Media coverage Essay Example for Free

Media coverage Essay Other main causal reasons that shows the connection between media and the suicide rate was the news reporting about the incident. Studies suggest that imitational suicide occur when people are contacted with suicide event and this can be through the media coverage (Baume et al. , 1997). The evidence suggest that media reporting on suicides influences people to engage in the same manner while to some people, suicide can be an alternative way of solving problems (Baume et al. , 1997). This phenomenon can be explained with social learning theory as described previously. News about other people’s suicide cases might affect other people’s feelings especially to those people whom considered suicide and these people might actually commit suicide. Although there were differences in effects through gender or ages, various studies proves that there was certain relationship in news reports of suicide and actual suicides and this relationship leads to increase the actual suicide (Pirkis Blood, 2001). This was one of the examples of Werther effect conducted by media which tends people to commit suicide. When people watch news reporting about other people’s suicides, the idea of suicide may unconsciously affect the mind and their problems may trigger those ideas and these people may actually suicide. Moreover, the reporting of suicide to the public increases the suicide rate especially in celebrities’ cases, in which people becomes copycat. In his study in 2000, Stack found that celebrities’ suicide cases can cause 14. 3 times more copycat suicides than normal suicide cases, but in his study in 2005, he changed the percentage to 5. 27 times (Stack, 2000 2005). Although there were changes in percentage, these evidence shows that people are more likely to copy the suicide behavior of celebrities’ death. For example, after the suicide of Kurt Cobain, the famous rock star, there was increase in suicide crisis calls in the Seattle crisis clinic (David et al. , 1996). Also, there were other incidents that were similar to G case, which are another cases of a celebrities’ suicidal incident, but in these cases, an organization called EXIT(Society for Humane Dying), assists these people with their suicide. After publication of the celebrity (G)’s death and the suggestions that EXIT might be involved with this incident, more people got help from EXIT to commit suicide (Frei et al. , 2003). News report on Celebrities’ suicide was even more dangerous than reporting normal people’s suicide. Celebrity suicide can be a risk factor in a way of suicidal ideation and this can be effective to people in both right after the celebrities’ suicide and also in long term (Fu Yip, 2007). People, who have suicidal ideation, meaning thinking about suicide or actually planning to commit suicide, may be affected by the way celebrities commit suicide and may follow the same steps. In the celebrities’ suicide cases, people are emotionally more attached because they tend to know more the true identity of that particular celebrity due to the information’s released through magazines and news compared to the information’s given while the celebrity was still alive. Therefore, with emotional despair to celebrities’ suicide and effect of it to suicidal ideation, people would want to commit suicide in same ways as those celebrities did. Apart from the news reporting about the suicides, there are cyber suicides in which people get information’s from, like the website, and actually committed suicide. Internet, one of the most recent and developed sources of media, were used to increase the suicides, especially to teenager cases. The term â€Å"cyber suicides† shows new aspects of suicides in the young generations. As the internet develops, there are various websites created on the cyber world. There exist more than 100,000 websites on the internet which are about methods of committing suicide (Alao et al. , 2006). People search for information on the web and the suicide websites can easily pop up by simply typing in the word â€Å"suicide† to the search engine. Suicide covers enormous range of internet resources and a simple search of the word suicide reveals thousands of matches (Baume et al. , 1997). These suicide websites contain detailed information such as notes, various ways to commit suicide, and time and pain description to those suicides (Alao et al. , 2006). One of the major death reasons among the teenagers was suicide, and teenager spends more time on the web and the internet gives them the information about suicide (Becker Schmidt, 2004). Young people, including teenagers, are more likely to commit suicide, influenced by internet, and probable explanation to this may be due to their vulnerable personalities and risk-taking behaviors (Alao et al. , 2006). Especially, the sensitive nature of naive teenagers becomes unprotected from all cruel information from internet suicide resources and they tend to follow the acquired information. Many actual cases were reported about how people commit suicide with tips from suicide websites (Alao et al. , 1999). These cases were yet to be determined whether or not those victims were affected by these websites since the victims were fortunately failed to commit suicide, but still there are unknown actual victims of this website who ended their lives. On the internet, there are other means acquired than suicide websites. People also use chat rooms and newsgroup mailing system to