the value of human life essays

the value of human life essays The beliefs and views of modern society are hypocritical and unjust. By the time an individual matures from a young child to an adult, they have been taught an uncountable number of life lessons. One of the outstanding lessons that each and every person has learned is that killing another human being is wrong. This is perhaps the first recognizable lesson on the value of human life. Most children know that killing is against the law and learn religiously that it goes against all religious morals and beliefs, yet society is bombarded by violence everyday in the media and in real life. Today, the value of human life can be questioned, especially that of the young. Through numerous examples of child murder and abortion it is rather obvious that the lives of the unborn or newly born are not valued to the degree that they should be. In most cases, the young are not recognized as "people" and are robbed of their human rights and freedoms. Young lives, both born and unborn, are seen as m ore of a commodity these days, than as precious, magical miracles. In the media today there are ridiculous numbers of reports pertaining to accidents, shootings and robberies-these are just a few examples of unjust acts that are occurring everyday. There is also a shocking amount of coverage about parents accidentally, or on the other hand, brutally murdering their kids. Parents are supposed to be loving and supporting caregivers, they have a great influence over everything a child can possibly say or do. It is hard to believe that some parents would actually take their childrens lives into their hands. Recently in the news there have been accounts of a mother poisoning her son to a father taking a knife and slashing his sons throat. These are all cases where the parent in charge has taken advantage of their control. Each helpless child is defenseless in these situations. In many cases, children have become victims of a parents mental ...

5 Must Haves for an Effective Cover Letter

5 Must Haves for an Effective Cover Letter We know how it goes. You can format and revise your resume all day long, but when it comes to writing an effective cover letter, you sit there looking at a blank Word document and wondering where to start. When you break down the anatomy of a great cover letter, it’s really just an extension of your resume that gets specific about why you’re interested in the position and what makes you qualified to fill it.The team at  ResumeSpice, a resume writing and career coaching service developed by recruiters, has put together a list of five things to keep in mind when putting together a great cover letter.  1. Appropriate length, formatting, and fontsJust like your resume, you don’t want to over stylize your cover letter or go crazy with the fonts. Pick a professional font that’s easy-to-read and keep everything left-aligned.Your cover letter is not a manifesto. It’s a brief introduction that can give a better sense of who you are. We recommend that ità ¢â‚¬â„¢s no longer than a page – stick to 3-4 paragraphs.  2. An appropriate addresseeA cover letter is meant to draw the hiring manager or recruiter in, so beginning your letter with â€Å"To Whom It May Concern,† puts distance between you and the reader.You can ask your recruiter for the hiring manager’s name – or if you don’t have a recruiter, do a little research on LinkedIn. And if that doesn’t work, call into the company and ask who is hiring for that role. But don’t give your name – most hiring managers frown upon candidates calling in, so make sure your call stays under the radar.3. EnthusiasmYou applied to the position for a reason. Look at the job description and pick out what excited you about it. If you felt like you were a perfect match, say it! You might write something like, â€Å"As a communications professional with over eight years of experience in PR, the PR Advisor role felt like it was written just for m e.†4. A NarrativeThis is the meat of your cover letter. This is where you’ll write about why you’re interested in the position, what makes you a great fit, and what you can specifically bring to the table. For this piece, it’s helpful to again look back at the job description and pick 2-3 items that you have strong experience in.If you’re applying for a communications job, part of your narrative may read like this: â€Å"My ability to communicate with every stakeholder, as well as my extensive experience with PR crisis management make me a strong candidate for the Communications Director role.†5. Focuses on the employee’s needsWe can’t stress this enough – your cover letter is not really about you. Sure, it’s about your skills, accomplishments, and experience that make you a great fit, but it’s really about how all of that will benefit the employer. To that end, stay away from anything that mentions your own personal gain should you work there. For example, you’ll want to nix anything in your cover letter that sounds like: â€Å"I’ve always wanted to work in a management role, so this opportunity is a perfect way to achieve my goals.†Putting together a strong cover letter can be a difficult task if you’ve never written one before. Make sure you keep your cover letter relevant to the job and the employer, but don’t be afraid to be yourself and show your excitement about the company or the position. Happy writing!About ResumeSpice:ResumeSpice is an online career services company, offering a comprehensive menu of career services to help job seekers land the job of their dreams. From resume writing to cover letter, interviewing, LinkedIn, and career coaching services, job seekers are able to select from a suite of options that meet their needs. ResumeSpice was developed by recruiters based on first-hand knowledge of what recruiters, hiring managers, and H R professionals are really looking for in a successful candidate. For more information, visit  www.resumespice.com.

