Perceptions of Reproductive Health in Muslim Undergrads

Perceptions of Reproductive Health in Muslim Undergrads A MULTIDIMENSIONAL CONSTRUCT OF PERCEPTIONS ON SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AMONG MUSLIM UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS Abstract This study examines factors influencing undergraduate students who are all Muslims from one of the public universities in Malaysia. Data were obtained from a survey conducted among the undergraduate students (n=255). Principle Components Analysis (PCA) revealed four latent factors: the electronic and printed media, knowledge of circumcision, the Islamic values on sexuality and their prior knowledge of sexual act. Based on the views of the respondents on the roles played by curriculum, religion and media in disseminating knowledge on sex-related matters, recommendations are drawn to assist the relevant parties in coming up with comprehensive sexuality education for Muslim adolescents. Key words: sex/sexuality education, reproductive health, undergraduate student, Muslim, perceptions, Principle Component Analysis (PCA) Introduction Studies which have been carried out in Muslim societies on sexual and reproductive health are limited. Many young Muslims are emitted from the learning process to cater the cultural and religious restrictions (Cok, 2000; DeJong et al., 2007; Halstead, 1997; Nurazzura, 2007; Underwood, 2000). Very little is, therefore, known about the factors that influence the Muslim youths on sexual and reproductive health. Several studies in some Muslim countries reported that Muslim youth are not well prepared and educated in sexual and reproductive health due to some contributing factors. (Burazeri et al., 2003; GÃâ€"kengin et al., 2003; Mohammad Reza et al.,2006; Nik Suryani et al., 2007; Paruk et al., 2006). Cok (2000) described sex education in Turkey, as similar as many other Muslim countries in the world, as â€Å"there are no sexuality classes, no mention of sexuality in health courses or no sexuality textbook material in Turkish school. Other issues take priority and sexuality education is pushed aside as unimportant and irrelevant† (p.5). Moreover, he stated that Turkish Muslim adolescents are highly influenced by media especially form Europe and North America. In addition, the study on 2,227 first-and fourth -years students at Ege Univesity, GÃâ€"kengin et al. (2003) revealed that knowledge about sexual health and sexuality transmitted diseases is insufficient among their samples. In Albania, Burazeri et al. (2003) reported the mean age at first sexual intercourse 720 undergraduate students in Tirana was 17.9 for men and 18.8 years for woman. They also found positive associations of parental education and income level with sexual activity and consistent use of condoms among Albanian undergraduate students. Mohammad Reza et al. (2006) described the sex education in Iran that cultural sensitivities which may be a factor in young peoples poor knowledge about reproductive health. Furthermore, few programs provide sexuality education to adolescents or enable youth to ask questions and correct misconceptions about reproductive health. Indeed, large numbers of young Iranians lack information about safe sex and about the skills necessary to negotiate and adopt safe sex practices. In their study of 1,385 males aged 15-18 in Tehran about their beliefs and knowledge regarding reproductive health and their engaging in sexual activity, they found that there was a relatively high prevalence of sexual activity and the lack of knowledge regarding STIs and contraceptives pose a significant threat to the sexual and reproductive health of Iranian adolescent males. Hence, they requested programs to provide adolescents with the accurate information and skills to make safe sexual decisions. A study conducted by Nik Suryani et al. (2007) with undergraduate students (n=300) in Malaysia , discovered that, in general, students held a positive view toward sex and sex-related matters; however, their knowledge on sexuality education, sexual and reproductive health matters calls for attention from the relevant authorities. Findings on their sources of information on sexuality education also revealed that more could be done to help them obtain an accurate picture of sex-related matters particularly with the roles played by parents, school, religion and media in disseminating knowledge on sex-related matters. Paruk et al. (2006) presented finding on the influence of religiosity on attitude toward people with HIV/AIDS using 90 South African Muslim university students. They found that higher religiosity was significantly correlated with a more positive attitude to people with HIV. Ojo Bidemi (2008) conducted a study with 520 adolescent of Nigerian students on contemporary clothing habits and sexual behavior of adolescents in the South Western Nigeria. They found that there is no significant difference in the factors influencing adolescents dressing habits and also the fact that there is relationship between clothing habits and their sexual behavior. In Pakistan, Qidwai (2000) surveyed perception among 188 Pakistani young men, who presented to family physicians, at the outpatient department of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, about enjoyment of sexual experiences in women. He found a high prevalence of misconceptions about female sexuality among Pakistani young men. Furthermore, Hennink, Rana, Iqbal (2005) studied on knowledge of personal and sexual development amongst young people in Pakistan. They found that young women typically gain information from a limited number of sources while young men accessed a wide variety of information sources outside the home. From studies done in various Muslim countries, however, there is not enough information on factors influencing the basic sexual and reproductive health among Muslim undergraduate student as well as in other developing countries (Singh, Bankole Woog, 2005). Intervention studies are largely absent. There is a need therefore to determine factors associated with Muslims