Personal Statement of Interest for Graduate Admission at the University of Baltimore Essay Example for Free

Personal Statement of Interest for Graduate Admission at the University of Baltimore Essay Life always takes me to a new and exciting experience each day. I believe everything that happened to me made me a person better than I am yesterday. It is a roller coasters experience since I meet every ups and down in life I always look forward in the future with much anticipation. I have a heart full of hope and a determined mind to succeed in everything I do. This is why I decided to apply on Baltimore’s graduate program on the field of Public Administration. I have the right mindset and I possess the necessary skills needed for the said program. I am looking forward to a future full of hope. I believe I can make all my dreams a reality come true. My name is (insert your name here) and I am currently studying at the University of Baltimore where I am taking up Bachelors Degree in Business Administration specializing in Human Resource Management. I will be graduating on January 11, 2009. I really cherish this educational institution because it honed me to be the best student that I can be in this field. I believe that the educational experience I had is still not enough that is why I continue to quest for knowledge and pursue another degree this coming Spring Semester of 2009. I wish to pursue another degree which majors in Public Administration specializing in Public Policy and Administration. I consider education as the most important factor geared towards success; and in order to achieve such, hard work and dedication should be exemplified in school. I am determined to succeed in life and continue the said degree until the end. I gained my degree in Applied Science in Business Administration last June 12, 2006 from Monroe College in New Rochelle, NY. I made it on the President and Dean’s List each semester and gained a 3. 5 GPA upon graduation. I treasure every achievement that I receive and impart it to my family and the institution where I am studying. I believe that it is always right to bring back the glory to the ones who assisted you towards success. Gaining recognitions is my way of paying tribute to my mentors and friends. Currently, I am part of the Helen P. Denit Honors Program where I am proud to say that I possess a GPA of 3. 4. I am also an active member of the Caribbean Students Association and Human Resources Society. I am happy being part of the aforementioned affiliations because it adds up meaningful experiences and lessons to my being. I also meet diverse people from different walks of life that made me more prepared for my future profession. Being one of the Dean’s Lister of the University of Baltimore boosted my pride and ego even more. Having a master’s degree in Public Administration will make me a more complete professional. I will be more aware of the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in life. It will be an additional spice to the previous education that I had. The University of Baltimore is equipped of the professors and educational resources that will make me an expert in this field. Studying on the same university where I graduated is like a home away from home. I already feel the warmth and friendliness of future professors and colleagues. Another reason for attending University of Baltimore is the reputation that it possesses when it comes to catering transfer students. When I transferred there from Monroe College, I experience its strong reputation and I felt a smooth transition because of its accessible course schedules. It offers a wide array of information and facilities that helps in cultivating the knowledge to promising students like me. I believe that it is important to stay in this university as a sign of loyalty and integrity. In addition I have learned so much from my professors and classmates especially when it comes to confidence and moral boost. It opened up gates of opportunity for me to stand up and be known for what I am knowledgeable. The educational experiences at University of Baltimore were all priceless. After completing my master’s degree, I am planning to go back to the United States Virgin Islands. I wanted to receive a master’s degree in Public Administration because of my willingness to relocate back home. I believe that it is one of the best things that I can carry with me because it will contribute to my society. Back in the Virgin Islands a degree in Public Administration goes a long way because everything there is centralized around the government. I believe that I will be given the chance to move up easily in an organization because it is a small island working in a private industry where a person’s ability is very limited. I would be able to move around and cross-train in the different fields and departments because I have a degree in Public Administration. Success has been attributed to the lessons learned in the years ahead. These are the little things that help us become prepared for the difficulties that life has to offer Through my hard work and patient, I believe that I will be able to gain a great deal of experience on how to make it big in this field of interest. Furthermore, I realized that rendering my services I Public Administration would bridge gaps between people. In this light, I had to improve and level up my skills in this degree for me to practice the profession. Being an Employee Development Specialist is one of my foremost ambitions. Being on the said career will make way for me to be a pride in the government of the United States Virgin Islands. I know that this is very suitable for my persona because it involves both my undergraduate degree in Human Resource and future degree in Public Administration. Aside from this, I also intend to work out an overall career goal and that is to work and move up in the different careers in the Human Resource Field. There are skills and virtues needed for one to be successful in life. These are not simply found inside our house or outside the classroom. It needs to be gained earned the hard way. Sharing an insight by using my experience to one of my favorite sports will give you a clearer meaning of this. Playing (insert name of favorite sport here) is indeed my cup of tea. But at first I was really hesitant to play because I’m afraid I don’t have any knowledge at all or the right skills to play it good. But as time goes by I was able to grasp all the necessary