Cultural artifact about Korean War in 1950 Essay

Cultural artifact about Korean War in 1950 - Essay Example d into a full-blown war pitching the USA against international communism, considering that North Korea was a USSR backed territory, while South Korea was pro-west (US Department of State n.p.). While the Korean War of 1950 has not been publicized like the Vietnam and the Second World Wars, it remains the bloodiest war that was fought for a short period, yet claimed more civilians’ lives than either the Vietnam or the World War II. The war occurred during a period of heightened tension between the USA and the Soviet Union in Cold War. Thus, despite the fact that the Korean War was a war between the North and the South Korea, it remains the height of the Cold War tension. Thus, the Korean War of 1950 impacted the world by changing the world map through the creation of two sovereign states from the Korean peninsula, increased the Cold War tension globally by posing the threat of the outbreak of World War III and elevated the logistical, weaponry and equipment status of the Chines e military. The Korean War started on June 1950, through the aggression of the North Korea against the South Korea, after its troops crossed over the boundary between the two territories, and took the war the South Korean soil. The tension between North and South Korea had been there for long before the war. In addition, there was international interest in this conflict from the onset of the separation of Korea into the north and the south, considering the fact that China and Japan had previously shown interests in controlling the Korean territory (Naval History and Heritage Command n.p.). Russia had also fought with Japan for the control of the Korean territory, but Russia was defeated in this war in 1910, after which Japan Annexed Korea as its colony, and ruled it until the end of World War II. The separation of South Korea from North Korea had occurred in 1945, when the foreign interested parties resolved to have Korea separated along the 38th parallel as a temporary measure, until a

Counter Terrorism & Emergency Responders Assignment

Counter Terrorism & Emergency Responders - Assignment Example There was a report of the use of biological weapons during the World War I. Alpha, beta, gamma, and neutron radiation result from nuclear decays of some reactive metals such as uranium. All the four types of radiation cause almost similar problems in human health. For humans, they cause stochastic and non-stochastic effects. Stochastic effects result from prolonged exposure to too low levels of the radiations. Among the disorders in this category, cancer is the most common though there are also problems such as mutations. The non-stochastic disorders result from short-term exposures to high levels of radiations. Such disorders have adverse effects on the health of animals and humans. The associated problems develop faster than the stochastic. Cancer is still top of the list, with others in this category being aging of the skin, burns and radiation conflict (US, EPA, 2015). While investigating the course of fire, experts depend on several observations as well as training techniques. Before the 1970s, fire investigation personnel did not depend on scientific approaches, but instead used witness-based methods. However, currently, they use experimental methods by first looking for the point of origin. They then proceed to look for ignition possibilities. In the event, that the fire investigators realize that the fire could have resulted from terrorism, they immediately inform the intelligence systems as a precaution. Usually, in the US, the counter-terrorism unit forms the core of the fights against terrorism (National Geographic, 2015). Usually, if someone swallows poison, the doctors induce vomiting after finding out from evidence what type of poison the victims might have consumed. For acids and alkalis, they do not induce vomiting because of the corrosive nature of such poisons. The vomit used gives a specimen for use in investigation and determination of the correct medication. For the case of corrosive vapor poisoning, the doctors do not have a

Leadership and Culture as seen in Tech Mahindra Limited

Leadership and Culture as seen in Tech Mahindra Limited A human being right from birth is associated to various people including parents, relatives, and so on. As he/she grows old, the pool of associations become stronger and complex as his/her needs tend to grow such as: The need of friends, education, and other sociocultural aspects of human life. The child thus becomes part of many organisations catering to needs of each other in the organisation. Organisation, as defined by Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary is A group of people who form a business, club, etc. together in order to achieve a particular aim. All the organisations irrespective of their nature are headed by a Leader. Leader is often seen as a person who guides the organisation to achieve a common goal by setting up practices and creating a positive environment with the organisation. As said by Fullan (1992) in his notes, that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture. The leadership of an organization has the primary responsibility for identifying the need for, and fostering, cultural change and for sustaining a sound safety culture once it is established. In the following essay, I have tried elaborating some leadership skills and