Plantation Society in the Caribbean today Essay

There is still evidence of the plantation society within the modern Caribbean Society. This evidence can be seen from first analyzing various aspects of the plantation system or society, such as the; lifestyle, mentality, social structure and economic model associated with this social system. Then a comparison will be made between the plantation and modern Caribbean societies in relation to these aspects, to show their relevance in the modern Caribbean society. The era of slavery which occurred in the Caribbean during the 16th to 19th centuries put into place a social and political order which formed the social structure and class related lifestyles of the plantation system. The social structure of the plantation society was static and pyramidal in design. At the top of the social pyramid was the white ruling class or the planter class which consisted of the white plantation owners and those who were closely associated with them. Directly under the white ruling class was the mixed or mullatto population along with the poor whites and free people of colour, who still contributed to social fabric of the society despite not having much political power. At the very bottom of the social pyramid was the Black and non-white labour class and within this class itself existed racial divisions and a labour hierarchy. Therefore, it can be seen from examining the various classes within the plantations system’s social structure that the plantation society was composed of various ethnicities. For the most part a major portion of the labourers were African, but due to the various racial groupings within the plantation societies across the Caribbean, these societies were considered to be culturally plural. This population mix influenced the character of society in many ways such as in the way that certain cultural groups would only be seen together when there was an economic related activity. It was therefore not uncommon to find on a plantation society two or more racial and cultural groups living side by side but also having minimal social or cultural intercourse. Another example  of how the character of the society was influenced by the population mix can be seen from the fact that during this time whoever was the owner of the plantation was automatically deemed the super-ordinate group in the wider society and the plantation workers were of the subordinate group. Social and economic power was concentrated with the super-ordinate group, and thus real political and legislative power had only resided with them. Before examining the political development or lack thereof ,we must first consider the social construct and its relevance to today, during the plantation era the society was made of a majority of unskilled workers, large areas of land devote to production and the working class was excluded from majorly centralized decision making due to the rigid social hierarchy. Today we can still see evidence of the working class being excluded in this way and now to a lesser but still significant extent due to a somewhat rigid social hierarchy, where evidence of this can be seen by the difficulty present to move up the social ladder and relatively minor effort needed to maintain ones social standing. Bearing in mind the description of the social construct of the past, let’s consider the changes which ensued leading to the present day model, the social hierarchy moved from a rigid to a forcefully mobile structure which was brought on by the changes caused by emancipation and the mass immigration that followed, the criteria for bettering ones social standing moved from the color of one’s skin to a less rigid even though still difficult criteria to include educational, occupational and economic status, another change which allowed for the differences in the post emancipation period was the bankruptcy and consequent migration of the whites back to Europe making space for the upward movement of both colored as well as black individuals not only in the social scheme of things but also in the political arena leading to an increase of colored individuals in power and a decrease in white control at least directly. By the latter part of the twentieth century, these middle cla sses (mostly the black and brown educated and professional elite) controlled the leadership positions of political parties and states throughout the region. The evolution of the colored middle class to power lead to many serious struggles with the white powers, these struggles included the struggle for greater democratic participation for the majority  black population and the struggle for political independence from European control which was eventually achieved at least physically even though it is quite arguable that mentally the European control persist, the realization of political power and independence by the national black and brown elite did not necessarily shatter the foundations of white domination throughout the region. Although it can be said that politically there has been great changes leading to the physical political emancipation of today’s society from that of the plantation society the economic power was still in the hands of the expatriate white ownership classes even after political independence was won in the 1960s, and the Caribbean racial formations spawned by slavery and colonialism are still intact. From an economic standpoint we can also say that the plantation is still with us. During the era of the plantation we saw two distinct developments, one was the clearly distinct stagnant economical hierarchy which eventually evolved in the times of emancipation to a slightly mobile economical hierarchy however in both forms the separating factor was clear race and type of education, placing the white planter class at the top and the freed or slaved blacks at the bottom, the other characteristic was the clear goal of the economy not to better the masses but to improve or maximize the profit for the plantation, these two main characteristics of the economic plantation society is still seen today, although because of hierarchy mobility blacks have been allowed to rise in status they are still clear restrictions to this such as the need for a European education to make it in society meaning that although black the top tier blacks are deep within the influence of the European mentality. That being said the majority of the top tier economically standing people are still white and the majority of the lower class are black which is still in keeping with the economic stratification of the plantation society. the second characteristic of the plantation society which was the profit of the plantation which today would be the profit of the organization can still be seen and is explain in various theories where we can see that the working class is still exploited for the profit of the higher class and is allowed by the political power in order to make the rich richer and the poor poorer which can be said to also contribute to the clear differences and difficulty associated with  economical hierarchy. the persistence of these traits as well as the seeming acceptance of them as normal is clear evidence of the persistence of the economical plantation society today. Caribbean societies today can still be seen as plural societies, some more than others. Present day plural societies can be seen on islands such as Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname. The actual pluralities of the modern Caribbean societies can be characterized by divisions of race, ethnicity, religion and cultural differences, to mention a few major elements while others like economic disparities and political membership can also be seen to form division. In societies today there still exist a hierarchy of social class; the upper class, middle class and the lower class. The upper class is an elite group of people who occupy the highest position in the social hierarchy. The members of this social group are wealthy and may have great social and political power and influence. The middle class is socio-economically located between the upper class and the lower class and comprises of a group of people of the contemporary society. The lower class also called the working class is mad e up of the socio economic groups who are often working for low wages and would include the skilled and unskilled workers. The middle and working classes make up the masses while the upper class is seen as the minority but the upper class still holds most of the polical and social power within the society as was with the plantation society where the hierarchy was divided in the super-ordinate and the subordinates. People are born into a class structure and it is difficult to leave the social bracket on an upward movement. For example people born in the upper class structure will be more than likely to stay in that structure for their entire lives and in the middle and lower classes while there still is a slight chance of changing their social status. The hierarchy that embodies the plantation society is evident in the today’s society in housing, jobs, lifestyles, prestige, colour of skin, image, wealth, opportunities, education and background to mention a few factors. Housing is an example of class separation embodies the hierarchy of class. Some neighborhoods are just exclusive to members of the upper class. For example the gated communities where in that neighbourhood there is a gate separating that neighbourhood from the surrounding neighbourhoods. Also  there are neighbourhoods that are exclusive to the working class, for examples developments and housing areas. Racism still exists in society today but to a lesser extent where some People are still denied jobs and positions because of the colour of their skin and also hired for jobs based on the colour of their skin. In many organizations the owners are whites who are of the upper social class and their subordinates are persons from the working classes and middle classes. It can be said therefore that from a social structure and an economical standpoint there are remnants of the plantation society in the Caribbean today however there has also been many changes including social mobility and political control which makes today’s society different is some ways but similar in many from that of a plantation society Criticism of the plantation society model The plantation model/theory in identifying the characteristics of the social and political structure of plantation societies has provided from critical errors; Theory does not provide a direction for moving forward or combating the negative remnants of the plantation society. Does not consider in its analysis the effects of the injection of other racial/cultural groups such as the Chinese into these plantation societies. Again the assumption of the theory is that plantation societies are homogenous. Does not take into account the effects of migration on the demographic, economic and cultural patterns which emerge in the post-emancipation era. Does not take into consideration the activities to combat racial, political and economic discrimination mounted by local community based organizations such as the, land cooperatives, the UNIA and the labour movement of the 1930s. Does not account for the development of a large-scale afro and indo-peasantries which existed in the post emancipation period which saw land moving into the hands of black and other non-white groups. a crucial group within the matrix of the said society and economy was ignored; that is the poor whites and the free people of colour. It therefore implicitly argues that this group did not contribute to the social, political and economic organization of the plantation society. By ignoring this group the analysis of the plantation societies as it existed under slavery is skewed toward the small white elite  and large African/East Indian labour force; which were not the only. References Sidney W. Mintz: â€Å"Caribbean Society.† c. 1968 Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. David Watts 1987 The West Indies: Patterns of Development†¦ Beckford, George.The Plantation Model in Christine Barrow and Rhoda Reddock (eds.) Caribbean Sociology: Introductory Readings. Ian Randle Publishers; Kingston Jamaica, 2001. Best, Lloyd.â€Å"The Contribution of George Beckford.† Social and Economic Studies. Vol. 41, No. 3, September 12 ISSN: 0037-7651. ————-â€Å"Models of a Pure Plantation Economy.† Social and Economic Studies. Vol. 17, No. 3, September 168. Thomas, C.Plantations, Peasants and State, ISER, U.W.I, Mona, 1984.