requirements to meet the goal. Achieving it was never easy. Rather, it involves the presence of mind and the ability to cooperate with everyone in the team. For this I have learned the importance of coordination and team work. I believe that those are the most difficult tasks to achieve. We solely rely on ourselves for everything, and in so doing, there are certain things in life that need to be shared. Heroic acts may seem simple, but these are the things that cause much confusion on the side of people. I believe that just like playing my favorite sport, the filed of Public Administration is a big challenge. It is a long and winding road to take but I will never loose courage to meet the goal. I wish to work on future public policies and administering it all the best that I can. Tantamount learning will compensate the things that I gained from school and this will make me stand out among the rest. As a token of appreciation from my Alma matter, the recognitions I will receive in the future for this field will be dedicated to Baltimore. Education may seem difficult to achieve, but it is the best solution to a better life. There will be tough times but I believe that I can surpass it all. I will learn that through time, I can hone myself and be successful in my chosen path. Regardless of how others try to pull me down, there is no way for them to steal the knowledge that I have acquired over the years. Although it may seem like a dream, I want to be known as someone who has contributed much to my society. Although this may sound off, I believe that anyone can be successful, as long as he puts his heart and soul into it. Hard work and dedication are needed in order to become the striking individual that I want to be. Public Administration covers many areas that gave me challenges and opportunities. Becoming a professional in this field is a life long dream for me that will meet both of my philosophy and career goals. I am more than ready to take courage and travel the journey towards my ambition of being a successful professional of Public Administration in the future and help people the best that I can. All my personal qualities and experiences made me a clearer understanding of this profession as it made me realize the importance of choosing this career. I am a very passionate individual and I use this as one of the driving key to strive hard and be excellent in Public administration. I want to give service to the people and give dedicate to them the best of my capacity and at the same time build a personal relationship with them. Personal experiences gave me learning and responsibilities that molded me to be what I am now. My endeavors in life that I wished to happen at the right time come with great purpose. I believe that I have the capabilities and I am highly motivated to succeed in this career that I choose to take. I want to illustrate the qualities that I have that will help me succeed in pursuing my degree in Public Administration. I see my personal and academic experiences as stages of growth that have helped me to understand my own potential and the road that I wish to take in life. While vast opportunities are before me, I feel that my true calling lies in the fascinating and challenging world of Public Administration. I take one step at a time to manage my skills in a way that will lead to further enhancement and development. Life is a roller coaster and there are certain events where my abilities are put into test which later on taught me how strong I should be. I firmly believe that this is a course that would help me shine as an individual. I thought about my future and what I really wanted to do with my life. I plan to further enhance my craft through this degree and eventually be successful in this field. Highly motivated I believe that having Public Administration as a degree will surely ease the path towards reaching my goals. I look forward to my future with great anticipation. I know that the time has finally come for me to realize my dreams and make them come true. From everything that has been said, I believe that the education and training that University of Baltimore would provide me with, would be of great help in my quest for further studies. My goals and aspirations in life would become one step closer at a time. I would be regarded as the man who lives for tomorrow.

Issues with Cadburys Workforce

Issues with Cadburys Workforce One of the most important workforces issues that Cadbury has to tackle after the Krafts takeover will be the psychological contract and the employee engagement, thus, the fundamentals issues this paper work address are; explores some of the most important external and internal influences and business pressures that Cadbury is facing now, recommending the most appropriate strategic responses and describing some of the key Human Resource issues that the company have to bear in mind during the whole process of this transition. Secondly, this essay does a depth analyses of how Cadbury should tackle their psychological contracts issues, through a fully understanding of the workforces expectations and beliefs towards the Cadburys new employer, generally these expectations are out of the formal or legal contract, which means they are unwritten and unspoken but they still play an important role during this takeover. In addition to the psychological contract, this essay also explores another important issue in this takeover which is the employee engagement, this engagement generally is something given by the employees to the company which shows their commitment, effort and dedication, using the best of their capabilities to achieve the companys goals, therefore, this paper studies how Cadbury should make an appropriate adoption of the employee engagement concept bringing a tremendous vantage for the company. 