Benefits of Effective Leadership in 21st Century Organization-HR Dissertation - 1

Benefits of Effective Leadership in 21st Century Organization-HR - Dissertation Example The other methodological components discussed here include the sample selection, the statistical procedures that were used, not to mention the ethical considerations and methodological limitations that were considered. The overall intent is to deepen the insight and understanding of the reader as to this study’s internal and external validity. 3.2 Research Approach It is necessary to discuss the research approach, to understand the rationale behind its choice. In particular, the present study aims to use a purely quantitative study in determining the benefits of leadership to 21st century enterprises. Quantitative studies are positive in nature, and so aim to further understand a phenomenon of interest by taking it and then separating it into smaller, simpler parts for greater structure and ease of measurement (Bernard 2006). These separate parts are analyzed on their own, hopefully promoting general understanding of the bigger picture with the help of universal laws. This particular study focuses on the benefits of effective leadership to contemporary organisations. Such quantitative methods are arguably the best choice for researchers hampered by time and resource limitations, due to their remarkable clarity, as well as their straightforward and well-structured nature. Given a scientifically valid survey, research objectives can easily be met , and a large amount of data can be culled from a vast sample with only minimal effort (Gall, Borg & Gall 2003). These data, gathered from the respondents – in this case, the HR representatives of contemporary organisations – serve as the primary data. Moreover, it was important for the researcher to ensure the questionnaire’s validity and reliability prior to its deployment, to ensure correspondingly valid research outcomes (Bryman 2001). Quantitative methods often boast of a plethora of advantages compared to qualitative ones, but also have a number of flaws as well. For one thing, quantitative methods are not usually known for being flexible, nor are they generally capable of gathering detailed data on their own. On the other hand, qualitative research methods can generally be adequate even with just a single case being investigated, assuming that said investigation was in-depth (Sekaran 2000). Regardless, though, quantitative methods are still the more advis able choice for researchers who lack manpower and resources (Johnson & Turner 2002) for data gathering and analyses. 3.3 Research Strategy The purpose of this study is to examine the perceived benefits of effective leadership to various organisations, all by using purely quantitative methods. Specifically, the survey that was used for this study is the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire. The point of a survey is that specific information is collected on a given population, and their effectiveness and efficiency help to explain why researchers the world over have used them to great effect. For instance, researchers found such methods well-suited for denoting the specific traits of their population, and for gathering huge amounts of data while expending only minimal time, effort and resources (Gall et al 2003). The general idea behind a survey is to gather data with the intent of deepening familiarity with the phenomenon of interest, and with its related constructs – in this case, the perceived benefits of effective leadership to modern-day organisations. Such a method also has the best results when one’s sample size is larger, and when one desires to tackle the constructs of interest systematically and in a structured manner (Bryman 2001). Questionnaires are typically pencil-and-paper instruments, either mailed to

Product realisation & materials Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Product realisation & materials - Assignment Example The most widely used types of springs around the globe are usually the helical compression springs. It can be applied in various practical areas. Due to this fact, appropriate and highly valued designs should be put into dire considerations in due course of the manufacturing process. The basic factors that should be duly looked at include spring’s stability, spring relaxation, and surge in spring, strain energy, fatigue loading and other basic design processes. Laser melting  refers to an  additive manufacturing  process that utilizes 3D  CAD data as the ultimate source of digital information as well as the energy that results in form of high-powered laser beams; towards creation of 3-dimensional metal segments through fusing together of fine  metal particles  (MOHAMED A.E. SALEH and ADHAM E. RAGAB, 2013). The manufacturing process usually starts by first slicing the  file data into a number of layers that often revolves between twenty to a hundred micrometres in terms of thickness, hence establishing a 2D image for each layer (MOHAMED A.E. SALEH and ADHAM E. RAGAB, 2013).The file is then put into a package of file preparation software that hence assigns values, parameters and supports that will allow for file interpretation and built by various types of manufacturing machines. This kind of spring manufacturing process tends to melt the thin layers of the fine metal particles that are distributed evenly by use of a coating mechanism. This often involves the act of fastening a substrate plate that usually exists in a metallic nature, into an indexing table moving in a vertical axis. The entire process takes place within a chamber that contains a tightly controlled atmospheric nature of an inert gas. After the constant distribution of each and every layer, each geometric slice of 2D layer is fused through selective application of a highly-powered laser beam. The applied laser energy is often more intense to

Leadership programs in First National Bank

