The Means for Effective Interpersonal Communication between Couples Essay

The Means for Effective Interpersonal Communication between Couples - Essay Example Most of the time, we tend to look at the faults and weaknesses of others while making quick judgments or conclusions at the same time. This usually is the first action since it is part of our innate instinct to be on the defensive, both physically and psychologically. Knowing this, you are already aware that taking your own side first in any argument is an instinctive reaction. Of course, that kind of action does not really deal with the problem initially. The first step in having an effective and happy interpersonal communication as a couple is to first look into your own self. This requires serious introspection and a degree of private time away from each other. Introspection requires a long and deep look into one’s own personality and character. Just imagine having to sit in front of a mirror while asking yourself questions about your own self. Some of the questions that could be asked would be about good traits, inherent character strengths, character flaws, and weaknesses. The primary reason why this step is important is because it practices you to be self-aware of mistakes that might have been overlooked. More often than not, it is easy to point fingers at the mistakes of others while forgetting that you have your own shortcomings as well. To be more conscious of your own mistakes is a matter of mindfulness. After spending a great deal of time understanding your personality and behavior, the next step is to have a self-appraisal on your personal manner of communicating. You have to realize that for an effective interpersonal communication to happen between couples, it is also important to know how you would communicate with yourself and if you have communication competencies. The issue is not whether or not you are good in expressing yourself. You can express yourself clearly but still send the wrong sentiments. Most of the time, it is the manner and not the message that has the

Volkswagen AG Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Volkswagen AG - Essay Example Our company was founded in 1904 (History 2011), and since that time we have gone through a great number of changes and developed a series of strategies to help us be a socially responsible company that employs around 370,000 people globally (Human Resources 2011). Therefore, on the basis of our vast experience operating internationally we would like to provide the local network with a number of recommendations on how other companies can become as socially responsible, for the benefit of both the companies and the global society. In particular, we would like to address the following two principles of the Global Compact: Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.  (UN Global Compact 2011). Lessons Learnt Our company takes active part in initiatives aimed at human rights protection. We respect and support peo ple’s right to collective bargaining. In particular, the freedom of association and our employees’ right to collective bargaining have had a significantly positive impact on the company’s operations in the 1990s. Due to financial constraints, at that time Volkswagen was about to fire a great number of company’s employees. ... On contrast, failure to follow collective agreements and cooperate with unions and associations may lead to disastrous results for a company. In particular, one of our competitors, General Motors Corporation (GM), had to undergo through a series of court trials as a result of denial to support human rights. In 2005, as the Delphi Corporation, a former part of General Motors Corporation, filed bankruptcy and refused to fulfil its defined benefit plans. The plans, including retirement plans for former Delphi employees, were terminated and GM cancelled and terminated all the obligations under the old collective bargaining agreements. In 2009 GM, finally, did sign a settlement agreement. However, it â€Å"did not provide top-ups to the splinter unions or to any other noncovered employees† (Bovbjerg and Clowers 2011). We, at Volkswagen AG, believe such behaviour of the company to be unacceptable in terms of the recognition of the right to collective bargaining. Furthermore, such ac tions lead to negative consequences for both the company and the society: the company’s image is damaged, and people are left without any benefits provided by collective bargaining agreements. As for the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation, Volkswagen AG can proudly claim that it is taking numerous measures to follow this Global Compact principle. In particular, among our CSR initiatives is advancing women and promoting diversity in the workplace. More than 30% of our employees are women, and we are actively working towards increasing this number. In addition, we are striving to increase the number of women in management positions (Advancing women

A report in the form of a business plan to pitch at potential Coursework

