Essay on For many immigrants living a hyphenated existence in the United States can be destructive OR necessaryEssay Writing Service

Essay on For many immigrants living a hyphenated existence in the United States can be destructive OR necessaryEssay Writing Service Essay on For many immigrants living a hyphenated existence in the United States can be destructive OR necessary Essay on For many immigrants living a hyphenated existence in the United States can be destructive OR necessaryHistorically, the US was the nation of immigrants. However, the large number of immigrants raised the problem of their integration into the mainstream cultural group. The specific American culture, in its turn, was a blend of diverse cultures. In such a situation, the question that begs is whether many immigrants living a hyphenated existence in the United States can be destructive or necessary. This question implies that immigrants either become fully assimilated and their native background is rather destructive than helpful for their integration and adaptation to their life, while, on the other hand, immigrants preserve their cultural identity and adapt to the American culture that leads to the enrichment of their own cultural experience and enriches the American culture too. The hyphenated existence in the US is the necessity because immigrants arriving to the US cannot a ssimilate into the US society in a day, but, instead, they preserve their identity and try to integrate into the mainstream culture that makes them belonging to both American culture and that of their origin that leads to the mutual cultural enrichment of immigrants and native-born Americans.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Immigrants arriving to the US cannot change their cultural background, traditions and social norms immediately but, instead, they stay devoted to their original culture, norms and traditions and preserve their cultural identity which is different from that of Americans. They arrive to the US from different countries of the world, which may have the totally different background, norms and traditions. They naturally stick to their cultural traditions, which they have learned from their childhood. As a result, they preserve their cultural identity even after their immigration to the US and life there.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermo re, immigrants have difficulties with the adaptation into the US society and culture, because they are totally different from their own and they suffer from the cultural shock upon the arrival to the new country (Bayat 149). The cultural difference can trigger the severe depression in immigrants, who fail to find their new cultural identity because their past cultural experience comes into clashes with their new cultural experience in the US. The cultural experience of immigrants leads to the enrichment of their cultural views, values and beliefs.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At the same time, immigrants, who arrive to the US, have to adapt to the life of the US that means that immigrants start to interact with Americans and develop closer cultural links with them and social relations with them. In such a situation, it is not only immigrants that enrich their cultural experience but also Americans that acquire new cultural norms and traditions. In fact, this cultural enrichment is beneficial for immigrants as well as Americans. The cultural enrichment was historically driven by the high level of the immigration in the US. Therefore, the hyphenation has rather a positive effect and is a necessity for the cultural development and progress in the US as it contributes to the emerging diversity of the US culture, which was the integral part of the development of the US.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition, immigrants cannot avoid the impact of the mainstream culture because they live in the new cultural and social environment, which norms they have to accept and match, when they are outside of their community. This means that immigrants focus on the development of their new social life in the US through the closer interaction with Americans (Olmos 188). Native born Americans help immigrants to get acquainted with their cultural norms and traditions. Immigrants, in their turn, cannot ignore the mainstream culture because they have to interact with representatives of the mainstream culture. Moreover, the mainstream culture becomes the vehicle culture, which helps representatives of different cultural groups to find the common ground for interaction and communication.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Therefore, the double impact of their native cultural identity and the new cultural environment leads to the development of the double identity of immigrants in the US that makes their hyphenated existence a necessity. The hyphenated existence is a necessity because immigrants interact with representatives of the mainstream culture. In such a way, they contribute to the enrichment of the mainstream culture. Representatives of the mainstream culture, in its turn, also learn from other cultural groups and acquire new cultural experience (Back et al 193). In such a way, the enrichment of the American culture occurs that stimulates the further progress of the American culture and development of new, more com plex and fruitful interaction between representatives of different cultural groups.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, the contemporary American culture is vulnerable to the persisting impact of immigration. However, immigrants are the major drivers of cultural changes because they bring new cultural norms and traditions and help Americans to expand their cultural values, views and beliefs. At the same time, immigrants also preserve their cultural identity and learn new cultural norms and traditions from Americans. In such a way, the mutual cultural enrichment is positive that means that the hyphenated existence is a necessity for immigrants.

The Incredible Shrinking Dollar essays

The Incredible Shrinking Dollar essays This article from the March 21, 2005 edition of Newsweek Magazine discusses the major economic issues involved with the current depreciation of the dollar. The article first discusses the atmosphere that exists in todays economy and possible storm clouds that a change in the value of the dollar could represent. Next, the article goes on to summarize the effect that a weaker dollar could have on the everyday American as well the effect on the balance of payments problem, i.e. the trade deficit that the United States continues to run. The article then moves on to discuss the ramifications that a weaker dollar could have on the rest of the world. Finally, the article goes through two of the possible solutions to the trade deficit as well as what should happen with the value of the dollar. The article begins by painting a picture of the economy in the United States today. Everything seems to be heading in the right direction. Evidence of this is that employment is expanding (2.4 million new payroll jobs), inflation remains low (less than 2 percent for the quarter), and the stock market is up with business investment rising. These are the typical characteristics that a good growing economy should have. The only big exception happens to be that the price of oil has gone up to about $50 a barrel. However, with all that is good going on in the economy there is a potentially worrisome long run problem that exists. It is neither government budget deficits nor a housing bubble. It happens to be something that most Americans probably have not even thought about. It is the value of the dollar. The value of the dollar has been declining at a steady rate relative to major foreign currency. It has dropped 38% against the euro, 23% against the yen, and 25% against the C anadian dollar. Most economists expect this trend to continue. All that this trend means to the typical American is that vacations cost more and that the p...

