Electoral College System Essays (714 words) - Psephology

Electoral College System After the last presidential election, which is still underway apparently, there is much controversy over what should happen to the Electoral College system. There are people who say that the Electoral College is good but should be modified to meet the needs of the modern world. There are those who say that the Electoral College system is too outdated to be modified and should be entirely eliminated. Finally there are those who say that it is has stood the test of time and is still the best system for our country. The original framers of the constitution obviously preferred the electoral system to a direct popular election. The argument that historians give for this is that they preferred this system because travel was difficult and there were no national party organizations. I personally reject this argument. I agree that travel was difficult back then, but wouldnt that have meant that the candidate who lived closest to the most largest states would have an un-fair advantage under the electoral system back then? The historians add that the framers feared that many regional candidates would divide the vote, and that by requiring a candidate to win a majority in the Electoral College was a way of obtaining a national census. There have been many attempts to reform or even scrap the Electoral College election sense its birth. The most recent one being in 1997 when congress debated a constitutional amendment to replace the electoral system with a direct popular vote system. However the Electoral College system to this day remains virtually un-changed from its original form. The only exception is the twelfth amendment, which requires each elector to cast two votes, one for president and one for vice president. Under the current system there are five hundred and thirty eight electors. Each state gets one elector, each representative, and a senator. A presidential candidate needs two hundred and seventy votes to win the election. The electors meet after the November popular election to cast their votes and officially elect the president. Electors may vote for whomever they wish. Each states electoral votes are awarded on a winner take all bases. The arguments to modify or eliminate the Electoral College system are all derived from the notion that it is outdated. Under the current system if a candidate wins a large states like California, then they win twenty percent of the needed votes even though California only accounts for eleven percent of the U.S. population. Whats more is a president can be elected without winning a majority of the popular vote. This has happened 15 times in U.S. history. The constitution allows electors to use their discretion. Seven times in history an elector has not casted his vote for the peoples choice. Fortunately this has not yet had a real affect on the outcome of an election. Under the current system each states electoral votes are awarded on a winner take all basis. This makes it extremely difficult for a third party or independent candidate to win any electoral votes. In fact, by concentrating support in certain states, a candidate can take the presidency with out winning more popular votes than his opponent. According to the 1990 census, a candidate only needs to win eleven of the most heavily populated of the fifty states in order to take the presidency. The arguments to maintain the Electoral College system are all derived from the notion that it has worked fine thus far. There have been many attempts to reform the electoral system but none of them have been successful. This is due to the fact that no election system is perfect, but the current system has stood the test of time. It has never rejected the winner of a popular vote majority. It always produces clear and immediately known winners, so far. Getting rid of the Electoral College system would be profoundly dangerous. Especially with the way modern elections are conducted. This would mean that the totality of our campaigns would be a television advertising tarmac kind of campaign. We would be handing the American presidential campaign to whatever media adviser could out slick the other, and not necessarily to the best candidate for our country. Political Issues

Brave New World1 essays

Brave New World1 essays The book that I read was Brave New World. It was written by Aldous Huxley. Huxley was born in England on July 26, 1894. He came to the States in 1937. Throughout his writing career he wrote many types of things. His works included novels, poetry, and essays.Huxley had established himself as a prestigious writer by the time that he was thirty.He also received the Award of Merit for his novel Island., from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He died Nov. 22 1963. I want to give you some background about the book before I get into the theme.The book itself takes place in a futuristic London. The entire Western Europe is controlled by one man, the Ford. The Ford's name is Mustapha Mond. In this society all of the people are hatched. The idea of people Giving birth is repulsive as well as is the idea of anyone wanting to be alone. Every persons future is predetermined. They are made to fit a cast system And they can never break away from that cast. Some people are smart and well respected and others are looked at like they are the scum of the earth. The primary objective of This society is to be social. To have fun, and to have sex with no commitment. Dealing with problems is no problem for these people because of a drug called Soma. Soma is like a tranquilizer that puts you in a place that you want to be and has no side-effects. So they never have to face reality. The book is centered around four main Characters The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning, a scientist named Lenina , another scientist Bernard and the Savage,John. The theme of the book is that people need to be looked as an individual with specific needs and concerns and feelings not that we should all be the same way all of the time The theme of the book starts with John. John is a young man that has lived his entire life on an Indian reservation. And has had no contact ...

