Research paper argumenttative Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Argumenttative - Research Paper Example Euthanasia is unacceptable from Christian point of view since it violates the principles of Christianity through contradicting the will of God, violation of society’s recognition of the sanctity of life, contradicting Christian idea that suffering has value, and paving path for involuntary killing of people who are no longer desired to be a part of the community. Besides, attempt will be made to disprove several major anti-euthanasia arguments from the perspective of Christian anthropology. Historically, debates on ethical relevance of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide go back to ancient Greece and ancient Rome. There euthanasia was a regular practice. According to credible historical sources, lots of Romans and Greeks opted for â€Å"voluntary death over endless agony†, so that â€Å"this form of euthanasia was an everyday reality†¦and many physicians actually gave their patients the poison for which they were asked† (Manning 6). The voluntary essence of dying was emphasized, so that euthanasia was totally justified as a way to bring end to suffering from an incurable illness. Only with the advent of Hippocratic school was euthanasia ultimately rejected in medicine (Fernandez 2). With the spread of Christianity in Europe, the philosophical ban on euthanasia practice initiated by Hippocrates and his followers was supported as the one that corresponded to the Revelation. The new religion taught that every person possessed invaluable worth since he/she was created in God’s image and likeness. Given this, the majority of European doctors had refused from euthanasia by the turn of the 15th century. This was the case until the Nazi coming to power in 1930s with their programs of involuntary euthanasia massively run during the Holocaust (Emanuel 793). In his â€Å"History of Euthanasia Debates in the United States and Britain†, Emanuel rightfully observes that debates about euthanasia in the States and in the UK which

Language The monster Essay Example for Free

Language The monster Essay The setting makes the reader feel tense because the bad weather in chapter 5 gives the reader the idea that there is a sense that the atmosphere is very ominous and this gives the impression that something bad is going to happen, this type of omen gives the reader a tense feeling because it gives the reader an opportunity to pre-empt the fact that soon the tension will break and it will break into some kind of bad happening. An example of this is when in chapter 5 where there is a slight description of what is happening around the room, and outside the room the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out this gives the impression to the reader that something big is soon to happen, because when your candle burnt out, you cant see anything. Pathetic Fallacy is when someone gives inanimate features to an inanimate object, for example if you were to talk to a cushion as though it was a real person. Pathetic Fallacy gives the reader thee impression that Victor within chapter 5 feels very isolated and cannot talk to anyone, this is because he doesnt want to tell anyone about his creation. Language The monster is described as having yellow skin and having a shrivelled complexion and straight black lips this explains that Victors creation has human features but they are presented in an inhuman way. The way that this creation is described is in the way that it isnt human but it is a monster. This connotes that the monster is rather frightening to think about with his yellow skin and to think it is human is very scary. Victor thinks of his monster as scary and intimidating, although in chapter 5 Victors creation doesnt actually do anything to Victor, he does actually run away from him when faced with him. One hand was stretched out, seemingly to detain me, but I escaped and rushed downstairs. This at this point of the story shows us that the monster is a bad thing to behold, that it was intending to seek revenge on Victor, but as the reader we dont know really what is happening. Also we dont actually know if Victors creation is actually as it says in the quote trying to detain me because he may be twisting the readers point of view, because of Victor being the narrator for most of the novel The reader associates monsters and devils with Victors monster because within chapter 5 when the monster is created. In the quote below gives a clear example of the creation being linked with omens and portents, when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch. This gives the impression that the creation is a sign of evil that is associated by the moon omen, because as well earlier in the chapter Victor claimed that the monsters eyes appeared to be yellow like the moon. The full moon omen is an association with evil because it is supposed that when the full moon comes out all you can hear is the howling of a werewolf and that is a sign of evil The effect of oxymorons helps the reader with the description of Victors monster in chapter 5 for example but these luxuries only formed a more horrific contrast with his watery eyes this quote is saying that victor made tried making his monster with beautiful characteristics but then says that these beautiful characteristics came out wrong with his watery eyes. This explains why Victor escapes from his creation later on in the chapter; he looks at the monsters hideous features and doesnt take into account his interior. Victor within chapter 5 uses the fact that he is the narrator to his advantage, because of this Victor can say anything about the monster he wants and because he is the narrator the reader will believe this one hand stretched out, seemingly to detain me this is a prime example of manipulating the reader at this point, because the narrator says seemingly to detain me everyone believes it. This has an intriguing effect on the audience because the first thing you do as a reader is believe everything that the narrator says , however in this sense the narrator is can be very manipulative and can take advantage of what the reader may know or may not know. This is different to what victor originally thought of his monster, originally Victor thought that his monster would be a good idea because it is an original idea and everyone would praise him for the thing he had created, then if it turned out well then even more praise would come his way. Although I possessed the capacity of bestowing animation, yet to prepare a frame for the reception of it this is showing that victor thought of creating animation as a good idea and that he couldnt wait to put it into practice. Originally Victor thought of his creation as a excellent idea and he wanted to be the inventor of a revolutionary idea, Victor wanted to be like god in a way, however as we find out through chapter 5 he doesnt even want the credit for his invention There is an ammount of symbolism within chapter 5, for instance the idea that Victor created life from nothing is symbolic to religion and how god apparently created everything from nothing from his own power. I collected the instruments of life around me this gi-ves the impression that victor thinks of himself as a god-like person, that maybe he thought after creating this he would be known in history. Conclusion I think that Mary Shelly did meet her aim to curdle the blood and quicken the beatings of the heart because the novel always keeps the reader on edge all of the time, the reader never knows what is coming next. For its time I think that the novel was rather frightening for its time because at that time no-one knew anything that we know in modern day science, so this novel would be what is called sci-fi in the modern day. Today of all the people that still read this novel they still find it a fascinating read because it is quite sci-fi like even to us now, we may now know that you wont make life out of dead bodies using galvanism but it is still interesting.

