Tom Clancy Essay -- Essays Papers

Tom Clancy When choosing an author for my paper, I chose international suspense because I am very interested in foreign relations and the technology of modern day war. I have read stories by Edgar Allen Poe, with suspense and vivid imagery, which reminded me of Clancy's work. I decided to choose Tom Clancy because of his talent to weave such realistic tales of international suspense. Clancy creates the scenes in his books with such detail, it makes the reader feel like he/she is there. My first choice for this paper was Dr. Suess, but because he has passed away, I had to keep looking. I knew very little information about my author before writing this paper. I had read two of his books, but had no real knowledge of his personal life or past history. Tom Clancy, a successful American author of international suspense, has captured his love of military and technology and profitably employed it in the books he writes. The life of Thomas L. Clancy Jr. started like any other, but changed with the success of his work. He was born the year 1947, in the City of Baltimore, Maryland. His father was a postal carrier and also a store credit employer (Speace 98). Clancy spent his life educated in only Catholic schools. Because of this Clancy says, "I was never swept up in the drugs or music"(Cohen 2). He attended Loyola College in Baltimore Maryland, and earned a degree in English (Speace 98). At that time, Clancy then tried to enlist in the army. He was excused though, because of a case of myopia. "I thought I would have made a good tank commander"(Speace 99) , said Clancy, whose childhood dreams had been broken when he was kept from entering into the military. He then took on a career as an insurance agent in Baltimore Maryland, and kept that job until around 1973 (Speace 98). He then became a business owner from 1973 to the year 1980. In 1969, Clancy married a woman named Wanda Thomas, who was an eye surgeon and an insurance agency manager (Speace 98). They had four children, Michelle, Christine, Tom, and Kathleen, and a dog named Freddie (Cohen 115). They lived on 400 wooded acres in Maryland, along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Standing on the front lawn is a tank, given to him as a gift by his wife at the time (Schindehette 114). On the property there are also two tennis courts, two basketball courts, a full length football field and... ... go of your dreams when there are obstacles in the way. Works Cited Speace, Geri. NewsMakers. 1998 vol. New York, 1998. Cohen, Rich. "Master of War" Rolling Stone December 1994:114 Greenberg, Martin H. The Tom Clancy Companion. New York: Berkley Books, 1992. http://www.RedStorm Entertainment.com RedStorm Entertainment, 1999. Cerasini, Marc A. Tom Clancy's Fiction: The Birth of a Techno Thriller. New York: Berkley Books, 1991. Zaleski, Jeff. "The Hunt for Tom Clancy". Publishers Weekly 15 July 1998 Schindehette, Susan. "Storm Rising". People Magazine 15 June 1998: 141 Clancy, Tom. Op Center. New York: Berkley Publishing Corp., 1995 Clancy, Tom. Sum of All Fears. New York: Berkley Publishing Corp., 1992 Clancy, Tom. Red Storm Rising. New York: Putnam Books, 1986 Hitbrand, David. "Tom Clancy's Op Center". People Magazine 27 February 1995:12 "There's No Pot of Gold at the End of Clancy's ‘Rainbow Six'". The Washington Post 7 September 1998, Final ed Zinsser, John. "Clear and Present Sounds". Publishers Weekly 3 July 1998: pages N/A Maryles, Daisy. "Clancy's Latest Victory". Publishers Weekly 17 August 1998: pages N/A

Technology & Film Essay -- Film Cinema Movies

Technology & Film Technology has had a huge impact on the world, especially the film industry. It has had a long past and as the technology advances, it becomes more and more realistic. It all began with the first machine patented in the United States that showed animated pictures or movies. It was called the â€Å"wheel of life† or â€Å"zoopraxiscope† and was patented in 1867 by William Lincoln. Moving drawings or photographs were watched through a slit in the zoopraxiscope. However, modern motion picture making began with the invention of the motion picture camera. Frenchman Louis Lumiere is usually credited with the creation of the first motion picture camera in 1895, but several others were invented around the same time. What Lumiere invented was a portable motion picture camera, film processing unit and a projector called the Cinematography, all three functions in one invention. This made motion pictures very popular and it is also known as beginning the motion picture era. In 1895, Lumiere and his brother were the first to present projected, moving, photographic pictures to a paying audience of more than one person. However, they were also not the first to project film. In 1891, the Edison Company successfully demonstrated the Kinetoscope which allowed one person at a time to view moving pictures. Also in 1896, he showed the improved Vitascope projector and it was the first commercially successful projector in the United States. These inventions lead the way to even more discoveries. The early films that were produced were short, grainy, grayscale and silent but technology improved. The debute of The Jazz Singer (1927) in New York had the first words spoken in a feature film by Al Jolson. He sai... ...ors long-dead could be digitally produced. If this is so, then the question is raised of who controls the use and profits from their work. It also raises many ethical issues. Overall, technology in the film industry has come a long way and it has brought many exciting and helpful inventions for film. However, with new technology also brings some issues and questions for the future of the film industry. Works Cited Bellis, Mary. The History of the Motion Picture. The New York Times Company. 2005. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blmotionpictures.htm Parsons, June J. and Oja, Dan. Computer Concepts 8th Edition. United States: Course Technology, 2006. Computer Generated Imagery. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 12 Dec 2005. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-generated_imagery

The Well Paid Receptionist

The Well Paid Receptionist Values, Attitudes and Work Behaviour from Johns, G. & Saks, A. M. (2010). Organizational Behaviour. Pearson Education: Toronto. Case Study The Well-Paid Receptionist Harvey Finley did a quick double take when he caught a glimpse of the figure representing Ms. Brannen’s salary on the year-end printout. A hurried call to payroll confirmed it. Yes, his receptionist had been paid $127 614. 