Bamboozled: Black People and White Man Essay

In 2000, Spike Lee wrote and directed the film Bamboozled. When discussing his satirical film, Spike Lee claimed, â€Å"I want people to think about the power of images, not just in terms of race, but how imagery is used and what sort of social impact it has – how it influences how we talk, how we think, how we view one another[. . . ]how film and television have historically[. . . ]produced and perpetuated distorted images. † Spike Lee certainly conveyed this message in Bamboozled. Images are powerful and carry massive social impact. They should never be misrepresented. Are all African Americans either lazy or dim-witted or â€Å"happy servants†, always ready and willing to please the White Man? The short answer is, no. However, throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, many people believed this. The ultimate question is, why? As explained in the film Ethnic Notions, this false perception grew and grew, even past the time of slavery, due to images. Derogatory images of African Americans as â€Å"happy servants† or â€Å"savages,† were everywhere; they were published in children’s books and slapped on cans of food to be used as a marketing tool. People bought into this perception of African Americans, as they became acclimatized to it. Today, our society likes to believe that times have changed and there is no longer an issue of race or false perception of African Americans in the media. However, Spike Lee argues, â€Å"A new â€Å"phenomenon† has emerged in film in recent years, in which an African-American character is imbued with special powers, filmmaker Spike Lee told a student audience ? This new image is just a reincarnation of â€Å"the same old† stereotype or caricature of African Americans ? Lee cited four recent films in which there is a â€Å"magical, mystical Negro† character ? in â€Å"The Legend of Bagger Vance,† a black man â€Å"with all these powers,† teaches a young white male ? how to golf like a champion ? â€Å"How is it that black people have these powers but they use them for the benefit of white people? † Spike Lee seems to be under the impression that African Americans are still misrepresented in the media. They have only improved their ability to mask the fact. False image is still there, but it is subtle. His film Bamboozled ripped viewers’ eyes wide open. The film explored and demonstrated two images of African Americans. The first image, is the Black Man who is just like the White Man or the Asian Man or the Middle-Eastern Man; a man who can be rich and successful like Pierre Delacroix in Bamboozled; a man who can be poor and when without money will do almost anything for it like Manray and Womack. However, when Pierre Delacroix pitched television shows about a Black Man living in an upper-middle-class white, suburban neighborhood, his superior, Thomas Dunwitty turned them down, â€Å"they definitely don’t want to see dignified black people [on television]. † However, the network would allow Pierre Delacroix to create a show which blatantly degrades African Americans; a show which goes back to the 1900s, to the time of black face and minstrel shows; a time when black people were considered subhuman. This is where Spike Lee demonstrates the other image of the African American; an image that the media has gently forced down viewer’s throats. Spike Lee, however, did not do so gently. The fictional television show in Bamboozled, â€Å"Mantan’s New Millennium Minstrel Show†, starred African Americans in â€Å"black face† acting like buffoons. It might as well have been an authentic minstrel show in the 1900s. There was dancing and singing. The two main characters hid from the White Man in a chicken coup, saying â€Å"ain’t nobody in here but us chickens! â€Å"4 The creator, Pierre Delacroix’s initial intention with this show was not to degrade his own race. It was to â€Å"break the stereotypes. â€Å"5 He figured the nation would be shocked and outraged! Instead they ate it up. The studio audience dressed in black face. Children trick-or-treated in black face. It was the latest craze of the nation. Black face is an act which digs back to a time of slavery, a time where African Americans were considered inferior. It was now socially acceptable to publicly highlight a moment in history that pained African Americans. People figured it’s on TV, it’s OK! The black man was degraded, as he has always been, but in Bamboozled no mercy was spared. Spike Lee used the film in a variety of ways. He attacked today’s media and the way in which it portrays African Americans. He explored the wide scope of African American’s lives, which is no different than the lives of any other race. He demonstrated the consequences of greed and sacrificing one’s dignity. Furthermore, he exposed society for what it really is: mindless. The majority of a population does not question the media. Instead it swallows images whole, even if those images are as false and misleading as a painted black face.

Injuries in Sport Essay

Concussion can be caused by a blow to the head, which results in a short period of unconsciousness and then a full recovery. It is most common in contact sports e.g. football etc. To treat concussions you must put an ice pack on the head. Then you must ensure that the head is always higher in the heart and soon after they should have recovered but if the symptoms persist then the person must go to the doctors. The signs and symptoms are memory loss, change in breathing rate, and temporary loss of consciousness, loss of balance, disturbed vision and diluted pupils. Accidents can be less serious if headgear is warm in high contact sports like rugby and hockey. This reduces the chance of the blow being more deadly. If this injury occurs it will defend on the seriousness if the player is to go off or is able to continue playing. If it is serious than it may become life threatening and could potentially end a career in sport but if it is minor a player could return onto the field of play in minutes. Time must be given to regain consciousness. A spinal injury stress fracture is caused by twisting or direct stress to the bone. There is no treatment for this injury all that we can do is take the person with the injury to the hospital. The symptoms are pain in the back of the neck, swelling and bruising, redness and warmth , Tenderness to touch and numbness. This can be minimised by increasing calcium intake (calcium increases bone strength). It can also be minimised by doing strengthening exercises around the spine. These exercises increases the muscle capacity around the spine causing it to give more protection on impact. If this injury occurs the chance of returning to mobility is small so there is virtually no chance of returning to the field of play. This injury could possibly ruin someone’s life and could easily end a career. Fractures are caused by indirect or direct forces. If someone has a simple fracture we must support the injured part and take the person to the hospital. The signs for a simple fracture are pain , redness , swelling, bruising and discolouration. The compound fracture; bone breaking through skin , bleeding , pain, swelling , redness and bruising .To minimise fractures you could wear protective clothing. It is a impact injury so even if protective clothing is worn there still could be a chance of getting this injury. If the fracture is open firstly the bleeding will need to be controlled, to do this: * Apply pressure above the wound * Keep the wound elevated Try and use a splint around the fracture, when the bleeding has been controlled, if you cannot do this please inform a member of staff beforehand. It is difficult to say whether a player will return after this. It all depends on the seriousness but often a player is required to go off to receive treatment. Dislocations are caused by a blow for examples to the shoulder .They are most common in contact sports. We must call a trained person who must be there to help we must ensure that the athlete is kept warm to prevent shock occurring. We must also immobilise the neck and dislocated shoulder with padded splints or a sling. The signs for dislocation are severe pain no movement, visible bone deformity, swelling, bruising and numbness. Dislocations can be minimised by warming up, strengthening muscles so they can be used as a protective layer. Also protective clothing can be worn so the chance of dislocating a muscle will be lower. If this injury occurs than the player may have to rest. It would be very difficult and painful to carry on playing. Sprains can be caused by a sudden twist, overstretching or stress on ligaments. They are in boxing and football. The way to treat this is R.I.C.E .The symptoms for sprains are; pain or tenderness in the part of the body, which gets worse if the arm rotates or attempts to grip an object. To minimise the risk of injury perform strengthening exercises for the forearm. You could also under take a thorough warm up. Protective equipment can be worn to minimise the risk of injury. I will make sure that the athlete is kept warm to prevent shock, immobilise the injury with padded splints or a sling. Do not attempt to reposition the dislocated joint. Only our trained personnel should do this. If this occurs the chance of carrying playing is very slim. Some time must be taken off so the body can recuperate and recover. Very difficult to play through this pain. Head injuries are common in sports such as football for example when someone bangs his head with someone else. The signs for a heads injury are blurred vision, and headache. To minimise the risk of getting a head injury is to wear protective headgear but in some sport you are not allowed. The treatment for this is to call 999 and at the hospital they will treat the person involved. If this injury occurs then the player might have a serious problem and it could possibly end a career in sport. Some head injuries may just require the athlete to go off for a minute or two to regain consciousness. This depends on how serious the injury is. Joint injuries can be treated by the following ways; Advice the athlete to rest or you could send the athlete to a doctor for a injection which reduces the inflammation and relieve pain. The symptoms are pain or tenderness in the the elbow, which gets worse if the arm rotates or attempts to grip an object. A badly sprains ankle can be treated by R.I.C.E (rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Apply ice for 20 minutes. The symptoms for a sprain in the ankle are pain at the ankle joint at any time of the injury. A feeling of popping or tearing of the ankle joint in the outer region. Some symptoms are; 1). Swelling and tenderness in the area. 2). Slight loss of function with slight injuries to the ankle joint 3). More severe loss of function with more severe injury 4). Bruising, which usually appears a few hours after the injury has occurred. These depend on the seriousness as well. If it is serious than it could require time for rest and the player will not be able to return onto the field off. The time off depends on the joint. Hypothermia is when athletes train in extreme cold conditions for a long time. The signs and symptoms are shivering , muscle rigidity , cramps , low blood pressure , low pulse rate and breathing rates , confusion , disorientation , cold , pale , dry skin. To minimise risk they could be equipped for all kinds of weather. Wear extra, thin layers of clothing; wear a waterproof and windproof outer layer of clothing.

