Saturday, August 31, 2019

Moral Simplification in Disney’s The Little Mermaid

Disney’s Portrayal of Women and Simplification of Morals For most people, the first image that comes to mind when the subject of Walt Disney’s animated movies comes up is the studio’s popular princesses. Ever since Snow White made her debut in 1937, Disney has cornered the market on princesses. One primary topic that critics have discussed in Disney’s films is the way princesses are portrayed. The roles of the female characters are especially drawing the interest of academic critics.Jack Zipes, author of Breaking the Disney Spell, believes that the Disney princesses have regressed. On the other hand, Libe Zarranz, author of Diswomen Strike Back? The Evolution of Disney’s Femmes in the 1990s, and Rebecca Do Rozario, author of The Princess and the Magic Kingdom: Beyond Nostalgia, The Function of the Disney Princess, believe that the Disney princess has progressed. Another aspect of Disney’s movies that catches the eyes of critics is the moral s implification in the films.They believe that the morals from the original fairy tales are being manipulated and simplified in the Disney films. A. Waller Hastings, author of Moral Simplification in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and Finn Mortensen, author of The Little Mermaid: Icon and Disneyfication, both agree that Disney’s simplification of morals is giving viewers the wrong depiction of life. Disney’s portrayal of women and simplification of morals are giving viewers the wrong impression of life and women. Many critics call the process of simplification in Disney movies, â€Å"Disneyfication. Disneyfication is especially shown in The Little Mermaid. In Disney’s version of The Little Mermaid, Disney retains elements of Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale. A. Waller Hastings notes, â€Å"In the Disney adaptation, the elements of the fairy tale remain recognizable, but superimposed are typical elements of Disneyfication and a happy endi ng that contravenes the moral intention of the original tale† (85). The resistance towards Disneyfication is an agreement between academic writers.Zarranz also notes, â€Å"The dramatic transformation of literary fairy tales, nonetheless, has been problematic, since Disney’s animated fairy-tale adaptations have systematically undergone a process involving sanitization and Americanizaion, two distinctive features to compound the so-called ‘Disneyfication’ of folklore and popular culture† (55). Many critics believe that Disneyfication takes out the sting and variety of the real world. In the Disney world, everything is the same, everything is happy, and everything is full of everlasting hope.Zipes states that, â€Å"The great ‘magic’ of the Disney spell is that he animated the fairy tale only to transfix audiences and divert their potential utopian dreams and hopes through the false promises of the images he cast upon the screen† (2 3). The process known as Disneyfication seems to be giving viewers the wrong depiction of life. Original morals that are shown throughout the original fairy tales are left out when they become â€Å"Disneyfied. † The conclusion that Disney’s â€Å"watering down† of morals of the original fairy tales is an overwhelming agreement among academic writers.Most people applaud Walt Disney and his predecessors for their creations, however many critics have found a particular flaw of moral simplification in Disney films. Mortensen notes, â€Å"The message of the fairytale is conveyed in terms suitable for a modern public but is integrated into a product that cheats its intended public of small children†¦ † (449). Because the morals in the original fairytale’s are seemingly left out of Disney productions, critics view the Disney films as nothing more than simplistic reproductions that give viewers wrong impressions of life.Hastings writes, â€Å"While generally praising Walt Disney’s technical contributions to animated film, critics have been troubled by the studio’s treatment of classic children’s literature and fairy tales† (83). The producers at Disney are giving children an unreal sense of false hope. Disney films are simplified to an extreme that give viewers the wrong depiction of life. The simplistic portrayal of female characters is a specific by-product of Disneyfication. The roles of female characters in Disney movies have regressed compared to Walt Disney’s first films that featured female characters.In Disney’s earliest movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Snow White takes on a maternal image. She instructs the dwarves in small, everyday routines such as manners and hygiene, and serves as a mother to the dwarves. The role of Snow White is very simple compared to the princesses of late, and much more realistic. In more recent Disney movies, female characters are shown as prin cesses. While the female characters, such as Snow White, used to be a bit submissive and worldly, over time some critics believe the female character has progressed. Zarranz notes,†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ven though it is still a long time before we can speak about successful feminist representations in a commercial icon like Disney, recent films incorporate complex females that are worth taking into consideration† (63). Some female characters are even seen as courageous women admired for their brave deeds in their films. Ariel from The Little Mermaid and Belle from Beauty and The Beast are the start of the more modern Disney princess. Do Rozario writes, â€Å"The Disney kingdom still may seem a man’s world, but it is a man’s world dependent on a princess† (57).While Rozario and Zarranz believe the Disney princess has progressed, Zipes strongly suggests that the princess of late has regressed. Zipes writes, â€Å"The young women are helpless ornaments in need of pr otection, and when it comes to the action of the film, they are omitted† (37). Rozario and Zarranz believe that the female character has progressed because of the role that has been given to the characters. However, they seem to overlook the fact that the princess role is very unrealistic.They also seem to overlook the fact that in almost every princess movie, the female character is relying on a male character. In The Little Mermaid, Ariel gives up her entire life to be with a man. Belle, too, lets go of her former life to be with the Beast. So as Rozario and Zarranz may believe that the more recent female characters are much more strong and courageous than those of earlier Disney films, they seem to have overlooked the flaws in the Disney princess. While Walt Disney and his studios are usually praised, multiple researchers have found flaws in in their creations.The inability to portray women in a more realistic way, and the simplification of morals that Disney produces in th eir films, are giving viewers the wrong impression of life and women in the real world. While Disney probably won’t take the critic’s suggestions into consideration, the critics do propose some very interesting arguments concerning the image of female characters and the simplification of morals. Works Cited Do Rozario, Rebecca-Anne C. â€Å"The Princess and the Magic Kingdom: Beyond Nostalgia, The Function Of The Disney Princess. † Women's Studies in Communication 27. 1 (2004): 34-59. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Nov. 012. Hastings, A. Waller. â€Å"Moral Simplification in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. † The Lion and the Unicorn 17. 1 (1993): 83-92. Print. Mortensen, Finn Hauberg. â€Å"The Little Mermaid: Icon And Disneyfication. † Scandinavian Studies 80. 4 (2008): 437-454. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. Zarranz, Libe Garcia. â€Å"Diswomen Strike Back? The Evolution of Disney’s Femmes in the 1990s. † 2 7. 2 (2007): 55-65. Print. Zipes, Jack. â€Å"Breaking the Disney Spell. † From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture. Ed. Elizabeth Bell, Linda Haas and Laura Sells. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana UP 1995. 21-43.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Facts on Canada’s CN Tower

During Toronto's building boom in the early 70's, a serious problem was developing. People were experiencing poor quality television. The pre-skyscraper transmission towers of Toronto stations were simply not high enough anymore.As office buildings were reaching higher and higher, the video reception and radio signaq got weaker and soon became alomst inpossible to recieve. Signals from Toronto and from Buffalo, New York were bouncing off the buildings. As a result viewers often saw a weaker station superimposed over another. So the were watching two shows at once. It became clear that they needed a antenna that would not only be taller than any building in the city, but one that would be taller than anything that would probably ever be built. Today, the microwave receivers which pull in distant signals are about 305 metres or 1000 feet up (inside that white donut-like thing), and the top of the transmission antenna is 553.33 metres or 1815 feet 5 inches high (that's the very top).Because of this, we enjoy some of the clearest TV and radio reception in North America. An extra little tidbit you may not have known: It wasn't until late in the design process that the architects decided to turn the Tower into a Tourist Attraction. The CN Tower was built by the Canadian National Railway. Opened to the public on June 26, 1976 Official opening on October 1, 1976 Adjusted cost (1997 dollars): $250 million Number of construction workers: 1,537 Total weight of the Tower: 117,910 metric tonnes (130,000 tons) Volume of concrete: 40,523.8 cubic metres (53,000 cubic yards) Reinforcing steel: 4,535 metric tonnes (5,000 tons) Structural steel: 544.2 metric tonnes (600 tons) Number of elevators: 6 (including 2 which officially opened March 20, 1997) Speed of elevators: 6 metres/second (20 feet/second) Slow speed of elevators (in high winds): 1.5 metres/second (5 feet/second) Attendance: about 1.8 million per year Total staff (off season): approximately 400 Total staff (peak season): approximately 550 Maximum sway in 190 km/h winds with 320 km/h gusts (120 mph winds with 200 mph gusts): Antenna: 6 ft., 8 in. from centre Sky Pod: 3 ft., 4 in. from centre Tower Sphere: 1 ft., 7 in. from centre Thickness of windows: Outer pane – 9.5 mm (3/8 inch), inner pane – 6.4 mm (1/4 inch) Capacity of 360, The Restaurant at the Tower: 400 people Time it takes to revolve once: 72 minutes Capacity of Horizons Cafe: 500 people Broadcast Facilities: UHF, VHF Television; FM Radio; Microwave Transmissions; Fixed Mobile Systems Companies that broadcast from the Tower: CBC Channel 5 & 25, CFMT 47, CFTO 9, City 57, Global/CIII 41, TV Ontario 19, LOOK Communications (Digital), CHFI/Rogers, CFNY FM, CHIN FM, CHUM FM, CILQ FM, CJEZ FM, CJRT FM, CKFM FM, Bell Canada, Cantel, Motorola, TTC Thickness of The Glass Floor: 2 1/2 â€Å". Layers, from the top down: 3/16†³ scuff plate (replaced annually) Two 1/2†³ layers of clear tempered glass, laminated together A one inch layer of air (for insulation) Two 1/4†³ layers of clear tempered glass, laminated together Size of each panel: 42†³ by 50†³ Load tests are performed annually on each panel to ensure safety Toronto certainly does, and we appreciate the time the following groups and publications recently took to honour the CN Tower: The CN Tower extends congratulations to II by IV Design Associates partners Dan Menchions and Keith Rushbrook in winning the following design awards from the Assocation of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO):†Designers of the Year†, GOLD for Public and Institutional Spaces: CN Tower – Public Circulation Space, SILVER for Retail Spaces: CN Tower – Market Place Retail Centre, SILVER for Restaurants and Bars: CN Tower – Market Place Cafe City Parent, A Metroland Newsmagazine For City Families chose us as the ‘Best Tourist Attraction in Toronto' in the Fourth Annual Readers Selection Awards Voted the â€Å"Best Place to Take Out-Of-Towners† by Eye Magazine American Society of Civil Engineers, who accredited us as being one of the ‘Seven Wonders of the Modern World' Guinness Book of World Records changed our status to ‘World's Tallest Building and Free Standing Structure' and highlighted us on the cover of their 1996 Edition NOW Magazine – Best Place to Impress Out-of-Town Visitors Toronto Sun Readers' Choice Awards – Favourite Toronto Attraction International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Brass Ring Award – #1 Radio Campaign for Attractions World Wildlife Fund of Canada – Bird Friendly Building Award Federal Energy Innovator Award for recognition of innovative leadership in the pursuit of energy management opportunities Toronto Tourism Award – Ontario SuperHost for Staff Training & Education International Digital Media Awards – Gold for Best Kiosk/Installation for EcoDek Environment Canada – Great Lakes Raptor Recovery Plaque Tourism Toronto Award – Best Attraction, 1995.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Case Study of the Jewish Museum, Berlin