A report in the form of a business plan to pitch at potential investors - Coursework Example In addition, the report seeks to pitch for potential investors. The following is a summary of the main points of the proposed marketing plan. Immediate responsiveness, quality service, customer retention, advertising and networking are the keys to success for Royal Consultancy Limited. Fineness in gratifying promise, confidentiality and reliability are central aspects in keys to its success. Royal Consultancy Limited will be founded as a US based international company owned and run by its core shareholders as well as its principal operators. Upon its full writing the plan will incorporate legal formation aspects. In order to ensure Royal Consultancy Limited picks up, the owners will provide part of the funding in form of assets and liquid cash. The financial requirements to get the company started are enormous and as such a short term loan is sought to help secure home equity. This loan will be repaid within three years ones the net returns have increased substantially. To achieve this, aggressive advertising strategies will be formulated taking advantage of competitors’ feebleness. Through effective cost control measures huge net profits will be realised within the first year which increases through the next two years. After a careful analysis of the needs of this project, it was found that the total expenses amounts to $ 80,000. The short term assets is projected to cost $ 4,000 whereas the initial cash that would enable running of consulting services for the first six months is projected to be $ 1,100,000. The table below shows the start-up plan and costs involved Royal Consultancy Limited offers technical assistance in matters related to channel dissemination, development, repairs, training and market expansion. The services will be packaged and sold depending on the customer needs, preference and financial capability. Computer repairs and installation will be conducted onsite as part of our marketing

Current Trend to Teaching Nutrition in Elementary School Essay Example for Free

Current Trend to Teaching Nutrition in Elementary School Essay Elementary schools have interesting aspects of putting across nutrition information to students through various methods. For instance, game theory is used to substitute healthier food for unhealthy foods currently consumed in various places including public places. Game theory in nutrition involves changing ones brain which eventually affects the body. This system entails mastering the guidelines of competitive practices mostly in purchasing, preparing or consuming good foods for our bodies. Game theory is used to motivate groups of people on their approaches to eating habits. In this theory, food is used to enable learners make decisions. It also examines the learners’ trust with regard to the fact that the body is molded depending on what one was fed on during his/her childhood and that the body is designed to fight diseases in times of infection. When using game theory, the teacher gives learners different examples of commonly used foods like the use of extra virgin oil by an individual or chicken fat for baking. In this example, the teacher is able to identify the individual who is at risk of developing diabetes (Brenowitz Tuttle, 2003). In elementary schools, teachers identify the most important nutrition topics and the materials required to teach nutrition. For instance, healthy food choices and food guide pyramid are important topics that ought to be taught in elementary schools. Teachers have got the ability to change dietary behaviors of students. Middle schools use the team nutrition curriculum â€Å"yourself† which has details on food groups, required servings, following USDA food guide pyramid and weight guidelines. It also has guidelines and activities that are employed while choosing snacks (Gutek Gerald, 1986). Elementary school teachers reward their students for good and presentable behavior. The teachers use food method and non food method to reward them. With food method the teacher chooses the students with good eating habits while with non food method those students with good interactive behavior are rewarded. As a result, most students will try as much as they can, so that they can improve and learn good nutritional habits. References Brenowitz, N. , Tuttle, C. R. (2003). Development and testing of a nutrition-teaching selfefficacy scale for elementary school teachers. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 35, 308-311. Gutek, B. Gerald, L. (1986). Education in the United States: An Historical Perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Agitation Leaching Theory And Practice Biology Essay