216 words STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK Business Pressure Cadburys company was built nearly two hundred years ago in Birmiham Great Britain, where during whole these years the company has stood up of the crowd for its chocolates quality and has even been awarded for the British Queen in February 1984 (Cadbury 1) Cadbury has also launched some chocolates which have became in a totally British iconic, chocolates bars such as wispa, which was first launched in 1981 and the creams eggs which sell around two hundred million units every year in the UK, and the Dairy Milk which was first launched in June 1905 and has become a mega well-known brand in many different varieties around the world (Cadbury 2), All these products and much more, have made that Cadbury become nowadays the second most engaging brand in the UK, according to a study made by the agency Hall Partners (2010), this study measures how the British people are engaged with brands and analyse how do they feel and think about it. The study reveals that Cadbury is a UK proud brand that British people love; as during whole these years, Cadbury has built a strong relationship with its customers and products in a consciously and unconsciously way. http://www.netimperative.com/news/2010/february/cadbury2019s-and-google-top-uk2019s-10-most/view Hence, taking into the account all these historic facts of Cadbury, it seem obvious that after the announce of Krafts takeover, a huge business pressure had grown all over UK regarding to continuation of the workforces inheritance , the maintaining of their manufactories in UK and the loss of jobs seems to be the most complicated business pressure. As a complement, after the acquisition of Cadbury in  £11.9 billion, Kraft is on  £7 billion debt, and to be able to solve this issue Kraft has created a saving plan of  £450 million a year (The Guarding 3) to pay off all its debts to the Royal Bank of Scotland, which ironically is 84% owned by the UK Government, which means that the UK government has borrowed the money to sell out one of the most engaging British companies. http://www.cadbury.co.uk/cadburyandchocolate/ourstory/Pages/ourstoryFlash.aspx#/1941_1980/product/1971_creme_egg (2) http://www.cadbury.co.uk/cadburyandchocolate/ourstory/Pages/ourstoryFlash.aspx#/1820_1860/product (1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/04/cadbury-kraft-union (3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8470776.stm (4) Strategic Responses Seems to be a very tough task, to set a good and appropriate strategic response, after all these enormous business pressures that surround Cadbury, hence, Kraft should start doing a deep analyses of each one of the business pressure, covering the customers and workforces expectations, to fully understand the whole context. Once exist a better understanding of the whole picture, Kraft should be more likely to face these business pressures in a more efficiently and appropriate manner, setting up the best possible strategic responses to tackle the whole problem. However, bearing in mind that my understanding of the whole picture will never be as deeper as the one Kraft could achieve inside their world, my best possible strategic responses should be keeping their pledges, showing the commitment and interest of Cadburys new owners to the workforce, doing the best of their capabilities to keep the social and ethical values, analysing the business strategic and vision of the company. On the other hand, UK Government should do everything they can, to ensure the jobs are kept in UK after the Krafts new acquisition, however the Cadburys Chairman has admitted that jobs loss are unavoidable as a consequence of the big acquisitions price of  £11.9 billion (The Indepent 2010 5), but as strategic response to this issue, Kraft should make a further investment in better technology machines to increase the productivity and reduce their overhead costs more efficiently without the need to make jobs redundant. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/takeover-will-mean-job-cuts-says-boss-of-cadbury-1873155.html (5) HRM Factors; possible impacts There are many numbers of possible HR impacts in this unexpected and unwelcome Krafts takeover, the first of them, is one of the most common HR impacts which takes place in most of the takeovers, these are the workforces strikes, which are already happening in Cadbury, the employees are desperately seeking for a plan or a law from the UK government which secure their jobs and give them work stability. Secondly but not less important, as consequence of this unwelcome takeover, Cadburys workforce might change its attitude and loyalty towards the company, creating a stressful and uncomfortable workplace environment for everybody, leaving as a result, a depth impact in the productivity of the company. Additionally to the job instability, lack of support from the companys new owner and stressful environment, all these issues could make that the best workforces men remaining in the company, decide to jump out of the ship before the company decides to throw them out. Lastly, the workforces future expectations, beliefs and principles might also change towards the company, meaning a partial or total loss of the engagement from the employees which could easily lead a collective decrease in the productivity. HRM Strategic to tackle As HR strategic, one of the first issues to tackle should be to build a much healthier workplace environment to the wellbeing and productivity of all the company, however to be able to solve this issue the strategic should starts improving the lack of communication between all the workforce, making ice-breaking session involving all manager and plant workers. On the other hand, the HR strategic, should also look at the terms and conditions of the workforces formal contracts, giving additional benefits, securing their jobs stability to all the workforce or at least the best workers and lastly making periodically reviews of their salaries and their current position in the company, all these incentives are with the aim of create a better perception of their psychological contract and get back the employees engagement. As a complement and improvement of the psychological contract perception, the company should also invest in their employees, giving them special training and special support wherever needed, earning also some of the trust which has been lost during this whole process. In support of the business pressures, strategic responses and HRM factors mentions above, the table below shows a strategic framework as develop by Sparrow and Pettigrew to complement the main points which have just been described, this framework shows some of the external influences issues and business pressures that Cadbury is currently facing after Krafts takeover, highlighting the most strategic responses and the HRM factors to my point of view. Business Pressure Strategic Responses HRM Factors Cadbury Now UK Prime Minister has done nothing to secure the Cadburys jobs Takeover will lead to a collective jobs redundant and losses at Cadbury as part