Indian Creation Stories Essay Example for Free

Indian Creation Stories Essay After reading the Iroquois and Pima creation myths in the book, I have been very intrigued by the Native American beliefs of the creation of the earth. It seems that nearly every tribe has a different belief of how it happened, though some are very similar. The Huron tribe, originally from the St. Lawrence Valley, have a very similar belief of creation as the Iroquois, where the Cherokee tribe had a totally different view than the Pima. The Iroquois and the Huron myths are both in the Earth-Diver category. In this type of myth, animals swim deep to the bottom of the water and bring up dirt in their mouth, forming the earth. Just like the Iroquois, in the Huron myth, a divine woman falls out the sky and is swept up just before hitting water by a hawk. The hawk then calls down in the water for help, for she is too heavy for it to hold by itself. First, a turtle comes out the sea for her to sit on, and then he instructs other animals such as ducks, beavers, and even a muskrat. After the earth is built, the woman gives birth to twins, but soon dies after giving birth to her two sons. The sons in both myths represent good and evil on earth. They were to prepare the earth so that humans could live on it, but they found out that they could not live together. So, they separated, with each one taking their own portion of the earth to prepare. Once older, the good son creates a sun and moon out of the remains of its mother’s body. It continues to create the world, forming vegetation and other useful tools to help humans survive. Meanwhile, the evil brother made outrageous animals, violent and disturbing. He made wolves, bears, venomous snakes, and panthers of giant size. He made massive mosquitos, the size of wild turkeys, and he made an enormous toad, it drank up the fresh water that was on the earth. The good brother then had to kill the toad to bring water back to the land. In the end, the good brother defeated the evil brother in a fight, sending the evil brother’s soul to the center of the earth. Pima creation myth is similar to the Iroquois and Huron myths in that there are both animals that help build the earth, except in the Pima myth, they are land animals instead of sea animals. Also, there are two main characters that represent good and evil. The Cherokee creation myth starts as the world being completely covered in water and earth merely being an island floating bove the seas suspended by four rawhide ropes. There were no people, and the animals lived above the rainbow. The animals sent the water beetle under the seas to search for more room, and it brought up mud that spread quickly, turning into land. Although at first the land was to soft and flat, Godfather buzzard went to check on the land and the wind from his wings created mountains and valleys, thus why the Cherokee territory has many mountains. As the new ground stiffened, the pulled the sun from behind the rainbow and raised it higher in the sky. The next thing created was the plants, and view animals were given the privilege to see at night. People were created last, with the women being able to have babies every seven days, the Creator feared that the world would soon become crowed and made it so women could only have one child a year. The Native American creation stories of the Iroquois and Huron are almost identical where the Pima and Cherokee are completely opposite of each other. This goes to show just how different the beliefs of different Indian tribes are, and how this holds true to how there are different beliefs across the United States still today.

Drugs And Alcoholism: Why Are Teenagers Involved? :: essays research papers

Adolescence is much like a midpoint in ones life; when a person is neither a kid nor an adult. At this period, teens have passed the age when they were called kids but are not yet qualified to be adults. Teenagers want to think like adults, behave like adults and also start to view themselves as independent beings in decision making. All this hormonal changes also come with the negativity of maturity such as drugs and alcohol. The statistics below show that the percentage of teenagers using drugs and alcohol in the last decade has increased. Why is this? The answer is that teenagers are under pressure by their peers, mass media and also the influence of parents. 8th-Graders10th-Graders12th-Graders Marijuana22.2%40.9%49.7% Cocaine4.77.79.8 Inhalants15.417.019.7 LSD4.18.512.2 Heroin2.02.32.3 Alcohol52.170.680.0 Cigarettes44.157.664.6 Peer pressure plays a major role in the harmful behavior of teens. Teens who want to fit in among their friends are most especially prone to this. They try to make friends and they get friends as much as possible. Of these friends there are the good ones who give them the knowledge and information you want need or inquire and there are the ones who give them information about not too good things like drug, alcohol, parties, e.t.c. This influential communication between a teen and his/her peer may be directly or indirectly. Directly such as conversations with their friends or indirectly such as listening to classmates discussing of a party which occurred a night before. Then they begin to mention alcohol, drugs and violence obviously from what have experienced they talk about it in a way possible. Then you would like to see how good it is the next weekend you go to that kind of party. If you can not resist such as a temptation you will begin to do harmful deeds that will definitely ha ve adverse results in the future. Let’s not put all the blame on teens and their peers alone. The mass media is also responsible in an understandable way. The media has proven to be a lot damaging than useful in the type of information meant for mature audience but end up with the immature audience. Soap operas and frivolous shows shown on TV contain immoral and untrue images of the world as it is more of the writer’s imagination or the way directors direct them to act. Most teenagers are probably old enough to watch this shows but not mature enough to comprehend with the fictitious nature of movies and soap operas.

