The company culture of Pixar Animation Studios

The company culture of Pixar Animation Studios Introduction The origin of Pixar is traced back to 1984 when John Lasseter the Chief Creative Officer of Disney and Pixar joined the computer graphics division of Lucasfilms. Two years later Steve Jobs bought this unit and renamed it Pixar that went on to produce award winning short films, commercials and documentaries. The Company expanded its creative potentials to make its first computer animated movie, Toy Story in 1995 that marked the beginning of a new era in animation film industry. Pixar re-defined the meaning of success with major triumphs in the form of The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story 2, and many others to follow. The Company was acquired by Disney in the year 2006, a strategic alliance that expanded the creative potentials of Pixar to further heights. The success of the company has been termed as dramatic and inspirational for other firms in the creative industry segment. The much talked about Pixar culture provides an interesting insight into how an organization can nurture t he creative talents of its employees across different levels. Research issue The research paper explores the different dimensions of the Pixar culture and its open door policy to understand the ways in which the organization has expanded its creative potentials to become one of the most innovative organizations in the industry. The objective of the paper is to analyse the impacts of the people management practices adopted at Pixar in promoting a creative work environment. Theoretical analysis framework Theoretical analysis provides any research work with the necessary facts and evidence that support the research findings and implications. In this section, the paper will focus on analysing the organizational culture of Pixar through two distinctive models the organizational aesthetics model and Handy (1985) or Harrison (1972) Model of culture. The study of these two theoretical dimensions enable a deeper insight and understanding of how the structural design and practices within an organization shapes its workplace environment and employee attitudes. The study and understanding of these two theoretical dimensions have been used to analyse the Pixar culture that promotes creativity through an enabling work culture. Organizational aesthetics model Aesthetics offers a new look into organizations, and a look at alternative ways of expressing and making meanings that deeply influence organizational interactions, behaviours, and understandings (Taylor Hansen, 2005). Aesthetics relate to our senses and contextual experiences that shape our knowledge and beliefs. Organizational activities and strategies are to a wide extent influenced by the social and contextual environment in which they exist. The underlying assumption of the aesthetic approach to the study of organizations is that, although an organization is indeed a social and collective construct, it is not an exclusively cognitive one but derives from the knowledge-creating faculties of all the human senses (Linstead Hopfl, 2000). According to this approach organizations are created through the re-definition and application of knowledge processing skills that are harnessed for productive gains. Since the organizational processes are widely impacted by the individual perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, opinions, values and reflections of the workforce that drive operational efficiencies. These are indicators of organizational aesthetics that bind the various elements into a more cohesive structure that helps in the production of goods and services for the larger community. Recent Trend in Organization Aesthetics The significance of such models is underlined by the increasing diversity of the workforce in present business environment and the difficulties faced in integrating the skills of individuals from varied knowledge sectors to develop a single product. Research studies have established that an understanding of the organizational aesthetics can help in improving managerial abilities to lead the team towards a more effective performance. Studies have revealed that the understanding of organizational aesthetics can help managers to identify the parameters of how to analyse and approach any issue. This particular aspect enables the organization to pursue a strategy well defined and supported by an understanding of human values and dimensions that impact work performance. Organization Aesthetics in Pixar Bill Capodagli, the author of Innovate the Pixar Way: Lessons from the Worlds most Creative Corporate Playground in an interview with the Enterpriseleadership.org (2010) stated that Pixar has a set of deeply rooted values that champion excellence, tap innovation, and encourage collaboration. Following this observation, it can be inferred that the organizational practices and strategies adopted by Pixar have been a vital factor in promoting its creative talents. The question that this observation raises is what kind of organizational design and practices Pixar has that promotes such creativity. Organizational structure plays a critical role in nurturing individual talent and providing the employees with the opportunity to deliver their true potentials Edgar Schein in 1985 observed that organizations can be broadly categorised into two types Organization A that adopts an open environment facilitated by free flow of communication and less formal atmosphere; and organization B that supports a closed door structure featured by formal work procedures and low interactivity among employees. Pixar belongs to the Organization A type that exhibits an open culture (Schein, 2004). This kind of organization supports team based work culture. The success formula of Pixar is based on team work, collaboration and free flow of communication between individuals. The high level of interaction and flow of communication within the organization is promoted by its flat organizational structure. The organization is founded on remarkable management practices that discourage hierarchical system of r eporting. The non hierarchical organizational structure promotes responsibilities and motivates the employees to put in their best at work resulting in high performing organizations. However, such work culture demands strong commitment and high level of energy from the employees. The operating principles of Pixar is based on freedom to communicate with anyone, a work environment that is safe for everyone to offer ideas, and staying close to innovations happening in the academic community (Catmull, 2008). The creative focus of the organization has been on harnessing its human resource potentials to the optimum through the application of aesthetic organizational principles (McElroy Morrow, 2010). This involves providing its employees with a work environment that is most informal with all amenities and luxuries that enable the stimulation of the creative senses of the workforce (Buzalka, 2006). The company adopts a non-hierarchical organization structure that encourages associates to actively participate in the decision making process at all stages. The organization supports employee empowerment in the form of supportive management practices that focuses on employee skills development and promoting participative leadership style. The lack of formal reporting lines and accountability of employees is compensated with mentors who assist the new comers into the organization and guide them through various stages of career progression. The ability of the organization to create and sustain in novation at work is dependent on speed, transparency and accountability (Hamilton, 2005). Organizational design is to a large extent guided by the flow of information across various levels and departments. Entrepreneurs re-engineer business processes to accommodate a flatter form of organization structure that necessitates free flow of information and knowledge to the workforce. Organizational structure plays a pivotal role in determining organizational culture and values, communication lines and the extent of employee involvement in decision making process. The levels of reporting and accountability framework of a company determine the corporate culture and work environment existing within the company. In current business context, entrepreneurs re-engineer business processes to accommodate a flatter organization structure that necessitates free flow of information and knowledge to the workforce. Knowledge and learning culture forms the key to business success in todays competitive industry. Pixar has managed to leverage existing technology tools to create competitive adv antage through enhancing its competencies and skills to adapt to new systems and innovate work processes for launching and creating new ideas. The effectiveness of such work processes is largely impacted by employee skills, competencies and access to relevant information. In the organizational context, knowledge is a tool that helps the organization to achieve strategic goals and objectives. These goals include generating a reputation for technical expertise, translating expertise into new business ideas, gaining new