Drugs :: essays research papers

The first time I did acid isn't the most interesting time I've done it, nor the most scary, but I guess it would still be a good read. I was going down to a friend's house on a Friday night. Everyone was planning to get majorly fucked up. A lot of people were going to do Dramamine. I read an FAQ on it, and it said if you have Asthma you shouldn't do Dramamine...and to be honest, Dramamine seemed pretty nightmarish after reading a few trip reports. So I decided to stick with something I knew: ROBO! I picked up this girl I promised to give a ride to my friend's house, and we stopped at the drug store, where I shopped for a nice bottle of Robotussin. I finally settled on generic CVS brand Robo. We hopped in the car, picked up an acquaintance of mine, Zack, and headed down to my friend's apartment. It was about an hour drive. We were all psyched because we knew we were going to be getting all fucked up that night. We listened to this local ska/punk band, Heft, and even though I felt like a dork, some Blink-182. I used to like them a lot, then they became famous, and I started feeling like a dork listening to them...I told myself that it's stupid to just not listen to things because of what other people would think though, and let myself enjoy the music. Besides, it was my tape. :) We saw this weird green lightning bolt while we were driving down. We started thinking maybe they're be a thunderstorm that night while we were all fucked up, and it would be awesome. After a little while, and a wrong turn or two, we ended up at my friend's (we'll call him Jo) apartment. Some of my friends were there already. There was P, who never does any sort of drugs...W, who always tried to get me to take acid, but i was too chicken...Jo, who owned the apartment...two girls who we'll call M and Fatty. Z was my acquaintance from the car, and H is the girl who I gave a ride down to the apartment. W told me that P was going to do Dramamine that night. That sort of worried me. P never did drugs, and I wondered if he would be ok, since the Dramamine trip reports I read seemed very disturbing.

