Coming Of Age Essays (1205 words) - Rites Of Passage, Commandments

Coming Of Age Coming of Age is a very important ritual in some cultures. Many cultures believe that you need a coming of age ritual to do exactly what it says; come of age, which if u analyze, may mean be of age to produce children. Most coming of age rituals take place around puberty, between the ages of ten and thirteen. Of the ones I have found, they all involve a big celebration of some kind including the whole family. Coming of age rituals may involve boys becoming men, girls becoming women, or both. Of the ones that celebrate both, they may stress more on one sex then the other. The Navahos, the Aruntas, people who study the religion of Judaism, and the Yanomamis are all cultures that have rituals for coming of age. The Navahos of the mid-west united states celebrate both the boys and the girls coming of age, yet they stress the girls a lot more then the men. The men go simply on a vision quest by themselves to find a lifelong helper and guide. The women's rituals are more complex. They celebrate the Kinaalda, which translates to ?Changing Woman?, which is a 4 day ritual for them. The ?Changing Woman? is said to bring fertility and long life to other women of the tribe. A major part of the kinaalda is the traditional run towards the sun's rays, which symbolize life, truth, beauty, and goodness. After the run is completed she will grind corn; which symbolizes the sun to the Navahos, for a cake. At the end of the fourth day they place the cake over a fire for the night. While the cake is baking everyone of the family stays up all night singing and praising, until the break of dawn when the sunlight's rays touch the girl. They sing one final song and then the ceremony is over. The Aruntas, and aboriginal tribe of Australia, celebrates the boys coming of age around the age of ten or twelve. This celebration gives the boy power and approval by the ancestors. First he is taken away from girls and made to march to a camp. Men throw him in the air while women scream and shout. Many patterns are painted on his body by relatives, he is instructed not to play with women or girls, and he is cut in the nasal septum so that he can wear a nose bone. Older men role play in dances as ancients and chant stories about the heroes of sacred times. The boy's future mother in law gives him a burning stick and he must keep the flame alive, symbolizing keeping faithful in a marriage to her daughter who was picked as his bride when he was born. After this, in the men's camp, many rituals are performed over three days to pass down knowledge and tradition from other generations, since they have no written language. He is forbidden to speak unless spoken to. Then the adult women re join the celebrants, but instead of welcoming them back, the men throw pieces of bark at them, symbolizing the removal of the boy from women's influences. After a couple more ceremonies which are very difficult to explain for the culture of these people is very complex, the women are allowed back into camp and the ceremonies are over. The people who study Judaism, many times referred to as Jews, have celebrated the Bar Mitzvah similarly as we know it today since the sixth century CE. I don't prefer to call them ?Jews? because it seems to have almost a mocking tone to it, something Hitler would have said, and we all know what Hitler did. The Bat Mitzvah was not developed until the middle ages. The difference between the Bar and Bat Mitzvah is that the Bar Mitzvah is for the boys becoming man and the Bat Mitzvah is for the girls becoming women. Mitzvah can be translated as ?good deed? or commandment. The Bar/Bat Mitzvah occurs when a child has reached thirteen years of age. Before thirteen it had to been seen that the parents were obliged to carry out religious responsibilities for the child. During the religious service of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah,

Essay on 6 MeasuresEssay Writing Service

Essay on 6 MeasuresEssay Writing Service Essay on 6 Measures Essay on 6 MeasuresThe measurement of awareness will involve the use f interviews and questionnaires of customers as well as employees of the company to find out the extent to which the proposed strategy has influenced them and to measure their current level of awareness.The measurement of the revenue of the company involves the analysis of the statistical information relevant to the financial performance of the company. The company can change its financial performance and the comparison of revenues of the company will show whether revenues of the company grow or decrease. The comparison of the revenues of the company before the introduction of the new strategy and after the introduction will show whether the revenues have increased or dropped.The increase of the awareness along with the growth of the revenues of the company will show that the implementation of the program is successful. In such a way, positive measurements will prove the positive impact of the program on the organiz ational performance. The company can reach a considerable progress, according to goals of the program. In such a way, the company can gain considerable benefits, if the program is implemented successfully that means the rise of awareness and revenues of the company.The costs of the project will include fifty thousand spends by the company per day. At the same time, the costs of the project can contribute to the consistent enhancement of the position of the company and its revenues. The enhancement of the position of the company will bring positive effects on its business development and contribute to the overall success of the business development. Hence, the implementation of the program can bring benefits that outweigh costs of the project.