Marvin v. Marvin Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marvin v. Marvin - Case Study Example The case between Martin v Martin highlights the challenges that marriage couples face. The case was determined in 1976 with the outcome serving as reference point in the US because of the relevance. The case involved two individuals in a non-marital relationship enforced through oral agreement. The couples made several agreements concerning their economic and social status. According to the case, the couples lived and made significant wealth and resources jointly. They had an agreement to share the acquired property and other belongings equally upon dissolution of the union. In 1971, the defendant withdrew the support he accorded the wife and called for the dissolution of marriage. The complainant launched a suit to enforce the agreement that they entered into prior to their dissolution. The complainant told the court that they entered into an oral agreement to work and share the property equally upon dissolution of their relationship (Laskin & Niff, 2010). The court heard the case and determined that individuals in any form of marriage whether implied or express have the right to claim their share. The court found that the complainant’s issues were valid and subjected the defendant to fulfill the agreement. The court stated that couples in non-marital relationships have the right to launch legitimate claims for property based on express or implied marriage contracts. The case gave a clear direction that sought to ensure fairness and equality between couples upon marriage dissolution. Living together contracts involve gay and non-gay couples who form relationship are either formal or non-formal. These non-marital contracts pose several complications when it comes to sharing property upon dissolution of the marriage. The contracts threaten to erode the moral and cultural practices of various societies. As noted by Strong, DeVault & Cohen (2011) these marriages disobey the moral standards that

Performance Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Performance Management - Essay Example Assessment Center: Technique that uses interviews, tests, simulations, games, and observations to evaluate an individual's potential. My department's appraisal is based on the performance measurement system that uses graphic scales. This is one of the most popular performance appraisal systems. Typically the manager can choose one of the five degrees for each criterion. The selection of the criteria to be measured can be centered on subjective factors (such as initiative and dependability) and/or on objective factors (such as quality and quantity of work). Advantages of the Graphic Scales This kind of performance measurement is quick to develop It is very easy to administer since grading is easy. It can be used easily across a number of employees for comparison. Disadvantages of the Graphic scales There is not much depth in the assessment standards. There is a probability for a contrast effect, that is an average employee following an outstanding employee may be rated as poor, an ave rage person following after an employee with a poor rating may be graded excellent There might be a friendship bias, meaning a positive form of leniency where a manager rates an employees perform better than it actually is based on his personal relationship with him. A central tendency where the managers tend towards the middle of the rating scale. A positive/negative halo when the appraiser tends to rate performance either at one extreme or another. Positive/negative leniency when the manager seems to exaggerate the swing towards better or worse performance. Ambiguity in the interpretation of scales by the manager causes poor rating. Impact on employees The performance appraisal is conducted fairly and with an open mind often has a positive... There is a probability for a contrast effect, that is an average employee following an outstanding employee may be rated as poor, an average person following after an employee with a poor rating may be graded excellent When the appraisal is e xecuted fairly and squarely, the employee comes away happy with the rating he received. Mostly, better ratings are linked to rewards and incentives commonly the raise he is eligible for the next year and most employees look forward to it. It overall improves his morale and motivates him to better his performance and hence makes reaching his goals and objectives easier. Even in areas where he has not met expectations and received a low rating, a capable appraiser is able to create reassurance in the employee of future performance and growth. Often, the appraiser and the appraised know each other well due to working side by side on a daily basis. When the given rating does not appeal to the employee, it paves the way for a lot of tension between the employee and management.  Ã‚  

Fiber optics Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fiber optics - Lab Report Example Each of the strands is a tenth less as thick as the strand of a human hair and it is capable of carrying approximated ten million calls. The cables are able to carry information from one point to another using the optical technology. The technology has been applied in many companies of telecommunications to transmit various telephone signals, television signals of cables and various communications in the internet. The fiber optics is more advantageous compared to existing copper wire that results from lower level of attenuation and also interference. This occurs in various long distances and in high demand applications. However, there have been various challenges resulting from development of infrastructure in cities making it time consuming and expensive to install the fiber optics (MeÃŒ ndez and Morse 165). As a result, fiber optics has been primarily installed in long distances where it is possible to maximize their full capacity of transmission. This has resulted into a decreased price of installing the fiber optic

