Should Ministers or Senior Bureaucrats Be Held Accountable for the Department?

Collective and Individual Ministerial Responsibility: Should Ministers or Senior Bureaucrats be Held Accountable for the Department? For years, Canadians have stood by and watched as officials of the Canadian government have been questioned, accused and held up for public scrutiny on issues of misappropriation of funds, personal and public scandals, and inappropriate departmental spending of taxpayers’ dollars. In the public eye, Ministers abused their public authority and were inadequately serving the public.Lack of confidence was evident when election time arrived and voter turnout was dismal at best. In 2008, the lowest voter turnout on record was at 58. 8% and most recently, voter turnout has been 61. 4%, the third lowest in Canadian history. Public perception of government, from Prime Minister down to department clerk, has held a lack of confidence. There was a need for enforceable measures to be put in place to make certain responsibility, answerability and accountabilit y were at the forefront of government ministries.Stephen Harper ran his 2006 â€Å"Stand up Canada† campaign stressing accountability in government. â€Å"For those Canadians seeking accountability the question is clear: which party can deliver the change of government that’s needed to ensure political accountability in Ottawa? We need a change of government to replace old style politics with a new vision. We need to replace a culture of entitlement and corruption with a culture of accountability. We need to replace benefits for a privileged few with government for all. † The mantra paid off and the disheveled Liberal party was ousted from power.Prime Minister Harper promised the Canadian people corruption would end and backroom deals would be history. The first bill tabled by the newly-elected Conservative government, Bill C-2, was the Federal Accountability Act, introduced by President of Treasury Board, John Baird, and was passed by the House of Commons on Ju ne 22, 2006, by the Senate on November 9, 2006, and granted royal assent on December 12, 2006. The Act and Action Plan provided conflict of interest rules, restrictions on election financing and measures respecting administrative transparency, oversight and accountability.Based on Britain’s Westminster model for responsible government, Canada’s Parliament has a responsibility to hold the government to account, as well as all Ministers, collectively and individually. While senior bureaucrats in public service are not directly accountable to Legislature, they are directly accountable to superiors of their department, internal government authorities, and the courts. Accountability should be the responsibility of those who have the greatest opportunity to control departmental situations.Therefore, it is not reasonable to blame Ministers for the actions of their Department, as it is the Deputy Ministers and Senior Bureaucrats who run the day to day operations of Ministerial departments and influence not only the development of policy, but the implementation of policy. At the root of Canada’s parliamentary structure is the British model for a responsible government known as the Westminster model, whereby a Cabinet Minister bears the ultimate responsibility for actions of his Ministry or department.Before a law can be passed, the symbolic monarch, in Canada’s case the Queen, a lower house of members elected by citizens and the upper house of appointed members, must approve legislation. The principle of a collective agreement remains, regardless of how legislation procedures may vary. This doctrine is the principle for a responsible government and accountability is essential to guarantee that an elected official is answerable for actions made. There is no common model for accountability however the Westminster system relies on Ministers being accountable in the House of Commons and to the electorate.The functioning of government management depends on the democratic principle of accountability for all elected officials. Ministers are career politicians and hold the majority of power and authority within the democratic government, after the Prime Minister. At the top of the hierarchy, in the Westminster model, is the Minister, followed by the Deputy Minister, departmental management and then front line public servants. Accountability flows upward and the degree of responsibility depends on how much authority has been delegated to a particular individual within the organization.Accountability enforces and enhances responsibility. Being able to understand each official’s responsibilities, one must recognize there are different components to consider. There are two different types of Ministerial responsibility, collective and individual. These two terms are â€Å"separate but interrelated unwritten rules of behaviour in the operation of parliamentary government. † Collective Ministerial responsibility is a co nstitution convention that dictates the prime Minister and the Cabinet must publicly support all government decisions, or suppress any criticism.In any case a Minister cannot hold true to this, they must object and ask the governor general for the act of ending parliament, if the House of Commons passes a vote of non-confidence. If they are not willing to endure this process, they must announce their resignation. On the other hand, individual responsibility refers to a Minister who holds a Cabinet office, which has the obligation to take responsibility of the policies they introduced. The responsibility still has to be accepted by the Minister â€Å"even if the minster did not approve an action in advance or had no knowledge of it. In a â€Å"nutshell† it means, â€Å"the minster is responsible for everything done in the department. † Major components of individual responsibility consist that Ministers will be held accountable or even forced to resign if any serious a dministrative errors occur within their department. Another traditional component is that the Minister must summarize and be willing to support the actions, to the presence of parliament, which his or her department is pursuing. Governments tend to be left with the messy, complex, and difficult jobs – and the messy, complex, and difficult results are harder to define and measure. † It is hard to pinpoint responsibility in the government, whether it be collectively or individually, because there will always be criticism and complexities arising within parliament due to the difficulty in these jobs. Black and white answers are non-existent when it comes to implementation of policies and procedures on how to run the government and attend to the public.The reasoning behind it is due to the fact that one cannot judge or assess the exact results that will affect both the short and long term outcomes. The path for finding the individual(s) who must be held accountable for said actions may be described as being intricate, because of the difficulty of first finding who is responsible. When looking at the hierarchy within the government, you realize senior bureaucrats have more authority than you are lead to believe.Stephen Harper has tried to pursue to answer these black and white answers by taking the steps to distinguish and strengthen responsibility. Some of Stephen Harper’s initiatives in â€Å"Stand up for Accountability† were strengthen auditing and accountability within departments. The sponsorship scandal first came to light in an internal audit – an audit that the Liberals initially tried to cover up. Under the Liberals, the lines between Ministers and non-partisan civil servants have been blurred, and clear lines of accountability need to be re-established.The Conservative government will give the Comptroller general overall authority for internal audit function in each government department, designate the Deputy Minister of each government department or agency as the Accounting Officer for that department, which that Deputy will be responsible to Parliament for the departmental spending and administrative practices of his or her department. Also, in the event of a disagreement between a Minister and Deputy Minister on a matter of administration, the Minister must provide written instruction to the Deputy Minister and notify the Auditor General and Comptroller General of the disagreement.The position of Deputy Minister in the Canadian government is one of the most contentious and vital appointments. Their responsibilities are both political and non-partisan as they function between the non-partisan civil service and the political realm of executive and elected officials and executives. Deputy Ministers are accountable to the Minister, the government, their Ministry, agencies, and Parliament. They provide Ministers advice that comes from the civil service, and they also â€Å"carry out† any delega tions of authority that come from the Minister.Appointment to Deputy Minister is at the Prime Minister’s discretion and likewise, being relieved of their duties is the same, at the Prime Minister’s discretion. Senior bureaucrats service the government and as one Deputy Minister stated, â€Å"As soon as he assumes his duties, the Minister signs a delegation of authority for me, and then I become the person responsible to him†¦ and the person in command. † It is a â€Å"relationship full of paradoxes. † â€Å"The most important player in the Canadian political system† are â€Å"extremely busy people. â€Å"Dealing with Prime Minister’s priorities, implementing the government’s agenda, protecting the Minister, networking with other deputies, the provincial governments, and the department’s stakeholders, articulating and promoting the department’s interests, as well as managing political crises can consume much of a D eputy’s ten to twelve hours. † Accountability is always a topic for discussion as senior bureaucrats hinge between political and non-partisan. What is clear is that, â€Å"Deputy Ministers are not accountable to the public or to Parliament. They are accountable to the Prime Minister, and to a lesser extent their Minister, the clerk of the Privy Council, the Treasury Board, and the Public Service Commission. † Overall, [for Deputy Ministers] â€Å"the lines of accountability are not clear nor are performance measurements, despite extensive literature that shows how difficult it is to evaluate performance in government. † Government hierarchy stature insists that the higher power be held accountable, although it should not always be the case.Cabinet Minister, appointed by the Governor General on behalf of the Queen, are the head of government departments. Each department has some type of specialization, whether it is law, trade, foreign affairs, or finance. These members of parliament are chosen for their portfolio because they are supposed to be the â€Å"best qualified† to assist the prime Minister in running the country of Canada. However, the reality is that most are chosen either because of a personal relationship with the prime Minister, or because they lend the right balance to the Cabinet as far as ethnicity, gender or geographic location.As a result, the Minister’s appointment can be disguised as â€Å"qualified† thus leaving the Canadian people with a false hope that they are right for the job. Most Cabinet Ministers are not qualified to handle the department, mentally or intellectually, and rely heavily on the Deputy Minister to handle the day-to-day operations. â€Å"It is Deputies and not Ministers who actually manage the departments of government. And that’s the way it should be. Ministers have neither the time nor (as a rule) the skills to manage large institutions. Furthermore, senior bureau crats hold office impartially, over the years serving different political parties, and are qualified bureaucrats with a considerable amount of knowledge, experience and time served. Regardless of who is in office, a Deputy Minister must be neutral and non-partisan in order to get all bureaucrats to achieve the goals of the Minister and the ruling party. As leading management under the Minister, there is ample opportunity and authority for senior bureaucrats to alter the vision bestowed upon the department by the Minister and change opinions and actions of the other bureaucrats.Senior bureaucrats are allocated to manage and administer directly under the law, because of these expectations, Parliament should hold them accountable for the performance of their duties and implementing their authority. The article about authority and accountability has given great insight and is the most compelling when determining how officials are elected and the real responsibilities each department/ind ividuals carry. Not only does the article show the specific details to being a Cabinet Minister, but also talks about the civil servants and the Privy Council Office.The Privy Council Office (PVO) is the highest ranking bureaucratic agency in Canada, very important and powerful, and the Clerk of the Privy Council, known as the â€Å"Secretary to Cabinet† is head of the public service of Canada. The Clerk serves as the â€Å"spokesman of the bureaucracy† to the executive branch in the Canadian government and is appointed by the Prime Minister. One duty is to swear in the Prime Minister, which is somewhat of a symbolic gesture confirming the relationship between the two offices.Like the Deputy Ministers, the Privy Council Office is supposed to be non-partisan, and their advice and recommendations are technical and professional in nature. The Prime Minister is not always in favor of the PVO and has his own alternative organization, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) , headed by the Prime  Minister’s  Chief of Staff, which advises and coordinates the Cabinet and bureaucracy mostly on the basis  of ideology, partisanship, political strategy and public image.Since the PVO and the PMO have two significantly different objectives, it is safe to say the two networks of advisers do not always get along. The PMO has eclipsed the PCO in terms of relevance and power, and the question is whether the era of non-partisan advisers is over. Much of this was due to the perception amongst many in the public, and some members of parliament, that â€Å"the executive had rule over Parliament, but the civil service had rule over the executive. â€Å"Governments indiscriminately added functions, tasks, and accountability requirements to the machinery of governments without rewriting the traditional bargain. † Further, â€Å"governments now tend to concentrate some policy and decision-making authority with a few key officials, who carry an unmana geable burden, but they also defuse authority on other issues to the point that accountability evaporates. † The problem can be summarized as follows: â€Å"Political and policy actors have lost the sense of the traditional space that they are expected to occupy.MPs no longer call the government to account; Ministers are not making policy; the prime Minister, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Privy Council Office, and a handful of senior Ministers now fill more functions than they should; and the public service is increasingly uncertain about its role in policy and management. † Bureaucrats administer and implement the laws and policies of the Government of Canada and, in that capacity, should not act unethically even if they believe what they are doing is justifiable.The sponsorship scandal, under the Liberal Government, was a good indicator that the public does not accept anyone in power act unethically in order to promote unity amongst the nation. Canadians wer e outraged that trust was abused and ending the Liberal reign sent a loud message that the end does not justify the means when tampering with public interest. Bureaucrats have to embrace their role and not blindly follow their Minister’s wishes or never say anything negative about the position they hold. Senior bureaucrats need to be accountable for their actions and their recommendations.If they come under fire, they cannot be shuffled off to another Ministry until the storm passes and they cannot hid behind their superior to take blame for wrongdoings they may have initiated or caused. As the Clerk of the Privy Council observed in the Twelfth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Pubic Service of Canada, â€Å"We cannot tolerate breaches of the law or of our core value and ethics†¦but we cannot build systems based on distrust. We cannot go backwards, building layers of hierarchy and rules governing each transaction. And we cannot treat all errors the same way.Err ors made in good faith are inevitable, especially in an organization that values innovation and creativity. Accountability requires that we report honestly and accurately, including the errors, and demonstrate that we have learned from the mistakes and have made the necessary adjustments. But accountability cannot become mere blaming. † Evidently, Canadians are concerned with the accountability held within the government. Although there are a number of institutional checks and preventive measure, they lack improvement and overall outcomes.Other counties have tampered and improved their accountability through various laws and initiative, logically Canadian should consider replicating their process. Thus, government individuals should be held responsible and ultimately accountable if they have the best opportunity to alter their department substantially. Through various studies, one can conclude that senior bureaucrats are the ideal representatives to impose and instill changes within their departments, as well as the whole government.Senior bureaucrats have three main ethical responsibilities as public servants: First, they are responsible to act non-partisan when carrying out or implementation of policies. Second, they are seen as trustees for the Canadian citizens and, therefore, they have a fiduciary responsibility not to abuse their trust. Third, their duty is to account for both their activities and decisions. It is extremely easy for the public to make Minister’s obvious scapegoats and set them up for criticism and ridicule due to their position on the hierarchy.As depicted, senior bureaucrats are the officials with the most responsibility and hands-on participation within their department, managing personnel, implementing policies and ensuring the public interest’s are met on a daily basis. Regardless of how long a Minister holds his portfolio or is in power, it is the senior bureaucrat who maintains their position and ensures their M inister is held in high esteem with informed and experienced expertise about departmental operations.Through traces of systematic accountability, failures demonstrated within the government leads one to conclude that the political outcomes remain the same because the solutions come from the same sphere. Work Cited Barker, P. 2008. Public Administration in Canada. (Breif ed. , p. 75). Thomson Canada Limited Bourgault, Jacques. â€Å"The Deputy Minister’s Role in the Government of Canada:? His responsibilities and His Accountability. Ottawa: Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities, 2006 â€Å"Federal Accountability Act. † Department of Justice. (2006). http://laws-lois. ustice. gc. ca/eng/acts/F-5. 5/page-1. html (accessed July 12, 2012). Harper, Stephen. â€Å"Conservative Party of Canada Federal Election Platform. † Stand Up for Canada. (2006). http://www. cbc. ca/canadavotes2006/leadersparties/pdf/conservative_platform2006 0113. pdf (accessed July 7, 2012). â€Å"Leadership of the Prime Minister's Office. † Parliament of Canada. (1867). http://www. parl. gc. ca/parlinfo/compilations/federalgovernment/PrincipalSecretaries. aspx (accessed July 14, 2012). Mitchell, James. â€Å"Authority and Accountability: Reflections on the Gomery Project. † Authority and Accountability. 2006). https://docs. google. com/viewer? a=v&q=cache:GOZMy1NFFsgJ:www. sussexcircle. com/pdf/020-Authority&Accountability. pdf &hl=en&gl=ca&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjm7kZ3AA0QiX70tXxByNLjoEbXx0roBI3x9NvKnl8a8JMKU1107T1MOioQzsFdHy4cuUndPyvRd5vGwvZohdqmZCzpqAEA8Zr4q3TQfRyXWivb90p3DMRRJRRd6ykvc8AXwm6z&sig=AHIEtbRagPHJJ_7fhv5zDOT9NC8IwgwrGw (accessed July 11, 2012). Mulgan, Richard . â€Å"The accountability of Community Sector Agencies: a comparative framework. † (2001). http://www. hapinternational. org/pool/files/acctcommsect. pdf (accessed July 11, 2012). Pomfret, R. Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendumsâ₠¬ . Elections Canada Online. Elections Canada. (accessed February 10, 2012). Savoie, Donald. Breaking the Bargain: Public Servants, Ministers, and Parliament. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002. â€Å"Twelfth annual report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada. † Clerk of the Privy Council. (2005). http://www. clerk. gc. ca/eng/feature. asp? mode=preview;pageId=201 (accessed July 12, 2012). ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Pomfret, R. â€Å"Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums†.Elections Canada Online. Elections Canada. Retrieved February 10, 2012. [ 2 ]. Harper, Stephen. â€Å"Conservative Party of Canada Federal Election Platform. † Stand Up for Canada. (2006). http://www. cbc. ca/canadavotes2006/leadersparties/pdf/conservative_platform20060113. pdf (accessed July 7, 2012). [ 3 ]. â€Å"Federal Accountability Act. † Depar tment of Justice. (2006). http://laws-lois. justice. gc. ca/eng/acts/F-5. 5/page-1. html (accessed July 12, 2012). [ 4 ]. â€Å"Federal Accountability Act. † Department of Justice. (2006). http://laws-lois. justice. gc. ca/eng/acts/F-5. 5/page-1. html (accessed

