Adolescent Sexual Behavior Essay

Introduction Adolescent sexual behavior refers to sexual feelings, behavior, and development in adolescents. It is a stage of human sexuality. The sexual behavior of adolescents is influenced by their culture’s norms and mores, their sexual orientation and the issues of social control. Sexuality is a cultural issue. For humans, sex is a matter of cultural meaning and personal choice than biological programming. Costs and Benefits of Sexual Behavior According to a 2004 study, the rates of adolescent sexual intercourse and birth rates to teenagers in the United States have declined, but a majority of adolescents have been engaging in sexual intercourse before completing high school. 42% of high school students did not use a condom during their last sexual encounter and 14% engaged in sexual activity with approximately four partners. Reducing adolescent sexual activity and the risk for sexually transmitted diseases is a priority under Healthy People 2010, a set of health objectives for the nation to achieve over the first decade of the new century. (Deptula, Shoeny, Slavick, 35) Studies show that there is a link between sexual attitudes and sexual behavior. Attitudes are related to condom use and sexual activity is for both younger and older adolescents. Not surprisingly, high school students reported that positive attitudes toward sex were related to engagement in sexual activity. It was particularly concerning sexual pleasure. Worries about pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections were related to condom use. Theories suggest that attitudes are a key part in the process of making behavioral decisions. The Health Belief Model, a psychological model that attempts to explain and predict health behaviors, is determined by focusing on the attitudes and beliefs of individual. The Decisional Balance model postulates that behavioral decisions are made by assessing and comparing relative gains or losses associated with behavioral engagement. The factors include: costs for the individual and  significant others as well as approval from oneself and significant others. In a study that examined the Costs and Benefits of condom use it was found that the ratings for perceived behavioral costs of protection remained constant over time while perceived benefits of birth control and condom use were associated with behavior change. (Deptula, Shoeny, Slavick, 35) The relation between attitudes and sexual decision-making may also be influenced by the impact of demographic factors such as age, gender, and religion, on attitudes. Boys had more positive attitudes towards sex than girls and girls had more positive views of abstinence. Males also had more liberal attitudes towards premarital casual sex and anxiety, fear and guilt concerning sexuality. They were also more likely to report greater benefits associated with sexual activities than females. Despite the gender differences in attitudes, the beliefs that each held are important predictors for both males and females. Attitudes towards sex become more positive with age and the gender differences in attitudes decreased with age. When an analyses conducted to determine is attitudes words sexual activity were majorly associated with engaging in sexual behavior, it was revealed that adolescents who had never engaged in sexual activity reported more cost associated with intercourse and fewer benefits compared to those who were sexually active. Engagement in sexual activity was linked to a perception of lower costs and greater benefits for intercourse. The primary purpose of the study was to determine which two aspects of attitudes, cost and benefits, predicted parallel and future sexual activity. The effects of costs were equivalent, if not stronger than benefits. The study also suggested that the perception of costs and benefits were both influential in adolescents’ decisions to engage in sexual activity. Based on the theory of Decisional Balance, it is expected that adolescents who decided to engage in sexual activity would report fewer costs and greater benefits associated with having sex, which is somewhat supported by the study. When the likelihood of intercourse was 50%, the awareness of costs was greater than the awareness of benefits. It appears that although  costs still outweigh benefits, adolescents still engage in sexual activity, suggesting that there are other factors that play a role in the decision to have sex. (Deptula, Shoeny, Slavick, 41) The results of the studies have important suggestions for prevention. The start of sexual activity was predicted by both costs and benefits attitudes. Perception of costs was slightly more influential than benefits in prediction later sexual initiation. It is suggested that both of those dimensions be targeted in order to successfully delay adolescent engagement in sexual activity. In studying the costs, it was revealed that its main focus was on teenage pregnancy. The benefits included social status, personal pleasure and interpersonal connection. The study also revealed that females with high cognitive abilities reports more benefits associated with sex while males with lower cognitive abilities reported fewer costs. The Way Teens Define Sex There is certainly a divide between the teenagers of today and generations before them. The divide has to do with what each generation considers to be sex. According to research done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of 15- to 19-year olds are engaging in oral sex. Adults say that is a form of sex, but teenagers do not see it that way. A 19-year old sophomore in college stated, â€Å"For most teens, the only form of sex is penetration, and anything else doesn’t count. You can have oral sex and be a virgin,† while most adults consider oral sex as something that is extremely intimate. Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy said, â€Å"What we’re learning here is that adolescents are redefining what is intimate.† Teenagers view oral sex as something that is quite casual so it doesn’t need to be done while in a relationship. (Jayson, 1) Psychologist David Walsh stated that the brain is wired to develop intense physical and emotional attraction during the teenage years as a part of the maturing process and he is disturbed by the way that the media portrays casual sex because it gives teenagers a false image on true intimacy. (Jayson, 2) When a parent discovers that their child in engaging in oral sex, they aren’t sure what to think because of the way that teens are so nonchalant about it and parents weren’t usually doing that as teenagers. This could also be due to the fact that many parents do not believe that their child is the one who engages in such things. The definition of abstinence is changing as well. Everyone has a different definition of sexual abstinence. The most common meaning of sexual abstinence is not having any type of sexual intercourse. Abstinence is often linked with how recently a sexual behavior has occurred. If a certain sexual activity did not occur recently, many teens would describe themselves as abstinent, regardless of their sexual history, while others still define it as not doing anything sexual. It just depends on who you are. The Media’s Influence on Sexual Behavior The mass media is becoming the easiest way for young people to learn about sexual behavior and see it as well. Perhaps it is so influential because the teenage years are when we develop our own sexual beliefs and behaviors and parents are very reluctant to talk about sexual issues. The average adolescent spends six to seven hours using media ranging from television to books. That number could be higher by now because most adolescents now have televisions, computers, DVD players and some sort of audio system in their rooms and other parts of their homes besides their living rooms. Much of the media that adolescents are exposed to include sexual imagery but rarely portray consequences of risky sexual encounters or healthy sexual messages. Many health professionals believe that mass media content showing casual sex with no consequences has resulted in a host of negative behaviors among teens who may be persuaded that teen sexual activity is something â€Å"everyone† does.(Hart, 4) Although data shows that adolescents use media very frequently, mass media influences are rarely included as important contexts for adolescents’ sexual socialization. Researchers suggest that media influences showed consistent and significant  association with early adolescent sexual intentions and behaviors. Being male was associated with greater sexual intentions and activity. No religious variable in the study was associated with sexual intentions of behaviors. Perceived sexual permission from the media was also associated with sexual intentions, light sexual activity, and heavy sexual activity. (L’Engle, Brown, Kenneavy, 191) The findings of the study also showed that adolescents who are exposed to more sexual content in their media diets are more likely to engage in sexual intercourse in the near future. The media serves as a â€Å"super peer† for adolescents who wish to seek information about sexuality because it is easily accessible. It has also been said that the information that they receive from the media is different from what they learn from other sexual socialization agents such as parents, school and religion. Media programming rarely shows negative consequences from sexual behavior and depictions of condom and contraception use are very rare, making media users more likely to act the way that they see characters acting because they are seen as realistic and they are not punished for their behavior, making these behaviors convincing to adolescents. (L’Engle, Brown, Kenneavy, 191) Trends and Estimates of Sexual Activity Before getting into the details we must distinguish between sexually experienced and sexually active. Sexually experienced is a teenager who has had sexual intercourse at least once in his/her lifetime. A sexually active teenager is one who has had sexual intercourse in the past three months. The earlier an adolescent has sex, the longer he or she is at risk of pregnancy and contracting an STI. In 2002, approximately one-quarter of never married teenagers has had sexual intercourse before the age of 16. The number increased as age did. Some adolescents who have not engaged in sexual intercourse have engaged in oral sex.(Terry-Humen, Manlove, Cottingham, 3) Since many teenagers do not consider oral sex to be sexual activity, they probably do not concern themselves with the risks of this behavior. Due to  the fact that not many teenage relationships are long term, not all sexually experienced teenagers remain sexually active or are consistently sexually active. Those who are consistently sexually active put themselves at risk for pregnancy and contracting an STI each time they have sex or have sex with a new partner. (Terry-Humen, Manlove, Cottingham, 3) Being in a relationship that teenagers view as romantic is associated with a greater likelihood of having sex. Teenagers with older sexual partners are more likely to engage in sexual intercourse than those with similar age partners. Females are more likely to be in a steady relationship when they have sex for the first time. (Terry-Humen, Manlove, Cottingham, 4) In order to continue with having declines in teen pregnancy and lower the rising rates of STIs, it is suggested that messages of abstinence be reinforced, encourage teenagers to reduce the frequency of sexual activity and partners, educate them about the risks of oral sex, and expand interventions to high-risk populations, such as minority groups. (Terry-Humen, Manlove, Cottingham, 7) Conclusion When it comes to predicting later sexual activity, both Costs and Benefits are important, although attitudes concerning the costs were a bit more influential in predicting sexual activity. It is suggested that both Costs and Benefits be included to hinder sexual activity. Due to the way that every different generation was raised, the way in which we define sex is different to everyone. Baby-boomers see oral sex as something that is very intimate while teenagers see oral sex as something that is casual. The way in which some teenagers behave can end up hurting them in the future because they will not know how to have a long-lasting, healthy relationship. Adolescents who are exposed to sexual content in the media and obtain greater support from the media that is related to sexual behavior have greater intentions to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activities. The most obvious ways for teenagers to avoid STIs and unintended teenage pregnancy and childbearing is by delaying sexual initiation or reducing the sexual activity and number of sexual partners as well as improving contraceptive use of those who are sexually active. My Take In my opinion, I think that it’s great that people are trying to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies and STIs in teenagers. I don’t believe that a person should have to be abstinent until marriage or anything like that and I believe that contraception should be used at all times. It is very alarming that kids are having sex at younger ages. I’m with a lot of teens that say that oral sex is not really sex and I think it is due to the time period I’m growing up in. We’re desensitized to these things. I think that it’s important for parents to talk to their kids about sex, even though we probably know more than they think. Many kids I know, as well as myself, surprise our parents with how much we know about sex already because things were different when they were younger. Everything was more hush, hush then. The media is definitely a huge influence on the way that we live our lives today because sex is everywhere and it’s what sells.

How do the brain and eyes jointly process information?

