Gender in Public and Private Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Gender in Public and Private - Essay Example On the other hand, private institution such as a family gives equal treatments to both genders with the aim of promoting dam growth and developments. In comparing a family (a private institution) with the government (a public institution), there are differences that can be realized. For instance, family gives equal chances to gender and treats them as one. This implies that the family treats its people equally regardless of their sexual orientation. On the other hand, government as a public institution gives priority to male gender at the expense of female. This is evidenced in the structure of government since male gender takes the topmost seats and women given lower seats (Hutchinson 3). Similarly, the government is full of force since people scramble for resources, hence locking out women or weaker gender. On the contrary, a family has a developed structure allowing distribution of resources without sidelining either gender. Despite the differences, the two institutions have a similarity since they both subordinate the role of a woman. Family as a private institution has a male as the head of the house and a woman as the helper making her play the second fiddle (Hutchinson 5). Similarly, men head most governments and appoint women to take a subordinate role (Hutchinson 5). These examples indicate that social institutions treat both genders differently in private and public

Dealing with Greenwashing in Hotels Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dealing with Greenwashing in Hotels - Essay Example With the current gradual shift of the market towards eco-sustainability, companies are finding it hard to operate in the conventional way, with customers putting more pressure to such hotels to comply with environmental sustainability requirements. The eco-tourism sector has many certifications based on eco –sustainability with hotels being awarded ratings and certifications depending on the level in which they comply with environmental standards. Consequently, there are a large number of hotels, pretending to offer eco-friendly services on the surface, with no tangible or practical results in the market today, as customers portray more preference to environmental sustainable services. This is known as greenwashing. This paper discusses the use of strict control and monitoring, and tough penalties as effective ways to discourage greenwashing in hotels. Gallicano (2011) describes ‘Greenwashing’ as the act of deliberately misleading consumers on the environmental pr actices adhered to by an establishment regarding their services and products. This term evolved from the public awareness where the public discovered there were major inconsistencies between companies’ actual behavior and claims regarding eco- -friendly practices, in order to hoodwink and attract more customers using high accreditation from environmental bodies such as LEED. Many companies have used such green-labels as marketing tools with nothing tangible to show with regard to environmental sustainability. Several hotels have developed signs that explain to guests that reusing towels will make savings that would be channeled to charity or environmental organizations (Gallicano, 2011). While such a move is a worthy cause and is supported by many guests, some companies do not end up meeting their bargain as customers are not privy to the internal working policies of such a hotel. Moreover, there are currently vague standards in the hotel industry that create loopholes for gr eenwashing to take place. A research by Dara O’Rourke an environment professor at the University of California noted that 33% of all food products released to the market in 2008 claiming to be natural made false claims. These foods made their way to hotels still claiming to be natural with guests being duped on the real nature of the foods (Erica & Aaron, 2010). 98% of the above foods were found to have a false claim, while 22% of the food products had green claims that could not be established, implying such claims were made to dupe the customers who may not be aware regarding green standards, with hotels serving such food to customers with the belief they are eco-friendly. To avoid greenwashing hotels have the responsibility of making a follow up of all their suppliers to ensure they adhere to green standards. The issue of greenwashing has sensitized customers to a large scale with more and more customers being vigil to the services offered in many tourism hotels across the globe, and particularly those claiming to have attained high levels of green certification. In July 2007, one of the highly influential blogs, TripplePundit.com that has received a large number of similar claims, had elaborate discussions indicating that Going Green has become serious deception in the hotel industry (Jessica, 2008). The blog analyzed some of the leading hotels that included Marriot Hotels, Fairmont Hotels and Starwood’s, all of which claimed to have been granted a LEED certification. From this blog, customers indicated thatch the best extent in which the companies could be claimed to have gone green is through the contribution of 1% of their revenue to local environmental groups. According to customers, most of the

The importance and potential of job rotation

