasite (before seed production) completely from below the point of infection in the host and their immediate incineration (Sridhar and Rama Rao, 1978). Mechanical pruning of the infected host branches with cuts at least one foot below the point of mistletoe attachment in order to completely remove embedded haustoria has also been suggested as a method of choice but severe heading (topping) which is often used to remove heavy tree infestations weakens the host tree structure. Instead, it is best to remove severely infested trees entirely because they are usually a source of mistletoe seeds. Another method employed when mechanical pruning gives up upon mistletoe infection uses painting the infected area using a pruning paint or spray and wrapping it with layers of opaque polyethylene cover so as to restrict light source required by this leafy mistletoe. In another method, use of ethephon (a growth regulator) in form of spray to completely wet leaves of mistletoe harboring dormant host trees is recommended (Aly, 2007). Regrowth of the parasite may be prevented by pruning it and painting the spot in the host branch (Koski et al., 2009). Lately, adopted method of control uses application of 50% diesel oil emulsion sprayed on mistletoe leaves. The said morbid effect of emulsion significantly increases the intra-molecular respiration rates in the leaves followed by a gradual decline in capacity of stomatal closure consequently leading to death of the hemiparasite (Singh and Sharma., 1970). Delias eucharis, a medium sized pierid butterfly (Common Jezebel) commonly occurs in South and South-East Asia (Bingham, 1907) and is particularly known to lay its eggs and feed on leaves of mistletoes (Roychoudhury, 2005) and has been suggested in its use to control the parasitic mistletoes (Sevastopulo, 1950, Mushtaque and Baloch 1979). Alternatively, resistance to D.falcata using herbicide (metribuzin) infusion of its host, Tectona grandis (Teak) has also been tested but is of limited help as the efficiency of parasite killing was not proportional to the amount of herbicide used which is required to estimate exact dosage and infusion time for multiple of infection on one host (Balasundaran and Ali, 1989). In one of the papers from the proceedings of the 6th Asian-Pacific Weed Science Society conference, G.G. Hambali (1977) has discussed beside other uses the exploitaton of scolytid and cerambycid beetles in controlling Dendrophthoe spp. Several similar or other control alternatives have been suggested by Khan et al. (1987). Approaches as highlighted above towards control of parasitic weeds by traditional methods are limitedly effective and best control via herbicides and fumigants may be hazardous to Mother Nature (Jacobsohn 1994). Removal of mistletoe by hand is effective considerably under small degrees of infection but extensive infestation might render this approach as inevitably expensive (Aly, 2007) and cumbersome more particularly when the infestation spans large tree plantations or dense forests. Replacing the infected plantations with resistant trees has also been a method of choice. Though not reported yet specifically for D.falcata, resistance for broadleaf mistletoe (Phoradendron macrophyllum) was evidenced in some tree species viz., pear, Chinese pistachio, crapemyrtle, ginkgo, sycamore, and conifers such as redwood and cedar (Perry 1995). These few resistant species are of significance to the plant breeders but raising parasitic plant resistant crop genotypes have been very difficult and yet lack success. Use of high and low intensity fires has also been noted but is rather undesirable in plantations as wonà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½t result in complete cure but only subside heavy infestation from the mistletoes in stand without suppression of re-infestation (Carnegie et al, 2009). Chemical control of mistletoes has been extensively researched in Australia which points out the reasons for their limited routine practice in forests as these methods are labour intensive, cost-effective, variable or limited in results. Use of biological control strategies including mistletoe targeting fungi has also been evidenced (Carnegie et al, 2009). Recent efforts by S. Aly and his workgroup (at the Department of Plant Pathology and Weed Research, Agricultural Research Organization, Newe Yaar Research Center, Israel) enlists successful biotechnological approaches which guarantee prospects towards achieving effective parasitic weed control and ensure environmental safety (Aly, 2007). Adoption of these tools within biotechnology viz, trait gene introgression, gene silencing, promoter technology etc accordingly towards generating transgenic host trees remain the only promising alternative to combat losses incurred from D.falcata infestations. Aspects of biodiversity: Management and control strategies whether mild or exhaustive and whether practiced on a low to high area of coverage should not overlook that mistletoes are considered a valuable component of biodiversity. They are seen as à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½a keystone resourceà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ of food and shelter for diverse population of vertebrates and invertebrates (Carnegie et al, 2009). Conclusions: (KEY: take up the previous issues in above topics and be general and also take examples from other species or genera about the same, for medicinal values and products again search for other existing natural resources. Parasitic plants and their origin Parasitic plants constitute to about 1% of the total angiosperms in nature. Studies explaining the science behind the evolutionary origin of the ariel habit in Loranthaceae have recently been initiated where primitive hypotheses are being investigated with use of phylogenetic tools and analyses (Wilson and Calvin, 2006). Phytochemistry: Though in a recent review by DCruz et al (2010) considerable reproductive toxicity that may cause upon consumption of extracts from the hemiparasite and other plant extracts had been advocated. The article also appeals for extensive research on neutralizing the toxicity of plant based products before they could be validated for their health benefits. Medicinal uses: Antioxidants are considered important for preventing human diseases but the synthetic antioxidants viz., butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA) that have a restricted use as preservatives in oils and fatty foods to minimize their oxidation are considered carcinogenic (Andlauer and Furst, 1998) which can be altered by use of ethanolic and/or methanolic D.falcata extracts as

