Drugs And Drug Abuse - 2010 Words

What aspects of society could possibly cause such extensive drug use? Some kids give in to peer pressure because they want to be liked, to fit in? In our society some negative consequences of drug abuse is experimental where some people experiment and don’t get hook which does not lead to anything and on the other hand some people can’t handle it, and it only takes one time to developing an addiction, It effects not only that person but also their families and friends. People use drugs for a different reason, another cause is peer pressure which is nothing but influence even when you do not realize it, when you are spending so much time with people in your age group, it is natural that you pick up some of the things that they do†¦show more content†¦Some teens find their escape through a permanent addiction. Now the question is (Was it worth it?) . But if they would keep their head on straight and choose their friends more careful then there is a less chanc e of peer pressure. There are several different reasons that society causes such extensive drug use. How can Christians respond to /interact with these aspects of society? We have so many different types of addiction among our children each year they get younger and younger, I have talked to several teens that say that they have already tried marijuana, and alcohol, but we can also be an influence , a good influence. By giving our teen and free teens something else to focus on other than the music, movies and other things that are being introduced to our children. Because our children are already surrounded by this same thing at school every day. We can also help by putting maybe a drug preventing program in our school, and in our churches, continue to talk to our children about drugs in our society. I focus on our young people because they still have a chance on life to turn around, We have to continue to warn our children about just how dangerous drugs are. If we continue to t each our children how to change themselves and choosing their friends wisely and putting God in their life, and the effects that drug addiction will have on their life, it is a possible chance thatShow MoreRelatedDrug Of Drug And Drug Abuse1538 Words   |  7 PagesDrug Resistance Drug use has become an increasing problem among high schoolers and teenagers around the same age. Ever since the drug war of the 1900s, drugs have been a major problem in today’s society. â€Å"Use of drugs such as opium, morphine, and other byproducts were common in twentieth century America† (Dobkin, 1998). While most students in standard high school drug education know about the use of coca leaves in Coca-Cola and the opium trade in China, drug addiction during the century is muchRead MoreDrug Abuse1279 Words   |  6 PagesThe use of and abuse of illegal and prescription drugs are a health, social, and law enforcement problem that is affecting Americans across the country. Drug abuse is destroying the lives of many teens and adults and is also destroying families in the United States. The use of drugs is a major problem in the United States among all Americans, but drug addiction is the main cause for America s troubled teens today. Exactly what is a drug? A drug is any chemical that produces a therapeutic or non-therapeuticRead MoreDrug Abuse8640 Words   |  35 Pagesreport on ‘drug abuse’ has been made by our group to give an idea of the calamitous cause of using drugs in improper way. The report is intended to serve the purpose of providing the knowledge about drug abuse and to suggest ways to help limit drug abuse. An effort has been made on our part to include certain symptoms which indicate drug abuse. Also throughout the report, repetitive use of the drug abuse’ has been made to instate into the minds of the reader the cause of using drug abuse in an illicitRead MoreDrug Abuse And Addiction : Drugs977 Words   |  4 PagesDrug abuse/addiction Jeremy Graham May 11, 2015 Period, 5 Drug abuse and addiction Drug abuse/addiction is a major problem in Indiana that affects many individual. Several solutions such as rehab and drug classes have been tried. Yet, the best solution is taking drug classes. Many people do not understand why people become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a socialRead MoreDrug Abuse2895 Words   |  12 PagesDay against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking every year. It is an exercise undertaken by the world community to sensitize the people in general and the youth in particular, to the menace of drugs. The picture is grim if the world statistics on the drugs scenario is taken into account. With a turnover of around $500 billions, it is the third largest business in the world, next to petroleum and arms trade. About 190 million people all over the world consume one drug or the other. Drug addiction causesRead MorePrescription Drug Abuse And Prescription Drugs1487 Words   |  6 PagesPrescription Drug Abuse Prescription Drug Abuse has increased in an alarming rate over recent years! Prescription drug related deaths now outnumber those from heroin and cocaine combined. The abuse in prescription drugs in America goes back more than a hundred years ago. Prescription drug abuse is the use of a medication without a prescription, in a way other than prescribed, or for the experience or feelings elicited. Although prescription medications are intended to help individuals, they canRead MorePaper Drug Abuse Drug Addiction1403 Words   |  6 PagesKeisha Ellis Drug Abuse Drug Addiction SOC 203 Social Problems Instructor Ely May 11, 2015 Numerous individuals do not comprehend why individuals get to be dependent on drugs or how drugs can change the mind to cultivate enthusiastic drug abuse. They erroneously view drug misuse and dependence as entirely a social issue and may describe the individuals who take drugs as ethically powerless (Alving, Matyas, Torres, Jalah, Beck, 2014). One extremely regular belief is that drugs abusersRead MoreDrug Abuse And Its Effects1391 Words   |  6 Pages1. Introduction: Drug abuse is a serious issue in today’s society. Drug abuse is a pattern of using a substance (drug) that leads to a serious problems or distress. 7% of people experience drug abuse one point of their lives. Drug use doesn’t automatically lead to drug abuse, it depends on how much you use. There is no specific level to were drug using moves from casual to becoming a serious problem. 2. Types of drugs/what are they: There are three main types of drugs that people use and theyRead MoreThe Problem Of Drug Abuse1331 Words   |  6 PagesBaltimore’s residents are addicted to the drug† (Yang, 2014). Graph one’s statistics represent the number of deaths caused by heroin in Baltimore, Maryland from January through June 2007-2014: (Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene [Graph 1], 2014). As the graph above illustrates, drug abuse is a disease that is often overlooked and if untreated it could turn into a recreational activity for the people using them and eventually increase the number of drug enthusiasts throughout Baltimore. ManyRead MoreDrug Abuse and Prevention1510 Words   |  7 Pagesidea of prevention is to limit the availability of drugs (Hart Ksir, 2011, p. 400), but this is not essentially the best way. Addiction affects everyone. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), substance abuse cost our nation â€Å"more than $484 billion dollars (T he National Institute on Drug Abuse ).† So although you might not be directly impacted by drug abuse, as a whole your tax dollars are spent on fighting the war on drugs. Currently there are several different types of substance

Anne Hutchingson and Freeborn Garrettson - 1207 Words

In 1637, Anne Hutchinson stood trial before the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During her examination, she confessed that she had experienced an â€Å"immediate revelation† from God. She described hearing â€Å"the voice of his own spirit to my soul.† After discussion with authorities, John Winthrop concluded that â€Å"†¦this is the thing that hath been the root of all the mischief.† She was found guilty and banished from the colony. In 1775, Freeborn Garrettson had a similar mystical experience. â€Å"In the night I went to bed as usual, and slept till day break: just as I awoke, I was alarmed by an awful voice, ‘Awake, sinner, for you are not prepared to die.’ This was strongly impressed on my mind, as if it had been a human voice†¦show more content†¦When Garrettson had supernatural experiences like this, they served not only as significant moments for him, but also part of the material that he recorded â₠¬Å"for the good of others.† This new emphasis is connected to the shift in authority. People were no longer concerned solely with the opinions of the learned, and as such were free to value their own religious experiences as they saw fit. In such settings, people naturally turned away from common external influences, particularly in worship. The result was a renewed emphasis on individual experiences, such as those reported by Garrettson. Anne Hutchinson’s experience was scrutinized as part of her trial. Garrettson’s was accepted as a legitimate spiritual event. This contrast displays the influence of democracy through the increased acceptance of individual religious experiences. The third impact of democracy on American religion is a sense of grand ambition. The hope and optimism that were so central to democracy often resulted in dreams and aspirations of significant social change and progress. Methodists like Garrettson were particularly noteworthy i n their ambition. Though the Methodist system used a hierarchical system of governance, that system was intended to be a force for liberation. We see this grand ambition of liberation clearly in the life of Garrettson. Shortly

