Biography Of Verrocchio s The Great Leonardo Da Vinci ...

As one of his earlier works, The Annunciation shows resemblance to Leonardo’s teacher, Verrocchio’s sculpture work. Verrocchio’s teachings in sculpting could have stimulated young Da Vinci’s mind enough to desire the anatomically correct form of his artwork. What couldn’t be deemed, as the teachings from Verrocchio would later turn into the signature styles of the great Leonardo Da Vinci. The uses of realistic studies, linear perspective, and religious symbols are just some of the techniques used in The Annunciation. For a while The Annunciation was thought be have been painted by another artist, historians later discovered that it was in fact a piece by Da Vinci. While the most useful pieces by Leonardo speaking in the historical and scientific sense, may not have been the Mona Lisa or any of his paintings; but his sketches, and notebooks. Pieces of theses sketches still exist today and show how tirelessly Leonardo worked to have all the aspects o f this piece be as realistic as possible. Using science to represent this realism becomes the key factor in how many of his paintings became both aesthetically and historically recognized. Of course over time many of Leonardo’s journals and sketches have been lost or destroyed over the years. The ones that have survived have been studied to gain more knowledge of the Renaissance man himself. These are also used to prove that Leonardo was or wasn’t the artist, likewise these sketches stressed how detailed Da Vinci wanted everyShow MoreRelatedLeonardo Da Vinci1629 Words   |  7 PagesHistory 101 | Leonardo Da Vinci | Renaissance Pioneer | | Luis Quelhas | 11/13/2012 | | Leonardo Da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452. His father was a wealthy notary, named  Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci. His mother Caterina was a sixteen year old peasant girl. Leonardo had no surname when born and took the name Da Vinci meaning from Vinci, the small town in Florence where he was born. Throughout his life Leonardo faced many hardships. From 1457 he lived in the household ofRead MoreLeonardo Da Vinci : The Most Famous For His Art1448 Words   |  6 PagesCarly Henry S. Martinez English IV - 1st hour 3/29/16 Leonardo Da Vinci When hearing the name Leonardo da Vinci, what comes to mind? For many people it will be his artwork. This is because of all of the accomplishments da Vinci has, he is most famous for his art. What many people don’t know was that he was also a scientist, inventor, and philosopher. Da Vinci lived in a time period known as the Renaissance. This was a time of knowledge and enlightenment, and it gave birth to many of the world’sRead MoreThe Last Supper By Leonardo Da Vinci1938 Words   |  8 Pages Leonardo da Vinci Tony Warren Globe University Introduction Leonardo da Vinci is best known for his painting of the Last Supper (Figure 1) and most noted as an artist but is also known as an architect, inventor and chronicler of science. The Last Supper painting depicts Jesus hosting his last supper with his disciples before he is crucified and this painting can be found in many churches and homes across the world. This is also a symbol of Communion or Eucharist as Jesus performed

Meditations On First Philosophy By Rene Descartes

In Meditations on First Philosophy, Renà © Descartes philosophies made a substantial advancement in enabling us to understand the world around us by querying many of the Aristotelian doctrines that are still being discussed in philosophy today. He attempts to answer the question; can you fully trust your senses? Descartes uses methodological doubt, which is a process of being skeptical about truths of someone’s belief to revoke from his senses. In Meditation One: Concerning Those Things That Can Be Called into Doubt, he argues that people cannot rely on their senses for full truths. Descartes says we must question everything and doubt everything because everything in this world is subjective as opposed to objective. He begins to argue by saying how when he was a child he believed certain things to be true but then later found out the real truth. Within his first meditation he uses an example of dreaming to prove how our senses deceive us. In Meditation Two: Concerning the Nat ure of the Human Mind: That the Mind is More Known Than the Body, Descartes starts off by questioning God and Heaven and provides another example of the ball of wax to support his ideas of how our senses cannot be fully trusted. Descartes does a fantastic job proving that the mind and body are disconnected and therefore we cannot trust our senses. In Meditation One: Concerning Those Things That Can Be Called into Doubt, Descartes reflects on everything he thought to be true as a child. He then goes on toShow MoreRelatedRene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy1234 Words   |  5 Pages In Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes does and experiment with wax to try to prove that things actually exist in this world. This essay is going to prove how we can tell that things actually exist and what can perceive the wax. Rene Descartes starts off with a description of the wax so he can prove to us the changes that will happen throughout his experiment. â€Å"Let us take, for instance, this piece of wax. It has been taken quite recently from theRead MoreMeditations On First Philosophy By Rene Descartes Essay839 Words   |  4 PagesPrà ©ciso of Meditations on First Philosophy Through his series of books, Meditations on First Philosophy, Renà © Descartes enlightens his philosophical ideas about knowledge in which we should discard all belief we aren’t absolute certain about and establishes what we know for sure. In the introduction he clarifying the main ideas of each of the 6 books and using to them build up to his belief. Starting with the First Meditations, he discusses about doubt. He believed that there are no real foundationsRead MoreThe Meditations On First Philosophy By Rene Descartes916 Words   |  4 Pages The Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes is a thorough analysis about doubt. Descartes describes his method of doubt to determine whether he can truly know something. One of his major arguments is the proof of the existence of God. In this paper, I will attempt to unravel the flaws in Descartes proof that God exists. In the meditations, Descartes evaluates whether or not everything we know is a reality or a dream. Descartes claims that we can only be sure that our beliefs are trueRead MoreRene Descartes Meditations On First Philosophy1758 Words   |  8 PagesPerhaps the most startling conclusion reached by Renà © Descartes in Meditations on First Philosophy is his proposed disconnection between the Mind and Body. Striving to separate the spiritual from the corporeal to enable scientific examination of the earthly without interference from the divine, Descartes conceives that the two basic human substances, Mind and Body, are distinct and therefore able to exist separate of one another in his [in]famous claim of substance dualism. His conclusions rest uponRead MoreEssay on Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes1561 Words   |  7 Pages In his work, Meditations on First Philosophy, Renà © Descartes writes to rid pre-conceptions, and disprove all belief in thoughts that are not certain, accepting only what can be known for sure. In his Meditation VI: Of the Existence of Material Things, and the Real Distinction between the Mind and Body of Man, he discusses his belief that the mind and body are two separate substances, claiming that the nonmaterial mind and the material body, while being ontologically distinct substances, causallyRead MoreRene Descartes s Meditation On First Philosophy802 Words   |  4 PagesRenà © Descartes objective in Meditation on First Philosophy is to construct philosophy as a solid methodical study and discipline alike the sciences. To do so he must first suspend belief in all things doubtful and from their go about verifying the true concepts of the world. In meditation II he verifies that he is a thinking thing and finds that the certainty of the cogito â€Å"I think therefore I am† lies in the distinct perception of what he affirms. From this he generates a general rule of evidenceRead More Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy Essay1946 Words   |  8 PagesRene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy Rene Descartes’ third meditation from his book Meditations on First Philosophy, examines Descartes’ arguments for the existence of God. The purpose of this essay will be to explore Descartes’ reasoning and proofs of God’s existence. In the third meditation, Descartes states two arguments attempting to prove God’s existence, the Trademark argument and the traditional Cosmological argument. Although his arguments are strong and relatively truthfulRead MoreEssay on Rene Descartes Meditations on First Philosophy2121 Words   |  9 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Descartes believes that knowledge comes from within the mind. This is a single indisputable fact to build on that can be gained through individual reflection. While seeking true knowledge, Descartes writes his Six Meditations. In these meditations, Descartes tries to develop a strong foundation, which all knowledge can be built upon. In the First Meditation, Descartes begins developing this founda tion through the method of doubt. He casts doubt upon all his previous beliefs, including â€Å"mattersRead MoreAnalysis Of Rene Descartes s Meditations On First Philosophy 1399 Words   |  6 PagesPhilosophy Essay 1 Rene Descartes was born in in La Haye, France, in 1596 and he studied at La Fleche Jesuit College and University of Poitiers. Descartes also lived in Germany, Holland and Sweden. He then worked in the army as a private councillor and then as a court philosopher. Descartes book ‘Meditations on First Philosophy’ was first published in 1641. The edition used to write this essay was edited by John Cottingham and was published by the Cambridge University Press in 1996. Descartes wasRead MoreAnalysis Of Rene Descartes s Meditations On First Philosophy1066 Words   |  5 Pageswhat is reality? Among these writers were Renà ¨ Descartes and George Berkeley, who respectively argued that everything perceived must be real due to God being unable to deceive, and that the physical world only exists in one’s mind. In my view, it is not certain that the physical world is real, but one should act as if it is. Renà ¨ Descartes, in Meditations on First Philosophy, wrote each section after successive â€Å"meditations.† In Descartes’s first meditation, he claims it is unable to be proven whether

