Monday, September 30, 2019

Racial Diversity in Society Worksheet Essay

Complete the following using the MySocLab Social Explorer Map: Income Inequality by Race (located on the student website) as a reference: †¢Select 1 racial group from the list below: African American Asian American Arab American Hispanic American/Latino White/Caucasian †¢Write a 150- to 300-word summary of the economic, social, and political standings of that group. Use additional resources if necessary, from the University Library or your textbooks. Provide citations for all the sources you use. Hispanic Americans or Latinos in America descend from many different countries such as Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and The Dominican Republic. They come to the United States as immigrants for a variety of different reasons, but the most common is that they come here in search of the American Dream. From an economic point of view Hispanics remain at the bottom of the job ladders due to the fact that many of them are not educationally equipped and are not fluent in English which are both necessities when it comes to the jobs in demand. Their lack of formal education is what is keeping them down in our nation’s technology run job market. Studies show that less and less Hispanic Americans are finishing high school, and without the skills that education will teach them they will continue to flounder in today’s economy. When it comes to social statistics it is overwhelmingly clear that faith and family have and continue to be the cornerstone of the Hispanic American Family val ues and a huge part of their religious based culture. Politically, due to the fact that the majority of  Hispanic Americans are lower or middle class, they tend to agree with the democratic views when it comes to politics. Part II Answer the following in 50 to 150 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use. †¢What is racism? In what ways does racism affect diversity? Racism can be defined as the belief that a specific racial group is superior or inferior to another and that there is nothing that any individual who belongs to that racial group does (economically, socially, politically) can change it. Racism affects diversity through outlets such as discrimination and prejudice that we hold against one another due to the fact that our skin is not all the same color. Today, we hear words like that (prejudice and discrimination) and we are quick to object to the accusation that we can still, after all we as a nation have overcome when it comes to touchy subjects like this, be guilty of such negative ways of thinking. However, it is clear that some things clearly have not changed when we look at statistics that show that in American society whites are still hired for high paying jobs in greater numbers than minorities with the same credentials or that minorities still seem to make up the majority of inmate populations in today’s prisons. †¢How do racial groups interact in contemporary America? Are interactions positive, negative, or neutral? Support your response using proper citations. Today, it is not uncommon for racial groups to interact with each other in a mostly positive way due to the fact that in most communities we are not separated based on our racial background when it comes to things such as the schools we attend and jobs that we are allowed to hold like we have been in the past. This is thanks to desegregation and affirmative action laws that have been put into action over the past several years. However, even with these laws we are not a perfect nation and there is still cases where social  inequities can allow discrimination and prejudices to rear their ugly heads in today’s society. Social inequities can affect a particular races basic human rights such as the right to live in a certain area, be hired for a certain job, be able to travel freely, acceptance into schools or colleges, and even the right to vote. †¢Are there existing social inequities based on race? Why or why not? Social inequities is one of those touchy subjects that some people say still exist and some people say does not. Like many subjects similar to this one (racism in general, prejudice, and discrimination) people’s views on it can differ tremendously. Some speak from experience and some speak on it based on facts that they are taught. I’ll touch on an example that I previously mentioned to support the argument that yes, social inequities are existent in today’s society. When you look at prisons today, it is clear that minorities make up a much larger chunk of the inmate population than whites. People who argue that social inequities are the cause of this say that this is a result if whites having always been a more protected race in the US and because of this so called protection, they are favored in the justice system and are given more access to better attorneys. People who support the idea that social inequities don’t exist can of course use the argument t hat the reason that minorities make up most of the inmate population is simply because they are the ones who are responsible for committing the crimes that get them in trouble in the first place. †¢What do you believe to be the causes of racial prejudice and discrimination in today’s society? Looking back at our Nation’s history, it’s clear that racism has and continues to be a problem here. However, it’s also clear that he have taken huge steps, which include legal actions, in order to eliminate it. Unfortunately it is not something that can be completely abolished overnight, and we have to have patience in order to keep the movement pressing forward. The awareness that courses such as this one provides are also great tools when it comes to educating more people on the issue, the  causes, and what can be done to keep it from spreading. I believe that the main cause of racial prejudices is the fact that although as a nation (united) we are against it there are still individual people and families amongst us who refuse to stop it in their personal lives and who continue to teach it to their children generation after generation. Racism is something that is taught, as there is now way for it to be passed genetically or inherently. References Braubach, M. (2010, January 4). Social inequities in environmental risks associated with housing and residential location—a review of evidence. Oxford Journals. Retrieved from http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org/content/20/1/36.abstract?sid=4aa802c1-b338-41e1-b724-eef7ecee7791 Huffman, A. (2012, November 15). How Hispanics Impact Political, Social and Economic Climate. Charisma News. Retrieved from http://www.charismanews.com/us/34581-how-hispanics-impact-political-social-and-economic-climate Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and Ethnic Groups (13th ed.). : Merrill Prentice Hall.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Shouldice Hospital

Question 1. How successful is the Shouldice Hospital? Generate a P&L statement using available information from the case. Treat each of the two operations – hospital and the surgery – separately Compared to other medical institutions that provide a wide array of medical procedures, Shouldice Hospital specializes in one procedure for patients that suffer from abdominal hernias. This specialization allows each doctor at Shouldice Hospital to perform approximately 600 hernia surgeries per year, while doctors at other institutions only perform 25-50 hernia surgeries per year.As a result, the â€Å"Shouldice Method† has been perfected to an unparalleled level for the well-being of the patient. The typical Shouldice patient only experience s 5 days of required recovery time after their surgery, while hernia patients from other institutions typically experience 10 days of recovery time. This expedited recovery time is due to the level of active physical rehabilitation t hat Shouldice Hospital expects from their patients.Walking and socializing with others is expected, and Shouldice Hospital has proven that these actions significantly aid in the healing process due to the improvement of the positive mental attitude of the patient. The specialization in one particular procedure as well as the 4 day recovery time allows Shouldice Hospital to offer their surgical procedure at a lower cost than other institutions. This is because Shouldice Hospital has lower overhead costs associated with labor and has fewer investments in capital expenditures since they do not have the wide array of machinery and equipment that you might see at a typical institution.This savings is passed along to the patient, as Shouldice procedures typically cost $954 ($111 * 4 days + $450 + $60) while other institutions typically charge $2,000 to $4,000 for the same procedure. Additionally, the extremely low turnover rate a Shouldice Hospital demonstrates that this institution is no t only a success for the patient, but also to the hospital staff. This level of devotion among the medical staff benefits both the hospital as well as the patients, since seasoned professionals are retained within the institution.In return for their professional service the hospital provides their employees with a great work/life balance as well as financial rewards in the form of bonuses and profit sharing programs. Lastly, Shouldice Hospital completes hernia surgeries with a lower recurrence rate than traditional hospitals. Due to their specialization in this field of surgery, patients experience complications and require follow-up appointments less than 1% of the time, while traditional hospitals in the United States typically saw around a 10% reoccurrence rate.This is a great example of how Shouldice Hospital is a leader in their field and the 99% success rate is a great indicator of the overall successfulness of the organization. Please see below for the P&L statements for the Hospital and Clinic Operations: Question 2. How do you account for its successful performance? The Shouldice Hospital prides itself in excelling at the hernia with remarkable results in patients, while providing care at a low price, operating at a low costs, and achieving high profits. By analyzing the patients, the staff, and the service delivery system, one could observe the factors to this hospital’s success.First, the hospital adopts a stringent and comprehensive patient screening system that minimizes the risk to the hospital. Questionnaires are sent to potential patients and the hospital uses the responses to determine the risk level associated, thus allowing the hospital to properly anticipate and mitigate foreseen risks or avoid them in general, as in the case of internal hernias or overweight problems, which would be rejected before admittance. Another factor to success lies in the patients themselves. Patients are encouraged to be active, sociable, and self-sufficie nt to a certain extent in order to speed up recovery.This helps in reducing the level of oversight required from the nurses and also improves turnover. Furthermore, the operation method is world-class because it provides a more reinforced muscle wall in the abdomen and also the avoidance of general anesthetic unless absolutely required. This allows the patients to recover sooner and to experience less discomfort or nausea that is often associated with the aftermath of general anesthetic, which thus lets the patients to be active sooner as well; also, the limited use ofgeneral anesthetic reduces the need to staff more anesthetists, who are expensive at a rate of $300/day, and also reduces the cost of operation for the patients. When patients are more self-sufficient in the recovery process, less oversight from the staff is required and the staff is freed up from mundane tasks such as changing sheets or changing bedpans but could focus more time on counseling the patients to help them recover. This also leads to lower cost in laundry, housekeeping, and nursing.When costs are kept low and well maintained, salaries offered to staff are able to be more competitive than comparable jobs in the area. When employees are properly compensated, they could focus on the tasks at hand and not have to worry about financial issues or leaving the hospital to look for higher-paying positions. Furthermore, another factor to the hospital’s success is the doctors they hire. The doctors are highly productive and are able to perform 600 or more operations a year, while a typical surgeon elsewhere averages around 25 to 50 operations.They are also able to share an expensive resource, which is the anesthetist, to help alleviate the cost of operation. Lastly, the doctors experience low turnover, as do the nurses, because they are given opportunities to learn and improve on their skills via training in the Shouldice technique. In addition to the benefit of low turnover, proper trai ning and continuous improvement allows for standardization of the method of operation and minimizes flaws or defects. Lastly, the success of the hospital is attributed to the facility and the culture it fosters.The hospital encourages interaction between staff members and patients. Hospital staff is encouraged to eat together in the dining room and pick up their meals from the kitchen; hospital administrator is trained to be multi-functional and can pitch in to help one and other during peak times. To encourage interaction and activity among the patients, the hospital offers acres of gardens, uses carpeting to avoid the typical smell of disinfectant, modifies the stairways to allow the patients to be able to climb up after operations, and places entertainment in a common room to encourage patients to walk around and socialize.These factors help provide an uplifting, supportive environment that leads to happy staff and healthier patients. Question 3. Prepare a Process Flow Diagram fr om arrival through surgery and determine the capacities at each stage. For this diagram, only indicate major points in the process, e. g. , admitting, examination, operating room, surgeries, etc. Use the actual hours of operation for each step in the process to determine the capacity of each step. What is the bottleneck?Based on the calculations below, the available beds for patients is the current bottleneck for the hernia operation process. This portion of the process would be the bottleneck if only the 89 beds were utilized and also if the 14 hospital beds were also utilized. Question 4. Do a detailed analysis of potential on-site capacity expansion alternatives (on a per week basis). Assume an average of 3. 5 days stay at the hospital for each patient, including surgery, and Sunday Admits. This means that half the patients spend three days while the other half spends four days.Assumption: $450 surgical fee / patient; 20% of patients receive general anesthetics; 3. 5 days avg sta y; 50 work weeks per yr a. Current Situation (103 beds = 89 beds + 14 hostel rooms) Current Theoretical Capacity = 148 patients / week Current Average Throughput = 6,850 opeartions / 50 weeks = 137 patients / week b. Add 45 more beds (no need for using 14 hostel rooms) †¢New Theoretical Capacity= 191 patients / week oThe new addition would increase theoretical capacity by 29% from 148 to 191 patients / week.†¢New Average Throughput = (137 * 191) / 148 = 177 patients / week †¢New throughput – Current throughput = 177 patients / week – 137 patients / week = +40 patients / week †¢# of additional patients per year = 40 patients / week * 50 weeks = 2,000 patients per year †¢Additional revenue per year = 2,000 extra patients * ($450 surgical fees / patient + 20% of patients receiving $75 general anesthetic) = 2000 * (450 + . 2 * 75) = $930,000 Pro: Additional capacity brings return on investment of approximately 46% ($930,000/$2MM investment), i. e. profitable and sound investment.Cons: With the additional capacity, the hospital might need to make scheduling changes, such as maximizing the 5 days/week scheduling w/ each doctor, and the nurses might not be able to spend as much one-on-one time with patients as they had used to, which goes against their track record in developing good interpersonal relationships w/ the patients. Furthermore, they would need to increase general operating expenses to cover increased number of patients, such as more kitchen staff, more housekeeping staff, etc. c. Schedule Saturday Operations (would need to use 14 hostel rooms to accomodate)†¢New Theoretical Capacity= 177 patients / week oThe new addition would increase theoretical capacity by 20% from 148 to 177 patients / week. †¢New Average Throughput = (137 * 177) / 148 = 164 patients / week †¢New throughput – Current throughput = 164 patients / week – 137 patients / week = +27 patients / week †¢# of additional p atients per year = 27 patients / week * 50 weeks = 1,350 patients per year †¢Additional revenue per year = 1,350 extra patients* ($450 surgical fees / patient + 20% of patients receiving $75 general anesthetic) = 1350 * (450 + .2 * 75) = $627,750 Pro: Additional capacity generates $627,750 additional revenue per year with no additional investment. Cons: Either current doctors would need to pick up an extra day on their schedule or the hospital would need to hire additional doctors to cover Saturday operations. While this is profitable and the proceeds could be used as an overtime bonus to attract doctors, this is not in line with their goal to promote an environment with regular hours, allowing doctors time to spend with their families.This is not a guarantee that doctors be enticed enough to adapt to the new schedule either. Conclusion: Based on the analysis above, I believe that the hospital should expand with the $2MM investment to add ~45 more beds. It provides an attractiv e return, and it does not compromise their current values and relationships with the doctors. If they had chosen to schedule Saturday operations, they would risk demoralizing the current workforce or sending the wrong signal that they would compromise the employees’ work-life-balance for more profit.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

