United States Postal Service Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

United States Postal Service - Case Study Example While analyzing the ergonomic issues the paper mainly focuses on the ergonomic issues that have been addressed in the report. The research conducted method focuses on the methodology part of the report, that is how the required and relevant information about the study has been acquired and the approach that has been undertaken in fulfilling the objective of the study. The ergonomic issues: The report reveals the health hazards that are associated with the work performed at an organization. The ergonomists at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) examined the ergonomic hazards that are associated with the particular work and whether that can result in musculoskeletal disorders. The report introduces the musculoskeletal disease that the employees are exposed to due to the kind of work they do. The report identifies the musculoskeletal hazards which arise from the repetitive movements of the upper limb of the employees working in the postal service organization. It not only identifies the problems associated with the work, but also focuses on the causes of the health hazards like forceful grasping of any tools or pinching anything with the help of the tool. For instance, the study reveals that the prolonged period of sitting or standing against a stool can aggravate the disorder. It also gives the measures of avoiding such hazards by suggesting ways such as tilting the seat pan or by maintaining the trunk in the neutral position. (Heta, 1993, p.4) The research Conducted: The research conducted is mainly based on primary observation of a specific ergonomic situation in a government organization. The report takes into account a case of the employees of the Denver general Mail facility. The health hazards has been analyzed and discussed in the paper. The paper identifies each kind of work that is being performed in the organization and what kind of health problems this might lead to. Hence an ethical dilemma also arises with respect to workplace. The paper adopts a case study based approach where a particular organization and situation has been identified and the discussion and recommendation revolves around it. The human resource aspect of the firm has been addressed in the paper. This is a discussion paper that takes into account several aspect of the issue, like the type of machines, the pace of work and other factors that are required in evaluating the situation properly. The paper after analyzing the problems recommends measures in avoiding those problems. The report also produces a comparative framework against working situations of the General Mail Facility (GMF) at Denver and Virginia. (Heta, 1993, pp.5-8) The Findings and recommendations: The findings of the paper revolve around the musculoskeletal disorder that the employee has to face as a res ult of their sitting postures and standing postures while working. In case of mail casing it has been found out that the work needs repetitive operations hence the organization has rightly provided the workers with the tilt chair facility. The report notes that the sit and stand stool provided to the employee rightly serves the purpose as it can be adjusted and accommodated accordingly. The report reveals that the works which are associated with the automatic mail processing machines requires frequent stooping which puts the employees in the danger of low back injury, hence a height size has been recommended to avoid the problem of low back