The Host Chapter 25: Compelled

Another week passed, maybe two-there seemed little point in keeping track of time here, where it was so irrelevant-and things only got stranger for me. I worked with the humans every day, but not always with Jeb. Some days Ian was with me, some days Doc, and some days only Jamie. I weeded fields, kneaded bread, and scrubbed counters. I carried water, boiled onion soup, washed clothes in the far end of the black pool, and burned my hands making that acidic soap. Everyone did their part, and since I had no right to be here, I tried to work twice as hard as the others. I could not earn a place, I knew that, but I tried to make my presence as light a burden as possible. I got to know a little about the humans around me, mostly just by listening to them. I learned their names, at least. The caramel-skinned woman was named Lily, and she was from Philadelphia. She had a dry sense of humor and got along well with everyone because she never got ruffled. The young man with the bristly black hair, Wes, stared at her a lot, but she never seemed to notice that. He was only nineteen, and he'd escaped from Eureka, Montana. The sleepy-eyed mother was named Lucina, and her two boys were Isaiah and Freedom-Freedom had been born right here in the caves, delivered by Doc. I didn't see much of these three; it seemed that the mother kept her children as separate from me as was possible in this limited space. The balding, red-cheeked man was Trudy's husband; his name was Geoffrey. They were often with another older man, Heath, who had been Geoffrey's best friend since early childhood; the three had escaped the invasion together. The pallid man with the white hair was Walter. He was sick, but Doc didn't know what was wrong with him-there was no way to find out, not without labs and tests, and even if Doc could diagnose the problem, he had no medicine to treat it. As the symptoms progressed, Doc was starting to think it was a form of cancer. This pained me-to watch someone actually dying from something so easily fixed. Walter tired easily but was always cheerful. The white-blond woman-her eyes contrastingly dark-who'd brought water to the others that first day in the field was Heidi. Travis, John, Stanley, Reid, Carol, Violetta, Ruth Ann†¦ I knew all the names, at least. There were thirty-five humans in the colony, with six of them gone on the raid, Jared included. Twenty-nine humans in the caves now, and one mostly unwelcome alien. I also learned more about my neighbors. Ian and Kyle shared the cave on my hallway with the two real doors propped over the entrance. Ian had begun bunking with Wes in another corridor in protest of my presence here, but he'd moved back after just two nights. The other nearby caves had also gone vacant for a while. Jeb told me the occupants were afraid of me, which made me laugh. Were twenty-nine rattlesnakes afraid of a lone field mouse? Now Paige was back, next door, in the cave she shared with her partner, Andy, whose absence she mourned. Lily was with Heidi in the first cave, with the flowered sheets; Heath was in the second, with the duct-taped cardboard; and Trudy and Geoffrey were in the third, with a striped quilt. Reid and Violetta were one cave farther down the hall than mine, their privacy protected by a stained and threadbare oriental carpet. The fourth cave in this corridor belonged to Doc and Sharon, and the fifth to Maggie, but none of these three had returned. Doc and Sharon were partnered, and Maggie, in her rare moments of sarcastic humor, teased Sharon that it had taken the end of humanity for Sharon to find the perfect man: every mother wanted a doctor for her daughter. Sharon was not the girl I'd seen in Melanie's memories. Was it the years of living alone with the dour Maggie that had changed her into a more brightly colored version of her mother? Though her relationship with Doc was newer to this world than I was, she showed none of the softening effects of new love. I knew the duration of that relationship from Jamie-Sharon and Maggie rarely forgot when I was in a room with them, and their conversation was guarded. They were still the strongest opposition, the only people here whose ignoring me continued to feel aggressively hostile. I'd asked Jamie how Sharon and Maggie had gotten here. Had they found Jeb on their own, beaten Jared and Jamie here? He seemed to understand the real question: had Melanie's last effort to find them been entirely a waste? Jamie told me no. When Jared had showed him Melanie's last note, explained that she was gone-it took him a moment to be able to speak again after that word, and I could see in his face what this moment had done to them both-they'd gone to look for Sharon themselves. Maggie had held Jared at the point of an antique sword while he tried to explain; it had been a close thing. It had not taken long with Maggie and Jared working together for them to decipher Jeb's riddle. The four of them had gotten to the caves before I'd moved from Chicago to San Diego. When Jamie and I spoke of Melanie, it was not as difficult as it should have been. She was always a part of these conversations-soothing his pain, smoothing my awkwardness-though she had little to say. She rarely spoke to me anymore, and when she did it was muted; now and then I wasn't sure if I really heard her or just my own idea of what she might think. But she made an effort for Jamie. When I heard her, it was always with him. When she didn't speak, we both felt her there. â€Å"Why is Melanie so quiet now?† Jamie asked me late one night. For once, he wasn't grilling me about Spiders and Fire-Tasters. We were both tired-it had been a long day pulling carrots. The small of my back was in knots. â€Å"It's hard for her to talk. It takes so much more effort than it takes you and me. She doesn't have anything she wants to say that badly.† â€Å"What does she do all the time?† â€Å"She listens, I think. I guess I don't know.† â€Å"Can you hear her now?† â€Å"No.† I yawned, and he was quiet. I thought he was asleep. I drifted in that direction, too. â€Å"Do you think she'll go away? Really gone?† Jamie suddenly whispered. His voice caught on the last word. I was not a liar, and I don't think I could have lied to Jamie if I were. I tried not to think about the implications of my feelings for him. Because what did it mean if the greatest love I'd ever felt in my nine lives, the first true sense of family, of maternal instinct, was for an alien life-form? I shoved the thought away. â€Å"I don't know,† I told him. And then, because it was true, I added, â€Å"I hope not.† â€Å"Do you like her like you like me? Did you used to hate her, like she hated you?† â€Å"It's different than how I like you. And I never really hated her, not even in the beginning. I was very afraid of her, and I was angry that because of her I couldn't be like everyone else. But I've always, always admired strength, and Melanie is the strongest person I've ever known.† Jamie laughed. â€Å"You were afraid of her?† â€Å"You don't think your sister can be scary? Remember the time you went too far up the canyon, and when you came home late she threw a raging hissy fit,' according to Jared?† He chuckled at the memory. I was pleased, having distracted him from his painful question. I was eager to keep the peace with all my new companions in any way I could. I thought I was willing to do anything, no matter how backbreaking or smelly, but it turned out I was wrong. â€Å"So I was thinking,† Jeb said to me one day, maybe two weeks after everyone had â€Å"calmed down.† I was beginning to hate those words from Jeb. â€Å"Do you remember what I was saying about you maybe teaching a little here?† My answer was curt. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Well, how 'bout it?† I didn't have to think it through. â€Å"No.† My refusal sent an unexpected pang of guilt through me. I'd never refused a Calling before. It felt like a selfish thing to do. Obviously, though, this was not the same. The souls would have never asked me to do something so suicidal. He frowned at me, scrunching his caterpillar eyebrows together. â€Å"Why not?† â€Å"How do you think Sharon would like that?† I asked him in an even voice. It was just one example, but perhaps the most forceful. He nodded, still frowning, acknowledging my point. â€Å"It's for the greater good,† he grumbled. I snorted. â€Å"The greater good? Wouldn't that be shooting me?† â€Å"Wanda, that's shortsighted,† he said, arguing with me as if my answer had been a serious attempt at persuasion. â€Å"What we have here is a very unusual opportunity for learning. It would be wasteful to squander that.† â€Å"I really don't think anyone wants to learn from me. I don't mind talking to you or Jamie -â€Å" â€Å"Doesn't matter what they want,† Jeb insisted. â€Å"It's what's good for them. Like chocolate versus broccoli. Ought to know more about the universe-not to mention the new tenants of our planet.† â€Å"How does it help them, Jeb? Do you think I know something that could destroy the souls? Turn the tide? Jeb, it's over.† â€Å"It's not over while we're still here,† he told me, grinning so I knew he was teasing me again. â€Å"I don't expect you to turn traitor and give us some super-weapon. I just think we should know more about the world we live in.† I flinched at the word traitor. â€Å"I couldn't give you a weapon if I wanted to, Jeb. We don't have some great weakness, an Achilles' heel. No archenemies out there in space who could come to your aid, no viruses that will wipe us out and leave you standing. Sorry.† â€Å"Don't sweat it.† He made a fist and tapped it playfully against my arm. â€Å"You might be surprised, though. I told you it gets boring in here. People might want your stories more than you think.† I knew Jeb would not leave it alone. Was Jeb capable of conceding defeat? I doubted it. At mealtimes I usually sat with Jeb and Jamie, if he was not in school or busy elsewhere. Ian always sat near, though not really with us. I could not fully accept the idea of his self-appointed role as my bodyguard. It seemed too good to be true and thus, by human philosophy, clearly false. A few days after I'd refused Jeb's request to teach the humans â€Å"for their own good,† Doc came to sit by me during the evening meal. Sharon remained where she was, in the corner farthest from my usual place. She was alone today, without her mother. She didn't turn to watch Doc walking toward me. Her vivid hair was wound into a high bun, so I could see that her neck was stiff, and her shoulders were hunched, tense and unhappy. It made me want to leave at once, before Doc could say whatever he meant to say to me, so that I could not be considered in collusion with him. But Jamie was with me, and he took my hand when he saw the familiar panicked look come into my eyes. He was developing an uncanny ability to sense when I was turning skittish. I sighed and stayed where I was. It should probably have bothered me more that I was such a slave to this child's wishes. â€Å"How are things?† Doc asked in a casual voice, sliding onto the counter next to me. Ian, a few feet down from us, turned his body so it looked like he was part of the group. I shrugged. â€Å"We boiled soup today,† Jamie announced. â€Å"My eyes are still stinging.† Doc held up a pair of bright red hands. â€Å"Soap.† Jamie laughed. â€Å"You win.† Doc gave a mocking bow from the waist, then turned to me. â€Å"Wanda, I had a question for you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He let the words trail off. I raised my eyebrows. â€Å"Well, I was wondering†¦ Of all the different planets you're familiar with, which species is physically the closest to humankind?† I blinked. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Just good old-fashioned biological curiosity. I guess I've been thinking about your Healers†¦ Where do they get the knowledge to cure, rather than just treat symptoms, as you said?† Doc was speaking louder than necessary, his mild voice carrying farther than usual. Several people looked up-Trudy and Geoffrey, Lily, Walter†¦ I wrapped my arms tightly around myself, trying to take up less space. â€Å"Those are two different questions,† I murmured. Doc smiled and gestured with one hand for me to proceed. Jamie squeezed my hand. I sighed. â€Å"The Bears on the Mists Planet, probably.† â€Å"With the claw beasts?† Jamie whispered. I nodded. â€Å"How are they similar?† Doc prodded. I rolled my eyes, feeling Jeb's direction in this, but continued. â€Å"They're close to mammals in many ways. Fur, warm-blooded. Their blood isn't exactly the same as yours, but it does essentially the same job. They have similar emotions, the same need for societal interaction and creative outlets -â€Å" â€Å"Creative?† Doc leaned forward, fascinated-or feigning fascination. â€Å"How so?† I looked at Jamie. â€Å"You know. Why don't you tell Doc?† â€Å"I might get it wrong.† â€Å"You won't.† He looked at Doc, who nodded. â€Å"Well, see, they have these awesome hands.† Jamie was enthusiastic almost immediately. â€Å"Sort of double-jointed-they can curl both ways.† He flexed his own fingers, as if trying to bend them backward. â€Å"One side is soft, like my palm, but the other side is like razors! They cut the ice-ice sculpting. They make cities that are all crystal castles that never melt! It's beautiful, isn't it, Wanda?† He turned to me for backup. I nodded. â€Å"They see a different range of colors-the ice is full of rainbows. Their cities are a point of pride for them. They're always trying to make them more beautiful. I knew of one Bear who we called†¦ well, something like Glitter Weaver, but it sounds better in that language, because of the way the ice seemed to know what he wanted and shaped itself into his dreams. I met him once and saw his creations. That's one of my most beautiful memories.† â€Å"They dream?† Ian asked quietly. I smiled wryly. â€Å"Not as vividly as humans.† â€Å"How do your Healers get their knowledge about the physiology of a new species? They came to this planet prepared. I watched it start-watched the terminal patients walk out of the hospital whole†¦Ã¢â‚¬  A frown etched a V-shaped crease into Doc's narrow forehead. He hated the invaders, like everyone, but unlike the others, he also envied them. I didn't want to answer. Everyone was listening to us by this point, and this was no pretty fairytale about ice-sculpting Bears. This was the story of their defeat. Doc waited, frowning. â€Å"They†¦ they take samples,† I muttered. Ian grinned in understanding. â€Å"Alien abductions.† I ignored him. Doc pursed his lips. â€Å"Makes sense.† The silence in the room reminded me of my first time here. â€Å"Where did your kind begin?† Doc asked. â€Å"Do you remember? I mean, as a species, do you know how you evolved?† â€Å"The Origin,† I answered, nodding. â€Å"We still live there. It's where I was†¦ born.† â€Å"That's kind of special,† Jamie added. â€Å"It's rare to meet someone from the Origin, isn't it? Most souls try to stay there, right, Wanda?† He didn't wait for my response. I was beginning to regret answering his questions so thoroughly each night. â€Å"So when someone moves on, it makes them almost†¦ like a celebrity? Or like a member of a royal family.† I could feel my cheeks getting warm. â€Å"It's a cool place,† Jamie went on. â€Å"Lots of clouds, with a bunch of different-colored layers. It's the only planet where the souls can live outside of a host for very long. The hosts on the Origin planet are really pretty, too, with sort of wings and lots of tentacles and big silver eyes.† Doc was leaning forward with his face in his hands. â€Å"Do they remember how the host-parasite relationship was formed? How did the colonization begin?† Jamie looked at me, shrugging. â€Å"We were always that way,† I answered slowly, still unwilling. â€Å"As far back as we were intelligent enough to know ourselves, at least. We were discovered by another species-the Vultures, we call them here, though more for their personalities than for their looks. They were†¦ not kind. Then we discovered that we could bond with them just as we had with our original hosts. Once we controlled them, we made use of their technology. We took their planet first, and then followed them to the Dragon Planet and the Summer World-lovely places where the Vultures had also not been kind. We started colonizing; our hosts reproduced so much slower than we did, and their life spans were short. We began exploring farther into the universe†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I trailed off, conscious of the many eyes on my face. Only Sharon continued to look away. â€Å"You speak of it almost as if you were there,† Ian noted quietly. â€Å"How long ago did this happen?† â€Å"After dinosaurs lived here but before you did. I was not there, but I remember some of what my mother's mother's mother remembered of it.† â€Å"How old are you?† Ian asked, leaning toward me, his brilliant blue eyes penetrating. â€Å"I don't know in Earth years.† â€Å"An estimate?† he pressed. â€Å"Thousands of years, maybe.† I shrugged. â€Å"I lose track of the years spent in hibernation.† Ian leaned back, stunned. â€Å"Wow, that's old,† Jamie breathed. â€Å"But in a very real sense, I'm younger than you,† I murmured to him. â€Å"Not even a year old. I feel like a child all the time.† Jamie's lips pulled up slightly at the corners. He liked the idea of being more mature than I was. â€Å"What's the aging process for your kind?† Doc asked. â€Å"The natural life span?† â€Å"We don't have one,† I told him. â€Å"As long as we have a healthy host, we can live forever.† A low murmur-angry? frightened? disgusted? I couldn't tell-swirled around the edges of the cave. I saw that my answer had been unwise; I understood what these words would mean to them. â€Å"Beautiful.† The low, furious word came from Sharon's direction, but she hadn't turned. Jamie squeezed my hand, seeing again in my eyes the desire to bolt. This time I gently pulled my hand free. â€Å"I'm not hungry anymore,† I whispered, though my bread sat barely touched on the counter beside me. I hopped down and, hugging the wall, made my escape. Jamie followed right behind me. He caught up to me in the big garden plaza and handed me the remains of my bread. â€Å"It was real interesting, honest,† he told me. â€Å"I don't think anyone's too upset.† â€Å"Jeb put Doc up to this, didn't he?† â€Å"You tell good stories. Once everyone knows that, they'll want to hear them. Just like me and Jeb.† â€Å"What if I don't want to tell them?† Jamie frowned. â€Å"Well, I guess then†¦ you shouldn't. But it seems like you don't mind telling me stories.† â€Å"That's different. You like me.† I could have said, You don't want to kill me, but the implications would have upset him. â€Å"Once people get to know you, they'll all like you. Ian and Doc do.† â€Å"Ian and Doc do not like me, Jamie. They're just morbidly curious.† â€Å"Do so.† â€Å"Ugh,† I groaned. We were to our room by now. I shoved the screen aside and threw myself onto the mattress. Jamie sat down less forcefully beside me and looped his arms around his knees. â€Å"Don't be mad,† he pleaded. â€Å"Jeb means well.† I groaned again. â€Å"It won't be so bad.† â€Å"Doc's going to do this every time I go in the kitchen, isn't he?† Jamie nodded sheepishly. â€Å"Or Ian. Or Jeb.† â€Å"Or you.† â€Å"We all want to know.† I sighed and rolled onto my stomach. â€Å"Does Jeb have to get his way every single time?† Jamie thought for a moment, then nodded. â€Å"Pretty much, yeah.† I took a big bite of bread. When I was done chewing, I said, â€Å"I think I'll eat in here from now on.† â€Å"Ian's going to ask you questions tomorrow when you're weeding the spinach. Jeb's not making him-he wants to.† â€Å"Well, that's wonderful.† â€Å"You're pretty good with sarcasm. I thought the parasites-I mean the souls-didn't like negative humor. Just the happy stuff.† â€Å"They'd learn pretty quick in here, kid.† Jamie laughed and then took my hand. â€Å"You don't hate it here, do you? You're not miserable, are you?† His big chocolate-colored eyes were troubled. I pressed his hand to my face. â€Å"I'm fine,† I told him, and at that moment, it was entirely the truth.