discuss about suicides (Baume et al. , 1997). Discussing about suicide issues involving how to suicide is not a forbidden topic on chat rooms and people are actively talking about these topics. Also, the newsgroup mailing system gives recent updates to the suicide issues. Some people write postings on suicide site about when they are going to commit suicide before they actually do it and there was no prevention to this (Baume et al. , 1997). The internet can affect suicidal behaviors more directly than newspapers or news reporting (Baume et al. , 1997). All of these are happening because internet is a special space, in which interaction between people were different from the real world. With this specialty, people care less about how other people are claiming that they are going to kill themselves. It is also difficult for suicidologists to solve these cyber suicide problems because of the characteristics the internet have (anonymity and world-wideness) and it is complicated to reach out the potential victims for therapeutic interaction (Baume et al. , 1997). There might be some helpful suicide website, which persuade people who enter the site not to commit the crime and provide them help resources and ideas of the possible effects if they actually commit suicides. However, there are still many website that even encourages a group of suicidal people who wanted to commit suicide but had not made up their minds yet which then attracted to these ideas and actually commit the suicides. Furthermore, there are publications about how to commit suicide and this book can bring the ideas or suggestions about suicide. These books are actually used by the people who commit the suicide and this can be proved by the fact that books about suicides are often placed near the dead people who committed suicides (Lester Schaller, 2000). Some people might buy the suicide books just for fun, but having this type of book in the house may suggest the idea of suicide unconsciously. People may did not have the idea of committing suicide at first, but after reading this book or just have it in the house can pull the trigger whenever they feel a little bit depressed or encounters problems. Some countries ban this type of book, but other countries still allow the publication of this book based on the reasoning that if this book was banned, people might seek for it more (Lester Schaller, 2000). However, unlike the purpose of allowing this book, the actually suicide cases show that there is some effect from this book. There were evidences found that shows direct relationship of the suicide book and the actual suicide rate. When the suicide book, Final Exit (a guide for committing suicide by asphyxjectiation), was published, suicide by the recommended method increased 313% in New York City (Stack, 2005). Moreover, in 27. 3% of the suicide cases, a copy of this book was found near the scene of the suicide (Stack, 2005). This demonstrates how a copy of a book can affect people’s mental behaviors. As reviewing the mentioned cases, it can be concluded that the media, the internet, and books contributes percentage to the people’s suicidal rate. To prevent this from happening, there should be regulations that will restrict the media and treat the suicide issues in a manner where their reporting will not provide ideas nor will it triggers the â€Å"let’s do that† attitude to the people. There are different media guidelines for reporting suicides to prevent irresponsible reporting of suicide (Pirkis et al. , 2006). According to these guidelines, media should not report the suicide as sensational event (Pirkis et al. , 2006). Although these guidelines have similarities, they have developed differently and there need to be evaluations to the guidelines (Pirkis et al. , 2006). For example, in Cobain case, due to high professionalism and responsibility in media, there were only a few copycat suicides (Jobes et al. , 1996). There should be expansion to these guidelines and these guidelines should be spread to all news media and news directors should seriously consider about this before publishing the news. Cobain’s suicide might be a tragic event, but through this, the media might learn the importance of the media coverage on the suicides (Jobes et al. , 1996). The suicide prevention organizations can work on to change the news reporting on suicide and thus, make the media contribute to reduce the suicide (Stack, 2003). Also, the suicide website and suicide books should be banned to prevent the idea or suggestion of committing suicides. The suicides can be prevented easily if the people around that particular person pay more attention. Especially to those people who published suicide information in the internet, these people truly needs to think about their responsibilities to other people’s lives and the effect they might contribute by simply postings their works. Also, there are many organizations that help preventing people to commit suicides and the people with the suicidal attitudes must contact these organizations. Suicide considers being an extreme way to end one’s life, one should always keep in mind that there are millions of reasons why people must keep on living despite the many obstacles they faces. Problems come and go; no people in the world who don’t have a problem. Problems are the cycle of life, the meaning of life, the reasons behind the success and the happiness, the reasons why people learn and evolved. Problems should not be the reason for ending life.