Employee Resourcing Essay

Edwards, Scott and Raju (p. 71, 2003) have defined the term recruitment as â€Å"organizational practices and policies developed for the primary purpose of motivating applicants to apply, remain in the candidate pool, and accept offers. † Recruitment has been traditionally considered to have a minor role in the hiring process. Earlier the term recruitment to the hiring managers was primarily a means to indentify and use the sources, for instance the print media, which would give the maximum output in terms of applications from promising candidates. The importance of recruitment has increased multi-fold in recent times. This has been due to trends in 1990s like the changes in market which has necessitated a need for a large work force of specialized labors, and the internet which has given a wide platform for both the recruiters and job searchers to come in contact with each other (Edwards, Scott and Raju, p. 71, 2003). As a result of these trends the organizations have come to a scenario that not many people might apply when a job is posted. Even when the organization has selected a candidate it can no longer be assumed that they would be accepting these offers. Hence, there is an increasing awareness among people who take care of a company’s recruitment that the process covers far more than merely looking out for sources where the advertisements for job openings are to be put. This report gives an overview of the recruitment trends and selection practices in recent times in UK, the factors impacting these trends and selection practices in the country. Recruitment trends in UK in recent times The recruitment practices of organizations in UK have seen a drastic change in the recent times. Various practices and conditions are seen to exist in the organizations these days, which were not present a few decades ago like provision of creches, job-sharing, part-time work, and home-working. There is also a lot of stress on gender equality by the various companies. For instance, banks are seen to be the pioneers in devising various schemes to hire and retain women. Another of these trends is also to review policies such as those which used to encourage early retirement based on various conditions (Hendry, p. 42, 1995). There have been some additional schemes like performance related pays, which brought about the appraisal management system to fore. The trends for various organizations in UK is to use systems like the 360 feedback system for performance related pays, to motivate their employees so that they stay and work with the company and see this translated to an increase in the pay packages (Anderson, p. 130, 2005). Internet boom has been seen to impact all the aspects of businesses. Recruitment is no exception, and has seen a major change in the way companies recruit people. The trend to adopt internet as a means to recruit people, has also seen in face of the increasing number of companies looking to recruit people. The ease of finding people has increased as the companies can now access databases of people living in far off places in a short time. The online recruitment activity in UK increased by 30% for August 2007, from last year August 2006 (Monster, p. 1, 2007) For the managerial vacancies, the trend is that the vacancies are filled from the internal labor market while the senior management positions are as likely filled internally as externally. This trend means that on the supply side there has been an increase in new entrants in the labor market while on the demand side the organizations have a need for new managerial recruits. Selection Practices in UK in recent times Swift and Robertson (2000) cite several surveys conducted for selection practices to point out that the employers use a wide range of selection techniques depending upon the type of jobs for which the people are being recruited. They also said that the survey showed that no one method for selection was used as a standardized or stand-alone technique in small, middle, and even large sized corporations. The most used current selection practices were found to be application forms, interviews with single interviewer, panel interviewers, personality tests, references, ability tests, selection centers, CVs, and group selection centers. Despite the many reports of unreliability and invalidity, traditional selection methods of interview, application form and references are the most popular selection practices used. Of these, personal interviews are considered to be the most widely criticized method of selection, and the third most popular toll behind reference checking and application forms. The more sophisticated techniques like the assignment centers and psychological testing are relatively less used in UK. Though there has been a rise in the number of psychometric tests used by large sized corporations while selecting new recruits, the traditional methods are still the most common tools for selection (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 60, 2004). Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley (2004) also point out that there has been a rise in the flexible working practices in UK, in particular the non-standard contracts. There has been a rise in flexible contracts related to salary packages like sharing profits, introduction of performance incentive and also flexibility in the working hours. Changing environment in UK in the last few decades Organizations in UK faced the impact of the economic changes that occurred in 1980s through the 1990s. There were changes in the economic environment, labor law, government labor market policy, demographic changes and also the political climate, all of which had an impact on the organizations and hence their personnel management policies. There was a severe recession of 1980-81, followed by a period of growth till the early 1990s and again a slump in the last quarter of 1990s when the economic growth ceased (Hendry, p. 23, 1995). Due to the recession in the country there was a need for bringing in more foreign currency, hence imports became cheaper and foreign firms were drawn to the UK market. All of these brought about a collapse in the manufacturing sector which could not keep up with the measures taken by the government to bring up the recession. The industries began to restructure and this brought about the internationalization of various firms due to acquisitions and mergers (Hendry, p. 25, 1995). The trend for internationalization was present in UK but was chiefly restricted to