Journey of the Universe by Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker Essay

Journey of the Universe by Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker - Essay Example Another account of existence of human a being is given in the bible which states that man was created by God and in the true image of God. The scientific and biblical accounts of the human beings have been of confusion to many people as they do not understand which account if the correct. Apart from the origin of the human beings, another thing that is not well understood is the role of the human beings in the Universe and the dimensions into which humans should exercise their roles. In the book, Journey of the Universe, Swimme and Tucker put it, â€Å"everything in the Universe exists in a physical and a spiritual dimension and that Universe presents a deep transfiguration process (Swimme & Tucker, 2011). They add that truth love and compassion should prevail amongst the human creature and should be regarded as divine. Personal Belief about Existence In my opinion, my deepest beliefs about the existence of humans in encrypted in religion. According the religion that I believe, exis tence of human beings is explained as the work of God who created a man and put him in the Garden of Eden. Then thereafter everything unfolds to show the responsibilities given to man by the creator. One of the major reasons that make me believe in this ideology is that the process of creating heaven and the earth was sacred as planned by God and the last step to create man, was more sacred. The first account of creation explains that God created Heaven and Earth by his words. For instance, he said, â€Å"Let there be light.† However, the creation of man took a different dimension whereby God molded some clay and breathed in. After creation, God also said that he created man in his image. This gave human being a special recognition in the Universe. During the second account of the creation, God introduced the man into the Garden of Eden and gave him responsibility of everything that was there. In fact, man was given the responsibility of naming all the creatures that were cre ated by God. Man was also given the responsibility for the Garden of Eden and was allowed all the freedom but denied eating the fruit of wisdom. All this story line of creation emphasizes that existence of human beings solely takes a religious dimension. The other explanation of existence such as spiritual and scientific amongst others do not explain some issues, which I believe are important in human existence. For instance, they don’t explain the sacred life of a human being (Swimme & Tucker, 2011). In the scientific explanation of existence, man is told to have evolved from the Ape species and having undergone various steps of evolution, he reached the stage of the current man whose predecessor is Homo sapiens sapiens. In the whole evolution story, the holiness of man is not explained at all. What the entire story gives is that man gained experience after each evolutional phase. Everybody in the Universe can witness the specialty of human beings in deeds, beliefs and innov ations. Hence to me, any existence story that does not account man as sacred and special creature is wrong. Personal Views on a Human Being and His Roles Having followed the story of creation, I consider myself a unique creature amongst other creatures. One of the major reasons that give me the pride as a human is that I have the power and wisdom to control other creatures; the power that is given to all human beings. That is the reason as to why man was able to tame other creatures now referred to as domestic animals. As a human creature, I can therefore, rear such animals and know their needs in every day’s life. In addition to that, I have leadership and organizational skill. This

Comparing and contrast efficiency of on job training and e-learning in Research Proposal

Comparing and contrast efficiency of on job training and e-learning in the petrochemical plants - Research Proposal Example The research study will identify how valuable training is for employees at the petrochemical plants and for employees working at the petrochemical industry. Training techniques will also be analyzed and compared, and the effectiveness of these training methods will be discussed. Petrochemical industry is an important industry for the economy and employees working in the industry need to be efficient and trained (Harris, 2012). This research study will be helpful for the employees, managers, researchers, economists and other concerned person as it will help in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of employees as well as in enhancing safety measures at the workplace particularly of the organizations in the petrochemical industry. The research study will include different sub-topics as well. For instance, the research will also analyze different training methods that are helpful in the industry. The research will analyze how on-job training and e-learning method can be effective. The research will also suggest and recommend different strategies to further enhance the existing system and training methods used. Training is used to develop the skills and capabilities of the employees. Training is helpful in managing the workforce and their productivity. Training is also helpful in making sure that the employees are safe from any kind of chemicals used or present at the plant (Cogent, n.d.). training helps in enhancing the productivity level of the employees. It is considered as an investment and the returns of this investment are reported in the form of higher productivity, enhancement of skills of employees, ability to better manage the tasks and several other benefits (Bartel, 2000). Training is an important aspect of motivating the human resource. Human resource is considered as the main asset that gives the organization competitive advantage. Thus,