organisational culture taking into consideration Mr Vineet Nayyar who heads (Vice Chairman, MD CEO) Tech Mahindra Limited, a joint venture between Mahindra Mahindra Group and British Telecommunications PLC. About Tech Mahindra Introduction: Tech Mahindra is a part of US $7.1 Billion Mahindra Group, in partnership with British Telecommunications plc (BT), which is one of the largest communication service providers in the world. The organisation was incorporated in 1986 under the name of Mahindra British Telecom, which was later changed to Tech Mahindra to reflect diversification and growth of client base. Tech Mahindra has majorly focussed the telecommunications industry and is a leading global systems integrator  and business transformation consulting organization. Tech Mahindra operates globally with more than 15 Greenfield Operations and has over 124 active customer engagements mostly in Telecom sector. Some of its largest clients are BT, ATT, O2 and Alcatel-Lucent. The company has footprints in more than 25 countries and has been assessed as SEI CMMI Level 5 Company. The company is supported by around 35,000 professionals who provide distinctive blend of domain expertise, in depth technology skill sets and culture. Tech Mahindra Vision: To be the most respected solution provider in the communications ecosystem Anticipating and enabling change Admired for technology, agility, innovation, business models and the quality of its talent Tech Mahindra Values: Tech Mahindra is focused on creating sustainable value growth through innovative solutions and unique partnerships. Our values are at the heart of our business reputation and are essential to our continued success. We foster an environment to instil these values in every facet of our organization. Customer first Good corporate citizenship Professionalism Commitment to quality Dignity of the individual Some of the Industry Recognitions: In the Leaders Category in The 2009 Global Outsourcing 100 (IAOPs Annual Listing of the Worlds Best Outsourcing Service Providers) Ranked 2nd in Telecom Software providers of India by Voice Data, 2008 (VD 100 Ranking) Business Week Award for Asias Best Performing Companies, 2008 Growth Excellence Award by Frost Sullivan, 2008 Ranked 6th largest software exporter from India (NASSCOM, 2008) Leadership Introduction to leadership: There are numerous organisations prevailing in the todays world. Each and every member of an organisation aspires to have an ideal leader who can create an environment of trust, ownership among employees and is able to steer the organisation in a balanced way both in good as well as hard times of the organisation. As said by Admiral Burke, US Navy-Leadership is understanding people and involving them to help you do a job. That takes all of the good characteristics, like integrity, dedication of purpose, selflessness, knowledge, skill, implacability, as well as determination not to accept failure. But there remains a big question- What are the characteristics of a good leader? or How to assess if a person is worthy of leading a group or an organisation? During the following analysis, findings and practical scenarios I would try and find answers to the questions mentioned above. Theoretical approach to leadership: There have been numerous theories discussing several aspects of leadership and different styles in which it is practiced. The earliest being the Trait theory of Leadership which was worked upon and analysed at length as early as around mid-1850. This theory was primarily interested in the measurement of traits of persons which can be defined as habitual patterns of emotion, behaviour and thoughts. This theory strongly believes that the traits of a person are in-born and remain constant over life lime and hence it concluded that Leaders were born, not developed. In contrast to this theory, some other theories which came up in  late 1940s and early 1950s stated persons who are Leaders in one situation may not necessarily be leaders in other situations. These theories took into account the macro environment and took into consideration various factors affecting the decisions and behaviour of the leaders. The criticism of Trait theory by many researchers taking into account its shortcom ings, led them in an alternate theory, the Theory of Behaviour and Style. This theory led to study of Managerial Grid Model which suggested five different leadership styles, based on the leaders concern for people and their concern for goal achievement. A graphical representation of the managerial grid model is shown below. However many researchers believed that different situations call for different characteristics and this led to development of Situational and Contingency Theory. This theory stated that the actions and behaviour of a leader were largely influenced by characteristics of the situation in which he functions. The most promising model for this theory was developed by Fred Fiedler and is known as Fiedler contingency model. He believed that The leaders effectiveness is based on situational contingency which is a result of interaction of two factors:  Leadership style  and  Situational favourableness. As the leader I have chosen to analyse best suits to this style of leadership, Contingency Theory would be the basis of my analysis about his leadership style. Fiedlers Contingency Theory and Mr Vineet Nayyar: In the late 1950s and early 1960s, noticeable industrial and business psychologists: Fiedler and Woodward