Warren Pryor

Poem Essay Warren Pryor From Farm to City Feeling like the grass is greener on the other side of the fence is a common feeling. In the poem, Warren Pryor, the protagonist’s parents sacrifice everything â€Å"to free him from the stony fields, the meagre acreage that bore them down. † Warren’s parents only want what they think is best for him — and that isn’t life on a farm. â€Å"They blushed with pride when, at his graduation, they watched him picking up the slender scroll, his passport from the years of brutal toil and lonely patience in a barren hole. † But Warren’s parents are pushing him to pursue a career he doesn’t want.They see a new life in the city as more desirable than working the stony fields — the grass really is greener on the other side. In the poem, Alden Nowlan suggests that the parents’ wish to ensure Warren escapes the farm is stronger than their son’s desire to choose his own path in lif e. Warren doesn’t fight his parent’s decision to send him away to school and off the acreage. â€Å"He was saved from their thistle-strewn farm and its red dirt,† they believe. â€Å"And he said nothing. † There are two views of the farm in this poem. His parents think of the acreage as a desolate wasteland and Warren sees it as home.While Warren is lucky to have parents who are willing to sacrifice to provide him a better life, it’s a sacrifice he doesn’t want. He should have told his parents how he felt. In his job at the bank, Warren feels powerless and angry, â€Å"like a young bear inside his teller’s cage. † He feels conflicted because he doesn’t want to betray his parents’ choices, but he’s unhappy with his life. His â€Å"axe-hewn hands† are wasted, just as a bear’s strength would be if it was caged. Warren feels caged by his city life and he has developed his own desire to escape. War ren Pryor shows how influential parents can be — in both positive and egative respects. If the poem were to be told from the parents’ point of view it would tell a completely different story. There is also a hint of irony in this poem because Warren’s parents are suffering to push him into a life that creates even more suffering. The poem tells us we must try to live our lives in our own way, and not allow others to choose our path. Warren struggles to cope with city life and his parents deal with the hardships of farm life. They both want to escape to a better place. But everyone has their own dreams of where that better place is. For some, that may mean working on a farm.

Advantages of Chemical and Biological Weapons Essay

Chemical and Biological Weapons are Your FriendsAs we go on our daily lives, terrorists are buying and developing dangerous and hazardous biological and chemical weapons to obliterate us. They do not care who they harm; their mission is to cause terror, to spread chaos, to engulf the world in anarchy. They want to know that they are making people terminally ill and sick. They will be enjoying a job well done while your skin is covered with excruciating painful blisters, or while you tell your loved ones that everything will be fine when there will clearly be a fatal result. Chemical and biological warfare has been around for many centuries. This type of warfare is not new. The Chinese, Greeks, and indigenous groups from South America used it. Whether it was arrows tipped with toxins, or the catapulting bacteria infested bodies, or the burning of toxic chemicals, each had its own deadly way of taking out the enemy. (Solomon 5-6) The U.S. should not stop developing biological and chemical weapons. Chemical and Biological warfare is most useful for taking out enemy personnel behind enemy lines. Al Mauronis book, Chemical and Biological Warfare, states, The larger artillery projectiles [] might use mustard, VX, or thickened GD to contaminate areas behind enemy forces, threatening their ability to resupply or to reinforce a particular sector (108). It is an inexpensive way to eliminate foes compared to sending in an army battalion and risk losing human lives. The biggest benefit from using biochemical weapons, as opposed to sending in persons to do the attacking, is that you can be far away from the danger of combat, and thereby limit exposure to your own troops. The biochemical strike can be executed from either a long-range cruise missile or you can have a stealth bomber deliver it to the exact point where the enemy is situated. This way the U.S. military have less casualties and losses. To further understand how to protect ourselves, we must develop these weapons and test them. There is no way of knowing when a terrorist cell in hiding is planning an attack so we must be prepared with full comprehension of these destructive weapons. How are we supposed to defend ourselves without any knowledge whatsoever of these weapons? We must not only protect ourselves  with precautionary weapons and plans but we must also arm ourselves with knowledge of these weapons. The U.S. must develop, research, and execute defensive plans so we can be safe. There are countries that will use these weapons, but they are also fearful of those weapons being used against them. That is why it crucial for the U.S. to have these weapons at hand. You can prevent a war and make a nation surrender with just the threat of launching a biochemical strike. Saddam Hussein stalled the US for a total of six months from invading Iraq by just mentioning that the country was willing to use biochemical weapons if the U.S. tried to invade. This is called brinkmanship. Just having biochemical weapons is like having a temporary shield that protects against invasion from an opposing country. Countries are fearful of brinkmanship and usually one country will back down for fear of total annihilation- annihilation, a reality that our generation must now try in order to do everything in our power to prevent it from happening. One may think that these weapons of mass destruction will only cause, well destruction, but what people dont know is that they have already done some good. Smallpox has been eradicated because it was proven to be extremely deadly in weapons tests and so it was practically wiped out. It now exists only in two heavily guarded facilities in Russia and the United States. They are not to be destroyed because these weapons of mass destruction may be useful in developing vaccines, antiviral drugs, and diagnostic tests. Bibliography: Mauroni, Al. Chemical and Biological Warfare. Contemporary World Issue. California: Santa Ana, 2003Solomon, Brian, ed. Chemical and Biological Warfare. New York: Dublin, 1999. Stone, J.D.. Free Republic 10/8/2008 .