Environmental Protection Agency and Texas

Environmental Protection Agency and Texas The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, is a federal agency charged with monitoring and maintaining a healthy environment in America. Many credit U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson with spurring interest in the environmental movement, he created Earth Day in the spring of 1970 which led to the creation of the EPA in December of that year. The EPA monitors a huge array of environmental issues in America. The agency scrutinizes everything from the fuel standards to mercury levels in lakes and landfill regulations. Natural resource programs were established in Texas at the turn of the 20th century, motivated initially by concerns over the management of water resources and water rights. In parallel with developments in the rest of the nation, and at the federal level, state natural-resource efforts broadened at mid-century to include the protection of air and water resources, and later to the regulation of generating hazardous and non-hazardous waste. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality strives to protect our states public health and natural resources consistent with sustainable economic development. Their goal is clean air, clean water, and the safe management of waste. TCEQ for short, essentially is Texass version of the EPA. Texas has had a rough relationship with the Environmental Protection Agency. Texas legislators and business owners have refused EPA monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions and air permit requirements in the state. Reasons for this vary and include claims of states rights and rejection of EPA rulings on the dangers of six greenhouse gases. In May 2011, the Texas House passed a measure asking federal legislators to prevent the EPA from regulating emissions in the state under the Clean Air Act. The state lost similar legal battles in 2010 and 2011. The state has spent approximately $1.4 million on the cases so far, chiefly centered on air quality and climate issues that it says are intended to protect public health. The EPA has five main goals: Addressing climate change and improving air quality, Protecting Americas waters, cleaning up communities and advancing sustainable development, ensuring the safety of chemicals and preventing pollution, and protecting human health and the environment by enforcing laws and assuring compliance. Air pollution, one of the EPAs main concerns, comes from many different sources: stationary sources such as factories, power plants, and smelters and smaller sources such as dry cleaners and degreasing operations; mobile sources such as cars, buses, planes, trucks, and trains; and naturally occurring sources such as windblown dust, and volcanic eruptions, all contribute to air pollution. The Clean Air Act establishes a number of permitting programs designed to carry out the goals of the act. Some of these programs are directly implemented by EPAs South Central Region also known as Region 6, but most are carried out by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Air Quality can be affected in many ways by the pollution emitted from these sources. These pollution sources can also emit a wide variety of pollutants. The number one air pollutant is Carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide or CO is a colorless, odorless gas formed by the incomplete reaction of air with fuel. CO pollution occurs primarily from emissions produced by fossil fuel powered engines, including motor vehicles and non-road engines and vehicles. Higher levels of CO generally occur in areas with heavy traffic congestion. Other sources of CO emissions include industrial processes, residential wood burning, and natural sources such as forest fires. Oil and gas facilities in Texas released more than 20 million pounds of illegal sulfur dioxide emissions, which contribute to smog and acidification of water and soil, during breakdowns and maintenance activities in 2014 and 68 million pounds in 2015. The states enforcement of air pollution limits in permits has been poor. When Texas does impose penalties for violations, the fines are often small in comparison to the cost to public health and the profits generated by the industry. Another main pollution concern is water. Texas is the second-biggest water polluter in the country, in terms of pounds released. But when the toxicity of the pollution is factored in, Texas jumps to the top of the list. The top overall water polluter in Texas was the Pilgrims Pride chicken-processing plant in Mount Pleasant, which in 2012 dumped 2.8 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the Tankersley River in Northeast Texas. Working on these issues in Texas isnt easy, with powerful polluter lobbies that are used to getting what they want from state legislators and regulators. The only feasible way to promote solutions to the government and win is by forming an