The theory of normalisation

The theory of normalisation Howard Parker and colleagues (1995) have had a dominant role in the development of the normalisation thesis. They argue that illicit drug use is no longer a sign of deviant behaviour in relation to crime, but a central part of youth culture due to freedom of choice and consumption, it has become recreational rather than problematic. They predicted that within a few years time, the young people that had not tried drugs would be the minority and therefore be the deviants. They also argue that post-modern Britain has an increasing issue of globalisation and consumption that has affected the increase of drug use as globalisation means that trade and accessibility of drugs is more common and easier, and having spare money due to the labour market and a longer childhood allows young people to consume freely. In this essay I will further discuss the theory of normalisation by Parker et al. Parker, Williams and Aldridge (2002) use the normalisation theory to measure sensible recreational drug use. These drugs include cannabis, amphetamines, LSD and ecstasy, sensible drug use does not include using a combination of these drugs at one time or using them on a daily basis due to addiction (Parker et al., 1998). Parker, Measham and Aldridge (1995) argue that drug use moved from deviant subcultures, such as the Mods and Hippies from the 1960s-1970s, to mainstream youth culture in the 1980s when the rave scene occurred. This dance culture became normalised as it was a recreational leisure pursuit of young people that introduced an appealing new drug, ecstasy. British surveys have shown that the late teens and early twenties are the main users of illicit drugs (ISDD 1994). The normalisation theory was introduced so to rule out the stigma about young people that take recreational drugs as the majority are not deviant or involved in crime. The trends in drug use have altered from the addiction of hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, to drugs that are used by the modern youth culture in leisure activities, including alcohol, cannabis and ecstasy (Muncie 1999). Although this may provoke crime that is out of character due to being under the influence, it does not create a lifestyle of crime which heroin may. For example, in order for class A drug addicts to fuel their habbit they turn to criminal acts such as burglary and mugging. Yet when a young person uses ecstasy or cannabis it is for leisure and does not necessarily cause the individual to partake in a criminal offence. However, Professor David Nutt was recently asked to resign as the c hair of the ACMD (Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs) due to declaring that alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous for the human health than illegal drugs such as ecstasy, LSD and cannabis. He wrote in a paper at Kings College, London, that the legal drug alcohol ranks 5th as the most harmful drug. We could therefore argue that the consumption of alcohol is normal in society despite the harm it can cause. Also, although David nutt smoking,,, public bans it is now marginalised Alcohol is social activity,,, but some become dependant. abuse of any substance can cause issues to health or impact on family members. Although Parker et al. (1998) does not fully undertake postmodernism as structural inquality still exists, they believe that young peoples behaviour and choices have changed towards drugs due to a post-modern society that allows them to consume freely. For example, Mott and Mirrlees-Black (1993) found that the number of 16-19 year olds using cannabis more than doubled from 1983 to 1991. Normalisation has become an indicator of changes in social behaviour and cultural perspectives, meaning that the opinion about some illicit drugs has changed within the youth culture which in return affects their social behaviour as they do not think that using the drug is wrong or immoral. However, it could be argued that it is overgeneralizing to assume that all young people see drug use as normal, Dowds and Redfern (1994) found that approximately two-thirds of 12-15 year olds saw taking cannabis as a serious offense. Hunt and Stevens (2004) suggest that the government and media use drug normalisation as the proof for an increased disciplinary regulation and endorse policies as it is viewed to be a drug outbreak that needs to be broken or finished. For example, drug testing has been introduced in some schools to help prevent usage by young people (Craver, 2004). Illicit drug use is frequently associated with the youth culture, Robson (1994) points out that the most common time for using or trying drugs is between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four. It is suggested that this is due to adolescents being the time of experimentation in many aspects of life which can lead to rebellion. Coleman (1992:13) suggests a psychoanalytical-theory of three main reasons why young people and drugs are linked together: adolescence is a time of vulnerabilty as well as being impressionable, of rebellion and non-conformity and the need to be independant by disengaging from family relationships. These changes through adolescence support Colemans sociological theory that youth culture experiment in different social aspects of life, such as subcultures and trends or sexualities and in this case drugs. In relation to the normalisation theory, young people are able to experiment with drugs due to the wide availabilty of them as well as the access young people have to them due to people they know (Barton 2003). EVALUATION It is argued that the claims about the normality and extreme use of illicit drugs is over exaggerated and in fact illicit drugs have always been an underlying issue and therefore society has not suffered an instant or radical change due to industrial or post-modern reasons. For example, in 1932 Aldous Huxley discusses a hallucinogen called soma, showing the existence of drugs in previous decades. if ever by some unlucky chance such a crevice of time should yawn in the solid substance of their distractions, there is always soma, delicious soma, half a gramme for a half holiday, a gramme for a weekend, two grammes for a trip to the gorgeous East, three for a dark eternity on the moon. (Huxley, 1932: 49) Illicit drugs have always been present within society but throughout time the drugs have changed to match different subcultures and trends, such as hippies in the 1970s were associated with using LSD, Mods in the 1960s were associated with amphetamines and todays youth culture is associated with dance drugs such as ecstasy (South, 1997). LOOK AT S+N.. difference between frequency and normallcy Shiner and Newburn (1997) argue that the normalisation theory focuses on the measure of lifetime illicit drug use. They point out that if evidence of drug use is measured in shorter time frames such as within the last month or week, there is a dramatic decline in the results of illicit drug use. This is also relevant to the media panic over dance drugs such as ecstasy, amphetamines and LSD in which the media has exaggerated a high rate of use within youth culture. Yet ecstasy is one of the least addictive drugs and tends to be taken less regularly, for example when someone takes an ecstasy pill in a clubbing atmosphere they are less likely consume alcohol which can be an equally as dangerous drug if drank in access (Coleman, 1992). Shiner and Newburn also point out that when time frames such as whether or not the respondent has used any dance drugs in the last year are used, it was found that one in twenty young people said they had. Also, only one in four 16 to 25 year olds said they had used cannabis, the most commonly used illicit drug, in the last year. Overall, Shiner and Newburn criticise the normalisation theory as although there is an increase in the numbers of young people using illicit drugs, it overgeneralizes young people as it does not necessarily mean that they all see it as normal due to conservative norms and values about drug use still existing to many people and they view illicit drug use as wrong or bad. This challenges the argument by Parker et al. (1995) that soon the young people that were not using drugs would be in the minority and therefore be the deviant subculture. However, it is important to remember that Shiner and Newburn are evaluating the work of Parker et al. in 1995. Their work about normalisation in 1998 does acknowledge that young people view each drug differently and their decision to take illicit drugs is complex and sophisticated (Barton, 2003:121-122). It could also be argued that illicit drug use only appears to have become normalised due to a moral panic, a term that is commonly used to describe media stimulated over-reaction to subcultures, such as youth groups and issues within society. Stanley Cohen (1973) coined the term moral panic in the 1960s as a result of over exaggerated reports about the feud between the Mods and Rockers, he noted that moral panics tend to focus on topics concerning the actions of young people. Other sociologist such as Goode and Ben-Yehuda (1994) suggest that moral panics occur when a proportion of society feel that the folk devils (as suggested by the media) have become a threat to society and social order. For example, when the rave scene occurred there was a new folk devil associated with the acid house dance culture and ecstasy that became normalised among the youth culture. Ecstasy has had huge media coverage, especially since the death of Leah Betts in 1995 after she took one ecstasy pill on her 18th birthday. Leah collapsed in to a coma four hours after taking the tablet and died three days later. The police claimed the death was due to the tablet being contaminated, this resulted in the media using the tragedy to create a panic about the effects of the drug within society. However, it was later revealed that Leah did not die directly from the ecstasy pill but from drinking an excessive amount of water in reaction to dehydration from the drug.

Definition Of Modernism In Fiction Essay -- essays research papers

Definition of Modernism in Fiction Modernism, in literature, can be seen as a shift in focus to the unassociated introspective reflection of characters in such texts as Go Tell It On The Mountain, by James Baldwin, Miss Lonelyhearts, by Nathanael West and The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. This is a revision from the previous focal point of exterior events and places in correlation with the character’s reflections. Emphasis is placed on review upon feelings and thoughts, and even conversations with oneself, as opposed to the more directly event-driven reflections in texts of the pre-modernist era. This is not to say that texts of the modernist era have no events, or that their characters sit at home all day long thinking. Many activities take place in these texts, but the characters tend to spend time reflecting upon basically uncorrelated ideas, and to ponder what they mean for him. For example, in Go Tell it On the Mountain, when his aunt, Florence, comes to church for the first time, John knows, "it was the hand of the Lord that had led her to this place, and his heart grew cold. The Lord was riding on the wind tonight. What might that wind have spoken before the morning came?"(61). John's pondering of the Lord "riding on the wind" seems somewhat unrelated to his aunt coming to church. His premonition that something would happen tonight has nothing to do with the current events. It can be seen, in the broader definition of modernism provi...

The Effect of Rmb Internationalization

Effects on China Advantages : Enterprises in China Enterprises in China may benefit a lot from the internationalization of Renmibi. First of all, the cost of currency exchange can be saved and the risk of exchange rate of using of other currencies can be reduced, if Renminbi become a trade settlement. Also, RMB as an investment currency, if foreign assets increased demand of it ,China can reduce the interest rates of RMB assets, thereby reducing their financing costs, and further, companies can go overseas to issue RMB-denominated bonds, thereby expanding the scope of financing and address the problem of currency mismatch. Furthermore, Domestic firms can use the RMB to invest abroad, to achieve Chinese enterprises â€Å"going out† strategy, integrating into the global economy. People’s Republic of China China may have quite a lot of advantages from it too. First, it may enhance the international status of China through internationalization of Renminbi by increasing China's voice in the international community and the influence of China in international economy, as the internationalization of its currency may promote the expansion of China’s financial service sector. Also, China may collect ‘ seigniorage’from the rest of world, which ‘ seigniorage’ defined as the margin between the denomination of the notes and the cost of issuing the notes obtained by the note issuer, if RMB get commodity pricing, which can use it to buy the worldwide resources and avoid U. S. dollar liquidity constraints, that leads to expansion of seigniorage revenue. More, China has accumulated foreign exchange reserves to ease the pressure, reduce the risk of reserve assets shrink, reducing the dependence of other countries (mainly U. S. ). China's foreign exchange reserves, mostly are U. S. overnment bonds, which makes China and U. S. in a delicate state. After global financial crisis , the Chinese foreign exchange reserves shrink every moments, but China is not found in other better investment options, holding dollar debt is the best choice for China at this moment. Financial organizations The financial organization may also take advantages throug h RMB internationalization. First, the import and export trade companies for RMB provide clearing services and financing for foreign importers to provide support to the RMB business so as to expand the scope of commercial banks and to increase the profits of commercial banks. Furthermore, The existence of economies of scope to improve the competitiveness of financial institutions, and the increased use of offshore yuan to improve market liquidity, more importantly, the central bank can protect the lender of last resort to provide liquidity for financial institutions to protect, Chinese financial institutions to reduce foreign exchange liquidity risk, which together with the economies of scope to improve the overseas Chinese financial institutions to conduct renminbi business competitiveness. Also, RMB overseas demand also contributed to the innovation of financial instruments and the development of renminbi derivatives market. Last nut not the least, it may benefit from increasing the influence of China's financial markets, and promote international financial center , like Shanghai, as well as an offshore financial center, Hong Kong, the development of renminbi, the Chinese financial markets and further integrate into the international financial markets. Disadvantages PRC government The PRC government , however, still has to face some challenges in order to achieve RMB internationalization. First of all, as China’s capital markets are still too shallow, any significant changes in cross-border capital flows may easily lead to large fluctuations in China’s asset prices. Overseas demand challenges the RMB of China's monetary policy , while people who holds the RMB assets may cause the increase of cross-border capital flows and exchange rate fluctuations, and thus affects the stability of China's financial system. Also, if a currency is fully internationalized, which means that it can easily be obtained in international financial markets, the country with an internationalized currency will be very vulnerable to speculative attacks from international speculators. More, â€Å"hot money† will enter China causing economic crisis. As Hot money will lead to economic crisis in China's property market and the stock market, as investors consider more to invest their money in high-return business. Like Guangzhou Tang Hang Metal Materials Co. , Ltd. eferred payment for imported goods in China so as to profit from the appreciation of the renminbi. Experts said that China's foreign exchange regulations, the RMB settlement may make this form of arbitrage is more profitable, because the company can enjoy a more favorable foreign exchange rate. According to the monetary policy report from the central bank( page 16), China was trying to fix the problem of hot money. ‘ â€Å" † , 2010 ? 11 ,2011 ? 3 , ?2011 ’ From Second quarter of the monetary policy report from People’s bank of China Last but not the least, it is more difficult for China to control the inflation rate. China's battle to curb inflation even more difficult, because People Bank of China must print more RMB to buy dollars flowing into the country. China has more than 6% inflation. And Beijing want to precisely control the level to curb the appreciation of the yuan revaluation, but the internationalization of the RMB has given tremendous upward pressure. Brookings Institution China scholar Prasad (Eswar Prasad) said that the management and increase appreciation of the RMB yuan in international trade and financial transactions of the importance, both in the short term this is a contradiction. According to the monetary policy report from the central bank, (page 1 ), there is still pressure in controlling the amount of RMB. ‘ , , 5 ,M2 M1 4. 6 8. 5 6 , ,M2 M1 0. 8 0. 4 , †¦.. ’ From Second quarter of the monetary policy report from People’s bank of China