Vitro Cultivation Liquid Medium

Question: Discuss about the Vitro Cultivation Liquid Medium. Answer: Introduction: Gaseous exchange is the process which gasses are transferred in an opposite direction across a respiratory surface. This is also the process through which carbon dioxide and oxygen move between blood and the lungs. Lampreys are fish that are in the super class of Cyclostomata. It is also a jawless fish (Coyle 70). These fish have one nostril and seven pores of gills on both sides of the head. The gaseous exchange happens when water is pumped in and out of the gill pouches instead of passing it through the mouth. Teleost fish have a movable jawbone. This enables them to catch their prey. Gaseous exchange in teleost happens over the gills surface (Teisson and Alvard 112). Water gets into the mouth and then it is pumped through the gills. Its body does not have oxygen reserves but have a swim bladder that store little amount of air. Some teleost inhabits low oxygen areas such as wet mud and stagnant areas. In order to support their gaseous exchange in these areas, they have developed tissues. Amphibians do have a skin has glandular and has no feathers hairs or scales. The skin of amphibians is also permeable and this allows gas and water exchange. The gaseous exchange happens in the lungs. It inhales oxygen and exhales out carbon dioxide. Gaseous exchange in birds is different from other vertebrates. This is because birds have small lungs. They also have air sacs that do not play a direct role in the gaseous exchange. They also have two respiratory cycles. The containing high content of oxygen moves in a directly opposite direction from the lungs. Osmoregulatory Challenges Osmoregulatory challenges of both terrestrial and aquatic animals include osmotic regulation, ionic regulation, and nitrogenous secretion. Consequences brought by osmoregulatory challenges are that the changes that occur in the cell volume can be damaging to cells (Furusawa 166).Another challenge is that the cells that have been exposed to osmotic gradients can either swell or shrink. Aquatic animals can regulate these challenges by obtaining water against gradients of osmosis and by expelling electrochemical gradients. Terrestrial animals can regulate by obtaining ions from their diet and avoiding water loss. Freshwater fish face osmoregulatory challenges of losing many minerals and the absorption of water through their exposed body surfaces through osmosis. They overcome this challenge by excreting a lot of dilute urine and through the absorption of minerals through monocyte cells that are found in their gill membrane (Mouro, Caroline, and Elisabeth Schwartz 100). Marine cartilaginous fish face challenges due to the fact that the osmolality is similar to the sea water, They overcome this challenges by excreting urine through osmosis and the fact that the salt that diffuse into their body is removed by the kidneys. Air breathing fish change their surroundings and are able to cope with challenges by altering their way of osmoregulation. Adult amphibians have an osmoregulatory challenge since they are isosmotic and do not know how to regulate their osmolality, they adapt to this by losing all their water and adapting to a state known as anhydrobiosis. Marine reptiles and birds take in seawa ter to get a supply of seawater but face the challenge of not being able to remove concentrated urine. They, however, have specialized glands of removing salt from their body (Frayn 30). Work cited Coyle, M. (Mhairi). The Gaseous Exchange Of Ozone At Terrestrial Surfaces. 1st ed. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh, 2016: 67- 87. Print. Teisson, C., and D. Alvard. "A new concept of plant in vitro cultivation liquid medium: temporary immersion." Current issues in plant molecular and cellular biology.Springer Netherlands, 1995.105-110.Print. Mouro, Caroline, and Elisabeth Schwartz. "Protease Inhibitors From Marine Venomous Animals And Their Counterparts In Terrestrial Venomous Animals". Marine Drugs 11.6 (2013): 69-112. Web. Frayn, K. N. "Calculation of substrate oxidation rates in vivo from gaseous exchange." Journal of applied physiology 55.2 (2013): 28-34. Print.

Relative and Absolute Morality free essay sample

Explain the differences between absolute and relative morality Absolute morality is when someone has a view they are sure of. This view can be applied to any life situation, and it is a view that will never change. It is absolute. For example, if someone says ‘abortion is wrong, and always will be’, then this is their absolute rule. It does not necessarily mean that it is ‘right’, but it is a belief that the person themself thinks is right and that it will never change.Relative morality is when someone believes in something, but it changes depending on the situation. For example, if someone says ‘abortion should be prevented, unless it is the most kind and loving thing to do’. This idea could be applied to a situation if, for example, a young girl was raped, and her future would be better without a baby. Aborting the baby could be called the most kind and loving thing to do. We will write a custom essay sample on Relative and Absolute Morality or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This is relative morality. The main difference between absolute and relative morality is the exceptions.Absolute morality has no exceptions, it is not dependant on the situation and it will never change. Relative morality is full of exceptions, and a large part of relative morality is depending on the ethics of the situation. Absolute morality is supposedly truth to the individual, whereas relative morality is full of different opinions. Absolute morality tends to be more religion orientated. In the Bible there are the Ten Commandments, such as ‘Thou shalt not kill’ meaning ‘you must not murder’. Any Christian will not question these rules, because they are from God. And so it goes without question that this is an absolute rule. Anyone who doesn’t follow a religion may tend to be more of a relativist, and they may say ‘Murder should be prevented, unless murdering one person could stop the murder of hundreds more’, (like in the case of Osama Bin Laden or other terrorists). Relative morality focuses more on the outcome of the actions, rather than absolute morality which focuses on the actions themselves, and whether they are right and wrong.

What Happened in Enron Essay Example

What Happened in Enron Paper What happened In Enron and Arthur Andersen? United States seventh largest company Enron, with the slogan Ask Why was admired for Its innovation, but it all ended up In bankruptcy and criminal matters. The company filed for bankruptcy in December 2001. This was one of the worlds biggest corporate scandals In history. Aquas seventh largest firm had In over sixteen years increased its assets from 10 billion to 70 billion US. Dollars, and was by the stock market analysts from Wall Street hailed as the new economy model. Five years in a row, readers of Fortune magazine appointed Enron as The most innovative company in America. The companys director and founder (in 1985) was Kenneth Lay, who was the future business Idol. In his holidays, he played golf with former President Clinton while he made Enron the largest contributor to George W. Bushs career as Texas governor, and not least as U. S. President. As a former employee of the now defunct U. S. Deader energy commission, Acting Deputy Minister of Energy compared the Interior and economist for the Pentagon during the Vietnam War had Lay conditions for developing Its business In light of a lattice concept: aggressive deregulation, the removal of all regulatory and legal obstacles for appropriation and monopoly profits. Enron was dealing with natural gas. As oil prices fell during the ass, and natural gas (which had flourished in the wake of the oil crisis) was again threatened by falling oil prices, Lay found out that deregulation was the answer. We will write a custom essay sample on What Happened in Enron specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on What Happened in Enron specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on What Happened in Enron specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Large customers would no longer be bound by agreements with local, often public energy facilities, but could buy directly from producers, which in turn should have access to the pipe and conduit systems. Public monopolies were broken. Lay went directly to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FARCE) and got the rules repealed. The result was more volatile energy prices. Now, Lay got his most innovative idea: to make natural gas and energy commodities in line with all other mass production. Natural gas was now controlled by electricity supply and the electricity market was deregulated to a large wholesale market. Lay went directly to the U. S. Congress, and Congress changed the rules. In 1994 Enron began trading with electricity next to the natural gas, where It became the largest supplier in the U. S. And in England. In 1997 it was also Americas largest electricity trading, as did the rear of public electricity companies, as the federal SPA. The U. S. Energy deregulation model became a global model. In country after country it was being Introduced. In 2001 , ten company only Ana 24 cays to go Dandruff Ana turned out to consist AT hot air. Investors lost everything. 20,000 employees lost their Jobs, health insurance and retirement savings, while managers such as Ken Lay and Jeffrey Killing walked out with nearly one billion U. S. Dollars. The senior people in the company had earned nearly 1 billion U. S. Dollars from the sale of company shares over the last two years. The founder and leader of the firm, Kenneth Lay, earned 123 million U. S. Lars in 2000 and 25 million in 2001 and then sold his Enron shares before the collapse and had a great profit out of it. At the same time he urged employees to buy shares, which would soon prove to be worthless, while he told them third quarter looks to be super, and predicted that its value would increase by 800% or more in Over the next decade. Employees would not touch the shares they had in the company, and many whose retirement savings we re ever $ 1 million worth in August 2001, were left with a life savings of only $ 4000 at Christmas 2,001 the. Many companies are working hard to develop a corporate culture and employee loyalty. This was obviously not the case with Enron. Thousands of workers ended up with an empty bank account and an uncertain future, this was the only reward for believing that they were part of a team. It is these experiences that will clearly show that the working class and the ruling class do not have common interests, no matter what the capitalists say otherwise! Unfortunately, the loss of Jobs in Enron will not be he last in the current economic crisis. Many other traditional companies such as Ford and Boeing have already announced major layoffs. Thats life under a system that puts profits before people. Enrons biggest mistake was their pride. In addition arrogance, intolerance and greed. People were blinded by greed. They could not see the dangers, said the former staff lawyer, Amanda Martin. Arrogance, intolerance and greed does not necessarily lead to fraud and embezzlement. But it did with Enrons management, and this lack of morality and common decency filtered down through the organization. The story of Enron started in 1985 in the U. S. IL capital, Houston, as director Kenneth Lay leaves the local Houston Natural Gas merged with a Nebraska-based company International North in the new company Enron to include to do business with 60,000 kilometers of natural gas pipelines in the U. S.. In record time, Enron is with wealth of buying U. S. Largest supplier of natural gas and power and from its impassions headquarters in a skyscra per in Houston a model around the world for how we should privative energy. Quarter after quarter, Enron comes with impressive cords, and the already gilded shareholders can only smile when the IT bubble burst in 2000. They are in tomorrows safest money machine But there are already starting to get cracks in the glass buildings glistening facade. T Tanat Enron should sell bandwidth in line with other groceries. Enron entered into a collaboration with video rental company Blockbuster to supply video on demand. The stock exchange cheered, and Enrons price rose 34 percent in two days. The problem was that the technology was never developed, and the agreement fell to the floor after a few months. But with the mark-to-market principle, one could record 53 million U. S. Dollars on a contract that had not brought a crown. The same was true for many of Enrons other activities around the world. Most gave either no profits or even losses, but the presumed earnings were already booked. And Enrons price rose and rose. As it turns out not to be enough, in 1999, Kenneth Lay gives COOP Fast authorization, at its own expense, with a stripe of Americas most respected financial houses to create a pair of funds. The task is to do business with Enron, so the turnover and the counting earnings can be kept up, and Fast also creates yet more sinister foundations and companies, where he parked Enrons worst deals. There is rejoicing at management of Enron, as power-hungry California the same year opened a vigorous appropriation of its energy market. It offers new opportunities for creative outlets, because Enron peoples better than the officials are able to maneuver at the intricate set of rules. Enron also begins massive online trading speculation in future energy prices to be sold free bandwidth on the internet and here is even a market for speculation in the weather. One of the few areas where Enron really made any money was in California. In 1997, Enron acquired Portland General, and gained access to Californians deregulated electricity market. The recipe for enormous profit was simple. The price of a commodity rises if demand exceeds supply. Enron reduced supply of electricity. This made the price of electricity rise, some days with 3-400 percent. The result of this attempt at a free energy market was that California was hit by power cut in the middle of winter, when electricity demand is lowest. Energy crisis cost the California taxpayers 30 billion dollars, while the electricity cuts earned two billion U. S. Dollars to Enron. But even this golden egg in length could not save Enron. Stock market analysts on Wall Street believed in everything Enron executives told them about Enrons huge profits now and in the future, until the reporter Bethink McLean in an article in Fortune in March 2001 questioned Enrons economic status with the simple question that no one could really answer How does Enron make money? Less than a year after, the house of cards fell together and pulled Americas oldest counting Tell Arthur Andersen Ana Its employees In ten Tall. President Bush said he would be entrepreneurial president. It surely was, but the company was Enron. He created the same alternate reality, the same bubble of hot air. But ultimately dotted the real reality bubble. As commentator Harold Emerson put it: When historians at a time, looking back at the Bush administration, it will give them headaches trying to figure out how a president could do so consistently fail out of so many cases especially considering that many of the cases was his own initiative. Ironically, Enron had the slogan Ask Why, but it did not seem serious until February 2001 when a Journalist at the business magazine Fortune, Bethink McLean, full of wonder analyzed where the glossy annual reports information on Enrons alleged revenue came from. The article was met with attempts at ridicule from Enron, but suddenly a woolly explanation of the company was released, and then finally began a barrage of questions. In October, Enron submitted an accounting of one billion deficit, and in November the company added that there had been an accounting fraud for billions in five years t took only 24 days before the bankruptcy was a fact. There was wealth of reports on how senior management staff in the last few months had sold Enron shares for astronomical sums to avoid personal losses. In the meanwhile, they recommended others to buy. So bankruptcy was also a criminal, and dozens of people began to talk about how they had long wondered what they really even contributed to, but not dared to ask why, because they had been afraid of the answers. In 2004, Fast, who had cooperated with the authorities on the investigation of the case, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of 140 million. R The others were Lay and Killing, who both declared their innocence to the very end, convicted of fraud. What happened in Arthur Andersen? Auditing firm Arthur Andersen was sued and convicted in 2002 for destruction of evidence concerning the fraud-hit energy firm Enron. Andersen shredded Enron documents, and prosecutors said it was to hide complicity in fraud. Arthur Andersen defended themselves by saying that the documents were irrelevant material of a type which were routinely destroyed. The head of Andersens Enron team, David Duncan, pleaded guilty and cooperated let attenuators In ten case galls t Nils 010 Tell. U. S. Supreme Court this week cited with regard to the Jury not sufficiently had taken a position on whether the document was scrapping with criminal intent. Andersen was Enrons auditor general, while other firms revised parts of the company. Among other things, was not Andersen auditor on the so-called partnerships that Enron used to hide its debt and how much of the fraud took place. When the Arthur Andersen fraud was revealed, it led to the break-up of the firm and to the following assessment by the Powers Committee: The evidence available to us suggests that Andersen did not fulfill its professional responsibilities in connection with its audits of Enrons financial statements, or its obligation to bring to the attention of Enrons Board (or the Audit and Compliance Committee) concerns about Enrons internal contracts over the related-party transactions. The deception was initially made possible by a grip that by the rest of the financial world was regarded as brilliant. Enron was permitted to use the accounting principle of mark-to-market, which means you can book future profits on the same day a trade s concluded, regardless of how little there since comes in. Externally, Enrons profits could then be what Enron said it was. It gave great opportunities for manipulation of accounts. Lessons from the rise and fall of Arthur Andersen and Enron Even if many have tried, capitalism is not so easy to keep under control. The Enron collapse is not the only scandal we have seen so far in capitalism and it is most likely not be the last one. Enron has given $1. 9 million to the national political parties, more than three quarters of it to the Republicans. It has spent additional millions on political antedates, so that two-thirds of our national legislators have benefited from Enron largesse to their campaigns. These same millions have given Enron access to the most respected politicians in America. Kenneth Lay had private meetings with Cheney to tell him what the nations energy policy should be. He submitted a list of names of who should be appointed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This is Just one of the lobbying example of many. We must take the big money influence out of politics. We also have the investors, who, like many other investors, were too mesmerisms by he promise of free money to actually examine Enrons cash flow statements before handing over their hard-earned cash. The stock market has a way of giving investors exactly want teeny deserve, anon when get-roll-quickly Investors Tallow ten palace AT so- called financial analysts who give BUY ratings on companies they dont even understand, what they might get is bankruptcy. Too many investors think the stock market is a giant take-away table of money. They underestimate risk and overestimate the potential for gain. Another lesson would be that the governments cannot deregulate everything. Most likely, businessmen will act in their own interest instead of listening to the public and what they want. The most important lesson would be that the relentless pursuit for profit is a major issue in our economic model. It can easily get out of control and people will get hurt. Additionally, regulations concerning subsidiaries and corporate spin-offs should be amended so that they the relations between parent and subsidiary are transparent and reflect the actual ownership position of the parent company. These are only few of the lessons learned from Enron, but with such a big disaster eke Enron, there are endless lessons to be learned.

