International Human Resource Management Essay Example for Free

International Human Resource Management Essay 1.0 Executive Summary The world of international HR management (IHRM) is changing. As companies shift operations abroad, IHRM is moving beyond expatriate programs. Todays IHR managers are charged with scaling and managing overseas HR operations. This shift has not only created new opportunities for IHRM professionals, but also for companies looking to staff operations abroad. Possibly one of the greatest challenges facing the IHRMs is the fact that they are now dealing with not an individual employee but a whole family and their needs as a family in the relocation process. Some IHRMs find it more difficult than others to adjust to the added dimension of having to deal with the spouse and family on a more intimate level than before. After all, they are now relocating them halfway around the world and away from their support structures. They have to be prepared to get a lot more involved in the family as a whole and not just think they have to communicate with the employee only as is often the case when dealing with an employee here at home base. Throughout this assignment, we are examined the implications of differences in national culture for policy and practice in of the following aspects of human resource management: * Performance appraisal * Training and development 2.0 Training and Development Important components of international human resources management include both cross-cultural training and a clear understanding of the overseas assignment as part of a managers development. 2.1 Training Cross-cultural training is necessary for expatriates managers and their families before, during and after foreign assignments. As different countries have different culture, regardless how close of those areas, such as Taiwan and Mainland China, USA and Canada. Maybe they are talking the same language, however, their perception of social values, business practices are different. In Western, especially in USA, people are more individualism. In the contrary, Eastern people, such as Chinese and Japanese, people are more collectivism. The social system also different in Western and Eastern, the former is low power distant and the later is higher power distant. When those expatriates arrive, they are foreigners, not the host population, it is necessary to provide much cultural and practical background. Language training is an essential activity for everyone in the family. Although English is the dominant business language worldwide, relying on English puts the expatriates at a disadvantage. The expatriate will be unable to read trade journals and newspapers, which contain useful business information, and will be reliant on translators, which at best only slow down discussions in the process. Evan if expatriates manager is not fluent, a willingness to try communicating in local language makes a good impression on the business community. Foreign language proficiency is also vital for family members to establish a social network and accomplish the everyday tasks of maintaining a household. But cross-cultural training is much more than just language training. It should provide an appreciation of the new culture, including details of its history and folklore, economy, politics, religion, social climate, and business practices. It is easy to recognize that religion is highly important in daily life in the Middle East, but knowledge of the regions history and an understanding of the specific practices and beliefs is important to avoid inadvertently insulting business associates or social contacts. All this training can be carried out through a variety of techniques. Language skills are often provided through classes and tapes, while cultural training utilizes many different tools. Lectures, reading materials, videotapes, and movies are useful for background information, while cultural sensitivity is more often taught through role playing, simulations and meetings with former expatriates, as well as natives of the countries now living in the parent countries. While all this training in advance of the overseas relocation is important, cultural learning takes place during the assignment as well. After the overseas assignment has ended and the employee has returned, more training is required for the entire family. The employee also must adjust to organization changes, including the inevitable promotions, transfers, and resignations that have taken place during his or her absence. Teenager find reentry particularly difficult, as they are ignorant of the most recent jargon and the latest trends, but often are more sophisticated and mature than their local friends. The employee also must adjust to organizational changes, including the inevitable promotions, transfers and registrations that have taken place during his or her absence. Returnees are anxious to know where to fit in, or if they have been gone for so long that they no longer are on a career path. 2.2 Development In the current global business environment, the overseas assignment should be a vital component in the development of top-executives. It is not only to achieve the advantages for the individual in overseas assignment, but also an organization can gain the competitive advantages from their overseas employee. It is also a chance to provide the host counties employees to broaden their global perspective through a post in the parent-country headquarter, and may make it easier for the organization to recruit and retain better quality managers in the host country. Development is an essential activity to the individual to improve the individuals ability during the assignment and to well perform their jobs. 3.0 Performance appraisal In evaluating employee performance in international environments, other factors come into plays. For instance, the cultural differences between the United States and England are not as great as those between the United Stated and China, for example. Thus, hostility or friendliness of the cultural environment in which one manager should be considered when appraising employee performance. 