Remembering the Murder of Shanda Sharer

Remembering the Murder of Shanda Sharer Few crimes in modern times caused more public horror than the grisly torture and murder of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer at the hands of four teenage girls on Jan. 11, 1992 in Madison, Indiana. The callousness and brutality exhibited by the four teenage girls, ages 15 to 17, shocked the public then, and it continues to be a source of fascination and revulsion as the subject of dozens of books, magazine articles, television programs, and psychiatric papers.   The Events Leading to the Murder At the time of her murder, Shanda Renee Sharer was the 12-year old daughter of divorced parents, attending school at  Our  Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic school in New Albany, Indiana, after transferring the previous year from Hazelwood Middle School. While at Hazelwood, Shanda had met Amanda Heavrin. Initially the two girls fought, but eventually became friends and then became entered into a youthful romance.   In October of 1991, Amanda and Shanda were attending a school dance together when they were angrily confronted by Melinda Loveless, an older girl that Amanda Heavrin had also been dating since 1990. As Shanda Sharer and Amanda Heavrin continued to socialize through October, the jealous Melinda Loveless began to discuss killing Shanda and was observed threatening her in public. It was at this point, concerned about their daughters safety, that Shandas parents transferred her to a Catholic school and away from Amanda. The Abduction, Torture, and Murder Despite the fact that Shanda Sharer was no longer in the same school as Amanda Heavrin, Melinda Loveless jealousy continued to fester over the next few months, and on the night of Jan. 10, 1992, Melinda, along with three friends- Toni Lawrence (age 15), Hope Rippey (age 15), and Laurie Tackett (age 17)- drove to where Shanda was spending the weekend with her father. Just after midnight, the older girls convinced Shanda that her friend Amanda Heavrin was waiting for her at a teenage hangout spot known as the Witchs Castle, a ruined stone home in a remote area overlooking the Ohio River. Once in the car, Melinda Loveless began to threaten Shanda with a knife, and once they arrived at Witchs Castle, the threats escalated into an hours-long torture session. It was the details of the savagery that followed, all of which came out later in testimony from one of the girls, that so horrified the public. Over a period of more than six hours, Shanda Sharer was subject to beatings with fists, strangling with a rope, repeated stabbings, and battery and sodomy with a tire iron. Finally, the still living girl was doused with gasoline and set ablaze in the early morning hours of Jan. 11, 1992, in a field alongside a gravel county road.   Immediately after the murder, the four girls had breakfast at McDonalds, where it is reported that they laughingly compared the look of the sausage to that of the corpse they had just abandoned.   The Investigation Uncovering the truth of this crime thankfully did not take long. Shanda Sharers body was discovered later that same morning by hunters driving along the road. When Shandas parents reported her missing in early afternoon, the connection to the discovered body was quickly suspected. That evening, a distraught Toni Lawrence accompanied by her parents arrived at the  Jefferson County Sheriffs office  and began to confess the details of the crime. Dental records quickly confirmed that the remains discovered by the hunters were those of Shanda Sharer. By the next day, all the involved girls had been arrested.   The Criminal Proceedings With compelling evidence provided by Toni Lawrences testimony, the four girls involved were all charged as adults. With a strong likelihood of death penalty sentences, they all accepted guilty pleas in order to avoid such an outcome.   In preparation for sentencing, defense attorneys spent considerable effort assembling arguments of mitigating circumstances for some of the girls, arguing that these facts reduced their culpability. These facts were presented to the judge during the sentencing hearing. Melinda Loveless, the ringleader, had by far the most extensive history of abuse. At the legal hearing, two of her sisters and two cousins testified that her father, Larry Loveless, had forced them to have sex with him, although they could not testify that Melinda, too, had been so abused. His history of physical abuse to his wife and children was well documented, as well as a pattern of sexual misconduct. (Later, Larry Loveless would be charged with 11 counts of child sex abuse.) Laurie Tackett was raised in a strictly religious household where rock music, movies and most other trappings of normal teenage life were strictly forbidden. In rebellion, she shaved her head and engaged in occult practices. It was not entirely surprising to others that she could have participated in such a crime.   Toni Lawrence and Hope Rippey had no such troubled reputations, and experts and public onlookers were somewhat baffled at how relatively normal girls could have participated in such a crime. In the end, it was chalked up to simple peer pressure and a thirst for acceptance, but the case continues to be a source of analysis and discussion to this day.   The Sentences In exchange for her extensive testimony, Toni Lawrence received the lightest sentence- she pleaded guilty to one count of Criminal Confinement and was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years. She was released on December 14, 2000, after serving nine years. She remained on parole until December, 2002. Hope Rippey was sentenced to 60 years, with ten years suspended for mitigating circumstances. Upon later appeal, her sentence was reduced to 35 years. She was released early on April 28, 2002 from Indiana Womens Prison after serving 14 years of her original sentence.   Melinda Loveless and Laurie Tackett were sentenced to 60 years in the Indiana Womens Prison in Indianapolis. Tacket was released on Jan. 11, 2018, exactly 26 years to the day after the murder.   Melinda Loveless, the ringleader of one of the most brutal murders in recent time, is due to be released in 2019.