Enterprise Architecture Phases

Business Architecture describes the product and/or service strategy, and the organizational, functional, process, information, and geographic aspects of the business environment. How is Business Architecture scoped? The way in which the business architecture is scoped depends on a number of factors.In some cases, the key elements of the business architecture may be done in other activities, such as the enterprise mission, vision, strategy and goals. In cases where little Business Architecture work has been done before, it is necessary to research, verify and gain buy-in to the key business objectives and the processes that the architecture is to support. This may be done either as a freestanding exercise, either preceding architecture development or as part of Architecture Vision.In either case, the business scenario technique of the TOGA ADAM, or any other teeth that illuminated the Key business requirements and indicates the implied technical requirements for IT architecture can be used. Choose three Business Architecture artifacts and describe how they are used? Business Footprint Diagram – This is a high level description of the people and locations involved with key business functions. Business Interaction Matrix – Shows the dependency and communication between organizations and actors.Understanding business interaction of an enterprise is important as it helps identify the value chain and the dependencies across the organization. Actor / Role Matrix – This matrix shows which actors perform which roles and the supporting definition of security and skill requirements. This is a key tool in defining training needs, user security settings and organizational change management. The Actor / Role matrix shows the following modeled entities and their relationships. Actor Role Actor performs Role relationships

Neo-Liberalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Neo-Liberalism - Essay Example use, with private businesses, wealth trickles downwards from the rich capital owners to the middle class and low income earners, since businesses and industries create jobs. These jobs, together with the revenue they churn, help pump money into the economy, and thereby leading to more jobs. Because of the above standpoints, the government should let markets be controlled by market forces, so that there is free international trade (Philoguy, 1). Opponents of neo-liberalism criticize it for its unregulated free markets as is promoted by neoliberals by arguing that free markets deny governments of sources of revenue, since governments are not supposed to exact tariffs on goods and services that are being traded. Again, the same argue that leaving markets and industries in the hands of market forces automatically means, making a dereliction on price controls and consumer protection. This therefore paves way for exploitation of the masses by entrepreneurs and rich capital owners. There are others who see unregulated free markets as unfeasible because it is based on assumptions that markets are equal yet they are not (Luxton and Braedley,