Relationship Between Neoliberalism and Neorealism

Relationship Between Neoliberalism and Neorealism NEO-LIBERALISM, NEO-REALISM   THE ‘NEO-NEO SYNTHESIS’ Do you agree that neo-realism and neo-liberalism have come so close together so as to form a ‘neo-neo synthesis’? Or is the long-standing confrontation between the two very much alive today? ‘This positivist-realist legacy has, despite slight differences and  dichotomies, persisted in later positivist scholars of international  relations: Robert Gilpin, Stephan Krasner, and Robert Kohane. Whereas  they have a number of differences to debate, namely anarchy, regime,  state cooperation etc., they belong to the Neo-realist research  programme which as been called the ‘‘neo-neo synthesis’’. Despite the  substantive debate between neo-realists and neo-liberal institutionalists,  Neo-institutionalism does not actually challenge but complements neorealism . . . This indicates that neo-realism and neo-liberalism are no  longer incommensurable: they commonly share the rationalist research  programme.’ (Toru Oga, 2000: p.3) This quotation is given at such length because it succinctly and excellently gives the theoretical foundation for the notion of a ‘neo-neo synthesis’, and for the merger and integration of neo-realism and neo-liberalism. For a long part of the twentieth century realism and liberalism, and later neo-realism and neo-liberalism, were bitterly opposed to each other at both theoretical and practical levels: the former espoused a economic and political ideology that viewed the ideal international community as one possessed of lassiz-faire economic policies, of free markets and limited government intervention; the later proposed, to the contrary, that the international community should be a restraint upon nation states, limiting and controlling their political and economic activities, and making them behave according to mutually agreed criteria (Booth, 1995). Considering the antithetical nature of these two positions, it long seemed to supporters of both camps that a synthesis of their positions would be both heretical and impossible. Nonetheless, in the mid 1980’s a convergence of the two schools did indeed begin to emerge as it became clear that their differences were not as great as they has formerly assumed, and as other schools of a more radical nature began to attack neo-liberalism and neo-realism alike (Kratochwil, 2000). As Oga suggests above, the two schools came to see that they were both working according to the ‘rationalist research programme’ and that this joint philosophy might bear better fruit if they co-ordinated their work. This essay however proceeds to argue, using the twin criticisms of John Ruggie’s and Alexander Wendt’s constructivism and Richard Ashley’ and David Campbell’s deconstructivism, that the neo-neo synthesis is but a verbal mirage, a rhetorical convergence of ideas that is not a political reality and whose theoretical foundation is both illogical and unhistorical. It will th erefore be shown that neo-realism’s and neo-liberalism’s long-standing confrontation is as alive today as it has been at any time in its history. ‘Social constructivism’ first emerged as a challenge to the validity of the neo-neo synthesis of neo-realism and neo-liberalism in the work of John Ruggie (1986) and Alexander Wendt (1989). The principal objection raised by these scholars to the neo-neo-neo synthesis was that it failed to sufficiently account for or explain the roles and functions of national interests and national and corporate identities in the domain of international politics. In the words of Oda ‘Firstly, the neo-neo synthesis is unable to explain how territorial states formed particular identities and interests. Secondly, it fails to explain how state identity and state interest are co-instituted. Finally, there increasingly emerges the normative factor in international relations, such as humanitarian intervention, which the synthesis totally ignores’ (Oda, 2000: p.5). The neo-neo synthesis is therefore criticised on three counts: one, it pays too little attention to how national and te rritorial identities are formed, and therefore does not have sufficient knowledge of these identities when needing to make informed decisions on international political and economic policy; secondly, this being a related point, the neo-neo synthesis does not make clear the relationship between how state identities are formed and therefore how states will behave internationally in the protection of their interests; and, thirdly, the neo-neo synthesis in entirely impotent when asked to make decisions regarding one of the most significant developments in recent international politics: the emergence of humanitarianism. Thus Ruggie came to define the opposite to the neo-neo synthesis, i.e., constructivism, with the following statement ‘Social constructivists have sought to understand the full array of roles that ideas play in world politics, rather than specifying a priori roles based on theoretical presuppositions and then testing for those specified roles, as Neo-Utilitarians doà ¢â‚¬â„¢ (Ruggie 1998: p. 867). If this constructivist position is accurate, Ruggie argued, then the neo-neo synthesis cannot also be accurate. ‘On the one hand, the sign of ‘sovereignty’ betokens a rational identity: a  homogeneous and continuous presence that is hierarchically ordered, that has a  unique centre of decision presenting over a coherent ‘self’, and that is  demarcated from, and in opposition to, an external domain of difference and  change that resists assimilation to its identical being. On the other hand, the  sign of ‘anarchy’ betokens this residual external domain: an aleatory domain  characterised by difference and discontinuity, contingency and ambiguity, that  can be known only for its lack of the coherent truth and meaning expressed by  a sovereign presence’ (Ashley, 1988: p. 230) A further attack upon the solidity of the neo-neo synthesis has been launched by the deconstructivism school founded by Richard Ashley (1988) and David Campbell (1998) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â€š ¬ the criticisms of both centring upon failure of the neo-neo synthesis to properly explain the anarchical nature of the international political domain. According to the rationalistic model of the neo-neo synthesis the international economic and political community must be ordered according to absolutely certain and definite economic and political principles that are open to scientific research and investigation. Likewise, it is a belief of the neo-neo synthesis that economists and politicians are able to make predictions about the