China vs. american economy Free Essays

China’s economy will become the biggest in the world sometime very soon. According to the World Bank, the size of China’s economy is $10. 1 trillion, compared with $14. We will write a custom essay sample on China vs. american economy or any similar topic only for you Order Now 6 trillion for the U. S. , based on purchasing power parity (which adjusts exchange rates to account for the different prices people pay for goods and services across countries). But China is narrowing the gap in a hurry. Over the past 10 years, the annual real growth of China’s gross domestic product averaged 10. 5 percent, compared with 1. ercent in the U. S. The Chinese economy increased at an annual rate of 9. 6 percent in the first half of 2011, vs. a rate of less than 1 percent in the U. S. America’s days as top dog of global output are numbered, at best. Should we care? People from Thomas Friedman to Niall Ferguson cite the looming change at the top of the world economic rankings as a bellwether of broader American decline. â€Å"We are the United States of Deferred Maintenance. China is the People’s Republic of Deferred Gratification. They save, invest, and build. We spend, orrow, and patch,† complained Friedman in a recent New York Times column. And yet having the world’s largest economy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be†and you need look no further than the history of China and the U. S. to see that. The swelling size of China’s economy may be a source of pride to the Chinese people, but America is still by far the better place to live†and will remain so for a long time. Although economists are skeptical about China’s ability to sustain its current levels of growth, most agree it is only a matter of a few years before the Middle Kingdom’s How to cite China vs. american economy, Papers

Competitive Strategy

Question: Discuss about the Competitive Strategy. Answer: Introduction Pankaj Ghemawat, from the Harvard Business School, very recently proposed the AAA Framework, a three-dimensional framework that can be used to describe international strategy (2007). It expands on the integration-responsiveness tensionfurther and Ghemawat argues that if it is assumed that the main tension in the case of global strategy lies between economies of scale and local responsiveness pushes organizations in giving a cold shoulder to the other functional response in opposition of cross border integration: arbitrage. Several companies have found big opportunities in the form of value creation in exploitation instead of just bending to or surmounting the variations they come to face at the borders of their different markets. The three dimensions encompassed in the AAA triangle are: Adaptation: It has an intention of increasing sales via optimal exploitation of the local demand. Aggregation: It has an intention of reaching economies of scale via creation of global operations. Arbitrage: It has an intention of exploiting diverse countries via establishment of different value chain parts in different locations. Figure 1. AAA Framework Source: (Ghemawat 2007) Companies with AAA Framework In the Australian airlines industry, both Qantas and Virgin Australia are big names. In the international airspace, Qantas enjoyed substantial presence before the growth of the Middle Eastern and Asian carriers. The new low-cost modern capacities that came up in Europe routes captured Qantas market share and kept on eroding it. Qantas moved towards irrelevance and oblivion and decided they need to take dramatic steps to diminish their cost base and remodel their global strategy (Bartholomeusz 2013). Qantas had been suffering huge losses in their international business while their European services stopover point was Singapore. To adapt to the needs of their business, they struck a deal with Emirates airlines and decided to replace Singapore with Dubai to overhaul their loss making overseas business. The two airlines co-ordinate pricing, sales and flight schedules and even have a profit sharing agreement concerning the flights operating between Australia and UK. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce described the event to be a huge step ahead in an effort to bring back profitability for their international business. In Middle East and Asia Qantas faced huge competition from other carriers, along with the rising fuel prices. Qantas traditional model was put aside to get into a new arrangement, the first of its kind for the organization. Further, they decided to remove existing code sharing agreements in Europe and close down services in Frankfurt (Hume 2012). It can be seen that Ghemawats arbitrage dimension is in play here. Virgin Australia of the Virgin Group, resides as one of Australias top three best airline carrier with Qantas and Air New Zealand. Very recently last year the carrier faced an issue when their chief executive, John Borgetti, came face-to-face with a crisis in the form of a major shareholder who attempted ousting him over his refusal in reining Virgin expensive growth strategy. He retaliated by joining hands with two new Chinese shareholders, HNA Group and Nanshan Group (Smyth 2016). Like Qantas, using the arbitrage strategy, Virgin Australia put a step ahead to maintain its position as a viable competitor to Qantas, and at the same time use the boom in travel and tourism to its advantage. Virgin has been looking for growth and China, being the future for inbound travel, has been a strategic choice to unite with. Reports showed that in 2015 100m Chinese travelled overseas, and there has been significant rise in the investments into overseas lifestyle and services business over the las t few years from the Chinese people (Thomson 2016). The two new shareholders would now equally share the burden of Virgin Australia along with the carriers other shareholders. Borghetti wanted to put to good use the fastest growing source of tourists from China and thus struck a deal with HNA Group, who bought 13% stake of the Australian carrier. According to forecasts, the Chines tourist numbers in Australia is calculated to go up to 4m a year by the year 2030 and the projected growth potential is remarkable (Janda 2016). Coming to a very different industry, retail, an Australian retail company that has incorporated elements of Ghemawats AAA framework is Wesfarmers. Wesfarmers had been faring well in the Australian market, unlike its rival Coles. Even though Coles had a huge market base, they lost out significant number of customers and submerged in debts . Wesfarmers was looking for market expansion and they saw a lucrative opportunity in Coles. Their main motive was, as Richard Goyder, said was to give back Coles its rightful position in the retail business in Australia, and the fact that it would be a substantial and attractive addition in the Wesfarmers business added more viability to it. With Coles was added the vast expanse of the retailers business. The shareholders had an added interest they wanted to end their uncertainty and keep Coles as the Australian-owned business that it was and its staff benefitted from a revitalized retail force. Along with Coles came a significant growth in the ope rational base of Wesfarmers and a large number of new employees (King 2015). After the acquisition in 2007, Coles Group officially suspended their shares from close of trading on the ASX in the same year (Coles acquisition 2017). In this act by Wesfarmers, Ghemawats adaptation strategy can be seen in play, as Wesfarmers attempted to remodel their firm by including Coles in the operations and at the same time they wanted to focus on the local strategies and local conditions and adjust their strategies accordingly for maximum profitability. Harvey Norman is considered Australias finest retail electronics and furniture chain, with a vast history of retailing behind them. They experienced the worst retail turndowns of the decade and decided not to open any more stores in their domestic market (Carruthers and Cleary 2012). The retail market has shifted largely in the last decade, from the internet to overseas competition from online retailers. Their business model of direct property ownership and franchising has worked for long, serving customers, vendors and shareholders properly (Bell 2014). However, they needed a new model and they moved outside Australia into Ireland, Croatia and Malaysia. Malaysia was chosen as the country boasted of an increasingly wealthy population which is growing at 4 per cent annually. They did not close their domestic stores though. Harveys simple solution was to invest outside Australia and increase the number of overseas stores. That is exactly what they did (Korporaal 2016). Halting the stor e openings in Australia the firm focused on overseas expansion to chart new waters and exploit the diverse economics, exactly like the arbitrage strategy of Ghemawats AAA framework. One very important reason the renowned firm concentrated on overseas business instead of the domestic one was the poor articulation of the government regarding where the economy is going for the retail industry. They knew repositioning their business would be tough and that its too late, but they set their eyes on remodeling and that they did (Korporaal 2016). Experienced Outcomes Coming to the success and failure story of the four firms discussed above, AAA framework has played a big role a positive role. Ghemawats strategic dimensions bought in profitability for all the four firms, in different measurements. For Qantas, who followed the arbitrage strategy, the success with the Dubai port was historic. The partnership between Qantas and Emirates brought in a tectonic shift in the global aviation industry and it reformed the entire landscape for Australian travelers. Dubai became the Flying Kangaroos center spot for international network, reducing time and expense for the travelers. It brought scores of European destinations within the one-stop away purview from the Emirates Dubai hub. Together the carriers are taking more travelers to more different places, sharing customers and destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, the joining of the two opened up the Emirates flights for the Qantas loyalists out of Australia, who received t he benefit of booking flights under their QF numbers only and earn the Qantas frequent flyers points full serve along with status credits. The frequent flyer card can also allow access into almost all Emirates lounges, making its special and different for loyal customers of Qantas (Flynn 2015). Using arbitrage strategy of Ghemawat, even Virgin Australia gained success. Their partnership with Chines giant HNA opened huge doors for them. It put virgin in the second position after Qantas, even after repeated financial losses for a couple of years. Putting Virgin in the competition again, the adoption of the strategy turned it into a viable competitor to Qantas, even though Qantas has hold of 63% of the domestic airline market. The Chinese airlines had for long held international ambitions for their carriers and were seeking partners for exploiting the rising tourism boom in the country. With the venture, a significant growth opportunity for both the countrys airline business came in with the opening of international routes. The tourist numbers are expected to rise exponentially in the near future (Palmer 2016). The strategy has reformed Virgin into a full service airline, making it leave behind its budget carrier tag and compete directly with the Flying Kangaroo. The Australia n customers have benefitted significantly, who have reaped benefits of lower domestic airfares in the duopoly market. The implementation of the strategy was a success in the financial aspect also, with Chines shareholders contributing huge support to the cash-strapped Virgin. The cooperation has extended to sharing of codes, frequent flyer programs and mutual lounge access. It has also made interesting dynamics within the management team, even after being challenging for both the parties (Hatch, Freed and Smith 2016). The objective Wesfarmers had in acquiring Coles for themselves was fulfilled after the full remodeling of the Coles side of operations. The iconic brand of Coles underperformed for full ten years. With a bloated head office and a poorly managed business, all the aspects of the firm was in a downfall. The adoption of the adaptation strategy was a bold move from Wesfarmers side a risky acquisition. But the business today is unrecognizable. Under the leadership of Ian McLeod the profits doubled and the business went on to outperform its direct competitor Woolworths for consecutively four years. More than $2 billion of free income has been come back to Wesfarmers and for the shareholders huge value has been created. Costs have been decreased for Australian purchasers and the nature of fresh food expanded with enormous changes in the benchmarks of produce-developing and animal farming. It is most likely the best performing global top 30 food retailer in the course of recent years (Norman 2013). A similar success story can be seen in the case of Harvey Norman. The company expanded into new countries and explored new economies, which has brought a long awaited success and revenue spike. The 13 Irish stores recently experienced growth by more than 10% and the online sales by 38%, backed up by the recent acceleration of the Irish retail economy. They also reaped benefits of their investment program in its Irish estate at the time of recession. The success has boosted their confidence, encouraging them to open more stores in the region. The adaptation they have adopted and the expansion they have done has brought in the much needed success for the well-known retail firm. They got the experience of the benefits of model change and how adaptation to modern procedures can actually improve their competitive advantage in the market (Paul 2016). Conclusion In conclusion, it can be said the Ghemawats AAA framework has proven to be extremely profitable and successful for the four organizations discussed Qantas, Virgin Australia, Wesfarmers and Harvey Norman. The organizations might not have incorporated all the dimensions of the framework, but seven the adoption of single dimensions has proven be largely beneficial for them. Organizations can invoke inspiration from such cases and implement these strategic dimensions in their operations, singularly or all three, to reap benefits and gain competitive advantage in the global market. References Bartholomeusz, S., 2013. Qantas's international strategy. [online] Theaustralian.com.au. Available at: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/business-spectator/qantas-flying-high-with-international-strategy/news-story/a57f45e8fdbe85f35f906871150b2034 [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Bell, N., 2014. Why Harvey Norman has run out of steam. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/why-harvey-norman-has-run-out-of-steam-20140124-31db5.html [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Carruthers, F. and Cleary, A., 2012. Go Harvey, go overseas, says Gerry. [online] Financial Review. Available at: https://www.afr.com/business/retail/go-harvey-go-overseas-says-gerry-20120108-j3mme [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Coles acquisition, 2017. Wesfarmers - Investor Centre - Coles acquisition. [online] Ir.wesfarmers.com.au. Available at: https://ir.wesfarmers.com.au/phoenix.zhtml?c=144042p=irol-coles [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Flynn, D., 2015. The Qantas-Emirates alliance: two years on.... [online] Australian Business Traveller. Available at: https://www.ausbt.com.au/the-qantas-emirates-alliance-two-years-on [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Ghemawat, P., 2007. Managing Differences:The Central Challenge of Global Strategy. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2007/03/managing-differences-the-central-challenge-of-global-strategy [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Hatch, P., Freed, J. and Smith, M., 2016. Virgin Australia sells stake to China's HNA Aviation Group. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/virgin-australia-enters-agreement-with-chinas-hna-aviation-group-20160530-gp7peo.html [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Hume, N., 2012. Qantas agrees alliance with Emirates. [online] Ft.com. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/7ba99556-f7c3-11e1-ba54-00144feabdc0 [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Janda, M., 2016. Virgin Australia strikes partnership with China's HNA. [online] ABC News. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-31/virgin-australia-strikes-airline-deal-with-hna-aviation/7461902 [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. King, M., 2015. Wesfarmers Ltd: A retailing giant. [online] Motley Fool Australia. Available at: https://www.fool.com.au/2015/06/11/wesfarmers-ltd-a-retailing-giant/ [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Korporaal, G., 2016. Harvey Norman turns a page. [online] Theaustralian.com.au. Available at: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/harvey-norman-turns-a-page-in-singapore/news-story/2fcfd61d4d071720ca50cb699fc14ff2 [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Norman, A., 2013. Against the odds Wesfarmers has taken Coles to the top of the supermarket tree. [online] The Sydney Morning Herald. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/business/against-the-odds-wesfarmers-has-taken-coles-to-the-top-of-the-supermarket-tree-20130128-2dgvb.html [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Palmer, D., 2016. Chinas HNA grabs Virgin stake. [online] Theaustralian.com.au. Available at: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/chinas-hna-to-nab-13pc-stake-in-virgin-australia/news-story/23243736ff2970cef930128b60912944 [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Paul, M., 2016. Harvey Norman seeks expansion as sales rise 10% to 170m. [online] The Irish Times. Available at: https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/harvey-norman-seeks-expansion-as-sales-rise-10-to-170m-1.2774756 [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Smyth, J., 2016. Virgin Australia makes its China move. [online] Ft.com. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/b5d3b812-3453-11e6-bda0-04585c31b153 [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Thomson, A., 2016. Chinas HNA group snaps up stake in Virgin Australia. [online] Ft.com. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/27810a4e-2687-11e6-8b18-91555f2f4fde [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Bibliography Harveynorman.com.au. 2017. Harvey Norman | Shop Online for Computers, Electrical, Furniture, Bedding, Bathrooms Flooring | Harvey Norman Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.harveynorman.com.au/ [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Qantas.com. 2017. Fly with Australias most popular airline | Qantas AU. [online] Available at: https://www.qantas.com/au/en.html [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Virgin Australia. 2017. Virgin Australia | Book flights holidays with Virgin Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/ [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017]. Wesfarmers.com.au. 2017. Wesfarmers. [online] Available at: https://www.wesfarmers.com.au/ [Accessed 2 Feb. 2017].