Personal Effectiveness Report Objectives Research Paper

Personal Effectiveness Report Objectives - Research Paper Example the Big Five Locator), self-monitoring, and extroversion are presented as well. The ways on how the two individuals may leverage on their strengths and downplay their weaknesses based on these tests are explained. Background Individuals that work within one setting have distinct ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Thus, the profound understanding of these cognitions, attitudes and behaviors is critical in ensuring that the enterprise’s bottomlines are effectively met. A person may be better managed if his manager or colleague knows his personality, preferences, and styles of learning and behaving (Melamed & Jackson 1995). A comprehension of the nuances of personality, learning styles, self-monitoring, among others, will aid the manager in determining the best way to increase the motivation; optimize the development; and increase the effectiveness of management (Engleman and Kleiner 1998). Assessment accord insight to management on ambiguous characteristics that may spell the difference between mediocre and exemplary performance (Yeung & Berman 1997). The utilization of assessments heightens mastery of self, and benefits both the incumbent and his manager. Ultimately, such mastery has implications on how the person relates to others; how we works within a team; how driven he is to deliver results; and how substantially he contributes to organizational strategy (Darcy and Tracey 2003). In having such knowledge, managers may be able to recommend apt interventions for development and for filling gaps. Moreover, their motivators are more precisely identified, which will allow them to give more significant contributions at work. Such knowledge will likewise enhance their personal sense of satisfaction and well-being (Melamed & Jackson 1995). Overall, these assessments can aid organizations in achieving desirable bottomlines such as enhanced productivity; seamless cooperation; increased camaraderie; and a more marked emphasis on organizational learning and development (Yeung & Berman 1997). Personality assessments are important organizational tools that help ascertain the strengths and improvement areas of employees that may have implications on their capacity as individual contributors to organizational objectives (Judge, Higgins, Thoresen, & Barrick 1999). The peculiarities among employees should not be a reason for conflict, but rather as a means for productive synergy. Moreover, these assessments may be utilized for recruitment, training, and retention purposes. These standardized assessments are not without limitations (Rhodes & Hammer 2000). They may cause employees to be stereotyped. It is critical for these tests to be accurately interpreted to make sure that the hiring or development decisions that are brought forth are appropriate (Judge et al 1999). Aims The main aim of the paper is to ascertain the ways through which personality assessments may be used to recommend interventions for increased collaboration and team effect iveness. The outcomes of two team members on 1) hemisphere dominance; 2) learning styles; 3) interaction styles; 4) the Big Five Locator; 5) self-monitoring; and 6) extraversion are presented. These results may be used by their superiors and by the HR Department to recommend development interventions for these two individuals. This paper also intends to demonstrate how the outcomes of such assessments may b