Causes And Minimization Of Soybean Flavour Via Enzymes

Causes And Minimization Of Soybean Flavour Via Enzymes Lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, as well as vitamins and minerals are main food ingredients that are responsible for flavour in vegetables. These compounds may give rise to volatile and non volatile compounds that give vegetable its characteristic odour and taste (Sessa, 1979). Soybean is very popular and unique in its ability to be cholesterol free and lactose free, and also because it provides good source of nutrients at low-cost such as proteins, minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals (biological active components derived from plants) and also is a source of oil and therefore it is classified as an oilseed and has a reputation of being natural and good for health (Martin et al, 2010). Soybean originated from Asia, was first cultivated in china and is most common in Asian countries and is grown by farmers since centuries. Soybean is a good source for providing useful protein especially in countries where people are protein deficient, or lack of proteins from animal source, or for th ose people that are lactose tolerant and cannot consume cows milk for them soymilk is available, which is made from soybean and is healthy and rich in protein. Soybean is used to produce many food products such as soymilk powders, flour, oil, soybean curd, chocolate, ice-cream, etc (Martin et al, 2010; Stephan et al, 2000). Although in many western countries acceptance of soybean has not been much successful due to its strong grassy/beany flavour which is unpleasant in taste and is unfavourable according to most consumers. Therefore, much research has been done to improve soybean flavour. According to many studies done on soybean flavour, lipid oxidation (lipoxygenase) an iron containing enzyme which is common in plants and animals, which undergoes Fe2+ to Fe 3+ transitions during per oxidation of fat catalyses the peroxidation of unsaturated fats to hydroperoxides is said to be responsible for the off flavour which breaks down during hydration, which will be further discussed in th is review. Causes of beany Flavour During cultivating soybean, it is found that it is beneficial to environment in terms of nitrogen and other minerals that benefit the soil by increasing carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous contents in soil. Unpleasant flavour such as beany /grassy flavour of soybean are generated from the lipids through lipoxygenase during the process of roasting, fermentation and germination, the lipoxygenase breaks down the oil into a number of chemicals including hexanal, and methanethiol and these chemicals result in off-flavours which are described as beany and grassy primarily in soybeans ( Suratman et al,2004; Wszelaki et al, 2005). Lipoxygenase in soybean seeds is present in the form of three isozymes ( Lox-I, Lox-II and Lox-III) (Kumar, et al, 2003). Soybean is an iron containg enzymes which catalyzes the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids with cis,cis-1,4-pentadiene units to produce conjugated unsaturated fatty acid peroxides which are rensposible for the off flavour in soybeans as well as bitter taste (Li et al, 2008; Wang et al, 2008). It comprises of enzymes that are commonly found in soybean, can arise by either hydrolysis of fatty esters or oxidative fat corrosion. Naturally occurring enzymes such as lipid acyl-hydrolases, directly hydrolyze the fatty ester bonds of triglyceride s and phospholipids, producing free fatty acids. Lei and Boatright, 2005, revealed the importance of methanethiol to the characteristic odour of soybean which could give rise to a volatile sulphur compound; dimethul trisulfide is responsible for the off odour. Although the means for the effect of lipoxygenase on the formation of methanethiol is not well known, but is thought to be due to release of the free radicals formed during oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Methionine residues in soy protein products are aggregated by such free radicals, resulting in the formation of methionine sulfoxide which generates methanethiol as a final product as proposed by Lei et al 2005.Therefore, the data from current studies suggest that lipoxygenase not only catalyzes the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, resulting in the formation of volatile aldehydes, ketones, and alcohols, but also promotes formation of methanethiol (Lozano et al, 2007). Flavours developed depend on the composition of the fat with short chain fatty acids to C 10 having particularly disagreeable odours flavours and those above C1O possessing waxy or, at alkaline pH, soapy flavours. Hydrolytic fat corrosion is not much important in terms of flavour formation when compared with flavours from oxidative deterioration of free fatty acids. Strong soybean-like flavours have been found in model systems consisting of hydroperoxides generated by the oxidative action of soy lipoxygenase on pure linoleic and linolenic acid. Volatile Compounds produced contribute to the grassy and beany flavours, while non volatile compounds cause bitter and astringency. In addition, scientists have found that lipid hydroperoxides produced by Oxidation readily form in soybean seeds when compared with other vegetables. Once formed, hydroperoxides undergo decomposition to both volatile and non volatile compounds. Many volatile Compounds generated either by the action of enzymes or by autoxidation of polyunsaturated lipid. A volatile synthetic compound, 2(l-pentenyl) furan also was found to contribute to the beany and grassy notes of soybean oil. It was hypothesized to arise from autoxidation of linolenic acid. According to Zhou et al, 2000, 2-pentyl pyridine (2-pp) has the largest flavour value of any other flavour volatiles found in soybean products. While volatile compound contribute to beany flavour, non-volatile oxygenated fatty acids impart a bitter taste to soybeans and dried peas. For example, trihydroxy fatty acids generated by the action of soy lipoxygenases on linoleic acid is responsible for the bitter tastes but due to its low concentration it is unlikely to be the main cause off odour (Stephan et al 2000) . According to many studies peroxides, lipoxygenase, and phospholipids are the main cause of off odour in soybean and many studies show that pH and temperature may also have influence on the flavour impact causing undesirable taste. According to Iassonova, removing lipoxygenase (LOX) isozymes can reduces the amounts of volatile off-flavor compounds in soybeans and soy products drastically, but are not completely eliminated. The present work presents evidence that lipoxygenase-null (LOX-null) soybeans contain a LOX-like enzyme that is responsible for the offflavors in LOX-null soybeans. Volatiles production in triple LOX-null soybeans was terminated by heat treatment, which suggests an enzymatic cause to the off-flavors. The source is LOX-like in that the volatile compounds produced are similar to LOX-generated products of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Oxygen was consumed when a LOX-null protein solution was incubated with crude soybean oil suggesting that the enzyme catalyzed oxygen con suming reactions. The generation of flavour compounds was inhibited by the typical LOX inhibitors propyl gallate and nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA). The enzyme appears to be more active with phosphatidylcholine than with other lipid substrates. The cause of the off-flavors in LOX-null beans appears to have enzyme-like characteristics (Iassonova et al, 2009). Strategies adapted to reduce beany flavour Although soy is rich in its nutritional value, it has not been much popular due to its beany unpleasant flavour; therefore many methods have been considered in order to get rid of this lipid derived beany off flavour in soybean which is due to lipoxygenase activity. Soybean proteins can be readily be modified by chemical, physical and enzymatic treatments changes the functional properties of the protein such as leading to flavour change. Methods such as heat treatment, pH adjustment, hydrolysis, enzyme treatment, ingredients addition, thermal modification, and breeding of soybean with low beany flavours have been used to eliminate/ reduce unpleasant beany flavour of soybean (Heywood