Leadership programs in First National Bank The researcher intends to present the case of Leadership programs in First National Bank in a South African context. The leadership of First National Bank is Inspirational like many other South African organizations however the attempt of transformation has made the interesting in the view of researcher. Researcher has also prompted a unique style of research method that can best describe the case with maximum practical knowledge and implementations comparisons of various leadership aspects. A methodological design is formed by the researcher basing on the issues like data sources and methods of data generation that are potentially available, and the Ontology of the methods that the researcher had prepared a design with. The idea of the researcher in using the team Ontology is to get the nature of reality and human behavior, however lack of positivism still exists in Ontology. Multiple scientific methods and techniques are taken into consideration by the researcher to better present the case problems. According to the researchers methodological design the paradigm, methodology, methods and findings is found both qualitative and quantitative. Combining methods by mixing qualitative and quantitative methods is becoming increasingly popular in leadership research as well as in other disciplines (Klenke, 2008). There are theories drawn by various authors basing on the purposes, sources and analyses. Kezar (2002) proposes Positionality theory to explore how gender, race/ethnicity, level of administrator, and the role of a leader within the organization affect the way the leader constructs images of leadership. Positionality theory Author Purpose Data sources Analysis Kezar (2002) To examine how positionality (e.g. race, gender, etc) relate to the construction of leadership Interviews, document analysis, reports, observations, analysis of physical environment Interpretive Basing on the positionality theory, it is understood that the researcher have followed the structure of the methodological design with an interrelation of qualitative and quantitative research. There are 5 main steps followed by the researcher in the research process: Defining research questions and research methodology Research methods basing on the case selection Design research tools Collecting and coding primary data Analyzing primary and secondary data and interpret findings The literature review of the researcher has all major fact findings about the research topic and established strong background knowledge about different theoretical concepts. The researcher was successful in achieving triangulation of research methods by using all major data collection methods like observation, interviews, document analysis. It is ensure by the researcher that the triangulation of data sources was followed in all three different steps: Management issues, looking FNB in a bigger context FNBs internal issues. An overview of Leadership in Organizations South African Leadership and its Styles: Leadership is widely discussed and studied but continues to remain an elusive and hazy topic. Knowing leadership is always when it is experienced (Rosenbach, 2006). Bratton defines leadership as influencing, motivating and enabling others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members (Bratton, 2007). The importance of concept of leadership has started increasing it value in modern times in organizations especially when the organizations are concerned in developing strong work culture, and building high performance sustainable work practices. There have been many arguments about the interrelationship between management and leadership functions; management is associated with words like planning, organizing, coordinating implementing where as leadership revolve around vision, charisma, change agent and motivation. Traditionally there are 2 types of leaderships; Transactional Leadership and Transformational Leadership. (Taylor, 2006) Transactional Leadership: It is the equitable transaction or exchange between leader and followers where by the leader influences the followers by focusing on the self interests of both. Transactional leadership is considered as good managerial leadership skill that is used basing on the situations that can result in good performance. Transformational Leadership: The transformational leader motivates followers to perform beyond expectations by creating awareness about the importance of vision and mission. Transformational leaders enable followers to transform purpose into action. Individual organizations prefer to choose they style of leadership basing on the organizations culture and environment. According to Matthew Valle; WLQ Report [Accessed on 12th December 2010] Leadership process in stable environment: Leadership Processes Train workers to anticipate problems Outcomes Performance Satisfaction Absenteeism Turnover Anticipatory culture Work Processes Anticipatory culture Routine Problems Stable environment Leadership process in turbulent environment Leadership Processes Train workers to adapt to problems Routine Problems (crisis) turbulent environment Outcomes Performance Satisfaction less Absenteeism fewer turnovers Anticipatory culture Work Processes Adaptive culture (Mathew Valle, 2002) Therefore of the public organizations are operating in turbulent environments, the need of study in a stabilizing environment demands leadership processes to hold the control accordingly. Since 1994 South Africa has experienced dramatic changes both on a political as well as economic front, brought about by globalisation as well as a new political dispensation in SA. Discrimination during the apartheid era excluded Africans, Asians and Coloureds from the economy, resulting in little organisational leadership skills development amongst excluded races. After Democracy in 1994, labour legislation was implemented to redress the inequalities in society; these measures include, amongst others, Affirmative Action. Further complicating the current organisational environment is: South Africa is a blend of the 1st and 3rd world economy. The shortage of skilled African workers/managers, with lucrative offerings especially African males, lead to job-hopping. Corruption, nepotism and culturalism. (To appoint from own culture, chief of a tribe inherited by birth not based on leadership skills), political appointments, perceptions and stereotyping along racial and gender lines have high impact on the organizational leadership attitude.. All these factors influence the type of leadership that is appointed and how diversity is managed in the modern South African organisations. Other social issues such as changes in education, health systems, HIV/AIDS, housing, poverty, increased crime rate and many others, affecting the organization and employee that function within this social framework. According to Tinus Burgers, (Burgers, 2003) South Africa is just beginning to wake up from the post 1994 euphoria where whites were desperately trying to expand their blackness through toyi-toying and singing Shosoloza while black people erroneously believed that white