Agitation Leaching Theory And Practice Biology Essay Agitation leaching is a chemical process where in the soil that is to be mixed or slurried is kept in contact for a certain period of time with fluid to be extracted. The metal solubility rate is reduces quite noticeably, and the extraction gets completed on the approach of equilibrium between the metal present in the solution and the metal contained on the surface of the soil is approached Excess metal will not be extracted from the surface of the soil unless the soil is accessed by fresh extraction solution and the contact time increases when the system is at equilibrium. On reaching equilibrium, the soil is separated from the extraction fluid using sedimentation, thickening, or clarification. An agitation vat coupled with a solid-liquid separation vessel (typical processes like clarification or sedimentation) is considered to be a single stage The process of extraction is then generally continued in a separate extraction vat and the clear solution obtained from the extraction process is used to speed up the rate of extraction [1]. Agitation leaching-Practice Cyanide and the Gold Industry Introduction One of the most widely used industrial practices is the cyanidation process in the gold industry. Amount of gold present in ores typically occurs at very low concentrations in ores which generally range from less than 10 gm/tonne. At the low level of the gold concentrations the most predominant method used extensively and one that is cost effective is the aqueous hydrometallurgical extraction processes to extract the gold from its ore. Typical hydrometallurgical gold recovery involves an agitation leaching step where the gold is dissolved in an aqueous medium, followed by the separation of the gold bearing solution from the residues, or adsorption of the gold onto activated carbon. After elution from the activated carbon the gold is further concentrated by electrodeposition or precipitation. Gold is one of the noble metals and is not very much soluble in water. Complexes, like cyanide, is known for stabilizing the gold species in solution, along with an oxidant preferably oxygen thereby dissolving the required amount of gold. The amount of cyanide in solution required for complete dissolution may be typically of very low concentrations such as 350 mg/l which accounts for around 0.035% of 100% sodium cyanide Alternative complexing agents for gold, such as chloride, bromide, thiourea, and thiosulfate form less stable complexes and thus require more aggressive conditions and oxidants to dissolve the gold. These reagents present risks to health and the environment, and are more expensive. This justifies the dominance of cyanide as the primary reagent for the leaching of gold from ores since its introduction in the latter half of the 19th century. Manufacture, Transport and Storage of Cyanide Approximately 1.1 million metric tons of hydrogen cyanide is produced annually worldwide, with approximately 6% used to produce cyanide reagents for the processing of gold. The remaining 94% is used in industrial applications including production of plastics, fire retardants, cosmetics, adhesives pharmaceuticals, food processing and as an anti-caking additive for table and road salts. Cyanide is manufactured and distributed for use in gold mining industries in a variety of physical and chemical forms, including solid briquettes, flake cyanide and liquid cyanide. Sodium cyanide is supplied as either briquettes or liquid, while calcium cyanide is supplied in flake form and also in liquid form. The strength of bulk cyanide reagents vary from 98% for sodium cyanide briquettes, 44-50% for flake calcium cyanide, 28-33% for liquid sodium cyanide and 15-18% for liquid calcium cyanide. The product strength is quoted on a molar basis as either sodium or calcium cyanide. The form of cyanide reagent chosen for use typically depends on availability, distance from the source and cost. Where liquid cyanide is used, it is transported to the mine by tanker truck or rail car and is off-loaded into a storage tank. The truck or rail car may have a single or double walled tank, and the location and design of the discharge equipment varies by vehicle. Solid briquette or flake cyanide is transported to the mine in drums, plastic bags, boxes, returnable bins and ISO-containers. The mine generally designs and constructs the necessary equipment to safely dissolve the solid cyanide in a high-pH solution considering the packaging of the reagent. The pH value of cyanide solutions during dissolution must be maintained above pH 12 to avoid the volatilization of the hazardous hydrogen cyanide (HCN) gas. The resulting cyanide solution is then pumped to a storage tank prior to introduction into the process. The cyanide solution is fed from the storage tank into the metallurgical process stream in proportion to the dry mass of solids in the process stream. The feed rate of cyanide is controlled to maintain an optimum cyanide level as demanded by the metallurgy of the ore being treated. Ore Preparation Preparation of the ore is necessary so that it can be presented to the aqueous cyanide solution in a form that will ensure the optimal economic recovery of the gold. The first step in ore preparation is crushing and grinding, which reduces the particle size of the ore and liberates the gold for recovery. Ore that contains free gold may not yield a sufficiently high recovery by sole use of cyanide leaching, due to a very long dissolution time for large gold particles. Such ore may first be subject to a gravity recovery process to recover