Europe both in terms of trade and movement of capital. But the 1980s and 1990s saw the companies expand overseas in other countries to explore newer market and / or use cheaper labor due to the inherently tight labor market (Hendry, p. 27, 1995). There were other changes for instance the demographic and social changes brought about by the education system, which meant that more people were trained in higher education, and hence the labor force fell sharply through the 1980s. However, the proportion of women entering the labor market started to rise. Politically too UK saw marked changes as the Thatcher government gave way to new governments and different work related policies as well as the overall policies (Hendry, p. 40, 1995). Effects of External Environment on Labor Markets All the changes in the UK environment affected the personnel management practices by the organizations. The section above gave a brief on some of the major environment changes while this section would be giving the impact of the changes on the labor market and the next section would give the corresponding consequences in the recruitment and selection process. The collapse of the industrial segment in UK had far reaching impacts on the labor market. There was large scale unemployment which was well over 3 million for almost five years, with large regional imbalances. There were forced redundancies and many of the units were closed down. This made the companies look out for increased measures in productivity by using flexible working practices. This also led to the sharp demarcations between the various levels of employees. The slump led to internationalization in two ways. First the people in the middle class who were traditionally the labors increasingly sent their offspring to universities for higher studies. This led to an increase in the number of people qualified tor white collar and professional jobs, and the number of labors decreased. Organizations in UK hence started looking to countries in Asia and Africa for filling this labor gap. There were also direct acquisitions which led to foreign companies acquiring stakes in UK companies, which led to internationalization. The internationalization brought people from different cultures in contact with each other on regular basis. This meant that the people needed to be culturally conditioned to blend in easily with the increasingly changing work environment. The increase in the number of women in the industry at various levels brought about massive changes in the working culture of the organizations. There were issues like employee safety and newer incentives were introduced to attract employees like facilities of creches, providing pick-up and drop facilities. Effects of External Environment on Recruitment Process The labor market in UK has traditionally being tight due to the reasons outlined above. The market was affected due to two important events foot-and-mouth disease and 9/11 crisis. These events brought about crisis in the financial markets, a fall in tourism and other related activities, thus increasing the unemployment. However, in spite of these changes the labor market remains a challenge for recruiters in terms of recruitment and selection (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 48, 2004). The recruiters need to attract people to work in their organizations, which is the first important step. The second step is to follow a rigid but effective selection process which would ensure that the right people have been selected to work in the company. Recruitment and selection process are seen to be the most important functions of Human Resource Management process. This is because an effective recruitment and selection process ensures an efficient labor force while a poor one might have negative effects to the company’s productivity which are long lasting. The companies prefer that their employees are sources both internally and externally, so that the internal employees are motivated and fresh blood is brought into the company which is necessary for innovation. The rise in technology especially the internet has seen to it that the companies can have a diverse work force. The large companies have also used software technologies to use databases to keep track of their employees for checking their performance levels which would air the process of internal recruitment. UK companies traditionally preferred to fill their positions internally especially for managerial recruitments, though this is changing in the face of internationalization. Various organizations are also seen to improve the process of re-training and provide attractive incentives like performance related packages for recruiting and retaining employees (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 0, 2004). Effects of External Environment on Selection Process After potential candidates apply for the position, the selection process must ensure that the most promising candidates are selected for the positions. This is again a challenge to the recruiters because of the increasing stress laid on the employees to excel not only in their job but also added skills like team-spirit and adapting to change. Many of the positions require that the candidate must be comfortable for working in newer locations, which was traditionally limited to people in the sales and marketing department. In addition, the potential candidates must also be abreast with the fast changing technological environment, and be able to cope up with it. All these must be the elements of the selection process, which means a high burden for people designing the process to ensure only the right candidates, are selected (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 60, 2004). As is already mentioned above, personal interview though is the most criticized, is still the most preferred by recruiters in UK. The reason for this is probably the importance the company people give to personal judgment. With the increasing number of people coming from different regions and countries, references and applications are considered to be the most important tools in the selection process. The reference checking is done with due diligence and the responses are always recorded. In many cases, the companies also go in for reference checking by employing private agencies to check up on the potential candidate. Application forms are of course the necessary input for any further steps in the selection process (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley, p. 60, 2004).