nature of the international environment by using these scientifically determined laws of economics and politics; the above model cannot allow for capricious economic and political events whose causes lie outside of scientific prediction (Lapid, 1989). Deconstructivism on the other hand, as Ashley shows in the quotation above, argues that the order bestowed upon a nation by its ‘sovereignty’ is not present in the international arena where a lack of sovereignty produces events that defy economic and political laws derived from the economic and political conditions in sovereign states (Ashley, 1988). In different words: the international arena and the sovereign domestic arena are markedly different and behave differently according to different sets of laws. Thus Ashley came to speak of the international arena as place of ‘anarchy problematique’ (Ashley, 1988: p.201): a notion considerably developed by the other founder of deconstructivism, David Campbell. In Writing Security (1988) Campbell considers the domestic and foreign policies of the United States as an example of the dichotomy between sovereign domestic behaviour and anarchical international behaviour. At the domestic level, successive American governments, be they republ ican or democratic, produce prudent and conservative policies designed to operate within a narrow ideological range; such policies are designed to appeal to an average American mind-set that is fond of such conservative policies. American foreign policy however manifests itself in much more radical forms, most recently witnessed in the invasion of Iraq, including many policies that violate the political, moral and economic ideologies expected at home. In Iraq, for instance, American policy is forced to respond to anarchical conditions that require very different policies and practices from those employed the homeland of America; these normal freedoms and rights are suspended because of the changed anarchical conditions over which America presides in Iraq. The explanation for this policy and ideological dichotomy rests upon a difference of identity: American citizens identify themselves at home, due to long tradition and experience of certain rights and freedoms, as possessing these absolutely and do not permit their governments to make major deviations from these; in the international arena however the identity of those making policy is not so strongly tied to cultural or individual identity but is rather an abstract spectre that can as such justifies more anarchical policies. Thus Campbell famously stated that ‘Identity can be understood as the outcome of exclusionary practices in which resistant elements to a secure identity on the ‘‘inside’’ are linked through a discourse of ‘‘danger’’ with threats identified and located on the outside. Foreign policy, being those practices of differentiation implicated in all confrontations between a self and other, embraces both positive and negative valences’ (Campbell, 1998: p.73.). The neo-neo synthesis, according to Ashley, Campbell and others of the deconstructionist school cannot properly exist in the form it pretends to because it does not take suffic ient account of the anarchical element in international politics. In the final analysis, it can be stated with some assurance that the ‘neo-neo synthesis’ is a desperate verbal illusion created by neo-liberals and neo-realists alike when jointly threatened by the strength of the constructivism / deconstructivism critique. The eminent political scientist Francis Fukuyama predicted in his famous National Interest article of 1989 entitled The End of History that differences of economic and political ideologies would soon be a thing of the past as the world, driven by forces of globalization, came together behind the consensus that liberal democracy and capitalism represented the end point of human history and would soon create a homogenous political order (Fukuyama, 1989). Deeply influenced and threatened by the persuasiveness of such ideas, and so by the notion that their own ideological differences might become superfluous; scholars of both schools created the ‘neo-neo synthesis’ as a self-defence mechanism. This mechanism has subsequently been revealed as both illogical and irrational by the criticisms levelled against it by the constructivism and deconstructivism schools. The pretence of ideological unity is falsified by the practical manifestations of both theories, which diverge radically and which show that the long-standing confrontation between the two positions is as alive today as at any other time before. BIBLIOGRAPHY Academic Books, Journals Articles Ashley, R. (1986 [1984]) ‘The Poverty of Neorealism’ in Keohane, R. O. (edt.) Neorealism and its Critics (New York: Columbia U.P.) Booth, K. (1995) ‘Dare not to know: International Relations Theory versus the Future’ in Booth, K. and Smith, S. (edt.) International Relations Theory Today (Oxford: Polity Press). Campbell, D. (1998). Writing Security: United States Foreign Policy and the Politics of Identity (Manchester: Manchester U.P., Revised Edition) Cox, R. (1987) Production, Power, and World Order: Social Forces in the making of History (NY: Columbia U.P.) (1999) ‘Civil Society at the Turn of the Millennium: Prospects for an Alternative World Order’ in Review of International Studies Vol. 25 Fukuyama, F. (1989). National Interest article ‘The End of History’. George, J. (1993) ‘Of Incarceration and Closure: Neo-realism and New/Old World order’ Millennium: Journal of International Studies 22 (2). Kratochwil, F. (2000) ‘Constructing a New Orthodoxy? Wendt’s ‘Social Theory of International Politics’ and the Constructivist Challenge’ Millennium: Journal of International Studies 29 (1) Laclau, E. and Mouffe, C. (1985) Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards A Radical Democratic Politics (London: Verso) Lapid, Y. (1989) ‘The Third Debate: on the prospects of International Theory in a Post-Positivist Era’ International Studies Quarterly Vol. 33. Oga, T. (2000). From Constructivism to Deconstructivism: Theorising the Construction and Culmination of Identities. PhD Thesis. Department of Government. University of Essex. Ruggie, J. G. (1986) ‘Continuity and Transformation in the World Polity: Toward a Neorealist Synthesis’ in Keohane, R. O. (edt.) Neorealism and its Critics (New York: Columbia U.P.) Waltz, K. (1979) Theory of International Politics (New York: Random House) Wendt, A. and Duval, R. (1989) ‘Institutions and International Order’ in Czempiel, E. O. and Rosenau, J. N. (edt.) Global Changes and Theoretical Challenges: Approaches to World Politics for the 1990s (Massachusetts: Lexington Books)