started to study the leadership and behaviour styles of leaders and managers. Earlier to Fiedlers study, industrial psychologists mainly focussed on personal traits of influential leaders. They believed that there was only one best way to run an organisation which produced best results and most effective business practices. The reason of Fiedlers model influencing most researchers was that it denied one best way and perfectly fit in modern highly complex organisations where scenarios and environment of leaders kept changing more often. Fiedlers model assessed a potential leader with a scale of work style ranging from Task-Oriented on one end to Relationship-Oriented on the other. The other important factor which affected behaviour was the contextual circumstances in which the group operates. This is furthermore supported by three contextual variables affecting appropriateness of a particular style. These are: Leader-member relations, Task Structure and Leader Position Power. The diagram below depicts the model. Mr Vineet Nayyar, 70, is the Vice Chairman Managing Director of Tech Mahindra since 2005 and the Chairman of Mahindra Satyam since 2009 after its acquisition by Tech Mahindra. He is an accomplished leader and has led many organisations across his career span of 40 years. He has worked closely with Indian Government (an IAS Indian Administrative Services official),  international multilateral agencies and the corporate sector (both public and private). While in government, he has taken many senior positions as District Magistrate and Secretary of Government Administration. He has also been part of the World Bank for over 10 Years. In corporate sector, he was founding Chairman and Managing Director of state owned Gas Authority of India, MD and V Chairman of HCL Technologies. He holds a Masters degree in Development Economics from Williams College, Massachusetts. Vineet is undoubtedly an outstanding leader and a role model for employees at Tech Mahindra. During his 6 years tenure, he has taken several crucial decisions which have impacted the organisation positively and have created a sense of trust which I believe is the most important characteristic of being a leader of an organisation. Year after year he has won excellent feedback scores from employees of the organisation which are evident of his leadership qualities. Along with high employee satisfaction, his role as a leader of organisation was backed up with exponential growth of the organisation. The company has doubled its size both in man power as well as the total business sales. It has also acquired three organisations, Axes Technologies (India) Private Limited, iPolicy Networks Private Limited and Satyam Computer Services Ltd since 2005. As suggested by Fiedlers Contingency theory, Leaders behavioural style is majorly impacted by environment around him. Over the last 5 years, Asian and Global economy have seen many highs and lows. During the time when Vineet entered into Tech Mahindra, global economy was on a steady rise. He saw this as huge opportunity for Tech Mahindra, and the company under his leadership launched an extremely successful IPO (Initial Public Offer) in 2006, through which the organisation raised around $100 million to build a new development centre at Pune, India estimating an employee seating capacity of 9000. This proved a highly motivating factor for employees of the organisation, as the company was then listed in Indian Stock Exchange which added to the credibility and popularity of the organisation. As the IPO was a huge success, the employees of Tech Mahindra were given bonus shares on completing 20 years of Tech Mahindra in 2006. This move increased the sense of ownership and the level of com mitment of the employees towards the organisation. As the economy continued to flourish, the company gained new and potential clients along with existing customers which added to exponential rise in companys physical and liquid assets. Under Vineets leadership, Tech Mahindra increased footprints across India and the globe. It has added four new development centres in India along with several overseas site offices across Asia Pacific, Europe, Americas, Middle East and Africa. Companys headcount increased from 16,500 in 2005 to 35,200 in 2010. As the company grew stronger and bigger, it created more jobs for people and was being trusted as a safe company considering job stabilization. These positive factors, along with Vineets influential leadership skills, resulted in a favourable situation which directly proved to have a positive effect on group performance. Leader-member relations were Good along with High task structure. With new development centres coming into operation, there were revised processes and policies which clearly defi ned each employees roles and responsibilities. Every employee was being given a task to set-up his goals at the start of the year which were then finalized along with supervisors feedback. There were team/individual meetings/skip level meetings to highlight any concerns, feedback or comments related to employees work. All this resulted in High Task structure. All the groups/teams were headed by a team-lead and a supervisor who had full authority to assign and monitor tasks for individuals in the group. These people also had the authority to recommend outstanding performers for rewards and awards every quarter. Hence we can consider Leader Position power also to be High thus resulting in High Favourableness