experience in specific areas to achieve cost advantage and optimum use of internal resources. At Pixar the open organization design facilitates interaction between employees that promotes teamwork. Such initiatives contribute to organizational productivity by providing the employees with a suitable physical environment to work in. Pixar presents a fine blending of learning and team work assisted by an open organizational design that enables the company to roll out new ideas and creative products for their target audience. Advantages of Organizational Aesthetics Workplace design and physical office environment plays a significant role in enhancing organizational productivity and performance. Research studies have concluded that improvements in office design and management are not the only consideration for organizational productivity, but they have an important role to play; offices should be considered as a potential asset rather than just a space to house employees (Charles Zweirzchowski, 2004). Organizational aesthetics take into account the need for designing workspaces to meet the work process requirements. Adequate space designing for privacy of work, open office plans to promote teamwork and interaction between co-workers support the organizational goals by providing the employees with the desired workspace. Technology has created new expectations and influenced consumer behavior to include a wide gamut of options and possibilities that can be explored by organizations to launch new trends and range of products. Such business models are supported by increased collaboration and interaction between employees across different departments. The open design office structure supported by Pixar enables the employees to communicate and discuss freely the work issues and details. Discussions and deliberations on work issues are effective in promoting work efficiency and enable the companies to come up with million dollar ideas. The right mix of design and functionality while planning office spaces can have a positive impact on organizational productivity and performance through reduced operational costs in the form of shared resources and effective teamwork. Types of office design The conventional office design and workplace layout have undergone massive transformations over the past few decades. The previous sections have elaborated on the significance of organizational aesthetics in developing creative potentials within the firm and the analysis highlights the impacts that structural design has on employee productivity and performance. Efficient workplace design can positively impact employee motivation levels and satisfaction. Theoretical frameworks in this context have emphasized the significance of workplace design and office layout plans in supporting organizational goals, work processes, innovative culture and business values. Bill Capodagli in an interview with the Credit Union Magazine recently commented that the success behind Pixar lay in its conceptualisation of a corporate playground that enabled its employees to relax and enjoy within the organization. When you go there, you may see people playing football or swimming in an Olympic sized pool. It has created an atmosphere where work is fun working hard and playing hard (Capodagli Credit Union, 2010). Pixar has adopted an open office design that enables its employees to share ideas, conceptualise new designs and initiate new practices for effective results. An analysis of the effectiveness of the office design theories put forward by Duffy (1997) reveals interesting insights into the Pixar model. Duffy (1997) in his works had proposed four distinct types of office design namely den, club, hive and cell. The matrix given below illustrates the extent to which these four office design types support interaction and autonomy in organizations The work culture at Pixar shows a high degree of team work and interaction between employees. The organization as studied in the previous sections supports a participative decision making process. The daily work of the employees is reviewed by peers and managers for assessing the effectiveness of outcomes (Capodagli, 2010). Hence the work environment at Pixar supports limited autonomy combined with high level of interactivity that is characterized by the Den office design as postulated by Duffy (1997). The effectiveness of such office design is emphasized by its contribution in motivating and inspiring employees towards creativity. Such workplace design according to Van der Voodt (2004) promotes a transparent organizational structure, enables employee empowerment, encourages team work, promotes learning, facilitates free flow of information, allows increased collaboration at work and creates a motivational environment. It can be inferred from the above discussion that organizational design and workplace layout must focus on enabling increased collaborative environment within the departments and hierarchies. Organization Culture and Workplace Environment The previous section highlighted the significance of organizational aesthetics and workplace design in shaping the Pixar work culture. However, the analysis of the success mantra of Pixar cannot be complete without an insight into its organizational culture that is reflected in its workplace environment. Organization culture defines the organizational belief, values and norms shared by the employees. An organization is shaped by the culture that predominates in work environment, employee behaviour and managerial attitude. Pixar adopts an organization culture that defies all traditional theories related to managing and running a business establishment. Conventional management practices focused on bureaucratic controls and centralised decision making system that demarcated distinctive roles for each individuals. The evolving concepts of organizational culture and practices focus more on employee welfare and development plans that inspire the workforce to display proactive behaviour at work. One of the distinctive challenges faced by all organizations today is motivating its employees to achieve higher levels of performance and build a work climate that induces positive attitude to work amongst its employees. Motivation is a key area where the organizational management needs to stand out in order to achieve a high degree of employee creativity skills in solving business problems. Opportunity oriented, reward oriented, freedom to explore and work on their own are some of the factors which contribute to a high degree of motivation which gives solidarity to the company and promotes a good organizational culture. A high degree of employe e motivation ensures that employees work freely and without reservations in achieving their desired goals. They are also given the freedom to work on their own to allow creative ideas and hence innovative practices to grow. This would not be possible in a restricting environment where the employees do not have the room to develop and grow their intrinsic creativity skills. Pixar adopted the innovative and creative approach to expand its market potentials and gain new grounds in an emerging industry. The promoters of the Company ensured that the team based work approach promoted creative talents of its employees and nurtured the potentials of the workforce through an enabling corporate learning environment. This is a new kind of movie studio that not only invents its own technology, much like a whiz-bang Silicon Valley Company, but also comes up with new production methods and organizational innovations that bring unheard of discipline to the crazy business of making movies (Schlender, 2004). Model of culture Different models of organizational culture have been proposed by researchers and academicians. Such models provide the basis for understanding the context in which organizations operate within the existing business environment. One of the models proposed by Roger Harrison (1972) suggested that organizational culture is primarily of four types that include power, role, task/achievement and person/support (Cartwright Cooper, 2000). This model was further researched by Handy to provide four distinctive categories of organization culture. The four categories have been identified as role culture, power culture, person culture, and task culture. The role culture reflects bureaucratic organization that takes into account the procedures and position of employees to define the existing work culture. The power culture is influenced by the control of individuals at the head who run the whole show for the business. The person culture is shaped by the leader-subordinate relationship that accounts for the existing work culture. The task culture is based on impact of individual knowledge and expertise that influences the work culture and environment (Itzen Nerwman, 2005). The organizational culture displayed at Pixar focuses on increased collaboration and team work culture. The creativity at Pixar is fostered daily by an open collaborative atmosphere in which every member of the team is engaged in the process and commited to a common goal in this case, a good entertaining story (Kiedaisch, 2010). The company adopts an integrated approach towards its people