Of mice and men was written in a period when mentally disabled people were treated like outcasts Essay Example for Free

Of mice and men was written in a period when mentally disabled people were treated like outcasts Essay Of mice and men was written in a period when mentally disabled people were treated like outcasts. They were treated like that simply because they were different. Mental people were thought to be almost like a different species. Black people were considered outcasts because they had different skin-colour to white people. Also women were treated like property that belonged to men. The novel was written during the Great Depression, where jobs and employment were scarce. The USA was quite a poor country back then. Lennie is considered an outcast because he is mentally disabled. Mentally disabled peopled in that time were treated badly. They were locked up and separated from the rest of society. This is known as segregation. They also use to be sterilised. This means that they werent allowed to have babies or reproduce. Those are all very horrible. However, lennie was not treated like any other mental people. This is because he has George to look after him, and many other mentally disabled people didnt have anybody to care for them or to look after them. But Lennie had that someone, and it was George, so that is whats different about Lennie. In the ranch, however, lennie was considered an outcast. We know this because lennie says to crooks, Everbody went slim, George and everbody. George says I gotta stay here. This shows that Lennie is not allowed to go into town like the rest. Hes not considered good enough do anything with the lads. Lennie is not allowed to play games, such as horseshoe, with the others. From outside came the clang of horseshoe only Lennie was in the barn. This shows that while the others played their games lennie was made to stay inside the barn. He is like an outsider or a refugee. Crooks is considered an outcast simply because he is black. In those days, black people were treated very badly. They were treated differently from white people. Black people were often never called by their first names. Crooks is considered an outcast on the ranch because hes black and isnt referred to his real name, its either crooks or nigger. Crooks also has his pride he is a proud and aloof man. This means that crooks is not allowed inside the bunk house because hes black. Hes allowed to play sports outside the bunk house, but not inside it, which is why he had a separate room. I aint wanted in the bunk house cause Im black. This shows the racial issue of how black men did not mix with whites. Crooks is being segregated in this way. That is also another reason why crooks is an outcast. Curleys wife is presented as an outcast. This is because women in those times were treated as a piece of property by the men. They may have also been treated as a sex object by their husbands; there to cook, clean and have babies. In the ranch Curleys wife is considered an outcast because shes a woman. Also she is related to the boss. She is not allowed to play horseshoe or go into town or even talk to anyone. We know that when she was in the barn with lennie, I get lonely you can talk to people, but I cant talk to nobody but Curly. This shows us that everyone else can talk with whom they like, but she can only talk to her husband. In conclusion, 1930s America is presented as a racist country who thinks black should be separated in terms of class. It is presented as a country that thinks mentally disabled people should be separated from the rest of society. It was also a sexist country who treated women very badly. A very uncivilized country.

Definition And The Pros And Cons Of Globalization Management Essay

Definition And The Pros And Cons Of Globalization Management Essay Globalisation describes the process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of political ideas through communication, transportation, trade and the rapid increase in the share of economic activity taking place across national boundaries. The term is most closely associated with the term economic globalization: the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, the spread of technology, and military presence. The term can also refer to the transnational circulation of ideas, languages, or popular culture through acculturation- cultural exchange. Singapore has evolved today as one of the flourishing nations of the world and it is regarded to be a global business nation as it is the home to about 7,000 multi- national companies. Singapores strategic location in South East Asia and infrastructure arrested the attention and encouraged many industrial companies and foreign investors to set-up businesses in Singapore, which started Singapores journey of globalisation. Singapore is a corruption free nation with high international standard machinery, well trained workers, a good world culture and an environment aptly suited for trading or business purpose. Singapore, despite once being an island country, has managed to progress rapidly. In the last ten years of the twentieth-century, Singapore has transformed into a recognisable global city through the process of nation-state building. This led to an increase in the migration of people at all levels of the economy which enabled Singapore to sustain a competitive economy. Although Singapores economy managed to prosper, its people were weighed down with numerous issues like structural unemployment and the increasing income inequality. Hence, the Singapore government came up with ways of maintaining and managing a sustainable economic growth in response to the issues. Social Effects of Globalisation in Singapore The phenomenon of Globalization is comparable to a double-edged sword. In society, globalization has the power to aggravate or alleviate existing social issues. Globalisation in Singapore has caused a lot of social problems. There is an increase in gamblers and the setting up of the two casinos in the past year has caused an increase in the number of problem gamblers. There is also an increase lost of national identity in youths as they are introduced to the outside world and start to move out of the country. It has also affected Singapores culture as foreigners bring in different cultures and people in Singapore, especially the youth have become more inclined towards the Western culture and may not appreciate the Asian culture as much anymore. As more people immigrate to other countries, there will be fewer Singaporeans to defend the country. When more foreigners immigrate to Singapore, it will further worsen the problem of ageing population in Singapore as well. Globalisation has also caused an increased gap in the income of the well off and not so well off people. However, globalisation has also helped Singapore in many other different ways. Globalisation encourages Singaporeans to increase their knowledge and upgrade their skills to keep up with the ever changing world and the advancements of technology. The casinos have also improved Singapores economy as it attracts a lot of tourists. Foreigners bring in talents that can also improve the standard of the workforce in Singapore. Therefore, globalisation can bring both positive and negative effects to the society in Singapore. Foreign Workforce in Singapore Foreign workforce in Singapore refers to the non-cititzen workforce in Singapore. As Singapore globalizes, more and more foreigners are coming into Singapore as there is a need for foreign workforce in Singapore so as to sustain the economy of Singapore and also for the benefits of improving our workforce as Singapore globalizes and becomes a global trading hub, there is a need to improve and sustain our workforce by having a foreign workforce. Foreign workforce in Singapore is divided into two parts: the skilled workforce and the unskilled labour. Unskilled labour refers to unskilled workers who mainly work in the manufacturing, construction, and domestic services sectors. The majority of them come from countries such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Thailand, as part of bilateral agreements between Singapore and these countries. Skilled workforce refers to foreigners with professional qualifications or acceptable degrees working at the higher end of Singapores economy (Yeoh, 2007). According to statistics from the Financial Times in 2010, it states that the foreign workforce make up about 34% of Singapores population, thus, proving that Singapore has a big foreign workforce. Skilled workers and professionals accounted for 13.4% of Singapores total foreign workforce, while unskilled labourers accounted for 86.6% of Singapores total foreign workforce. Research Methodology We did our research using the internet, newspapers and several books that were found in the reference section of the National Library. We did our research and found information from online journal articles and forums through the web. We also found information from other sources like magazine reports as well. Analysis of Research Skilled Foreign Talent Workforce Foreign talents in Singapore come to Singapore with their knowledge from their country and take up jobs that require special training for its satisfactory performance.   