Hong Kong Identity Essay Example for Free

Hong Kong Identity Essay Politic: July 1st, 2003 Protest Agenda 1. Introduction †¢ 1. 1. What is identity politic †¢ 1. 2. Political events that have affected HK Identity 2. July1st, 2003 protest 3. Conclusion 1. 1. What is Identity Politic †¢ Identity politics: Identity as a politic †¢ Development of identity politic †¢ Past v. s Present Introduction July 1st Protest Conclusion 1. 2. Political events that affected HK Identity Tiananmen Square After WWI: Refugee Identity Mistrust of Chinese Government Article 23 After 1960: Local HK Identity 1997 Handover 2013 Introduction July 1st Protest Conclusion 2. July1st, 2003 protest †¢ Annual protest led by Civil Human Rights Front †¢ Article 23 †¢ The Hong Kong SAR shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central Peoples Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the Region, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the Region from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies Introduction July 1st Protest Conclusion Concerns Pros †¢ British government also had repressive acts †¢ e. g Society Ordinance and the Public Order Ordinance Cons †¢ Police is allowed to enter houses and arrest people without warrant/evidence †¢ No freedom of speech †¢ Violation of Article 23 can result in a life term in a prison †¢ Any organization can be banned by PRC Conclusion Introduction July 1st Protest HK people identity Identity of general HK people †¢ Pragmatism †¢ Individualism †¢ Narrowing gap between HK people/ mainlanders: ambitious, adaptable, practical and clever †¢ Widening gap between HK people/ mainlanders : valuing free speech, press freedom, privacy and equality Introduction July 1st Protest Conclusion HK people identity Parties that affect HK people identity HK people identity British colonial period rule of law, democracy, freedom of speech Chinese Government formal education, flag-raising ceremonies visits to the mainland Introduction July 1st Protest Conclusion Identity illustrated by July 1st, 2003 †¢ Widening gap †¢ Antagonism vs. Pragmatic Nationalism and Liberalized Nationalism †¢ Cosmopolitan identity: HK’s dream, opportunities in society, has affected to local’s commitment to democracy Introduction July 1st Protest Conclusion 3. Conclusion †¢ Evident that Article 23 politic widened the gap of â€Å"issue in rights of HK people† ex. Free speech, press freedom, valuing privacy, valuing equality †¢ But still the trend is that people feel less gap with mainlanders †¢ ainland’s characteristic change †¢ HK people affected by mainland government’s media, education, and ceremonies. †¢ No identity is perfectly coherent; there is inconsistencies Introduction July 1st Protest Conclusion Questions to discuss †¢ What are the evolving features of the local political identity, culture and participation †¢ What is the essence of the confli cts between the local and national identities of HK people? †¢ What are the reasons for the rise of new activism, and what is its impact? Introduction July 1st Protest Conclusion

The Negative Impacts Of Cruise Tourism Tourism Essay

The Negative Impacts Of Cruise Tourism Tourism Essay 1. Introduction Nowadays, cruise tourism plays an important role in the tourism industry. Cruise ships become newer, larger and more comfortable so that nearly every need of the customers can be satisfied on the high seas. Capabilities like theaters, cinemas, fitness clubs, discotheques, casinos, tennis courts and many others are common on most modern cruise ships. Moreover, that most of the named activities are already included in the price. Thereby the ships beat about all the seven oceans to the most beautiful places on earth like for instance the Caribbean. But all these glorious sounding features involve several negative environmental problems. Cruise ships contaminate the seas with tons of waste and sewage which causes decreases of biodiversity, coral reefs and of course the water quality. Mass tourism harms and destroys ecological systems like beaches and reefs. This examination is about the impacts of cruise tourism to the environment and contingencies how to make cruise tourism more sustain able. 2. Utilization of resources Cruise tourism requires an abundance of resources and produces quantities of waste. A typical Caribbean cruise ship produces about 50tons of waste, 7.5 million liter potable water, 800.000 liter wastewater and 130.000 liter oleiferous water. Approximately 75% of all produced wastewater are caused by cruise ships. Between 1993 and 1998 over 100 cases of marine pollutions were investigated in the Caribbean. The estimate number of unknown cases might exceed this number many times over because the disposal of wastewater takes place in aquatic environments where environmental pollution is permitted on payment of a fee. Furthermore the cruise industry requires a convenient super- and infrastructure at their destinations which often overwhelms the financial capability of the regions and causes a dependency to the cruise tourism. 3. General information about the impact of the cruise tourism industry The entire tourism industry has positive as well as negative impacts on the economy, the culture and the environment. Thereby the cruise industry is no exception. Being an in Niche market the cruise industrys impact is higher-than average. By establishing more than 450,000 employments with salaries of 15 billion US-Dollars in the whole and a turnover of some billion dollars above all the cruise industry in the USA has a great impact on the economy. Furthermore a big impact on the governments revenues and expenditures is notable. The revenues of local governments consist like following: Taxes paid on turnovers by cruise passenger, the crew and the cruise line Temporarily taxes on accommodations that are paid by passengers Revenues in fees paid by passengers as well as by the cruise line, including fees for calling at a port, cleaning and other expenditures on a harbor Fees for recycling and the use of water Fees for passengers, including admission charge and payments for medical provision Tax payment of companies which distribute products and services to cruise lines passengers taxes paid by enterprises Operational costs on- site Secondary or indirect tax revenues like payment of property tax by employees of the cruise lines and their families 4. Possibilities to create sustainable cruise tourism The Cruise tourism encompasses different segments and sub segments. Aspects of sustainability in the sense of ecological sustainability play in most of the sub-segments of cruise tourism a more or less important role. All indications are that the cruise industry, in its own interest, tries to eliminate these negative impacts as fast as possible. Potential Reasons, as the fact that one of the most important subareas of cruise industry, the Caribbean, cannot comply the conception of sustainable tourism in the sense of the definition of sustainability mentioned in the Bruntland Report, have to be searched on the academic and socio-cultural level. To find concrete evidence on these levels seems to be difficult. Although the cruise tourism initiate doubtless economical impulses on the destinations, the essentially effects on the long term local development remain to be unrealized. The relation between costs and benefits on the environmental level as well as on the socio- cultural level seems to be unbalanced what a disadvantage of the destinations is. A quantification of this context owes. With the undersigning of a pioneering nature protection agreement on January 15th 2008, re-experienced the 12-month collaboration of Conservation International, the tourism agency of Cozumel, and the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association its climax. Cruise industry representatives from the government, private enterprise association and cruise ship association were part of this contract. With the undersigning of this arrangement the contractual partners originated a significant nature conservancy initiative which should help to protect the vulnerable biodiversity of the most popular cruise destination on earth Cozumel, Mexico. In the year 2006 the island employed about 1000 workers for cruise ships, which brought an estimate number of 2.6 million cruise passengers to Cozumel. During peak times up to nine cruise ships with over 10.000 tourists reach the islands harbor daily. The rapid growing