Charles Dickens Hard Times Essay examples -- Charles Dickens Hard Tim

Charles Dickens' Hard Times The book "Hard Times" was written in 1854. It was written in weekly instalments in a magazine called Household Words. This is like a normal soap but was weekly. The magazine was owned by Charles Dickens as he was a journalist. The book was written at the time of the Industrial Revolution. This was when factories were being built near major towns and cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. The Industrial Revolution was a time when there were big improvements in transport as there was vast expansion in the production of iron. The factories were in the towns so people from the countryside came to the towns for work and a house. They moved because their own mills weren't making enough items of clothing etc whereas the factories could mass produce. However, there weren't enough houses so many were hastily built. This meant they had no fresh water, no sewers and no toilets. This led to a poor quality of living where people got water from communal water pipes and put their waste in a big "pile" which was cleaned by a "waste disposal man". The poor quality of living was added to by the huge smoke clouds which hung over the cities. This "smog" made it hard to breathe and was so bad seeing things became harder. The book starts when Dickens introduces the characters; the first two chapters are short yet are scene-setters. Dickens explains that; Mr Gradgrind - a politician and schools owner, Mr McChoakumchild - a new teacher and Another man - we are not told who the man is or why he is present, are in a classroom full of children. Dickens describes Mr Gradgrind as being a square man and Mr McChoakumchild as a school teacher who was fresh for the factory which "mak... ...r those concerned. This is alike real life where people we meet can be different, alien like or how might we say normal. In "Hard Times" Dickens' does write realistically in a sense. However, in the first two chapters he writes in a more exaggerated way to arouse interest in the book. As this was written in weekly instalments he would have wanted to excite his readers with interesting first chapters so that they continue to buy the magazine. I think that after the first couple of chapter when Dickens' has an interested audience he starts to write in a more realistic fashion. In conclusion, life didn't turn out the way that was expected by many characters in "Hard Times." Those who strived to have perfect children didn't. And those who were looked down on proved to be essential characters in finding that there was more to life than what they were taught.

Save the Arts :: essays research papers

Within the past few years, the government has been taking major strides to improve the education system by increasing the funding for our school systems and programs. They are increasing the school?s funding by taking away the funds from the art, dance, and theatre classes, among other programs. As a student raised in the atmosphere of the arts and a student now majoring in theatre, I feel very strongly that the government is making a major mistake by taking money away from the arts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The arts should be supported because children earn a great deal of self-confidence by being involved in the arts. The children?s self-confidence level is increased through the arts because children are more free to express how they really feel in any and all situations. In the completion of a project, generally there will be some sort of reward, whether applause or recognition for a job well done. The rewards make children feel special, valuable, and important. All of the recognition and support that is received through the arts make it quite easy for a child to gain great self-confidence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The arts also help children to improve their social skills. Being involved in the arts teaches one teamwork. Through these fine art groups and activities one will learn to do their best as an individual, yet come together with others in order to put on the best show possible. Teamwork is a great way to teach a child the social skills which indeed, are needed to carry them through life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Children involved in the arts learn a great sense of responsibility. Children are already responsible for a lot in school, but when they are involved in the arts, not only do they have to make time for homework, but also make time for their lessons and rehearsals that go along with being involved in the arts. These children work hard, and are pushed to be all they can be, and they truly learn what it is like to be responsible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Children in the arts learn three of lives most important skills: self-confidence, social skills, and a sense of responsibility. These skills cannot be taught in a class or out of a book, but one must learn it for themselves by taking part in something that teaches them these skills.

The True Value of Street Art Essay -- When Does Graffiti Become Art?

Mention the word graffiti and what typically comes to mind is something unpleasant and distasteful like indecent language scribbled on a wall of a store or crude pictures. Most graffiti is characterized as vandalism on property that does not belong to the culprit. Graffiti also displays negative graphics that promote some type of vulgar message such as violence, sex, drugs, gangs, and racism. On the other hand, when the terms â€Å"street† and â€Å"art† come together, a blast of colorful creations upon blank slates on the street comes to mind. Although street art is technically considered graffiti, it is a type of graffiti with positive qualities, but certain figures in society find street art to be, in some way, disruptive. If used properly, street art can be appreciated artistically and socially. Despite the negative stigma attached to graffiti, street art has emerged as a progressive valuable art form whose vast history, surge in popularity, and urge for social chan ge warrant its classification as a fine art. Those who argue that street art is nothing more than graffiti that violates personal property do not characterize it as a valuable art form. These critics argue that some places cannot afford to keep the property clean; if it gets really bad, the whole building will have to be painted, and that is expensive (O’Lear). Unwanted artwork will cause economic problems with removing the art from illegally used canvases such as building, billboards, and sidewalks. Critics also uphold that there are numerous outlets that people could use that are more tasteful and less destructive. (O’Lear). Turkey Stremmel, the co-owner of Stremmel Gallery, suggests that there are other ways to create the murals artists plaster on street surfaces. Artis... ...sh." The Nevada Sagebrush [Reno, Nevada] 4 Apr. 2011. The Nevada Sagebrush - The Student Newspaper of the University of Nevada, Reno. University of Nevada, 4 Apr. 2011. Web. 05 Dec. 2011. . "Tracing the Roots of Modern Street-Art and Graffiti." Tracing the Roots of Modern Street-Art and Graffiti | WebUrbanist. WebUrbanist | From Urban Art & 3D Graffiti to Abandoned Cities. Webist Media Publishing, 22 Apr. 2009. Web. 05 Dec. 2011. . Wildman, Luke. "Why Banksy Canvas Art Is So Popular." Entertainment Articles - EzineMark - Free Content Article Directory. EzineMark, 28 Mar. 2010. Web. 05 Dec. 2011. .