Organisational Development Strategy

Introduction Change is a constant thing and this transpires within world in many ways. As the world becomes more complicated and increasingly intertwined, changes ostensibly far away affect us. Thus, change may sometimes appear to occur frequently and arbitrarily. We are gradually becoming cognizant of how connected we are to one another and to our world. Organizations must withal be cognizant of their holistic nature and of the ways their members affect one another.The incredible amount of change has coerced individuals and organizations to visually perceive â€Å"the immensely colossal picture† and to be cognizant of how events affect them and vice versa. Organization development is a new term which means a conceptual, organization-wide effort to increment an organization's efficacy and viability. Warren Bennis has referred to OD as a replication to transmute, an intricate educational strategy intended to transmute the notions, attitudes, values, and structure of an organiza tion so that it can better habituate to new technologies, markets, challenges, and the dizzying rate of change itself.OD is neither â€Å"anything done to better an organization† nor is it â€Å"the training function of the organization†; it is a particular kind of change process designed to establish a particular kind of end result. OD can involve interventions in the organization's â€Å"processes,† utilizing behavioural science knowledge organizational reflection, system amelioration, orchestrating and self-analysis. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), incorporated on June 16, 1911, is an information technology (IT) company.IBM operates in five segments: Global Technology Services (GTS), Global Business Services (GBS), Software, Systems and Technology and Global Financing. GTS primarily provides IT infrastructure services and business process services. GBS provides professional services and application management services. Software consists pri marily of middleware and operating systems software. Systems and Technology provides clients with business solutions requiring advanced computing power and storage capabilities. Global Financing invests in financing assets, leverages with debt and manages the associated risks.In May 2012, the Company acquired Varicent Software Incorporated. In May 2012, the Company acquired Vivisimo. In June 2012, the Company acquired Tealeaf Technology, Inc. On August 1, 2012, Toshiba Tec Corporation acquired the retail store solution business from IBM. In September 2012, it acquired Butterfly Software Ltd. In October 2012, it acquired Texas Memory Systems. In October 2012, the Company announced the opening of three new branch offices in ASEAN, which are located in the cities of Ipoh and Malacca in Malaysia and Bandung in Indonesia, and announced the opening of three new branches across Brazil.In December 2012, the Company acquired Kenexa. In February 2013, it completed the acquisition of StoredIQ. In April 2011, the Company acquired TRIRIGA, Inc. In October 2011, the Company acquired i2. In October 2011, the Company acquired Algorithmics. In October 2011, it acquired Q1 Labs Inc. In November 2011, the Company opened in Romania its European site for developing and testing IBM switch and networking hardware and software. In December 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of Curam Software Ltd. In January 9, 2012, the Company acquired Platform Computing. In January 11, 2012, the Company acquired Green Hat.In February 1, 2012, the Company acquired Emptoris Inc. In February 15, 2012, the Company acquired DemandTec Inc. In February 10, 2012, the Company completed the acquisition of Worklight. In March 2012, the Company opened a new branch office in Ludhiana, Punjab, India. (http://www. reuters. com/finance/stocks/companyProfile? symbol=IBM) In 1992-1993, IBM began to lose money and struggled to meet payroll for the over 300,000 employees because of the changing market landsca pe. Louis Gerstner, the recently appointed CEO, saved the company by changing IBM’s culture and business model.As we know now one of IBM’s core businesses is consulting, which had not been a key component of the legacy model. It seemed like IBM was facing a similar, if perhaps more dire, situation to Merrill Lynch in the mid 2000’s. (http://professorjickblog. com/post/4194417315/organizational-change-at-ibm) IBM helped pioneer information technology over the years and it stands today at the forefront of a worldwide industry that is revolutionizing the way in which enterprises, organizations and people operate and thrive. The pace of change in that industry, of course, is accelerating, and its scope and impact are widening.In these pages, you can trace that change from the earliest antecedents of IBM, to the most recent developments. You can scan the entire IBM continuum from the 19th century to the 21st or pinpoint — year-by year or decade-by-decade †” the key events that have led to the IBM of today. (http://www-03. ibm. com/ibm/history/history/history_intro. html) IBM has been in the industry for a hundred years already but this paper will focus on the organizational changes and developments with the company for the past 20 years. Brief HistoryIn 1911 IBM was first incorporated in New York as the Computing-Tabulating-Recoding Company. The company’s history, however, can be traced back to 1890, when the United States was receiving waves of immigrants. To meet the needs of measuring population the US Census Bureau sponsored a contest to find the most efficient means of tabulating census data. The contest was won by German immigrant and Census Bureau statistician, Herman Hollerith. Hollerith formed the Punch Card Tabulating Machine Co. in 1896. In 1911 Hollerith’s company merged with Computing Scale Co. f America and International Time Recording Co. to form Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. The company manufactur ed and sold products ranging from commercial scales and industrial time recorder to meat and cheese slicers, tabulators and punch cards. In the beginning the company operated in New York City only. Within a short period of time, however, it quickly expanded its office and plants to other parts of New York State, Washington, DC, Ohio, Michigan and Toronto, Canada. In 1914 Thomas J. Watson joined the company and became the president of the company within eleven months.Under his leadership the company continued to expand its products and services. At that time the company focused on producing large scales custom built tabulating solutions for businesses. Within ten years Watson had expanded the company’s business operations to Europe, South America, Asia and Australia and in 1924 the company was renamed International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) to reflect the firm’s worldwide expansion IBM refers to the decades between 1939 and 1963 as the ‘Era of Innovation ’. During this period the company’s product line expanded ignificantly. In 1891 IBM introduced personal computers (PCs) for small businesses, schools and homes. For first time, IBM collaborated with Intel and Microsoft to produce personal computers. In 1985 IBM introduced local area networks (LAN), which permitted PC users to exchange information and share printers and files within a building or complex. IBM established a foundation for network computing and numerous applications of PCs. In 1993 Louis V. Gerstner, Jr, a former executive at American Express, Nabisco and McKinsey & Co. joined IBM as CEO. Gerstner emphasized the need to provide integrated solutions for the company’s customers. He also decided to keep company, together instead of splitting it into separate independent companies. Today IBM’s strength lies in its combined expertise in solutions, services, products and technologies. http://historyofbusiness. blogspot. com/2009/04/brief-history-o f-ibm. html How IBM does their Organizational Development IBM has launched one of its companies fixating on business strategies and development.So therefore, they will be one of the good companies that we can optically canvass and study how they remain successful over the years. IBM Global Business Services offers one of the largest strategy & transmute practices in the world, their strategy & transmute practice amalgamates business strategy with technology insight to help organizations develop, align and implement their business vision across four strategic dimensions – business strategy, operating strategy, organization change strategy and technology strategy – to drive innovation and magnification.This is withal one of the reasons why IBM is capable of transmuting quickly and successfully. Instead of going with the latest trends, they mold, develop and lead them. By combining the proven talent with the deep research, scale and scope of IBM, they have built a unique approach to industry solution development. This approach allows them to address the opportunities that matter most and deliver business outcomes with faster time-to-value.The IBM strategy and transformation practice helps expand the horizon possibilities while implementing with rigor. Its three areas of competence are aligned to drive opportunity and execute across the value chain. The insight provided by innovation and growth services allows setting an overall direction for the organization by developing sustainable business, customer and technology strategies. Their capabilities within the operations and finance area help optimize how the organization functions to drive higher performance.And finally, with organization and people expertise, they can develop and lead the talented individuals who create value and competitive advantage. With over 100 years of business and technology experience, IBM has demonstrated its ability to drive performance through continuous transformation of their business model, operations, technology and workforce. Their strategy and transformation practice draws upon these experiences as well as extensive IBM assets and best practices.With consultants in over 170 countries and deep expertise in 17 industries, IBM has proven the effectiveness and value of its approach. IBM thought leadership and research – acknowledged by analysts as among the best in the industry – are based on market-driven intelligence, in-depth interviews, and our own transformation story. IBM has a long track record of success in helping companies chart a course for business transformation.This commences with strategic orchestrating that can envision a broad range of future scenarios. Their consultants fixate on results, through the development of business models and executable strategies that foster innovation, sustainable magnification and profitability. They help companies and organizations build on key strategic drivers such as new product and accommodation offerings, dynamic market opportunities, new channels and greater customer insight to create greater competitiveness.Our team of strategists provides a clear roadmap for differentiation predicated on business model innovation, implemented through efficient processes and operations. Definitely by doing this, they have also implemented these strategies within their organization and have proven to have good results. (ftp://public. dhe. ibm. com/common/ssi/ecm/en/gbb03089usen/GBB03089USEN. PDF) The processes and strategies that they have developed and proved over the years are also the factors why their organization is very stable.According to their website, below are some of the services that they offer and most likely apply within their organization as well. IBM's Organization and Workforce Transformation offering assists clients with two transformational imperatives: firstly, it enables them to transform their workforce into the productive, innovative and high-performan ce force necessary to survive and thrive; secondly it manages the people elements in any transformation being undertaken (process optimization, business model transformation, etc. Our services include: * Learning transformation: Addresses the need to inspire and equip people in business to improve performance, skills and knowledge for the following results: aligning learning initiatives with organizational and business goals, developing learning strategies, and harnessing the power of technology to enhance learning and performance. Talent management: Design strategies and solutions to align talent management with business priorities, covering talent sourcing, performance, succession management and rewards and recognition. This solution includes process design, systems implementation, change management and talent analytics. * Social business: Drive innovation and growth by connecting people to people, people to data and information, and people to personal and institutional knowledge inside an organization and across the larger organizational ecosystem. Workforce analytics and optimization: This offering leverages analytics to design evidence-based strategies and practices for optimizing workforce performance and productivity to develop information strategies, and a workforce measurement framework, which can help identify key metrics and align with employee goals. Organization design: Organization design enables enterprises to align their organization with new or existing business models and strategies to maximize effectiveness by clarifying work responsibilities and redefining jobs and their relationships to one another (structure), governance mechanisms, and other organizational elements to drive new behavior supporting strategic change and business results. * Change management: Change management is a roactive and systematic approach to deal with change from the perspective of an organization, a group, or at the individual level. Change management helps ensure that people impacted by the changes (technology) understand, accept and commit to changes; thereby mitigating risks and achieving long term benefits faster. (http://www-935. ibm. com/services/us/gbs/strategy/talent-and-workforce-management. html) During the course of the changes that took place in their organization, there were challenges encountered.Based on the researches conducted, below are the most significant challenges that took place when implementing their change projects. 1. Changing mindsets and attitudes 2. Corporate culture 3. Complexity is underestimated 4. Shortage of resources 5. Lack of commitment of higher management 6. Lack of change know how 7. Lack of transparency because of missing or 8. wrong information 9. Lack of motivation of involved employees 10. Change of process 11. Change of IT systems 12. Technology barriersAnd based on the challenges mentioned above, they were able to come up with factors that contributed to the successful change. It is normal to ha ve resistance to different types of change especially having a big organization like IBM. Below are some factors that contributed to the effectiveness of the different changes in their organization: 1. Top management sponsorship 2. Employee involvement 3. Honest and timely communication 4. Corporate culture that motivates and promotes change 5. Change agents (pioneers of change) 6. Change supported by culture . Efficient training programs 8. Adjustment of performance measures 9. Efficient organization structure 10. Monetary and non-monetary incentives ftp://public. dhe. ibm. com/common/ssi/ecm/en/gbe03100usen/GBE03100USEN. PDF The most fruitful success strategy is to begin with leadership tools, including a vision or story of the future, put the change in place with management tools, such as role definitions, measurement and control systems, and use the pure power tools of coercion and punishments as a last resort, when all else fails.The purpose of business strategy is to exploit t he capabilities of the company to gain and sustain competitive advantage in accommodating the desiderata of customers in a chosen rialto. An effective business strategy will provide good answers to questions on business scope, customers’ needs, how the enterprise will exploit its advantages, and on how competitive advantage will be achieved. It will withal describe the main actions compulsory to implement the strategy and the reasons why the vicissitudes are compulsory.Summary All in all the reason for IBM Global Business Services’ success is because they have methods and strategies that have been tried and tested over the years that they have been in this industry. Also one of the factors for success is having open minded members of the organization who are always open and welcome to change. Somehow, the company also has its own ways to make the employees and members of the organization understand and help them to adapt through the course of these changes.Resistance t o change is normal but with proper guidance and support from the whole management team, members of the organization will feel at ease and motivated, hence, will embrace the change. Today, businesses must bring more innovative products and accommodations to market, more quickly than ever before. IBM makes utilization of best practices to help companies become more rigorous in their approach to development and lifecycle issues – not only to ameliorate speed and cost, but withal to enable the perpetual amelioration of products

To what extent is the work of philosophers such as Popper, Kuhn, Essay - 1

To what extent is the work of philosophers such as Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos and Feyerabend useful in forming a critical judgement of modern economic practice - Essay Example e complexities that most people tend to consider irrelevant but I believe mostly significant in order to fully comprehend the standards of the era we are living right in. I would want to examine and expound more of the modern practices that various economists of today have been doing so as to provide and present a clear illustration and brilliant depiction of an intermingling global economic viewpoint. Doing this, I shall be indulging and expounding more of the different approaches, methods and technical procedures that recent philosophers have used in various investigations and explanations of economic concepts and theories. As for this paper, I would not only be elaborating further on how these economic concepts affect the people’s mind-set, but I shall be of critique as to how these theories have shaped the contemporary practices that we can observe today. Having said this, I should note that economics, as a whole, as what Pheby has said in Methodology and Economics is not exactly similar, in fact very different, with other behavioural sciences and physical sciences like sociology, political science, physics and chemistry respectively. This is since economics is a very strange branch of science that is somehow dependent on human actions and on how these actions are deemed important as to the evaluation of results and analysis of consequences and outcomes (Blaug 1980). To start my observation and analysis, I would want to give and make sense of the technical definition of empirical research as the basis of my fundamental argument. As lifted from a journal article entitled Empirical Research published by the Norfolk State University, empirical research has been defined as the systemic research process which only involves predetermined observations and measured phenomena. It reports and publishes facts and figures based on observed results and actual experimental quantifications in order to generate a relationship and draw numerical conclusions involving two or

The Movie Dances With Wolves Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Dances With Wolves - Movie Review Example This paper tells that the theme of loneliness is evident when Dunbar reaches Dakota. In the company of Timmons (Robert Pastoreli), Dunbar realizes that the place has been abandoned. After releasing the wagon driver, Dunbar stays in the new station for over a month with a wolf and a horse as his only companion. Every human being needs some sense of belonging. Dunbar lives in seclusion for the first month in his new camp. His only friends and family are the two animals, a wolf, and a horse. However, socializing with animals cannot fill the void that has been created by the absence of fellow human around Dunbar’s life.  No wonder he feels for the lifestyle of the Sioux. Incidences of gift giving portray familial ties of tribal life and humanity of Lakota people. Gift exchange can be witnessed when Lieutenant Dunbar prepares coffee for Lakota band that checks on him at the fort. When the warriors leave Dunbar’s camp, they are all carrying new coffee cups, which Dunbar pro bably gave them.  When the leader of the Sioux group, Kicking Bird issues Lieutenant Dunbar with buffalo skin, a strong familial bond is portrayed. A reflection emerges of how natives lived and their traditions. Dunbar seeks human love-a missing link in his life. He falls in love with the white lady and becomes a revered figure in the Sioux community identified with the name â€Å"Dances With Wolves†. The Sioux sail against traditional stereotypes with characters such as Tantoo Cardinal exhibiting no sign of caricature.  The Sioux are wise and noble whereas the adversary tribes are the Pawnees. They are hospitable. Despite Lieutenant Dunbar being on a rival camp, they accept him as one of their own giving him a new name â€Å"Dances With Wolves†. Christianity demands that people should accommodate one another and spread love rather than hatred. It is amazing that â€Å"Stands With A Fist†, a white lady who has lived among the Sioux since childhood found a ho me and a family in people who would otherwise want so much to exterminate her life. As it emerges, it is clear that the culture of the Sioux Indians is portrayed in a manner that is similar to the Christian life. The Sioux are caring for people.

