Downsizing the Human Resources Department Essay Example for Free

Downsizing the Human Resources Department Essay Human Resources Department manager Pat Sutton is requesting the downsizing of the Human Resources Department. Instead of the eight employees already in place, Pat wants the department pared down to five employees. She wants the names of three employees selected to be terminated. There is no other alternative to termination, and the company policy states that there can be no early retirement and no moving laterally to another department. Cost-cutting measures are now requiring that five employees do the work of eight. In addition to the names of the three employees recommended for termination, Pat wants to know what action management should take if any of the three employees decide to file a discrimination case against the company and what the employees would have to prove in order to win a discrimination case. Employees Recommended for Termination Pat, I have chosen the three employees to be terminated based on their skill set, work experience, and job function within the Human Resources department. The three to be terminated are: Diane—she has been with the company for 10 years, and although she is an outstanding worker, her attendance problems have cost the company. Horatio—he has only been with the company for six months, is just learning insurance and health matters, and his skills are marginal at best. Greg—he has been with the company for five years and has shown an ability to quickly learn complex areas of work. However, he has not been trained in tech hiring, and his job skills are just average. Of the three named employees, one is female and two are male. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the main law of employment that is pertinent to these three employees. Possible Cases of Discrimination against Cost Club There are three different types of discrimination cases that could be file by the three employees. Race discrimination—Horatio could file a case of this type. He is Hispanic and has not quite grasped the English language. He would have to prove that because he is Hispanic and has a limited knowledge of English, the company terminated him. I really do not think that Horatio would win if he decided to file a racial discrimination case against the company. His minimal skills in health and insurance after six months are more than enough reason to terminate him. Gender discrimination—Diane could file a case of this type. Her attendance problems stem from her children’s sicknesses over the years. She would have to prove that her termination stemmed from her being a female and missing work due to her sick children. We may have a tough time if Diane files this type of case against the company. She is an outstanding worker and her only blemishes are her missed days of work due to her sick children. Religious discrimination—Greg could possibly file a case of this type. His religious convictions prevent him from working on Saturday or Sunday. This forces other workers to work weekends more frequently. Greg would have to prove that the company terminated him because his religion keeps him from working on the weekend. Greg would have a hard time winning a discrimination case if he were to file, because his work is just average at best. With regard to each employee’s possible claim of discrimination, the company should prepare itself by carefully looking into each employee’s work performance employee performance appraisals. After all, the company needs to offer the three workers more than just a â€Å"we had to terminate three people and you were one of them† explanation. Failure to promote qualified employees is a form of adverse employment action. Employee performance appraisals provide written documentation and prove the employer acted fairly in terminating an employee. Documenting Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs)  The Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is intended to smooth the progress of positive conversation involving an employee and his or her manager and to explain the work performance that needs development. The PIP is put into effect, at the choice of the manager, when it is deemed essential to assist an employee in improving his or her performance. This arrangement allows managers to set objectives, determine procedures, manage evaluation meetings, and record development. No particular quantity of time is needed for a worker to adhere to a PIP. As a matter of fact, if no improvements are made, an employee can be terminated after a number of weeks. Performance Improvement Plans have an awful reputation amongst personnel who view them as the last step in terminating employment. This is because numerous companies apply Performance Improvement Plans the wrong way or use them for generating a lawful safety net prior to ending employment. Performance Improvement Plans should only be applied if a manager sincerely believes that the worker possesses the ability to improve. Every other thing is agonizing for the worker and takes up too much time for human resources staff and managers. Regarding human resources personnel and managers, a Performance Improvement Plan is more or less hardly ever fitting. If a supervisor is performing poorly or at a level below standards to necessitate a Performance Improvement Plan, it is very rare that he or she will salvage the needed assurance of subordinate employees or his or her own manager. Human Resource organizations possess more than enough admission to extremely private, unique data. Moreover, because of their place in the organization, the harm to your belief in them and their trustworthiness is almost impossible to overcome. Dispute Resolution Process A dispute resolution process is categorized into two types: adjudicative and consensual. In an adjudicative dispute resolution process, an arbitrator, judge, or jury decides the result of the arbitration or litigation. During a consensual dispute resolution process, such as mediation, collaborative law, negotiation, or conciliation, the participants try to come to an agreement (FITT, 302). For the three employees we are terminating, we would need an adjudicative dispute resolution process. This way, an arbitrator can decide the outcome of the case. Responding to Charges of Discrimination Should we be charged with discrimination from terminated employees, we will follow these steps: 1. Gather documents and evidence but wait to interview witnesses and meet with the company’s legal specialist to decide who must manage the inquiry. It may be essential to run an investigation that we reveal to the examining organization, or it may be more vital to run an investigation that can be suppressed. Nevertheless, we should amass any records which specify what actually happened. If a discrimination claim is made founded on a â€Å"disparate impact,† we will need to collect some simple material concerning the diversity of the company’s workforce. This way, the company’s attorney can determine if that data has any importance statistically. 2. If we opt to prepare a re-tort to the discrimination charges on our own, we should take into account that we have numerous onlookers. Initially, some EEOC offices will send a duplicate of the reply to the terminated worker or his/her legal counsel. If the employee or the EEOC chooses to take legal action, they are apt to attempt to exploit the company’s stance as substantiation in their argument. The simple rule to constantly abide by is to just state the facts. Do not state undesirable points about the terminated worker that are case irrelevant, and be sure to corroborate all testimony with any documents available. We should only give the EEOC additional information if it strengthens the company’s stance. This is my recommendation on who should be terminated and what avenues of approach we should take should any discrimination charges be brought against the company.