The Chemistry Behind How Febreze Works

The Chemistry Behind How Febreze Works Does Febreze remove odors or merely mask them? Heres the chemistry behind how Febreze works, including information about its active ingredient, cyclodextrin, and how the product interacts with odors. Febreze was invented by Procter Gamble and introduced in 1996. The active ingredient in Febreze is beta-cyclodextrin, a carbohydrate. Beta-cyclodextrin is an 8-sugar ringed molecule that is formed via an enzymatic conversion of starch, usually from corn. How Febreze Works The cyclodextrin molecule resembles a doughnut. When you spray Febreze, the water in the product partially dissolves the odor, allowing it to form a complex inside the hole of the cyclodextrin doughnut shape. The stink molecule is still there, but it cant bind to your odor receptors, so you cant smell it. Depending on the type of Febreze youre using, the odor might simply be deactivated or it might be replaced with something nice-smelling, such as a fruity or floral fragrance. As Febreze dries, more and more of the odor molecules bind to the cyclodextrin, lowering the concentration of the molecules in the air and eliminating the odor. If water is added once again, the odor molecules are released, allowing them to be washed away and truly removed. Some sources say that Febreze also contains zinc chloride, which would help to neutralize sulfur-containing odors (e.g., onions, rotten eggs) and might dull nasal receptor sensitivity to smell, but this compound is not listed in the ingredients, at least in the spray-on products.

Sociology involves the systematic study of human society Essay

Sociology involves the systematic study of human society - Essay Example A lot of people become engaged in different social activities and participate in different movements, events or festivities which bring people together. Globalization is a social reality of the 21st century which changed the world. Sociology is helping people accept the movement and it is encouraging greater tolerance towards diversity. Social sciences make contributions towards helping society validate a lot of commonly help assumptions. The importance of commonly held lies in that without them we would not have any knowledge, in fact questioning or proving wrong commonly help assumptions can make entire knowledge system fall apart (Uncg). The view the University of North Carolina – Greensburg depicts refers to more abstract concepts such as the universe is empirical; the universe works according to law-like principles and these laws like principles may be discovered by humans through investigative efforts. Sociology is part of the overall body of sciences and assumptions within this field also influence the body of knowledge. People tend to be curious about knowledge and many times want proof about the validity of an assumption. In the social science field whenever someone requires proof of something, there are ways to prove any assumption of theory to be true or false. Researchers can design experiments t o validate knowledge. These experiments can be performed utilizing different techniques such as observation, control groups, experimental groups, surveys and correlation (NesSmith, 21). Humans are subjected to different social interactions which provide sources of opportunities for them, but depending on the circumstance can become a constraint variable which limits access to certain experience in different people. For example an American worker which suddenly becomes unemployed may face tough times ahead. If this person lives in a city with lots of job

Building Information Modelling Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 13750 words

Building Information Modelling - Dissertation Example The potentiality of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the construction companies operating in the West Midland region is undertaken in this research. The study is undertaken to assess the ability of the construction companies towards the emerging technological options in the construction sector. Though most of the companies have heavily invested in the basic software tools necessary for their operations, the impact of high-end solutions that would ensure enhanced flexibility and a significant reduction in the rework needs to be investigated. Most of the industries in the West Midlands region are small scale with very limited expansion potential and hence such a study alone could help to obtain deeper insight into the reasons of acceptability of BIM in the construction sector. The data collection exercises adopted included survey process using a detailed questionnaire and also personal interview based on a prepared set of questions. The results obtained from the study showed int eresting results on the BIM implementation. The small construction companies understand the significant operational advantages that could be attained from using BIM software. Most of the industries prefer the collaborative use of the technology due to the inability to invest such large amounts and hence prefer to have shared use of the technology. Also, it is interesting to note that they all have realized the limitations of conventional software and understand that significant client advantage is being offered in comparison the conventional practices of project delivery. ... The potentiality of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the construction companies operating in the West Midland region is undertaken in this research. The study is undertaken to assess the ability of the construction companies towards the emerging technological options in the construction sector. Though most of the companies have heavily invested in the basic software tools necessary for their operations, the impact of high-end solutions that would ensure enhanced flexibility and significant reduction in the rework need to be investigated. Most of the industries in the West Midlands region are small scale with very limited expansion potential and hence such a study alone could help to obtain deeper insight into the reasons of acceptability of BIM in the construction sector. The data collection exercises adopted included survey process using a detailed questionnaire and also personal interview based on a prepared set of questions. The results obtained from the study showed intere sting results on the BIM implementation in small construction companies. The small construction companies understand the significant operational advantages that could be attained from using BIM software. Most of the industries prefer collaborative use of the technology due to the inability to invest such large amounts and hence prefer to have shared use of the technology. Also, it is interesting to note that they all have realized the limitations of conventional software and understand that significant client advantage is being offered in comparison the conventional practices of project delivery. They have also realize the limits of the present software solutions. The architects and designers are of the opinion that most of the conventional CAD software