the free gold before being subjected to cyanide leaching. Gold bearing ores that contain gold associated with sulphide or carbonaceous minerals require additional treatment, other than size reduction, prior to gold recovery. Gold recovery from sulphide ore is poor because the cyanide preferentially leaches the sulphide minerals rather than the gold, and cyanide is consumed by the formation of thiocyanate. These ores are subject to a concentration processes such as flotation, followed by a secondary process to oxidize the sulphides, thereby limiting their interaction with the cyanide during the gold leach. Carbonaceous minerals adsorb gold once solubilised; oxidizing the ore prior to leaching prevents this. To counter this affect, the leaching process may also be modified by the addition of activated carbon to preferentially adsorb the gold. Leaching with Aqueous Cyanide Solutions When gold is leached in an aqueous cyanide solution it forms a gold-cyanide complex by oxidizing with an oxidant such as dissolved oxygen and cyanide complexation. This complex is very stable and the cyanide required is only slightly in excess of the stoichiometric requirement. However, in practice the amount of cyanide used in leach solutions is dictated by the presence of other cyanide consumers, and the need to increase the rate of leaching to acceptable levels. Typical cyanide concentrations used in practice range from 300 to 500 mg/l (0.03 to 0.05% as NaCN) depending on the mineralogy of the ore. The gold is recovered by means of either heap leaching or agitated pulp leaching. In heap or dump leaching the ore or agglomerated fine ore is stacked in heaps on a pad lined with an impermeable membrane. Cyanide solution is introduced to the heap by sprinklers or a drip irrigation system. The solution percolates through the heap leaching the gold from the ore, and the resultant gold bearing solution is collected on the impermeable membrane and channelled to storage facilities for further processing. Heap leaching is attractive due to the low capital cost involved, but is a slow process and the gold extraction efficiency is a relatively low 50-75%. In a conventional milling and agitated leaching circuit, the ore is milled in semi-autogenously ball or rod mills until it is the consistency of powder. The slurry is conveyed to a series of leach tanks. The slurry is agitated in the leach tanks, either mechanically or by means of air injection, to increase the contact of cyanide and oxygen with the gold and enhance the efficiency of the leach process. The cyanide then dissolves gold from the ore and forms a stable gold-cyanide complex. The use of oxygen or peroxy compounds instead of air as an oxidant increases the leach rate and decreases cyanide consumption, due to the inactivation of some of the cyanide consuming species present in the slurry. The pH of the slurry is raised to pH 10-11 using lime, at the head of the leach circuit to ensure that when cyanide is added, toxic hydrogen cyanide gas is not generated and the cyanide is kept in solution to dissolve the gold. The slurry may also be subject to other preconditioning such as pre-oxidation at the head of the circuit before cyanide is added. Highly activated carbon is used in the dissolved gold recovery process, either by introducing it directly into the CIL (carbon-in-leach) tanks or into separate CIP (carbon-in-pulp) tanks after leaching. The activated carbon adsorbs the dissolved gold from the leach slurry thereby concentrating it onto a smaller mass of solids. The carbon is then separated from the slurry by screening and subjected to further treatment to recover the adsorbed gold. When carbon is not used to adsorb the dissolved gold in the above-mentioned leach slurry, the gold bearing solution must be separated from the solids components utilizing filtration or thickening units. The resultant solution, referred to as pregnant solution, is subjected to further treatment (other than by carbon absorption) to recover the dissolved gold. The waste from which the gold was removed by any means is referred to as residue or tailings material. The residue is either dewatered to recover the solution, treated to neutralize or recover cyanide, or is sent directly to the tailing storage facility. Recovery of Dissolved Gold Gold is recovered from the solution first using either cementation on zinc powder or concentrating the gold using adsorption on activated carbon, followed by elution and concluding with either cementation with zinc or electro winning. For efficient cementation, a clear solution prepared by filtration or counter current decantation is required. The most cost-effective process is to create adsorption of the dissolved gold onto activated carbon, resulting in an easier solid-solid separation based on size. To achieve this; the ore particles must typically be smaller than 100 ÂÂ µm while the carbon particles must be larger than 500 ÂÂ µm. Adsorption is achieved by contacting the activated carbon with the agitated pulp. This can be done while the gold is still being leached with the CIL-process, or following leaching with the CIP-process. The