stuff will simply disappear. There are still very deep felt differences and distrust between races making leadership in diverse organisations very challenging. After democratic elections in 1994 sanctions against South Africa were lifted. South Africa emerged as a global player that has to adapt to global trends in order to be competitive. The accelerated rate of technological development necessitates quick adjustment and the need to move away from traditional management practices. The effect of technology (electronic networks, cellular telephones, etc.), transcends national, geographical, time and organisational boundaries, increase in availability of information, influences employees and organisational behaviour as employees have to face massive and accelerated changes (Weeks, 2003). These rapid changes in the global environment and the South African situation challenged the recreation of society at all levels. According to Nkomo this recreation ranges from individuals changing identities and roles to the transformation of major social institutions and financial institutions. In sum, the leadership challenge for South African organisations is: Retiring old thinking systems in parallel with creating new ones against the reality of high speed globalization and informationalism (Nkomo, 2004). The African model of leadership differs from that of the West. Self-reliance and self-interest are subservient to ethnicity and group loyalty. Interpersonal relations are placed above individual achievements. Wealth is first of all extended family wealth and then ethnic or tribal wealth, often to the expense of the organisation (Blunt, 1996). Ethnic cleavages can affect the performance of the organisation. Leadership is paternalistic of nature. Leaders bestow favours and expect and receive obedience and deference, with consensus playing a major role in decision-making resulting in decision making within levels to be taking a long time. There is also a great capacity for tolerance and forgiveness (Blunt, 1996). It was found that the leadership style in Africa is authoritarian, personalised, politicised and a high power distance, with power concentrated at the top. In this context, the leaders job becomes one of operationalising directions received from above, making them clear to subo rdinates and providing advice and support. African leaders are therefore overwhelmingly concerned about the quality of hierarchical relationship with their superiors, rather than with individual or organisational effectiveness. This degree of dependence on seniors by the more junior individuals is seen as normal (Blunt, 1996). There is a masculine dominance across all ethnic groups. Managerial ideologies tend to reflect unitarist ideas seeing the organisation as a cohesive team (happy family) with the emphasis on loyalty and conflict avoidance, emphasizing UBUNTU (humaneness), group decision making and interdependence. Managerial styles reflect both Western values based on individualism and meritocracy and an authoritarian legacy of apartheid and colonialism. From a followers perspective Africans prefer a leader that is kind, considerate and understanding to one who is too dynamic, productive and demanding. Leaders are seen to possess genuine authority but are expected by their subordinates to use it sparingly and in a humane and considerate way (Blunt, 1996). From the above views it is understood that, to build a new South Africa, African concepts had to be reviewed that get to an end to apartheid. The case First National Bank. [Accessed 12th December 2010] The idea of the researcher in choosing a Financial Services Industry in South Africa like FNB is definitely a unique challenge. Firstrand is the 2nd largest banking institution that is born from the merger of Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), Momentum, First National Bank (FNB) and southern life in 1998. Firstrand is divided into 3 main business areas: banking (First National Bank and Rand Merchant Bak), insurance (Momentum), and health. According to exhibit 1 produces in the case Firstrand additionally divides its earnings into four clusters: Retail, corporate, wealth and health. South Africa has its unique challenges in terms of handling leadership in an African way. The leadership style in South Africa is inspirational and the relation between both the leadership have may common elements. African leadership is focused more on community, where as in inspirational leadership the focus is on individuals. Relationship Diagram Inspiration African Spirit Spirit Interconnectedness Described by African principles like Spirituality UBUNTU INDABA ISITHUNZI INSPIRATIONAL LEADERSHIP AFRICAN LEADERSHIP First National bank: Inspirational Leadership in South African context [case handout] Inspirational Leadership: Spirit and Spirituality were referred as the important aspects of inspirational leadership by the researcher basing on the South African context. High performance and innovative organizations require Inspirational leadership, stronger management skills, a highly-trained and motivated workforce, a flexible labor market that promotes diversity and fair treatment, and workplaces that recognize environmental issues and the need for greater resource productivity. Inspirational Leadership in South Africa involves the terms spirit and spirituality in handling leaderships in organizations. The leaders often tend to inspire their followers basing on the cultural values that are strongly routed in South Africa. This is one of the problems of First National Bank. FNB being into global operations, there will be many employees that will be not based from the South African culture and survival and acceptance of the work environment and implementing leadership in those prospective will become extre mely difficult. Ad defined earlier Transforming the leadership style become important, although the relationship between Inspirational and African spirit is closely associated. Anderson (1999) illustrates a graphical representation that best describes the leadership relationship: Effective learning organizations Build healthy communities High-performance teams build Successful learning organizations Effective team leaders build High performance teams Personal and interpersonal development Builds effective team members and leaders Self leadership leads to Individual and team success (Anderson, 1999) African Spirit: There are certain deep routed principles of leadership indulged in to African spirit like; UBUNTU, INDABA, VUKA. UBUNTU is the