Introduction The intricacies of the human eye enable us to interpret light and distinguish colour to produce vision. It is, however, the complexity of the processing in the visual pathway from eye to brain along which this information is interpreted and manifested that allows us to create a representation of the surrounding world, otherwise known as visual perception (Gibson, 1950). Whilst vision begins with the eye and ends with the brain, the way these organs work together and the relative influence each has on our perception is fundamental to producing what we see. Light is first refracted onto the cornea of the eye before passing to the pupil and lens. An image is then projected onto the retina, resulting in the production of ganglion cells specialised to describe depth, colour, shape, motion, and light intensity (Nelson, 2007). Nerve spikes from the ganglion cells containing this information transmit to the brain’s optic nerve, by which visual information is passed for interpretation in the visual cortex. The right and left visual cortices comprise part of the occipital lobe of the brain, both receiving information from the opposite hemisphere’s visual field. The estimated 140 million neurons in the primary visual cortex (V1) (Lueba & Kraftsik, 1994) fire when visual stimuli appear within their receptive field, and these fields are tuned to receive stimuli of specific orientations and colours (Kandal et al., 2000). The receptive fields of neurons in more complex visual processing areas are able to detect more intricate stimuli such as faces (Kanwisher, McDermott & Chun, 1997) or direction (Allman et al. 1984). The five identified visual areas (V1-V5) are interconnected with varying strengths, allowing information to be projected forward from one to another and feedback to be given. As the visual information passes through this hierarchy, it is proposed that is processed by two pathways of neural representation. These pathways, named the dorsal and ventral streams, are hypothesi sed to deal with spatial attention and the recognition and perception of visual stimuli respectively, and involve the passing of visual information and representation further into the brain integrating it with awareness, attention, and memory functions (Ungerleider & Mishkin, 1982). The process of visual perception, as the eye’s sensory input is interpreted throughout the brain enables us to perceive and construct our own visual world. Gibson (1966) proposed a direct theory of perception, affording the richness of the sensory input with the construction of the perceived visual outcome. He claimed that a variety of environmental cues, or affordances, aid the interpretation of the visual scene. These include brightness, texture gradient, relative size, and superimposition (where one object blocks another). Gibson believed that when combined with invariants (constancies within the environment ie. parallel lines appearing to converge toward a horizon) and optic flow (the pattern of light movement within a visual scene) this was enough to enable the perceiver to orient themselves and the surrounding environment. There are, however, complexities to Gibson’s bottom-up theory of visual processing. It may be overly simplistic to underestimate the role of a top-down influence from the brain. Gibson’s theory does not account for times when the visual system is fooled, or becomes subject to an illusion. Rubin’s Vase (Rubin, 1915) is a classic example of how the human visual system is subject to ambiguity, where one single visual stimulus can be perceived as two distinct images. If the visual system directly processes light into an image, it would follow that a single visual input would lead to a universal and singular output. However, the existence of ambiguity in the perception of a visual stimulus suggests there may be times when the brain cannot decide as to what representation to assign to the visual input. Further questions are raised when looking at the influence of context, and how this can lead us to misinterpret visual stimuli. The Ebbinghaus Illusion, demonstrates perceptual distortion, highlighting the role of contextual cues, where a circle surrounded by large circles is judged as smaller than the same circle surrounded by small circles (Obonai, 1954). This is suggestive of a higher-level process in which the brain applies context relevant logic to the interpretation of a visual stimuli. Additionally, experience provides strong influence over the processing of visual information. ‘Impossible illusions‘ such as Escher’s Waterfall, and the Hollow Face Illusion (Gregory, 1997) exploit concepts of experiential perceptual learning, such as knowledge that adjacent edges must join, and human faces are always convex. These illusions demonstrate how the brain aims to perceive coherence in 3D objects to make sense out of its visual environment, creating a captivating paradox between what we know and what we are actually seeing. Visual perception can be ambiguous, distorted, paradoxical, and even fictitious (Gregory, 1980). It appears to be influenced by context, experience, and expectation, a concept asserted by Richard Gregory (1970) who theorised perception as a top-down process. Deduced from observations of when the human visual system makes errors, Gregory proposed that the brain constructs a visual hypothesis from information processed by the eye based on former experience and knowledge. If the top-down, constructivist theory holds true, there are implications for the constancy of percepts between individuals. We all have idiosynchratic knowledge and experience. Do differences in internal representation lead individuals to perceive visual stimuli differently from each otherAdditionally, what is to be said for the perception of those that have no knowledge or experienceDoherty et al. (2010) observed an absence of suceptibility to the Ebbinghaus illusion in a number of children under seven years of age, perhaps suggestive that experience and knowledge does have an influence on visual information processing. Without the knowledge base, the children were not affected by the contextual cues. MacLeod (2007) proposes that top-down theories are based on times when visual conditions are poor, and bottom-up theories are founded in ideal viewing conditions; neither of which is an all encompassing explanation of perception. Recent research highlights the interaction of both constructivist and direct processes (MacLeod, 2007), with the proposal that when bottom-up, sensory information is abundant there is less input from contextual hypotheses, and when there is an absence of stimulus information, the brain draws on its prior knowledge and experience to comprehend the input (Ramachandran, 1994). It becomes apparent that the study of human perception and how it is influenced by not only the anatomical structure of the visual pathway, but also psychological components such as experience and knowledge will enable us to further understand how the eyes and the brain interact to process visual information. References: Allman, J., Miezin, F., McGuinness, E. (1985) ‘Direction- and velocity-specific responses from beyond the classical receptive field in the middle temporal visual area (MT)† Perception, 14(2), pp. 105 – 126. Doherty, M., Campbell, N., Hiromi, T., and Phillips, W. (2010) ‘The Ebbinghaus illusion deceives adults but not young children’, Developmental Science, 13(5), pp. 714-721. Gibson, J. (1950). The perception of the visual world. Oxford: Houghton Mifflin. Gibson, J. (1966). The senses considered as perceptual systems. Oxford: Houghton Mifflin. Gregory, R. (1970). The Intelligent Eye. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Gregory RL. (1980) ‘Perceptions as hypotheses’. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, vol. 290(B), pp. 181-197. Gregory, R. (1997) ‘Knowledge in perception and illusion’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, vol. 352, pp. 1121–1128. Kandal, E., Schwartz,J., and Jessell, T. (2000). Principles of Neural Science. 4th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Health Professions Division. Kanwisher, N., McDermott, J., and Chun, M. (1997) ‘The fusiform face area: a module in human extrastriate cortex specialized for face perception’, Journal of Neuroscience, 17, pp. 4302-4311. Leuba, G., and Kraftsik, R. (1994) ‘Changes in volume, surface estimate, three-dimensional shape and total number of neurons of the human primary visual cortex from midgestation until old age’, Anatomy of Embryology, 190, pp.351-366. McLeod, S. (2007). Simply Psychology. [online] Available at: [Accessed 22 February 2012]. Nelson, R. (2007) Visual responses of ganglion cells. In: H. Kolb, E. Fernandez, and R. Nelson (eds.), The Organisation of the Retina and Visual System. Salt Lake City (UT): University of Utah Health Sciences Centre. Obonai, T., (1954) ‘Induction effects in estimates of extent’, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 47, pp. 57-60. Ramachandran, V. (1994). In: R. Gregory, and J. Harris, (eds.) The Artful Eye. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 249–267. Rubin, E. (1915). Synsoplevede Figurer: Studier i psykologisk Analyse. Forste Del’ [Visually experienced figures: Studies in psychological analysis. Part one]. Copenhagen and Christiania: Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag. Ungerleider, L., and Mishkin, M. (1982). Two cortical visual systems. In: D. Ingle, M. Goodale, and R. Mansfield, (eds). Analysis of Visual Behavior. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. pp. 549–586.

Analysis of Newspaper Article-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelpc.com

Analyse Newspaper Article of your Choice. The article that has been chosen for analysis is based on the â€Å"Tillerson sacking† decision that has been taken by Trump. The dismissal of Rex Tillerson from the post of the Secretary of the State was a decision that was taken by Donald Trump with an aim to reduce the divisions of the US administration related to the key issues of foreign policy. The argument on which the entire analysis of the article will be based is â€Å"whether the moves made by Donald Trump were able to reduce the divisions related to the decisions made about the key foreign issues† (Hammond, 2018). I do not agree with the â€Å"America First† movement that had been taken by Trump when he moved into the White House for the first time. The President of America mainly tried to develop its policies related to the foreign policies of the country. Trump has failed in the attempts that were undertaken by him over the years (Acharya, 2014). However, I agree that Trump has taken many steps regarding the shifts to be made from the orthodox methods of governing the country by the Republican and the Democratic presidents in the past. He has made many alliances in order to expand the democratic order of the country that is liberal in nature. The President has withdrawn the US alliance with many important treaties like the Trans-Pacific and the Asia-Pacific Partnership. The country has also withdrawn from the climate change related deal that is signed by greater than 170 countries. The above two deals were made under President Obama and Trump took back the key initiatives that were taken by the previous government. The nuclear agreements that were made by the country with Iran are also under serious jeopardy after the various decisions taken by President Trump (Aradau & Huysmans, 2014). I disagree with the dismantling of policies that have been undertaken by the US government during the last year. The President has been in the position for over a year now and still he has not been able to deliver the promises that were made by him regarding the changes in the foreign policies of the country. The President has not been able to bring any developments in the policies and the international treaties made by the country during the last year (Temby, 2015). I agree with the reviews that were made by the research firm named Gallup regarding the worst image of the leadership of the United States of America that has been formed in the last year. The leadership of the country under Trump was found to be weaker as compared to 134 other countries in the world. The New York Times has reported that the president was totally unable to deliver according the huge promises that were made by him during the last year. The approval of the US leadership was found to be the lowest of about 30% under the governance of Trump (Baylis, Smith & Owens, 2017). I agree with the poll that was undertaken by the organization named Pew Global which in the past year which depicted that more than thousands of the citizens of USA were not happy with the leadership of Trump. The policies related to global issues that were made by Trump were also not satisfactory for the people of his country. The poll further depicted that the support that was gained by Trump was even lesser than the support which was received by George W. Bush after the major controversy that had occurred in the country related to Iraq (Fierke & Jorgensen, 2015). I agree with the step that was taken by Trump regarding the dismissal of Tillerson from the position of Secretary of State and further appointment of Pompeo in the same position. As has been discussed in the article this can be a suitable step for the development of the country and increasing the harmony between the United States of America and the other countries. The reason being that the policies related to global warming may be formed in a better way by Pompeo as compared to those formed by Tillerson (Hammond, 2018). However, the change in the Secretary of State may not have significant effects on the foreign policies that will be formulated by the US government in the future. The nature of the President regarding the ways by which he deals with the officials of the government can still lead to problems related to the formulation of policies. I agree that the ways by which Trump performs his responsibilities may lead to many issues between him and the officials of the government. The foreign policy of USA has been the most affected by the decisions that have been taken by Trump during the year of his tenure. The dismissal of Tillerson and the appointment of Pompeo in the position of Secretary of State can help in the improving the position of USA in the style of leadership that is followed (Holmes & Traven, 2015). I agree with the fact the governing style of Trump depicts that lack of experience and the lack of knowledge regarding the international problems as well. This has further led to an ad hoc process of governing the country by the President. I disagree with the fact that the decision that was taken by Trump regarding the change of the Secretary of State was entirely wrong. The number of conflicts between Tillerson and President Trump has been high and they had difference in opinions in many situations. The appointment of Pompeo can further help the government in making changes in the foreign policies and making improvements in the international affairs of the country (Kelley & Simmons, 2015). The analysis can be concluded by stating that the steps undertaken by Trump to develop the foreign policies of the country were not successful initially. However, the appointment of Pompeo in the position of the Secretary of State can be a huge step towards the development of the country and the improvement of the international relations. The major reason behind making this statement is that the less knowledge of the President regarding international affairs can be complemented by the huge knowledge base of Pompeo. Acharya, A. (2014). Global International Relations (IR) and Regional WorldsA New Agenda for International Studies.  International Studies Quarterly,  58(4), 647-659. Aradau, C., & Huysmans, J. (2014). Critical methods in International Relations: The politics of techniques, devices and acts.  European Journal of International Relations,  20(3), 596-619. Baylis, J., Smith, S., & Owens, P. (Eds.). (2017).  The globalization of world politics: an introduction to international relations. Oxford University Press. Fierke, K. M., & Jorgensen, K. E. (2015).  Constructing International Relations: the next generation. Routledge. Hammond, A. (2018).  Tillerson sacking will not reverse Trump’s foreign failures.  The Age. Retrieved 14 March 2018, from https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/tillerson-sacking-will-not-reverse-trump-s-foreign-failures-20180314-p4z4at.html Holmes, M., & Traven, D. (2015). Acting rationally without really thinking: The logic of rational intuitionism for International Relations theory.  International Studies Review,  17(3), 414-440. Kelley, J. G., & Simmons, B. A. (2015). Politics by number: Indicators as social pressure in international relations.  American journal of political science,  59(1), 55-70. Temby, O. (2015). What are levels of analysis and what do they contribute to international relations theory?.  Cambridge Review of International Affairs,  28(4), 721-742

