Jim Porter

Discuss the character of Jimmy Porter in Look back in anger explaining how you feel about him as we move through the main action of the play. Have your ideas changed about him by the time we reach the play’s final scene? Jimmy Porter is the play's main character. He is the â€Å"Angry Young Man† who expresses his frustration for the lack of feelings in his placid domestic life. Jimmy can be understood as both a hero for his unfiltered expressions of emotion and frustration in a culture that propagated unemotional resignation.He can also be considered a villain for the ways in which his anger proves to be destructive to those in his life. All of these characteristics are shown as the play moves on. A play like  Look Back in Anger  creates a world which, in essence, is familiar to, reality, rather than an imaginative  dislocation  of reality, and it becomes easier for the mind to sidetrack onto an element which may be more pleasing to it than the main theme of the play.Constant reference is made, even by people who liked the play, to Jimmy Porter's self-pity, his  neurotic  behaviour, his  cruelty  to his wife. This makes nonsense of the play; Jimmy Porter is devoid of any neurosis or self-pity, and the play is summed up in his cry against a negative world, â€Å"Oh heavens, how I long for a little ordinary human enthusiasm. Just enthusiasm—that's all. I want to hear a warm, thrilling voice cry out Hallelujah! Hallelujah! I'm alive. †¦ Would  Look Back in Anger  have been the success it was if people had been forced to listen to this damning indictment of themselves as dead souls, instead of being allowed to stray into less dangerous channels. (pp. 45-6)Tom Milne, â€Å"The Hidden Face of Violence† (originally published in Encore,  Vol. VII, No. 1, 1960; copyright  © by  Encore),  in  Modern British Dramatists: A Collection of Critical Essays,  edited by John Russell Brown, Prentice-Hall, 1968, pp. 38-46. This criticism I find to be true, Jimmy as a character does not dwell in self pity or apathy, but instead see’s the world as unjust as a whole.His use of the term Enthusiasm is a response to his yearning for positivity, as he simply feels none from Alison. His endless efforts for discussion turn in the end into frustration, which inevitably evolves into confrontation. His endless scanning of numerous newspapers is evidence of this, as he tries to get a sense of the unjust world of his eye’s, to in all hope develop a series of discussions to exercise his mind, which is normally diverted by Alison and Cliff, which leads to his quest for confrontation.Jimmy as a character appears to be destructive to those in his life, but in contrast, there is the argument to be made that his destructiveness has its origins in Alison’s and Cliffs inability to level with his Ideas and opinions, which they rather continually ignore or shadow with Cliff’s immature comm ents, leading to Jimmy’s frustration through the lack of ability for discussion of the day’s affairs. An example of this comes in page 3, Jimmy †we’ll, she can talk, can’t she? You can talk, can’t you? You can express an opinion†¦.. This quote from the start of the play indicates Jimmy’s frustration at the quality of discussion, which evolves in his intimidating questioning of Alison’s and Cliffs ignorance towards his attempts to start discussions. Evidence of Alison’s torment of jimmy is shown straight away by her reply, â€Å" I’m sorry. I wasn’t listening properly. † This shows Alison’s ability to tease and cause Jimmy’s destructiveness as she in a phrase pokes the bear, as she is well aware of the odds being favourable for a bitter response from Jimmy, and her reliance upon Cliff to defuse any altercation between her and Jimmy. Look back in anger† was also bringing class a s an issue before British audiences. Through Jimmy as the voice of the lower-middle class, Osborne is blaming, amongst other things, the upper class for the country's miserable situation. Jimmy uses Alison's brother Nigel as a symbol for the privileged, and therefore despised, upper class's members who fill important positions regardless of whether they are talented or not but merely as a result of their connections. â€Å"He’ll end up in the cabinet one day, make no mistake.But somewhere at the back of that mind is the vague knowledge that he and his pals have been plundering and fooling everybody for generations. † Jimmy’s character is built upon his view that the world around him is unjust and his further comments on Nigel reflect this further, â€Å" the only thing he can do- seek sanctuary in his own stupidity. The only way to keep things as much like they always have been as possible, is to make any alternative too much for your poor, tiny brain to grasp. It takes some doing nowadays. It really does. Jimmy means by this that those who hold high places in society do so not through ability but through ancestral beginnings, which he fairly see’s as being inept and obsolete towards forming a society that he believes should exist. When he say’s â€Å"it really does†, he is saying that the task that Nigel takes is becoming more difficult as more of the population is becoming more and more educated by the year, which he sees as being the form of a future revolution resulting in the expulsion of Nigel’s class and ‘pals’ from guarding high positions of government from the lower class’s.It is significant that, although Jimmy studied at a university, he runs a sweet stall. This could be considered to be a sign of rebellion. But in truth it is a sign of his character that he is idle in his lack of drive to change society through his own effort, instead he prefers to be bitter and awaits other†™s to make the changes he seeks. Jimmy’s character, changes once Helena arrives, He becomes a show off but the most important change is when Alison leaves. He appears to feel free.This is because Helena is able to level with him, in conversation and confrontation. Before Alison leaves, we see Jimmy testing Helena, â€Å" I hope you won’t make the mistake of thinking for one moment that I am a gentleman†. The fact that Helena can converge in discussion with Jimmy delights him as he feels he is performing before an audience. Someone who he feels is listening to his every word with intrigue. He even say’s, â€Å"I think you and I understand one another all right. This is the first indication of Jimmy’s character showing mutual respect with another character apart from Hugh’s mother. Once Alison leaves, and Act 3 begins, it is apparent that Jimmy is in a better place. His questions once deflected by Alison are now responded to by Helena, ther e are no long rants to restore order and no raised voices enforcing his will to be heard. Helena is open to activity, unlike Alison. For example on page 83, Jimmy â€Å"†¦.I was thinking we might work it into the Act†, to which Helena replies â€Å" good idea†. The fact that Helena is open to activity show’s us a characteristic of Jimmy we did not see early on in the play when living with Alison, he appears to be happy and jubilant on occasion, because of his thoughts and ideas are being responded to positively. In the play we see many sides of Jimmy’s character at different stages of the play, at the beginning he appears as a dreamer, who see’s the world as unjust but not full of self-pity.He becomes confrontational when frustrated by his wife and friend, who he feels trapped with in a dialogue dead setting. Were he see’s no escape and feels a wasted talent. But in truth is not prepared to take action on behalf of himself. His connecti on with Helena appears first as one based on hatred on the backdrop of difference in class, but he shows characteristics towards her, that of mutual respect, and eventually one of lust. Resulting in him having a sense of freedom and dialogue he has longed for throughout the play.

Amazon: the Brink of Bankruptcy

Since its incorporation in 1994, Amazon’s business model had expanded from offering a simple internet marketplace for books to providing web services to online retailers, storage solutions and a dramatically expanded product line. Nevertheless, despite massive sales the company failed to produce a profit for shareholders and Amazon was on the brink of bankruptcy at the beginning of 2001. If I were a shareholder who received the company’s 2000 annual report, I would have strongly agreed with CEO Jeff Bezos that the company must achieve profitability by year-end 2001. I would recommend that the company accomplish this by cutting costs related to fulfillment and inventory and by increasing revenue by capitalizing on the previous year’s investments in infrastructure. While many expenditures in 2000 were related to Amazon’s efforts to implement its strategy for growth, operating costs had also increased. Amazon’s fulfillment costs were 11 percent of sales in 1997 and 1998, ballooned to 14 percent in 1999, and further increased to 15 percent in 2000. Because e-Commerce was still new and just beginning to establish customer trust, it’s critical that these costs be reduced without negatively impacting quality, speed of delivery or customer service. Because of Amazon’s large scale and repeatable processes, I would recommend a continuous improvement strategy such as lean Six Sigma. Another area of operational cash drain is inventory. After adding multiple new product lines and distribution centers in 2000, inventory management became a challenge for Amazon. In 1999, inventory turnover was 20% that of competitor Barnes and Noble and contributed to negative cash flow in 2000. Amazon would be well advised to use IT technology such as an advanced ERP to better estimate the inventory needed to meet demand without overstocking. In addition to cutting costs, Amazon must increase revenue. While it may be tempting to suggest the company completely abandon some of its less profitable products and international endeavors, I think this would be poor advice. Many of these areas have just been developed and hold potential for future profits in the wake of the past year’s investment. Instead, I propose Amazon focus on their efforts to leverage existing infrastructure. For less profitable verticals such as consumer electronics and home and garden, the company should reproduce the Toys r Us model and partner with established, brick and mortar organizations that can benefit by exploiting Amazon’s ability to handle high volumes while reducing their risks of taking operations online. In return, these companies offer Amazon a stability that other online retailers of the dot-com era lack. It would be critical that Amazon implement these recommendations immediately in order to become profitable in 2001. Amazon. om must prove to Wall Street and investors that it is capable of generating a profit. Through 2000, much of Amazon’s growth was funded by investors and the debt market. The environment generated by the dot-com crash and Amazon’s plummeting credit rating will significantly limit access to new capital. Since the company will almost certainly have to dip into existing cash reserves in the first quarter of 2001 to pay suppliers for 2000 Q4 inventory among other obligations, Amazon must begin replenishing cash reserves through its operations in the next four quarters.