Applying to university Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Applying to university - Essay Example Though I do not profess to be a hardcore feminist, still, through personal experience I have come to know that the women are made to behave and act in a particular way through continual training and regimentation, right from the time of their birth. Right when a baby girl is born, she is made to learn that she is required to wear particular kind of clothes, she is to behave and act in a particular way, and she is to learn to do specific types of household chores. Even the innocent games played by female children are full of such societal imprints and expectations. So no wonder, when a baby girl grows out to be an adult woman, she is already convinced in her mind that she has to abide by the norms of a male dominated society. Such expectations imprinted in the minds of women wreck havoc with their innate aptitude and their potential for personal growth and development. In the professional sphere, the consequences of male dominance tend to be very obvious. Time and again one comes to hear about the ‘glass ceiling’. Even the women who dare to transcend these constraints have to compromise to a large extent. To excel in their careers, they are not allowed to harness the abilities like networking, empathy, bonding, consensus making that the innately possess because of being a women. Rather they are expected to imitate the male competitive role models, a thing that resultantly jeopardizes their personal and professional lives. The result is a deep seated sense of dissatisfaction and frustration. So, I believe that one of the essential goals of my education is to be able to get over such societal barriers and the consequent macho trends and expectations. I believe that the essential goal of education is to enable a person to build professional and personal relationship with others on the terms of equality and respect. Anything contrary to this is

The Issue of Rational Suicide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Issue of Rational Suicide - Essay Example Rational suicide, aka ‘euthanasia,’ is taken from Greek origin meaning ‘good death.’ Writers of 1700’s Britain referred to euthanasia as a being a preferential method by which to ‘die well’ (â€Å"Definition†, 2007). In the medical arena, rational suicide describes a situation in which a terminally ill patient is administered a lethal dose of medication, is removed from a life-support system or is simply allowed to die without active participation such as by resuscitation. A doctor’s involvement in the procedure could be to either prescribe a lethal dose of drugs with the express intent of ending a life or by intravenously inserting a needle into the terminal patient who then activates a switch that administers the fatal dose (Naji et al, 2005). Physicians, lawmakers, and philosophers have debated the notion of rational suicide since the beginning of recorded history but the wide public debate regarding its legalization has only surfaced over the past three decades. In the 1970’s it became lawful to draft ‘living wills’ which allows a patient to refuse ‘heroic’ life saving medical assistance in the event they were incapacitated and could only survive by artificial means (Rich, 2001). In other words, it gave the next of kin the right to direct doctors to ‘pull the plug’ if the patient’s condition was considered hopeless, a practice which is now broadly accepted.   However, these wills did not eliminate the potential problem of individuals being kept alive for incredibly long periods of time in permanent unconscious states as there were often no provisions for withdrawing nutrition and hydration when no other life support interventions were necessary.   This oversight has been largely addressed through power of attorney.   â€Å"The durable power of attorney allows an individual to designate in writing a proxy or surrogate decision maker (the at torney-in-fact) who has the same degree of authority to consent to or decline life-sustaining treatment as the patient would if he or she were competent†

The Distinction Between Leadership and Management Assignment

The Distinction Between Leadership and Management - Assignment Example Leadership inspires while management directs people and manages work (Marquis, 2012). Leadership is also focused on vision while management is set achieving an articulated objectives (Kotterman, 2006). Leaders and managers also differ in their behaviors. A leader relies more on his or her charisma to have followers. Managers on the other hand relies more on formal authority. A leader is also transformational in his or her approach meaning his or her leadership makes followers better. Managers on the other hand are transactional which means that they rely on reward system to motivate their subordinates (Denehy, 2008). Both qualities however are needed in an organization to realize its objectives. Leadership provides the vision, the animated spirit that makes an organization thrive. Management on the other hand translates leadership into concrete objectives that should be achieved in quantifiable terms. Both qualities are needed for an organization to be successful. Merely relying on leadership or management alone is inadequate. They are however not mutually exclusive and both qualities and behavior can be had and practiced by an individual. Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2012). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams &

Evaluating-Fictive-Narative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evaluating-Fictive-Narative - Essay Example Surprisingly, the boys visiting the coffee shop screamed in equal measure, and there was no huge difference between them and the girls. Kyler too felt threatened, and her efforts to get over the situation seemed to be overshadowed by the noise and confusion created by the environment. The state of confusion was too immense, and it was not clear whether it was the people at the coffee shop or the black locusts that were panicking. There was much screaming and running from one point of the coffee shop to the other, and the situation appeared quite messy. The more noise the people made, the wilder the locusts became. They extended their active mood onto the coffee tables and jumped right into some cups that customers had left behind in fear of the illusionary stings expected from the locusts. They were also extending their happy mood into the kitchen section of the coffee shop, and the workers were running away in fear just like the customers were doing. What is more threatening is that some customers and workers had the black locusts dangling all around their clothes. Unlike Kyler’s understanding, the black locusts were more of what is popularly regarded as the Rocky Mountain locust that spans the prairie areas. They seemed like a new species altogether that was here to cause an unending disaster to the population in Denver. What was more surprising is that they had never been heard of before around the world, leave alone in Denver. â€Å"Can we just ever have a peaceful life in Denver? Now it’s the black locusts, and I do not know what to expect when I wake up tomorrow,† wondered Kyler. As the thoughts kept spanning Kyler’s mind, everyone else seemed to wonder too whether there was a quick solution forthcoming to resolve the messy situation in the Denver coffee shop. Even though this was her popular place to enjoy coffee every evening, it was evident she was

Aging (the elderly), the individual, and society Essay

Aging (the elderly), the individual, and society - Essay Example The abuse status outcome was regressed in a hierarchical logistic procedure on indicators† (Zoabi, 2004). The four major explanations for the rise of elder abuse looked at by the author included sociodemographic status, dependency, modernization, and social integration. The author found that these four factors were indeed important in correlating elder abuse in modern society. This research took place in terms of concept in relation to the public’s attitudes about the importance of elder care in this society versus their personal application of these values. The research also considered variables related to quality of care in elderly patients who have particular healthcare needs, such as long-term care. It considered a broad focus of issues dealing with elder care in the present healthcare system and also present recommendations for future changes in the system, based on present problems as identified through survey and literature review. This was a qualitative study that was of the quasi-experimental variety because of its resources. The author highlights how abuse and neglect are too often visited upon older individuals who have lost some degree of their independence, and many areas do not have the programs necessary to effectively counter this threat. There is even abuse and neglect that goes on within healthcare facilities, and this is perhaps the most insidious sort of abuse. In some cultures, the elderly are prized and honored above all other citizens and groups, but unfortunately this is not the case in the present culture of many areas of the western hemisphere. Older individuals are more likely to be seen as being in the way of the young than as role models who should be exalted because of their aged wisdom. Presently, however, many individuals are treated harshly by healthcare facilities and even their own kin, making elder

