Category: Uncategorized

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DateBlue Bloods

In Season 5 episode 18, Eddie goes for her first undercover in order to investigate the underground rig that was sex trafficking women. Frank Regan also helps out a person that she had met from the past to confront an inmate who was in prison for killing her parents. Sarah whose family had been murdered by a man and she had been a witness to this horrifying event as a child an event that had scarred her. Frank thought that this was among the most horrifying cases that he had encountered with in his life as a cop having served as detective for three decades.

The episode highlights the Restorative Justice Program where Donald Berry ascends a text to Sarah. Donald as well as his priest believed that he was now a changed man and had undergone the rehabilitation. The paper highlights the importance of prisons including the rehabilitation of inmates. The role of our prison system is to rehabilitate the inmates and give them a second chance to go back to the society. Most often than not, people in the society fee this is not the case and that is why there is always cases of stigmatization and most of these inmates feel left out in the society a factor that contributes to high recidivism cases as they are unable to even secure employment opportunities for themselves.

Frank is portrayed not for the idea which is not a shock as often throughout the movie he is always against the releasing of the inmates. Frank Reagan feels that Donald Berry has not really served his time and that his release is not worth for the crime that he had committed. Baker on the other hand feels differently about the case. She believes that Berry has changed and that he can be released having served his time and learn from his mistakes. These two individual’s area a clear portrayal of our society as we will always have those that support releasing of inmates including those that have committed heinous crimes and they can be taken back to the society. There are also those that believe in eternal condemnation of criminals especially those that have committed heinous crimes including murder should not be released from someone.

The form of punishment presented mainly in the episode is prison system. The aim showed in the movie is that inmates can be rehabilitated including those that committed serious crimes and having served their sentence then. The episode also tries to prove how most victims of crimes are able to deal with situation that requires them to confront their perpetrators. The episode also brings out the idea of mental illness and the reasons crimes are committed. Donald explains about the mental illness that he had that may have contributed to him committing the heinous crimes. With the help and treatment that he got while in orison he believes that he is changed and can be reintegrated back to the society.

Frank Reagan and Sarah seem to support the form of punishment that condemns the inmates completely for their crimes and that they should stay in prison for time served. For Sarah it may be a little bit understandable for the fact that she witnessed a man slaying the entire family. Frank on the other hand being a detective he should have a belief in the system that the criminals can be rehabilitated. Baker on the other hand is in support of the Restorative Justice Program and supports the idea that criminals can be rehabilitated and they can change and become better people and thus should be given a second chance in the society.

I support the Restrictive Justice Program because people should be given a second chance in the society. Most of the times when these people get to commit crimes they may not be in the right mental space including the fact that they may lack the affection of their parents. Being in prison gives them a chance to reflect on their deeds which may help them understand that the crimes that they may have committed and by understanding the crimes they may change. There have been inmates in prison who have enrolled in classes and by the time they are getting back from prison then they can guide youths away from committing crimes.

Aside from prison system there should be other forms of punishment that help restore people in the society including classes and meetings for example those caught for minor crimes instead of taking them to prison. There should also be favorable re-entry programs favorable for inmates. With the support from the community, this basically transforms to the fact that the rehabilitated prisoners will het employment and thus they will be able to leave an honest life. Lack of economic empowerment often leads to released convicts going back into crime life as eventually they will need money to settle their bill.

In conclusion, this episode brings out key issues in the prison system. These issues include roles of prison especially in the rehabilitation of prisoners and the views people have on rehabilitation of prisoners. There should be so much done to give confidence to the public that the offenders released are rehabilitated and changed.

A Rhetorical Review on the Article " A Good way to keep gun from predators” by Brent Staples

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Introduction

In 'A Good Way to Keep Guns from Predators', Brent Staples argues whether Gov. Scott should invest his energy in the forceful collection of the guns he gave out to his people to improve the security among the residents. According to Staples, Governor Scott Walker signed a bill that let babies carry guns. However, Scott Walker did not allow one group of people to have guns. There is a 22% lower rate of intimate-partner homicide by gun in states where people are advised to give up their weapons (Staples, 2017). Brent Staples employs three major rhetorical strategies to present his arguments and convey his message to his audiences. This paper will discuss the rhetorical strategies used by the author to communicate to his audience appropriately.

The author claims that Gov Scott Walker signed legislation that requires people placed under a restraining order to be informed that they must turn in any guns they own within forty-eight hours or get arrested. It also established that all firearms held by civilians be confiscated by the authorities as soon as possible. "Gun-relinquishment laws have been enacted with broad support in rural, conservative states like North Dakota and Tennessee, along with swing states like Pennsylvania and Colorado" (Staples, 2017). It was meant to reduce the number of weapons in the public because it put humanity in a vulnerable position. The Governor's target was to reduce or eliminate domestic abuse in the community. Limiting gun ownership allows the state to protect victims or potential victims of domestic abuse from traumatizing events or, in extreme cases, loss of lives. It prevents fatal consequences of domestic abuse among intimate couples.

Investigations conducted by judges, clerks, prosecutors, and police officials following a push from the King County officials revealed that few offenders returned their firearms to the legal authorities despite the increase in domestic violence cases reported and handled in civil courts. Statistics in 2016 showed that only 52 individuals out of 865 returned their guns to the authorities (Staples, 2017). These statistics open a discussion on whether firearms are the leading cause of domestic violence between intimate partners. With or without guns, many families in the state use aggressive strategies to resolve issues, which is unhealthy and quite risky for the partners involved and their families. Washington State legislators prioritized disarming high-risk abusers as a new strategy of confiscating weapons from society and creating a neutral and safe environment for all citizens.

The second strategy suggested by the author is the toughening of federal law that requires the abusers accused of domestic violence to return their guns. The author believes this approach would enable the United States federal team to protect families and the entire population, for that matter. Law enforcement agencies collected 20% as many firearms as collected in the previous year after piloting the policy for six days (Staples, 2017). The success of toughening federal laws prompted the state to employ more staff members to facilitate the reclaiming of firearms from the public especially domestic violence abusers. Like drug abuse, firearms ownership by the citizens affects their public health. The presence of guns in the community threatens the existence of individuals, hence influencing their day-to-day decisions in America. In communities where guns and violence are reported frequently, people tend to live in fear and uncertainty, thus being more cautious and adopting survival tactics that would keep them safe amidst violence. On the other hand, neutral and safe communities live quite freely and comfortably as their safe spaces assure their safety from abusers and reckless unruly firearm owners.

King County, Washington, developed a new and effective strategy to facilitate firearms recovery from the public, particularly domestic violence offenders and high-risk abusers. According to Staples, any legislation must address the Fifth Amendment stipulation that no person should be a witness against himself. To recover as many guns as possible from the public, especially those distributed illegally in the black market, all parties and players society included should cooperate and ensure all criminals and abusers are disarmed and punished according to the law. Staples strongly argues that the community and social media also played a vital role in disarming abusers and keeping America safe. Community members interact and depend on each other in different ways in their day-to-day activities. For this reason, it's easier for them to identify firearms abusers or domestic violence offenders amongst them and their whereabouts. Working hand in hand with the authorities and providing relevant information that could pin or incriminate the abusers in society can help reduce illegal firearms ownership and ensure the safety of many Americans.