Remeber the Titans Application Paper

Remember the Titans is a movie that reflects several areas of organizational behavior. Communication, organizational culture, teamwork, diversity, motivation and ethics all play a key role in leadership how an organization functions. Communication The first obstacle that the new head coach faces is taking over an organization where he is the replacement for a very well respected coach with a reputation for winning. In one of scenes, Coach Boone sits down with his new assistant coach, Yost, to talk about the current situation. Boone acknowledges the problems and the challenges that lay ahead but assures Coach Yost that he is committed to producing a winning team and that all decisions will reflect performance rather than race. Coach Boone shows respect to Coach Yost and displays the openness to deal with the issues. Leaders may have a tendency to avoid this confrontation only making matters worse for the long term. It is a great lesson in dealing with problems upfront and resolving the issues to minimize more potential conflicts in the future. Communication is one of the basic functions of management in any organization and its importance can hardly be overemphasized. It is a process of transmitting information, ideas, thoughts, opinions, and plans between various parts of an organization. It is not possible to have human relations without communication. However, good and effective communication is required not only for good human relations but also for good and successful business (Thomson, 2007). Organizational Culture From an organizational structure standpoint, Coach Boone realizes he cannot do everything by himself. On a football team, several coaches are required to work with each specialized part of the team just like in any business. Throughout the movie the offense, defense, and special teams must work together to achieve victory on the field. However, each sub group on the team must trust and rely on the others to perform to execute the game plan well. In one of the final scenes, Coach Boone gets input from Coach Yost to come up with a new offensive play to win the game. Sometimes in larger organizations, silos exist among the departments and there is a resistance to cooperating. It is important in any business that all departments listen to their people for new ideas to improve process that can turn into profitable results. Organizational structure is the hierarchical levels of a company; this structure provides guidelines on subordination and employee responsibilities, and affects the workplace culture. An organization's culture is an informal, collectively held grouping of ideas and values, as well as the types of workplace relationships and ways of doing things within the organization. It affects workplace culture through controlling, coordinating and motivating employees to work together to accomplish company goals and objectives. Both organizational structure and culture affect employee behavior, motivation, performance, dedication, satisfaction, cooperation, and relationships (Thornton, 2011) Teamwork and Diversity Working together as a team is crucial to any organization’s success. Two players in particular believe that at the beginning of merging the two schools, their perceptions of each other’s values make it appear almost impossible to work to together as a team. They both come to realize that they want to win as much as the other person does and eventually become the best of friends. In fact, later in the movie Gary, the white player recommends to Coach Boone that one of his white friends leave the team because of a missed blocking assignment. This is the true transformation of Gary putting the team’s goals before his personal feelings. It is one of the cornerstones of any teamwork’s success. People in any organization bring their own set of values and beliefs to the table when they accept a position in the company. It is up the company’s leadership to instill the vision and culture from the top down. The summer practice camp that they attend is similar to the socialization process that any organization has into bringing new people in. Similar to the Marine’s boot camp, the football players eat, sleep, and practice together to bond and foster a sense of teamwork for Coach Boone. Most companies achieve this socialization process through employee orientation and continuous training. By the end of the camp the players have put aside their difference and are committed to carrying out the team’s goal of winning. The biggest issue that faces the team is the racial tension between the blacks and whites. The movie is set in the early seventies when integration of school began. The socialization process of the summer practice camp helped resolved many of these issues while the players where in seclusion at camp. Upon coming back from camp and attending school, they face the true reality of the racial issues. Still to this day, diversity is a hot topic in corporations across the country. Any company has to battle the preconceived ideas about other races, religions, genders, and sexual orientation to focus on the company’s vision. The movie shows how when people put aside their differences and focus on the organization’s mission that anything is achievable. This is a timeless lesson for any organization in today’s environment. According to the textbook, one of the pervasive challenges with teams is that while diversity may have real potential benefits, a team deeply focuses on commonly held information. To realize their creative potential, diverse teams need to focus not on their similarities but on their differences. The key is for members of diverse teams to communicate what they uniquely know in addition to what they do not know (Judge, Robbins, 2011). Whether in the workplace or on the football field, or even amongst members of a community, effective teamwork can produce incredible results. However, working successfully as a team is not as easy as it may seem. Effective teamwork does not happen automatically; it takes a great deal of hard work and compromise (Woloch, 2008). There are a number of factors that must be in place to cohere together as a team: * Good leadership: Effective