The Most Important Signer of the US Constitution Essay - 2

The Most Important Signer of the US Constitution - Essay Example George Washington was born in February 1932 in Virginia and received basic English education from his mother since his father died when George was just ten years old (Lossing 55). He became a surveyor at the age of seventeen and at the age of nineteen, was appointed a state-adjutant, a position he soon resigned to move with his brother to the West Indies. His services to the state started officially when he was 21 and was sent as an emissary to dissuade the French from hostile maneuvers, a feat that earned him credit and recognition (Lossing 55). He served in the military until 1758 when he retired and married a young widow. He was a farmer for a short while until he was called into the legislature and later into the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia (Lossing 55). He also directed the army in the struggle for independence by the revolting colonies during the great revolution. From Washington’s skill and experience, he was unanimously led to lead the convention that sat to modify the current form of government, efforts that resulted in the formation of the current constitution and the federal government. He was later elected as the first president of the United States of America, a post that he held for 8 years, after which he retired and died peacefully at the age of 68 in his native Virginia (Lossing 56). Lossing, Benson J. Eminent Americans: Comprising Brief Biographies of Leading Statesmen, Patriots, Orators and others, Men and Women, Who Have Made American History. New York: John B. Alden, 1883. P.

Social Stratification and Class

Social Stratification and Class Discuss what is meant by social stratification and evaluate the different ways that social class has been defined and measured. The term social stratification refers to the grouping of social classes within a society. This is a specific form of inequality, and the effect of this is that certain groups in society are seen as having a higher status or rank than others based on power and wealth. Social stratification works by society ranking which is based in four sections. Social stratification can be passed from one generation to the next, i.e. royalty, it is universal but varies over time and place, it is a trait of society not individual differences and lastly social stratification also goes on beliefs and not just inequality (Wikipedia, 2014). Sociologists argue that some form of social stratification occurs in every society in the world despite that everyone claims to want an equal society (Burton, 2013). Sociologists consider there to be three main systems of stratification in today’s societies. These are slavery, the caste system and the class system. Slavery has legally been abolished in many countries but there is still evidence of at least 400 million people living under conditions that amount to slavery. For those living in Sudan, Ghana, India, Pakistan, and many other countries with similar ideals, slavery is a common thing to happen and in certain parts of Asia sex slavery is also common. A caste system is a social system built on ascribed status. This is a status based on characteristics a person is born with, such as race, gender, religion, age etc. In a caste system there is no chance to change from one caste to another and marriage outside of a person’s caste is not generally permitted. Often in a caste system the marriages are pre-arranged between parents rather than a choice of the individual. A class system is a social system built on achieved status. This is status that a person either earns or chooses so is not dependent on where a person was born or a person’s parentage. Those born in a class system c an choose their education, career and partner. A person in a class system may also start off in one class but can move between classes (Spark Notes, n.d). For many sociologists the focus is on the caste and class systems of stratification and the amount of social mobility within that system. This social mobility is the ease of which a person can move up or down the class system and will be based on a person’s wealth or power. In modern western societies, stratification is organised by class and divided into three main layers, upper class, middle class and lower class. Each of these classes can then be broken down into further categories determined by things such as housing locations (Wikipedia, 2014). A person’s social class will depend on where they are from, what they do for a living, where they achieved their education, who they are connected to and how powerful them people may be, how much wealth they have and their position in society. When a person’s social class is being considered their education will not generally be considered, unless of course they attended a high ranking education facility. This person will also need to have some high connections to be considered for upper class status. If a person is lacking any of these factors they will be considered as middle or even lower class, depending on their postcode or bank balance, within a western society. In modern western societie s there are different categories for social stratification such as age, race, gender, class, race or disability and in some places there will be even more categories (Wikipedia, 2014). Social classification has taken place long before the modern form of classifying people began. Social stratification has been measured in different forms; from asking people which class they feel they belong in to using a person’s postcode. The two most used measures are both based on occupation. The Registrar General’s Standard Occupation Classification (SC) and the Socio-Economic Groups (SEG). The SC began in has been in the census since 1901 and is based on a person’s occupation which will fall into one of six categories: Professional, Intermediate, Skilled (Non-Manual/Manual), Partly Skilled and Unskilled. This is an ordinal measure that ranks occupation, by skill and social standing. The SEG is made up of 17 different categories and would in fact cover all eventualities of employment, house worker, student etc. This is a nominal measure that ranks occupation by employment status (Anon, n.d). The SC has strengths as well as weaknesses with its use. It is a simple system with easily generalizable categories. This system is also useful when wanting to compare the changes in occupations held over a period of time. However, this system does not appear to group people it focuses more on the occupation. Another problem with this system is that the categories do not consider the differences in income between certain occupations. The SEC also has some strengths and weaknesses to its reliability in measuring class. Its main strength is that it does have a wider range of categories for people to consider, however its biggest weakness is that is still fails to acknowledge certain people, such as women, students and the unemployed (Sociology Org, 2013). Having more than one way of measuring social class has caused many problems. As occupations have changed dramatically over the years there are many problems with the way the SC and the SEG measures class. The biggest of the problems is that they are not designed to measure the occupations of women, housewives, students or even the unemployed adequately. Although this will generally be the most reliable as people will accept what is told to them by a government body such as the Registrar General. In 1994 a government review of social classifications took place with the aim to review the reliability of using occupation to measure social class, to review the social class categories and to assess the effectiveness of the changes made. These changes took place in 1998 and a new classification system, NS-SEC, was introduced beginning in the 2001 census (Anon, n.d). This change made to the way occupation is measured comes in eight categories to include the differences in set locations. The categories of the NS-SEC are: higher managerial and professionals, lower managerial and professionals, intermediate occupations (clerical, sales and services), small employers and own account workers, lower supervisory and technical occupations, semi-routine occupations, routine occupations and never worked or long term unemployed (Wikipedia, 2013). References Anon. (n.d) Definition and Measurement of Social Class [online]. Available from: http://www.uwic.ac.uk/shss/dom/newweb/classdefinition/Difficulties.htm [Last Accessed Jan 2014]. Anon. (n.d) Social stratification [online]. Available from: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=1sqi=2ved=0CDAQkA4oADAAurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwordnetweb.princeton.edu%2Fperl%2Fwebwn%3Fs%3Dsocial%2520stratificationei=TIw5U6OlM6viywP42IIIusg=AFQjCNFPiQoB3wnfTRpv0MM_X4Pr_XWEMwsig2=f2pVumGz7bpiGO8bUQIBnQ [Last Accessed Jan 2014]. Burton, J. (2013) Class and Stratification [class hand-out]. Access to Social Science: Class and Stratification, Northampton College. Nov 2013. Sociology Org. (2013) Measuring Social Class [online]. Available from: http://www.sociology.org.uk/s3a.pdf [Last Accessed Jan 2014]. Spark Notes. (n.d) Social Stratification and Inequality [online]. Available from: http://www.sparknotes.com/sociology/social-stratification-and-inequality/section3.rhtml [Last Accessed Jan 2014]. Wikipedia. (2013) National Statistics Socio-economic Classification [online]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Statistics_Socio-economic_Classification [Last Accessed Jan 2014]. Wikipedia. (2014) Social Stratification [online]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_stratification [Last Accessed Jan 2014]. Bibliography Anon. (2010) What does â€Å"Social Stratification† mean? [Online]. Available from: https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100529054226AAF1wY9 [Last Accessed Jan 2014]. Boundless. (n.d) Social Stratification [online]. Available from: https://www.boundless.com/sociology/definition/social-stratification/ [Last Accessed Jan 2014]. Iiser (n.d) NSSEC [online]. Available from: https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/archives/nssec [Last Accessed Jan 2014]. Rose, D. Pevalin, D. (2010) Re-basing the NS-SEC on SOC2010 [online]. Available from: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=1ved=0CC8QFjAAurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ons.gov.uk%2Fons%2Fguide-method%2Fclassifications%2Fcurrent-standard-classifications%2Fsoc2010%2Frebasing-the-ns-sec-on-soc2010.pdfei=MNI5U7nYCujOygO0-4Jousg=AFQjCNGQRPlUIA8sgVVcnseWNnreDM-o-Asig2=gpMzKE9XFYtaHKlPa4trYgcad=rja [Last Accessed Jan 2014]. Sociology Guide. (n.d) Questions on Social Stratification [online]. Available from: http://www.sociologyguide.com/questions/social-stratification.php [Last Accessed Jan 2014].

Investiture Controversy Essay -- Church, Pope Gregory VII

The ruler Otto controlled the church during his reign by making bishops and abbots royal princes and agents to him (425). The revival of the church however, began as the German empire weakened in the eleventh century (425). During this time, the Church declared its independence from the governments’ control by embracing a reform movement, The Cluny Reform Movement (425). The reform established at the Cluny monastary in France, aimed at â€Å"freeing the church from secular political influence and control† (425). The reformers were supported in their efforts by popular respect for the church as people admired clerics and monks (425). During this time, any man had the opportunity to become Pope; the Pope was supposed to be elected by the people and clergy of Rome (425). The church also promised a better life to peoples whose current was relatively harsh (425). The reformers condemned the state’s contemporary mixing of religions and secular institutions as well as t he clergy’s subservience to royal authority (425). They taught that the Pope alone commanded the clergy and they demanded separa...

