An Analysis of as the Dead Prey Upon Us by Charles Olson

As the Dead Prey Upon Us Analysis Charles Olson was an innovative essayist and poet in the 1950s-1960s. He created the idea of â€Å"Projective verse† and wrote and essay on it, asserting that a poem is a transfer of energy from the writer to reader. Projective verse allows the energy of the poem to be properly discharged. He also explained that form is an extension of the content of the poem, which is why are all breathed conditioned by his ear.He thought the best verses were supposed to sync your ear and your breath. Olson also believed closed form and structured stanzas wasn’t conducive to expressing details and making truly original poetry. This idea of projective verse gives us an understanding when studying the form of â€Å"As the Dead Prey Upon Us†. â€Å"As the Dead Prey Upon Us† is written in projective verse using a variety of stanza patterns, from long verses to short, sparse verses.Despite the varied form, the imagery is strong throughout. The poem begins with the perception that the ghosts who haunt humans represent those parts of people that have not had the chance to live fully. The ghost may signify a repressed or constrained part of someone’s personality or an unresolved conflict nagging at the back of the mind. When the speaker complains that his mother’s death continues to haunt him, he begins by observing that the dead are unacknowledged facts of self.These repressed events or memories are â€Å"the sleeping ones,† and the speaker bids them to awake and thus to â€Å"disentangle from the nets of being! † The poem is divided into two sequences of unnumbered stanzas. Usually, Olson will mark off the segments of different â€Å"acts† in a poem according to a simple pattern. Part 1 of a long lyric sequence sets up the conditions in which a thinking process will ensue, in which a variety of isolated elements taken from different sources in experience, including dreams, are carefully sifted and their internal relations worked out.The second sequence synthesizes, imagines, and philosophically investigates the â€Å"formal† construct, a process in which the new form is woven into the context of other knowledge possessed by the poet. An Olson poem is thus the carefully staged reenactment of how the mind works to understand itself when seized by creative activity, such as dreaming. In this instance, the speaker is aroused by the irritating insistence of a dream he has had of his dead mother. The speaker has awakened and now recounts his dream to himself (and to the reader) in an effort to decipher its twisted plot.The progression of stanzas introduces the reader to the other features of the dream: a visit to a tire store, where he may have observed the mechanic working under his car while replacing the tires; a vision of his mother surrounded by other dead souls in the living room of his house, where a film projector is showing a film against one of the walls ; and in another room, an American Indian woman walks a blue deer around in circles, a deer that speaks in an African American dialect or like an old woman as it looks for socks or shoes to wear, â€Å"now that it was acquiring/ human possibilities. This latter image of the evolving deer generates the discussion on the â€Å"nets of being,† the laws that govern human identity and set it apart from other orders of nature, animals, and angels. To be human, the speaker notes, is to be limited to the â€Å"five hindrances,† the five senses of the body from which awareness derives. Human awareness is a niche in reality that dreaming expands and contradicts. The speaker must try to resolve the differences between what he has dreamed from his unconscious and what he understands as waking awareness, the world perceived by sense and logic.The speaker’s dilemma is that he is of two minds that do not connect except here, in this poem, where the reader finds him puzzling o ut the meaning of a dream in his waking state. The situation is ironic, the perfect representation of the problem of divided nature Olson wishes to resolve. Personally, I did not like this poem. I took a lot of time to understand the idea and meaning behind the poem, and while I appreciate the ideas Olson was trying to address, I don't like the way it was done and I disagree with his negativity of closed verse.I feel like both closed and open verses have their place, and both can express creativity in a poem. I also, did not enjoy the many readings I had to do of the poem before I realized what it meant. Honestly, upon first reading, I had no idea what was going on. After several readings I began to glean the meaning of the poem behind it. While I enjoy poems that require thought to find the meaning, I felt like someone who didn't understand Olson's ideas on progressive verse won't fully understand the meaning behind the format of his stanzas. Works Cited http://www. poetryfoundatio n. org/bio/charles-olson