War And Society Essays - Culture, Structure, Cultural Studies

War And Society Keeleys is attempting to prove that primitive warfare throughout history has been effective and occasionally more successful than civilized methods. Throughout Chapter five of War Before Civilization, evidence is displayed showing the different success rates of primitive warfare compared to its civilized counterpart. Two examples that offer proof to Keeleys theory are: 1. Julius Caesars Roman legion was incapable of conquering England, which was defended by the undisciplined, barbarian hosts of Celts and Germans. Raids and ambush tactics demonstrated by the barbarians deferred a Roman triumph for a century. (A.D.9.) (Pg.72) 2. During the Battle of Little Big Horn, two hundred U.S. soldiers led by Colonel Custer were ambushed and defeated by one thousand and eight hundred Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. (1866) (Pg.73) Certainly, aspects of primitive warfare have had high success rates throughout war and history, yet the majority of Keelys examples are only of individual battles. The majority of Primitive societies lack the required population, food, and artillery to win the war. Attempting to differentiate the success rate of primitive and civilized warfare is an unattainable task. While particular historical battles have proved the effectiveness of uncivilized warfare, economic and social resources should be considered in every individual case. Keelys illustrations and examples of past war patterns disprove the myth that primitive societies will always be defeated by civilized armies in time of war. Proving primitive effectiveness is clearly Keelys aspiration in Chapter Five. (Pg.71) Keelys various examples from different centuries demonstrate that primitive warfare has occasionally been victorious in opposition to civilized societies. History Essays