Personal Reflection Journal Entry Essay

During times of our lives we deal with stress. For instance, we stress about things from home, financial situations, and jobs as well. I know in dealt with stress in the past and also dealing with it right now. I try to find many ways with coping with my stress by exercising or doing other things to reduce the excessive tension. The term stress is the response of individuals to stressors. Stressors are events that threaten individuals and tax their coping abilities. I was in situations where my coping abilities where threaten. For Instance, last year I was going through a time I had major damages to my vehicle where I couldn’t drive for almost 2 months. I didn’t cope with it very well because I needed transportation to get back and forth to work; I was briefly going to school as well. During the 2 months all I wondered was, how I was going to get my car fixed and how was I going to come up with money. By doing that made things worst. Another stressor I’ve dealt with was, dealing with being unemployed for 6 months. It was times I coped with and other times I didn’t do so well with it. I didn’t worry about being unemployed at the beginning because I was fine financially and if I couldn’t find anything I could always reapply to my previous employer in 2 months. Things got worst when I found out we were moving once again and my mom didn’t have the money she needed to prepare to move again and started to worry me. The reason why I because, don’t like to see my mom struggle and as I embrace being the man of house I start worry about getting a job and coming up with the money to help my mom out. I attempted to try to get my old job back which I felt optimistic about the interview, but as I was waiting patiently for a phone call I never received one. So I decided to call them and they decided to go with another person for the job. I was very disappointed and lost focus on other things I had to deal with in my life. When I was faced with stressors, my body readies itself to handle the assault through a number of physiological changes. The term General adaptation syndrome (GAS) is the common effects on the body when stressors persist. The GAS of three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. My stress in my life caused me to loss my appetite at times, stayed to myself; and didn’t want to talk about my issues. The stress on my Immune System  didn’t cope very well. On the job dealing with being critique and major task changes lead to having migraine headaches and a more sinus infections. Environmental Factors whether its big or small produces stress. Life events and daily hassles are things we deal with regularly. One of them is the lack of study-time I had when I first started college a couple of years ago. That came about by me working crazy hours at work and I couldn’t my full effect into my school work which led to me not doing so well. Another daily hassle I’ve dealt with was not getting enough credit on my job for my hard work. I stressed over this because I felt like I was being overlooked for certain job positions and barely got any appreciation for what I do at my job. Another everyday experience that is stressful for me is conflict. Approach/approach conflict is conflict in which the individual must choose between two attractive stimuli or circumstances. My conflict was choosing between keeping my current car and getting a brand new one. I couldn’t go wrong with either decision I would of made because I liked both of the vehicles, my current was finally back in good condition, I don’t have to make payments and its my first car. The new car I looked at was a car I really wanted for quite sometime but at the end I decided to keep my old car and wasn’t disappointed with the decision and didn’t any regrets. Avoidance/avoidance conflict is when the individual must choose between two unattractive stimuli. I dealt with this when I had an oral presentation in high school. I was very nervous about presenting in front of class so I wanted to go last but I didn’t want grade to neither and their were times I didn’t want to show up but I decided my grade was important with through with doing the presentation and got A. That moment was very stressful for me. The approach/avoidance conflict for me was me deciding to eat Chinese food or not. Although it’s delicious but it was something I couldn’t eat because I was trying to lose weight. I handled giving up on well and lost the weight since I gave up on Chinese food. The daily hassles produce me into an overload and started to burnout. This term is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion that includes a hopeless feeling, chronic fatigue, and low energy. Burnout came about in my life when I was working full-time and going to school full-time for two years straight. My body was breaking down and I fatigue on a daily. So I decided to make adjustments in life and  made an unpopular decision by quitting my job and focus on school. That took less pressure off me. In conclusion, in the past, I didn’t cope very well with stress. I took two self-assessments based on I’m vulnerable am I to stress and Stressful events in my life. Based off the two assessments, it showed how stressed I was and couldn’t handle it. The things I do now to adjust stress in my life are that I start to think about the positive/negative effects of stress. I think over major decisions before doing it so. I made a lot of adjustments so I can have less stress in my life. If something major happens, I try not worry about it so much because I’ve realized things happen its apart of life. I managed to make adjustments at home, work, and school by getting things done early, stop worrying over certain situations and most importantly I started to enjoy life more and stressed less.

Client Centric Aproach for Brokerage Business Essay

Client Centric Aproach for Brokerage Business - Essay Example For business such as brokerage firm, it becomes more important that they should evolve and embarrass client centric approach because by building long term relationships, the firms can achieve the necessary breadth and focus on its customers to achieve strategic superiority but also gain necessary competitive advantage over their competition. It is therefore very critical that the firms involved in business which requires different and potentially sensitive relationships with the clients, a client centric approach would be a viable and effective alternative to achieve the strategic objectives. However, such approach require a collaborative approach since engaging with the client from the initial stages of registering as a client to the process of conducting business through the brokerage firm requires a very focused strategy to develop effective relationships with the clients. This paper would attempt to understand and analyze how the client centric approach would allow a brokerage firm to gain client assets/share of wallet. The focus of this paper will be two fold. First it would discuss what the client centric approach is and secondly its application on the brokerage business will be studied. A brokerage firm acts as an intermediary between the buyer and the seller, typically in a stock market. Due to peculiar nature of the stock exchange functioning, there is a greater need for the financial intermediaries who play the role of a link between the buyers and the sellers so that the exchange against some consideration can take place. A discount broker is a person who carries out the business of buying and selling at much reduced commissions and fees etc. The purpose of the stock broker therefore is to address that segment of the market which could not otherwise afford the usual high rates of the brokerage firms which provide similar services. In doing so, firm tend to attract bulk of the small investors especially who due to lack of capital. The focus of such investors therefore always remains on reducing the transaction costs so that they can maximize their profits. Firms offering such services therefore tend to be generalized in nature as they offer services which are hardly differentiated therefore such firms need to develop their specialties based on pricing as well as non-pricing factors. Since such types of firms are offering discount services therefore they are already leading in that area however, non-pricing factors include the use of different and innovate means of attracting and maintain customers. Being client centric is one such mean through which such type of firms attempt to attract clients. In order to assess the client centric approach being adopted by discount broker firm, we must also understand as to how the discount firms perform their jobs. Discount firms do not offer advice to their clients and simply sell out whatever you have therefore this reduces their spreads and offer services which are discounted. It is also argued that the discount brokers are used by the experienced investors who can do their own research and only

The process of risk categorization inspection Assignment

The process of risk categorization inspection - Assignment Example Profile factors are those that put into consideration population served, type of operation, extent of handling food and its complexity. Performance factors on the other side touch on commitment practices that contribute to food safety. In addition, performance factors also cover operator’s performance that complies with regulations and the extent of food safety plans. Each board of health must, at any time, put into account requirements and standard approach as outlined in the guidance document for Food Safety Program Practices of Operation. When operating at minimum, standard approach implementation would include the following. Standard approach entails implementing and developing a plan for reviewing as well as giving updates of standard operating procedures. It also covers categorization forms, tools, or templates for new approach incorporation (Public Health Division 4). A standard approach, in addition, train all staff who have either supporting or direct role in monitoring, reporting, or conducting categorization of the risk process. Finally, a standard approach also implements and develops an outcome reporting system from the categorization process of risks. The outcome reporting system is essential to monitoring changes and trends to risk classes. Furthermore, it also provides data that acts as a summary of profile and performance factors used for evaluation reasons. The first step in risk categorization of food premises process is assigning risk categories. Boards of health use assigning risk categories of food premises in when assessing annual onsite risk of every food premises (Bai 215). Subsequently, the health board completes categorization of risk assignment as they carry out the first inspection in every calendar level. However, assigning to risks categories is not applicable in recently established premises that are less than a year old. Assigning of risks is useful in planning towards meeting reporting requirements. It is important to

Motherhood and Mothering Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Motherhood and Mothering - Essay Example A woman cannot feel herself fully realized if she is not a mother – the message is. As time passes and all your friends get married and start having children, you cannot help feeling pressure and feeling a kind of outcast. Everybody persuades you that being a mother is the greatest happiness in a woman’s life and that if you do not have children you cannot consider yourself a real woman. At that most of women give birth to their children just because it is prescribed by the society. There are certain scripts as to the number of children to be born, and to the age of becoming a mother. These scripts are transferred in families from generation to generation. Certainly, women usually do not realize that it is not quite their desire but merely the scenario imposed on them, believing that it is high time for them to have children. Many women give birth to children because they cannot find their way and mission in life. Children provide an opportunity to occupy one’s l ife-time with seemingly important things. As a result many mothers give no freedom to their children, interfering with their lives and imposing own worldviews and beliefs, not realizing that their children are quite different people, who came into this world to have their own experience and follow their own path. My interviewee is a usual representative of her time. Her understanding of motherhood reflects the common approach. She is not absorbed wholly with the idea of becoming a mother, but it is only because she is very young. It is clear from her utterances that she is simply waiting for the time when she will be ready to deny her freedom in favor of her children. My friend does realize that being a mother is a hard work, as she puts it â€Å"you have to work more than full-time employment.† Yet she starts thinking of children already dreaming of the reward in a form of children’s happy faces and mutual trust. The question is