Motorola’s Global Strategy

? Short description of the case For years Motorola and was among the world’s most successful consumer electronics firms. The firm then controlled the emerging U. S. market for cellular telephones and pagers but, like many other firms at the time, was a bit complacent and not aggressively focused on competing with the Japanese. Motorola has remained the exception: Today it is one of the world leaders in mobile communication technology, including the manufacture of cellular telephones, paging devices, automotive semiconductors, and microchips used to operate devices other than computers. Japanese firms began to flood the U. S. market with low-priced, high-quality telephones and pagers. Motorola was shoved into the background. Motorola then decided to fight back and regain the firm’s lost market position. This fight involved a two-part strategy: First learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. To carry out these strategies, executives set a number of broad-based goals that essentially committed the firm to lowering costs, improving quality, and regaining lost market share. Managers were sent on missions worldwide, but especially to Japan, to learn how to compete better. Motorola also try to achieve Six Sigma quality – which is become main strategy of Motorola. By using this strategy, Motorola try to achieve a perfection rate of 99. 9997%. When Motorola actually achieved this level of quality, it received the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Motorola become success on its operations abroad, especially in Japan. It also generates over 56% of its revenues abroad. Problem identification of the case From the case, one of Motorola’s strategy in doing the business is expanse its business abroad. The firm then needs to concentrate on how to do its business abroad and what kind of strategies should be taken to achieve its goal. Motorola controlled the emerging U. S. market for cellular telephones and pagers. Motorola has also won many battles around the world in order to doing its business abroad. But, like many other firms at the time, was a bit complacent and not aggressively focused on competing with the Japanese. Motorola began to fall in its competition with Japanese. For that reason, Motorola have to find new strategies to win its battles, not only the competition with Japanese but also other countries that becomes Motorola’s target market. Formulation of problem solving In terms of finding the strategies to do the business, a company must first define its vision and mission. Economic success, indeed survival, is the result of identifying missions to satisfy a customer’s needs and wants. The organization’s mission defined as its purpose – what it will contribute to society. Mission statements provide boundaries and focus for organizations and the concept around which the firm can rally. The mission states the rationale for organization’s existence. Developing good strategy is difficult, but it is much easier if the mission has been well defined. Motorola also try to picture what their objectives to deal with the competition around Japanese and around the globe. Motorola’s fundamental objective is to attain total customer satisfaction. Others Motorola specific goals are to achieve competitive advantage by becoming the best in its class in terms of people, marketing, technology, product, manufacturing, and service, to increase global market share and to achieve superior financial results and improve shareholder value. Before arrived in the concept of strategies, a company should make an SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis consists of: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Motorola also build its SWOT analysis based on the market experiences. Motorola’s SWOT analysis comprise of: 1. Strengths Motorola is one of the world's leading providers of wireless communications, semiconductors and advanced electronic systems, components and services. Motorola is an inventor of technology and has first-mover advantage. In the early 1980s, Motorola controlled the emerging U. S. arket for wireless communication devices such as cellular telephones, pagers and high-frequency radios. Motorola maintains sales, service and manufacturing facilities throughout the world, conducts business on six continents and employs more than 139,000 people worldwide. Motorola is strongly committed to delivering customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, and setting new standards of quality. 2. Weaknesses Motorola maintained old strategies in doing business, was conservative and unambitious. Motorola was complacent in its leadership position in the U. S. market, and failed to aggressively compete with the emerging Japanese firms. 3. Opportunities Motorola can compete and expand globally. Information and communications technology is fast-paced, with new discoveries happening every minute. Motorola can match this speed of discovery with new and innovative product and technology development. 4. Threats Japanese electronics firms are heavy competitors in terms of cost and quality leadership. Barriers to entry, supplier power, threats of substitutes, degree of rivalry, and buyer power. After defined its mission and made a SWOT analysis of the company, then the company can start to create its strategies to do the business. Strategy is an organization’s action plan to achieve the mission. Each functional area has a strategy for achieving its mission and for helping the organization reach the overall mission. These strategies exploit opportunities and strengths, neutralize threats, and avoid weaknesses. Firms achieve missions in three conceptual ways: (1) differentiation, (2) cost leadership, and (3) response. Each of the three strategies provides an opportunity for operations managers to achieve competitive advantage. Competitive advantage implies the creation of a system that has a unique advantage over competitors. The idea is to create customer value in an efficient and sustainable way. These conceptual ways then develop into competitive priorities. Competitive priorities consist of: Competing on Cost by lowering cost operation Competing on quality High-Performance Design Consistent Quality Competing on Speed (Time-bases Competition) Fast Delivery On-Time Delivery Development Speed for new product Competing on Flexibility Customization Volume flexibility Motorola’s global strategies The first thing that Motorola’s managers want to do to conquer the competition with Japan is involved a two-part strategy: First learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. Managers were sent on missions worldwide, but especially to Japan, to learn how to compete better. The sending of the managers was divided into three categories, first, plant visit and study of successful Japanese firms such as Toshiba and Hitachi, second, study Motorola’s own Japanese operations to learn more fully how it functioned, third, plant visit and study of U. S. est-practice companies such as General Electric. The lessons that the managers took from this investigation are first, Motorola should adopt and invest in employee education and training. Motorola should not only send employees to limited quality-enhancement training, but must recognize that employees need a broader form of education to ensure that they can initiate and implement effective quality planning and design, and th ereby meet company objectives. From a narrow emphasis on specific quality techniques, Motorola should focus on manufacturing-related education. Management should consider partnering with local schools and colleges in providing courses ranging from practical technical application, to business courses, to graduate work in computer-integrated manufacturing. Second, Motorola should implement a benchmarking program using American and Japanese best-practices. Motorola must know what levels of quality its products must achieve to top its competitors. Each of the firm's business units must implement benchmarking programs that analyze all aspects of a competitor's products to assess manufacturability, reliability, manufacturing cost, and performance. Motorola must also measure the products of other companies against its own standards to verify that whether its own products rank as best in their class. Third, Motorola should adopt the Defective-Parts-Per-Million (DPPM) approach to determine product reliability. From the lessons learned from the Japanese, Motorola should institute the Defective-Parts-Per-Million, or DPPM product reliability standard. DPPM can be defined as the average number of defects in an average production run multiplied by one million. From these lessons, Motorola take some key initiatives to achieve its objectives and to gain the competitive advantage. The key initiatives are: Six Sigma Quality Six sigma was pioneered by Bill Smith at Motorola in 1986; originally used as a metric for measuring defects for improving quality; a methodology to reduce defect levels ; 3. 4 Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO). Motorola divided six sigma into three levels, as a metric, as a methodology, and as a management system. Essentially, Six Sigma is all three at the same time. Total cycle time reduction Total cycle time is the time from when a Motorola customer places an order until it is delivered. In fact, in the case of new products, Motorola's cycle-time reduction is even more ambitious; the clock starts ticking the moment the product is conceived. This calls for an examination of the total system, including design, manufacturing, marketing, and administration. Product, Manufacturing and Environmental Leadership Motorola try to be the leader in all segments in order to win the battles of competing with its competitors and to emerge the market around the globe. Motorola try to achieve it by doing customization and put some innovation to its product. The flexibility in doing the business also applied in order to be the leader of the market. Profit Improvement The company has been implementing Six Sigma throughout the organization for over 15 years, extending the practice beyond manufacturing into transactional, support, and service functions. As a result, Motorola has documented over $16 billion in savings. Empowerment for all, in a Participative, Cooperative and Creative Workplace All levels of the company are involved in decision making process. Non-executive employees contribute directly through Motorola's Participative Management Program (PMP). Composed of employees who work in the same area or are assigned to achieve a specific aim, PMP teams meet often to assess progress toward meeting quality goals, to identify new initiatives, and to work on problems. To reward high-quality work, savings that stem from team recommendations are shared. Motorola also do the training as critical to increasing quality and productivity. Motorola’s strategy takes us to its competitive priorities. The primary business strategy of Motorola is six sigma. Motorola try to improve its product quality by reducing the defect levels of the product ; 3. Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO). The improvement of quality means that Motorola try to compete in quality among its competitors. Another strategy of Motorola is reducing its total cycle time. This strategy also supported by six sigma approach which is six sigma help to diminish unimportant variables in operations. By reducing its total cycle time, Motorola also try to compete on speed. R educing its total cycle time will affect its cost to operations. Furthermore, six sigma approach means try to achieve perfection of product quality. By eliminating the mistakes, it also reduces the costs to operations. By lowering its cost operation, Motorola also try to compete on cost. Motorola also try to compete on flexibility by customization and able to adapt with trends over the society. Motorola began customizing their Bandit pager in the early 1980s, to offer customers up to 29 million product combinations encompassing hardware and software configurations. Production was consolidated in one factory whereas before the project it had been divided among a number of facilities. Customers select their options and a salesperson enters the specification into a computer system. It is then transmitted to the company systems and on to the assembly process. The facility could accept orders for single pagers in any sequence. The finished product was then shipped to the customer. Conclusions In order to expanse its business, Motorola use its goal concept and SWOT analysis to define its business strategy to compete around the globe, especially Japanese. Motorola try to learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. From the lessons over the managers sending option, Motorola build its key initiatives in order to do its business. The primary key initiative which is its current strategy in competition around the globe is Six Sigma. Other key initiatives are total cycle time reduction, product, manufacturing and environmental leadership, profit improvement, empowerment for all, in a participative, cooperative and creative workplace. Answer the case problem 1. What are the components of Motorola’s international strategy? Answer: 1)Learning from the Japanese 2)Competing directly with them Six Sigma Quality Total Cycle Time Reduction Product, Manufacturing and Environmental Leadership Profit Improvement Empowerment for all, in a Participative, Cooperative and Creative Workplace The first thing that Motorola’s managers want to do to conquer the competition with Japan is involved a two-part strategy: First learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. Managers were sent on missions worldwide, but especially to Japan, to learn how to compete better. The sending of the managers was divided into three categories, first, plant visit and study of successful Japanese firms such as Toshiba and Hitachi, second, study Motorola’s own Japanese operations to learn more fully how it functioned, third, plant visit and study of U. S. best-practice companies such as General Electric. From these lessons, Motorola take some key initiatives to achieve its objectives and to gain the competitive advantage. The key initiatives are: Six Sigma Quality Six sigma was pioneered by Bill Smith at Motorola in 1986; originally used as a metric for measuring defects for improving quality; a methodology to reduce defect levels ; 3. 4 Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO). Motorola divided six sigma into three levels, as a metric, as a methodology, and as a management system. Essentially, Six Sigma is all three at the same time. Total cycle time reduction Total cycle time is the time from when a Motorola customer places an order until it is delivered. In fact, in the case of new products, Motorola's cycle-time reduction is even more ambitious; the clock starts ticking the moment the product is conceived. This calls for an examination of the total system, including design, manufacturing, marketing, and administration. Product, Manufacturing and Environmental Leadership Motorola try to be the leader in all segments in order to win the battles of competing with its competitors and to emerge the market around the globe. Motorola try to achieve it by doing customization and put some innovation to its product. The flexibility in doing the business also applied in order to be the leader of the market. Profit Improvement The company has been implementing Six Sigma throughout the organization for over 15 years, extending the practice beyond manufacturing into transactional, support, and service functions. As a result, Motorola has documented over $16 billion in savings. Empowerment for all, in a Participative, Cooperative and Creative Workplace All levels of the company are involved in decision making process. Non-executive employees contribute directly through Motorola's Participative Management Program (PMP). Composed of employees who work in the same area or are assigned to achieve a specific aim, PMP teams meet often to assess progress toward meeting quality goals, to identify new initiatives, and to work on problems. To reward high-quality work, savings that stem from team recommendations are shared. Motorola also do the training as critical to increasing quality and productivity. 2. Describe how Motorola might have arrived at its current strategy as a result of a SWOT analysis! Answer: Motorola controlled the emerging U. S. market for cellular telephones and pagers. Motorola has also won many battles around the world in order to doing its business abroad. But, like many other firms at the time, was a bit complacent and not aggressively focused on competing with the Japanese. Motorola began to fall in its competition with Japanese. Motorola first try to picture what their objectives to deal with the competition around Japanese and around the globe. Before arrived in the concept of strategies, a company made an SWOT analysis. From this SWOT analysis, Motorola tried to find a new way to regain the firm’s lost market position. The first thing that Motorola’s managers want to do to conquer the competition with Japan is involved a two-part strategy: First learn from the Japanese and then compete with them. Managers were sent on missions worldwide, but especially to Japan, to learn how to compete better. The sending of the managers was divided into three categories, first, plant visit and study of successful Japanese firms such as Toshiba and Hitachi, second, study Motorola’s own Japanese operations to learn more fully how it functioned, third, plant visit and study of U. S. best-practice companies such as General Electric. The lessons that the managers took from this investigation are Motorola should adopt and invest in employee education and training, Motorola should implement a benchmarking program using American and Japanese best-practices, and finally Motorola should adopt the Defective-Parts-Per-Million (DPPM) approach to determine product reliability. From these lessons, Motorola take some key initiatives to achieve its objectives and to gain the competitive advantage. The primary key initiative which is its current strategy in competition around the globe is Six Sigma. 3. Discuss Motorola’s primary business strategy! Answer: Motorola’s primary business strategy is Six Sigma. Six Sigma has evolved over the last two decades and so has its definition. Six Sigma has literal, conceptual, and practical definitions. Motorola think about Six Sigma at three different levels: As a metric The term â€Å"Sigma† is often used as a scale for levels of â€Å"goodness† or quality. Using this scale, â€Å"Six Sigma† equates to 3. 4 defects per one million opportunities (DPMO). Therefore, Six Sigma started as a defect reduction effort in manufacturing and was then applied to other business processes for the same purpose. To give such numbers meaning, the engineers at Motorola set up a scale to evaluate the quality of a process based on these defect calculations. At the top of the scale is Six Sigma, which equates to 3. 4 DPMO, or 99. 9997% defect-free. In other words, if a company have a process running at Six Sigma, the company almost eliminated all defects , it's nearly perfect. Of course, most processes don't run at Six Sigma. They run at Five Sigma, Four Sigma or worse. Here's the table that shows full scale to get an appreciation of the numbers involved: The process mean will vary each time a process is executed using different equipment, different personnel, different materials, etc. The observed variation in the process mean was  ± 1. 5 sigma. Motorola decided a design tolerance (specification width) of  ± 6 sigma was needed so that there will be only 3. 4 ppm defects — measurements outside the design tolerance. This was defined as Six Sigma quality. As a methodology As Six Sigma has evolved, there has been less emphasis on the literal definition of 3. 4 DPMO, or counting defects in products and processes. Six Sigma is a business improvement methodology that focuses an organization on: Understanding and managing customer requirements Aligning key business processes to achieve those requirements Utilizing rigorous data analysis to minimize variation in those processes Driving rapid and sustainable improvement to business processes At the heart of the methodology is the DMAIC model for process improvement. DMAIC is commonly used by Six Sigma project teams and is an acronym for: Define opportunity The purpose of this step is to obtain a precise definition of a problem or issue that requires attention. The key here is not to focus on the outcome (which is what most people generally do), but to concentrate company’s attention on the process that creates that outcome. This often requires detailed process mapping to be done so that all the stages in a process, how they link together and how they interrelate, are fully understood. Define opportunity consist of try to know he customer’s requirements, the team charter represents the business case for the project, define and build a process map that relates measurable internal processes to customer needs. Measure performance Once the problem and its potential causes are understood, the company can move on to detailed measurement of all the elements in the process and what influence they have on each other. During this step it is important to focus on the parts of the process that are critical to quality – the ones that can be shown to have the greatest impact on the process outcomes. This step may also require some benchmarking to find parts of your business, or perhaps other businesses these maybe competitors or organisations in other sectors) that manage this process better. Ideally the company will find the best there is to study and learn from. Analyze opportunity Having gathered all the necessary measurements the company can then analyze them to establish how well or poorly the process is working, it’s full detrimental impact on the organization, the opportunities for improvement and the benefits that would result if it were improved. This analysis will show the gap between what is being achieved and what could be achieved, where improvements might be made and whether the investment needed would be justified by the return. Improve performance The information gathered and analyzed in the previous steps will have pinpointed where the maximum returns are possible for the minimum investments. This is therefore where the efforts are focused to ensure that the process is improved in the precise areas and in the specific ways that will have the greatest impact on the outcomes. Control performance This step is needed to ensure that all gains made will remain as gains and will not be allowed to slip back. The purpose is to lock in your success through on-going monitoring and control processes that will guarantee no eversion to the previous, poor results. As a management system Through experience, Motorola has learned that disciplined use of metrics and application of the methodology is still not enough to drive desired breakthrough improvements and results that are sustainable over time. For greatest impact, Motorola ensures that process metrics and structured methodology are applied to improvement opportunities that are directly linked to the organizational strategy. When practiced as a management system, Six Sigma is a high performance system for executing business strategy. Six Sigma is a top-down solution to help organizations: Align their business strategy to critical improvement efforts Mobilize teams to attack high impact projects Accelerate improved business results Govern efforts to ensure improvements are sustained The Six Sigma Management System drives clarity around the business strategy and the metrics that most reflect success with that strategy. It provides the framework to prioritize resources for projects that will improve the metrics, and it leverages leaders who will manage the efforts for rapid, sustainable, and improved business results. References Heizer, Jay & Render, Barry, Operations Management, Eight Edition, The Prentice Hall, 2006. Pande, Peter S, Neuman, Robert P, & Cavanagh, Roland R, The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola, and Other Top Companies are Honing Their Performance, McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2000. Pyzdek, Thomas, The Six Sigma Project Planner: A Step-by-Step Guide to Leading a Six Sigma Project Through DMAIC, McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2000. http://www. motorola. com/ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Motorola http://www. trizsigma. com/six. html http://www. brecker. com/six_sigma. htm