The Success of Tyler Perry

Andrea Fields Professor Vickers ENC 1101 March 21, 2013 The Success of Tyler Perry Tyler Perry grew up living with his parents in New Orleans. Once he became grown he moved to Atlanta, Georgia. Tyler knew that black people were very successful in Atlanta. Tyler Perry was hoping to be a play writer. In the process of trying to become a play writer, he went from being homeless, to being recognized, to being successful. In the move to Atlanta, life was not easy for Tyler Perry. He would land jobs in small supermarkets, so he could save money to put towards his first production.He had written a play called â€Å"I’ve been changed. † Finally he had saved up enough money for the production of the play. First, Tyler rented a small theatre that seated 215 people. Second, he had auditions and found his cast, but on opening night only 30 people showed up. Tyler lost everything. He had put every dime he had into that play. Tyler Perry had become homeless, he had nothing to eat and he was sleeping in his car. His mother pleaded with him to come back home, but he refused. He was determined to do his play. For the next seven years he did plays and they would fail.He said â€Å"This is what God wants me to do. Tyler Perry had made up in his mind to try one his plays one last time. This time he would do it different. The first steps to his success were when he visited several black churches to learn the style of the different choirs, to observe the congregation, and of course, to listen to the preacher. He took all that he learned to the stage. On opening night he was afraid and wanted to quit. Tyler Perry quoted, â€Å"At that moment I heard God clear as day, I tell you when it’s over you don’t tell me, go look out the window. When Tyler went to look out of the window the line was around the corner, as it was each night. After that Tyler Perry was recognized across the east coast. That was the beginning of his success. Over the years he did plays across the east coast. His second step to success was when he came up with the character Madea, everyone wanted to see his plays. His shows were always sold out. Tyler was not stopping there, he wanted to make movies. The only problem was he was not heard of on the west coast.Whatever play Tyler Perry does there is always a message to learn from. However, studios in Hollywood said he would have to tone the messages down if he wanted to make movies, but Tyler would not compromise. He ended up in a partnership with a small production company called Lionsgate Studios. That was his third and major step to his success. Tyler Perry went from making movies to producing sitcoms for network television. Tyler Perry reached his fame. He is rich and successful. Tyler is an actor, an entrepreneur, and he is still acting to this very day.The man never let his situation stop him from succeeding. â€Å"What sets the survivors apart is their resilience- the ability to endure and even thrive under stressful conditions. † Alice Lesch Kelly (232). Tyler Perry had to jump over many hurdles in order to be a successful man. Every step he took to rise to the top he took them in stride. He wanted to give up but he did not because of his faith in God. Works Cited Kelly Lesch, Alice. â€Å"Toughen Up! .† Hall, Kim Flachmann and Michael. The Prose Reader. Boston: Ninth edition Prentice Hall, 2011. 231-232.