leadership is one of the most important components of good teamwork. The team’s leader should possess the skills to create and maintain a positive working environment, motivate, and inspire the team members to take a positive approach to work and be highly committed. An effective team leader will promote a high level of morale and make them feel supported and valued. * Clear communication: Communication is a vital factor of all interpersonal interaction and especially that of a team. Team members must be able to articulate their feelings, express plans and goals, share ideas, and see each other’s viewpoints. Establishing roles: It is necessary for team members to understand their role and responsibilities. The team leader can enable this by defining the purpose in a clear-cut manner in the beginning of the formation of the team. * Conflict Resolution: Conflicts will arise no matter how well a team functions together. The best way to counter conflict is to have structured methods of conflict resolution. Team members should be able to voice their concerns without fear of offending others. Instead of avoiding conflict issues, a hands-on approach that resolves them quickly is much better. Set a good example: The team leader must set a good example for good teamwork to come about. In order to keep team members positive, committed and motivated, the team leader must exhibit these qualities. The team looks to the leader for support and guidance therefore any negativity on the leader’s part can be disastrous (Woloch, 2008). Motivation Coach Boone does a good job of demonstrating motivation throughout the movie. In several scenes, Coach Boone tells his organization that he demands perfection from them and nothing less is acceptable. He communicates clearly with the staff and the players what the team’s goal is from the beginning. Everyone knows their role on their respective teams and expectations. We can see that successful companies have similar success when everyone in the organization knows how their role affects the company’s ability to serve the customer. Coach Boone uses the Equity theory of motivation in that he treats everyone on the team fairly and shows no favoritism. He asks the players to work very hard in practice, but see the results in their victories on the football field. Coach Boone also displays the Hawthorne effect in the movie. He makes an effort to know all of his players and his coaching staff. The Hawthorne effect is a motivation theory that people perform better, when they feel their leader pay attention to them. In today’s work environment, this is more of challenge because it is becoming more popular to have employees work from remote locations or home with the increased technological advances we have seen over the last twenty years in the work place (Ghillyer, 2009). Ethics. Ethical behavior is the last characteristic that can either tear apart any team or propel it to a higher level of success. Coach Yost is under the impression by several influential school board members that the championship game is going to be in favor of the all white school they are playing. They will use this as an excuse to fire Coach Boone and reinstate Coach Yost as the head coach the next school year. During the championship game, Coach Yost faces this internal struggle and dilemma as he sees many unfavorable calls by the referees. He eventually makes the right decision for the player’s chance to win the game. The important lesson is that when temptation is great to make the wrong decision, the long-term benefits of being ethical outweigh the benefits. Managers and their organizations are responding to the problem of unethical behavior in a number of ways. They are writing and distributing codes of ethics to guide employees through ethical dilemmas. They are offering seminars, workshops, and other training programs to try to improve ethical behaviors. They are providing in house advisors and creating protection mechanisms for employees who revel internal unethical practices. Today’s manager must create an ethically healthy climate for his or her employees, where they can do their work productivity with little ambiguity about what right and wrong behaviors are (Judge, Robbins, 2011). In conclusion, the movie demonstrates that leadership must be able to face multiple challenges at the same time. It is hard enough to manage a football team with structure that is in place of three different sub groups performing to win games. When combined with the challenges of diversity and ethics, it remarkable the results the team achieved. These are some valuable lessons that any organization in today’s business world could use. Â  

Short Story Dear Boss Letter Essay - 1360 Words

In the same issue, The Evening News also mentions the contents of the â€Å"Dear Boss† letter, but also a postcard, sent to the Central News Agency on October 1st, and also claiming to be written by Jack the Ripper. As previously mentioned, September 27th was the first time the name Jack the Ripper was used. Hundreds more letters were sent to both the press and the police. The Evening News speculated, â€Å"it is not necessarily assumed that this has been the work of the murderer, the idea that naturally occurs being that the whole thing is a practical joke.† Many newspapers considered the letters hoaxes written by members of the public. The postcard that arrived at the Central News Agency on October 1st was received before the double murder was made known to the press, supporting the notion that the Ripper himself sent the postcard. However, the postcard’s authenticity is still questionable, because a citizen could have found out about the murders before the mo rning paper was distributed. The postcard reads: I was not codding dear old Boss when I gave you the tip, you ll hear about Saucy Jacky s work tomorrow double event this time number one squealed a bit couldn t finish straight off. ha not the time to get ears for police. thanks for keeping last letter back till I got to work again. Jack the Ripper The postcard references the â€Å"Dear Boss† letter both in content and in the similar address to the reader as â€Å"dear old boss†. 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