sexual perception to develop a clear understanding in student variables, the results of which may contribute to help students on their knowledge and behavior regarding to sexual and reproductive health and it will help determine best bets for programs for sex education for Muslim youths. The purpose of this study was to survey Muslim undergraduate students perceptions in sexual and reproductive health, and in doing so, to clarify the meaning of the construct itself. Thus, the study addressed the following research questions: What are the factors influencing Muslim undergraduate students perceptions towards sexual and reproductive health? This study is based on the crossed different populations and geographic regions influencing factor adolescent on sexual and reproductive health studied by Manlove et al. (2001). They pointed out that there are multiple domains in an adolescents life associated with reproductive health outcomes. By grounded on the ecological approach, individual factor, family factor, peers, partners, school context, neighborhood, community, and social policy characteristics are all associated with sexual behaviors, adolescent pregnancy, and STI. However, this study only looked at certain dimensions which comprised (1) individual factor (religiosity, knowledge of reproductive health and attitudes and belief about sex); (2) school context (curriculum); and, (3) media. The authors, therefore, hypothesized that there are four influencing factors of undergraduate Muslim students perception on sexual and reproductive health: (1) school and tertiary curriculum support, (2) Islamic values on sexuality, (3) electronic and printed media, and (4) students prior knowledge on sexual and reproduction health. Significance of Study Results of this study are pictured to provide empirical data on factors influencing perception on sexual and reproductive health among Muslim undergraduate students that have not been fully studied. Thus, the results of this study are expected to help in the understanding of students perception towards sexual and reproductive health and sex education which is promoted by several factors. The findings are beneficial to understand and determine the success or failure of factors influence and the implementation of sex education in Islamic higher learning institute as perceived by students. Such information can help to improve the strategy in order to accomplish the sex education particularly for Muslim youths. Method Research design In this study, the survey method was employed. A questionnaire was selected from Nik Suryani et al. (2007) measured these relationships. It consisted of two parts. The questionnaires were distributed randomly to a sample of undergraduate in the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Population and sample The population is the undergraduate students in IIUM, Gombak campus, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. All were Malaysians. A random sampling was used to select participants. The principle component analysis (PCA) was conducted where the number of sample depends on the items of the questionnaire. Since the number of the item is 40, the minimum sample size is 40 x 5 = 200 participants. In this study, the participants were 255 which were more than the minimum requirement (Hair et al., 2006). Data Collection To distribute the questionnaires, researchers sought help from three students which researchers have known. The questionnaire has an attached covering letter that assures the confidentially of data collected and describes the major components of questionnaires to be completed. Students were given one week to complete the questionnaires and had to return them to the assigned persons within the time allocated. The usable returned response rate was 72.9 % (n=255) out of 350 students. The data collected was operated on January 2008. Validity and Reliability To establish the face and construct validity of the instrument, the opinions of two experts in education were sought on the design and items used for the various dimension. The instrument was pilot tested on 30 students that was not on the list of the selected students. Based on the pilot test, 50 items from Nik Suryani et al. (2007) was tested and a few items were omitted in order to refine the instrument further. Finally, 40 items were confirmed with a reliability of Alpha Cronbach = .72. Instrumentation The survey instrument was adopted from a core questionnaire developed by Nik Suryani et al. (2007). The questionnaire comprised 40 questions divided into two sections: social and demographic variables and students views and knowledge on a wide range of topics on sex and attitudes towards sex. It sought to find out students perceptions on: (1) school and tertiary curriculum (5 items; no.1-5); (2) Islamic values on sexuality (6 items; no.6-11); (3) electronic and printed media (4 items; no.12-15): (4) sexual novel (4 items; no.16-19): (5) their prior knowledge of sexual and reproductive health 5.1 protected sex (6items; no.20-25): 5.2 sexual act (9 items; no.26-34): 5.3 circumcisions (9 items; no.35-40). The response to each item is in the form of a five-point Likert scale of â€Å"strongly disagree, â€Å"disagree†, â€Å"undecided†, â€Å"agree†, and â€Å"strongly agree†. The demographic characteristic of the first section of the questionnaire contains questions with regard to the respondents background information (gender, age, country of origin, former school and location, faculty, year of study, CGPA, and marital status). Data analysis For the demographic data, frequency and percentage were employed. To answer the research question on factors influencing students perceptions of sexual and reproductive health, principle component analysis was utilized. An explanatory factor analysis was conducted to construct-validate the factor influencing students perception. To find out the number of factors the following rules were used: (1) the Kaisers rule of 1.0 as the minimum eigenvalues, (2) the scree test and (3) the interpretability of the solutions. The degree of intercorrelation among items