The Weed by Amrita Pritam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Weed by Amrita Pritam - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the story unfolds through the point of view of an unnamed narrator, obviously a city-bred and educated female. The main theme of the story is the vulnerability of women who fall prey to the lure of men, symbolized through the metaphorical weed, and how males exploit the females for carnal pleasure and then discard them. Right from the first line of the story, the author hints at the way women are treated in rural India by her reference to the â€Å"new bride of the old servant,† which connotes to the fact that older men in the country practice polygamy and that they can have younger wives. The author also suggests that under the patriarchal system that exists in the country, any father can give away his daughter to any man without the consent of the girl. Pritam presents the girl as a â€Å"delight to both ear and eye† and owning a body that redeems her â€Å"dark complexion†. In contrast, the author portrays her husband, Prabhati, as â€Å"old, short and loose-jawed,† which indicates that the society disregards the traits of a woman and by belonging to the stronger sex, men are automatically qualified to claim any woman. Unfortunately, Angoori is not the single female, who meets with a similar fate in the rural Indian society and it appears that many suffer at men’s hands in the same way. She relates the story of her friend, who absconds with her paramour, who later deserts her, to the narrator. The author tries to emphasize the issue of male exploitation of the females by referring to various aspects of the rural Indian culture, which is her major theme for the story. She uses the metaphor of the â€Å"weed† to underline the fact that males use some or other material element to win over the female hearts. In the case of Angoori’s friend, the weed comes in the form of sweets and betel leaf and in the protagonist’s case, it takes the form of sweetened tea. The men in all cases e xploit the women and after enjoying the carnal pleasure desert them. The exploitation of women in the rural Indian culture, thus, is a theme that is recurrently emphasized in the story. Pritam also deploys the literary device of imagery and irony profusely in the story to underline the theme of exploitation of females by males in the rural Indian culture. The author’s deft use of imagery to attain this purpose becomes evident from the episode where she equates Angoori’s body to â€Å"rightly kneaded dough, a baker’s pride† and describes her â€Å"rippling muscles impregnated with the metallic resilience of a coiled spring†. By using such imagery, the author provides the readers with a vivid picture a youthful and energetic female. On the other hand, Pritam talks about her husband as a loose-jawed old man, a stark contrast to the resilient and beautiful Angoori, for whom a husband is one whose feet a girl begins to adore when she is five or six. By dwelling on the protagonist’s beliefs such as this, the author wants to emphasize that women in rural India tend to acquiesce to men and they find contentment in it.  

American Minorities and Sports Essay Example for Free

American Minorities and Sports Essay Sports have always had an enormous impact on American society and culture. People use sports at all levels, whether it’s youth, high school, college or professional, to help build an identity, connect with others and grow as individuals. Even though American is a diverse country made up of different races, nationalities and ethnicities, discrimination has been in issue throughout America’s history. Sports took on an even greater meaning for some minorities during the 20th Century, especially Europeans and blacks. They used sports as a means of vertical mobility in order to advance themselves socially in America. The idea of social mobility was one concept that originally drew many immigrants to the country. Between 1880 and 1915, around 26 million immigrants moved to the United States, and about half came from several areas of Europe (Moore, 2011a). America offered the chance for people to better themselves and someone from any background could become successful and rise above their parents. During this time, Americans were already viewing sports as an important and democratic part of life, because it judged people on their talent and skill alone (Reiss, 1980). Competition was an opportunity to prove and show off your â€Å"manliness† and power. Sports were also seen as a way to gain vertical mobility, and for Europeans, it was a way to become more accepted into the American culture. Although they received more respect than blacks, they mostly were not considered truly â€Å"American† (Moore, 2011a). Boxing was a popular sport among young immigrants. Boxing was a sport that proved â€Å"manliness† and toughness, and turning professional meant chances to earn prize money. Most immigrants from Europe lived on the East Coast in cities that quickly became crowded and poor, and fighting was a functional skill to learn while living in the ghetto neighborhoods (Reiss, 1980). Boxing became a social ladder for ethnic groups since one group seemed to dominate until another group became better. Whoever were better boxers at the time were viewed as the tougher race. In the 1800’s and early 1900’s the Irish held most of the Heavyweight Championship titles, with boxers like John L. Sullivan, Jack Kilrain and Gene Tunney (Sowell, 1983). In the 1920’s and 30’s Jews began to have success in the ring, with 1913 being the only year in since the start of the century that there was no Jewish champion. In the two decade span they held 18 titles (Moore, 2011a). These champions were important to the Jewish in proving their worth to the country and countering the discrimination that the Nazis in Germany were trying to spread. Boxing for European ethnic minorities served as a way to prove their race’s toughness, and prizefighting was a way to leave the poor ghettos and make a decent life for themselves. Italians were slower than other groups in their involvement with sports. Between 1899 and 1924 about 4 million immigrated to the United States and settled in the crowded East Coast cities (Reiss, 1980). The Progressive movement was gaining popularity at the time, but because of their past in Italy, many Italians mistrusted governments telling them what to do and what their children should do (Moore, 2011a). However, 2nd generation Italian-American children were given opportunities to play sports through the creation of the Public School Athletic League. In 1905 historian Camillo Cianfarra tracked the Italian youth development in sports and observed: â€Å"In our public elementary school competitions, our children are not inferior to the children of other nationalities, in the lists of gymnastic [track and field] winners the Italian names appear quite frequently as they appear in the rosters of teams involved in inter-high school competition† (Reiss, 1980). Baseball soon became a popular sport with the Italians, and they became very successful with the sport. By the time of the Depression, Italians were becoming a majority in the Major Leagues (Moore, 2011a). Italians success in baseball gave them social mobility, but they were also still discriminated against. Some of the best players in the league in the 1930’s were Joe DiMaggio, Tony Lazzeri, Frank Crosetti and Ernie Lombardi (Baldassaro, 2005). Joe DiMaggio helped Italians gain more exposure and respect when he became the best player in the league and an American celebrity (Moore, 2011a). Blacks in the United States had similar involvement as the Europeans with ports and social mobility, although they faced much more discrimination and rejection than the other minorities. Blacks used sports as a main way to try and prove their equality to the rest of the country. They viewed successful black athletes as heroes and passionately supported them, and used them as a more subtle channel to showcase their fight against the discrimination and hate that they faced daily. Boxing featured several black champions and was a popular sport, just like it was with the European minorities. One of the earliest black champions was Peter Jackson, an Australian who won the Heavyweight Championship over there in 1886. He traveled to America in 1988 to fight John L. Sullivan, who held the Heavyweight Title, but Sullivan refused to fight him because he was black. Besides that setback, he was considered one of the best boxers of the time, and blacks loved him because he was a respectable man and proved black equality with his victories. Frederick Douglass at the time said, â€Å"Peter is doing a great deal with his fist to solve the Negro question† (Moore, 2011b). He was also respected within the white community because he never bragged or belittled an opponent (Moore, 2011b). People around the country of any race looked up to him as a role model. Although Peter Jackson helped gain some respect for blacks in white America, it wasn’t until Joe Louis that Americans found a black athlete that was embraced as an American hero. Louis was born in Alabama in 1914 as the son a sharecropper and great grandson of a slave. His family moved to Detroit in 1924 where he soon took up boxing. After ten years of hard work he won the Golden Gloves as a light heavyweight and his career took off from there. One of his biggest victories was against former heavyweight champion Primo Carnera in front of a crowd of 62,000 at Yankee Stadium (Official Site, n. d. ). Louis’s symbol as an American hero though didn’t fully happen until he avenged his loss against German champion Max Schmeling with a first-round knockout in 1938, during the time of the Nazi’s dominance in Europe. It was this victory that caused the American people to see him not as just another black fighter, but as an American hero. It helped to counter the impression of successful black athletes that Jack Johnson, the previous black heavyweight champion, had left, and in a way almost transcended his race (Schwartz, n. d. ). â€Å"What my father did was enable white America to think of him as an American, not as a black,† said his son, Joe Louis Jr. â€Å"By winning, he became America’s first black hero† (Schwartz, n. d. ). In the 1960’s, black athletes used the world’s biggest sporting stage to fight racism and show their protest against the discrimination that they were still facing. In October 1967 the Olympic Project for Human Rights was established by sociologist Harry Edwards and others, mainly athletes. The goal of the organization was to protest segregation and racism in sport and society. A boycott of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics was suggested but never happened, yet several members still used the Games as an opportunity for the organization. Many on the US Track and Field team wore black socks as support of the black community, or badges of the OPHR (Henderson, n. d. ). The most famous act of protest however was from sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who finished 1st and 3rd in the 200m final. On the medal podium, they each raised a fist while wearing a black glove. The act led to the International Olympic Committee president, Avery Brundage, suspending them from the rest of the competition and forcing them to leave (Moore, 1991). Although the protest had negative consequences for the sprinters, it was another key moment in sports that showed how the black community rallied around its athletes and used sports as a way to come together and fight for civil rights. Sports and competition were important in minorities efforts to advance in 20th century America through vertical mobility, although the reasons were different for each race. Europeans struggled with adjusting to a new country and culture, and sports helped serve as a way to assimilate more with the American culture and be accepted. Because of the large numbers of immigrants in the late 1800‘s and early 1900‘s, most lived in poor, crowded urban areas. Being successful in sports meant a chance to become professional, leave behind poverty, and make a life for yourself. It was essentially the â€Å"American Dream. † Sports had a slightly different meaning for black Americans. The United States was still a country of discrimination and oppression, and black society used their successful athletes to empower and unite them. Through heroes like Joe Louis, they fought against the discrimination and tried to prove their equality to whites. Both minorities in the 20th century viewed sports as a key tool in their struggle for acceptance in American society.