of the cruise tourism industry led to a heavy burden for the environment. The agreement composes the fundament for sustainable cruise tourism which will be achieved with the following projects: The creation of more awareness for environmental problems among the cruise tourists, tour operators and within the local community Improvement of the infrastructure of the island (especially the transportation- and waste-management) Increased security for the coral reef Indemnity of the strict observance of current laws These projects were developed during a range of workshops by groups of different stakeholders. Hereby over 80 leading representatives of the cruise tourism were brought together in order to pinpoint important environmental aspects and to achieve a common accomplishment for these projects. This common planning process is worldwide the first of its kind in the cruise tourism. Therefore Cozumel is the only cruise ship destination which helps to prevent its nature and biodiversity. Leading representatives of the cruise tourism established the so-called Stewardship Working Group which is supposed to implement objectives mentioned in the environment protection agreement. Following objectives are on the agenda: Every cruise ship passenger will see a 30 second information-movie in which he will appealed to handle sustainable in order to protect the nature In a photo exhibition, nearby the landing stage, the passengers will see the unspoilt districts of the island All tour-boats on the island have their own recycling system In the next step the representatives will evolve awareness campaigns which involve not only the cruise tourists but also the tour operator and hosts. Approximately over 500.000 cruise tourists will be involved in such campaigns. 5. Particular sensitive sea area The cruise industry will be confronted with several challenges related to environmental issues in the future. These challenges relate to the activities in the oceans, especially in and around important nature protection areas. The international Maritime Organization (IMO) recognized that issue and initiated counteractions, the so called Particular Sensitive Sea Areas (PSSA). At present there exist 11 PSSAs. The effective guidelines of these areas commit all the governments of the IMO member- states to ensure that cruise lines which drive under their flag have to keep the methods of protection. The following 11 PSSAs were arranged: The Great Barrier Reef, Australia (1990) The Sabana-Camagà ¼ey Archipelago, Cuba (1996) The Malpelo Island, Colombia (2002) The Sea around the Florida Keys (2002) The Wadden Sea, Denmark, Norway, Germanys (2002) The Paracas National Reserve, Peru (2003) The western European Waters (2004) Enlargement of the existing PSSA of the Great Barrier Reef including the Torres Strait Islands (2005) The Canary Islands, Spain (2005) The Galapagos Archipelago, Ecuador (2005) The Baltic Sea, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden (2005) The MARPOL Convention arranges three complementary methods for the contamination management: Reduction of waste products, Recycling and disposal of waste. With the agreement of the MARPOL Convention a cruise ship can convert its waste and dispose it on its own as well as leave the waste on a harbor for disposal either by store it, burn it or recycle it. 6. Studies and scientific literature In the more recent past only a small number of studies concerning the environmental impact of the cruise industry existed. For a considerable time a wide range of articles, reports, books, campaigns and websites occurred. The most informative subscription are scientific works (Cruise Ship Tourism, 2006, CABI), which interpret the concrete impacts of the cruise industry to the environment. The most considered researches were published by Ross Dowling and Ross Klein (Cruise Ship Blues The Underside of the Cruise Industry, 2002, and Cruise Ship Squeeze The New Pirates of the Seven Seas, 2005, New Society Publishers). Furthermore, Klein also operates to websites (www.cruisejunkie.com and www.cruiseresearch.org) where the visitor can find a varies number of resources like detailed lists of diseases, cancellations, suicides, passengers who fell overboard, powertrain problems, environmental incidents, health issues and many more. Between 2002 and 2006 over one thousand facts were collected. 7. Conclusion Although the cruise tourism has a huge negative impact on the environment there are still no homogenous regulations or laws to protect the ecological system. Even if some regions established such laws, regulations and awareness campaigns there are still huge areas of freedom to act in an environmentally harmful way. Due to the magnitude of the seas the direct environmental impacts are not clearly recognizable in a short time but they cause long-term damages. The new cruise ships which are bigger than ever before and the increasing demand in this tourism branch wont help to come to grips with this problem. In terms of achieving sustainable tourism it is, therefore, a sub-sector within which socio-economic, cultural and environmental considerations need to be continually analyzed, addressed and monitored. However, decision-makers in cruise tourism destinations, particularly those outside North America, need to work closely with operators to facilitate both integrated waste management and intergenerational and intra-societal equity rather than merely accept the prospect of short-term economic gain.

Marx and Weber: Capitalism

Marx and Weber: Capitalism A comparison of Marx and Webers theories with respect to their ideas and interpretations on capitalism. Marxs view of the industrialist society he lived in was one of inequality and driven by capitalism. His ideas and interpretations of capitalism are based on historical precedent and industrialism. He calls the capitalist ownership class, the bourgeoisie, owning the means of production, whilst describing the working class, the proletariat, who provide the means of production. He viewed this capitalist system as being an unjust and unfair one which exploited the proletariat to provide profit and gains for the bourgeoisie. Marx saw capitalism as merely a progression of previous modes of production, such as slavery and feudalism, becoming a system of production of commodities which exploited the workers for the profitable gain of the capitalist bourgeoisie. In the feudal and slavery systems, however, the medieval lords and slave owners were responsible for the welfare of their workers. Whereas, in the capitalist society he saw the capitalists taking unfair advantage of the workers, with a minority owing and monopolising the ownership of the means of production, whilst gaining big profits at the expense of the workers. Wage labourers produce commodities, goods which are produced for exchange. The commodities are sold on the market, and the capitalist pays the labourer a wage. The capitalist gives up some of his capital to the wage labourer in the form of wages in return for the use of his/her labour- power. Labour-power is thus itself a commodity; it is bought and sold A labourer depended on the market value of his skills, or production, to earn a living which the capitalist would sell for maximum profit. However, this profit did not feed back down to the worker, instead it went into the pockets of the already wealthy capitalist. He believed that the workers were exploited for their labour in order to survive. Marx believed that society had progressed through stages of history with each stage providing its own destruction to allow it to progress to a new stage. He believed that every stage of history only progressed to the next stage through a social revolution of some kind and gave it the term Dialectical Materialism . He believed that the economy and materialism are the driving forces behind historical change. He saw the main difference between men and animals, as mans ability to produce his own living, in other words, man owns his own mode of production. However, he saw the workers ability becoming diminished in the factories and with manual labour, with the worker being alienated from his means of production by being given solely specific tasks to complete in a production line. Ultimately, he proposed that through the progression of history, capitalism would be overcome by a revolt of the working class in order for them to overcome their oppression by the capitalists, giving