development strategies based on group learning initiatives and team work focus. One of the mechanisms adopted by organizations today is the reinforcement of team work that provides the individuals with the autonomy and freedom to act according to the need of the hour. Teams at Pixar are an integral part of operational processes and the organization relies extensively on teams to perform strategic functions. The team learning process is not only innovative and inspiring to the members but it also helps the organization devise new strategies and creative ideas that can work wonders for the business. Hence it can be concluded that Pixar displays task culture where individual expertise and skills are integrated with organizational capabilities and resources to produce new ideas and product designs. The task culture brings individuals working on specific tasks together to contribute to the completion of a bigger task. The work approach focuses on completing the job at hand successfully and more emphasis is given to a collaborative approach that necessitates the coming together of differently skilled people to accomplish the goal. Hence this kind of work culture promotes an informal work environment where decision making is usually reached through discussions and consensus between the employees. This type of work culture is also characterized by increased interaction and exchange of information between members. Suggested applicable solutions In order for an organization to remain relevant and to compete in pursuit of its mission, management of organizations must pay attention to both ends of the process, generating creative ideas frequently and utilizing its innovation process to realize the potential value of those ideas (McLean, 2005). Organizations operating in a competitive business environment depend on innovation and creativity through the adoption of latest technology tools and applications to drive market advantage in their favour. Management of technology and its judicious application in work processes facilitate the firms to deliver high quality products and superior work performance that is driven by an enabling work culture. Adopting work practices that promote creativity and innovation within firms can be a challenging task since the application of such business models are impacted by the human resource strategies, managerial capabilities and resource availability (Gilmartin, 1999). Studies of such business models in creative organizations have proved the effectiveness of these strategies that promote innovation and a positive work culture within the workforce. An analysis of the competitive industry environment provides a clear picture on the existing market environment and its current trends. The driving economic forces that guide the market movements and emergent technology trends are significant to the analysis of markets and help organizations like Pixar to define appropriate strategies to retain competitive advantage. Futuristic technologies are envisioned to create better and increased utility of existing products and services for improved applications and heightened consumer satisfaction. However, the effective utilisation of such technology trends depends on the creativity of its manpower. Creativity contributes to the generation of new ideas and help companies in distinguishing their products and services from their competitors in the market. Pursuing a creative organization approach must focus on developing the human resource of the organization. Conclusion The analysis of Pixar work culture and organizational aesthetics have highlighted some significant points in context of strengthening the innovative capabilities of a company. While office workspace design and structure play a significant role in influencing a positive work environment the role of organizational culture and strategic practices involving team work, participative leadership approach and employee empowerment in promoting creativity among employees cannot be ignored. The guiding principle behind managerial strategies and focus of the organization has been nurturing relationships and building trust among employees that helps in creating an amiable and creative work environment. If we get that right, the result is a vibrant community where talented people are loyal to one another and their collective work, everyone feels that they part of something extraordinary, and their passion and accomplishments make the community a magnet for talented people coming out of schools or working at other places (Catmull, 2008).

British cycling safeguarding and protecting children policy Essay

There are strategies that aim to protect children and vulnerable adults from people who might seek to abuse them and cause them harm. And in order to achieve this is by monitoring people who seek admission to them through their work, paid, unpaid and voluntary. They will have to be registered under the vetting and barring scheme and will be checked against one of two barred lists and those wishing to work with children and one for those who want to work with vulnerable adults. Recruitment of staff: working with people who need much care can be so challenging and it requires trained staff who know how to deal with them. It is very important a person to undergo criminal records before working with vulnerable people, good checks and practice taking references from previous employers are very important as it might prevent risk coming to vulnerable people. People who require jobs that involve the care of vulnerable adults will always be required for CRB check and this is significant to the safeguarding of vulnerable adults as it means giving greater protection to susceptible adults. No Secrets -Department of Health Guidelines 2000: this offers a structure and content for development of local agency policies procedures and promotes safety to vulnerable people. This department is useful for people who feel they are at risk of abuse by their care providers and the local agency have the responsibility to protect and prevent any harm that comes to a vulnerable people. This also covers for to identify who is at risk and why this might be. And it sets out a multi-agency framework to encourage different agencies to work closer together. Safeguarding Adults – A National Framework for Good practice and outcomes in Adults Protection Work 2005: this protects and ensures that all services are doing their job and preventing any form of violence, abuse, bullying, humiliation, and degradation towards vulnerable people. These working strategies help reduce the risk of adults being abused as each organization is required the implementation of this work and representative on the local safeguarding Adults. This service also involves measuring achievements of the standards and introduced support programmes to assist in the process of safeguarding. They aim to ensure a nation-wide approach for protection of adults and closer multi-agency working. The Protection of Vulnerable Adults Scheme for Adults Placement Schemes 2004: this covers to protect adults from any sort of rick and harm and is required to staff who work in care homes, provide personal care in adult’s own homes or provide foster care for adults to be checked against the POVA list of banned professionals. Dignity in Care initiative 2006: This is a campaign that aims to end toleration of indignity in health and social care services through raising awareness and encouraging people to challenge poor service and lack of respect and also ensures all the order people to be treated with dignity and respect when receiving care from health and social care services. The service user receives a guide information which explains their rights and what they need to be provided and what they will be expecting from the health care services, this enables the elderly person to be aware of their rights and how they can identify when they are being abused by the care provider, this also helps reduce the risk and harm that might face the vulnerable adults. Human Right in Health Care -A Framework for Local Action 2007/08: This framework assists local NHS to trust develop and apply human rights approaches in the design and delivery of their services. Human rights aim to provide health care department with the principles of fairness, respect, equality, and dignity, this ensure all healthcare service users are not being discriminated against and are all being treated equally regardless of their backgrounds skin color and also as well as meeting Care Quality Commission standards of human rights and patients’ treatment and these working strategies reduces the risk of abuse towards patients and vulnerable people. Codes of Practice for Nursing and Social Work: This strategy of codes of practice for nursing and social work helps to reduce the risk of abuse against the vulnerable individual as the code presents the professional standards that nurses and midwives must uphold in order to be registered to practice in the UK. It is structured around four themes priorities people, practice effectively, preserves safety and promotes professionalism and trust and the code can be used by nurses and midwives as a way of reinforcing their professionalism.

