The Quiet American essays

The Quiet American essays In Graham Greene's The Quiet American, Greene uses the characters Thomas Fowler and Alden Pyle to represent a greater picture. In the interactions among these characters, he is simplifying the situation in Vietnam into a personal model to be viewed. Graham Greene developed the attitudes and personalities of his characters almost to be a condensed legend of the countries they represented. In their actions, and opinions formed on them by others, was a reflection of the general feeling overall in Vietnam. Alden Pyle is the title quiet American sent to Vietnam with orders. Seemingly he is quiet because he is the innocent, neutral party coming to aid by selling plastic. He has a good reputation, and is very curt and proper. Naive is best to superficially describe his demeanor; he is only trying to help. But ignorance is probably better to this character for he does not realize the destruction he is causing and does not realize that he is more meddlesome than helpful. And that is exactly what Graham Greene is trying to portray this character's representation of the United States. Pyle as an individual reflects America as a whole as they were seen as ignorantly trying to interfere in Vietnam, being neutral. But actually harming in trying to help Pyle as a character and as the symbol of his country was portrayed of promising the Vietnamese things, trying to forge for them a new life they did not need nor understand. This is seen with his relationship with Phuong as he woos her away from Thomas Fowler with promises of skyscrapers and the Statue of Liberty. Phuong, can be seen as the innocent country Vietnam whose promising lands pose the stage for a war between the politics of greedier forces. Phuong and the majority of Vietnam, the peasants, know nothing but their simple existence. They farm their rice paddies; they sustain themselves- that is all they know. No matter who wins the war, how will it affect most ...

Teamwork Icebreaker Games and Excercises

Teamwork Icebreaker Games and Excercises Icebreakers are exercises that are designed to facilitate interactions. They are often used at meetings, workshops, classrooms, or other group functions to introduce people who dont know each other, spark conversations among people who dont typically converse or help people learn  how to work together. Icebreakers are usually formatted as a game or exercise so that everyone can relax and fun. Some icebreakers also have a competitive element.   Why Icebreakers Help With Team Building Icebreakers games and exercises can help with team building when they require everyone in the group to work together to accomplish a specific task or goal. For example, the group may have to work together to conceptualize and implement a strategy to achieve the task. This sort of teamwork can improve communication among group members and may even help to energize and motivate a team.   Every Team Needs a Leader Icebreakers can also break down barriers among participants who are at different places in the chain of command in an organization - such as a supervisor and the people they supervise. People who normally dont take the lead on a team may have an opportunity to do so during an icebreaker game. This is empowering for many people and may help to identify people in the group with leadership capability and potential.   Teamwork Icebreaker Games The  icebreaker games shown below can be used for both large and small groups. If you have a relatively large group, you may want to consider splitting the attendants into several smaller groups. Although each game is different, they all have a common goal: get the group to complete a task within a specific amount of time. If you have more than one group, you can add a competition element to the game by seeing which team can complete an assigned task the fastest. Sample tasks to try: Build a house of cards using 10 cards.Form a line according to height (tallest to shortest or shortest to tallest).Think up and write down 20 words that start with the letter T.Create and write down 5 questions that have the same answer. After the icebreaker game ends, ask the teams to describe the strategy they used to work together and accomplish the task. Discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of the strategy. This will help all of the group members learn from each other. As you play more and more icebreaker games, you will notice that the group tries to hone their strategies to improve from one game to the next.   More Icebreaker Games for Teams A couple of  other icebreaker games that you might want to try to encourage teamwork and team building include: Team Building Puzzler - This game encourages multiple teams to compete against each other in a puzzle building competition.The Ball Game - This classic group icebreaker is a great way to help people in small or large groups build trust and get to know each other better.

