How does spaces change perceptions on things and people Essay

How does spaces change perceptions on things and people - Essay Example There are also external factors like human experience which influence these physical characteristics. In effect, these external elements provide biases on how individuals perceive things and people around them. This text sought to provide a thorough analysis on how human perception is created through the human brain and its physical senses. Moreover, this writing discussed the factors which affect how human perceives objects. One of which is the philosophy of space and time. Finally, this text also pursued to provide an answer to the question, â€Å"How does space change perceptions on things and people?†. 1. INTRODUCTION Perception dictates the behavior of people and the human interaction as a whole. It is a person’s perception that affects the person’s response in the form of his or her actions. This is the reason why understanding human behavior has always been associated with the concept of perception. Thus, the study on perception has always been evident in different fields in the social sciences like sociology, psychology, and philosophy. Generally, perceptions depend on an individual’s sensory qualities such sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste ("Problem of Perception."). However, it is the mind that has a crucial control on these sensory qualities. Philosophers further suggest that there exist a â€Å"problem of perception† that is â€Å"created by the phenomena of perceptual illusion and hallucination† ("Problem of Perception."). This means that the way people perceive things and other people is not solely based on the sensory qualities but rather dictated by psychological discernment. There are various factors that influence one’s perception on things and other people through their cognitive discernment. Space is one particular factor that affects perception on things and people. Space plays an important role in the process of perception which consequently created the concept of spatial perception or space perception. Space perception is the process of evaluating the physical orientation of objects in space which is necessary for movement in the environment and for discernment of the relationships between things (â€Å"Space Perception†). Moreover, the concept of space perception also offers insight into how people become oriented in the environment for them to survive in the form of seeking food or avoiding injury (â€Å"Space Perception†). In other words, space perception provides people â€Å"physical reality† which they use to respond in their everyday lives (â€Å"Space Perception†). Thus, this has led to much deeper researches on the role of space in the perception of people on things and other people. These research studies tend to provide in-depth analyses on the complexity of the effect of space towards perceptions. Scholars aim to answer the question, â€Å"How does space change perceptions on things and people?† 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Various related texts have already been published in the social sciences on the subject of perception. One of which is of Matthew MacDonald’s book â€Å"Your Brain: The Missing Manual.† This text offers a discussion about the human brain and the process of perception as performed by the brain. Different articles on human perception are also available such as â€Å"The Meaning of Perception† and â€Å"The Death of the Cyberflaneur† as written by Flemming Funch and Evgeny Morozov, respectively. These texts serve as good reference materials in understanding and

A letter from an exchange student in Australia Essay Example for Free

A letter from an exchange student in Australia Essay I’ve been in Australia for about 2 months now and I’m still speechless. It’s such a beautiful country! The land, the people, the climate, everything is amazing! I’ve gotten to experience the most remarkable/wonderful things, things I never could have imagined. As you know I went here as an exchange student and I’m living with a wonderful host family in Brisbane. They have been very welcoming and loving, the student exchange agency made such a good match. Brisbane is located in the east of Australia, in the state called Queensland. I’m attending the Brisbane State High School where I’m taking all the mandatory classes like English, math’s, science, social studies, art, health and physical education and so on. I’ve gotten to continue my French education as well, but everyone in that class is way better than me! Luckily they are all so nice and very patient with me, and that goes for all the classes! I had a hard time understanding the Australian accent at first, but it gets easier and easier every day. My host family taught me some Aussie-slang to help me out a bit, like â€Å"hoo roo† which means goodbye, â€Å"ripper† means something like fantastic or great, â€Å"sheila† is a girl and â€Å"dunny† is a toilet. A word that’s very confusing is â€Å"thongs†. It does not mean what you think it means! It’s another word for flip-flops, which can create quite an awkward situation. Fortunately I managed not to humiliate myself! Anyway, like I said are there mandatory classes just like there is in Sweden. Australia has a national curriculum to make sure that they have the same educational standards in schools all over the country, which resembles our â€Å"Skolverket†. You asked a lot about the schools over here in your last letter, so I’ve asked my new friends in my classes and found out some basic info. Like, something that’s similar to Swedish schools is that you’re in kindergarten or pre-school when you’re 3-5 years old. In Australia you go to Primary School between the ages 6 to 11, unlike Sweden where we go to â€Å"Là ¥gstadiet† and â€Å"Mellanstadiet† when we’re 6 to 12. One year doesn’t make that big of a difference, but Secondary School (High School) resembles both â€Å"Hà ¶gstadiet† and â€Å"Gymnasiet† together. So from what I understand, you can’t choose a specific program like in Sweden, but you can choose some classes you want to take (other than the mandatory ones) in High School. When you graduate from Secondary School you can apply for a University, just like in Sweden. As you can tell there are a lot of similarities to  Australian and Swedish schools, but I found out that there are many differences as well. School uniforms for example, we don’t have any rules about dress code in Sweden, but over here it’s a part of life, at least for the students who attend High School. Almost every school has a special uniform that every student has to wear, even I have to wear one when I go to school. Even in gym class we wear matching shorts and shirts. I think those outfits are better because they’re unisex, and the rest of the day the girls wear skirts while the boys wear pants. I’m not very comfortable in skirts and dresses so I think that if you want to wear pants you should be able to! It’s kind of nice not having to choose an outfit every morning, you only have one thing to wear and everybody else wears it too. There’s not any pressure about having the latest fashion or not changing it up every day. The only thing you have to worry about is bad hair-days! I have to admit that I wish we had to wear these in Sweden as well†¦ Not only are they a gift from heaven for the morning-tired person, they make you feel a bit more fancy and formal too. