Starbucks Red Flags of Fraud

Starbucks Coffee Company Stephanie Deacon Colorado Technical University Online: ACCT 320-1203A-01 Professor White 6 August 2012 Abstract This paper will provide an overview of Starbucks Coffee Company and identify seven red flags of possible fraudulent behavior within the organization. Steps to design a fraud prevention program will also be discussed based on the identified red flags. Starbucks Coffee Company opened its first store in Seattle, Washington in 1971 offering fresh-roasted whole bean coffees. Howard Schultz (Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive officer) joined Starbucks in 1982 as director of retail operations and marketing. Starbucks begins providing coffee to fine restaurants and espresso bars† (Starbucks, 2012). In 1985, â€Å"Howard founds Il Giornale, offering brewed coffee and espresso beverages made from Starbucks coffee beansâ€Å" (Starbucks, 2012). Two years later Howard Schultz purchases Starbucks assets with the help of local investors and Il Giornale changes its name to Starbucks Corporation and stores open in Chicago and Vancouver, Canada increasing the total number of stores to 17.Starbucks currently has over 16,000 stores in 50 countries and considers the company â€Å"the premier roaster and retailer of specialty coffee in the worldâ€Å" (Starbucks, 2012). Starbucks mission statement is â€Å" to inspire and nurture the human spirit-one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a timeâ€Å" (Starbucks, 2012). Starbucks refers to their employees as partners and their focus is to create a workplace that values and respects people from diverse backgrounds and to conduct business in an ethical manner.Starbucks has a business and ethics compliance program in place to help ensure that all employees make ethical decisions in the workplace. In addition to its retail outlets, the Starbucks brand of gourmet coffees, ready to drink Frappuccino and double shot drinks and ice creams are also sold in grocery and convenien ce store outlets. Starbucks total net revenues as of â€Å"fiscal year ending Oct 2, 2011 was $11,700. 4 (in millions) which was an increase from both 2010 fiscal year end of $10,707. 4 and $9,774. 6 from 2009 respectivelyâ€Å" (Starbucks Annual Report, 2012).As of â€Å"three quarters ended July 1, 2012, Starbucks unaudited net revenue was $9,935. 4 (millions), up from $8,668. 7 from July 3, 2011. Seven red flags of possible fraud Starbucks appears to have a good tone at the top with its established core values; however there can be instances of fraud going undetected by the auditors due to management’s override of controls. For example, with concerns about competition in the market, upper management could engage in creating fictitious revenues to make Starbucks look as if the company was performing better than it actually is. â€Å"McDonald’s 2011 annual revenues were $27. 1 billion† (Hoovers, 2012) in comparison to Starbucks $11. 70 billion and since McDo nald’s introduced the McCafe line in 2009 to compete with Starbucks, it has captured a sizeable portion of the coffee drinker’s market. According to Keith O’Brien from the New York Times, â€Å"beverages, thanks to smoothies and espresso drinks, are now a $9 billion annual business for McDonald’s in the United States† (O’Brien 2012). This type of competition could pressure Starbucks management to inflate the company’s earnings and one key area where this could be accomplished is with improper revenue recognition.Starbucks sells store valued gift cards called Starbucks cards where customers load money on the cards for future use in any participating Starbucks location. â€Å"Revenues from†¦stored value cards, primarily Starbucks Cards, are recognized when redeemed, or when we recognize breakage income† (Starbucks Annual Report, 2011). Breakage income is typically recognized when the redemption of the cards is likely to be r emote based on past history. Outstanding card balances are included in deferred revenue on the balance sheet.Management could record this deferred revenue on the income statement instead at year end, thus turning a potentially weak quarter into a much stronger one. Revenue recognition has a profound impact on a company’s income statement, and â€Å"not adhering to revenue recognition criteria could result in overstating revenue and net income in one reporting period and understating revenue and net income in a subsequent period† (Spiceland, Sepe, & Nelson, 2011, p. 30). â€Å"Typically, a senior executive who is inclined to â€Å"cook the books† possesses ow ethical standards, though this trait may often be difficult to detect prior to the commission of a crime† (White Collar Crime Fighter, n. d. ). Another red flag would be management unwilling to provide requested material to auditors, such as financial reports for fear they will uncover the fraud. The second area of concern for red flags of fraud would attribute to employee behavior. For instance, an employee who refuses to take vacation or sick time could be engaging in fraudulent activities.If an employee were embezzling from the company, â€Å"he would refuse vacation or promotion for fear of detection† (Hancox, n. d. ). Additional red flags to watch out for with employee behavior changes would be borrowing money from co-workers, â€Å"excessive gambling or drinking, or bragging about significant new purchases† (Hancox, n. d. ). High employee turnover is another indicator of potential fraud especially in an area of the organization that is more vulnerable to fraud such as payroll.High employee turnover can also be attributed to low morale and this could be a red flag of abusive management who may be engaging in fraudulent activity and should not be overlooked. High turnover at the executive level of the company would also be a red flag indicator that fraud might be occurring. Internal controls related to inventory encompass a large area ripe for fraud within Starbucks. Inventory deals with purchasing, receiving, shipping, processing and disbursements and if controls are overlooked it could seriously impact the company’s financial health.For example, high volumes of purchases from new vendors could be a red flag for fraud as this could indicate a fictitious company has been created and goods could be shipped to a fake address then stolen. Another red flag would be â€Å"purchasing agents that pick up vendor payments rather than have it mailed† (Hancox, n. d. ). Unusual increase in the book value of inventory or slow inventory turnover could be a red flag for fraud. For example, Starbucks inventory for â€Å"year end 2010 was $543. 3(millions) and $965. 8 for year end 2011† (Starbucks Annual Report, 2012).The COSO report indicated that â€Å"about 50 percent of the studied fraud companies overstated assets by recording f ictitious assets or assets not owner or capitalized items that should have been expensed†¦and the most commonly misstated asset was inventory† (Rezaee & Riley, 2010, p. 101). Payroll is another area that can be highly susceptible to fraud. A number of things to look for would be the personnel department reporting new hires or terminated employees to the payroll department to ensure that paychecks are going to the right people and that fictitious employees have not been created.Another issue would be having pre-numbered checks and having the sequence checked. If this internal control is not in place then it is possible to issue checks that have not been recorded in the system. Payroll checks should alos be authorized by two persons signatures to ensure that unauthorized payments are not made as a result of error or fraud. The company’s organizational structure could be an indicator of red flags for fraud. The first thing to look for would be the tone at the top of t he company.Unethical business conduct by executives is a key red flag in addition to high turnover of top executives. A clear line of authority is not present, â€Å"irresponsible corporate governance, and nonexistent corporate code of conduct and a decentralized organization structure without adequate monitoring† (Rezaee & Riley, 2010, p. 107). The corporate mission consists of maximizing profits and nothing else. The audit committee is ineffective, inexperienced and not capable of performing their duties. Financial performance red flags could include unusual rapid growth during an industry economic slump. Unexpected and sharp decreases in earnings or market share by the industry† (Rezaee & Riley, 2010, p. 110). Adverse legal circumstances could also lead to fraudulent behavior. Starbucks is engaged in a court hearing with Kraft Foods alleging a material breach of contract by Kraft and Starbucks discontinued their distribution arrangement with Kraft as of March 1, 2011 . â€Å"On December 6, 2010, Kraft commenced a federal court action against Starbucks, entitled Kraft Foods Global, Inc. v. Starbucks Corporation, in the U. S.District Court for the Southern District of New York (the â€Å"District Court†) seeking injunctive relief to prevent Starbucks from terminating the distribution arrangement until the parties’ dispute is resolved through the arbitration proceeding† (Starbucks Annual Report, 2012). The injunction was denied and Starbucks has since maintained control of their packaged coffee distribution. Starbucks is unsure of the financial damage that the breach by Kraft has caused and will most likely be able to estimate the damages in mid-2012. Fraud Prevention Program It is the organization's responsibility to create a culture of honesty and high ethics and to clearly communicate acceptable behavior and expectations of each employee† (AICPA, 2012). The tone at the top of Starbucks must consist of honorable, honest people with high integrity, and committed to competence as they set the example. Having strong core values at the top of the company and sharing those values throughout the organization will show Starbucks employees how the company operates. The board of directors and audit committee must be skilled, educated and qualified to perform their duties such as auditors having a CPA license.Roles of authority and responsibility must be clearly defined. Starbucks should have a tip telephone line established so that employees can confidentially report any violations of the code of conduct, suspected fraud or ethics violations. The integrity, ethical values and competence of Starbucks employees; management's philosophy and operating style of the organization will help reinforce the company’s culture as a strength and not a weakness. â€Å"Internal control is not merely documented by policy manuals and forms. Rather, it is put in by people at every level of an organization† (COS O, 2011).Policies and procedures covering financial and operational activities in place at Starbucks must be adhered to by employees at every level of the company to ensure the company is being run effectively and efficiently. For example, the procedures may â€Å"encompass a range of manual and automated activities such as authorizations and approvals, verifications, reconciliations, and business performance reviews† (COSO, 2011). Information processing controls, physical controls and segregation of duties should also be in place to ensure that risks are mitigated so Starbucks can meet its objectives.Management should create a positive work environment with good hiring, training and promotion practices to ensure all employees are capable of performing their jobs. â€Å"Research results indicate that wrongdoing occurs less frequently when employees have positive feelings about an entity than when they feel abused, threatened, or ignored† (AICPA, 2012). Creating a team- oriented environment where employees are involved in the decision-making process, positive feedback from management, recognition for good job performance and rewards for achievements all contribute to reducing the risks of fraud in the workplace.Effective communication of Starbucks objectives across the entire company is essential to its continued successful operations. Management must ensure that information is conveyed in a clear and understandable manner so the employees comprehend the importance of the internal control procedures and that they must be followed. Communication of information also includes â€Å"communicating with external parties regarding matters affecting the functioning of other components of internal control† (COSO, 2011).Starbucks upper management must monitor the control activities and confirm the effectiveness of its internal controls. Manual and ongoing evaluations monitor the internal control process activities throughout the normal dad-to-day oper ation of the company. Ongoing evaluations are â€Å"generally performed by line operating or functional managers who are competent and have sufficient knowledge to understand what is being evaluated and†¦ considering the implications of information they receiveâ€Å" (COSO, 2011).If the controls are inadequate, management must immediately communicate this information to the responsible party in order to take immediate action and employ corrective measures to ensure that controls are being followed as intended. â€Å"To effectively prevent or deter fraud, an entity should have an appropriate oversight function in place† (AICPA, 2012). An audit committee can strengthen a weak company environment by assessing the fraud risks identified by Starbucks management, evaluate the company`s anti-fraud policies and ensure that the tone at the top is conducting business with the highest level of integrity.Oversight by the audit committee â€Å"helps to ensure that senior managemen t fulfills its responsibility, but also can serve as a deterrent to senior management engaging in fraudulent activityâ€Å" (AICPA, 2012). References AICPA. (2012). AU Section 316 Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit. Retrieved from http://www. aicpa. org/Research/Standards/AuditAttest/DownloadableDocuments/AU-00316. pdf COSO. (2011). Internal Control-Integrated Framework. Retrieved from http://www. coso. org/documents/coso_framework_body_v6. pdf COSO. (2011).Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission About us. Retrieved from http://www. coso. org/aboutus. htm Hancox, S. (n. d. ) Red Flags for Fraud. Retrieved from http://www. osc. state. ny. us/localgov/pubs/red_flags_fraud. pdf Hoovers. (2012). Starbucks company overview. Retrieved from http://subscriber. hoovers. com/H/company360/overview. html? companyId=15745000000000 O`Brien, K. (2012). How McDonald`s Came Back Bigger Than Ever. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2012/05/06/magazine /how-mcdonalds-came-back-bigger-than-ever. html? r=1&pagewanted=all Rezaee, Z. , & Riley, R. Financial Statement Fraud Prevention and Detection (2nd ed. ). John Wiley & Sons Inc. Hoboken: New Jersey. Starbucks. (2012). Starbucks Annual Report. Retrieved from http://investor. starbucks. com/phoenix. zhtml? c=99518&p=irol-irhome White-Collar Crime. (n. d. ) Financial Statement Fraud: Detecting the Red Flags. Retrieved f http://www. wccfighter. com/FinancialStatementFraudRedFlags. html . . Spiceland, J. D. , Sepe, J. F. , & Nelson, M. W. (2011). Intermediate Accounting. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Importance of Nature

