Organizational Vision and Visionary Organizations

Upendra Gupta 28-NOV-12 Organizational Vision & Visionary Organizations (Summary) Purpose of the Article: In this article authors presents the importance of vision statement and framework that help any organization in order to achieve successfully and all stakeholders involved focus for targeting common goals. It also shows the importance and need of framework that’s required for organization vision. Most of the organizations focus on vision in order to fulfill their mission statement.Normally all of these vision or mission statements contain so many inspirational words that attract not only employees but outsider investors as well. Organization Vision is something is that’s required compelling, guiding force for mission statement. Terminologies: * Guiding Philosophy: It’s the starting point of vision frame where organization vision focuses on decisions, policies and actions for all phase of evolution. It resides in the background, ever-present and in the woodwor k and it is deep and serene. Core values and Beliefs: These are the organization's basic precepts about what is important in business and life, how business should be conducted, its view of humanity, its role in society, the way the world works, and what is to be held inviolate. It may be focused about customers, people, products and management ; business. * Purpose: It is second part of guiding philosophy and in the woodwork of the organization and is not set or created as much as it is recognized or discovered. * Environment: It serves a moderating role in the translation of purpose into mission.By its very nature, guiding philosophy is generated relatively free of current environmental conditions—it comes from within people. Missions, on the other hand, will be affected by the environment—they are affected by timing, trends, technology, and other external factors. * Tangible Image: Its second major component of vision framework. It is in the foreground, focusing peo ple's attention on a specific goal and also a bold, exciting, and emotionally charged. * Mission: It is a clear and compelling goal that serves to unify an organization's efforts.Mission can be set by 4 approaches: Targeting, Common Enemy, Role Model, and Internal Transformation. * Vivid description: It is an organization’s opportunity to express in detail what it will feel like to achieve their goal. It represents a vibrant, engaging, and specific description of what it will be like when the mission is achieved and provokes emotion and generates excitement. Major Findings or Arguments: * Report what was actually found to be true: Articulating an effective corporate vision can be difficult. However, it’s positively mentioned by author in the article.He advised how and why vision and impudent goals are at the core of â€Å"the stable great company† and reveals the evolution of the visionary organization. He also describes a framework for expressing a vision for y our company. There is significant relationship between visionary major components called guiding philosophy and tangible images. Both of the components also have other elements that pay a key role for vision framework. Author presented few examples like Giro sport design and Merck pharmaceuticals that shows real strength of core values and beliefs along with proper illustration of entire vision framework in actions.Overall, guiding philosophy of the organization becomes operationalized in the tangible image, and it takes organization's expected future environment into account. In Sense, environment serves a moderating role in the translation of purpose into mission. * Criticize them by your own thoughts: I believe that organization creates vision keeping in mind of people interest and deviate the purpose and mission organization supposed to achieve. Balancing act amongst all the components for vision frame needs to align keeping in mind of people, customers, about products and manag ement & business.Organization shouldn’t just concentrate on nice vision or mission statement but also focus on meeting the target by good mean. They should always keep in mind core values and beliefs as it’s important as per any individual perspective and affects a lot if not met under guideline. I also think that a unified organizational vision helps an organization may provide direction and purpose of our core values internally and externally, in a well-articulated and easily understood way Encourages team sprit by building loyalty through involvement and shared commitmentOrganizations need to understand that mission should not be mixed with its purpose. Mission should have finite end line and purpose should be broader way to get next mission of the organization. Few of the organizations like ford and NASA had suffered where their mission met early and nothing was target for later. Authors mentioned that missions should not be limited by the constraints of strategic analysis. Its setting should be proactive, not reactive and strategic analysis should be done after not during the mission-setting process.Without a strong vision, strategic plans might not be properly executed since there is no guiding principle or over bending plan. Methodology As part of the understanding the vision, total 75 organization of small or big, young or Old and for-profit and not-for-profit are chosen that have influenced the development of vision framework. 20 of them are picked up by CEOs of top leading companies for the study that has most visionary organizations that have behaved in visionary ways over long periods of time.Complete analysis done based upon vision provided and achieved by most of the successful organization as how they established their vision and last for 100 years and so. Application of the research: I think this study will be helpful for the organizations who want to present facts through their vision or mission statements. It gives proper guidel ine how it may impact the organizational growth if vision framework components are properly aligned as per market needs and doesn’t satisfy truly organization common goals.Nevertheless, it is clear without a vision statement, an organization's performance and culture would be similar to a ship without a wheel. Organizational vision brings a sense of purpose to an organization. A vision statement acts like a filter which enables the people and management decide what to do and more importantly what not to do in their everyday work life. Questions: 1. How does organization vision gets impacted if leader of the organizations quits and original vision was prepared by him/her? 2.What are the other features than vision framework that distinguish visionary organization? 3. Will this organization vision framework be applicable to each and every country in the world? If not then how will it differ? References: 1. Article 7 Collins_Vision_1991 2. http://www. leadershipreview. org/2008fa ll/article1_fall_2008. asp 3. http://www. scribd. com/doc/109265760/Correlation-Between-Organizational-Thinking-amp-Strategic-Vision 4. http://www. help4nonprofits. com/NP_Bd_MissionVisionValues_Art. htm

Explain how to support children and young people’s self-confidence and self-esteem Essay

It is important to support children’s confidence and self-esteem because it will help them grow into confident adults. Support will add value, faith and confidence and they will be more likely to lead a happy and productive adult life. Self-esteem is a way a child feels about themselves. Everyone has it in different degrees. A child with high self-esteem generally feels good about themselves and feels they have a lot to offer. A child with low or poor self-esteem generally feels worthless and that they have little to contribute. Without positive self-esteem it is highly unlikely that a child would have a full, happy and productive life. The development of self-esteem starts very early in life. For example, when a child learns to walk or talk they feel a sense of having achieved something. Praise and encouragement at this point from parents, or people important in their life, boosts the positive feelings they have about themselves and encourages the child to go on achieving. Love, praise and encouragement are essential elements in helping a child develop a positive self-esteem. Be positive and affirming of the child/young person in all situations. Believe in the child/young person and show it – let them know they are a worthwhile, lovable individual. Give praise and positive feedback – children and young people measure their worth and achievements by what other people think of them. For example, you might say â€Å"Well done, that was hard, and you managed it, clever boy/girl† Reassure them that it’s OK to make mistakes and that it’s all part of growing up. Avoid being too critical – this directly damages confidence. Acknowledge their feelings – and help them express their feelings in words. For example, encourage them to say, â€Å"I’m upset because†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"I feel happy when†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Focus on strengths, not weaknesses highlight the things they are good at. Respect the child’s interest’s comment to show you’re listening. Accept that their anxieties are real to them, e.g. fear of monsters in the dark – even if they seem trivial to you, don’t just brush them aside. Encourage independence – encourage them to take chances and try new things. Succeeding gives a huge boost to confidence, and sometimes they will need to learn by their mistakes. Focus on their successes, whatever they can succeed at. Don’t focus on their failures. Help children discover and develop their talents. Finding something that they are good at provides a huge boost to their feelings of self-worth. Make sure your expectations of them are achievable and realistic. A small success boosts self-esteem while failures can chip away at their self-esteem. Make it easier for children to succeed and shine. If you are feeling particularly good about the child tell them. Children often hear negative comments but what you want them to remember and to take forward with them are positive thoughts. Sometimes small group works or just talking at circle time encouraging them to talk about things they enjoy. Help make them feel included in decision making and answer their questions in a thoughtful way

Art Since 1945 12/07 Flashcards Example for Free (#1945)

Art Since 1945 12/07 related essay Chris Brown and Michael Jackson Mass immigration in the period 1945-c.70 a 1900 – 1945: Role of Women Innovator of the Modern Art Jeff Koons and Unknown Artist Art Appreciation Does Having a Recognizable Art or Design "Style" Limit One's Creativity? Art History - Modern Art:The Scene Since 1945 Art Quiz Artist 2 - Andy Warhol Marilyn Diptych, 1962 company About StudyMoose Contact Careers Help Center Donate a Paper Legal Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Complaints Significance: -An overall composition with the only foreground that was created freely by letting paint freely move -canvas on the floor, the paint was dumped on the canvas – painting is very thick- used industrial house paint – Patriotic expression and style – an American style – Part of the work is knowing how Pollock does it -Inspired by native American sand paintings (sand design) Significance: – A challenge to question whether it is an object or fine art – Gets rid of individual expression of artist – Ironic message – recognizable image of recognizable celebrity put on gold background compared to the past of putting gold behind religious subjects – Iridescent gold on canvas with paint for marilyn’s image/silkscreen Significance: – Artist said anything can be a commodity and so he found an area in the air, called it a zone of immaterial pictorial sensibility – The artists threw a customer’s gold in the river, wrote a receipt, burnt the receipt and threw the ashes into the river – commenting on consumer culture by destroying the idea of physical art – the idea that â€Å"anyone will buy anything that is considered art† Significance: – Large, colossal, displaced land called Land art – Took tons of black basalt rocks to create this land art – Idea was focused on displacement, destruction and direction – Sometimes visible, sometimes not – Non-Traditional art Significance: – 13 plates on each side totalling 39 plates since it is a triangle – Each side relates to a time period – Made to give credit to women since they do not get much credit in history – Collaborative work of all women, different embroidery, carpenters, etc – shows all different contributions of women throughout time – Shaped like an equilateral triangle to symbolise equality – The floor contains 999 names of different women -Banal: every day, unimportant things that are not noticeable – but often precious moments – Sculpted by traditional sculptors, experts of porcelain, European craftsman – not ready-made sculpture which is a common misconception – A life-sized sculpture of Micheal and his pet monkey Bubbles – The sculpture comments about race and America, changing appearance to be famous, Michael Jackson’s skin – Inspired by pieta – comparing Jackson to Mary holding Jesus We will write a custom sample essay on