Assingment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assingment 2 - Essay Example This letter indicates that the only appropriate measure to end this unexpected change is by responding to the problem of religion and administration by proposing the religious toleration as the only solution to this problem. This letter of toleration to some extent though it was written while putting emphasis to an anonymous audience portrays the power of religion as a unifying factor and above all as â€Å"opium of the masses† (Locke 57). On the second claim, toleration is an argument based on both a new and a general understanding of the links and relationship between religion and government. All these social systems were to work hand in hand for one could be more influential and superior to the other. The wide range of religious beliefs and practices was the influential aspects, in the political system, though Thomas Hobbes criticised the persuasion claims for he believed the imperialist-capitalism nature of the Catholic Church was one of the push and pull forces that made all the proposals made in regard to religious tolerance (Locke 36). This research work, through Locke, does not believe in Christian denominations for he believes this will divert the religious affiliations thus reduce the organic solidarity towards fighting the system of governance of the day. The persuasion of the mind is, therefore, viewed as the only influential aspect to be adopted between the state and religion for peaceful coexistence of the state versus religion and the state versus its citizens (Locke 98). The government should place the sovereignty in the hands of the people for the rulers owe their credit to the subjects. When it comes to persuasion, the government should, therefore, be more considerate and target the masses directly for peaceful coexistence in the social system. The social justice should be aptly upheld in any system of government to prevent the day-to-day political unrest. Through this persuasion letter, the only way through which the church can gain a genuine convert is through a persuasion strategy, as opposed to violence and unrests (Locke 143). This was one of the issues he advocated for, and as a believer of the political system, the letter made an assumption that the central governance administration system was like the church were salvation was the order of the day. The central government, as opposed to church, does not preach salvations therefore are very different entities in the social system. This persuasion letter, on the other hand, advocates for a complete restructure of the political system and governance such that it can take part in the purification of souls (Locke 78). This aspect is greatly defied by various political scientist scholars who believed the only thing that can create change in the society is force. This is also portrayed as evil critics as Locke, as a believer, sees heaven system of governance on earth and explains that individuals cannot deny control over their souls to secure various forces as the creator who is god does not sign up magistrates. In conclusion, salvation as an aspect of religion and theology greatly entails the inward persuasion of the mind and force as a parallel side salvation cannot create the appropriate change required in the salvation. This is because force only intimidates obedience but cannot absolutely change an individual’s beliefs acquired through religion as an aspect of

Queer Theory Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Queer Theory Questions - Assignment Example According to Cathy J. Cohen (438), the advent of queer theory in the early 1990s found its most direct confrontation with the real-life politics of gay, bisexual, lesbian, and transgendered activists. Queer activism became perceived as a more confrontational political formation aimed at addressing the invisibility of gay and lesbian members in civil rights political organizations. Queer activism aimed at first recognizing and encouraging the movement and fluidity of people’s sexual lives. Queer activism also aimed at challenging the various practices and power circles that rendered the gay and lesbian community members invisible. What queer activism achieved further in correcting earlier conceptions about the gay and lesbian communities was their readiness to emphasize and exaggerate their own anti-normative characteristics and non-stable behavior (Cohen 438). Queer activism got perceived as a multisite and sustained resistance against the dominant constructions of gender and race. Cohen also admits that queer activism, however, failed in its present form to challenge the systems of oppression and domination. Particularly, queer activism failed to address the normalizing processes that were engrossed in heteronormativity. Heteronormativity had been the main focus of the advent of queer activism. She suggests that queer activism has failed to analyze heterosexuality as it got founded on a simple dichotomy that existed between those who got deemed queer and those deemed as heterosexual (Cohen 440). She suggests that some queer activists have begun to prioritize sexuality as the principal avenue through which they follow their politics. Her disappointment is further engraved in these individuals who continue to pursue their politics by emphasizing on a single characteristic of their identity rather than focus on the multiple diversities that determine our life chances (Cohen 440).  Ã‚  

Connecticut local Government Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Connecticut local Government - Research Paper Example ne at the Lincoln Basset School in four areas: academics, culture, talent and climate and operations noted that the school was below standard in most areas. Shahid (2014) stated that divide among staff, lack of basic resources, such as white boards and projectors and chronic absenteeism among students was the reason for the poor performance. The school was added to the State Commissioner’s Network for underperforming schools so as to significantly improve through collaborations between the state Department of Education and local stakeholders.(Shahid , 2014) Prior to finding the article I did not know that it was an issue within my community. When reading the article what amazed me was how the afterschool program has impacted positively to the kids as it serves as a catalyst for them to indulge into other avenues other than being closed with no exposure. I believe I feel this way because the program can help chronically low performing school rise. If I lived in my classmates’ community, I would ensure that they make use of their afterschool time to be doing something productive and impact their lives positively. I am saying this because many at times students engage themselves into bad behaviors like smoking and drinking alcohol. Shahid. A, Karim (2014).New Haven after-school program aims for positive life outcomes forparticipants .Retrieved from

The Mobile Operating System Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Mobile Operating System - Dissertation Example Mobile phones today are used for personal and professional purposes. Preferred services apart from basic voice operations include massive data elements like messages (Short Message Service and Multimedia Messaging Service being the primary of them), live content (real-time content like sports updates, stock prices etc. Other applications include streaming media content, including audio, video, and media feeds. All these are resource intensive and successful operation, to the satisfaction of the user and optimal use of the mobile networks depends largely on the protocols controlling data management and negotiation with the network, that is an integral part of the mobile’s operating system. Â  A mobile phone’s operating system controls the data flow in and out of it. Features like Call Hold, On-Call functions and elements like the speed of access to phone book and records and messages and all other features that involve selection of signals and/ or their records, received or sent is controlled by the operating system. The ultimate outcomes of features like predictive or intelligent text for test and multimedia messaging depend on effective resource management of the mobile’s operating system. The variety of features is, in fact, dependent on the operating system running the phone. The operating system also decided the protocols the phone runs on, including the band(s) it operates on and supports for 2.5G or 3G technologies. Â  I would take up the latest versions of the preferred operating systems on today’s mobile phones. Other operating systems that may be available including phones that use a lower version of the upgraded ones as on date and less used operating systems have not been included as either they have already been improved upon or their use will be phased out, thus rendering their analysis insignificant in the quest for a better operating system. Â  

Similarities and Differences in Tourist Attractions in Northerrn and Essay

Similarities and Differences in Tourist Attractions in Northerrn and Southern California - Essay Example Northern and Southern California are the leading travel destination in California. Both regions have tourist attractions, which attract tourists throughout the year (94). However, Northern California has more destinations as compared to Southern California in terms of parks and Gold mining. Therefore, although California is a  prime  tourist destination in the United States, Northern California contributes more to the tourism industry as compared to the Southern California. This paper compares and contrasts Northern and Southern California in terms of their similarities and differences in entertainment, tourist attractions, and lifestyles. In Northern California, in El Dorado County, Coloma, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park is an  outstanding  tourist attraction. The park is situated 18 miles in the south of Auburn, or on Highway 49, 9 miles on the Northern part of Placerville (95). The park has tree-lined streets, which are  quiet  all year long. A significant number of visitors visit the park in summer or for any special events in the year. One of the  memorable  events that attract visitors is the  yearly  commemoration of the gold discovery of 1848 in every January (96-7). The park attractions sites include buildings that have continued to exist from the gold rush, trails, picnic areas, and a replica of Sutter's Mill. In addition, the Gold Discovery Museum signifies gold-rush-era exhibits that include mining tools and other memorabilia (98). The park  is opened  daily while the buildings and museum  are opened  daily except on Christmas, New Year day, and Thanksgiving Day. Gold Bug Park is another tourist attraction in Northern California. The park  is situated  in Placerville; 1 mile north of Highway 50 on Bedford Avenue (99). The park’s outstanding characteristic is the Gold Bug Mine, which is a  tiny, hard rock gold mine. The Gold Bug Mine contains two lighted streams, which are accessible to the  com munity  for self-guided trips. The streams are 147 feet and 362 feet correspondingly (100). In Addition, there are gift shop hill-walking trails, historical museum of the public area,  stamp  mill and picnic sites. The Empire Mine State Historic Park found in the Northern California, Nevada County, is also a tourist attraction. Grass valley is where the park  is situated. In California, the Empire Mine  is recognized  as the biggest, highest and the deepest operating hard rock mine. The mine produces about 6 million ounces of bullion (102). Mine’s buildings, restored gardens and the vendors’  residence  surround the park. In addition, it has trails of 10 miles. The park offers travels of the owner’s  home  and the  mine’s  home. In addition, Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park attracts a significant number of tourists in Northern California. The park  is located  26 miles northeast of Nevada City on North Bloomfield Road (103) . The park has  enormous  cliffs as a result of  mighty  streams water that washes the entire mountains for miners to find gold. In addition, the park has a 7,847-foot  bedrock  passageway that  acts  as a drain. The  tourist  centre comprises displays on life in the old mining town of North Bloomfield (104-5). South Yuba River State Park is also a tourist attraction in northern California. The park  is situated  5 miles in the Northern city of Nevada. It extends along more than twenty miles of the South Yuba River

