The Process of Decision Making Essay Example for Free

The Process of Decision Making Essay Making tough decisions is a process that takes time and practice, knowing how to make effective decisions can make all the difference when facing a tough choice. About a year ago I decided to go back to college and finish my degree, and this is a choice I am very proud of. The steps to making decisions can be whatever the decision maker wants them to be, but there is a process to follow. The first thing I did was assessed the financial situation I am in and realized that it was never going to get any better if I did not do something about it, next I looked into different university’s and technical colleges, as well as kept in mind the hours I would be available to go to campus and attend lecture classes, I then realized that online campus was the best choice for me and my family I do not have to spend time away from them. That is when I made my choice to attend University of Phoenix, I then discussed my choice to my family to make sure I had their support and get any feedback. I then called the admissions department and enrolled, I really have not evaluated the results since I know this is the right thing to do and I can see the results. I feel that my process was very similar to the book my only difference was that I did not generate alternative solutions since going back to school was the only solution, and I did not evaluate the decision. I really do not think that the outcome would be any different if I used the steps the way they are in the book â€Å"(1) identify and diagnose the problem, (2) generate alternative solutions, (3) evaluate alternatives, (4) make the choice, (5) implement the decision, and (6) evaluate the decision† (Bateman Snell, 2011, pg. 89. )

Overview Of Belgium :: essays research papers

Belgium is located upon northwest Europe from which is bounded on the north by the Netherlands and the North Sea, on the east by Germany and Luxembourg, and on the south and southwest by France.1 Due to this location, Belgium is also known as â€Å"the Crossroads of Europe† because it promotes trade and prosperity.2 Following the end of WWII, (NATO) in April 1949 to provide safeguards against possible Communist aggression and, Belgium joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization like the efforts of other democratic countries, to accomplish economic recovery.1 U.S.-Belgian relations are excellent. Belgium is a close ally and works with the U.S. on many international issues. Belgian governments have been committed to the development of a strong, federal European Union with the ability to set common foreign and security policies as well as common economic policies.3 The Belgium government have also been proponents of strong transatlantic ties within NATO. The current Dehaene gov ernment has repeated its desire for close ties with the United States on security issues and has expressed support for enlarging NATO to accommodate certain former Warsaw Pact nations.3 Belgium is a substantial aid donor, making bilateral and multilateral contributions to humanitarian aid and development programs.3 Belgium is a provider of peacekeeping troops and has participated in various peacekeeping operations in Somalia, Rwanda and former Yugoslavia.3 The United States and Belgium are indeed allies. Belgium joined the UN as a charter member on June 26, 1945, the country gave consistent support to the other Western democracies during the intense ideological and political struggle (the so-called cold war) with the USSR and the states within the Soviet sphere of influence.1 The United States and Belgium both share a promising and extensive economic relationship with each other. Under the evolving federal system, the primary areas of interest to U.S. business include foreign trade, environment and investment regimes and incentives.3 Belgium and the United States have strong reciprocal trade relations. Belgium is a major market for American exports in 1995. Since the end of World War 2, American businesses have played an active and important part in the Belgian economy.4 One example of US and Belgium economic relationship include the Telecommunications Services (TES). The partial privatization of BELGACOM and Ameritech’s involvement in the company have met the greatest growth potential in mobile telephone services.5 Also, many other U.S. companies are already active in the value-added network services market in Belgium.