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that comfortable being formal all the time and I’d probably get sick of wearing it every day, but I like the idea a lot at the moment. I never think it would work, introducing this to Sweden though. Everyone would lose their right to express themselves through their clothes. If we would have to wear school uniforms, I strongly vote for pants for the girls! Most students bring their own lunch to school. There is a cafeteria, but you have to pay for everything there. That is something I miss about Sweden, even though it’s not great food all of the time it’s still really convenient. I’m having a hard time remembering to bring my lunch every day†¦ That makes me really angry with myself because both of my host parents make really good food, especially sandwiches. I promise you, they’re amazing! Public schools here are free and run by the government of state or territory they’re in, just like in Sweden. Parents are asked pay a voluntary contribution fee and they can also contribute to camping trips and extracurricular activities, but it’s all voluntary. Something that also differs from Sweden is the fact that they have 4 semesters. The school year starts in early February and ends in December. They have short holidays between every semester and their summer holiday is in December and January, during Christmas! I know it’s really strange, but that’s when the Australian summer is! I had no idea that the seasons were so  off over here, but I think it’s really amazing how the world works. Apparently all countries south of the equator have their summer during our winter, and their winter during our summer! A few weeks ago I got to be a part of the Australians celebration of ANZAC Day. ANZAC stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This day is special to Australians because of what happened on this date 1915. The First World War had just started and Australia wanted to create a reputation for themselves to the rest of the world, since they’d only been a nation for 13 years. They joined forces with New Zealand and set out to take control over the Dardanelles (a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey) so that their allies could travel through. When ANZAC landed on Gallipoli in Turkey they were met by Turkish defending forces. A lot of Australian soldiers lost their lives and today the Australians take this day to remember not only them and their bravery, but every soldier who has died in any war or military operation Australia’s been a part of. Each year the remembrance begins with memorial services in big cities all over the country, they’re known as the â€Å"Dawn Services†. Later in the day there are parades where ex-militaries march along. Aussies also celebrate this day off from work and school with drinking and games! They also have the Australia Day, their National Day. I’m not going to be here for that because it’s celebrated on January 26th, but I really wish I were! They celebrate everything that’s good about the country and being Australian, it sounds like a lot of fun! My host family tells me that you can see the Australian flag hanging from windows of cars and houses and that the whole neighborhood smells like barbeque. There are usually fireworks and music as well! It’s more upbeat than the ANZAC Day. We don’t have anything like this in Sweden, which I think is a bit sad. What I mean is, we don’t really have a day where we remember something or celebrate just being Swedish. I feel like we don’t have that kind of love for our country that the Australians do. At least I know I don’t. I only enjoy our National Day because I don’t have to go to school. I honestly don’t even know why we celebrate it, and if I asked my friends I’m sure they would say the same thing. It would be nice to feel that unity and pride that the Australians have. We’ve been in wars, I’m not sure how many or what kind, but we don’t take pride in them. We don’t have any war heroes we remember. During World War 1, Sweden was neutral. We didn’t officially pick a side; we did  everything we could to not get attacked by anyone. We let Germany use our railways to transport iron-stone, which kept us from getting involved in the war (even though that made us a part of Germany’s success). I think we’re right not to take any pride in that†¦ Something that also would be fun to experience here â€Å"Down Under† is Christmas. Since their summer is during December the climate is at its warmest during Christmas. My friends told me that even though it’s sunny and warm everyone still decorates with snowmen and Christmas lights! Most families have a Christmas tree too. Here in Brisbane they apparently have a competition every year for who has the best Christmas lights. I would love to see all of the extremely decorated houses! We should do something like that at home, we should engage more! In some ways our counties spend Christmas alike, but some prospects are still very different. In Sweden, we open presents, eat delicious food and get a visit from Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. In Australia they only make the last preparations on Christmas Eve, because it’s all about Christmas Day. Children hope to find presents in stockings or under the tree when they wake up, families go to see their relatives and everyone (most people anyway) spend the evening with their loved ones. Some families eat dinner that’s similar to Europe’s Christmas food, but most Australians barbeque