What Does it Cost to Attend the University of Connecticut?

Opportunities abound at the University of Connecticut, which offers students a choice of 14 schools and colleges and 116 majors. And with Hartford just a half hour away (Boston’s 90 minutes by car), there’s little chance getting bored while earning your degree. Although UConn is a public college, the school’s list price is relatively high. Fortunately, a majority of students pay less than the sticker price to go to this school. Keep reading to discover what it really costs to attend the University of Connecticut. Public schools tend to boast lower tuition costs than their private counterparts. However, that doesn’t mean the overall cost to the student will necessarily be less. UConn and other public universities may not have the robust endowments of a private school. This can mean that public institutions have less funding available, particularly in the form of scholarships and grants. Still, UConn student’s shouldn’t necessarily expect to pay the full list price. To determine a school’s actual cost, or financial aid net price, first add up the value of all forms of financial aid, including federal, state, and local grants and private scholarships; then, subtract this total from the school’s sticker price. The list price for the University of Connecticut varies based on whether a student lives in state or out of state. For the 2016-2017 academic year, the total price of tuition and fees for in-state students was $30,002. Out-of-state attendees faced a list price of $51,794. In general, individuals from families making less than $175,000 a year and those in the top 30% of incoming students were unlikely to pay the full sticker price for their degrees. Financial aid can reduce the list price of a UConn degree. For the 2016-2017 school year, the average net cost for tuition was $27,550 for in-state students and $49,342 for those residing outside of Connecticut. The cost of tuition at UConn varies based on family income bracket. View average costs per salary level below: Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. Merit aid can help reduce the cost of a college degree. At the University of Connecticut, 29.9% of students without financial need receive merit-based aid; the average per-student award is $2,249. These numbers give UConn a ranking of 670 out of the 1000 schools analyzed for merit aid generosity. For in-state students who don’t qualify for need-based financial aid, the average price of a UConn degree is $27,753. The average price for out-of-state students who didn’t qualify for financial aid was $49,545.   Many students borrow money to defer the cost of college. Currently, 55% of UConn students take out loans; at UConn, the average federal loan per undergraduate is $6,497. Evaluating student outcomes at a given college can help families determine whether that school represents a good investment. The most recent data shows that 81% of students at the University of Connecticut graduate within six years. A decade out, the average UConn graduate earns $58,400 per year. These numbers can help students and parents determine whether a degree from a particular school is worth the price. UConn is located in Mansfield, a location where prices are in-line with average costs in the U.S. In fact, Mansfield’s cost of living index is 107.5, which means it’s just 7.5% more expensive than the average American city. If you live off campus while attending this school, expect to spend $1000 for a one-bedroom, $1245 for a two-bedroom, or $1559 for a three-bed apartment. Working part time during college can help offset the costs of your education. Currently, Connecticut has a minimum wage of $10.10, which means students can expect to earn at least this amount per hour. For those who stick around after graduating, the average annual salary in Mansfield is $54,261. Work-study positions are great options for students who want to earn extra cash while minimizing the time their work takes away form their studies. Not only are these positions located on campus, which eliminates a long commute, but they also often are positions like library or security desk monitoring that allow students time to do homework and reading at work. Additionally, students should consider applying for independent scholarships to reduce the cost of a college degree. One popular choice is the National Merit Scholarship program , which provides recognition and grant money to students in the top one percent of PSAT test takers. Around 15,000 students a year receive funding through this program. Discover more scholarship programs on the UConn website . The high cost of a college degree can prevent students from pursuing the education they need and deserve. That’s where ’s Applications Team comes in. We aim to level the playing field by helping students choose the best colleges and create robust applicant profiles to increase their odds of getting accepted. Additionally, we assist with financial aid concerns, helping families fill out FAFSA forms and negotiate aid. To learn more about what we do, call today or contact our team online.

Friday, September 27, 2019

TESLA MOTORS, INC Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

TESLA MOTORS, INC - Research Paper Example Most people have welcomed the new developments brought about by making revolutionary electric cars, but there are still many that are still to be convinced that the electric way and specifically the route taken by Tesla is the future.This work is intended to highlight initiatives that can get more customers on-board1. One of the most apparent concerns by customers about electric cars is the issue of mirage since this specific sector is not as adequately supported by other parties such as power supply. The primary purpose as to why the firm has been in a position to succeed in the market is because it has found a way to achieve a commendable mirage from its batteries. In a revolutionary platform that Tesla built for itself, solving one issue cause the rise of another. The fire that broke out in the Model S raised national and international concerns that the car may not be safe. The source of the fire was recognized to be as a result of an object hitting the batteries at speed.2 Tesla hence has to revise its strategy of building batteries while deliberating over the two issues. Safety is the key concern since the company has already achieved the installation of the batteries that offer the highest mirage in the market. Increasing this mirage is of course a major consideration to be made, but safety should be the key issue. It is essential to get a way to install the batteries in a part of the car that does not pose a hazard for its occupants. Although the Roadster and the Model S can both be considered as successes for the company on the bases of economics and laying a favorable foundation for the company to establish itself, the company has failed to establish a wide range of vehicles for customers to select from. This is of utmost importance seeing to it that competitors have already realized that Tesla is capable of providing proper competition. But Tesla still has some shortcomings such as the availability of only two models for

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Sales Manager at Omnico, Inc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sales Manager at Omnico, Inc - Case Study Example From the report, Buddy identified that Omnico’s position was very low when compared to other industries. It indicated that the firm’s salespeople had not been maintaining a long-term relationship with their customers. Based on recent financial reports, Buddy concluded that acquisition of new potential customers would be more expensive. Hence, realizing the significance of customer retention, he tried to convince his sales people about this matter. However, some of the subordinates opposed to his opinion and argued that intense follow up activities would negatively affect the sustainability of the business. In addition, they added that customers would re-buy from Omnico only when they were satisfied with the company’s products and services; hence Omnico’s product lines would be the main factor that affects the sales volume. Buddy’s concepts seem outdated for it does not have much significance in modern industrial sectors. He conceptualizes business strategies on the ground of his 35 years’ experience. In the words of Fifield (1998, p. 290), market and marketing trends have recently changed a lot as compared to last two decades. In olden days, continuous follow-ups and salespersons’ potential determined the sales volume because customers did not have sufficient information regarding various products and services. Therefore, the marketer’s communication skill and customer relationship influenced the market to a large extent. In contrast; subsequent to the growth of high-tech communication facilities like internet, nowadays customers are well aware of the products and services offered by modern marketers.  