Essay on The Civil War in the United States in 1861-1865 part 2

Essay on The Civil War in the United States in 1861-1865 part 2 Essay on The Civil War in the United States in 1861-1865 part 2 Essay on The Civil War in the United States in 1861-1865 part 2Essay on The Civil War in the United States in 1861-1865 part  1South was lack of basic necessities. Its small industry worked for the war effort, and sea blockade prevented export of cotton to Europe and getting food and medication. Although the human and material resources of the South were at the limit, its military power has not yet been broken.In the spring of 1863, under the command of Lee, southerners again dealt a severe blow to the federal army on the Virginia portion, but it was the last major victory of the rebels. Human resources of the North were huge, former slaves appeared to be good soldiers. Industry of the North, which ended the industrial revolution, worked at full capacity, farmers expanded supply of agricultural products (they purchased cotton in England or replaced with wool), thousands of immigrants came to the states.The army of Lee was stopped at Gettysburg (PA) and dropped back to Virginia in J uly 1863, and the Grant troops took Confederate stronghold on the river Mississippi. This marked a turning point in the war. In the spring of 1864, federal troops began an offensive in the west in the heart of the Confederacy Georgia. In the fall, General William Sherman took the largest industrial center of the South, Atlanta, and began famous march to the sea. On April 9, 28,000 army of Lee was surrendered, as well as troops of the other generals of the South (175 thousand people). Thus ended the civil war, which killed over 600 thousand people from both sides (Mousseau, 2012).Lincoln’s deathOn April 14, 1865, in the theater Lincoln was shot by the actor Booth, fanatic killers. It was the revenge of the slaveholders. Lincolns death plunged America into mourning. He gained respect and love of people of different political views and beliefs. Consistently following the universal values in politics and in life, unselfish and friendly, a great American, was one of the few polit ical figures of his time, who impressed even the supporters of revolutionary class struggle.Lincoln did not sought to the dictatorship in relation to the South. He wanted to restore the US on the same, equal to all states constitutional basis, with the only condition the recognition of the abolition of slavery. He considered magnanimity to the defeated, restoration of their political rights the most appropriate course of promoting civil peace. Life has shown, however, that solving problems of post-war reconstruction of the South was not so easy, and events have gone in a different direction than Lincoln relied.Reconstruction Era (18651877)   Slavery was abolished in the country irrevocably by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which was approved in April by the Senate, and by 3/4 of the states in December, 1865. There remained unresolved specific questions of the further existence of the South the conditions of admission of the former Confederate states into the Union, posi tion of former slave owners and freed slaves, device power and others. In the US, there was no consensus in ruling circles in this respect. A group of influential congressional Republicans headed by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner insisted on a military dictatorship over the South, deprivation of active participants of the rebellion of civil rights and providing them to blacks.After the death of Lincoln, disagreement between the President and Congress worsened. The new President Andrew Johnson, a former vice president, continued Lincoln’s course. He had neither fame nor the authority of his predecessor, and the practical results of the first peacekeeping policy turned against him. He adopted the decree of amnesty in May 1865, which restored the planters in civil, political and proprietary rights (except the right to have slaves).Confiscated during the war plantations were returned to former owners, who forced and threatened black population to work for former owner. There branched terrorist organizations, including the famous Ku Klux Klan. Having power, they adopted black codes laws that deprived former slaves land property rights, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, assembly and meetings, right to marry whites, and so on (Harvey, 2012).In July 1866, Congress passed the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. It deprived the leaders of the Confederation of the right to hold public office, and equalized the rights of blacks with whites. Radical Reconstruction meant the forced democratization of life in the South, with the support of the army, which entered southern states, but without unleashing terror and dictatorship.The agrarian question was decided by a resolution to buy property. By 1880, almost total illiteracy among blacks reduced to 70%. By the end of the 60s, in the southern states they actively used their political rights and were elected even to Congress. Constitution of the southern states was revised, which was a decisive factor in i ts acceptance to union on a new basis.A booming capitalism in a natural, evolutionary way leveled the differences between the North and the South, and in the 70s Radical Reconstruction gradually diminished. As the Democratic Party stepped up its mass base, including the expense of the farmers and poor whites of the South, the Republican lost its former influence over the masses. In 1876, presidential candidate of the Democrats, Samuel J. Tilden (NY) received more votes than Republican Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio. However, the election results were reviewed and majority was given to Hayes. Leaders of both parties made a deal: the US president was a Republican in exchange for a commitment to withdraw federal troops from the territory of the South.Meaning of the Civil War and Reconstruction Era   Both events were a single entity, and went far beyond the military victory of the North over the South. Conflict of free enterprise and plantation slavery can be seen as a conflict between t wo forms of ownership and diametrically opposed types of work organization of capital: slavery excludes wage labor, and vice versa.The main outcome of the Civil War was the abolishment of slavery. The remaining components of the US economy industry, commerce, agriculture farm developed before the war. In the northeast United States, the industrial revolution ended before the 60s. The Civil War temporarily reduced the rate of economic growth, but ultimately it prepared the development of capitalism on a much broader basis. Adopted in 1862 Homestead Act was the most progressive solution of the agrarian question, and the Republican Party, staying in power from 1861 to 1884, held a series of activities for the benefit of entrepreneurs.As for the South, after the Civil War it still was behind the North and West of the USA. Part of plantations were transferred to new owners, a part was divided into small plots and leased. Still mostly blacks worked on plantations, but as farm laborers or tenant sharecroppers, giving part of the harvest to the owner.The abolition of slavery created a crucial prerequisite for the formation of the labor market in the South, but it was not fully formed even in the years of radical Reconstruction. The main obstacle was the fact of racial discrimination black Americans usually could get only the most difficult and dirty work. Black people in general remained at the position of lower class, although a small portion of them became educated people, owners and even entrepreneurs.Reconstruction could not solve all the problems of turning the South into the same region of the US, as free north and west. However, it pushed the events follow the evolutionary path.ConclusionIt took almost a century the struggle of black Americans for their civil rights to culminate in the actual, real success. This occurred not only under the influence of their own struggle, which took sometimes violent forms, but also because of the evolution of American societ y on the way of recognition of human values and respect for human rights, which for the first time were proclaimed in America in 1776. The first step in this direction was made by the great document abolishing slavery, signed by Abraham Lincoln.The civil war between northern and southern states was the inevitable consequence of the contradictions between the two social systems in the country. The question of slavery, which was entirely determined by the economic and political interests of the planters, was the key issue. Maximum program of the most aggressive circles of the South was turning the US into a single slave power, but they were quite satisfied with separation from the Union as an independent state (Carroll, 2011).In the winter-spring 1861, Confederation of 11 southern states was formed. On April 13, southerners unleashed hostilities with shelling federal Fort Sumter in Charleston bay (South Carolina), whose small garrison capitulated and lowered the American flag. Thus be gan a four-year Civil War the most bloody and destructive of all that took place on the territory of the United States. The turning point in the war in favor of the free states was achieved through conducting it in a revolutionary way. Homestead Acts from May 20, and the act of freeing the slaves from September 22, 1862 had a crucial meaning. While South was lack of basic necessities, the north finished industrial revolution. On April 9, 1864 the victory was taken by the north and there started Reconstruction Era (1865-1877). The main outcome of the Civil War was the abolishment of slavery.