Is Thomas Hardy Obsessed with the Past? Essay

Many of Thomas Hardy’s poems are centered on the feelings summoned up when reminiscing about the past. On the surface, it seems as though Hardy is ‘obsessed with the past’ as many poems are laced with memories which conjure up feelings of nostalgia. It is important to consider, however, that this doesn’t necessarily mean that he is infatuated with bygones. It may also be the case that Hardy’s poetry is a means for him to comprehend and come to terms with the present. Hardy tries to reclaim the past in his poem, ‘Under the Waterfall’. Fundamentally, the narrator – thought to be Emma – experiences a Proustian moment as she plunges her arm into a basin of water. This stimulation brings on an avalanche of memories, which are ‘fetched back from its thickening shroud of gray’ – symbolizing Hardy trying to rescue memories from the shroud of time. Emma feels anew the romantic feelings she felt on the day she dropped a drinking glass into the water, when she and her lover where having a picnic by a waterfall. Hardy utilizes a metaphor effectively, by referring to the day as being ‘fugitive’, which suggests that it is ephemeral and can be lost any moment. This particular memory of the past is a seemingly pleasant one as is suggested by the use of sibilance (ll 13-16). The repetition of the soft hissing sounds in ‘scoop of the self-same block’, ‘ceases’ and ‘peaces’ suggests a dreamy and idealistic setting. Hardy refers to the drinking-glass as being opalized; once more indicating to how long it has been since this even took place. He gives this drinking-glass almost religious significance by sanctifying it and calling it a ‘chalice’. The chalice symbolized unity between Hardy and Emma, which still lies under the waterfall and ‘its presence adds to the rhyme of love persistently sung by the fall above’. Hardy uses rhyming couplets which give the poem a childish and youthful feel. This rhyming alludes to his youth being the ‘prime’ or best time of his life, and by summoning the past he can bring back the feelings of youth. Revival of the past is a recurring theme in many of Hardy’s poems. Similarly to ‘Under the Waterfall’, ‘At Castle Boterel’ also involves Hardy remembering a specific incident that took place between him and Emma. Emma is now dead, but in Hardy’s recollection her ‘phantom figure’ remains on the hillside. The poem is a powerful effort in consciousness to defeat the processes of time by reclaiming the past, as is shown in ‘Under the Waterfall’ also. On the other hand, the two settings have a stark contrast. Hardy drives to the junction of a line and highway with ‘drizzle bedrenching’; this suggests the somber and unhappy quality of the present. He looks behind at the byway, which is ‘fading’. This suggests increasing distance and decreasing significance of present reality as he delves into his past with Emma. There is use of enjambment in the between the first two stanzas, providing a sense of transition between Hardy’s present and past, and also his two states of mind. He speaks of how they walked along the road and creates a warm atmosphere in ‘dry March weather’. It is evident that the happy moments of the poem reflect Hardy’s love and what it used to be in the past. The last stanza consists of sharp words, completely unlike the melodious ones in ‘Under the Waterfall’. ‘My sand is sinking’, is a euphemism of Hardy’s approaching death. The sand conjures up the imagery of an hour-glass, once again referring to time passing relentlessly. In many of his poems, Hardy finds solace in the timelessness of many landscapes and tales. This suggests that Hardy has an inclination towards the past, because of the invariable constancy that it provides, regardless of passing time. For example, in the fifth stanza of ‘At Castle Boterel’, Hardy refers to the ‘Primaeval rocks’ in order to emphasise the great age and permanence of the hill by reflecting of how much transition they must have observed. Hardy asks if ever there was a ‘time of such quality’ in ‘that hill’s story’ and states that he believes there never were. This is, in a sense a defiance of time, as even time cannot alter the value of that one moment. The defiance of time is continued in the sixth stanza, as Hardy’s memory allows him to see ‘one phantom figure’ – Emma – even though ‘time’s unflinching rigour’ has killed the actual person. The idea of memory being eternal is once again portrayed in the poem ‘I Found Her Out There’. Hardy remembers Emma in Cornwall, and how she would sigh at the tale of ‘sunk Lyonnesse’, her hair beating against her face in the wind while she would listen to the ‘murmuring miles’. Hardy uses a technical aspect – synaesthesia – in order to combine two senses; this has a very powerful effect on the audience, giving the scene a sense of agelessness. The Arthurian tales also offer a link: As the myths of Lyonnesse belong to a fabled past, so too does the love story of Emma and Thomas Hardy. Additionally, this theme also echoes in ‘Under the Waterfall’, as Hardy refers to the ‘purl of a runlet that never ceases’ be it ‘in wars, in peaces’. Onomatopoeic diction in these lines is sounds like a flowing waterfall and represents the fact that it remains unchanged for a long period, unaffected by time. Hardy often uses the past objectively, in order to comfort him and assist him in dealing with his grief. ‘I Found Her Out There’ is a poem in which Hardy begins to dissociate himself from the anguish and guilt that consumed him after Emma’s death. This dissociation can be seen as he refers to Emma’s ‘shade’ as ‘it’ instead of ‘her’. He is beginning to come to acceptance of her death, as is shown by the controlled form of the poem. There are five uniform octaves, all following the rhyme scheme of ABBACDCD. Hardy ends the first stanza with the line, ‘The solid land’. This brings everything to a sudden, thumping halt and there is no mellifluous poetic beauty, as one would find in the poem, ‘Under the Waterfall’. Hardy is also conscious enough to effectively use contrasts of time in ‘I Found Her Out There’. He describes Emma in her youth, with the setting sun illuminating her face ‘fire-red’ against Emma as a corpse, never to be stirred in her ‘loamy cell’. This poem is less of a lament over the lost past, and more about capturing the essence of Emma. This is not always the case, however. In ‘Under the Waterfall’, Hardy finds it difficult to emotionally detach himself from the memory of the past. This is reflected in the structure, which can be jarring. The length of lines is not uniform, and this may suggest that Hardy’s mind wasn’t in a neutral state. He also asks many questions, such as ‘And why does plunging your arm in a bowl full of spring water, bring throbs to your soul?’ This portrays his internal turmoil. In conclusion, I believe that although Hardy had an inclination with the past, one cannot so far as to say that he was obsessed with it.

Martin Luther King`s Persuasion Techniques

The remarkable feature of Martin Luther King’s rhetorical style is emotional appeal and dramatic descriptions. In his essay, â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† he uses argumentation and persuasion techniques in order to convince readers in his position and ideas. King possesses intelligence and ana ­lytical interest raising the audience to high emotional level. The main techniques selected for analysis are emotional appeal, logic, historical and current examples, testimonials, and fact and figure.Testimonials help King to give some recommendation to readers based on his own experience and life situations. King directly addresses his opponents: â€Å"MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN† (King). He uses testimonials to make his point and persuade listeners to agree with him. Using â€Å"fact and figure† technique, King persuades readers in rightfulness of his views supported by real facts: â€Å"the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound† (King).The audience feels that it is not a voice of the author, but a voice of the leader who really bears enormous burden of segregation trying to help millions of people to become equal with majority. Logic is another technique used by King to appeal to the audience and their mind. Following Walton, â€Å"The problem then is to understand generally how argumentation schemes can be seen as being a part of some framework of logical reasoning† (1996, 10). Logic means clearly expressed ideas and facts which allow the audience to follow thoughts and notions explained by the author. In the Letter, every argument forestalls the next one. â€Å"In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps †¦ â€Å" (King).   Vivid arguments and personal examples are logically connected which helps the audience to grasp the idea of the essay.Control of powerful feeling intensifies emotional appeal and adds dramatic effects. To give dramatic descriptions with intensity, to make the imagined picture of reality glow with more than a dim light, requires the author’s finest compositional powers. In the Letter, King creates a vivid image of racial segregation as â€Å"a burden† with deprives many racial minorities a chance to be free from oppression and humiliation. â€Å"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by oppressor† (King). There is intensity of illusion because the author is pres ­ent, constantly reminding readers of his unnatural wisdom. Values are universal norms of behavior and conduct followed by all people in spite of their racial or ethical background.King uses eternal human values in order to join different nationalities and minority groups. â€Å"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you†(King).   The moral quality depends not on the validity of doctrines, but on the mora l sense and arguments presented in the work. In both books, a certain amount of plot is based on emotional response. Exclamation marks, rhetorical question and parallel structure of sentences add emotional coloring. He appeals to such human values as tolerance and morals. Idiom and metaphors create sense of reality (How to Be Persuasive. 2001). King deals with his personal sufferings and expresses the effects of the segregation on his fellow friends on a scale of universal significance. Historical and current examples create a sense of reality which helps the audience to grasp the idea of equality and its role in historical process.The main feature of this essay is that King uses historical information based on reason and expiations of the events which attract attention of the audience. Historical examples include: St. Thomas Aquinas, Socrates, Adolf Hitler. King expects that his letter helps many people to â€Å"awake† from long sleeping and start fighting, because the new s ocial order and ideas, and no doubt that in his society the main role is featured to democracy and freedom. â€Å"If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ (King).Personal tone is an important element of his rhetoric, because it creates a certain vision of segregation and inequality from the author’s point of view (Arguments and Persuasion Techniques in Writing, 1999). His language is logic and accurate, concise and creative. King’s rhetoric has strength, depth and delicacy of feeling.In sum, in this essay King uses traditional rhetoric techniques which help him to persuade the audience and appeal to their emotions and mind. More obvious rhetoric effects are achieved by explicitly controlling the reader's expectations with the hopes and fears held by a common citizen. Works Cited Page 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   King, M.L. Letter from Birmingham Jail. 1963, n.d.   http://www.nobelprizes.co m/nobel/peace/MLK-jail.html2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Arguments and Persuasion Techniques in Writing. 1999. http://www.csudh.edu/dearhabermas/argpers.htm3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   How to Be Persuasive. 2001. http://www.rinkworks.com/persuasive/4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Walton, D.N. Argumentation Schemes for Presumptive Reasoning. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1996.