Book Review Matilda Essay

I. Type Of Story Matilda is a children’s novel by British author Roald Dahl. It was published in 1988 by Jonathan Cape in London, with illustrations by Quentin Blake. The story is about Matilda Wormwood, an extraordinary child with ordinary and rather unpleasant parents, who are contemptuous of their daughter’s prodigious talents. Matilda was adapted into a film in 1996, a two-part adaptation for BBC Radio 4 (later re-broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra) starring Nicola McAuliffe as Matilda and narrated by Lenny Henry and a musical in 2010. Matilda is an excellent book by the famous author, Roald Dahl, who also wrote â€Å"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory†, â€Å"James and the Giant Peach†, and â€Å"The Twits†. Matilda is on the Premiers reading challenge and its ID is 252. It is about a young girl called Matilda, who is five years old and she can multiply enormous numbers like nineteen times fourteen, read adult novels like â€Å"Great Expectations† by Charles Dickens and many more amazing things, she even has special magic powers. Unfortunately for Matilda her mother and father underestimate her, treating her like a scab. The children hating head mistress is even worse, she believes her parents, disbelieves Miss Honey, refuses to put Matilda in year six where she belongs and denies being a child once herself. Read this book to see how Matilda and Miss Honey get rid of the foul Miss Trunchbull. III. Introduction The parents of the five-year-old Matilda Wormwood have no interest in their daughter, but if they did, they would have discovered that she is incredibly gifted. A child prodigy, Matilda taught herself to read at three years old, though the only actual books in the house were a cookbook and magazines. When she asks for a real book for herself, her father rudely turns her down and tells her to watch television instead. In spite of this, Matilda looks up the address of the local library, where she finishes all the children’s books within a short time, thus leaving her to read adult novels, which she really enjoys. The librarian gives Matilda her own library card, and she is able to borrow books to read at home. II. Characters Matilda Wormwood is the main character in the story, and of the Matilda characters she is (by far) the most likable. At the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to Matilda as a 4 1/2-years old who possesses an intellect far above her years. Dahl even goes so far as to describe her as a â€Å"child-genius and prodigy.† (p. 75) Matilda loves to read even though her parents refuse to allow any books in the house – instead preferring that she and her brother simply watch the television. Later in the story, it is revealed that Matilda also possesses the powers of psychokinesis (the ability to move things with her mind) and it is implied that these powers are a result of the repressed anger she feels toward her parents and Headmistress who vacillate between ignoring and belittling her. By the time Matilda enters Crunchem Hall Primary School she is 5 1/2-years old. Michael Wormwood is Matilda’s older brother. Although he does not posses the same level of intellect or ability as his sister, he is clearly the favorite in the Wormwood household. Mrs. Phelps is the local librarian who encourages Matilda’s love of reading. Mr. Harry Wormwood is Matilda’s father. Harry is also a used car dealer, and right from the start of the book we learn that he is a dishonest business man. He puts sawdust in his customers’ cars to make them sound better and runs the cars backward to turn back the mileage counters. Instead of praising his daughter for her abilities, he constantly tells her that she is â€Å"ignorant and stupid.† (p. 29) In fact, when Matilda correctly adds several large sums in her head and presents the answer to her father, he calls her a â€Å"cheat and a liar.† (p. 55) Mrs. Wormwood , Matilda’s mother, is described as a â€Å"large woman whose hair was dyed platinum blonde except where you could see the mousy-brown bits growing out from the roots.† (p. 27) She also â€Å"wore heavy make-up and had one of those unfortunate bulging figures where the flesh appears to be strapped in all around the body to prevent it from falling out.† (p. 27) Mrs. Wormwood’s only interests are watching American soap-operas and playing Bingo every day. Like her husband, Mrs. Wormwood thinks very little of her daughter’s unique abilities and often berates her. Fred is the young neighbor boy who lends Matilda his pet parrot. Matilda later uses the parrot to play a prank on her family. Miss Jennifer Honey is Matilda’s teacher at Crunchem Hall Primary School. Miss Honey is young, pretty, mild-mannered and â€Å"possessed that rare gift for being adored by every small child under her care.† (p. 67) Later in the story, she becomes a great advocate for Matilda. Miss Truchbull is undoubtedly the most colorful in the cast of Matilda characters. The Headmistress at Crunchem Hall Primary School, Miss Trunchbull serves as the â€Å"head teacher, the boss and the supreme commander† (p. 66) who â€Å"insists on strict discipline throughout the school.† (p. 69) Dahl also describes her as a â€Å"gigantic holy terror, a fierce tyrannical monster who frightened the life out of the pupils and teachers alike† (p. 67) who â€Å"hardly ever spoke in a normal voice.† (p. 85) Instead, he says she â€Å"barked or shouted.† (p. 85) Miss Trunchbull’s favorite form of punishment is to send students to the â€Å"Chocky,† which is a â€Å"very tall but very narrow cupboard† that has a floor â€Å"only ten inches square so you can’t sit down or squat in it† – forcing one to stand, instead. Furthermore, â€Å"three of the walls are made of cement with bits of broken glass sticking out all over, so you can’t lean against them.† Leaning against the door is also impossible, because it has â€Å"thousands of sharp spikey nails sticking out of it.† (p. 104) Much later in the book, we learn that Miss Trunchbull is also Miss Honey’s aunt Agatha. Lavender, Nigel, Ruper, Eric, Wilfred and Hortensia are Matilda’s friends and classmates at Crunchem Hall Primary School. Amanda Thripp is another classmate. She makes the mistake of coming to school wearing her hair in pigtails. Miss Trunchbull despises pigtails, and so she uses them to pick Amanda up. Using her Olympic hammer training, Miss Trunchbull swings Amanda around over-head and throws her clear across the school yard fence. Luckily, she â€Å"landed on the grass and bounced three times and finally came to rest.† (p. 116) Bruce Bogtrotter is yet another of Matilda’s classmates who suffers under Miss Trunchbull. This 11-year old boy commits the crime of sneaking a piece of the Headmistresses’ â€Å"special† chocolate cake. During his confession, Bruce admits that he found the cake, baked by the school’s cook, to be â€Å"very good.† (pp. 122-123) As his punishment, Bruce is forced to eat every last bite of a duplicate cake which was â€Å"fully eighteen inches in diameter† and â€Å"covered with dark-brown chocolate icing.† (p. 124) Mr. Trilby is the Deputy Head of the school who, at the end of the book, is appointed Head Teacher in Miss Trunchbull’s place. Miss Plimsoll is Matilda’s teacher once she is moved to a higher grade at the school.

Disussion thread for Week 2, 3, and 4 Assignment

Disussion thread for Week 2, 3, and 4 - Assignment Example Ken is a competent nurse. Patients, hospital administration and physicians are passionate about his job. Therefore, it is recommendable to find a solution for him to prevent endangering patient’s life. Ken’s situation is of interest because his primary role is to provide patient safety. However, alcohol abuse hinders his efficiency and effectiveness in role. Therefore, there is a need for a remedy. Ken is a victim of alcohol abuse because of various reasons. He is stressed by domestic problems which makes him report to work drunk. He does not relate well to his co-workers that makes him lonely at the workplace. Therefore, it is the obligation of the hospital management to help Ken adjust to the problem. Last week a patient reported that he is not getting any relief from the pain medication that Ann had administered earlier. After contacting Ann, she was impaired in the Emergency Department and became upset by the interrogation on why the patient was complaining. She had injected herself with the drug. It is unethical for Ann to abuse a patient’s prescription. The use of prescription drugs results in either slow patient recovery or death, which is a medical negligence and malpractice hence unethical (Thomas & Siela, 2011). Primary care for patient safety is a significant purpose for nurse functions. Nurses should perform their duties with the moral code of conduct in utmost proficiency. Therefore, medical malpractice is a nuisance and unethical hence Ann’s behavior is a matter of concern that requires a remedy. Ann’s unethical behavior is caused by personal and workplace factors. Using patient’s prescription enables her relieve herself from stress and workplace conflicts. The act, however, is risky and unjustified to uphold patient safety, which is the primary function of a hospital. A scope of practice refers to the expert activities defined under state law. The scope of practice for a nurse is determined by each state’s nurse practice act.