Assigment 4 - Questions Contemporary World Assignment

Assigment 4 - Questions Contemporary World - Assignment Example Basically, the administration was focused on stockpiling enough nuclear weapons and arsenal to prevent the country in case of an attack from the Soviet Union. The resulting outcome would be so immense that the enemy would be assured of â€Å"total destruction†. This led to the establishment of the philosophy of nuclear deterrence (Brown, 31). The concept of MAD was not only put into practice by the US/USSR but also the Cuban. The concept almost came into practice eight months after McNamara’s speech by the Cuban Missile Crisis. However, the conflict was solved amicably without military intervention. The Korean and Vietnam’s proxy wars played vital roles in the duration of the Cold war. The Vietnam War was major accredited to the latter stages of the development and the start of the cold war. On the other hand, the Korean War mainly contributed to the causes and development of the Cold War. These two wars exhibit some similarities and some contrasts mainly in the causes and development. These include; The Korean war was fought in the early 1950’s. It was characterized by heightened tension that resulted to communist threat to Asian borders. Coincidentally, Korean war coincided with China’s involvement in Cold War. Importantly, the war leads to massive increase in Cold war tensions hence the concept of McCarthyism. The war brought China in the limelight following the decision by US to cross Chinese borders. The stalemate that existed between the two countries signified change in leadership for USSR, hence reduced tension between the countries. The ideas of Glasnost and Gorbachev played a vital role in shaping the current status of Europe. The ideas of Glasnost and Gorbachev were characterized by openness and played a major role in political and economic restructuring of Europe (Gibbs, 17). It is worth noting that these ideologies deviated from the old centralized control and communists that had dominated major parts of

Examine critically the rights of minority in a company when the notice Essay

Examine critically the rights of minority in a company when the notice to acquire their shares has been served - Essay Example Current paper focuses on the examination of the rights of minority shareholders especially in the case that the notice to acquire their shares has been served. The relevant provisions of the Company Act 2006 have been studied, along with the literature published in the particular issue. It is proved that the law gives to the minority shareholders the right to promote the protection of their interests. However, when the notice to acquire their shares has been served to the minority shareholders, then their potentials for protecting their rights are reduced. Still, there are certain legal tools that can help the minority shareholders to secure their share in a particular organization. The effectiveness of these tools is further depended on a series of factors; the perceptions of minority shareholders on their organization and their skills to manage such projects highly affect the success of the efforts of the minority shareholders to secure their position as valuable members of the org anization. Rights of minority in companies – overview The role and the rights of minority in modern corporations have been highly studied in the literature. The reference to the rights of minority shareholders in general is necessary in order to understand the potentials of the particular group of persons to seek for legal tools for protecting their rights after a notice to acquire their shares has been served. According to the most common view, minority shareholders have a major disadvantage compared to the majority shareholders: ‘they are not protected by shareholder decision rights’ (Kraakman 2009, p.195). On the other hand, minority shareholders can choose among different legal means for protecting their rights; reference can be made, for example, to the ‘sharing norms, rules and standards’ (Kraakman 2009, p.195). In this context, minority shareholders are given the chance to prohibit outside investors to enter the organization. Indeed, minority shareholders are allowed to make an offer for buying the shares of their organization before these shares are offered to the public in general (Kraakman 2009, p.195). The above right of minority shareholders is part of the ‘preemptive rights framework’ (Kraakman 2009,195). At this point, the rights of minority shareholders are considered as secured, a fact that results to the improvement of communication within the organization, meaning especially the communication between the majority shareholders and the minority shareholders, who are, by the law, vulnerable towards the majority shareholders who can control organizational decisions. However, the power of the above rule has been strongly criticized. More specifically, it is noted that the potential of minority shareholders ‘to refer to the preemption rule’ (Kraakman 2009, p.195) can be limited if such decision is developed by the shareholders. On the other hand, the common law rules seem to protect the min ority shareholders more effectively compared to the civil law rules (Mallin 2007). Still, it should be noted that the protection of minority shareholders has not always set as a priority in the UK legal system (Mallin 2007). This fact indicates the potential inability of legislators to realize the level of risks that minority shareholders have to face. Sheikh (2008) emphasizes on the weakness of the existing laws

Mandatory Drug Testing of Welfare Recipients Essay Example for Free

Mandatory Drug Testing of Welfare Recipients Essay Thesis Statement Overall, mandatory drug testing initiatives have noble intentions such as: providing medical care to the abuser, preventing lifelong dependency, and saving taxpayer dollars, however, states should choose to not implement the intrusive testing because it is unconstitutional, costly, and ultimately detrimental to the child, not the parents. Through this presentation you will.. †¢ Learn about how widespread welfare usage is, and the history behind welfare reform. †¢ Understand why some legislators advocate for mandatory drug testing †¢ Look at the facts and realize that it is not only unconstitutional but also not an efficient means of spending allocated funds. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. Reasons Why Supporters Believe in Mandatory Drug Testing Overall good of youth dependents Zero tolerance policy Some buy drugs with welfare Tax payers have a right to know That their funds are spent well employed people must take drug tests Overall well being of invidual All reasoning lead to their overall stance, pro-testing. Reasons Why They Don’t Believe in Mandatory Drug Testing th amemmendment) Unconstiutional (4 Cost Prohibitative Embarassing and untimely Potential false positives or false negatives This is why CPS etc. exists Kid gets punished; not the adult All reasoning lead to their overall stance, against testing. Florida Welfare Drug Testing Graphic- DO THE MATH. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. Conclusion Mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients is unconstitutional, because no just-cause to search and seize. We must trust that although it isn’t constitutional or affordable to drug test all people, other agencies are other there to protect the children, if abuse or neglect is occurring Correlation does not imply causation. Work Cited Amundson, Kalynn, Anna M. Zajicek, and Valerie H. Hunt. Pathologies Of The Poor: What Do The War On Drugs And Welfare Reform Have In Common?. Journal Of Sociology Social Welfare 41.1 (2014): 5-28. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 May 2014 Gupta, Vanita. Should Welfare Recipients Be Tested For Drugs?. U.S. News Digital Weekly 3.46 (2011): 14. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 May 2014. Lyle, Lindsey. Floridas Legislation Mandating Suspicionless Drug Testing Of TANF Beneficiaries: The Constitutionality And Efficacy Of Implementing Drug Testing Requirements On The Welfare Population. Tennessee Journal Of Law Policy 8.(2012): 68-85. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 May 2014. Work Cited Rhodes, Tim, Sarah Bernays, and Kathrin Houmoller. Parents Who Use Drugs: Accounting for Damage and Its Limitation. Social Science Medicine 71.8 (2010): 1489-497. Web. 6 May 2014. Vitter, David. Should Welfare Recipients Be Tested For Drugs?. U.S. News Digital Weekly 3.46 (2011): 14. Business Source Complete. Web. 6 May 2014. Vitter, David. Should Welfare Recipients Be Tested For Drugs?. U.S. News Digital Weekly 3.46 (2011): 14. Business Source Complete. Web. 6 May 2014. Wurman, Ilan. Drug Testing Welfare Recipients As A Constitutional Condition. Stanford Law Review 65.5 (2013): 1153-1193. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 May 2014.