Governmental Involvement in the Business World :: Essays Papers

Governmental Involvement in the Business World The government has played a role in business in our history. They have had positive as well as negative effects on business in America. That is what I am going to be looking at for this essay. The government has played a vital part in issues such as the excessive power that businesses have had. The government has also helped get rid of many kinds of prejudices against women, the elderly, the poor, the disabled, and against many racial and ethnic minorities. These changes began with the New Deal being of Roosevelt. After the implementation of the New Deal the wage gap began to gradually close between the richest and the poorest of Americans. This can be credited to laws and along with other government actions that were put into place during Roosevelt's presidency. Things such as Social Security, unemployment benefits, minimum wage all these things and much more were introduced by the government to better the lives of the working public. Government supervision increased in the 1930s and several industries became regulated by the government, such as trucking, airlines, electric utilities, and interstate gas. Other industries as well were kept under government regulation until the 1970s and 80s when they realized that the New Deal ideas that were passed in an emergency, were inappropriate in the long run for certain industries. The Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 required that all companies that were traded on the stock exchanges as well as banking firms and securities industries issue to stockholders and to the government detailed annual reports. These would contain information essential to the consumers. Also railroads and utilities were required to submit annual reports to regulatory commissions. The regulatory commissions and the annual reports were created to make sure that laws would be followed. The laws benefited the investment banking industry in the long run, because it helped companies sell stocks and bonds by giving investors confidence in the decisions they were making. The early 1930s were a time of serious deflation and federal price supports were

Styles of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge versus The Tell Tale Heart :: essays research papers

The authors, Ambrose Bierce of 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' and Edger Allan Poe of 'The Tell Tale Heart' have unique styles to pull the reader into the story. Both authors use unreliable narrator and imagery to allow the reader to picture and follow the narrator's way of thinking. In the Tell Tale Heart, the man is very repetitious and his psychotic behavior is what intrigues the overall dark madness of The Tell Tale Heart. In Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Bierce uses illusions to allow the reader to follow wherever his ideas lead which also intrigues the overall dark madness effect. After the old man is dead and under the floorboards the police arrive, and the narrator remains calm and his "manor had convinced them.?Villains!" "Dissemble no more! I admit the deed! -- tear up the planks! -- Here, here! -- it is the beating of his hideous heart!" The narrator of "The Tell Tale Heart" shows that he is unreliable. Concluding the questioning by the police, the narrator had a sudden fear and assumed that the policemen have heard the old man?s heart beat. Not only the narrator could hear the old man?s heart beating, but it is assumed (from the audience perspective) that the police could hear the narrator?s heart beating. The narrator listening to the old man?s heart beat is a replacement of his own consciousness that brought out the guiltiness for murdering the old man. In the last three paragraphs of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge told by a third person point of view, Farquhar is being hanged by the rope, and when the rope is undone, Farquhar escapes and sees the light of the river. The light in this particular story represents a warm bright light from heaven. On other hand on the complete opposite side, in The Tell Tale Heart the light (lantern) signifies fear of the eye. However the narrator reveals that Farquhar?s escape is a hallucination that lasts only from moment the rope breaks his neck at the end of the fall. In the Tell Tale Heart, Poe uses many figures of speech such as Anaphora at the beginning of a clause throughout the whole entire story as the narrator becomes calm and mad about the crime the narrator committed. A couple examples are: ?I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth.