of the annual cost saving plan of  £450 millions Public and government concerns about maintaining social, ethical values, and inheritance of Cadbury Customers value and expectations towards Cadburys product may change specially within UK Lack of trust between Cadburys new owners and Cadburys employees A massive disappointed from the UK citizens regarding to the money that RSB bank has lent to Kraft to takeover Cadbury Agreement between Cadbury and UK Government to maintain the Cadburys workforce Better technology machines should be used to increase the productivity and reduce the costs efficiently Show the commitment and interest of Cadburys new owners to the workforce, doing the best of their capabilities to keep the social and ethical values, analysing the business strategic and vision of the company. Keeping promises up to the workforce and showing them that the company really cares and worries for its employees POSSIBLE IMPACTS Possible strike from Cadburys workforce Insufficient support from the Company to the workforce, deteriorating the communications Hidden pressure that managers are not aware of The workforces attitude towards their work activities may change, leaving an impact on the company productivity Stressful work environment Employees concerns about jumping ship and their future career within the Cadbury Cadbury in the Future The UK Government cannot do legally anything to stop the massive fires; they were only concern about their votes There are not hopes that anything will change for the better as result of the takeover The takeover brings a deeper financial crisis for UK Government concern about lack of investment from Cadbury Kraft in UK The maintaining of the Cadbury manufactories in UK The inheritance of Cadbury have come to the end Make an aggressive marketing camping to show everybody the benefits, the takeover has brought To expand the manufacturing production along UK, Create a strategic plan to help sustain the inheritance of Cadburys workforce families HRM STRATEGIC TO TACKLE Restructure the workface of the company Create a healthy workplace environment for the employees wellbeing and productivity of the company Retain the best employees of the Company ensuring them long-terms stability Maintain terms in staff legal contracts (e.g. pension schemes) Revise recruitment policies (to retain existing staff + attract new talents from outside) Introduce training + long-term benefits for commitment of existing staff Conduct ice-breaking sessions for new managers and employees to build positive relationships 1470 words Management of the Psychological Contract and Employee Engagement The management of the psychological contract and employee engagement is one of the areas how Cadbury could tackle its challenges in strategic people management; however to be able to tackle it appropriately, first is essential some degree of understanding of what a psychological contract and what employee engagement is. Psychological Contract There are many different definitions of what the psychological contract is; this concept was first introduce by Argyris, C. (1960), to refer to the different expectations that the employers and the employees have out of the formal contract, since this concept was introduced, many writers have attempted to modify and refine it. At a general level, the concept of Psychological Contract refers to a voluntary agreement between the employee and the employer in exchange of compensations (Rousseau, D. Schalk, R. 2000), in this voluntary agreement, each party, held a number of commitments and beliefs, those beliefs can take the form of promises, expectations or obligations which are generally unwritten and unspoken in the legal agreement contract, however they still play a critical role as they can be interpreted differently by each party (Osborn Jones 2000). This concept of psychological contract implies that either the employee or the employer can have a different perception of anothers expectations, voluntary commitments, obligations and aspirations which are out of the formal contract of employment (Herriot, P. et al. 1997). Therefore, a certain degree of mutual understanding of the agreement between both parties is essential to achieve each participants goals. (Rousseau, D. Schalk, R. 2000), Employee Engagement This seems to be an easy topic to define and describe, however after some research, the huge numbers of definitions regarding this issue seem to be uncountable, making this topic unclear but at the same time attractive enough to the HR consultancy market, consulting firms, business press and some academics writers. Having said that, one of the most complete definitions I found about employee engagement out there to my point of view is the one by Robinson et al., (2004). A positive attitude held by the employee towards the organization and its values. An engaged employee is aware of business context and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organisation. The organisation must work to develop and nurture engagement which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee. Robinson et al., (2004) has also stated in his work, a set of additional characteristics of the employee engagement, which include a belief in the organisation, and the desire of the employees have to work and make the organisation better, basically the concept Robinson presented in his paper work is about the employees having a bigger picture and a better understanding of the business context as well as keeping up to date with the latest information which concern to his/her field. Relation between the Psychological Contract and the Employee Engagement Having defined the employee engagement as; a positive attitude, behaviour and/or outcome from the employees towards the company and its values, being aware of the whole business context and working together with the colleagues in order improve the performance of the company and gain the best benefits for the organization, and having defined psychological contract as; a set of beliefs which can take the forms of promises, expectations and/or obligations existing in a voluntary agreement between the employee and the employer. It seems to be a straightforward relationship each other definitions. Both definitions are relate to the employer and employee relationship, and the first challenge is to efficiently manage the loyalty and trust instead of dictate the rules by organizations, this relationship is fragile and should not be