Analysing the Concept of and Impact of Culture

Analysing the Concept of and Impact of Culture More than a half century ago noted American poet T. S. Eliot eloquently expressed the complexity of the term culture, a term that is used so freely and with so little aforethought today. As Eliot learned, culture is quite difficult to define. He succeeded in describing the term, as Lord Evans (2001) noted, but a definition eluded even someone with Eliots gift for words. But Eliot was not alone in wrestling with defining culture; experts in a variety of disciplines have yet to agree on a consensus definition and some even contest the concept of culture itself. As this essay will demonstrate, controversy surrounding the concept of culture can be attributed, to a large degree, to the failure by those who study the topic to adopt a widely-accepted definition that adequately captures the complexity of the term. After presenting the results of a literature review on various definitions of culture and the topic of culture as a contested concept, the focus of the essay turns to the significance of culture in conflict resolution, demonstrating that culture is a critical factor in successfully resolving conflicts and, further, that a consensus definition for culture that reflects the realities of modern society would facilitate the conflict resolution process. Culture Defined Experts may not be able to agree on a definition for culture, but they apparently experience no difficulty in agreeing that culture is a difficult term to define (Edensor 2002; Hall 1980, cited in Park 2005). Susan Wright (1998) reports the existence of at least 164 definitions for culture. Noted sociologist and anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn (1949) defined culture eleven different ways in his book Mirror for Man, and he and his colleagues (1952) catalogued more than 160 definitions for culture into six categories – descriptive, historical, normative, psychological, generic, and incomplete. Raymond Williams writes that, in the term culture, history has bestowed â€Å"one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language†, adding that culture can be used to refer to a wide range of phenomena and that the concept of culture has produced major political and philosophical disagreement (Williams 1983, cited in Chay 1990). Kluckhohn (1954) developed one of the most often cited definitions for culture in writing that it â€Å"consists in patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts†. Culture has also been defined as â€Å"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society† (Tylor 1871, cited in Kluckhohn 1952); â€Å"the human-made part of the environment† (Herskovits 1955, cited in Earley and Randal 1997); â€Å"shared meaning systems† (Shweder and LeVine 1984, cited in Earley and Randal 1997); â€Å"the sum total and organization of the social heritages which have acquired a social meaning because of racial temperament and of the historical life of the group† (Park and Burgess 1921, cited in Kluckhohn 1952); â€Å"th e mode of life followed by the community or the tribe [including] all standardized social procedures† (Wissler 1929, cited in Kluckhohn 1952); â€Å"the sum of mens adjustments to their life-conditions†¦attained only through the combined action of variation, selection, and transmission† (Sumner and Keller 1927, cited in Kluckhohn 1952); and â€Å"a product of human association† (Groves 1928, cited in Kluckhohn 1952). In the aggregate, the various definitions just presented express the theme of shared meanings acquired then passed from generation to generation. They also describe culture at group and societal levels. Other experts describe the term from the perspective of the individual or otherwise provide for differences in cultural attributes within a group or society. Hofstede (1980, cited in Earley and Randel 1997) defines culture as â€Å"a set of mental programs that control an individuals responses in a given context†. Park (2005) describes culture as a â€Å"marker for difference† in society. And Rohner (1984, cited in Earley and Randel 1997) defines the term as â€Å"the totality of equivalent and complementary learned meanings maintained by a human population, or by identifiable segments of a population, and transmitted from one generation to the next†. The phrase â€Å"equivalent and complementary learned meanings† is critical to an understanding of Rohners definition, according to Earley and Randel, because it provides for individual variances in interpretations of â€Å"learned meanings† within a culture. Although these definitions represent only a small portion of those revealed from a review of the literature, they provide some insight into the range of thought on the topic of culture, especially perspectives on assessing culture at various levels – societal, group, and individual. As will be suggested, the difficulty experts have experienced in defining culture helps to explain why culture is a contested concept and why a solution to the definitional problem is important to resolving the debate about the role of culture in conflict resolution and, ultimately, to facilitating the conflict resolution process. Culture as a Contested Concept Fantasia and Hirsch (1995, cited in Ellis and Thompson, 1997) write, with a hint of sarcasm, that cultural theorists can take pride in their creation of a â€Å"contested terrain† in the study of culture. The literature review