They usually have high qualifications and expertise in their job field. Their monthly income has already a minimum threshold of S$2500. Engineers, accountants, scientists and people from the research and development fields are examples of the skilled workforce foreign talents make up in Singapore. They mainly come from more developed countries like China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea and Taiwan. Specialized occupations that include neurosurgeons and doctors make up for the job expertise Singaporeans lack. Unskilled Labour Workforce Immigrants from countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines and Pakistan come to Singapore and fill up lowly skilled jobs that require practically no training or experience for its adequate performance. Singaporeans are unwilling to take up these lowly skilled jobs as they do not sound attractive, have low wages, long working hours and require large amounts of manual work. Such jobs include manufacturing, shipyard and shipbuilding, construction and services, as well as in private households as live in domestic workers. Foreigners constitute 45% of the manufacturing workforce, and 61% of the construction workforce. Unskilled labourers with recognized skills and qualifications earned about S$1800 monthly. Unskilled workers make up the majority of Singapores foreign workforce. Comparison between Skilled and Unskilled Workforce 1. Safety Skilled Skilled immigrants are highly valued as they are important for the countrys growth. They are treated with great respect and are taken care of when they come to Singapore. However, be it skilled or unskilled labor in Singapore, everyone is taken care of properly and the government keeps the place as safe as possible, keeping the crime rate as low as possible. The government maintains a stable and peaceful society and cares for the peoples safety, be it locals, skilled or unskilled immigrants. Unskilled Majority of the unskilled workforce in Singapore is not invited by the Singaporean government to work in Singapore. Rather, they come to Singapore on their own in search of jobs to support their families back in their homelands. Upon arriving in Singapore, they usually acquire jobs that do not require much skills or knowledge. Since these foreign workers do not specialize in any key areas, they hold less importance to Singapores economic growth, hence they are not as protected by the government as compared to the skilled workforce in Singapore. The population of unskilled workforce in Singapore, though, still lead generally safe lives in Singapore as a whole. Although there are still various risks involved in the type of work that these unskilled foreign workers do like construction works. Therefore, they are not as protected by the Singaporean government as the skilled foreign talents are. 2. Housing Skilled Skilled immigrants are given privileges unskilled immigrants do not have. Skilled immigrants with university degrees, professional enough to hold high ranks in the company, high qualifications, are able to bring in their family into the country as long as their family members are eligible for a dependant pass and they do not have to pay levies (Yeoh, 2007). The government also has policies for such foreigners to gain citizenship more easily as well. Unskilled In terms of housing, the unskilled workforce in Singapore do not get to live in comfortable houses, as do the skilled workforce in Singapore. In most cases, these unskilled foreign workers live in simple rooms, with not much in them. There is no need for luxurious accommodations, as most of them only stay for a short period of time to work in Singapore, and do not stay in Singapore permanently. However, in some extreme cases, a number of these unskilled foreign workers are crammed into a small apartment with poor living conditions. These workers have much to put up with in terms of their living conditions; hence not all of these workers get to live comfortably. Therefore, as compared to the population of skilled foreign workforce in Singapore, the population of unskilled foreign workforce does not live as comfortably, instead, they are subjected to worse living conditions. 3. Types of Jobs Skilled Foreign talents in Singapore possess professional skills in their respective fields. Due to Singapores limited resources and low birth rates, there is a need for foreign talents to help the country keep up with the economy growth and its hopes for reaching out to the global economy. They fill up jobs that require skills which locals lack. With the lack of skills, Singapore will not be able develop and improve, which explains the need for foreign talent in Singapores society. In 2006, close to 13.4% of foreign workers are skilled. They take up high ranking jobs in marine industries, research and development, manufacturing and many more which require specific skills or knowledge. Unskilled The unskilled or semi-skilled foreign workforce in Singapore usually takes up jobs such as construction workers, maids, garbage men. This is because these jobs do not require prior or extra knowledge to complete, and these workers can be easily taught to do these jobs. 4. Healthcare Skilled Healthcare in Singapore is generally well taken care of, be it for the skilled or unskilled workforce. Germs are able to spread and it would not be pleasant when diseases are spread around the country. Healthcare services are easily available in Singapore. However, there are no healthcare subsidies for foreign immigrants. This is due to the fact that the government wants to influence the locals to support and encourage the immigration policy. Unskilled In general, foreign workers that fall under the category of being unskilled or semi-skilled have health checks conducted by the Singaporean government every now and then, to ensure that these workers are not carrying any dangerous diseases that could potentially spread to other Singaporeans and cause a pandemic (Yeoh, 2007). By ensuring that these foreign workers are relatively healthy, the Singaporean government is also keeping Singaporeans safe, hence the state of health of the unskilled or semi-skilled workforce in Singapore is important to the government. 5. Country of Origin Skilled Foreign talents in Singapore come from countries like United States of America, Britain, France, Japan, South Korea and Australia (Yeoh, 2007). Skilled foreigners can come to Singapore for various reasons. They come to Singapore and treat her as a stepping stone to advance towards better developing and more successful companies in other countries like the United States of America. However, there are also some skilled immigrants who come to Singapore because of the better living conditions. They are able to bring their family members to Singapore, where there is good education and healthcare. They are not as valued in their country as compared to in Singapore due to the fact that there are people who are better than them, so they come to Singapore to advance, where they will be valued greatly for their knowledge and skills. Unskilled Unskilled or semi-skilled foreign workers in Singapore usually come from countries such as China, Bangladesh, India, Philippines, and Indonesia. This is because the cost of labour from these countries is cheap, as compared to the cost of hiring skilled foreign talent. These workers are willing to work irregular hours under tough conditions to provide for their families back in their homelands. Workers that come from Bangladesh and India work as construction workers most of the time, and workers that come from Philippines and Indonesia work as maids most of the time. 6. Salaries Skilled Skilled immigrants in Singapore monthly salary starts from about $2500 and can be more than $7000 (Yeoh, 2007). This is because they have valuable skills that are able to help companies in gaining profits. They have professional skills locals do not have and hence, they are able to be successful when they come to Singapore. Unskilled In comparison with the population of skilled foreign workforce in Singapore, the population of unskilled foreign workforce in Singapore has generally lower salaries, usually below $2500 (Yeoh, 2007). This is because these foreign workers do not bring to Singapore new skills or new knowledge that can help Singapore to grow economically, hence their labour is not as valuable as the skills and knowledge that foreign talents bring to Singapore. Also, these workers receive low pay because they are willing to accept these low pays, hence their pays often do not increase. Therefore, unskilled foreign workers have lower salaries than skilled foreign talents. Advantages and Disadvantages of Foreign Workforce in Singapore: Advantages of the Foreign Workforce in Singapore: The foreign workforce is vital for Singapores economic growth and development. The foreign workforce in Singapore is divided into two segments, foreign talent and foreign workers. The Singaporean government has always stressed the importance of immigrant workers to Singapores economy and development. With the presence of the foreign workforce in Singapore, there is exposure to external influences like cultural exchange. It is a unique feature of Singapore, and allows local Singaporeans to interact with the foreigners that come into Singapore from different parts of the world, with different backgrounds and cultures. This hence allows local Singaporeans to understand these foreigners more, which leads to an understanding of different cultures and backgrounds. With better relations between both sides, this will lead to more opportunities for business deals between foreigners and Singaporeans, as there