Media Coverage on Public and Ethical Concern Essay

Media Coverage on Public and Ethical Concern - Essay Example It made the US government believe in a concept known as the domino theory. The paramount idea in this discourse was that if one Asian nation fell to the leftist ideology of communism, others would quickly follow. Historically speaking, the year of 1954 had seen the Communist forces in the north of Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh, defeat the colonial French rule in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh chartered a policy whereby Vietnam was divided into a pro-American Southern and a communist northern bloc with a demilitarised zone (DMZ) in the middle. Though, Ho Chi Minh had intended to bring the two sections under one government by a common rule of the ballot, it never really happened. On the contrary, the communist forces began a guerrilla war against the south. This tempted the US government to launch a battle in Vietnam in order to curtail what it believed to be the rise of Soviet communism. If from the point of view of Utilitarianism, the ethical doctrine that holds that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility, we make an effort to justify the war, we realise that even then the action of the US government was really uncalled for. The US government's stubborn grit to win the war rose to such a level that even the basic tenets of virtue ethics were debunked. In trying to be utilitarian to their cause, the US army indulged in the horrendous crime of using herbicides in order to defoliate large parts of the countryside. These chemicals played havoc, and still continue to do so, in destroying the landscape, causing hereditary diseases, birth defects and poisoning the food chain. It is estimated that during the years of 1961-1962, the Kennedy administration authorised the use of chemicals to destroy rice crops. Between 1961 and 1967, the U.S. Air Force sprayed 20 million U.S. gallons (76,000 m) of concentrated herbicides over 6 million acres of crops and trees, affecting an estimated 13 percent of South Vietnam's land. In 1997, an article published by the Wall Street Journal reported that up to half a million children were born with dioxin-related deformities, and that the birth defects in southern Vietnam were fourfold those in the north! No amount of utilitarianism can justify this mass killing. Similarly, the war showed how the entire corpus of reason and Kantian deontology was done away with by the US army operation in Vietnam. As General Maxwell Taylor, one of the principle architects of the war noted First, we didn't know ourselves. We thought that we were going into another Korean war, but this was a different country. Secondly, we didn't know our South Vietnamese allies .... And we knew less about North Vietnam. Who was Ho Chi Minh Nobody really knew. So, until we know the enemy and know our allies and know ourselves, we'd better keep out of this kind of dirty business. It's very dangerous. Robert McNamara, Lyndon Johnson's Secretary of Defense, was even more blunt. When asked to comment on his role by the London Observer, he replied "I was wrong! My God, I was wrong! Thus, the war clearly defeated the utilitarian purposes it stood for. Moreover, the fact that it cost the American government more than $120 billion, apart from vehement protests and scorn the world over, illustrates the fact that the Vietnam War was definitely a grave error

Benefits of having a personal disaster kit Essay

Benefits of having a personal disaster kit - Essay Example In other words, if you fail to coordinate precautionary measures prior to the occurrence of a disaster, you are prepared to handle the consequences. In cases like these, it is important to be prepared as being prepared can make a difference between life and death. In a disaster medical assistance is also often slowed, as emergency crews must focus on the victims of the disaster. Banks and other businesses might be closed, affecting a family's ability to withdraw money to pay bills and buy groceries Possessions are not hard to replace, as many people keep insurance on their property and tangible goods. The emotional toll of natural disasters is much more devastating. The death of a loved one may be the worst-case scenario but it's not the only lasting emotional effect victims experience. Whole communities may be displaced, separating friends and neighbors; victims face anxiety and depression as they wonder if it could happen again. In extreme cases, they may experience post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). (Cited from ehow.com) Life throws the unexpected at us every day. It is difficult to predict how a disaster will be. The effects of a disaster can be lessened if preparations are made ahead of time. One of the most important steps to being prepared for a disaster is having a personal disaster kit. Your personal disaster kit should include; water, food, first aid supplies, clothing and bedding, tools and emergency supplies and special items such as medication. Water should be stored in plastic containers such as soft drink bottles and store at least three gallons of water per person to serve for at least a three day period. Store at least a three day supply of non-perishable food items, food for infants and spices, vitamins or stress foods. It is far better to select foods that are compact and light weight such as ready to eat canned meats, fruits, vegetables and canned juices. Your disaster kit should also include a first aid kit. This kit should include; ban dages and pins, sterile adhesive bandages, roller bandages, sterile gauze, cleansing soaps and agents and non-prescription drugs like antacid, anti-diarrhea and pain killers. Paper cups, plates and plastic utensils, emergency preparedness manuals, battery operated radio with extra batteries, plastic storage containers, waterproof matches, flash lights stored with batteries inserted backwards, toilet paper, personal hygiene products, plastic garbage bags and household chlorine bleach are also among the many essentials for your personal disaster kit. It is important to store your kit in a convenient place with smaller versions of it in your car. Ensure all items are kept in air tight plastic bags. Finally replace the stored food and water in your kit every six months. Every year people are affected by disasters. Lives are lost, property is destroyed and personal effects lost to the unforgiving aftermath of both natural and man-made disasters. The saddest part of such devastation is th at most of it could have been averted with the proper preparation. Being prepared does not mean that one won't incur any loss, however, if one prepares properly, it can save lives, homes and personal affects. Proper preparation can also make recovery and dealing with insurance companies and government entities exponentially easier. Once a disaster

Crowdsourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Crowdsourcing - Essay Example Most studies done on crowdsourcing have focused more on the quality of results and throughput with very or no attention on efficiency or the tradeoff therein. This is because; the number of tasks to be performed is usually very small. Additionally, the tasks performed by users are also small, and as a result, the techniques employed to guarantee result quality and scale the tasks that arise, does not tackle the aspect of efficiency. This paper aims at evaluating existing result-improvement mechanism, and proposes a novel technique that is independent of task complexities and size, but ensures efficiency and a tradeoff between quality of results and efficiency. Keywords: Efficiency; Throughput; Result Quality; Crowdsourcing; Data INTRODUCTION Crowdsourcing is very popular and has become very important for data collection-labeled data- that are dependent on human input to ensure quality of data as demonstrated by reCAPTCHA, Amazon Mechanical Turk, ESP game, and Netflix among others. Cr owdsourcing is the distribution of small chunks of large, complicated tasks to a large community of users over the internet who offers small contributions towards solving or offering a solution (Brabham 2008). In addition to data labeling, crowdsourcing has been utilized in double keying individual words, image labeling, word disambiguation and grading of word pairs that depict relatedness (Sautter & Bohm 2011). There are a number of challenges that arise from crowdsourcing including lack of guarantees for correctness with regards to human inputs. This can be as a result of accidental mistakes resulting from misjudgment or sloppiness. Sometimes, users may cheat to increase their chances of receiving a reward by cheating to reduce their effort. These challenges require development of crowdsourcing techniques that can ensure data quality, efficiency, counter errors, work with very large data sets, and yield high throughput. Previous studies and crowdsourcing mechanisms such as r-Redun dancy, have focused more on working with large tasks, countering errors, yielding high throughput and ensuring data quality (Eckert et al. 2010). This study, however, proposes novel techniques that are independent of task complexities and size but ensure efficiency and enables tradeoff between quality of results and efficiency. THE NEED FOR EFFICIENT CROWDSOURCING TECHNIQUES FOR COMPLEX TASKS Crowdsourcing mechanisms such as r-Redundancy, have focused more on working with large tasks, countering errors, yielding high throughput and ensuring data quality. They have assumed that most users offer meaningful and correct inputs. These mechanisms have ensured data quality, even in the presence of dishonesty, cheating and inability but do not discourage such a behavior (Wauthier & Jordan 2011). Therefore, a mechanism that probes users, is required, one that would not only ensure quality and high throughput, but ensure efficiency, as well. OVERVIEW OF EFFICIENT CROWDSOURCING TECHNIQUES FOR COMPLEX TASKS There are crowdsourcing techniques that combine error countering, data quality enforcement, and large tasks handling. v-Voting is one such mechanism that mostly focuses on countering errors (Alonso et al. 2008). It reduces the required number of inputs unlike r-Redundancy by obtaining inputs from different users and combining them to the final result. There is also Vote Boosting, which is a mechanism that builds on v-Voting to increases throughput

