Safety, Health and Environmental Risk Free Essays

string(175) " individuals such as employees or workers who are exposed to as much as eight hours daily, experience work related disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome and back injuries\." For most people, the words safety, health and environment risk would automatically be synonymous with occupations involved in industrial and mechanical factories, chemical labs, or construction sites. Although these factors may be more common in such work settings, the truth is safety risks and hazards also exist in a regular office or work place. The risks however, manifests in the form of biomechanical-related stress and injuries. We will write a custom essay sample on Safety, Health and Environmental Risk or any similar topic only for you Order Now This includes lower back injury, carpal tunnel syndrome, and repetitive strain injury among many others. Such types of physical stress can result to fatigue and pain which may then cause the worker to perform poorly and even be unproductive. This paper will discuss various types of biomechanical and ergonomics-related injuries in the workplace. It will also tackle the causes as well as their negative effects on the workers. Consequently, this paper also aims to give recommendations on how to effectively and efficiently address this problem. A regular work desk at a typical office may seem like a hazard-free and safe work environment. However, several studies showed that prolonged and sustained work posture may result to various musculoskeletal disorders. Injuries include repetitive strain injury, carpal tunnel syndrome, and cumulative trauma disorder among many others. In fact, Bureau of Labor Statistics report that cases of ergonomic disorders are now rapidly growing in figures. According to researches, occupational illnesses as well as musculoskeletal disorders increased from 18 percent in 1985 to a staggering 56 percent in 1991 (University of Maryland 2008). Today, these numbers continue to rise as more and more workers experience physical strain in the workplace. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration there are over 647,000 cases of work-related injuries to date. Apart from this, occupational injuries account for more than $20 billion of the workers’ compensation costs (USA Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1996). There are several types of biomechanical or ergonomic disorders. One of which is the carpal tunnel syndrome. The carpal tunnel syndrome or median neuropathy is a type of physical strain generally associated with computer workers. It is one of the most common types of work related injuries primarily because of the widespread use of computers. Reports show that about 50 percent of computer workers experience this disorder’s symptoms frequently. This condition roots from the overuse and repetitive manual activities such as typing which causes the median nerves to be compressed in the wrists. Indivuals with this condition would usually feel numbness, muscle weakness, and sometimes even pain in the hands, arms, and fingers. Some patients even feel a pronounced pain or sensations at night. As this injury progresses, the person may feel cramping and weakness in the hand. It can also lead to a decrease in grip strength. Sharp pains will also be frequent as it will cause the patient to suffer (Medicine. net, 2009). Lower back injury is another common type of musculoskeletal disorder in the work place. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20 percent of occupational injuries are back injuries. Further, about a quarter of the employment compensation claims are back injury (USA Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1996). This condition is often attributed to incorrect sitting postures. Office workers are especially vulnerable to this injury primarily because they retain their sitting posture for hours. Apart from the posture, office equipments also contribute to this condition. Poorly designed chairs or computer table can highly affect the posture of the user. Sitting in such chair for long hours can easily result to lower back pains. Cumulative trauma disorder of the upper extremity is another type of ergonomics- related disorder. Similar to carpal tunnel syndrome, this condition is a result of repetitive manual work. This causes the body, such as the fingers, shoulders, and neck to feel pain. Recent researches show that cases of cumulative trauma disorder of the upper extremities have increased over the years. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health even categorizes this condition as†one of most significant occupational health problems today†. This is due to the fact that cumulative trauma disorder of the upper extremities account for about 56 percent of work-related injuries (Melhorn 1996, p. 1264). Cumulative trauma disorder of the upper extremities, carpal tunnel syndrome, and lower back injuries are all caused by excessive physical load. In the research work entitled â€Å"Biomechanical Aspects of Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorder†, Robert Radwin et al. (2002) explained that the terms â€Å"physical load† or â€Å"load† would refer to the physical stress acting on an individual’s body (Radwin et. al. , 2002, p. 153). Similarly, physical stress is the physical quality that makes up both the internal and external factors. This includes kinetic force, kinematics, oscillatory, and thermal. Kinetic force would refer to the voluntary motions exerted against an external object such as pounding or string an object. This type of pressure would then create a strain on the tendons and ligaments in the body. An increase pressure or force would result to a greater level of stress (Radwin et. al. , 2002, p. 156). Kinematics refers to the motions or movements that position the body. An uneven or unbalanced motion could cause angular displacement. This in turn, could create stress and load on the nerves as well as in the blood vessels. Consequently, oscillatory force creates pressure and load to the body. Oscillatory or external vibrations affects the not only the musculoskeletal system but also the body’s vascular and nervous system. Temperature of thermal measurement also plays an essential role to the performance and dexterity of an individual. Long exposure to cold environment for instance, can decrease the strength as well as the sensibility of the muscle. Most of these loads are affected by external factors such as the work place, office furniture, and energy sources among many others. Biomechanical factors like motions, exertions, body position, and forces also contribute to the physical load endured by the body. (Radwin et. al. , 2002, p. 154). Musculoskeletal disorders also come from various activities, repeated and accumulated over time. Thus, individuals such as employees or workers who are exposed to as much as eight hours daily, experience work related disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome and back injuries. You read "Safety, Health and Environmental Risk" in category "Papers" This is largely because of the long and repetitive activities that are transferred through the different parts of the body which then creates an internal load ands stress on the tissues, nerves and ligaments. The combination of external and internal stress can add much stress on the ligaments and connective tissues of the body. Studies reveal that constant exposure to loads and stress can cause damage to the muscles and nerves. One way of reducing this external stress is through ergonomics. Ergonomics is the science that deals with engineering machines and equipments in order to reduce stress on the human body. At the same time, it is also intended to increase human productivity by eliminating discomfort and fatigue (Answers. com, 2009). Ergonomically designed office and workplace furniture such as work desks, tables, chairs, and computers can effectively reduce the load on the human body. According to studies, ergonomic furnishings in the workplace do not only reduce the level of stress among workers, but it also optimizes and increases productivity. Studies also reveal that there is a significant increase in efficiency levels as well as the quality of service in ergonomic-friendly companies. Employees also feel more motivated as they experience less stress and suffer fewer pains. A recent study conducted by Michael Smith and Antoinette Bayehi (2003) showed that an ergonomic controlled office increased the performance of call center workers by 50 percent. Over all, a total of 4. 87 percent of output increase was recorded among the control group (Smith and Bayehi, 2003, p. 16). Similar increase in productivity was also recorded in a research conducted in a silicon chip plant showed a 400 percent growth in productivity. This increase involves an increase in man hours as well as a decrease in work errors (Relating Productivity to Ergonomics, 2009, p. 3). Apart from productivity, studies and researches also reveal that companies who have decided to switch to ergonomically designed furnishings saved thousand of dollars in terms of compensation and insurance cost. A recent study showed that a steel company who redesigned their observation pit was able to save as much as $150,000 (Ergoweb, 2009). With such benefits, it is only fitting that companies should address their work-related problems through ergonomics. This means considering essential office equipments such as tables, chairs, and computers. An office chair for instance, plays an important part in any office environment. This is because almost all employees spend their working hours sitting in their work desks. As such, a chair’s height, width, depth, and back rest should carefully be considered. The chair’s height should be adjustable or it should measure from 16 to 20 inches. This will allow the user to comfortable place his feet flatly on the ground. When it comes to seat width, it is essential that the chair provides enough space so that the user will be able to seat comfortably. The standard width for most office chair is 17 to 20 inches. This leaves the user with enough space or room so that he or she can seat in ease (Ergonomics Safety Program, 2009). The back rest is also an important part of an ergonomic chair. Thus, the back rest should at least be 19 inches wide. Also, the chair should have a lumbar support that adapts to the curvature of the user’s back. An arm arrest should also be present as this will allow the user’s shoulder and arms to