or have a picnic on the beach or in the park. On the beach you can see surfing Santa Clauses too. It sounds really laid back and comfortable, so I would love to be able to experience it (even though it’s no real Christmas without snow!). It’s hard to think of Swedish traditions when you don’t usually acknowledge them, but most traditions come with the holidays. Almost all of our holidays have religious significance, like Easter and Christmas for example, but these holidays are not really about what they originally mark in history (if you’re Christian). Easter is more about dressing up as a witch and knocking on doors collecting candy, than remembering Jesus’s crucifixion. Christmas is all about Donald Duck and opening presents, we don’t celebrate Jesus being born. This is the case in Australia too, except for the witches and Donald Duck. In Australia they celebrate Easter by organizing Easter egg hunts (mostly for the purpose of making the children happy), and you’ve probably heard of the ‘Easter Bunny’? Well, over here they’ve exchanged it for an ‘Easter Bibly’. A bibly is a small rodent, who’s an endangered species and they’re hoping this kind of advertisement is going to help save  it. Besides, rabbits are considered pests in Australia as they destroy crops and other things. As you can tell there are a lot of both similarities and differences between Sweden and Australia, but they are both great counties! Unfortunately I only have a month left of my studies, but I am thinking about living here for a year or so when I graduate. I have fallen in love with this land†¦ Enough about me, how have you been? Is everything as usual back home? Hope to see you soon, Love Emelie Sources of information: Aussie slang: http://stricktlydating.hubpages.com/hub/Common-Aussie-Slang-Words 2013-04-14 http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html 2013-04-14 About school: http://www.workingin-australia.com/education/system/overview#.UWr117XIagc 2013-04-14 http://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au/en/Courses/Schools/Australian-School-System/Australian-school-system 2013-04-14 http://www.studiesinaustralia.com/types-of-education/secondary-education 2013-04-16 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_uniform#Australia 2013-04-16 http://brisbaneshs.eq.edu.au/sites/default/files/bshs/PolicyDocuments/PandC/CanteenMenu.pdf 2013-04-17 http://www.fairhillshs.vic.edu.au/app/webroot/uploaded_files/media/uniform_information_2013.pdf 2013-04-17 http://australianschool1.hubpages.com/hub/Australian-School-Uniform2013-04-16 http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090821161522AAUv95m 2013-04-16 http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-weather-and-the-seasons2013-04-16 Traditions: http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac_tradition.asp 2013-04-21 http://www.realaustraliatravel.com/australian-traditions.html 2013-04-21 http://www.realaustraliatravel.com/Christmas-in-Australia.html 2013-04-21 http://www.realaustraliatravel.com/christmas-lights-brisbane.html 2013-04-22 http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/australia/christmas-day 2013-04-22

Airline Cabin Crew Resource Management (CRM)

Airline Cabin Crew Resource Management (CRM) Cabin crew forms an important part of  flight operation. They take the responsibility of the people aboard an aircraft. For a long time, cabin crews have been criticized for taking causal approach to aircraft safety leading to death of thousands of people. It is due to increased  incidences of human error in aircraft accidents that led to  development of  Crew Resource Management (CRM) concept. Thanks to CRM, todays flights and cabin crews are quite different from those of early days of commercial aviation. The captain in the aircraft was once taken to be the God during flight had his decisions and commands were not questioned. There was very little input from pilots because it was assumed that captain knows all and it would appear disrespectful to question the decision of the superior. This kind of relationship did not go well with civilian cockpits and the number of accidents which could be attributed to cabin crew errors increased. Airline accidents that were related to pi lot errors claimed hundreds of lives and  the knowledge of cabin crew on handling flights came to be questioned. For example in 1978, United 171 ran out of fuel flying over Portland and unfortunately, this was not noticed even by the cabin crew until it was too late. In 1982, Air Florida 90 failed to be properly de-iced and it crashed shortly after it had taken off from Washington. It was also revealed that  all the standard operating procedures had been violated by the cabin crew. Its a series of such  accidents that could be attributed to human errors that led to  implementation of Crew Resource Management in a bid to empower them with skills on  how to handle flights. In 1980, United Airlines formally instituted a training program that came to be known as Crew Resource Management (CRM) which was aimed at equipping the whole cabin crew, including pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, dispatchers, and others with personal and interpersonal skill to handle flights with saf ety. CRM mainly emphasizes on the principles and concept of  improving crew performance and flight safety. Although it has been criticized by some people in the sense that there has been accidents attributed to human errors despite its existence for more than three decades, it has generally been acknowledged that CRM cannot solve all the problems related to human errors but it goes an extra mile to equip pilots and cabin crew members with important safety measures they need to observe during a flight. It is a not a panacea of aircraft accidents but it can make a huge impact on mitigation human related aircraft accidents. What is CRM? Crew Resource Management (CRM) can be defined as a set of procedures and training system which is meant to mitigate the impact of human errors on flight. The main aim of CRM is to improve air safety through reduction of human errors (Aviation Knowledge, 2010). It is mainly focused on human factors like interpersonal communication, leadership, and decision making process in the cockpit, which have been found to be major factors contributing to aircraft accidents. CRM concept was born out a NASA worship that was held in 1979 but since then, it has evolved in different ways