people based leadership style. This is the traditional social African philosophy of humanism which says caring for the people fist. INDABA-openness and inter-ethnic harmony in stating individual opinions is referred as INDABA. VUKA-A wake up and free yourself concept. The relationship between Inspirational Leadership and African spirit lies in African Renaissance: humanism that is referred as a system of thought that regards humans of being capable of using their intelligence to live their lives rather than relying on religious beliefs and collectivism is the ownership of land, business or industry by the people or state. A balance between individualism and collectivism has developed an integrated approach to leadership Issue: Due to cultural differences internally and externally within the organization, First National bank have decided to address these things immediately, which could be a cause of losing business in the near future. As soon as the decision is made, First Rand appointed two new leaders in FNB to address the cultural and leadership issues in the changing environment. A complex restructuring process was bought into shape that focuses mainly on the revenue growth with less cost. The result of the process is expected to be the improvement in customer service through transforming their leadership styles with in employees. The VUKA Program (Wake up): The idea of the program is to transform the company from an isolation mode of to common vision and mission within the organization. Transformational process in a company is about taking a company from an old state of being to new state of being. The senior management of the company has decided to involve them as the first step to make a difference to the program; the idea is to get every single staff member directly involved into the program as the main principle. The goal of the program is to create a work place community of new South Africans from different backgrounds. The first session of VUKA program were designed for 2 days involving topics like Barrier breaking, emptying, visioning, re-visioning, leadership and accountability and understanding the change. Merits on the program: Limitations on the program: The focus on the first days workshop session is on topics like Barrier breaking, emptying, visioning, re-visioning, leadership and accountability and understanding the change. The result of the goal of the program d Klenke, K. (2008) Mixed methods in leadership research, Qualitative research in the study of leadership. Emerald Group Publication Ltd. Bingley. pp 155-157. Kezar (2002) cited in Klenke, K. (2008) Mixed methods in leadership research, Qualitative research in the study of leadership. Emerald Group Publication Ltd. Bingley. p 163. Rosenbach, E. (2006) The heart of Leadership. Contemporary issues in leadership. 6th ed. Westview press. Cambridge, P. 1. Bratton, J (2007) Leadership, Work and Organizational behavior. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. p 131. Valle, M (2002) Cited in Rosenbach, E. (2006) Leadership and culture in public organizations. Contemporary issues in leadership. 6th ed. Westview press. Cambridge, P. 66-67. Burger, T. (2003). South Africa: musing of an ordinary citizen Part II. Management Today, June 2003. P. 16 Weeks, R. (2003). ICT and business strategy: two sides of the same coin. Management Today, June 2003. Nkomo, S. M. (2004). Leadership Dynamics. Strategic management and organizational dynamics: the challenge of complexity, 4th ed. Pp226-228. Blunt, P Merrick, L.J. (1998). Cited in ed. by Lennart, W. Jerker, C. Henock, K. Institution building and leadership in Africa, p. 186. First National Bank [online image]. Available from: https://www.fnb.co.za/about-fnb/about-us/about-us-overview.html [Accesses 12th December 2010]. MLQ Report [online image]. Available from http://www.tlcc.biz/transformational_leadership_assessment.htm [Accessed 12th December 2010]. Anderson, T (1999) Transforming Leadership and the promise of Leadership organization, Transforming Leadership. Blackwell publishing, British Library. P. 11

The Truth about Cannibalism Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Paper

The Truth about Cannibalism Typical Western thought directs people to examine the practices of cannibalism as savage and primitive. More often than not, this type of association exists because the people viewing the action are frightened and confused by that which they do not understand. In fact, some would even claim that, â€Å"cannibalism is merely a product of European imagination† (Barker, 2), thereby completely denying its existence. The belief that cannibalism goes against â€Å"human instinct†, as seen in many literary works including Tarzan, reduces those who practice it to being inhuman. (Barker, 1) However, scientific findings demonstrate that those who practice cannibalism are still human despite their difference in beliefs; therefore, not only can rationalization be extrapolated from those who practice the act of cannibalism, but also denying the fact of the participant’s very humanity has been undermined through scientific findings. The spectrum of logic behind cannibalism is wide in scope and varies in each tribe. In Africa there are a number of cannibalistic tribes, the two most notable being the Fang and Azande tribes. The Fang tribe occupied the Gabun district north of the Ogowh River in the French Congo. According to Mary Kingsley, â€Å"The Fang is not a cannibal for sacrificial motives† and is considered by many to be â€Å"morally superior to the Negro†. (encyclopedia.org) However, despite displaying higher moral standards, the Fang tribe has been purported to be â€Å"utterly indifferent to human life.† (encyclopedia.org) Yet, it was not indifference that served as the basis of practicing the acts of cannibalism but rather they simply found nothing wrong in doing so. In the Fang â€Å"a woman who bore ... ...that of his kind. In the Hua and Gimi tribes, there are much deeper meanings and rituals involved in the eating of human flesh. Whether Westerners view cannibalism as â€Å"primitive† does not undermine its presence. These tribes have maintained their salvation through cannibalism for centuries. In fact, some may even posit that without the existence of cannibalism, these tribes may cease to exist due to the lack of a strong underlying culture. Works Cited â€Å"Baker, John.† Online. Internet. WWW page. http://www.heretical.org/cannibal.baker1.html 5 Oct. 2002. Barker, Hulme, and Iverson. Cannibalism and the Colonial World. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. â€Å"Kingsley, Mary.† Online. Internet. WWW page. http://30.1911encyclopedia.org/F/FA/FANG.htm 5 Oct. 2002. Sanday, Peggy. Divine Hunger. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Australian Aboriginal Art Essay