3.1 The responsibilities of the evaluation There are also issues to consider regarding who will be responsible for the evaluations: the host-country management or the parent country management. Although local management would generally consider a more accurate gauge, it typically evaluates expatriates from its own cultural perspectives and expectations, which may not reflect those of the parent company. For example, in some countries, a participatory style of management is acceptable, while in other countries, hierarchical values make it disgrace to ask employees for ideas (for e.g. in Japan). This could vastly alter a supervisors performance appraisal. Confusion may arise from the use of parent-country evaluation forms if they are misunderstood, either because the form has been improperly translated or not translated at all, or because the evaluator is uncertain what a particular question means. The home-office managements, on the other hand, is often so remote that it may not be fully informed on what is going on in an overseas office. Because they lack access and because one organization may have numerous foreign operations to evaluate, home-office managements often measure performance by quantitative indices, such as profits, market shares, or gross sales. However, simple numbers are often quite complex in their calculations and data are not always comparable. For example, if a company has many operations in Fast East Asia, it must be aware of the accounting practices in each country. Local import tariffs can also distort pricing schedules, which alter gross sales figures, another often compared statistic. Evan when the measurements are comparable, the comparison country will have an affect. For example, factory productivity levels in Vietnam may be below those of similar plants in Thailand. Depending on where the supervisors results are compared, different outcomes may occur. Such issues complicate parent country management performance evaluations by numerical criteria, or indices and can add to the emotional levels in appraisals. 3.2 Evaluation Format Other issues surround the question of selecting the best format to use in performance appraisals, If we have an overseas operation that includes both parent country nationals and host country nationals, we must determine if we will use the same forms for all employee. While most Western countries accept the concept of performance evaluation, some cultures interpret it as a sign of distrust or even an insult to an employee. This complicates a decision to use one instrument like an adjective rating scale for all employees. On the other hand, using different formats for PCNs and HCNs may create a dual track in the subsidiary, in turn creating other problems. The evaluation form presents other problems. If there is universal form for the entire corporation, an organization must determine how it will be translated accurately into the native language of each country. English forms may not be readily understood by local supervisors. For example, clerical and office jobs do not always have identical requirements in all cultures. As a result, some U.S. multinational may be hesitant about evaluating HCNs and TCNs. In some countries, notably those that support the Communist ideology, all workers are rewarded only when the group performs with punishment or discipline being highly limited. For example, in the hotel industry in the Peoples Republic of China. Without the ability to reward good individual performance or to punish poor performance, there is little motivation to have any evaluation at all. Although the subject of international performance appraisal continues to receive research attention, two general recommendations have been suggested as follow: * Modify the normal performance criteria of the evaluation sheet for a particular position to fit the overseas position and site characteristics. Expatriates who have returned from a particular site or same country can provide useful input into revising criteria to reflect the possibilities and constraints of a given location. * Include a current expatriates insights as part of evaluation. This means that non-standardized criteria, which are difficult to measure, will be included, perhaps in different basis for each country. This creates some administrative difficulties at headquarters, but in long run will be a more equitable system. Bibliography 1. Peter J. Dowling, Denice E. Welch and Randall S. Schuler, International Human Resource Management Managing People in a Multinational Context, South Western College Publishing, 3rd Edition 2. Nancy J. Adler, International Dimensions of Organization Behavior, South Western College Publishing, 3rd Edition 3. David A. Decenzo, Stephen P. Robbins, Human Resourc Management, John Wiley Sons Inc., 7th Edition. 4. Ian Breadwell and Len Holden, Human resource management a contemporary approach, FT Prentice Hall, 3rd Edition