Ceo Cant Afford to Panic Essay Example for Free

Ceo Cant Afford to Panic Essay Joan Kaczmarek suggest that is important to help, he starts by coordinating a census of the people missing within the organization in order to find out whether some of the employees can be in danger. †¢Mr. Smarten is told by the security chief Mr. Paul Schlesinger that the police department are going to call soon to ask if they can use their lobby facilities as a triage centre and temporary morgue. †¢The market has fallen due to the news, the chief investment officer Ms. Dana Rosi advises Smarten to move as much activity to the New York and Chicago offices due to the fact that the investments need to be followed up and she is also worried that lending the facilities might bring negative impact on the company and shareholder’s value. †¢The Marketing VP Mr. Sal Persano is worried about the negative implications that the image and logo of the company appearing in pictures where the victims of the bombing are being kept might bring. †¢The general council mentions that lending the facilities might bring liability issues for the company. The opinions of the different members of the board differ. Some are concerned that lending the facilities in order to aid the police could generate bad association for the firm in the future, other are concerned that the company would fail to act ethically just in order to maintain its image, and others are concerned that the trading operations might be affected and that the firm will be unable to fulfil its obligations towards the clients and maintain shareholder’s value. Problem Identification 1. With little time and limited information, Mr. Smarten faces the dilemma of making a decision that could affect the image of the company for better or for worse. The decision that has to be made needs to take into consideration both the business’s shareholders’ interests while at the same time being an ethical and humane decision that looks for the employee’s, bombing victims and community wellbeing. 2. The team’s point of views regarding what needs to be done differ, as they all look after the interests of the particular area they work for. Issue Analysis Mr. Smarten needs to choose an option that portrays his personal values as well as business professionalism. Should he lend the facilities for morgue use or shouldn’t he? Can he come up with another solution for the request? Should he make the decision by himself, or would a consensus decision making be appropriate? This situation calls for a leader that has self-confidence, trustworthiness and courage as personality traits. Du Brin (2013) describes a self-confident leader as one that can maintain composure and calm when dealing when a crisis, Mr. Smarten firstly needs to communicate this self-confidence to the rest of his team even if he isn’t quite feeling this way. Whatever decision Mr. Smarten take will reflect on how trustworthy he is, his colleagues will conclude based on his actions weather he is a trustworthy leader, especially when they put themselves in the situation where one of them could be present at the bombings. Courage is the leadership attribute that Mr. Smarten will need the most in this type of situation, Du Brin (2013) describes courage as the attribute of a person that takes responsibility for his actions. Organization now a days have complex environments with everyday ethical challenges that must be faced (Hunter, 2003), and therefore require that managers with the appropriate character to deal with them. Du Brin (2013) also mentions the importance of cognitive intelligence as an attribute of effective leadership. Mr. Smarten need to have good problem solving skills that arise from being cognitively intelligent, as in this scenario the time to make a decision is limited; he must also act with creativity. Mr. Smarten needs to have farsightedness in order to understand the long term consequence his decision might bring for his coworkers, the firm and the community itself. In a short term, he needs to have as much insight into the situation as possible, Du Brin (2013) notes that effective problem solving also requires intuition and common sense. The problem Mr. Smarten faces is that he needs to make the most ethically decision possible trying to protect the interests of different groups of people, and most probably some of the decision taken will negatively affect one or the other parties. Mr. Smarten need to act with moral courage, which has been described by Kidder (2005) as â€Å"a commitment to moral principles, an awareness of the danger involved in supporting those principles and a willing endurance of that danger. In a short period of time, and with the team’s members opinion’s differing from one another, Mr. Smarten could try to apply the six questions to evaluate the ethics of a specific decision (Bentley College, 2013): 1. Is the decision right? 2. Is it fair? 3. Who gets hurt? 4. Would Mr. Smarten be comfortable if the details of his decision were made public in the media? 5. What would Mr. Smarten tell his child or relative to do? 6. How does the decision feel? Hannah et all (2011) introduce the concept of pro-social behavior which describe behavior in leaders that go beyond his specific role requirements, a behavior in which the leader takes action to protect both the organization, coworkers and community. In this particular situation which was triggered by an external event (bombings) protecting everyone’s interest might not be possible by taking one single decision. Potential solutions (Analysis, Advantages, Disadvantages) The following lines explore the potential solutions and why to approve the potential request from the city †¢Inspiring a positive atmosphere in order outbreak the panic if any, with in the group members. Mr. Smarten should have self-confidence, trustworthiness and courage personality traits in order to be able to transfer his commitment to the group and the organization. He should be a charismatic leader, and have a relationship between the group members and the Stakeholders, in order to guide his personality traits to demonstrate self-sacrifice and the high performance, by expressing positive emotions and thoughts to enhance their positive affect. For instance he may mention the positives for his group members and the company; as it is good that no one from the group members is on sight, and fortunately the company is a few blocks away and did not have any damages (DuBrin, P107, 2013). He can also articulate a high emotional message for instance saying; â€Å"that we are encountering a serious situation and if we well behaved, we may save someone’s’ life† (DuBrin, P109, 2013). He can also bring some other successful examples, from another firm’s behaviours as metaphors and analogies to motivate the group and inspire his positive message (DuBrin, P117, 2013). By being enthusiastic, optimistic and energetic, he can create a Vision for others in order to change the room’s total environment from a turmoil horror to a productive positive atmosphere suitable to take decisive decisions. †¢Taking ethical and moral decisions In this part, it is recommended that Mr. Gerald Smarten to emphasize on mentioning the probability of him scarifying his career, if his decisions did not meet with the stockholder’s expectations, in order to help the city. It was already demonstrated that Mr. Smarten was honest and trustworthy in putting out his