Study of Burnout in English Language Teachers

Study of Burnout in English Language Teachers CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction Generally, individuals who work face to face with people may experience burnout. Burnout can be a primary cause to an individual who suffers from this symptoms and also people around them (Landeche, 2009). Moreover, this syndrome affects people who work in helping professions or other client-centered fields (Schutte, Toppinen, Kalimo, Schaufeli, 2000). The idea of burnout was formed by Herbert Freudenberger in 1974 as wearing down or draining out of energy (Freudenberger North, 1985). In addition, Freudenberger (1974), state that burnout â€Å"is not a situation that gets better by being ignored. Nor is it any kind of disgrace. On the opposite, its a problem born of good intentions.† Burnout may render people unable to cope with their problems; however, those who are able to cope with their problems of work issues may perform better at their jobs. In the teaching profession, the phenomenon of burnout has often been studied and has globally been well accepted as being problematic and uncertain for teachers (Cherniss, 1995; Guglielmi Tatrow, 1998). Folkman (1984) relates burnout with stress; it is a combination of mental and physical symptoms. This psychological react as â€Å"long-term exhaustion and diminished interest† and it may take a long period to blow up to the surface. In addition to that, high level of stress for considerable periods of time could increase burnout characteristics including less sympathy and understanding towards students, reduced acceptance of students, failure to set up lessons and a lack of commitment to the teaching profession (Dorman, 2003). Ingersoll and Smith (2003) mentioned that teacher burnout is often known as a main source of teacher retention phase. At present, teachers in Malaysia are facing extensive pressure from all the changes taking place in the education system due to the Malaysia Plan. About 4 out of 27 Institut Pendidikan Guru Malaysia (IPGM) (Teachers Training Institutes) will focus on teacher training of English language teachers. Besides, the government will assess and monitor the effectiveness of the program constantly and will provide some inventive to empower students with English language (Tenth Malaysia Plan, 2010). This idea has increased ESL teachers workload and hence brings about the assumption that their burnout level has also risen. To make the above statement clearer, the teaching periods had increased from 90 240 to 330 minutes a week for primary 1, 2 and 3. Meanwhile, for primary 4, 5 and 6 it has increased from 90 210 minutes to 300 minutes a week. The changes also do not exclude secondary schools ESL teachers, whereby their teaching periods had increased from 80 200 to 280 minutes a week. Further, literature reports that workload or work tasks have increased and education system transformation, societal changes and multitasking have caused teachers work to increase in intensity (Brante, 2009). Moreover, the changes of moral and normative quality of teachers work (where teachers are expected to influence students lives to a greater level than in the past) also have caused teachers work to become more complicated and intense (Brante, 2009). The complexity of the tiredness situation develops negative job feelings, low professional in self-perceptive and losing of empathy for clients (Maslach Pines, 1984). According to this characterization, the burnout syndrome consists of three dimensions: emotional exhaustion felt by people who cooperate extensively with other people, depersonalization and diminished personal accomplishment. Emotional exhaustion is indicated by lack of energy and the consumption of a persons emotional wealth. Depersonalization results in the form of impassiveness and cynicism toward co-workers, clients, and the organization. Finally, diminished personal accomplishment is a tendency to assess oneself negatively (Maslach, 1982; Maslach Jackson, 1981; Pines Maslach, 1980). According to Maslach (1976), people who always have interactions with others can undergo consistent emotional pressure. Burke and Greenglass (1995) suggested that burnout includes three components â€Å"that are conceptually diverse but empirically related† (p.188). In this line, Schaufeli and Buunk (2002) consider the occurrence of teachers difficulties is characterized in three dimensions, including (1) a physical dimension concerning exhaustion as an external symptom, (2) a mental distancing from regular teacher activities, and (3) a reduced professional effectiveness. Considering all of these measures which contribute to teacher burnout, the purpose of this study took its shape. The study primarily aims to investigate the level of burnout in a selected group of English language teachers in Putrajaya primary and secondary schools. Additionally, it seeks to find out whether their working experience or teaching level can determine their level of burnout. 1.2 Statement of Problem Teachers are often physically and emotionally challenged; therefore, they may experience burnout. Teacher burnout has been shown to have negative effects on teacher and student performance (Huberman Vandenberghe, 1999; Maslach Leiter, 1999). Here a clear picture can be seen that stresses an important issue in most educational systems today. Research on elementary school teachers in the United States shows that working experience can influences teacher burnout (Cheek, Bradley, Parr Lan, 2003). In line with that, research in Malaysia also indicates teachers from different working experience categories suffer varying levels of burnout (Mukundan Khandehroo, 2009). Besides, a research in Hong Kong primary and secondary school teachers perceived different level of stress (Alan, Chan, Chen, Elaine Chong, 2010). Whereas most research carried out in European and North American Countries indicated high levels of burnout among primary school teachers (Mearns Cain, 2003). In Malaysia, primary and secondary school teachers also suffered from stress (NUTP, 2005). Demographic factors have been found much related to burnout syndrome among teachers in various studies. Most of the studies focused on age, gender, marital status, education attainment and job satisfaction, but very few focused on working experience among specific subject teachers (Mukundan Khandehroo, 2009). Moreover, not much studies done in federal administrative centre of Malaysia like Putrajaya. Meanwhile, the education system and administration also has been graded as very outstanding. Given the relative paucity of research in this area in Malaysia, it is important to study the effect of teachers working experience and teaching level on burnout. 1.3 Objectives of Study The present study is an attempt to determine the level of burnout among a group of English language teachers in a number of primary and secondary schools in Putrajaya, Malaysia. The specific objectives of the study are as follows: To determine the level of burnout dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment among the sample. To compare the samples burnout levels in reference to their working experience. To compare the samples level of burnout in reference to their teaching level. 1.4 Research Questions The research questions of the study are as follows: What is the level of emotional exhaustion among ESL teachers in Putrajaya? What is the level of depersonalization among ESL teachers in Putrajaya? What is the level of personal accomplishment among ESL teachers in Putrajaya? Is there a significant difference between high (10 years and above) and low (below 10 years) experienced teachers scores of burnout dimensions? Is there a significant difference between the ESL primary and secondary school teachers scores of burnout dimensions? 1.5 Significance of Study At this small-scale level, the findings from this study will provide valuable information for both schools (primary and secondary) ESL teachers in Putrajaya. By having this information, teachers and stake holders may realize and more aware of the current situations. School is a centre in promoting education to students. In educational setting, students relate to many different professionals who assist them in pursuing and achieving their educational goals. Teachers have important roles in the teaching- learning network. Maslach (1976) notes that the teaching career is relatively flat with little opportunity for hierarchical advancement, and regardless of how many hours teachers work, there is very little opportunity for additional pay. Based on this, it is expected that this study will help ESL teachers especially to be more professional in managing their work and to help them to reduce their burnout level. In addition, the study contributes to ESL teachers and administrators awareness of the can factors that lead to burnout. This will prevent the teacher from being overly stressed or burnt out at work. This study looks into the burnout occurrence with relation to working experience among ESL teachers in Putrajaya schools. It also tries to determine primary and secondary school ESL teachers level of burnout. It is one of the steps to have ‘healthy teachers ensure effective teaching performance. The significance of this study lies on the data collection regarding the burnout and working experience among primary and secondary school ESL teachers in Malaysia. It can lead to a better reduction of stress among the English as Second Language teachers in Putrajaya. The findings of the study can provide useful information for the decision makers to help the ESL teachers as increased stress levels would affect the education system. Moreover, the administrators also have better understanding of the present educational situation and this will improve teachers efficiency in primary and secondary schools in Putrajaya and consequently result in students better performance. 1.6 Limitation of Study This study was limited to primary and secondary school ESL teachers in Federal Territory of Putrajaya only. As such, the findings may not be generalized to all primary and secondary schools ESL teachers in Malaysia. In addition according to Krejcie and Morgan (1970) the researcher required a sample size of 113. However, only 79 respondents cooperated for this study. The ESL teachers who were excluded in this study were in courses, doing further study, on medical leave and maternity leave and some of them were on personal leave. 1.7 Operational Definition of Terms Burnout :Freudenberger (1974) defined burnout as one of the chronic exhaustion and frustration resulting from continued commitment to a goal or principle that has unsuccessful to produce a corresponding reward. Within the scope of the present study, burnout refers to ESL teachers experience of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment based on the well-known definition by Maslach (1976) as well as Maslach and Jackson (1981). Emotional Exhaustion : Feelings of being emotionally overextended and exhausted by ones daily conflict in work. In this study, following Gavrilovici (2007), the term is defined as the lack of passion and the sense of emotional draining by other people among the teachers. As the first dimension of burnout, emotional exhaustion in this study is measured by items like I feel emotionally drained from my work Depersonalization: An insensitive and impersonal response toward receivers of ones concern, care, service or instruction (Maslach, Jackson, Leiter, 1996). Thus, it can result in the form of impassiveness and cynicism toward co-workers, clients and the organization(Ali Hamdy, 2005). In this study, it is measured by items like I feel I treat some students as if they were impersonal objects Personal Accomplishment : It is defined as feelings of competency and successful achievement in ones work and ones self capability in classroom and professional efficacy (Gavrilovici, 2007). In this study, items like I feel I am positively influencing other peoples lives through my work, helped the researcher measure teachers personal accomplishment. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction In this chapter the previous studies on burnout and its three dimensions are presented. Next, studies that investigated burnout and its connection with working experience are discussed. The chapter also includes a review of the literature on burnout in relation to teaching levels of primary and secondary schools. Finally, the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of the study are discussed. 2.2 Studies Related to Burnout and its Dimensions Ideally, the teaching profession should be seen as effect ion of love in work and enthusiastic; however, various studies have shown that today it has been changed as a stressful job (Travers Cooper, 1996; Kyriacou, 2001; Kyriakides, Campbell Christofidou, 2002). Moreover, todays teaching job is quite complicated as teachers have to carry out not only teaching but also matters associated with curriculum, students, parents, the school community and departmental initiatives. According to Smylie (1999), â€Å"These are tough times to be a teacher† (p. 59). These issues of distress in the teaching profession may be the culprits for increased burnout levels. Generally, individuals who work face to face with people may experience burnout. Burnout can be a primary cause to an individual who suffers from this symptoms and also people around them (Landeche, 2009). Burnout in the teaching profession has frequently been investigated and has globally been well accepted as being problematic for teachers (Cherniss, 1995; Guglielmi Tatrow, 1998). Burnout was first introduced by Herbert Freudenberger in 1974. It was defined as wearing down or draining out of energy (Freudenberger North, 1985). Burnout may render people unable to cope with their problems. Those who are unable to cope with their problems of work issues may exhibit a lower level of job performance quality. Burnout is a sophisticated state of mental strain, the center of which is emotional exhaustion (Maslach Jackson, 1981). The thought of going to work is a common symptom of emotional exhaustion. Often this can be exacerbated as individuals become frustrated or angry with themselves as they realize they cannot give the same kind of enthusiasm as in the past to the company or administrator. However, New York Magazine stated burnout is a problem thats both physical and existential, an untidy conglomeration of external symptoms and personal frustrations (Senior, 2006). Burnout results from a form of chronic stress associated with the everyday interactions and close contact with others that is required in peoples work (Pennington, 1992). Teachers are among the people that are highly exposed to burnout because they entertain their students every day in school. Teaching line at times can be very dissatisfying and it is a painstaking job (Cikla Duatepe, 2004). Most of burnout research that had been done has been limited to the helping profession (e.g., nursing, education, social work); however, the construct is pervasive, cutting across many types of organizations and jobs (Cordes Dougherty, 1993). In conjunction with that, Stoeber and Rennert (2008) conducted research involving different cultures. They found that school teachers have one of the highest levels of work stress. Societal changes, increased workload or work tasks, education system transformation, change of moral and normative quality of teachers work (where teachers are expected to influence students lives to a greater level than in the past), and multitasking have