Effects Of Chromium On Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria

SEMINAR AND TERM PAPER ON Enhancing phytoremediation of chromium-stressed soils through plant-growth-promoting bacteria Under the guidance of: Dr. Pravindra Kumar Associate proffesor Department Of Biotechnology Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee Submitted by: Ilu Kumari M.Sc. II yr Enrollment no: - 14610008 Department Of Biotechnology Indian Institute Of Technology Roorkee CHAPTER-08 Enhancing phytoremediation of chromium –stressed soils through plant-growth-promoting bacteria Ilu Kumari Department of Biotechnology,IIT ROORKEE,ROORKEE Abstract Chromium which is a chemical element ,a metal,is toxic pollutant .Nowdays these are found to be present in soils due to many human activities.It affects plant system and microorganisms that are present in soil as well.Phytoremediation has emerged as a process to minimize or eliminate chromium from chromium stressed soils,but this process takes long time.So when plant growth promoting bacteria( PGPB) is used with this process as bioinoculant then it results into increased plant growth and higher chromium reducing effects.PGPB via root architecture modification increases chromium uptake,secretes metalShow MoreRelatedCadmium And Its Effects On The Environment Essay1345 Words   |  6 Pagescrust as heavy metal and its exposure in environment is very big challenge to environmentalist because cadmium is non-degradable in nature. In environment cadmium transfers from one trophic level to another and finally accumulated in human with toxic effects. There is an emergent need to remove the cadmium from environment. Microbes are very helpful in this area to remediate the cadmium from environment. Microorganisms used biotransformation and adsorption mechanisms for regulation of translocation ofRead MoreThe Food Of Organic Foods1413 Words   |  6 Pagespollution. To start, organic foods have a more nutritional value that leads to a healthier lifestyle. For instance, many of the organic foods have been found to be higher in vitamin C, antioxidants, and natural minerals like calcium, iron, chromium and magnesium. Most of these nutrients are the main components of a human’s nutrition. Non-organic foods could be causing certain foods to become less nutritional for a person eating. The less nutrition a person has, the more they are at risk toRead MorePlant Pudina4642 Words   |  19 PagesNAME:-PUDINA This plant is related to the menthe genus and its aromatic herbs. Many more species grows wild; some of there cultivated. The chief constituent for which these plants are valued are menthol and pappermint oil. this medicinal plant is an erect branched herb upto about 55 cm high. Leaves upto 6 cm long. Flowers small, in small brunches, borne on axile leaves,medicinal seeds are also very useful. MEDICINAL USES of pudina :- THE DRIED LEAVES AND FLOWERING TOPS OF THE PLANT MAKE THE DRUG PAPPOERMINT

The Best Vacation Destination Free Essays

If one has the money and time, one should spend money and time to travel and expand his experiences and perspective on the world. One can find an assortment of wonderful historical sites and beautiful scenery such as beaches, mountains. If those attractions appeal to you, then Europe and the US would be perfect travel destinations. We will write a custom essay sample on The Best Vacation Destination or any similar topic only for you Order Now Even though both Europe and America are great vacation destinations, they can be differentiated from each other based on three important travel distinctions: cost, transportation and tourist attractions. The first major difference between Europe and America is the gap in cost. In other words, Europe’s market price is much more expensive than America. For instance, when you visit a restaurant to have a meal, the employee’s first question is â€Å"what kind of drink do you want? † If ordering water, a visitor may be surprised when getting the bill since a cup of water in Europe is not on the house. Therefore, a customer not only has to pay for the meal, but also for the water. In addition, meals are more expensive in Europe than in America. For example, a McDonald’s cheeseburger in America is just one dollar but in Switzerland the price goes up to eight dollars. So, if one decides to travel in Europe, prepare to bring much more money than when traveling in America. The second difference is transportation. In America, it is very hard to get from place to place using public transportation because America’s public transportations are not located everywhere and they are much slower than using car. In contrast, in Europe, a person can get everywhere easily by using public transportations, even when traveling from country to country. For instance, if someone has a U-rail pass, they can use this pass at most international European rails and public transportation stalls for buses and subways because European countries share a common transportation authority; therefore, it is more convenient to travel in Europe. Lastly, the two destinations have very different types of tourist attractions. In America, tourist landmark are commonly very huge and made by natural forces such as the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and Yellow Stone National Park. Unlike America, most tourist attractions in Europe are made by humans. For example, Buckingham Palace in U. K and the Eiffel Tower in France are both man-made tourist attractions that symbolize must-see spots when going to England or France. So, if one travels in America, he will be amazed because of the natural beauty, but in Europe they are more likely to be astounded by what men have created. In conclusion, traveling in Europe and traveling in America are very different in three aspects: cost, transportation and tourist attractions. However, if one ever gets the opportunity, it is highly recommended that one visits both Europe and America because they are great destinations to spend vacation. Of course there are more differences and similarities between the US and Europe except above three aspects, and I strongly recommend that one finds those out during their own travel!!! How to cite The Best Vacation Destination, Essay examples

Important Approaches for HR Professionals-Free-Samples for Students

Questions: 1.Provides a thorough and detailed explanation of why he/she thinks many new changes at the organizational level quickly fizzle out. 2.Provides a thorough and detailed explanation of what he/she thinks is most important for HR professionals to know in order to avoid new changes from fizzling out. Answers: Introduction- The following report provides an assessment of some core HR elements such as organizational culture, leadership and change management. It is certain that implementing or leading change in an organization often prove to be a tough job for the leaders. Leaders must keep an eye on how employees are reacting to it and how it can be embedded with the culture to sustain the changes. In general, in order to implement and sustain changes, leaders must make their employees understand about the benefits of change. Thus, the present report presents the factors due to which changes fizzle out quickly. Likewise, the report also sheds light on the approaches required to be applied by HR professionals to sustain change in the organizations. Why many new changes at the organizational level quick fizzle out- It is certain that organizational change is a big initiative where each party involved in the process should do their respective job perfectly. However, the role of leaders also determines the success of change. Therefore, Denton (1996) mentioned that great leaders encourage others to move towards a direction that is sensible and beneficiary for themselves, the business as well as the community. This means that if the leaders remain laidback towards the changes and rule others to embrace the change, outcome may not be fruitful for all. On the other side, Choi and Ruona (2011) argued that changes often fizzle out because the leaders tend to lack self-confidence and capacity to make decision when others slip out from the direction. Apart from this, the following are some of the reasons behind the failure of change in the organization. Communication gap: Whenever a change is considered to be implemented, the leaders must develop the base for communication (Jeremy, 2010). This means each level of employees in the organization should be communicated about the purpose and benefits of changes. Hence, it is certain that leaders must experience resistance from internal environment to the proposed change but the problem occurs when the leaders hardly consider others opinions in the process. Employees grow the feeling that they are not heard properly. Consequently, employees lack interest in going with the new practices. Authoritative leadership- As put forward by Kotter (2005) in order to implement the change, it is important to lead in a positive direction; thereby, the initial phase of change remain positive but the efforts are perverted when it becomes successful and this is because the leaders become more arrogant. Thereby, here change is not the issue but the arrogance. At the initial stage after the implementation of change, for example, leaders become arrogant and any issue appears, leaders say No Problem, we will handle this, we will make new rules. For instance, in 2015, the IT firm Atlassian in Australia experienced a negative outcome from change efforts. The firm had decided to improve the quality of service by meeting customer needs (Atlassian, 2018). To implement the initiative, Atlassian decided to provide web-based service to customers and the workers of quality analysis were told to provide an uninterrupted interaction in web-based service to customers. However, the employees were pressurized to keep this uninterrupted service. Customers complaints were getting less in number in the first two months after the implementation. As nonetheless, the employees had to give additional hours in their job to keep the process active. Employees approached leaders to include more employees and divide the shifts but the leaders were not responding positively. Consequently, employees stopped working for extra hours and customers queries left unanswered. Here, the situation of Atlassian can be linked to the fact mentioned by Kotter (2005) that leaders often go on providing logical reasons for change instead of presenting people an emotionally compelling case. Important approaches for HR professionals to know to avoid new changes from fizzling out As mentioned by Younger, Younger and Thompson (2011), overcoming challenges at the initial stage is crucial and requires a bit of surprise to grab employee attention at an intellectual and emotional level. As a successful leader, one needs to show people what the problems are and how to resolve them. The following are some of the approaches that HR professionals could follow to avoid new change from fizzling out. Overcoming anxiety with information and training- HR professionals or the leaders of the firm needs to support change. The change agents leading the change management could help employees to get rid of the nervousness by sharing the plans of actions for change through frequent training and learning activities. The large IT and hardware firm HP once developed a change program in which the firm develops a training program of three months about the new procedure and practices about implementing knowledge management in the internal and external environment. In this program, each employee was taught about how knowledge should be shared and exchanged under a decentralized organizational culture (Choi Ruona, 2011). Eventually, the firm became successful in implementing knowledge sharing practices through technology. The new process enabled the firm to shift employees from traditional practice to technological practices of knowledge management practices. Convey change as a team effort: The teams in charge of change management should disperse the troops throughout the organization and prepare employees to be promoters for proposed organizational shift (Oreg, Vakola Armenakis, 2011). This certainly helps employees to develop a right mindset to accept change as it occurs. Conclusion The above-mentioned discussion helps to understand that factors that enable change to fizzle out and approaches for HR professionals to avoid failure. Even though, the fact of clear communication and a logical approach of training, is suggested in the discussion, it is worth mentioning that personal example, as a leader is powerful example of influence which can affect perspective and facilitate change. However, if the leaders do not examine their own actions, they could give wrong example and bring something that remains inconsistent with what they are saying to others References Atlassian (2018).| Software Development and Collaboration Tools. Retrieved 27 February 2018, from https://www.atlassian.com/ Choi, M., Ruona, W. E. (2011). Individual readiness for organizational change and its implications for human resource and organization development.Human Resource Development Review,10(1), 46-73. Denton, D. K. (1996). Four simple rules for leading change.Empowerment in organizations,4(4), 5-9. Jeremy, S. (2010). Benchmarking the benchmarks.HR Magazine,55(4), 43-46. Kotter, J. (2005). Change leadership.Leadership Excellence,22(12), 3-4. Oreg, S., Vakola, M., Armenakis, A. (2011). Change recipients reactions to organizational change: A 60-year review of quantitative studies.The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science,47(4), 461-524. Younger, J., Younger, A., Thompson, N. (2011). Developing the skills of HR business partnership: consulting and change management.Strategic HR Review,10(1), 6-14.