Social media also contributes heavily to the fight against firearms abuse by owners. Legal authorities use social media platforms to facilitate their search of abusers and consequent weapons recovery and arrest of the respective abusers. They keep close tabs on abusers and domestic violence offenders and keep track records of their activities and engagements (Staples, 2017). The information collected is then evaluated to determine if they have firearms. The authorities then move on them, disarm them and arrest them accordingly. The state also used various databases to find clues on whether targeted offenders owned guns and their hiding places. Together with statements from victims and witnesses of domestic violence, these databases provide sufficient and incriminating evidence against abusers and their illegal gun ownership.

Conclusion

It is undeniable that the availability of guns to the public, especially domestic violence offenders, is very risky to intimate partners, their families, and friends. The recovery of firearms proves difficult because it is hard to determine if an abuser owns guns. Weapons fall off the system daily, and the authorities cannot account for such losses. The state, through the legal system, should revisit its policies and develop new strategies that will help control the issuing of firearms within the system before dealing with the external problem. There is a need to identify the loopholes through which guns slip to abusers and seal them completely to restore and assure safety for its people.

Reference

Staples, B., 2017. Opinion | A Good Way to Keep Guns from Predators (Published 2017). [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/19/opinion/restraining-order-guns.html> [Accessed 14 February 2022].

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Blue Lives Matter

The blue lives matter founded in 2014 is a movement that aims at protecting the police officers of the United States from the hazards which they might face. This is especially with the ever-increasing issues between the police officers and the black lives matter movement whereby this movement blames the police officers for hate towards the black population. Therefore this e lives matter movement is a countering force and action against the black lives matter movement and especially for the police officers in an aim to protect them. Hence this paper discusses the place of the blue lives matter movement within American society concerning black lives matter.

Even though it is true that some people within the black lives matter movement go overboard and even kill police officers the discrimination against black people remains unacceptable in the United States. This movement which came up is seen most of the time by the black population as a way of making them silent and making them unable to give out their views about society and how they should be treated since most of the time they are disrespected. Blue lives matter movement is a media company focused solely on making sure that the general public gets to realize and know how important the role of the police officers is in the lives of Americans. Therefore in as much as it is a countering force against black lives matter, it still has relevance and it promotes what is good for the society which is generally a good view of the police officers. However, this does not justify the fact that the movement is racists and through its efforts to make the police officers viewed positively does not outdo the fact that some police officers maliciously hate the blacks and victimize them on so many occasions (Blue Lives Matter).

Therefore the blue lives matter movement is a racist organization which who’s main focus does not accompany the pains and the hurt of the blacks who are mistreated and hurt by the police officers. The movement does not recognize most of the acts of its members as illegal and racist but as a form of self-defense and therefore this makes the movement even more unappealing to the public. Even though it is wrong to target police officers this movement goes ahead to promote what the police officers and even in some states like in Louisiana it is a law that a person should not target police officers as this is referred to as hate crime. Hate crimes can be punished to a great extent. Therefore blue lives matter is indeed a racist response towards the black lives matter movement (What Is Blue Lives Matter and Why Do Some People Consider It Racist?”)

What the movement advocates for is a society whereby t is not even possible for a person to question some things done by the police. This not only paralyzes the police force but also paralyzes the justice system and makes it very difficult for a person to obtain justice. According to the blue lives movement, a person refusing to be arrested for a crime and should be punished. However, it does not consider that a person has constitutional rights to be protected and these are some like a person being told the reason they are being arrested. Therefore this movement tries to make people obey the police blindly and therefore this can be seen as one of the ways through which the police can make the black people suffer since in obedience the police officers will be able to anything they want with them (Vaughn-Hall).

In conclusion therefore the blue lives matter movement is an undesirable force within the American society since its efforts even though hidden under the desire for them to protect the police officers has a hidden agenda of making sure that the blacks live matter movement is ended and that they can do whatever they want with the blacks whom they come across.

Works cited

Vaughn-Hall, Jasmine. “From a Cop’s Daughter: Saying ‘Blue Lives Matter’ Doesn’t Honor Police. It Divides All of Us.” York Daily Record, 21 Sept. 2020, www.ydr.com/story/news/2020/09/21/blue-lives-matter-defensive-response-black-lives-matter/5802555002/.

‌161385360554578. “What Is Blue Lives Matter and Why Do Some People Consider It Racist?” The US Sun, 19 Aug. 2020, www.the-sun.com/news/992088/blue-lives-matter-racist-flag-blm-protests/.‌“About Us.” Blue Lives Matter, 19 May 2016, archive.bluelivesmatter.blue/organization/.

A Review Of The Australian Employment Relations Through The Media Lenses

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u Article 1: Union Rage as Jobs Go Offshore PAGEREF _Toc376335345 h 1How this is Related to Employment Relations PAGEREF _Toc376335346 h 2Article 2: Government, Unions Applaud Penalty Rates Ruling PAGEREF _Toc376335347 h 3Article 3: Level the Playing Field: A Call for Action on Gender Parity in Australia PAGEREF _Toc376335348 h 6Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc376335349 h 8

Introduction

The Australian employment relations system has seen a number of changes that have attracted media attention in the recent days (Mortimer & Ingersoll, 2012, p.4). The media reports or portfolio can be used to enhance the process of these employment relations changes and their impact on management in the Australian business world. This paper will select three media articles that have highlighted major issues and changes in Australian media employment relations in the recent days. The areas of interest in this case will be industrial conflicts, equity and the role of Fair Work Commission. The articles selected are ‘union rage as jobs go offshore’, ‘Government, unions applaud penalty rates ruling’ and ‘Level the playing field: a call for action on gender parity in Australia.’ These articles are used to build a media portfolio of changes in Australian employment relations system.

Article 1: Union Rage as Jobs Go Offshore

The National Times, March 1, 2013

Findings

The Key Parties Involved

The key parties involved in the discussion are an Australian manufacturer Telstra, staff of Telstra and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU).

The Key Issue

The Australian manufacturing workers union is calling upon the government to deny Telstra access to government contracts and other government infrastructure for outsourcing jobs to India and Philippines. The company has a plan to lay off about 700 workers – about 20% of its workforce. Off shoring 20% of the jobs will see Telstra save about $250 million yearly. In the past four years, about 80,000 jobs have been off shored to other countries where there is availability of cheap labor. The main issue here is the effect of off shoring to Australian workers and the overall Australian economy. As a result, AMWU thinks that companies that are off shoring should be denied government contracts and other incentives such as national broadband.

Method Used To Resolve Dispute

The industry minister refused to give into the requests of the union and its workers. After demonstrations and negotiations with the government, the ministry stated that it could not shortlist Telstra as ineligible for government contracts because this would be a violation of Free Trade Agreement regulations. A move to deny Telstra will also risk the credibility of Australian businesses in winning overseas contracts and job opportunities created by the contract. These impacts are the creation of trade liberalism that allows free movement of labor, capital, goods and services.