Case Study of the Jewish Museum, Berlin The Jewish Museum Berlin incorporates the social and cultural history of the Germany after World War 2 and aspired to correspond to the effects of the Holocaust on Jews in Germany. In his design, Libeskind claimed to combine three main concepts; the incapability to comprehend the historical agendas of Germany without the knowledge of the civilizational, academic and economic contribution that was made by the Jewish people in Berlin. Secondly he wanted to capture the bodily and spiritual journey in correlation to the experience of the Holocaust and its repercussions the society of Jews and finally he wanted to make amends by the acknowledgment, removal and the incorporation of voids, through which Berlin can move but this time with humanitarian existence. When the construction ended in 1999, the Director Michael Blumenthal declared that, â€Å"the chief aim of the museum will be to bring a sense of the richness of Jewish cultural life in Germany before the Holocaust† LIBESKIND S BOOK However, the Holocaust infuses the museum so strongly the museum has been called by reviewers and critics both â€Å"didactic† and â€Å"pedagogical† that the message is one for the present and, more importantly, for the future (BOOK MAKE UP). Because the context of the Holocaust remains such a strong thread in this space, it warrants examination as a unique addition to genres memorializing the Holocaust. Additionally, the museum’s triumph in its massive turnout rates particularly with young people, over the last decade calls for an analysis of its complexity of design and content to understand how the space performs to change the way we see things.WHY HE WON? For Libeskind, who was worn in Poland, a coupl of hundred Kilemoters from Berlin and whose family devastated during the Holocaust, the project presented a chance to reconnect to his past. Both of his parents were arrested by Soviet officials when the Red Army and upon their return home and have spen d some time in concentration camp. Upon their return they learned that 85 members of families had died at the hands of the Nazis. These experiences made Libeskind design extremely personal and in a sence biased. In an nterview to â€Å"Jewish Currents†, a Jewish on-line magazine that deals with activism, politics and art Libeskind explains his approach; â€Å"I would first point out that it’s not a project that I had to research in a library or study in the archives because it is part of my background, including my immediate background in every sense. My parents were Holocaust survivors and my uncle Nathan was one of the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. I myself grew up as a Jew in post war Poland under quite anti-Semitic circumstances. And I’ve lived in Israel and New York. Certainly that museum is speaking, both backwards and forwards, to many issues that are part of my Jewish sensibility†. Jewish Currents Just by observing the form of the structur e, already the sense of pragmatic effect is playing a large role. The building is recognisable by its gleaming zinc walls, asymmetrical shape of the zigzag form with daylight penetrating through asymmetric cuts suggestive of the vile stabs on Jewish presence in Germany.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Womens in the west Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Womens in the west - Essay Example Women were not deprived of the chances to pursue their own innovations on tool making, food preservation, pottery, art and architecture. As the ancestral occupation was agriculture, major portion of their experiments was associated with the requirements of their daily life. For instance, as food preservation was their major concern, they initiated making earthen pots because they knew that earthen pots could withstand the higher temperatures needed to cook ground corn and beans. Moreover, women learned how to locate and mine the best types of clay for making pots, and they passed their knowledge on to their daughters too. They could develop the technique to temper clay by mixing the sand to broken pottery as it would prevent damage during firing. The result was highly fitting as they could produce beautiful pots that ensure storing and preserving seeds, cooking, and gathering water. Subsequently pottery emerged to be new occupation to certain segments of women and their families. Women’s achievements on pottery led them to rather broad architectural concerns like construction of shelters and walls using clay. The art was highly prevalent in the North American regions. The construction of walls revealed their awareness on the science because they used some specific techniques like applying clay, with each layer allowed to dry before the next coat was applied. By19th century ethnic groups like Hispanic, Indians, and Rio Grande had established their own accommodation. An array of factors including the Spanish language, Catholicism, technology and foods integrated them along with the women’s contributions to art and labor. For instance, the post World WarI decade brought hundreds of artists ,writer and visionaries, many from the East to Northern New MÃ ©xico to maintain a home; and the migration indeed was led by Anglo women who determined convention in mater of love, family, and occupation. Some of the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Network security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Network security - Essay Example There is a requirement of a powerful vulnerability assessment and management tool that will facilitate the network security team in crises situations. Moreover, there is one more challenge for the network administrators i.e. they are not able to find traces for the threat that has already penetrated into a distributed network environment. Likewise, distributed network is a merger of two or more networks and may be operational on a broad spectrum. Moreover, the existing network security controls are not capable to detect the worm, as the distributed network is connected to one or more networks; it is difficult to analyze specific anomalies and patterns of unknown activity on the distributed network. Furthermore, the combination of infinite data packets can construct a major impact on the network because they all have the same frequency and are associated with the same domain that is similar to the current scenario. For addressing this issue, powerful vulnerability detection and assess ment tools are required for detecting threats on a distributed network. ... Moreover, these tools will also facilitate to categorize data packets in to time and frequency domains distinctly. Furthermore, network administrators can also implement a methodology, subset of the current methodology, which is called as anomalous space extraction based on predictions of network traffic or transmission of data packets. Successful information security management involves an amalgamation of prevention, detection and response in order to deploy a strong security defense. Security has become an encircling issue for designers and developers of the digital world. A system should also be able to counter incidents and raise proper procedures in case an information security incident occurs. Information security incident handling takes a stride forward in the information security management procedure. The aim is to provide a reference for the management, administration and other technical operational staff. If considering the enterprise government, focus on executing manageme nt actions is required to support the strategic goals of the organization. It has been calculated approximately half of the breaches to the security of the information systems are made by the internal staff or employee of the organization. Security incident management facilitates the development of security incident handling and planning including preparation for detection and reply to information security issues. The standard of the incident management primarily relates to ensure the existence of processes rather than the contents of these procedures. The security incident of different computing systems will have dissimilar effects and escort to different consequences, bureau, departments the organization need to tailor the security

Monday, August 26, 2019

How Sports Run the World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

How Sports Run the World - Essay Example As the research stresses modern sports provide a common cultural and social currency between people of different backgrounds. Sporting events promote social integration and foster a sense of unity. Across the globe, the ball games and athletic competition activate a collective spirit that tends to enhance participation of different social groups. According to the report findings people take part in the sports as players, athletics, sponsors, media personalities, politicians, business people, and spectators. The participation of persons of varied backgrounds in the sporting events helps in bridging the cultural, as well as, ethnic divides. Similarly, sports promote cultural tolerance, non-discrimination, and social integration. In cases where politics, culture, national passions, and culture often divide people, sports facilitate the achievement of unity at local and international levels. The sporting events have the potential of fighting discrimination and raising the awareness about the rights of women and marginalized societies. Sporting events offer a platform that assists different fans to bond in pursuit of collective action to achieve strong sporting communities. Local, as well as, the international fans display strong allegiances to the sport teams and athletes. Such base of fans tends to provide a focus for intergener ational discussions and development of solidarity at the community, national, and international levels. Apart from the solidarity, sport is an indispensable tool for social mobilization targeting to empower different groups of people.

Prevention of Sepsis in the Clinical Setting Research Paper

Prevention of Sepsis in the Clinical Setting - Research Paper Example Similar treatments are used for the cure of both sepsis and septicemia since both of them are normally associated with the presence of aggressive bacteria in the body system of a patient. This requires treatment using strong antibiotics to fight the infection. Patients may also be admitted in ICU for a while so as to monitor the treatment of the infection. Patients suffering from sepsis may experience multi-organ failure since the inflammation spreads and generates a cascading sequence of medical problems as the body tries to fight off the infection (Brozanski, 2003). Prevention of Sepsis There is a common term people in the medical field love to use and it goes, â€Å"Prevention is better than cure.† This is quite true since curing an infection is expensive both on the hospital and the patient. It requires a use of resources that would otherwise be used for other reasons. This therefore calls for infection control a discipline that targets the prevention of healthcare-related infections. There are a number of factors that may lead to the spread of infections in a clinical setting. The infections maybe from patient to patient, from staff to patient, from patient to staff, and from staff to staff (Dyson & Singer, January 2009). There are a number of ways of preventing sepsis, but the most common and effective way is by ensuring hand hygiene, and this is done by constant hand washing. Hand washing In the clinical setting, hand washing is commonly known as the primary weapon of fighting infections. The main reason for hand washing is to reduce microbial in the healthcare setting so as to reduce the risk of nosocomial infections. Hand hygiene may be a major problem in gigantic health facilities in which several patients are treated and in rapid succession. Infection control is meant to reduce the spread of infection and provide a safe environment for every patient (Riedeman, Guo, & Ward, 2003). This has become extremely necessary due to the emergence of anti biotic resistant organisms. Examples of antibiotic resistant microorganisms include methicilin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE). It is vital to note that there is evidence that shows that removal of antibiotic resistant organisms (AROs) from the hands by washing with detergent or soap and water is less effective than by the use of an antiseptic agent. For that reason, an antiseptic agent must be used in high risk areas within the clinic, with high risk patients especially those suffering from immune-deficient diseas