Problems with the US Education System

Problems with the US Education System One of the biggest problems with public school today is that academic performance is declining, particularly in urban areas and among disadvantaged populations. It is well known that education in the US has fallen behind many other countries internationally. We are behind most other countries in both science and math education. The Ayn Rand Institute puts it best, saying, American education is in ruins. In addition to the educational problems, the decline of the family involvement has been such that one now sees public service announcements reminding parents that they need to be the main influence in their kids lives. Although this problem bears disproportionately on the economically disadvantaged, who have no parents at home because all available adults must work to make ends meat. There seems to be a positive correlation between family income and educational achievement. The U. S. Census Bureau states that in 1996 23.7% of white high school graduates went on to complete at least four years of college education, compared to 13.5% for blacks and only 9.3% for Hispanics. So, the percentage of white high school graduates that go on to complete four or more years of college is more than twice the figure for the combined percentage for blacks and Hispanics (11.4%)! With statistics like these, its no wonder why the rich seem to get richer and the poor remain stuck in the gutter generation after generation. The effects of poverty are detrimental to students achievement and life prospects. For example, children and youth from low-income families are often older than others in their grade level, move more slowly through the educational system, are more likely to drop out, and are less likely to find work. Children in poverty are also more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems and are less likely than others to be highly engaged in school. These detrimental effects of living in poverty are further compounded for families that also are raising children with a disability. Furthermore, parents in low-income families are less likely to help their children complete homework assignments (Morrison, 2007). Historically, Americans have viewed education as an answer to many social ills; but a national poll found that 47 percent of Americans would give the nations public schools a grade of C for the quality of their work, and 19 percent would grade the schools as D or F. When asked about the schools in their own community, slightly less than half graded the schools as A or B, 35 percent gave a grade of C, and 11 percent assigned grades of D or F (Polling Report, 2007). (Lauer, 2007). Families are in a continual state of change as a result of social issues and changing times. Even the definition of what a family is varies as society changes. Families now include arrangements other than that of the traditional nuclear family: Single-parent families, headed by mothers or fathers Stepfamilies, including individuals related by either marriage or adoption Heterosexual, gay, or lesbian partners living together with children Extended families, which may include grandparents, uncles, aunts, other relatives, and individuals not related by kinship. As families change, so do the roles of parents, family members, and others. More parents work and have less time for their children and family affairs, working parents combine the roles of parents and employees, the number of hats that parents wear increases as families change (Morrison, 2007). The effects of poverty are detrimental to students achievement and life prospects. For example, children and youth from low-income families are often older than others in their grade level, move more slowly through the educational system, are more likely to drop out, and are less likely to find work. Children in poverty are also more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems and are less likely than others to be highly engaged in school. These detrimental effects of living in poverty are further compounded for families that also are raising children with a disability. Furthermore, parents in low-income families are less likely to help their children complete homework assignments (Morrison, 2007). Historically, Americans have viewed education as an answer to many social ills; but a national poll found that 47 percent of Americans would give the nations public schools a grade of C for the quality of their work, and 19 percent would grade the schools as D or F. When asked about the schools in their own community, slightly less than half graded the schools as A or B, 35 percent gave a grade of C, and 11 percent assigned grades of D or F (Polling Report, 2007). (Lauer, 2007). The crisis in American schools takes three major forms. First, student academic performance is declining, particularly in urban areas and among traditionally disadvantaged student populations. Second, discipline and moral behavior is quickly becoming non-existent. Third, the per-student expenditure is inflated beyond what is necessary. The first problem with public school today is that academic performance is declining, particularly in urban areas and among disadvantaged populations. In the 1980s, Americas education crisis received widespread publicity. Several reports were done on the impact of this education crisis on the workforce. These reports, especially those by the Hudson Institute and David Kearns, indicated massive shortcomings in education that left high-school graduates unable to effectively function in an increasingly technological and service-oriented economy (Tyson 1990). Beyond the area of skills-based education, public schools are sadly lacking in liberal arts education. It is well known that education in the US has fallen behind many other countries internationally. We are behind most other countries in both science and math education (Morrone 2000, U.S. EPA 1996). More specifically, the US ranks 18th out of 21 countries in math as a result of the dominance of progressive education techniques replacing traditional learning (Bernstein 2000). Even here in college, where the students represented are among the top in the nation, problems with object ive math prevail. The Ayn Rand Institute (2000) puts it best, saying, American education is in ruins. Students cannot read, write, add or think?. Parents who can afford to, send their children to private schools, in the desperate hope of finding sane teaching? More than ever, employers are left to pick up the pieces, training school graduates in the basic skills necessary for working life. These problems are exacerbated for African-Americans. According to the Economist (2003), Blacks who are disproportionately concentrated in inner-city areas) are getting a lousy deal from the public-school system. The National Assessment of Educational Progress, Americas equivalent of a national report card, reveals that the average black 17-year-old is four years behind his white counterpart in math and reading and five years behind in science. Black students are three times more likely than whites to be shunted off into dead-end special educational classes. In addition to educational problems, the much-heralded social engineers that seek to impose Progressive norms on Americas students have unfortunately succeeded. The rising self-esteem movement that seeks to avoid blame has clearly left its mark on our public education system. The retrogression toward anarchy occurred on the watch of Progressive education, which seeks to socialize students above actually providing knowledge. It is no wonder that an educational philosophy centered around never finding fault with another and