Analysis of The Warning vs. The Untouchable Movie Review - 1

Analysis of The Warning vs. The Untouchable - Movie Review Example He stars Mrs. Brooksley Born, a lawyer who had been friends with Hillary Clinton before the Clinton Administration. Due to this friendship, Hillary had hoped to see her friend appointed as Attorney General once Clinton was elected president. Unfortunately, her attempts failed and she could only secure Born head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC. It is this position that Mrs. Born becomes important in warning people about the impending collapsing of the US economy. On the other hand, the film documentary The Untouchables is produced by Martin Smith is an investigative film that provides viewers with the insight of the prevailing lack of justice regarding Wall Street executives. Similar to the film the warning, Martin exposes the inefficiency of the judicial system to prosecute Wall Street executives who permitted in illegal trading of mortgage-backed. This, together with the crisis in the derivative market catalyzed the deterioration of the economic situation in the US in 2008. In the documentary, Martin explains the unregulated issuance of expensive home loans to a growing number of borrowers. In the film, he constantly criticizes the Wall Street official for selling bad mortgages to borrowers. He says that it is due to this fact that the economic collapse in 2008. He adds that this phenomenon led to other adversaries on US citizens. Some of these include the millions of people who lost their houses as well as the massive laying down of labor ers in the country at the time. In another part of the interview, Steve describes how the subject caused a sink in demand for goods and services. This, as he explains, had an immense impact on most industries of the country. The adverse effects associated with this would be a decline in national production which led to the inevitable laying down of workers.

Christianity and Its Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Christianity and Its Development - Essay Example Some authorities hold the view that Galerius, rather than Diocletian, was the instigator of the persecution. "It is not without a deep moral significance," claims ProfessorWilliam Bright in The Age of the Fathers, "that the supreme effort of the pagan world-power to trample out the life of the Kingdom that is not of this world should bear the name of Diocletian, rather than of its true originator Galerius." Yet, even within the tetrarchy, Diocletian retained supreme control, as writer Stephen Williams asserts: "There is no doubt that Diocletian had control of every major policy in the Empire until 304, and has the major responsibility for the persecution until that date." Diocletian fell sick and eventually relinquished control in 305C.E. For some six years thereafter, the continuing persecution reflected Galerius' bitter hatred of all things Christian. These horrific events early in the fourth century confirm what had been predicted by the apostles Paul and Peter, as well as other inspired writers. The foretold "man of lawlessness,"the ruling clergy class of professed Christians, was already entrenched, as Diocletian's edicts, particularly the second, testify. (2Thessalonians 2:3,4; Acts 20:29,30; 2Peter 2:12) By the fourth century, apostate practices were already commonplace. Not a few professed Christians were members of the Roman army. Were there no Christians back then who were faithful to "the pattern of healthful words" received from the apostles Eusebius names some of the victims of the persecution, even graphically describing their torture, suffering, and eventual martyrdom. Whether all these martyrs died in integrity to the revealed truth available at that time, we cannot presently know. No doubt some had taken to heart Jesus' warnings to avoid sectarianism, immorality, and compromise of any sort. Evidently, some faithful ones who survived remained hidden from historic view. Indeed, so successful were the measures to stifle public Christian worship that a Spanish monument of the period hails Diocletian for having 'abolished the superstition of Christ.' Nevertheless, efforts to seize and destroy copies of the Scriptures, a key aspect of Diocletian's attack on Christianity, failed to wipe out God's Word completely. Unsuccessful in completely obliterating Christianity, Satan the Devil, the ruler of the world, continued his crafty acts through Emperor Constantine, who ruled from 306 to 337C.E. Pagan Constantine did not fight the Christians. Rather, he found it expedient to fuse pagan and Christian beliefs into a new State religion. Ever since then, the mixing of beliefs has caused many of the Christians to actually find the effect of the situation to have directly created measures of failure on their midst making their beliefs seem a bit blurry for the next generation that came after them. Nevertheless, there were those who remained in the faith ho knew tha t they needed to stick to what they know is right rather than accepting what is being taught of them to be right. This in itself is already a sense of persecution that is largely brought about by the division of the church.

Developments in UK energy distribution systems Research Paper

Developments in UK energy distribution systems - Research Paper Example The main purpose of this report is to set out important components that make up a modern energy network-heat, gas, and electricity. For each section, the report evaluates the development made, the challenges mooted ahead and what the government is currently doing to mitigate for that. Strengthening the electrical network in the UK has been a critical objective for the government to meet the ever-increasing energy demands in the country. Though historically the electrical system of the UK has been rated as among the best, the fact remains that much of the structure was initiated in the 60s and it was meant to meet the needs of that time Department of Energy & Climate Change 2014). With the ever-increasing generation of renewable technologies as well as nuclear energy stations, the electrical system in the country has been rendered obsolete. The investment into upgrading the electrical system in the UK is already underway. Since 2010-2011-fiscal year, over  £16 billion has already been spent on improving offshore and onshore electrical networks. According to Ofgem estimates, the total investments in these networks have since increased to more than 20%. Adoption of new government policies and regulatory frameworks is creating the best condition for the betterment of electrical networks. Because of the installation of more reliable regulatory regimes, there is a larger, reliable, and stronger electrical network in the U.K. To be at par the pace at which the electrical demands are moving, the government is working closely with the Ofgem to create systems that are resilient to current and future challenges (Department of Energy & Climate Change 2014). The interventions and frameworks being installed are meant to ensure that the system of sustainable not only to the demands of customers but also to meeting the global standards. Improving the structures of the energy electrical systems has become a chief objective of the UK government. With these

Surrealism Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Surrealism Art - Essay Example The essay "Surrealism Art" states the surrealism movement and art. Artists of the 20th century that actively participated in the surrealist movement included but were not limited to Rene Magritte, Man Ray, and Giorgio de Chirico. The surrealist artists invented techniques which tended to portray the mechanisms of dreams, thus emphasizing upon the theory of liberation through their artwork. Giorgio de Chirico is known as the pioneer of surrealist aesthetic. The surrealist artists gained inspiration from his work and attempted to minimize the role of will and consciousness in the artwork. Potential examples of this include Andre Masson’s automatic drawings, Max Ernst’s use of collage and frottage techniques, and raographs made by Man Ray. Thereafter, oneiric images were made by Dali and Magritte by juxtaposing contrasting elements. The first group of the surrealist artists exhibited their artwork in 1925 in Paris. The exhibitions that were subsequently arranged in London and New York in the year 1936 led to the spread and recognition of the surrealist style of art at a larger scale. An exhibition was arranged in 1937 in Tokyo followed by another in Paris in 1938. The surrealist style of art has influenced the American art a lot. For instance, â€Å"the practice of automatism is one basis for Jackson Pollock's work and for Action Painting, while the Surrealists' interest in objects prefigures Pop Art†. Paintings contain familiar objects that are painted in such a way so as to make them appear strange and unknown.

IT for education and learning Essay Example for Free

IT for education and learning Essay As we all knew, Information Technology has been well-developed for years. Nowadays, lots of youngsters would study online via the Internet, such as finding academic materials for doing project, submitting assignments to the online learning environment of their schools and so forth; therefore, people started to think what features of information technology can facilitate with education and learning. In particular, people would call this kind of learning as â€Å"e-learning†. According to D. R. Garrison (2011)1, e-learning is â€Å"formally defined as electronically mediated asynchronous and synchronous communication for the purpose of constructing and confirming knowledge. † The foundation of this technology is the Internet associating with communication technologies. So how would e-learning affect our education and learning? My ideas are as follows. First and foremost, online games are suitable for using within a learning environment as they are based on the theories of situated learning, motivation and learning by doing. What is online game? A. Rollings and E. Adams (2006) 2 introduce online game is a technology for connecting players together over computer networks like on the Internet. Online games can provide large simulated conditions in the real world for learners to solve problems and deal with others. They not only increase learners’ motivation and engagement but also enhance the learning experience and recognition. Additionally, they also provide free trainings that allow mistakes and errors so that the cost can be lowered. They can also increase the chance of communication such that they would have better coordination and communication skills. Take military and emergency services as an example, like America’s Army, it offers soldiers a virtual but real environment to have trainings. To be more specific, the soldiers are required to work as a team and accomplish the missions. It can build up the team spirit and let them enter into the real situation. Secondly, in accordance with Athanassios Jimoyiannis (2012)3, online game is beneficial for people to learn languages. Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) is one kind of the online games that involves multimedia and gaming elements to act as a story to let learners contribute their own ideas and action as if they took place in real time. ARGs are usually built around social networking system, which is an online platform, with Web 2. 0 technology, that focuses on building up social networks or social relations among people by sharing posts and doing real-life connections, like Facebook and Twiiter, in which learners can interact with others and form alliances. Therefore, through these kind of games, learners are able to gain appreciations for colloquial meanings, verbs and so forth. Thirdly, there is another technology that cannot be omitted – Learning Management System (LMS), like OUHK Online Learning Environment. It works as a platform for students to access multi-media study materials and participate in a wide range of learning-related activities through the use of a computer and an Internet access. Furthermore, students can obtain updated information about courses and programmes that they attend to, participate in online discussions with their peers and tutors, submit assignments, do exercises and self tests and monitor their own study progress through the web-based instruction. As a result, we can see that online learning environment can facilitate with E-learning for people to enhance their studies. And the advantages that LMS brings us – management of personal knowledge and learning resources, collaboration and instructional support – can enhance people’s critical thinking and decision-making. As a final point, people like youngsters, not like the previous generation, would not only receive what their teachers give them but find other sources through search engines, such as Google and Bing, themselves. They prefer videos, audios and interactive media; in the meanwhile, some scientists claimed that using graphics and colours can stimulate people’s brains to memorize and strengthen this ability. That’s why tutors would love to express their ideas through PowerPoint to their students nowadays. Simple and clear structure of PowerPoint slides can offer the content ideas with few lines in bullet form to students. Moreover, visual and auditory media can be added to make the materials more appealing. It not only improves the audience focus, but also engages multiple learning styles, for instance, students can read the materials through their mobile phones. However, if people get addicted to Internet uses, e-learning might become a severe obsession that they would get lost in the real life, like virtual world is â€Å"pulling† them from the real life. Dr. Charles OBrien, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, claimed that getting addicted to Internet uses like online games will become an official disorder because more and more people are going to do studies on it. There was a case last year in South Korea, where the couple, who had a real baby, was so involved with the virtual baby and doing things with the virtual baby, thus they neglected their real live baby and the baby died. Therefore, people’s self-restraint and the cooperation between teachers and parents (for youngsters) are undeniably required if e-learning becomes more and more popular in the world. (870 words) Reference list: 1. D. R. Garrison (D. Randy)(2011), E-learning in the 21st century a framework for research and practice, New York : Routledge 2. Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams (2006), Fundamentals of Game Design. Prentice Hall. 3. Athanassios Jimoyiannis (2012), Research on e-learning and ICT in education, New York : Springer 4. Alan J Daly (2010), Social network theory and educational change, Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard Education Press 5. John D. Sutter,† Is gaming addiction a real disorder? †, CNN, linkage retrieved from: http://www. cnn. hk/2012/08/05/tech/gaming-gadgets/gaming-addiction-dsm/index. html 5. http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=NdDmp_Ak1no.