On the defense of sweatshops Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

On the defense of sweatshops - Essay Example Secondly, sweatshops play an important role in the economic development in the countries they are located in. Most multinational corporations take advantage of the low labor costs in developing countries simply out of good business sense. The profits generated by these companies are, however, used to uplift local communities. For example, it is common to find a company building water purification plants in communities where they are located. An example is given in the article by Stefan Spath who highlights how multinationals in Mexico helped to improve the conditions in the maquiladora towns. Through such initiatives, companies contribute significantly to the growth of the economies of the countries they are located in. Sweatshops allow these companies to earn higher profits that are later used to develop the country. Third, in the article by Spath, the author further notes that the cheap labor provided by those working in sweatshops allows the companies to sell the final products at relatively low prices. This is beneficial to the consumers located in different parts of the world. In the end, this makes economic sense to both the company and the consumer. Finally, the exchange between the worker and the company is mutually beneficial. Whereas it has been rightfully argued that sweatshops pay their workers' low wages, many have failed to look at this based on the economic conditions of these countries. In many of the developing countries, sweatshops provide some of the best wages compared to other jobs.

TACC203 Financial Accounting and Reporting Assignment

TACC203 Financial Accounting and Reporting - Assignment Example When depreciation is computed using this method, the depreciation charge throughout the useful life of the assets is equal. In this case, Long Board Limited purchased printing machine for $120,000 which had a useful life of 4 years. The deprecation charge is $30,000 (120,000/4) each year until the machine is sold. The accumulated depreciation is $60,000 in 2 years of usage. At the end of year 2 the company sold the machine for $50,000 cash which resulted in $10,000 loss on this sale since the book value of the machine at that time was $60,000(120,000-60000) as computed above. This method of depreciation is suitable when the economic benefits derived from the assets are equal in every year throughout useful life. Using this method depreciation is charged on the opening balance of the assets by applying the same percentage every year. The depreciation in the early years is greater than the following years because the value of the assets diminishes over the period of time. This method of depreciation is suitable if the benefit derived from the assets are greater in early years than subsequent years. Depreciation is calculated using this method when the economic benefits derived from assets are greater in the early years of its usage. In this case the machine is expected to be used in four years so we need to sum the digits from 1 to 4. In this method the depreciation is charged using the hours of production. It means when the production is higher the depreciation charge is also higher and vice versa. There is no fixed pattern of charging depreciation. It may be possible that the depreciation in the early years is lesser than the depreciation in the following years. Depreciation can be computed as below; Research is defined by IAS 38 paragraph 8, as the original and planned investigation which the entity undertakes in search of new scientific or technical knowledge and understanding. According to IAS 38 paragraph 54-55, all research

Miscommunications in the Workplace Essay Example for Free

Miscommunications in the Workplace Essay Recently we have had two of our retailers contact us with problems regarding shipments they have received or have failed to receive. I know this is not the first time this has happened but I would like to minimize the possibilities of it happening again. It seems the root of our problem is miscommunication in the workplace. As a shipping manager that has seen this kind of issue before in past work experiences and I believe I know what we can do to solve our breakdown in communication between the various departments, retailers, and co-workers. As CFO I know you will see this proposal can benefit the company both financially and operationally. First, I propose that the company implement a required form of communication. I believe hand written notes are a thing of the past and that we should upgrade our communication requirements to electronic mail. If we had an e-mail only policy we could have record of all communication on file without the risk of losing a post-it note. E-mail also includes the option of a read receipt, which allows the user to know when the receiver has opened and read the message or if they have not seen the message yet and another form of  communication, such as a phone call, might be required to meet a deadline. The policy might also include that all e-mails must receive a reply no matter how simple the message. I can head a short meeting at the end of the day to cover the implementation of this plan. The idea here is to eliminate hand written notes as well as informal communication such as instant messengers and social network communications. We will need to upgrade a few of the employees company cell phones and instruct them on how to use e-mail on these devices. Even though e-mails are good for keeping a history of communications, public relations expert Lisa Elias states, When delivering delicate information, pick up the phone. A gentle tone of voice can soften bad news or express warmth and caring, whereas an email or text can easily be misconstrued, (Kouremetis 2013). Although e-mail can help eliminate the outside forms of communication, another possible resolution would be to implement task management software into the office. This alone may solve the issue. There are many different task management programs available but one that has caught my eye is AtTask, which is used by corporations such as HBO, Samsung, and Adobe. AtTask will allow us to run a free trial of the software prior to purchasing and claims the product will allow us to see what is going on with our projects, if we are on time, and when it will be done (Services, 2012). You will even have access to the task manager to see what is going on in our shipping bay. AtTask even has an integrated communications technology that allows for instant messaging between co-workers and a notes system for the client list. That way, if one person speaks with a client of ours and they request a change to their order he can enter the message in the clients message folder and we can all receive the notification straight to our smart phones and computers. Even though, task management software will ultimately benefit company wide communication, another area that lacks focus is education on the subject matter of the workplace. A few of these men have worked here for over ten years and they know every part number by memory, but communication technology is outgrowing these few at a rapid pace. On the other end of the  spectrum, these younger men have keen senses of current technological advancements, but they could use some more time in learning the step-by-step processes we face on a daily basis. I propose that we run a workshop meeting once every two weeks for a total of eight weeks to teach the young ones about the process of shipping from us, the supplier, to the consumer/retailer. This workshop could possibly be run during hours if the time comes available, but will most likely need to take place on Saturday from 12:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m. The instructors will be chosen from 3 of our most experienced workers who will earn overtime from these extra hours. A separate workshop on communication technology for the employees that have been here should happen once a week for an hour, probably on Wednesday evenings after work. The employees will be eligible for overtime with this extra hour on the job. I believe that being educated on the subject matter of the workplace is vital to our success. In addition to knowledge of the workplace being significant, another part of the communication process that has lacked in certain areas is feedback. Feedback is one of the four major communication functions (Belch 2012). It is the key to knowing your communication was successful. We need to emphasize in the training process that it is okay to ask questions. I have seen it happen before where someone is afraid to ask a question for fear of disapproval only to have to go back re-work what has been done. Asking the right questions can help us to do it right the first time (D.I.R.T.Fi.T.). I feel the previously mentioned workshops would be a great time to re-emphasize the importance of asking questions. Also, as mentioned in the first proposal, all e-mails must receive a reply or they will be followed up with a phone call. We must remember that sometimes in order to receive feedback it must be asked for. After explaining a work order or process it is vital to ask, Do you understand? or Do you have any questions for me? Another way of obtaining feedback would be through face-to-face technology. With our smartphones and office computers we can send a more personal message with FTF video conferencing. Google Hangouts are part of the Google suite of applications that support multi-party video chat as well as other Google applications including Sketch-UP, Docs, Spreadsheets, Presentations, and screen sharing and these types of technologies are being recommended as  teaching formats to doctors and professors around the globe (Roseth, 2013). In conclusion, I do believe there is work to be done in regards to the communication process in the workplace. I have proposed four strategies to minimize the possibility of future communication breakdowns. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have. You may decide to choose one or to integrate all four, the choice is yours, but I do ask that you please take your time in considering the possibilities and I do trust you will choose what is best for the company. References Belch, G. E., Belch, M. A. (2012). Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective, 9th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Kouremetis, D. (2013). Choosing Communication Methods Wisely for Your Small Business. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/denakouremetis/2013/01/28/choosing-communication-methods-wisely-for-your-small-business/ Roseth, C. (2013). Blending Synchronous Face-to-face and Computer-Supported Cooperative Learning in a Hybrid Doctoral Seminar. Techtrends: Linking Research Practice To Improve Learning, 57(3), 54-59. Services. (2012). AtTask software services retrieved from http://www.attask.com/services