concerns about the stakeholder’s reactions, in front of everybody, as Mr. Kaczmarek said. Ethically, Mr. smarten should not pay any attention for the Italian marble in these kinds of events, especially when they have 23 employees on absence, while from the other side, he should not ignore the proposition from Mr. Kaczmarek on the same time, as leaders should respect the individual’s opinions. The advantages from this point of view, beside self-satisfaction of taking moral and ethical decision, the benefits that may occur from the media publishing this behavior, in which will have a positive impact on the company’s goodwill and reputation. †¢Turn the crises upside-down into an opportunity. Now, after the recommended decision, which is to accept the city demand, Mr Smarten should lead the group and coach it, trying to make the most benefit out of it. Inspirited from the case of the tragic accident in Chile when 33 mine workers were trapped in a gold mine, the leader Andre Sougarett was able to turn it into an opportunity, when he succeeded with his team, pulling out all the 33 workers alive after 69 days (DuBrin, P2, 2013). This could be implemented when group members start to have the positive mood, high valences as well as instrumentalities. After putting all fears a part and removing horror from all of the team, Mr Smarten should start to motivate all members in explaining his vision and motivate them to have the appeal to perform and produce immediately. As long as he have No alternatives decisions, it is either â€Å"yes† or â€Å"no†, leaders should get out of the box and be creative to bring alternatives to approach decisions (Hmamond, Keeney Raiffa, 1999). These kind of reactions, like saving lives, can turn the catastrophic events in to a successful story like the one happened with Sougarett (Illiano Wade, 2010). Nerveless, it can be a lesson for other firms and other industries; an airplane crash can be a lesson in another side of the world for anther industry (Fortune Peters, 1995, P02). This will conclude that Mr. Smarten should be more autocratic than democratic to take fast decisive decisions in the meeting and send everyone to work to help using the company’s lobby facilities as a triage centre and temporary morgue. †¢Leading by example: Mr Smarten being in such a fix, with everything on the line and with the clock ticking, needs to make a decision quickly. And as the title of the case ready â€Å"The CEO Can’t afford to panic† is true in itself as it is in times like these that people need to step up, keep calm, and make sure that panic does not seep through the entire organization. This is exactly the time where-in CEO Gerald Smarten needs to lead by example. He should have reason and judgement while making decisions. Gerald Smarten should answer the call of the community and provide Kaspa’s lobby as a triage center. The only negative would be the short-term liability issues, but on the other hand this ethical decision would help create and root seed of morale within the organizations, and it will set a good example, and would be good press for the company. This decision is not only the ethical and right thing to do but it will also create goodwill and greater loyalty towards the organization over the long run. Coming towards this decision Mr Smarten has to answer only one question. Would I be able to look at myself into the mirror, knowing that I could have aided and saved innocent people? missing staff ? Best solution Since limited of time and information were provided, Mr. Smarten should make a quick and precise decision whether he should allow lending the company facilities for a triage center and temporary morgue as requested or not. According to this scenario, Mr. Smarten should respond to the request as soon as possible by gathering information inside Kaspa and balancing the benefit of the company, employee and community’s wellbeing. There was no any alternative decisions be provided, he could say either â€Å"Yes† or â€Å"No† so that answering with â€Å"Yes, and†¦. † could be the best solution that balance the benefit for every single side. A good leader should be able convey precise answer while he could raise up any concerns regarding to the issue by adding up the conjunction like â€Å"and†, not â€Å"but† after concrete response, in order to create goodwill and make the respondents open minded to what the leader are concerning. The best solution Mr. Smarten should decide is to say â€Å"Yes, we will help community saving injured victims, but we have to clarify the truth and build trustworthiness toward the firm on media. † The first thing Mr. Smarten could do is to keep clam, not express panic or frustration in order to build self-assured among team member. By doing this, Mr. Smarten could respond to the request by convey such a message to encourage staff to support his decision such as â€Å"We understand that using our company’s facilities to be served as a triage center may reflect negative images to the company and shareholder’s value, but I know we can rebuild trust back to the company. Using positive wording to back up self-confidence of the leader may result to leadership effectiveness Du Brin (2013). In addition, being self-confident could help Mr. Smarten maintain calmness when dealing with a crisis. After keeping himself and others calm during turmoil, he could ask for consensus decision by gather ing all departments to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of each decision that would be made. Ultimately, saying â€Å"yes† to allow lending the company facilities for a triage center and temporary morgue would be the best solution which reflect ethical and humane character of leader as well as create company’s reputation. Mr. Smarten should be aware that there is no decision that would not affect one another so that choosing to help community may result to liability issue afterward which is a short-term effect. However, using the company’s facility to serve injured victims during the crisis can reflect ethical and humane reputation toward Kaspa which is considered as long-term result. This reflects farsightedness traits of leadership; to concern more on long-term result rather than immediate result Du Blin (2013). Meanwhile, Mr. Smarten should show up his leadership skill to get through the crisis by bring out his leadership traits. He could assign one responsible person to be present at the bombing site to enhance trustworthiness and responsibility of himself as well as the company which benefit the whole image of Kaspa and employees (Kalshoven K. , Hartog D. N. , 2009). Whatever the result would be, he should have courage to take responsibility for the decision he made. Even the media spread the news of using the company serving bomb victims; Mr. Smarten could turn crisis to the opportunity build up company’s goodwill and reputation. To be effective leadership, Mr. Smarten should sacrifices the immediate interest of the firm but not an amount of unselfish concern (Ciulla J. B. , 2003) Conclusion Thus as mentioned in the case the troubles caused due to the bombing has impacted the neighbouring community and has put CEO of Kaspa Mr Smarten in a difficult spot. However with certain traits such as farsightedness, reason judgement, ethical and moral approach and courage are among a few traits that helps him make the tough decisions and be able to successfully lead his team through this tough time.

