Dependence of man on the environment

Dependence of man on the environment The environment mainly consists of the earth and its surroundings which include the atmosphere. The life of man here on earth completely depends on the natural environment for its existence. It is from the environment that man ultimately obtains food or cash. Actually seventy percent of the earths surface is covered by water but due to mans activities; both domestic and industrial, most of this water is polluted. Actually it is true that out of all this waters covering the earths surface only 0.02% of this water is fresh. So as to control the impacts of water pollution which are hazardous to both human and marine life; several world environmental bodies have come up with lawfully regulated water quality laws based on its desired use. Changing the water sources designated purpose affects the allowed pollution levels in various ways. First one has to reason about the divergence between water for human consumption and water meant for agricultural usage such as irrigation or industrial utilization. This various water uses will require variable water quality standards. Water quality is observed by the water characteristics which may be biological, physical or even biological. Most frequently there are set reference of standards to assess the compliance of the water. The most used standards to determine water quality relate to water used for domestic purposes such as drinking and cooking, wellbeing of humans who get in touch with it and the safety of the marine life. A person contributes to water pollution when you flush a toilet, pour dirty water down the sink you are using water which has to be purified in a water treatment plant. Many countries do not have water treatment plants and merely pump the raw waste into the rivers or sea. Also agricultural runoff water which contains high amounts of washed off pesticides and fertilizer enter the rivers and streams resulting to pollution and distressing the local plant and marine wildlife. There are numerous benefits of the wind energy. First wind energy is clean and wind turbines generate electricity that does not release pollutants as compared to other energy sources. This means less environmental pollution thus combating with occurrence of environmental hazards such as acid rain and smog amongst others. Power plants contribute to air pollution by emitting a large amount of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides and sulphur dioxide resulting to global warming- this can be avoided by utilizing wind energy. In addition wind energy is renewable and has the less competitive cost as compared to the other sources such as natural gas. Also wind is readily available and it is in abundance thus it will not result to exhaustion of natural resources in the world. Moreover wind energy plants have a short construction period, involve minimal maintenance and require low operating costs as compared to the traditional power sources. Lastly wind power plants are very reliable as they genera te electricity all the time and are not affected by international conflicts making it defiant to supply troubles or price fluctuations (Global Wind report, 2008). In spite of this many pros about wind energy; it also has got some cons. The main disadvantage of the wind energy is the winds unpredictability factor. This is caused by the occurrence of too low wind strengths which cannot support the wind turbines. Also wind turbines generally produce less electricity thus requiring the construction of numerous turbines so as to generate an impact which leads to more initial capital cost. The wind turbines can be a source of noise pollution if they happen to be established close to residential areas. Thus there you got for yourself the pros and cons of wind energy and the extensive steadfastness of wind turbines (Clean energy ideas, 2008) REFERENCES Clean energy ideas, 2008; Energy articles- Solar, Wind and Geothermal, Retrieved May 25, 2010 From http://www.clean-energy-ideas.com/articles/ Global Wind Report, 2008; Adapted from information provided by the American Wind Energy Association, Retrieved May 25, 2010 From http://www.nrgsystems.com/AboutWind/BenefitsofWindEnergy.aspx Dependence Of Man On The Environment Dependence Of Man On The Environment An ecological footprint measures humanitys consumption of the natural resources. This technique is helpful because it shows how much of the natural resources human need for everyday life. However, the ecological footprint concept can be misleading as well. Ecological footprint does overlook renewable energy sources (sun, water) which reduce non-renewable sources (oil, coal). W. Cunningham and M. Cunningham (2008) add, These [renewable sources] increase the worlds carrying capacity for people [as well] (p. 79). 5. How might growing populations lead to solutions to societys problems? The only reason how population growth can be beneficial to societys problems is by creation and innovation. In other words, more people can lead to additional manufactured goods that serve millions. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [more] people boosts humanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦intelligence that will create new resourcesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008 p. 77) 8. In which parts of the world are populations declining? The parts of the world that populations are declining are North America, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008 p. 79) Discussion Questions 1 and 6 1. Suppose that you were head of a family planning agency in India. How would you design a scientific study to determine the effectiveness of different approaches to population stabilization? How would you account for factors such as culture, religion, education, and economics? If I were the head of a family planning agency in India, I would want to know what type of birth control method is better for stabilization the India population. I would interview my clients to find out family size preferences and choice of desired birth control. However, to curb a fast growing population, I would offer a special incentive, such as higher education and/or cash for couples to wait a certain amount of time to have children. Since family plays an important role in India, I would still offer family planning alternatives to try to slow population growth. I believe this would be good start to stabilize population growth in India. 