of the situation. The most appropriate Behavioural style hence can be conceived as Low LPC, Task Oriented. However along with Task Oriented leadership style, Vineet was also inclined towards Relationship-Oriented behaviour as the company was doing well. Organisation incorporated s everal awards which were to be given to high performers and distribute bonuses among employees. There was high employee satisfaction resulting in improved overall group performances. The economy continued to grow till early 2008 after which there was a steep downturn. The economic turmoil in United States and Europe had a direct impact on Tech Mahindra as all of its major clients belong to this geography. This was a drastic change of environment for Vineet and he had to adjust his leadership style with the changing scenario. Vineet along with his management team had to churn out cost affective task driven methods to cope up with the ever increasing pressure of dipping economy and demanding clients. There were many changes in company processes to make them streamlined and cost effective. As the economy further weakened, many employees were discontinued from their roles in order to maintain an even position on operating the projects. Employee Assessment and Appraisal Process was reviewed as company was now operating on less operating profits. All the overhead costs were minimized and bonuses were cut-off. This lead to decreased employee satisfaction and hampered te am performances. During the same time period (2009) Tech Mahindra emerged as the highest bidder to scam hit Satyam Computers Ltd (Later renamed as Mahindra Satyam after takeover). Vineet was appointed as the Chairman of Mahindra Satyam taking into account his excellent service to Tech Mahindra over the years. His past experiences and characteristics as a leader both proved to be the deciding factor for this decision. Economic downturn coupled with accounting scam was a nightmare for employees of Mahindra Satyam. With a strong headcount of around 45,000, Mahindra Satyam due to its tainted image and lost credibility lost many major clients. Its operating profits came down to negative and the company was very difficult to sustain. Vineet and his team carried out series of management and process changes in Mahindra Satyam to improve its position in the market. Rebranding Satyam Computers to Mahindra Satyam was one such move. The association to Mahindra Mahindra group instilled an increased sense of cred ibility. There were internal exchange placements within Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam to utilize excessive man power and Tech Mahindra slowed its external recruitment process. Many employees of Mahindra Satyam who did not have a good performance assessment were handed pink-slips. It was crucial for Mahindra Satyam to rebuild itself and regain its place in the IT Industry. A series of similar stern changes and developments took in Mahindra Satyam over the next few months. All these changes in Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam led to decreased employee satisfaction. Employees were not given enough salary hikes and promotions were delayed. As more and more employees were terminated due to low operating margins, the team sizes grew smaller resulting in increased work pressure. This did not have a good effect on Leader-member relations and could be termed as Bad. Task structure also dropped to Low as there was increased workload due to less team members. Existing team members were un clear about the added responsibilities they had to partake which were an overhead to their already existing responsibilities. Leader position power still remained Strong as there was constant supervision on performance of the individuals. All these factors resulted in Low Favourableness of situation and behavioural style can hence be concluded as Low LPC Highly Task-oriented. Conclusion: With all the above evidences and instances of effect of external forces on leadership style of Vineet Nayyar, I can strongly conclude that leadership behaviour of leaders change with circumstances. A good leader is judged as to how he transforms his behaviour under different situations and choosing the correct style of leadership. Citing all the above instances of leadership and analysing them with theory as mentioned by Fiedler concludes that Fiedlers Contingency theorem aptly fits Vineet Nayyars leadership style. As the scenarios and macro environment changes rapidly, leadership as a vast pool of possible operative styles was a ground-breaking idea by Fiedler. It is in my virtue a common idea in modern management theories which rejects a stiff assumption about ideal management. Culture Introduction to culture: Culture: A word having its origins from Latin word Cultura which means to cultivate. Culture is a word having numerous meanings and definitions and is often the integral part of any organisation present today. Gareth Morgan has described organizational culture as: The set of the set of beliefs, values, and norms, together with symbols like dramatized events and personalities that represents the unique character of an organization, and provides the context for action in it and by it. Organisational culture is hard to explain and is similar to other intangible entities which can just be experienced by the virtue of it being into existence. With the size and complexity of organisations varying from a few to thousands, it is a vital and integral part of any organisation. It