Doping in Sports is a Problem Essay

Doing steroids, which is known as doping, is a problem in sports that needs to be stopped and needs to be stopped fast. Ask anyone with a decent knowledge of sports and current events, and they will tell you: nearly every week, another high-profile doping story makes its way to the headlines of newspapers around the world. A quick Google News search for â€Å"doping† revealed over 7,500 results from the past week alone. The stories ranged from the lesser known 2 Youth Olympic Games Wrestlers who were recently suspended to the more famous 2010 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador’s positive test. This month, Brent Musburger (an ABC/ESPN sports commentator) told a group of students at University of Montana that steroids work. Musburger blamed â€Å"journalism youngsters† who â€Å"got too deeply involved in something they didn’t know too much about† for the negative image steroids and doping now have. He went on to say that steroids had no place in high school, but â€Å"under the proper care and doctor’s advice, they could be used at the professional level.† (Quotes take from the Missoulian article.) If you know me (or have been in a class with me), you know how I feel about doping in sports. In fact, anti-doping was one of the reasons I came to law school, and more specifically to Marquette. My view is that doping has no place in sport. The story of how I came to become so staunchly against doping is for another day (and perhaps a different venue), but basically involves my love for the sport of cycling and the systematic doping that plagues that sport. Suffice it to say that I take a firm stance against doping in all sports in all forms. It probably goes without saying that I could not disagree with Musburger more. Doping, least of all in the form of anabolic steroids, has no place in sports – amateur or professional. I think all anti-doping arguments come down to two basic principles, only one of which Musburger addresses in his blanket approval of steroid use in professional athletes. First, doping threatens the health of athletes. Musburger argues that with proper medical supervision, steroids can be healthy. While this might be true in some (and I would suggest limited) cases, it would certainly not be true in all cases. The use of steroids can have serious health repercussions, including affected liver, endocrine, and reproductive function, tumors of the liver and kidneys, heart conditions, and psychiatric symptoms. Additionally, the article just linked goes on to mention the increased probability of side effects when 1) steroids are used more than the recommended dose, 2) steroids are used in conjunction with other performance enhancing substances, and 3) counterfeit or tainted steroids are used. Legalizing steroid use would not solve these problems. The side effects listed in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (a part of the National Institute of Health) article are not restricted to improper use of steroids. I will not detail out the side effects of not only steroids, but also the use of hGH and EPO (often used in cycling), the NCBI does a nice job of listing those and providing citations to studies. Furthermore, the drive to win will always encourage athletes to take â€Å"just one more.† Sure, proper medical supervision would ensure that an athlete receives the proper dose from that doctor, but when that athlete fails to win the next race, game, or match, he or she is more likely to increase the dose or combine other methods of doping. Second, and unaddressed by Musburger, doping affects the integrity of sport. Sport is not about simply winning. The saying â€Å"It’s not about whether you win or lose, it’s how you played the game,† although clichà ©, is absolutely correct. The Olympic Movement identifies the Olympic spirit – mutual understanding, spirit of friendship, solidarity, and fair play – as fundamental to sport. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was founded on the principle that integrity of sport is fundamental to the spirit of sport, and that integrity is threatened by doping. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) division on anti-doping believes that â€Å"doping jeopardizes the moral and ethical basis of sport and the health of those involved in it.† The National Football League itself created its own steroid policy because steroid use threatens â€Å"the fairness and integrity of athletic competitionâ€Å" and †Å"sends the wrong message to young people who may be tempted to use them.† Sports are about competition on equal footing, with respect for the opponent, and with respect for the rules of the game. Permitting the use of steroids under proper medical supervision would threaten the fairness and integrity of the game. First, athletes who choose not to use steroids are at an unfair advantage – most will be unable to compete at the same level as athletes who are using steroids. Second, the integrity of the game is compromised because it is no longer about which athlete has the best skills or talent, it’s instead about which athlete has the best steroid cocktail or the money to buy the best steroids. Thus, steroid use is contrary to the spirit of sport – fairness, respect, and solidarity. The concept of mutual respect between competitors is thwarted when one (or both) athletes would rather use steroids to improve his or her performance than compete based on individual strength, skill, or talent. However, if health and integrity concerns aren’t enough to convince you, consider this final point. Law students, and indeed lawyers, are fond of the slippery slope argument. I think it finds a comfortable place in this debate. It’s a slippery slope between allowing steroid use with proper medical supervision and eliminating anti-doping regulations. Where is the line to be drawn? Will it now be illegal to use steroids only if taken without proper medical supervision? How can proper medical supervision be proven? How does an athlete prove that the steroids in his or her body were as a result of proper medical supervision and not other means? What about athletes who use more than the recommended dose? What about other forms of doping (hGh or EPO)? Are those next to be permitted under proper medical supervision? It’s difficult to see how regulating the use of steroids in sport is workable. The only way to preserve integrity in sport and protect the health of athletes is through a serious anti-doping approach. Anti-doping efforts are most successful when the â€Å"law† (anti-doping policy) sets forth clear, bright-line rules about when and what substances are prohibited. Although a long way from perfect, WADA has created the most comprehensive anti-doping program in the world (indeed the only anti-doping program most of the world outside of the US models and implements). American professional sports leagues should be looking at ways to model the WADA code in its own anti-doping policies (like the United States Anti-Doping Agency is doing), not seeking ways to excuse steroid use or compromise anti-doping efforts. Steroids have no place in sports.