6. In chapter 3, we discussed carrying capacities. What do you think the maximum and optimum carrying capacities for humans are? Why is this a more complex question for humans than it might be for other species? Why is designing experiments in human demography difficult? I think this is a complex subject. Some people believe humans are considerably over their carrying capacities, which is the cause of poverty. While others say, our environment has the potential to carry humans despite of limited resources. Has the world reached its carrying capacity? I believe since the human population has a tendency to grow in an exponential way, the advancement of todays technology should increase our resources as well. [Some] believeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦technology and enterprise can expand the worlds carrying capacity [that would] allow us to overcome any problems we encounter (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008 p. 75). I also think this is a more complex question for humans than other species because humans have the advantage of reducing birth rates through family planning. Since demography is the study of a populations size and growth, experimentation may be difficult because according to (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008) every day [p]eople continue to be born and die (p. 79). Furthermore, I believe the purpose of a designed experiment is to rule out an estimation of human population. Unfortunately, due to some growing and shrinking populations, consistency will be impossible. Chapter 5: Text Practice Quiz Questions 1, 9 and 16 1. Why did ecologists want to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone Park? What goals did they have, and have their goals been achieved? Ecologists wanted to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone Park because of the rapid growth of the elk and deer populations. Since the elk and the deer inhabitants damaged the trees and shrubbery in the park, ecologists needed to minimize the elk and deer growing residents. Therefore, wolves became predators, which minimize the elk and deer population and the Yellowstone Park was restored. W. Cunningham and M. Cunningham (2008) adds, while wolves preyed on the elks, the wolves population grew, the elk figures decreased and the park was recovered (p. 95). 9. Define biodiversity and give three types of biodiversity essential in preserving ecological systems and functions. Biodiversity is a diversity or assortment of organisms in a specific biological community. W. Cunningham and M. Cunningham (2008) state that [t]he three types of biodiversity essential to preserve ecological systems and functions are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦genetic diversity (heritable measure of individual species), species diversity (description of diverse organisms within an ecosystem), and ecological diversity (a variety of species in diverse environments)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (p. 108). 16. What is a flagship or umbrella species? Why are they often important, even though they are costly to maintain? A flagship or umbrella species is an appealing living thing used to protect its entire ecosystem. Even though it is costly to preserve flagship or umbrella species, a tiger for instance, will represent the entire feline environment. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the protection of flagship or umbrella species would help more organisms in it ecosystem (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008 p. 121) Discussion Questions 1 and 5 1. Many poor tropical countries point out that a hectare of shrimp ponds can provide 1,000 times as much annual income as the same area in an intact mangrove forest. Debate this point with a friend or classmate. What are the arguments for and against saving mangroves? Mangroves advantage: A sheltered habitat for aquatic organisms such as fish, crabs, and shrimps. Since these organisms feed on the mangroves roots for nutrients, from a human perspective, fish, crabs, and shrimp can also offer economic benefits, which would lead to high efficiency. Mangroves disadvantage: Vulnerable to marine pollution such as oil spills and sewage leaks. W. Cunningham and M. Cunningham (2008) confirm the pros and cons of mangroves, Both marine speciesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦and terrestrial speciesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦rely on mangroves for shelter and food [however, mangroves] are also poisoned by sewage and industrial waste near cities (p.105). 5. Many ecologists and resource scientists work for government agencies to study resources and resource management. Do these scientists serve the public best if they try to do pure science, or if they try to support the political positions of democratically elected representatives, who after all, represent the positions of their constituents? I think since science involves experimentation and detection, ecologists would benefit by supporting the political council. In other words, I believe ecological science is a political process because the ecologists research focuses on societys concerns such as biodiversity extinction. Since there are some organisms in the biodiversity community that offer specific benefits such as medicines and food supplies, the political government would help the scientists serve the public by sustaining the biodiversity ecosystem. Chapter 6: Text Practice Quiz Questions 2, 3 and 10 2. What do we mean by closed-canopy forest and old-growth forest? A closed-canopy forest is [when] tree crowns cover most of the groundà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.a old-growth forests are those that cover a large enough area and have been undistributed by human activities long enough that trees can live out a natural lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008 p. 129) 3. Which commodity is used most heavily in industrial economies: steel, plastic, or wood? What portion of the worlds population depends on wood or charcoal as the main energy