justified the application of the factor analysis as well as the Batletts test of sphericity recorded a Chi square value. Results Table 1 shows out of 255 students, 152 (59.6%) were females and 101 (39.6%) were males. A majority of the students (91.4%) were between 20 and 25 years of age, the remaining being distributed between the age group of younger than 20 (7.4%) and older than 25 (1.2%). Approximately, 239 (93.7%) of the respondents were Malaysians while 16 (6.3%) were international students. Most of students (37.2%) graduated from urban day school, followed by religious school (27.1%), boarding school (16.5%), rural day school (9.0%), private school (5.9%), and others (1.9%). The respondents were represented from different faculty with nearly half (42.4%) being law students (AIKOL). The other half was distributed between Human Sciences (24.3%), KENMS (11.8%), ENGINEERING (7.1%), KAED (5.5%), INSTED (3.9%), KICT (2.7%), and IRK (2.4%) respectively. Majority of students were second year student (32.5%), the remaining being almost distributed between the final year (29.8%), the first year (21.2%), and the third year (16.5%). In general, almost more than half of the students (49.4%) had CGPA more than 3.0, while the rest (28.7%) had less than 3.0. Almost 95.7% students were single which 131 (53.7%) were not attached to someone and 110 (45.1%) were having attached to someone, only 11 (4.3%) students were married. Table 1 Respondents Demographic Background Variables N Percent 1. Gender: Male 101 39.6 Female 152 59.6 Missing Value 2 0.8 2.Age 19 7.4 20-25 233 91.4 >25 3 1.2 3.Country of Origin Malaysian (local student) 239 93.7 Non-Malaysian (international student) 16 6.3 4. Former School and Location Urban Day School 95 37.2 Rural Day School 23 9.0 Boarding School 42 16.5 Religious School 69 27.1 Private School 15 5.9 Others 6 2.4 Missing values 5 1.9 5. Faculty Information and Communication Technology (KICT) 7 2.7 Engineering 18 7.1 Laws (AIKOL) 108 42.4 Human Sciences (HS) 62 24.3 Islamic Revealed Knowledge (IRK) 6 2.3 Institute of Education (INSTEAD) 10 3.9 Economics and Management Sciences (KENMS) 30 11.8 Architecture and Environmental Design ( KAED) 14 5.5 6. Year of study 1st year 54 21.2 2nd year 83 32.5 3rd year 42 16.5 4th year 76 29.8 5. CGPA 1 0.4 2.00-2.49 11 4.4 2.50-2.99 61 23.9 3.00-3.49 102 40 >3.50 24 9.4 Missing Value 56 21.9 6. Marital status Single 244 95.7 Single and have attached to someone 110 45.1 Single and have not attached to someone 131 53.7 Missing Value 3 1.2 Married 11 4.3 n = 255 Perceptions toward Sexual and Reproductive Health Table 2 summarizes the results of the descriptive analysis of the students perceptions on sexual and reproductive health. The data showed that the mean scores ranged between 1.83 (items PRO23) and 4.57 (items REL10); the standard deviations ranged from .66 (items SEX34) to 1.18 (items PRO23). The mean scores were located within the expected range (none of the items are included a mean score of zero, at 95 % level of confidence, with a reliability of Alpha Cronbach = .72). The data showed that the dispersion of the scores for each item sufficiently discriminated the students perceptions. In addition, the degree of bivariate correlation among most of the 40 items matric variables ranged from low to high. However six of them (items EDU1, EDU2, PRO24, SEX28, SEX31, and CIR39) were found to link weakly and negatively with the rest of the items. Table 2 Mean (Standard Deviation) and Item-Total Correlations of Students Perceptions on Sexual and Reproductive Health Items Code M SD r 1. The content of information on sexual related matters taught at school is sufficient. EDU1 2.95 1.157 .081 2. Courses like Family Management and Parenting at undergraduate level should openly discuss sexual and reproductive health matters. EDU2 4.11 .876 .023 3. Sexual education should be taught as subject of its own at secondary schools. EDU3 3.28 1.176 .227 4. Sexual education should be taught as a separate subject at the tertiary level. EDU4 3.60 1.043 .195 5. Sexual education should be taught in pre-marital courses. EDU5 4.38 .686 .176 6. Quran provides me with information on sexuality in a decent manner. REL6 4.38 .789 .239 7. My religious knowledge provides basis for me to develop the conscience not to engage in premarital sex REL7 4.52 .728 .192 8. Religion helps me suppress my sexual desire. REL8 4.26 .847 .237 9. Fasting is one of the best ways to keep my sexual desire under control. REL9 4.31 .910 .327 10. Watching pornography is forbidden in Islam. REL10 4.57 .767 .303 11. The only way to eliminate illicit sex is by implementing the Syariah Law. REL11 4.19 .922 .389 12. Electronic media portrays negative perception of sexuality. MED12 3.70 1.079 .339 13. Printed media portrays negative perception of sexuality. MED13 3.65 1.075 .372 14. Electronic media leads young people to embark on pre-marital sexual relationship. MED14 4.10 .927 .357 15. Printed media leads young people to embark on pre-marital sexual relationship. MED15 3.94 .987 .412 16. Reading sexy novels leads people to having pre-marital sex. NOV16 3.42 1.036 .354 17. Novels are most descriptive about sexual intercourses than other sources. NOV17 2.98 1.072 .350 18. Novels with sexual descriptions increase my desire to masturbate. NOV18 2.69 1.107 .324 19. Novels with sexual descriptions increase my sexual fantasies. NOV19 2.95 1.093 .268 20. There is fertility problem if pregnancy does not occur in the first year of marriage. PRO20 2.52 .972 .218 21. Unprotected sexual intercourse will guarantee pregnancy. PRO21 3.32 1.175 .339 22. Protected intercourse guarantee pregnancy wont occur. PRO22 2.70 1.085 .235 23. Kissing and touching can lead to pregnancy. PRO23 1.83 1.177 .153 24. The use of contraceptives or protected sex ensures safety from sexually related diseases. PRO24 3.41 .996 .069 25. Islam forbids the use of contraceptives. PRO25 2.87 1.010 .169 26. Preservation of virginity is most important for both men and women before getting married. SEX26 4.53 .781 .125 27. Sex is painful for first timers. SEX27 3.44 .933 .100 28. Sex is painful for women. SEX28 3.22 .886 .069 29. Sex is pleasurable to both men and women. SEX29 4.04 .853 .162 30. Only matured people enjoy sexual relationship. SEX30 2.88 1.088 .100 31. Sexual relationship is for young people only. SEX31 1.91 .909 -.057 32. Good Communication between spouses ensures satisfying sexual relationship. SEX32 4.32 .839 .100 33. Knowledge about sex is a pre requisite for enjoying sex. SEX33 4.05 .876 .246 34. Understanding between each others needs help improve sexual satisfaction. SEX34 4.39 .660 .168 35. Circumcision is mainly for health reasons. CIR35 3.93 1.090 .192 36. Circumcision is for cultural reasons. CIR36 2.43 1.033 .189 37. Circumcision for women reduces sexual satisfaction. CIR37 2.89 .935 .116 38. Circumcision for women represses their sexual desires. CIR38 2.96 .856 .235 39. Circumcision for men reduces sexual satisfaction. CIR39 2.59 .977 .076 40. Circumcision for men represses their sexual desires. CIR40 2.92 .969 .105 The Underlying Dimensions of Students Perceptions To identify the factors that influence undergraduate Muslim students response toward sexual and reproductive health, the data collected from the sample of 255 respondents were subjected to principal component analysis. Nevertheless, the present analysis used only the responses on the 34 of the 40 items (Table 3). Based on the results of item analysis as described in the preceding section, 6 of the items (items EDU1, EDU2, PRO24, SEX28, SEX31, and CIR39) were excluded because they were behaving poorly in the item-total correlation. Table 3 summarizes the correlations among the 34 items supported the use of principal component analysis. Specifically, the Bartlett Sphericity Test yielded statistically significant intercorrelation c2 (561) = 2525.854, p = .001 with an overall MSA of .65, which exceeded the value of .60. Thus, the data matrix has sufficient correlation to justify the use of the exploratory factor analysis. The principal component analysis yielded a seven -factor dimension structure, accounting for 60.69% of the variance. This indicates that four underlying dimensions explain more than 60% of the variance among the 34 variables. The eigenvalues, ranging from 1.616 to 3.0622 (which is greater than 1 as required), satisfied the standards of important factors as prescribed by Hair, Jr. et al. (2006). Table 3 Correlation Matrix and Descriptive Statistic EDU3 EDU4 EDU5 REL6 REL7 REL8 REL9 REL10 REL11 MED12 MED13 MED14 MED15 NOV16 NOV17 NOV18 NOV19 PRO20 PRO21 PRO22 PRO23 PRO25 SEX26 SEX27 SEX29 SEX30 SEX32 SEX33 SEX34 CIR35 CIR36 CIR37 CIR38 CIR40 EDU3 .548 EDU4 -.284 .557 EDU5 -.134 -.128 .747 REL6 .051 -.046 -.085 .769 REL7 -.021 .017 -.107 -.385 .735 REL8 .061 -.006 .027 -.125 -.233 .724 REL9 -.052 .028 -.011 -.130 -.104 -.210 .771 REL10 .015 -.084 -.110 -.084 -.023 -.234 -.002 .742 REL11 .007 .040 -.099 .027 -.140 .031 -.194 -.153 .782 MED12 .062 .071 .045 -.034 .068 .107 -.062 -.183 -.005 .669 MED13 -.162 -.074 .029 -.025 -.014 -.082 .046 .100 -.202 -.784 .666 MED14 .046 .052 -.088 .045 -.021 .080 .110 -.118 .071 .005 -.172 .664 MED15 -.032 -.025 .017 .003 .001 -.124 -.044 .120 -.113 -.074 .052 -.763 .688 NOV16 .162 -.022 .047 -.145 .047 .001 -.010 -.069 -.191 .020 .072 -.138 -.034 .757 NOV17 -.020 -.056 .094 .046 .028 .017 -.174 .000 .125 .028 -.029 .045 -.141 -.328 .713 NOV18 -.034 .113 -.078 -.017 -.081 .124 -.030 -.024 .209 -.019 -.076 .141 -.089 -.188 -.191 .591 NOV19 .085 -.105 -.101 .183 -.018 -.168 .126 .040 -.053 -.004 -.012 -.011 .013 -.001 -.047 -.663 .588 PRO20 -.106 .172 .097 -.095 .194 -.099 .024 -.007 -.015 -.018 -.118 -.040 .033 -.075 .118 .036 -.051 .630 PRO21 .032 -.077 -.059 .056 -.056 .056 -.098 .072 -.002 .006 -.031 .051 -.044 -.124 .065 -.090 .049 -.093 .610 PRO22 -.055 -.041 .006 -.023 -.001 .022 -.140 .004 -.097 -.053 .109 .067 -.031 .108 -.111 -.081 .059 -.147 -.290 .485 PRO23 -.120 .028 .054 -.017 .112 -.070 .003 .149 -.198 -.060 .040 -.141 .111 .042 -.050 -.087 .012 .010 -.045 -.196 .619 PRO25 .088 -.126 .092 -.052 .056 .126 -.134 -.206 .005 .114 -.030 -.028 -.017 -.015 .002 .025 -.096 -.120 -.169 .099 -.126 .490 SEX26 .004 -.041 .071 -.092 -.141 .034 -.010 -.063 -.056 -.031 .023 -.049 .067 .080 -.175 .047 .036 -.006 -.204 .086 .101 .057 .671 SEX27 .079 .083 -.093 .080 -.078 -.056 .098 .135 -.107 .051 -.024 -.100 .015 .098 .074 -.135 .085 .026 .196 -.244 .092 -.128 -.197 .319 SEX29 -.085 -.058 -.089 -.088 .013 -.091 .011 -.055 .033 -.086 .153 .029 -.007 .048 -.105 .135 -.199 -.211 -.196 .120 .069 .111 .114 -.195 .572 SEX30 -.023 .064 -.009 -.090 .118 .029 -.161 -.055 .048 -.006 .000 -.110 .075 -.117 -.027 .114 -.097 -.009 .011 -.001 .036 .092 .101 -.143 .147 .536 SEX32 -.243 .095 .094 -.039 .066 -.068 -.006 .074 -.018 -.148 .127 -.028 .018 .047 -.001 -.043 -.004 .231 -.038 .114 .041 -.106 -.040 -.103 -.054 .089 .640 SEX33 -.023 .060 .014 .163 -.195 .084 -.110 -.149 .058 .090 -.043 .062 -.055 -.124 -.088 .088 -.092 -.192 .057 .133 -.119 .097 -.036 -.040 .056 -.046 -.193 .570 SEX34 .127 -.132 -.039 -.139 .173 -.044 .020 .067 -.049 .105 -.085 -.076 .025 .064 .193 -.167 .075 .158 .006 -.155 .072 .032 -.058 .123 -.256 -.054 -.333 -.463 .555 CIR35 -.103 .093 .052 -.006 .018 .025 -.115 -.101 -.075 -.026 .058 -.053 .056 .011 -.026 -.020 -.012 .065 -.052 .054 .038 -.065 -.104 -.074 .019 .018 .053 .128 -.237 .600 CIR36 .003 -.139 .060 -.085 .159 -.147 .181 .069 -.084 .015 .045 -.014 .021 .025 -.197 -.173 .174 -.052 -.137 .084 .010 -.068 .108 -.114 .020 -.026 .032 -.170 .133 -.113 .613 CIR37 -.145 .013 .021 .044 -.011 .168 -.081 .037 .072 -.034 .015 -.086 .068 -.157 .067 .104 -.121 .003 .126

Lizard by Dennis Covington Essay