Key Needs of Lithonia High School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Key Needs of Lithonia High School - Essay Example The researcher states that from Danielson and Jensen, he acquired an appreciation of the need for educational institutions to develop the capability to make regular assessments as well as the necessity for academic institutions to build a â€Å"culture of assessment.† Lithonia High School is in Lithonia, Georgia, a lower to the middle-class suburban community about 20 miles east of Atlanta. Lithonia High School covers grades 9-12. Latest figures indicate that school enrollment was 1,692 in 2009, almost equally distributed between males or females, or boys and girls. Lithonia is a predominantly Black or African-American community with a median household income of $23,397 in 2009. In contrast, the median income for the entire United States was $49,777. As we all know, the concept of the median income means that 50% of the population has an income level below the median while the other 50% of the population has an income level above the median. Thus, data indicate that Lithonia i s one of the communities in the United States in which at least half of the population belong to the lowest income groups of the United States. Lithonia’s population characteristics are reflected in the enrollment of Lithonia High School. More than 96% of the student population is composed of Blacks or African-Americans, about 1.5% are Hispanics, less than 1% is composed of Whites, and less than 1% is composed of American Indians. Lithonia High school has about a hundred teachers and teacher-student ratio stands at about 1:15. The 9th grade composes around 36% of the student population; 10th grade around 25%;11th grade around 21%; and 12th grade about 17%. The sum does not add up to 100% because of rounding operation. Lithonia High School is qualified under the Title I program and this means that the school can access government programs assisting low-income students and those at risks. At least half of the student population is qualified to get lunch for free or lunch at red uced costs.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Book report, only if you have access to it Essay

Book report, only if you have access to it - Essay Example Cunliffe’s account of authentic and mystique European history is so enthralling, riveting, and has so many layers to it that one cannot help but feel like one is sitting in a cinema house watching one of the greatest movies of all time made about Europe. This is one of the most riveting aspects of this book that a simple reading transforms into a full-fletch journey complete with all the necessary embellishments required to keep a reader engaged throughout the reading process. In his book, Cunliffe starts from prehistoric times moving through the ancient to the medieval times. He views Europe as a highly strategically located continent owing to facing different seas from different sides. These seas have always played a phenomenal role in enriching the European civilization in terms of natural resources. There is a broad range of natural resources found in Europe which encourages a solid network of interaction and exchange among people. Many mechanisms of intricate complexity underlie the survival and development of the early Europeans. Cunliffe frequently draws on evidence from anthropology, history, and archeology to explicate these underlying mechanisms to the readers. The book proves itself to be a highly educational read as it expertly structures a completely new and enriched understanding of old Europe in a reader’s mind. As a skilled writer who has over a dozen books to his name in his resume, Cunliffe does not leave any details unexplored in this book also. His version of ancient history is almost cinematic. There is amazing photography in the book as well which serves to complement the archeological evidence presented by the author. This is not the kind of book which one can take and just read on the go. It refuses to receive ordinary treatment from a reader because many concepts do not properly diffuse through the brain unless a person properly concentrates

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Insurance Law Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Insurance Law - Dissertation Example Indeed in the current scenario of uncertainties and risks, both within and outside the home, insurance in various areas of business and personal domain has increasingly become critical part of improved lifestyle (Ward, 2000). But interestingly, while the concept of insurance is similar the format of insurance, especially the criteria of framework and regulation of insurance differs significantly in Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia and western countries like UK. In the recent times, Islamic insurance has rapidly emerged as one of the most popular and also a highly effective strategy to reduce financial risk of the individuals and the government as a whole (Anderson, 1976; Habshi & Othman, 1997; Ahmad, 1972). Indeed, the growth and penetration of Islamic insurance across the non Islamic countries has been seen as a positive trend in the insurance sector. The paper would therefore, be focusing on the question as to why should there be development of Islamic insurance in Saudi Arabia and UK? Meaning of Islamic Insurance Islamic insurance is mainly guided by Shariah or Islamic laws that forbid business based on unethical practices. Various products of insurance are strongly influenced by Shariah principles that prohibit gain through means like gambling, uncertainties or interest income (Mortuza, 1989; Ismail, 1997,98). Uncertainties are involved in life insurance as the outcome is unknown at the time of entering into contract and could vary. Gambling refers to gain of wealth under some defined conditions and interest income is unethical as it is not reward against hard work (Maysami, 1998; Sharif, 1997; Siddiqui, 1971). Thus, new concept of insurance emerged under ‘Takaful’ that worked within the precincts of Islamic laws. Islamic laws fundamentally rely on equitable distribution of wealth. Takaful is based on the ethical practices and is free from gambling, uncertainties and interest income (Ahmad, 2009: Anwar, 2008; and Saleh, 1986). It broadly ref ers to contributions made by individuals to be used in times of crisis or need. Rather than individuals, the family as a whole becomes the main beneficiary. Stagg-Massey (2007) state that Takaful has been taken from ‘kafal’ which is an Arabic word that means guaranteeing each other and taking care of each other’s needs. Thus, Takaful is a cooperative mechanism that promotes fair practice and spreads the risks and reduces financial loss suffered by an individual within the group. Need for Islamic insurance in Saudi Arabia and UK Middle East and African nations have lagged behind in insurance primarily because of the restraints imposed by religion and the prevalent poverty of the region. The development processes and growth have become major paradigms that necessitate insurance coverage. After 1970s, the discovery of oil and gases in the Gulf region has transformed the economy of the region. The large investment in the infrastructure and rapid growth in internation al trade has spurred the need for insurance amongst the working and non working population of the oil rich countries. Takaful not only facilitates the poor to survive with dignity under excruciating circumstances but also encourages ethical practices that are fair and justified (SAMA). Saudi Arabia being a leading Islamic nation is therefore morally bound to promote Takaful. In western countries like UK, insurance has fast transformed into major industry that is motivated by vested interests of making profit by exploiting the

Monday, September 23, 2019

The UK is a member of the European Union but has not adopted the euro Coursework

The UK is a member of the European Union but has not adopted the euro as its currency. To what extent do the benefits of memb - Coursework Example There are a number of reasons to join (or to not join) an international shared currency such as the euro, each of which have more influence depending on the state of the national currency. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate the reasons why the UK has not adopted the euro as its primary currency, and the benefits of joining such a monetary union. The purpose of this is to form an understanding of how a monetary union works and how it can be beneficial or detrimental to partner nations. Perhaps the most commonly cited reason for the UK to join the Euro is so that it can benefit from reduced transaction costs for businesses and consumers (Chapple, 2011). If the UK is part of such a monetary union, there will be no cost for changing currencies before completing a transaction in any country which is part of the Eurozone. Evidently, this will benefit tourists and those travelling to the Eurozone on a regular basis, as exchange rates and commission on currency exchange can be extremel y high (Pettinger, 2011). The lack of currency exchange would also benefit a number of companies which trade in the Eurozone or have trade links with other firms which do. The frictional cost involved in currency exchange is high, and exchanging the pound for the euro as daily currency is estimated to save about 1% of GDP (Pettinger, 2011), a staggering amount of money. It would also help the UK to prepare for international trading if the euro gains strength as an international trading currency (Chapple, 2011). Another benefit of the euro is that it would make costs in the Eurozone more transparent. If a tourist goes to the Eurozone and buys souvenirs or other products, accurate costing requires them to translate the euro price into pounds. The benefit for businesses is that the price of a product in the Eurozone would remain fixed (as long as the price itself is fixed). This would mean that there would be no speculative decisions that need to be made about the best time to buy larg e amounts of product from the Eurozone dependent on current exchange rate (Chapple, 2011). Additionally, companies purchasing large amount of product from the Eurozone could provide more accurate revenue information based upon cost of product without the need to account for these fluctuations in the exchange rate – predictability would be higher. Exchange rate volatility can also mean that exporting products can become unprofitable, which has the potential to have a huge impact on GDP. Adopting the euro could also mean more inward investment for the UK. This would occur as the cost of transactions internal to the Eurozone, as outlined above (Grange, 2002). Inward investment a term used to describe the input of money from outside an economic region into another economic region, and can occur when a company moves part or all of their activity into that region (Grange, 2002). The potential for inward investment is one of the biggest benefits of adopting the euro, particularly in the UK’s current economic climate. Inward investment often leads to the creation of a number of employment opportunities within the economic region (Wikipedia, 2013), which would be hugely beneficial to the UK which is currently struggling with unemployment figures (BBC, 2013). Inward investment is also an attractive way of boosting the economic situation of an area, as it can often be more reliable than investing into small local

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Need for Survival Essay Example for Free

Need for Survival Essay The first topic I will be talking about is your need for physical survival. There is the need for food and water you will need shelter and some other odds and ends. You will need food first of all you will need to find a place that produces a sufficient amount of food such as a vegetable patch or a shop or a farm. In the book tomorrow when the war began they went to one of the houses that had a good well running vegetable patch and they choose good fruit and vegetables that would last for a good and long period of time. Also during the story they ended up using the shearers quarters to hide from the army people this was also done to get out of the weather. They had many water supplies they had the water in hell the opened out dam the water in the bottles. In the episode of man vs wild he found a snake in by the creek and he caught it and he bit just behind the jaw line and it killed the snake instantly he saved the snake until later when he had set up his shelter and fire he found a shelter in an old cave he set up his fire and he then sat the snake on it until it cooked properly while the snake was cooking he went of and found a hole in which had dirty water in the bottom he used his shirt some charcoal and some rocks and dirt to act as a strainer and clean the water he had to repeat this a couple of times until the water was drinkable and that is how. I am going to summarise the basic survival skills that were used in man versed wild an there is more to survival than the physical survival skills there are mental and tactical survival skills which I will be talking about next. There is more to survival than physical survival there is mental survival which is what I will be talking about now.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The American Revolution: Freedom for the White Man :: Essays on American Revolution