Status of Women Empowerment in India Essay Example for Free

Status of Women Empowerment in India Essay Presented By Ankur Sharma Faculty:Institute of Rural Management, Jodhpur Meaning of Empowerment: On an individual level we see empowerment as building confidence, insight and understanding, and developing personal skills, for example, being able to analyze situations and communicate more effectively with others. Meaning of Women Empowerment:Women Empowerment means to inspire women with the courage to break free from the chains of limiting beliefs, patterns and societal or religious conditions that have traditionally kept women suppressed and unable to realize their true beauty and power. Women Empowerment In India:However indian economy is progressing in terms of GDP Per Capita Income but still women empowerment is a big concern for our country.Still conditions of womens are pathetic in our countries. There are many areas where we have to think about seriously should be taken positive steps to eridicate such kind of sociel evils from our society.As being an part of society,its our duty that we should also contribute to the society try to bring awareness among people.we should not underestimate womens just not only the basis of Physical strenth.Rather they are equally competent to us even in terms of their intellectual power or in terms of there emotional intellegence.Here we are discussing some major areas that requires a big concern: Domestic Violance: Domestic violence in India is endemic and widespread predominantly against women. Around 70% of women in India are victims to domestic violence according to Renuka Chowdhury junior minister for women and child development. National Crime Records Bureau reveal that a crime against a women is committed every three minutes, a women is raped every 29 minutes, a dowry death occurs every 77 minutes and one case of cruelty committed by either the husband or relative of the victim. | Domestic violence in India often happens as a result of dowry demands.According to Unicefs Global Report Card on Adolescents 2012, 57% boys in India think a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife while around 53% girls think that a husband is justified in beating his wife.Domestic violence is known to happen in Upper Class families as well as NRI families. Gender Discrimnation: Infancy to childhood The cultural construct of Indian society which reinforces gender bias against women, has led to the continuation of India’s strong preference for male children. Female infanticide, a sex-selective abortion, is adopted and strongly reflects the low status of Indian women. Census 2011 shows a decline of girl population under the age of seven, with activists estimating that eight million female fetuses may have been aborted in the past decade.The 2005 census shows infant mortality figures for females and males are 61 and 56, respectively, out of 1000 live births, with females more likely to be aborted than males due to biased attitudes. A decline in the sex ratio was observed with India’s 2011 census reporting that it stands at 914 females against 1,000 males, a drop from 927 in 2001 the lowest since India’s independence. The demand for sons among wealthy parents is being satisfied by the medical community through the provision of illegal services of fetal sex-determination and sex-selective abortion. The financial incentive for physicians to undertake this illegal activity seems to be far greater than the penalties associated with breaking the law. Childhood to adulthood (education): Education is not widely attained by the Indian women. Although literacy rates are increasing, female literacy rates lags behind the male literacy rate. Literacy Rate Census of India 2001 and 2011 Comparison Literacy for females stands at 65.46%, compared to 82.14% for males.An underlying factor for such low literacy rates are parents perceptions that education for girls are a waste of resources as their daughters would eventually live with their husbands families and they will not benefit directly from the education investment. Adulthood and onwards: Discrimination against women has contributed to gender wage differentials, with Indian women on average earning 64% of what their male counterparts earn for the same occupation and level of qualification. Discrimination against women has led to their lack of autonomy and authority. Although equal rights are given to women, it may not be well recognized. In practice, land and property rights are weakly enforced, with customary laws widely practiced in rural areas. Women do not own property under their own names  and usually do not have any inheritance rights to obtain a share of parental property. Education and economic development: According to 1992-93 figures, only 9.2% of the households in India were female-headed. However, approximately 35% of the households below the poverty line were found to be female-headed. Education: Though it is gradually rising, the female literacy rate in India is lower than the male literacy rate.Compared to boys, far fewer girls are enrolled in the schools, and many of them drop out.According to the National Sample Survey Data of 1997, only the states of Kerala and Mizoram have approached universal female literacy rates. According to majority of the scholars, the major factor behind the improved social and economic status of women in Kerala is literacy. Under Non-Formal Education programme (NFE), about 40% of the centres in states and 10% of the centres in UTs are exclusively reserved for females. As of 2000, about 0.3 million NFE centres were catering to about 7.42 million children, out of which about 0.12 million were exclusively for girls. urban India, girls are nearly at par with the boys in terms of education. However, in rural India girls continue to be less educated than the boys. According to a 1998 report by U.S. Department of Commerce, the chief barrier to female education in India are inadequate school facilities (such as sanitary facilities), shortage of female teachers and gender bias in curriculum (majority of the female characters being depicted as weak and helpless). Workforce participation: Contrary to the common perception, a large percent of women in India work. The National data collection agencies accept the fact that there is a serious under-estimation of womens contribution as workers. However, there are far fewer women in the paid workforce than there are men. In urban India Women have impressive number in the workforce. As an example at software industry 30% of the workforce is female.They are at par with their male counterparts in terms of wages, position at the work place. In rural India, agriculture and allied industrial sectors employ as much as 89.5% of the total female labour. In overall farm production, womens average contribution is estimated at 55% to 66% of the total labour. According to a  1991 World Bank report, women accounted for 94% of total employment in dairy production in India. Women constitute 51% of the total employed in forest-based small-scale enterprises. One of the most famous female business success stories is the Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad. In 2006, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw,who started Biocon one of Indias first biotech companies, was rated Indias richest woman. Lalita D. Gupte and Kalpana Morparia were the only businesswomen in India who made the list of the Forbes Worlds Most Powerful Women in 2006. Chanda Kochher Indias second-largest bank, ICICI Bank, and Morparia is the CEO of JPMorgan India. Land and property rights: In most Indian families, women do not own any property in their own names, and do not get a share of parental property.Due to weak enforcement of laws protecting them, women continue to have little access to land and property.In fact, some of the laws discriminate against women, when it comes to land and property rights. The Hindu personal laws of mid-1956s (applied to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains) gave women rights to inheritance. However, the sons had an independent share in the ancestral property, while the daughters shares were based on the share received by their father. Hence, a father could effectively disinherit a daughter by renouncing his share of the ancestral property, but the son will continue to have a share in his own right. Additionally, married daughters, even those facing marital harassment, had no residential rights in the ancestral home. After amendment of Hindu laws in 2005, now women in have been provided the same status as that of men. Crimes against women: Police records show high incidence of crimes against women in India. The National Crime Records Bureau reported in 1998 that the growth rate of crimes against women would be higher than the population growth rate by 2010.Earlier, many cases were not registered with the police due to the social stigma attached to rape and molestation cases. Official statistics show that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of reported crimes against women. Acid Throwing: The Thomas Reuters Foundation survey says that India is the fourth most  dangerous place in the world for women to live in as women belonging to any class, caste or creed and religion can be victims of this cruel form of violence and disfigurement, a premeditated crime intended to kill or maim her permanently and act as a lesson to put her in her place. In India, acid attacks on women who dared to refuse a mans proposal of marriage or asked for a divorce are a form of revenge. Acid is cheap and easily available and is the quickest way to destroy a womans life. The number of acid attacks have been rising. Sexual harassment: Half of the total number of crimes against women reported in 1990 related to molestation and harassment at the workplace. Eve teasing is a euphemism used for sexual harassment or molestation of women by men. Many activists blame the rising incidents of sexual harassment against women on the influence of Western culture. In 1987, The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act was passed to prohibit indecent representation of women through advertisements or in publications, writings, paintings, figures or in any other manner. In 1997, in a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court of India took a strong stand against sexual harassment of women in the workplace. The Court also laid down detailed guidelines for prevention and redressal of grievances. The National Commission for Women subsequently elaborated these guidelines into a Code of Conduct for employers. Dowry: In 1961, the Government of India passed the Dowry Prohibition Act, making the dowry demands in wedding arrangements illegal. However, many cases of dowry-related domestic violence, suicides and murders have been reported. In the 1980s, numerous such cases were reported. In 1985, the Dowry Prohibition (maintenance of lists of presents to the bride and bridegroom) rules were framed. According to these rules, a signed list of presents given at the time of the marriage to the bride and the bridegroom should be maintained. The list should contain a brief description of each present, its approximate value, the name of whoever has given the present and his/her relationship to the person. However, such rules are hardly enforced. A 1997 report claimed that at least 5,000 women die each year because of dowry deaths, and at least a dozen die each day in kitchen fires thought to be intentional. The term for this is bride burning and is criticized within India itself.  Amongst the urban educated, such dowry abuse has reduced considerably. Child marriage: Child marriage has been traditionally prevalent in India and continues to this day. Historically, young girls would live with their parents until they reached puberty. In the past, the child widows were condemned to a life of great agony, shaving heads, living in isolation, and shunned by the society.Although child marriage was outlawed in 1860, it is still a common practice. According to UNICEF’s â€Å"State of the World’s Children-2009† report, 47% of Indias women aged 20–24 were married before the legal age of 18, with 56% in rural areas.The report also showed that 40% of the worlds child marriages occur in India. Female infanticides and sex selective abortions: India has a highly masculine sex ratio, the chief reason being that many women die before reaching adulthood.Tribal societies in India have a less masculine sex ratio than all other caste groups. This, in spite of the fact that tribal communities have far lower levels of income, literacy and health facilities.It is therefore suggested by many experts, that the highly masculine sex ratio in India can be attributed to female infanticides and sex-selective abortions. Ultrasound scans have been a major leap forward in the care of mother and baby, and with them becoming portable, these advantages have spread to rural populations. However, ultrasound scans can often reveal the sex of the baby, allowing pregnant women to decide to abort female foetuses and try again for a male child. This practice is usually considered to be the main reason for the change in the ratio of male to female children being born. In 1994 the Indian government passed a law forbidding women or their families from asking about the sex of the baby after an ultrasound scan (or any other test which would yield that information) and also expressly forbade doctors or any other staff from giving that information. However, in practice this law (like the one forbidding dowries) is widely ignored, and levels of the abortion on female foetuses remain high and the sex ratio at birth keeps getting worse. Female infanticide (killing of girl infants) is still prevalent in some rural areas.Sometimes this is infanticide by neglect, for example families may not spend money on critical medicines or even just by withholding care from a  sick girl. The abuse of the dowry tradition has been one of the main reasons for sex-selective abortions and female infanticides in India. Trafficking: The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act was passed in 1956. However many cases of trafficking of young girls and women have been reported. These women are either forced into prostitution, domestic work or child labour. Other concerns: Health: The average female life expectancy today in India is low compared to many countries, but it has shown gradual improvement over the years. In many families, especially rural ones, the girls and women face nutritional discrimination within the family, and are anaemic and malnourished. The maternal mortality in India is the second highest in the world. Only 42% of births in the country are supervised by health professionals. Most women deliver with help from women in the family who often lack the skills and resources to save the mothers life if it is in danger. According to UNDP Human Development Report (1997), 88% of pregnant women (age 15-49) were found to be suffering from anaemia. Family planning: The average woman in rural areas of India has little or no control over her reproductivity. Women, particularly women in rural areas, do not have access to safe and self-controlled methods of contraception. The public health system emphasises permanent methods like sterilisation, or long-term methods like IUDs that do not need follow-up. Sterilization accounts for more than 75% of total contraception, with female sterilisation accounting for almost 95% of all sterilisations. Sex ratios: India has a highly skewed sex ratio this is attributed to the practice of sex selective abortions which kills approximately one million baby girls per year.The government stated that India is missing three million girls in 2011 and there are now 48 fewer girls per 1,000 boys than there were in 1981. Sanitation: In 2011 a Right to Pee (as called by the media) campaign began in Mumbai, Indias largest city.Women, but not men, have to pay to urinate in Mumbai, despite regulations against this practice. Women have also been sexually assaulted while urinating in fields.Thus, activists have collected more than 50,000 signatures supporting their demands that the local government stop charging women to urinate, build more toilets, keep them clean, provide sanitary napkins and a trash can, and hire female attendants.In response, city officials have agreed to build hundreds of public toilets for women in Mumbai, and some local legislators are now promising to build toilets for women in every one of their districts. Notable Indian women: Education: Savitribai Phule was a social reformer who along with her husband, Mahatma Jotiba Phule played an important role in improving womens rights in India during the British Rule. Savitribai was the first female teacher of the first womens school in India and also considered as the pioneer of modern Marathi poetry. In 1852 she opened a school for Untouchable girls. Arts and entertainment: Singers and vocalists such as M.S. Subbulakshmi, Gangubai Hangal, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle are widely revered in India. Anjolie Ela Menon is one of the famous painters. Sports: Although the general sports scenario in India is not very good, some Indian women have made notable achievements in the field. Some of the famous female sportspersons in Indian include P. T. Usha, J. J. Shobha (athletics), Kunjarani Devi (weightlifting), Diana Edulji (cricket), Saina Nehwal (badminton), Koneru Hampi (chess) and Sania Mirza (tennis). Female Olympic medalists from India include weightlifter Karnam Malleswari (bronze, 2000), Saina Nehwal (bronze, 2012), and boxer Mary Kom (bronze, 2012). Politics: Through the Panchayat Raj institutions, over a million women have actively entered political life in India.As per the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts, all local elected bodies reserve one-third of their seats for women. Although the percentages of women in various levels of political activity has risen considerably, women are still under-represented in  governance and decisionmaking positions. Literature: Many well-known women writers are in Indian literature as poets and story writers. Sarojini Naidu, Kamala Surayya, Shobha De, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai are some of them. Sarojini Naidu is called the nightingale of India. Arundhati Roy was awarded the Booker Prize (Man Booker Prize) for her novel The God of Small Things. we have to understand that without empowering women in india we can not compete amongest developed countries.Most of the women thinks that if they are getting respect in family or from husband,they are empowered.But this misconception should be removed from our society. Women in India feel proud to display that they are well protected and pampered by their husbands without realizing that they are making themselves helpless. Such womens economic literacy is so low that they cannot play any role in familys decision regarding familys budget, savings and investments. To such women, the national budget discussion is for men only and soap operas are for them. Such women su ffer a lot if something untoward happens to their husbands. This type of extreme dependency is not good for the development of women. Women should remember that they are also rational, intelligent and thinking human beings. Dependent women are not empowered women. If modern women think that they are empowered, its a myth for them. Empowerment means to inspire women with he courage to break free from the chains of limiting beliefs, patterns and societal or religious conditions that have traditionally kept women suppressed and unable to realize their true beauty and power. In India, the empowerment process has already begun. We are now witnessing a steady improvement in the enrollment of women in schools, colleges and even in profession institutes. Their health is better as compared to earlier decades. In this decade, women are entering into the job market in increasing numbers. They are showing their skills even in non-traditional sectors like police, defence, administration, media and research fields. Twenty-six laws have been enacted so far to protect women from various crimes. The recent law on the protection of women against domestic violence satisfies the long pending demand of the women activities. In the political field, the reservation for women is a significant step forward towards their political empowerment. When thirty-three percent reservation for women in Parliament becomes a reality,  womens voice will be heard in the highest forum of democracy. The day, women of India will reach zenith in their empowerment. But a lot of work has to be done as there is a category of women (who consider themselves highly educated) that proudly accepts that they dont have digital literacy even though they own a computer, they cannot even operate bank accounts or make travel arrangements for family or handle hospital admissions even during emergencies. Even for a simple task like social visits or shopping generally they need the company of their husbands. Conclusions: Empowerment by itself may not place women on an equal footing with men. The greatest need of the hour is change of social attitude to women. Take the classic case of dowry. Dowry is still rampant in a virulent form even among the highly educated a girl may be, dowry is still demanded. Women’s empowerment means a lot, but the ultimate goal of the equalization of man and woman would materialize only when her complementary role is recognized by the society. Sources: A)Women in India: wikipedia.org/wiki B)Publish your Article.com,Writer : MrMaahir Virani C)Data for Domestic ViolanceMrs Renuka Chowdhery,Junior Minister for Women Child Development. D)Data for Education and Economic Development:National Sample survey data 1997. E) Workforce Particiaption:1991 World Bank Report. F)Acid Throwing:The Thomas Reuters Foundation Survey.

