Hallucinogenic substances and Cultural uses essays

Hallucinogenic substances and Cultural uses essays Hallucinogenic Substances and Cultural Uses Throughout the centuries, natural herbs and plants that produce hallucinogenic effects have been used for various reasons within a religious context, ranging from religious rituals to alleviating cold and flu symptoms. These religiously structured drug' experiences are culturally and socially organized, and are defined by those who use them. One can cross-culturally examine the religious practices and meanings of using hallucinogenic substances with those who use them recreationally. A hallucinogen is classified' as "any of a group of substances that alter consciousness; also called psychotomimetic (mimicking psychosis), mind-expanding, or psychedelic drug,"" (www.encyclopedia.com). The group includes mescaline, or peyote, LSD, PCP, MDMA (ecstasy), and marijuana. One religious entity that uses a hallucinogenic substance in its religious practices is that of the Native American Church, the largest indigenous religion in this country. This church blends fundamentalist Christian elements with pan-Native American moral principles. The sacramental food of the group is peyote, a hallucinogenic cactus, light blue-green in color, bears small pink flowers, and has a carrot-shaped root. The mushroom-like crown, called a peyote, or mescal, button is cut off and is chewed, brewed into a concoction for drinking, or rolled into pellets to be swallowed. The use of peyote is said to "produce a mental state that allows celebrants to feel closer to their ancestors and their Creator,"" (www.encyclopedia.com). The active substance in peyote is mescaline, which tastes bitter and causes an initial feeling of nausea, then produces visions and changes in perception, time sense, and mood. Aftereffects of an uncomfortable nature are not existent due to that the drug is not physiologically habit-forming (www.encyclopedia.com). Peyote has been used by Native Americans since pre-Columbian times...

Product-Service Marketing and the Differentiation of Goals Essay

Product-Service Marketing and the Differentiation of Goals - Essay Example According to most accounts in the literature there is no such thing as a pure good or a pure service. Physical goods may be as objects, material devices, or things, whereas services are defined as efforts or performances relative to a consumer’s stated needs. In these definitions, the obvious factors that differentiate goods from services are delineated. Goods are tangible and substantial. Services are intangible and immaterial. It should be noticed in this construction that goods are best defined positively by what they are materially, while services are defined by what they are not, by their ephemeral and impermanent nature. Too much can be made of this distinction. However, it does point to a central tendency within the marketing, sale, and maintenance of services that is critical to acknowledge. Marketing of services revolves largely around relationships and the variables that are attached to them, such as trust, ethics, and mutual benefit, while goods revolve around the d elivery of a specific material object. Of course, because there is no such thing as a pure good or service, the lines of distinction between the two concepts may be easy to blur. This is especially true in the modern marketplace in which a service economy often presents services as the primary fact of exchange. An example may shed light that will serve to differentiate the nature of the difference between goods and services. When a customer goes to purchase a car, the service that surrounds the customer’s experience of the car is critical to the buying decision. The offering and financing of the car through the sales experience and the maintenance of the car that follows post-sale may affect the customer’s enjoyment of the car to a degree that impacts on the customer’s decision to continue to do business with a given dealer. However, the customer is ultimately taking possession of a product that they will take home with them and become responsible for on a personal level. When a customer buys an airl ine ticket, on the other hand, the service that surrounds the experience of the trip is the ultimate and final value received. While the customer’s buying decision and value judgments may be influenced by the quality of the material meal served on the plane, for example, the customer takes possession of very little material benefit in the exchange, but rather benefits in the experience of getting from one place to another in the most convenient and enjoyable manner possible. The airline provides a service, with some minor goods afforded to support the buying experience. So, given these facts, is there anything that makes the marketing of an educational institution different as a service offered? For one possible answer to this question, consider that on a scale of tangible and intangible goods and services, teaching or education remains at the extreme ends of the intangible side. The value that is offered by the provider and received by the recipient in an educational environ ment revolves around psychological and sociological relationship variables. This is particularly true in a public school environment in which the customer is not only afforded the opportunity to participate in the service but compelled to do so. While there are