organization. Starting small and then expanding by getting more and more concerned citizens involved would go a long way. The organization would have to build traction and earn its place amongst the large companies and government agencies. The citizens, once organized into a force could boycott companies not in compliance wi th EPA or the communitys standards, sue large corporations for any number of shortcomings, and in short make change happen. The people hold more power together than they ever do individually and it will take cooperation on an extraordinary scale for such an idea to exist. There are five main U.S. environmental laws. These include the Clean Air Act which divides the country into air quality regions and sets goals for the concentration of various pollutants in the air. After that is the Clean Water Act, its goals are to eliminate discharge of all pollutants and to restore and maintain the quality of the nations waters so they are fishable and swimmable. Another is the Safe Drinking Water Act which is in place to ensure water is consumable and looks clean. The SDWA also protects the quality of underground water sources. Next comes the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act which manages the generation, storage, transport, treatment and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes from operating facilities, and minimize waste disposal to land. Finally, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act covers the clean-up of abandoned hazardous waste sites and spills, and provides for community right-to-know of industrial waste management practices. Texas is usually going head to head with the Environmental Protection Agency arguing over a regulation of some manner. The EPA usually is the winner in these arguments from limits on greenhouse gas emissions to restrictions on air pollution that crosses state lines. During the Obama administration Texas, has sued the EPA and the federal government more than 50 times over environmental concerns. These lawsuits seem petty and wasteful of tax payers money to some. While others are glad that Texas is still up for sticking it to big government and making sure that they are not over reaching on boundaries trying to use powers that congress has not given them. Texas is continuously in court with the EPA because the EPA is encroaching on Texass management of air quality standards. The EPA is only doing so because Texas is doing the bare minimum to reduce pollution. It is doing what is required within the regulations so that it remains in compliance with the acts. However, it is still so litt le that then the EPA has to try and force Texas to do more than just the bare minimum and that invokes a lawsuit because they do not have jurisdiction to do such a thing. It is asinine and a poor representation of what our state government is capable of but with all of the major corporations backing the state Texas will continue in this manner. Congress would need to amend the acts to give the EPA more power in the matter. This however, is unlikely because that would-be encroachment on states rights. The fact of the matter is the Texas Government does not want to do it so therefore it will do everything in its power not to. Unless a major power switch were to occur or perhaps a major push via the citizens of Texas this charade will continue. It all amounts to unnecessary spending just to allow big business freedom to do as it wishes at the cost of the populations health and in increase in their wallet size. Texas would much rather figure out its environmental issues on its own. A state set in its ways, it is not about to let the federal government have compete dictation over any of its policies. Beneficial or not Texas will conduct itself as it sees fit. Interference or forced control will meet opposition immediately at no consideration of expense. The wins Texas has acquired against the federal government has made it proud even though the losses fairly outweigh them. Texas may never agree with EPA on its regulations but the choices made by Texas now will largely effect environmental consequences for years to come. Works Cited Dawson, B. (2010, August 5). Texas officials say they wont implement EPAs climate rules. Retrieved from Texas Climate News: http://texasclimatenews.org/?p=357 EPA in Texas. (2016, December 23). Retrieved from EPA: United States Environmental Protection Agency: https://www.epa.gov/tx%20 Everything You Need to Know About the EPA. (2017). Retrieved from StateImpact: https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/epa/ History of the TCEQ and Its Predecessor Agencies. (2016, January 26). Retrieved from Texas Commision On Environmental Quality: https://www.tceq.texas.gov/about/tceqhistory.html Satija, N. (2014, April 29). Supreme Courts Air Pollution Ruling Goes Against Texas. Retrieved from The Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/2014/04/29/texas-loses-fight-against-epa-air-pollution-rule/ Satija, N., Carbonell, L., McCrimmon, R. (2017, January 17). Texas vs. the Feds A Look at the Lawsuits. Retrieved from The Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/01/17/texas-federal-government-lawsuits/ The States Water by Region . (n.d.). Retrieved from Texas Parks Wildlife: http://tpwd.texas.gov/landwater/water/environconcerns/regions/

The Heroine of Louise Shivers Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail :: Here Get My Baby Out Jail