Corwin Corporation Analysis Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this of document is to analyze the factors that led to the Corwin’s project failure. Corwin Corporation’s relationship with a good customer, Peters Company was strained because of Corwin’s failure to follow their management policies. A fixed-price contract was signed without proper risk analysis, the was no evidence of a project plan and the situation was made worse by the lack of support from management. This report discusses the failures in project selection, lack of executive support and communication breakdown, all of which lead to the project being terminated by the client. INTRODUCTION Corwin Corporation accepted a project which was outside their scope of work from Peters Company to develop a specialty product. They accepted the assignment based on a rough draft and without analyzing the risks and thus  leading to the project being later terminated by Peters Company and jeopardizing their long-standing good relationship with the client. The project started before the contract was signed. Corwin’s failure could be attributed to a number of errors that were made on accepting this assignment. A number of important factors like the management policy, were completely ignored. Corwin agreed on a fixed-price 5-year contract based on a rough draft, no proper analysis was done and the scope was unclear. This meant that Corwin would be responsible for any cost overruns incurred. It is never advisable to accept a fixed-price contract without determining the client’s needs and whether or not they are achievable. Corwin failed to assign the right person to manag e the project. An inexperienced Project Manager was tasked to lead the project and although one of the senior managers had doubts about the project manager’s capabilities to lead such a project, his concerns were ignored. Effort Corwin allowed an in-house representative direct access to the lab which ultimately left the employees unhappy and disgruntled. The lack of management support also played a major role in the project’s failure. Management was dealing with the issues raised by the project manager passively and hoped the â€Å"situation would correct itself†. The requirements were poor and the schedule was unrealistic. Poor project selection, lack of support from top management, non-existent change management control and communication issues were identified as areas of concern within the Corwin Corporation. For the purpose of the case study, the researcher will be discussing how these project management principles/concepts, if followed properly could have prevented Corwin from accepting this project. CASE ANALYSIS 1. Project Selection Project Selection should not be perceived to be a tedious and unnecessary exercise but as an important exercise that would be beneficial for the customer and the contractor. A number of factors such as production consideration, marketing consideration, financial consideration, personnel consideration and administration consideration, need to be taken into  consideration to ensure that the project is in line with the organisation’s strategic objectives. 1.1 Poor Project Selection Corwin established a management policy that governed the project selection process for the evaluation of specialty product requests. (Burke: 67) states that â€Å"The selection of the right project for future investment is a crucial decision for the long-term survival of a company†. Frimel’s failure to follow the management put the company’s reputation at risk. Following the project selection process assists companies in deciding which projects to pursue and which to let go. Most of the executives were away on vacation which means that the project was not evaluated using the company’s selection method and without the executives’ consultation. It is important to note that during the evaluation process, individuals with different with backgrounds and subject-matter expects should been involved to make an informed decision whether or not to take on Peters Company offer. In this case, the major decision-makers were away on holiday. Peters Company came across as bullying and threatening in their requests thus this might have led to Corwin accepting the project to save their business relationship. This project was outside Corwin’s scope and should have never been accepted. It answered â€Å"NO† on the first criteria of the management policy therefore it wasn’t viable. 1.2 Proposal Preparation A proposal is a response document to the RFP (Request for Proposal), it includes a plan of action, states why the action is necessary and persuades the customer to approve the implementation of the recommended action. The proposal should also include a plausible management plan and technical approach. To create winning proposals, it is important to have resources with relevant skills and expertise e.g. subject matter expects, to help prepare a quality proposal. Royce used inappropriate and unskilled resources to prepare the proposal. He had reservations about selecting West; despite his lack of experience in dealing with external projects, as the Project  Manager without Dr. Reddy’s (R&D Manager) input but he ignored his instincts. The proposal preparation was conducted by contracts man who was not familiar with fixed-price contracts. Royce was overly optimistic in estimating the cost and didn’t include contingency to cover unexpected situations that may arise during the project. (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition: 69) states that â€Å"if the estimated costs are overly optimistic and some unexpected expenditures arise, the contractor is likely to either lose money (on a fixed-price contract) or hate to suffer the embarrassment of going back to the customer to request additional funds to cover cost overruns†. Corwin’s final proposal to Peters was a technical document as it contained engineering intent and cost summaries which were also not properly done. This later in the project resulted in scope creeps which saw Corwin’s profit on the project diminish. 