being expanded to include more crews. CRM mainly encompass a wide range of knowledge, skills, and attitudes, which are major human factors during flight (Aviation Knowledge, 2010). It encompass a wide range of factors like communication, situational awareness, problem solving, decision making, teamwork, and many others which are pertinent to cabin crew during flight. These factor are not new in aviation but they have been recognized for a long time since aviation began and have been expressed in general terms like airmanship, captaincy, crew co-operation, and many others but have never been given the needed attention until recently when human errors were recognized as major factor in aviation safety. Putting into consideration all these aspects, CRM can therefore be defined as a management system which make use the resources available, mainly equipments, procedures and people, in order to enhance safety and efficiency during flight (The Royal Aeronautical Society, 2010). CRM is not concerned much with the technical knowledge and skills in flight operation but rather it aims and reducing human errors and enhancing human response in case of safety breach during flight (The Royal Aeronautical Society, 2010). CRM is therefore concerned with cognitive and interpersonal skills which are necessary to manage flight. It targets to harness cognitive and interpersonal skills of the crew to enhance safety and efficiency. Cognitive skills encompass the mental processes which are used to gain situational awareness, which are important in solving problems and taking immediate decisions. On the other hand, interpersonal skills mainly encompass communication and other behavior skills that enhance teamwork. In aviation, these skills mainly intercept and overlap now and then, together with the technical skills. CRM and aviation accidents The main reason behind introduction of CRM was in response to the rising number of accidents which were attributed to human error (The Royal Aeronautical Society, 2010). During 1950s, there was introduction of turbojets that were considered more reliant and consequently, there was reduction in the number of aircraft accidents that were attributed to technical failure. The problem of air flames and engine failure slowly diminished with coming of more reliable jets and the number of accidents reduced. Between 1959 and 1989, more than 85% of all accidents were attributed to flight crew errors while only less than 10% could be attributed to technical condition (Aviation Knowledge, 2010; Wiener, 1993). Less than 5% could be attributed to maintenance, weather, airport condition, and other causes (Wiener, 1993). From 1950s, number of human error aviation accidents worldwide rose sharply and this became a major concern for most countries. With recognition of human performance problem, there was growing interest to understand the meaning of pilot error, which became common in most aircraft accident reports. Most of the reports on aircraft accidents, especially those which were compiled by NTSB gave chilling documentation citing instances of pilot error which included (Wiener, 1993): One report cited a case where a crew was distracted by failing landing gear indicator light did not notice that the automatic pilot had been disengaged and consequently allowed the aircraft to descend into a swamp. In another report, a co-pilot who was concerned that the take-off thrust had not been properly set when departing in a snow storm, failed to get captains attention and consequently the aircraft stalled and crashed into Potomac River. Another report cited an incidence where the crew failed to review the landing charts and navigation position properly and further ignored warning from Ground Proximity Warning System and the aircraft crashed into a mountain below as the aircraft exceeded the minimum descent altitude. A crew who had been distracted by non-operational communication failed to complete all checklists and crashed on take-off because all the flaps had not been extended. Another reported cited constrained communication between captain, co-pilot, and the Traffic Control on the fueling of the aircraft and consequently crashed due to exhaustion of fuel. A crew crashed on take-off due to icing on the wings even after asking about de-icing facilities. Also, a flight attendant failed to communicate about the concerns that had been on by the pilot about de-icing. The theme that emerges in all these cases is that of human error, which is attributed to different factors ranging from interpersonal communication to ignorance. Even before these reports were documented, there had been other studies which had revealed the negative side of human errors in aviation and there was need to take immediate action to address the situation. Various studies in 1970s revealed that human errors in aircraft accidents could be classified in three broad categories based on behavior approach (Diehl, 1991). These included procedural, perceptual motor, and decisional task. Procedural task which could lead to pilot error include mismanagement of vehicle subsystem and configuration problems and other related errors like retracting the landing gear rather than flaps or just overlooking the provided checklist items. Perceptual motor tasks comprise of tasks like manipulation of flight controls and throttles which would lead to errors like shooting a glide-slope indication and many others. Majority of pilot errors were however attributed to decision task which can range from flight planning to hazard evaluation (Aviation Knowledge, 2010). These would result to errors like failure to properly delegate tasks during emergencies. Analysis of fatal accidents which could be attributed to pilot errors revealed that perceptual motor and decis ional procedures were major contributors of pilot errors. CRM training was adopted in the 1980s as a measure to address the above mentioned areas that results to pilot errors. CRM aims at harnessing personal skills in all these areas to reduce crew errors (Diehl, 1991). In order to reduce aviation accidents, CRM programs have been aimed at addressing two main areas including aeronautical decision making (ADM) and situational awareness. Aeronautical decision making include judgment training programs which are cognitive based. It is aimed at enhancing attitudes and behavior of the crew members. These skills have been applied to train other crew members apart from