The Importance of Experiencing Nature The more technologically savvy our society becomes and as our cities become larger and more urbanized our connection with nature gets weaker and weaker. It is difficult to remember the natural beauty of a 100 year old oak tree while you dwell in the city where you are lucky to see a tree every three blocks. Our attitudes (especially people who live in very urbanized areas) tend to think that civilization surrounds nature instead of â€Å"wilderness [as] the element in which we live encased in civilization. (1) I am not stating that our technological advances are a bad thing, but we must remember the importance of nature. People need to experience nature. One reason is that the beauty of nature excites our senses, but it also is a perfect place to experience personal growth and meditation. From a logical standpoint though, learning more about nature can lead to growth as a society. As humans, we are constantly looking to be awed. We look to beaut y to do this. Nature offers the most pure form of beauty. Nature is stunning, yet not distracting. Our senses are enlightened by the magnificence of it yet we are not so distracted that we cannot think of anything else. It’s not the flash of a million colorful lights or the awe inspiring power of a larger than life sky scrapper. This kind of beauty demands your attention while the beauty of nature is humbly offered. A baby is a great example of our attraction to nature or just natural things in general. When there is a baby in a room full of people, people cannot help but stare and coo over it. We are attracted to them. I think a big reason for this is because they act so natural. They are not analyzing their actions, they are completely uninhibited. Society has not shaped them and told them what is right and wrong and how they should act. Everything is much more appealing in the most basic, natural form. Nature is the closest thing we have to perfection. There is no denying the fact that we love to stare at the oranges and yellows of a sunset or enjoy the deep greenish blue of the ocean. We fill vases with flowers in our home in hopes that it will make our home more appealing. Life should always be celebrated and beauty if part of life. We should look for it and admire it, especially in nature. A lot of this sense of perfection comes from a â€Å"higher, namely, of the spiritual element. †(2) Many religions are centered on the grace of their god(s) and are often believed that the perfection of nature is a reflection of the perfection of their god(s). In Christianity and Judaism, God was the essential creation of nature. In the bible â€Å"when a noble act is done-perchance a scene of great beauty†(2) will appear such as the rainbow that appeared after the flood that lasted for 40 days and nights in the story of Noah’s Ark. Perhaps why we are so attracted to natural beauty is it makes us feel closer to God. Or maybe just something bigger than ourselves. Nature has a spiritual quality to it which offers the ideal place to meditate. If one wants to learn more about themselves, then they should learn about nature because that is where we came from. It is hard to escape the sense of one’s predecessors†(1) when we spend enough time outside of civilization. We all once used to dwell among nature with animals and all other forms of life. Civilization is simply a wall which we have placed between us and nature. When we are in nature we have â€Å"striped away the human facade† (1) than stands between us and the universe and we can â€Å"see more clearly† (1) where we are. Thoreau stated in Walden â€Å"Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth†(3) and there is nothing more truthful than nature. Nature is as truthful as it gets. Alone in the woods, away from society and the people in it, one is allowed to escape the influence of society and influence themselves independently. There we can figure out who we truly are and not what society makes us believe we are. I constantly hear of people talking about the importance of having a diversity of people and ideas on earth, yet how can we have true diversity if we are unable to discover out natural selves free from society? Nature is not only the window into our history, but also to the core of our existence. Nature offers perspective to people and our place in this world. Some might view my past two arguments as exceedingly unsatisfying. Why should we care if it beautiful or if it helps us â€Å"discover† ourselves? But one argument cannot be denied: nature is the key to the survival of the human race. We use the stars to navigate, we till the land to plant our crops, trees provide us with oxygen, we use plants for medicine, and we drink the water from lakes and creek. The list goes on and on. â€Å"The endless circulations of the divine charity nourish man†(2) while nature never expects anything back. It is strange how we forget about nature when it is the essential factor to our survival. When people experience nature, they are more likely to join the effort to conserve it and its resources. If we learn to appreciate it, then we will want to take care of it. Ecological conservation and preservation is extremely important. Not only does nature offer important nature resources, but there have also been studies that suggest that people who spend more time outside are typically happy and healthier individuals. There has also been research that points to a correlation between stress levels and the amount of time spent outside. Nature provides us with general health and well being. Each year we build more buildings, more houses, and more roads. We do this so we can continue to progress as a society, but as we do this we must remember nature because it also helps us progress as a society. Without it, there would be no society. Nature is beautiful, insightful and necessary. We must never forget about it and we must always work to protect it.

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Aortic Aneurysms - Essay Example And in its management, several studies have shown that the newer endovascular repair is much preferred over the conventional open surgery for practical and scientific reasons. Without trying to look like a meta-analysis, I have searched the World Wide Web for articles on this disease entity. And my purpose in doing this is to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the methods for its diagnosis, its indications for surgery, methods of surgery, and general outcome after treatment. An aneurysm in its most simple definition is a localized dilatation of an artery involving an increase in its diameter of at least 50 percent in comparison to its original normal diameter. Anatomically, it often represents a weakness in the wall of the artery at any given segment of the aorta. It is noted that there is an increasing incidence of aortic aneurysms lately. Hence, there is also a trend in seeking better methods for diagnosing and treating this pathology. Without trying to look like a meta-analysis, I did an on-line systematic Medline and PubMed search and then reviewed the retrieved articles on the diagnosis, pathogenesis, treatment and current management of aortic aneurysms. ... Just for the purpose of discussion in this paper, I shall classify aortic aneurysms based on their location, since these may appear elsewhere. If the dilation appears on the aortic root they are called aortic root aneurysm. If the dilatation is found in the thoracic aorta, they are called thoracic aortic aneurysms. Aneurysms are also classified based on their location in the thoracic segments of the thoracic aorta; hence we may have an ascending, an arch aneurysm or a descending thoracic aneurysm. Aneurysms found after the descending segment is termed abdominal aortic aneurysm. In the physical examination for suspected aortic aneurysm, the only maneuver of demonstrated value is abdominal palpation to detect abnormal widening of the aortic pulsation. Palpation appears to be safe and has not been reported to precipitate rupture. The diagnosis of aortic aneurysms is confirmed based on findings with ultrasonography or computerized tomography. There is limited data to suggest that abdominal obesity decreases the sensitivity of palpation. Abdominal palpation specifically directed at measuring aortic width has moderate sensitivity for detecting an aneurysm that would be large enough to be referred for surgery but cannot be relied on to exclude aortic aneurysm, especially if rupture is a possibility. The role of genetic factors influencing familial aggregation of aortic aneurysms has also been reviewed. Aortic aneurysms, particularly the thoracic ones, and those in association with multiplex pedigrees represent a new risk factor for aneurysm growth. Pedigree analysis suggests genetic heterogeneity. The primary mode of inheritance seems to be autosomal dominant, but X-linked dominant and recessive modes are also evident. In the past,

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Creative Process Entry - Essay Example several common ideas such as the fact that creativity entails innovative and novel contemplations of the world, I do not think it is a teachable skill. A person is born with a certain amount of creativity, and while these can be developed through experience and education, if one is not naturally creative, your creativity can only improve to a limited extent through education. According to Franken, creativity entails a tendency to generate or recognizes ideas alternatives and possibilities, which can be applied in problem solving or communication with others (396). I found this definition to be in line with my own since I believe creativity is best understood when observed in a functional perspective in view of how it can solve problems or help one deal with issues. In my life, I believe creativity often surfaces when I am face with unusual situations that call for me to be innovative and think outside the box, sometimes, it emerges when I am under pressure to do something, and not all the conventional methods produce the desired result. I remember an incident when I was in high school, and my creative writing teacher told us to construct a sentence using the word flummox. We had no idea what the word mean, and we were given 30 seconds in which to do it. After realizing that none of my word attack skills was going to get me an answer, I wrote, the sentence â€Å"Flummox is not a very common word in most high school students vocabulary†. The teacher said that was not the way to construct sentences, but she gave me a mark because I had used my imagination where less none of my classmates had. My creative process is dictated by circumstances and managing it is more often than not a subconscious activity. For instance, there are times I am b ursting with new ideas when I cannot apply them, sometimes I come up with what I feel are incredible storylines for creative writing essays, and shorts stories when am in the bus or shower but forget them almost

Final research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Managing data and information as a nurse infromatics specialist Essay

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IranianSyrian Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

IranianSyrian Relations - Essay Example Border clashes between Israel and Syria, occurring throughout 1960s, culminated into Arab-Israel war of 1967. After six days of war, Israel who fought against the Arab States of Egypt, Jordan and Syria, annexed much of Arab territory, including Golan heights southwest of Syria. Fighting around the Golan Heights continued between Israel and Syria because of mounting tension from the Palestine refugees entering Syria en masse. This resulted into Syria and Egypt going to war against Israel in 1973. Claiming a legal authority by Israel in the Golan Heights, quite antagonist to Syria's demand for Israel to relinquish its claim, further aggravated the hostilities in 1981. Tension between Syria and Israel aggravated when the former demanded the return of the Golan Heights and the creation of the sate of Palestine. As Syria plays a major role in the Middle East, she sent peacekeeping troops in Lebanon to stop a civil war there. But this force remained in Lebanon as late as 2005. In the meantime, however, Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. An alliance of many countries including the United States and Syria was formed to oppose Iraq's illegal annexation of Kuwait. Over 20,000 Syrian troops fought against Iraqi forces to finally oust them from Kuwait in February 1991. After the death of Syrian president Hafiz-al- Assad in June 2000, his son Bashaar al-Assad succeeded him the same year. Many countries insisted Syria to withdraw its forces f... An alliance of many countries including the United States and Syria was formed to oppose Iraq's illegal annexation of Kuwait. Over 20,000 Syrian troops fought against Iraqi forces to finally oust them from Kuwait in February 1991. After the death of Syrian president Hafiz-al- Assad in June 2000, his son Bashaar al-Assad succeeded him the same year. Many countries insisted Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon. Rafik Hariri, a former premier of Lebanon was killed by a car bomb in Beirut, Lebanon. Accusations from all over held Syria to be responsible for Hariri's death. The assassination of Hariri triggered massive demonstrations and protests against Syrian for its withdrawal from Lebanon. Syria eventually withdrew from Lebanon in 2005. (Abu-Khalil As'ad, n.d.) Iran - A Brief Introduction Iran is one of the ancient countries in the Middle East and is situated to the southwest of Asia. It has snow-capped mountains, and its land abounds with green valleys, and barren deserts. Tehran, which is the largest city of Iran, is the country's capital. According to the ancient history of civilizations, Iran ranks as the world's oldest countries. The origin of human settlements in Iran is traced back in history to almost 5,000 years ago. The Persian Empire, which covered a vast territory of southwestern Asia and parts of Europe and Africa, had its seat of civilization based in what is now Iran. (Ansari Ali M, n.d.) Map of Iran Fact File - Iran Official Name: Islamic Republic of Iran Capital: Tehran Area: 636,372 sq miles Highest point: Mount Damavand (18,386 ft above sea-level) Official language: Persian (also called 'Farsi') Currency: Iranian Rial Population: 72,048,000 (two-third of Iranian people are of Aryan origin; 60 percent are

Leadership Versus Management Essay Example for Free

Leadership Versus Management Essay Introduction: Management versus Leadership Leadership can take on many meanings, be viewed in many different ways and is often misconstrued with management. To understand leadership and management a clear definition has to exist and the person(s) involved in leading or managing must have clear insight of what expectations are required to reach a specific goal. Therefore, this research paper as identified by this author will define leadership and management as they are defined in the Websters Dictionary and other scholarly approved references. In addition, this paper will state a personal philosophy of eadership and management and will unpack and explain the language used in each definition. Second, this paper will identify success in leadership for becoming a great leader, and then compare and contrast leadership and management. Finally, the conclusion will summarize the entire paper by stating what is essentially more important, leadership or management. A Personal Philosophy of Leadership In order to understand leadership, the definition ofa leader must be stated. As indicated in the dictionary, a leader is someone who leads, is in front or who takes charge. The word lead means to guide (The Merriam Webster Dictionary, 2004). As stated by an author, Leaders take the lead. That is, they initiate ideas and plans. Leaders move people to follow them by showing them consideration! (Ford 1991 , 25) This author understands a leader to be one who influences and encourages another to follow in doing something great. This author defines leadership as the process of, through the power and direction of God, learning how to build relationships with others, allowing them an opportunity to expound on different ideas and thoughts, growing together in knowledge and working together in harmony to accomplish a mutual goal (Sharp 2007). Leadership is the ability to be responsible, ethical, and have impeccable moral qualities. It is not Just being responsible, ethical, and moral while working within or on a Job, but it is maintaining that standard and continuing to live that lifestyle at all times. It is not the leader saying do what I say, but not as I do. Rather, it is dedicating life to God allowing Him to enhance the character required for being that great leader. An extremely profound definition of Christian Leadership was stated this way: Christian leadership is a relationship based on Gods Love which is imitated by the participants, the leader(s) and follower(s). They both work together in a mutual, accountable, dynamic relationship of duel influence with one another and the whole of the organization, for the purpose of accomplishing shared, God given, visions, purposes and goals (Sharp 2007). This definitions center is the love of God. As understood by this author, the love flows through both the leader(s) and follower(s). This love will allow both the ability to work together creating a powerful relationship whereby both will not only be able to influence each other, but will be able to influence others as well, until ultimately they ave completed and accomplish that mutual goal. Another author defined leadership this way: Christian leadership is a dynamic relational process in which people, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, partner to achieve a common goal it is serving others by leading and leading others by serving

Corrections and Treatment Essay Example for Free

Corrections and Treatment Essay Community-based treatment The three community-based treatment efforts which I would like to focus attention on are Intensive Outpatient Counseling Services, abbreviated as (IOP) next, a community based program known as: Child Mental Health and lastly Emergency Crisis Response. Community-based treatment efforts vary between states however, the purpose and importance of these treatment efforts are identical. Larry J. Siegel, Brandon C. Welsh authors of: Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice, and Law quote the purpose: â€Å"Provide care, protection, and treatment for juveniles in need†. Institutionalization Issues affecting institutionalized juveniles reflects possible detrimental successful compliance with respect: to community-based efforts. Likewise, institutionalized juveniles are faced with the reality of prison life and a concern is introduced to wither or not juveniles will learn criminal behaviors. Lastly, the opportunity to provide individualized and/or group counseling even more so education is a separate affecting issue of institutionalized juveniles. The juvenile justice system should be concerned with those issues, because it clearly represents foreseeable safety issues for incarcerated juveniles and staff. Separately, the potential for reoccurrence: entry or criminal charges to the justice system leading to overcrowding. With that a final concern to the justice system might reflect mental health issues that are not able to be diagnosed in incarcerated juveniles, this would impact cost or funding within the justice system. Two of the three Intensive Aftercare Programs discussed in Juvenile Delinquency. The Core that I would like to focus attention on are Juvenile Boot Camps and Wilderness Programs, the importance of aftercare programs  offer the opportunity for juveniles to have a safe place to go. Another aspect that can be considered aftercare programs, redirect negative attitudes in juveniles and: potential for reoccurrence criminal behavior. In the reading materials, The Core the following statement is provided â€Å"exposure to a wholesome environment; where the  concepts of education and the work ethic are taught and embodied in adult role models, troubled  youth can regain a measure of self-worth.†