Space and TIme Essay Example for Free

Space and TIme Essay Many people wish that they could go back in time and change something that they have done; even if it was a small mistake, or a large one that changed their life forever. Science is trying to prove that time travel does exist using the Space-time continuum. With controversy on both sides, scientists have proven that the space-time continuum does exist; however time travel is still up for debate. How Space-time was created For a long time we saw space and time as two separate entities. Many very sound theories existed before the space time theory came about. Some of those theories were Isaac Newton’s theories of mechanics and James Clerk Maxwell’s theories on electromagnetism. Though these theories never quite agreed with each other. For some time before this light was known to be an electromagnetic phenomenon, but never followed the laws of mechanics as matter does. This prompted Albert A. Michelson and many others to study light itself. Their studies showed that â€Å"light always traveled with the same velocity, regardless of the speed of its source† (Overduin, 2007 para 1) It was latter discove red that the speed of light was an unsrupassable speed limit on the universe; meaning nothing can travel faster than the speed of light which is 299,792,458 meters per second. Though none of these phycistest were able to put the whole story together. At the young age of 16, Albert Einstein often wondered what it would be like to travel along a ray of light. By 1905 Einstein proved that light must move at a constant speed no matter the speed of the source transmiting it. For this to be correct space and time can no longer be independent. Although Einstein did all this ground work on proving space-time he did not put them together.