A Dream Within A Dream English Literature Essay

A Dream Within A Dream English Literature Essay A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allen Poe is a poem about the loss of love , the heartbreaking sadness that one faces and the ephemeral nature of time and fleeting of existence. The poem is well known due to Poes various poetic techniques that have been used to represent the excruciating context that Poe expresses in his poem. The main theme of the poem is the loss or lack of love that one faces. By taking a look at Poes use of concealed tone and structure, the various poetic techniques used and as well as the concealed literary devices; Poe expresses an excruciating context. One can easily notice that Poe wrote this Poem after he has lost someone of his love ; Poe writes the poem as a reflection to his misery on the horrible event therefore the poem holds his misery for the loss of love , burden and as well the hopelessness and lament towards life. Poe uses a very depressing tone in his poem to express his love for his loved one in the poem; Poe creates two stanzas that are disparate but however ultimately linked. Poe makes both the stanzas describe that life slips away from us like a long lost lover or also a fistful of golden sand creeping through fingers. Gradually life slips away like sand, or maybe even an hourglass. Poe is secretly trying to tell us by the two stanzas that life is precious but sometimes death can come like a wave from a surf tormented shore and take your loved one away. Poe makes the structure of the poem ordinary and typical to ending in only couplets or triplets however the theme of loss of love is often periodically rephrased in some way in each of the stanzas. Throughout the Poem, Poe also exclaims with sorrow and angers many rhetorical questions that are predominantly asked to only utter his importance and outburst rather than an answer. An example of his exclaimed rhetorical questions would be when in the last stanza Poe makes all the last lines expressed in questions rather than answers. In the First Stanza, Poe starts the Poem with a formal good bye to his loved one (line 1 and 2) Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you know these two lines express Poes affection and anguish as he loses his loved one. Poe also gives the reader the image of a kiss on a brow and a parting which indirectly means that he and his loved one are parting ways in the beginning. This event that Poe uses the image of could symbolize that it is the end of a relationship, time or even life. It is putative how Poes loved one claims that life is only a dream, now that Poe accedes that fact as his loved one has been extinct from his life, Poe therefore mentions Yet if hope has flown away à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. The less gone? (Line 6 and 9) put across Poes hopelessness when it comes to hope. Poe also repeated the word in two times in two lines (line 7 and 8) to accentuate how hope is fragile and can be destroyed abruptly at any moment that no one knows. Poe concludes the first stanza by men tioning that All what we see or seemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. a dream within a dream . Here, Poe uses alliteration within the terms see and seem to delineate the reader the fact that nothing that one sees, feels or even notices is any more real than a dream. In the second Stanza, Poe uses a disparate environment to express the situation loss of love ; the excruciating context in the Poem. Poe introduces the reader to his lack of love or impotence in other words through the imagery of himself grasping grains of golden sand that creep. This image that Poe represents in his Poem is a significant idea in Poes Poem due to it being ultimately Poes central argument that Poe seems to keep on rephrasing on each of his stanzas In the poem. First, Poes image of golden sand falling delineates the readers of an hour glass which then symbolizes time passing by. The narrator, Poe grabs sand that trickles between his finger , which then reminds him of the meaninglessness of life, and that nothing is more real than a dream. The third piece of imagery that Poe introduces the reader to is the powerful image of the surf tormented shore and puts himself standing among the roars of waves. By placing himself among the tormented roars of waves, Poe creates a metaphor that is used to express Poes torments from the loss of his loved one, and how the waves and roars are powering him and at the same time drowning in his own misery. The poem continues and is basically all about the narrators struggles and pain that he feels for his loved one. All of these metaphors have meanings close to the ephemeral nature of time, which leads