Wednesday, August 26, 2020
William Faulkner an Example by
William Faulkner William Faulkner is a capricious essayist, is as yet considered as one of the incredible authors delivered by the United States, who is known for his legacy and artistic works. Being an optimistic understudy in school days, his psyche went towards aimless perusing and made him surrender his instructive life. His later life was an amalgamation of dejection and catastrophe and he encountered a status of separation as a primary concern and heart. This was the period when his psyche voyaged logically and caused him to investigate his concealed possibilities as a developed author and idea investigator. Chances to travel a great deal gave him some generous encounters, which made him step into the writing field. Need paper test on William Faulkner subject? We will compose a custom paper test explicitly for you Continue His first book, The Marble Faun, an assortment of sonnets, showed up in 1924. It didn't pick up progress. He supported composing bunches of fiction which turned out be a disappointment in his initial days, yet because of his reasonable vision and lucidity in considerations , he concocted his first novel officers pay which clarified the circumstance of fighters and their sufferings during the main universal war. Despite the fact that the scope of this novel was not sufficient, his second novel Mosquitoes throwed light on the abstract scenes of the New Orleans and it talked about the imaginative autonomy. In 1929 Faulkner composed Sartoris, the first of fifteen books set in Yoknapatawpha County, an anecdotal district of Mississippi Sartoris was later reissued entitled FLAGS IN THE DUST (1973). The Yoknapatawpha books crossed the times of monetary decay from the American Civil War. Faulkner utilized different composing styles. The account shifts from the customary narrating, to arrangement of previews or composition. ABSALOM, ABSALOM!, by and large thought about Faulkner's gem. It records a scope of voices, all attempting to disentangle the puzzles of Thomas Sutpen's fierce life. Faulkner attempted numerous systems, forming him as an expert author yet none worked out or gave him the foreseen acknowledgment as an expert essayist. With parcel of troubles, he found a distributer for his recreation novel banners which by and by raised analysis for one explanation or the other. In any case, Faulkner proceeded with himself recorded as a hard copy many short stories and novels.Inspite of every one of his endeavors and obstacles , his center was clear and he was continually investigating the approaches to extinguish is writing thirst. His composing got a blend of reaction a condemned was excessively long and hard to comprehend. Furthermore, at some point he retains significant subtleties or imperative references and made it extreme for the perusers to follow. Faulkners composing style was totally founded on European Modernism. Through the span of his profession, Faulkner developed to be one of the best creator of fictions and he has likewise been portrayed as the Picasso of Literature. His composing consistently end up being a provocative stuff with a fair blend of morals, music, brain research, theory and so forth. He was likewise equipped for bringing his curious contemplations into words which picked up him more distinction. Because of his all difficult work and shocking scholarly aptitudes, William Faulkner was granted the respectable prize for writing in 1949. He was additionally the beneficiaries for the two Pulitzer valued for a tale and The Reivers. Absolutely nineteen books were distributed during Faulkners life time everything except five are set in Yoknapatawpha County. Faulkners composing endured at the later phase of his life due to continous bridging numerous Asian nations. He proceeded with his way of life of drinking and chasing regardless of as often as possible experiencing wounds tumbling off his pony. A fall on June 17, 1962 landed Faulkner in the emergency clinic, where he later kicked the bucket of a cardiovascular failure on July seventh. Web References: 1999, 2002 Gateway New Orleans, http://gatewayno.com/culture/Faulkner.html (thirteenth July, 2006) 1997 Encyclopedia Britannica,(13th July, 2006) 2006 eNotes,(13th July, 2006) John.p.Padgett, The University of Mississippi
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Fall of Roman Empire free essay sample
Each greatness Empire has one day to decrease and fall, yet every decay has causes and resons behind them, so we will talk about a portion of the key factors that assumed significant job in the fall of once a relentless realm. The domain which was supposed to be unconquereable, and undefeatable on account of its colossal expensions and its populace just as its administration, and the key factors because of which that powerful realm needed to see its decay. Foundation and History: The start and establishment of Roman domain is a fantasy. Rome started anexing regions in the third century BC. Augustus turned into the main sovereign of Roman Empire after he vanquished Cleopatra in 31 BC, sparing the Roman Empire and making Egypt its territory. The rule of Agustus whose genuine name was Octavious and Augustus was the title given to him went on for a long time, time referred to as the Golden Age rome as rome has expanded its domains enormous. [1] During Antiquity Age or Ancient age Rome was known as the greatest Economical, Military, Social intensity of the world alongside other large Empires like Persia. Rome had the humanized socierty, extraordinary engineering, government structure, military, immense region for the most part growing over the now a days Europe, and incredible force status. During its beginning times religion of rome was polytheistic which they enlivened from Ancient Greek dieties and by changing the names of dieties took the religion however later Chritianity assumed control over the Rome and turned into the state religion of Rome [2]. . Subsequent to seeing the period of brilliance and as the Biggest Empire of old age, Era of Roman domain reached a conclusion. After its end Chritian Roman Empire came to presence. Components for the Decline of Roman Empire. Strict Factor: For each human advancement and Empire religion has been the primary factor for the ascent and fall of it. So as the case with Roman Empire religion has been considered as one of the primary Factors to which it tumbles from the wonder. During the Ancient Ages the state religion of the Roman Empire was polytheistic, which the individuals of Rome had accepted from the Greek dieties, they changed thier name and obtained it as their religion. In the Roman Empire same dieties were revered however under the distinctive name in various pieces of the Empire. Individuals were tolerent and accomodating towords new dieties and the strict expiriences of others. After the start and spreading of Christianity, which individuals acknowledged rapidly as the conviction of Chritianity was to beleive in one God insted of revering diverse dieties. Christianity additionally gave the confidence in existence in the wake of death and expectation and boldness to individuals who urgent. From the outset Christianity was supressed in early ages, however after Emperor Constantine articulated Christianity as the states religion, the new religion developed its root in the lower class of society and with time to the entire Empire. As the development of Christianity the congregation and monestry developed into power so the intensity of pope, with the decrease in the authority of the Emperor. Which is thought be one reason behind the Decline of Roman Empire. [3] Decline in Moral Values: One of the principle Reason for the fall of the Roman realm was the decrease in the virtues of the general public, particularly in the contrast between the upper rich classes, nobles and sovereigns. Improper and unathical behavoiours, for example, adultry and bashes rise, thus the borthel and constrained prostituation thrived. With the decrease in the ethics of the general public saw the decrease in petroitism in individuals and individuals turned out to be less alligience to the state [5]. The decrease in the ethics of the general public additionally affected the poor class and slaves in the Roman Empire and with that reach out of the decrease in ethics in all the classes of society got one of the factor for the fall of Roman Empire. [4] Slavary: Slavary got one of the explanation behind the fall of Roman Empire. During the initial two centries of Roman Empire slavary developed drastically, and with the expansion in number of slaves caused the decrease in the ethics of the general public, morals and all the more significantly in the turn of events and requirement for the new innovation. As Roman individuals depended more on the slaves and labor rather than the innovation. Because of an inappropriate and brutal treatment with the slaves prompted the reballions and slave wars. Yet, with the appearance of Christianity the disposition towards slaves changed thus in the quantities of slaves declined, with the decay of the slaves the labor on which the entire Roman Empire was dependend declined, which caused a significant blow toward the fall of Roman Empire as the tackle this emergency there was no innovation to supplant the required labor. Outer and inward Threats and Military Spendings: As the Roman Empire extended its domains quickly and vanquished a huge are, came the need to protect its outskirts and regions from attack by the Barbarians and different dangers. What's more, consequently countless armed force was required and an ever increasing number of troopers were employed. The individuals of the vanquished domains abhorred Rome for their conquere, increasingly more duties were actualized on those individuals which made them to constantly rebbel against the realm. An enormous ammount of cash was spent on the employing and preparing of officers. The savages and the different mecenries were additionally permitted to participate in the military, which caused in the over-streching of the military and hurling spending on them. The savages and mecenries who joined the military of Rome picked up the information on the Roman military strategies and Roman style fighting by serving the military. In the end betrayed the Roman domain and utilized thier strategies and fighting again them to bring down the Roman Empire. [5] Failing Economy and Inflation: Economy has consistently remained the principle factor in the fall of human progress and Empire. When for reasons unknown economy is affected, so the individuals are, for the most part the low or poor class is affected as a result of bomb in economy. As far with rome, rome was in the condition of consistent war to protect its over-streached region and supress the uprisings and brutes of the terrains they vanquished, Rome was constantly undermined by the chapter 11 and bombing economy [5]. Because of the overwhelming spending on the Roman military the profitability of good in Rome declined thus the Rome turned out to be progressively needy over the outside items. Because of decrease in the good and moral estimations of society and individuals, breakdown the work power happened. A few and the primary pieces of the realms were not burdened however the other vanquished and least significant domains were heavly burdened [6]. Political Reason: Politics is a significant and fundamental piece of the general public. The ascent and fall of domain generally depends of its political structure, even religion, military, economy and goverment broadly relies upon the political foundation of the general public. Courrption and failuir in the governmental issues causes the major reson in the fall of human progress. For Rome its governmental issues was the necessary piece of the Empire. The Roman Empire was Republic and was administered by the chosen counsul, the senate, and the piebian chamber, which was the well known get together of Rome [7]. The courrption in counsul, senate and piebian councile was one of the primary explanations behind the fall of Empire. The other political courrption was in the Praetorian Guards, who were the world class officers and protectors of the sovereigns pledged to secure the head with their lives, not many in numbers yet solid in power. Their debasement drove and developed to such surviving that they began to settle on when and climate the head ought to be removed or who ought to be made the following ruler of the Roman Empire. Open Corruption: One of the purposes behind the fall of the roman domain was the unemploment of the common laborers and the expense of the Gladiatorial game. In the event that the a large number of the individuals of Roman Empire are unemloyed and they are exhausted and nothing to they would begin common turmoil and roits in the road. In this way, the Roman chief diverted these individuals with free food and gladiatorial games. Rather than speanding cash for the improvement of individuals and to give work oppertunities to these individuals, a huge entirety of cash was spended over the games to interest these individuals, so they don't begin roiting in the road and cause common turmoil, the degenerate lawmaker utilized these games and free food to pick up the kindness and backing over the joblessness individuals, these games cost 33% of the absolute pay of the entire Roman Empire. Reference: [1]. http://www. historyworld. net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories. sp? historyid=ac58. [2]. http://en. wikipedia. organization/wiki/Religion_in_ancient_Rome. [3]. http://www. roman-colosseum. data/roman-domain/reasons for-the-fall-of-the-roman-realm. htm [4]. http://www. roman-colosseum. information/roman-realm/reasons for-the-fall-of-the-roman-domain. htm. [5]. http://www. angelfire. com/darkside/sjhscult/notes/unit1/fall_rome. htm. [6]. http://www. angelfire. com/darkside/sjhscult/notes/unit1/fall_rome. htm. [7]. http://ww w. enotes. com/roman-realm reference-manage/roman-domain.