Since the dawn of civilization, people agonize for? Essay

Informatics provides the means for a development and growth of social networking services. The cost for communications has been reduced by enabling simultaneous transmission of multimedia content. On professional level, videoconference systems can accommodate people from all over the world to organize meetings and arrange their business, hence the issue of distance and time has been eliminated. On personal level, people can contact with their friends at anytime without considering the economical problem or the distance, especially when someone is resident of a foreign country. Also informatics , allows us to store, analyze and search through massive amounts of data on very short time. In addition, informatics links various devices such as smart-phones, tablets and personal computers. Modern devices are adjusted for usage of the same protocols and standards, which overcomes hardware difference. Moreover, Informatics has strong contribution on the development of algorithms, applying it on cryptography. Besides that it is used for computing, biometrics and primarily for graph algorithms, which solve problems related to scheduling, connection, transportation, games and network analysis. Algorithms are further associated with neural networks. That makes it even more efficient for data study, decision-making process and machine learning. As the complexity of solution grows and the number of people involved in the project increases, so does the further development complexity. Even there, Informatics responds with various solutions by software engineering and IT management. Neverless, the users don’t want a perfect workingly services, it also has to be interesting and handy for their needs. Therefore, informatics has to offer solutions and ideas on the field of user-user interaction, which is actually based on user-service interaction. Numerous social games or virtual worlds, where we can interact with other users like in the real world gives us the feeling that we communicate directly with other users, but such services have many tasks behind the scene. Users create groups and share interests, experience, feedbacks, habit. In the backend, the social networking service may collect, analyze and learn from data. For instance,  chat service can build database of words we use the most and add them in auto-complete functionality, which speeds up search and messaging. The main goal of user interfaces is simplified user-service (human-machine) interaction and therefore, better user experience. A social networking service has to be easy to use, attractive, competitive and scalable. It must treat users as spoiled, lazy and always unsatisfied. They want real-time monitoring, the feeling of a safe and effective application. The best systems for social networking are those, which make it possible for users to use it easily in spite of their age, previous computer skills or specific demands. Also those, who have special needs, such as people with visual, hearing or any other disability, should benefit from it. Since users have become more demanding, various browsers do not support same JavaScript Functions and HTML5 with CSS3 has brought new options, such as web storage, canvas 2D drawing, geo-location, responsive design etc. – frontend development became more complex. Static generated pages have been replaced by dynamically loaded content and scripts. We can choose from a variety of open-source JavaScript frameworks that differ in purpose, speed, assertion, community size etc. Smart devices make the user experience even more diverse and exciting by using sounds, vibrations, digital camera and other built in hardware. 3. Social networking services threats Social networking services as a product of Informatics and social networks gave us unimaginable opportunity to connect with people. On the other hand, they have many disadvantages. The illusion of safety, often make us forget the possible consequences. Heedless of the danger, we share our personal data with people who we do not know, therefore a lot of misuses appear. Companies trade information about users, there are many cases of identity thefts, in brief, social networks offer a chance for various criminal offenses. We know very little about how and where they store our personal data and who has access to them. Even when we adjust our settings for completely private accounts, our friends or services may inadvertently leak our personal information. We do not know whether they will ever actually be  deleted. Immense amount of users is not only bullied interest in networking, but also invaders, who attack and abuse either from personal satisfaction, or even receive payment for their work. They use various attack methods, based on personal profiles, trust or exploits, e.g. social networking worms, such as Koobface. 4. Influences Similar to Newton’s third law of motion, one can conclude that everything society receives, passes on in the environment. The impact of the social networks on society indirectly affects other fields like economy (PayPal Inc. 2013), education, politics (Shirky 2011), entertainment etc. These fields see social networks as an opportunity to approach to the crowd, mostly for the purpose of manipulation (Benham, Edwards, Fractenberg, Gordon-Murnane, Hetherington, Liptak & Mintz 2012). The most common use of manipulation can be seen in setting imaginary guidelines, viral marketing and targeted advertising (Mitra & Baid 2009, 366-372). Referring to paragraph three, companies have free access to some of our personal data, or they can reach us by low cost targeted advertising, offered by social networking services (Eddy2012). It may be based on specific personal profiles, such as sex, interests, education, status, age, geographical location and even on private messages content.Motivated by Domingos and Richardson Viral Marketing Model (Richardson & Domingos 2002, 61-70), numerous companies are searching for cheapest ways to adopt a new product or innovation, whilst seeking for smallest subset of individuals, which may trigger a large cascade of further adoptions. They are interested in individuals who have the greatest impact on the target social network (Kempe, Kleinberg & Tardos 2003, 137-146). Moreover, the use of technologies offered by social networking services can reduce the development costs (Churchill & Halverson 2005) or can simplify the use of applications e.g. registration system with the existing user accounts from social networks. Furthermore, with clicking on the ‘’like’’ buttons one contributes to profiling users (Hung, Huang, Hsu & Wu 2008), which is especially  interesting and useful in research, determining trends, positioning in the search engines etc. Recent studies, based on a dataset of over 58,000 volunteers suggest, that easily accessible digital records of users behavior in social networking systems, can be used to automatically and accurately predict a range of highly sensitive personal attributes (Kosinski, Stillwell & Graepel 2013), e.g. religious and political views, intelligence, happiness, parental separation etc. However, the economy influences social networks by adapting social networking and its services according to the needs of the users. Economy’s investments in the most prospective social networking services have a significant influence as they allow further development, starting new projects, research and changing habits of users. 5. Trends The expansion of new research areas in the field of Informatics led to re-implementation of social interactions in social networking services. Therefore, changes in the field of social networks are incredibly fast to keep up with. Nevertheless, in few last years, we may notice two main trends that have emerged; visualization of content and mobile use and sharing (Bullas 2012). For trend of content visualization we can find the reasons in exceptional progress in technologies for detecting patterns in digital images. Thus allow analysis and image processing on servers where social networking services can get even more personal information about users. This motivated investments in deeper research, and in further years we may expect DNA data sharing, through which social networking services may link us and connect to all our near and distant relatives. Mobile use and sharing trend will continue to grow, since use of smart mobile devices is increasing. Better user experience, mobility, availability, as well as faster and cheaper mobile data transfer are just few of many reasons. Recent technologies, like digital glasses (Google Inc.2013), may allow us to record and share each moment of our life. Despite strong efforts of the health sector, where currently more than 350 million people suffer from addiction of social networking services (Bullas 2012), at the continued growth of those services trend is likely to continue. 6. Conclusion Only a few decades ago, we have not even intuited how important role will Informatics have in our daily life and how huge contribution will have through its social networking services on us, social networks and global economy. Social networking services as part of social networks are one of the hottest research topics nowadays. We have poor insights in their long term impact on society, since we have witnessed true expansion only in the last few years. However, the first negative implications, like privacy issues are already visible, as well as first solutions, which aim to limit misuse. Recently, Apple has published a patent, which targets social network stalkers and spammers. The excessive use of social networking services promote narcissism (Buffardi & Campbell 2008, 1303-1314). As one has thousands of virtual friends, this could mean that in real life he does not have them at all (Tong, Van Der Heide, Langwell & Walther 2008, 531-549). And finally, one of the studies suggests tha t frequent use of social networking services may lead to asocial user behavior (Orr, Sisic, Ross, Simmering & Arseneault 2009, 337-340). These are just some of the findings of studies pointing to major changes in society.