Nursing Theory and Research Essay Example for Free

Nursing Theory and Research Essay What is nursing (caring) according to Fawcett (1984)? Nursing is defined by American Association (1980) as the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to actual or potential health problems (cited in Fawcett, 1984, pg. 84). Diagnosis, according to the nursing process is when the nurses identify the actual problems and find out how to treat them in order to prevent any potential problems. According to Walker, 1971) nursing is establishing limits or boundaries in terms of the person  providing care; person with health problems receiving care; the environment in which care is given and an end-state, well-being (cited in Fawcett, 1984). This is related to what I mentioned before that the four concepts are interrelated; they cannot work on their own. The connections among the four metaparadigm concepts were clearly identified by Donalson and Cowley (1978) which states that nursing studies the wholeness or health of humans, recognizing that humans are in continuous interaction with their environments (cited in Rolfe, 1996, pg.6). This statement may be considered the major proposition of nursings metaparadigm. B: Christensens (1990) Partnership Model: Christensens (1990) Partnership Model identify the concept of a partnership as a basis for involvement between a nurse and a patient. This concept provides a sound humanistic foundation for nursing practice. From the patient view point, a partnership of equality and respect provides security. From nurses, patients are vulnerable or faced a situation, which requires care from health services. The experience of partnership empowers and enables people when they are patients, and we believe that security proved by the nursing partnership is a basic human right for a patient. For a partnership to exist and work effectively, there must be a willingness from all partners to collaborate as equals, and then to jointly make decisions and endeavour to solve problems. Christensen (1990) described partnership is initiated when the patient is admitted to hospital and ceases when they go home. It is a continuous process, which offered ways of looking at what happened when a nurse offered learned expertise to a person who is going through a health related experience. The learned expertise is known as nursing (caring). What is nursing (caring) according to Christensen (1990)? Although many nurses scholars described nursing according to their own research, Christensen (1990) defined nursing when a nurse offered learned expertise to a person who is going through a health related experience (pg.  47). Also, New Zealand Nurses Association (1990) defined nursing is a specialised expression of caring, concerned primary with enhancing the ability of individuals and groups to achieve their health potential within the realities of their life situations (pg. 7). So, nursing is the actions or treatment to help the patient promote health not only part of his body, but nursing is looking at the person holistically. As discuss by Christensen (1990), the major work of nurse-patient partnership is commences at the time of admission to hospital and continues until the patient goes home, as mentioned before. We could see that the work of the nurse is dynamic and sensitive as nursing strategies are selectively used to ease the pathway of each patient through an individual passage. The passage, according to Christensen (1990) is a social process, which can be used to describe an experience of a significant change in a persons circumstances (pg.26). It is characterised by the giving and receiving of nursing in order for the patient to make optimal progress through a health related experience. So, nursing is attending. According to Christensen (1990) attending takes place during the time of contact between the nurse and patient and also accompanies the patient through hospitalisation. Attending is the essence of partnership because it shows that nursing is caring and concerning about the change in patients life. Therefore, Christensens model of nursing partnership involved two or more people in a shared venture. It requires the nurse to view nursing as a collaborative between the nurse and the client. It initiated when the patient is admitted to hospital until they go home. It is a continuum process, which offered ways of looking at what happened when a nurse offered learned expertise to a person who is going through a health related experience. According to Peplau define nursing is how to put the constitution in such a state as that it will have no disease(Cited in Nightingale, 1992, pg. 48), which means what can and should nurses do to promote health, prevent illness and recovery from disease. As I mentioned above in Christensens model,  nurses work alongside with the patient but using nursing strategies to ease the path of the person by listening to them and taking heed of what they are saying. Moreover, is to comforting them in order to aid recovery from diseases they present. Harmer Henderson (1995, cited in Rolfe, 1996) point out that the unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or peaceful death). In Christensens partnership model is very similar to this idea as to assist the patient and supporting during this journey of sickness or seeking help with things that they are unable to do for