Basic Elements in Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Basic Elements in Behavior - Essay Example The main parts of human body include heart, the nervous system and the most important is the brain. The nervous system is the main route which helps to carry all the information to other parts of the body. It has always been a mystery that how a human brain works although many scientists have conducted many theories about it. Moreover it has now become evident that the first five years of a person’s life are the most important in the physical brain development. The human body contains a huge number of neurons. It is said that approximately one trillion neurons are required to control the human behavior. Neurons are considered as the basic elements of human behavior because they not only help in achieving our day to day physical activities but they help us to think, move, remember and feel all the emotions. They are just like chip in a computer which is used to transfer information from one part to the other. As it is believed that there is something inside our body which contr ols all the actions. This thing which controls our actions is called Neuron. (Feldman, 2009, p. 114). Neurons are just like other cells of the body. Their body consists of a nucleus which tells that how the cell will perform its functions. Moreover the neurons have the ability of transmitting information to other neurons having long distances.

A Look At Airasia Management Essay

A Look At Airasia Management Essay The transportation service company that we have selected is AirAsia. AirAsias principal activity is to provide air transportation services. Since 2001, AirAsia has broken the travel norms around the globe and become the worlds best airline. AirAsia has gained an award winning and most low-cost airline in Asia. With a fleet of 72 aircraft, AirAsia flies to over 61 domestic and international destinations with 108 routes, and operates over 400 flights daily from centers in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. AirAsia is a very successful low cost carrier. In a very short time, it became a market leader in the Asia region. AirAsias main base is the Low- Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Through the corporate philosophy of Now Everyone Can Fly, AirAsia has become more popular and many people choosing Air Asia as their preferred choice of transport. AirAsia believes in the no-frills, hassle-free, low fare business concept can bring the business to very successful and feels that keeping costs low requires high efficiency in every part of the business. Apart from the principal activity of providing airline transportation service, AirAsia also involved in the courier service which consists of Delivery-to-Door (directly to the specific destination) and Airport-to-Airport two parts. The rates of such services are cheaper than other couriers by up to 50 percent lower price. It guarantees your courier with more value and savings. Customers can easily access to the service by just a few clicks in the AirAsias website. It is very convenient, efficient and cost saving. Besides, customers can easily track their consignment using the Google Maps. AA16a History of AirAsia AirAsia was established in 1993. Before 2001, AirAsia fail to sufficiently stimulate the market and attract enough passengers from Malaysia Airlines in order to establish its own niche market. On 2 December 2001, because of the failure of establishment, the airline was up to sale and purchased by Tony Fernandess company Tune Air Sdn Bhd. Tony Fernandes then enrolled some of the lending low-cost airline experts to restructure AirAsias business model. He invited some experts to join the executive team. In late 2001, AirAsia was re-launched in Malaysia as a trendy, no-frills operation with three B737 aircraft as a low-fare, low-cost domestic airline. In 2003, AirAsia has already become more attractive in its market demand, subsequently opened a second hub at Senai International Airport in Johor Bahru and launched its first international flight to Bangkok. After that, AirAsia started a Thai subsidiary, added Singapore itself to the destination list, and commenced flights to Indonesia. Airasia start to commence airline service in many other countries in the subsequent years. In the year 2006, Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) was established in Kuala Lumpur International Airport which cost the establishment fee of RM108 million which can handle 10 million passengers a year. After that, AirAsia has hedged 100% of its fuel requirements for the next three years, achieves an aircraft turnaround time of 25 minutes, and has a crew productivity level that is triple more than Malaysia Airlines. It achieves an average aircraft utilization rate of 13 hours per day. AirAsia is currently the largest single customer of the Airbus A320. The company has placed an order of 175 units of the same plane to service its routes and at least 50 of these A320 will be operational by 2013. On 27 December 2006, Air Asias CEO Tony Fernandes unveiled a five-year plan to further enhance its presence in Asia. In the plan, AirAsia will strengthen and enhance its route network by connecting all the existing cities in the region and expanding further into Indonesia, Southern China and India. Hence, with increase frequency and addition of new routes, AirAsia expects passenger volume to hit 18 million by the end of 2007. On 27 September 2008, AirAsia has on its list 106 new routes to be added to its current list of 60 over the next few years. The number of old routes discontinued has not been publicly disclosed. On 12 November 2008, AirAsia abolished fuel surcharges. In doing so, it claimed to be the first airline in the world to abolish fuel surcharges. By May 2008, the airline had flown 55 million cumulative passengers. In 2010, it has the worlds lowest costs for an airline, at the rate of below 2 cents per seat per kilometer. AA01a AirAsia SWOT analysis SWOT analysis is the combined analysis which examines the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of one company. It is a very important analysis in a company because it can identify the internal (strength and weakness) and external (opportunities and threats) factor for a company in order to achieve their goals and objectives hence to be low cost carrier company in airline industry. To be successful in the company management, a company needs to consider the companys ability and how to integrate it with internal and external factor. Main purpose of the analysis is to identify the internal and external factor that AirAsia need to consider for low cost carrier in airplane industry. Strengths The primary strength of AirAsia is the low cost leader in Asia. The strength of AirAsia is to maintain low cost; whereby they dont have to provide benefits to their workers, but still can maintain the best quality of their fleet. AirAsia has successfully created a low-cost airline mentality among their workforce. The workforce is very flexible and high committed in making AirAsia the lowest cost airline in Asia. AirAsia reduce its cost by attaining efficiency in every part of the business and maintaining simplicity. Therefore every system process must incorporate the best industry practices. The first thing for the low cost apply is the time concept. Time is money. An airline makes money when the aircraft is flying, not when the aircraft is parked.  In order to maintain low cost, AirAsia must consider of high aircraft utilization (which keep the aircraft flying as much as possible) to minimize the time spending on the ground. Secondly, no frills is the factor to achieve low cost. AirAsia only provide those necessities for their customer and reduce the unnecessary cost to be incurred in the fare of airline. For instance, The Company do not provide free food beverages, free seating, ticketless airline are all the activities excluded in order to achieve a more competitive price by wasting money on insignificant services. On the other hand, streamline operations that allow the process making as simple as possible is the key of a successful low cost carrier. The second strength of AirAsia is the excellent utilization of Information Technology (IT). The Low Cost Carrier (LCC) is expected to expand rapidly by attracting more customers to join the market thus increasing the degree of rivalry within the industry. The excellent utilization of IT have directly contributed to their promotional activities, brand building exercise as well keep the cost low by enabling direct purchase of tickets by consumer thus saving on airline agent fees. AirAsia was recognized for being the first airline in the world to introduce SMS and IVR booking solutions to its guests to expand its booking system. AirAsia widely utilizes the internet as a booking and payment channel has kept them to be the leading airline