Video Game Effects On Children - 1229 Words

Video Game Effects on Children The effects of video games on children has been widely debated on multiple occasions. Most homes contain at least one video game system. There are plenty of companies involved in the rapidly growing gaming industry. These companies ensure a wide variety of types and genres of video games exist in the world today, and most people, including adults, will have very little difficulty identifying precisely which game is their favourite. The fact of the matter is, nearly every child has easy access to video games; playing these games has to have some impact on the children. Not all of the effects from playing video games are definitively positive or negative. Children happen to be the intended audience for many video games. Companies create these games to be kid friendly, and kids are able to learn from the content of the games. There is much that can be learned from and skills that can be improved by playing video games. There are many positive outcomes of playing video games; children sh ould be allowed the opportunity to learn both skills and knowledge from video games. Children exposed to video games may socialize differently than those without access to games. Firstly, many communicational skills can be developed from playing video games. â€Å"We heard boys describe facile ways of dividing up leadership and recognizing one another’s expertise in the most collaborative and generative of ways — which also happens to be the key to aShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Video Games On Children Essay1279 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Video games have always been a controversial type of entertainment, that may come from how relatively new video games are compared to other mediums of entertainment[1]. Maybe because of that when a violent crime occurs and the culprit has played a lot of games the media is quick to point at violent games as the reason for the crime, but is that true or are the media just biased or looking for quick views, this report aims to answer that question. Do games affect our way of thinkingRead MoreEffects Of Video Games On Children Essay1357 Words   |  6 PagesScreening to a halt: Are parents in New Zealand able to identify signs of dependency or addiction in their children due to over use of screen-time from the recreational use of video games? Digital technology and the vast amount of video games have increased the amount of screen time consumption in contemporary New Zealand society. The saturation of smart phones, ipad’s, tablets, computers, game consoles and the Internet are devices with the means of connection to gaming. Many New Zealand families integrateRead MoreThe Effects of Video Games on Children1288 Words   |  6 PagesThe Effects of Video Games on Children Technology today has progressed rapidly from generation to generation. Children and young adults are both into video games and the latest gadgets out there. Video games have been available to customers for the last 30 years. They are a unique way to entertain individuals because they encourage players to become a part of the games script. Victor Strasburger an author of â€Å"Children, Adolescents, and the media† stated â€Å"The rising popularity of video games hasRead MoreThe Effects of Video and Video Games on Children2043 Words   |  8 Pagesaction, usually in a cartoon, movie, or video game. For many of us, Disney is where we refer back to early forms of animation with the idea of using thousands of consecutive drawings; through Disney, we can now see how far this idea of breathing life into static objects has advanced. Today, animation is becoming more and more realistic. With highly advanced technology and computer programs, it has become easier for simple cartoons to develop into what children see as real life. These animated cartoonsRead MoreThe Effects Of Video Games On Children1548 Words   |  7 PagesVideo Games Introduction Today video games are a staple in most households. It is pretty amazing to know that the first creation of games date all the way back to the 1900s. They were not originally invented to make a profit, but to give patients something to do while waiting in the lobby of an office. One inventor had a simple idea of using the monitor not just as a television set, but as a way to play games. College students were just playing around with equipment and happened upon something greatRead MoreVideo Games And Its Effects On Children927 Words   |  4 PagesVideo games are a more interesting form of entertainment for the simple reason that players may become part of the game’s plot. Video games were invented for many years now. However, the current variety of games raised concerns about how they affect the children s behavior due to the fact that the games are becoming more sophisticated. Children spend most of their free time playing video games. Sometimes children refrain from completi ng important duties and dedicate all of their time playing videoRead MoreVideo Games And Its Effects On Children940 Words   |  4 Pageswas bored they went outside to play, they created new games, or they played with friends. But, for the past three decades, video games and other digital media have been persuading many adolescents and children to spend the majority of their time playing them. Video games seem to satisfy children’s natural need to interact socially, however more often than not, they lead to social isolation. Overexposure to digital media, such as video games is detrimental to the health and function of a child’sRead MoreVideo Games And Its Effects On Children1519 Words   |  7 PagesVideo games in the 21st century have transformed from friendly competing into guns, explosions, and major violence. Video games are getting away with more violence every year and the games are becoming more extreme. The consistence and severity of violence is at an a ll-time high leading the most popular games in the gaming community to have a ‘mature’ rating due to the considerable amount of violence involved. For example, one of the highest selling video games of all time grossing one billion itsRead MoreThe Effects of Video Games on Children1656 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction For more than 30 years, video gaming has been a popular activity amongst many of America’s children. With over $63 billion (Reuters, reuters.com) worth sold each year, video games are here to stay. While much controversy has arisen over the subject, video games have benefited the United States of America and its citizens to a great degree. For example, the military and CIA use gaming to train soldiers (Davidson, www.ehow.com), and classrooms use video games to teach students. The potentialRead MoreThe Effects Of Video Games On Children1034 Words   |  5 PagesThe world of today has developed in a way that even children are affected by technology. They enjoy video games in their leisure time and even prefer them to studying that, in its turn, can contribute to their poor performance in the class. These days, video games have become an issue that has brought concern to many people from parents to scholars about their potential effect on the future of children through influenci ng their conduct. They feel that the violent behavior or any other negative consequence

Barbara Ehrenreich s Nickel And Dimed - 1600 Words

The story Barbara Ehrenreich provides throughout her novel, Nickel and Dimed has been critical to the study of political ideologies within our society, from the date it was published in 2001 to today. The political implications of poverty in our society is crucial to understanding when looking through a social development lense. There are many ideological political routes to take to help mitigate or resolve the poverty issues within the country, which can be looked at through social policies and social development. Ehrenreich provides a qualitative research analysis into the life of those living in poverty through a covert field research perspective. The welfare state has always been a controversial topic within Canada, throughout the rise and fall of it all. However, this book outlines some of the key concerns surrounding the welfare state which could help those in power have a more qualitative understanding. The purpose of Barbara Ehrenreich s novel was to present empirical and philosophical arguments against social policies associated with poverty and the ideologies surrounding it. Ehrenreich had an English degree and was used to doing research and writing about the experiences surrounding her findings. However, with her research surrounding Nickel and Dimed she took a more empirical approach by living the experiences of her research to discover the undercover truths surrounding minimum wage jobs. Ehrenreich knew it would be difficult to transition from her ivory towerShow MoreRelatedBarbara Ehrenreich s Nickel And Dimed978 Words   |  4 Pagesperforms â€Å"down.