21 for her services last year. As he sat in stunned silence, he had the sudden realization that since his firm was doing so well this year, she would earn at least 10 to 15 percent more money during the current fiscal year. This was a shock, indeed. Background Harvey began his career as a service technician for a major manufacturer of copy machines. He received rather extensive technical training, but his duties were limited to performing routine, on-site maintenance and service for customer. After a year’s experience as a service technician, he asked for and received a promotion to sales representative. In this capacity, he established many favourable contacts in the business community of Troupville and the surrounding towns. He began to think seriously about capitalizing on his success by opening his own business. Then, seven years ago, he decided to take the plunge and start his own firm. He was tired of selling for someone else. When he mentioned his plan to his friends, they all expressed serious doubts; Troupville, a city of approximately 35 000 people located in the Deep South, had just begun to recover from a severe recession. The painful memories of the layoffs, bankruptcies, and plummeting real estate values were too recent and vivid to be forgotten. Undeterred by the skeptics, Harvey was optimistic the Troupville’s slow recovery would soon become a boom. Even though his firm would certainly have to be started on a shoestring, Harvey thought his sales experience and technical competence would enable him to survive what was sure to be a difficult beginning. He was nervous but excited when he signed the lease on the first little building. A lifelong dream was either about to be realized or dashed forever. Troupville Business Systems was born. While he has managed to borrow rent, lease, or subcontract for almost everything that was absolutely necessary, he did need one employee immediately. Of course, he hoped the business would expand rapidly and that he would soon have a complete and competent staff. But until he could be sure that some revenue would be generated, he thought he could get by with one person who would be a combination receptionist/secretary and general assistant. The typical salary for such a position in the area was about $30 000 per year; for Harvey, this was a major expense. Nevertheless, he places what he thought was a well-worked ad in the â€Å"Help Wanted† section of the local newspaper. There were five applicants, four of whom just did not seem quite right for the position he envisioned. The fifth applicant, Ms. Cathy Brannen, was absolutely captivating. Ms. Brannen was 27 years old with one child. Her resume showed that she had graduated from a two-year office administration program at a state university. She had worked for only two employers following graduation, one from five years and the most recent for two years. Since returning to her hometown of Troupville two months ago, following her divorce, she had not been able to find suitable employment. From the moment she sat down for the interview, Harvey and Ms. Brannen seemed to be exactly the same wavelength. She was very articulate, obviously quite bright, and most importantly, very enthusiastic about assisting with the start-up of the new venture. She seemed to be exactly the sort of person Harvey had envisioned when he first begun to think seriously about taking the plunge. He resisted the temptation to offer her the job on the spot, but ended the hour-long interview by telling her that he would check her references and contact her again very soon. Telephone calls to her two former employers convinced Harvey that he had actually underestimated Ms. Brannen’s suitability for the position. Each one said without equivocation that she was the best employee he had ever had in any position. Both former employers concluded the conversation by saying they would rehire her in a minute if she were still available. The only bit of disturbing information gleaned from these two calls was the fact that her annual salary had risen to $32 900 in her last job. Although Harvey thought that the cost of living was probably a bit higher in Houston, where she had last worked, he was not sure she would react favourably to the $30 000 offer he was planning to make. However, he was determined that, somehow, Cathy Brannen would be his first employee. Ms. Brannen seemed quite pleased when Harvey telephoned her at home that same evening. She said she would be delighted to meet him at the office the next morning to discuss the position more fully. Cathy Brannen was obviously very enthusiastic about the job as outlined in the morning. She asked all the right questions, responded quickly and articulately to every query posed to her, and seemed ready to accept the position even before the offer was extended. When Harvey finally got around to mentioning the salary, there was a slight change in Cathy’s eager expression. She stiffened. Since Harvey realized that salary might be a problem, he decided to offer Cathy an incentive of sorts in addition to the $30 000 annual salary. He told her that he realized his salary offer was lower than the amount she has earned on her last job. And he told her he understood that a definite disadvantage of working for a new firm was the complete absence of financial security. Although he was extremely reluctant to guarantee a larger salary because of his own uncertainty regarding the future, he offered her a sales override in the amount of two percent of sales. He explained that she would largely determine the success or failure of the firm. She needed to represent the firm in the finest possible manner to potential customers who telephoned and to those who walked in the front door. For this reason, the sales override seemed to be an appropriate addition to her straight salary. It would provide her with incentive to take an active interest in the firm. Cathy accepted the offer immediately. Even though she was expecting a salary offer of $32 500, she hoped the sales override might make up the difference. Who knows,† she thought, â€Å"two percent of sales may amount to big money someday. † It did not, however, seem very likely at the time. Troupville Business Systems began as a very small distributor of copy machines. The original business plan was just to sell copy machines and provide routine, on-site service. More extensive on-site service and repairs requiring that a machine be removed from a customer’s premises were to be provided by a regional distributor located in a major city approximately 100 miles from Troupville. Troupville Business Systems did well from the start. Several important changes were made in the services the firm offered during the first year. Harvey soon found that there was a greater demand for the leasing of copy machines, particularly the large expensive models that he originally planned to sell. He also soon discovered that his customers wanted to be able to contract directly with his firm for all their service needs. Merely guaranteeing that he could get the machines serviced was not sufficient in the eyes of potential customers. In attempting to accommodate the market, he developed a complete service facility and began to offer leasing options on all models. These changes in the business all occurred during the first year. Growth during that year was steady, but not spectacular. While sales continued to grow steadily the second year, it was early in the third year that Harvey made what turned out to be his best decision. He entered the computer business. Harvey had purchased a personal computer soon after Troupville Business Systems was founded. The machine and its capabilities fascinated him, although he knew virtually nothing about computers. He was soon a member of a local users club, was subscribing to all the magazines, and was taking evening computer courses at the local university- in short, he became a computer buff. Harvey recognized the business potential of the rapidly growing personal computer market, but he did not believe that his original business was sufficiently stable to introduce a new product line just yet. During his third year of operations, he decided the time was right to enter the computer business. He added to his product line a number of personal computers popular with a small business in the area. This key decision caused a virtual explosion in the growth of his firm. Several key positions were added, including that of a comptroller. By the fourth year of operations, computers produced by several other manufacturers had been added to Harvey’s product line, and he had developed the capability of providing complete service for all products carried. His