company in Asia. Its comprehensive website at (www. airasia.com), allows guest to book and pay for seats, check flight schedules, and acquire information about the airline. The website is so popular, that approximately 45% of AirAsias business is done th rough internet sales. AirAsia became the first airline in the world to offer a multi-lingual website that comes in 6 languages English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Tamil, Thai, and now Bahasa Indonesia. This is also one of the advantages of the company as the website is user friendly as well as enabling company to focus on different market segment especially countries in Asia. On the other hand, the management team of AirAsia is also very good in strategy formulation and execution. This is no doubt a crucial strength for Airasia as company strategy is the core element of a business. To be successful in their long terms objective and their business, AirAsia need to identify their strategic management. Company can easily achieve their vision and mission base on the good management. With good management, company is required to be considered of its ability. The ability of the company can be integrated by the SWOT analysis. Airline industry is a unique and complex industry, thus without a good and right management, its possible that AirAsia could not be able to compete with the complex business environment. AirAsia has a strong management team instead of just a general management. The simply general management involved in the major four functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling may not be sufficient to support the whole organization. It is more concern in the management internally but rather creating competitiveness. The strategy that management team of AirAsia have formulated was a combined of several proven strategies by other low cost airlines. The strategies included Ryanairs Operational Strategy which emphasis on no frill and landing in secondary air port is a good starting point for the organisation. Other strategies like Southwests People Strategy focus mainly on employee while Easyjets Branding strategy is an excellent idea by linking the organization with other service providers like hotels, car rental and etc. Weaknesses The second part of the internal factor of SWOT analysis is the weaknesses. The main weakness of AirAsia is that they do not have their own maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility. Why AirAsia need maintenance, repair and overhaul facility? It is because since AirAsia is expanding to a huge company and they have huge number of planes need to be serviced in order to ensure the safety of the customer. The lack of own maintenance teams may lead some problems such as renewing contract, misunderstanding of the contact, lack communication, poor quality and delayed services amongst others. On the other hand, they also may not drive the same standards and mission that drives by AirAsia and there is a risk that the confidentiality may be compromised. Thus, without a proper MRO facility, it will affect the productivity and performance of the company causing a hindrance to the road of success of AirAsia. The second weakness of AirAsia is that AirAsia has received a lot of complaint from customers on their service. For examples, flight delays, being charged for more and not able to change flight or get a refund if customers could not make it. Customers are the main source of income for an enterprise especially when it involves services, it is crucial that Airasia set their priority on customers by having the concept of customer first. To maintain a good customer service is essential when competition is getting intense nowadays. When a customer feel unhappy with the services provided to them, it may distort company brand name besides presenting a negative and undesirable image to not only a single customer but a number of them when they are being acknowledge and influent by negative feedbacks through unsatisfied customer. Therefore it is significant for AirAsia to be serious on considering customer complaints and utilized them to improve their services. After reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of AirAsia, we must also consider the external factor of SWOT analysis which is opportunities and threats of Airasia in market place. Opportunities The opportunity of AirAsia is depend on the ever-increasing oil price. The increase of service cost or production cost is the most undesirable result which will decrease the overall return earning of their company. However, the increasing oil price has become another opportunity for AirAsia instead of bringing threat to the company. It is mainly because AirAsia has been emphasized in the low cost strategy and being a low cost leader, although the extra cost of the increase oil price will bring disadvantages to AirAsia, this effect will not be a huge impact to AirAsia, its cost will still be the lowest among all the regional airlines as other airline company also facing the same problem. Thus, AirAsia has a great opportunity to capture some of the existing customers of full service airline and other low cost airlines customers as well. Thus, this opportunity creates a winning position for Airasia when it is a threat for other airline company. Secondly, the ASEAN Open Skies agreement that has been reached is another opportunity for AirAsia. Open Skies is an international policy concept which calls for the liberalization of rules and regulations on international aviation industry especially commercial aviation. ASEAN Open Skies allow unlimited flights among ASEANs regional air carriers beginning December 2008; it allows AirAsia adding Singapore routes which has proven to be high yielding and is expected to deliver sustained profit. This will definitely increase the competition among the regional airlines. Moreover, AirAsia stands at the gate of profitable opportunities, their recent developments and intended expansions will give them a global exposition. As they venture into internet booking and ticketless services for their marketing processes, they would be opened to electronic commerce business solutions for their enterprise, such as SCM, ERP, and EDI etc. Furthermore, the use of internet services for their services would open more opportunities for AirAsia in the process of solving network, communication, and information related problems that could be inherent in the organization. The population of Asian middle class is reaching almost 700 million by 2010 can also creates a larger market and a huge opportunity for all low cost airlines in this region including AirAsia. You can imagine that more and more people would be willing to travel by air; it would bring advantages to AirAsia, however, as well as other company. Threats AirAsia take advantages of lower landing fees at low cost terminal, which is also without airport lounges charges. They also provide E-ticket rather than printed ticket to customer which is cheaper. However, due to the certain rates like airport departure, security charges and landing charges are beyond the control of airline operators, this is a threat to all airlines especially low cost airlines that tries to keep their cost as low as possible. For example, Changi airport in Singapore charges SGD21 for every person who departs from Singapore. This is an extra cost that is compulsory to pay. Different airport charges differently and this might lead to extra uncertain cost for AirAsia. Another threat would be security of their networks. As mentioned above, Airasia is highly depending on their information technology and information system used. For example online booking, customer information and details kept in system may be risky when the security of the networks is susceptible. This will put the company at risk to bear the enormous loss when the information system is being destroyed. The internet is a public domain and as such it is vulnerable to be attacked by hackers or viruses, AirAsia ought to be conscious of these threats and have proper plans and control to prevent any of these to happen. Owning to the facts that most organization are struggling for survival, major players may enter targeted market segment which is profitable. Alternatively, Market segments growth could attract major competition. This will create another threat for AirAsia. AirAsias profit margin is about 30% and this has also already attracted many competitors. Some of the full service airlines have or planning to create a low cost subsidiary to compete directly with AirAsia. For example, Singapore Airlines has created a low cost carrier such as Tiger Airways which is one of their business strategies to gain market value and compete with low cost airline. Therefore it is vital for Airasia to maintain competitive among the rival by upgrading their services consistently. Users perception that high budget airlines may compromise