Marketing Saturn Corporation in 1998 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Saturn Corporation in 1998 - Essay Example The Saturn Corporation had to be in complete contact with the GM, since the GM planned to launch the big cars and decided to have a shift from small to mid-size cars, Saturn Corporation should have planned the similar and should have quit the idea of manufacturing the same old small cars. The reason that the strategy was not hard to implement is that the Saturn Corporation had previously been spotted number one in manufacturing small cars and because of that it had made some reputation and capital to cope well with the GM and this is exactly what GM had thought about the company. But it was not the part of the company's mission statement and therefore the immediate job of the Saturn Corporation was to convince the GM that further launching of any such cars can make the market more competitive and already there are big leaders like Toyota and Honda performing well in the market, the scheme can be a flop. Whereas if the GM keeps on manufacturing such small sized cars which are having l esser costs and are already competing Toyota and Honda, the GM and Saturn could both be in greater profitability. Further, the Saturn Corporation could have stated to GM that the target audience should be the younger generation who is not capable of buying expensive cars and therefore would buy smaller cars already being manufactured, further more the traffic is increasing day by day and therefore the demand of small cars would be even higher in the future and thus the company should keep on manufacturing such cars perhaps with greater innovation to attract all the classes of society. Since Saturn is losing its quality despite of a tough competition, Saturn should concentrate on quality, which would ultimately yield experience particularly in the situation where there are other competitors in the market. Only this way the Saturn can provide the parent company with a useful knowledge and technology. As mentioned earlier, Saturn Corporation should not get distracted with what is being offered to them by GM as they are here for gaining experience with perfection and they should consistently keep on trying providing the up to date information on past sales to the CEO and President or even the upper management at GM, this could really make the GM feel to keep on making small cars without hassles. We all know about the outcome, the GM made the mid-sized cars incorporation with Saturn which provided the fair business but due to some rivalry with Japanese firms, the company had to get back to manufacture small cars and this time turning their mid-sized cars into small cars again, such as Sedan, a coupe and station wagon. This situation would have been a lot better if GM had just eliminated the plants and downsized the organization yet not eliminated the manufacturing of small cars. The disturbance was created in this part of 1990s where they thought of making mid-sized cars.

Newspaper register comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Newspaper register comparison - Essay Example Since the author was describing about her father's recovery she used the function words more often. More number of function words was used in the first article compare to the second article. Function words were described in the 2nd page of class #2: Words and Word Classes. Verbs, nouns, pronouns, were used in high percentage by the author in order to describe the fatality and recovery of her father from an accident. The above three differences discussed shows the importance of the usage of grammar in day-to-day life. Words like thinking, excited, etc., usage of articles, function words, objective predicative, lexical words, etc., gives meaning to the descriptive methodologies. They provide different dimensions to express one's thoughts in phrases. References Petrina Gentile Zucco. (2006) Luxury fit for my father. The Globe And Mail, August 3. Scott Roberts. (2006) Heavy Net users light socializers, Statescan reports: Those who spend more than an hour a day on web are less available for their families. Statescan study, August 3, A5. Biber D, Conrad S and Leech G. (2002) Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

What you think about tattoos and piercings Essay

What you think about tattoos and piercings - Essay Example There are different reasons why I consider tattoos and piercings as undesirable. First, these are costly. In order to get yourself tattoos and piercings from qualified professionals, it will cost a considerable amount of money. If there are other more important things to do with one’s money, an individual would reconsider spending money on getting a tattoo or body piercing. Tattoos are also undesirable since they are permanent. When one gets the first tattoo or body piercing, they will be motivated to get some more. This has resulted to some people having their bodies covered by tattoos. Since these are permanent, removing them is quite challenging. If one wants them to be removed, he or she will equally spend more money paying specialists to remove the tattoos. Furthermore, tattoos and piercings are painful. This is mainly during the process of tattooing and piercing. No one wants to feel pain. Therefore, I do not consider the pain of getting a tattoo or piercing to be worthwhile. Equally, the process of removing a tattoo is also more painful. Finally, tattoos and piercings might expose an individual to the risk of diseases, such as HIV/AIDS. However, this depends on who performed the tattooing and where it was performed. This is because; needles or sharp instruments are used on an individual during piercing and tattooing. Therefore, failure to clean and sterilize needles, might lead to the infection with diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Nonetheless, each person has their likes and dislikes; and this is to some extent influenced by their culture. Therefore, even though I dislike tattoos and piercings, I understand and appreciate those people that adore them, hence this is not a major issue to

National Healthcare Services Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

National Healthcare Services Management - Essay Example It provides comprehensive health care universally on the basis of need, and is financed out of general taxation and national insurance. It is one of the largest employers in the country, and is a major consumer of public expenditure. In UK, NHS undergoes drastic changes which have a great impact on the structure, functions and effectiveness of healthcare delivery. These failures are caused by lack of strategic vision and lack of budgeting, inadequate structure of NHS and inability to meet coming changes. The main problem of the strategic level is lack of coherence and consistency in planning process and goals. Government agencies seek to achieve their goals by attempting to build political consensus, and by incorporating key strategic actors in the creation and execution of policy. Thus, public administration cannot provide the co-optation of all institutions and groups, and state policy (in education, health, welfare and so on) and collaboration between producers and consumers. The problem is that "organizations fail to respond to requirements for engaging community in planning and development" (Publications and Reports NHS 2007). During the last five years, the politics of the NHS have varied in their intensity and nature, and conflicts have developed around a diversity of issues at different times (Moran 1999).. These have included the possibility of devising planned programs for specific health-care needs; the balance between acute medicine and care of the elderly, mentally ill and mentally handicapped; the organization of acute medical care; the national and regional redistribution of resources to equalize facilities and services; the scope of private medicine in NHS hospitals; the co-ordination of statutory agencies; tiers of administration and types of management; working conditions and pay levels for NHS staff; and cost-containment. Failures in NHS policies are cause by the fact that "NHS bodies on the patch do not have the commitment or the plans in place to ensure financial balance is achieved" (Publications and Reports NHS 2007). Ever since the inception of the NHS there were problems in identifying and measuring costs within hospitals, but by the late 1990s the measurement of costs and efficiency became a major source of concern for government. David Cameroon comments: "His (Gordon Brown's) great experiment in tax and spending has failed. He is an out-of-date politician wedded to state control. The question everyone is asking is, 'Where has the money gone" (Russel 2007). As central government attempted to contain health-service spending, tighter controls were applied to local Health Authorities; special emphasis was given to improvements in efficiency, and healthcare services were required to make 'efficiency savings' in their budgets (Petit-Zeman, 2005). Cost improvements or efficiency savings in the clinical sphere have not, to date, been established, but there have been systematic attempts to devise techniques for measuring and evaluating medical output, and intensive efforts to develop better accounting, budgeting and costing procedures. A major and long-standing difficulty in the NHS, largely due to the absence of market pressures, is that clinical costs were rarely the subject of detailed

HU300 Unit 7 A Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HU300 Unit 7 A - Research Paper Example It is to be understood as having a â€Å"life† that moves within it (Scruton, 2009, p. 7). Therefore, music is about life and is understood as the universal language. As a universal language of life, music portrays our moods in all aspects of our lives. People listen to music for a lot of reasons: to ease melancholy, to celebrate victory, to complement the feeling of romance and passion, to grieve and to listen to the new single of one’s’ favorite artist. Therefore, music is a way of life, and it forms part of our journey as humans. Music: Representation of Moods and Stages of Life Childhood Years During my childhood years, there was something about male and female groups that I really liked the most. I grew up listening to Spice Girls, Aqua, Boyz II Men, Westlife, and Blue, but most of all, I was notably addicted to Spice Girls. Perhaps, it was all about their stature and fame that I was hooked with their popular hits like 2 Become 1, Wannabe, Viva Forever, and Stop. These songs enlivened my childhood especially that this group also complemented their music with colorful outfits, those that would really dazzle the audience especially the young ones. Moreover, their songs were groovy and had the element of recall which made them easier to memorize. As a child, I would love to hear songs that make me happy, groove, and smile. These songs influenced my childhood in such a way that they became part of my everyday routine. During weekends, I played their CD all throughout the day that no wonder, the CD had tantrums once in a while. Adolescence Stage When I entered high school, the music industry was even livelier. Rock bands, talent search singers, and veteran hit makers continue to make songs for mass consumption, most especially that the Internet was on its hype, and almost all music released or are presently hitting the waves are very much available online. I still adore U2, The Fray, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Calling. Notice the shift from being so obsessed with an all-female group to alternative rock bands. Nevertheless, I started to appreciate the music of The Calling. My adolescent music life was filled with vigor with this band on my A-list. My preference to their music was not in any way a matter of ‘going with the flow’ as most teenagers were head-over-heels with rock bands. It was because I recognized this band’s passion to write songs that reflect strong emotions, most notably songs that contain sincere messages about being in-love and standing strong against the odds of being in a relationship. I was magically transported to another dimension of the world when I heard the song ‘Stigmatized’ by The Calling. When one is in the adolescent stage, all you think of is making the most out of life. Surely, one manifestation of living life as if it is the world’s end is by being in love. ‘Stigmatized’ reflects teenagers drive to make a relationship work, despit e all the circumstances stopping the possible romance to bloom. The melody brought by the acoustic guitar and the intense vocal prowess of the lead singer make the song more of a personal conversation rather than a compilation of words and melody. Certainly, this song has been part of my youthful years. Comforting Music There is this beauty not found in every note and lyric of the song but on the general properties of music (Cook & Everist, 1999). Music comforts us through the whole impact of the song and not in every syllable or