Just War Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Just War Theory - Essay Example However, two problems arise when trying to justify the use of JWT in shaping the United States and allies’ strategies in Afghanistan, where it is fighting an untraditional enemy that does not share the same kind of ethical ideals. The first problem arises from the thought of each of two sides in the nontraditional war as moral agents, when one has clearly rejected the moral code the other follows. Since a moral code sets the ethical guidelines governing a community, when one party does not accept the moral code, the one that does accept the code is not obligated to follow that code. For instance, it is generally accepted that killing an animal that is known to be dangerous is ethical, insofar as doing so protects other members of the moral community from being harmed. Similarly, if a nontraditional army does not accept these rules of conduct, like the animal, it is well within the moral right of the traditional one to ensure its enemy does not harm another member of the moral community. From this assumption that militaries are moral agents, and the fact that moral codes provide the ethical guidelines for the community, an entity that does not accept the moral code is not obligated to ethical treatment accordi ng to this code. A war is nothing more than murder of other human beings; but instead of being punishable murder, it is sanctioned by states. JTW theory proposes the means by which one can create a more ethical war, but it does not address the issue of whether war itself is ethical. This relatively conservative answer to whether JTW applies to a nontraditional war is supplemented by a second problem, which is tangentially addressed in â€Å"The Call to Arms†1. This issue has to deal with the source of JTW moral prescriptions, and whether a nontraditional fighting force like that seen in Afghanistan is to be dealt with ethical principles based on notions like â€Å"Christian love† or within the tradition

Conflict within an Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Conflict within an Organization - Essay Example Inside and outside stakeholders, such as employees, management, and shareholders, however, competes over their share of the rewards and resources that the organization generates. To grow, change, and survive, an organization must manage both cooperation and competition among stakeholders (Gasparino & Raghavan, 2001; March, 1962). Organizational conflict is the clash that occurs when the goal-directed behavior of one group blocks or thwarts the goals of another. Conflict can be beneficial because it can overcome organizational inertia and lead to organizational learning and change (Coser, 1956; Robbins, 1974). When conflict within an organization or conflict between an organization and elements in its environment arises, the organization and its managers must reevaluate their view of the world. Conflict between different managers or between different stakeholder groups can improve decision-making and organizational learning by revealing new ways of looking at a problem or the false or erroneous assumptions that distort decision-making. For example, conflict at AT&T between the board of directors and top managers about the slow pace at which top managers were restructuring the company caused a radical change in managerial attitudes (Hymowitz, 2001; Bernstein et al, 2000). A new top-management team was appointed to increase the pace of change and to overcome AT&T's conservative approach. Similarly, conflict between divisional managers at IBM resulted in a major change in organizational focus, from a purely mainframe focus to a more consulting-oriented focus (Nugent, 2002). Beyond a certain point, however, conflict stops being a force for good and becomes a cause of organizational decline. Innovation is, of course, more or less impossible in such a setting. An organization in trouble spends a lot of time making decisions-time that it cannot afford because it needs to adapt quickly to turn itself around. Thus, although some conflict can jolt an organization out of inertia, too much conflict can cause organizational inertia: As different groups fight for their own positions and interests, they fail to arrive at consensus, and the organization drifts along; failure to change makes the organization go from bad to worse (Amason, 1996). At first, many organization theorists regarded conflict as wholly dysfunctional because it was believed to be the antithesis of cooperation. It was generally interpreted as a sign of a defective or an incomplete social structure. Therefore, early conflict theorists proposed that the appropriate response was the creation of structural mechanisms for dealing with issues that generate conflict. Committees, task forces, liaison roles, and many other forms of coordination were recommended for this purpose (Galbraith, 1977). The second phase of theorizing about organizational conflict developed around American organization theorist Louis Pondy's observation that, although conflict may be unpleasant, it is an inevitable part of organizing (1967). In Pondy's view conflict may still be regarded as dysfunctional, however, as a natural condition, conflict is unavoidable and should be accepted. This phase of study led to theoretical interest in the sources of conflict, and a search for understanding of its fundamental conditions. The natural view of conflict helped managers confront conflicts they could not alter