is in modern era, a characteristic of an organisation which mirrors the environment prevailing in the same and distinguishes it from others based on its Values, Rites, Rituals and cultural network. During the following text, I have tried examining organisational culture at Tech Mahindra based on theoretical and practical approaches. Theoretical approach to culture: Organisational culture has been analysed and defined by many anthropologists and sociologists including Deal and Kennedy, Charles Handy, Edgar Schein, Robert A. Cooke and many more. All the researchers have defined Culture in many different forms as it is very difficult to express it distinctly. Every person when becomes a part of organisation, becomes a part of its culture. He understands, learns, inherits and then practices culture at organisation through his distinct ways. Schein has broadly classified the nature of culture as layered phenomena having three levels of visibility. These are: Basic Assumptions, Values and Beliefs and Artefacts and Creations. He has further emphasized that these three layers of visible culture interact among themselves and do not stand out from each other. A graphical representation is shown below. Many different models exist which differentiate culture on the basis of its nature prevailing in different organisations. One of which is suggested by Peters and Waterman called the Characteristics of Excellent Companies. The authors studied cultures at some of the most successful organisations and came up with a list of common idealized practices within those organisations. This was by some viewed as One best culture and received strong criticisms by many researchers. Another model was suggested by Goffee and Jones which is also called as The Goffee and Jones Contingency Framework. This was a more modern approach to organisational culture and suggested the dependency of culture on business environments. They opposed the theory of one Right or Best culture for various organisations. Their framework could be depicted based on two dimensions: Sociability and Solidarity. These two dimensions were rated from Good to Bad and a four cubes structure was drawn. They suggested that an organisation could have one or a mix of these four cultures: The Communal culture, the Networked culture, the Mercury culture and the Fragmented culture. Taking the example of Tech Mahindra, I would be closely following this technique to examine its culture rated on Sociability and Solidarity. Culture at Tech Mahindra: Tech Mahindra is a large organisation with around 35,000 employees around the globe. Tech Mahindra recruits fresh college graduates every year in large numbers. Just after these college graduates join the company, on their appointment day, are exposed to a series of induction processes. These include registration processes, induction speech from the head of HR department and many similar interactive sessions of what is expected out of an employee at Tech Mahindra. All these sessions talk about the value offered by Tech Mahindra culture and how these values are important to adapt by all the employees. The new employees are then divided into batches and are allotted to various Initial Training Programs (ITP and the employees are then called ITPians) based on their background studies. This ITP course extends around 4 months in which ITPians undergo various Technical and Behavioural trainings which prepares an ITPian to accept the challenge which his job offers. During the Behavioural tr aining there are numerous sessions about Code of Conduct, Company dress code, Tech Mahindra rewards programs, emphasis on Quality work, Information Security and bonuses linked to performance. All the employees are asked to follow a strict dress code which is Business formals from Monday to Thursday. Employees are allowed to wear Business Casuals, i.e. Jeans and Collared T Shirts on Friday. This dress code is strictly followed and its Managers responsibility for counselling defaulting team members thereby facilitating adherence to the Companys policy. Any choice of casual wear which is revealing, excessively form fitted or worn out is strictly not allowed. There are instances where many employers do not have such kinds of regulations on dress code like Google. This however can be long debated over and over again with no firm outcome. In my opinion having a dress code is a good measure to create and maintain a healthy and professional environment across the organisation. The ITPians are briefed about Code of Conduct policies of Tech Mahindra about which they are asked to listen attentively. They are briefed of how they shall follow the applicable legal framework of the country in which they operate. Employees are expected to know and to understand the legal obligations applicable while performing their duties and discharging their responsibilities on the job. Ignorance cannot be an excuse for violation of law. They are also told to compete fairly with their competitors and maintain highest possible standards of integrity and ethics in every sphere of activity. ITPians are briefed that they shall not put their personal problems over organisational needs. Employees are always expected to protect and nurture the Companys interests all the time and remain independent in any decision that they may be required to take. They are told not to offer or accept gifts, hospitality or other inducements, which influence a decision, or engage in any form of bribery.