Fundacin Chile Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Fundacin Chile - Essay Example In 1997 Dr. Eduardo Bitran assumed the office as general director of Fundacin Chile. He faced the difficult task of administering the institution, which was constituted as a private non-profit institution with 50% state ownership. One of the most innovative mechanisms that the foundation used, unique in Chile and probably in Latin America, was to create new businesses as a main means to diffuse and transfer technology. Dr. Bitran played a major role in Chile's economic development. , Chile had managed to keep to its course and to maintain growth and stability amidst enormous turbulence, in a period of economic decline that had affected all of Latin America. Recognition of the importance of new knowledge as the base of future businesses was gaining importance and Venture capital funds became the focus. Local innovation clusters were formed around the wine and salmon industries, and specialized fruit production was beginning to reveal the benefits of biotechnology and sophisticated pro duction methods. Immediate challenge for Dr. Bitran was to identify the path and direction for Fundacin Chile. His main challenge would be administer the institution to generate social benefits, as required by the mission entrusted to it as a quasi-public entity, while at the same time acting as a private business to obtain the necessary resources that would permit it to grow and develop. Fundacin Chile's promoted innovation and technology transfer emphasizing agribusiness, forestry and marine resources. It followed several modalities like demonstration businesses, technology transfer groups, training and diffusion, and providing services such as consulting to quality control. Chile encouraged the participation from its associates and strategic allies both national and international; financing originating from the private sector was diminishing with time, while that obtained through state grants increased. Financing provided by sales of services to the public sector had not changed for several years. Fundacin Chile, besides creating innovative business and developing the programs mentioned, began to develop financial innovations for the national market. The institution sought, with these innovations, to more efficiently mobilize savings for investment in the sectors in which Fundacin worked. The foundation also created a venture capital fund for regional investments in medium-size growth businesses and new projects. Besides these venture capital funds, the foundation also fulfilled a seed financing role for innovative projects originating within the institution. Fundacin Chile was structured in four sectoral directorates: agro-industry, marine resources, secondary wood products, and forestry. The operational model was re-defined to distinguish and specify the concepts of technological centre, business units, companies and endowment management, establishing differences in objectives and in plans of management and interaction among the

Fish Linked to Lower Risk of Depression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fish Linked to Lower Risk of Depression - Essay Example This link was not present in studies conducted outside of Europe. To explain this, the writer quotes the study author Fang Li of Qingdao University in China who points out that this could be caused by the low number of participants in the study. This statement casts a serious doubt on the credibility of these studies. Scientific studies are perceived to be more accurate if they have a large amount of participants under study. The author of the article also points out the observational nature of the studies. It is noted that the studies did not discriminate on the types of fish consumed. Moreover, the studies could not draw a conclusion on the cause-and-effect relationship between fish consumption and the risk of depression. The amount of fish intake under study is not quantified; a lot of fish could mean different things to different people. To their credit, the researchers admit that more research must be undertaken in order to clearly understand the link between fish consumption an d depression.It is common for articles on health issues to carry a strong prejudice arising from the author’s personal opinion. Fortunately, the author of this article has ensured that they convey information as it is, despite the glaring loopholes in the actual studies and has made no attempt in persuading the reader in accepting any particular health ideations from the study. The author also makes it known that the study was published in a reputable journal; The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Modern gadgets Essay Example for Free

Modern gadgets Essay Symbian OS is designed for the mobile phone environment. It addresses constraints of mobile phones by providing a framework to handle low memory situations, a power management model, and a rich software layer implementing industry standards for communications, telephony and data rendering. Even with these abundant features, Symbian OS puts no constraints on the integration of other peripheral hardware. This flexibility allows handset manufacturers to pursue innovative and original designs. Symbian OS is proven on several platforms. It started life as the operating system for the Psion series of consumer PDA products (including Series 5mx, Revo and netBook), and various adaptations by Diamond, Oregon Scientific and Ericsson. The first dedicated mobile phone incorporating Symbian OS was the Ericsson R380 Smartphone, which incorporated a flip-open keypad to reveal a touch screen display and several connected applications. Most recently available is the Nokia 9210Communicator, a mobile phone that has a QWERTY keyboard and color display, and is fully open to third-party applications written in Java or C++. The five key points small mobile devices, mass-market, intermittent wireless connectivity, diversity of products and an open platform for independent software developers are the premises on which Symbian OS was designed and developed. This makes it distinct from any desktop, workstation or server operating system. This also makes Symbian OS different from embedded operating systems, or any of its competitors, which werent designed with all these key points in mind. Symbian is committed to open standSymbian OS is designed for the mobile phone environment. It addresses constraints of mobile phones by providing a framework to handle low memory situations, a power management model, and a rich software layer implementing industry standards for communications, telephony and data rendering. Even with these abundant features, Symbian OS puts no constraints on the integration of other peripheral hardware. This flexibility allows handset manufacturers to pursue innovative and original designs. Symbian OS is proven on several platforms. It started life as the operating system for the Psion series of consumer PDA products (including Series 5mx, Revo and netBook), and various adaptations by Diamond, Oregon Scientific and Ericsson. The first dedicated mobile phone incorporating Symbian OS was the Ericsson R380 Smartphone, which incorporated a flip-open keypad to reveal a touch screen display and several connected applications. Most recently available is the Nokia 9210Communicator, a mobile phone that has a QWERTY keyboard and color display, and is fully open to third-party applications written in Java or C++. The five key points small mobile devices, mass-market, intermittent wireless connectivity, diversity of products and an open platform for independent software developers are the premises on which Symbian OS was designed and developed. This makes it distinct from any desktop, workstation or server operating system. This also makes Symbian OS different from embedded operating systems, or any of its competitors, which werent designed with all these key points in mind. Symbian is committed to open standards. Symbian OS has a POSIX-compliant interface and a Sun-approved JVM, and the company is actively working with emerging standards, such as J2ME, Bluetooth, MMS, SyncML, IPv6 and WCDMA. As well as its own developer support organization, books, papers and courses, Symbian delivers a global network of third-party competency and training centers the Symbian Competence Centers and Symbian Training Centers. These are specifically directed at enabling other organizations and developers to take part in this new economy. Symbian has announced and implemented a strategy that will see Symbian OS running on many advanced open mobile phones. Small devices come in many shapes and sizes, each addressing distinct target markets that have different requirements. The market segment we are interested in is that of the mobile phone. The primary requirement of this market segment is that all products are great phones. This segment spans voice-centric phones with information capability to information-centric devices with voice capability. These advanced mobile phones integrate fully-featured personal digital assistant (PDA) capabilities with those of a traditional mobile phone in a single unit. There are several critical factors for the need of operating systems in this market. It is important to look at the mobile phone market in isolation. It has specific needs that make it unlike markets for PCs or fixed domestic appliances. Scaling down a PC operating system, or bolting communication capabilities onto a small and basic operating system, results in too many fundamental compromises. Symbian believes that the mobile phone market has five key characteristics that make it unique, and result in the need for a specifically designed operating system: 1) mobile phones are both small and mobile. 2) mobile phones are ubiquitous they target a mass-market of consumer, enterprise and professional users. 3) mobile phones are occasionally connected they can be used when connected to the wireless phone network, locally to other devices, or on their own. 4) manufacturers need to differentiate their products in order to innovate and compete in a fast-evolving market. ards. Symbian OS has a POSIX-compliant interface and a Sun-approved JVM, and the company is actively working with emerging standards, such as J2ME, Bluetooth, MMS, SyncML, IPv6 and WCDMA. As well as its own developer support organization, books, papers and courses, Symbian delivers a global network of third-party competency and training centers the Symbian Competence Centers and Symbian Training Centers. These are specifically directed at enabling other organizations and developers to take part in this new economy. Symbian has announced and implemented a strategy that will see Symbian OS running on many advanced open mobile phones. Small devices come in many shapes and sizes, each addressing distinct target markets that have different requirements. The market segment we are interested in is that of the mobile phone. The primary requirement of this market segment is that all products are great phones. This segment spans voice-centric phones with information capability to information-centric devices with voice capability. These advanced mobile phones integrate fully-featured personal digital assistant (PDA) capabilities with those of a traditional mobile phone in a single unit. There are several critical factors for the need of operating systems in this market. It is important to look at the mobile phone market in isolation. It has specific needs that make it unlike markets for PCs or fixed domestic appliances. Scaling down a PC operating system, or bolting communication capabilities onto a small and basic operating system, results in too many fundamental compromises. Symbian believes that the mobile phone market has five key characteristics that make it unique, and result in the need for a specifically designed operating system: 1) mobile phones are both small and mobile. 2) mobile phones are ubiquitous they target a mass-market of consumer, enterprise and professional users. 3) mobile phones are occasionally connected they can be used when connected to the wireless phone network, locally to other devices, or on their own. 4) manufacturers need to differentiate their products in order to innovate and compete in a fast-evolving market.