How this is Related to Employment RelationsEmployment relations also called industrial relations or employee relation is a multidisciplinary concept that involves many stakeholders in the labor economy. In simple terms, employment relations are the interaction between an organization and its employees as well employees with one another. The definition of employee in this case also takes in unions representing the workers and the government. There are different factors that determine employee relations in an organization and in an economy in general (Pankajakshan, 2013, p.8). It is also important to understand that employment relation is a dynamic concept, whose scope has been changing over the years with changes in technology and work organization. This involves trade agreements, economic conditions, company goals and role of workers’ representative bodies (Mortimer & Ingersoll, 2012, p.7). These factors and interactions may not go in the same direction and may result to industrial conflicts. This article is a clear indication of an industrial conflict between workers and their union and an employer on the other hand. This article is important to employment relations because it highlights factors influencing employment relations; specifically, the role of trade liberalism on industrial relations.

Telstra has resolved to lay off employees to make huge savings in revenue every year. The company is faced by a dilemma between maintaining its workforce and getting cheap labor from another market segment. Trade liberalization does not only refer to movement of goods, services and capital; it also affects mobility of labor from one economy to another (Casacuberta, Fachola, & Néstor, 2004, p.228). Free movement of labor from one economy to another has created space for off-shoring of jobs to different organizations across the globe.

The industrial conflict emerges between the role of trade unions and employee welfare and the need to increase productivity by the manufacturer. Off shoring has several benefits to the manufacturer: reduced taxation, increased efficiency and value creation through outsourcing (Doellgast, 2009, p.8). On the other hand, the welfare of employees being laid off to cut costs by outsourcing is a center of attention for the union. The union is also calling attention to the inability of local firms to create employment to local people yet they use government resources given as incentives to create jobs (Palangkaraya & Jongsay, 2011, p.16).

Whereas trade liberalization, especially mobility of labor through outsourcing increases productivity of manufacturing firms, it also affects the welfare of employees in an organization and in the economy (Casacuberta, Fachola, & Néstor, 2004, p.230). This fuels industrial conflict as firms enhance their competitive advantage while incurring a social cost of increasing unemployment rates lowering wage rate for Australian workers (Doellgast, 2009, p.12).

The article also brings up the role of government in employment relations as a regulator and law enforcer. However, in the case of this article, the government is bound by free trade agreements and as much as it should protect the welfare of employees and offer proper incentive to employers, this is not possible (Palangkaraya & Jongsay, 2011, p.12). Therefore, the industrial conflict will remain between the union and employers as social costs spill over to employees (Casacuberta, Fachola, & Néstor, 2004, p.238). Industrial conflict historically has emerged as employees voice their welfare issues and as producers or employers bargain to increase their productivity and cutting costs through wages or longer working hours (Doellgast, 2009, p.10). This is a new world economic order – trade liberalization, and so the government may avert the conflict as expected because through the same agreements will see contracts and employment opportunities coming to Australia.

Article 2: Government, Unions Applaud Penalty Rates RulingThe Australian: March 18, 2013 

Findings

The Parties Involved

The parties involved in this article are Fair Work Commission (Australia), unions through Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and business and employer groups such as the National Retail Association, the Industry and Ai Group and the Queensland Chamber of Commerce.

Key Issues

The key issue in this article is the role of fair work commission in employment relations. In another article in the Australian, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) made a plea to stop employers that were Work Choices in their favor. These work choices involve cutting penalties for overtime work, introduction of new annualized salary agreements so that employers can do away with allowances, narrow down the terms of shift work to reduce workers’ entitlements on access to salary and leave (The Australian, 2012). The employers were particularly pushing for a 24-hour economy that will go seven days a-week. The business groups want to control and have power on how much they can pay during the 24-hour economy.

Methods Used To Resolve the Dispute

Business and employer groups filed submissions to Fair Work Australia, FWA to be allowed to reduce penalties as they extend working hours. This would affect low-income workers, as it would mean salary-cut for low-waged Australians. The national workplace tribunal delivered its ruling that the business groups had not made any case and that they would continue paying penalties. The fair work commission also ruled that the current system recognizes the “disabilities of working at unsociable times” (The Australian, 2012). The commissions also reiterated that the pay rates are relatively low and so penalties were sustained.

How Is This Related To Employment Relations

This article is related to employment relations in that it shows the role of regulatory bodies and workplace tribunals in employment relations. In this case, the focus is on the role of FWC: Fair Work Commission is the Australia’s nationalized workplace relations tribunal. There are a number of FWC functions that come out in this article: hearing cases and submissions presented by stakeholders in industrial relations, solving disputes between workers and their unions and business groups, enterprise bargaining and safety net of employment conditions and minimum wages.

FWC ensures that employers and employees stick to the set Australian workplace regulations and rules. In this article, employers are supposed to pay penalties for employees working overtime and during weekends. The employers cannot go against these provisions without making submission or appeals to the commission in addition. The tribunal hears cases and submissions concerning laws whenever dispute and industrial conflicts. The commission is also in charge of outlining new laws and any amendments that may need to be implemented to take care of employees’ welfare or employer needs (Fair Work Commission, 2013).

In this article, the commission has an important role of workplace protections, employee welfare and ensuring equal remuneration. In its ruling, the commission argued that the work choices brought about by employers on having 24-hour economy with reduced penalties. The commission protected the employees from long working hours and lack of breaks on weekends without pay. The commission also ensures that remuneration is fair (Fair Work Commission, 2013). Therefore, it upheld the penalties to cushion low-income employees from salary cuts and exploitation. In this case, it provided a safety net to protect minimum conditions for employees working overtime and their rewards.

The commission is also charged with the function of deliberating on various collective and individual workplace conflicts through mediation, reconciliation and in extreme cases arbitration. In this article, the workplace dispute between low-wage workers and workers groups (Fair Work Commission, 2013).

Most workplace conflicts culminate into industrial actions such as strikes or go-slows if not well controlled (Gollan & Patmore, 2013). The fair work commission facilitates good faith bargaining while paving way for enterprise agreements to avoid industrial action. The role is played in this article where FWC delivers a final ruling on penalties and working overtime that is binding to all parties to the conflict. The commission allowed the employers to represent work choices and mediated based on employee welfare and minimum wage laws.

In addition to the function outlined in the article, there are other functions of FWC in industrial action as described in its website. Fair Work Australia also gives remedies to employees for unfair dismissal. The agency regulates industrial actions through dispute resolution and hearing of submission by parties. The scope of the agency also extends to determinations in the workplace even at industry and company level, equal remunerations, stand down, right of entry and general workplace protections. Forsyth (2012) feels that Fair Work Australia has been effective so far compared to other Australian dispute resolution (ADR) means and groups in the fast. However, the role of FWC can be enhanced by increasing its independence to ensure impartiality and reducing costs to ensure that it is accessible to all parties. Forsyth (2012) clarifies that parties with conflicts being mediated by FWC foot their costs of arbitration, although in rare cases the aggrieved party may be compensated. Issues of cost and accessibility should be addressed to enhance accessibility. On the overall, the agency meets international standards in terms of professionalism, independence, expertise and speed (Forsyth, 2012, p.492).

Article 3: Level the Playing Field: A Call for Action on Gender Parity in AustraliaKeeping Good Companies: February 1, 2011

Findings

The Parties Involved

Unlike previous articles that involved employers and unions, this article involves different companies (that also allowed their employees to be interviewed) that took part in a research survey carried out by and researchers from Bain’s Global Women’s Leadership program sponsored by Bain& Company. The article also involves ‘Keeping good Companies.” Keeping good companies is a magazine that helps companies specializing in business-to-business operation to enhance best practices in management especially on human resource management, corporate social responsibility and innovation among other management practices.

