Al Capone Essay -- essays research papers

Alphonse "Scar Face" Capone was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1899, to an immigrant family. He was born with type O blood. People supposedly born with O type blood tend to have the drive to succeed in leadership quality. They are strong, certain, and powerful, as will be seen later. However Al Capones leadership was taken to the extreme. (4 Blood Types, 4 Diets Eat Right 4 Your Type) Certainly many Italian immigrants like immigrants of all nationalities, frequently came to the new world with very few assets. Many were peasants escaping lack of opportunity in rural Italy. When they came to America they ended up as laborers, because they could not speak or write English. This was not the case with Capones family. Gabrielle Capone, Alponse’s father was one of 43,000 Italians who arrived in the United States in 1894. He was a barber by trade and could read and write his native language. He was from the village of Castellmare Distabia, sixteen miles south of Naples. (Encyclopedia Of World Crime) Gabrielle who was thirty years old when he arrived in America brought with him his pregnant twenty seven year old wife Teresina, his two year old son Vincenzo and his infant son Raffaele. Along with thousands of other Italians, the Capone family moved to Brooklyn near the Brooklyn navy yard. (Encyclopedia Of World Crime) Gabrielle’s ability to read and write allowed him to get a job in a grocery store, until he was able to open his own barber shop. Teresa in spite of a growing bunch of boys, took in sewing piece work to add to the family helpings. Her third son Salvatore was born in 1895. Her fourth son and first to be born in the new world was born on January 17, 1899. His name was Alponse. The Capones were a quiet, conventional family. Laurence Bellgreen says "The mother†¦ kept to herself". Her husband Don Gabrielle made more of an impression(Blood Letters and Bad Men). Nothing about the Capone family was inherently disturbed. The children and parents were close, there was no apparent mental disability, and no traumatic event. In May of 1906, Gabrielle became an American citizen. Within the family his children would always be known by their Italian names. Shortly after Al was born, Gabrielle moved the family to a better area in an a... ...s sentenced to eleven years in federal prison. He was fined fifty thousand dollars and charged seven thousand six hundred and ninety two dollars for court costs. In addition to two hundred and fifteen thousand plus interest due back on taxes. The six month contempt of court sentence was to be served concurrently. While awaiting results of appeals, Capone was confined to the Cook County jail. Upon denial of appeals, he entered the United States penitentiary at Atlanta, serving his sentence there at Alcatraz. Following his release, he never publicly returned to Chicago. He had become mentally ill. In 1946, his physician and a Baltimore psychiatrist concluded that he had the mentality of a twelve year old child. Capone resided on Palm Island with his wife and immediate family, in a secluded atmosphere, until his death due to a stroke and pneumonia on January 25, 1947. In conclusion, Al Capone was a very strong, powerful, and deadly man which was seen in many of the cases stated. Al Capone influenced people back then and he will continue to influence people forever.

William Blakes The Tyger Essay -- William Blake Tyger Essays

William Blake's The Tyger In â€Å"The Tyger,† William Blake uses meter and rhyme to enhance both the meaning and the rhythm of his piece. The chanting nature is reinforced by frequent end-stop and catalectic endings for the lines. By melding these devices, Blake has managed to create a powerful poem – hidden in the casual style of a nursery rhyme. The meter of â€Å"The Tyger† is mostly trochaic tetrameter (four feet per line; stressed-unstressed). Or trochaic three-and-a-half meter, really – Blake uses a catalectic ending (the dropping of the last unstressed syllable) on every trochaic line. This, along with the insertion of several iambic tetrameter lines, allows every end syllable to be stressed – thus forming a forceful beat to the poem, reminiscent of the tiger’s power. The set beat goes along with the words of the first stanza to create an image of a tiger prowling steadily through the dark forest. Blake uses this chanting, plodding rhythm as an almost musical backdrop for the reading of his poem – where he varies, it simply adds to the harmony. The first instance of iambic tetrameter occurs in the first stanza’s last line. Personally, I think Blake switched meters for that line in order to draw attention to that particular line, and place more emphasis on the first (and pervading) question of the poem. That line is the first to be non-catalectic, and, as a result, seems more complete – which is supported by the meaning of the line. The speaker is wondering what higher power could possibly have created the tiger; in speaking of a higher power, it seems only natural that that line should somehow bigger than the others, and have more weight or emphasis. Blake uses the same idea in the fifth stanza, where both ... ...to folded steel, he personifies the stars, who â€Å"water’d heaven with their tears† – presumably at the beauty and power of the tiger. This lends majesty to both that which brought them to tears – God – and that which received the tears – the tiger. The stars give the reader almost an ‘outside’ perspective on the tiger; Blake uses them in order to show what others feel for its majesty, which reflects into what conclusions the reader will draw about the subject. Through his meter and techniques, Blake well manages to enforce a chanting rhythm and powerful voice. Demanding questions and vivid images belie the simple nature of his end rhyme – which turns out to be not simple at all, but to explore a deep, driving question. (All while alluding to his previous work.) â€Å"The Tyger,† upon close inspection, is shown to both sophisticated and complicated in its methods.