Pension Plan Paper

The Post Retirement Benefit of Pension Plans Marcus Womack Intermediate Accounting II (ACC 306) Professor Rick Kwan September 29, 2010 There are several different types of employment compensation. Salaries and wages that people earn while they are working provide immediate compensation for services provided and are a key factor in managing one’s day to day life. However, there are also various types of compensation that one can earn from employment after they have retired from a company. The purpose of these post-retirement benefits is to ensure livelihood for a person when they are no longer able to work.A pension is one such plan. A pension is an arrangement—paid in regular installments–to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. The goal of pension plans is accomplished by setting aside funds during the years that an employee is working and making those funds along with earnings from investing those funds available when retirement occurs. A pension created by an employer for the benefit of an employee is commonly referred to as an occupational or an employer pension and for tax reasons, are usually advantageous to the employer and employee.Favorable tax treatment is an added benefit of pension plans established under specific guidelines. Employers earn special tax deductions while employees are only taxed on the fund contributions after retirement occurs. There are other mutual benefits as well. An employee with a pension plan often feels a sense of retirement security that will cause them to work harder and stay at their job longer. Increased productivity and decreased turnover as a result of sufficient retirement plan offerings enhances a company’s competitive ranking in the labor market.Pension plans may be classified as either defined benefit or defined contribution plans depending on how the benefits are determined. Defined contribution plans are plans in which the employ er agrees to contribute a fixed amount to the employee’s pension fund each year that the employee is employed. Retirement benefits are contingent on how much money the plan accumulated during employment and the return of investment of those funds. Employers offer designated options for employees to choose where their funds are invested such as stocks or fixed income securities. 01(k) plans offered by private sector employees and 403(b) plans offered by public and non-profit employers are two types of defined contribution plans. In a defined benefit plan the contract between employer and employee states that the employer contributes a specific amount to a pension fund and at retirement pays the employee a fixed monthly income for life. The benefit on retirement in this plan is determined by a set formula. This formula is usually either a dollar times service or final average pay calculation, or a combination of both. Sometimes the age of the employee is a factor as well.In thi s arrangement, it is up to the employer to ensure that the funds are available to provide the benefits to employees once they retire. In addition to the burden of being completely financially responsible for funding this type of plan there are other reasons for which defined benefit plans have lost their popularity. Three main reasons are the fact that government regulations make administering the plan costly and cumbersome, employers have become more interested in attracting new talent as opposed to building long-term loyalty and there are several market risks that go along with the company’s obligation to contribute to the plan.Kilgour (2007) discussed many of the issues surrounding pension plan funding and the creation of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The Bush administration proposed an overhaul of pension law that served to strengthen pension plan funding and protect the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) by increasing the cost of employer contributions. Th e requirements outlined added significant costs, risk and complexity to defined benefit plan sponsorship and is a contributor to the fact that today more than two-thirds of workers are covered by defined contribution plans.The market risk that exists is associated with the changes in the value of investments with the plans. While both types of plans carry market risks, the risks associated with defined benefit plans lies on the shoulders of the employer while those associated with defined contribution plans are assumed by the employee. During periods of economic growth the cost of maintaining a pension fund decreases due to the rising values of investments. Employers are able to contribute less and still meet future pension obligations.However, when markets go down the employer has to contribute more money to the plan to ensure that they are able to pay retirees their promised funds. Retirees receive the same dollar amount of income regardless of market conditions. With defined cont ribution plans the risks and rewards are reversed. Since the retiree both assumes risks and reaps benefits, periods of economic growth cause the retiree’s wealth and income to increase and negative market changes cause the opposite to occur. Employers have agreed to a fixed amount and are unable to adjust their contributions downwards.In essence, with this type of pension plan the employer does not take on the risk of their obligation changing unexpectedly, the pension funds being inadequate to meet their obligation or any added periodic expense of carrying a pension plan. Once retirement occurs, the company’s financial commitment ends. The pension obligation is defined as attributable to retirees and other employees entitled to benefits and current employees depending on their service to date. In regards to pension accounting, there are three different ways to measure the pension obligation.Accumulated benefit obligation (ABO) and projected benefit obligation (PBO) ar e two of these methods. The accumulated benefit obligation is