1.3 Contract Negotiation Fixed-price contracts are beneficial to the customer but not the contractor. Before signing this type of contract, the customer should have a detailed scope work from the customer. There are risks associated with this type of contract for contractors, i.e. the customer is liable for any cost overruns should the project run beyond schedule, budget and time. Agreeing to a fixed-price contract was also one of the contributing factors that led to the project’s failure. Although the profit margins sounded appealing on the phone during Delia and Frimel’s conversation, they looked different on paper. The disadvantages of such a contract for Corwin far outweighed the advantages for Peters Company. (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition: 76) states that â€Å"Fixed-price contracts are most appropriate for projects that are well defined and entail little risk†. It is good practice to start working on a project after the contract has been signed. Corwin worked first and signed later . 1.4 Risk Management Ignored Royce made a commitment to assess the risks once he got hold of the specification sheets. Looking at the Cost Summary in the proposal, one can  conclude that he never kept to his commitment since it didn’t even include the contingency amount. â€Å"Some level of risk planning should be done during the initiation phase of the project life cycle to make sure, for example, that the contractor understands the risks involved with bidding on a proposed project† (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition: 270). Risk assessment therefore is an important aspect of project initiation because it helps the contractors make better decisions, negotiate fair contracts and create risk mitigation methods. A good risk assessment takes into consideration anything that could go wrong with the project and determines what it would cost. Accepting a project outside Corwin’s scope area of expertise was a risk, appointing an inexperienced scientist from the R&D department was a risk, agreeing to a fixed-price contract was a risk and procurement of all materials was a risk. Corwin resorted to risk aversion. 1.5 Project Kickoff Meeting West solicited support from other groups after sending the proposal to the customer. This left his colleagues unhappy because of the lack of communication about the project objective. It is the project manager’s duty to involve the project team at the early stages of the project to clearly define the project objective, gather support from the departments affected by and involved in the project and define each member’s role and responsibility. †The project manager spearheads development of a plan to achieve the project objective. By involving the project team (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition: 303) in developing this plan, the project manager ensures a more comprehensive plan than he or she could develop alone†. Project kickoff meetings provide a good platform for the project manager to deliver a presentation about the meeting and its importance to the organization. Clear roles and responsibilities of each project team member must be discussed. An understanding of each member’s role in a team reduces communication issues and late deliverables. This will not only help him gain commitment from the team but it will also assist in accomplishing the project objective on time, within budget and of the right quality. 1.6 Change Management At the start of the project, a change control system needs to be established to define how changes will be documented, approved and communicated† (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition: 320). The project manager did not have proper change control procedure in place. The in-house representative made changes to the scope, which resulted in scope creep. His changes were not documented and communicated and were not within the budget. When he requested an additional five tests beyond the agreed scope, the project manager should have evaluated the request and provided Peters Company with a proposal outlining the costs to add the tests to the scope. Uncontrolled change exposed Corwin to unnecessary risk. A change control process is significant to the successful delivery of a project and ensures that each change introduced to the project environment is appropriately defined, evaluated and approved. The project manager in this case struggled to control changes in the project because he didn†™t have proper process in place and that he lacked project management experience. 