Monday, August 17, 2020
12 Rules for Negotiating a Job Offer
12 Rules for Negotiating a Job Offer The job search process was hard. As if that wasnât enough, another hurdle lies ahead.You have gone through the first interview and all was well. You got a call informing you of the second one. You are told that this will be a meeting to discuss the job offer. How will it go?What questions will they ask you? Will you be able to give the right answers? How much are they willing to pay you? If their offer is not good enough, can you negotiate?It turns out that many candidates donât negotiate job offers.They donât fully agree with the terms and are unhappy about them but still donât raise the matter. Be it salary or the full package. Source: CNBCFor those who do, they face the challenge of not knowing how well to negotiate.Their poor negotiation skills ruin their opportunity of getting better pay and overall packages.THE JOB NEGOTIATIONDiscussing a job offer is an invitation to the negotiating table.Here, you are to make a case for your product (yourself) and sell it at the highest price.The other party is to make a case for their offer and show you how it is perfect. The better negotiator shall come out top.This gets scary for job candidates. They arenât sure how to handle it for fear of losing the job.What they fail to understand, is that they have been given an opportunity to âsellâ themselves to the interviewer.With the right kind of skills, you can make this the best part of the recruitment process. Just as you worked hard to perform well during the interview, you can also perform well in a negotiation.Here are twelve rules for you to keep in mind when going for that discussion. Use these as tips to he lp you stay on top of things.1. Show Your WorthSince you are here for the second interview, which is a negotiation, then you are one of their preferred choices.This should boost your confidence levels. Itâs now time to impress them further and solidify the argument that you are the best.You do this by showing them your worth. The key word here is show. You should not merely tell but show.This means that you will do more than talking. And in the talking, you will choose your words well enough to stick within the boundaries of showing.To effectively do this, we recommend using the âbriefcase technique.âThe briefcase technique has been tried, tested and proven to be effective in all sorts of negotiations. Anywhere you are required to pitch, this technique will work for you.The technique is pretty simple but powerful. It mostly gets its power from the psychological work it does behind the scenes, i.e. in the interviewerâs mind.The technique requires you to put in the effort and prepare extensively. Research the challenges intended to be solved by the position.Document them and come up with a proposed solution. This proposed solution should be complete with time frames and even options.Then immediately an offer is given, instead of responding to it, you pull your proposal from your briefcase and present it.This will show that you are proactive and ready for the work. Ensure that you get the pain points well documented so that it cannot be denied.Watch the below video for a better understanding of the technique. 2. Show Your AvailabilityIn todayâs competitive job market, employers know that they are not the only ones looking for talent.As a result, they are aware of the possibility that you might be going through an interview with another company.They may ask you some direct, maybe even tough questions intending to know whether this is the case.You need to remember that you are in a negotiation. In a negotiation, itâs all about the bargaining power.Th in tention of that question is most likely to know how much bargaining power you have. If you are being given an offer elsewhere, then they have to rival that.If there is no other offer, then you are likely to accept theirs since you need or want the job.In case you are not considering an offer from a different company, do not lie about it. You do not need to lie to maintain your bargaining power. It may also be exposed and you lose the opportunity.Make it known to your interviewer that you are available. If you are considering another offer, mention it but let them know that you are interested in discussing their offer too.This way, you show them that they can actually win you over.3. Understand Your InterviewerThe person or people interviewing you have only one motive: hire the best candidate and have them accept their offer. This offer is what they are willing to give and would like it to be accepted as it is.Therefore, throughout the negotiation, remember that every questions and s tatement made, has an intention behind it.This means that you should not focus too much on the question asked. Rather focus on the intention behind the question.With this understanding, you will be better placed to respond to questions and statements.Since you already know that the questions have some motive behind them, try to recognize the motive.Once done, address that motive, even if it means answering the question in an unexpected way.Just be careful not to go out of context with your answer.4. Can they afford it?As part of your preparations, make sure you have an offer you are ready to suggest. If itâs the salary, have a figure.If itâs the vacation and other benefits, have these ready with the arguments supporting them.You can get salary suggestions from a company like Glassdoor. Their website will tell you the typical salary a person in the position you are interviewing for earns. With this, you can know what to ask for.Now, that information is not everything. You might g et that information but be in a negotiation with a small company which canât afford that. Check the responsibilities you will have and the kind of work to be done.If these are not commensurate with the offer and you donât come to an agreement, feel free to walk away.In fact, you should save yourself the effort of lengthy discussion if you notice they arenât likely to budge. A quick overview of the size of the company will tell you whether they can pay well.Since the job offer is more than the salary, see whether you can get other benefits to cover for a low salary.Consider something like working from home several days a week or any other benefit you think can make the offer more attractive for you.5. Prepare Your DefensesIt is often thought that in a job offer negotiation, the hiring manager has the upper hand.This may or may not be true. It is very much dependent on you since youâve been invited to a negotiation.However, some employers are aware of the fact that not many ca ndidates will be very confident in bargaining. They will therefore try to make it tougher for you to make a good case for yourself.One of the ways through which this can happen is by asking you tough questions. If you havenât read our article on tough interview questions, that can be a good place to start.As you negotiate, the hiring manager will also be gauging your abilities. Not only to negotiate, but to reason, influence, and anything else important to them.This is especially true for a leadership position e.g. manager, supervisor, team leader etc.It will be important for you to prepare for those tough questions beforehand.Consider the below question:If we make you an offer now, will you accept the job? We would like someone to start working immediately.Notice that first of all, the offer has not yet been made but youâre being urged to make a commitment.If you are too keen on getting a job, you might rush to say âyes.âAlthough you can still negotiate some more after that , it wonât be much.6. Negotiate the Whole DealThis is an important one to remember. Do not fix your mind on the salary alone because a job offer is more than that.The current trend among hiring companies is to offer candidates several types of benefits.For you, you may be given an offer which has a salary, paid vacation, work-from-home days, insurance and the other normal benefits.On top of these, you may have stock options as well as any other benefits.It might be that the company is generous but it might also be that they donât have much money to pay huge salaries.However, it might also be a way for the company to complicate offer comparisons. If you are comparing several offers, such an offer can make it difficult to assign a value to it.In such a position, do a quick analysis and respond accordingly. You can ask some questions like, âWhatâs the price of your shares?â âDo you pay dividends and if so, what was the last 3 yearsâ amount?âSince the complicated offer c an make you think you have much, you need to understand that you actually have very little information about it.Asking these questions will provide you with more information regarding the real value of the stock holding.With the new details, you will then be able to make a decision.7. Speak Less, Listen MoreNegotiations are highly psychological. And although the end result should be a win-win situation for both parties, everyone usually negotiates for his best interests.This can only mean one thing: there is some form of winning needed. Not winning while the other person loses but winning in the sense that everyone goes home happy.One big bargaining chip in every negotiation is information. The person with the most information has better leverage compared to the other.We can look at a quick example from the complicated offer provided in the above tip (Negotiate the whole deal).Letâs take the stock offer for example. If you have done extensive research on the company, you might hav e information on their stock prices.You might also have information on their dividend payments. If these are not attractive, you can quickly pick that up and suggest something different.But if you donât have this information (and you donât ask for it), you might fall for the trick. You can be deceived by the many things making up the offer and accept it thinking itâs a good one.To get information from the other party, you need to learn how to listen. This is part of good communication skills and itâs highly valuable. Normally, the more someone talks, the more they are likely to say things they would rather not have said.Your employer might know this, especially since they probably do lots of business negotiations. It is upon you to embrace this truth so you can be at the same level.8. Donât Rush to FinishNever be in a hurry to finish the negotiation. Of course the interviewer doesnât have the whole day and you didnât go there to chat for hours. Still, do not be in a hu rry to finish.If you feel like you need time to think the offer through, ask for time.Ask to be allowed a few hours or a day to think about the offer before deciding.Where you are also considering an offer from another potential employer, this becomes even more important for you. You do not want to quickly accept this offer only to be given a better one when you are no longer available.If awaiting a response from the other company, try getting enough time from this company. If pressed to make a decision quickly, then request for some hours.If this is taking place in the morning, inform them that you will confirm by the close of business.You can then sit down in the quietness of your home to think it through. Consider the changes they made as per your demands.You can also call the other company and try getting an offer from them. If you passed their interview and they liked you, they might want to make an offer more quickly to see whether they can have you.The new negotiation can hel p you decide and confidently make a choice.9. Donât Be BulliedDo you remember we said that some interviewers think they have the upper hand? That they can try to push the candidate to make rushed choices?Itâs necessary to know that you might meet an interviewer who tries to bully you into accepting his offer. This will rarely happen openly but subtly.It may look as if the interviewer is in a hurry or is simply the kind that go straight to the point and deal with the issue.Be careful of such situations.If you are negotiating with someone trying to push you too hard, understand that you might be dealing with a not-so-friendly person.He might turn out to be the boss who never appreciates your work. He might even be an abusive boss. There are many people working in abusive environments.It is possible that the boss has a personality disorder. Or is subject to extreme mood swings. Whatever the case, be on the lookout for signs of someone trying to force you to say âyes.âEven if yo u get exactly what you ask for, it may come at the expense of your joy.10. Donât Give UltimatumsHere is another donât. No matter how much confidence you have in your abilities, donât use an ultimatum as a bargaining chip. Never make the interviewer feel like he is being forced to choose you.In fact, this is the opposite of the above rule. Whereas some employers may try bullying, giving an employer ultimatums can also be referred to as a form of bullying. This can easily put you out of favor with your prospective employer.Giving an ultimatum is a show of arrogance on your part. You are simply too confident in yourself and your abilities.This tells the hiring manager that you are likely the kind of candidate who might not follow the laid down procedures. You might break the rules since you feel like you know better.A question to ponder is, if you are so good that you can give ultimatums, how come you are jobless? Arenât you supposed to have been in your former employment as an indispensable employee?If you have never had a job and itâs a long time since you left college, then the conclusion is that other employers have rejected you due to this unwanted trait.It is necessary for you to balance between confidence and humility. Whereas you should be confident to express yourself accordingly, you should also be humble enough to consider everyone elseâs position.11. Create Room for Further Negotiation LaterDo not be under the impression that you have to negotiate everything perfectly at once. Remember that you have not even started working.The interviewer has not seen your work for himself. He is only going by what you and your papers say about you.He has simply trusted you enough to give you an offer.If they have given in to important demands which you made, consider taking the job. It is while on the job that you can better make a case for the rest of the things you want given.Maybe you can prove yourself to be better than you spoke of yourself.Maybe th ey might be impressed with the results you bring and decide to promote you within 6 months or 1 year. A promotion will bring better deals and another opportunity to negotiate further.If you try getting too much from the first negotiation, then you might be putting too much pressure.You might make them want to consider the other candidate who isnât as good as you are, but is willing to take a lesser package. In any case, he can improve while on the job.12. Practice With a FriendYou will greatly benefit from practicing negotiations so as to become better at them. Practice helps you build your confidence and become accustomed to it.This will make negotiations a more natural thing for you to do.The good thing is that you can practice at any time. Even before going for your job offer negotiation.One major benefit of practicing with a friend is that you can switch sides and become the interviewer. When you do this, you get to understand the perspective of an employer.You will try hard t o convince your friend to take your offer and see possible responses which you can use.With your friend taking the employerâs side, you can see what your negotiation is likely to be like. As he tries to get you to see how the offered deal is perfect, your mind will be working on counter-arguments.This is good preparation for you. With the above 12 rules for a successful job offer negotiation, you will know when to push and where to accept.You will therefore not go into the negotiation completely green but with some experience.CONCLUSIONThe apparent toughness of job offer negotiations is largely due to lack of preparedness and experience.If you follow these 12 rules of negotiating a job offer, you increase your chances of landing a good job with a great package.