Sunday, August 25, 2019

An American President and Its Political Themes Movie Review

An American President and Its Political Themes - Movie Review Example Wade for the passage of her environmental bill. The film showed that each of the Congressmen and the President himself plays a vital role in the passage of a bill whether it is beneficial to the people or not. The President in the movie along with his representative has to confer with the Congressmen to get their votes for the passage of the crime bill. According to Article II, Section I of the American Constitution, the president has the power to appoint high positions such as ambassadors and court judges but only after he has consulted with the Senate. The President has the power to make treaties with other nations but only after seeking advice and consent 2/3rds of the Senate. The constitution also stated that the President may recommend legislative measures he believed to be important in advancing the interest of the country and may veto bills from Congress but still he is subject to 2/3rds of the Congress. President Obama himself had a hard time convincing the Senate and the Con gress on the approval of the Recovery Bill or the stimulus fund. According to Herszenhorn in his article â€Å"Recovery Bill Gets Final Approval† for The New York Times, there was not a single House Republican who voted for the bill and that the bill’s passage itself was largely partisan in nature. ... fluences within their the political circle but also have the privilege to shape or destroy the future of the citizens under the guise of law and partisan loyalty. Another political theme showed in the movie is on the role of media in politics. The mass media in all its forms is very valuable to people who live a public life like the politicians and artists. The media is long known to either break or make a person’s career. In the movie, the media was seen as a tool that did both favor and misfortune to the President and his love interest. When the main antagonist in the film denounced the President and made an issue with his personal affairs, the media took the reign and published the criticisms which contributed to the rise and fall of the approval ratings. On the other hand, Sydney Ellen Wade, the love interest of the President suffered from the publicity which contributed to her loss in congress votes for the environmental bill and ended to her unemployment. Even if the med ia reports are unbiased it can change the perception of the public. Thus, it is very important that the general public should be equally proactive in determining whether the news feeds are unbiased, credible, and true. Bob Rumson, the Republican political rivalry of the President was seen in the movie to have made an effort to destroy the President’s credibility. When he discovered that the President was having an affair with Ms. Wade, she used it as a tool to create bad publicity against the President. Kaplan in her article â€Å"Perry dodges again† on CBS news revealed that GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry questioned again the citizenship of President Obama and the authenticity of his birth certificate. The issue on the authenticity of President Obama’s birth certificate was a

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Cover letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 26

Cover letter - Essay Example Gaining education from some of the most reputable institutes in the world like the University of La Verne also enabled me expand my knowledge and concepts pertaining to marketing. Besides routine academic activities, my activities outside college premises have always focused on building healthy relationship with my community. To this effect, I volunteered in many game tournaments and also served as a host in many soccer tournaments. As far as my short-term and long-term goals are concerned, I have planned them according to my personal and professional interests. For example, my short-term goal is to earn a position in the marketing department. This will allow me to gain invaluable information about my field and grow intellectually. My long-term goal is to work for some high profile social or economic organization at an executive position. I believe that a position in the marketing department can become a valuable part of my educational and professional career because it will allow me to exercise the skills I have gained so far in my desired field of

Friday, August 23, 2019

Toyota Operations Exposure Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Toyota Operations Exposure - Assignment Example This paper is aimed at the provision of an in-depth analysis of the impact of the exchange rate movements in the manufacturing and sales of Toyota in Europe. The paper begins by providing the reasoning behind a long time it took for Toyota to shift manufacturing of Europe sales operations to Europe, followed by an analysis of the impact of British Pound joining the European Monetary on Toyota, short-term and long-term problems that faced Toyota, and solutions to the determined problems provided. The reasons for the Toyota taking so long in moving manufacturing operations to Europe sales to Europe include the capital intensiveness and complexity of manufacturing production. The need for Toyota enjoying economies of scale and scope in the production of vehicles destined for global locations and avoiding the capital requirements for the development of manufacturing locations in Europe. The possibility of increasing production in Japan at a low cost per unit would have been the other reason behind the long period taken by Toyota to set up manufacturing plants and capacities in Europe until 2004. The lack of manufacturing plants in Europe resulted in losses to Toyota in Europe sales owing to an operational exposure that arose from the euro losing value compared to the Japanese Yen (Khan & Jain, 2007, 35). The reasons for Toyota continuing to incur losses through not setting up manufacturing plants in Europe include the need to maintain competitiveness in the Europe market (Kandi l, 2000, 4). Another reason that could have made Toyota take time in making the decision to set up manufacturing plants in Europe for Europe sales is the large size of the company with massive production capabilities in Japan. The large amounts of  production in Japan allowed for efficiency, greater employee understanding, high technology and smooth operations, factors that must be developed in new manufacturing plants affecting the ability of the company to deliver quality and at a lower cost.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

A deeper understanding of the meaning of charity Essay Example for Free

A deeper understanding of the meaning of charity Essay At the beginning of the semester, I was asked to come up with a project for New Testament class that would put what I was learning into a direct application to my life. I asked myself, â€Å"what would make the most positive difference in my life at this moment†? One of the things I struggle with the most is that I think I can generally be too cynical, judgmental, and selfish in my interactions with other people. So, I decided I wanted to learn more about the topic of charity as I studied the New Testament this semester. To know about charity first requires a serious study of it. As I read the assigned passages in the New Testament, I studied them with an emphasis on charity. I would think about each verse I read and try to relate it to charity in some way. Reading the scriptures in this fashion helped me gain insights on charity in every chapter that I studied. I especially enjoyed the â€Å"Becoming QA† assignments because it helped me to ask specifically what I could learn about charity from a given chapter. I continued this pattern for the rest of my scripture study by asking myself inspired questions about how the people in each chapter showed charity (or lack of charity) for one another. For example, reading about Joseph’s reaction to Mary’s unexplained pregnancy in the first chapters of Matthew made me ask myself how he could have had that much charity for his fiancà ©e – Joseph would have naturally concluded that Mary had committed adultery, as what another way could she have gotten pregnant? How did he not freak out? This would have been such a difficult trial for him. After reading a few quotes from Elder James E Talmage, I learned that he loved his fiancà ©e so much, and his faith was so strong, that he immediately believed the angel that came to him explaining the truth. His faith in God led him to have charity for Mary. As I studied charity throughout the semester, I started to understand it better. Understanding bridges the gap between a belief (and action) and simple knowledge. My study of charity helped me know what charity is and how people express it, but I lacked something that would help me truly believe in it. This stepping stone came through prayer and pondering. The Spirit taught me why charity is important for me to obtain as I prayed about what I studied and thought deeply about what specific changes I needed to make in my life. The understanding that I gained from charity led me to a belief. Belief came for me when I took what I had learned and acted upon it. Putting my plans for service and kindness (that I had decided on through pondering and prayer) into action led me to believe that charity is one of the most important principles of the gospel, that Jesus Christ has charity for every one of us, and that I can have charity for my brothers and sisters too. This was the most fundamentally important step in the process for me. When I met the missionaries’ investigator Clarence, I felt genuine sympathy for his family’s problems. I helped them pay for groceries on one occasion when they didn’t have the means, and I had no expectation of them paying me back for it. Although Clarence had every intention of doing so, he wasn’t able to reimburse me before he moved away, and I was surprised to find that I wasn’t disappointed at all. A basic knowledge and understanding of charity would mean that I knew intellectually that I shouldn’t expect anything in return, but because I believed the principle of charity, I felt in my heart that doing the right thing means doing it solely for the benefit of others and nothing else. I felt the Spirit strongly as I served Clarence and his family – and that was all the confirmation that I needed. Change has come into my life this semester as I have come to know, understand, and believe in the principles of charity. Where previously I would look the other way or ignore someone who needs my help, now I am actively on the lookout for people that I can assist I have started looking forward to finding opportunities to show charity to others.   The studying, question asking, and application of my understanding and belief has changed me as an individual and brought me closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ. I have a coworker who can get on my nerves at times. Our personalities clash more than most, and the frequent jokes or comments that he makes towards me or things that I like can be hard for me to deal with. Due to this becoming project, my patience and my empathy for him have increased quite a bit. I find myself brushing off comments that would have bothered me a few months ago. I ask him questions about his interests and they lead to normal conversations. These changes came naturally out of the application of my studies, and they were totally unexpected. It’s a big deal for me to be on good terms with my coworker! I really enjoyed working on this project this semester. I have felt a change in my interactions with others – both in my thoughts and in my external actions such as conversations and service. I believe so strongly that it is possible for every person to develop for others a measure of the love that Christ feels for each of us.   I have a long way to go to get to where I want to be, but I am excited about the changes that I’ve felt so far as I have tried to follow the example of my Savior.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Christian religion Essay Example for Free