1 Lack of Management Support Top management support is the most important critical success factor for project success. Many projects fail because they have only passive senior management support. In mature organisations, executives act as project sponsors. In this case, Royce (VP of Engineering) should have been the project sponsor. The role of a sponsor is to â€Å"ensure that the correct information from the contractor’s organisation is reaching executives in the customer’s organisation, that there is no filtering of information from the contractor to the customer, and that someone at the executive level is making sure that the customer’s money is being spent wisely† (Kerzner, 7th Edition: 475). The project failed to achieve an enthusiastic approval from the president, there was little hope of it being successful. Projects need some involvement by executive management to allocate needed resources appropriately to the projects. The executives set strategic goal for organization and uses projects to meet those goals. They need to provide guidance to project managers that is in line with the organisation’s strategic objectives and track the alignment of those objectives to the  project objectives. Frimel, after initiating the project, distanced himself when he handed full responsibility over to Royce and went on vacation. Frimel had experience in these types of projects because his department was the decision maker for the specialty products. He should have acted as project sponsor and supported Royce but instead, left him to fail. During the first meeting in which the project was discussed, Dr. Reddy (R&D Manager) expressed his dissatisfaction about the choice of project manager Royce had made. 2.7 Organisational Structure and Culture â€Å"The organizational culture, style, and structure influence how projects are performed† (PMBOK, 4th Edition: 27). Corwin has maintained a functional organisational structure for more than 15 years. In functional structures, project managers do not full control over the project teams. One of the disadvantages with this type of structure is the competition among functional departments. Corwin’s Marketing department made almost all the decisions, project managers for specialty products came out of marketing. The Engineering department as stated in the case study, â€Å"was considered merely as a support group†. The Vice President for engineering mentioned at some point that his vote never appeared to carry any wait. The morale was very low in some departments as they felt that they were not as valued as the other departments. Reddy did not give much support to the project manager and later contradicted himself that the project manager â€Å"kept him in the dar k†. His unbecoming behaviour can be attributed to the fact that the Vice President failed to heed his call about his reservations towards the choice of the PM thus, he became so reluctant to assist the PM. A healthy organizational culture encourages accountability and personal responsibility. Denial, blame and excuses harden relationships and intensify conflicts. 2 Poor Communication The president’s reluctant authorization was interpreted as â€Å"the boss gave his blessing†. â€Å"†¦ phone conversations allow the listener to hear the tone,  inflection, speed, volume and emotion of the voice† (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition: 371). A reluctant voice sounds differently from an enthusiastic voice on the phone. The project manager failed to communicate timely to the executives about the representative’s interfering behaviour, he thought he could handle it. The situation spiraled out of control when the representatives started giving orders to the project manager about removing functional employees on the team. Providing the customer with progress reports frequently, keeps the customer in the loop and informed about the status of the project. Communication skills are one of the most important skills every project manager should possess, it very important that the project manager communicates with the stakeholders and project team. The project manager should have escalated problems as they occurred and scheduled meetings to resolve them. He should know what needs to be communicated to who and when. CONCLUSIONS Corwin Corporation failed to follow its own management policy, took on a project, and neglected to apply the proper management principles. The executives were not part of the contract acquisition and failed to develop and nurture the project manager. The organizational culture was such that all departments were equal but some were equal more than the others were. This resulted in people wanting to prove themselves worthy by taking on big projects even though they lacked experience. The project manager was set deliberately set to fail, the manager knew his strength and weaknesses but was unavailable to assist until the last minute. Corwin did not have a house rules in place with regards to in-house representatives. Corwin didn’t work the plan and therefore couldn’t plan the work. RECOMMENDATIONS * Top management need to educate employees on the management policy regarding new projects. Functional managers need to lead this drive. * The Engineering department plays as much a role in decision making as the Marketing and Manufacturing department. The R&D bring innovation of the products in the organization and thus should not be seen as a support group. * The project manager’s mistakes were attributed to his lack of  experience. The PM should continue to lead small projects and the organization must provide Project Management training for aspiring project managers within the company. * The staff’s morale is low at this point, management needs to organize team-building to boost confidence and foster and repair relationships * Create cross functional teams to function as self-directed respond to specific directives REFERENCES James P. Clements & Jack Gido. 2007. Effective Project Management. 5th Edition. South-Western: Cengage Learning. Harold Kerzner, PHD. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. Seventh Edition. USA: John Wiley & Sons Inc. PMBOK ® Guide . 2008. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Fourth Edition. USA: Project Management Institute.