Analysis of Vietnam’s Economy

Analysis of Vietnams Economy Table of contents (Jump to) 1. Introduction 2. Why Vietnam – An overview 3. Theoretical literatures 3.1. Macroeconomic principles 3.2. Microeconomic principles 4. The level of unemployment and employment 4.1. Before the national reform – The beginning of the 1990s’ 4.2. After the national reform 5. Skills needed and skills gaps 5.1. Disadvantages 5.1.1. Low IT skill availability 5.1.2. Low English proficiency level 5.2. Advantages 5.2.1. High tech sector 5.2.2. Textiles and garments sector 6. Conclusion Bibliography 1. Introduction The trend of global outsourcing has accelerated the economic activities in developing nations. Developed nations countries have gained the economy of scales and performed major functions in the long-term basis. The advantages of outsourcing are to reduce business operation expenses and thus corporations can sustain competitiveness. The paper will discuss the Vietnamese economy, particularly skills needed and skills gaps, and the level of unemployment and employment. Some theoretical literatures will help explain the reasons and results of Vietnamese economic growth; the paper tries to access the underlying forces which have challenged Vietnam authority to change from the central control to the market economy. 2. Why Vietnam – An overview Vietnam officially becomes the 150 th member in WTO (World Trade Organization) on 11th January 2007. In order to join WTO, Vietnam government has to change its political, infrastructure and economic principals to fulfill the requirements of this international organization. ‘A sustained boom, with annual economic growth consistently around 7%-8% since 2000, has transformed Vietnam. It is over 20 years since Vietnam’s ruling communists abandoned collectivism and embarked on their doi moi market-based reforms, not unlike those China adopted a few years earlier.’ [1] Additionally, Vietnam economy has gradually changed in order to adapt and join the worl d economy. From the control economy as of the principal of the communist ideals, Vietnam has undergone the reform and has let its economy to react in accordance with the law of supply and demand. Accordingly, ‘Real GDP growth is forecast to be robust in 2007, at an average of 7% a year, and will be driven mainly by industrial expansion. Business sentiment and consumer confidence will remain resilient, boosting investment and consumption.’ [2] In fact, ‘Many Southeast Asian economies, namely, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam are emerging as an outsourcing destination for some Fortune-500 companies.’ [3] The data from the Vietnamese economy has strongly reflected how outsourcing impacts on the level of unemployment and employment and skills needed and skills gaps, since the economy has moved so fast to the integration into the world economy. Vietnam has positioned itself as a primary host by luring more investment than other emerging econo mies and developing nations in the region in the late 1990s. It is overtaking the Philippines and Indonesia. ‘By 2002, Viet Nam was the third largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in ASEAN [Association of South East Asian Nations], behind Singapore and Malaysia, strengthening its position as a significant investment base. Viet Nam has therefore achieved a key position both in terms of prime investment host within the region, and as a recipient of intraregional inflows.’ [4] 3. Theoretical literatures 3.1. Macroeconomic principles A concept of scarcity, relatively in relation to an entire country and its people, becomes a condition which individual producer and consumer have to face in every decision. The opportunity cost of each decision can be considered as subjective value that individual must scarify when making any decision for the next best alternatives.

Jurassic park Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Jurassic park - Movie Review Example This dynamic principle can be compared to human characters whose minds evolve towards certain preconceived fixed notions/ ideas. The character of Ian Malcolm in Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park stands as the best example for the point attractor. Malcolm, described as a learned mathematician at the University of Texas in Austin, clearly warns the Hammond Foundation representatives of the impending dangers of resort venture in the Costa Rica. Always attired in black and gray, giving the look of a mourner, Malcolm heavily speaks of the chaos theory which says that even simple systems exhibit unpredictable behavior. He repeatedly stresses that some kind of unpredictable behavior is going to manifest on the island. Malcolm refutes the 'all well' theory of Hammond, the chief of Hammond Foundation, Henry Wu, the geneticist who boasts of his ability to control the cloned dinosaurs and John Arnold, the engineering brain behind the Jurassic park. Like a point attractor, Malcolm's mind is fixed and in a state of equilibrium that can not be changed. He asserts that the park will end in disaster. On several occasions, Hammond and others argue with him and try to change his state of mind but that is of no use. Malcolm does not budge an inch in his mind-set. Like a pebble dropped on to a spot on the floor, his mind points to the chaotic happenings that are going to unfold and that is his end thinking in relation to Jurassic park.

DIABETES - LITERATURE REVIEW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

DIABETES - LITERATURE REVIEW - Essay Example The objective was to analyse the risk factor index and the study concludes that the risk of diabetes is higher in Asians, Hispanics and blacks than whites before and after taking into account difference in BMI on the basis of the study evidences. The diatory and life style informations contributed to the data collection, the specific study methods verifies the dilatory intake in terms of caloric value as well as glycemic intake too. The data collection was done repeatedly for 4 years. Questionnaires were the assessment tool. Population:- Total population was 78419.Among these population the sampling done on the basis of ethnicity as Asians- 801, whites – 75,584, Hispanics-613 and black 1421. Inclusion criteria:- The inclusion criteria were considered only the selected population who have diabetes and who are willing to participate and the gender consideration was females. Exclusion Criteria:- Exclusion criteria include the diseases other than diabetes. Result:- The result says that â€Å"Compared with whites, the age-adjusted relative risks (RRs) were 1.43 (95% CI1.08–1.90) for Asians, 1.76 (1.32–2.34) for Hispanics, and 2.18 (1.82–2.61) for blacks. After adjustment for BMI, the RRs changed to 2.26 (1.70–2.99) for Asians, 1.86 (1.40–2.47) for Hispanics, and 1.34 (1.12–1.61) for blacks. ... A healthy diet high in cereal ?ber and polyunsaturated fat and low in transfat and glycemic load was more strongly associated with a lower risk of diabetes among minorities (RR 0.54 [95% CI 0.39–0.73]) than among whites (0.77 [0.72–0.84]). As Weight gain is particularly detrimental for Asians these data evidence towards the ethnicity along with diatory intake that the inverse association of a healthy diet with diabetes is stronger for minorities than for whites. Study evidences that the immigrated Asian women population have the high prevalence of diabetes and states that the diabetes and obesity are strongly associated each other along with the higher risk rate of cardio-vascular diseases incidence (Shai et al., 2006, p.1587). Article 2: ‘Prospective study of red meat consumption and type 2 diabetes in middle aged and elderly women by American Diabetes Association-2004’ The women heath study was conducted on the topic red meat consumption and association o f type 2 diabetes mellitus in middle aged and elderly women was done by the research team with the guidance of American diabetes association in 2004 ;leads to the evidences of diatory involvement in diabetes among the specified south Asian group. Study Design and Methods: Over an average of 8.8 years, evaluated 37,309 participants in the Women’s Health Study aged above 45 years who were free of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes and completed validated semi quantitative food frequency questionnaires in 1993. Questionnaire was the assessment tool. Participants: The study population contains 377,309 individuals. All participants were belongs to the female gender category. Inclusion criteria: The inclusion criterion includes

Final Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Final Paper - Essay Example ports of entry and fail to register through proper immigration channels, 2) storing, analyzing and integrating captured data with known criminal/terrorist databases through a data interoperability system, and 3) a GIS (Geographic Information System) module that uses biometrics data to map terrorist movement through U.S. borders. With such a capable program, DHS will have a powerful tool to identify and track terrorist movement within U.S. which does not register on immigration channels, integrating this information with law enforcement and intelligence data and helping coordinate terrorist prevention efforts of various federal agencies. Without TIDIS, we as a Nation face a significant risk of terrorists â€Å"slipping through the cracks† and possibly executing another attack such as 9/11 on U.S. soil. Importance of TIDIS if further underscored by the fact that such a system will drastically improve cooperation between intelligence and law enforcement communities in identifying and tracking terrorists, a deficiency which was identified by 9/11 commission in its findings and attempted to be rectified through Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act of 2004. Looking more closely at TIDIS system and methodology in determining particular technology solutions to meet our objectives, we concluded that biometrics technology will give DHS a capability to collect data and rapidly identify suspected terrorists as they pass through a point of entry, data interoperability function will enable rapid data analysis and sharing across multiple organizations and jurisdictions, and GIS function will allow for integration of biometrics data with geographic mapping capability. TIDIS will require several component systems such as XR-1000 biometrics/CCTV system for capturing biometrics data from traveling passengers at a checkpoint. It will also require XF-1500 data system for data warehouse and

Critical Chain Project Management Based Heuristics Algorithm Essay

Critical Chain Project Management Based Heuristics Algorithm - Essay Example Dr. Goldratt utilized TOC in project management in 1997. The project schedule was organized and managed by few resources and tackled the unattractive behavior. The project’s execution was supervised by the centralized management of the project buffer extent. Critical chain technology considers both the issues of cognitive and psychological resources-restrained, and the effect in the duties of the next and the former firm relation restriction (Hong and Ji-hai 331). The steps include work breakdown structure establishment; activity definition; network chart drawing; constraints-critical chain identification; the employment of restraint, which include the project time estimate activities, feeding buffer and project buffer, and resource buffer; minor non-critical path chain identification; plot the project schedule plan of critical chain (Hong and Ji-hai 331). Currently, the buffer size is regularly calculated using three forms of method. One, Goldratt method where input buffer and project buffer match half of the magnitude of the critical chain to attain 50% probability the task duration and approximated. Two, Cut-and-paste method where buffer size matches half of the difference between 90% of the probability of completion of the task duration approximated and 50% of the probability of completion task duration approximated. Third is the standard deviation method which is formed on the independent assumption of the task of the project. Nonetheless, these methods did not take into consideration the different task chain distribution duration, different uncertainty levels in different positions, and different preference risks of stakeholders (Hong and Ji-hai 331). The buffer management mechanism is perceived to be the critical chain’s tool for controlling projects. Project buffer attempts to lessen the project buffer duration and incorporates it into the critical chain. Feeding buffer asserts that the inserting task be finished in time. Finally,

