ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Discussion In the speech by Helen Zia, we are introduced to the power of activism in helping to bring relevant social issues to the attention of the general public and how through activism true and lasting change can be enacted. Ms. Zia spoke of the responsibility we all have in campaigning for not only our rights but the rights of others and how activism is a necessary tool to ensure that the freedoms and liberties we take for granted today are not arbitrarily taken away from us. While I do admit that activism is a necessity in the world today due to the many ways in which corporations and government entities have attempted to violate our rights, the fact remains that activism should not be considered an essential responsibility as Ms. Zia has phrased it, rather, activism should be thought of as a luxury available to a select few. Main body One of the main problems I had with the lecture was that despite Ms. Zia elaborating on the positive impact activism has had and how it has helped to shape the world as we know it, the problem is that some people do not have the time to be activists. Activities such as caring for one’s family, having a job, making a living, and ensuring that there is food on the table all consume significant amounts of time and make an individual less inclined towards becoming an activist. Thus, from a certain perspective, activism is at times an activity that is entered into by individuals who have a sufficient amount of time and money on their hands. As such, it is not all that surprising that a large percentage of activist leaders and those who start particular activist movements are individuals with significant amounts of monetary resources. It should also be noted that in countries such as Russia, China, and in several parts of the Middle East, activism has often resulted in the arrest, disappearance, and at times outright death of activists as a direct result of reprisals from the government. While such issues were covered, I believe that Ms. Zia failed to place a significant amount of emphasis on the dangers that activism could have on its participants with the potential for death and disappearance being a very real danger for any activist. This paper though is not a critique against activism at all; in fact, I would highly encourage people to enter into responsible and safe methods of activism. The only problem I have with what Ms. Zia stated was that she failed to give a sufficient delineation between the different types of activism out there and how certain types of activism could result in an individual’s death. Another factor that I would like to point out is that an insufficient level of elaboration was devoted to the power of online social media. Conclusion From my perspective, I believe that activism through various online social media tools and websites (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) is the “wave of the future” so to speak due to the way in which it enables particular groups to re
Summary The Finnish Bookstore had employed a number of sales-training programs, these intended at improving the sales skills of the different employees, as the sales department plays an important role in the success of any venture. Particular attention was given to the customer care skills of the sales team, as deficiencies in customer attendance and care could cost the Bookstore greatly. In cultivating the customer care proficiency of the sales team, the Bookstore employed a training program to improve different proficiency areas. These included approaching clients, taking orders and managing counterarguments as well as the closure of sale deals. The program also sought to enhance the areas of evaluating their prior experience in dealing with customers – from their previous practices and enhance team work among the different workers. The simulation program was an effective training course, as it offered insights – both to the workers as well as the management, regarding the failure points of the different workers. This is evidenced form the working of the program, which can turn-down the responses made by the sales team; in the case they are ineffective as per the expected direction of argument. In assessing the development needs of the staff, competitiveness and dynamics of the sales environment are given central importance – as these determine the aptitude of the workers. After identifying the development needs of the company, the intervention will take the levels of assessment, design, implementation, and evaluation – towards evaluating the job-based proficiency auditing. Customer service will be evaluated on the basis of a current proficiency assessment model, while interpersonal skills will be evaluated using the proficiency resulting from real-work trends. In developing leadership skills, gap analysis evaluation will be used, while the evaluation of the interventions will involve a during-study and an after-study evaluation, so as to evaluate the skills improvement realized from the training exercise. Background The Finnish Bookstore under discussion wanted to improve the service skills of their sales force – as most of the employees had been taught, only generic sales skills, during a two-day training and another routine training. The employees of the Bookstore were also taken through classroom instruction sessions, especially the sales personnel – for a period of over ten years. With the help of a digital solutions expert, the store has created a simulation-based program, designed to engage the parties in solving real-life sales issues. The program engaged a live coach and a group of peers, over an online platform – with the option of continuing the practice at own time. The model was designed to impart practical skills, and not information – as the previous programs did. The focus of the training was to develop skills of approaching customers, choosing satisfactory responses to their inquiries,