Poe to the conclusion that life almost seems to have no meaning and no purpose with the lack of love , as life passes by so fast. The sand and the surf tormented shore or waves are an example that Poe uses to symbolize slow and gradual decay of life and love. The waves keep hitting the shore, until slowly the shore gets depleted by the everlasting waves. All of these symbols lead back to these images which also ultimately lead back to Poes theme of Is it therefore the less gone? and the lack of love that one faces. While I weep- while I weep! (Line 7). Here, Poe gives the reader the notice that how his weep as hi s misery overwhelms his defenses, as he pains for the loss of his love. As Poe explains his misery, weep and pain he implores God for help. Poe emphasizes his pain as Poe wants to save one that has already passed away by placing a metaphor of saving one from the pitiless wave , Poe continuously uses the phrase O God to express his feelings and emotions towards his loved one. Then to conclude, and finish with the theme Poe uses two questions at the end of his poem Is it all we seeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. A dream within a dream, to rephrase once again that everything was a dream and that of the ephemeral nature of time no one can surmount life and that everything will be simply just a dream. In Conclusion, A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allen Poe, is a poem that has use of many poetic techniques and ways to express such an excruciating idea where loss, love, anger and the ephemeral nature of time all take place is overall very effective as Poe manages to do so in such a short poem with only two stanzas. The poem displays some very important aspects of life such as death, the ephemeral nature of time and hope in some cases as well within the theme of loss of love and just one who loses their love. Despite this poem, A Dream Within A Dream will still be remembered by myself on how Poes perception that everything around us now is just a dream and nothings as real as we know it.

The Database Dilemma Essays -- Computers Privacy Security Ethics Essay

The Database Dilemma Personal privacy today is a controversial and complex topic, which is influenced by a number of factors. There is an integral role that databases play in this highly debated topic. The fact that many people now carry out their transactions electronically is another important factor. There is also pressure on personal privacy for increased national security around the world to combat terrorism. In addition, personal privacy is even threatened by commercial factors and the Internet. Personal information can consist of anything from a home address, telephone number, social security number, income, credit card history, etc, any piece of information that can be tied to a distinct individual. Once personal information is lost it cannot be recovered. Some of this personal information can change such as your address or telephone numbers, but new information would easily be found. On the other hand, some of your information cannot be changed such as your social security number and credit card history. As you can see, personal information is a valuable asset that everyone has. This paper will explore the issues that affect personal privacy on a global scope in the current age of computing. BACKGROUND ON DATABASES In the following three subsections, I will provide background information about databases that will set the scene for why they are so important to the modern issue of personal privacy. I will provide a definition for what databases are, as well as where they are used, how they affect us, and the potential threat that databases pose to our personal privacy. What Are Databases? Databases are defined by Webopedia as â€Å"A collection of information organized in such a way that a computer program can... ...e, Robert. â€Å"National ID card – Electronic ID card becomes reality in Europe.† Novosec Aktlengesellschaft. 30 Sep. 2002. Poulsen, Kevin. â€Å"Record ‘National Security’ surveillance in 2000.† SecurityFocus. 2 May 2001 Quiddington, Peter. â€Å"Security vs. Privacy.† ABC Online, Australia. 4 Apr. 2003 Solove, Daniel J. â€Å"Privacy and Power: Computer Databases and Metaphors For Information Privacy.† Stanford Law Review. Jul. 2001 v53 i6 p 1393 Spinello, Richard A. â€Å"Frameworks for Ethical Analysis.† Chapter 2 of Ethical Aspect of Information Technology (Prentice Hall) 1 Jan. 1995 page 28 Trippe, Bill. â€Å"First, Do No Harm: Can Privacy and Advanced Information Technology Coexist?† EContent. Mar. 2003 v26 i3 p 38(5) Vencchiatto, Paul. â€Å"US or EU Model for SA privacy laws?.† ITWeb. Wearden, Graeme. â€Å"U.S. tech protests EU privacy laws.† ZDNet News. 30 Sep. 2002.