Australian Aboriginal art, song and dance has been the corner stone of culture since the beginning of their existence. Having no form of written language Aboriginal art, songs, and dances passed down through the generations have been the heartbeat that has kept this ancient culture alive. Even though the art, medium, song, and dance of each Aboriginal tribe may be completely different, they all serve the same purposes; create ceremony, and to inform each member of the tribe of their history, spiritual beliefs, values, and expectations for cultural norm and behaviour. It is not until recently that Aboriginal art has stopped depicting Dreaming stories and has begun to be used for other purposes, such as self expression and emotion release (Pizzi, 13). However as the customary Aboriginal ways of life have been continually interrupted and battered, the personal identity of Aboriginal people and their culture has deteriorated and is in great danger of dying out completely. For tens of thousands of years Aboriginals have created art on rocks, tree bark, the ground and their bodies, with dyes, paints, seeds, plants, sand, and ochres. It is these art works which create a visual language expressing the legends, morals, and history specific to each Aboriginal tribe (Kreczmansk and Stanislawska-Birnberg, 3). Each painting or drawing contains symbols and colours which represent a part of a Dreaming story. Generally the symbols similar to what they are representing, but can come to mean different things at different times, such as a spiral could represent a waterhole, campsite, breast, or fire depending on the context. Aboriginal art is an integral physical manifestation of their culture and cultural continuity is reflected in all forms; such as painting, drawing, ceremonies, song, dance, jewellery, and head masks (Barrington, April 12). On page one of ‘The Tjulkurra’, Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri, Janusz B. Kreczmanski and Margo Stanislawska-Birnberg write, â€Å"there is one kind of traditional painting which has not changed for thousands of years in its form and subject matter: the art of the Australian Aborigines. † The Aboriginal Dreaming stories are central to culture and each aspect of the Dreaming wheel is connected, and without one of the parts the wheel the rest does not make sense. These stories dictate every aspect of life and behaviour from where you can walk to how the Earth was created. These Dreaming stories are the blue prints to Aboriginal life, and it is through art, song, and dance that they survive. Each art drawing, painting, dance refers to a piece of information which the viewer gains upon looking at it, every song steers the listeners towards proper social behaviour or indicates where in society one falls (Morphy, 30). Some rituals, drawing and painting mediums and depictions, songs, and dances are gender or age discriminate, further structuring societal responsibilities and purposes (Mayrah, April 20). These Aboriginal art forms are the vehicles that pass meaning, purpose, history, and cultural from one generation to the next. Over the years Aboriginal way of life has been completely disrupted, abused, and deliberate attempts have been made to be erased. Since colonization Aboriginal people have been continually displaced from their lands, which they had lived on for over 40,000 years, and have had to watch as their sacred sites are cut down, mined, and destroyed. With this the materials used in Aboriginal art are destroyed, but more importantly there is a cultural disconnection as the elders are unable to teach the new generation the ways of their people and land. For example, when a tribe from the desert is suddenly moved to a coast their traditional sand art becomes impossible to create and the ceremonial act of passing that knowledge down to new generations cannot occur. So that art form is lost forever and the relationship between elders and the new generation breaks down. Or if a Dreaming story is based upon the lake which a tribe lives next to, and the tribe is moved away from this lake the new generations to come will not understand the story, or feel a connection with the land which was given to them by the Creation Beings. By taking away the tools the Aboriginals have always used to create their art and ceremonies their whole structure of culture is splintered. Tourism and the intrusions of western culture on Aboriginal land have weakened and belittled the art of the Aboriginals and traditional art forms have vanished in many places (Edwards and Guerin, Foreword). Furthermore, as â€Å"The Land My Mother, Walya NGamardiki† video the class watched on March 18th explains, the Aboriginals believe that they belong to the land, and if the land is destroyed then they too are being destroyed. In Aboriginal culture each person and family is born and connected to a Totem, or Spirit Being, and it is that person’s responsibility to protect their Totem; they are thought to be so connected that if one was to eat their Spirit Being it would be considered cannibalism. If a person’s Totem is killed then it is that person’s responsibility to carry out the mortuary rites for the being. When an Aboriginal dies they believe that their spirits go into the sites from which they came, but by destroying these sanctified sites the spirits have no where to return (Mayrah, April 20). â€Å"For Indigenous Australians†¦country is the subject of artistic representation, ritual enactment, totemism and the sympathetic magic that assists the group to ensure itself in the quest for survival† (Zimmer, 20). A disconnection between an Aboriginal person and his land is more than an unjust inconvenience; it is a cultural, emotional and spiritual murder worse than physical death. The Aboriginals currently make up only two percent of the Australian population, and their art, songs, and dances have been lost to the new generations. The ceremonies, art, dance, and song that had always guided, moralized, and given a voice to the Aboriginal youth has been made unnecessary, unfeasible, or irrelevant over time. These youths are now connecting with the anger, violence and messages of resentment of the contemporary black American culture. Instead of singing the songs and dancing the dances of their ancestors many young