Monday, December 23, 2019

Why Special Needs Students Should Be Mainstreamed

Why special needs students should be mainstreamed What is Mainstreaming? According to (Mainstreaming: The Special Needs Child Goes to School), Mainstreaming means that the special needs child attends a regular classroom along with students who are his or her actual (not development) age. Mainstreaming means that the child is not kept isolated in a special class, away from peers, but is included just like everyone else. Most children that have physical disabilities, learning difficulties, or emotional issues are placed into Special Education classes. In these classes, there are teachers who are there to help them exceed in things they normally would not be able to do. Every student is different and every child has their own disabilities. Each individual’s case can differ from being mild, moderate, to extremely severe. (Mainstreaming Special Education in the Classroom) Regardless of the issues they might face, it does not make their importance any less. â€Å"Each studentâ⠂¬â„¢s abilities and deficits must be examined against the pros and cons of mainstreaming to come up with an optimal choice on a case by case basis.† (Brighthub Edu) There are individuals’ opinions on (www.debate.org) where they argue on whether students with special needs should be mainstreamed, and on one of the comments a person stated â€Å"Their rights are not more important than those of the normal children† No, they are not more important, but they are equally important. On another comment an individual saidShow MoreRelatedShould Special Needs Children Be Mainstreamed?1183 Words   |  5 PagesMany argue whether special needs children should be mainstreamed. Mainstreaming is when a school puts children with special needs into classrooms with their peers who have no disabilities (Masters in Special Education Degree Program Guide). Inclusion is a term which expresses the commitment to educate each child, to maximization extent appropriate, in the school and classroom that he or she would otherwise attend (Wisconsin in Education Association Council). Special education is a term used in theRead MoreMainstreaming Special Needs Children1627 Words   |  7 PagesMainstreaming Special Needs Children In an ideal world all children would be born without disabilities. This idea is not possible though and sometimes children are born with special needs. The child could have only one disability or several. A disability can be mild and treated with medication or the disability can be severe and the child will need constant supervision. Once the child becomes of age to attend school, the issue of whether or not to place the child in a regular classroom or special needsRead More Mainstreaming and Inclusion of Exceptional Children? Essay2145 Words   |  9 Pagesrecognize that the need for higher education is implied for all students, including those with special needs. â€Å" The term mainstreaming was first used in the 1970’s and describes classrooms where students with disabilities and students who do not have disabilities are together (Mainstreaming in Classrooms, 2002. p. 1)†. Within special education the question of mainstreaming often arises as a solution for superi or learning. Mainstream and inclusion programs have proven beneficial to all students, teachers andRead MoreFactors That Affect Teacher s Expectations Of Students844 Words   |  4 Pagesteacher’s expectations of students in a negative way. I have seen how the way the children act and their background affects the leaders at my sites expectations for how a child will act during homework time. One of the students I work with was being very difficult during free time, so before I worked with that child on homework, the teacher told me that the students acted out because of many problems at home, and because of this, I should not expect much from this student in a positive academic situationRead MoreThe Importance Of A Student With Disabilities1753 Words   |  8 Pagesbecause a student has different needs than the person next to him does not mean that he should not be given the same opportunities to learn. Studies have shown that students with disabilities can benefit from bei ng mainstreamed into general education classes instead of being placed in a resource room or the special education room. Why not help students with disabilities reach their full potential while in the same setting as other students without disabilities? Students with disabilities should be mainstreamedRead MoreEvaluation Of A Mentally Disabled Students1413 Words   |  6 Pages Also having a mentally disabled student work on an assignment with a non-mentally disabled student can improve the mentally disabled child’s education because the non-mentally disabled child can help teach them how to complete the assignment. One-on-one time with both non-mentally disabled children or resource persons can improve the child’s academic abilities in a mainstreamed setting more than in a non-mainstreamed environment. Resource people are other adults from outside the classroom that meetRead More Mainstreaming Children in the Classroom Essay2106 Words   |  9 Pagesrequires changes in organizational management. For children to be mainstreamed it takes great devotion from directors, teachers and families. It is important to understand that the mainstreaming of children with disabilities should not be implemented according to a certain standard model. This process is an individual one (Daniels, E Stafford, K. 2001). Mainstreaming of children is based on the belief that education of every child should be individual. This states that every child has their own individualRead MoreInclusion: What is Best For Students With Disabilities Essay2448 Words   |  10 Pagesthey all need the same things? Can they all excel at the same pace? These and many more questions come up when we discuss the topic of inclusion. Inclusion is the term many educational professionals use to explain the integration of students with special needs into regular education classes. The terms mainstreaming, deinstitutionized, normalization, as well as the least restrictive environment all have been used to in the past to refer to inclusion. Is inclusion what is best for all students with disabilitiesRead MoreEducating Students With Children With Disabilities969 Words   |  4 Pagestroubled. Another definition of mainstreaming is placing special-needs children in the â€Å"least restrictive environment†. The idea of mainstreaming is to help the students with disabilities feel more connected to other students, but in reality it can challenge the teachers that does not have the training and support to help benefit the students needs (Sacks, 2001). This not only affects the teachers and students, but the parents believing their child should be included. Choosing mainstreaming at my topic benefitsRead MoreInclusion For Students With Disabilities And Benefits For The Students Essay1987 Words   |  8 Pagesare benefits for the students with disabilities and benefits for the typically developed student. Not only are their benefits for the students, but teachers also b enefit from inclusion in the classroom. Inclusion also shows diversity and shows the differences between peers. Teachers will have to differentiate their instruction and support the needs of all their students. Some people will believe there are too many concerns for inclusion in the classroom, but teachers and students can make it a positive

Sunday, December 15, 2019

The Case of Barnes and Noble Bookstores Free Essays

This paper will analyse the current stock performance of Barnes and Noble Bookstores which are based in New York. The company, which started more than a century ago started out as a printing press and turned out to be one of the largest bookstores in the world. Tracking the company’s stock price performance in the New York Stock Exchange in a five-day period from August 6 up to August 10 for the current year as well as providing a forecast for its future performance can be attributed with several factors. We will write a custom essay sample on The Case of Barnes and Noble Bookstores or any similar topic only for you Order Now One of the factors that affect the stock price performance of the company is the internal decisions that guide the company. Currently, under Steve Riggio’s term as CEO, the stock price of the company at NYSE has already soared to its current level of 30+- barrier through a lot of innovative as well as daring in-store offerings. In 2007, all of the Barnes and Noble Bookstores in the United States totalled to about 840 in all with average store openings of 30 to 40 every year. The stock price of Barnes and Noble has also been affected by the modern comfort offerings within all its stores which have Wi-Fi connections with modest separate fees. The Barnes and Noble stores also have the cafe offerings such as Starbucks coffee which greatly provides convenience to its customers. This could probably be one of the reasons why the company has been enjoying a modest growth for the past years. In 2006, revenues for Barnes and Noble and its subsidiaries reached $5. 3 billion USD. It could then be said that the modern as well as cosmopolitan outlook of the bookstore company would keep its stock prices as well as revenues up or the next couple of years or so. That is also according to the current figures provided by the company’s solid 57,000 employees as of the 1st quarter of 2007. Explaining how these internal factors could affect the fate of Barnes and Noble stock prices, it would have to be attributed to the image that the company projects towards their customers as well as their investors. The offerings are the company’s way of differentiating themselves from other conventional bookstores in the book retail industry. And with a market as volatile as that of the United States, market differentiation is really important for Barnes and Noble to win market shares as well as investors who would finance their planned expansions in the future. This would have to be coupled by other aggressive marketing strategies for their books as well as other future offerings which investors will dig out as good investments. External Influences Another important aspect in determining the future stock price performance of Barnes and Noble in the New York Stock Exchange are the external factors or those that are way beyond the control of the company. External factors may include the over-all performance of the retail industry, the situation of the US Stock markets as well as regional markets which may affect the company such their source of raw materials as well as major retail subsidiaries. In this case of Barnes and Noble, it can be said that the popular bookstore’s stock performance may be at the mercy of the bearish US stock market which as Ben Bernanke announced, could lead to a slight slowdown in the US economy as the US real estate draws to a halt. This could greatly affect Barnes and Noble which attributes most of its profits from high consumer spending. If and then the US economy would in fact be slowing down, the bookstore will experience a hard time making customers come back and purchase reading materials. Although the bookstore has offerings which may still entice customers to come back without even buying a book or a magazine, this situation could still greatly affect the performance of not only the bookstore’s stock price performance but for most American companies as well. How to cite The Case of Barnes and Noble Bookstores, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Transparent Clothing Essay Example For Students

Transparent Clothing Essay The whole project for season Autumn/Winter 2015-2016 is aimed at developing a new collection and researching some unique design techniques based on X-ray as its initial inspiration. This project began with research at four museums, four galleries, 4 libraries and 4 markets which contained different aspects of London. Among these resources I was inspired by an exhibition †Ancient lives new discoveries in British Museum and a book in CSM library, X-Ray, by Nick Veasey 2014 which developed X-ray images in unique ways. These X-ray pictures are charming with their different layers and gradations. Common objects become mysteries with the transparent and semitransparent lines and shadows with black and white or even with colors. I tried to find a kind of fabric to imitate the visual effects of X-ray such as chiffon, semi-transparent silk, transparent PVC, and semi-transparent PVC. At the same, I also hope to combine with other opaque fabric with white color by pleating or other technique. As Chiffon, silk and other traditional fabrics have been already widely used before, I mainly focused on PVC materials. Due to the fact that the main colors of X-ray images are mostly white with a black background, I considered white as the main color of my collection. At the same time, there are also many colored images in Nick Veaseys book. I also tried some other color in my design such as fluorescent pink PVC. Due to the fact that there are many different kinds of clothes in real lives, I tried to imitate different kinds of clothes with small samples to discover interesting visual effects and textures. From coats to down jackets, the visual effects and textures will be changed because of the different layers and different kinds of infillings. At the same time, transparent and semitransparent material own the special characteristics that the common materials dont have: the objects inside can be seen through transparent and semitransparent material. Just like the X-ray pictures, we can see buttons, cards and other personal things or even underwear through X-ray. This makes the image different from the common one. I hope to develop this characteristic to intimate the diverse layers of clothes and make them special compared to those made by traditional materials. These samples include the polyester wadding inside the PVC and are sewed by a special machine. Also I tried to develop unique structures which differ from the typical coat or other kind of clothes, and make it have more pieces and layers. Some buttons and personal things also are put in the pocket and other parts of the clothes. Due to the fact that the PVC is different from other fabric, a kind of special machine should be used in the making process. At the same time, some traditional sewing skills are also necessary for with invisible thread. The pattern should be exact because the PVC materials have no elasticity.