Introduction to Strategic Management Report Essay

Introduction to Strategic Management Report - Essay Example The companies include Lexus, Daihatsu, and Hino Motors among others. A recent study shows that Toyota has sold over more than 12 million cars. The company also manufactures forklifts, buses, industrial equipment, and buses. Toyota has a large market in North America. The United States of America is a host to five plants of the Toyota Company. The locations are in Buffalo, West Virginia; San Antonio, Texas; Huntsville, Alabama, Georgetown, Kentucky and Princeton, Indiana. Early imports from Japan like the Toyopet did not make large sales due to their small size. However, due to energy crisis in the 1970s, Americans and other countries imported Toyota cars because of their fuel efficiency and lower price compared to other cars in the automobile industry. The rise of fuel prices and side effects of global warming prompted the company to manufacture fuel efficient cars. The recent brands like Highlander, Camry and Prius are a proof of the firm’s objective to make fuel efficient ve hicles. The vehicles serve the current global market that requires cost efficient and effective cars. An international business is an enterprise or entity that is involved in commercial transactions in two or more than two countries. An international business cuts across boundaries in doing business. The business environments are the surrounding factors that influence the business performance (Fry et.al, 2009). The business environment can have a number of impacts on a business. Toyota Motor Corporation falls into this category. Before introducing a business venture in a foreign land, it is imperative to study the business environment to establish the feasibility of the particular business. The economic factors in a given country will influence the habits of the consumer. A good economy is one that has empowered consumers to purchase products they demand thus satisfy their needs. Recession and Inflation influence the purchasing power of

The Leadership Effectiveness Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Leadership Effectiveness - Research Paper Example The total quality management reveals the standard followed by the organization right from the minute inputs details to the final delivery of the product or service. The TQM depicts the facts which enable the organization to perceive the mission to excel in the business. It provides a platform to achieve results by concentrating on the factors which influence the most in this contemporary world "the customer focus" and "the customer acceptability". A leader has to perceive a 3600 view of every aspect right from the product manufacturing to the customer value perceptions; which depicts the ideal qualities to be followed; Deming created a philosophical framework of fourteen quality management points stresses on the importance of the employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction with equal value to the customer satisfaction. Andrew Grove stated, "If senior managers and know-how managers share a common view of the industry, the likelihood of their acknowledging changes in the environmen t and responding in an appropriate fashion will greatly increase. Sharing a common picture of the map of the industry and its dynamics is a key tool in making your organization an adaptive one." (Andrew, 1999) Whereas the contingency theory is about the leaders who are task oriented and adapt according to the tasks and some leaders respond with the inter-relationship among the employees to do the work. The situational leadership theory explains the qualities of the leader’s to make to devise the strategies according to the attitude of the employees working under him, thus framing the decisions to make the subordinates feel comfortable to the new techniques adjust to the situation or to the operational environment concerning in that area. I personally observed this concept within my organization.   When I was a First Sergeant of an organization of 145 Soldiers, I used this concept daily. I was not given a choice of who my Soldiers were or came from; consequently, I had to adapt and apply each skill to each individual Soldier.