How Effective Is Homeschooling Essay Example for Free

How Effective Is Homeschooling Essay Education is a basic requirement for inculcating civic, moral and intellectual faculties of a human being. While imparting education in a public setup is the commonest of all methodologies adopted worldwide, learning at home under the guidance of parents and/or professional teachers is also a widespread practice. Popularly referred to as homeschooling, this system of learning has come to the fore replacing formal educational methodologies. The history of homeschooling dates back to the 1920s, but the real revolution occurred in the 1960s and the 1970s when the liberal alternative school movement was set rolling. Researching into the topic, it is evident that most parents opting for homeschooling fall under radical socialists and naturalists who do not have faith in the bureaucratic setup of the American society. Moreover, the gasping nature of fierce competition has also contributed to the withdrawal from traditional educational means. There are legal liabilities and the issue of compulsory schooling attendance as far as public schooling is concerned. Albeit the environmental aspects and the mold of teaching are arguably in proximity with what can be termed as ideal in a public education system, many parents in the United States of America deem it an added advantage for their kids that they should gain access to a comprehensive educational repertoire at home. In matters of homeschooling, the legal issues involved with affiliation and certification are taken care of correspondence schools or umbrella schools. What set homeschooling distinctly apart from the conventional modes of education are facilities of unit studies, child-oriented educational materials and above all, constant parental supervision. This essay is going to discuss elaborately on the efficacy of homeschooling and its relevance in the hustling ways of modern world. All the major school of thoughts propagated by scholars and researchers will be thoroughly reviewed, thus allowing for the development of a set of viewpoints on homeschooling. The prevalence of homeschooling in the United States of America has been such in the past decade or so that it has been made legal in many states. In fact today it is widely regarded to be a perfect alternative mode of teaching at the K-12 level (Cooper 109). The media too has focused on the issue rigorously and has brought about a remarkable change in the mindset of even the most orthodox of parents and educators. Going by sheer statistics, 300, 000 children were taught at home in 1990. This number increased almost with a vertical leap by the end of 1998 when there were more than 1. 5 millions of homeschooled children across the country (Saba Gattis 1). Since the US government’s educational policy allows for autonomy of sorts for each state, the process of imbibing any new measure is relatively easier. The designated council or board of a particular state can decide for themselves which method suits young learners the most. Accordingly, each state is designated with certain number of grants or permissions by virtue of which they can permit homeschooling. The results just speak for themselves as a vast majority of homeschooled children excel remarkably well in a broad spectrum of academic disciplines, ranging from winning the national spelling bees to earning themselves coveted degrees at the leading universities in the country. Now before delving deep into various argumentative doctrines on homeschooling, let’s just look into the basics of this rapidly evolving trend. The first question we are going to deal with involves the reason behind homeschooling. What are the unique aspects of homeschooling? Why do people tend to prefer this mode of education over public schooling? Due to the independent, state-specific educational system in America, public schools are accessible to all free of charge. For working parents not belonging to the elite segments of the society, the rationale behind choosing public schools is quite self-explanatory. But the growing trend of homeschooling calls for our attention and makes us inquisitive to investigate into the root of educational philosophies. First and foremost, fostering a child at home demands a persistent level of commitment for both parents. It not only helps the child learn in a known environment, but also strengthens the family togetherness. Since a child spends most of its time at home, the well cultivated families do not wish to assign the task of imparting education to external teachers (Stevens 30). It is purely a question of family values that a child should learn from its parents and not from those who do not share their personal spaces. Besides, many parents are guided by stern religious beliefs and want their children to follow the same paths. In public schools, children may confront teachers, instructors or fellow students with different religious faiths. So the parents feel safer with homeschooling. Another extremely valid reason behind homeschooling involves the learning environment of public schools. The quality of education in a public institution is bound to suffer due to large number of students and inadequacy of teaching tools. Albeit the student-teacher ratio is quite healthy in American public schools especially at the primary level, it still is not enough for every child to get the required attention. Moreover, children studying at public schools are taught a similar curriculum. If a particular child has different fields of interest, it is not encouraged to develop skills and knowledge on those lines. The imaginative faculties of mind slowly become blunt and ineffectual due to the institutionalized methods of teaching. Homeschooling, on the other hand, is helpful for identifying a child’s interests and unique areas of talent. Hence, education does not become a loathsome burden for the children. By relating to what they are taught, they can enjoy while they learn (Rockett 138). Most families belonging to minority groups regard homeschooling to be the best available option for their kids. This is because those children are hardly paid attention to by their local teachers at public schools (Saba Gattis 3). It is never wise to send children with physical or mental deformities to public schools. The span and extent of attention they need can never be expected from teachers who have to look after a class of pupils. It is far better to keep those children at home and build up the required infrastructure with teaching aids. Hiring a teacher at home is a plausible solution in such cases. By resolving to one-on-one teaching modes, a challenged kid’s potential can be maximized. News of massacres, illegal drug trafficking and teen sexuality hit the headlines frequently in the US. Researches show that parents who are aware of these events choose homeschooling to ensure safety of their kids. These parents feel they can control the company of their children if they learn from home. Moreover, in the US public schools, many children hail from troubled families and tend to act violently and in a bullying manner towards other students. Contours of homeschooling decidedly relieve of such headaches. The legal aspects of homeschooling are still subject to a lot of debate and controversy. Given the parochial setup of homeschools, it is elementary to infer that they must be stripped off many benefits available at public schools, including the system of tests. The existing rights in favor of homeschooling in the United States of America were hard earned. It was by the Supreme Court’s verdict in the 1920s that enabled the states to intervene into educational affairs. Homeschooling, a fringe and distant possibility during those days, has undoubtedly come a long way. Keeping in mind the thesis question of this paper, it is now time to ponder over certain theoretical conjectures on learning in general. The schools of thought on learning and education are, however, subject to a varied degree of hypothesis. Scholars are yet to arrive at a stable perception as to which methodology of teaching augurs well for most young students. Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory is one of the seminal works of literature throwing a searching light into the complex processes of assimilation and deliverance for young, pliant minds. But since this theory was formed primarily from heuristic studies, its accuracy is questionable. Nevertheless, many later theories on education and learning are grounded on the assumptions made by this theory. According to Jean Piaget, the three main pillars of learning are organization, equilibrium and progression. The basis of his argument concentrated on the predictability of children’s cognitive formation. To put it differently, he pointed out that a child develops newer thought patterns with age and maturity. It is inherent in a child that it should search for newer elements in everything it sees. Known as organization, this process is responsible for accumulation of knowledge. What directly relates to this process is a cognitive phenomenon called schemes. This phenomenon is involved with preparing a mental picture of things to do. In other words, when a kid is asked to perform a lengthy multiplication, he/she prepares a mental framework as to how to go about the task in an organized manner. The next phenomenon comes when the child explores a better way to carry out a task. It is called adaptation. When new information is passed on, the child has to first of all ‘take’ it in before it can be processed and assimilated (Clements 2). Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory has crucial implementations in the context of choosing the best curriculum for homeschooling. His insightful analysis of the role of parents in children’s education helps in decision making as to how children learn. Do they imitate what they see, or do parents need to play a more guiding part in showing their children what and where to look for? Since this system of education does not involve social interaction which is so typical of classroom teaching, extra care has to be taken in devising learning plans. Diagnosing the intelligence quotient of a child is just as important as judging the level of prior education, should the student be an advanced learner. The final module for course works and other study materials should be prepared after careful scrutiny of the learner’s temperament. As a novel research effort in the field of educational psychology and motivation theory, Piaget’s findings indeed simplified the understanding of children’s cognitive bloc. The second argument that can be propelled concerns the role of academic materials or learning resources in the curricula of pupils. What is often seen in public schooling environments is that a vast array of course materials covering every subject are available. This is particularly favorable as far as step-by-step learning is concerned. The student can make the required shift from one level to another without having to skip any of the important learning modules. But espousing homeschooling methodologies often throw up a quandary for parents as to the suitability of the course materials at hand (Perry 54). This occurs mainly because of the lack of awareness about academic resources for a given standard. This usually happens for the first child in a household with more than one child. Due to lack of knowledge and experience, parents feel uncertain about the proper educational grooming techniques. Hence for the beginners, it generally takes a couple of years to gain command over the objectives and modes of teaching, including ‘unschooling’ and ‘phonics’ (Suarez 1). It is followed the most important part of the system, e. . , selecting the right tools and integrating them to create a congenial environment for learning at home. Unit study, for example, is a widely trusted educational methodology for homeschooling. The depth of this methodology and the fun of learning associated with it make for an ideal module for the beginners. Several subjects such as Mathematics, Social Sciences, History, Geography and Theology are combined together under a common natural or to pic-specific theme like water, animals, or ancient Egypt. For instance, if the academic discipline to be discussed in a particular sitting is Mathematics, the child would be introduced to the story of ancient Egypt and how Mathematics flourished over there. No doubt, the commonality of the central topic generates the fun of unit study methods. The young learner can relate just one topic to a variety of academic disciplines. However, it is to be made sure that the thematic topic should have connections with all the subjects. Study of languages occupies an important place in unit study. Not only does it help in communicating, it also gives the children a broad view of the world and people around them (Field 85). Far from just as an educational ploy to bring out the untapped resources of a child, the societal significance of homeschooling can never be underrated. It is imperative that we understand the significance of homeschooling from a twofold perspective. Firstly, the coziness of the family bondage gets stronger and closer with all the members of it spending time together. This is precisely the reason why many mainstream parents are falling back on homeschooling as the prospective mode of education for their kids. However, some shortcomings of this educational model are also there, especially the accusation that little kids do not get the chance to interact socially with others. This lack of socializing sometimes tells upon the mental health of even the most meritorious boy in a pool of ordinary geeks who, after all, know how to enjoy the little things life has to offer. But it is a minor glitch in a far greater canvas of a revolutionary and highly individualistic learning framework.