The American Revolution was a glorious war fought to free the American colonies from the British rule. Although we won that war, there were still many people who were not free from our rule. One group of people were the black slaves. The black people had many struggles to freedom which helped shape our American culture today. Three different periods characterized there struggles: the slaves before the Civil War, during Reconstruction, and during the civil rights movements. These three eras mark a pivotal point in the movement and advancement of the black race to social equality. During the time before the Civil War, it was not easy for slaves to organize and rebel against their slaveholders or whites in general. There were numerous laws that specifically took away slaves rights as men. Slaves also feared the whip and even death if they were to act out against their owners. The Declaration of Independence did not apply to many groups and the black race was one of those excluded groups. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness"(Primus 295). Thomas Jefferson, having slaves himself, recognized the fact that he could not free the slaves himself in that document. It was difficult enough for him to get the Declaration approved by all of the colonies in itself. In fact the last man to sign the Declaration of Independence did not do so until the year 1778. The slaves were kept in ignorance of any knowledge which might have led to their freedom. Laws forbade reading and writing for slaves. They also forbade anyone to teach a slave to read. To keep the slaves obedient, slaveholders often made an example of a slave by beating him with the cow skin, or even killing him. "He[Gore] gave Denby but few stripes; the latter broke away from him and plunged into the creek, and, standing there to the depth of his neck in water, he refused to come out at the order of the overseer; whereupon, for this refusal, Gore shot him dead!"(My Bondage and My Freedom 122). This era was definitely a period were the black people had little voice in their future and society. Most people in the north felt differently however. These people were called the abolitionists, and they were dedicated to freeing the slaves. The southern states, strongly disagreed with their views and

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

A Comparison of The Jewel in the Crown and Wuthering Heights Essay

Shared Elements of The Jewel in the Crown and Wuthering Heights       The Jewel in the Crown, by Paul Scott, and Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte', are romantic tragedies which share many common elements. Although written in two vastly different time periods, the shared elements reveal the continuity of romantic tragedies over time. Wuthering Heights, a 19th century realistic fiction, shares the same kind of passionate, violent and emotional characters as The Jewel in the Crown, a post colonial modernist fiction. Both stories contain a love triangle which subsequently end in death.    In both stories, Catherine and Daphne are much alike in that they are the point around which the two men in their lives dance circles around. Catherine and Daphne are both willful, doing as they please, Catherine fostering her love for Heathcliff, and Daphne secretly seeing Hari Kumar. "At fifteen, she [Catherine] was the queen of the country-side; she had no peer, and she did turn out to be a haughty, headstrong creature" (WH, p. 51). And of Daphne, "She had to make her own marvelous mis...

Fear and Suspense in A Single Shot :: Single Shot Essays

Fear and Suspense in A Single Shot  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Matthew F. Jones' novel A Single Shot is a disturbing tale of one man's unfortunate mistake and the hellish consequences it brings him. John Moon, in need of money to support his estranged wife Moira and their infant son Nolan, sets out early one morning to hunt an impressive buck he has recently spotted grazing near his mountain home. Having weighed the value of the deer meat against the thousand dollars in fines and two months in jail he can expect to serve if caught shooting the animal out of season on state land, he decides it is worth the risk. This risk, however, proves to be far greater than John anticipates. After he wounds the deer, chases it several miles through dense underbrush, has his shoulder gored, and accidentally shoots sixteen-year-old Ingrid Banes dead before finally killing the buck, John is forced to reevaluate his decision. Having made the leap from small-time poacher to second degree murderer with a single misguided gunshot, John, his life transformed into a d elusory state of confusion and guilt, reacts reprehensibly, but similarly to how most decent individuals would likely respond if placed in his dreadful situation. Choosing to hide her body in a small cavern in the quarry, "because burial has a ring of finality to it he can't yet bear" (24), John runs to an abandoned lean-to where the girl and her boyfriend Waylon have been camping, in search of material to build a torch. There, stumbling upon a large metal container full of money that he is unable to resist keeping, he realizes his troubles may have only begun. Indeed, this is true, as in the few short days that follow, he is tormented incessantly by both his own conscience and the men whose money he now possesses. Jones is able to convey this torment, as well as evoke apprehension and suspense, through his expert use of such elements as setting, atmosphere, structure, narrative voice, and, especially, characterization and dramatic action. As the story opens John is embarking on a deer hunt in the early hours of morning. It is before sunrise, still "three-quarters dark" (3), and "it's so quiet in the forest that, even on a soft bed of pine needles, John's footsteps echo in his ears" (4). There is no wind, and as the scene unfolds, birds take flight, and the crows begin to caw.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Landfills Essay

In recent years, numerous groups, including federal agencies, have offered advice on how Britons can be â€Å"good environmentalists†. The broadcast and print media, consumers, legislators and even children are told what products and what actions are environmentally â€Å"good† and â€Å"bad†. The advice is based on little more than the simple-minded application of such core beliefs as â€Å"recycling is good†, â€Å"disposal are bad†, â€Å"packaging is bad† and â€Å"plastics are bad†. (Atkins, 2004) Careful studies show that disposables are not necessarily work than reusable or recyclable products. For example: Aseptic juice boxes (which are usually disposed of, rather than recycled) have a clear edge over their alternatives by most measures. Consumers who care mainly about landfills may then choose cloth diapers. (Leeden, 1991) For two-thirds of the Britons landfills (those without liners), it’s the products which degrade that pose a potential environmental threat. Degradation can lead to leaching and chemicals reach the water supply and cause a health threat to fish, wildlife and humans. The other one-third of landfills are completely sealed and allowed very little degradation. Most controlled wastes in Britain- that is; household, commercial and individual wastes- are disposed of to landfill. In England and Wales, 80% of their municipal solid waste is disposed to landfill, about 14%is incinerated and the rest are recycled. All waste disposal activities at landfill in Britain sites have been tightly regulated since a licensing system was introduced. The purpose of the licensing system was to ensure that the waste is recovered or disposed of in ways which protect the environment and human health. Within the planning regime, the emphasis is on an engineering approach to landfill design and construction based on site-specific assessment, underpinned by quality management and good operational practices to achieve a high standard of implementation and environmental protection. (Leeden, 1991) In Britain, despite these controls, concern continues to be expressed about whether landfill sites might present a health risk for people living nearby. A number of scientific studies have investigated whether there are higher than usual levels of adverse health events, such as cancer, or congenital anomalies, in populations living near to sites but no clear picture has emerged. Many of these studies investigated old sites, uncontrolled dumps or sites where significant off-site migration of chemicals was detected, and the results can not be extrapolated to landfill sites in general. In August 1998 a study of the incidence of congenital anomalies near hazardous waste landfill sites in Europe (the EUROHAZCON study) was published in the Lancet (Dolk et al Lancet, Volume 352, pp 423-427 and a relevant commentary on page 417). This study investigated pregnancy outcomes in women living within 7 kilometers of 21 hazardous waste landfill sites in five countries, including the UK. Overall, it found an increased incidence of congenital anomaly in babies whose mothers lived close to a landfill site compared to those who lived further away. Leeden, 1991) In conclusion, we can not safely dispose of solid waste. Government regulation and new technology permit the safe disposal of solid waste-in landfills or by waste-to-energy incineration-without threat to human health or environment. Even without new improvements, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the aggregate risk from all operating municipal solid waste landfills in Britain is one cancer death every 23 years.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Brian Moore – the Donegal connection