The Heroine of Louise Shivers' Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail Sleeping Beauty's father was a king who loved his daughter dearly. Unfortunately, however, he forgot to invite one of the oldest and most powerful of the fairies to the celebration of his daughter's christening. Because of his forgetfulness, the princess was sentenced to one hundred years of sleep and inactivity. She was saved by a prince who made his way to her bedside and awakened her with a kiss of true love. Of course, they celebrated a glorious wedding and lived happily ever after. Roxy Walston, the heroine of Louise Shivers' "Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail," like Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella or Snow White, lived a fairy tale existence. All of the supporting roles were accounted for: her father, Will Stanton (the king); her mean stepmother, Ruth; her grandmother, Georgeanna (the fairy godmother); her husband, Aaron (the shining knight)' and her lover, Jack, as Prince Charming. Even the evil witch is symbolized by the aura of death and foreboding of the funeral home--always preyi ng, ready to devour the next unsuspecting victim. But unlike the princess in the fairy tale, Roxy's fairy tale ended when she was awakened from her "sleep" by Jack's kiss. The lovers had shared many a romantic, passionate kiss, but the kiss--the one which brought Roxy out of her trance--was the "spitty" one after Jack had confessed to murdering Aaron. At this moment Roxy awakened to her own self-awareness and freed herself from Jack's sensual, magic spell. Only then did she tap into the strength she never knew she had. It was that strength, at first as small as a tobacco seed, that enabled her to try to outlive her shame and move forward with her life as best she could. For one to understand and appreciate Roxy's vulnerability and passivity, a discussion of her childhood will place in proper perspective her family relationships. Will Stanton was a big-boned man, a giant with a soft heart. One can imagine the sheer delight of his little girl as he surprised her with tangerines at Christmastime. She would slip her hand down into his big pocket and feel the white sack lining, "looking for a Saturday nickel" (Shivers 119). In Roxy's eyes, her Daddy was omniscient, a virtual god. That idolization of her male parent is not unusual. Caryl Rivers, author of "Beyond Sugar and Spice," tells us that "to many a young girl, there is something magical about her father" (50).

Georges Seurat - Hi Painting Essay -- essays research papers

Georges Seurat used the pointillism approach and the use of color to make his painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, be as lifelike as possible. Seurat worked two years on this painting, preparing it woth at least twenty drawings and forty color sketched. In these preliminary drawings he analyzed, in detail every color relationship and every aspect of pictorial space. La Grande Jatte was like an experiment that involved perspective depth, the broad landscape planes of color and light, and the way shadows were used. Everything tends to come back to the surface of the picture, to emphasize and reiterate the two dimensional plane of which it was painted on. Also important worth mentioning is the way Seurat used and created the figures in the painting.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The famous painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte was painted between 1885-1886. The subject is an island newly adopted by the Parisian middle class as a place for quiet Sunday gatherings. The painting looks very realistic. The figures and the way they are dressed look lifelike as does the beautiful landscape in the background. The colors and the painting style, pointillism, make this painting very realistic. The question is, how does Seurat go about making the painting look so lifelike?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pointillism was a major reason in why Seurats painting looks so lifelike. During the painting of La Grande Jatte, Seurat simplified his brushwork to such an extent that his painting seems to be composed of nothing but tiny, more or less circular dots. Seurat’s experiments with color led him to paint in small dots of color which are arranged in such combinations that they seem to vibrate. Individual colors tend to interact with those around them and fuse in the eye of the viewer. This approach is not unlike the dots or pixels in a computer image. If you magnify any computer image sufficently, you will see individual colors that, when set together, produce an image. Seurat was interested in the way colors came about. With the enhancement of the luminousity of colors made possible by the investigation of scientific optics, he saw positive merit in a method in which the movement of the brush no longer demanded the slightest skill: ‘Here the hand is, in eff ect, useless, deceit impossible; no room for bravura i... ... study for the overall concept they appear rather as abstract patterns. The shadows of the figures were very carefully modeled. The light- dark contrasts of the shadows make them seem actually real. The spatial quality is only established through the relations between the sizes of the objects. The painting is not based on a geometrical, box like space. The perspective centre is on the right, despite the fact that the composition is laid in rows parallel to the picture frame. At the same time a paradoxical foreshortening from right to left is evident. The girl fishing with the orange dress and her mother are on the same level, that is, actually at equal distance. In its spatial contruction, the painting is also a successful construction, the groups of people sitting in the shade, and who should really be seen from above, are all shown directly from the side. The ideal eye level would actually be on different horizontal lines; first at head height of the standing figures, then of t hose seated. Seurats methods of combing observations which he collected over two years, corresponds, in its self invented techniques, to a modern lifelike painting rather than an academic history painting.