Introduction Harold Washington was a Black American born in 1922 in Chicago State, where he lived and schooled. During his lifetime, Harold served as a lawyer fighting for the rights of the Blacks, and in many political positions, including the mayoral position. During his tenure in the political arena, Harold championed for the rights of blacks in aspects like employment, gender discrimination, and fairness. Hence, this study examines the main achievements of Harold Washington in the fields of employment, racism, equality in provision of social amenities, gender equality, freedom of expression, and the creation of the ethics commission in the United States. Main Achievements of Harold Washington Employment opportunities During his time in office, Harold advocated for equal employment opportunities for all citizens in the United States. Harold supported the implementation of the United States Fair Employment Practices Act and the civil rights act, which promised to enhance employment opportunities for Black Americans. According to Newman (2004), Harold Washington was very instrumental in the fight for equal employment opportunities for all United States citizens. Harold’s fight for increased employment was not only restricted to the white-collar employment, but was also inclusive of job opportunities in the military. In addition, Harold was on the forefront in the implementation and practice of the provisions outlined by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that banned racial discrimination. Racism Another main objective that Harold fought for was racial discrimination against Black Americans, Latin Americans, and Asians termed as minorities by the Native Americans. During the time of Harold’s political reign, racial discrimination was very prevalent to the extent that some schools, hospitals, and even churches performed their operations in accordance to specific races. While working in the Illinois senate, Harold used this opportunity to enact and promote the Human Rights Act. The provisions in the Human Rights Act promoted fair and equal treatment of all people living in the United States, regardless of color, nationality, or place of origin (Newman, 2004). The Act was very important as it enabled the Black Americans to receive fair treatment and respect from the Native Americans, who initially discriminated them in terms of race and place of origin. Equality in Provisions of Social Amenities During his political reign, Harold witnessed various challenges that were faced by the Blacks and other minorities. The state focused on Native Americans, who were the majority, in the provision of basic services like education, treatment, and accommodation. Harold used his political position to champion for equality in the provision of basic services and ensured that the Blacks and other minorities received fair treatment from state authorities. Newman (2004) explains that the Human Rights Act promoted increased access to public facilities especially by the Blacks. Additionally, another A
Abstract Columbia River plays significant role in the lives of the aboriginal communities in Canada. It is a source of water, fish especially salmon and other resources. This paper discusses the current aboriginal involvement with the Columbia River, the current celebrations associated to it and salmon as well as the impacts of human activities on salmon. Introduction The land and waters of River Columbia Basin provide rich natural resources, mainly, salmon and cedar, to the aboriginal communities in this region. The aboriginal communities on the Canadian side of the river have highly structured cultures which are very similar since they share certain characteristics like the significance of salmon to their cultures. Some of the aboriginal tribes who live around and utilize the Columbia River resources include the Metis people in the Kootenay Region, the Sinixt people in the Upper Columbia Basin, the Skoyelpi (Colville) who are neighbours to the Sinixt people, Ktunaxa, Shuswap, Kalispel, Oreille and Flathead among others. Current Aboriginal involvement with the Columbia River Salmon has economic importance for these tribes since it has been and is still used for trade and as food. Salmon had spiritual as well as cultural significance in some cultures especially the Indian Colvilles, and they would perform rituals to celebrate salmon harvest. Today, salmon remains the richest as well as the most important wild food source for the aboriginal communities that live in the Columbia Basin. Thus, they have continually exploited Columbia River to harvest their important wild food, salmon. The aboriginal communities also use Columbia River for logging timber that they transport to the saw mills established in the region to exploit the temperate forests in the basin. They also use the river for recreation purposes. The aboriginal communities of Canada have also recognized the economic importance of Columbia River have increased their involvement in the conservation of the river and its natural resources which include Salmon fish. The aboriginal tribes, states and the federal government are partnering to restore as well as to improve the water and land quality of the Columbia River Basin (Quinn, 1991). Current celebrations of the River and its salmon For hundred of years, the aboriginal communities of Canada living in River Columbia Basin have had elaborate rituals as well as ceremonies as they celebrate the return of salmon into the river. Many aboriginal tribes in Canada still celebrate the first harvest of Chinook salmon every year since chinook is the most common salmon that spawn in the river (Montgomery, 2003). These people are largely fishermen and therefore always anticipate the return of salmon, espe