caused teachers work to increase in intensity and become more complicated (Brante, 2009). Burnout can develop negative job feelings, low professional in self-perceptive and losing of empathy for clients (Maslach Pines, 1984). The burnout syndrome is explained in three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and diminished personal accomplishment (Maslach Pines, 1984). According to Maslach (1976), people who always have interactions with others can undergo repetitious emotional pressure. The construct of emotional exhaustion imply the thoughts of overtiredness and overextension caused by every day work force, and workplace conflicts. While, depersonalization is referring to the growth of negative feelings and impersonal responses towards the people they works closely which affect the continual relations among helpers (for example, teachers) and clients (for example, students). Reduced personal accomplishment means a loss of self esteem and work accomplishment as a consequence of limited positive feedback and recognition and competency in personal affairs at work (Maslach Jackson, 1981; Rowe, 1998). In line with that, Burke and Greenglass (1995) suggested that burnout which includes three components â€Å"that are conceptually diverse but empirically related† (p.188). Schaufeli and Buunk (2002) considered the occurrence of teachers difficulties is characterized in the three dimensions, including (1) a physical dimension concerning to exhaustion as an external symptom, (2) a mental distancing from regular teacher activities, and (3) a reduced professional effectiveness. Some studies indicate stress can occur due to the workload increment, mischievous students, parent-teacher relationship issues, misunderstandings among colleagues, no support or very poor school leadership and lack of autonomy (Skaalvik Skaalvik, 2007). The longer a teacher works, the less job satisfaction they exhibit. This paves the way to an increase in emotional exhaustion (EE) and a reduction in personal accomplishment (PA). Most recognized that teaching profession has one of the largest occupational pressures. Burnout influences most of the teachers at some point of their teaching profession (Cheek, Bradley, Parr Lan, 2003; Dorman, 2003; Schwab Iwanicki, 1982). Teachers burnout can have consequences for their professions (Wood McCarthy, 2002). Moreover, when burnout increases in teachers profession, it makes them hate their career and it affects their students achievement (Dworkin, 1985). Farber and Miller (1981) notable that teachers who experience symptoms of burnout might: be less sympathetic with their students have low tolerance for frustration not plan often or carefully consider or plan to leave the profession all together report feelings of emotional or physical exhaustion on a frequent basis be depressed, irritable, and anxious From the professional point of view, burnout can lead to a significant fall in teaching performance, frequent absenteeism due to illness and early retirement. Teachers who suffer from burnout may behave rigidly towards their students, and have negative and low expectations of students, and they may feel exhausted emotionally and physically, and show low levels of involvement in teaching or concern for their students (Maslach, 1976; Spaniol Caputo, 1979; Farber Miller, 1981). In the United States, teacher burnout has become a topic receiving national attention (Blase, 1986; Huston 1989). A survey of American literature by Farber (1991) showed that approximately 5-20 percent of all teachers in the United States will be burned out at a given moment in their career. In Malaysia, the unease over job-related stress, experienced by school teachers, has been raised to a great extent by the National Union of the Teaching Profession or NUTP (Abdul Muin Sapidin, 2005). As it can be observed from the findings of the local research in both primary and secondary schools a considerable proportion of teachers suffer from stress. The teachers who experienced high levels of stress, in each research, included 17.5% (Mokhtar Ahmad, 1998), 21.3% (Mohd Razali Othman Abd. Mat Abg. Masagus, 1998) and 36.8% (Malakolunthu, 1994). These researchers have reported various factors as the sources of stress in their samples, including students attitude, workload, and having to teach poorly motivated students. A research by Mukundan and Khandehroo (2009) found that burnout was evident among Malaysian English teachers at high levels in all dimensions. However, there is a lack of attempt to measure the burnout level involved in ESL teaching in the country. 2.3 Studies Related to Working Experience and Burnout Teacher development is a dynamic journey. The occurrence of work stress of teachers has increased in recent years. While educators were a strong element in influencing education resolution and encouraged by varies class of people since 30 to 40 years ago, this begin to change particularly starting the mid-70s (Iwanicki, 1983; Gunduz, 2005). Until now, more than 1,000 studies on burnout done by the researchers and it can be considered the gold standard research where teachers who have spent many years in the profession also been involved (Schaufeli Enzmann, 1998). The demographics variables that may influence burnout include the teachers age, gender, marital status, education background, working hours, time spent in former workplace, experience, sensitivity of their job and their self perceptions about quality of teaching (Johnson, Gold Knepper, 1984; Qtd. in Aksoy, 2007, p. 20). Researchers have found that age and teaching experience are related to teacher stress level (Yahaya, Hashim, Kim, 2005). Moreover, studies carried out in Malaysia identified several factors contributing to stress and burnt out at work among teachers, such as years of experience in teaching (Mokhtar, 1998), the feelings of responsibility and working environment (Ismail, 1998), the school type and perceptions of inadequate school facilities (Chan, 2006) and use of information technology (Hanizah, 2003). Moreover, studies have shown that teachers burnout often experiences an aggravated phase at some point in the middle of their teaching experience that is about teaching after 15 years or so. This is when teachers may feel frustrated with teaching or working to meet the level of step-down. As a result, they often feel helplessness and fatigue. In American and Australian study found that newer teachers were more likely to experience higher burnout than more experienced ones (Crane Iwanicki, 1986; Pierce Molloy, 1990). The relationship between the level of burnout and teaching experience may be explained by the intention that feeling burnout could be reduced as a result of trained maturity. Attention to the teachers experience is also given by Konert (1997). She suggests that better coping skills with students have been developed by more experienced teachers than less experienced teachers, and they might have acquired more realistic expectations over the time about their profession. Generally, teachers who are less experienced are in need of help from their seniors or experienced teachers. The experienced teachers will try to solve the problem by themselves. However, these teachers also need to sacrifice their time. This indicates experience could also be a crucial factor that can influence burnout. Leong (1995) stated that development of effective methodology to cope with various factors that lead to stress may be handled more effectively by the teacher with more experience. Studies showed that a teacher without experience is more likely to be an ‘interventionist than a highly experienced teacher (Martin et al., 2002). On the other hand, another study shows that an experienced teacher is more likely to be an ‘interventionist (Martin et al., 2002). Here the ‘interventionist refers to the teachers beliefs and attitudes toward classroom management in three broad dimensions which are instructional management, people management, and behavior management with reference to working experience. More research is required to resolve such inconsistencies in previous research findings. Less experienced teachers may suffer from burnout as a result of a feeling of powerlessness. A teacher who experiences low self-esteem and out-of-the-way from students will not be able to perform well. Shukla and Trivedi (2008) state that, â€Å"Burnout is not a trivial problem but it is an important parameter of a major social dysfunction in the work place† (p. 324). In addition to that, teacher burnout has been shown to have negative effects on teacher and student performance (Huberman Vandenberghe, 1999; Maslach Leiter, 1999). Teachers who are confused on their job specifications will develop feelings of depersonalization. Dissatisfaction and increases in tiredness, increases with work pressures, and role conflict (Viswesvaran et al., 1999). Again, less experienced teachers may feel high levels of burnout as they have to cope with the changes in a new environment. Less experienced teachers are more likely to experience burnout and conflict-inducing attitudes towards the students (Sava, 2001). In a study in southwest United States, 51 elementary school teachers were involved in the study using music therapy techniques to treat teacher burnout (Cheek, Bradley, Parr Lan, 2003). The results showed that burnout also influences most teachers at some point in their working experiences (Cheek et. al., 2003). A study on the age and years of teaching experience of the agriculture teacher are related to depersonalization scores and no significant relationships were found between years of teaching experience and emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment (Croom, 2003). Obviously, as teachers grow older and more experienced, they will alleviate coping skills in tendency to treat students in an impersonal manner. In line with that, teaching competency is an additional determining stressor for less experienced teachers with limited training, as research shows significant differences between the novice and the experienced, the trained and untrained, as well as those with and without full qualifications (Chan Juriani, 2010). In other words, teaching capability is a factor which causes the teachers who lack training and experience to feel more stressful than the other teachers. In Malaysia, a study by Mukundan and Khandehroo (2009) indicated less experienced ESL teachers had a higher level of emotional exhaustion as compared to experienced teachers. Such findings imply that less experienced teachers are more responsive to their students than the experienced ones. In contrast, Hong Kong studies found that no significant difference has been found between teachers with various years of teaching experience in perceived stress level (Alan, Chan, Chen, Elaine Chong, 2010). However, connection can be seen from previous study in Turkey. It involves 523 teachers from 50 primary public schools. The researcher sought to find out to what extent teaching experience variables predict burnout among primary school teachers. The results of the study indicated that working experience can be considered as significant predictors of emotional exhaustion dimension of burnout (Yalà §Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ±n Ozdemir, 2007). From the literature it may be seen that burnout is a complex issue that should be addressed in reference to working experience. In the present study, another variable which is teaching level and the literature related to it will be discussed. 2.4Studies Related to Teaching Level and Burnout Studying on the issue of burnout among primary and secondary school teachers is important for the administration and teachers to work together to improve the working environment and reduce the burnout. In Malaysia, a survey conducted among 9,000 primary, secondary and technical school teachers revealed that 67% of Malaysian teachers suffer from stress (NUTP, 2005). From a few existing studies in the literature, researchers found primary and secondary school teachers in Hong Kong perceived different levels of stress. Teachers of primary schools perceived a significantly higher level of stress than those in secondary schools. Issues of class cuts and teachers career instability could be the main reasons for such results (Alan, Chan, Chen, Elaine Chong, 2010). A study on the relationship between primary school teachers burnout and some of their demographic variables in Turkish cities found that burnout levels of the teachers are low (Cikla Duatepe, 2004). By contrast, a study in Antalya, Turkey by Ali (2009) considers the relationship between teachers burnout and organizational health in primary schools. The findings show that teachers burnout level is low in emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment and high in depersonalization. Based on a study conducted on emotion regulation ability, burnout and job satisfaction among British secondary school teachers it was found that a significant relationship exists between emotion regulation ability and a component of burnout, personal accomplishment (Brackett, Palomera, Mojsa, Reyes Salovey, 2010). However, a study on emotional intelligence and locus of control as predictors of burnout among secondary school teachers in Ondo State, Nigeria indicated that both emotional intelligence and locus of control significantly could predict burnout among secondary school teachers (Akomolafe Popoola, 2011). In Malaysia, it was found that English teachers (n=184) teaching in Malaysian primary and secondary schools in Malacca experience burnout at high levels in all three dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment (Mukundan Khandehroo, 2009). In addition, in a research project conducted by Segumpan and Bahari (2006) among 1209 teachers from 14 secondary schools in Malacca, it was found that 57.2% of the respondents had high stress levels because of the students misbehavior. In contrast, in a study on stress among teachers in secondary schools in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia, it was found that 74% of secondary school teachers experienced low levels of stress (Azlihanis, Nyi Nyi, Aziah, Rusli, Mohd Rahim, 2009). Moreover, a study showed that role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, and lack of administrative support significantly predict burnout among girls secondary school teachers in Kinta, Perak (Leong, 1995). In line with that, another study in Kinta, Perak showed that burnout among teachers are significantly related to social support, working environment and role overload. The boys secondary school teachers were experience higher level of burnout and teachers from girls secondary schools experience low level of burnout (Mohd Puat, 1998). As it can be seen from the reviewed literature, there is very little research on burnout and the teaching level and hence a need for further studies. 2.5 Theoretical and Conceptual Framework of the Study Figure 1 shows the theoretical framework for this study. Basically, emotional exhaustion plus depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment will influence burnout. In specific terms, a high score on the emotional exhaustion subscale and a high score on depersonalization subscale and a low score on personal accomplishment subscale will indicate a high level of burnout: (EE + DP) PA = BURNOUT. Based on this theoretical framework, the following conceptual framework was proposed (Figure 2): IV DV Context Figure 2: Conceptual framework As the figure shows, the independent variables (IV) are working experience of ESL teachers (>10 years and