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Summery of Anarchist of Darwin Essay Example

Summery of Anarchist of Darwin Essay In a village; which is deserted far away from the main city, had a tragic news which buzzed around the village. The village was well known for its big ball of string made by a woman. It was heartbreaking for everyone to lose one of the famous artifact. This tragic was no ordinary accident, it was all set up. A non compose mentis lit the ball with gasoline in a silenced star night. The day broke out and a young man was standing near the unfortunate tragic. His name is Chris. Chris was an only child who lost his parents at early age. The village wasnt very favorable to Chris nor did he favor the neighbors. To consult about the further deed, all the people in the town were invited in a school gym. Different opinions struck through the gym about the ball but no one had agreed on the ideas so the meeting was postponed till the inspectors found some evidence. Chris silence broke when his childhood friend (Tank) dashed in with his wife (Meal). Tank was very disturbed about the event. Suddenly another person came to the conversation between Chris, Tank, and Meal. It was Buddy. Chris and Buddy never got along from grade school. Chris was a loner in a simple term. We will write a custom essay sample on Summery of Anarchist of Darwin specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Summery of Anarchist of Darwin specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Summery of Anarchist of Darwin specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer He never liked anyone from the village besides a young girl named Claire. Chris had affection about Claire which he cannot express. Every night Chris would wonder off to the park which was located very close to Claimers house. He would stare right through her window from a distinctive space and watch her change and or her working out. The only problem about Claim was that most of the night Chris would see a man walk out of her house, even Tank. This gave Chris a hypothesis that Claire Is a prostitute. Although Tank Is married, he Is like the person who would have sex with anyone besides man. After a week the police found some clues and called all the citizens to the same gym again. The police started talking about how the ball was set on fire and he referred the man who was up to this a loner, unhappy, perhaps a serious associative disorder. Perhaps a delusion? A man In the crowd broke the silence by saying Someone like our Chris then the gym echoed In laughter and suddenly It all became quiet. Another person In the crowd asked Yeah Chris where were you at that night? Chris became red hot and Claire tried to calm him down. Then he stood up and darted to giggle. He told everyone that he was the person who destroyed the ball because he hated It. HIS mother made the ball and the chemicals used to make the ball were very toxic which had killed her mother right at the finishing. Due to his mothers death, Chris old man started taking booze and found dead for over does of alcohol consumption. And he was very proud about how he made all the people come together about some bullish stuff. At the end of Chris speech, all the audience stared at him Like he was mentally challenged which Chris didnt believe. At that point Chris gave up on the whole damn world. Summery of Anarchist of Darwin By Naif-Naifs Chris a hypothesis that Claire is a prostitute. Although Tank is married, he is like the disorder. Perhaps a delusion? A man in the crowd broke the silence by saying Someone like our Chris then the gym echoed in laughter and suddenly it all became quiet. Another person in the crowd asked anemia Chris where were you at that night? because he hated it. His mother made the ball and the chemicals used to make the At the end of Chris speech, all the audience stared at him like he was mentally.

Monday, November 25, 2019

How to Nurture the Markets You Know

How to Nurture the Markets You Know Recently, I hung out on an online writers workshop group, and the talk traveled to diversification. My fellow  Ã‚  writers tried to convince me, yet again, to write for businesses and corporations. This didnt sound totally right to me. Wasnt magazine publishing a business, too? I said that, for now, I would stick to articles. The moderator, an internationally praised freelance journalist, praised my fortitude. In the end, I guessed, it was about sticking to what you know, what made you comfortable. Over the last year, I realized that sticking to good markets, like staying faithful to a good spouse, could save your life in the end. I learned to nurture the markets I knew. Like most people, I hated selling myself to strangers. Strange magazine editors, with their cold inboxes and expectations of knock-your-sock-off queries, were no exception. This realization had improved my relationships with editors. Now I feel more confident that Ill get off welfare and succeed, again, as a full-time writer. I have hope again in the â€Å"meat market† freelancer situation of 2014, where A+ authors are competing like never before with the merely very good. I always considered myself a wonderful writer, but fighting for crumbs with Columbia Journalism School grads had really depressed me. In the end, I ended up being the girl who learned that she didnt have to attract the captain of the football team, or even had to work overtime to be pretty and dateable – at least in this cutthroat market. She just had to be laid-back with unglamorous but well-paying and consistent magazine markets. Finding Faithful Markets I have three rules to finding, keeping, and nurturing markets. 1. When contacting a magazine with a query or letter of introduction, I like to deal with publications that respond quickly. For first-time assignments, I dont deal with any magazine that doesnt make a decision within two weeks. The old-style, three-month rule of New York publishing doesnt apply to most magazines currently looking for freelancers. Your market should be like a date thats TRULY interested in you. 2. I also prefer magazines that are generous with assignment information. Obviously, knowing how to create a professional article is paramount. However, I hate it when an editor leaves everything to me; possible conflicts can and often do arise. I always verify length of article, deadline, slant of article, and of course payment amount. 3. After finishing an article for a publication, if they encourage me to submit more stuff, they make me especially happy, and they go to the head of my idea queue. I admit that some publications are not pro-active. They are like the shy but good guy, and sometimes, I make the first step to maintain a good relationship. However, perpetually making the first step with markets that dont respond is a waste of time. I only have a limited time for my career. For the best use of my effort, I emphasize my work with markets that respond to me quickly, consistently, and professionally. Markets Here are five trade magazines currently looking for freelancers who deliver consistently. Minority Nurse Magazine minoritynurse.com Contact: Megan Larkin mlarkin@springerpub.com Tea Coffee Trade Journal teaandcoffee.net Contact: Vanessa Facenda v.facenda@lockwoodpublications.com Vineyard Winery Management vwmmedia.com Contact: Tina Caputo tcaputo@vwmmedia.com Medical Economics http://medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/ Contact: Dan Verdon dverdon@advanstar.com Cleveland Business Connects (CBC) Magazine cbcmagazine.com Contact: Thomas Skernivitz tom@cbcmagazine.com Find out more about Behlor Email: thebxscribbler1980@gmail.com Website: behlorsanti.net LinkedIn: linkedin.com/pub/behlor-santi/53/32/193

Friday, November 22, 2019

Ancient Greek Theatre Essay Example for Free

Ancient Greek Theatre Essay The Greek theatre history begins with festivals which honor gods. An example of such a festival was ‘City Dionysia’ festival which honored god Dionysus. During this festival, which was taking place in Athens men perform songs to welcome god Dionysus. Plays were also presented. Athens was the main city where these festivals and theatrical traditions were presented. At ancient Greek Festivals, the actors, directors and dramatists were all the same person. Later only three actors were allowed to perform in each play. And this was followed by adding few non-speaking roles to perform on-stage. Because of the limited number of actors, the chorus played a very active part of Greek theater. During the chorus’ delivery of its lines music was often played. The theatrical forms of the ancient Greek theater were tragedy, comedy and satyr. Athenian tragedy, comedy and satyr plays were some of the earliest theatrical forms to emerge in the world. Greek theater and plays have had a lasting impact on Western drama and culture. Satyr plays dealt with mythological subject in comic manner. Tragedy had as an originator, Thespis, who is considered to be the first Greek actor of tragedy plays. Aristotle’s Poetics say that tragedy originates from dithyrambs which were songs sung in praise of Dionysus at the Dionysia each year. Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus were three well-known Greek tragedy playwrights. The structure of Greek tragedy consisted of the following: 1. Late point of attack 2. Violence and death offstage 3. Frequent use of messengers to relate information 4. Usually continuous time of action 5. Usually single place 6. Stories based on myth or history 7. Focus on psychological and ethical attributes of characters Comedy plays were derived from imitation. Aristophanes wrote most of the comedy plays. The structure of the comedy consisted of two parts. Part one had the prolog, where chous gives debate or ‘agon’ and parabasis, a choral ode addressing the audience, in which a social or political problem is discussed. Part two consists of scenes which show the result of the happy idea. Theatre buildings were called a theatron. They were large, open-air structures constructed on the slopes of hills. Most of the Greek theatres were constructed in such a way so that the smallest sound could be transmitted to any seat of the audience. They consisted of four main parts: the orchestra, the skene and the audience (theatron) and the parodos. The orchestra was a large area at the center part of the theatre normally circular. It was there where play, dance and acting took place. The earliest orchestras were simply made of hard earth but later in the Classical period some orchestras began to be made of marble and other materials. The orchestra of the theater of Dionysus in Athens was about 60 feet in diameter. The skene was a large building behind the orchestra which was used as a backstage. It was the place where actors change their costumes and masks. It was usually decorated as a palace, temple or other building, depending on the needs of the play. The audience (theatron) was where people were sitting to enjoy the play and it was in the front of the orchestra. It was usually part of hillside overlooking the orchestra. People in the fifth century BC probably sat on cushions or boards but by the fourth century many Greek theaters had marble seats. The parodos were the passageways by which the chorus and some actors made their entrances and exits. The audience also used them to enter and exit the theater before and after the performance. The two masks of the picture represent the symbols for theater. They represent the comedy and tragedy masks which were worn in ancient Greece. They also represent duality. Actors were very far away from the audience that without the aid of costumes and masks they would be difficult to see. Actors wore thick boots to add to their height and gloves to exaggerate their hanks so that their movements would be easy to see by the audience. The masks were made of linen or cork, so none have survived. We however know that they looked like from statues and paintings of ancient Greek actors. Tragic masks carried mournful or pained expressions, while comic masks were smiling. The head of the actor was covered by his mask, which included hair. It is believed that the shape of the mask amplified the actor’s voice, making his words easier for the audience to hear. This mask is associated with the famous ancient Ancient Greek Theatre. (2016, Dec 09).