Chinese Culture, Ethnicity and Religion essays

Chinese Culture, Ethnicity and Religion essays The word "culture" is defined as "a collective programming of the mind or a fixed of moral beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors that are shared by a group of people and distinguishes the group members from others." Further, in the course book it provides an educative definition of culture as the whole complex that includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals, custom, law, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by human beings as a member a specific community. In addition, it explains the entire nature of culture, for example, it gives that culture is symbolic thus; it is unique and crucial to humans beings as well as to their general cultural learning. Hence, cultural symbols are majorly linguistic, verbal, and non-verbal as well as have a proper complexity of language. Inclusion, a group of persons, can exist in the same world but practice different cultures (Kottak). However, this gives an illustrative reason that China as an extremely large country has a customs and tradi tions that vary by geography and general ethnicity. The Chinese language has seven major collections of the jargons that have their variation, for instance, the Mandarin jargons spoken by the majority of the entire population, followed by Wu then Yue that is immediately followed by Xiang, Min, Hakka then lastly the Gan that occupies only two percent. In addition, the Chinese jargoned complex is entirely analogous to the Romance language community. However, the official national language of the Chinese culture is known as the Putonghua that is majorly spoken by the Mandarin in the capital. Further, most of the Chinese populations are also well conversant and fluent in English (Guillain). On the other hand, the food aspect of Chinese life is also influenced by geographical distribution as well as the entire ethnic diversity. The main popular cooking styles in China are Cantonese that contain all the stir-fried dishes, the Szechuan that over-rel...

Service Learning Assigment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Service Learning Assigment - Essay Example The labor involved is what really opens up the mind and heart so the true meaning of stewardship can be revealed. The Arlington Chinese Church is a Christian organization that serves the spiritual needs of the Chinese community in Arlington and beyond. In addition to these spiritual needs, the Arlington Chinese Church works to provide cultural understanding, educational opportunity for Mandarin speakers and childcare services. The organization of the church centers on Pastor Leung and his wife Grace. Assisting them in their work is Brenda Bateman, Jason Tsai and Grace Lau. This core group of staff works together to meet the missions of the church. Most members of the church are Mandarin Chinese immigrants that have converted to Christianity. They are adjusting to their place in American society as immigrants and adjusting to the teachings of a new religion. The Arlington Chinese Church is a missionary minded organization. They take the mandate given to disciples to go into the entire world to spread the Gospel very seriously. The have a number of outreach programs to the Chinese community in and around Arlington as well as missions they support in several countries. All of this results in an influx of new immigrants and Christians into the church on a regular basis. New converts need to have the gospel shared with them in a simple, straightforward manner. Their spiritual needs must be met with exceedingly great compassion because there is much for them to learn about their new country and their new religion. After meeting with Reverend Leung and Brenda Bateman, the staff felt that I could best help meet the needs of the church in two areas. One area was working with the children in the daycare center. Another area was in the food service for some of our cultural meetings. Serving in these two areas helped me to more fully understand the true meaning of selfless service and

Violence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Violence - Research Paper Example The result of this force is death, injury or psychological harm (Krug & WHO, 2002). This definition indicates the mental shape of the perpetrator of violence against the victim be it their own self or another person. The army personnel are exposed to traumatizing experiences during war time. This makes them develop violent tendencies. In 2009, the United States Army documented that the suicide rates in the army had risen fourth year in a row as of 2008 (Finkel, 2011). This was especially high in the marines and the army. The statistics paint a grim picture of the situation that the soldiers find themselves in. They are exposed to death, both of their friends, as well as of the enemy. This is bound to leave a mark on them. One that is difficult to eliminate. This thus causes them to commit suicide as a possible way of exorcising the emotions haunting them. For example, in 1990, the prevalence of spousal violence was at a rate of 19 for every 1000 military families. This further rose to 26 in every 1000 couples, in 1996, but fell to 13 in every 1000 couples in 2004 (Karmen, 2013). According to Karmen, the things may seem to be improving in the army, but these statistics point to a worrying trend as the civilian population has a considerably lower rate of 3 in every 1000 married couples. These figures according to Karmen may be even higher as these are only reflecting the legal spouses who live within the army bases. As for those living off-base, the figures are not collected well thus there is no comprehensive record taking. In 2011, the CDC reported that women sustained 2 million injuries from intimate partners. This means that as of that year, violence was affecting women in very high rates. According to the CDC, the total social costs from violence amounted to between 5 and 10 billion dollars. The victims of violence who were recovering lost about 8 million paid working days,