† By using the excerpt Serving in Florida from Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich and the play, Six Degrees of Separation, by John Guare, we see how performing different classes than the one each person is a part affect themselves and those around them In Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed, Barbara went â€Å"undercover† to perform and learn about a class that was not her own. Although it was for only a month, Barbara struggled to keep up the effort and survive in a lower class thanRead MoreEhrenreich s Nickel And Dimed, By Barbara Ehrenreich1284 Words   |  6 Pages A Call to Action In her novel, Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich states the working poor should be categorized as a â€Å"state of emergency,† and while that may first appear as extreme title, it would certainly promote action in our society. This â€Å"call to action† is one of the main motivations behind Ehrenreich’s writing of this novel. If viewing the working poor as a state of emergency promotes society to take action, then so be it. It is clear from Ehrenreich’s novel that the life of the workingRead MoreBarbara Ehrenreich s Nickel And Dimed2236 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America was the first book of its type that I’ve ever read, a real life analysis of what its like to â€Å"live in poverty,† working minimum wage jobs trying to make ends meet day in and day out. It was an intriguing story of how a woman with plenty went on to document how she lived without and I found that Ehrenreich’s commentary throughout the book offered a refreshing perspective to the usual conversation that surrounds poverty;Read MoreBarbara Ehrenreich s Nickel And Dimed1294 Words   |  6 PagesBarbara Ehrenreich is an American author and some could even say a journalist for her work that was done for her novel called Nickel and Dimed. This novel is based on an experiment that was done by Ehrenreich in which she abandoned her job and left to another state to live off of minimum wage to answer her question â€Å" How does anyone live on the wages available to the unskilled†. A sim ple answer that Ehrenreich came to, is that they don t. A person does not live on 7$ an hour, they survive on itRead MoreBarbara Ehrenreich s Nickel And Dimed1808 Words   |  8 PagesOverprescribed â€Å"First dealer was his mom s medicine cabinet Got anxiety, better go and give him a Xanax Focus, give him Adderall, sleep, give him Ambien Til he s walking round the city looking like a mannequin† - Macklemore Macklemore’s latest single, â€Å"Kevin† voices the struggle lower class Americans go through with overusing prescription medication. Drug use and abuse has become a widespread issue within the United States. One of its most troubling aspects being the abuse of pharmaceuticalRead MoreAnalysis Of Barbara Ehrenreich s Nickel And Dimed 1246 Words   |  5 PagesThe problem of persistent poverty is a complex one that includes communities and individuals who, through no fault of their own, find themselves unable to make ends meet in this world. Large numbers of the nation s citizens live at or below the poverty threshold, which means each month is a struggle to pay the bills and provide the basics, including food, clothing, and shelter, not to mention access to health care and simple comforts. Unfortunately, today it seems the rich are getting richer andRead MoreBarbara Ehrenreich s Nickel And Dimed Essay1952 Words   |  8 PagesIn Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, Nicke l-and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, she investigates whether welfare reform programs are appropriate in aiding women in poverty and that these institutions will affect their economic and social mobility in the future. The research in June 1998 as participant observation. She would personally experience the life of a worker with minimal skills living on minimum wage. Barbara poses as a divorced homemaker with a background of housekeeping for private homeRead MoreBarbara Ehrenreich s Nickel And Dimed2283 Words   |  10 Pagesblank claim because they have neither experienced the hardship under a cap of expenses nor does the issue affect them. In fact, this issue is detrimental to our country as we are slowly falling into unemployment and homelessness. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, she states that minimum wage had fallen back comparing to the living cost in the 1900s; however, this statement is still true today. Enrenre ich is a reliable reporter who travels to three differentRead MoreAnalysis Of Barbara Ehrenreich s Nickel And Dimed1337 Words   |  6 Pagesmany people still reside in the lower-class after years of working laborious jobs. Indeed, some people have miraculously found their way out of the gutters on the system, but most people happen to not be as lucky. Through experience, author Barbara Ehrenreich finds that the social divide in America makes the American Dream much more difficult than it is perceived to be by the upper class. The truth she finds by living as a person in poverty incited her frustrations and disgust with the system. TheRead MoreNickel And Dimed, By Barbara Ehrenreich1636 Words   |  7 Pagesperiod. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich, specifically highlights a more modern time period, from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Within this narrative, author Barbara Ehrenreich depicts her struggles of finding equality within the mult itude of jobs she works in order to make a living throughout multiple parts. She strongly asserts, within the breadth of her anecdotes, that the American Dream is not easily attainable. In accordance to Nickel and Dimed: On (Not)

Drug Testing Is Becoming More And More Prevalent Today

Drug testing is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society. Dr. Ozminkowki claims that â€Å"Over 80% of the large employers in the United States use some form of testing to detect drug use† (Ozminkowski et al. 151) Ever since drug testing was introduced in the 1980’s, there has been a debate over its use. Before this is discussed in detail, I will begin by defining drug testing. According to dictionary.com drug testing is â€Å"any test administered to detect the presence of drugs, esp. from a blood or urine sample and esp. for illegal substances.† This definition in hand, I will now elaborate on the four main different types of drug testing commonly performed. The four main types are pre-employment testing, random drug testing, post-incident drug testing, and diagnostic screening. The only types of drug testing this paper concerns is random drug testing, the process of randomly selecting a portion of employees to be drug tested, and pre-employ ment drug testing, the process of testing new applicants for drugs prior to hiring. The main purpose of random drug testing is deterrence. This is supposed to work because the drug test could happen at any time; the drug user does not have enough time to eliminate all the drugs from their body as with a pre-employment test. Although there are concerns with the cost, invasion of privacy, and security of drug testing, drug testing should be done to deter workers from drug use because drug use is a major health concern and costsShow MoreRelatedWhy Prostitution Should Be Legalized1411 Words   |  6 Pagesothers are soliciting on Back Page. Human trafficking rings are being discovered all throughout the United States. Massage parlors are being used as a front for housing prostitution. Whether we want to address it or not, this is a prevalent social issue in our society today. Researchers Christine Harcourt, PhD, Research Fellow for the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology Clinical Res earch at the University of New South Wales, and Basil Donovan, MD, Professor of Sexual Health at National Centre in HIVRead MoreCultural Change Of The Vietnam War1387 Words   |  6 Pagescountry, unruly teens were fighting their own at home. Cultural change, the explosion of free love, youthful rebellion, and a new liberal mindset all seemed to have one underlying device in common; drug use. The late 1960’s into the early and mid-70’s found the perfect environment for recreational drug use. Music and arts celebrated this lifestyle, as well as free thinkers and their idiotic philosophies about spiritual elation through mind altering narcotics. Lack of family structure with so manyRead MoreHuman Immunodeficiency Virus ( Hiv ) / Aids1278 Words   |  6 Pages 36.7 million people were living with HIV/AIDS globally. The rate of incidence is more prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa with almost 1 in every 24 adults living with HIV/AIDS. In the united states, HIV/AIDS is a diversified health problem affecting all sexes, ages and races and involving the transmission of multiple risk behavior. However, with the introduction of various prevention programs and antiretroviral drugs, the incidence of HIV/AIDS has reduced. Keywords: HIV/AIDS, global health problemRead MoreHiv / Aids : A Global Health System1606 Words   |  7 Pages 36.7 million people were living with HIV/AIDS globally. The rate of incidence is more prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa with almost 1 in every 24 adults living with HIV/AIDS. In the united states, HIV/AIDS is a diversified health problem affecting all sexes, ages and races and involving the transmission of multiple risk behavior. However, with the introduction of various prevention programs and antiretroviral drugs, the incidence of HIV/AIDS has reduced. Keywords: HIV/AIDS, global health problemRead MoreThe Constitutionality Of Randomly Search Students1709 Words   |  7 Pagesprobable cause. In the School District of Veronia, instructor and security officials noticed a spike in the drug use of students. With the rise of drug use, issues of discipline have been brought up stating that many students have been behaving in a way that is unfit for an educational environment. After careful observation, school faculty members have concluded that the drug use was more prevalent in student athletes than in regular teenagers. In response to the issues, the school district made an effortRead MoreDrug Abuse And Substance Abuse1658 Words   |  7 PagesNational Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) defines drug abuse as, â€Å" It becomes drug abuse when people use illegal drugs or use legal drugs inappropriately.