seeking consensus before reason would lead to both educational failure of massive proportion and an increase in violent behavior due to the inability of students to reason together (Woiceshyn, 2000). We can hardly claim we werent warned. John Locke, the most influential philosopher in the minds of our founders, indicated he could easily do without public education. Lockes fears regarding civic education about have been borne out in contemporary America, as young peo ple are increasingly left to shift for themselves. The decline of the family has been such that one now sees public service announcements reminding parents that they need to be the main influence in their kids lives (Schaub, 2002).? Again, this problem bears disproportionately on the economically disadvantaged, who have no parents at home because all available adults must work to make ends meet. Predictably, black males are the most disadvantaged of all, as indicated by their higher rates of incarceration (Mauer, 1990) and suspension from school. Conclusion One thing we can say with certainty about the educational landscape today is that parents, families, and communities are as much a part of the educational process as are children, teachers, and staff. At no other time in U.S. educational history has support for family and community involvement in schools and programs been so high. All concerned view the involvement of families and communities as critical for individual student success, as well as for the success of the American dream of providing all children with an education that will meet their needs and enable them to be productive members of society (Morrison, 2007) Teachers are born, not made and with training and practice teachers are transformed from strong ones into gifted ones. I personally do not believe there is a single formula for classroom success. In order to be an effective teacher one needs to employ structural strategies to address the range of students learning needs. I also believe that, part of being successful in todays classroom is having relationships with the students that are based on maintaining appropriate roles, which suggests clarity in behavioral expectation and consistency in response to disciplinary situations. Communication and classroom management are vital to the success of teaching, having a sense of humor; knowledge and caring are also needed for todays teachers. In general teachers success=student success. School tracking is the process of separating students into leveled course selections according to academic ability. But the matching of students to different tracks tends to bring with it racial, ethnic and social-class overtones from the very beginning. Jeannie Oakes found that race more than ability determined which students were placed in which tracks, and that the lower tracked students had fewer learning opportunities and teachers expected little from them and offered fewer constructive comments. The first public school in America was established by Puritan settlers in 1635. The school was publicly funded and the first classes were held in the home of the schools master. What is so fascinating is that 5 of the 56 signers of the US Constitution attended Boston Latin: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Treat Paine, and William Hooper. The basis to create a public school system was initially formed by. Jefferson. In the 1600s, the dominant belief on educating the children was due to religious reasons. However, with the arrival of people from many countries and belonging to different faiths led to a weakening of the concept. People rejected the English only school and opposed the clergy imposing their religious views through public education. By the middle of the eighteenth century, private schooling had become the norm. Jefferson believed that education should be under the control of the government, free from religious biases, and available to all people irrespective of their status in society. Until the 1840s the education system was highly localized and available only to wealthy people. Reformers like Horace Mann and Henry Barnard who wanted all children to gain the benefits of education opposed this. As a result of their efforts, free public education at the elementary level was available for all American children by the end of the 19th century. Education has not always been free and available to everyone. Many people had to die in order to provide minorities as well as the poor the opportunity to attend equal schools. The first blacks arrived as slaves in the colonies in 1619 and were initially taught by the missionaries to convert them to Christianity. In spite of individual efforts, the education of blacks remained very low until Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. The literacy rate that was around 5% in the 1860s rose to 40% in 1890 and by 1910 it was at 70%. During the 1950s segregation by race in public and private schools was still common in the United States. In 1954 the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and by 1980 the federal courts succeeded in eliminating the system of legalized segregation in southern schools. Is the education system better off today? We all know that the advancement in technology and learning methods has brought about a lot of change for the better in the public education. However, Schools are facing other social problems such violence, drugs, alcohol, smoking, and sex-related issues. Low tracks suffered from more classroom management problems, and focused more on social rather than academic matters. Tracking does not result in the equal and equitable distribution of effective schooling among all students. Instead, it allocates the most valuable school experiences to students who already have the greatest academic, economic, and social advantages. I tend to lean toward the conservative and traditional way teaching, therefore, I fine the Teacher-Centered Philosophy approach is more in-line with my thinking. For the Perennialist, reality is a world of reason and would favor a curriculum of subjects and doctrine, taught through highly disciplined drill and behavior control. Kids come to school with lots of knowledge and lots of interests. However, the job of the school is to teach them what they do not know and teach these things in a systematic and organized way. The students are there to learn what they do not know, thus, the environment should be task oriented and disciplined. It is not to fill their minds with isolated fragments of information but to fill them with systematic knowledge. They need to learn, and as they get older, they need human insights and skills that come from the disciplines. Najlaa Reference: Sadker, David M.. Teachers Schools and Society: A Brief Introduction to Education, 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill/Course As a teacher, you will be called to follow your ethical compass to protect the physical and emotional well-being of your students and to guide students own ethical development (Sadker 2008, pg. 271). Teachers must take a position on moral issues and help students understand right from wrong. But they also have to be aware of their first impressions and be sure they have all the relevant facts. If one does not have them, get them. In the classroom teachers may not use racist or sexist humor or exchange grades for money or sexual favors. They need to think before acting, respect and be sensitive to cultural differences. For example, think twice before telling a joke (any joke!) that might offend other races or cultures. Teachers have always been considered role models for their students and whatever they say and do will have a great impact on them.