Evolution of Australian Flora: Hymenopteran Visual Systems

Evolution of Australian Flora: Hymenopteran Visual Systems Abstract Very little work has been done on the evolution of floral colour diversity, outside of Europe and the Middle East. In particular, we know almost nothing about the evolution of the Australian flora in the context of hymenopteran visual systems. Such a study is likely to be important due to the geologically long isolation of the Australian flora and the high proportion of endemic plant species. The aims of this study were to investigate the colour of Australian native flowers in the context of hymenopteran visual systems, the innate colour preferences of Australian native bees (Trigona carbonaria), and the interactions between native bees and a food deceptive orchid (Caladenia carnea). Firstly, I found that the discrimination thresholds of hymenopterans match up with floral colour diversity and that hymenopterans appear to have been a major contributor to flower colour evolution in Australia. Secondly, I found that Trigona carbonaria has innate preferences for wavelengths of 422, 437 a nd 530 nm. Thirdly, I found that bees were able to habituate to orchid flowers based on colour, thus potentially explaining the colour polymorphism of Caladenia carnea. Together, my study suggests that the evolution of the Australian flora has been influenced by hymenopterans. 1. Introduction Plant-pollinator interactions The mutual interactions between pollinators and plants have been suspected in driving angiosperm radiation and diversification in the past (Regal 1977; Crepet 1984; McPeek 1996). The obvious mutual benefit is that pollinators depend on the pollen and/or nectar of flowering plants for food and, in return, partake in the incidental transfer of pollen necessary for plant reproduction (Faegri and van der Pijl 1978; Harder, Williams et al. 2001). Worldwide, it is estimated that more than 67% of angiosperm plants rely on pollination by insects (Tepedino 1979). Hence, pollinators play a critical role in the persistence and survival of flowering plants, which are of high value to the human food chain (Kearns and Inouye 1997; Klein, Vaissiere et al. 2007). Flower colour signals and sensory exploitation Colour is the result of the visible light being absorbed or reflected off objects and then processed by the eye and brain of an animal (Le Grand 1968). Light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, and can be quantified by the wavelength of different photons of energy (Bueche 1986). The wavelengths reflected off the object are perceived by a visual system as the object’s colour. For example, light that appears blue to a human observer can be described by a dominant wavelength of 400nm, whilst light that appears red is 700nm. Ultraviolet light falls between 300-400nm and can be seen by bees, but not humans. Flower colours have been influenced by the sensory receptors of insects, including their colour vision, which is different to human vision. Humans have a red, blue and green receptor (Chittka and Wells 2004). In contrast insects have a UV, green and blue receptor (Chittka and Wells 2004). As human vision is very different to a hymenopterans’ colour visual system, one cannot discuss a bees’ colour perception according to human colour terms such as red or blue. Therefore, this thesis will discuss colours according to wavelength. Colour is one of the most important floral signals plants use to communicate information to insect pollinators (Giurfa, Vorobyev et al. 1996; Dyer, Spaethe et al. 2008). Although it is known that pollinators select flowers based on morphology, nectar availability, size, and odour (Giurfa, Nà ºÃƒ ±ez et al. 1994; Kunze and Gumbert 2001; Spaethe, Tautz et al. 2001; Whitney and Glover 2007), colour is known to play a critical role in enabling pollinators to detect and discriminate target flowers from a biologically important distance of up to 50 cm (Giurfa, Vorobyev et al. 1996; Dyer, Spaethe et al. 2008). Our understanding of the evolution of colour vision in insects has advanced considerably in recent years. In the past, studies of colour perception were limited due to little information on the colour visual system of insects (Frisch 1914; Daumer 1956). It is now possible to evaluate how flower visual signals appear to the visual system of hymenopteran pollinators, using spectrophotometer and colorimetry techniques, which allows quantitative evaluations of how complex colour information is perceived by insect pollinators (Chittka 1992) (fig. 1). Previous research has revealed that colour discrimination in hymenopterans is phylogenetically ancient, with different hymenopterans sharing similar colour perception (Helversen 1972; Chittka and Menzel 1992). Importantly, colour discrimination in the hymenoptera is known to predate the evolution of floral colour diversity (Chittka 1996). Here, recent research has revealed remarkable convergence in the evolution and distribution of floral colours in different parts of the world. Specifically, in a seminal paper, Chittka (1996) showed that flowering plants in both Europe and the Middle East have adapted their colour signals to the visual systems of bees, with flower colours in these regions closely matched to the visual receptors of hymenopterans (Chittka 1996). However, outside of Europe and the Middle East, very little work has been done on the evolution of floral colour diversity. In particular, we know almost nothing about the evolution of the Australian flora in the context of hy menopteran visual systems. This is an important question to investigate due to the long isolation of the Australian flora and the high proportion of endemic plant species. I hypothesise that the Australian floral coloration will closely match the discrimination thresholds of hymenopterans as recent evidence suggests that insect pollinators supported the early spread of flowering plants (Hu, Dilcher et al. 2008). Innate colour preferences of bees Charles Darwin was the first to state that innate preferences could allow an inexperienced pollinator to find a food source (Darwin 1877). Pollinators may use certain traits of flowers such as morphology, scent, temperature and colour to locate food (Heinrich 1979; Menzel 1985; Dyer, Whitney et al. 2006; Raine, Ings et al. 2006). Previous studies evaluating innate colour preferences have tended to focus on two species: the European honey bee (Apis mellifera) and bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). By contrast, no studies have looked at the innate colour preferences of Australian bees and how this affects their choices for flowers. We know that European bumblebees and honeybees show strong preferences for violet and blue (400-420nm) throughout their geographic range (Chittka, Ings et al. 2004) ,which interestingly correlates with the most profitable food sources (Lunau and Maier 1995; Chittka and Raine 2006). These preferences are likely to have had an impact on the relative success of dif ferent flower colours in regions where these bees are dominant pollinators (Chittka and Wells 2004). Consequently, information on the innate preferences of Australian bees will be important to understand hymenopteran plant interactions in the Australian context. Pollinator learning and food deceptive orchids Most plants reward their pollinators with nectar or pollen. However, some species do not offer floral rewards and, instead, employ a range of deceptive techniques to trick insects into performing the task of pollination. Deceptive pollination strategies are particularly well known and widespread among orchids (Jersà ¡kovà ¡, Johnson et al. 2006). For instance, approximately 400 orchid species are known to achieve pollination through sexual deceit, luring unsuspecting male insects to the flower through olfactory, visual and tactile mimicry of potential mates. More common are food deceptive orchids which are believed to number as many as 6,000 species (one-third of orchids) (Jersà ¡kovà ¡, Johnson et al. 2009). Food mimicking orchids employ bright colours to falsely advertise the presence of a reward to attract naive pollinators (Ackerman 1986; Nilsson 1992; Jersà ¡kovà ¡, Johnson et al. 2006). The common occurrence of food deception in orchids suggests that this form of pollinat ion by deception is an extremely successful evolutionary strategy (Cozzolino and Widmer 2005). Visits by pollinators to deceptive plants are influenced by pollinator learning. In the case of sexual deception, previous research shows that insects quickly learn unrewarding flower decoys and avoid them. For example, male insects learn to avoid areas containing sexually deceptive orchids (Peakall 1990; Wong and Schiestl 2002). However, whether insects can learn to avoid food deceptive orchids remains to be investigated. In addition, high levels of variability in floral traits, particularly flower colour and floral scent, may interrupt the associative learning of insects by preventing their ability to become familiar with deceptive flowers (Schiestl 2005). Indeed, variation in colour, shape and fragrance is evident in non-model food-deceptive orchids (Moya and Ackerman 1993; Aragà ³n and Ackerman 2004; Salzmann, Nardella et al. 2007). However, previous studies have only looked at pollinator preference for colour morphs (Koivisto, Vallius et al. 2002), rather than assessing if vari able flower colour slows down the ability of naive pollinators to learn unrewarding flower decoys. Furthermore, there is a need to incorporate a combination of colour vision science and behavioural ecology to understand how a bee perceives the orchid flowers, as bees have a different visual system to humans. Although humans cannot see ultra-violet light, UV sensitivity is common in some animals (Tovà ©e 1995). UV sensitivity has been found in insects, birds, fish and reptiles (Marshall, Jones et al. 1996; Neumeyer and Kitschmann 1998; Cuthill, Partridge et al. 2000; Briscoe and Chittka 2001). Studies on UV vision in an ecological context have mainly focused on species specific signalling and mate choice (Bennett, Cuthill et al. 1996; Bennett, Cuthill et al. 1997; Pearn 2001; Cummings, Garc et al. 2006). However, few studies have looked at the role of UV signals in attracting bees to orchids. Previous studies have shown that the presence of UV reflecting crab spiders attracts honeybees to daisies (Heiling, Herberstein et al. 2003). In a similar study, Australian native bees (Austroplebia australis) were attracted but did not land on flowers with UV reflecting crab spiders (Heiling and Herberstein 2004). However, the role of UV signals in orchids is not well studied. In particular, it is not known if the UV signal is important in attracting naive bees to food deceptive orchids. Thus, it will be useful to know if UV signals might also serve to lure naive pollinators to deceptive flowers to understand deceptive pollination. Aims This project will investigate Australian flower colour diversity in the context of hymenopteran visual systems, the innate colour preferences of Australian native bees (Trigona carbonaria) and their interactions with a food deceptive orchid (Caladenia carnea). This study aims to address the following questions: 1. Is there a link between hymenopteran vision and Australian floral coloration? 