Reflective Report on Group Work

Reflection on group work Project Content |Page | |Content |2 | |Introduction |3 | |The Group |3 | |My role in the Group |4 | |Difficult encountered during the group work |5 | |The Presentation |7 | |Conclusion |8 | |References |9 | Introduction When effective group management and high organisation skills are applied, group work can bring students a wide range of skills and abilities related to people and problem solving. Group work demonstrates student’s capacity to communicate effectively, share and consider opinions, establish trust, analyse the group process, resolve conflicts and also develop their creativity. However, the constructive learning and beneficial results does not always come as a result of group work. For instance, if the students can not perceive the objective of the group work in order to achieve a common goal, or to lay back or believe that the work load can be relied on other members of the group making the individual work less and still get an equal grade, the educational benefits can result in frustration and arguments as well as leading the whole group to a state of stress and anxiety. This essay reflects on my own participation towards ‘Lush Project’ as a project director, also how I contributed in interpreting  and  researching  the  Lush  Brief,  as  well  as my participation with the  final  presentation. It also discusses the difficulties that emerged throughout the group work; things that went well regards to the preparation and the areas that could have been improved upon. The Group A group can be defined in various ways, for instance; Charles Handy (1993, p. 150) identified a group as â€Å"any collection of people who perceive themselves to be a group† in order to interact with one another. The group then is likely to go through a number of structures which cover forming the group, the group passing from an undeveloped concept to a mature conception then going through a â€Å"variety of stages from mutual acceptance and membership to control and organisation† (Culliname, J. , 2007, p. 628)). My group went though the ‘Tuckman’ structure which is defined as ‘forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning’. Forming – initially the group was formed of seven students from the same class. There was no deliberation as to who would be in what group. There were only seven in the class and we were given the assignment to research the company ‘Lush’ and from our findings we were to stage and run a successful and unique event on behalf of the company. In this stage, the individuals start to know the other members of the group and the group is uncertain of the prospective tasks and there are no rules for the group work leading to a lack of focus and interest. At the norming stage a clearer guideline was given, individuals had the chance to choose the roles in the group and procedures were taken from there. The group consisted of a Project Director, two Logistics Managers, an Account Director, a Finance director and two Creative Directors where all had to come across to an agreement of a name for the group ‘Essence Events’ and where each individual group member would pitch an idea to the rest of the group. At this stage emotion was shown and excitement expressed towards the work we had to do. A timetable for regular meetings was given to each individual of the group by the project director and at each meeting’s ‘minutes’ were taken by one member of the group in order to keep track of the work that had been done. Then comes the performing where the team knew each other and structure and guideline were clear and cohesive. The team now focused on a common goal of developing the ideas for the ‘Lush’ event. At the beginning of this stage, all members of the group were getting together regularly and were constructing and expanding ideas for the project as well as for the presentation. However, unfortunately the group did not stay this way for very long. Distraction and lack of interest emerged bringing the whole group down to anxiety and disagreement. I as group leader was rather unsuccessful in putting the team together and in demanding more of a serious commitment from them. At this stage, the group should have been able to have delivered a successful project in the form of a presentation. Instead, all the hard work that had been done was diverted into a lack of interest and commitment resulting in a negative consequence. The final stage is the adjourning, where ‘Essence Events’ group disbanded. The idea should be that the group dispersing should get together again and reflect on the group work and see what went well and what did not go well and what should we have done differently. In this case, each member of the group was asked to reflect on the group work on their own which might bring more benefit as an individual. My Role in the Group According to Culliname, J. (2007, p. 566), a leader â€Å"aim to influence and guide others into pursuing particular objectives or visions of the future and to stimulate them into waiting to follow†. A project director has the same principle of leader in the sense of being able to conduct tasks successfully, maintaining teamwork and have a democratic participation leadership on the project. At the outset, as the project director I felt that I would fit into the role easily and would be able to distribute different roles to each member of the group. However, I was on a steep learning curve where I would find out that as