Ethical Egoism And Psychological Egoism

Ethical Egoism And Psychological Egoism In Platos Republic and in Rachels Egoism and Moral Skepticism, both authors address two important facets of human morality: epistemologically objective. Ethical egoism is a normative claim, which states that moral beings ought to do what is in their best interests. Psychological egoism, on the other hand, is a descriptive claim that all moral beings can only act in their own self-interests, even when appearing to act in the interests of others. The difference between both claims lies in the fact that one is a normative claim and the other is a descriptive claim. A normative claim involves judging what people should do and creates a moral standard. A descriptive claim then, essentially describes the actions of moral beings and creates a moral standard based off their behavior. Due to the relatedness of both claims, I must first clearly distinguish the key features of each argument. In Glaucons Challenge Plato creates a long dialogue between Socrates and Platos brother, Glaucon. In his dialogue, Glaucon supports the view that people only act justly because they will believe it will help them attain beneficial ends for themselves and argues that human beings are not ethical egoists but rather psychological egoists. In Rachels essay, he attempts to distinguish between what psychological and moral egoism are and how inevitably neither are justified. Therefore, by drawing on the arguments from Glaucon and the claims discussed by Rachels, I will disprove the claim of ethical egoism and prove that human beings can, in fact, act solely for their own self-interest. First, I will begin by examining Glaucons Challenge on ethical and psychological egoism. In Platos Republic, Socrates raises the issue of whether goodness and virtue are truly worthwhile for the individual. In Gyges Ring, Socrates presents a story where a man named Glaucon discovers a ring, which makes him invisible. In it, he poses the question of whether we would act justly, despite the fact that we could get away with immoral conduct. In essence, he asks whether we should live a life of virtue. Next he asks us to imagine if two such rings existed, where a virtuous man and rogue each received one of the rings. Glaucon claims that the rogue would naturally use the ring for his own personal pleasure with no moral constraints. As for the moral man, Glaucon suggests that he will act no better than the rogue. He defends this position by claiming that no one has enough will to resist the temptation to do things for their own self-interest. In this argument Glaucon asks why there is any r eason for a moral person to act any differently from an immoral person. While his argument appears sound, critics argue that some acts appear to be unselfish in nature. As well, critics arguing for ethical egoism also state that we must desire things other than my own self-interests in order to get self-interests. Therefore, if we derive self-interest from playing soccer, unless we desired, for our own sake, to play soccer, we would not derive some self-interest from playing. However, if our self-interests consist simply in the satisfaction of self-regarding our interests, then human beings are still regarded as psychological egoists. Psychological egoists such as Glaucon claim their points using two arguments. The first being simply that the life of an unjust person is much better than the life of a just person. The second argument being that for psychological egoism, selfless actions always create self-satisfaction in the moral agent and this produces a pleasant state of conscious ness. Therefore, the action performed by the moral agent is really done to create an enjoyable state of consciousness rather than to aid the interests of others. Using such arguments, Glaucon is able to rule out situations such as altruistic behavior or motivation by thoughts of duty alone as proves for ethical egoism. Second, I will examine Rachels essay on ethical and psychological egoism. In his first argument Rachel suggests selfless actions are really just done voluntarily and that the agent is really just doing what they wanted to do. An example used by Rachel would be if Mr. Smith stayed behind to help a friend rather than go on vacation. While this may appear altruistic, what is really happening is that Mr. Smith wanted to stay behind to help his friend more than he wanted to go on vacation. In this way, his action is no longer selfless but rather selfish since he was only doing what he wanted to do. By examining Mr. Smiths decision from a different view, it is clear that what appears to a voluntary act of kindness is really just an act out of self-interest. His second argument for psychological egoism is that unselfish actions always produce a sense of self-satisfaction for the moral agent. Therefore, any selfless action by the moral agent is only unselfish at a sort of superficial level. Rachel uses a story where Lincoln once expressed this debate in describing the position between ethical and psychological egoism. In this story, Lincoln and a fellow passenger are discussing how all men are prompted by selfishness in doing any good. As they pass over a bridge in their carriage, both hear a sow yelling for help as her pigs are about to drown. Lincoln then gets out of his carriage and saves the pigs, then returns to his carriage. His companion remarks 1Abe, where do selfishness come in on this little episode? Lincoln then replies, Why bless your soul, that was the very essence of selfishness. I should have no peace of mind all day had I gone and left them. Lincoln uses the incident with the suffering sow in order to show that his altruistic act was done out of his belief in psychological rather than ethical egoism. Had he not helped the sow, he would have had no peace of mind all day while riding with his companion. Instead, he selfishly saves the pigs in order to hel p himself. Rachel attempts to refute this claim by stating that it is the object of any action rather than the personal desire that will determine whether an action is unselfish or not. Ethical egoists, on the other hand, argue that even though altruism is possible to act on, there is no reason why anyone should act selflessly. Rachels is able to refute this by arguing that no reasons are required in performing actions that help others. However, since all human beings innately do not care about the effects of their actions on others, this arguments premise is incorrect. Therefore, it is clear that the view of ethical egoism as a moral standard of what people ought to do is clearly incorrect since no matter what situation is produced, the moral agent will always act in their self-interest and that any positive outcomes on others is just a positive consequence. Thus, no matter what situations are presented to argue that moral beings ought to do what is in their best interests, it has been shown that all moral beings can only act in their own self-interests, even when appearing to act in the interests of others. In conclusion, after examining Glaucons Challenge from Platos Republic and Rachels essay on ethical egoism, it is clear that Glaucon was correct in stating that there is no reason for man to be moral. 1 Gendler, T., Siegel, S., Cahn, S. M. (2008). Egoism and Moral Skepticism. The Elements of Philosophy: Readings from Past and Present (p. 235). Oxford : Oxford University Press.

Alexander The Great Essay -- miscellaneuos

Alexander The Great Alexander the Great was a man with no equal in History. He was one of the most important forces known to man. Alexander the Great then crossed the Hellespoint, which is now called the Dardanelles and, as head of a Greek army undertook the war on Persia that his father had been planning. The march he had begun was to be one of the greatest in history. Alexander was one of the biggest influenced on people of all time and one of the most powerful personalities. He really molded people into acting the correct way. He brought people together and showed them how to live better. He defiantly changed the lives of many. Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC Philip his father was the brother of Perdiccas III king of Macedonia. His mother’s name was Olympia’s. Olympia’s was the daughter of King Neoptolemus I. He was known wide to be a great powerful man. Alexander had a younger sister named Cleopatra. The whole family had a lot of very important background. It was a fact t hat Alexander and Cleopatra’s parents did not get along. At this time it was a Macedonian tradition to have many wives. Philip had several and Olympia’s hated them all. She felt much hate towards them. When one of her rivals gave birth to a retarded son Arridaeus, there were many rumors that Olympia’s poisoned him. Olympia’s told Alexander that Philip wasn't his real father although he was. He made sure the boy was well educated, even the great philosopher Aristotle was one of Alexander's tutors. Even thought he though him well Philip wasn’t a very good father. He always discouraged Alexander and made him feel worthless. When Alexander the great was 3 his father’s son King Perdiccas died. His young son Amyntas was supposed to take his place as ruler. Philip was supposed to help him but he made his way above him making himself King Philip II. He proved to be a strong ruler, and in a few decades he conquered most of Greece. As a teenager Alexander became friends wit a boy around his age named Hephaestion. It was rumored that they were lovers. At this time Homosexuality was accepted in Greece. Even Alexander's father had many male lovers. Till this day no one really knows the relationship between the two but it is said that throughout their lives they stood by each other. When Alexander turned his father went away to war, leaving Alexander to serve as leader of Macedon. During t... ...me ill, and on June 13 he died in Babylon. He was 32. Historians have said that he died from malaria, but recently it has been said that he died of typhoid fever. The empire was soon torn apart by the struggles that Alexander the Great's advisors and generals had. This was now called the Diadochi. Diadochi is Greek for successors. In 319 the â€Å"Antipater† died and was succeeded as regent by Polyperchon, whom did Antipater’s son Cassander quickly oust. In time Roxanne and her son were also killed by Cassander, who became the king of Macedon in 305 BC. Alexander Aegus was thirteen when he died. He left his empire in his own words, "to the strongest. Whether or not Alexander had plans for any world conquering cannot be determined but he had accomplished greater conquests than any before him. He was one of the greatest generals of all time and one of the most powerful personalities of antiquity. He influenced the spread of Hellenism throughout the Middle East and into Asia; establishing city-states modeled on Greek institutions that flourished long after his death. Alexander will never be superior to any man and will remain forever as "the Great" in the pages of History as we know it.

Walker & Everyday Use Essay -- essays research papers

Many times an author draws from his or her personal life and incorporates his or her past into the short story. Alice Walker is one of the most respected, well-known African-American authors of her time. Alice Walker experienced a lifetime of hardship that would influence her later works, helping her to become such an astonishing author. In her short story "Everyday Use", Walker tells the story of her heritage and enables the reader to encounter the values in her life. On February 9, 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia, Willie Lee and Minnie Grant gave birth to their eighth child; a precious little girl whom they named Alice. As an extremely intelligent child Alice was always exploring the world around her. "She said that one of her favorite pastimes in the world was 'people watching.'" (http://members.tripod.com/chrisdanielle/alicebio_1.html). When Walker was eight years old, she and her brother were playing a game of cowboys and Indians outside when Alice's brother accidentally hit her in the eye with a BB pellet, blinding her in her right eye. Although that didn't stop Alice, she went on achieving excellent grades and going on to college. She first attended Spelman College (an African-American institution) on a handicap scholarship she'd been granted. Unhappy with the way Spelman's treated her for her involvement of activism and civil rights, she accepted a scholarship from Saint Lawrence College in New York. Alice was faced with great diff iculties such as abortion and suicide, but she pulled through and graduated in 1965 kicking off the begging of an unforgettable and ongoing career. (http://members.tripod.com/chrisdanielle/alicebio_1.html) By distinguishing the family-oriented round characters in the short story "Everyday Use", Alice Walker illustrates the common mistake of placing the association of heritage solely in material objects. Walker presents Mama and Maggie, the younger daughter, as an example that heritage in both knowledge and form passes from one generation to another through a learning and experience connection. However, by a broken connection, Dee, the older daughter, represents a misconception of heritage as materialistic. During Dee's visit to Mama and Maggie, the contrast of the characters becomes the conflict, because Dee... ... family values, Mama takes the quilts from Dee who "held the quilts securely in her arms, stroking them clutching them closely to her bosom" (Walker, 91) like sacred representation, and then gives them to their rightful owner: Maggie. After Mama gives Maggie the quilts, Dee says, "You just don't understand," "Your heritage" (Walker, 91). Dee believes heritage and family values to be materialistic things. Dee understands that the quilts were hand-made, but she lacks the knowledge and history behind these quilts. On the other hand Mama and Maggie understand the meaning of the quilts and know that they were made for everyday use. Ironically, Dee criticizes Mama for not understanding heritage when, in fact, Dee fails to really understand her own heritage. Dee mistakenly places heritage wholly in what she owns, not what she knows. Work-Cited Living By Grace. Danielle, Chris. 1999. Tripod. 03-10-2005. http://members.tripod.com/chrisdanielle/index.html Walker, Alice. "Everyday Use". Literature An Introduction to Reading and Writing Sixth Edition. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2001, 360-365. Walker & Everyday Use Essay -- essays research papers Many times an author draws from his or her personal life and incorporates his or her past into the short story. Alice Walker is one of the most respected, well-known African-American authors of her time. Alice Walker experienced a lifetime of hardship that would influence her later works, helping her to become such an astonishing author. In her short story "Everyday Use", Walker tells the story of her heritage and enables the reader to encounter the values in her life. On February 9, 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia, Willie Lee and Minnie Grant gave birth to their eighth child; a precious little girl whom they named Alice. As an extremely intelligent child Alice was always exploring the world around her. "She said that one of her favorite pastimes in the world was 'people watching.'" (http://members.tripod.com/chrisdanielle/alicebio_1.html). When Walker was eight years old, she and her brother were playing a game of cowboys and Indians outside when Alice's brother accidentally hit her in the eye with a BB pellet, blinding her in her right eye. Although that didn't stop Alice, she went on achieving excellent grades and going on to college. She first attended Spelman College (an African-American institution) on a handicap scholarship she'd been granted. Unhappy with the way Spelman's treated her for her involvement of activism and civil rights, she accepted a scholarship from Saint Lawrence College in New York. Alice was faced with great diff iculties such as abortion and suicide, but she pulled through and graduated in 1965 kicking off the begging of an unforgettable and ongoing career. (http://members.tripod.com/chrisdanielle/alicebio_1.html) By distinguishing the family-oriented round characters in the short story "Everyday Use", Alice Walker illustrates the common mistake of placing the association of heritage solely in material objects. Walker presents Mama and Maggie, the younger daughter, as an example that heritage in both knowledge and form passes from one generation to another through a learning and experience connection. However, by a broken connection, Dee, the older daughter, represents a misconception of heritage as materialistic. During Dee's visit to Mama and Maggie, the contrast of the characters becomes the conflict, because Dee... ... family values, Mama takes the quilts from Dee who "held the quilts securely in her arms, stroking them clutching them closely to her bosom" (Walker, 91) like sacred representation, and then gives them to their rightful owner: Maggie. After Mama gives Maggie the quilts, Dee says, "You just don't understand," "Your heritage" (Walker, 91). Dee believes heritage and family values to be materialistic things. Dee understands that the quilts were hand-made, but she lacks the knowledge and history behind these quilts. On the other hand Mama and Maggie understand the meaning of the quilts and know that they were made for everyday use. Ironically, Dee criticizes Mama for not understanding heritage when, in fact, Dee fails to really understand her own heritage. Dee mistakenly places heritage wholly in what she owns, not what she knows. Work-Cited Living By Grace. Danielle, Chris. 1999. Tripod. 03-10-2005. http://members.tripod.com/chrisdanielle/index.html Walker, Alice. "Everyday Use". Literature An Introduction to Reading and Writing Sixth Edition. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2001, 360-365.