et al, 2002; Suratman et al, 2004). According to Heywood et al, 2002, value enhanced soybeans (genetic modified/breed) have transformed fatty acid/ protein composition which means volatile compounds are removed that cause unpleasant beany flavour. According to Iassonova et al, 2009; removing lipoxygenase (LOX) isozymes can reduces the amounts of volatile off-flavor compounds in soybeans and soy products drastically, but are not completely eliminated. Temperature also has significant effect on soybean protein where significant decrease in unpleasant flavour compound was observed at lower temperature around 5.5 C (lower than room temperature). In many studies it was investigated that at higher temperatures the methanethiol increased and vice versa (Heywood et al, 2002). Also heating increases the digestibility of soy protein. Similar results were reported by Rehman et al, 2007, according to him soymilk prepared by heating soybean grains at least 15min at 100 C soaking in water at pH 8, (soybean water extract) improved the flavour and taste to some extent but did not completely eliminate the unfavourable flavour, it only had less beany flavour and more protein solubility and also improved colour consistency. Similarly Machado et al, 2008 reported that the anti-nutrients in soybean such as Kunitz (protease inhibitor that reduces the nutrient level of soybean) can be inactivated by heat treatments (wet) or biochemical treatments or ei ther by selecting soybean varieties (could be modified/ genetically grown) that lack these protease inhibitors along with heat treatment such as wet heat rather than dry heat. Soybean was heat treated for 15 minutes ( as excess heat could completely denature the protein i.e. decrease the solubility and nutrition value) and as a result the trypsin inhibitors (which was seen to be dependent on moisture level) were inactivated without affecting the quality of soy protein the in terms of nutrition value. Thermal treatment the most common old method used to modify soy bean flavour without affecting the nutritional value. This treatment is used to eliminate lipoxygenase activity in soybean which produces volatile compounds responsible for off odour. Enzyme modification are conducted to eliminate undesired flavours (beany) caused by hexanal. Alpha-tocopherol and isoflavones, both naturally occur in soybeans. Are antioxidants which inhibit enzymic oxidation of linoleate with lipoxygenases . Methods are developed to free naturally occurring antioxidants of enzyme inhibitors. Cysteins under aerobic conditions interacts with the catalytic site of lipoxygenase and induces irreversible inactivation of the enzyme. Cysteine reacting with linoleic acid prevents formation of volatile flavour compounds. In line with Li et al, 2008, and Wang et al, 2008, although the thermal treatment inactivates effectively soybean lipoxygenase (LOX), it denatures soybean proteins, results in amino acid degradatio n and other deteriorative reactions. Although there are concerns over the affects of flavours, texture, colours, vitamins and nutrients by thermal treatment, therefore, inactivation of soybean LOX by non-thermal treatment is aimed in order to avoid quality loss of soymilk by thermal processing and new techniques are introduced such as high pressure techniques for better quality and taste. Pulsed electric fields (PEF) a non-thermal food preservation method and become increasingly a promising option to thermal pasteurization. In comparison with traditional thermal pasteurization, PEF dramatically lead to inactivation of LOX activity and denature of enzymes in soymilk PEF not only can kill microorganisms and inactivate enzymes, but maintains taste, colour, texture, vitamins, and nutrients, of foods. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to determine the content of methanethiol in soybean which occurred in every sample of soybean tested (Lei et al, 2005) which gives out unpleasant odour. It also was observed that if pH levels were increased the amount of methanehtiol also increased due to breakdown of methionine. Cyclodextrin, which masks beany flavour molecules by reducing or changes the food flavour overall have been used to eliminate the molecules responsible for the off flavours in soybean. Hexanal is reported to be the main sources of beany flavour have been used to inactivate soybean lipoxygenase activity but it is found that it lowers the protein solubility. Another method is soaking soybean in ethyl alcohol and PH adjustment. Off-flavour is only observed when the soybean cells are borkendown/ or during cooking where many chemicals (e.g. linoleic acid; ketones, aldehydes, and alcohol) are released which give off odour (Rehman et al, 2007). According to Stephan et a l, 2000 saturated free fatty acids (FFAs) did not produce any bitterness in the concentrations investigated, and were able to influence the bitter taste of emulsions essentially even if they are present in concentrations that are only slightly above their thresholds. Fig.1.Improved soybean products (Bay, 2006) Various methods have been employed to inhibit lipoxygenase. Enzyme inactivation by blanching whole soybeans before grinding of soaked soybeans prevents formation of oxidized flavour in the production of bland-flavoured soy milk. Heat inactivation of lipoxygenase by extrusion cooking yields full-fat flour with improved odour, flavour, and stability. Further low pH inhibits lipoxygenase in soybeans and other legumes. Thereby minimizing the formation of volatile compounds for example flavourless tasting slurries free of lipoxygenase- induced off-flavours and odours were produced by grinding and fractionating raw soybeans under pH 3.8 for enzyme inactivation with saturated monohydric alcohols. Flavour of soy flour should be improved with alcohol or heat treatments. Alteration of flavour causing aldehydes to alcohols by means of an enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase could reduce flavour because alcohols generally have higher flavour thresholds than corresponding aldehydes. .Alcohols produced by this reaction can act as enzyme inhibitors in the meals, or they can be more readily extracted from meals unlike aldehydes because alcohols do not bind to proteins .Present processes for preparing soyflour, concentrate, and isolates generally involve solvent extraction, aqueous extraction, drying, and toasting. Products with improved flavours through these procedures are commercially available. One current method is used to achieve soybean with acceptable flavour, better quality, and reducing any undesirable characteristics. (fig.1.).In this method soybean is mixed in an heated aqueous salt solution to form a mixture, heating leads to deactivation of enzymes that are responsible for beany flavour. This improved misture is further processed (drying, roasting, powdering, and flavouring) so can be used in a variety of food products. Conclusion Although soybean milk is recognized as a nutritious beverage, it contains much lower calcium than cows milk. To eradicate the off flavour, scientists throughout the world have been in an attempt to find soybeans that lacked lipoxygenase enzymes thought processes such as mutation, hybridization and selection they were able to find few that few of the enzymes. These soybeans are now being used in soymilk production and other food products and no longer have the off flavour (beany flavour). Therefore, according to Rehman et al, 2007 soybean in water at pH8 showed to have less beany flavour and more protein solubility, similarly according to Wang et al 2008 high pressure was found be effective in slightly reducing off flavour by deactivating lipoxygenase in soy products such as milk and gave improved taste and flavour , these results were also in line with the finding with Li et al, 2008 who studied the inactivation of soybean lipoxygenase due to thermal treatment but is shown to affect the quality of food and similarly results reported by Wang et al, 2008. Although there are concerns about reduction in protein content or health affect when soybean is modified in order to eliminate the unacceptable odour, since consumers concern has always been on quality, appearance, taste, smell, and texture. According to Lei and Boatright, 2005 little is known about factors that influence occurrence of methanethiol in soy products.