Christian religion Essay Many aspects of our Christian religion today have developed because of these early religious beliefs and culture of the Romans. At the beginning, the Roman Empire was able to develop more than any other country because of its acceptance of some areas of culture and religion of its conquered enemies and allowing them to keep their religion and culture, blending the old ways with the new. How little was known, that the paganism belief system of the Roman Empire would eventually lead the way to the new Christianity religion of the world. Paganism, with its gods and goddesses, answered humanity’s problems and provided answers at the whim of these supernatural beings. In the early stages of Greek and Roman culture, mythology answered all questions regarding the origin of the world and of man. (Case, 1929, p. 12) In the early days of Greece and Rome, everything under the sun was explained by the gods and goddesses humanity was at their whim along depending on their whims, just as today everything we do is explained through the Christian belief of God and Jesus, instead of the Roman gods and goddesses. In Rome, mythology answered all questions while today Christianity answers all of ours in regard to the world and mankind’s problems, all being subject to superhuman beings who have a lot to do with the affairs of mankind. Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire under the Emperor Constantine in AD 324 (the Emperor Julian, known to Christians as the Apostate, failed to bring about a pagan revival a few years later), and pagan forms of worship were finally made illegal in 390 by Theodosius. The myths of the pagan gods were particularly vulnerable to Christian attack, as can be seen in Lactantius Divine Institutes I 9-22 and Augustines City of God. (Rivers, 1994, p. 22) According to Barry Banning’s article entitled, â€Å"The Irony of Faith†, which is part of the research done for his book The Unspoken Power of Rome, he refers to the fact most world religions expect people to believe in something that cannot be detected, seen, felt, heard, tasted, or smelled. Researching the fact that Rome had a serious influence on early Christian’s beginning and formation, he also says that people are expected to believe in something that doesn’t exist physically and can’t be proved in normal human experiences. In most of the world religions, people are asked to believe in something that can not be detected, seen, felt, heard, tasted, or smelled. They are asked to believe in something that doesn’t exist physically and can’t be proven in normal human experience. And when confronted with numerous, obvious discrepancies, the normal response is â€Å"faith†. Faith is the key to understanding. Faith is the key to believing in concepts that cannot be explained. (Banning, 2001, 1) Over the last several years, most Christians have accepted blindly this philosophy of faith, not realizing how much influence that Rome had on Christianity and how we perceive it today, in its early beginnings. Very little credit was ever historically given to Rome for having any influence on Christianity and how we look at it presently – many Christians refusing to believe that many aspects of Christianity had its origins in the pagan arena of Rome, and in the development of our present social orders. However, most of this credit was because of the way Christians hid inside the Roman Empire, to avoid persecution or death by the Romans. The hardest thing possible was to believe in one God instead of many gods and goddesses, remaining anonymous, while still living as Christians in brutal Rome. Early Christians, facing scorn at best and persecution at worst, depending on Emperor and the era, were forced to blend in with their Pagan counterparts. In order to celebrate the holidays of their religion, the Christians used pre-existing holidays and festivals to blend in. Christmas, for example, was originally part of the great festival of the Winter Solstice, or the Saturnalia. By adopting this grand event as the celebration of Christs birth, Christian revelry was allowed to take place, largely unnoticed. The Church too manipulated customs and traditions of the Pagan Empire to make their faith more adaptable. (Kousoulas, 2006,1) Christianity had been the official religion of Rome since 392, before Rome’s official fall in 476 when its last ruler, Romulus Augustus, fell under Alaric and the Visigoths in 410 and later destroyed by the Vandals in 455. According to Professor Richard Baldwin at the Gulf Coast Community College in Florida, this fall of Rome would later influence the Middle Ages and its civilizations in classical Greek and Roman cultures, Christianity, and the Germanic culture. With modern science and intellectual knowledge today slowly replacing the word of God and Christian beliefs, public and society religious dedication has become a thing of the past unwelcome in schools and sports, government buildings, and bringing down the morals of society. We need to look at Rome’s influence on the world accompanied with many other civilizations that were also influential on the world that led to Christianity. The development of human societies was not continuous. It was started several times anewin India, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Scandinavia, and in Western Europe, beginning each time with the primitive tribe and then the village community. But if we consider each of these lines separately, we certainly find in each of them, and especially in the development of Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire, a continual widening of the conception of mutual support and mutual protection, from the clan to the tribe, the nation, and finally to the international union of nations. (Kropotkin, 1934, p. 17) Christianity today is going through another revival such as in Rome, with many Christians now looking deeply inside – philosophizing and asking inner questions concerning what they have always been told – such as, is Christianity a pure religion in itself, or is it a combination of other religions. As Barry Banning said, previous Christian philosophies and hierarchical leaders told us to never question anything about our churches or what we have been taught. Christians are individuals who have unique mindsets, they are going to grow and change in their perception of the world around them, and this is a time when humanity is asking questions, seeking to find out truths. We are beginning to observe what Christianity is really about, not blindly accepting what we have been told by our superiors. The Roman imprints left from the early Christian development have simply extended an age-old religious philosophy that has long been past due for a change and maybe a needed updated version. Over the centuries, Christianity has not only changed in an intellectual theory but also with the philosophy regarding its impact by Rome. People change and learn in different ways, with continuously changing perceptions that cross many barriers – age, education, beliefs, or culture. Nevertheless, the bottom line is, without Rome we would never have had Christianity. Moreover, today Christianity as a single religion is ranked as the world’s largest religion, with sub-groups being included in this statistic. For the purpose of statistics, Christians refer to varying degrees of religious activity within Christianity – including Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Pentecostals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Latter-day Saints, African Indigenous Churches, and others. All of this is very different from the early days of Rome, with terrified Christians being persecuted for speaking and attempting to practice their religion. Yet, no matter where we look regarding Christianity, we find ourself looking also at the Roman Empire and its early heritage and culture, still breathing today inside our churches and religious cultures. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS: Banning, B. (2001). The Unspoken Power of Rome. 1st Edition. Albuquerque, New Mexico: Wellspring Books. Case, S. C. (1929). Experience with the Supernatural in Early Christian Times. New York: The Century Company. Laistner, M. L. (1951). Christianity and Pagan Culture in the Later Roman Empire. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Kropotkin, P. P. A. (1934). The Present Need of Determining the Bases of Morality. New York: Dial Press. Potter, D. S. (2004). The Roman Empire at Bay: AD 180-395. New York: Routledge. Rivers, I. (1994). Classical and Christian Ideas in English Renaissance Poetry: A Student’s Guide. New York: Routledge.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The Development of Lesbian and Queer Theory in America