The Environment of Electronic Commerce Essay Example

The Environment of Electronic Commerce Essay Example The Environment of Electronic Commerce Paper The Environment of Electronic Commerce Paper These elements have helped governments create the legal concept of jurisdiction in the physical world. Because the four elements exist in somewhat different forms on the Internet, he jurisdiction rules that work so well in the physical world do not always work well in the online world. 2. In about 300 words, describe the differences between subject-matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction. * Subject-matter jurisdiction is a courts authority to decide a particular type of dispute. For example, in the IS. S, federal courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over issues governed by federal law (such as bankruptcy, copyright, patent and federal tax matters) and state courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over issues governed by state laws (such as professional licensing and state tax matters). If the parties to a contract are both located in the same state, a state court has subject- matter jurisdiction over disputes that arise from the terms of that contract. The rules for determining whether a court has subject-matter jurisdiction are clear and easy to apply. Few disputes arise over subject-matter jurisdiction. * Personal jurisdiction is, in general, determined by the residence of the parties. A court has personal jurisdiction over a case if the defendant is a resident of the state in which the court is located. In such cases, the determination of personal jurisdiction is straightforward. However, an out-of- state person or corporation can also voluntarily submit to the jurisdiction of a particular state court by agreeing to do so in writing or by taking certain actions in the state. 3. The advantages and disadvantages of issuing business process patents have been hotly debated by legal scholars and business people. One compromise proposal advanced by Jeff Bozos, founder of Amazon. Com, is to allow the issuance of business patents, but only allow them to be effective for a short time, perhaps two or three years. In about 300 words, present logical ND factual arguments that support the issuance of such limited-term business process patents. * The business process patent, which protects a specific set Of procedures for conducting a particular business activity, is quite controversial. Many legal experts and business researchers believe that the issuance of business process patents grants the recipients unfair monopoly power and is an inappropriate extension of patent law. In 1999, Amazon. Com sued Barnes and Noble for using a process on its Web site that was similar to the I-click method. The case was settled out of court in 2002, but the terms f the settlement were not disclosed. In 2007, a federal judge entered a final judgment of $30 million against eBay in a business process patent case. A company that makes a business of buying patents and attempting to enforcing them, Merchantmen, had sue eBay for its use of a fixed price sales option that eBay calls Buy It Now. Merchantmen believed that one of its patents covered the mechanism of offering a fixed price option in an online auction. Merchantmen is continuing to press for an injunction (in addition to the monetary damages already awarded) that would prevent eBay from using he feature at all. 4. Define product disparagement. In two or three paragraphs, present an example of product disparagement. A defamatory statement is a statement that is false and that injures the reputation of another person or company. Product disparagement is defined as: if a defamatory Statement injures the reputation off product or service instead of a person. * In some countries, even a true and honest comparison of products may give rise to product disparagement. Because the difference justifiable criticism and defamation can be hard to de termine, commercial Web sites should consider he specific laws in their jurisdiction (and consider consulting a lawyer) before making negative, evaluative statements about other persons or products. . In about 300 words, explain the idea of nexus. Why is it an important concept in state and international taxation? In what ways is it similar to jurisdiction? * A government acquires the power to tax a business when that business establishes a connection with the area controlled by the government. For example, a business that is located in Kansas has a connection with the state of Kansas and is subject to Kansas taxes. If that many opens a branch in Arizona, it forms a connection with Arizona and becomes subject to Arizona taxes on the portion of its business that occurs in Arizona. This connection between a tax-paying entity and a government is called a nexus. The concept of nexus is similar in many ways to the concept of personal jurisdiction. The activities that create nexus in the U. S. Are determined by state law and thus vary from state to state. Its issues have been frequently litigated and the resulting common law is fairly complex. Determining nexus can be difficult when a company conducts only a few activities in or has minimal contact with the state. In such cases, its advisable for the company to obtain the services of a professional tax advisor. Companies that do business in more than one country face national nexus issues. If a company undertakes sufficient activities in a particular country, it establishes nexus with that country and becomes liable for filling tax returns for that country. The laws and regulations that determine national nexus are different in each country. Companies will find the services of a professional tax lawyer or accountant who has experience in international taxation to be valuable.