Mothers Smoke Less around Their Children after Counseling :: Essays Papers

Mothers Smoke Less around Their Children after Counseling In Melbourne F. Hovell’s article: â€Å"Effect of Counseling Mothers on their Children’s Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Randomized Controlled Trial,† the author persuades the reader effectively through showing evidence about the dangers of second hand smoke. He also introduces the effectiveness that counseling has on mothers who smoke in front of their children. The article presents a study of the effectiveness of counseling for smoking mothers, and shows the decline of children's exposure to smoke in their environment. The article states many valid points, and backs the evidence with statistics to insure that the reader is persuaded by the article’s points. The article begins by introducing the problem of second hand smoke to children, and has a delayed thesis which states his main point about the effectiveness of therapy. The author then explains the methods and who participates. Many statements backed up with evidence co ntinue throughout the article. The article also shares individual stories of mothers who have gone through this type of therapy and how it has helped them. Hovell’s article was believable because it included statistics as well as success stories. His research is also believable because he displays it with credibility and logic, and he appeals to the reader’s values. There are numerous reasons as to why smoking should be banned around small children, specifically in the United States. Hovell addresses these reasons with statistics. The World Health Organization estimated that half of the world’s children are in danger due to second hand tobacco smoke (1). In the United States, 43% or about 15 million children live in homes polluted with tobacco (1). This is a higher percentage compared to other countries across the globe. Many of these children will suffer from asthma, repertory tract infections, otitis media, and sudden infant death syndrome (for fetuses whose mother’s smoke) because of their exposure. The article states that counseling tends to decrease children’s exposure and mother’s smoking while increasing the number of quitters (1). The study done for this article involved recruiting of certain mothers and families who would undergo the counseling process.