The Bell Jar and Isolation Essay Example

The Bell Jar and Isolation Essay Isolation in general has a lasting effect on a person’s growth and understanding. As isolation comes in different forms, the effect it has on the nature of man also varies. The one thing that all forms of isolation have in common is that they influence an individual’s growth in some way. Forced isolation is isolation that is involuntary, or against the will. Isolation in which an individual isolates himself or herself is considered self-inflicted. Both of these types have adverse effects on an individual’s growth. Social isolation, as opposed to forced or self-inflicted isolation, has the most detrimental effect on an individual’s mental growth and understanding of illusion versus reality as it deprives the individual of the necessary factors that shape him or her into an acceptable member of society, manifested in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. The need for rules is instrumental in influencing an individual’s mental growth. This aspect of human nature is taken away by social isolation in Lord of the Flies. As the novel progresses, the boys agree that â€Å" [they’ve] got to have rules and obey them† (Golding 42). We will write a custom essay sample on The Bell Jar and Isolation specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Bell Jar and Isolation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Bell Jar and Isolation specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This affirms the boys’ innate need for rules and structure. For a time, rules are what bind the boys together. As rules and regulations begin to deteriorate, the boys’ senses begin to fade away as well. These rules begin to lose power as social isolation slowly strips away the their humanity and they begin to lose sight of reality. Another factor needed for growth into an acceptable member of society is the need for social interaction, or the need for assembly. More than once Ralph, the elected leader in Lord of the Flies, voices his opinions that â€Å" [they] need an assembly†(Golding 79). Social interaction is a necessity that shapes an individual into an accepted member of society. It is through relationships that people are able to learn common behavior that is universally acceptable. Family and community relationships are another part of the boy’s lives stolen by social isolation. Without some form of interaction, an individual becomes lost in the very core of his or her own nature. This rarely results in benefit to the individual as explored in this novel. Deprived of social interaction, the boys as a whole begin to lose sight of who they really are. A misunderstanding of illusion versus reality is amplified in J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Self-inflicted isolation, portrayed by Salinger’s protagonist, Holden Caulfield, does not have the same effect on an individual as social isolation does. Self-inflicted isolation is not the most detrimental form of isolation, as it is a chosen path to take. Holden describes this state of isolation as he reflects, â€Å" I don’t even know what I was running for-I guess I just felt like it† (Salinger 5). Running is used as a symbol to refer to this character’s chosen decline into isolation. Throughout the novel, Holden has multiple chances to regain his mental stability. These chances are symbolized by the multiple opportunities to call Jane Gallagher, the character who represents Holden’s innocence and sanity. By not taking this chance, Holden has made a choice that leads him further into isolation. Salinger made himself an example of this self-infliction as he isolated himself from society. Forced isolation does not have the same effect on an individual’s cognitive growth as social isolation. Forced isolation, portrayed by Esther Greenwood in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, has certain characteristics that make it detrimental, but it also has a number of aspects that make it beneficial to an individual. One may be forced into isolation for his or her own good. An example of this is when a person’s psychological state is in question. Following Esther’s attempted suicide, Mrs. Greenwood, Esther’s mother, forces Esther into a hospital and then into a mental institution. Esther was a danger to herself and to those around her. As a result, she was committed to an institution and received treatment. Following her treatment, Esther states that â€Å"the bell jar hung, suspended, a few feet above [her] head. [She] was open to the circulating air† (Plath 176). This proves that Esther begins to feel better after her being forced into isolation. Social isolation is the most detrimental form of isolation, regarding an individual’s growth and understanding of illusion versus reality. By inhibiting the factors that shape an individual into an acceptable member of society, social isolation creates a new person, one ruled by his or her own human nature. Without rules or social interaction, this person exhibits the worst flaws in humanity. Jack, the main antagonist of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, portrays this created individual. The consequences of other forms of isolation are not as severe. In certain situations, forced isolation is a benefit to the individual or for the greater good of society. An example of this would be a criminal being sent to jail. Self-inflicted isolation can also have positive results. An individual may isolate himself or herself for his or her own personal gain. A monk taking a sabbatical to become more in tune with himself or herself would be considered an example of self-inflicted isolation. Overall, it is evident that social isolation is the most detrimental to an individual as it inhibits human growth and understanding of illusion versus reality. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Great Britain: Faber Faber, 1954. Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York: Harper Row, 1971. Salinger, J D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951.

The Jungle Book Report essays

The Jungle Book Report essays The Jungle, written by Upton Sinclair is a harsh book that shows the reality of life. It tells how an immigrant goes through harsh times and death, which brings on depression, jail and a life of crime. In time, the life of crime and depression are fought off by two socialist speakers, which make him realize he can do more with his life. Newly arrived immigrants to Chicago Jurgis Radkus and Ona Lukoszaite along with Jurgis father and Elzbietas six children use the little money left by Onas deceased father to marry Jurgis and Ona. They then buy part of a filthy apartment and are married. All of the family able to work found work easily. Jurgis learns how badly treated workers are and how unsanitary the conditions to work will be. This lead to the death of his father. Jurgis sprains his ankle and is out of work for a long while. When he regained his health his search for work failed because he was lacking the strength he needed. Lack of money lead to starvation and unsanitary conditions cause the death of Elzbietas two crippled sons. Jurgis then has to take a low paying job at a fertilizer plant. To escape these harsh conditions Jurgis took to drinking. Ona now is unreliable and gone for long periods of time, due to this Jurgis confronts her to find out she has had forced adultery by Connor a foreman at his work. Jurgis attacks him and is thrown in to jail for assault. On his release he learns the family has lost their house. Ona goes into unexpected labor and her and the newborn pass away. Jurgis finds work to try to support his first son but is soon laid off. His new work at the steal mill raise the familys spirits until the drowning of Jurgis first son in the rising rivers. Jurgis meets a new friend in a saloon and receives a one hundred-dollar bill, which he tries to break. This leads to a fight and he is in jail once again. The breaking of his arm then s ...