The Labelling Theory Essay -- Psychology, Deviant Behavior

The main aim of this essay is to describe two general theories of offending and then consider the extent to which they explain youth offending. This essay will firstly outline the context of the labelling theory then go on to discuss the way in which a label becomes a person’s master status in life. The essay will then compare the differences with primary and secondary deviance and define the term self fulfilling prophecy. The second stage of the essay will describe the learning theory, explaining the background including all the terms, classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning theory. Furthermore, it will then go on to explore the research and describe the extent to which both theories explain youth offending. Finally, the essay will compare and contrast the two theories and evaluate any of the assets or implications. The labelling theory became dominant within society during the 1940’s and 1950’s, when a group of graduate students from the Chicago school tried a different approach to applying theory to deviant behaviour. Within this group was a highly influential young man, Howard S.Becker who became the person most recognised for his work with the labelling of crime (Williams.F. McShaneM. 2010.p110). Becker argued that labels could be applied through the social reaction of others when a deviant or criminal act had been committed he stated that â€Å"Labelling is the process of identifying, categorising and stereotyping social categories such as delinquents† (Davies.M.et.al.2010.p30). When an individual becomes labelled a criminal, people do not consider all the praiseworthy things they may have done previously, they just see that they have committed some form of deviance and are now judged within societ... ...more stimulus for the individual to learn from (Williams.F. McShane.M.2010.p241). Furthermore, deviance within the labelling theory is defined through society’s norms and value’s, where as the deviance within the learning theory is imitation of deviance from society. To conclude this essay, it would be safe to say that the labelling theory and the learning theory both have great powers over young people’s lives, possibly because of their vulnerability and the way they perceive different behaviour within society. With criminal and deviant acts being formed and constructed by society, then behaviour displayed by a young person will inevitably be labelled if they do not live up to the norms and value’s that are in place. However, as the essay explains young people will gather characteristics of deviance from society’s influential structures.

Owen’s presentation of war and soldiers in ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ and ‘Disabled’ Essay