Why Is Credentialing Important Essay Example for Free

Why Is Credentialing Important Essay Physicians in general often undergo credentialing by the medical institutions and managed care organizations they want to work for and be affiliated with. Such organizations include hospitals, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and preferred provider organizations (PPOs) which are responsible in providing quality services to their subscribers (Sobelman, 2001). According to Freed et al (2006, p. 913) â€Å"credentialing is a systematic approach to the collection, review, and verification of a practitioners professional qualification†. A practitioners qualification can be assessed based on his or her professional license, certification, educational background and preparation, clinical experience and professional activity and practices (Jones, nd). Credentialing therefore is important in evaluating and assessing the competence of medical practitioners. It is important to both the physicians and medical institutions because credentialing serves as the basis of maintaining quality health care and patient safety (Norcal, 1999, p. 1). Basically, credentialing is a necessity for almost every healthcare providers particularly the physicians for they are directly responsible for the patients treatment outcomes. Credentialing is an ongoing process (Rozovsky et al, 1994) that involves review and verification of the physicians current professional license, current, education, training, hospital privileges and levels of liability insurance as well as review of the physicians office if applicable to determine the quality of service the physician provide to his own clients (Sobelman, 2001). It is an ongoing and continuous process because of the need to ensure that the training and practices of the physicians are aligned with the changing needs of the patients. The processes involved in credentialing are necessary particularly the validation of certificates, training and current hospital privileges as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration and Controlled Drug Substance Certificates because these are very important in avoiding any possible risk and professional liabilities in which the managed care organizations can be held liable. Certificates in particular assured the public that the physician has successfully completed an accredited educational programs, examinations and evaluations, and provide assurance that the physician possess the skills, expertise, knowledge and experience required in practicing his profession (Hillemeier, 2004) When the physicians capability, scope of practice and specializations are known, risks and liabilities are avoided and managed. From this, it can be viewed that managed care organizations conduct credentialing of physicians as part of their risk management activities. Defining, risk management, â€Å" it is a planned and systematic process of reducing and/or eliminating the probability that losses will occur† (Yale New Haven Hospital, n. d). It is very common that when patients has complaints regarding the quality of care given to them, the hospital or HMO lose patients or subscribers that could have provided them better profitability. Complaints from patients and subscribers also pose threat as it can decrease the level of trust patients and the public have for the organization. Thus, managed care organizations see to it that the physicians who will work for them have undergone credentialing which must be designed to aid organizations in choosing competent physicians that has the capability of providing quality care for their patients. Organizations are aware that competent physicians are an important asset to the organization. On the part of the physicians themselves, credentialing broadens the scope of their practice. The more the credentials a physician holds, the more clinical activities he will be authorized to perform. Therefore credentialing is a process that benefits both the organization and the physicians as well as the public. Because of credentialing, physicians and organizations have aimed to improve the competence and quality of healthcare services they offer and provide. Credentialing raises the standards of healthcare organizations. References: Freed, G. , Singer, D. , Lakhani, I. , et al (2006) Use of Board Certification and Recertification of Pediatricians in Health Plan Credentialing Policies, The Journal of American Medical Association, 295:913-918 Hillemeier A, (2004). Recertification now requires a secure examination. Journal of Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. ,38:376-377 Jones, Dolores, Reimbursement, Privileging, and Credentialing for Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, Retrieved online on February 24, 2007 www.medscape.com/