indicated that most experts who contest the concept of culture base their disputes on the belief that, in the modern world, there is no all-embracing culture in which everyone in a given society blindly holds precisely the same shared meanings, which is suggested by most traditional definitions of culture. The concept of culture has long been contested (Cooper and Denner 1998; Mathews 2000). Bhabha (1993) writes that, as people have increasingly migrated to other lands in modern times, they have only taken part of their total culture with them. The culture of these migrants becomes a mixture of the cultures from their native societies and those found in the society in which they entered. Heath (1997) writes that experts no longer consider culture to be a viable concept â€Å"in a world of volatile, situated, and overlapping social identities†, contending that various disciplines have taken issue with culture as a concept for various reasons. She writes that educators protest the concept on the basis of â€Å"its transmission of connotations of objectivity, discreteness, essentialism, and ahistoricism†; sociologists challenge the concept on the grounds of â€Å"production, mass consumerism, and popular entertainment†; and experts from the human sciences contest the â€Å"totalizing universalizing perspectives† of culture, replacing these â€Å"arbitrary constructions† with â€Å"permeable membranes† that are not â€Å"predictable or deterministic†. Heath (1997) also points to the â€Å"fuzzy boundaries† of culture, arguing that specific cultures are hard to isolate and claiming that variations are becoming apparent within groups that have been traditionally viewed as possessing unique cultures. Edensor (2002) writes that popular culture is having a major cross-cultural effect on traditional cultures. Childs and Storry (1999) claim that cultures are changing so quickly that â€Å"a snapshot of current cultural practices is inevitably going to be blurred†. Mathews (2000), in noting that even anthropologists are increasingly avoiding the term culture, poses the question as to whether â€Å"in todays world of global flows and interactions† cultural â€Å"labels† are appropriate and claims tha t individuals personally select which elements of a given culture to apply in their behavioural decisions. Brightman (1995, cited in Mathews 2000) notes that some experts are enclosing culture in quotation marks to indicate their â€Å"ambivalence, self-consciousness or censure† about the term. In closing, perhaps Earley and Randel (1997) offer the one of the more revealing insights into the controversy over the term culture: â€Å"We suggest that while the romance of culture as a grand concept capturing the complexity of society and life is tempting, this conceptualization is both limiting and misleading†. The Significance of Culture in Conflict Resolution Conflict resolution and culture are intrinsically intertwined. Rubin and colleagues (1994, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997) define conflict as â€Å"perceived divergence of interest, or a belief that parties current aspirations cannot be achieved simultaneously†. Hopmann (1998) contends that, in a complex world, conflict is unavoidable. Conflict is an inevitable consequence of the interdependence inherent in human interaction (Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997). Processes used to resolve conflicts must be considered within a larger cultural context (Just 1991). Conflicts are cultural events in every sense of the word, according to Lederach (1991). Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997) write that â€Å"conflict resolution is a cultural phenomenon†. Avruch (1991) refers to conflicts and conflict resolution approaches as â€Å"cultural events†. Various studies have confirmed that conflict resolution processes are culture-specific (Avruch and Black 1991; Avurch, Black and Scimec ca 1991, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997). Ross (1993, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997) originated the term culture of conflict to describe the norms and institutions that a society applies in conflicts. Beliefs, attitudes, and patterns of behaviours about conflict are internalised by people in their cultural settings and, in turn, strengthened by cultural norms and institutions. And, because conflict is a cultural phenomenon, the methods used to perceive and respond to conflict are typically transparent to those involved because these methods are based on assumptions that they do not question. (Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997) Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997) urge caution in applying conflict resolution approaches across cultural lines. For instance, they recommend that generic manuals prescribing conflict resolution procedures to be used in all cultural settings should be avoided (Avruch 1991). People involved in conflict resolution should be flexible and sensitive to cultural differences, according to Lederach (1991, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist) and Benvenisti (1986, cited in Avruch 1991). Benvenisti chastises conflict resolvers â€Å"who believe that communal conflicts are like a chessboard where one can think up the best arrangement of chess pieces and move them all at once†. Cultures vary in the mechanisms they use in resolving conflict with some applying formal mechanisms such as court systems and others using informal approaches such as gossip, teasing, and exclusion (Black 1993; Fry 1992, 1994; Hollan 1988; White 1991, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997). Versi (2002) suggests that â€Å"if you know where the other person