When World War 1 broke out in 1914, most of Britain rejoiced. There was a rush to join the army and many young men did as they decided it was their patriotic duty to fight for their ‘mother country’. Many also joined the army because they thought the war would be an adventure and because war was being glorified and made into an exciting game at that time. Being a soldier gave you a higher status and a public respect. These ideas were reflected in many early war poems such as Rupert Brooke’s ‘The Soldier’ and Jessie Pope’s ‘Who’s for the Game?’ In the poem the ‘The Soldier’ Brooke gives war a clean, sanitized and idealistic look, such as making England seem the perfect place and associating England with only good words (For example peace and friends laughter.) Brooke also makes war sound romantic as he makes it sound dashing and glorious like a cavalry charge and he then omits all the actual fighting and getting wounded, gassed, shot, maimed or injured. The poem is about being a hero and being taken to heaven. Patriotism is reflected in the poem as Brooke makes it sound as if you are English and you die for England, you are precious: England’s ‘richer dust’ is contained in you and when you die you make the land where you have fallen part of England. There is a repetition of England and whenever England is mentioned good things are said about it. There is also the implication that God is on England’s side, this is shown in the poem as Brooke makes the reader think that our soldiers are being blessed by God. For example ‘blest by suns of home.’ Brooke also suggests that it is your patriotic duty to go and fight for the country that ‘bore, shaped and made you aware’ and gave you life. You must repay ‘her’ by fighting England’s enemies. England is also personified as a mother because war was a call to man’s protective instinct and possibly to his chivalry. As the war progressed the views about the war changed as well. More people stopped thinking that the war was glorious and exciting and they began to realise just how deadly and dangerous war was. They also realised the cost of war was damaging to the country, not just economically but also through by the huge numbers of the dead and wounded. People began to wonder whether the sacrifice of these men was worth the benefits of the war and whether there was even any point to the war. The war poems written at that time began to show this contrast. The early, naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve poems of Brooke and Pope contrast with the experienced poems of Owen. The ideas that they had on war were clearly different. In the poem Dulce et Decorum Est Owen provides the reader with a realistic presentation of the war in the trenches and the soldiers fighting in the war. Owen gives the reader the perils of that the soldier faced everyday, (for example dangers of fighting and being shot or gassed,). Owen uses very physical and graphic imagery to describe what happens (For example ‘Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed throughout the sludge.’ and ‘ Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots but limped on, blood shod, all went lame; all blind; drunk with fatigue.’) As you can see even from these couple of lines in the poem Owen uses physical description to help the reader visualise what is happening and what it was like to be out there. There is some very graphic imagery in the poem, (For example’Flound’ring like a man on fire or lime†¦ Dim under a green sea I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, he plunges at me guttering, choking, and drowning’). Also in the poem there is some more graphic description about how what happened to this poor soldier after he got gassed: (‘white eyes writhing in his face, his hanging face, like a devils sick of sin, at every jolt, the blood come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs’). Owen also in the poem places the reader in the actual experience (For example ‘If in some smothering dreams you too could pace behind the wagon we flung him in.’) By recreating a specific moment in the poem, the gas attack Owen lets the reader â€Å"enter† and be part of the poem. Owen does not just place the reader in the experience he also directly addresses the reader by using words like â€Å"my friends† and â€Å"you† in the poem (For example ‘If you could hear†¦. My friend, you would not†¦.’) There is also reader involvement in the â€Å"Old Lie† at the end of the poem as Owen says with certainty that if you could see what it was like here you would not tell the children the Old Lie? The tone of the poem is very bitter and angry and in some parts there is a very sarcastic and negative attitude In the lines ‘If in some smothering dream you too could pace†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ the words â€Å"if† and â€Å"you† suggest that he is angry because the word ‘if’ suggests that the reader doesn’t know just how bad it was out there and the word ‘you’ separates the reader from Owen and suggests that the reader is safe at home. There are ironic moments in the poem as the title of the poem is ironic. The last lines contradict the title of the poem â€Å"Dulce et Decorum Est† which means that ‘it is sweet and right to die for your country’. This is a sarcastic comment in the poem as Owen was trying to show the reader that it was not right to die for your country. Owen also wrote another poem called Disabled which contrast with Dulce et†¦ as in Dulce et†¦ Owen is describing the realities of war while in Disabled Owen is writing about the results or aftermath of the war for one particular badly wounded soldier. The poem is not as physically or graphically descriptive as Dulce et†¦ was; Disabled is more reflective and sorrowful, (for example ‘ Now he will never feel again how girls waists are, or how warm their subtle hands;’) There is quieter language used in Disabled, for example not as ‘loud’ or shocking words were used by Owen in Disabled unlike Dulce et†¦ The poem shows how he lost his youth, future, limbs, hope and his normal life and how knows he has to live in hospitals waiting for death doing things that only the rules consider wise. The young man fought for his country and was wounded for it but he is not treated like a hero. He is shoved into a hospital like a diseased man and Owen stresse s his bitterness about how he is treated in the poem. (for example ‘All of them touch him like some queer disease’) Owen focuses on one normal young man but this man represents millions of others like him and it showed the reader that their brother, husband, father could be facing or could be soon facing the consequences of fighting for your country like this young man did. It also lets the reader understand the perils of war on a personal level. In the poem there is a question being asked to the reader although not directly, and the question asked is whether the sacrifice of millions of young men’s futures, lives, hopes and dreams was worth the countries involvement in the war, and again as in Dulce et†¦ Owens answer is no, that it is not right to throw your future away for the country or for your country to expect this from you. The poem therefore shares some of Dulce et†¦ bitterness and anger at the war. I can admire aspects of Brooke’s poem after reading Owens as Brooke was an idealistic even romantic man and he was obsessed with war and also Brooke was a patriot and I admire him as he was not hesitant to sign for the army and these character points are reflected in his poem. Brooke was however naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve and inexperienced so he really didn’t know fully about war and this too is reflected in his poem.