natural gas and the future of energy Essay -- essays research papers

Natural Gas and the Future of Energy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Until recently natural gas was considered the dirty brother of oil. Natural gas was often stranded and left undeveloped, often wasting it. Oftentimes natural gas was considered ‘unusable’ and ‘worthless’ compared to oil. But now that the oil is running out a new light is being shown on natural gas. Today natural gas is very much in favor as a clean fossil fuel, especially for electricity generation in industrialized countries. â€Å"Global proven gas reserves are 5501 TcM with around 60 years of production at current utilization rates compared to 40 years for oil,† writes Pradeep Kurup. According to the latest numbers people could be using more gas than oil by 2030. According to Kurup, â€Å"that means an even greater incremental growth in both gas supply and transportation than the industry has seen up to date, with nearly 25% of all natural gas produced now crossing an international border.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Natural gas is created from the anaerobic decay of organic material. You can find it in oil fields and natural gas fields and in most swampy or marshy areas. Natural gas is also generated by animals during digestion. Natural gas is primarily composed of methane which happens to be the lightest of the hydrocarbon molecules. The other components of natural gas consist of heavier hydrocarbon molecules such as ethane, butane, and propane. Hydrogen sulfide and mercury are common contaminants, which must be removed prior to most uses. Natural gas is emerging as the most important energy source for the future because it has an abundance of uses and is found almost anywhere. The abundant supply of natural gas makes it a fine candidate to replace oil as the dominating source of energy. A lot of people who freaked out when word about peak oil surfaced now can find comfort in natural gas. Most people probably don’t realize that natural gas can not only be used as a replacement for gasoline but it can also be used to generate electricity through the use of both gas and steam turbines. A special â€Å"combined cycle mode† has been developed by combining both the gas and the steam turbines. On top of all of the facts I have already posted, natural gas also burns cleaner and thus more efficiently than other fossil fuels creating... ...t maybe this is just al about money like everything else. Maybe the government is hoarding oil and is just saying there is an oil crisis. Lots of questions, but not very many answers. Works Cited 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Energy for the future - Hydrogen and Fuel Cell industry sets out its blueprint. European Commission. 3-17-05 http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/environment  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Swank, J. Grant Jr. Rice: India Upgraded with US RE Future Powers. Mitch News.com. 3-28-05 http://www.michnews.com/artman/publish/article_7474.shtml 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kurup, Pradeep. Why Natural Gas’s the Future of Energy. Times Internet Network. 3-28-05 http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1062958.cms 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The DaimlerChrysler Website: http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/dccom/0,,0-5-7179-1-460443-1-0-0-0-0-0-8-7165-0-0-0-0-0-0-0,00.html 5. Okoye, Sam Ejike. Cold Fusion, the Unlimited Energy Source: A Myth or Reality? Nigeria World. 3-27-05 http://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2005/mar/271.html