pilots. Training on ADM is based on the fact that decision making comes from a feedback mechanism where the pilot has to manage his or her attention and make prompt decision to save flight in case of danger. On the other hand, situational awareness is aimed at enhancing attention and task management for the pilots. This is aimed at helping the crew to manage the situation at hand using the most appropriate technique. In both civil and military aviation, records shows that CRM has reduced the number of fatal accidents and aircraft mishaps which can be attributed to human errors. In U.S Navy, the rate of aircrew mishap was reduced from 7.89 in 1986 to just 1.43 in 1990 after CRM was adopted, representing an 81% improvement. In USAF, a five year period comparison before and after CRM was adopted in 1985 shows that the number of aircrafts destroyed due to crew error reduced from 21 to 10, a 52% improvement (Diehl, 1991). There is evidence in civil aviation that exemplifies how CRM has helped crew to manage situations at hand. For example Captain Al Haynes of United Airlines Flight 232 credited CRM for having their life while flying in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1989. In this situation the traditional concept of captaincy was ignored and all pilots on board gave their contribution which effectively saved the whole aircraft and those on board (Dorsett, 1993). History CRM and Evolution of CRM Training CRM can be traced to1980s when United Airlines first started CRM classes. The root development of CRM can be traced back to a workshop that was held in 1979 by National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The 1979 conference was an important turning point in the history of Crew Resource Management as it provided the base for exploration of the increased number of accidents that were related to human error (Aviation Knowledge, 2010). The conference was considered an outgrowth of NASA research which was aimed at exploring the cause of increased air transport accidents. The NASA research, which was presented in the conference, made reference to human error in the recent accidents citing a number of factors including failure for communication, delayed or wrong decision making, leadership, and others. It was during this meeting that the label Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) came to be used to refer to the process of training crews in efforts to reduce human pilot error during flight t hrough use of human resources on the flight deck (Helmreich, Merrit and Wilhelm, 1999). This conference had brought together major carriers in United States and a number of carriers present became committed to put in place training programs that would ensure pilots were well trained on how to harness human resources during flight. From that conference, many airlines put in place programs that were aimed at enhancing crew resources on the flight deck. United Airlines became one of the first airlines that put in place a CRM program that trained all its pilots on how to use human resources on the flight deck (Helmreich et al., 1999). Almost every airline today has a CRM program running. In addition, CRM has since then evolved to target all crews and the word cockpit was replaced with the word crew to reflect the target. CRM has evolved in different states. The initial CRM program, which can be regarded as the first generation CRM was initiated by United Airlines between 1980 and 1981. The first generation of CRM programs was developed by consultants who had been indulged in formulation of management programs to improve management effectiveness. The first United Airline CRM module was formulated like Managerial Grid which had been used in psychology (Helmreich et al., 1999). Under the program, training was conduction in a seminar setting and it mainly involved diagnoses of individual managerial style and skills. Most of the CRM programs which were developed during this era were heavily reliant on management training approaches. They were mainly aimed at changing management styles and correction of individual deficiencies. For example, they aimed at correcting individual lack of assertiveness for the juniors to eliminate the concept of captain is always right and to remove the authoritarian approach o f the captains. These courses were mainly physiological and based on general concept of leadership. Although the advocated for strategies to improve personal behavior, they did not give a clear definition of the appropriate personal behavior in the flight deck. These CRM programs were also made recurrent rather the episodic and they used games and exercises, some which were not related to aviation concepts. However, these programs met resistance especially from pilots who described them as charm schools that were merely aimed at changing their personalities. The second generation CRM programs were developed to improve on the programs discussed above. In 1986, NASA held a workshop which was aimed at discussing the emerging challenges facing the implementation of CRM programs (Helmreich et al., 1999). From the conference, it emerged that CRM would soon cease to be a stand-alone training when it would be incorporate in flight training and also in flight operations. Around this period, there was new generation of CRM programs that were coming into the market. These programs changed the name cockpit and replaced it with crew in order to reflect the diversity of the targets since it become evident that apart from pilots, other crew members, including mechanics, had a major role to play in flight safety. The new programs became a blue print of Delta Airlines program that was focused more on the given aviation concepts, which were related to flight operations (Helmreich et al., 1999). The new programs were also modular and team oriented compared to the earlier programs. They were also delivered through seminars but dwelt on important aspect of flight like team building, briefing strategies, stress management, and others which had been eliminated from initial trainings. The depth of the module was implanted on the decision making strategies and the strategies that crews could use to break chain of errors that were likely to land the flight into catastrophe. However, there was no much distinction between these programs and the first generation program since training was mainly carried out through exercise and demonstrations which sometimes were not related to