taken for granted by any of the parties, the second challenge is to keep a healthy relationship for the wellbeing of both participants. http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/news/features/Opinion/927664/Engagement-depends-clear-psychological-contract-employee-employer/ On one side, the employer expects that their employees always performance to the best of their capabilities, being loyal to the company and understand the whole business context, and on the other hand the employees want to be respected, valued, heard and compensated by the employers, therefore the key issue is to build mutual trust which engage the employees with the employers, always keeping an eye on the psychological contract, which means, keeping clear and understandable expectations for both participants (Wellin, M. 2007) However, Cadbury Previous Psychological Contract Having already analysed the general psychological contracts context, is much easier now to deepen in the previous Cadburys psychological contract, but bearing in mind this contract is a pure metaphoric action, where each participants have their own voluntary commitments regarding to the performance and fulfilment of each other, we can infer that each one of the 45000 UK Cadburys workforce have a different psychological contract, which make this an even bigger scenario to analyse but at the same time a extremely attractive, as based on the records, (reference) it shows that most of UK workforce had a similar metaphoric contract. Thus, is unavoidable raise a fundamental question; How Cadbury former owners made that all the forces underlying the legal agreement of their workforce where so similar to each other and how did they manage to sign 45000 similar psychological contracts where does not even exist a physical document as it is a subjective phenomenon? There are evidences (Morrinson, E. and Robinson, S. 1997) which indicate that the performance of each participants psychological contract is directly proportional to how clearly each participant has spelled out the conditions and exchange of their mutual agreement. This last paragraph makes me conclude that, Cadbury has truly understood this issue and has conveyed its commitments, beliefs, and expectations through their whole workforce, establishing in this way some degree of mutual agreement among its 45000 UK employees. Rousseau, D. Schalk R. (2000) indicated in his work that, when both participants of the psychological contract believe that they owed each other something, is very likely that each one gets whatever they desire. The power of the promises Cadbury seems to have conveyed well its expectations and beliefs, establishing a degree of mutual agreement. However, this might not be enough to unify the similar conditions of the psychological contracts in 45000 employees during 180 years. Is remarkable to note at this point, that all sort of beliefs cannot be taken as part of a psychological contract, what this means is, not all expectations, promises and obligations that arise in the workplace can form part of the psychological contract context, as if this happen the concept itself will be weak enough to utilize as an analytical tool (Convoy and Briner 2005), The challenge here is to identify and clarify, which promises, expectations, and/or obligations can be categorized as part of the psychological contract context, nevertheless, does not exist any concern for this essay to deepen in this subject. Having clarified that, psychological contracts are basically a subjective phenomenon based on implicit promises; promises which do not include any belief derive from other inferences. Despite to what we normally think that promises can only be a verbal action, in the psychological context the promises can also be inferred, and is right there, when it becomes difficult to properly interpret these promises into the psychological contract framework. The two key issues here are; primary, do not set promises in the legal contract which could lead to a future misunderstanding of the employees, second do not take into consideration promises derives from any inferences. Tackling the Challenges of the Psychological Contract Having spelled out the success of Cadburys previous psychological contract, is notorious that Kraft / Cadbury has the key issue to maintain the same psychological contract within the UK workforce in order to manage this takeover in the most appropriate way. Kraft will not enjoy of the current Cadburys workforce commitments until they truly understand its ingrain psychological contract as well as its own culture identity Therefore Kraft / Cadbury, in order to tackle the challenges of the psychological contract in the most effective way, they should firstly, fully understand the drivers of their beliefs and what make the employees engage with the company so tightly, taking into consideration the culture differences. As the saying goes, England and America are two different countries separated by the same language; this is a clear caveat to Kraft / Cadbury does not forget that exist some underlying forces of the legal contract, which could leads or infer to a misunderstanding of the beliefs between both participants and as consequence a disengagement of the workforces commitments. For instance, Kraft / Cadbury could hire an external local brand auditor to investigate the reason(s) of key employees engagement, such as plant employees and/or relevant senior employees with the company and/or the brand itself, this audit should be placed with the aim of understand the whole picture in a much clear scenario, before any action takes place to align the companys psychological contract Once these employee engagements reason(s) are clear and there are not doubts of the workforces beliefs, it is equally essential that Kraft/Cadbury spells out their own expectations towards the future of the company and most importantly, the future of their workforce, this action should be made in the most understandable way, covering the entire negatives and positives beliefs so that the workforce can clearly understand the companys position and deal with it in the same psychological contract context. However, this action of conveying the negatives and positives beliefs towards the company and workforce, does not guaranty that the workforce will accept them and share the same commitments that they were sharing before the merger, but at least it will not create wrong expectations, setting up fair rules during