Essay --

In the area of mathematics, it has been stated that Aristotle â€Å"is the real father of logic† (Thompson, 1975, p. 7) and although it may be a minor exaggeration, it is not far off the truth. Aristotle’s ideas on philosophy and logic were great advancers in Western culture, and are still being discussed and taught today. The ancient Greeks focused their mathematics on many areas, but one main question continuously asked by the Greeks was â€Å"what are good arguments?† (Marke & Mycielski, 2001, pg. 449). This question brought about the study of logic. Aristotle’s philosophy on the importance of logic was unique for his time as he believed that logic had to be considered in all disciplines, and that the aim of logic was to provide a system that allowed one to â€Å"investigate, classify, and evaluate good and bad forms of reasoning† (Groarke). Aristotle studied and contributed to various disciplines including philosophy, science, and astronomy, but his greatest influence was in the study of mathematical logic and more specifically, the introduction of syllogism. As Ulrich (1953) states, â€Å"any discussion of syllogism necessarily involves logic as it is the field that the syllogism plays a very important role† (p. 311). Aristotle’s ideas surrounding logic and syllogism are still being used in mathematics today, and over the course of history they have influenced many mathematicians’ areas of study. (Marek & Mycielski, 2001) Influence on Aristotelian Logic In order to understand Aristotle’s influence on mathematical logic, it is important to understand his life and the people that influenced his studies. Aristotle was born in 384 BCE in Stagira, which was an ancient city in Greece located on the Chalkidiki peninsula (Amadio & Kenny). In 367 B... ...ead of as an axiomization of a body of knowledge† (Andrade & Becerra, 2008, p. 310). Conclusion Aristotle’s philosophy of logic and syllogism introduced a system of formal thought. One in which emphasis was placed on answering logical questions through using proof, deduction and reasoning. This contribution to the field of logic allowed future academics to draw connections of previous unknowns in many areas of study, but most notably in the field of mathematics. Aristotle’s contribution to logic, by introducing a system of syllogism, became influential within many disciplines, and his ideas remained a great focal point for many centuries. Although Aristotle will forever be seen as a great philosopher, his influence of the syllogism was one that greatly advanced the area of mathematical logic and opened the gateway for many more mathematical discoveries and ideas.