How to Manage Your Blog the CoSchedule Way - CoSchedule

How to Manage Your Blog the Way Running a high-traffic blog isn’t easy. It takes a lot of persistence to build and retain a loyal audience. Just getting started can feel like pushing a boulder up a mountain. Then, once your blog does start to grow, the day-to-day work of managing content and deadlines only becomes more challenging. So, how do you do it? That’s a question we get asked a lot, and there’s no short and simple answer. However, we can share our own strategies and processes we use to manage our own blog. In this post, we’ll let you in on how we successfully manage a blog that receives over one million page views a month. How to Manage Your Blog the WayStart By Getting Your Ideation Process Together Ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s good that they’re so cheap and plentiful though. You’re going to need a lot of them to keep your content calendar full. You don’t want just any ideas though. You want tons of ideas for blog posts you know people will want to read. Now, getting those kinds of ideas  is easier said than done. Sure, everyone has ideas. Ideas are also completely worthless until you put them into practice and see what they can do. But, when you’re under pressure, generating ideas worth acting on can be tough without a solid process in place. Here at , we use what we call our 30-minute brainstorming process. It’s broken down into three phases: Ideation. Get your team together and spend ten minutes writing down every idea you can think of. Scoring. Spend another ten minutes scoring each idea on a three-point scale. Three’s are ideas you just have to publish. Two’s are average. One’s are duds. Winner optimization. This is where you take every post that everyone agreed was a three, and ask yourselves, â€Å"Which of these ideas should we go with?† By the time you’re done, you’ll have around a month’s worth of ideas for your blog. Run this process once a month, and could  spend just six hours a year on brainstorming. That’s what we call efficiency. Once you’ve got your ideas down, put them straight on your content calendar. That way, they won’t get lost. You’ll also quickly have a plan in place for what you’ll write, and when. Recommended Reading: The Best 30-Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process Planning Out Themes Sometimes, if we need content on a specific area or topic, we’ll go into our brainstorming meetings with a particular theme in mind. This can help keep the meeting focused and structured while making sure we end up with the content we need. Some examples of themes might include: Posts on how to complete particular tasks Posts that appeal to particular segments of our audience Posts that target readers at certain skill levels Posts around certain seasonal themes A theme just needs to be a batch of content that’s all wrapped around one core topic. These are just some ideas you can borrow, but you can certainly think of more. Adding Additional Content Beyond our core educational blog posts, we also have the following types of posts: Feature announcements Event announcements Company news Webinar and demo recap videos When we know that a feature is launching, we add complementary posts to the calendar right away. The same goes for demos and webinars that we have planned. That way, we’re able to keep everything orderly and organized. Recommended Reading: 5 Minute Tip: Organize Your Calendar With s Content Types Assigning Content to Team Members Once we’ve got all our ideas on the calendar, the next step is to figure out who will write them. We save a lot of time on this process by pre-determining who will write particular types of posts. Here’s how we have things broken down: Posts about our product fall on our Product Marketers Educational how-to posts fall on our Blog Manager (yo, that’s me) or Content Marketers Anything that helps show to use falls on our Customer Success team Posts about our culture and philosophies fall on whoever is best suited to write them (sometimes that’s a marketer, and sometimes that’s our CEO and co-founder, Garrett Moon) As you can see, content isn’t just the responsibility of one single content team. Instead, we assign content to the person most qualified to write a particular type of piece. That helps us maintain a high publishing volume while adding more voices and perspectives to our blog. Content isnt just the responsibility of one single team.Keeping Ideas Organized We have a two-pronged approach to keeping our content calendar organized: Certain types of blog posts always publish on certain days of the week All our blog posts are color-coded by category The keys here are simplicity and consistency. Here’s a quick look at our publishing schedule: Mondays: Content and Social Media Category Posts Tuesdays: Product Promotion Posts, New Podcast Episodes Wednesdays: Content and Social Media Category Posts Thursdays: Product Demo Videos and Culture Posts Fridays: Content and Social Media Category Posts We’ll add other things in from time to time, but this weekly schedule stays mostly consistent week to week. We then color-code posts like this: Gray: Content and Social Media Category Posts Purple: Product Posts Magenta: Culture Posts Teal: Product Demo Videos Blue: Podcast Episodes That’s all there is to it. Keeping these two things straight helps prevent our calendar from descending into chaos (and ensure that I don’t lose my mind). Heres how to prevent your #content #calendar from descending into chaos.Managing Guest Writers That covers how we handle blog content internally. What about managing guest authors, though?  Weve got a process for that, too. Create a Detailed Write For Us Page It’s frustrating for editors and blog managers to get pitches that fail to follow simple directions. One way to get ahead of this problem to write a detailed Write For Us page. For an example, here’s ours. Be sure to include: Your style standards. This includes how you want documents formatted. You might even consider providing readers with a content template to follow. How you want posts delivered to you. Google Docs? Microsoft Word? Whatever your preference is, let people know. Your policy on linking. Can guest authors include links back to their own content? Whether or not you’ll respond to every pitch. In the interest of saving time, we only respond to pitches we accept. If you follow a similar approach, give people a time frame on how quickly you’ll get back to them. Which topics you’re looking for. You might also want to specify topics you won’t cover, too. How long you’d like posts to be. Give people a range. Whether or not you’ll accept pre-written posts. This will save you and your writers a lot of time. Managing guest writers on your blog? Here are some tips to manage your process.Determine How Pitches Should Be Submitted Our Write For Us page includes a link to a simple Google Form for prospective writers to pitch us through. If you receive a high volume of pitches, submission management software like Submittable  might be a better option. It isn’t free, but their prices are reasonable, and their service offers several benefits: It lets writers know when you’re reviewing their pitch (and whether they’ve been accepted or rejected). It keeps all your pitches organized in one place. It has a more professional look and feel. Another option is to set up a specific email address for submissions and include a link on your Write For Us page. Whichever approach you go with, make sure you ask for the following information: Name Email Address Company / Job Title Links to Previous Work Target Keyword (Optional) Blog Post Idea Summary Prospective Blog Post Outline (Optional) Time Required to Write We’ve found that asking guest authors to provide a target keyword and outline up front helps save a ton of time in the long run. It also shows us whether or not a writer really knows what they want to cover before we accept their pitch. In turn, that can cut down on editing time later. Asking how long they’ll spend writing their post also helps us set clear deadlines. You don’t have time to twiddle your thumbs nor hound writers when their posts don’t show up. Hold them accountable for getting stuff done on time. Hold guest writers accountable for getting stuff done on time.Set Your Acceptance Criteria We have certain standards for our blog that determine which content we’ll accept. For us, guest blog posts must be: Actionable. If a post tells readers what to do, it should show them how to do it, too. Comprehensive. No details should be omitted. Readers should be able to read one post and come away with an in-depth understanding of that topic. Keyword-driven. We don’t overly stress keywords, but there should be a thoughtful strategy behind the keywords a post targets. Topical. All posts must focus on a topic our core audience is interested in. If a pitch doesn’t convey the end result will meet all four of these pillars, it goes in the trash and we move on. Ruthless efficiency wins the day and ensures we only publish the best content we can. Recommended Reading: How to Write a Pitch Email That Will Get Your Guest Post Accepted Determine what successful content looks like to you and accept nothing less. If you consistently deliver quality content, your audience will reward you with their attention, and more reputable writers will want to work with you. Editing Guest Content Determine upfront how much editing you’ll do on guest content. Some editors and blog managers like to offer writers extensive feedback to help them improve their skills and work. Others prefer to handle edits on their own. Whichever approach you choose, we recommend using collaborative writing tools (like Google Docs or the cloud-based version of Microsoft Word) for easy real-time editing. It makes passing along edits and suggestions much easier than emailing documents back and forth. How Will You Manage Your Blog? That covers our blog management process from start to finish. Do you have any questions or tips you’d like to add? Leave us a comment below and help get the conversation started. How to Manage Your Blog the Way Running a high-traffic blog isn’t easy. It takes a lot of persistence to build and retain a loyal audience. Just getting started can feel like pushing a boulder up a mountain. Then, once your blog does start to grow, the day-to-day work of managing content and deadlines only becomes more challenging. So, how do you do it? That’s a question we get asked a lot, and there’s no short and simple answer. However, we can share our own strategies and processes we use to manage our own blog. In this post, we’ll let you in on how we successfully manage a blog that receives over one million page views a month. How to Manage Your Blog the WayStart By Getting Your Ideation Process Together Ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s good that they’re so cheap and plentiful though. You’re going to need a lot of them to keep your content calendar full. You don’t want just any ideas though. You want tons of ideas for blog posts you know people will want to read. Now, getting those kinds of ideas  is easier said than done. Sure, everyone has ideas. Ideas are also completely worthless until you put them into practice and see what they can do. But, when you’re under pressure, generating ideas worth acting on can be tough without a solid process in place. Here at , we use what we call our 30-minute brainstorming process. It’s broken down into three phases: Ideation. Get your team together and spend ten minutes writing down every idea you can think of. Scoring. Spend another ten minutes scoring each idea on a three-point scale. Three’s are ideas you just have to publish. Two’s are average. One’s are duds. Winner optimization. This is where you take every post that everyone agreed was a three, and ask yourselves, â€Å"Which of these ideas should we go with?† By the time you’re done, you’ll have around a month’s worth of ideas for your blog. Run this process once a month, and could  spend just six hours a year on brainstorming. That’s what we call efficiency. Once you’ve got your ideas down, put them straight on your content calendar. That way, they won’t get lost. You’ll also quickly have a plan in place for what you’ll write, and when. Recommended Reading: The Best 30-Minute Content Marketing Brainstorming Process Planning Out Themes Sometimes, if we need content on a specific area or topic, we’ll go into our brainstorming meetings with a particular theme in mind. This can help keep the meeting focused and structured while making sure we end up with the content we need. Some examples of themes might include: Posts on how to complete particular tasks Posts that appeal to particular segments of our audience Posts that target readers at certain skill levels Posts around certain seasonal themes A theme just needs to be a batch of content that’s all wrapped around one core topic. These are just some ideas you can borrow, but you can certainly think of more. Adding Additional Content Beyond our core educational blog posts, we also have the following types of posts: Feature announcements Event announcements Company news Webinar and demo recap videos When we know that a feature is launching, we add complementary posts to the calendar right away. The same goes for demos and webinars that we have planned. That way, we’re able to keep everything orderly and organized. Recommended Reading: 5 Minute Tip: Organize Your Calendar With s Content Types Assigning Content to Team Members Once we’ve got all our ideas on the calendar, the next step is to figure out who will write them. We save a lot of time on this process by pre-determining who will write particular types of posts. Here’s how we have things broken down: Posts about our product fall on our Product Marketers Educational how-to posts fall on our Blog Manager (yo, that’s me) or Content Marketers Anything that helps show to use falls on our Customer Success team Posts about our culture and philosophies fall on whoever is best suited to write them (sometimes that’s a marketer, and sometimes that’s our CEO and co-founder, Garrett Moon) As you can see, content isn’t just the responsibility of one single content team. Instead, we assign content to the person most qualified to write a particular type of piece. That helps us maintain a high publishing volume while adding more voices and perspectives to our blog. Content isnt just the responsibility of one single team.Keeping Ideas Organized We have a two-pronged approach to keeping our content calendar organized: Certain types of blog posts always publish on certain days of the week All our blog posts are color-coded by category The keys here are simplicity and consistency. Here’s a quick look at our publishing schedule: Mondays: Content and Social Media Category Posts Tuesdays: Product Promotion Posts, New Podcast Episodes Wednesdays: Content and Social Media Category Posts Thursdays: Product Demo Videos and Culture Posts Fridays: Content and Social Media Category Posts We’ll add other things in from time to time, but this weekly schedule stays mostly consistent week to week. We then color-code posts like this: Gray: Content and Social Media Category Posts Purple: Product Posts Magenta: Culture Posts Teal: Product Demo Videos Blue: Podcast Episodes That’s all there is to it. Keeping these two things straight helps prevent our calendar from descending into chaos (and ensure that I don’t lose my mind). Heres how to prevent your #content #calendar from descending into chaos.Managing Guest Writers That covers how we handle blog content internally. What about managing guest authors, though?  Weve got a process for that, too. Create a Detailed Write For Us Page It’s frustrating for editors and blog managers to get pitches that fail to follow simple directions. One way to get ahead of this problem to write a detailed Write For Us page. For an example, here’s ours. Be sure to include: Your style standards. This includes how you want documents formatted. You might even consider providing readers with a content template to follow. How you want posts delivered to you. Google Docs? Microsoft Word? Whatever your preference is, let people know. Your policy on linking. Can guest authors include links back to their own content? Whether or not you’ll respond to every pitch. In the interest of saving time, we only respond to pitches we accept. If you follow a similar approach, give people a time frame on how quickly you’ll get back to them. Which topics you’re looking for. You might also want to specify topics you won’t cover, too. How long you’d like posts to be. Give people a range. Whether or not you’ll accept pre-written posts. This will save you and your writers a lot of time. Managing guest writers on your blog? Here are some tips to manage your process.Determine How Pitches Should Be Submitted Our Write For Us page includes a link to a simple Google Form for prospective writers to pitch us through. If you receive a high volume of pitches, submission management software like Submittable  might be a better option. It isn’t free, but their prices are reasonable, and their service offers several benefits: It lets writers know when you’re reviewing their pitch (and whether they’ve been accepted or rejected). It keeps all your pitches organized in one place. It has a more professional look and feel. Another option is to set up a specific email address for submissions and include a link on your Write For Us page. Whichever approach you go with, make sure you ask for the following information: Name Email Address Company / Job Title Links to Previous Work Target Keyword (Optional) Blog Post Idea Summary Prospective Blog Post Outline (Optional) Time Required to Write We’ve found that asking guest authors to provide a target keyword and outline up front helps save a ton of time in the long run. It also shows us whether or not a writer really knows what they want to cover before we accept their pitch. In turn, that can cut down on editing time later. Asking how long they’ll spend writing their post also helps us set clear deadlines. You don’t have time to twiddle your thumbs nor hound writers when their posts don’t show up. Hold them accountable for getting stuff done on time. Hold guest writers accountable for getting stuff done on time.Set Your Acceptance Criteria We have certain standards for our blog that determine which content we’ll accept. For us, guest blog posts must be: Actionable. If a post tells readers what to do, it should show them how to do it, too. Comprehensive. No details should be omitted. Readers should be able to read one post and come away with an in-depth understanding of that topic. Keyword-driven. We don’t overly stress keywords, but there should be a thoughtful strategy behind the keywords a post targets. Topical. All posts must focus on a topic our core audience is interested in. If a pitch doesn’t convey the end result will meet all four of these pillars, it goes in the trash and we move on. Ruthless efficiency wins the day and ensures we only publish the best content we can. Recommended Reading: How to Write a Pitch Email That Will Get Your Guest Post Accepted Determine what successful content looks like to you and accept nothing less. If you consistently deliver quality content, your audience will reward you with their attention, and more reputable writers will want to work with you. Editing Guest Content Determine upfront how much editing you’ll do on guest content. Some editors and blog managers like to offer writers extensive feedback to help them improve their skills and work. Others prefer to handle edits on their own. Whichever approach you choose, we recommend using collaborative writing tools (like Google Docs or the cloud-based version of Microsoft Word) for easy real-time editing. It makes passing along edits and suggestions much easier than emailing documents back and forth. How Will You Manage Your Blog? That covers our blog management process from start to finish. Do you have any questions or tips you’d like to add? Leave us a comment below and help get the conversation started.