Contrast

Public vs. Private College – Several Factors to Compare/Contrast Public vs. Private College Several Factors to Compare/Contrast Making the choice to attend a private or public university is a big one. Many students and their parents make that choice based solely upon cost. After all, a college education is a large financial investment, and there may be hefty student loans to pay back after graduating. So, yes, price has to be a big factor in our decision but if you cannot answer the question, What is the difference between public and private colleges? then you are not really ready to make your decision. Here are 5 factors of comparison that all students should consider. Structural Difference Public Universities State universities are funded by the taxpayers of that state and student tuitions and fees. Every university has an operating budget which it must submit to an appointed Board of Governors, and that budget must be approved by the state legislature. The amount of tuition and fees charged must also be approved by the state government. What is a Private University Structure? Private colleges and universities have been around longer than state institutions. They were initially founded by religious organizations, although most are not pretty secular. These institutions are not funded by the taxpayer and are therefore free to set their own policies and budgets without state approval. They usually have a Board of Directors or Governors that sets policy and tuition and fee rates. Private colleges are funded by student tuitions and fees, as well as by donors, most of whom are wealthy individuals who graduated from that college. Prices Public Universities Because of their state funding, tuition and fees at public schools are much cheaper than at private school, as a rule. And states vary widely on those tuition amounts. Texas, for example, has very high funding for its state universities, so students get a big bargain. Generally, however, students can expect to pay from $7000 - $9000 a year. Cost of living, whether in a dormitory or an apartment, will not vary much from that in private universities, nor will meal plans that are offered by the schools. The other factor that will remain comparable will be the costs of texts and supplies. Private Colleges Tuitions will be significantly higher in private schools, and will generally range from $20,000 - $45,000 per year the more prestigious the school, the higher the cost. Cost of living and texts, as mentioned will not vary much from those of state schools, but those costs can be significant. The one offsetting factor in tuition and fee costs is that private schools do have a lot of privately available financial aid. Some of their endowments from donors are earmarked for financial aid to students in need, and the school must give that money out as required each year. So, before you dump the idea of a private school, check out its financial aid programs. Population In looking at public university vs. private university sizes, the general rule is that public schools will have much larger student populations. This also means that class sizes will be larger and the personal attention is not great. Some campuses have up to 40,000 students or more, and at least at the general education level coursework, auditorium-style classes are the rule. Student populations in private school really vary. Small schools may have as few as 1800 students. Harvard, by contrast, has 27,000+. As a rule, however, class sizes in private school are smaller and there is more personal attention. If you do well in very large and more impersonal schooling environments, then you will do very well in a public school. If you do not, however, you should consider a private college Degrees Because of their sheer size, public colleges tend to have more degree programs, so there are certainly more options when selecting a major field of study. And within a state system, some schools are known for their excellence in certain degree fields. If you select a state school, make sure you select one that is known for its department in your major. Private schools have fewer degree programs, but many have an exceptional reputation in the degree programs they offer. If you intend to go the private school route, make sure that the degree program you are choosing has a department with a great reputation. Social Life This is the final factor to consider. Big schools offer a great deal of diversity of population and a huge number of clubs and organizations to join. Most are also known for their party weekends especially when there is a home sporting event. Private schools, with some exceptions, may be less diverse and offer fewer opportunities for you to branch out and widen your social horizons. If there are fraternities on campus, there will be parties, for certain. But in general private schools tend to have less of a reputation for being party schools. These, then are the factors to look at. Finding the right balance of cost, size, programs and social life for you to be happy takes time and careful thought. Contrast Free Essays on Comparison/Contrast The Death of the Human Spirit in â€Å"Harlem† and â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn† Although Langston Hughes’s â€Å"Harlem† and John Keats’ â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn† were written about 130 years apart and they differ in their structure, they seem to share a similar underlying theme. Both of these poets are trying to convey a feeling of death. They are not talking about a superficial death but rather, a dying on the inside. This is the type of death that robs them of their spirit. To the reader, it is fairly clear to see in Hughes’s â€Å"Harlem† whereas in Keats’ â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn†, the reader has to look beyond the outer layer of the poets words. In Hughes’s extremely short poem, â€Å"Harlem†, the poet asks â€Å"What happens to a dream deferred?† (1). If not for this opening line, the reader might be left wondering what the objects in the poem symbolize. Hughes uses a raisin, a sore, meat, a syrupy sweet, and a load. The â€Å"raisin† represents the plight of the black man in a dominant white society. The black man (raisin) refuses to give in and thus turns into a â€Å"sore†. The â€Å"meat† turned rotten in â€Å"Harlem† symbolizes the fight of the African American in making their place in the world. The â€Å"sweet† represents the satisfaction to be found in an existence full of harmony. The â€Å"load† is the culmination of all of these objects. As time goes by, the burden of the â€Å"load† gets harder and harder to carry. The heavy burden causes the black man to falter and â€Å"sag†. Eventually, the immense pressure causes an explo sion to the reality of the situation that the African Americans face. In order to understand the meaning behind John Keats’ somewhat longer poem, â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn†, the reader has to look past the words written to reveal their true meaning. On the surface, the reader might think this poem is light and airy, when in fact; it is a sad tale of lost chances never to be r...

Biography of Calamity Jane, Wild West Figure

Biography of Calamity Jane, Wild West Figure Calamity Jane (born Martha Jane Cannary;  1852–August 1, 1903) was a controversial figure in the Wild West whose adventures and exploits are shrouded in mystery, legend, and self-promotion. She is known to have dressed and worked as a man, to have been a hard drinker, and to been skilled with guns and horses. The details of her life are mostly unproven, given the amount of fabrication and hearsay that inform her story. Fast Facts: Calamity Jane Known For:  Hard living and drinking; legendary skill with horses and gunsAlso Known As:  Martha Jane Cannary BurkeBorn:  1852 in Princeton, MissouriParents: Charlotte and Robert Cannary or CanaryDied:  August 1, 1903 in Terry, South DakotaPublished Works:  Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane by HerselfSpouse(s): Undocumented spouses, Clinton Burke, Wild Bill Hickok; documented spouse, William P. SteersChildren: Possibly two daughtersNotable Quote: By the time we reached Virginia City I was considered a remarkable good shot and a fearless rider for a girl of my age. Early Life Calamity Jane was born  Martha Jane Cannary  around 1852 in Princeton, Missouri- although she sometimes claimed Illinois or Wyoming as her birthplace. She was the oldest of five siblings. Her father Robert Cannary (or Canary) was a farmer who took the family to Montana during an 1865 Gold Rush. Jane relayed the story of their journey in her later biography with considerable relish, describing how she hunted with the men and learned to drive the wagons herself. Her mother Charlotte died the year after their move and the family then moved to Salt Lake City. Her father died the following year. Wyoming After the death of her parents, young Jane moved to Wyoming and began her independent adventures, moving around mining towns and railroad camps and the occasional military fort. Far from the ideal of the delicate Victorian woman, Jane often wore mens clothes. She eked out a living doing menial jobs, some of which were jobs usually reserved for men. She is known to have worked on the railroad and as a mule skinner. She worked as a laundress and waitress and may have also worked occasionally as a sex worker. Some legends say that she disguised herself as a man to accompany soldiers as a scout on expeditions, including the 1875 expedition of General George Crook against the Lakota. She developed a reputation for hanging out with the miners, railroad workers, and soldiers- enjoying heavy drinking with them. She was arrested, with some frequency, for  drunkenness and disturbing the peace. Deadwood Dakota Jane spent many years of her life in the boomtown of Deadwood, Dakota, including during the Black Hills gold rush of 1876. She claims to have known James Hickok, known as Wild Bill Hickok, and she is thought to have traveled with him for several years.  After his August  1876 murder, she further claimed that they had been married and that he was the father of her child. (If said child had actually existed, he or she was said to have been born September 25, 1873, and given up for adoption at a South Dakota Catholic school.)  Historians do not accept that either the marriage or the child existed. A diary supposedly by Jane that documented the marriage and child has been demonstrated to be fraudulent. In 1877 and 1878, Edward L. Wheeler featured Calamity Jane in his popular Western dime novels, adding to her reputation. She became something of a local legend at this time because of her many eccentricities. Calamity Jane gained admiration when she nursed victims of a smallpox epidemic in 1878, also dressed as a man. Possible Marriage In her autobiography,  Calamity Jane said that she had married Clinton Burke in 1885 and that  they  lived together for at least six years. Again, the marriage is not documented and historians doubt its existence.  She used the name Burke in later years. A woman later claimed to have been a daughter of that marriage but may have been Janes by some other man or Burkes by another woman. When and why Clinton Burke left  Janes life is not known. Later Years and Fame In her later years, Calamity Jane appeared in Wild West shows, including the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show, around the country, featuring her riding and shooting skills. Some historians dispute whether she was indeed in this show. In 1887, Mrs. William Loring wrote a novel named  Calamity Jane. The stories in this and other fiction about Jane were often conflated with her actual life experiences, magnifying her legend. Jane  published her autobiography in 1896,  Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane by Herself,  to cash in on her own fame, and much of it is quite clearly fictional or exaggerated.  In 1899, she lived in Deadwood again, supposedly raising money for her daughters education.  She appeared at the Buffalo, New York, Pan-American Exposition in 1901, in exhibitions and shows. Death Janes chronic drunkenness and fighting caused her to be fired in 1901 from the Exposition and she retired to Deadwood. She died in a hotel in nearby Terry  in 1903.  Different sources give different causes of death:  pneumonia, inflammation of the bowels, or alcoholism. Calamity Jane was buried next to Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwoods Mount Mariah Cemetery.  Because of her notoriety, her funeral was large. Legacy The legend of Calamity Jane, markswoman, horsewoman, drinker, and performer, continues in movies, books, and television Westerns. How did Jane get the moniker Calamity Jane? Many answers have been offered by historians and storytellers. Calamity, some say, is what Jane would threaten to any man who bothered her. She also claimed the name was given to her because she was good to have around in a calamity, such as the smallpox epidemic of 1878. Maybe the name was a description of a very hard and tough life.  Like much in her life, its simply not certain. Sources Calamity Jane. Life and Adventures of Calamity Jane by Herself. Ye Galleon Press, 1979.â€Å"Calamity Jane: Exposed.†Ã‚  True West Magazine, 21 Aug. 2015.â€Å"Encyclopedia of the Great Plains.†Ã‚  Encyclopedia of the Great Plains | CALAMITY JANE (1856-1903).