Key Issues

The key issue in this article is equality in the workplace gender parity in Australia. According to the findings of Bain’s Global Women’s Leadership program, women are not given equal chances as men in leadership and management positions or any other company responsibilities. Women are not giving the same opportunity with men in terms of promotions for business executive positions or senior management. Both female and male employees support the findings, according to Bain & company (Cottrell, Sanders, & Hrdlicka, 2011).

Methods Used To Resolve the Dispute

The article presents problems identified from research work on employment relations. The key issue here is denial of opportunities for women in executive positions and managerial positions due to sex discrimination. Bain & Company has conducted research and provided recommendations on how to end discrimination of women employees in the workplace, as a call for action in Australia. The company suggests that the solution lies in visible and committed leadership, adaption of new workplace models in recognition of women’s careers and investment into change management on gender parity transformation.

How is this Related to Employment Relations

This article is important to employment relations because it highlights equality, particularly gender parity in the workplace. Equality in the workplace touches on many things such wage equality, wage-based gender equality or promotional equality based on age, gender or origin (Ferraro, 2011, p.38). In the recent days, we have seen increased calls in the business world to embrace diversity and inclusion in the workplace. It is also important to note that this also affects the productivity of companies as companies miss on key talent that can be tapped from women employees (Charlesworth, 2013, p.379).

In Australia, it is difficult to trace a woman employee in spite of increasing number of women in the workplace. According to Metz & Moss (2008) about 80 per cent of female employees in Australia blame sex discrimination in the workplace for slow advancement into management positions in the workplace (p.63). In the article, research findings establish find that women rarely get a chance for performance valuation for these senior positions, let alone failing to perform well in performance measures for management positions. This shows that there are inherent cultural barriers that stop women from getting equal chances in the workplace. As a result, the companies fail to exploit strategic effect that women leaders have on the bottom line of the company.

In employment relations, equality is essential to both employees and the organization as it shows the responsibility of a company to the society. It also boosts employee morale as it gives workers equal incentives for working hard. In spite of increased number of women in the workforce which stands at about 45 per cent of the Australia’s workforce. However, there are only 11 per cent of this population occupying executive management positions in Australia’s private sector. Additionally, there is only 10 per cent of board members position being occupied by women, and only 2 per cent serve as board chairs in ASX 200(Cottrell, Sanders, & Hrdlicka, 2011, p.9). However, in spite of the alarming inequalities in these numbers, most of the persons interviewed said that there are equal opportunities in employment relations (p. 10).

The article emphasizes that most companies do not use employment relations as a strategy for competitiveness and productivity in Australia. As a result, there are very few companies emphasizing on the need for human resource management policies that take in diversity and inclusion. As a result, a certain section of workers receive less incentives, rewards and opportunities owing to the cultural make up of the society (Charlesworth, 2013, p.378). According to Syed (2007), within the issue of gender discrimination, there is also racial and ethnic discrimination within sex discrimination. In other words, there are no equal employment opportunities among women of all ethnic backgrounds where minority groups have least chances of getting employment opportunities or management positions (Syed, 2007, p.1965).

The issue of sex discrimination in the workplace is important to industrial relations to an extent that, regulatory bodies are contemplating policies where labor laws will be changed to enable diversity in the workplace. Australian Securities and Exchange Commission is also contemplating establishing reporting requirements for corporate governance as a means of promoting equality in the workplace (Ferraro, 2011, p.40).

Conclusion

Employment relation is a wide concept that gets wider with advancement in technologies and workplace organization. The paper has visited three areas of industrial relations: equality, role of FWC in industrial relations and industrial conflicts. From the articles selected for the media portfolio with each touching on every area, it is clear that the media is getting more involved in changes in employment relations. Industrial conflicts emerge as there is an attempt to enhance the welfare of employees by workers unions while employers on the other hand put measures to enhance efficiency and productivity in a way that may disadvantage employees. Fair Work commission plays a key role in protection of welfare of employees, conflict resolution and watchdog for adherence to labor laws. Equality in the workplace, especially gender discrimination is rife but remains unaddressed due to cultural barriers.

References

Casacuberta, C., Fachola, G., & Néstor, G. (2004). The impact of trade liberalization on employment, capital, and productivity dynamics: evidence from the uruguayan manufacturing sector. Journal Of Policy Reform, 7(4), 225-248. doi:10.1080/1384128042000285200

Charlesworth, S. (2013). Women, work and industrial relations in Australia in 2012. Journal Of Industrial Relations, 55(3), 371-385. doi:10.1177/0022185613480746

Cottrell, D., Sanders, M., & Hrdlicka, J. (2011). Level the playing field: a call for action on gender parity in Australia. Keeping Good Companies (14447614), 63(1), 8-12.

Doellgast, V. (2009). Still A Coordinated Model? Market Liberalization And The Transformation Of Employment Relations In The German Telecommunications Industry. Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 63(1), 3-23.

Fair Work Commission (2013). Our Role. Retrieved from http://www.fwc.gov.au/index.cfm?pagename=aboutroleFerraro, P. (2011). Employment law implications of reporting on gender diversity in the workplace. Keeping Good Companies (14447614), 63(1), 38-42.

Forsyth, A. (2012). Workplace conflict resolution in Australia: the dominance of the public dispute resolution framework and the limited role of ADR. International Journal Of Human Resource Management, 23(4), 476-494. doi:10.1080/09585192.2012.641080

Gollan, P., & Patmore, G. (2013). Perspectives of legal regulation and employment relations at the workplace: Limits and challenges for employee voice. Journal Of Industrial Relations, 55(4), 488-506. doi:10.1177/0022185613489392

Leggett, C. (2013). Workforce Development and Employment Relations. Employment Relations Record, 13(1), 2-12.

Metz, I., & Moss, S. (2008). Workplace gender discrimination: do women over-attribute slow advancement in management to gender discrimination?. Melbourne Review, 4(2), 60-66.

Mortimer, D., & Ingersoll, L. (2012). Teaching Industry Engagement in Employment Relations. Employment Relations Record, 12(2), 1-18.

Palangkaraya, A., & Jongsay, Y. (2011). Trade Liberalisation, Exit, and Output and Employment Adjustments of Australian Manufacturing Establishments. World Economy, 34(1), 1-22. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9701.2010.01274.x

Pankajakshan, V. (2013). The ‘Return’ of the Employee Relations and Industrial Relations Discipline. Aweshkar Research Journal, 15(1), 8-9.

Syed, J. (2007). ‘The other woman’ and the question of equal opportunity in Australian organizations.International Journal Of Human Resource Management, 18(11), 1954-1978. doi:10.1080/09585190701638184

The Australian (2012, April 10). Employers seek return to WorkChoices – ACTU. The Australian. Retrieved from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/latest-news/employers-seek-return-to-workchoices-actu/story-e6frg90f-1226323125345

A Rhetorical Review on the Article ‘Don’t Let Kids Play Football’ by Bennet Omalu

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Introduction

In ‘A Good Way to Keep Guns from Predators’, Brent Staples argues whether Gov. Scott should invest his energy in the forceful collection of the guns he gave out to his people to improve the security among the residents. According to Staples, Governor Scott Walker signed a bill that let babies carry guns. However, Scott Walker did not allow one group of people to have guns. There is a 22% lower rate of intimate-partner homicide by gun in states where people are advised to give up their weapons (Staples, 2017). Brent Staples employs three major rhetorical strategies to present his arguments and convey his message to his audiences. This paper will discuss the rhetorical strategies used by the author to communicate to his audience appropriately.