Business to Business Marketing-SPSL Case Study Essay

Business to Business Marketing-SPSL Case Study - Essay Example Yet at the same time, personal selling is expensive. It costs a company much more to make a face-to-face sales call than it does to contact customers through a call centre or the web (Zoltners, Sinha & Lorimer, 2009.p.6). Consequently a sales force is most appropriately deployed to select customers, products and selling activities; specifically, those for which the benefit is worth the cost. When deployed to the right opportunities, an effective sales force is an invaluable asset for a B2B company; a powerful customer-facing force that can be a source of considerable competitive advantage. In Saxons case, the sales force will be by far the most relied upon department within the organization. This is mainly because they are required to deal directly with the customers and every other department within the organization relies on them to bring in the business. Typically, they are the only department which brings in money; everything else generates costs (Blythe & Zimmerman, 2005.p.252). It has been observed that a very good sales force, one that has talented salespeople who engage in the right selling activities produces at least 10 percent more revenues in the short term than an average sales force of the same force. In the long term, the revenue impact can be much greater: 50 percent or more. However, it is not a guarantee that everything will go well with Saxon once a sales force in place. Due to the criticalness and power of the sales force they become difficult to control, direct and manage. The fact that they are dominated by motivated people who bring in capabilities and values it also means that they bring egos and the need for security and meaning (Lilien & Grewal, 2012.p.522). Unlike advertising, salespeople cannot be turned on and off. Unlike a...Because the purchase is for the company; rather that for own use, the value presented in the merchandise must be seen as actual and functional as opposed to conceptual and representative (Wright, 2006.p.455). N ot all benefits associated with the brand name are emotional benefits and B2B buyers will be interested in corporate branding as this can be a sign of reliance and worth, service and extensive value when associating with a respectable and established organisation. Lastly, there is the issue of competition. In most B2B markets competition is as intense as is in B2C markets but, because consumers want different benefits than business buyers, it tends to be of a different kind, Competition in B2C markets is just as likely to be on the product and service brands as it is on price, while in B2B it is more likely to be on functional benefits offered and after-sales-service as it is on the brand or the price (Davis, 2010.p.8). Although price is important in the latter market, functionality and reliability can be crucial as a dysfunction in some way would be catastrophic in terms of lost production or disrupted services. Rivalry in B2B markets emanate from comparatively small number of organizations and organisational behaviour will be founded on such aspects as key partnerships. On the other hand, rivalry in B2C markets will emanate from multiple retailers and a variety of diverse merchandise and brands based on the consumer’s continuously var ying demands.

Social Media Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Social Media Marketing - Essay Example Considering the wide range of social media sites covered, this marketing design will have a very wide range of audience across the globe. All the socio-economic classes of the human society are reached out to by this advert, providing a strong base of potential buyers (Safko 2013). In addition to the large social media coverage, this advert gives a detailed and all inclusive description of the Tecno smartphones. The description of the features is brought out in a colorful and eye-catching animations accompanied by step by step audio explanations. The audio explanations are of a wide variety of languages; English, French, German, Kiswahili, Arabic and even some local dialects. This gives first-hand information to the audience because one does not need a translation in order to understand the information being conveyed. Translations are sometimes biased since the translator may say what they think is important. As a result a potential buyer may fail to buy the product because what they were looking for in a phone was omitted by the translator. The advert is also accompanied by a step by step tutorial on the use of the smart phone. This is optional and can be viewed by anyone who has never used a smart phone before (Zimmerman 2013). This is an added advantage as compared to the inserts and user manuals that are usually inserted in the smartphone boxes. Some of the user manuals are typed in very tiny fonts making them stannous to read. An audio version would therefore be preferred by some customers. Currently the smartphone market is flooded by very many brands of smartphones. The major smartphones in the market are; Samsung, Apple, Sony, Alcatel, LG, Infinix and many others. All these smartphones ideally have the same features and applications. The hardware and the brand names are the only variables in this industry. The availability of many brands creates a cutthroat competition, with every company trying to have a bigger share of the market. In