Essay --

The original synthesis did not go to completion; starting materials remained unreacted. This was confirmed when the purified product was isolated and determined to not be pure (Figure 7). Increasing the amount of solvent (DMF), obtaining a crude HNMR spectrum after 3 hours of the reaction to monitor reaction progress, increasing the reaction length with respect to the findings of the crude HNMR spectrum, obtaining a pH of 2-3 during the acidification (in order to obtain only the carboxylic acid product instead of a mixture with the carboxylate salt) and refining the recrystallization method, are all some of the adjustments to the experimental parameters. When the reaction parameters were changed to 6 hours and the acidified product had a pH of 2-3, a 20% yield of a white, flaky solid of the 4-4 coupling product was obtained. When the reaction parameters were changed to 18 hours, a 32% yield was obtained. However, a significant amount of decarboxylated byproduct was formed. A re crystallization procedure was developed to isolate the pure 4-4 coupled product (See Methods). An alternate synthetic pathway was developed due to the low percent yield and high levels of undesired side products of the reaction. Such characteristics are not ideal for a key starting material in a long synthetic series.Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are poisons that infect humans and are known to cause the human disease botulism 1,2,3,4,5. Having an LD50 of 1.0ng/kg body weight for humans, this makes the botulinum neurotoxin one of the most toxic known poisons still active today. BoNTs are listed as a category A bio threat agent by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1,2,3,4,5. Currently, there is no cure or effective treatme... ... be the most advantageous line of study 1,2,3,4,5. Unlike vaccines, chemically stable small molecules would remain viable for many years due to the dramatically larger half-lives. A large number of peptide-based inhibitors have been explored, but due to their short in vivo lifetimes, they make a poor candidate for new drugs 2. Broad spectrum BoNT inhibitors have been largely attempted to develop, but have rarely been met with success. Therefore, shifting the focus to develop serotype specific inhibitors have been the new focus in combatting botulinum neurotoxins. The overall goal has been modified to develop small, cell-permeable, low molecular weight, non peptidic drug like molecules capable of inhibiting BoNT/A, the deadliest of the seven serotypes. In order to achieve this, small molecule drug development is aimed at inhibiting the LC activity of BoNT/A 5.