NBA Lockout Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

NBA Lockout Paper - Essay Example They two parties could not come to a consensus regarding the division of revenue and the proposed structure of the salary cap and taxation of the player’s luxury. During the period of the lockout, the player could not access NBA team facilities, trainer or staff; they could not make any trades, sign or contact the players. This led to player signing other contract in countries like Asia and Europe and left a possibility of returning to the NBA after the conclusion of the NBA lockout. A tentative deal was eventually reached in November 26 2011 and allowed for the start of the season shortly thereafter. Following a previous lock in the 1998- 99 season, a six year contract was agreed between the owners and the players. This meant that the CBA was set to expire by 2005. A new agreement was meant to take place but, there were several issues that blocked a new contract. The issues include the age limit for the rookies that were to be drafted in the NBA, limiting the length of the lo ng term contract that many teams had to sign with their players and the toughening of the existing drug testing program. The two parties reached an agreement that prevented a lock out in 2005. This deal was meant to grant the player 57 percent of the Basketball Related Income (BRI). This deal was also meant to last six years. Due to the economic crisis, eight officials of NBA asked the Commissioner David Stern to address the issue on Large market and Small market teams (Rosner 78). He said the current economic system only worked for the large market teams which made them successful but, those small teams were facing major losses. The two parties under the CBA began to look for a possible solution to this issue that seemed to get out of hand. The league declared that it was losing close to 300 million dollars in a year. This meant that out of a possible 30 teams, 22 were counting losses. Therefore, they proposed that the player’s salary was to be reduced to 40 %, which came to about 800 million. They also recommended for the salary cap to be reduced to $ 45 million opposing the current one at 58 million. These recommendations were not taken lightly as the union disputed the figures and were steadfast to oppose these changes. Billy Hunter, the director of the union advised the player for a lockout. Negotiations continued regarding the salary cap, and the newest proposal known as the flex cap was meant to limit the payroll at 62 million but reprimand on the event that the team’s payroll exceeded the average league payroll of the season. The Union still felt that this was a hard cap (Washington post ). Players offered a salary reduction cut an estimate of about 500 million over the next five years from 57 to 54.3 Percent. However, the owners proposed a 2 billion cut for the next ten years. On June 30 2011, both side tried to resolve the key issues of the BRI splits and salary cap but, there were no able to come into an agreement. The owners demanded a bigger portion making claims of losing money whereas, the players were willing to make special considerations, but they refused to completely cave to the demand of the owners. This eventually to a break off and the CBA expired. With the NBA player deciding to reject the latest offer, the mutli billion dollar game ended in a crash. The players disclaimed their union and ended its right to negotiate on their behalf.

International business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 3

International business - Essay Example For many companies, including middle-size enterprises, international sales provide additional profits and are all that enable some companies to make any profits at all. International expansion is one of the best methods to sustain strong market position and increase sales. All the Disney theme parks are united by a common approach which distinguishes them from conventional amusement parks. The share prospectus for Euro Disneyland provides a good account of their thinking. The expansion of Euro Disney to Eastern Europe proposes great opportunities for Disney Corporation to enter a new market and attract millions of new visitors. The Eastern Europe is one of the potential geographical regions for Disney to expend its activities and gain larger market share. The proposed country for Disney is Slovak Republic. This location was selected because Slogan Republic is an attractive tourist destination for many European tourists, so it would help Disney to attract wider target audiences in summer and in winter. Slovak republic and Eastern Europe do do have any theme park like those proposed by Disney. The liberation and democratization of the political system in many East European countries have proved to be a boon to dynamic retail companies from France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and Italy. Most East European countries have yet to create adequate infrastructure support for modern retailing to take root in the new environment (Slovak Republic Home Page 2008). There is little doubt that Western retailers will have unlimited opportunities to expand in this region through joint ventures, licensing, and limited-term management contracts. Eastern Europe, in spite of its initial problems, will offer a great growth opportunity to West European retailers for many years to come. Slovak Republic is one of the main FDI destinations in the region attracting potential investors by

Romeo and Juliet’s Love Essay Example for Free

Romeo and Juliet’s Love Essay Romeo and Juliet’s love is not true love. Although they have sworn their love and gotten married, they do not truly love each other. They are too young to know if they really love someone. Although Lady Capulet was already a mother at Juliet’s age, Juliet is not old enough to know what love feels like. Capulet even says to Paris that Juliet is too young to get married. â€Å"My child is yet a stranger in the world. She hath not seen the change of fourteen years. Let two more summers wither in their pride ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.† Capulet says here that not until she is sixteen will Juliet be ready to get married. But Juliet thinks she has fallen in love and married Romeo before she is even fourteen. Next, Romeo is also too young. Romeo is not really in love with Juliet, he is in love with being in love. Before the party in act 1 scene 5, Romeo seems to be in love with Rosaline. However he immediately forgets about Rosaline when he talks with Juliet. This shows that he is not old enough to love someone. He has not matured enough, which is yet another reason why Romeo and Juliet are not truly in love. Juliet has not matured enough to get married because she has never been in any kind of a relationship. You cannot love someone if do not know what it feels like. So, if you married the first person you had a relationship with then you could not know if there was someone else who would love even more. Capulet wants Juliet to, somewhat, see who else is out there before marrying Paris. On the other hand, it seems as if Romeo has been in a relationship before. But the problem with Romeo is that he has been in too many relationships. Romeo is in love with being in love, and loves to feel like â€Å"woe is me.† When Romeo gets turned down by Rosaline, he says that he could never love someone as much as he loved her. â€Å"Thou canst not teach me to forget.† Romeo is saying that he cannot forget his love for Rosaline. This tells us that he did not truly love Rosaline, and that he probably does not truly love Juliet. Lastly, Romeo and Juliet do not truly love each other because they have not known each other long enough. They have only known each other for one day and they have already gotten married. That is not nearly enough time for someone to get to know and love another person. Just an hour after the party they had sworn their love to each other. They are not in love, they simply like each other. They were not ready to get married at the time that they did and they still are not in love even after they got married. So, Romeo and Juliet are not really in love. They are too young and immature to be in love with each other. Also, they have not known each other long enough to be in love, they moved too quickly. In conclusion, Romeo and Juliet’s love is not true love.

The Horrors Of The Nuremberg Laws

The Horrors Of The Nuremberg Laws On September 15, 1935 the first two laws of the Nuremberg Laws were enacted. The laws were a clear violation of the Jewish peoples civil rights. Many of the laws imposed on the freedom of the Jewish people. These laws were enacted by a cold and cruel dictator by the name of Adolf Hitler. The Nuremberg laws were a very strict and immoral set of laws that discriminated against the Jewish people. Above all, the laws were offensive and demeaning. Adolf Hitler was born April 20, 1889 and would eventually become a terrible dictator. He wanted to go into art school, but was rejected. The person who rejected him was Jewish, and some believe that was where his hatred toward the Jewish people came from. Hitler rose to power by being elected, he did not take control by force, he was elected by the German people. Once he had control of the government, he passed the enabling act, which enabled him to make and pass any law on his own; he did not need the approval of the rest of the government.(Palma) This is what permitted the passing of the Nuremberg Laws. After passing the laws, he focused his hatred on the Jewish people and would go on to kill millions of Jews. The Nuremberg Laws were the start of the â€Å"Aryanization† of Germany. The Nuremberg Laws were offensive and demeaning to the Jewish people. The laws labeled Jews as unclean and prohibited them from marrying Aryans. The laws also prevented them from holding respectable jobs such as a Doctor, Lawyer, Professor etc. etc. The wording of the laws referred to the Jewish people as inferior. They portrayed Jews as something they were not. One of the biggest civil rights violations of the laws was their infringement on the freedom of the Jewish people. One of the first additions to the Nuremberg Laws stated that a Jewish person could not be or become a German citizen. Jewish people who were German citizens had their citizenship revoked. The Nuremberg Laws went so far as to say that Jewish families could not employ German women under forty-five years of age as housekeepers. Many of the freedoms that the general population enjoyed were taken away from the Jewish people. The SS could storm into homes and take belongings that suggested the inhabitants of the house were Jews. They were restricted from certain areas and punished if they were caught in said areas. They were also made to wear a patch that designated them as Jews. Eventually they were forced to move from their homes into the ghettos. This forced migration corralled them to make their deportation easier and more successful. The Nuremberg Laws were and are often referred to as the â€Å"Blood Laws†. This is because they were all based on the blood of the person in question. You were considered to be Jewish if you had three grandparents who were Jewish. If you only had two, you were considered mischling of the first degree. If you had only one, you were mischling of the second degree. There were however, other ways of classifying you as Jewish. If you were a part of a Jewish church when the Nuremberg Laws were issued, or joined after, you were considered Jewish. If you were married to a Jew or were the child of a marriage with a Jew that was conducted after the ban was placed, you were considered Jewish. If you were the born out of wedlock from one or two Jewish parents, you were considered Jewish. Regardless of religious affiliation, if you met any of the criteria above, you were considered a Jew. One of the many flaws with this way of thinking is that Judaism is not a race, it is a religion. The Nuremberg laws and the Holocaust could have possibly been avoided. Maybe, if he had been accepted into art school, he would have gone on to be a painter, instead of a Dictator turned mass murderer. An early Jewish revolt could have possibly ended the holocaust. Many Jews would have been killed in the process, however, it could be argued that not as many would have died overall had there been an early Jewish revolt. All things considered, the Nuremberg Laws were one of the biggest atrocities that occurred during World War II. â€Å"The Nuremberg Race Laws† Marrus, Michouel R. The Holocaust in History. New York: Penguin Books. 1987. â€Å"The Nuremberg Laws† Palma, Heather. Personal Interview April 01, 2010 â€Å"The Triumph of Hitler†