supply? Wood is a product used frequently in industrial economies. More than half of the people in the world depend on firewood or charcoal as their principal source of heating and cookingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008 p. 129) 10. What was the first national park in the world, and when was it established? How have the purposes of this park and others changed? According to W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008), The first national park in the world, Yellowstone National Park, was established in 1872. The Yellowstone National Park along will a few others were established to preserve natural scenery because of the disappearance of scenic beauty due to the land being sold to railroad and timber companies (p. 140). Discussion Questions 1 and 6 1. Paper and pulp are the fastest growing sector of the wood products market, as emerging economics of China and India catch up with the growing consumption rates of North America, Europe, and Japan. What should be done to reduce paper use? According to (W. Cunningham M. Cunningham, 2008), a couple of ways to reduce paper consumption is to: Recycle paper Instead of printing copies, email the data (p.136) For instance, instead of paying bills by mail, register with e-statements and pay bills online. In additions, instead of buying newspapers and magazines from the store, sign up for online subscriptions. 6. Why do you suppose dry tropical forest and tundra are well represented in protected areas, while grasslands and wetlands are protected relatively rarely? Consider social, cultural, geographic, and economic reasons in your answer. I believe dry tropical forest and tundra are well represented in protected areas because of its vast diversity of organisms and valuable resources such as paper and lumber. Therefore, conservation would avoid logging and extinction. In contrast, I assume grasslands and wetlands are rarely sheltered because of lack of lumber. However, the particular biome offers income to humans, such as grazing. In this case, minimum protection is required. Basically, tropical forests and grasslands are utilized by humans- tropical forest areas (benefits from lumber for fuel and paper products)-grassland areas (benefits of large herds of grazing animals).

Has television destroyed communication among friends and family? Essay

Television is undoubtedly one of the most powerful means of communication in the history of humankind, rivaled only by such other forms of communication as the Internet, the telephone, movies, and, of course, simple, low-tech speech. Television, with its wide availability and rich media with image and sound, is difficult to ignore and even seductive in its appeal. Television is as much a part of our lives as are our meals, work, or school; studies consistently show that the average American child spends almost as much time watching television as she does in school. Furthermore, because television is so rich in its media, it often requires our full attention or is more attraction to us than are our daily lives. Naturally, the more time one spends watching television, the less time she has with her family and friends. Thus, we can clearly see why some have claimed that television has been harmful for communication among family and friends. However, I believe that, while television has been somewhat harmful in its effects, it has hardly â€Å"destroyed† communication among family and friends for most people, although for some, this may be true. Most people much prefer spending time with their families and friends to spending time watching television. Television is of course an important part of many people’s lives, but most people would gladly choose family and friends over television were they given the choice. Furthermore, most educated people are aware of the deleterious effects of too much television and either avoid excessive time watching television, or actually do not enjoy it. I, for example, after a long day at work, would much rather spend time talking with my wife and playing with my children than I would watching some unrealistic portrayal of life on television. For me and my family, our time together is precious and beautiful, and could never be replaced or hurt by television. Furthermore, the effect of television is simply not so great that it could be said to have â€Å"destroyed† communication among family and friends. Granting that communication among family and friends in industrialized count ries has decreased in recent years, it might be tempting to blame this problem on television since its rise roughly coincided with the decrease in time we spend with our families. However, I believe this situation is more likely due to increased pressures relating from work, school, and the economy. In my case, for example, I find that my pressures from work are so great that I must often sacrifice time at home so that I can meet the challenges of  running my own business. Many of my friends are in similar situations–my best friend, for example, has just finished law school, which took about sixty hours a week of his time. In a word, people nowadays have very little time for anything, but television is not the cause–it is increased desire to succeed. In some situations, however, television has surely contributed to a decrease in communication among family members. In my childhood in the countryside, I often saw parents and children watching television for hours on end, rarely speaking with one another. It seemed for them that television was a way to escape from their sad, miserable existence. However, even in this case, I would say that television merely contributed to the bad situation, but did not cause it; were television not existent, surely these people would have found other escapes, alcohol or gambling, for example. In other words, people always find a way to do what they want to do. In short, I do not believe that television has d estroyed or even harmed interpersonal communication among most people. Most people realize that television is merely a temporary diversion and do not use it to replace interpersonal communication. I believe that the damage attributed to television is greatly exaggerated and that such damage is most likely attributable to other more powerful social factors.