Racial Differences in the Corrections System Essay Example for Free

Racial Differences in the Corrections System Essay â€Å"According to Black Star Project Executive Director, Phillip Jackson, in 2007 there were 321 African American men enrolled at Northwestern University (1.7 percent of the student body) but four times that number – 1,207- imprisoned at Western Illinois Correctional Center (60 percent of the prison population)† (Walker, Spohn Delone, 2012). This is only one example of the astounding percentage of young black men currently serving jail time as opposed to pursuing a college education. Something must be vitally wrong with our criminal justice system, since it allows these staggering numbers to hold truth. Overall the total percentage of young African American males is almost five times more than that of their young white or Hispanic male counterparts. I find this statistic very disturbing and chose to research the why and how this is occurring. There are many possible reasons such as limited access to public health clinics, racial profiling, unfair judicial systems, racial differences in judges, lawyers, and law makers, poverty, and parental upbringing; to name a few. How do these young men get sucked into a life of crime, do they have an alternative or a role model to seek counsel form? The numbers do not lie and there must be sound reasons behind them. In this paper I will research and discuss the various reasons why young African American males are grossly over represented in the criminal justice and corrections facilities. While the overall white population is higher than the African American population, 10.4 percent of African American men between the ages of 25-29 can expect to spend time in jail, compared with 2.4 percent of Hispanics and 1.2 percent of white men. Throughout this paper I will discuss not only the staggering numbers but also the reasoning behind them and possible solutions or at the very least a starting point to help fix the problem at hand. â€Å"†¦People of color are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, as crime victims, offenders, persons arrested, and persons in prison† (Walker, Spohn Delone, 2012). It Starts at a Young Age There is more than one reason behind the racial imbalance in the criminal justice system. Areas that have been evaluated are parental involvement, peer groups, neighborhoods, the individual, and racial discrimination at all  levels. It appears that the problem is present in the juvenile justice system as well, something is not working right if these children are not receiving the rehabilitation and or help they need to lead a non-criminal life. Redding Arigo, 2005 state this about the number of African American juvenile offenders, â€Å"†¦compromising only 15% of the juvenile population†¦and 57% of the juveniles in state prisons† I decided to discuss juveniles because I found it interesting that they also represented a large number of the criminal offenders in the juvenile justice system in a very similar way that the 25-28 year old African American males do. Several avenues I researched concluded that African American’s have a harder time accessing health facilities such as metal health clinics, where many of the common mental health disorders that criminal offenders suffer from can be treated. â€Å"As many as 70 percent of youth in the system are affected with a mental disorder, and one in five suffer from a mental illness so severe as to impair their ability to function as a young person and grow into a responsible adult† (Hammond, 2007). It seems to me that if we can stop the current process at a young age, why wouldn’t we? Poverty and Single Parent Homes Walker, Spohn Delone state that 9.4 % of white Americans live in poverty compared to a shocking 25.8% of African American’s that live in poverty. There are thousands of studies that link poverty and poor neighborhoods with criminal activity, both victim and criminal. With a quarter of the African American population living at poverty level it is not surprising that they also retain such a large portion of the inmate population. â€Å"Regardless of whether poverty is a cause or an effect, however, the conditions associated with poverty can work against the development of human capital—that is the ability of individuals to remain healthy and develop the skills, abilities, knowledge, and habits necessary to fully participate in the labor force† (Nilsen, 2007). If people are not allowed the opportunity to reach their full potential often times a life of crime if the only way to survive. The United States Government recognizes that there is a link yet the problem still exists. Yes there are federally funded programs such as Medicaid, Food Stamps, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, but the poverty level is still alarmingly high. â€Å"The most telling fact about poverty in the  United States is how thoroughly it is ignored† (Royce, 2009). While there is a link between poverty and crime, there is also a link between single parent homes or absentee parent homes and crime as well. The percentage of African American families run by a single parent, usually the mother, is astounding, â€Å"†¦50% of all black households with children under age 18 are headed by black women† (Bush, 2004). Often times the majority of these families live at or below the poverty level, leading to a higher chance of violence and criminal activity. The evidence above begins to show the reasoning behind why African Americans have the highest racial population in prisons. In addition they often are judged harder and serve longer sentences in jail than there non-black counterparts. While racial profiling seems to be a likely source I found various accounts of whether or not it is a direct cause of the higher numbers of African American men in prison, the problem seems to lie further up the judicial system. â€Å"Young African American and Hispanic males, in other words, face greater odds of incarceration than young white males primarily because the commit more serious crimes and have more serious prior criminal records† (Walker, Spohn Delone, 2012). Even though they may commit more serious crimes, when sentenced next to a non-minority for the same crime, their sentences are often longer. Clifford Levy 1996 of the New York Times states,† black and Hispanic people sentenced for minor felonies or misdemeanors in New York were treated more harshly than whites in similar circumstances.† His statements are based on a study released by the Pataki administration. Higher Up the Judicial System Other areas that may lead to the disproportioned numbers in the jails are judges, juries, and lawyers. Next I plan to discuss the differences in race among the judges, juries, lawyers, and law makers. â€Å"The jury is the heart of the criminal justice system† (Cole, 2000). How can racially fair rulings be handed out if the jury consists of mostly non-minorities? Racially biased judgments could be a cause of the difference in numbers in our criminal justice system. â€Å"An analysis of Jefferson Parish, La., by the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center found that from 1999 to 2007, blacks were struck from juries at more than three times the rate of whites† (Dewan, 2010). In  additional differences amongst the jurors, judges and lawyers are mostly white males. â€Å"Combined African American and Hispanic representation among lawyers was 7% in 1998†¦ There are fewer active African American federal appellate judges today than when Jimmy Carter was President† (T he collaboration the, n.d.). The buck does not stop here, the racial inequality continues up the ladder to Congress, the Senate, and the House. The article Do Your Lawmakers Represent all Americans, or is it Time to Change Congress states, â€Å"The U.S. population includes 12 percent African Americans, 9 percent Hispanics, and 3 percent Asian/Pacific Islanders and other groups. Congress, however, is 87 percent white; 85 percent in the House and 96 percent in the Senate.† If fact black members of the three government bodies above are often times questioned about decisions and their backing status far more than their non-minority counterparts. These numbers back the idea that African Americans face a discriminatory criminal justice system that starts at the top. Unfortunately racial biased is still something that is ingrained in most Americans and until the minorities are fairly represented in the government and judicial system, racial inequality within these entities will still exist. Comparison As mentioned previously African American males face longer prison sentences due to the fact that they commit more serious crimes and have longer criminal records, in general, than white Americans. The racial differences also extend to length of time served, higher rate of convictions and prison sentences. â€Å"The national incarceration rate for whites is 412 per 100,000 residents, compared to 2,290 for African Americans and 742 for Hispanics† (Mauer King, 2007). Incarceration rates are directly affected by the sentencing process. As one might expect African Americans and Hispanics face a harsher time during the sentencing process than white Americans. â€Å"Of the estimates of the direct effect of race on sentencing at the state level, 43.2% indicated harsher sentences for blacks, and over a quarter (27.6%) of the estimates on the direct impact of ethnicity registered harsher sentences for Latinos† (Kansal, 2005). Per the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics in 2007 the conviction ratio broken down by race is as follows: whites 28.8%, blacks 24.4%, and Hispanics 43%. Overall the percentage of African American males and Hispanics males that will serve  time in prison compared to white males is significantly higher. Structural Inequality Based on the information above I believe it is apparent that there is severe structural inequality starting at the top with the government down through to the jurors. How can racial unbiased laws be passed if the government writing them is made up the racial majority. It is impossible to truly understand what it is like to be a minority without living it. Some may say they understand and can make unbiased decisions, but the fact remains that without living the lifestyle this is impossible to truly accomplish, which is why African Americans and Hispanics must fight to increase their numbers within the governing bodies. Next the judicial system needs to be addressed; they face the same racial disparities that the government does. White judges and juries are handing out the majority of the convictions and sentences, including those handed out to the minorities. It is evidenced that African Americans face harsher sentences and longer jail times than their white counterparts. â€Å"Efforts should be made to reinstate judicial discretion into the sentencing process to permit judges to craft sentences that accurately reflect the charged conduct and circumstances of the offense and defendant† (Mauer King, 2007). Efforts need to be made to correct the imbalances that the United States criminal justice system currently faces. Conclusion â€Å"To be sure, criminalizing young Black males and warehousing them in jails and prisons will further exacerbate the problems of racial domination and ossify the economic and social inequities structuring their everyday lives† (Hill Lee, 2010). The evidence does not lie; there are sound reasons why African American males between the age of 25-29 have more of their population behind bars. It often times starts at home and works it all the way up to the top. The same problem has been recognized at the juvenile level. African American juvenile offenders represent with a higher number of their population in the criminal justice system. I found some interesting studies that link mental illness to criminal activity. Many families living in poverty have limited access to mental health clinics, thus a possible source of aggression and criminal behavior is going untreated. Poverty levels are still extraordinarily high and it has been proven that living at  or below the poverty level and in rough neighborhoods, leads to criminal activity. As many as 50% of the African American families at or below the poverty level are run by a single parent, leading to even more family strain and stress. Another area that is giving rise to the above mentioned numbers is the fact that the criminal justice system, itself, has very few minority members. The House, Senate, and Congress also are compromised of mostly white. The numbers do not correlated with the overall populations in the United States. White judges, lawmakers, juries, and lawyers comprise over 90% of the judicially system and government bodies. It is easier to understand why minorities are dealt harsher sentences, serve longer jail times, are convicted at a higher rate and hold a larger percentage in the prison system. With the current system in place and the obvious structural inequality within the criminal justice system, I fear that the numbers will not change. Action must be taken to incorporate the minorities into these governing bodies. The issue needs to be addressed at the juvenile level, by helping these troubled teens; their numbers may start to decrease at all age levels. The reasoning behind the numbers has been laid out, is know by most, and yet is still a problem. It is time to make a change, if not 1 in every black male born today will see the inside of a prison cell and this is not acceptable. References Bush, L. (2004). How black mothers participate in the development of manhood and masculinity: What do we know about black mothers and their sons? The Journal of Negro Education, 73(4), 381-391. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4129623?uid=3739256uid=2uid=4sid=21101002202873 Cole, D. (1999). No equal justice: Race and class in the american criminal justice system. New York: New. The collaboration the legal profession. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.lfoa.org/barnone/barnone_collaboration. Dewan, S. (2010, June 1). Study finds blacks blocked from southern juries. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/us/02jury.html?_r=1scp=1sq=Blacks Still Being Blocked from Juries in the South, Study Findsst=cse Do your lawmakers represent all americans, or is it time to change congress?. (n.d.).

