Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Find Acronyms in MS Word Documents

FIND ACRONYMS IN MS WORD DOCUMENTS A great tip from our friends at Shae Writing: This is a quick and easy way to find all the acronyms in an MS Word document. Remember that this command searches for consecutive capital letters, so it cannot distinguish between SCBA and DO NOT. For Word 2003: 1. Open the Find window (Ctrl + F). 2. Check the box labeled Use Wildcards. 3. In the Find what field, put this phrase: [A-Z]{2,} (no spaces) 4. Click Highlight all items found in: and choose Main Document. 5. Click Find All. 6. Voila! All of your acronyms will be highlighted. For Word 2007: Follow Steps 1-3 above (for Word 2003) 4. Click Reading Highlight, and then Highlight All. 5. You should be able to see all of your acronyms highlighted.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Janet Reno - First Woman Attorney General of the U.S.

Janet Reno - First Woman Attorney General of the U.S. About Janet Reno Dates: July 21, 1938 - November 7, 2016 Occupation: lawyer, cabinet official Known for: first woman Attorney General, first female states attorney in Florida (1978-1993) Janet Reno Biography Attorney General of the United States from March 12, 1993 until the end of the Clinton administration (January 2001), Janet Reno was an attorney who held various states attorney positions in the state of Florida prior to her federal appointment. She was the first woman to hold the office of Attorney General of the United States. Janet Reno was born and grew up in Florida. She left for Cornell University in 1956, majoring in chemistry, and then became one of 16 women in a class of 500 at Harvard Law School. Facing discrimination as a woman in her early years as a lawyer, she became staff director for the Judiciary Committee of the Florida House of Representatives. After a failed bid for a Congressional seat in 1972, she joined the states attorneys office, leaving to join a private law firm in 1976. In 1978, Janet Reno was appointed states attorney for Dade County for Florida, the first woman to hold that position. She then won reelection to that office four times. She was known for working hard on behalf of children, against drug peddlars, and against corrupt judges and police officers. On February 11, 1993, incoming President Bill Clinton appointed Janet Reno as Attorney General of the United States, after his first two choices had problems getting confirmed, and Janet Reno was sworn in May 12, 1993. Controversies and Actions as Attorney General Controversial actions involving Reno during her tenure as U.S. Attorney General included The Branch Davidian standoff and fire in Waco, Texas,Leak of the wrong name of a suspect during the investigation of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta (and later identification of the correct suspect, Eric Rudolph, who evaded capture until 2003)Return of Elian Gonzalez to his father in Cuba, andHer reluctance to appoint a special counsel to investigate allegations about 1996 campaign fund-raising by President Clinton and Vice President Gore. Other actions of the Department of Justice under Renos leadership included bringing Microsoft to court for antitrust violations, capture and conviction of the Unabomber, capture and conviction of those responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and initiation of a lawsuit against tobacco companies. In 1995, during her term as Attorney General, Reno was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease. In 2007, when asked how it had changed her lifestyle, she replied, in part, that I do spend less time doing whitewater. Post-Cabinet Career and Life Janet Reno ran for governor in Florida in 2002, but lost in the Democratic primary. She has worked with the Innocence Project, which seeks to use DNA evidence to help gain  release of those who have been wrongfully convicted of crimes. Janet Reno never married, living with her mother until her mothers death in 1992. Her single status and her 61.5 height were the basis of innuendos about her sexual orientation and mannishness. Many writers have pointed out that male cabinet officials were not subjected to the same kinds of provably-false rumors, comments on dress and marital status, and sexual stereotyping as was Janet Reno. Reno died on November 7, 2016, the day before Election Day in the United States, when one of the major candidates was Hillary Clinton, wife of President Clinton who appointed Reno to his cabinet.   The cause of death was complications from Parkinsons disease which she had battled with for 20 years. Background, Family Father: Henry Reno (Danish immigrant, police reporter, originally named Rasmussen)Mother: Jane Wood (homemaker, then reporter)Three siblings (Robert, Maggy, Mark); Janet Reno was the eldest Education Cornell University, AB, chemistry, 1960Harvard Law School, LLB, 1963 Janet Reno Quotes Speak out against the hatred, the bigotry and the violence in this land. Most haters are cowards. When confronted, they back down. When we remain silent, they flourish.Haters are cowards. When confronted they often back down. We must resist haters.I hope to end racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination and disharmony in America by enforcing the laws to ensure equal opportunity for all Americans, and by restoring civil rights enforcement as one of the top priorities of the department. (acceptance speech for Attorney General)Im not fancy. Im what I appear to be.We want to continue the efforts against domestic violence and spread the drug courts, and develop real effective means of providing treatment for drug abusers without having to have them arrested.Nothing can make me madder than lawyers who dont care about others.At this moment I do not have a personal relationship with a computer.It might be that some day I shall be drowned by the sea, or die of pneumonia from sleeping out at ni ght, or be robbed and strangled by strangers. These things happen. Even so, I shall be ahead because of trusting the beach, the night and strangers. Anybody that thought that I tried to protect the president has forgotten that I asked for the expansion of the Monica Lewinsky matter.I mean, obviously, a situation like Waco, you wonder what you could have done differently. And in hindsight you would do something differently.I made the decision. Im accountable.The buck stops with me.I worked with some wonderful people, tried my best and I feel comfortable.Until the day I die, or until the day I cant think anymore, I want to be involved in the issues that I care about. Quotes About Janet Reno What is it about Janet Reno that so fascinates and confounds and even  terrifies  America? (Washington Post Magazine, Liza Mundy)While the capitals elite attended state dinners and fancy fundraisers, Reno would be out kayaking the Potomac River. (Julia Epstein)