Choose one advertising image (preferably fashion or interiors) and Speech Presentation

Choose one advertising image (preferably fashion interiors) and visually analyse it - Speech or Presentation Example The advert indicates the significance of having a classy travel bag. The inclusion of an older model and a younger one is to show that class has no limit of age. The Louis Vuitton brand wants to cut across all ages. Therefore, the marketting strategy is focussed on showing the importance and usability of the travel bags. The travel bags not only cater for the luggage carried but they also bring out the aspects of different classes and culture.The image tends to capture the quality of embracing a unique father daughter relationship that is enriched by the shared experience (Popsugar Fashion, 2008). Moreover the image illustrates Louis Vuitton heritage as being passed from one generation to the next. The irony depicted in most of LouisVuitton adverts is the use of poor countries to maret their brand. There are a couple of formal elements that can be viewed from the photograph. These are value, colour, forms and shape. Value is the amount of light that is in the given image(Barrett, 2000). In this case the amount of light is minimal as the image was shot in early evening. Contrast of white and black can be depicted from view. Colour used in the image especially the black and white theme is used to differentiate space, shape and forms based on the different shades of gray. Forms are illustrated by the various shapes adopted in the image such as the square images of the books and the stools. Finally, space around the area of the image shot is minimised to predict the way the image is viewed. The photographer creates a sense of balance as she harmoniously combines the value, forms, colour and space to bring out a well-structured photograph. The image is shot by Annie Leiboritz who is regarded to as a unique photographer. Her fashion photographs are quite beautiful and amazing. The style that is depicted from the image is that of modernism. A lot of aspects are incorporated when high end

Relational Dialectics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Relational Dialectics - Essay Example Compatibility is an added factor why relational dialectics often appear to be unnoticeable. Most people involved in a relationship tend to test the waters of their harmony and congruence, believing that the stability of their relationships can be won over by a series of trials and errors. Relational Dialectics is a set of contrasting impulses; a waged battle between eccentricity and self-centeredness (represents yourself and your life as a whole) against personal attachments and its emotional appendages (signifies your personal relationships and acquaintances). In a purist’s perspective, the most reliable way to secure the permanence of a relationship is to understand the logical existence of relational dialectics. As defined earlier, these are a load of factors that manipulate a relationship. If one can take hold of the limiting factors of a relationship, which in this case is the relational dialectics, it is absolutely possible to gain your desired upshots for your relations hip. Relational Dialectics can be best embodied in three major pairs of tensions that oppose yet act dependently on each other; openness vs. protection, autonomy vs. connection and novelty vs. predictability. The by-products of all these tensions accurately predict the outcomes of the relationships. In a certain relationship, the comfort of the people concerned relies on the degree of intimacy that these two people share. This is where openness inserts into the panorama. Openness is illustrated between people sharing personal abstract things with each other such as thoughts, opinions, attention and the likes. When openness is very well observed in a relationship, intimacy and emotional links between the people involved are strongly established. This could be a great help in maintaining a relationship however, the openness is being eternally opposed by protection. As part of the human nature, no matter how much a person is so into another one, a room for defense mechanism will always be left saved in order for that someone to protect the most endangered unit of each person’s earthly existence - emotions. Even if the people implicated in a relationship enjoy the intimacy and the substantial understanding they share, it should be assumed that someday and somehow, either or all of them will craft a personal zone that will place distance between them in order to defend each one’s privacy. As openness unfolds, connection between two people will develop. The same goes for protection; if the people concerned in a relationship favors personal protection, their relationship can be considered uncommitted and autonomous. Therefore, the second tension pair which is autonomy vs. connection was derived from the mechanisms of the first tension pair. Autonomy, as defined on most dictionaries, is a personal temperament of being self-reliant, liberate and independent. This tension clashes against connection. The intimacy being shared in a relationship creates the p rofound inner connection between two people but this connection can either be destroyed or prevented from rising because of autonomy. As an individual, having the desire of being autonomous is not a horrific thing at all but such is not applicable in terms of stabilizing personal relationships. Evidently, everyone has the

Personal statement for master in business administration

For master in business administration - Personal Statement Example For me giving back to the community is very important, thus I was highly involved in volunteer work. Some of the places in which I volunteered include the House of Care of the Elderly, Handicapped and Orphans, Al hajj services, Al-Mataf company, and KAU Research Endowment Fund. I learned from my volunteering experiences the value of collaboration and teamwork. During my college years I also dedicated a portion of my time towards working. I worked as a summer trainee in Saudi Aramco for two months in the supplier performance unit. Another work experience that I had the opportunity to complete was working as a call center reservation agent in Makkah Clock Royal Tower. These two work experiences taught me the importance of being disciplined. They also help me improve my written and verbal communication skills. As a student I also knew that it was important to learn English. I completed level 112 in the intensive English program from ELS. All these experiences have prepared me to become a graduate student in business. I want to pursue an MBA because I realized that in todays competitive job marketplace a bachelors degree is not sufficient move up the corporate ladder. One of my long term goals is to reach the managerial level. To be a good manager a person needs to have a solid educational background. Enrolling in a business graduate program will open the doors of opportunity for

Education and Happiness Essay Example for Free

Education and Happiness Essay Mosley refers to the status quo in a negative way and I do agree with his points of view. Americans just don’t seem to have some happiness in their lives anymore, and we should wonder why that is the case. The educational system doesn’t seem to be any better when it comes to helping us out with our own happiness there are just too many restrictions going on. The students can’t be themselves. Employment has become a need rather then people wanting to wake up every morning and looking forward to going to work. There is just so much going on, like economic problems, job cuts and people can’t find happiness anywhere. A person’s wellbeing should always be first especially when it comes to there happiness. It seems that the American government has put aside what their first responsibility to Americans is, which is making sure that the people are happy. In â€Å"Get Happy† Mosley says, â€Å"But our potential for happiness has lagged far behind,† and what I’m getting from this is that our citizen‘s wellbeing isn‘t put first, rather it is being put to the side and not being an important element of people‘s lives. The government isn’t doing their job in making sure we’re happy. They seem to be doing the bare minimum and just worrying about what is necessary to â€Å"help† the people in every way they can, but they don’t show any interest in their happiness. Education is now a big issue as well, for the fact that now schools are being referred to as being â€Å"prisonlike.† What I’m getting from all this is that there are just too many restrictions on students, and there is no sense of freedom at schools. Schools are being built in a prison like manner and just like in prison there is always someone of higher authority watching over everyone which might make people feel like they can’t be themselves and express how they might feel about certain things. Americans just aren’t happy with anything that’s going on around them because they’re being treated as is they were insignificant. We have the right to be happy, but its like no one is pursuing that goal anymore. They are settling for what they have. In other words, they’re just learning to live their lives the way they are. Jobs now have become so meaningless, and the only reason people stick around at their jobs is because they have to in order to be able to provide for their families. We are now just being controlled as if we were puppets. The government’s priorities have changed so much and happiness for Americans isn’t important to them anymore. In the reading it says, â€Å"Citizens are not treated like members of society but more like employees who can be cut loose for any reason large or small,† this just goes to show that people don’t seem to be important, especially them being happy. Citizens just feel the need to work because that’s one of the only way they can make it in life, and be able to provide for their family, even if it means waking up every morning and not looking forward to going to work. Citizens are unhappy because they have to take labor intensive jobs that enslave them. People even think that the more money they have that they have the happier they will be, but the reality is that money does not buy happiness. It might buy you what you want like a huge television, but doesn’t mean you’ll be happier. If a person has a good empowering education they might be more confident and want to accomplish many goals. This will bring them more happiness because they know they were able to take control of their own lives and get to where they want to be. For example, when someone has a job they hate and don’t look forward to going to work its because they might not of had the same opportunities as someone else. No one should have to settle for what they have, if a person keeps trying they can reach their happiness. If the school system is bad then of course the students won’t feel encouraged but rather feel forced to be there since most of the times there is no other choice. Of course having a dull job and bad school system will lead to a person’s unhappiness. When a person sets their own goals and doesn’t give up no matter the obstacles, and later make their goals come true a person will be a lot happier. Just knowing they accomplished what they set their mind will show them that they don’t have to settle for a meaningless job and especially being an unhappy person. A person’s happiness should always come first like it was set out to be by the government.