The importance and potential of job rotation Job rotation is the surest way of keeping the employee away complaint and daily routine. It is difficult for an employee to sustain his interest in the given job. Humans have the tendency that they want to earn profit from job rotation like learning and experience in different jobs in a specified period. In an organization, Job rotation has importance because it effects the performance of employees and also effects the profit of a company or organization. By job rotation employees developed himself a lot learn that how the task will complete or what is the parameter is required for the different jobs. A well planned job rotation programmed in an organization has immense potential of positive impact on job satisfaction, engagement of people and finally on retention of people. Few of the outcomes of job rotation with respect to the individual are: Job enrichment Overall development Intrinsic motivation to perform caused by newer challenges Career development Leadership development Aligning competencies with organizational requirements Lower attrition rates Performance improvement driven by unique view points of new people Organizational interest employee commitment, attrition rates, specific business issues etc. Eligibility of the employees qualification, prior experience, aptitude, competence etc. nature mandatory or voluntary Duration Basis of selection etc. In the absence of aspects brought out above, there is every possibility that the seriousness with which the job rotation scheme is implemented in the company may get diluted and become a cause of sagging employee motivation. Job rotations at different levels of management For job rotations at a slightly higher level, it is absolutely necessary that the business problems in various areas are identified. This calls for the active involvement of top management. Select most suitable people to be shifted from their current jobs to tackle the challenges at hand by considering individual attributes already described above. This will not only provide an insight for the future leaders in various aspects of the business but also will enhance their confidence levels as they solve these critical problems for the organization. Job rotation at junior and middle level executives may be pivoted around their strengths and attributes and the future roles expected of them. Focus must be on exposure in all related areas of his domain of expertise, so that as they grow to higher rungs of the management, they have an overall experience of their domain. Job rotations for workers must include aspects related to work environment, also along with other individual attributes already explained, so that it adds to his satisfaction derived from balanced distribution of work load, working conditions and learning opportunities. Done this way job rotation gets aligned with career development, leadership development and employee satisfaction which would finally result in higher levels of intrinsic motivation among the employees and hence may contribute in retaining talent Benefits of job rotation programs for learning, Motivation and Performance I) Business benefits and impacts 1.  Business results   effective systems improve business results especially in the areas of sales, product improvement and customer service. 2.  Increased productivity   because highly skilled innovators and top performers are placed in the right job, the productivity and effectiveness of these individuals will be multiplied driving and increase in the effectiveness of the overall workforce. 3.  Better business cycle fit   in larger organizations, some parts of the business are in different lifecycle stages (i.e. seed, start-up, established, expansion, decline, and exit). Proactive and targeted movement better ensures that an individual is placed in a business cycle where their skills and interests are a better fit. 4.  Increased innovation and idea generation   moving individuals into new situations provides them with an opportunity to view things as an outsider and to propose new approaches that insiders might not see. 5.  Best practice sharing   as more individuals rotate between business units, the likelihood that best practices will be shared rapidly increases. Increased internal movement can result in the cross fertilization of ideas between previously isolated business units. 6.  Increased agility and flexibility   having the capability of moving talent from areas of low return to areas of high-return increases organizational agility and the ability of management to shift resources as needs change. 7.  Better understanding and cooperation   by rotating individuals between disparate business units, individuals from both units can learn to better understand and appreciate the perspective of others. Increased movement helps to break down hierarchical silos and information and talent hoarding. For example, purchasing professionals can better understand the problems faced by the individuals that have to operate under purchasing guidelines if they occasionally rotated into those business units. 8.  Improved contacts and relationships   increasing internal movement allows individuals to build their contacts and to strengthen their relationship with individuals outside of the direct team. II) People-management related and HR related impacts 11.  More talent is available   because individuals are proactively selected and moved faster, there are more and better qualified individuals available to managers with sudden or new strategic needs, than when individuals self select themselves for movement. 12.  Improved employer brand image   in a tight economy, everyone is likely to be heavily focused on job security. If you provide and publicize your focus on inside hiring preferences, it will bolster the firms external brand image of offering long time employment security and a good place to work because you focus on the needs of your current employees. The increased security that you offer may also increase the retention rate of your current employees. Excellent internal movement programs are frequently praised by employees and the business press. If you have an excellent program, it will help you build your external image as an employer of choice and a best place to work. 13.  Allows for more entry level hiring   by filling most jobs internally through transfers or promotions you allow the firm to do to do almost all of its external hiring at the entry level. This is a good thing because entry-level jobs are cheaper to fill, have a larger candidate pool and give the firm more time to train and assess unknown external hires while they are in jobs where they can do less damage. 14.  Higher retention rates   rapid movement minimizes frustration and burnout. People working in their ideal job are unlikely to find a superior opportunity outside the firm. 15.  