Women as a Minority Group Essay -- essays research papers

Women as a Minority Group   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Women have been discriminated against since the beginning of time, as early as the first people, Adam and Eve. Eve was called the evil one, who ate fruit from the tree of knowledge. Once she had the knowledge to know right from wrong, she chose to do wrong and give the fruit to Adam. Examples like these can be shown all over history books, in stories, tales and legends across the entire world. Women have been subordinate to men in virtually all societies throughout history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The ideology that one sex is superior to the other is called sexism. The presumption of male sexism led to patterns of prejudice and discrimination against women. These prejudices and discriminations have led to many beliefs or ideas of why women are inferior to men. They range from brain size to sexual differences, including personalities based on genitalia. Cross-cultural studies demonstrate how the socialization process and societal expectations of men and women produce variances in sex-role norms and behavior. As the realization of women as an exploited group increases, the similarity of their position to that of racial and ethnic groups becomes more apparent. Women are born into their sexual identity and are easily distinguished by physical and cultural characteristics. In addition, women now identify that they are all sufferers of an ideology (sexism) that tries to justify their inferior treatment. In all societies around the world, women are treated as if they are a minority group, just like any racial or ethnic group that is out of the norm. The justification for considering women as a minority group and the existence of sexism becomes clear through the examination of social indicators, including education, employment, and income.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Education was sex segregated for hundreds of years. Men and women went to different schools or were physically and academically separated into â€Å"coeducational† schools. Males and females had separate classrooms, separate entrances, separate academic subjects, and separate expectations. Women were only taught the social graces and morals, and teaching women academic subjects was considered a waste of time. Even after these prejudices were overcome, the education system still maintained sexism in both obvious and subtle ways. Books rein... ...nses for maternity and family medical leaves. If a woman chooses motherhood, then she must lower her occupational goals and expectations. A woman with children will fall behind a childless woman in earnings, as the childless woman goes up the corporate ladder faster. Women will then risk career advancement by having children. Also, a working mother must not only juggle a family and a career, but she must find child-care as well. Child care costs are the major reason why most women end up just quitting their jobs. The majority of a working mother’s salary goes directly to the child care provider. If women were paid equal to men, more families may be able to pay for child care expenses and working mothers could continue to work and get ahead. Women have been treated unequally since the beginning of time. Just recently have things began to change for the better for women and the future of our society. The increase in women’s equality rights will take time, but some day women and men will be treated equally. This cannot happen until each of us is able to look at a person and just see another individual, not a male or a female, white or black, rich or poor†¦ a person as just a person.

Pleasantville Essay -- TV Shows Pleasantville Essays

Pleasantville If you think about it, today’s world is not such what we call â€Å"user-friendly† place. Unemployment, severe diseases, global droughts and other dreadful natural disasters that are about to happen to our lives. Even better, the more time passes, the more chances you get to face them in the future. But what the heck, everyone will eventually face all of those problems one day. Danger, devotion, abomination, curiosity, and alterations are always present in our lives. You might think that Pleasantville is pleasant. Well do I have some news for you: nope. The name â€Å"Pleasantville† is just a simple irony that’s all. In Pleasantville, everyone is so empty in their minds. For instance, every character always did the same thing over and over. It’s like everything falls into the right way that it should be. The basketball players always score, the wives are always cooking and taking good care of the husbands and children. Husbands are working, children are little precious angels who never get in any kind of trouble. No worries, no problems, just plain good stability. There is no wrong for them because everything was in sync. It would be really tough to adjust to that kind environment where everything becomes dull and unbearable. No color, no fire, nothing exciting except the way Bud made every shot to the basket without even trying to. No changes what’s so ever. As soon as the characters saw changes, everything was getting completely different....

Styrofoam As Glue