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

CONTEXTUAL STUDIES - THE PENGUIN AN THE UTOPIA Essay

CONTEXTUAL STUDIES - THE PENGUIN AN THE UTOPIA - Essay Example The paper analyses the possible connections that exist between the 1934’s Penguin Pool and the modern Utopia. In so doing, the paper explores the relation between architecture and zeitgeist in terms of ideologies and the material production of space. Discussion Life and ideas of Berthold Lubetkin Berthold Lubetkin is considered one of the best architects ever in history. Many of his works have been landmarked in Britain. To add on this, his ideas are still being used in architectural discourse, as well as education worldwide (Allan & Sternberg, 2002). He pioneered design in Britain in the 1930s, with his works including the famous London Zoo penguin pool. According to Fisher (2007), Lubetkin viewed the world as a collection of static facts. These facts, he said, were never to be moved or disturbed. He added that however, that could not be the reality. To him, life was not all about creation or enjoying fixed values but rather humans enjoy processes. The whole is like a burning candle that result into change in one thing or another. To him, people were not built structures that looked as if they just landed there from the sky. As such, he looked at design as being something that could be manipulated to fit onto a given environment, at a given season. Things are not to look so permanent. Thus, dynamism is essential in architecture as it is a transformation process (Sheppard & Lousada, 2010). Using the transformation idea and dynamism, Lubetkin created the London Zoo penguin pool in 1934. He endeavoured to use the building as an opportunity to explore existing possibilities of the reinforced concrete in a creative manner. By 1934, reinforced concrete was a new building material (Perrin, 2002). He studied the behaviour of penguins and utilised the idea in coming up with the idea of the building. He created a penguin enclosure as well as a pool that provided an interesting environment for the penguins. There were also numerous viewing angles specifically for spectators to visit the place. It was a Modernist building that envisaged true clarity and style. Additionally, there was a large elliptical blue pool which provided the birds with a large swimming area. The blue pool, moreover, offers a contrast to the white concrete which was used in most of the design. The design included a shaded area which protects the birds from direct sun. Having gently curved walls is essential as it echoes the penguins’ cries. Through these aspects of design, Lubetkin demonstrates the need for relating architecture to the existing housing conditions. Thus, he showed this through satisfying the needs of the penguins. Furthermore, the structure demonstrates the need for coming up with a solution, which could be different in its appearance, as compared to the natural environment. However, the vital thing is for the solution to function as expected (Shore, 2010). Source: Allan & Sternberg, 2002. Modern architecture in 1920’s and 1930’s Ther e is a misconception that architecture in the 1920’s and 1930’s was old style. However, this period experienced art deco and the emergence of the modern style. The emphasis was on the streamlining of buildings and minimal use of colour. According to Page (2012), in her article titled â€Å"Period Houses: The 1920’s and 1930’s†, she looks examines modern design in 1920’s and 1930’s. Here, she explores the Villa Savoye in Paris which she

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Business Ethics and Social responsibility (An Ethical Analysis of Essay

Business Ethics and Social responsibility (An Ethical Analysis of (Nike) ) - Essay Example Nike has also become one of the world’s leading sportswear and equipment providers with revenues exceeding 18.6 billion in supplies for athletic shoes (Yu). Although based in the US, the company continues to provide excellent quality products to its customers and to maximize its profits all over the globe, with the swoosh becoming one of the most iconic brand symbols of all time. In 2009, Nike was employing 30,000 people in different 52 countries all over the world (Yu). Nike began as a small retail outlet in the car of Phil Knight in January 1964. Its founding fathers, Bill Bowerman and Phillip Knight, were initially disappointed by the sales that they were making. They paid a university student to make a logo for their products that would help to attract more recognition to the brand (Yu). Over the past five decades, the company has risen to remarkable fame, and the UK marketing manager for Nike attributes this fame and success to the firm and resolute vision of the company. He observes. â€Å"Absolutely everything we do is motivated by the fact that we’re here to enable athletes to be even better. We know who we are. We know what we want to achieve and we go for it 100 per cent of the time† (Yu). Nike has several brand names such as Nike Pro, Nike Air Max and Nike Football, and works with subsidiary names such as Umbro, Cole Haan and Converse. Along with producing sports gear and equipment, Nike also operates widely in retail stores under the ‘Nike Town’ profile. Many high profile athletes have benefited from Nike sponsorships deals promoting the ‘swoosh logo’ and ‘just do it’ trademarks. According to the Global Alliance report on the factories making Nike products in Indonesia, about 58% of the employees are young adults aged between 20 and 24 years. Moreover, 83% of the labour is female. Half of the

Saturday, November 16, 2019

How femininities and masculinities were constructed in Latin America Essay Example for Free