The author claims that Gov Scott Walker signed legislation that requires people placed under a restraining order to be informed that they must turn in any guns they own within forty-eight hours or get arrested. It also established that all firearms held by civilians be confiscated by the authorities as soon as possible. “Gun-relinquishment laws have been enacted with broad support in rural, conservative states like North Dakota and Tennessee, along with swing states like Pennsylvania and Colorado” (Staples, 2017). It was meant to reduce the number of weapons in the public because it put humanity in a vulnerable position. The Governor’s target was to reduce or eliminate domestic abuse in the community. Limiting gun ownership allows the state to protect victims or potential victims of domestic abuse from traumatizing events or, in extreme cases, loss of lives. It prevents fatal consequences of domestic abuse among intimate couples.

Investigations conducted by judges, clerks, prosecutors, and police officials following a push from the King County officials revealed that few offenders returned their firearms to the legal authorities despite the increase in domestic violence cases reported and handled in civil courts. Statistics in 2016 showed that only 52 individuals out of 865 returned their guns to the authorities (Staples, 2017). These statistics open a discussion on whether firearms are the leading cause of domestic violence between intimate partners. With or without guns, many families in the state use aggressive strategies to resolve issues, which is unhealthy and quite risky for the partners involved and their families. Washington State legislators prioritized disarming high-risk abusers as a new strategy of confiscating weapons from society and creating a neutral and safe environment for all citizens.

The second strategy suggested by the author is the toughening of federal law that requires the abusers accused of domestic violence to return their guns. The author believes this approach would enable the United States federal team to protect families and the entire population, for that matter. Law enforcement agencies collected 20% as many firearms as collected in the previous year after piloting the policy for six days (Staples, 2017). The success of toughening federal laws prompted the state to employ more staff members to facilitate the reclaiming of firearms from the public especially domestic violence abusers. Like drug abuse, firearms ownership by the citizens affects their public health. The presence of guns in the community threatens the existence of individuals, hence influencing their day-to-day decisions in America. In communities where guns and violence are reported frequently, people tend to live in fear and uncertainty, thus being more cautious and adopting survival tactics that would keep them safe amidst violence. On the other hand, neutral and safe communities live quite freely and comfortably as their safe spaces assure their safety from abusers and reckless unruly firearm owners.

King County, Washington, developed a new and effective strategy to facilitate firearms recovery from the public, particularly domestic violence offenders and high-risk abusers. According to Staples, any legislation must address the Fifth Amendment stipulation that no person should be a witness against himself. To recover as many guns as possible from the public, especially those distributed illegally in the black market, all parties and players society included should cooperate and ensure all criminals and abusers are disarmed and punished according to the law. Staples strongly argues that the community and social media also played a vital role in disarming abusers and keeping America safe. Community members interact and depend on each other in different ways in their day-to-day activities. For this reason, it’s easier for them to identify firearms abusers or domestic violence offenders amongst them and their whereabouts. Working hand in hand with the authorities and providing relevant information that could pin or incriminate the abusers in society can help reduce illegal firearms ownership and ensure the safety of many Americans.

Social media also contributes heavily to the fight against firearms abuse by owners. Legal authorities use social media platforms to facilitate their search of abusers and consequent weapons recovery and arrest of the respective abusers. They keep close tabs on abusers and domestic violence offenders and keep track records of their activities and engagements (Staples, 2017). The information collected is then evaluated to determine if they have firearms. The authorities then move on them, disarm them and arrest them accordingly. The state also used various databases to find clues on whether targeted offenders owned guns and their hiding places. Together with statements from victims and witnesses of domestic violence, these databases provide sufficient and incriminating evidence against abusers and their illegal gun ownership.

Conclusion

It is undeniable that the availability of guns to the public, especially domestic violence offenders, is very risky to intimate partners, their families, and friends. The recovery of firearms proves difficult because it is hard to determine if an abuser owns guns. Weapons fall off the system daily, and the authorities cannot account for such losses. The state, through the legal system, should revisit its policies and develop new strategies that will help control the issuing of firearms within the system before dealing with the external problem. There is a need to identify the loopholes through which guns slip to abusers and seal them completely to restore and assure safety for its people.

Reference

Staples, B., 2017. Opinion | A Good Way to Keep Guns from Predators (Published 2017). [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/19/opinion/restraining-order-guns.html> [Accessed 14 February 2022].

Mac book Electronics:

Apple inc. has been one of the companies in the forefront to bring modern communication technology solutions to its clients. This great effort has seen the company go beyond 10% in terms of market share and becoming the top three leaders in providing high technology communication solutions. Macbook has one of its major discoveries in the 21st century. Apple has over the last few years improved the features of its Mac book to reflect the current state of technology and provide the highest level of customer satisfaction. Its latest discovery in the Macbook brand is the discovery of Mac book air introduced in late July this year and duly equipped with 3 processors. Other discoveries in the Mac book brand include the thunder bolt interface, Mac mini, OSX lion, iMac and Mac pro.

A Mac book is a special electronic gadget that has become a key component of education system and popularly used by students, teachers and University professors to undertake their teaching and learning processes. A Mac book is a special Macintosh computer notebook which can be connected to internet and help in research and education purposes. The electronic equipment for first introduced in the market by apple Inc. In the year 2006.Apple has however strived to upgrade the features of the Macbook. The current brands of Mac are highly sophisticated with enhanced capabilities.

Among the features that have been developed in the current Mac books are the portability. For instance the latest Mac book air is probably the thinnest lap top in the world with a thickness of 0.76 inch. The Mac book air also enhanced memory which goes u p to 1.8 GHz for its Central processing Unit. It has a RAM of 2GB and a hard drive of up to 80GB.The Mac book has an in built wireless networking system and a blue tooth which allows it to be mobile (Chambers,3) The Mac book has a highly sensitive multitouch track pad which allows easy control of the electronic devices.

Other features that have been introduced in the Mac book are standard key board which allows for easy usage, an insight camera on top of the screen and this allows the users to take photographs, a USB port, power adaptor, headphones. These features allow the users to different tasks using the same gadget and provide the highest level of convenience to the users.

The Mac books have also undergone special modifications to ensure efficiency in power consumption as the battery can hold charges for a long period. The above features have made Mac book electronics to be the most preferred gadgets by students and the lecturers as they allow for faster communication and delivery of knowledge.

Mac books effectively seek to replace the normal laptops which may not have the features they contain. As described above the Macs can also be used for social purposes as they have additional features that allow the users to socialize with friends. The size and the thickness of the Macs are particularly amazing and the users can carry them around for a long period of time (Miser, 366).

Apple has used the Mac book brands to move information and communication technology from one level to another by ensuring high levels of portability, reliability, convenience and power conservation on their Mac book laptops. This is what the students and the teachers need in this era of globalization and mobility of information. The Mac book therefore makes life easy and allows teaching and learning to take place at any location using the tiny gadgets. Mac is the most preferred electronic gadget for the next generation as people move from one level of technological innovation to another.