Shapes and Texture Essay Example

Shapes and Texture Essay Example Shapes and Texture Essay Shapes and Texture Essay Roman copy after an original Greek fresco of c. 300 b. c. Mosaic, 106. ? 201. in. (271 ? 512 cm). Also known as the â€Å"Alexander Mosaic†. In 2D, actual textures are found in collages which may glue on a surface real objects such as newspaper clippings, tickets, cloth, coins as elements of the composition. Girl with a Mandolin Pablo PicassoTexture from the artist’s handling of paint and brush Impressionist and Expressionist paintings possess an immediate physical presence that invites TOUCH. Alfred Sisley, Bridge at Villeneuve-la-Garenne Vincent Van Gogh, The Red Vineyard TEXTURE IN 3D Actual texture can be found in the natural quality of the medium. The sculptor may also choose to enhance or to modify the original qualities of the material. Praxiteles enhanced the marble medium which he polished to a high sheen, giving the marble a sensuous glow to simulate the texture of the skin. Hermes bearing the infant Dionysus French sculptor Auguste Rodin turned away fro m the classical â€Å"finish† and cultivated a rough and lively surface to the effect the interplay of light on the sculptural form. He often leaves a part of the work unfinished for the viewer to complete in his or her imagination. The Walking Man T’ang potters (618906) usually leave the lower section of their jars unglazed to bring out the contrast between the glazed area and the even neutral biscuit of the body. Two traditions can be distinguished in the study of textures in art. – Ideal of the finished surface.Long dominant tradition of placing value on smooth, lustrous textures that are associated with costly materials accessible to the elite, such as different kinds of marble, gold, precious silks. – Zen aesthetics of Asian art. The zen concept of sabi (the values of rustic unpretentiousness of archaic imperfection, apparent simplicity of effortlessness in execution) The ideal of the â€Å"finished† surface The European beaux arts academi es strengthened the old tradition by formulating a hierarchy of materials in art. Marble was the most favored material in sculpture. Oil on canvas for painting. Donatello, â€Å"David† Only works in these media could be considered for salon competitions, and those in other materials were not deemed to merit serious consideration. Raphael’s Marriage of the Virgin The ideal of imperfection Sabi literally means â€Å"loneliness† or â€Å"solitude† In Zen aesthetics, irregularities of form, imperfections of glaze, slight damages and scars, and a certain air of incompleteness show that â€Å"beauty is not captive to perfection† CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO TEXTURE Modernist artists (Impressionists, Cubists and Futurists) reacted to the structures of the academy. They released art from the obligatory conventions of medium and opened endless artistic possibilities in terms of new materials and textures, as well as techniques producing textures. Fuma ge in which the paper is darkened or smoked with soot from a flame. Wolfgang Paalen’s fumage One can create art from all kinds of materials and textures, that the artist does well to respect and appreciate the natural beauty of materials derived from the living environment. It is best to work with locally available materials to convey the character of the natural and social setting.SHAPES Shapes are twodimensional or threedimensional. Two-dimensional shapes exist as planes having length and width. Three-dimensional shapes possess length, width, and volume. Classification of Shapes Geometric (rectilinear or curvilinear) Biomorphic Free inventions – As signifiers, their meanings are often derived from cultural codes and symbolic systems. GEOMETRIC SHAPES Rectilinear Angular geometric shapes Made up of straight lines and angles Generally hard, firm and more cerebral, unemotional, impersonal than curvilinear shapes. Definite, measurable, predictable, masculine in character. Basis of stability of the universe. In symbolism, the cube stands for the earth or the material world of the four elements. It also symbolizes unyielding structures, whether reason or law. The broader its base the more stable. Small base = sense of precariousness and danger, since it becomes mentally associated with sharp points, spikes and slivers of glass. Signifies stability when it rests on its base with the apex pointed upwards. Symbolizes fire and the aspiration of all things toward a higher unity.Curvilinear Circle as a selfcontained form without angles or corners signifies perfection, eternity, a closed universe or the state of oneness. No beginning nor end Represents circular movement. Other curvilinear shape are oval, cylinder and cone. GEOMETRIC SHAPES IN DIFFERENT CULTURES Mandala – geometric shape used as an aid to mental concentration and meditation. Three basic principles: – Center – Symmetry – Cardinal points The c ircle or disc as emblem of the sun, the primal source of light and energy. Yin-Yang signifies the interactive dualism or dialectics.Idea of opposites. Islamic Art Molded tile panel, 13th–14th century lkhanid period; Iran, Nishapur Ceramic with turquoise and cobalt glaze A perfect expression of radiation from a central point, the star is the most popular design element in Islamic art. The six-pointed stars in this pattern are molded with a lotus design from China, an important influence on Islamic art. GEOMETRIC SHAPES IN CONTEMPORARY ART Paul Cezanne advanced the theory that the entire universe can be reduced to three shapes: – sphere, cone, cylinder Mont Sainte-Victoire, 1904-6, Oil on CanvasBridget Riley, â€Å"Pause† 1964 Victor Vasarely, â€Å"Gestalt 4† 1970 BIOMORPHIC SHAPES Biomorphic shapes are derived from living organisms. Some are microscopic and unicellular – amoeba Egg, internal organs, are also biomorphic shapes Leaves, flowers, and fruits are biomorphic shapes of an infinite variety. Shape implies a defining outline, â€Å"form† implies structure as well. Nature in Art Rococo decorative design characterized by floral and plant motifs forming garlands and wreaths. Egyptian column with papyrus leaves for motif.FREE SHAPES Found in painting and sculpture or the visual arts in general as inventions of the artist. They are neither geometric following mathematical definition nor biomorphic following patterns of organic growth and the shapes of living things. Often found in abstract art where they may suggest fantasy and whim. Also related to doodling and automatic writing of Surrealist art which draws images from subconscious level of mind. Joan Miro, â€Å"The Garden† Wassily Kandinsky, â€Å"Composition no. 7† Alexander Calder Cow, 1926 Elephant, 1928

Boiled Frog Phenomenon in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Boiled Frog Phenomenon in Business - Essay Example The veracity of this phenomenon is however, a suspect. Scripture (1897) informs that " a live frog can actually be boiled without a movement if the water is heated slowly enough; in one experiment the temperature was raised at a rate of 0.002C. per second, and the frog was found dead at the end of 2 hours without having moved." Many other scientists though debunk this concept (Gibbons, 2002). The "Boiled Frog" syndrome is often used in business, politics, environment, and other day-to-day activities. In strategic management, this refers to the inability of the companies to detect slow and gradual changes, which could be detrimental to its businesses. While most companies are adept at identifying sudden changes, gradual changes are difficult to detect. Polynice (2009) infers that "the frog metaphor for organizations is that we as a whole should try and identify the threats of our survival at an early stage when we still have time to plan rather than react to that particular threat; which will be too late. Furthermore, we must also learn how to reduce our threshold of change in order to be able to identify smaller changes that are occurring in our environment." This phenomenon can occur in all fields of business, viz., operations, external environment, business acquisition, logistics, etc.. InInstances analogous to "Boiled Frog" often occur in the business environment. In fact, the term was first used by Roger Ford (2002), columnist for Modern Railways magazine while describing privatization of British Rail. A business example of such a situation is the British Railways after privatization. The company Railtrack plc (Railtrack, 2009) took over the railway infrastructure from the government after privatization in April 1994. This new company owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and almost all the stations of in UK. It is believed that the company abused its near monopolistic position, and did not commit itself to necessary improvements in infrastructure and safety. Regulators were appointed, but Railtrack resisted regulatory pressures to improve its performance. The performance of the company deteriorated gradually, but there was no recognition of it within the company. Finally, a few crashes, particularly the Hatfield (Hatfield rail crash, 200 9) crash on October 17, 2000 exposed the deep-seated safety and maintenance problems of Railtrack. Though only four fatalities occurred in the crash, it exposed the lack of proper management practices and set into motion a chain of events, which finally led to the sell-off of Railtrack to government owned Network Rail in October 2002. While the root-cause-analysis revealed the root cause of the Hatfield accident to be "Rolling Contact Fatigue", there were several other contributory factors. This included divesting of much of the engineering knowledge of erstwhile British Rail into maintenance contractors. The record keeping of Railtrack was also not adequate. On investigation, several similar potential track problems were discovered. At the