themselves. That is the goal of nursing is to use their knowledge to find the most efficient and effective ways of carrying out nursing procedures to help their partner in nursing care, as the patient. Moreover, according to attend, being their for the patient and spending time with him in order to understand their needs. Also, ministering which Christensen defines as a selective application of nursing knowledge and skills to meet the identified needs of the patient. Within that knowledge, nurses have a systematic body of knowledge that underpins practice, which means, they know what to do, how to do it and why they are doing it. For example, an eighteen months old baby was brought from theatre whom he had a Gastrostomy. I took observations on him for half hourly for two hours and hourly after that. Why do I have to do that, because to identify any signs and symptoms of haemorrhage which is potential for shock. That is the basic knowledge that I have taught so far that this baby has a tendency of bleeding. It was very important for me for these observations. According to Christensen (1990) that the work of the nurse is dynamic and sensitive as nursing responds to the immediacy of the patients situation. During this time the nurse and the patient negotiate their partnership by looking at the work of the nurse and the work of the patient in order to cushion the impact on the patient of the disturbances associated with hospitalisation. Moreover, according to Christensen (1990) the passage is a social process  which can be used to describe an experience of a significant change in a persons circumstances (p.26). It is characterised by giving and receiving of nursing in order for the patient to make an optimal progress for a better health. In reality it may or may not lead to a beneficial passage. But, the work of the nurse begins as soon as the patient admitted to hospital. It is known as the beginning phase, which is to assist the client to attain the means, opportunities and the ability to act within the present circumstances, though the nurse-client partnership exists for all nursing goals and the expected outcomes may not always turn out as desired. The beginning is marked by the patient experiencing a health-related problem. The phase begins with awareness that something is wrong which requires an admission to hospital it may be days or weeks or whenever the patient takes responsible for his own self-management. This period precedes entry into the partnership, at the same time the patient prepares for the upcoming experience, whereas the nurse serves to make patient complete, whole being of a person or independent. And I believed this includes identifying the problems of the whole being of the person, that is, culturally, psychosocially and mentally. This relationship includes respect and acceptance of where the person is and the nurses openness to another persons reality. Caring relationships occur with individuals and family and their significant others. According to Levine (1973) described nursing as a human interaction. It is a discipline rooted in the organic dependency of the individual human being on his relationships with other human beings (Cited in Fawcett, 1984, pg 122). She further describe nursing as a subculture, possessing ideas and values which are unique to nurses, even though they mirror the social template which created them (ibid, pg, 123). This is true with nursing is caring for another human being which have their own culture, ideas and values which recognise themselves from whom they come from. When we compare with Christensens model (1990), interpreting is the attempt made by the nurse to attach meaning to the status of the patient and the situation (pg. 42). Including observing, monitoring, analysing,  translating, conceptualising, synthesising and decision-making. When assessing the patient and collecting data, nurses should recognise the social issues and cultural needs of the patient in order to provide treatment that are suitable for them. Moreover, as Christensen stated that the intentional presence of the nurse is essential for coming to know and understand what it means to be human and humans in relationship or partnership. This knowledge provides the basis for the mutual selection of interventions that can promote health and self-determination. That is the essence of partnership is engaging the person in the process of their journey from the time they face the problem and come in to hospital until they go home. Partnership includes intimacy, trust, and authenticity. Furthermore, commitment, responsibility and accountability, which are the nature of nursing which Christensen identifies. Not only that, caring takes place within the context of a therapeutic relationship and is considered a moral vital of nursing. According to Hendersons definition of nursing I say that the nurse does for others what they would do for themselves if they had the strength, the will and knowledge. But I go on to say that the nurse makes the patient independent of him or her as soon as possible. Nurse serves to make patient complete, whole or independent (Cited in USA Nursing Knowledge Consensus Conference, 1998) Conclusion: Although I found very difficult to understand Fawcetts description of the metaparadigm but at the end I found this very interesting to know that metaparadigm is like a framework that help me in my practice. Nursing has a unique responsibility to promote, protect and restore the clients holistic health. REFERENCES: Christensen, J. (1990) The Ethics of Care: Towards Partnership in Nursing, Lincoln University Press with Daphne Brasell Associates Ltd, London. Fawcett, J, (1984) The Metaparadigm of Nursing: Present Status and Future Refinements. Images: The journal of Nursing Scholarship, Vol. XVI, No. 3, pg. 84 7. Fawcett, J, (1984) Analysis and evaluation of conceptual models of nursing, F. A Davis Company, Philadelphia. USA Nursing Knowledge Consensus Conference, 1998, Consensus Statement on Emerging Nursing Knowledge, A value-Based Position Paper Linking Nursing knowledge and Practice Outcomes, Boston, Massachusetts