will be respect of each sides cultures and differences, hence leading to Singapores economic growth and development. The interaction between the locals and foreigners also helps increase the awareness of locals of the different cultures. This allows the locals to practice racial tolerance in their daily lives which promotes racial harmony is Singapores multi-racial society. Singapore aims to be a vibrant multi-cultural global trading hub working with people from a diversity of cultures and backgrounds. This factor will attract more foreigners to set up companies and businesses and invest in Singapore, which will provide more job opportunities for local Singaporeans. Singapores main resource has always been its people. However, as Singapore has a low birth rate and Singapores main resource of people has been depleting in the recent years, there is a need for more highly-skilled foreign workers to fill up the highly-skilled jobs. This will also help develop Singapore into the talent capital of the global economy. Advantages of the Skilled Workforce in Singapore The skilled workforce in Singapore, also known as foreign talents, refers to highly-skilled foreigners with professional qualifications or acceptable degrees working at the higher end of Singapores economy. With so many foreign talents coming in to take up highly-skilled jobs with high wages, this is a source of competition for locals. Many locals feel that these foreign talents, who are more successful in their jobs, are snatching their jobs and source of income from them. With the highly-skilled foreign talents, there will hence be less job opportunities for local Singaporeans. Based on research conducted by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), three out of four jobs in the past five years went to foreigners. This will motivate local Singaporeans to perform better in their jobs, and pushes them to seek self-improvement, to match up to the standards of the highly-skilled foreign talents. This is caused by the sense of competition for jobs between them and the foreign talents, making them want to put in more hard work, so that their jobs will be secured. Local Singaporeans feel challenged by these highly-skilled workers, and this will lead to improvement and higher efficiency of jobs as they will strive harder to do better than the foreigners, thus leading to an improvement in Singapores economic growth and development too. With Singapores economy prospering and growing, this will in turn attract more foreign branches and companies to invest in Singapore, as Singapore has a growing position as a regional and local global trading hub. Therefore, foreign talents, also known as the highly skilled workers, will lead to Singapores economic growth and development, as it actually pushes local Singaporeans to seek self-improvement. With more of these foreign talents coming to Singapore and taking up highly-skilled jobs, it helps in Singapores economic growth and development. Given Singapores aspirations to become a major player in a globalized world, Singapores main economic strategy is based on being home to a highly-skilled workforce, which will be consisted of the highly-educated local Singaporeans, together with the foreign talents in Singapore. Therefore, the highly-skilled foreign workforce is vital to Singapore for economic growth and development. The presence of foreign talents will lead to Singapores economic growth and development, as they bring new expertise and knowledge to Singapore, and help increase the productivity and efficiency of local Singaporeans by providing such new knowledge. This leads to Singaporeans learning and developing new skills, so that Singapore can improve and become more competitive in the global market, hence resulting in Singapores economic growth and development. Advantages of the Unskilled Workforce in Singapore The unskilled workforce in Singapore, also known as foreign workers, refer to semi-skilled or unskilled workers who mainly work in the manufacturing, construction, and domestic services sectors. In Singapore, foreign workers are needed to take up jobs that local Singaporeans refuse to take up, due to the fact that these jobs are low-skilled jobs with low wages and irregular working hours, for example, construction workers, toilet cleaners and road sweepers. However, these jobs are required to maintain Singapore in its clean and orderly state, and to ensure that Singapore will continue to prosper, grow and develop. Therefore, it is important that there are people to fill up such job positions. As locals refuse to take up these jobs, foreign workers are needed to take them up. Only if Singapore is in its clean and orderly state, and has new buildings and developments, with a strong workforce, it can be seen as a potential market to invest in, and attract foreign companies to set up businesses in Singapore. Furthermore, if foreign workers are available in handful here, more companies will be inclined to set up their factory bases in Singapore, as they can hire these foreign workers to work for them, with lower wages and longer working hours. This hence leads to Singapores economic growth. Therefore, the foreign workforce is vital for Singapores economic growth and development. Disadvantages of the Foreign Workforce in Singapore A large majority of Singaporeans feel that foreigners are putting up stiff competition for jobs in Singapore, hence threatening the livelihoods of Singaporeans. Local Singaporeans feel that the foreign workforce in Singapore is snatching away jobs and their source of income from them. Based on research conducted by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), three out of four jobs in the past five years were taken up by the foreign workforce. With an increasing number of jobs being taken up by the foreign workforce in Singapore, the unemployed, especially sole breadwinners, will be unable to support their families, leading to more families being in a state of poverty without jobs. This leads to Singaporeans becoming increasingly worried and concerned over the issue of the foreign workforce taking over the available high-skilled jobs in Singapore, leaving them with only low-skilled jobs. Additionally, due to a lack of social integration between local Singaporeans and foreigners, this will lead to discrimination of the foreign workforce by locals, with increasing dislikes between the two parties. Many Singaporeans already have preconceptions of foreign workers, as they do not have enough interaction and understanding of the foreign workers in Singapore, which stems from a lack of social integration, which might lead to future conflict. A lack of social integration leads to negative generalisations made towards foreign workers, without a clear understanding of them. Such negative generalisations will lead to the debate between Singaporeans over the issue of the need of foreign workers in Singapore, as they bring in both advantages and disadvantages to Singapore, and such debates will make foreign workers unhappy too. It might cause tension between parties if such negative generalisations are continuously believed in, and this might lead to future conflicts as well. Disadvantages of the Skilled Workforce in Singapore With the skilled workforce, also known as foreign talents, in Singapore, local Singaporeans feel threatened that their source of livelihood is being taken away by people who are not even Singaporeans. This causes Singaporeans to have less jobs to choose from, leading to Singaporeans discontent towards the foreign highly skilled workers. This in turn causes a lack of social integration between the foreigners and local Singaporeans, and they will not be able to bond together as one Singapore. Hence, both parties will be unhappy with each other and the foreigners will not be able to integrate into Singapores society despite working in Singapore for many years. This might lead to future conflict and disagreement with Singaporeans about the influx of the foreign workforce in Singapore. Therefore, foreign workforce will lead to disadvantages in Singapore too. Locals views towards foreign workforce Now, in Singapore, 34% of Singapores 4 million strong population are actually foreigners. Despite having been around in Singapore for decades, working hard to earn a living for their families back home, some locals are uncomfortable with them, some are prejudiced against them, while some have nothing against them. However, despite some local Singaporeans not approving of having foreign workforce in Singapore, and being prejudiced against the foreign workforce in Singapore, and not treating foreign workforce as equals, there are still people who approve of it and think that the foreign workforce is essential and vital to Singapore as be it skilled or unskilled, they contribute to Singapore economically and socially. Singaporeans are aware of the increase of foreign workforce in Singapore. There are both positive and negative views of these foreigners. Singaporeans are aware that they are able to learn a lot of news things culturally as they communicate with these foreigners. This enables them to learn things they otherwise would not have learnt and lets them learn new things while working which will promote racial harmony in Singapore as the people become more culturally sensitive towards one another. Singaporeans are also aware that foreign workers help create jobs for them as they come to Singapore with international