Reasons for the Nazca Lines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reasons for the Nazca Lines - Essay Example According to them one of the reason for Nazca lines is that they want to point the place where the sun and other celestial bodies rose or set. However upon further analysis on the hypothesis, archeoastronomist Gerald Hawkins and Anthony Aveni conclude that there was insufficient evidence to support an astronomical explanation. In 1985 archeologist Johan Reinhard states that the Nazca people believed that mountain gods protected humans and controlled the weather. These gods also affected water sources and land fertility since they are associated with lakes, rivers and the sea. He presented the theory that the lines and figures can be explained as part of religious practices involving the worship of deities associated with the availability of water and thus the fertility of crops. The lines were interpreted as being primarily used as sacred paths leading to places where these deities could be worshiped and the figures as symbolically representing animals and objects meant to invoke their aid. However, the precise meanings of many of the individual geoglyphs remain unsolved. Another study and the possible reason for the Nazca lines, is that it serve as a landmark for possible source of underground waterways. These lines according to David Johnson shows that the highly geoglyphs part are the part wherein water is abundant. Based on his study the Nazca lines shows where the path of the water goes. By creating a giant, full-scale map they would know exactly where to find their water no matter what area of the desert they were in. The geoglyphs would then be religious figures for the gods or names given for each water source. Eclipsologist Robin Edgar has theorized that the Nazca Lines, particularly the biomorph geoglyphs that depict animals, human figures, birds and "flowers" are almost certainly an ancient response to the so-called "Eye of God" that is manifested in the sky during a total solar eclipse. According to Robin it is the response of the Nazca Indian to God during the total solar eclipse. An unusual series of total solar eclipses over southern Peru coincided with the time period during which the Nazca Lines and geoglyphs were created. The totally eclipsed sun distinctly resembles the pupil and iris of a gigantic eye looking down from the sky thus providing an explanation as to why the Nazca Indians created gigantic geoglyph artworks that are best viewed by an "Eye in the Sky". Another theory that maybe the reason for the creation of the Nazca lines is that a large number of worshipers walked along a preset pattern dedicated to particular holy entity. Based on researches residents of local villages say the Indians conducted rituals on these giant drawings to thank the gods and to ensure that water would continue to flow from the Andes. According to Michael Vaillant, conductors under the form of very slim gold or copper leafs would have been stretched on the ground. These conductors would have been used as antennas to collect the very low frequencies magnetotelluric waves produced in certain seismographic areas, and that occurred a few hours (or days) before the seisms. This hypothesis relies on a controversial theory named as "SES" (Seismic Electric Signals). The Nazca lines would be the traces of the place where these conductors would have been set down, but also of the numerous tests that would have been done and to find "suitable positions" to collect EM field and

Comparing Marcuse, Freire and Gramsci Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Comparing Marcuse, Freire and Gramsci - Essay Example According to his theory of politics, the downfall of the emancipator politics is caused by little understanding of the basis of power of the institution. The lack of adequate knowledge is majorly brought about by the relationship that existed between politics and the popular culture. According to the theory, the political education of a marginalized area determines the occurrence of changes in the political and social life of the region. In order to eliminate the domination relations, a new culture has to be created. The masses should also be transformed into being conscious of the political on-goings in the state. According to Gramsci’s theory of politics, in the modern state, the relations of domination are maintained and protected by the coercion and force (Borg, Buttigieg & Mayo 27). The relations are also maintained through the practices of consent and persuasion.

Innovation in E-commerce: Operation and Logistics

Innovation in E-commerce: Operation and Logistics Innovation in E-commerce with New Trial Service Rohit Meena Introduction An e-commerce is the facility or service, which provide customers the service to buy products online on the Internet. Today In India and other countries e-commerce is being used for getting products online easier and faster. In the 21th century e-commerce comes with the new revolutionary concept-people can get their products online from many brands. Purchasing and selling of products has become very easier due to e-commerce. Communication from one seller to other seller provides different product and varieties in the market. One of the biggest challenges faced by the e-commerce industry is that most of the people are often unsure of their sizes and how their online purchase clothes will fit in real life. I’m trying to solve this problem by providing actual physical trial service for people trying to buy apparel online. This service helps customers to make purchasing decisions. Many people can get confused about their sizes or color choice and they prefer to buy products in the store. Trial Concept is a strategy of marketing which increases consumer satisfaction for online shopping. When consumer orders their product from the online site and gets size problem or other product visualization problem, this type of problem decreases the online sales because people do not want to buy again those stuff which comes with size problems. Trial Concept will make high demand in the market because it comes with the market demand calculation according to the trial demand. Basically, it will also help to consumer for getting their product to be available in the store. High demand of products in the market creates unavailability of products. Product quality and sizing problems will be solved by the trial option. In the future this feature will increase retail sales. The trial system will encourage people who have never shopped online before to try out online shopping by removing the restriction of size and fit confusion. Secondary Literature In the 21th Century People more and more are shopping online. Studies have shown that e-commerce sales grew 15 percent in 2012, which is several times more than average retail industrys spending growth. 80 percent of the sales in this industry are still taking place within the four walls. Even though a majority of apparel shoppers visit the retailers website, research the product online, or read reviews before making purchase, only a few actually buy the product online. Most people who do buy clothes online are likely to buy an item only after they have already tried it on in a store or seen someone else wear it before. This is especially true among women. Not knowing the quality of the product and having to wait for the product to arrive may affect the shoppers decision to buy clothes online, but the biggest problem I see preventing a shopper from buying clothes online is not being able to visualize how the product will look on her/him body. If the retailers can address this issue, the concerns like the quality of the product and the shipping time can easily be fixed. I agree that people want to feel, see, and try the product before they buy; and e-commerce sites can not provide that real experience of touching the product, but with improved technology and larger, better quality pictures, shoppers can get a pretty good idea of the quality. Plus the free shipping and free returns already being offered by many e-commerce retailers will give shoppers the option to experience the products without leaving their house. Retailers could not be able to solve fit issues on the Internet. Fit issues are the main reasons of customers that create d o not feel excited about buying clothes online. E-commerce retailers can attract people if they can address their practical issues that are keeping many probable customers from shopping for clothes. Advanced digital technologies like the virtual fitting room software that provide the shopper better fit experience than the two dimensional pictures. But not every retailer can afford those expensive technology and not every shopper is willing to spend the time it takes for them to upload the picture (or whatever else is required to let the software know their bodys dimensions or size) and drag/select each product they want to try on and wait for the results. It is easier and time saving for the shopper to just clicks the size she/he wants to see on picture and get done. It may not give her/him the enhanced experience of three-dimensional virtual fitting, but it will give her/him a pretty good idea of how she/he can expect to look on those products. But a virtual fitting room is the lack of uniformity in apparel sizing. It is the biggest problem of the apparel industry right now. Each manufacturer has its own sizing standard. And, within each manufacturer, there are size variation d epending on the fabric, style, and so many other factors. It is simply impossible for those software to accommodate all manufacturers sizing standards, which means majority of new and smaller brands can not be represented. To conclude, with help of general sizing guides posted by the retailers on their e-commerce site, the shopper may know what size of any particular item she/he should buy; but she/he can not visualize the product on her/him body if the model is not representative of her/him size. Fabrics behave differently depending on how they are woven, knitted, treated and finished. That means the products stretch ability; molding and yielding property varies depending on many factors. The same shirt can look totally different on women or men of different sizes. Women or men want to see if the product is going to fir or not. Therefore, many people prefer to try the item on their body before they buy it. Working of the concept The process of trial service includes all shops of specific brand. This trial feature distributes the goods from one place to other place according to the consumer demand or request when a consumer browses his/her product online. It will work faster compare to taking trial or finding shops of product. Trial service modifies the design of transportation for better service. When consumer rejects their product on the store, the retailer will sell the product; but in many situations consumers demand are different so trial service has to connect with all stores or warehouses. Cost factor for the transfer of goods matter a lot for the product cost. I am not sure that this idea will be accepted by every industry because many times it will not be possible to deliver every goods on the location, but my concept connects store to store. If consumer bought some product and he won’t be able to get this product within the deliver time, my service will deliver goods to the nearest the store. Consumers time will be saved by this feature: the consumer will get his/her product from the nearest store. Explanation of the concept Trial Concept clears many issues for the online shopping. Some times retailers complain that customers come in their shop for only trying clothes and retailers cannot charge for trying clothes in their shops so the idea of trial shopping solved the retailer’s problem. My concept for the online shopping related to customer satisfaction secures more online shopping. This idea will work with the official site of brands and chains. Users can easily go online and shop for items. If people want to see or check that product will fit or not, trial option works as a feature. This option takes four sizes and color of the product or consumer can order multiple choices at the one time but the multiple choice products will be limited. A consumer will be able to give five products for the trial at the one time. Some time retailers may not have stock all collection in the store so consumer faces problem for their choice product so the trial option will only provide the product available in t he store. If consumer wants that product to get home delivered because at the trial time consumer wasn’t able to purchase that product, he can do so. Consumer will get only one-day time period for the trial and trial-purchase. Trial date and time will be sent by the customer care department to customers cell or email. Basically this idea gives opportunity to customer if he/she is not getting product on store in some areas. Communication of the one store to other store from the storage warehouse makes transfer of goods easier but the trial facility create some changes in the transfer of goods because suppose in one area there are two-three shops which do not have stock of high demand goods. Trial system will calculate the product demand from the consumers according to the same product’s trial demand. So the trial system will help to the company for the area’s product demand. Example: in Lucknow, winter season is going on so people definitely buy cold clothes in t he winter weather. If there are five shops of Tommy Hilfiger in the city and they have limited stock of sweaters. But the city people demand of Tommy products is high so the trial system will calculate the demand and provide stocks to these city shops. Trial system maintains the transportation cost because every week stores get their products from the warehouse anyway, so the trial will send by the warehouse. Conclusion E-commerce platform has increased every year with new techniques of customer service. It’s necessary to catch consumer attraction for online shopping. In this competitive market every company should provide the latest techniques for high sales growth. The supply chain system should cover high demand or supply facility in minimum time. Customer survey for e-commerce can show that how online shopping can recover the unsatisfied customer with the newer services. Online issues related to payment, product specification, unavailability of the product, etc. create many unsatisfied customers. Trial service will be able to get more satisfaction and give advantage to online shoppers with regard to ordering high price products with the secure belief.