Ba Annual Report an Introduction Essay Example

Ba Annual Report an Introduction Essay Example Ba Annual Report an Introduction Essay Ba Annual Report an Introduction Essay An introduction to British Airways. â€Å"The UKs largest international scheduled airline, flying to over 300 destinations at convenient times, to the best located airports. † (Source: www. britishairways. com/cms/global/microsites/ba_reports/pdfs/BA_Report_2007_08. pdf) British Airways, an airline known to the nation as Britain’s largest scheduled airline. The Airline is based on the grounds of the world’s most popular international airport, London Heathrow. The ease of accessibility proves to be extremely beneficial to the business traveller working to tight schedules, and also meeting the needs of the leisure traveller, particularly those with younger children or travelling in large groups. The evidential experience and convenience of this airline are major attributes to its continued success since it first evolved in 1919. Since May 2005, the chief executive of the company is Willie Walsh, working alongside the chairman (Martin Broughton) and chief financial officer, (Keith Williams). British Airways fly world wide to more than 300 destinations and in 2007/08, it carried more than 33 million passengers. It has currently got 245 aircrafts in service, which most recently accounted to a revenue of ? 8. 7 billion. British Airways- an evaluation of the importance of an annual report. When selecting a company in which to invest shares, it is important to undertake the relevant research and be able to understand the companies accounting history. To include an analysis of the profit and loss account, balance sheet and cash flow statement. These are the key documents in which we can retrieve data and review a full breakdown of the company’s accounts. Within an organisation, these three items are often the key to failure or success. They are of huge importance and if used to their full advantage and monitored correctly a company can use the accounts to analyse which areas of their business need to be addressed and which areas can be maximised on. These accounts are useful in measuring performance history and future predictions. However sometimes by simply scanning through a list of accounts we are not receiving an accurate insight of the company’s true success. By merely monitoring these account listings it is very difficult to accurately compare past figures and also in comparing with other company’s. Therefore within larger companies in which shareholders are involved a system of ratio analysis is enforced. Ratios analysis enables us to interpret the company’s accounts, making it easy to closely study the performance of the company and compare it with that of another and of previous year’s performance. When comparing the same ratios of different financial periods, trends in company progression or failure will become apparent, allowing us to predict future performance. Ratios act as performance indicators, highlighting essential evidence to the potential investor.

A profit margin Essays

A profit margin Essays A profit margin Essay A profit margin Essay Already highly competitive and overcrowded market; establishing a new name in this area would be very difficult and an expensive business.  As Giusti is a well established firm in this sector with a worldwide customer base it has already overcome these threats of entry. The company however is constantly looking to widen its product range; recently in the field of storage silos and homogenisers for cosmetic creams. In the new product range these barriers do exist and Giusti struggles in this area, as it does not have sufficient personnel to develop these new ranges. As a result we find that new products are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The company tends to develop products on the job, and this is a practice common with small engineering companies. It is beneficial in that it keeps overheads low but when the newly developed product does not perform as anticipated then the rectification costs can escalate as generally the unit is on site at a customers factory.  Becomix, who are a German competitor of Giusti, have similar problems but a higher level of manning so development can be carried out along side production engineering. Threat Of Substitutes  Manufacturing in the United Kingdom has been on a general slow down for a number of years now and this is reflected in the customer base Giusti has in this country. Along with other process equipment suppliers Giusti has accepted that, especially in the food sector, the use of second hand vessels and pumps etc is becoming more and more common due to constraints on expansion budgets. As a result the company has formed close ties with second hand equipment stockists and, where appropriate, will offer the option of using new or pre-used equipment. Bargaining Power Of Suppliers  The price of stainless steel is elevated due to surcharges for nickel content, but this is fairly constant and common to competitors. Occasionally a customer may specify that a particular manufacturer of ancillary equipment be used in a project and in cases like these it is very difficult to negotiate significant discounts.  Giustis prices have been known to be at the upper end of the market scale in the past and great efforts have been made over the last nine years to reduce the cost of the equipment by increasing the efficiencies in the factory (purchasing seam-welding equipment, the increasing use of computer controlled laser cutting, economic batching of standard components, etc.), value-engineering the equipment to reduce materials used, required fabrication, machining, polishing, and fitting time on the shop floor. The efficiency increases have resulted in the company being able to use a nine year old pricing list for current, and much improved, equipment. The area that is still expensive is the control systems and bought out components.  The company has been aware for some time that many bought out components (valves, pumps, gear units, electrical equipment, etc.) are manufactured in India and the Far East, shipped to Europe and then distributed on to the customer. In setting up an office in India three years ago the company is endeavouring to cut out the European middle-man and gain the cost saving. Ironing out the reliability and quality issues with these suppliers is key to this initiatives long-term success. Bargaining Power Of Buyers  In recent years the customer base serviced by Giusti has seen a rationalization; with pharmaceutical companies merging, e.g. SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo Wellcome now knows as Glaxo SmithKline (GSK), and firms such as Avon Cosmetics relocating to save on production costs, i.e. moving production from Northampton to Poland. As a supplier to these companies Giusti now have fewer customers but the buyers that remain now have greater bargaining power. In a suppliers seminar held by GSK in the last year they stated that all suppliers were to reduce prices across the board by 21% if they were to remain on the recommended suppliers list. As stated earlier Giusti has made great efforts to reduce production costs in an attempt to maintain profitability but when customers such as H. J. Heinz hold tendering auctions on-line and award the contract to the lowest bidder then there is a point where a line is to be drawn between maintaining a busy factory and maintaining a profit margin.  Becomix do not enter into pricing or delivery time battles, relying on the quality of their products. The price on the box is the price that everyone pays and stated delivery may go back, but never be improved on. They have a perceived added value that is high and is sufficient to bear a price and delivery premium.

12 Angry Men sociological analysis

12 Angry Men focuses on a Jurys deliberations in a capital murder case. A 12- man Jury is sent to begin deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of an 18-year- old Latino accused in the stabbing death of his father, where a guilty verdict means automatic death sentence. The case appears to be open-and-shut: The defendant has a weak alibi; a knife he claimed to have lost is found at the murder scene; and several witnesses either heard screaming, saw the killing or the boy fleeing the scene. Eleven of the Jurors immediately vote guilty; only Juror No. Mr. Davis) casts a not guilty vote. At first Mr. Davis bases his vote more so for the sake of discussion after all, the Jurors must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. As the deliberations unfold, the story quickly becomes a study of the Jurors complex personalities (ranging from wise, bright and empathetic to arrogant, prejudiced and merciless), preconceptions, backgrounds and interactions. That provides the backdrop to Mr. Davis attempts in convincing the other Jurors that a not guilty verdict might be appropriate. A huge feel of the film is gotten through the time period it took place in. Peoples views on race were made very publicly within the Jury. Many of them seemed to have personal vendettas against different races. They deemed the boys Hispanic race to be slum and nothing more than that. A universal problem that is shown in several ways throughout the film is personal prejudice getting in the way of Judgment. Juror number tens reason for saying the accused boy was guilty was because he felt people from slums should not be trusted and that they kill one and another for fun. His prejudice lead him to discriminate against the boy initially by voting guilty earlier in the film, before being convinced in voting not guilty. This was during the civil rights era and all of that. We all know blacks werent treated equally and this makes it apparent that it wasnt easy for any minority within the US. Theyd rather lock them up and throw away the key than give them a fair trial. Tensions run high the second the Jury went into the private room to deliberate. It was a very hot day outside and the fan wasnt working nor would the windows open. No man wanted to spend more time than what they thought would be efficient to determine the verdict. Some even spoke about their plans for right after, thinking it would be a sure bet theyd be out of there soon with the whole night ahead of them. They were wrong. From then on the film turned into an example straight out of a sociology textbook. Everyone didnt deviate from the norm of the group All except one, Juror #8. The rest of the Jury was outraged and deemed him a radical. They could not believe two things. One, that he voted not guilty, and second, hat he went against the group norm. He tried not one bit to conform. Rather, he stood up in grand fashion and presented his doubts to his fellow Jurors. Slowly but surely his grand scheme was working. He did not know for sure whether he was guilty or not guilty, but he had a reasonable doubt and thats all about what the justice system stands tor. Its so interesting when you bring a group o t 12 random people into a setting like a Jury and see what you come up with. All of these men, from different walks of life , they all brought something special to the table that was ital to their key decision. The sociological theory that tone of this film could easily fall under is the conflict perspective. At the very beginning, viewers can clearly see the tension is between the Jurors whom most have a personal prejudice against the boy for certain reason. Some Jurors simply expected that a boy from the slums would commit an act like that they were stereotyping that all people who come from slums are criminals. Even if a person is not personally prejudiced against and individual or group, stereotypes can have them make discriminatory actions such as vote guilty. The reason most of the Jurors stereotyped the actions of the accused boys is because of socialization. The way of transmission was most likely through media; crimes shown by television new or new papers are frequently from neighborhood of low economics standing. Deviance a topic I touched on earlier, is another sociological aspect that can be examined in this film. Deviance is a very relative term where depending on the group and situation, it varies. Juror 8 was the only that felt from the beginning the boy was not guilty. When the first vote most of the other Jurors by he fact he could think the boy was innocent and even were upset at him for thinking that. As the film progressed the Jurors began changing their votes, eventually the roles were reversed; Juror number 3 appear to be the one committing the deviant act since it is revealed his own reason for voting guilty is because of issues with his own son. One of the most important things I learned in observing the sociological aspects of this film is how easy norms can change. The norms of eleven out of the twelve men voted guilty, changed entirely to guilty as the film came to a chose.