group leader not only are you expected to have your own ideas to pitch to the group, but you are expected to salvage the group when an idea goes horribly wrong and the group then turns to you for guidance and a solution of how to rectify such problems. Not only was the actual academic side of the group a shock, but the outside organisation of the group proved to be tough as well. Trying to pin down each member of the group to turn up at a particular time at a particular place was a whole other project in itself as of course each member had other work pieces to deal with at the same time, which needed the same amount of due care and attention as the ‘Lush’ event presentation required. When separating responsibilities and separate individual projects to each member of the group I was well aware that not only did the writing and research need to be done but we needed to go to ‘Lush’ stores themselves in order to gather further research information to then take back to the group and compile our findings together to make a firm research file from which we could then discuss and sort what was considered to be primary information and what was secondary information. What we did was with each visit to the ‘Lush’ stores we would divide up the responsibilities and each person was responsible for gathering the respective information. The branches of research were mainly creativity, marketing, pricing, PH, promotion and target market. For instance, the marketing section one observation that the group made is that the door to the shop was always open. This was so that the smell of the products would reach the public outside and therefore attract their attention and ultimately attract consumers into the store to purchase the ‘Lush’ products. When we pitched our ideas to the group, one of the group members suggested that we should run the ‘Lush’ event based on the four seasons (winter, summer, autumn and spring). Each section included the right smell of the particular season, the right colour, such as darker heavier colours for the winter seasons and brighter colours for spring and summer. We emphasised the fact that ‘Lush’ does not carry out any tests on animals and that all their products are environmentally friendly and are also all natural products. Difficult encountered during the group work As with any group or team project it is inevitable that at some point throughout the time together there will be a minor or a major hurdle. This being that either one of the group members does not agree with a particular pitch or strongly disagrees with another person’s idea(s). They may even simply not get along with another member of the group. In the ‘Lush’ situation all group members seemed to get along at the beginning, however, soon disagreement and arguments started to emerge on the event’s topic and meetings. As a general rule the ideas for the project were usually chosen by the majority vote of the group. The problems that we as a group faced were ones that we would generally expect to encounter. We as a group suffered from people not attending meetings. This could be down to lack of organisation, however, it is unlikely that this was the case as all members of the group were aware of the time, date and location of the meeting. Some members simply did not turn up and failed to let the rest of the group who had turned up know that they would not be coming. This ultimately could be said down to the group leader, however, the leader can only do so much as the leader cannot be expected to force other members to turn up. As leader I could only send messages, emails and give phone calls and state the importance of the meeting but, could not make the individual turn up. Another problem we faced was as mentioned earlier; there was a lack of interest from certain members, and this pushed its way through the group and affected others as they began to become irritated with the members of the group who, when they would turn up, not doing any work. This issue I addressed as I took the respective group members aside and both explained the situation that they were putting the group in and asked what it was in particular they were not interested in. It became apparent that it was not the idea that they were not interested in, more the fact they simply did not want to share the workload, as they would not turn up to the meetings and hence cause the other members who did turn up to take on their work that they had not done as well as their own part of the project. Being anxious of not being able to complete the project in time for the presentation a few of the group members decided to starting putting the project together even though it seemed to be a lot of work to do for just a few members of the team. Just three days before the presentation all group members seemed to be interested about the work again and a vast improvement was made and the members who previously had failed to turn up, turned up to what was supposed to be the last meeting and the work was again shared â€Å"equally† and finished . This although seemingly positive in the short term for the group project, was relatively short lived as it had come too late and there was a lot of ground to cover in order to deliver our presentation. This created the problem that there was not as much time as we had hoped for. The Presentation The last minute work reflected in our final presentation because as a result there was a distinct lack of practice for the final presentation. The problems during