Sunday, May 24, 2020
A Primary Task of the Manager - Free Essay Example
Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2334 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/09/21 Category Advertising Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? DECISION MAKING- A PRIMARY TASK OF THE MANAGER As the term implies, decision making is the process of selection of a course of action from among alternatives. All decisions made in an environment of at least some uncertainty. However, the degree will vary from relative certainty to great uncertainty. There are certain risks involved in making decisions. In a situation involving certainty, people are reasonably sure about what will happen when they make a decision. The information is available and is considered to be reliable, and the cause and effect relationships are known. In a situation of uncertainty, on the other hand, people have only a meager database, they do not know whether or not the data are reliable, and they are very unsure about whether or not the situation may change. In a risk situation, factual information may exist but it may be incomplete. To improve decision making, one may estimate the objective probabilities of an outcome by using, for example, mathe matical models. On the other hand, subjective probability, based on judgement and experience, may be used. Fortunately, there are a number of tools available that help managers make more effective decisions. All intelligent decision makers dealing with uncertainty like to know the size and nature of the risk they are taking in choosing a course of action. One of the deficiencies in using the traditional approaches of operations research for problem solving is that many of the data used in a model are merely estimates and others are based on probabilities. The ordinary practice is to have staff specialists come up with ââ¬Å"best estimatesâ⬠. However new techniques have been developed that gives a more precise view of risk. Virtually every decision is based on the interaction of a number of important variables, many of which have an element of uncertainty but, perhaps,a fairly high degree of probability. Thus, the wisdom of launching a new product might depend on a number of critical variables the cost of introducing the product, the cost of producing it, the capital investment that will be required, the price that can be set for the product, the size of the potential market, and the share of the total market that it will represent. Managerââ¬â¢s main job is decision making and quite often they have to decide on what is to be done, who is to do it, when, where, and so on and so forth. The first step in decision making after having decided our goals and our planning premises is to develop all the possible ways of reaching the goals. If one thinks hard enough more than one way to achieve the goals can be identified. If you cannot find more than one way to the goals then I would say probably you have not thought hard enough. This is because almost always alternatives exist. There is a good statement I remember on this occasion-I quote the unknown ââ¬Å" If there seems to be only one way of doing a thing, that way is probably the wrong way. â ⬠Now you can understand the limitations and boundaries within which the manager has to act. On the way to achieving the desired goals there would be more often than not something that would stand in the way, obstructing the path. This something that stands in the way accomplishing a desired goal is a limiting factor. The principle of limiting factor states as follows: By recognizing and overcoming those factors that stand critically in the way of a goal, the best alternative course of action can be selected. Steps In Decision-making Process Let us now look at the process of decision making. Having found many alternatives to the goal, the next logical step is to decide and select one of them for adoption. Obviously, you need to evaluate them find the most appropriate one for implementation. In evaluating the alternatives, the managers are likely to do so: Quantitative Factorsââ¬â 1. The factors that can be measured in numerical terms, 2. Qualitative Factorsââ¬âfact ors that are intangible and difficult to measure numerically, 3. marginal analysisââ¬âthat is to compare additional revenues arising from additional costs 4. cost effectiveness analysisââ¬âthe process of selecting the best ratio of benefits and costs. After having evaluated the alternatives the job is to select one of them. Here the managers can use three basic approaches: 1. Experience, 2. Experimentation, and 3. Research and analysis Experience There seems to be no greater teacher than experience. But what is experience? It is not the number of years spent in a business. Many managers do not learn by their mistakes. If so what is the benefit of experience? Mostly managers either do not or fail to identify the cause for their failures. Another facet is the lessons of experience may be entirely inapplicable to the new problems. Experimentation Experiments are one way of testing a method. It is probably the most expensive one. Besides, unlike in science, there is no guaran tee of repetition of the results. But one should be encouraged to do experiments-to try the various alternatives and see which is best. In view of the high cost involved, I suggest it should be used only after considering other alternatives and its implications. Research and Analysis When a major decision has to be taken, research and analysis is the most effective technique. One of the most comprehensive research and analysis approaches to decision making is operations research. We will discuss the same in detail at later. Types of Managerial Decisions As a manager one would need to take decisions under different situations. We can separately identify two different kinds of decision making situations. The kind of decision used for routine and repetitive work and the other is new, unexpected and non-repetitive one. The earlier one is termed as programmed decision and other non-programmed decision. You should understand that the decisions are not always necessarily be either of the two; it can be a combination of both. Most of the strategic decisions however, are non-programmed decisions and involve a certain amount of risk. Before a non-programmed decision is made the manager should calculate the amount of risk involved in the decision known as Risk Analysis, look at the major alternatives available-Decision Trees. The decision made by the manager would also be dependent on his attitude towards risk taking and this is called preference theory or utility theory. Decision making support systems use modern day gadgets and techniques to help the manager arrive at a decision effectively. Management invariably encounters situations in which uncomfortable decisions must be made. In some cases, the difficulty may be that, although certain alternative choices are clear, the consequences of these choices are not readily apparent. One possible tool for a manager in such a situation is decision tree analysis. A decision tree is a graphical diagram consisting o f nodes and branches. The nodes are of two types. The first is a rectangle that represents the decision to be made. The branches emanating from decision nodes are the alternative choices with which the manager is faced. One and only one alternative can be implemented. The second type of node is a circle. Circles represent chance nodes. That is, the alternatives emanating from chance nodes have some element of uncertainty as to whether or not they will occur. The primary benefit of a decision tree is that it provides a visual representation of the choices facing the manager. Analytic Considerations The first task of the manager is to identify the decision that needs to be made based upon a given situation. Next, the manager must think of all the possible alternative actions that could be implemented which would solve the problem. These alternatives are connected to the decision node as straight lines emanating from the node. The next step is to identify all the possible consequenc es that could occur as a result of an alternative being implemented. This process is accomplished for each and every alternative action identified in the previous step. Since these consequences have some element of uncertainty as to whether or not they will occur, the manager needs some way in which to evaluate the likelihood that they will (may) occur. The end goal is to obtain probabilities as to the likelihood of each consequence occurring. The best process to obtain these probabilities is to use past experience of similar outcomes. But, often there is no past experience of similar outcomes available to the manager. In these cases, the best tool is to utilize the collective wisdom of experts as to how likely it is that the particular consequence will occur in the future. Using an appropriate consensus building technique, estimates from a panel of experts can be combined or averaged to create a probability of the likelihood of the occurrence of each and every consequence. Th e only requirement is that the sum of the probabilities of the set of consequences emanating from a chance node must equal one. The next step is to evaluate the end result of each possible alternative in concert with the consequences identified for each alternative. This step results in a monetary figure that would be obtained if this course of action were implemented. This step is accomplished for each possible alternative. Finally, the entire tree is evaluated by employing a technique known as mathematical expectation in order to select the most beneficial alternative. Product Planning at Gerber Gerber Products, Inc. , the well-known baby products company, recently used decision tree analysis in deciding whether to continue using the plastic known as poly-vinyl chloride or, more commonly, PVC. The situation involved a number of organizations including the environmental group Greenpeace, the U. S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, the toy and plastics industries, and the gene ral public. PVC is a composite plastic material used in numerous household, commercial, and medical products including food storage containers, toys, and medical tubing. To make PVC soft and pliable, a chemical plasticizer known as phthalates is added to soften the plastic. In the latter half of 1998, Greenpeace announced that it had conducted scientific testing on phthalates and found them to be carcinogenic in lab rats. Further, Greenpeace claimed that the chemical leeches from the plastic over time and voiced particular concern with, products that were aimed at small children and used to suck on or chew on. Although phthalates have been used in plastic for over 30 years, and there are no known cases of phthalates causing health problems, Greenpeaceââ¬â¢s press release was strategically timed to coincide with the Christmas toy season, thereby guaranteeing maximum media coverage. As expected, it was immediately picked up by the television networks and, in fact, the ABC show 2 0/20 did an entire segment on the possible health risks of phthalates. The problem grew worse for Gerber when the media focused specifically on products made for oral use by children. Gerber, the largest producer of nipples, pacifiers, and feeding products in the U. S. , produced some 75 different products containing phthalates and was under considerable pressure to respond publicly to the investigation. Decisions Gerber management had to evaluate all of the current information, weigh the consequences of each action, and proceed on the most prudent course to insure as limited an interruption in business as possible. Gerber knew that a vast body of scientific evidence indicates that phthalates are completely safe. However, once the Greenpeace announcement was publicized, the Consumer Product Safety Commission was spurred to issue a press release expressing new doubts. As the focus gradually fell on items children put in their mouths, and large toy manufacturers like Mattel and Disney began to distance themselves from phthalates, the spotlight of the CPSC fell squarely on Gerber. A month before Christmas, the CPSC informed Gerber they would issue a press release advising parents of the potential dangers of phthalates, and Gerber would be named as one of the companies involved. This is the point at which Gerber implemented a decision tree. Gerber basically faced two choices, neither of which was particularly beneficial. The firm could be reactive, wait for the announcement, and gauge consumer response before deciding on a course of action, or it could be proactive and aggressively pursue resolution of the problem regardless of the publicââ¬â¢s response to the report. The CSPC report suggested the agency would either issue a recall of all products containing phthalates (shown on the decision tree as the unfavorable response), or they would issue a report merely expressing concern in which case the public response would be minimal (shown on the decision tree as favorable). Gerber projected eight possible outcomes on its decision tree. If the firm reacted proactively by discontinuing use of all phthalates, and the CSPC report simply issued a warning, Gerber predicted an 80 percent chance that the public would react favorably to Gerberââ¬â¢s responsiveness causing sales to increase over competitors who reacted more slowly. A potential nationwide revenue increase of $l million was entered into the decision tree. Given a proactive response and a favorable CSPC report, Gerber also recorded a 20 percent chance that sales ould decline by $1 million due to the sensationalistic nature of the press coverage. If the CSPC report is negative and a recall is issued, Gerber predicted 25 percent likelihood that it could preserve current sales through a proactive response. On the other hand, the firm placed a 75 percent probability that a recall would hurt sales by $1. 