computer enterprise was not limited to business customers, because he quickly developed a significant walk-in retail trade. Rapid growth continued unabated. During the first seven years of the company’s existence, Cathy Brannen had proven truly indispensable. Her performance exceeded Harvey’s highest expectations. Although her official position remained that of secretary/receptionist, she took it on herself to learn about each new product or service. During the early years, Harvey often thought that she did a better job than he did whenever a potential customer called in his absence. Even after he acquired a qualified sales staff, Harvey had no concerns when Cathy had to field questions from a potential customer because a regular salesperson was not available. The customer never realized that the professional young lady capably handling all inquiries was â€Å"only† the receptionist. Cathy began performing fewer sales functions because of the increased number of professional salespersons, but her secretarial duties had expanded tremendously. She was still Harvey’s secretary, and she continued to answer virtually every telephone call coming into the business. Since her office was in an open area, she still was the first to greet many visitors. Cathy took a word-processing course at a local business school shortly after joining the firm. As she began working with Harvey’s first personal computer, she, too developed into a computer aficionado and became the best computer operator in the firm. The Current Situation Harvey was shaken by the realization that Cathy Brannen had been paid over $127 000 last year. As he wondered what, if anything, should be done about her earnings, he began to reflect on the previous seven years. Success had come almost overnight. It seemed as though Troupville Business Systems could do nothing wrong. The workforce had grown at a rate of approximately 15 percent per year since the third year of operations. Seventeen people were now employed by the firm. While Harvey’s dad acknowledged that some of this success was due to being in the right place at the right time, he also had reason to be proud of the choices he had made. Time had proven that all his major decisions had been correct. He also could not overestimate Cathy’s contribution to the success of the firm. Yes, certainly, one of the most important days in the life of the firm was the day when Cathy responded to his ad in the newspaper. Success had brought with it the ever-increasing demands on his time. He had never worked so hard, but the rewards were certainly forthcoming. First, there was the new Jaguar, then the new home on Country Club Drive, the vacation home on the coast, the European trips†¦Yes, success was wonderful. During these years Cathy, too, had prospered. Harvey had not thought much about it, but he did remember making a joking comment the first day she drove her new Mercedes to work. He also remembered commenting on her mink coat at the company banquet last December, Cathy had been dazzling. Now that Harvey realized what he was paying Cathy, he was greatly disturbed. She was making almost twice as much money as anyone else in the firm with the exception of himself. The best salesman had earned an amount in the low nineties last year. His top managers were paid salaries ranging from the high sixties to the mid-seventies. The average salary in the area for executive secretaries was no probably between $30 000 and $35 000 per year. A good receptionist could be hired for under $28 000, and yet Cathy had been paid $127 614. 21 last year. The sales override had certainly enabled Cathy o share in the firm’s success. Yes, indeed. As Harvey thought more and more about the situation, he kept returning to the same conclusion. He felt something had to be done about her compensation. It was just too far out of line with other salaries in the firm. Although Harvey was drawing over $200 000 per year in salary and had built an equity in the business of more than $1 million, these facts did not seem relevant as he pondered what to do. It seemed likely that a number of other employees did know about Cathy’s compensation level. Harvey wondered why no one ever mentioned it. Even the comptroller never mentioned Cathy’s compensation. This did seem quite odd to Harvey, as the comptroller, Frank Bain, knew that Harvey did not even attempt to keep up with the financial details. He relied on Frank to bring important matters to his attention. With no idea of how to approach this problem, Harvey decided to begin by making a list of alternatives. He got out a piece of paper and, as he stared at the blank lines, overheard Cathy’s cheerful exchange with a customer in the next room. The Well Paid Receptionist Analysis of â€Å"The Well Paid Receptionist† Harvey Finley is in quite the predicament. He his company’s net profit should be approximately $107, 614. 21 greater than he expected for this year. The problem is that his secretary/receptionist is making six to seven times the amount of an average â€Å"good† secretary/receptionist in the local market and has been for a few years. There’s a few ways this issue can be addressed. One way would be to talk to Ms. Brannen and advice her that there has been an oversight in her salary over the past few years and for the upcoming year the oversight will be corrected and her salary will be adjusted to $25,000 per year with no percent of sales bonus. Another way to address the issue is to fire the manager who should have reported this oversight to Finley and promote Ms Brannen to his position while adjusting her salary to $55,000 per year and explaining the oversight to her as well. One more solution to this issue would be to let things be the way they are since the company has been doing great and growing the way things currently are. The two most important value drivers to consider in establishing the Value Over Time maximization are â€Å"individual employee values† and â€Å"owner values†. Let’s start identifying the specific aspects of the first value driver, the individual employee values. The facts remain that the reason Finley hired Ms. Brannen was mainly based on her individual values and performance at her two previous jobs. She held a two year office administration degree, she was very articulate, bright and most of all she was enthusiastic about assisting in launching this start-up company with Finley. She also had two extremely positive feedbacks from her previous employers that said â€Å"they would rehire her in a minute if she were still available. † The problems lie with her not being satisfied with the initial salary offer for this position. Salary was the only issue with Ms. Brannen other than that she was perfect for this new position at Troupville Business Systems. A few potential problems with Ms. Brannen would be that she only moved from Houston was because she was going through a divorce. What would happen if she were to get back together with her husband? Another potential problem ith her would be the fact that she has a small child. If the child is sick then she will not be able to come into work. This would be an issue since at the moment she would be the only other employee. Also Ms. Brannen has two very good references and if she accepts this position and continues to look for another position elsewhere that may pay better and she can potentially leave Troup ville Business Systems. The potential positive impacts on Value Over Time for Ms. Brannen is that she will continue to shine and prosper as a great striving employee the company will grow. She is the front line and the first person the customer see’s or speaks to