Public Relations Professionals and Educators

As Michael Winkleman described, public relations professionals and educators are currently engaged in a vigorous discussion of the role of ethics within the profession and the means by which ethics can be taught to both public relations students and professionals. According to Winkleman, the rise in concern over ethical issues can be traced to the reaction of the profession to events in the 1980s, which included high-profile instances of insider-trading and covert government foreign policy activities. In addition, the ethical debate is thriving because corporations have realized that they have to pay more attention to social demands and be more responsive to â€Å"stakeholders. † This realization has paralleled the move from theoretical ethics to applied ethics. Winkleman's conclusion is that ethics are crucial for public relations because they will benefit the profession and the companies for which the public relations work. Ultimately, ethics are good for business. In addition, there is empirical evidence suggesting that public relations professionals basing their decision-making and recommendations to management on ethical principles and social responsibility are more likely to have a greater role in management decisions and activities. The result of this concern over ethics in the public relations field has resulted in a vigorous debate over the pros and cons of a universal ethics code. Many writers agree, despite their differences, that not only does ethical decision-making give public relations professionals more opportunities to participate in the management function, but it also assists the development of public relations as a â€Å"profession. † Ethics and social responsibility are also vital issues in public relations because public relations facilitates communication among the company and its many publics, including society at large. As Pratt notes, there are three main points that result from all the empirical research conducted on practitioner ethics. First, â€Å"they underscore the notion that ethics is an important issue practitioners confront. † Second, â€Å"they suggest that practitioners cannot ignore public (and industry wide) evaluation of their professional ethics and that corporate managements need to continually institute ethics in the workplace. † Third, â€Å"they suggest that older practitioners can help set an organization's ethical tone. However, as will be discussed later, Donald K. Wright convincingly argues that ethical behavior is performed by practitioners primarily out of a sense of personal morality and wanting to be respected by his/her various publics, rather than as a result of vague, codified ethical guidelines. Perhaps, what makes the subject of ethics difficult to address from a pragmatic point of view within public relations is the paucity of empirical research and theoretical writing on public relations ethics. This is surprising given that 75% of the educators at a recent AEJMC conference stated that ethics was an important aspect of their teaching and that PRSA members, in a questionnaire, voted the Code of Professional Standards to be the most important member benefit. Many educators are currently urging public relations practitioners to adopt a universal code of ethics. The interest in this topic is evidenced by the special issue of Public Relations Review from the spring of 1993 entirely devoted to the subject of ethics. Naturally, the problem will arise in developing a code that can specifically address each specific morally problematic situation. Possibly due to this problem, some of the writers addressing this issue have been somewhat non- specific in delineating the actual components of an ethical code. However, others such as Hunt and Tirpok have suggested the framework for a code and the strategy for its employment. Kruckeberg believes that increased globalized trade has hastened the need for an international (universal) code of ethics for communicators. In analyzing the functions of transnational corporations, he describes four social benefits these companies provide to Third World countries: â€Å"(1) development of human resources through employment, training, and indigenization†¦ ;(2) strengthening the knowledge base through research and development and the transfer of technology; (3) raising standards of living through the creation of wealth, encouraging local industry and providing consumer goods; and (4) enhancing the quality of life by assisting programs that raise standards in health, housing, nutrition, and education. Given that a transnational corporation is actually able to produce these benefits in Third World nations, they are indeed meeting demands of social responsibility. However, Kruckeberg notes that many corporations have encountered criticism relating to graft and corruption issues, consumer issues, environmental/human safety issues, and political/humanitarian issues. For example, Nestle was embroiled in a controversy surrounding their marketing practices in the Third World of breast milk substitutes. Nestle responded effectively and in a socially responsible manner in 1981 by endorsing the World Health Organization's Code of Marketing for Breast Milk Substitutes the day the measure was enacted and assembled experts to monitor the company's compliance with the Code. Kruckeberg suggests that a code of ethics could be developed that would be â€Å"capable of guiding behavior which attempts to resolve the inherent moral dilemmas [of the four types of criticism previous described] as well as other dilemmas that have occurred or potentially could occur. Many of the codes currently in existence do not take into account the particular responsibilities