Cómo solicitar visa humanitaria parole para EE.UU.

Cà ³mo solicitar visa humanitaria parole para EE.UU. Cuando una persona extranjera necesita urgentemente ingresar a Estados Unidos y no puede obtener una visa podrà ­a calificar para obtener una parole humanitaria. Puntos clave: parole humanitaria La parole humanitaria solo es posible pedirla cuando el solicitante est fuera de EE.UU., no puede de ninguna manera obtener una visa regular y necesita ingresar a Estados Unidos por razà ³n de emergencia humanitaria o beneficio pà ºblico significativo.Cualquier persona puede pedir la parole humanitaria para sà ­ mismo, aunque tambià ©n es posible que lo solicita otra persona o una ONG a su nombre.El solicitante o sus patrocinadores debern tener recursos econà ³micos suficientes para demostrar que, de ingresar a EE.UU. el solicitante no se convertir en carga pà ºblica.Una de cada cuatro solicitudes de parole humanitaria es negada.De aprobarse, las parole humanitarias son por un tiempo concreto.  ¿Quà © es la visa humanitaria para Estados Unidos? Aunque habitualmente a este tipo de autorizacià ³n se les llama visa humanitaria en realidad no es un visa, sino que se trata de un parole, es decir, una autorizacià ³n extraordinaria que se otorga cuando no se cumplen los requisitos ordinarios para obtener una visa. Requisitos para solicitar una parole humanitaria Los requisitos para calificar para solicitar la parole humanitaria son cuatro: Estar fuera de EE.UU.No poder obtener una visa para EE.UU. por ser inadmisibleEl ingreso a EE.UU. serà ­a temporalLa razà ³n por la que se pide el parole es de naturaleza humanitaria o por razones de beneficio pà ºblico. Hay ms de 20 visas no inmigrante distintas para ingresar a Estados Unidos, cada una con sus caracterà ­sticas y requisitos. Adems, chilenos y espaà ±oles y ciudadanos de otros 36 paà ­ses  no la necesitan para viajes por tiempo inferior a 90 dà ­as. Si no es posible obtener ninguna de estas visas, a veces es posible solicitar un waiver, tambià ©n conocido como perdà ³n o permiso. Si se han agotado todas las posibilidades y no es posible viajar a EE.UU. porque se es inadmisible  podr entonces intentarse obtener la parole humanitaria.  ¿Quà © es una razà ³n humanitaria o beneficio pà ºblico significante para obtener la parole? La ley migratoria de los Estados Unidos establece que se puede solicitar cuando se dà © una de las siguientes causas:   mà ©dica, tanto para visitar a un familiar enfermo o accidentado o  como para recibir tratamiento mà ©dico, cuando no sea posible recibirlo en el propio paà ­s o en uno vecino.presentarse como testigo en un juicio  civil o penalcasos muy excepcionales de reunificacià ³n familiar, cuando se trata de una separacià ³n entre adulto - nià ±o menor de 16 aà ±os o en casos de incapacidad fà ­sica o mental.cualquier otra que sea considerada grave.  cuando sea un beneficio pà ºblico importante. Son muy importantes los ejemplos para ilustrar estos requisitos. Asà ­, una razà ³n mà ©dica de peso puede ser que un nià ±o enfermo necesite de una operacià ³n que solo se realiza en los Estados Unidos, y se puede pedir la parole para el menor y para su padre o su madre. Otro ejemplo, es si se necesita hacer una donacià ³n de mà ©dula a un hermano, etc.   Un ejemplo de reunificacià ³n familiar puede ser el caso extraordinario en el que un matrimonio obtiene una visa de inmigrante pero la esposa tiene un bebà © despuà ©s de la entrevista en el consulado pero antes de viajar a los Estados Unidos.   Se aplica inmediatamente por el I-130 pero por retrasos en las fechas de prioridad el bebà © tendrà ­a que estar muchos meses separado de su mam, esperando por un nà ºmero de visa disponible. Para evitar esto, podrà ­a solicitarse. Tambià ©n podrà ­a considerarse como base para un parole la necesidad de cuidar a un familiar muy grave o moribundo que se encuentra en EE.UU. o el deseo de asistir a un funeral de una persona cercana.  ¿Quià ©nes pueden presentar la solicitud de parole humanitaria? Pueden hacerlo cualquiera de las siguientes personas: La persona que necesita el parole. Es decir, el beneficiarioUn abogadoUna organizacià ³n sin fin de lucroUn familiar u otra persona como un amigo que est en Estados Unidos y que  patrocina. En este caso à ºltimo caso se debe enviar prueba de estatus migratorio legal en Estados Unidos, como por ejemplo, pasaporte americano, si es ciudadano, green card, si es residente permanente legal, etc.  ¿Cà ³mo solicitar la parole humanitaria? Para realizar la peticià ³n de parole humanitaria es requerimiento completar dos formularios oficiales, pagar y adjuntar documentacià ³n adicional que apoye la peticià ³n.   Existen dos formas muy parecidas de solicitar el permiso. En primer lugar, si el solicitante que fuera de Estados Unidos presenta la solicitud por sà ­ mismo, es decir, una auto-peticià ³n,  las reglas son las siguientes: Antes de comenzar a rellenar los formularios es necesario presentarse en persona en la embajada o consulado de los Estados Unidos y solicitar una pre-autorizacià ³n para llenar el I-131. Si se obtiene, en algà ºn momento que ya se indicar ser necesario acudir al consulado o a un centro de apoyo para que le tomen al solicitante los datos biomà ©tricos, como por ejemplo, las huellas digitales. Adems, una vez obtenida la pre-autorizacià ³n ya se puede ya completar la planilla  I-131.   Esta planilla, que se llama en inglà ©s Application for Travel Document es utilizado en ms casos que nada tienen que ver con la parole humanitaria. Por esta razà ³n es que es fcil confundirse por lo que se recomienda prestar mucha atencià ³n o contratar a un abogado con experiencia en estos casos. La otra planilla que se debe enviar con la aplicacià ³n es la  I-134 que es una declaracià ³n jurada sobre recursos econà ³micos. Incluir la declaracià ³n de impuestos, prueba de empleo actual y,  si se pide el parole por razà ³n mà ©dica, prueba de cà ³mo se va a pagar el tratamiento. Con este requisito se trata de demostrar que el solicitante no se convertir en una carga pà ºblica en el caso de ingresar a EE.UU. Adems, si un abogado colabora en la peticià ³n de este permiso, debe presentarse la forma G-28. Si se solicita para recibir tratamiento mà ©dico debe incluirse documentacià ³n de por quà © no puede recibir dicho tratamiento en su paà ­s ni en los vecinos, papeles mà ©dicos sobre diagnà ³stico y prognosis (cà ³mo se cree que va a ser la evolucià ³n de la enfermedad), cunto tiempo se cree que va a durar el tratamiento, cul es el costo, cà ³mo se va a pagar y cules son los planes para salir de Estados Unidos cuando finalice el tratamiento. Asimismo, adjuntar toda la documentacià ³n adicional y detallada de apoyo que sirva para demostrar que existe una emergencia y tambià ©n la papelerà ­a con documentos personales, como copia legible del pasaporte del solicitante, su certificado de nacimiento o adopcià ³n y, si los tuviera, los certificados de matrimonio y decreto de divorcio.   Adems, escribir una carta concisa pero que contenga todos los puntos sobre por quà © debe aprobarse la parole humanitaria. Esta aplicacià ³n tiene en la actualidad un costo de $575 dà ³lares americanos, pero verificar siempre antes de enviar la solicitud ya que puede cambiar. No es posible solicitar una waiver para no pagar esta cuota. Adems, las personas entre 14 y 79 aà ±os de edad deben pagar $85 ms en concepto de toma de datos biomà ©tricos. Cabe destacar que si algà ºn documento est en un idioma distinto al inglà ©s debe traducirse y  certificar la traduccià ³n. Por el contrario, si la solicitud de la envà ­a un patrocinador que est en Estados Unidos, como por ejemplo un familiar el trmite consiste en rellenar las planillas I-131 y I-134 y adjuntar pago y documentacià ³n adicional como se ha dicho anteriormente. La à ºnica diferencia y muy importante es que no es necesario acudir al consulado por una pre-autorizacià ³n. Adems, en este caso, el patrocinador al llenar el formulario I-134 deber presentar los tax returns de los à ºltimos dos aà ±os.  ¿Cà ³mo se envà ­a la documentacià ³n para la parole humanitaria? Depende de dà ³nde est la persona que realiza la solicitud: Si el que solicita el parole es la persona que solicita ingresar a Estados Unidos y por lo tanto se encuentra fuera del paà ­s, entonces la documentacià ³n se entrega o envà ­a al consulado o embajada, quien la remite a la oficina del Humanitarian Affairs Branch (HAB, por sus siglas en inglà ©s), que est ubicado en Washington D.C. Por el contrario, si se cuenta con un patrocinador en Estados Unidos o se tiene aquà ­ abogado, entonces existen dos direcciones. Emplear la correcta segà ºn el tipo de envà ­o: Para correo ordinario: USCIS PO Box 660865 Dallas, TX. 75266 Para correo exprà ©s o mensajerà ­a:  USCIS Attn: HP 2501 S. State Hwy 121, Business Suite 400 Lewisville, TX 75067 Respuesta de USCIS a la solicitud de parole humanitaria Como regla general, el Servicio de Inmigracià ³n y Ciudadanà ­a (USCIS, por sus siglas en inglà ©s) responde por carta al solicitante y a su abogado, si lo tiene, entre 90 y  120 dà ­as despuà ©s del envà ­o. Sin embargo, si existe urgencia se puede solicitar tramitacià ³n de emergencia y se puede resolver en cuestià ³n de dà ­as. Si pasan ms de 120 dà ­as y no ha habido comunicacià ³n de ningà ºn tipo es recomendable escribir al lugar al que se envià ³ la solicitud y pedir informacià ³n.   Si se deniega la peticià ³n de la parole humanitaria, no se puede apelar, pero si cambian las circunstancias o se consiguen ms documentos para apoyar la solicitud, se puede aplicar de nuevo. Por el contrario, si se aprueba, se notifica al solicitante y a su abogado, si lo tiene. A continuacià ³n la embajada o el consulado se coordinar con el HAB y con el solicitante para entregarle a à ©ste los documentos para viajar a Estados Unidos por el tiempo que se concede el parole, que generalmente es  por el tiempo necesario que dure la emergencia. El parole expira el dà ­a que se  indica en el documento en el que se aprueba o, si se sale antes de Estados Unidos, ese dà ­a. Se puede pedir un nuevo parole una vez que se est en Estados Unidos, es lo que en inglà ©s se llama un re-parole. Esto es, no se trata de una extensià ³n, sino de una nueva aplicacià ³n y se tiene que explicar por quà © se necesita.   La documentacià ³n y el pago se envà ­a a la oficina del HAB: 20 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Ste 3300 Washington, D.C. 20529-2100 Estadà ­sticas y consejos Cada aà ±o fiscal, el USCIS recibe aproximadamente unas 1.200 peticiones para que apruebe parole humanitarias. De ese total, apenas se aprueban 300. Es decir, se niegan el 75 por ciento o lo que es lo mismo, sà ³lo obtienen la aprobacià ³n una de cada cuatro. Los nà ºmeros indican claramente que no es fcil de obtener por lo que conviene estudiar las reglas y si se cree que se cumplen los requisitos contratar a un abogado con experiencia positiva en este tipo de casos. En ningà ºn caso se aprueban peticiones con el fin de saltarse las reglas establecidas por las leyes migratorias de los Estados Unidos. La parole humanitaria es el à ºltimo recurso para ingresar a Estados Unidos. Sà ³lo se debe buscar cuando exista una razà ³n humanitaria urgente o un beneficio pà ºblico importante que la justifique y siempre que se hayan previamente agotado todas las posibilidades de obtener una visa.   Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Art analyze Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Art analyze - Assignment Example ation occurs because it will be difficult for the different income groups to intermingle since they tend to frequent vastly different places like schools and restaurants and other social places. This phenomenon will eventually lead to the various groups to identify themselves with different cultures be it music, sports activities or their modes of transport. In today’s society, for example, the affluent members tend to gravitate towards sports such as rugby, polo and golf; listen to classical music and in some instances rock music, while the less affluent tend to participate in sports such as soccer and basketball while listening to mostly rap and r ‘n b music. Personally I have used my various tastes to enforce my own class boundary. There are times when one is in a social gathering of majorly strangers and the small talk engaged in the various groups standing will be topics that each easily relates to. I will naturally be tend to feel more comfortable in groups discussing about soccer and r n; b music than in groups discussing the ongoing Polo tournament or rugby tournament being held in the vicinity. This is one example that one can use to enforce his/ her class boundaries. The other groups will also comprise mostly of people with similar inclinations to certain events or sports activities .These tastes have been natured over time since birth due mostly to the environment they grew up in . This is an inevitable occurrence in society and it can not in any way be described as discrimination. There are times one would like to attend a social function but one feels restricted due to mostly the conditions one is expected to adhere to in order to be allowed in the said event. This can be for instance a ball that one has been invited to for a date but one is required to attend in a white tuxedo. This can be a requirement put in place in order to narrow down to a certain targeted crowd of people whom the host may want to attract for his or her own personal