Performance and Interpretation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Performance and Interpretation - Essay Example An art master great Rokem's Introduction cautiously delimits the range of his question to productions concerning the Shoah and the French Revolution two main turning points in history that Rokem declare "have formed our modern consciousness, in exacting our intelligence of the historical past as a series of disastrous failures of basic human values". Working from this underlying assumption, Rokem endeavors to explore "the restorative potentials of the theatre in trying to counteract the destructive forces of history", to examine how these two "failures of history" have been represented on stage, and to address "the ways in which these performances have communicated in different national and ideological contexts"(Theater Journal, 323-347). Great Rokem's exploration of these issues proceeds primarily through his detailed, insightful analyses of live or recorded performances, but also makes productive use of published production reviews, programs, interviews, artists' memoirs, and production-related archival documents. Performance Production And Reception The Introduction establishes the centrality of the actor in works that perform history, arguing that an actor performing a historical figure on stage "in a sense becomes a witness of the historical event". The actor is, in Rokem's conception, a "hyper-historian" who serves "as a connecting link between the historical past and the 'fictional' performed here and now of the theatrical event". Rather than attempting to elide the differences in time between the historical event and its theatrical performance as happens in many traditional historical and documentary dramas Rokem's "notion of performing history is based on strengthening or reinforcing the dialectics between" those times(K. K. Seet, 2000. 305). The first three chapters of Performing History provide theatrical case studies allowing Rokem to articulate the concepts of performing history and the actor/witness as "hyper-historian" in greater, more concrete detail. This section devotes less attention to the national or ideological context of performances as it considers productions acting, performance and interception which examined in this research relate to the French Revolution, the plays form a less unified grouping than found in history of the plays deal with the Marquis de Sade, the other does not; two are considered experimental works of collaborative creation, the other is not; two feature metatheatrical elements, the other does not; two depict "public events from the French Revolution which had very obviously distinct effects on the public sphere", the other does not. As a result, it is difficult to draw broader typological conclusions regarding these works; one of the plays generally stands as an exception to the principle under investigation. The consistency

Home Health and Hospice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Home Health and Hospice - Essay Example Medicare is composed of three parts; Part A, Part B, and most recently part D. Part A and B were the initial divisions of the Medicare Program. Part A covers the health care received in hospice and health care without monthly premiums. It is the insurance portion of Medicare. Part B covers doctors’ services as well as other outpatient care absent in part A with an added monthly premium, which in 2008 cost about $96.40 every month (Shi & Singh, 2010). Changes in payment permitted people to make hospice services payment on a prospective basis under four care levels and adjusted by the wage index in an area. The local adjustment was important because it allowed low rates in regions with low wage levels and high rates in regions with high wage levels. This was followed by a new wage index, which comprised of a mix of both new and old wage indexes however; the new index was still based on hospital wage data. The Medicare hospice rates also varied according to the level of care that a beneficiary received. Initially, the payment system by Medicare was linked to the â€Å"Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA)†, and it had a huge influence on the number of home health as well as hospice care agencies. Initially, the implementation of BBA led to the exit of these agencies from the market as it reduced medical reimbursement, and the number of providers. Implementation of the prospective payment system (PPS) generated improved growth and financial stability of agencies. It stopped the decline in the number of home health providers. With the PPS, Medicare paid home health and hospice providers for every 60-day â€Å"episode of care.† The amount paid for the 60-day period was a set amount based on a standard rate and adjusted to the type as well as the intensity of care offered known as a case mix formula. The home health PPS depended on a 153-category case mix adjuster to set payment rates anchored in patients attributes like functional status, clinical ri gorousness, and the requirement for rehabilitative therapy examinations (Shi & Singh, 2010). Initially, Medicare hospice coverage consisted of 290-day benefit periods and an indefinite number of 60-day benefit time. Coverage can extend beyond this period given that a six-month prognosis is the doctor’s best estimate. There is also provision for patients to move out of and back into hospice care. When out of the care, patients regular Medicare or other insurance cover them. Medicare reimburses the providers of home health and hospice care on a per diem basis. This kind of payment covers all services offered by the hospice (Shi & Singh, 2010). There are numerous different rates that vary according to the level and type of care offered. Concerning eligibility for home and health care under Medicare, a patient has to present a medical justification to qualify hospice and home health benefits. Initially, eligibility criteria varied, depending on the hospice program. However, patie nts had to have a progressive, irreversible illness limited life expectancy, and they had to opt for palliative care instead of cure-focussed treatment. The presence of a family member or another caregiver was required continuously when the patient was no longer able to care for him or herself. Initially, for a person to be qualified for Medicare benefits, he or she had to be qualified f

Struggling with identity (or forming identity and what that means) in Essay

Struggling with identity (or forming identity and what that means) in the stories - Essay Example In these works characters are in the quest for their identity. In Tillie Olsen’s ‘I stand Here Ironing’ we find that Emily is seeking her own identity. Her mother, her family members, her teachers and schoolmates, all are in search of identity. We find Emily’s mother’s feelings of sadness and lack and her inability to connect with her daughter Emily. Emily had an inner sadness in properly understanding her own position in the social fabric that existed during that period. A diametrically opposed pattern is evident here. Emily’s mother feels that she must have acted in a different way to influence the behaviors of Emily. Emily, on the other hand, feels that her out of home behaviors were wrong. She thinks that she must have been more positive. She had a strange mix of childhood and motherhood. The very first sentence reveals the mood of the complete story. Emily’s mother explains with a mood of despair her daughter’s hard attempts to locate her own identity being in a self-limiting environment. The story raises several questions individual identity. In the story, both mother and daughter are searching for their identity though they face numerous limitations brought by social constraints and their history of poverty. The constraints that surround them make them search for their identity. Sherman Alexie’s ‘The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven’ is yet another works that involves characters who are in search of their identity. Racial and ethnic identity does matter in the lives of individuals. Racial identity and cultural identity symbolize the cultural existence of an individual. Racial identity and cultural identity often shapes the lives of individuals. The story presents several cultural barriers and difficulties where individuals are in search of their identities. The story describes the life of an young native American man whose life is focused in his ethnic identity. Being an Indian he was brought up on a reservation. He however was constantly on travel. He lived in Seattle. His constant shifting between two cultures and two environments created a big question about his identity. In Tim O'Brien’s ‘The Things They Carried’ also we find a striving for identity. The dual personae that are found in the story often gets intertwined and even become indistinguishable. The narrator himself says that the identity that lives inside is what really matters (Napersteck, 1991). The real identity of the narrator is not always visible in the story. Locating the identity of the narrator is a big threat to the readers also. The identity of the narrator is quite confusing in all the stories in ‘The Things They Carried’. Critics and readers have always been puzzled by this. The narrator himself is unidentified in the title story. However in other stories we find the narrator as Tim O'Brien a fictional character. The author himself admits the identity strife evident in the story. The third-person narrator in the story is nameless or without identity. However as the stories are interrelated we can consider this third-person narrator as fictional Tim O'Brien. The story includes constant shift of identity. The central character or the narrator is striving for identity. Junot Diaz’s ‘How to date, a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie is yet another work in which we see a struggle for identity. Here the character is striving for her racial identity. Here th

Landscape painting of China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Landscape painting of China - Essay Example Monumental landscape was ordinarily depicted to express power and dominance. In principle, their encompassed mountains as the dominant feature and other features belittled to reduce their significance. Also, it showed or compared the insignificant nature of the natural human being relative to the natural grandeur. It is safe to assert that the natural power and eminence could be compared to political power. The metaphoric aspect of the landscape on the other hand, was used to show the hierarchy and social structures of the human society. For instance, â€Å"A solitary Temple amid Clearing Peaks,† was associated and attributed to Li Cheng had a gigantic mountain in the background and a temple in the middle of picture. There is also other features of people on the lower periphery of the picture being depicted as little and insignificant at the might of the ruling political class. Li Cheng was a ruling family in the political imperialism of Sony dynasty. Thus, the painting had de ep political meaning and symbolism. Generally, the painting symbolized political stability and peace of the Sony dynasty. It is important to note and mention that the huge structure of the mountain is express and easy to notice. The mountain represented the power of the emperor, the ruling class and political might. The situation was deliberate so as to compare of juxtapose the little figure of the people at the bottom of the painting as little or even insignificant. In all aspects and fairness, this is a representation an intuition.

Survey for my psychology class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Survey for my psychology class - Essay Example In general there was similarity to the answer on the nature of psychology, except for the youngest, who had no previous exposure to any study on psychology. The answers from the others were satisfactory as all of them have had exposure to psychology in their student days, as could be seen from their response to the second question. The best answer came from the participant undergoing a nursing course, and as such had the best exposure to the nature of psychology in her study classes. The only erroneous answer came from the youngest with the least experience, and no exposure to psychology in his study classes. He has confused psychology with psychiatry, which is a branch of psychology that deals with abnormal functioning of the brain or mental illness. Taking into consideration his exposure, he has exhibited a perception that most people would, when not aware of psychology, as psychiatry is commonly used in the treatment of mental illness. This brings us to the possibility that often perceptions derived from the environment around us need not necessarily be factual, and yet to the human mind it remains otherwise. The third question is relevant to the experiences that the participants have had during their tenure in the college. To the majority the institution is a great place, and this perception arises from the good experiences that they have had. Yet, these perceptions are expressed by members of the faculty and administration. They are bound to say nice things even if they feel otherwise. The nature of the institution from the students’ perception drops to an all right situation from the older student, and a downright condemnation of the institution from the young student, who must be having pretty bad experiences in the institution. Depending on which side of the fence the individual assesses the institution the perception changes. Therefore experience, position and age do