companies which will be able to create more job opportunities for locals. Foreign workers also come up with more effective methods of working so productivity can be increased. This will help Singapore to not only advance, but also to advance even faster and keep up with the rest of this ever changing world. This enables the Singapore companies to learn from them and get valuable information from their expertise, thus being able to help Singapore to press forward and change when there is a need to. In some cases, having a skilled workforce also helps the locals to work better. This is because everyone has a natural tendency to want to do better than others, therefore, the presence of foreigners will spur the Singaporeans to want to work better than their foreign counterparts and so improving the productivity of that company and Singapore as a whole. Singaporeans are also glad that there are unskilled foreign workers to help to fill up jobs which are avoided by many Singaporeans, especially the youths, as they are picky about jobs and if the job does not provide an income they perceive as acceptable, then they will not take up the job. These jobs mostly do not require any prior training, and as such, have low salaries and odd working hours, resulting in these jobs being shunned by those finding a job and in the end, these jobs are left to the unskilled foreign workers to take up. However, there is still disapproval of having foreigners in Singapore. Some Singaporeans are also unhappy about foreign workforce in Singapore as they see them as competition for jobs. They lose their jobs when they are not competent enough and when the company values foreign talent. When a certain industry consists of mostly foreign workers, locals also feel discouraged from taking up jobs in the sector as they are afraid of being the minority. They also start to think that foreign talents are full of themselves. However, even then, lowly-educated locals are unhappy as foreigners also take away their jobs and more uneducated locals become unemployed. Locals also start to worry that they soon have to also compete with the foreigners for jobs, housing, medical care and other needs. They see the increase in foreign immigrants and the reason for increasing property prices. To make things worse, foreigners are getting similar benefits as locals as well. Having unskilled foreign workers commonly in a certain neighborhood may also cause people who stay in that area to feel uncomfortable and insecure as there is the common perception that these foreign workers may be a criminal or may turn into one. This has caused many Singaporeans to feel unhappy when there is a dormitory for foreign workers set up in their area as they find them a nuisance as they hang around the residential areas. Gradually, it has caused some people being prejudiced and discriminating against the foreign workforce in Singapore. Foreign workforces views on locals Foreign immigrants come to Singapore in search for better jobs and living conditions. However, some are welcomed while some are not treated well. Singaporeans have stereotypes for foreigners and they are prejudices against foreigners as most locals see them as bringing more problems into Singapore. As a result, social integration of these foreigners into Singapore has not been very good and the foreign workforce here in Singapore do not have the chance to integrate into Singapores society and mix around due to these views that Singaporeans have of them. They have difficulty integrating into the society due to the language barrier, the difference in culture and lifestyles. Despite their efforts to integrate, they face cold and unfair treatment by Singaporeans. Despite all of this, they have to cope with surviving in a new foreign place and their work. However, despite all of that, there are still people in Singapore who approve and think that the influx of foreign workforce into Singapore is essential and important for Singapores survival and economic growth if Singapore wants to become a regional and global trading hub. The unskilled labour will also take up the jobs that Singaporeans dont want but are vital to keep Singapore in its clean and orderly state. Only with these jobs done will Singapore be progressing and maintaining its orderly state and this will all contribute to Singapores economic growth.   Thus, some Singaporeans welcome foreigners and treat them nicely. Therefore, there are mixed views towards the foreign workforce in Singapore. Conclusion The many opportunities and resources being easily available has always been a strong advantage of globalization. However, the rapid speed at which globalization is occurring and its unintended consequences have proven to be detrimental to society to a certain extent and caused problems which requires government intervention to be resolved. In Singapore, Globalisation has resulted in issues like the significant influx of a huge number of foreign workforces in Singapore, which has both advantages and disadvantages towards Singapore. It is also evident that Singaporeans have discerning views towards this issue. Some feel they aid our economy nut others think they introduce competition and cause social problems. Globalisation aids in building up a competitive and knowledgeable population. However, its dire consequences bring about a host of problems which, if spirals out of control, can outweigh this. The pressure is hence on the Singaporean government to strike a fine balance between achieving the full advantages of globalization and countering the unavoidable side-effects. Limitations of Research Not all sources are reliable and accurate and while we were doing our research, there were many biased reports found on the foreign

Properties of Some Ayurvedic Bhasmas

Properties of Some Ayurvedic Bhasmas Investigation of Structure, Microbiological and Cytotoxic Properties of Some Ayurvedic Bhasmas Introduction Ayurveda is the traditional Hindu medicine system practiced extensively in South Asia. In Sanskrit, the word Ayurveda is basically made of two components, Ayush life and Veda science and knowledge. This states clearly that science of life is Ayurveda. From ancient period Ayurvedic medicine is in use with the objectives: i) to enhance health status physically, mentally and spiritually free of illness and ii) to cure disease with the help of natural diet, medicine. In ancient period if people get sick and injured there was a trend of use of medicine which is also known as folk medicine. Use of Bhasmas as Ayurvedic medicine has been known from as an alternative medicine. Use of traditional medicine includes Ayurveda, Ancient Iraninan, Korean and African medicine. But recently WHO has noticed that use of these medicines in inappropriate way may give some negative and toxic results. And research work is to be done for its safety and ascertinity. These days microorganisms are common org anisms for causing disease (Shubha Hiremath, 2010). Some of them can be cured with daily hygienic processes but most of them can be removed and recovered with the use of medicines. Ayurveda is the traditional Hindu medicine system practiced extensively in South Asia. Ayurvedic medicine has wide range of composition, which also includes Bhasmas. Literally, Bhasma is something that is obtained from the process of calcination. Generally, calcination and incineration of any gem or metal substance is performed to prepare such formulations and used in any medicinal purpose as Ayurvedic medicine (Kumar Pal, 2015). The Bhasmas are prepared from metals like gold, silver, iron, lead, mercury and arsenic and so on (see Tables 1 and 2). Metal constituent are supposed to have positive impact to human health through Ayurvedic perspective. However, in modern synthetic medicine heavy metal are considered toxic. The objective of this study is to test the impacts of these drugs on growth of microorganism. Lead, mercury and arsenic is considered as the harmful compound that may lead to different kinds of disease especially cancer (Patra, Bhattacharya, Mukhopadhyay, Mukherjee, 2010). The aim in this work is to analyze the selected Bhasma drugs with respect to their structure, perform their antimicrobial susceptibility tests and also to analyze the cytotoxic effect towards the cell lines. Furthermore, if there is any antimicrobial and cytotoxic behavior of the drugs, the attempts will be made to answer the following questions: Is the given Bhasmas effect related to the presence of heavy metal compound? Is the effect the result of other materials that has been added for the preparation of that Ayurvedic Bhasma? Table 1. Some of the Bhasmas intended to be studied in the proposed work S. No. Name of Bhasma Content (metal) 1 Parad Mercury 2 Hartal Arsenic 3 Manoshila Arsenic 4 Naag Lead 5 Shisak Lead 6 Kajjali Mercury 7 Ras sindur Mercury 8 Kajjali Mercury 9 Jasada Zinc 10 Loha Iron 11 Rajat Silver 12 Sworna Gold Tabl 2: Some Bhasmas that are produced by calcination of corresponding mineral compounds S. No. Name Source 1 Coury Cowry shell 2 Abraka Mica 3 Muga Coral 4 Sankha Conch shell 5 Sipi Oyster shell 6 Moti Pearl shell Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of medicine dating back to 5000BC. Literally the science of life, it uses animal, plant, mineral and metal based medicines to cure diseases. (Barve, Mashru, Jagtap, Pargiri, Prajapati, 2011) (Patwardhan Mashelkar, 2009) A part of Ayurveda called Rasasatra is concerned with drugs of the