way to a f airer and equal society. He argued that economic structure should be planned to suit the people. Unfortunately in some cases, his theories were taken and twisted by others, giving way to an even more oppressive society, for example, communism in the Union of Soviet Republics (Russia) and the Republic of China, where the control of the working classes were still in the hands of the select few. In contrast, Weber believed that Marxist theories were too simple as he thought Marx saw mainly economic grounds being the driving force behind capitalism. Webers ideas and interpretations on capitalism are predominantly derived from his major work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904-05). From most of the readings done for this essay, it would appear at first sight that Weber views religion as the driving force behind capitalism. However, this is too simplistic a view. Weber was not only interested in the role of religion in capitalism; he was also very interested in discovering the values behind the individuals social behaviour. He saw workers doing what they do because of their commitment to their family, which is why people go to work although the work may not be great and the pay not very substantial. Weber is more interested in the actions of the individual and the affects of society on the individual; therefore, he defines sociology in a different way than Marx, believing that individuals are shaped by their own motives and desires. He liked to use categories and typologies, using three main categories, traditi on, charismatic and legal rational authority. Weber had a wide range of interests, class, social stratification, modernity and religion. Being interested in discovering why capitalism was a Western phenomenon and developed in certain European countries during the industrial revolution, he undertook a study of these countries. In his work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904-05), Weber makes a connection between protestant beliefs and the emergence of capitalism. Although religion did not bring about capitalism, Weber suggested that religion can cause social change, which in turn could fuel the process of capitalism. He uses Calvinism as an example of how change can be brought about. Calvinists believed that you were already predestined to go to heaven and were either among the elect or not, before you were born. Nothing that happened during your life here earth would alter this election. Calvinism was a puritan form of Protestantism, focusing on self denial, hard work and a predetermined selection for entrance into heaven. As Calvinists did not have any way of knowing whether or not they were part of the elect, they had to act as if they had been chosen; therefore, they lived good lives here on earth and worked hard. It was this ascetic work ethic that Weber believes drove capitalism as making a lot of money was a sign of hard work and no play. As they denied themselves any comfort and pleasures in life, the money they had over and above their meagre living expenses was ploughed into the business making them different from other money makers, in so much that, they made money for moneys sake which was not spent on the frivolities in life. Weber theorised that this Protestant ethic gave rise, encouraging and promoting modern capitalism. He argues that formal rationalisation (the rationale behind making money) would overtake religion and do away with it altogether. Weber saw capitalism as a process of rationalisation and argues that there are s ix factors which are necessary for capitalism to succeed : The appropriation of material means of production; Market freedom; Rational technology (principally mechanisation); Calculable law (forms of adjudication and administration which allow for predictable outcomes); Formally free labour (persons who voluntarily sell their labour-power but must do so to stave off starvation); And the commercialisation of economic life. All these conditions are necessary ingredients in the rise of capitalism in Webers view . Weber also saw bureaucracy as playing a major role in capitalism. Bureaucracy is the form of social organisation in and through which rational-legal authority is exercised and maintained. It is also the form which clearly takes hold with the advent of capitalist economic order. One does not cause the other to arise; they have a h3 affinity Where Marx felt that alienation of the workers from thier products by division of labour within the capitalist system allowed exploitation of workers for capitalist gains, thereby limiting their true freedom, Weber believed that it was bureacracies and rationalisaton that restricted human freedom. Marx believed that mans freedom under capitalism was deceptive and not true freedom. He believed that capitalist wage labour restricted the worker and was really a form of forced labour as the worker relied on his wage to live. The worker could only sell his labour for the price the capitalist would pay for this work or production and for Marx, capitalism was predominantly as system of commodity production and an economic driven system. Weber argued that workers lost control of their work through the forces of rational controlled production and believed that it was inevitable that the bureacracy of the capitalist system would change processes in labour and production order to gain the best profit. But capitalism is identical with the pursuit of profit, and forever renewed profit, by means of continuous, rational, capitalistic enterprise . Weber argued that in a capitalist society the individual join the organised structures and orginasations which are put in place to ensure an effecient structure to ensure the best profit. By joining these organisations, the individual loses their individuality and get cut off themselves and lost in the officialdom, and therefore, become alienated. Weber tends to be seen, or portrayed, as much more pessimistic than Marx. Weber sees society becoming locked in an Iron Cage through bureaucracy, rationality and authority. This order is now bound to the technical and economic conditions of machine production which today determine the lives of all the individuals who are born into this mechanism, not only those directly concerned with economic acquisition, with irresistible force. Perhaps it will so determine them until the last ton of fossilized coal is burnt. In Baxters view the care for external goods should only lie on the shoulders of the saint like a light cloak, which can be thrown aside at any moment. But fate decreed that the cloak should become an iron cage Marx was much more optimistic and saw the possibility of social change through a working class revolution, believing that social democracy is an alternative to capitalism.

The Benefits of Reducing World Population Essay -- Argumentative Persu

The Benefits of Reducing World Population Scientist Julian Simon asserted in 1992 that population growth, perceived by many to be a growing crisis, was in fact a huge boon to society. Simon countered the common argument that overpopulation would result in miserable, deteriorating living conditions by postulating that "population growth, economic growth, and a resource-rich world coupled with modern technology will produce greater prosperity and better health for increasing numbers of people" (Southwick, p. 160). Given the fact that more people today are living in misery and poverty than ever, Simon's picturesque world has gone largely unsupported (Southwick, p. 161). Recent news that the population boom is currently on hold then, should come as great news to the greater portion of individuals in the world. Rather than 12 to 14 billion world inhabitants in the mid-twenty first century, recent figures project a decline from roughly nine billion people in 2050. The shrinking of the world population will almost undoubtedly creat e drastic economic and political changes (Wattenberg, p.1). These predicted changes, though, seem minor in comparison to the poor environmental state that most agreed would be reached if the population boom continued in the same manner. It seems as though the shrinking of the world population will allow for the existence of fewer billions of people with more abundant resources and a better quality environment rather than the existence of "10 to 15 billion people living in poverty and malnourishment" (Southwick, p. 161). For the past five years the United