John Q Adams :: American History

John Q Adams John Adams had three remarkable careers in his lifetime. One as an enemy of British oppression and champion of independence. As an American diplomat in Europe and as the first vice-president and second president of the United States. His diary, letters and speeches showed him to be very patriotic, a stong family man and tough-minded philosopher. Adams was born in Quincy, Mass. on October 30, 1735. He was born in a small house that is still standing and open to visitors. His father was a Deacon and fifth generation farmer. His parents were both fond of reading, wrote John and give him a good education. He became the first of his family to go to college when he entered Harvard in 1751. For the next six years he read intensly while he taught school and studied law in Boston. In 1762 he began a fourteen year successful law career. In 1761 he began to think, write and act against British oppression and for the right of colonies to self-government. He was patriotic and held many local offices. In 1770 he insured that the British soldiers accused of the Boston Massacre received a fair hearing. He defended the soldiers at their trial. He spoke out against mob violence and other forms of social disintegration. In 1774 to 1776 Adams was a deligate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. He was a champion of American rights in Congress and helped draft the Declaration of Independence. John Adams' presidency that lasted from 1797 to 1801 was a troubled one. Adams made many contributions during his term. He gave the Government stability by continuing practices established under Washington. The crisis he faced was the difficult relations with France.When in the XYZ affair peace commissioners retuned from Paris with stories of bribery and deceit, Adams built up the armed forces and took many national security measures. Jefferson and the Republicans and Hamilton and some Federalists wanted war with France for economic reasons, but Adams kept his nerve and when the opportunity was there he sent another peace commissioner to France and defused the crisis. Because of his opponents, he has forced out of office after one term. After his presidency, he and his wife Abigail moved back to Mass.

Hardware and software report Essay

In this report, I will be discussing what hardware, software, operating system, and how this would be benefiting the company. I will also state how I used the hardware and software, which helped the company. Once that I done, I will describe the advantages and disadvantages of the hardware and software that I used, and compare them to the hardware and software that I could have used. Definitions of hardware, software and operating system: Computer hardware typically consists chiefly of electronic devices (CPU, memory, display) with some electromechanical parts (keyboard, printer, disk drives, tape drives, loudspeakers, floppy discs) for input, output, and storage, though completely non-electronic. A package/application is a complete, self-contained program that performs a specific function directly for the user. This is in contrast to system software such as the operating system kernel, server processes and libraries, which exists to support application programs. The operating system is Software designed to control the hardware of a specific data-processing system in order to allow users and application programs to make use of it. The hardware that I used was:   Tulip monitor: low emission   Tulip CPU: E85-00970   Tulip mouse: M-S48a   HP LaserJet 2200d   HP LaserJet 4200n   Floppy disc   Internet modem The software that I used was:   Microsoft Excel Microsoft Word   Microsoft Paint   Windows Xp Microsoft Word Pad   Internet explorer   Windows Me The advantages of the hardware that I used were:   My work was saved on a CPU, and so my work wouldn’t get lost. My work was save on a floppy disc as backup.   The laser HP LaserJet 2200d and HP LaserJet 4200n was very fast in printing my work. The advantages of the software that I used were: Microsoft excel is the easiest package to use a spreadsheet.   Microsoft word is easier to use, then any other writing package. Microsoft paint is the easiest image package to use. The disadvantages of the hardware that I used were:   The computer monitor might freeze, causing me to not do my work.   The printer might not work, so I will not be able to print my work.   The printer might only have black ink, not coloured ink. The floppy disc might be full so that I cannot store any more work on the disc. The disadvantages of the software that I used were:   The Microsoft package might be out of use due to a failure in the computer.   Windows might not have the new updates on the computer, as there might be an old package on the computer, rather then the new one, I. e. Windows 95 instead of Windows Xp. There might not be Internet explorer on the computer to help you with you research. The other hardware that I could have used was: Scanner Zip disc   Different Internet modem, I. e. Blue yonder one-megabit modem. The other software that I could have used was: Microsoft spreadsheet.   Microsoft word processor Microsoft publisher   Microsoft PowerPoint (if I was doing a presentation) When you compare ICT with non-ICT you can see that ICT is so much easier than hand writing something. One reason is that your handwriting might be very bad and as a result, people will not be able read your handwriting. Secondly, when you write pages and pages of information concerning the company, then your hand tends to become tired. With the use of ICT, you won’t get tired as you will just be typing, and will eventually feel tired, but not as quickly as you would have done. Another point, which makes ICT much better than any Non ICT, is that if you make a mistake while you are working with non-ICT, you will not be able to make a change very easily, but with ICT you com press the delete or key to get rid of the mistake. Other uses of ICT within Future Fashions are that you can use a mainframe or a midrange, which are unique operating systems. What this would allow you to do is to do better work, as there is better equipment and better facilities to use in a mainframe and in a midrange. Future fashions were not that efficient as they had a lot of problems in the company. One of which was that they didn’t even have a logo or a slogan. That just showed how efficient they were, as they didn’t even have a log and slogan, and they are meant to be a clothes company. Other problems that they had were; they had no spreadsheet to show how all the employee’s records were like, no graph to see how much they ware getting paid and no wage slip to show how much the employees would get paid. So in the end, what I did to solve these problems were to actually make the logo, slogan, spreadsheet, graph and wage slip. I think that all the solutions that I can up with very well in the end. The logo was colourful and eye catching, and the slogan was very catchy. The spreadsheet was very easy for the owners of Future Fashions to read from and the graph was also easy for the owners of Future Fashions to see how much each employee gets paid, and could compare the money that the employees get by the other employees. Lastly, the wage slip was successful as the owners of Future Fashions could see how much the employee was getting paid, how much tax there was, how much National Insurance there was, etc. Eventfully, as a result of my work, the problems of future fashions disappeared. The company will now become very successful, in my opinion, as most of the problems have been solved, and Future Fashions can now really take off. A summery of what I have said in the 3-4 pages is just that the hardware and software that I used was very successful for the owners of Future Fashions as it helped the owners of Future Fashions when they needed it most, and as a result, this will benefit the owners on Future Fashions in the long run. The problems that I came across whilst doing this project to help Future Fashions were:   Sometimes the printer wouldn’t print in colour because it was a black ink printer. The computer froze a few times, so I had to do it again.   When the computers were getting rebooted after the power cut, all of my work got deleted. Overall, I have found out that the solutions that I came up with really helped the company named Future Fashions. I also found out that all the solutions that I came up with improved the image of Future Fashions, making it a very successful company.