Rebuilding Employee Morale Essay

Layoffs and work-force reductions have a big impact on both those who lose their jobs and those who remain. Employees who remain after a work-force reduction may be affected for weeks or months afterwards. They may feel overwhelmed, have a hard time focusing on work, or experience low morale. This may be a stressful time for you as well. As a manager you not only have to make the transitions yourself, but you’re also counted on to help steer your team through the changes. As a manager, it’s important to be aware of what employees are feeling and to offer support in ways that can help your team get through this difficult and challenging period. And it’s important to recognize how the changes affect you as well. Common feelings employees may have Several employees, or hundreds of employees, may have lost their jobs at your company. Whatever the size of the work-force reduction, it’s likely that many well-liked people who were doing good work will be leaving the company and that the employees who remain are sad and are grieving for co-workers who were let go. The remaining employees may also be fearful about the security of their own jobs or how their roles might change. Employees may experience some or all of the following emotions, all of which can affect productivity, commitment, and morale: †¢ Sadness. †¢ Anger. †¢ Guilt. †¢ Fear and anxiety. Many may wonder, â€Å"Am I the next to go?† †¢ Envy of those who are leaving. Employees may feel that those who were laid off are moving on to new opportunities while they are â€Å"stuck at the same old job.† †¢ Apathy. They may find it hard to concentrate or get back to work. †¢ Loss of trust in the organization. Employees may lose trust in upper management’s messages and mission and may not feel that the company cares. †¢ Overwhelmed. People may feel overloaded and worried about how their workload will change. 57114-1008 2 Rebuilding Employee Morale Following a Layoff Helping employees cope A layoff or downsizing is a business decision. But before employees who remain can move on and begin working productively again, it’s important to deal with the emotional side of the job cuts and their impact on people’s lives. †¢ Hold an initial meeting with employees staying on your team on the day of the downsizing announcement. Have an open and honest discussion with them about the job cuts and why they took place and how they will help keep your organization moving forward. Employees need to know why the cuts happened and what the organization is doing to avoid more job cuts. Talk about the layoffs in terms of job functions and the business. Do not discuss specifics or specific individuals. Expect this to be a time of deep emotion, confusion, and anxiety for your employees. †¢ Hold a â€Å"jump-start† meeting. A work-force reduction can change the way your team functions. In the days following the announcement, plan and hold a jumpstart meeting to get people focused on what matters. At the meeting: – Review the organization’s goals, strategy, and new direction. Enlist your team’s support in finding ways to meet those goals. – Clarify the reasons for the change. Identify and describe ways that individual employees may have to shift their attention. – Explain fully the expected results of the team’s efforts, linking those results to the overall business goals of the organization. – Identify those things the team and individuals are already doing well that support the new direction or business strategy. Highlight what may change. – Discuss needs and develop concrete action plans for short- and long-term periods. – Provide training if employees will be asked to take on new work or functions. †¢ Give employees continued opportunities to talk about their feelings. Encourage them to voice their fears, questions, complaints, and concerns. Hold meetings. You can do this both one-on-one with employees and as a group. Have drop-in sessions. These will be helpful for employees and for you as a manager. Remember that when people are allowed to express their feelings they are better able to adjust and move on. Continue to have these discussions for as long as they seem productive. Watch that employees don’t get stuck or caught up in too much negativity. Use coaching skills to help them accept the change and move on. †¢ Be honest with employees and keep lines of communication open. The more honest and straightforward you are, the more quickly you’ll rebuild trust on your team. During times of major change, information is often incomplete. No manager has all the answers. If an employee asks a question about the reorganization that you are not in a position to answer, don’t be afraid to say, â€Å"I don’t have the answer to 3 Rebuilding Employee Morale Following a Layoff that question.† If possible, commit to finding answers and information within a fixed period of time and â€Å"close the loop† with the employee who asked the question. If relevant, share the information with everyone on the team. Remind employees that in times of flux even some of the updated information will change but that you will keep them as up to date as you can when this happens. †¢ Lead by example. Take a close look at your own attitudes and behavior and how you are responding to the workplace change. Positive, sincere, and communicative managers who demonstrate strong leadership qualities while acknowledging the difficulty and pain of the layoff are typically able to get their staff back on track during times of adversity and challenge. †¢ Offer resources to help employees reduce feelings of stress. Make sure members of your team are aware of the resources available to them to help reduce feelings of stress, including the employee assistance program (EAP) or the program that provided this publication. †¢ Recognize that, initially, employees may be so absorbed with the reorganization that they get less work done than usual. During times of major change, especially in the period right after the change, it’s common for people to look out for themselves. Employees may spend increased amounts of time on personal activities like phone calls and Internet use. By keeping employees actively engaged in constructive job-related tasks with a direct value to the business, anxiety can be kept in check and employees will be more focused on what matters. It’s important to take action to rebuild the team and help employees get back up to speed and move forward. Ways to rebuild trust and morale It can take months for employees to adjust to a major organizational change and to new systems and ways of doing things. It’s important to keep an eye on employee morale during this transitional period. Here are some ways to rebuild trust and morale on your team during this time: †¢ Spend extra time with your team and with individual employees. In times of stress managers can be tempted to spend more time in their offices away from their anxious employees, but this is just the time your employees need you to be more visible and accessible than usual. †¢ Communicate openly and often about company strategies and goals. Share information. Clarify goals. Be honest in your communications. If more change is coming, share as much as you’re able to with employees. It’s critical to check with upperlevel managers on what messages to communicate to employees. Different messages coming from managers across departments will result in mixed messages and rumors. Encourage employees to share any rumors they hear with you and address each one as quickly as you can. 4 Rebuilding Employee Morale Following a Layoff †¢ Talk about changes within the organization and how these may affect the work and your group. Talk about how the work will change as a result of the reorganization. Let everyone know that plans or tasks may change and that this is normal during times of transition. If work expectations for the department or individuals have changed, communicate this as soon as possible. Be clear and concise about new job duties and responsibilities. Remember to give frequent updates. This helps employees deal with feelings of uncertainty and confusion. †¢ Avoid complaining about the organization or telling employees your woes. Managers sometimes do this to reduce feelings of guilt — they want employees to feel that they are suffering, too. But a manager who complains to employees only loses respect and creates more anxiety among employees. Speak with other managers you trust about your feelings and concerns and to get more ideas of what steps you can take to help rebuild your team. Take very good care of yourself during this time as many managers experience additional stress as they guide their teams through challenging times. †¢ Use team-building exercises to renew relationships and commitments to goals. Work on a group or team project together. You might order pizza or bagels when you do. Offer a seminar on dealing with workplace change. Work hard to be sure everyone understands his or her role on the team and how group efforts contribute to the larger business goals. †¢ Be respectful of the people who have been laid off. Avoid comments like â€Å"He wasn’t such a great employee anyway.† Focus on the positive attributes of employees who have left. Express regret and make sure your team knows that you wish them well. This will show those who are staying that the organization treats people with respect and dignity. Your employees will assume that if they were to be laid off, you would talk about them the same way you talk about former em ployees. †¢ Help employees see the opportunities that change can bring. The reorganization may mean that people will have the opportunity to learn new skills or to take on new responsibilities. †¢ Recognize and reward good work and continued commitment. Let employees know that you appreciate everyone pulling together to do their part in meeting the company’s goals. It’s more important than ever at this time to reward employees who are staying — for meeting goals and milestones and for steady, dependable effort. Here are some ways to offer rewards: – through company recognition or incentive programs – by giving public recognition at a meeting – by sending an e-mail to upper management applauding an employee’s efforts and spelling out what those efforts were and how they contributed to the company’s goals – by using bulletin boards to call attention to someone’s good efforts 5 Rebuilding Employee Morale Following a Layoff Keep in mind that it takes time for people to let go of old ways, adapt to new ones, and recommit to the organization. The more proactive you are in helping employees through this transition, the more everyone will be able to adjust, move on, renew their enthusiasm, and confirm their commitment to the company. Written with the help of Elizabeth Bakken, B.A., M.A. Ms. Bakken has a certificate in organizational development and an extensive background in the fields of human resource development and career coaching. She writes a column, CareerWise, on executive career issues for the Rochester Business Journal.  © 2001, 2008 Ceridian Corporation. All rights reserved. 102908