Nations has witnessed a trend in fertility rates that will alter the face of the globe. Rather than a fertility rate of 2.1, which was the assumed worl... ...once feared rate. Sources: Dolan, Edwin G., Ch. 5 from "TANSTAAFL: The Economic Strategy for Environmental Crisis" 1974 Hansen, J., Ruedy, R., Sato, M., & Lo, K. (2002). "Global Warming Continues." Science, 295, 275. Kerr, R. A. (2002). "A Brighter Outlook for Good Ozone." Science, 297, 1623-5. NPR Radio Broadcast, March 17, 2002. http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=1140067 Poliakoff, M., Fitzpatrick, J. M., Farren, T. R., & Anastas, P. T. (2002). "Green Chemistry: Science and Politics of Change." Science, 297, 807-810. Quay, P. (2002). "Ups and Downs of CO2 Uptake." Science, 298, 2344. Southwick, C. H. (1996). "Chapter 15: Human Populations." Global Ecology in Human Perspective. Oxford University Press, 159-182. Wattenberg, B. J. (March 8, 2003). "It Will Be a Smaller World After All." New York Times: Editorial/Op-Ed Section. The Benefits of Reducing World Population Essay -- Argumentative Persu The Benefits of Reducing World Population Scientist Julian Simon asserted in 1992 that population growth, perceived by many to be a growing crisis, was in fact a huge boon to society. Simon countered the common argument that overpopulation would result in miserable, deteriorating living conditions by postulating that "population growth, economic growth, and a resource-rich world coupled with modern technology will produce greater prosperity and better health for increasing numbers of people" (Southwick, p. 160). Given the fact that more people today are living in misery and poverty than ever, Simon's picturesque world has gone largely unsupported (Southwick, p. 161). Recent news that the population boom is currently on hold then, should come as great news to the greater portion of individuals in the world. Rather than 12 to 14 billion world inhabitants in the mid-twenty first century, recent figures project a decline from roughly nine billion people in 2050. The shrinking of the world population will almost undoubtedly creat e drastic economic and political changes (Wattenberg, p.1). These predicted changes, though, seem minor in comparison to the poor environmental state that most agreed would be reached if the population boom continued in the same manner. It seems as though the shrinking of the world population will allow for the existence of fewer billions of people with more abundant resources and a better quality environment rather than the existence of "10 to 15 billion people living in poverty and malnourishment" (Southwick, p. 161). For the past five years the United Nations has witnessed a trend in fertility rates that will alter the face of the globe. Rather than a fertility rate of 2.1, which was the assumed worl... ...once feared rate. Sources: Dolan, Edwin G., Ch. 5 from "TANSTAAFL: The Economic Strategy for Environmental Crisis" 1974 Hansen, J., Ruedy, R., Sato, M., & Lo, K. (2002). "Global Warming Continues." Science, 295, 275. Kerr, R. A. (2002). "A Brighter Outlook for Good Ozone." Science, 297, 1623-5. NPR Radio Broadcast, March 17, 2002. http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=1140067 Poliakoff, M., Fitzpatrick, J. M., Farren, T. R., & Anastas, P. T. (2002). "Green Chemistry: Science and Politics of Change." Science, 297, 807-810. Quay, P. (2002). "Ups and Downs of CO2 Uptake." Science, 298, 2344. Southwick, C. H. (1996). "Chapter 15: Human Populations." Global Ecology in Human Perspective. Oxford University Press, 159-182. Wattenberg, B. J. (March 8, 2003). "It Will Be a Smaller World After All." New York Times: Editorial/Op-Ed Section.

Arthur Miller :: essays research papers

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman American Dream Corrupted   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Intially into the play, I was captivated by the theme, a man driven to suicide due to work. This occurs almost on a daily basis because our culture is so consumed on being consumed, I cannot understand why. Why would someone commit themselves to such unhealthy lifestyles and for what reason? Did Willy want his family to have everything money could buy, very rich in monetary value, but very poor in family values? I suppose the Loman’s might have had plenty of monetary items, as a result of the lying and cheating that occurred through the short span of the life we read about.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What the Loman’s lacked in were plenty of family values. It’s hard for me to read about a family who allows their children to steal a football or cheat on a test. Corrupting them and allowing them to do what is blatantly wrong. I was raised on those fundamental principles that lying and cheating bring no good into the world, or into your life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ironically having more does not make things better. More things simply mean more bills, more work and leaving less time with the family. In a way Willy Loman wanted all these things so his way of life could be improved and perhaps that of his family as well. He worked like a mad dog, not appreciating that the little things in life are important. Willy was exposed to this on a daily basis and that drove him mentally insane, creating images and situations that were not physically there. All of Willy’s outburst and personality waves affected his two kids greatly. Leading one of the kids to momentarily break ties with the family, and making the other child attention driven.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The memories recalled in the play are almost always disappointing for Willy. The inevitable occurred to Willy with the most Ironic twist, he committed suicide and now he is finally at peace. The insurance money from his suicide has allowed the family to pay of the bills and live debtless for the time.

Comparison of Film and Book 1984 :: essays research papers

Comparison of a Film and Book After reading the book and watching the movie 1984 there were similarities and differences between the two. The novel is about manipulating people in believing in something that isn’t really there and about erasing history. Both the book and film focused on: authority, government, and war. The book and film follow the theme of conformity to control society. Authority was used as a form of intimidation between the working class societies and to keep society from corruption. The authority figures mentioned in the book and film were the thought police, â€Å"Big Brother†, and the tele. The thought police were in charge of capturing the people who did things that were forbidden and against the laws of the government. Some of the laws that the society couldn’t go against were having impure thoughts, overthrowing the government, and not loving or believing in â€Å"Big Brother†. In which committing these crimes are punishable by death. Authority was used to conform and control society. The government portrayed in the book as well as in the film is referred to as â€Å"Big Brother† the mastermind of establishing a totalitarian government. A totalitarian government is a single party that rules over everything and is superior to everyone. The totalitarian government was created to prevent corruption in the society and keep the people believing in what â€Å"Big Brother† wants them to believe. â€Å"Big Brother† kept the society in believing his reality by intimidation and brain washing. Also the lack of privacy was enforced by the use of surveillance like system known as the tele. The involvement of the government helped in conforming and controlling the society. The war contributed to making the working class society believe that they were doing they’re part in helping â€Å"Big Brother† stop corruption and keeping the society in an orderly state. Big Brother manipulated the society by making up a war using previous pictures and images of a war that happened years ago. The war was also used to erase existing history that the government did not want the society to know. Furthermore, the war was used to keep the government and economy as the basis of power and maintain the balance of â€Å"Big Brother’s civilization†. The war mentioned in the film and book led to a conformed and controlled society. The film and book 1984 focused on the theme conformity to explain how society was controlled by mentioning the enforcement of authority.