is coming from culturally†, you can develop a more effective approach to resolving conflict. Rubin (1994, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997), articulates four generic strategies used in conflict resolution: (1) contending, which involves a high level of concern for ones own results and a low level of concern for the others results; (2) problem solving, which involves high levels of concern for ones own results and those of the other party; (3) yielding, which involves a low level of concern for ones own results and a high level of concern for the others results; and (4) avoiding, which involves low levels of concern for ones own results and those of the other party. Of these, the authors argue that problem solving is the most effective strategy because it permits both contenders to win. Fortunately, the problem solving strategy is effective across a broad spectrum of cultures. In problem solving, the use of a non-partisan third-party facilitator has also been found to be effective across cultures (Black 1993, cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry 1997). The Culture Definition Dilemma and Its Effects on Optimal Conflict Resolution Outcomes The debate about culture, specifically the controversy surrounding the validity of culture as a concept, is important to the field of conflict resolution because cultural factors are so inexorably linked to conflicts and their effective resolutions. Results of the literature review of definitions for the term culture and the review of literature on culture as a contested concept suggest that definitions describing culture as a group or societal phenomenon without allowing for variance within the group or society may be at the root of the cultural concept validity dispute. As Bhabha (1993), Childs and Storry (1999), Edensor (2002), Heath (1997), and Mathews (2000) proffer, modern societies are increasingly integrating and, as this occurs, their members are mixing their unique cultural attributes with one another thereby blurring the distinctions that once defined individual cultures. But does this mean that the concept of culture is invalid? The answer to that question lies in the definitions of culture that allow for individual variance in cultural attributes. For instance, the definition offered by Rohner (1984, cited in Earley and Randel 1997), who defines the term as â€Å"the totality of equivalent and complementary learned meanings maintained by a human population, or by identifiable segments of a population, and transmitted from one generation to the next†, provides for individual variances in interpretations of â€Å"learned meanings† within a culture. This definition seems offer the flexibility to adequately define culture within the context of modern intermingled societies, thus revalidating the concept of culture. How, then, would a definition for culture that provides for individual variance relate to conflict resolution? Although a definition that considers everyone within a particular culture to share precisely the same cultural attributes would help to make conflict resolution a much more predictable process, such a definition does not reflect the realities of modern societies. However, knowing that members of a culture share â€Å"equivalent and complementary learned meanings†, as proposed by Rohner, permits a certain degree of predictability whilst simultaneously providing needed flexibility to accommodate individual variance. There may even be an additional benefit in this condition for practitioners in conflict resolution. Individual variance may actually serve to weaken strong cultural barriers that have, in the past, obstructed successful conflict resolution. For instance, as cultures integrate more fully, their members typically become more understanding of each others cultur al attributes. This understanding should provide an enhanced common basis for resolving conflicts and may even reduce the incidence of conflicts themselves. Conclusion In the modern global village, as opportunities increase for people and their cultures to interact, the need for effective conflict resolution has never been more critical or more difficult, yet experts in a variety of disciplines are engaged in seemingly endless philosophical arguments about the validity of culture as a concept, diverting their energies from what seem to be more productive endeavours such as developing new techniques for conflict resolution that could lead to a more peaceful world. Adopting a more flexible definition for culture – one that recognises individual variances and the realities of the modern world – would be a first step in achieving this worthy goal. References Avruch, K. (1991) Introduction: Culture and conflict-resolution, in K. Avruch, P. W. Black, and J. A. Scimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution: Cross Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood. Avruch, K., and Black, P. W. (1991) The culture question and conflict resolution, Peace and Change 16. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Avruch, K., Black, P. W., and Scimecca, J. A., (1991) Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Benvenisti, Meron (1986) Conflicts and Contradictions, New York: Villard Books/Random House. Cited in Avruch (1991). Bhabha, Homi K. (1993) Cultures in between, Artforum International 32:1, September 1993. Bjà ¶rkqvist, Kaj, and Fry, Douglas P. (1997) Cultural Variation in Conflict Resolution: Alternatives to Violence, Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Black, D. (1993) The Social Structure of Right and Wrong, San Diego, California: Academic Press. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Brightman, R. (1995) Forget culture: Replacement, transcendence, relexification, Cultural Anthropology 10:4. Cited in Mathews (2000). Chay, Jongsuk (1990) Culture and International Relations, New York: Praeger. Childs, Peter, and Storry, Mike (1999) Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture, London: Routledge. Cooper, Catherine R., and Denner, Jill (1998) Theories linking culture and psychology: Universal and community-specific processes, Annual Review of Psychology 49. Earley, P. Christopher, and Randel, Amy E. (1997) Culture without borders: An individual-level approach to cross-cultural research in organizational behavior, in Cary L. Cooper and Susan E. Jackson, eds., Creating Tomorrows Organizations: A Handbook for Future Research in Organizational Behavior, Chichester: John Wiley Sons. Edensor, Tim (2002) National Identity, Popular Culture and Everyday Life, Oxford: Berg. Eliot, T. S. (1949) Notes Towards the Definition of Culture, New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 62. Ellis, Richard J., and Thompson, Michael (1997) Culture Matters: Essays in Honor of Aaron Wildavsky, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. Evans, Lord (2001) The economy of the imagination, New Statesman 130:4544, July 2, 2001. Fantasia, Rick, and Hirsch, Eric L. (1995), Culture and rebellion: the appropriation and transformation of the veil in the Algerian Revolution, in Hank Johnston and Bert Klandermans, eds., Social Movements and Culture, Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press. Cited in Ellis and Thompson (1997). Fry, D. P. (1992) Female aggression among the Zapotec of Oaxaca, Mexico, in K. Bjà ¶rkqvist and P. Niemelà ¤, eds., Of Mice and Women: Aspects of Female Aggression, San Diego, California: Academic Press. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Fry, D. P. (1994) Maintaining social tranquillity: Internal and external loci of aggression control, in L. E. Sponsel and T. Gregor, eds., The Anthropology of Peace and Nonviolence, Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Groves, E. R. (1928) An Introduction to Sociology, New York. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Hall, S. (1980) Cultural studies: Two paradigms, in F. E. N. B. Dirk and S. B. Ortner, eds., A Reader in Contemporary Social Theory, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Cited in Park (2005). Heath, Shirley Brice (1997) Culture: Contested realm in research on children and youth, Personality and Social Psychology Review 1:3. Herskovits, M. J. (1955) Cultural Anthropology, New York: Knopf. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997). Hofstede, G. (1980) Cultures Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Newbury Park, California: Sage. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997). Hollan, D. (1988) Staying cool in Toraja: Informal strategies for the management of anger and hostility in a non-violent society, Ethos 16. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Hopmann, Terrence (1998) The Negotiation Process and the Resolution of International Conflicts, Columbia, South Carolina: Columbia South Carolina Press. Just, Peter (1991) Conflict resolution and moral community among the Dou Donggo, in Kevin Avruch, Peter W. Black, and Joseph A. Scimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. Kluckhohn, C. (1949) Mirror for Man, New York: Wittlesey House. Kluckhohn, Clyde (1954) Culture and Behavior, New York: Free Press. Kluckhohn, Clyde et al. (1952) Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum. Lederach, John Paul (1991) Of nets, nails, and problems: The folk language of conflict resolution in a Central American settting, in Kevin Avruch, Peter W. Black, and Joseph A. Scimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. Mathews, Gordon (2000) Searching for Home in the Cultural Supermarket, London: Routledge. Park, R. E., and Burgess, E. W. (1921) Introduction to the Science of Sociology, Chicago. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Park, Yoosun (2005) Culture as deficit: A critical discourse analysis of the concept of culture in contemporary social work discourse, Journal of Sociology Social Work 32:3. Rohner, R. R. (1984) Toward a conception of culture for cross-cultural psychology, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 15:2. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997). Ross, M. H. (1993) The Management of Conflict, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Rubin, J. Z., Pruitt, D. G., and Kim, S. H. (1994) Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate and Settlement, New York: McGraw-Hill. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Shweder, R. A. and LeVine, R. A. (1984) Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion, New York: Cambridge University Press. Cited in Earley and Randel (1997). Sumner, W. G., and Keller, A. G. (1927) The Science of Society, New Haven, Connecticut. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Tylor, E. B. (1871) Primitive Culture, Boston. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Versi, Anver (2002) Coping with culture clash, African Business, May 2002. White, G. M. (1991) Rhetoric, reality, and resolving conflicts: Disentangling in a Solomon Islands society, in K. Avruch, P. W. Black, and J. A. Schimecca, eds., Conflict Resolution: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood. Cited in Bjà ¶rkqvist and Fry (1997). Wissler, C. (1929) An Introduction to Social Anthropology, New York. Cited in Kluckhohn (1952). Williams, Raymond (1983) Keywords, London: Fontana. Cited in Chay (1990). Wright, Susan (1998) The politicization of culture, Anthropology Today 14:1.