Current Perspectives on Dual-Career Families :: essays research papers

â€Å"Current Perspectives on Dual-Career Families†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the essay entitled â€Å"Current Perspectives on Dual-Career Families† written by Lucia Albino Gilbert. It talks about how the children of dual-career families are effect and the gender roles are change in a dual-career family. In a dual-career family, both the mother and the father work full time jobs.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this case study it showed the children of dual-career families are the same in other school aged children that come from a â€Å"traditional† family setting. A traditional family is when the mother stays home and watches the children, as the father goes to work and supports the whole family. Families of dual-career often enlisted the use of other care providers like day cares while they worked. These families also planned more time on the nights and weekends to spend with their children then the â€Å"traditional† family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This study showed how the gender roles become more alike but also how the stay different in some way. At first the women’s roles were changing and the men’s roles were staying the same. Women in dual-career families, who worked full time also kept up with the traditional responsibilities. The women deal with the stress very well. Women benefited from having all this responsibilities like having increased self-esteem and better mental and physical health. After time, the wife and husband starting to both take on different roles. Men and women were having multiple roles. Eventually, the males started looking for jobs that held benefits of child care providers, and family absence days. They man starting taking more sick days in order to help sick children. Even though men still hold more power in the work force, the gender roles are started to fade.

Factors affecting participation in certain sports Essay

Peer group Your peers are the people you mix with who have similar interests and backgrounds and are roughly your age. Your peer group has a big influence on the way you behave and the things that you do. This is not always expressed words. If you wear the â€Å"wrong† clothes or do the â€Å"wrong† things you can very quickly feel left out. If you peers approve of an activity, you will feel encouraged to do it. Sadly, peer-group pressure can also force people to give up sports even though they enjoy them. Family Your family can have a similar effect on you as your friends can. We pick up many of our habits and values from home. If your family enjoys sport and gives you the opportunities to participate, then it is likely that you will. Most young people depend upon parents and family for kit and help with travel to sports events. The opposite is again true. If your Family has a negative attitude to physical activity it is likely you will to. Gender There is a mistaken believe held by some people that sports is a man’s world. There certainly seem to be few barriers put up to prevent men from participating in physical activity. Far more men Participate in physical activity than women. Race People from minority ethic groups can be discriminated against when it comes to physical activity. Many people have the mistaken belief that they are physiologically different because they are a different colour, and this means they will be good at some activities and not others. For example some people believe that all black people are fast runners and they can not swim very well. This belief could be the reason why we see so many black runners and so very little black swimmers. Socio-Economic The activity you participate in may be determined to a large extent by what you can afford. Activities like sailing, golf and riding can be very expensive so many people from lower socio-economic groups are excluded from them. There are also many activities that cost very little. A kick around in the park with a group of friends, for example, and sport at school are mostly free. Unemployed people are in a difficult situation: plenty of time to fill but not much money. To encourage them, sports facilities often charge less, especially at quiet times of the day. Age Young people are encouraged to participate at school and have plenty of free time to take up sport. It also depends on the activity. To be a good gymnast you need to be young and flexible. Today, however, with computer technology not all youngsters want to spend their free time playing sports and not all sports are open to very young people. People tend to take part less in physical recreation as they get older as they often have more responsibilities and less free time to spend on sport. Stereotyping can mean that older people are discouraged from being physically active. Some older people stereotype themselves and believe that they are too old to take part in physically activity. However, there are many sports that you can enjoy into your old age. All you need is motivation to do it, the right facilities and no barriers to prevent you. Disability A disability may restrict your activities and other people’s prejudice can be a barrier to your participation. But disabled sport has received a much higher profile since the Paralympics games in Sydney, and the efforts of disabled athletes like Tanni Grey-Thompson have provided disabled people with excellent role models. Many sports have charged their rules to suit the needs of disabled people and have set up coaching and competitions for them. Facilities must now include ramps and lifts and special changing rooms so that disabled people can have full access. Access If there is a sports facility near where you live, and there is a good road system and public transport in place, then getting there is made easy. However, many people do not live within easy reach of sports facilities, and the public transport system is poor, so participation is made more difficult. Popularity, Promotion and Role models Participation in many sports varies. Because of media coverage during