Asian philosphy Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Asian philosphy - Article Example The first major problem that generally applies to most Indian translations such as Yoga Sutra is the absence of moral significance particularly due to the western domination. On the other hand, the second major problem with the current translation is specific to Yoga Sutra and is largely attributed to the failure to make clear distinctions between Yoga and other Indian school of philosophies such as Advaita Vedanta and Sankhya. Ranganathan The new translation of Yoga Sutra not only elaborates the moral and philosophical insights of Patanjali’s philosophy but also lays bare its originality within the context of tradition (Ranganathan 26). In my view this is has been particularly achieved through increased sensitivity to translation theory as well as paying more attention to the theoretical nature of the moral of â€Å"Tharma† In my view, although Yoga primarily stands for meditation of the mind, the contemporary parlance has shifted its reference to include the philosophical aspects of the tradition. Some of the Patanjali’s non Yoga historical sources include Buddhism, Judaism, Sankhya and Jainism. However, Patanjali is closely associated with Sankhya tradition more than any other philosophy schools. Lastly, the originality of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra philosophy is particularly evidenced by the way he has effectively blended and synthesized the various traditions he has drawn

Transportation safety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Transportation safety - Essay Example This is done in the belief that at lower speeds, they can get drunk and still control their cars with ease. This has in turn led to increased accidents on our roads. Use of road bumps also helps reduce road accidents. The bumps help reduce the speed at which cars move especially at pedestrian crossings. On the other hand these bumps often cause accidents especially when not clearly marked as the drivers at high speed normally don’t get a clear view of the bumps as they approach them. This normally leads to the cars veering off the roads and causing accidents (Hauer, p41). Use of traffic police is always believed to be a major measure in curbing road carnage. They are deployed along highways and in major towns to enforce traffic rules, especially elimination of unroadworthy vehicles on the road. These policemen are usually underpaid and this makes them engage in corruption activities. They get bribed and let go of unroadworthy vehicles, drunk and careless drivers, leading to accidents. Road signs are also used to reduce road accidents. Most motorists often feel safe at the sight of a stop sign, but this is not the case in an intersection when other drivers ignore the rules and run into stop signs. Stop sign running is always caused by impatience of drivers who assume that there are no other motorists as they cross intersections. Some signs especially those faded usually cause confusion to drivers, leading to accidents. Therefore, in applying the road safety measures to curb road accidents, care must be taken to ensure that these same measures do not increase the chances of crashes in the transportation

Arab Politics -The Baath Party Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Arab Politics -The Baath Party - Research Paper Example Baath party is one of the Arab political parties originated in Syria. It has attained international fame because of its association with former Iraq president Saddam Husain. Though Baath party has extended its roots to many Arab countries like Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan etc as a symbol of Arab unity, it didn’t survive long because of its composition of different political regimes and origin The Arab Socialist Baath Party was founded in Syria in the 1940s by a small group of French-educated Syrian intellectuals - Michel Aflaq, a Greek Orthodox, and Salah al-Din al-Bitar, a Sunni Muslim. The word Baath means renaissance in Arabic. (Kafala) The educated Muslim intellectuals have visualized the whole Arab countries as a single entity and their aim was to bring all the Arab people under one flag of the Baath party. Their aim was not motivated by any selfish aspects. They have felt the need of a single Arab party in order to counter the external threats from countries like Israel and America. Baath party was a secular Arab party. â€Å"Socialism (not Marxism) was quickly adopted as the party’s economic dogma: â€Å"Unity [Arab], Freedom [from colonialism], and Socialism† are still the watchwords.† (The Syrian Encyclopaedia) Though Baath party has accepted socialism as the economic principle, it differed from communism in many ways. Communism mostly works for the working class of the whole world whereas Baath party stressed the importance of economic equality among all the peoples of Arab countries. They have given focus on Arab culture alone and hence they concentrated on the Middle East region alone. Communism, on the other hand, doesn’t have any boundaries; it works for the whole working class in the world. â€Å"The Iraqi Baath party was founded in 1951 and had 500 members three years later. Saddam Hussein joined it as a 20-year-old in 1956.  

Apple Strategic Managment Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Apple Strategic Managment - Case Study Example With declining stock values, Apple has planned to introduce a lower-priced iPhone that will effectively compete in the smartphone market and rejuvenate the once giant of the iPhone industry (Apple Inc). This paper aims at evaluating the business and market aspects of the lower cost iPhone with respect to the target price, the target manufacturing cost, and the estimated gross profit.Since Apple used over USD 150 million in designing and manufacturing the iPhone 5, the lower cost iPhone will not incorporate most of the smartphone apps that the iPhone 5 uses. For example, the lower cost phone will run on a simple Android system with internet settings operating under the EDGE network. These will significantly reduce the initial manufacturing cost to just about USD 40 million with the first batch producing over 300,000 units of the iPhone. This will mean that the manufacturing cost of each unit of the lower cost iPhone will be USD 217, which means that every unit of the lower cost iPhone sold will fetch in a gross of USD 133 (United States Securities and Exchange Commission).Estimated gross profitFrom the figures above, it is clear that Apple will target an annual sale of USD 105 billion. Since gross profit is obtained by subtracting the cost of sales from the net sales, the estimated gross profit for the lower cost iPhone will be USD 65 billion. This strategic iPhone will definitely revive the declining profit margin in Apple’s iPhone market as well as stabilize its stock market (Apple Inc).