The Role of Religion in the Formation of America Essay example -- Amer

The Role of Religion in the Formation of America Religion has played a large role throughout History. Entire nations have been founded on the ideals of one religion or another, and many wars have been fought purely for religious reasons. In fact there are wars still going on that are almost completely religiously motivated. New Religions may form, old religions may die or change, but they will always be a part of our culture and society. Religion always seems to play a large role in the formation of societies and cultures, and the history of the United States is no different from that of the rest of the world. Religion played a major role in the formation of the United States of America. More specifically between 1607 when American was first settled as British Colonies and the 1850’s. In the United States religion has indirectly caused two wars and been the reason for many reforms. Additionally, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which was one of the earliest colonies created, was started as a religious haven for the Purit ans. This in turn led to other colonies in the north being formed for religious reasons as well. The Early Northern Colonies were founded exclusively for religious reasons. The Massachusetts Bay Colony, which was the first Northern Colony created, was created so that the Puritans could escape the religious turmoil in Britain at the time. As James A. Henretta, David Brody, and Lynn Dumenil point out in America a Concise History, the Puritans believed that religion should have more power over the government. In other words the laws of the bible were more important then the laws of the state (45). In John Winthrop’s famous speech, â€Å"The Modell of Christian Charity,† he speaks of a few ideals, which sha... ...American’s lives today has diminished, but I disagree. Religion still does play a large role in our lives, but it has gone through many reforms as it has many times in the past. People need something to believe in, whether it is Christianity, Judaism, Muslim or Science, and those beliefs have and always will influence the path that our society takes. Works Cited Henretta, James A, David Brody, Lynn Dumenil. America A Concise History Volume 1: To 1877. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 1999. Mangus, Michael, ed. Retrieving the American Past. Boston, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2001. Boyer, Paul, Stephen Nissenbaum, â€Å"Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft.† Mangus 73-81 Boyer, Paul, Stephen Nissenbaum, ed. â€Å"The Salem Witchcraft Papers: Verbatim Transcripts of the Legal Documents of the Salem Witchcraft Outbreak.† Mangus 94-98.