The Development of Lesbian and Queer Theory in America An Examination of the Advancement of Lesbian Theory Criticism –  America: 1950’s-1990’s. Introduction Lesbianism in American society is a concept imbued with social, political, legal, aesthetic and literary codes and conventions, whether considered in 1950 or currently. In the past half century, lesbianism has not only expressed itself as specific articulations of sexuality and lifestyle, but also of ideology and political aspiration. Sexuality has remained essential to conceptualisations of lesbianism in this time span, with its political formulations, societal censures, and social accommodations anchored to the vicissitudes of feminist theory and practice. American social and political morays which have prescribed female functionality in post World War Two years, have cast mainstream female identity in terms of motherhood, wifeliness and domesticity, a formulation of personhood deeply challenged by advancing lesbian ideology and praxis. In this light, one of the significant threads of lesbian theory and criticism to be evaluated pertains to feminism’s examination of female identity in the past 50 years, and the status and reaction of lesbianism within this paradigm. This process encompasses events and issues pertaining to the biological, sexual and social validation of female gender, but also the intellectual development of modes of discourse pertaining to feminism and lesbianism, as a means of female empowerment, paralleled by considered or reactionary responses to wider societal trends. So called second wave feminism, benchmarked by the Stonewall Riots at Greenwich Village in New York in 1969, targeted women’s liberation not only at the level of law, and concrete denotations of inequality and injustice, (akin to feminism’s first wave), but at the more visceral level of societal and political attitudes and values, including the ideological decoupling of female personhood from male sexuality. Since the early 1990’s, the ideological and theoretical formulations of lesbianism have been advancing in disparate lines, at the bidding of post-structuralist or postmodernist discourses. Some of lesbianism’s intellectual impulses have focused upon notions of sexual and personal identity, and in spite of their intellectual sophistication have lost their momentum and coherence, collapsing into an â€Å"ambiguous polymorphy,†[1] whilst attempting to dispense with unhelpful binary oppositional definitions of gender or sexuality. Conversely, an intellectual strength of third wave feminism and post 1980’s lesbian criticism has been the attention to personhood, the integrity of the self and the integration of public and private moralities. Chapter 1 Homosexuality after World War I was broadly viewed as â€Å"an offence against the family and social expectations about gender.†[2] A doctor’s post World War 1 contemporary observations noted that it was â€Å"improper to utter the word homosexuality, prurient to admit its existence and pornographic to discuss the subject.†[3] The same doctor reflects the radical difference between American and European cultural and sexual values, implying that while Europe was perceived by Americans as decadent, European novels could discuss homosexuality openly within a European setting, yet American novels could not, since â€Å"if it existed at all, (as) our soil is unfavourable, our climate prejudicial, our people too primitive, too pure.†[4] Furthermore, Fone contends that homosexuality had come to be seen as a â€Å"subversion of America itself.† [5] Fone also observes that since war is a â€Å"time of fear and upheaval-it produces a virulent, xenophobic str ain of homophobia† tantamount to conceiving â€Å"sexual difference as a betrayal of American values†.[6] Retrospectively implicit among these anecdotal pre World War II dismissals of homosexuality, is the notable silence concerning any distinction between male and female homosexuality, or gay and lesbian sexual phenomenon. The grip of patriarchy was so overarching that lesbianism did not even feature as a notable offence against social sensibilities. Be that as it may. The social discourse regarding lesbianism in the 1950’s was in part a response to the repositioning of women due to World War II. As war demanded heightened US defences and reconstituted the nation’s labour force, women formed the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and were seconded to non-traditional jobs, accounting for one third of the work force. According to Kennedy and Davis, â€Å"World War II had a tremendous impact on lesbian life, by offering lesbians more opportunities for socialising and meeting other women.†[7] Since the war â€Å"gave more independence to all women†¦ lesbians (were) more like other women and less easy to identify. Since all women were able to wear pants to work and to purchase them in stores off the rack, butches who only wore pants in the privacy of their home in the 1930s could now wear them on the streets.†[8] Furthermore, in Buffalo women gained access to better jobs since productivity was heightened by war manufacturing. Since the male population of Buffalo was denuded for military service, lesbians had greater liberty to meet in public and pursue active social lives beyond hearth and home. Extensive social life revolved around â€Å"the proliferation of gay bars†[9] and despite the â€Å"mere presence of homosexuals†¦interpreted by the State Liquor Authority as constituting disorderly conduct†,[10] raids on premises were minimal in the 1940’s due to the shrewdness of business owners.[11] Concurrently, enlisted lesbians found a social space within the male world of military service since enrolment screening practices for lesbians entering the (WAC) were less stringent than for gay men.[12] In this example, the lack of status for women in the military prior to the war resulted in ill-defined screening procedures for women recruits, matched by a choice to not investigate the sexual lives of women, as the goal was to optimise the war effort.[13] The simplistic and binary designations of sexual orientation in the late 1940’s are noted by the comments from â€Å"a group of Marine Corps examiners at Camp LeJeune (who) advised their colleagues, â€Å"that women showing a masculine manner may be perfectly normal sexually and excellent military material.†[14] By the late 1940’s however, â€Å"purging of lesbians from the military became increasingly problematic. Many women were forced to deny knowing any of their friends or marry gay men to pass as heter osexual.†[15] Ominously, â€Å"mid 1950’s Navy officials secretly acknowledged that the homosexual discharge rate had become much higher for the female than the male.† [16] When the end of the war brought a resumption of traditional family roles, there were no alternate social prescriptions for women apart from marriage, and enduring singleness subjected females to social disapproval, while the â€Å"aggressive harassment of lesbians and gays was connected to this glorification of the nuclear family and domestic sphere.Homophobia became a way of reinstituting male dominance and strict gender roles that had been disrupted by the war.†[17] The 1950’s remained a social and political milieu of â€Å"severe oppression,†[18] yet Roosevelt suggests the reduced harassment of gay bar culture and the desire of public lesbians to reach out to other lesbians, marked a â€Å"significant transformation in lesbian consciousness.† [19] The emergence of tough butch lesbian sub-culture in the 1950’s, was, according to Roosevelt, a consequence of gay bar life and working class female job creation during World War II.[20] Nonetheless, â€Å"alcohol, insecurity, and repression, in combination with the tough butch image, made fights among tough and rough lesbians a prominent part of the 1950s landscape which increased concern and attention from the larger culture.† [21] Furthermore, the prominence of lesbians and male homosexuals holding positions within the American government agencies in the 1950’s was a matter of growing consternation, in light of the neo-conservatism and right wing extremism of this period. The political tirade against ‘un-American activities typified by the McCarthy led Senate committee inquiries and public hearings, not only felt virtue was found in the purging of communist allegiances and sentiments, but also coupled homosexuality and lesbianism with such perceived political aberrations. Politically enshrined deviance was aligned with sexually defined deviance. The 1950 congressional record addressed homosexuals in government, with congressman Miller of Nebraska addressing the House of Representatives. In an excerpt, Miller stated, â€Å"I would like to strip the fetid, stinking flesh off of this skeleton of homosexuality and tell my colleagues of the House some of the facts of nature†¦ Recently the spotlight of publicity has been focused not only upon the State Department but upon the Department of Commerce because of homosexuals being employed in these and other departments of Government. Recently Mr. Peurifoy, of the State Department, said he had allowed 91 individuals in the State Department to resign because they were homosexuals. Now they are like birds of a feather, they flock together. Where did they go? You must know what a homosexual is. It is amazing that in the Capital City of Washington we are plagued with such a large group of those individuals. Washington attracts many lovely folks. The sex crimes in the city are many.†[22] Miller went on to refer to the Sex Pervert Bill passed through Congress that he authored, exposing his jaundiced view of sexuality by alluding to the peril of homosexuals, as well as the ‘concession’ that â€Å"some of them are more to be pitied than condemned, because in many it is a pathological condition, very much like the kleptomaniac who must go out and steal.†[23] In addition to the homophobic cringe mentality epitomising the 1950’s which also applied to lesbianism, viewing any form of non-heterosexual sex as non-normative and therefore aberrant, prior to 2003, homosexuality (and by extension lesbianism), was â€Å"considered a disease, a sin (and) a threat to public order.†[24] Further reasons why lesbianism was shunned by American mainstream society in the 1950’s concerns the belief that (in the absence of research to the contrary), sexual orientation was subject to change and able to be transferred.[25] As such, a threat or fear existed that there was the possibility of an epidemic conversion from heterosexual to, homosexual, yielding a perceived need to ‘protect’ heterosexuals. Since homosexuals and lesbians were perceived to be engaging in indulgent, wayward and aberrant sexual behaviour by choice, rather than by predisposition, the persecution and stigmatization they received was not viewed as a breach o f fundamental human rights. [26] Furthermore, another potent reason for the social and political aversion to lesbianism was the belief that heterosexual minors could become homosexual by way of seduction, justifying the protection of children and youth by means of criminal law.[27] Amnesty International’s recent statement addressing the decriminalisation of homosexuality globally, demonstrates that third wave feminist ideological battles (discussed later) are far from won. The paper makes the observation that â€Å"far fewer countries explicitly criminalise lesbianism than male homosexuality†¦ as there (already) exists a raft of legislation to limit, police and control womens sexual autonomy. (The writers’ explanation that), lesbianism is not generally subject to legal sanctions may be attributed to the absence of women from the public sphere and the resulting absence of awareness of lesbianism.†[28] This social invisibility[29] of lesbianism leads to some lawmakers denying that it even exists. Miller’s attitudes not only exposed the entrenched criminalisation of homosexuality (and by association lesbianism), but the second social contrivance of lesbianism which coalesced in American culture in the 1950’s, namely its ‘medicalisation’, framing lesbianism as a social pathogen, rather than an issue of sexual difference and diversity, when compared with heterosexuality or monogamy. Such a pathological casting of lesbianism is foreseen in pre-1950’s homophobic stereotypes, where psychic differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals were fabricated – constructing the homosexual male as a deficit being without â€Å"will power, perseverance, and dogmatic energy.†[30] These social postulations of male effeminacy merely mirrored manifestations of female ‘masculinisation,’ such as the butch bar working class lesbian sub-culture, already identified. Instead of current societal emphasis upon diversity and difference, the 1950’s construction of lesbianism underscored deficit and deviance. Roosevelt draws attention to psychiatrists Henry Gay duplicitous motives. Whilst formulating a committee for the Study of Sex Variants in the 1940’s, compiling case histories of over 300 lesbians, producing ‘Sex Variants: A Study of Homosexual Patters’, with the pretext of decriminalising lesbianism, in actuality, the hidden agenda was to legitimise the psychiatry profession, and as a consequence, medicalise lesbianism, merely replacing one construct of deviance with another. [31] Lesbianism remained an immoral practice in the USA until Illinois led the change with its homosexuality decriminalisation law in 1961.[32] Prior to this time, â€Å"criminologists of the 1950’s depicted lesbian inmates as menacing social types which lead to a conflation between women’s prisons and lesbianism.†[33] The shift to greater surveillance of lesbianism in women’s prisons was reflected in â€Å"U.S. popular and political culture in magazines, pulp no vels, and movies where the, previously, comic and benign lesbian gave way to the dangerously aggressive lesbian criminal. By the 1950’s the term ‘women’s prison’ was synonymous with lesbian aggression,†[34]casting sexuality as a potential signifier of membership of a â€Å"criminal underworld, losing class, race, and privilege.† [35]Such pulp novels as those published by Ann Weldy under the pseudonym Ann Bannon, included ‘Odd Girl Out’, (1957); ‘I Am a Woman (In Love With a Woman Why Must Society Reject Me’?) (1959); ‘Women in The Shadows’, (1959);‘Journey to a Woman’ (1960) and ‘The Marriage’, (1960); and Beebo Brinker (1962), the prequel to the first four books.[36] The social limitations of same-gender sexuality identification are evident in the narrative outcomes of these early lesbian pulp fiction titles. â€Å"It was expected that the characters in a lesbian novel would ne ver receive any satisfaction from a lesbian relationship. One or both usually ended up committing suicide, going insane, or leaving the relationship.† Describing the 1950’s as the hey-day of Lesbian Pulp Fiction, Bianco noted that while its boom was inspired mainly by publishers pitching successfully to straight males seeking titillation, oppressed lesbians found a private outlet and psychic survival through such writings denied them publicly by the censoriousness of 1950’s repressive American culture. Bianco noted the publicist’s irony, since while â€Å"cover art of pulp novels always depicted ultra-feminine women, the ‘real’ lesbians in the stories were often tomboys or ‘bad girls’ who seduced innocent straight women. Reflecting psychological theories of the time, lesbian pulp writers often presented lesbianism as the result of a trauma, such as rape or incest. At the end, the innocent straight woman almost always returned to a ‘normal’ life with a man. If the lesbian protagonist wasnt herself converted to heterosexuality, she usually became an alcoholic, lost her job, or committed suicide. Publishers insisted on these kinds of moral endings, condemning lesbian sexuality even while exploiting it. In this regard, lesbian pulps followed the formula of torment and sacrifice.†[37] As such, lurid and socially shunned fictionalisations of alternate sexuality merely reinforced the ethical and moral mainstream fabric of neo-conservative American culture. Anne Bannon, as she was publicly known, reputedly led a double life, a wife and mother who frequented lesbian bars on weekends in Greenwich Village, and strikingly only disclosed her authorship of her lesbian pulp fiction novels in the 1980’s, over two decades after they were published. In the view of Bianco, her works made a significant contribution to lesbian identity in the decade prior to ‘Stonewall’.[38] Theoretical perspectives on lesbian and alternate sexuality critical to the exploration of emerging critical paradigms of lesbianism in America in the second half of the twentieth century, do not merely address the enduring and at times overwhelming dialectical tension between mainstream heterosexual ideology and homosexual reaction; but the internal dialectic within the gay community and how it evolved and responded to dimensions of itself throughout this passage of social history. The butch/fem dialectic itself illustrates the politics of sex and psychology. An increase in sexual experimentation and practices, saw a sub-cultural practice emerge, whereby butch/ fem lesbian couples assumed strictly defined roles, the ‘stone butch untouchable’ finding sexual pleasure exclusively through giving pleasure to her fem, while the fem forbidden to reciprocate, was positioned within the codes of the relationship to only receive pleasure. While some critiqued this relational dynam ic as a mere imitation of conventional masculine approaches to sex, others identified in butches â€Å"a discomfort of being (physically) touched rooted in their biology.There was also much importance placed on role distinction, an unwanted vulnerability involved in mutual lovemaking, the butch ego, and the butch’s ambivalence toward her female body. In the 1950s, Fems approached sexuality from a self-centred perspective†¦and lesbians who would not select a role, but changed roles,were derisively referred to as KiKis or AC/DC and were viewed with suspicion by other working-class lesbians.†[39] That Butches apparently disliked switching roles, imposed such rigid relational rules and maintained such static notions of sexual identity, indicated that the delineation of sexual identity within this specific lesbian subculture, was just as restrictive and jaundiced a stance as the homophobic predilections of the 1950’s heterosexual community in general. The paraly zing dialectic of shame and shamelessness which more contemporary feminists have used to identify heterosexual impediments in the slow march towards sexual liberation[40] is alive in the politics of sex and identity psychology played out in the binary relations of 1950’s butch/fem lesbianism. While many look to the Stonewall Riots at Greenwich Village New York as the defining moment for the empowerment of the modern Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement, others trace the serious beginnings to 1951 in Los Angeles. In the 1950’s gay protest remained largely â€Å"bland, apologetic, unassertive and defensive†¦(relying) upon ‘experts’- psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts, lawyers, theologians†¦who spoke about us, to us, and at us, but never with us.† [41] By 1961, the Homophile Movement, represented in the US by a mere half dozen organizations, yet by 1969, numbering fifty or sixty such proactive bodies. The origins of the Stonewall Riots have their foundation in the â€Å"immigrant, working class neighbourhoods of New York†¦(where) gay sexuality was very much in and of the streets†¦due in part to the economic and spatial limitations of the tenements. Enclaves of lesbians interacted with their gay male counterparts, congregating in the speakeasies, tearooms and drag balls of Harlem and Greenwich Village during the 1920’s.†[42] Furthermore, Greenwich Village’s â€Å"bohemian life tolerated sexual experimentation which conferred upon the area an embryonic stature of erotica unbound†¦lesbian and gay clubs in the Village were founded on the ‘Personality Clubs’ of the bohemian intelligentsia.†[43] Writers commonly view Greenwich as a social space freed from the normal â€Å"social constraints† of modern life, a â€Å"sexual free- zone† and a homosexual Mecca for predominantly white homosexuals, as Harlem was for black p eople.[44] The anonymity of the city had become accessible to post war military linked Americans, and the semi public spaces of night cafà © and bar cultures, served to straddle the psychological and spatial divide between the privacy, domesticity and intimacy of the home, and the disclosure and defiance of public morality played out in the Greenwich domain. As Munt suggests, this cultural transition captured in Lesbian Pulp fiction, tracked â€Å"the lesbian adventurer inhabiting a twilight world where sexual encounters were acts of romanticised outlawry initiated in some back street bar and consummated in the narrative penetration of the depths of maze-like apartment buildings.† [45]Munt views Bannon’s heroines as mythologizing the â€Å"eroticised urban explorer.† [46] The value of Stonewall’s mythologisation is viewed â€Å"as a constitutive moment, while admitting its cultural fiction.†[47] Other signposts of lesbians claiming a small cultural space and some public domain in this ensuing decade indicated by Mathison Fraher, included the formation of the ‘Mattachine Society’ in 1951 (founded to aid homosexuals in the process of chronicling their collective histories and mitigate against social persecution); the initial publication of ‘One’ Magazine in 1953; the foundation of the lesbian organisation ‘Daughters of Bilitis’ in 1955; and the subsequent publication of their first magazine titled ‘The Ladder’ in 1956. Additionally, the Kinsley Report published in 1957 claimed 10% of the population to predominantly homosexual, while in 1961 Illinois became the first US state to criminalise homosexual acts. The Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village in 1969 were closely followed by a Gay Rally in Chicago in 1970.[48] Chapter 2 Betty Friedan’s ground breaking book titled ‘The Feminine Mystique’, encapsulated the inexplicable toleration of millions of American women in the 1950’s and early 1960’s that had exclusively devoted themselves to the mutual socially prescribed roles of wife and mother. Friedan’s thesis was that this wholehearted devotion carried a contingent cost and sacrifice beyond the conscious level of comprehension of countless women, oblivious to the enormity of what they were surrendering in the process, as well as the significant parts of themselves they were denying as a result of idolising domesticity. Friedan herself in 1994 retrospectively explained the term ‘feminine mystique’ as when â€Å"women were defined only in sexual relation to men – man’s wife, sex object, mother, housewife- and never a person defining themselves by their own actions in society.†[49] She conceived of this conceptualisation of women as a stifling barrier to their wider participation within society and therefore as fully functioning human beings. It was the notion that this existential position of women was so unchallenged and so instinctively accepted that Friedan found to be so perplexing, provocatively couched by the feminist as a ‘feminine mystique’ to ridicule the notion that the socially contrived roles had acquired the status of an implacable genetic predisposition. Quidlen acclaims Friedan’s foresight in the book’s introduction, as she succeeded in scrutinising ways â€Å"women had been coaxed into selling out their intellect and their ambitions for the paltry price of a new washing machine†¦(seduced by) the development of labour saving appliances†¦(yet being) covered up in a kitchen conspiracy of denial.†[50] Friedan empowered women with confidence to reconceptualise their problems’ origins, lying beyond her marriage or herself.[51] Furthermore, Friedan was a keen observer of hypocrisy, contradiction and imbalance, with a caustic view concerning â€Å"a generation of educated housewives maniacally arranging the silverware and dressing to welcome their husbands’ home from work.†[52] Friedan as many other feminists and indeed lesbians was a strident advocate of the wider participation of women in society. Typifying ways women were alienated from mainstream society and disenfranchised by males, were prevailing attitudes towards abortion, public censure or ambivalence about a woman’s right to choose; the invisibility of sexual abuse, the lack of acknowledgement of more subtle forms of sexual harassment, as well as the economic and social disempowerment with relation to exit strategies for women to leave bad marriages. Friedan observes the 1990’s obsession with defining and crystalising female identity,[53] explaining this as a logical extension of the break down of the feminine mystique and the empowerment of women. This obsession manifested itself through a surfeit of women’s identity literature and college courses in women’s studies. [54] By logical extension, feminism did provide leverage for the liberation of lesbians and the sexual politics associated with lesbianism, in spite of Friedan’s disconnect with lesbianism as a valid expression of women’s rights. Friedan did identify menopause crises, sexual frigidity, promiscuity, pregnancy fears, child birth depression, passivity, the immaturity of American men, discrepancies between women’s tested childhood intellectual abilities and their adult achievements and the changing incidence of adult sexual orgasm in American women as issues pertaining to the emergence of a fuller identity and societal participation for women.[55] It is clear that there was little room in the consciousness of women to process the notion of their sexuality prior to the 1960’s sexual revolution, since women drew neuroses was the energy needed to juggle the conflicting roles between motherhood, domestic duty and work beyond the home and manage the personal and societal guilt which emerged from this 9at times) impossible process.[56] The social and political discourse of the era lionized women who did not lose their man, and balanced service of males, children and home. The wider world was beyond their consciousness and matters of sexual identity were not part of the public domain. Friedan contends that femininity in the 1950’s was a social construction, which, if attended to faithfully, was the only means by which women could achieve contentment and fulfilment, having historically made the blunder of trying to imitate masculinity , instead of embodying femininity, which was deemed to be characterized by sexual passi vity, nurturing maternal love and male domination.[57] Furthermore, the classification of the political domain as a male intellectual and practical bastion did nothing to facilitate women re-evaluating sexual politics and notions of political disenfranchisement in the 1950’s. In 1960, Friedan recalled that â€Å"a perceptive social psychologist showed me some sad statistics which seemed to prove unmistakably that women under age 35 years were not interested in politics.†[58] Furthermore, a false dichotomy was embedded in American national consciousness regarding female sexuality, with no middle ground, namely, women were good who came to the pedestal and whores if they expressed physical sexual desire or sought such pleasure. This dichotomous paradigm disempowered women’s sexual liberation.[59]While the feminine mystique succeeded in precluding women from considering their own sense of personal identity – who they were alone from husband, children and home,[60] the former emphasis of genetic determinism shaped women’s outlook on the path of their lives- plainly, â€Å"the identity of woman is determined by her biology.†[61] (Ironically, the same conclusion regarding lesbianism was not reached by American society for decades, prior to the 1990’s, lesbianism being widely viewed as deviant sexual conduct determined by choice rather than orientation.) Friedan counters the Freudian explanation for the desire of women to depart from the domestic centre, namely the motive of ‘penis envy’ propagated by Freud. [62]Instead, she presciently identified the objectification of women as a societal flaw, â€Å"she was, at that time, so completely defined as object by man, never herself as ‘I’, that she was not even expected to enjoy or participate in the act of sex.†[63] The gay and lesbian revolution gained momentum in the late 1960’s, infused the female with a sense of subjectivity, to counter this objectification, poignantly exemplified through the centring of the female orgasm, which emphatically declared that women were sexual beings, capable and entitled to experience sexual pleasure, rather than being victims of abuse or neutral ‘sideline observers’ of sexual activity while their husbands were actualising their virility through sex. While Friedan acknowledged that â€Å"Freudian tho ught became the ideological bulwark of American of the sexual counter-revolution in America†[64]defining the sexual nature of women, conversely Friedan speculated that an insatiable female sexual desire existed due to the vacuum created by the absence of larger life goals for woman. [65] While she countered Freud with this ex

