Lows Gully free essay sample

This case is about British Army adventurous training exercise to Low’s Gully in Borneo, Malaysia. The exercise was intended to build leadership skills and character in 10 volunteer soldiers. The task was to scale down a dangerous and untraversed gully, a 10 mile long chasm that served as drain for rainwater, using abseiling technique and then follow the river out of the jungle. This team was led by two British officers who recruited five soldiers from units in Great Britain and three Chinese soldiers stationed in the British Army’s Hong Kong Military Service Corps. The eight soldiers knew little or nothing about each other. In the face of adversity during the exercise, the participants separated into sub teams despite being individually trained by the army to work well with other soldiers and to follow the ‘golden rule for such expeditions never split up. † (Connaughton 1996). Participants easily could have lost their lives when the planned ten day exercise ended up lasting up to five weeks. We will write a custom essay sample on Lows Gully or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Half of the group members actually accomplished the initial objective and the other half had to be rescued by a helicopter. All of them were in ill health and famished and some badly injured. The catastrophic failure also left them mentally scarred and two of them actually quit the army disillusioned or disgraced. Even though attempting to traverse an uncharted and hostile territory is bound to test any team dynamics, it was the leadership failures of Lt. Col Neil and Major Foster that amplified the adversity that faced the team. There were several misjudgments on the part of these two individuals that eroded the trust between the team members. Neil miscalculated the amount of rope required for abseils and was the major reason why the team split, leaving no avenue to regroup in case of adversity. Secondly, he purchased no walkie talkies in an effort to minimize the budget that resulted in lack of communication between the two split parties. Primary tools of communication such as maps, star charts and radio beacons to broadcast locations were also ignored. Another misjudgment on Neil’s part was to go ahead with the mission in the rainy season despite being warned by locals of the unpredictable weather and increased difficulty of scaling down the gully. Each misjudgment reflected the leader’s overconfidence in his judgment – ‘a cognitive bias’ called in literary circles that distorts managerial decision. Neil admits of being overambitious in his diary while he lay in the cave helpless awaiting rescue. As Mann, one of the soldiers put it, â€Å"these are two officers on their last great hurrah†. As these mistakes became evident on the course of the mission, the soldiers trust grew into mistrust of the leader’s abilities and judgments and finally led to a permanent group fracture. This erosion of trust was however gradual. There was a definite initial trust in the team due to communal common grounds. All the members were from the same organization i. e army and had gone through similar training and ethos. They also placed trust in the leader and his superior rock climbing certification and willing followed his instruction in the beginning. It was at a personal level that common ground failed to establish. The team realized early in the start the lack of benevolence on the leader’s part. When the officers ignored warnings from the locals about the harsh weather conditions, the soldiers felt it as inadequate concern for the well being of the rest of the team. Then integrity based doubts began to emerge when the team found out that the leaders were carrying rucksacks lighter than them. They also felt they had been misinformed about the actual difficulty of the task at the time of recruiting. When the Chinese soldiers were expressed their safety concerns, they were threatened rather than being motivated. Hence the initial communal trust failed to hold due to lack of lack of benevolence and integrity from the leaders. The trust turned transitioned into trust with apprehension but even the soldiers continued to follow the leader’s orders refraining from all out disobedience. The final breakdown in communication and permanent and physical split took place when the adversity of the course was at its peak. The group of 10 was split between the most physically fit and the others. Others included both the leaders. Physically fit were told to scale down the gully first and act as reconnaissance party for the others. After abseiling for several days till they reached a point of no return, Corporal Mayfield reported back to the Neil to make him aware of the situation. Neil did not heed to this warning once again and told the ‘recce’ party to go ahead and wait at the bottom. The ‘recce’ party proceeded hesitantly and waited for them at the bottom severely exhausted. When they ran out of rations they finally proceeded out of the woods leaving the group permanently split. The lack of proper communication was at fault when Neil failed to realize the gravity of the situation. As a leader in place of Col Neil, I would have avoided being overambitious and would have carefully assessed the difficulty of the exercise in great detail. Primarily because I was in charge of the safety of my team members and it was my responsibility to prepare them of the task which lay ahead. I would have paid special consideration to the advice of the locals who knew more about the terrain we are about to tread. The amount of rope needed for abseiling and the suitable weather for the task would have had my extreme focus. There will be no compromise on integrity on my part and would never fake my climbing certification to gain acceptance from the rest of the team. In terms of communication, I would have gathered equipment which let all members keep in touch in times of adversity. Radio beacon, walkie talkies and maps are important tools to avoid communication failure and a potential group split and I would make sure to accompany them. Also in order keep communication two ways with my junior team members I would have made sure Major Foster acted as my conduit to team members of my orders and let me know of any apprehensions my soldiers had. This is crucial to repair trust trepidation at its beginning and avoid it to lead to distrust. The information is easier to trickle down but there should be a mechanism where the information has to trickle up as well. This is the reason, as a leader, it is important to heed to junior team member’s assessment of ground and treat them as eyes and ears. Even though ‘recce’ party was established to do that, Neil never realized the gravity of the situation when abseiling the 1 mile gully. The possibility of a permanent split between the team at the gully would be inacceptable to me. Even though I think it is a wise idea to create subgroups with a team to achieve more efficiency, I have would make sure the subgroups consisted of members with complementary skills instead of similar ones. Separating the most physically fit members with the rest was fatal in the end and that is the reason why they accomplished and the weaker members failed.