AbstractMosquito repellents are essentially required these days. Mosquito coils are one of the cheapest and effective way of avoiding them, but this coils are made up of chemicals which can harm our health. So we thought about making a substitute mosquito coil that is not harmful to our health and that is the Anstor katol a natural and environmental friendly coil.IntroductionBackground of the Study:We chose this project because a mosquito coil made up from natural mosquito repelling plants will remove the health problems caused by commercial mosquito repellents. oregano and lemongrass are easy to find and very common and also if this project succeed this can be profitable for business and can encourage others to look for other use of our country's natural resources.Statement of the problem:Recent studies showed that the smoke generated from burning mosquito coil is of certain health concerns– a person being exposed to the smoke coming from the coil may suffer severe head ache, nausea and vomiting, the condition will be severe among asthmatic patients. The emission of formaldehyde from one burning coil can be as high as that released from 51 burning cigarettes. This is because of the chemicals found in mosquito coils. Making a mosquito coil out of natural ingredients may remove these problems.Objectives:Have an alternative solution to prevent the different kind of diseases that mosquito brings especially dengue fever and not cause another problem. Make use of the natural resources of our country to solve common problems caused by mosquitoes, especially dengue.Significance of the Study:The importance of our project is that we’ll be able to make a mosquito coil that is not harmful to our health and to kill mosquitoes that are vector-carriers of dengue.Scope and Delimitation:This project tackles on making a mosquito coil that is made up of natural ingredients that is not harmful to human health. Our project also tackles the protection of human beings against mosquito bites that cause diseases.Review of Related Literature: Mosquito coil is a Mosquito-repelling incense, it is usually shaped spiral. The coil is usually held at the centre of the spiral, suspending it in the air, or wedged by two pieces of fireproof nettings to allow continuous smouldering. Burning usually begins at the outer end of the spiral and progresses slowly toward the centre of the spiral, producing a mosquito-repellent smoke. A typical mosquito coil can measure around 15 cm in diameter.Oregano is a medicinal herb known for its antioxidant and anti-microbial, anti-parasitic properties. It is used for the treatment of indigestion problems, muscle pain, insect bites, and menstruation symptoms, bacterial and fungal infections. Dried leaves of oregano are commonly used for the therapeutic purposes it contains iron, vitamins, calcium, magnesium, copper, niacin and thiamine.Oregano plant has been used for the treatment of various diseases since thousands of years back. Medical researches reveal that oregano contains antioxidants , anti-m icrobial and anti-parasitic compounds. Considering these medicinal properties, the studies are ongoing to use oregano for the treatment of severe diseases such as cancer, heart  disease and muscular degeneration.An antioxidant nature of oregano is evident from the presence of thymol and rosmarinic acid. These compounds help in scavenging free radicals, thus preventing cell damage and membrane alteration. The amount of antioxidant present in a tablespoon of fresh oregano and a medium-sized apple are the same.The volatile oil carvacrol present in oregano inhibits the growth of bacteria and other parasitic organisms. Some studies found this medicinal herb to be more effective in killing Giardia than the prescription drugs. Oregano supplements are also used for external and internal fungal infections.Herbal tea prepared with oregano helps in alleviation of headache, urinary problems, lung disorders, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and jaundice. Oregano boiled in plain water can be used as a mouthwash. Gargling with this water can help to prevent tooth infection and sore throat. Oregano oil applied directly to the infected tooth helps in combating toothache. Ground oregano leaves soothe artthrisis pain, insect bites and other skin problems. Its bitter taste and strong aroma help in controlling head lice.Mosquito’s abound in tropical countries like the Philippines. They have been pestering land vertebrates for millions of years. Insecticides are either too harmful to both man and the environment or too expensive for the consumers. The purpose of this study is to create an environment-friendly, safe, effective and cheap mosquito repellant.Weeping willow leaves, tubang bakod seeds, tubang bakod seed hulls, onion peelings and almaciga sap were collected. The solid ones were pulverized and mixed together in three pans in 1:1:1:2:4 ratio. Two of the pans were given different amounts of the oil extracted from tubang bakod seed while the remaining one was given none. T he mixtures were allowed to dry and were tested on mosquitoes for effectivity and on humans for acceptability. The results showed that tubang bakod has a significant repelling effect on mosquitoes.Continue Reading here

Saint Telemachus

The Roman Catholic faith is one of the religions that believe in martyrs and saints and honored their lives because of the sacrifices that they have made in the name of fighting for their religion and in the name of preaching the values and morals that the Roman Catholic faith is teaching and preaching to everyone. How these martyrs and saints lived was somewhat similar – a moment of recognition of the presence of God in their lives, the life of prayer and devotion to the faith, the episode of their life wherein they become the tool or vessel of God for an important mission before they die. While their lives seem to follow a certain pattern, their death is somewhat not always the same. There are those who die peacefully in their sleep or because of old age, and there are those who die a violent death in front of an angry crowd. Jesus Christ, the son of God and one of the three personas of the Roman Catholic God, in life mortal human form, died a very violent and brutal death. So did other saints, martyrs and other individuals who are considered faithful to the Roman Catholic faith especially during its early stage and during the time the religion’s main enemies are persecution of the faith and the presence of a set of social norm that strongly go against the paradigm of the Roman Catholic faith, The setting of the world at the time of St. Telemachus’ life, whose death, like Jesus Christ and the other saints, were violent and brutal, and became a source of an important catalyst in the social landscape inside Rome. This paper will discuss the life