The Book’s Focus Ronald Takaki’s book ‘A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America’ is predominantly concerned with the perspectives of minority groups about multicultural America. The book handles the topics of Jews, Chicanos, Mexicans, Japanese, Native Americans, Chinese, African-Americans, and people of the Irish originality. The history of all these people comprising the American diversity is addressed from pre-to-post slavery historic period. The author also ties the multicultural history of people comprising American diversity with a thorough analysis of the place they are at the time of writing his book. The book is organized such that every chapter addresses the history of a particular ethnic group coupled with covering the attitudes of the public towards a certain minority group over a given chronological period. Other issues relating to specific minority groups in every chapter include public policy, attitudes developed by the minority groups towards their conditions, and laws that are enacted against or for the minority group under scrutiny. Research Questions A recurring theme in the book is the attitude of ‘us against those others’ developed by structures of rule. Therefore, among the many research questions introspected by Ronald Takaki, two questions are profound. These are:  1. What does it mean to be an American?  2. What historic path has one gone through to fit in the current definition of an American? Responding to this question, Ronald Takaki is prompted to recount the visit, political, and economic history of the non-Anglo people of the United States. Methodology The main methodology adopted by Takaki to approach his broad subject is making use of various telegrams, folk songs, poetry, photographs, and even letters within the texts of his book as the main primary sources. He does this to evidence the cultural diverseness of the American people. One of the songs that are meaningful to me include “Down the railroad, um-huh Well, raise the iron, um-huh Raise the iron, um-huh” 1 . Black railroad workers sang this song during the slavery period. It reflects the ideologies of diversity differences among the Americans often leading to perceptions that blacks were inferiors who could only serve as slaves, a perception that has changed since the invention. Master Narrative of American History In the development of his main concepts in the book ‘A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural’, Takaki sets the stage by recounting the conversation he held with a Taxi driver chauffeuring him to the hotel “to attend a conference on multiculturalism” 2 . The main concept driven home by Takaki’s book is that the master narrative of America is dominated by racism. Therefore, he sees some Americans as having narrowed “but widely shared a sense of the past – a history that has viewed Americans as Europeans in ancestry” 3 . In the
Charity is one of the phenomena that distinguish the modern world from the world of the ancient times. Trying to help people in need, human beings demonstrate their being humane and understanding of the problems of others. However, there are people ready to take advantage of such a philanthropic activity as help to others, or charity. Numerous schemes and other illegal activities are created in order to get someone’s money and use them for private purposes instead of helping the suffering people. To avoid such situations, every person deciding to donate a certain sum of money to a certain organization should monitor the market in order to find out whether this organization is clear and legal in its essence, and whether the money this person will donate will be actually used for help to those who need it. Therefore, this report is the advice to Martina Lopez in her search for a reliable organization to donate ₤5 million to. To begin with, it is necessary to state that charitable organizations, or charities, are subject to public scrutiny nowadays. The example of the Crescent Relief, whose activities were investigated by The British Charity Commission as for its alleged relation to the organization of airline crashes and blows, is rather important (Timmons, 2006). To avoid donating money to the organization having the reputation of the kind, it is necessary to take a brief look at such charities as British Diabetic Association and British Institute of Learning Disabilities, as they both deal with the vital social issues of today under the control of the UK Government. The former organization is busy helping people suffering from diabetes. This disease is a burning issue of today as far as over 2% of the current population of the United Kingdom are affected by it. The illness is all about the digesting processes in the human organism, which are carried out through the production of insulin hormone: People who don’t have diabetes produce insulin naturally to maintain constant blood glucose levels – neither too high or too low. Diabetes is the result of impaired pancreatic function where production of insulin is either limited or ceases altogether (British Diabetic Association, 2009). Moreover, diabetes can result in a number of accompanying diseases including blindness, dysfunction of kidneys, etc. Therefore, understanding the seriousness of the issue, British Diabetic Association fights with it as hard as it can. Thus, the strong points of the organization include first of all the fact that it sponsors research in diabetes treatment. Secondly, it funds the development of clinics for people suffering of the disea