Multiculturalism in Counseling Essay

ABSTRACT Stemming from the uprising in the 1960s, multiculturalism has presented serious challenges to the society, especially to the academic sector. Criticized by social groups, schools were inclined to adopt programs in recognition of the multicultural population, and later structured their systems to cater to the needs of the growing population. Today, multiculturalism has become an important consideration in designing school programs, facilities, and hiring policies. Particularly, school counseling was one area that went through a notable change. The introduction of this paper gives a brief historical background of multiculturalism in school counseling. It discusses how multiculturalism was incorporated into the school curriculum, and was adopted in school counseling. The main part of this paper discusses the competencies every school counselor must possess to address the needs of multicultural students. Anchoring on the three core competencies set by the AMCD, this paper presents ways on how one can be knowledgeable of clients’ worldviews in order to serve them best. In addition, it suggests other devices or strategies counselors may consider when dealing with multicultural students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The conclusion of the paper summarizes the ideal characteristics of a counselor, and presents further considerations school administrators and counselors can make to ensure effective counseling strategies which adhere to the demands of multiculturalism. Introduction Multiculturalism as Rosado (1997) defines, is a system of values and behaviors which recognizes and respects the presence of all diverse groups in society—their identities, values and socio-cultural differences. In addition, multiculturalism supports continued contribution of the culture in the society. Based on this definition, we can view multiculturalism as the harmonious coexistence of different cultures in the society. In the author’s view, culture is not limited to bases of origin. Culture may arise from similar beliefs, attitudes, or feelings of a certain group of people. Thus, it also encompasses those who have the same subcultures based on values, economic status, socio-political status, or gender. Particularly, those who have the same subculture based on gender include women, gays, lesbians and transgender individuals. In the same manner, people belonging to the same economic status or religion share a similar subculture that establishes their diversity from others. In this study, we refer to multicultural people as those who embody a different set of cultures and subcultures, other than the native culture or the majority. As such, we may define multiculturalism as an approach that recognizes diversity in culture among different ethnic, gender, economic, socio-political, and religious backgrounds. Multiculturalism has also become a prevalent topic in school counseling. It has prompted psychologists and educators around the world to review school practices that hamper culturally diverse students from performing well in school. Now that the growing population of multiculturally diverse students seems to be taking over the White population, the challenges that go with implementing multiculturalism in counseling would probably be more relevant in the next decades.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Multiculturalism in Counseling In the field of education, authors claim that multiculturalism rooted out from the social action of African Americans and other â€Å"people of color† back in the 1960s (Banks, Davidson & Davidson, as cited in Gorski, 1999). The common feeling that schools had the most hostile and oppressive treatment of other cultures aroused them to protest and fight for reforms. In those days, African Americans and other cultures suffered from racism and discrimination from the White population who occupied professorship or management statuses. Colored people were treated as second class citizens, if not as outcasts. However, through the efforts of African American activists, schools were compelled to review their policies and hiring process in consideration of the non-Whites. In the 1970s, other groups such as the elderly, gays, lesbians, and people with disabilities also contested that institutions should pay equal respect to all peoples on matters of employment, educational opportunities, and work pay. Following this, a number of programs and policies emerged, including additional courses on prominent women or famous people of color. Despite this effort, social activists were not satisfied, for schools only celebrated women of greatness, and not women in general. For instance, James Banks (1981;1989), one of the pioneers of multicultural education argued that to adhere to the idea of â€Å"multicultural environment,† all aspects of the school had to be reviewed. According to him, policies, teacher’s attitude, assessment programs, and counseling should be transformed accordingly. This concept of multicultural education coincided with the idea of social equality among diverse cultures. By 1980s, following the path of Banks, K-12 teachers, namely, Carl Grant, Christine Sleeter, Geneva Gay, and Sonia Nieto exposed and criticized oppressive teaching approaches, standardized tests, classroom climate, and discriminatory hiring practices. Relevantly, this created in every academic professional the challenge to recognize diversity or as later coined, multiculturalism, and make it their mission to â€Å"manage† and â€Å"live diversity† (Rosado, 1997 ). Being multicultural does not only mean having a student population composed of various cultures, though this is often the contention of many schools. Rosado points out that for a school to claim they are multicultural, they must at least adhere to four standards. These include reflecting heterogeneity, demonstrating sensitivity, realigning the school’s mission, and creating an ambiance that empowers all groups in the school. With clear and careful intention, Rosado argues that schools should adopt change geared towards multiculturalism on individual as well as institutional levels. On the one hand, by saying individual level, we mean that schools should aim at urging administration, teachers and students to transcend beyond their own racial, gender, cultural and socio-political identity to recognize other identities. On the other hand, as Rosado contends, institutional level means focusing on empowering diversity. This goes beyond merely admitting people of color, but also taking into consideration in the school’s mission, vision, values, and structure how it can empower each individual. Although motivated by good intention, empowering people of diversity, as pointed out by Rosado may sometimes lead to a utilitarian view of giving a person his needs in exchange of what he can offer his society. We say that this is very utilitarian in that it sees the individual as a utility, more than an entity with values, attitudes, and affection. In contrast, we should be inclined to think that it is the school’s responsibility to provide the different needs of individuals in recognition of their diversity and nothing else. No conditions should apply as to whether the society can profit from his acts or not. Relevantly, whether the person is worthy of rewards of multiculturalism should not be an issue. Four intentions have motivated the adoption of multiculturalism in education. These include the â€Å"need to remedy ethnocentrism, rebuild understanding and appreciation of different cultures, defuse tension and conflicts among ethnic groups, and make the school curricula relevant to experiences and traditions† (Webb, 1990). In the next part, we will discuss how well these motivations relate to school counseling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many research works confirm the positive effects of multicultural education on students. For example, Hale (1986) shows that children in a preschool program achieved higher cognitive levels upon integrating African American culture in the curriculum.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the same way, Zaslavsky (1988) demonstrates how elements of other cultures can help in teaching complex math concepts to students of an inner-city school. Fulton-Scott (1983) confirms benefits of integrating multicultural education in elementary programs for Hispanic students. The study reveals that students’ scores in Math, Reading, and Language were significantly superior over those of students enrolled in programs without multicultural integration.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Benefits of multiculturalism are likewise recognized in the field of Psychology, particularly in school counseling. However, research in this area has focused more on counselors’ multicultural competence rather than on the effect of counseling founded on multiculturalism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1991, the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) identified the need and rationale for multicultural counseling. This led to the approval of 31 multicultural counseling competencies as proposed by Sue et al. (1992) in 1991. Following this, in 2002, the APA Council of Representatives approved the Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice and Organization Change, which was, in fact, based on the work of Sue et al.