relax. Other factors such as the swivel function and the seat material must also be considered. The swivel function will allow the user to move around in his or her work desk with ease and comfort. Likewise, the chair’s material should be soft enough so that the worker will be able to seat and work comfortably. The office desk or table is an office furniture that requires to be ergonomically designed. Along with the chair, the work desk is used by most office employees for long number of hours. Therefore, it is important that the work desk allows the users to frequently stretch in order to prevent muscle cramps and pain. The table’s height should be at least 23 to 33 inches. An adjustable table is also recommended so that the user’s forearms are parallel to the floor. Similarly, the work space should provide enough leg space in order for the user to come close to the desk as possible (Ergonomics Safety Program, 2009). The work desk should also have enough room for the user to work properly. A writing surface of about 16 to 20 inches should be provided. Document holders and drawers are also necessary. Material-wise, it is important for the work desk to have a matte finish. This will eliminate the glare from the computer. Desks with rounded corners are also recommended in order to prevent the arms or wrist from coming in contact with square or sharp edges. The positioning of the computer in the work desk is equally significant. The computer monitor should be placed directly in front of the user. This means that the top of the screen must be parallel to the user’s eyes. Apart from this, the monitor should be positioned in such a way that there is very minimal reflection and glare (Ergonomics Safety Program, 2009). The computer keyboard on the other hand, should be placed in such a way that the user will be able to reach it without extending his upper arm. The forearms of should also be aligned floor so that the wrists will not bend while typing. This can be addressed by selecting a keyboard that can be adjusted and tilted. When typing, the arms should hang loose or it should rest comfortably in the desk to prevent the muscles in the shoulders from cramping (Daniels, 1996). Likewise, the computer mouse must be placed at the same area as the keyboard. This means that the click button of the mouse is aligned properly with the keyboards. Utilizing a mouse tray with trackballs can permit the user to use the mouse with ease and comfort. This will also allow the wrist to relax while staying in a neutral position (Daniel, 1996). Although ergonomically designed work equipments can reduce the risks of occupational injuries and disorders, it is still important to remember that this alone, cannot make up for bad practice. Employees and workers must also be aware of the proper measures in order to reduce stress and injury. One way of doing this is to educate the employees about the seriousness and risks of office-related injuries. This can be done through seminars and workshops about office and workplace safety. Memos and reminders about work place safety should also be frequently posted in the workplace. Distributing fliers and brochures about ergonomics-related injuries can also help spread awareness. At the same time, the management should also set an example to the employees by following all the safety measures. Informing the employees about the different consequences as well as the benefits of this issue will allow them to be aware about this looming workplace problem. More importantly, this will encourage the employees to take the proper measures to prevent work-related injuries from happening. How to cite Safety, Health and Environmental Risk, Papers

Capstone Experience in Integration & Strategy

Question: Discuss about the Capstone Experience in Integration Strategy? Answer: RAEW analysis The RAEW analysis an important technique, that assists managers to identify and allot job roles. As such, it identifies certain deficiencies in the operational process, and recommends scope for improvement. Responsibility is the important process chosen here. The below table is a RAEW analysis of a financial institution located in the United States. Strategic Product Marketing Sales Operations Function Planning Management Business policy R R RW Product design RAE E E Market segment analysis E RA Product tailoring by market AW AW AE W Call/Sales program RA EW Account opening REW Table 1: RAEW analysis (Source: Allen Shanock, 2013) The process analyzed her relates to the uneven spread of authority and responsibility in the workplace. Following were the observations made after using RAEW technique More than one department is responsible for executing the business policies, yet no one has the required authority to perform such a task. Despite possessing required expertise, no department is accountable towards the product design function Lack of responsibility towards Market segment Analysis function. As such , this hampers the brand in preparing its market segment or the target consumer section which is most likely to buy it goods. Much departmental work related to Product Tailoring by Market function. However, at least three departments are responsible to Market function, but none have the concrete authority to implement business decisions