metal-mineral origin, their processing technique, properties and therapeutic applications (Sarkar, Das, Prajapati, 2010). In Ayurveda, the drugs with mineral origin are considered more effective than those of animal and plant origin. Generally, metal minerals in the original form are toxic, non-absorbable and dont have medicinal significance. Therefore, are transformed by various standard protocols before being used as drug. Pharmaceuticals with the metal minerals origin are called Bhasmas. Bhasmas is a calcined powder of mineral, metal, gems (Sangale, Suryawanshi, Chikate, Khot, 2014). Sworna (Gold) Bhasmas, Rajata (Silver) Bhasmas, Tamra (Copper) Bhasma, Loha (Iron) Bhasmas, Jasada (Zinc) Bhasmas and ashes of the minerals like Caury (cowry shells), Muga (corals), Sankha (conch shell), Sipi (oyster shell) and others have been extensively used as Bhasmas in Ayurvedic medicine (Adhikari, 2014) (Krishnamachary, et al., 2012) (Sarkar, Das, Prajapati, 2010) (Wadekar, Rode, Bendale, Patil, Prabhune, 2005). The importance of the proper dose and way of administration of Ayurvedic drugs has been studied. It has been found that improper application of the Bhasmas lead to the death of the patients. The death is due to the accumulation of the heavy metals in the soft cells (Sarkar, Das, Prajapati, 2010) (Kapoor, 2010). However, heavy metals are drugs if they are supplied within recommended limits on their labels for plant and animal. Preparation methods determine the therapeutic efficiency as well as level of toxicity of the Bhasmas (Nagarajan, Rajan, Krishnan, Sethuraman, 2014). Formulation of Bhasmas based on standard protocol reveals nanostructured morphology. These metallic nanoparticles are taken along with milk, butter, honey, ghee which eliminate their harmful effects and intensify their biocompatibility (Formulation, 2014). Jasada Bhasma has been used for treatment of diabetes, arthritis and tuberculosis. Rajata Bhasma is used to cure muscles wasting, brain diseases and nervous disorder. Similarly, Sworna Bhasma is used for arthritis and rheumatoid (Adhikari, 2014) (Patwardhan Mashelkar, 2009). These are the ancient formulation of the metal and minerals based drugs in Ayurveda. In modern medicine, the trend of the using the metal nanoparticle is increasing for curing diseases. Modern nanoparticles through a several chemical modifications are used in the preparation of the nanodrugs. Recent trend on modern medicine shows that nanoparticles from gold, silver, iron, zinc can be used against several chronic diseases. Gold nanoparticles have high therapeu tic potential to fight against cancer and act as drug delivery vehicles (Khan, Vishakante, Siddaramaiah, 2013) (Dobrovolskaia McNeil, 2007) (Patra, Bhattacharya, Mukhopadhyay, Mukherjee, 2010). Therefore, the systematic studies of the many Bhasmas are still behind the horizon. Such Bhasmas may have potential for higher therapeutic values for curing chronic diseases. So, to investigate the science behind the different Ayurvedic Bhasmas, in particular with respect to their structiure-properties correlations, and their medicinal values will be the topic of the proposed project. The proposed research will encompass different interesting questions which will be attempted to solve in the course of the study. What is the physico-chemical and microscopic structure of the given Bhama? Is it a kind of nanomedicine with respect to its structure? What is the real chemical compositions? How do Bhasmas differ with respect to their microbiological effects on the human body? Will the Bhasma show significant cytotoxic effect only towards diseased cells? How will the normal cell lines respond? Can a correlation be established between the structure and properties of the Bhasmas? Although heavy metals have proved poisonous effects and have a predominantly unfavorable reputation in the modern scientific society, these have been used as pharmaceutical agents since first century B.C. Traditional literature like Rasatarangini, Charaksamita, Rasratnasammuchaya compiled the processing, manufacturing and therapeutic application of heavy metal containing drugs. Different studies show that formulation with heavy metal has toxic effect. The toxicity level depends upon various factors such as processing of raw materials, method and amount of consumption. Heavy metals with nanoscopic structure are generally absorbable inside cell. Recent trend also shows that nanoparticles of gold, arsenic, silver have pharmaceutical potentiality. Thats why well documented study on Bhasmas prepared from heavy metals is needed for their appropriate use as well as for the proper understanding of their structure-properties relationships. Preliminary works have been performed in a variety of Ayurvedic drugs including some drugs comprising Arsenic compounds (Harital) by the research group comprising the some of these members of the present consortium (Panta, Bhandari and Lamsal, and Adhikari 2017). Microscopic, spectroscopic and antibacterial tests were performed on some of the drugs. The compounds exhibited quite strong antibacterial activities again gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Nanomechanical aspects of the Bhamsa drugs were also review some time ago to find the parallel between modern nanomedicine and ancient ayurvedic Bhasma (Adhikari, 2014). Thus, there is a sufficient background information and nalaytical skill in the research group to perform successfully the proposed research works. The proposed work is aimed at the investigation of physico-chemical structure as well as microbiological and cytotoxic properties of different Bhasmas. To elucidate the composition and structure of Bhasma. To see the positive effect of components, present in Bhasma. To study the toxicity of Bhasma on microorganisms and cell lines. To bridge the gap between modern medicine and traditional medicine practice. The research will begin with detail literature survey to eliminate the possibility of duplication and to determine possibility of conflict of interest. The commercial Bhasma will be collected and sample preparation will be done in accordance to the availability of Bhasma in the market while strictly following the procedure described in the Ayurvedic books. Pertinent physical and chemical properties will be studied and the sample will be sent for characterization. X-Ray Diffraction, Optical Microscopy, Electron Microscopy and Spectroscopic Analysis will be performed. After characterization, based on the composition, the proper solvent for the drugs to enter the cell will be selected. Biological assay will then be carried out according to standard protocol. The assays include anti-microbial, cytotoxicity and antidiabetic. The obtained results of all above tests will be compile and analyzed manually or using computer software wherever applicable. The report will then be prepared. The ab ove process is illustrated in the flowchart below. The research plan including the anylytical procedure is depicted in Scheme 1. Scheme 1: Flowsheet depicting the analytical and research plan for the proposed work         Ã‚   It has been proved by earlier studies that the Bhasmas prepared after using standard protocol should reveal nanoparticles which are thus expected to show anti-microbial activity against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. It is the topic to explorer the opportunities that the Bhasmas might exhibit pharmaceutical potentiality against cancer, diabetic and HIV/ AIDS. This study is expected to deliver the following outcome after completion of the works. Provide necessary scientific foundation for structure and composition of the Bhasmas. This study may be able to clarify the issue of contradiction related to the statement telling Ayurvedic formulations with heavy metals are toxic to health. The study will deliver the structure-antibacterial properties correlations of very important traditional medicinal practice of the country. Limitations This study does not cover any Ayurvedic formulation based on herbs and animals. This research does not include detail mechanism of action of the Bhasmas on tested parameters. This work does not associate in any way to the psychological, psychiatric and social impacts that might arrive after the use of Bhasmas. Delimitations This project will bring Ayurveda from supplemental medicine to main stream treatment practice. This work may change the notion that heavy metals in all form are detrimental to health. The facilities available in the laboratory in the REACST will be primarily sufficient for performing major part of the study. Some of the samples have to be sent to other laboratories. This study associates with a variety of people who have been working with Bhasmas as family business for many generations. The result of this work, if contradicting with their practices, might affect their livelihood. The formulation of Bhasmas will be done in isolated condition using standard protocol and also focus to minimize metal hazards during study. This project does not incorporate all the aspects of heavy metals impact in body. Thus, any action based solely on this work might cause on foreseen effects. S.N Task to be done Tentative time 1 Literature review 8 weeks 2 Chemical and instrument collection 4 weeks 3 Commercial sample collection 4 weeks 4 Sample preparation 16 weeks 5 Characterization 16 weeks 6 Biological Assay Antimicrobial test 4 weeks Cytotoxicity (Anti-cancer) 6 weeks Anti-diabetic 10 weeks 7 Data