their safety, thus to keep costs low is another threat to AirAsia. AirAsia must have high-quality planning in order to provide customers first-class airline service by ensuring their safety and comforts with an affordable price. AirAsia needs to aware of the market demands and policies for local territories, because economic slowdown could reduce demand for AirAsia. Local Airlines would have easy access to certain information that could aid them; therefore, AirAsia needs to be on constant market audit, market researches and control to keep up with such competition. In conclusion, Swot analysis is a very effective way of identifying strengths and weaknesses, and of  examining the opportunities and threats one tends to face. Carrying out an analysis using  the SWOT framework helps AirAsia to focus activities into areas where one is strong and where  the greatest opportunities lie. SWOT analysis from AirAsia is one of the major components to strengthen the business and allow them to be able to compete with the competitor by possessing a firm position in low cost carrier airline industry. Porters Five Forces Model Power of suppliers In every business industry, suppliers always exist. Power of the suppliers is important as it will affect the industry. Suppliers supply inputs in order to produce goods or services to the customers. Inputs can be referred to raw materials, services such as expertise, components, and labor which are essential to run the firm or to power up the company. In the airline industry, the suppliers are quite influential since there are only two major suppliers which are Airbus and Boeing. Hence there are not many choices for airline industry. Nevertheless, the global economic crisis has limited the new entrant and also reducing the upgrade of planes in the immediate future.    However, both suppliers provide almost same standard aircrafts and hence the switching to AirAsia is low. Moreover, AirAsia placed a large amount of order from Airbus in order to accommodate the heavy demand from the public on its reasonable flights. AirAsia have no problem acquiring airplane from their supplier, AirBus because AirAsia is mainly an AirBuss airplanes user. Its rival, MAS whereas is mainly a Boeings airplanes user. Power of buyers. Besides the compulsory existence of suppliers, buyers are also necessary in the business industry. This is because they are the prerequisite for the company to keep running. Buyers who are also recognizes as the stakeholders are people who demand goods and services from the firm. This tells us that buyer tends to hold bargaining power and this pressurizes firms. Price changes can be sensitive in the competitive market and the consequence might cause firms to lose or gain in revenue. In our case, buyers demand reasonable and affordable flight price from AirAsia. Years after this airlines been incorporated, it successfully satisfy the buyers bargaining power for flights at a low fare by introducing campaign such as Mind Blowing Fair, New Year Sale, 500,000 Free Seats and the latest with Fabulous Fly-Day. AirAsia is first to introduce ticket-less traveling, are nearly accomplish. In this industry, buyers have no bargaining power on price of fare like those in a morning market. In fact, they are often offered cheap fare flight on limited period such Every Friday, 11am-4pm. AirAsia adopted an information technology (IT) similarly to other airlines which called Yield Management System (YMS). Even though this system has affected the price of fare, but it is able to achieve fairness in business to the customers and the firms. As an example, a reservation done at a later date will be charged more than the one done earlier for the same seat. This is to provide advantage in term of lower price for the customers who had put efforts in buying fares earlier. Moreover, high demanded routes or destination tends to be more expensive compare to destinations which are less active. By doing so, AirAsia would be able to cope with total seats demanded by the customers. If price of fares are the same overall, AirAsia would unable to earn from flights which are less popular. The intensity of competitive rivalry The word intensity means the pressure or amount of forces being applied. Thus, this Porters force talks about how competitive are the firms or companies in the business market. In this competitive market, many firms often fall due to their incapability to cope with competitive pressure from the rivals. Those firms will end up losing more than their cost of input or eventually strive into other markets. In order to survive in a competitive market, firm must not fall into dilemma when it comes to advertising, invest in research and development(RD), innovate new yet efficient product and up to date with latest technology. This is because those efforts by least can provide the firm competitive advantages in the market. In Malaysia, there are only two main airlines companies which are operating and dominating in the countrys market, apart from other foreign airlines company. They are AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines (MAS). Firefly is actually a wholly owned airline by MAS. Both of these airlines have been rivals for at least a decade. Thus, it can be concluded that AirAsia is receiving high intensity of competitive pressure from MAS. MAS have always strived to provide comfortable and reasonable fare flights to compete with AirAsia. However, AirAsia is still capable to resist their pressure by providing customers with cheap fare tickets without losing the quality of their services. The main competitive advantage of AirAsia is low cost in providing services. For example, meals during flight are not provided which can save up the cost to provide foods and in return, reducing the cost of fare. Spaces in AirAsias airplanes are fully utilized so that the airplane is able to load more passengers in a single f light. This enables the company to earn more and making them capable to provide cheaper fare flight. AirAsia through its designated system provide customers a comfortable service in booking the flights through internet and mobile. Customers can surf mobile.airasia.com to book flight using mobile or http://www.airasia.com using the internet. Their systematic online electronic ticket ordering process enables them to even cope with mass booking by the customers during day and night. The diagram explains how the system works and notify why the errors are kept to the minimum. It is a computer reservation system (CRM) powered by Navitaires Open Skies technology that includes Internet, call center, and airport departure control functionality. This system has greatly assist AirAsia in achieving success. Even Tony Fernandes, CEO, AirAsia agrees: Navitaires Open Skies technology has truly enabled AirAsias growth from 2 million passengers to 7.7 million passengers in less than two years. Open Skies scaled easily to accommodate our growth. However, I would strongly declare that even though AirAsia indeed is receiving competitive pressure from MAS but, the market or industry itself is not competitive as both of them have already dominate their respective market segments. Threat of New Entrants Barriers to entry are designed to block the way of potential and new entrants from entering a market profitably and to compete with the existing firms. Capital requirements, economy of scale, product differentiation, government and legal barriers are some of the examples of barriers for a new entrant. New entrants to a business will bring a brand new capacity and a desire to gain market share this will apply pressure on prices, costs, and the rate of investment. There is always an underlying pressure for response and alteration for the existing players in a business when there is a new entrance. The competition in a business will be high if it is easy for other companies to enter to this business. As we know the biggest barrier for a new player to enter any business especially airline industry is the cost of entry. Airline industry is a business that requires huge and large investment. Thus, AirAsia has a low threat of new entrants because the airline industry is so saturated that there is barely space for a newcomer even to squeeze its way in. Cost of buying and leasing aircrafts, safety and security measures, customer service, research and development, high manpower and technologies causes the airline industry to become one of the most expensive industries in the world. In this world of today, every primary activity is carried on by specific information technologies especially for business like airline industry. It is extremely costly for a business to implement these information technologies systems. So, this is another barrier for the new players to enter to certain business. For instance, Advanced Planning and Scheduling System (APS) are significant in aviation business. It