Analysis A “smart city” is an excellent type of city to support innovation because it is organized around the idea to be self-sustainable with the use of information and communication technologies and multiple other innovative means to stimulate advancement and quality of life (Manville et al. 2014). A “smart city” is intended to promote the efficiency of urban operation and meet the needs of its inhabitants (ITU 2014a). The organization of this type of populated locality allows providing the necessary facilities for economic and social activity, and together with this, it supports the exalted standards of the environmental protection (ITU 2014a). A “smart city” is, first of all, the living area where the latest information and communication technologies have come in use (ITU 2014b). Innovation is also inevitably connected with the latest information and communication technologies. Therefore, a “smart city” is the place where the essential components of innovation implement to optimize people’s daily life. So, the citizens of “smart cities” get the necessary tools into their hands to make their labour highly more effective and their social life more fulfilling. As a result, the new generations of intelligent and efficient people are able to progress to the horizons of the never yet seen innovation. To illustrate, the real life example from Barcelona, Spain can be considered. Being the ancient city, Barcelona has faced a number of complex developmental problems due to the poor conformability of its infrastructure to the requirements of the new era of technological progress. However, today the city has been able to achieve the unprecedented innovation success due to the total redevelopment of the city information and communication technologies. Further, one of the major characteristics of “smart cities” is ‘smart governance (Manville et al. 2014). Smart governance is also the key variable of any innovation project because no achievement is possible without an effective manager. Therefore, the smart governance available in smart cities is the great contributor to innovation. Without the smart governance, “smart cities” will meet regulation difficulties at the very beginning of their development because their formation requires the smart horizontal actions such as standards and common measurement frameworks. Smart people, which is another characteristic of “smart cities” according to Manville et al. (2014), have their supporting role in promoting innovation together with the smart governors. These are the people who utilize their potential including their intelligence, physical power, and creativity to keep on moving to the further levels of advancement. Manville et al. (2014) provided another significant detail in connection with the smart governance and smart people in “smart cities”, which is the private-public partnerships. The private-public partnerships are a very promising form of governance and people co-operation due to the fact that they contribute to the development of expertise, t
Introduction The aim of the study is to analyse the statement that “quality manuals are a waste of time, they take too long to prepare and don’t make any difference to the quality of the product” based on the Orbital Traction case study (Ai 8). Orbital Traction is a company that manufactures high quality products using different quality manual standards that apply across each department of the company for quality assurance (Bronson & Merryman 2010). The purpose of a quality manual is to “satisfy a need, meet product specifications, and provide a service or product that is free of deficiencies” (Voss 2005, p.7). To achieve the quality assurance goal at Orbital Traction, the quality assurance department is responsible for writing the quality manual that provides a framework for developing high quality products and services that are consisted with the standards of quality that are detailed in the quality manual (Bhuiyan & Alam 2005). According to Bronson and Merryman (2010), a quality manual is mandatory for the purpose of complying with the standards of quality that are detailed in the ISO 9000 standard and control documents. However, it raises the question that is a quality manual a waste of time to write? Costly in terms of resources The quality assurance department at Orbital Traction invests time and money and other resources to develop quality manuals that provide a quality assurance framework for the company’s quality management system to ensure better service delivery. Here, a quality management “system is maintained and continually improved through the use of the quality policy, quality objectives, internal and external audit results, analysis of data, corrective and preventive action and periodic management reviews” (Voss (2005, p.3). Zeiler (2011) agree that the task of writing quality manuals is a complex process that requires inputs from different sources such as knowledgeable experts and well-skilled human resources. That allows the quality assurance department to keep abreast with the constant need to revise the quality policies, audit results, quality objectives and conduct management reviews for all the items in the quality manual. A study by Zeiler (2011) shows a company develops quality manuals to monitor, verify, validate, inspect, and test the process requirements of a good quality product. However, the need to write a new quality manual by the quality assurance department when Orbital Traction develops a new product is contradictory process because to develop a new product or service, the new product or service is introduced with a specifications document that provides details and standard measures of quality that are req