Great Depression Essays -- essays research papers

The Great Depression   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the 1930’s, the United States of America underwent its worst economic hardship ever. This struggle, known as the Great Depression, affected every aspect of American life. As the result of economic disparity brought on by the First World War and the great stock market crash of 1929, the depression sent America into a downward spiral into poverty. Businesses filed for bankruptcy, farmers were unable to sell crops, and banks were incapable of providing people with their money as the once booming economy came crashing down. The most profound impact that the Great Depression had, however, was on the social lives of the American population. As poverty struck, numerous Americans were left without food, jobs, and, of course, money. Eventually, the people were forced to move into broken down communities, which they named â€Å"Hoovervilles,† after president Herbert Hoover. The depression even had many gradual psychological effects on the unemployed workers. Family status also changed during this time as unemployed men spent more time at home and the influence of wives began to increase. Much American Literature about the hardships of American life, by authors such as John Steinbeck and William Faulkner, also became prominent in the 1930’s. Overall, aside from its obvious economic effects, the Great Depression also significantly altered the American way of life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As the Great Depression stretched th...

Othello’s Image Essay

This statement by A. C. Bradley examines the Othello character in an interesting light that perhaps gives a false image of the play. The first statement Bradley makes is that Othello is â€Å"a man of mystery, exoticism and intense feeling†¦Ã¢â‚¬  These facts ring true. Othello is a mysterious foreigner who holds intense feeling for the struggles he has faced. The second statement Bradley makes however is lost on me. †¦trustful, open, passionate but self-controlled†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bradley believes Othello to be all these things when he clearly is a man who has many personal issues that are fully explored during the play. I completely disagreed with most of what Bradley stated about the character Othello. When he speaks of Othello being trustful I cannot help but think of the jealousy he was overcome with when he thought Desdemona was having an affair with Michael Cassio. Othello never searched out the answers from Desdemona herself, instead Iago is the one sought out for answers. Othello fell into a trance upon hearing that they lay together and that Desdemona has given Cassio his treasured handkerchief. This does not seem like a trusting man but one who becomes highly jealous without knowing the full story. Bradley was clearly not thinking straight when he came up with this analysis of Othello as a character and as a person. Othello also was not a self-controlled man as Bradley seems to believe he was. Othello was easily taken over by rage and jealousy which would lead him to unsightly things. In Act IV Scene I Othello strikes Desdemona after she mentions her move for Cassio, Othello misunderstands the love she has for Cassio and reacts irrationally. This highlights Othello’s own inability to remain self-controlled. Another example is Act V Scene II when Othello kills Desdemona. Othello is so enraged by jealousy and has been manipulated by his dear friend Iago that he loses all self-control, killing Desdemona in her bed. This highlighted the weakness in character of Othello that he would kill an innocent woman as she lay.

Information Systems Security Essay

In today’s IT world every organization has a responsibility to protect the information and sensitive data they have. Protecting data is not only responsibility of security and IT staff but every individual is involved in protecting the information. The risks to information security are not digital only, but it involves technology, people and process that an organization may have. These threats may represent the problems that are associated to complex and expensive solution, but doing nothing about these risks is not the solution. The case we have been assigned today deals with physical and logical vulnerabilities and protection against the risks and threats by implying the best controls to either mitigate, avoid and transfer the risks. Being an Information Security officer at a newly opened location in a busy mall, I have been asked to identify physical and logical risks to the pharmacy operations and also to suggest remedies to avoid any huge loss to the business. The pharmacy operations involve the unique transactions which involves the critical patients’ data, valuable medication and access to cash. The regulation set by the government obligates a pharmacy to meet certain standards to secure logical and physical access to information systems. The pharmacy is comprised of 4 work stations, there is a drug storage are and an office in the premises which has a file server, domain controller and a firewall. The three of the four work stations are placed at the counter to record and retrieve information of customers’ order. The entry of the store if from the mall and there the drug storage area is securely locked location behind the front counters. The store has a back door entry which is used by the employees and for delivery of new drugs. As an IT officer I have to protect all aspect of security including physical security of IT systems. Information Systems Security Physical security is an essential part of information technology security. Physical security encompasses not only the area containing system hardware, but also locations of wiring used to connect the systems, supporting services, backup provisions and any other part of the systems. Laptops and other types of mobile computing devices must also be protected from theft. The data on the mobile devices sometimes more than the value of