when they make the first contact to Troupville Business Systems. She has already proven herself since the launch of this company as being a key player in the success of this start-up company. A few potential negative impacts maybe that Ms. Brannen gets comfortable at the salary she is at and realizes that in her hiring package the terms and agreement were that she was to receive $14,000 salary plus 2% of sales. There was no clause to when this would be removed and she can just put herself on cruise control and still make six figures. I expect her effect to be a positive one over time since this is the person Ms. Brannen is. You can tell a lot by looking at a person’s past performance history and we know she is a person who not only strives to be the best at her job position but also picks up on other job position duties and can perform them just as well if not better than others. We know she is able to handle sales calls if no sales person is available and the client/customer has never noticed. There are ways to turn something negative into something neutral or even better into a positive effect. In the event that Ms. Brannen was offered a better paying position with another firm, Finley would be able to evaluate her for the time that she was working for him to see if she is worth the difference in salary. He would have also had time to make some sales and see how the potential sales market is doing and instead of offering her 2% in sales which obviously we now know was a bad strategy, can offer her more upfront in salary. A person that likes the job they are doing will not leave for one or two thousand dollars more. So Finley can be true to her and make a counter offer in hopes that she would accept and stay. As for the other negative aspect of her getting back together with her husband in Houston and move back there, Finley would either have to offer her a significant more salary or find her husband a position at Troupville Business Systems. The other important value driver to consider in establishing the Value Over Time maximization is â€Å"owner values†. As the owner Finley’s main concern is to keep his business running. Another concern is to make more and more profit each year. Owners need to worry about reputation risk as well and the well being of each of their employees. Some problems Finley is facing with his company, Troupville Business Systems, is that he is paying his secretary more than double what his highest paid manager is making. The problem Finley is facing is not knowing what should be done about this or how to approach the issue. The potential problems that may arise if the current situation is not addressed is that it will cause an up roar with the manager & salesman to find out that a secretary/receptionist is making much more than they are. Managers as well as other employees not knowing her hiring benefits will demand a raise. Another potential problem is that rumors will most likely be started that they are having relations and that’s why a secretary is making six figures. A potential positive impact would be that other employees will see that being a hard worker and sticking through the highs and lows of a business really pays off. This may motivate all other employees to be outstanding or above average performers. The employees have witnessed the value over time with Ms. Brannen and have seen the long-term effects on her salary. A negative impact would be that employees who have already been at Troupville Business Systems and have not seen the value over time in the bonus or benefits will demand a raise or quit. Salary is always a delicate situation to deal with and this is why it is not considered acceptable talk in the office. Another negative impact is over time if the company grows and does not have an increase in sales then Ms. Brannen will still be making more than Finley since he has more overhead to pay for. There are steps that can be taken to negate a potential negative effect. First of all no one should be discussing compensation at all inside or outside the office. Second in case it does get out then there should be a one on one sit down with each employee to discuss their performance, not Ms. Brannen’s. Finley does not need to justify his actions to his employees; he only needs to treat them fairly. Now let’s evaluate the case where the company’s expense gets higher and the sales stay the same and Ms. Brannen is making more than Finley. In this case Finley will have to renegotiate Ms. Brannen’s contract to reflect expenses as well if he does not decided to give her a base salary and no bonus that is. I believe the interactive effect these value drivers will have over time will be positive. During the maturity of Troupville Business Systems we can seen that Finley is a successful leader and Ms. Brannen is an outstanding employee who goes above and beyond her expected duties. These two make a good successful team. Over the years you can see that she has proven herself and should be promoted to a higher ranked position. She deserves the 2% sales bonus because she was with this company from the start and has stuck through the toughest times thus far. The best alternative solution for both effects would be for both Finley and Ms. Brannen sit down and review her contract, salary and bonus and come to an agreement on a fair salary and a possible promotion since she and proven her loyalty and performance to Troupville Business Systems. I’m sure Ms. Brannen realized that this day would come. And as long as the compensation is fair she will not leave since she is so invested in the company. In conclusion I would consider the best course of action would be to offer Ms. Brannen a managerial position within Troupville Business Systems. This will make her happy to get a respectable and long overdue promotion as well as a fair competitive salary of $60,000 a year with no percent bonus in sales. And if she is more motivated by a percent in sales then offer her $50,000 plus 1% of sales with a minimum of $5,000 annual or $20,000 maximum cap. This is fair for both value drivers for Finley as the owner and Ms. Brannen as the Individual employee. If I were Finley the first step would be for me to evaluate her performance and hard work since the start of Troupville Business Systems. I would bring her into my office and have a one on one with her. I would start off by saying how much off an asset she is to the company and how much appreciate her hard work is and has paid off in the success of the company. Then I would proceed by offering her a managerial position within the company. I would advise her that she will need to be trained for managerial duties and will be on an evaluation period as a manager for 3 months. Depending on the decisions made by her and how well she can manage a team she will be offered the permanent position. After she is given the formal offer she will have to decide whether she prefers being a secretary/receptionist or taking on new exciting role as a manager with Troupville Business Systems. Now the difficult part, this is where Finley should bring up the current compensation and offer Ms. Brannen a new compensation package. Advise her that the old compensation will be reduced to an above average rate for a secretary/receptionist and that this new opportunity will be a much better move for her career path. He will need to talk her up a bit like saying that she is management material and how good this is for her career path. Most likely she has been expecting this day to come and will choose to be a manger rather than go with a different company as a secretary. It’s a win/win move on parts of both parties.