2. Does an Australian native bee (Trigona carbonaria) have innate colour preferences? 3. Does a food deceptive orchid (Caladenia carnea) exploit the innate colour preferences of Trigona carbonar 2. Methods Part 1. Is there a link between hymenopteran vision and Australian floral coloration? Flower collection and spectral reflectance functions of Australian native plant flowers Australian native flowers were collected from Maranoa Gardens, Balwyn (melway ref 46 F7). Maranoa Gardens was chosen due to the diverse collection of species from all over Australia. Flowers were collected once a month, from May to January. A colour photograph was taken of the flower for identification. I also took a UV photograph for all flowers, using a digital UV camera [Fuji Finepix Pro S3 UVIR modified CCD for UV imaging] with calibrated UV-vis grey scales (Dyer, Muir et al. 2004). As UV rays are invisible to the human eye (Menzel and Blakers 1976; Dyer 2001), this photo enabled any UV reflectance areas of the flower to be measured by the spectrophotometer (Indsto, Weston et al. 2006). The spectral reflection functions of flowers were calculated from 300 to 700 nm using a spectrophotometer(S2000) with a PX-2 pulsed xenon light source attached to a PC running SpectraSuite software (Ocean Optics Inc., Dunedin, FL, USA). The spectrophotometer was used to quantify the colour of the flower as wavelength. The white standard was a freshly pressed pellet of dry BaSO4, used to calibrate the spectrophotometer. A minimum of three flowers from each plant were used for each spectral analysis. I evaluated a sample of 111 spectral measurements from Australian flowering plants, encompassing a representative variety of plant families (fig. 2). Correlations between spectral reflectance functions of different plant flowers and trichomatic vision of the honeybees To understand if there is a link between hymenopteran vision and Australian native flowers, I used the methodology used by Chittka and Menzel (1992). In that study, Chittka and Menzel looked for correlations between flower spectra sharp steps of different plant flowers and trichomatic vision of the honeybees. Sharp steps are a rapid change in the spectra wavelength (Chittka and Menzel 1992) (see fig. 3 for an example of a sharp step). These steps cross over different receptors, thereby producing vivid colours that stand out from the background. Furthermore, a colour signal will be more distinguishable to a pollinator if the sharp steps match up with the overlap of receptors in a visual system. Thus, the main feature of a flower wavelength is a sharp step. For this study, I defined a sharp step as a change of greater than 20 % reflectance in less than 50 nm of the bee visual spectrum. The midpoint of the slope was determined by eyesight as described by Chittka and Menzel (1992), as th e nature of curves varied with each flower. The absolute numbers of sharp steps within each flower spectra were counted. The frequencies are shown in fig. 4b. As hybrid plants are artificially selected by humans, hybrid flowers were not included in the analyses. Generating a Hexagon colour space To evaluate how flower colours are seen by bees, I plotted the flower colour positions in a colour hexagon space. A colour space is a numerical representation of an insect’s colour perception that is suitable for a wide range of hymenopteran species (Chittka 1992). In a colour space, the distances between locations of a two colour objects link with the insect’s capacity to differentiate those colours. To make the colour space, the spectral reflectance of the colour objects were required, as well as the receptor sensitivities of the insect. For Trigona carbonaria, the exact photoreceptors are currently unknown, but hymenopteran trichromatic vision is very similar between species as the colour photoreceptors are phylogenetically ancient (Chittka 1996). Thus, it is possible to model hymenopteran vision with a vitamin A1 visual template (Stavenga, Smits et al. 1993) as described by Dyer (1999). I then predicted how the brain processed these colour signals by using the avera ge reflectance from each flower, and calculating the photoreceptor excitation (E) values, according to the UV, blue and green receptor sensitivities (Briscoe and Chittka 2001) using the methods explained by Chittka (1992). The UV, blue and green E-values of flower spectra were used as coordinates and plotted in a colour space (Chittka 1992). The colour difference as perceived by a bee was calculated by the Euclidean distance between two objects locations in the colour hexagon space (Chittka 1992). Modelling the distributions of Australian flower colours according to bees’ perception I analysed the most frequent flower colour according to a bees’ colour perception using the methods of Chittka, Shmida et al. (1994). I plotted the Australian flower colours in a colour space (Fig 5a). A colour space is a graphical representation of a bees’ colour perception. A radial grid of 10 degree sectors was placed over the distribution of colour loci and the number of floral colour loci within each sector was counted(fig. 5b). Part 2. Does an Australian native bee (Trigona carbonaria) have innate colour preferences? Insect model and housing Trigona carbonaria is an Australian native stingless bee that lives in colonies of 4000-10000 individuals (Heard 1988). In the wild, stingless bees live in hollows inside trees (Dollin, Dollin et al. 1997). Trigona carbonaria has a similar social structure to the honeybee (Wille 1983). They are common to North Eastern Australia and are a potentially important pollinator for several major commercial crops (Heard 1999). A research colony (ca. 4000 adults and 800 foraging individuals) of T. carbonaria was propagated for the experiments by Dr Tim Heard (CSIRO Entomology, 120 Meiers Rd, Indooroopilly 4068, Australia) as described in the paper by Heard (1988). Bees were maintained in laboratory conditions so that no previous contact with flowers had been made. For this study, a colony was placed in a pine nest box (27.5 x 20 x 31 cm; LWH) and connected to the foraging arena by a 16 cm plexiglass tube, containing individual shutters to control bee movements. All laboratory experiments were conducted in a Controlled Temperature Laboratory (CTL) at Monash University, Clayton, School of Biological Sciences (CTL room G12C dimensions 3 x 5m), during the months of July 2009- January 2010. Relative humidity (RH) was set to 30%, and the temperature was set to 27  °C (SPER-Scientific Hygrometer, Arizona, USA), as this set up approximately matches conditions in Queensland for insect pollinators (Heard and Hendrikz 1993). Illumination (10/14 hr day/night) was provided by four Phillips Master TLS HE slimline 28W/865 UV+ daylight fluorescent tubes (Holland) with specially fitted high frequency (>1200Hz) ATEC Jupiter EGF PMD2x14-35 electronic dimmable ballasts which closely matches daylight conditions for trichromatic hymenoptera (Dyer and Chittka 2004). The flight arena (1.2 x 0.6 x 0.5m; LWH) was made of a coated steel frame with laminated white wooden side panels. The arena floor was painted foliage green, and the arena lid was covered with UV transparent plexiglass. Experimen ts were conducted from 1pm-3pm to control for time of day, as this is when bees are most active (Heard and Hendrikz 1993). Pre-training Bees were habituated to the flight arena for seven days. Naive foragers (i.e. bees that had never encountered real or artificial flowers) were initially pre-trained to forage in the flight arena on three rewarding aluminium sanded disks (25 mm in diameter), with a 10-ÃŽ ¼l droplet of 15% (w/w) sucrose solution placed in the centre. The disks were placed on vertical plastic cylinders (diameter = 25 mm, height = 100 mm), to raise them above the floor of the flight arena so that bees learnt to fly to the disks. Pre-training allows bees to become habituated to visiting artificial flowers for further experiments. The aluminium sanded disks were chosen as neutral stimuli because they have an even spectral reflectance curve in the spectral visual range of the bees, fig. 6. The sucrose solution reward on these training disks was refilled using a pipette after it was consumed by foraging bees. The spatial positions of these training disks were pseudo randomised, so that bees would not learn t o associate particular locations with reward. Bees were allowed a minimum of two hours to forage on the pre-training disks before data collection Innate colour preference testing To test the innate colour preferences of naive bees, I performed simultaneous choice experiments with flower-naive bees using artificial flowers that simulated the floral colours of natural flowers. The aluminum rewarding disks were replaced by the ten unrewarding, coloured artificial disks in the original flight arena. Artificial flower stimuli were cut in a circle (70 mm diameter) from standardized colour papers of the HKS-N-series (Hostmann-Steinberg K+E Druckfarben, H. Schmincke Co., Germany). In each experiment the same set of ten test colours (1N pale yellow, 3N saturated yellow, 21N light pink, 32N pink, 33N purple, 50N blue, 68N green, 82N brown, 92N grey, back of 92N white) were used. These colours were chosen as they have been used in innate colour experiments with other hymenopterans (Giurfa, Nà ºÃƒ ±ez et al. 1995; Kelber 1997; Gumbert 2000), and the colours are also widely used in other bee colour experiments (Giurfa, Vorobyev et al. 1996). The coloured paper disks were placed on vertical plastic cylinders (diameter = 15 mm; height = 50 mm), to raise them above the floor of the flight arena. The gate was shut in the arena to ensure the bees used