Graduate Admission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Graduate Admission - Essay Example de is a huge cause for alarm and in third word countries the levels are reaching catastrophic levels in areas such as Asia, Africa and parts of Europe. In particular I have seen the results of a worsening chronic and infectious diseases outbreak in Haiti following an earthquake which has left 1.3 million people homeless. Haiti has a population of 9.7 million people and only 1 in 5 persons has a job. Malnutrition is a massive problem and there are 200,000 people living with HIV. Only half of the children are protected against basic diseases such as measles and diphtheria through vaccination. I have seen vision on news items and documentaryçâ€" ´ of the work being done by doctors and nurses in these areas and I have developed a strong desire to be part of that environment. I truly long to be able to help those the people in areas such as Haiti. Pregnancy induced hypertension(PIH) or Toxemia is a field that I have developed a personal interest in as it was a condition that I suffered from during my own pregnancy. I can see myself being of special assistance when caring for pregnant women in countries such as Haiti and therefore have a deep seated need to learn more about Hypertension during pregnancy and its treatment, this is also a driving force toward my ambitions. These areas would be an ideal place for me to perform community service in schools. Sex education in these third word countries where sexually transmitted diseases are rampart would be essential in helping their society to progress. I would love to be involved with the teaching of these children about these diseases, the benefits of abstinence and safe sex. I have a long term plan, and this isnt just a school boy type dream to one day be a fireman but a definite plan in my life, to run my own clinic in a third world country. I would like to work with full autonomy in a clinic were I am caring for troubled and unfortunate people such those in Haiti. This is a situation which I would totally love to be

The film Black Swan explores and critiques cultural ideas concerning Essay

The film Black Swan explores and critiques cultural ideas concerning women - Essay Example In many ways, the ballet is the epitome of the misogynist fantasy, women who are represented as virginal and without sexuality, but with every movement of every muscle highlighted and visible. The great choreographer, George Ballanchine, wanted his ballerina’s to have no weight, to eat nothing, and to appear to be children rather than grown adults. Within the framework of the ballet, the dream of female fragility is played out through extremes of physical contortion and athleticism, which is presented to seem as if it is not. The film, Black Swan (2010), provides context for the nature of the life that women lead. Woman have always been constrained to live through the expectations put on them by society, trying to meet impossible standards without true recognition for how impossible the expectations that have been put on them are to meet. The expectation of perfection, the need to be all things, creates a pressure that often turns inward into self-mutilation and destructive be haviors. In the case of the lead character in Black Swan (2010), the critique on the culture of women explores the nature of striving for perfection and the dangers that lurk within the struggle to meet the expectations that are impossible to achieve. ... ecretaries for organizations, and do little within the home towards maintaining the daily chores, women are not allowed that luxury to let go of any sphere without facing failure. The ballerina, is first, an athlete. She performs on her toes, each movement of each muscle under her control so that she can turn, fly, twist, and land without appearing to be putting in any effort. She must be in peek condition, but her body must be starved of any body fat and lean without the bulge of muscle. Her representation is frail and fragile upon the stage, despite the strength and prowess that is required to create the dance. Her life is a contrast of needs, her impossible task set to see her fail. Few can achieve the balance, and all those who cannot, step away feeling like failures. The most notorious relationship in the recent history of the ballet is that between the choreographer George Balanchine and the ballerina Gelsey Kirkland. Kirkland wrote a book that described her experiences with Ba lanchine as he pushed his dancers to perform. He would tell his dancers â€Å"must see the bones†, â€Å"eat less†, and â€Å"eat nothing† (Freidler and Glazer 15). He led his dancers in what Kirkland is quoted as calling a â€Å"concentration camp aesthetic† (Gordon 124). Kirkland suffered from bulimia and anorexia nervosa, as well as drug addiction from taking pills to balance her lack of nutrition and energy. Her experience was painful, stressful, and full of the turmoil that women face as they strive to balance on their toes and be all things in the process. The metaphor of the ballet provides a rich textual dialogue about the difficulty of being a woman in today’s society. Unfortunately, as much as it is a metaphor it is also an explicit truth that the expectations in the ballet are

Evaluating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) 15 USC 78dd1 - of Essay

Evaluating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) 15 USC 78dd1 - of 1977 - Essay Example In 1970s, the market was gradually shifting towards globalization with many multinationals expanding to new markets. The result was that to gain advantage over other players in the market, some U.S firms and individuals bribed foreign government officials for considerations in awarding of contracts and business opportunities that promised increased returns in foreign markets. One of the major corruption scandals that even threatened the government was President Nixon’s Watergate scandal. In 1977, the Congress enacted the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 that prohibited bribery of foreign firms or any official by any American corporation or individual. The act aimed at enhancing integrity and repairing the tainted perception of American firms locally and internationally by ensuring firms adhered to high levels of ethics and fairness. This paper will investigate the history behind the act and its respective amendments, the rationale behind implementation of the act, investi gating the efficacy of the policy, its implementation and recommending necessary amendments to make the act more effective. 2.0 History of the Act In the mid-1970s, numerous investigations, legal and administrative actions against many local corporations revealed numerous illegal and questionable payments to foreign businesses and government officials. The only mechanism at the time to deal with such payments was through the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which investigated any public corporations for irregular deals concealed from the public (Seitzinger, 1999). The investigated cases were prosecuted by the Department of Justice, DOJ. Through such cases, the government realized that criminalization of bribery practices to foreign officials and enforcement of strict book keeping, accountability and disclosure of firm’s operations to the public were necessary to deal with increasing corruption cases involving American firms in foreign markets. Corruption cases had ba dly affected American foreign Policies, portraying a negative image of American Democracy abroad. Corruption had badly impaired public confidence in financial integrity in the country’s corporations (Seitzinger, 1999). To deal with these problems, the congress responded by passing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, FCPA. The act was therefore as a result of market failure in ensuring integrity and safeguarding financial integrity in corporations. The act was also motivated by government failure in that the government had failed to effectively implement and put in place measures to reduce bribery under the provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The act had failed to ensure effective bookkeeping in corporations to account for all transactions. There was a general lack of elaborate internal accounting control systems that would have guaranteed management’s control, responsibility and authority over a firm’s assets (Seitzinger, 2010). As a public policy prescription, the act discouraged bribery of foreign officials through huge fines and jail terms, which discouraged many from the practice. The act encouraged an accountability culture that improved public’s perception of the country’s corporations. Such change of perception was necessary in ensuring investor confidence and improving the country’s image locally and internationally, which had been tainted by massive bribery and lack of strict financial accountability in

Respnse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Respnse - Essay Example To speed up delivery and installation at customer sites, I had insisted that service engineer be attached to this team, which was sanctioned by the Executive Director. Our internal quality processed required that the externally sourced goods be verified and checked before installation at customer sites. This activity was controlled by the service manager. He would deliberately delay the process, as je was upset that I had transgressed into his sphere of power. Entertainment expenses as part of marketing activities was only permitted for managers. Since I had the additional responsibility of liaison with public sector and government agencies, I was given a special concession for entertainment bills, with the requirement that the bill be countersigned by the Executive Director before reimbursement. Scrutiny of bills before passing it on to accounts for reimbursement was the responsibility of the HRM deputy manager. She would call me for verifications each time a bill was presented, per ked at a benefit that she did not enjoy, though we were in the same grade. 3. Do â€Å"organizational politics† have a place in effective leadership, or are they consistently counter-productive to leadership effectiveness? Discuss.