A Candidate for Murder Essay Essays

A Candidate for Murder Essay Essays A Candidate for Murder Essay Essay A Candidate for Murder Essay Essay Murder is a remarkable page turner by Joan Lowery Nixon. The book is fictional and suspenseful, it has a length of two hundred ten pages and was published by Dell Publishing in 1991. The story seemed to start a little slow but, It sped up soon after the first chapter. It was a quick read and it kept me on my toes, always curious about what was going to happen next. A Candidate For Murder Is about a girl (Cary) whose father (Charles) Is running for the Governor of Texas. While at a party, Cary overhears a conversation led between two men. They notice that she heard some of the crucial Information and now they do everything In their power to keep her from telling anyone. Even If that means they have to hurt her Or even kill her. Onions goal and topic of this book was to keep the reader entertained, and she definitely stayed on topic. The most Important and Interesting part of the book was chapters 15 through 19. Theyre full of the action-filled mammals pieces needed to put this puzzle of a story together. I do believe that this novel met the goals of the author. It gave me plenty of entertainment, and kept me busy. The book is an astonishing and powerful read from cover to cover. The ending could have been a little longer but, I loved all the twists and turns the story had. I would recommend this to anyone, it will capture your mind and take you on an adventure; as if you were in the story. This is easily one of the best pieces Ive ever read, Joan Lowery Nixon is the elite of all authors. Her adventures and persona in her writing makes you want to buy all of her books and read every single one of them.