CIL-process offers the advantage of countering the adsorption of gold on carbonaceous or shale ore particles, but is more expensive due to less efficient adsorption, increased gold inventory and increased fouling and abrasion of the carbon. Activated carbon in contact with a pulp containing gold can typically recover more than 99.5% of the gold in the solution in 8 to 24 hours, depending on the reactivity of the carbon, the amount of carbon used and the mixers efficiency. The loaded carbon is then separated from the pulp by screens that are air or hydro dynamically swept, thus preventing blinding by the near sized carbon particles. The pulp residue is then either thickened to separate the cyanide containing solution for recovery/destruction of the cyanide, or sent directly to the tailings storage facility from which the cyanide containing solution is recycled to the leach plant. The gold adsorbed on the activated carbon is recovered from the carbon by elution, typically with a hot caustic aqueous cyanide solution. The carbon is then regenerated and returned to the adsorption circuit while the gold is recovered from the eluate using either zinc cementation or electro winning. If it contains significant amounts of base metals, the gold concentrate is then either calcined or directly smelted and refined to gold bullion that typically contains about 70 90% gold. The bullion is then further refined to 99.99% fineness using smelting, chlorination, and electro-refining. High purity gold is taken directly from activated carbon eluates, using recently developed processes that utilize solvent extraction techniques to produce intensive leaching of gravity concentrates [2]. Agitation leaching-Applications Commonly applied to a wide range of ore types, agitation leaching has been in use for well over 200 years. Leaching is typically performed in steel tanks, and the solids are kept in suspension by air or mechanical agitation. Air agitation in carried out in conical-bottomed leach tanks (Browns or Pachuca tanks) was widely practiced in the early years of cyanidation but has been overtaken in recent times by more efficient mechanical agitation with reduced energy requirements and improved mixing efficiency. Well-designed systems can approach perfectly mixed flow conditions in a single reactor, which help to optimize reaction kinetics and make the most of available leaching equipment. Particle size. The material to be leached is ground to a size that optimizes gold recovery and communition costs. In a few cases, whole ore is being ground to very less particle sizes for optimal processing, either by oxidative pre-treatment and/or leaching. Agitation leaching is rarely applied to material at greater coarse sizes because it becomes increasingly difficult to keep coarse solids in suspension, and abrasion rates increase. Increasingly, agitation leaching is being considered to treat very finely ground materials and, with the advances in ultrafine milling equipment have been ground to lesser particle sizes to liberate gold contained in refractory along with the sulphide mineral matrices prior to processing by agitation leaching and/or oxidative pre-treatment. Slurry density. Leaching is usually performed at slurry densities of between 35%and 50% solids, depending on the solids specific gravity, particle size, and the presence of minerals that affect slurry viscosity (e.g., clays). Mass transport phenomena are maximized at low slurry densities; however, solids retention time in a fixed volume of leaching equipment increases as the density increases. In addition, reagent consumptions are minimized by maximizing slurry density, since optimal concentrations can be achieved at lower dosages, because of the smaller volume of solution per unit mass of material. Modification of pH Alkali, required for slurry pH modification and control, must always be added before cyanide addition to provide protective alkalinity, which prevents excessive loss of cyanide by hydrolysis. Most leaching systems operate between pH 10 and 11. Staged addition of alkali may be required throughout the leaching circuit to maintain the desired operating pH, particularly when treating ores containing alkali-consuming materials. pH control is achieved by manual or automatic (on-line) measurement at various stages in the process. Calcium hydroxide (slaked lime, Ca (OH),), or sodium hydroxide can be used for pH modification. Calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) is the cheaper of the two but is less soluble and produces solutions that are much more susceptible to salt precipitation and scale formation. Unslaked lime (CaO) is used occasionally because it is less costly than slaked lime, but it is less effective for pH modification. For nonacidic- or non-alkali-consuming ores, calcium hydroxide concentrations of 0.15 to 0.25 g/L are typically required to achieve the desired pH range for leaching (i.e., pH 10 to 11). This represents typical lime consumptions of 0.15 to 0.5 kg/tonne for non-acidic ores. Sodium hydroxide is known to be more effective than calcium hydroxide at dissolving a variety of