the estimate of the total retirement benefits (at their discounted present value) earned by employees so far. It applies the pension formula using existing compensation levels. The ABO assumes that the employee is fired or retires on the date that the calculation is performed and is therefore what the pension fund must pay the employee should the employer and or employee make no further contributions and the employee retires immediately.It is the present value of the future liability of an employee’s pension. In contrast, the projected benefit obligation is the estimate of the total retirement benefits earned by the employee so far and applies the pension formula using estimated future compensation levels. The PBO assumes that the employee will continue to work and make contributions to the pension plan. It also assumes that the contributions to the fund will increase as the employee’s salary increases.While the ABO’s objective estimate of benefits is reliable it does not take into account that between the present time and retirement there will likely be increase in salary so calculating the benefits and taking this increase into consideration may offer a more realistic picture. The projected benefit obligation is an estimate of the present value of the future liability of the pension. When examining a calculation of the PBO, substituting the employees existing compensation in the formula for their projected salary at etirement would result in the accumulated benefit obligation. Pension plan reporting is an often-changing and complex topic of discussion. The funded status of a pension plan is one such aspect. This is the status of the pension plan that has accumulated assets that have been set aside for the payment of retirement benefits. It is defined as the difference between the projected benefits obligation and the fair value of plan assets—employer contributions and accumulated earnings on the investment of those contributions to be used to pay retirement benefits.In Reilly’s (2006) article he discusses the fact that for almost twenty years companies have been required to include the amount owed to employees based on the PBO in the footnotes of financial statements. Even though neither the PBO nor the plan assets are reported on the balance sheet, in 2006 it became a requirement that companies report the difference between these two values on the balance sheets rather than just showing them in the footnotes.Reporting of the funded status sparked debate because moving this information to the balance sheet could force companies to recognize a large liability, which could possibly cut their net worth, hinder dividend payments or jeopardize lending agreements. Reilly argued that this change could prompt more companies to freeze pension plans. Pension obligations change from year to year for several reasons. These reasons include the performa nce of investments, switching methods and assumptions and changes in benefits.To help provide greater transparency of assets and related liabilities of post-retirement benefits The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has established rules for reporting benefit plans in accounting statements. There are several steps companies must take in this reporting in addition to disclosing the funded status of their plans. First, companies must â€Å"recognize as a component of other comprehensive income, net of tax, any gains or losses and prior service costs or credits that arise during the period but are not recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost† (Reinstein, 2007).Amounts of comprehensive income are reported on a cumulative basis in the balance sheet. Companies must also measure defined benefit plan assets and obligations as of the date of the employer’s fiscal year-end balance sheet. In their financial statements companies must disclose certain informat ion about effects on net periodic benefit costs for the next fiscal year that arise from delayed recognition of the gains or losses, prior service costs or credits and transition assets or obligations (Reinstein, 2007).Companies are required to report pension assets for overfunded benefit plans and liabilities for underfunded plans. An actuary, a professional trained in the particular branch of statistics and mathematics to assess the various uncertainties and to estimate a company’s obligation to employees in connection with its pension plan, plays a vital role in post-retirement benefit reporting. Actuaries use skills in mathematics, economics, computer science, finance, probability and statistics to help companies assess the risk of certain events occurring and to help formulate policies that minimize the cost of that risk.In regards to pension benefits, actuaries also address financial questions involving the level of pension contributions required to produce a specific r etirement income and the different ways that companies should invest their resources to maximize the return on investments despite the potential risks. Many events, such as death, are inevitable so the role of the actuary is to help a company minimize the financial impacts of those events when they occur since these events can affect both sides of the balance sheets. Managing these risks requires asset and liability management and valuation skills.In conclusion, pension plans are a very important aspect of post-retirement planning which can be beneficial to both employer and employees. To maintain the integrity of their financial statements, it is important for companies to adhere to proposed guidelines for post-retirement reporting and manage their benefits plans wisely. Likewise, it is important for employees to gain full understanding of their companies post-retirement plans before and during employment so that they are adequately prepared for life after their working years. Refe rences Kilgour, J. G. (2007). The pension plan funding debate and PPA of 2006.Benefits Quarterly, 23(4), p7-20. Lacomba, Juan A. ; Lagos, Francisco. (2009) Defined contribution plan vs. defined benefits plan: reforming the legal retirement age. Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Mar2009, 12(1), p1-11 Reilly, David. (2006) Pension reporting sparks debate. Wall Street Journal, 248(3), pC3. Reinstein, A. (2007). New accounting rules for entities offering post-retirement benefits: some implications for bankers. RMA Journal Spiceland, J. D. , Sepe, J. F. & Tomassini, L. A. (2007). Intermediate accounting (4th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Original Course work †Urban Myths Essay