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Professionalism in health care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Professionalism in health care - Essay Example Last month, I worked in a group made up of professionals of several interrelated fields, whereby we all worked on a common project. Despite the qualifications of group members, the project did not go well as planned due to shortcomings related to teamwork. For instance, group members usually digressed and spent project time to discuss their own matters and solve personal issues. This was primarily due to lack of a group leader. Had the members chosen a leader, then the latter would have had the responsibility of keeping the group in order, which could have been beneficial in timely completion of the task. On the other hand, group members succeed in completing part of the project due to some positive teamwork practices. For instance, the group members came up with new approaches to the problem through creative thinking and brainstorming, all of which contributed positively to the team and in turn completion of the

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Business Project Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Project - Case Study Example (Yahoo Finance, 2005c) This is supported by the fact that IBM's gross revenue lags behind Microsoft and Dell Computers respectively. This is the reason why IBM is behind Microsoft by $1.55B in terms of its current net income. Recent changes in the technological milieu have provided Microsoft with several opportunities which they could exploit in order to gain advantage in the market. To illustrate, there is a growth of the use of mobile applications among the business sector as reflected by the emergence of personal digital assistants which could provide Microsoft the opportunity to take advantage of the virtually small number of companies offering software services for the said hardware. (Lewis et al, 2003) Moreover, the market for non-computer devices (non-desktop computer devices) apparently has been a growing industry as a consequence of the demand of the trendy and savvy modern professionals. (Amoruso et al, 2002) Finally, majority of the business divisions of the company is expanding which provides future possibilities for success. Similarly a number of general circumstances have also served as a threat to the company's macro-environmental settings. Among these threats is the fact that the life cycle of technological products is continuously becoming shorter as a result to the rapid developments in technology (Amoruso et al, 2002). Moreover, the competitors of the company, Apple and Linux, continue to eat up a bigger share on the market of operating systems. In terms of its global commerce, the reality of currency volatility could be detrimental in sales of the products of the company overseas. Alternative Course of Action Positioning IBM Consulting Services is entering the consumer electronics market with television sets, digital music players and an online music service, opening yet another front in its war with rivals Gateway Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. The shift is part of a broader strategy by IBM Consulting Services to expand its highly efficient, low-cost distribution model - which has consistently squeezed other personal-computer makers - into other markets, such as printers and servers. Gateway has also recently branched into consumer electronics after suffering brutal losses to IBM Consulting Services in the PC market. Research shows that, IBM Consulting Services is a well-managed leader in the PC industry with a commanding share of the fast-growing market segment of direct sales According to research, IBM Consulting Services developed a two-year communications plan based on the following strategies: Target a high-quality thought-leader media with stories that reinforce desired messages. According to sources, IBM Consulting S

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Privacy in the Workplace Essay Example for Free

Privacy in the Workplace Essay There are specific laws that protect consumers as well as employees in the workplace. Many of these laws relate to others. Laws, such as, FERPA, SOX, CIPA, and COPPA also grant rights to individuals under the First Amendment. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects a child’s student records from being viewed without parental consent. It gives parents access to their childs education records, an opportunity to seek to have the records amended, and some control over the disclosure of information from the records. When the child becomes 18 years old, the parents are no longer obligated to have rights to access the child’s personal records. Childrens Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is also engineered to the protection of children. Children are to be protected physically and mentally while in the care of school professionals. Schools must have policies in place protecting children from accessing harmful or obscene content over the internet. This law requires that K-12 schools and libraries in the United States use Internet filters and implement other measures to protect children from harmful online content as a condition for federal funding. The Child Online Protection Act (COPPA) applies to the online collection of personal information by persons or entities under U.S. jurisdiction from children under 13 years of age. It details what a website operator must include in a privacy policy, when and how to seek verifiable consent from a parent or guardian, and what responsibilities an operator has to protect childrens privacy and safety online including restrictions on the marketing to those under 13. While children under 13 can legally give out personal information with their parents permission, many websites disallow underage  children from using their services altogether due to the amount of cash and work involved in the law compliance. Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX) set new or enhanced standards for all U.S. public company boards, management and public accounting firms. The sections of the bill cover responsibilities of a public corporations board of directors, adds criminal penalties for certain misconduct, and required the Securities and Exchange Commission to create regulations to define how public corporations are to comply with the law.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Cultural Policy in the UK