Struggling with identity (or forming identity and what that means) in Essay

Struggling with identity (or forming identity and what that means) in the stories - Essay Example In these works characters are in the quest for their identity. In Tillie Olsen’s ‘I stand Here Ironing’ we find that Emily is seeking her own identity. Her mother, her family members, her teachers and schoolmates, all are in search of identity. We find Emily’s mother’s feelings of sadness and lack and her inability to connect with her daughter Emily. Emily had an inner sadness in properly understanding her own position in the social fabric that existed during that period. A diametrically opposed pattern is evident here. Emily’s mother feels that she must have acted in a different way to influence the behaviors of Emily. Emily, on the other hand, feels that her out of home behaviors were wrong. She thinks that she must have been more positive. She had a strange mix of childhood and motherhood. The very first sentence reveals the mood of the complete story. Emily’s mother explains with a mood of despair her daughter’s hard attempts to locate her own identity being in a self-limiting environment. The story raises several questions individual identity. In the story, both mother and daughter are searching for their identity though they face numerous limitations brought by social constraints and their history of poverty. The constraints that surround them make them search for their identity. Sherman Alexie’s ‘The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven’ is yet another works that involves characters who are in search of their identity. Racial and ethnic identity does matter in the lives of individuals. Racial identity and cultural identity symbolize the cultural existence of an individual. Racial identity and cultural identity often shapes the lives of individuals. The story presents several cultural barriers and difficulties where individuals are in search of their identities. The story describes the life of an young native American man whose life is focused in his ethnic identity. Being an Indian he was brought up on a reservation. He however was constantly on travel. He lived in Seattle. His constant shifting between two cultures and two environments created a big question about his identity. In Tim O'Brien’s ‘The Things They Carried’ also we find a striving for identity. The dual personae that are found in the story often gets intertwined and even become indistinguishable. The narrator himself says that the identity that lives inside is what really matters (Napersteck, 1991). The real identity of the narrator is not always visible in the story. Locating the identity of the narrator is a big threat to the readers also. The identity of the narrator is quite confusing in all the stories in ‘The Things They Carried’. Critics and readers have always been puzzled by this. The narrator himself is unidentified in the title story. However in other stories we find the narrator as Tim O'Brien a fictional character. The author himself admits the identity strife evident in the story. The third-person narrator in the story is nameless or without identity. However as the stories are interrelated we can consider this third-person narrator as fictional Tim O'Brien. The story includes constant shift of identity. The central character or the narrator is striving for identity. Junot Diaz’s ‘How to date, a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie is yet another work in which we see a struggle for identity. Here the character is striving for her racial identity. Here th

Survey for my psychology class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Survey for my psychology class - Essay Example In general there was similarity to the answer on the nature of psychology, except for the youngest, who had no previous exposure to any study on psychology. The answers from the others were satisfactory as all of them have had exposure to psychology in their student days, as could be seen from their response to the second question. The best answer came from the participant undergoing a nursing course, and as such had the best exposure to the nature of psychology in her study classes. The only erroneous answer came from the youngest with the least experience, and no exposure to psychology in his study classes. He has confused psychology with psychiatry, which is a branch of psychology that deals with abnormal functioning of the brain or mental illness. Taking into consideration his exposure, he has exhibited a perception that most people would, when not aware of psychology, as psychiatry is commonly used in the treatment of mental illness. This brings us to the possibility that often perceptions derived from the environment around us need not necessarily be factual, and yet to the human mind it remains otherwise. The third question is relevant to the experiences that the participants have had during their tenure in the college. To the majority the institution is a great place, and this perception arises from the good experiences that they have had. Yet, these perceptions are expressed by members of the faculty and administration. They are bound to say nice things even if they feel otherwise. The nature of the institution from the students’ perception drops to an all right situation from the older student, and a downright condemnation of the institution from the young student, who must be having pretty bad experiences in the institution. Depending on which side of the fence the individual assesses the institution the perception changes. Therefore experience, position and age do