aviation. These programs were accepted more than the first generation program. They were however criticized for being psycho-babble. Most of these second generation program continue to be used in United States and other parts of the world as well. Third generation CRM were mainly involved with broadening the scope. These programs emerged in 1990s and CRM training was beginning to take a trend to multiple paths. The training started becoming more related to situation in aviation system which reflected the way crew functioned with inclusion of multiple factors like organizational culture and others which determined safety. Third generation programs also began to show signs of integration of CRM with technical training and there was focus on specific skills and behaviors which could be employed by pilots to be more effective (Helmreich et al., 1999). Third generation programs also addressed issues of recognition and assessment of human factors and there were advanced training for all check airmen and others who were responsible for training and evaluation of human factors. This means that third generation programs went beyond the normal target of cabin crew alone. This expansion of CRM made it possible to include other flight cre w like flight attendants, dispatchers, and the maintenance personnel. Airlines were also extending the reach of their program and most of them started conducting joint cockpit-cabin training. There were also carriers who came up with specialized CRM training for all the new captains since they were going to take up leadership position on most flights. It is therefore clear that third generation CRM programs recognized the need to extend the concept flight crew to include others who were not considered as a part of the crew before. Reduction of human errors could not be ensured without increasing the reach to include other crews. In 1990, Federal Aviation Administration developed a new training and qualification program which was meant to align with newly introduced Advanced Qualification Program (AQP) (Helmreich et al., 1999). AQP was developed as a voluntary program, which allows airlines to come up with innovative training fitting to their needs. However, there was a condition for airlines to be allowed t use AQP, one of the conditions being adopted of CRM and LOFT for their flight crews. They were also required to integrate CRM principles concepts with their technical training. Currently, most airlines in the United States are still transiting to AQP in accordance with Federal Aviation Regulations Part 121 and 135 (Helmreich et al., 1999). In order to fully shift to AQP, airlines are required to carry out a detailed analysis of their training requirements for each of their aircraft and come up with CRM programs that mitigates human factors. In addition, most airlines have also started to prioritize the co ncepts that are evaluating the specific behaviors to be added to their check list. This is meant to ensure that decisions and actions taken are based on informed considerations and the basic principles are taken into consideration. The fourth generations CRM program are aimed at solving the problem of human errors in aviation through integration of CRM into the flight training. The recent trends show that explicit CRM training is going away. Although there is no empirical data available, there is census in the airline industry that AQP will yield improving in training and qualifications of crews increasing the probability of elimination of human errors (Helmreich et al., 1999). However, the situation remains more complex and there is no direct resolution as the program is still evolving. CRM in civil and military applications CRM has been applied in both civil and military crews as they are both faced with danger of pilot errors. CRM has evolved over the years and today, it is a part of pilot training. It is considered a necessity and has imbedded in crew training. FAA issued an advisory circular (AC) 120-51 which stipulates the need for CRM training with behavioral markers which include three main areas (Helmreich et al., 1999). First, FAA emphasizes on communication process and decision making behavior which include briefings, inquiry, crew self-critique, and communication/design. Second, it emphasize on team building and maintenances including leadership, interpersonal relationships, and group climate. Third, it emphasize on workload management and situational awareness including preparing and planning, workload distribution, and avoiding distractions. Since 1980s when CRM was first adopted by United Airlines, other airlines have followed suite and today every airline has a CRM program. In addition, airlines started expanding CRM programs to other related fields. While initially CRM was meant for pilots, it was expanded to cover air traffic control, aircraft design, and maintenance in third and fourth generation of CRM. In 2000, FAA issued Advisory Circular 120-72 which put in place Maintenance Resource Management training (MRM) which expanded the reach of CRM (Diehl, 1991). CRM in aviation has evolved from first generation CRM to the current fourth generation programs that have continued to change in approach, content and reach. There is enough evidence which shows that CRM has been applied in military, even earlier than in civil aviation although it came to limelight only after it was applied in civil aviation. Situational awareness training has been recorded in military aviation. For example during 1970s, USAF replaced F-4 with single seat F-15 (Diehl, 1991). Consequently, this raised concerns about pilot workload and situational emergency training was undertaken to accustom pilots with situational emergency skills. USAF Tactical Air Command also has an Aircrew Attention Awareness Management Program that is uniquely designed to assist fighter pilots and all weaponry system officers with skill which impose on their physiological and psychological factors that affect their efficiency. They are taken through special training by trained physiologists assigned to fighter training unit. In 1980s, U.S Air National Guard was concerned that the A-7 pilots would not maintain proficiency while flying on low attitudes (Diehl, 1991). This was considered a major challenge considering that military flying is sensitive and any error could result to the disaster for the whole country. Consequently, it started the Low Attitude Training program which taught