Measurement Definition in Science

Measurement Definition in Science In science, a measurement is a collection of quantitative or numerical  data that describes a property of an object or event. A measurement is made by comparing a quantity with a standard unit. Since this comparison cannot be perfect, measurements inherently include error, which is how much a measured value deviates from the true value. The study of measurement is called metrology. There are many measurement systems that have been used throughout history and across the world, but progress has been made since the 18th century in setting an international standard. The modern International System of Units (SI) bases all types of physical measurements on seven base units. Methods of Measurement The length of a piece of string can be measured by comparing the string against a meter stick.The volume of a drop of water may be measured using a graduated cylinder.The mass of a sample may be measured using a scale or balance.The temperature of a fire may be measured using a thermocouple. Comparing Measurements Measuring the volume of a cup of water with an Erlenmeyer flask will give you a better measurement than trying to gauge its volume by putting it into a bucket, even if both measurements are reported using the same unit (e.g., milliliters). Accuracy matters, so there are criteria that scientists use to compare measurements: type, magnitude, unit, and uncertainty. The level or type is the methodology used for taking the measurement. Magnitude is the actual numerical value of a measurement (e.g., 45 or 0.237). Unit is the ratio of the number against the standard for the quantity (e.g., gram, candela, micrometer). Uncertainty reflects the systematic and random errors in the measurement. Uncertainty is a description of confidence in the accuracy and precision of a measurement that is typically expressed as an error. Measurement Systems Measurements are calibrated, which is to say they are compared against a set of standards in a system so that the measuring device can deliver a value that matches what another person would obtain if the measurement were repeated. There are a few common standard systems you may encounter: International System of Units (SI): SI comes from the French name  Systà ¨me International dUnità ©s.  It is the most commonly used metric system.Metric System: SI is a specific metric system, which is a decimal system of measurement. Examples of two common forms of the metric system are the MKS system (meter, kilogram, second as base units) and CGS system (centimeter, gram, and second as base units). There are many units in SI and other forms of the metric system that are built upon combinations of base units. These are called derived units.English System: The British or Imperial system of measurements was common before SI units were adopted internationally. Although Britain has largely adopted the SI system, the United States and some Caribbean countries still use the English system for non-scientific purposes. This system is based on the foot-pound-second units, for units of length, mass, and time.