Voucher programs: Tuition Subsidied for Public School Students

Vouchers are tuition subsidies for students in public schools to attend private schools and/or for students already in private schools. Proponents for publicly funded school vouchers see them as a way for poor parents to leave a failing public school system and allow their children to go to the school of their choice. Opponents fear that school vouchers would take money away from public schools, causing grater segregation while not helping the majority of students remaining in the public school system. The Catholic Church supports school vouchers and believes that every person should have equal opportunity to send there children to the best schools regardless of there financial situation. This paper will attempt to explain the complex arguments around the issue of publicly funded school vouchers, so that one could understand both sides of this issue. Voucher programs allow students to take a portion of funds reserved for public education to put toward private education. The major supporters of school vouchers are poor parents, and the Catholic Church. Before 1999, the Catholic Church had been one of the chief enemies of all federal grants for education. Then the Hierarchy gradually changed direction, and it decided to support federal aid in principle on condition that any specific measure should include auxiliary services for Catholic schools. The condition has never been met, and the failure of agreement has created the longest and most caustic church-state controversy in the history of Congress. According to the Church and Catechism it is the obligation of the state that â€Å"public subsidies are paid out in such a way that parents are truly free to choose according to their conscience the schools they want for their children. † Supporters of such a program believe that allowing students to choose the school they will attend will result in a better education and a more level playing field, where not only middle- and upper-class students dominate the private school system. Some proponents of vouchers see the public school system as promoting atheist views and denying the freedom to practice a religion other that atheism. School vouchers would allow parents to send their children to religious schools and allow them to assert the right to practice the religion of their choice. Cavailer Daily, a scholar and leader in the voucher movement states, â€Å"Freedom of Religion should allow students to attend a parochial school, rather than prevent them. † Vouchers allow choice for all people not only the ones wealthy enough to afford a religions education. The current system has allowed students â€Å"to be rigorously secularized† striking down â€Å"most forms of public assistance to parents who desire to protect their children from an educational system that is often actively promoting values that are profoundly at odds with religious convictions. The net result has been that a crucial aspect of religious freedom is exercised only by families wealthy enough to afford private education after paying taxes for public schools. † Mary Ann Glendon, a constitutional scholar and professor at Harvard University. Many proponents of vouchers do not want to eliminate the public school system; they want to use . School choice means better educational opportunity, because it uses the dynamics of consumer competition to drive service quality. As students leave the public school system and choose private school they will take there voucher money with them causing profit loses for that district. Many proponents of vouchers feel that this will cause the public schools to reform and offer a better educational program, so they can also become competitive in the schools market. Public schools currently account for 90% of the educational institutions, thus cornering the market. Proponents of vouchers believe that the short term benefits will allow students to get a better education, and in the long term public schools will be forced to radically change there programs in order to compete with a growing school market. The advantage of voucher programs is that parents can spend their money how they see fit. Public schools are funded with taxes-often property taxes, which partially accounts for better schools in richer districts. Each district gets a different amount of money per student so in the poor areas of the country the schools get less money per student resulting in lower quality teachers, and inability to buy adequate materials. People must pay these taxes regardless of the quality of local schools, or where they want to send their child. Even if you send your child to private school, you are still required to pay taxes to fund a public school system that you do not use. The voucher system, then, acts as a refund system for parents who wish to educate their children elsewhere. Leading the charge against publicly funded school vouchers is the American Teachers Union, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, as well as The National Council of Churches and many constitutionalists. Opponents of school vouchers believe that while vouchers might seem like a good idea on the surface, a deeper investigation reveals its fatal flaws and irreversible social implications. The biggest argument against vouchers is that they are unconstitutional. It has been decide that according to the establishment clause of the 1st amendment giving any funds to private school that promote religion is against the law. Vouchers also have the ability to hurt the majority of students in public schools by taking away their funding. According to expert on the subject of school vouchers, Henry Levin, â€Å"not only are vouchers unconstitutional but they completely undermine the public education system, thus threatening our system of democracy. † The issue is one of separation between church and state. Under the establishment clause of the 14th amendment, may public money be used for sectarian schools? During the 1940†³s, the high court decided that all direct appropriations for the central expenditures of such schools would be unconstitutional. No federal or local tax funds may be used for building costs, teachers† salaries, or other regular operational expenses. These perimeters were established in the Everson v. Board of Education ruling in 1947. In this case, a New Jersey town had allowed local tax funds to reimburse Catholic parents for busing their children to school. The Court, speaking through Justice Black, said: The â€Å"establishment of religion† clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws, which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief of disbelief in any religion. No person can be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or dis-beliefs, for church attendance or non-attendance. No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, what ever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice or teach religion. Neither a state nor the Federal Government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause against the establishment of religion by law was intended to erect â€Å"a wall of separation between church and state. † For the past 50 years the Supreme Court has held up the â€Å"wall of separation† in such high profile cases as the Nyquist decision in 1973, which invalidated a New York State program that provided tuition reimbursements to poor parents whose children attended private schools. Although the court found that New York had attempted to ensure the secular effect by making the payments directly to the parents, it ruled that the program had a primary function of advancing religion, and there for was unconstitutional. This ruling affirmed Justice Black†s decision in making publicly funded school vouchers unconstitutional. Opponents of school vouchers believe that not only are they unconstitutional; they also hurt students and the Public School System. The United States Public School system was founded during the mid 1800†³s to promote economic and social well being. The United States prides it self on being one of the only countries to provide a free and equal education to all children from kintergarden too high school. There is an apparent connection between public schools and the common good in democracy because as our country becomes increasingly diverse, the public school system stands out as an institution that unifies Americans. Research from the United States and abroad show that vouchers lead to greater segregation of students by socioeconomic status and race. Countries such as Ireland and Canada are divided because their governments provide education for each different religion, and consequently a deep cultural division in the population has been accentuated. The public school systems serves the majority of people and most are satisfied and don†t want to change where they go to school. Opponents of school vouchers believe they do not help the majority of poor and underprivileged and benefit more advantaged families. In Milwaukee, for example, parents who accepted vouchers, on average, were better educated, more involved in their children†s education, and had higher expectations for their children than parents of public school children. Only 1% of public school students are currently participating in a school voucher plan, so the majority of children are left in the public school system to fend for themselves. Voucher advocates often claim that private school education is cost effective because these schools can operate for less money. However, looking at the record of accomplishment of the only two experimental voucher schools, Milwaukee voucher program started in 1990, and Cleveland voucher program started in 1996, shows a very different story. In Milwaukee, analyses indicate that voucher schools received about $1,000 more per student than comparable public schools for the1996-97 school year. In addition, private schools are not required to have mandated services such as, special education, ESL, transportation, breakfast and lunch programs, which is accounted for in the money that the public schools receive per pupil. The most reasonable conclusion,† notes researcher Henry Levin, â€Å"Is that voucher schools in Milwaukee are receiving at least comparable allocations per student to those of the Milwaukee Public Schools, once the service mix is accounted for. † Voucher schools do not cost less to operate and in many cases, they cost more, taking precious funds away from public schools that are trying to reform. Voucher money likely would end up in the hands of private-school parents, essentially subsidizing those who already have fled the public school system, instead of creating incentive for public-school reform. Cleveland last month joined Milwaukee as the only school systems with vouchers. However, 27 percent of the 1,864 low-income kids in the Cleveland program were already in private schools. Private schools often charge high tuition. Since vouchers usually will not cover the full cost of tuition, the wealthy, who can already afford to pay private school tuition, will benefit the most. Low and middle-income families, who will not be able to afford the difference between the voucher and tuition costs, will be less likely to benefit. Even if poor families could come up with the full tuition amount, few private schools are located in the nation†s inner cities or other economically depressed areas. Fewer still are likely to admit children from disadvantaged backgrounds. For this reason, 45% of students participating in the Milwaukee program attend Catholic schools because they cost less. In any event, no voucher plan will benefit more than a small number of poor children. A voucher system also will not work if kids who want to leave public schools have no place to go, as many will not. Voucher supporters claim new private schools will spring up to meet new demand. However, this may be wishful thinking. â€Å"Many private schools believe government money means government regulation and do not want to take it,† says Joe McTighe, executive director of the Council of American Private Education. Proponents of vouchers feel that they are being unfairly taxed or taxed twice but â€Å"Double taxation† does not exist. Private school tuition is not a tax; it is an additional expense some parents have chosen to pay. All members of society are expected to support certain basic public services such as the police and fire departments, libraries and the public schools, whether they use them or not. Childless couples and single people, for instance, must still pay school taxes. ) We all have a vested interest in maintaining a strong public school system to make certain that our people are educated. Under a voucher plan, all taxpayers will face double taxation. They will have to pay for public schools, then pay-increased taxes to make up for funds being channeled too parochial and other private schools. The heavily contested issue of whether public money should be used to subsidize private, religious schools has raged on for over 50 years and will continue to as long as people challenge the constitution. Proponents believe vouchers will give opportunities to the poor, freedom of religion to all, and help begin a trend of reform in public schools. However, opponents fear that school vouchers will blur the lines separating church and state, and cause undue harm to the public school system. If nothing else it works for its designed purpose of creating a neutral environment that fosters learning. This neutrality has made possible the spread of tolerance to other institutions in our society. Children who learn to live together without religious distinctions are prepared as adults to build a more cooperative world.