25 million. Four more alternatives were predicted in the event that Gerbe r waited for the CSPC report before taking action. With a favorable report and a delayed response, there was thought to be a 25 percent chance that sales would remain flat, along with a 75 percent chance that sales would decline by $2 million. The worst case scenario is if Gerber remains passive and the CSPC report calls for a recall. In that case, Gerber optimistically predicted a 20 percent probability that it could still increase sales by taking advantage of companies who were less prepared for the report and actually gain approximately $. 5 million. However, it was considered an 80 percent probability that significant volume would be lost. Donââ¬â¢t waste time! Our writers will create an original "A Primary Task of the Manager" essay for you Create order
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Sophocles Antigone - Fate And Power Essay - 1812 Words
Sophoclesââ¬â¢ Antigone - Fate and Power Greek tragedies are noted for containing many powerful themes. Such themes like fate play an important role in many tragedies. Character lives or stories have a set end and throughout the story, there are subtle or noticeable hints of what will become of the character and when will it occur. Whether it be the protagonist, antagonist, or another character, they might be able to recognize their fate and respond by either accepting it or fighting against it. Power is another important theme in Greek tragedies. Power has a tendency to corrupt and blind characters from doing the right thing. Many tragic characters corrupted by the power they held suffer terrible fates from not making the right choices. Sophoclesââ¬â¢ Greek tragedy, Antigone, was no exception to this, as fate and power are central themes in the story and play prominent roles in the respective downfall of the playââ¬â¢s two major characters, Antigone and Creon. From the very beginning of the play, Antigoneââ¬â¢s fate is essentially laid out when she confides to her sister, Ismene, that she plans to bury their brother, Polyneices and why it is necessary to do so. This action is in direct defiance of the edict set by their uncle, Creon, but Antigone nonetheless accepts her fate. She stands by what she did wholeheartedly and accepts the consequences without a momentââ¬â¢s hesitation. While fate greatly affected Antigone, power and fate play a great role in what becomes of Creon by the playââ¬â¢sShow MoreRelatedBiography of Sophocles Essay1496 Words à |à 6 PagesBiography of Sophocles Sophocles was born near Athens, in the small town of Colonus, around 495 BC. His ninety-year life span coincided with the rise and fall of the Athenian Golden age. The son of Sophillus, a wealthy armor maker, Sophocles was provided with the best traditional aristocratic education available in Athens (Page 3). Very little is known about Sophocles as a youth, although one public record suggests his participation in ââ¬Å"The Chorus of Youths,â⬠chosen to celebrate the Athenian navalRead MoreAntigone: Free Will and Destiny1367 Words à |à 6 PagesAntigone: The Influence of Free Will and Destiny Throughout Antigone, fate is responsible for many of the most devastating and critical events. The characters Antigone, Creon, Ismene, Haemon, and Tirasias experience many occasions that change their destiny, some events of which were predestined. It is frequently shown that fate and free will are intertwined. Each individual has a destiny, but it can be changed if they use their free will. Sophocleââ¬â¢s message is portrayed throughout the story throughRead MoreAntigone Moral Dilemma1253 Words à |à 6 Pagesquestion in the play Antigone by Sophocles is the value of human law vs. divine law. In this tragic play a newly appointed king Creon declares to his people that treason was committed during battle, and one of the two brothers (Polyneices) killed shall not be buried according to the Gods, but instead He shall be left unburied for all to watch the corpse mutilated and eaten by carrion-birds and by dogs (Sophocles, 1900.). This dilemma is felt by many, especially Antigone (sis ter of the deceased)Read MoreCorruption In Oedipus The King And Antigone988 Words à |à 4 Pages In Sophoclesââ¬â¢ Oedipus The King and Antigone, Sophocles used two tragic stories to explore issues and themes involving that can be interpreted in several ways depending on the readers understanding of the play and the main theme in focus. From a personal view point, themes such as corruption, injustice, civil disobedience and power drunkenness were explored rampantly by Sophocles to further dramatize a story that conveys so much messages. The ancient Greeks are well recognized for gifting the modernRead MoreAnalysis Of Oedipus The King And Antigone1170 Words à |à 5 Pagescivilizations such as Athens, women were looked down upon and this battle to leave behind tradition proved to be almost if not fatal. Sophocles Oedipus the King and Antigone exemplify three distinct female Athenian characters who approach this battle with different fronts. Through analysis of Ismene, Antigone and Jocastaââ¬â¢s distinct characters, the reader better understands how Sophocles uses a feminine voice to break away from the tradition discerned in Athenian life to advocate for the rise of a matriarchalRead More Free Destiny vs. Controlled Fate in Antigone Essay791 Words à |à 4 PagesFate is an old debated concept. Do ones actions truly play a role in determining ones life? Is fate freedom to some or is it binding to others, in that no individual can make completely individual decisions, and therefore, no one is truly free. Nowada ys, fate is a subject often rejected in society, as it is seen as too big, too idealistic, and too hard to wrap a persons head around. However, at the time of Antigone, the concept was a terrifying reality for most people. Fate is the will of the godsRead MorePower, Hubris, And Hamartia Sophocles Antigone1627 Words à |à 7 PagesHonors October 31, 2015 Power, Hubris, and Hamartia in Sophocles s Antigone Lord Acton, a well-known British historian, writer, and politician, resonated the repercussions of power and dominance by stating that All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutelyâ⬠(Moreell, Power Corrupts). This is just one of the themes covered in Sophocles s Antigone. Within this dramatic play, Sophocles questions the conventions of hubris, hamartia, and power. They all play a roleRead MoreAn Analysis of Fate vs. Free Will in the Theban Plays1392 Words à |à 6 PagesAn Analysis of Fate vs. Free Will in the Theban Plays When Teiresias asks in Antigone (line 1051), What prize outweighs the priceless worth of prudence? he strikes (as usual) to the heart of the matter in Sophocles Theban Plays. Sophocles dramatizes the struggle between fate and free will, in one sense, but in another sense the drama might be better understood as the struggle between the will of the goods (which it is prudent to follow, according to Teiresias) and mans will (which is oftenRead MoreEssay about Gender Bias Critic of Antigone1724 Words à |à 7 PagesA Gender Bias Approach to Antigone Just as one stone removed can break a bridge, one flaw can bring a man to ruins. The flaw of one man cannot bring down an entire kingdom, but rather one outlook of the king can lead to the demise of the whole. In Sophocles epic tragedy, Antigone, a strong gender bias is present throughout the tragedy, and is partially responsible for the downfall of the king. To Sophocles the king is not always representative of the people, but acts on his own personal desiresRead MoreAntigone : Morality And Justice889 Words à |à 4 Pagesconcept of good and bad, Morality. Justice is resolute, but unfortunately our perception of morality is different from person to person, so when ones personal conception of morality is not socially acceptable, one may end up having a conflict. In Antigone, morality and justice cross swords with each other and it leads to a devastating end. The cross hairs of morality and justice are complex; one is free to choose, but one is not free from the effect of ones choice. Creons role as a monarch is
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Birdsong Man and Stephen Free Essays
Birdsong Essay Sebastian Faulks shows us many horrors of World War One by using language and structure of the novel. For example this shows the imagery of the horrors of war at the hospital when Stephen got injured and what happened with the boy. Faulks starts of with Stephen Wraysford and how he is coming back to life but with pain. We will write a custom essay sample on Birdsong: Man and Stephen or any similar topic only for you Order Now His pain is nothing compared to the man next to him, the man apparently could ââ¬Å"visualize the painâ⬠also its says he could see it hovering over him this I think could relate to two thing either his pain or the mans spirit. Faulks describes the imagery for us how bad it is- ââ¬Å"His body decomposing as he lay there, like those that hung on the wire going from red to black before they crumbled into the earth leaving only septic sporesâ⬠- this shows us the horrors of what war does to people. Also Faulks uses this one man to describe the many other men that go through this in the war. Faulks uses descriptive language and we can visualise the boy when ââ¬Å"His mouth was pulled open and his neck were stretchedâ⬠and also ââ¬Å"The skin of his cheeks and forehead was marked with bluish-violet patches. His eyes were oozing, as though with acute conjunctivesâ⬠- shows us the graphic imagery of the boys eyes. Stephen tells us in about this boy, not knowing who he is and having no relation to Stephen at all this shows that Stephen has sympathy and thoughts about what these soldiers go through I think he is comparing on how lucky he is that his pain was very minor to the ones that other people s uffer. Stephen describes the boyââ¬â¢s body ââ¬Å"The soft skin on the armpits and inner thighs was covered in huge, raw blistersâ⬠. Makes the reader visualise and actually see what Stephen is seeing. On page 187 it tells us that the boys voice came back to Stephen and ââ¬Å"He begged to dieâ⬠- this shows us the effect on how the damage and the pain that the boy actually must be going through. Faulks also shows us how hard the nurses job is and how her love can take over her jobâ⬠Impotently, she held both her arms wide in a gesture of motherly love, as this would comfort him. â⬠Stephen hopes that the boy would die soon, it is all so reverse he should be praying for him to live soon, but seeing and hearing the agony the boy is going through death would be more peaceful. On page 188 Faulks describes the boy the last time before he dies and we can see and imagine how his condition would be like for example-ââ¬Å"He lay motion-less, trailing his raw skin. His infected lungs began to burble and froth with yellow fluidâ⬠Faulks shows Stephen with no emotion or sympathy for the boy no remorse ââ¬Å"Stephen prayed that the boy would dieâ⬠the nurse was the opposite to what he was like she was ââ¬Å"pale, shocked, then burst into shuddering tears. She has sympathy for the boy and some feeling of lost. The next horror incident is when they go over the top to attack and Faulks uses emotional horror in the letters when they write back home. Faulks shows in Michael Wiers letter is formal like he says ââ¬Å"Donââ¬â¢t worry about me, please. It is warm enough. â⬠-shows he is covering up reality and not showing or telling the real truth because even if he does they would be able to understand it. And he says that ââ¬Å"May your prayers be with the men who will go over the topâ⬠- shows respect and feelings to all the other soldiers. Stephens letter to Isabelle shows how lonely he is and what he has experienced How to cite Birdsong: Man and Stephen, Papers