Impact Of Technological Change In HMV group

Impact Of Technological Change In HMV group Sufficient changes have been taken place over the last ten years in the UKs music sector. One of the UK and Irelands leading CD, DVD and Computer Game seller is HMV. The central nature and context of the change for HMV is online music. Companys poor trading performance reflects because the lack of progress adapting to structural change. According to John (2007) planned change is triggered by the failure of the people to create a continuously adaptive organisation. William and Thomas (2009) state that 70 present of planned organizational change initiative fail because of the lack of reliable and valid diagnostic instruments to assess and track an organizations capacity for change. Change management entails thoughtful planning, sensitive implementation, consultation with and involvement of the people affected by the changes. Organization Name: HMV Group Nature of the change: There are three main categories of organisations that may experience period of change 1. The kind of self-organising and changing learning organisations. 2. Companies operating in niche market where they have not encountered the kind of environmental change. 3. Organisations that able to continue functioning without transforming themselves. There are two types of changes- 1. Transitional or Incremental Change 2. Transformational or Revolutionary Change Incremental Change: The focus for this part is doing better things through a continuous tinkering, adaptation and modification. This type of change is that it builds on what has already been done and may need continuous improvement. Transformational Change: It involves a break with the past, a step function change rather than an extrapolation of past patterns of change and development. It is based on new relationships and dynamics within the industry that undermine core competencies. In this part things need to be done differently rather than doing things better. SOURCE John Hayes (p-12-13, 2007) The delivery of music over internet expected a great future over the next 5 years. Sales of digital downloads are expected to increase from $22 million in 2001 to $1.6 billion in 2006. For this transformation of the music industry there is a major impact of social and technological factors. These chase influenced by Digitization, Compression and streaming technologies. The technological improvements in music industry increase the availability of music easily and reduce cost as well. (Web Source 1) Reason for Change: According to Joan (1958) technology can make a big change, not only with the development, manufacture, marketing and distribution of these new products, but also within their own corporate structure and culture. Burnes (1988) suggested an approach to assessing the need for the type of change which attempts to make the process of establishing objectives and outcomes more rigorous and open. Leaders focus on aligning people, communicating the new direction and creating coalitions committed to get the job done. Empower others to make the vision happen. A central feature of modern organisation is interdependence where most members of the organisation are tied to many others by their work as kotter argues (1995). Transformational leaders have the ability to identify those who might be able to support or sabotage an initiative, network with them and communicate in a credible way what needs to be done. The main change drivers of HMV are online music. Due to get the online music the business of HMV affected and it lose its market share. We discuss below how change impacts on technological and social drivers of change. The price is the drivers of the change. Because there are competitors Tesco and Asda have sell the CDs and DVDs in the less price than HMV. So, it has intense competition in the market .However, technological drivers are the main reason for the change in customer mind. So, we will discuss about the drivers how it gets the market. Company Background: HMV Group, formerly HMV Media: books, music and video for everyone formed in 1998 after HMV and Waterstones joined forces, acquired from EMI and WH Smith respectively, the HMV group began operations using its two chains.Both share the same goal in terms of customer satisfaction, offering the largest range of leisure and cultural products, despite the two chains keeping very much within the scope of their own work. HMV targeted the position of leading international distributor (Europe, Asia and North America) on the music and video (all formats) markets. Waterstones is dedicated to book sales and exclusively on a national scale. The power of the two entities is unquestionable as the HMV Group is made up of more of 500 shops. Aim and Objectives: The main change drivers of HMV are online music. Due to get the online music the business of HMV affected and it lose its market share. We discuss below how change impacts on technological and social drivers of change. The price is the drivers of the change. Because there are competitors Tesco and Asda have sell the CDs and DVDs in the less price than HMV. So, it has intense competition in the market .However, technological drivers are the main reason for the change in customer mind. So, we will discuss about the drivers how it gets the market.Same Day. External Factor: Change has been a future of organisational life for as long as organisations have existed, environment have brought about the need for organisations to adapt their internal attitudes, strategies, structures and operations to meet the demands of the new external conditions. Hence, the study of internal change has increased both in academic circles and in organisations themselves. In change need to understand reactive and proactive change this area is what of the two principal sources of impetus to change. Reactive change is change forced upon an organisation arising from a need to react to a change in the organisations environment. This can apply to an individual as well as an organisation, for example, you must change your lifestyle if your main source of income is suddenly reduced or discontinued. There are a number of environmental changes that can precipitate reactive change, but they usually have in common an element of necessity, of being unexpected or an element of surprise. Proactive change, in diametric opposition to reactive change, is planned in advance, usually with a particular objective in mind. Whilst proactive change may be as an indirect consequence of changes in the environment, it is essentially change because the organisation wants, or internally feel the need to change. To relate this to the individual, you might proactively improve your educational qualifications in order to increase your job prospects. [Source: David Campbal Tom Craig, p-(449-450)] A number of factors have stimulated interest in the learning organisational change concept: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The production of goods and services increasingly involves sophisticated knowledge à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Knowledge is therefore as valuable a resources as raw material à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Many organizations lost knowledgeable staff through de-layering in the 1990s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Information technologies are knowledge intensive à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Knowledge can have a short life span, made obsolete by innovation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Flexibility, creativity and responsiveness are now prized capabilities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Knowledge can thus be a source of competitive advantage for an organization Complete PEST analyses of HMV Group: The PEST analysis is a useful tool for understanding risks associated with market growth or decline. This helps to understand the environment that HMV is operating in and what the risks that could affect its products and what to consider when developing a new product range. Such as political, economical, social environment and other legal factors. Most of them are out of the control of HMV. Political/legal factors- This affects HMV in many ways. For example the trading / government polices HMV have to follow when selling their product on the market and advertising them to the public. All business needs to follow the legal factors when producing and selling products such as prices/descriptions etc. HMV need to keep up to date with the changes in the law to make sure they stay within them. The social environment- This helps HMV to identify the specifics of its targeted market. To identify what type of person buys their products, so the company can produce products that suit their preferences. This also helps them to reveal the gender, income and other areas of the social environment that HMV is in. This provides the company with useful Information that they can use when promoting their products to help attract the type of consumers that is in the environment. Technological Factors- Technological Factors are most important factors for the business. because now a days businesses is working in changing environment. There is a great change in technology Advancement in technology and means of communication will help same day to keep track of its parcels and couriers. Economic Factors- All businesses are affected by economical factors nationally and globally. Economic factors affect your customers ability to purchase your goods and services as well as a firms cost of capital. Examples of these issues would be: Government intervention in the free market, Rate of inflation, Capital borrowing costs, Currency exchange rates, Inflation/deflation impacts, Labour costs. Lueckes Seven Steps to Change: In 2003, a new model of emergent change was given by Luecke which is known as seven steps of change. These steps are: If any change is to take place, the management should create and mobilize the energy and commitment needed to identify the problems of the organization and their solutions (Todnem, 2005) Management should include employees to create a shared vision of how the organization can be organized and managed in order to face the competition (Todnem, 2005). According to Todnem (2005), Luecke proposed that in third step that leadership to bring about change should be identified. The focus of the management should be the end result of the change and not the activities that lead to change (Todnem, 2005). According to Luecke (Todnem, 2005) change should start on small scale and then it should spread to the other parts of the organization. Policies, procedures and systems should be institutionalized to achieve success. If any problems occurs in the change process, strategies should be adjusted to deal with it (Todnem, 2005) Simon Fox new chief executive of HMV have chosen Lueckes Seven Steps model to gain its profit: Few HMV music store could be sold according to saving cost. Changing trends in the music market by internet in order to download track or buy albums from website such amazons. Company hoped to avoid redundancies by redeployment. HMV will focus heavily on its online presence, aiming HMV sales via internet from 6% to 10% by 2010. The company has announced a three year transformation plan which will save 50 million costs per annum by 2010 through simplifying HMV. In the UK and Ireland HMVs sales grew by 1%. The firm said it is initiating a turnover plan which it hoped would revitalize its core business. If the cost cut will go down well in the city(short term goal), Mr. foxs growth plan to derive 20% of HMV sales through its online channel compared to 6% by utilize high street store space. The most radical plan is for the transformation of its music retail business into an interactive store ai med at restoring HMV, will launch a loyalty-card scheme the target the rapidly growing mobile phone music market. HMV will team up with 3 to install concessions within its store that sale music centric handsets. It will also plan sell some mp3 players from the likes apples and Sony and reducing its dependences on sales of CDs and DVDs. HMV will also provide content to mobile music retailer 3s 3.7 million subscribers. It will launch its own social networking site for film and music. A refreshment hub shoppers will able to log on to a social networking site for music, films and games also provided. It will able to burn its own CD. Fox will increase HMVs sales of games 12 percent to 15 percent over 3 years, and digital music, audio and video products to 16percent from 5 percent. (Web Source-3) Benefits of Proposal: HMV should take a plan to have some meeting with its employees regarding the change and need to tell them how they have to participate with the change. It should tell their involvement with the change .it should take some training session, develop new ideas and approaches without being influenced by the old ways. The guiding coalition must remove obstacles that may be entrenched in organizational process. They should be given the opportunities to get on board any embrace the vision. Force Field Analysis: Force field analysis can suggest a number of changes to the initial plan: By training staff It would be useful to show staff that change is necessary for business survival in current music ins Staff could be shown that new technology would introduce variety and interest to their jobs. You could raise wages to reflect new productivity. HMV UK and Irelands expansion is a testament to its success. Board members of HMV attribute this to quality of HMV store manager who is developed from within the business. Their performance is judged on the achievement of weekly targets set by the business. In 1998 HMV conducted a company-wide opinion survey called your shout. To support management development HMV established a development programme. Day to day learning in store was less structured and less inconsistent application across the business. HMV saw the investors in people standard as a framework to accelerate the effectiveness of the companys response to the your shout survey. Quality could be assured by aligning a new development initiative with an external standard. A development package was created to provide a structural framework and comprehensive development materials for in-store learning which called the continuous development plan (CDP). Its aim to increase knowledge and skills of management and staff in the critical elements of HMV store operations. The knowledge of staffs is defined on their job role which is articulate in four areas. By the assessment existing levels of knowledge was identified so that people can get the individual development plan and workbooks to support CDP coach nominated by every store to support the CDP activities. All levels of staff support the training structure. Progress reported to the board in every month. HMV has supported this massive initiative with considerable additional resources, including 15 development centers across the UK Ireland, an expanded course offering for all staff levels and a larger learning and development team. Working with the investor in people standard has helped its employees recognise the day to day development. People can see what the knowledge and skills they developed and what they need to be a manager. The success of CDP rises by 12 months to twenty percent in critical areas. This helped to raise the standard of customer service and make the stock management efficient. Investors in people have helped us communicate the dynamic career opportunities in HMV. It has provided a structured framework to continuously support and stimulate the development of existing staff. The change Process: Simon fox appointed chief executive of HMV group plc. The management undertook a comprehensive review of operations to identify strategies for revitalising the groups business over next three years. The result of this work, together with the financial impact for the group and its capital structure which discussed below: The board expect the markets in which the group operates to be subject to significant structural change, with the total music and DVD markets continuing to decline, and growth in the books market coming from the online channel. In addressing this issue the board has identify three key areas of focus: Saving Driving cost efficiency Protecting revitalising the core business Growing- Establish new channels. Saving Direct cost efficiency Cost savings of  £40m per annum will be achieved by 2009/10 by simplifying the HMV UK and Waterstones supply chains, maximising group purchasing and head office synergies and from the review of the UK store portfolio. Protecting Revitalising the core business * HMV UK will launch an enhanced range of portable digital products from suppliers including Apple, Bose, Samsung and Sony. * A new HMV store format of the future is being developed and will be trialled from autumn 2007. * A loyalty card to drive spends across both brands and all channels will be rolled out during 2007/08. Growing Establishing the new channel * HMV will launch a social network site for music, films and games, proving revenue streams from advertising, sponsorship and paid-for content. * HMV UK is partnering with 3, the UKs leading mobile music retailer to provide content to 3s 3.7m subscribers. * Growth in hmv.co.uk and Waterstones.com will be accelerated by increased marketing. * HMV.co.uk will become 20% of HMV UK sales by 2010. As over 80% of the groups profit is made in the UK, today are strategic and operational review will be focused on UK markets. SOURCE HMV group website Media News Recommendations and Conclusion: STRENGTH: HMV is the market leader for CD, DVD and computer games. HMV brands are synonymous with range authority, expertise, customer service and a stimulating store environment. The company listed on the London stock exchange on 15 may, 2002 successfully establishing a more appropriate capital structure for the future growth of the company. SOURCE HMV group website About Us History WEAKNESS: HMV had not adapted quickly enough to the way customers are buying and consuming media. Before Christmas last year, HMV and other high street retailer issued profit warning because of poor sales affected by the growth of online retail. The group has admitted being too slow to recognise the changing shape of the music and entertainment industry and has been hard hit by competition from online specialist as Amazon and play.com as well as supermarket such as Tesco, asda with their offers of bargain CDs and DVDs. A new pricing architecture is being rolled out to the entire HMV UK chain by September 2006. HMV was named best retail chain in the 2006 music week awards for an eighth consecutive year, multiple retail success of the year at the 2006 British video association awards and most improved retailer in games in 2006 MCV Industry Excellent Awards. Sales in HMV UK and Ireland for the full year ended April 2006 were  £937.2m and operating profit was  £60.6m. For the year ended April 2006 turnover of HMV Asia pacific was  £275.5m and operating profit 8.6m. SOURCE HMV group website About Us Fast Facts

Identifying with the Waste Land Essay -- Literary Analysis

T.S Eliot’s The Waste Land frustrates the reader with a complexity so dense that he or she feels lost. This frustration arises out of the poem’s fragmented structure of the characters, place, and time which gives the reader an insight into the civilization following World War I and the authors’ chaotic state of mind. He shows how modern life appears to be fragmented and disordered through the shifting images, points of view and alternating periods of time. T.S Eliot uses allusions to myths, history, and literature to lead us out of the confining present moment and ego to transcend into a self that is free and in harmony with others and nature. T.S Eliot suggests myths throughout The Waste Land to let the reader indirectly recognize the viewpoint from outside of time and eventually find a way out that will lead to happiness. The author uses myths such as the Fisher King and the Grail Quest to associate the impulse to search, discover, and seek change for the sake of self-knowledge. Fisher King focuses on the ancient fertility rituals. After the King was wounded, it was believed that he was responsible for his land to become â€Å"a wasteland†. As the legend says, if the King is healed, the land will flourish. In other words, the fertility of the land depends on the potency and virility of the King and can only be restored through sacrifice. Likewise, Eliot incorporates the Grail Quest to reinstate how a quest throughout the deserted land serves as purification. Perhaps the author uses these myths to portray how distorted and corrupted modern society is. He is relating these legends to the emptiness in modern culture to let the reader discover the true meaning of life. â€Å"Eliot points out the simple fact of this cultural emptiness and i... ...ciety is corrupted, and the only way to revitalize is to become one with the world, and the self. The only way to restore order to the self and the world is to be reborn to our spirit. Finally, The Waste Land is a mirror image of the breakdown of a historical, social, and cultural order constantly depicted with violent scenes and death. Eliot expects the reader to participate in a quest of discovery through his myths, history and literature to allow us to escape the imprisoning present and ego to reveal meaning, truth, and virtue. Works Cited †¢ (1) Free Waste Land Essays: Underlying Myths in The Waste Land." 123HelpMe.com.05Dec2010 †¢ (2) "SparkNotes: Eliotà ¢s Poetry: Themes, Motifs & Symbols." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. .