Liberal And Illiberal Democracies In The 20th Century Politics Essay

Liberal And Illiberal Democracies In The 20th Century Politics Essay The turning point in the 20th century was declaring the victory of liberal democracy on world level, this is what Fukuyama said in his famous book the end of the history which at the same time overlook the crimes of liberal democracy against the non-European people.That is, the end point of mankinds ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.(Fukuyama,1992). It is easy to establish this hypothesis on some historical evidences. So after the fall of Fascism in 1945, soviet communism was the main alternative to the western liberalism, but even this collapsed by the outbreak of the revolutions in the Eastern Europe countries between 1989 and 1991, rejecting government principles of planning and interventions. As in Africa, Asia and Latin America the democratizing of the political system is done by the proliferation of different parties and the growing tendency towards economic reform which is based on the market. Thos e continuing operations reflect the obvious superiority of the liberal ideology over other competitive ideologies. The future seems to be apparent by the shrinking of the economic and political difference at different rates to meet all on the liberal democratic model. According to Fukuyamas argument, the victory of liberal democracy is the only solution that is capable to live and continue. Fukuyamas concept consists of two parts that are associated with each other. First is liberality: the existence of a limited author of the state that allows individuals and citizens to exercise a great deal of personal freedom and their capability to participate in political life by giving them the freedom of expression and other different things. The second part is democracy: which means, in Fukuyamas perspective, the real capacity of people to choose the governments they want. Fukuyama tries to emphasize that the U.S. is not the ideal model for his idea of liberal democracy. But at the same time he refuses any other model along these lines, so when the Chinas communism model was introduced, Fukuyama responded quickly by saying that Chinas economic success was due to their capability to get rid of the socialist system and introduce their economic freedom as a substitute: Japan may offer an alternative to Americas liberal democracy and combine a successful economy with social bonds. (Fukuyama, 2009, 85).In fact that is true but what China needs to be a liberal democratic country is to get rid of the single party system and support the multi-party democracy. Fukuyama believed that liberal democracy and the market-oriented economic system are the only two alternatives that are able for application in the modern societies. Now the World has seen the progress of the West over the rest of other societies, this is due to their belief that progress at both the scientific and theoretical sides goes back to their faith in liberal political thought. The democratic experiment in the West took root through the law of the market and the transfer of power to the socialist parties in more than one European country; all this confirms the credibility of the liberal democratic model in the world. To understand the differences between liberal and non-liberal democracy: Liberal democracy does not just include elections and establishing some official democratic foundations like parliament and courts, it also includes the creation of free press; the rule of law; an independent judicial system; the rights of minorities, the freedom of speech; the ability of parties and individuals to seek to divert official positions peacefully through competitive elections as well as the establishment of independent civil foundations that are in charge of solving civilians problems apart from any governmental control. Non-liberal (illiberal) democracy, which was established by the journalist and the editor Fared Zakaria, means a system in which elections are made where civil liberties and civil rights as well as the multiple dimensions of a real democratic society are severely limited or non-existent. Societies that were under the effect of totalitarian governments and were affected by ethnic and sectarian divisions were the most affected ones by such internal conflicts. So Zakaria was trying to illustrate that liberty and democracy can only be connected in the western societies and not for the third world societies, that is because the liberal democracy system is not just about free elections, it exceeds that to include the rule of law, the separation of powers as well as the protection of fundamental freedoms to citizens such as the freedom of speech, of movement, of listening, of ownership and the freedom of religions. Zakaria believed deeply in democracy and mentioned that democracy has moved from being a form of government to a way of living (the future of freedom,2003), but this didnt prevent him from criticizing this phenomenon, especially when it separated from liberalism its mixed partner in the West to an extent that may cause an imbalance in governments power which could impede its performance or affect it negatively. To criticize illiberal democracy Zakaria set Hitler as an example who get to power through democratic elections, the point is that many dictatorship governance system around the world use the election system à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Which at the same time ignoring the constitutional limitations on its authority andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.its citizens from their fundamental rights . Within this competition, still the differences in opinions between democracies a continuing problem, often these democracies differs among themselves about important political options such as the promotion of democracy, international economic policy and how best to respond to threats of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, failed stats, ethnic conflict, violations of human rights. Despite the calls for formation of Commonwealth of Democracies to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦for the weaknesses of the United Nations, the European Union and other international institutions to face the worlds problems, still the common standers remain over where should draw the line between liberal democracy and illiberal democracy a big problem. We cannot find lots of countries that wish to give priority to such a gathering upon their provided obligations to its regional bodies and other institutionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ To sum it up, the fall of the Berlin Wall two decades ago, the collapse of communism, the end of the Cold War, as well as the success of rebels in Ukraine and Georgia are all signs of real progress for democracy. Thus the future victory has to be for the liberal democracy system according to Fukuyama and Zakaria. The way of living today is a democratic way in spite of all the conflicts; the information revolution; the tendency to an open environment towards liberalization and the critical demonstrations demanding freedom like the way now in Iran. The other side of democracy or the negative side is that it can be used for violence, violence is becoming democratic in the way that any group of people are able to exercise violence and bombing without resorting to the state apparatus. Accordingly, terrorism is spreading under the name of democracy. Accordingly, the success of democracy is not inevitable. And as many American leaders starting from Roosevelt, Truman ending with Obama by say ing that the aspiration for freedom of democracy is fundamentally a human yearning. In the 1990s Francis Fukuyama claimed that liberal democracy had won the twentieth centurys ideological battle. In contrast, Fareed Zakaria argued that the emergence of illiberal democracies threatens to discredit liberal democracy itself, casting a shadow on democratic governance. Systematically discuss and analyse the foundations of Fukuyamas argument and how it has been countered by other liberal thinkers like Zakaria. Do international relations in the 21st century support or undermine the idea of Liberalisms victory?

Bob Marley Essay -- Biography Biographies Bio

Bob Marley is a name most people know but his accomplishments and dedication to music is often overlooked. Bob was more than just a reggae artist, he was an inspiration to the country of Jamaica. He was a role model to the poverty stricken island and gave hope to many people. Bob was born on February 6, 1945 in his grandfather's house. He was the son of a poor farm girl and a British naval Captain. Soon after his birth Bob's father, Norval Marley, left his mother. He remained responsible and provided financial support and occasionally came back to see them. In the 50's a depression hit Jamaica and Bob followed his mother to West Kingston also known as Trenchtown. It was in Trenchtown were Bob's love for music began. Bob Marley's music has given people everywhere hope for a better tomorrow. His life and involvement with the Rastafarian movement left an impact on the world that is still felt today. He sang of peace speaking out against slavery, poverty, and oppression. His philosophy was to send a message through his music that all people are equal and should unite together to make this world a much better place for our future generation. "Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny"(Stephens 2). When Bob Marley said this he was referring to the battle with the Americans and the Indians of the west, where slaves from Africa were forced to fight. He wrote the song "Buffalo Soldier" as a tribute to the injustice of the war. They were brought to America and forced to fight against the Native American Indians. The Indians called them buffalo soldiers because their hair was tightly woven and to them, it resembled the curly and matted buffalo's coat. In the line "Stolen from Africa, brought to America Fighting on arrival, figh... ...y never gave up on his goal for world peace. The point of many of these songs were that you will never loose until you give up your fight. If everyone gave up on the things they were doing once they had failed then where would the world be today? If the U.S. had surrendered in our first world war when one soldier was shot down would we have our great country today? No, we wouldn't because no one gets anywhere when they give up. No one has anything when they give up just another failure to write in their book of history that will most likely not be remembered. All of our great leaders had to try more than once to get what they fought for. Like George Washington fought for freedom for years and when he got it he was known as a great leader to America and it's future generations. Maybe if the world were like Bob Marley we could be further into the future than we are now.