Actus Reus – Paper

ACTUS REUS: OMISSION & CAUSATION The general basis for imposing liability in  criminal law  is that the defendant must be proved to have committed a guilty act whilst having had a guilty state of mind. The physical elements are collectively called the actus reus and the accompanied mental state is called the mens rea. It is the fundamental duty of the prosecution to prove both of these elements of the offence to the satisfaction of the judge or jury beyond reasonable doubt. In the absence of such proof the defendant will be acquitted.ACTUS REUS An actus reus consists of more than just an act. It also consists of whatever circumstances and consequences are recognised for liability for the offence in question – in other words all the elements of an offence other than the mental element. The term actus reus has been given a much wider meaning by Glanville Williams in his criminal law. He says : When he use the technical tern actus reus we include all the external circumstance s and consequences specified in the rule of law as constituting the forbidden situation.Reus must be taken as indicating the situation specified in the actus reus as on that, given any necessary mental element, is forbidden by law. In other words, acus reus means the whole definition of the crime with the exception of the mental element – and it even includes a mental element in so far as that is contained in the definition of an act. Actus reus includes negative as well as positive elements. For example, as stared earlier, the actus reus of murder is the causing of death of a person.It also includes circumstances, such as the person whose death has been caused was not as a consequence of a sentence or death given to him or that the death was caused within the territorial jurisdiction of the state. OMISSIONS IN CRIMES Omissions are controversial for two main reasons_ first, whether and to what extent it is justifiable omissions rather than acts; and secondly, whether liabilit y for omissions rather than act requirement in criminal law. Pursuing the second point here, much has been made above of the importance f requiring proof that the defendant voluntarily did something to produce prohibited conduct or consequence. In so far as this can be termed an ‘act requirement’, are omissions a true exception to it? If they are, is this another argument against criminalizing them? One much-discussed preliminary question is the distinction between acts and omissions. Sometimes it is argued that certain verbs imply action and therefore exclude liability for omissions, and that the criminal law should respect. The distinctions flowing from this. English courts have often used this linguistic or interpretive approach.It has led to a variety of decisions in different statutes, without much discussion of the general principles underlying omissions liability. The law commissions considerably draft criminal code may be said to signal the continuation of this approach, by redefining the homicide offences in terms of ‘causing death’ rather than ‘killing’, and refining the damage offences in terms of ‘causing damage’, rather than ‘damaging’, so as ‘to leave fully open the courts the possibility of so constructing the relevant (statutory) provisions as to impose liability for omissions’.The draft cod would therefore remove any linguistic awkwardness in saying, for example, that a parent killed a child by failing to feed it; but it does so in this specific instance, and without proclaiming a general principle, that the act requirement may be fulfilled by an omission of a duty can be established. Attachment to the vagaries of the language is no proper basis for delineating the boundaries of criminal liability.In some situations the courts, following the linguistic approach, have nevertheless found themselves able to impose omissions liability. In Speck (1977)3 the defendant was charged with committing an act of gross indecency with or towards a child. The evidence was that an 8 yr old girl placed her hand on his trousers over his penis. he allowed that hand to remain there for some minutes, causing him to have an erection.The court of appeal held that the defendants failure to remove the hand amounted to an invitation to the child with the act, or it created a duty in an adult to put an end to the innocent touching of this kind, with omissions liability for not fulfilling the duty. The analysis is similar to that in miller (1983) where D fell asleep whilst smoking, woke up to find the mattress smouldering, but simply left the room and went to sleep elsewhere. He was convicted of causing criminal damage by fire, on the basis that a person who initiates a sequence of events nnocently and then fails to do anything to stop the sequence should be regarded as having caused the whole sequence. On this view the conduct constitutes a single, continuing act; Miller caused the damage because he took no steps to extinguish the fire he had innocently started. It must be doubted whether these efforts to find an act which then coincides in point in point of time with defendants knowledge and intentions are convincing. surely the courts are imposing liability for an omission on these cases, by recognizing that a duty arises.Speck is a little different from miller since the original act of the speck was of the girl, and the duty must therefore amount the recognition of an obligation on an adult to put an end to the indecent yet innocent touching by a child. In so far as these decisions appear to extend the statutory wording, are they objectionable on grounds of retroactivity and lack of fair warning, or defensible as applications of existing common law doctrine to new situations?In other situations it seems possible to offer plausible reasons for regarding the same event as either an act or an omission, and in some cases the courts have sought to exp loit this ambiguity when dealing with problematic medical issues. Yet it is one thing to say that a healthcare professional who decides not to replace an empty bag for a drip-feed has made an omission, whereas switching a ventilator off is an act; is another thing to maintain that the act-omission distinction should be crucial to any determination of the criminal liability in the two situations.In Airedale NHS trust v bland (1993)the house of lords held that it would be lawful for a doctor to withdraw treatment from a patient in a persistent vegetative state, even though death would inevitable be hastened by that conduct. The house held that the withdrawal of treatment would constitute and omission, and thus regarded the duties of the doctor as the central issue. The decision was that the doctor a doctor has no duty to continue life supplying treatment when it is no longer in the best interest of the patient, having regard to responsible medical opinion.However the court of appeal d eclined to adopt this subterfuge in Re A(conjoined twins: Surgical separation), holding that the surgical separation