543 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

543 - Essay Example his is because video information is constructed, creative language and regulations, different perception of the same information by different people, fixed values and point of views and organization of video information. In the learning process, students can enhance their academic performances by use of video application. This can take place out of classrooms and even outside the institution. This is more effective way of learning process because of animations, audio, images, and streaming video used in this technology. In this application, it is easy to understand the information or the message in any given topic or subject. Video application also improves retention, when the student is concentrating on watching the video or animation and at the same time reading the message, it create cognitive overload. To prevent cognitive overload, audio should be applied in both video and animations (Clark, 2002). On the hand, when selecting and evaluating video for students in class work, several things should be considered. The video should be suitable for students view, it should be relevant to the topic, and the students should have no visual and hearing problems. It should also have easy vocabularies that are well understood by the students. The use of video has created positive impact to the learning process and improves academic standards in many institutions. Attributes of video include manipulation of time, manipulation of space and animation. Videos can be used to manipulate time by slowing the speed of the video being played (slow motion) or by increasing the video speed. Slowing the video speed or simply slow motion helps in capturing certain aspects of the video that are too fast and cannot be seen clearly by the normal eye. For example, slow motion will enable students see how a fast cheetah runs on camera. Increasing the speed of movement or simply fast forwarding the video helps in eliminating certain aspects of the video that are not necessary to the

Facilities management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Facilities management - Assignment Example iness of the owner organization (e.g., the core function of a school is teaching, and custodians or HVAC system maintenance personnel are support personnel.). It is the role of the facility management function (whether it is a separate department or small team) to coordinate and oversee the safe, secure, and environmentally-sound operations and maintenance of these assets in a cost effective manner aimed at long-term preservation of the asset value, and also other janitorial duties such as making sure the environment is properly cleaned and sanitized for its tenants. In those cases where the operation of the facility directly involves the occupants and/or customers of the owner organization, the satisfactory delivery of facility-related services to these people will be an important consideration too; hence, the term "end-user satisfaction" is often used both as a goal and a measure of performance. I further explain the topic by considering a case study of â€Å"THE GHERKINS â€Å" as a high performance work place to make the topic clearly understandable with examples that what are the key features that collectively cover the facility management field . CASE STUDY: The beautiful and exumberant 30 St Mary Axe, also famous as the Gherkin and the Swiss ReBuilding, is a skyscraper in Londons main financial district, the City of London . It was constructed in December 2003 and inaugurated in may 2004 . The building of 30 St Mary is situated on the former site of the Baltic Exchange building and it was designed by Norman Foster an his business partner Ken Shuttleworth and Arup Engineers and was erected by Skanska . The building consists of 40 floors and the building tower is 190 metres tall The eye-catching location of 30 St Mary makes it prominent for the beholders and its location is perfect for commercial and business purpose . As it is located at the centre of London’s financial district there are a number of major transport hubs , wide range of restaurants ,

Money Chimp Essay Example for Free

Money Chimp Essay At the time of this writing, as the old saying goes, some could say it is the worst of times. However, for those who are planning for the long term, this is an excellent time to put money aside, as over time, the problems seen today will subside, and the financial markets over the long term have a way of balancing gains and losses. This being said, this paper will focus on the planning of a 401K over the long term for the best possible outcome. What is the Best Choice and Why In the case of the researcher, and indeed for other investors who do not have unlimited funds to invest and are looking toward the long term, within a 401K account, the best investment strategy is to first make contributions under the Traditional IRA rules, up to the limit of $5,000 annually, and then to make Roth IRA contributions. The reason for this is that the Traditional IRA contributions, again up to $5,000, is tax deductible today, providing present day financial benefit as well as the security of retirement income years later. The numbers show this; for example, the maximum $5,000 Traditional IRA contribution, each year for the next 20 years, will on average provide almost 5% more funds for retirement than the Roth option (Money Chimp IRA Calculator, 2009). It must also be understood, however, that over the $5,000 limit annually, the Roth will provide tax savings upon retirement, and in this way, tax savings can be maximized no matter what. Works Cited Money Chimp IRA Calculator (2009). Retrieved March 6, 2009 from the World Wide Web: www. moneychimp. com