in each trial were separated from the next trial. The number of landings and approaches to the stimuli were recorded for one hour. Approximately 200 bees were used for each trial. The spatial positions of the artificial flowers were pseudo randomised in a counter balance fashion every 15 minutes. After each trial, the colour disks were aired and wiped with a paper tissue to remove possible scent marks, which are known to affect experiments with honeybees (Schmitt and Bertsch 1990; Giurfa and Nà ºÃƒ ±ez 1992). I conducted each subsequent trial after removing the used bees from the system, to ensure that the bees in the next trial were replaced with naive foragers. It is known that perception of colour can be influenced by background colour (Lunau, Wacht et al. 1996). Therefore, I also tested colour choices on other background colours of grey and black. The results are qualitatively similar (fig. 8b), so only data from the biologically relevant green background was used for subsequent analysis. Analysis of colour stimuli As bees see colours differently to humans, I quantified stimuli according to five parameters: wavelength, brightness, purity (saturation), chromatic contrast to the background and green receptor contrast. Dominant wavelength was calculated by tracing a line from the centre of the colour hexagon through the stimulus location to the corresponding spectrum locus wavelength (Wyszecki and Stiles 1982). Brightness was measured as the sum of excitation values of the UV, blue and green receptors (Spaethe, Tautz et al. 2001). Spectral purity of the stimulus was calculated by the percentage distance of the stimulus in relation to the end of the spectrum locus (Chittka and Wells 2004). Chromatic contrast was calculated as the distance of a colour stimulus from the centre of the colour hexagon relative to the background. Chromatic contrast is important as perception can be affected by background colour (Lunau, Wacht et al. 1996). Green receptor contrast was measured as the green receptor excitat ion from a stimulus relative to the background (Giurfa, Nà ºÃƒ ±ez et al. 1995). This contrast is relevant as green receptors and green contrast are known to affect motion in bees (Srinivasan, Lehrer et al. 1987). Statistical analyses The impact of wavelength on number of landings by Trigona carbonaria was investigated using a single factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a post hoc Tukeys HSD test (ÃŽ ±=0.05) (Quinn and Keough 2002) using the number of landings as the dependent variable and wavelength of stimuli as the independent variable. Brightness, purity (saturation), chromatic contrast to the background and green receptor contrast of stimuli were analysed using the Spearmans rank correlation test against choices. Statistical analyses were conducted using R statistical and graphical environment (R Development Core Team, 2007). Statistical significance was set to P≠¤0.05. Part 3. Does a food deceptive orchid (Caladenia carnea) exploit the innate colour preferences of Trigona carbonaria? Plant model Caladenia carnea is a widespread species, common to eastern Australia. The orchid is highly variable in colour, ranging from pink to white. It is pollinated by Australian native bees of the Trigona species (Adams and Lawson 1993).With bright colours and fragrance, this orchid achieves pollination by food mimicry (Adams and Lawson 1993). Thus, due to the colour variation of the orchid, C. carnea is an excellent model with which to examine floral exploitation of potential pollinators. Caladenia carnea flowers were supplied by private growers from the Australasian Native Orchid Society. Can Trigona carbonaria perceive a difference between pink and white flowers of Caladenia carnea? Colorimetric analysis of the pink and white Caladenia carnea flowers were used to investigate whether different colours of the orchid would be perceived as similar or different to a bees’ visual system. A spectrophotometer was used to take four measurements of each flower colour (pink versus white). The actual measurements used in the analysis were an average of each colour (Dyer, Whitney et al. 2007). To predict the probability with which insect pollinators would discriminate between different flowers, these spectra were plotted as loci in a hexagon colour space (Chittka 1992) (see ‘hexagon colour space’ methods). Choice experiments I conducted trials testing the preferences of bees when offered a dichotomous choice between a white versus pink Caladenia carnea flower. Each trial took place inside a flight arena. Each white and pink flower used in a trial were matched for size, placed into indiviual plastic containers (diameter= 5 cm, height=5 cm) and placed in the arena with a distance of 10 cm between flower centres. Each container was covered with Glad WrapTM (The Clorox Company, Oaklands, CA, USA) to remove olfactory cues as they are known to in ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uence the choice behaviour of honeybees (e.g. Pelz, Gerber et al. 1997; Laska, Galizia et al. 1999). Approximately 50 bees were let into the arena for each trial. The  ¬Ã‚ rst contact made by a bee with the Glad WrapTM within a distance of 4 cm, was recorded as a choice of that  ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ower (Dyer, Whitney et al. 2007). The number of landings were recorded to the flowers for five minutes. After each trial, the Glad WrapTM was changed to prevent scent ma rks. In addition, individual flowers and spatial positions were randomised. Individual bees were sacrificed after each trial to avoid pseudo replication. Does the UV signal affect the attraction of bees to orchid flowers? To investigate whether the UV re ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ectance of the dorsal sepal affected the response of bees, I offered bees the choice between two white orchids, one with a UV signal and the other without (N=16). The UV signal was removed by applying a thin layer of sunscreen (Hamilton SPF 30+, Adelaide, SA, Australia) over the dorsal sepal. Spectral reflectance measurements were taken to ensure that the sunscreen prevented any reflection of UV light (below 395 nm) from the sepals and did not change the reflectance properties of the orchid. In addition, spectral measurements of orchid sepals under Glad WrapTM confirmed that the foil was permeable to all wavelengths of light above 300 nm and did not obscure the reflectance of flowers. Do bees display preferences when choosing between pink versus white orchid flowers? To assess whether bees show a preference for pink or white variants of the orchid Caladenia carnea, I offered bees a simultaneous choice between a pink or white flower (N=16). See procedures for choice testing. Do bees habituate to non-rewarding orchids based on differences in floral coloration? I conducted a two stage experiment to investigate if bees could learn to habituate to a non-rewarding flower colour over time and whether bees adjusted their subsequent flower choice depending on the flower colour encountered previously. At stage 1 of the experiment, native bees were presented with one flower, either white or pink. Flowers were placed in a container with Glad WrapTM. Landings to the flower were recorded at the start and again at the 30 min mark. At stage 2, the flower from stage 1 was swapped with a new flower colour and the number of landings were scored for 5 minutes. Flowers were randomised and Glad WrapTM changed to prevent scent marks after each trial. Once again, bees were used only once per experiment. Statistical analyses For experiments 2, 3 4, numbers of landings by naive bees to flower pairs were compared using two tailed paired t-tests. A two factor ANOVA was used to analyse whether bees habituate to non-rewarding orchids based on differences in floral coloration. The dependent variable was the number of landings and the two independent variables were previous flower colour and new flower colour. 3. Results Part 1. Is there a link between hymenopteran vision and Australian floral coloration? Correlations between the inflection curves of different plant flowers and trichomatic vision of hymenopterans The analysis of 111 spectral reflection curves of Australian flowers reveals that sharp steps occur at those wavelengths where hymenoterans are most sensitive to spectral differences (fig. 4b). There are three clear peaks in sharp steps (fig. 4b). It is known that hymenopteran trichomats are all sensitive to spectral differences at approximately 400 and 500 nm (Menzel and Backhaus 1991; Peitsch, Fietz et al. 1992). Hence, the peaks at 400 and 500 nm can be discriminated well by hymenopteran trichomats, as illustrated by the inverse Δ ÃŽ »/ÃŽ » function (solid curve shown in fig. 4a) of the honeybee (Helversen 1972), which is an empirically determined threshold function which shows the region of the electromagnetic function that a bees’ visual system discriminates colours best. In summary, the spectral position of receptors of trichomatic hymenopterans are correlates with steps in the floral spectra of Australian flowers. The distributions of Australian flower colours according to bees’ perception The floral colour loci are strongly clustered in the colour hexagon (fig. 5a). Blue-green flowers are the most common in the perception of bees, while pure UV flowers were the rarest (fig. 5b). Part 2. Does an Australian native bee (Trigona carbonaria) have innate colour preferences? Effect of brightness, spectral purity, chromatic contrast and green receptor contrast on colour choices There was no significant effect of stimulus brightness on choice frequency (rs= 0.333, n=10, p= 0.347; fig. 7a). There was no significant effect of spectral purity on choice frequency (rs = 0.224, n=10, p= 0.533; figure 7b). There was no significant correlation effect of chromatic contrast on choice frequency (rs = 0.042, n=10, p= 0.907; figure 7c). There was no significant effect of green receptor contrast on choice frequency (rs = 0. 0.552, n=10, p= 0.098; figure 7d). Effect of wavelength on colour choices Stimuli colours are plotted in figure 8a, as they appear to a human viewer to enable readers to understand the correlation between colour choices. However, all statistical analyses were conducted with stimuli plotted as wavelength due to the different visual perception of bees and humans (Kevan, Chittka et al. 2001). There is a significant effect of wavelength on the number of landings by Trigona carbonaria (Single factor ANOVA, F9,110 = 5.60, P