How new are the 'new wars' Evaluate Kaldor's thesis with respect to Essay

How new are the 'new wars' Evaluate Kaldor's thesis with respect to both the newness of the empirical trends she identifies and - Essay Example Mary Kaldor coined the term new war in her 1999 book ‘New and Old Wars’. Kaldor’s new war thesis is the most widely acknowledged in the new war debates. Kaldor described new war â€Å"as being increasingly fought over new identities rather ideologies, by non-state combatants rather than regular state armies, engaging in attacks on the civilian population rather than direct military encounters, and undermining rather than building the sate† (Rigterink 2012, n.p.). The thesis has been critics savaged especially on the empirical ground. This paper evaluates the Kaldor’s thesis with respect to the newness of the empirical trends identified in trying to answer that question whether new war are really new. The two world wars especially the Second World War made it necessary that globally systems be put in place to address any inter- states conflicts and civil wars. There has been a large success in addressing inter-states conflicts and wars, but clearly co nflicts and violence has not been banished (World Bank 2011, cited in Kaldor 2013). The increase of different actors in wars: criminal gangs, mercenary groups, local warlords and paramilitary units only contribute to make wars more complex (Kaldor 2006, p.9). The emerging trend of new wars is characterized by increased violence and a higher ratio of civilian to the military casualties. Munkler (2002, p. 15) adds that the new wars are â€Å"more bloody than any other kind of war since 1945.† According to Kaldor (2006, p.9), the ratio of civilians to military combats have increased from 1:8 in old wars to about 8:1in the new wars. In her article, In defense of new wars, Kaldor says that new wars are a means to elucidating the logic of contemporary war with the aim of offering a research strategy and guide to policy (Kaldor 2013). She argues that new wars need not be looked only in terms of its empirical basis; otherwise, truth will be lost. She, however, agrees that some of the critics are indeed valid but then the existence of new wars should not be lost so that the political elements of the wars can be addressed (Kaldor 2013). How new is the new war thesis? Kadlor argues that the wars we are experiencing today are indeed different in character from the old interstate wars. She gives a distinction between the old and the new war with respect to a complex of non-state actors; irregular participants and fighting; violence targeting civilians; prevalence of identity politics; widespread criminality; absence of centralized states directions; and transnational networks participation in providing financing, soldiers, and weapons (Kaldor 2006). Critics, however, argue that there is nothing new about the stated elements that indeed all have been experienced in various past conflicts. The truth is that the elements described are not entirely new but what Kadlor intended in proposing the new war thesis was that new strategy need to be embraced in researching the p resent conflicts and in policymaking (Kadlor, 2013). Critics, for example, that the states are being involved in today’s war will misses the point of the new war logic, since the new war thesis only offers input that a new trend of non-state actors are being drawn into the war without refuting the fact that states actors are still operation. Therefore, it would be important that one concludes that though new war have emerged it does not imply that the old forms of wars are no longer in play.

Speech- American Culture Blue Jeans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Speech- American Culture Blue Jeans - Essay Example Thesis: The nature and origin of blue Jeans in the American culture that began as a material used to make clothes for manual laborers to a fashionable clothing material that is worn by everyone all over America. 3. Once put on by the manual laborers that were mining gold during the California gold rush in 1849, jeans transformed into one of the most fashionable and preferred clothing materials of the 20th century. 6. The popularity of Blue Jeans grew among the youth in the 1950s and 1960s. This was due to the fact that this was a period that marked the beginning of the rock ‘n’ roll era whereby most musicians sang songs of this genre. 8. Another reason that made the 1950s and 1960s be the helm of the popularity of blue jeans was due to the fact that this period was characterized by many riots and protests from youth and college students. 2. I wear blue Jeans almost on a daily basis and therefore in all activities I do for example; going shopping, going for classes, going for parties, going to social gathering and attending other occasions I wear Blue Jeans. In conclusion, Blue Jeans have evolved over time all through the 20th century. Through time, they have come to be part of our culture as with them we remember the gold miners in California in 1850s, the start of Hollywood in 1930s and even our heroes in World War 2 in the 1940s. Blue Jeans are therefore a part of the American culture and