Chemistry Diploma Paper Essay

1. Attempt any ten of the following : a) Why is an atom electrically neutral ? b) Differentiate between isotopes and isobars. c) Define conductor and nonconductor. d) State Faraday’s second law of electrolysis. e) Define cell. Give its classification. f) Explain the terms mineral and ore. g) Define alloys with suitable example. h) What is nickel silver ? Write its composition. i) Give composition of glass-wool. j) Name the types of plastics with examples of each. k) Define COD of sewage. l) Define Air-pollution. Give its magnitude. 2. Attempt any four of the following : 16 a) Give the comparison of electron, proton and neutron w.r.to their symbol, change, mass and location within an atom. b) Give four points of distinction between orbit and orbital. c) Write orbital electronic configuration of the following elements 24 39 20 N14 , Mg 12 , K 19 , Ne10 7 d) Describe the formation of NaCl molecule with diagram and name the type of bonding. e) Explain electrovalency and covalency with example. f) State and explain Faraday’s first law of electrolysis. P.T.O. 12002 *12002* MARKS 3. Attempt any four of the following : 16 a) Draw diagram and explain the construction working of lead-acid storage cell. b) A given quantity of electricity is passed through two cells containing copper sulphate and silver nitrate respectively. If 0.99 gms of silver and 0.29 gms of copper are deposited, find equivalent weight of silver when that of copper is 31.6. c) Explain the mechanism of electrolysis of fused sodium-chloride by using carbon electrodes. d) Why copper is electro-refined ? Describe the process of electro-refining of copper. e) Explain construction working and application of dry-cell. f) Define metallurgy. Outline the general principle of metallurgy. 4. Attempt any four of the following : 16 a) Define the terms : flux, slag, malleability and toughness. b) Write composition, properties and applications of Alnico and Woods metal. c) Explain with diagram the gravity separation used for concentration of iron-ore. d) Differentiate – calcination and roasting. e) Write any four purposes of making alloys. f) Explain the fusion method for manufacture of alloys. 5. Attempt any four of the following : 16 a) State four properties of plastics and write the uses based on each of given properties. b) What is thermocole ? Give its properties and applications. c) What is rubber ? What is the difference between natural and synthetic rubber ? d) What is green-house-effect ? State the measure to control it. e) Explain the causes of water pollution. f) What is bio-medical-waste ? Give two techniques for its disposal. 6. Attempt any four of the following : a) Write properties and application of glass-wool. b) Explain any four major sources causing air-pollution. c) Write any four methods to control water pollution. d) What is preventive environmental management ? Give one example. e) Distinguish between air-pollution due to vehicle and industries. f) Write short note on effect of E-waste. ————— 16

Major Parties Platforms Essay

Party platform is a list of the principles which a political party has set in order to convince the general public to vote in the political party into the office. It gives the party the objectives and goals that it will follow if it is voted in the office. In the United States they are two major political parties that is the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The democratic party historically has supported the following platforms: ethnic minorities ,organized labor where it has emphasized on labor unions which provide a voting base that support the party and progressive reforms i. e. democratic party in it platform has always supported a more progressive tax structure that is able offer proper services and rule justly to its people. The Party has always favored greater government intervention in the U . S economy and opposed government intervention in the private sector since private sector are effective in helping the poor than the ruling government. On the other hand there is Republican party which historically has supported the following platforms: low taxation to the people due to the increases in the growth domestic product growth and also generate more income to the government, environmental standards , reduction in environment regulation, development of conservative policies in order to promote prosperity in the economy and also government protection. The party also advocates for a strong national defense for its people until recently when interventionist action ended. Republican has also stood up for corporation and individual decision making in promoting economic prosperity whereby one is economically responsible for the action and decision that he decide to incorporate. . Describe the Role of Third Parties in The Past Presidential Elections. The third parties have been of crucial importance in the US electoral process for a very long time. Third parties have sprung up from ideological spectrum although none of them has managed to win the election since the time of Abraham Lincoln. Third parties have much contributed in by pushing issues into light which would have been ignored by majority parties. For example if the issue looked at by third party finds resonance with the voters the major parties are likely to adapt the issue into their platform. Third parties have also helped in increasing voters turnout by bringing more people to the polls therefore impacting the chances major party candidate winning by gathering enough votes, for example in 2004 it was estimated that 33% registered republicans ,43%democrats and other parties contributing for 25%. Third parties also play a major role in the US policy and the political debates despite their minor presence in the congress. Therefore they end up contributing to the changing of the political debate and also the policy making process. Though this contribution the role of the third party depends on seriousness of the candidacy because he or she helps in Making the debate of issues more substantive and less vitriolic for example in 1992 when reform party nominated Ross Perot as the candidate for president. Ross Perot advocated for the reduction of budget federal deficit an issue that was not seriously looked upon in previous elections. By so this was where Perot Ross received a 19% of the total votes. REFERENCES George C. E, Martin P. W and Robert L. (2002). Government in America: People, Politics and Policy. Longman publishers: Texas http://www. wikipedia. com

Marcus Garvey Research Paper Essay

Post-Civil war America exercised the segregation of Whites and Blacks. Originally, the aim of this division was to keep everything separate but equal. By the late 1800’s into the 1900’s, the â€Å"separate but equal† motive adapted into the superiority of Whites, leaving much racial tension and limitation for the freed slaves and their ancestors. Marcus Garvey, like many social activists, had many goals to either remove this separation, or to completely relocate America’s blacks to a new place of their own. Marcus Garvey’s ideas of black nationalism and fighting oppression helped shape the identity of African Americans in the United States during the 1920’s. Marcus Garvey was born on August 17, 1887 in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. He began his career as a magazine editor by traveling and residing in Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica, and London. He eventually began studying Law and Philosophy at Birkbeck College in London. While living in London, he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA), which was dedicated to black racial pride, economic self-sufficiency, and the formation of an independent black nation in Africa. He also became the editor of Negro World, a magazine dedicated to black nationalism, including poetry and articles about African pride and ancestry. In June 1919, Garvey founded the Black Star Line of Delaware, a shipping line for the transportation of goods and to later aid his campaign for his â€Å"Back to Africa† movement. After a year of success, the shipping line went bankrupt. His immediate business failure led him to being accused of mail fraud. Investigator Edwin P. Kilroe attempted to arrest Garvey of his fraud and UNIA associations, although he had not found enough evidence to do so. After back and forth tension between Kilroe and Garvey, on October 1919 a man named George Tyler arrived to Garvey’s office stating â€Å"Kilroe sent me†. Tyler then proceeded to shoot him 4 times with a . 38-caliber revolver. Garvey was then wounded in the right leg and scalp. On August 1, 1920, Garvey proposed his Liberia Program to 25,000 people. This program was to strive for the building of colleges, industry, and railroads to create a permanent homeland for the African Americans in Liberia, Africa. In June 1923, Garvey was finally convicted of mail fraud and sentenced to five years in prison. In 1927 he was released by President Coolige, but deported back to Jamaica. Garvey finished out his years in London, creating the Edelweiss Amusement Company which helped exposed talented but financially unstable musicians and artists. He continued to expose his ideas to future UNIA leaders by setting up an African philosophy school in Toronto. In 1940, Garvey had a stroke, but survived until he read a false obituary of himself stating he had died â€Å"broke, alone, and unpopular†, thus leading to his fatal second stroke. Marcus Garvey died on June 10, 1940. Garvey’s main ideas were closely distinguished with the Pan-African movement in England, where he lived most of his life. His goals were â€Å"to unify people of color against imperialism all over the world† (McKissack 79) Works Cited McKissack, Patricia and Frederick. W. E. B Dubois. New York: Franklin Watt, 1990. â€Å"Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)†. Encyclop? dia Britannica. Encyclop? dia Britannica Online. Encyclop? dia Britannica Inc. , 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2013 .