Rape in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Rape in America - Essay Example This figure translates to an incidence rate of 64.8 victims of forcible rate for every 100,000 women and girls (FBI, 2003). The report also states that around 91 percent of these victims suffered rapes by force while 9 percent reported experiencing forcible rape attempts by another person. Although definitions of rape in every society, culture and nationality varies and considered very complex, the law provides basic situations or conditions for the commission of this crime. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), established in the 1960s, defines rape as "forced sexual intercourse including both psychological coercion as well as physical force. Forced sexual intercourse means vaginal, anal, or oral penetration by the offender" (Kilpatrick, 2004). "The Federal Criminal Code of 1986 has a different definition of rape. It does not use the term rape per se but uses aggravated sexual abuse instead. According to this law, there are two types of aggravated sexual abuse. These are (1) aggravated sexual abuse by force or threat of force and (2) aggravated sexual abuse by other means". (Title 18, Chapter 109A, Sections 2241-2233). The first type involves the use of force or threat such as death, injury or detention to coerce a person into sexual activity. The second type includes rendering the victim unconscious through force or other means such as alcohol or drugs in order to engage into a sexual act (Title 18, Chapter 109A, Sections 2241-2233). The National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS) on the other hand clearly defined the nature and limits of rape in their assessment of U.S. adult women from 1995-1996. There were five instances or conditions in their questionnaire which can be considered as an act of rape. The first is the use of force or threat to victim or persons close to the victim in order to have sex which involves putting a penis in the victim's vagina. The second is the use of force or threat to victim or persons close to the victim to have oral sex. The third is the use of force or threat to victim or persons close to the victim to have anal sex. The third is the use of force or threat to victim or persons close to the victim to put the offender's finger inside the victim's vagina or anus. The last condition includes the above four acts but without actual penetration (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000). In the social or psychological science, rape is defined as forcing sexual activity on a person who objects or withholds consent or, in other words, sexual activity devoid of consent and against the person's will. This paper aims to assess the applicability of the narcissistic theory in the commission of rape and the psychology of rapists. Narcissistic Theory The narcissistic theory was presented by several psychologists including S. Freud, C. Lasch, O. Kernberg and H. Kohut to name a few. Narcissism was based from the name of a Greek mythology character called Narcissus who fell in love with his own reflection on the water's surface. Narcissism, simply put, is used to refer to self-love or self-admiration (John & Robins, 1994; Rhodewalt et al., 1998; Morf & Rhodewalt, 1993). Freud's adaptation of the term found healthy and pathologic applications of narcissism in his psychodynamic theories while Kohut defines it as a mental illness caused by a defective upbringing resulting to excessive love of oneself and disregard for other persons. Lasch

Apple Strategic Managment Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Apple Strategic Managment - Case Study Example With declining stock values, Apple has planned to introduce a lower-priced iPhone that will effectively compete in the smartphone market and rejuvenate the once giant of the iPhone industry (Apple Inc). This paper aims at evaluating the business and market aspects of the lower cost iPhone with respect to the target price, the target manufacturing cost, and the estimated gross profit.Since Apple used over USD 150 million in designing and manufacturing the iPhone 5, the lower cost iPhone will not incorporate most of the smartphone apps that the iPhone 5 uses. For example, the lower cost phone will run on a simple Android system with internet settings operating under the EDGE network. These will significantly reduce the initial manufacturing cost to just about USD 40 million with the first batch producing over 300,000 units of the iPhone. This will mean that the manufacturing cost of each unit of the lower cost iPhone will be USD 217, which means that every unit of the lower cost iPhone sold will fetch in a gross of USD 133 (United States Securities and Exchange Commission).Estimated gross profitFrom the figures above, it is clear that Apple will target an annual sale of USD 105 billion. Since gross profit is obtained by subtracting the cost of sales from the net sales, the estimated gross profit for the lower cost iPhone will be USD 65 billion. This strategic iPhone will definitely revive the declining profit margin in Apple’s iPhone market as well as stabilize its stock market (Apple Inc).

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Banking Comparison - Essay Example First, the institution to be picked must be able to guarantee safety of the deposits made. Further, it should ensure be able to provide both long term and short term investment opportunities. Moreover, with the increasing technological advancement, it must be able to provide online banking services at affordable rates. The choice taken must be able to guarantee ATM services within the area of residence and other locations as well. Interest should also be placed on the checking accounts and the fees that are associated with them. The institution should also be able to ensure access to the services internationally as well as a safe deposit box. The fees charged on the money transfers should also be a point of concern. Finally, the location of the institution should be convenient and the interest earned on the savings program should be considerate. Indeed, a financial institution that guarantees all these will be the best. The methodology that will be adopted in carrying out research to ascertain the most appropriate financial institution to join will include both primary and secondary. Secondary will involve searching the online information available regarding the institution including the website and other articles. Further, there will be primary approach where an in-depth interview will be carried out to ensure that adequate first hand information is gathered from the bank personnel. This will be done through the visiting of the banks as an individual and doing a face to face interview with the institution’s staff on the services offered. Finally, the data collected through both the primary and secondary approach will be compared with the individual needs in order to come up with the very best option. After carrying out research on Bank of America, CITI, and Chase bank, it was clear that the banks offer almost similar services of interest. Indeed, having visited the branches for in-depth interviews, it almost became difficult to

Child Development Theories Natural vs Social Process

Child Development Theories Natural vs Social Process To what extent has childhood been viewed as a social and cultural process rather than a natural process? Illustrate your discussion with reference to Book 1, Chapter 1, Children and development. Childhood is such a fundamental and integral part of humanity that on first considerations, we may take it for granted as an entirely natural process. The biological journey of maturation is a universal shared experience.   Yet even if childhood is recognised only in these limited biological terms, it is still influenced by social factors i.e. the health and life choices of the mother during pregnancy. In the civilised world, there are very few who would be prepared to argue that childhood should be viewed as an entirely natural process. Contemporary developmental theorists recognise the child as an active agent whom is developing both physically and psychologically; the individual experience of childhood is dependent upon how they interact with their environment and how that society understands their specific nature and needs. The attitudes to children and views of childhood vary dramatically between different periods in history and different cultures, and are also actively evolvi ng within our own culture; therefore it is, currently, more accurate to view childhood as a social and cultural process rather than a natural one: â€Å"The immaturity of children is a biological fact but the ways in which that immaturity is understood is a fact of culture†¦.childhood is †¦.constructed and reconstructed both for and by children† (James and Prout, 1997, p.15) Woodhead (2005) illustrates that historically, throughout Western culture, childhood has been viewed as both a natural process and as a social and cultural process. It has also been viewed as an interactive process between the two. These changeable and evolving attitudes confirm James and Prout’s assertion that â€Å"childhood is constructed and reconstructed†. By comparing and contrasting the origins of the four main Psychological perspectives of Child Development and acknowledging their legacies to modern day practices, I intend to conclude that childhood has probably been viewed to a greater extent as a social and cultural process than it has a natural process. It has been proposed that ‘childhood’ is in itself a recent invention. Philippe Aries (1962) is chiefly accredited with underlining the socially constructed character of childhood. He studied the history of literature and paintings and concluded that in mediaeval times childhood didn’t exist. Obviously younger members of the species existed but they were not granted any special or distinctive status.   Once weaned, they were thrust into adult society. Aries claimed that the awareness of children’s distinctive nature did not emerge until the end of the fifteenth century. This can de illustrated in the emergence and gradual rise of schooling and paediatrics. Aries has been criticised for making general conclusions which rely on limited sources. The largest group of children would have been the poor, and they would not have been represented. However the broad framework of his argument (the socially constructed nature of childhood) is the foundation of subsequent studies: â€Å"The idea of childhood must be seen as a particular cultural phrasing of the early part of the life course, historically and politically contingent and subject to change†. (James and James, 2001) There are four main perspectives of child development. These theories stem from three opposing philosophies which attempt to define the essential nature of humanity as embodied in the newborn child. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) believed children to be inherently sinful. He believed that development should be shaped by control and discipline. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) believed children to be inherently innocent; his supporters advocate that development is shaped by following children’s natural stages. The theories of Hobbes and Rousseau are classified as nativist theories; maintaining that childhood is a natural process. John Locke (1632-1704) didn’t view children as either inherently sinful or innocent, but rather a ‘tabua rasa’ (blank slate) to be written on by experience; those influenced by him maintain the chief factor of development is experience.   Locke’s Theory is classified as empiricist; advocating that childhood is a social and cult ural process. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) believed children to be born with mental structures specifically designed to interpret information from the environment; the essence of development being interaction. Kant sets the tone for the ‘transactional models’ of development; not viewing childhood as exclusively a natural or exclusively a social process, but a combination of the two. Thomas Hobbes believed that all human beings were born with original sin, therefore all children were born evil and had to be ‘saved’. The prime factors of development were control and discipline. He was an important influence to the formation of the Methodist church. The theory that children were inherently sinful was very desirable and easily identifiable from an Armenian perspective; people believed that children learned obedience to God through obedience to their parents. Childhood was a time of strict parenting and harsh discipline: â€Å"Severe beatings of children in the name of discipline were common occurrences. Heaven was sometimes described to children in Sunday school as a place where children are never beaten†. (Newman and Smith, 1999) This view was apparent in the early nineteenth century in Hannah More’s evangelical writings on child rearing. She too argued that it was a fundamental error to view children as inherently innocent and it should be down to society to curb their evil dispositions. The omnipresence of God and Satan in every person’s life was an unchallenged premise: â€Å"The hard line view of infants as limbs of Satan persisted throughout the eighteenth century†. (Ezell, M.J.M, 1984) This harsh and unsentimental view of children was not just religiously, but also demographically and economically motivated. Infant mortalities were extremely high; between twenty and fifty percent of babies died within their first year. Many parents referred to their child as â€Å"it† until they reached an age when survival was probable.   Although it is problematic to speculate, it seems plausible that parents were consciously detached from their children as a coping mechanism, should they not survive into adulthood. Although Hobbes advocated a nativist perspective on the essential nature of children, the religious attitudes which he and his contemporaries would have taken for granted as truth are now dormant in the majority of Western societies (apart from some remaining puritan cultures).   Any who did share the popular religious view would not have been recorded.   This validates James and Prouts assertion that childhood is â€Å"constructed and reconstructed†. Hobbesian views of childhood did not unfold naturally, but were constructed through social discourse. Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed the exact opposite to Hobbes; that children are not inherently sinful, but are inherently innocent, and would develop naturally in positive ways if allowed to do so. He referred to children as ‘noble savages’, this romantic notion supposes that all humanity is born pure and good until corrupted by civilisation. The environment does not have a positive, but has a negative affect on development: â€Å"Everything is good in leaving the hands of the Creator of Things; everything degenerates at the hands of man†. (Rousseau, 1762) During the eighteenth century, views of childhood began to change; children were seen as innocent and in need of protection, (not unlike the way we see them today) consequently though, they were also viewed as weak and susceptible to temptation. Along with the notion of protection came the notion of discipline, as parents taught their children to avoid the enticements of their social world. Until the late 1800s, child labour was commonly practiced and accepted. It is reported that up to half of all workers in northern factories were children under the age of eleven. Children worked as long and as hard as adults. Because of their small size, they were sometimes given difficult and hazardous jobs, like cleaning out the insides of narrow factory chimneys. In poor urban families, parents often forced their children to engage in scavenging and street peddling.   Rousseau’s observations were not surprising given that the desire to protect children was coupled with their seemingly inevitable exploitation. Although chiefly belonging to the realms of Romanticism, Rousseau’s theory did have practical psychological applications. He is attributed with presenting the first truly developmental account of childhood, through his emphasis on maturation and stages of development. His book; â€Å"Emile† (On Education)(1762) suggests children should be allowed an ‘Age of Nature’ covering the period from birth to twelve years. This should be a time in which children be allowed to play and have their natural innocence respected.    It is Rousseau’s emphasis in allowing the child to indulge their natural stages of development which is his legacy to child development. Fredrich Froebel (1782-1852): the pioneer of the kindergarten movement and designer of toy building blocks shared Rousseau’s vision: â€Å"The child, the boy, man indeed should know no other endeavour but to be at every stage of development wholly what this stage calls for† (Froebel 1885). The idea of natural stages of development sets the tone for contemporary teaching templates by setting guidelines for what is considered ‘developmentally appropriate’ practice, especially the balance of play and teaching within early years education. Although Rousseau’s legacy can be illustrated in modern day views of childhood, it is his practical advice about nurturing the Childs natural development, and not his nativist perspective which persists.   John Locke’s theory contrasts both Hobbes and Rousseau’s. He didn’t believe that children were born inherently evil or innocent, but rather a blank slate. He saw the character of childhood as extremely malleable; experience being the sole factor of development. He recommended parents as tutors, responsible for providing the right environment and offering moral guidance in which to shape and nurture their children into mature, rational adults.   Locke was the pioneer of the Educationalist movement. His essay,† Some thoughts concerning education† (1693)asserts that; â€Å"a Childs mind must be educated before he is instructed†.   Although some of his critics accused Locke of â€Å"despiritulising† childhood, his theory permeated throughout society: â€Å"The root of all corruption is poor Education† (Osborne London Journal, 1732.) Locke’s theories echo contemporary debates concerning modern family values. The infamous ‘Back to Basics’ conservative campaign of the early 1990’s suggested that a breakdown in traditional family values was responsible for a degenerating Britain. In May 2002, Patricia Amos was jailed for sixty days because of her daughter’s persistent truancy. Most recently, in response to a spate of teenage shootings in East London in February 2007, leader of the opposition; David Cameron controversially proposed that absent fathers are responsible for an emerging class of feral children.   These attitudes don’t assume that children are passive receivers of their environment as Locke believed, but do demonstrate the huge onus of social responsibility he proposed. Immanuel Kant viewed the key influence on development to be interaction. He agreed with Locke that experience plays a crucial role in learning but argued that knowledge could not arise from what is taken in by the senses alone. Kant acknowledges the child as an active agent in their own development. He deems it unreasonable to assume that children are just passive receivers of external stimuli or blind followers of a pre-determined biological pattern. The precipitator of development becomes the continuous interaction between the two. Both nature and the environment are equally significant. Kant creates the framework for the transactional models of development which assume the child to be an active autonomous agent in their own development and attempt to explain this relationship of cause and effect that they have with their environment.   This is the most popular start point for modern child development theories, such as social constructivist theories.   The religiously dictated views of Hobbes and Romanticism motivated views of Rousseau are unconvincing to a modern audience. Their legacies are derivative of their child rearing advice and not their rigid perspectives. James and Prouts assertion that â€Å"childhood is constructed and reconstructed is convincing enough to dispel these solely nativist theories. Locke’s emphasis on education (although not to the extent he proposed) is echoed by today’s politicians.   It seems reasonable to assume that the real character of childhood is an interactive process between the two as proposed by Kant. .   In the civilised world, the onus of social responsibility to our children has always been great and is growing. Underlining the socially constructed character of childhood has had a great influence on our attitudes; therefore childhood has probably been viewed to a greater extent as a social and cultural process than it has been viewed as a ‘natural process’.