E-Commerce essays

E-Commerce essays K-Mart Web Site: During my visit at www.kmart.com, I found that Kmart web site is an elegant site that offers a complete picture of various products along with their specifications that Kmart sells through its web site. By clicking through different products shown on the web site, I found that that Kmart's web site provides a satisfactory on-line customer experience. Not only K-mart's web site enables easy interactivity along with complete specification of the products, but also it makes it quite easy for customers to check through different products and compare their prices. For example, Kmart has made it quite simple for customers to place their orders and make payment through the credit cards. I experimented with the process of ordering and found that the whole process of ordering the products is quite easy. In addition, I discovered that its site is easy to navigate that simplifies the whole process of getting a good over view of the products. As the work of Jones (2000: 178) argues that in order to be successful in e-commerce, the companies should carefully evaluate its virtual value chain for the usability, in this regard I believe that Kmart has been successful in creating a simple web site by providing an easy-to- During my visit www.walmart.com, Walmart's Web site is similar to Kmart in its appearance, except that Wall Mart site provides one additional option to customers to scan and check the prices of its entire set of products that it sells through the web site. In addition, I found that Wall mart's web site offers sufficient amount of information about its products on the web site. In other words, through the interface between Wall Mart's web, the customers can obtain plethora of information about different brands. Similar to K-mart, Walmart site is easy to use and makes it simple for customers to place the order and check out. Despite the ...

From Social Media Revolution to Social Media Evolution Dissertation

From Social Media Revolution to Social Media Evolution - Dissertation Example Marketing executives of five telecom company were approached to answer the questionnaire about SMM strategies and approach of their company. The method adopted in this research is qualitative research approach coalescing diverse case studies in the research strategy. SMM executives of five telecom companies were each provided with a specific questionnaire coordinated to their terrain of business. The five cases were analyzed with the help of data collected from the questionnaire. On the whole, result of this thesis concludes that communication by means of SM is still in the evolutionary stages of its development. Companies in general commend SM as a successful tool to surpass and sustain marketing communication, nevertheless, companies applaud SM as a tool for marketing communication. SM has brought revolution in the realm of communication, it holds immense growth potential concerning delineation and stipulation or blueprint of distinct platforms, for the reason that not all the avai lable platforms are convenient and relevant for every company. Table of Content Abstract....................