of the twins would undoubtedly an act, and subsequently deciding that carrying out an operation which would result in the death of one twin in order to save the life of other could be justifies on the grounds of necessity. This demonstration of the fragility of the act-omission distinction of the vagaries fthe English language indicates that it may be simplistic to oppose omissions liability in the principle.There are some clear cases of omission in which it is desirable to have criminal liability, such as the parent who neglects to feed her or his child or neglects to protect it from abuse. Omissions can be involuntary or not, in the same way as acts; and provided, that the harm resulted because D failed to intervene, it can be argued that omissions are also causes. Omissions liability ay therefore satisfy the principles that no one should be held liable for bodily m ovements that he or she did not or could not direct.It may also satisfy the principle that no person should be held liable for the conduct or consequences that he or she did not cause. But one point of the act requirement is to exclude liability for mere thoughts that do not result in some bodily movement, and omissions fall foul to that. They do so for a good reason – that certain positive duties to act are so important that they can rightly be made the subject of criminal liability. Of course, such a duty should also be defined with sufficient certainty and made known to those affected by it.So long as these formal requirements are fulfilled there can be no fairness objection to holding a person liable, provided that he or she is capable of taking some steps to carry out the duty. CAUSATION IN CRIMES An event is very often the result of a number of factors. A factor is said to have caused a particular event if, without that factor or, the event would not have happened. Thus , a man is said to have caused the actus reus of a crime, if, that actus would not have occurred without his participation in what was done. Some casual relationships has to be established between his conduct and the prohibited result.A man is usually held criminally liable only for the consequences of his conduct as he foresaw, (or is crimes of negligence, he ought to have foreseen). The act must be the causa causans, ie, the immediate or proximate cause of the effect. When the facts are direct and simple, then establishing the causal nexus between the act and the effect may not be difficult, as for instance in a case of person shooting another person and thereby killing him. The causation can also be without any direct physical act. if the victim asks his way on a dark night nd the accused with the intention of causing his death, directs him to a path that he knows will bring him to a cliff edge , and the victing suffers a fatal fall, this is clearly murder, though the accused has done nothing more than utter words. This can be true in cases of abetment, incitement and conspiracy. In the instances stated above, it is not difficult to establish the direct result between the cause and the effect. The difficulty arises only in cases of multiple causation, where it is difficult to establish the imputability. Example: A, intending to kill B but only wounds him very slightly.A clearly has the requisite mens rea for murder, that is, he foresees and desires B’s death. Not let us assume that on his being ta ken to the hospital in an ambulance, a piece of masonry from a building falls on the ambulance and kills B; or, alternatively, that B has a rare blood disease which prevents his blood from coagulation so that the slight wound leads to his death, which it would not have done if he had not been suffering from this disease; or, alternatively, that B refuses to have the wound treated and dies of blood poisoning, which would not have occurred if B had had the wo unded treated.In all these cases, a problem of causation arises, i. e. , did A cause B’s death for the purposes of the criminal law so that he can be convicted of murder? If the result is too remote and accidental in its occurrence, then there is no criminal liability. CAUSATION AND NEGLIGENCE The difficulty of causation arises very often n cases of negligence. It has t be established that first, the conduct of the person was negligent and secondly, that but for the negligent act of accused, the accident would not have occurred. In other words, the actus reus should be causally connected to the act, which should be proved to be a negligent.In order to impose criminal liability under S 304A, IPC, it is essential to establish that death is the direct result of the rash or (and) negligent act of the accused. It must be causa causans – the immediate cause and not enough that it may be quasa sine qua non, ie, proximate cause. There can be no conviction when rashness or negl igence of third party intervenes. In Suleman rahiman mulani v state of Maharashtra the Supreme Court has approved his rule. In Suleman rahiman mulani the accused who was driving the jeep struck the deceased, as a result of which he sustained serious injuries. The ccused put the injured person in the jeep for medical treatment, but he died. Thereafter, the accused cremated the body. The accused was charged under s304A and 201 of the IPC. As per s 304A, there must be direct nexus between the death of a person and rash and negligent act of the accused that caused the death of the deceased. It was the case of the prosecution of the accused had possessed only a learner’s license and hence was guilty of causing the death of the deceased. The court held that there was no presumption in law that a person who possesses only a learner’s license or possesses no license at all, does not know driving.A person could for various reasons, including sheer indifference, might not have b een taken a regular license . there was evidence to show that the accused had driven the jeep to various places on the previous day of occurrence. So before the accused convicted under s304A, there must a proof that the accused drove in a rash and negligent manner and death was a direct consequence of such rash and negligent manner. In the absence of such evidence no offence under s 304A was made out. The accused was acquitted of the charges. MINIMAL CAUSATIONWhen death of a person is caused after medical treatment, it cannot be said that the treatment was not proper or inadequate, or had better treatment been given, the death would not have taken place. This is because, the intervention of the doctor is in the nature of minimum causation and hence its intervention would have played only a minor part, if any, in causing death. As far as the IPC is concerned, explanation 2 of s 299 specifically states that if an act causes death, even death could have been avoided by proper remedies and skilful treatment, the act shall be deemed to have caused death and the person will be criminally liable.If death results from an injury voluntarily caused, the person who causes the