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 2

He Does Not Preach Pessimism My workout is interrupted midday, when Mom descends the basement stairs and says I have an appointment with Dr. Patel. I ask if I can go later that night, after I have completed my daily weights routine, but Mom says I'll have to go back to the bad place in Baltimore if I do not keep my appointments with Dr. Patel, and she even references the court ruling, telling me I can read the paperwork if I don't believe her. So I shower, and then Mom drives me to Dr. Patel's office, which is the first floor of a big house in Voorhees, just off Haddonfield – Berlin Road. When we arrive, I take a seat in the waiting room as Mom fills out some more paperwork. By now, ten trees must have been cut down just to document my mental health, which Nikki will hate hearing, as she is an avid environmentalist who gave me at least one tree in the rain forest every Christmas – which was really only a piece of paper stating I owned the tree – and I do feel bad now for making fun of those gifts and won't ever poke fun at the diminishing rain forest in the future when Nikki comes back. As I sit there flipping through a Sports Illustrated, listening to the easy-listening station Dr. Patel pumps into his waiting room, suddenly I'm hearing sexy synthesizer chords, faint highhat taps, the kick drum thumping out an erotic heartbeat, the twinkling of fairy dust, and then the evil bright soprano saxophone. You know the title: â€Å"Songbird.† And I'm out of my seat, screaming, kicking chairs, flipping the coffee table, picking up piles of magazines and throwing them against the wall, yelling, â€Å"It's not fair! I won't tolerate any tricks! I'm not an emotional lab rat!† And then a small Indian man – maybe only five feet tall, wearing a cable-knit sweater in August, suit pants, and shiny white tennis shoes – is calmly asking me what's wrong. â€Å"Turn off that music!† I yell. â€Å"Shut it off! Right now!† The tiny man is Dr. Patel, I realize, because he tells his secretary to turn off the music, and when she obeys, Kenny G is out of my head and I stop yelling. I cover my face with my hands so no one will see me crying, and after a minute or so, my mother begins rubbing my back. So much silence – and then Dr. Patel asks me into his office. I follow him reluctantly as Mom helps the secretary clean up the mess I made. His office is pleasantly strange. Two leather recliners face each other, and spider-looking plants – long vines full of white-and-green leaves – hang down from the ceiling to frame the bay window that overlooks a stone birdbath and a garden of colorful flowers. But there is absolutely nothing else in the room except a box of tissues on the short length of floor between the recliners. The floor is a shiny yellow hardwood, and the ceiling and walls are painted to look like the sky – real-looking clouds float all around the office, which I take as a good omen, since I love clouds. A single light occupies the center of the ceiling, like a glowing upside-down vanilla-icing cake, but the ceiling around the light is painted to look like the sun. Friendly rays shoot out from the center. I have to admit I feel calm as soon as I enter Dr. Patel's office and do not really mind anymore that I heard the Kenny G song. Dr. Patel asks me which recliner I want to relax in. I pick the black over the brown and immediately regret my decision, thinking that choosing black makes me seem more depressed than if I had chosen brown, and really, I'm not depressed at all. When Dr. Patel sits down, he pulls the lever on the side of his chair, which makes the footrest rise. He leans back and laces his fingers behind his tiny head, as if he were about to watch a ball game. â€Å"Relax,† he says. â€Å"And no Dr. Patel. Call me Cliff. I like to keep sessions informal. Friendly, right?† He seems nice enough, so I pull my lever, lean back, and try to relax. â€Å"So,† he says. â€Å"The Kenny G song really got to you. I can't say I'm a fan either, but †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I close my eyes, hum a single note, and silently count to ten, blanking my mind. When I open my eyes, he says, â€Å"You want to talk about Kenny G?† I close my eyes, hum a single note, and silently count to ten, blanking my mind. â€Å"Okay. Want to tell me about Nikki?† â€Å"Why do you want to know about Nikki?† I say, too defensively, I admit. â€Å"If I am going to help you, Pat, I need to know you, right? Your mother tells me you wish to be reunited with Nikki, that this is your biggest life goal – so I figure we best start there.† I begin to feel better because he does not say a reunion is out of the question, which seems to imply that Dr. Patel feels as though reconciling with my wife is still possible. â€Å"Nikki? She's great,† I say, and then smile, feeling the warmth that fills my chest whenever I say her name, whenever I see her face in my mind. â€Å"She's the best thing that ever happened to me. I love her more than life itself. And I just can't wait until apart time is over.† â€Å"Apart time?† â€Å"Yeah. Apart time.† â€Å"What is apart time?† â€Å"A few months ago I agreed to give Nikki some space, and she agreed to come back to me when she felt like she had worked out her own issues enough so we could be together again. So we are sort of separated, but only temporarily.† â€Å"Why did you separate?