Enduring Love: An Analysis

Enduring Love: An Analysis Ian McEwan in the novel ‘Enduring Love depicts the theme of obsession in many diverse forms. McEwan uses different styles of language to portray the characters and their many types of â€Å"unhealthy obsessions†. By exploring the ways McEwan presents each character, we can clearly observe the extremely obvious obsessions, yet that is not the case, lying below the surface there are yet more delicate and subtle obsessions that each character exhibits. The most evident obsession in this work of fiction is Jed Parrys obsession with Joe Rose. As the reader, we find this most disturbing because of the intensity that it is presented to us within the novel. At the opening of the narrative, directly after the misfortune accident, Joe Rose proceeds down the hill to inspect John Logans body, closely followed by Jed Parry. McEwan utilizes his use of language with talented effect to get across Jed Parrys obsession with religious conviction and Parrys dialogue to show his zeal to pray. ‘I dont think you understand. You shouldnt you know, think of this as some kind of duty. Its like, your own needs are being answered? Its got nothing to do with me, really, Im just the messenger. Its a gift. In addition to the first, quote ‘ I mean, you dont have to believe in anything at all, just let yourself do it and I promise you, I promise Jeds reiteration within the sentence and the word ‘promiseshows Jed Parry pleading with Joe Rose an d expresses his heartfelt beliefs. There is also a ‘weirdness as Joe Rose makes the decision to tell Jed Parry the insensitive truth about his religion ‘Because, my friend, no ones listening. Theres no one up there. ‘Parrys head was cocked, and the most joyous of smiles was spreading across his face. This is a significant moment in the novel as we soon uncover, that the source of the story and Jeds obsession unfold after the fateful meeting following the tragic accident of John Logan. McEwan uses religious imagery to convey the embarrassment felt by Joe and passion of Jeds beliefs. ‘†¦, as I saw it, to deliver me from the radiating power of Jed Parrys love and pity. The use of the verb ‘deliver has staunch religious overtones and suggests deliverance in the same Christian sense of Jesus ‘delivered mankind. McEwan also makes use of the phrase ‘radiating power. This is for the most part an effective use of imagery as it conveys the idea of Jed Parry being the source of the obsession, which spreads out and has an effect on those around him. Jeds obsession with religion and his growing obsession surrounding Joe Rose are interlinked. Jeds strange behaviour towards Joe intensifies with his religious zeal. McEwan expresses this in their second meeting; we begin to understand Jeds reasoning and motivation for needing Joe to pray. ‘To bring you to God, through love. Youll fight this like mad because youre a long way from your own feeling? But I know that the Christ is within you. At some level you know it too. Thats why you fight it so hard with your education and reason and logic and this detached way you have of talking, as if youre not part of anything at all? You can pretend you dont know what Im talking about, perhaps because your want to hurt me and dominate me, but the fact is I come bearing gifts. The purpose is to bring you to the Christ that is in you and that is you. By placing importance on the word ‘purpose this shows Jeds intent and in due course the motivation behind his pursuit of Joe. In a strange twisted logic, Jed is using his faith as rationalization for his obsession. McEwan symbolizes Jeds necessitate for Joe through the quotation ‘He was watching my face with a kind of hunger, as desperation. ‘Hunger and ‘desperation give the reader a sense of the voracious passion that Jed feels for Joe.   McEwan also presents Jeds obsession through the letters that he sends to Joe. The letters act rather like a soliloquy in a theatre would and we are able to see the character of Jed without Joes perception as the narrator. The letters are perhaps the most disturbing part of the obsession as McEwan reveals Jeds raw emotion and obsession with Joe Rose. ‘Joe, Joe, Joe†¦.Ill confess, I covered five sheets of paper with your name. The use of repetition emphasises Joe as the subject of Jeds obsession and the action of writing his name over sheet of paper is a sign of immaturity. ‘Does it horrify that I can see through you so easily? A rhetorical question appeals directly to the reader as we see events through Joes eyes and reveal an insidious side to Jeds character.   Yet there could be deeper obsessions such as Clarissa with children or even Keats.

A Comparison And Contrast In Both As Worn By Hester And Dimmesdale :: essays research papers

A Comparison and Contrast In Both A's Worn By Hester and Dimmesdale The two A's worn in the novel by both Hester and Dimmesdale are dramatically different, yet they are born and made by the same identical sins. These letters are also differentiated by the infinitely changing emotional state and physical well being of the character, the towns views of morality and natural order, and the affecting environment. The two sins of most importance in the novel and that serve the greatest beneficiality in the appearance of the A's are--of course-- adultery and hypocrisy. The separation in the appearance of both of the A's begins with each characters own personal interpretation of the extremity of their sins. Where Hester's A is beautiful and artistically done ("fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom; pg.37) her interpretation of the extremity of her sins is one of self composure and nonchalantness. She views her sins solely as a "violation in the natural order" of the environment and therefore cannot even perceive her sin as being evil except through outside brainwashing. While Dimmesdale's personal interpretation as to the extremity of his own sins is a "violation of God's law," which is the law that he is totally dedicated to and supported by. Dimmesdale's interpretation of his sin is much more severe than Hester's, it is a breach and direct contradiction of his own self consciousness and physical existence. Therefore the appearance of his A, even though it is never directly described in the novel, must be raw, jagged, and brutally crooked (...a ghastly rapture; pg.95). Maybe Dimmesdale's self torture is so horrifying or inconceivable that it is either indescribable, (...too mighty to be expressed only by the eye of his figure; pg.95), or best left up to the reader's imagination. Unlike Hester, Dimmesdale, because of self interpretation, cannot in any way conceive his sins of being anything but evil. Although the appearance of the A's are proportional to the interpretation by each character; also the appearance of the A's is directly correlated between the consequences each character receives because of their sins, both Hester's and Dimmesdale's punishment is introduced through a new character and some sort of isolation. The new character's are a form of abstract contrasting where each new character is an extension of the sinner's "A" itself. Where as Chillingworth is a doubled extension of Dimmesdale's consciousness; Pearl is a contrast to Hester's creativity, patience, and composure. Dimmesdale's punishment through Chillingworth is one of mental bombardment and spiritual torture which supports the theory that Dimmesdale's A must be horrifically putrid and indescribable. Pearl's punishment towards