SMTP Security via Opportunistic DANE TLS

SMTP Security via Opportunistic DANE TLS SUJANA MAMIDALA ABSTRACT This paper provides an insight about a protocol designed for SMTP transport, which offers downgrade resistance. This protocol deploys as security for Domain Name System (DNS) Authentication of Named Entities (DANE) based Mail Transfer Agents (MTA). To a client who uses authenticated and encrypted transport layer security (TLS), using this protocol provides a support to the Internet email and allows incremental transition. This paper talks about a new connection security model for Message Transfer Agents (MTAs). Message Transfer Agents are responsible for the transfer of electronic mails to other computers. This connection model is based on a fact that the received end server is chosen indirectly using DNS (Domain Name System) Mail Exchange (MX) Records. This paper talks about the SMTP channel security and analyses why the current security model is inefficient and the need for a new model to protect Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) traffic. This paper elaborates on various other aspects such as Mandatory TLS security and DANE authentication and various operation considerations that are required are discussed. 1. Introduction Simple Main Transfer Protocol (SMTP) states a new connection security model for Message Transfer Agents (MTAs). Key features of inter-domain SMTP delivery inspire this model; in precise the fact that the endpoint server is selected indirectly via Domain Name System (DNS) Mail Exchange (MX) records and that with Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) to Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) SMTP the use of Transfer Layer Security (TLS) is generally opportunistic. SMTP Channel Security With HTTPS, Transport Layer Security (TLS) engages X.509 certificates allotted by one of the various Certificate Authorities (CAs) hustled with famous web browsers to allow users to authenticate their secure websites. Before we specify a new DANE TLS security model for SMTP, we will explain why a new security model is needed. In the procedure, we will discuss why the similar HTTPS security model is insufficient to protect inter-domain SMTP traffic. The sections described below are the four main key problems with applying the traditional PKI to SMTP protocol that is tackled by this specification. Since the SMTP channel security approach is not clearly explained in either the receiver address or Mail Exchange (MX) record, a new signaling mechanism is wanted to specify when channel security is possible and should be used. The publication of the Transport Layer Security (TLSA) records will permit the server operators safely signal to the SMTP clients that the TLS is available and must be used. DANE TLSA makes this possible to simultaneously determine which endpoint domains support the secure delivery via TLS and tells how to verify authenticity of associated SMTP services, affording a path forward to the ubiquitous SMTP channel security. STARTTLS downgrade attack The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is a single hop protocol in multi hop store and forward the email delivery procedure. SMTP envelope recipient addresses are not transport addresses and safety agnostic. Unlike Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and its related secured versions, HTTPS, where the use of (TLS) Transport Layer Security is signaled via URI scheme, transport security policies are not directly signaled by the email recipients. Certainly, no such signaling can work well with this SMTP since TLS encryption of SMTP protects the email traffic on a hop by hop basis while email address can only express end to end policy. SMTP relays employ best-effort opportunistic security model for TLS with no mechanism existing to signal transport security policy. A single SMTP server TCP listening end point can serve both the TLS and the non-TLS clients; the use of this TLS is negotiated via SMTP STARTTLS command. The client is supported by the server signals TLS over a clear text SMTP connection, and, if client also supports the TLS, it may negotiate TLS encrypted channel to use for the email transmission. An MITM attacker can easily suppress the server’s indication of TLS support. Thus pre DANE SMTP TLS security can subvert by simply decrease a connection to clear text. The TLS security features, such as use of PKIX, can stop this. The invader can simply disable the TLS. Insecure server name without DNSSEC The records abstract next hop transport end point with the SMTP DNS (MX) Mail Exchange and allow the administrator to specify set of targets server to which SMTP traffic should be pointed for given domain. Until and unless PLIX TLS client is vulnerable to MITM attacks it verifies that servers certificate binds public key to a name that match one of the clients reference identifiers. Servers domain name is the natural choice of reference identifiers. However, server names are taken indirectly via Mail Exchange records with SMTP. The Mail Exchange lookup is susceptible to MITM and DNS cache destroying attacks without DNSSEC. Active attackers can forge the DNS replies with the fake mail exchange records and can send email to servers with the names of their selection. Therefore, secure proof of SMTP TLS certificates matching server name is not conceivable without the DNSSEC. One could try to harden the TLS for the SMTP against the DNS attacks by using envelope receiver domain as a situation identifier and needful each SMTP server to have a confidential certificate for envelope recipient domain rather than mail exchange hostname. Unfortunately, this is impractical as third parties that are not in a position to obtain certificates for all the domains they serve handle email for many domains. Deployment of (SNI) Server Name Indication extension to TLS is no cure, since SNI key organization is operationally inspiring except when email service provider is also fields registrar and its certificate issuer; this is hardly the case for email. Since recipient domain name cannot be used as SMTP server orientation identifier, and neither can the mail exchange hostname without the DNSSEC, large scale deployment of authenticated transport layer security for SMTP needs that the DNS be safe. Since SMTP protocol security depends on DNSSEC, it is important to point out that consequently SMTP with the DANE is most traditional possible trust model. It trusts only what must be important and no more. Adding any other trusted actors to the mixture can only reduce the SMTP security. A sender might select to more harden DNSSEC for selected high value getting domains, by organizing explicit hope anchors for those domains in its place of relying on the chain of trust from root domain. Sender policy does not scale Transfer systems are in some cases openly configured to use the TLS for mail directed to designated peer domains. This needs sending MTAs to be organized with appropriate subject names digests to expect in accessible server certificates. Because of heavy administrative burden, such statically configured SMTP secure channels are used rarely. Internet email, on other hand, requires regularly contacting new domains for which the security configurations cannot be reputable in advance. Abstraction of SMTP transport end point via DNS MX records, often across society boundaries, limits the use of the public CA PKI with the SMTP to a minor set of sender configured peer domains. With the little opportunity to use the TLS authentication, transfer MTAs are rarely configured with a complete list of trusted CAs. SMTP services that support STARTTLS often deploy X.509 certificates that are self signed or distributed by a private CA. Identifying applicable TLSA records DNS considerations DNS errors, bogus and indeterminate responses SMTP client that implements the opportunistic DANE TLS per specification depends on the integrity of the DNSSEC lookups. This section lists DNS resolver requirements needed to avoid the downgrade attacks when using the opportunistic DANE TLS. SMTP clients shadowing this specification SHOULD NOT distinguishes between insecure and indeterminate. Both insecure and indeterminate are handled identically in either case invalidated data for query domain is all that is and can be available, and verification using data is impossible. In what shadows, when we say the word insecure, we also include DNS results for the domains that lie in portion of DNS tree for which there is no appropriate trust anchor. With the DNS origin zone signed, we expect that validating resolvers used by Internet facing MTAs will be configured with the trust anchor data for root zone. Therefore, indeterminate domains should be rare in rehearsal. A security aware DNS resolver MUST be able to determine whether given non error DNS response is secure, insecure, bogus or indeterminate. It is expected that the most security alert stub resolvers will not signal an indeterminate security position in the application, and will sign a bogus or error result instead. If a resolver does signal an indeterminate security status, SMTP client MUST treat this as a bogus or error result had been returned. DNS error handling When an error or bogus or indeterminate prevents an SMTP client from defining which SMTP server it should attach to, message delivery MUST be late. This naturally includes, for example, the situation when a bogus or indeterminate response is faced during MX resolution. When several MX hostnames are obtained from popular MX lookup, but a later DNS lookup failure stops network address determination for a given MX hostname, delivery may continue via any lasting MX hosts. When the particular SMTP server is firmly identified as delivery destination, a set of DNS lookups must be done to find any linked TLSA records. If any DNS queries used to trace TLSA records fail, then SMTP client must treat that server as inaccessible and MUST NOT deliver messages via that server. If no servers are nearby, delivery is delayed. Stub resolver considerations A note about domain name aliases, a query for domain name whose ancestor domain is a DNAME alias returns the DNAME RR for ancestor domain, along with the CNAME that maps query domain to the consistent sub domain of target domain of domain name aliases. Therefore, when we speak of CNAME aliases, we indirectly allow for the likelihood that alias in question is the result of ancestor domain DNAME record. Therefore, no explicit support for DNAME records is wanted in SMTP software, it is enough to process resulting CNAME aliases. DNAME records require special processing in validating stub resolver library that checks integrity of the joint DNAME plus CNAME. When a local caching resolver, rather than the MTA itself handles DNSSEC validation, even that part of DNAME support logic is outside MTA. TLS discovery Opportunistic TLS with the SMTP servers that advertise TLS care via STARTTLS is topic to an MITM downgrade attack. Also some of the SMTP servers that are not, in fact, the TLS capable mistakenly advertise STARTTLS by evasion and clients need to be ready to retry clear text sending after STARTTLS fails. In contrast, the DNSSEC legalized TLSA records must not be published for the servers that do not support the TLS. Clients can safely understand their existence as a promise by the server operative to implement the TLS and STARTTLS. SMTP client may organize to require DANE verified delivery for some destinations. We will call such a configuration as mandatory DANE TLS. With mandatory DANE TLS, distribution proceeds when secure TLSA report are used to establish an encrypted and authenticated TLS channel with SMTP server. MX resolution In this we consider next hop domains, which are subject to MX resolution and also have MX records. TLSA records and its associated base domain are derived disjointedly for each MX hostname that is used to effort message distribution. DANE TLS can validate message delivery to intend next hop domain only when MX records are obtained firmly via a DNSSEC validated lookup. MX records must sort by preference; MX hostname with worse MX preference that has TLSA records MUST NOT preempt MX hostname with better preference that has no TLSA records. In other words, stoppage of delivery loops by following MX preferences must take priority over channel safety considerations. Even with 2 equal preference MX records, MTA is not obligated to choose MX hostname that provides more security. Domains that need secure inbound mail delivery have to ensure that all of their SMTP servers and their MX records are organized accordingly. Non-MX destinations It describes algorithm used to locate TLSA records and related TLSA base domain for an input domain not subject to MX resolution. Such domains include: Each (MX) mail exchange hostname used in message delivery attempt for an original next hop endpoint domain subject to the MX resolution. Any superintendent configured relay hostname not related to MX resolution. This often involves configuration set by MTA administrator to handle some mail. Next hop target domain subject to MX resolution that has no MX records. In this case domains name is implicitly and also its sole SMTP server name. TLSA record lookup Each candidate TLSA based domain is in turn prefaced with service labels of form _._tcp. Resulting domain name is used to release a DNSSEC query with query type set to TLSA. For SMTP, destination TCP port is usually 25, but this may be dissimilar with the custom routes stated by MTA administrator in which case SMTP client MUST use appropriate number in the _ prefix in place of _25. For example, candidate based domain is mx.example.com, and SMTP connection is to port 25, TLSA RRset is gained via DNSSEC query of form: _25._tcp.mx.example.com. DANE authentications It describes which TLSA records are appropriate to SMTP opportunistic DANE TLS and how to use such records to authenticate SMTP server. With opportunistic DANE TLS, both TLS support implied by the occurrence of DANE TLSA records and verification parameters needed to authenticate TLS peer are found composed. In contrast to protocols where exclusively the client sets channel security policy, authentication via this protocol is predictable to be less prone to linking failure caused by mismatched configuration of client and the server. TLSA certificate usage The DANE TLSA defines number of TLSA RR types via mixtures of three numeric parameters. Rest of TLSA record is certificate association data field, which stipulates full value of a certificate. The parameters are: TLSA Certificate Usage field, the selector field and matching type field. Certificate usage DANE-EE (3) Authentication via certificate usage DANE-EE (3) TLSA records includes simply checking that servers leaf certificate equals the TLSA record. In particular, the requisite of server public key to its name is built on the TLSA record association. The server MUST be considered authenticated even if none of the names in certificate matches client’s reference identity for the server. Similarly, expiration date of server certificate MUST be ignored; validity period of TSA record key requisite is dogged by validity pause of the TLSA record DNSSEC signature. Certificate usage DANE-TA (2) Some domains might prefer to evade operational complexity of publishing the unique TLSA RRs for each and every TLS service. If domain employs a mutual issuing Certification Authority to create the certificates for the multiple TLS services, it might be simple to publish issuing authority as the trust anchor (TA) for certificate chains of all the relevant services. TLSA query domain for each and every service issued by same TA may then be set to CNAME alias that points to common TLSA RRset that matches TA. For example: example.com. IN MX 0 mx1.example.com. example.com. IN MX 0 mx2.example.com. _25._tcp.mx1.example.com. IN CNAME tlsa211._dane.example.com. _25._tcp.mx2.example.com. IN CNAME tlsa211._dane.example.com. tlsa211._dane.example.com. IN TLSA 2 1 1 e3b0c44298fc1c14. Certificate usage PKIX-TA (0) and PKIX-EE (1) SMTP clients cannot, without trusting on DNSSEC for safe mail exchange records and the DANE for STARTTLS care signaling, perform server identity proof or stop STARTTLS downgrade attacks. Use of PKIX CAs offers no additional security since an attacker is capable of compromising the DNSSEC is free to replace any of PKIX-TA (0) or the PKIX-EE (1) TLSA records with the records bearing any suitable non PKIX certificate usage. Certificate Matching SMTP client must use the TLSA records to authenticate SMTP server when at least one usable â€Å"secure† TLSA is found. Through SMTP server messages must not be delivered if the authentication fails, otherwise SMTP client is vulnerable to the MITM attacks. Server key management Before employing the new EE or TA certificate or public key, two TLSA records MUST be published, one matching currently deployed key and other matching new key is scheduled to replace it. Once a sufficient time has elapsed for all the DNS caches to expire previous TLSA RRset and related signature RRsets, servers may be organized to use new EE private key and associated public key certificate or may service certificates signed by a new trust anchor. Once the new public certificate is in use, TLSA RR that matches retired key can be removed from the DNS, leaving only RRs that matches certificates in energetic use. Digest algorithm agility The DANE TLSA specifies a many number of digest algorithms; it does not specify protocol by which SMTP clients and TLSA record publishers can agree on strongest shared algorithm. Such a protocol will allow client and the server to avoid exposure to any deprecated weaker algorithm that are published for the compatibility with fewer capable clients, but should be unnoticed when possible. Mandatory TLS security MTA implementing this protocol might require a stronger safety assurance when sending e-mail to the selected destinations. Sending organization may need to send the sensitive e-mail or may have regulatory responsibilities to keep its content. This protocol is not in the conflict with such a necessity, and in fact it can often simplify genuine delivery to such targets. Specifically, with the domains that publish a DANE TLSA records for their mail exchange hostnames, a sending MTA can be arranged to use receiving domains DANE TLSA records to authenticate consistent SMTP server. Authentication via the DANE TLSA records is simpler to manage, as changes in receivers expected certificate things are made on the receivers end and dont need manually conversed configuration changes. With the mandatory DANE TLS, when the no usable TLSA records are found, message distribution is delayed. Thus, the mail is only sent only when an authenticated TLS channel is recognized to the remote SMTP server.

Physical Education in Schools Essay examples -- Education, Teaching, P

Historical Context The purpose and approach to teaching and classroom management has considerably changed due to a variety of factors including government policies, developing research and scientific explanations for its benefits to children during their education (Lance et al, 2007). Mackenzie (2004) recalls on how in the Havoverian Period (1714-1790) play and sport, particularly in the education environment was largely ignored by the government. This lead to minimised use of it and Physical Education (PE) was a very irregular activity in schools. (Lance et al, 2007; Mackenzie, 2004). However, progressively school sport and activities within the teaching environment were developing (Mackenzie, 2004 [online]). Public schools became highly involved in competitive sporting events, and by 1940 school sport was being used as exercise with ‘creative physical training’ known for its multiple physical and mental benefits for the participant. Statutory expectations and overviews began to arise in the early 1900’s with a strong emphasis on the relationship between sporting skills, exercise and health benefits. The 1909 Syllabus of Physical Exercises (Board of Education, 1909) suggested that the educational benefits of Physical Education and School Sport were primarily moral and mental. Bailey et al (2006) states that this is the first indication of sport and exercise supporting the children in holistic ways. The 1909 syllabus explains that the moral benefits of exercise were improved behaviour and social skills, and the mental benefits being the development of the learning processes and opening opportunities for the child to learn. (Bailey et al, 2006) In 1944 physical education was established for its â€Å"educational value† (Mackenzie, ... ...es an increase in heart rate for a sustained amount of time is therefore the most beneficial towards children’s learning, however Dwyer et al (2001) found that although boys did benefit from this higher impact vigorous activity, girls benefited the most from calming, lower impact activities that involved stretching and cross-body co-ordination such as yoga. Smith (2001) backs this in the exercise programme ‘Move It Brain Breaks’ where some of the exercises do not require an increased heart rate, but activities such as ‘stretchers’ and ‘lateralizers’ which involve the use of brain and body functions which are not naturally used together; as in Brain Gym () exercises. Smith (2001) suggests that particularly ‘lateralizers’ should be part of the everyday teaching repertoire to balance children, and co-ordinate their brain and body before learning. (Smith, 2001:11).