the device. Such devices can also be an entry point on network. First look at the physical vulnerable area to IT systems within the pharmacy. After identifying the IT assets of company we can surly identify the physical risks. * Server Room * File server * Domain controller * Front Counter workstations * Switches/hubs The back door as showed in the floor plan is used by the employees of the pharmacy and it is often used for delivery of drugs. The access through this door is a physical vulnerability. Only authorized personal should be allowed to use this door. Any unidentified entry or activity should be monitored carefully. Such incident can result in loss of physical devices. The server room is a highly secured area which should be allowed only to IT people, other personal should be granted access by seeking special approval. The door should be locked all the time to protect IT assets. The workstations at the front counters should also be locked and placed securely to avoid any theft. The caged area cannot be locked all the time, it would result in low productivity as the staff move between the store, office and front counters. Securing the server room by locking it is the first step; surveillance makes it more effective if someone breaks into the server room. In case of an incident, one can easily pull up the video and check it for a particular time or for a particular event. â€Å"A logical breach affects the network, data and software without physically affecting the hardware. One of the problems with any logical breach of security is that the damage is invisible and its extent is unknown†. (Georgia Institute of Technology). As we read in the book, vulnerabilities are found in all seven domains of the network: * User Domain: * Lack of awareness of security policy * Accidental acceptable use policy violation * Intentional malicious activity * Social engineering * Workstation Domain: Unauthorized user access * Malicious software introduced * Weaknesses in installed software * LAN Domain * Unauthorized network access * Transmitting private data unencrypted * Spreading malicious software * LAN-to-WAN Domain * Exposure and unauthorized access of internal resources to the public * Introduction of malicious software * Loss of productivity due to Internet access * WAN DomainTransmitting private data unencrypted * Malicious attacks from anonymous sources * Denial of Service attacks * Weaknesses in software * Remote Access Domain * Brute-force attacks on access and private data * Unauthorized remote access to resources Data leakage from remote access or lost storage devices * System/Application Domain * Unauthorized physical or logical access to resources * Weaknesses in server operating system or application software * Data loss from errors, failures, or disasters† (Kim, 2012) System and data could be vulnerable due a physical breach where an intruder affects any system or node by uploading some invisible malicious code on one of the computers. Usually the logical breach results due an unauthorized access to the system/network. The users on the front desk should be given access to the information they need to perform their job on need to know basis. Any workstation is capable to breach into sensitive information. Access to any machine could lead to confidential information breach. All users are required to use their credential to access information on the network. A strong password is required by the policy outlined by the IT department. Logical vulnerability deals with anything which is to do with computer software/network other than the physical network. People are the weakest link in the whole chain. They are the biggest threat to the IT network; any user could compromise the system without even knowing the result of his/her actions. Users using personal device on the enterprise network is the biggest threat ever. Use of personal media should be strictly prohibited because it could bring in the malicious code which gives access to hackers to break into network and steal confidential information. A weak password also helps intruders to disguise them as the legitimate user and access the information to compromise the network. Software and antivirus updates could also be crucial if it is not done on time, it can lead into breach. The physical threat and vulnerability can result in huge loss in revenue and confidential information leakage. As mentioned above, any physical vulnerability can result in loss such as theft of the equipment, any device plug to attack remotely or record data. We often printers in the network security, most printers nowadays stores information on built in memory on the printers before printing. If somebody walks out with the printer, access to information in printer’s memory can be accessed easily. Figure 1 Key Logger As showed in the picture, there is a small device which is a key logger. If any personal (internal or external) have access to the assets of the company can install such a device which will not be found with careful examination. Such devices can log the keys strokes which will open a door for attackers to get access to information all the time. Figure 2 Threats & Potential Impact The picture above is self-explanatory, is the network is physically or logically vulnerable any attacker can break which can lead to the impact mentioned above. In case of pharmacy where it is required by the law to take very extra care of customers’ confidential information no risks can be taken. In-case the network is compromised due to physical and logical vulnerability, the attacker can disrupt the whole business. Some disgruntle employee can cause DOS which will bough down the network which will result in delay in orders, low productivity. Vulnerability can also cause loss of information, loss of privacy of customers, legal liability due to leakage of confidential information which is governed by the HIPAA. And above of all reputation among customers, it is very difficult to gain customers’ confidence if it is lost just because of any event. To identity