minerals, particularly at high alkalinities, and it is a highly effective dispersant. This may result in the dissolution of ore constituents, such as silicates, to produce various solution species, which can subsequently precipitate in a number of undesirable forms, potentially affecting downstream processes, including filtration, gold precipitation, or carbon adsorption. Consequently, calcium hydroxide is generally the preferred method of pH control in agitated leaching systems. Cyanide Cyanide may be added to agitated leaching systems either prior to the leaching circuit, that is, during grinding, or in the first stage of leaching. Subsequent reagent additions can be made into later stages of leaching to maintain or boost cyanide concentrations to maximize gold dissolution. In the absence of cyanide-consuming minerals in the ore or concentrate to be leached, cyanide concentrations used in practice range from 0.05 to 0.5 g/L NaCN, and typically between 0.15 to 0.30 g/L NaCN. Typical cyanide consumptions observed in agitated leaching systems for free-milling ores vary from about 0.25 to 0.75 kg/t. In cases where the feed material contains significant amounts of cyanide consumers and/or high silver content (i.e., >20 g/tonne), higher cyanide concentrations may be applied, that is, 2 to 10 g/L NaCN. In such cases, cyanide consumptions may vary from 1 to 2 kg/t, and in some cases much higher, depending on the nature and amount of cyanide-consuming minerals. Cyanide conc entrations are usually monitored by manual titration techniques or less commonly by on-line cyanide analyzers, based on titrimetric, colorimetric, potentiometric, and ion-specific electrode techniques. Oxygen Content Oxygen is typically introduced into leaching systems as air, either sparged into tanks as the primary method of agitation, or supplied purely for aeration. In either case, crude sparging systems are usually sufficient to provide satisfactory bubble dispersion and to ensure that adequate dissolved oxygen concentrations are maintained. Typically, the amount of dissolved oxygen concentrations can be maintained at, or even slightly above, calculated saturation levels with air sparging. The optimum sparging system depends on the geometry of the leach tanks. For example, conical-bottomed Pachuca tanks with single sparging points (common South African practice prior to about 1980) and flat-bottomed leach tanks with multiple sparging points, or simple down-the-agitator-shaft addition, have all been used. In a few cases, particularly when treating ores that contain oxygen-consuming minerals, pure oxygen [5] or hydrogen peroxide [4] have been added to increase dissolved oxygen concentrations a bove those attainable with simple air sparging systems. Residence time. Residence time requirements vary depending on the leaching characteristics of the material treated and must be determined by test work. Leaching times applied in practice vary from a few hours to several days. Leaching is usually performed in 4 to 10 stages, with the individual stage volume and number of stages dependent on the slurry flow rate, required residence time, and efficiency of mixing equipment used. Counter-current leaching. Leaching efficiency can be enhanced by the application of Le Chateliers principle. In summary, the lower the concentration of gold in solution, the greater the driving force for gold dissolution to occur, although in a mass transport controlled reaction it is debatable what role this plays in gold leaching. An alternative explanation for this phenomenon is the reversible adsorption of gold cyanide onto the ore constituents. The gold adsorption is reversed when the solution is exchanged for a lower grade solution or when a material (such as activated carbon or suitable ion exchange resin) is introduced into the slurry, which actively competes for the Aurum cyanide species. This effect can be exploited in practice by performing intermediate solid-liquid separation steps during leaching to remove high-grade gold solutions, and rediluting the solids in the remaining slurry with lower-grade leach solution and/or with freshwater plus reagents. Successful applications of this principle have been used at the Pinson and Chimney Creek, Nevada (United States), and East Driefontein (South Africa) plants, and at other operations [6, 7]. At many operating gold plants, an increase in gold extraction is observed when a leach slurry can be transferred from one type of process equipment to another (i.e., between leach tanks, thickeners, filters, pumps, and pipelines).This can be explained by the different mixing mechanisms in the different equipment, coupled with other factors, such as changes in slurry percent solids, changes in solution composition, and the effects of pumping transfer (i.e., plug flow mixing).Likewise, the benefits of the carbon-in-leach (CIL) process compared with leaching and carbon-in-pulp (CIP) have been clearly demonstrated both experimentally and in practice, even without the presence of interfering constituents in the ore[8]. The CIL process results in improved conditions for gold dissolution[3].