Beowulf :: Epic of Beowulf Essays

The epic poem, Beowulf, depicts the most heroic man of the Anglo-Saxon times. The hero, Beowulf, was an outstanding warrior with all the extraordinary values required by a hero. He was able to use his super-human physical strength and courage to put his people before himself. He encountered terrifying monsters and the most ferocious of beasts, but he never feared the threat of death. His leadership skills were excellent and he was able to boast about all his achievements. Beowulf was the ultimate epic hero who risked his life countless times for immortal glory and for the good of others. Common traits of an Anglo-Saxon warrior were physical strength, leadership skills and heroic stoicism, which Beowulf demonstrated throughout this poem. Beowulf was a hero in the eyes of his fellow men through his amazing physical strength. He fought in numerous battles and returned victorious from all but his last. One of those victorious battles, was the battle against Grendel, in which Beowulf fought against a monster that had killed many men. â€Å"He twisted in pain, and the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder snapped, muscle and bone split and broke† (31.389). Beowulf showed his great strength by ripping Grendel’s arm with his bare hands, which would be impossible for a regular human to do. When Beowulf fought Grendel's mother, who sought revenge for her son's death, he was able to defeat her as well. â€Å"From its scabbard, broke the chain on its hilt, and then savage, now, angry and desperate, lifted it high over his head and struck with all the strength he had left" (38.535). He was able to slay Grendel’s mother by slashing the monster's neck with a giant's sword that could only be lifted by a person as strong as Beowulf. After defeating Grendel’s mother, Beowulf decided to finish off Grendel by slashing the monster's neck with the giant sword. â€Å"Then struck off his head with a single swift blow. The body jerked for the last time, then lay still† (38.560). After Beowulf chopped off his head, he carried it from the ocean to Herot mead-hall with ease. The head was so enormously heavy that it would take four men to lift and carry it. Another trait of Beowulf was his ability to put his people’s welfare before his own. â€Å"Heard how Grendel filled night with horror and quickly commanded a boat fitted out, proclaiming that he’d go to that famous king, would sail across the sea to Hrothgar, now when he was needed† (23.

Internal Control Essay

1. Inform the president of any new internal control requirements if the company decides to go public Each of the five components of an internal control system is important. Let us focus on the control activities. These activities are the backbone of the company’s efforts to address the risks it faces, such as fraud. The specific control activities used by a company will vary depending on management’s assessments of the risks faced. The six principles of control activities are as follows: a. Establishment of responsibility b. Segregation of duties c. Documentation procedures d. Physical controls e. Independent internal verification f. Human resource controls All these apply to most companies and are relevant to both manual and computerized accounting systems. Establishment of responsibility: An essential principle of internal control is to assign responsibility to specific employees. Control is most effective when only one person is responsible for given task. Establishing responsibility often requires limiting access only to authorized personnel and then identifying those personal. Segregation of duties: Segregation of duties is indispensable in an internal control system. There are two common applications of this principle: a. Different individuals should be responsible for related activities. b. The responsibility for record-keeping for an asset should be separate from the physical custody of that asset. The rationale for segregation of duties is, the work of one employee should, without a duplication of effort, provide a reliable basis for evaluating the work of another employee. Segregation of related activities – Making one individual responsible for related activities increases the potential for errors and irregularities. Segregation of record-keeping from physical custody – The custodian of the asset is not likely to convert the asset to personal use when one employee maintains the record of the asset, and a different employee has physical custody of the asset. Documentation procedures: Documents provide evidence that transactions and events have occurred. By requiring signatures on the documents, the company can identify the individual responsible for the transaction or event. Companies should document transactions when the transaction occurs. Companies should establish procedures for documents. First, whenever possible, companies should use pre numbered documents, and all documents should be accounted for. Pre numbering helps to prevent a transaction from being recorded more than once or conversely from not being recorded at all. Second, the control system should require that employees promptly forward source documents for accounting entries to the accounting department. This control measure helps to ensure timely recording of the transaction and contributes directly to the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. Physical controls: Use of physical controls is essential. Physical controls relate to the safeguarding of assets and enhance the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. Independent internal verification: Most internal control systems provide for independent internal verification. This principle involves the review of data prepared by employees. To obtain maximum benefit from independent internal verification: a. Companies should verify records periodically or on a surprise basis b. An employee who is independent of the personnel responsible for the information should make the verification c. Discrepancies and exceptions should be reported to a management level that can take appropriate corrective action. Independent internal verification is especially useful in comparing recorded transactions with existing assets. Large companies often assign independent internal verification to internal auditors. Internal auditors are company employees who continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the company’s internal control systems. They review the activities of departments and individuals to determine whether prescribed internal controls are being followed. They also recommend improvements when needed. Human resource controls: Human resource control activities include the following: a. Bond employees who handle cash – Bonding involves obtaining insurance protection against theft by employees. It contributes to the safeguarding of cash in two ways: First, the insurance company carefully screens all individuals before adding them to the policy and may reject risky applicants. Second, bonded employees know that the insurance company will vigorously prosecute all offenders. b. Rotate employees’ duties and require employees to take vacations – these measures deter employees from attempting thefts since they will not be able to permanently conceal their improper actions. c. Conduct through background checks – Many believe that the most important and inexpensive measure any business can take to reduce employee theft and fraud is for the human resources department to conduct through background checks. 2. Advice the president of what the company is doing right (they are doing some things well) and also recommends to the President whether or not they should buy the indelible ink machine. When you advise the President, please be sure to reference the applicable internal control principle that applies. Some of the things that the company is doing right are: a. Documentation procedures – The organization uses pre numbered invoices. Documents provide evidence that transactions and events have occurred. This internal control activity says that whenever possible the companies should use pre numbered documents and all documents should be accounted for. Pre numbering helps to prevent a transaction from being recorded more than once or conversely from not being recorded at all. This control measure helps to ensure timely recording of the transaction and contributes directly to the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. b. Establishment of responsibility – The organization uses petty cash. Employees are asked to place a note if they use any of the cash. This is according to the internal control activity ‘Establishment of responsibility’. This is an essential principle of internal control is to assign responsibility to specific employees. Control is most effective when only one person is responsible for a given task. This limits access only to authorized personnel. c. While interviewing, the president and the accountant do it together. It is good to have more than one people in an interview. d. The fact that he realizes the issues of any problems The president should not buy the indelible ink machine, because anyone in the company will have the access to print. The president has to voluntaries himself and decides about the indelible ink machine. He need not wait for authorization from anybody on installing this indelible ink machine. 3. Advice the president of what the company is doing wrong (they are definitely doing some things poorly). Please be sure to include the internal control principle that is being violated along with a recommendation for improvement. Some of the things that the company is doing wrong are: a. Meeting in a public place to discuss. This should happen in a private room. b. Physical control – The Company does not follow the physical control activity. The company does not have individual passwords to restrict access. The use of physical controls is essential. Physical controls relate to the safeguarding of assets and enhance the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. The organization should have individual passwords for all employees. c. Establishment of responsibility – The Company does not follow the internal control activity of establishing responsibility. The indelible ink machine is a wrong option because anyone can use the machine to print. An essential principle of internal control is to assign responsibility to specific employees. Control is most effective when only one person is responsible for a given task. d. Human resource controls – The organization does not follow the human resource controls internal activity. Among the human resource controls internal activity, they do not follow the conduct thorough background checks. The company did not do background check. The employee did pornography and was a convicted felon who served time for molesting children. Conducting thorough background checks is the most important and inexpensive measure any business can take to reduce employee theft and fraud for the human resources department. The two tips are: 1. Check to see whether job applicants actually graduated from the schools they list. 2. Never use the telephone numbers for previous employees given on the reference sheet; always look them up yourself. The company must conduct background checks when recruiting. e. They have faith in their long term employees. The long term employees know well about the organization f. Establishment of responsibility – The organization does not have a responsible person for issuing the pay checks. This is an essential principle of internal control to assign responsibility to specific employees. Control is most effective when only one person is responsible for a given task. The company leaves the payday checks in the office for pick up. The paychecks should be mailed separately or it should be deposited directly into the employees’ account. Else one person should have the responsibility to handle the paycheck on pay day. g. Segregation of duties – It is an indispensable internal control system that the organization is not following. The two common applications of this principle are: Different individuals should be responsible for related activities and the responsibility for record keeping for an asset should be separate from the physical custody of that asset. Making one individual responsible for related activities increases the potential for errors and irregularities. The custodian of the asset is not likely to convert the asset to personal use when one employee maintains the record of the asset and a different employee has physical custody of the asset. In a company, same person cannot be both the treasurer and controller. The duties of the employees must be segregated clearly. h. Physical control – Use of physical controls is essential. Physical controls relate to the safeguarding of assets and enhance the accuracy and reliability of the accounting records. There is no internet sec urity in the company. They should have proper internet security.