the game. Actions such as the recent announcement of the closing Somerdales factory close to Bristol, (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article7022608.ece) losing approximately 400 UK jobs, once Kraft had mentioned that there were not going to be any job cuts during the first six months of the merger, this announcement only creates unrealistic expectations among the workforce towards the company, and being this action the first impression which Kraft has given to their employees of breaking the pledges, it only shows the lack of principles and lack of commitments to keep what they say. These types of actions are the ones which Kraft has to avoid will happen again, after this announcement; it seems to be obvious that the way how Kraft expresses its beliefs and commitments, certainly has not been well understood not only for its workforce but also for all its UK customers and the UK government. Therefore, if Kraft really wants to be engage with their workforce is going to have to work even harder to firstly recover the trust which ever had gained and secondly to rectify the first opportunity which has just spoiled out. CONCLUSIONS

Strippers and Stripping :: Free Essays Online

An Examination of the Literature on Strippers and Stripping For centuries, psychologists, sociologists, academics, historians, and filmmakers have devoted themselves to the exploration and dissection of sex and power. All dancers talk about their work as being something they enjoy. The financial independence gives them control over their lives and their ability to transfix a room full of men with a simple glance, further confirms their desirability. But how far will it stretch before they fall victims to their own universe? (DC One, 37). This sweeping remark on the life and times of female strippers was extracted from a popular Washington, D.C. magazine called DC One, which focuses on the dining, entertainment, and nightlife featured in D.C. This particular issue was dubbed "The Men's Issue," and contained an exposà © on stripping in "gentlemen's clubs." The quotation above demonstrates the tension that exists in the world of stripping, both within the private world of the strippers themselves, as well as in the public perception of this occupation. Is stripping empowering for women? Or, is it purely objectifying, and does it serve only the interests of the men who are the viewers and the consumers? The comment above would suggest that the money and accolades that these women receive creates a mutually exploitative situation; one that is beneficial for both parties involved, albeit in a different manner. But then the writer second-guesses herself, forging ahead to say: "But how far will it stretch before they fall v ictims to their own universe?" (DC One, 37). What is this "universe" and is it ultimately as damaging as the author might imagine? Although the article does little to respond to this issue, many decades of researchers have attempted to look at this and other questions surrounding the occupation of stripping. The results of the studies have been varied and suggest that there is no one way to view either the strippers themselves or the clients who access this service. In this paper, I will attempt to do an overview of the studies that have been conducted on strippers and stripping as an occupation. I will utilize studies and articles that focus primarily on women as strippers to consider specifically the questions addressed in the opening paragraph. Are women empowered in any way by this occupation? Or, as some feminist theorists have suggested , is it purely objectification, with no positive benefits to the women involved? This paper will evaluate the existing studies and literature in an attempt to locate moments of empowerment, a sense of agency, and, to borrow Carol Rambo Ronai's term, "resistance strategies " present in the daily lives and experiences of strippers.

Lucid Dreams :: essays research papers

What is Lucid Dreaming, and How Can I Control My Dreams? Info from totse.com The term "lucid dreaming" refers to dreaming while knowing that you are actually dreaming. The "lucid" part refers to the clarity of consciousness rather than the vividness of the dream. It generally happens when you realize during the course of a dream that you are dreaming, perhaps because something weird occurs. Most people who remember their dreams have experienced this at some time, often waking up immediately after the realization. However, it is possible to continue in the dream while remaining fully aware that you are dreaming. Usually lucidity brings with it some degree of control over the course of the dream. How much control is possible varies from dream to dream and from dreamer to dreamer. Practice can apparently contribute to the ability to exert control over dream events. At the least, lucid dreamers can choose how they wish to respond to the events of the dream. For example, you can decide to face up to a frightening dream figure, knowing it cannot harm you, rather than to try to avoid the danger as you naturally would if you did not know it was a dream. Even this amount of control can transform the dream experience from one in which you are the helpless victim of frequently terrifying, frustrating, or maddening experiences to one in which you can dismiss for a while the cares and concerns of waking life. On the other hand, some people are able to achieve a level of mastery in their lucid dreaming where they can create any world, live any fantasy, and experience anything they can imagine. Because the laws of physics and society are repealed many people share a desire for lucid dreaming. The only limits are the reaches of your imagination. Much of the potential of dreams is wasted because people do not recognize that they are dreaming. When we are not lucid in a dream, we think and behave as if we are in waking reality. This can lead to pointless frustration, confusion and wasted energy, and in the worst case, terrifying nightmares. Anxiety dreams and nightmares can be overcome through lucid dreaming, because if you know you are dreaming you have nothing to fear. Dream images cannot hurt you. Lucid dreams, in addition to helping you lead your dreams in satisfying directions, enjoy fantastic adventures, and overcome nightmares, can be valuable tools for success in your life Lucid dreamers can deliberately employ the natural creative potential of dreams for problem solving and artistic inspiration.