Cultural Policy in the UK CULTURAL POLICY IN THE UK: Mid-1960s to late 1980s Cultural Policy in the UK: Critical overview of the last 30 years MARCH 2010 In the last three decades (approximately 1980 to 2010), cultural policy in the UK has taken a generally questionable direction. Overall, cultural policy and practices of the past 30 years have been overwhelmed by new neo-liberal discourses and ideologies, namely: economic rationalism, monetarism, neo-conservatism, commodification of culture, managerialism and performativity. Examining each of these in turn, it becomes apparent that a market-driven, neo-liberal approach to UK cultural policy has largely failed in each of its stated aims: economic growth, artistic excellence, increased access to the arts, and social justice. The mid-1970s were a real turning point in terms of cultural policy, with broad policy changes occurring from this time on both within and without the cultural sector. In many ways, the earlier 1970s epitomised cultural and political concerns with the general welfare of the public, and some support of the arts for their own sake rather than as an instrument of broader political and social change. The early 1970s saw, in many ways, a political climate of idealism. Cultural policy of the time reflected this atmosphere. However, there were drastic political, cultural, and ideological changes made later in the 1970s which have, to a degree, continued to shape the cultural policy discourse of the next thirty years and up to the present day (Gray, 2007). In the cultural sector as a whole, Gray describes the development of what he calls instrumental policies (Gray, 2007, p.5) since the mid-1970s. By this term Gray describes the shift in cultural policy from an arms-length, distanced governm ental approach to the arts and culture; to a political interest in using the cultural sector as an instrument, or instruments, of social, economic, and political change. In the first decades of state patronage of the arts, the Arts Council saw itself not as a source of direction, not as a source of artistic policy, but as a kind of enabling body (Stevens, 1998: 10, quoted in Caust, 2003, p.52). By the late 1970s, however, this attitude on the part of the state had changed dramatically. Instead of standing back and simply allowing the arts to develop and flourish via generous state subsidy and support, many Western governments including that of the United Kingdom developed the ideology that they could and should instead expect outcomes for their investments (Caust, 2003, p. 52). The overwhelming shift to a market-based, market-driven ideology in terms of cultural policy has had many negative effects upon the arts themselves, and several tangentially-related areas of the social and political landscape. In the last thirty years, it is economic change which appears to have been the states prime concern in terms of cultural policy, despite public assertions to the contrary. Gray states that the ideological and organisational changes toward instrumental policy-making have had an effect upon what the state does, how it does it, and the justifications and reasons that have been put forward to explain them (Gray, 2007, p.5). The reforms that have taken place in the realm of cultural policy in the United Kingdom have been summarised by scholars as variously representing a mode of privatisation (Alexander and Rueschemeyer, 2005, pp. 71-4), or one of commodification (Gray, 2000). Privatisation concerns, variously, a heightened level of interventionism in the management and administration of public assets (Gray, 2007, p.5) by private entities or actors; or the sale of previously-nationalised state industries and assets to the private sphere. Commodification is a term used to describe wider ch anges in political actions and ideology, concerning the replacement of cultural value derived from its usefulness, to value derived from its exchangeability (Gray, 2007, p.5). Commodification results from an ideological shift within the state, and this can be seen as a driving force in cultural policy developments within the last thirty years. Despite government assertions that artistic excellence and broadened public access to the arts are prime concerns of the state, economic concerns are also often of perhaps overriding concern to the Thatcher, Major, Blair and Brown administrations which governed Britain between 1980 and 2010. Tony Blairs opening statement in the government publication Culture and Creativity: The Next Ten Years (____) makes the economic preoccupation of the government in relation to cultural policy quite explicit. Blair acknowledges a connection between creativity and production and then makes an economic justification for his governments investment in supporting creativity in its broadest sense (Caust, 2007, p. 55). With reference to both culture and creativity, Blair states: [t]hey also matter because creative talent will be crucial to our individual and national economic success in the economy of the future (Smith, 2001: 3; quoted in Caust, 2007, p.55). Economic Rationalism Economic rationalism is a term first coined in Australia with regards to economic policies and ideologies which favour privatisation of state industries, a free-market economy, economic deregulation, reduction of the welfare state, increased indirect taxation and lower direct taxation (Pusey, 1991). Such policies were particularly widespread in a global context during the 1980s and 1990s. The policies of Thatcherism provide an example of economic rationalism in action. The origins of the term economic rationalism were actually favourable, in describing market-oriented policies of various administrations in Australia, the UK and the US in the 1970s and 1980s (Pusey, 1991). In the 1990s, the term started to be used with an unfavourable tone, toward the Third Way policies of both the Australian Labour Party and the UK New Labour party of the 1990s. Both these parties initiated market-driven reforms within their political ideologies, which placed them closer to Thatcherite economic rationalism via increased emphasis upon the private sector in economic, political, and cultural arenas (Pusey, 1991). These were parties which had not traditionally placed a relatively great emphasis upon the free-market economy, and therefore the term economic rationalism has been used somewhat disparagingly to indicate that these parties have, to a degree, abandoned their historically leftist roots, when social justice and expansion of the welfare state took precedence over sheer capitalism. In terms of cultural policy, economic rationalism is evident throughout the 1980s and 1990s in the United Kingdom. Thatcherist policies in the 1980s placed unprecedented ideological and practical emphasis upon the free market, and in terms of cultural policy this translated to cuts in arts and education budgets, and the development of private-public partnership in cultural funding. The logical effect of such policies was that the arts, in particular, became increasingly monetised and reliant upon market and mass appeal in order to survive economically. The UK governments of the 1980s and 1990s placed great ideological and political emphasis upon the economic potential of the countrys cultural sector. Bennett (1995) views such economic potential as being used as a prime justification for state action and interventions within the cultural sector (p. 205-7). However, as Gray (2007) points out, this is not necessarily the same as seeing culture as a mechanism for economic regeneration (p. 16). The governments of the 1980s and 1990s appear to have sought to use various pretexts, including economic arguments, in order to justify their interventions in the sphere of cultural policy, however their true intentions most of the time were to stimulate broader economic growth through such cultural policies. As we shall see later, attempts at stimulating economic growth through cultural policy have, by and large, failed overall. Caust (2007) asserts that more recent government policy debates have been dominated by an economic paradigm (p.52). Arguments which focus upon the economic value of the arts have developed, and thus a political atmosphere is created in which the intrinsic value or worth that society may place upon the arts is trumped by the arts purely economic value. Economic rationalism, through its emphasis on the free market and upon the private sector, speeds the development of such an atmosphere, which permeated the UK cultural policy sector throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Although Causts discussion (2007) focuses on cultural policy in the Australian context, there are many parallels with UK cultural policy during the same time period. Caust describes a changing climate in which less emphasis came to be placed on the definition of art itself and upon value judgments of a particular art piece or art form by acknowledged experts.   Instead, market theory is emphasised, and increased importance is placed upon those art forms which can achieve the greatest commercial success. In the realm of cultural policy, such a change in the mode of arts valuation by the state leads to the desire to support arts activity which was commercial, exportable and cost-efficient (Caust, 2007, p.52). In the realm of cultural production, the natural result of such cultural policies is the emergence of mass cultural products which satisfy the market. Simon Cowell, and the massive, global Pop Idol and X Factor talent-show franchises he created, epitomises the result of two decades of economic rationalism. These programs, in which amateur singers compete in a televised, viewer-voted series, are vastly commercially successful and have been licensed in the US and many European and Latin American countries. Cowell has made a fortune, and it is typically a given that the winner of Pop Idol or The X Factor will have the Christmas number-one single in the UK (2009/2010 was an exception to this rule, when a social-media campaign deliberately pushed a reissued single by agit-rock group Rage Against The Machine to the top of the UK charts in a display of protest against the blandness and ubiquity of Cowells cover-song artists). While a huge success in economical terms Cowells franchises combine all the government-desired traits of exportability and mass-market appeal, while stimulating sales of music media in addition to generating signifi cant revenue via paid telephone voting and merchandise it could hardly be argued that the format of these shows stimulates artistic originality, experimentation, or musical development in any significant way.   