pilots how to overcome the hazards which were posed by operation in low attitudes, highly dangerous and critical environment. For example, it was realized that there was danger of flying low over bushes in desserts because they appeared to be of the same size as big trees at a higher speed. U.S Navy, through the Naval Safety Center, reviewed and instituted new CRM programs in 1986. They formally instituted CRM training programs for all Navy and Marine Corps helicopter in 1987 (Diehl, 1991). In 1988, they started CRM training for A-6/EA Intruder fighter-bomber units. Military records show that since these programs were started, the number of helicopter mishaps has reduced drastically. For example, for the fighter-bombers, the rate of aircrew mishap in 1990 was 1.43 compared to 7.86 in 1986 before these program were started, which represent about 81% improvement rate (Diehl, 1991). In USAF Airlift Command, MAC was the first military organization to introduce CRM training in 1985, referred to as Aircrew Coordination Training. With more than 1,000 transporters and helicopters, this organization was suited to adopt CRM training. Over a period of 5 years, 1981-1985 was compared to another period of 5 years, 1986-1990, and the number of aircrafts destroyed reduced from 21 to 1 0, which was a 52% improvement. The rate of mishap reduced by 51 (Diehl, 1991). The future of CRM Considering the historical development, it is evident that the future of CRM is bright and promising. CRM has continued to be refined over the years to address he intended purpose. The future of CRM lies in development of fight generation CRM that will be focused on searching for a universal rationale. The future will be looking for development of a CRM program that would be endorse by pilots all over the world (Helmreich et al., 1999). This would be developed in line of need for error management approach. This would give an explicit reason why CRM emphasize on development of specific behaviors and how they should be applied. The fifth generation CRM program will be based on the approach that human errors are inevitable and ubiquitous. Hence they would be viewed as valuable source of information for their management. If errors will be considered inevitable, then CRM will be perceived as error countermeasures in three realms (Helmreich et al., 1999). First realm would be avoiding the errors. The second realm would be trapping the errors before they precipitate. Third realm would be mitigating the effects of the errors if they occur. Therefore, the future of CRM would rely on the collaboration between organizations and their crew. It will take an approach of non punitive measures for errors once committed based on earlier presumption that errors are inevitable. Organizations will therefore have to normalize errors and take steps to identify their nature and sources. FAA will continue issues new safety aviation safety programs which will affect CRM in different ways (Helmreich et al., 1999). Therefore, future of CRM will be based on normalization of errors and development of error management strategies. Conclusion Crew Resource Management (CRM) encompass wide range of programs that are aimed at training crew members on management of interpersonal and decision making factors that contribute to errors during flight. CRM was developed in response to the rising number of aviation accidents which could be attributed to human errors. CRM programs have evolved over a period time to expand its reach to more crew members apart from pilots. CRM has reduced the number of accidents attributed to human errors in both civil and military aviation. The future of CRM will be in development of fifth generation CRM programs that will be based on error management. If the current trend in development of CRM is maintained, the future aviation industry will significantly reduce fatal accidents and mishaps attributed to human errors.

Drug Use in the 1960s Essay -- Essays Papers

Drug Use in the 1960s The time: the 1960s. The place: United States of America. Who? The youth. Doing what? Using drugs. Why? Many reasons. The 1960s proved to be a very turbulent time in the history of American youth growing up. There were many different activist movements all over the country. The primary drug user was the male college student involved in politics. He used mostly marijuana, some cocaine or LSD and of course alcohol. The sixites culminated with perhaps the biggest public scene of drug use ever: Woodstock. American youth in the sixties turned to drugs for a variety of reasons including the Vietnam War, the feeling of rebellion, activist movements, and the general pleasure-oriented society. The society in which these rebellious youth were growing up was one of the pleasure seekers. Dr. Donald B. Louria says "American public is literally enmeshed in an orgy of self-medication."1 Society was pleasure-oriented: the only things that mattered were those that appealed to the senses. When a pleasure-oriented society has too much leisure time, it leads to moral destruction. Simmel, a sociologist, stated "The deepest problems of modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social forces."2 There were many issues raised in the sixties as far as activist movements. Kierna Mayo Dawsey states that the sixties was an "era marked by social protest and rebellion."3 These include racial justice, abortion, civil rights, women’s liberation, and the United States’ military role in Vietnam. These groups were trying to express "their commitment to such traditional American values as freedom, democracy, and equality."4 Bret Eynon st... ... 11. See Fort, 211. 12. See Fort, 220. 13. See Novack. 14. See Novack. 15. See Dawsey. 16. See Fort, 25. 17. See Fort, 157. 18. Harry Nelson, "LSD Still on Some Minds," Los Angeles Times, 25 March 1991, B3. 19. See Fort, 36. 20. See Fort, 36. 21. See Nelson, B3. 22. Lawrence J. Dessner, " ‘Woodstock,’ A Nation at War," (Toledo, Ohio: Toledo University), 769. 23. See Dessner, 771. 24. See Dessner, 776. Mary C. Dufour, "Twenty-five Years of Alcohol Epidemiology: Trends, Techniques, and Transitions," Alcohol Research and Health Spring 1995: 77-84. David C. Lewis, "Putting Training About Alcohol and Other Drugs Into the Mainstream of Medical Education," Alcohol Research and Health 1989: 8+. Brent Q. Hafen ed, Drug Abuse: Psychology, Sociology, Pharmacology. (Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1973).