Analysis 8 weeks 8 Preparation of initial draft of report 8 weeks 9 Finalization of report 12 weeks Total Time 96 weeks = 1 year 10 month Estimated Budget S. No. Title Amount (Rs.) 1. Chemical Formulation Rs. 30,000/- Antimicrobial test Rs. 30,000/- Cytotoxicity test Rs. 40,000/- Antidiabetics test Rs. 40,000/- 2. Instruments Rs. 1,50,000/- 3. Commercial Sample Rs. 10,000/- 4. Transportation and Courier for Characterization Rs. 40,000/- 5. Stationary and Logistics Rs. 30,000/- 6. Miscellaneous (printing, binding, communications etc.) Rs. 20,000/- 7. Laboratory chemicals Rs. 60,000/- Total Rs. 4,50,000/- Today nano-medicine is emerging as new revolution worldwide and has several promises. The exploration of nano-formulations in medical field has made us to dream of several opportunities. The study of the Bhasmas will help to gain those goals. There is higher chance of innovation of new drugs by mixing the indigenous knowledge with modern technology of drug discovery and delivery. These efforts on Bhasmas are directed toward finding solution to crucial issues of infectious disease and in particular tackling with more vulnerability the comeback of diabetics, HIV/AIDS and the devastating spread of cancer in world. However, more effort has to be done to uplift the potentiality of Bhasmas to that of modern nanodrugs. More research is desirable which explore the co-relation between structural nature and mechanism associated with their therapeutic activity. This study can provide pathway to enhance the use of traditional Ayurvedic medicine and helps to preserve the traditional knowledge. References       Adhikari, R. (2014). Ayurvedic Bhasmas: Overview on Nanomaterialistic Aspects, Applications, and Perspectives. Infectious Diseases and Nanomedicine I, 23-32. doi:10.1007/978-81-322-1777-0_3 Barve, M., Mashru, M., Jagtap, C., Pargiri, B. J., Prajapati, P. K. (2011). Therapuetic potentials of metals in ancient India: A review through Charaka Samhita. Journal of Ayurveda and Intregative Medicine, 2(2), 55-63. Retrieved from http://imsear.hellis.org/handle/123456789/172982 Dobrovolskaia, M. A., McNeil, S. E. (2007). Immunological properties of engineered nanomaterials. Nature nanotechnology, 2(8), 469-478. doi:10.1038/nnano.2007.223 Formulation, c. a.-m. (2014). Rasheed, Arun; Naik, Madhu; Haneefa, Kotappadath Pillanayil Mohammed; Kumar, Raveendran Pillai Arun; Azeem, Abdul Kharim. Pak. J. Pharm. Sci, 27(4), 793-800. Retrieved from http://applications.emro.who.int/imemrf/Pak_J_Pharm_Sci/Pak_J_Pharm_Sci_2014_27_4_793_800.pdf Kapoor, R. C. (2010). Some observations on the metal-based preparations in Indian systems of medicine. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge, 9(3). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2248/3544 Khan, M. S., Vishakante, G. D., Siddaramaiah, H. (2013). Gold nanoparticles: a paradigm shift in biomedical applications. Advances in colloid and interface science, 199, 44-58. doi:10.1016/j.cis.2013.06.003 Krishnamachary, B., Rajendran, N., Pemiah, B., Krishnaswamy, S., Krishnan, U. M., Sethuraman, S., Sekar, R. K. (2012). Scientific validation of the different purification steps involved in the preparation of an Indian Ayurvedic medicine, Lauha bhasma. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 142(1), 98-104. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2012.04.021 Kumar Pal, S. (2015). The Ayurvedic Bhasma: The Ancient Science of Nanomedicine. Recent Patents on Nanomedicine, 5(1), 12-18. Nagarajan, S. a., Rajan, K., Krishnan, U., Sethuraman, S. (2014). Scientific insights in the preparation and characterisation of a lead-based naga bhasma. Indian journal of pharmaceutical sciences, 76(1), 38-45. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4007254/ Panta, P, Bhandari, T. R, Lamsal B., and Adhikari, R. unpublished results (2017) Patra, C. R., Bhattacharya, R., Mukhopadhyay, D., Mukherjee, P. (2010). Fabrication of gold nanoparticles for targeted therapy in pancreatic cancer. Advanced drug delivery reviews, 62(3), 346-361. doi:10.1016/j.addr.2009.11.007 Patwardhan, B., Mashelkar, R. A. (2009). Traditional medicine-inspired approaches to drug discovery: Can Ayurveda show the way forward. Drug discovery today, 14(15), 804-811. doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2009.05.009 Sangale, M. D., Suryawanshi, M., Chikate, C., Khot, R. (2014). Comparative studies and analysis of Jasandand Nag bhasma prepared by different Ayurvedic pharmaceuticals. International Journal of Advanced Scientific and Technical Research, 2(4). Retrieved from http://rspublication.com/ijst/2014/april14/29.pdf Sarkar, P. K., Das, S., Prajapati, P. K. (2010). Ancient concept of metal pharmacology based on Ayurvedic literature. Ancient science of life, 29(4), 1-6. Shubha, S. H., Hiremath, R. S. (2010). Evaluation of antimicrobial activity of Rasaka Bhasma. AYU: An International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda, 31(2), 260-262. Wadekar, M. P., Rode, C. V., Bendale, Y. N., Patil, K. R., Prabhune, A. A. (2005). Preparation and characterization of a copper based Indian traditional drug: Tamra bhasma. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 39(5), 951-955. doi:10.1016/j.jpba.2005.06.015 Association to national Priority Ayurvedic drugs are indigenous technology of Nepal. The practice incorporates a wide variety of social groups during the raw material collection, purification, processing, delivery and prescription of medicine. Moreover, the need of raw materials opens door to industrial and entrepreneur investment. The work we have proposed thus can impact a variety of national priority which will be described in detail below Bhasma is found to have significant effect on the cure of tuberculosis. They are also expected to cure diabetes, cancer and other non-communicable diseases. The reduction of these communicable and non-communicable disease is a part of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). The formulations studied in our work can play a major role in meeting the SDG as well as in improving the health indicators not covered in SDG but is a common health problem in Nepal such as rheumatic and skin disease [SDG] The production and dissemination of Bhasma is a multi-step process requiring a variety of manpower. It demands unskilled manpower for labor works necessary in all steps, semi-skilled manpower for the production and distribution of medicines as well as skilled manpower like doctors, chemists, administrators to supervise the whole operation. Hence understanding and commercialization of Bhasma can significantly contribute to employ not only local manpower but also help bring back the manpower currently outside Nepal. Bhasma is unquestionably the local intellectual property of Nepal which requires protection before it becomes the victim of modern medicine hegemony and foreign trademark. This work will be a step to the documentation, standardization and recognition of the ancient knowledge which is not yet accepted as a scientific truth. Understanding and patenting the rights in the country will prevent local knowledge from being foreign property. This project is also a step towards proper documentation and preservation of rare and endangered books. Preparation of Bhasma is a traditional example of top-down nanofabrication. Nanoscience and nanotechnology is a burning research field. However, only a handful of work has been done in this field. Government as well as private investors are reluctant to investment on nanoscience. This project can be an invitation to industries as well as academia to focus on nanomaterial synthesis and use to solution of everyday problem.

Langston Hughes :: Biography Biographies

Langston hughes and his significance as a black american and as a poet Langston Hughes was famous for his poetry, which helped to fuel the civil rights movement. His poetry also earned him fame but he still seemed to remain financially disabled. He didn't get much recognition for his poetry until after he died. Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri into an abolitionist family. Hughes hated his father and he was passed around between his different family members and family friend. Hughes began writing poetry in the seventh grade and when he graduated he was selected as the Class Poet. His father did not believe that he could make a living out of being a writer but he paid his tuition to college so his son could be an engineer. Langston continued to write poetry however and he dropped out of college with a B+ average. His significance was shown when he became one of the leaders of a movement, called the Harlem Renaissance. It spawned a whole new age of thinking and development. He helped prove to people that he and his fellow Negroes were part of America and her spirit. His poems "I, Too" and "Dinner Guest: Me" talk of how he and his people are this spirit. Hughes Black American roots and his sense of racial equality was what fueled most, if not all, of his poems. Growing up when Black Americans had no rights and had separate everything's was difficult for any black man living then. But he turned his feelings into beautiful poetry. Hughes poetry helped a lot of people out. He inspired many people during the civil rights movement and he gave hope to others with his unique perspective. His poems tend to be about social injustice save but a few. His poem, "Ballad of the Landlord" speaks of racial injustice as well as the discrimination of social classes.