Customer Service Plan Essay Example for Free

Customer Service Plan Essay Customer service and commitment to our customers has been the driving force behind our brand. Widget strive to get it right first time, everytime.Incases where things don’t come out right we believe our professional workers will strive to correct the problem and our customers have the right to know what level of service they can expect from us all the time even in these times when we fall short of the very high standards we have set ourselves. Through our Vision and mission statement we make a commitment to our customers both internal and external. Mission Statement Passionate about exceeding the delivery of our customers’ service expectations by providing the very best in professional, value engineered widgets through our ever growing nationwide team of professional, caring staff. Vision Statement To be Australia’s number one national provider of quality widgets by empowering our staff to deliver our customers with the very best in quality, value and service. Our Product standards Our product is manufactured in strict accordance with the Australian quality standards and also taking into account the use of which our customers will subject our product. Our internal policies and quality standards support the high quality standards set in our vision and mission statement.Our product specifications are clearly presented in all our packaging materials and tested during the production process to ensure all tolerance limits are adhered to. Our main product is 12 mm black hole plugs which are made of plastic to cover ,conseal and decorate 12 mm diameter holes in cabinets,furniture,window frames,vinyl fences and elsewhere.Fits any 12mm diameter holes. These hole cover widgets practically work anywhere indoors and out .These are made from our factory with high –impact injection molded  plastic. These can come from different sizes as requested by our customers. All our products have a small tolelance limit of +1% or -1%. Specifications. Our product range will have the following features. Color:it will come in the range of black ,white or grey Fits hole size :12mm or as requested by customer Diameter:12 mm Length: 6mm Top diameter:15 mm Material:Polypropylene. Tolelance limit:plus or minus 1% Widgets outlines its description of its product in the policy and communicated to the customer to allow the customer to make any queries or complaints incase the product received its off specification. Pricing Widget ensures that its products are properly priced so that customers are able to afford the goods as well as profitability is maintained to allow the company invest in the quality and standards initiatives of the products. Widgets pricing is well thought as we do in other sectors of the business like marketing and branding, the price the customer sees on display is the price customers pay. There are no hidden costs. Our standard product 12 mm fits hole size will cost 12AUD /dozen and customers are requested to enquire from the customer service team for prices of any changes requested to the standard product. Delivery of goods Widgets aim to deliver all orders made either online or face to face within three days of the order being made.We aim to have a delivery process which ensures a reliable, secure and efficient service. If delays occur during deliveries and extra time may be required, customers will be contacted urgently to alert them of the next delivery times or else they can call our Despatch department directly on 1300 880 370. One day prior to your delivery we will SMS all of the important delivery information about your order to your mobile. If all the information is correct you will only need to text back OK. If there are any details that are not correct or you wish to change your delivery date please ring us on 1300 880 370. In order to offer our customers a better delivery service these terms and conditions replace any delivery and pickup conditions stated on your order form. TERMS CONDITIONS: 1. It is important that someone is at the receaving end to receive delivery of your purchase on the designated day. No specific time of delivery can be provided. A four hour time frame will be advised but cannot be guaranteed. 2. A minimum delivery fee of $75 (outside the Metropolitan area) is payable separately to the Carrier in cash or bank cheque. Delivery is free inside the Metropolitan area 3. Cash or bank cheque must be used to pay any balance of monies owing at time of delivery. Personal/Company cheques will NOT be accepted. For your convenience we can accept credit cards in store 48 hours prior to delivery, surcharges may apply. 4. Once arrangement for a delivery day is confirmed, there will be a minimum re-delivery charge of $75 if no person is at the delivery address on the day of delivery or the delivery is cancelled by the customer on day of delivery. 5. When receiving goods, please inspect thoroughly before signing Received in good order as any claims for scratches, marks, dents or other damages will not be accepted once signed. 6. Failure to collect or take delivery of the goods beyond 21 days from the date of contact by our despatch department will result in the sales order being cancelled and all monies paid will be forfeited. 7. All original packing wrapping will be left at the premises (delivery address). CUSTOMER PICK UPS Customer collection of goods purchased from Widgets stores can also be  collected by the customer in any of our distribution centres.. The customer must contact the Delivery department prior to pick up on 1300 880 370 to make an appointment. Same day pickup is not available. Pickup times at Distribution Centers Customers: Monday to Thursday 10:00am 12:30pm 1:30pm 3:00pm Carriers: Friday ONLY Other Policies and Procedures Customer needs Widget believes that it is important that customers needs are regularly reviewd to ensure that its products are inline with the changing times. Therefore time and again Widget carries out research to identify these needs and implement changes identified. Widget uses the RATER model to identify its customers needs since customers when assessing what they want will consider the reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness as they are being assisted. Using the RATER guide Widget will use the following techniques to gather customer needs Informal face to face discussions for its key customers Telephone interviews Email surveys Suggestion boxes Internet surveys. All information gathered for customers is protected by the Privacy act 1988 including how the information is collected,used and disclosed,its accuracy and how securely it is kept and general rights to access that information. Widget has a dedicated Customer service research officer who is responsible for ensuring that all customer data collected is securely kept and used for  its intended purpose only. Complaints and feedback If you have a complaint or if there is anything we can help you with, please let us know.Widget values feedback and appreciate the opportunity to follow up. Widget deals with all people from diversi background and does not discriminate anyone on the basis of age ,race,disability or sex. Our policy take into account the Age discrimination act 2004,Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986,Disability Discrimination ACT 1992,Racial discrimination Act 1975 and Sex Discrimination Act 1984. There are a number of ways you can contact us to lodge your complain and includes our Email at Widget123.gmail.com or phone at 08100300 or mail at Widget Australia,3/77 Manning street ,Bentley ,6102. Or you can also connect with us via Twitter or facebook Complain resolution process and timeframes Once we receive your complaints, we may ask you to provide supporting or documentation to aid us in investigations. This may include proof of identity, statutory declaration, receipts and so on. We aim to resolve complaints within 5 working days, however please note that some complaints may take longer to investigate especially matters to do with international orders. Managing records and data. Widgets collects alot of data of customers including physical addresses, names,date of birth and many more information. The Customer service research officer is responsible for keeping the data securely and is sorted by our secure information technology section. The Privacy Act 1988(the Act)  governs the obligations and responsibilities of companies in relation to the management of official records. Under this Act, each company has an obligation to maintain official records in its custody in good order and condition. This obligation applies not only to the capture, storage, maintenance and disposal of physical records, but also to records in electronic format. Widget policy is governed by this act and all measures necessary are taken to ensure that compliance is maintained.

Essay --

â€Å"The Judge’s Wife† a short story written by Isabel Allende presents many of the necessary techniques required to write an effective short story. Alledende’s keen use of setting, character development, and point of view dramatically affect the way the reader perceives the story during crucial turning points throughout the story. Alledende uses these devices to make the theme of fate being inescapable, no matter how hard on tries to avoid it. setting, character development, and point of view play a vital role within the story and without them it would be impossible to fully understand the story. In The Judge's Wife Nicolas Vidal is the main character. He was born a fatherless to a prostitute and was foretold at birth that he would lose his head to a woman. Keeping this in mind, he hardened his heart to allow no woman to come close to him emotionally. As Vindal grew up he became an outlaw and leader of a gang. On the wedding day of Judge Hidalgo, Vidal looks down on the judge’s bride, Casilda, and is not impressed. Vidal's gang have been plaguing the judge’s jurisdiction as well as surrounding areas despite the numerous attempts to stop Vindal. To solve this problem judge Hidalgo set a trap by caging Vidal's mother in the town square surrounded by guards. The judge believes that Vidal will come to rescue his mother, but after three days it is clear that he is not going to fall for the judge's trap. Vidal's mother hangs herself out of embarrassment that her son did not come to save her. As a result, Vidal hunts down Hidalgo. During Hidalgo's escape he suffers a h eart attack loses control of his car and dies. Only his wife and kids survive. Casilda hides her children in the nearby caves for safety as she awaits Vidal's gang, with the i... ... also allows for deeper plot development with the characters back stories and ties two seemingly unrelated events into one flowing story removing the need to use in medias res. The shared point of view is extreamly important in connecting the story with the theme and allows for the reader to pick up on the foreshadowing and irony present throughout the story. â€Å"The Judge’s Wife† is not a long story, but in those few pages Allende creates a piece readers can understand to the point of empathy. Throughout the piece the use of theme, setting and character development make this story effective in developing a deep story in a small amount of time. Allende does an excellent job of writing a short story. Even though the story lacks symbolism it makes up for that lacking by making effective use of setting to really pull the story together and develop the story completely.

Love in LA Essay

The difference between two separate opinions of love could be very similar, yet could be drastically contrasting. In the story â€Å"Love in L. A. â€Å", written by Dagoberto Gilb, Jake has, what would appear to a normal person, a skewed vision of love. Out of everything in his world he could chose to love, it is his car that he loves. His car means everything to him and it seems as if nothing else matters. In the story â€Å"The Love of My Life†, by T. C. Boyle, two teenagers seem to love each other so passionately that they are willing to risk the life of their own child to keep, what they consider in their eyes, a perfect life. Like Jake in â€Å"Love in L. A. † and the teenagers in â€Å"The Love of My Life†, people’s view on love can sway many different ways, sometimes clouding their ability to make the proper decision. In â€Å"Love in L. A. † Jake has a deep love for his car and everything about it. Even as he rides in his car, he thinks of ways to make it better. While he describes adding accessories such as â€Å"crushed velvet interior†¦ warm heater and defroster†¦ and cruise control,† Jake falls even further into a daze. To the reader the car is just an old piece of junk. This old piece of junk is more than enough to keep Jake happy. Without any friends or someone to talk to, his beat up Buick is the only thing he is able to connect with. For example, his awkward encounter with Mariana shows how strangers perceive him, which could be a contributory reason to why he has such a connection with his car. Instead of having a relationship with a human being, in a way he has a relationship with an inanimate object. The teenagers in â€Å"The Love of My Life† have an offbeat view of love. They love each other greatly and will do anything for love, even if it means throwing their newborn baby in a dumpster like a piece of unwanted garbage. Both of them are at fault for the situation that they now find themselves in. Even though the Jeremy is in jail for murdering their young child, the girl pressured him into doing so. If they both love each other as they claim, the girl wouldn’t have pressured Jeremy into murdering the baby, and the guy should not have given in for the sake of love. Their view of love is off in the sense that they are too caught up in loving themselves and believe that having a baby will ruin their lives. They don’t want to take the time to love their baby because it will take away time that they would get to spend together. If they truly loved each other, they would take the baby into their lives and love it like they love one another. Along with not having a view of love that would be considered â€Å"normal†, Jake does not seem to have a real grasp of what is acceptable and what is not. After giving fake information to the girl he just rear ended while day dreaming about his beloved car, he drives away pondering what just unfolded. He feels some guilt and shows signs that hint towards knowing what is right and wrong, â€Å"[taking] a moment or two to feel both proud and sad about his performance. But soon after he is content and the only thing on his mind is getting new license plates for his car since he stole the old plates off of an old junk car. His love for the car clouds his reasoning and forces him to make decisions influenced by him loving his car. As most teenagers would say, having a baby before the age of twenty is a burden someone of that age could go without. The teenagers in â€Å"The Love of My Life† seem to hold the same opinion, but the teens in the story took a route not heavily traveled upon. Without thinking of a plan to safely get rid of the baby, like adoption, their first reaction was to throw the baby in a dumpster. Short term fix, ending with heavy consequences. The reason for their decision was based off love. In Jake’s eyes, the love that he has for his car is no different than loving something physically. The car that he drives makes him happy and gives him something to do. It is clear that nothing, not even a fender bender, can keep him from loving his car. On the other hand, the lack of love the teenagers show towards their child in â€Å"The Love of My Life† shows that they have tunnel vision when it comes to love. They are focused on themselves and they will stop at nothing to keep their love intact. Depending on how a person is raised or influenced throughout life, love can have many different meanings. Like Jake in â€Å"Love in L. A. †, love doesn’t always have to be associated with other people. Love can influence people in a negative way like â€Å"The Love of My Life,† but could also have a positive impact. As experienced in both stories, people’s views on love can sway many different ways, sometimes affecting their ability to make the proper choice.