Interesting Facts About US Housing

Interesting Facts About US Housing About 7.2 million homeowners took out home equity lines of credit in 2003, up 12 percent from 2001 when 6.4 million such credit lines were established. Thats just one of the interesting facts and statistics reported in the latest edition of the American Housing Survey (AHS) [pdf], sponsored by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Now entering its fourth decade of publication, the AHS provides information on a variety of topics, including home ownership, characteristics of homes and their owners, housing costs, vacation homes, gated communities and people’s views of their neighborhoods. Some more highlights from the latest AHS: About 3.8 million homeowners had lump-sum home equity mortgages, down nearly 20 percent from 2001, when there were 4.7 million such loans.Homeowners occupied more than 72 million homes. Overall, the nation had about 106 million occupied housing units.Renters occupied 33.6 million housing units.The nation’s median mortgage interest rate was 6.7 percent, down from 7.5 percent in 2001.The median value of owner-occupied homes was $140,000.Between 2001 and 2003, the number of owner-occupied units with four or more bedrooms increased by about 1 million to 18.7 million.There were 3 million owner-occupied homes in planned gated communities.The vacancy rate for rental housing units was 9.6 percent, up from 7.8 percent in 2001.On a scale of 1-to-10, with 10 being the best, 3-in-4 homeowners rated their neighborhood an 8 or higher.

Maldoror by Comte de Lautreamont Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Maldoror by Comte de Lautreamont - Essay Example He himself shifts into various animal forms and sees people do the same. He wants people to embrace the base, vile animal within themselves in order so that they will become evil too. Animals live by their appetites, they have no higher reason or calling. Maldoror wishes to see humanity reduced to this base form. He transfers into animal form to escape his disgust for humanity. It is easy to sense the poet's own disgust with humanity. He clearly is unhappy with human hypocrisies and sees in the animal kingdom something that is purer or freer of guile. He sees an insect as a beautiful thing, not as something disgusting. This is worthy of note. Few works in the history of literature have made as much of an impression as this one. Its non-narrative structure and powerful imagery influenced a generation of surrealists. But it also contains a larger, almost theological message: We should value the distinction between us and animals.

Types of Newspapers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Types of Newspapers - Essay Example There are different types of newspapers and they can be classified in different ways. Classification based on frequency The frequency of the newspaper being published is one of the most common ways of classifying the newspaper. Based on the frequency of its publications newspapers can be classified into: Daily Newspapers This is the most common type of newspapers. Daily newspapers are published everyday and cover important news from the previous day. It also carries information regarding the current day. Daily newspapers are the most circulated and read in the whole world. Normally it is published aiming to reach the reader everyday morning. The target audience of a daily newspaper is vas. They target every market segments which includes all demographic profile. But there are also afternoon and evening newspapers that carry breaking news from the current day and are aimed at office workers and commuters (Ric Publications, 1993). Examples of daily newspapers are New York Times, New Yo rk Post, Washington Post, etc. Bi-Weekly Newspapers Bi-Weekly newspapers are published twice a week and can be general or content specific newspaper. These papers in most cases interpret or put forward the news in a different way. They do an in-depth coverage of general news when compared to daily newspapers and style of reporting is also different. The target audience may vary depending on what the paper is covering. Bi-weekly papers can be community or a group specific newspaper which only concentrate on the news related to the community or the group. The Dartmouth Review is an example of a bi-weekly newspaper which is published twice a week at Dartmouth College. It concentrates on news related to the college. The Jewish Journal is another example of a bi-weekly newspaper which is a community sponsored newspaper and covers news related to the Jewish community. Weekly Newspaper Weekly newspapers are published once in a week. These have smaller circulation than daily newspapers. The y mainly cover local news and community based news. They are usually based and limited smaller areas such as towns and cities. There are very less national level weekly newspapers. They adopt a niche strategy and target a specific market. For example a weekly newspaper may target only sports, advertising (free ads), etc. Examples of weekly newspapers are Florida weekly, Honolulu Weekly, etc. Classification based on the news covered Newspapers can also be classified based on the news that they cover. They can be mainly classified into: National Newspapers National newspaper is one which circulates through out the country. Each country has newspapers that have their presence in the entire country. They mainly cover the national news and the international news. The .local news is also covered but not in detail. News of national importance is given primary importance and makes up for the majority of the news covered. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are examples of nationa l newspapers. International Newspapers There are not many newspapers that can be categorised as international newspapers. To be an international newspaper the paper must concentrate primarily on international news which not many newspapers do. International Herald Tribune is one of the newspapers that can be categorised. Also there are some national newspapers who release the international editions of their papers. Regional/local Newspapers Regional or local newspapers target regional news