Storytelling in Eavan Bolands In a Time of Violence Essay -- In a Tim

Storytelling in Eavan Boland's In a Time of Violence  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In her 1994 collection of poems, In a Time of Violence, Eavan Boland presents her readers with a very focused set of controlling ideas. These ideas, centered around the concepts of family, history, legends, and storytelling, fluidly intermingle and build upon one another as the work progresses until one notion, above all others, is clear: that the telling and retelling of stories and legends is not only a great power, but a great responsibility. In this collection of poems, the poet consciously accepts this responsibility as a reteller of stories, thereby appropriating to herself the power to strengthen familial bonds, question conventional histories, and create new legends for women of the future.      Ã‚  Ã‚   The single poem that best represents the controlling ideas of In a Time of Violence is a short poem entitled Legends. This poem is concerned primarily with the relationship of stories and legends to familial bonds among women; in this case, the bond between a mother and her child. The poem begins by, in effect, telling the story of storytelling: â€Å"†¦they [storytellers] begin the world again, / making the mountain ridges blue / and the rivers clear and the hero fearless†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Boland, 50). It is clear that Boland is assigning large amounts of power to storytellers within the context of the speaker-listener relationship; in the eyes of the listener, they have the God-like power to â€Å"begin the world again†, and to remake and purify elements of the storyworld as they see fit.      Ã‚  Ã‚   The third stanza of the poem both examines this power further and creates a common link between all tellers of stories—â€Å"and the outcome always undecided / so the next teller can say begin an... ...continue, no matter how difficult.   At the heart of In a Time of Violence is the need and responsibility to re-imagine and retell old stories that no longer work; to bring women closer together by doing away with the repressive female images—the beautiful heroine, the unseen seamstress— that saturate the current and past stories of our culture. By creating and retelling these stories, Boland explores what she has termed â€Å"the meeting place between womanhood and history†, and creates a communal discourse between all women who care to listen to her. Works Cited and Consulted Boland, Eavan. In a Time of Violence. New York: Norton, 1994. Weekes, Ann Owens. "'An Origin like Water': The Poetry of Eavan Boland and Modernist Critiques of Irish Literature," Irishness and (Post)Modernism, ed. John S. Rickard. Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Presses, 1994. Storytelling in Eavan Boland's In a Time of Violence Essay -- In a Tim Storytelling in Eavan Boland's In a Time of Violence  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In her 1994 collection of poems, In a Time of Violence, Eavan Boland presents her readers with a very focused set of controlling ideas. These ideas, centered around the concepts of family, history, legends, and storytelling, fluidly intermingle and build upon one another as the work progresses until one notion, above all others, is clear: that the telling and retelling of stories and legends is not only a great power, but a great responsibility. In this collection of poems, the poet consciously accepts this responsibility as a reteller of stories, thereby appropriating to herself the power to strengthen familial bonds, question conventional histories, and create new legends for women of the future.      Ã‚  Ã‚   The single poem that best represents the controlling ideas of In a Time of Violence is a short poem entitled Legends. This poem is concerned primarily with the relationship of stories and legends to familial bonds among women; in this case, the bond between a mother and her child. The poem begins by, in effect, telling the story of storytelling: â€Å"†¦they [storytellers] begin the world again, / making the mountain ridges blue / and the rivers clear and the hero fearless†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Boland, 50). It is clear that Boland is assigning large amounts of power to storytellers within the context of the speaker-listener relationship; in the eyes of the listener, they have the God-like power to â€Å"begin the world again†, and to remake and purify elements of the storyworld as they see fit.      Ã‚  Ã‚   The third stanza of the poem both examines this power further and creates a common link between all tellers of stories—â€Å"and the outcome always undecided / so the next teller can say begin an... ...continue, no matter how difficult.   At the heart of In a Time of Violence is the need and responsibility to re-imagine and retell old stories that no longer work; to bring women closer together by doing away with the repressive female images—the beautiful heroine, the unseen seamstress— that saturate the current and past stories of our culture. By creating and retelling these stories, Boland explores what she has termed â€Å"the meeting place between womanhood and history†, and creates a communal discourse between all women who care to listen to her. Works Cited and Consulted Boland, Eavan. In a Time of Violence. New York: Norton, 1994. Weekes, Ann Owens. "'An Origin like Water': The Poetry of Eavan Boland and Modernist Critiques of Irish Literature," Irishness and (Post)Modernism, ed. John S. Rickard. Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Presses, 1994.

Literature Review : Awareness of Public in Selecting Local Leaders Essay

Selections of the local leaders grab a highly attention to many local residents and peoples. This proved that participation of the population in selections of their leaders is an increasingly as common event nowadays. According to Alexander D (2007), state that the phenomenon also happened in country such as India, United States and Australia facing a huge number of populations that involved during the general elections process to determine their favoured leaders. According to Alex Gusmao (n. d), the practiced of democracy would increase the number of participation of local people in choosing the right leaders. Due to the democracy practices, peoples are more become aware about their responsibilities and their power to choose the leader who can lead the community and bring hopes and changes to the future of their areas. Mass Media Influence the people’s awareness to select their leaders The impacts of mass media bring the greater attention and awareness of the public towards political concern. According to Johnson L (1969), stated that the relationship between political and mass media is inseparable as media gives impact to the American politics. He added that media had the power to create leaders by painting a good image of a person such as Ted Kennedy. According to Zaller (1999), political leaders communicate with the public primarily through news media that they do not control. The news media now stand between politicians and their constituents. Politicians speak to the media; the media then speak to the voters. During election campaigns, the media become a vital component for both the politicians (the candidates) and the public. The media act as the connector between the public and the politicians. According to Zaller (1999), politicians rely on the media to get their messages and attention across to the public. The public on the other hand rely on the media for information on candidates, their policies and also their personalities. This is important because who they select for will depend on the information they receive from the media. There are several of theories related with mass media communication that supported the influence of mass media. According to Armin W. 2010), agenda- setting theories bring the impacts to the media coverage to influence and create the public attention and select some issues and topic related to public discourse. The purpose is to create the public noticed (awareness), as well as salience makes the issue become more important (priority). According to Graber (1997), audiences would follow the media guidance but not slavishly. Therefore, agenda setting theories approach is used t o influence of media coverage on the choice and salience of topics or issues to make it more interesting topic and public debated. According to political scientist Ralph Negrine (1996), the mass media act; (1) as an important link between the public, and the opinion of the public and the decision-making processes of government;(2) as a key player in the construction or creation of the public opinion;(3) as a means by which the public can come to play a direct and indirect part in the democratic process. There are several medium used by mass media to create the awareness of peoples in selecting their local leaders: 1) Television Television become as a major source of political information compared to internet usage. Despite those different patterns in media usage, in almost every modern society the majority of people name television as their most important source of information about politics. According to Plasser (2002) has compared survey data from 35 different countries and found that in Northern America 70% of the respondents rely on TV as their primary source of political information, in Latin America the average number is 77%, in Western Europe 74%, in Eastern and Central Europe 69%, in Australia 69%, and in East Asia 74%. These data could assume that the relevance of news sources could have changed with the proliferation of the internet. To the surprise of the researchers even the Digital Natives in the youngest age group of 15 to 24-year-olds most frequently named television, despite their comparatively strong reliance on the internet. Even in typical newspaper-centric societies such as Germany or Austria, TV still holds the top position in this ranking of news media, with more than 60% of the respondents naming it as one of their preferred sources. In a very different media environment (with a much stronger public television sector), Schmitt-Beck and Mackenrodt (2009) surveyed more than 2,000 German voters go out before the parliamentary elections of 2005. The result explained that media increased the people’s awareness at that time through news on public television commercial and political talk programme. For viewers of news on public TV with a low interest in politics, the analysis showed over the course of the election campaign a remarkably strong increase in their intension to vote. According to Prior, the so-called Relative Entertainment Preference of TV, he argued that viewers could determine a large extent their consumption of political information and their possibility to vote. With the constantly increasing media choice over the last decades, those who would prefer entertainment and fiction programming have increasingly and turned away from political news. It is supported by research done by Werlberger, she carry out the survey a sample of 501 Austrian citizens and 30% of them said they had no or almost no interest in political information gained from all media channel, the result shows the low interest among age of 15 to 29 years and female respondents avoiding of political information via television. 