Characters and Values :: essays research papers

Characters tend to take to their values very strongly. A character will do anything possible to stand behind what they value. Authors use this to invoke a strong feeling in the reader, and make the plot more meaningful. By showing how strongly values affect the character, it causes one to question how strong and meaningful their own values are. A poem that does this is â€Å"1910†, by Pat Mora, and a oral history that is an example is â€Å"Tsali of the Cherokees†, by Alice Marriot. In â€Å"1910†, symbolism is used to represent the character’s values. This character has a lot of pride, and looks highly upon herself. She values her high standing in society, self-esteem, material things, and how others look at her. The scarf and gloves in the poem are what symbolize this. Through repetition of the scarf and gloves in every line, her pride is recognized. When her pride is struck down, and the gloves and hat are thrown on the street corner, her values seem to be dented. But she stands behind them 100%; by going to the extreme of burning down the store that she is kicked out of. She gets back up and takes revenge to restore her pride, therefore backing her values. In â€Å"Tsali of the Cherokees†, Tsali values his land very strongly. He demonstrates the ultimate act of holding up to your values. He stands behind them with his life, literally. This is demonstrated through the extreme sacrifice of death. It is a perfect example of how far a character will go to live up to their values. A very deep and dense mood is set as he stands up for what he believes in. Just as his young children are walking away from the rest of their family, gunshots can be heard. It is an unbelievable idea that a character would actually die over their values. What makes the stone sink deeper in the reader’s stomach is the fact that it’s a true story. By using this mood, the author really sets in the question as to how far one would go for their values. Two very different examples are used in showing the strength of a character’s values, and how they play a role in the story. On one side, there is a character that seems to have selfish values. This character goes and harms others to fulfill her values.

Essay --

â€Å"People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but that doesn't stop you from having your own opinion.† (Frank, 1993). In the early 1900s, people were very serious about their art. Written art, painted art, and sculpted art were all at target for critics. But where would they world be if people never gave their true opinions? Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) went to college at Harvard University. He spent part of his life working for an insurance company and even became vice president of that company. By the time he started writing poetry, he was around forty-three. However, by that time it was clear that he specialized in imagery. Archibald MacLeish (1892-1982) was born in Illinois. Like Wallace Stevens, he did not start out as a poet. He began as a lawyer, but quickly dropped that. Through his life Archibald MacLeish had a mixture of modern and traditional poems. Marianne Moore started out as a journalist but quickly made her mark with writing. She was a modernist, but she had her own unique way with modernism. The three poets Wallace Stevens, Archibald MacLeish, and Marianne Moore had many differences and similarities. Wallace Stevens, author of Modern Poetry, used imagery and precise language much more than other poets. Stevens was very interested in nature, much of his inspiration came from natural objects. For this reason, he became very philosophical and he liked to express this in his poetry. He loved to use his imagination in his poetry, which is why he uses so much imagery. â€Å"The actor is a metaphysician in the dark, twanging and instrument, twanging a wiry string that gives sounds passing through sudden righteousness.† (Wallace Stevens, Of Modern Poetry). In this excerpt, you can clearly imagine what is hap... ...nceived patterns, syllabic patterns, and rhymes, which are unmistakably individualized.† (Price, 2011). Unlike the poets like Stevens and MacLeish, Moore was much more into witty and precise poetry. Unlike MacLeish, she did enjoy the occasional rhyme and rhythm. â€Å"If you hate difference, you'll be bored to death.† (Beta, 2010). All three poets, Wallace Stevens, Archibald MacLeish, and Marianne Moore are more different than similar. However, as Toba Beta says, it is much more interesting to be different than all the same. It is very interesting that all three of these poets were alive during the same time, but came up with such different works of art and each were considered successful. Here and there, you can find similarities within their writing, but these authors are all very different which is why their poems all have a different opinion of what right.