Leadership development   multiple on-the-job learning opportunities are likely to develop leaders faster and more effectively because the development assignments will include opportunities to lead more teams under a variety of circumstances. 16.  More promotional opportunities   more rapid development and more internal movement creates a greater number of new opportunities for employees to get promoted and move up. 17.  Increase motivation and excitement   not only is the individual more excited because they have a chance to grow but each permanent internal movement also provides an opportunity to back fill that position, further motivating others to strive for promotions and transfers. 18.  Increased learning   as individuals move more frequently not only will they gain more knowledge but they will also develop mechanisms for learning faster when they enter future situations. 19.  Increase technical skill development   moving between diverse projects provides an increased opportunity to develop current technical skills and to learn new skills. 23.  Decreased time to productivity   your current employees already know the culture, the company jargon and they already have a range of contacts. As a result, internal transfers and promotions can begin the job sooner because they dont need a great deal of orientation to get up to speed and they dont need to give notice before they begin learning and helping out. 24.  Lower job failure rate   because youre hiring individuals that already know the culture and you know their skill set and performance better than external candidates, the job failure and termination rate is generally lower with internal transfers. External hiring costs are significantly higher than the cost of internal transfers. 25.  Increase manager excitement   having different employees with their excitement and new ideas rotate in and out will serve to relieve boredom and help to excite your managers. 26.  More diverse ideas   by having more diverse employees moving in and out of your department, the team will gain diverse ideas, as well as learning how to better understand the value of having a diverse workforce. 27.  Decreased need for layoffs   having a large percentage of your workers that have a broad set of skills as a result of frequent movement means they are more capable of moving into new jobs or business units. This added capability and flexibility means that more workers can be transferred rather than laid-off from business units need to be reduced or shut down. 28.  Individual employee benefits   individual employees will also receive benefits from faster internal movement including more opportunities for development and learning as well as a faster overall career movement because they are proactively placed in the right job. 29.  Increase understanding between overhead in the line   the formerly isolated individuals that work in overhead functions will spend more time working in-line functions. As a result, there will likely be more cooperation and less bureaucracy emanating from overhead functions. 30.  Improving managers   with the increased number of rotations, and the feedback emanating from rotatees, it will be increasingly difficult to remain a hidden bad manager anywhere in the organization. Having more workers join the team might force managers to develop procedure manuals and templates so that new hires can get up to speed more quickly. 31.  A competitive advantage   intramovement programs are designed not in isolation, but instead to provide a competitive advantage over competitors. As a result, the initial design of the program and its periodic updates are designed to ensure that program is superior to what is offered at competitive. CONCLUSION After study the benefits importance of job rotation we can see that its a important process to develop the organization culture productivity of organization. It also helps for the development of employees in the organization or company. By this process employees learn about different jobs and improve the skills and knowledge about jobs. An organization can gain or profit after this program. Because this process developed the working skills and efficiency of the workers. So, job rotation is important for the all the organization. ARTICLES Best Practices for Bank Board Committees Nov 2008, the article is written by David Baris, Community Banker, and Washington. Most bank boards of directors need board committees. Even during these challenging times, there still remain bank boards that do not have committees. Additionally, just having board committees in place doesnt mean that they are functioning well or serving the best interests of the board. In the Guidebook to Effective Bank Board Committees, author Jack Milligan pointed to four critical elements for the successful operations of board committees that may also be considered best practices: 1. a clear, written charter outlining responsibilities, formats for reporting to the full board, composition, and rotation of membership, 2. clearly designated staff support from management, which minimizes confusion when requests are made for information and ensures that the board has the benefits of inside expertise, 3. assurance that all pertinent information is available in advance of committee meetings, and 4. adequ ate time to do the job. Planning for success Jun 3, 1997 in this article Teresa J Dean, Patrick Dalton, Bankers News, Washington says that To make the best use of a consultant, John Kreitler of law firm Shipman Goodwin offers ideas for a written contract, including: 1. Provide a clear description of the work with outcomes and responsibilities. 2. Have a clear schedule that will provide early warning signals of problems. 