IOM and Nursing Transformation Essay

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) is an American, not-for-profit, non-governmental, unaffiliated, organization created for the sole purpose to serve as an advisor to the government and every sector in society in order to make better informed health care decisions. Established in 1970 the IOM organization has been answering the nation’s most pressing questions about health care over the past 4 decades. October 5, 2010, the IOM in collaboration with The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), released its recommendations on nursing in the United States. The report entitled, â€Å"The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health† explore the need for health care nursing professionals to evolve and prepare for the dynamic work environment in which they will take part, providing an action-oriented blue print for the health care professional as a guide to practice (Institute of Medicine, 2010). The IOM report continues to have an immense impact on nursing care today, transforming primary practice, education, and the leadership roles of health care provider. Within the IOM report, 4 key messages were provided as follows, 1. Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training. 2. Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression. 3. Nurses should be full partners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning healthcare in the U.S. 4. Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure (Institute of Medicine, 2010, p. 4). On the grand scale, nursing is by far the largest force in health care, by sheer numbers the impact nurses make in health care is astounding. Nurses are vital to the change and success of health care reform. The IOM cites the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a new law signed into effect March 23, 2010, by President Obama. The ACA allows the public better access to care, stronger Medicare, more affordable coverage, and stronger consumer rights and protections (THE WHITEHOUSE.GOV, n.d.). What The ACA means for nursing practice is, with insurance becoming more readily accessible to the public, it is inevitable that patient loads will increase causing a higher demand for educated and skilled nurses. New rules mandating patients and practitioners meeting face-to-face at the start of care and mandating regular check-ups as preventative care will also increase demand for nurses. To meet this growing need for health care professionals current and prospective providers look to provide motivation. Funding has been made available to nurses as an incentive to pursue advanced degrees and become lifelong learners by creating stricter regulation for continuing education requirements. Employers are becoming extremely cognizant of the growing demand and are willing to provide career assistance, and tuition reimbursement in order to remain competitive in the healthcare industry as well as increase employee retention. Education is vital to achieve the goal of the IOM desiring to increase the number of BSN educated nurses from 50% to 80% by the year 2020(The Forum of Nursing Workforce Centers, 2012). With education, comes responsibility. As part of the vision of the IOM, nurses should become full partners in collaboration and shall become leaders, whether it be formal or informal. Leadership should be integrated in all aspects of nursing, â€Å"from the bedside to the boardroom† (Institute of Medicine, 2010, p. 221). Leaders aren’t just policy makers and managers anymore, they are mentors, teachers and advocates, for their patients as well as each other. As leaders nurses should collaborate with multidisciplinary team members to provide safe and effective care, sharing their knowledge, skills and critical thinking expertise. Being an informal leader also involves mentoring peers and acting as a resource, fostering an environment conducive for growth and success as well as professional development. Addressing the call to action by changing practices to meet the recommendations is vital to the transformation of nursing. To meet this call to action, my first goal is to obtain my Bachelor of Science in nursing degree. Education is the foundation the gives us the ability to grow and thrive in our profession successfully. I challenge myself to continue with my education and going forward continue on the path as a lifelong learner. I vow to seek opportunities available to me to enhance my knowledge and skill base whether it is through my employer, my state required continuing education credits (CEU’s), or a nursing organization such as my membership with the American Association of Critical Care nurses (AACN). I will continue to collaborate with all team members, be an advocate and to be a mentor and a resource to my peers, and promote education and learning through them as well. And finally I will accept this call to action by challenging my other peers and cohorts to do the same. References Institute of Medicine. (2010). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Retrieved from http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12956&page=R1 THE WHITEHOUSE.GOV. (n.d.). http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/healthcare-overview#healthcare-menu The Forum of Nursing Workforce Centers. (2012). http://nursingworkforcecenters.org/Resources/files/StateImpactOfIOMReportOnNursing.pdf