War on Drugs Essay -- Papers Narcotics Drug Society Essays

I. Thesis and Literature Summary In our contemporary society, the media constantly bombards us with horror stories about drugs like crack-cocaine. From them, and probably from no other source, we learn that crack is immediately addictive in every case, we learn that it causes corruption, crazed violence, and almost always leads to death. The government tells us that we are busy fighting a war on drugs and so it gives us various iconic models to despise and detest : we learn to stereotype inner-city minorities as being of drug-infested wastelands and we learn to "witchhunt" drug users within our own communities under the belief that they represent moral sin and pure evil. I believe that these titles and ideals are preposterous and based entirely upon unnecessary and even detrimental ideals promoted by the government to achieve purposes other than those they claim. In Craig Renarman's and Harry Levine's article entitled "The Crack Attack : Politics and Media in America's Latest Drug Scare," the authors attempts to expose and to deal with some of the societal problems that have related from the over-exaggeration of crack-cocaine as an "epidemic problem" in our country. Without detracting attention away from the serious health risks for those few individuals who do use the drug, Renarman and Levine demonstrate how minimally detrimental the current "epidemic" actually is. Early in the article, the authors summarize crack-cocaine's evolutionary history in the U.S. They specifically discuss how the crack-related deaths of two star-athletes fist called wide-spread attention to the problem during the mid-1980's. Since then, the government has reportedly used crack-cocaine as a political scapegoat for many of... ...d substance. Conclusively, we should allow drugs like crack-cocaine receive to their due attention as social problems, but let them receive no more than that !. V. References D'Angelo, Ed. (1994, September). The Moral Culture of Drug Prohibition. Humanist., 54, p. 3. Dorfman, Lori-Wallack, Lawrence. (1993, November). Advertising Health : The Case for Counter-Ads. Public Health Reports., 108, p. 716. Johnson, Bruce-Golub, Andrew et al. (1995, July). Careers in crack, drugs use, drug distribution, and nondrug criminality., Crime & Delinquency, 41, p. 275. Perrine, Daniel. (1994, October 15). The View From Platform Zero : How Holland Handles its Drug Problem. America., 171, p. 9. Renarman, Craig & Levine, Harry G. The Crack Attack : Politics and Media in America's Latest Drug Scare, *From Montclair State Univ. Library

Gay and Lesbian Issues - Homosexual Couples Must Be Allowed to Marry Es

Homosexual Couples Must Be Allowed to Marry "I do." Two simple words that can change lives. For most people, the phrase conjures up images of a man and a woman being joined in marriage. But for gays and lesbians, having the chance to legally say "I do" is a far-off dream, not a reality. For years in other countries, same-sex couples have had their marriages federally recognized, but the unions of American homosexuals still go unrecognized by the United States government. Same-sex marriages deserve to be legalized in this country. Homosexual couples should be entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples. First, look at the issue in purely a legal fashion. A legally recognized marriage enacts hundreds of state and literally thousands of federal laws and benefits. These benefits, including social security, inheritance rights, child custody, and health care, are available only to people who are legally married. By United States law, the only people able to receive a marriage license are two people of the opposite sex. [1] These laws, in order to be fair, should be applicable to all citizens, not just opposite-sex spouses. In 1996, President Bill Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. This Act says that states have the right to not recognize same-sex marriages from other states if they were to be legalized. The federal government as well would not recognize legal same-sex marriages. However, according to the U.S. Constitution's "full faith and credit" clause, states must recognize each other's laws and regulations. In addition to that, DOMA defines marriage for federal purposes as a legal union between a man and a woman. By February 1999, at least 49 states have filed laws similar... ...e gender of the couple. Some people wonder why the legalization of same-sex marriages is even an issue. Indeed, it should not even be a problem in today's society. But when marriage begins to discriminate because of how a person chooses to live his or her life - then it becomes an issue. Sources Cited [1] Partners Task Force for Gay & Lesbian Couples: Legal Marriage Primer http://www.buddybuddy.com/mar-prim.html [2] Legal Marriage Alliance of Washington: Frequently Asked Questions http://www.buddybuddy.com/lma-3.html [3] Forum on the Right to Marriage: Arguments/Letters to the Editor http://www.calico-company.com/formboston/argument.htm [4] Partners Task Force for Gay & Lesbian Couples: Wald- Prop. 22 http://www.buddybuddy.com/wald-l.html [5] Freedom to Marry Coalition of Massachusetts http://www.ftmmass.org/aboutmarr.htm

Education Reform Essay

It is undeniably clear that we have serious problems with our education system. Talk to any teacher and you will hear the same complaints; overcrowded classrooms, lack of supplies and text books, unfairness of the grading system, discipline issues, drugs, underpaid teachers and the list goes on and on. The result; our children can’t read, spell or solve basic math problems without a calculator. Many students can not even find their own country on a map. In the midst of debates going on in many different levels, the big question is how can we fix these problems? The National Commission on Excellence in Education delivered a devastating assessment of American education in 1983. According to the commission’s findings; 23 million American adults were illiterate by the simplest tests of reading and writing. Almost 13 percent of all 17 year olds in the United States were functionally illiterate. Illiteracy among minority young was a scaring 40 percent. Scholastic Aptitude tests ( SAT ) showed that average verbal scores fell over 50 points and mathematics scores dropped 40 points from 1963 to 1980. International comparisons of student achievement revealed that on 19 academic tests  American students were never first or second and compared to the other industrialized nations, were last seven times. ( http://www. ed. gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk. html (3 of 10 ,2005 ). These findings alarmed the nation and in 1989, an education summit involving all fifty state governors and president George H. W. Bush resulted in the adoption of national education goals for the year 2000. The same year, National Council of Teachers Of Mathematics published the Curriculum and evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, a standards based document. ( Schwardz, 2000 ). Standards based  school reform has become a predominant issue facing public schools. In the 1990’s , The Standards-based National Education Goals were set by the U. S. Congress. This movement resulted in the famous No child Left Behind Act of 2001 which is still an active nation wide mandate in the United States ( Schwardz 2000 ). A standards-based system measures each student against the concrete standard, instead of measuring how well the student performed compared to others. The main goal of this reform is that no student by virtue of poverty, age, race, gender, cultural or ethnic background,  disabilities or family situation will be exempt from learning the required material. ( Robinson,2000 ). The school income from property taxes and the federal funds are based on the student attendance. Every public school is required to take attendance every day so the budget can be given to the state accounting department and the money made available. If a child stays home even for one day, the attendance shows less need for money. Because of this system, we have overcrowded classrooms. The government legislators should realize that fewer students means better classroom management and better education. The fight for the control of public schools also contribute to the problems we are facing with our education system. In the United States, schools are regulated by laws and regulations at the district, county, state and federal levels. The most of day to day activities have been influenced by district level government usually by a district bureaucracy led by a superintended and controlled by a locally elected or appointed school board. ( Smith, 2001 ). State and federal governments often mandate programs and reforms or prohibit certain activities by criminalizing them through legislation or court  precedent or restricting state and federal funds to schools which are not in compliance. ( Robinson, 2000 ). In the early days of our nation, our constitution left education matters Mostly in the hands of states. In those days founding fathers did not want the federal government running education. But times have changed. Now we have a mobile society, new technology, and a global economy which has erased district, county and states lines that once had meaning. Nowadays, whether raised in California, Florida, Colorado or Virginia, all children in America need the same knowledge and skills that will help them  compete in both national and the international marketplace of jobs. Tight local control of public education under the influence of provincial attitudes and ideologies can leave our children ill prepared to survive in this very challenging global environment. Federal government leads the way in important areas such as food, drug, product, financial and environmental regulations and policies. Should not education, one of the most essential contributors to the success and well being of our nation, be naturally included in that list? The violation of the separation of church and state issue has also been an ongoing  debate in our public schools. In our constitution, the first amendment states â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, this indicates that a person is free to study any form of religion and that the government will not adopt any religion as the official religion of the state or nation nor will they favor any religion above another ( First Amendment to the United States Constitution, retrieved June 29, 2010 ). There are conflicts over school praying and most people agree that allowing some  groups of children to pray inside the classrooms could offend other children with different religious backgrounds or the children with atheist parents. Author Randall Eberts ( 2007 ) states that if we take a look at any humanities course, we will find religion somewhere. He also states that religion is in science, literature and art. The battle of evolution vs. creationism vs. intelligent design never stops. Science teachers can teach about the planets, stars and galaxies but they have no answer regarding how it all started. They can come up with several theories but it is difficult to satisfy many students with  various religious background. In art classes, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Last Supper and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel are among the greatest pieces of artistry which are both religious in nature. In order for a student to be able to analyze these types of artwork, they must be able to refer to the religious themes portrayed in the pieces. In literature, Dante’s Inferno is a good example of how religion is approached in a high school literature class. In the text, Dante has established series of rings of hell and categorized which sins would banish a soul to that region for eternity. Since not all students believe in heaven and hell, teachers must be extra careful how to approach this topic so it won’t appear as if they are trying to enforce their viewpoints on the topic. There has to be a fine line between teaching religion and teaching about religion. According to a study by Christian Smith, ( Smith, 2002 ) religion affects students many ways including the following: Religious students are more likely to be involved in community work. Religious students are less likely to be suspended or expelled. Religious students are more likely to be involved in student government. Religious 12th graders are less likely to misbehave at school. Religious 12th graders are less likely to skip school without permission. There is a positive correlation between religious students and their involvement in extracurricular activities. Researchers mark Regnerus and Glen Elder ( Regnerus, 2003 ) conducted a research and found out that â€Å"when youth from low-income neighborhoods attend church, their academic performance improves primarily due to social influences of the church. It seems like most problems in the schools are the result of inability to make important decisions about the future of education in America. Valuable time is wasted by infighting and indecision. We seem powerless to fix the problems. All parties involved should have a common agreement about what some of the basic needs of students are. Our culture and the state of society is rapidly changing. In the light of these changes, new ideas about education can be useful to improve our education system. But they should be investigated for their effectiveness. The key to our future depends on highly educated students who are prepared for the 21st century. Our economic future and ability to compete in the world marketplace depends on it.