The Stress Encountered by a Police Officers

There has been a lot of research on the negative effects of stress on people in general. I am sure you know that police work is one of the top rated professions for job stress next to air traffic controllers and dentists. A good way to start this presentation, I think, is to give a good working definition of police stress. Here it is: The feeling and desire along with the ensuing bodily effects, experienced by a person who has a strong and true longing to choke the living crap out of someone who desperately deserves it, but you can't. Now, while this may sound funny there is a real element of truth to it. An element of truth that says an awful lot about police work. And that is the part of the definition â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦but you can't†. Police work, by it's very nature, calls for an incredible amount of restraint. Continual restraint and draining restraint. It is stressful. The demands on police officers to show even greater restraint have been increasing over the years, and so has the effects of stress on police work. With the recent attention that police suicide has received in the media there have been a number of reviews on it. Between 1934 and 1960 police suicide rates were half that of the general population. Between 1980 to the present, suicide rates in some departments almost doubled. What is the difference? You can't choke them anymore! Street justice is all but gone. Everyone has video cameras. The media gets off on putting down cops. Politicians continue to throw new laws and restrictions for police officers that further tie their hands, and you can't choke anyone with your hands tied! So you start to feel that you're choking yourself. Lets take a quick overview of police work and look at the research of what the biggest stressors are:  · Killing someone in the line of duty.  · Having your partner killed in the line of duty.  · Lack of support by the department/bosses.  · Shift work and disruption of family time/family rituals.  · The daily grind of dealing with the stupidity of the public. Interestingly, physical danger is ranked low on the list of stressors by police officers. One of the worst effects of stress on police officers is of course suicide. We are becoming too familiar with police suicide, especially with the attention the media has given New York City. Twice as many police officers die by their own hand as do in the line of duty. (New York Times, 1994) A study of 2376 Buffalo NY police officers found that, compared to the white male population police officers, there were higher mortality rates for cancer, suicide, and heart disease. The suggested reason: Higher stress levels. Every study done points to the higher levels of stress police officers face, but what form does that stress take? With suicide there seem to be four factors: 1. Divorce. 2. Alcohol, not alcoholism. That was one of the early theories. But in actuality it was the use of alcohol right before the act to â€Å"get up the nerve†. 3. Depression. 4. A failure to get help. (Most officers who commit suicide have no history of having sought counseling). All four factors are symptoms that can come from an officer's stress levels. Police suicide is more directly related to relationship problems than to job stress. Of the last 14 suicides among the police officers in New York City, 12, or 86%, had to do with divorce or relationship breakup. Suicide is often an impulsive act, and the handgun at the officer's side is guaranteed to be lethal in the hands of an experienced shooter. UB professor, John M. Violanti, Ph.D thinks the biggest reason for the high rate of police suicide is because officers think they have nowhere to go for confidential help when personal problems or job stress overwhelms them. â€Å"Police officers are more hesitant than the average citizen to get help for emotional problems. Because of their role, they mistrust many things, and they especially mistrust mental health professionals,† Violanti said. â€Å"Departments should include some sort of suicide awareness training in their stress management program.† Police officers going through a divorce are 5 times more likely to commit suicide than that of an officer in a stable marriage. Relationship problems however, are highly related to job stress. If we consider that officers have an important relationship with their department, we can examine the effect of that relationship gone bad. Officers who get in serious trouble on the job, suspended or facing termination, are 7 times more likely to commit suicide. (Apparently cops like their jobs better than their wives). So we see that stress has an enormous effect on police officers lives, especially their home lives. Studies have called police work a â€Å"high risk lifestyle†. Not high risk in terms of the physical dangers of the job, but a high risk in terms of developing attitudinal problems, behavioral problems, and intimacy and relationship problems. So you learn something about the effects of police work. You learn if you ask the average cop â€Å"Hey, what's been the scariest experience during your police career?† They will answer â€Å"My first marriage!† The national divorce rate is 50%. All research shows police suffer a substantially higher divorce rate with estimates ranging from 60 to 75%. One of the casualties of police work is often the marriage. Although law enforcement officers deal with stressful situations in the normal course of their duties, excessive stress on individual officers may cause them not to carry out their responsibilities. In order to keep law enforcement organizations at 100%, administrators must be able to identify the causes of dysfunctional stress on individual officers. Much of the articles we find today on the causes of law enforcement stress, focus primarily on the factors that are personal to the individual officer. However, other researchers suggest that an officer's ability to live with this stress is hindered by the structure and operation of the organization within which he or she works. â€Å"Police stress† is considered by many to be an important societal problem (Cullen, et al., 1985), and police work is thought of as stressful (Kelling and Pate, 1975). Law enforcement officers must be aware of the dangers of psychological stress. Stress is the result of â€Å"demands placed on the system† and need not be harmful unless it is â€Å"mismanaged† or â€Å"present in large quantities.† However, some analysts say that occupational and life stress can cause mental and even physical problems. For example, one study of 2,300 officers in twenty-nine different police departments reported that thirty-six percent of the officers had serious marital problems, twenty-three percent had serious alcohol problems, twenty percent had serious problems with their children, and ten percent had drug problems. (Kendrix, 1989) Yet, police were well below the average in seeking [medical and] mental treatment. The â€Å"macho† image of a police officer may well keep a police officer from seeking such treatment. Law enforcement officers have significantly higher rates of health problems, premature deaths, suicides and general hospital admissions than other occupations (Richard and Fell, 1975). Law enforcement stress has been categorized into three sections. These are: 1) stress that is internal to the law enforcement system; 2) stress that is in the law enforcement job itself; and 3) stress that is external to law enforcement. Stress internal to the job may be found when police and correctional officers find themselves with conflicting roles. Police spend much of their time in activities not directly related to law enforcement functions, while correction officers are placed in both the role of providing â€Å"custody [and] treatment.† Law enforcement officers can develop personal conflicts by being placed in the position of having to choose between one or more contradictory goals. Such contradictions include the loyalty to fellow officers and honesty within the department. Post Traumatic Stress is a type of stress encountered at incidents that are, or perceived as, capable of causing serious injury or death. The person encountering the stress does not have to be the one whose life is threatened. This stress can also occur to witnesses. By it's nature, Post Traumatic Stress is one of the worst types of stress a person can encounter. It is stress of a nature that is threatening to a person's survival. The psychological and physical reactions of our mind and body to Post Traumatic Stress are at the extremes. Examples of life threatening traumas that can cause Post Traumatic Stress, in their general order of severity, include: natural disasters, serious accidents, serious accidents where a person is at fault, intentional life threatening violence by another person, life threatening trauma caused by betrayal by a trusted individual, and life threatening trauma caused by betrayal by someone you depend on for survival. Police officers, by the nature of their jobs, can be exposed to more stress and trauma in one day than many people will experience in a considerable period of time, maybe even their entire life. Some police officers thrive on stress. They seek out incidents that most people would not care to encounter in their lifetime. Many people seek out a job in police work for this challenge and the personal rewards it provides. Overcoming stress of great magnitude can provide great personal rewards, but these jobs can and do ruin many lives. Dr. George Everly, a noted researcher on emergency services stress, estimates that at any given time15-32% of all emergency responders will be dealing with a reaction to Post Traumatic Stress, and there is a 30-64% chance that they will have a reaction to it during their lifetime. For law enforcement working in urban areas, 20-30% of the officers will develop a reaction to Post Trauma Stress during their lifetimes. These figures are higher than the percentages for the general population (1-3%), urban adolescents (9-15%), and, surprisingly, Vietnam Veterans (15-20%). For a variety of reasons, some of which are not known, many police officers work through Post Traumatic Stress and its affects. The impact of Post Traumatic Stress on their lives is short-lived (if they suffer from it at all). In the Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), this is defined as Acute Stress Disorder. It lasts more than two days, but no longer than 4 weeks. There are those, however, that will not be able to cope with the Post Traumatic Stress they have encountered. They may have handled many traumatic incidents without a problem, until one happens that breaks through their ability to cope. These officers will develop what is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is Acute Stress Disorder that lasts more than 4 weeks. In their book on â€Å"Emergency Services Stress†, Dr. Jeff Mitchell and Dr. Grady Bray estimate that without proper Post Trauma Stress training, response, and follow-up, roughly 4% of all emergency workers will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. These figures do not include those who will develop a reaction to accumulative stress, which can have affects similar to, and additive to, Post Traumatic Stress. They also do not include police officers who grew up in an urban environment and are Vietnam Veterans, of which there are more than a few. These figures also do not separate out those working patrol or traffic duties from those working specialty assignments (narcotics, vice, metro teams) from those working investigative or â€Å"inside† jobs. Uniformed assignments and certain specialty assignments place officers in positions that they will be more likely to encounter traumatic stress.