Essay Comparing Eliot’s Parody and Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra

Comparing Eliot’s  Parody and Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra The first major difference between Eliot’s Parody and Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra comes with the very first simile. In Shakespeare’s original the barge in which Cleopatra sits is compared to a burnished throne burning on the water, whereas in Eliot’s parody it is only a chair that she fills like a throne, glowing on the marble. Eliot’s character comes across, therefore, as far less ‘enormous’ and larger than life than Shakespeare portrays Cleopatra who seems very great, even in comparison with her barge, which she fills as if it were a throne - her majesty makes the barge seem tiny in comparison; Eliot’s character only makes a chair look like a chair. Again, with the water on which Cleopatra’s barge floats burning, and the marble on which the chair stands glowing, Shakespeare’s image if far greater than the one Eliot creates, being strange and somewhat mystical, as opposed to Eliot’s chair’s ent irely possible glow. Cleopatra, in the same way, has ‘pretty dimpled boys’ fanning her, ‘like smiling cupids’, whereas in the passage from The Wasteland, there are merely golden Cupidons, observing the scene, one peeping out at her, another hiding his eyes behind his wing - instead of serving an immediate, yet subtle purpose, as Cleopatra’s are, fanning her. Other images of Eliot’s, in contrast, are much larger than Shakespeare, but again succeed in making Eliot’s character look small and insignificant in comparison. Eliot describes the enormous amount of adornments around the room, including her ‘vials of ivory and coloured glass’, which contain many perfumes, which are described as ‘drowning the sense in odours’ and again it is the lack of subtlety t... ...speare tends to prefer the use of metaphor to that of simile - whilst Homer often used extended simile to illustrate his point, and often went off on very distinct tangents, Shakespeare tends to prefer the more modern construction of metaphor, rather than having to protect himself as an author with words like ‘like’ or ‘as’. Eliot may well have chosen this passage for its eccentricities, and it succeeds in creating a powerful and provoking parody, as well as being a very good contrast to other parts of The Wasteland, poetically, including the very next part, which is more modern, and simple. It is also interesting that Eliot chose to almost blend the Shakespeare in with other more ordinary bits of literature - the passage begins with only slight changes to the words of Enobarbus’ speech, but soon becomes considerably different to the original Shakespeare.   

Surrogacy is Morally Wrong Essay -- Surrogacy Is Immoral

In this paper, I argue that if the debate about the morality of surrogacy is couched in terms of respect due to other human beings and the paramount importance of their intimate relationships with one another, then it may be shown that most ordinary instances of surrogacy are morally wrong. Human flourishing cannot be separated from one’s relationships with others and any circumstance which is destructive of such relationships must be considered immoral. The surrogate, unless she is treated as an object or merely as a means to an end, is intimately involved in the relationships between the child and its putative parents and important relationships become ambiguous and so harmed. Furthermore, if this view if rejected, then the feminist argument that surrogacy always involves the exploitation of the surrogate renders it immoral. The debate about surrogacy revolves around the following issues: (a) whether it is in the interests of the child involved or in the interests of society; or (b) whether it is exploitative of the birth mother or in the interests of women, as a whole. In considering the issues under (a) it is often argued that children are at risk of harm from having socially constructed family relationships rather than natural ones. Many commentators have likened the experience of children and birth mothers in surrogacy arrangements to children and relinquishing mothers in adoption, and point to the potential psychological and social harm that may result. (1) One argument against surrogacy therefore revolves around the relationships which are involved. Although talk of interests seems to couch the debate in utilitarian terms (2) it is not the only way in which the arguments about surrogacy may be seen. Another way of seei... ...s the potential for depersonalisation strong, quoting the case of a woman who said of her sister (in an a case of altruistic surrogacy), "We are just using Jacki as a suitcase really, an incubator to carry it. At the end of the day it’s our child". Rowland, R. Op. Cit., 164 (17) Ibid., 164-166 (18) Szikla, C. "Surrogacy, Why Women Lose",http://www.readings.com.au:8080/~wise/RT2.htm, 3-6 (19) Another solution is to say that this dichotomy does not hold and that there is nothing wrong with a mà ©nage à   trois (or à   quatre, if both sperm and ovum are donated). This solution, however, changes our conceptions of marriage and radically alters the context in which the problem is being discussed in this paper. (20) See Mitchell, J.D. "In Vitro fertilisation: The Major Issues - A Comment", Journal of Medical Ethics, Vol. 9, 1983, 196-199, who makes a similar point.

Autobiography of Ruskin Bond Essay

Ruskin Bond was born in a military hospital in [Kasauli] to Edith Clerke and Aubrey Bond. His siblings were Ellen and William. Ruskin’s father was with the Royal Air Force. When Bond was four years old, his mother was separated from his father and married a Punjabi-Hindu, Mr. Hari, who himself had been married once. Bond spent his early childhood in Jamnagar and Shimla. At the age of ten Ruskin went to live at his grandmother’s house in Dehradun after his father’s sudden death in 1944 from malaria. Ruskin was raised by his mother, who remarried an Indian businessman. He completed his schooling at Bishop in Shimla, from where he graduated in 1952 after having been successful in winning several writing competitions in the school like Irwin Divinity Prize, Hailey Literature Prize. Ruskin’s love for books and writing came early to him since his father had surrounded him with books and encouraged him to write little descriptions of nature and he took his son on hikes in the hills. After his high school education he spent four years in England. In London he started writing his first novel, The Room on the Roof, the semi-autobiographical story of the orphaned Anglo-Indian boy Rusty. It won the 1957 John Llewellyn Rhys prize, awarded to a British Commonwealth writer under 30. Bond used the advance money from the book to pay the sea passage to Bombay. He worked for some years as a journalist in Delhi and Dehradun. Since 1963 he has lived as a freelance writer in Mussoorie, a town in the Himalayan foothills. He wrote Vagrants in the Valley, as a sequel to The Room on the Roof. These two novels were published in one volume by Penguin India in 1993. The following year a collection of his non-fiction writings, The Best of Ruskin Bond was published by Penguin India. His interest in the paranormal led him to write popular titles such as Ghost Stories from the Raj, A Season of Ghosts, A Face in the Dark and other Hauntings. The Indian Council for Child Education recognized his pioneering role in the growth of children’s literature in India, and awarded him the Sahitya Academy Award in 1992 for Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra. He received the Padma Shri in 1999. Media-shy, he currently lives in Landour, Mussoorie’s Ivy Cottage, which has been his home since 1964 Filmography Based on Bond’s historical novella A Flight of Pigeons (about an episode during the Indian Rebellion of 1857), the Hindi film Junoon was produced in 1978 by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Shyam Benegal). Ruskin Bond made his maiden big screen appearance with a cameo in Vishal Bhardwaj’s film 7 Khoon Maaf, based on his short story Susanna’s Seven Husbands. Bond appears as a Bishop in the movie with Priyanka Chopra playing the title role.[2] Bond had earlier collaborated with him in the The Blue Umbrella which was also based on his story. Literary style Most of his works are influenced by life in the hill stations at the foothills of the Himalayas, where he spent his childhood. His first novel, The Room On the Roof, was written when he was 17 and published when he was 21. It was partly based on his experiences at Dehra Dun, in his small rented room on the roof, and his friends. Since then he has written over three hundred short stories, essays and novels, including Vagrants in The Valley, The Blue Umbrella, Funny Side Up, A Flight of Pigeons and more than 30 books for children. He has also published two volumes of autobiography. Scenes from a Writer’s Life describes his formative years growing up in Anglo-India; The Lamp is Lit is a collection of essays and episodes from his journal. Bond said that while his autobiographical work, Rain in the Mountains, was about his years spent in Mussoorie, Scenes from a Writer’s Life described his first 21 years. Scenes from a Writer’s Life focuses on Bond’s trip to England, his struggle to find a publisher for his first book The Room on the Roof and his yearning to come back to India, particularly to Doon. â€Å"It also tells a lot about my parents,† said Bond. â€Å"The book ends with the publication of my first novel and my decision to make writing my livelihood,† Bond said, adding, â€Å"basically it describes how I became a writer†. His novel, The Flight of Pigeons, has been adapted into the Merchant Ivory film Junoon. The Room on the Roof has been adapted into a BBC-produced TV series. Several stories have been incorporated in the school curriculum in India, including â€Å"The Night Train at Deoli†, â€Å"Time Stops at Shamli†, and Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra. In 2007, the Bollywood director Vishal Bharadwaj made a film based on his popular novel for children, The Blue Umbrella. The movie Works †¢ House †¢ Garland of Memories †¢ The Boy Who Broke the Bank †¢ Bus Stop, Pipalnagar †¢ Funny Side Up †¢ Rain in the Mountains-Notes from the Himalayas †¢ Our trees still grow in Dehra †¢ A Season of Ghosts †¢ Tigers Forever †¢ A Town Called Dehra †¢ An island of trees †¢ The Night Train at Deoli †¢ A Face in the Dark and Other Hauntings †¢ Potpourri †¢ The Adventures Of rusty †¢ The Lost Ruby †¢ Crazy times with Uncle Ken †¢ The Death Of Trees †¢ Tales and Legends from India †¢ Hip Hop Nature Boy and Other Poems Novels †¢ Room On The Roof †¢ Vagrants in the Valley †¢ Scenes from a Writer’s Life †¢ Susanna’s Seven Husbands †¢ A Flight of Pigeons †¢ Landour Days – A writers Journal †¢ The Sensualist by Ruskin Bond †¢ The Road To The Bazaar †¢ The Panther’s Moon †¢ Once Upon A Monsoon Time †¢ The India I love †¢ The Kashmiri Storyteller †¢ The Blue Umbrella †¢ The Tiger In The Tunnel †¢ Delhi is Not Far †¢ Animal Stories †¢ Funny side up †¢ Ruskin Bond’s children omnibus Ruskin Bond’s autobiography in Penguin’s Independence list âÅ"“ Scenes from a Writer’s Life, the autobiography of eminent English author Ruskin Bond; will be published in September this year as part of Penguin India’s †50 Years of Independence† series. âÅ"“ Bond said that while his earlier autobiographical work, Rain in the Mountains was about his long years spent in Mussoorie, Scenes from a Writer’s Lifedescribed his first 21 years. âÅ"“ â€Å"Looking back, I find that those earlier years of my life have more incidents resulting from youthful enthusiasm,† said the writer. â€Å"Two-thirds of the book talks about my life in Dehra Dun as a young boy,† he added. âÅ"“ Scenes from a Writer’s Life dwells on Bond’s trip to England, his struggle to find a publisher for his first book The Room on the Roof and his yearning to come back to India, particularly to Doon. â€Å"It also tells a lot about my parents,† said Bond. âÅ"“ â€Å"The book ends with the publication of my first novel and my decision to make writing my livelihood,† Bond said, adding, â€Å"Basically it describes how I became a writer.† âÅ"“ Speaking of his life in the mountains over the past four decades, Bond says, â€Å"Given the choice, I would not have done differently. When you have received love from people, and the freedom that only the mountains can give, then you have come very near the borders of heaven.† âÅ"“ Other books to be published by Penguin India as part of this series include Satish Gujral’s A Brush With Life (memoirs), R K Laxman’s comic account of his life titled, The Tunnel of Time, B K Karanjia’s Godrej: A Hundred Years, and R K Narayan’s collection of essays titled How to be a Writer in India and Other Uncollected Essays. âÅ"“ To mark the 50th anniversary of Partition, Penguin India is publishing a selection of stories by Saadat Hasan Manto titled Mottled Dawn: Fifty Sketches and Stories of Partition. Urvashi Butalia’s Partition Voices is a meticulous account of the traumatic event, recorded in the voice of survivors and others on whom Partition left its imprint. âÅ"“ Colours of Independence, a lavishly illustrated art book, is also being brought out on the occasion. In this book, 50 of India’s finest painters and artists interpret, through original paintings and drawings, the 50 key events in the country’s life since Independence. Short Information about Ruskin Bond: âÅ"“ Ruskin Bond was born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, on 19th May, 1934, and grew up in Shimla, Jamnagar, Dehradun and Mussoorie. As a young man, he spent four years in the Channel Island and London. He now lives in Landour, Mussoorie, with his adopted family. âÅ"“ In the course of a writing career spanning thirty five years, he has written over a hundred short stories, essays, novels and more than thirty books for children. Three collections of short stories, The Night Train at Deoli, Time Stops at Shamli and Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra have been published by Penguin India. He has also edited two anthologies, The Penguin Book of Indian Ghost Stories and The Penguin Book of Indian Railway Stories. Bonds writing is greatly influenced by the hills, and the valley of Dehra Dun, where he spent his childhood. Ruskin Bonds first novel, The Room on the Roof, written when he was seventeen, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Vagrants in the Valley was also written in his teens and picks up from where The Room leaves off. These two novellas were published in one volume in 1993. His non-fiction writing, Rain in the Mountains was also much acclaimed. Since then he has written several novellas (including Vagrants in the Valley, A Flight of Pigeons and Delhi Is Not Far), essays, poems and children books. Ruskin Bond has also written over 500 short stories and articles that have appeared in a number of magazines and anthologies. His novel, The Flight of Pigeons was adapted into a movie, Junoon. He received the Sahitya Academy Award in 1992 for Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra and the Padma Shri in 1999 for children literature Life and works Bond started displaying his literary talent in England. He wrote his first novel named ‘Room On The Roof’ when he was all of 17 years. The book made him win prestigious ‘John Llewellyn Rhys’ Prize that is awarded to British Commonwealth Writers who are under the age of 30. The book was primarily based in and around Himalayas and was successful in capturing its beauty and ethos in a manner that was never tried before. Its sequel named ‘Vagrants in the Valley’ followed it. Riding on the success of these two novels, Ruskin took the journey back home. Ruskin Bond has now been writing for more than 5 decades. He has stressed more on the local elements of Himalayas in his writings. His writing style is distinct in a way that it tries to make reader understand the landscape and ethos through carefully mastered words. His writings have won him both tremendous critical acclaim as well as a long list of fans through out the literary world. Replete with unassuming humor and quiet wisdom, his stories manifest a deep love for nature and people. His mesmerizing descriptions about the flora and fauna of Himalayas can not be missed in his 100 something short stories, essays, novels, and more than thirty books of children that he has written. His works has inspired several generations of writers, authors and scriptwriters. His novel named ‘The Flight of Pigeons’ has been adapted into the acclaimed Merchant Ivory film Junoon. Another less known novel named ‘The Room on the Roof’ has been adapted in to a BBC produced TV series. Nevertheless his greatest achievement comes from the fact that several of his short stories from his collections have been incorporated in the school curriculum all over India. It includes jewels such as The Night Train at Deoli, Time Stops at Shamli and Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra. In spite of all these successes, Bond can be concluded today as a media-shy and reclusive literary genius. He spends his days with his adopted family at a place close to Dehradun. He received the Sahitya Academy Award for English writing in India for ‘Our Trees Still grows in Dehra’ in 1992. He has also been conferred with Padma Shri, one of the most prestigious civil awards in Ind ia.