3. Establish procedures and criteria for what is an acceptable final product. The weekly rotation of jobs in the data processing and customer service sections has improved both morale and productivity at Marion State Bank. Advanced Automated Bank System Goes Live in Norway In March 1988, Fellesdata AS, an advanced, integrated, automatic banking system, went live in Norway. The NCR system includes a network of 16,000 terminals located at 850 savings bank locations. The bank customer benefits from lower service charges and more efficient service, while the banks benefit from better utilization of resources, more opportunities for job rotation, and an enhanced competitive edge. Services offered include: 1. payment of travel fares, 2. hotel and restaurant payments, 3. toll booth payments, 4. business terminals offering banking and other functions, 5. issuance of bank cards, and 6. network management. The banks will offer fully automated services, such as: 1. Minibanks installed at central points in the community, 2. payment of fuel and associated goods, 3. electronic funds transfer at the point of sale (EFTPOS) terminals for payment of goods and services, and 4. a synthetic voice system. With the system, bank employees can provide all services from one wor kstation. The system includes transaction handling of deposits and withdrawals, loans, and credits. Stress Management Training in the Banking Profession Mirabile, Richard J. said that Stress exists when the demands of a situation outweigh the available resources, thereby requiring adaptation or readjustment. A seminar was conducted to provide stress management training to a group of banking professionals in a medium-sized, Midwestern bank. The premise was to identify the primary sources of stress within the profession and to develop a set of strategies designed to deal with each stressor identified. A pre-session questionnaire asked respondents to list what they felt to be the primary obstacles to successful job performance. The stressors listed were placed in 4 groups depending upon their frequency. The most frequent stressor was customer demands/contact. The 2nd phase of the seminar involved addressing specific stressors by suggesting possible methods for effectively managing that stressor. Relaxation techniques were presented to participants to supplement the verbal content of the stress management concept. Small Bank Computer Systems-The Practicalities of Control Tarwater, Joan. In the small computer systems of many banks, traditional electronic data processing (EDP) controls are lacking because either there is no clear separation of duties or resources are limited. This necessitates more active involvement within the top levels of bank management in understanding the capabilities and limits of the data processing function. This involvement represents the best alternative to the formal, traditional controls that may be absent. The computer environments, the audit, the separation of duties represent 3 critical areas where alternative controls need to be developed. Security measures, such as no smoking in the computer room may be amended, for example, to allow smoking in certain areas of the room. Audit duties may be divided between the controller and his secretary and an annual external audit may be instituted. Alternative controls to separation of duties may include job rotation, or increased top-level management in the daily operations of th e data processing function. Rx for Worn-Out Bank Managers Deeney, Jack. American Bankers Association. ABA Banking Journal Deeney, Jack. For companies with increasing numbers of middle- and senior-level managers who do not seem to care anymore, executive rehabilitation should be considered. People are an organizations most valuable resource. A large portion of worn-out managers are the result of technological bypass. Middle- and senior-level managers do not automatically progress through the stages involved in implementing new technologies. They become overwhelmed and confused when they are left behind. Top management must be committed to the rejuvenation of its managers, who need to feel they are important and that they have an opportunity to grow and advance. The managerial personality needs both feedback and challenge. Programs should be directed toward the retention of key executives and the remotivation of marginal performers. The best methods for accomplishing these objectives include: 1. outside training, 2. importing outside experts, 3. apprenticeship with a senior-level manager, 4. restructuring responsibility, 5. job rotation, and 6. multi-level review Floor discussion of Labor Market Responses to a Change in Economic System, by Flanagan . The World HYPERLINK http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?RQT=318pmid=13775TS=1272465813clientId=129893VInst=PRODVName=PQDVType=PQDBankHYPERLINK http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?RQT=318pmid=13775TS=1272465813clientId=129893VInst=PRODVName=PQDVType=PQD Research Observer. In a discussion of Flanagans article, Labor Market Responses to a Change in Economic System, the question was raised as to why unemployment is so high in Central and Eastern Europe and so much lower in the countries of the former Soviet Union, where wages seem to have taken the brunt of adjustment. According to Richard Layard, wage flexibility exists in countries of the former Soviet Union because the workers position relative to management is weak, which has lead to more job rotation than in other countries. Layard mentioned a wage subsidy for downsizing, that is, to limit cyclical employment. Based on US experience with subsidies targeted to particular groups of workers, Flanagan was not convinced that paying the subsidy to the employer gets around the problem, because for some problems the employers choose not to use the subsidy. Flanagan realizes that it was an item of faith in the active labor market community that targeting increases efficiency, but there is at least some evide nce from US targeted wage subsidy programs that targeting may facilitate adverse signaling. The trader: The bulls charge into cyclical stocks, tech shares rally smartly and utilities go begging Bary, Andrew. Barrons. New York, The panic that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging 171 points a week ago Friday lifted by the following Monday morning, enabling the stock market to regain at least the appearance of its old health. Nearly all the Dows gains came Monday when the average surged 110 points, its 3rd-largest point rise ever. That rapid recovery only reinforced the view among many