Belfast-born Brian Moore left Ireland a young man, and spent more than fifty years In Canada and the US. However, as Martin McKinley found out (belatedly he had strong links with Dongle. The great Brian Moore and the Dongle connection So I mention to Muriel that I'm doing an article about Brian Moore, the writer, and she says, â€Å"His mother was from Dongle, wasn't she? † It seems that the world has been aware for some time that the man regarded as one of the great Irish novelists had Dongle connections and, even better, Courthouse connections.If only I'd known that when I saw him read in a lecture theatre in Queen's university in Belfast, more than ten years ago. I could have asked him something original, like about the influence of Courthouse on his work. Instead, I asked him if he'd thought about coming back to live in Belfast. I mean, the man lived in Malibu at the time. He died there In January, 1 999, which was a shame for people like myself who waited for his new nove l every two years or so. It was hard to believe there would never be another Brian Moore book. But he had a long publishing career.His first novel, ‘The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearse', from 1955, Is probably still the one he's best known for. Four others were also made into films – The Luck of Ginger Coffey, ‘Catholics', ‘Cold Heaven' and ‘Black Robe'. He won many literary prizes, and was shortlist three times for the Booker Prize. He also worked with Alfred Hitchcock, writing the screenplay for Torn Curtain', starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. It's not really regarded as a classic, but Brian liked to take the credit for a particularly drawn-out – and famous – murder scene.He told Hitchcock he had learned from his father, a actor, that â€Å"people didn't always die as quickly as they did in movies. † Hitchcock took him at his word. Dentally Lodge The story of Brian Moor's Dongle connection begins back in another age, 1889, when his mother Eileen McFadden was born outside Courthouse, apparently in the download of Clashes. Her parents were Pat and Grace (nee McGee). She was among the youngest of a large family, and grew up in the family home in Dentally, a little way along the Courthouse to Carrier road.The McFadden were quite a notable family. Linen's grandfather Edward had a corn mill at Dentally. His brother was FRR Hugh McFadden UP Challenge, who died in 1868. He was the priest who accompanied some of those evicted in Terry. ‘each to Dublin on the first leg of their dinner arranged for them in a Dublin hotel. Linen's father Pat had two brothers who also became parish priests in the Arapaho diocese – Dean Hugh McFadden, UP Dongle and Vicar General, who died in 1908, and Archdeacon James, UP Challenge, who was known as ‘James of Glenda'.Eileen Moore attended Loretta Convent in Lettermen. She would have been fifteen when her father Pat died in 1905. As was fairly common in those days , she spent some time living with a relative, n her case Dean Hugh McFadden. It seems that he left her some money when he died and she used this to fund her nurse's training in Belfast. FRR John Silks, the well- known historian and diocesan archivist, recalls his mother Susan (nee McKinley from Boomer in Courthouse) telling of three girls from the parish who went to Belfast and all â€Å"married well†.One of them was Eileen McFadden. In 1915, when she was 25, she married a doctor more than twenty years her senior, James B. Moore, a Bellman man who worked in the Mater Hospital. In the next 12 years she had nine children, with Brian coming in number four on 25th August, 1921. The family lived in no 11 Clifton Street in North Belfast until they were bombed out of the house by the Germans in the Second World War. The house was eventually demolished in 1995, in spite of a campaign to save it because of its associations with Brian Moore.Briar's father also came from a strong Cathol ic background, if it was a bit more unusual than most. James Bi's father, James B. Senior, was a Presbyterian law clerk in Bellman who decided to become a Catholic even before he got married to one, Eleanor O'Hare. Their house was stoned every year on the Twelfth. It seems James B. Enron brought up his family with the zeal of a convert. All in all, it seems hardly surprising that Brian Moore spent a good part of his writing career exploring the whole idea of Catholicism, religion and the question of the afterlife.Holidays in Courthouse Growing up in the ass and ass, Brian spent quite a bit of time on holiday around Dentally and Courthouse. His sister Nun Maguire, who lives in Alular, says he had very fond memories of it. He stayed in Dentally with his mother's brother Jim Pat and his wife Martha. Patricia Craig writes – â€Å"The farmhouse was called Dentally and stood above a glen; it contained a stone-floored kitchen with huge iron cooking-pot; it was pervaded by the punge nt smell of turf-smoke, and not far away was the fifteenth- century Doe Castle, an enticing ruin in those days . † Brian himself wrote – â€Å"l seemed to be in an older Ireland, a place where life was elemental and harsh, yet close to a reality which was timeless and true. I would see a pig slaughtered, its blood running in rivulets in the yard outside the kitchen door. I would see a stallion mount a mare, its hooves scraping at the barrel of her rib-cage †¦ I would be butted by allow-eyed goats, kicked by donkeys when I tried to climb on their backs. I would see people drink tea, not from teacups as in Belfast, but from large china bowls I nth eighteenth-century manner.I would sit by the hob of the kitchen turf fire watching as floury potatoes were doled out to the men coming in from the fields for their noonday dinner . I would see long white clay pipes and plugs of tobacco laid out near Jugs Jim McFadden, a grandson of Linen's brother Jim Pat, is one of the ol der McFadden, and has a well-known shop in Strange. He doesn't really remember Brian at Dentally, but does recall the McFadden getting ready for the Mores' visits a few times. â€Å"One thing I do remember – Dry Moore smoked cigars.It was a very unusual thing for me to see anybody smoking cigars in those days. † Jim thought that the Mores didn't really feel at home in Dentally. â€Å"It wasn't really what they were used to, although the house was a lot better than most of us had at the time. † It may have been the profits from the McFadden cornmeal which helped the family build Dentally well over a hundred years ago. It was regarded as one of the finest houses in the rear, certainly a cut above the ordinary with its sitting room, bedrooms and an outside toilet.Michael McFadden, who lives in the modern Dentally now with his wife Caroline and their children Bobbie (12), Doran (6) and Michael (5), says wedding receptions used to be held in the sitting room. A coupl e recently returned to mark their golden wedding anniversary by getting their photograph taken in front of the marble fireplace. However, as Brian Moore recalled it in an article in 1980, Courthouse was still a big change from city life – â€Å"Dongle is an extremely wild and rocky-looking place in the west of Ireland. I used to go there when I was a boy, to a farm owned by a poor Irish subsistence farmer.I would move from our middle-class world to an absolutely peasant environment. † Loved the country Jim recalls him going to a farm belonging to an uncle-in-laws brother around Darwinian to help out during the summer. â€Å"l don't think he liked it very well – I think he said they cut the bread too thick! † But Brian Moor's sister Nun Maguire says he had very fond memories of Dentally. â€Å"He loved the country. Going there on his holidays as a child gave him a great sense of freedom. We grew up in a four storey house in Belfast, but we had no garden. The freedom in Dongle appealed very much to him.He could wander about in a way that we wouldn't be allowed to in the city. † Brian Moore left Belfast a young man and traveled around theatres of the Second World War as a civilian working with the British Ministry of War Transport. He lived for eleven years in Canada and became a Canadian citizen. He moved to the United States in 1959, and it was his base for forty years. His writing career began with a series of detective potboilers under various names, which he reckoned sold about 800,000 copies. ‘Judith Hearse' was his first ‘serious' novel in 1955. An early ‘review in the summer of that year came in a letter from his mother.She said about some of the more explicit bits – muff certainly left nothing to the imagination, and my advice to you in your next book leave out parts like this. You have a good imagination and could write books anyone could read. † She added, â€Å"l am glad to find you we re kind to the Church and clergy. † The book was later banned in the Republic. In 1995 Brian and his wife Jean built a house in Nova Scotia, on the coast. He said at the time – â€Å"It's beautiful. It looks out on a bay that looks Just like Dongle. It's very wild He was quite a regular visitor to Ireland over the years, but recognition came fairly late here.This was the man who went into a Dublin bookshop at one point and asked if they'd anything by an Irish novelist Brian Moore. He was told no, but they did have one or two books by a Canadian novelist of the same name. It seems that Brian Moore didn't re-visit Dongle very often, although he and Jean stayed with Brian Fries and his wife at Mobile on at least one occasion. His brother Seam's, a doctor in Belfast who also died in recent years, did keep up contact with the Courthouse connection. Michael McFadden says that Briar's late sister Pebbling, who lived in Manchester, also visited in recent years.Final farewell B riar's final visit to Dentally came with Jean and his sister Nun, she thinks about twelve or so years ago. They visited Challenge Castle, and then went across to Courthouse and over to Dentally. Brian thought the house was â€Å"spruced up† a lot from how he remembered it. He knocked on the door, but there was no one in. Brian went across the road and spent a while looking over the bridge at the spectacular gorge with its trees and fast-flowing water, as he'd done in his childhood. â€Å"He had ere, very happy times there,† Nun said.Both Brian and Jean loved the west coast, and on one of their tours came across a tiny graveyard in Connector. Brian was surprised to find in this beautiful spot the grave of Bubble Hobnobs, a Belfast Quaker, one-time vice-president of Sin Feint, and a good friend of his father and his uncle Neon O'Neill. Later when Brian and Jean talked of where their ashes would end up, they both wrote their choice separately on a piece of paper. The piec es said the same thing – the Connector graveyard. It seems that Brian Moor's remains will finally return to the west of Ireland, which he came to know as a boy.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Imagine you are a very lonely person Essay

Today it has been three and half years since I was sentenced to jail for four years. My life in jail is very miserable and lonely, because since I came here no one has come to see me, my family and all my friends have disappeared. Today I was sitting near a visitor area; I saw a lot of people come to visit their relatives, who have been in jail. I remember days ago, before I came to this place, how I was happy with my family and friends, but no one today is coming to see me. Now I feel rejected by every one and for me I’m very hurt by this. It’s night – one of the prisoners is sick and no doctors or nurses to help him. I started to think how it would be if this happened to me. I remembered days ago with my family, when I was sick, they were always beside me trying to give hope, but now I’m disappointed and lonely, because no one will do that, every one who I loved has disappeared. It’s a lovely morning; I still desperate, because one of us has finished his prison term, his relatives and friends are here to take their beloved one. I started to think, when I finish my sentence, will anyone come to meet me? But I remained silent and started to think back to why all of this had happened to me. 5th December 2003 Dear Diary, Today I finish my punishment; I feel happy to finish this, because I know that now I will join my family and friends, whom I haven’t seen for four years. We are twenty people who are being released from jail today. All my fellow prisoners have been collected by their relatives and friends but I haven’t seen anyone, although I waited for two hours, but no one came, I felt sad and disappointed for what is happening to m me now. I asked myself where all the people were who I had spent my life with before I came here; even my family is not here today. I decided to go to my house; when I reached there I was shocked and speechless, because it had changed and I met other people whom I didn’t know, they told me that they had bought that house two years ago. I was shocked, anger and it was bitter painful to me for what my wife had done; I thought, where I will go, because I’m homeless now. I went to my brother’s house to beg for help but when he saw me, his face changed. I didn’t know why. He told me that my wife and kids had moved away after I had been sentenced to jail and he didn’t know where they were now. I begged my brother to allow me to stay for a short time while I looked for a job and a place to live, he seemed unhappy when I said this. At last he allowed me to stay for three days and after that I would need to find somewhere I could go. I went to the room and started thinking about why my own brother was doing this to me; I was anger and frustrated for what my brother said. I thought about the time, years ago, when he had stayed with me in my house for three years and tears started to come from my eyes, when I remembered this and compared it to what he was doing to me now. 20th January 2004 Dear Diary, Today I went back to my company, where I was working before I was sentenced to jail. I met a lot of people, who I had been working with, but they didn’t have time to talk to me, I felt rejected and unhappy. I remember, when we were working together, we were happy and we were very close, but now they were pushing me away from them. My manager told me there was no chance for me to come back; I was shocked and speechless, when he said that. I went back home and started to wonder bitterly why I have all the qualifications, but all the companies to which I applied for work turned down my applications. It was a frustrating and sad time; I told my brother what had happened to me, but he didn’t understand; he chased me from his house and said to me, ‘I don’t care where you go or what happens to you’. I felt heart broken, because I never thought that my brother would do such a thing as this. While I was walking down the street, I saw many people playing and laughing with their families. I remembered my family when we were together and how happy we were. I sat down at the corner of the street and started to think why all of this was happening to me. I stayed there for an hour, just thinking what to do, and I decided the only way to overcome this was to commit suicide, because it was all too much.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