is costly for a company to implement this system but without implementing and employing the system, no airline as well as AirAsia can run their business smoothly. Air Asia requires APS system to maintain their customers loyalty because APS system is competent in optimizing operational planning and scheduling which enable Air Asia to create new source of cost advantages. As a result, this shows that Air Asia has a high threat of new entrants since those systems are costly to implement. Brand name of existing airlines and frequent fliers point are other barriers to entry. It is really difficult to decoy consumers out of their existing favorite brands. Somehow, an airline with a strong recognition can maintains old customers and lures new customers even though its prices are higher. How does Air Asia do it? Information Technologies (IT) is one of the major that enables Air Asia to offer their customers in lowest possible prices. All airlines industry competes on costs. To maintain and to improve in the current market position as well as new market, AirAsia has implemented the Low Cost Carrier System (LCC) in order to continuously searching for cost advantages. AirAsia has successfully positioned their simple but strong slogan Now Everyone Can Fly in their customers mind by offering lowest possible prices. Lowest possible prices lead to increase in their profit. Its net profit for the second quarter ending 31 December 2004 was reported RM44.4 million, a 322% increase over the previous quarter (AirAsia, 2005). This again shows AirAsia has a high threat for new entrants to enter. Threat of New Substitute Threat of new substitute means the availability of a product that the customer can purchased rather than the industrys product. In other words, substitute product is an alternative of products that offers by other firms that have similar benefits or functions. Profitability of an industry will be affected by the availability of substitutes because customers have the choice to choose. A number of factors such as consumer switching costs, prices and quality of substitute products will determine the presence of threat in this aspect. For local airlines, the threat of substitutes face by AirAsia might be a bit higher than international carriers. Substitutes for air travel to the desired location in a local country include train, car or bus yet time, money, personal preferences and convenience will determining ones decision. Although airlines travel maybe a slightly expensive than by bus or car, the time taken is much faster. Since AirAsia has implemented Low Cost Carrier System which can offers customers in lowest possible price has lead to most of the customers switch to AirAsia as the switching costs is low. AirAsia faced a low threat substitutes for international carriers since there is a low threat of new entrants. Besides, most of the customers choose to travel by air since traveling through air save times. However, in the worldwide market, AirAsia still needs to compete with many existing players such as Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines. Nevertheless, AirAsia builds and maintains its competitive advantage by offering services at a price that is basically lesser than competitors prices. Above and beyond AirAsia has become the first airline that executed ticketless travelling among its competitors by using computer reservations system. Computer reservation system is a programmed and computerized system that used to store and retrieves information and perform transaction associated to air travel. This assisted AirAsia to perform operation effectively and efficiently. ERP, SCM, CRM In todays globalize economy, information technology (IT) has driven fundamental changes in the nature and application of technology in business. Cross-functional system is the third era of information system, coming after calculation system and functional system. What exactly is the purpose of the system? What benefits will organizations obtain after implementing the system? These questions are so frequently asked that some companies even gave up on executing the cross-functional system as it involves coordinating activities across multiple departments and require workers to comprehensively change the way they used to work. However, cross-functional system will be extremely beneficial if it is applied in the correct manner. A successful application of cross-functional systems is dependent on two factors, people issues and technological issues. People issues include corporate culture, work units and individual decision makers. The important factor in corporate cultures and work units is no doubt cooperation, only by working together managers are able to share information through the system. For efficient decision making, useless or incorrect information in cross-functional systems must also be prevented. Technological issues on the other hand, include information system (IS) elements. Management must compare the advantages of using information system elements such as inputs, processors and outputs with the costs involved. There are plenty of examples regarding cross-functional system, but Supply Chain Management (SCM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) are the 3 types of enterprise system going to be discussed. Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the current trend in most of the organization, where SCM is define as a set of synchronized decisions and activities utilized to efficiently integrate suppliers, warehouses, transporters, retailers, and customers so that the right product or services is distributed at the right quantities, to the right location and at the right time in order to satisfy customers high demand and minimize any unnecessary cost occurred. SCM core objective is to improve customer service by eliminating waste from the system in all types of form including wasted time. Being able to eliminated wasted time allows the coordination of business processes to be speeded up. Commonly, supply chain contains three flows that organizations need to take into account. First is the material flow, where all physical products including the end-products, raw material and so forth flow along the chain. Information flow consist of all types of data including demand, supply shipment, orders and all sort of information that are required in the supply chain. Lastly is financial flow, involving all transfer of money, payment and credit related data which is vital in the supply chain. On the other hand, a companys supply chain is complicated because it might involve hundreds and even tho

A Walk towards Conservation: Waste will Never be the Answer :: Essays Papers

A Walk towards Conservation: Waste will Never be the Answer It was a hot summer Sunday morning, a little less than twelve years ago, when my family walked (though my sisters and I did this begrudgingly) home from church. When we finally reached our house, not but a mere five blocks away, we each had one thought on our minds, breakfast. While one of us emptied the dishwasher, and another began to set the table, the other would help my mom prepare the eggs. And as this almost habitual process unraveled, a large aluminum bowl, not far from the stove, would begin to fill with the remains and peels of uncooked fruits and vegetables, egg shells, and coffee grinds. And so this was the one last culminating and thoughtless chore. One lucky daughter had the fortunate honor of delivering the remnants of that aluminum bowl to the large, beautiful, and unidentifiable mound of composting materials in the backyard. And through the practicing of such behaviors as the recycling of such waste, being trained not to hold open the refrigerator door in such a sloth-like manner, and learning to turn off the lights, I suppose I have always cared for the environment. At a very young age I learned to recognize that even egg shells can be used for cultivating gardens and that waste is bad. I have my Birkenstocks, and listen to activism laden music, and debate global environmental issues with my wonderfully (and I don’t say this sarcastically) conservative roommate. But do I honestly actually do anything for the environment? Not really, which is what prompted me to intentionally use higher education as an opportunity to seek information, on the so called â€Å"environmental problems,† that ominously hover over our society. First semester, freshman year, I took EGEE 102, Energy Conservation for Environmental Protection. Under the sincere guidance of Professor Sarma Pisupati, I learned about methods of conserving energy through the use of energy efficient devices and appliances in the home (ranging anywhere from efficient lighting to my favorite, geothermal heat pumps, a wondrous source of clean and free energy). I learned that the production of energy through means of burning coal and oil release such greenhouse gasses as carbon dioxide.