First Breath Last Breath by Antler Analysis Essay

â€Å"First Breath Last Breath† is a poem written by Antler. The central theme of this poem is the beginning and the end of life. Antler manages to translate through words the cycle of life, using two characters the baby boy and the mother. The characters are connected in life through a strong relationship. The cycle is presented by the event of birth of a child and the death of the mother who gave him life. This poem is also about love, the love between a mother and her â€Å"baby boy†. The title of the poem â€Å"First Breath Last Breath† is composed of two parts. Breath† by definition it means the air inhaled and exhaled in respiration but it also means life, spirit or vitality. First part is â€Å"First Breath† means the beginning (â€Å"first†) of life (â€Å"breath†) and second part â€Å"Last Breath† means the end (â€Å"last†) of life (â€Å"breath†). The first part is also present in the first stanza in the ninth line â€Å"his first breath on Earth† emphasizing the topic of the first stanza – the beginning. The second part is present as well in the poem, in the second stanza, ninth line â€Å"exhales her last breath† emphasizing the second part of the title and also the topic of the second stanza – the end. An important aspect is the structure of the poem. It is composed of two stanzas, each stanza containing one sentence that is broken up at various intervals. Both stanzas have each ten lines. The intervals that the sentences are broken differ from line to line, the longest line being 8 syllables and the shortest being 3 syllables. This structure gives the author flexibility, writing this poem like he is writing a story. He is breaking up the sentence into various intervals in order to create â€Å"musicality† among the last words of each line. We could say that a summary of the poem can be composed of the first line and the last two lines of each stanza: â€Å"When a baby boy is born/†¦/his first breath on Earth/the Mother breathes it. † and â€Å"And when the Mother dies,/†¦/exhales her last breath,/her son inhales it. † The voice in this poem is the poet’s voice. He is invoking a sad, melancholic tone emphasized by the words â€Å"dies†, â€Å"last breath†, â€Å"grew up†. It is possible for the poet himself to transpose with the baby boy, showing his gratitude and love for his mother. It is just a supposition to say this because the verbs and pronouns are all used at the third person: â€Å"he†, â€Å"it†, â€Å"breathes†, â€Å"dies† etc. The third person mode along with the fact that there are no particular names given to the personages (â€Å"baby†, â€Å"midwife†, â€Å"Mother†) demonstrates that this poem is not about a particular story it is about every one of us. The place where all the events in this poem happen is unknown. The only word that answers the question: â€Å"Where? † is â€Å"on Earth† used in the first stanza ninth line. Although it answers the question â€Å"Where? the meaning of the words is to emphasize the importance of baby’s first breath. Putting into the equation the fact that the poem was written in 21st century and also the fact that the majority of events of this kind happen in a hospital, we can suppose that that is the location. One of the most important characteristic of this poem is antithetic view of the first and second stanza. In the first stanza it is about life, â€Å"baby boy is born†, â€Å"first breath† in comparison with the second stanza where it is about death, â€Å"Mother dies†, â€Å"last breath†. The poet creates a perfect antithetical symmetry using opposite words in the same location. For example: â€Å"When a baby boy is born† (location: first stanza, first line ) in comparison with â€Å"And when the Mother dies† (location: second stanza, first line), â€Å"his first breath on Earth† (location: first stanza, ninth line) in comparison with â€Å"exhales her last breath† (location: second stanza, ninth line). Another particularity of this poem is the transposition between the mother and the son used in the last line of first and second stanza: â€Å"the Mother breathes it† transposed into â€Å"her son inhales it†. In the first line of the first stanza we can identify an image of a baby boy born containing two monosyllable words â€Å"boy† and â€Å"born† that elongate the line with the help of the literary device alliteration: â€Å"baby boy born†. The first line also expresses the time when the next events will happen with the help of the adverb â€Å"when† identified at the beginning of the line. In the second line through enjambment technique â€Å"the story† it is continued with the presentation of an episodic personage, â€Å"the midwife† – the woman skilled in aiding the delivery of babies. As we continue with the third, fourth and fifth line the first important thing happens: the boy takes his first breath. Here we encounter the conjugation of the pronoun â€Å"he† – â€Å"he†, â€Å"his†, â€Å"him†. In the third line we encounter another alliteration â€Å"holds him†. The coma at the end of the fifth line delimitates the first event: the boy takes his first breath – from the second event: â€Å"the Mother breathes it†. It also expresses a short pause in speech. The fifth line is end stopped. The words â€Å"first breath† are also repeated in the ninth line in order to emphasize the importance of these words. First breath can also be translated into the beginning of life. If the first four verses were imagistic the fifth verse it is more auditory – the sound of breath. The second event starts with the movement of the child near his mother. This second event also uses the technique of enjambment and it is in symmetry with the first event having five lines as well. In the seventh line the author introduces the word mother with a capital M and using â€Å"the† an indefinite article. He uses this technique in order to express the connection between the Mother and her child and in order to particularize her as an important person in this poem. In the sixth and the seventh line the author shows how small the baby is by placing him near â€Å"the Mother’s face†. In the last line of the stanza the poet is using a figure of speech â€Å"the Mother breathes it† to show the connection that the baby just born made with his mother, to show the love between the mother and her child and to show how close the mother was to the baby. The second stanza starts with the conjunction â€Å"and† in order for the poet to emphasize the continuation of the story, to show what happens after, what is the next episode after the birth of the child. Through symmetry technique he again expresses the time when the events are occurring using the adverb â€Å"when†, but this time it happens â€Å"when the Mother dies†. The coma at the end of this line shows that there will be a short explanation, and also a short pause in speech. In the second line the poet shows us how much time has passed indicating that the â€Å"baby boy† from the first stanza is now a â€Å"middle-aged son†. The third verse expresses the admiration of the baby boy who grew up. The hyphen used at the end of this verse indicate a possible different continuation, indicate a longer pause where the reader can think about what the boy has become. The answer of the third line is given in the fourth line showing the admiration and love of the child for his mother: â€Å"†¦ grew up to be –/by her side,†. Through parallelism technique the author shows in the fifth line how the son placed his head next to his mother’s head: â€Å"his head next to her head†. Here are also present two alliterations: â€Å"his head†, â€Å"her head†. The hyphen at the end of the line indicates a longer pause. In the sixth line he again uses parallelism technique to show how close and how alike the mother and the son are: â€Å"follows her†¦with his†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . In the seventh and eighth line the author describes in a slower tone how the mother dies. In the last line of the second stanza the poet is using a figure of speech â€Å"her son inhales it† to express that the connection is never lost between the son and his mother. The poem is framed around the boy, because he is the one whom at the beginning of his life he is near his mother (â€Å"place him over/the Mother’s face†), during all his life he stands by his mother (â€Å"the baby grew up to be–/by her side†) and at the end of his mother’s life he is still near her (â€Å"And when the other dies/†¦/his head next to her head—â€Å"). When the baby boy takes his first breath it represents new life/vitality . The fact that the son â€Å"inhales† â€Å"her last breath† can have one other signification. By the definition breath means also spirit, and the son might inhale her spirit to always be with her, to always remember her. Both the mother and the son can be seen as a single organism, always close to each other, unity being powerfully emphasized in the words â€Å"follows her breathing with his breath†.