Monday, August 19, 2019

Essay --

Who would have ever thought that a black boy from the wrong side of town in New Orleans would turn out to be one of the greatest jazz musicians to ever live? Louis Daniel Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in a place called â€Å"the Battlefield† New Orleans, to Mary and William Armstrong. However, when Louis was still an infant his father left their family and he went to go live with his grandmother. After Louis turned five, he moved back in with his mother and sister, Beatrice, who Louis had come to call â€Å"Mama Lucy.† At just 7 years old, Louis purchased his very first cornet, which he taught himself to play, and with it created his first vocal quartet. Then when Louis was 13, in celebration of the New Year, he set off a gun in the middle of the street. Police arrested him, and sent him to the New Orleans Colored Reformatory, also known as The Waifs Home for Boys. During his sentence at the Waif Home, the Director of the band there took Louis under his wing. Th e Director, Peter Davis, taught young Louis how to play the bugle. Mr. Davis also gave Louis his very first trumpet. It was at this point in Louis’ life that music gave him a direction and a purpose. After spending three years in the Waifs Home, Louis was released, he was 16 at the time. During this time, Louis had odd jobs like singing on corners, working on a junk wagon, cleaning graves, and selling coal for money. He used his earnings to help his family. In 1918, Louis married a prostitute by the name of Daisy Parker, they divorced in 1922. According to Combo USA, Louis mentioned later on that he believed it was a mistake to have married Daisy. After a bit of reflection, he did not think that they were old enough to have gotten married. Louis met Joseph Oliver shortly bef... ...you are still able to pick out certain instruments. In fact, the first sound that I noticed was the piano, then the trombone and the clarinet. Their harmonized sound is very distinct. Just as the lyrics, I am sure if you were to hear just the instrumental portion you would recognize it right away. Overall Louis Armstrong made some great music during his time. Songs like, What a Wonderful World, were commercialized, and put into movies. Disney, in fact, used quite a few songs by Mr. Armstrong in their movies. Sadly, music is not created this way anymore. Many artists use digital recording today, but that was not available for people like Mr. Armstrong and others. Mr. Armstrong also has a strong live performance. You can tell by his facial expressions, and interaction with the audience. If only musicians today appreciated music, the way people did 20 or 30 years ago.