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan: The Great Teacher Essay

5 September is celebrated as TEACHER’S DAY in India. Different countries celebrate the ocassion on different dates like 11 September in Argentina, 15 October in Brazil as Teacher Appreciation Day etc. UNESCO recognises October 5 as World Teacher’s Day. Teacher’s day is a day to honour our teachers and thank them for all that they have done for us in our educational lives. Specially 5 September is the birth day of India’s 2nd President as well as great philosopher cum teacher Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. One of India’s most influential scholars of comparative religion and philosophy, Radhakrishnan built a bridge between the East and the West by showing how the philosophical systems of each tradition are comprehensible within the terms of the other. He wrote authoritative exegeses of India’s religious and philosophical literature for the English-speaking world. His academic appointments included the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Scie nce at the University of Calcutta (1921–1932) and Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at Oxford University (1936–1952). Radhakrishnan was awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, in 1954. Among the many other honors he received were the British Knight Bachelor in 1931 and the commonwealth Order of Merit (1963), but ceased to use the title â€Å"Sir† after India attained independence. His birthday is celebrated in India as Teachers’ Day on 5 September. He was also awarded the Templeton Prize in 1975 in recognition of the fact that â€Å"his accessible writings underscored his country’s religious heritage and sought to convey a universal reality of God that embraced love and wisdom for all people†. In April 1909, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was appointed to the Department of Philosophy at the Madras Presidency College. Thereafter, in 1918, he was selected as Professor of Philosophy by the University of Mysore, where he taught at its Maharaja’s College, Mysore. By that time he had written many articles for journals of repute like The Quest, Journal of Philosophy and the International Journal of Ethics. He also completed his first book, The Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore. He believed Tagore’s philosophy to be the â€Å"genuine manifestation of the Indian spirit†. His second book, The Reign of Religion in Contemporary Philosophy was published in 1920. In 1921 he was appointed as a professor in philosophy to occupy the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta. He represented the University of Calcutta at the Congress of the Universities of the British Empire in June 1926 and the  International Congress of Philosophy at Harvard University in September 1926. Another important academic event during this period was the invitation to deliver the Hibbert Lecture on the ideals of life which he delivered at Harris Manchester College, Oxford in 1929 and which was subsequently published in book form as An Idealist View of Life. In 1929 Radhakrishnan was invited to take the post vacated by Principal J. Estlin Carpenter at Harris Manchester College. This gave him the opportunity to lecture to the students of the University of Oxford on Comparative Religion. For his services to education he was knighted by George V in the June 1931 Birthday Honours, and formally invested with his honour by the Governor-General of India, the Earl of Willingdon, in April 1932. However, he ceased to use the title after Indian independence, preferring instead his academic title of ‘Doctor’. He was the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University from 1931 to 1936. In 1936 Radhakrishnan was named Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at the University of Oxford, and was elected a Fellow of All Souls College. In 1939 Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya invited him to succeed him as the Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU). He served as its Vice-Chancellor till January 1948. When India became independent in 1947, Radhakrishnan represented India at UNESCO (1946–52) and was later Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union, from 1949 to 1952. He was also elected to the Constituent Assembly of India. Radhakrishnan was elected as the first Vice President of India in 1952. He was elected as the second President of India (1962–1967). When he became President, some of his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, 5 September. He replied, â€Å"Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5 September is observed as Teachers’ Day.† Since the time we have been civilised education has become part of our life and after the parents in home our teachers in school ,colleges take care of us. They are emotionally attached to us. It is our prime duty to obey them with great gratitude. Not only one day in a year; but also in each moment we should behave gently and respect our teachers. Teachers also should follow the ideals of great teacher Radhakrishnan. A good teacher is one who is always ready to share his knowledge to his disciple with love and like a frie nd.

Who Made the Mistake

NAME: ZEENAT AMEEN MOHAMMED ID NO: 7401 COURSE NAME: CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION TOPIC: WHO MADE A SERIOUS MISTAKE? LECTURER: DR. SHARON CASE STUDY: WHO MADE A SERIOUS MISTAKE? 3. 1IDENTIFYING THE FACTS OF THE CASE: The facts of the case are: * Jean safari was investigating a serious error made by a Japanese worker at the Japanese subsidiary of a US multinational. * A component had been inserted upside down, and the entire batch has been pulled out of production to be reworked. * The cost of repairing is on the high side. * The director claimed not to know who was responsible for the damage. The group did not tell him the specific woman involved. * The whole group has accepted responsibility of the event. * The woman concerned tried to resign from work but her coworkers coax her back again, the groups is aware that she is new and they did not help her enough or look out for her or see that she was properly trained. * The entire group decided to take responsibility and apologize to j ean. 3. 2 STATING THE PROBLEM The problem in this case is that Jean needs to find the culprit who fixed the component upside down. 3. 3 SETTING THE OBJECTIVESThe objectives of this case are to find out the culprit and for the culprit to be punished in order to avoid future reputation of the same event. 3. 4 IDENTIFYING THE AREAS OF CONSIDERATION IN THIS CASE The problem in this case is that jean wants to know the culprit in order for her to punish the person involved to avoid any similar case in the future, but the plant manager regards this as not important if the culprit has realized her mistake, but on the other hand, Jean Safari thinks its important for her to find out the person, and take an action against her.Jean Safari is a UNIVERSALIST and believes in INDIVIDUALISM also meaning she is concerned about the rules of the firm and the person involved should be punished individually, but the plant manager and the remaining workers are PARTICULARIST and they believe in COMMUNATALI SM, they believe in the relationship they have with one another and they work as a group which makes them COMMUNTALIST in nature.UNIVERSALIST: In Universalist culture, the rules apply equally to the whole †universe† of members, regardless of relationships General rules, codes, values and standards †What is good and right can be defined and always applied† In a Universal society such as the U. S. , rules and contracts are developed which can apply in any situation. There is a belief that what is good or true can be discovered, defined, and applied to every situation.Because of their Universalist