investors that selloffs are no longer the dreaded events of old but are to be welcomed as a buying opportunity in a great bull market. Out of portfolios went drug companies and makers of household products, along with banks and utilities, and in their place came a host of cyclical industries, including chemicals, aluminum, autos, retailers and technology. DuPont rose 5 1/8 to 81 1/4, while Caterpillar advanced 4 3/4 to 72, and Sears Roebuck added 4 1/4 to 50 1/8. IBM gained 5 5/8 to 119 7/8. The Dows biggest looser was Merck, down 2 1/4 to 62 1/8. Training employees of a public Iranian bank on emotional intelligence competencies Mina Dadehbeigi, Melika Shirmohammadi. Journal of European Industrial Training. The purpose of this paper is to examine the possibility of developing emotional intelligence (EI) as conceptualized in Boyatzis et al.s competency model. Design/methodology/approach Designing a context-based EI training program, the study utilized a sample of 68 fully-employed members of five branches of a public bank in Iran; each branch underwent an eight-week (each session 120 minutes) EI training program. Pre- and post-tests were conducted to assess EI development using emotional competence inventory (ECI-2), a 360-degree measurement tool. Findings Only one EI cluster out of four improved significantly and only some of the specific dimensions showed this significant improvement, while others did not have a clear change and even some self assessments deteriorated. Research limitations/implications Lack of a control group, small sample size, and short training program are the main limitations of this study. Practical implications Detailed explanation of the method could be a g uide for service organizations that wish to improve EI. Originality/value Because of the lack of empirical studies in this field of research, the paper reports the results of a pre-/post study on EI training and development and sets out to add to this narrow literature. 10. BUSINESS LINE: India: MAs seem a reality among public sector banks Businessline. Chennai: Nov 19, 2000 After a successful three-year stint at the helm of the Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB), which turned around sustainably, Mr. Surinder Singh Kohli took over as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in April. A mechanical engineer from the Benares Hindu University, Mr. Kohli is also Chairman of the Indian Banks Association (IBA) and the acting Chairman and Managing Director of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). In a candid interview with Business Line, Mr. Kohli discussed the various issues affecting the banking industry. VRS is not the only method to improve productivity. It is one measure to right-size banks and may increase productivity. Besides the VRS, it is necessary to augment HRD activities, including job rotation, changes in the performance appraisal system and provide incentives that would improve the motivation of bank employees. In the PNB, the VRS is open from November 1-30, and action on the VRS requests will be taken there after. Overall, more emphasis has to be placed on training. We have 10 training centres, a Regional Staff College at Panchukula and an apex college at Delhi. Two more regional training centres are coming up at Thane in Mumbai, and in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. They will bolster the banks existing training capacity. The annual expenditure on training is about Rs 10 crore. Measures such as performance appraisals, career- path and succession planning and the introduction of non-monetary incentives to the staff are being initiated to augment HRD activities. REFRENCES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_rotation http://www.alagse.com/hr/hr9.php http://www.citehr.com/1205-eight-points-you-need-consider-about-job-rotation.html http://www.allbusiness.com/services/educational-services/4286266-1.html http://www.docstoc.com/docs/24775105/JOB-ROTATION-AND-TRANSFER/ http://hrmba.blogspot.com/2009/11/job-rotation-and-transfer.html

Braveheart :: essays research papers

Braveheart Braveheart is a realistic portrayal of the power struggle between England and Scotland. The film starts by showing William Wallace as a boy, losing his father to Edward the Longshanks, King of England. William Wallace leaves Scotland with his uncle to live with him. Years elapse and William Wallace returns to Scotland, the place of his birth, to take over his family’s farm. Wallace finds his childhood love, Marin, and marries her secretly. When one of the feudal lords kills Marin for striking a guard, Wallace then begins a revolt against the English. Wallace’s army of Scots march against the English armies time and again. Until William Wallace is captured by Robert the Bruce’s fathers plan and is sent to London before King Edward the Longshanks. Wallace faces trial for high treason from which he is found guilty. Wallace is then given the choice of confessing or being purified. To show his patriotism to Scotland Wallace chooses not to confess. Therefore Wallace experiences a slow, painful death as his last word â€Å"Freedom† still rings in the ears of the audience, as they cut his head off. The last scene in Braveheart is the battle between the English and Scottish armies where the Scots win their freedom. The theme for Braveheart is betrayal. It is shows all through the movie. The Princess Isabelle betrays her husband and country of marriage by helping and falling in love with William Wallace. Whereas it is the same when Robert the Bruce betrays William Wallace by giving his word to unite their clans against the English then turns to Edward the Longshanks for a title, land and more money. A final act of betrayal is that of father against son. The act is Robert the Bruce’s own father plans against this son and plays a part n getting William Wallace captured for the King. Two of the most interesting characters to analyze is Edward the Longshanks and the Princess of Wales. Edward the Longshanks seems to have no weakness. Though through the movie, in my opinion, I think he has one and that is underestimating William Wallace and Scotland.