Why Sherlock Holmes Is Just as Original as C. Auguste Dupin

Why Sherlock Holmes is Just as Original as C. Auguste Dupin After reading two famous amateur detective stories by Edgar Allan Poe and two by Arthur Conan Doyle, I found myself questioning the originality of Doyle's stories as compared to Poe's stories. The stories in question are â€Å"The Purloined Letter† and â€Å"Murders in the Rue Morgue† by Poe and â€Å"The Adventure of the Speckled Band† and â€Å"A Scandal in Bohemia† by Doyle. All four of these stories had very exciting story lines and had very interesting mysterious aspects . Since the Poe stories of C.Auguste Dupin were written well before Doyle's stories of Sherlock Holmes, this leads to the question of whether or not Doyle's stories are genuinely original or if much of his stories ideas were copied from Poe. I believe that Doyle's detective stories are just as creative and original as Poe's detective stories. One of the biggest and probably most obvious similarities between the stories is tha t of the plots. In â€Å"The Purloined Letter†, Dupin is contacted by the prefect to help the police retrieve a letter that had been stolen.This letter was of great importance to a certain person and if this letter was released to the public it would reveal things that could ruin that person's reputation. The prefect knows Minister D- stole the letter. He also knows that the letter must to be very close the minister who stole it because the ability to produce the letter when needed is just as important to the minister as actually having it. The police have searched the minister's hotel room and were not able to find the letter.Dupin then goes to the minister's hotel room and easily retrieves the letter because he knows that the minister would hide it in plain sight, since he knew the police would come looking for it. Many of these aspects of Poe's story are repeated in Doyle's A Scandal in Bohemia†. In â€Å"A Scandal in Bohemia† Holmes is confronted by an import ant king to retrieve a letter and a photo of him with his ex lover that proves their relationship. If the photo was released it could hurt his reputation immensely. The king has tried many things to retrieve the letter but was unsuccessful.Holmes then goes to the woman's house and tricks her into revealing the location of the letter by faking a fire thinking that the photo would be the first thing she would grab. Because of these similarities between the two stories by Poe and Doyle it appears that Doyle had copied his ideas from Poe who had written his story years earlier. In â€Å"Murders in the Rue Morgue†, Dupin goes to investigate a murder scene. At this scene there are many clues that would lead one to think it was a human that committed the murder.However, it was difficult to come up with a motive for that person because bags of money were still on the floor and the women that were murdered hardly ever made contact with others which makes it difficult to believe that t here is someone who would want to cause them harm. Dupin goes on to find some more clues that lead him to believe it wasn't a human that committed the crime but a sailors Ourang-Outang. Dupin then gets the sailor to come to his house and gets him to admit that it was his animal that committed the murder.Again these scenarios in Poe's story are very similar to those in Doyle's story â€Å"The Adventure of the Speckled Band†. In â€Å"The Adventure of the Speckled Band†, Holmes is consulted about a very suspicious case. A woman was killed a few years ago and before she died she had said it was the speckled band that killed her. Holmes goes to the house where she was killed to investigate. At first Holmes believes the speckled band was a group of gipsies that would hang out on their property, but after further investigating he had realized it was not gipsies but a speckled snake that the girl's father kept inside the house.Another huge similarity between the two stories t hat would imply Doyle had copied Poe's ideas is the narrator of the story. In â€Å"Murders in the Rue Morgue† and â€Å"A Scandal in Bohemia† the reader is given a lot of information by the narrator about the main character. In both stories the narrator is a close friend who lives with the detective. Also the narrator always tells the reader everything that is going on and he is also a fairly smart person but not as smart as the main character. Holmes and Dupin also have very similar detective methods.Both characters are capable of seeing things that normal people are not. They will put themselves in the suspects shoes and think as they would to discover more clues. When they discover clues they will come up with a hypothesis and then investigate it until it is proven true or more clues are revealed to them causing them to come up with a new hypothesis. They also will never tell the narrator what they are thinking or ask him for advice. They do all of their sleuthing on their own and reveal it to the narrator once they have solved the case.In both â€Å"Murders in the Rue Morgue† and â€Å"The Adventure of the Speckled Band† the detectives inform their partner what they have been thinking all along and how they solved the mystery. Even though there are all these similarities