injury, therefore, is deemed to have caused the death, although the life of victim might have been saved if proper medical treatment, provided that it was administered in good faith by a competent physician or surgeon. In Moti singh v state of uttar Pradesh the deceased gayacharan had received two gunshot wounds in the abdomen which were dangerous to life. The injury was received on February 1960. There was no evidence when he was discharged from the hospital and whether he had fully recovered or not.He, however, died on march 1 1960. His body was cremated without post mortem being done. The supreme court held that the two gunshot injuries were dangerous to life were not sufficient for holding that gyancharans death, which took place about three weeks after the incident, was on account of the injuri es received by him. The court observed that in order to prove the charges on gyancharans murder, it was necessary to establish that he had died on account of injuries received on him.Since, the was no evidence to establish the cause of death, the accused could not be said to have caused the death of gyancharan. A crucial aspect highlighted by the court in the case was that the connection between the primary cause and the death should not be too remote. CONCLUSION Causation is a complex topic, with which we have been able to deal only brief here. Proof of causation is often said to be an essential precondition of criminal liability, but there is reason to doubt the generality of that requirement, notably in respect of accomplice liability and vicarious criminal liability.Rather than insisting on a universal requirement of causation, it may be preferable to argue that liability should be negatived, in general, by the voluntary intervening act of another. Several criticisms of the judi cial approach to three exceptional categories of case hace been advanced above. Often the explanations given by the courts are unconvincing. Whilst the traditional or standard causal theory emphasizes the significance of the last voluntary act, there is no reluctance to took wider or to massage the term ‘voluntary’ in certain situations, especially where D clearly stated that the sequence of events by doing a wrongful act.The challenge is to re-examine the intuitions that lead judges and others to their conclusions (the wrongful act theory, the approach to medical mistakes etc. ) with a view to constructing a law that ensures that the courts respect the various principles . BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. P. S. A. Pillai – Criminal law 2. Glanville Williams book on criminal law 3. www. lawteacher. com ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Page 427, principles of criminal law, Glanville will iams [ 2 ]. Duff, criminal attempts, 317-20 Glanville Williams [ 3 ]. 65 CR App R 161. [ 4 ]. (1983) 2 AC 161 [ 5 ]. Criticisms by jc smith (1982) Crim LR 527 and 724, and D.Husak, philosophy of criminal law(1987), 176-8 [ 6 ]. See I. M Kennedy, Treat me right (1988) 169-74 [ 7 ]. (1993) AC 789 [ 8 ]. 4 ALL ER 961 [ 9 ]. Emery (1993) 14 Cr App R (s) 394, aand the new duty by the domestic violence, crime and victims act 2004. [ 10 ]. Glanville Williams, ‘criminal law- causation’) [ 11 ]. Rustom sherior Irani v state of Maharashtra(1969) ACC Cj 79 (SC) [ 12 ]. Md rangawalla v state of mahaarashtra AIR 1965 [ 13 ]. However a driver is expected to anticipate reasonably foreseeable negligent act to road users as contributory negligence has no application in criminal law. [ 14 ]. Re san pai (1936) 14 rang 643

Human Free Will and Gods Foreknowledge Essay

The argument of the compatibility and incompatibility of God’s foreknowledge and human free will have been going on for hundreds of years. Concerning the definition of freedom, to get a better understanding, can be described as an act that an individual can do freely without being restrained or force. Philosophers that are well known in this subject matter are Alvin Plantiga and Nelson Pike. Pike will argue that human freedom is incompatible with God’s foreknowledge based upon facts such as God being omniscient. Whereas, Plantiga argues that Pike’s theory is based upon confusion and that human free will can coexist with God’s foreknowledge. Let’s get in to the differences in predictability and God’s foreknowledge pertaining to free will to give a bit more understanding in the argument. Shook’s example is as follows, â€Å"What justification is available for our [predictability claim] that a wind-up toy, for example, my â€Å"Thomas the Train† toy, does not freely choose its behavior? † (Shook 142) This is to say that we as human beings can predict that this wind-up toy will move forward after we wind it up just as God might. However, this prediction is merely based on our knowledge of the past in using this toy. When we try to predict such an event, it has the possibility not working and we had no idea that this would happen, whereas, God would have predicted this as He is omniscient. It’s obvious in both of these arguments it is accepted that God is omniscient in all possible worlds. Pike states that â€Å"†¦ it is part of the essence of God to be omniscient†¦ any person who is not omniscient could not be the person we [call] God. † (Pojman & Rea 97) He goes on to point out that if this were false, in that any person can be called â€Å"God† if one was not omniscient, then we can call anyone God. Furthermore, this means to say that at any given time in the past, present or future an omniscient and existing God would know what would happen. This, I would argue is something that can be compatible with human freedom; In that if God believes, at a certain time (T1), that Peter will eat an orange (X) in the future T2 is necessarily true. At T2 Peter eats an apple (X2) will not go against the omniscience of God. God would have believed that at T2 it was with Peter’s free will that he will do X2. That is to say that, according to Plantiga,â€Å" It was within Peter’s power at T2 to do something that if he had done it,then God would not have held a belief that in fact he did hold. † (Pojman & Rea 110) Though Peter had two choices in either eating the orange or the apple the fact that God knows that he would have eaten the latter does not take away the freedom of Peter. Pike will argue that God will have known at a certain time (T1) that an event will be foreseen as soon as the human being is born such as T2. Pertaining to this situation Pike states, â€Å" †¦ if God held such a belief eighty years [T1] prior to [T2], Peter did not have the power on [T2] to do something that would have made it the case that God did not hold this belief eighty years later. † (Pojman & Rea 99) This fact goes on to say that it is with the omniscience of God that, no matter what, His belief will not have changed in between [T1] and [T2]. The argument can still be accepted in an statement made by St. Augustine, â€Å"†¦ it is not necessary to deny that God foreknows all things while at the same