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The need to adopt multiculturalism in counseling, especially in schools, is truly urgent and necessary for ethical reasons. In relation to this, AMCD identifies three characteristics counselors must possess. First is counselor awareness of own assumptions, values, and biases. Second is understanding the worldview of the culturally different client; and third, developing appropriate intervention strategies and techniques   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Primarily, culturally skilled counselors can be identified as those who have awareness of other people’s culture other than their own. They are aware of how their cultural background, experience, attitude, biases, and values influence the counseling process of a client. Moreover, these counselors recognize their limits when it comes to tolerating other values, behaviors, or norms. To add, culturally skilled counselors are also comfortable with differences between them and the clients in terms of race, gender identity, ethnicity, culture, and beliefs. To illustrate, the first measure of competency requires a counselor to mirror whether his own values and beliefs would personally or professionally affect the process of counseling. For example, a Christian counselor may have biases towards a Muslim student, for they have truly different belief systems. In this situation, if the counselor has no knowledge of ethical limitations, he might insist that his beliefs are better or are morally upright, and those of the student’s are the opposite. However, such case may be prevented if the counselor is fully aware of conflicting values he has with the student. In our own view, a school counselor should be open to all values of every student. This is different from the counselor in the private sector. In school counseling, the counselor who cannot accept views of some students is not fit for school counseling. A school counselor should have readiness to counsel every student, and there should be no instance when he would not accept a student for counseling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To ensure that the counselor meets the first requirement mentioned above, he should reflect on his values and find out if he has beliefs against any culture, including students with different gender identities, cultural or religious practices, and other moral practices that their culture has taught them. For instance, taking into consideration the case of students with gender identity problem, the counselor must be careful not to insist that the student sticks to his biological gender. Rather, he should exercise care in handling this case. After all, the whole life of the student may depend on the decision he makes at the time of counseling. Culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge and understanding about how gender stereotyping affects them personally and professionally. Considering the sensitivity of the issue of gender identity disorder, the school counselor must be careful not to affect the decision and values of the individual, for he is going to suffer later on should he take the wrong decision.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, as Sue et al. contend, culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge about their social impact on others. These include one’s awareness of own communication style, and how this style may hinder or facilitate the counseling process. Recognizing limits of their competencies, school counselors may confer with their colleagues how to overcome these weaknesses. Aside from this, they should seek further training or education on other cultures as a way to do away with biases. The process of balancing one’s view of other cultures may take a lifetime as new concepts may arise everyday. For example, the term transgender individuality appeared only in our modern times, but the concept of transforming from one gender to another has been known as early as the time of Sophocles or even earlier. In this regard, counselors should not grow tired of finding ways for self-actualization. Also, on the second characteristic, it is the responsibility of the culturally skilled counselor to gather resources to learn about the identity of other cultures. In the case of homosexuality among students, the counselor should know the different sides of the coin in being a homosexual. In particular, counselors who deal with this issue should have a good understanding of the process of being a homosexual (Adams, Boatwright, Gilbert, Forrest & Ketzenberger, Cass, Chung & Katayama, Croghan, Driscoll, Kelley & Fassinger, Dunkle, and Pope, as cited in Sanabria, 2004). With this knowledge, he must let the student decide on his own whether to retain his gender identity or move to the phase of ‘coming out†. Coming out or in other words, admitting to the society that one belongs to a specific gender type is in itself a dilemma among teenagers with identity confusion. The specific role of the counselor in this situation is to help the youth consider advantages and disadvantages of coming out (Adams, Belz, Brown, Croteau & Hedstrom, Elliott, Hetherington, Morgan & Brown, Morrow, Pope, Rodriguez & Chang, Pope & Schecter, Savin-Williams, as cited in Sanabria, 2004). Additionally, the counselor should guide the student in the stage of coming-out by training him/her how to deal with people’s inquiry about his identity. For example, the counselor could give real-life scenarios, and ask the student to react on them in order to ensure that he would be prepared for particular instances when he would experience doubt. If the counselor feels affirmative or senses tolerance toward gays and lesbians but lacks the knowledge to handle cases of these individuals, he could improve his familiarity with them through a lot of ways. One source of invaluable information is reading literatures regarding gay/lesbian culture. At present, explorations on gender-specific cases are improving in terms of number and depth. These readings can guide a counselor to discover gay/lesbian cultural identity. Likewise, attending conferences or symposia, gathering insights from past clients and friends who belong to the same gender type will also contribute a lot (Sanabria, 2004). Also, as Sanabria expresses, if the counselor feels that he is not qualified to handle the case, it is only ethical to refer the student to someone who could offer him the right counseling. Furthermore, counselors who cannot be affirmative of gay and lesbian culture are probably misinformed and should look into themselves again if they are fit for being a school counselor. The issue regarding sexual minorities is only one of the issues a school counselor must be able to handle. If the counselor cannot help sexual minorities, he should reconsider if he should continue practicing in the academic setting. Suffice to mention, the National Career Development Association, American Counseling Association, and American Psychological Association have well-defined ethical codes that offer guidance for individuals who work with sexual orientation issues. Included in these ethical codes is the knowledge about students’ behavioral identity. Importantly, culturally skilled counselors should be aware of life experiences, cultural heritage, and historical background of their multicultural students. For instance, an Asian American student has different historical and cultural background from a Latino counterpart, or an African American. When counseling an Asian American, for example, a Chinese girl who cannot relate well with her classmates, a counselor must be informed of the conservative values Chinese families have. Actually, the attitude of keeping one’s silence may be in conformity with Confucian values. In this regard, the counselor cannot expect the girl to be as outgoing as he r classmates are, for the behavior she presents embodies a cultural heritage among the Chinese. Furthermore, culturally skilled counselors understand the consequences arising from one’s exercise of cultural traditions and rites. In some parts of Asia, for instance, there is still the custom of prearranged marriage. Thus, a counselor who encounters a high school student in this situation should suspend judgment of the custom, but rather honor it, and perhaps counsel the child to make her own choice, after laying down the consequences of abiding by the culture. In considering choices, the counselor may enumerate possible circumstances the child would face if she relents to her parents’ decision, or vice versa. Under no circumstances should the counselor dictate to the child what she should do as this may result in confusion or family conflict. Likewise, the counselor may also opt to explain the issue to the parents, but before doing so, the counselor must take precautions so as not to offend them. At all times, respect should form part of every counseling situation. Aside from obtaining a rich background of their students, a competent counselor, according to Sue et al. should also be kept updated with the latest trends and occurrences that concern his clients. In the case of a school counselor, it would be of great help if he engages in research and other activities to keep him updated with the students’ lingo, hobbies, behavioral patterns, etc. They should actively seek out opportunities—personal and professional experiences that enrich their knowledge, understanding, and cross-cultural skills. Moreover, as some schools implement nowadays, counselors can engage in outside school activities such as outreach programs, educational trips, camps, and other activities which would help gain a more vivid profile of the counselees. They should also be actively involved with minority individuals outside the school setting. Community events, celebrations, and other gatherings may help provide a wider perspective of minorities which relate with the academic scenario. Considering the dynamic role that the school counselor plays in society, the responsibility of ensuring that they possess the relevant qualities expected of a counselor should be borne by colleges offering the course or training. Based on the literature gathered, schools have positively become fully concerned about the issue of multiculturalism. Many schools and universities nowadays adhere to the demands of the culturally diverse society. However, the way to attaining competency of some school counselors may still be too far. In one study Holcom-McCo y (2000) conducted, the author identified five underlying factors influencing school counselors’ perception of themselves as competent professionals. These factors included understanding of racial identity development, ability to comprehend multicultural terminology, multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. Among which, counselors perceived lack of knowledge of racial identity development as the problem that hindered them from being fully competent in