Monday, May 4, 2020
Certainty vs. Doubt free essay sample
I believe the dispute between the two virtues, certainty and doubt, is very controversial. Despite the clear sides that people have fixed themselves to, there are pros and cons to both. A personââ¬â¢s doubt can cloud their judgment. Yet it can also aid them in making the better decision, by questioning and eliminating the inferior options. On the other hand, a personââ¬â¢s certainty can blind them from seeing the truth. Regardless of these cons, both are necessary in the everyday choices of life. Isaiah Stock, an APLAC student at University of North Carolina, said, ââ¬Å"Think of certainty and doubt as parts of an automobile. Certainty is considered to be the accelerator, while doubt is the steering wheel. You can get nowhere without driving certaintyââ¬âbut without steering through the impediments in your way, you will surely crash and burn. â⬠I consider this to be a very acceptable metaphor of the balanced relationship between certainty and doubt. We will write a custom essay sample on Certainty vs. Doubt or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page An excess of either, on the other hand, is detrimental to oneââ¬â¢s wellbeing. I t is necessary to balance certainty and doubt in order to accomplish all of oneââ¬â¢s life goals. But I believe that, because doubt is so highly misconstrued, doubt is more necessary in the process of making decisions. Doubt is often viewed as a negative idea in our modern society, but in reality is very beneficially, when used correctly. It is not completely contradictive of certainty, but more somewhere in between the two. The World English Dictionaryââ¬â¢s definition of doubt is ââ¬Å"a lack of belief or conviction about something. â⬠We should accept the fact that doubt is a part of us, as a human race, because it is part of our nature. We are curious from birth, and to question anything and everything that we want to know more about is perfectly acceptable. I feel that itââ¬â¢s more in the levels of doubt that we use, that we should start to feel worried. Take building a house of cards, for example. Every card we add brings the risk of sending the whole tower tumbling over, but that is a risk we have to take, in order to achieve our goal. ââ¬Å"I will doubt everything that can possibly be doubted, and if anything is left, then it will be absolutely certainâ⬠¦ Then I will consider what it is about this certainty that places it beyond doubt. (Descartes). Descartes, in my opinion, is yet another, if not extreme, example of the beneficial effects of doubt. He believed that man should not believe in anything that the smallest reason to doubt. In other words, anything that we believed to be true was untrue, until proven undeniable. His theory, dubbed the Doubt Theory, stated that everything we believe is true comes from our senses, which Descartes believed to be both unreliable and untrustworthy. So he claimed we should doubt everything because of this. In this way, I believe that there will be more qualified and non- defective results. In conclusion, doubt should be viewed as a virtuous idea. Of course, we must use it with caution and wisdom, so as not to abuse one of the many things we have been blessed with, as human beings. As is the case with most matters, we must be careful to balance out our doubt and certainty. Doing this will aid in the betterment of our human nature, and once we learn how to balance the two together, we will be closer to the quintessential being of which we wish to be. Certainty Vs. Doubt free essay sample Everyone has. Having doubt leads you to accomplish more and improve at what you do. Certainty is something that helps you become confident in your actions and beliefs. You cannot become fully certain of things without doubt; it is a part of life. William Lyon Phelps once said, ââ¬Å"If you develop the absolute sense of certainty that powerful beliefs provide, then you can get yourself to accomplish virtually everythingâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ What Phelps is saying, is that if you think positively you can accomplish anything you want. Yes this is a good trait to have, but is everything accomplished with positive thinking? Doubt is a natural sort that everyone does and it affects everyone in some way. Even the most confident person has some area of doubt in their life, something that causes them to rethink their abilities. Throughout my life I have had many encounters with doubt. In the thirteen years that I have been dancing competitively I have worked hard to become a better dancer. We will write a custom essay sample on Certainty Vs. Doubt or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page If I was certain, at age eleven, that I had become the best I could be then I would not have become the dancer I am today. Having no doubt in life would lead to the confidence that there is no room for improvement or any desire to get better. People would already think they are at the top of everything and that they are the best they can be. Although, if everyone was doubtful of their ideas or abilities, nothing could be improved to make them better. Even now I still have doubt in my skill and that doubt is only there to help me improve even more. Positive thinking is a good thing to have and will lead you to the right places. Even though doubt will be encountered it is natural and will only help improve things even more.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Reservoir Dogs Essays (578 words) - English-language Films, Films
Reservoir Dogs "I don't give a fuck what you know or don't know, but I'm gonna torture you anyway, regardless. Not to get information. It's so amusing for me to torture a cop. All you can do is pray for a quick death, which you aint gonna get." Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs, 1992 This guy was the most twisted and sickly perverted guy in the whole movie. He had no reservations about killing people. He was brutal. He loved torture and death. By his own admission he liked to see the peoples' expressions when they died. He was totally ruthless. He had no conscience. I can't really explain why I liked this character so much. I don't EVER want to be like him or do the things he did. There was just something attractive about all his negative personality traits. Before he really starts getting into torturing the cop, he casually turns on the radio as if he needed some music to accompany the grizzly acts he was about to commit. He was a man who insisted on having total control. He liked controlling situations and people. When they were in the jewelry store he advised the employees not to hit the alarm. When they did, he started killing them. This was his way of regaining control of the situation. At the same time he was acting out this concept, he was actually totally out of control. He went fucking crazy in the store. He slaughtered the people lined up in the store like he was shooting clay ducks in a local carnival shooting gallery. I know this is a contradiction, but Mr. Blonde was a contradiction of himself. He had double standards. He hated the cop just because he was a cop. He didn't recognize him as a real person. Mr. Pink and Mr. White confirm this at the warehouse when they discuss him shooting REAL people, which cops are not. They say he just went crazy. They seemed to fear his craziness. His calm facade was a cover for the monstrous things he did to people. When he was in the warehouse with the hostage cop and Mr. Orange he appeared to be very calm. He sat smoking a cigarette while Pink and White argued over the chain of events. He wasn't calm. He couldn't wait to start torturing the hostage cop. You could see it in his face when Pink and White left. He almost looked like a kid left alone to tend a candy store. He was up and going the second they left. He was oh so gruesomely true to his belief that cops weren't people that he begins to prove this through his torture "techniques". He treats the cop like an object as opposed to a human being. He slashes off his ear and speaks into it like it was a play phone. He dances over to the gas can, swirls around the warehouse floor and soaks the guy in gas. He taunts the man by lighting a cigarette and holding it over the puddle of gas. This was a thrilling game to him. He wanted to see this man suffer before he finally died. He was also true to his fellow thugs. When everyone else was panicking, he remained cool. He insisted they stick to their original plan...to the end. He told them he had spoken to Nice Guy Eddie and everything was to be done according to the original plan. Mr. Blonde was a messed up dude. His whole personality was a contradiction. Maybe that's why he was so hypnotizing. His bizarre behavior and calm facade made for a very unique character. Reservoir Dogs Essays (578 words) - English-language Films, Films Reservoir Dogs "I don't give a fuck what you know or don't know, but I'm gonna torture you anyway, regardless. Not to get information. It's so amusing for me to torture a cop. All you can do is pray for a quick death, which you aint gonna get." Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs, 1992 This guy was the most twisted and sickly perverted guy in the whole movie. He had no reservations about killing people. He was brutal. He loved torture and death. By his own admission he liked to see the peoples' expressions when they died. He was totally ruthless. He had no conscience. I can't really explain why I liked this character so much. I don't EVER want to be like him or do the things he did. There was just something attractive about all his negative personality traits. Before he really starts getting into torturing the cop, he casually turns on the radio as if he needed some music to accompany the grizzly acts he was about to commit. He was a man who insisted on having total control. He liked controlling situations and people. When they were in the jewelry store he advised the employees not to hit the alarm. When they did, he started killing them. This was his way of regaining control of the situation. At the same time he was acting out this concept, he was actually totally out of control. He went fucking crazy in the store. He slaughtered the people lined up in the store like he was shooting clay ducks in a local carnival shooting gallery. I know this is a contradiction, but Mr. Blonde was a contradiction of himself. He had double standards. He hated the cop just because he was a cop. He didn't recognize him as a real person. Mr. Pink and Mr. White confirm this at the warehouse when they discuss him shooting REAL people, which cops are not. They say he just went crazy. They seemed to fear his craziness. His calm facade was a cover for the monstrous things he did to people. When he was in the warehouse with the hostage cop and Mr. Orange he appeared to be very calm. He sat smoking a cigarette while Pink and White argued over the chain of events. He wasn't calm. He couldn't wait to start torturing the hostage cop. You could see it in his face when Pink and White left. He almost looked like a kid left alone to tend a candy store. He was up and going the second they left. He was oh so gruesomely true to his belief that cops weren't people that he begins to prove this through his torture "techniques". He treats the cop like an object as opposed to a human being. He slashes off his ear and speaks into it like it was a play phone. He dances over to the gas can, swirls around the warehouse floor and soaks the guy in gas. He taunts the man by lighting a cigarette and holding it over the puddle of gas. This was a thrilling game to him. He wanted to see this man suffer before he finally died. He was also true to his fellow thugs. When everyone else was panicking, he remained cool. He insisted they stick to their original plan...to the end. He told them he had spoken to Nice Guy Eddie and everything was to be done according to the original plan. Mr. Blonde was a messed up dude. His whole personality was a contradiction. Maybe that's why he was so hypnotizing. His bizarre behavior and calm facade made for a very unique character.