What Does It Mean To Be a Democrat an a Republican in 2012 Research Paper

What Does It Mean To Be a Democrat an a Republican in 2012 - Research Paper Example The United States first began to experience what could be termed political parties nearly as soon as our government was established. At this time we had many political debates between what were deemed federalists and anti-federalists. Ironically, this would serve as a harbinger of the two party system that invariably developed within the United States. Although third parties existed and successfully sought office as last as the 1830s, their lifespan was short-lived by the emergence of two leviathans of political power that have successfully dominated the political environment in the United States for the better part of the past two hundred years. For the casual observer, party affiliation has a strong connotation with regards to what belief systems the voter identifies himself/herself with. However, party affiliation is a figment of a given election cycle. This is mainly due to the fact that there are no discernible party values or issues which can be definitively traced throughout h istory and once analyzed – deemed as either firmly Republican or firmly Democratic issues/values. This intrinsic lack of definable/discernible values has disheartened many voters and forced them to become apolitical and/or apathetic. The Republican Party (Grand Ole Party) as we know it today hardly resembles the party that was born in 1854 out of an opposition to slavery. Elements of the nation’s political forces, fed up with the â€Å"sin of slavery† and determined to forge a path ahead for the United States that was free from this vice, opted to create their own political entity. This Republican Party elected its first President in Abraham Lincoln. What is interesting to note, as far as an irony is concerned, is that the Republican Party’s slogan in 1854 read, â€Å"Free Labor, Free Land, Free Men†. This slogan had strong connection with the time due to the ongoing battle over slavery; however, there appeared within it a uniquely socialist concep t that most individuals have not considered. The statement â€Å"free land† referred to the fact that rich plantation owners were buying up all of the good farm land and leaving the poorer farmers left with the unwanted scraps and rejects/unviable land. The fact that the original Republican Party was entirely against the ability of a few wealthy individuals to lord over and control the fate of the poor was, at that time, an issue worthy of polarization between the Democratic and Republican Party; interestingly, this is no longer the case as it appears as if both parties only perennially work towards the benefits of those entities and corporations/individuals that bankroll their electoral campaigns. The Democratic Party on the other hand was born out of the Anti-Federalist movement of the 1790s. The Democratic Party of that time was of course defined by its rabid disagreement with Hamiltonian economics. Similarly, the party was promoted originally as what would become known as the â€Å"Democratic-Republican Party† and had a decidedly constitutionalist approach as well as one that advocated the supreme authority of state’s rights as a doctrine of further self-determination among the young republic. This traditional understanding of the Democratic party survived more or less in tact up until the Civil War. At this time, the Democratic Party, under the leadership of key firebrands in the South, pushed for the continuation of slavery as well as

Statistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Statistics - Essay Example This has been done to ascertain where Maryland stands among all the regions of USA especially with respect to Virginia and Pennsylvania in terms of well being index and work and life quality. The findings of the statistical analysis is presented and discussed in this paper. Data on Well Being Index and Quality of Work and Life for 50 states and / or congressional district was collected and recorded in MS Office Excel spreadsheet. Descriptive Statistics for well being index and work and life quality was then obtained using MS Office Excel Data Analysis Tool. This was done to get a feel of these indexes i.e. well being index and work and life quality across all the 50 states / congressional districts of USA. The findings of this analysis are presented in Table 1, in the Appendix. It is better to examine and discuss the important statistics obtained from this analysis for each of these indexes – well being index and work and life quality. Summary statistics of well being index for all the 50 states / congressional districts is presented in Table, in the Appendix. The values for mean, median and mode are 65.47, 65.75 and 66.3 respectively. These parameters are measures of central tendency i.e. the central value around which actual well being index of different states lies. Another important statistics of well being index is standard deviation. Its value is 1.69. This is a measure of dispersion of the actual values around the mean value. Now let us examine, whether Maryland lies among all the 50 regions with respect to well being index. Well being index for Maryland is 67.1% (Table 2, in the Appendix). This means Maryland has above average well being index among all the 50 regions under consideration. It is important to examine whether the difference from the mean is significant. To do so 95% confidence interval for mean well being index was determined. This confidence interval is [64.90,

Corporate Social Responsibility Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Corporate Social Responsibility - Coursework Example Corporate social responsibility can be broadly defined in terms of the responsiveness of businesses to stakeholders’ legal, ethical, social and environmental expectations (UNIDO, 2002). Stakeholders are people and group of people who are directly or indirectly impacted by the business. CSR underpins the principles of Coca-Cola and all its priorities and operations conform within its CSR approach. For example, it had supplied drinking water to the victims of the earthquake in Turkey (CSR Report, 2011). CSR codes refer to the international standards of CSR practices implemented in the workplace vis-Ã  -vis social and environmental responsibilities of the business.Sustainable development can be described as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (iisd, 2013). Coca-Cola is highly sensitive to the environment and takes serious measures to reduce carbon footprint and uses recycled goods to promo te conservation and preservation of the environment. It encourages environment-related activities within its companies and the community where it is operating. It has promoted rainwater harvesting in Kazakhstan and significantly reduced energy consumption in its Turkey operations. It has also adopted sustainability management approach whereby it ensures conservation of natural resources like water, land and clean air. Sustainability is defined as a process which helps to save resources for the future.

Plebeian Sexual Morality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Plebeian Sexual Morality - Essay Example lopment of sexual values during the identified epoch is characterized by the presence of highly conflicting standards and perspectives regarding critical notions encompassing sociological concepts and cultural understandings. As noted by Clark, the most critical consideration which must be highlighted and outlined with reference to this aspect is linked with acknowledging the fact sexual morality and standards in itself are a matter of conflicting outlooks across communities (42). The author proposes that while exploring this aspect it is significant to understand how and why sexual morality of towards the departure of the eighteenth century and the arrival of the nineteenth century emerged as a notion of complexity. The consequences of the aforementioned factors are viewed through the lens of the sociological issues and problems which surfaced in the period and led to the questioning of the moral norms of communities. These issues can be identified in terms of the rise in individuals engaging in sexual intercourse before marriage and the subsequent increase in unwanted pregnancies and illegitimate children because of the scenario (Clark 42). Consequently, these outcomes can be highlighted as the direct impact of what Clark terms as crisis of sexuality and sexual moral standards (42). The underlying causes of these choices can be explored in depth to identify the key reasons behind the plebeian’s motivation for choosing a distinct way of life. This examination essentially raises two significant questions – was the plebeians’ decision based on principal social issues which can be associated with the period or was the progression of such sexual moral standards based on the personal perspectives and outlooks shared by a community of individuals who shared a similar mindset? Clark answers this question by suggesting that while, it is more likely to believe in the assertion that the establishment of sexuality morality is motivated and essentially shaped by the

XML as a programming tool Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

XML as a programming tool - Essay Example Deriving an electronic representation of the paper documents would allow users to view them on a computer screen, take their printouts or store them in the database; however, to achieve this objective, standard forms for different document types and accompanying style sheets would be required. At present, still most of the exchange of information in the health care industry is carried out through printed documents that convey the information in two ways: the content of the document that contains the words, pictures and other information, and the format of the content that provides visual clues for font, font size and location (Sokolowski & Dudeck, 1999). Recently, XML (eXtensible Markup Language), a subset of SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language), has gained widespread popularity in the health care industry because it provides a mechanism to encode healthcare documents and their types into electronic form, and therefore, has led to the development of implementation recommendations in the form of a set of standard DTDs to standardize and match the electronic document requirements in the health care industry (Sokolowski & Dudeck, 1999). DTDs (Data Type Definitions) are crucial for health care informatics as they provide a facility for standardizing formats with style sheets, provide a document information model, provide context for narrative text, and allow for agreement on high-level structures. They describe the structure of the document, the names of the allowable elements, the content of each element type, the structure of the document including the order in which the elements must appear (Sokolowski & Dudeck, 1999). The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is designed to provide an XML framework for developing product documentation and has seen rapid adoption and implementation as compared to other approaches for purpose of

Watching debate video and answer the questions Movie Review

Watching debate video and answer the questions - Movie Review Example In the wake of this, strategy needs to be devised. Be it spying, or preventive measure or any other scheme manifested towards protecting the citizens and the cities makes up for quite a valid point from the debate. The possible misuse of the authority, the too much infiltration of the security agencies into the private lives and activities is a fact and possible fear that makes up for the point of disagreement. Liberty Security, technology and democracy are few of the factors that are stressed for and possibly feared of being violated in the spying process. The overall debate allowed knowing the level of threats faced by the United States of America and the level of work and research invested into the process of spying in order to prevent any mishap and event from happening. The integrated presence and participation of the American top corridors decision makers is another revealing fact with regard to the spying process and grants being granted

Data Storage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Data Storage - Essay Example This means that even after 20 years old database with billions of records as long as it has been properly designed and maintained, it will still search rapidly and return results fast whereas doing it manually, each growing record slows down to end point of search; and finally, 4) with electronic database you can always build it up, redesign or customize database, etc. to meet your data requirements† (Husin, 2008). Presently, IT CEOs, CIOs and administrators deal with increasing explosion of data growth. Thanks to modern science that is keeping up with the rapid pace of development in the industry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). New enhanced features on data storage technology have been added to include backup, archiving and disaster recovery built-in mechanisms to protect stored data and these are milestone achievements. Another featured enhancement is, increasing data storage capacity to accommodate greater volume of data of any format. Second, if before only digitized data can be stored in a computer, today, all data formats from text messages, images, sound, voice, pictures, scanned data, music and movies, among others are now accepted for storage, retrieval, manipulation and sharing. More and more enhanced features will be introduced since the number of different types of computer users have increased immensely in keeping pace with service requirements and ICT developme nts. The different types of new computer users include data miners, explorers, departmental users, multidimensional users, power users, and executive users. This situation requires alternate storage mechanisms to respond to the needs of the industries. In response to the demands of these varied types of computer users, new hybrid storage systems are now introduced: direct attached storage (DAS), storage area network (SAN) and network attached storage (NAS) (â€Å"Enterprise Data Storage†, n. d.). Enterprise business storage is also one of the