Berlin Urban Form and Politcal Ideology Essay Example for Free

Berlin Urban Form and Politcal Ideology Essay Discuss the relationship between political ideologies and urban form in 20th century Berlin Berlin has developed over 800 years and has undergone major changes. It is the place where German unification, after 40 years of separation, becomes apparent and this provides us with an excellent location for studying urban processes. The twentieth century saw different political ideologies impose themselves onto the city and I will use certain political ideologies and explain the impact they had on urban form. I will use these examples to show a relationship between political ideologies and urban form and the implications of this. Firstly, the key terms must be defined. When referring to urban form, I use the basic definition by Anderson et al (1996), who define it as the ‘spatial configuration of fixed elements within a metropolitan region.’ They go on further to state that it includes the spatial pattern of land uses and their densities as well as the spatial design of transport and communication infrastructure. More importantly from a political perspective, a change in urban form requires a change in people’s lifestyles and this may not be possible unless there is a shift in attitude from the public (Kuhn, 1992). This is something to bear in mind when looking at 20th century Berlin. Political ideology can be loosely defined as a set of beliefs about the proper order of society and how it can be achieved (Denzau and North, 1994). They further go on to say ideologies are shared models that groups possess and that these models provide an interpretation of the environment and how it should be structured. I am now going to discuss the relationship between political ideologies and urban form in the 20th century Berlin. The relationship can be approached by looking at Berlin at different stages throughout the 20th century. I will look at urban form before the Second World War, during the period where Berlin was divided and finally after unification. At each stage, a certain political ideology had influence on urban form. It is important to note that when the allied forces took control of Berlin, the city had undergone amalgamation on a gargantuan scale. In 1920, 59 villages and 27 estates were joined to form a city of 3.9 million citizens, making it the third largest city in the world after London and New York (Elger, 1992). This is important because the city would have had less time to develop its urban form to the same stage as London and New York, which developed over many years. Their urban form reflected that of the concentric zone model. The Nazi regime  tried to impose their nationalist ideology onto the urban form of Berlin. They built the Ministry of the Air Force, which eventually became the Treuhand holding company, who restructured the former GDR industries after reunification (Blockmans, 2003). In 1942, Albert Speer designed plans for the Nazi regime which intended on creating a new urban centre. Tempelhof airport was designed as a result. There were also railway stations planned for north and south Berlin as was Siegesallee, or the Lane of Victory. Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi party, had an obsession with building big monuments and when queried as to why he always wanted to build the biggest, he would say that it was to restore self-respect to each individual German (Hall, 1996). A north-south avenue was planned and this was designed to show the political, military and economic power of Germany. Plans were made to build seventeen highways and big towns to the north and the south and these towns would do away with the Nazi favouritism towards single family homes and a shift towards closed apartment blocks that surrounded big yards (Larsson, 1978). In terms of the basic principles, Hall says that Speer’s plan showed that incompatible land uses were segregated, through traffic was excluded from residential areas, light and air and space was in abundance. It is important to state that much of this vision was not built and only one ceremonial space was built on the east-west axis (Helmer, 1980). Whilst much of Speer’s plans were not fully implemented, it does not stop us from seeing the relationship between political ideology and urban form in 20th century Berlin. We can see from what Hitler said to Speer, that the priority was trying to impose the ideology first. The preference for huge monuments is clear to see and this implies a state that is all powerful. In my opinion, building these monuments was Hitler’s primary focus in terms of implementing his ideology and the people’s needs were of a lower priority. The focus on monuments is apparent throughout the plans especially when looking at housing. Hall said the plans showed housing that resembled apartment blocks with big courtyards. Courtyards in apartment blocks are designed for the people living there to gather and socialise. Similarly, people gather at huge monuments because they mean something to the people. So we can see that if the vision had been implemented then the ideology behind the design would not only have occurred in public space but also in a subtle way, entered people’s private space. Where Hall describes the Nazi  aim of creating the ultimate ‘City beautiful’, Koshar (1991) prefers to describe Nazi Berlin as ‘city as Stage’. Nazism was in favour of heritage preservation and introduced legislation in 1936 aimed at creating stricter guidelines for new buildings and adapting old buildings for more up to date uses. The aim for the Nazis was for the city and urban region to retain their function as spatial settings for commodity production but without liberal capitalist, Jewish and Marxist influences. National Socialism tried to disengage the city from ‘historical contingencies’, giving rise to the metaphor for the city as a stage where actors wer e the masses and Hitler was the star (Koshar, 1991). The relationship shown in the case of Nazism is one where the political ideology is dominant in everyday life. From Hall and Koshar’s ideas one can see that Hitler wanted complete power and that people should be aware of this power through certain changes in urban form such as heritage preservation. Exclusion of modern buildings would eliminate the idea of capitalism from people’s minds. Under Nazism, there seems to be a preference for segregated areas in Berlin, in terms of function. This idea of Nazi dominance, power and control would suggest knowing that an area only had one function would make it easier for authorities to control. In one sense it can be misleading explaining about Hitler’s influence on urban form in Berlin seeing as many of his ideas did not come to fruition however the nature of some of his plans tells us that political ideology had a great influence on his thinking about urban form. I will now look at the relationship between political ideology and urban form after the second world war, specifically just before and during the Cold War period. In the case of the GDR, the authorities wished to show their ideology and demolished the city palace of the Prussian kings in 1953 and erected the Palace of the Republic, which was open to the public. The reminders from the past were destroyed and new projects were designed such as Karl-Marx-Allee. Here we are seeing the construction and demolition of remnants as a way of the political ideology to express their ideas on the land usage aspect of urban form. Top- down processes lead to this acquisition of political attitudes in the GDR as well as the case of nationalism with the Nazi party (Lost et al. 2009). It is important to note that transport also constitutes urban form and transport policy can affect urban form. The literature has so far primarily focused on the land use policy and not enough attention has  been alloc ated to transport. Urban design in East Berlin was contradictory to what one might expect. There was a shift towards traditional design as seen in Gendarmenmarkt with its baroque style buildings. This has prompted Urban (2009) to question the GDR regime and its sudden change in thought from a modernist approach to urban design, which was seen at the time to be the only appropriate expression of a socialist system, to a focus on historical buildings. Urban does not explicitly mention the reasoning behind the change so it is important to bear in mind that other factors could have affected the change in urban design. Of course, this does not stop us from making assumptions based on facts. The launch of an ambitious housing program in the 1970s resulted in many old buildings being renovated and the majority of these were built on the periphery of East Berlin. The socialist policy in the 1970s was to go ahead with the abandonment of German reunification and this allowed socialist leaders to use certain pre-socialist traditions as their own. In essence, this means that socialism was increasingly evident in the urban form and signs of German history could be removed. Monuments returned to their original position such as the one of Prussian King Friedrich II on the boulevard of Unter den Linden. New socialist principles are partly behind such moves and this was said to guarantee ‘joy of life, aesthetic pleasure, social activity, and high performance’ (Urban, 2009). Unter der Linden is an interesting case to look at because it has been described as the most interesting and important boulevards in the history of twentieth century design (Stangl, 2006). Its importance means that it is a valid location to research when discussing the relationship between political ideologies and urban form. After the Second World War Unter der Linden became a battleground for the competing socialist and capitalist ideologies. Communists and leading German elites had a considerable effect on the urban form in many different ways. As mentioned by Urban (2009), Stangl says that historical buildings were preserved and this was intended to show the strength of the new system. Socialist- Marxist ideology was essential to this. The East German state wanted urban form to be incorporated into the building of the state. Why might they emphasise urban form as a key expression of their ideology? You could say that the urban landscape shows change and certain urban landscape expressions such as monuments and old buildings carry significant social meaning. As mentioned  before, the monument of the King Friedrich II was moved to Unter den Linden. The ideology has influence over urban form as the monument has been moved and has been reinterpreted to legitimise state thinking so from this we can deduce that ideology plays an important role in the interpretation of the urban landscape. It is important to note that Stangl’s use of Unter den Linden as a case study is particularly interesting mainly because, contrary to the views in West Berlin at the time, socialist planning was not a unified vision from Marxist ideology but rather it was a series of compromises between different strands of socialism and communism. A criticism of Stangl is that he does not mention whether this compromise is seen in other parts of East Berlin. Whilst using one of the most important boulevards in the twentieth century makes his assumptions more valid, it would have been useful to know a brief picture of whether this was the case in the whole of the city, after all the discussion that is taking place is of Berlin and not just a small fragment of it. So far I have looked at political ideologies before and after the war when Berlin is divided. After the war, there is an emphasis on preservation of historical buildings in certain parts of Berlin and the urban form is such that it deliberately reflects the ideology that is dominant. With Unter den Linden being a relatively central, the strategic location of buildings and monuments is important hence the King Friedrich II monument was relocated. The political thinking at that time prioritised Marx-Engels Square as a place for parades and what you would see from there is the historical buildings of Unter den Linden (Stangl, 2009). People would watch the parades and associate the buildings with the ideology of socialist realism. The influence of political ideology over urban form can be noticed in this instance. One can see that socialist ideology is very clever in that it does not change the urban form a huge amount however by preserving what was in the past, it can change the historical meaning and apply its own interpretation. Simply put the designers original intentions are thrown away and replaced. Finally I briefly look at Berlin after reunification in the late part of the twentieth century. After the fall of the Berlin wall and moves to unite Germany in 1990 there was a considerable shift in political ideology. Now it was a capitalist dominated approach and this had effect on the urban form. Kujath (2005) talks about how the unification meant that two separate states were  founded, Berlin and Brandenburg. It restructured to make economic clusters for the core region. There was spatial redeployment of manufacturing plants from the core to the suburbs; many new shopping malls were built in the suburbs as were warehouses for logistics providers. You can see the core of the city is providing knowledge services and suburbs providing other useful services. Conclusion I have looked at three different political ideologies, Nazism before the war, socialism in the GDR and briefly touched unification and capitalism. Each had a different approach to urban form. Nazism and Socialism had similarities in that both resorted to keeping historical buildings however much of Hitler’s stuff could not be built. From all three we know that political ideology is effective when expressed upon the urban form hence it has its greatest influence however for some like Nazism this can be misleading at it was very influential in terms of their control over people but hardly any of their plans were built. REFERENCE LIST Anderson, W.P., and Kanaroglou, P.S., and Miller, E.J., (1996) Urban Form, Energy and the Environment: A Review of Issues, Evidence and Policy Urban Stud 1996 33: 7 Kuhn, D. (1992), Science as argument : Implications for teaching and learning scientific thinking, Science Education, 77, 3, p.319-325 Denzau, A.T., and North, D.C., (1994), Shared Mental Models: Ideologies and Institutions, Kyklos, 47, 1, p.3-5 Ellger, C., (1992), Berlin: Legacies of division and problems of unification, The Geographic Journal, 158, 1, p. 40-45 Blockmans, W.P., (2003), Reshaping Cities: The Staging of Political Transformation, Journal of Urban History, 30, 1, p7-12 Hall, P., (1996), Cities of Tomorrow, p.86-90, Blackwell Publishers, Cambridge, Massachussets, USA Larsson, L.O., (1978), Die Neustalgung der Reichshauptstadt: Albert Speers General bebauungsplan, Stockholm, Almqvist and Wiksell Helmer, S.D., (1980), Hitler’s Berlin: Plans for reshaping the Central City developed by Albert Speer, Ann Arbor, University Microfilms Koshar, R.J., (1991), Altar, Stage and City: Historic Preservation and Urban Meaning in Nazi Germany, History and Memory, 3, 1, p. 30-34 Lost, J.T, and Federico, C.M., and Napier J.L., ( 2009), Political Ideology : Its structure, functions and Elective Affinities, Annual Review of Psychology, 60, p. 307-18 Urban, F., (2009), Neo-historical East Berlin: Architecture and urban design in the German Democratic Republic 1970-1990, MPG Books, Great Britain Stangl, P. (2006), Restorting Berlin’s Unter der Linden: ideology, world view, place and space, Journal of Historical Geography, 32, 2, p.352-370 Kujath, H.J., (2005), Restructuring the Metropolitan region of Berlin- Brandenburg: Economic trends and political answers, URL accessed: http://globus.igipz.pan.pl/wydaw/GP_78_1.pdf#page=62