Ordeal by Fire Essay

When Contrasting and comparing the two books â€Å"Ordeal by Fire† and â€Å"George B. McClellan and Civil War History† even though they are basically on the same subjects Thomas Rowland’s book deals with one subject exclusively, George B. McClellan. James McPherson is more of a chronological history of the Civil War that discusses McClellan’s efforts during the war. There is some mention of mental problems and indications of other problems he had, but most focused on the leadership and events of the war. Some of the problems with McClellan both books do address are his slowness and his problem with exaggeration. To understand where both authors are coming from and to understand George B. McClellan I first wanted to discuss his career and his abilities in the Civil War and to find out why he became known historically, as Rowland’s puts it â€Å"deranged and paranoiac† (Rowland, 1998 p. ix). Knowing what the man went through will help to understand possibly why he is generally considered a failure as a general. Let’s begin with the first campaign of the Civil War even though it was a minor battle it was the first win for the Union and these troops were under the command of George B. McClellan. This battle under McClellan’s leadership successfully drove confederate troops out of the Kanawha Valley of western Virginia during May and June of 1861 (McPherson, 1982 p. 159). McClellan’s victory gave this region a firm grip for the Union side and kept it from becoming in control of the confederates and eventually became West Virginia. But the first major battle was a different story. The battle at Bull Run Creek was a disaster and this is where McClellan was able to come in for his gleaming moment and save the day. This was where McClellan replaced McDowell who had been the General during Bull Run Creek. McClellan then later became general in chief (Rowland, 1998 p. 86). McClellan spent the fall and winter drilling his troops and whipping them into shape. This became the first incident that showed clearly McClellan’s contempt for Lincoln and probably began the rumors that spread about McClellan, I believe. President Lincoln couldn’t understand why McClellan was taking so long and to go into the field he began to express how he thought the general was being slow ordered the army into action. McClellan’s slowness is discussed many times in both books, some citing it as cautious or meticulous. Then even more bad decisions made by McClellan happened. Union forces in the West had won some very important victories before McClellan could make a move to aid those troops. Successes around the edge of the confederacy did not help to relieve northern frustration at the inactivity or failure of the Union forces on the eastern front and this helped to reinforce the general attitude towards McClellan’s generalship. Lincoln, because of this, relieved McClellan of his supreme command and ordered him to take the offensive command at the head of the Army of the Potomac and forced McClellan to begin campaigning (McPherson, 1982 p. 211). The overland route to Richmond was difficult so instead he moved his forces by water to the peninsula southeast of the confederate capital. After landing at Fort Monroe, a Union post, McClellan began moving up the peninsula in early April 1862. For months he was stalled at Yorktown which he chose to besiege rather than attack, another sign of slowness and stagnation (Rowland, 1998 p. 107). After the fall of Yorktown he pushed ahead to a point twenty miles from Richmond and waited for troops he had expected Lincoln to send but that didn’t happen. Lincoln instead had decided the troops were needed to defend Washington instead. Many think that if McClellan had moved more boldly and decisively he probably could have captured Richmond with the forces he had. But a combination of faulty intelligence reports and his own natural caution had led him to make the wrong decision in what he wrongly believed to be outnumbered by superior numbers (McPherson, 1982 p. 234). By the end of May the Confederates discovered that McClellan’s army were divided on each side of the Chickahominy River and attacked. In this battle named Seven Pines McClellan was barely able to hold his ground until corps from the other side crossed and saved the day. During this battle was when General Lee took command of the confederate army. At the end of June Lee began an all out effort to expel McClellan from his position on the outskirts of Richmond. In a series of battles that lasted seven days McClellan warded off Lee’s final assaults at Malvera hill and decided to retreat down the peninsula to a more secure point. In doing so it convinced Lincoln that the peninsula campaign was a wasted battle (Rowland, 1998 p. 66-67). On July 11th Lincoln appointed General Henry W. Halleck who had been in command of the western theater, to be the new general in chief. Halleck was ordered by Lincoln to order McClellan to withdrawal his army from the peninsula and join forces under General Pope that was preparing to move on Richmond by the overland route. As usual McClellan was slow in responding and the confederates got to Pope before he did. Pope was badly beaten before McClellan did arrive. McClellan was ordered back to Washington where he was stripped of command. But Lincoln desperate reappointed him to head the army of the Potomac (McPherson, 1982 p. 255-2160). Meanwhile Lee and his excited troops went on to invade Maryland in hopes o f isolating Washington from the rest of the North. But McClellan caught up with him near Sharpsburg and the bloodiest one day battle of the war happened. At Antietam on September 17th almost five thousand solders were killed on both sides and another eighteen thousand were wounded. The battle ended in a draw and Lee was forced to withdraw south of the Potomac River to protect his low supplies. McClellan was again slow in persuit6 and Lincoln blamed him for letting the enemy escape (Rowland 1998, p. 176-177). Lincoln believing he needed a stronger general because McClellan was so slow appointed Ambrose B. Burnside commander of the Army of the Potomac. A huge mistake on Lincolns part because Rowland put it he was â€Å"Replacing someone slow with someone considered dense† (Rowland 1998 p. 223). Rowland argues the war could be divided into two parts and each had demands on the commanders that fought them. In Rowland’s book McClellan is overly cautious, proud, psychologically impaired and an aristocratic officer that was brought up against very formidable commanders Lee and Jackson. With the battle of Seven Pines and Antietam campaign he had to face is what Rowland says, gave McClellan every reason for caution. Other reasons Rowland gave were that McClellan commanded a new hastily thrown together army in the beginnings of the war when the nation was expectations were huge and fast victories was wanted. Because of McClellan’s slowness I believe that is was not possible. Both books relied heavily on historical documents, letters and diaries to defend their thesis but Rowland’s book does give a lot more weight to the writing by other professors that wrote controversial books on the subject. But then again the type of book Rowland wrote needs those types of sources to make the valid stand he was taking. McPherson’s book uses a huge amount of historical documents, letters and diaries. His reference and bibliography totally impressed me. Rowland introduces more feeling into his book than concentrating on facts. But in my experience when using personal letters and notes, I believe, there is too much room for interpretation unless you know the author. Many letter were used that were between McClellan and his wife and granted they are useful, but I think we still have to keep in mind that unless the author or recipient of these letters are alive, it would almost be impossible to know the intent and unconscious meaning in them. If I was to choose which book that I would rely more of facts it would have to be McPherson’s book. Like I mentioned before it wasn’t filled with emotional feelings as Rowland’s book and to me used more reliable sources. Dealing with the Civil War and the historical documents can be a huge job and McPherson did an excellent job of using the mounds and mounds of documentation available. One thing I think both authors do agree upon was that McClellan, even though he wasn’t the best, he wasn’t the worst of commanders. One thing I did think was different in the authors accounting of the general was that McPherson did discuss a problem McClellan had with chronic exaggeration (McPherson, 1982 p. 212). And this attribute was mentioned many times when he discussed McClellan and opposing forces. McClellan would say he was waiting for more troops to arrive citing the numbers of the opposing force as the reason. This caution was seen as slowness. I do side with Rowland when he wrote that he wanted to give a balanced look at McClellan and recognition for his achievements. He did a good job of giving reason and theory to McClellan’s actions. Rowland’s statement, â€Å"McClellan’s strategy, though reflective of the unrealistic war aims of the years 1861-1862 was cogent, reasoned, and consistent with conventional military wisdom and his personal views of the nature of the conflict. It was not hallucinatory or deranged; it mirrored the views of the administration and of a sizeable, if not shrinking, majority† (Rowland, 1998 p. 237). The only thing that didn’t make him great was his inability for great wins. References: McPherson, J. M. (1982). Ordeal by fire: The Civil War and reconstruction. New York: Knopf. Rowland, T. J. (1998). George B. McClellan and Civil War history: In the shadow of Grant and Sherman. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press. Similar link: https://studymoose.com/road-safety-essay