† This may include; the repeated uses of drugs to produce pleasure, alleviates stress, and/or alters or avoids reality. The perception of addiction and substance abuse has been widely known for many years, but the medical community has failed to accept and publicly this iss ue among it own members. Drug abuse by nurses is prevalent in today society, The AmericanRead MoreThe World s Most Important Pollinators For Agricultural Purposes958 Words   |  4 Pageshive it was controlled by burning the infected colonies. In the 1940s testing resulted in the use of antibacterials called sulfa drugs (sulfathiazoles). These were traded out for antibiotics because they created residues in the honey which was undesirable for commercial use. Oxytetracycline (OTC) has been used since the early 1950s to control American and European foulbrood and was the only approved method by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for many years (6). Recently, in 2000, strains ofRead MoreThe Epidemic Of Human Immunodeficiency Virus1454 Words   |  6 PagesHuman Immunodeficiency Virus is one of the growing illnesses becoming very common today. The acronym for this virus is HIV. More than 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV and almost 1 out of 8 are unawar e of this infection. There are over 50,000 new infections per year. It has impacted our society greatly. In 2010, President Obama made the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. It really affects the youth of the African American culture especially men who have sex with men. By race, AfricanRead MoreThe Medical And Microbiology Fields Essay1675 Words   |  7 Pagesand risk the chance? These are questions asked by individuals daily when taking antibiotics because antibiotics lead to Anti Resistant Bacterial Strains. These strains are becoming a serious issue in the medical and microbiology fields. They are immune to antibiotics and eventually will kill the host in the absence of reliable drug therapy. While it is true that antibiotics hold the cure of most diseases to this day, if not supervised, the increasing amount of resistant strains can become a growingRead MoreTypes Of Pathogens That Cause Diseases And Illnesses1313 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction There are many types of pathogens that cause diseases and illnesses. Parasites are one of these pathogens. A parasite is an organism that needs a living host to survive. There are multiple species of parasites that are known today and each one is unique. Medicine has advanced throughout the years, but not all illnesses and diseases can be cured. Parasites can typically be treated with antiparasitic and other types of treatments. Parasites can infect multiple organ systems such as the

The effect of movie Free Essays

This work will look at the effect of movies in the socceity. According to Wikipedia a † Movies encompasses individual motion pictures ,the field of movie as an art form ,and the motion picture industry. films are produed by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects. We will write a custom essay sample on The effect of movie or any similar topic only for you Order Now Film is considered to be an important art form ,a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating -or indoctrinating -citizens â€Å". Movies affect the life of a society in a positive and negative way. Over the years ovies have been used by most people as an entertainment tool. Most family considered watching movies at home not only as a time of bonding but to save resources, whereas others go to theater s for fun and relaxation. Also movies in some homes plays an important role in the brighten the mood of family members when they are depressed or sad. Also movies have been used as a tool for educating the society ,for example in the US there are TV shows like NC’S, Law and Order etc. that teaches the society on crime,how they are committed. Movies like Olympus has Fallen brings out the evils of terrorism,how a nation should strengthen it security gainst terrorism. This is educative in the sense that it teaches society on national security. Some movies also educate the society on social Justice. Example Divorce court have been a very good tool for women who have been maltreated by men and also how some peopl e suffer injustice from other people. Movies affect people’s beliefs, values and ideals. For example, the passion of the Christ is movies that strengthen people faith and belief in Christ Jesus. Although some Jews around the world found the film offensive. Movies bring out delicate things that are happening in the life of people in a very artistic way. Evils like child trafficking, child marriage, women being abuse by male is being brought out by the movie industry. Most time government offices and corporation do not want the society to be educated about their wrong doing†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. The implication for such education by the movie industry will help enlighten the public which influence their perception and decision making to determine the political party they will like to elect to government. Some movies have some theme and morale that they convey to the public. They bring awareness to the public about what is going on in the world. There are people who are uneducated- hey can’t read or write but with the aide of movie even the layman knows whats going on in the world. Another impact to society is that it brings to life some historical event that is slowly fading away . t brings out the beauty of culture of different civilization of the past. Despite the positive effect of movie industry, there are negative aspects of the movie industry. As mentioned above, movies brings out the evils of terrorism, how a nation should strengthen it security in society. Though it is educative to the society, yet, people tend to imitate most of what is acted on screen his le ads to violence in the society. Most love and marriage relationships have been destroyed as a result of the â€Å"big screen†. Couples and lovers sometimes forget the fact that what is acted on screen is mostly fantasy; such is not applicable when it comes to real life. There is a issue of horror movies people lose their grip or reality whilst watching this movies and develop mental issues and in some case act out what they see in the movies. A lot ot cult and Fraternity seen in the society are as a result of the horror and fraternity that are being shown on screen. Movies even hough they are a powerful source of education and information they can also act as a form of indoctrinating citizen. Individual actions are based on what they learn and what they know and as humans learning takes place by seeing and imitation. Following this trend of thought, it safe to infer that as people watch movies they tend to act according by means of learning and practicing. Ponographic movies can some times be useful for some home ,especially home that needs sexual arousement in love making. However ,this has caused most tinagers to invove in sexual relationship at an early age ,that leads to early unwanted pregranany. How to cite The effect of movie, Papers

Tiger Woods free essay sample