Works cited

Chambers, L.Mark. MacBook for Dummies. Hoboken, N.J. : Wiley, 2010. Print

Miser, Brad. Mac Book Pro Portable Genius. John Wiley and sons, 2011. Print



MACRO Term Paper

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• Our banks are oversold

Banks are oversold if their performance is soaring. This is to say they have the following characteristics: The banks have excess capital and reserves; the banking sector is a flush with liquidity, reserves and capital. This makes the banks the most capable of paying a high dividend yield. Another factor that contributes the overselling is that fact that the banks anticipate a high gain in the next quarters. The banks are operating at low prices to earnings multiples. They also take into account the possibilities of low expectations in terms of earnings. The banks are also experiencing improved fundamentals and earnings per share growth project. The banks are attracting value investors due to their oversold natures, the banks are better posed in the markets. This is based on the fact that the banks have a positive performance projection. This leads to the reversion of the general mean. This is based on the premise that prices will finally appreciate towards the mean (Ragan &Lipsey, 2011).

• Old rules versus new rules with respect to bank leveraging.

There are a number of rules intended to govern bank leveraging, however, these rules vary depending on the prevailing market conditions. Lahart, (2007), states that the old rules were developed to create an economic boom in major world economies; however, the new rules are geared at maintaining a stable banking system to cushion banks from the risks that are increasingly building up in the finical market.

• Given the Euro crisis and European bank leveraging, does this inspire confidence in the Euro?

In the short run; yes, in the long run; no

• Does this inspire confidence in the marginal European economies: Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and now France?

This does inspire confidence in the marginal European economies in the short run, however, this is not sustainable and in the long run, the marginal European economies would have difficulties as the euro crisis ease. The banks leveraging would involve certain measures to ensure that the gearing is stable.

• The housing market in the US is leveraged. Explain the part that tax deductibility and recourse loans play.

According to Manny, (2007), when the interest rates rise and the housing prices fall, everyone would easily get access to a good home. However, the property owners would have problems paying back their mortgage loans, leading to overselling as the property owners start to panic

• What are the results of the US not requiring any down payments with respect to housing purchases?

This is one way of subprime lending, as it involves the provision of loan to those with limited capacity to payback with the intention of having an economic bubble. The effect of this will be an economic crisis as refinancing then mortgages will not be easy. As housing is also on of the leading industries, it will lead to trade deficit and cause panic in the financial system (Levenson, 2006).

• Explain subprime lending.

Subprime lending is the concept that involve advancing loan to borrowers who are likely to experience difficulties paying back the loan, these people do not meet the requirement set by banks, so the loans advanced to them attract high interest rates due to the risk factors involved. This concept was widespread in the early 90s as there was a general belief that subprime borrowers could be managed.

• Compare the affordability of home ownership with subsequent delinquencies and foreclosures between Canada and the US.

There is likely to be a remarkable increase in the level of delinquencies and foreclosures in the US than in Canada due to the expiry of the easy initial terms. There also likely to be an increase in the economic crisis in Canada as the wealth of the consumers in the market would be drained, with less protection of the banks by the government (Laperriere, 2006).

• Comment on Osama’s plan to reduce mortgage interest and property taxes. Does it appear viable?

While president Obama is interested in ensuring that the citizens of America have access to affordable housing there are a number of factors that should be considered. For example, Ragan &Lipsey, (2011), argues that when the mortgage interest’s rates are reduced, the home owners are in a position to save lots of money per year by only refinancing at lower interest rates. On the other hand, many of the home owners may not be qualified t for the refinancing scheme organized by Mr. Obama. However, it is important to note that while most of the owners may not be eligible for the reduced mortgage taxes. This may be attributed to the recent fall in property prices leaving them with very little in terms of equity. On the other hand, the lenders are not likely to approve refinancing for those home owners who have very low equity. These cuts out the home have poor credit rating. This is also true for those who have been paying back their loans (Ragan & Lipsey, 2011).

The plans are not viable as many people would not be able to meet the requirements for eligibility into these programs

References

Ragan and Lipsey, (2011). Economics, 13th Canadian Edition. Pearson Canada Inc.

Lahart J. (2007). “Egg Cracks Differ In Housing, Finance Shells”. WSJ.com (Wall Street Journal).

Krugman, P. (2009). The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008. W.W. Norton Company Limited

Manny F. (2007). “Study Finds Disparities in Mortgages by Race”. New York Time

Levenson, E. (2006). “Lowering the Boom? Speculators Gone Mild”. NY Sage.

Laperriere, A. (2006). “Housing Bubble Trouble: Have we been living beyond our means?”. The Weekly Standard

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Abstract

Memory refers to the capability of encoding, processing and be able to regain or recover information that one has been exposed to for a given period of time. Memory cannot be separated from the academic performance and learning as a skill. Even though the skills of memory is connected to academic performance like reading as well as solving of problems in cognitive areas, it is a serious area for center of attention within the education sector for some reasons. First, it mirrors the applied cognition. This implies that the operation of memory can reflect every significant feature of learning. The second reason is that the skills of memory applied by children do not show to wear out or tap their capabilities. As a result we require finding out the procedures of instruction that benefit from the potential of children to memorize and regain information (Swanson & Alloway, 2012). This paper tackles the modal model of memory, structures and functions of working memory, short term memory and the long term memory with the inclusion of types of long term memory in that order.

Modal Model of Memory

Memory is the ability of an individual to encode process and recall information that he or she has been exposed to previously. The modal model of memory is the immediate memory which is the existence of a unitary memory which is short term in nature and that strongly relies on phonological coding. The information gets in to short term memory from the environment through the sensory buffer. The sensory buffer in this case holds the short term information before the same information goes to long term memory. The information enters the long term memory if at all it can be retained for some considerable amount of time in the short term memory (Pickering, 2012).

The normal modal model of memory is a heuristic guide for appreciating the functioning of memory or how it operates. IT provides the framework of understanding how the information is stored in memory over time. The modal model of memory has four parts. The first part is the sensory register. The second one is the short term store. The third component is the long term store while the last part of modal model is the control processes. The sensory register component can be thought of as a group of stores for memory each of which match up to various sensory modality. For instance, there is one sensory register is used for vision, another one for touch and many others for different functions. The sensory registers in our memory permits us to hold briefly in order to find out whether the information is worthy enough for more consideration. This means that the minds of human beings could only be fixed on the present state of affairs without these kinds of memory stores (Radvansky, 2015).

The short term memory component play the role of retaining information for a period of less that one minute in case nothing is done with it. The state of consciousness is connected with the information that resides within the short term memory. This can be described as knowledge that is presently in conscious alertness or beyond. The amount of information that can be stored in this short term memory is overwhelmingly small. The third component, that is, the control processes responsible for the active manipulation of information within the short term memory. This might comprise of procedures from rehearsing information to relocation of knowledge to and from the components of long term memory or may be reasoning. Apart from just acting as a passive absorption and the mechanism of information retrieval, this control processes makes the modal model an active participant. The long term memory which is the fourth component consists of extensive different types of long term knowledge. In addition, it consists of different approaches of using the same knowledge. It is the component of modal model memory that fascinates the majority of people. The various types of long term memory are also discussed in the later topics of this paper (Radvansky, 2015).