Challenges being faced as a beginning teacher

National Education ( NE ) was introduced to Singapore Schools in 1997 to develop national coherence, cultivate the inherent aptitude for endurance as a state and instil in our pupils, assurance in our state ‘s hereafter. It besides emphasises on cultivating a sense of belonging and emotional rootedness to Singapore. Many programmes such as Community Involvement Programme ( CIP ) and Learning Journeys were designed to assist schools accomplish such aims and the duty of put to deathing these programmes falls on the instructors. As a beginning instructor, freshly introduced into the profession, challenges are faced in the effort to implement such enterprises. In my sentiment, one major challenge that I would meet is planing activities that infuses a sense of relevance in our pupils – allowing them understand that national coherence is a consequence of the uninterrupted attempts of every Singaporean, and they are a portion of the equation. These pupils were born in the epoch of political and economical stableness, where bulk grew up in environments run intoing their demands and carry throughing most of their wants. Hence, they have the inclination to take their security and wellbeing for granted, doing them unable to grok the battles faced by Singapore in keeping the current success and stableness and the demand for NE. For illustration, most schools in Singapore commemorate nucleus event, Racial Harmony Day through the showcasing of the diversified cultural costumes and playing of cultural games to enable their pupils ‘ in-depth cultural cognition of their equals. Yet, a bulk of them treat the recollection of the twenty-four hours as an chance for an interesting concert and a half-day school, and few genuinely understanding the implicit in principle behind the activities, allow entirely instil a sense of relevance. Amidst the current racial harmonious atmosphere between different racial groups, pupils are unable to gestate the thought of racial public violences, its ‘ impact on Singapore and the importance of racial harmoniousness in a society. They view information relayed through these events as irrelevant and doubt the possibility of the return of such incidents in the current Singapore. It is of a common apprehension that the six NE messages would ever stay as words on paper unless instructors inculcate them into pupils in an piquant mode. Therefore, as a get downing instructor with no anterior experience in the ingraining of NE messages, I feel that the undertaking of planing engaging, merriment and relevant activities would be enormous, with myself holding unequal cognition of the activity thoughts that pupils are receptive to. Instilling a sense of relevance in pupils would be a immense challenge as it is non an easy undertaking to alter pupils ‘ deeply-rooted thought from â€Å" the duty of keeping national coherence autumn merely on the grownups and authorities † to the thought that â€Å" national coherence is the duty of everyone, including pupils † . Students should be taught that societal coherence occurs because each and everyone put in attempt and play our portion in lending to the wellbeing of the state. The issue is relevant to both grownups and pupils. From my personal observation, about all Singapore Schools repeat the same NE programmes for their pupils every twelvemonth, differing merely at the activities to be completed at single degrees. As such, pupils were bored of it, and older pupils particularly, expressed cynicism, and were unresponsive to the programmes. Hence, I feel that the 2nd challenge that I would confront as a get downing instructor in the effort to put to death the enterprises is eliciting pupils ‘ involvement in the engagement of NE-related activities. Unlike the traditional topics that we were taught to learn in the instruction institute, NE is non merely another topic where pupils learn by conventional instruction methods. In fact, pupils understand the constructs in NE better when the activities are prosecuting, merriment and capture their attending. Although pupils reflected that programmes designed by the school ‘s NE commission were everyday, get downing instructors, including myself, are unable to plan and implement new thoughts in topographic point of old 1s, with bing NE models in schools. On the contrary, I would be expected to follow the guidelines and present a similar NE lesson. As a get downing instructor with limited learning experience and teaching methods accomplishments, I would miss the ability in transform these guidelines into prosecuting and interesting lessons on par as that of the experient instructors. Most experient instructors are able to present interesting NE lessons, transforming the repetitive, dull lesson into prosecuting sharing lessons while staying by the guidelines. They reflected on their past instruction experiences, gathered feedback from old batches of pupils, and modified their instruction teaching method consequently to appeal to pupils ‘ involvement. Therefore, pupils ‘ involvements in NE activities are aroused and they participate actively in it. On the other manus, get downing instructors enter schoolrooms today with high outlooks of ourselves and of our pupils. Our learning method would be influenced by single background and assorted learning theories. However, the deficiency of experience in the instruction field would impact the quality of the lesson bringing as I would be unable to accommodate to pupils ‘ demands. In add-on, I would be given to avoid diverting from the model to plan newer, more exciting lessons as I fear for botching the ba lance between merriment and content. After all, the intent of the NE lesson would be defeated if there is more merriment than content. To reason, the aims of NE could be attained through appropriate programmes and it is therefore highly of import to instill a sense of relevance in our pupils and to elicit their involvement in NE activities. When faced with challenges in the effort to implement the policies, get downing instructors should detect, persevere and seek for aid to get the better of them. Through these challenges, we would turn to go better pedagogues and in bend, supply the greatest benefits to the pupils.