Huckleberry Finn in High Schools :: essays papers

Huckleberry Finn in High Schools High Schools in the United States should not ban The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This book is one of the most important components of American literature in our libraries today, it throws the reader into a time when slavery was lawful and accepted, and gives the reader a new perspective on slavery in general. Until civil rights groups can come up with a better argument than the word â€Å"nigger† creating a â€Å"hostile work environment†(Zwick) it should not be taken off the required reading list of any High School in the country. Every one hundred years dialects change and what is considered â€Å"politically correct†, or socially acceptable, changes. â€Å"David Bradley argues that ‘if we'd eradicated the problem of racism in our society, Huckleberry Finn would be the easiest book in the world to teach’† (Zwick, Jim. â€Å"Should Huckleberry Finn Be Banned?†). If we, as a nation, make it a point to rule out all books that could possibly offend students, then every hundred years or so our library of American Literature will be completely different. Even today, modern day authors use vulgar language, lurid sexual content, and racial slurs to get their point across. If The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is taken off of required reading lists across the country, then that could create a never-ending cycle of books being taken off of school shelves every time words and ideas become unacceptable. If this is the way that American society is turning then something must be done, and the Superintendents, Deans, and Principals of every High School around the country must take it upon themselves to do it because the students will not. The people who are trying to ban The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are only trying to block out a part of American history that they would just as soon be forgotten, but every part of American history needs to be dealt with and accepted by everyone at a young age. Trying to shield students from any important part of history is a crime within itself. Hannibal, Missouri is a prime example of this type of crime. Every year they have a citywide celebration of Mark Twain, but they do not celebrate The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson nor do they teach it in their schools. Best stated by Shelly Fisher Fishkin, the theater company in Hannibal â€Å"was upholding a long American tradition of making slavery and its legacy and blacks themselves invisible†(Zwick, Jim.

Oreo Cookie and Six Flags Commercials - Nostalgia for Sale :: Media Advertising Essays

Oreo Cookie and Six Flags Commercials - Nostalgia for Sale Many television commercials choose to feature a contrast between youth and maturity as their subject. An â€Å"Oreo Cookie† commercial, for example, features a little girl who is about four years old mimicking her grandfather’s actions in eating a cookie. Another commercial advertises the popular theme park, Six Flags Great Adventure. This commercial, entitled â€Å"The Six Flags Dancing Man,† features an elderly man dancing like an enthusiastic child. This relates to Stephen King’s idea in â€Å"My Creature from the Black Lagoon,† that adults long for and are often reminded of their childhood. Meanwhile, Rita Dove’s essay, â€Å"Loose Ends,† and Marie Winn’s essay, â€Å"Television Addiction,† each presents the great influence television has on life, often because of television’s great aspect of reality. Together, these ideas support the reasoning behind an advertisement’s attempt to sell abstract id eas. By using youth and old age in commercials, advertisers can sell nostalgia as a way of making commercials more memorable. Nabisco, the company that produces Oreo Cookies, has always been known for outstanding commercials. Yet this â€Å"Oreo Cookie† commercial is perhaps the most remarkable. First, she twists the cookie apart and then, this cute little girl with her hair in pigtails proceeds to dunk the cookie in a tall glass of milk, submerging her entire hand. The camera then shifts to show the child’s grandfather eating the cookie in the same manner. This advertisement aims at leading audiences to reminisce of the simple pleasures of their childhood, like enjoying a cookie. While doing so, the advertisers have created a memorable commercial. Also, in â€Å"The Six Flags Dancing Man† commercial, family members are sitting on the front porch of their home, trying to arrange a day to spend at Six Flags Great Adventure. Because of their busy schedules, the attempt seems impossible. Suddenly, a red school bus pulls up and a very old man hobbles off, dressed in a black tuxedo and a red bow tie. Then, upbeat music begins to play and the man begins dancing wildly, inviting the family aboard the bus to go to Six Flags Great Adventure. The family happily joins the old man and the bus pulls away.

My Statement of Educational Goals and Philosophy :: Education Teaching Teachers Essays

My Statement of Educational Goals and Philosophy Deciding to become a teacher was a tough decision for me to make. I originally was a business administration major and hoped to become an accountant, but I was unhappy in this field. After a few years of college in this field and taking these classes I got married and started my family. After I had my beautiful baby girl over two years ago I realized a nine to five job every day with just a hope of a two week vacation once a year to spend time with my family was not for me. The money aspect of an accounting degree sounded great but it just was not worth the amount of time I would be spending away from my family. This is when I realized the teaching profession is perfect for someone who wants to juggle a family and career. On top of all, this I have always loved children and spending time with all types of children, even challenging ones. I love the possibility of influencing and affecting a child in a positive way. Our children is what the future will be made up of, so it is extremely important that the education our children receive is top of the line But I believe it is equally important they receive a good teacher with high morals that can pass on these high morals just by their all around attitude. I believe it is important to always be positive as a teacher and to encourage your students. A teacher always needs to be caring so the children know their teacher is there because he or she wants to be there, not because they have to be there. If the teacher is caring I believe he or she may touch more lives. I hope my students feel they can come to me no matter what the problem is, whether it is personal or about a subject in school. I will always try to be there for my students and make special time for my students, during school or after school and on weekends. Being a teacher is a very special job and in order to be a good and affective teacher you must be a special person . My Statement of Educational Goals and Philosophy :: Education Teaching Teachers Essays My Statement of Educational Goals and Philosophy Deciding to become a teacher was a tough decision for me to make. I originally was a business administration major and hoped to become an accountant, but I was unhappy in this field. After a few years of college in this field and taking these classes I got married and started my family. After I had my beautiful baby girl over two years ago I realized a nine to five job every day with just a hope of a two week vacation once a year to spend time with my family was not for me. The money aspect of an accounting degree sounded great but it just was not worth the amount of time I would be spending away from my family. This is when I realized the teaching profession is perfect for someone who wants to juggle a family and career. On top of all, this I have always loved children and spending time with all types of children, even challenging ones. I love the possibility of influencing and affecting a child in a positive way. Our children is what the future will be made up of, so it is extremely important that the education our children receive is top of the line But I believe it is equally important they receive a good teacher with high morals that can pass on these high morals just by their all around attitude. I believe it is important to always be positive as a teacher and to encourage your students. A teacher always needs to be caring so the children know their teacher is there because he or she wants to be there, not because they have to be there. If the teacher is caring I believe he or she may touch more lives. I hope my students feel they can come to me no matter what the problem is, whether it is personal or about a subject in school. I will always try to be there for my students and make special time for my students, during school or after school and on weekends. Being a teacher is a very special job and in order to be a good and affective teacher you must be a special person .