Women in the Workforce Essay Example for Free

Women in the Workforce Essay As a young a woman living in the 21st century I can only believe that women have every reason to be part of the workforce. In today’s world advancement we have all the technology needed to be able to create balances between our family and work life. In the old days women were viewed to be weak compared to men, because jobs required more physical abilities then mental and critical thinking abilities. Therefore, men were given the working part of the family’s establishment and women were given the care giving for the children part. Today, things are different. Jobs have turned from being only physically oriented to rather more problem solving and thinking oriented. And this makes more opportunities for women to join the workforce. Moreover, I think women should join the labor force because it is proven that when a woman in a family is working it is more likely that the family will rise above the poverty line. Studies done in Bangladesh by Mohammad Yunus, the founder of the micro financing Grameen Bank, show that when the woman in a family is given a chance to generate income for her household she always does a better job with helping her family out of poverty. Women are care givers in nature, and when given the chance to improve the living standard of their children’s lives they will do a better job managing the money and finances. My final reason is that I think in the end, woman or man, we as humans should be given equal opportunities to explore our full potential. No matter what kind of job or craft or hobby we might be doing, we should all be given the chance to thrive and prosper in this life with no restrictions. No matter what race gender or ethnicity we should all be able to do what we love.

Adolescence as a stage of life course

Adolescence as a stage of life course This essay will discuss about adolescence as a stage of life course. It will first of all give the definition of adolescent. Utilising the lenses of Psychological, biological and sociological l theories, the essay will examine adolescent in its different facets and the impact on the adolescent. The essay will also demonstrate why adolescence is socially constructed. It will then explore how identities are formed in the process. The essay will look at the confusion in role that adolescents are facing in society. The essay will also discuss about the dynamic of the adolescents relationship with their family members, with their peers and with society as a whole. The essay will underline the importance of having the knowledge and insight of adolescence and the implication for social work practice. Adolescence or in Latin adolescere means to grow into maturity. The Evidences that marque this period are a considerable physiological as well as psychological changes. It is also defined as a time of significant changes; biologically, psychologically and social. These changes have consequently a massive impact on the adolescent`s social insertion. Considering adolescence as a process of growing up, it covers a life span between puberty and maturity. These two adjectives are what determinate the legal age of majority. According to universal definition, the beginning of adolescence is clearly defined by the appearance of the signs of puberty. These signs are triggered by hormones stimulation in the brain. These signs are internal as well as external. This transitional stage is the bridge that connects childhood and adulthood. Therefore teenagers are neither children nor adults. These changes have an impact on their relationships with both parents and peers. It also influences adolescents roles in society. The difficulties that are experienced by adolescents are also the confusion of identity.by definition, identity is a sense of self that develops as the child differentiates from parents and family and takes a place in society. This refers to the sense that adolescents have of who they are and also of what is most important about them. According to Erickson (1963) psychosocial theory, the adolescence life stage covers the period to 13 to 19 years old. He described this stage as fidelity where about the adolescent is experiencing psychosocial crisis. He described the crisis that characterise adolescence as identity versus role confusion. The psychosocial crisis is ` being the identity crisis versus the role confusion. The adolescent will raise concern about his appearance, his position and his role within society. During The transition from childhood to adulthood, the adolescent will also evaluate the role he will be playing in the grown-ups world. The combination of identity and roles for the adolescent is considered according to Hall (1904), as a time of storm and stress. The signs that forecast the storm and stress are mental disorder and challenging behaviour such as delinquency, mood swinging, withdrawalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ These changes within the adolescent`s life can also be voice breaking, experience sex arousal, gender-role identity increasing autonomy and responsibilities. Erickson (1963) was in favour that it is natural for human being to pass through a genetically determined sequence of psychosocial stages. Surely the adolescent will experience role confusion, confused ideas and feelings regarding specific ways in which he will fit into society. This experience will be underpinned by a spectrum of behaviour associated with certain activities such as getting closer to particular individual or enjoying doing specific things. The adolescent is hungry for more freedom; consequently parents have to reconsider their attitudes regarding their relationship with the adolescent. Erickson (1963) insisted that only when the adolescent is secured and confident in his own identity, he then can take risks involved in genuine social and sexual intimacy of a lasting kind. He stressed that during the adolescence life stage, the individual will eventually achieve a sense of identity regarding whom he is and where his life is heading to. A successful negotiation of the adolescence passage could prepare the adolescent for adult life by providing him with a sense of identity or in other words the adolescent will gain a sense of ego identity. Also the other facet of adolescent`s life is in later stages of adolescence the individual develops a sense of sexual identity. Erickson stressed that during adolescence, the blending of rapid growth, hormonal changes and a increasing awareness of adult tasks ahead pauses the question of the sameness and continuity. However, the problem in adolescence is the difficulty to establish a meaningful sense of personal identity. Evidence showed that emotional arousals are very intense and volatile during adolescence. The only possible escape route from this trap is risk-taking behaviour. Consequently the adolescent will be confronted by life-determined important question? Who am I and who will I be? The emergence of adult personality, is linked to the ability to choose and being faithful to commitments in role playing within society. He went on by stressing that the adolescent who fails to link identity and role will experience hardship and confusion in his lifespan. He insisted that life stages are punctuated by hardship and crisis. Life will always press demands upon individual, but the adolescent must be able to solve problem in order to successfully make transition between life stages. Hendry and Kloep (1999) were in favour to Erickson`s Psychosocial theory as they stressed that young people, as they grow up, find themselves in the trap of having to respond more and more to society`s demand in a responsible and adult way while being treated as immature and not capable of holding clear opinions on a wide range of social matters. This view demonstrates the difficulty for adolescent to behave like one. He is wanted to respond like an adult, but in the adult`s world he is considered as a child, therefore he is not able to get involve into serious discussions about society`s matters. But it is important to stress that adolescence is determined by an interconnection between physical and psychological development. During this period, new cognitive skills occur. The adolescent is able to reflect upon hypothetical event such as the concept of self and others. This would reshape the relationship between the adolescent and his family member and also with his peers. It important to stress that the quest for identity and the changing nature of relationship are considered as the specific traits of this period. James Marcia (1993), a writer who worked on Erickson`s life stage found four distinct kinds of identity status within adolescence. First of all he mentioned the identity diffusion which is characterised by the lack of commitment and indecision about serious life matters. The second identity status is the identity foreclosure. This one is the status of preliminary commitment and value commitment. It is characterised by the acceptance of other values. In other words, the adolescent is does not question or rebel against adults authorities. The third element that James Marcia (1993) found is the moratorium. He argued that the moratorium is a state of intense identity crisis. This crisis is defined by active interest to great decisions and exploration of opportunities for the future, but not yet concludes in a hard engagement. He went on by concluding that the moratorium status is and uncomfortable situation, because the adolescent may be tempted to avoid by going for the foreclosure. The last observation he made was the discovery of the identity achievement. The individual have overcome the crisis that he was experiencing and has finally decided engage in a concrete commitment. As Erickson would claim, this individual has successfully negotiated the challenge of this stage of life. Piaget`s (1952) work helps understanding the quantitative changes in how the adolescents think about their world. He claimed that adolescence is when children reach the stage of formal operation. He argued that at this stage, children are capable of solving problem as adults. According to his theory; Adolescence is the period when young people gain considerable new changes in their thinking abilities. We all agree that greater maturity emerges in capacities of reasoning and problem-solving. In the case of adolescence, it seems to be a qualitative move in thinking toward the ability to maintain different views simultaneously, considering knowledge and values as more linked than during childhood, and exploring more options and possibilities in their decision-making. On the other hand, these capacities of seeing situation from different perspective enable the adolescent to reflect upon the quality of his relationship with others and how he is treated. However, the probability of the good use of these new capacities depends on the experience, expertise and environmental demands. For Freud psychosexual theory, adolescence is regarded as the final stage of psychosexual development. Adolescence is directly linked to a considerable change in a sexual attitude. The adolescent seems to be directed toward the opposite sex in order to find a partner. Bowlby regarded adolescence as a stage which attachments to parents-figures are loosened. The adolescent will form new adult attachement. Bandura`s social learning stressed that most of human behaviour is learned observationally through modelling: from observing others, one forms an ideas of how new behaviours are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action. This theory demonstrates that human behaviour is a continuous reciprocal intervention between cognitive, behavioural and environmental influence. In respect of the adolescent`s identity and role, the social learning theory explains that adolescent copies his behaviour from what he has been taught. Also the quality of this relationship with others will depend on the codes received from them and from the environment. Maslow (1970) Humanistic approach in terms of the adolescence stage tends toward the self-actualisation aspect. As the adolescent is preparing to get into adult world, it is important to understand certain prerequisites attached to his status. Self-actualisation is the fact that one make full use of one`s talent and capacities. But in order to understand the full meaning of what constitutes full use, one must have a conception of the goal of growth and development. But yet like Rogers, Maslow believed that healthy people would start to show certain traits of self-actualisation characteristics. Aristotle (4th century B.C/1941 translation) comes in support of the social learning approach. He regarded that human being is an organic whole. His biological development has an impact on his psychological development. He stresses that young people that experience adolescence are emotionally unstable. Furthermore, Plato and Aristotle argued that those adolescents are impulsive. They are predisposed to excess. This attitude can be explained by the biological and psychological changes that they are going through. But, they marked that the end of this seismic period is punctuates by the development of a sense of self-control. Aristotle recognised that the most important trait of adolescence was the ability to choose. But this ability to choose is conditioned by various humanistic stages. Baker (1990) insists that although adolescence is a time of major change, many adolescents will experience it without major difficulty. Giving that adolescence spreads over a number of years, it involves important aspects such as social, emotional, cognitive and physical changes. In order to develop better understanding of this life stage, adolescence is divided into three sub-stages. The early adolescence (12-14) is the year where most of the physical changes appear. These changes are also followed by changes in relationships with peers and parents. The middle adolescence (14-16): at this stage, again variations occur. The most noticeable change is the increasing hunger for independence. But also some the adolescent are preparing for adult occupation and/or going into further education. Again, some of them experience late physical changes such as the appearance of spurts, voice breakingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Some of them exceptionally enter adult roles directly from middle adolescence. Late adolescence (17-19) is the time of progressive preparation for adulthood. As one would notice that the key features for adolescent are most of the time seen to be establishing a secure sense of who they are as they prepare for adult roles. It`s also about weaving more interdependent relationships with families. It is reaching physical adult maturity. And finally, it is constructing relationships with peers. Berger (1966) society not only controls our movements, but shapes our identity, our thought and our emotions. The structures of society become the structures of our own consciousness. Society does not stop at the surface of our skins. Society penetrates us as much as it envelops us. Human being is a sociable individual. His development and his identity are shaped by his ability of building up a relationship with others and with his environment. Talcott (1954), a functionalist argued that age differences are the forces that drive the overall functioning of the social system. He insisted that differences in social roles are associated with age groups in order to ensure the smooth running of the society itself. According to Talcott Parsons (1954) a functionalist, differences in the roles associated with age groups were very important for the good functioning of society. Talcott (1954) stressed that adolescence is a time when children start to express independence from their parents. Concerning the adolescence, Talcott (1954) believed that it the time when children start to develop independence from their parents. In the industrial society it is important that adolescents detached themselves from their parents in order to allow party, parents and adolescents to freely move to where work can be found. This independence from their parents shifts the loyalty that adolescents have for their parents to their peers and / or partners. Talcott (1954) went on by stressing that adolescents in their quest for independence are most of the time involve in a sort of rebellion. Also adolescents in their quest of who they are, put lot of accents on their image and on their independence. Though, it understood that the transition towards adult roles may not always be a smooth one, it helps the emergence of independent individuals within families units who well adapt to respond to the needs of industrial societies. Other authors would support that adolescence is by definition partly biology but also psychological transition, which is differently seen in different societies, at a different epoch. As far as they were concerned, in non-industrial countries where children were involved in the same activity as their parents, adolescence was a brief transition from childhood to adulthood. This brief transition was however marked by a cultural ceremony. For example, The Bar Mitzvah in the Jewish culture celebrates the transition for boys. However one understood that in western society, there is not a precise date to mark adolescence but it does mention a relatively prolong period in which young people are biologically adult but legally children. Nevertheless it is clear that the biological change is chares by every society. The explanation of the rebellious attitude of adolescents toward their parents could be due to the fact that the individual would like to resemble to the parents. They want to have the same authority and freedom as their parents. On the other hand, conformity in rule biding in Order, deviance and control are some of the basic realities in society. Order in society is the fact that individual can act and interact without major interruption. The definition of social order is the conformity to social norms and rules. Deviance occurs generally when rules are broken. Adolescents anti-social behaviour can be seen as a form of deviance. The main formal way to control adolescents deviance includes the police, the court, the prison, probation system and also the social worker. Durkheim ( ) a functionalist, insisted that order is important for the simple reason that it maintains the social equilibrium .Surely order is important for social life. However no-one have said that it is morally good of bad. It is how order is given which constitutes the major issues. Most authors recognised that adolescence is a transition stage which involves establishing a new identity. However, as individual experience things differently, one can stress that adolescence is not necessary a time of stress and bad behaviour. Other people have experienced a smooth transition from childhood to adolescence. Merton Marxist conclusion Ref: jann gumbiner (2003),Adolescent assessment Ref : Kate Wilson, Gillian Ruch ,Mark Lymbery, Andrew Cooper (2008), Social work (an introduction to contemporary practice), Pearson Education Limited. Ref : Richard Gross (2009) psychology the science of mind and behaviour, Hodder Arnold, 5th edition Ref: William E. Glassman(1995), approaches to psychology, open university press, 2nd edition. Ref : Haralambros and Holborn (2008), Sociology, Themes and Perspectives, Collins, seven edition Ref : Chris Beckett (2002), Human Growth and Development, Sage Publication Ltd, first edition. Mike O`Donnell (1997), Introduction to sociology, Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd, Fourth edition