The example above demonstrates that to give the market what it wants often leads to a lowest-common-denominator approach to cultural production and a bland stifling of the development of new and exciting art forms. Such effects of economic rationalism on cultural policy and therefore upon culture itself reflect Causts discussion of economic concerns and their effects on culture. As Caust states, such market-oriented cultural policy creates a compromising role for artists since serving the state as an economic generator is very different from taking risks artistically, or being innovative and creative generally. It could be argued this objective is little different from the expectations of a totalitarian state, in which its artists serve the states political aims. (Caust, 2007, p.54) Managerialism Prior to the late 1970s and early 1980s, governments had on the whole aimed to effect an arms-length approach in terms of arts management. One of the founding principles of the Arts Council itself was that it should be relatively independent of the government itself, and not directly under government control. Gray (2007) noted the general tendency of governments to adopt relatively indirect forms of involvement (p.11). Gray states that this role can be advantageous for governments, as they are not especially held accountable for the results of such policies implemented at arms-length: they can have some effect on the sector by producing general policies but, at the same time, they can avoid being held directly responsible or accountable for the specific policy choices that are then made on their behalf. (Gray, 2007, p.11) However, with the political, ideological, social and economic changes which took place when Thatcher was elected, the governments of the 1980s onwards adopted an increasingly managerialistic approach to the arts and cultural policy. Increasingly, the arts management implemented by successive administrations over the last three decades has been moved towards a new style of management that has been influenced by private sector models (in the form of mission statements and marketing, for example) (Gray, 2000, p. 112). It certainly follows logically that governments which prioritise capitalism and the free market would be attracted to the idea of imposing private-sector management models upon spheres they were hoping would become economically productive. Hence, successive governments have attempted to run the arts and cultural spheres, to some degree, as if they were private commercial enterprises. In many cases, this is a misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the inherent nature of m any areas of the arts. Generally, the start of managerialism in UK cultural policy can be seen during the reforms taking place under the label the New Public Management (NPM) (Gray, 2007, p.6). NPM emphasised several core concepts, which were put into action via UK state intervention in the cultural sphere. Under NPM, managers in the arts realm were empowered to make more decisions relating to their sphere of management; results were prioritised, and valued, over processes; managerial control was more generally decentralised; competition in terms of public service provision was actively encouraged; new emphasis was placed upon performance measurement; and management appointments now tended to be made through contracts rather than through seniority or hierarchy within the sector (Osborne and McLaughlin, 2002, p. 9; Pollitt, 2003a, pp. 27-8; Gray, 2007, p.6). Following the 1988 Ibbs Report, new managerial bodies were created by the government for example, the Executive Agencies (or, more formally, Non-Departmental Public Bodies) (Gray, 2007, p. 8). This led to a general decentralisation of government arts management, but also to issues regarding accountability, managerial responsibility and the relationship of elected politicians and appointed managers with the prime example being that of the clash between the then Home Secretary Michael Howard and the then head of the Prison Service, Derek Lewis. (Gray, 2007, p. 8) Local Strategic Partnerships and Regional Development Agencies were newly-instigated modes of arts management, which further emphasised both the decentralisation of government cultural policy during this period. Additionally, these agencies show evidence of overall managerialism towards the arts in that they demonstrate a devolution of power to local and regional arts managers. (Gray, 2007, p. 9) In later years, a somewhat different (modernizing) model of public management (Gray, 2007, p.6) was implemented, although the more general emphasis upon the concept of managerialism with respect to cultural policy did endure. Commodification of Culture In keeping with governmental emphasis upon the economy and the free market within the last three decades, there has followed an increasing commodification of culture. An obvious example of such commodification is enclosed within the phrases cultural industries and creative industries, which were hailed by New Labour in the 1990s and 2000s as a means of economic regeneration in the United Kingdom. Caust (2007) argues that the development of a view of cultural activity and production as an industry grew not only from the government, but also from the cultural producers themselves: When it became increasingly difficult in the early eighties to successfully argue the arts to government purely on the basis of the community welfare model, bureaucrats, practitioners and academics began the shift towards using a language that described the arts as an industry and developed the economic/cultural industry model. This led to the use of the terms cultural industries in Australia or in the United Kingdom, creative industries to describe all activities connected with the arts, as well as sectors far removed (Caust, 2007, p. 54) These cultural industries had been growing throughout the latter part of the twentieth century, aided by technological advances and global economic factors. In the northern hemisphere, populations were enjoying increased economic prosperity; leisure time was on the increase generally; television allowed mass cultural consumption in unprecedented fashion; and consumer electronics including audio and video equipment were becoming widely available and affordable (Hesmondhalgh Pratt, 2005, p. 3). By the early 1980s, the state was increasingly aware of these growing cultural industries both within the UKs own economy, and on a more global level. A path of increasing commodification of public policies was followed since the mid-1970s, with resultant changes in a broad range of cultural spaces. Ideologies prior to this mass commodification of culture had identified society as a whole as the primary intended beneficiary of government cultural policy. Increased commodification led to a shift, as the intended beneficiary of cultural activity and policy was now the individual consumer (Gray, 2007, p.14). Whereas cultural policy had previously been judged upon a broad range of criteria including social justice, access, and excellence; increasing commodification led to a narrowing of the criteria for judging cultural policy (ibid). Increased emphasis on the market value of cultural products and industries leads to an assessment of cultural policy in primarily, if not exclusively, economic terms. Again, this demonstrates a political preoccupation with the outcomes and outputs of cultural policy rather than the processes and inputs re lated to such policies, and a clear link between managerialism in cultural policy and the concomitant overall commodification of the culture produced under such a system. Performativity Just as the language and aims of commercial private industry were adopted for the cultural policy sphere via managerialism, economic realism, and the commodification of culture, so too the cultural sphere adopted measures and concerns regarding performance during the last three decades. Again, policies were judged on their results, their output and their products, and the economic success of cultural endeavour. In the realm of education, standardised performance tests have been increasingly introduced into the state schools, with the frequency, scope and range of educational tests increasingly greatly throughout the past thirty years. Likewise, in the sphere of cultural policy, tests of performance have also been increasingly implemented. These include Comprehensive Performance Assessments, and the Comprehensive Area Assessments replacing them in 2009, Best Value Indicators, Key Lines of Enquiry for Service Inspection, Local Area, Funding and Public Service Agreements, all of which p rovide explicit criteria against which service provision can be assessed (Gray, 2007, p. 8-9). The driving ideology behind such a raft of new tests to measure cultural and educational performance would appear to be a notion of accountability. The government wants to prove to an often sceptical public that its policies, whether in education or in culture, are working. Decentralisation of managerial power, and increased managerialism in cultural policy, provide a layer of accountability, or at the very least a scapegoat for failed or disappointing policies. Again, this move towards evidence-based policy-making and assessment reflects the belief of successive governments that the models that work for business can be applied to the cultural sphere. It is uncertain whether this is in fact correct. Culture does not function in the same way as manufacturing or other private business enterprises, and the outputs or achievements of the cultural industries and creative industries may be relatively intangible and ultimately difficult to measure with performance tests. Here, again, the inappropriateness of applying capitalist, market-driven ideals to the sphere of cultural policy is exposed. Also, the possibility is raised that such performativity in the cultural sphere serves two, largely unstated functions for the government: firstly, regular testing encourages increased cultural production, which within the confines of cultural industry could be expected to increase economic production; secondly, such emphasis on performance provides a form of