The Three Tales of Cymbeline Essay -- Shakespeare Cymbeline Essays

The Three Tales of Cymbeline Cymbeline has always been a difficult play to categorize. The original collection of Shakespeare's plays, "The First Folio" (published in 1623), classifies it as a tragedy; modern editors have revised that to comedy, and to distinguish it further from other comedies, it is also referred to, along with The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, and Pericles, as a romance. Of course, like so many other plays of Shakespeare, these classifications are only guidelines rather than definitions, for an attempt to analyze a work of art according to somewhat arbitrary classifications is to diminish the very essence - its originality - that makes it a work of art. Undoubtedly, there are many aspects, patterns, and rhythms in this play that echo through several of Shakespeare's other tragedies, comedies, and even histories, for he used all his plays to view and explore a multi-faceted human condition from a variety of angles.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There appear to be three main narratives to Cymbeline - the tale of Imogen and Posthumus, with the villainous Iachimo lurking beside them, poised to destroy their happiness; the story of two sons, Guiderius and Arviragus, who have been separated from their father and are eventually restored to him; and the successful defense of Britain by King Cymbeline against foreign invasion, the one character most involved with all three stories, hence the name of the play. The understructure supporting these three plots is a virtual labyrinth of sub-plots and strands that shift in and out of each tale until the final scenes at the end, when Shakespeare, in a masterful denouement, perhaps unparalleled even in his own plays, weaves each skein (some two dozen or so), into a... ...end, King Cymbeline calls for a lasting peace between Rome and England, a peace that is a fitting resolution not only to the war but also to the internal conflicts, as wives and husbands, fathers and children return in harmony to one another. But Cymbeline, for all its tragicomic patterns, romantic devices, and historical pretensions, is at heart, as Northrop Frye put it, "a pure told tale, featuring a cruel stepmother with her loutish son, a calumniated maiden, lost princes brought up in a cave by a foster father, a ring of recognition that works in reverse, villains displaying false trophies of adultery and faithful servants displaying equally false trophies of murder, along with a great firework display of dreams, prophecies, signs, portents, and wonders." It is a complex journey of love, forgiveness, jealousy, murder, war, and peace.

Origin of Paper :: Essays

The word paper comes from the Greek term for the ancient Egyptian writing material called papyrus, which was formed from beaten strips of papyrus plants. Papyrus was produced as early as 3000 BC in Egypt, and sold to ancient Greece and Rome. The establishment of Great library at Alexandria put a drain on the supply of Papyrus, so According to the Roman Varro, Pliny's Natural History records (xiii.21), parchment was invented under the patronage of Eumenes of Pergamum, to build his rival libray at Permagum. parchment or vellum, made of processed sheepskin or calfskin, replaced papyrus, as the papyrus plant requires subtropical conditions to grow. In China, documents were ordinarily written on bone or bamboo, making them very heavy and awkward to transport. Silk was sometimes used, but was normally too expensive to consider. Indeed, most of the above materials were rare and costly. While the Chinese court official Cai Lun is widely regarded to have first described the modern method of papermaking (inspired from wasps and bees) from wood pulp in AD 105, the 2006 discovery of specimens bearing written characters in north-west China's Gansu province suggest that paper was in use by the ancient Chinese military more than 100 years before Cai in 8 BCE [1]. Archà ¦ologically however, true paper without writing has been excavated in China dating from the 2nd-century BCE. In America, archaeological evidence indicates that paper was invented by the Mayas no later than the 5th century AD.[1] Called Amatl, it was in widespread use among Mesoamerican cultures until the Spanish conquest. In small quantities, traditional Maya papermaking techniques are still practiced today. Paper is considered to be one of the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China. It spread slowly outside of China; other East Asian cultures, even after seeing paper, could not figure out how to make it themselves. Instruction in the manufacturing process was required, and the Chinese were reluctant to share their secrets. The paper was thin and translucent, not like modern western paper, and thus only written on one side. Books were invented in India, of Palm leaves (where we derive the name leaf for a sheet of a book). The technology was first transferred to Korea in 604 and then imported to Japan by a Buddhist priest, Dam Jing (曇å ¾ ´) from Goguryeo, around 610, where fibres (called bast) from the mulberry tree were used. After further commercial trading and the defeat of the Chinese in the Battle of Talas, the invention spread to the Middle East, Production was started in Baghdad, where the arabs invented a method to make a thicker sheet of paper.