School bullying among the students in schools

School intimidation is an act that holding physically, verbally, emotionally or electronically connexions to the victim which connected to instruction. It takes topographic point either interior or outside of the schools. School intimidation can be categorized in types and the common Acts of the Apostless that used to aim on the victims. Strong-arming can ever go on through physically, emotionally, verbally and electronically. This ever repeated in a period of clip. Finally, school intimidation happens in every individual corner in the school. The most happening countries are lavatories, hallways, corridors, canteen, abandoned schoolrooms, school coachs or coach Michigans. Besides, during PE category and deferral clip is the all clip favorites for school toughs to take action on their mark. School toughs ever comes with a group of pupils who are under controlled by a so called leader in the group. Their motivation is to suppress and govern the school among the pupils. They will seek for their mark and finally get down their mission on those weak victims. The group of pupils takes advantage or isolates peculiar pupil and derive the trueness from the bystanders who wants to avoid being the following victim. These school toughs will first annoyer and tease their mark before physically attack the mark. The marks of toughs in school are pupils who are weak and low-self regard, or treated as a monster by their equals. Students who are extraordinary if compared to their equals will handle otherwise by their equals either in the positive ways or frailty versa. In Malaysia, KUALA LUMPUR, 3 July 2007 – â€Å" Recent instances of school intimidation have become a cause for concern in Malaysia. One of the more dismaying incidents of strong-arming that stunned the state was the barbarous assault of a 16-year-old pupil by his school seniors in 2005 which led to his decease. This instance and others like it have raised public concern about force in Malayan schools. â€Å" – ( sumber: unicef Malaysia communications,2007 ) . This incident has rises concerns among the society. This is important and non acceptable which declared by the curate of instruction. The curate of instruction in Malaysia has made a public statement to the toughs that strong-arming instance is non acceptable and unforgiveable. The most of import thing to cognize about intimidation is non merely the signifier of physical force, but the most common destructive signifier in Malaysia schools is psychologically devastations. Peoples tend to concern on physical intimidation but ignored the psychological intimidation. This is a immense error that overlook on one side but non the other side of intimidation, and this is really unsafe that might take to important agony on those victims. Not merely the normal pupils face school intimidation, had princess Aiko from Japan faced the job as well.This incident causes the child absent from school and holding phobia towards school. Her jobs, said the Imperial Household Agency, arose from her â€Å" unsmooth behavior † at the custodies of male childs in her age group at the ultra-exclusive Gakushuin school she attends in cardinal Tokyo. ( The times, 6 March 2010 ) Concept of school intimidation Definition School intimidation is a systematic maltreatment of power ( Rigby, 2002 ) in school which now can specify as aggressiveness violent behaviour on victims who failed to support for themselves. ( Child and Adolescent Mental Health Volume 9, No. 3, 2004, pp. 98-103 ) .In Malaysia, based on a survey, 74.9 % of pupils are psychological-physically victims and followed by 53.2 % pupils involved in both types of intimidation, 14.5 % of non-bullies and eventually 8.6 % of non-victims. Recently, bully has going a major job and it needs to be overcome through step ining plan ( Greenbaum, Turner, Stephens, 1989 ; Wilson, 1992 ) . The whole state were concern and aware of this affair. Study on how common of pupils were bullied in schools reveals that about 80 % of primary school pupils have been bullied, and the bulk happen in the schoolroom. ( sumber: unicef Malaysia communications, 2007 ) Types of school intimidation There several types of intimidation in schools. Strong-arming can take many signifiers as in direct intimidation, indirect intimidation and cyber intimidation. Direct intimidation can be physically assault on the victims or verbally attack. School toughs frequently badgering and twits their victims, verbal onslaughts, jostling and etc. While indirect intimidation is more to verbal and societal behaviour. Bullies will verbal and emotionally assail their victims. Such as, distributing inaccurate rumours about a individual spoilt their repute, practical gags, eschewing and etc. At last, cyber intimidation is the usage of advanced cyberspace engineering, including societal web sites, text messaging and electronic mails to destruct their victims. Verbal intimidation is the most common type of strong-arming experienced by both male childs and misss. Male childs are more likely to be physically bullied by their equals ( Olweus, 1993 ; Nansel et al. , 2001 ) ; misss are more likely to describe being marks of rumorspreading and sexual remarks ( Nansel et al. , 2001 ) . Girls are besides more likely than male childs to bully each other utilizing societal exclusion ( Olweus, 2002 ) . ( beginning: unicef Malaysia communications, 2007 ) The toughs and the victims Besides the traditional functions of bully, victim, and not involved, a figure of surveies have examined the state of affairs of bully-victims or provocative or aggressive victims. Children demoing features of both bully and victim. Not surprisingly, a figure of surveies suggest that these kids are more at hazard than either pure toughs or pure victims ( Duncan, 1999 ; Wolkeet al. , 2000 ) . The toughs usually tend to hold norm or high ego esteem. They possessed with unprompted and hot treated features. They lack of empathy and they do hold troubles in obeying the regulations, the most of import things is they have this positive attitudes towards force ( Olweus, 1993 ) . Who are the marks for the toughs? Bullies will ever cognize who their marks are. They will choose their quarry by judging their marks. Normally victims are in little sizes, nerdy book worm looks, weak and low ego regard. The consequence of strong-arming on the victims is traumatising. It will do the pupil holding phobia towards school. They dare non and afraid of traveling to school. School is a incubus for them and this resulted negative impact on their emotional. They ab initio lost their involvement in school ‘s activities and plants, hapless public presentations in surveies, hapless attendings, and temper swing such as depression, isolated from the others, and limited contact with other people. Effectss of strong-arming â€Å" Emotionally, victims of strong-arming frequently suffer feelings of great hurt and fright whenever they are in school. † ( beginning: unicef Malaysia communications, 2007 ) Most of the victim will set the incrimination on themselves for the intimidation actions, and they believing that it is their failing or incompetency that contributes to them being picked on by the toughs. â€Å" Some victims of strong-arming seaport intense choler and resentment towards toughs and the societal coteries that condone and support strong-arming behaviour. † ( beginning: unicef Malaysia communications,2007 ) If this choler unable to resolutenesss, the victims will stop up strong-arming others to avenge and show their choler, and these are classified as bully-victims. Others might show their cholers such as anti-social behaviour. They may turn up to be hooliganism and larceny. Besides, it might take to suicidal effort. Bullying can take to suicidal effort as important strong-arming behaviour can do a victim to take the self-destructive way to stop the agony. Bullying can impact a kid ‘s learning procedure. In order to hold a quality instruction, a kid should hold explore in a safe, secure and high quality environment for them. These can assist them accommodate into a better acquisition environment and physically, emotionally and intellectually healthy. On the other manus, while under the menace of being injury and humiliation, a kid can ne'er able to carry through their academic potency. While in societal accomplishments, they are tend to be isolated from the others, n left to be low ego regard. Lack of communications and interactions with their equals will do the conditions even worst for them. This may consequences that instance strong-arming grow quickly among the pupils. Factors of act uponing intimidation behaviors Attitude Guerra and Nucci ( 1992 ) found out that delinquent pupils showed a lower inclination to see moral issues as incorrect and harmful than their non delinquent equals, and they considered moral issue as a affair of personal pick. ( Kim, Su-Jeong ( 2004 ) : A Survey of Personal and Environmental Factors Influencing Bullying. Dissertation, LMU Munchen: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences ) . This has shows that the fundamental of the individual ‘s personality and attitude influence their behavior. A kid who are holding aggressiveness in attitude will move headlong and foolhardy. This shows that they unable to command their behaviors due to their attitude that has rooted deep in them. â€Å" Therefore, it is expected that higher positive attitude toward aggression predicts higher bully inclination † ( beginning: Kim, Su-Jeong ( 2004 ) : A Survey of Personal and Environmental Factors Influencing Bullying. Dissertation, LMU Munchen: Faculty of Psychology and Education al Sciences ) civilizations and environment The civilizations and the school environment plays an of import function in act uponing intimidation in schools. The schools environment and the civilizations in the school conveying a immense impact on act uponing pupils involve in school intimidation. If the school ‘s civilizations in school intimidation has been brought from coevals to coevals, school intimidation in this school instead important and this is the chief concern that school intimidation occurs and unresolved yet. Students easy influenced by a group of people particularly their seniors from higher signifier. Peoples, who have individualist beliefs, are inclined to be personal oriented. ( beginning: Kim, Su-Jeong ( 2004 ) : A Survey of Personal and Environmental Factors Influencing Bullying. Dissertation, LMU Munchen: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences ) . The environment around the school is of import. If the environment in the school is tensed and edgy which full of toughs, pupils tend to be losing their intelligence and failed to believe rasionally. Students tend to be either predating the intimidation behavior or go on enduring under this bad circumstance. Family Family members seem to be the most influential party. The relationship between parents and their childs and the manner they parenting will act upon kids ‘s societal behaviour. â€Å" A conflictive, cold and rejecting raring manner leads to a deficiency of consideration for others â€Å" ( Shaffer, 1994 ) . The attitude of the parents rooted in the kid ‘s head and this may consequences how the kid will move in the hereafter. Fraczek and Kirwil ( 1992 ) found out the kids holding the parents, who stress on the accomplishment and competition, tended to be more aggressive than the other kids. ( beginning: Kim, Su-Jeong ( 2004 ) : A Survey of Personal and Environmental Factors Influencing Bullying. Dissertation, LMU Munchen: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences ) In a household, parents are the most of import function in educate their kid in a proper manners. Parent ‘s values and beliefs are of import factors to represent the kid ‘s values and beliefs. Parents transfer societal norms and values to the following coevals through direct direction and in vicarious manner. ( beginning: Kim, Su-Jeong ( 2004 ) : A Survey of Personal and Environmental Factors Influencing Bullying. Dissertation, LMU Munchen: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences ) ego positions Self perceptual experiences linked to different perceptual experiences from different angles. There are three chief perceptual experiences involved in school intimidation. The victim ‘s positions, Harmonizing to anterior surveies ( Kim, 1997: Kwag, & A ; Lee, 1999 ) , most of victims did non cognize why they were bullied. They have the thought which they are excessively bashful and does n't hold any close friends. Some of victims regarded their bad school class and toughs ‘ evilness as the ground of intimidation ( Kim, 1997 ; Schaefer, 1998 ) . ( beginning: Kim, Su-Jeong ( 2004 ) : A Survey of Personal and Environmental Factors Influencing Bullying. Dissertation, LMU Munchen: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences ) While in toughs ‘ positions, they are either manner excessively superior to the others or they are intimidated and feeling insecure. Mostly toughs who are superior ever choose their weak victims as their marks. While those toughs who are insecure ever toughs to acquire attending and needed friends to environ them. Beside of them, parents ‘ house, retaliation and victim ‘s bad school public presentation were selected as the ground of intimidation. ( beginning: Kim, Su-Jeong ( 2004 ) : A Survey of Personal and Environmental Factors Influencing Bullying. Dissertation, LMU Munchen: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences ) While bystanders are those who either could be a victim or non. They thought that victim ‘s behaviors largely is the ground that being bullied. As for the toughs, they bullied to derive strength and they merely behaves like the others. ( beginning: Kim, Su-Jeong ( 2004 ) : A Survey of Personal and Environmental Factors Influencing Bullying. Dissertation, LMU Munchen: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences ) Wayss to control the job Teachers Teachers play a critical function in supervised the pupils so that they do the right things. Therefore, by utilizing the instruction assignments and undertakings on a hebdomadal or monthly footing, can promote the pupils in making the right things. As a instructor, pupils ‘ safety is the chief concern. School intimidation can be doing problems and jobs for the instructors. Teachers have to do a base that strong-arming is non tolerated and acceptable in schoolroom, schools and everyplace. Teachers have to guarantee that if anyone in the school has a job with intimidation, they must describe or hold personal talk with the instructor. Teachers must allow the pupils know that they can be trusted and guarantee their safety. Teachers should take action instantly one time witnesses instance strong-arming in his or her presence. Besides offering protections and immediate actions, instructors are responsible in educate the pupils about the school intimidation. The importance of anti-bul lying in school and terrible penalties will offer if blustery happen around the school compound. Teachers should put a good illustration and be a function theoretical account among the pupils. Students tend to detect and copy instructors ‘ behaviors. Teachers should ever allow a kid feel loved, appreciated and respected. Besides, instructors should advance a sharing and loving civilization among the pupils. School Schools play a critical function efficaciously to cut down intimidation by developing a safe and supportive school environment ; School should raise the consciousness among the pupils, instructors, parents and the populace every bit good. School ‘s authorization should offer better supervising during deferral and tiffin hr by instructors. Meanwhile, consistent and immediate effects for aggressive behaviour must take topographic point. School should promote the populace and offer generous congratulations for pro-social and helpful behaviour by pupils. Besides, school authorization should outline out a specific category regulations which against intimidation. If school detected instance strong-arming around the school country, serious single negotiations with toughs and with victims must take topographic point. Other than that, serious negotiations with parents of toughs and victims are really of import. School should ever update the pupils ‘ intelligence to their parents a nd forestall the jobs together. Last, a meeting of the school with parent-teacher ( place and school ) organisation on the subject of strong-arming should keep one time a piece to understand and happen solutions for bars. Parents Parents play a critical function in prevents and kerb school intimidation. A loving and caring household ever can demo support to the kid. Parents should raise the consciousness among themselves in order to protect their kid from danger. Everyone has the duty in work outing the job. Parents are encouraged to collaborate with the school instantly to do certain their kid is safe. Parents should educate the values and the right things to the kid. Parent ‘s attitude and ways in conveying up the kid determined the kid either to be a utile individual or a bully in the society. Parents should seek to pass on with their kid, understand them, listen to their feelings and happen the major job in their kid. If the kid is timid, deficiency of interactions with equals, parents should set up their kid to take part in positive societal groups which able to run into his or her involvements. In order to develop their kid ‘s particular accomplishments and self assurance in the societal gro up can be really helpful. Parents should work manus in manus with school by proposing that the school to implement an anti-bullying plan. Media How media can play a portion in prevent school intimidation in schools? Media play a critical function in prevents school intimidation. Ads should able to raise the consciousness among the populace. After all, media is the best manner to convey the messages and consciousness towards the populace. Besides, Television, films and videogames are the chief beginnings in influences the childs and carry more verbal and physical force. In order to keep the duty among the populace, media literacy seems to be a good manner to forestall force among the kid. Media should hold censoring on force issues on the television, films and picture games. Besides, by raising the consciousness among the populace through the wireless Stationss, newspapers articles and streamers. Besides, cyberspace is one of the engineering media that can distribute a word through the web to the whole universe broad. In United States, they set up an anti-bullying web site which included information on instructors ‘ fun ction, schools ‘ function, victims and bystanders ‘ function. It included ways to forestall and how to halt the strong-arming spread in schools or around them. Theory in sociology of instruction that connected in this issue. The sociology of instruction is a survey on the function and the relationship between the society and instruction, and the relationship between the chief aims and procedure Research and development in instruction. Besides, it included the relationship between the public establishments, spiritual and political facets in instruction field. There are three chief theories were introduced in this survey, the functionalism, struggle and symbolic interactionism. In this subject, the instance of school intimidation is a societal issue that associated with physical force behaviour which is consider easy under certain conditions, such as poorness, racial or aggressive cholers or household influences. Under Conflicts theory, the chief laminitis is Karl Marx â€Å" the Communist pronunciamento † emphasizes on the societal position or societal life in the society, the materialist of history and the subjugation of economic from revolution or, at least, reform. In this theory there is something similar that related to strong-arming. The instability of the societal position that raises struggles in the society. So as in school, the pupils form themselves a hierarchy system harmonizing to their academic potency. This shows that â€Å" societal position † among the school childs. The higher position or so called the high intelligent childs will command the lower position citizens. They will ache the childs through verbally, physically and emotionally to derive their position and strength or protagonists. In Karl Marx ‘s theory is that the economic construction in society leads to political subjugation. As in history, people make usage of their economic position to derive the control among the people in the hierarchy. The economic construction of society includes the thoughts of political orientations, morality, literature and humanistic disciplines. From the history, reflects on what is go oning in the school now. School strong-arming someway derives from the history. How the toughs uses their strength or position power to derive attractive force and power in suppressing the weakest links. While in the educational angle to see this theory, the function of the school seems like is the topographic point to make the societal position hierarchy among the society. Schools which adapted this attack usually is a school of elites. They emphasizes on the importance of societal position and positives competitions among the pupils. The school is dominated by the elect group, as for the incompetency pupils or comes from the lower category in the hierarchy will stay as the low category citizens. The school will ever prioritise the elect groups. The school intimidation starts and will stay as a civilization here, as the school precedence is the elect groups and they emphasizes on societal position. The instructors are playing a critical function here. Although the civilization and environment in the school encourages strong-arming indirectly, instructors should put a function theoretical account to avoid negatives competitions and malicious, practical mean behavior among the pupils. The theory that applies in some certain school shows that this attack encourages competitions between one and another. In order to take down one and another, to turn out that the winning, position and strength. There are critics on this attack shows that it does non keep the stableness among the society. In instruction field, no affair which approach the school adapts ; the function of the school should ever supply the quality instructions and academic intents to a kid.DrumheadSchool intimidation occurs everyplace in this universe. In United States, pupils who are under depression resulted of intimidation were choosing for self-destructive effort to stop these average behavior. The intent for pupils to travel to school is to obtain know shelfs, acquisition and be a better individual who can lend to the society.The factors that lead to school strong-arming occur in school chiefly because of influences. Influences from the equals force per unit area, influences from the society, and in fluences from the household, influences from the school and environment, and the civilizations are directed to the incidents and effects of instance intimidation.The chief functions in kerb the jobs ever arouse with the instructors, the schools, the parents, the media, and the society. Everyone has the duties to get the better of this job. Everyone has the duty to control this job and to cut down the hazard in aching the kid.Research on the statistics of school intimidation in Malaysia harmonizing to a statistics gathered by the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, approximately one in three pupils in signifier 1-5 reported been bullied at school, non merely merely at the resort area, but the hallways, corridors, lavatories and every corner in the school. Now, the latest toughs ‘ technique is by utilizing the latest engineering. They use internet, trial messages, electronic mails and cyberspace poster to societal webs ; to intimidate their marks.