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Why I Love Cars â⬠Creative Writing Informal Essay
Why I Love Cars ââ¬â Creative Writing Informal Essay Free Online Research Papers Why I Love Cars Creative Writing Informal Essay Ever since I was little, Iââ¬â¢ve liked cars. Fast cars. Expensive cars. Cars that I wouldnââ¬â¢t be able to afford for decades, much less even see in person. Granted, I grew up around cars, but I was never taught to enjoy them. It was something that I had been around so much, that I grew to love it. As a kid, you would find Road Track magazines and Porsche books and brochures on my shelves and Ferrari posters on my walls. Donââ¬â¢t ask me why cars are my passion, I canââ¬â¢t give you a qualified answer. I do know that my dadââ¬â¢s expensive taste has certainly rubbed off on me. Two of his cars stand out from my childhood, a Cloud White Nissan 300ZX Turbo and a Guards Red Porsche 944. I can remember riding in the Nissan, but not the Porsche. My mom has a picture of me ââ¬Å"helpingâ⬠my dad wash the Porsche. At the time of the picture I was about two and half. Even though I was far too young to appreciate the marvel of engineering that lay before me, I was happy and enjoying myself. I was probably more fascinated by the soap bubbles rather than the sexy sheet metal though. My first car was a Volkswagen Jetta. It was no road going race car, but I loved it anyway. Sure, I could talk all day about cars I didnââ¬â¢t own, but at the time I couldnââ¬â¢t change the oil on the car I did own. So began my learning about Volkswagens. In my case, experience was the best teacher. Eventually it came time to change brake pads. With all of my tools and parts gathered, I set off to the garage to get to work. In theory, the brake job should have been completed without any trouble. Not so fast. As tools are wont to do when needed most, my piston compressor gizmo went AWOL. After quickly scouring the immediate area, I realized that if I didnââ¬â¢t figure something out, I wasnââ¬â¢t going to be doing much driving that weekend. Resolve and determination firmly engaged, I cobbled together a substitute device. With the power of C clamps, blocks of wood, foul language, and elbow grease, I finished the job. Two hours behind schedule. Not only was it a pain in the ass, it was a pain in the ass I enjoyed. Enter stage left, my younger brother ready to inherit my Jetta. Enter stage right, my replacement, a Volkswagen GTi 337 Edition. Halleluiah. It was actually quick enough to get out of its own way and didnââ¬â¢t feel like it was riding on a block of Jello. It was my new favorite toy, my new baby. I would spend hours washing and waxing it only to have it dirtied by two trips up and down my limestone driveway. I didnââ¬â¢t mind, I got to spend quality time with something I loved. I would become the giddy little kid with the Porsche again. Then it was wrecked. A woman in a tank of Buick didnââ¬â¢t yield on a turn for me. She raked down the entire driverââ¬â¢s side of the car. Needless to say, I was fuming. Iââ¬â¢ll forego the graphic description of the events that followed. A fender, door, rear quarter panel, two wheels, and three months later I got it back. I wasnââ¬â¢t impressed. My 337 Edition, one of 1500 produced, would never be like its brethren. I was certainly not happy about the whole thing, but after awhile I cooled off. The car and I had shared an experience together. We learned how to deal with insurance agencies and body shops together. However nonsensical it sounds, after spending so much time and money on the car, I couldnââ¬â¢t help but feel a bond with it. Research Papers on Why I Love Cars - Creative Writing Informal EssayThe Fifth HorsemanTrailblazing by Eric AndersonBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XTwilight of the UAWPersonal Experience with Teen Pregnancy19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoWhere Wild and West MeetCapital PunishmentThe Hockey Game
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Economics of Organisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words
Economics of Organisation - Essay Example In this article, Ribstein (2002) argues that since principals do not directly participate in the daily decision-making process, they lose the ability to influence the practice on how decisions are made. Likewise, once the voters delegate their duties to the politicians, the politicians could opt to follow their interests rather than those of the agents. In addition, in such a relationship, the voters become the hostage of the politicians. The principal-agency problem can further be extrapolated to the health sector, where the health providers can act as imperfect agents of patients by prescribing unnecessary drugs. This paper assesses the principal-agency problems in explaining failures of corporate governance. The paper further examines how the recent regulatory framework has been used to mitigate the principal- agent problem. 2. 0 The principal-agency theory In the article, Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure, Jensen and Meckling, suggest m anagers as being the agents of the shareholders (Huber, 2002). The principal model guides agency relationships where the shareholders, otherwise known as the principals, delegates duties to the agents to act on their behalf. The model is defined by a number of features, which are defined in the following section. Firstly, as suggested by Bodie, Alex and Alan, agents undertake actions, which determine the payoff to the principal (2002). In other words, the effort of the agent determines the profits realized by the principal. Secondly, within a principal-agent relationship, the concept of information symmetry arises. In this regard, the principals can be able to observe the outcomes of agentsââ¬â¢ actions but monitoring the agentsââ¬â¢ actions is almost impossible. In instances where an imperfect contract exists, the agents could be encouraged to act to carry out actions that benefit their interests, and the possibility of a moral hazard happening becomes even more real if there is a large information asymmetry. To address the problem of information asymmetry, the principals could put in place monitoring mechanisms and initiate incentive contracts. The board of directors remains one of the common used weapons, in reduction of information symmetry by monitoring and ratifying the most important decisions carried out by the management. Beside acting on the behalf of the shareholders, the board of directors is also supposed to control resource allocation and accompanying risks. Thirdly, the agent-principal relationships assume that agentââ¬â¢s preferences differ from the principals. When the agents and the principals have differing risk preferences a conflict of interest occurs. Just to illustrate further, the shareholders may be risk-averse while the management is risk-neutral, which means the management is incentivized to make risky decisions against the will of their principals. If such a situation happens, the board of directors is mandated to ensure th e interest of the management, and the shareholders are aligned. To deal with the challenges that are associated with the principal-agent relationships, the principals may result to outcome-based incentives. This
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Free Will vs. Determinism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words
Free Will vs. Determinism - Essay Example The other argument for determinism is causation, or causes and effects. This argument depends on relationships that should happen with the same results every time, such as a baseball breaking a window, breaking the window. Basing on this, everything in the universe has a cause. And if all the causes and the events were known, then it would be possible to easily predict the future. If everything can be foreseen, then this proves that nothing that anyone does can change the courses à ¿f the future. This, à ¿f course, is not possible. If determinism were true, no person would be able to change his actions, therefore no one could ever be held morally responsible for his own actions. Common sense says that we can change our actions by our own choice. (Slife 80-107) Everyone in this world has common sense. In this argument determinism is definitely not true. One can want to do something, but from past experiences, can stop and not do the actions he had planned. A thief, who finally got caught and suffered two awful years in prison, can decide to not steal after seeing a desirable pair à ¿f pants lying openly on a rack. He can restrain himself from doing wrong, after realizing from past consequences. This leads to the next argument. We can and have overcome our desires and inclinations. Both common sense and fact show that we can actively change our behavior. Yet a determinist would say that we only perceive that we can change our actions and behavior. But, that too, is false. Before, I wanted an expensive shirt tha t I really, really liked, but I, then, remembered the last time I bought a shirt that expensive, begging on my knees to my mom to buy it for me, and I rarely wore it. That made my mom really mad. This would leave me to not buy that desirable shirt, changing my actions (I really have not bought an expensive shirt, after that incident ). Free will states that we do not feel forced to act. At the time à ¿f a
Monday, January 27, 2020
History of Police Stop and Search Powers in the UK
History of Police Stop and Search Powers in the UK This dissertation charts the history of the stop and search powers of the British police from the old days of the notorious Brixham riots, the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry up to the modern day. Throughout this journey we will examine the use of stop and search under various statutes, concentrating on the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and culminating in a discussion of the Terrorism Act 2000. The effect of the enforcement of the stop and search powers on the community will be examined. 1.0 Chapter I 1.1 Police Use of Discretion and Stop and Search The use of discretion is at the centre of the debates on police powers; that is the ability of police officers to make what are essentially subjective judgements in legal situations and still be operating within the boundaries of law. In fact, the use of discretion covers almost every aspect of police work, so the initial decision to stop and search a suspect to the decision to charge and prosecute for an offence in court. Discretion can take the form of whether or not to pursue an action, for example, whether or not to make an arrest, even where the grounds for arrest are evident. The law allows the police a wide range of lawful possibilities, to make a decision based on their own individual professional judgement about particular situations. In whatever decision a police officer makes, he or she is accountable to the law and not to his or her superiors. Police officers cannot be given orders by their superiors on how they should; for example, whether to arrest one person and not another. Thus, unlike in most hierarchical organisations, the greatest power in terms of law enforcement lies with the officers on the beat and not their superiors. The area of stop and search has aroused much academic research because it is an area where the officer on the beat has wide and often unsupervised discretion to enforce the law. More importantly, this is an area wherein a police officer can deprive someone of their freedom of movement even though there is may be no evidence that the person is committing, has committed or is about to commit an offence. Research evidence points to allegations that the police are unfairly targeting certain sectors of the community, in particular black and Asian people, with regard to their use of stop and search. It is extremely difficult to monitor an individual officers use of discretion in this area of police work. There are provisions for supervision by superiors and some training is usually provided for officers but there is more to be done in terms of monitoring the use of stop and search. In addition, there are Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) regulations on how stop and search is to be used in a non-discriminatory manner. However, it is still difficult to control the use of discretion in the use of stop and search. The discretionary and discriminatory use of stop and search powers (then the Stop and Search (SUS) law) by the Metropolitan Police (MET) was one of the major causes of the Brixton riots in 1981. The METs public pronouncement that Black people were in the majority amongst the muggers in London and the emerging labelling of Black communities as criminal and drug infested provided the legitimate backing for a militaristic policing of Brixton and the justification of the indiscriminate use of SUS on the residents of the area. This was an example of where public perceptions and politics give support to the use of discretion in policing, in this regard, the use of stop and search. The same scenario can be seen in the current use of stop and search in the UK (and presumably the USA) post-9:11. The scope for the use of discretion in stop and search has been significantly expanded in recent criminal justice, public order and anti-terrorism legislation whereby the reasonable suspicion element appears to have been pushed to the limit. The result has been very high figures of stop and search of the Asian Muslim population in the UK under a variety of anti-terror legislation. The use of discretion in police use of stop and search is still seriously being debated in academic and political circles, especially in relation to the issue of police racism. Minority ethnic people are not the only ones apparently discriminated against because of police use of discretion in stop and search. Young people are also believed to experience discrimination. In addition, variables of place (i.e. geographical area) and time of day or night come into play in understanding police use of discretion in stop and search (Clancy, Hough, Aust and Kershaw 2001). The use of police powers is important in the academic discourse about how the state rules through the law and its apparatuses. Police-citizenship relationship is essentially a power relationship at the micro-level. This relationship is often seen as an expression of how the state treats certain sectors of society at the macro-level. In other words, police powers are often seen as the personification of state power. 