for further improvement in market performance. Structural misalignments- It can be stated that the marketing division does not correspond to any of the functions. Thus, the work productivity from the marketing division does not meet expectations. In addition, the strategic planning division lacks required expertise to work for product tailoring. Due to which, offering superior financial services to clients becomes difficult (Hogg Terry, 2014).Besides this, the sales division is responsible towards four functions and performs the necessary roles. However, it is responsible for only two departments, which hampers the daily business functionalities. Due to this, the full resource of the marketing department is not utilized. Recommendations The primary aim at this juncture should be reduce role or functional disparity within the organization. (Chun et al., 2013). As such, RAEW should be considered as a strategic planning to recognize that processes which negatively affects the business sustainability. By using the RAEW tool, one can create further organizational plans to ensure equal distribution of authority, accountability and responsibility, workload and expertise (DuBrin, 2013).Below mentioned are few recommendations that can improve the business operational policies, to achieve better sales revenue. Putting emphasis on organizational attributes like accuracy, response time period, employee retentions and security of confidential data in the organization. Recognizing and gathering of missing data, which remains an important for more than one business unit. Such business data remains crucial for ensuring smooth business operations. Necessary verification that right data as per the business requirement is gathered at the relevant source. Preventing issues of duplication data related to sales and market specifications, thus incurring unnecessary business expenditure for the brand. References Allen, D. G., Shanock, L. R. (2013). Perceived organizational support and embeddedness as key mechanisms connecting socialization tactics to commitment and turnover among new employees.Journal of Organizational Behavior,34(3), 350-369. Chun, J. S., Shin, Y., Choi, J. N., Kim, M. S. (2013). How does corporate ethics contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of collective organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior.Journal of Management,39(4), 853-877. DuBrin, A. J. (2013).Fundamentals of organizational behavior: An applied perspective. Elsevier. Hogg, M. A., Terry, D. J. (Eds.). (2014). Social identity processes in organizational contexts. Psychology Press.

The Boys Life free essay sample

You know youve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend. † This quote by Paul Sweeney describes exactly how I felt after reading and watching Tobias Wolff’s memoir This Boy’s Life. After I closed the book and once the credits started to roll, I felt as if something in my life went missing. I speak for everyone when I say that it’s impossible to walk away from this story without taking something away from it. Audrey Hepburn says that everything she has learned in life, she learned from movies. A quote from Groucho Marx stated that when he read a book, he brought something away from it. Even if he learned a new word or a lesson in life that he could live by, he at least remembered something. After reading a book or watching a movie, there is always something that you can say you did not know before. We will write a custom essay sample on The Boys Life or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page So does the movie and memoir This Boy’s Life have any value? Yes this book does have value, what book doesn’t?. The value of this book and movie can be determined by the lessons it teaches, how people can relate to it, and new learning experience and fun it provides in the English curriculum. Slow and steady wins the race. He that has many friends has no friends. We all become familiar with these lessons but where did we learn them? We learn lessons from parents and grandparents that have passed them down but the most common place we learn valuable life lessons would be from books. Books, both fiction and non-fiction, teach lessons that can help us later on in life. Examples of books that have very valuable life lessons include The Tortoise and the Hare, Horton Hatches the Egg, and many other fables and children’s books. Horton Hatches the Egg teaches that it’s important to keep your promises because faithfulness has its own rewards. Like many other stories, This Boy’s Life has many important lessons in it too. Think before you act would be an example of a life lesson that this book teaches. During this story, Toby does not do much thinking before he acts and it gets him in many sticky situations. During the book and the movie, Toby hangs out with some of his friends from Concrete. While Toby was intoxicated, he thought it would be a good idea to walk across a tree branch. The tree branch suddenly snapped. He fell down and rolled down the hill until he landed in some bushes where his friends could not find him. Toby should have thought about the consequences of drinking before he decided to do it. Another incident, which happens in both the movie and the book, when Toby fails to think