Dennis Covington is an American writer of fiction whose stories give a realistic version of the world through the lives of the fictitious characters. He did his education in fiction writing and got BA degree from the University of Virginia. He married second time to Vicki Covington in 1977 and also taught at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. (Alabama Center for the Book and Auburn University, 2008) Lizard is his commendable story of a deformed young teenage boy, Lucius Sims, whose deformity gets him a nickname Lizard. The whole story revolves around this boy, his anguish as he is abused and laughed at by other children and even though not mentally retarded yet is admitted in the asylum of mentally retarded children. Lucius Sims has a disfigured face and looks completely different from others and similar to a reptile. This makes him an object of ridicule and insults. He is often insulted and called â€Å"Turd Head† (Covington, 1991, p. 10) by the boys, and nurse refers him as â€Å"that boy with squashed head† (Covington, 1991, p. 28). He is also admitted in Leesville State School for mentally handicapped boys by a woman named Miss Colley with whom he was staying. From this place onwards his troubles and problems actually start. There is no sign or even evidence of his being mentally handicapped still he is forced to stay with these children which prove nothing less than a torture for him. His sending him off to the school of mental retarded children is just a means to get rid of him, so that Miss Colley could marry without having to face burden of taking care of him. Lucius is burdened of having to face not only these children but also adults so he decides to escape. Soon he gets an opportunity when he is helped by a young actress and an actor to flee from school. He takes this chance to escape into the new profound freedom. They take him into the acting company where he plays a role of Caliban in one of the organized Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. In course of his journey, he comes across range of people- orphaned brother and sister whom he finds staying in a dirty swamp, a museum curator, a black artist, and finally again Miss Cooley whom he finds to be his own mother. On this journey he has to face many situations and circumstances which are both tragic as well as comic like interstate chase, acting debut, unreciprocated love, his acting career and many more adventures. â€Å"While performing in the play, Lizard becomes a specifically American Caliban who finds through the culturally-authoritative voice of Shakespeare, language to speak the trauma of self and nation crystallized by the extreme political history of 1963. † (Hateley, 2009, p. 158) Plot moves very slowly in the beginning but becomes more mesmerizing as it moves forward. Whole text appears to be very loosely connected with again plot appearing to be like turning here and there and twisting. In some places, rough language has also been used which has very little or no relevance to the plot. Many people have been described in the book that gives a nice view about the present society as a whole and the difficulties it faces. It is a self narrative with an autobiographical touch as this whole story has been told by Lizard himself and from his perspective. Through this story, we could not stop but admire him for the way he shows courage and strength in dealing with the circumstances and the people around him. All other characters are also very intriguing allowing us to have a good grasp of the society and its ways. Lizard is Covington’s first work of fiction as he produced originality while espousing the social themes and the worldly affairs with great dexterity and as a keen watcher. This novel is more recommended for young aged between 14 to 16 who should adopt the attitude of love and tolerance towards these â€Å"other† unconventional children. It is also a novel of hope and optimism as in this odd world, a body with disfigured face wants to make his place. Through the eyes of this young boy nicknamed Lizard, writer allows us to show great wisdom, and love for all. It is also a way to remove the undaunted fear of adolescence. While reading the novel, it appears writer has achieved what he wanted with no doubt through the confused, tormented and on some occasions violent while other funny escapades of main the protagonist Lizard. Reference List Alabama Center for the Book and Auburn University. (2008). Dennis Covington. Retrieved on May 2, 2010 from W. W. W: http://www. alabamaliterarymap. org/author. cfm? AuthorID=134 Covington, D. (1991). Lizard. New York, N. Y: Bantam Doubleday Dell. Hateley, E. (2009) Shakespeare in children’s literature: gender and cultural capital. New York, NY: Routledge. Perantoni, C. (2003) First One I and Then the Other, in Reimagining Shakespeare for children and young adults edited by Naomi J. Miller. New York, NY: Routledge. Polette, N. & Ebbesmeyer, J. (2002). Literature lures: using picture books and novels to motivate middle school readers. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited. Ward, M. (2006). Voices from the Margins: An Annotated Bibliography of Fiction of Disabilities and Differences for Young People. IAP.

Utilizing Leadership to Accomplish Successful Organization

Utilizing Leadership to Accomplish Successful Organizational Cultural Change The following paper will provide an in depth analysis as to the benefits associated with utilizing leadership to implement successful organizational change. The paper will outline and convey the importance behind effective leadership demonstration within the workforce environment.Along with this, the importance for instigating and culturing positive working relationships amongst employees, coupled with streamlined communication between staff and executive management is of the utmost importance. This paper will produce the direct correlations between innovative thinking and successful organizational cultural change, showing the importance of this relationship.The paper will reveal that the functional realities met by senior level leadership provide respective managers with access to information vital to the success of organizational change and therefore, are crucial to the drivers of change, seeking to influe nce middle level management and ground floor employees' willingness to accept change It is imperative that there is a thorough understanding as to what is needed to facilitate cultural change implementation, and hat leadership members convey these principles and strategic ideas accurately to their respective staff.Earning and retaining employee willingness to implement change is of the utmost importance as this will allow for more efficient change implementation, combined with a strategic organizational effort. Along with this, implementing streamlined communication amongst staff and managers provides a proactive approach in nullifying any potential impasse in the overall goal. Phalanx's article entitled, Cultural Revitalization Movements in Organization Change Management, outlines one of the most convincing case studies as it relates to what is added in implementing successful cultural change within an organization. 