Aboriginals are rapping and grinding. (Dean, April 8). Many Aboriginals, old and young, feel no real tribal identity or language, no connection with Dreaming, and are left confused by who they are in the middle of two conflicting cultures (Bourke, 133). Without their art, song, and dance the Aboriginal culture has no history, meaning, future, or heartbeat. It is imperative to the future of Aboriginal tribes that they reconnect with the wisdom and ceremony of their ancestor’s art, song, and dance, while continuing to gain the tools to function in today’s westernized Australian culture. Bibliography Barrington, Robin. â€Å"Indigenous Australian Aboriginal Art. † Presentation, Introduction to Indigenous Australia tutorial, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley campus. April 12, 2010. Bourke, Eleanor. â€Å"On Being Aboriginal. † In Identifying Australia in Postmodern Times. Melbourne: Bibliotech, Australian National University, 1994. â€Å"Ways of Working: Aboriginal Cultural Awareness Modules. † Workshop, Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University of Technology, Bentley campus. April 8, 2010. Edwards, Robert and Bruce Guern. Aboriginal Bark Paintings. Canberra: Rigby, 1970. Kreczmanski, Janusz B. , and Margo Stanislawska-Birnberg. The Tjulkurra: Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri. Marleston: Jb Books, 2002. 1-7. Mayrah, Yarraga. â€Å"Aboriginal Culture. â€Å" Indigenous Australia – Aboriginal Art, History and Culture. http://www.indigenousaustralia. info (accessed April 20, 2010). McGregor, Ken and Jenny Zimmer. Bill Whiskey Tajapaltjarri. Victoria: Macmillian Art Publishing, 2009. 15-23. Morphy, Howard. Ancestral Connections: Art and an Aboriginal System of Knowledge. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1991. Pizzi, Gabrielee. Voices of The Earth: Paintings, Photography, and Sculpture from Aboriginal Australia. Melbourne: A private collection. 7-16. ‘The Land My Mother’ or ‘Walya NGamardiki. ’ Movie, Introduction to Indigenous Australia tutorial, Curtin University of Technology, Bentley campus. March 8th, 2010.

Alcohol and College Students Essay

Excessive drinking by college students has become a social phenomenon in which College students do not acknowledge the health risks that are involved with their excessive drinking habits. Furthermore, college students do not know enough about alcohol in general and what exactly it does to the body or they do not pay attention to the information given to them. There needs to be a complete saturation on the campuses, with the help of businesses and the media, expressing how excessive drinking is not attractive and not socially accepted. A report from GSU seeks to explore all aspects of alcohol abuse related to college students through definitions and statistical problems of alcohol abuse in hopes of ultimately providing solutions to increasing the wellness at Georgia Southern University. One of the biggest problems with educational institutions in the United States is alcohol abuse among college students. College students across the United States end up missing class, having unprotected sex, damaging property, and getting injured as a result of abusing alcohol. Also the health risks involved with binge or excessive drinking is very prevalent and risky for any college student who chooses to abuse alcohol. Besides alcohol poisoning, there are many cancers and diseases associated with alcohol abuse that ultimately lead to death. Liver cancer, breast cancer, and skin cancer can all be associated with alcohol abuse. Also heart and liver disease can be associated with alcohol abuse. Ultimately the over all wellness among Colleges and Universities in the United States drops dramatically when alcohol is abused. The abuse of alcohol among college students has a direct correlation to socialization. Students who go to college believe that binge or excessive drinking is a social norm. That when you go off to college it’s time to not only get a degree, but also a time to drink and socialize at parties. In the end, alcohol is glamorized and often enough abused. Ultimately alcohol becomes so much of a social norm that students do not realize how and when alcohol is abusive. Therefore the problem is how to inform students in a socially acceptable manner of how and when alcohol becomes abusive to their own well being. Most college students think of alcohol as that cheap high they get to obtain on the weekends at social events called parties. Knowing what alcohol really is and what exactly it can do to your body in excessive amounts over time and in any one sitting is one of the main problems with why college students abuse alcohol. The social norm of binge or excessive drinking in college is prevailing over the social fact of what alcohol really is and what it can do to a person’s health! There are many definitions associated with alcohol and alcohol abuse in general that need to be clarified. The actual definition of alcohol is a â€Å"liquid distilled product of fermented fruits, grains, and vegetables used as a solvent, antiseptic and sedative†. The possible effects of alcohol would include intoxication, sensory alteration, and anxiety reduction. Symptoms of overdose would include staggering, loss of coordination, slurred speech, dilated pupils, and nerve and liver damage. Indications of possible misuse would include confusion, disorientation, convulsions, shock, drowsiness, respiratory depression, and possible death. College students are confused as to what is considered alcohol abuse and simply alcoholism. The confusion between the definitions of alcohol abuse and alcoholism leads to many misconceptions or myths among college students about alcoholics. College students who abuse alcohol seem to be able to drink excessively each and every weekend and consider themselves not to be alcoholics or not in endanger of becoming alcoholics. College students who are binge or excessive drinkers are able to avoid being labeled an alcoholic because it’s so socially acceptable in college to drink and drink often. The distinction is that â€Å"when drinking begins to interfere with any aspect of a person’s life it’s considered alcohol abuse. And when drinking becomes addictive, either psychologically or physically, it’s considered alcoholism. Alcohol abuse, if left untreated, can very easily progress into alcoholism†. Most college students believe the myth that people who are morally weak or have emotional problems are the ones who can become alcoholics. Whereas the truth is that â€Å"studies