Hidden Connections

[pic] EMMANUEL KWAME ANTWI ID: UD16761BBU24478 SEMINAR CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT I â€Å"D† THE HIDDEN CONNECTIONS (ESSAY) ATLANTIC INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY HONOLULU, HAWAII DECEMBER 17, 2011 INTRODUCTION The Hidden Connections is a book authored by Fritjof Capra. In this book,  Capra relates today’s dynamic and complex human life styles to the symbiotic lives of  different interrelated and interdependent organisms. Specifically, he is trying to apply the ideology of obscurity assumptions to the close scrutiny of the magnitude of the interactions and correlations of mankind. He states in the book that if we are to maintain a future life, we need to learn to respect the rules of nature, the rules and principles that nature has inevitably adapted to advance and sustain what he calls the web of life. This book  explains and clears just how much the hypothetical thoughts and scientific theories which are much ignored by most of the world that operates outside the margins of science can practically be applied to resolving most of the problems that threaten the existence of this planet. This book brings to light the interrelation and interconnections of science in relation to our  societal and social organizations which most of us are not aware. This can be the reason why he titled the book ‘The Hidden Connections’, it is because most of the world’s population is either unaware f this understanding, or may be just negligent of its reality. According to a presentation by Darian Schiffman (academics, AIU) quoting from Capra (2002 p. vvi), the book basically has two goals, which are; to bring forth a new understanding of life through the presentation of a conceptual framework that integrates life’s biological, cognitive as well as social dimensions; and t o offer a clear systematic approach to some pertaining questions we have that negatively and aversively affect our world. This study purposes to critically analyze the message in this book, to look at every aspect of  human life that it addresses, I believe Capra himself being a physicist of prominence and an award winner in the science department, importantly with enough time, examined and fully dissected the theoretical scientific principles in every possible way and in their applicable nature, that in the end saw the connectivity of these scientific articulations to our own social lives today. At the same time, he saw in the most significant way the effect the things that we do as humans are going to later affect us if we do not change the organizational principles that govern and direct our lives today. The   book also   touches   almost   all   the   significant   aspects   of human   life   and   boldly substantiates just how each of these aspects affects the other if not well maintained. Generally, the book brings the world to understanding the extremes of destruction our current principles have on nature, making future life almost unimaginable. In the same vein, the book proposes the possible amicable measures that we can take to preserve our world, especially world leaders and world environmental organizations. For long the world has being striving towards globalization, this book addresses both the challenges and dangers of such a motive, addressing the complications of biotechnology and its nature. The book simply brings together the scientific world and our own social world, and pragmatically defining these worlds’ relationship and probable dependence. THE HIDDEN CONNECTIONS (THE BODY) The Nature of Life: Mostly, this would direct a person to the question â€Å"what s life? † a question which will clearly trigger an outburst of mental assumptions some driven by general thought, and some oriented by experience. An encyclopedic thesaurus Word Web, life is defined as being the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities, or  the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living. This may sound quite simple and brief, but Capra looks at it in quite broader perspective, and defines it in even more detailed way, pin-pointing specific aspects that make up the definition of life. Capra explains in some way that no man or organism is total island, in one way or another  every organism depends on other organisms, no wonder I personally a ‘symbiotic’ kind of  relation where one organism of a different specie cannot live without the other, the interdependence of organisms where each organism benefits from the other. The practical of  such relationship is that of plants and animals, animals basically cannot make their own food so they depend on the photosynthetic process of plants, through which plants make food, at the same time releasing oxygen which animals do need forth the process of respiration. Maturana and Varela (1980) quoted by Capra (2002), in their definition of life came up with the concept of ‘autopoiesis’ which factually mean â€Å"self-making†, this concept particularly amalgamates   two defining characteristics or aspects of cellular life which are the physical boundary and the metabolic network; and in contrast to the surfaces of crystals or large molecules, the boundary of an autopoietic system is chemically distinct from the rest of the system and it participates in metabolic processes by assembling itself and by selectively filtering incoming and outgoing molecules. Therefore, the definition of a living system as an autopoietic network means that the phenomenon of life has to be understood as a property of  the system as a whole, just as much as Pier Luigi (2008) mentions that life cannot be attributed to any single molecular component, not even to the DNA or RNA but only to the entire bounded metabolic network. ‘Autopoiesis provides a clear and powerful criterion for distinguishing between living and nonliving systems. For example, it tells us that viruses re not alive, because they lack their  own metabolism. Outside living cells, viruses are inert molecular structures consisting of  proteins and nucleic acids. A virus is essentially a chemical message that needs the metabolism of a living host cell to produce new virus particles, according to the instructions encoded in its DNA or RNA. The new particles are not built within the boundary of the virus itself, but outside in the host cell,’ Capra (2002). So, the autopoiesis th eory strongly supports and founds the Santiago theory in some way. It explains and provides answers to many other  questions that surround the issue life and its natural defining features and traits, it can as well symbiotic relationships, organizations, and social networks of organisms. During the process of respiration, animals release carbon dioxide which plants need for the process of photosynthesis, so plants need animals for the carbon dioxide, and plants animals need plants for the oxygen. We (animals) primarily need each other to survive. God created a world that nourishes, restores, and preserves itself it were not for human activities that have degraded to total ruin, for example, a livestock farmer lets his/her livestock feed on the pasture, as they graze, they drop dung on the pastures which will in the next rain season dissolve to nourish the soil as fertilizer, promoting an even better outgrowth of  pasture, therefore the soil nourishment depends on the livestock, and the nourishment of the livestock depends on the soil. Capra looks at life as not being solely determined by the inherent design but views it as an evolving process that engages a complete epigenetic network or external factors, making it continuously responding to both physical and chemical constrictions we exert on our environment. There is one common character that all living organisms share and this is unquestionable. They all have cells, be it animals, people, plants, or microorganisms such as bacteria, virus or  fungi, all of them have cells that build up to give a structure. Despite transitions and extreme conditions, the genetic blueprint of organisms has so far stayed intact in most cases, some have succumbed to the inevitability of evolution, but some have been the same for thousands of years and the dependence upon another species of organisms have been carried on and on. In his definition of life, Capra (2002:6) uses the bacterial cell to clearly delineate what life is all about, he states that when a cell is viewed under a microscope one can easily notice that inside it a metabolic processes that uses special macromolecules consisting of elongated chains of atoms, and two of such macromolecules are common in all living cells, and these are proteins and the nucleic acid (the Deoxyribonucleic Acid-DNA and the Ribonucleic Acid-RNA). Basically, there are two kinds of proteins as well; the enzymes act catalysts for most metabolic processes, where as the structural proteins form part of the cell structure. The DNA and the RNA within the cell work hand-in-hand determining that crucial bond defining the cell’s genetic and metabolic features. The Santiago Theory: Maturana and Varela (1980:13) in theoretical definition of the Santiago theory say all living systems are cognitive systems, and that living as a process is itself a process of cognition, and the two further cement that ‘this statement is valid for all organisms in spite of whether such organism got a nervous system or not. Initially in the world of philosophy Rene Descartes (1596-1650) emphasized the Cartesian View which promotes dualism as follows which suggests that the body operates like some kind of  machine, having material properties of extension and motion, that it operates within the doctrines of physics; and further articulates that the mind and soul on the other is kind of none-material, making it a unit without extension and motion, and follows not the rules of physics. Descartes stressed that it is only the human beings that have minds, and that the mind acts together with the body at the pineal gland, a tiny pine-like endocrine gland located close to the central part of the brain which produces melatonin, a hormone responsible for regulating the patterns of sleeping or waking up as well as other seasonal functions. This understanding generally relates that it is the mind that basically and pragmatically controls the entire, and that at the same time the body can as well manipulate the reasoning of the mind, especially in cases where a person acts out of an emotional intuition. This theory looks at cognition as a component quite indispensable in the issues of systems, it practically implies that almost every activity that takes place or transpires in the system processes require cognition, which Capra stipulates as taking place in phases as follows, ‘Cognition, is not a representation of an independently existing world, but rather a continual bringing forth of a world through the process of living. The interactions of a living system with its environment are cognitive interactions, and the process of living itself is a process of  cognition. In the words of Maturana and Varela, â€Å"to live is to know†. As a living organism goes through its individual pathway of structural changes, each of these changes corresponds to a cognitive act, which means that learning and development are merely two sides of the same coin. The first type, known as â€Å"primary consciousness,† arises when cognitive processes are accompanied by basic perceptual, sensory and emotional experience. Primary consciousness is probably experienced by most mammals and perhaps by some birds and other vertebrates. The second type of consciousness, sometimes called â€Å"higher-order consciousness,† involves self-awareness—a concept of self, held by a thinking and reflecting subject. This experience of self-awareness emerged during the evolution of the great apes, or  Ã¢â‚¬Å"hominids,† together with language, conceptual thought and all the other characteristics that fully unfolded in human consciousness. Because of the critical role of reflection in this higher-order conscious experience, I shall call it â€Å"reflective consciousness. Reflective consciousness involves a level of cognitive abstraction that includes the ability to hold mental images, which allows us to formulate values, beliefs, goals and strategies. This evolutionary stage is of central relevance to the main theme of this book—the extension of the new understanding of life to the social domain— because with the evolution of language arose not only the inner world of concepts and ideas, but a lso the social world of organized relationships’ Capra (2002:38-39). According to Capra (2002:34) ‘the central insight of the Santiago Theory is the identification of cognition, the process of knowing, with the process of life. Cognition, according to Maturana and Varela (1980), is the activity involved in the self-generation and self-perpetuation of living networks. In other words, cognition is the very process of life. The organizing activity of living systems, at all levels of life, is mental activity. The interactions of   a   living   organism—plant,   animal   or   human—with   its   environment   are   cognitive interactions. Thus, life and cognition are inseparably connected. Mind—or, more accurately, mental activity—is immanent in matter at all levels of life. ’ This to me sounds more prudent and quite rational in comparison to the other perceptions, in opposition to Rene’s theories the Santiago Theory is more clearer and comprehensible even for low class students, it brings to life the real life situation that we all experience everyday, it makes one see the connection and dependability of organisms upon other organisms, taking into perspective, the biotic and abiotic factors on nature. According to the online encyclopedia (Wikipedia, 2010) Descartes believed that this special gland was the ‘seat of the soul’ an understanding he purported with many reasons stated respectively as follows; firstly, he understood that the soul is unitary or one and this to him meant the pineal gland was an entity despite it being proven hemispherical; second to this he discovered that this gland was positioned near the ventricles making him believe the cerebrospinal fluid worked through the nerves to control the body, as well as regulating the processes manipulated by the pineal gland. and finally Descartes despite figuring-out that both human beings and animals had the pineal gland he still resolved that only humans had minds advancing in his mind the idea that animals cannot feel pain or are insensitive to pain. Unfortunately the Cartesian view gets questioned and in the process challenged by the Santiago Theory which takes a totally different stand from the philosophy o f Descartes. The Santiago Theory vehemently recognizes the reality of cognition, normally defined as the ability or the process of knowing, or the activity involved in self-generation and self-perpetuation of living systems, entailing that cognition is actually the life itself, Maturana &Varela (1980). The Santiago theory moves away from Descartes’ view of life and instead studies the mind from a systematic understanding and has so far given to the interdisciplinary field of Cognitive Science; and according to Capra (2002:34), this theory holds the ‘Organizing activity of all living systems at all levels of life, is actually mental activity’. Therefore, the old perception of the mind as a ‘thinking thing’ has progressed into a view of  the mind as being a process where the ‘entire structure of the organism participates’ Capra (2002:37). Many other views have so far been brought forth to oppose Descartes view, but the Santiago Theory has so far been the first scientific hypothesis that has really questioned and practically overcame the Cartesian dissection of mind and matter, and from the optimistic point of view, this theory is believed to have far-reaching implications. Generally, this theory has brought the mind and body/matter together viewed as two harmonizing and complementary aspects defining the phenomenon of life. So far, the theory has already brought substantial knowledge and understanding concerning the beginning with a simple micro cell, the mind, the matter, the process and the structure at all levels which have so far proven to be inseparable and interdependent in one way or another, this unites the mind, matter and life. In the Santiago theory (Capra, 2002:34-36) it is clearly stated that as ‘a living organism responds to environmental influences with structural changes, these changes will in turn alter  its future behavior. In other words, a structurally coupled system is a learning system. Continual structural changes in response to the environment—and consequently continuing adaptation, learning and development—are key characteristics of the behavior of all living beings. Because of its structural coupling, we can call the behavior of an animal intelligent, but would not apply that term to the behavior of a rock. As it keeps interacting with its environment, a living organism will undergo a sequence of structural changes, and over time it will form its own individual pathway of structural coupling. At any point on this pathway, the structure of the organism is a record of previous structural changes. The Santiago theory advances the issue of higher order consciousness or ‘reflective consciousness which involves a level of cognitive abstraction that includes the ability to hold mental images’ Capra (2002:39). This inevitable capability gives human beings the repertoire to create a value system and act cordially. In the simplest of perception, this theory drives us take a person’s subjective and prejudiced experience into some version which has been conventionally ignored by science. The Santiago specifically states that mind is no thing rather a process operating through the brain relating that brain and mind is actually one between process and structure. It is also of some degree of importance to note that this eradicates the idea that the brain is the only compartment involved in the process of  cognition, clearly illustrating the fact that in all vertebrate organisms the immune system is actually a complicated network of unrelenting interconnectedness, just as much as the nervous system serving similarly the vital co-ordination purpose. According   to   the   Wikipedia   (2010)   on   the   Santiago   theory,   cognition   appears   as   a consequence of continual interaction between the system and its environment, delineating that the   continuous   interactions   between   system   and   the   environment   triggers   two-sided disturbances viewed as problems forcing the system to use its functional specialization routine to find solutions to the