The Harsh Reality of Racism

Black Boy, a novel by Richard Wright, is a heart-wrenching story about the harsh reality of racism, prejudice, and hostility that are revealed through the struggles of one young black boy. The young black boy is desperately trying to understand the cruel and negative world he is living in. This young black boy is on a mission to be educated and be successful. Richard Wright is determined to succeed in life. Richard's success is based on his determination and drive to overcome obstacles that he would face on a day to day basis in all aspects of his life. Richard was growing up in a time period that was both discouraging and hostile to blacks attempting to obtain an education and become successful. Through all of his hardships and obstacles, Richard continued to have a positive outlook on life. A positive outlook kept Richard focused on his dream to leave the south and eventually be free from all racial and prejudice matters. During the early twentieth century, racial issues, along with very strong prejudice feelings ran throughout the south. The Jim Crow laws separated the blacks from the whites and led the blacks to believe they were not important. Seating arrangements on busses, drinking from different water fountains, and even the arrogance of not being allowed to eat at counters in public restaurants were examples of some of these laws. Therefore, very little emphasis was placed on the education and success of a young black boy. In order for Wright to be successful, he had to pursue an education and overlook the strong prejudiced feelings he was faced with. These were hard times for blacks, but he worked hard to overcome his obstacles and reach for what he believed in. He did this during a time when there was no desire to see a colored person overcome the chances and be successful. Richard Wright's determination to succeed, and to overcome the social forces fighting against him was facet of southern culture that was familiar to all who lived, or even passed through the South during this time. The races showed no initiative of coming into contact with one another. However, there was a fear among them. Although he had fear, his curiosity about the races was not eliminated. For example, Richard once ventured into a white neighborhood attempting to sell his dog for money to buy food. On that day, he saw a glimpse of a world he had never seen before. Wright saw things such as I tucked her under my arm and went for the first time alone into a white neighborhood where there were wide clean streets and big white houses. Finally a young white woman came to the door and smiled. I waited on the porch, marveling at the cleanliness, the quietness of the white world. (69) Richard now understood that whites lived so much better and he wondered why he and his brother had spent so many days doubled over in pain from the hunger they had come to know so well. Wright uses prejudice and racism throughout his autobiography to encounter some of the most ludicrous moments that he had to experience while growing up in the South. For example, when Wright responded to the question on what he wanted to do in life, the lady turned to him and told him he was wasting his time trying to become a writer, knowing he was a Negro as stated in this quote: â€Å"Then why are you going to school?† She asked in surprise. â€Å"Well, I want to be a writer,† I mumbled, unsure of myself; I Had not planned to tell her that, but she had made me feel so Utterly wrong and of no account that I needed to bolster myself. â€Å"To write stories,† I mumbled defensively. â€Å"You†ll never be a writer,† she said. â€Å"Who on earth put such Ideas into your head nigger head?† â€Å"I didn†t think anybody ever would,† she declared indignantly (Wright 147). It was unheard of being someone of importance and being black at the same time. Another good example of the prejudiced lifestyle of Wright was when he accepted his first job as a porter for a in a clothing store. Wright was forced into washing floors and was not allowed to come into contact with people who entered the store. In Richard's early life, many social roadblocks threatened to make it more difficult for him to hold on to his dream. Race and prejudice created challenges, but the true challenge came in an entirely different form. The true challenge was to become an accepted black man in a white mans society. Richard Wright became successful in a country that did not encourage him or to create opportunities for blacks. He succeeded in spite of personal hardships, racial adversity, constant hunger, and the lack of educations. Richard Wright fought the battle and came out victorious. Wright became a man who was not defined by his color, but by his talent. His talent was recognized because his strength and determination led him to succeed.