The Nestle Policy On The Environment Environmental Sciences Essay

The Nestle Policy On The Environment Environmental Sciences Essay Over the past several decades, significant progress has been achieved towards protecting the worlds environment. This objective remains a fundamental duty and a collective responsibility that must be shared between the public, governments and the private sector. As the World Food Company, Nestlà © is dedicated to providing consumers with the best food throughout life. Our Companys primary function is the transformation of perishable raw materials into finished products that meet consumers expectations for safety, quality, convenience, and value. From our earliest days, we have recognized the need to protect the environment in our business activities. Exercising this commitment, which is part of our broader commitment towards the good of the community, remains central to our business today and tomorrow. The Nestlà © Policy on the Environment was published in 1991 to define our world-wide strategy on environmental issues and to state our long-standing commitment to environmentally sound business practices. It is communicated internally within the Nestlà © Group and externally to all interested parties and institutions. Following its publication, the Nestlà © Environmental Management System (NEMS) was established to consolidate all environmental measures taken by the Nestlà © Group. The NEMS is being implemented across our entire business. Today, preserving natural resources and minimizing waste has become a part of day-to-day business for our employees and is an integral part of our strategy to achieve global competitiveness. The 1999 update of the Nestlà © Policy on the Environment reiterates our strong environmental commitment and reflects our priorities as we move into the new millennium. It also recognises developments in the international environmental arena. The application of the Nestlà © Policy on the Environment at every level of our operation forms an essential part of the Nestlà © Corporate Business Principles and enables us to contribute to sustainable development meeting the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Research Development Nestlà ©s research and development centers have two primary objectives: to create new products and manufacturing processes and to improve those that already exist. Along with product quality and safety, the conservation of resources and the preservation of the environment form an integral part of the development criteria for new projects. Research and development encompasses a wide range of environmentally-related activities with emphasis on: environmentally sound production techniques and sourcing criteria for agricultural raw materials; processing methods that minimize water and energy consumption, as well as waste g eneration; packaging designs that reduce total waste and enable environmentally sound disposal options while safeguarding product safety and quality; and innovative ways to recover by-products and thus generate secondary raw materials and energy. For important product or process innovation and renovation, Nestlà ©s research and development centers prepare an environmental impact study. This covers significant aspects in the product life cycle, from the sourcing of raw materials, through processing, to the packaged consumer product and the end-life of the packaging material. This study is carefully evaluated, in conjunction with detailed information on the potential manufacturing site, to ensure that new projects meet Nestlà ©s environmental standards. Of the 807 million Swiss francs spent in 1998 on Nestlà © RD throughout the Group, a good part went towards enhancing the wholesomeness of our products. Additionally, these expenditures improved our production process, created better packaging, and avoided waste and unwanted residues. RD Is Making a Difference As an example, significant progress has been made in recent years in energy and water intensive blanching and cooking operations. At the end of these processes water must be removed which resulted in wasted energy and raw materials vegetables or pasta for example. Now water is replaced by steam at low pressure. As a result, water consumption was reduced by 80% and product losses during cooking were more than halved. This means lower costs for energy and for wastewater treatment, while at the same time increasing the product yield by 6%. In another example, extraction residues from the production of chicory-based instant drinks, which were expensive to dispose of, have been turned into a valuable animal feed ingredient. A recent processing improvement for french fries showed product quality can be significantly improved while also saving energy. One conclusion of RD is that what is good for the environment is often synonymous with good industrial practice. Preserving Species The disappearance of many species and varieties of animals and plants is a reality. Over the past few years, this issue has attracted increasing recognition and much is being done today to preserve the earths biological diversity. Industry plays an important role in these efforts since many business sectors depend on natures diversity for their sustainable success. Nestlà ©, as the worlds largest single buyer of coffee and cocoa, lives up to its responsibility by developing the most advanced preservation techniques for many different coffee and cocoa varieties threatened by extinction. In addition, Nestlà © collaborates with public research institutes to share its experience and makes its results freely available. In the future, Nestlà © RD units are determined to build environmental protection into products and processes right from the start. High on the agenda are integrated farming techniques involving minimal use of fertilizers and chemicals, and recourse to biological pest control methods whenever possible. SUPPLY CHAIN Agricultural Raw Materials In general, Nestlà © is not directly involved in the production of raw materials. Wherever possible, locally available raw materials are used. They are either obtained directly from producers or purchased through trade channels. Nestlà © applies the following principles when sourcing raw materials: all raw materials must meet both legal and internal quality criteria, including limits on possible environmental contaminants; whenever possible, preference is given to raw materials that are produced by environmentally sound farming methods (e.g. integrated crop management); and; farmers are encouraged to apply sustainable farming methods and, where appropriate, are provided with assistance in crop production and dairy farming. Such assistance includes the provision of recommendations for the conservation of natural resources (soil, water, air, energy, bio-diversity) and techniques for reducing environmental impact. Manufacturing Manufacturing comprises all processes that are necessary to transform perishable raw materials into safe and convenient food products for consumers. Nestlà © strives to achieve optimal performance in its manufacturing activities, including the environmental aspects. As such, the manufacturing practices of the Group: respect natural resources by emphasizing the efficient use of raw materials, water and energy; minimize the use of environmentally-hazardous substances; continuously seek improvement in the efficiency of production facilities; and reduce waste generation and emissions as much as possible, consider recycling of waste a priority and dispose of non-recyclable waste in an environmentally sound manner. Regular environmental assessments of Nestlà ©s manufacturing practices are conducted to: evaluate factory performance; review factory compliance with applicable legislation and Nestlà ©s own standards; fully investigate incidents that could affect the environment and take relevant measures; and compare results with previous targets and set new improvement objectives. In addition, Nestlà © exchanges information on environmental protection technology and practices in order to ensure a wide use of best practices. Nestlà © encourages its contract manufacturers to use environmentally sound manufacturing practices. Environmental Performance of Our Factories Minimizing the environmental impact of our factories has always been a prime consideration. Therefore, we periodically review environmental performance of the entire Nestlà © Group. The results are very encouraging: Nestlà © has no major environmental problems. Nestlà © complies with relevant regulations or, in a few exceptional cases, has initiated action to do so. Measures taken are proactive and often anticipate future regulations. Many times, measures taken to improve the environment also reduce costs. These surveys also allow us to put concrete figures to our efforts: Over the past years, Nestlà © has invested an average of some 100 million Swiss francs per year in specific measures to protect the environment. This amounts to approximately 3% of total capital expenditure and includes only readily identifiable environmental investments. In addition, substantial amounts were expended as part of regular capital investment projects and factory environmental operating costs. Examples of these additional expenditures include environmental aspects related to factory construction and renovation, environmental training of personnel, and maintenance costs for wastewater treatment facilities. Recent Environmental Investment The factory environmental surveys are a valuable management tool which are periodically repeated as part of the Nestlà © Environmental Management System (NEMS). Water, Our Top Priority Nestlà © engineers and factory planners have pioneered wastewater treatment the world over. Whenever factories went up, often in remote locations of developing countries, where neither local expectations nor legislation required environmental safeguards of any kind, appropriate wastewater treatment was provided. Nearly 30 million Swiss francs have been invested annually over the past few years in wastewater treatment facilities. While we can be genuinely proud of these achievements around the world, we continue to upgrade existing plants and build new ones where necessary. Examples of Nestlà ©s substantial investments in this area are: As early as 1920 Nestlà © had constructed and started the operation of a wastewater treatment plant in Kempttal near Zurich. At that time it included a settling basin and trickling filter. 1932 saw the addition of a biological component which constituted Switzerlands first wastewater treatment plant operating with activated sludge, a principle still used today. An 80% reduction in water consumption of some cooking processes through an extensive RD project. A facility in Himeji, Japan, serving one of the largest instant coffee factories in the world, was rightly considered a model installation when it was built almost 30 years ago, and thousands of Japanese water treatment specialists have visited it over the years. A facility in Dongguan, China has established itself as a model for wastewater treatment. It too is visited regularly by Chinese wastewater specialists. Reducing Air Emissions Another important investment area is for air protection. The biggest environmental investments over the past few years went into the conversion of heating units from heavy fuel to natural gas. When these conversions can be used to install combined steam and power generation systems; impressive energy savings are achieved in addition to environmental benefits. Therefore, we favor these co-generation plants wherever feasible. Co-generation processes are much more efficient than conventional power plants and therefore usually lead to a significant, global reduction in both energy consumption and release of greenhouse gases. Nestlà © currently operates over 10 co-generation facilities throughout the world. Co-generation examples are: At the Nestlà © Gerona plant in Spain, the co-generation system, commissioned in 1991, reduced gas consumption by 3600 tons of oil, equivalent per year, and decreased overall carbon dioxide emissions by 8000 tons annually. The savings at the York factory in Britain, where a coal-fired boiler house has been replaced by a gas turbine co-generation plant, are very impressive. Carbon dioxide output was reduced from 131,000 tons per year to 59,000 tons per year. Additionally, sulfur dioxide emissions are completely avoided at the factory level (650 tons per year) and cut by more than half, from 1059 to 436 tons, at the level of the supplying national power station. Phasing Out Ozone-Damaging CFCs The characteristics of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) make them suitable for a wide range of refrigeration and air conditioning applications necessary for many of Nestlà ©s manufacturing processes. However, there is evidence that they contribute to the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer. This has led to several inter-governmental agreements to phase out the use of CFCs. Nestlà © anticipated this phase out early and has established a detailed CFC phase-out program to replace CFCs used in industrial refrigeration systems with non-CFC alternatives. To date, Nestlà © has reduced its CFC emissions by more than 80% of 1986 levels. We are committed to continuing to address the issue of ozone-depleting substances and further improve