perturbations. It is of importance to note in this theory that the system slowly adapts to its environment positioning itself to face-up to the disturbances or  intrusion in order to sustain survival. This therefore means the resulting complexity  complicatedness of living systems is cognition emanating from the bilateral perturbations in the system/environment outline. The theory is really making the scientific world dig deep into these discoveries, eradicating misunderstandings and doubts, setting up the facts straight from experimental experience and observations. Extending the System Approach: Capra, resorts that the systematic understanding of life practically allows the world to see and comprehend the fundamental unity to life, that different living systems exhibit similar patterns of organization, Capra (2002:81),. This understanding can practically be applied to our communities, and the impact will definitely be significant. The defining blueprint of the systems is quite complicated, but can be understood, Capra (2002:81), when we extend this understanding and nowledge, applying it to the social domain we actually apply our ‘knowledge of life’s basic patterns and delineating principles of  organization, and specifically apply our understanding of living networks to social/societal reality’. The living networks in our social communities work just like the brain in its environment; the two diverse situations easily match and model each other. Capra views his extension of the systems approach to the social domain as exp licitly including the material world, which is quite unusual since traditionally social scientists were not interested in the world of matter. He basically mentions that ‘our academic disciplines have been organized in such a way that the natural sciences deal with social structures, which are perceived to be especially the rules of behavior; stating that in the near future this strict division will no longer be possible since the key challenge of this new century for social scientists, natural scientists and everyone else will be to build ecologically sustainable communities, designed in such a way that their technologies and social institutions, their  material and social structure do not interfere with nature’s hereditary ability to sustain life;†¦the design principles of our future social institutions must be consistent with the principles of  organization that nature has evolved to sustain the web of life. A unified conceptual framework for the understanding of material and social structures will be essential this task’ Capra (2002:19). The Social Network: In every society or community there must be a distinctive social kind of  network and on the issue of this kind of network Capra states that social networks use communication, which normally takes place in multiple feedback loops, as some measure to reproduce itself and its culture, and thus its value and belief. This actually addresses social reality. Capra mentions that wherever there is social organization there is power courtesy of  the inevitable conflicts of interest, and it is in these situations where ‘power plays a central role in the emergence of social structure’ which happens to provide people with rules or  principles of behavior, Capra (2002:90). Normally the ‘social networks generate material structures buildings, roads, technologies, etc, which become structural components of the network; and they also produce material goods and artifacts that are exchanged between the network’s nodes. However, the production of material structures in social networks is quite different from that in biological and ecological networks. ‘The structures are created for a purpose, according to some design, and they embody some meaning; and to understand the activities of social systems, it is crucial to study them from that perspective†¦perspective of meaning includes a multitude of interrelated characteristics that are essential to understanding social reality. Meaning itself is a systemic phenomenon: it always has to do with context. Webster's Dictionary defines meaning as â€Å"an idea conveyed to the mind that requires or allows of interpretation,† and interpretation as â€Å"conceiving in the light of individual belief, judgment, or circumstance. In other words, we interpret something by putting it into a particular context of concepts, values, beliefs, or circumstances. To understand the meaning of anything we need to relate it to other things in its environment , in its past, or in its future. Nothing is meaningful in itself’ Capra (2002:83-84). According to Wenger (2006), organisms in an environment develop a common practice which characterizes the shared manner of how things are executed and relate to each other, a reality that allows such organisms to attain their unifying course, and in most cases after a while such practice turns to be a significant bond within the participants. This book clearly depicts from its author that when we try to extend this new understanding of life to the social domain, we immediately come up against a bewildering multitude of phenomena, rules of behavior, values, intentions, goals, strategies, designs, power relations that play no role in most of then on-human world but are essential to human social life, however though, these different characteristics of social reality all share a basic common feature that provides a natural link to the systems view of life developed in the other chapters of the book, Capra (2002:73). Normally this is how social networks come into being, and such communities have special aspects in common such as; that impeccable looking common understanding, the general involvement of the community members, the regular round of activities that the members become   accustomed   encompassing   the   accepted   rules   of   behavior,   attitude   and comprehension which are normally sustained in due course, Wenger (2008). It such attributes that end up becoming differentiating principles of a community, despite emanating from the ordinary; they primarily become the identifying traits for a specific community. From the most general of perspectives, the social networks of mankind are defined by minor  and major aspects that maintain and sustain the network, and the connectivity in the entire metaphor, the same critically resembles the systems in the human beings and most other  organisms. In any typical social network there are strict outlines that define and regulate behavior and attitudes a practice that results in the creation of ethics and norms that different societies resort to consider for societal order. Capra states that ‘at all scales of nature, we find living systems nesting within other living systems, networks within   networks. Their  boundaries are not boundaries of separation but boundaries of identity. All living systems communicate with one another and share resources across their boundaries’. This clearly shows the possibility of social networks in another living web of networks interacting just as normal. Organization and Change: In most cases where an effort to bring change has been made and proven to be futile due to feeling and assumption that people resisted the intended change, the general conclusion made is the people resisted is refused to buy into the introduced change, be it for their good and benefit. Capra defiles and contradicts this idea and calls it false, stating that people only resist having change if such change is not negotiable meaning if such change is simply imposed on them, normally societies or communities would appreciate and support change if their input on the idea is sort. It makes them feel part of that change, and part of a social community that operates systematically. When we transfer on the metaphor of  an organization from machine to the living systems we actually begin to view organizations as communities with collective identities that share common values. During an interview by Barbara Vogl (2010) with Capra mentioned in answer to he question concerning self-organization in our individual lives and organizations could be useful in helping us see how to get through the anxiety in our period of transition and passing into the  new paradigm thinking, he replied and said ‘Well I think self-organization and the newer  understanding of life and com plexity, when it is applied to the social realm and human organizations, can help people to find their authenticity as human beings The old paradigm model is a mechanistic model where people are seen as parts of a big machine and the machine is designed by experts who either sit at the top of the organization or are brought in from outside as consultants. Then this design of new structures is imposed upon the people who work in the organization and they are pigeon-holed in certain departments with well-defined boundaries. So the underlying model is that of a machine working very smoothly. What self-organization tells you, among many other things, is that creativity is an inherent property of all living systems. All living systems are creative because they have the ability to reach out and create something new. In the last 20-25 years we have begun to understand the dynamics of this creativity, in terms of emergence of new structures and in terms of  instability, bifurcation points, and the spontaneous emergence of order. This is the underlying dynamics of creativity at all levels of life. When people understand this they will realize that human individuals as well as groups of individuals are inherently creative. So when you have an organization and you want to design a new structure and you bring in outside experts and then impose this structure on the organization you have to spend a lot of energy and money to sell the idea to the employees and the manager. Since human beings are inherently creative they will not accept the idea as it is. Since this will deny their humanity. Therefore, you can give them orders and they will nominally adhere to the orders but they will circumvent the orders; they will re-invent the orders and will modify it, either boycott it or embellish it, adding their own interpretation’. This to me implies the fact that for anything to be of some level of importance and value to the people, the people need to understand it first, have some insight on its implications, put on balance the advantages and the disadvantages, enabling them to be able to define the situation in its true context. Organizations or companies with collective identities do exist in sharp contrast to the ‘economical company, whose priorities are determined by the purely economic criteria Capra (2002:105). In further expatiation of this situation Capra states that ‘organizations cannot be controlled through direct interventions, but can be influenced by giving impulses rather than instructions, Capra (2002:112). In most cases interventions end up causing tension and stampedes in communities, but impulses which are normally conditioning can gradually bring about the desired change. Capra continues to point out that it is the meaningful disturbances that normally trigger structural changes within an organization, instead of force Capra(2002:112). The general deduction is that if you intend to bring about change, it is best that you involve the people as the subject of that change, for such change will directly affect them so they should be consulted about the change before it is applied, so if you involve people in the creation of change, then definitely change will be come. Organization in an economy: Organization plays a major role in shaping the economy of  our social communities and the world at large. The Hidden connections discuses the most probing issues in the world today, starting with politics, sociology, education, ethics, philosophy and design, and the book’s main theme is change in these important aspects of our  lives. In an interview with Ecotecture (2002) addressing the issue of economy, Capra states that he calls for change of values, a change of politics, a change of attitudes, with the general goal of building a sustainable society and the future that is sustainable, and believable for our  children, and further explained as an example that ‘in order to change the economy in such away that it becomes sustainable, one needs to understand the world economy, which today is a network of computers, a network of flows of money and information and power that extends globally. So we need to understand how we can introduce a different set of values into the global economy. ’ He extends that ‘in order to do that, we need to understand the relationship between living networks and values and human choices and politics. So it needs certain kind of philosophy and†¦spiritual stance/background, but it also needs the scientific understanding. ‘He clearly stipulates that in addit ion to being living communities, organizations are as ‘social institutions   designed   for   specific   purposes   and   functioning   in   a   specific   economic environment’ Capra (2002:125). Economic Globalization: Global economics has been under promotion for two decades now, all in effort to encourage standardization in the rules that regulate and control international trading. Globalization literary refers to the process of making something gain global and internal recognition and acceptance, a transformational process of turn simple local or  national rule or principle into an international law, or understanding. It is a process by which people of the world are fused together into a distinct society that share a common understanding and work as an entity; it enjoins the economical, technological, and socio-cultural together with the political authorities of this world, Croucher (2004:10). Upon this Jagdish (2004) substantiates further that globalization is quite often used to imply economic globalization which means the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spreading of technology internationally. In chapter seven of the Hidden Connections Capra (2003) further explained and brought more light on the definition of economic globalization in the following statement during the conference; â€Å"During the past three decades, the information technology revolution has given rise to a new type of capitalism that is profoundly different from the one formed during the Industrial Revolution, or the one that emerged after the Second World War. It is characterized by three fundamental features. Its core economic activities are global; the main sources of productivity and competitiveness are innovation, knowledge generation, and information processing; and it is structured largely around networks of financial flows. This new global capitalism is also referred to as â€Å"the new economy,† or simply as â€Å"globalization. †   In the new economy, capital works in real time, moving rapidly through global financial networks. From these networks it is invested in all kinds of economic activity, and most of what is extracted as profit is channeled back into the meta-network of financial flows. Sophisticated information and communication technologies enable financial capital to move rapidly from one option to another in a relentless global search for investment opportunities. The movements of this electronically operated global casino do not follow any market logic. The markets are continually manipulated and transformed by computer-enacted investment strategies, subjective perceptions of influential analysts, political events in any part of the world, and most significantly by unsuspected turbulences caused by the complex interactions of capital flows in this highly nonlinear system†. However, Capra (2002) further extends that in order for the global economic automatization process called ‘automaton’ to properly work it has to be programmed by human actors and institutions giving rise to the new economy comprising of two crucial components, which are values and operational rules. Capra does not hide the fact that these automated global financial network processions do ‘†¦assign specific financial value to every asset in every economy’, he clears that this is no perfect measure though, because ‘it involves economic calculations based on advanced mathematical models, information and opinions provided by market valuation firms, financial gurus, leading central bankers, and other  influential analysts, as well as unregulated information turbulences’; which mean that ‘the tradable financial of any asset subject to continual adjustments is an emergent property of the automaton’s highly nonlinear dynamics. However, underlying all evaluations is the basic principle of unfettered capitalism: that money-making should always be valued higher than democracy, human rights, environmental protection or any other value†¦ in the process entirely changing the principle’. Basically, the World Trade Organization (WTO) was initiated the mid-1990s to watch over and determine economic globalization; so far politicians and business leaders promised that economic globalization would benefit all the people in all countries worldwide through the process of  free trade, but instead of really sticking by this promise the organization has been responsible for a ‘multitude of interconnected fatal consequences’ Capra (2002:129), that are affecting especially developing countries, that are still in their developing stage in most aspects; which brings me to the next question that Capra addresses in this book, and that is the consequences of economic globalization. Every decision one takes despite the level at which the decision is taken there will always be advantages and disadvantages, benefits and consequences and the process of economic globalization has not been an exclusion from this natural phenomenon, in this case most of  the powerful and controlling nations are benefiting the most, and the some nations are really suffering from the entire operation. According to Capra (2003), ‘The impact of the new economy on human well-being has been mostly negative. It has enriched global elite of  financial speculators, entrepreneurs, and high-tech professionals. At the very top, there has been an unprecedented accumulation of wealth, and global capitalism has also benefited some national economies, especially in Asian countries. But overall its social and environmental consequences have been disastrous. The rise of global capitalism has been accompanied by rising social inequality and polarization, both internationally and within countries. In particular, poverty and social inequality have increased through the process of social exclusion, which is a direct consequence of the new economy’s network structure. As the flows of