Optimal Alarm Sound Design

Optimal alarm sound design: New design process for noticeable, but pleasant sounds Author 193 Track 3: what the beep? ABSTRACT The goal of this research is improving alarm sound design, focusing on the paradox of noticeable versus pleasant sounds. The characteristics of annoying sounds correspond in large extend to the characteristics of noticeable sounds. Therefore it is difficult to design an alarm sound, which is noticeable, but not annoying. A lot of studies are conducted along aspects which make sounds annoying and several guidelines are described for designing noticeable alarm sounds.However, no data is conveyed about the combination of these characteristics linked to sound design. In this study an existing design process for alarm sounds is adjusted regarding to pleasantness and noticeability of sounds. Hereby methods to analyze and test pleasantness and noticeability of sounds are added to the process. As a result this paper suggests a new design process which can be used to design an alarm sound considering these aspects. Keywords product sound design; alarm sound; annoying sounds; noticeable sounds; design processes INTRODUCTIONMost of the time alarm sounds are not optimal designed, because in the majority of cases the context of the user is not taken into account. Edworthy (2006) found that in consequence alarms are often too badly designed resulting in annoying, not effective sounds. Schmidt & Baysinger (1986) pointed out that a pleasant sound to report a complication can be more effective during an emergency. However, the alarm sound should still be clearly noticeable, so that it cannot be missed. Annoying sounds The perception of annoyance may be very personal and subjective, but research as shown that there are some characteristics of sounds that influence this perceived annoyance. (Steele & Chon, 2007). The research of Steele & Chon (2007) found that loudness is the most important determinant of annoyance in respect to sound. They also revealed that the wider the bandwidth, the more annoying the sound is perceived. Higher frequencies and modulations increase the perception of annoyance as well (Genuit, 2001). A modulation is a change from one tone to another. Besides the type of sound, there are a many other factors that influence the perception of annoyance. One of these factors, revealed by Maris et al. 2007), is the ability to influence the sound. Another study posited that age is also an important aspect for determining the perception of annoyance. (Botteldooren & Verkeyn, 2002). Noticeable sounds Obviously, the noticeability of an alarm sound is better when the volume of the sound is higher. Edworthy (2006) pointed out some other characteristics of clearly noticeable alarms sounds, like high and low frequencies, harmonics and discontinuous sounds. Hereby alarm sounds are respectively easier to localize, more resistant to masking by other sounds and less presumable to interfere with communication.Harmonics are sounds w ith frequencies that are a multiple of the fundamental frequency. Another component which makes a sound more clearly noticeable, is the variation in more than only pitch (Edworthy & Meredith, 1997). Namely, if a sound alters in more than just tone, for instance frequency, the ability to distinguish it from other sounds increases. Besides that, environmental sounds and auditory icons are easier to learn and retain (Leung, 1997; Ulfvengren, 2003). Similarities annoying and noticeable soundsThere is a lot of literature written about designing noticeable alarm sounds and about annoying sounds. However, there is barely literature which compares these two characteristics of sounds. Nevertheless, a lot of characteristics of annoying sounds are identical to the characteristics of noticeable sounds, see figure 1. Figure 1. Characteristics which make sounds annoying as well as noticeable. As you can see in this figure, loudness is an important characteristic of annoyance as well as noticeabil ity of sound. The same is true for high and low frequencies which are linked to a wide bandwidth and a high frequency.High frequency is also linked with harmonics, because a harmonic is a sound whose frequency is higher than the keynote of that sound observed by the ear. Furthermore, modulations contribute to an annoying sound, while discontinuous sounds provide a noticeable sound. This is conflicting, because if a sound has modulations it is not discontinuous as a result of the changes in tone. So most of the characteristics of annoying and noticeable sounds are similar, whereby it is hard to design an alarm sound that is noticeable, but not annoying. All the corresponding characteristics are focused on type of sound.However, there are other factors which can influence the perception of annoyance and the noticeability of sound. These factors are particularly related to the context. Research of Philip (2009) also showed the relationship between the annoyance and noticeability of sou nd. She showed a significant correlation between the urgency rating and the annoyance rating of alarm sounds. The urgency rating can be linked to the noticeability of the alarm sound, which in essence points towards a relationship between the annoyance and noticeability of a sound. Yet, there are no papers with guidelines or methods to deal with this problem.Purpose The overall goal of this research is improving alarm sound design, focusing on the balance between noticeable and pleasant sounds. The aim of this research is suggesting a design method/process which helps to create a balance between the noticeability and annoyance of sounds. In this paper will be focused on a wide range of alarm sounds. Every sound with a warning function is taken into account. Hereby the outcome is usable for a variety of alarm sound designs, see figure 2. The IC is a relevant example, because noticeability is very important in this place, but if an alarm is too annoying it is often turned off.Another example is an alarm clock. It is imported that the product helps you to wake up in time, but if the sound is not pleasant you may have a bad start to the day. Figure 2. Examples of products with alarm sound. For this research a literature study is done about existing methods which can be used to design alarm sounds. With these inputs and information about the annoyance and noticeability of sounds a new method is defined. EXISTING METHODS Design processes are most of the time iterative and consisting of different stages (Roozenburg & Eekels, 1995).Often, a design process starts with a problem definition, followed by ideas to solve this problem. Then a concept is developed to meet the determined requirements and satisfy the user. (Rouse, 1991). Design process alarm sounds Edworthy and Stanton (1995) came up with a user-centered method to design alarm sounds, see figure 3. In this method, especially the noticeability of the sound is taken into account. In the method nothing is stated a bout the annoyance of sounds, though. From this process some stages which are also usable to design a pleasant, noticeable alarm can be derived.Important stages regarding these aspects are establish the need for warning, appropriate ranking test, learning and confusion test, urgency mapping test, recognition and matching test and operation test. Figure 3. Edworthy and Stanton’s design process to design alarm sounds. The mentioned stages are particularly useful to design a noticeable sound. Therefore some stages that focus on the pleasantness of sound can be added. Besides that, the context of the users is not taken into account. However, this is very relevant to design an alarm sound, since most characteristics which are not conflicting are related to the context.Context Another method which can be used to design alarm sounds is etnography. Ethnography is a method to define the context by revealing the user’s environment and interactions between the product, user and t heir own physical environment (Leonard & Rayport, 1997). This is useful for alarm sound design, since it is important to take the environment of the user, including other sounds, into account. Pleasantness There are some known techniques for eliciting verbal attributes of product sounds, which can be used to identify the importance of pleasantness of a sound.One of these methods is the Repertory Grid Technique, succesfully applied by Berg & Rumsey (1999) for eliciting descriptions of the sound of a product. Another procedure to evoke important attributes of sounds is the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (Stone