Wimbledon fortnight, tennis courts across the country are heavily used as seeing role models perform on TV encourages people to play the sport themselves. Not all sports attract media attention, however, and not all media coverage is positive. Some sports have increased in popularity by operating national schemes. Basketball, for example, is much more popular since the Basketball Outdoors Initiative of the 1990’s. Thousands of free facilities began to appear in parks and school playgrounds across the country encouraging more people to play. Environment and climate Participation in some activities also depends upon the environment and climate. It is very hard to become a top skier if you live in a very hot country and, if you want to practise mountaineering and you live in Holland, you have got to travel. So it is not hard to understand why countries like Switzerland and Canada produce very good skiers. Britain is traditionally good at sailing because it is an island and surrounded by water, Tradition and Culture Tradition and Culture also affect participation. For examples some cultures disapprove of women taking part in physical recreation in public or in mixed company. This is one reason why many sports centres operate â€Å"women only† sessions. Most sports (like rugby) have had a tradition of being male only. Women have had to work hard to be allowed to participate. Education Your education has a big effect on your attitude to sport physical recreation. If your school is keen on sport you will be encouraged to participate and if you enjoy it, you are likely to continue after you leave. The opposite is also true, however, for those who dislike PE. It is know that there is a drop in participation at the age of 16 when youngsters leave school. This is know as the post school gap and is perhaps caused by the desire to leave all school based activities behind you when you leave. Thankfully, many young people then see the benefits of physical activity and return to it later on in life. Politics The extent to which people take part in a physical activity also depends on their politicians. All governments get involved in sport for one reason or another. For example, facilities cost so much to build that the government usually has to pay at least something towards them. A government may promote sport for all in an attempt to cut the cost of the health service or cut crime. It may promote excellence in sport so as to bring a sense of pride to the country and raise its standing in the outside world. Sponsorship Sponsorship also has an effect on participation, as it is this that brings money into sport. Even local level, small businesses often sponsor teams and help them financially, allowing people to play. How ever sponsors can decide to pull out of the deal very easily and leaves the team needing to find another one or stop playing.

Alcoholic Anonymous Reaction Paper Essay

Recently, I attended an A. A. meeting, which stands for, alcoholic anonymous. The meeting I went to was located in Penfield, NY at 1601 Jackson Road, area code 14526. It was called the Yellow House. When I walked in, everyone was very welcoming and nice. Many people stared at me intensely as I entered the Yellow House. I think they thought I was a recovering alcoholic, until I explained to them later that I was there to listen and observe for a school project for my drugs and behavior class. The place was very cozy inside, had a number of chairs lined up for everyone to sit down and coffee ready to drink. I sat down in one of the chairs. A lady came up to me and handed me a coin that said â€Å"24 hours recovery†; this was before I had the chance to tell her that I was there to observe for a school project. I guess when you go to an alcoholic anonymous meeting for the first time you get awarded a 24 hour recovery coin to make you feel good and know you’re doing something good to help you recover from your alcoholic addiction. The meeting started promptly at 5:30 P. M. like it said it would. The leaders read out announcements and let everybody know if someone new has showed up. If you’re new joining alcoholics anonymous, you introduce yourself by saying your name and stating you are an alcoholic, and then everyone else in the room say â€Å"hi†¦Ã¢â‚¬  whatever your name is to make you feel welcome. Then the person can either talk more about why they came or stop talking and then another person will randomly say their name and why they are attending and so on. There was a vast majority of adults and older people in their 50s or 60s. There were a couple grandfathers, grandmothers and one or two kids my age. I sat next to a kid who was around the same age as me and I felt shocked that he would be attending this type of meeting at such a young age. As the stories from the crowd of people kept going on, I recognized everyone clapping very deliberately and diligent at everyone’s accomplishments for the most little to no importance scenarios, for instance, a man got up and said he had been sober for 90 days and everyone clapped for a really long time. I also realized everyone laughed at everything that was the least bit funny to make it feel like a warm, comfortable, atmosphere. There are meetings every night at this place in Penfield at 5:30 P. M. Each meeting has a different name every night. The meeting I went to was called a â€Å"First Step† meeting. It was for people attending the yellow house or an alcoholic anonymous meeting somewhere for the first time and admitting they are an alcoholic and that they want to get sober. When you start the program, you commit yourself to following a â€Å"12 step program† and attending 90 days of alcoholics anonymous. The first step states â€Å"We admitted we were powerless over alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable. † And when you finish the program, you end with the last step, step number twelve, which states: â€Å"Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. † Attending the alcoholics anonymous groups around the world has changed many recovering alcoholics lives and brought stability to their mind body and soul.