Motivation and Staff Performance in the Civil Service Essay

The key to motivation is the satisfaction of desires. As long as an individual has an unachieved personal goal, he has the force to motivate him, our behavior consciously or unconsciously, is generally motivate distinctive individual behaviour are to a considerable degree subconscious and therefore not easily susceptible to examination and evaluation. There has been persistent expression of dissatisfaction with the job attitudes and job performance of workers in public sector. This is due to the fact that the job is not attractive to workers. This inadequacy could be traced to the employee’s personal needs, job expectations and or innate states. Employees are usually more productive during a task simply because they want to do it, not because they feel they have to do it. Therefore, it seems evident that people or individuals will be prepared to commit themselves to their job to put in their best effort and loyalty to the job and to work towards the achievement of the organization targets if their goals are met on the job and if they are satisfied with the job. When one is positively motivated, it precipitates positive behavior hence positive erformance. According to Musselman and Hughes (1999) morale affects efficiency of operation. Morale is the result of combination of many complex attitudes, workers personal feelings and biases, their values, economic and cultural environment, degree of security physical health, emotional stability, realization of job expectations and the flow of communication between managemen t and the workers. 3 Many authorities believe that production rates are more sharply influenced by morale of the work force than by any other environmental factor. If employees feel that they are treated fairly well and good working conditions are provided, they are likely to have high morale to do their job. 1. 2 Statement of the Problem The civil service is the instrument through which meaningful development in the country is achieved. This is accomplished when the civil servant uses his acquired skills to formulate and execute government policies geared towards development. However, there is a strong evidence of deterioration about the work standard in the civil service. The behaviours of workers are characterized by such attitudes as laziness, absenteeism, lateness to work, hostility to members of the public; disloyalty and corruption. The expectations of civil servants are not met; hence, there is general laxity and inadequate performance in this sector. It is the general belief of civil servants that their counterparts in the private sector are better off with good standard of living. In view of this, they are not motivated to put in their best. This negative belief has created some problems in the attitude of workers in the civil service which has adversely affected job performance. 1. Research Question in view of the problem raised, this study is therefore designed to seek answers to the following questions in line with the aims of the study (1) What are the factors affecting job satisfaction among the Civil Servants un Oyo State? (2) To what extent are the Civil Servant of Oyo State are satisfied with their job? 4 1. 4 Objectives of the StudyTh e objectives of the research study are to (i) examine the factor that motivate the workers of Oyo State Civil Service; (ii) appraise the existing motivating packages for workers in the state ; and (iii) investigate the effects of staff motivation on job performance in he State. 1. 5 Significance of the Study The study will be of immense benefits to decision makers and human resource managers in organization when dealing with human problem such as the menace of low productivity as appropriate policy decisions that affect their personnel would be made. The importance of workers motivation and job satisfaction should not be ignored by government as they promote the corporate objectives of the organization as well as the individual. This research study would therefore serve as a guide to employers of labour as it would give them the understanding of the workers. The study is also expected to provide additional information research in this area and to government for effective efficient performance in respect of task and allocation of scarce resources for a result oriented state. 1. 6 The Scope of StudyConsidering the large population of the Oyo State Civil Service, it will be difficult and time consuming to include all the population of civil servants in the state. Therefore, the study focused on six ministries. The Miniseries are office of the Governor, ministry of Works and Transport, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Lands and Housing. The criteria for selecting these ministries are based on the fact that their programmes and activities are 5 geared towards the development of the state and the fact that they provide extensive services to the largest population of the state, hence, their impact is felt throughout the state. In addition, the population of these ministries is expected to be a representative sample of the characteristics of the whole civil service as the population of the selected ministries represents a larger proportion of whole civil service population. 1. 7 Limitation of the Study The system of records keeping at Oyo state civil service commission made it difficult to collect and retrieve data necessary for adequate analysis of data collected for the study. The time for the research study is not enough for an extensive work to be done. It was not easy to carry out a comparative study of all the Ministries in Oyo state because of fund. Definition of Terms1. 8 Definition of Terms The following terms are defined for the purpose of this studyMotivation The drive to satisfy a want or achieve an outcome. In this study, what motivates the labour to put up certain action and what comes out of it? Job Satisfaction The psychological disposition (attitudes and feelings) of workers towards his job. It refers to the contentment experienced when a want is satisfied as a result of a job factor. Morale The collective attitude of workers towards one another, towards their employer, the management, or their work. 6 Job Involvement The enthusiasm and dedication which an individual demonstrates at his job as he gets deeply absorbed in it in a bid to achieve corporate objectives. Management Management is a process by which a co-operative group directs the actions of others towards a common goal (objective). In this case, management is used to mean senior management, except otherwise state. Training The process whereby employees learn the skill, knowledge, attributes and behaviours necessary to in perform their job effectively. Behaviour The general disposition of the management which employees perceive as friendly or hostile, conductive or unconductive and which affect their job behaviour and consequently performance. 7 CHAPTER TWO AREVIEW OF LITERATURE AND THEORETICAL FRAME WORK 2. 1 Introduction Many employers of labour have come to realize that people are the most important of an organization. They concerned themselves with how the workers would be brought together to work for the fulfillment of the corporate of the organization. According to A. K. Ubeku (1975) â€Å"of all the assets of a business organization, people are the most important†. Motivation of workers in an organization is very important as it leads to the development of the individual and improve his job performance. Modern managers in an organization use personnel policy to motivate workers with a view to creating a conducive working situation where workers could attain self-actualization. Motivation creates a sense of success and security in the workers when his/her work is recognized as contributing to the aims and objectives of the organization. The classical approach to motivation has been the â€Å"correct and stick† method. The correct being money and the stick taking the form of physical punishment. The assumption has been that people would work harder and produce more if substantial financial rewards are placed before them or threatened with either dismissal or physical punishment. The classical theorists felt that workers could attain job satisfaction if their productivity and pay are maximized. This was not to be as money could motivate employees to a certain point only. Managers have also come to realize the importance of job satisfaction to workers. This is due to the facts that a worker who is satisfied with his/her works would put up an enhanced job performance while the reverse be the case for the dissatisfied worker. Thus, the success or failure of 8 any organization is a function of how satisfied its employees are with their work. A well-motivated worker could put up a high job performance because of the satisfaction he derived from his work. 2. 2 The concept of motivation and job satisfaction The word motivation is derived from the Latin word â€Å"movere† meaning to move. Motivation is therefore the process of arousing movement. The movement referred to being behavioural movement. Some theorists had asserted that people behaviour is determined by a complex interaction between the unconscious drives and the environment. Motivation is a predisposition to act in a specific goal directed manner. The term motivation refers to goal directed behaviour. Goal directed behaviour is characterized by the process of selecting and directing certain actions among voluntary activities to achieve goals. Motivation can be defined as the state of an individual perspective which represents the strength of his propensity to exert towards some particular behaviour. The word Motivation is derived from motives. The definitions of motives are as follows: Motives are expression of a person’s needs, hence they are personal and internal. Motives are acquired determinants that regulates the patterns of action and that arouse ore activate behaviour. They are the learned determinant of behaviour. Finally, Eze (1984) defined motivation as â€Å"a psychological process initiated by the emergence of a need in the organism which leads to a goal-directed behaviour/action aimed at satisfying the need†. 