30 Religious Terms You Should Know

30 Religious Terms You Should Know 30 Religious Terms You Should Know 30 Religious Terms You Should Know By Maeve Maddox When I was growing up in small town America, stories about religion were generally confined to the Saturday church pages in the local newspaper. Catholics and Jews were the most exotic religious practitioners in town, and â€Å"atheist† was a strong term of disapprobation. These days religion is front page news. People are killed or driven into hiding because someone somewhere has labeled their work â€Å"blasphemy.† School children with attitude get away with refusing to do their homework because they know that school officials are easily spooked by anything relating to religion. Journalists and school officials shouldn’t have to tiptoe around religious topics. The topic of religion, like that of ecology, is one that concerns all human beings. Although the three Abrahamic religions get most of the news copy, the number of religions that matter to people number in the double digits. Whether we care about it or not, we ought to be able to read and write about religion with some understanding of the terminology. NOTE: The definitions given here are not intended to be exhaustive. For one thing, some of the terms are defined differently by different religious groups. For permutations of meaning, see the OED or some other authoritative dictionary. Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All three faiths trace their origins to the patriarch Abraham who rejected the polytheism of ancient Sumer to embrace a belief in one, invisible, deity. Sometimes referred to as â€Å"the desert religions.† agnosticism: the philosophical position that the existence or non-existence of God or a First Cause is unknowable. Anglican: relating to the Church of England. An ancient name for the English people was â€Å"Angles.† The Church of England traces its beginning to 597, the year in which Pope Gregory I sent St. Augustine to Canterbury. The Church of England remained under papal authority until 1534 when Henry VIII declared himself the Supreme Head of the Church because of conflicts with Pope Clement VII. animism: the belief that every material form of reality (plants, animals, stones, thunderstorms, earthquakes) have an indwelling spirit; often includes belief in the continued existence of individual disembodied human spirits capable of helping or harming the living. asceticism: a mode of life that excludes physical pleasures and self-indulgence. Many religions regard asceticism (fasting, abstaining from sexual activity, wearing inadequate clothing) as a means of reaching a higher spiritual state. atheism: disbelief in any deity or supernatural power. blasphemy: indignity offered to God, from Greek blasphemia, â€Å"a speaking ill, impious speech, slander.† Religions define blasphemy in terms of their own beliefs, often designating prophets and holy objects along with God as subjects not to be profaned. Many countries have anti-blasphemy laws. Buddhism: the teaching that suffering is inherent to life and that the way to escape suffering and repeated existence is to limit one’s desires and expectations. There are various sects with varying beliefs. Confucianism: a system of teachings characterized by central emphasis on the practice and cultivation of the cardinal virtues of filial piety, kindness, righteousness, propriety, intelligence, and faithfulness. ecclesiastic: relating to a church. Greek ekklesiastikos referred to the ancient Athenian political assembly. First century Christians writers adopted the word to mean â€Å"assembly of believers,† or â€Å"church.† episcopal: having to do with a bishop. Like â€Å"ecclesiastic,† the English word bishop derives from a Greek word, episkopos, â€Å"watcher, overseer. The Greeks used their word to refer to government officials. First century Christian writers used bishop or episkopos to refer to church elders. In time bishop came to mean the chief administrator of a diocese (administrative district governed by a bishop) with the power to ordain. Episcopal is the adjective for bishop. evangelical: having to do with the Christian gospel/New Testament writings. The word is also used to describe a type of Christian belief that emphasizes the inerrancy of scripture and salvation through personal conversion. Eucharist: the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, a rite in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed in symbolic union with Christ. The word comes from a Greek word meaning â€Å"grateful.† ecumenical: worldwide. As applied to religion, the word’s current use to mean cooperation among religious groups began with a 20th century movement promoting the idea of an inter-confessional Christian unity. Now an â€Å"ecumenical† group cooperating on some matter of general social benefit might include representatives from non-Christian religions. eschatology: the study of matters relating to the ultimate destiny of mankind and the world. Gnosticism: the belief that salvation is to be obtained by means of secret knowledge and that the material world is evil. Gnostic mystery religions abounded in the Roman Empire. The early Christian church was fragmented into various sects, many of which taught a Gnostic version of the new religion. gospel: the story of Christ’s life and teachings as told in the first four books of the Christian New Testament. The literal meaning of the word is â€Å"good news.