Starbucks for or Against the War in Iraq Essay Example for Free

Starbucks for or Against the War in Iraq Essay Although it is unclear as to whether or not Starbucks ever actually refused to donate coffee to US troops fighting overseas or not, if they did it was not because â€Å"they don’t support the war or anyone in it† as the original message sent out by Sgt. Howard C. Wright claims. The Starbucks company policy regarding donations has strict guidelines regarding beneficiaries that must fall under their definition of a â€Å"public charity,† which the Military does not. Also, according to the Starbucks website, the company has not at any time taken a stand for or against the Iraq War; although they have stated that they support the men and women fighting for their country in the United States Military and the British Royal Marines. United States Marine Sgt. Howard C. Wright, who wrote the original email sent out in May of 2004, sent out another email approximately 5 months later recanting his previous statement and apologizing. The original email was sent out by Sgt. Howard C. Wright of the United States Marines after hearing by word of mouth that Starbucks did not support the war or the people fighting it. Sgt. Wright, it seems, sent the email out after hearing the story from a friend, who heard it from a friend, and then speaking to the Marine who had supposedly contacted Starbucks before first doing any research into the matter. Sgt. Wright has since received many copies of Starbucks’ policy regarding the issue to help and resolve any misconceptions there may have been. In typical rumor fashion, neither party is able to supply a copy of the original request sent by Sgt. Wright’s fellow Marine, nor a copy of the response to the request sent out by Starbucks. Since there is no written proof that this truly ever happened many have dismissed the allegation as being false and moved on. Although Starbucks made sure to post an article on the company website in January of 2005, and then update it in May of 2012, denying the allegations and confirming the fact that employees are able, and do in fact, send their weekly free coffee to the troops, bad press always travels faster and farther than good press. This leads into the fact that there are going to be people that will continue to boycott Starbucks based on the original rumor simply because they will not believe the subsequent email sent out by Sgt. Wright recanting his original statement. Even though Starbucks has a strict policy on the donation of goods only to â€Å"public charities† I believe it would be in their best interest to donate coffee to the United States Military and do it on a large enough scale to get media attention. This may put quite a dent into their earnings for the year but in turn would create a plethora of new customers because people support businesses that support our troops. January 11, 2005 and May 2012. Starbucks Support of the Troops/Military [Updated May 2012]. Retrieved February 25th, 2013. URL: http://news.starbucks.com/about+starbucks/myths+facts/militarydonations.htm August 8, 2004 and February 10, 2013. G. I. Joe. Retrieved February 25, 2013. URL: http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/starbucks.asp