justification for government policy in the cultural sphere. There has always been dissent regarding state arts spending in the United Kingdom how much public money is spent, what it is spent on, and what return the British taxpayers can exp ect on their investment in the arts. Performance tests in the cultural sector allow the state to point to demonstrable success, progress, or productivity in the cultural sector, which can be interpreted as proof of successful cultural policy implementation. Instrumentalism Instrumentalism the use of cultural institutions and cultural policy to achieve specific political aims is in many ways as old as cultural policy itself. For as long as there has been state arts patronage in the United Kingdom, the state has attempted to utilise the institutions, activities and sectors it sponsored to make political, social and economic changes to society. In the most recent three decades, the emphasis has been upon the latter, whereas earlier in the twentieth century, more importance was perhaps placed upon concepts of social change and nation-building. The roots of the Arts Council the organisation CEMA which was instituted during the Second World War were in morale-building, increased public access, softening of Britains class divisions, and fostering patriotism and a sense of the unified nation. As such, state intervention in the cultural sphere has more often than not been with at least some intention of using said intervention as a political or other tool. Gray states that the museums sector, in particular, is effectively being used as a tool for the attainment of the policy objectives of actors and concerns that have traditionally been seen to lie outside of the museums sector itself (Gray, 2007, p. 3). Museums are particularly susceptible to political manipulation, as they occupy a unique cultural space in terms of creating a nations sense of history and heritage, and fostering ideas of nationhood and the future of a country. What is included or excluded in a museum, and the manner in which it is displayed and framed, has a huge effect upon its reception and the ideas it can inspire. Vestheim (1994), talking of cultural policy, defines instrumental policy as being to use cultural ventures and cultural investments as a means or instrument to attain goals in other than cultural areas (p. 65). In broad terms, all cultural policy, and by extension all public policy, can be viewed as instrumental policy. All policy is intended to achieve something (Gray, 2007, p. 205). So, while instrumentalitsm has always been a feature of cultural policy in the United Kingdom, it is in recent decades that it has come to the forefront of the cultural discourse. Thatcher, Major and New Labour under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have all emphasised cultural policy as an instrument of economic regeneration, and achievement within the market. As such, they have acknowledged that their cultural policies are more baldly instrumental in nature than those of preceding administrations which at least paid lip service to ideals of social justice, welfare, and development of the arts for their own sake. Neo-Conservatism After the industrial and economic woes of the 1970s in the United Kingdom, the tide was ready to turn to neo-conservatism, and this was a change mirrored in many of the Western societies. Reagan, for example, was president of the United States during the Thatcher regime in the UK, and both pursued Conservative policies within a capitalist framework. In cultural policy and artistic thinking, neo-conservatism was perhaps the ideological opposite to the Romanticism of the preceding century. In the nineteenth century, cultural discourse was dominated by the ideal of the lone, genius artist who would be successful only posthumously (a striking example of this would be many of the great Romantic musical composers). Romantic ideology lauded the isolated artist-genius who was inspired to work purely because of artistic passion, rather than economic concerns. In fact, to be a poor and starving artist conveyed perhaps relatively more artistic credibility. It was believed that the true value of art is transcendent and can be determined by experts, commonly accompanied by the idea that the monetary value of art is false and the market cannot decide (Hesmondhalgh Pratt, 2005, p. 5). Concomitant with this was the Romantic belief that art was for all, and that culture has the power to act as a civilising force upon society as a whole. Neo-conservatism tuned these ideas on their head. The lauded artist of the 1980s through 2000s is economically successful, creating a cultural product or commodity that appeals to, and responds to, the demands of the mass capitalist market. Ideals of the civilising powers of high culture upon society as a whole have been largely abandoned in practical terms, in favour of economic concerns (despite state assertions to the contrary, the prime goal in recent years appears to be financial rather than social). Limited positive effects of neo-conservative cultural policies and ideologies can be appreciated in some spheres. Caust argues that, in a society which is dominated by capitalist values (Caust, 2007, p.54), an economically successful artist will likely receive greater respect for their work, as well as more money. Furthermore, the market-driven, neo-conservative emphasis on the exportability of cultural product can have the positive effects of creating national pride and highlighting the value of cultural production to the wider world (ibid, p. 54). Monetarism Conclusions In recent times arts funding agencies have been restructured to reflect a market-driven agenda rather than an arts-driven agenda. (Caust, 2003, p. 51) Overall in the last thirty years, cultural policy in the UK has looked increasingly to capitalism, the free-market economy, and the so-called cultural and creative industries in terms of cultural policy direction. Models from the world of business and commerce have been applied over several decades to the cultural sector: managerialism; instrumentalism; monetarism; economic realism; performativity; and the overwhelming commodification of all kinds of culture. In implementing these policies, many of the more socially-just aims of prior generations of cultural policy-makers have been neglected or abandoned. In an era of increasing globalisation, successive UK governments of the past thirty years have pushed for cultural production, economic viability and profitability, and the creation of exportable cultural commodities for mass cultural consumption. Applying such concepts and organisational structures from private industry to the cultural sector has its drawbacks. Caust states that, when it comes down to dollars, the arts cannot in any way compete with many other components of the broad cultural industry spectrum such as the communications or IT areas. (Caust, 2007, p.55). Overall, the forces of neo-conservatism have not succeeded in making the UK cultural sector an economically productive and independently viable industry. In attempting to fit the arts and culture into a capitalist mould, UK cultural policy of the past thirty years has failed in many arenas cultural, social, economical, and political. Bibliography ACGB, records: 1928-1997. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/wid/ead/acgb/acgbb.html (London: Victoria Albert Museum) Alexander and Rueschemeyer, 2005 _________________________________ Alexander, David (1978), A Policy for the Arts: Just Cut Taxes, (London: Selsdon Group, 1978) Amis, Kingsley (1979). An Arts Policy? ( London: Centre for Policy Studies, 1979). Barnes, T. (2001) Retheorizing economic geography: from the quantitative revolution to the cultural turn. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 91, 546-65. Pusey, Michael (1991).   Economic Rationalism in Canberra: A Nation Building State Changes its Mind. Cambridge University Press. Bennett, O (1995), Cultural Policy in the United Kingdom: Collapsing Rationales and the End of a Tradition, European Journal of Cultural Policy, Vol. 1, pp. 199-216 Bilton, Chris (____).   Cultures of Management: Cultural Policy, Cultural Management and Creative Organisations _______ Caust, Jo (2003).   Putting the Art back into Arts Policy Making: How Arts Policy has been Captured by the Economists and the Marketers, The International Journal of Cultural Policy, 2003 Vol. 9 (1), pp. 51-63 Cormack, Patrick ed., Right Turn ( London: Leo Cooper, 1978) Croft, Andy (1995) Betrayed Spring: The Labour Government and British Literary Culture, in Labours Promised Land? Culture and Society in Labour Britain, 1945-51, ed. Jim Fyrth (London: Lawrence Wishart, 1995) Elsom, John (1971), Theatre Outside London ( London: Macmillan, 1971) Fisher, Rod (2010) United Kingdom/ 1. Historical perspective: cultural policies and instruments, Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 11th edition, 2010. Council of Europe/ERICarts. Retrieved from http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/unitedkingdom.php Fyrth, Jim (1995). Labours Promised Land? Culture and Society in Labour Britain, 1945-51, London: Lawrence Wishart Gray, C. (1995), The Commodification of Cultural Policy in Britain, pp. 307-15 in J. Lovenduski and J. Stanyer (eds), Contemporary Political Studies 1995 (Belfast, Political Studies Association) Gray, Clive (2007).   Instrumental Cultural Policies: Causes, Consequences and Museums, Paper to the Arts and Humanities Research Council Instrumental Museum and Gallery Policy Workshop, University of Glasgow, October 2007 Gray, Clive. (2000). The Politics of the Arts in Britain.   Palgrave Macmillan, UK. Haines, Joe (2003) Glimmers of Twilight. London, Politicos Publishers. Haney (2010). Britpop, Retrieved March 17, 2010 from http://uweb.cas.usf.edu/~dslone/pathfinders/haney.htm Harris, John S. (1969), Decision-Makers in Government Programs of Arts Patronage: The Arts Council of Great Britain, The Western Political Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Jun., 1969), pp. 253-264. Western Political Science Association, University of Utah Hennessy, P. and Seldon, A. (eds.) (1987) Ruling Performance: British Government from Attlee to Thatcher. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Hewison, R. (1998), New Cultural Models for Old, International Journal of Cultural Policy, vol. 5(1), 99-107. Hull, Robin (1958). Subsidised Music: 1. Th