Working Mothers And Womens Equality At Work Social Work Essay

Working Mothers And Womens Equality At Work Social Work Essay Due to changing trends in the world, many women continue to enter the workforce day and night performing almost similar duties like men. Motivated by a number of factors ranging from social to economic environment surrounding the move has always sparked debates not only among men but also in women who argue against the idea. The debate revolves around working versus those women who stay at home and take care of their families especially children. These concerns explore existence of any effects of working mothers to their children in terms of academic performance in schools and their emotional development which significantly depends on what happens at childhood. Another concern is the possibility of high stress levels faced by working mothers on a daily basis compared to their counterparts at home. This research analysis utilized findings from experts and surveys aimed at unraveling the truth about working mothers. Introduction Who are working mothers? This is a label name which refers to women who have career jobs and responsibilities apart from taking care of their children and husband at home. The number of this type of women has continued to increase not only in the neither United States, nor Europe but all over the world. Even as immense criticism continues to surround the idea of working women, it is of paramount need to focus on some of the factors which contribute to this phenomenon. It is clear that the world is always at a constant change process in terms of social believes, practices and also economic transformation. Many women have opted to join the work a way of enhancing equality with men who believe that women are supposed to be stationed at home and carry out domestic duties (Randall, 2003). The question that ponders the mind of many is whether the notion of working mothers is the only focal point in addressing the issue of gender equality in the society. Is there a better approach? Definite ly there are considerable realistic and workable ways of establishing a society that recognizes men and women as equal beings. Although viewed negatively by some people, many women believe that by joining the work force, there would be significant ease and improvement in meeting the family needs. Sharing of family responsibilities between men and women is by far a very important idea. With increasing global economic hitches, there is every need for every family in the world to establish ways of making ends meet without extreme straining. As a result, working mothers believe that this is the only way of lessening family crisis which may arise from unsatisfied needs and unmet expenses which can be shared between a husband and wife. This sounds human and acceptable but it has lacked taste in a number of men in the world and other women who still advocate for stay home mothers in the 21st century. It is clear that the question of whether women need to be incorporated in the workforce like men still causes controversy. With growing working opportunities for both men and women, it is very normal for girls to go to school, join colleges and universities and secure jobs just like their male counterparts. This is quite commendable. However, the basis of this argument rests on the opportunity cost incurred when women join the workforce. It is believed that working women make inefficient mothers. Although this varies from one person to the other, sociologists argue that there is usually little or no time left for children brought up by working mothers. Additionally, working women experience a lot of stress compared to non working mothers who spent their entire time with their families (Harper Richards, 1986). This is attributed to overwhelming demands which may arise from work stations and homes. Balancing of time between the two masters, job and family remains a mega challenge amon g working women in the world. Statement of problem According to this research, very little has been done with regard to the effect of working mothers on their childrens emotional development and academic behavior. As a result, the research explores the general impact of working mothers on their children compared to non working women. Research questions What is the negative impact of a working mother on a childs academics and emotions? What is the positive impact of a working mother on the life of her child? What is the impact of non working mothers on their childrens life? Literature review Working mothers has received massive coverage from both individuals and groups of people aimed at unraveling the truth which surround this debate topic. However, many people reckon that the idea is quite open with a wide range of views which may vary from person to person. One of search people who have invested time in sociological research is Elizabeth Perle McKenna. In her 1998 research, McKenna analyses the relationship between work and family as experienced by working women around the globe. She exhaustibly dwells on the issue of work and identity and the dissatisfaction which arises when work does not give intended satisfaction. She argues that many women find themselves ignoring pivotal areas of their lives by devoting their time and concentration to work (McKenna, 1998). This devotion is usually aimed at attaining certain traditional symbols of success like money, challenging jobs and power. As viewed by McKenna, women entered the workforce massively under terms that were designed by men. They were eager and full of passion of leaving the old fashion of staying at home. They did this like immigrants abandoning their natural habitat and adapting to the workforce designed for and by men to suit their lifestyle and nature. Unfortunately, most if not all working systems have been designed to define men based on what they do and not who they are (McKenna, 1998). This system calls for long working hours in order to gain recognition and reward. This is still the case today even though almost sixty percent of women in the United States belong to the working class. In other words, the workforce does not recognize the nature of women with regard to the diverse responsibilities they have at home. It assumes the fact that women belong at home. McKenna writes this book from a personal experience and recalls moments in her life when she found it hard to balance work with growing famil y needs until she had to quit her job after having changed career severally. McKenna admits that women who are unable to quit working find it hard to balance between work and family responsibilities. She poses that although many women want attain success as traditionally defined, it is almost impossible excel career-wise and thrill as a good mother, caregiver and a good wife. She notes that the pursuit of such identity breeds nothing but depression, stress and finally burnout. Research findings This research found out that working mothers have a wide range of impact on their families with special emphasis on their children. Non working mothers have all the time to take care of their families and provide necessary care and love to their young ones. Children born of working mothers experience difficulties during their early stages of development. As young beings, children need enough time from their caregivers who are non other their mothers. In the absence of this care emotional impact is felt which may affect up to the academic capabilities of such children. Working mothers also experience emanating from challenges of time balancing (Peters 1968). On the other hand, working men feel independent and provide families needs including among others, childrens quality food. Both working and non working children may significantly influence the development process of children. Discussion The number of working mothers has continued to rise from about 30% in 1970s to approximately 50% in early 21st century. This has significantly affected the life of many children. (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1999). Children from families with working mothers have emotional depressions with measurable difficulties in their academic life. There is also continuing research on the effect of mothers working stress on children. Even as this research continues, the fact is that a child is always hyper sensitive to the emotional status of the mother before and even after birth. Do children born of working mothers receive sufficient attention and care? When mothers spend almost full of their day time at work, many children less effective especially at school. Since most working mothers maximize their working time when children are in their pre-school, these children show wanting and unappealing results (Cavel, 2001). These children feel some form of emptiness which ends up affecting their class concentration and general performance compared to children whose mothers are not working. It is also important to affirm that a childs early stages are very important in shaping his character and personality. Children who spend less time with their mothers as a result of work commitments are likely to experience hardships in language development which goes further to affect a childs academic progress. This is because learning in class mainly depends on communication propagated by language proficiency (Associated Press, 1999). Working mothers also experience a lot of stress which arise from the inability to balance between work and family needs. These two responsibilities appear to be like two jobs which are being handled by one person at the same time. As a result, these mothers are ever in a hurry to catch up with time and attend to unfinished duties at home and at work place. These mothers end up meeting the needs of the family with very few men willing to share the responsibility (Gershaw, 1988). In the event that a child falls sick, mothers find it difficult to fully attend to the child at the expense of her sleeping job. They also feel stressed over their own lives. Many working women are not willing to give birth. In other words, working continues to rob women off their mothering ability. Although working mothers have significant negative impact on their children, these mothers also have all the reasons to smile and the need for them to receive recognition. There are positive impacts generated by these mothers with the baseline of it being provision of basic needs, especially food. Many children brought up by working mothers live in considerably good standards compared to those of non working mothers. Working mothers usually have a wide domain of choices in terms of dietary. This ensures good childcare and healthy upbringing (Booth, 2000). A working mother is also a challenge to her children (Figes, 2001). As the immediate role model, mothers play a mega role in shaping the character of her children. Children admire good character and adorable achievements realized by those people who surround them. Therefore working mothers challenge their children to work hard and experience better achievements compared to what may she has. Conclusion In general, working mothers negatively impact their children. This is mainly witnessed in areas of emotional development and academic performance. This is mainly due to the inability to balance between family responsibilities and demands of the job. Stress is also common among working mothers a trend that is significantly low among non working mothers. It should be noted that working is highly encouraged among family members. However, mothers should devote most of their time to taking care of their children. They can take up less demanding jobs especially at tender ages of their children.

The Changing Verbal Portraits of Emily in A Rose for Emily Essay

The Changing Verbal Portraits of Emily in A Rose for Emily  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "A Rose for Emily," by Faulkner, provides not only innumerable details but also a complex structure. Long after the reader has learned to identify and discuss the function of significant detail, they often continue to struggle with the influence of structure on a story. The imagery of changing portraits in "A Rose for Emily" allows the reader to explore both to find meaning. In addition to the literal portrait of Emily's father, Faulkner creates numerous figurative portraits of Emily herself by framing her in doorways or windows. The chronological organization of Emily's portraits visually imprints the changes occurring throughout her life. Like an impressionist painting that changes as the viewer moves to different positions, however, the structural organization provides clues to the "whole picture" or to the motivations behind her transformations. Chronologically, the "back-flung" front door creates the first tableau of a youthful Miss Emily, assiduously guarded by her father. Miss Emily, a "slender figure in white,"1 typifies the vulnerable virgin, hovering in the background, subordinate and passive. The father, "a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip" (CS 123), is a menacing dark image assuming the dominant front position. His turned back suggests a disregard for her emotional welfare as he wards off potential danger--or violation of her maidenhead--with his horsewhip. The back-flung door invites suitors in, but only those who meet Grierson standards. Unfortunately, those standards are unattainable--"The Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were" (CS 123)--and Miss Emily remains... ...cefully on her funeral bier with a simple image of love and loss, a strand of iron-gray hair resting on the yellowed pillow of an impotent bridal bed. This haunting image is the fianl pen stroke whispering the eulogy of her wasted life. Notes 1 Collected Stories of William Faulkner (New York: Vintage, 1977), 123. Hereafter CS. 2 The southern planter patterned his lifestyle after the English country gentleman (Daniel Boorstin, The American:   The Colonial Experience [Random House, 1958]).   In doing so, he developed a code of conduct that reflected the romanticism of the medevial age.   A feudal mind set--replete with courtly love, a code of honor, and a romantic quest--is evident in several of Faulkner's male characters, e.g., Sutpen in Abaslom, Absalom! and Hightower in Light in August. 3 The Sound and the Fury (New York:   Random House, 1992), 78. The Changing Verbal Portraits of Emily in A Rose for Emily Essay The Changing Verbal Portraits of Emily in A Rose for Emily  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "A Rose for Emily," by Faulkner, provides not only innumerable details but also a complex structure. Long after the reader has learned to identify and discuss the function of significant detail, they often continue to struggle with the influence of structure on a story. The imagery of changing portraits in "A Rose for Emily" allows the reader to explore both to find meaning. In addition to the literal portrait of Emily's father, Faulkner creates numerous figurative portraits of Emily herself by framing her in doorways or windows. The chronological organization of Emily's portraits visually imprints the changes occurring throughout her life. Like an impressionist painting that changes as the viewer moves to different positions, however, the structural organization provides clues to the "whole picture" or to the motivations behind her transformations. Chronologically, the "back-flung" front door creates the first tableau of a youthful Miss Emily, assiduously guarded by her father. Miss Emily, a "slender figure in white,"1 typifies the vulnerable virgin, hovering in the background, subordinate and passive. The father, "a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip" (CS 123), is a menacing dark image assuming the dominant front position. His turned back suggests a disregard for her emotional welfare as he wards off potential danger--or violation of her maidenhead--with his horsewhip. The back-flung door invites suitors in, but only those who meet Grierson standards. Unfortunately, those standards are unattainable--"The Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were" (CS 123)--and Miss Emily remains... ...cefully on her funeral bier with a simple image of love and loss, a strand of iron-gray hair resting on the yellowed pillow of an impotent bridal bed. This haunting image is the fianl pen stroke whispering the eulogy of her wasted life. Notes 1 Collected Stories of William Faulkner (New York: Vintage, 1977), 123. Hereafter CS. 2 The southern planter patterned his lifestyle after the English country gentleman (Daniel Boorstin, The American:   The Colonial Experience [Random House, 1958]).   In doing so, he developed a code of conduct that reflected the romanticism of the medevial age.   A feudal mind set--replete with courtly love, a code of honor, and a romantic quest--is evident in several of Faulkner's male characters, e.g., Sutpen in Abaslom, Absalom! and Hightower in Light in August. 3 The Sound and the Fury (New York:   Random House, 1992), 78.