An Enemy of The People Essay examples -- essays research papers

An Enemy of the People   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dr. Thomas Stockmann was a determined and caring man who was passionate when it came to his beliefs. However, Stockmann was also an idealist who was rather naive when it came to reality. As the Medical Advisor of the baths, he wanted to expose the truth of the hazards that the baths presented before any more people became ill. He fought with the fervor of a true patriot, but was accused of trying to sabotage the hometown that he was fighting for and was condemned as a traitor. Was Dr. Stockmann really an enemy of the people or just an idealist with all the odds against him?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Right from the beginning of the play it was apparent that Dr. Stockmann was a man of character. He welcomed the company of his fellow townspeople by offering food and drinks to anyone who entered the Stockmann house. He was very active in town and was constantly publishing articles and pamphlets concerning various ideas he had to improve the health or lives of his fellow citizens. The main reason he took such a strong position on the issue of the baths was because it concerned the health of the public. Even after the whole town was against him, Dr. Stockmann was still looking out for the well-being of the people by not giving in to the Mayor’s request that he take back his accusations in order to save his job.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the several things the doctor had against him was that not many people too...

The Effect of Illiteracy

EFFECTS OF ILLITERACY ON SOCIETY illiteracy is one of the major problems facing society and the educational system. Recent studies show that there is an increasing rate of illiteracy all over the world. A study conducted by Recent studies show that there is an increasing rate of illiteracy all over the world. A study conducted by WSI (World Statistics Institute) shows that over 27% of people are illiterate globally. Another study by the same institute shows that the speed at which the illiteracy rate ascends is 32% [32% of what? . These rates are quite important, as illiteracy has terrible effects on society. The most important effect of illiteracy on society is that it works as an inhibitor. That is to say, the more illiterate people there are in a country, the harder it will be for the country to develop. This fact could be clarified with an example: America (whose illiteracy rate is below 5%) and Canada (illiteracy rate: around 8%) are developed countries, whereas countries like T urkey and Iran (illiteracy rates: 61% and 43% in order [respectively]) are undeveloped countries. Illiteracy has got a kind of   â€Å"genetic† effect.The children of illiterate people are more likely to be illiterate than those who aren't [aren't what? – rewrite this sentence to make it clear]. Even if the parents don't want their children to be illiterate, their children, observing the parents, see that they somehow manage to live and adopt the idea that illiteracy isn't actually a bad thing [not very clearly expressed – try a rewrite]. And since people develop most of their character during childhood, they choose to go with illiteracy. Another major effect of illiteracy is that illiterate people believe in the said things easily.They do not investigate what was said or told to them. When looked [looking] at the pages of history, it can be seen that while most uneducated people are [were] slaves, guardians and assistants; people who are [were] educated are [ were] mostly kings, queens and sultans. They [Who? ] are not slaves because they wanted, but because people superior to them – in terms of education – made them so. All these significant results of illiteracy affect society in a bad way. So, illiteracy rates must be tried to cut down. Try and imagine our society without a common language. This could be quite a hard idea to fathom. Allow me to assist you.If this hypothetical idea were in fact true, a typical conversation between two individuals would be as follows: one of the two would begin the conversation by making noises representing their language, the other person would not understand these noises and respond with unrecognizable noises to the first individual. As you can well imagine, this would get quite frustrating. Rita Mae Brown describes literacy as, â€Å"a social contract, an agreed upon representation of certain symbols† (420). If the symbol's (letters) meanings are not agreed upon by those attempti ng to communicate, then interpreting one another becomes difficult.Simply stated, literacy is very important. Society has proven time and time again, it will reward those individuals who are competent and impede those who are not, whether expressed in terms of employment opportunities (job success) or just on a social level. One need look no further than their everyday activities in order to realize how important literary skills are. Without adequate literary skills one may not be able to identify on a label the correct amount of medicine to give a child, or read and interpret a sign giving instructions on what to do in case of a fire.These two examples bring perspective to literacy's importance. Nevertheless, recent surveys have indicated that, â€Å"4. 