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Uma Sekaran’s Chapter 2 Review

The chapter 2 of Research Methods of Business by Uma Sekaran speaks of scientific investigation detailing on the eight hallmarks of science and the limitations of scientific research in management along with the hypothetico-deductive method of research. The hallmarks or main distinguishing characteristics of scientific research can be the following 1. Purposiveness: The research should have a purposive focus i. e. some definite purpose will be served after the research 2. Rigor: Rigor means carefulness, scrupulousness and the degree of exactitude in research investigations good theoretical base and a sound methodological design will add rigor to a purposive study. 3. Testability: if a certain hypothesis gets developed through unstructured interview or library search, then the hypothesis can be tested by applying certain statistical tests to the data collected for the purpose.. 4. Replicability: The results of the test of hypotheses should be supported again and again when same type of research is repeated in other similar circumstances. The researchers will gain confidence in the scientific nature of the research. 5. Precision and confidence: Precision refers to closeness of the findings to â€Å"reality† based on a sample. It reflects the degree of accuracy or exactitude of the results on the basis of the sample to what it really exists in the universe. Confidence refers to the probability that the estimations are correct. 6. Objectivity: The conclusions drawn through the interpretation of the results of data analysis should be objective i. e. they should be based on facts of the findings of the actual data. The more objective the interpretation of data , the more scientific the research investigation becomes. 7. Generalizability: This refers to the scope of applicability of the research findings in one organizational setting to other settings. The wider the range of applicability of the solutions generated by research, the ore useful the research is to the users. 8. Parsimony: Simplicity in explaining the phenomenon or the problem that occur and in generating solutions for the problems is always preferred to complex research frameworks. In the management and behavioral areas , it is not possible to conduct investigations that are 100% scientific because of measurement and collection of data in the subjective areas like feelings, emotions, attitudes and perceptions. These problems occur whenever one tries to quantify human behavior. Thus , the eight hallmarks of science cannot be achieved in full . The deduction and induction processes are explained as follows Deduction: it is the process of arriving at a reasoned conclusion by logical generalization of a known fact. Induction is the process where a certain phenomenon is observed and then a conclusion is arrived at. The seven step processes in hypothetico-deductive method are 1. Observation: It is the very first stage in which one senses that certain changes are occurring or some new behaviors , attitudes and feelings are surfacing. When the observed phenomenon are seen to have potentially important consequences , then one will proceed to preliminary information gathering. 2. Preliminary information gathering: Preliminary information gathering involves seeking of information in depth of what is observed. Through interviews and library search , the mass of information can be gathered. . Theory formulation: It is a step which attempts to integrate all information in a logical manner so that the factors responsible for the problem can be conceptualized and tested. The theoretical framework formulated is often guided by experience and intuition. Here the critical variables are examined as to their contribution or influence in explaining why the problem occurs and how it can be solved. 4. Hypothesizi ng: From the theorized network of associations among the variables, certain testable hypotheses or educated conjectures can be generated. The hypothesis thus generated is tested to determine of the statement is supported. 5. Further scientific data collection- After the development of the hypothesis, data with respect to each variable in the hypothesis need to be obtained. 6. Data analysis- The data gathered are statistically analyzed to see if the hypotheses that were generated have been supported. 7. Deduction – It is a process of arriving at conclusions by interpreting the meaning of the results of the data analysis.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Free Essays on Miss Julie