Merck Ethics Essay

In developing a drug to combat river blindness, pharmaceutical company Merck discovered an opportunity to treat millions of affected peoples around the world that probably would never see commercial use. The drug in development, ivermectin, was unaffordable to the primary victims of river blindness, Third World peoples. Thus, Dr. Vagelos, the head of research at the time, treaded upon a ethical quagmire; he could either choose to scrap the drug and its further research or he could spend millions more on a drug destined for financial failure. In accordance with Merck’s company direction at the time, Dr. Vagelos understood that the purpose of the company was to serve people and that profits result from the fulfillment of this primary purpose. As such, Dr. Vagelos not only pushed for further research on the drug, but decided when he became CEO to offer the drug, now Mectizan, for free to all affected individuals. Dr. Vagelos decision fulfills all four of Fleming’s principles of ethics. In general, his decision reflects Fleming’s definition of ethics, which is a â€Å"standpoint from which all persons have a special dignity or worth.† The choice to make the drug available for free is utilitarian, as the number of affected individuals worldwide greatly outweigh the number of negatively impacted stockholders. In doing so, Dr. Vagelos choice also illustrates his belief that people are entitled to the right of humane treatment by others. Similarly, his choice reveals every person’s obligation to protect and ensure these rights. Dr. Vagelos decision is also just and fair, in that all members of a group (in this case, the human race) are to be treated with equal benefits.

Childhood as key role in our life Essay

Childhood plays a key role in our life, actually our character and personality builds up in childhood. Besides, we as adults have a lot of concern and we should face many stressful situations like finding jobs, getting married and so on, On the other hand, children are free of all them. I do agree with the statement which childhood is the happiest time in person’s life, I explain more about as follows. First, adults, they have a lot of responsibility. For instance I as mother and wife not only do I have to take care of my children and house but also I have to work as a teacher. Therefore, I am so busy but ,when I was a child my most concern was game. I just play with my friends all the time. I do not have any responsibility. I believe that childhood is the happiest time because you are care free, so children enjoy their life without any stress. They are not worry about the future. Second, as an adult I am happy in some especial events. see more:speech on role of teacher in student life For example when I get promotion in my carrier or when I get high salary I feel happy, but children do not have big expectations they satisfy with toys and friends. I can remember when I was a child everything were new for me I ask about anything which I saw. child finds out what a beautiful, amazing world. I was just curious I wanted to discover new things, I can remember what a amazing time was when I saw sheep for the first time. Everything which seems usual and rotin but that time everything were new and wonderful. Taking everything into consideration, childhood is happiest time because children are care free and they do not have any responsibility besides everything are new and strange to children . their most concern is play and find out and understand new things.