The purpose of Punishment within the criminal justice system

The purpose of Punishment within the criminal justice system What role does punishment serve within the criminal justice system? Consider the part played by reductivism, incapacitation, retribution, deterrence and rehabilitation as by-products of the perceived need for the criminal justice system to punish offenders. How have political policies and other ideologies affected the state emphasis on the need to punish offenders? In the following paragraphs it is going to be explained the role of punishment within the criminal justice system. Furthermore, we are going to get involved with theories and objectives related to punishment such as: reductivism, deterrence, rehabilitation, incapacitation and finally retribution. Beginning our case study we have to argue that there is considerable controversy over the effectiveness of punishment in reducing crime, but whether or not its actual effectiveness, still is the only method being used conforming someone who made a misdeed, back to society and freedom. Punishment can be simply defined as a legally approved method designed to facilitate the task of crime control (Carrabine, 2004), and its main purpose is to rehabilitate the offender, expiate the victim and dissuade others from becoming wrongdoers. In order to successfully create a holistic view on the matter, we have to focus on many punishment perspectives and theories as it is the only way for a critical evaluation. punishment as a social institution is an inherently complex business that needs to be approached from a range of theoretical perspectives as no single interpretation will grasp the diverse meanings generated by punishment (Carrabine, 2004). The reductive theory of punishment justifies that punishment occurs because it helps to prevent and reduce future consequences of crime, acting as a forward-looking theory for the general good. Moreover, claims that if punishment takes place, future crime will be less than if no penalty were inflicted. For punishment to reduce future crimes, the pain and unhappiness caused to the offender must be outweighed by the avoidance of unpleasantness to other people in the future (Cavadino, 2002). Therefore, it is a moral action against criminals (famously advanced by Jeremy Bentham 1748-1832) since it produces the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people. Nevertheless, there are many mechanisms of reduction which will be shown below. Deterrence based on utilitarian theories, is a method of reduction and its main perspective is that if you cause someones fear, then he will be afraid to offend and break the law (tough on crime). Moreover, separates deterrence into general and individual justifying that general is when punishment dissuades others from following the offenders example, in spite of individual deterrence which aims to teach delinquent not to repeat the behaviour. Deterrence lacks to produce strong and validate evident of its effectiveness as no certain penalty prevented someone from committing a given crime. What is more, referring to the individual deterrence, my opinion is that we cannot say whether or not an offender stopped his criminal behaviour, simply because not all crimes are being convicted. Also, according to official crime statistics, I believe, there is not such effectiveness as Michael Howards supported about prison/punishment and toughness on crime. Prison works. It ensures that we are protected from murderers, muggers and rapists- and it makes many who are tempted to commit crime think twice (Michael Howard, Home Secretary 1993). Rehabilitation is another mechanism of crime reduction which is going to be produced and evaluated on the following paragraphs. According to rehabilitation the idea of punishment is to apply treatment to the offender so that he is made capable afterwards to return back to the society as a law-abiding member. Rehabilitation is viewed as a humane alternative comparing to the harshness of retribution and deterrence giving more a programme function to the punishment, without that meaning that an offender would receive a more lenient penalty for his offence. An important feature of rehabilitation is that the offender could stay on probation whether that means outside prison or inside until he is thought to be ready. Critics though assume that if the prison administrator is the responsible one who decides if offender made a progress and he is ready to go, then corruption may occur which will falsify the true situation. Finally, another issue is that an offender guilty for minor crime proba bly could not tolerate lengthy detentions simple because of inability or refusal to adopt a subservient attitude toward prison officers and authority in general. Continuing our study we will refer to retributive theory which