of St. Telemachus and the significant aspects related to St. Telemachus that will help establish St. Telemachus as one of the important and noteworthy saint and martyr whose contributions were very realistic and practical and transcended the basic act of religious theoretical teaching and selfless public service. ABOUT SAINT TELEMACHUS Saint Telemachus was known by different other possible names, including Saint Tilemahos as well as Almachus, whose birth is remains unknown. He was a monk who was believed to be the one who influenced the policy about gladiatorial fights after his very popular but seriously challenged story about stopping the fighting gladiators that resulted to his death. His proclamation as a martyr and the stopping of the entertainment of the crowd for armed combats which is usually a fight to the death to which spectators gamble. St. Telemachus was mentioned in many different literary forms by authors from different places. Little is known about St. Telemachus, and because of this, many theological experts, historians, as well as critics and analysts, challenge the veracity and truthfulness in the story about Telemachus. The usual tempo and outline of the available St. Telemachus story – from his journey to Rome, his entry in the arena, his stoppage of the fight, his death and martyrdom, runs something like this: â€Å"The emperor Honorius first prohibited gladiatorial shows at Rome, on occassion of the death of St. Telemachus, who coming thither from the East, during the exhibition of these spectacles, went down into the arena, and exerted himself to prevent the gladiators from continuing the sport . † THE STORIES SURROUNDING THE DEATH OF SAINT TELEMACHUS There were many versions of how exactly St. Telemachus died after he supposedly stopped a fight between two gladiators inside a Roman fighting arena during the height of the fad of this particular type of death match entertainment. Authors like Alban Burns explained that there were two versions believed by the Catholic faithful about how St. Telemachus died. The first version is the death of St. Telemachus from the stoning he got from the audience who were â€Å"infuriated† b y his mediation and intervention that spoiled the excitement of the action that was already progressing by the time he arrived and tried to stop the fight. Another version pointed the death of St. Telemachus towards the actions of the â€Å"city prefect,† who, like the audience, found St. Telemachus’ action inside the arena not agreeable to his preferences and interests. Because of that, the prefect of the city ordered the gladiators (whether the ones who were fighting or those on standby inside the arena is not exactly ascertained by Butler and Burns) to kill him, who supposedly said before dying that â€Å"Today is the octave day of the Lord, cease from the superstitions of idols and from polluted sacrifice . † This act cost his life, but in return earned him the stature of a martyr in the annals of the Roman Catholic faith. THE IMPORTANCE OF SAINT TELEMACHUS Despite the fact that St. Telemachus is not a very popular name or saint among many Roman Catholics compared to other popular saints and martyrs (largely because of the fact that very little was written or known about St. Telemachus besides his action inside the Roman gladiatorial arena compared to other saints and martyrs whose life and works are well written, well documented and well publicized), there are those, especially the devout and the learned religious faithful who does not forget the place of St. Telemachus not just in the religious aspect of the understanding of his life and the significance of his contribution, but also historically as a person who in one particular time, in the history of the Roman Catholic faith and faithful, made his mark and contribution in the effort of the religion to sustain the values and moral preached by Roman Catholic faith. St. Telemachus is nonetheless considered and appraised with the same fervor as with t he other saints and martyrs, especially when discussed alongside his contemporaries and those whose life and location was never far before or after him. For almost four hundred years the martyrs of the Church met here, beginning with St. Ignatius†¦ and ending with St. Telemachus who, dying, implored the mob: ‘In the name of Christ, forbear. ’ They loved and suffered enough to finally change the mind of Rome . † ST. TELEMACHUS AND THE IMPACT ON LITERARY WRITING St. Telemachus was indeed an inspiration not just to the traditional and conventional religious individuals but to literary artists as well. The life and tragedy of St. Telemachus perhaps was a source of inspiration for Sir Alfred Tennyson when he wrote the poem featuring this particular saint, a poem which was another solid contribution and addition to the long list of literature of the same genre, but unlike some of the works which is very puritan and hard line in the messages that it wishes to throw across the audience, St. Telemachus and the poem dedicated to him somehow managed to break off from the general trend a bit. â€Å"Tennyson’s St. Telemachus, who accepts martyrdom in the Colosseum as he repeats to himself ‘the call of god'†¦ s a notable exception to this secularized application (Jeffrey, p 816). † ANALYSING ST. TELEMACHUS’ LIFE THROUGH LITERARY REFERENCES It is really hard to ascertain why St. Telemachus did what he did. But a very good source of information is the analysis of the critics about St. Telemachus and the parallelisms that he and his life shares with other characters in real life and fictional stories that talk about the boldness and honor in the act of sacrifice as the climactic event in a life that is dictated by a life in solitude and constant communing with God and nature and heightened by the belief of a mission from a vision, which, in St. Telemachus’ case led him towards westward from his Asian point of origin towards Rome. In reading how he is appraised and put side by side with other characters to which he seemed to share a particular