Parental Involvement in Education Essay

Clay P. Bedford once said, â€Å"You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.† It’s the 21th century and we have achieved the peaked of the brilliancy of the human race and everything is manipulated with a click of the mouse, with the aid of computer technology we can achieve a faster way of learning. However, the urgency, dedication, and quality of learning of children 20 years ago are quite different from the children of this generation. A change in the attitude towards education – a move to the life-long paradigm is currently taking place globally. The fundamental aim of building a better system of education defined the type of society built. Currently, substantial changes have taken place in the context of teaching as well as the system of education and organization of academic work. The success of our community depends upon the pace and extends of building a knowledge-based society with the realms of our school. But, â€Å"The quality of education in the U.S. today declined at a tremendous rate.† (Houig 4-10). Have we as parents contributed to the decline of our children’s learning? Could this be the psychological effect of a dysfunctional family; the types of environment our children are growing; are the children themselves don’t have the urge to study or lack of parental involvement in the child’s education? Therefore, to what point do we as parents try to get involve in our children’s life? This has been a question unanswered by all parents like us? Parental involvement in children’s upbringing plays a very vital role in their attitude and quality of learning. Well, parents go immense lengths to give their offspring the best possible start in life – from providing the first meal, to offering vigilant protection and teaching them the skills to survive on their own. And after continued reading, researching, and asking questions about would have attributed to the continued decline of the quality of education of our children, I have drawn a common t hought that child-rearing practice takes a vital role in the attitude of children towards education. And the most influential in the child’s approach to education is definitely a good child-rearing practice (Hoover-Dempsey 3-42). The techniques of child-rearing that parent are using when raising their children has a great effect on the child’s growth and development. Every society has different  child-rearing practices used to facilitate child development. The practices depend on cultures, beliefs, and socio-economic as well as environmental factors. These different factors influence child development as societies at the same time have different perceptions and expectations on child development. There are two types of child-rearing techniques introduced to us by Ms. Annette Lareau, â€Å"concerted cultivation† wherein in most cases provides the child with skills and advantages over â€Å"natural growth† wherein the children in the classroom will learn and eventually will advance to their career. Parents engaged in concerted cultivation are parenting by attempting to foster children’s talents through organized leisure activities, which teach them to respect authority and how to interact in a structured environment. Learning how to interact in structured environment much like in the classroom gives student a head start in school special emphasis on reasoning skills and language use. These parents are much involved in the following their children’s activities. Through this process children from concerted cultivation upbringing will be more productive in their academic endeavors and they feel more responsible because they know that their parents are highly involved. The second type of technique of child-rearing practice involves parents in the working class which engage their children in the accomplishment of natural growth. Children usually have more unstructured time and therefore these children create their own to preoccupy themselves. They create activities such as watching television, playing computer games, PSP, X-Box and Nintendo DS. This environment does not prepare children to survive in setting that are very structured, such as school. Accompanying the strain of not having enough time, working class parents are left with less time to get involve with their children’s schooling activities. My experience as a teacher’s assistant has thought me to judge parents’ involvement in their children’s learning with performance of each child in school. The proactive parents have their children’s homework completed, memos read and required documentation turned in the following day while half of the class still has their memos on their folders and with no homework completed. Now that coincides with the notes from research showing that when â€Å"Parents are involved in their children’s learning, students achieve more and less likely to drop out of school† (Keith, et.al. 31-40). So, how do we define parental involvement? Parental  involvement includes a wide range of behavio rs but generally refers to parents and family members use and investment of resources in their children’s schooling. After that broad definition, let us differentiate the various types of parents to fully understand and vividly portray the effects of parental involvement in each child’s quality of education. There are three main types of parents: authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parents. Authoritative parents are found to be the style with more success in upbringing; they establish a balance between making demands and being responsive to their children’s specific needs. These parents provide their children encouragement which embodies positive attitudes towards work and effort. With such enthusiasm and children receive all the courage they need to pursue good grades. These children also feel secured in their personality and feel more comfortable asking for help when they need it most. Children of these parents tend to do better while in school (Cotton 1). Authoritarian parents follow a style where they simply tell their children what to do, and not to argue with them. Parents who apply this style tend to limit children’s independence and force them to follow strict rules by threatening harsh punishment for violations. They also tend to be less responsive to and a ccepting of their children. By preventing children from exercising control over their own behaviors and learning from their mistakes, authoritarian parents inadvertently may be rearing children to believe that they are not responsible for what happens to them. Children from these groups of parents tend to display loss of confidence and motivation because of there is lack of continued positive reinforcement. These are the parents that get discouraged when their children come home with bad grades. They punish their children which often cause an uneasy feeling for these children to seek for help; even worse, they may exhibit rebellious attitude towards their parental authority and ultimately towards his outlook on acquiring his education. Permissive parents are very passive and feel their child’s life should be their own responsibility and are often expressing an â€Å"I don’t care† attitude towards their achievement as well as their outlook in life. This can be very dangerous in that the child’s motivation is almost if not quite completely based on observation and peer influence, leaving a large variable on the location and condition of the child’s upbringing. These are the type of parents that are presumed not necessarily uncaring or negligent  in their child’s need; however the children perceived it as such. Ruth Nuneviller Steinem once said, â€Å"Children don’t belong to us. They are little strangers who arrive in our life and give us pleasure and duty of caring for them, but we don’t own them. We help them become who they are.† This is the true essence of being a parent and that being able to impart and bring out the best in our children, be it our own or other children that we get acquainted throughout our life time. Parents’ beliefs and perceptions on the responsibilities as parents have a big effect on their children’s interest in learning (ESU 1-3). But, numerous controversies could cloud the full implementation of programs in school to foster parental improvement in education. An article came up at one of the issues of Michigan State University paper saying, â€Å"Some are concern about parental involvement program stems from their observation that many schools and teachers use a â€Å"one-size† fits all approach to teaching. And the International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies say, â€Å"It is i mperative for teachers and school personnel to enhance their strategies for promoting parental presence.† While another article published at Education State say, â€Å"Educators need to recast the idea of partnership more one in which they parent parents.† So, everyone agree that we need to act on promoting parental involvement in education in order for the student to achieve and excel at highest potential. Our system needs to stream line and advocate the importance of parental involvement and overcome the various obstacles and stigma that permeates our society as a whole. We need to work in unison, united with one goal and dedicated to achieving the goal of improving the quality of education for our generation and the generations to come. It is imperative that these obstacles are talked and overcome so that our children will be better leaders and citizens of our country and the world. In my continued research I found that parental involvement has shown a consistent positive relationship between parents’ engagement in their children’s education and student outcomes ( Such 39-68). So, what can we do as parents? To succeed in our endeavors we as parents, need to get a partner, learn more about organizations working to boost parental involvement, attend workshop and empowering oneself. Parental involvement constitute (1) volunteering by adopting and sponsoring academic based programs, school clubs, or team – attending meetings to help enhance and support academic improvement within  the school; coach sports and supporting the clubs and teams in its advocacy. And if the school cannot get a staffer dedicated to parent engagement, parents should get together and start training parents to be reading and math tutors and even establish a welcoming committee that new parents in the school; (2) setting fair and consistent rules – homework first and foremost before anything – else; (3) setting examples – parents needs to show interest in reading, discovering new things and learning and sharing ideas and (4) keeping lines of communication open parents need to encourage their children to relate how their day was. Parents should take a minute or two to answer questions that arises even in a very hectic schedule. Parental involvement is an importan t area of sociology because of its significance to social capital and its positive impacts on children. It is, by itself, a social relation involving teachers, parent, and students where each play a role and function based on their own expectations, familial and social norms, and personal and social obligations. Japan for example set a high regard to parental involvement in the education of their children, â€Å"Teachers make explicit and exacting demands on parents for their direct involvement I their children’s learning† (Halloway et.al. 91-97). Japanese schools promote parental involvement (oyanokanyo in Japanese) is said to be strong because parent-school relationship is viewed as a relationship that is based on trust, deference, partnership, and cooperation. Mothers are the primary educator in the lives of their children. They are viewed as (1) audience – Japanese school provide venue where parents can interact with each other and this occur during school orientation (shinnyuugakujidoudetsumeikai) for incoming first graders done yearly during the month of Janu ary to February and parents sit in on a class and listen to the teacher’s lecture; (2) volunteers – parents are asked to fill out a form indicating interest, expertise, and experience. Information provided is used to create a â€Å"talent bank† a database containing the parents name so that they can use to fill up basic services that the school needs like safeguarding students while crossing the street or even recycling activities; (3) paraprofessional – parents acting as teachers during the summer. These work includes making sure they read to their children, make sure that summer home works are done; (4) learners – Japanese school requires parents to attend seminars to improve their efficacy in educating and rearing their children and in some  schools parents are encouraged to attend skills training like ironing, sewing, internet use, etc.; and (5) decision-makers – the school’s PTA officers in Japan meet in the city discuss matters geared to improvement in the school and their children. As my research progress, I have learned that in China compared to our public school system, parental involvement is higher. Parents in China have greater educational expectations for their children. Chinese parents place more emphasis on effort rather than emphasis on ability especially when attributing reasons for difficulty or failure. Chinese parents accept the critical role of helping their children learn concepts if they are lagging in school. Involvement of Chinese parents is â€Å"back-stage/behind the scene†- they are more engaged in home-based activities to boost their child’s ability to learn. Chinese parents make sure that their children complete their homework with perfection. In China, education ethics begins with parents. Mother will actually attend school; takes note; to observe the child-teacher relationship and the child’s behavior towards learning (International Journal of Social Sciences 26-35). Chinese parents are engaged more in cultural practice that honored the professional expertise of teachers and the need to access skills for successful access to social mobility while at the same time they sought to maintain the cultural integrity of their community. In India, the framework of the parental involvement in India’s Education System is defined as controlled by the individual parent, parental school board or the tribal council. Like in many eastern Asian countries education is of highest value that parents could provide for their children. While the authority for overseeing the whole education system lies on federal trust, the responsibility for In dian people remains with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, all agenda pertaining education is directed to include laws and regulations that impact the whole public school system (Warner 4-18). While the Middle Class Americans parents encourage their children to nurture their talent with various activities that will later give them a head start. These parents exposed their children on how to interact in a structured setting. Other parent’s get involves in their children’s life by having an open communication with their children’s teachers. They get involved in the academic process, school activities and other extra-curricular activities that the child is interested with. The Working Class American parents on the  other hand relies on the natural growth of the child, giving the child the opportunity to make their own choices to keep their time occupied, that most engaged themselves with video games and social networking media like Facebook and Twitter. These children learn at their own phase and eventually losing their focus interest in learning and in the traditional population like in the case of the Hawaiians, parents tend to provide their children a non-stimulating environment. They often are unaware that their child-rearing practices can affect their children’s cognitive and language development. They fail to appreciate the importance of playing and chatting with their children because they are unaware of the age-appropriate activities to do with their children. Many of these parents inhibit exploration putting emphasis on discipline, obedience, and respect for elders, religious beliefs and cultural observance (Sheehey 3-15). Both the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services note, â€Å"The role of mother as well as father is necessary in the development and academic success of a child.† Mothers and fathers often bring different strengths and style to their parenting roles. Children benefit significantly in many areas when fathers and mothers are actively engaged. These advantages are the building blocks for success that begins from birth and lasts into adulthood. According to research gathered by the Minnesota Fathers and Families Network some of these benefits include: (1) social skills – children grown with greater empathy , less gender role stereotyping and higher self-esteem. In cases where fathers are actively engaged children have more self-control and less impulsive behaviors; (2) excel in problem-solving – children have less hesitance and fear in new situations because, acceptance and confidence are instilled, increase curiosity to learning, increase exploration of the world around them and these children have greater tolerance for success and frustration because of the nurturing and love that they have received in their childhood; (3) cognitive benefits – higher math competence when fathers dynamically participates in the children’s homework and class activity, overall verbal competence and early literacy because parents effort to reading and story-telling leads to children’s interest towards reading and ultimately all these concerted efforts eventually leads to higher grade completion and income overall. To some parents who take time to attend meetings, conferences and participates in school activities and  events are t eaching their children the value of setting priorities and giving importance to the development of their children’s social life. These parents are teaching their children to be socially aware, responsible, and work for the betterment of the community. â€Å"Our future rest on the quality of children we are raising† (Elium 1-35). These also teach the children to value education. Seeing their parents giving up their time to be in school and get involve completes their development as a whole. For our goal in sending our children to school is for them to be physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually fit to the society where we belong. We raise our children to better leaders, better care-takers of our environment, better citizens of our society and better parents for our future generation. My personal experience has also convinced me that parental involvement play a vital role in education. This is the story of my medically challenged daughter; Bethany Joy who really exemplifies that role of parental involvement truly is beneficial. She was born prematurely, 29 weeks GA, with low birth weight. She suffered from an intraventricular hemorrhage Grade III meaning, the three chambers or the ventricles bleed 10 days after birth. Her neonatologist and neurologist said that secondary to the severity of the brain damage, she will not be able to walk and talk. A periventricular shunt was implanted to act as the vertebral column where her cerebrospinal fluid will flow. Knowing her prognosis, my husband and I decided that is she will pull through with all this other medical complications that I will have to quit my job. We were determined to defy all the doctors’ perceptions. We nurtured her in a loving environment, made few advances on her therapy sessions, made every effort to read, sing, and played with her and eventually she came out victorious. Talking before she turned one and walking at 13 months. She had undergone five brain surgeries and five other minor surgeries but she is in a regular school and has been one of the recipients of the Academic Honor Student for the past six years at her school. So, now it is safe to conclude that parents’ participation in their child’s education is far more vital in the success of the child’s education. â€Å"Our involvement as parents can mold the child’s interest towards learning† (Eliun 1-35). So, let’s make a difference in our children’s lives, to create a better society and life for our children in the generations to come.