Structures and functions of working memory

The working memory comprises of the central executive which is the major part together with other two components. The two components include the phonological lop and the visual spatial. The main functions of the central executive are to regulate type flow of information in the working memory. It also plays the role of retrieving information from the different systems of memory like the long term memory. Moreover, the central executive also takes part in processing as well as information storage. Its efficiency in carrying out these functions relies on whether there are other anxieties or burdens that are that are concurrently placed on it. The phonological loop takes part in the maintenance of information that is verbally coded. The visual-spatial sketch pad on the other hand takes part in the short term information processing in addition to maintaining materials which have strong visual or spatial component (Gathercole & Baddeley, 2014).

Structures and functions of short term memory

The short term memory as mentioned earlier is use in holding information coded from the environment temporarily before the same is transferred to long memory for permanent storage. The consideration of short time models of learning can be carried out through the assumption of many various state of learning. In this case, the items begin with the first state of knowledge from which the precise answer may be made only through guess work. As the individual continues to learn the materials offered, the learning process is represented in the model by changing to the state of intermediate knowledge. As usual, the items in the state of intermediate are never permanent given that they can return to different states. The processing of verbal kind of information, for instance, employs an auditory memory that is short tern in nature and which has limited capacity.

The number of times an idea is repeated increases the chance of retaining it in the short term memory. In this case, the more times a repetition are made, the more chances of retaining information within the short term memory. The probability that that given information will enter the permanent or long term memory in this case is dependent on the attention given to that particular information in addition to the type of operations that are carried out on it. Therefore, the structure of the short term memory is such that the information goes in to short term memory from the system of perception from the process of naming as a vector of attributes. As more information continues to enter in to short term memory a number of vector attributes are either degraded in quality or lost and thus cannot always be recovered from memory Norman, 2013).

Structures and functions of long term memory

The structure of long term memory consists of two main parts namely the declarative and the non-declarative memories. The declarative part is also called the explicit memory while the non-declarative part is also called the implicit memory. The explicit memory part of the long term storage is comprised of both episodic and the semantic memories. On the other hand, the non-declarative memory part of the long term storage consists of the procedural memory, the classical conditioning and the priming memory. The declarative part of long term memory is the memories that are simpler for an individual to express and even talk about. The non-declarative part on the other hand is the information that is hard to express or articulate though it still has deep control in our lives (Radvansky, 2015).

Both declarative and the non-declarative memory are the main categories of long term system of memory. The declarative category permits the conscious recollection of events together with facts. This category is usually marked by our capability for explicit recall or recognition of facts and/or events that took place in the past. The non-declarative category is the part of long term memory which can be accessed with no consciousness. It can be accessed implicitly via performance instead of remembrance of facts and events (Anticholinergics, 2014).

Semantic and episodic yypes of long term memory

The semantic memory type comprises of skills, rules, relations that are excessively leaned. They are those things which we are familiar with in standard. They may also be those things which we know how to do irrespective of situations under which this knowledge was gotten from the environment. Unlike in episodic memory, the semantic memory can be achieved better through repetition which is necessary in language, perceptual as a well as motor learning. With sufficient number of repetition such as the spontaneous mental rehearsal, even particular incidents can get in to the semantic memory of the long term storage.

The episodic memory type is connected autobiographical time. It helps in triggering searches via long term memory by the normal events of information retrieval with rare kind of memories. These rare memories can be considered in terms of the number of evens of events that are retrieved in every unit of autobiographical occasion. This type of memory is also associated with essential difficulty with memory of past long events or episodes thus the past information in many cases becomes hard to remember. There is thus the aspect of relative impairment of memory for the past episodes which is a defect or a limitation in the episodic memory (Wood, Ebert & Kinsbourne, 2014).

Procedural memory, classical conditioning and priming types of long time memory

Procedural memory is an implicit type of long term memory that involved getting skills plus habits that take place with no conscious alertness and over the course of performance. The system of procedural memory is very crucial in supporting the capability of gesture in order to drive the fresh learning. This implies that the deficit in procedural memory is highly likely to disrupt the production of gesture together with comprehension or understanding. Meanwhile, the non-declarative memory which includes procedural memory, the classical conditioning and priming can support the individual’s ability to get and carry out skills and be able to form habits through the help of experience. Since learning comes from the act of generating and experiencing gesture, this also implies that procedural memory is thus helpful in learning too. Therefore procedural memory supports cognitive, motor as well as perceptual knowledge/skill learning. The procedural memory do benefit from conducting actions by an individual at the time of encoding knowledge, meaning that action performance employs procedural memory. In addition, the influence of gesture on the learner is frequently implicit but nonetheless affects the behavior (Klooster et al., 2014).

Priming also affects the individual’s behavior in much faster as compared to procedural memory which needs slow and comprehensive process of learning. The effects of prime are normally observed by means of just a single exposure to the stimulus of prime. In contract, the procedural tasks of memory comprise the use of repeated trials before learning can be shown (Klooster et al., 2014).

References

Anticholinergics, B. (2014). Declarative and Nondeclarative Memory.

Gathercole, S. E., & Baddeley, A. D. (2014). Working memory and language. Psychology Press.

Klooster, N. B., Cook, S. W., Uc, E. Y., & Duff, M. C. (2014). Gestures make memories, but what kind? Patients with impaired procedural memory display disruptions in gesture production and comprehension. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 8.

Norman, D. A. (Ed.). (2013). Models of human memory. Elsevier.

Pickering, S. J. (2012). 2 Working memory in dyslexia. Working memory and neurodevelopmental disorders, 7.

Radvansky, G. A. (2015). Human memory. Psychology Press.

Swanson, H. L., & Alloway, T. P. (2012). Working memory, learning, and academic achievement.

Wood, F., Ebert, V., & Kinsbourne, M. (2014). The episodic-semantic memory distinction in memory and amnesia: Clinical and experimental observations. L. S. Cermak (Ed.), Human memory and amnesia, 167-193.

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Mental Health

According to WHO panic, worry and anxiety are ways in which people respond to uncertainty and unknown situations. In cases like COVID-19, people are afraid because of changes in their daily lives such as restricted movement, working from home, unemployment, online learning for children, and lack of physical contact and wearing of facemasks. All these abrupt changes have an effect on both mental and physical health of people (Park et al.).

Mental health, affects a broad area of people’s lives. It affects the sleep patterns where one has difficulty sleeping, poor concentration, loss of appetite and poor eating habits. In terms of socially and economically it affects one career, education and relationships with friends and family. People suffering from mental illness can also suffer from alcohol or drugs and other addictions (Park et al.). Mental illness does not only affect at an individual level but also families, community and nation. For example, if an individual cannot perform at their work place, it means they will have no income and if they are the bread winner in a family, they are also at stake. This affects even the nation at large because individuals are not productive.

Another group of people having mental health problems are the students as they receive pressures from their parents and teachers. It is funny to observe that the main concern of people in the current generation is focus in academic performances rather than minding about the mental health of their children. There is need to balance between mental health of the learners and the academic performances of these learners as they are both important.According to CDC, children and teenagers may react differently to stress. For children and adolescents there may be excessive crying, change of sleeping patterns, so much worry, unhealthy eating and having behaviors they have outgrown. For teenagers, the stress may lead to poor performance in academics, poor concentrations, headaches and body pains, and indulging in substance abuse (Park et al.).