likeness or similarity, the individual looking for a deeper understanding about the personality of St. Telemachus will be given a chance to expand his or her knowledge about St. Telemachus. â€Å"Several other poems in the collection share significant thematic elements with ‘The Death of CEnone. ’ ‘St. Telemachus,’ for example, immediately follows ‘The Death of CEnone’ and similarly depicts a hermit living alone in a cave, muttering ‘Vicisti Galilae,’ as in Swinburne’s ‘Hymn to Proserpine’ . † This particular side by side analysis of equally significant literary materials and notable characters somewhat provides an individual an idea about how St. Telemachus lived his life and the level of significance he bears, as a person and as a central character in a literary material that is written by one of the most notable and popular poet that ever lived. Like CEnone, Telemachus is drawn out of his cave by the vision of a burning image, in this case the sun, and he leaves the cave to commit an act that will bring his life to a close. Telemachus travels to Rome to attempt to put a stop to the deaths of gladiators in public spectacles . † ST. TELEMACHUS AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE IDEA OF HUMAN RIGHTS St. Telemachus can be considered as one of the earliest examples of advocates for human rights. He was merely batting for human rights during his interference midway in the game and the plea to stop because he believes that killing each other is not morally right. He was not a political pawn that was sent to create a situation that is profitable or favorable for a particular group or individual. All that was obvious was that the prospect of what he planned to do will no doubt put his life in peril since he was set to do an action that will put him in cross current with the existing social practice, like the gladiatorial fights. But he did it, and it cost him his life as well as a posthumous recognition, as well as an action that was inspired by his own initial move to stop gladiatorial fight. â€Å"Though he is killed in his attempt, his act draws the attention of the Emperor Honorius, who thereby prohibits such combats in the future . † The claim that gladiatorial fights were indeed ordered stopped after the reported murder of St. Telemachus was supported by many other different literary sources explaining the same repercussion of St. Telemachus' action as the springboard towards the stoppage of such kinds of fights. â€Å"Never again after St. Telemachus implored them in the name of Christ to cease did gladiatorial fights take place in the Colosseum. † A proof that St. Telemachus led a life that exemplifies the passion for a humanitarian cause and to improve the situation of human rights crisis during his time is the fact that some observers describe St. Telemachus as a martyr who died for the cause of humanity, â€Å"the only monk who died a martyr in the cause of humanity . † ISSUES ON THE STORY OF ST. TELEMACHUS Besides the presence of many different version of the story of St. Telemachus, particularly the story of his death as was discussed earlier in the paper, there are also other significant issues that are involved everytime critics and analysts try to ascertain the veracity of the information available and surrounding St. Telemachus’ life and death. What is not clear, however, is the extent of the political impact of the death of St. Telemachus which was enough and sufficient to actually order the stoppage of such practice. Bear in mind that St. Telemachus was an ascetic; he was not well connected, politically and his death is not important inside the political circles of the Roman legislative body; his death was of no serious repercussions, meaning the death of St. Telemachus was far from being akin to political killings or assassination that affect politics and social order. Bear in mind also that gladiatorial fights inside the Roman Colosseum and arenas are a long standing traditional practice that seemed to be not that easy to demolish, especially since many individuals depend their lives on the regular undertaking of this fights, including the fighters themselves as well as the slave traders, merchants, gamblers and many other different individuals. Because of this, it is really very difficult to really understand how it happened that the death of an unknown hermit who is not a native of Rome managed to result in such impact like the stoppage of the gladiatorial fights. And because of this vague, gray part in the history and story of St. Telemachus that begs for more explanation and proof, it is not surprising that many individuals find it difficult to believe in the veracity of the story. McCabe provided a very insightful input in the discussion of the possibility that St. Telemachus indeed put a stop to the gladiatorial fights and how this may not be socially and realistically possible. McCabe discussed in his book that the gladiatorial fights nonetheless persisted long after Telemachus was dead, and that this particular bloodsport featuring man versus beast and man versus man is an important institution in the Roman entertainment that it cannot just be stopped in one fell swoop, just because one person said so by act of intervention and mediation in an actual fight. There are socio-political as well as socio-economical implications that make the story of St. Telemachus very weak and the fact that it is poorly supported in literature by actual real information makes it less and less credible. â€Å"And it is historically false that the games were suppressed in 404; though even this is ninety years after the bishops began to have influence over the emperors . † Some of those who are also very critical about their assessment of what qualify as martyrdom and what is not a considerable act or life of martyrdom questions the martyrdom of several different saints and martyrs, and St. Telemachus has not escaped the criticisms. Those who dissect the understanding of sainthood and martyrdom in a very puritan and very skeptical and crucial way questions