How femininities and masculinities were constructed in Latin America Essay The upsurge of the American culture has vehemently exploded across the world in general, but in particular in the Latin America, where the conventional living styles have been upset. From the Caracas to Havana, feminism and masculinity have been snared. Socially, a new social fabric is in the memory where gender polarity is being erased to pave way for a neoman who neither recognizes nor respects individual external orientations. Though in numerous cases education system in different courses have recognized the fauna and flora into two distinct groups based on anatomical feature; a good proportion of the modern people have failed to respect this early natural innovation. As far as human studies reveals, the aftermath of long researches with devotion and dedications from global scientists has to be alluded for verification and confirmatory of the kind evolutions that might have taken place. Perhaps, it can be claimed that biologists, psychologists and other individuals in the anthropological research and studies have over the time been disillusioned on their work. (Viveros, 2001) The two terminologies of masculinity and femininity have been widely used in the research involving human being. They have been used primarily in researches in the field of science of biology, sociology and medicine. Despite their wide application in the scientific world, these terms have been used to bring a sense of gender category/ identity. Both masculinity and femininity are two opposite terms which etymologically were derived from the word male and female respectively. In spite of their derivation, masculinity and maleness are widely distinct entities, hence they have meaning which are quite unrelated. Similarly, femininity and femaleness has different application to bring different meanings. Advances in education and technology in defense of new world, masculinity and femininity meanings have been diffused, and this has led to flooding of different characteristics to define them, thus impressive characteristics such as communion and separations by Balkan are widely adopted.   Ã‚  Ã‚  (Stern, 2001) Overall, distinguishing of such terminologies has over the decades been confusing, throwing most readers out of the track. Sex and gender are the most perplexing words especially in relation to masculinity and femininity.   However, the recent simplicity of these indicates the body as being the sex while gender is the complexities which are portrayed by the body. This sophistication thus comprises of the body behavior, the mental thinking and the general features which describes the personality of an individual (Gutmann, 1970). Therefore, masculinity and femininity are highly rooted on the gender term rather than sex. Masculinities and femininities are gendered terms which refers to behavioral characteristics that are distinctive and general pronounced in give sex.   The study of females and males in gender revealed context is something that has not taken place in an overnight elapse; however, this is estimated to have been in existence for more than a century. Approximately, femininity and masculinity studies have lasted from late 19th century and early 20th century up to date. First and foremost, men’s interest on the study of gender work was more inclined in the field of social activities. The arousal of gender related interest was emanating from the many numerous mistreatments that were inflicted on the females by the male counterparts. Since the first inscriptive work concerning gender issues, inequalities in the society were eminent with much exploitation of the females. Thus the imbalances and disparities which are still distinctive in the currently world’s community are the traces of scalds which were inflicted by our forefathers. Variations on behavior and other inherent characters of the males and females in the communities of the Latin America are conspicuous features not only to the Latin America but to the other communities within the United States (Viveros, 2001). Masculinity and femininity has been displayed in numerous ways in the Latin America. The intimacy of power and sexuality is like nut and bolt. Since the creation of human nature, they have always fitted into each other forming a bound which is hard to break. Over the year, sexual powers have played major role in the maintenance of procreation process in the board. Sexual power on either side of femininity and masculinity has been of great value over the formation of couple families. Man and female partners have served as great firms; each housing within it very important commodities of pressure and live. Although the firm machines is fueled by spiritual means, the running the firms to produce an extraordinary products has always been threatened. While market places are set up for commodities exhibitions, jargonization  Ã‚   has taken place in the market place of the firm established and their commodities are neither valued nor can they enter the targeted marketed audiences. This was earlier perceived by Marx, hence, according to his elucidation of commodity, he pointed out that the process of change has got far reaching consequences. (Sallie, 2000) Family life in the Latin America has been dominated with capitalism, with men trying to harvesting unfairly on what they did not deserve. Repressive and coercive environments raged among many house in the Latin America couple compelling the females to submissive condition. For a number of decades, violence combined with oppression on the Latin America women was usual tolerance of the family life. Through well strategic and tactical ways, manipulations were legally and illegally set to capture the commodity. This conformed to the works of Bauman, whom in his work, he found that consumption was so much important to capitalist and therefore, during the early times, there were deficiency in erecting effective barrier to the consumer. Women were handicapped economically and socially making them vulnerable to challenges of men. Women situations have always been challenged to that of men by the variations of the availability of the commodities and consumers. Like a tourists in foreign land, the proportion of women to men has always been at an alarming level, paving the way for capitalistic men to maneuver their way from entangles of monogamy to polygamy and other kind of behavior misconducts. Bauman said â€Å" our desired are constantly recycled, reinvented and even invented in relation to new products, the endless pursuits for new, which fuses the thrill of invention with the status afforded innovations and newness in most of the world†. Through commodities rareness and scarcity in the Latin America, thrilling and tempting emotions painful punctures the lives of the women making them to surrender the demands of nature. This means natural hierarchy of human power was hence established from the sexuality and its connection to power was thus imbued from creation and continued in human life by inequality (Sueann, 1998). The liberation of the females from the bondages of sexual powers has taken a long struggle. Men have always dominated the females either under the influence of laws of under the ignorance and pride of man. Masculinity and femininity in the Latin America has raised a lot of heated debates over the recent decades due to its continued oppressive nature on both men and women. Though the laws of the Latin America have endeavored to perpetuate the moral thinking of most religious groups such as Christianity, Islamic and many others, the imposing of state power to prohibiting homosexually was impinging making Latin American females to tolerate the unwelcoming condition dominancy of the males. While lesbianism and gay remained prohibited marriage practices in the Latin American region, the citizens were enslaved to the adherence to heterosexual partnership, which was termed as bleach of freedom and liberty from colonial sovereignties. Under the disguise of moral conservations on reproduction, men were privileged to exercise political power which degenerated and deprived off the women freedom of leadership on politics generating a lot of criticism from human right activists. The expression of masculinity and femininity in the society has therefore been a battling matter between the societies, the religions other organization such human right bodies. However, the diversification of masculinity and femininity has solely been propelled through the authorities of the states governments. With the hurricanes and hailstorms of change in culture and traditions, scores of Europeans nations as well as numerous United States have been thrown to the seas of homosexuality with great acceptance. The desire for freed men and women has been the main argument for the easy penetration of the modernized homogeneity of masculinity and femininity. (Stern, 2001) Although there is now generalized acceptance in homosexuality in the globe, some states mostly in developed continents have remained adamant to the forces and pressures of the multitude move, hence, heterosexuality which has been dominating marriage and sex practices for many years is still conserved. According to the works of Sallie, it is observed that not only did most Latin American government prohibit the practices of homosexuality, but they have also abolished use of natural commodities as means of exploitation of fellow men. Thus, both homosexuals and commercial heterosexuals never escape the legal authorities, but mercilessly and without impunity faces the full charges of legal courts where they duly pay their debts. Masculinity and femininity has therefore been maintained in place despites the enormous forces to dissolve it by the authority and the communities themselves. The severity and weight of homosexuality has been varied from one Latin American state to another.   Like in the antiquity of the Israelites, prostitution and homosexuality are illegal in the face of Ecuador dwellers. Besides illegalization of these behaviors, homosexuals and prostitutes in the Ecuador risks their lives to physical abuse which consequently can lead to instant deprivation of live through public stoning or gun shooting. In Brazil, the Brazilians are much more lenient on the maintenance of the healthy community with diversified masculinities and femininities. There is feeling that these are unethical practices, hence Brazilians have outlawed them by just concealing them from the public innocent persons, while on the black points such as brothels far from schools, residential places and other hidden places are business as usual. Undoubtedly, this can be perceived as strategy which is employed to eliminate the paupers either economically of in color discriminatory means. (Peake, 1990) For many decades which have passed over, it was unthinkable for the Brazilian females to get involved into risky relationships as it is rampant in the today world. The moral compulsion together with the cultural laws sternly denied chances of loose living of both brazened girls and mothers in honor of virginity. Virginity among the young girls was so precious that, if it was lost in any undeserving ways, valuable returns were paid by the offenders for not less than five years. The search and confirmatory work of the virginity in the Brazilians advanced technology and knowledge in the field of medicine. At first, lack of enough knowledge about the anatomical sex examination led to numerous errors from inexperienced practitioners. This perhaps led to imposing of unfair punishments to the perpetrators of the legal laws concerning defilements and other related matters. According to Sales, this was an overwhelming opportunity in medical fields especially in Brazil where the government shouldered the task of deflowering examinations. In the eve of the praise of virginity as an honor to the female, Manoel and Maria Pereira appeared in the system of justices in search for honor of virginity. While to the Europeans, deflowering was like a norm, the Brazilians felt that it was an act of guiltiness which could only be compensated fully by marriage union. Hence, Peixoto said â€Å"†¦the scarcity of women makes them so precious, that upon loss of virginity, they promptly demand due repair by marriage†. (Buckley, 1999) The value that was attached to virginity and more to the hymen was unparalleled. Thus, from the ancients time when live was worthy living, most Latin Americas females honored their virginity to the extent that they would commit serious offences like murder rather than losing it. Like a jewel, virginity was preserved by most of females in the Brazilian community of Latinos. Due to the efforts to preserve the culturally valued jewel, men who trespassed in snatching it were heavily reprimanded in the justice systems.   This saw justice systems being filled with abnormal number of deflowering disputes. Surprisingly, the majority of the seeker for justices hailed from lower class women of the society, which lead to the inappropriate conclusion that they were only sexually preoccupied as result of race, ignorance, climates and the upbringing environment which lead them to have undeveloped moral and mental cultures. (Sallie, 2000) Like many other kinds of cultural practices, the culture on virginity was skewed giving men much opportunity on the freedom of sexual matters more than females. While the acts of deflowering were sternly against the laws of lands, the resolutions were quite simplified through the acceptance of the offender to make marriage with the deflowered female. The continuation of the culture and tradition with increased value attached to virginity, men obtained the status of polygamous marriage which was not only a symbol of wealthy, but this increased their honor in the community. The fact that females were getting married as second wives, thus, they accepted to live as concubine, which meant that men’s virginity was neither an issues nor was it considered as of any value during marriage time. Therefore, men had full freedom and liberty to engage to any number marriage relationships of the opposite sex, while females found themselves adhering to only single man’s relationship that made them to lose virginity. Sueann found it not satisfying on the Brazilian females due to the inequality on sexual issues which had merited men more than females. Though the culture on virginity in the Brazilian community was a way of enhancing diversity of masculinity and femininity among the people, however, the adverse effects were eminent. This was overt from the works of Sueann where he said â€Å"†¦.the persistent valorization of the female virginity and male aggressiveness,   coupled with a long standing tradition of premarital sexual relations, gave men an enormous advantage over their female partners†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There are numerous other noble men and women in different organization with similar opinions and who have got even greater powers to initiate change on them. When the issue dawn on jurists and legislators, the got receive it as a debatable material which ended without unanimous steps of resolutions. It only served as a stepping stone to those in the political sector which was use to broaden their politics drive leaving men the trod on the females as much   as the rules and laws permitted. The defense on the female rights and the definition of the roles and responsibilities are therefore been a rich ground of political expansion while this has left female survival at the fate of tormenting men. (Buckley, 1999) Although female rights and responsibilities have fallen into disarray in most of time, collection of efforts over time has made a break through of female liberation. The enlightenment of women through education and formation movement groups fought for the liberation of women. However, the overthrow of men is long process which is happening at a gradual pace. Beginning with the discrimination of men over punishments on offences which were committed in environment each of the two parties to receive equally penalties, men was more inflicted than the female partners (Green, 1999). Thus, the controversies which arose in the formation of protective rights emerged to overturn the justice to injustice in the men side, making him to be overburdened with penalties. Oppression and undermining of the man through unfair punishments on sexual matters diminished the meaning of family. Women began praising themselves as the heads of their families and defied to be submissive to their husbands. With the support to intimidate men from activists, government and other groups, men became symbolic in the family status; but women encountering men with disrespect and defending their daughter misconducts were issue that made them to be more conspicuous. As a consequence of men intimidation and the usually consensus of the practices to empower women, pride of cultures and tradition lost and men’s authority and manipulations over the women fainted away. However, there was diverged on the interactivity of men and women creating a new ways of social interaction both in power and social activities. (Sueann, 1998) The later years of the twentieth century are marked with great changes of social and power in all Latin American countries. The struggle to equalize men and women in power altered the social interaction and the equality was thus literally applied on the social and power. Men and women in the Latin America became exercising homosexually where men power was dissolved and equality granted to relationship. The scene although has now become a norm over the four corners of the globe, masculinity and femininity in the marriages ground are thus a passive biological terms (Green, 1999). The adoption of the modern lifestyles in the Latin America has changes the stability of most families. With the adoption of the homosexuality and the despise of the early notions of heterosexually, marriage in the new generation of the Latin America has turned to be contractual, which give both men and women the chance of terminating the marriage, a fact which is contrary to the old relationships where death and men like Manoel had the fate of marriage. However, this worsened the healthy families which were once established under the polygamous culture as more flexibility of men and women doubled, tripled and sometime went several unaccounted folds. Despite the presences of the pernicious ailments such as HIV/AIDS, lesbianism and gay has continued at rapid rates in the Brazilians community. The stigmatization of the HIV/AIDS with homosexuals and bisexuals made them to be vulnerable than their counterparts heterosexuals. Hence, sex preference was now becoming a factor of consideration in the job market. The homosexuals and bisexuals became to be discriminated in the employment sectors which gave another race for such patients. The effect of AIDS/HIV gave a new setting of the society by dissolving the boundaries of culture; however, the distinction which existed on role and work responsibilities was generalized. (Haggerty, 1985),

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Free Essays - Alices Adventures in Wonderland Essays :: Alices Adventures in Wonderland Essays