et al. , 1974), whereby a descriptive language will be developed by participants accompanied by a facilitator. While applying these techniques no real sound examples are used, but products are presented to recall the attributes of sound connected to that product. Later in the design process eliciting can be used to rank the different sound designs by annoyance.This can be don e by deriving verbal attributes through a survey. Gabrielsson (1979) used this method by conducting an extensive experiment, where the participants were asked to rate the sounds according to their suitability. Another method to test the pleasantness of a sound is a model made by Aures (1985). This model calculates the pleasantness considering sharpness, roughness, tonalness and loudness, with an accuracy of more than 90%. NEW METHOD Based on the design process of Edworthy & Stanton (1995) a new design process can be suggested for designing pleasant, but noticeable alarm sounds, see figure 4.Establish need for warning As the process of Edworthy & Stanton, the new design process will start with establishing the need for warning by identifying the alert functions of the product. This will be done to clarify the importance of noticeability of the sound, which can be used to create an optimal balance between noticeability and annoyance. For instance, when noticeability is very essential, the annoyance of a sound may be less important. Identify context Then, the context will be identified by using ethnography. Hereby the physical environment of the user and the corresponding sounds are taken into account.Factors of the context can influence the annoyance and pleasantness of a sound. Therefore it is important to be aware of the context and use this during designing. Elicitation The last step of the analyis is elicitation of sounds, whereof users think they fit the product. By means of this method the importance of a pleasant sound can be revealed. There are two procedures which may be appropriate to do so. The Repertory Grid Technique can be used to elicit descriptions of the sound of a product. The more the word pleasant is called as description, the more important this characteristic will be.Besides that, the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis is useful to develop a descriptive language which describes the desired attributes of a product. The outcome of this techniq ue can be compared with those of The Reportory Grid Technique. The difference is in the way the descriptions are elicit. The Reportory Grid Technique uses product sounds and the Quantitative Descriptive Analysis uses no real sounds, but only products. Figure 4. Suggested design process regarding pleasant, but noticeable alarm sounds Designing sounds The design of the sound can be done exactly the same as Edworthy and Stanton escribed in their process. First, existing alerting sounds and user suggestions will be considered. After that soundimagery studies can be used. Testing pleasantness/annoyance After designing different concept sounds, the sounds can be tested in terms of annoyance or pleasantness. To do so two methods are suggested. The first procedure consists of a questionairre or survey, whereby the participants should rank the sounds by annoyance. The other technique is a model developed by Aures (1985) which calculates the sensory euphony(pleasantness) of a sound regarding loudness, sharpness, tonalness and roughness.According to these tests the sound can be modified considering pleasantness. Testing noticeability The noticeability of sounds can be tested by procedures Edworthy & Stanton (1995) described in their design process. Using these techniques the sounds can be tested concerning different aspects, like learning & confusion, urgency and recogniton & matching. The learning & confusion test is ideally performed in the real context, so it will become clear if the sound can be confused with other sounds in the environment.The urgency mapping test shows if the mapping between the signal and situation is suitable in terms of urgency using existent guidelines. In the recognition & matching test participants are asked to assign the sounds to the appropriate warning function. According to these tests the sound can be improved and optimized considering noticeability. DISCUSSION The adjustments of the suggested design process are really focused on the ana lysis and testing of pleasantness and noticeability. Consequently, the designing itself is not taken into account, but is indeed very important.Further research for this phase of the design process can be useful to improve the suggested design process. Besides that, the design process is not tested, whereby there is not been evaluated how useful the process might be. To validate the suggested process an experiment with a couple sound designers should be done. Furthermore two procedures who explore roughly the same are recommended for the elicitation phase, but only one technique is necessary in this phase. Therefore more research about these methods in regarding to pleasantness and noticeability is preferred to choose the most appropriate technique.CONCLUSION Due to the fact that most characteristics of noticeable sounds are conflicting with the characteristics of pleasant sounds, it is difficult to design a sound which is both noticeable and pleasant. However, if the designer will focus on this during the whole design process, it should be possible to find a good balance between these two aspects. Hereby it is essential to look at the context of the user and the need for warning and a pleasant sound. Furthermore the sound should be tested on these aspects, since the characteristics are subjective and therefore defined by the user.The suggested design process can be used for a wide range of alarm sounds, which requires a noticeable as well as a pleasant sound. Some examples of such alarms are alarm clocks, microwaves and alarms in intensive care units. REFERENCES 1. Aures, W. (1985). Berechnungsverfahren fur den sensorischen Wohlklang beliebiger Schallsignale. Acustica, 59: 130-141 2. Berg J. and Rumsey, F. (1999). Spatial Attribute Identification and Scaling by Repertory Grid Technique and other Methods. Proc. AES 16th International Conference 3. Botteldooren, D. and Verkeyn, A. (2002).Fuzzy models for Accumulation of reported community noise annoyance from c ombined sources, Journal of Acoustic Society of America, 112(4): 1496 – 1508 4. Edworthy, J. and Stanton, N. (1995) A user-centered approach to the design and evaluation of auditory warning signals: 1, Methodology, Ergonomics, 38(11): 2262-2280. 5. Edworthy J. and Meredith C. (1997). Influence of verbal labelling and acoustic quality on the learning and retention of medical alarms. Int J Cogn Ergon; 1: 229–43 6. Edworthy, J. and Hellier, E. (2006). Alarms and human behaviour: implications for medical alarms.British Journal of Anaesthesia, 97(1): 12–17 7. Gabrielsson, A. (1979). Dimension analyses of perceived sound quality of sound-reproducing systems. Scand. J. Psychol. 20: 159-169 8. Genuit, K. (2001). The problem of predicting noise annoyance as a function of distance. Internoise, Rome, Italy. 9. Leung YK, Smith S, Parker S, Martin R. (1997). Learning and retention of auditory warnings. In: Frysinger S, Kramer G, eds. Proceedings of the Third International Co nference on Auditory Display (ICAD), Palo Alto, CA, USA. Available from http://www. santafe. edu/_icad__ 10.Maris E. , Pieter J. , Stallen, P. J. , Vermunt R. , Steensma H. (2007). Noise within the social context: Annoyance reduction through fair procedures, Journal of Acoustic Society of America, 121(4): 2000 – 2010 11. Philip, E. (2009). Evaluation of medical alarm sounds. Doctoral thesis, New Jersey Institute of Technology. 12. Roozenburg, N. F. M. and Eekels, J. (1995). Product Design, fundamentals and methods. (Lemma BV, Den Haag. ) 13. Rouse, W. B. (1991). Design for success- A Human-Centered Approach To Designing Successful Products and Systems, John Wiley & Sons Inc.ISBN 0-471-52483-2. 14. Schmidt S. I. , Baysinger C. L. (1986). Alarms: help or hindrance? Anesthesiology, 64: 654–5 15. Steele, D. L. & Chon, S. H. (2007) A Perceptual Study of Sound Annoyance. Proceedings of the 2nd Audio Mostly Conference. pp. 19-24 16. Stone, H. , Sidel, J. , Oliver, S. , Woolse y, A. , Singleton, R. C. (1974). Sensory evaluation by quantitative descriptive analysis. Food Technology, 24-34 17. Ulfvengren P. (2003). Design of natural warning sounds in human-machine systems. Doctoral thesis, Stockholm Institute of Technology.