Extra-Causalism and the Unity of Being Essay example -- Philosophy Phi

Extra-Causalism and the Unity of Being ABSTRACT: This paper identifies a thesis held widely in contemporary empiricist and naturalist metaphysics, viz., causalism — the view that to be is to be part of the causal structure of the world. I argue against this thesis, defending what I call extra-causalism. Claims that entities with no obvious causal role, like unexemplified properties and points of space, are unreal, or, if they are accorded reality, that they must have some discoverable — perhaps merely counter-factual — causal significance, are dogmatic and ad hoc. Another view logically independent of causalism, but often held by its advocates, is what may be called the thesis of ontic levels, the idea that there is a primary or basic sort of being (usually accorded the entities of the natural sciences), and at least one derivative or non-basic kind of being. I argue against this as well, claiming that extra-causalism and the unity of being are compatible with a fully naturalist and empiricist view of the world. Metaphysical causalism appears to involve misunderstanding the actual character and aims of natural science. The causalism/extra-causalism contrast as intended here is a shifting continuum of opposing positions, not a single thesis and its denial. Some causalists, for example, accord universals what may be regarded as a secondary causal role. The sky's being blue or an apple's being sweet may have effects, and in virtue of those facts the constituent universals are parts of a causal story, the causal network of the world. Such a causalism as this insists only that putative entities making no contribution to this network are in fact pseudo-entities. So realism with regard to universals or other abstracta need not i... ...ntific naturalism is the soundest guide that there is to the objective or intrinsic character of the universe. If putative entities are dubious or problematic proportionate to their distance from the core items of theoretical physics, it is understandable that the causal structure of the world, and the items necessarily involved in it, should be 'centred' or 'privileged' for ontology. Though this outcome is understandable, I want to argue that a genuinely scientific or naturalist or empiricist point of view, or set of commitments, does not require, or even significantly lean to, causalism. This large aim can only of course be intimated and sketched in the time available to me here, with, I hope, the beginnings of plausible argument in the direction of its realization. Notes (1) Daniel C. Dennett, Consciousness Explained. Boston: Little, Brown, 1991, p. 460.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Politics of Belize :: Essays on Politics

Politics of Belize The political system of Belize is fairly new. Belize gained its independence from Britain on September 21, 1981, and the Constitution of Belize was born with this newly autonomous state. Since its independence, Belize has remained a commonwealth of the British Monarch and owes allegiance to the queen of England. Belize's government is modeled after the British Parliamentary system. Although the country of Belize has been independent from Britain since 1981, the Caribbean country maintains many of the British practices and procedures in its political, governmental and judicial systems. The Federal Parliamentary government of Belize is comprised of two unified branches of government: the executive and the legislative branches. The Prime Minister and the cabinet make up the executive branch. They are chosen from the majority party in the Lower House of the legislature. The Prime Minister is the head of the cabinet. A governor-general, appointed by the United Kingdom monarch also possesses some appointing power in Parliament. The governor-general is an extension of the Royal Family, and his/her duties are rather superficial and more of a formality. According to Latin America Profiled, the UK appointed Governor-General of Belize is Sir Colville Young. Said Musa is the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs of the Belize's Parliament. Those who Prime Minister Musa appointed to his cabinet include: George Price, John Briceno, Ralph Fonseca, Josà © Coye, Maxwell Samuels, Cordel Hyde, Richard "Dickie" Bradley, Marcial Mes, Garcà ­a Balderamose Oolores, Ruben Campos, Jorge Espat, Godfrey Smith, and B.Q. Pitts as the Speaker. This cabinet works on projects ranging from foreign affairs, hea lthcare, to civil society agendas. These representatives are chosen because of their experience and their party identification. It is expected that these officials will produce results, which are conducive to the opinions of the constituents, as well as to the loyalty of their party. A bicameral National Assembly forms the legislative branch of Parliament. The two branches of this bicameral body are called the House of Representatives and the Senate. There are twenty-nine elected members in the House of Representatives and eight appointed members in the Senate. Administrators in the House of Representatives are elected by universal suffrage. Five of the officials of the Senate are appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the Prime Minister, two by the leader of the less powerful party and one by the Belize Advisory Council.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Macbeth Essay Essay

Shakespeare uses ghosts and witches into many of his plays and work. But in no other play did he make them so horrible and demon like as he did the witches in Macbeth. The way in which they were described, made Macbeth a popular play. Superstition is a very shrewd belief in the supernatural. Supernatural is an attribute to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature. When it is referred to as â€Å"the supernatural†, then it means supernatural appearances or events. Both of the two terms that I have just explained, superstition and supernatural, are present a lot of the time during the play Macbeth, and many of the supernatural events which occur during the play tend to lead into other happenings. The witches are actually an important part of the play and the supernatural, because they start the play along with the supernatural. At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare sets the scene for the witches by using thunder and lightening and naming location of the scene â€Å"A Desolate Place†. â€Å"Upon the heath† and â€Å"there to meet Macbeth† The witches announce that they will meet with Macbeth upon a heath. They then disappear into â€Å"filthy air† as mysteriously as they arrived. Later in the play, Banquo refers to the witches exit as â€Å"the earth hath bubbles, as the water has, and these are of them† what he means by this is that the witches can disappear in the same way as bubbles do. In the first scene the supernatural theme is present due to the witches being there. They speak of Macbeth and involve him in supernatural matters, and we can tell that they influence him, and this also blooms as the play develops. The words that the witches use are also of a supernatural nature. Some link together sometimes in a chant like way, such as ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’, and this sounds rather unpleasant and evil. We can also blame them for some of the things that happen later on in the play which are involved in the downfall of Macbeth. Later in the play Macbeth is found echoing some of the phrases that the witches have used. This occurs just before the witches give their predictions to Macbeth and Banquo. This could be coincidence, but could also be because they have influenced him. Therefore, they could have influenced him in what to do, and what he does is evil. This is a good example of how the supernatural leads to his downfall. The main turning point in the play is when Macbeth meets with the witches when he is with Banquo and when the predictions are made. Macbeth is told that he shall be the thane of Glamis, then the than of Cawdor and shall then go on to be King. We can tell that he is interested as the first thing that he says after these predictions have been made is ‘Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more’, which is meant to make Banquo and the audience to think that he does not believe them, but tells the witches to carry on as he is curious as to what they have to say, but they vanish and we know that he has taken them seriously as he desperate for them to come back. Banquo has a different view and says ‘The instruments tell us truths; win us with honest trifles, to betray in deepest consequence’. What Banquo means by this is that the witches may have only told them their possible future so that they act on what they have been told. By saying this, Banquo is implying that the witches have evil intentions. Banquo advises Macbeth to steer clear o the witches and what they have said, but he ignores him as he is greedy and over ambitious. This is where we know that the supernatural has influenced Macbeth and has begun to change him. At the time of the predictions Macbeth was already Thane of Glamis, and was shortly made the Thane of cawdor. This made him believe that the predictions were true. Macbeth believed that if the first two predictions were correct, the third prediction would also be correct. Lady Macbeth also helped Macbeth become a victim of his own destiny. She was behind him during the murder of King Duncan and was the reason for Macbeth doing it because she continued to assure that all would turn out in their favour. She also made him feel guilty and like a wimp by saying ‘Art thou afeard’ and ‘live a coward in thane own esteem’. This is quite an important thing as she is questioning his masculinity. Macbeth is at this time known as a warrior, and when he is faced with this comment he is going to try and prove it wrong. She can also be found using witchcraft when she asks the spirits to change her into a fearless, ruthless human being making her able to help Macbeth in killing Duncan. She says ‘Unsex me here’ and ‘Come you spirits’ which shows that she would be able to influence what Macbeth does, like the witches can. As the play continues we can see that they grow apart and Macbeth decides to make more important decisions on his own and does not include her. As I have already said, the witches build up a large part of the supernatural in the play, but other elements add to this, so we can not put it all down to the witches. Although they were responsible for directing Macbeth in the killing, and the hallucinations may have encouraged him, a character who was close to him was also involved, Lady Macbeth. However, when Macbeth murdered Banquo, and Macduff’s family, they were his own decisions. I think that he went solo because all of the predictions had been achieved, and now the supernatural has abandoned him. Before he could have blamed it on the supernatural but when he took matters into his own hands he was to blame. Macbeth starts to arouse suspicion as soon as he starts making decisions for himself and so, this is why he ends up dead because Banquo suspects him. You could say that all of the deaths in Macbeth were caused by the supernatural, because the witches had quite a lot to do with Macbeth, and the Murder of Duncan was directed by witchcraft. Macbeth was provoked by the witches and pressurised by his wife, who we know used witchcraft at some time during the play, and did carry out the actions herself, but we could say that it is not his fault. However, the witches may have just been making suggestions and so; Macbeth never had to follow them. After this of course, the murders are down to one man, Macbeth. I think that the supernatural does indeed lead to Macbeth’s downfall, but really, he is to blame, and becomes a monster. I think that the main reason is his own ambition.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Animal Rights Issue Research question