An Influenced Life Essay Example for Free

An Influenced Life Essay An Influenced Life As people grow and develop in their lives, many factors influence their trajectories. These factors manifest themselves in many ways, but some are more prominent than others. I believe that every person, depending the factors that influenced them most strongly, would place more importance on some factors than others. In other words, my essay will be different than other classmates, because I was raised differently than most of them and different things had impacts on my development. Individuals also probably think some are more important factors than others, and these viewpoints depend solely on their lives and their development thus far. My personal view is that some of the most important factors that influence an individual’s development are their innate temperament, the parents they are born to, the consequent family role they possess, the anxiety they bear in life, and the relationships they make – both forced and by their own volition. Read more: Essay explain how children and young people’s development is influenced by a range of personal factors. Although I believe these are some of the most important factors, they are by no means the only things that influence a persons’ development over time. Also worth noting is the fact that these all impact each other as well as singularly influencing an individual. When combined, many factors cause other factors and all influence a persons’ development trajectory. One of these influences is inborn, not decided by outside forces. Temperament is something every human is born with, and it is shown from the moment they start breathing. My sister and I, for example, have somewhat opposite temperaments. As a child I was very loud and loved to talk (which hasn’t changed), and my sister was much quieter and listened much better than I ever could. She was more patient from birth than I will ever be. This chasm between our personalities provides some definition for our life development. Her calm, quiet manner led to little misbehavior and consequent punishment. My quick, sarcastic temper led to much conflict with parents and occasionally teachers, and required containment. This put me in a different trajectory than my sister, as she became easy to deal with, and easy to please. My parents had to take a different approach with me, as my temperament led me to be harder to discipline, please, and control. The temperament of any individual greatly influences a person’s future life development. It influences the way a person reacts and relates to other people, the way they act alone and in company, and their view on the world. Parents are one of the influences I think most would agree impacts development most. Even people who had parents that were not present might agree that the absence itself influenced their life and development. The techniques parents use vary and are quite different from family to family, and occasionally even within families. Parenting impacts development and views of the world because they restrict or allow activities, and provide moral ideas and values in differing strengths, passing on much to their children. As we grow out of childhood, impressions of our parents from a young age remain with us and impact the way we live, act, and interpret others’ behaviors. The two spectrums for parenting styles measure how demanding a parent is, and how responsive a parent is. To me, these can make or break a child’s development. If either is too low, the child will have problems later in life, but if either is too high, there will also be consequences. High responsiveness may produce a needy, incapable adult, while low responsiveness will result in anxiety about love, and mattering. High demanding parenting may result in a high-strung, over-achieving stressed adult, while low demanding will produce an adult with little motivation and drive. Clearly, parenting impacts development and, if possible, should be controlled in order to help children develop correctly and well. As parents begin to treat children differently due to temperament, and children learn more about their parenting styles, the kids in the family begin to learn their roles in the family. These roles can range from simply the â€Å"quiet one† to â€Å"loud one,† or from â€Å"instigator† to â€Å"peace-maker.† Some of the roles can make children feel guilty, unworthy, or bad about themselves, while others make childr en feel proud, confident, and pleased. These differences start at a young age and continue through their lives, even into adulthood. This will also influence relationships and life plans, causing each person to have a different filter per say, which they view the world through. If an individual follows these family roles into adulthood, individuals follow whatever mold they were shaped into as a young person. This can obviously impact development in frightening ways. One can imagine a forty year-old still following his instilled role of a meek, rule-following, shy six year-old, or a twenty-one year-old still behaving as a reckless, authority defying teenager, but with much more damaging and dangerous rebellions. The types of anxiety that a person deals with on a frequent  basis derive from many sources. These factors come from both developmental sources and environmental sources. While environmental sources are inevitable and cannot be avoided, like natural disasters and wars, the developmental sources can be somewhat traced to other developmental factors. If a person carries too much anxiety, they can then begi n to develop harmful relationships and tendencies. Some anxieties that can hurt a persons’ development are worrying about trust, competence, and mattering. All three of these concerns can come from the way an individual is treated and affected by people close to them, and society as a whole, along with some of the traits they were born with. These main three concerns make or break relationships, another developmental factor. However, they also impact the way we develop in all strains of life, especially cognitive development. If someone has anxiety about not mattering or being competent, and this anxiety is reinforced by their relationships, they may truly begin to believe these things. This will begin to impact their work and productivity, starting to truly render them incompetent. Relationships also play a large role in development over time. Of all the factors discussed, I think this may be one of the most obvious, but also one of the most influential. Depending on the individual someone is relating to, and the impacts other developmental factors have on them too, relationships are the dynamic culmination of influences on human devel opment. Relationship models range from secure to insecure, and someone who forms insecure relationships is unlikely to trust anyone, and consequently bear even more anxiety than what led to the insecure relationship. I think relationships influence development because relationships give us friends, role models, and comfort. Relationships make life worth living, but if they are not healthy and secure relationships, the zeal for life may degrade. There are many factors that impact development in many different ways. These influences can have physical, social, cognitive, and emotional consequences, and help us to become the adults we do in life. They eventually all do interrelate and combine to influence each other and our development in many ways. This being said, it is crucial to development to have consistent, good, controlled factors. Although temperament cannot be controlled, parenting styles, family roles, and relationships can be objectively considered and helped, in order to ensure proper development and a productive, competent adult. If every child had these factors controlled  and watched, in order to help them develop the best they could, there would be much less anxiety, unhappiness, and idleness in our society.

The Effectiveness of a Multicultural and Bilingual Education Essay

The Effectiveness of a Multicultural and Bilingual Education 1 There is a lot of controversy concerning our public educational programs. Opinions and lifestyles differ; [-- often] Often what is beneficial for one group of people is counterproductive for another group. Educational issues are complex and sensitive; [-- therefore] Therefore, we must analyze both sides of the issue before we make a decision. Two controversial issues in today's public educational program are multicultural and bilingual education. 2 Some experts believe there are many benefits we, as Americans, can experience in a multicultural education. James A Banks states; "An education that reflects the experiences of a nation across its racial, gender and socioeconomic boundaries-benefits all students." (96) [This is from the book editor, not from Banks.] Banks is a professor and director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington in Seattle. [Put this before the quotation.] He also believes that an important goal should be to educate students so they can participate successfully in the workforce and in their civic communities to help the nation actualize ideals such as justice, equality and freedom (Banks 97). Studies show that student participation and test scores are increased when taught with group-oriented strategies consistent with their community cultures. Research indicates [whose authority?] students from diverse ethnic backgrounds do better in school when they have a better un derstanding of each other?s cultures (Banks 99). 3 Gena Dagel Caponi associate professor of American Studies at the University of Texas in San Antonio states; "Studying any one part of us does not divide us, it educates us. Occ... ...reenhaven Press Inc. 2000. 101-102. Chavez, Linda. "The Dangers Of Multiculturalism." Reprinted in: Williams, Mary E. ed. Are Multicultural Approaches Good For Education? Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego. Greenhaven Press Inc. 2000. 106. Chavez, Linda. "Bilingual Education Is A Failure." Reprinted in: Williams, Mary E. ed. Are Multicultural Approaches Good For Education? Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego. Greenhaven Press Inc. 2000. 130-134. ["Bilingual" goes before "Dangers"] Famularo, Thomas J. "Multicultural Education Is Counterproductive." Reprinted in: Williams, Mary E. ed. Are Multicultural Approaches Good For Education? Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego. 2000. 103-108. Garcia, Ofelia. "Bilingual Education Is Beneficial." Reprinted in: Williams, Mary E. ed. Are Multicultural Approaches Good For Education? Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego. 2000. 126-129.