Racial Disproportionality in the United States Prison System Research Paper

Racial Disproportionality in the United States Prison System - Research Paper Example Information gathered by the Political Research Associates (2005) reveal that the criminal justice system is generally racist. Even as most people in the US feel that we have already overcome our racist history, these practices are still very much apparent in our society today. This is apparent in the fact that, out of the 2.1 million adult men and women in our prisons, about 70% of these are blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and other racial minorities. These people of color are being imprisoned at a rate which is very much disproportionate, and they are not given access to the rehabilitation options which are often given to their white counterparts; they are also more prone to abuse and harassment by various government agencies (Political Research Associates, 2005). Although rates of crime commission are higher among people of color, they are also being disproportionately targeted in terms of unfair treatment within the criminal justice system. Only about 12.7% of the US population is made up of Black-Americans, however, 2003 surveys reveal that they comprise 48.2% of the adult population in federal, state, and local prisons (Prison Activist Resource Center, 2003). In relation to drug abuse, the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse declare that 72% drug users are whites, and only 15% are blacks; and yet, a greater percentage of blacks are imprisoned for drug offences (in Human Rights Watch, 2000). The Latin population makes up only about 11% of the US population, and about 10% of overall drug users in the US; however, 18.6% of the US prison population is made up of these Latinos, and 22.5% of them have been convicted for drug-related crimes (Political Research Associates, 2005). In relation to the death penalty convicts, a significant percentage (42.5%) are African-Americans, and these numbers represent more than three times the percentage for African Americans in the entire US population (Political Research Associates, 2005). Surveys carried out in 2003 also revealed that whites were imprisoned at a rate of 376 for every 100,000 individuals. This is in stark contrast to the statistics for people of color, with Indians imprisoned at a rate o f 709 for every 100,000, Latinos at 997 per 100,000 of their population, and for the African-Americans, at a rate of 2526 for every 100,000 (Political Research Associates, 2005). African-American males already have a 32% probability of serving time at any point in their lives; Hispanics are at a 17% probability; and for whites, they have a significantly lower probability of spending any time in jail at 6% (Political Research Associates, 2005). In reviewing this disproportionate trend in the American prison systems, it is necessary to evaluate the practices in the criminal justice system which has caused this racial disproportion in the American prisons. First of all, among adult drivers, blacks have an 11.2% probability of being pulled over as compared to

Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Research Paper Example It is also my job to become familiar with its structure and the steps necessary in forming a for-profit facility within a community of approximately 75,000 residents. My primary purpose is to define, develop, and to show how this facility can be set up to meet government regulations and requirements and to maximize profitability. One first needs to understand what exactly a primary care facility is and what are their functions. Primary care is a term used for health care services that play a major role in the local community. The term refers to work of health care professions who act as the first and primary point of consultation for its patients. The primary physician who comes in direct contact with the patients is usually a general practitioner or family physician. This is determined by location. In some instances the patient may opt to seek other means to self-determine the seriousness of their situation. Other health care professionals would be a pharmacist or maybe a nurse; thi s is more prevalent in the UK. The advantages to seeing these health care professionals are evident; they provide an immediate access and do not require an appointment. However, in some areas you would need to make an appointment to see a Nurse Practitioner. They would then make an assessment of the ailment or injury and refer the patient to a primary care physician or other care. Primary care in the existing facility involves a large range of health care. This includes all ages of patients, patients from all economic backgrounds as well as geographic origins. This could also include patients who want to maintain their own optimal health, mental health, social health, chronic physical ailments, acute chronic diseases, and including multiple chronic illnesses. Therefore, it is essential that a primary care physician possess a wide range of knowledge in many areas. The physician will also maintain continuity. This is the key to the success of a primary care facility and its staff. Man y of its patients prefer to consult the same primary care doctor for routine check-ups, and many like to see the same doctor for new complaints as well. Many physicians also prefer to collaborate with other primary care providers. Therefore, continuity and collaboration are two of the primary care facilities’ characteristics. The existing primary care/urgency care facility sees all types of patients from children to old adults. It’s located in a small town of 75,000 people and the residents consist of many backgrounds. The facility is located in a median income area; therefore, the patients vary from high income, mid income and low income patients. The current primary care facility see patients with common chronic illnesses; these include hypertension, heart failure and angina, diabetes, asthma and COPD, depression and anxiety, back pain, arthritis, and thyroid dysfunction. The prime care patients also include injuries of all types, broken bones, sprains, burns, cuts, abrasions, and other injuries that need an immediate assessment. This urgent care facility as well as others owned by Norvant specializes in treating serious conditions that may or may not be life threatening. According to the National Association for Ambulatory Care, â€Å"urgent care facilities are ideal for minor injuries like broken bones, small burns, muscle sprains and ear infections.† But like any organization, they also suggest that you go to a Hospital