The Professor And The Madman

The Professor and the Madman, written by Simon Winchester, is a biography about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. Winchester, who is an author, journalist, broadcaster and foreign correspondent, has written for many magazines and newspapers distributed worldwide. In an interview between Winchester and a host of C-SPAN, Winchester was asked where the idea for the book came, he replies Well, it came to me in a rather bizarre way. I was reading a book on lexicography in the bath one morning, as one does, I suppose, just before breakfast, and it was a book–a wonderful book called â€Å"Chasing The Sun† by a man called Jonathan Green. And it had a reference–it said, `Readers will be familiar with the extraordinary story of Dr. W. C. Minor, an American lunatic murderer, who was a prodigiously energetic contributor to the OED. ’ And I remember sitting up in the bath, Archimedeslike, dripping and saying, `Well, I know nothing about this. ’ Winchesters main foundation for this book is to clarify the tale of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary The formation of the Oxford English Dictionary began in 1857 and took seventy years to finish. Tens of thousands of individuals organized the expansive language into 414,825 exact definitions. The story begins with the grisly murder of George Merrett, by William Chester Minor the former U. S. Army officer and qualified surgeon. On February 17th of 1872 in the early morning William Minor had been sleeping, when he awoke to some noises of someone in his flat. He sat up and saw someone standing at the foot of his bed. He proceeded to chase the individual into the street, and shot at the person as they attempted to flee. He ended up shooting the first person that came into view apparently, and this person was George Merrett. Merrett had never met W. C Minor and had been heading home after a long day at work. W. C Minor was arrested. While in prison, he appeared to act exceptionally strange. One of the guards told the jury that Minor accused him of paying people to enter his room and molest him while he slept. This evidence clearly showed that W. C Minor was insane and was sent to the Asylum for the Criminally Insane, Broadmoore. The judge stated that he would remain there until her Majestys Pleasure be known. Professor James Murray, an extraordinarily educated former schoolmaster and bank clerk, sent out an announcement about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary, asking for literary contributions. From his cell in Broadmoore, Minor came across this announcement and began contributing examples from his massive collection of new and scarce antique books. Minor had an enormous collection of books in his cell, which were not available to Murray and the staff, where the dictionary was being created. Thousand of neat and well-written quotes and examples came from Minor over several years to Oxford. Murray was only fifty miles away from where Minor was living, and had no idea that Minor was committed to an asylum. On several occasions Minor had been asked to visit Murray In Oxford, where they could meet and discuss the dictionary. Minor declined all invitations, without an explanation, and only an apology. After being rebuffed several times, Murray offered to visit Minor and Minor accepted the offer. Upon arrival Murray discovered that Minor was not a doctor of the asylum as he had assumed, but a resident. Murray was shocked, but that didnt dissuade him from visiting Minor. Although Minor constantly complained about people molesting him while he slept, people breaking into his room at night, and his personal possessions being vandalized Murray ignored the strange comments and went on with his visits. Minors stepbrother began writing appeals to the court, asking that his brother be allowed to transfer to a hospital in the United States. James Murray, who spent more than 40 years editing the dictionary, and up until 1910 wrote and visited Minor regularly, until Minor was released and allowed to go back to the U. S. On July 16th 1915 Murray died, surrounded by friends and relatives. In November 1915 Minor wrote to Lady Murray, offering all his books to the Scriptorium. On Friday March 26th 1920 Minor died from a cold that developed into bronchopneumonia. The English Oxford Dictionary took eight more years to be completed. On New Years Eve of 1927 its completion was announced. The Professor and the madman is a wonderfully written biography. Before each chapter was a word that defined the whole chapter. Most of the book was in chronological order, except for the parts where the author backtracked in order to elaborate. The postscript and authors note gave a bit of insight on where he got his idea to write the book, and some of his resources. Unlike The Bluest Eye written by Toni Morrison, the diction was easy to follow, and storyline was far from depressing. Winchester was very straightforward, and turned a little known tale into a well-written and very compelling book. I had my doubts about this particular book. I got this book, when the report was first assigned. I attempted to read, but found the first chapter dreadfully boring, and returned the book to the bookstore. I forgot about the report until I was reminded a week ago. I went to go and find a different book, but had no luck, so I bought the book again. I am glad that I did end up with this book. I enjoyed The Professor and the Madman immensely. I have no recollection of ever hearing about the authors of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Lord of the Flies Symbols, characters allegory essays

Lord of the Flies Symbols, characters allegory essays Golding deftly forges two leaders amongst the boys, Ralph and Jack. The two are the respective island equivalents of a democratic president and a communist premier. Jack and Ralph frequently take contrary positions; slowly, creating two distinct tribes as their personal animosity increases. Early in the novel the allocation of power is the first key issue of confrontation upon which the two figures distinguish themselves. The stranded boys revert back to their inherited customs and call for an election of a chief. Jack, much in the fashion of a power hungry dictator, attempts to seize power. I ought to be chief, because Im chapter chorister and head boy. (22) Golding quickly foreshadows Jacks totalitarian control over his subjects, All right who wants Jack for Chief? With dreary obedience the choir raised their hands. (22) Jacks counterpart, Ralph, is elected by an overwhelming majority. Instead of attempting to impress his will upon others, Ralph democratically delegates, exercisin g the consent given to him by the electorate. You voted me for chief. Now you do what I say. (81) Unlike Jack, Ralph does not horde power, he honors the democratic rights of free speech and freedom of expression. He establishes the rules of popular debate during meetings. We cant have everyone talking at once. Well have to have Hands up like at school...Ill give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when hes speaking. (33) Oppositely Jack in many scenes is portrayed as prying, or attempting to snatch the conch away from orators, and especially so from Piggy. This repetitive action of Jack draws close parallels to soviet suppression of voice; Piggy represents intellectuals, such as Golding himself, the victims of zealous communistic repression. When finally the opposite poles of Jack and Ralph repel too greatly for reconcilia...

Analysis of theoretical approaches to speech perception

Analysis of theoretical approaches to speech perception Speech perception is vital to language used in day to day lives. When someone speaks, the air pressure fluctuates and the waves strike the ears and in some way the individual turns these sound waves into meaningful consideration what the speaker is saying about. So, speech perception is important for human communication (Smith 2007). The core concept in speech perception is to explain the mechanism of perceiving the words correctly despite of inconsistent information provided by speech signals. It can be understood by the fact that human can perceive as many as fifty phonemes per second in a language in which the individual is fluent. This suggests that speech is perceived with marked rapidity. On contrary when the individual is not fluent in a particular language (e.g. foreign language) can perceive only about two third of single phone per second (of non speech sound) (Sternberg 2009:351). Over the last five decades researcher in the field of speech perception focused more attentio n on establishing the relationship between the properties of acoustic signal and linguistic components (phonemes and distinctive features). This has turned out the result to be more complex, and still how human perceive speech is not ascertain. Thus, this extensive research for explanation has given rise to important theoretical perspective on speech perception (ncbi 2009). The purpose of this essay is to critically evaluate various theoretical approaches toward speech perception. The most influential theories of speech perception include Motor theory, Cohort theory, and TRACE model (Eysenck 1995:280). First the essay will scrutinize the main claims proposed by motor theory; then it will examine the critique of cohort theory and finally analyze the TRACE model. A conclusion can be drawn that among all of these above mentioned theories cohort theory is better, scientific, and there is good evidence which suggests rationale justification of speech perception (moodle.coventry.ac.uk n.d .). The motor theory was the first and the most influential theory of speech perception proposed by Liberman et al. (1967). This theory is based on the following assumptions: Speech perception is perception of the articulatory gestures. ‘Phenomenon of speech perception as special’ (Sternberg 2009:352). Involvement of the motor system in perception of the speech (ncbi 2009). Speech perception is perception of articulatory phonetic gestures. ‘Listeners engage in a certain amount of mimicking of articulatory movements of the speaker’ (Eysenck 1995: 280). This is a controversial claim of the motor theory of speech perception, it state that the phonetic gestures produced in the air are not the objects of speech perception; instead the gestures of the vocal tract of the speaker are the real objects of speech perception (ncbi 2009). The evidence which supports this claim that the object of speech perception is gestural and not acoustic is the finding that ‘t he hand motor system to be activated by linguistic tasks, most notably pure linguistic perception but not by auditory or visuospatial processing’ (ebscohost 2003) ‘Phenomenon of speech perception as special’ (Sternberg, P.352): It is difficult to evaluate this claim because the term ‘special’ in itself is ambiguous. At least three possibilities can be drawn by the term ‘special’ as speech perception is special with respect to audition or speech perception is special with respect to audition that mean application of motor system in speech perception or speech is produced and process by a special neural track (ncbi 2009). There are no sufficient evidence available to support this claim so, should probably be retarded (talkingbrains 2008).