1) Newspaper Newspaper is another media means to deliver the message and information to the readers regarding the political conditions and issues that arise. The bigger challenges facing by the conventional media when the situation worsened when a depressed economy forced more readers to cancel their newspaper subscriptions, and business is no longer operate as a result, closures of newspapers, bankruptcy, job cuts and salary cuts are widespread as what happens in US (Mahmud, 2009). Comparing to US, Malaysian still rely on the information get from the newspaper. Most Malaysians still get their news from conventional media like newspapers to access the information about political arena. Even though, the challenges comes from the advancement of new technology such as the Internet, readership has yet to drop to a drastic level, while advertisers still regard it as the medium of choice, however this does not means that newspapers in Malaysia can sit back and do nothing while expecting their readership to be maintained or increase (Yap, 2009). Online newspaper has been introduced by Malaysia such as like what US did, where people can read the newspaper with free such as (http://www. nlinenewspapers. com/malaysia. htm) and other printed newspaper. According to Plasser (2002) in his finding, peoples still remained to choose to read newspaper to gain the information about the political matters only about 35 per cent preferred on newspaper which largely come from group of age above 25 years old. Majority of 70% named TV which represents the all group s of age from 15- 55 years old, and 40% on the internet mostly younger age of 15- 24 years old. 2) Radio Radio is part of instrument used by media to provide the information to the peoples regarding political matters. Political talk Radio is one of medium provided such of discussion of the politics issues. According to Knight & Barker (1996), Political talk radio can be defined as â€Å"call-in show that emphasize discussion of politicians, elections, and public policy issues†. The effectiveness of Political Talk Radio brings the formation of voters to shape their political knowledge towards choosing the rights leaders. This knowledge would turn their awareness, attitudes s and public opinion toward political leaders. In recent years, Political Talk Radio has grown as a major source of political information for many of its audience members. According to Zaller’s (1996) , Political talk radio provides a good context in which to test media effects because sound measures of media reception are available, and variance in the content of the messages sent by hosts about political leaders is large. In some circumstances, it can also be a determinant of public opinion and political behavior (Knight & Barker, 1996). Studies of the impact of political talk radio have focused on the nature of democratic participation (Bick, 1988; Page & Tannenbaum, 1996), political and social alienation (Hoffstetter et al. 1994; Petrozzello, 1994), and public opinion and political behavior (Barker, 1996; Boyer, 1992; Herbst, 1995). 3) Media Electronic (Internet, Blog , Facebook , Tweeter and etc) The advancement of new technology, such as internet and widespread of social networking bring the integration among all of the people across the globe. The impact of social networking encouraged the political field to be connected with social life of peoples in which social networking used as a medium for the peoples to get close with their leader. Political leaders and parties recently began to use social networking to achieve political bjectives. For example, all of the candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election aggressively used information and communication technologies, such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and others. As according to Will and Reeves (2009) , there are several objectives that makes the political involved in social networking (1) to involve voters in on going two way communication;(2) to enhance interactions with the campaign; (3) to encourage voters to form online political societies among themselves; (4) to make financial contributions to the campaigns (Robertson et al. 010); and (5) to provide a lack of third parties by external interests with a decentralized core (Wills and Reeves 2009). In 2008 presidential election, American showed the use of mobile marketing to be a strong vehicle for governments and political parties to mobilize their supporters (Cook2010). Such tools as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube provided individuals with a means to become part of the larger political proc ess (Levy 2008). According Travis N (2013), online media allows members to have more opportunities and provide communication with others in government journalist especially the public. According to tweetcongress. org, all members of congress have a website over 70 percent and now have the Tweeter more than 500 members and official Facebook pages and some even have YouTube channels. This indicates that media plays a bigger role in displays the communication between the public and the leaders. Besides that, the greater the members of opportunities to communicate through new media, members are also be able to target their message to specific audiences. There are several characteristic were identified looking by peoples that makes them aware in order to select their local leaders that capable to represent the welfare and needs of the peoples. 1) Background – Traditions and Customs According to research done by Alex G (n. d), some of local people â€Å"suku â€Å"or members of communities, applying the democracy practices in choosing their leaders. There are more preferred to select their local leaders or elected candidates with strong links to traditions and customs, in order to maintain the traditional leadership structure that particularly emphasised to maintain their culture. As such, local people in eastern district Timor- Leste, the village like Uma Wa’in Kraik (Viqueque) and Ben Ufe (Oecusse), simply elect their customary leaders as village head. The reasons they choose customary leaders, because they are more familiar and have close relationship among the local peoples. As the leaders also have the better knowledge and experienced in handling the conflicts related to any traditions and customs and knows what people needs. According to some respondents, village heads nominated through political parties would serve only their own political party and their party members, instead of the local people. This situation is contradict with the definition of the local leadership where the leaders need to engage with members of their community in order to learn about issues of local concern and help to facilitate a vision for the locality. It involves encouraging trust and respect between individuals and groups by mediating fairly and constructively between different organisations and sections of the community (Professor Jo Silvester, 2012). Thus, this issue bring the people become more aware in selecting their local leaders as they feel distrust and anxiety about the future of their village/ district. The peoples feel that the future of their village is in their hand and part of their responsibility in choosing the right leaders that capable to represent their needs and welfare. 2) Leaders Traits –Characteristics and Qualities The characteristics reflect the attitude and behaviour of leaders. Leaders that possess the good characteristics such as the accountable, charismatic, clean and honest and trust-worthy give the advantage to them as it will attract the numbers of people to put their confidence on the leaders. Indeed, people would choose the leaders that have this qualities that show their commitment and willingness to work for the people. According to John G. (n. d) states that peoples demanded and judge their leaders that have the capability in solving of their problems and meeting their needs. Based on research study done by James & Barry (2011) regarding the personalities and traits that should have by leaders is the most frequent answer by the peoples are integrity, competence and leadership. Based on the finding of characteristic of admired leaders people select twenty characteristics / qualities, the result shows that honesty placed at top of list which is 85 percent, followed by forward looking 70 percent, inspiring 69 percent and other such as competent 64 percent and Intelligent 42 percent etc. In this case, peoples wish to have the leaders which are truthful, ethical and principled. According to Bass et al (1994), identified four key elements 4 I’s that reflects Lincoln characteristics, there are (1) Inspiring influence (2) Inspirational motivation (3) Inspirational stimulation and (4) Individualised considerations. Besides that, leaders should pay their attention more towards their clear roles and responsibilities. There are certain characters with doubtful backgrounds and underworld connections that were selected as councillors (The Star, July 25, 2008). According to a former councillor, councillors should serve as the eyes and ears of the council so that they can serve the people and at the same time advice the council on what is going-on on the ground.

Brent Staples’ Black Men and Public Spaces

Antoinette Johnson English 100 Prof. Horna October 3, 2012 In the essay â€Å"The second shift†, by Arlie Hochschild, he explains how the wives of two-job families with small children typically work an extra 24-hour day in a year, between the pages 145(bottom) and 148(top). I agree with Hochschild’s determination because once women come home from first shift, they go straight into second shift. Whereas men come home from first shift, and get to pick and choose when to work second shift.Most men wonder why the level of affection is lacking in the home. I believe that the man in two-job families with small children are optimistic about the things that should be done around the house. I believe that they feel because they’re the â€Å"dominant† figure, that the women are supposed to do the majority of the work around the house. Then the men/husbands start to feel a type of way because the women become resentful,.I don’t blame the men for their actions, I blame the fathers and their father’s father for not showing them the correct way to uphold their households. In my eyes women has always been the life support or backbone of any family. So really the women are the â€Å"dominant† figure. It takes a strong individual to work an eight-hour shift, then come home to cook and clean for another eight-hours. To also cater to the children and husbands with all their needs. Women should demand more help from their husbands during the second shift.That extra 24 hours should be split between the two of them. If women stood up for themselves more often, men would start to appreciate them more while still in the relationship instead of when their relationship is over. In conclusion, as time goes on, the younger generations will get it together, I believe. Husbands and wives need to come together and make arrangements to better uphold the home. A more understanding husband plus a more no holds bar wife equals a better home.