The Financial Detective 2005

[The Financial Detective 2005 Introduction Each industry is distinctive. One might be unique in its high fixed assets; other would be differentiated of its increasing intangible assets and many other financial footprints that each industry leaves on its balance sheet. Nonetheless, industries are distinguished furthermore; fingers of one hand are not the same as said. Businesses in the same industry can be characterized differently according to their strategic plan and capital structure. The following case highlighted some characteristics of different industries and different businesses within those industries. From pharmaceuticals to music and books, those differences, supported by numerical financial data, are explained in the following section. Books & Music General information provided: Company 1 1. Selling through a vast retail-store presence 2. Traditional book retailing 3. Online presence and owns publishing imprint Company 2 1. Sells books, music, videos solely through the internet website 2. Three quarters of the sales are media 3. Sells electronics and other merchandise 4. Recently became profitable 5. Followed a strategy of acquiring retailed online business recently Assessing the provided information about the two companies and looking deeply at some of the financial data, it was concluded that company 1 is designated by the letter H and company 2 is designated by the letter G in Exhibit 1 (see appendix 1). Investigating the financial data, it was found that Company 1 (H) had a higher inventories account of 38. 6 this supports the fact that it is a traditional book store that needed to keep book inventories at all times to maintain its retail presence. This is further seen in its inventory turnover, is has a lower turnover of 2. 2x this reflects the nature of the company which traditional book retailer that experience slow turnover. Moreover, company 1 (H) has an 11. 1 in intangible assets, again this reflects the companies intangible assets such as publishing imprints. Also, company 1 (H) owns about 24. 4 in fixed assets as a results of its vast retail network. For company 2 (G) , inventory account is much lower than company one (14. 8) this reflects the fact that company 2 is online based business that sells mostly digital products such as media along with few other general electronics and merchandise. Thus, its inventory turnover is much higher (13. 56x) correspondent to the nature of most of the sold product (digital media) that are highly demanded and easily accessible. Regarding its fixed assets account, company 2 (b) has lower fixed assets of 7. 6 this mainly reflects the activities related to electronics and other merchandise that probably requires some fixed assets, but for its E-commerce, it needs minimal- none fixed assets. Considering the type of this business (online based) it was noticed that its receivables account is very minimal compared to company 1. This is probably due to the fact that online products are delivered upon payment, thus it is rare to purchase music on credit. Assessing some of the income statements components, depreciation is recognized to be low (1. 1) this is highly related to its low fixed assets. Last but not least, SG& A expenses of 16. 9 is lower than company 1 , this is logical because company 1 depends on a network of retailers that impose higher general and administrative expenses while company 2 depends solely on its o0nline channel. Finally, net profit of 8. 5 (which is higher than company 1) indicates the mentioned recent profitability. Newspapers Information provided: Company 1 1. Centered largely on one product 2. Fierce competition 3. Recently built a large office building for its headquarters. 4. international Company 2 1. Owns a number of local newspapers 2. Has a significant amount of goodwill 3. Recent acquisitions 4. Decentralized decision making and administration Taking a closer look to the provided data, it was concluded that company 1 is designated by letter P and company 2 is designated by letter O (see Exhibit 1) this selection was based on a number of factors: company 1 (P) have more receivables ( 9. ) than company 2 O, this is due to the fact that company 1 (P) operates on a larger, international scale than company 2, this larger customer base requires better and more receivable terms. Whereas company 2 , which operates on a smaller local level has lower receivables of 4. 6. Company 1 (P) has almost the double in fixed assets account t in company 2 (o) (34. 6, 14. 1) explaining the new purchase of th e headquarter building by company (p). Assessing the intangibles account of both companies, it was noticed that company 2 (O) enjoys a high level of goodwill (76. ) while company 1 (P) has far less intangibles of 37. 1. Evaluating company’s 1 (p) focused and centralized strategy of producing and distributing one newspaper internationally, it was noted that this focus led to a decreased cost of goods sold (cost/ unit is inexpensive) this is evidenced in the lower COGS of 40. 5 compared to 49. 7 in company 2 (o). moreover, company’s 1 (P) Debt/ asset ratio is higher than company 2 (O) ( 26. 81 compared to 15. 2) this indicated that it is more cost efficient for company 1 that operates internationally to finance its strategy implementation by using more debt than equity. This boosted the ROE of company 1 to reach 20. 89 relative to a lower ROE of company 2 (9. 86) which follow a more conservative financing mix. As a final point, looking at the SG&A expenses, it was observ ed that company 1 (P) has higher admin expenses due to its strategy of operating internationally while company 2 enjoyed less Admin expenses due to its local strategy ( 39. 7 compared to 23 ).

Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversation in Two Acts and a Requiem Essay

According to the American Dream, Willy Loman is a failure. His true failure is that he does not cope with changing trends in the established system. According to American dream, success means that one has materials and gadgets from the latest innovations, dresses well and works in a well-furnished office (Miller 5). The definition of success by the American dream is not the only way for being successful. This is because having a business or job that brings income, which can satisfy ones basic needs, and having social, political, emotional and economic stability is some kind of success. In addition, the stories of Willy’s father, brother and son suggest that Willy’s destiny will never come true and thus will not achieve the American dream. The author, Miller, creates a character who possesses carpentry skills because these skills are viewed as old fashioned and not part of the new system, which is characterized by innovations and materials. The word ‘better’ as used by Willy means that the grandfather had skills, which were adapted and acceptable to the new system. The American dream is not concerned in the involvement of manual laborers, but focuses mainly in the success of business and this forms the relationship with the American dream. By saying ‘little salary’, Linda meant that the employee was not ready to change but remained in the same position for a long time (Miller 17). A little salary cannot help in achieving the American dream and therefore no man needs a little salary. In conclusion, Willy will have been happier if he had not felt compelled to obtain material success because he could have enough money to take care and satisfy his family. Work Cited Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversation in Two Acts and a Requiem. New York: Penguin Publishers, 1998. Print. Source document