In Lewis Carroll's novel Alice in Wonderland, Alice is curious, well-mannered, and confused while she tries to find her way out of Wonderland. Alice meets many unique and weird creatures which eventually help her escape wonderland. Alice shows that she is curious through her actions. At the beginning of the book Alice gets distracted from her "boring" work, and chases a white rabbit down a hole. This excerpt describes Alices curiosity, "Alice started to her feet, for it flashed in her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket". When Alice is at the bottom of the hole she find a bottle labeled "Drink Me", she wants to see what it tastes like, this excerpt describes the event "...this bottle was not marked `poison', so Alice ventured to taste it, finding it very nice". Another instant that shows her curiosity when she looks for the white rabbits fan and gloves, she finds a bottle, this time there was no table, "There was no label this time with the words `Drink Me' ... `I know something interesting is going to happen' ... ` I'll just see what it does',". Alice is like a little girl that is still exploring the world around her, but she finds that she is more mature than the creatures in Wonderland. Alice is very well mannered in Victorian ways to the creatures of Wonderland. Alice shows her good manners when she enters the white rabbits house and the rabbit tells Alice to go fetch his gloves and fan, "I'd better take his fan and gloves- that is if I can find them", since Alice is a guest, uninvited, she follows the owners orders. When Alice runs into caterpillar she calls him "Sir", here is an excerpt from the book , " I can't explain myself myself, I'm afraid, Sir", this shows that she respects the creatures of Wonderland. When Alice enters the Duchesses house and the Duchess throws the baby to Alice, Alice starts to take care of it, " `Here! You may nurse it a bit, if you like!' Alice caught the baby with some difficulty ...", this shows her maternal side. Wonderland is an illogical land, nothing seems to make sense to Alice. She starts to become very frustrated and confused. When Alice meets the caterpillar the following conversation takes place, " `Who are you!' the caterpillar asked ... `I - I hardly know, Sir, just at present - at least I know who I was when I got up this morning' ... ", Alice is so confused she does not even know who she is.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Impacts of the New Immigration Law in Arizona Essay

Maria de Los Angeles is a US immigrant of Hispanic origin and lives with her family in Arizona. When she had the news that the state’s governor had signed the controversial immigration act into law, just like other Hispanic women, she screamed at the top of her voice. Non immigrant colleagues who worked with her just stared not knowing what to do. Outside her little shop, an angry crowd of Hispanic immigrants were conversing in angry tones reacting to the news. They could not believe that in three months time, when the law becomes effective, their lives will change for the worse and thus they should be preparing for tough times ahead. A small boy who was listening to their conversations had difficulties in understanding the impact of the law to their lives. This essay seeks to find out the impact of the new immigration law in Arizona and whether it is racially motivated. It was on April, Friday 23 when the governor of Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer passed an immigration law called Support our Law enforcement and safe neighborhood act (Sharp, 2010) which is considered one of the toughest laws in anti immigration crusade. This law has sparked debates on the issue of illegal immigration and criticisms from every corner including from the president himself. President Obama has termed it as a sign of irresponsibility on the side of the state’s governance and this may apply to all states and thus he calls for reforms to be done on the federal immigration laws as soon as possible in order to avert these kinds of law by states. The signing of the law has also angered the President of Mexico and so many protesters have come out to criticize it. Many have said that the law reminds them of those days when racism was very active in America and thus the law is inviting racism back to their lives (Goodwin, 2010). What is in this law? The law requires every immigrant to have immigration papers and the police are given that power to ask for them every time they are suspicious of someone as an illegal immigrant. This means that, if they suspect anyone, then they have the power to detain him or her. Any immigrant, who will not be having the immigration papers, will be committing a crime and citizens can actually sue an agency which does not enforce the law. In other words, the police can question anybody irrespective of whether they are committing a crime or not. Even those who are going on with their legal businesses will be at the mercies of the police so long us they come under suspicion. The law punishes those who are found to be in the country illegally by sentencing them to jail for six months and 2,500 dollars as a fine. These punitive measures are going against the federal punishment of deportation (Goodwin, 2010). What are the impacts of the law? 30% of the Arizona population is Hispanic and illegal immigrants of Hispanic origin make up 80%of all immigrants and thus this law is seen as targeting them. The law has been criticized because it encourages the police to arrest people based on their looks, leaving out the evidence that they may actually be committing a crime. The governor tried to justify her actions by saying that she tried everything she could on language to avoid enforcement of this law to be based solely on the race, national origin and color of people but critics have revoked the law by saying that it does not lay out the circumstances under which somebody will be detained apart from the mentioned three that is, color, race and national origin (Goodwin, 2010). Most Americans have also raised their voices against it saying that the law itself is un-American. A senate candidate in Florida, Marco Rubio has said that Americans are not comfortable with the requirement of a group of people carrying documents every where they go. Tom Tancredo, a congress man ,even though he is known to be against illegal immigration, has this time come out to say that the law has gone too far. He said he does not wish for people to be pulled over due to their looks (Goodwin, 2010). The governor has come out to try to settle the issue by ordering the law enforcers to receive special training on how to implement the law by signing an executive order. In her efforts to fight crimes related to illegal immigration, she would also see into it that the law is not misused to infringe on rights of others. President Obama was against it even before it was signed saying that it will bring distrust between the people and the police (Goodwin, 2010). The opponents of the law have sworn to punish Arizona by targeting the state’s coffers. San Francisco city has called its residents to bring to an end their business dealings with Arizona and a boycott has also been called of any convention that will take place in Arizona. Some tourists to Arizona cancelled their reservations in protest to the law, swearing that they would not go back there because of the law. It is too early to predict what would happen to the tourism sector in Arizona and economy at large (Archibold, 2010). The law sparked fresh debates on federal immigration law reforms and this made President Obama to call for immediate complete reforms on the law. The Mexican foreign minister was not left behind in speaking his mind. He said that he is worried about the strained relationship between Mexico and Arizona and also about the Hispanic people and their rights. A Cardinal in Los Angeles termed the requirements of the law as Nazism (Archibold, 2010). The bill has been termed as a rebuke to the former governor of Arizona Janet Napolitano who had supported the bill there prior to her appointment in the Obama’s administration. Since it seems this law could lead to nation wide immigration debate, then the Hispanic voters could be politically motivated to benefit the democrats, energizing the conservative voters also (Archibold, 2010). The Union of American Civil Liberties has criticized the law as it is out to target the Latinos but the proponents say that the law is a good step towards settling the lawlessness at the US –Mexican border where the federal law enforcers have failed to do so. Napolitano argues that the law will facilitate siphoning of state’s wealth which is meant to fight the real crimes of the immigrants thus loosing focus (Warren, 2010). The main thing that is being observed is that the law seeks to overshadow the federal law which is the land’s supreme law (Warren, 2010). It seems that the debate will go through talk shows, lines of protests to the floor of the court to know whether states have power to implement laws that for a long time have been the responsibility of the federal government. Activists have vowed to challenge the law and prevent it from taking effect because it has gone overboard by attacking the authority of the federal government of regulating immigration and empowering the police, giving them too much power. When the law takes effect in July it that means anyone who is found in America illegally would be committing a crime. If one looks like a foreigner or sounds like it, then he will be subjected to lots of questioning by the police to confirm their citizenship (CBS interactive Inc, 2010). Some legal migrants will also find themselves in these kinds of treatments despite their citizenship. Some police departments say that the law would make it difficult to solve crimes because the moment you stop people and question them, this would not go down well with the immigrants and some of them will refuse to cooperate in solving crimes (CBS Interactive Inc, 2010). The republicans and the Democrats have found themselves in hot soup after the law was past. This is a very delicate issue which they did not want to deal with before the midterm elections of the congress because it involves a lot of emotions. The politicians are not the only ones who were affected but even students. In the University of Arizona, students started to withdraw in protest to the law and this prompted its president to write a letter to the school since it had lost so many students. The parents of these students had decided to send them to schools in other states and those who wanted admission to the school withdrew their applications (Binckes, 2010). Republicans have a reason to worry because it seems the Latinos will be in favor of democrats (Sharp, 2010). Since Arizona harbors 460,000 illegal immigrants, the law thus criminalizes their presence in the state. Another effect of the law is that day laborers will have a tough time because citizens are forbidden from employing them and anyone who is found to be ferrying illegal immigrants even if it is a member of the family, they will face the law (Goldman, 2010). Some proponents of this law have said that it is a big step in that it encourages other states and local governments to assert themselves when it comes to immigration issues. States have gotten tired of waiting for the federal government to enforce laws on immigration hence, just like other states which have enacted laws to protect their citizens, Arizona had to do it. In other words, the passing of this law is like telling the Americans to stop waiting for the feds to come to their aid when issues get out of hand. The feds were being told that the states and the local governments were not pleased by what they had to offer (Mcneill, 2010). Is the law racially motivated? Texas law maker, Debbie Riddle has disqualified those who call this law a racially motivated one and that they are up to no good for they are out to divert the attention of the citizens for personal selfish gains (Friedman, 2010). Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state thinks otherwise. She says that the law encourages racial profiling and that the state has overstepped its mandate by trying to impose its laws on people. She says that, racism comes in when the police will be questioning people based on their accents (Political News, 2010). Immigrants’ rights project’s director Mr. Lucas Guttentag says that the law will lead to an increased racial discrimination and profiling of anyone who looks like an immigrant. A former attorney general of Arizona Mr. Grant Woods, said that this law would make people be subjected to profiling because of their color but Mr. Kobach, a law professor disagrees with these two by saying that there is no such provision in the law because the police have been told clearly in the law that they should not base their suspicions solely on race. However, the use of the word solely here has been regarded by some lawyers as giving authority to discriminate or do profiling based on race with the condition that the government is not 100% motivated racially (Schwartz & Archibold, 2010). Sean Hannity and his fox news colleague Sarah Palin have revoked the claim that the law would lead to racism even though the law allows the police to consider race in their profiling. For Hannity, he says that the law does not encourage profiling but it actually forbids it. Palin on her part says that there is no opportunity in the law for racial profiling and that lame media should be ashamed for terming the law what it is not; this also applies to the Obama administration since they hold the same views. She is also supported by Mr. Kobach on this view. The law forces the police to make contacts with the federal government to check the status of the immigrants whether they are in the country legally or illegally and this actually reduces racial profiling (Media Matters for America, 2010). The law states that when a person is arrested, his status is checked before he is released. The problem that brings these views’ diversities in the law is that there is no agreement on what is meant by racial profiling. Some say it is when one relies on race and others say when one solely relies on race. The former is the broad meaning and the latter is the narrow meaning. The narrow meaning is not accepted by the Union of American civil liberty because it does not include other racial profiling which is still going on in the country (Media Matters for America, 2010). Some argue that, if the law is allowed to be effective, American would be making a very huge mistake that they will regret for a very long time. The draconian law as it is called by some people is a racial profiling sponsored by the government. The Arizona governor is said to contradict herself especially when it comes to the topic on profiling and some have asked the question whether racial profiling should be ruled out when race combined with other factor, are considered to determine suspicion. So, does it mean that racial profiling refers to only those situations when race is the only factor considered in determining a reasonable suspicion? (Bonner, 2010) In conclusion, from the impacts of the law it can be observed that the law will not only affect the illegal immigrants from Mexico but also anyone who is an alien in America including Africans who find themselves in Arizona. The debate is still on, on whether the law is actually racially motivated or not. The Arizona’s governor has made futile attempts to persuade the Americans that the law is actually constitutional but so many people have vowed to challenge the law in court or try to block its implementation. The courts are the ones which will determine whether the law is racially motivated or not. The question that most Americans are still asking themselves is how does an illegal immigrant look like?