the actual presentation were that due to the lack of practice there was no real deliverance of each member’s part as they had not pre-read their material beforehand and in effect, the actual presentation was more of a reading practice than of the finished article. Our first main practice was about a few hours before the final presentation was due and this was where I as group leader had to explain that I had told the members that this was the situation that we would be in if we carried on the way we were going three weeks prior to the presentation date. This led to a select few of us being able to deliver our part in a professional way, however, rendering the remainder of the project unfinished. We started late as one member who was responsible for the budgeting aspect of our project had failed to complete final checks on their display and as a result during the presentation their part failed to initialise causing a major delay whilst they left and went to go and print off their part to present. Upon reflection, the above situations were somewhat out of my control as group leader as I could not force the members of the group to turn up and do their part, also being unable to reach the other members due to them not answering my messages or simply not answering phone calls left the rest of the group in a hard situation as we were unaware as to whether they were doing their part of the project. These issues as aforementioned were out of my control somewhat, however, I feel that my role as project director was not fully satisfied as I did not quite deliberate responsibilities as much as I might possibly have wanted to if given the same opportunity again. There were many ideas from the group at the outset of the project, however, there was no real development of these ideas and this may have been what caused the lack of guidance from the project leader. Also as group leader it is a challenging situation to be in as it is easy to be forceful and blunt at the beginning of the project, however, I chose perhaps too soft an approach for too long a period and this is what perhaps led to some of the group members failing to keep up to date. Upon reflection, we as a group did deliver our presentation; however, it was not as good as what we originally thought when compiling our ideas. There was a lot of potential for the group and the idea of the ‘Four Seasons’ was something that we felt as a group would enable us to succeed in our endeavours as a group. However, if I am to perform my role correctly, must shoulder the responsibility as it was up to me to have directed the ideas much more thoroughly, and if given the opportunity again, I would most definitely do so, as good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. For the final presentation, I gave the idea and it was accepted by the group that we should use a flip chart as this mirrored the fact that ‘Lush’ also used natural products. We used a lot of visual representation as we felt that this would be a much more observer friendly method of communicating our ideas across. The pictures that we used were all from magazine cut-outs. At the presentation, we did not have just one sole speaker, each member of the group spoke on their respective areas of responsibility. Myself and another member of the group gave the main introduction to the presentation and a small introduction to each speaker. Due to the lack of practice I was very anxious and tense resulting in a bad opening and followed by the other member of the group. The timing was very accurate and the presentation ended with a simple but effective conclusion followed by answering all direct questions made by the panel. In order to have delivered a better presentation the group should have had better commitment to what the original aim of the group was at the outset of the project. Critically, the leader should have relayed a better understanding of what was expected in order to complete our presentation to a high professional standard. Conclusion According to J. F. Benson (1987, p. 1) Group work in practice â€Å" refers to the conscious, disciplined, and systematic use of knowledge about the processes of collective human interaction, in order to intervene in an informed way, or promote some desired objective in a group setting. † In our group’s presentation, the idea of disciplined knowledge was what we as a group failed to achieve as we were unable to have the entire group in one place every time we arranged a time to meet. Although groups generally elect a leader, there are as always exceptions to the general rule. A group is a team, a democracy, not a dictatorship. A group needs to have its own ideas and aims, so that a high level of morale is maintained throughout the group. If there is one person who decides upon everything with no concept of what it is like to function as a team, the team will fail, due to a lack of interest and commitment. A team needs to work together, else it will fall short of what a group is all about, and a team has more than one person within it. References Benson, J. F. (1987), Working more Creatively with Groups, Routledge. Brandler, S. and Roman, P. C. (1999), Group Work: Skills and Strategies for Effective Interventions, 2sd Edition, The Haworth Press Inc. Culliname, J. (2007), Working in Organisations: A Compilation of Resources for the University of Greenwich, 2sd Edition, A Person Custom Publication. Handy, C. (1993), Understanding Organisations, Harmondsworth, Penguin Book.