2005) Philae conveys a thorough understanding of why and how organ izational value systems change according to the model and furthermore outlines how management can successfully guide change in behavior. Along with this, strategic cultural change implementation is most efficient when management best understands the ultimate task at hand. Along with effective leadership demonstration, the need for building positive relationships amongst all parties when seeking cultural change is of the utmost importance.This can instigate trust and rapport between both employees ND management alike, allowing for streamlined communications. Bogart, Melville, and Wilkinson, outline the need for organizational leaders to facilitate the complexities of workforce relationships through the process of training and immersion. It is within these training principles that proper employee expectations can best be established. This then affords each employee the opportunity to fully understand their respective position within the workforce environment, which can then ultimately lead to an increase in employee sense of ownership.Positive reinforcement of applied training principles can double as a strategic catalyst for erect and coherent correlation between long-term, innovative thinking and cultural change within an organization. (Bright, Mink, & Owen, 1993) Highly efficient and successful organizations understand the need to adapt with change, and implement policies and procedures that will act as the catalyst for this change.Furthermore, proactively outlining and presenting a clear and concise program when seeking to implement cultural change proves to be advantageous in identifying the end result and then preventing any possible impasse in direction between management and employees. The principles of Total Quality Leadership, as outlined by W. Edwards Deeming, seek to identify an integrated philosophy of leadership and management that has been easily integrated amongst other organizations with a sufficient level of success.Continued education at the m anagement level can be advantageous in the construction of a new cultural philosophy within a respective organization. (Bonkers, 1992) This proves to be beneficial for all parties as it provides the organization with a leadership team that not only possess the intellectual capacity to facilitate change, UT also provides management, and in turn, their respective employees, a strategic opportunity to capture and utilize an educated skill set. There is a direct correlation between organizational leaders and human resource practices and how these components work together to implement organizational cultural change. Easterly- Smith & Salaam, 1994). Changing core values at the management level and implementing a top-down, coordinated effort by management to disperse the new value system throughout the organization can prove to be highly efficient and establishes a level of accountability for all employees. This hands on viewpoint streamlines communications between all parties within the o rganization, proactively nullifying any confusion related to change and also displays to employees that the change process is well thought out and highly organized.The functional realities floor employees' willingness to accept change. (SST-Amour, 2001). Providing leadership with sufficient information directly related to the organization's ability to successfully orchestrate cultural change within the workforce environment is crucial in formulating a change platform that can be duplicated throughout each respective vision within an organization. . In addition to the aforementioned, requiring leaders to think culturally and even employ cultural tools when seeking to implement successful cultural change within the organization provides for a broader viewpoint.Additionally, encouraging leadership to focus simultaneously on the systematic and structural changes, as well as the symbolic presence when identifying and using change triggers, can prove to produce highly efficient levels of change. (Brooks, 1997) Presenting management with planned, strategic change platforms, coupled with editorship's ability identify and cater to cognitive cultural thinking would be beneficial. Moving forward, managing cultural artifacts when seeking to implement cultural change is very important and should be done so with a direct understanding of the importance this brings.Cultural artifacts are found to be the history of the organization and can include components from social norms to strategic heroes that manage these cultural artifacts could prove to be problematic as these components are deeply rooted within the organization and could ultimately provide barriers that would stifle the change triggers. Team Based Cultural Change: A Case Study, presents 10 critical success factors resulting from a strategic, four-step, teamwork program that was designed to assist in cultural change. (Wellbeing 1992).Additionally, this provides the organization with a teamwork approach that sows tog ether the change process. This can prove to be advantageous in proactively preventing push back from employees as it relates to organizational change. Different than the aforementioned, Clausal takes a predominant approach directly related to employee empowerment within the organization and discusses how this relates with successful cultural change. (Clausal, 2004) This then demonstrates the value in using