Paavo Nurmi :: essays research papers

Paavo Nurmi is considered by some to be the greatest runner of all time. He was known as "The King of Runners" or the "Flying Finn". Famous all over the world, Nurmi became an unending source of national pride for the newly independent Finland. Paavo Nurmi was driven by love of running. He had a burning will to succeed in life, and racing was his way to gain recognition from his fellow men and to fulfil the high standards he had set for himself. Martti Jukola, a famous Finnish sports journalist, wrote in 1935: "There was something inhumanly stern and cruel about him, but he conquered the world by pure means: with a will that had supernatural power." At three Olympic Games from 1920 to 1928 Nurmi won a total of nine gold and three silver medals. Paavo Nurmi was born on the 13th of July, 1897, at Turku, a port town on the southwestern coast of Finland. In 1912, at the Olympic Games at Stockholm, Hannes Kolehmainen "ran Finland onto the map of the world", winning three gold medals in long-distance events. His races made an indelible impression on the 15-year-old Paavo Nurmi, who decided to do the same. Soon enough, Paavo got his first pair of running shoes and began serious training. 174 centimeters tall and weighing 65 kilograms at his prime, Paavo Nurmi was ideally built for a long-distance runner. In terms of basic training knowledge, Nurmi was self-educated. He was one of the first top athletes who had a systematic approach in training. Walking, running and calisthenics were the main elements of his harsh training regimen. He learned to measure his pace and its effects with a stop watch, and never raced without one in his hand. In 1914 Paavo Nurmi joined Turun Urheiluliitto, a local sports club that he was to represent all through his career. On May 29th, 1920, at Turku, he set his first Finnish national record. The distance was 3000 meters and the time 8.36,2. The Olympic Games at Antwerp in 1920 made Paavo Nurmi a star in Finland, a worthy successor of Hannes Kolehmainen. His first Olympic race, the 5000 meters, ended in bitter defeat to Joseph Guillemot of France. This was to be the only time that Nurmi lost in an Olympic final to a foreign runner, however. In the following days he won gold medals in 10 000 meters and the cross-country race, adding a third one in the team event of the latter.