between the Dupin and Holmes stories there are also many differences that give each story their own originality. For example, â€Å"A Scandal in Bohemia† is extremely similar to â€Å"The Purloined Letter† however, at the end Dupin is successful in his endeavour whereas Holmes is not.The ending of a story is always the most important and such a drastic difference between the two stories certainly provides Doyle with a little more originality. In â€Å"Murders in the Rue Morgue† which is very similar to â€Å"The Adventure of the Speckled Band†, Dupin comes up with his hypothesis and he is correct. In â€Å"The Adventure of the Speck led Band† Holmes comes up with his hypothesis but soon realizes that he was incorrect and is forced to come up with a new hypothesis. Dupin gives off the impression that he is the perfect detective that never makes mistakes and Holmes actually makes a mistake.This huge difference between the stories makes Doyle's story very original and not so much of a copy of Poe's story. One noticeably large difference between the Dupin and Holmes stories is that of the background story of the mystery or information as to why the crime happened. In the Dupin stories the plot jumps right to the events that happened and what Dupin does to solve it. For example in â€Å"Murders in the Rue Morgue† Dupin reads about the murder in the paper and then goes to solve it. There is no background information given on the people involved in the murder.In the Holmes stories the reader is given significant amounts of background information to the characters involved in the mystery. For example in â €Å"The Adventure of the Speckled Band† the reader is given much information on the background of the victims in the murder. Being given this information the reader understands more how the victim is feeling and can become more involved in the story. This effect on the reader is something that makes the Doyle stories very original and not an exact copy of Poe's stories.The biggest difference between Dupin and Holmes would have to be their personality. Dupin is described as a loner that sits at home and spends his time thinking whereas Holmes is a very well known person to other people and is also addicted to cocaine. Dupin can be seen as a very serious person where Holmes is more of a quirky and adventurous person. This difference between Holmes and Dupin gives Holmes a much more creative and interesting character than Dupin, implying that Doyle did not rip off Poe's detective character when he was making his own.All of the similarities between Doyle's stories and Poe's stori es would lead one to believe that Sherlock Holmes was just a rip off of Dupin. Since Poe was the first author to write about a detective it seems obvious that other authors would take ideas from his stories just as Doyle did. There was most likely something that Poe had read or experienced that gave him his ideas for Dupin so it is only natural for writers to get their ideas or concepts from other places.However, because of all the original ideas and differences to the Holmes stories I believe that Doyle's detective stories are just as creative as Poe's stories. It is the main ideas of the story such as the outcome or the personality of the main character that are different which causes the stories to actually be much different. For this reason I believe that the Holmes stories are genuinely original and that Arthur Conan Doyle made significant contributions to the detective story.

Killing vs Letting Die

In a paper entitled â€Å"Why Does Removing Machines Count as Passive Euthanasia?† Dr. Patrick D. Hopkins argues that â€Å"the removal of a machine which substitutes for a failed vital organ is equivalent to removing that life-sustaining organ.†( Killing 2004 p. 1). In this scenario, removing a breathing machine such as BiPap that essentially breathes for the patient when they are unable to breathe for themselves, would be tantamount to removing the patient’s lung in order to stop him from breathing. The ground becomes a little shaky if we rely on this theory; the patient or surrogate making decisions for the patient, when confronted with a terminally ill medical situation,   asks that all â€Å"life-support† machines and feeding tubes be removed. Is the doctor or nurse who performs this act of mercy â€Å"killing† the patient, or just removing artificial means of life and â€Å"letting die?†Ã‚   Unlike Dr. Hopkins, I don’t feel tha t â€Å"pulling the plug,† or ceasing life support machines is equal in any way to cutting out a vital organ. I believe â€Å"letting die† is a morally responsible act, while actively â€Å"killing† is quite another matter.Many people make a distinction between passive euthanasia and active euthanasia.   While the AMA maintains that people have a â€Å"right to die with dignity,† and believe it â€Å"morally permissible,† for a physician to allow the death of a person who is suffering unmercifully and has an incurable disease, they are unwilling to â€Å"countenance active euthanasia for a person who is in similar straits, but who has the misfortune not to be suffering from an illness that will result in a speedy death.† (Tooley 2006 p. 1).   