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Review

'Mrs. Dalloway' by Virginia Woolf Review Mrs. Dalloway is a complex and compelling modernist novel by  Virginia Woolf. It is a wonderful study of its principal characters. The novel enters into the consciousness of the people it takes as it subjects, creating a powerful, psychologically authentic effect. Although quite rightly numbered amongst the most famed modernist writers - such as Proust,  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Joyce, and  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Lawrence - Woolf is often considered to be a much gentler artist, lacking the darkness of the male contingent of the movement. With Mrs. Dalloway, though, Woolf created a visceral and unyielding vision of madness and a haunting descent into its depths. Overview Mrs. Dalloway follows a set of characters as they go about their lives on a normal day. The eponymous character, Clarissa Dalloway, does simple things: she buys some flowers, walks in a park, is visited by an old friend and throws a party. She speaks to a man who was once in love with her, and who still believes that she settled by marrying her politician husband. She talks to a female friend with whom she was once in love. Then, in the final pages of the book, she hears about a poor lost soul who threw himself from a doctors window onto a line of railings. Septimus This man is the second character central in Mrs. Dalloway. His name is Septimus Smith. Shell-shocked after his experiences in  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹World War I, he is a so-called madman who hears voices. He was once in love with a fellow soldier named Evansa ghost who haunts him throughout the novel. His infirmity is rooted in his fear and his repression of this forbidden love. Finally, tired of a world that he believes is false and unreal, he commits suicide. The two characters whose experiences form the core of the novel - Clarissa and Septimus - share a number of similarities. In fact, Woolf saw Clarissa and Septimus as more like two different aspects of the same person, and the linkage between the two is emphasized by a series of stylistic repetitions and mirrorings. Unbeknownst to Clarissa and Septimus, their paths cross a number of times throughout the day - just as some of the situations in their lives followed similar paths.Clarissa and Septimus were in love with a person of their own sex, and both repressed their loves because of their social situations. Even as their lives mirror, parallel, and cross - Clarissa and Septimus take different paths in the final moments of the novel. Both are existentially insecure in the worlds they inhabit - one chooses life, while the other commits suicide. A Note on Style of Mrs. Dalloway Woolfs style - she is one of the most foremost proponents of what has become known as stream of consciousness - allows readers into the minds and hearts of her characters. She also incorporates a level of psychological realism that Victorian novels were never able to achieve. The every day is seen in a new light: internal processes are opened up in her prose, memories compete for attention, thoughts arise unprompted, and the deeply significant and the utterly trivial are treated with equal importance. Woolfs prose is also enormously poetic. She has a very special ability to make the ordinary ebb and flow of the mind sing.Mrs. Dalloway is linguistically inventive, but the novel also has an enormous amount to say about its characters. Woolf handles their situations with dignity and respect. As she studies Septimus and his deterioration into madness, we see a portrait that draws considerably from Woolfs own experiences. Woolfs stream of consciousness-style leads us to experience the m adness. We hear the competing voices of sanity and insanity. Woolfs vision of madness does not dismiss Septimus as a person with a biological defect. She treats the consciousness of the madman as something apart, valuable in itself, and something from which the wonderful tapestry of her novel could be woven.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Study Guide