these dramatic results. Recovering Solid Waste Landfills in many countries are rapidly approaching their limits, thus becoming a costly and cumbersome problem. However, Nestlà © has stopped looking at solid waste as part of the problem, but as part of the solution. Solid waste has become a valuable raw material when recycled, composted or used for fuel in energy recovery processes. Coffee grounds, which are a by-product of instant coffee manufacturing, is a case in point: Much of the investment related to solid waste is earmarked to build coffee ground energy-recovery systems that use the coffee grounds energy value to produce steam for our factories. In Raja Muda, Malaysia we installed this state-of-the-art machinery, the first of its kind in Asia, outside Japan. Now coffee grounds are used as fuel. Thus, for every 100 tons of coffee grounds we save the equivalent of about 40 tons of fossil fuel. The decision to develop and install this energy-recovery system is typical for how Nestlà © anticipates problems and pioneers solutions. Additionally, in some markets factory solid wastes are composted to produce a high quality soil amendment product. In some cases this product is packaged and sold for use as a 1natural fertilizer. In New Milford Connecticut, USA Nestlà © built a state of the art composting facility that processes both solid and liquid wastes, sludges, and by-products from its local factories, co-packers, and distribution centers. Additionally, the composting facility provides a solution to the local community for disposal of landscaping and gardening wastes, which are banned from landfills in that area. This facility recycles more than 50,000 tons of waste materials annually, preventing them from going to landfills. Packaging Packaging serves a major role in our daily lives. It protects food products from spoilage and ensures safety from manufacture through storage, distribution and consumption. Packaging may also provide tamper-evidence features. It communicates information, including nutritional information and serving instructions, and provides the convenience demanded by todays consumers. Nestlà © is committed to reducing the environmental impact of packaging, without jeopardizing the safety, quality or consumer acceptance of its products. It is Nestlà ©s objective to develop safe and wholesome packaged foods using the most efficient and appropriate packaging materials available, while, at the same time, satisfying consumer requirements and expectations. Nestlà © seeks packaging solutions that: result in the lowest possible weight and volume of packages; take into account new packaging materials and processes that reduce the impact on the environment; avoid the use of substances that can adversely impact the environment during packaging production and disposal; decrease packaging waste at all stages, including package manufacturing, use and disposal; increase the use of recycled materials wherever possible; and increase the recyclability and compatibility of its packages with existing packaging waste management schemes. Regular assessments of Nestlà ©s packaging are carried out and action plans are implemented. Nestlà © supports industrial and governmental efforts to promote integrated waste management that takes into consideration matters such as source reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, energy recovery, and landfill. Nestlà © encourages suppliers of its packaging materials to adopt sound environmental practices. Packaging Source Reduction Packaging waste is one environmental issue that affects the entire consumer goods industry. However, the gap is wide between reality and perception: While food packaging accounts for less than 1% of total solid waste in most countries, it is highly visible to consumers. Even if the problem of food packaging is small in relation to overall environmental problems, it is nevertheless an important issue for Nestlà ©. The most direct opportunity to reduce the scale of the problem is to use as little material as possible. This is not a recent effort by the food industry. Over the last four decades, between the 1950s and 1990s, the weight of a glass milk bottle has been reduced by 36%, a steel food can by 66%, and an aluminium beer can by 81%. Even though packaging source reduction has always been a consideration, we decided to reinforce these efforts in a more systematic way. The first world-wide environmental packaging survey was completed in 1991 for the Nestlà © Group and has been repeated annually ever since. The last survey revealed that by the end of 1998, Nestlà ©, without compromising product quality, reduced our use of packaging materials by nearly 150,000 tons compared to 1990. These reductions resulted in savings of approximately 250 million Swiss francs. Cumulative Reductions in Packaging Materials Examples of Packaging Source Reduction A few recent examples that underline Nestlà ©s efforts: In Australia the Easter Egg Novelty cartons were reduced in size by altering the design to provide support for the egg. The new design resulted in a 31% reduction in use of paper board. In Pakistan the Nestlà © NIDO package, which consisted of 4 bags in a display box, was replaced by an aluminium stand-up pouch. This resulted in a 39% reduction, or 47 tons, and saves 290,000 Swiss francs per year. In Indonesia the Nestlà © Dancow 200 and 400g display boxes were reduced in size by 18 and 25%, respectively. This resulted in a waste reduction of 38 tons and saved nearly 100,000 Swiss francs per year. In Columbia the display box for Maggi bouillon tablets was eliminated. This resulted in a reduction of 303 tons of packaging material and represented a savings of over one million Swiss francs per year. While important progress has already been achieved, we strive to continuously identify opportunities for further reduction. Distribution Distribution of products from the factory to the customer involves transport and storage. Efficient management of the distribution system is essential to preserve the safety and quality of Nestlà ©s products, to ensure a high level of customer service, and to meet its commitment to environmentally sound business practices. To this end, Nestlà ©: selects appropriate transportation modes, with particular attention given to optimum unit loads (pallets), vehicle-capacity utilization, route planning, and consolidation with outside partners, scheduling, and fuel conservation; optimises warehouse and distribution center locations and environmentally efficient operational systems; and identifies and implements measures to reduce energy consumption and waste. Nestlà © encourages its distribution service providers to use environmentally sound practices. Distributing our goods from factory to retail centers consumes some 400 million liters of fuel each year. While we undertake every effort to reduce this, it is useful to put this figure into perspective: the distribution of 10 kg of our products from factories to retail outlets in Europe requires an average of 0.25 liters of fuel. To transport the same amount from the supermarket to home, consumers burn, on average, one to two liters of fuel. Efficient Container Loading Improving transport efficiency benefits the environment, but it also makes economic sense. Seemingly simple measures, such as replacing bulky wooden pallets by thin, carton-type slip-sheets, have the potential to save more than 600 international truck journeys a year in our European operations alone. Optimizing shipping cases to fill transport vehicles without leaving gaps between differently shaped containers, together with optimal route planning, Nestlà © has already achieved substantial savings. Pioneering Rail Transport In countries with competitive railways, moving goods from road to rail is an effective option to reduce road congestion. For example: Vittel has developed a specially adapted block train concept to supply its regional terminals in France. Vittel transports nearly half of its production, or over 930 million bottles per year, by rail. Our Swiss, and later the Austrian subsidiary, convinced the railways to offer overnight trains to bring goods from the national distribution centers to terminal stations for local deliveries by road. Marketing Marketing is based on the principle of satisfying consumers needs. The overall trust of consumers in Nestlà ©s brands and products comes from a quality image that has been continuously strengthened for over 130 years. Nestlà © strives to increase this trust through its commitment to environmentally sound business practices. For this reason, Nestlà ©: opposes short-term, opportunistic green marketing that can mislead the consumer; bases environmental claims in advertising, promotional material, labelling, and corporate communications on solid scientific evidence; and selects materials and printing methods for merchandising materials such as consumer offers, in-store promotions, display materials, leaflet, and printed materials in light of environmental considerations. No Green Marketing Nestlà © adheres to the Code on Environmental Advertising established by the International Chamber of Commerce. This Code is based on the principle of self-regulation and self-discipline and is intended to assist companies in making responsible use of environmental claims in advertising. Sustainable Development For Nestlà ©, respect for the environment is part of a broader perspective on sustainable development. Nestlà © has adhered to The Business Charter for Sustainable Development of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) since its publication in 1991. Measures for environmental protection often trigger beneficial economic and social effects, and vice-versa. Since the Rio Summit in 1992, all of society, be it governments, industry, NGOs or others, have tried to translate the sustainable development concept into reality. As part of this effort, we participate in the work of several organizations dealing with this subject: For example, we are a founding member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in Geneva, and we contribute actively in the Working Group Sustainable Development in the City of Vevey. Nestlà © Working with Communities South Africa Nestlà © is supporting several community-based organizations in putting sustainable development into practice. Recently, in South Africa, we have given support to Eco Link and LEAP to finance and help manage programs which clean up the environment and improve hygiene in rural areas. The Eco Link project is aimed at providing assistance through education. People are taught to collect litter such as paper, cardboard and cans, which when put in a trench and covered with a compost can then be used to plant vegetables. The litter provides the necessary drainage and moisture retention. The project has dual advantages: it cleans up the environment and provides fresh vegetables for the family, as well as providing an income when surplus food is grown. This program is now being presented to school children who are encouraged to grow small gardens at school. In rural areas water supply is a major problem. Women can spend almost 5 hours a day collecting water for the home. In addition, the springs from which they take the water are often used by animals and can be polluted. Nestlà © is taking part in a project to help villagers establish a supply of clean water near to home. People were taught how to identify sources of underground springs and to channel rain water and store it in reasonably hygienic conditions. The team taught villagers how to construct a tank to catch the rain water using corrugated iron and wire mesh as a mould which is then plastered with a cement, stone and sand mixture. With a wooden cover on top and a tap at the base the villagers have the means to store clean, drinkable water. Information, Communication Training Nestlà © provides information on its activities, including those related to the protection of the environment. Within this context, Nestlà ©: communicates its environmental efforts, both inside and outside the Company, to build understanding concerning its environmental commitment; fosters strong environmental awareness and responsibility among its employees through training programs; and shares environmental information with governments, local communities, industry, consumers and other interested stakeholders. We do this through a wide variety of means. For example, our factory environmental surveys involve thousands of people at all levels, from top management to the factory floor. These practical exercises are reinforced by in-house magazines, specialized newsletters, and videos. To help educate the public, Nestlà © works with organizations that produce films on environmental issues, sponsor re-forestation programs, or create educational materials for the public. These activities are also important to our role in sustainable development. At our international training center in Switzerland, environmental issues are now a regular part of courses attended by Nestlà ©s international executives. These efforts are multiplied by countless training sessions organized by our Group companies. Internal communication and training are a priority for Nestlà ©. As a people-driven company, employees are our most important asset. Thus, we emphasize all measures that help them act in an environmentally responsible manner.