capital and information interlink worldwide networks, they exclude from these networks all populations and territories that are of no value or interest to their search for financial gain. As a result, certain segments of societies, areas of cities, regions, and even entire countries become economically irrelevant. Thus, a new impoverished segment of humanity has emerged around the world as a direct consequence of globalization. It comprises large areas of the globe, including much of Sub-Saharan Africa and rural areas of Asia and Latin America. But the new geography of social exclusion also includes portions of every country and every city in the world’. Capra (2003) further explains that ‘According to the doctrine of economic globalization known   as   Ã¢â‚¬Å"neo-liberalism,†   the   free-trade   agreements   imposed   by   the   World   Trade Organization (WTO) on its member countries will increase global trade; this will create a global economic expansion; and global economic growth will decrease poverty, because its benefits will eventually â€Å"trickle down† to all. This reasoning is fundamentally flawed. Global capitalism does not alleviate poverty and social exclusion; on the contrary, it exacerbates them. Neo-liberalism has been blind to this effect because corporate economists’ have traditionally excluded the social costs of economic activity from their models. Similarly, most conventional economists have ignored the new economy’s environmental cost — the increase and acceleration of global environmental destruction, which is as severe, if not more so, than its social impact. One of the tenets of neo-liberalism is that poor countries should concentrate on producing a few special goods for export in order to obtain foreign exchange, and should import most other commodities. This emphasis on export has led to the rapid depletion of the natural resources required to produce export crops in country after country — diversion of freshwater from vital rice paddies to prawn farms; a focus on water-intensive crops, such as sugar  cane, that result in dried-up river beds; conversion of good agricultural land into cash-crop plantations; and forced migration of large numbers of farmers from their lands. All over the world   there   are   countless   examples   of   how   economic   globalization   is   worsening environmental   destruction;   and since money-making   is the dominant   value of global capitalism, its representatives seek to eliminate environmental regulations under the guise of  Ã¢â‚¬Å"free trade† wherever they can, lest these regulations interfere with profits. Thus, the new economy causes environmental destruction not only by increasing the impact of  its operations on the world’s ecosystems, but also by eliminating national environmental laws in country after country. In other words, environmental destruction is not only a side effect, but is also an integral part of the design of global capitalism’ Capra (2003). One can clearly see that in scientific perspective the world is not really benefiting from the issue of economic globalization considering the number of consequences the whole program brings and foretells for the future in relation to the benefits, personally I see more disadvantages and more consequences accumulated in the entire operation coming in the name of money making and development. The worst part of this whole motion is that its future impact on the natural vegetation of the world is really unpleasant, trees are being cut out in the name of development, and minerals are being extremely extracted at rate that the replenishment process is by many times left behind, fumes and harmful gases from factories and industries are being emitted in the atmosphere, marine resources have been exploited without the really consideration of the impact such activities may have o the world environment in the near future, or the impact on the biodiversity of lives in different habitats on the planet. So far the principles of ecology are not so difficult to comprehend and follow, Capra (2002) simplifies them as follows; Networks: As we have already seen in this essay the unrelenting networking of organisms, networks within networks. We also saw just how living systems communicate with one another and share resources even beyond the margins of their reach. Cycles: This must be gener al knowledge at this time in life, we generally should accept the reality that all living organisms feed on continual flows of matter and energy within their  environment to sustain life, and acknowledge the reality that all organisms produce waste. It is also of greater to note that the ecosystem itself does not produce any waste because one organism’s waste happens to be the next specie’s food, so in the end nothing really goes to waste, almost everything is useful in one way or another making matter cycle continually through the web of life. Solar energy: We all need sunlight, both plants and people. Sunlight is the common source of  vitamin D for animals, and green plants transform sunlight to chemical energy by the process of photosynthesis, making plants the ultimate source of food for both animals and human beings on the entire planet, running the ecological cycle accordingly. Partnership: It is of greater importance to note that the exchanges of energy nd resources in an ecosystem get sustained through pervasive co-operation, stating the verity that life came by co-operation, partnership and networking. Diversity: Under this aspect Capra mentions that ecosystems achieve stability and resilience through th e richness and complexity their ecological webs, and the greater the biodiversity, the more the resilience and buoyancy. These clearly show just how nature adapts and adjusts to its natural environment or any other factors that triggers reactions of the organisms. Dynamic Balance: Ecosystem is no stationery realms; they are actually flexible and ever  fluctuating, and its flexibility come as consequence of multiple feedback loops that keep the system in the state of dynamic balance. Therefore all ecosystem variables fluctuate around their optimal values. If only we stick by these principles, and do everything in careful consideration of the involved dangers we would really be on the right path by now. So far our ignorance and negligence is slowly making us pay through what we choose to call ‘natural catastrophes’ when in reality these are no more natural calamities but rather man-made, our activities are making our world prone to harm. I really wouldn’t say we do this unknowingly considering the level of both the general, social and scientific knowledge of the world at this moment. Everybody is educated today making it quite easier for any transmission of information. The people in the science departments of the world fully understand the consequences of the activities they invent and institute in the name of science and invention. This is what makes Eco-literacy and eco-design subjects of concern to the future-concerned citizens of this planet, for if we get the people to understand this reality the situation may improve towards a positive and conducive future. The Role of NGOs: Everybody that is an inhabitant of this planet is practically and directly involved in either destroying it or restoring it. In one way or another we all contribute to this paradoxical situation, each one of us fall into one of these categories, and this include the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The encyclopedic online dictionary Wikipedia, 2010) defines NGOs as follows, ‘A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a legally constituted organization created by natural or  legal lessons that operates independently from any government and a term usually used b y governments to refer to entities that have no government   status. In   the   cases   in   which   NGOs   are   funded   totally   or   partially   by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental status by excluding government representatives from membership in the organization. The term is usually applied only to organizations that pursue some wider  social aim that has political aspects, but that are not overtly political organizations such as political parties. Unlike the term â€Å"inter-governmental organization†, the term â€Å"non-governmental organization† has no generally agreed legal definition. In many jurisdictions, these types of organization are called â€Å"civil society organizations† or referred to by other names’. These   organizations   are   operated   separately   from   governments;   they   are   stand-alone organizations that globally strive for the betterment of the ordinary or common people world-wide. There are so far both local/national and international Non-Governmental Organization in the entire world established for a diversity of activities, as they see fit, sometimes according to local, national, international or even global needs; they can either be charitable orientation; service orientation; participatory orientation; or empowering orientation type, and are always non-profit making organizations. These organizations’ primary aim is to help promote and encourage collaborations, relationships or partnerships between NGOs in all countries throughout the world, so that together and as an entity we can more effectively cohort with the United Nations (UN) and each other so that we are able to create a more peaceful, serene, just, equitable and sustainable world for our generation as well as for the upcoming future generations. According to Capra (2002) ‘At the turn of this century, an impressive global coalition of  nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), many of them led by men and women with deep personal roots in the sixties, formed around the core values of human dignity and ecological sustainability. In 1999, hundreds of these grassroots organizations interlinked electronically for several months to prepare for joint protest actions at the meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle. The â€Å"Seattle Coalition,† as it is now called, was extrem ely successful in derailing the WTO meeting and in making its views known to the world. Its concerted actions have permanently changed the political climate around the issue of  economic globalization’†¦ and furthers that ‘At the second of these meetings, the NGOs proposed a whole set of alternative trade policies, including concrete and radical proposals for  restructuring global financial institutions, which would profoundly change the nature of  globalization’. So far ‘the global justice movement exemplifies a new kind of political movement that is typical of our Information Age. Because of their skillful use of the Internet, the NGOs in the coalition are able to network with each other, share information, and mobilize their members with unprecedented speed. As a result, the new global NGOs have emerged as effective political actors who are independent of traditional national or international institutions. They constitute a new kind of global civil society. This new form of alternative global community, sharing core values and making extensive use of electronic networks in addition to frequent human contacts, is one of the most important legacies of the sixties; and if it succeeds in reshaping economic globalization so as to make it compatible with the values of human dignity and ecological sustainability,’†¦during the sixties the most important and enduring legacy of that the world community developed has been the creation and subsequent flourishing of a global alternative culture that shares a set of core values. Although many of  these values e. g. environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, global justice — were shaped by cultural movements in the seventies, eighties, and nineties, their essential core was first expressed by the sixties' counterculture. Therefore, many of today's senior progressive political activists, writers, and community leaders trace the roots of their original inspiration back to the sixties’ Capra (2002). This is basically the much the NGOs strives to do, to restore the world to its naturally vegetative state, to help the poor and the needy, and hope to help those ravaged by natural catastrophes such as flooding, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, famines and many other calamitous situations. Many countries that struggle economically or affected by any kind of difficulties have benefited from these non-governmental organizations in many ways such as in food relief programs, volunteer teachers from a diversity of developed countries, financially sponsorships, and further educational sponsorships, and many other  ways. Bunge (2002:233) mentions that the rational first step at the moment is to wade towards sustainability, and the second step being the one that involves Eco-design where ‘we need to apply our ecological knowledge to the fundamental redesign of our technologies and social institutions’ and as stated in process bridging the separating opening between the two,(technology and social institution). When we all work towards this idea, the idea of improve and caring for our world we would change a great deal of the happenings around the world; which could practically lead to the quick restoration of our planet before we bring it its total destruction. The reality that we are destroying our vegetation which is our natural source of  food and oxygen, we are actually putting ourselves at risk. Plants need us (animals) just as much as we need them, they depend on us the same way we depend on them. Upon this is part played by non-living objects such as water, air, the soil and all o ther abiotic matters that are vital to our sustenance of life. They form part of ecosystem even if they are non-living, they contribute greatly to self-sustaining abilities of our planet and form part of the web of  life in one way or another, without water plants would wilt, and animals would die of thirst, and without air both plants and animals would suffocate, and with no soil there wouldn’t be plants for us to feed on. So this is life in its real form, all contributing factors are vital to the sustainability of life in the future. Conclusion This essay is quite practically applicable in our real life situation; it fully conveys the primary hypothesis of the Capra’s book â€Å"The Hidden Connections†. It simplifies the complicate and great amount of information he whole book contains, and most of all it is highly educative and reasonable, compromising of almost every component that matters in life on this planet. In this assignment, I learned the importance of understanding the trend of life as well as the flows of ene rgy within the unrelenting interconnecting chains of life. It is simple; I learned that plants need dead organic materials for food, herbivorous animals feed on those plants, and the carnivorous animals feed on those herbivorous animals and later they all die providing manure back into the soil which plants will suck-up once again to grow, simply explaining the theory of producers and consumers. I also learned in this study that despite the efforts made by Rene Descartes to define life and help the world understand there are some facts which would have helped him define it even better if only he paid more attention to important factors that save as the basis of life. The Hidden Connection is a book if taken seriously and put to action can bring back our world to its initial natural state. The book clearly defines just how we have destroyed our natural world. In the development of weaponry, back in 1945 atomic bombs were created with devastating long lasting effects on the environment, and the vegetation alike including all the living organisms within its reach. Wasn’t this supposed to be a scientific breakthrough in the science of war? But in the end this defined the ultimate weapon with which man will completely destroy the whole world. Technology so far came up with many efficient measures of doing things increasing productivity in the process, many cars and machineries that emit harmful gases into the atmosphere have been heavily produced, huge upon tremendous amounts of fossil fuel gases have been gushed out into the atmosphere sucking out the gases important to the maintenance of the ultra-violet ray protective ozone layer and this has resulted in extreme temperature in our world today. Technology once again increased productivity in the agricultural sector so as to sustain the world’s ever growing population, and so they introduced genetically modified products that also have effects on the animals that feed on them including human beings, thus breaking the natural rules of replenishment. This was meant to be a scientific break-through as well but later backfired. Fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, and many other  chemicals meant to advance humanity and help prevent the world from starvation have turned out to fatal substances, whereby when washed down the streams during rain and flood seasons they affect the water upon which most wild organisms and animals depend for water, the animals drink such water and get affected, some die from the effects, while some develop resistance to the effects but continue to carry the resulting illness of which people will kill for meat, and eat the infected meat which will clearly cause negative consequences. If we want to save the world for our children, we really have to act now before it gets too late. Preventing our world from getting destroyed by our activities is a better alternative than trying to salvage the remaining patches after destroying. This is why Capra suggested the ecological alternative, repairing the world by us can be difficult, but the good thing is that our world has natural abilit ies to restore itself if given a chance of restoration. At this moment in time, there are millions of totally extinct species that once existed and defined the beauty of our world. We can still save and manage to replenish the remaining species if taken into serious consideration the suggestions made by Capra in his book â€Å"The Hidden Connections†. Bibliography 1. Barbara Vogl, (2010). PATTERNS- Interview with Fritjof Capra. http://www. haven. net/patterns/capra. html (Accessed on 11/14/2011) 2. Bhagwati, Jagdish (2004). In defense of Globalization. Oxford, New York: Oxford University PressCC 3. Capra, Fritjof (2002b). Where Have All the Followers Gone? Reflections on the Spirit and Legacy of the Sixties, December 1, 2002. Mindwalk, http://www. terehesshu/english/capra2. html (Accessed on 11/13/2011) 4. Capra, Fritjof, (2002). 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