† heresy: a religious opinion, or adherence to such an opinion, that is contrary to an established religious teaching. The word comes from Greek hairesis, â€Å"action of taking, choice, sect.† Originally a heresy was simply a difference of opinion. It became a religious crime, often punished by death. Hinduism: a body of social, cultural, and religious beliefs and practices found chiefly in India. It includes a belief in reincarnation and transmigration of souls. indulgence: in Roman Catholicism, a remission of punishment, especially punishment in Purgatory (in Catholic belief, Purgatory is an intermediate place of purification for souls that departed stained with minor sins not deserving of eternal punishment in Hell). Immaculate Conception: the Roman Catholic doctrine that the Virgin Mary was conceived without Original Sin (the sin of Adam and Eve conveyed to all human beings). This is not the same thing as the Virgin Birth, â€Å"the belief that Jesus was divinely begotten and miraculously born of a virgin mother.† jihad: a holy war on behalf of Islam. The Christian equivalent word is crusade, â€Å"a campaign or war sanctioned by the Church against unbelievers or heretics.† Literal crusades were common in the Middle Ages and were directed against Christian heretics as well as non-Christians. Now the term is used figuratively to mean â€Å"any remedial activity pursued with zeal and enthusiasm.† The same meaning is becoming attached to jihad. lay: not in holy orders. In a monastery there are monks who pray and do intellectual work, and those who do manual work and attend to secular affairs. The latter are called lay brothers. The term has spread to non-religious professions. Someone who lacks professional knowledge of a particular profession is called a layman. In a church setting one may speak of the clergy and the laity (non-clerical members of the church). monotheism: the doctrine or belief that there is only one God. nihilism: the viewpoint that all traditional beliefs are unfounded and that human life has no meaning. orthodox: in agreement with the official doctrine of a given religion. The word is from Greek orthodoxein, â€Å"to have the right opinion.† The noun is orthodoxy. Departure from orthodoxy is called heterodoxy. pagan This is a term difficult to define in even such a superficial treatment as this. For the early Christians, a pagan was a believer in polytheistic religion. The word originally meant â€Å"country dweller.† The rural population was slower to adopt Christianity than the city dwellers, probably because their religion was closely bound to agricultural cycles. Nowadays there are religious groups that identify themselves as Pagans. Modern paganism is earth-centered and can include polytheistic beliefs. The word heathen is used pejoratively to mean a person without religion. Like pagan, heathen also points to the fact that non-city dwellers tended to reject religious change. Heath comes from a word meaning â€Å"field.† Heathen was originally an adjective meaning â€Å"of the heath.† polytheism: belief in more than one god. profane: not holy. Anything not related to religion and spirituality is profane. The word can also be used as a verb meaning â€Å"to treat something sacred with irreverence.† secular: worldly, not sacred. Similar to profane, secular refers to anything that is not specifically religious. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Possessive of Proper Names Ending in SFor Sale vs. On SaleThe Difference Between e.g. and i.e.?

You Earn What You Ask For

You Earn What You Ask For I was chatting with a reader not long ago, and she brought up the age-old complaint about entities asking writers (or any sort of artist) to present for freefor the exposure. Her words were these: our culture places little or no value on volunteer work, despite the lip-service given it. So, the covert message is that if you the performer, artist, service provider, etc. do not value your services enough to put a price on them, the client wont either. The lesser the value you place on yourself, the greater the disrespect you receive from your client. Ive written entire editorials on that subject, but she hit the nail on the head. People not only get what they pay for, but earn what they ask for. A few people will get their feathers ruffled. Not me or I know a lot of exceptions to that, but the grand majority of people see free as something of lesser value; otherwise, it wouldnt be cheap. And if something costs more, there usually has to be a reason. Ive turned down conferences and appearances for not compensating well enough. The initial gut reaction is to worry that youve declined an opportunity. We tend to be a group of creators that jumps at the chance to be read/seen anywhere, but that small feeling of panic about In the long run, you deem what you are worth, and the more you give it away, the lower your stock value.