the manner by which martyrs and saints like St. Telemachus was proclaimed martyrs in the first place, including in the assessment the understanding of selflessness as well as sacrifice and what really constitutes as real acts of selflessness and sacrifice that is considered as sufficient and legitimate to make the individual a saint or a martyr in the Roman Catholic faith. â€Å"It is likely enough also that martyrs to charity – men like St. Telemachus and St. Philip of Moscow, Abp. Affre and Bp. Patteson – have their portion with the perfect martyrs to faith; in some cases, as in the last, it is hard to draw a line between the two: any way, those who suffer for righteousness sake suffer for Christ†¦ but to suffer for conscience's sake, however noble, is not necessarily quite the same thing: and it is hardly right to claim the name of martyr for the victims – certainly not for the victims on one side only – in the fratricidal contests of Christians . † But even this kind of assessment or criticism does not provide enough ground to challenge the merit of the martyrdom of St. Telemachus. Even with the surfacing of this particular criticism, those who believe in him seem to feel that their faith in the saint did not diminish, especially since the presence of the criticism is not credible or strong enough to push for the review or even the relinquishing of the martyrdom of St. Telemachus. A very difficult problem that needs to be addressed when it comes to establishing the veracity of St. Telemachus as a person, as well as his martyrdom and sainthood is the fact that those who would really want to believe in St. Telemachus finds it odd that there is no cathedral, church or chapel as well as shrines and even statues of St. Telemachus found in popular as well as small religious establishments for the Roman catholic faith. This is odd because Roman Catholicism is one of the religions that is characterized by the penchant of its religious leaders as well as religious followers to create stone, wood, glass or steel statues of Jesus, Mary, the Holy Spirit, as well as the saints and the angels and other holy individuals who are related to the Roman Catholic faith. If this was the practice of this religion, then why one of their Roman civilization-era saints was not featured in any tangible, three dimensional sculpture at least placed in at least one of the lowliest and smallest church in the world? If this is true, then this affects in a negative way the manner by which St. Telemachus is being seen and appreciated as a real martyr and saint in the Roman Catholic domain. â€Å"I wish to believe in the story of St. Telemachus. Yet no church has been dedicated, no altar has been erected † for St. Telemachus. There are critics, historians and analysts who downplay the storyline of St. Telemachus, dismissing it as no more than a work of imagination or fiction and pointing that the socio-political aspects of the time, as well as supporting information (or lack of) makes the idea about St. Telemachus untrue and grossly inconsistent of the closest possible facts that might have really happened. Add to the fact that consistent to the question of fratricide among the Christian brothers belonging to the same religious affiliation, making the story of St. Telemachus close to being fabricated for PR purposes it the fact that St. Telemachus would have surely died in the hands of the same Christian crowd. This scenario seem like it cannot stand well on the moral and values of Christianity that St. Telemachus was though to have been preaching. â€Å"On the other hand, the claim that Christianity redeemed the Romans of their callousness by suppressing the gladiatorial games is a piece of rhetorical d eceit. It is chiefly based upon a pretty story of a monk, Telemachus, throwing himself into the arena at Rome in protest. Those who repeat the story do not add that the monk is supposed to have been killed by the Christian mob, but the story is worthless . † McCabe went to the great extent of challenging the notion of reality of the story of Saint Telemachus and the veracity of the true Telemachus as a person and as a martyr by providing an important point. The name of St. Telemachus, according to McCabe apparently is not found in the list of martyrs that are officially recognized by the church. â€Å"There is no St. Telemachus in Roman lists of martyrs . † CONCLUSION. Whether St. Telemachus and the story of his martyrdom is real or merely fabricated by historians who seek to improve the list Roman Catholic devout and faithful throughout the history by creating a person who will symbolize the stand of the Roman Catholic faith against one of the barbaric past times and forms of leisure in the history of mankind, it cannot be denied that St. Telemachus and his life was an inspiration to some people. It maybe true, it maybe untrue, it may even be a story that is a combination of both, but the important thing is that St. Telemachus was capable of symbolizing the ability of the human individual for sacrifice and act of faith even at the cost of his life. Religious faith, after all, is all about the ability for selfless and unquestioning faith. If St. Telemachus can help them achieve this state, then he will no doubt be an important personality in the Roman Catholic history, unless of course, a very competitive and authoritative work can actu ally challenge St. Telemachus’ life and prove that none of the stories surrounding him were true, real or consistent with facts that should be proven and authenticated. Until that time, the religious can rest their faith on the martyrs and the saints, including St. Telemachus. Even if St. Telemachus was criticized by some, there are those who feel that St. Telemachus should also be taken highly and accorded their necessary fervor, an example of which is how Charles Kingsley referenced St. Telemachus in ‘Hypatia,’ where he wrote: â€Å"Take care, sir, of your words. You revile the blessed martyrs, from St. Stephen to St. Telemachus, when you call such a deed foolish . †