Understanding Different Learning Styles in the Workplace

Understanding Different Learning Styles in the Workplace Thanks to Ron Gross for sharing this piece from his book Peak Learning: How to Create Your Own Lifelong Education Program for Personal Enlightenment and Professional Success. In the world of work, there is widening recognition of the need to capitalize on different learning styles within organizations. According to Dudley Lynch, in Your High Performance Business Brain, we can use this powerful new way of understanding people to design better organizations, ... do a more effective and productive job of hiring and placing people, and to frame our management messages so that they can penetrate the natural filters of the mind. That means you should be able to measure how well your learning style fits the tasks that compose your present job. You should also be able to recognize the styles of others, which will make for better communications. Understanding Your Style In a workshop, we illustrate this by forming a hemispheric circle. All the participants seat themselves in a semicircle so that each persons position reflects his or her degree of preference for either the stringer or the grouper style of learning. Those on the left side of the semicircle prefer to learn in a step-by-step, analytical, systematic way. Those on the right prefer a holistic, top-down, big-picture approach. Then, we talk about how these two kinds of people can best explain things to each other or convey new information. Hold on, now, one of the left-side folks will say. Id really prefer it if you could start out by giving me some basic examples of what youre talking about. You seem to be all over the map instead of starting with first things first. But the next minute someone from the right side will complain, Hey, I cant see the forest for all those trees youre throwing at me. Could we wrench ourselves up out of the details and get an overview of the subject? Whats the point? Where are we headed? Often partnerships are profitably forged out of two individuals who complement each others styles. In my workshops, we often see two people who work closely together take seats on opposite ends of the hemispheric circle. In one case, a couple in the fashion business found themselves in those places. It turned out that one of them was the idea person and the other, the financial wizard. Together they made a dynamic duo indeed. Teamwork Creating teams to work together or to solve problems is an important area in which an awareness of styles can assure greater success. Some highly technical problems call for team members who all share the same way of processing information, seeking new facts, interpreting evidence, and coming to conclusions. A narrow fact-finding or problem-solving assignment, such as determining how to expedite the passage of orders through the billing department, might be such a situation. In other situations, however, your success may depend on having the right mix of styles. You may need one or two people who take the top-down, broad view together with others who like to work systematically and logically. Creating a plan for the next years activities would be a task that could benefit from this mix of approaches. Recognizing Relationships With Superiors Another area in which styles of learning and thinking can crucially affect the success of individuals or organizations is boss-employee relations. This typical situation occurs every day in business and industry: a supervisor will complain that a new worker cant seem to learn a routine task. When the suggestion is made that the newcomer might learn it if shown it move by move, the supervisor - clearly a grouper rather than a stringer - expresses dismay, exclaiming, I never give instructions that way. It would be insulting and patronizing - anyone can pick it up if they really want to. Such conflict based on differences in style can extend right up to the executive suite. In their book, Type Talk, management consultants Otto Kroeger and Janet Thuesen tell how they helped straighten out troubled organizations by analyzing the disparities among the styles of the managers and executives involved. They even suggest developing a version of the organization chart in which each of the key individuals is identified not by his or her title, but by his or her learning style! Source Gross, Ronald. Peak Learning: How to Create Your Own Lifelong Education Program for Personal Enlightenment and Professional Success. Revised, Subsequent edition, TarcherPerigee, April 5, 1999.