The Role of Human Resources Essay Example for Free

The Role of Human Resources Essay Describe the unique challenges of managing the human resources function for your specific organization As a new Senior Vice-President of Human Resources for Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) Inc are presented many challenge because the size of healthcare organization. HCA owns and operates one hundred and sixty nine hospitals, and one hundred and five surgery centers within twenty-five states, including London England furthermore, the organization and its affiliate employee approximately one hundred and ninety thousand people. Therefore, there is a need for a large qualified staff of human-resource individuals. As the Senior Vice-President of Human Resources, one would report to the CEO of the company as well as have a staff of several vice presidents who would handle all the relevant regions and facilities. The human resources department is broken down into sections and there are vice presidents over each of these respective sections that would report to a senior vice-president of HR groups. This includes, * Division offices that oversee the hospitals and surgery centers. * Operations and recruitment. * Employee relations. * Benefits and compensation. * Information system and executive workforce development. * Human resources ITS. * Community relations and foundations. * Organizational leadership and development. Each one of these groups covers all the various human resources functions within the organization. According to Flynn, Mathis and Jackson (2011), â€Å"HR professionals in all segments of the industry will be faced with the challenge of recruiting and retaining the right number of competent employees for their organizations† (p. 11) The organization like many others has the challenge of recruiting and retaining mostly registered nurses, but HCA cannot forget about retaining the employees which a company presently has. There are human-resource departments at each of these hospitals that handle the hospitals and affiliated surgery centers. These HR directors at the hospitals report to the division offices who then report to the respective corporate human resources vice president. Furthermore, the issue of managing changes, such as costs, governmental compliance, diversity, technology and the quality of work life falls under one of the responsibilities of the vice presidents. All of these items must be handled efficiently and effectively at the same time ensuring that company has happy employees. A person also has to ensure that there is a diverse group of employees within the organization, as well as give employees options so that they will have a good balance between work and family. The company had a very different group of employees, and continues to educate their employees through the Cultural Inclusion series that business offer monthly along with a separate group that manages all of employer accreditations and governmental compliance issues that do not fall within the jurisdiction of human resources. Analyze the competencies required for your specific position and determine in which areas you need to develop. Provide specific examples to support your rationale. According to Flynn, Mathis and Jackson, â€Å"the five core competencies that are critical in a high-performing HR leader are strategic contribution, personal credibility, HR delivery, busi ness knowledge and HR technology (Flynn, Mathis, Jackson, 2011) p. 22. Together with these competencies company a human resources must be emotionally, intelligent, connect to proper procedures and behaviors in their jobs, due to the structure and how businesses are set up. People will feel confident that all of these areas are covered and support the organization successfully. The areas that one needs to develop and have a better understanding are the business knowledge aspect also the technology aspect. Since this Corporation is large and has many different departments, it would be beneficial for leader to have a general and basic understanding of how each department works and interacts between one another and know who reports to whom to give a person a well-rounded picture of each group. The technology is changing so much that it would be advantageous to have a good understanding of how new technology can assist in hiring, training and promoting employees within the organization. In the past the company has tended to hire outside of the organization before promoting within however, it is in the process of changing that with the modern system that allows employees to update their education and skills for the human resources group to review. It is also important in a HR position to be able to communicate effectively with all employees from the top to the bottom and to be approachable and make employees feel comfortable coming to talk with others within our department. Finally, mutual respect is a necessity and a requirement to make everything run smoothly. Determine the role you think the company could play in developing you for the opportunity. What would you need the company to do? How does it benefit the company? In preparing some for this position, the company plays a vital role. One way to prepare for this position would be to have a person work his way through the various HR positions. The training would first start with a corporate overview and the functions HR department. Training at the division level would be the next step, how they handle the HR departments of the hospitals, and finally training at the hospital level itself so that staff could understand their positions and what they deal with daily. In this training, one would get a fundamental understanding of what everyone does from the clerks to the directors. As a present manager, it is very important for management to have a grasp on everything that happens under their leadership. Person should have a basic understanding on how to do every aspect of the job, employees have more respect for a leader when they are not afraid to get in the trenches and help out including understanding what they deal with in their respective jobs. For example, the staff wants the manager to appreciate their job and give them reward for their performance. A Human Resources manager would, need to have a bachelor’s degre e, preferably in human resources along with some work experience for this position. Furthermore, for this position, a graduate degree is preferred; one should enroll in the executive development program and have a mentor. If the company does not have a mentoring program, could check with the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration. â€Å"The ASHHRA Mentoring Program is designed to create a mentorship community for health care HR professionals to enhance and grown knowledge, skills and abilities to excel in their careers† (ASHHRA Mentoring Program). Moving into this position would involve a series of cross training to prepare for this position within the organization. The company would need to outline a training program that would be approximately two years, and within that time frame, all the various human-resource jobs and managerial duties should be reviewed. One would need to ensure that a person had the knowledge, skills and abilities to do the job. Coming from a legal background, training for the labor and employment law section would also be beneficial so that company would have a general knowledge on how employment matters affect the organization when they reach a litigation level. In adequately preparing a self for the role, it would be advantageous to the organization because one would be a well-qualified employee who has understanding of all the areas that fall within arena. Develop a strategic view of human resources that supports your institution’s organizational strategy The strategic plan for the human resources department would incorporate company missions into the organizational mission statement and goals: â€Å"Our organization (HCA) is committed to the care and improvement of human life and strives to deliver high-quality, cost effective healthcare in the communities we serve. With patient first mentality and then the community, the human resources department has to ensure that it recruits competent individuals from hospital employees to the corporate level. The vice presidents who fall under one position would cover the organizational objectives and strategies ensuring that their goals line up and compliment the overall goals. Right now, there is increased focus on recruiting in the registered nurse field due to the shortage of licensed nurses in healthcare. The vice president and group of operations and recruitment deal with the nursing shortage and ensure that business is doing everything possible to get these vacant positions filled so that the patients and communities will not suffer. The organization will pay for any of employees to get their nursing degree along with scholarships for employee children who wish to go into the nursing profession. The vice president of community relations and foundations would ensure that people have a positive presenc e in the communities. Manager oversees projects such as our community day whenever individual work with United Way to serve the community. The company will be sponsoring various events, including performing arts, museums, and school partnerships. Employees will be volunteering in different non-profit agencies. Internal and external assessments and forecasts would be done by the vice president of the human resources information system on both the corporate level and the hospital levels. The development of a Talent Management program helps to guarantee that employer, has the right people in the appropriate jobs. If an employee is not matched up correctly, then that group works on matching them so that they can be relocated to other areas of the company where they will be more beneficial. The vice president of HRIS and his group would be the ones handling these internal and external assessments. A couple of years ago, there were layoffs at the organization in the job, but they were at the corporate level not the hospitals. Some individuals were relocated to other positions due to the Talent Management system, and other people were offered early retirement and others severance packages. The vice presidents of employee relations and the vice president of benefits and compliance would also be involved in the area. They not only want to look within the communities in which company served for employees, but also wants to ensure that person look within the organization to fill positions. These vice presidents would work together to see that the entire employee package is complete and that the employee has everything covered from hours to insurance and stock options. These vice presidents and their groups cover all of employee’s organizations, so they not only have to be concerned with hospital employees. In addition, they have to be concerned with all of our employees, including executive management. According to the American College of Healthcare Executives, â€Å"out of 300 hospitals surveyed, the overall turnover rate for 2010 was 16 percent nationwide† (Modern Healthcare, June 20, 2011, p. 33) Often a company thinks of the employees at the hospitals such as nurses, clinicians, technicians, etc. but doesnt think about the executives that are at the hospital. The company must ensure that they are satisfied employees as well. All the groups of the human resources department work together for the benefit of all employees. There are many things that come into play, such as ensuring a person has competent HR employees who can assist others within the organization. HR wants to recruit the best people it can and to have a diverse workforce within the organization. Once they are recruited, HR wanted them to remain happy and realize that they can have a career and not just a job. Management wants employees to realize that this is an organization where they can grow with the company and that their HR department is pleased to help them do so. Health care HR departments realize the value of healthy employees, and some organizations have even started programs for the employee’s family. â€Å"While most big companies already have employee wellness programs, the newest trend is expanding those efforts to include dependents† (Bloomberg Business Week, January, 21, 2010) If company employees are happy, healthy and their families are the same, business will have a satisfactory employee who will display those duplicate qualities as an employee daily. REFERENCES American College of Healthcare Executives, (2011, February 11) American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration – Mentoring Program. Retrieved from www.ashhra.org Flynn, W., Mathis, R., Jackson, J. (2011). Healthcare human resource management. Mason: Cengage Learning Flynn, W., Mathis, R., Jackson, J. (2011). Healthcare human resource management. (2nd ed). Mason,OH: Thomson South-Western/Cengage. HCA – Hospital Corporation of America: About our Company. Retrieved from http://www.hcahealthcare.com Health Care: Human Resources Targets Your Family. Bloomberg BusinessWeek (2010, January 21). Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_05/b4165067423261.htm Hospital CEO turnover by state. (2011, June 20). Modern Healthcare p. 33