BP SWOT Analysis and future action plan

The business was started in 1909 by one of the mega merger of Anglo-Persian Oil Company. It was renamed as British Petroleum in 1954. The head office is located in the city of Westminster, United Kingdom. It operates throughout the globe and owns approximately 93,000 employees. Today there are BP 2go, BP Castrol, BP Express, BP Shop, BP Connect and BP Travel Center. The business has diversified intensively across its core business.BP (British Petroleum) is one of the prevalent vertically integrated conglomerates in oil and gas sector. It explores and produces crude oil and different gases. The colossal business also participates in trading and marketing of power resources, liquid and natural gases. Research and Markets (2010) conducted the SWOT Analysis of British Petroleum as follows: Strength: †¢ Prior to the oil spill catastrophe, the business owned leadership position in oil and gas sector and performed vertically integrated business operations †¢ The business has well established plants which are widened geographically†¢ It performs business worldwide and has collaborated with retail brands and subsidiaries like AMPM, AMOCO, Burmah Castrol, ARCO, BP travel center, Express, Connect and many more †¢ In 2007 the net profit improved by 83% due to the increase in oil and petroleum prices †¢ It owns loyal and committed customers Weakness: †¢ Over the past years the production of natural gas and crude oil has been reduced †¢ Other than the oil spill disaster the business is faced with lots of internal criticism and controversies †¢ The launch of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline resulted into large numbers of controversies†¢ In 2005 BP refinery explosion in Texas resulted into 15 deaths and 100 injuries †¢ The 2006 oil spill of 250 gallons in Alaskan Tundra has imposed different criminal charges †¢ BP faced immense crisis of poor management due to toxic spill of about 2000 gallon of methanol in Prudhoe bay †¢ The Alaskan oil well operations got seized †¢ The business formulated unsound policies related to environment †¢ Brand image might get worsened due to the recent oil spill crisis †¢ The business lacks contingency plan in order to overcome major issues Opportunity: †¢ Natural gas stipulation in North America has amplified†¢ Recently petrochemicals and refined product requirements has increased in China †¢ Due to prevailing environmental issues more and more businesses are investing in alternative sources of energy †¢ To a greater extent gas and oil exploration plants are being established specifically in developed countries †¢ The business has decided to invest USD 8 billion in alternative energy comprising of hydrogen gas, solar power, wind energy and natural gas †¢ It has decided to further expand in Post Soviet areas and acquire plants in North Sea †¢ Flexible pricing policy will enable the business to compete with major rivalsThr eat: †¢ Environmental regulations have imposed one of the chief threat on diverse business operations †¢ In North sea alone resource has reduced to a major extent †¢ Majority of the oil exploration and production areas have been faced with ups and downs †¢ Major competitors like Chevron and Shell might adversely affect the business †¢ USA government has filed major lawsuit against one of the recent BP oil spill crisis Action Plan for British Petroleum: A novel route: The business presentation reveals that it has adapted to changing environment and opted for sustainable future strategy.The top most priority highlighted includes reliability and safety and the business aims that the future business operations will specifically focus on personal safety. The 2015 forecast reveals immense opportunities in deepwater operations, gigantic fields and producing alternative energy sources. In contrary to this, although BP is not the only player responsible for the probl em, even then numerous issues have been surfaced and political influence has further threatened the operation by imposing strict regulations and control.It has incurred increase in cost due to political influence from USA and Brazil and safety measures criteria. It can be said that business itself destabilized, demoralized and weakened its future directions. Prior to this it was a world class corporation with premium brands and strong customer base and everything changed in three weeks (Rowell, 2010). Future growth strategy: Macalister (2010) states that the business has to recompense USD 20 billion as a liability for the oil spill issue.Nevertheless the business opted for the betterment and claimed that it will be establishing exploration and production plants in Libya, Egypt and Azerbaijan in the imminent years. The business came up with a comprehensive DRP (disaster recovery plan) which involves investigation, bringing changes at management level, looking into group performance a nd opting for future strategy formulation. The business introduced Bob Dudley as new face to clear up the business image. The strategy focuses on rehabilitation and compensation plan and improving the global image of BP and transforming into a good corporate citizenship across all over the globe.In order to gain confidence of stakeholders, the business particularly participated with communities in order to rebuild those areas which have been adversely affected by the crisis. The business stated that the crisis will have an impact on the future strategy in terms of liabilities but it aims in protecting and growth expansion of the business. The corporation collaborated with US agencies in order to pay off all the legitimate claims and deploy massive systems for the purpose of environmental restitution. About more than 15, 000 volunteers participated and committed to the appropriate strategy.Lesson learned as a future contingency plan: Winston (2010) analyzed philosophical, geopolitica l and corporate level strategy of BP and highlighted key learning points: †¢ The conventional fossil fuel technology is disastrous for species, business and overall society. Rather than investing in carbon emitting fossil fuels the business must look into safety and minimizing risk. †¢ Everything never goes right and there exist an element of uncertainty. The spreadsheet models being used in businesses only resemble positive numbers and they cannot forecast and formulate proactive measures.Oil companies found future success in deepwater oil exploration and they went for it and forget to look into clean up technologies and oil spill shielding measures. †¢ One of the prominent examples was reflected by Johnson & Johnson who called back all the Tylenol medicines and established one of the prominent corporate behavior paradigms. In contrast to this, BP CEO Mr. Hayward always said that it was an insignificant issue in comparison to massive sea and it resulted into awful re sponse in the form of slow actions and took them three months to impede the leakage. Nonetheless Mr. Hayward has learnt a lot for future debacles.†¢ Conventionally risk management was the primary concern however abiding to green provision will result into sustainability and decrease in risk. The poor risk management by BP reveals that it lost USD 70 billion market value within one week of the disaster. However the impact of its products on the overall ocean was massive and unquantifiable which killed precious species. Therefore BP will transform into green leader and further improve its supply chain so that it can perform socially and environmentally in an outclass manner. †¢ Businesses spend decades to build brand equity and it takes small fraction of time for everything to be lost.BP invested in businesses beyond petroleum but major diminution can be highlighted in the case of renewable energy just because of slight decrease in current profits therefore the business must invest in renewable sources in future sustainability. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the business opted for a holistic approach. The demeanor remains with adapting to environmental changes and performing as a good corporate citizen. The business gained vast experience from the disaster and opted for finest outcome. It formulated an aggressive marketing strategy with business expansion in Azerbaijan, Egypt and Libya.Although there are political influences even then the business looked into personal safety and reliability measures. The future remains with deep water exploration and alternative energy resources. The corporation formulated a disaster management plan and worked in order to gain confidence from diverse stakeholders. Some of the lesson engrossed includes investing in renewable resources, including risk management in financial modules, opting for swiftness and responsiveness and taking proactive measures for different business processes and operations. References: Re search and Markets. (2010). British Petroleum Company: Company Analysis.Retrieved August 20, 2010, from http://www. researchandmarkets. com/reports/354859/ Rowell, A. (2010). BP’s Long Term Business Strategy in Chaos†¦ Retrieved August 20, 2010, from http://priceofoil. org/2010/06/29/bp%E2%80%99s-long-term-business-strategy-in-chaos/ Macalister, T. (2010). BP chief Tony Hayward to outline strategy that restores firm's fortunes. Retrieved August 20, 2010, from http://www. guardian. co. uk/business/2010/jul/21/bp-oil-spill-tony-hayward Winston, A. (2010). Five Lessons from the BP Oil Spill. Retrieved August 20, 2010, from http://blogs. hbr. org/winston/2010/06/the-bp-oil-spill-top-5-lessons. html

Born of the Fourth of July essays

Born of the Fourth of July essays The narrator gets wounded in the war of Vietnam. There are many wounded soldiers around him but he gets rescued by a black man. All the injured man get loaded in amtracs that drive them into different war camps (hospitals).There he gets operated because he cant move his legs. All the others around him are screaming, because they have to suffer incredible pains. One day before they left Vietnam forever a general arrives in the camp and hands a Purple Heart over to everyone, in the name of the president. After that he leaves Vietnam with a plane. He comes into the St. Alban Naval hospital in Queens together with the others. It was the first time they could laught. His therapy starts. He is working very hard. He lifts weight every day, but his fight against the wheelchair has just begun. He moves into a new hospital, which is completely different. He feels totally desperate, because he notices that he will never be able to go to the toilet or to have sex and he cant to sports anymore. He never tells the family about that, but he trains very hard every day and within the help of the new machines he will learn walking again. Jimmy and Dick the two therapists are suppoting him. Ron compares the hospital with a madhouse, a wild zoo with the patients as its animals. In this chapter he remembers his youth. He was a fanatic sports-man, especially baseball was one of his favourit subjects. He watched every game. He went to the movies with his friends and as a result of this he wanted to become a soldier by the US-marines. He and his friends played war the whole day long. One day he was fascinated that the Russains were the first nation that sent a satelitt into space. This was the so called Spunik. But he was very proud of Amerika when they also managed to send a satelitt into space. He started to train his body and loved watching his muscles in the mirror. At the same time he began to wrestle in the school team. He was qui...