the company's respective employees to assist in instigating cultural change, seeking to utilize employee support to drive organizational values.This can behoove all parties involved as leadership can then provide additional focus towards facilitating the continued change model. In conclusion, it is imperative that there is a thorough understanding as to what is needed to facilitate cultural change implementation, and that leadership members convey these principles and strategic ideas accurately to their respective staff. Implementing streamlined communication amongst staff and man agers provides a proactive approach in nullifying any potential impasse in the overall goal.Additionally, earning and retaining employee willingness to implement change is of the utmost importance as this will allow for more efficient change implementation, combined with a strategic organizational effort. Recommendations would include implementation of streamlined communication strategies between ground floor employees, divisional leaders, and executive management. This would allow for real time problem solving and a proactive solution to strategic organizational change implementation.

Aswan High Dam Controls the Nile River

Aswan High Dam Controls the Nile River Just north of the border between Egypt and Sudan lies the Aswan High Dam, a huge rockfill dam which captures the worlds longest river, the Nile River, in the worlds third-largest reservoir, Lake Nasser. The dam, known as Saad el Aali in Arabic, was completed in 1970 after ten years of work. Egypt has always depended on the water of the Nile River. The two main tributaries of the Nile River are the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The sources of the White Nile are the Sobat River and Bahr al-Jabal (the Mountain Nile), and the Blue Nile begins in the Ethiopian Highlands. The two tributaries converge in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, where they form the Nile River. The Nile River has a total length of 4,160 miles (6,695 kilometers) from source to sea. Nile Flooding Before the building of a dam at Aswan, Egypt experienced annual floods from the Nile River that deposited four million tons of nutrient-rich sediment which enabled agricultural production. This process began millions of years before Egyptian civilization began in the Nile River valley and continued until the first dam at Aswan was built in 1889. This dam was insufficient to hold back the water of the Nile and was subsequently raised in 1912 and 1933. In 1946, the true danger was revealed when the water in the reservoir peaked near the top of the dam. In 1952, the interim Revolutionary Council government of Egypt decided to build a High Dam at Aswan, about four miles upstream of the old dam. In 1954, Egypt requested loans from the World Bank to help pay for the cost of the dam (which eventually added up to one billion dollars). Initially, the United States agreed to loan Egypt money but then withdrew their offer for unknown reasons. Some speculate that it may have been due to Egyptian and Israeli conflict. The United Kingdom, France, and Israel had invaded Egypt in 1956, soon after Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal to help pay for the dam. The Soviet Union offered to help and Egypt accepted. The Soviet Unions support was not unconditional, however. Along with the money, they also sent military advisers and other workers to help enhance Egyptian-Soviet ties and relations. Building of the Aswan Dam In order to build the Aswan Dam, both people and artifacts had to be moved. Over 90,000 Nubians had to be relocated. Those who had been living in Egypt were moved about 28 miles (45 km) away, but the Sudanese Nubians were relocated 370 miles (600 km) from their homes. The government was also forced to develop one of the largest Abu Simel temples and dig for artifacts before the future lake would drown the land of the Nubians. After years of construction (the material in the dam is the equivalent to 17 of the great pyramids at Giza), the resulting reservoir was named after the former president of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who died in 1970. The lake holds 137 million acre-feet of water (169 billion cubic meters). About 17 percent of the lake is in Sudan and the two countries have an agreement for distribution of the water. Aswan Dam Benefits and Problems The Aswan Dam benefits Egypt by controlling the annual floods on the Nile River and prevents the damage which used to occur along the floodplain. The Aswan High Dam provides about half of Egypts power supply and has improved navigation along the river by keeping the water flow consistent. There are several problems associated with the dam as well. Seepage and evaporation account for a loss of about 12-14% of the annual input into the reservoir. The sediments of the Nile River, as with all river and dam systems, has been filling the reservoir and thus decreasing its storage capacity. This has also resulted in problems downstream. Farmers have been forced to use about a million tons of artificial fertilizer as a substitute for the nutrients which no longer fill the floodplain. Further downstream, the Nile delta is having problems due to the lack of sediment as well since there is no additional agglomeration of sediment to keep erosion of the delta at bay, so it slowly shrinks. Even the shrimp catch in the Mediterranean Sea has decreased due to the change in water flow. Poor drainage of the newly irrigated lands has led to saturation and increased salinity. Over one-half of Egypts farmland in now rated medium to poor soils. The parasitic disease schistosomiasis has been associated with the stagnant water of the fields and the reservoir. Some studies indicate that the number of individuals affected has increased since the opening of the Aswan Dam. The Nile River and now the Aswan High Dam are Egypts lifeline. About 95% of Egypts population live within twelve miles from the river. Were it not for the river and its sediment, the grand civilization of ancient Egypt probably would have never existed.