is in total antithesis of reductivism and justifies that punishment came as result of criminality. An attractive feature is that retributivism is a natural connection between the retributive approach and the idea that both offenders and victims have rights. Reductivist theory always founds it difficult to encompass the notion of rights, even when it comes to providing entirely innocent people with a right not to be punished. Retributivism has no such problem, since it follows automatically from the retributive principle that it must be wrong to punish non-offenders. Criminals, according to retributivist principle deserve the punishment because in some way, evil for evil somehow make a right. Additionally, according to retributivism, severity of a punishment should be proportionate to the gravity of the offence (tariff). What is more, retributive punishment, argues that applies fairly and equally to all of us as long as we all live in the same equilibrium followed by the same norms and values. The main issue with such a theory is that it would be objective only if we were all genuinely equal sharing the same advantages. Detected offenders typically start from a position of social disadvantage (Cavadino, 2002). From the moment retributive punishment tries to inflict equality restoring the balance, then increases inequality rather than do the opposite. The last theory refers to the act of making the offender not capable of committing a crime and is known as the incapacitation theory. According to that, offenders who have committed repeated crimes or thought to be dangerous are being punished by execution or lengthy incarceration (life imprisonment). Such a punishment though unfortunately makes it difficult to identify that kind of offenders. Thus, it is extremely controversial the principle of incapacitation especially to those who assist that punishment should advocate equal retribution followed by dignity. An important controversial example evaluating incapacitation is the chemical-castration of sex offenders (against children) with hormonal drugs which was first adopted in the U.S of California in 1996 and proved that drugs alone did not make the offender incapable of committing sex crimes. To conclude, I would like to say that I have not come to a conclusion yet on whether or not punishment actually helps and rehabilitates the delinquents. But I am sure that punishment so far is the function which separates those who live legally and those who do not. I also believe that the fear of punishment changes people behaviour a lot, as we all are afraid of punishment is that not true? Ultimately, I would like to finish with Sir Thomas Mores opinion which finds me totally agreed. Society first creates thieves, and then punishes them for stealing. There has always existed a curiously symbolic relationship between the criminal and society. It is not so much that society tolerates crime, rather the structure of modern society inevitably creates situations and circumstances in which crime occurs(Weisser, 1979).

Tense in Formal and Informal Arguments :: Tense Arguments Logic Essays

Tense is one of the most significant disparities between formal arguments in classical first-order logic and informal arguments. Tense is a vital grammatical tool for expressing both actions and states of objects. Yet the syntax of classical first-order logic is not designed to accommodate tense. In this paper I shall evaluate several attempts to address the issue of the formal treatment of tense. I will seek to determine how tense is important to the consequence relations among sentences. First, I will examine Quine's approach, which tries to represent temporal discourse without extending the syntax of classical logic. Then I will look at Prior's approach, which introduces tense operators. Finally, I will outline two approaches of my own, which require second-order calculus, and will try to show why the second one best captures the aspects of tense that are appropriate for formal treatment in logic, while minimising uncomfortable ontological commitments. Tense logics, as the name suggests, seek to formalise the logically relevant aspects of tense in arguments. The traditional treatment of tense is to require that the tense of informal arguments remain the same throughout. However, this requirement is inadequate because in some cases it is vital to represent tense in order to evaluate the validity of an argument. For example, consider the following: Eve marries Adam Eve is faithful to Adam Eve gives birth to a child Adam is the father of the child This argument seems valid, but notice how that intuition changes if the order of the premises is changed: Eve gives birth a child Eve marries Adam Eve is faithful to Adam Adam is the father of the child It is not nearly as clear whether this version of the argument is valid. This is because tense matters. Our natural tendency in informal arguments is to assume that premises like these are presented in chronological order, but such an assumption will not do for formal arguments. Therefore, we need to incorporate tense to clarify the temporal relations among the sentences. When this is done, the argument looks like the following: Eve has married Adam Eve has been faithful to Adam Eve gives birth to a child Adam will be the father of the child This argument is clearly valid, because the temporal sequence of the sentences is explicitly indicated. Now, how should we formally represent tensed sentences?