show there are no particular personality traits that cause alcoholism to occur. What’s important is how much and how often someone drinks, not what kind of person they are†. Ultimately college students are setting themselves up to become the alcoholics of the future because they drink when their depressed, stressed about school work, and to simply have a so called good time. The social acceptance of drinking alcohol in college statistically makes alcohol abuse among college students one of the biggest problems among educational institutions in the United States. Statistically alcohol has caused a wealth of misfortune and death across the United States just among college students. â€Å"According to the Core Institute, an organization that surveys college drinking practices, 300,000 of today’s college students will eventually die of alcohol-related causes such as drunk driving accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, various cancers, and heart disease†. In addition â€Å"drinking and driving has been reported by 60% of college men and 50% of college women who are binge drinkers†. Also â€Å"75% of male students and 55% of female students involved in acquaintance rape had been drinking at the time†. â€Å"Between 75% and 90% of all violence on campuses is alcohol related†. â€Å"Alcohol is a factor in 66% of student suicides and 60% of all sexually-transmitted diseases†. Besides just misfortunes and deaths among college students who abuse alcohol there is plenty of academic statistics that shows how alcohol affects a student’s performance in the classroom. It is a miracle how some students can go out and drink as much as they do and still get their work done and eventually graduate. On the over hand some students are not as fortunate as to survive drinking alcohol excessively for five years of their college career and still graduate. An alarming â€Å"159,000 of today’s first year college students will drop out of school next year for alcohol related reasons†. â€Å"Almost one-third of college students admit to having missed at least one class because of their alcohol use, and nearly one-quarter of students report bombing a test or project because of the aftereffects of drinking†. Also it has been reported that students who drink excessively hinder their ability to think abstractly in class for up to three or four days after drinking. Alcohol abuse by college students really puts America far behind certain other countries such as China in academics when our U. S. students abuse alcohol more than any other country. Health related issues; college students who abuse alcohol are more likely to also obtain sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) as well. Because most colleges these days are coed and alcohol is placed between young men and women were the social norm is to drink the chances for STDs to arise is very prevalent. College students spend $5. 5 billion dollars on alcohol and drink an estimated 4 billion cans of beer annually. The total amount of alcohol consumed by college students each year is 430 million gallons, enough for every college and university in the United States to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool. Mix this amount of alcohol consumption in between young men and women away from their parents for the first time and what you have is STD heaven. â€Å"As many as 70% of college students admit to having engaged in sexual activity primarily as a result of being under the influence of alcohol, or to having sex they wouldn’t have had if they had been sober†. An outstanding â€Å"60% of college women who are infected with STDs, including genital herpes and AIDS, report that they were under the influence of alcohol at the time they had intercourse with the infected person†. â€Å"According to the Center for Disease Control, 1 in 1500 college students is HIV positive, and the fastest-growing populations of American people infected with HIV are teenagers and young Adults in college†. From all the statistics reported above, extremely large amounts of college students still abuse alcohol. There must be a reason why and new solutions ought to be considered. The statistics reported above have been in print for at least a year or two and educated students in college must have heard something about them, but these statistics still do not create a great enough awareness to cut down on the ever growing trend of alcohol abuse by college students. Part of this is due do to the lack of knowledge that college students have about alcohol abuse in general and that college students really do not know when and how alcohol is abusive to their own well being. Part of this is due to the fact that drinking alcohol is the socially acceptable cool thing to do in college, which causes more people to abuse alcohol on a regular basis. The most prevalent thing is how cheap it is for college students to obtain alcohol in college and how much the media exposes college students to the idea that drinking alcohol is a social norm. â€Å"Beer manufacturers spend an estimated $15-20 million annually to promote their products to college students. Simply offering scare tactics about alcohol abuse with impressive statistics and banged up cars really does not work completely to reduce the amount of excessive drinking going on in college. Successful solutions must be collaborative in nature. In conclusion, alcohol abuse among college students is a social phenomena that is currently normative in nature. In other words, most everyone going to college and most everyone already in college expect to drink excessive amounts of alcohol because it’s socially accepted, and therefore college students do not view their excessive drinking habits as a problem. In order to fix social phenomena you must create a greater social phenomenon to take its place. There must be collaboration among students and faculty, local media and advertising companies, and local businesses to send out the message that excessive drinking is not socially cool or normative at all. Georgia Southern University recommended that education about excessive drinking should begin with kids in middle school and continue throughout high school. The local media needs to stop advertising how easy and cheap it is to obtain alcohol and start advertising how unsocial it is to be a drunk. Local businesses that sell alcohol need to work with colleges and the media to cut down on under age drinking and stop selling alcohol so cheap. Bibliography A Students Guide www. glness. com www2. gasou. edu www. factontap. org.