Evolution of Race in State Development

Evolution of Race in State Development Examine critically the view that the idea of ‘race’ is endemic to the formation of the modern state. The critical examination mandated by the present question requires an introductory note concerning the appropriate definition to be employed regarding the terms formation and racism. Formation is suggested to be a less than ideal expression to describe the processes of modern state development. In this sense the term evolution is preferred as the more accurate and organic experience of modern state development. Racism is a more complicated term due to the variance between its dictionary meanings and etymology on one side, and its popular connotations on the other. The meaning of racism is both closely associated and intermingled with its near cousins culture and ethnicity. It is important to bear in mind as this examination is advanced that racism may be considered as both a scientific term and as a catch –all descriptor for all manner of conduct and attitudes that fosters the discrimination or antipathy of one person or group against another. This review will proceed on three distinct but related lines of examination: (1) how racism should be conceptualised (2) the legal definition of racism as it has developed in the UK, the European Union and in other jurisdiction as a pluralistic societal initiative (3) examples of how racism has contributed to the development path taken by modern nations. Sports examples are tendered as illustrations of how racism in modern culture remains a constant in the face of wide ranging legislative schemes aimed to eradicate it. The concept of racism Racism has been explained by way of both science and social perspectives through history. From a purely biological orientation, debate has raged as to whether there are distinct physiological differences between various peoples sufficient to permit a rational, science based differentiation between them; DNA research and the genome projects confirm this distinction exists to a slight degree in all fundamental human construction.[1] In modern times, where Western societies have attempted to formulate a comprehensive definition of race, an overwhelmingly white / Caucasian identity is invoked as the societal norm, with others who are not a part of the white definition cast in the position as a racial ‘other’.[2] Goldberg and other academic commentators have employed the contrasting analytical devices of racial naturalism, where race is accepted as an outgrowth of science, and racial historianism, the concept that shapes and defines race through legal enactment.[3] The historian view of race implicitly involves a consideration of racism as an evolving concept. Much academic commentary has considered racism in terms of outsiders, even where the population subject to racial treatment was born within the nation. Paul Gilroy had considered a defined ‘new racism’ in the UK in the late 1980s not to be exclusively linked to skin colour or other physiological differences between humans, but a logical extension of ‘†¦discourses of patriotism, nationalism, xenophobia, Englishness, Britishness, militarism and gender differences’[4] – a sweeping rationale that represents the basis for national anti-racism legislation. It is submitted that Gilroy’s observation is much keener than the ability of the law to counter the problem. Racism is rooted in the establishment of separate and conflicting identities within a society, where a people define themselves as the norm, and those different to them are automatically presumed to possess all opposite characteristics.[5] The Enlightment thinking that was powered by the philosophies of Hobbes and Locke, among others, has also been the subject of significant criticism as the root cause of racism in modern state evolution. This approach centres upon the Enlightment era reverence for rationality, where the conclusion that there must be positions of natural superiority and inferiority between races was regarded as a scientific outcome. Emphasis upon enlightened and rational thought placed Europe and the supposed civility its race in contrast with all primitive places. In contrast, other commentators have placed racism on a different historical footing. The leaders of the Enlightment did not articulate racial principles or a presumed white European superiority to a significant degree. [6] Malik places the historical progression of the racial definition as one of class distinctions, with racial divisions bearing a greater relation to economic status than physiology.[7] As nations were elevated in status throughout the nineteenth century, it is suggested that imperialism is an intrinsically racist concept; the subjugation of another people, by relatively peaceful colonialism or starker military conquest, requires a national mindset of superiority.[8] The encoding of race has also been a distinctly evolutionary process. ‘Black’ (or worse) was a simple blunt force description of the racial distinction between the Caribbean immigrants to the UK and Canada during the 1950s and 1960s; in modern times, the code words of immigration and naturalisation carry a subtle but equally powerful message.[9] Racism has evolved to both include and modify popular concepts of culture and ethnicity. Whether one accepts race as a genetic based circumstance, or as a purely social invention, it clearly exists and prospers in Western culture. In modern societies, racism has expanded dynamically as a concept to occupy the same ground as ethnicity, where each has become interchangeable with the other as a means of differentiation. Ethnicity occupies this common ground with racism because it relies upon racial principles in its definition. In each of the five circumstances enumerated as ‘ethnicity’ generated in a society, namely: the existence of an urban visible minority; ethno national groups, such as the Kurds in Turkey; distinct groups that exist in plural societies (e.g. Asian and Caribbean peoples who live within the UK); indigenous minorities, such as North American or Scandinavian native peoples; post-slavery minorities, such as Afro-Brazilians. Each ethnic definition contains a racial thread.[10] For the purposes of the legal definition outlined below, ethnicity and racism are afforded similar treatment. The legal definition of racism is at once subtle and bluntly constructed. Legislated definitions, such as those contained in the UK Race Relations Act[11] or the European Convention of Human Rights[12], are comprehensive in their scope. It is equally important to note that such definitions are often an ‘after the fact’ response to societal change, not a signpost for a nation’s future. The UK legislation enacted in 1976 was built upon the legacy of the Notting Hill riots and the ‘moral panic’ associated with black street crime in urban Britain of the early 1970s.[13] It is impossible for modern states to enact laws that map a future treatment of racism, as ethnic boundaries are in a constants state of flux. Germany’s uneasy relationship with its Muslim minority is generally cast in racial terms that incorporate the religious, cultural and linguistic differences of the migrant labour attracted to the formed West Germany in the late 1970s.[14] Statutes that proclaim as a purpose the eradication of racism are a constant in modern pluralistic Western nations. The Race Relations Act as interpreted by the House of Lords in Mandla[15] determined that British Sikh people were a racial, as opposed to a religious or cultural group within the meaning of the Act; race was defined by the Law Lords as a combination of a long common history, a distinct cultural tradition, and any confluence of the factors of geography, language, literature, religion or the existence of the people within a larger community. The effect of Article 14, ECHR, combined with Protocol 12 of the Community and the UK Human Rights Act reinforces this definition. In this sense, the law dictates race. In 1982 the enshrined constitution of Canada elevated racial and cultural diversity to a fundamental national status.[16]The Australian constitution embraces a similar regime. These nations are highlighted here to illustrate the evolution in racial notions in these states, as both countries had previously engaged in efforts to assimilate its aboriginal peoples into a mainstream white culture.[17] Each country was overtaken by the realisation that pluralism and multiculturalism were desirable societal goals, with pluralism used as its own code for racial / ethnic diversity. Declining birth rates throughout the Western world have created a dichotomy between the economic imperative to boost population and labour forces through immigration, and ethnic / racial attitudes.[18] It is suggested that simply legislating an end to such societal strife will be unsuccessful. Fitzpatrick’s Mythology of Modern Law[19] and the theories of H.L.A. Hart[20] share an important explanatory principle as to why racism exists among peoples. Fitzpatrick’s myth basis to modern law and Hart’s concepts of pre-legal societies that are founded upon shared cultural traditions and observances each exclude those who are different. The relationship between racism and economic standing mentioned briefly above is also important in this context. It is contended that a wholesale economic re-ordering of the world nations would do more to achieve racial harmony than any legislation. The United States, Brazil and South Africa are prime examples of nations where modern racism and socio-economic status are indistinguishable. [21] On one level, sport may seem an odd illustration of racism in the modern state. In the predominately white cultures of the UK, USA, and Canada, the black athlete is a well – established figure, particularly in the professional arenas. It is submitted that the elimination of racism in sport has proved as illusory as with any other segment of society. Owusu detailed the contradictory aspects of race in UK athletics through the contention that black athletes are rewarded if they publicly espouse the view that racism is non-existent in UK sport; those athletes who express contrary opinions as to the fact of racism are characterised as paranoid or ungrateful.[22] UK sprinter Linford Christie and boxer Frank Bruno are presented as the opposite ends of this argument – each man is of Caribbean heritage who achieved success in athletic pursuits. Bruno never achieved the ultimate success in his sport, but maintained a steadfast image as a ‘mainstream’ athlete, while Christie was outspoken throughout his career regarding the UK athletics establishment. . It was Christie who was cast as a disruptor of the normative codes for the UK black athlete.[23] There is little question that racism is endemic in the progression of the development of all Western nations. The period that has followed World War II has been marked by ever-increasing contact between peoples of different national origin, cultures, traditions, and heritage. The black letter of the law is not necessarily a stimulus to changes in racial attitude, as the multi-faceted physiological, ethnic and economic creature cannot be eliminated by legislation alone. Bibliography BBC News ‘Polish Immigration’ (June 16, 2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/uk_news/england/5080924.stm (Accessed April 22, 2007) BBC News ‘Coe’s racial jibe’ (2001) http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/1171320.stm (Accessed April 22, 2007) BBC News ‘History of UK race laws’ (December 13, 2005) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4510062.stm (Accessed April 22, 2007) Fitzpatrick, Peter (1992), The Mythology of Modern Law (New York: Routledge) Guardian ‘Since when did Seb Coe learn to Jive talk?’ (2001) http://sport.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,5274602-108365,00.html Gilroy, P. (1987) There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack: The Cultural Politics of Race and Nation (London: Routledge) Goldberg, David Theo (1993) Racist Culture (Oxford: Blackwell) Goldberg, David Theo (2002) The Racial State (Oxford: Blackwell) Hart, H.L.A. (1961) The Concepts of Law (Oxford: Clarendon) Keita, L. (2002) The Problem of Race in the 21st Century The Western Journal of Black Studies 26: 1, 55 Malik, Kenan (1996) The Meaning of Race: Race, History and Culture in Western Society (New York: NYU Press) Miller, Mark J. â€Å"Muslim Immigration to Europe† (University of Delaware) http://www.udel.edu/poscir/mjmiller/MuslimImmigrationtoEurope (Minaret)-1.htm (Accessed April 22, 2007) Owusu, Kwesi (2000) Black British Culture and Society: A Text reader (London: Routledge) Riese, Matt ‘The Biological Meaning of â€Å"Race†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Spring 2005), University of California at Santa Cruz http://www.cbse.ucsc.edu/pdf_library/MeaningOfRace_Riese101005.pdf (Accessed April 21, 2007) Solomos, John and Martin Bulmer (2004) Researching Race and Racism (New York: Routledge) Routledge Thomas, Cora (2001) Australian Aborigines to White Australians Australian Aboriginal Studies 1, 21 Thompson, Kenneth (1998) Moral Panics London: Routledge Werner F. Menski (2005) Immigration and multiculturalism in Britain: New issues in research and policy http://www.art.man.ac.uk/CASAS/pdfpapers/osakalecture.pdf (Accessed April 22, 2007) Table of Cases Mandla v Dowell Lee [1983] 2 AC 548 Table of Statutes and Conventions European Convention on Human Rights Race Relations Act, 1976 1 Footnotes [1] See for example, Riese, Matt ‘The Biological Meaning of â€Å"Race†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢(Spring 2005), University of California at Santa Cruz, 1, 3 [2] Goldberg, David Theo (1993) Racist Culture [3] Goldberg, (2002) The Racial State, 143 [4] Gilroy, Paul (1987) There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack: The Cultural Politics of Race and Nation, 41 [5] Fitzpatrick, Peter (1992), The Mythology of Modern Law, 101 [6] Malik, Kenan (1996) The Meaning of Race, 54 [7] ibid [8] C.f. Kipling’s ironic â€Å"White Man’s Burden’ (1899) [9] Keita, L. (2002) The Problem of Race in the 21st Century The Western Journal of Black Studies 26: 1, 55 [10] Werner F. Menski (2005) Immigration and multiculturalism in Britain: New issues in research and policy, 1, 10 [11] Race Relations Act, 1976 (and as amended, 2001) [12] Article 14 [13] See Thompson, Kenneth (1998) Moral Panics London: Routledge 14 Miller, Mark J. â€Å"Muslim Immigration to Europe† University of Delaware http://www.udel.edu/poscir/mjmiller/MuslimImmigrationtoEurope(Minaret)-1.htm (Accessed April 22, 2007) 15 Mandla v Dowell Lee [1983] 2 AC 548 [14] [15] [16] Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s.7, 15 [17] E.g. Curry, Bill and Karen Haslett, (2007) Residential schools Globe and Mail (Toronto) (April 24, 2007, p A14); Thomas, Cora (2001) Australian Aborigines to White Australians Australian Aboriginal Studies 1, 21 [18] A recent ethnic issue that makes this point in the UK is BBC News ‘Polish Immigration’ (June 16, 2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/uk_news/england/5080924.stm [19] (1992) [20](1961) The Concepts of Law [21]Keita, L. (2002) The Problem of Race in the 21st Century The Western Journal of Black Studies 26: 1, 55 [22] Owusu, Kwesi (2000) Black British Culture and Society: A Text reader (London: Routledge), 9 [23] ibid