Tiger came onto the scene at such a young age and stayed in the spotlight because of his uncanny ability to play golf at such a ridiculously young age. After his putting competition against comedian Bob Hope, after turning three Tiger went on to shoot a 48 over a nine hole span on a local course. Now for people who are not a fan of golf, the average professional golfer would shoot around a 35 through a nine hole span. Then you have your average golfer who would happily take Tiger’s score anytime they go out to play nine holes. So for him to be doing something of this nature at that age is more then remarkable. Listing his golfing accomplishments prior to attending college would take quite some time but the amazing thing is that it would not compare to the list he has piled up since turning pro and joining the PGA tour. Tiger went to play golf at the University of Stanford. He eventually turned pro after just two years at Stanford, clearly before graduating. This move by Tiger was very perplexing because from what we know his family seemed like the type that would expect Tiger to not just go to college to play golf but also to earn a degree. This is why many people believed he chose Stanford was for the reason of an education along with the opportunity to play golf at such a prestigious school. We saw though, from the moment Tiger entered his first major championship he was not meant to be spending his time in college, he needed to be out competing against the best of the best. Little did we know that the best of the best was his truly. Tiger went on to capture his first major championship in his first attempt at the 1997 Masters. The highly coveted green jacket belonged to a young Tiger Woods. This seemed to be his only accomplishment on the golf course throughout the next two years. He ended up bouncing back in 1999 to win another major but it wasn’t until 2000 when he burst out onto the scene and took the golfing nation by storm. He went on to win the final three majors of the year then in 2001 after winning the masters he became the first player in PGA history to hold all four major championships at the same time. It was then, people started to think that we may have the next Jack Nicklaus right before our eyes. Jack Nicklaus holds the record for the most major championships ever won with a total of 18. A lot of people started to put this expectation on Tiger that he was going to break this record and become the greatest golfer to have ever played. Tiger had a very interesting and dissected relationship with his father. I noted to it earlier how Earl Woods passion for the game of golf is the reason we are lucky enough to have the opportunity to watch his son Tiger dominate the golf scene. Throughout his career Tiger always talked about how his dad was his best friend, role model, mentor, all of it. He didn’t think higher of anybody. When Tiger found out that his dad had been cheating on his mom it devastated him. His high school sweetheart talks about how he would call her in the middle of night before he went off to college crying about how his dad was cheating on his mom and he didn’t know what he should do. Although his father later admitted to his acts of adultery and his parents eventually split. Tiger’s relationship with his dad never seemed to falter. His dad was still out there with him on the course just as much as he had been before all of the personal matters had taken place. Before his father passed it was hard to imagine Tiger Woods as this iconic superstar. It didn’t seem like he would be able to succeed the way he had since he arrived on the tour unless his father was there. Earl kept Tiger in line. It goes with the common saying that Earl was Tiger’s rock. After every victory he had, Tiger would walk up to his dad and the two would embrace in a hug that would make any father jealous of the relationship these two shared. With him, he couldn’t be fazed but the question was always asked, what is Tiger’s persona going to be like once his dad is gone? Will he still be the same dominate golfer that he is today that looks to have this killer instinct look in his eyes every time he steps out onto the golf course. Earl passed away in the year 2006. It was just a few years after his passing did we see the unraveling of Tiger Woods. In the 2008, Tiger suffered a knee injury that would eventually force him to put a halt on his golfing career for the rest of the calendar year. However, he did not surrender to this injury before pulling off arguably one of his greatest victories of his career. Tiger went on to win the US Open in dramatic playoff where he was essentially hobbling around the course on one leg, pulling off miraculous shot after miraculous shot. The US Open takes place in the beginning of July, yet a few months later on thanksgiving weekend it wasn’t his golf game that was grabbing the national spotlight, it was his personal life. With five weeks remaining in the aughts, pre-teens, double zeroes or whatever we end up ca lling the 2000s, the title for Biggest Sports Story of the Decade was up for grabs. Michael Vick? Tim Donaghy? The Mitchell report? The Artest melee? Barry Bonds? Pat Tillman? Eagle, Colo.? Roger Clemens? Andre Agassis admission that he won Wimbledon with a weave? You could have made a case for any of them. And then Tiger happened. It was early Friday morning, the day after thanksgiving where Tiger Woods life took a major turn for the worse. We woke up to the news that day that the untouchable Tiger Woods was involved in a minor car crash where he ran into a fire hydrant and then into a tree. This story which at the time seemed so minor and innocent was just beginning to unfold. After first hearing of this one would think that it would be a little strange for one of the country’s most polarizing sports figures to be going for a drive after 2:00 am. Once the police report became public that is when things started to seem â€Å"not right† so to speak. The report goes onto say that after Woods had ran into a fire hydrant and struck a tree he was found unconscious laying on the ground outside of his car. Then we came to hear that his wife at the time, Elin had come to Tiger’s rescue by smashing out the back window of their Cadillac with one of his golf clubs to help free him from the car. Now after initially hearing this one could think of a million reasons onto why this happened and whether or not there was an underlying factor that led to this mysterious late night accident that left the world’s best golfer with lacerations to his face and lips. This story had taken on a life of its own. As time went on it seemed as though there was more and more reason to believe that something was going on that we didn’t know about that transpired in which led to the eventual accident that night. The next aspect that seemed odd was when Tiger started avoiding his interview with local authorities. We start to think why would you be avoiding the police unless you are trying to hide something? Shortly after the rumors surrounding Tiger Woods didn’t just escalate they took on a mind of their own. Woman after woman started coming out saying that they had been having a sexual relationship with Mr. Woods. These women ranged from cocktail waitresses all the way to adult film stars. It is hard to put an exact number of the amount of women who actually came forward claiming that they had some sort of sexual encounter or relationship with the infamous golfer. In today’s world where the internet and social media tools like facebook and twitter have taken over the media it is near impossible for a celebrity or star athlete to keep their life a secret. However, for some reason the media was never really able to reach or find Tiger outside of the golf course. He was rarely seen in public besides the occasional appearance where him, his wife and two children were seen taking a leisurely stroll in the neighborhood. We spent 12 years following a guy we didnt know at all. We had little to no connection to someone who was better at golf than we were at anything. We checked tournaments on Saturdays and Sundays thinking one thing: How is Tiger doing? We invested an inordinate amount of time supporting someone who made it clear that he didnt care about us unless we were buying one of the products he endorsed. He was fine with the arrangement, and so were we. We got to watch him play golf. He got the trophies, the trophy wife and the spoils. Everyone was happy. So for a man of this stature to be able to keep something this big to a secret that almost nobody knew about besides a few people in his inner circle is unfathomable. We see famous people always getting caught doing some sort of thing that gives them a bad reputation in the public eye. For Tiger, who was apparently sleeping with more women then we could imagine and for no one to be able to find this out or capture a photo on their phone of this guy with another woman that wasn’t his wife just doesn’t seem possible with all the technology that people use today. I remember when the big incident happened and that entire week after it happened there were news crews, paparazzi, everybody in the media world, staking out outside of Tiger’s gated community that led to his home. For days all that the media could do was speculate on the situation and try to make a story out of nothing, and the last resort news outlets could make was attempting to get one of these woman who had claimed to have had slept with Tiger to do an on camera interview. The time had finally come where one of countries most polarizing figures and for the most part a popular role model for all kids had become the talk of every Christmas party, and they were not talking about his exceptional golf game. This story had grown so quickly that you would think that it couldn’t get any worse, but that was the problem after every new revelation came out it seemed as though this story was still in the beginning stages. There was so much information to find out that people tried digging as deep as they could to find dirt on America’s most beloved golfer. Everyone was aware of the story that was taking shape. Even if it was just you and a friend talking about it