The Harlem Renaissance And Langston Hughes Essays - Free Essays

The Harlem Renaissance And Langston Hughes Essays - Free Essays The Harlem Renaissance And Langston Hughes Humanities 1020 November 29, 2000 The Harlem Renaissance and Langston Hughes The Harlem Renaissance was a great and powerful era in black history, It was an African American cultural movement of the 1920s and early 1930s that was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City (Harlem Renaissance). Langston Hughes wrote Blues and Jazz flourished throughout the streets of New York, and young black artists began to arise [. . .] (63). An important part of this era had to be the inspirational writings of Langston Hughes. James Mercer Langston Hughes, born in Joplin, Missouri, February 1, 1902, was raised by his grandmother after his parents divorced (Sporre 551). He graduated from high school in Cleveland, Ohio and went off to Mexico to live with his father for fifteen months (Jackson 1). While in Mexico, Hughes lived a very rural life and wrote many of his first poems which, although never published, began to distinguish him as a writer. Hughes attended Columbia University for one year, then returned to home for a short period in 1923 before he joined the crew of the SS Malone bound for Africa (A Salute to Hughes). From there he visited many places including Paris, Venice and Genoa before once again returning to America to live in Harlem, New York, in November 1924 (Andrews 65-69). While working in Washington D.C. as a busboy, Hughes left three of his poems beside the plate of Vachel Lindsey, an American poet, who liked Hughes poetry and helped him publicize his writings (Jackson 3). Hughes first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1926 (Langston Hughes). He was a great writer who completed a two volume autobiography, and edited many anthologies and pictorial volumes. Hughes dazzled writing for forty years and never gave up protesting for the rights of African Americans. He gave many motivational speeches across the nation supporting the black movement. Hughes continued his career publishing many books of poetry and prose. Langston Hughes went on to inspire the world through his literature until his d eath in Harlem on May 22, 1967 (Sporre 551). Living in Harlem, he soon discovered the culture and literary circle of the Harlem Renaissance. As best said in the Norton Anthology of African American Literature, Hughes brought the spirit of the African American people to life, using blues and jazz as the basis of his poetic expressions [. . .] (Andrews 1252). This is evident in some works such as The Negro Speaks of Rivers, and The Weary Blues. Most of his influences came from fellow black writers. Names such as, Dubois, Locke, Jesse Redmonfaset, Jean Toomer, Arna Bontemps, and Carl Van Vechten, inspired Hughes in his form and writing style (Andrews 929-930). His poems often portrayed the trials, tribulations, struggles and thoughts of a young Negro growing up in the twenties through sixties. His main goal was to express concern about the treatment of African Americans in this country, and to pursue civil and social justice. One of his most famous works is his continuing sage of Jesse B. Semple, also known as Simple. Hughes wrote columns about this fictional character, who dealt with very non-fictional problems. Jesse, who was really Hughes voice, expressed the views and ideas of young black Americans (Andrews 1252-1253). Creating Simple to be smart, strong witted and wise, allowed Hughes to publish and undermine the standard of our pretentious society, while ironically and humorously pointing out the hypocritical nature of American Racism (Andrews 1257-1263). Hughes went on writing four series of writings about Simple. Hughes used a variety of themes in both his poetry and his prose. Nathan Irvin Huggins wrote His voice was very moving when he read his poems publicly. His voice was both rich and poetic and gave strong inspiration and love to the black community (Andrews 1253). One work of his is particularly interesting. It shows the emotion and creativeness of the Harlem Renaissance in a few short lines. Hughes named this poem Cross. My old mans a white old man And my old mothers black. If I ever cursed my old white man I take my curses back. If ever I cursed my black old mother And wished she were