Environmental Influences on Performance

1. â€Å"Marathon race organizers should be mindful of weather conditions during the race ‘ Discuss the above statement on a scientific marathon footrace is among the most physiologically demanding endurance events in the world. Competitive runners typically maintain a pace corresponding to 70-90% of their maximal aerobic capacity [3,15,20] for more than 2 h. At maximal mechanical efficiency, more than 80% of the energy required for this task is transferred as heat to the body core [9]. Moreover, the rate of endogenous heat production associated with a 2-h 10-min marathon estimated from ordinary heat-balance equations [9] is approximately 1400 kcal ·h-1. This metabolic heat must be dissipated to the surrounding environment, or body temperature will rise to physiologically dangerous levels. Lind [13] has demonstrated that core temperature is independent of climate over a temperature range he has termed the â€Å"prescriptive zone. † It has been demonstrated that the width of the prescriptive zone progressively narrows as metabolic rate increases. Thus, climate begins to affect physiological responses to exercise at relatively cooler temperatures during activities that elicit high metabolic rate compared with those eliciting lower metabolic rates. More recently, it has been demonstrated that endurance performance is indeed impaired when exercising in warm versus more temperate laboratory conditions and that air temperatures of approximately 10 °C seem optimal for endurance exercise [10]. One criticism of these and other laboratory findings is that typical airflows used for indoor testing situations are well below those encountered when running or cycling outdoors ver the ground. The lack of appropriate airflow substantially reduces the combined heat transfer coefficient [9] and may overestimate physiological strain [2]. Few field studies have examined the effect of weather conditions on endurance running performance[16,17,22]. Although it is generally observed that race performances worsen as weather warms, there are current ly no data quantifying the magnitude of performance reduction. In addition, these studies relied only on data from elite male runners; thus, the implications for slower competitors or women runners are only speculative. COLD WEATHER BEST FOR MARATHON PERFORMANCE Every runner knows that cool weather is better than hot weather for marathon performance. But a recent study from the U. S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine suggests that relatively cold weather is better than merely cool weather. Researchers gathered many years' worth of results and weather data from six major North American marathons and performed stastical analyses to determine the effect of air temperature on finishing times among runners at various levels of performance. Specifically, they looked at year-to-year comparative finishing times of the top three male and female runners at each event, as well as the 25th, 50th, 100th, and 300th finishers. The results showed a clear trend toward faster times at colder temperatures. For example, the finishing times of male races winners were, on average, 1. 7% slower than the course record when the air temperature was between 34 and 50 degrees. The finishing times of the top male runners were 2. 5% slower than the course record, however, when the temperature was between 51 and 59 degrees. And at higher temperatures, finishing times fell off even more dramatically. Runners at all levels were slowed by warmer air, but higher temperatures had a smaller effect on faster runners. The ideal marathon temperature, according to these analyses, was a bone-chilling 41 degrees. Think about that when you sign up for your next marathon! 2. Divers who collect ornamental fish have to work in a hostile environment. Discuss how the SCUBA apparatus helps these divers to meet the challenge of the deep sea environment. SCUBA diving is an exciting and first-hand way for scientists to study the underwater environment. It is one among the most effective ways for executing underwater experiments that require high quality precise measurements. SCUBA as the name suggests stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. It literally means that all divers carry all of required breathing equipment’s and gases with them. Hence they are subjected to water temperature, pressure, currents, and other factors revolving oceans present at the diving depth. The NURP program approximately supports about 10,000 SCUBA Divers for Scientific Research work. NURP provides all the necessary equipments and finances for scientists and technical assistance to conduct diving operations. They use both open circuit as well as closed circuit breathing apparatus. The difference between them primarily relies upon what happens to the exhaled gas. In open system the gas is exhaled in to the water. A closed system apparatus has recycling abilities and thus lasts longer underwater as it reduces carbon-dioxide and adds oxygen in a cyclic manner inside the container. It reduces the amount of gas required in the container and also allows the diver to remain streamlined. The breathing gas provided by NURP involves compressed air, NITROX and TRIMIX. NITROX is a composition of nitrogen and oxygen whilst TRIMIX is a composition of oxygen, nitrogen and helium. NITROX is of special interest to NOAA. It was in introduced in late 1970’s which allows the divers to stay longer underwater when compared to compressed air alone. Each of these gases is of different properties which enables the diver to dive at maximum depths. 3. The year 1968 marked the emergence of high altitude trained long distance runners from Kenya. Discuss the scientific basis of high altitude training and how it helps to perform better in long distance events. The theory underlying the belief that training at high altitude can enhance athletic performance sounds reasonable enough. Work out in an environment that causes the body to produce more oxygen-carrying red blood cells and an athlete will be able to perform better than he or she can when trained at a lower elevation. Proponents of this theory point to East African runners, who have dominated long-distance events in recent years, as proof that training at high altitudes pays off. But if that’s the case, why don’t runners from other high altitude countries such as Peru and Mexico perform equally well? And why do some athletes excel in endurance sports despite having never trained at high altitude? â€Å"[High-altitude training has] had so much press that certain athletes feel like they’re at a disadvantage if they’re not doing altitude training,† says Andrew Subudhi, a researcher at the Altitude Research Center in Denver and assistant professor of biology at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. There’s a big movement for endurance athletes to move to high altitude if they’re serious about [improving their performance]. † Into Thin Air But does it really help? Answering that question is harder than one might think, despite numerous scientific studies on the relationship between altitude and athletic performance. The issue reached prominence at the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City (elevation 7, 349 feet), when questions arose about the best way to prepare for competing in the thin air, Subudhi says. Thin air† is a term used to describe air that contains less oxygen than air at sea level (20. 9% at sea level compared with 15. 3% at higher altitudes). The number of red blood cells found in the body of an endurance athlete who does not live and train at high altitudes may be insufficient to supply the amount of oxygen needed at higher altitudes. To help deal with this problem, athletes may live and train at high altitudes several weeks before a competition to increase the number of red blood cells, which are produced in response to greater release of the hormone erythropoietin. More red blood cells allows a person’s blood to carry more oxygen, which partly makes up for the shortage of oxygen in the air. Studies have found that athletes do perform better in competitions held at high altitudes if they live and train at high altitudes prior to competition, Subudhi says, but training at high altitudes does not necessarily help athletes perform better at low altitudes as one might assume. â€Å"When you’re at altitude, you can’t train as hard, and when you’re not training as hard, you’re not getting the same training stimulus,† he says. â€Å"Training at altitude doesn’t mean you’ll do well at sea level. Then again, that doesn’t mean that you won’t, says Jack Daniels, PhD, head distance coach at the Center for High Altitude Training at Northern Arizona University. Daniels says the key benefit to training at higher than normal altitudes is that it teaches an athlete how to hurt, and learning to tolerate pain can help athletes push themselves harder than they would otherwise. â€Å"It’s good for an athlete to learn to really lay it out there, and it’s easy to do that [in high altitude] without working quite as hard,† says Daniels, who has coached 31 individual3/22/13 Printer-friendly article page www. motionsports. com/blog/training at altitude. htm 2/3 NCAA national champions in his career. Although there are benefits to training at altitude, Daniels says, the advantages one might gain are unimportant when compared with more mundane factors. No matter where people train, he says, they want comfortable housing, healthy food, a friendly atmosphere, good training facilities, desirable weather, and adequate medical and therapy attention. â€Å"In other words, you train best where you are happiest,† Daniels says. If you c an have that at altitude, that's good, but if you do altitude-type things and don't have those other things, then you are wasting your time. It is very disturbing to me to hear people say, ‘If you don't train at altitude you may as well not bother trying. ’ I think we have all the things an athlete would want right here, but anyone who comes here and is not happy, I encourage to leave. † Live High, Train Low Daniels also doesn’t believe in another philosophy that has gained considerable support in recent years from researchers who have studied the altitude-performance relationship. Known as â€Å"live high, train low,† this philosophy holds that endurance athletes benefit most from living in high-altitude conditions but training at low altitude where they are able to push themselves harder. The term â€Å"live high, train low† came into being in 1996 when researchers James Stray-Gundersen and Benjamin Levine studied the relationship between altitude, training, and performance using three groups of endurance athletes. One group lived and trained in Park City, Utah, (elevation 7,000 feet) while another group lived there and trained at a lower altitude. A third group lived and trained in San Diego (elevation 72 feet). After the four-week training period ended, all were tested at a low altitude. â€Å"They found that the group that lived high but trained low got the best benefit; that was measured in 5-kilometer time trials. † Subudhi says. The reason for the improved performance among the live-high, train-low group, researchers hypothesized, is that by living in high-altitude conditions, their bodies produced more red blood cells in response to the lower concentration of oxygen. And because these athletes trained at a lower elevation, they were able to push themselves harder than they would have at higher altitudes, resulting in a higher training stimulus. The results of this and other studies received so much media attention that companies began manufacturing masks, tents, and rooms that would allow athletes to live anywhere in high-altitude conditions. Devices cost anywhere from hundreds to thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. Some companies convert entire houses to these conditions, and both Finland and the United States have outfitted dormitories in this way. Manufacturers claim benefits can occur from as little as six to eight hours of exposure. But those claims are not supported by research, Subudhi says, who contends 15 to 16 hours per day exposure is supported by research. Exercise rooms designed to mimic high-altitude conditions can benefit athletes who live at low altitudes and are planning to compete at a high altitude, he says: â€Å"If your competition is at altitude, then you need to train at altitude. † Altitude Advantage The only danger associated with the use of such devices is reducing oxygen levels too quickly, and almost everyone will experience more difficulty sleeping, Subudhi says. However, it’s rare to see athletes suffering from acute mountain sickness, commonly known as altitude sickness, or from high-altitude pulmonary or cerebral edema among those who live at an 8,000- to 9,000-foot altitude, he says. Plus, benefits are temporary: An athlete who stops living under high-altitude conditions will begin to see a loss in benefits in about two weeks as extra red blood cells die off, he says. Bob Cranny, PT, owner of Altitude Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine in Boulder, Colo. , is a big believer in the benefits of training at altitudes of 2,500 feet or greater. He and his wife are both triathletes and marathon runners who moved to Boulder (elevation 5,430 feet) 12 years ago from Long Beach, Calif. , because they believed the higher altitude would enhance their performance. Many athletes in the area follow the live-high, train-low philosophy, although it might more accurately be described as â€Å"live high, train lower. † That’s because many athletes who train in Boulder live at elevations of3/22/13 Printer-friendlyarticlepage www. kmotionsports. com/blog/training at altitude. htm 3/3 round 9,000 feet and travel to Boulder’s 5,430-foot elevation to train, as opposed to sea level. â€Å"If you could live at 9,000 feet and train at sea level, that would be even better — that would be wonderful,† Cranny says. So the answer to the question of whether training at high altitude will enhance an athlete’s performance is: maybe. Training at altitude will help some, while other athletes might benefit best fro m alternate training methods. â€Å"I see altitude as a type of training, and if this type suits you then it is good,† Daniels says.