MGMT402 U 5 DB2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MGMT402 U 5 DB2 - Research Paper Example When a person uses this information to judge an individual based on the analysis of the group’s information, then it can be called statistical discrimination. Unconscious bias takes place when an employer takes perceived notions about a specific group of people and makes use of the notions to influence decisions. These two sorts of discrimination show similarity in that they are both involuntary means of discrimination. Statistical information is presumed to be factual, but they should not be used as determinants of hiring practices. The information used in unconscious bias in the society is in the form of societal influences and personal experiences (Delahaunty, &Foote, 2011). Both theories do not support the need for antidiscrimination laws and policies. This is because they are based on assumptions that discrimination is a function of psychological processes. The support of antidiscrimination laws and policies requires the defense of the principles that are normative and which justify the application of the laws to the forms of discrimination. The law has raised standards aimed at the elimination of discrimination at work (Delahaunty, &Foote, 2011). This has created an impact towards reduction of discrimination determined by psychological processes. New antidiscrimination laws have provided an attitude in the minds of both employers and employees. The distance in power at the workplace instills fear of the minority groups who fear losing their jobs, hence do not report any form of discrimination. Antidiscrimination laws based on religious beliefs are not relevant to the current times. The laws provide that certain members should not attend work on certain days for them to worship. Most of the employees take advantage of their employers, in that, they neither attend work nor attend worship meetings. Most of the employees use their time to unwind. Current exemptions for such employees based on religion are arbitrary and outdated. Nobody

Small Business Development Reflective Report

Small Business Development Reflective Report Kids Club Day Care Centre is a partnership venture consisting of four partners who are also responsible in the running of the centre. Alongside the partners; the outlet managers, matron, chefs and child care specialists help in the centres day to day operations. The centres main objective is to cater to the need for professional child care facility among the upper middle and upper class income earners. Since families in this particular income bracket depend on two incomes, that is, both parents working, child care is a major concern among them. The venture also targets housewives who although do not work, still want to send their children to such a center for their childs betterment. The centre rose due to the partners passion alongside each partners qualifications and expertise. The aim was to target a niche market with a high potential for growth and profits together with a high return on investment. By targeting the niche, we limited the number of children we could accommodate at the centre thus delivering quality service to each and every child present at the centre. Looking at the market trend in this particular industry, we established problems facing both working parents and non-working parents and hence, filled the gap in the marketplace. TEAMWORK The partners carry vast experience and expertise in their respected fields of nursing, accountancy, social welfare and administration. Other staffs at the centre include, outlet managers who manage the day to day running of the centre. Child care specialists take care of the childrens needs at the centre. The chef will be in charge of the food cooked at the centre for the children. Our main objective is to capture the needs of such parents who are worried about their children while they are at work and also those who opt for a brighter foundation for their children before they start going to schools. All the members at the centre play different roles in the running of the centre. Each and every staff has different knowledge and skills hence, delivering specialized services. As a qualified nurse, the role I play in the organization is taking precautions for the safety and health of the children who come to the centre and to make sure that the centres environment is safe for children especially those who have allergies. The major part I played in the business plan was the critical analysis of the industry and competitors together with a simple yet resourceful marketing plan. I also contributed to the financials. Ivana Mboya brings with her a vast experience in the field of administration and therefore she is responsible with the administrative operations in the business. The part played by her in the making of the business plan was the management team and the description of the business as a whole and also contributed in the financials. Bariki Joseph, who is an accountant by profession, brings with him a vast experience in the related field and he dealt mainly with the financial plan and the operations plan. Lutengamaso Ngaponda, a social welfare officer by profession, he contributed to the financial analysis as well. The four partners together identified the critical risk factors facing kids club day care centre. Although each one of us dealt mainly with a particular part, at the end we all worked together in all the aspects of the business plan. The Advisory board consists of ; the Head of Legal Services at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, an external Auditor and the Chief Pediatrician from the Muhimbili National Hospital. The board utilizes the services of Ringo Co. Associates for all its legal consultations. The advisory board assists the board of directors in crucial decision making and contributes to the goodwill of the business by the means of signaling, that is, their presence in the centres advisory board helps to build confidence and a sense of loyalty towards the centre amongst the people and society. The centre has outsourced its cleaning services to professional cleaners. Since cleanliness is a major concern, leaving it on the professionals to do what they are best in, helps to get a desired result. The partnership was formed as a result of similar interests and expertise possessed by each and every partner in various fields. The team work has gained goodwill for the centre in the market as a result of efficient services offered. Our team is well qualified and knowledgeable on various issues therefore, contributing to the growth of the centre. Working together in a team has taught us how important communication is and that multicultural teams prove to be more beneficial since the ideas aired come from a diversified cultural background of each and every member of the team. PROCESS OF IDEA INITIATION The ideas were proposed by the partners followed by a session of brainstorming the pros and cons of each. Moreover a thorough feasibility analysis for the proposed ideas was conducted which identified the target market, capital investment and rate of return, growth potential and competition, thus the best viable idea was selected. The ideas proposed were that of a waste recycling company, laundry service for University students living in hostels and a day care centre. After the feasibility analysis, the idea of opening a day care centre proved to be the most viable. Together with that, the partners had the passion to work on such a project because of its newness in the market. There existed a gap in the marketplace where such a centre could prosper. The opportunity existed for a full fledged day care centre which would not be anything like the pre-schools. Competition was spotted to be low, because there did not exist any direct competitors; however, there is a high risk that in the near future the indirect competitors can turn to become direct competition to the centre. If such circumstance arises, there would be stiff competition. Although, I believe a competition should exist in order to motivate the organization to work even harder towards its growth. According to my view, the rate of return would be high because of the existence of such a novel centre in the market. Kids club had the first mover advantage, hence creating customer loyalty and brand recognition. After having identified the most viable idea out of the ideas proposed, the resources needed to open a day care centre were recognized and this made us comprehend that each one of us had the expertise to open such a centre. INDUSTRY AND COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS Firstly, by studying the market while we were looking for ideas, it came to our knowledge that there are a number of working mothers who unwillingly leave their kids with maids and relatives so that they could earn money and support the family, that is because families are becoming more dependant on two incomes. This was our best idea, since together with gaining financial rewards; we also wanted to open such a business that would have a realistic market and opportunity. Hence, the day care centre was the opportunity that we had to embark upon so as to fill the market gap. Thus, the solution to this opportunity recognition was to provide a service that is most wanted in the market to serve the society. Hence, it was the right time to realistically enter the market because the window of opportunity was open. I believe we have identified the right industry to be in. We tried to fill the gap after noticing that the demand of working mothers who are the important niche within our target market of upper middle and upper class income earners, were not being fully satisfied. This together with being the first mover created a competitive advantage for us and proved to give greater rewards. Although the magnitude of our centre is small, it has a vast growth potential. The services that we provide are of much importance to our customers, as it is directly connected to the future and safety of their young children. The identification of the industry was correct because it is not overcrowded with competition, has greater financial rewards and a high growth rate. The gaps identified in the marketing plan may be because of lack of vigorous marketing analysis. We might have failed to reach to our target market, who works far from the industrial and central business district. Currently, we dont face any direct competition, although, there exists a powerful competition from indirect competitors who are the existing pre-schools in town. This could be very risky because it would be convenient for parents to send their toddlers to the same pre-schools their slightly older kids go to. Competitive intelligence which was collected in an ethical way was of great help to the establishment of our centre. This was done by surveying, asking employees of pre-schools and friends whose children attend the pre-schools. We may have overlooked the possibility of individuals giving out day care facilities from their homes at a very small scale. They can be direct competitors to our centre and failing to identify them might have an adverse effect on our financial projections. PRESENTATION EXPERIENCE The importance of presenting the business plan rather than just submitting paper documents is that it encourages the potential investor to invest in the project. It is more appealing to the investor when the entrepreneur presents the plan rather than the investor just reading the documents. This is because, the investor can ask questions and get answers right away. Also, by presenting the business plan, the entrepreneur can show his/her passion and abilities together with the knowledge he/she has and thus gaining a sense of trust from the potential investor. This is because when then business plan is presented to potential investors, suppliers and business partners; they get a good picture of how the plan will be realistic, and how it will grow and achieve its objectives. Also, it shows how passionate one is about his/her project. By presenting the business plan to the panel, I have learnt how to make a presentation which is informative yet short, that will attract the potential investors to invest in the project. Presenting the plan has given me a deeper insight about the plan and improved my communication skills. It has given me a valuable experience and enhanced my public speaking skills especially while answering questions that were asked by the panel, which in future could be asked by potential investors. ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO We have projected the growth of the business plan with the availability of knowledge, skills and experience that the partners possess and the attractiveness of the industry we are intending to enter. Talking about the present scenario, the projections are quite optimistic and this could be a risk to the plan since the optimistic projections show only the high pace of growth of the business and its high return on investment. This is because we have neglected the future market conditions and future and present direct competitors. We havent considered alternative growth trajectories in our plan because we believe to continue growing in this very pace in order to accomplish our goals. This is mainly possible because of the first mover advantage that we acquired. USEFULNESS OF THE BUSINESS PLAN The environment and the industry trends together with the market conditions tend to change because of a number of reasons. Therefore, the original plan would be used as a reference showing what the initial business proposal was, and to provide guidance to the business towards its growth as it will ascertain both the internal and external business environment. Internally, the plan will help to identify approaches that should be taken into consideration in order to implement the firms strategies for future growth prospects and externally it will help to attract both, potential investors to invest in our business and suppliers who are willing to work with us. Furthermore, the original plan will help us to determine how future competition should be faced using the resources available and the services offered. The plan will also be used to ensure that the objectives outlined initially are still being trailed. Also, the plan will help the business to grow in terms of size and quality by offering more services and improving the quality of services offered. The part of reality that has out-grown the plan is the incoming of new government rules and regulations such as policy change and format of running the centre will result in higher cost of operating the firm. The centre will face other problems like increased insurance to ensure the safety of the children. The bombarded recession in our day to day lives can also stray the parents from sending their children to day care centers while they could do it themselves. The change in the time value of money and spending power can be one of the important realities that has out-grown the plan because, if the prices of basic commodities increase, parents who have more than one child between our target age, will be discouraged to send their children to the centre since a large portion of their income would be spent in purchasing the essential commodities. Currency fluctuations can hinder growth, since our target market of upper middle class and upper class income earners, mostly get paid in foreign currency and if there is a fluctuation in the price of the currency it will directly affect the buying power, if the exchange rate is high than more money will be exchanged and less will be accrued in return. Our business plan limits the growth of the business in the following facets: There is a high threat that the existing pre-schools introduce the same day care services. Rise in the price of childrens milk and utilities. Governments may introduce regulations for day care centres in the future in terms of childrens health and safety and the environment as a whole. The optimistic projections of the sales show the good financial position, a slight change in the market condition in terms of price and demand will have a greater effect in the financial position of the business, this is a situation that is very crucial and plays an important role in limiting the business growth. The following are the facets in which the business plan contributes towards the growth of the business: We are catering for the demand that is being faced by most of the families. Hence, rapid growth of the business. The experience and expertise that the management teams possesses and the goodwill created by the advisory board. To sum it up, the management team together with the advisory board creates goodwill for the business thus, attracting more customers and creating brand recognition. OTHER AREAS Elements of the plan can be improved in order to get a more realistic picture of the business. Objectives and goals should be emphasized for a rapid growth of the business in the future against its competitors. Since the plan only identifies the risk faced by the business, it should also include ways in which risks will be assessed and relevant measures taken to eliminate them. Risks which will be encountered by the centre are the financial risks, operational risks, management risks and also marketing risks. Hence the plan itself should include barriers that would prevent the risks from encumbering the growth of the business, regardless of the competition that would become more intense with time and the inadequacy of cash flows to meet financial debts. The exit strategy should be clearly mentioned in the plan, because it is very crucial to outline the strategy that would be taken in case the business fails or the partners are unable to run it. CONCLUSION The competence of the team work was commendable, each one of us put in an effort towards writing the plan. This created goodwill for the business in the market. The expertise that each of the partners have, plays an important role in delivering the services in a healthy and safety environment together with running the organization ethically without committing any fraud. We have identified the right gap in the marketplace and taken the opportunity and turned it into a realistic business, this was mostly possible because the window of opportunity for such a centre was open. The industry that we have indentified is attractive with a strong demand and low supply, showing high growth prospects despite of the existing and future potential competitors. Lastly, our business plan will be updated on regular basis for it to be up to date according to the changing time and market. Financial projections will be made in order to keep the staffs and management team motivated to work even harder to achieve the objectives set.