Miss Julie In Miss Julie, by August Strindberg wrote about the naturalistic view of human behavior. He symbolizes the behavior through animal imagery. The animal image Strindberg uses helps him exemplify his naturalistic view. The first animal imagery Strindberg uses is the dog. Jean uses the dog imagery to describe to Kristen how Miss Julie made her ex-fiancà © act before the break-up. â€Å" Why, she was making him jump over her riding whip the way you teach a dog to jump.† A dog is mans best friend only because a dog is an extremely loyal animal. Having Jean compare what Miss Julies did to her ex-fiancà © with what some one would do to a dog shows Miss Julies drive to be the dominant one or the master. Strindberg again uses the imagery of a dog when he has Miss Julie say, â€Å"dog who wears my collar† to Jean. Miss Julie feels that her social status is so much superior to that of Jean that their relationship could be compared to that of a master and his dog. The dog imagery in the play is also used to demonstrate the difference in social classes. In the play Miss Julie’s dog, Diana, is impregnated by the lodge-keepers pug. Kristen demonstrates Miss Julie’s disgust when she says; â€Å"She almost had poor Diana shot for running after the lodge-keepers pug.† The sexual affair between the dogs also represents the sexual affair between Jean and Miss Julie and how the two of them look down on each other. Jean looks down on Miss Julie for being surprisingly easy to obtain. While Miss Julie looks down on Jean for being a servant of hers and of a lower social class. In the play Miss Julie says that she would have killed Jean like a wild beast and Jean goes on to compare it to the killing of a mad dog. Jean comparing himself to a mad dog also shows how Miss Julie feels that Jean is a sick animal and deserves to die. Like the imagery of the dog Strindberg uses the imagery of a horse. Jean says that, â€Å"A dog may lie on th e ... Free Essays on Miss Julie Free Essays on Miss Julie Miss Julie In Miss Julie, by August Strindberg wrote about the naturalistic view of human behavior. He symbolizes the behavior through animal imagery. The animal image Strindberg uses helps him exemplify his naturalistic view. The first animal imagery Strindberg uses is the dog. Jean uses the dog imagery to describe to Kristen how Miss Julie made her ex-fiancà © act before the break-up. â€Å" Why, she was making him jump over her riding whip the way you teach a dog to jump.† A dog is mans best friend only because a dog is an extremely loyal animal. Having Jean compare what Miss Julies did to her ex-fiancà © with what some one would do to a dog shows Miss Julies drive to be the dominant one or the master. Strindberg again uses the imagery of a dog when he has Miss Julie say, â€Å"dog who wears my collar† to Jean. Miss Julie feels that her social status is so much superior to that of Jean that their relationship could be compared to that of a master and his dog. The dog imagery in the play is also used to demonstrate the difference in social classes. In the play Miss Julie’s dog, Diana, is impregnated by the lodge-keepers pug. Kristen demonstrates Miss Julie’s disgust when she says; â€Å"She almost had poor Diana shot for running after the lodge-keepers pug.† The sexual affair between the dogs also represents the sexual affair between Jean and Miss Julie and how the two of them look down on each other. Jean looks down on Miss Julie for being surprisingly easy to obtain. While Miss Julie looks down on Jean for being a servant of hers and of a lower social class. In the play Miss Julie says that she would have killed Jean like a wild beast and Jean goes on to compare it to the killing of a mad dog. Jean comparing himself to a mad dog also shows how Miss Julie feels that Jean is a sick animal and deserves to die. Like the imagery of the dog Strindberg uses the imagery of a horse. Jean says that, â€Å"A dog may lie on th e ...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