Prevailing Over The Rock :: essays research papers

Prevailing Over The Rock   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  About year ago, I overcame an arduous rock climb appropriately nick-named â€Å"the subway†. I had flown up to the coast of Maine to be included in an Outward Bound expedition. After a tedious week of navigating a thirty-foot pull-boat, we arrived at Hurricane Island, which is the center of operations for the U.S. sailing expeditions of Outward Bound. It was around midday when I stood at the base of the rock face with the ten members of my team and two professional climbers. At the time, the only rock climbing experience I had was derived from a few unadorned climbs on an artificial wall. Those limited experiences taught me that rock climbing can be very physically demanding, strenuous, and sometimes, dangerous. It takes a lot of physical strength, as well as keen senses to locate and utilize footholds and handholds to successfully scale a mountainside. During a basic debriefing, one of the professional climbers informed us that the difficulty level of this climb was a 5.3. Sensing that few of us comprehended the rating’s significance, they explained that this meant that the climb would be a difficult one. Despite the warning, our group, which consisted of five males, three females, two instructors, and myself were anxious to commence our ascent. Few of us understood, however, of the turbulent challenges that lay ahead.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At that point, each of us were issued a harness and a helmet and were told the proper procedures which we would have to follow. We were to scale the mountain one at a time, while two other members of our team were to remain at the base of the wall to maintain the rope. During this lecture, I asked one of the experienced climbers the significance of the name â€Å"the subway.† They told me that in order to overcome a certain overhang in the rock, it was necessary to grab a small fixation in the rock and pull oneself over it. They then continued to say that this process somewhat resembled that of reaching up and grabbing hold of the straps in a subway car, and thus, the climb had been deemed â€Å"the subway.† Though I could somewhat able to visualize what the climber talked of, I did not comprehended the difficulty that was involved. Nonetheless, I was soon to find out. When it came to my turn to climb, my preset determination drowned what little apprehension I possessed.

Fight Club: A Narrative Analysis Essay -- Cinema

Barsam and Monahan define a narrative as, â€Å"A cinematic structure in which content is selected and arranged in a cause-and-effect sequence of events occurring over time† (553). David Fincher’s Fight Club uses a very unique narrative mode in that the whole film is self-narrated by the unnamed main character and has one of the best surprise endings in this writer’s opinion. This makes the film a prime specimen to be broken apart for further narrative analysis. The film starts out with the nameless narrator played by Edward Norton in a nameless city. The narrator, stuck in a dead-end white collar job, suffers from insomnia and is told he can’t receive medication. This paints Norton’s character as someone who is stuck, without any visible options to alleviate his pains. He then proceeds to visit support groups to see people worse off than himself. Eventually he finds relief from his insomnia in the emotional release he gets from these different support groups he pretends to be a part of. Then he meets the femme fatale of the film, Marla Singer. She too is feeding off the emotional release from the support groups which leads to the first conflict of the film. On a flight back from a business trip the narrator befriends Tyler Durden, a physically fit soap salesman played by Brad Pitt. This is the point where you realize that for the first thirty minutes of the film random flashes of a tall blonde man appear on the screen for le ss than a second. Foreshadowing his importance, if someone is quick enough to catch a good enough glance of these flashes they will recognize that it is Tyler Durden, and so the plot thickens. Tyler Durden is what some people would consider a muscle head, but he has much too many ideas for those stereotypes t... ...sumed he has gone through the required change most protagonists go through in narratives. With characters, plots and tones that throw the viewer through more loops than a roller coaster, Fight Club explores several of the narrative elements with many twists, turns, and plot devices that leave the mind pondering for days after viewing the film. Wrought with symbolism and the powerful themes of anti-consumerism and breaking down the walls we put around ourselves, there are several lessons to be taken from watching this film. Works Cited Barsam, Richard., and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010. Print. Fight Club. Dir. David Fincher. Perf. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. 1999. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2000. DVD. "Fight Club." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 05 May 2012. . Fight Club: A Narrative Analysis Essay -- Cinema Barsam and Monahan define a narrative as, â€Å"A cinematic structure in which content is selected and arranged in a cause-and-effect sequence of events occurring over time† (553). David Fincher’s Fight Club uses a very unique narrative mode in that the whole film is self-narrated by the unnamed main character and has one of the best surprise endings in this writer’s opinion. This makes the film a prime specimen to be broken apart for further narrative analysis. The film starts out with the nameless narrator played by Edward Norton in a nameless city. The narrator, stuck in a dead-end white collar job, suffers from insomnia and is told he can’t receive medication. This paints Norton’s character as someone who is stuck, without any visible options to alleviate his pains. He then proceeds to visit support groups to see people worse off than himself. Eventually he finds relief from his insomnia in the emotional release he gets from these different support groups he pretends to be a part of. Then he meets the femme fatale of the film, Marla Singer. She too is feeding off the emotional release from the support groups which leads to the first conflict of the film. On a flight back from a business trip the narrator befriends Tyler Durden, a physically fit soap salesman played by Brad Pitt. This is the point where you realize that for the first thirty minutes of the film random flashes of a tall blonde man appear on the screen for le ss than a second. Foreshadowing his importance, if someone is quick enough to catch a good enough glance of these flashes they will recognize that it is Tyler Durden, and so the plot thickens. Tyler Durden is what some people would consider a muscle head, but he has much too many ideas for those stereotypes t... ...sumed he has gone through the required change most protagonists go through in narratives. With characters, plots and tones that throw the viewer through more loops than a roller coaster, Fight Club explores several of the narrative elements with many twists, turns, and plot devices that leave the mind pondering for days after viewing the film. Wrought with symbolism and the powerful themes of anti-consumerism and breaking down the walls we put around ourselves, there are several lessons to be taken from watching this film. Works Cited Barsam, Richard., and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. New York: W. W. Norton, 2010. Print. Fight Club. Dir. David Fincher. Perf. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. 1999. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2000. DVD. "Fight Club." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 05 May 2012. .