The Process of Development

The Process of Development Introduction This essay, will be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of culture in the process of development. As it will be demonstrated, culture can both be a catlystic agent just as it can be a stumbling block for development process. Whether we like or not,we have to understand that culture plays an indespensable role in the way people respond to diferent development policies.Thus according to Spackman,in what he called Postmodern appraoch , an economic policy that leads to sustainable development opt to take into account a psychological angle also known as development with a focus on personal needs and growth; secondly, it should consider a spiritual dimension given that this trend constitutes the deepest root of human existence . Such policy he added will provide legs and not clutches .This policy is also referred to as People Centered Development (PCD) in short. (Speckman2007:24-25). The aim of this essay however is not to discuss which policy is the best but the advantages and dis advantages of culture on development process and,for the sake of this paper , I have decided to base my discusion on five important elements. These are: Sexism and Patriarchy; the impact of Lobola (dowry) on Development; African understanding of knoweledge, the understanding of Culture visavis of different deseases mainly HIV and AIDS and finally, culture and environmnet. What is culture? According to the Oxford Dictionary (1999), Culture is defined as arts and other manifestations of human itellectual achievement regarded collectively.the custums institutions and achievemtnet of a particular nation people, or group.(Oxford Dictionry, 348:1999). For an Africans the topic concerning the impact of culture and development progress is crucial because on one hand, we are eager to keep our culture of which we are proud of but on the other hand, as a leader, we are compelled to guide people toward a sustainable development. (Speckman2007:44). Christianity as a culture: From the definition provided above, one may also suggest that culture is not only what our ancestrors left to us which were transmited to us through oral traditional. After our grand parents had converteed to Christianity they somehow adopted a new culture that we inherit.In other word, I wsh to argue that Christianity itself and the way we adopt it contitute culture which deserve a special attention while discussing the isue of the impact of Culture and Development. For instance, some Zulus will say I dont practice ancestros worship because I am a Christian. In order words, this implies I dont practie that cultural practice because I have adopted another one. Thus the topic: christianity and Deveopment. What is development? : Acording Oxford Dictionary, (1999) simply one maysimply say that Development is a specified state of growth or advancement. (We will argue that s mant African scholars such as Kalenkole and Mbiti have argued Africans are very religius people and yet remained poor. (Oxford Dictionary, 1999:392). What is the relation between Culture and Development? Historically speaking, Schech and Haggis(2002) argue that the origins of the notion of development in the sense of promoting social progress lie in the same set in the nineteeth century as which are associated with the origins of the concept of culture . They added, Indeed culture and development sometimes mean almost the same thing until discourses of development planning and cultural specificity diverged in the ealry decades of the present century. (Schech and Haggis, 2002:5). Thus in Africa, specifically in South Africa, given the place ocupied by culture, one may argue that if we are projecting for a sustainable development, it is indispensable to scrutinize both the strenghts and the weaknesses that cuture can bring about and, when possible try to challenge critically some of our cultural practices and believes that appear to be as an obstruction to Development.But at all time, we first have to be conscious that we can not impliment efficient development policies while ignoring the presence of culture. Larry Yost nd Hugh Tracy were right in their eighth principle of Community Development Work when arguing the importance of involving the local leadership since the ultimate responsability for continuing development rests with the local citizen (Yost and Tracy: 1997;21). Beside that, either one is an economist or traditionalist; we all heartily and sincerely endorse the striving for economic development. In other words, Economic development expresses one of our fundamental hopes and aspiration. Moreover, in its report published in 1996, the UNDP (United Nations Development Program), defined human development as the endeconomic growth a means. (Human Development Report 1996). (http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1996/). Disadvantages of Culture: Speaking about the disadvantages of culture on development, one may argue that sometime people because of their ignorance or lack of knowledge can deny even what is indispensable for their survival on the basis of their cultural beliefes. Thus, as it has been argued by Spackamn, people need to be empowered as toward decision making.And, in my view, any theologian and any educated person who cares about the Development of Africa should think critically about the impact of culture.According to Spackman, culture can have positive impact on development just as it can have negative repercussion on development. Thus, this situation often plunge us into a dilemma because on one hand we are eager to keep our culture of which we are proud of but on the other hand, as leaders, we are compelled to lead people toward a sustainable development. (Speckman2007:40-44), Impact of Sexism ad patrirchy on development As mentioned before, this paragph will be discussing sexism in Africa and its impact on development. I will demonstrate how sexism and patriarchy have contributed all along many years to the oppression of women and, consequently this situation has also lead to the oppression of men and the impoverishing of Africa. Definition of Sexism: According to Cambridge Dictionary, Sexism is the belief that the members( in this case women) of one sex are less intelligent , able skillful, less accepted/valued by God than the members of the other sex. Especially that women are less than men are. (Cambridge Dictionary2005:1166). Mercy Amba Oduyoye argues that Womens status in most societies is far lower than that of men. In her view, this situation is due to cultural stereotype specified under attributes and responsibilities. (Oduyoye, 2007:22).Beside that, even the way the Bible has been often interpreted has immensely contributed to women oppression. In most African society, at the death of parents in most only male children will inherit and never a girl.Thus in African society and all over the World, there is a tendency to consider a boy more valuble than a girl.when there is shortage of income in the familly, often it isthe girl who has to interrupt her studies in favor of the boy. Secondly, though a woman is said to be a partner, in most decision making, either within the society or within the familly practically, she does not have much to contribute if not nothing. In other word she is just there as an auxilliary to her husband. Once divorced, a woman loses respect and finds herself despised if she does not quickly remarry. The whole education has been in preparation for marriage, so a failure here is a total failure. No woman is destined to stay single if so she has done something wrong. (Oduyoye, 2007:22). Apart from sexism found in the culture, we also find that even the way Bible has been interpreted does not encourage wo mens emancipation. To use Nyangweso words, Marriage is endocentric. This is a universal experience that cries for reexamination.'(Nyangweso2007:61). From the Hebrew Testament to the New Testament, the position occupied by women is often portayed to be lower to that of men. Thus, Oduyoye argues that gender stratification has distorted the quality of human relations and it continues to deny the parity between women and men to accept female and male as equivalent expression of being. (Nyangweso2007:62). How then do sexism and patriarchy impact negatively on Africans development? By oppressing women, some men think that they will monopolize the power and order will be established. However, a careful observer will agree with me that by oppressing women, men are doubly oppressed. First, men are deprived from the closest source of support. As when woman and man have equal access to education and make their economic decision together, this can boost their economy. In the previous decades we saw that in some part of Africa like Senegal, women were not allowed to attend school and this in my view was oppressive toward a man as he has by himself to provide not only for himself but his wife and children whereas a woman well educated will have access to better job and financial resources. And this will solve not only her financial problem but also will be able to raise the household income. (Oduyoye, 2007:22).By doing so the man is secured from working doubly. And more interesting, a husband will have peace of mind knowing that after his death his wife and children wi ll not be mistreated by the rest of his family. Womens contribution was not really valued in terms of Development .That is why pne may ague that sexism constitute a stubling block as women are considered as passive agents in the process of the development whereas ,if they were to be valued, their input should have boosted our Development. I dare to say that taking as reference to our modern time where men and women appear to ocupy the same position and deliver the same service.Thus tooday we have Nurses, Doctors, Enginneer, Political parties Leaders such as DA in South Africa and so on.In one word, one may say that African Development will not progress untill all of those who are oppressed by sexism and partiacrhy are free. Thus the UNDPs statement (Unitied Nations development Programme), Gender equality and womens empowerment are central to achieving for inclusive, democratic, violence-free and sustainable development in Africa and therefore a condition to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). www.undp.org/porvety The impact of our religious and social beliefs on development. Land and devolpment: Culture has a huge impact on land development. Werner Sombart argued that any economic system is nothing but a manifestation of the existing culture. And, a culture exists because of a certain spirit. (12).Thus in section I wish to discuss some of both positive and negative impacts of Culture on Agriculture and environmnet in general given its role in Development. Speaking about African culture and development, it is important to understand that knoweledge as a crucial component of technology raises some pertinent questions in Arfrican culture. Its cultural construction raises questions like: What value is placed on different forms of knowledge? (And by whom)Who has access to, or access to exploit knowledge? Consequently, individual are not free to engage in research given that only a certain group of people has access to that field.Often, it is found that our Culture imposes some practices that dont encourage development. For istance, in some areas where the tra dition is still highly observed, we find that there are some places which are reserved strictly for ancestors worship as well as some restrictions to cultivate some products. This can be a challenge when the government want to develop a such area either in terms infrustructrure, roads or practice an Agriculture which will benefit many.Often, when the Government insists and go against the will of the resident of that area, it is found that the project is never successful given that as the ABCD methods states a true development project, has to be initiated by people and with people. (Class notes) Impact of Lobola on development: Beside the issue of land, another pertinent issue in our modern time which arises from culture to be discussed is the issue of Lobola and weding ceremonies .Today, in South Africa and elsewhere in Africa, the issue of Lobola present a stumblig block to development for different individuals. Originally, Lobola was meant to express a link between the two families. According to one of my South African friends, lobola was like a gift of appreciation to the best familly. Howerever, as time goes on, this practice has changed its aim and has tendency to become a business whereas life does not always allow it. Consequently, most couple ends up in debts.Speaking about development, this practice does hinder financially the new couple from achieving other goals such as education of quality of both their children and themselves because they can not afford it.In the future, this situation affect both the familly and the Nation as we can only produce a service of q uality if we have rceived an education of good quality. Furthermore, any carefull observor, will argue with me that the economical situation doe no more allow to feast for a long period.Thus to enforce the new couple into endless parties and ceremonies just in the name of culture is irrespective to what is defined as Sustainable Development as According to The United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, development is sustainable if it meets the needs of the Present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs..Here the point I am trying to make is that there are many cultural practices that may seem to be fastidious whereas they dont encourage savings. (http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1996/) Deseases, Culture and Development: Today, no country in the World is unacquainted of HIV and AIDS. According to the report generated by the UNDP in 2007, South Africa was experiencing the most severe AIDS in the World. 5.7 millions of People living with HIV and almost 1,000 AIDS deaths occuring every day. In its efort to fight this deasease, South African Goverment together with Who (World Health Organization) spent millions of Rand in order to support people who are infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. (http://www.avert.org/aidssouthafrica.htm) One of the reasons why this desease continue to spread extremely beyond major is our behavior due to our cultural beliefs and practices .Some of the practices to consider here are levirate mariage and poligamy. Levirage mariage implies that when the father of the house dies, his brother has to replace him. And, often this happen inspite of the wish of the wife of the desease.Consequently, this practice perpuates the spread of HIV in case one of the new couple is already infected. Apart from levirate mariage, polygamy which is accepted in most African Culture like Zulu culture for instance is another obstacle.Furthermore, beside levirate mariage and Polygamy, the way our tradition conceives and deals with deaseses such as HIV and Aids and many others such as Swine Flu, Cholera and so on often end in disastrous result. On 30th of November 2006 for instance, the SACC adressed its concern about a traditional healer who claimed to have cured 500 HIV-positive people with the use of herbs which acording to the invistigation done it was just a way of attracting people to draw their attention to traditional medications.( http://www.mg.co.za/article/2006-11-29-church-council-outraged-over-aidscure-claim) Beside that, some traditional healer do often suggest method which rather than leading to the cure encourage the spread of HIV. This, being because they have another understanding of the disease. Some believe that by sleeping with a virging girl they would get rid of the desease , others argue that the use of Condoms is not in accordance with our culture.I remember in my culture that there is an odd say ntawurya umunwa wugaye meaning no man can eat the mouth closed implying that a man could never have sex and stop the semens from entering the female private part.Others will go even further by arguing that condoms are Westerns assert used to spread the desease among Black People in other to exterminate them. Consequently, these b elieves have been the cause of death of many talented and energetic young people indispensable for the development of Africa. Thus while encouraging our young generation to assume the continuity of our Culture, we should be keen to think critically about certain practices that hinder the Development of our people. Beside that, each African should endeavour to reduce the cost of supporting people living with HIV and AIDSas it has huge repercussion on national economy. Impact of HIV on Development South African Government spends millions of rand each month to fight the desease and especially in the support of people living with HIVand AIDS by providing ERVs and other medications including the distribution of free condoms.These huge amount of funds which are used to support people living whith HIV and AIDS constitute a big lost as there should be used to support many other projects such as Education, scientific research,the fight against Women oppression and crime, and different studies that may help to kep our Environmnent from degradation and many other projects which in return will contribute to the Development process. By criticizing the investment in the fight against HIV and AIDS, I am not arguing that it worthless project.I do believe that People who are infected and affected by HIV and AIDS are still people who deserve dignity and support. This being because first of all, they remain human like others and, most of them are indispensable for our Development. However, the point I am trying to make is that the support of people living with HIV and AIDS is very costy .Therefore, wherever possible we should be willing to divorce ourself from any practice that favor the spreading of HIV and AIDS in this case certain cultural pratices and believs mentioned above. Impact of Christianity on Development. Speaking about the church as one aspect that has shaped our culture (cfr introduction), While speaking about Development and Culture, it might look easy to criticize what had been passed on to us by our forefathers. One of the reasons is because; these cultural practices appear to be too old. Some of them are not even in practice today.They are just part of our history though we claim them to be part of our culture .And; often we just refer to them when it suits us as a way to defend our manhood, political argument and so on for instance. However, if we will have to engage critically, I think we should speak more about what appears to be a burning issue. Thus in my view, it is essential while discussing culture and development not to leave aside Christianity. This being as discussed before, the way we practice Christianity can constitute a culture.Though it is universally known that Chrisitianity is a religion, I wish to ague that Christian life is itself a culture. Thus, just as one can engage critically with his/her culture, we should also be bold to discus some of the impacts of Christianity on Development. Positive impact of Christianity on Development: One of the positive impacts of Christianity for us as African is that it has free us from diferent ancestoral practices which dont encourage development. This is for istance the total dependency on spiritual agencies and forgeting that we are the custodians of the earth.Beside that, Christianity does encourage hard working. Thus looking unto Jesus, Paul (He who does not work should not eat). And, today, some churches have sort to preach the prosperity Gospel. This kind of Gospel has some good aspects of development in a sense that it does encourage people to know that it is their fathers will that they may prosper (verse).Some individuals argue that one of the reason why Europ is more developed than africa is because we as African put the spiritual realm first and undermine our ability to create.This is often explained by the fact that in Europ, during the modern period, Europe develop dramatically especially in terms of technology and economy. Negative impact of Christianity on Development Though one may say that Christianity enclose numberous positive aspects for development, one has also to be aware of the negative impacts that Christianity can revert on Development and often due to the way, we interpret the scriptures. Often, church leaders do teach that we have to live a poor life. We have to look on things above. We should not keep our tresearues on earth here roast and will eat them. Thus, a missinterpretaion of such verses has leaded some of believers to be satisfied with their porvety and therefore hinder them from seing any need for development. Beside that, another negative aspect of Christian teachings is its impassibility visavis to issues regarding development and politic.Scholars in nowadays came to the conclusion that such attitude reveals ignorance given that the church operates within the society and whaterver strikes the society also strikes the church (Simangaliso.). It is therfore good time that the church starts to engage with not only spiritual is sues but also social issue. Conclusion In Conclusion, this essay has discussed the impact of Culture on Development. I have demonstrated how some facets of culture such as partiacrchy, sexims and Chrsitainity do impact both positively but most largely negatively on Development progress.Most extensively; I have discussed how culture in Africa has hindered the development process. I came to the understanding that there is no culture which is universal and there is no culture which is eternal. Consequently, each cultural practice should be understood from its historical and socialogical context and applied in contemplation with the current political, social and economic situation. Reference Ife,J.(2002), Community Development,(2nd edition), Pearson ,Sydney Australia NIV Bible Nyangweso.,M 2007,FemaleCircumcision, Maryknoll, New York :Orbis Oduyoye, Mercy Amba, 1986.Hearing and Knowing: Theological Reflections on Christianity in Africa,Maryknoll:Orbis.2001 Simangaliso, R, 2005, Theology and Education, the role of the Church in education for social transformation: A Methodist contribution, Cecil Renaud Library Pietermaritzburg, South Africa Speckman MT, 2007, A Biblical Vision for Africas development ?, Cluster Publication http://www.mg.co.za/article/2006-11-29-church-council-outraged-over-aidscure-claim http://www.avert.org/aidssouthafrica.htm www.undp.org/porvety http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1996/ Schech,S and Haggis,J.(ed)(2002) Development: A Cultural Studies Reader ,Publisher Blackwell Yost,L and Tracy,H(ed).(1997) (class notes)