approach, in a business situation Americans will want to rely on a contract to communicate the terms of an agreement and to define the relationship between the parties. PARTICULARISM: Particularism is based on logic of the heart and human friendship. China is a particularistic culture where people look at relationships and circumstances in a specific situation to decid e what is right. For the Chinese, the legal contract communicates a starting point for an agreement. As circumstances change so too should the terms of the agreement.For the Chinese, the situation and the particular individuals involved are what define relationship. INDIVIDUALISM: Individualism is a theory maintaining the political and economic independence of the individual and stressing individual initiative, action, and interests also conduct or practice guided by such a theory. Individualism places great value on self-reliance, on privacy, and on mutual respect. Negatively, it embraces opposition to authority and to all manner of controls over the individual, especially when exercised by the state.As a theory of human nature, individualism holds that the interests of the normal adult are best served by allowing him maximum freedom and responsibility for choosing his objectives and the means for obtaining them. COMMUNATALISM: Communitarianism is an ideology that emphasizes the co nnection between the individual and the community. That community may be the family unit, but it can also be understood in a far wider sense of personal interaction, of geographical location, or of shared history. 3. 5 PROPOSING THREE ALTERNATIVE COURSE OF ACTIONS ST ALTERNATIVE: The first alternative would be to use PUNISHMENT (SUSPENSION) because if the culprit is being suspended from work he would not be paid for those days that he wont be around because it would be considered he is not working for the main time he would not be around this would help in disciplining of other workers in the organization and it would avoid further mistakes and lack of concentration and new employees would be watched thoroughly and all the existing workers would help the new ones and get them on track to do the new job. nd ALTERNATIVE: The second alternative could be CONSIDERATION, the culprit could be considered so as to allow the worker with the impression he would not repeat the same mistake agai n.The advantage of this is the worker would be happy to work in the firm knowing that the firm considered him and this also would motivate him/her and other coworkers but also consideration might also have a negative effect, if the workers know that they are always considered when they make a mistake every worker would make a mistake and would expect to be considered employees will develop a sense of rebellion in response to punishment rather than seeing it as a deterrent to a particular activity. rd ALTERNATIVE: The third alternative should be WARNING a culprit could be seriously warned not to attempt doing such offence again and if he repeats it a serious action would be taken against him/her I this way the culprits and the other co workers would be very careful in their dealings in the firm, the disadvantage of this might be, some workers would not adhere to the rules and regulations of the firm knowing that the highest thing that can happen would be a warning letter. 3. 6 CHOOSI NG AND RECOMMENDING THE BEST SOLUTIONThe best solution to this case is WARNING and SUSPENSION because if the culprit is warned she would not repeat such offence again in future since it would be clearly stated that if the offence is done again a serious action would be taken, if the culprit is punished this would make other workers scared and some might even leave the organization which would be at the risk of the organization in general, and also if the worker is suspended this would bring a huge difference in the attitude of workers in the organization since they know that a serious action would be taken against them therefore they would be more careful when they are doing the job.BIBLIOGRAPHY bukchin, m. (2012, october 25). http://www. via-web. de/universalism-versus-particularism/. Retrieved march 22, 2013, from http://www. via-web. de/universalism-versus-particularism/: http://www. via-web. de/universalism-versus-particularism/ media, d. (2012, september 5). http://www. meez. c om/community. dm? furl=http%3A//forums. meez. com/forums/serious-topics/6221608-individualism-vs-communalism. html. Retrieved march 22, 2013, from http://www. meez. com/community. dm? furl=http%3A//forums. meez. com/forums/serious-topics/6221608-individualism-vs-communalism. html: http://www. meez. com/community. dm? furl=http%3A//forums. meez. om/forums/serious-topics/6221608-individualism-vs-communalism. html mitchel, c. (2011, august 6). http://www. theaustralian. com. au/national-affairs/opinion/individualism-versus-communalism/story-e6frgd0x-1226109346928. Retrieved march 22, 2013, from http://www. theaustralian. com. au/national-affairs/opinion/individualism-versus-communalism/story-e6frgd0x-1226109346928: http://www. theaustralian. com. au/national-affairs/opinion/individualism-versus-communalism/story-e6frgd0x-1226109346928 webstar, m. (2013, february 3). http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/particularism. Retrieved march 22, 2013, from http://www. merriam-webster. co m/dictionary/particularism:

A Study On Zero Tolerance Policy Social Policy Essays

A Study On Zero Tolerance Policy Social Policy Essays A Study On Zero Tolerance Policy Social Policy Essay A Study On Zero Tolerance Policy Social Policy Essay Essay Topic: 6th Grade 7th Grade There are 100s if non 1000s of pupils in any given school. The sheer size and magnitude of the pupil population encompassed in these schools leads to complications of school safety. Zero tolerance is a policy which was brought about implementing school safety more steadfastly, and aimed to better protect pupils. However, the manner in which these pupils are protected is extremely problematic, doing the zero tolerance political orientation really controversial. Precisely which attack is most effectual in protecting a pupil, allow entirely, 1000s? Is strictness more effectual than lenience? Excessively rigorous policies aim to protect the bulk, nevertheless, independently punish those who have to cover with the wrath of nothing tolerance, those who violate the regulations. Excessively indulgent policies can take to awful events, nevertheless, give pupils a sense of ground, in bend making an apprehension of what they have done incorrect. In the long tally which method is most effectual in protecting pupils? These type of inquiries, along with the extra sum of questionable instances, compose a extremely controversial subject. The well being of a pupil is the individual most of import factor for public schools. No parent would of all time direct their kid to school if there was a high chance of force. For this ground there are people who favor zero tolerance. Domoine D. Rutledge, general advocate for the East Baton Rouge Parish School System in Louisiana, reports that zero tolerance policies have aided in making a civilization interior schools that certain things will non be tolerated, period. However, whether or non that policy is effectual relies on how reasonably it s enforced and how systematically it s enforced. He continues stating that: Schools territories have had to truly equilibrate the involvement of the whole school, the pupil organic structure, instructors and module. . . every bit good as the rights of single bad histrions. The ability to strike that balance, and to make it reasonably, more than likely influences the effectivity of the zero-tolerance policies. Whether or non zero tolerance is effectual brings about more argumentative stuff. Statistical informations studies a important