Organisational Change Essay

Organizational change is also known as organizational transformation and it may involves organisational change in mission, introducing new technology, restructuring operations, introducing new programmes, mergers, re-engineering and having new major collaborations. (Bridges 1991) Organizational changes are aimed at achieving some set organizational goals and objectives which need to be a attained within a given period of time. In many cases changes in the organizational are provoked by some outside forces which includes taking care of new markets, substantial cut in finding, need for increase in services and productivity among others. There are many approaches that managers uses to introduce change in the organization, some are planned, explicit and structured while others are more unfolding, implicit and organic. Managers goes for the approaches that will be supported by all the employees and those that will enable the organization to maximize the profit margin as they achieve the set goals and objectives within the set time frame. Some approaches works from the future to the present where by the managers uses the organization’s vision to plan all the organizational activities aiming at achieving the vision while other approaches works from the present to the future which may include pointing out the currents needs of the target clients and then making the necessary changes towards achieving those needs. This is the best approach since the clients and other stakeholders are the backbone of any organization and they determine the success of the any business (Easterby 1999). Identifying their needs should be a continuous exercise which should be followed by implementing the necessary changes which will facilitate in satisfying their needs hence building a good and strong customer relationship which will lead to increased sales hence increasing the Organizational profitability (Dent 1999).  Aegon UK  is a member of the AEGON Group which is among the world’s largest life insurance and pension company. The company is the owner of different life insurance, pensions, adviser and management businesses in the UK (Folger 1999). The company has 27,000 employees and a total of over 25 million customers worldwide with it’s main markets being in Netherlands and the United States. Factors That Lead To Change One of the major hindrance for decision making is a clear understanding of the working environment where the decisions made will be operated. (Brewster 2004) Proper understanding of the working environment improves the decision making and it minimizes uncertainty. In the UK where life expectancy has risen in the past few years, people are expected to retire for a longer period of time hence the need to think ahead and save for retirement, an idea that many people find difficult to comprehend. (Kotter 1979) Many people do not properly plan about their retirement hence they suffer during the old age since they do not be have enough money for survival and on the other hand the government is also emphasizing on reduced dependency on the state in old age. This resulted to many insurance companies coming up with new cheap pension schemes who also emphasized on employee pension (Hultman 1995). The Industry Aegon operates in the life insurance and pension industry which for the past few years had a poor reputation. Some organisations in the industry has been blamed of mis-selling where by they do not give the customers quality products that satisfy their needs. (Johnston e 2004) The Financial Services Authority (FSA) introduced some regulations in the industry which were aimed at avoiding such situations from happening again in the future. The industry has been faced with intense competition where by AEGON is competing with other organisations that are well known in the UK and they specialise in selling directly to the customers (Kirkman 2000). The company normally distributes it’s services and products to customers through financial advisers. For AEGON to remain competitive it had to take care of all the problems that the industry was facing. Reasons For Change Historically AEGON had been very successful and profitable but some times back the government introduced some regulations that reduced the organisation’s profitability. Comparing the company with it’s competitors, AEGON was not well known though it had very good services and products and it also had good relationship with the distributors. (Strebel 1996) For consumers to have the confidence of investing in a long term product, they have to know more about the organisation they are planning to invest with by learning more about the brands that are being offered by the organisation and by understanding the value of each brand. As AEGON offered different brands it was hard for the financial advisers and the consumers to identify and understand the different depth and breadth of the brands. Facilitators of Change AEGON company appointed a new (CEO) Chief Executive Officer who entered into the office with new strategies for the company and the first thing that he implemented was to bring AEGON into a discovery phase which would help him in achieving the goals he had for AEGON. The CEO’s goal was to develop the best long term savings and protection business in the UK while the discovery phase was aimed at finding ways of achieving those goals. (Kegan 2001) Another aspect that needed consideration was the company’s brands and how they could be audited. The company was examined both internally and externally to find it’s position in the market. The process of auditing was aimed at giving more information about the company which assisted AEGON in making more informed decisions which were needed to start the process of change. Creating a New Culture Culture refers to the attitude and the personality of an organization and it is also involves the shared values, behavior and beliefs of the employees and other stakeholders (Morgan 1997). It acts as a key part in the change process since it dictates the way in which the organisation and the stakeholders solve problems and makes decision. By developing a new culture, AEGON was able to provide services and products that were required in the market hence they were able to remain competitive. A Behavior Framework In order to support the new culture, AEGON came up with a behavior framework which was aimed at strengthening the brand values. It was designed in such a way that it could influence how all the employees in the organisation could work and make decisions where by the behavior emphasized the values of AEGON. (Coetsee 1999) The company also introduced a Management Development Programme which emphasised on eight main behaviors which are, think customer, embrace change, encourage excellence, act with integrity, decisive actions, work together, learn and grow and finally relate and communicate (Piderit 2000). Implementing The Change The organisation has emphasised on the customer’s needs which determines the decisions, behaviour and it also informs actions. The senior mangers keeps the customer’s needs at the heart of all the operations in AEGON while the other managers and professionals innovates with the needs of the customers in mind so that they come up with products and services that can satisfy the needs of the customers. AEGON brand have been extensively promoted alongside Scottish Equitable or other brands are traded under it. Association with AEGON is stronger where by the Scottish Equitable is currently AEGON Scottish Equitable which reflects the local knowledge and the global power. Currently all the brands has a new look that is common, different and refreshing. Impacts Of The Changes Implementing change in AEGON affected it both externally and internally. Internally the changes influenced how the people behaved and communicated while the organisational operations has been focused on satisfying the needs of the customers. Great emphasis has been on making information clearer so that the customers can be in a position to understand the company well so that they can do business with them. The company has intensively done external promotional campaigns and it has managed to launch new innovative products aimed at satisfying the customer’s needs. This changes has worked very well for AEGON since the company has been able to maximise it’s profit. Currently AGEON brand is in a position that it influences the financial services in the industry. Challenges The main challenge that AEGON is facing is that the competition is growing at a very fast rate in an increasingly difficult market. This has forced the government to implement some regulations to govern the industry. To fight competition, AEGON should maintain two way communication channel which should be open and they should emphasis on getting feedback from all the stakeholders. This feedback is very important since the stakeholders can inform the organisation where they might be going wrong and can even give some recommendations which can work very well for the company hence being ahead of the competitors which leads to maximising the profit margins of the company. The stakeholders can also help the company in identifying the needs of the customers hence enabling the company to provide what is needed in the market . Also when there is open communication between the management and the employees it is normally very easy to prevent conflicts since the employees will be free to air their grivances hence cultivating a culture of good working relationships in AEGON which will even motivate the workers to work even harder thus enabling the company to realize the set goals and objectives within the set time frame. Conclusion Organisational change is continuous and the process of change is like a journey which will be faced by external factors that can affect the operations of the organisation. AEGON respond to the external factors was by clarifying, simplifying and strengthening it’s brand in the UK. As the organisation changes, it’s culture and pattern of behavior develops which is a cycle which requires the business to use the knowledge it has to learn from the experiences. This has enabled AEGON to move towards achieving its goals through realizing its full potential while they remain competitive in the market. Taking care of the needs of the customers increases the sales of the company since many customers will be interested in the products or services that are being provided by the company hence increasing sales which in turn increases the profit margin of the company.