9 Davis (1981) defined job satisfaction as â€Å"the favorableness with which employee view their work†. It is an indication of the congruence between the worker’s expectations from his job and the actual rewards offered by the job. Eze (1984) defined job satisfaction as the â€Å"sense of well-being, good feeling and positive mental state that emerge in an individual when he obtains regard, consequent upon his job performance, congruent with or very nearly congruent with his expected equitable reward. According to Kevin J. Russel, job satisfaction is â€Å"a function of the importance attached, by the workers, to the extent to which needs are generally met in the work situation relative to the way in which these workers have ordered their wants and expectations (orientation to work)†. These definitions stated above have one thing in common: a recognition of the fact that an individual’s expression of job satisfaction is an emotional effective personal response as a result of his estimation of the degree to which some facts of job reality is congruent or incongruent with values. In order therefore to understand or describe an individual’s job satisfaction, one needs to have a good understanding of that individual’s total personality and value system. Ejiogu (2009) stated that people’s perceptions of their job situation will be directly related to the values which they place on the various aspects of their job and its environment as sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. From Wikipedia (2010) job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job. The happier people are within their job, the more satisfied they are said to be. Job satisfaction is not the same as motivation, although it is clearly linked. Other influences on satisfaction include the management style and culture, employee involvement, empowerment and autonomous work position. 10 2. 3 The Relationship Between Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Job Performance As seen above, motivation is quite different from satisfaction. While motivation refers to the drive and effort to satisfy a want of goal, satisfaction rears to the contentment experienced when a want is satisfied. In other words, motivation implied a drive towards an outcome and satisfaction involved outcomes already experienced (Koontz, O’Donnell and Weihrich, 1981). Motivation, therefore, precedes satisfaction. In most work situation in Nigeria and elsewhere, the same factor affect job performance could also affect job involvement, job satisfaction, job attitude and work motivation. 2. 4 The Early Theories of Motivation and Job Satisfaction In the early years of industrial revolution and after, profit maximization triggered the industrialists to search for ways and means of motivating workers for higher productivity. They want to make profits as much as possible through increased productivity. According to this view, the way to attract employee to work is to offer them attractive pay and the way to attract employees to work is to offer their attractive pay and the way to increase productivity is to constantly raise salaries. Motivation of workers through non-monetary rewards was never thought of by these early industrialists. The early industrialist tied motivation to financial reward (increased pay) which would in turn give workers satisfaction. The early theories on motivation and job satisfaction are as follows: 1. Classical Theory/School 11 2. Human Relation School 3. Structuralists School2. 4. 1. Classical Theory/SchoolThe development of modern management started about the beginning of this century with the classical school led by Frederick W. Taylor. This classical school preached Scientific Management, which combines the study of physical capabilities of a worker with an economic approach which views man as being driven by the need to earn his livelihood. The classical school advocated that if material required was closely tied to work efforts, the worker would respond with the maximum performance he is physically capable of doing. Taylor and his followers saw the worker as a functioning appendage to the industrial machine. Following this, the teaching of the classical school had been referred to as the Machine Theory of Organisation. The school assumed that the most efficient organisation would also be the most satisfying one, because it would maximize both productivity and workers’ pay and consequently job satisfaction. However, Taylor never thought off non-monetary regards. 2. 4. 2. The Human Relations SchoolThe excesses of the Classical approach came to be modified by the teaching of the human relations School which was heralded in by Professor Elton Mayo and his associates in the Hawthorne experiments. These experiments were carried out at the Western Electric Company’s Hawthorne works in Chicago, U. S. A. between 1927 and 1932, were aimed at exploring the relationship between physical environment and productivity. The study was especially aimed at finding out the effect of illumination on productivity in the plant. The researcher discovered that when lighting was 12 illuminated step by step over a period of time, production increased correspondingly. On the other hand, when the researchers decided to decrease the illumination in the plant, production continued to rise and did so until the lighting was no longer brighter than moonlight. The major findings and conclusions of the Hawthorne Experiment are as follows(i) The level of production is set by social norms, not by physiological capacities; (ii) Non-economic rewards and sanctions significantly affect the behaviour of workers and largely limit the effect of economic incentive plans; (iii) Often, workers do not act or react as individuals but as members of groups; (iv) The importance of leadership for setting and enforcing group norms and the difference between informal and formal leadership; (v) The importance of communication, participative decision-making and democratic leadership in an organization. The Human Relations School assumed that the most satisfying organization would be the most efficient and so the organization structure and work should be related to the social needs of the employees. The rationale of the argument is that if employees are made happy, they will co-operate fully with the organization in their efforts and so increase organisational efficiency and productivity. Peter Drucker has criticised the views of the human relations school as being too employee centered. While the Classical and Human Relations Schools differ in their emphasis on either the formal or informal aspects of the organisation respectively, both had failed to see that productivity and workers satisfaction are inherently opposed philosophies. This has been left for the Structural School to sort out. That is the basic contradiction between a company’s quest for relationally and profit and the human search for happiness freedom of action. 13 The Structuralists see the company organization as a large, complex, social unit in which many social groups interact while these groups have common interests like the economic viability of the organization, they also have some other opposed interests like how the gross profits of the organization are to be distributed. The two groups within the organization whose interests frequently come into conflicts are management and workers, although by no means the only group envisaged by the Structuralists. Essentially, rivalry and conflicts between organizational groups are inevitable and, perhaps, occasionally desirable. Peoples’ behaviour is motivated by common basic needs. These needs vary in degree with gender, generation, culture, maturity and other life circumstances. If appropriately structured, a person’s job can help meet these needs, which leads to job satisfaction and job performance. A lot of research has been done in the area of motivation in relation to the area of organizational management. Researchers and authors agree that motivation is very crucial to the issue of job performance but they differ with regard to the things that motivate. Vroom (1964) sees motivation as a process governing choices made by persons or lower organisms among alternative forms of voluntary activity. This implies that motivation propel an individual to prefer one job to another. Some researchers assumed that variables such as amount of reward are motivational variables that directly influence the strength of incentive motivation. The implication of this is that extrinsic motivation has greater influence on one’s (workers) performance. This seems to be in agreement with Skinners operant conditioning principle which states that â€Å"behaviours are governed by their consequences†. This is to say that if the consequence is positive, there will exist a better 14 performance (behaviour) from the worker. In other words, an individual’s willingness to perform and the effort he will be willing to put depend on the reward he will get from the performance of such activity. There are propounded theories which are sophisticated in nature. Some laying credence to or supporting the above viewpoints and others contradicting them. Some of these theories would be discussed since this review cannot comprehensively discuss all of them. In addition, the literature review will include motivation, job performance, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, Nigeria Civil Service and Oyo State Civil Service. 2. 5 Maslow’s Theory of Motivation The need theory was originally advanced by Abraham Maslow (1938). According to him, people are motivated to satisfy a hierarchy or sequence of needs. He opined that man is a wanting being and what they want depends on what they already have. Maslow recognizes five (5) different needs that motivate individuals to work. These needs are as follows:2. 5. 1 Physiological Needs:These are considered to be basic biological functions of the human organisms and the most important of all human needs. They include the need for food, water, air, sleep, sex, rest, cloth and shelter. An individuals who lacks any of all these physiological needs is disturbed in mind. In addition, if these needs are unfulfilled, the higher needs will not be recognized. 2. 5. 2 Safety Needs:It is only when the individual meets the physiological needs that he tries to focus his attention on the next set of needs in the hierarchy, that is, the safety needs. At this level of the hierarchy, the employee is preoccupied with the safety of his life and property. He is also more concerned with stable situations and the security of his job. The needs for his 15