Personal Reflection Paper

Personal Reflection Paper Julius Moses HUM/111 10/07/2012 Sylvia Knust Critical thinking is the act of breaking down a given concept or idea in order to examine its individual parts. It is a somewhat exhaustive approach where the person aims to see an issue from all sides in order to develop an informed opinion. The three things that I learned in this course about critical thinking are to use your critical reading, listener, and viewing skills.The element of the critical thinking that I have learned throughout this course is to use my critical thinking skills to make discussion on things in life or when you have a problem that you will have to make a major discussion on and it will take critical reading, critical listening, and critical viewing to determine the outcome of the issue. When I first started this course my critical thinking skills weren’t as keen to the facts of thinking more on what discussion I was about to make or even to the point of even thinking that critical on things.Now going through this course it made me see that being able to thinking critically on the discussion that I am about to make or even if I am looking into a different situation that takes critical thinking to solve the problem. When I think of the my critical thinking and the way I was thinking from week until now that it is the end of the course I think that I had to reevaluate my thinking, because before my critical thinking skills was shortened and I wasn’t take my thinking to a level that I would even thinking that critical about.Through the course of this class I find it to be important to use your critical thinking skills to evaluate how you learn and to determine your discussion on the situation at hand. I think that my rating changed because when I learned throughout the course how to use your critical thinking skills to evaluate problem to determine the discussion that I have to make in different situation.To move from my current stage of critical thinking to a master stage of critical thinking I would have to make a good critical thinking plan that I can improve on and reach my goal to master my critical thinking to take it to that next level. Mastering critical thinking is a task that is not going to be easy but when the stage is reached it would make different situation easier when having to determine how solve the situation.

Miller, Kant, and Aristotle on fostering relationship between Great grandpa and his grandson Essay

Making moral decisions can be difficult sometimes and it is not easy to reach a certain conclusion. Philosophical decisions are much more complex and take time to evlaute decisions in life. Rather, the reasoning behind a moral decision is much more intricate, requiring a medley of sources to arrive at a decision. Take, for example, a situation in which a father has to decide whether or not to foster a relationship between his three year old son and his son’s dying great grandfather. Is the son having a relationship with his great grandfather worth risking the pain his son would have to endure due to his great grandfather’s death? Or, would the pain be too scarring and ruin the life of such a young mind? To help resolve his dilemma, the father might turn to the philosophical giants: Mill, Kant, and Aristotle. Mill would agree to foster the relationship. However, to arrive at this decision, certain assumptions were made. Mill would advise to foster the relationship if the great grandfather would live a couple more years. Mill’s basis for moral decision making rests on whether the sum of all pleasures outweighs the sum of all pains. Thus, in order for Mill to agree to foster the relationship, it must be stated that the relationship between the great grandfather and the son is a good healthy relationship and that the death does not cause any permanent or enduring psychological damage on neither the son, nor the father, nor the great grandfather. After all, Mill’s theory demands that one take into account the sum of all the pleasures and all the pains. Also, the son might also gain the power to deal with death with this relationship. Mill would then consider good results from this relationship. Therefore, if everyone receives more pleasure from the relationship between the great grandfather and the son than pain (even after death) then Mill would advise to foster the relationship. Kant, on the other hand, discards the notion of consequences. Kant’s advice in this situation is harder to decipher because his theory is based on internalization and motivation. Kant would agree to foster the relationship if the father’s motivation for the relationship is purely the relationship in itself. In other words, it requires that the father be treating the great grandfather as an end rather than as a means. If the father wants to foster the relationship merely because he feels it might result in a larger endowment for his son, then Kant would no longer advice fostering the relationship. Furthermore, Kant might support fostering a relationship if the father’s decision to not foster a relationship was to avoid the pain of death. The inverse is also true. Kant might advice asking the great grandfather (not the three year old son, for he is too young to reason) whether he would like a relationship with his great grandson. Then, the father would be treating him as an end, not as a means. It is also important to take into consideration whether it is a father’s duty to foster a relationship between a great grandfather and his son. Kant’s advice only holds assuming that both the great grandfather and son are generally good and the relationship that would form between them is also good. In summation, Kant’s theory bases itself on internal motivation. As he himself stated, oftentimes, the layers are too difficult to peel to arrive at the true motivation. Aristotle would advise fostering some relationship with the father (this would be the virtuous mean). Aristotle would argue that not fostering a relationship and fostering too much of a relationship would be two extremes. Aristotle advises that one must find a mean in between the two extremes and that is the right relationship. Moreover, Aristotle believes that morality can be learned through observation. Therefore, a three year old child would have much to gain from the experience of an 84 year-old great grandfather. This relationship might help the son reach his human purpose, or excellence. Once again, Aristotle would only advise any relationship if the relationship is good and both the great grandfather and the son enjoy it. Perhaps a better approach to arriving at a decision requires a combination of both Kant’s and Aristotle’s philosophy. The decision continues to run on the assumption, of course, that both the great grandfather and the son are good people and that a good and healthy relationship would thus form. The decision to foster a relationship must first be decided based on the motivation. In other words, a relationship should only be fostered if the father wants a relationship only because of the relationship and not as a means of achieving a greater good. However, fostering too much of a relationship might force unnecessary pains. Thus, a mean of some relationship should be followed. For example, a relationship of one hour on the weekends might be beneficial. For, once a relationship would form, it would not be strong enough to completely devastate any party involved.