Project/Portfolio Fact Pattern Handout

Facts – Little Louie 1. Unemployed 2. Dates Wild Wanda 3. Plans to rob a bank with Billy Bad Boy and Vinnie Bagadonuts. 4. Knows a gun collector named Smith 5. Breaks into Smith’s house 6. Breaks into the gun locker and steals couple of handguns, sawed-off shotgun, and automatic weapons. 7. Robs the bank 8. In a shootout with the armed guard a bank teller and police officer is shot. 9. Runs from the police officers. 10. Breaks into Smokey’s house. Little Louie 1. Conspiracy          Title 18, Part 1, Ch, 19,  §Ã‚  371 2. Burglary – break an entering                ORC, Title29, Ch 2911,  § 2911. 2       a) Breaking glass window into Smiths house 3. Second count of burglary – guns                   ORC, Title29, Ch 2911,  § 2911. 12       a) Breaking into the gun case b) Saw off shotgun c) Several hand guns d) Automatic weapons 4. Robbery – bank       Title18, Part 1, Ch 103,  § 2113 5. Murder of police officer       Title18, Part 1, Ch 51,  § 1114 6. Murder of a bank teller       Title 18, Part 1, Ch 51,  § 1111 7. Fleeing and eluding police officer                      ORC, Title 29, Ch 2921,  § 2921. 331 Offense Charge with & Defense possibly for Little LouieLittle Louie is charged with conspiracy because he had talked planned with Billy Bad Boy and Vince Bagadonuts. Little Louie is charged with two counts of 5th degree felony burglary for in the Smith’s home and take his guns. Little Louie is charge with two counts of 1st degree felony Aggavated Murder one of a police officer and the other is the bank teller. Little Louie is charged with one count of fleeing and eluding of a police officer. Little Louie claims that Vinnie Bagadonuts was the one that shot the officer and bank teller and that also he was the one that broke into the house, and that    along with him.

Macroeconomic – Government Policies in Reducing Inflation and Unemployment

MACRO-ECONOMIC| Discuss the role of government policy in reducing unemployment and inflation. In your discussion make use of the diagrammatic representation of the macroeconomy developed in lectures in Term 2| Unemployment and inflation are factors that have negative effects on the performance of the economy as a whole. Therefore, policies to achieve low and stable price in? ation, a high and stable level of employment are big macroeconomics issues of our time.This essay focuses on discussing the role of government policy on reducing unemployment and inflation in relation to Keynesian and Monetarist approaches, including examples of impacts of expansionary fiscal and monetary policies on New Zealand economy. Fiscal policy is a demand side policy used by the government to help direct the economy by altering the level of expenditure and/or rate of taxes. Expansionary fiscal policy refers to increase government expenditure or a lower tax in order to inject into or withdraw from the circ ular flow of money respectively, this results a raise in aggregate demand and thus national income.On the other hand, deflationary (contractionary) fiscal policy is used by the government as a tool to control the pressures of inflation by reducing expenditure or increasing taxes, which thus reduce aggregate demand and preventing excessive inflation. Fiscal policy is used by Keynesians to increase/decrease public expenditure and cut/increase taxes during a recession/boom. When they decrease taxes and increase public expenditure, it encourages people to spend, thus raise consumer expenditure.This contributes the reduced unemployment (due to the increased public spending creating more demand and more jobs to increase the supply of goods and services), but an increased inflation (due to the increased spending and wage demands). On the other hand, when Keynesians use fiscal policy to increase taxes and reduce public spending, they cause higher levels of unemployment and lower levels of i nflation. This deflationary fiscal policy is usually used during a boom period.Figure 1 : Keynesians traditionally emphasises the role of fiscal policy as the key tool of economic management and views monetary policy simply as a backup to fiscal policy. They would argue that direct interest rate changes could be used to control aggregate demand. Whereas, Monetarism does not believe that government should intervene by managing the level of aggregate demand, they rather prefer the use of monetary policy to achieve a long-run view of price stability.Monetary policy involves manipulating the interest rate charged by the central bank for lending money to the banking system in an economy, which influences greatly a vast number of macroeconomic variables. In the UK, the government set the policy targets, but the Bank of England and the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) are given authority and freedom to set interest rates, which is formally once every month. Contractionary monetary policy ma y be used to reduce price in? ation by increasing the interest rate.Because banks have to pay more to borrow from the central bank they will increase the interest rates they charge their own customers for loans to recover the increased cost. Banks will also raise interest rates to encourage people to save more in bank deposit accounts so they can reduce their own borrowing from the central bank. As interest rates rise, consumers may save more and borrow less to spend on goods and services. Firms may also reduce the amount of money they borrow to invest in new equipment.A reduction in capital investment by ? rms will reduce their ability to increase output in the future. Higher interest rates may therefore reduce economic growth and increase unemployment. Expansionary monetary policy may be used during an economic recession to boost demand and employment by cutting interest rates. However, increasing demand can push up prices and may increase consumer spending on imported goods and s ervices. In some cases, lower interest rates may be ineffective in boosting demand.Therefore in March 2009 the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee announced that in addition to setting Bank Rate, it would start to inject money directly into the economy by purchasing assets such as government bonds or other securities – often known as quantitative easing. This means that the instrument of monetary policy shifts towards the quantity of money provided rather than the price at which the Bank lends or borrows money (Bank of England website) Fiscal and Monetary policies come with their own set of advantages and disadvantages.The most likely argument against its implementation is the substantial lag that accompanies both these policies, for example the time from when the policy has been implemented till the time its impact is felt in the economy. The following section will indicate how the expansionary Fiscal and Monetary Policies impact price stability (inflation rate: 1-3%) and full employment objectives of New Zealand. Both monetary and fiscal policies have a significant impact on inflation.An Expansionary Monetary policy results in lowering the interest rate (OCR) as previously mentioned that in turn increases the quantity of goods and services demanded at any given price level, hence contributing to shifting aggregate demand to the right. In a climate of recession, where money supply is limited, Inflation is not a significant factor in the decision making of the NZ government or the RBNZ Governor; on the contrary increase in inflation is rather seen as positive sign of growth during recession as it indicates an increase in demand.This is further evident by the recessionary climate resulting in a drop in inflation as quoted â€Å"Inflation is set to plunge over the next year, starting with a 0. 5% fall expected for Q4 2008. Retail spending is expected to be down significantly for November, as weak core sales were amplified by lower spending on fuel (petrol p rices fell by 16% in the month). Car sales could see a technical bounce after plunging by 14. 5% in October, but they will remain at very depressed levels. † The above quote underlies the fact that in the current environment an increase in inflation will be seen as a positive sign.The expansionary fiscal and monetary policy pursued presently fare well in a recessionary climate, however if they are pursued over a long period of time, then they could lead to creating an inflationary gap. An inflationary gap occurs when aggregate demand exceeds supply. This can thus result in â€Å"Overheating the economy† i. e. Actual GDP exceeds Potential GDP and leads to a significant Trade deficit and unemployment as well. Figure 2: Inflationary Gap The aim of full employment objective is to keep the level of unemployment in check. The increase of unemployment is accompanied with a recession, due to primarily a drop in aggregate demand.The impact of the expansionary fiscal and monetary policy as mentioned above results in increasing aggregate demand thus essentially resulting in people demanding and consuming more, which results in people buying more goods and services that consequently results in reducing unemployment as demand exceeds supply as opposed to the current scenario, and thus resulting in more people being employed to meet demand. The impact of this expansionary policy may lead to an increase in inflation; however in the short run there exists a trade-off relationship between unemployment and inflation as can be seen in the figure below.Figure 3: Philips Curve describing Inverse Relation of Inflation and Unemployment In conclusion, fiscal and monetary policies are tools used by most national governments to control the economy, including the term of reducing inflation and unemployment. Inflation and unemployment are factors that could give negative impact on the economy if either of them is high. Government needs to predict precisely the situation of t he economy to issue the right fiscal or monetary policies. It usually takes at least several months for policies to take fully effect. References: Lipsey ; Chrystal, 2011. Economics. 12th ed.United States: Oxford University Press. Bank of England, 2013. Monetary Policy .. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www. bankofengland. co. uk/monetarypolicy/Pages/default. aspx. [Accessed 03 April 2013]. Biz/ed, 2013. Keynesian ; Monetarist attitudes to monetary policy. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www. bized. co. uk/virtual/bank/economics/mpol/inflation/cures/further1. htm. [Accessed 03 April 2013]. FDS. OUP. COM. The role of government in an economy. [ONLINE]. Available at: http://fds. oup. com/www. oup. com/pdf/13/9780199154869. pdf [Accessed 03 April 2013]. Tutor2u, 2013. Inflationary Gaps. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www. utor2u. net/economics/content/topics/inflation/inflationary_gaps. htm. [Accessed 03 April 2013]. Scoop News . 2009. Inflation expectations eased in NZ in early 09 [ONLINE] Av ailable at:http://www. scoop. co. nz/stories/BU0902/S00494. htm. [Accessed 03 April 2013]. Action Forex. 2009. Australian ; New Zealand Weekly: 2009 Inflation Profile Revised Down [ONLINE] Available at:http://www. actionforex. com/fundamental-analysis/weekly-forex-fundamentals/australian-;-new-zealand-weekly:-2009-inflation-profile-revised-down-2009011675377/. [Accessed 03 April 2013]. Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 2009.