of transnational corporations. However, despite weaknesses in ethical codes they serve four valuable functions: (1) providing guidelines for practitioner activities, (2) demonstrating what clients and supervisors should expect from practitioners, (3) providing basis for charges of wrongdoing, and (4) providing defense against charges of wrongdoing. The new code of ethics should be developed under the leadership of professional communicators from multinational companies, but there should be input from all members of the professional public relations associations. Hunt and Tirpok extend Kruckeberg's argument and suggest that the public relations profession needs to establish a universal ethics code. In addition, they suggest an actual framework for the code and provide a strategy for its adoption. Hunt and Tirpok believe that a universal code of ethics ought to apply to all communications professions, uniting public relations and journalism in this sense, but that the code must be adaptable to the needs of the individual professions. While journalism's purpose is most often objectivity, public relations' purpose is often advocacy. In this manner, public relations practitioners share the general nature of their purpose with lawyers. Nonetheless, â€Å"all systems and codes of ethics seem to be rooted in the same fundamental principles and similar values. Their suggestion for an actual code is that it deal with first order concerns, such as â€Å"keeping faith with the public† and â€Å"achieving consensus,† not specific communications situations, since no code could possibly address all these situations. The timetable for developing and adopting the code would take six years. The first stage would be organizing and conducting a conference of academics and representatives of professional organizations with the purpose of drafting the code. In the second phase encompassing two years, a task force would visit the professional organizations with the aim of obtaining suggestions for modification, implementation, and dissemination of the code. The third phase would involve the ratification and implementation of the code. In the final stage, the code would be published and publicized â€Å"to inform target publics about the code and its importance to global communication. † There have been objections to the implementation of a universal ethics code on the grounds that public relations cannot be defined, that anyone can practice public relations due to First Amendment-type rights, and that there are differences within the global community as to what constitutes ethical behavior. Kruckeberg dismisses the criticism of cultural relativists who argue against a universal ethics code citing Asuncion-Lande's recommendation that in distinguishing â€Å"between what is universal and what is distinctive in the ethics of different cultures, ethicists should develop an inventory. This inventory of universal ethics would include â€Å"culturally sanctioned rules of ‘proper' interpersonal conduct, i. e. rules which serve to preserve order and to promote social harmony and unity and which provide stability of human relationships in a rapidly changing world. † Complications in Establishing Effective Ethics Programs A significant problem in the functioning of many corporate ethics programs that undermines its success is that fact that many of these programs are so general and short on specifics, as well as not being equipped to address complex problems. An ideal example is Dow Corning. For years Dow was recognized by business educators as leaders in the area of corporate ethics programs. In 1976, Dow's chairman John S. Ludington established a Business Conduct Committee and Dow also set up ethics training sessions for employees and audits every three years to monitor compliance with the company's ethical guidelines. Nonetheless, there were indications as early as 1977 that the breast implants manufactured by Dow were unsafe. The question raised by Eric Schine was why did the audits monitoring ethical compliance not discover this information. His answer is that â€Å"for the most part, ethics programs aren't designed to deal directly with complex problems. Instead, they are there only to help cultivate an overall environment of proper conduct. † Similar problems occurred at McDonnell Douglas despite their extensive ethics program. In the late 1970's and early 1980's, defense contractors were accused of severe overcharging of the government and some of these contractors were required to compensate the government for the overcharging. In addition, the Iran-contra scandal further tainted the image of defense contractors. In 1980, Sanford McDonnell became Chairman and CEO of McDonnell Douglas and established the company's ethics program because of his conviction that ethics must be woven into the decision process at all steps through all levels of authority. In 1983, McDonnell instigated a study to determine the best course of ethics training for MDC employees. The MDC training program developed a conceptual model for defining ethical decision making. More than 75,000 employees took part in the training seminars. Subsequent to the implementation of the program, the company discovered the following: ethics became an acceptable topic for discussion, Sanford McDonnell's personal participation in the videotape sent a strong message, the case study approach highlighted ethical issues with practical benefits, employees found they did not have to face ethical issues alone, an increased sense of pride developed among the employees, and MDC issued a new policy and procedures manual relative to pricing and contracting with the government. Some of the lessons learned by MDC that could be transferable to