The Challenger Shuttle Disaster Engineering Essay

The Challenger Shuttle Disaster Engineering Essay Abstract The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a global leader in the field of space flight and space science. NASA as an organization is exclusive in terms of mission, vision, objectives, magnitude, control, risk, and complexity. NASAs space flight program is the most complex and difficult task in their history. It is well known that the accident of Challenger space shuttle on 28th January 1986 was attributed to organizational failure. The breakdown of Columbia space shuttle in February 2003 points out again how even minute details play important roles in complex and high risk organizations. Many major organizational failures are result of poor decision making, adverse conditions, and poor assumptions. This paper focuses on Challenger Columbia space shuttle disaster, and validation behind calling it as an organizational failure. If NASA is sincerely thinking about reducing failure, they should consider organizational change to reduce probability of occurrence of such m ishaps. Introduction An organization exists when a group of people work together to achieve goals (Daft, 2007). Organizations are all around us and shape our lives in many ways. Organizations can be classified on the basis of scope, size, clientele, and nature of services. Even though the work culture of every organization is different, the basic principle of operation is same. With rapid globalization, there is added pressure on organizations to outperform each other. The pressure on a firm is the direct pressure on employees to perform. Every individual react to this pressure differently and at times can affect decision making skills in a poor manner. Organizational failure can be described as a single major incident, or chain of incidents, resulting from the action or inaction of individuals associated with the organization (Gillespie and Dietz, 2009). Organizational failures are unavoidable, and it can be consequence of a single cause. The enormity of failure depends upon number of causes. The basic reasons for organizational failures are poor planning, management, and corporate culture. Organizational characteristics of NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), an organization with 18,000 employees and a budget of US$ 15 billion was set up in 1958. It is exclusive in the terms of size, mission, and motivations. The motivation factor ranged from winning the SOVIET/US space battle during the 1960s, to becoming a leader in all the areas of spaceflight and space science at present. NASA is considered to be a closely path dependent organization (Bruggeman, 2002). Path dependence implies to the inclination of an organization to make decisions based on their history. During 1960s space race between United States and Soviet Union for technological superiority, cost concerns were less important. During this period the importance of human spaceflight for a successful space program was realized. There were significant budget cuts for NASA by the end of the cold war era; even then the focus was on human spaceflight. To counter budget cuts, some portions of the shuttle program were contracted out to private suppliers (Hall, 2003). The key point is that, even today space shuttle is an experimental vehicle. Lessons are still learned from each shuttle returning to earth. The official development stage for the space shuttle was from 1980 to 1982. After that period, it was considered operational, but still shuttle engineers had contradicting opinions. They considered it to be a developmental aircraft because of constantly changing technology and inexplicable problems that cannot be predicted from design. The unexpected problems continued to occur during shuttle missions, but no disasters occurred. Due to budget constraints, management was not keen on finding the root causes of the problem. NASA allowed these technical flaws to pass, as analyses were costly and time consuming. Even at the suppliers end, due to incessant production pressure, problems were often neglected. The Challenger Tragedy On 28 January 1986, around seventy-six seconds into the mission, the Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed, killing all seven crew members (Rogers Commission report, 1986). This happened due to a design flaw in shuttles solid rocket booster and disintegration of an O-ring on its right solid rocket booster (Lighthall, 1991). The problems mentioned above were significant, but there were many other reasons which contributed to the destruction of Columbia space shuttle. Components of Shuttle The Columbia space shuttle, officially called as Space Transportation System (STS), has three major components; the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), and two Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) motors as shown in Figure 1. Orbiter It is a winged craft that carries astronauts and payloads (satellites or space station) into space and travel back to land on a runway. However, to get additional thrust, two large Solid Rocket Boosters are provided, each attached to the sides of external tank (shown in Figure 1), as Orbiter alone does not provide enough thrust. Figure 1: Challenger Space Shuttle (Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster, 2003) Components of the Space Shuttle The three components are attached together during shuttle assembly, whereas the field joints between the sections contain two rubber O-rings. The purpose of O-rings is to fill the field joints and prevent hot gases from escaping. The solid rockets are cheaper and less complicated than liquid- fuel rocket engines. The biggest disadvantage of solid rocket is that it cannot be tuned off once ignited. External Tank The purpose of external tank is to carry liquid fuel for the three engines located in the aft section of the orbiter. The lower two third of the tank carries liquid hydrogen with the upper one third containing liquid oxygen. Cold Temperature Concern for O-rings Before the launch of Columbia shuttle, no experimentation was conducted on space shuttles at temperatures below 51 F (11 C). The air temperature dropped to 18 F (- 8 C) in the night and 36 F (2 C) in the morning before the launch. Even Morton Thiokol, the contractor for construction and maintenance of shuttle SRBs had insufficient data on performance of boosters at lower temperatures. There were some other notable factors which are discussed as follows: 1. The external tank was filled with -423 F (-253 C) liquid hydrogen and -300 F (-184 C) liquid oxygen. The cold breeze in the night and morning before the shuttle launch changed air in external tank to super-cooled state and moved it down to the ground. 