† â€Å"Mostly because I didn't appreciate her and was a workaholic – chairing the Jefferson High School History Department and coaching three sports. I was never home, and she got lonely. Also I sort of let my appearance go, to the point where I was maybe ten to seventy pounds overweight, but I'm working on all that and am now more than willing to go into couples counseling like she wanted me to, because I'm a changed man.† â€Å"Did you set a date?† â€Å"A date?† â€Å"For the end of apart time.† â€Å"No.† â€Å"So apart time is something that will go on indefinitely?† â€Å"Theoretically, I guess – yes. Especially since I'm not allowed to contact Nikki or her family.† â€Å"Why's that?† â€Å"Umm †¦ I don't know, really. I mean – I love my in-laws as much as I love Nikki. But it doesn't matter, because I'm thinking that Nikki will be back sooner than later, and then she'll straighten everything out with her parents.† â€Å"On what do you base your thinking?† he asks, but nicely, with a friendly smile on his face. â€Å"I believe in happy endings,† I tell him. â€Å"And it feels like this movie has gone on for the right amount of time.† â€Å"Movie?† Dr. Patel says, and I think he would look exactly like Gandhi if he had those wire-rim glasses and a shaved head, which is weird, especially since we are in leather recliners in such a bright, happy room and well, Gandhi is dead, right? â€Å"Yeah,† I say. â€Å"Haven't you ever noticed that life is like a series of movies?† â€Å"No. Tell me.† â€Å"Well, you have adventures. All start out with troubles, but then you admit your problems and become a better person by working really hard, which is what fertilizes the happy ending and allows it to bloom – just like the end of all the Rocky films, Rudy, The Karate Kid, the Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies, and The Goonies, which are my favorite films, even though I have sworn off movies until Nikki returns, because now my own life is the movie I will watch, and well, it's always on. Plus I know it's almost time for the happy ending, when Nikki will come back, because I have improved myself so very much through physical fitness and medication and therapy.† â€Å"Oh, I see.† Dr. Patel smiles. â€Å"I like happy endings too, Pat.† â€Å"So you agree with me. You think my wife will come back soon?† â€Å"Time will tell,† Dr. Patel says, and I know right then that Cliff and I are going to get along, because he does not preach pessimism like Dr. Timbers and the staff at the bad place; Cliff doesn't say I need to face what he thinks is my reality. â€Å"It's funny, because all the other therapists I've seen said that Nikki wouldn't be back. Even after I told them about the life improvements I have been making, how I am bettering myself, they still were always ‘hating on me,' which is an expression I learned from my black friend Danny.† â€Å"People can be cruel,† he says with a sympathetic look that makes me trust him even more. And right then I realize that he is not writing down all my words in a file, which I really appreciate, let me tell you. I tell him I like the room, and we talk about my love of clouds and how most people lose the ability to see silver linings even though they are always there above us almost every day. I ask him questions about his family, just to be nice, and it turns out he has a daughter whose high school field hockey team is ranked second in South Jersey. Also he has a son in elementary school who wants to be a ventriloquist and even practices nightly with a wooden dummy named Grover Cleveland, who, incidentally, was also the only U.S. president to serve two terms that were not back-to-back. I don't really get why Cliff's son named his wooden dummy after our twenty-second and twenty-fourth president, although I do not say so. Next, Cliff says he has a wife named Sonja, who painted the room so beautifully, which leads to our discussion about how great women are and how it's important to treasure your woman while you have her because if you don't, you can lose her pretty quickly – as God really wants us to appreciate our women. I tell Cliff I hope he never has to experience apart time, and he says he hopes my apart time will end soon, which is a pretty nice thing to say. Before I leave, Cliff says he will be changing my medication, which could lead to some unwanted side effects, and that I have to report any discomfort or sleeplessness or anxiety or anything else to my mother immediately – because it might take some time for him to find the right combination of drugs – and I promise him I will. On the drive home I tell my mother I really like Dr. Cliff Patel and am feeling much more hopeful about my therapy. I thank her for getting me out of the bad place, saying Nikki is far more likely to come to Collingswood than to a mental institution, and when I say this, Mom starts to cry, which is so strange. She even pulls off the road, rests her head against the steering wheel, and with the engine running, she cries for a long time – sniffling and trembling and making crying noises. So I rub her back, like she did for me in Dr. Patel's office when that certain song came on, and after ten minutes or so, she simply stops crying and drives me home. To make up for the hour I spent sitting around with Cliff, I work out until late in the evening, and when I go to bed, my father is still in his office with the door shut, so another day passes without my talking to Dad. I think it's strange to live in a house with someone you cannot talk to – especially when that someone is your father – and the thought makes me a little sad. Since Mom has not been to the library yet, I have nothing to read. So I close my eyes and think about Nikki until she comes to be with me in my dreams – like always.