Latino Punk Music :: Politics Political Spanish Rock Essays

Latino Punk Music Abrasive rock music has rarely been considered a potent political force in the United States. Punk is no exception to this rule. As a subculture, punk has received much more atention for its hairstyles and caustic sounds than its politics. As Daniel Rosenblat points out, punk rock â€Å"Confound[s] our conventional (western) notions of politics by [its] emphasis on maters which we consign to different domains entirely† (1). What he means i s that because punk does not express its political discourse in traditional venues or traditional terms, it is discounted as apolitical or politicaly impotent. To wit, Hebdige argues that subcultures can do litle more than provide a ‘signal of Refusal,’ and should be considered â€Å"just the darker side of sets of regulations† (3). Latino punks have countered these claims since the 1970s, with lyrical assertions that their political speech is an essential precursor to political change. In this paper I explore the wa ys in which contemporary Latino punk self -defines as political, in contrast to early punk bands who refused to be affiliated with politics. By explicitly aligning with political causes, Latino punk establishes a tension between punk’s historical tendencies towards ‘forgetfulness’ and ‘self -fulfilment,’ and new political agendas that push awareness and change. I conclude by asserting that the punk movement is preoccupied with individual fulfilment at the expense of political activism, a tendenc y that ultimately undermines its political import. Jose Palafox, of Wiretap Magazine, portrays Latino punk as a departure from the larger subcultural category of punk, which he dismisses as â€Å"fast, in -your-face music played by weird -looking white youth.† M any Latino punks assert that as members of a marginalized group within the United States, politics are a necessary element of their musical expressions. Incensed lyrics demand change on behalf of Latin Americans denied political voice. Los Crudos was one such purveyor of this politicaly inclined ‘in - your-face music’ and as a particularly popular and active group within the hardcore -punk community, Los Crudos is in many ways representative of Latino punk in the 1990s. The band began its musical efforts i n Pilsen, the Chicago barrio where lead singer Martin Sorrondeguy spent his childhood. The band’s messages focus on the problems effecting Latin Americans both in the United States and abroad. Sorrondeguy explains: â€Å"We wanted to communicate with other ki ds and with people in our neighborhood about things that were effecting us† (qtd.

Earth 2 Puzzle :: essays research papers

PlotA. The main idea of this story is for the colonists that landed on the new earth to get out of the terrian's (an alien life that lives on the planet) underground city, that was thought to be built a long time ago. 1. One event that is really important to the plot of the story was, the colonists were wondering in the dessert for days. They were running out of water, their best bet was to follow their tracers to the nearest body of water. An underground city was the closest thing to having water. Another important event that led up to the plot of the story was, It was migration time for the buffalo like creatures on the planet. As the colonists were making there way through the desert, the creatures broke one of there primary water tanks which is what made them head toward the sacred city.2. The problem that the main character must sole by the end of the story is, Devon Adair must find a way out of the terrian tunnels. The colonists and her were trapped in them by a puzzle that was misinterpreted by Devon.3. The climax of the story is when one of the colonists got part of the tunnel buried on him and everyone had to dig to get him out. This is the high point in the story because earlier in the story he had a dream that that would happen to him.4. The story ends when the colonists get out of the tunnel alive. They pop up in a part of the sacred city they have never seen before, but manage to unlock the puzzle of trying to get out of that part of the city. They meet up with the colonists that were not trapped inside the tunnel.a. I think the ending was respectable. It had its good and bad points. One good point is no one died. One bad point is they just leave you hanging to wait till the next book comes out.b. At the end of the book I felt happy because their mission did not end and there is a possibility for a new book to come.c. The ending was very logical in terms of events because it took the group to figure out all different kinds of puzzles and traps. At the end of the book they had to figure out another puzzle to get out of the underground city.