In the case of COVID-19 pandemic, the people most likely to suffer from mental health illness are: the elderly, those with other underlying conditions such as terminal illnesses, those with mental health conditions and those caring for family members and loved ones. This group of people is likely to have more stress because according to WHO they are at a high risk of contracting the virus (Pfefferbaum et al.).

For children, parents are advised to have communication with the children often, keep assuring them they are safe, let the children continue with their normal routine and limit them from news coverage even on social media. The parents also can explain to the children about the pandemic and what it is. Get to know their understanding and correct any misunderstanding they have. This helps them to have the correct information and thus reducing the stress.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most people have been required to work from home. This has its side of challenges. Most people have stress on how to handle domestic work and work assignments at the same time. In trying to blend both, most people may find themselves working for long hours. There are various ways one can overcome these challenges. One can set up a working area where there are no non-wok disruptions such as other family members. Also, one should discuss with the other family members about their plan and schedule but also be flexible in case one needs to be attended to. Another strategy is having a schedule. This is important in maintaining healthy eating habits, connecting with other people, healthy sleeping and hygiene (Carol S, 2020).

Another cause of mental illness is loneliness especially in these times of COVID-19 where there is restriction of movement and keeping social distance (Carol S, 2020). According to WHO, the people at high risk are the elderly and those with mental illnesses. To cope with this, individuals should do some form of physical activities such as exercise and maintain social connections. Social connections with loved one can be done through the digital platforms such as zoom. Individuals can also utilize the time and do the things they enjoy to do by themselves but they have not had time to do them. Activities such as reading a book, trying a recipe, a body care routine, gardening, writing, stroking a pet, arts and crafts, virtual tours and live stream yoga and other workouts.

During uncertain times people experience high levels of anxiety. To cope with this, individuals can do simple relaxation techniques such as breathing in and out, or meditation as they help relieve anxious thoughts. One can also access materials on other relation practices online. When these activities are done regularly they help reduce stress and anxiety. Individuals can also join wellness programs online where most of them are free (Crystal).

In times of a pandemic such as the COVID-19, it is advisable to stay informed but not watching the news so much. Staying informed is important so one can follow what is happening and safety measures given. Also one is able to know what the authorities require of them and take personal protective measures. On the other hand, it is good to get information from verified sources such as WHO and CDC because some information only instills fear, is incorrect and some are just myths and misconceptions. It is good to check what one is watching or reading. To achieve this; check only trusted sources, limit the number of time one checks for updates and one can refrain from the media if they start feeling overwhelmed. One should also refrain from sharing information that is not from a verified source as these increases anxiety and fear to other people who receive the information (Crystal).

To have a good mental health in times of the pandemic, one should try and focus on the things they have control over. Focusing on questions like what will happen, when will the pandemic end, what is the government doing, will only increase our fears and anxiety because they are questions without answers. Instead of this, one can focus on what they can do at a personal level to reduce the risk such as wearing a facemask, washing hands for 20 seconds, sanitizing, avoiding crowds, staying at home, maintaining social distance and following all the guidelines set by authorities (Crystal).

The best way of maintaining mental health is taking care of one’s body and spirit. Even with the disruptions caused by the corona virus one should; be easy on themselves, maintain their routine such as sleep and meals, do the activities they enjoy like reading a book, go out and enjoy nature if possible, do some exercises such as cycling, yoga, and do not use substances such as alcohol to reduce anxiety ( Crystal).

Listening to music also helps to reduce stress and anxiety. Music helps in various ways; it helps one divert attention from the issue that is causing stress and anxiety and also activates and excites one’s body (Crystal). According to researchers, music helps the body produce immunoglobulin A and natural killer cells that attack viruses and improves immunity of the body. Music also reduces the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone.

Individuals can join other community members and faith-based organizations such as churches. This can be done through the online platforms due to the social distancing measures in place. It can be through social media, phone calls, or emails. There can be praise and worship sessions, prayers and even sermons that have a message of hope. This will be important as one can pass and receive a message of hope and this will help reduce stress and anxiety levels. It also helps individuals to shift their focus from the pandemic news and fears that come it (Crystal)

In conclusion, mental health can be maintained easily without expenses. It is just about having things such self-care routines like exercising, maintaining hygiene, eating healthy, having good sleeping patterns. Maintain social connections through phone calls, digital platforms such zoom. Avoid so much news from unverified sources because they spread fear. Enjoy hobbies like reading books, cooking, gardening, and watching. Also avoid self-medication with substance such as alcohol and drugs. Finally, have a balance between domestic chores and work assignments if possible have schedule for each day and a specific place for working. All these are strategies that can help maintain mental health. One should use that which is appropriate for them because different people react differently to stressful situations. Also in terms of hobbies, people have different activities that they enjoy doing by themselves. Finally, when people are mentally healthy, they will think clearly and therefore, follow the guidelines put to protect themselves and their families. This will in turn help reduce the spread and infections of corona virus.

Work Cited

Pfefferbaum, Betty, and Carol S. North. “Mental health and the Covid-19 pandemic.” New

England Journal of Medicine (2020).

Park, Crystal L., et al. “Americans’ COVID-19 Stress, Coping, and Adherence to CDC

Guidelines.” Journal of General Internal Medicine (2020): 1.

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Memory Types and Stages

1. Define memory and briefly explain the stages

Memory refers to the ability of a person to take in information, store it, process, and recall the information later in time. There are three stages of memory that include encoding, storage, and retrieval (McDermott, Kathleen and Henry). Encoding refers to the process by which the brain receives information, process, and combine it. Through encoding, information from the outside world is allowed to the senses in the form of chemical and physical stimuli and which requires processing. Storage is the second stage of memory and refers to the development of a permanent record of the encoded information, where it is maintained awaiting retrieval. Retrieval if the third stage and refers to the calling back of the information stored in the memory in order to be put in use.

2. What is flashbulb memory?

Flashbulb memories in psychology refer to the memories that occur after learning something so shocking or surprising that it develops a strong and seemingly very accurate memory of learning in regard to the event, but not the event itself (Hirst and Elizabeth). It can also be regarded as a snapshot of a moment and circumstances of surprising and consequential news that has just been learned about. For example, during the 9/11 attack, not everyone witnessed the incident, but some photographers took a snapshot that still reminds people of the event to date.

3. How do you study effectively to remember?

The human memory works through processing information and storing it. Reading for the purpose of remembering depends on the duration of retrieval, and this impacts on the types of memories that include sensory, short-term, and long-term memory. If a person is required to remember something after a few days, then they make use of short-term memory, which is also referred to as the working memory. However, if the information is required after a long duration, then the long-term and sensory memory is put into use. To ensure the effectiveness of the memory, even after an extended duration, a person is required to perform processes such as rehearsals (Oberauer). And which will ensure that the information is easily recalled even after an extended time as rehearsals work to train the brain.

Works Cited

Hirst, William, and Elizabeth A. Phelps. “Flashbulb memories.” Current Directions in Psychological Science 25.1 (2016): 36-41.

McDermott, Kathleen B., and Henry L. Roediger. “Memory (encoding, storage, retrieval).” General Psychology FA2018. Noba Project: Milwaukie, OR (2018): 117-153.

Oberauer, Klaus. “Is Rehearsal an Effective Maintenance Strategy for Working Memory?.” Trends in cognitive sciences (2019).