Summary and Analysis of The Reeves Tale Essay -- Canterbury Tales The

Summary and Analysis of The Reeve's Tale Prologue to the Reeve's Tale: The reactions of the crowd to the Miller's Tale were mixed, although many laughed. Only Oswald, the elderly Reeve was offended. He claims that with age the qualities of boasting, lying, anger and covetousness fade away. He vows to repay the Miller's Tale. Analysis The prologue to the Reeve's Tale continues the pattern established with the prologue to the Miller's Tale. Just as the Miller told his tale as a reaction to the Knight's tale, the Reeve vows to tell a tale as a reaction to what the Miller has told, offended by his satiric description of aged carpenter in comparison to the younger characters of the Miller's Tale. He believes that the Miller's Tale was an attack on him, and will so tell a tale that is an attack on the Miller. The Reeve's Tale: At Trumpington, near Cambridge, there is a brook where nearby stands a mill. There is a miller who lived there once who wore ostentatious clothing and could play the bagpipe, wrestle and fish. He always had a knife with him, and had a round face and flattened nose. His name was Simon, and nicknamed Symkyn. His wife came from a noble family; her father was the parson. Symkyn was a jealous man and his wife pretentious. They had a daughter who was now twenty and a toddler. The miller was dishonest in his business dealings. He cheated the college worst of all, and stole meal and corn from the dying steward of Cambridge. Two students, John and Aleyn, received permission from the provost to see the corn ground at the mill. Aleyn tells Symkyn that he is there to ground the corn and bring it back, since the sick steward cannot. While they ground the corn, Symkyn found the students' horse and set it loo... ...n this distinction is minor. Although they are students, they come from the more rustic northern area of England and show little of the savvy that Nicholas displayed in the previous tale. They are cheated out of their corn and lose their horse through the miller's deception. When they seduce the miller's wife and daughter, they do so merely out of opportunity and jealousy, and their actions seem to be little better than rape. The two students even lack that measure of lust that is present in the Miller's Tale and which might make the characters more sympathetic. In the end, most of the characters suffer some physical injury, but most of all the miller. For deceiving the students he found himself cuckolded, his daughter deflowered, and himself robbed and severely wounded. Even the means by which he is wounded is comic  ­ his wife conks him on the head with his staff.