Therefore, while a patient might have a terminal illness and be in extreme pain, if the illness is not likely to kill them fairly quickly, euthanasia is not an option, rather they are required to su ffer for a lengthy period of time before receiving assistance in ending their lives.This becomes a very touchy moral issue, with passionate arguments on both sides.   The motives of a person who intentionally kills someone is surely more evil than the motives of a person who lets someone die, most especially if the motives for letting that person die are purely non-selfish and a result of empathy for the person’s pain.   Watching a loved one die slowly and painfully is a hardship on those who love them as well as the person themselves. When a beloved member of your family is begging you to â€Å"let them go,† how can it be morally wrong to grant that wish?In the realm of withholding treatment versus withdrawing treatment, the consensus seems to be that if withholding treatment can be justified, then withdrawing it can be justified by the same criteria. (Jennings 2001 p. 2).   The reality is that while administering treatment that may, in fact, have to be later wi thdrawn buys time in the sense that the physician is able come to a solid prognosis of the patient’s chances for survival, many ethicists feel that it is â€Å"easier to justify not starting treatment.†Ã‚   (Jennings 2001 p. 2).   So, while administering treatment may allow the doctor, patient and family members time to accept the reality of the imminent death of a loved one, doctors are hesitant to administer treatment that they are fairly certain will have to be withdrawn somewhere down the line, and find it easier to let nature take it’s course in the first place.Life sustaining treatments are considered to be: mechanical ventilation, dialysis, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, antibiotics, transfusions, nutrition and hydration.   While most of us are relatively â€Å"okay† with the idea of withdrawing (or not administering in the first place) the mechanical ventilation, dialysis, or performing CPR, we are less okay with the idea of removing a feeding tube and iv’s or not administering antibiotics.We equate these acts in some sense as â€Å"starving† our loved one to death, or making them do without water, and we see this more as torture than assisting an inevitable death. The fact is that dehydration can produce a sedative effect on the brain, making the dying process more tolerable, so essentially it is an issue in our minds rather than one based on reality.   Technically it is all the same; if a person is unable to feed themselves in the traditional way, or drink a glass of water, then feeding tubes and IV’s are artificial means of keeping a person alive. However, if we were to disallow these basic medical care issues, many, many, people who go on to live happy, productive lives, would surely die.The question becomes to what degree are we good with measures to sustain life? Many times â€Å"comfort measures† are determined to be the most solid course, and, in general, family members are much more agreeable to allowing a loved one to die provided they are still administered IV’s, feeding tubes and pain medication.Extraordinary measures may in some cases be determined by the level of technological complexity, yet this can be misleading. â€Å"Certain procedures for providing artificial nutrition and hydration, for example, are technologically rather complex, whereas administering chemotherapy is not.†Ã‚   (Policy 2006 p. 3).   Therefore, we cannot say that administering chemotherapy is a rather simple procedure, therefore only an â€Å"ordinary† means of treatment while the complex artificial nutrition system must then be â€Å"extraordinary.†Ã‚   There must, therefore, be an assessment of the â€Å"benefits and burdens for the patient that each procedure or treatment provides.† (Policy 2006 p. 3).CPR is generally used to restore breathing capabilities to someone whose breathing has been interrupted for whatever reason. Because resuscitati on has no value in the management of terminal diseases, but is rather intended to return a person in a health crisis to a normal healthy state, CPR, while certainly an extraordinary, live-saving measure, is not a factor in a terminally ill patient. Mechanical ventilation may be ethically removed from a terminally ill patient at their request, just as blood transfusions may be refused by the patient who is terminally ill.Tony Bland was a victim of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster when football fans were crushed and 95 people died.   Tony survived but was in a coma that doctors believed he would never emerge from. (Tony Bland 2006 p. 1).   Tony could breathe on his own and all his vital organs functioned normally on his own. He could digest food but could not feed himself, so was put on feeding tubes.Because we don’t consider food and water â€Å"medicine,† but rather basic necessities to stay alive, the feeding tube for Tony Bland could not be considered â€Å"treatm ent,† and because Mr. Bland was not actually dying at the time, his food and fluids would have had to be withdrawn in order for him to die. The courts ordered, after four years of Mr. Bland being in a â€Å"permanent vegetative state,† that the fluids and feeding tubes be removed, and he be allowed to die, a process that took nearly two weeks as well as causing the suffering of his family.   (Tony Bland 2006 p. 2).The issue of medical euthanasia is one that will be debated passionately for many years to come, with ethical arguments on both sides.Works CitedJennings, Bruce (February 2001). Medical Ethics and Clinical Practice. Retrieved onMay 29, 2006 from:http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1071269Killing vs. Letting Die (June 13, 2004). Should Removal of Mechanical Life SupportMachine at the Request of a Patient be Considered Killing or Letting the PatientDie? Retrieved May 30, 2006 from:http://www.hsc.usc.edu/~mbernste/ethics.killingvs.lettingdie.h tmlPolicy (2006). Policy on Forgoing Life Sustaining or Death-Prolonging Therapy.Retrieved on May 30, 2006 from:http://www.clevelandclinic.org/bioethics/policies/policyonlifesustaining/ccfcode.htmlTony Bland. (2006). Tony Bland and PVS – Euthanasia. Retrieved June 1, 2006 from:http://www.spucscotland.org/education/students/euthanasia/tonyblandpvs.html.Tooley, Michael (2006). An Irrevelant Consideration: Killing versus Letting Die.Retrieved May 30, 2006 from:http://www.sunysuffolk.edu/pecorip/SCCCWEB/ETEXTS/DeathandDylingTEXT/Tooley

Grape Farms in Jaffna (Sri Lanka)

The dying art of Jaffna â€Å"The next generation is not keen on getting their hands dirty and they dislike hard work. They do not want to take up the field of farming. They prefer being in air conditioned offices or being doctors and lawyers. They have dreams of their own and being a grape farmer is hardly one of them† For thirty long years Sri Lanka was torn apart by a malevolent war between the country’s majority and minority; a war that not only claimed the lives of many, soldiers and civilians alike, but also destroyed much property and dammed the country’s growth in uncountable ways.The whole of Sri Lanka grieved as one at all that was lost but it would not be incorrect to say that it was the north that suffered the most; it affected the education, economy, health, security, agriculture and overall the lives of the people of that part of the island. One trade that was deeply affected in the field of agriculture is grape farming, an industry that was and is carried out at a commercial basis only in the district of Jaffna. It was stated by Mr. Sivakumar, Provincial Director of Agriculture Northern Province, that before the war the district of Jaffna had over 250 acres of grape cultivation.The war brought upon difficulties in marketing the crops which resulted in gradually increasing numbers of farmers leaving the trade as it was no longer profitable. However since the ending of the war and the opening of the A9 road, new marketing prospects have been found and the trade has yet again been taken up and currently is spread over 110 acres in Jaffna. While cultivators who lost their farms during the war have been given the opportunity to revive their lost businesses, new cultivators too are being encouraged to take up the trade by the government said Mr.Sivakumar. The Ministry of Agriculture Northern Province is currently focusing on introducing new varieties of grape fruit to Jaffna farmers in order to harvest better crops. These new varie ties Sonaka and Sharad have been imported from India and are said to produce grape fruit that is larger in size and sweeter than the local grapes. This idea of importing new varieties has been supported by the Central Department of Agriculture which is the agency that gives permission for importing any sort of planting material, and also by the Ministry of Agriculture.The financial support has been given by Cargills food city as it is them who invested in the project. The total project investment has been Rs 222 million and 92. 2 million of this investment has been shared by the USAID. The imported seedlings have already been introduced, distributed and promoted among Jaffna farmers and is currently being cultivated and within another two years the peninsula will have a greater variety of quality grape fruit, noted Mr. U. L. M Haldeen, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Northern Province.Grape crops are harvested twice a year; during the season of March- April and August- Sept ember. These are considered peak periods as it is the dry season during these months and for grape fruit the dry season is considered very important as this is the time that produces the best crops. However certain farmers prune in such a way that they can produce crops even off season. Grape cultivation, compared to other farming industries needs a fair amount of investment and effort to inaugurate and to maintain. To grow a quarter acre farm it costs approximately 150 thousand Rs just to install the pandal system.For the maintaining of such a farm it costs about another 150 thousand Rs stated Mr. Sivakumar. Even though it is a costly trade it brings in enough money to be called a profitable trade. Farmers have reported that a quarter acre farm brings in nearly 200 thousand Rs per season. This good income is one of the main encouraging forces for other cultivators to begin grape farms of their own which in return will increase the overall crops produced by Jaffna which would prove to be healthy for the economy of the district.On a positive note, locally grown grapes are cheaper than the imported ones as a kg of Jaffna grape fruit costs 200 to 300 Rs while the Australian imported grapes cost 600 to 700 