The scream rang through the trees. Pounding footsteps thudded their way through the wood. Twigs snapped and cracked like brittle bones. She slowed down to a trot, trying to make sense of where she was. Her ears pricked. Listening for following footsteps. Realising she had been holding her breath, she gasped and air flooded her body. Only half an hour before she had been sat perfectly happy with her boyfriend. Her vision glazed over as silent drops fell to the ground, remembering how Josh had got out of the car to investigate a noise they had heard. She sank down to the bottom of the tree, as she recalled how ten minutes later, when he hadn’t returned, she had got out, only to find his pale form hanging from the tree above. Blood stained the top of the car where it had spilt from his neck, draping down over his shoulder like a carpet of scarlet. Whoever done this mustn’t be too far away. They could be watching her, waiting for her†¦ â€Å"The bodies of two teenagers have been found in Thornby Woods early this morning by a local dog walker. The bodies have been described as horrifically mutilated and the result of a brutal murder. At the moment police are investigating leads including the name â€Å"Aidan† spelt in blood on the roof of the car. Hopefully this will bring the monster to justice.† â€Å"I can’t believe something like that could happen here, it’s just so unbelievable†, said Diana. The others nodded in agreement. The four were sat around a table in their local cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½. There was Diana, Jack and the twins, Kerry and Kevin. The twins with their unique coppery red hair and blue startling eyes, stood out from Diana and Jack with his plain name, and fairly plain features. â€Å"You know what this sounds like†, said Jack then hesitated, â€Å"the urban legend about the guy in the car with his girlfriend†. The others looked at him. â€Å"But they’re made up stories, they would never come true†, argued Diana. The twins, who had a habit of speaking in unison, started speaking but then fell silent, as the television in the corner of the cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ flashed on again and more about the murders was broadcast. Later that night, Kerry was sat in the library. The essay she was trying to write was starting to give her a headache. The ticking clock, mounted on the wall, showed her it was nearly midnight. As she stifled a yawn, she pulled the books shut and gathered up her stuff. Silently, she made her way down the deserted corridors and up the stairs to her room. When she arrived she turned the key slowly in the lock, so as not to wake her roommate, Stacie. She climbed into bed and her eyes shut as her head rested on the pillow. The next morning, sunlight streamed through the windows. It was a Monday morning and everyone was trying to stay in bed as long as possible. Suddenly, the silence was broken as a scream rose from Kerry’s room. Kevin and Diana were first there. As they pushed the door open, they saw Stacie’s dead body surrounded by bloodstained sheets. Kerry was whimpering softly, slouched against the bed. Kevin noticed the mirror out of the corner of his eye. Smeared across the glass in blood-red lipstick were the words, â€Å"Bet you’re glad you didn’t turn on the light†. It was signed ‘Aidan’. Kevin rushed over to Kerry, trying to comfort her, glancing over his shoulder at Diana. She stood like a statue, a shocked expression spreading across her face. Jack came rushing into the room. â€Å"What’s happened†¦?†, he broke off. He had seen the body. The four friends sat bewildered, silently hugging each other. Kerry couldn’t concentrate. Everyone had thought it best if she went to her lessons and tried to forget about it, but she couldn’t. Her mind kept going back to that morning when she had opened her eyes. The first thing she had seen was the body. The bloody image flashed before her. Finally, after what had seemed like hours, the end of college bell rang. Kerry slowly made her way over to the cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ where she was going to meet Jack and Kevin. When she arrived, no one else was there, so she pulled a magazine out of her bag. As she did so, a plain envelope came with it and dropped to the floor. Curiously, she tore it open and jerked the paper out. â€Å"You’re next†, it spelt out, in carefully cut out letters from a newspaper headline. Kerry crammed the paper back in the envelope, as Jack and Kevin came through the door. â€Å"You feeling any better?† asked Jack, concerned. Kerry nodded her head and had to force a smile. â€Å"You know, this murder also sounds like an urban legend, don’t you think?† Jack continued, ignoring Kevin’s warning look. â€Å"Who do you suppose is behind it?† Drew, the class swot, came over. â€Å"Have you not heard? The police are looking for a man with the name Aidan, round about 20 years old†, he recited, sounding like a news reporter. â€Å"Why?† asked Kerry, turning her head towards Drew. â€Å"The name has been found at both the murder scenes, so it’s likely it was left by the killer† â€Å"But I don’t know anyone called Aidan†, said Kerry puzzled. â€Å"Could be an outside job, it doesn’t have to be anyone on campus. Do you know anyone that would do something that sick?† â€Å"I suppose it makes it more likely to be some lunatic,† half-whispered Kerry, but Drew had already turned away and had started telling the news to the table next to them. â€Å"Hey guys.