before he acts, occurs when he writes the obscene words on the bathroom wall. This got him in serious trouble and could have been avoided if he took a few seconds to think about it. Wolff writes, â€Å"It was 1955 and we were driving from Florida to Utah, to get away from a man my mother was afraid of and to get rich on uranium. We were going to change our luck. †. This demonstrates the lesson if you don’t succeed try and try again. They keep trying different places to live at and people to live with until they finally found somewhere that works for them. They try many different places like Utah, Seattle, and Concrete. As it stated at the end of the movie, Rosemary ended up going back to Florida while Toby went up to New York. This story also taught the lesson that every adult wants to embed in a child’s head, always tell the truth. Throughout the entire story Toby has a hard time telling the truth. An example is when he writes the letters to Annette and Alice. He told them that he was rich and that his father was a rancher or owned a fleet of fishing boats. He also lied to them about his age and where he lived. â€Å"The priest gave me my penance and absolved me. As I left the confessional I heard his own door open and close. Sister James cane forward to meet me again, and we waited together as the priest made his way to where we stood. Breathing hoarsely, he steadied himself against a pillar. He laid his other hand on my shoulder. â€Å"That was fine,† he said. â€Å"Just fine. He gave my shoulders a squeeze. â€Å"You have a fine boy here, Sister James. † She smiled. â€Å"So I do, Father. So I do. . Along with lying to Alice and Annette, he also did not tell the truth to the Father and Sister James. In the book and the movie we witness Jack talking to Sister James. She tells him all of her confessions. When he goes into confess, he tells the Father everythin g that Sister James said and not what he himself wants to confess. Lying to the priest, Sister James, Alice and Annette, and even his mother gave them false impressions which in some cases can make problems even worse. Not only does this memoir and movie have value because of the lessons it teaches but also because of the way people can relate to it. C. S. Lewis once said, â€Å"We read to know we are not alone. † When we read a book, our mind automatically try’s to find ways in which we can relate to a particular event or character in the story. Many people can relate to This Boy’s Life, especially teenagers. During the story Tobias Wolff, or also known as Toby and Jack, is a troubled teenager. He searches for acceptance by doing things like smoking, writing on walls, stealing things and also vandalism. In many of the scenes from the movie we see him smoking with his friends, and in others we see him drinking. Some call this type of behavior peer pressure. Peer pressure happens to everyone one time or another. Toby’s parents got a divorce and Toby ended up living with his mother. Since his father is in another state and he doesn’t have that much contact with him Toby misses a big part of his family. Many kids who don’t have a father or their parents have had a divorce can relate to Toby. During the movie and the book, Toby and his mother move around a lot. They have lived in many different states and in different houses. Many families move to either different cities or states because of jobs or sometimes family. So anyone who has moved, even just down the street, can relate to this part of the story. â€Å"At the end of every show the local station gave an address for Mousketeer Mail. I had been writing Annette. †. Every kid has or has had a crush on a TV show or movie character and most of us have probably written to them in hopes for a response just like Toby did. When writing to Alice and Annette, he lies about his life. He makes his life seem very extravagant and amazing. Many people lie to others to make their life or their experiences seem more enjoyable and exciting to listen to. The value of the memoir and movie can also be determined by the variety and the new learning experience it provides in the English classroom. When I walk into the room and my teacher says that we will be reading a book all I think to myself, â€Å"really another one † but this experience was anything but ordinary. After the book was over, I thought that we finished completely. Mrs. Harshman told us that we would be watching the movie that went along with the book. Watching a film after reading the book was like learning to ride a bike all over again. It became a great learning experience for both my classmates and I. It cleared up parts of the book that I may have been uncertain about and made the picture in my head more clear. For example, in one part of the movie Dwight and Toby drive up to Concrete and along the way Dwight stops at a tavern. Dwight drives drunk and swerves all over the road, which scares Toby. When I read this part of the book I did not know that Dwight was drunk at the time, I just thought he tried to scare Toby. When I saw the movie, it cleared this part of the book up for me. When we watched the movie it also gave us a chance to compare which one in our opinion was better. Along with that, we also found which parts of the book the director left out and let us