John Mills onLiberity essays

John Mills onLiberity essays The fear that Mill expresses in On liberty about public opinion is communicated with three major ideas: individualism, liberty, and human nature. Public opinion has the ability of removing each one of these ideas from a democratic society, allowing for change that creates an environment that is unstable to new discoveries and ideas that are vital for evolution. This problem is deemed irrelevant by todays democratic society. However the truth of the matter is that the threat of public opinion is still as great as it was when Mill wrote On liberty. Mill is timid of public opinion for one main reason: that public opinion causes loss of individuality in society. To understand this in its entirety, one person must first understand Mills logic behind this fear. Public opinion causes people to make the same decisions which others have already have made. This choice of following the same path is unconscious, due to the fact that pubic opinion is deeply imbedded in the truths that society hold; such as education. Every extension of education promotes it (public opinion), because education brings people under common influences, and gives them access to the general stock of facts and sentiments (98). In essence, a person believes that he is making a choice when embracing the same opinion as others. However, in reality, individuals have no reassurance that education itself has not given people the same opinion. By having public opinion, no true reasoning is involved, but just accepting of facts. This lack of individual input the down fall of a society in Mills opinion, If the grounds of an opinion are not conclusive to a persons own reason, his reason cannot be strengthened, but is likely to be weakened, by his adopting it: and if the inducements to an act are not such as are conclusiveness to his own feeling and character it is so much done towards rendering his feeling and cha ...

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Learning Theories of Albert Bendura Research Paper

Learning Theories of Albert Bendura - Research Paper Example Similarly, Bandura held that all sorts of learning cannot be products of reinforcement and held that social and psychological factors are associated with the process of learning. He propagated the theory of social cognitive learning and emphasized on observational learning and modeling. Similarly, Bandura also introduced several other important concepts, including reciprocal determinism, self-efficacy, self-regulation which have been beneficial to the understanding of human learning and subsequent behavior formation. In short, Bandura advocates behavior modeling and observational learning whereby a person observes and then imitates the behavior of people who are around him and whose actions motivate him.  Ã‚   While the behavioralists held that it is the environment that causes one’s behavior, Bandura went a step forward and propagated his reciprocal determinism whereby he argued that â€Å"behavior causes environment† just as environment causes behavior (Boeree 2006). He viewed human personality as an interaction of three factors-â€Å"the environment, behavior, and the person’s psychological processes† and believed that man’s cognitive faculties play a pivotal role in the formation of one’s personality (Boeree 2006). The psychological processes comprise of one’s ability to entertain images in minds and language. Bandura thus believed that learning occurs in the social context and that people learn from one another.  Ã‚   The social learning theory has been considered as Bandura’s major contribution to the field of psychology and learning. The social learning theory blends together cognitive and behavioral frameworks and the theory stresses the importance of observing and modeling on the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. For Engler (2008), Bandura maintains an agentic perspective in his socio-cognitive view of personality.  

Friday, November 1, 2019

Battered Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Battered Women - Essay Example The article also exposed the injustice of the Qatari Law against women. Under the Qatari Law, domestic workers are not protected from working long hours. The kafala system is also being subtly criticized because it prevents migrant workers from leaving their job or the country without their employer’s permission which made them subject for abuse. The audience of the article is the general public as well as Qatari authorities to address the issues of women migrant workers in their country. The purpose of the article is to advocate for the reform of the Kafala system that would allow protection for domestic women workers. The article is also convincing because it was not based on opinion but rather on hard facts such as the official record of 84,000 women migrant workers subjected to kafala system with many being abused. It also cited the call and report of amnesty International, a highly reputed international organization that protects human rights, for Qatari authorities to remedy. This article is effective because its publication is timed at circumstance where Qatari officials are being sensitive about their world image being the host of World Cup. They do not want to embarrass themselves before the world stage and issues like this are likely to be addressed which made the article effective. Klein, N. (2014, April 23). Desperate lives of women domestic workers exposed to appalling exploitation, physical violence and sexual abuse in Qatar.  Mail Online. Retrieved April 25, 2014, from