Till vs. Until

Till vs. Until Till vs. Until Till vs. Until By Maeve Maddox A reader asks, Isnt the shortened version of until spelled ’til, not til or till? I know that till is a word (I worked as a grocery store cashier as a teenager), so I understand why it doesnt get flagged by spellcheck when some writers incorrectly shorten the word until as till. Many speakers believe that the till in such expressions as â€Å"Till death do us part† and â€Å"Till the end of Time† should be written ’til, as if it were a shortened version of until. In fact, till is not a shortening of until. It is a freestanding word that can be used as a preposition and as a conjunction in the same ways as until. Both words are documented with the sense of â€Å"up to the time of† as early as the 1300s. Till is more common in speech and until in writing, but both have been used interchangeably by generations of writers. Shakespeare uses both in All’s Well That Ends Well (c.1604): Go, tell the Count Rousillon, and my brother, We have caught the woodcock, and will keep him muffled Till we do hear from them. Our rash faults Make trivial price of serious things we have, Not knowing them until we know their grave. Dickens uses both till and until in Great Expectations (1861): I was not expected till to-morrow; but I had my keys, and, if Herbert were gone to bed, could get to bed myself without disturbing him. Until she opened the side entrance, I had fancied, without thinking about it, that it must necessarily be night-time. George Orwell does it in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949): The new ration did not start till tomorrow and he had only four cigarettes left. Very likely the confessions had been rewritten and rewritten until the original facts and dates no longer had the smallest significance. The form ’til is a fairly recent invention, created by writers in the mistaken belief that spoken till is a shortening of until and should therefore be written with an apostrophe for the missing syllable un-. Bottom line: Till is a perfectly good English word. ’Til is nonstandard. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Royal Order of Adjectives Rules for Capitalization in TitlesWord Count and Book Length