† Their conversation was interrupted by Diana’s arrival, which was always noticeable. Her slim figure and blonde hair made her popular with the boys. She joined them at the table. â€Å"So has everyone has a nice day?† she said with a smile. The others just looked at her. Kerry looked as though she was about to cry. â€Å"Oh sorry, I forgot about this morning,† she answered cheerfully. Kerry’s chair scraped back as she got up to go. She pulled her bag onto her shoulder and left without saying a word. â€Å"What’s up with her today?† questioned Diana. â€Å"Well maybe she’s upset ‘cos one of her friends was murdered right underneath her nose and she found the body!† exclaimed Jack. Kerry had gone to the library. She couldn’t stand being in her room after what had happened. As she sat, staring at the open book infront of her, but not taking one word in, a voice called out her name. Turning sharply around, thinking it could easily be the killer, she saw, to her relief, it was Jack. â€Å"I just came to see if you were all right.† He muttered his apology for scaring her. â€Å"Yeah. I’m okay†¦ well sort of,† she smiled back. â€Å"I just thought, well Diana wasn’t exactly being sympathetic before and when you walked out, you looked upset to me. I though someone had better come after you.† He paused and looked at her, â€Å"You sure you’re all right?† Kerry looked away and sighed. â€Å"Well not exactly, I got this letter, someone must have planted it in my bag.† She handed over the letter to Jack. His eyes scanned the letter and his expression turned into that of alarm. â€Å"You really should take this to the police,† he said, his eyes piercing her own with serious anxiety. She turned her head so she wouldn’t have to stare into his hazel eyes, so caring, so tender, so†¦ â€Å"What’s the point?† her voice shuddered, â€Å"It doesn’t mean its necessarily from him. It’s probably some dumb kid playing a sick joke to upset me† â€Å"Well, if you’re sure. But come on, don’t you think you should call it a day?† Jack said, standing up and taking Kerry’s bag. â€Å"Where am I going to sleep? I mean, I don’t want to sleep in my room tonight,† she shivered. â€Å"I’m sure you can share Diana’s room. Come on we’ll go up there now.† Kerry followed Jack and together they walked up the three flights of stairs to Diana’s room. Ten minutes later, Kerry sat on the spare bed, while Jack said his good byes. Finally they were left alone. â€Å"Look I’m really sorry about before you know. I really shouldn’t have said that,† apologised Diana, humbly. â€Å"Its okay,† said Kerry smiling at her friend and laying back on the bed. A large sigh rose from her chest. She looked around the room, so much different from her own. The walls were a soft shade of purple with various famous prints dotted around. Cream curtains hung at the windows, drawn back gracefully, allowing the orange, golden sunlight to stream in. Her eyes moved around the room and stopped at the desk placed in the corner. There, lying on a pile of schoolbooks, was a newspaper, maybe a day or two old. Kerry could clearly see off-cuts and torn pages nestled on top. â€Å"Have you been working on a project?† she asked, the sarcasm stung her words. â€Å"What do you mean, project†¦?† Diana’s eyes followed her gaze. Her laugh rang through the room. â€Å"Yeah, it’s a project all right.† Kerry instantly sat up on the bed and turned to face Diana. â€Å"You†¦Ã¢â‚¬  she spat accusingly. Diana let out a jeering laugh. â€Å"I wondered how long it would take you to realise,† she half laughed, half spoke. â€Å"Realise what exactly? That you sent me that letter? How could you be so cruel?† cried Kerry, scrambling off the bed and onto her feet to face Diana. â€Å"Cruel? You don’t even know the meaning of the word, cruel!† â€Å"What†¦What precisely do you mean?† questioned Kerry, her throat tightening. â€Å"When I saw that girl and boy in the car, I though that it was you and Jack†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You mean, you†¦you didn’t, did you?† Kerry stared in disbelief. â€Å"Yeah, I followed them, then killed them, if that’s what you’re trying to say. The stupid thing was, I didn’t realise it wasn’t Jack until he was dead. And of course the girl had to go in case she saw anything,† sneered Diana, boasting about her serial killing. She quickly strode to the door and locked it before Kerry even had a chance to move. Kerry noticed for the first time, that even though Diana was pretty, she was tall, fit and could probably easily manage to hold someone in a struggle. Kerry caught her breath and inhaled deeply. â€Å"But why did you kill them because you thought they were Jack and I? Why did you want to kill us?† Diana hesitated. â€Å"You don’t understand anything? Do you? Well†¦ I suppose we have a few minutes before I have to kill you.† Her hand rose from behind her back. The sharp point of the knife sparkled in the autumn light, sending spears of the reflected spark, dancing on the walls. With the knife poised, ready for action, she continued. â€Å"I thought I could have anyone I wanted. But I didn’t want anyone I wanted Jack.† Her eyes flashed, dangerously. The knife still held, it’s flickering gleam reflected into Kerry’s eyes, dazzling her. Kerry swallowed, her heart beating faster, yearning to escape this torture. â€Å"I wanted Jack badly,† Diana continued, walking in circles around Kerry, as though she the predator and Kerry the prey. â€Å"But, he didn’t want me, did he? Oh no, he wanted you!† she hissed. â€Å"Me?† stammered Kerry, â€Å"I didn’t know.† â€Å"Of course, you, wouldn’t, spat Diana, â€Å"so I thought, well if I can’t have him, no one can. Especially you! So I came up with a nice, simple plan to kill you both. You could rot in hell together for all I cared.