Beowulf Literary Analysis

Nick Paine 3/11/13 Beowulf Literary Analysis In the poem Beowulf, the issue of whether or not this particular period is more barbaric or is more civilized. The author of Beowulf is trying to present a certain message in the poem. The message that can be pulled from Beowulf is that even within a society of thought to be malicious and barbaric, there is still room for it to be civilized. When you think of Vikings you don’t necessarily think of a civilized society.In Beowulf, the society of that particular era and people is thought to be fighting, dangerous and overall barbaric. This assumption is not completely because in the poem, the are big into fighting and most importantly there are monstrous creatures running amok, reeking havoc. With the monsters of Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon existing, it makes the society seem that much more horrid and barbaric. In the poem it describes Grendel by saying â€Å"He was spawned in that slime of Cain, murderous creatu res banished by God, punished forever for the crime of Abel’s death. (35 l. 105-108 ). This just goes to show how elements like this can cause someone to believe this time period is more barbaric. However, after a closer evaluation of the poem you are able to see that this society is not as barbaric as it originally seems. Two examples of something that shows how this society can be considered civilized are the mead hall, and the armor worn by the people. In the poem it refers to the mead hall as the â€Å"Gold shining hall† (40, l. 239), this quote emphasizes the importance and pride they take in the mead hall.The mead hall is decorated with vast quantities of gold and it represents the respect it gets from the society. The armor is also regarded in the text when it says â€Å"Helmeted, the silvery metal of his mail shirt gleaming with a smith’s high art†(37, l. 139-140). This quote shows, once again, shows the pride of these people, this time in their a rmor. So, what you can conclude from this is that they can’t be so barbaric if they are taking the time and putting in the effort into these things.Their pride symbolizes how civilized the society actually was. Before analyzing the poem one may look at this society as being barbaric simply because of the monsters and what they know about Viking warriors. Yet, after further evaluation of the text you are able to find the messages the author has left, giving the idea that maybe the society is not so barbaric after all. Altogether, in the end it is safe to say the author has left a lesson saying not all things that are barbaric can’t be civilized.

Educational years Essay

School’s Reading Goal: * All students improve a grade level or more on Individual Reading Inventories Professional Development (PD) Focus: *All strategies presented in PD are geared towards reaching this goal. Individual Teacher Approaches: *The third grade teachers have used second grade test scores to identify that their students are weak in the area of comprehension Dawn has presented a strategy called Question Answer Relationships to help improve comprehension in students. The strategy helps students to learn to identify what kind of question is being asked to assist them in strategically finding the answer. Angie Heppner is a first year teacher who participates in the mandatory district teacher induction program. The induction program includes meeting with her mentor teacher, who is released from the classroom full time. The mentor teacher and Angie use data collected from classroom observation to set goals to work on in the classroom. The Participants Literacy Coach Dawn Benke works with 2nd and 3rd grade teachers as a literacy coach at a K-6 Teacher #1 Lillian Kurz has 31 students in her class, with five of her students falling far below in reading as identified through test data, 10 students approaching, 11 students meeting and four students exceeding. My comments: I totally understand the reasoning for Lilian not being offered the coach’s position. Based on her class data, it is evident that she is an effective teacher, and is very much valued in her grade level. She is working with a rather large class, which is difficult to consistently provide meaningful instructional activities as she would like to (particularly if she is dealing with behavioral issues). Teacher #2 Duane Keller has 29 students, with seven of his students falling far below in reading, seven approaching, 14 students meeting, and one student exceeding. My comments: I think the Duane seems to know what he is doing, based on the reading distribution data for his class. In addition, if it is not already being done, I think that a reading intervention time should be included in the daily schedule. The interventionist should be Duane, as those are his students and he would be better able to keep up with their progress and make connections with other grade level work being done in the classroom. Teacher #3 Jesse Vree’s class consists of 20 her students. She has three students who are falling far below, three students who are approaching, 19 students who are meeting and five students who are exceeding. My comments: WWOW! Jesse’s students are doing great! Based on her data, I think that Dawn should encourage her to share what works for her. Those three students, who are falling below, may have issues that need to be addressed by someone other than the classroom teacher. In some cases learning disabilities become clearing apparent as instruction intensifies. Teacher #4 Angie Heppner has 28 students; six of whom are falling far below, 10 who are approaching, 10 who are meeting, and two are exceeding. My comments: Angie is one lucky first-year teacher. It is great that she has a full-time mentor teacher. I know that she will amass a great deal of knowledge and avoid many failures. Collaboration with someone who has taught for many years is a windfall. DAWN’S CURRENT PLAN OF ACTION Weekly professional development by grade level one day in the week during PD time 1. Presents a piece of the literacy strategy they are working with. My comments: Dawn’s response to intervention is certainly on the right track, and will definitely assist her teachers in making some progress. Modeling the lesson will definitely assist her teachers in instruction. In my personal experience, I have found that the true effectiveness of a lesson is most accurately note when it is performed for the students in their own learning setting, by the coach, with the teacher as an â€Å"involved onlooker† In this way the teacher can take notes on how the coach interacts with the students in regards to class-work as well as classroom management. It gives the teacher the opportunity to observe and reflect while teaching is going on. Thus after teaching the lesson, both the coach and the teacher can discuss and reflect on whether or not the students had fully understood what had been taught. 