Pheromones Essay examples -- essays research papers

Pheromones Do you often wonder what makes someone attracted to you or what makes you attracted to that other person? Sometimes you can look at the person and not even be attracted to their looks, but you feel compelled to talk to them or just contact them in any form. These urges could be induced by a compound group most commonly called "Pheromones." Pheromones{fair'-uh-mohn} (from the Greek pher, "to carry" and horman "to stimulate") are chemicals released by organisms into the environment, where they serve as signals or messages to alter behavior in other organisms of the same species. Pheromones are a class of compounds that insects and animals produce to attract members of their own species. These compounds are secreted by the body in very small amounts but are never-the-less effective in producing instinctive behavior when detected by the nose. In insects and animals, most sexual and social behavior is controlled by pheromones. Humans have used perfumes for thousands of years, but there is a basic difference between perfume and pheromones. Pheromones are produced by the body and usually do not smell at all pleasant, whereas perfumes are either synthesized or extracted from natural products and are employed because of their pleasant smell. Scientific research suggests that there are human pheromones for both the male a...

Revenge and Vengeance - Revenge More Important than Oedipus Complex Ess

Revenge More Important than Oedipus Complex in Hamlet  Ã‚        Ã‚   A boy's streak of vengeance is not always merely Oedipal. Hamlet's revenge, and the situations that spur it, are not based on his love for his mother, but on the need to avenge his father's death. Although Hamlet is the only one who hears the ghost talk, others experience the sight. This proves that he does not subconsciously create the hallucination in order to rid his mother of her new lover. Once learning that his father was murdered, and that no one witnessed his death, Hamlet feels compelled to punish the killer. Even though the murderer is his mother's new husband, Hamlet acts to avenge his father's death, not out of jealousy for his mother's partner. Hamlet is very angry with Gertrude, his mother, for marrying so soon after her first husband's death. His fury is based solely on his mother's rapid wedding and the person whom she wed, not on Hamlet's sexual desires towards his mother. Although Hamlet may love his mother, his actions of revenge are based on his need to a venge Old Hamlet's untimely death. The Oedipus Complex is a "universal law" which suggests that all boys become their mother's lover in dreams. "Freud believed that in the phallic stage of development, every boy becomes his mother's lover in his dreams"(1).This may cause them to try to rid their mother of her lover out of jealousy. In Hamlet's case, his revenge is not based on his sexual desires towards his mother but on his need to punish his father's killer. Old Hamlet's spirit, which was seen by Horatio, Bernardo and Marcellus even before gaining access to Hamlet, is not a figment of Hamlet's imagination. Hamlet did not subconsciously create the spirit as a means of creating a reason to ... ...loyal son's revenge. Works Cited and Consulted: Adelman, Janet. Suffocating Mothers: Fantasies of Maternal Origin in Shakespeare's plays, 'Hamlet' to 'The Tempest'. London and New York: Routledge. 1992. Guerin, Wilfred L., Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, Jeanne C. Reeseman, and John R. Willingham. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Heilman, Robert B. "The Role We Give Shakespeare." Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965. Pitt, Angela. "Women in Shakespeare's Tragedies." Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare's Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The Riverside Shakespeare. ED. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Haughton Mifflin Company, 1974.   