multiculturalism. To address this problem, Schwallie-Giddis et al. (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) suggest that future school counselors should undergo multicultural training on racial identity development, and multicultural knowledge development. In a study conducted, school counselors assessed the effectiveness of a nine-month multicultural professional development program. The study involved 13 school counselors in a multicultural professional development program held from school year 2001-2002. Applying three dimensions of multicultural competencies, the participants assessed their own competencies. Resources included a videotape of a case study to which participants reacted, in order to discover assumptions, values and biases. To assess understanding of the clients’ worldviews, the study made use of case studies of linguistically and culturally diverse (LCD) students. The participants were asked to apply a framework to the cases to examine aspects school counselors should consider when handling diverse students. The participants had a lengthy discussion on the provided cases, and at the end of the session, they expressed the advantage of having discussions with peers. Another session comprised of a panel interview with three mothers of different cultures. Each of the women talked about her child’s experiences in school, all of which related to the inefficiency of the school officials to handle multicultural students. In all the issues raised, lack of communication surfaced as the most recurrent problem. In relation to this, participants commented that had there been proper communication between parents and school officials, issues would have been resolved more easily. Moreover, the study also included a session that dealt with developing appropriate interventions to cases of LCD students. Through this, participants were able to exchange views and experiences which could help build up a resource for interventions to cases of LCD students. Based on this session, counselors noted that most of them found it difficult to deal with LCD student mainly because of the language barrier. Furthermore, insecurities due to lack of knowledge of other cultures affected the competencies of the participants. In sum, the school counselors agreed that having enough facility to understand the student and overcoming language barriers is one major key to providing adequate help to students. Similarly, Chandras et al. (2006) suggest counseling strategies and techniques in handling multicultural students. One skill they emphasized to be critical in every counseling situation is effective listening. Effective listening, as Neuknug (2002) defines, includes allowing students to talk, concentrating on what is being said, giving minimal advice, empathizing, asking for clarifications, and limiting questions. When handling multicultural students, it is important for the counselor to be fully sensitive to verbal cues that relate to culture. For instance, a student who is often bullied in class may not admit why he is being bullied due to his insecurity. There are some students who would rather keep the truth to themselves or resolve their own conflicts instead of asking help from school officials. Despite this attitude, a good school counselor could still unlock verbal cues that could make the student open up. For example, a child who claims he is not interested in making friends with his classmates could likewise mean that his classmates are cruel to him and not totally uninteresting. As such, clarifying responses and not directly giving advice may help the child reflect on his own situation. To maintain effective counseling strategy, a constructive and emphatic relationship is very important (Chandras et al., 2006). In this respect, the counselor’s role is first to build up trust and optimism. On the one hand, gaining trust of a student is paramount to establishing a good relationship. Without trust, there can be no revelations, no life experiences told. On the other hand, developing optimism facilitates finding a solution to the problem. Also, when a student perceives that there is a solution to the dilemma, he becomes more willing to cooperate in the counseling process. Secondary to the abovementioned is discussing stages of the counseling process. It is important to inform the counselee how the counseling would go, what can be achieved during counseling stages, and how long they will take. Together with this, the counselor should set guidelines both he and the student will follow, such as time schedule, behavior rules, and limitations. Chakras et al. determine other responsibilities of a counselor. These include preparing the student for counseling session. As a counselor, one has to establish the reason why the student should undergo counseling. Asking the student what he feels is wrong, or eliciting experiences that seem difficult for him are ways to prepare the student. In addition, the counselor must assert that the problem can be worked out if the counselee cooperates in resolving it. Also, some situations that lead to the attention are considered for school counseling. These include breaking school rules, misbehaving, or underachievement. As such, the class adviser and the school counselor should work hand in hand regarding record of students’ behavior and progress. One of the misconceptions about counseling is that students are referred to it only for disciplinary purposes. Students tend to think that if they are called for counseling, they have been noted to misbehave in school. Thus, some students create a wrong view that counselors are disciplinarians. Importantly, this issue should be addressed during school orientation, letting the students know and feel that counseling is a helping process, and not a disciplinary one. Furthermore, what the counselor can do to avoid this misconception is to call each student one by one, get to know them, and allow a time for them to be acquainted with her and her work, so that fears regarding counseling could be avoided. Importantly, not only those who have reports of misbehavior should be called for counseling, but every student handled by each counselor. During counseling session, one good characteristic the counselor should exhibit is to remain focused on the specific problem. If the student’s problem concerns only his classmates, the counselor should identify ways to resolve it at the said level, and not delve on the students’ family background, as such may give the student an impression that his problem is huge. For example, if the student identifies that he is having problems with classmates bullying him, the counselor must call the attention of the said classmates and allow the said parties to explain the issue (i.e., tell them of the situation to find out if they are aware of the problem they cause their classmate). Furthermore, it is the counselor’s role to sustain interest of the counselee during the counseling process. To attain this, the counselor should ask questions relevant to the situation, and involve the counselee in arriving at the best workable solution. Asking irrelevant questions and monopolizing the discussion may distract the concentration of the counselee. In addition, the counselor may give assignments or home work so that the student would feel responsible and be prepared for the next counseling session. As regards developing appropriate intervention strategies and techniques to help multicultural students, counselors should also be effectively involved in non-academic and out-of-school activities. As the core of the student’s personality, the counselor should focus first on building family relationships. Activities involving the students’ family would be an effective strategy to (1) know students well, (2) gain knowledge of family structure of students, whether parents are separated, and where students stay, (3) provide a venue for family bonding, and (4) inform parents of their children’s progress/problems. Parent involvement in counseling is inevitable. Some studies confirm student improvement in â€Å"academic performance, attitudes and behavior, attendance, school adjustment and engagement, and graduation rates† (Barnard, Epstein, Simons-Morton & Crump, as cited in Sanabria). In Jevnes (as cited in Sanabria), a recent meta-analysis of 41 studies shows a significant relationship between parent’s involvement in school and academic achievement of urban students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Parent involvement in school can include activities designed to inform them of their children’s progress, workshops or conferences to help them cope with the difficulties of parenting, marriage, etc. However, some parents lack the initiative to get involved in their child’s school affairs. As Lareau (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) posits, parents’ perceptions of racism and their own negative school experiences tend to create the distance between them and the schools. One study conducted by McKay, Atkins, Hawkins, Brown (as cited in Sanabria, 2004) found that the racism awareness of low-income African American parents was positively related to at-home parental involvement, and inversely related to at-school involvement. In this case, the counselor should coordinate closely with class advisers and other school officials to help convince these parents to give priority to their children. One source of motivation could be rese arch data establishing correlation between children’s progress and parental involvement. One activity the counselor could organize is a â€Å"Day with Parents.