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Fdi’s in Retail Sector in India-a Special Focus on Farmers.

FDI’S IN RETAIL SECTOR IN INDIA – A SPECIAL FOCUS ON INDIAN FARMERS. PAPER PRESENTED BY M. V. KALESWARA RAO, K. CHALAPATHI RAO DASARI. NIVAS. (Research Scholars) Dept Of Economics, Kakatiya University. WARANGAL. ? FDI’S IN RETAIL SECTOR IN INDIA – A SPECIAL FOCUS ON INDIAN FARMERS. The Foreign Direct Investment means â€Å"cross border investment made by a resident in one economy in an enterprise in another economy, with the objective of establishing a lasting interest in the investee economy.FDI is also described as â€Å"investment into the business of a country by a company in another country†. Mostly the investment is into production by either buying a company in the target country or by expanding operations of an existing business in that country†. Such investments can take place for many reasons, including to take advantage of cheaper wages, special investment privileges (e. g. tax exemptions) offered by the country. Major benefits of F DI : (a) Improves forex position of the country; (b) Employment generation and increase in production ; c) Help in capital formation by bringing fresh capital; (d) Helps in transfer of new technologies, management skills, intellectual property (e) Increases competition within the local market and this brings higher efficiencies (f) Helps in increasing exports; (g) Increases tax revenues GLOBAL RETAILING SCENARIO: Retail has played a major role in improving the productivity of the whole economy at large. The positive impact of organized retailing could be seen in USA, UK, and Mexico and also in China. Retail is the second largest industry in US.It is also one of the largest employment generators. It is also important to understand that Argentina, China, Brazil, Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore and Thailand have allowed 100% FDI in multi brand retail. These countries benefited immensely from it. Also small retailers co-exist. The quality of the services has increased. Chi na permitted FDI in retail in 1992 and has seen huge investment flowing into the sector. It has not affected the small or domestic retail chains on the contrary small retailers have increased since 2004 from 1. 9 million to over 2. million. Take for example Indonesia where still 90% of the business still remains in the hand of small traders. FDI IN RETAIL PRESENT STATUS: 51% FDI in multi brand Retail and 100% in single brand is put hold till the time consensus is reached between the political parties. There is stiff opposition being seen within the UPA allies in context of FDI in retail. Also opposition party is seeing this as an opportunity to get the political mileage. REASONS FOR ALLOWING FDI’s IN RETAIL MARKETS Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) complements and supplements domestic investment.Domestic companies are benefited through FDI, by way of enhanced access to supplementary capital and state-of-the-art technologies; exposure to global managerial practices and opportuni ties of integration into global markets. Government had instituted a study, on the subject of â€Å"Impact of Organized Retailing on the Unorganized Sector†, through the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), which was submitted to Government in 2008. The ICRIER study indicated significant benefits for various stakeholders, such as consumers, farmers and manufacturers, arising from the growth of organized retail.Based upon the study, as well as the experience of other countries, it is the Government’s assessment that implementation of the policy permitting FDI, up to 51%, in multi-brand retail trading, is likely to facilitate greater FDI inflows into front and back-end infrastructure; technologies and efficiencies to unlock the potential of the agricultural value chain; additional and quality employment; and global best practices. This, in turn, is expected to benefit consumers and farmers in the long run, in terms of quality and pric e.The 30% mandatory sourcing condition has been incorporated to encourage local value addition and manufacturing. The increased level of activity, in the front-end, as well as in the back-end, resulting from greater FDI inflows, is expected to create additional employment opportunities for rural and urban youth. It is, further, expected to encourage existing traders and retail outlets to upgrade and become more efficient, thereby providing better services to consumers and better remuneration to the producers from whom they source their products.There is no procedure to shortlist companies. Foreign investors desirous of investing in retail trade (multi brand or single brand) in India are required to submit their applications in the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, where their applications are examined to determine whether the proposed investment satisfies the notified guidelines, before being considered by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, in the Ministry of Finance , for Government approval. As per some news items published on 17. 11. 012, Wal-Mart, USA, is stated to be inquiring into allegations of potential violations, under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of USA, in certain countries where the company is operating. India has stringent anti-corruption laws. Any corrupt practices are liable to be dealt appropriately under applicable laws. This information was given by the Minister of State for Commerce & Industry Dr. S. Jagathrakshakan in written reply to a question in Rajy Sabha. IMMENSE GROWTH OPPORTUNITY FOR RETAILERS India is Asia’s third largest retail market after China and Japan. Organized retailing is very virgin space in India.It provides immense growth opportunity. Only 5% of the total sales are being done by organized retailer. Currently Indian Retail sector have sales of around $500 billion. Retail sector is expected to have sales of $900 billion by 2014. It still far behind China, whose retail sales by 2014 is expected t o cross $4500 billion mark. Purchasing power of Indian urban consumer is growing and branded merchandise in categories like Apparels, Cosmetics, Shoes, Watches, Beverages, Food and even Jewellery, are slowly becoming lifestyle products that are widely accepted by the urban Indian consumer.The Indian retail sector can be broadly classified into: Food Retailers Health and beauty Products Clothing and Footwear Home Furniture & Household goods Durable goods Leisure & Personal Goods Of these above segment Food and beverage and clothing segment is expected to grow exponentially. GROWTH DRIVERS OF INDIAN RETAIL SECTOR: Rising Income and increase in convergence of consumer taste and preferences. Dual family Income. Knowledge about different product through different medium like Internet, Television etc. Also knowledge abou t the latest trend and fashion. 7% of the India’s population is under the age of 30. This category is driving the consumption story. Emergence of new retailing for mat. Availability of Credit Facilities. HOW FARMERS TO GET BENEFITED: Farmers in India get only 10%-12% of the price the consumer pays for the agri-products. Coming of organized retailing will benefit farmers in big way. Big retailers sell their product at very competitive prices. So, they source it directly from the farmers. Middle man does not have any place in this format of retailing. This will not only benefit farmers but also help in checking the food inflation.Also India has very inadequate facilities to store the food grains and vegetables. As the investment will flow into back end infrastructure, supply chain will get strengthened. Storage is a major problem area and 20%-25% of the agri products get wasted due to improper storage. Another area which is also the cause of concern is movement of vegetable and other perishable agri item from one place to another. Lack of proper transportation forces the farmer to sell their produce in local market. This results in the lower rea lization on the produce. Impact of FDI on farmers all over the world: In 1970, hog producers received 48 cents of each dollar spent on pork. in 2000 they received only 12 cents. Prices to consumer did not decrease. †¦ In 1990 ranchers and farmers received 60 cents of the dollar spent on beef, retailers received 32. 5 and meat companies 7. 5 cents. In 2009 Farmers received 42. 5cent (down by 17. 5), retailers 49 cents, meat packers 8. 5cents. .. †¦ 4 pints of milk in UK costs 1. 45 pounds and farmer receives 40%(58 pence) of it. Causing a loss of 3 pence per 4 pints. Causing small farmers to close there shops. In Indian farmer receives 75% of consumer spend on a litre of milk. †¦ US farmers received direct commodity subsidies of over $167 Bn in 1995-2010. EU paid farmers direct subsidies of $51 Bn in 2010 alone. So why these big retailers are not helping reduce the subsidies to the farmers. †¦ †¦. In Mexico 25% of small farmers are off farming now due to big retail and imports under NAFTA. †¦. As mentioned in image above in Europe flow of goods from 3. 2 million farmers is controlled by 110 buying desks of big retailers catering to 160 million consumers. Today India has more than 600 million (78% 0f total farmer population) small and marginal farmers and a huge consumer base of more than a billion.Now imagine what havoc it may create when our small and marginal farmers will have to compete with bigger farmers of developed nation who fetch huge subsidies from their governments. 32 Lakh European farmers received total subsidy of Rs 26,970 Crores i. e. average Rs 8,41,68 per head approx. Now 21 Crore Indian farmers received total subsidy of nearly Rs. 1,54,00 Crores i. e. average Rs 19,494 per head approx. Now if tomorrow these retail giants start importing (using free trade agreement) from foreign farmers since the prices would much lesser with the help of their governments where would Indian farmer go?Why FDI is Opposed by Local Peo ple or Disadvantages of FDI : (a) Domestic companies fear that they may lose their ownership to overseas company (b) Small enterprises fear that they may not be able to compete with world class large companies and may ultimately be edged out of business; (c) Large giants of the world try to monopolise and take over the highly profitable sectors; (d) Such foreign companies invest more in machinery and intellectual property than in wages of the local people; (e) Government has less control over the functioning of such companies as they usually work as wholly owned subsidiary of an overseas company; SIDE EFFECTS OF THE FDI AND SOLUTION: Nevertheless much said about good things that FDI in retail will bring but argument will not be justified if we do not take into account the grey areas. Some of the grey areas are: -Predatory pricing could strangulate the domestic retailers. -It has been seen MNCs retailers uses there big size to kill competitors. -In order to bring goods at lowest poss ible price for customers they squeeze the margins of their suppliers. So as claimed by thousand that suppliers will benefit, it still doubted. In order to correct these anomalies, India need to have strong regulator for the sector.And at the same time strengthen the Competition Commission of India before these Big Retailers prowls into the Indian Territory. How can Indian farmer compete with rival farmers, – when basic infrastructure is not in place? – when rival farmers receive subsidies almost triple the yearly turnover of Indian farmers? – when crop insurance is not in place? I’m afraid that such uneven and misplaced competition would lead our farmers off their land into labours jobs since they do not have enough capital and supporting government. On other hand that farmer’s income will be improved argument fails sharply since even after having established big retailers network the USA and EU is consistently increasing the subsidies to the farme rs and still their farmers are into losses.What is the guarantee that FDI in multi-brand retail won’t displace Indian farmers? and put pressure on government to increase the subsidies too? Lastly, lets not blindly copy paste western models. We can definitely learn from them but by looking evenly at all sides and not just one which is shiny. Brief Latest Developments on FDI (all sectors including retail):- 2012 – October: In the second round of economic reforms, the government cleared amendments to raise the FDI cap (a) in the insurance sector from 26% to 49%; (b) in the pension sector it approved a 26 percent FDI; Now, Indian Parliament will have to give its approval for the final shape,† 2012 – September : The government approved the a) Allowed 51% foreign investment in multi-brand retail, (b) Relaxed FDI norms for civil aviation and broadcasting sectors. – FDI cap in Broadcasting was raised to 74% from 49%; (c) Allowed foreign investment in power exchanges 2011 – December : (i) The Indian government removed the 51 percent cap on FDI into single-brand retail outlets and thus opened the market fully to foreign investors by permitting 100 percent foreign investment in this area. While the government claims that foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail chains will create jobs, not a single global behemoth has come forward to set up shop in the country.A senior official of the commerce and industry ministry confirmed to Mail Today that â€Å"we have not received any application so far for FDI in retail†. According to industry sources, big foreign retail chains such as Walmart , Tesco and Carrefour that were expected to respond to the government's decision have gone into wait-and-watch mode due to uncertainty over the issue. Although Parliament had cleared the Bill to allow 51 per cent FDI in retail last December, the Opposition still had the right to a 30-day time limit to make amendments to the modific ations in the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) that the government had made to implement the decision.Since the notification on the changes in FEMA was tabled In Parliamenton November 30 and the 30-day period did not end even on December 20, which was the last day of the Winter Session, this right can only be exercised in the Budget Session. Commerce minister Anand Sharma has been trying his level best to get Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour on board and held several meetings with them. However, there is little point for a foreign retailer to invest money until this uncertainty on FEMA is cleared,a ministry official said. Left parties, in fact, have now moved a motion against the changes made in FEMA to implement the FDI decision and this has been admitted by the chairman of the Rajya Sabha during the current Budget Session. This will require a fresh round of voting for clearance.The Supreme Court has also added to the uncertainty as during the course of hearing a plea against FDI in multi-brand retail, it said that interests of small traders should not be affected. The apex court has said that there is apprehension in the minds of small traders that their business would be affected with the coming of multinational companies in the retail sector which needs to be addressed by putting some regulatory mechanism in place. The court Bench had also stated that big companies can bring down prices through unfair trade practices forcing small traders to shut their shops. Subsequently, these companies will increase the price and monopolise the market.According to senior officials, with general elections fast approaching, the political opposition to the move is expected to become even more vociferous. A senior official said that although the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party had bailed out the government during the voting for the Bill, they have made it clear that they are in principle opposed to the move as it will cost jobs in the country. CONCLUSION: We w ish row over FDI in retail gets over soon and India should embrace new era of retailing. And Govt makes right kind of body to vigil these giants. Indian consumers are waiting to splurge. Indian consumers’ balance sheet is still clean, which provide much of room to consumption related debt.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