Comparative and Superlatives for Beginners

Comparative and Superlatives for Beginners The comparative and superlative forms in English compare and contrast different objects in English.   Basketball is more exciting than golf.That house is bigger than mine. Our friends have the nicest dog in the town.She is the happiest person I know. Comparative Form   Use the comparative form to show the difference between two objects. Examples: New York is more exciting than Seattle.His car is faster than Dougs.Mary is happier than Anna.   1 syllable adjective + -er She is faster than Mary. 2 + syllables more + adjective Jack is more handsome than Jerry. 2 syllables ending in -y drop -y from adjective +-ier That joke was funnier than mine. Comparative Form Comparative Form Explained One Syllable Adjectives Add -er to end of the adjective (Note: double the final consonant if preceded by a vowel) remove the y from the adjective and add ier Examples:  Ã‚  slow - slower / high - higher This book is cheaper than that book.Tom is smarter than Derrick.   Two Syllable Adjectives Ending in -y Drop -y and add -ier to two syllable adjectives ending in -y. Note adjectives ending in -y that are three syllables or more take more rather than -ier.   Example:  happy - happier / funny - funnier I am happier than you.That joke was funnier than his joke. Two, Three or More Syllable Adjectives place more before the adjective Examples:  interesting - more interesting / difficult - more difficult London is more expensive than Madrid.This test is more difficult than the last test. Here is another chart showing how to construct the  comparative form  in English.   Superlative Form Use the superlative form when speaking about three or more objects to show which object is the most of something. Examples: New York is the most exciting city in the USA.Peter is the luckiest guy in the world.Thats the cleanest bathroom Ive ever seen! 1 syllable the + adjective + add -est That's the tallest building in New York. 2+ syllables the most + adjective Alice is the most interesting woman I've ever met. 2 syllables ending in -y drop -y from adjective +-iest Peter is the funniest guy in my class. Superlative Form Superlative Form Explained One Syllable Adjectives Place the before the adjective and add -est to end of the adjective (Note: double the final consonant if preceded by a vowel) Example: cheap - the cheapest / hot - the hottest / high - the highest Today is the hottest day of the summer.This book is the cheapest I can find. Two, Three or More Syllable Adjectives Place the most before the adjective Example: interesting - the most interesting / difficult - the most difficult London is the most expensive city in England.That is the most beautiful painting here. Two Syllable Adjectives Ending in -y place the before the adjective and remove the y from the adjective and add iest Example: happy - the happiest / funny - the funniest New York is the noisiest city in the USA.He is the most important person I know. Here is a chart showing how to construct the  superlative form  in English: Important Exceptions There are some important exceptions to these rules! Here are two of the most important exceptions: good good - adjectivebetter - comparativethe best - superlative This book is better than that one.This is the best school in the city. bad bad - adjectiveworse - comparativethe worst - superlative His French is worse than mine.This is the worst day of my life. Teachers can use this comparative and superlative lesson plan to teach these forms to learners. Start from the basics.

Site-directed mutagenesis of gene sequences in cells of plants, Essay - 1

Site-directed mutagenesis of gene sequences in cells of plants, insects and animals can be achieved in situ used engineered zinc - Essay Example It is now well known that there are many naturally occurring zinc finger motifs, the most common of which is the Cys2His2 or C2H2 zinc finger. This particular motif is made up of 2 antiparallel ?-sheets and an ?-helix that are coordinated by 2 Histidine (his) and 2 Cysteine (cys) residues binding a zinc atom (Figure 1). This binding, plus an inner structural hydrophobic core, stabilizes the secondary structure of the protein. Figure 1. The classic zinc finger protein is made up of approximately 30 amino acids where two cysteine and two histidine residues bind to a zinc atom. The zinc finger proteins are known mediators of metabolic interactions including protein-protein interactions and RNA binding. However, the most known are their roles in DNA sequence-specific binding. From early studies on the classical C2H2 zinc finger, it was found that the zinc finger differed in principle from the other DNA-binding proteins because several zinc fingers can be linked linearly to recognize DNA sequences of varying lengths (Klug, 2005). In contrast, other DNA-binding proteins utilize the symmetry of the double helix. Usually, more than one zinc finger domain participates in binding the DNA. Each zinc finger domain binds to three nucleotide (nt) bases on the major groove of the DNA. The ?-helix, also known as the recognition helix, binds to three or more bases of with specific sequences on the DNA. Since zinc finger proteins could have more than one zinc finger motif, the DNA contacts of adjacent or arrayed zinc fingers could overlap (Iuchi, 2005). Regions that are bound by the zinc fingers are usually spaced at 3 – 5 bp apart. The modular design of the zinc fingers allows it to interact with the DNA at different regions, and allows them to be involved in many DNA interaction reactions. Thus, it is not surprising that the zinc fingers are the most encoded motif in the genome and are very abundant in nature. The highly sequence-specific DNA binding property of zinc fi ngers offered a lot of potential as a tool for regulating gene expression or for manipulating the genome. From the initial basic studies arose the design and engineering of zinc finger proteins for binding specific regions in the DNA, and synthesis of zinc finger nucleases for cutting the DNA at target sites and introduction of changes to the DNA (Davis & Stokoe, 2010; Durai, et. al, 2005). Zinc finger arrays can be engineered to bind long stretches of known regions in the genome and with the ultimate goal of finding cures to notable diseases. Some applications of zinc finger arrays are the inhibition of HIV-1 expression (Reynolds, et al., 2003) and the disruption of herpes simplex virus infection (Papworth, et al., 2003). To emphasize the importance of the zinc finger proteins, an online database was established that compiles information on known (naturally occurring) and engineered zinc fingers and zinc finger arrays (Fu, et al., 2009). Zinc Finger Nucleases A zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) is an engineered restriction enzyme that consists of a zinc finger array designed to recognize specific nucleotide sequences in the DNA, and a non-specific nuclease domain. Usually, the zinc fingers in the array have similar motifs as that of Cys2His2 zinc finger protein. The engineered zinc finger is fused with the cleavage domain of the restriction enzyme FokI endonuclease. Since FokI will cut the DNA only