Is there a god? Essay

The justification for the belief in the existence of God has historically evaded the scope of empirical verification. However, extraordinary historic events and profound cultural and political evolutions have taken place due to the influence of religious beliefs. Additionally, religious belief has impacted matters of social justice, economic parity, and moral and ethical beliefs all around the world. Whether or not the existence of a God (or Gods) can be established by modern scientific investigation seems irrelevant to the course of human events, many of which are propelled by religious convictions. Despite the native reluctance and technical inability of contemporary scientists to corroborate the existence of God, philosophical arguments based on psuedo-scientific criteria are numerous; most of these empirical arguments are based in one form or another around the idea-structure of Swinburne’s famous treatise â€Å"Is There a God?,† which purports to prove by rational hypothesis and logic that God exists. Foremost among Swinburne’s arguments is that the natural order of the universe demonstrates intelligent design: â€Å"†It is extraordinary that there should exist anything at all[†¦ ] And so many things. Maybe chance could have thrown up the odd electron. BUT so many particles! [†¦ ] If we can explain the many bits of the universe by one simple being which keeps them in existence, we should do so–even if inevitably we cannot explain the existence of that simple being. † (Swinburne, 1996, p. 48-49) Swinburne’s argument is steeped in formal logic and rhetoric, yet the underlying principles are relatively simple. The idea that the existence of a complex universe which is well-suited to human experience postulates an intelligent creator for both things: the universe and humanity, is based less in rationality than in the emotion of astonished wonder. In other words, because Swinburne finds the universe to be a marvel of curiosities and interestingly designed elements and phenomena does not indicate that the universe is experienced this away by a majority of human beings or in any way that the experience Swinburne records indicates the existence of a God. Basically, the argument for intelligent design is based on analogy: the universe is well-designed as a human made artifact might be well-designed, therefore, the universe must have an intelligent designer. Nonetheless, this â€Å"teleological argument† which is normally â€Å"construed as an argument from analogy: Since the universe is analogous to some human artifact that one knows to be designed, probably the universe itself is designed† breaks down when examined closely. Although Hume and others have described the universe as a â€Å"watch† and argued that † just as we can infer that a watch found on a heath has a designer, so we can infer that the universe has a designer† (Martin, 1990, p. 125) the analogy is specious when taken to its logical conclusions. For example, if the analogy were carried to its logical extreme, one would end up with conclusions not acceptable to the theist. Because â€Å"machines are usually made by many intelligent beings; [†¦ ] some form of polytheism rather than monotheism would be warranted by the argument† as well as the fact that â€Å"the beings who create machines have bodies, so God must have a body. If machines have imperfections, we have grounds for supposing that the creators are not perfect. So since the universe has imperfections, one should conclude that God is not perfect. † (Martin, 1990, p. 127) These analogous conclusion run contrary to demonstrating the existence of God insofar as Swinburne intended his analogy to function. In fact, the deeper one takes the analogy, the closer one comes to the opposite conclusion: that no monotheistic God at all exists. Another of the assertions made by religious pragmatists is that not only the existence of a universe, but the existence of an orderly universe with a complex (and generally hierarchical) system of phenomena, demonstrates the existence of God. Again, because an orderly world is both functional and to some degree pleasurable (according to Swinburne) there must be an intelligence behind the design of the universe. And merely an intelligent designer but an omnipotent creator, who â€Å"is able to produce a world orderly in these respects. And he has good reason to choose to do so: a world containing human persons is a good thing. Persons have experiences, and thoughts, and can make choices, and their choices can make big differences to themselves, to others, and to the inanimate world. God, being perfectly good, is generous He wants to share. † (Swinburne, 1996, p. 52) This latter postulation seems completely out of order in a rational and â€Å"scientific† discussion, but as this discussion will later show, the emotionality of belief is an aspect of religious conviction which enters into not only the so-called logical argument on behalf of their faith, but as the primary emotional and psychological connection with the God or Gods which are believed in by religious devotees. Again, like Swinburne’s assertion that the mere existence of the universe indicates a designer, his likewise analogy that the universe, being â€Å"well-ordered† indicates intelligent design, is easily refuted simply by examining Swinburne’s analogy itself closely. If the universe is wonderfully complex and apparently designed to fulfill humanity’s needs and expectations, modern science accepts the possibility of multi-universes, most of which cannot be meaningfully detected by mankind: â€Å"Although it may be true that the universe is unique, there is no reason to suppose, in the light of our present evidence, that this is relevant in judging whether it is created or not. We have no reason to suppose it cannot be judged by the same criteria we use to judge whether planets, rocks, and gismos are created[†¦] it may be urged that as our technology advances, we may be able to create objects that resemble more and more the natural objects we find in the universe. † (Martin, 1990, p. 332) Obviously, the projected future of science could be extend logically to include the technology which could create geological elements, in fact planets themselves, which would demonstrate not the intelligent design of a God but the intelligent design of mankind, which is among the animal orders. That last assertion is something that Swinburne objects to with great fervor: â€Å"At some time in evolutionary history bodies of complex animals become connected to souls, and this, I shall be arguing, is something utterly beyond the power of science to â€Å"explain. But theism can explain this–for God has the power and reason to join souls to bodies. † (Swinburne, 1996, p. 69-70) Of course, science has no power to â€Å"explain† mystical or supernatural phenomena. The lack of scientific inquiry into these ares comprises another, more dramatically contemporary, argument for the existence of Gid. This argument posits the idea that since science and scientists are reluctant to investigate mystical and supernatural phenomena, proof of the existence of God has evaded science because the proof for God’s existence resides in the supernatural sphere. Those who argue along these lines contend that â€Å"Scientific practice is often contrasted with religious belief in that the former is supposed to be open-minded whereas the latter is said to be close-minded and hence closer to ideology† and these same observers resent being categorized as â€Å"close-minded† instead positing that science is, in fact,narrow-minded for not taking into account the supernatural. (Van Heerden, 2004) Investigation of the supernatural does, in fact, seem to be outside of the preferred scope of scientific investigation, although some noteworthy efforts have been made. In 1882 â€Å"a group of eminent scholars from the humanities and the sciences[†¦ ]founded the Society for Psychical Research, with the stated purpose of investigating so-called ‘paranormal’ phenomena in a scientific manner† but this gesture seems to have been more or less forgotten in contemporary science. The prevailing â€Å"disdain amongst certain scientific atheists regarding religious belief, and their rejection of religion is based not on sound physical/material evidence but on existing prejudices. There is no existing evidence that disproves the existence of a supernatural agent or agents; or which proves conclusively that other mechanisms/agencies are not at work alongside (or working through) ones already identified and canonized in orthodox science† (Van Heerden, 2004) Van Heerden’s argument is one of the most compelling arguments that theists have at their disposal. It must be remembered, though, that this contention is one of distinguishing a lack of evidence which would prove the existence of God; it is not a conformation that such evidence is there to be collected, merely a positing of an area which has not been thoroughly exhausted in the search for possible evidence. Such arguments are, in fact, the province of mysticism rather than science and seem to be an acknowledgment that science cannot â€Å"fulfil this purpose because it extends alienation in the world by driving subject and object ever further apart in its reductive thinking. Mysticism, at the other end of the spectrum, claims the complete elimination of alienation; ; but again this contention has nothing whatsoever to do with establishing evidence for the existence of God; rather it is an emotional appeal, based in human psychology rather than in empirical, objective evidence. (Van Heerden, 2004) In fact, the psychological and hence subjective connection to the idea of a God or Gods is what drives the conviction many believers profess to having in the existence of God. A survey of theists revealed a personal, subjective, rather than empirically phenomenal, vision of God among respondents. Such a distinction from empirical evidence is important because it indicates that even among strong believers, God is viewed more as an internal psychological component rather than an external force which exudes omnipotent power over the created universe: â€Å"God is valued as an end in Himself rather than as a means to other ends. Most people want God for the same reason for which they want friends, and His relation to them is exactly that of a very dear and very lovable and very sympathizing friend. † (Pratt, 1907, p. 264). Theists, as we have seen through our preceding discussion, typically move from an empirical or scientific mode of argument to an emotional mode of argument to a mystical mode of argument and finally to a moral or ethical mode of argument. This final mode is usually articulated, fundamentally, as ana indictment of human moral and ethical character. Without a God, it is posited, the moral and ethical systems of human society would crumble. Or conversely, since humanity is so innately sinful, elaborate ethical and moral systems as handed down from God must be used to restrain our worst tendencies. However, another vision fo a â€Å"Godless† world acn be equally demonstrated, due the lack of any evidence as God as an active force in the universe and not merely as a psychological quantity â€Å"the religious consciousness values God chiefly as a companion. The need of Him is a social need. Religious people would miss Him if they should lose their faith, just as they miss a dead friend† however, society would surely endure. (Pratt, 1907, p. 268) In fact, atheists envision a world which, would in some ways,. be superior to the theistically driven worlds which have inspired wars and intellectual conservatism. Should atheism become the dominant world-view, it is posited, then â€Å"one would anticipate vast changes in many areas. For example, there would probably be fewer wars and less violence than there is now[†¦ ]. The birth rate would also drop in many countries, since religious objections to contraception would no longer prevail[†¦ ]. Church and state would probably become separate in countries in which they have traditionally been interwoven[†¦] This in turn would bring about profound political changes. † But such changes are unlikely to happen in the near future because, despite the lack of any credible scientific or empirical evidence to demonstrate the existence of God, the psychological component of these belief-systems are so endemic and so influential in world-affairs that their functional repudiation, despite the ease with which it can be made from a scientific or philosophical angel, seems destined for a distant future. (Martin, 1990, p. 459) References Martin, M. (1990). Atheism: A Philosophical Justification. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Pratt, J. B. (1907). The Psychology of Religious Belief. New York: Macmillan. Swinburne, R. (1996). Is There a God?. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Van Heerden, A. (2004, June). Why Atheism Is Unscientific. Contemporary Review, 284, 351+.

End of Feudalism essays

End of Feudalism essays In Medieval Europe, politics were organized into a religious hierarchy knows as feudalism. This system dominated Europe for many years. Many factors contributed to breakdown of the feudal system. When this order finally ended it was replaced by an era known as the Renaissance, which would lead to modern Europe. Feudalism was based on two main concepts. One was the divine right to rule, where everyone believed that the leader ruled in the power of God. Therefore if someone went against them, then he or she was committing blasphemy and should be put to death. The second concept, known as absolutism, meant that there were no appeals for arguments with the leaders or their decisions. When these concepts began to be questioned and even proven wrong feudalism began to fail. Feudalism ended for many reasons, many of them relating to a change in economy. In order for feudalism to succeed it needed to be in a strictly agricultural society. Therefore its fall began with the rise of commerce. Many things aided commerce in its rise, such as religion. The cathedrals encouraged people, who would not normally leave their home villages, to venture out on pilgrimages. While on these journeys people had to spend money. They needed food and a place to stay, preferably near the cathedrals. From this created cities around the cathedrals. With the cities came trade, commerce, and a business class of people. Under these conditions there was no economic reason for feudalism to continue. This trading encouraged small villages to trade with one another. Eventually people were traveling often and constantly interacting with other villages. This raised the idea of regionalism and eventually nationalism. Along with the trading of money came the sharing of cultu res, art, music, and ideas with the Islamic world, Mongol Empire, and other foreign places. From these cultures Europeans picked up ideas like, the alphabet, and ide...