Familiar with the phrase

I remember that as a child, I didn’t have difficulty making choices. My first vivid memory of a situation where I clearly had to make a conscious decision, something which was imprinted in my mind forever, came with a visit to a toy store at a mall.Familiar with the phrase, like a child in a candy store? It was the same thing- but obviously with toys in all shapes and sizes; some were mechanically animated with blinking lights, amusing music and sounds and moving parts. You would have expected a child of about 4 (I think I was four or five) to have simply sat there and insisted on living in the store if mom and dad didn’t buy everything in sight for them to take home.But things didn’t turn that way. I did spend a substantial amount of time browsing through the shelves, holding this, admiring that and generally wishing we could buy everything I wanted and fretting a little bit like any typical four-year old. But in the end, I knew what I really wanted from among t he bewildering array of choices. It was a choice that had been made with a combination of facts (I saw an ad on television), common sense (I knew it was a toy my other siblings wouldn’t be so interested in), and most importantly, it was an object that I was happiest with.The toy by the way was a Lego set- I was four and I was in a building phase plus the fact that the Lego pieces were nice to chew on when no one was watching. As years passed by and the Lego was replaced with various other toys, contraptions and amusements, choosing became more complicated and even tedious.Could it be possible that a four-year old be more adept and actually be more â€Å"matured† in making decisions and choices than a fifth-grader who was actually already taking high-school level Algebra, or an eighth-grader who suddenly showed an aptitude for music and was playing the piano like a pro?For some reason, that incident at the toy store became nothing more than a memory. The older I got, th e more I got confused and distracted even as my intellect had grown by leaps and bounds. In fifth-grade, I was the school nerd who took high-school Algebra lessons for the fun of it. But when it came to making choices about summer-camp, or something as trivial as what type of breakfast cereal to eat, I was a wreck; an annoying, back-tracking, undecided 11-year old. In eighth-grade, I could read sheet music as if they were comic books.But I caused my father agony when I hemmed and hawed at what high-school to go to; special music high school, regular high school? – I couldn’t make up my mind. My mother told me to my face quite bluntly; â€Å"you’re a genius at a lot of things, but it’s sad that you can’t even master the basics.†So when faced with college and what career path to take, I set aside the memory of last year’s fiasco of a vacation ( didn’t know whether backpacking to Europe, or Mexico, and ended up missing an importan t loved one’s birthday because of my indecisiveness) and focused on that lovely summer’s day at the toy store when I was four-years old.I closed my eyes and opened my heart and my mind. I shut out all distractions, biases, fears and pretensions. I was again a four-year old, innocent and guileless, a child who was at the edge of knowing what he wanted and knew that he had a family who would always support him. But more importantly, he knew what he truly wanted, what made him happy, and that never changes even if you were four or 90 years old.And so I made a choice that had been made with a combination of facts (I had an incredible aptitude in math and science), common sense (it was a hot-career and most in-demand), and most importantly, it was something that I was happiest with simply because having made that decision almost ten years ago, not a day passes that I don’t thank the fates, God and myself for having made that decision.That choice by the way, was decid ing to go to medical school and later joining the United Nations medical corps for special missions to places in the world where crucial medical and surgical procedures were urgently needed.Fifteen-hour work days, lack of equipment, threat of civil war, the pains and aches of the sick and a child’s smile thanking you for saving her life- yes, I am like a child again in a toy store.Work CitedCareerPlanning (2007) Career choice of change. Retrieved January 1, 2007 from http://careerplanning.about.com/od/careerchoicechan/Career_Choice_or_Change.htm

A Cultural Event I Ever Witnessed Essay

Kenyatta University is known beyond African continent for its annual culture week, an event during which activities that reflect diverse African culture are performed. The much awaited cultural week is characterized by songs, drama, poems, drama among other topical activities. I was privileged to attend the cultural week organized during the month of September, 2007 and held both at the universities cultural village and the finals held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Kenya. The most interesting was a traditional song presented in one of the native languages reflecting the manner with which the interest of others present and could not understand the local languages were catered for. Most of the songs were presented by groups composed of members from different communities, a clear indication of the cooperation and sharing within the communities at that time. A great artistic skill was depicted in the manner in which the singing group combined the different sounds to produce an enjoyable song, with coming in at different times and parts. It was accompanied by both traditional and modern instruments, stringed, drums, the piano and projected by the loud speakers for many to be able to hear. The performing group wrapped a lesso on their bodies. However, most of the traditional costumes were missing, enough to predict that the communities were moving away from the traditional dressing codes. The song was introduced by two of the performers, who played different parts in turn, the dance was in pairs and the group also left the stage in pairs. Through out the song though at different points, tonal variation was employed and this caught interest of the audience. All these reflected a great style. The lead singer who happened to be a lady demonstrated a great ability in tonal variation and dancing more than others in the team. Others could be heard whispering that â€Å"she is genius†, and actually she was and in all her performances, none matched her. It was a fact that the song described above had a lot in common with other forms of cultural expression at that time. Other forms as well included more than one performer, and involved the use of sound to communicate. Many forms of expression adhere to a specific style during performance and involve some degree of individual inherent exceptional ability, even though training also efficiently enhance success of such forms. They are performed during a cultural event and need audience. However, in contrast, most of the forms of cultural expression at that time were in a common language (that is English language) and did not involve cultural accompamyments neither was dance a common characteristic even though some element of demonstration were evidenced. REFERENCES Cook, N (1990) music imagination and culture. New York: Oxford University Press. Bratton, J. S (Ed. ) (1986) music Hall: Performance and Style. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Sloboda, J. A (1985) The Musical Mind: The cognitive Psychology of Music. New York: Clarendom Press.

Wal-Mart (Bus 644)

Wal-Mart BUS 644 Operations Management November 6, 2011 Introduction Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world, and it has obviously enjoyed tremendous success. But while many welcome its location in their communities, others do not. Some complain that its presence has too many negative effects on a community, ranging from traffic congestion to anti-union sentiment to unfair competition. â€Å"According to a recent study from Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business, the entry of a Wal-Mart does significantly impact sales at other local establishments (McDevitt, 2009). In regards to Wal-Mart impacting small businesses and town residents, it varies. There are both pros and cons of having Wal-Mart in local communities despite biases or beliefs of critics. Owners of small businesses located nearby. After observing the effects of seven Wal-Mart openings, researchers saw a 40 percent sales drop at nearby mass merchandise chains and 17 percent sales drop at supermarkets† (McDevitt, 2009, P. 1). Those small businesses within the same area of Wal-Mart often lose out on a lot of money or go out of business due to Wal-Mart’s everyday low prices and convenient shopping. With gas prices being at $4 a gallon, people wonder if customers will stay closer to home to shop, causing Wal-Mart to lose out on customers (Barett, 2008). There are those that think Wal-Mart is bad for local small business owners and those that oppose this viewpoint. Andrea Dean of West Virginia University argues that Wal-Mart has not had a negative effect on small businesses as critics think. Instead, the company has unleashed forces that have changed the nature of small businesses in this country in unexpected ways (Bandyk, 2008, P. ). Town residents and residents of nearby towns Town residents may have concerns ranging from an increase in noise pollution to a decrease in property values and those residents in favor of having Wal-Mart in local communities argue that Wal-Mart could be beneficial to residents; bringing in new jobs and tax revenue. Many Seekonk residents are not pleased about the soon to be Wal-Mart supercenter that is to be built at 150,000 square feet and located on 2 acres. â€Å"Another concern is the possible increase in crime in the area. Mello says that police officers have come to her house in the past to search the property for alleged shoplifters that fled through the woods from one of the retail stores† (Calverley,2011 P. 1). Another Seekonk resident is concerned that the pollution and dust will affect her husband’s health that is suffering from a respiratory illness and requires oxygen 24 hours a day (Calverley, 2011). Decrease in property value is likely to occur with there being a decrease of 10 to 18 percent in property value. Wal-Mart handling criticism I think that despite the criticisms Wal-Mart face, their success speaks for itself and customers always come back. Businesses worldwide will always face criticism, its how these businesses decide to follow up on these criticisms that truly matters. Wal-Mart needs to be careful when deciding where to station Wal-Mart centers; making certain that people in the local community are affected a minimal amount. People will ultimately be affected by location no matter where; however, the level in which they are affected should be strategically thought up so that few people are affected. So, instead of remaining silent on the sidelines as critics and watchdogs continue to tear it down, Wal-Mart is recruiting its own positive watchdogs as a combative measure (White, 2008, P. 1). It’s important for customers to feel valued and the network that Wal-Mart has collectively created will help to achieve this. Conclusion While there are downfalls of Wal-Mart supercenters being placed in local communities, there is without a doubt positives and Wal-Mart seems to be taking measures to reach out customers, for example, the efforts to establish the Customer Action Network, they are giving their customers a voice in hopes of helping them feel valued. There are several problem areas to be worked out on the behalf of Wal-Mart, however, with Wal-Mart being the largest Corporation in the world, critics will always pay careful and have negative feedback. References Barett, A. (2008)Does Wal-Mart Really Hurt Small Businesses? Retrieved on November 6, 2011 from http://www. businessweek. com/smallbiz/running_small_business/ Calverley, L. (2011). Residents Concerned about Proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter. Retrieved on November 6, 2011 from http://reportertoday. com/seekonk/seekonk/stories/Residents-Concerned-About-Proposed-Walmart-Supercenter Bandyk, M. (2008). Should Small Businesses Fear Wal-Mart? Retrieved on November 6, 2011 from http://money. snews. com/money/business-economy/small-business/articles/2008/08/01/should-small-businesses-fear-wal-mart McDevitt, C. (2009). Is Wal-Mart Killing your Business? Retrieved on November 6, 2011 from http://www. inc. com/news/articles/2009/04/walmart. html White, B. (2008). Wal-Mart Fights back Against Opponents. Retrieved on November 6, 2011 from http://www. bloggingstocks. com/2008/11/24/wal-mart-weekly-wal-mart-fights-back-against-opponents/

Reading response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 40

Reading response - Essay Example "Is a plongeurs work really necessary... He earns his bread in the sweat of his brow, but it does not follow that he is doings anything useful." This quote could be found in Chapter XXII when the author is just about to give up working at Auberge, with promise of working prospects in London. In this quote something is being said about poverty: That there are people who would willingly accept their plight because it is necessary. The argument is that it must be done, otherwise something in society will fail. The author, for example, mentioned that there were so many men with university degrees in Paris working as dishwashers and seemed to choose the because it is necessary. The offshoot was that they were trapped into poverty. For all his seeming practicality and sense, why would the author risk going to London on the strength of a friends recommendation? His friend Boris has already led him into deeper mire than he was in previously, so why trust his life on