How do you Imagine a German Valentines Day

How do you Imagine a German Valentine's Day German Customs in February-Part 2: Valentines Day - Fasching/Karneval Traditional and Religious Celebrations and Customs Groundhog Day  (Mari Lichtmess)Valentinstag  (Valentines Day)Mardi Gras: Fastnacht/Fasching/Karneval Valentinstag(14. Februar) Sankt Valentin and the lovers celebration in his name are not traditionally German, but in recent years  Valentinstag  has become increasingly popular in Germany. Originally celebrated mainly in France and the English-speaking countries, it is now common to see Valentine cards and other signs of the holiday in Germany. This trend was most likely forced upon the Germans by an increased effort to the florist-industry. Be gentle to your German lover should he not take this day seriously. German men possibly prefer to buy you flowers rather for no reason than when they are being expected to. If they buy flowers at all. The origins of Valentines Day The origins of both the man known as  Valentinus  and the celebration itself are obscure. Little is known about the Roman (or Romans) who may have been a bishop in Terni or a priest in Rome. Although several legends have arisen around the Christian martyr Valentinus, there is no historical evidence that connects him to lovers or todays Feb. 14 Valentine celebration. As in the case of other Christian celebrations, Valentines Day is more likely based on the pagan Roman fertility festival called Lupercalia that took place in mid-February. The Lupercalia only ended in 495 when it was banned by the pope. Did you know that Valentines  Day  is actually forbidden in Saudi Arabia? Fastnacht/Fasching(date varies) The German  Mardi Gras  or Carnival celebration goes by many names:  Fastnacht,  Fasching,  Fasnacht,  Fasnet,  Karneval. This is a movable feast (beweglicher Festtag) that is related to  Easter  and does not occur on the same date each year. (For the dates this year, see  Die fà ¼nfte Jahreszeit.) The culmination of the  Fastenzeit  (Lent) is always on the Tuesday (fat Tuesday mardi gras, Shrove Tuesday) before  Aschermittwoch  (Ash Wednesday). The official start of the  Fasching  season is either on January 7 (the day after Ephiphany,  Dreikà ¶nige) or on the 11th day of the 11th month (Nov. 11,  Elfter im Elften), depending on the region. A highlight before the main highlight, the Rosenmontag, is the so called Weiberfastnacht (Fat Thursday, also in certain regions in Germany its called Fetter Donnerstag) celebrated on the Thursday before Karneval. The tradition is that the women cut of the tie of any man who dears to wear one that day. Should you fancy your ties, make sure to have a cheap one in your wardrobe for this occasion. In regions where Karneval is celebrated the most, you might witness a bunch of women storming the local Rathaus (town hall) in order to cut off the mens ties. You certainly understand what a mans tie symbolises, right? Rosenmontag The Rosenmontag is the main celebration day of Carnival. That day there will be a huge parade marching through the city unless you live in Berlin or the northern parts of Germany. We are possibly not as jeck (nuts) as those southerners or simply have to drive out less demons than them. For those who miss all this kunterbunt trouble in Berlin, theres a little refuge for those from the Rhine region here in Berlin, the Stndige Vertretung. You might want to check it out next time you are in Berlin. Find out more about other  Celebrations and Customs here.   NEXT ARTICLE   Holidays in March Original article by: Hyde Flippo Edited on the 28th of June 2015 by: Michael Schmitz

Property Land Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Property Land - Essay Example For instance, a block of self-sufficient retirement flats would be let on tenancies, whereas individual rooms or flats in a house or premise with shared bathroom and kitchen would be let on licences. As compared to the tenants under the rental agreement, a licensee has less protection as he can be asked to vacate the premise at any time provided by service of four weeks written notice on them by the landlord. For evicting the tenant, in some cases, a landlord can approach the court for getting a possession order. The licensing system for houses in multiple occupations (HMOs) was introduced by the Housing Act 2004 and came into full force on 6 April 2006, and the Act offers an exhaustive definition of HMOs and stipulates norms of management for this class of property. A HMO is basically different from a household, as in household either members of the same family reside in a house or by a single person. It also includes persons who are living together or married couples and people in same-sex relationships. There are licensing requirements for some HMOs.1 In case of HMOs, the landlord should obtain a licence from the local council to rent out his premise as a house in multiple occupations (HMO). Thus, a HMO is a premise which is rented out to atleast three persons who are not hailing from a same family or from one â€Å"house hold† and should be prepared to share the facilities like common kitchen and bathroom. Even a landlord who has a property with less than three storeys and who has rented it out to less than five people, then such landlord can let that premise as HMO, but he has to obtain a licence which foots upon area and differs from council to council. A HMO licence issued by a council will be valid for a period of five years, and a landlord of a HMO has the obligation to renew the licence well before it expires. If the landlord has more than one premise and he has let them as HMO, then, he

Alexander the Great and his conquest of Egypt and Persia Essay

Alexander the Great and his conquest of Egypt and Persia - Essay Example He was a principled hero with courageous acts, a virtuous politician, and flawless tactician who always termed himself as being Zeus son. He deserved the title because by the age of thirty, he had captured what was by the time termed as world, which was an accomplishment worth labelling as great where he still merits the title since he is still admired and remembered today for his seize of Persia and the diffusion of Greek culture all over his conquered nations. He was a great victor who in only thirteen years he was able to amass the largest empire in the entire ancient world that covered 3000 miles. Alexander did all this besides the benefits of modern technology and weapons because troop movement were primarily on foot and communication was face to face and this was an achievement made by a kid who became a king of Macedon at the age of twenty. As an honored prince, he received the top quality education in Macedonian court under his famous tutor Aristotle (Marsico 18), and at the age of 20 he was already a charismatic decisive king. Many of Alexander’s accomplishment were made possible by his father who succeeded in doing what years of fighting in Greek city-states had not done by invading and conquering the Greek and thus united the Greece. His next goal was to defeat the Greece’s enemy to the Persia but was assassinated before he pursued the goal and upon taking the thrown Alexander vowed to complete the plans of his father (Abbott 36). The self-confident young king had just defeated the Greek city of Thebes that had rebelled against him after the demise of his father, though he was convinced that if he could defeat the Thebes then he would as well defeat the Persia. He had a belief that if he achieves the conquest he and his father Philip had fancied about, the entire of Asia Minor would be open to him owing to his conquest; thus, the battle of Gracias began one of the greatest overthrows in history (Burgan 10). Alexander quickly controlled the Macedonian armies that his father’s initiated changes had made it to become the leading military authority in the area and led a majestic army across the Hellespont in Asia with some 4300 infantry and 5500 cavalry that was the most powerful military expedition ever to leave Greece. Alexander decided not to first attack Persia but capture Egypt who is ruled by Persia at that time where he stayed with his army for six months and he had to betray his culture and custom as a way of earning respect. Fortunately, the Egyptians hated the Persians for owning little attention and honor for their customs and culture but Alexander had some respect and was honored greatly and saluted him as their savior and liberator thus they appointed him as their pharaoh (Goldschmidt 31). The conquest of Egypt occurred in 332 BCE when Alexander treated Egyptician culture with respect and offered sacrifices making him a true pharaoh. He created the port city of Alexandria which grew into a cosmopol itan center of power and culture that joined the Egypticians economically with the Mediterranean world. Alexander was able to conquer Egypt and founded the city named Alexandria, which became a cosmopolitan, diverse, bustling center of trade, the arts and ideas city (David 42). Possessed with a resolve to rule the world, Alexander pursued the goal to capture north, through the Syria and Mesopotamia winning over the land of Phoenicia effortlessly with