Rs. However on the contrary the imported grapes are much larger in size and taste sweeter than the locally grown Israel Blue. Therefore, even now, customers who look for quality are willing to pay more to purchase the imported fruits, which pose a threat to the growth of the local grape fruit farming trade. This is the reason as to why he ministry is trying all possible options to grow grape crops that can compete with the imported ones. As there is already a fairly good market for Jaffna grapes in the southern part of the country it is their hope to widen this market by dominating the imported grape fruit market. As earlier mentioned maintaining a grape farm is both an expensive and difficult venture. Especially to the farmers of the north it is something much more than just a trade, it is a significant part of their lives. They have many beliefs and traditions entwined with the grapevines.It is said by these farmers that growing grapes is in many ways much like raising a child; it requires constant nurturing, caring and attention. There is a manner in which every move should be made: choosing the soil, installing the pandal system, preparing the drainage, watering the farm, fertilizing, and last but not least pruning should all be done in a proper manner to ensure the well being of the grapevines says Mr. Inuvil, a successful grape farmer. The preciseness of this trade makes it appear that grape farming in actuality is more or less an art than just an agricultural trade.Even though the number of farmers stepping into this field is on an increase, according to farmers the future of the industry remains uncertain. It is because of the lack of young farmers who are willing to follow in the footsteps of their precursors. According to Mr. Inu vil â€Å"The next generation is not keen on getting their hands dirty and they dislike hard work. They do not want to take up the field of farming. They prefer being in air conditioned offices or being doctors and lawyers. They have dreams of their own and being a grape farmer is hardly one of them†, and so it seems that the â€Å"like father like son† days are long gone.It is evident that times have changed and that even in a country like Sri Lanka where traditions and culture are a main part of its people’s day to day lives, the younger generation is hardly found being limited by said traditions or cultures. Today’s youth is much more commercialized and they crave ways of earning riches in much easier ways than laboring away in farms and fields under a scorching sun. Another reason for the possible declining of future farmers is the perception that agriculture is an unprofitable or oor industry to be in as this is often the image that is projected by t he media and otherwise, however many successful farmers like Mr. Inuwil would strongly disagree. According to him, it is a matter of willing to be hard working, committed, sacrificial and patient; all traits that he says most of the younger generation lack. Here arouses the question; even though grape farming in the north is at present in a very good state, after the existing generation of farmers is long gone will the industry still survive or will it simply turn into yet another dying art? -Sandarangi Perera

Team DISC Assessment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Team DISC Assessment - Coursework Example Team building often involves the bringing together of new teams and giving them a new sense of direction, a period of getting to know their colleagues, as well as recognizing abilities and skills. Team working on the other hand involves the sharing of ideas, supporting one another and being open. It is also important to note that good leadership is essential to any business; it is an important factor for making an organization successful. Leaders are a key human resource in each and every organization (Hersen, 2004). In fact, the importance of leadership in management can never be overemphasized. In order for things to get done by people in the organization, the management must supply leadership in the organization. Team work is especially essential in order for one to realize the organizational goals, and it is the work of the managers to influence the team to work and accomplish through leadership. Further, it is imperative to understand that leadership often aids authority and it must go hand in hand with team work. Pursia’s DISC assessment was an impresser. This was her strongest quality. Being an impresser in the organization is extremely useful (Sugerman, 2011). This is because it helps one charm to the business partners as well as breaks the ice when it comes to meetings within the organization. Further, being an impresser is also important as it helps employees to take greater responsibility when it comes to decision making and also helps team members to take control of the work processes (Avery, 2001). The impresser often helps in improving morale as the employee can be able to effectively gain more authority as well as ownership over the projects that one is working on. With the help of the impresser, she can help with the extra responsibility which can effectively lead to a more rewarding work environment as well as lower turnover. Further, with the impresser working on a team it gives the employees a greater sense of belonging and