Origins and Schools of Abstract Art

Origins and Schools of Abstract Art Abstract art (sometimes called nonobjective art) is a painting or sculpture  that does not depict a person, place, or thing in the natural world. With abstract art, the subject of the work is what you see: color, shapes, brushstrokes, size, scale, and, in some cases, the process itself, as in  action painting.   Abstract artists strive to be non-objective and non-representational, allowing the viewer to interpret each artworks meaning in their own way. Thus, abstract art is not an exaggerated or distorted view of the world such as we see in the Cubist paintings of Paul Cà ©zanne  and  Pablo Picasso, for they present a type of conceptual realism. Instead, form and color become the focus and the subject of the piece. While some people may argue that abstract art does not require the technical skills of representational art, others would beg to differ. It has, indeed, become one of the major debates in modern art. Of all the arts,  abstract painting  is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for colors, and that you be a true poet. This last is essential.  Ã¢â‚¬â€œWassily Kandinsky. The Origins of Abstract Art Art historians typically identify the early 20th century as an important historical moment in the history of  abstract art. During this time, artists worked to create what they defined  as pure art: creative works that were not grounded in visual perceptions, but in the imagination of the artist. Influential works from this time period include Picture with a Circle (1911) by the Russian artist  Wassily Kandinsky  and Francis Picabias Caoutchouc  (1909). The roots of abstract art, however, can be traced back much further. Earlier artistic movements such as the 19th centurys  Impressionism and Expressionism were experimenting with the idea that painting can capture emotion and subjectivity. It need not simply focus on seemingly objective visual perceptions. Going back even further, many ancient rock paintings, textile patterns, and pottery designs captured a symbolic reality rather than attempting to present objects as we see them. Early Influential Abstract Artists Kandinsky (1866–1944) is often noted as one of the most influential abstract artists. A view of how his style developed over the years  is a fascinating look at the movement as he progressed from  representational to pure abstract art. He was also adept at explaining how an abstract artist may use color to give a seemingly meaningless work purpose. Kandinsky believed that colors provoke emotions. Red was lively and confident; green was peaceful with inner strength; blue was deep and supernatural; yellow could be warm, exciting, disturbing or totally bonkers; and white seemed silent but full of possibilities. He also assigned instrument tones to go with each color. Red sounded like a trumpet; green sounded like a middle-position violin; light blue sounded like a flute; dark blue sounded like a cello, yellow sounded like a fanfare of trumpets; white sounded like the pause in a harmonious melody. These analogies to sounds came from Kandinskys appreciation for music, especially the works of the contemporary Viennese composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951). Kandinskys titles often refer to the colors in the composition or to music, for example, Improvisation 28 and Composition II.   The French artist Robert Delaunay (1885–1941) belonged to Kandinskys Blue Rider (Die Blaue Reiter) group. With his wife, Russian-born Sonia Delaunay-Turk (1885–1979), they both gravitated toward abstraction in their own movement, Orphism or Orphic Cubism. Examples of Abstract Art and Artists Today, abstract art is often an umbrella term that encompasses a wide range of styles and art movements. Included among these are  nonrepresentational art, nonobjective art, abstract expressionism, art informel  (a form of gestural art), and even some op art (optical art, referring to art that makes use of optical illusions). Abstract art may be gestural, geometric, fluid, or figurative (implying things that are not visual such as emotion, sound, or spirituality). While we tend to associate abstract art with painting and sculpture, it can apply to any visual medium, including  assemblage  and photography. Yet, it is the painters that get the most attention in this movement. There are many notable artists who represent the various approaches one may take to abstract art and they have had considerable influence on modern art. Carlo Carr  (1881–1966) was an Italian painter best known for his work in Futurism, a form of abstract art which emphasized the energy and fast-changing technology of the early 20th century. Over his career, he worked in Cubism as well and many of his paintings were abstractions of reality. However, his manifesto, Painting of Sounds, Noises and Smells  (1913) influenced many abstract artists. It explains his fascination with synaesthesia, a sensory crossover in which, for example, one smells a color, which is at the heart of many abstract artworks.Umberto Boccioni (1882–1916) was another Italian Futurist who focused on geometric forms and was heavily influenced by Cubism. His work often depicts physical motion as is seen in  States of Mind (1911). This series of three paintings capture the motion and emotion of a train station rather than the physical depiction of passengers and trains.Kazimir Malevich (1878–1935) was a Russian painter whom many describe as a pioneer of geometric abstract art. One of his best-known works is  Black Square (1915). It is simplistic but absolutely fascinating to art historians because, as an analysis from the Tate mentions, It is the first time someone made a painting that wasnt of something.   Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), an American painter, is often given as the ideal representation of Abstract Expressionism, or action painting. His work is more than drips and splashes of paint on canvas, but fully gestural and rhythmic and often employed very non-traditional techniques. For instance, Full Fathom Five  (1947)  is an oil on canvas created, in part, with tacks, coins, cigarettes, and much more. Some of his work, such as There Were Seven in Eight (1945) are huge, stretching over eight feet in width.Mark Rothko (1903–1970) took the geometric abstracts of Malevich to a new level of modernism with color-field painting. This American painter rose in the 1940s and simplified color into a subject all on its own, redefining abstract art for the next generation. His paintings, such as  Four Darks in Red  (1958) and Orange, Red, and Yellow (1961), are as notable for their style as they are for their large size.

Intercultural Conflict Resolution in Schools Assignment

Intercultural Conflict Resolution in Schools - Assignment Example Note that for research purposes, the real names of respondents were replaced. Justine: These programs help to establish peace, remove vehemence and create healthy relationships among students. In schools where cultural conflict is low, programs such as the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP) have been implemented to help bring an understanding between students of different cultures. Justine: The schools address cultural conflicts by making sure these programs are run and encouraging teachers and parents to respect the diverse cultures within each school system. This starts by learning of the practices in other people’s cultures in order to ensure awareness. For instance, one’s culture may permit interaction of both sexes both in classroom sitting arrangements and the playgrounds while another culture is against this. The awareness by the students will ensure that the activities conducted by the students do not bring conflicts among them. The school should implement policies that respect each culture. They should educate on the harms of intercultural conflicts and penalize those who are intolerant to coexistence. Justine: The beliefs of some cultures lead to intercultural conflicts. This is for instance, in cases where big Korean girls share the same school with smaller Korean girls. According to their beliefs, the bigger girls are allowed to assault the smaller ones in case they believe they do not receive enough respect from them. This leads to conflicts. Justine: Students experience different conflicts in relation to cultural difference. These include socio-economic status conflicts, for instance as seen between Iranians and Soviet Armenians who share same cultural views but the conflict in socio-economic status from back in their communities. Conflicts are also evident in the formation of cliques, the rise of fights, formation of gangs, and even in assigning homework.

Integration of ERP Systems in Accounting Practice Essay

Integration of ERP Systems in Accounting Practice - Essay Example This paper illustrates that beginning the early 1990s, the world has embraced technological advancement in literary all fields of application, including business management and organization. A prime example of technological adoption is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in business management. ERP is software for business management that enables organizations to use an integrated applications system for the business management. The software integrates all paradigms of business operation, including manufacturing, development, marketing, and sales. ERP software incorporates various enterprise software modules that an organization may decide to purchase, depending on its technical capabilities and business needs. Particular ERP modules focus on specific areas of business processes, such as marketing or development. Among the popular ERP include those that tackle material purchasing, product planning, accounting, distribution, human resource, distribution, inventory control, marketing, a nd finance. The consistent growth of the popularity of the ERP methodology, businesses, and organizations are increasingly adopting the use of ERP for management and organization, particularly in the accounting field. In their case study on the introduction of an ERP system in an Ivy League University, Wagner, Moll, and Newell outline an array of accountability and management control issues associated with the system, including dependency of the ERP systems on the entanglement of technology and users (socio-material assemblage). Others include the probability of ERP packages not to capture management accounting despite the particularity of the design, affordability, and power of community practice that influence the integration of the accounting logics within the system. Moreover, the study highlights the possibility of employee resistance in cases of incompatibility with practice legacy logic, and the need for reconfiguration, which is in misalignment with traditional system develo pment theories and vendors (Wagner and Newell, 2004:314). Another significant challenge that the ERP systems face is different context of use concerning the scope and type of modifications made in the post-roll-out phase, a factor that may influence the relational and on-linear nature of accounting literature. Summarily, the main problem result from misalignments legacy practices in the adopting organization and best practise embedded in the ERP systems. The authors of the study attribute the above problems are particularly common in packaged software implementation, thus necessitating early detection of any misalignments in system configuration and selection. Nonetheless, the authors acknowledge that complex and externally regulated misalignments tend to surface much later in the implementation phase, citing the case of the one of the Ivy League Universities (hereafter â€Å"Ivy†) as an example. Empirical evidence from recent studies indicate that conflicts and intense effor ts surface in the early stages of custom-built software development-use cycle, but in tailor-made software, these issues only surface at the later stages of implementation (Pouloudi and Whitley, 2000:341). Consequently, this highlights the need to address misalignment issues in the post-roll out phase. Indeed, the case study focuses primarily on this particular stage, highlighting the turnaround processes that address the misalignment and the subsequent emergence of a working ERP system. It is important to note that a working ERP system is essentially one that is different applicant within the organization use and accepts, but not necessarily the ideal one from any particular perspective (Yeow and Sia, 2000:15). The â€Å"

3010 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

3010 - Essay Example nt significance to highlight that majority of the problems faced by the organizations always revolve around the management flaws, that trickle down to the employees (Shermon, 36). This contributes towards hampering the organizational performances. As such, the organization may be considerably impacted with failures in certain measures. In relation to the above, it is important to understand some of the eminent problems that most organizations always face that may always contribute towards organizational failures. One of the problems that contribute towards hindering success in organizational setups is the ineffective performance management processes employed within those organizational setups. In some situations, the organizational may fail to have any organizational performance management process in place. This is very critical for such organizations since lack of such performance management processes is always amongst the top ranking agents of failure (Shermon, 41). The other problem may take the form of lack of, as well as, ill-defined performance expectations. This may present major challenges towards the realization of success in the organizations. In some situations, the performance expectations may be poorly communicated to the staff, thereby acting as amongst the top ranked predisposing factors of organiza tional failure. Other than the listed above, the inconsistent management practices employed within organizations as well as companies may also hinder the realization of the success. Furthermore, the partial participation of the managers and some leaders may also be one of the agents of organizational failure in companies (Shermon, 56). This is a big problem since some leaders may be fully engaged in discharging the best of their efforts towards realization of good results, whereas others may essentially ignore managing the performance. This is akin to organizational failure. Therefore, in order to address these organizational challenges and problems, it