The Best States for Working Moms

The Best States for Working Moms Working moms have it rough. They never feel like they’re spending enough time at work, and they never feel like they’re spending enough time with their kids. And they’re in the majority. Over 70% of mothers with children under 18 are either working or looking for work in this country right now. In order to be a working parent, you need resources: some flexibility, a decent maternity leave, and a solid child-care system are only a few. These might seem like givens, but the fact is that  there are some geographical regions that are friendlier to the working mom’s particular needs- and some that are†¦ well, not friendly.We know most of you don’t have the flexibility to up and move to a place that might better suit your family life, but if you’re looking for a place to plant roots, or are wondering if your state perches at the top or sits at the bottom, read on.Who Has It Best?Weighing criteria like child care, professional opportunities a nd work-like balance, WalletHub analyzed a ton of research and data sets for all 50 states (and D.C.) and determined the best places for working moms to live. The study was scored on 13 different metrics including day-care quality and cost, gender pay gaps, families in poverty, commute times, and parental leave. And weighted so that things like child-care were weighted most.So where’s the best place to live if you’re a working Mom? Turns out? Vermont!This New England state ranked well among all of the different criteria, plus it boasts the highest number of pediatricians per 100,000 residents. It also boasts the 6th highest ratio of female to male executives- 61%! And unemployment for females is low, at only 3.1%. Vermont has good child care support and most people living there claim a pretty good work-life balance.Minnesota and New Jersey were next in line. Minnesota has excellent professional opportunities for women, while New Jersey scores high for its child care op tions.New York came in 9th- and came in first for day-care systems (though also one of the most expensive!!), and fifth for lowest gender pay gap. But other factors outrank it (mostly cost of living). Hawaii, notably, boasts the lowest gender pay gap around. And South Dakota, surprisingly, the highest female to male executive ratio.Who Doesn’t Have It So Great?Alabama, Louisiana, and Nevada sit at the bottom of the list. While female unemployment in Vermont rests at 3.1 percent, in Alabama it’s two times higher at 6.2 percent. Also, Alabama only has 7 pediatricians per 100,000 residents. And while Alabama and Louisiana are in the top 5 for â€Å"Lowest Child Care Costs,† they sit in the bottom 5 for â€Å"Worst Day Care Systems† and â€Å"Highest Gender Pay Gap.†Until government and employee policies are updated to reflect the changing needs of the working family, flexible work policies aren’t likely to improve dramatically, and many (if not most) American families will be left in the lurch. So if moving to Vermont just isn’t feasible, be aware of what your state does and does not offer, and work to lobby your representatives to represent your best interests.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Phillips Matsuhisha case analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Phillips Matsuhisha case analysis - Essay Example One of the strengths of SWOT lies in the fact that it is easier to use and provides a comprehensive analysis of the key drivers of changes that organizations must take into account to deal with the emerging changes. Further, Porter’s five forces is also one of the most effective management tools to use as it provides a very comprehensive overview of the different factors affecting the firm at the same time. What is also important to understand is the fact that Porter’s five forces provides an opportunity to analyze the factors which are unique to each industry or firm thus each firm can tailor its strategies according to relative influence of each factor its success and failure. 2. The facts provided in the case study indicate that there are various symptoms which are leading towards a common cause of the problem. What is critical to note here is the fact that both the companies made changes into its organizational structure and refocused their strategic direction due to changes taking place externally i.e. most of these changes were reactive rather than proactive therefore strategic management at both the companies was relatively weak and reactive. Thus what were corrected during all this period were the correction of symptoms and not the correction of actual root cause of the problem. 3. Ford is one of the companies which faced extreme volatile market conditions in the wake of current credit crunch and have to face the ultimate reality. Since 2006 it was not only slashing its number of employees but was closing its plants too.1 Similarly, HSBC’s US operations also suffered huge losses due to market conditions and inability of the bank to anticipate the changes taking place in the market. HSBC’s mortgage portfolio in US suffered huge losses due to too much focus on short term gains rather than focusing on delivering long term value.2 Kodak was once a

Saturday, November 2, 2019

U.S. Military Aviation Training and Environmental Regulations Research Paper

U.S. Military Aviation Training and Environmental Regulations - Research Paper Example Though in many cases the US military protects the wildlife, noise, air quality and endangered species are issues over which they sometimes dispute with the local communities. This paper is structured around the influence of environmental laws on the US Air Force training activities and inventory. Environmental laws went hand in hand with the lawsuits against the US Air Force. Technological changes brought along an increased use of the airspace. However, laws were based on the ancient Roman law, which was developed at a time when airplanes did not even exist as an idea. Thus, lawsuits preceded the legislation, which will be described in the 1946 the United States vs. Causby (1946) case in particular. Legislation then affected not only the usage of airspace but also of technology and structure of the US Air Force bases. Environmental laws interplay with the current events. Be it endangered species or noise levels, the September 11 attacks changed the dynamics of lawsuits against the US Air Force. It will be shown later on in this paper that recent events, such as the financial crisis, have led to conflicting interests of local communities and local authorities with regard to the US Air Force training activities. Through the interaction of the three interest groups it will be shown how environment is treated by some interest groups as a secondary concern. Military pollution is decreasing and smaller than commercial pollution levels. Utilization of commercial aircraft is higher than for military, standing at 4.7 times per day versus 0.35 respectively (Waitz et al., 2005, p. 334). However, military aircraft are noisier because of the kind of thrust engines employed by these aircraft. Waitz et al. (2005) argued that noise pollution increased from 1960 to 1995 for new military fighter aircraft (p.337). However, because of fleet reductions and a reduction in number of operations, the noise contributions decreased overall on a national level (Waitz et al., 2005, p.329). With regard to emissions, according to Waitz et al. (2005), the US Air Force contributes insignificantly to the overall US impact on the climate, amounting to 1 percent of the total climate impact (p.338). The commercial aircraft fleet burned by 2000 around 7 times the amount of fuel used for military aviation (Waitz et al., 2005, p.337). Moreover, the US military protects wildlife by offering it large, untouched areas. The US military administered over 25 million acres of land in 1994, being one of the largest stewards of federal land (Wheeler, 2006, p.440). However, urbanization pushes wildlife into military bases as cities and suburban areas expand (King, 1996, p.3). Thus, any reduction in training area has not only an adverse effect for the military, but also for the environment (Wheeler, 2006, p. 441). Rand Corporation assessment indicated that the US military is one of the friendliest users of environmental resources (Wheeler, 2006, p.445). Still, the US Air Force has been su ed for decades over endangered species and air pollution. Following paragraphs will provide examples of lawsuits and corresponding legislation. Before the 1960’s, the US law was based on the Roman law maxim cujus est solum, ejus est usque ad coelum, according to which whoever owns the land also owns the airspace above it (King, 1996, p.5). The corresponding law was formulated during the ancient Roman times, when technology was based on horsepower. Airplanes were not discussed as a possibility by the intellectuals of