Oncology and Social Media

LIVESTRONG, an organization created by one of the worlds best cyclists, Lance Armstrong, and cancer survivor, Doug Ulman, has been highly successful in raising awareness and helping the cause against cancer over the past years. Not only has the organization touched the lives of millions of people, but it also has raised millions of dollars to fund the fight against this worldwide disease. The foundation fights to improve the lives of people affected by cancer and works in two areas: One by directly supporting survivors(people facing cancer and their family) and the other is by creating a global movement to battle the disease.Although the organization is relatively small with fewer than 90 employees based in one city, it has grown to be highly respected; yet CEO Doug Ulman is still faced with some tough questions concerning the growth and future of the organization and how they can best leverage their brand. It would be recommended that in order to keep promoting and raising awareness for LIVESTRONG’s events and cancer activism, they should really emphasize and continue to take advantage of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs, websites, etc. , because they provide a inexpensive, effective and broad way of marketing.Through these mediums of social media, they could answer questions, promote stories of cancer survivors, and provide a community for not only survivors but their families as well. They should also set up more events providing people with more personal experiences, such as mixers where people affected by cancer could gather, share their stories and meet face to face with others. Doug Ulman should also consider that if his goal is to create a national organization, advocating for people affected by cancer, that he may need expand offices to other places in the world, as currently they only have one located in Texas.If he isn’t willing to do so and wants to keep his company small, he should then look into the possibility of having more relations with local, existing cancer activism groups in other places of the world. Provided the craze that LIVESTRONG wrist bands caused in the world, proving to be a simple, inexpensive band that created a community across all geographical, racial and age lines, they should continue to fundraise through more fashion products like so (T-shirts, sweaters, shorts, shoes, etc. ).The wristbands not only sold more than 85 million, but they also were a way for everyday people to be philanthropists and donate an affordable amount of money and in return be able to show and feel like they are apart of the community of cancer survivors through a fashion item. However LIVESTRONG should recognize that one of the negatives of this whole campaign was that some people started purchasing the wristband for fashion purposes, instead of for the cause. To solve this problem with future items such as T-shirts, shorts, sweaters, etc. they could promote the main goal of the organization and make kn own to consumers what they were contributing to in buying LIVESTRONG products, possibly by adding tags on the article explaining this. Another concern Doug Ulman should have is that surrounding the doping allegations and multiple drug tests against Lance Armstrong, who is LIVESTRONG’s face and only â€Å"poster boy† for the organization. He should be worried of what would happen if these allegations turned out to be true, and how that would affect Armstrong’s reputation, which would reflect directly back on the LIVESTRONG brand.To relieve the possibility of this happening, Ulman should consider using everyday survivors to promote the brand, someone who is relatable to the common public and isn’t necessarily a celebrity such as Lance is. In doing so, people would be buying and supporting for the organization, and survivors, not just for Lance Armstrong. People would also be able to share their stories, and compare their experiences with cancer to others. F inally, in questioning whether LIVESTRONG should continue on its partnership with Nike or if they should breakaway and do their own thing, dropping Nike would be to risky of a move to make.Not only is Nike a highly reputable brand, but it also provides LIVESTRONG with someone who can produce and market their products, which brings in a considerable amount of revenue for the LIVESTRONG foundation. In dropping Nike, they would have to find another way to produce and promote these products, which would cause more problems than benefits. They can also use Nike to sponsor sporting events like the Tour De France, where all the bikers wore a yellow LIVESTRONG shirt, promoting their organization.With cancer being the second most common cause of death in the US, it is expected that almost everybody in the country knows someone who has been affected by this tragic disease, and thus the strength of the community helping those affected should continue to grow. By using the power of social media , their sponsors, events, taking advantage of the LIVESTRONG brand, looking into expanding offices into other parts of the world and by using everyday local survivors to promote their brand, Doug Ulman should expect his organization to continue to grow and help raise awareness and support for cancer not only locally, but worldwide.

Importance of IT measurements for an organization Essay

The performance of a business is a strategic issue which depends greatly on IT contribution. IT is crucial for any business to grow as it enables efficient and effective communication between the employees and with the customers. Similarly, in collaboration with internet, IT provides means of networking, marketing and communication. It provides storage capacity for the company’s data, data protection, data processing, transmission and retrieval of data as required (Alexandrou, 2009). Furthermore, it saves space which would have been used for storage of many paper works. IT has many advantages to a business but it can also have disadvantages. It is therefore important for businesses to evaluate it before adopting it within its structure. IT offers different features and since different businesses have different needs it is therefore important for a business to lay down its objectives before adopting it. In most of the big organizations IT has been adopted entirely in most of their operations while the small ones use it in performing a number of operations. Adopting IT for the entire business operations requires much financial investment and analysis of the technology. According to Myers (2004), few organizations have put in place measures that ensure their corporate strategies and IT are aligned. In other words, few organizations have put in place rigorous systems for measuring the value brought about by IT to their business. In some organizations tools for the management and measurement of IT spending are present and these include IT steering committee, activity based costing, annual budgets, tightly controlled systems of purchasing, benchmarking among others (Myers, 2004). However, these tools do not measure its impacts on the business. Measurement of IT in an organization is vitally important but there are difficulties which hamper the evaluation processes. In most organizations the IT managers lack full understanding of the business and are therefore not included in the decisions made by the senior management personnel. The senior management personnel lack the knowledge of conducting IT measurement processes thus many organization do not measure their IT effectively. To add to that most of the IT managers lack the fully understanding of the measurement of IT processes and will therefore not conduct them (Williams, n. d. ). In Curley’s (n. d. ) view, for IT to deliver business value, its measurement should be done in terms of revenue growth, profitability and customer satisfaction. The performance of the IT system in business is normally evaluated by checking how the business operations are improved. A good system should be able to improve the operations of the business. The performance of an IT system should be directly proportional to its contribution to customer satisfaction. With improvements in the business operations, more customers will become satisfied with services provided by the business. Moreover, the measurement of IT performance is a complement to the measurement of IT contribution to customer satisfaction. The performance of IT is evaluated by the operations of the business while its contribution is evaluated by the increase in the number of customers and thus business growth. The measurement of IT in an organization is vital as it is useful in justifying the existing or the proposed system, comparing different systems, providing tools for system management and in providing a learning experience (Bjork, 2000). When evaluating an IT system in a business several things are usually considered; effectiveness, efficiency and performance benefits. It is important for organizations to develop a framework for evaluating the potential costs and benefits of new IT systems, and the performance of these systems after being implemented. Benefits of measuring IT By measuring and evaluating the IT system, its efficiency, effectiveness and performance benefits can be fully determined and this will be helpful in making decisions concerning the adoption of a new IT system. To add to that, the organization will gain an understanding of the existing IT and will therefore have the capability to determine whether it is beneficial to the current needs of the business or not. With IT measurements, the organization will be saved from wastage of monetary resources in purchasing low quality systems. An organization might purchase IT systems which are not useful in meeting the objectives of the organization thereby leading to wastage of funds which would have been used for other important needs. Consequently, the business will be able to purchase a system which will be of much benefit to the organization. With an efficient IT system the business planning times will be greatly reduced, the cost of marketing will be greatly reduced and more inquiries will be handled within a short time. Similarly, there will be a reduction in the communication cost and paperwork. Furthermore, an effective IT system will minimize business risks, increase the flexibility and competitiveness of the business, increase sales and will provide a sustainable increase in the market share. Furthermore, the performance benefits from the IT system include improvements in strategic intelligence for new markets, provision of capacity and space for business growth, overcoming obsolescence, provision of more relevant and reliable data, among others (Bjork, 2004). The measurements will be helpful in evaluating the weaknesses in the system and in providing guidelines on the ways of improving the system for the better. In other words, they will provide an opportunity to evaluate the loopholes in the technology. As time goes the needs of an organization changes or increases and thus improvements in technology are required. The goals of most organizations is to grow and become competitive in business and as it grows its IT should also grow with it otherwise it will become a hindrance in achieving its goals. The measurement of IT is therefore essential as it provides an opportunity for further advancements in this technology. In conclusion, IT measurements provide many benefits to an organization and are therefore essential. However, in many organizations, the success of IT in a business is measured in terms of the IT parameters which include capacity, processing speed and up time. This therefore shows that many businesses do not measure IT with regard to customer satisfaction or profitability. Customers are one of the most important assets of a business and should be included in IT measurements to ensure a sustainable business growth. Similarly, organizations should invest more funds in IT measurements. In measuring the impacts of IT in organizations knowledge and understanding is a necessity and thus funds are required. Measurement of IT is not an easy task and cannot be done by anyone; IT professionals are threfore needed and should have much experience in IT measurements. Since in many organizations the IT professionals have little experience in IT measurements, IT experts from outside will be helpful in ensuring IT measurements are conducted in an efficient and effective manner.