Philippine Arts Essay

* 1. Filipino Painters :The Few Cream of the Crop * 2. Damian Domingo â€Å"The First Great Filipino Painter†AKA Damian Gabor Domingo â€Å"Father of Filipino Painting† 1st Filipino to paint his face 1st self-portrait in the Philippines Academia de Dibujo y PinturaDate of Birth: 1796Birthplace: Tondo, Manila, PhilippinesYear of Death: 1834 * 3. La Sagrada Familia * 4. La Sagrada Familia Oil on Copper Sheet Measurements: 48.26(length) x 35 (width) cm Where it was made: Manila, Philippines Time Period: 19th Century; 1820’s to 1830’s Owner: Heirs of Luis Ongpin Museum: Ayala Miuseum * 5. La Sagrada Familia The delicate veil over the Virgin’s head and shoulders is transparent to the point of appearing almost invisible. Cloth folds and curves of the figures’ clothing appear quite realistic. Damian Domingo uses color and drama with control. The painting depicts three generations of the Holy Family. * 6. La Sagrada Familia The infant Jesus and his parents are at the center, His grandparents on either side, and God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the angels high above. It marks the peak of his finely detailed miniaturist style. Two misspelled words in the paintings caption. â€Å"Sagrda† and â€Å"Aana† * 7. Juan Luna â€Å"Ilocano Filipino Painter†Political activist of the Philippine Revolution durin g the late 19th century 1st recognized Philippine artists His 1st tutor Don Lorenzo Guerero was so impressed with his early works Don Lorenzo persuaded his parents to send him to Spain to advance his skillsDate of Birth: October 23,1857Birthplace: Badoc, Ilocos Norte, PhilippinesYear of Death: December 7, 1899 * 8. Spoliarium * 9. Spoliarium Oil-on-Canvas Measurements: 4.22 meters x 7.675 meters Where it was made: Rome Time Period: 19th Century , 1884 Award: 1st prize, gold medal at Exposicion de Bellas Artes of Oil Paintings in Madrid Location: National Museum * 10. Spoliarium Largest painting in the Philippines. The Technique used by the artist is symbolism. Heavy strong brush strokes- expressed his anger over the abuses and cruelties. Lines and color- he captured pathos and barbarism of a decadent empire. * 11. Spoliarium Vertical Lines- evidenced by the straight body of an oppressor suggest strength and stability. Horizontal Lines- seen impression of serenity and repose. Diagonal Lines- clearly shown in the arms of men pulling the wounded gladiator toward the other room. * 12. Spoliarium Most well-known painting by a Filipino artist A building or chamber where the dead bodies of gladiators were taken to be stripped of their armor and weapons prior to the disposal of their bodies. Symbol of our social, moral, and political life: humanity unredeemed, reason and aspiration in open fight with prejudice, fanaticism, and injustice.† * 13. Other works of Juan Luna: Death of Cleopatra (Silver medal, 1881 Museo del Prado in Madrid) Parisian Life (Silver medal, 1889, GSIS Museum) Battle of Lepanto, Blood Compact (1886, Malacaà ±ang Palace) Una Bulakenya (1895, Malacaà ±ang Palace) * 14. Felix Resurreccion HidalgoNational Artist of the Philippines for Painting He studied in the University of Santo Tomas where his artistry was encouraged by Fr. Sabater. He was simultaneously enrolled at the Escuela de Dibujo y Pintura. When Juan Luna won the gold medal in the 1884 Madrid Exposition, a Filipino painter shared with him the limelight by securing the second place. His remains were brought to Manila, where he now lies entombed in the Hidalgo family mausoleum at the Cementerio del Norte.Date of Birth: February 21, 1855Birthplace: Binondo, ManilaYear of Death: March 1913 * 15. Las virgenes Cristianas expuestas al populacho * 16. Las virgenes Cristianas expuestas al populacho Oil-on-Canvas Measurements: 115 cm x 157 cm Time Period: 1884 Award: Silver Medalist(9th silver medal award among forty five) Location: Metropolitan Museum of Manila * 17. Las virgenes Cristianas expuestas al populacho Regarded as one of the national treasures of the Philippines Part of art collection of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The original was destroyed in a fire at the University of Valladolid in Spain. Las Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho is a â€Å"landmark painting† depicting the persecution of Christians in Ancient Rome. * 18. Las virgenes Cristianas expuestas al populacho Described as a masterpiece remarkable in the aspects of quality, composition, and historical context. It portrays two scantily clothed Christian female slaves being mocked by a group of boorish Roman male onlookers. One of the women is posed seated naked at the foreground of the painting with her â€Å"head bowed in misery†. The semi-nude women have been stripped not only of their garments but also of their dignity. * 19. Las virgenes Cristianas expuestas al populacho He derive his subject matter from classical antiquity He brought out the Drama of the moment * 20. Other works of Felix Hidalgo: Flora de Filipinas (Plants of the Philippines) – awarded second place for best cover design for de Luxe edition. La Siesta (Nap in the afternoon) – a piece which was favorably reviewed in La Ilustracion Espanola y Americana in1881. La Barca de Aqueronte (The Boat of Charon) – received a gold medal in the international exposition in Madrid and was bought for 7500 pesetas by the Spanish government. * 21. Other works of Felix Hidalgo: Laguna Estigia (The Styx) El Violinista – was accorded a gold medal at the Universal Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri. * 22. Fernando Amorsolo y CuetoNational Artist of the Philippines for Painting Excellent sketch artist as well as peerless master of light and color. Signature technique. Backlight his object, gently shading them with nuanced color tones & haloing them with incandescent golden glow. Most of his paintings portrayed the Filipino culture, tradition, and customs like Filipino fiestas. Became popular because of his illuminated landscapes and his historical paintings on which you can see the real reflection of a Filipino soul.Date of Birth: May 30, 1892Birthplace: Calle Herran in Paco, ManilaYear of Death: April 26, 1972 * 23. Rice Planting * 24. Rice Planting Oil-on-Canvas Measurements: 24 x 34 meters Where it was made: Philippines Time Period: 1922 Sold by: Geringer Art, a Honolulu based company which specializes in the art of Fernando Amorsolo * 25. Rice Planting His â€Å"Rice Planting† (1922) was a staple of tourist brochures. It’s visual weight is light because the colors used were mostly pastel in nature. No dark colors were used to produce a feeling of calm and peace. The particular genre that was used is realism. * 26. Rice Planting He painted the details as to how it might look like in real life. In rice planting, the backlighting technique manifested wherein figures are outlined against a characteristic glow, and intense light on one part of the canvas highlights nearby details. Sunlight is a consistent element in Amorsolo’s works. Brush strokes were smooth which emphasizes the serene feeling. * 27. Other works of Fernando Amorsolo: The Bombing of the Intendecia (1942) Bataan ) Afternoon Meal of the Workers (1939) Princess Urduja * 28. Carlos V. Francisco aka Botong Francisco2nd Filipino to receive the title of National Artist in Painting in 1973 One of the first Filipino modernist Franciscos art is a prime example of linear painting where lines and contours appear like cut outs. He single-handedly brought back the art of mural painting in the PhilippinesDate of Birth: November 4, 1912Birthplace: Angono, RizalYear of Death: March 31, 1969 * 29. Katipunan * 30. Katipunan Mural Best known mural of Francisco It shows his descriptions about the History of Manila Mayor Antonio Villegas in Manila It describes the enthusiasm of the first Datu in Manila. His murals on the history of Manila for the Manila City Hall represent a high point in his art and the art of the country. * 31. Jose Tanig JoyaNational Artist in Visual Arts in 2003 A painter and multimedia artist Known as an Abstract Expressionist He was the president of the Art Association of the Philippines from 1962 to 1965 and dean of the U.P. College of Fine Arts from 1970 to 1978.Date of Birth: June 3, 1931Birthplace: Manila, PhilippinesYear of Death: March 31, 1996 * 32. Granadean Arabesque * 33. Granadean Arabesque Inspired by Joya’s stay in Granada, a region in Spain.How he was struck by inspiration while travelling on a train andseeing all the beautiful sunflowers pass him by. Bright yellows dominate the canvass and establish the mood –pure joy, life, and energy. * 34. Other works of Jose Joya: 1948 – Barter of Panay 1954 – Christ Stripped of His Clothes 1958 – Granadean Arabesque, his landmark painting 1965 – Dimensions of Fear 1981 – Vista Beyond Vision 1985 – Torogan 1998 – Playground of the Mind * 35. Thank You ☠º * 36. Miniature Miniature isnt merely about size, but also the levelof detail in the painting. Its the detail that differentiatesa miniature from a small painting: if you look at it througha magnifying glass, youll see extremely fine brush markswith every detail scaled down and miniaturized.Techniques used include hatching, stippling, and glazing.Composition, perspective, and color are as important asin larger paintings. * 37. Symbolism A symbol, in general, is a visible sign of somethinginvisible in such as an idea or a quality. Art of Symbolism is the art to use symbols torepresent things, ideas and emotions. * 38. Realism The representation in art or literature of objects,actions, or social conditions as they actually are, withoutidealization or presentation in abstract form. Adopted to describe things represent figures andexactly how they look like in real life. * 39. Mural A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applieddirectly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanentsurface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of muralpainting is that the architectural elements of the givenspace are harmoniously incorporated into the picture * 40. Abstract Expressionism Abstract Expressionism is a school of art thatdeveloped from Expressionism. It applied the principlesof Expressionism to abstract art. The artists brushstrokes, the visible evidence of the process of creating thepainting, together with the use of color, are the subjectof the painting. * Paintings * Artistic paintings were introduced to the Filipinos in the 16th century when the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines. During this time, the Spaniards used paintings as religious propaganda to spread Catholicism throughout the Philippines. These paintings, appearing mostly on church walls, featured religious figures appearing in Catholic teaching. Due to the Church’s supervision of Filipino art and Spanish occupation of the Philippines, the purpose of most paintings from the 16th-19th century were to aid the Catholic Church.[1] * In the early 19th century, wealthier, educated Filipinos introduced more secular Filipino art, causing art in the Philippines to deviate from religious motifs. The use of watercolor paintings increased and the subject matter of paintings began to include landscapes, Filipino inhabitants, Philippine fashion, and government officials. Portrait paintings featured the painters themselves, Filipino jewelry, and native furniture. The subject of landscape paintings featured artists’ names painted ornately as well as day-to-day scenes of average Filipinos partaking in their daily tasks. These paintings were done on canvas, wood, and a variety of metals. [2] * During World War II, some painters focused their artwork on the effects of war, including battle scenes, destruction, and the suffering of the Filipino peoples. * Dance | It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Philippine Dance. (Discuss) Proposed since June 2012. | * There are many different types of Filipino dances varying in influence and region. Types of Filipino dance include Cordillera, Muslim, tribal, rural, and Spanish style dances. * Within the cordillera dances, there is Banga, Bendayan, Lumagen/Tachok, Manmanok, Ragsaksakan, Salisid, Salip, Tarektek, and Uyaoy/Uyauy. The Banga dance illustrates the grace and strength of women in the Kalinga tribe. Women performing the Banga balance heavy pots on their heads while dancing to beat of wind chimes. This mimics Kalinga women collecting and transporting water. Another dance, called Lumagen or Tachok, is performed to celebrate happy occasions. When Lumagen is performed, it is meant to symbolize flying birds and is musically-paired to the beat of gongs. Another cordillera dance, Salisid, is the dance to show courtship. In the Salisid dance, a male and a female performer represent a rooster attempting to attract a hen.[3] * Tribal dances include Malakas at Maganda, Kadal Blelah, Kadal Tahaw, Binaylan, Bagobo Rice Cycle, and Dugso. Malakas at Maganda is a national folklore dance. It tells the story of the origin of the Filipino people on the islands. Another dance, called the Binaylan dance, tells the story of a hen, the hen’s baby, and a hawk. In this dance, the hawk is said to control a tribe’s well-being, and is killed by hunters after attempting to harm the hen’s baby.[4] * Two examples of traditional Filipino dances are Tinikling and Binasuan and many more. Filipinos have unique folk dances like tinikling where assistants take two long bamboo sticks rapidly and in rhythm, clap sticks for dancers to artistically and daringly try to avoid getting their feet caught between them. Also in the southern part of the Philippines, there is another dance called singkil using long bamboo poles found in tinikling; however, it is primarily a dance showing off lavish Muslim royalty. In this dance, there are four bamboo sticks arranged in a tic-tac-toe pattern in which the dancers exploit every position of these clashing sticks. Dancers can be found trying to avoid all 4 bamboo sticks all together in the middle. They can also try to dance an entire rotation around the middle avoiding all sticks. Usually these stick dances performed in teamwork fashion not solo. The Singkil dance is identifiable with the use of umbrellas and silk clothing.[5] * Weaving * Philippine weaving involves many threads being measured, cut, and mounted on a wooden platform. The threads are dyed and weaved on a loom.[6] * Before Spanish colonization, native Filipinos weaved using fibers from abaca, pineapple, cotton, and bark cloth. Textiles, clothes, rugs, and hats were weaved. Baskets were also weaved and used as vessels of transport and storage, and for hunting. These baskets were used to transport grain, store food, and catching fish.[7] * However, during Spanish colonization, Filipinos used fabric called nipis to weave white clothing. These were weaved with decorative, flower designs.[8] * Pottery * Traditional pottery-making in certain areas of the Philippines would use clay found near the Sibalom River. Molding the clay required the use of wooden paddles, and the clay had to be kept away from sunlight.[9] * Native Filipinos created pottery since 3500.[10] They used these ceramic jars to hold the deceased.[11] * Other pottery used to hold remains of the deceased were decorated with anthropomorphic designs. These anthropomorphic earthenware pots date back to 5 BC. – 225 A.D and had pot covers shaped like human heads. [12] * Filipino pottery had other uses as well. During the Neolithic period of the Philippines, pottery was made for water vessels, plates, cups, and for many other uses.[13]

Diclduybc

Unit 11 Mini-Analysis Consider the following standard and semi-log plots from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Both graphs show the probability (in decimal form) that an Australian woman of age x will die within the next year. | | Remember to use complete sentences on each of the questions below, rounding to four decimal places where appropriate. Save the resulting document in either Word or PDF form and resubmit to the D2L dropbox. Your last name should appear in the name of the file. 1. The standard plot on the left appears exponential.However, by examining the semi-log plot on the right, we see that only a portion of the data is actually exponential. For what ages would you conclude that the probability (in decimal form) of dying in the next year is approximately exponential? Explain. I do not understand the question. The ages that are approximately exponential are 22-90 on the right graph because these lines seem to form a straight line, similar to exponential growth. 2. Assu ming that the points (44, -3) and (70, -2) are on the linear portion of the semi-log plot, create a linear function for Y=log? y) as a function of x. Make sure to show your work. -2+3/70-44 = 1/26 y=. 0384615385x+b y = . 0385x – 2. 5 3. Rewrite your semi-log plot equation from #2 so that it now shows the exponential function that we can view on the standard plot. Make sure to show your work. Y = . 0385x + -2. 5 y = 10^. 0385x * 10^-2. 5 1. 0926^x * . 0032 4. What percent does an Australian female’s probability of death (within the next year) increase every year? The probability of women’s death in Australia increases by 9. 26% each year.