Eliminating Superfluous Phrases

Eliminating Superfluous Phrases Eliminating Superfluous Phrases Eliminating Superfluous Phrases By Catherine Osborn In classes I have taught, students lean towards using phrases that they think make them â€Å"sound smarter† but end up making their work wordy and clunky. By streamlining your sentences and cutting out a few phrases, you can communicate your point much more effectively. For example, here is a list of some that crop up frequently: â€Å"Needless to say†¦Ã¢â‚¬  If it’s so needless to say, then why are you saying it? â€Å"It goes without saying†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Same problem here; easier to get right to your point â€Å"For all intents and purposes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Again, this could easily be cut and your sentence would begin with exactly what you intend to say. â€Å"In light of the fact that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  You could easily just say â€Å"Since†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Clear concise writing applies to all genres and helps your audience understand your point without being bogged down. Here are some quotations from newspapers that illustrate the cumbersome use of those phrases: Payne, who turns 70 in October, will be succeeded by Fred Ridley, 65, a former U.S. Amateur champion and U.S. Golf Association president who has served as chair of Augusta National’s competition committee. The change becomes effective Oct. 16, although for all intents and purposes, Ridley is now in charge, taking over a vital leadership role in golf at a time of transition and challenge for the game throughout the world. USA Today It goes without saying that Democrats would view President Trumps North Korean negotiations quite differently than Republicans, but I was honestly surprised by the strong negative reaction of Trump critics on the right. USA Today Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'ts8 Proofreading Tips And Techniques150 Foreign Expressions to Inspire You

Landmark Decisions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Landmark Decisions - Essay Example Maine was admitted as a free state, so the Senate remained equally stacked between free and slave states. Ostensibly, the line drawn at 36 degrees 30 feet of the territories acquired in the Louisiana Purchase would forever preclude slavery from existing within their boundaries. Three decades later, on May 30, 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and the controversy over slavery in the territories was reopened. Congress tried repeatedly to organize a single territory for the area west of Missouri and Iowa, but was unsuccessful. Stephen O. Douglas of Illinois introduced a bill dividing the land into two territories. His proposal left the issue of free state or slave state up to the people. Thus, ushering in the concept of â€Å"popular sovereignty†. Paul Finkelman in Dred Scott v. Sanford, A Brief History with Documents, describes the debates, the bickering and how the displeasure fermented among the pro and anti-slavery proponents, as the residents of Kansas became vi olently divided over the free state or slave state issue. He goes on to describe how the concept of â€Å"popular sovereignty†, was proving to be a nemesis, as the pro slavery and anti slavery proponents engaged each other in many guerilla warfare battles. He speaks of how Kansas became known as â€Å"bleeding Kansas†. (Finkelman)

What is Federalism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

What is Federalism - Assignment Example The second type of federalism cooperative federalism (1945-1969).This federalism saw the national government become integrated with the local and state governments, making it hard to differentiate where one type of governance starts and the other one stops. The third example of federalism is known as New Federalism (1969-present) and since 1970s, political scholars and leaders of the New Federalism have made arguments regarding the national government becoming very influential and that control should be returned to the states(Ilka,2005). The three factors that have allowed the concept of federalism to shape American political behavior include; political behavior which is an area of political action. This takes place outside the legal and formal organizations of government. Thus political behavior in this scenario is the behavior of groups and persons outside of the government who are struggling to take possession or influence the government. Following political behavior is political activity which is commonplace to all politics. Specific principles of political science may apply to both governmental organizations and political behavior. Finally the third factor that has allowed federalism concept to shape American political behavior is political culture, which is basically the pattern of orientation to political activity and finally sectionalism which is the ties that link together classes of contiguous states (Michael,