2. It was known that passing of cold breeze results in formation of external tank. This observation was not unusual because it happened during warm temperatures also. The direction of wind was western-northwestern that day, resulting in super cooled air to slide down directly to the lower portion of the right SFB. 3. To measure the thickness of ice layer on the external tank, infrared cameras were used by the ground staff before every launch. On the day of the launch, a temperature of 8 F (-13 C) was recorded at the aft field joint of the right SRB. The ground staff did not pass this vital information to the management. Figure 2: Challenger Space Shuttle (Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster, 2003) All these factors contributed to the malfunctioning of primary and secondary O-ring causing hot exhaust gases at the temperature of 6000 F (3315 C) to escape from the rocket chamber and led to catastrophic incident. Poor Decision Making Before the launch of the Challenger space shuttle, a teleconference was held between Morton Thiokol, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to decide whether it should be launched or not. The engineers at Thiokol were not in the favor of the launch because of their apprehensions on the performance of O-rings in cold weather conditions (Hall, 2003). However, before the launch of Challenger there were many cases of O-ring damage (Dalal, Fowlkes, and Hoadley, 1989). Due to immense production pressure, the Thiokol engineers were not able to find the root causes, and justify their arguments with substantial evidence. The graphs presented during the teleconference were vague and confusing. Furthermore in their rush to get ready for the conference call, the engineering team erroneously included slides which were previously used for Flight Readiness Review (FRR) to claim that O-rings would not be a problem (Tufte, 1997). The management was not convinced with the case and decided to launch the shuttle. The report on the challenger space shuttle disaster states, After the shuttle became operational in 1980, the workforce and functions of several shuttle safety, reliability, and quality assurance offices were reduced. A safety committee, the Space Shuttle Program Crew Safety Panel, ceased to exist at that time (Leveson, 1995). Recommendations Collaboration with Suppliers: NASA needs to change the conventional thinking about sourcing. The Collaborative sourcing approach is different from the traditional approach on sourcing. The traditional sourcing technique is all about squeezing the supplier to make profit. In collaborative sourcing both buyer and supplier craft a joint vision to achieve their objectives. They should emphasize on improving product and line processes by concurrent engineering, combined testing, and root cause engineering for error finding and rectification (Helper, MacDuffie, and Sabel, 2009). Role of Hierarchy at NASA: A grave problem with NASA was its complicated corporate culture. NASA, which was a research institute, had become a platform, which was used by politicians for their promotion. The management should have understood that minute details play a crucial role in research organization like NASA. Even the decision to launch Challenger was influenced by government officials. As, President, Regan was scheduled to give his State of the Union Address the next night in which he intended to speak about astronaut Christa McAuliffe (Hall, 2003). NASA needs to develop a system for engineers to overcome the bureaucracy and hierarchy. By this way they wont be asked to defend their concerns and intuitions. Importance to minor problems: Acceptance of deviations from standard was one major reason for the challenger disaster. The nature of work carried out at NASA is very sensitive and therefore the specification of tolerance to abnormalities should be suitably low. The O-ring problem was frequent, but management persisted with it on the grounds that it does not possess flight safety risk. If the engineers had succeeded in convincing the management to replace the damaged O-rings, loss of life and vehicle could have been averted. Following steps are recommended for problem analysis: 1. Find the significance and basis of the problem. 2. Prepare a full proof action plan to rectify the problem. 3. All the parameters should be tested against variables like temperature, wind, humidity etc. 4. Importance to Problem Reporting and Corrective Action (PRACA). Conclusions The Challenger shuttle disaster presents various issues that are relevant from engineering management standpoint. One of the key points is change in perspective of engineers who are now placed at managerial positions. It is vital for managers not to overlook their own engineering work experience, or the knowledge of their assistants. A lot of times, even managers with engineering background are not up to date about the latest advancement in the field of engineering. The managers should realize this while taking any decision on technical matters. Another important aspect is the role of ethics in engineering management. The job of engineer is to design, and along with it comes the responsibility that the product or service designed is safe for customers. It is the ethical responsibility of engineers to acknowledge mistakes and present unaltered data to the management. Further, the management decision can have a positive result or negative impact on organizations reputation.

Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop and Ancient Kemet :: Free Essays Online

Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop and Ancient Kemet Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop is considered to be the most respected scholar of Kemet. An Egyptologist and linguist, he had the revolutionary idea to use the scientific method to disprove the many myths surrounding ancient Kemet. He developed a way to test the levels of melanin in Egyptian mummies, which revealed that the ancient Egyptians were, indeed, Africans. He also argued that the Egyptian language was related to African dialects and can be connected to the Wolof language of today. By far, the most important theory that he sought to prove was that human life began in Africa. Diop argued that the first civilizations emerged in the Nile Basin on the eastern coast of Africa. It is from this basin that African people fanned out across the continent and onto other lands around the 6th century BC. There exist two theories of human origin: monogenetic and polygenetic. The monogenetic view states that there is one source for mankind; man was born in one place and became different due to the climatic conditions to which he was exposed. The polygenetic opinion claims that man has several locations of origin, which would explain the physiological differences between the races. Followers of this theory believe that man was born in Africa, Europe, and Asia and there was no evolutionary or climatic development. Diop states that there are two reasons why this theory is faulty. He says that nature never strikes twice in its evolution; she doesn't create the same being twice. In addition, complete fossils have been found on the African continents, which proves that life began there. No such fossils have been found anywhere else in the world. In 1912, a British geologist attempted to prove that life had begun in England by piecing together a fake fossil supposedly found on British soil. The fabricated skull was later found to have been a fake by an English anthropologist in the 1950's. It was determined to have been constructed using the mandible and canine teeth of a monkey. Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop and Ancient Kemet :: Free Essays Online Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop and Ancient Kemet Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop is considered to be the most respected scholar of Kemet. An Egyptologist and linguist, he had the revolutionary idea to use the scientific method to disprove the many myths surrounding ancient Kemet. He developed a way to test the levels of melanin in Egyptian mummies, which revealed that the ancient Egyptians were, indeed, Africans. He also argued that the Egyptian language was related to African dialects and can be connected to the Wolof language of today. By far, the most important theory that he sought to prove was that human life began in Africa. Diop argued that the first civilizations emerged in the Nile Basin on the eastern coast of Africa. It is from this basin that African people fanned out across the continent and onto other lands around the 6th century BC. There exist two theories of human origin: monogenetic and polygenetic. The monogenetic view states that there is one source for mankind; man was born in one place and became different due to the climatic conditions to which he was exposed. The polygenetic opinion claims that man has several locations of origin, which would explain the physiological differences between the races. Followers of this theory believe that man was born in Africa, Europe, and Asia and there was no evolutionary or climatic development. Diop states that there are two reasons why this theory is faulty. He says that nature never strikes twice in its evolution; she doesn't create the same being twice. In addition, complete fossils have been found on the African continents, which proves that life began there. No such fossils have been found anywhere else in the world. In 1912, a British geologist attempted to prove that life had begun in England by piecing together a fake fossil supposedly found on British soil. The fabricated skull was later found to have been a fake by an English anthropologist in the 1950's. It was determined to have been constructed using the mandible and canine teeth of a monkey.