7 Habits by Stephen R. Covey

Stephen R. Covey book is titled â€Å"The 7 habits of highly effective people† helps to develop individuals’ personality in relation with others. The author takes us on the journey thru becoming proactive. Than we learn to realize where are we going with our life. The next step is to set priorities in our life. What things are important and what things can wait. We also learn how to achieve compromise that is satisfactory to all parties involved in daily activities. The author teaches us how to practice empathetic communications and the importance of the team work. Once all of that is achieved we are reminded to renew ourselves thru elements of nature. The first habit is â€Å"Be Proactive†. It says to take control over your own future, and that every one of us is in control of their own future. The proactive people do not blame others for their misfortune. The first step to become proactive is to take initiative and to act or be act upon. When I was working in a plant, and wanted to advance to a supervisor’s, I took initiative. I have studied the blueprints; observed and learned from others, and then I became an assistant, and then a supervisor. There were several other employees that started their careers at the same time as I did, however, they did not take the initiative. When I was leaving the field they were still working at the same level when they have began. Listening to our language is another very important aspect of becoming proactive. My favorite phrase is Stephen R. Covey had mention in his book is – â€Å"Let’s look at our alternatives†. Many people like to say â€Å"There is nothing I can do†. Another very important aspect of becoming proactive is to look where we focus our energy. In his book, Covey refers to two circles: circle of concern and circle of influence. Proactive people focus on the circle of influence. This circle includes things one can do something about like, health, family or work related problems. Reactive people, on the other hand, focus their energy on the things that they have no control of, like terrorism; weather etc. â€Å"Gaining an awareness of the areas in which we expand our energies in is a giant step in becoming proactive†. (As cited in Stephenconvey. com, 2009 p. 1). Begin with the end in mind† is the second habit. Every creation, design or invention is first created on the paper before it is actually build. My next project is to build a shed. Before I will invest time and money on generating the material, first I will have to make a plan of that building. Once I will accomplish that I can began to build. According to the author we should always know where we are going with our lives. â€Å"To begin with the end in m ind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where your are now and so the steps you take are always in the right direction† (Covey, 1989 p. 98). The best way to get there is by creating Personal Mission Statement. That statement concentrates on where you want to be, and how to get there (Covey, 1989). In the first habit you are a creator. In the second habit you have a vision and in the third habit you put all those things into a prospective. The third habit is called â€Å"Put first things first†. This habit helps us manage our lives. There are four quadrants to our time management. Based on those quadrants, it is more convenient to schedule future tasks. Daily or weekly plan can be made to focus on the priorities. That plan is never solid; it will most likely change as the daily tasks progress. It is really important to manage priorities based on those quadrants (Covey, 1989). The fourth habit called â€Å"Think Win/Win† moves us into interdependence phase. Our relationships with others depend on our mentality of thinking. Many people would like to receive the promotion or save their marriage but, they were not able to properly interact with others. There are six paradigms of human interaction (Covey, 1989). The fifth habit is to seek to understand, and then be understood. That means that the listener should not just hear the other person, but try to empathize with him. Most of the people can hear what others have to say; however they don’t listen to others, the message that other person is trying to relate goes by them (Covey, 1989). The sixth habit is to synergize. The author is relating to work in the teams. He states that the all team members are worth more that each of them separately put together. The group depends on each other. The differences between the people make the group stronger because of their differences. Every individual has a different prospective (Covey, 1989). The last of seven habits is to sharpen the saw. Most people tend to forget themselves and tend to stay in one place. Many of the people tend to focus on the activities that are not relevant to their goals or values. Every person should continue to grow using the four elements of nature. That involves staying fit in physical condition. That can be achieved by proper nutrition and daily exercises. Mental fit refers to reading and writing. Social element of nature refers to servicing to others. The last element is to stay spiritually fit by studying and meditation (Covey, 1989). In conclusion, the seven habits written by Stephen R. Covey, teach us how to become internally focused. They are the simple set of rules for successful life. That refers to both personal and private life. We go thru seven changes that will make ourselves more aware of the world and people that surround us. References Covey, Stephen R. (1989). The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

On the sidewalk bleeding Essay

Sixteen year old, Andy Anderson, was found dead 3:00 am in the morning by his girlfriend Laura. Andy Anderson a member of a gang that refer to themselves as the ROYALS recently got stabbed by another gang group the GUARDIANS. This incident took place in a dark alley right in front Alfredo’s, a local corner store. The police think that andy was stabbed around 11:30 p.m. and slowly bled to death. He was stabbed with a knife just below his rib cage. Due to some evidences we’ve gathered at the scene and witnesses we spoke to, we have some major leads on this crime scene. Our first witness was a 32 year old man, luke lucas, who was sorry that he was too drunk to realize that andy was dying. â€Å" I only wish I would have been sober, I would of been able to help.† He said during his interview. Our next witnesses were two teens, they saw Andy lying down â€Å"on the sidewalk bleeding† and wanted to help †¦ until they saw his bright purple ROYALS jacket. The two teens did not want to get mixed up in between these two gangs. We are still asking them further questions on this because we feel that we’re not getting the whole story. This devastating tragic event really shows the extreme dangers of gang violence. When the police saw Andy’s ROYALS jacket that he had taken off, they knew that this wasn’t just a random act of violence, and that this was a planned attack. What a price to pay for being in a teen death, what a tragedy. Police would like anyone with any kind of information with any kind of information to contact 69 division or to leave an anonymous tip for crime stoppers. Andy’s funeral will be held at Holy Redeemer Roma n Catholic Church in Ottawa Sunday afternoon. Donations are being accepted by the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa in the teen’s honour.