Disaster Prevention, Incident Response, and Relocation

Recently, there have been a lot of efforts being made by organizations and government agencies that focus on disaster prevention and mitigation. Disaster, as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (2007), â€Å"takes many forms — a hurricane, an earthquake, a tornado, a flood, a fire or a hazardous spill, an act of nature or an act of terrorism. † The advent of efforts that generally apply to environmental and natural disasters, as well as man-controlled disasters, has stirred many of us.In this light, this paper will also give an overview at the way disaster prevention, disaster incident response, and disaster relocation are being handled in the society, particularly in the technological aspect of the sourcing process. First, the concept of disaster prevention could be considered as a basic part of any research source since the idea of disaster preparedness had not been so new a concept.In this regard, a website made by an Ethiopian agency embarks on disast er prevention and preparedness. The site has the title Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency (DPPA), and it functions as a governmental commission that acts as an information board relegating to several important data for its audiences. Its main focus is on the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia.The sections in the homepage provide the categories of information and these include: the news section where news clips of related humanitarian activities are linked; public relations section wherein publications made by the DPPA are shown; livelihoods section presenting regional livelihood analyses; pledges and deliveries section which shows the status of responses to humanitarian appeal; and other categories that generally determine related information. The website serves as a database that does not merely show the programs of the DPPA but also the activities which characterize its endeavors.How disaster prevention is illustrated in the website is transcended more with the commission ’s activities rather than the information that individuals should look into in going in-depth at disaster prevention. The program lay out mentioned disaster prevention as looking into the root causes first in order to anticipate actions, in which the mechanism of Employment Generation Scheme was applied (DPPA, 2009); however, the mechanism seems to be a needs-based approach – giving relief (food) in exchange to the victims’ physical work. This somehow connotes unsustainability.Personally, I see the website as a mask for a marketing method to gain assistance from aid organizations. Second, carrying the concept of incident response is the website of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Mainly acting as a response unit, FEMA has several coordinating subgroups which specialize according to the varying forms of disasters. Among these coordinating groups are Emergency Response Teams, Federal Incident Response Support Teams, Hurricane Liaison Team, Urban Sea rch and Rescue Task Forces, Mobile Emergency Response Support, and many other categorizations.In the website, there is also a major part that includes the mechanism where incident response is applied. This mechanism is called modeling, and is considered as â€Å"essential element of [†¦] planning efforts [†¦] for different circumstances and data sets† (FEMA, 2007). Further, the website includes the specific actions that it does as a response unit. Some of these undertakings are centered on the development of mission assignments, and coordination with other concerned agencies.This website is indeed informational, although it could somehow appear to give out an information overload, but nevertheless, it serves its function in imparting knowledge about an agency’s incident response to disaster. The third website is a link on disaster relocation which is shown by the Laguna Beach City in California. It shows a government plan that aims to establish relocation whe n a disaster that requires an immediate evacuation occurs.Very simplistic does the plan seem, such that it states that â€Å"every family [must] designate an out-of-state contact to help coordinate family reunion plans† (City of Laguna Beach, 2006) when a major disaster strikes. The website visually looks like an advertisement for vacation places, but over-all, its content is simplistically relevant. To summarize, the three websites are shown in a much differentiated manner. The contents are highly regarded as informational, although the focus of the contents of each site does not necessarily revolve in the topic headings that they have.The website for FEMA is probably the most informational among the three since it gives a comprehensive lay down of the activities and the coordinating groups that are needed in its functioning. Disaster and its adverse effects could be mitigated by individual preparedness. The starting point in disaster preparedness is to â€Å"help your comm unity by [first] preparing yourself† (Canadian Red Cross, 2009). Meanwhile, web sources are commonly relied upon in times of disasters, so it is important that these sources are able to provide comprehensive information that would help people in facing such risky situations.