brainstorm why we thought he left out those parts. By doing this, it helped us to walk in another person’s shoes because we had to think like directors. For instance, on page three and four, Wolff writes, â€Å"By the time we got there, quite a few people were standing along the cliff where the truck went over. It had smashed through the guardrails and fallen hundreds of feet through empty space to the river below, where it lay on its back among the boulders. It looked pitifully small. A stream of thick black smoke rose from the cab, feathering out the wind. My mother asked whether anyone had gone to report the accident. Someone had. We stood with the others at the cliff’s edge. Nobody spoke. My mother put her arm around my shoulder. †. On page three through four, Toby and his mother begin driving to Utah when they come across a car crash. The director did not include this part of the book in the movie. We all believed because he did not add it because it foreshadowed Toby and Rosemary’s future. Wolff writes, â€Å"Like chess or music, coolness claimed its own out of some mysterious impulse of recognition. Uncoolness did likewise. We had been claimed by uncoolness. †. This quote came from the section of the book where Toby and Silver stood front of the mirror with their hair combed back, cigarettes dangling out of their mouth, and their pants pulled down on their hips. Like the car crash scene, the director did not include this section of the book in the movie. Instead, the movie went straight to the scene where Toby, Silver and Taylor are watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. As the credits started to roll and the book closed, the whispers started to roar. From every direction you could hear opinions of the movie and the book. Whether the movie and the book were good or not is merely an opinion but whether the book has value or not can be answered with a simple yes. The value of the film and memoir This Boy’s Life can be determined by the lessons that it teaches, the ability to relate to the book, and the new learning experience and fun it puts into the English classroom.

A Brief History of Adidas

A Brief History of Adidas Although urban legend has it that the word Adidas is an anagram of the phrase all day I dream about sports, the athletic wear company gets its name from its founder, Adolph Adi Dassler. He and his brother founded the company that would become a worldwide brand, but their history as members of the Nazi Party isnt as well known. Beginnings of Adidas Shoes In 1920, at the age of 20, avid soccer player  Adolph  (Adi)  Dassler, son of a cobbler,  invented spiked shoes for track and field. Four years later Adi and his brother Rudolph (Rudi) founded the German sports shoe company  Gebrà ¼der Dassler OHG- later known as  Adidas. T By 1925 the Dasslers were making leather  shoes  with nailed studs and track shoes with hand-forged spikes. Beginning with the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Adis uniquely designed shoes began to gain a worldwide reputation.  Jesse Owens  was wearing a pair of Dasslers track shoes when he won four gold medals for the US  at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. At the time of his death in 1959, Dassler held over 700 patents related to sports shoes and other athletic equipment. In 1978, he was inducted into the American Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame as one of the founders of the modern sporting goods industry. The Dassler Brothers and World War II During the war, both Dassler brothers were members of the NSDAP (The National Socialist German Workers Party)  and eventually even produced a weapon called Panzerschreck an anti-tank bazooka, made with the help of forced labor. The Dasslers both joined the Nazi Party prior to the war, and Adi supplied shoes to the Hitler Youth movement, and to German athletes at the 1936 Olympics. Its also believed that Adi Dassler used Russian prisoners of war to help at his factory during the war since there was a labor shortage due to the war effort. The Dasslers had a falling out during the war; Rudolf believed Adi had identified him as a traitor to American forces. In 1948, Rudi founded what would later become Puma, a rival shoe company to Adidas. Adidas in the Modern Era In the 1970s, Adidas was the top athletic shoe brand sold in the US. Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier were both wearing Adidas boxing shoes in their Fight of the Century in 1971. Adidas was named the official supplier for the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Although still a strong, well-known brand today, Adidas share of the world sports shoe market dropped over the years, and what began as a German family business is now a corporation (Adidas-Salomon AG) combined with the French global concern Salomon. In 2004 Adidas bought Valley Apparel Company, a U.S. company that held licenses for outfitting more than 140 U.S. college athletic teams. In 2005 Adidas announced that it was purchasing the American shoemaker Reebok, which allowed it to compete more directly with Nike in the U.S. But the Adidas world headquarters are still located in Adi Dasslers hometown of Herzogenaurach. They also have an ownership stake in German soccer club 1. FC Bayern Mà ¼nchen.