Use Of The Government And The Stratification Of Gender...

The year is 1800BC. The ruling king is Hammurabi. We are a part of the Mesopotamian civilization. We have already mastered agriculture and utilize the Indus River when possible. The day is going on as usual. But as we mingle about, we stumble upon a colossal seven foot tablet in the town square. Since we cannot read, we have one of the few people who can read it to us. It is called Hammurabi’s Code and we learn that it displays important cases regarding the king and is a list of rules for all citizens. For future historians, however, it is an opportunity to evaluate the new role of the government and the stratification of both gender and class. Hammurabi’s Code can be used to identify the lack of gender equality during the period of the†¦show more content†¦Whereas if a woman disrespects her husband, she is immediately sent to death. This immense gap in punishments strengthens the idea of gender stratification. Also, if a woman is caught cheating, it is her hus band’s decision whether or not the wife and the lover live. If he decides they are not to live, both will be put to death at once. The code fails to speak about the repercussions of a man cheating. One can infer that nothing will happen to a man who cheats. If a son doesn’t choose to marry a wife picked out for him, she can leave and will be given back all she gave to the family. This confirms the fact that women do not have much of a choice in marriage, everything is up to the male. Women however were somewhat protected in the sense of sexual oppressions. For example, if a man â€Å"pins down another man’s virgin wife† (Reilly, Hammurabi’s code, 55) he is given the death penalty. Women are somewhat protected because in order for the man to be punished, he has to be caught in the act. This implies that if a woman were to report the incident, nothing would be done. Hammurabi’s code gives historians a special sneak peek look into what is consi dered the beginnings of patriarchy. Once humans discovered how to do agriculture, class separation became clear and Mesopotamia was no exception as shown through Hammurabi’s Code. It is evident that the awilu, the highest class, were entitled to lesser sentences as long as the