† â€Å"So when you killed Stacie, you thought†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I was killing you,† Diana finished. â€Å"Yeah! Stupid mistake really, but I made up for it by making it look like it was to scare you. Funny really how urban legends can come true, isn’t it.† By now Diana was stood face to face with Kerry. â€Å"Anyway, enough talk! Now you get what’s been coming to you.† She laughed and thrust the knife down infront of her, ripping the air apart. Kerry stumbled backwards to the other side of the room. Her sweaty palms clambered at the door handle. â€Å"Looking for this?† taunted Diana holding the key out. Staring blindly around, Kerry picked up a chair and threw it at Diana. It narrowly missed her and smashed into the wall. Diana was moving forward, knowing that Kerry didn’t have anywhere to go. Only the bed stood between Kerry and her attacker. Diana drove the knife into the bed, ripping the duvet and shredding the sheets. In the commotion of feathers from the pillow, Kerry ran to the door and started banging and shouting for help. Surely someone would hear. In the meantime, Diana continued to pursue her. Kerry grabbed at anything; books, furniture, pens went flying. Some managed to hit Diana, obstructing her. Trying not to get injured by the knife, Kerry attempted to take it off Diana. Diana stood up, her eyes blazing like the fires of hell. â€Å"One thing I don’t understand,† said Kerry, trying to buy more time, â€Å"is why the name ‘Aidan’ was found at the murder scenes.† â€Å"Ever though of rearranging my name?† panted Diana, â€Å"Diana spells ‘Aidan’. No one was clever enough to guess that. It even managed to put the police off. Now stop this idle chit-chat and let me kill you, nice and slowly,† her voice cackled as she flew at Kerry, the knife close to her throat. Kerry tried to push her arm away. She couldn’t keep her off for much longer. She battled with Diana and they both lost their balance. Tumbling over Diana had the better position, holding the knife inches away from Kerry’s neck. â€Å"Goodbye Kerry†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The door to the room flew open. The surprise stopped Diana as she looked up. Jack and Kevin stood gaping in horror at the scene. Rapidly, they ran over and pulled Diana off Kerry. The knife dropped to the floor with a clang. Five policemen were standing in the entrance and with Kevin’s help, carried the screaming Diana away. Jack was left helping a very shaky Kerry to her feet. â€Å"I heard screaming,† he mumbled, â€Å"I rushed to help with Kevin.† Kerry didn’t say a word. Tears swept from her eyes, as she realised the terror was over, and she was still alive. A far away shriek disturbed the comforting silence surrounding Kerry and Jack. The wail of sirens echoed into the distance. â€Å"It’s all over now, I promise you,† Jack, holding Kerry, â€Å"I promise†

Classism, Racism, and Other Prejudices Essay

The media can cause a lot of controversies among individuals we consider different. Because of the media’s popularity, people tend to absorb products of the media whether it is stereotypes, conspiracy theories, urban legends, etc. Stereotypes are tools the media uses to communicate to the public of a person’s â€Å"ideal† picture. â€Å"Stereotypes make cognitive processing about our complex social worlds easier and more efficient† (Connie Wolfe, â€Å"Stereotypes and Prejudice†). In the case of the prejudices, the media gives an image to the audience of someone’s behavior, physical features, intelligence, and other characteristics based on their background so the public can generalize and place individuals into categories. Angeline F. Price, who wrote â€Å"Working Class Whites†, quotes, â€Å"The hatred and condescension of the poor seems to be the last available method of prejudice in our society† (para. 14). In other words, she implies the real reason for stereotyping is the bitterness of human kind for the joy of having negative attitudes towards any minority just as long as it is not seen as too prejudiced by the public eye. Another sin of human kind is the comparison of one’s own lifestyle to those who have a different way of life in order to satisfy their need of superiority. Whenever we stereotype, we are unconsciously hiding a guilty sin: pride. The desire for superiority may cause intolerance, and perhaps hate crimes for a certain or several groups. Because of economic and cultural improvements, traditional stereotyping is not as popular and realistic as it was back then. For example, due to better education in public schools, low-income families have been closing the gap between high and low-income that the generations before them could not fulfill. As more people who are ethnically or financially different are seen as possessing opposite characteristics as the media’s depiction, the more we start to doubt what we seen on television or film is applicable to real-world circumstances. In addition, we have educated our youth on hate crimes like racism and sexism can land them in penalties in an effort to raise future awareness. At a young age, we were also taught to tolerate and include others no matter their diversity. Ueberroth quotes, â€Å"The challenge we have is to manage change without losing tradition† (quoted in para. 45). Although spreading awareness will lead to better opportunities and respect for minorities, it can also make traditional values harder to preserve. For instance, the modern average woman is the working business mother opposed to the ideal traditional housewife back then as women started to be more independent. Even though human ecological modernization is important, some third-world countries cannot remove themselves from their traditional values, fearing future economic problems as well as religious issues. For example, a country with a below average employment rate could not hire have currently married women hired unless if in acceptable circumstances (i. e. too many children for the husband to financially provide for) because working women increase workplace population, which makes it difficult for jobless men and women.