other entities include: ethics training should be pragmatic and managerial in nature, strong leadership is needed from the top and implementation must be from the top down, managers must serve as role models, there must be a standardized training procedure and workshops should utilize a participative process. Center and Jackson's main point about the MDC case is that â€Å"a track record of exemplary conduct builds slowly. It requires constant tending. An honorable reputation is both precious and fragile. Opponents or competitors are rearmed by infractions. † In 1988, investigations by the Justice Department, FBI and the Navy, showed evidence of bribery, fraud, and kickbacks in defense contracting. MDC was among the 75 companies named in the investigation. According to Donald K. Wright, voluntary ethics codes are largely ineffective because there is no enforcement mechanism and the codes are only as good as the people who subscribe to them. Much of this criticism is directed at codes of the professional associations. He feels that many codes are just filled with â€Å"meaningless rhetoric. Ultimately, public relations practitioners conduct themselves according to ethical principles because â€Å"they believe in themselves and want others to respect them. † Ethical behavior is not the result of adherence to codes, but rather to the individual practitioner's sense of personal morality. Wright conducted a study to examine the ethical and moral values of practitioners with the major premise of the study being that â€Å"public relations never will be any more ethical than the level of basic ethical morality of the people who are in public relations. He found that the structure of moral values of American practitioners is based on socio-economic morality, religious morality, basic morality, puritanical morality, basic social responsibility morality, and financial morality. Some corporations have addressed the problem cited by Wright, namely that ethics codes are often ineffective when they are not accompanied by enforcement mechanisms. For instance, General Dynamics instituted a comprehensive ethics program aimed at situations involving anti-trust, political contributions, international business, inside information, and corporate resources. Crucial to this program is the possibility of sanctions for infractions, including penalties ranging from warnings to dismissals and criminal proceedings. In terms of professional associations, PRSA developed its first statement of principles in 1950 and its code of professional standards in 1959. Between 1952 and 1985, 168 cases were investigated, with only 10 cases resulting in sanctions. However, the chairman of PRSA's Board of Ethics and Professional Standards, Donald McCammond, claims the â€Å"enforcement procedure gives the Code its teeth, makes it a deterrent in addition to a set of guidelines. Greater Opportunities for Participation in Management Policy Decisions A distinctive benefit of improving social responsibility and ethical decision- making among public relations practitioners is that it will enhance their credibility and increase their opportunities for participating in management policy decisions. Judd conducted a study to test the hypothesis that there is a â€Å"positive relationship between public relations recommending socially responsible actions and public relations participating in policy decisions. One hundred members listed in the 1986-87 Register of the Public Relations Journal were asked, â€Å"Are you aware of situations where public relations has recommended changes in what the organization does or what it produces in order to satisfy the responsibility of the organization to society? † In addition, respondents were asked whether responsibility to the client/employer or to society is more important and were asked a number of questions addressing public relations' credibility in relation to other professions and ways in which credibility could be improved. The study did find a significant relationship at the statistical significance level of . 05 that recommendations of socially responsible actions translated into higher participation in policy decisions. Judd connects these findings to Bernays' opinion that feeling more responsible to society and less motivated by financial rewards marks the development of a profession. This increase in involvement in policy decisions also illustrates public relations strong credibility with management in these cases. Hence, the value of Judd's study is that it shows concern for socially responsible actions among public relations practitioners define public relations as a profession, involve practitioners more intimately in management policy decisions, and improve the credibility of the profession. Judd's study also found that 65% of the respondents viewed responsibility to society as more important than responsibility to the client/employer; in effect, they view themselves as a corporate conscience. In this sense then, public relations practitioners, at least those surveyed, view their ultimate purpose as that of a counselor as opposed to the traditionally assigned role of public relations people as advocates. Grunig fundamentally conceives of public relations as a critical element of the management function. Public relations is â€Å"an essential management function because of its contribution to the long-term, strategic management of the organization. In particular, public relations is involved in the planning process in the sense that it enables communication and building of relationships with publics that support or can divert the mission of the organization. As a result of public relations' capabilities to facilitate communication among publics and its intrinsic