1.2 Monitoring It is apparent that until recent years, most police forces did not have information systems in place for monitoring stop and search. Even with the requirement to provide data on the ethnic breakdown of searches, some forces relied on counting stop and search by hand. This laborious paper exercise simply allowed forces to provide a breakdown of search by ethnic group to fulfil the requirements of Sec. 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 which requires that the Home Office publish ethnic monitoring data (Quinton and Bland 1999, p2) When it comes to monitoring the use of the stop and search powers, different constabularies record different information. This makes comparisons difficult and the question of proportionality more complex. The main point however, is that constabularies must be able to monitor the use of these powers and to thoroughly and proficiently able to analyse the data. In order to achieve this, the police or external staff who are carrying out such analyses must have appropriate monitoring skills. Fair use of police stop and search powers has the potential for raising public confidence in the police. In December 2004 South Yorkshire police said in its Statement of Agreed Policy (South Yorkshire Statement 2004); the use of stop and search powers directly impacts upon our relationship with the public. Historically, the use of stop and search has sparked much debate, as well as causing friction between the police and the public, particularly following publication of statistics showing apparent disproportionate use with regard to minority ethnic groups. Our use of this power must be fair and open to scrutiny, balancing the rights of individuals with the safety of the public, whilst at the same time increasing public confidence. It is an area where we will always come under scrutiny for evidence of unfairness or discrimination. The manner and approach an officer takes should at all times be sensitive, lawful, and effective in order to ensure public confidence and reassurance. (Appendix p2) Current national data on the use of stop and search power (e.g. Sec.95 Criminal Justice Act 1991) demonstrate considerable variation between constabularies which, when aggregated, indicate that black people and, increasingly Asians are more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts, even in regions where the black and minority ethnic population is extremely small. In 1997-98, for example, Home Office figures revealed that one million stops and searches were carried out by the police under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) of which 11% were of black people, 5% Asian and 1% other non-white origin (Home Office, 1998, p. 5). The explanation for differential use of stop and search powers is complex. Rates of stops and searches differ between geographical areas and between ethnic minorities, more so if one applies the 16+1 ethnic categories. However, most statistics are still recorded in the 3+1 ethnic classification White, Black Asian and other. This has made it difficult to assess the use of stop and search powers on the smaller minorities such as Chinese people, people of mixed heritage and refugees. In addition, most records of stop and search are likely to be an undercount. Home Office research has suggested that most constabularies are presently not equipped to undertake the required, detailed analysis of stop and search or any other relevant data (Fitzgerald, 1997). The result of this state of affairs is that senior officers cannot identify precisely which of their divisions have staff who are using the powers in a biased way and, therefore, the individual officers who should be made accountable for their actions. Also, it is very doubtful if lower ranked supervisory staff, sergeants and inspectors in particular, have the skills to understand the analyses undertaken and to manage their officers appropriately if a biased use of stop and search (or any other powers for that matter) is identified This is, indeed, a serious issue (Holdaway S.1999 para.6 (v)) As indicated above in relation to the smaller minorities, another important issue, especially in relation to disproportionality, is how ethnic monitoring is done. A Home Office research about ethnic monitoring identified a police ambivalence about and, sometimes, hostility towards ethnic monitoring. The researchers summarized their findings in the following way; The research found that most police officers appeared to view ethnic monitoring as irrelevant at best; at worst, it was resented and/or feared as a stick deliberately designed to beat them with. . . . . . Those in senior management positions who were most actively supportive of monitoring were, nonetheless, wary of some of the possible repercussions of examining the statistics, both inside and outside the force; and most, in any case, had other, more pressing demands on them (Fitzgerald, 1997 pp viii-ix). The Home Office researchers also found that many officers thought that ethnic monitoring was primarily about documenting the crime patterns of ethnic minorities. If they had another view it was that monitoring was imposed to accuse them of bias. The attitudinal context within which ethnic monitoring undertaken is very unsatisfactory. The reasons why ethnic monitoring was introduced are controversial. Whatever the reasons, it has highlighted rather than explained Black criminality. Police use of stop and search is currently under much more scrutiny than ever before. A simple explanation is that the police have abused their stop and search powers in the past and so they have invited this close scrutiny and bridges of trust and respect have to be built with the local community. It is interesting that after Macpherson, when new guidelines were introduced on police use of stop and search in order to dispel allegations of discriminatory use of the law, the statistics show an increase instead of a decrease in police use of stop and search against Black people. However, it is reasonable to assume that ethnic monitoring has had some effect on police use of discretion in stop and search, no matter how small. The police are aware of possible accusations of racism when they use their powers of stop and search. Thus, the use of discretion by the police in this regard is constrained by the political climate within which policing takes place. Finally, it should be noted that the collection of ethnic monitoring data is designed mainly to analyse differential outcomes of the use of stop and search and arrest powers. However, these standard data have a very limited use. They are the record of the outcome of an action not of the actions that led to the outcome. Local police managers therefore need to be able to analyse ethnic monitoring data to identify the processes that led to differential outcomes. Unless these data are used to identify the processes that have led to racial discrimination for example, effective change cannot be realised and achieved. A great deal of work has to be done by the police if the differential use of stop and search, or any other powers, is to be identified and appropriate action taken. The Home Office should prepare a standard monitoring system, used by officers with demonstrable skills in the analysis of data, and its use within all constabularies should be required and assessed by HMIC (Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary). Thought needs to be given to placing the ability to analyse data as a core skill for promotion to supervisory rank. The development of analytical skills should be assessed routinely in staff appraisals. Officers need training in data analysis; in moving from a reliance on outcome data, to identifying the processes that have resulted in particular outcomes. On the issue of monitoring, the Home Secretary did appoint an implementation group to ensure that the Lawrence Inquiry action plan was realized within the police. Although the membership of this group was not finalised, it was mostly made up of members of the police representative associations and other interested parties. The implementation group did not have members who were experts in the monitoring of policy implementation. Indeed, it was dominated by the representatives of various police staff and other associations, who have proved themselves to be less competent than in the very task they are supposed to be monitoring police policy implementation. The reason for this membership is probably that the Home Secretary felt that he would have to retain the confidence and support of the police as policies developed. This is understandable, but not sufficient for the stated purpose of the implementation group. It is now critical for organisations like the Runnymede Trust to ensure that the implementation group considers adequate monitoring information and that their work is effective. The suggestion that a monitoring group should be monitored sounds cumbersome and monotonous. However it would appear to be necessary if progress is to be made ( Holdaway, 1999 para 6 ( xi to xii) ). Discussion of police use of discretion is often linked with the academic discussion of police occupational subcultures. Although most elements of police culture are universal, each agency possesses its own personal and distinctive organisational culture. Therefore it is quite difficult to find an uncomplicated definition of police culture. There are several varied definitions, some being more complex than others. According to McDonald (1997): The concept of police culture is comprised of the merging of two major components, (a) the image of impartial and professional crime fighters that the police have of themselves, and (b) a system of beliefs and behaviour not described in published manuals or agency value statements. (McDonald et al, 1997). This definition, whilst not obviously identifying a compelling positive element, does recognise more than just the negative. The public demands all professionals to be held at high standard, but for obvious reasons, policing has an even higher threshold to meet and all police officers must accept this higher standard. An integral part of the process of police acceptance of this higher standard is to understand the police culture, while retaining the resilience to both resist the negative and champion the positive. The police are the first step in the justice process, and the first rung on the ladder in the climb to dispensing justice in the hierarchy. If the police do not inspire confidence, then the whole justice system is viewed with disparagement and suspicion. If the police who are at the forefront of initiating the justice system is viewed with unease, then anything that emanates from their behaviour is similarly seen as tainted. In order for the public to have faith in the justice system and view it with respect and confidence, then it needs to be functioning properly in an unbiased manner from the start, namely the role of the police. However, the apparent unfair use of the law by the police is often linked to the culture of police officers. Authors have argued that racism, sexism, homophobic and anti-working class feelings exist within the culture of rank and file police officers and that it affects how they enforce the law or use their discretion in enforcing the law (Holdaway, 1983 and Chan, 1997). This argument has been used in explaining police use of stop and search and arrests, and the disproportionality question. Considerable research informs us about the contours and power of the rank-and-file occupational culture, (Holdaway, 1983 and Chan, 1997). In terms of minority ethnic people, it is argued that this culture mediates wider racial categorisations and stereotypes black youths as criminal. It moulds these categorisations within the context of routine police work and affects police use of discretion. The Macpherson Report (Macpherson 1999) has introduced a new dimension in the debate by asserting that the police forces as a whole are institutionally racist. In the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, the oral evidence of the three representatives of the MPS Black Police Association was illuminating. As rightly quoted in Inspector Paul Wilsons evidence; The term institutional racism should be understood to refer to the way the institution or the organisation may systematically or repeatedly treat, or tend to treat, people differentially because of their race. So, in effect, we are not talking about the individuals within the service who may be unconscious as to the nature of what they are doing, but it is the net effect of what they do. (Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Part 2, Day 2, p. 209) A second source of institutional racism is our culture, our culture within the police service. Much has been said about our culture, the canteen culture, and the occupational culture. How and why does that impact on individuals, black individuals on the street? Well, we would say the occupational culture within the police service, given the fact that the majority of police officers are white, tends to be the white