time our wills are our own. God has foreknowledge of our will, so that of which he has foreknowledge must come to pass. In other words, we shall exercise our will in the future because he has foreknowledge that we shall do so; and there can be no will or voluntary action unless it will be in our power. † (Hopkins 112) The argument here is that, even though God foreknows that Peter will eat the apple does not require Him to limit the humans free will; It was with knowledge and not restraint that Peter made his choice. Another claim that has to deal to this argument is that which Molina says, â€Å"†¦ it is not because God foreknows what He foreknows that men act as they do: it is because men act as they do that God foreknows what He foreknows. † (Pojman & Rea 102) Meaning that the reason why God foresees an event is based upon the action of the humans’ free will. This goes back to the differences in prediction and free will, however, now we are dealing with something other than an inanimate object. The differences in this claim are argued as follows by Shook, â€Å"If God possesses justified divine knowledge, his capacity for perfectly predicting future human actions is incompatible with the free will of alternative possibilities. † (Shook 157) For reasons already explained, it is impossible for God to have made a claim based on the consistency for his omniscient knowledge gave him the belief before the event occurred. This concept would be similar to me making a prediction of a friend who will wake up at five in the morning and take a shower every Tuesday because he is consistent in doing so. I can make this prediction, but it won’t be necessarily true. The consistency can always change, due to free will. To assume God’s cognitions to be similar is untrue. This would also be to say that if God’s beliefs are due to a humans freedom of will that, when the individual refrains from a certain action that he was going to do, that God’s belief is false. This cannot be true as well due to the acceptance of God’s omniscience. There is also a difference in free will and necessity too. An example can be that it is necessary for one to live by breathing which is arguably our will to do so. It is our will to live, therefore, we must breathe. Augustine explains further that, â€Å"†¦ if there is necessity there is no voluntary choice†¦ but rather fixed and unavoidable necessity. † (Pojman & Rea 101) This could be an argument that it is with necessary actions where God’s foreknowledge is indeed true. It is possible for us to not breathe, thus ending our life which is a necessary truth and God would foreknow as well. Molina writes, â€Å"He would foreknow the opposite if the opposite was to happen. † (Pojman & Rea) This argument coincides with the claim that was made above on the choices that were made by Peter. Pike is under the claim that it is incompatible for there to be human free will along with God’s foreknowledge. This is backed up by stating that God is omniscient and because of that the action by the human is not, in fact, under his will. Due to the belief of the event occurring before the time it does occur does not allow the human any other choices. This cannot be compared to anything that is predicted as it would falsify the omniscience of God. To compare the belief of a situation occurring to the prediction a human might make of a wind-up toy or close friend is also untrue as it would then allow for anyone to be called â€Å"God† because anyone is able to make such a prediction. The previous statement would negate that only an omniscient being can be called â€Å"God† since the human that can predict is not omniscient. The compatible claim of human free will and God’s foreknowledge is explained by Plantiga. He goes on to say that it is compatible as the person would have choices and be able to choose based on one’s own will. Explaining further that the foreknowledge of God does not require a restraint on the choice with which the human chooses. Whether or not the individual makes one choice over another God will still foresee it due to His omniscience, therefore, being an action of human free will. Though an action may be out of necessity (i. e.breathing) it is possible for us to still make another choice based on our own will. Works Cited Hopkins, Jasper. â€Å"Augustine On Foreknowledge And Free Will. † International Journal For Philosophy Of Religion 8. 2 (1977): 111-126. ATLA Religion Database. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. Pojman, Louis & Rea, Michael. Philosophy of Religion. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 2012 Shook, John. â€Å"God’s Divinely Justified Knowledge Is Incompatible With Human Free Will. â€Å"Forum Philosophicum: International Journal For Philosophy 15. 1 (2010): 141-159. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Nov. 2012.

Admission Essay with 4 sections Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Admission with 4 sections - Essay Example In today’s business environment trends are changing quite dramatically and it is not possible to rely on experience only. Only professional education can help a person grow in potential in the realm of business and this is the main reason why I have opted for masters in business administration. This degree will help me cultivate newer ideas about management and will also aid the experience that I have accumulated over the years in supply chain management, project management, and manufacturing. Practical experience is very important in any field but I have realized that latest professional education of high standards can help me more in perfecting my management skills. I also believe that there is no age limit for acquiring education, especially in a today’s fast moving world. Trends are changing at a remarkable pace and newer techniques are changing the business environment on a regular basis. It is important to keep up with the latest trends and therefore at the age of 52 I have decided to enter into an MBA program. Age should not be a barrier for gaining knowledge especially if it can positively impact a person. I think that every learned human being can also contribute to the society. Education guides us in our social relationships and this positively impacts the society. I have chosen to pursue a master’s degree in business administration as it will help me in my professional life. Job market has become competitive and it is important to enhance our skills in order to gain a competitive edge over others. An MBA degree will put me above my competition as I have a vast amount of experience in management already. Learning the latest management techniques will help me improve my skills to a great extent and therefore I see my age as a positive point. My choice of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business was not random. I was looking for an institution that will provide me with a high quality of education and at the

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