A cream cracker under the settee

Dramatic monologue is a variation of lyric poem in which the character expresses his/her emotions, actions, feelings or motives. It is written to reveal the situation as well as the character.In dramatic monologue, a single speaker who is not the poet utters the poem at a critical situation thereby adding depth to the character. In fact, we come to know about the myriad aspects of the character by listening to the speaker. This was developed during Victorian era and Robert Browning perfected this form.In the dramatic monologue â€Å"A cream cracker under the settee†, Alan Bennett puts forth his views on the society’s treatment of the elderly and the consequences thereof. He accomplishes this by describing an elderly lady’s view of the world and her loneliness.The play starts with Doris, the elderly lady sitting on the floor of her living room. She has fallen down while cleaning the photo of her late husband Wilfred. She strongly believes that the world of her tim e is much better than the present. She feels that people of her time were cleaner and more responsible than the people of today.This shows why she disapproves her domestic help, Zulema, who had not cleaned the photo in the first place. She enjoys her old memories and the lovely time she had with her husband as can be seen by the way she talks to her dead husband’s old photographs. This also shows that she is lonely and misses company.She feels she is â€Å"left behind† by the people of her generation. This loneliness can also be attributed to the lack of self-understanding and the understanding of others. Through the entire play, Doris attempts to alienate herself from the so-called â€Å"corrupt† society of today.Doris has a compulsive obsession with cleanliness. In her younger days, she had forbidden her husband Wilfred from taking up any hobbies that could be messy. When they were younger, they had a baby that died during birth.The nurse had wrapped the baby in newspaper, which according to Doris was â€Å"dirty†. This reveals that she did not want her child, even though dead, to be associated with anything dirty. She is very concerned about what her others would say if she is not spotlessly clean.This can be seen when the leaves from the next door blow into her garden and she says â€Å"I ought to put a sign on the gate, not my leaves†. She was scared that other her neighbors may not think high of her hygiene and so she asked her husband Wilfred to concrete the garden so that it would be easier to clean.While Doris is on the floor, she looks at her wedding photo and talks to her husband about her loneliness and how she was happier in her days. Her happiness in her younger days could be due to various reasons and one of the important reasons would be the total independence and the â€Å"ruler of the roost† that she enjoyed. She also laments about the need for â€Å"home help† now. This is why she disapproves of her home help, Zulema.She cannot accept that she needs Zulema because that means she is forfeiting her independence. She feels that she is not dependent on Zulema for anything. She gets very picky when Zulema tells her â€Å"you’d be better in Stafford House†. Stafford House is the local old age people’s home.Though Zulema’s intentions were right, she said that because she wanted someone to take control of Doris’s life, Doris felt that as an intrusion into her independence. According to Doris, Stafford House represents domination by others and the acceptance of her dependence on someone. She cannot accept her own inability to support herself physically.This yearning for independence is very evident when a policeman comes to check on her. The policeman asks her, â€Å"Are you alright?† Doris replies, â€Å"No. I’m all right.† This also reflects that she has gotten herself into a mindset which makes it difficult for her to acc ept the hardships and difficulties of old age.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Kodak and Fujifilm Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Kodak and Fujifilm - Research Paper Example The company was able to command 90% of the market by the year 1976. The 90% market command was because of sale of films and the sales of cameras were able to command 85% of the market share in the USA (Burley, 2007). History of Fujifilm Fujifilm is a Japanese multinational company that is based in Tokyo, Japan. The company deals with activities like production, development, servicing, and sales of colored photographic films, photofinishing equipments, digital cameras, color paper, photofinishing chemicals, graphic arts equipments, medical imaging equipments, optical devices, printers, photocopiers, and panel display. The company was established in the year 1934. The aim of the company was to be the very first Japanese manufacturer of photographic film. Within a period of 10 years, the company was able to produce motion-picture films, photographic films, and x-ray films. The company was able to enter into optical glass business in the year 1940s. Other products produced were lenses an d equipments in the market. Diversification of the company’s products was done after the Second World War. The company was able to produce medical products, printing, magnetic materials fields, and electronic imaging. Both Fuji Photo and Rank Xerox that are UK Company launched Fuji Xerox Co. Ltd. Fuji Company was able to intensify its businesses overseas in the 1950s. This company was able to enjoy a monopoly in Japan market (Burley, 2007). Core businesses Both Fujifilm and Kodak have focused on imaging and photography as the core business. Kodak had started earlier than Fujifilm. Fujifilm Company gave a lot of emphasis to market changes and through that, it was able to maintain a reckoning up date. On the contrary, its counterpart Kodak is in bankruptcy protection. Management of Kodak Company The management of the company failed to move fast into the digital world. The company was able to face technological discontinuities. This is because the company failed to combat the ne w changes. The company was reported to be full of complacency. The top officials of the company failed to employ quick strategies to combat the changes in technology. The company can be said to have been built on a culture of innovations and change. The success earned by the company in the early years of the 1970s made its leaders to block their ears from the cry of the customers about the looming failure that was ahead of the company. The poor management finally led to the collapse of the company. Unlike Fuji Film Company that decided to embrace technology, Kodak Company failed to embrace technology. They were not able to go digital at the time when Fuji Film was going digital (Don, 2011). Management of Fujifilm The company was able to build strong and robust corporate constitution. This was possible through implementation of structural reforms that were able to encompass every facet of its operations. The company was able to expand its business in the global markets such as emergi ng countries. A lot of business deteriorated in Europe due to flooding in Thailand. This greatly affected this company and as a result, the company was able to lose a lot of earnings and revenues from Europe. After this downturn, the company was able to employ new medium term management. The new medium term management was covered in the VISION80 plan of the company. The plan was to cover two years. The two years were 2013 and 2014. Unlike a Kodak company, the company was

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Strategic Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic Supply Chain Management - Essay Example on the other hand, are looking for cheap labour oriented countries when they wanted to produce something and wealthy countries when they wanted to sell something. For example, many companies are currently selecting India and China as their manufacturing destinations and America and Europe as their selling destinations. Under such circumstances, strategic supply chain management is getting prominence in the business world at present. Even though industries and academia are giving huge importance to supply chain management (SCM), strategic supply chain management (SSCM) and its principles are taken lightly by the business world until recent times. The definition of SCM is quite familiar to the business world; however, same thing cannot be said about the definition of SSCM. According to Ming-Hon Hwang (2010), â€Å"SSCM refers to a situation in which its members always realize the whole direction and strategy when a  supply chain  carries out various functional activities to achieve a competitive advantage and long-term profit-making position among  supply  chains  in the same industry†(p.127). Automobile industry, especially car industry is currently facing heavy competition. In order to overcome the competition, car manufacturers have to make strategic long-term decisions regarding the location of their principal assembly plants. Such decisions have to account for many factors including, for example, markets, production sequencing, levels of investment and relationships with suppliers. This paper provides a critical assessment of the facility location decisions car manufacturers have to make regarding assembly plants and the level of importance attributed by the manufacturers to the location of their suppliers. â€Å"Supply chains are value-adding relations of partially discrete, yet inter-reliant, units that cooperatively transform raw materials into ï ¬ nished products through sequential, parallel, and/or network structures† (Hult et al., 2007, p.1035). When it

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Human Resource Management Concepts based on Case Study

Human Resource Management Concepts based on - Case Study Example This is generally known as person specification (Preston, 2011). It includes the minimum requirements with respect to skills, qualifications, attributes and personality traits deemed suitable for the job. Any non conformity to this description or any deviation in the actual requirements may lead to mismatch in the aspirations of the applicants and finally leads to increased turnover. The second step of selection and recruitment process is the interview and test (Preston, 2011). These are basically used to determine the qualititative and quantitative aptitude of the applicants and understanding the fitness of the applicant in the organizational culture. This policy is quite important as it tests the fitness of the candidate in the workplace and ultimately leads to reduced turnover when the candidate is a perfect fit. This also gives candidates a chance to understand the job requirements and helps them evaluate the suitability of the job for themselves (Rees and Smith, 2014). Thus such a recruitment policy where both employers and prospective employees understand the each other leads to reduction in turnover rates. Thus staff turnover is highly affected by the type of recruitment and selection methods that a company uses. The recruitment and selection policies of the organizations should be so designed so as to ensure the matching of the aspiration of the employees at the same time must be profitable for the employer too. There are several advantages of recruiting new employees through the job experience day. The first advantage being that this approach helps new applicants understand the job requirements better through hands on experience of the job. In a traditional interview or test type format where the candidates can only imagine the type of job they are applying based solely on the job description provided (Preston, 2011), in the

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

The Impact of Leadership on the Growth and Performance Research Paper

The Impact of Leadership on the Growth and Performance - Research Paper Example Issues such as cultural values combined with the personal experiences of the individual have a profound influence on all the aspects that the above-mentioned topic tends to deal with. Above all, the individual personality of the leader cum moderator is another aspect that goes a long way in determining the extent of success that the group can experience by way of one’s actions. In fact, all these theories have functioned as the basis for the theory of the upper echelon over a number of decades and have been based on the principle of bounded rationality. One of the many such places where leadership is nurtured and inspired from a very young age is at our very day care centres, where inspired yet simple leaders take the responsibility of bringing together young minds and leaders of tomorrow under a common roof and teach them the importance of thinking, motivation and self-confidence and instil the notion of participation and group work right from an early age. As such, the proposed research study aims to evaluate all these three theories that are considered as the primary elements of leadership at a daycare center (David Ketchen, 2006). The reasons behind choosing such a topic are deemed important as it allows me to relate my experiences as a daycare worker over a period of 2 decades in using leadership to foster growth and involvement amongst children. Speaking specifically, there are a number of different elements that assist a worker within a daycare center to influence and shape the strategic direction of the group (of children), thus providing a direct impact on the performance and growth of all children within this group. The first and the foremost step in this process is to ensure the collective participation of every child and take the right decisions depending on the level of response from every child  and the ability in these responses by instilling the faith in every child over their relevance and importance to the success of the group.  