Personal narrtive Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Personal narrtive - Essay Example The dog in this story was black in color. We call him with the name Blacky since it was black in color. Blacky was from the dash breed and it was a loving dog not only for everybody in our home but even for our neighbors also. I played and slept with balcky when he was young. I have given him much training and on every morning it was Blacky who brought news papers to us from the gate of our home. Every morning he waits in front of our home till the news paper boy arrives and collects the news paper from the newspaper boy. I purchased blacky when he was only one month old from a pet shot. Within one week from the purchase, he established company with all of us in our home. He started to show some deep relationship with me and accompany me wherever I go around my home. Moreover, he always waits for me at the gate if I went out to town for some purchasing needs. During night time Blacky will never sleep and guard our home from intruders keeping a vigilant eye on every corner of our home and its surroundings. There are many stories associated with blacky which shows his bravery and loyalty to us. In this paper I would like to describe two incidents in which we blacky shows his intimacy and bravery. After my school studies, I decided to continue my college studies in a distant college. We made all the preparations for my journey and blacky was a silent witness to all these preparations. When I prepare my bags for the journey, he stationed near me with a sad face and often wagged his tail whenever I look at him. I realized that balcky was so sad about my journey. When I was about to leave to the airport, I called blacky towards me. He slowly approached me and I had seen his ears filled with tears even though he was kept on wagging his tail. I told him that I will be back within few months and he wagged his tail more rapidly as if he understood everything. My mum and dad accompanied me till airport in order to send off me to

The Privacy on a Workplace Legal Aspects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Privacy on a Workplace Legal Aspects - Essay Example Discipline is a touchy subject when it comes to examination under the light of legal liability. The biggest reason for this is that many actions that a Human Resources department might take could be construed as retaliatory or discriminatory in nature; even if this was not the intent. As such, the process of discipline should be clearly aligned in such a way as to obviously work to give the employee an opportunity for growth and realization of the negative aspect or trait that led him/her to be disciplined. A good rule of thumb is to allow a silver-lining to every form of discipline so that if the issue ever came up in a court of law the employer could reasonably show the court that they have provided both a form of punishment for said action as well as providing a way that the employee could maximize their overall benefit in the given situation; thereby providing him her with an incentive to perform in a better/more appropriate way in the future.With regards to pre-employment testin g, this provides a backbone of the employment process as it currently exists within the United States. It is a tool for employers to gauge the level of aptitude that potential hires can necessarily bring to specific jobs and skill sets. Although appropriate to determine ability, the pre-employment test loses all of its appropriateness when it is used to discriminate based on a variety of illegal factors. These include but are not limited to factors that relate to the race, age, gender, sexual orientation.

Billy Rose Theatre Division in the New York Public Library-Creative Essay

Billy Rose Theatre Division in the New York Public Library-Creative writing - Essay Example Initiated in 1932, the Billy Rose division has over 10 million collections of theatrical art that document drama, music and film. The division housed numerous traditional books and journals on theatrical arts. It was also meant to contain an array of personal papers. Besides personal papers, the division has a collection of organizational records. It houses an archive on the theatre of film. It has collections legendary artists including Richard Rodgers and Hal Prince. The papers of Betty Comden and Clifford Odets are also housed in the division. Most importantly, it houses the works of William Shakespeare including records of festivals on Shakespeare’s works. At the division, visitors to the library can examine historical performances on Shakespeare, for instance, to years dating back to as early as 1767 (The New York Public Library, 2015). The division serves as an invaluable resource for diverse groups including researchers and scholars. Writers and students also find the d ivision resourceful because of the various documentation that are informative and useful for learning. Artists and other members of the public also find the resources at the division