The Pit

The Pit Taylor Anderson10/6/2014The Pit. By day 'Boggies' is a biker bar. No bigger than a class room, all brick, with blacked out windows, and a rather unusual bunch of people outside. When night falls the real fun begins; music spills from every inch of the building, a line wraps around the block, and a different group of unusual people are bursting with energy excited to see the headliner. Max stands in front of the tiny opening, taking tickets, and marking under aged hands with X's. The door looks smaller next to the large bouncer.Once inside "run down" is an understatement. Mirrors run along the wall, with old couches and merch tables in front. The smell of sweat, smoke, and beer fill the dark room. Vibrations from the bass begin and the music follows. This is when the pit begins to form. Once the circle opens the energy increases, and you can feel the excitement; everyone knows this is the beginning.A man and a woman performing a modern dance.This is what we came for.When everyone is t ogether thrashing around, the moshing begins. The energy from everyone bouncing off of each other is the ultimate adrenaline rush, and at the edge of the pit I feel unstoppable. The ground vibrating my feet pushes me forward into the large crowd, I put in my mouth guard, and there is no better outlet. This is my favorite place to be.Moshing is defined as "dancing to rock music in a violent manner involving jumping up and down and deliberately colliding with other dancers." To outsiders it is just that, but to the group of kids who look at the pit as an outlet, it's the most peaceful place in the world. A small group of people, swinging limbs in every direction, sweat pouring down the face of the...

Are You Free or Enslaved Maybe Its All in Your Head.