† This could be a panel discussion involving model parents (probably of outstanding students) to act as the panel, and discuss relevant issues with students and co-parents. In this activity, the panel discusses ways on how they get involved with the affairs of their children, and how these measures create positive output to them. After the pane interview/discussion, the parents may exchange ideas in a forum to discuss proper ways to bring up children. Specifically, student problems, whether academic or personal, may also be brought up. Another activity the counselor could organize is a family day in which the whole family will come to the school to enjoy rides, games, or dining together. This event may be school-wide and would need the participation of every school personnel and students. Aside from organizing events for the family, the school counselor could also incorporate in the program field trips, camping, games, and other fun activities for the students. This will help students, especially with multicultural background, to get to know their classmates well. This way, they would also find time to have more friends. Aside from this, fun activities would also make them realize that school is not just for learning academics but also for having fun.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, other activities school counselors could provide include workshops or performing arts activities. These activities are very ideal to cultivate the talents of students. Examples of which include art, theater arts, dance, and singing workshops. After the workshops, counselors could also have a culminating activity in which students show what they have learned from the workshop. For arts, students will have an art exhibit, for dance, theater arts, and singing, the counselor could propose to school administration to allow a concert or show, in which students will be the performers. This particular activity could also serve as a fund raising campaign aside from showcasing the talent of students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other activities to make students realize their potentials include sports activities/intramurals. This would allow sports-minded students to show their capabilities in their field. Also, this could serve as the school’s campaign against drug use among students.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Further to the given interventions, counselors could also conduct career orientation, especially for graduating students. In this activity, the counselor would invite some professionals to talk about their career to inspire students to follow a similar path. At the end of the session, the counselor would elicit from students, which career aroused their interest, and what made them interested to it. Importantly, students should be given many options to choose from, and career professionals to be invited should likewise have multicultural identity, so that students can easily relate with them. Evaluation sessions should also follow to allow room for improvement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Counselors also have a part in the school’s community outreach. By giving orientation to students regarding the activity and motivating them to help other people, students will realize that the helping profession is not limited within the four corners of the school. The participation of the counselor is very important as this will strengthen the role of the counseling profession and the school’s mission of helping other people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Other interventions the counselor could incorporate in the counseling program include achievement tests, personality tests, and other assessments to gauge the students’ academic and personal progress. These could help identify the needs of the students or their inclinations to serve as guide in choosing their future career. There are a lot of ways a school counselor can adopt to help in the holistic development of students. In adopting each intervention, what is important is to bear in mind its applicability to the multicultural students. As each student comes from a different background, it is imperative to learn about them individually, and not just by names or culture affiliation. As long been practiced by other counseling professionals, one strategy the counselor could employ is to do home visits. By visiting students in their home, the counselor will gain a clear and accurate picture of the students’ background. Similarly, this would also create for him a first-hand experience of the students’ cultural background.   Conclusion As we continue to live in the Information Age, we are driven to realize the many impacts of multiculturalism on people, educational institutions, and society in general. In particular, we see how it changed history in the 1960s with the civil protest of Black Americans, and how it restructured school policies on employment of faculty, and treatment of students. Similarly, we see how it inspired minority groups to express their views and contribute to the rich and modern culture. Moreover, we see the important role of multiculturalism in the counseling programs of schools and the community, not to mention the challenges it continues to bring counselors in providing care and assistance. Although discrimination based on race, ethnic origin, gender, religion, disability, socio-political, and economic status are still evident in our society, the progress attained by forerunners and supporters of multiculturalism make us look forward to a better nation in the next decades. As time unfolds, we may take pride as we watch Americans embrace Africans, Asians, and other people of color. This view will continue to unveil as school administrators continue to uphold and cultivate the gifts of diversity in their orientation of students and communities. Much to the efforts made by school activists, we may look forward to more reforms in the counseling scene, either in schools or communities. The standards set by the AMCD or APA would continue to lead counselors to realize the importance of their roles in the society. The role played by counselors is not an easy task. However, by being conscious of their own tendency toward biases, counselors would avoid disserving their clients, and in the long run, the attitude of people especially schoolchildren toward counseling would further be affirmative. Moreover, adhering to the second characteristic, counselors would maintain a sensitive attitude toward cultures of other people. As such, they will feel the importance of bridging gaps among multicultural individuals, thus becoming proponents of unity and peace in the long run. Also part of the competency requirements of counselors is to devise or organize strategies to provide relevant counseling and helping services to the people. In this respect, their role is not limited to the school setting they serve, but it is likewise relevant to the community they work with. By fulfilling their part as community helpers, counselors would have a richer cultural experience which could help in their field. Recognizing the difficult task expected of counselors, we may develop the doubt regarding the capability of school counselors of today in taking on the said challenges. In this regard, counselors would need all the assistance it could get from school officials such as teachers, principal, and other staff. Through the collaboration between counselors and school officials, multicultural students will realize the important contribution they can make in the society, not only in their group but also in the lives of other people, in the fields of technology, manpower, innovation, and care for the environment. The nature of helping students does not end in counseling them or providing moral support. Rather, it extends to making them feel their importance as people, providing them choices in life, and cultivating their talents. The counseling program of every school should be the most active program among all, as it involves not only the students and counselors, but also other school officials, including the teachers, librarian, and support staff. If every one in the school system shares in the goal of achieving multicultural counseling, we can hope for the success of multicultural students. As such, everyone should his/her own part and responsibilities in promoting the welfare of the students—that is, giving respect to people of other cultures, helping them realize their life goals, and making them co-creators of society. Despite all the efforts exerted by counselors and other individuals to make up a better society, we can still note some people, even students who would resist multiculturalism. The harsh picture of some students exhibiting exclusivist attitude toward their peers should not be overlooked. Rather, it should be the concern of everyone in the school, especially its officials. In line with this, more studies should be conducted on how to incorporate multicultural views into the counseling program of every school, beginning from pre-schools to post-graduate schools. It would also help if psychological groups or associations would set standards particularly for multicultural school counseling. These rules would serve as guide for school administrators in choosing the right school counselor. While it is the role of school counselors to provide counseling to multicultural students, it would also help if schools would implement a procedure to evaluate if other aspects of the school adhere to promoting cultural diversity. Particularly, school administrators should realize that the issue of multiculturalism should not be addressed by the counseling program alone, but also by all aspects of the school, including the physical structure of the school. In this regard, future research in psychology could include ways on how the school’s physical structure could support counseling programs for multicultural students. References Chandras, Kan, David DeLambo, & Sunil Chandras. (2006). Counseling strategies and techniques to sensitize school counselors to the life experiences of culturally different students. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://www.counselingoutfitters.com/Chandras.htm Constantine, Madonna. (2001). Universal-diverse orientation and general expectations about counseling: Their relation to college students’ multicultural counseling expectations. Journal of college student development. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3752/is_200111/ai_n8993131 Freedman, Kenneth. (1999). Multicultural counseling. Retrieved January 23, 2008, from http://www.alaska.net/~fken/Multiculture.htm Gorski, Paul. (1999). A Brief History of Multicultural Education. 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