Topic: Animal Rights Issue Research question: Has animal rights issue gone too far? Working thesis statement: Do animal rights organization take it too far, when it actively encourages a vegetarian diet as a way of life? Yes it’s taking it too far by ignoring the value of nutrients that meat can offer our bodies. Research plan: I plan to conduct my research on the issue if animal rights organizations have gone too far in promoting a vegetarian diet. But also on those who do not encourage this and the importance that meat has.Some of the sites I will be using are http://www. prairie. org/, http://digitalcommons. csbsju. edu, and other resources. Timetable for Research Project Assignments| Assignment related to the research paper| Description of and points for the assignment:| Due date as indicated in course syllabus:| Exact Date and time in MST:| Research Proposal and Outline| Four part proposal and six part outline (60 pts. ). | Week 4 in Dropbox| 8/9/2012 at 3:00pm| Annotated Bibliography| List and summary of at least five sources (100 pts). Week 5 in Dropbox| 8/16/2012 at 3:00pm| First Draft of Research Paper| Draft of first three sections of final paper, including introduction, thesis statement, and problem section (60 pts). | Week 6 in Dropbox| 8/22/2012 at 3:00pm| Second Draft of Research Paper| Draft of final three sections of final paper, including solution and call to action sections | Week Discussion topic 2 | 8/27/2012 at 5:00pm| Research Paper Presentation| The format presentation of the entire paper (50 pts). Week 7 in Dropbox| 8/29/2012 at 6:00pm| Final Research Paper| Entire paper addressing feedback on first two drafts. It must have all six sections and include a References page (150 pts). | Week 8 in Dropbox| 9/4/2012 at 3:00pm| Research Outline I. I plan to conduct my research on and if animal rights organizations have gone too far in promoting a vegetarian diet? And those who do not encourage this and the importance that meat has. Is an imal rights organization taking it too far, when it actively encourages a vegetarian diet as a way of life?Of course it’s taking it too far by ignoring the value of nutrients that meat can offer our bodies. II. Of course it’s taking it too far by promoting a diet that should have nothing to do with animal abuse. III. Secondly, they ignore the value of nutrients that meat can offer our bodies that can lead to healthier muscle growth. IV. A solution to this would be to find a different method that is least painful for the animals we kill to eat. V. A second solution would be to let others eat what they want, and focus more on stricter laws.To actually putting a stop those who are abusing these animals. VI. I agree that everything on earth is for the utility of humanity. But that doesn’t give any one the right to abuse, or be cruel towards an animal. We should focus more on stricter policies, and stopping does who make these animals suffer pain. Just because an ani mal is killed to provide meat, is no reason to turn vegetarian. Humans have a right to eat meat. The abuse has to stop, so that we are provided with a healthier meat.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Admission essay formph

I strongly believe in the convincing statement of Albert Einstein, which states that â€Å"the important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.†Ã‚   Relating it in my own terms, my intention to study MPH is in effect the furtherance of my own understanding of medicine, research, and the pharmaceutical industry and a way of contemplation of the wonders of drugs juxtaposed with research and statistics.The importance of the interdisciplinary approach in understanding health and my few years of working as a medical doctor are the two main foundations why I am interested to apply for the Master of Public Health with Biostatistics as the field of concentration.Through the years, I have learned a lot about the substance of doing research vis-à  -vis the development of state of the art medical interventions as well as in t he discovery of new drugs that would cure long lasting illnesses. I also realized that health and medicine as a social institution is not solely for the biomedical scientists but also for social scientists and managers. Thus, taking the MPH will surely give me a taste of the other schools of thought that would enhance my managerial and social skills.It is in my consciousness that health issues are correlated with economic, social, political, cultural, and behavioral aspects. Thus, medical doctors nowadays should equip themselves with the theories and practices of the social sciences and management to be able to solve health predicaments in a holistic fashion. Thus, this has prompted me to seek admission to the MPH program.In the future, I would also like to involve myself in the pharmaceutical industry. Hence, I see the need to equip myself with the theories and technologies of biostatistics that would be helpful in my chosen career. In the pharmaceutical industry, biostatistics is of great use particularly in carrying out laboratory tests and clinical trials for new drugs and medical interventions.My entry to the program will not only improve myself but will surely help in making the pharmaceutical industry within the bounds of empiricism. By learning the tools and techniques of biostatistics, I will be able to know the other fields of medicine such as epidemiology which is also vital amongst the pharmaceutical personnel.Taking Biostatistics would help me come up with good work decisions through the use of hard evidence. Statistics and data will also enhance my management skills through evidence based problem solving. My previous background in medicine and the learning I will gain from the program will also surely help me ensure good medical practice, hence promote bioethics.My good mathematical ability and my work experience as a medical practitioner are good guarantees that I will be able to finish the degree. Coupled with these cognitive assets, my passion for the course will also help me to be able to finish the course with flying colors.Given my life experiences that brought me up to this point of my career, I am cognitively and physically prepared enough for me to make a good graduate student. I am looking forward to my future career in my chosen field with great keenness.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Five methods of Departmentalization Essay

Essay Topic â€Å"What five methods have traditionally been used to departmentalize work and worker? Give one advantage and one disadvantage of each. Provide an example of functional departmentalization at your University and using the definitions in your textbook explain why it is suitable example. (Chapter 9)† In any size of the organization or complexity workplace, organizational structures are very important factors that the businesses must have, so the employee will know their position, their responsibilities and tasks. To develop and improve organization performance, the organization can use various structural can take on, however the organization need to find the best organisational structure that depends on many factors including the work, products or services, the size of the employee, geographic and target market (demographic customer’s base). The following section provides details of the five methods have traditionally been used to departmentalize employee and jobs, also advantage and disadvantage each of the methods. Traditional organizational structures are connections among these positions are demonstrated in an organisational Chart which will show how management is organized ‘vertical and horizontal configuration of departments, authority and job within a companyà ¢â‚¬â„¢ (Williams & McWilliams 2010, p.175) each of department has a manager, who runs day- to- day operations and ultimately report to the CEO, however this traditional model is common use in all church, government and military organization, because these organizations are stable, cannot respond to change and slow to act. For example every soldiers answer to his commanding officer, while the president is at the top of the chain as command-in-chief. Departmentalization is ‘the subdivision of work is the basic meaning of â€Å"forms†. The multidivisional form is defined as decentralized management structure; organized into products divisions, each division containing a unitary structure; and a central office to make to strategic decisions.’ (P. James L. 1997) generally the basic decisions that managers have to make as they develop a traditional organizational structure are using the five traditional methods of functional, product, customer, geographic and matrix departmentalization. Which mean two or more people working together as a group to complete a specific task, by divided the group to work in different departmentalization, to help achieve the  organization objectives and goals. However ‘Determining the functions to be performed involves consideration of division of labour,’ (P. Montanna &B. Charnov, 1993, p. 1) and depending on the size of the grouping that managers supervise. The degree of decision-making authority is centralization and usually were made by the top management of the highest vertically structures hierarchy. This section is additional detail and description of five methods has been used traditionally to departmentalization. Functional departmentalization: group of employee and job based on work performance, example finance and accounting, marketing and sale, human resource and administration and technical and operating. For another example of Functional departmentalization at Victoria University is Academic Support and Development because this department can students with University assessment tasks such as writing skills, reference skills, online language translator and providing expert support the student academic success and retention across the university. The advantage of functional departmentalization is efficiency of work and is to be done by specialist skills and high qualified. The disadvantage is inflexibility of work because the stuff only is qualifies for one specialisation. Products departmentalization: group of employee and work for producing major product or services area in the organization or company. Example David Jones, women’s clothing, men’s clothing, home and food. The advantage of the product departmentalization is that increases accountability for product performance and allow manager and employee work in one area of expertise. The disadvantage is the challenge of coordinating across different product departments. Customer departmentalization: group of employee and work into particular responsibility based on customer’s problem and need. Example: government, education, health, wholesale or retail. The advantage is focused on customer need rather than on products or business function. The disadvantage customer departmentalization is the satisfaction or feedback from customer is challenging of coordinating across different customer departments. Geographic Departmentalization: groups of employee and work ‘into separate units responsible for doing business in particular geographic area’ (Williams & McWilliams 2010, p.180). Example North, South, West, East). The advantage of geographic departmentalization is face to face communication between the service provider and service receiver. The  disadvantage is required more human capital and the control cannot exercise effectively. Matrix departmentalization: a combined of one or two group form of departmentalization are used together based on particular project, most often are from product and functional departmentalization working together. The advantage of matrix departmentalization is allowing the organization to efficiently manage large, complex tasks and efficiency avoiding duplication. The disadvantage is requires a high level of management skill and can cause of conflict between bosses in departments. Through a different perspective on the issue can be seen by comparing between traditional model and modern model of the organizational structures, the traditional of organizational structures is illustrated as have effectiveness and efficiency of products or services more than modern organizational structures. Because of emphasis on job specialization, highly performed on definite procedures and policy in the organization that effective work and worker, also the decentralization ‘is the location of most authority at the upper levels of the organization. In a centralized organization, manager makes the most decision, even the relatively small one’ (Williams & McWilliams 2010, p.185) which help and improve the organization achieve their objectives and goals are better and quicker than apply on modern organizational structures. For the modern or twentieth c entury organizational structures is redesigning of making objective and goals setting process is through empower worker. According to(Williams & McWilliams 2010, p.185) Empower worker means’ permanently passing decision –making authority and responsibility from managers to workers by giving them the information and resources they need to make and carry out good decisions’. Which means all the process need to be share to every levels and decentralized authority is allowing a significant amount of worker within the organization make the decision necessary to solve the problem. In conclusion the traditional organizational structures has five methods been used to departmentalizing work and workers such as the work Functional performs, the Product or Service offered, the target Customer or client, the Geographic region covered and the Matrix project that is combine or form two or more departmentalization to work together. These methods are used to in organization which effect work and worker with the best contribute to accomplishment organization’s objectives and goals. Reference list Brews. P.J & Tucci. C. L, 2004, ‘exploring the structural effect of internetworking’, strategic management journal, vol. 25. No. 5, pp. 429-451 Woll .L.F.K & Moliance. M, 2013’do organizational structure, ‘work environment and gender matter?’ creatively and implementations of new ideas, international journal of gender and entrepreneurship, vol. 5. No.3. pp. 298-315 Dufty.N, 1996, ‘ a note on departmentalization in an institute of technology’, journal of education administration, vol. 4. No. 1, pp. 32-48 Williams. C & McWilliams. A, 2010, MGMT 1st Asian Pacific Edition, Cengage Learning Australia Pty, South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Price. L. J, 1997, ‘handbook of organization measurement’, international journal of Manpower, vol. 18 Iss 4/5/6 pp.305-558 P. Montanna & B. Charnov, 1993, ‘chapter 11: organizational structures: concepts and formats’, management: A streamlined course for students & business people . (Hauppauge, New York: Barron’s Business Reviewed Series), pp. 155-169