5 million Canadians, representing 24 percent of the eighteen-and-over group, can be considered illiterate† (â€Å"Adult Illiteracy† 5). Illiteracy is truly a problem within Canada. Although many groups are working to r ender the problem of illiteracy, much work still lies ahead. As our society moves on into the next century literacy is proving vital to economic performance. Without basic literary skills in one's possession they will become lost in our rapidly changing society.The modern worker must be able to adapt to the changing job-scene. This often means gathering new skills and knowledge from printed material, whether instruction manuals, computer programs, or classroom training (text books). It is quite commonly the case that highly skilled jobs require a high level of literacy. Therefore, literary skill level is an important factor in predicting an individual's economic success. It will affect an individual's income, their employment stability and whether they even receive employment opportunities. Presently, our world revolves around literacy.Simply being literate allows one to continuously upgrade one's literary skills to a higher level. It allows one to stay informed of happenings in and around the world through mediums such as newspapers and magazines. Knowing current news about what is going on in this ever changing world of ours is the key to staying ahead. Another thought to ponder is this, we rely on those with high literacy levels to record and document findings and happenings for future generations to reflect on. These writings would most likely be dull and inaccurate or would not exist at all without our current levels of literacy.When viewed from a social standpoint, literacy remains just as important as when viewed from the economic standpoint. Linda Macleod of the National Associations Active in Criminal Justice, points out that, â€Å"65 percent of people entering Canadian prisons for the first time have trouble reading and writing, low literacy is part of a constellation of problems that can limit choices in life and thus lead people to criminal activity† (20). Somebody in possession of a high level of literacy will most likely be well informed and tend to make wiser decisions.By obtaining this level of literacy they have also gathered a large vocabulary giving them many words to choose from to express their ideas and feelings. Conversely, many would agree that a conversation with one who has a good grasp of the English language is always more delightful than with one who is less educated. Literacy can act as a window, opening one's view to the world. Presently, we are being bombarded with information, news, trivia and gossip (not that this is always a positive feature in our lives). Without sufficient literary skills one cannot even absorb any of this information.These people will miss out on many of life's benefits, socially as well as economically. Without sufficient literary skills one would have a tremendously difficult time functioning in our current world. Think about your average day, consider how many times you refer to your literary skills to aid you, could you function without those skills? Finding an address, r eading a map, reading a menu, performing a bank transaction, these are just a few common tasks that require your literary skills. Also, when looking at the importance of literacy to our nation, its value is evident. High levels of iteracy throughout all sectors of Canada's workforce are necessary, â€Å"low literacy levels of workers' affect Canada's ability to perform in the increasingly competitive international marketplace† (â€Å"Literacy† 7). Literary skills become building blocks. First creating a well-educated society, then a highly skilled labour force which can compete and adapt to the changing market. These factors lead to an increase in economic growth within the nation which in turn, results in a higher standard of living for its people. As our society moves forward into the future, a higher level of literacy will become more important to one's level of success.Where would our society be without our ability to exchange knowledge and information? How many ti mes have you made a purchase that read on the outside – instructions inside? You and I think nothing of this, and in a sense take our gift for granted. For many, deciphering written instructions is a near impossible task, asking for assistance does little more than to further lower their self esteem. Literacy is important. To truly seize the benefits possible in one's life it has to be accepted that literacy is the key. Society will continue to reward skilled individuals and disadvantage those who are not.