Biography of Francisco Madero, Led Mexican Revolution

Biography of Francisco Madero, Led Mexican Revolution Francisco I. Madero (October 30, 1873–February 22, 1913) was a reformist politician and writer and president of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. This unlikely revolutionary helped engineer the overthrow of dictator Porfirio Dà ­az by kick-starting the Mexican Revolution. Unfortunately for Madero, he was caught between remnants of Dà ­azs regime and the revolutionaries he unleashed and was deposed and executed in 1913. Fast Facts: Francisco Madero Known For: Father of the Mexican RevolutionBorn: Oct. 30, 1873 in Parras, MexicoParents: Francisco Ignacio Madero Hernndez, Mercedes Gonzlez Trevià ±oDied: Died Feb. 22, 1913 in Mexico City, MexicoSpouse: Sara Pà ©rez Early Life Francisco I. Madero was born on Oct. 30, 1873, in Parras, Coahuila, Mexico, to wealthy parents- by some accounts, the fifth-richest family in Mexico. His father was Francisco Ignacio Madero Hernndez; his mother was Mercedes Gonzlez Trevià ±o. His grandfather, Evaristo Madero, made lucrative investments and was involved in ranching, wine-making, silver, textiles, and cotton. Francisco was well educated, studying in the United States, Austria, and France. When he returned from the U.S., he was placed in charge of some family interests, including the San Pedro de las Colonias hacienda and farm, which he operated at a profit, introducing modern farming methods and improving worker conditions. In January 1903, he married Sara Pà ©rez; they had no children. Early Political Career When Bernardo Reyes, governor of Nuevo Leà ³n, brutally broke up a political demonstration in 1903, Madero became politically involved. Although his early campaigns for office failed, he funded a newspaper that he used to promote his ideas. Madero had to overcome his image to succeed as a politician in macho Mexico. He was small with a high-pitched voice, making it difficult to command respect from soldiers and revolutionaries who saw him as effeminate. He was a vegetarian and teetotaler, considered peculiar in Mexico, and an avowed spiritualist. He claimed to have contact with his dead brother Raà ºl and liberal reformer Benito Juarez, who told him to maintain pressure on Dà ­az. Dà ­az Porfirio Dà ­az was an iron-fisted dictator in power since 1876. Dà ­az had modernized the country, laying miles of train tracks and encouraging industry and foreign investment, but at a cost. The poor lived in abject misery. Miners worked without safety measures or insurance, peasants were kicked off their land, and debt peonage meant that thousands were essentially slaves. He was the darling of international investors, who commended him for â€Å"civilizing† an unruly nation. Dà ­az kept tabs on those who opposed him. The regime controlled the press, and rogue journalists could be jailed without trial for libel or sedition. Dà ­az played politicians and military men against one another, leaving few threats to his rule. He appointed all state governors, who shared the spoils of his crooked but lucrative system. Elections were rigged and only the foolish tried to buck the system. Dà ­az had fought off many challenges, but by 1910 cracks were showing. He was in his late 70s, and the wealthy class he represented worried about his successor. Years of repression meant the rural poor and urban working class loathed Dà ­az and were primed for revolution. A revolt by Cananea copper miners in 1906 in Sonora had to be brutally suppressed, showing Mexico and the world that Diaz was vulnerable. 1910 Elections Dà ­az had promised free elections in 1910. Taking him at his word, Madero organized the Anti-Re-Electionist Party to challenge Diaz and published a bestselling book titled  The Presidential Succession of 1910. Part of Maderos platform was that when Dà ­az came to power in 1876, he claimed he wouldnt seek re-election. Madero insisted that no good came from one man holding absolute power and listed Dà ­azs shortcomings, including the massacre of Maya Indians in the Yucatan, the crooked system of governors, and the Cananea mine incident. Mexicans flocked to see Madero and hear his speeches. He began publishing a newspaper,  El Anti-Re-Electionista, and secured his partys nomination. When it became clear that Madero would win, Dà ­az had most of the Anti-Re-Electionist leaders jailed, including Madero, arrested on a false charge of plotting armed insurrection. Because Madero came from a wealthy, well-connected family, Dà ­az could not simply kill him, as he had two generals who had threatened to run against him in 1910. The election was a sham and Dà ­az â€Å"won.†Ã‚  Madero, bailed out of jail by his wealthy father, crossed the border and set up shop in San Antonio, Texas. He declared the election null and void in his â€Å"Plan of San Luà ­s Potosà ­Ã¢â‚¬  and called for armed revolution. November 20 was set for the revolution to begin. Revolution With Madero in revolt, Dà ­az rounded up and killed many of his supporters. The call to revolution was heeded by many Mexicans. In the state of Morelos,  Emiliano Zapata  raised an army of peasants and harassed wealthy landowners. In the state of Chihuahua,  Pascual Orozco  and  Casulo  Herrera raised sizable armies. One of Herreras captains was ruthless revolutionary  Pancho Villa, who replaced the cautious Herrera and, with Orozco, captured cities in Chihuahua in the name of the revolution. In  February 1911, Madero returned from the U.S. Northern leaders including Villa and Orozco didnt trust him, so in March, his force swollen to 600, Madero led an attack on the federal garrison at Casas Grandes, which was a fiasco. Outgunned, Madero and his men retreated, and Madero was injured. Although it ended badly, Maderos bravery gained him respect among the northern rebels. Orozco, at that time leader of the most powerful rebel army, acknowledged Madero as leader of the revolution. Not long after the battle, Madero met  Villa  and they hit it off despite their differences. Villa knew he was a good bandit and rebel chief, but he was no visionary or politician. Madero  was a man of words, not action, and he considered Villa a Robin Hood,  just the man to oust Dà ­az. Madero allowed his men to join Villas force: His days of soldiering were done. Villa and Orozco pushed toward  Mexico City, scoring victories over federal forces along the way. In the south, Zapatas peasant army was capturing towns in his native state of Morelos, beating superior federal forces with a combination of determination and numbers. In May 1911, Zapata scored a huge, bloody victory over federal forces in the town of Cuautla. Dà ­az could see that his rule was crumbling. Dà ­az Quits Dà ­az negotiated a surrender with Madero, who generously allowed the former dictator to leave the country that month. Madero was greeted as a hero when he rode into Mexico City on June 7, 1911. Once he arrived, however, he made a series of mistakes. As interim president, he accepted Francisco Leà ³n de la Barra, a former Dà ­az crony who coalesced the anti-Madero movement. He also demobilized Orozcos and Villas armies. Maderos Presidency Madero became president in November 1911. Never a true revolutionary, Madero simply felt that Mexico was ready for democracy and Dà ­az should step down. He never intended to carry out radical changes, such as land reform. He spent much of his time as president trying to reassure the privileged class that he wouldnt dismantle the power structure left by Dà ­az. Meanwhile, Zapata, realizing that Madero would never approve real land reform, took up arms again. Leà ³n de la Barra, still interim president and working against Madero, sent  Gen. Victoriano Huerta, a brutal remnant of Dà ­azs regime, to Morelos to contain Zapata. Called back to Mexico City, Huerta began conspiring against Madero. When he became president, Maderos only remaining friend was Villa, whose army was demobilized. Orozco, who hadnt gotten the huge rewards he had expected from Madero, took to the field, and many of his former soldiers joined him. Downfall and Execution The politically naive Madero didnt realize he was surrounded by danger. Huerta was conspiring with American ambassador Henry Lane Wilson to remove Madero, as Fà ©lix Dà ­az, Porfirios nephew, took up arms along with Bernardo Reyes. Although Villa rejoined the fight in favor of Madero, he ended up in a stalemate with Orozco. Madero refused to believe his generals would turn on him. The forces of Fà ©lix Dà ­az entered Mexico City, and a 10-day standoff known as la  decena  trgica (â€Å"the tragic fortnight†) ensued. Accepting Huertas â€Å"protection,† Madero fell into his trap: He was arrested by Huerta on Feb. 18,  1913,  and executed four days later, though Huerta said he was killed when his supporters tried to free him. With Madero gone, Huerta turned on his fellow conspirators and made himself president. Legacy Although he wasnt a radical,  Francisco Madero  was the spark that set off the  Mexican Revolution. He was clever, rich, well-connected, and charismatic enough to get the ball rolling against a weakened Porfirio Dà ­az, but couldnt hold onto power once he attained it. The Mexican Revolution was fought by brutal, ruthless men, and the idealistic  Madero  was out of his depth. Still, his name became a rallying cry, especially for Villa and his men. Villa was disappointed that Madero had failed and spent the rest of the revolution looking for another politician to entrust with the future of his country. Maderos brothers were among Villas staunchest supporters. Later politicians tried and failed to unite the nation until 1920, when Alvaro Obregà ³n seized power, the first to succeed at imposing his will on the unruly factions. Decades later, Madero is seen as a hero by Mexicans, the father of the revolution that did much to level the playing field between rich and poor. He is seen as weak but idealistic, an honest, decent man destroyed by the demons he helped to unleash. He was executed before the bloodiest years of the revolution, so his image is unsullied by later events. Sources McLynn, Frank.  Villa and Zapata: A History of the Mexican Revolution.  Basic Books, 2000.Francisco Madero: President of Mexico. Encyclopedia Brittanica.Francisco Madero. Biography.com.

Botox Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Botox - Case Study Example SWOT analysis Strengths: Allergan has the possibility for dominance on several niche markets because of the uniqueness and appeal of their product. The main consumers of the product Botox are celebrities from many fields, which include actors and television artists. Thus, the element of celebrity endorsement is a great advantage. Facial beauty is a major concern in the modern world and the ability of a product to remove wrinkles and black marks on the skin will likely work as an element of strong attraction for customers. Botox also cures migraine, constant neck and back pain, extreme sweating, and possible convulsive disorders. These are major attraction for enticing customers to the product. The appeal becomes all the more significant because the consumers will think of it as a panacea for countering various ailments. Thus the product can command major share in all the market where it is introduced or available. Fashion industry has a commandeering position in the modern world and people’s affinity towards cosmetic products offers immense opportunities for products like Botox. People are prepared to invest hefty sum on body and skin care products and this trend opens for Allergen a floodgate of avenues to maximize its sales and to generate huge volumes of profit. Botox’s product caters to high end clients for whom the cost factor may not be a major element. Thus, they can remain in a position to provide high quality, variety and other attractions for promoting the product. Weaknesses Allergan depends too much on Botox sales. The other products of the company do not have any significant prospects for sales like Botox. Though lasting for only a short time, Botox cosmetics are known to cause serious side effects, which may repel some of the customers. It is prone to hamper some of the facial expressions like causing wrinkles while frowning etc, which may create a negative impact on actors and TV artists. The effective life span of Botox cosmetic tr eatment is only three to six months, which may create problems for low end consumers, when the cost factor is high. This may compromise the product’s popularity among the low income group of customers. Opportunities Expanded variety of Botox suggestion and indications would make stronger the future sales. Use of well-known position in ophthalmic, neurotoxin and linked markets to enhance the sales and current market situation. By measuring the current advantages of products, especially Botox multiple advantages, the company could focus more on developing the minute benefits of the products and launch the products with more specialities. Botox cosmetic treatment lasts only three to six months, so all the side effects are temporary. The company authorities could mention this temporary side effect issue and could attract more customers especially Celebrities. Threats Allergan stands to face tight competition from Alcon, a company which is into the manufacturing of surgical produc ts, pharmaceutical products, optical care products etc. Risk of calculating erosion of Botox’s market share by other neurotoxin products. Due to the successful market career and larger sales of products, other companies may try to launch substitute products similar to Botox. Boxton’s usage is creating more side effects; in order to prevent that company should develop prevention methods. Marketing Mix Marketing mix is an essential component of the marketing plan and strategy of any company. Developing a marketing mix implies the development of a strategy for the optimization of the five Ps of marketing, which are product, price, promotion, place and package. There are a number of essential components which need to be kept in mind while determining a marketing mix. The product must have an definite target market, the price must be within a specified budget appropriate to the