and deal with risks, we are going to take the same approach as defined in the book. After carefully examining the risks, we are going to analyze the impact and based on the impact we will develop a strategy either to mitigate, transfer, avoid or accept the risks. Figure 3 Risk Management Process To deal with the physical risks identified above, the best strategy would be to mitigate or transfer it in-case of any event. Numbers of steps are suggested to mitigate the risk due to physical vulnerability. The back door is used by employees only. The server room is always locked and with prior permission no other than IT personal can enter in it. All IT assets have been locked securely to avoid any theft. Surveillance is also part of our strategy to mitigate any risks. Risks transfer strategy comes into play if anything happened to IT assets. Based on the value of assets most of the assets are covered under insurance. But data is such a valuable asset of the company that no insurance can cover the loss of data theft. After evaluating the logical vulnerabilities, I am going to suggest risk mitigation and risk acceptance strategy. â€Å"Malicious attacks increasingly complex variations are continuously being introduced and can sometimes spread widely before protection software companies deliver the latest detection strings and solutions†. Standard for Technology in Aumotive Retail, 2012) . The first step would be to mitigate the risks at any cost) but since the people are weakest link in the whole IT security scenarios they tend to do things unintentionally which compromise the security. Based on these facts I have also suggested the risk acceptance strategy. This fact is known by most of the businesses but they still do it because they do not perform any operations without manpower. The staff working at front desks or any employee at the pharmacy could use personal media which could lead to any attack. The weak password can also help attackers to use logical bomb technique to guess the password. A strong administrative control is required to avoid such incidents. Some of the suggestions to mitigate the logical vulnerabilities: Security Awareness- as mentioned above the people is the weakest link in the IT security. User awareness on virus control is the most effective tool to control it. In the awareness programs they should be reminded that data should be accepted from the trusted sources. Incase they receive files from untrusted source should not be open. Persona media should be approved by IT department to use. Patch Management- latest patch protects the system against the latest viruses. It is a process that updates the vulnerable areas on the application level. Hackers usually use the flaws and weak points in the system and exploit them to get on the network. Software OEM issues a new update to fix the issue, windows and antivirus auto update is common examples of such patch management. Most organization does not allow automatic updates due to interference in current operations. They usually test the patch on test environment before replicating it to production nodes. Anti-virus scanners – these products scan files and email and instant messaging programs for signature patterns that match known malicious software. Since new viruses are continually emerging, these products can only be effective if they are regularly updated with the latest virus signatures. See your product manual for instructions on how to activate this. Anti-virus scanners can be positioned on gateways to the network and/or on network hosts. Anti-virus scanners need to be frequently updated to be effective. Therefore, regularity and method of update are criteria that need to be considered when selecting anti-virus products. The first line of defense is administrative controls against any physical and logical threats. These are the policies which is prepared and approved by the management to staff for compliance. In pharmacy’s case strict policies are suggested to comply with regulatory compliance (HIPAA). First of all physical access to premises especially from the back door needs to be secure. The policy to enter in the building using a cat card or smart token is mandatory which a control to prohibit any unauthorized access. The IT room is also protected by a digital lock which can only be accessed by ntering correct combination of the password. The IT devices cannot be move out without prior approval from management on a prescribed form. Another preventive control is to disable all removable media from the systems at the front desk. The USB/serial ports are disabled and it can only be granted on special approval. To control logical vulnerabilities I have suggested mix of administrative, detective, preventive, corrective controls. All users by policy are required to use strong passwords, the password must contain, one letter in caps, one symbol/numeric value. The total length should be between 8-20 characters. Users are required to change the password every 30 days and they cannot use passwords any 10 previously used passwords. Users are also cautioned about not to write passwords. Most of the employees have role based access to IT systems. All front desk employees go straight to the application required to book patients’ orders. They cannot open or use personal email on the systems. The access to internet is controlled by the web application filter which only allows users to check pre-approved sited required to manage operations. All systems have the latest updated antivirus software which does not allow any infected file to execute. The best strategy to deal it with is preventive. Similarly to prevent any intruder in the network, IDS are deployed to monitor any unusual activity. Backup of data with regular interval makes it possible to continue the business in case of any break down due to any malicious activity. The data is backed up with only last changed items after every 4 hours. As mentioned earlier the patients’ data is highly confidential, any loop whole can result in legal liabilities.