Capitalism and Alienation: The Foundation

The development of capitalism can be correlated with the economic development in the West. Capitalism allowed innovation to take precedence over traditional forms of labor and business. It replaced these traditional forms because capitalism was by nature a flexible and adaptive economic system. By incorporating competition in its rubric (a sign of flexibility), it was able to encourage the private sector to invest more in the market, resulting inevitably to increased public welfare. It was also this competition that allowed innovation to develop. By increasing the number and quality of players in the market, economic collusion was prevented, and hence this forced all firms to formulate efficient means to capture a significant portion of the market share. Because other firms would want to â€Å"get† the same portion of the â€Å"pie†, their relative share in the market remained the same; increasing the benefits accrued to the society. Thus, we come to the second quality of capitalism: adaptability. Adaptability refers to the capacity of a system to capture new locations to which it may be situated. Being adaptive does not necessarily mean that capitalism will succumb to the power of tradition or existing cultural systems. Rather capitalism sought to redefine the foundations of society (Marx, 1844/1959). Changing some aspects of society would inevitably result to a categorical redefinition of societal institutions. Capitalism could then infiltrate the society and spread its scorching arms. At this point Marx began to examine the â€Å"evils† resulting from this economic system. He argued that although capitalism initially stimulated innovation, in the long-run the bad effects of capitalism would be revealed in the so-called â€Å"superstructures† (refer to the institutions of the society – as differentiated from â€Å"substructures† which refer to the overarching systems of any society). When capitalism developed into a full, working economic system, it encouraged the private sector to invest in the market. The market here referred to the manufacturing and industrial sectors of 19th century European cities. This caused widespread migration of laborers from rural areas to booming industrial centers. In exchange for wages, the laborers â€Å"sold† their labor to capital-owners – labor became a commodity. Because labor was treated as a commodity, the capital-owner became essentially the owner of labor (Marx, 1844/1959). Although it was far from slavery, its effects were never far from the â€Å"qualities† of slavery. Here Marx identified two major effects of capitalism that approached the characteristics of slavery. The first problem that workers encountered in the workplace was alienation. Alienation refers general to the breakdown of natural interconnectedness of entities (Marx, 1844/1959). Applied to the social sciences, this refers to the natural interconnectedness of man to other things. When a man produced a certain good, it was natural to consider the man as the owner of such good. In capitalism, because the laborer sold his labor to the capital-owner, the latter became the owner of the laborer’s labor. Thus, laborers experienced 4 types of alienation in the workplace. Here are as follows: 1) alienation of man to his own products, 2) alienation of man to his fellow workers, 3) alienation of man to the production process/activities, and 4) alienation of man to his own development. The first alienation refers to the inability of the worker to own the products made by his own labor. The second type of alienation refers to the breakdown of man’s relationship to his fellow laborers in the workplace. The third connotes the inability of man to control the production process to which his labor is a significant factor of production. The last type of alienation in the workplace refers to the incapacity of man, given current circumstances, to develop his personal being. According to Marx, even lawyers and respected professionals end up as laborers because of their incapacity to oppose capitalism. When alienation became immanent in the workplace, the capitalist could easily grapple the value of the laborers, exploiting it until valueless; thus the second problem – exploitation. Reference Marx, Karl. (1844/1959). Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. Moscow: Progress Publishers.