bead in school homicides following the 1999 school hiting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado strongly proposing, as Rutledge advocators, nothing tolerance has in fact led to safer schools for pupils. ( nces.ed.gov ) Kay S. Hymowitz, a contributing editor for a magazine published by the conservative Manhattan Institute, stated that, The apprehension of a brace of New Jersey 8-year-olds for indicating paper guns at schoolmates was merely the sort of episode that leads people to oppugn zero-tolerance policies. ( Bill itteri ) Statements such as those insinuate a footing of anti-zero tolerance and farther complicate the contention. However it must be noted that, It s non so easy to separate the cut-up from the wild-eyed stripling with a [ lethal ] program when lives are at interest, Hymowitz says. ( Billitteri ) How is one supposed to cognize the purposes of a giving state of affairs? While the general consensus will no doubtingly hold that a brace of 8-year-olds pose small to no menace, on the little opportunity of an event occurring, the inquiries of why were nt they stopped or how could you presume will undeniably be asked, and in this sense, it is without a uncertainty better to presume the ugly and stop up being incorrect, than to presume no injury and stop up with fatal effects . Hymowitz continues, saying that, Zero tolerance may be more symptom than remedy for the uneasy disciplinary clime of our schools. Certainly it s no concluding reply to out-of-control 5-year-olds or revenge- crazed adolescents. But as the menaces continue and the bombs and guns appear, it s all we ve got. ( Billitteri ) Bringing back the subject of effectivity, those with the get-tough attitude informant no cogent evidence of zero tolerance policies making a safer environment in schools. In fact, a decennary of research on such policies by the American Psychological Association have concluded that zero tolerance can really increase bad behaviour and besides lead to higher dropout rates. Schools are non any safer or more effectual in training kids than before these zero-tolerance policies were implemented, the association said. ( APA ) There is much argument environing zero tolerance, nevertheless, the existent jobs arise when nothing tolerance is set in gesture. The inquiry at manus to those who oppose zero tolerance falls into the legitimacy and equity of penalty. In Newark, Delaware a 6 twelvemonth old male child took a encampment utensil which can be used as a knife, fork and spoon to school. Naturally anyone can safely presume there is no injury, nevertheless, Zachary Christie received 45 yearss in the territory s reform school. ( Urbina ) In this instance, the well being of the pupils environing Christie is thrown out of the window and it comes down to its consistence in being enforced. The male child clearly had no purpose in doing injury, nevertheless, was treated as if he was. The lone ground he was apprehended as a felon was to put an illustration. Those who think to convey anything similar to school, be it a fork, a knife, or gun, will believe back to Christie and decided non to. While this incident might look like one of a sort, unluckily, it is far from that. Zachary Christie is non entirely, there are smatterings of instances wh ich bring approximately much contention over zero tolerance. During October of 1999 in Atlanta, Georgia a 15 twelvemonth old South Cobb High School sophomore brought an unloaded gun to school. When school functionaries found the gun in his back pack he was instantly and for good expelled from the school territory. ( Skiba 3 ) A 6th grader at Whitman Middle School in Seattle, Washington brought a pip-squeak gun, painted black and brown to school during September of 1999. He was expelled after the gun fell out of his book bag during tiffin. ( Skiba 4 ) David Silverstein, a 7th grader in Glendale, Arizona, motivated by the movie October Sky, brought a homemade projectile to school made out of a murphy bit case shot. Considered a arm, school functionaries suspended him upon reaching. ( Skiba 4 ) During May of 1999 in Pensacola, Florida a sophomore received a 10 twenty-four hours suspension and was threatened with ejection after lending her nail limiters to a friend temporarily. Quoted f rom the principal, Life goes on. You learn from your errors. We are urging ejection. ( Skiba 4 ) On the forenoon of a late June twenty-four hours in 1998 two high school seniors in Pinellas County, Florida arrived to school and were instantly expelled. School functionaries were tipped off that the male childs had skipped school and smoked marihuanas with some friends. A federal entreaties tribunal ruled against the territory, saying that the school had non even a shred of grounds that the two male childs were under the influence at school. ( Skiba 5 ) In February of 1999 in Ewing, New Jersey a fresher was accused of taking drugs and was asked to see the school nurse to look into his pulsation and blood force per unit area. His leery behaviour which forced this drug screen upon him was because he dozed off in his societal surveies category. The chief instantly suspended him after he refused to subject to a drug trial. Finally the male child was forced into taking a drug trial as the rule declined to readmit him until he had done so. ( Skiba 5 ) A sophomore at Westlake High School in February of 1999 was suspended for two full school hebdomads after he announced his Gallic instructor was non fluid in the linguistic communication during the school s forenoon proclamations. School functionaries considered the remark as a verbal onslaught against the instructor in an effort to warrant their actions. ( Skiba 6 ) These instances do nil but illustrate the negative facets of zero tolerance. However, one can see the statement for nothing tolerance as any farther actions were eliminated before they could happen. Even though, at what point are schools directing the incorrect message, and finally, when will this incorrect message be more damaging to pupils? Another subject of treatment is the message nothing tolerance sends to the pupils. Should the penalty fit the offense? Those in favour of zero tolerance tend to believe the lone manner to clear up right from incorrect is to purely implement school policies, and systematically implement them. While this without a uncertainty protects the pupils from possible menaces, at the same clip one can oppugn whether or non this besides sends a negative message. Punishing a pupil for a junior-grade error with sedate effects instills fear among the pupil population and scares them into conformance. This is non a message pupils should be having. Treating those like Zachary Christie, to utilize as an illustration, can negatively impact their mental wellness. It s much more hard for Christie to state right from incorrect, and in his head, he has non done anything incorrect, yet still received penalty. To Christie he got punished for nil, which will impact his psychological well-being unconstructivel y. How will he larn from his error and how will he look at other things in life now that he has been independently punished for such a little and guiltless act? He is 6 old ages old, he does non necessitate to travel through this. Another negative facet of nothing tolerance is that it hinders instruction. Students unnecessarily miss school to function their penalty which besides leads to future jobs. Julia Steiny, a former member of the Providence School Board, reported that a child [ pupil ] who s been suspended is statistically at high hazard of dropping out of school. ( Steiny ) Supporting zero tolerance, Kay S. Hymowitz, a contributing editor for a magazine published by the conservative Manhattan Institute, wrote that It s non so easy to separate the cut-up from the wild-eyed stripling with a [ lethal ] program when lives are at interest. ( Billitteri ) To school functionaries, the premise of swearing a pupil who has made a error, or is jesting about, is a much greater hazar d. One can non truly cognize the purposes of a given state of affairs, merely can one presume what is traveling on. To those who are pro-zero tolerance, safety comes foremost, no affair how complete. Zero tolerance is a really challenging subject merely because of the complexness behind it. Those in favour brand improbably obliging and persuasive statements. However on the impudent side, those who are against it do merely as valid statements. I believe there is excessively much information out at that place to be able to claim being on one utmost terminal of the spectrum, whether it s for or against zero tolerance. While to some extent zero tolerance is effectual, after traveling through the plethora sum of research, I finally believe zero tolerance is a hinderance and a negative facet on school safety. Not ended, but rethought I believe zero tolerance demands to travel through. While the nucleus thought behind it, safety for every pupil, sounds great on paper, in pattern, it has evidently failed. While there are non many, there are still several instances where little Acts of the Apostless have led to obscene penalties, wholly blown out of proportion. Another negative facet of n othing tolerance is that it sends the incorrect message to pupils. For these grounds, zero tolerance demands to stop in public schools, and needs to be rethought. Plants Cited American Psychological Association. Zero Tolerance Policies Are Not Equally Effective As Thought In Reducing Violence and Promoting Learning In School. APA Press Release. 9 Aug. 2006. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. A ; lt ; www.apa.org/releases/zerotolerance.html gt ; . Billitteri, Thomas J. Discipline in Schools. CQ Press Electronic Library. 15 Feb. 2008. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. A ; lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php? id=cqresrre2008021500 gt ; . Hymowitz, Kay S. Zero Tolerance Is Schools First Line of Defense. Manhattan Institute. Newsday, 18 Apr. 2001. Web. 10 Dec. 2009. A ; lt ; www.manhattan-institute.org gt ; . Indexs of School Crime and Safety: 2007 Executive Summary. National Center for Education Statistics ( NCES ) Home Page, a portion of the U.S. Department of Education. Dec. 2007. Web. 11 Dec. 2009. A ; lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //nces.ed.gov/programs/crimeindicators/crimeindicators2007/ gt ; . Steiny, Julia. Julia Steiny: Zero-tolerance policies in schools need to stop. Rhode Island, Providence, intelligence, athleticss, amusement, ads | The Providence Journal. 31 Mar. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. A ; lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.projo.com/opinion/columnists/content/edwatch_0531_05-31-09_HOEGMRG_v7.29f5eaa.html gt ; . Trump, Ken. Zero Tolerance and School Safety. School Safety and School Security Experts: National School Safety and Security Services. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. A ; lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.schoolsecurity.org/trends/zero_tolerance.html gt ; . Skiba, Russell J. Zero Tolerance, Zero Evidence. Rep. Indiana University: Indiana Education Policy Center, 2009. Urbina, Ian. It s a Fork, It s a Spoon, It s a Weapon? The New York Times Interrupting News, World News A ; Multimedia. 11 Oct. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. A ; lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/education/12discipline.html gt ; .

Adolecent Behavior In The School Environment Essays - Free Essays

Adolecent Behavior In The School Environment Essays - Free Essays Adolecent Behavior In The School Environment George Fischer Middle School is a large school and has students attending from six Putnam County towns and two Dutchess County towns. On the average, the graduating class has close to 500 students and the typical class has 32 students attending. The school has two cafeterias in order to accommodate it's large student population, one cafeteria to provide for fifth and sixth graders, and another for seventh and eighth graders. Interesting enough, the different classes do not attend lunch together, in other words, seventh and eighth graders do not attend lunch together nor fifth and sixth graders. Again I assume this is strictly do to the large population of this school. I entered the school at the start of the day, I considered this to be to my advantage, therefor not standing out so much among the huddles of people gathered outside the school building. It can be said that the students appearances varied somewhat, but a whole it remained within a certain unspoken code. The girls wore their hair long-shoulder length or longer, and had it tied back in a pony-tail or very straight. Some were in skirts (slightly above knee level)-all were either corduroy or floral material. Most of the girls though were in jeans and hip length sweaters and wore tennis-sneakers or the clunky type shoes which are all the fashion now. All the girls I saw wore earrings, mostly the small dangling type and often they had two holes pierced. Most of the girls wore make-up, mostly lipstick and eye-shadow, although it was not excessive. The boys all seemed to be in clothes that were least five sizes too big. It consisted primarily of one of these two clothing options: extra-large sweater overlapping a thermal-type shirt, with jeans that were just short of slipping to the ground or extra-large flannel overlapping a thermal-type shirt, with jeans that were just short of slipping to the ground. A close second to this dressing trend for boys was the sweater and jeans/sweater and khakis style, although nowhere near as prominent. Nearly all of the boys wore their hair short, most frequently with the back cut close to the nape of the neck and the top gelled. Some had earrings (both hoop and stud types were observed) and many wore neclaces-either choker chain or hemp styles. All of the boys seemed to be wearing sneakers of endless varieties, and most in the one-hundred dollar range. Aside from these primary gender fashions, there were those who differed. A few of the girls had short hair, a few of the boys grew the top of their hair long. Some of the kids were in clothing that seemed out-dated in comparison to their piers, and even had the appearance of being passe d down from an older sibling. For example, not being in this seasons color or style. There were also those students, primarily boys, that were in football or basketball jerseys or jackets that sported the schools name or mascott. I did note a few girls wearing a football jacket, incidentally with boys names on the front. It was easy to note from these observations that generally, clothing was an outward indicator to distinguish among the various social groups. The clothing the students wore was an immediate indication to various social groups, being that it is a visual observation. It can be said that this is a common factor even in the adult world, but not once did I note a poorly dressed student socializing with a student that was in an athletic jacket or a student that was fashion-forward. It was during the lunch period that I figured I could make distinctions among social groups most accurately At first entering the cafeteria, it was much as I remembered, even much like college. The volume was high and immediately I noticed the groups forming, again this is something which does extend into the later teens, and even into adulthood, but here I was observing a much more rigid standard. There didn't appear to be any casual socializing among different groups (except in one situation which I will mention). The first group I noticed was the jock group, I most likely noted