The Roper Logan Tierney Model Nursing Essay

The Roper Logan Tierney Model Nursing Essay The aim of this study is to demonstrate the care management that a nurse can provide to a patient who had Laparotomy and mesh repair of incarcerated incisional hernia. It also shows how the Roper- Logan- Tierney Model was utilized in assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating patients care. The core of this care study is on infection and wound healing management which was identified as the patients main problem. According to NICE (2008), a minimum of 5 out of 100 surgical patients develop infection and that this covers almost a quarter of all infections acquired in a hospital. The patients name was altered to uphold confidentiality (NMC, 2008). In this study, health and social care policies affecting the patient care were also considered. PATIENT PROFILE Mrs P is a 63 years old lady who was admitted due to symptoms of small bowel obstruction like vomiting, bloating and abdominal pain. She lives with her husband in a privately owned house who also has impaired mobility due to stroke. Mrs P weighs 111 kilograms, 5 feet 7 inches tall and body mass index of 38. Previous medical history includes Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 2 (2008), Congestive Cardiac Failure (2007), leg cellulitis (2006), Essential Hypertension (2005), Primary repair of Incisional Hernia (1992), Type 2 Diabetes(1991), Repair of Umbilical Hernia(1985), Total Abdominal Hysterectomy NEC (1979) and Cholecystectomy (1976). After series of examination, she was found to have incarcerated incisional hernia which was repaired with mesh on the emergency list. Post- operatively, she was admitted to ITU for ventilator support and post-op care. When she was stable, she was transferred in the ward and two weeks post- op she developed infection and her abdominal wound dehisced. Patient has to take several medications while in the hospital to help her recover. She had Augmentin (Co- amoxiclav) 625 mg via oral route three times a day, followed by tazocin (Piperacillin with Tazobactam) 4.5 grams intravenously every 8 hours interval, Fragmin (Dalteparin) 7500 units once at 6 pm, senna (7.5mg) two tablets in the evening, bisoprolol 10 mg once daily, furosemide 20 mg daily orally, ramipril 5mg daily orally, amlodipine 10 mg daily oral, paracetamol 1 gram 4-6 hourly oral, domperidone 10mg three times daily orally, insulin Glargine(Lantus) twice a day SC injection, Novorapid three times daily SC injcetion, and oxycodone hydrochloride (oxynorm) 10 milligrams every 4-6 hours orally when needed. PATHOPHYSIOLOGY The development of an surgical site infection depends on contamination of the wound site at the end of a surgical procedure and specifically relates to the pathogenicity and inoculum of microorganisms present, balanced against the hosts immune response(NICE,2006). Typically, wound infection is caused by migration of patients normal flora to the wound site. Another way of surgical site being contaminated is being in contact with contaminated surgical equipments, environment, and hands of staffs. (NICE, 2006). ASSESSMENT The Roper- Logan-Tierney Model of Nursing based on activities of living was used in planning the care of Mrs P which is a widely used model in practice areas in the UK(Roper et al 2000). Maintaining a safe environment Mrs P was alert and orientated however she is diabetic, hypertensive, uses eye glasses and obese. She has an infected wound that is oozing and painful, poorly healed, dehisced, abdominal wound. She has a urinary catheter in situ which can be a potential site of another infection. Communicating Patient can communicate effectively, her primary language is English, can hear and talk without any aids and difficulties, and very conversant but when it comes to her care she tends to stay quiet and just wait for her turn to be look at. Breathing Patient is at risk of developing chest infection due to decreased mobility and respiratory depression due to oxynorm medication. Patient has a respiratory rate of 15 breaths per minute, oxygen saturation of 98% on air, no shortness of breath noted, no signs of respiratory distress and no complaints of pain during breathing. Eating and Drinking Patient claims to have decreased appetite after operation and risk of poor wound healing since although she is obese, she still needs some important nutrients like protein and vitamins like vitamin A,C, and K. Also patient is scared that when she ate, it will cause more pressure to her abdominal wound. Patient is able to eat and drink independently, no complains of difficulty of swallowing, and she is on normal diet. Eliminating Mrs. P has urinary catheter in situ draining adequate amount of urine at present which made her at risk of further infection. She was continent of faeces and uses bedside commode with assistance of two staffs. Because of the pain on her wound when moving and the need of two staffs to help her get out of bed, she keeps refusing her senna tablet and end up opening her bowel on bed. Personal Cleansing and dressing Nurses are the one irrigating and changing her wound dressing. Mrs P is unable to wash and dress herself independently due to her current state of health. Did not have any shower since admission because of her difficulty in mobilising. Controlling body temperature Although Mrs P got an infection, her temperature during assessment was 36.8 degree Celsius, no sweating noted, skin warm to touch, uses only hospital gown and dressing gown to keep her warm during the day, and uses top sheet and one blanket at night. She has limited mobility which predisposed her to poor blood circulation. Mobilising While on bed, Mrs P can turn on her sides but still with assistance of one staff because of her abdominal wound and shes an obese patient. Patient complains of pain on the surgical site when moving and mobilising. Three days before she was being hoisted from bed to chair and back to bed with assistance of 3 staffs but at this time after referral to physiotherapist, she can transfer to chair with assistance of two staffs and use of a zimmer frame. She was able to stand during the transfer and can make 2-3 steps during transfer. Working and playing Patient worked in an office before but had early retirement due to illness. Enjoys knitting and playing with her grandchildren at home. Although she can still do knitting, she cannot run or look after her grandchildren at home in her situation. Expressing sexuality Mrs P is 63 years old, menopause, and still lives with her husband. Her abdominal wound makes her anxious about her body image. Sleeping Patient says shes not able to sleep well due to environment change, pain and sometimes bowel urgencies. Mrs P takes two glasses of milk before bedtime. Death and Dying Mrs P keeps asking about worst thing that could happen to her regarding her present condition. She is worried for her husband when it happens to her first. Patient does not have a will. IDENTIFICATION OF PATIENTS PROBLEM While in the ward, Mrs P was assessed using the RLT Model based on activities of living. From those activities, all problems identified were related to her infected wound that is not healing normally. She has to stay further in the hospital until her infection is dealt with and that her condition will be manageable by primary care. This is a serious problem that if not attended immediately would cause further injury or problems to Mrs P therefore these problems which are related to each other should be the priority and the focus of her care plan. GOALS After nursing interventions, Mrs P will be able to verbalize feelings regarding her condition and understand the course of treatment being done to her. In three to 7 days, patient will be able to mobilize on her own using her zimmer frame and will be infection free. NURSING CARE PLAN PROBLEMS INTERVENTIONS RATIONALE REFERENCES 1.Wound Infection >Monitored patients vital signs. >Assessed wound site daily and documented. >Maintained aseptic technique when changing dressing and irrigation. >Administered antibiotic as prescribed. >Encouraged patient to eat nutritious food and increase fluid intake >Educated patient about wound infection control and prevention. >Infection is frequently linked with pyrexia >As basis for treatment >To prevent further deterioration in wound >Inhibits growth and kill microorganisms >Enhance immune response >To have an idea on how to manage her surgical wound Rico et al, 2002 Shultz et al, 2003 MEP,2008 Colier, 2004 Dealey,2012 NICE, 2006 2. Poor wound healing >Assessed the wound and its surroundings >Monitored blood glucose regularly >Maintained strict infection control measures >Encouraged patient to eat nutritious food and increase fluid intake >Encouraged diversional activities like knitting and reading papers. >Maintained a moist wound environment but not saturated >Managed exudates to ensure that surrounding skin is protected from leakage. >Referred to tissue viability nurse >To assess healing and as basis for treatment. >Associated with delayed wound healing. * need to expand >To prevent further infection >Poor nutrition increases infection risk. * how does protein, calories affects healing, hydration? Link poor healing with nutrition. >To reduce stress caused by pain on the wound surroundings. >Supports wound healing >Exudates can damage surrounding skin and is ideal for bacterial growth >To give advice on appropriate wound dressing for wound healing by secondary intention. Daugherty and Lister, 2004 Patel, 2008 Pratt et al,2007 Dealey, 2012 Augustine and Maier,2003 Shultz et al,2003 Vowden and Vowden, 2002 NICE, 2006 PART 2 HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE POLICIES The basic principle of NHS is that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth(NHS website,2011). In order to maintain it, the NHS is regulated by several policies. DH policies are designed to improve on existing arrangements in health and social care, and turn political vision into actions that should benefit staff, patients and the public (DH 2010b). Mrs Ps information are compiled in a folder and kept in a secure place so that only members of the Multi-disciplinary team responsible for her care will be able to access it. It is the responsibility of healthcare professionals to safeguard their patients information and share it only to appropriate individuals (NMC, 2008). Mrs Ps personal information were handled in accordance with Data Protection Act of 1998. According to Mental Capacity Act of 2005, every adult has the right to make his or her decision and must be assumed to have capacity to make them unless it is proved otherwise. Informed consent was taken from Mrs P before any procedures or treatment was given or done. Doctors, anaesthetists and nurses has the responsibility to explain all tests and procedures being carried out on her and made sure she understood why it is being done or given to her. The consent is not valid when the person did not understand intervention (DH, 2009a). The vital signs of Mrs P were kept monitored and documented using the National Early Warning Score (NEWS)Chart. It is a new observation chart (implemented July, 2012) used in the ward where Mrs P was admitted. RCP (2012) says that this is also used as a surveillance system for all patients in hospitals, tracking their clinical condition, alerting the clinical team to any clinical deterioration and triggering a timely clinical response. Another tool used in Mrs Ps ward is the SBAR Tool. It is a structured method for communicating critical information that requires immediate attention or action(NHS Website, 2008). The patient was also assessed using the Waterlow Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment Tool and Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool(MUST). In the chart it says there that although the later was incorporated to Waterlow, they should be assessed individually to ensure patient needs are addressed and their care was implemented (Waterlow 1985, Revised 2005). This tool helps nurses and other healthcare professionals in identifying what measures and equipment are needed for the care of the patient. NICE (2006) recommends that all hospital inpatients on admission and all outpatients at their first clinic appointment should be screened (weighed, measured and have Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated). Screening should be repeated weekly for inpatients and when there is clinical concern for outpatients. The abdominal wound of Mrs P was also assessed and documented on the Wound Management Chart implemented by the trust. Mrs Ps surgical team decided to leave her dehisced wound open and heal by second intention. The team looking after her prescribed antibiotic, and twice a day irrigation and dressing of her wound. Mrs P was referred to the Tissue Viability Nurses (TVN) for advice on appropriate dressings to be used on her wound as it was planned to heal by secondary intention (NICE, 2012). Another issue to consider in looking after Mrs P was infection control. The fact that she was already infected does not mean healthcare staffs no longer follow Infection control procedures. Infection control should be strictly manifested in order not to aggravate her situation. Hand hygiene is important especially before touching the patients wound to minimise introduction of pathogens and also after changing wound dressings to prevent self and cross- contamination of patient. The WHO (2006), provided Five Moments as to when healthcare professionals should perform hand hygiene. Use of appropriate Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) should also be worn when irrigating and renewing the surgical wound dressing of Mrs P to prevent spread of infection. Guidelines on how to put on PPE and how to take it off were also produced by WHO(2007). Proper disposal of sharps used by Mrs P like needles used for her antibiotic, insulin, and fragmin injection should also be observed. They should be th rown directly to designated sharp bins as uncapped and still assembled (RCN,2011). OVERALL EVALUATION AND CRITIQUE OF FRAMEWORK The nursing process is an orderly method of designing and providing nursing care which are collecting information and assessing the patient, planning care and defining objectives for nursing care, implementing interventions and evaluating results (Uys Habermann, 2005,p.3). Roper et al(2000,p.124) pointed out that assessment which is considered to be the first phase of the nursing process should be done regularly and not only once. Being this the case, the use of Roper- Logan-Tierney (RLT) Model based on Activities of Living is preferred for Mrs Ps case. It does assess the patient needs wholly and can determine the impact of infection and poor wound healing to her identified twelve activities of living as recognized by the model. Using RLT model, an overview of Mrs Ps health status was created and from it prioritization of her needs is easier. This model enabled healthcare professionals to produce a care plan which is unique or aligned to her needs. The author of this care study find this framework to be an ideal model in assessing patient and useful for healthcare professionals as they do not miss out any aspect of care. Looking at the down side of the model, it is a very long process of assessment and it takes time for a healthcare staff to finish all the twelve areas. The author of this study thinks although it is an ideal one that in a ward where Mrs P was confined, there might be an issue in doing this regularly to all patients. It is a very busy ward and if all patients are assessed regularly using this model, problems on other aspect of nursing process will be left untouched and cause additional work to incoming staffs. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE PRACTICE Health and social care policies are indeed very important and has a great impact to the healthcare system. It serves as the basis for the trusts in making their own policies and it guides healthcare professionals to their practice. Nurses practice in accordance with the NMC Code, Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives and other laws and guidelines provided by the British government and different departments or agencies like the Department of Health, National Institute of Clinical Excellence, World Health Organization, etc. After using the Roper-Logan-Tierney Model The care of Mrs P went smoothly during her stay in the hospital. Her post- operative complications have been managed without any major issues. Since the very start, nurses and other members of the MDT reassured her that personal details and all information regarding her care is treated as confidential and that this could only be shared to appropriate people only on her approval. The MDT members based their interventions on the protocol and policies of the trusts which was based on National policies. Mrs Ps problems were managed by the interventions provided in the hospital and was now discharged and back to her home. Long term goals were also taken into account therefore a proper referral to the district nurse was done before she went home.

The Power of Discourse in a Political Sex Scandal :: Politics Political Sex Gender Essays

The Power of Discourse in a Political Sex Scandal On August 12th, 2004 New Jersey Governor James McGreevey became this nation's first openly gay state governor. Several moments after he stated, "I am a gay American", he succumbed to intense political and public pressure by announcing his resignation from New Jersey's most powerful position. This announcement and resignation came after a week of intense allegations that McGreevey sexually harassed a male colleague whom he had appointed. While American politics are not foreign to sexual scandal, the political destruction and individual defeat which McGreevey currently faces is poignantly unique. Throughout his career, McGreevey has been formally investigated for unethical political practices on at least 4 occasions. One of the current investigations includes allegations of fraudulent campaign finance practices and nepotism within upper end political appointments. Despite the severity of these allegations, it was the charge of sexual assault from a male employee that forced his resigna tion and retirement from politics. In order to understand the severity of the sexual harassment allegations against McGreevey, it is necessary to look at the situation through the eyes of Rubin and Foucault. Not only did McGreevey's actions reflect the social sexual hierarchy described by Rubin, but through his secrecy and discretion McGreevey disrupted the powerful discourse of his position with political and public realms. In her essay "Thinking Sex", Gayle Rubin strictly outlines the rules of sexual conduct which currently exist in Western society. These rules have created a sexual hierarchy which places heterosexual, monogamous, married, reproductive sex at the top. Anything deterring from this position, is placed below in varying degrees. The allegations of sexual assault made against McGreevey not only announce publicly his sexual preference, but according to Rubin, place him at the very bottom of the sexual hierarchy. First and foremost, McGreevey is a married man. Any act of sexual advance towards anyone besides his wife can be seen as adulterous. Second, these sexual advances were made toward a male colleague while McGreevey remained in a heterosexual marriage. Thus, in the eyes of a bystander, he is eliciting homosexual behavior without claiming full affiliation with the gay community. Most importantly, the allegations of sexual harassment bring into question the consensual nature of his advances. As Rubin explains "A democratic morality should judge sexual acts by the way partners treat one another, the level of mutual consideration, the presence or absence of coercion, and the quantity and quality of the pleasures which they provide.