2. Models a lesson using the strategy My comments: Yes! Yes! Yes! I totally agree. However that’s not where it stops. In order to get those students to improve one grade level or more, lots more need to be done. That’s where differentiated instruction comes into play. Dawn needs to make her teachers aware that their Struggling students are indeed at risk or failure, for possibly the lack fundamental skills necessary s to work or read on their grade level. She should encourage her teachers to use any diagnostic reading data that they have available or otherwise perform their own. Although time-consuming, conducting a QR1 (qualitative reading inventory), saves a lot of headache- â€Å"when little Johnny just doesn’t seem to get it†- a QRI will let you know on exactly which reading level he/she is: struggling, instructional or independent. The findings of this type of assessment supports instruction and provides concrete data that teachers could share with the literacy coach, to support the need for proposed intervention various areas, such as phonics instruction, vocabulary and comprehension and adapting curriculum. A teacher knows his/her students and is the best advocate. Ultimately success is accomplished through collaborative efforts of the literacy coach, the classroom teachers and definitely the students. Literacy coaches don’t know it all, and neither do teachers. However, the data provided in the case study is indicative of a strong team, supportive of each other, despite their previous varied teaching assignments. Effective communication is fundamental in planning for effective reading instruction. Knowledge of each student’s instructional and independent levels is beneficial in planning center activities and teacher directed instruction i.e. small groups. 3. Leads a discussion amongst the teachers about the strategy and how it applies to their own classrooms My comments: I like the fact that Dawn elicits teacher response, as to whether or not the modeled strategy would work in their classroom. She is giving them the opportunity to make adjustments and possible adaptations to the instructional delivery. In this forum the can be immediate feedback for clear expectations on both the literacy coach’s par and the teachers’ part. Dawn shows awareness of the diverse learning styles that are contained within a classroom. Here she identifies challenges and allows opportunity to address them. 4. Offers time for teachers to plan to use the strategy in their classroom. Requires teachers to implement the strategy in the upcoming week Bring student work samples to the next session, where they evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy. My comments Dawn makes her teachers accountable, not only for theirs students learning gains, but their own as well. When her teachers can effectively deliver lessons, it will certainly reflect in the reading performance of their students. Through their collaborative efforts dawn and her third grade team are well on their way to achieving their school goal. My Activity/Skills Recommendation Developing a Love for Reading As literacy coach Dawn can provide her teachers with a compile list of reading approaches that they may use to promote reading interest in their classroom, through interaction and involvement with text, thus improve overall reading performance. Instructional procedures will be intensive and include: (i)Purposeful explicit & implicit teaching of concepts (ii)Teacher- student interaction that targets understanding of various text structures-cause & effect, chronological order, (iii)Use differentiated instruction – student will participate in independent as well as teacher-led activities (iv)Student selection of leveled text for home reading. (v)Providing student with clear meaningful explanations and expectations of all tasks Targeting Comprehension Sequence activities will provide â€Å"At Risk† students with opportunity to practice and strengthen their ability to recall specific events as well as retelling text in a more cohesive manner. Vocabulary instruction will focus on words selected from the word lists and selected instructional text to provide instruction in the areas of synonyms, antonyms, affixes, words in c.

Mendus unconditional love

â€Å"l promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you. † That is a line from a traditional wedding vow that two people who love each other say on their wedding day. Susan Emends believes that a marriage vow Is â€Å"a present intention to do something permanently, where that is distinct from having a permanent intention. † (Emends, p. 238) Emends believes that marriage vows are unconditional, she doesn't think that marriage Is unconditional however. She doesn't think marriage is unconditional because It can end In divorce. People say they fall out of love, cheat, or think their significant other changed.Emends says that If you think that a person has changed and that makes you â€Å"fall out of love† then you never truly loved them. She also thinks that once you make the commitment In marriage vows, you should remain married even If you feel Like you fell out of love. One reason that Emends believes marriage vows are unconditional Is because there Is no time limit on it. When you get married you do not decide that after so many ears you are going to get divorced, instead you plan to be happily in love for the rest of your lives. Throughout our lives we change and mature and because of the vow you made to be together forever, there will be change.If your significant other changes you should remain married because you love each other. Another reason Emends believes marriage vows are unconditional is because you do not make â€Å"terms and conditions†. When you marry someone and promise to love and honor you do not say â€Å"so long as you don't.. (Emends, p. 238) When you love someone you love them for who they are, you wouldn't tell them â€Å"l will love you if you.. – If there were conditions then we would not be able to distinguish the difference between â€Å"respect or admiration for the principles of another and the sort of unconditional commitment to him which the marriage vow involves. (Emends, p. 238) Loving someone is an honorable and cherish able thing. When you love someone you just want to spend time with them and not tell them who to be. If there s any question whether you love your significant other or like characteristics about then you will begin to make conditions and if that happens you should not marry one another. Emends unconditional love By Madison each other say on their wedding day. Susan Emends believes that a marriage vow is vows are unconditional, she doesn't think that marriage is unconditional however. She doesn't think marriage is unconditional because it can end in divorce.People say if you think that a person has changed and that makes you â€Å"fall out of love† then you ever truly loved them. She also thinks that once you make the commitment in marriage vows, you should remain married even if you feel like you fell out of love. One reason that Emends believes marriage vows are unconditional is because there is no ti me limit on it. When you get married you do not decide that after so many you.. † If there were conditions then we would not be able to distinguish the someone you Just want to spend time with them and not tell them who to be. If there