Adults Resistance to Change in the Workforce

Change has become an integral part of all organizations for bringing about innovation and creativity in their work procedures. Bringing about change is a complex process since change in one area affects the other area in the organization directly or indirectly.Change is extremely important if companies and businesses want to survive in the long-run. This is due to the changing needs of the organizations as well as the customers and due to changing internal and external environment. Today, there is an increasing trend towards the development of a learning organization where managers and employees are committed to bring about continuous improvement in the processes and capabilities.Such type of an organization can only be formed when everyone working in the company develops a positive attitude towards adapting change. Change might result in efforts to deal with existing problems or with the opportunities available in the external environment. Though change is important and should be in itiated in an organization but this does not mean that it can be easily implemented (Hultman, 1998).Planning ChangeInitiation and implementation of change requires proper planning and this planned process should be used to carry out change. If proper planning is not done then the change can fail and the employees’ fear and uncertainty related to it might come true.If the change fails initially in the organization then it would be highly difficult for the employees to support change in the organization. Firstly, the organization must see a need for change and the forces triggering change may be from the internal as well as external environment.Internal factors may be related to the company goals and objectives or problems facing the organization whereas the external factors are largely related to the environment such as changing customer tastes or the changing strategies of the competitors (Harvard Business School Press, 2005).These factors make the organization realize the ne ed for change and then this must be studied properly. The organization should critically evaluate its strengths and weaknesses as well as threats and opportunities so that the right change could be initiated at the right time. After evaluating the need for change, the management should initiate change and this can be done through different ways.Initiating change requires the recruitment of new and creative employees and this is where the problem starts arising since the adult employees began to resist their recruitment. The management should search for proper solutions which can used to meet the perceived need for change. Search involves observing and analyzing different organizations and making use of knowledge to meet the need.Creative employees are hired to find the correct solution in order to establish a creative and learning organization. Creative individuals are important since they are open-minded, original and focused in their approach. They are persistent and committed and use teams to work for initiating change.These creative individuals generate innovative ideas and these individuals are called idea champions. They form new-venture teams for developing and initiating innovative changes in the organization. It is these idea champions and new-venture teams to which the adult employees offer resistance since they perceive them as a threat to their position.They think that their employment by the organization underestimates their capabilities and qualifications. Sometimes the employees’ resistance is so high that it is impossible to implement the change. For implementing change, this resistance must be overcome or else the process will not proceed further (Hultman, 1998).There are huge obstacles and problems to be dealt with when implementing change successfully in an organization. This is because employees offer resistance to change and this resistance can be attributed to several reasons: ·One of the reasons that employee resist change is th at by implementing the new strategy or innovative idea, it will take away something valuable from the employees.It might be the loss of power, position or any other pay benefit. An employee’s self-interest is the most important to him and this loss can become the biggest obstacle in the way of implementing change (Hultman, 1998). ·Another reason is that employees are unable to understand the purpose behind the change and therefore, they cannot trust the organizational move. If the employees have a negative attitude towards the change initiator then they will offer their full resistance to implementing his idea.They cannot trust his idea for change and might think that its implementation will bring something negative to them. Therefore, lack of understanding and mutual trust becomes another factor for resisting change in organizations (Harvard Business School Press, 2005). ·Employees are also afraid of implementing change due to the uncertainty factor associated with the c hange. They get worried about the consequences of change and thus, do not offer their support towards it. They might also be worried as the new technology or new procedure requires more talent and creativity which they might not be able to provide (Markham, 1999). ·Lastly, the goals of the employees may be different from the goals of the organization. They might not be able to assess the change from the organization point of view and therefore, they disagree over the benefits resulting from the change (Jellison, 1993).These are the main reasons why employees offer resistance to change in an organization. Once an organization has the need for change then it looks for possible solutions through which the need can be overcome. Change requires innovation and creativity in an organization without which an organization cannot progress and will stagger behind.For initiating innovative and creative ideas, the organization starts hiring creative individuals in different departments. There are idea champions and new-venture teams formed with creative individuals who see the need for change and initiate it productively. Now here is where the main problem rises and this will center our research paper.By hiring creative individuals to form new-venture teams for developing innovation