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Proposal for a Business Research Project Exploring the Impact of Coursework

Proposal for a Business Research Project Exploring the Impact of Passion of Employees in the Banking Sector to their performance - Coursework Example In undertaking the research, a group of banks from the same financial institution will be randomly selected as our sample for the research. A survey will be designed with the financial institutions senior management, other staffs and customers as the sample space. We will choose a sample size of 300 randomly selected respondents for the research. Data will be collected using two methods. Hand delivered questionnaires for employees and oral interviews for customers. Since our data include description data, coding will be done to the data. Then the collected data will be entered, analyzed, and interpreted to reach a conclusion. A report will be written at the end of the research to show the outcome of the research in simpler terms. Objectives 1. To identify the efforts of employers in this sector to build passion in their employees and what motivates them to do so. 2. To determine whether the passion of an employee is influenced by his level, experience and gender and whether it is nat urally acquired or built by motivation and working conditions. 3. To determine how other employees feel working with their fellows who are passionate about what they do. 4. To find out how their clients feel when served by a passionate employee and to determine the criteria they use to judge whether an employee is passionate or not. Literature Review According to Cameron and Spreitzer (2011), passion has been studied for a long time in various contexts, like philosophy, theology, political science, psychology, and sociology. They also show that most of the writings in this field argue that passion is an intense emotion that interacts with cognition and motivates an individual’s behavior. Moreover, they argue that passion makes people to be heavily involved and... According to Cameron and Spreitzer, passion has been studied for a long time in various contexts, like philosophy, theology, political science, psychology, and sociology. They also show that most of the writings in this field argue that passion is an intense emotion that interacts with cognition and motivates an individual’s behavior. Moreover, they argue that passion makes people to be heavily involved and invested in the activities they undertake. Linley and Harrington identify passion as the desires, thoughts, plans and behavior which persist over time. They also say that passion can lead to increased performance regardless of costs, external obstacles or moral objections. These scholars also reveal that the difference between passion and enjoyment is that passion is deeper and lasts for a longer time. Moreover, they indicate that in a team passion can play quite important role in motivating others and can help people to adhere to their goals despite the challenges of achie ving them. Passion for work helps employees to sustain the energy necessary for organizational excellence and enables managers to motivate and inspire other employees. This shows that passion in employees can actually make an organization to excel. Linley and Harrington show that people cannot raise passion, so the best thing to do is to identify the thing you are passionate about and pursue it in your life.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Human Resources And Organisational Development Essay

Human Resources And Organisational Development - Essay Example The company undertook aggressive expansion strategy by establishing budget clothing stores in malls and purchasing chains of travel agents. The company also created the â€Å"Montague† in honor of the founder of the company. 80 percent of the income was from the grocery business. Later, Mercury Consolidated acquired Smith’s and installed new managers with the objective of out competing Allworld Foods. Mercury Consolidated had initially embarked on similar strategies in New Zealand, France and South Africa. Allworld depended on other business lines like clothing, Montagues and travel to buffer the revenues when grocery business was declining. Smith’s ne management implemented new product mix and streamlined operations. Smith’s ventured in new markets Generation Y and Generation X. Within two years, Allworld dividends declined and employees expressed a lot of grievances with the management. Shareholders raised concerns of the remuneration of the management. According to the CEO, Lily Chambers, new a cultural shift was needed and was only possible to start at the top. The paper will discuss the need of changes in the organisational culture and processes in order to survive in the changing external environment. The paper will also analyze the current culture of Allworld and the desired culture. Lastly, the paper will offer recommendations that should be implemented in order to attain competitive strength and market share in the industry. Current organisational culture and desired organisational culture There are numerous reasons that may lead to failure of organisational market share. The decline in the market share can be... This report stresses that the CEO will then have to remove all the obstacles to the cultural changes. For instance, a review of performance evaluation methods, job descriptions and remuneration methods will assist in removing the hu8man obstacles to the cultural changes. The next step will involve creating short term wins. The short term wins are early indicators of the organisational cultural changes. The CEO should set time frames for the short term wins that could be like within a year. The early targets should be easy to achieve and may include low employee absenteeism. The management should then build on the short term win in order to ensure total organisational cultural changes. New product development and creativity should be the defining culture of Allworld. This essay makes a conclusion that the management of Allworld has relied on traditional aggressive pricing and advertising strategies to stay competitive in the market. There is evidence of poor management practices and lack of planning. Allworld lacks a contingency plan that can enable the company to effectively respond to urgent changes in the market. The management should change the values, assumptions and beliefs of the organisational culture. Scanning of the environment will enable Allworld to understand the competitive strengths and strategies of all the competitors. Allworld should conduct research on the changing customer needs since customers are no longer attracted to the low pricing strategy.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Killings By Andre Dubus English Literature Essay

Killings By Andre Dubus English Literature Essay The short story Killings is written by Andre Dubus and was first published in 1979. The short story has also been adapted into a motion picture called In the Bedroom by director Todd Field in 2001. The movie had actors Sissy Spacek, Marisa Tomei and Tom Wilkinson in the lead roles and was even nominated for several Academy Awards. The story is set in the town of Massachusetts and explores the psychology and emotions of bereaved parents who have just lost a twenty-one year old son- murdered for having a relationship with a woman who had a jealous ex-husband and two children. Dubus treats the character of the murderer, Richard Strout, humanely and provides an empathetic perspective so that the reader can actually feel the frustration of the young man whose wife was seeing a man much younger than her and his jealousy getting the better of him. Dubus has concentrated on the revenge killing of Richard by Franks father, Matt Fowler. Richard had committed a murder of passion as he felt provoked by Franks intimacy with his estranged wife and two sons. Dubus has pictured Richard Strout as a crude man without a very high sense of morality. This is further demonstrated by the fact that Richard starts to date other women as soon as he is out of prison on bail. Matt and Ruth, Franks parents, have encountered Richard roaming around scot-free without any remorse as is apparent in Matts comment to his friend Willis Trottier, He walks the Goddamn streets (Dubus 4). This angers Matt and saddens Ruth as they feel that the murdered of their son had gotten away without being punished for his brutal crime. The main message in the story is that even though Matt Fowler avenges his sons death, finds no peace and is haunted by a sense of guilt and utter loneliness. Retribution and revenge for the murder of a loved one, though, a very natural human instinct, is not always the answer to the loss of the person. Matt Fowler felt justified in kidnapping and killing Richard Strout, however, having accomplished his final act of revenge, does not find peace. The question Dubus has raised in this story is whether revenge is a better solution to forgiveness. At the end of the story we are left to wonder whether Matt Fowler would have been better off forgiving Richard Strout instead of killing him. By kidnapping and killing Richard, Matt Fowler only reinforced violence which affected not just him but his entire family. Dubus provides details of the gruesome murders in the story to bring out the horror of the crimes they committed. Richard had shot Frank three times in front of his children which Dubus uses to highlight the mindless and abhorrent behavior of Richard. This act of passion and revenge turns the life of an otherwise ordinary happy person into a nightmare and pushes him to commit a crime that he would not have dreamt of if he had not been so provoked. The Fowlers reckon that Strout would only serve five years at the most in jail on charges of man slaughter which is not nearly enough for Ruth and Matt. In the story, Dubus has written about two murders, yet, the reader is tempted to label only Richard as the real murderer and not Matt because the reader feels an innate empathy for the bereaved father. We tend to justify Matts criminal act even though both the killings were similar in nature and both the murderers were allowed to go free after their heinous crimes. This is probably because we look for justice and Richard being let out on bail and showing himself around without any punishment being given to him makes us feel that he deserved what happened to him. As humans, we are emotional and look for closure in any given event, however horrific and the final denouement seems to be justified. It is also important to remember that Matt Fowler was not a killer by temperament whereas Richard was hot-tempered and callous. Goading Matt into an act which was unnatural for him seems to justify the end. The killing of Richard Strout was only a means of achieving the ends of justice- or that is what Matt imagined. Even though, Matt has a confidante in Willis and has the sympathy of the entire community, in the end he is plagued with this knowledge that he is no less a murderer than Richard. He is ridden with guilt and this makes him feel isolated and morally dead. The irony is that as readers we feel empathy for the Fowlers and even though we cannot condone what Matt did we feel there should have been a way where family, friends and the larger community had intervened and allowed Ruth and Matt to share their grief. Not having a channel to express their agony, Matt turned violent in his mind and killed Richard everyday in the face (Dubus 10) just as Richard had killed his son. Dubus has left his readers wondering whether for all the empathy that they must feel for Matt and Ruths loss, was the pre-planned, cold-blooded murder of Richard necessary to experience a feeling that justice had been done and feel purged off their growing inner violence. As things would have it, Matt does not feel tranquil and struggles to whip up the hatred he felt for his sons murderer after going through his house and seeing the more human side of Richard. The role of Willis in the planning and execution in the kidnapping and killing of Richard has been shown to be a bit dubious. It is true that being a good friend of the Fowlers he would feel strongly for them, but to cold-bloodedly plan the murder of a young man who went to school with his own sons needs more justification. Ruth and Matts motivation for exterminating the cause of their sorrow may find a resonant sympathy in the hearts of the readers but Willis motivation to abet in the killing of Richard brings us to face the r eality of how brutal we have become.