Martin Luther King College Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Martin Luther King College - Essay Example stood by the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Much to the knowledge of everyone, he delivered what is regarded as one of the greatest speeches in American history. King himself seemed to sense the historic importance of the moment as he opened his "I Have a Dream" speech by calling the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom "the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation." The landmark protest, which drew more than 200,000 people, announced a turning point in the civil rights movement and set the stage for the movement's two most important legislative achievements, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Microsoft Encarta 2005). It is interesting to speculate on what the course of American history might have been, if Martin Luther King, Jr. had not gone to Montgomery, Alabama in 1954. But he did go, and the America he had grown up in was forever changed. The historic bus boycott that began there in late 1955 brought him national recognition and triggered a decade of direct-action protest that permanently altered the status of black Americans. Andrew Young once said that Rosa Parks thrust greatness upon King. Rosa Parks is a leading member of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who was famous for her refusal to give her bus seat to a white man. Certainly she shaped the setting in which he emerged as a national figure and challenged him to translate his theory of nonviolence into practice. King had no intention of initiating a major campaign in Montgomery, but Mrs. Parks' refusal to yield her bus seat to a white man on December 1, 1955 forced the first s erious test of King's willingness to undergo personal sacrifice for the sake of Negro freedom. She has never claimed much credit for what happened in Montgomery, but Rosa Parks' action was a catalyst in King's rise to prominence and the emergence of the southern civil rights movement that dominated American social history for a decade (SCLC/NH, National Conventions, 1980). Local leaders of the NAACP, especially Edgar D. Nixon, recognized that the arrest of the popular and highly respected Parks was the event that could rally local blacks to a bus protest. Nixonalsobelievedthat a citywide protest should be led by someone who could unify the community. Unlike Nixon and other leaders in Montgomery's black community, the recently arrived King had no enemies. Furthermore, Nixon saw King's public-speaking gifts as great assets in the battle for black civil rights in Montgomery. King was soon chosen as president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), the organization that directed the bus boycott. By the time the Supreme Court upheld the lower court decision in November 1956, King prominence elevated him to become leading black national figure. His memoir of the bus boycott, Stride Toward Freedom (1958), provided a thoughtful account of that experience and further extended King's national influence. Another important contribution of King is the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), an organization of black churches and ministers that aimed to challenge racial segregation. As SCLC's president, King became the organization's dominant personality and its primary intellectual

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Research Paper Example Women have been ever frightened about this issue and think it to be the most derogatory thing that can happen to them. It is a shocking fact that most of the rapes go unnoticed and it happens within the family arena. There are lots of cases of sexual assault and rape among families and many of the children and individual are afraid to bring out this subject in to the public. Rape is a social violence and cannot be an act of passion as there is coercion happening in the act which results in damage to the physical and mental stability of the victim. â€Å"It is found in the study by National Institute of Justice and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention that 22 percent of male and 48 percent of female have confronted their first rape before the age of 12† (Golden,17). Rape is a social issue which most people encounter directly or indirectly in a particular social environment. Women are always subjected to sexual assault and suffer mainly because she is judged more as an object of sexual desire. Since ages they are looked upon as a medium to satisfy sexual gluttony of men, and she has been living in darkness when it is the matter of her individual right and freedom. In this novel, the girl named precious is forcefully impregnated by her father and less could be done by the girl to protect her virginity and self respect. However, this is not a frequent case in America where female are subjected to sexual exploitation and rape from the hands of parents, close relatives and friends. The main issue as in case of the character Precious is that there is less support offered from her mother when she has been molested and raped by her father .This mostly makes the scenarios worse and the victim feel helpless and hate her individuality and the social connection she share with her family members.