experience, the white beliefs, the white values. Given the fact that these predominantly white officers only meet members of the black community in confrontational situations, they tend to stereotype black people in general. This can lead to all sorts of negative views and assumptions about black people, so we should not underestimate the occupational culture within the police service as being a primary source of institutional racism in the way that we differentially treat black people. Interestingly I say we because there is no marked difference between black and white in the force essentially. We are all consumed by this occupational culture. Some of us may think we rise above it on some occasions, but, generally speaking, we tend to conform to the norms of this occupational culture, which we say is all powerful in shaping our views and perceptions of a particular community. (Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Part 2 Day 2, p. 211). Macpherson (1999) drew attention to these and other similar comments noting; We believe that it is essential that the views of these officers should be closely heeded and respected (Macpherson 1999, p. 25) The study in one local constabulary (South Yorkshire Police), by analysing 1998 samples, it was found that young black males between ages 15 and 25 had a 1 in 3 chance of being stopped per year, Asians a 1 in 6 chance, and whites a 1 in 10 chance. Blacks formed 0.8% of the countrys population and Asians just over 3% (Holdaway, 2003). Ethnic minorities and predominantly black youth are stopped for the suspected possession of drugs, often, small amounts of cannabis that do not lead to a court appearance. In this study it was found that black youths were more likely to be stopped for the possession of drugs, while white youths were most likely to be stopped for suspected possession of stolen goods or being equipped to steal. However, there is no available evidence to suggest that black youths use drugs more than any other ethnic group (Graham and Bowling, 1996). Although in his study, Holdaway found that the actual number of young blacks and Asians stopped and searched were small and the legal power used fairly infrequently. It cannot be assumed that its impact on the views of ethnic minorities has been proportionate. Holdaway maintains that suspicions about the disproportionate use of stop-and-search powers have fuelled a sense of discrimination among ethnic minorities. The Macpherson Inquiry 1999 into the death of Stephen Lawrence re-emphasised the need for the police services to scrutinise stop and search powers in the context of wider community relations. The Inquiry pointed to discrimination at an operational level as fuelling and leading to the publics loss of trust in the police services. The recording of self-defined ethnicity forms part of Macpherson Recommendation 61, but until 1999 several forces had to date, based ethnic monitoring on officers visual perception. Concerns have been raised about the use of self defined ethical classification as required by the Macpherson Inquiry. Police forces were themselves apprehensive about the way the public might respond and how such responses ought to be used as management information. After all, some ethnic minorities might describe themselves as British, which would make ethnic monitoring more problematic. Also the actual raising of the issue of ethnicity might make stop and search more confrontational and lead to criticisms of differential treatment which in turn would fuel the allegations of discrimination. If communities in general have no confidence in the police then they will not assist the police by providing valuable information about possible criminal activity within the communities. It is a basic fact that the police need the public in order to prevent, investigate and control crime. 2.0 Chapter II This chapter will look at the variation in the manner in which various police forces used stop and search and how the P A C E Codes of Practice of stop and search can be interpreted. Since the early nineteenth century, the police have had wide ranging local powers to stop and search individuals whom they suspect of criminal intent. This Chapter will trace the history of stop and search powers and in particular their development and utilisation under PACE. 2.1 Police Powers of Stop and Search Under The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) Police powers to carry out stop and search dates back to the Vagrancy Act of 1824. This was the old SUS. Under sections 4 and 6 of this law, the police are empowered to stop any person found loitering in a public place on suspicion of intent to commit a cognizable offence. In addition, in London, section 66 of the Metropolitan Police Act (1839) allowed MET police officers to stop and search in London, where there was reasonable suspicion that a person was carrying anything stolen or unlawfully obtained. Interestingly, an internal record was kept not only of the searches but also of all stops under these powers. These were recorded divisionally and the figures collated centrally. Even before the advents of PACE there were concerns regarding police use of the stop and search powers. Reports produced by Willis (1983) and Smith (1983) showed that officers frequently abused the reasonable suspicion requirements attached to the powers. The reports also revealed that these powers were applied disproportionately towards members of the black community. In fact, during the 1970s, there were public concerns about police discrimination in the use of SUS and these anxieties were publicised by various organisations such as the Scrap Sus Campaign (1979) and there were calls for the stop and search powers to be regulated or even scrapped. As mentioned in chapter one, it was the indiscriminate and heavy-handed approach to the use of the SUS law in London that led to the Brixton disturbances in 1981. The mounting complaints led to SUS being a major issue reviewed by Lord Scarman. The subsequent report (The Scarman Report) recommended the replacement of SUS. SUS was repealed and then replaced with a new power of stop and search (SAS) in the Police and criminal Evidence Act (PACE) of 1984. Section 1 of PACE allows the police to stop and search any person or vehicle when the officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting that stolen or prohibited articles will be found. The police are permitted to carry out a full search of the person including anything they may be carrying or any vehicle they are in. PACE was implemented in order to clarify the circumstances in which people could be stopped and searched as well as building in safeguards for the individuals concerned. The introduction of PACE was the first time legislation that had been introduced to properly consolidate what had become a disparate range of powers in respect of the use of stop and search by British police officers. In addition the introduction of PACE could have been accelerated by the report of the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedures (1981) which had recommended improved stop and search powers. Also the Scarman Inquiry specifically said that the way in which stop and search had been carried out had contributed towards the level of tension in Brixton. In Lord Scarmans concluding comment he quoted that; The state of law is, however, a mess, as the Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure has shown The PACE powers allow for searches to be carried out on the basis of reasonable suspicion. Additionally, police officers retain the ability to carry out voluntary or non-statutory searches. As Bland, Miller and Quinton (Home Office: 2000) remarked: In practice this (PACE) was an extension of powers. The Royal Commission on Criminal Procedure recognised the need to balance this extension with safeguards to protect the public from random, arbitrary and discriminatory searches (p 6) Stop and searches carried out under PACE must be carried out in accordance with the Codes of Practice, Code A. From April 2006, following Section 61 of the Macpherson Report, the recording of stops became a requirement for all police forces. In a recent report by the National Implementation for the Recording of Stops, Michael Shiner with the assistance of Nisrine Mansour, Eleanor Stokes and Athina Vlachantoni (Home Office, 2006) suggest that the implementation of compulsory recording of all stops will improve police accountability to the public and will protect the officer from false allegations and misrepresentation from public encounters. It is hoped by the Police Federation that the recording of stops will promote better two-way communications between the police and the public. The National Implementation for the Recording of Stops commissioned by the Stop and Search Action Team undertook valuable research into police attitudes, training, leadership, data capture, community engagement, accountability and engagement (Police Federation 2006, p 3). The report was an honest but blunt appraisal of how many within the force feel about stop and search. One of the big concerns was the slur officers felt on the reputation of the force being linked with institutional racism. A common strand throughout was the issue of disproportionality and officers attitudes towards it. Quite evident was the lack of common understanding at all levels of this term except that it is feared. However, officers are keen to emphasise the value of stop and search as a policing tool needed for communitys safety and protection from crime and anti social behaviour. It is one of the best examples of intelligence led policing and the easiest way of targeting persistent offenders and infiltrating crime hot spots. However studies have shown that many stops are not recorded at all. This is only a breach of the law if the PACE powers are actually exercised and if the suspect is searched or arrested (Sanders Young, 2000; ch.2) 2.2 The Code of Practice (Code A) The most controversial area of stop and search law (or even police law generally) is the definition of reasonable suspicion. Code of practice (Code A) defined what reasonable suspicion should mean in the practical sense of the use of stop and search. In para 2.2, the Code states: Reasonable suspicion can never be supported on the basis of personal factors alone without reliable supporting intelligence or information or some specific behaviour by the person concerned. For example, a persons race, age, appearance, or the fact that the person is known to have a previous conviction, cannot be used alone or in combination with each other as the reason for searching that person. Reasonable suspicion cannot be based on generalisations or stereotypical images of certain groups or categories of people as more likely to be involved in criminal activity, (Code A para.2.2). (The latest version of the Codes of Practice came into effect on February 1, 2008, (SI 2008/167) but it does not make major changes to the existing Code A). The term disproportionate is used in the Code (Code A, par. 5.3). This is unfortunate as it has negative connotations and is synonymous with mistrust. The Codes (Code A Section 5) introduce a responsibility on supervisors to monitor and detect any disproportionality in the searches their officers conduct. The Home Office and Chief Officers readily admit they do not understand the term and yet are determined to judge police officers by it. The term proportionate would be more appropriate and implies a considered and necessary uses of stop and search powers. Furthermore, it seems that additional research should be commissioned into the many complex issues surrounding analysis of stop and search, in particular of street populations. In the aftermath of the Macpherson Report and following recent changes to PACE one would expect the service to provide additional and focussed training. It is apparent that the new safeguards introduced by PACE have failed to fulfil their goals of preventing the misuse of the concept of reasonable suspicion and the abuse of the stop and search power (McLaughlin and Muncie, 2001). Bland, Miller and Quinton ( Home Office, 2000 ) noted that : Research has pointed to the difficulty, in practice, of making a clear distinction between PACE searches and those involving consent. An early evaluation of the impact of PACE in one force highlighted confusion about the distinction at both policy and operational level. There was evidence that some officers used consent to avoid the requirements of PACE for reasonable suspicion and that public consent was often given when ignorant of the right to refuse ( p 7) The Metropolitan Police Authority commissioned a community evaluation of the implementation of Recommendation 61 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry in Hackney (Stop and Search, 2004). The evaluation was carried out by a black-led community organisation, the 1990 Trust. In this study, the police were told to record all stops and searches whether consensual or not, but not include those carried out under the terrorism legislation. A major concern of respondents in the study is that of not being given reasonable reasons for a stop. Existing research has shown that being given a reason for a stop is important to the public. In the Hackney study, over 86% of the respondents said that they had been told or had found out the reasons for the stop or stop and search. However, and more importantly, on further examination, over half (57%) of the respondents thought that the reason given for the stop was false. Being given an unconvincing reason for a stop was potentially as frustrating as being given no reason at all. For some respondents, it was tantamount to an insult to the intelligence of the person being stopped. The re
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)