there was always other people chiming in with something like â€Å"did you hear about this? † or â€Å"I heard that †¦Ã¢â‚¬  and so on. The story of the decade was taking place in the last month of the decade. It was a while until we actually heard from Tiger Woods. After three months of silence form the golfer we were finally given the chance to hear the golfer speak. He held a press conference that following February, he apologized for his actions, had his mom sitting in the front row, and after he gave his written up speech he took no questions and walked away from the podium. The next big question facing Tiger was when was he going to return to the golf course. Well we found this out shortly after his press conference that he was going to make a return. In typical Tiger Woods fashion he announced that he was going to return on the biggest stage of course. The Masters, where he first burst out onto the scene in 1997. Now remember the incident happened at the end of November but due to an injury Tiger hadn’t competed since July when he had that courageous playoff victory that brought home his 13th major championship. And at that time it wasn’t a question of â€Å"if† but only a matter of â€Å"when† he was going to break Jack’s record of 18 major championships. Now the question was being asked if Tiger would ever be Tiger again after all this drama in his personal life had taken place. Nobody really knew what to expect from him once he stepped back onto the golf course. The golf experts would tell you that after almost a year away from the sport could just step back onto one of the toughest courses in the country and expect to be able to compete. But we are talking about arguably the greatest golfer to have ever lived here. So again nobody really knew what to expect. When he stepped back onto the course in mid April, he wasn’t the best golfer on the course, he was rusty but the best golfer of our generation is still one of the best even when he is rusty. Tiger eventually went on to place third at the masters. This to the public and golf experts everywhere looked at as a positive and would call it remarkable for him to be able to compete at that level. Only Tiger himself would be disappointed for falling short of the elusive green jacket. It is safe to say that 2009 was not Tiger’s best year on the PGA tour. He failed to make cuts, withdrew from tournaments due to injury although most think it was just because of how poorly he was playing. The guy had taken one of if the not the biggest falls from grace in memory. Before the scandal broke out Tiger Woods was a global icon with sponsorships all over the world. He was making usually about 90 million dollars a year in endorsements alone. Even during his best days on the golf course he usually only brought in about 10 million dollars a year from golf winnings. This goes to show you how important his sponsorships were for him. He had been the top grossing sports athlete for many years in a row now. Once the scandal hit then all the rumors that started following him after he started to lose his sponsorships by the hour. After it was all said and done and by the time he was back on the golf course Tiger had lost virtually every sponsorship he had over the past five years. His biggest sponsor Nike was one of the few who stood by their guy and kept him on as part of the team. There are several factors that I am sure led to Nike’s decision to keep him on the team but you have to imagine it is almost like they felt an obligation to keep this guy as a spokes person for their company because of what he did for Nike golf. First of all, there was no Nike golf department before Tiger Woods. For example, it would be like if Michael Jordan was to do something similar to Tiger where everyone’s opinion changed about the man for the worse. Nike couldn’t just drop the man who took their company to the level that it is today. Without Michael Jordan who knows where Nike would be today. He built their company for them. Obviously the situation is somewhat different but both athletes helped make Nike what it is today and without them their success would not be where it is today. I believe they felt a sense of entitlement to stand by him because of what he had done for the company and they knew this wasn’t the end of Tiger Woods. They knew he would be back on the course and be under the microscope of the camera every chance they could get. So maybe from the start of Tiger’s comeback it wasn’t always the best publicity but I can guarantee you there was no other sports figure at the time getting more attention or publicity from every type of media than the man himself. When the man stepped back on the golf course I know his camp and Tiger himself both were hoping that it would drive away all the negative attention that had been following him since the eerie Friday morning. But the golfer was now under the watch of public eye more then ever before. The attention he was getting on a national scale back in 2001 and 2002 when he was starting the peak of his career was nothing compared to what he was going to face after going back and returning to the golf course. His life had changed forever, as long as he was still out their competing in the sport of golf. Every time he entered a tournament he dominated the headlines of the tournament no matter how good or how bad he was doing. It would make the lead story on broadcast like ESPN. The headline would either go as follows, â€Å"Tiger jumps out to an early lead on day one. Will he be able to keep this up and grab his first victory since the accident? † Then on the other side of the spectrum if he was playing poorly the headline would read as follows, â€Å"Tiger struggles again, will he ever regain his dominate form that he has before the accident? † Tiger knew that the only way to rid this talk about whether he was back or if he would ever come back to where he use to be was to go out on the course and finally grab that first victory since the 2009 US Open. The road back to victory was not as easy as it had been before the scandal had erupted. So much speculation over those two years went into if he had just lost his competitive fire or drive that we had become so accustom to see on Sunday afternoons or if he was still not fully recovered from the scandal and he just couldn’t get his mind right to where he could play the kind of golf he had always been use to playing. Whatever the issue was we finally saw him break out of his slump, two years after his return to the golf course. But there it was again, the two questions that were asked almost every time we saw Tiger step back onto the golf course. â€Å"Does this mean he is back? † â€Å"Has Tiger regained his form that he had before the scandal? † As someone who is a big sports fan and watches a lot of sports television shows. I can reassure you that these questions were always being asked and television channels like ESPN would never take the spotlight off of this man. I see a lot of similarities in how the media portrays and dissects the two most popular and largely discussed sports figures of this era. I am talking about Tiger Woods and Lebron James. When Lebron decided to announce to the nation that he planned to leave his former team the Cleveland Cavaliers and join forces with a few buddies down in south beach. The guy came under scrutiny just as fast as Tiger Woods did during the time of his scandal. For that following season it seemed as though Lebron and the Miami Heat would take criticism on a nightly basis. They would fill up the headlines on ESPN literally on a night to night basis. In both situations although they were done under different circumstances, the question was the same. When were they going to win the big one? It took Lebron two years but now after this past year, the scrutiny that he faces is nothing compared to what he dealt with in those first two seasons on the Heat but now that he has captured an NBA championship, the nightly scrutiny that he faced has practically disappeared. I would only imagine that once Tiger is able to snag his first major since the scandal broke out that all the questions that swirl around him will finally begin to come to a halt. We are now in 2013 and Tiger Woods has been actively competing on the tour since he returned in 2009. The man has one a few tournaments here and there and has plenty of top ten finishes over the past couple years which have pushed him back into the spot of the world’s number one golfer. Yet, he is still out their chasing that much needed 14th major championship. To help Tiger’s case out he has finished in the top ten in almost every major over the past couple years. Although if you know Tiger you know that nothing matters to him besides winning. Most golfers our ecstatic to get a top ten finish at a major championship. Not only is it something to be proud of but you get a nice paycheck. Plus, sponsorships will be coming after you like crazy to get their logo on your polo for next week’s tournament. This is Tiger Woods we are talking about here though. He doesn’t keep track of second or third place finishes. The man is a born winner. Plain and simple. I guess we have Earl Woods to thank for that.