Review paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Review paper - Essay Example However, poverty has driven these people towards survival of the fittest. Mothers become increasingly detached with infants who are perceived to be weak to survive the extremely poor conditions and a presumed to be a burden on the family. This aspect has been discussed in the paper. The researcher analyzed the reproductive backgrounds of seventy two women of the small town and tried to discover linkages between the economic and maternal disparity with material and emotional scarcity. The purpose behind this study is to find out the effect of materialism and economic disparity on the social and cultural norms of motherhood, attachment, parting and eventual loss by death. The researcher wants to prove that these sentiments are a production of the environment or the society a person belongs to rather than an innate psychological feeling of attachment that comes natural to a mother. His curiosity for this study developed because if two incidents in his life one of a girl from a rural area who murdered her infant son and one year old daughter. When he asked her for the reason behind her action she replied, ‘They wouldn’t stop asking for milk and that little ones had no feelings.’ And the second incident which formed the basis of his studies was in a town where there were was shortage of food, no access to clean drinking water, lack of sanitation and infectious diseases. The writer was involved with helping a woman give birth to her second child. However, her first child was not cared for, thrown in the dumps, living in very worse conditions, taken by compassion the writer took the child to the care center and with a lot of effort nurtured him back to health. The women there however paid no heed to weak children as mentioned above and shunned the writer for making an effort on the girls first born. The second born however was fair and healthy and was the center of attention. The culture there conformed to the natural term of

Justice in Greek Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Justice in Greek Philosophy - Essay Example Plato, one of the Greek's ancient philosophers, ideally believed that sense-gained knowledge remains impure and confused, and that only the soul that contemplates and turns away from thinking carnally can receive true knowledge. He also believed that only the soul can know real essences of things, acquire knowledge of forms since the world as seen by the eye is nothing short of an imperfect copy (Bakalis, 2005). The immense dialogue in the Republic is opened by questioning the nature of justice. Several definitions of justice are proposed which are found to be inadequate except that at least more emphasis is put on Sophist, Thrasymachus' definition. According to this young man, justice is anything the strongest man decides that it is. Further, he states that whatever is in the strong man's interest is just. This argument is dismissed by Socrates after proving that strong personalities rarely get to know whatever is in their best interest; this cannot be just since justice in itself is a virtuous (Griffin, Boardman & Murray, 2001). Plato had quite a different view of justice; he believed that an answer exists that derives basically from reality's nature. In his republic, justice is defined as wisdom, courage and self-control; something close to righteousness and morality. In Greek, the Republic refers to the character or order of a political society; its regime type or constitution. The republic also refers to the city-state governance in a Socratic dialogue written in 380 BC by Plato. The republic is a most influential work of political theory and philosophy, and is Plato's best work. In fictional dialogues with foreigners, Athenians and Socrates, Plato discusses the meaning of true justice (Griffin et al., 2001). He seeks to establish whether man is happier when just or unjust by imagining a society that is governed by the guardians and philosopher-kings. The dialogue also goes further to discuss the role of philosophers, the place of poetry, the Theory of Forms and the soul's immortality. Plato's Republic is to-date considered in respect of western philosophy to be one of the most influential works. The Republic essentially deals with the subject of how one can live well. This inquiry into how one can live a good life was shaped into two parallel questions: (1) what does an ideal state look like, or what is state justice (2) What makes a just person These questions naturally encompass others such as: how should the state citizen be educated, what arts need to be encouraged, what kind of government should state adopt, who should govern and what rewards should the governor receive, what is the soul's nature and what afterlife and divine sanctions exist (Griffin et al., 2001). The dialogue proceeds to cover almost all aspects of Plato's thought. Platonic thought as described by several central aspects that exist in the dialogue can be summed up into three main points; the nature of justice, the ideal republic and the allegory of the divided line and the cave (which attempt to explain the theory of forms as perceived by Plato). THE IDEAL REPUBLIC According to Socrates, if a person can define what a just state looks like then the person can apply that analogously to the just man. Plato on his part exposes in detail how a state can have wisdom, courage, justice and temperament - four great virtues. In his utopia, Plato divides men