The Influences Of Reading And Writing In Life Essay

The Influences Of Reading And Writing In Life - Essay Example Despite the fact that I was not good in mathematics and athlete, writing and reading offered me the self-esteem I badly needed. Even though I had zero chance of winning in the field, I was able to contest with the best kids and turned out to be the best. Spelling, vocabulary, punctuation and grammar, and reading were the areas I knew I was talented in, and so was creative writing. This very aspect has been noticed both by my parents, who had seen my good grades, and teachers, who had issued those grades for my progress. As a result, reading has not only discovered a new impressive world of literature for me but also has shown me the way to self-improvement in all respects. The passion I had for writing and reading has improved my life in numerous ways. Through reading a lot of books, I have gained so much knowledge about life and the world we live in. Also, it enabled me to escape the actual tribulations and trials of the world. I cannot be able to jot down all the books I have manag ed to read through the centuries since they are just too many. But every book has made an impact on my life in a way, and the writing skills have enabled me to be creative and also developed my language-arts capabilities. All these have assisted me to overcome the flaws initiated by my NLD, and in this day and age, it plays a greater role. As a grown-up now I have gained a formal education in creative writing and through reading books like â€Å"The Institute of Children’s Literature,† my creative writing has improved professionally.

Personal Statement for Bioinformatics Graduate Program

For Bioinformatics Graduate Program - Personal Statement Example At High School, my plans for the future centered on my becoming a practicing doctor, with the skill of healing patients. I must admit that I had to overcome the disadvantage of a relatively weak foundation in Science, as a result of my Middle School curriculum in China, which did not include Biology. The language barrier also proved difficult to break during the initial years of my arrival in the USA, and my focus then was on mastering English and Mathematics, and understanding American culture. The scientific terms in Biology were difficult to come to grips with! However, my determination to enter the field of Medicine kept me going. The same determination is now my tool in my effort to overcome any shortcomings in my academic career. I am very aware that my GRE writing score of 3 could have been higher, and am determined to identify and address this through repeated practice of writing skills. A career in medicine continued to be my goal as I stood on the threshold of my freshman y ear at the University of California, Davis. However, the first Molecular Cellular Biology class I attended at the UC Davis, discussing gene therapy, proved to be a revelation to me: I had discovered the interest of my life! I was fascinated by the intricacies and application of genetics: especially in the area of finding epigenetic information. Here was a new front in the battle against chronic disease. As I continued to take additional technical electives in Molecular Biology, Microbiology, and Biotechnology, I came to realize that genetics is one of the most powerful tools available to humanity in the field of medicine. Gene association studies and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) detection can be used in disease prediction, thus potentially preventing disease formation. Genetics is the cutting-edge of health-care research and personalized medicine. The next step in my academic evolution was my realization of the power of technology. As the only child of immigrant parents who were focused on earning a living, the computer has been a good friend of mine, right from the age of twelve, when I moved to the USA. While working as a Laboratory Assistant at the Immunology and Histology Lab of UC Davis Veterinary School in 2009-2010, I became deeply aware of the vast amount of medical information stored and retrieved by accessing a database. This personal experience of the power and efficacy of computers impressed on me the importance of technology as a tool in research. I discovered that the hands-on processing of data gives me immense satisfaction. Gradually, my earlier interest in science and research shifted focus from the traditional bench sitting to a computer oriented approach. Therefore, in my junior year of college, I declared my major as Biotechnology, with a Bioinformatics option that combined my interests in both technology/informatics and biology/genetics. The Applied Bioinformatics course I took in the fall of 2010 confirmed that my special interest lay in the field of bioinformatics and its application in genetic/genomic studies. Craving further practical experience in this field, I opted for internships at different laboratories: Theg Lab, UC Davis; Molecular Anthropology Laboratory, UC Davis; Dubcovsky Wheat Genetic Lab, UC Davis;