Monday, September 9, 2019

Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada v.V Annotated Bibliography

Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada v.V. Bell Canada - Annotated Bibliography Example The copyright board had stated that a certain high school should pay the royalties for copying material form a given textbook. However, the court ruled out the statement and stated that the high school should pay no royalties to the board. The decision was made even after the board stated that the material was not used in a fair deal as the copyright legislation states. In a certain case that covered the issue of music downloads, the lower court decided that the society of composers, authors and music publishers should collect royalties from the individuals downloading the music or videos. The royalties of the copyright are recognized and approved by the copyright board of Canada. This copyright stated that those individuals who did not agree to pay the royalties; the board should seek for judicial help and then sue them in the federal court of appeal. On the other hand, the Supreme Court turned down the decision made by the lower court. The supreme disagreed with the fact that the board should collect royalties from individuals downloading music from the internet. The Supreme Court stated that the telecommunications companies or organizations that give music services to customers won’t pay any royalties to the copyright collection agencies. The court said that they will pay a royalty to copy the song but if the organization transmits the so ng to another person or customer, it should not pay. The society of composers, authors and music publishers presented an appeal case to the court following the court’s decision on the payment of royalties upon music downloads. The organization stated that the use of the music was not under their copyright constitution. Their constitution stated that the use of downloaded music or videos should be done on affair dealing. The society then presented their rights to the court which included

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Factors affecting Key Skills Achievements in Further Education Essay

Factors affecting Key Skills Achievements in Further Education - Essay Example During the last years the attention is paid to the key skills development though they are not considered to be popular. Indeed, it was pressure from employers that resulted in the Key Skills standards being revised in QCA’s Phase 1 Report, and recommendations were made in September 2001. The research showed that sometimes the Key Skills are even more effective than the professional ones. That is the reason for Key Skills to be an integral part of the educational programmes. There are some different views as to â€Å"key† skills, but The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) has stated some number of skills which are considered to be â€Å"key†. These are such skills as: problem solving (defining the problems, choosing the alternative solutions to the problem, planning the actions to be taken). The most important of them are: communication, application of number, and information technology. Nowadays a great attention is paid to such a notion as â€Å"functional illiteracy†. But this notion should not be confused with the notion of ignorance. In today’s changing environment employers are demanding different skills from their employees. The Moser Report: A Fresh Start, improving Literacy and Numeracy (1999), opened with the statement: ‘Something like one in five adults in this country is not functionally literate and far more have problems with numeracy and one of the reasons for relatively low productivity in our economy’. This suggests that individuals do not have the functional skills and may be the reason why QCA’s current project may result in a name change from Key Skills to ‘Functional Skills’ According to Alexander Alexander’s (1999 p117) the statistics of the U.N.O. shows that 99 per cent of citizens of the USA, Germany, Great Britain and other European countries are literate people. The problem of functional

Japanese festivals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Japanese festivals - Essay Example Japanese Matsuri (festivals) are habitual festive events. There are in addition a variety of local festivals that are mainly unidentified external to a specified region. It is normally thought that one will for all time discover a festival everywhere in Japan. In Japan, festivals are typically supported by a confined temple or holy place, although they can be worldly. However, festivals are mostly originated just about one or two major occasions, with foodstuff stands, amusement and celebration playoffs to keep individuals occupied with entertainment. There is no particular matsuri time for every one in Japan, therefore dates differ from region to region and even inside an exact district, except festival days to be inclined to the group around the usual vacations for instance Setsubun or Obon. Approximately every surroundings has as a minimum of single matsuri in late summer or in the early days of autumn, generally linked to the rice yield. Noteworthy matsuri frequently characterist ic demonstrations which might absorb complicated drifts. Preparation for these demonstrations is generally prearranged at the stage of areas or in other words "machi."Previous to these, the neighbouring kami might be ritually mounted in mikoshi and procession all the way through the lanes. An individual can at all times discover in the surrounding area of a matsuri stalls selling mementos and foodstuff for example takoyaki and playoffs for example Goldfish scooping. Karaoke competitions, sumo games and other types of activity are repeatedly prearranged in concurrence with matsuri. Preferred essentials of the generally popular matsuri, for instance the Nada Kenka Matsuri of Himeji or the Neputa Matsuri of Hirosaki, are habitually televised on TV for the whole country to have the benefit of it. A number of festivals are mentioned below. Seijin Shiki (Coming of Age Day) Seijin Shiki is held on the 2nd Monday in January. Celebrations contain rituals held at neighbouring and territory workplaces and social gatherings among relatives and associates to rejoice course into middle age. Hinamatsuri (Doll Festival) The Japanese Doll Festival, or in other words Girl's Day, is supposed on 3rd March, the 3rd day of the 3rd month. Display places with a red hi-mosen are worn to present a position of decorative dolls, demonstrating the sovereign, empress, followers and performers in customary court clothes of the Heian era. Introduction to Japanese Culture 3 Hanami (Flower Viewing) Hanami is the Japanese conventional tradition of taking pleasure in the exquisiteness of flowers, "flower" in this situation is nearly at all times means cherry blossoms or Ume flowers. From late March to the untimely May, sakura flourish every where in Japan. The flower conjecture is proclaimed every year by the weather organizations and is observed cautiously by those who are doing the preparation of hanami as the flowers. In contemporary Japan, hanami mainly consists of containing an open-air party underneath the sakura through day

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Bromantes Architecture Represents the High Reneissance Essay Example for Free

Bromantes Architecture Represents the High Reneissance Essay Donato Bramante was born in 1444 to a poor farmer’s family. Bramante was a famous Italian painter and architect. He moved to the city of Milan in 1474, where the gothic style of buildings influenced his creations. The High Renaissance was a time in Italy and Rome that the artists were learning how to show perspective, and about anatomy. Donato D’ Angelo Bramante made his mark in the High Renaissance period. He inspired other architects to express themselves. Some of his works include the church of Santa Maria presso, the Tempietto, Santa Maria delle Grazie, the new St.   Peter’s church, and others (Catt, 2010). By 1499, the French occupation of Milan had forced Bramante to Rome. Taken up by the entourage of Alexander VI, he first designed the cloister of S. Maria della Pace (Bramante, Donato, 1994). In 1476 Bramante first greatest achievement was the church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro. It was built on commission by Duke Sfora that was dedicated to Saint Satyrus (biographybace, n. d. ). However, Bramante’s contributions are seen in the choir area that he remodeled. Bramante had used perspective painting to make it look larger than it really was. Using the art of illusion he made the choir seem to be three bays long, but the space did not actually exist. There was a wall that prevented Bramante from building the choir. So what you see actually is only one meter deep (Web Gallery of Art, n. d. ). â€Å"Italian architect and painter. He is best known as the greatest exponent of High Renaissance architecture. His first building, Santa Maria presso San Satiro in Milan (c. 481), use perspective to give an illusion of deeply receding space in the choir. In 1506, he started rebuilding St Peters, Rome. His influence was enormous, and many Milanese painters took up his interest in perspective and trompe loeil† Donato Bramante, (2008). The Tempietto was another one of Donoto Bromante’s great works. It is believed that this shrine was built on the site of St. Peter’s martyrdom. This piece was commissioned by King Ferdinand and Queen Is abella for this very reason (kleiner, 2010). The Tempietto was a small round temple at San Pietro in Montro, in Rome, and was build 1502. This piece of architecture is considered to be a masterpiece of High Renaissance (kleiner, 2010). The Essential humanities. net, calls it â€Å"the crowning jewel of High Renaissance† (2010 p3). His classical structure contains many elements such as; columns, a dome, drum, base, and a vault. This small design was Bramante’s â€Å"most harmonious building of the renaissance† (biographybase, n. d. , p. 1). â€Å"The Tempietto (1502) at S Pietro in Montorio, Rome. The small circular structure, erected as a martyrium to St Peter, is reminiscent of the temple of Sibyl at Tivoli, with its classical entablature carried on a Tuscan Doric colonnade and rich frieze of metopes and triglyphs. It was the first monument of the High Renaissance and established a prototype for sixteenth-century church design† (Bromate, donato 1987). One of Bromante’s early works in Milan was the church of Santa Maria delie Grazie. This building was started by another architect. The Santa Maria delie Grazie was a large church with long aisles. Bramante contributed to this work by adding the tribune to the east end. When Bramante went to Rome, he left this church unfinished (Web Gallery of Art, n. d. ). According to the text the old Saint Peter’s was falling apart and deeded much repair. Julius II chose Bramante to design and replace the Saint Peter’s church. The floor plan of the new Saint Peter’s church featured a cross â€Å"with arms of equal length, each terminating in an apse† (kleiner, 2010 p. 477par. 3). Julius II wanted the new church to serve as a memorial, to mark Saint Peter’s grave and have his own tomb in the church. Bramante’s plans were complex and extreme with intricate symmetries of a crystal. His plan showed none interlocking crosses in which five of them were supporting the domes. However, Bramante died in 1514, at the age of seventy, about the time the construction began (Nickerson, 2008). â€Å"Bramantes plan has been obscured by later work, though Michelangelo used as much of it as he could. What the interior would have looked like can be seen in Raphaels painting The School of Athens† (Bramante, Donato [1444 1514]. 1994). The works of Donato Bramante include the church of Santa Maria presso, the Tempietto, Santa Maris delie Grazie, the new St. Peter’s church, and others. Bramante’s works are divided into two time periods. The first period was spent in Milan, and the second was in Rome. In Milan, his work was decorative and picturesque. However, in Rome his work became more in the High Renaissance style (Sauer, 1907). He set the stage for artist in the High Renaissance, and his work with perspectives have been studied and copied today.