To His Coy Mistress Essay: Use of Sound -- His Coy Mistress Essays

Use of Sound in To His Coy Mistress At first glance, Andrew Marvel's poem "To His Coy Mistress" is a fairly typical carpe diem poem, in which the speaker tells his beloved that they should "seize the day" and have sex now instead of waiting until they are married. Today, the speaker's speech may seem sexist in its attitude toward women and irresponsible in its attitude toward the coy mistress (the speaker doesn't explain how he would seize the day if the woman became pregnant, for example). Still, if we look beyond the limited perspective of the speaker himself, we can see that Marvell is making a statement about how all of us (regardless of gender or involvement in relationships) should savor the pleasures of the moment. For the poet, there are two kinds of attitude toward the present: (1) activities in the present are judged by their impact on the future, and (2) there is no future state--all activities occur in the present and can only be enjoyed or evaluated by their impact at that moment. The mistress would like t o postpone sex (theoretically until she and the speaker are married). The speaker wants to consummate their physical relationship now. Each viewpoint has its reasons, and certainly the woman in the poem would stand to lose practically from premarital sex. Marvell, however, isn't suggesting that unbridled lust is preferable to moral or ethical restraint; sex is the subject matter, not the theme of the poem. Marvell's actual point here is that instead of dividing our lives or our values into mathematically neat but artificial categories of present and future, we should savor the unique experiences of each present moment; to convey this theme, the poet uses irre... ...g up and slowing down time, the speaker's irregularities of meter create a melody that substitutes the rough spondaic meter for the smoothly regular iambic tetrameter. By the time they have read (aloud) the entire poem, readers should be less concerned with the poem's overall moral (or amoral) philosophizing than with its musicality. Marvell, after all, is writing a poem, not a work of philosophy. His use and then subversion of conventional rhyme, rhythm, and meter, create a music that opposes both philosophy and anti-philosophy. Life, these irregularities remind us, exists in the here and now, not on the neatly divided clock or calendar. We cannot control the fact that life is followed by death, nor should we try to do so through fantasizing about the future, but we can control each moment that we are alive: each irregular, spontaneous, surprising moment.

Philippine Education Essay

The system of education in the Philippines was patterned both from the educational systems of Spain and the United States. However, after the liberation of the Philippines in 1946, the systems have changed radically. The Department of Education (or DepEd) administers the whole educational system, which also includes the allocation of funds utilized for school services and equipment (such as books, school chairs, etc.), recruitment of teachers for all public schools in the Philippines, and the supervision and organization of the school curricula. see more:k to 12 curriculum advantages and disadvantages The former education system of the Philippines is composed of 6 years of elementary education starting at the age of 6 or 7, and 4 years of high school education starting at the age of 12 or 13. In this system, education is not compulsory. However, since June 4, 2012, DepEd started to implement the new K-12 educational system,[3] which includes the new curricula for all schools (see the section). In this system, education is now compulsory. All public and private schools in the Philippines must start classes from a date mandated by the Department of Education (usually every first Monday of June for public schools only), and must end after each school completes the mandated 200-day school calendar of DepEd (usually around the third week of March to the second week of April). The implementation of the K-12 program is â€Å"phased†. The first phase of the implementation will start on SY 2012-2013. During this school year, universal kindergarten will be finally offered, and will now be a part of the compulsory education system; and a new curriculum for Grade 1 and Grade 7 students would be introduced. By SY 2016-2017, Grade 11/Year 5 will be introduced, and Grade 12/Year 6 by SY 2017-2018; with the phased implementation of the new curriculum finished by the SY 2017-2018. Students in 2nd year to 4th year high school this SY 2012-2013 are not included in the program. It is only applicable to students from Kinder to 1st year high school which is now called Grade 7. However, during the new educational cycle, from 2016 to 2018, college enrollment could slow down because of the entrance of the lower-year students to the new educational system. Primary Education Elementary school, sometimes called primary school or grade school (Filipino: paaralang elementarya, sometimes mababang paaralan), is the first part of the educational system, and it includes the first six years of compulsory education (grades 1-6). These grades are further grouped (informally) accordingly into: primary level, which includes the first three grades (grades 1-3), and intermediate level, which includes the last three grades (grades 4-6). The elementary school education covers a smaller but wider than the junior and senior high school because of the spiral approach educational technique. In public schools, the core/major subjects that are introduced starting grade 1 include mathematics, Filipino, and Makabayan (until grade 3, this subject is synonymous to social studies, but also incorporate values education and the fundamentals of political science). English is only introduced after the 2nd semester of grade 1. Science is only introduced starting grade 3. Heograpiya (geography), kasaysayan (history), and sibika (civics) (abbreviated as HEKASI), is only introduced starting grade 4 (similar also to social studies but focuses more on the subjects earlier stated). Minor subjects then include music, arts, physical education, and health (abbreviated as MAPEH). In private schools, subjects in public schools also include those of the public schools, with the additional subjects including: computer education and HELE (stands for home economics and livelihood education; while in Christian schools or in Catholic schools, religious education. International schools also have their own subjects in their own language and culture. From grades 1-3, students will be taught using their mother tongue, meaning the regional languages of the Philippines (also called as dialects) will be used in some subjects (except Filipino and English) as a medium of instruction. It may be incorporated as a separate subject. But from grade 4, Filipino and English as a medium of instruction will then be used. On December 2007, Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced that Spanish is to make a return as a mandatory subject in all Filipino schools starting in 2008 but it didn’t come into effect. DECS Bilingual Policy is for the medium of instruction to be Filipino for: Filipino, Araling Panlipunan, Edukasyong Pangkatawan, Kalusugan at Musika; and English for: English, Science and Technology, Home Economics and Livelihood Education. Article XIV, Section 7 of the 1987 Philippine constitution mandates that regional languages are the auxiliary official languages in the regions and shall serve as auxiliary media of instruction therein. As a result, the language actually used in teaching is often a polyglot of Filipino and English with the regional language as the foundation, or rarely the local language. Filipino is based on Tagalog, so in Tagalog areas (including Manila), Filipino is the foundational language used. Philippine regional languages are used in the provinces in the teaching of Makabayan. International English language schools use English as the foundational language. Chinese schools add two language subjects, such as Min Nan Chinese and Mandarin Chinese and may use English or Chinese as the foundational language. The constitution mandates that Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis. Following on this, a few private schools mainly catering to the elite include Spanish in their curriculum. Arabic is taught in Islamic schools. Until 2004, primary students traditionally sat for the National Elementary Achievement Test (NEAT) administered by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS). It was intended as a measure of a school’s competence, and not as a predictor of student aptitude or success in Secondary school. Hence, the scores obtained by students in the NEAT were not used as a basis for their admission into Secondary school. During 2004, when DECS was officially converted into the Department of Education (DepEd), and also, as a result of some reorganization, the NEAT was changed to National Achievement Test (NAT) by the Department of Education (DepEd). Both the public and private elementary schools take this exam to measure a school’s competency. As of 2006, only private schools have entrance examinations for Secondary school. The DepEd expects over 13. 1 million elementary students to be enrolled in public elementary schools for school year 2009–2010. Though elementary schooling is compulsory, latest official figures show 27. 82% of Filipino elementary-aged children either never attend or never complete elementary schooling, usually due to the absence of any school in their area, education being offered in a language that is foreign to them, or financial distress. In July 2009 DepEd acted to overcome the foreign language problem by ordering all elementary schools to move towards mother-tongue based learning initially. The order allows two alternative three-year bridging plans. Depending on the bridging plan adopted, the Filipino and English languages are to be phased in as the language of instruction for other subjects beginning in the third and fourth grades. Secondary education PSHS Main Campus. Note the disparity between rural and urban education facilities in the Philippines. Secondary school in the Philippines, more commonly known as â€Å"high school† (Filipino: paaralang sekundarya, sometimes mataas na paaralan), consists of four levels largely based on the American schooling system as it was until the advent of the comprehensive high schools in the US in the middle of last century. The Philippine high school system has not moved much from where it was when the Philippines achieved independence from the US in 1946. It still consists of only four levels with each level partially compartmentalized, focusing on a particular theme or content. DepEd specifies a compulsory curriculum for all high schooling, public and private. The first year of high school has five core subjects, Algebra I, Integrated Science, English I, Filipino I, and Philippine History I. Second year has Algebra II, Biology, English II, Filipino II, and Asian History. Third year has Geometry, Trigonometry, Chemistry, Filipino III, and World History and Geography. Fourth year has Calculus, Advanced Algebra, Physics, Filipino IV, Literature, and Economics. Minor subjects may include Health, Music, Arts, Technology and Home Economics, and Physical Education. In selective schools, various languages may be offered as electives, as well as other subjects such as computer programming and literary writing. Chinese schools have language and cultural electives. Preparatory schools usually add some business and accountancy courses, while science high schools have biology, chemistry, and physics at every level. Secondary students used to sit for the National Secondary Achievement Test (NSAT), which was based on the American SAT, and was administered by DepEd. Like its primary school counterpart, NSAT was phased-out after major reorganizations in the education department. Now the National Achievement Test is administered to second year students. Higher education institutions, both public and private, administer their own College Entrance Examinations (CEE). Vocational colleges usually do not have entrance examinations, simply accepting the Form 138 record of studies from high school, and enrolment payment. Reference: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Education_in_Philippines.