Alibaba Essay

He and his team have achieved many firsts’ in the area of Chinese Internet Trade. He founded the first internet commercial website in China, and created a 82B marketplace platform to all small and medium-sized enterprises in Asia and around the world. He promoted the â€Å"Trust Pass† plan on the website, which created the world’s first on-line credit platform for companies. Under Jack Ma’s leadership, the Alibaba 82B websites have attracted more than 17 million registered members in 220 countries globally, with daily postings exceeding 35 million, making Alibaba. om the most active Internet market place and 82B community worldwide. Since the inception of the company, more than 400 media have reported about Alibaba and Jack Ma, in dozens of languages. In addition to numerous awards presented to Alibaba. com, Jack Ma was lso selected by the World Economic Forum as one of the 100 Young Global Leaders in 2001; was named Business Leader of 2001 by Asia Commerc e Association of USA; and was featured on the covers of Forbes Magazine, Nikkei Magazine, and Fortune (China) Magazine. In 2004, Jack Ma was honored as one of the â€Å"Top 10 Economic Personas of the Year† by CCTV. In 2005, Fortune Magazine ranked him one of the â€Å"25 Most Powerful Businesspeople in Asia† and this year Business 2. 0 ranked him 1 5th among â€Å"50 Who Matter Now† and Silicon. com ranked him 1 lth among its top 50 â€Å"Agenda Setters 2006. † company, Alibaba. om builds its business success and rapid growth on entrepreneurship, innovation, and service. Says Jack Ma: The company will remain a ‘start-up’ no matter how long it has been in existence. What ever has been stable, I will disrupt that stability. The company needs to continue to innovate and grow. I want the employees to believe that we are a small company, no matter how big we get. I believe we can create a system and culture to perpetuate this culture of entrepreneurial and start-up spirit. To fuel the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, along with a service attitude, Jack Ma is looking for people with the following characteristics: 1) People with a dream. â€Å"Don’t let your colleagues work for you. They need to work for their dreams! † If people don’t believe in the dream and Join the company purely for money, they won’t stay long (refer to Appendix 2 for Alibaba’s vision, mission, and values). 2) People with shared values. â€Å"The value system is very important at Alibaba. We are crazy for it! In China, we might be the only crazy company who so strongly maintains our value system. People who don’t fit our values cannot survive in the company. † (Alibaba’s six ore values are customer comes first, teamwork and cooperation, embracing change, integrity, passion, and honoring your Job). 3) People with a smile. â€Å"When we hire people, we look for people who are naturally optimistic and happy. In the start-up process we will meet with difficulties and challenges. Optimistic and happy people can better deal with these challenges and succeed. It’s hard to make a happy person unhappy, but it’s even harder to make an unhappy person happy. I am able to tell whether a person is on our staff by their smile. † 4) People who enjoy work and can turn stress and challenges into innovation. Employees must be able to handle pressure and challenges, and turn them into positive energy for innovation, not negative energy for depression. † 5) People who work together. â€Å"We don’t welcome people who think they are smart because they may think they are above others. This industry is so new that it really doesn’t have any real talents. The people who are real talents probably don’t know they are talents. Everyone has tremendous potential. We all use other people’s strengths to overcome our weaknesses We are all ordinary people, but our goals are extraordinary. † While Alibaba seeks people with strong rofessional skills, these characteristics are even more important in deciding whether a person will Join, stay, and enjoy working in the company. 2 Alibaba’s Unique Value Proposition † a Smiling Community with a Dream While Alibaba is clear about what kind of talent they need for business success, the question is: how can the company attract, retain, and engage such talent, especially in the startup stage, when Alibaba had limited resources? The answer is a dream, a dream to make a difference in the way people do business, and a dream to create wealth together. During the start-up stage of Alibaba, Jack Ma often told those nterested in working for Alibaba, not of the great working conditions or the high pay, of what they could earn elsewhere. Alibaba also strives to provide a community, where employees can have fun to work together to pursue their dreams with minimal bureaucracy and politics. Ma recently painted a vivid image of his ideal work environment for his employees as follows: Blue Sky Processes, systems, and decisions need to be open and transparent. There’s nothing that should be hidden from employees. We should be transparent. Solid Ground Everything we do should be honest, ethical and contribute to the welfare of the ociety. The company should be on solid financial ground so employees won’t worry about the financial future of the company. Free-flowing Ocean Talent must be allowed to rotate Jobs across subsidiaries and departments. Green Forest (R Conducive conditions for continued innovation. Harmonious Community Peers with shared values and simple interpersonal relationships. The ultimate objective of such a community is to offer employees a work environment to grow, contribute, and live out their dreams. Bureaucracy, secrecy, and stagnation are all attributes that inhibit employees, and the company must actively seek out these ehaviors and destroy them. Alibaba from the Eyes of Employees To what extent do employees at Alibaba experience what the company intends to offer? Why do they Join the company and how do they feel as employees working there? Our focus group discussion with employees in different functions and levels confirms that Alibaba is indeed a unique company to work with. The following themes and direct quotations capture their experiences and the feeling of working at Alibaba: A leader with charisma and credibility: Jack Ma is the magnet that draws people into the company and provides them with a credible dream. â€Å"When I spoke with Jack Ma, I was impressed with his vision and business model. I had been in the internet business for a while but had not seen a successful model like the one Alibaba is employing. † Tang Zhenrong, International Website Engineering Department, and one year with the company. Although the objectives for each year seem to be very high, somehow we have always managed to accomplish those objectives. With past success, we have built up confidence that we’re able to achieve the objectives no matter what they are. † Lili Li, Sales Research Department, six years with the company. The passion of Alibaba is from within and radiates outward to others. We can see that they truly believe in the company and the culture of Alibaba is built from there, not by programs or processes. † Echo Lu, Director of Organization and People Development. â€Å"The company is true to its values at all levels. When Jack Ma talks to management about hiring, he told us that we must hire people With the same smell. Zhang Yu, Director of Marketing, Taobao. com Changes, challenges, and growth: People grow under tremendous pressure to change and grow. â€Å"The speed of change is three to four times that of other organizations. The objectives are ‘crazy, but when we reach and surpass the targets, we then have a profound sense of accomplishment. With the constant pressure and changes, we’re also forced to evaluate how we do our own Jobs and how we work as a team. Is it sufficient to accomplish the new objectives? Do we need to look at the challenge differently and try different things? † Zhang Yu, Director of Marketing, Taobao. om 4 Communication and transparency â€Å"Jack will meet with all new employees in a group setting, has meetings with management at least quarterly, and bi-annual staff meetings with all employees. On the intranet, there’s a BBS that allows staff to post their thoughts and opinions. Jack often interacts with staff on the BBS in an open and casual way. † Echo Lu, Director of Organization and People Development A company that cares about employees â€Å"During the SARS crisis, because of one suspected case, Alibaba made the decision in one day to have all employees work from home and to pass the required isolation period. As a result of this quick action, we contained any possible outbreak, May. Employees continued to perform Jobs tremendously well at home. We encouraged each other through BBS, phone calls, and e-mails. † Lili L’, Sales Research Department â€Å"The most positive thing to result from the SARS crisis was an enormous amount of pride for employees who went through this crisis together. They built a strong bond through experiencing this event together. It’s still a much talked about event in the company. In fact, some employees have named the day that staff were sent home to contain the outbreak, Alibaba Day, to commemorate the event. The spirit of Alibaba came alive on that day. † Echo Lu, Director of Organization and People Development Leadership and Management Practices that Create the Unique Value Proposition Leadership priority: As CEO, Jack Ma invests most of his time in three areas: vision/ mission/strategy, customers, and employees. By clearly articulating and constantly communicating the vision and mission of the company, he creates the most important foundation in attracting outstanding talent. â€Å"Don’t let your colleague work for you, but work for their dreams! Also, it is important to deeply understand customer needs, not competitor’s actions. Understanding customer needs can help Alibaba develop concrete business plans and focus on realizing its dream. Finally, it is also critical to realistically assess the competencies of employees. It will decide â€Å"how fast,† â€Å"how far†, and â€Å"how’ the company can execute its business strategy and targets in the coming year and next three years. His attentiveness to talent is reflected in two management practices. First, in the monthly senior management meeting, the first question he always asked is â€Å"How is your team doing? † instead of â€Å"How many sales has your team made? † Second, he always spends a lot of time alking around different business units and departments to â€Å"smell† how the people are doing there. If he â€Å"smells† something wrong, he will immediately talk to the unit head to identify problems and improve the situation. As a matter of fact, all senior executives at VP level and above must develop such â€Å"smelling† skills at Alibaba, to make sure that people are being managed properly. Value alignment: Strong shared values are essential in building a harmonious community where people feel comfortable working together and in ensuring that decisions and behaviors are aligned with company direction. Alibaba has gone the extra mile to make sure that people share the same values. When Alibaba hires people, they look for people with th e same â€Å"smell†Ã¢â‚¬ people who are optimistic, happy, team oriented, hard working, and willing to invest their lives to achieve an ideal. When employees Join the company, they attend at least 10 days of orientation, focusing primarily on the company’s vision, mission, and values. When the company assesses the performance of employees, 50% is tied to values and 50% is tied to business results. When employees demonstrate behaviors contrary to company core alues, they are asked to leave no matter how strong their business results are, or very important at Alibaba. People who don’t fit into our values cannot survive in the company. † Stretch opportunities and challenges: While Alibaba offers different training programs for different levels of employees in both technical and management areas, people grow rapidly by achieving â€Å"impossible† targets year after year. Although the objectives for each year seem high and unreasonable, somehow, we have always managed to accomplish those objectives. With past success we have built up the onfidence that we are able to achieve the objectives, no matter what they are,† says Lili Li, of the Sales Research Department. â€Å"At Alibaba I have been stretched and challenged. I have seen myself grow m ore than in my previous Jobs,† says Zhang Yu from Taobao. com. Indeed, Jack Ma believes that all people have potential that can be unleashed in the right environment, allowing them to stretch and challenge themselves. Ma quoted one of his favorite examples, â€Å"Several years ago when I looked at the current COO Li Qi, there was no way he looked like a COO. Nowadays, from all different angles, he really looks like a COO. Talent has tremendous potential to grow. † However, in order for people to grow under challenges, three elements are important. First is teamwork. Alibaba uses teamwork to complement individual strengths and weaknesses to achieve extraordinary goals. Second are the right people, who enjoy challenges and have fun working. Third are line managers who are accountable for personal growth within their teams. Jack Ma remarked that all line managers at Alibaba are entrusted with two scarce resources (capital and talent) to create value for the company. In addition to ensuring good financial returns, they lso need to create value for their talent in terms of their growth and retention. That’s why Jack Ma also walks around the company to â€Å"smell† how people are being managed in different departments, and why he always asks business leaders how their teams are doing in the monthly CEO review. Wealth creation and sharing: All employees of Alibaba receive stock options, and in effect are owners of the organization. At Alibaba, stock options are not a tool for retention but for reward sharing. From five cents per share to five dollars per share in 6 years, many employees have not only shown tremendous pride in the company but also shared the fruits of their collective success for the well-being of both the society and themselves. Transparency and communication: Communication is an important practice within Alibaba that helps maintain a culture of transparency to all employees. Employees have easy access to all executives, including Jack Ma, through the use of email, BBS, and face-to-face meetings (monthly, quarterly or bi-annual staff meetings). Jack Ma sets a high standard for his executives to follow by regularly interacting with employees. â€Å"All decisions are transparent, and people can see how they are made. This transparency is getting somewhat lost as we get bigger, but we’re still given a lot of information when possible. Our trust in the leaders has helped us to overcome this change in transparency. Communication is always good and strong from Sales Research Department. Advice to other CEOs When asked about what advice he would like to offer to other CEOs in China, Jack Ma suggested four: 1) Always believe people are the most important asset, and capital comes second. 2) It is not necessary to find the â€Å"best† talent but the talent that best fits your company. 3) Find and groom the talent inside our company rather than keep searching for talent from outside. The best talent is home-groomed people who fit our company culture. It always takes at least three years before people become fully immersed into our company culture 4) Believe in the potential of talent.