Friendship and Facebook Essay

Facebook started out as a simple social networking site, and has now grown to be one of the biggest companies in the world. One would typically join the site to be social with others, but it seems like it is almost distancing people from one another. Facebook users tend to have hundreds of friends, but how many of those can actually be considered real friends? The meaning of friendship seems to be forgotten when it comes to Facebook. Facebook is affecting friendship in society today because people use it too much, have too many â€Å"friends†, and do not put as much effort in to their â€Å"real life† friends. The idea of Facebook seems like it would be a great way to maintain social relationships, but because people are using it so much it is actually isolating them more than anything. If Facebook was used in moderation, it would probably bring people a lot closer than it does now. Many of the millions of people that have a Facebook tend to check their page multiple times a day. It has become a new addiction for people, and for some, a very serious addiction. Many people today can spend countless hours accessing the site, even when they are out in public! When out in a social situation, take a look around the room and notice how many people are glued to their phones. It’s absolutely absurd. Before the use of smartphones and Facebook, people actually socialized with one another when they were together. Now it seems like people are letting it take over their lives, and not looking around to see what’s going on right in front of them in the real world. Friends don’t spend as much time together because they are too busy tagging each other, or looking at the other’s comments or pictures. If people used Facebook less, it would have a more positive effect on friendship. Most people in the world do not have hundreds or even thousands of friends, but on Facebook that is the norm. It has almost become like a popularity contest to see how many friends one can acquire. The more people one becomes friends with the harder it is to stay in touch with all of them. By having all of these â€Å"friends†, it seems like people aren’t focusing on what it means to really be a true friend. Junghyun Kim and Jong-Eun Roselyn Lee did a study on the effects of the number of Facebook friends one has: Having too many Facebook friends, on the other hand, will not necessarily increase social support one can receive, for most of the ‘friendships’ may be superficial at best. It takes much time and effort to build and maintain mutual companionship with friends. Given the average number of close offline friends is only nine, it is not surprising that Facebook users maintain close connections with less than 3% of their Facebook friends. It is likely that the larger one’s Facebook network becomes, the less time and effort can be invested in each individual (Kim and Lee). People shouldn’t refer to Facebook friends as â€Å"friends†, because most of the time those people aren’t true friends. A friend is someone who is always there, and is an important person in life that is trustworthy. It seems like people today are more focused on commenting on someone’s post, rather than actually taking the time to spend time with them. People need to take the time to realize who their true friends are, and try to make sure they stay close with them. Facebook actually has a maximum number of friends one can have at a time. Amy Dempsey stated â€Å"Holding on to old friendships via Facebook may prevent us from forming new connections in the real world† (Dempsey). Amy later goes on to quote Oxford University professor Robin Dunbar, â€Å"According to Facebook, the reason for the 5,000-friend cap is that anything beyond that can make it too difficult to maintain an environment where you can stay engaged with your friends in a meaningful way†(Dunbar). It seems like the quality of friendship is diminishing in this society. People do not have the time to keep in touch with hundreds of people and actually have a close relationship with all of them. It shouldn’t matter how many friends one has, the quality of the friendship is much more important. Since people are using this site so much, their important relationships are suffering. Facebook may seem like it is bringing friends closer together, but it is actually just doing the opposite of that. Facebook is becoming detrimental to friendships because people are using it too much, are acquiring too many friends, and therefore are letting it affect their meaningful friendships. Life is so short, and people should take the time to appreciate their true friends who are right in front of them, rather than to try to keep in touch with people that they may barely even know. If Facebook keeps on growing and continuing the way that it is, it does not look too good for meaningful friendships. It really is simple, spend more time with friends and less time on Facebook. Work Cited Dempsey, Amy. Toronto, Star. â€Å"5000: Maximum Number of Friends Allowed on Facebook 1578: Number of Crystal Kapteyn’s Facebook Friends150: Meaningful Friendships Humans Can Handle15: Number if Bestfriends5: Intimate Friends.† Toronto Star (Canada) n.d.: Newspaper Source. Web. 6 December 2012. Junghyun, Kim, and Lee Jong-Eun Roselyn. â€Å"The Facebook Paths To Happiness: Effects of the Number of Facbook Friends and Self-Presentation on Subjective Well-being.† Cyberpyschology, Behavior & Social Networking 14.6 (2011): 359-364. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Dec. 2012.