role within the management function, it has a unique responsibility to act according to social and ethical considerations. In fact, Grunig asserts that adherence to the requirements of this responsibility is the only way in which public relations can be considered to be an important element of the global communication system. If public relations is practiced according to the principles of strategic management, public responsibility and the two-way symmetrical model, it is an important element of the global communication system — facilitating symmetrical communication that helps to build relationships among organizations and publics and to develop policies that are responsible to those publics. † Ethics Code as a Requirement for Professional Status Thomas H. Bivins asserts that professionalism requires autonomy, but that autonomy comes with the expectation of objectivity. This presents a problem for public relations because not all public relations practitioners serve the role of counselor, many fill the role of advocate. Bivins describes how these two different roles result in the necessity for different ethical guidelines, which involve the degree of responsibility or obligation to the client/employer, degree of objectivity, and degree of autonomy. However, as Judd's study showed, public relations practitioners increasingly view their role as that of counselor, given that they feel more bound to social responsibilities rather than client/employer obligations. This will place a more stringent ethical impetus upon public relations practitioners because the responsibilities of counselors are broader in the sense of having to be concerned with both larger and a greater number of publics. â€Å"Although both the advocate and the counselor must practice within the bounds of the truth, good taste and the law, the counselor must also practice within the moral boundaries of, and with ethical consideration for, all concerned publics. Purpose, therefore, becomes a factor which must be decided upon, to a greater degree, by the counselor. † Bivins stresses that it is the move towards professionalism in the field which has actually led to a concern over ethical principles. Center and Jackson similarly connect ethical concerns with the development of a profession. â€Å"The public relations function has sought to fulfill its aspirations by exerting an ethical and moral force as well as technical skill and, by doing so, developing an identity and a professional discipline of its own. As Winkleman noted, the ethical debate began with Watergate and has gained momentum in the public relations community with the scandals involving Michael Deaver (indicted for perjury) and Anthony Franco (insider trading). Despite the lack of substantial empirical research literature on public relations ethics to date, there appears to be an increased interest in the subject of ethics among educators and researchers. For example, Public Relations Review devoted entire issues to the subject of ethics in 1989 and 1993. Regardless of whether the public relations profession institutes a universal code as some are advocating, empirical evidence has shown that practitioners who base their decision-making on social responsibility and within ethical guidelines, whether personal or structural, will be more likely to be involved in policy decisions. In turn, practitioners will enhance their credibility with management and the public at large. Furthermore, observance of ethical principles demonstrate the mark of a profession.

It Sifts From Leaden Seives - ED - 753 Words

Emily Dickinson’s poem â€Å"It Sifts from Leaden Sieves† at first glance appears to be a simple riddle, with the obvious answer being snow. As is typical of Dickinson’s poetry, there is much to be found within for contemplation and her profound perspective of nature, life, and the human condition shines forth. Written in simple, mostly monosyllabic words and with a masterful use of poetic devices she produces some powerful themes within the beautiful imagery. Though the words are simple and the poem is among the easier to understand of her almost 1800 poems she produced during her lifetime, it is a technically complex poem that has at least two meaningful and powerful themes hidden within. As is typical of much of Dickinson’s poetry most of†¦show more content†¦The repeated sounds of word interior consonants, or consonance, also plays a role in adding to the verbal flow of the poem with the sounds of the words â€Å"all, fills, alabaster, wool, wrinkles, and stump, stack, stem, and wrists, posts, ghosts† More of the beautiful imagery of the poem is obvious when it is paraphrased and also reveals the emotional theme of the peace and tranquility that is experienced in the leaden silence of a heavy snowfall. This is the poem paraphrased-Snow falls silently from dark and heavy clouds and sprinkles the forest and roads that are blanketed in white, it fills in and equals out the mountains and the valleys in a continuous blanket covering fences in a heavenly sheet, all the remains of the summer’s harvest in the fields with covered with snow and showing not a clue, beautifully highlighting the remaining exposed features, then vanishing in a vapor, leaving no traces of their presence. It instantly reminds anybody that has ever experienced a winter storm of this beauty in nature, and of the peace and beauty in the purity of the clean snow. Dickinson also makes the reader subliminally realize the perceptual pleasure and heightened imagery of the scene by associating the scenes with other things normally associated with beauty such as the application of powders and makeup to a person’s face, celestial veils, and the ruffled ankles of a Queen. Another