Essay on The Holy Bible - Book of Job as an Attempt to Justify the Acti

The Book of Job: An Attempt to Justify the Actions of a Omnipotent, Childlike God  Ã‚   The Book of Job from the Old Testament is a story in which an attempt is made by the Hebrew author to justify the unjustifiable actions of a seemingly malevolent god. The questioning by Job as to why the "good" must suffer is induced by a childish challenge, put forth by Satan and accepted by God, to test the loyalty of Job toward God. The uncharacteristic actions of a supposedly omni benevolent God must be justified in the eyes of his followers, and in the process of doing so, God is made to look like nothing more than an omnipotent child. The Book of Job can be separated into four natural divisions. For the sake of simplicity one must analyze each section separately. The first section is comprised of chapters one and two and contains the challenge made to God by Satan. The second section of the book, chapters three through thirty-seven, contains Job's questioning of God's conduct and the attempt to account for these actions by the three men known as the "Comforters"; Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Chapters thirty-eight through forty-two are the third section. These chapters are where one finds a dialogue between God and Job in which God explains the rationale behind his actions. The forth and final section of The Book of Job is found at the end of chapter forty-two and is the attempt at justification of God's actions. The work can be analyzed more effectively when one looks at each of these sections individually. In section one God is issued a challenge by Satan. God tells Satan, "Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man..." God is "rubbing it in" to Satan and telling hi... ...did not resist Satan's temptation. By not knowing Job would curse him, God disproved omniscience. The cruelty on the part of God, justified or not, is confirmation against omni benevolence. God's actions are not only out of the presupposed nature associated with and taught, but they also show God to be childlike in his actions. God plays a game with the life of Job and later thinks he can make everything better by giving Job twice as much as he had before. These are not the actions or attitude of a perfect entity. The Book of Job is a failed attempt at the justification of the unjustifiable acts of the Christian God. The questions asked by Job as to why the "good" must suffer are eternal. Although written in the Fifth Century BC, the questions are still being posed today. Although a failed attempt, the book is still a relevant and entertaining piece of literature.

Ashes of Izalco-bookr report :: essays research papers

ASHES OF IZALCO By Claribal Alegria and Darwin J. Flakoll   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I found the beginning of this book quite confusing. I had a difficult time discerning who the main characters were and what was the plot. I also wasn’t quite sure when the Mother had died and it wasn’t until later that I realized the reason that Carmen was present was because she had traveled home for her mother’s funeral. However, once I got into the book and started to put the characters in context, I really began to enjoy it. This book has very sad overtones. It is concerned with the human struggle for happiness in life, or maybe just contentment. Just about every main character, present and past, seems to be involved in some inner turmoil. Carmen is struggling with her own identity and her unhappiness in her marriage to Paul. She feels she plays a role of dutiful wife as she was brought up to be, but that the marriage really has no strong foundation and she and her husband have nothing in common. Possibly a repetition of her parents’ marriage? She admits to being convinced by her husband to have an abortion. This must have been very traumatic to reconcile with her Catholic upbringing as she refers to it as â€Å"a crime†. She is searching throughout the narrative for answers to her questions. What has become of her? What should she do about her marriage? Her father? And one of the most pressing questions is her struggle to understand why her has mother left the diary to her? There are no clear answers for Carmen. As she searches for answers she is also experiencing the very early stages of the grieving process. She is angry. She doesn’t like at all that her mother has altered her view of her as a parent. Don’t we all think that our parents never make mistakes or have questions in their own lives? If Isabel had left the marriage when she was a child, Carmen would have been forced to deal with the issue of an imperfect world with imperfect people. As she travels through some very poignant reminiscences, she admits to her own self-absorption as a child. As an adult, she reflects on now seeing her parents more clearly as individuals. I, too, have personally had this experience in seeing parents differently from the adult perspective. Carmen appears to be wearing a mask in her own relationship that shows a repetition of her mother’s life.