Prophecy in the Abrahamic faiths Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Prophecy in the Abrahamic faiths - Essay Example In Judaism, male prophets including Hosea, Amos, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and female prophets like Huldah and Miriam are considered the â€Å"mouthpieces† of God, Moses being the greatest of these prophets (Swidler, Duran, and Firestone 2007, p. 39). In Christianity as well, Jesus and the other prophets, including Moses are considered as God’s â€Å"spokespersons† (Swidler, Duran, and Firestone 2007, p. 39). Some others such as those mentioned in early Christian writings are also considered prophets. Islam also believes in the authenticity of the Jewish and Christian prophets, apart from the belief in the prophethood of Muhammad. The similarities among the prophets of the Abrahamic faiths are mostly in terms of their teachings, i.e. they preached monotheism, the oneness of God. They denounced idol worship and belief in false gods. They brought in social order to their nation and worked towards delivering the people from oppression and misery. They served as guides, fore tellers, and warners against sins. The prophets of the Abrahamic faiths also gave the holy scriptures to their people. All these holy books were a result of divine inspiration. All the prophets taught the concept of good and evil, life in the hereafter, heaven and hell, the Day of Judgment, angels, Satan, etc. All the prophets trace back their lineage to Prophet Abraham. 11 Differences between Prophets of the Abrahamic Faiths 11 Jews do not believe in the prophethood of Jesus and Muhammad (Honda, Alderman and Korneliussen n.d). In Christianity, Moses is believed to be a prophet, yet Muhammad is not considered to be a prophet. In Islam, however, both Moses and Jesus are revered as prophets. However, one difference in the Muslim and the Christian belief is that while the Christians believe Jesus to be more than a prophet, the Muslims view him only as a prophet. They do not believe him to be the son of God, unlike the Christians. Moreover, while Christians associate divinity with Jesus , Muslims believe that he was able to perform miracles only by the will and permission of God. Furthermore, unlike the Christian belief, the Muslims do not believe that Jesus was crucified (Honda, Alderman and Korneliussen n.d). As Nasr explains, the Quran does not accept the crucifixion of Jesus, but rather mentions that Jesus was taken to heaven (4:157-58 cited in Phipps 1999). The Muslim belief about Prophet Adam is also different from the Christian and Jewish belief. According to Islam, although Adam was considered to have sinned upon eating the forbidden fruit, humankind is not responsible and the concept of original sin is denounced in Islam (Schirrmacher n.d.). However, according to the biblical version, Adam transgressed the commandment of God by eating the forbidden fruit, and so brought death and sin to the entire human race, the reconciliation of which is possible only through the death of Jesus (Schirrmacher n.d.). 12 The main difference between Jesus and Moses, as per C hristian belief, is the divinity they associate with Jesus (Carmody and Carmody 1996). As per Christian faith, although Moses is a â€Å"great religious hero† and the â€Å"medium of God’s amazing grant of the covenant†, Jesus was more than that (Carmody and Carmody 1996, p. 187). According to them, Jesus sacrificed himself for humankind, â€Å"fashioned a new covenant†

Film Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Film Evaluation - Essay Example e tortured and abducted women, and quest of certain individuals, who benevolently wish to put an end to such heinous practice so that the world can be a better place to live. Casting of the film does not include giant names from the Hollywood film industry, however, collaborative and sincere acting efforts by Kevin Kline, Cesar Ramos, Paulina Gaità ¡n, and Alicja Bachleda-Curus have attempted to provide a realist impression of the horror of the situation that looms heavy over women even in the modern context of human civilization. This film speaks of a world, where women are subjects of sensual pleasure and financial benefit; where a mother does not hesitate to sell her innocent daughter to satisfy her monetary requirements; where believers of God are indulged in the business of human trafficking; where moral corruption is a regular and normal practice. The name of the film, Trade immediately gives a symbolic impression that every aspect of human life has become commoditized and the essential virtues, such as tenderness, emotion, humanity, and valuing relationship have been defeated in comparison to such commoditization. Despite the fact that in the end of the film, the protagonists have received the chance to get back to their dear ones, but the situation of crisis retains and it has also been made clear through the film that unless immediate actions are taken and human beings do not fight against the present situation, the process of denying human entity will continue and they will increasingly remain as the subjects of trade. Story: Story of the film revolves around lives and experiences of Adriana and Jorge, who are brother and sister in their relation. Residing in the Mexico City, while Jorge has become quite a ruffian due to his close association with wrong friends, on the other, he is very much caring towards his sister and loves her truly. However, in the very beginning of the film, it has been shown that the business of human trafficking for sexual slavery

Bilingualism And Bilingual Education Theories Essay

Bilingualism And Bilingual Education Theories - Essay Example One of the most common theories developed is the balancing theory. The theory, also referred to as the balloon theory, was first proposed by Fritz Heider. The theory is based on a motivational theory of attitude change. The theory draws a picture of the cognitive consistency motive as the primary drive towards a psychological balance. In bilingualism, the theory looks at the theory suggest that the languages in the subject are always in balance provided that the affect valence in the language development multiplies into a positive result (Baker, 2006, P165, Ll2).Jim Cummins one of prominent bilingual and second language researcher proposed the iceberg analogy. The iceberg analogy is a theory that is centered on a more accurate model that depicts the relationship between the mind and the bilingual acquisition (Baker, 2006, P167, Ll7). The model, common underlying proficiency (CUP) is presented in the form of two icebergs. The two icebergs appear separate on the surface an indication o f the outward difference between the two languages. Underneath the surface, the icebergs have fused an indication that both languages are stored in the in a single processing system (Baker, 2006, P165, Ll2). The two languages can access, contribute and make use of the central processing system.Cummins also contributed to the bilingual pool of knowledge by suggesting the threshold theory. This theory places a strong argument on language development in a balanced bilingual individual (Baker, 2006, P167, Ll2).

Focusing on Long term care for the elderly, how have internal markets Essay

Focusing on Long term care for the elderly, how have internal markets changed the organisation and delivery of public services - Essay Example This has in turn led to emergence of new management tactics in the public sector. Public services differ from other services provided by private sector in various ways. Private organizations produce goods and services for sale with an aim of making profit and hence are not available to people who cannot afford them. On the other hand, the aim of the government is to provide the essential services to all citizens especially those who can’t afford. It does not aim at making profit by providing the services (Flynn, 2007). The public services also help the other members of society indirectly due to trickling effect of benefits from those who consume the services such as education. As opposed to private services which are acquired individually depending on affordability, public services are paid collectively through taxes and some can’t be offered in isolation. Some public services though are subject to charges such as leisure facilities, care for the elderly, and some drugs . The people accountable for ensuring the citizens get the services are the politicians who represent the needs of the electorate. The facilities used to provide the services are publicly owned although the government can rent private facilities to be able to provide the services. The government through public sector reforms has been engaging the services of private organizations in order to offer efficient services. There has also been need to provide high quality services and minimise costs therefore, the government employs the management tactics of the private sector to achieve the reforms needed (Hoggett, 1991). The organization and delivery of public services has therefore changed tremendously over time. One of the services affected by these changes is the provision of long term care for the elderly which will be discussed throughout the paper. Public Administration to New Public Management Traditionally, public administration dominated the public sector management. Organizatio n and delivery of services was controlled by the central government through public service employees. The services were funded by revenue collected from taxation, in essence citizens pay for the services indirectly but the provision of the services does not depend on how much individuals contribute as tax; services are offered equally to all. Bureaucratic controls were evident in administration and provision of services. The politicians elected by the people determine what is to be offered to the electorates through the budgetary process. They also determine the bureaux to supply the services as they are selected to lead ministries and make legislations for local authorities on services to carry out (Flynn, 2007). The organization and delivery of care services for the elderly were controlled centrally by the Department of Health through the regional health authorities. The department organized purchasing and provision of care for the elderly and the disabled (Brereton & Vasoodaven, 2010). The public enterprises followed strict procedures regulated by law. The work of the managers of these enterprises was to implement national policies. The management policies were geared towards ensuring trusted workers and development teams who in turn would promote public service values. Customer (citizens) satisfaction would

Breeding of the Giant Panda Bear Research Paper

Breeding of the Giant Panda Bear - Research Paper Example The panda is also called the giant panda to differentiate it from the red panda which is unrelated. This is a bear breed found in south western and central western China. The giant panda can be identified by the sizeable, unique black patches on its face, around the body, and its ears. The giant panda consumes bamboo despite belonging to the carnivorous group. Occasionally, giant pandas living in the forest consume meat in the form of carrion, rodents, or birds, wild tubers, and other grasses. Those that are held in areas for example, zoos, may eat specially cooked food, honey, bananas, eggs, oranges, fish, or yams. In addition, the giant panda’s habitat is located in mountain ranges, in central China. The giant panda has been forced to move out of lowland areas because of deforestation, farming, and other activities in the area (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 16). Currently, it is an endangered species. This paper will look at breeding of the giant panda bear. Giant pandas have a height of approximately two to three feet and may measure four to six feet in length. Male giant pandas are heavier and larger than female giant pandas. They can weigh 250 pounds while female giant pandas weigh below 220 pounds. The World Conservation Union has listed the giant panda as one of the endangered species in its Red List of Threatened Species. There are approximately 1600 giant pandas remaining in their natural habitats (Lumpkin and Seidensticker 25). ... For example, scientists have tried giving male giant pandas Viagra and also displaying videos of them mating. Nonetheless, it is in recent times that investigators have had accomplishments with breeding programs of captive male giants (Schaller 23). Current research shows that the breeding rate is one giant panda reproduced after every two years. Giant pandas attain sexual maturity between four to eight years. In addition, sexual activity in giant pandas may reach 20 years. During sexual activity, the female giant panda position’s itself in a crouching position with its head in a downward location. This allows the male giant panda mount her from the back. The time for copulation is short. It lasts for between thirty seconds and five minutes (Ryder 14). Nonetheless, a male giant panda may mount a female giant panda for a number of occasions to guarantee successful fertilization. If the female giant panda gives birth to twin cubs, only one of the two will continue to exist in th e harsh conditions. The female giant panda will choose the stronger of the two new born cubs, and the frail cub will perish. The female giant panda cannot provide sufficient milk for both the new born cubs. This is because female giant pandas do not amass fat. In contrast, male giant pandas do not assist in raising the cubs. Female giant pandas take almost 95 to 160 days to give birth after mating. The female giant may reproduce two young pandas but only a single one survives. Giant panda young ones may live with their mothers for approximately three years before living on their own. It can be presumed a female giant panda gives birth to a young one once in a year. The mating period lies between the months of March and May. This is a period when the female giant panda undergoes estrus. This