Friday, September 6, 2019

Ethnic group Essay Example for Free

Ethnic group Essay In this section, we will discuss race, ethnicity, and multiculturalism and how they are depicted in the show. These concepts are somehow illustrated in this television series. Race, in the American society, has been typified by black skin color. The unique cultural traits and the sense of community African-Americans share reflect their ethnicity. On the other hand, Kady, the youngest child in the Kyle family, represents multiculturalism through her knowledge of multiple languages. The following section will define, operationalize, and describe these concepts and how they are evident in the show. Race is a category of people used to differentiate people in terms of physical appearance, particularly skin color. People who have the same physical characteristics are from the same race. The concept that is used to operationalize race is skin color. In this show, the dominant race is â€Å"black† but there are a few characters that are â€Å"white. † People who have a dark skin color are considered non-Caucasians. In this series, the racial minority is the Caucasian because the non-Caucasians are the dominant group that makes up most of the characters. Therefore, race is largely unmentioned during the show because most of the characters are from the same race. However, there is one episode in season two where there was an argument between two different races, the Caucasians and the non-Caucasian. At the beginning of this episode, Michael is forced to take his family out for a meal. He is annoyed when he realized that the restaurant is expensive and the service isn’t good enough. Michael’s evening worsens as he gets to sit next to Stuart Tyler’s family, a guy whom he got angry at in the gas station for taking to long to gas up his tank. A few minutes later, Stuart starts insulting Michael’s kids, citing their smell, while Michael insults Stuart’s kids by telling Stuart that â€Å"they look like squirrels. † Afterwards, Michael apologizes to Stuart but seconds later they argue again on who’s the bigger man. They make amends again but then argue cause Stuart held Michael’s lobster without washing his hands after urinating. When they starting singing â€Å"Happy Birthday† for Stuart’s wife, Stuart interrupts in the middle and is irritated by the fact that Michael isn’t singing. The arguing just keeps going and going and things never got any better. They leave the restaurant at odds with one another. Michael and Stuart’s altercation evidenced friction between Caucasian and non-Caucasians but apart from this episode, race is not a point of reference throughout the scope of the show. Consequently, race is insignificant in this show and is proven to be unimportant within the Kyle family. An ethnic group is a group of people who have common national or cultural characteristics. An ethnic group has five main characteristics: (1) unique cultural traits such as language, clothing, holiday, or religious practices; (2) a sense of community; (3) a feeling of ethnocentrism; (4) ascribed membership from birth; and (5) tendency to occupy a distinct geographic area (Caron 269). The social structures ethnicity groups strengthen social solidarity. Social structures are the stable pattern of social relationships that exist within a group or society (Soci1002E, Lect. 5, 2012). The main ethnic group in the show is the African-Americans. The unique cultural traits and the sense of belonging is what will be used to operationalize ethnicity. The sense of belonging within the African-Americans in the show is what empowers this ethnic group. A social structure is the stable pattern of social relationships that exists within a particular group or society (Soci 1002E, Lecture 6, 2012). The African-Americans in the show share the same language, and a sense of belonging. The language that the African-Americans use is English as it is their first language in their country and state. Michael’s youngest daughter is learning Spanish and Swahili but her mother tongue is English. Throughout the show, the Kyle family develops relationships with other African-Americans individuals. Michael married an African-American woman. Junior impregnated an African-American woman; Vanessa. Claire and Kady retain African-American boyfriends. Also, Junior has many African-Americans friends. All these relationships prove that the African-American community shares a sense of belonging. The language and the sense of community is what make the African-Americans a powerful ethnic group in the show. Multiculturalism is a philosophy that respects ethnic diversity within a community that encourages people to learn about other cultures. A multicultural person acknowledges and accepts diverse cultures other than his or her own and tries to learn from them. The way this concept is measured is by understanding and learning other cultures, especially through its’ language. Kady Kyle, Michael’s youngest child, is the precocious one out of Michael’s sons and daughters. She is referred to as â€Å"the cute one† because she is the youngest one in the family. â€Å"The cute one† strongly supports the idea of multiculturalism through her musical talent. In the Episode †Making the Grade†, the Kyle family are sitting at a table while Michael Kylie checks out his sons’ report card. After they are done celebrating Claire’s outstanding report card, Michael calls on Kady to come and sit on his lap. Kady innocently says, â€Å"I don’t have a report card. † â€Å"Yes, but you do go to school, right? You go to music class. How are you doing there? † replies her father. â€Å"Well, I learned a new song called Itsy Bitsy Spider† she answered. Her father then claims that he never heard this song before and asks her to sing it for him. She starts singing the song until he father interrupts her and tells her to sing the song in Spanish. So she starts singing in Spanish until her father tell hers to sing it in Swahili, a language spoken by several countries in East Africa. Kady is learning about other cultures through their language at a very young age. She is willing to learn more about other languages and is doing so through an artistic way. She found an interesting way to connect music and culture together which is very smart for someone her age. By choosing this concept, we concentrated on the cultural diversity aspect of the television show. This scene allowed us to demonstrate my knowledge in understanding the sociological concept, multiculturalism. The scene depicts a multicultural young girl who is eager to discover other cultures, especially its’ language. To conclude, these three concepts are demonstrated in a way or the other. After operationalizing, analyzing these sociological concepts, and applying them in My Wife and Kids, we discovered that ethnicity and multiculturalism are clearly portrayed, while race isn’t really significant in the show. Race isn’t really depicted in the show but the constant disagreement between Michael and Stuart reveals a slight conflict between the non-Caucasians and the Caucasians. The African-Americans have proven that they are a strong ethnic group through their culture and sense of community. In the show, they all speak the same language and have several relationships between each other. Kady Kyle’s comprehension of other cultures is what ascertains that multiculturalism is evident in the show.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Sport And Social Class

Sport And Social Class Today sport is seen as a symbol of unity for the young people, something you can do no matter what is your skin color or your social status. In the past the difference between social classes was notable, and often people were not allowed to train or participate in games because of their social status. In his book The Ancient Olympic Games, Judith Swaddling shows us the first social differences in sport. In those Olympics almost everyone was allowed to participate except the slaves, who were counted as items back then and giving any kind of freedom to these people was something unheard of. The big difference between classes back then was shown in the horse racing. In this sport you could participate only with your own horse, and since the one race was long at least 6 tracks the only people who could afford such training, and also to feed both the horse and rider. Also the Olive wreath was not awarded to the jockey, but to the horse owner which discriminated all of the jockey effort. There were also chariot races were chariot were pulled by two or four horses, there the principle remain the same and the horse owners gained all the fame, instead of the hard working jockeys. In the Middle Ages the difference between the rich and poor in the sport continued to grow. The Olympics of that time The Knight Tournaments were allowed only for aristocrats and royals and the poor were not allowed even as spectators. The poor people were left to be in a league of their own. During this period for the rich people the Bowls became one of the biggest sports in the country only because they loved to gamble on it. Also Colf (the today`s Golf) was very popular among the nobles . The peasants mainly trained with the sole purpose to be prepared for war, and this is the biggest reason why sword fighting and archery were so popular back then. ( Medieval Sports (2012). www.middle-ages.org.uk) During the Georgian era the class difference decreased. The main sport played back then was cricket and both rich and poor played it. The main changing factor was gambling to cricket which was something very popular for the rich. Often they hired people from the lower classes to play for their teams in exchange for money. Many of the lower class cricket players were offered work in the Lords mansions. A lot of the richer players were against this, mainly because they believed sport must remain clean, without any financial stimulation to the players. Of course the rich could afford to play and spend the time, but for the poor who needed to work extra hard to get their food this was unbelievable. This is the period when the first disputes between amateurs and professionals came up. In a popular article Sandiford (1983) shows us the difference between the social classes during the Victorian era is increased again. The amateurs (upper-class) were distancing themselves from the lower class professionals. Class distinctions were so big that both sides used different dressing rooms, used different trains to travel and etc. E.J. Tiger Smith of Warwickshire wrote- Even the stands were built with the idea of separating the elite from the multie. There were members pavilions, balconies, grandstands, and open areas-each denoting, trough price and usage, a certain social status. (Sandiford 1983, page 33). The amateurs officially claimed that they do everything because they want to keep the sport clean but, many historians doubt this and claim they dont want their games to attract attention from the lower classes and to be played for fun just between them. Even many clubs organized cricket games between the amateurs and the professionals the difference in the social class stayed many years ahead. The upper and lower class often hated each other and the games where the lower class won were remembered as remarkable. Many people nowadays claim that cricket is so unique game because of the amateurs and the fact that in so many years no one was remembered but the game was still the number 1 sport in the country. Many amateurs actually made money from cricket, by going to different countries on tours and making huge profit from it, but since it was unofficial payment nobody protested. Even until 1952 the difference between crickets remained as the journalist from the Financial Times, Rob Has tings wrote: When Len Hutton led the England team out to field against India at Headingley in the summer of 1952, so becoming the countrys first professional captain, he was quietly cocking a snook at the cricketing establishment. Cricketers in England had, for as long as anyone could remember, being divided by social hierarchy. There were the Gentlemen; and then there were the Players. For the Players, cricket was a living. They were from the working classes and were paid fees to play for their counties and their country. The Gentlemen, on the other hand, were from aristocratic backgrounds and were sufficiently well off to play for the love of the game alone. In his book Rugbys Great Split Tony Collins presents to us one of the biggest social battles in sport. In 1890 the working class clubs from North were in a big conflict with the southern clubs of gentlemen, (the upper class) because they could not turn professionals, and after furious disputes and refuse to step back from both sides. For a long time the working class people in the North liked to play the hacking game of rugby than any other. This sport was among the most popular ones in the north of England and most of the players were workers in the mines or the factories. The dream to play the game they love and get paid for doing this was so close to them, but the rich amateurs from the south were strictly against this and the Rugby Union federation which was located in the south did not let them to accept payments. The rugby players and official from the north decided to start their own league, which will be fully professional and players can be payed for playing their favorite g ame. The rivalry between the working class north and the upper class south increased after this decision. After the new found Rugby League was found mainly from teams from the North many amateurs came there to play for money, and also many northern clubs players and administration workers quit because they still believed in amateurism. This made the Rugby Union league even weaker causing a big problem for the Rugby Union, taking them 18 years to win another international championship.