â€Å"It was found that instead of lagging behind female rape along the stranger - acquaintance rape dimension, male rape was viewed predominantly in terms of Ã¢â‚¬Ë œother’ factors (factors not found on the stranger - acquaintance dimension, e.g. victim/rapist sexual orientation, rapist calls victim names), which were erroneous, sexualizing and homophobic† (Anderson,25-245). Rape is a social evil and many girls and women are victimized at the hands of parents, strangers and other men in the society at a staggering rate Rape as a heinous act as reached a high proportion in our society and has ruined many innocent lives on a permanent basis. The black girl in the book â€Å"Push† have found to be helpless and imprisoned in an atmosphere where she had no support to look for and has been struggling under the cruel hand of her father and ignorant mother. It is not only women who are subjected to rape, but also infants, corpse and men become a slave of this cruel act. Mostly it is found that the traumatized victims of rape are frightened and emotionally handicapped at such a level that they carry this tragedy through out their who le life. Trauma victims essentially need more private time to sort out their feelings, and grasp what had happened to them in order to get some professional help in dealing with their emotional tragedy. If we read the book ‘push’ we can find out that Precious the character which was subjected to sexual assault from her parents was illiterate and was from low class family. However, according to studies, rape more frequently it occurs among low classes as their social

Knowledge in American History Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Knowledge in American History - Term Paper Example These amendments were pivotal in the history of African Americans and along with the 20th century Civil Rights movement constitute the most crucial periods in terms of freedom for African Americans. Even as the Constitution guaranteed rights to African Americans there was still a substantial amount of resistance, particularly at the hands of Southern states. This era saw the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as a means of oppressing African Americans. The Klan would engage in acts of terrorism, including house burnings and murder, as a means of intimidating African Americans. The Civil Rights Act of 1871 was put in place to restrict ethnic violence in response to the Ku Klux Klan movement (Stevens, 2001). During this period ‘black codes’ were also enacted as a means of attempting to oppress the recently freed African Americans. These acts were enacted by some Southern states as a means of continuing to restrict the rights of African Americans through controlling employment, their right to own firearms, or act as jurors in trials of white individuals. With the Civil Rights Act of 1866 these acts were repealed (Stevens, 2001). With the added control over employment and the plentiful agricultural land in the Southern regions, African Americans began engaging in sharecropping activities. Sharecropping occurred on land that was previously used as a plantation. In these instances, African Americans would rent small plots of land from the plantation owner to harvest their own crops. During this period there were also extraordinarily high illiteracy rates among African Americans, with a reported 70% illiteracy rate in the Southern states (Stevens, 2001). In response, this era also witnessed the emergence of some of the first schools for black... This term paper mostly focuses on the period of American history, in which African Americans led their fight for equality in civil rights, in knowledge and opportunities. The researcher follows and examines the historical progression of African Americans throughout five distinct periods in American history spanning from 1865 through the present era. In the term paper, it’s clear that throughout the eras examined by the researcher the United States experienced significant historical progress in regards to the social and cultural position of African Americans. Unit One examines the Reconstruction period and how African Americans fought to achieve rights and prosperity in the wake of the Civil War. Unit Two of this term paper follows this progression as Southern states attempted to counteract black progress through enacting Jim Crow laws that would remain in place until the second half of the twentieth century. Unit Three explores the continued oppression of blacks through Jim Cr ow laws, as well as the Great Migration wherein great amounts of individuals migrated north to escape this oppression. The Great Migration consisted of the migration of over five million African Americans from the Southern to Northern States. Unit Four of the term paper examines the substantial progress made during the Civil Rights Movement. Finally, Unit Five examines this progress as African Americans made gains in achieving political office and experiencing employment gains. President Kennedy and Martin Luther King were mentioned in this part.