Are You Free or Enslaved Maybe Its All in Your Head. Freedom vs. Bondage It’s Passover and the theme of freedom is on my mind. This holiday celebrates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery and their successful crossing of the Red Sea- a story we are commanded to tell every year at this season. Why is this tale so important that the Bible commands we retell it again and again? While there are many answers to this question, the one that struck me most this year was that we have choices every day between freedom and bondage. Passover is our opportunity to look at our lives and see where we are stuck, in a rut, giving up, or otherwise enslaved, both in our circumstances and in our own minds. Once we identify these â€Å"narrow places,† (the word for Egypt, Mitzrayim, means â€Å"narrow places†), we can do something about them. A Unique Seder Experience My family’s Passover seder was itself an expression of freedom. Some context: Passover is a food-focused holiday. In the order of the service, there are multiple instructions to eat certain foods at certain times; and the conclusion of the first part of the service is a big meal. A BIG meal. It’s like Thanksgiving in the extent to which people indulge themselves on food. The seder also includes four cups of wine (though in my family it was grape juice all the way). Since my nephew Daniel has Crohn’s Disease and is currently ingesting nothing but Pediasure peptide drinks, my brother-in-law Michael created- drumroll please- a food-free seder. This feat, you can imagine, required a huge amount of creativity. Michael designed a board game, complete with a deck of cards that held debate questions and other contests to see who could answer a â€Å"Passover Pursuit† question first. He dressed up as Moses, which was way out of the box for him. And he led an evening of learning, singing and debate. Even without a meal, we managed to spend three hours on our seder talking, laughing, and debating. Breaking Out of the Box One of the debate questions that came up in the Passover Pursuit card deck was what freedom means in the modern age. I was pitted against 16-year-old Daniel for the battle. He pulled out a djembe (an African drum) and made up a rap song. I don’t remember his words; what struck me was his approach to the debate. In my world, debate means talking and arguing. Daniel broke out of that cage with his drumming and rapping. Inspired, I countered with an interpretive dance of freedom vs. bondage. I stood for a few seconds with my arms crossed, strait-jacket-like over my chest, head down. Then I took a step to the side and danced my heart out. I did this about three times. Then I talked about how two people, or even the same person, can be in the same circumstances and choose to feel free or imprisoned. Enslaved by Circumstances? I’ll admit I got some help from a video by Chabad.org that I had watched in preparation for Passover, where a person in a picture was labeled â€Å"Free† and then the same person in the same picture was labeled â€Å"Burdened.† Other identical pictures were labeled â€Å"Liberated† and â€Å"Enslaved,† and â€Å"Pain† and â€Å"Pleasure.† As humans, I argued, we can have illnesses and consider them burdens or find our own liberation within them. We can work a job and feel trapped by it or find our liberation in it. We can win the lottery and gain joy or misery. I won the debate. Part of it was that I made a good argument. But more than that, I think the group was impressed that I didn’t let myself fall into a typical debate mindset and took the risk of dancing my argument. An Octopus’s Story: Existential Anxiety vs. Existential Guilt Perhaps this is a coincidence, but just last week an octopus named Inky escaped from a national aquarium in New Zealand, squeezing through a 50-meter drainpipe into the sea. What might be more remarkable, given that octopuses are famous escape artists, is that Inky’s tankmate, Blotchy, did not budge. Was Blotchy content to remain in captivity? Was he unaware of his free will and the freedom available just down the drainpipe? Had he given up on the chance of an unfettered life? Of course the answers to these questions are more for us to ponder for ourselves. When we are feeling shackled, do we choose to take extreme action, like Inky, or to submit to our lot? Fundamentally, we have a choice between existential anxiety and existential guilt. Taking action, especially action that scares us because it is so unfamiliar and takes us into unknown, potentially risky territory, produces existential anxiety. We rarely regret making a conscious, risky choice regardless of the outcome. In contrast, existential guilt arises when we take the safe path. Submitting to our existential guilt produces existential regret: â€Å"a profound desire to go back and change a past experience in which one has failed to choose consciously or has made a choice that did not follow one’s beliefs, values, or growth needs.† That’s the kind of choice Blotchy made. It’s not the kind of choice I like to make. The Choice is Yours We human beings have clear freedom of choice in every moment, at least over our own mindset about our circumstances. In the end, the ability to think what we think and believe what we believe is the ultimate freedom. The choices we make to break out of the box and into unchartered territory are the ones that move us forward, out of our personal narrow places, and toward a life unbound.

"engaging" your employees on the implementation of a Essay

"engaging" your employees on the implementation of a strategic plan - Essay Example Strategic Planning, as it is known, is not an event but a process. A key feature of the process is the employees ’engagement at all levels of. Employee’s engagement creates additional input and assists in build their active commitment to the end plan. Thus, strategic planning processes can be considered successful in any organization when a bottom up and top down communication technique is taken to communicate strategic plans from initiation stage. By following this, the organization is in a position to define to the employees what winning clearly looks like. It starts off with informing all levels of employees that a particular strategic planning process will be undertaken. These should be clear processes that are achievable, and all employees can give their feedback. Strategic planning process provides organizations with a clear direction and purpose. A good strategy will balance gains and productivity initiatives, and this is achievable through actively involving employees in strategic planning. Organizations that dont involve employees in planning have exponentially higher probability of

Relationship between natural environment, social development, and Essay

Relationship between natural environment, social development, and economic progress - Essay Example He argues that the modern world’s inequalities trace its origin to many centuries ago. He notes that archaeological discoveries and histories show that different continents were experiencing different rates of development from 11, 000 B.C. to A.D. 1500, thus resulting to inequalities that were experienced in A.D. 1500, and to a greater extent in modern times (Diamond 1). He observes that while many Native American peoples and Aboriginal Australians remained Stone Age hunter and gatherers, many Eurasian peoples and most peoples of the sub- Saharan Africa and Americas gradually developed metallurgy, complex political organization, and agriculture (Diamond 2). Environmental/ external conditions are critical for development; this assertion is greatly evident in Diamond’s discussion on Papua and its inhabitants. The inhabitants of Papua were mostly hunters and gatherers and had the simplest technology compared to most people of that time. They did not have shields, specialized stone tools, and could not start fire among other characteristics of â€Å"underdevelopment†. The environment that they lived in seemed to be the main reason leading to their situation at that time. They did not have contact with the rest of the world since the bridge that was initially linking them to the land had been severed. Prior to the coming of Europeans in the mid- seventeenth century, they were completely isolated from other humans. To make the matter worse, Papua inhabitants were not just isolated but they were also the smallest of the human population in the world (Diamond 9). As such, accumulation of innovations could not happen thus inhibit their development. Furthermore, Diamond is of the opinion that man inspired the collapse of civilizations as evidenced by Easter Island. His opinion is informed by the argument that the Europeans invaded Easter Island for slaves, in addition to spreading