Nightmare: Carnival and Read Laser Tag

Just A Nightmare Carnivals are places that you go to have fun, but sometimes these fun places can turn into your worst nightmares. It all began on a night out with my family. We were just out at the mall and when we were coming back home, we passed by a carnival. The carnival looked incredible so my family and I decided to go to the carnival and have some fun as well. We went to the carnival and it looked better up close. There were people and lights everywhere, but the carnival still had a hollow and chilly feeling to it. Wherever I went, I had the feeling that somebody was following me.My brothers and me went on a couple of rides and then I saw a huge sign that read ‘Laser Tag’. That’s when I suddenly got an awkward urge of playing Laser Tag. I told my father and he got a ticket for me. The line was really long and my father did not want to wait in line with me so I told him that I could wait in line all alone and he should come back after 30 minutes to get me. He agreed and left me waiting there. Again this time, I had the chilly feeling that somebody or something was watching me anxiously, waiting to strike. It was finally my turn.I went in with a group of twenty people dressed in laser tag jackets of four different team colors and black laser guns labeled with the same color as their jackets. I was in the yellow team. After all of us got ready, the laser tag employees let us into a dark black-walled maze. I ran away from everyone so I would not get tagged. I ran and ran until I reached a dead end. I looked around and saw a red-labeled jacket and gun making its way toward me. I got my gun ready to shoot whoever it was, but when I pressed on the gun to shoot, the sound it made sent shivers down my spine.It was the boom sound real guns made. I looked in front of me and the red-labeled person fell to the ground. I just stood there, unable to move. I was still trying to make sense of this whole thing and after about five minutes, I got to th e conclusion that I had just killed a person! I was a murderer! I ran, closing my eyes as I got close to the person I had just killed. I clutched the gun tightly in my shaking hands incase I came in contact with more trouble. I ran and ran. I saw other labeled people, but I did not dare lift up my gun. I have to find my way out was the only thing I could think.I saw light far away at the end of the caliginous path. As I got closer, I realized it was some kind of backdoor. I ran through it and now, once again, I was out in the free air, but this time, there was no body to be seen or heard. There was stillness everywhere. It seemed like not even a single leave was moving. I looked around cautiously once again and started to run. I had to get as far away from this place as possible. I ran like a maniac who had some running disease. I got to an empty parking lot. It looked like a ghost town. I saw a dumpster and hid behind it to catch my breath.I was taking long, constant breaths when I heard distant footsteps coming closer and closer. I stopped breathing and got my gun ready again. I did not know what happened to me, but I felt like a walking and talking killing machine. The footsteps started to turn into silent claps that got louder. The footsteps then turned around the corner and their owner was now facing me. He was not a normal person. He was a clown. He was wearing those bright, colorful jester clothes and big red clown shoes. I stood there frozen. I had been scared of clowns since forever, and now my worst nightmare had come alive. Good job on your first kill,† the clown said, laughing hysterically. He got a shiny silver dagger out of the oversized pocket of his jester clothes and brought it towards me. I pointed my gun at him and pressed, but instead of a bullet or boom sound, a laser came out. The clown laughed hysterically again and brought the dagger close to my neck. â€Å"Too bad it’s your last. † And that is when I opened my eyes. I was lying on by bed sweating badly. My heart was beating like a drum. I looked around myself, panicking. â€Å"It was just a nightmare,† I convinced myself. Just a nightmare†¦