Consolidation in the Tour Operator Industry Case Study

Consolidation in the Tour Operator Industry - Case Study Example Visit Britain expects tourism to grow into a ?113bn industry if managed properly. However, despite tourism funding by the government being doubled since 1997, there is a threat that the UK tourism sector could slip behind international competitors. Economic Environment The tour operators’ industry has faced both economic and structural challenges over the past five years and through 2013-14 (Ithe BIS World, October 2013). Industry revenues have been as a result of economic downturn, lower disposable incomes, and reduced consumer confidence, due to which domestic tourists seek cheaper destinations. Tour operators’ revenues in 2008 show an increase over 2005 – from â‚ ¬60bn to â‚ ¬84bn (Appendix B) but this could also be, due to rise in tour prices, a rise in airfares and hotel charges. Therefore, loss of consumer confidence and declining incomes is a threat to the sector. ... Consumers demand value for money and consumers seeking mind prefer package aged holidays (Euromonitor International, 2013). Tour operators now offer flexible, dynamic packages but credit crunch impacts tourism as well. Consumers have responded to the credit the unch by choosing to holiday within the UK which has led to the trend of ‘staycation’ (Williams, 2008). Staycation holidays have increased by 13% and outbound travel decreased by 18% (Stamford, 2009a) which suggests that staycation and packaged holidays provide an opportunity to tour operators to redesign their product offerings. Technological Environment Technology has empowered the consumer in many ways. Low-cost airlines have made holidays more affordable; in addition, are the high-speed train networks. Internet penetration provides an additional distribution channel. Technology enables access to consumer data which facilitates tailoring their offerings to consumers. Mobile, technology and social networking have further empowered the consumer in seeking information, comparing and reading reviews about service providers before booking their holiday. This has helped major tour operators such as TUI to target specific segments through the strategy of differentiation. Technology thus is an opportunity to exploit the sector. Environment Tourism is generally associated with environmental degradation and ecological imbalance. The region is negatively impacted when the level of tourists exceeds the environment’s ability to cope with the use (UNEP, n.d.). In addition, natural resources are depleted; land area is reduced as infrastructure development takes place. Local resources are also used up by tourists thereby impacting the lives of the local people.

Term Project - Chapter 14 Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Term Project - Chapter 14 Summary - Essay Example Pioneers led a very harsh life. By 1840, the American population had extended across the Alleghenies (Kennedy and Cohen 288). The western landscape was shaped by the individuals who conquered it. The shapers included the farmers of tobacco who would use land to exhaustion then find new fertile places for their tobacco farming. In Kentucky, tall canes were burnt down to provide access to farm lands for tobacco after which â€Å"settlers soon discovered that when the cane was burned off, European bluegrass thrived in the charred cane fields† (Kennedy and Cohen 288). Trapping emerged as a lucrative business for fur trappers, which negatively impacted on the beaver population. Even though the invaders of the western lands cherished using the lands for production, it is also clear that aericans beheld the beauty of the land occupied by the natives. This is evident in the move of George Catlin, an artist, who painted a picture of the western landscape inhabited by the Native Americans (Agnew 9). Catlin’s proposal for national parks would see the creation of Yellowstone, the pioneer national park, i n 1872 (Kennedy and Cohen 290). Also, buffalo were also hunted for their valuable hides, which threatened their existence as their population fell through the eighteenth century. This event depicts rapid growth in population by mid-1800s. During 1840s and 50s, the Europeans were immigrating to Americas because Europe’s population was rapidly increasing creating pressure on land. The Europeans immigrants were in search of land to settle and also to evade the autocratic leadership that had impoverished them in the past. They were seeking a new start in their lives. Thirty three states had been formed by 1860, with the United States ranked third based on population. This population explosion led to increased outbreak of diseases and waning standards of living in the west. Many Irish, who were mostly Roman-Catholic, moved to America in 1840s following a significant

The argument in The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith depends on the Essay

The argument in The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith depends on the possibility of failure. Why is this so What implications does this have - Essay Example The wealth of nations forms the second branch of Smith's science, and its historical sweep contains part, but only a diminutive part, of such an account. Possibly a manuscript was among the objects consigned to the flames by his literary executors. We do, nevertheless, have two sets of notes recording Smith's early Lectures on Jurisprudence; these notes provide an inadequately early and imperfect indication of what his missing branch of the science might have contained. In spite of their mistakes, these notes have significantly increased our awareness of Smith's intention to communicate an integrated science. Several problems like probability of failure have been deliberated to reside in the interstices between the three branches of Smith's science. Clearly it was at one time likely to refer to the Adam Smith problem of failure as the (challenging) relationship between the wealth of nations and the Theory of Moral Sentiments. I desire to see the limitations of his branches as giving rise to interpretive uncertainties rather than problems. As far as the state goes, the fundamental uncertainty arises from the fact that parts of the wealth of nations seem to take nations for granted (especially the introduction and plan of the work), yet national boundaries form a very strong threat to social progress throughout Smith's intellectual system: to the development of material welfare at different points in the wealth of nations and to the progress of benevolence in the Theory of Moral Sentiments. The jurisprudential constituent of Smith's science was never concluded, but his early lectures on th e subject also propose that he regarded the nation state as a transitional form: one that already needed replacement in his day. Modern preoccupations with certain matters of policy have given Smith's economic analysis and associated prescriptions renewed prominence. The psychological judgments on which The Wealth of Nations is apparently based have also attracted attention and made familiar Smith's classic statement that: It is not from the generosity of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we look forward to our dinner, but from the view to their own interest. Nobody except a beggar chooses to rely mainly upon the munificence of his fellow citizens. Even a beggar does not depend upon it completely. (Wealth Of Nations I. ii. 2) Economists have interpreted this statement to mean that Smith was dealing with a restricted range of human experience in The Wealth of Nations-- what Alfred Marshall was later to describe as the study of mankind 'in the ordinary business life' ( 1956, p. 12). Looked at in this way, the suggestion that men act in a self interested manner can be seen as a hypothesis which makes the task of economic analysis more manageable. Exactly this point was made by Smith's contemporary, Sir James Steuart, when be observed: 'The principle of self-interest will serve as a general key to this enquiry; and it may, in one sense, be considered as the ruling principle of

Happy Trails Management Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Happy Trails Management - Article Example The foremost reason for this is that Happy Trails is a 'for profit organization' which means that it is expected to be able to fund once in a month collective bargaining agreements or meetings. The need for such meetings would not arise so often as once in a month unless some urgent matters are at hand. Secondly, the implication that salary increases will suffer might be taken as an underlying threat to LPN's for unionizing. Moreover, a third implication can be, lets say the LPN's do not unionize due to this very reason, will happy Trails fulfill their implied promise of raising salaries for not unionizing or on half yearly or yearly basis' Considering this it seems it would be a temporary solution to keep the union at bay, but it would emerge any time. It is a better strategy to let them form an association and deal with them by collective bargaining. The threat element in this strategy makes it a bad move. This would be one of the best counter union strategies to discuss the benefits of being employees of Happy Trails as objectively as possible. However, the dialogue should remain strictly objective and should not seem as if the management is threatened by the LPN's decision to unionize and wants them to back out. It should be an objective statement of what is already being provided to them by the management and what they can further expect in future. Under the NRLA, the employer can not promise benefits to the employees to discourage them from forming unions. This strategy has to be practiced very tactfully and with care. 4. Threaten to close the facility due to the Union Campaign I would strictly advise Happy Trails' management against any such moves. The "threat" element in any outgoing communication from the management side is enough to provide opportunity for activists to raise charges against the organization. The employees are protected under the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959(Landrum Griffin Act) Title VI and have the right to form unions and to raise issues like labor relations practices. Title VI provides the authority to investigate the disciplining, sanctions, penalties or threats on part of employers to the union members. 5. Assist in the circulation of anti union petitions. In the immediate future this would not be a prudent move since it would serve the purpose of bringing the LPN's together and would provide a cause to fight in future. However, in the longer run, the management could maybe patronize another union within the organization which would serve as a competitive force to the LPN's union. 6.Counter Union Exaggerated claims on flyers This would be perceived as an anti-union move and Happy Trails can face litigation under NRLA. Flyers would provide written proof against Happy Trails and their anti union moves. 7. Tell employees that they do not need to talk to union organizers, they can vote against the union, and the organization does not welcome the Union. Happy Trails can not follow any of these strategies since the unions are protected by NLRA. 8. Solicit employees to request the return of their authorization cards Under the NRLA, employers can not "Question employees about their union sympathies or activities in circumstances that tend to interfere with, restrain or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights under the