the organization attempts to change the workforce of the organization.Before offering resistance to change itself, the employees especially the aging ones offer their first resistance to change in the workforce. The research paper will focus the discussion on this issue of adult’s resistance to change in the workforce (Goldstein, 2001).Change in the workforceThe way a business is done is determined by its workforce. And changing workforce changes the way of doing business or in other words, bringing a change in the way of doing business requires a change in the workforce. Companies are recruiting and hiring young employees due to their creative and dynamic personalities.They are able t o see things differently and want transition in things that are still being done in traditional way (Pihulyk , 2003). Their ideas and solutions are different from what their parents had to offer and thus, they want the traditional approaches and strategies to change in an organization.They show their dissatisfaction in different areas of the organization and want them to change for the good. They are practical in their approach in that they can see the organization strengths and weaknesses and are aware of the threats and opportunities in the organization external environment and thus, develop a desire to change accordingly.But there is also a darker side to this brighter situation and this darker side is due to the existing employees and workers of an organization. Organizations have usually experienced and committed workers who are working their since years and thus are quite adult. These employees work in their own traditional and routine way and do not want any change in their s tyle of working.When an organization feels a need to hire young employees, the adults feel a threat to their power, position and prestige since they are not capable enough to work like the young ones. They feel threatened by the young employees who have more creative and novel solutions to organizational problems and work for bringing about change. At this stage the adults offer resistance to the recruitment of young employees in the workforce because it will not only threaten their position but also bring about a change in their style of working (Hultman, 1998).Aged employees consider themselves experienced enough and are not ready to tolerate younger employees imposing themselves and their ideas for change. They want a stable work environment and get negative feelings if some one tries to challenge their style of working.This is mainly the most important reason why adults and aged people offer so much resistance to recruiting ever energetic and efficient young employees in the org anization’s workforce.It has been always said that new and young employees are important for the success of an organization because they are able to see things from a different perspective which requires change, innovation and creativity. They want the organization to become a learning organization progressing on the path of continuous improvement and innovative problem solving.An organization becomes successful by the way a business is done it which in turn is determined by the employees working there so for making an organization successful talented young employees should be hired and trained for working with the organization (Harvard Business School Press, 2005).Today, the business expectations are rising and customers are becoming ever-demanding. The competition is becoming fiercer with everyone striving to attain the competitive edge.The organization that develops a positive attitude towards welcoming change will be able to continuously improve itself at the times of pro blems and opportunities and thus, this requires the contribution of the talented young working people who have just graduated and are fresh with the knowledge of business management.They have a tendency to work in teams because they realize the fact that a team can accomplish more what individuals can achieve. On the other hand, the adults do not appreciate collective working and work individually instead. The young workers are more popularly known as Generation Y whereas the adults are being referred to as Generation X.It has been estimated that 70% of 21-year old Generation Y people are in the US workforce today which shows an increasing trend towards young employees (Jellison, 1993).Moreover, the new generation adapts to technology changes easily and want to work with new and modern procedures but the older generation sees technology with a negative eye and does not adapts to it readily. This is not to say that adults and aged people are unimportant in an organization, in fact th ey are the most important assets of an organization.These assets can not be replaced because their age has given them an experience to deal with problems which is hard to find. Young people find most creative and novel solution to a problem whereas the experienced employees find accurate solutions through their experience. This means that both generations should be made to work together if the organization wants to rise higher than any other organization in the industry or outside the industry.There is an increasing amount of Generational Conflict in the organizations and it is predicted that by 2010 it is going to increase considerably (Hultman, 1998). By Generational Conflict, we mean the conflict between two or more generations and here we are referring to the two generations of X and Y (Pihulyk , 2003).This is due to the age diversification in the workforce as young and talented employees are being increasingly hired by the businesses. The new generation will cause the erosion o f old work ethics and they will require a more flexible workplace.Moreover, women representation will increase hundred percent in the upcoming years. There exists a multi-generational and multi-cultural workforce and this will continue to grow in the future years. Since this is going to increase therefore, management must properly plan for accommodating this change in their business as the demographic change can have positive as well as negative implications.The policies and procedures must be adapted for accommodating this change so that there should be new values for the new generation (Rosenburg, 2005).