Boston Matrix - Refresher Essay Example for Free

Boston Matrix Refresher Essay According to those two figures and based on some sales figure from Unilevers marketing department, it is clear that most of its products are in the maturity stage and Cash-Cow products except for some new products which are undergoing the introduction stage or growth stage because there are many similar new products which are developed in China and focusing on Chinese consumer. The annual sales figure appear that, in personal care sector, its products have been kept in a slightly increase or decrease lever and tend to grow to a stable maximum level. However, because of in the huge market, the amount of sales normally is significant. This situation, therefore, could be effective for Unilever China run and maintain its business owing to the enormous cashflow. It also contributed to launching Unilevers sixth Research and Development (R D) Laboratory in China, 2000 in order to meet the everyday needs of the Chinese consumer and develop more products for the Chinese market. Facing the pressure form not only another large firm P G but also a lot of local booming manufactures, Unilever China has adopted a lot of effective measures in order to compete with them. For instance, frequent products promotion with the purpose of offering more profits to the customers and keeping the lower price. In addition, in order to maintain the awareness of brands, Unilever launches a lot of brilliant advertisements by using many famous pop stars in every season. Commentary on the three underlying systems: Technical, People, Economic (including: Organisational use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) A. Technical When I was working in ChinadotCom corporation Shanghai branch, I had had a lot of opportunities of communicating with IT staff of Unilever China. According to the information which I have gained form them, it is clear that if there was no supporting from Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), possibly, all of its business and management would be out of control. ICT plays a significant role of management in lots of successful western firms as well as in Unilever. Thus, when Unilever re-entered China in 1990, it also brought some advanced management systems especially Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software which it had already operated in most of its subsidiaries into Unilever China. Throughout six years development, based on original ERP system, Unilever China has been building a brand-new Management Information System (MIS) which is different between the common MIS during current years. This new MIS concentrates in generating and analysing date source which forwards to provide efficient reports rather than the function of information communication. Unilever China has launched a number of separated information systems such as Dealer Management System (DMS), Sales Information System (SIS) and Supplier Management System as well. All of them have integrated with MIS through ERP in order to offer standard data source. Moreover, it has planned to launch a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system owing to maintain high proportion of royalty among its consumers. As we know, most multinational companies adopt single united globe standard for their IT equipments including hardware and software as well as Unilever. It should be easy and effective for the companies to manage and maintain the whole systems for example, once any engineer of Unilever turns on any PC of Unilever, there would be the same operation system and application software in the PC. However, for Unilever China, this situation could lead to some problems when it would like to merge other companies. It also has cost Unilever China much money and labour to integrate all the different systems which the fourteen joint ventures had been used, when it was carrying out the two revolutions. B. People In a world where technologies and markets are speedily changing, as well as in China, both local knowledge and globe proficiency have been required to deeply understand and meet the complex needs of the 150 million customers who choose Unilevers products everyday. It is very important, therefore, for Unilever China to make its employees localising as possible as it could. At its beginning stage, Unilever China had employed more one hundred foreign staffs including managers and professionals. Although they had more working experience and good management approaches, there still had been some disadvantages of this state. Firstly, it had led to the high cost of labour because Unilever should pay nearly six times more than employing local people. Secondly, most of foreign staffs, they had not had enough knowledge of Chinese economy environment. This might provide some wrong decisions in both marketing and manufacture areas. Finally, because they had been so proud of their characters and positions, they tended to be difficult to communicate with local people. All in all, thus, Unilever China has modified its mind to reduce the number of foreign staffs and offer more opportunities to local employees. (Unilever China, 2001) In every recent year, Unilever China has sent numbers of its local managers abroad to practise for senior positions in their own countries. Its target of 95 percent local management in China includes five percent of local managers who are also working overseas at any given time. On the other hand, in purpose of reducing the cost of workforce, Unilever China decided to cut down the number of workforce in Shanghai which is in the highest level of working payment in China, and move its manufactures to the lower cost place. C. Economic Inside Unilever China, the significant motive of two revolutions is to decrease their working expenditures and utilise all the business resource efficiently. The production lines of most its products such as shampoo and shower are quite similar including the raw material as well. There had been several same production lines among the fourteen joint ventures, before Unilever China re-structured them. In addition, the waste also happened to the IT departments, administration department and supporting department. Once Unilever China had held a new joint venture, it had had to build an individual business system for it. It seems to be more efficient and having more abilities of competition, when the two revolutions have been accomplished. Furthermore, the changes also facilitate Unilever to concentrate its brands in order to meet the needs of different markets. For instance, in Shanghai which is the huge developed city in China, its key products are in the personal care and wash area including Lux, Dove, Hazeline and Ponds. Due to the changing of Chinese government economy policy, China is going to be more open for the foreign companies. As a result that China has joint World Trade Organisation (WTO), more foeign companies will enter China. Most local manufactures tend to become stronger because they will have more chance to gain the advanced management approaches and learn the business skills by competing with more foreign companies. They also could the big challenge to the Unilever China. Another purpose of its changes, thus, is to maintain its leader position in China. Since these changes, Unilever China becomes more flexibility because it clearly to allocate its business targets to three groups. Every group has its own responsibility of manufacturing and selling particular products. Thus, both of them could be the professional in their own economical environment. Discussion of management activities and approaches (including typical errors) Until this section, it seems that there has been no obvious evidence which could show that Unilever China has made some clear mistakes of management so far. However, there might be no completely perfect result once you have accomplished some changes. In the short-term, we could regard it as more positive than negative but no one could image the future. Also, before the two revolutions happened, there had been some typical management errors which Unilever China had made. Inside most of joint ventures in China, there are two different manager teams: one group of them are assigned straight by foreign companies; another are the people who have already worked in the companies which are going to co-operate with the foreign companies. However, both of them have the responsibilities of managing the new companies which we exactly classify as Chinese-foreign joint ventures in China. Thus, because of different working background in different economics system, these two manager teams provide two different management styles. For the managers who have been worked in Unilever world group for a period of time, because of underlying the western developed management theory, their management approach could be considered as Proactive Positive. The management approaches have been argued and developed by a lot of western researchers for a long time. Those effective management approaches, such as team work, business culture and management information system, have been widely utilised in Unilever. This also could contribute good forecast of marketing and sales, efficient decision making and powerful capability of competition. Those advantages could be clearly embodied in the two revolution of Unilever China. In particular, in order to avoid more waste of resource, Unilever China terminated some business in 2002 in Shanghai and transferred them to the low cost place which was in HeFei. During this process, certainly, it should deal with the loss of re-investment and high risk of changing. Nevertheless, due to some typical management errors which it had made at the beginning of re-entering China, it has had to change its temporal situation. The typical mistakes could be Market Share wars and The big project. The evidences of these errors could be discovered by some investigation in its process of growth. For instance, only in a decade, it had constructed fourteen joint ventures in China to take the leader position of Chinese market and compete with P G. Following its step, P G China also carried out some measures which might beat its challenge. Finally, that lead to both of these two firms had to reduce their products price in order to obtain more market share. Those fourteen joint ventures had caused numerous waste of fix assets, labour and operation cost.

puddnhead wilson :: essays research papers

This section is the heart of both the farce and the tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson. The action is fast-paced, often absurd, and accompanied by convoluted plot twists. Yet it is always intimately tied to the central problem of the story: Roxy's failure to "save" her son, whose racial heritage seems to damn him inescapably. Roxy herself seems to agree with racist sentiments when she tells "Tom" that his black blood is to blame for his behavior. She also takes the opportunity to make claims for her own heritage, telling her son that she is descended from Pocahontas and Captain John Smith, and is thereby of as high quality Virginia stock as the judge or anyone else. While Roxy may seem to be a sort of "Uncle Tom" figure here, Twain avoids this interpretation by making her as much of a victim as her son. Her claims about her ancestry are pathetic and ridiculous, but they show how deeply entrenched the white hegemony is. Roxy's comments point to the fact that b lack blood is the problem: black labor has made the white masters wealthy and thus enabled both "Tom"'s upbringing and the kind of rhetoric that the judge and Roxy use about their fine old families. Concepts of "honor" in this novel have little to do with standards of behavior but are instead ways to uphold an exploitative system. Aside from the more profound issues at stake, this section also contains some of Twain's finest comic writing. The scene at the anti-temperance meeting is theatrical and amusing. It also makes reference to one of the major figures to whom Twain sought to compare himself: Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was the first to set up fire companies in the United States, and the Dawson's Landing fire brigade is similar in its bumbling to the companies Franklin describes in his Autobiography. The comment about the townspeople insuring themselves against the firefighters rather than against fire is obviously Franklin-esque: wry, practical, and linguistically aware. Franklin is the epitome of the self-made man in American literature and history, and by making reference to him Twain means to challenge the idea of self-constructed identities in a world where race is so powerful a determinant that it can erase all else. Pudd'nhead, the most Franklin- like of the characters in this novel, has so far fai led to become who he wants to be, and is left, like Franklin, conducting experiments that are ridiculed rather than appreciated. puddnhead wilson :: essays research papers This section is the heart of both the farce and the tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson. The action is fast-paced, often absurd, and accompanied by convoluted plot twists. Yet it is always intimately tied to the central problem of the story: Roxy's failure to "save" her son, whose racial heritage seems to damn him inescapably. Roxy herself seems to agree with racist sentiments when she tells "Tom" that his black blood is to blame for his behavior. She also takes the opportunity to make claims for her own heritage, telling her son that she is descended from Pocahontas and Captain John Smith, and is thereby of as high quality Virginia stock as the judge or anyone else. While Roxy may seem to be a sort of "Uncle Tom" figure here, Twain avoids this interpretation by making her as much of a victim as her son. Her claims about her ancestry are pathetic and ridiculous, but they show how deeply entrenched the white hegemony is. Roxy's comments point to the fact that b lack blood is the problem: black labor has made the white masters wealthy and thus enabled both "Tom"'s upbringing and the kind of rhetoric that the judge and Roxy use about their fine old families. Concepts of "honor" in this novel have little to do with standards of behavior but are instead ways to uphold an exploitative system. Aside from the more profound issues at stake, this section also contains some of Twain's finest comic writing. The scene at the anti-temperance meeting is theatrical and amusing. It also makes reference to one of the major figures to whom Twain sought to compare himself: Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was the first to set up fire companies in the United States, and the Dawson's Landing fire brigade is similar in its bumbling to the companies Franklin describes in his Autobiography. The comment about the townspeople insuring themselves against the firefighters rather than against fire is obviously Franklin-esque: wry, practical, and linguistically aware. Franklin is the epitome of the self-made man in American literature and history, and by making reference to him Twain means to challenge the idea of self-constructed identities in a world where race is so powerful a determinant that it can erase all else. Pudd'nhead, the most Franklin- like of the characters in this novel, has so far fai led to become who he wants to be, and is left, like Franklin, conducting experiments that are ridiculed rather than appreciated.