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Study Guide The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,  by L. Frank Baum, is a book that has transcended its time and place.  More than a century after its publication, it remains a seminal piece of popular culture (helped, of course, by the iconic 1939 film adaptation starring Judy Garland). Much of the novel’s continued  popularity and presence can be attributed the stunning imagination that Baum brought to the work. Equally important, however, is the fact that the story lends itself to multiple interpretations. New generations continue to reinterpret the tale, despite Baums own insistence in the original introduction that the story â€Å"was written solely to please children of today.† Fast Facts: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Author: L. Frank BaumPublisher:  George M. Hill CompanyYear Published:  1900Genre:  Childrens novel  Original language: English  Themes:  Childhood innocence, inner strength, friendship  Characters:  Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion, the Wicked Witch of the West, the Wizard, Glinda the Good Witch of the NorthNotable adaptations:  The Wizard of Oz  (1939, dir. Victor Fleming)   Plot Dorothy is a young girl living in Kansas with her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. A cyclone hits; terrified, Dorothy’s dog Toto hides under the bed. Dorothy goes to fetch him as her aunt and uncle hide in the cellar. The Cyclone carries the whole house- with Dorothy and Toto in it- away. When they land, Dorothy discovers that she has arrived in Munchkinland, part of the Land of Oz. The house has landed on and killed the Wicked Witch of the East. Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, arrives. She gives Dorothy the Wicked Witch’s silver slippers and tells her that to get home she will have to travel down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City to ask for help from the Wizard. As Dorothy and Toto travel, they meet three companions: A Scarecrow, a Tin Woodman, and a Cowardly Lion. Each lack something- the Scarecrow needs a brain, the Tin Woodman needs a heart, and the Lion needs courage- so Dorothy suggests they all travel to the Emerald City together to ask the Wizard for help. At the Emerald City, the Wizard agrees to give them each what they seek if they kill the Wicked Witch of the West. In Winkie Land, the Wicked Witch sees them coming, and attacks them several times on the way. Finally the Witch uses a magical Golden Cap to summon flying monkeys, who tear the stuffing out of the Scarecrow, dent the Woodman badly, and capture Dorothy, Toto, and the Lion. The Wicked Witch makes Dorothy her slave and tricks her out of one of her silver shoes. This annoys Dorothy and in a fit of anger she throws water on the Witch, and is astonished to see her melt away. The Winkies are delighted and ask the Tin Woodman to become their king, which he agrees to do once Dorothy is home. Dorothy uses the Golden Cap to have the Flying Monkeys carry them back to the Emerald City. There, Toto accidentally reveals the truth: The Wizard is just an ordinary man who traveled from Omaha via hot air balloon many years before. He gives the Scarecrow new stuffing in his head for brains, the Woodman a stuffed silk heart, and the Lion a potion for courage. The Wizard agrees to take Dorothy home with him in his balloon, appointing the Scarecrow ruler in his absence, but once again Toto runs off and as Dorothy gives chase the Wizard accidentally cuts his lines and floats away. Dorothy asks the Flying Monkeys to carry her home, but they cannot cross the desert that bounds Oz on all sides. She and her friends set off to Quadling Country to seek the help of Glinda. Along the way the Lion is asked to become king of the animals in a forest and agrees to do so once Dorothy is home. The Flying Monkeys are summoned for a third and final time to fly them the rest of the way to Glinda. Glinda tells Dorothy that her silver shoes will take her anywhere she wishes to go, and then uses the Golden Cap to ask the Flying Monkeys to take her friends to their respective new kingdoms, and then sets the Monkeys free. Dorothy returns joyously to Kansas with Toto, ecstatic to be home. Major Characters Dorothy:  The  protagonist of the story. She is a young girl from Kansas who lives  with her aunt and uncle on their farm. She maintains a cheerful and childlike happiness in the face of adversity, and demonstrates bravery in frightening moments. She has little patience for deception or indecisiveness. The Scarecrow:  A scarecrow whose greatest  wish is to have the intelligence he believes he lacks. He joins Dorothys journey to the Wizard in order to request a brain.  Ã‚   The Tin Woodman: A former woodchopper who was cursed by the Wicked Witch of the East. Her spell  caused an enchanted axe to chop off each of his limbs.  The Tin Woodman slowly replaced every part of his body with tin, but he did not replace his heart. He wants to ask the Wizard for a heart. The Cowardly Lion:  A lion who  believes himself to be a coward.   The Wicked Witch of the West:  The sister  of The Wicked Witch of the East (who was killed accidentally by Dorothy). She is very powerful and very angry at all times, and is greedy for more power. The Wizard. An ordinary human who, like Dorothy, traveled  into Oz by accident. Taken to be a powerful wizard by the inhabitants of Oz, he goes along with the ruse and builds up an illusion of immense power, though he means no harm. Glinda the Good Witch of the North. A good witch, Glinda is kind and merciful, but her influence diminishes away from her home in the North. She attempts to safeguard and guide Dorothy throughout her adventures. Themes Many of the themes of the book can be seen as simple lessons Baum wished to convey to his young readers. Childhood Innocence:  The story celebrates a conception of childhood that combines duty, virtue, and good behavior with an unfettered imagination. Baum paints Dorothy as thoroughly enjoying her voyage through the magical world of Oz while never flagging in her determination to return home. Inner Strength:  Through the story many of the characters start off believing themselves to be lacking in some fundamental way- the brains, courage, and heart Dorothy’s companions wish for, and Dorothy herself seeks a way to get home- that they turn out to have always possessed. Friendship: The power of helping others and caring for them triumphs over the greed and anger of the Wicked Witch. None of the characters would have found what they wanted without the help of the others. Literary Style and Devices Straightforward Text:  Inspired by classic fairy tales, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is written in a straightforward, plain way that is easy for children to read and understand. Bright Colors: Baum uses a lot of description, emphasizing bright colors and exuberant descriptions in order to generate mental images. Repetition: Baum uses repetition powerfully. Goals, important details, and other aspects of the story are repeated, as are plot points- there are several smaller quests nested inside the main one of Dorothy getting home, for example. Compartmentalized Chapters:  Baum makes  it easy to keep things straight by focusing each chapter on a single main event, with a clear end-point when the chapter finishes. This style makes it easier to easy to read the story in several sittings, as a parent might to a children. Interpretations of The Wizard of Oz The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is frequently interpreted as more than just a children’s story.  Complex political, social, and historical theories have been credited to it. Populism. One of the most famous theories involves the populist movement that collapsed in the late 19th century, linked to the debate over monetary policy. According to this theory, Dorothy represents the American people as innocent and easily fooled, while other characters represent aspects of society or politicians of the time. Economic forces and theories are represented by The Yellow Brick Road (the gold standard) and the Emerald City (paper money), and the Wizard is the deceptive politicians manipulating the public. There’s more to the theory, but the more you dig into it the less sense it tends to make. Religion.  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz  is frequently identified as a coded allegory by both Christians and atheists, usually using the same symbols in different ways. For religious readers, the story can be seen as a tale of resisting temptations and battling evil through faith. For atheists, the Wizard is a deity who is ultimately revealed to be a sham. Feminism.  There is evidence of a  feminist subtext in The Wizard of Oz. The male characters are all lacking- they are fakes, cowards, and frozen, or part of otherwise oppressed or passive  groups. The women- Dorothy and Glinda most notably- are the true powers in Oz. Legacy The Wonderful Wizard of Oz continues to be read by children and adults around the world. It has been adapted many times for stage and screen and continues to influence both children’s literature and adult fiction. The storys  imagery and symbolism- the Yellow Brick Road, the silver shoes (turned into Ruby Slippers for the classic film), the green-skinned witch, the fanciful companions- are regularly used in new works as both callbacks and reinterpretation. The book is often described as the first American fairy tale, and is indeed one of the first children’s stories to specifically refer to American locations and culture. Key Quotes â€Å"There is no place like home.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Oh no, my dear; Im really a very good man; but Im a very bad Wizard, I must admit.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"Brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"The true courage is in facing danger when you are afraid, and that kind of courage you have in plenty.†Ã¢â‚¬Å"How can you talk if you haven’t got a brain? I don’t know†¦ But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking†¦ don’t they?†

Theme of Death across Dr Faustus, Paradise Lost, Shakespeares Sonnets Essay - 1

Theme of Death across Dr Faustus, Paradise Lost, Shakespeares Sonnets and The Pardoners Tale - Essay Example Death is that relentless time passing, causing everything to decay. It is the transience of things, of all that is mortal and born in time. Time devours everything (Shakespeare). Death is also a sad force that cannot be stopped, not by anything on earth (Shakespeare (b)): Since neither brass nor stone nor earth nor the limitless ocean is strong enough to resist the sad force of mortality, how can beauty possibly resist death’s rage when beauty is no stronger than a flower? How could your beauty, which is as fragile as the sweet breath of summer, hold out against the destructive assaults of time when neither invulnerable rocks nor gates of steel are strong enough to resist its decaying power? (Shakespeare (b)) Yet, in the midst of this grave and gloomy image of death as the incessant work of time, there is also an aspect of death that transcends the destruction, and that is the beauty of the beloved as immortalized in the poetry, according to Shakespeare (Shakespeare (c)): Despite death and ignorant enmity, you shall continue on. All those generations to come, down to the weary end of time, will devote space to praising you. So until Judgment Day, when you are raised up, you will live in this poetry, and in the eyes of lovers who read this. (Shakespeare (c)) In Christopher Marlowe’s ‘The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus’ again we see the same themes about death being, in essence, something that is of man’s making, through the decisions that he makes to either go with the good in him, or in the case of Dr. Faustus, to sign away his soul to the devil in exchange for his worldly ambitions and desires. Where in Milton the cause of the death in metaphorical terms was the disobedience by Adam and Eve of the express command of God, in Dr. Faustus by Marlowe there is the sense of the key protagonist willing to risk all, even his soul, for the sake of a worldly career and knowledge of a dubious magic that would not save him in the end. Knowledge

Maria Full of Grace Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Maria Full of Grace - Movie Review Example In the scene when Maria is traveling to Bogota, the movie captures infrastructure development in the countryside as average. The road on which Maria is traveling on a motorbike is depicted as having only two lanes. The roads are narrow at various points where sharp turns occur along the overlooking valleys. There are a number of ramps along the road at such turns, though the rest of the road sections have no ramps on the side that face the valley. When they reach Bogota, the road network improves to three lanes. There are elements of improvement of infrastructure unlike in many developing countries. There is a flyover, which may be seen to easy traffic along the roads. The buildings on the right also seem modern, though they appear to be based on the 1960s engineering technology that was not so much advanced. The streets of Bogota seem to have been maintained close to the level of other developed countries. There is a zebra crossing and the houses in Bogota central business district are quite properly planned. They are neatly arranged in a line. There is also evidence of streetlights. However, there is evidence of informal settlement and structures within Bogota. There is a poorly constructed structure by the roadside, probably an eatery. The environment around the eatery is untidy. One can see papers lying all over the place in the grass. Some people have parked their cars by the roadside, an indication that probably there are no official parking lots. In one street, vendors have occupied part of the road with their carts, which they sell their grocery. Inside buildings, there is an evidence of poor planning in lighting. The corridor and the rooms, through which Maria walks are dark, almost like dungeons. Life in Bogota is generally lively. There is a little bit of pomp. People seem to mix freely. Much of the countryside in Colombia is quite impoverished, so is part of the urban dwellers. Survival mechanisms in urban areas include taking odd jobs such

Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise in Markets Essay

Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise in Markets - Essay Example The industry that has been selected for fulfilling the objective of this study report is that of the universities in the UK. The report will be composite of the selected university analysis so that the relevance of the selected study can be established. The most essential sector of the report will be composite of evaluating the various approaches being followed in the UK universities for the effective utilisation of the concept of innovation, creativity and enterprise. The report, at the end, will draw up essential conclusion regarding the key issues being identified from the entire survey with respect to the concepts. 2. Industry Analysis The industry consisting of the various universities in the UK offers the most valuable services to the people not only within the local region but also to the people all around the world. The UK universities are open to students coming from all around the world with the required skills and potentials demanded by the universities. The industry playe rs or the number of universities in the UK are all concentrated on providing quality education to the students with proper assurance and dignity. The universities conduct routine analysis of the various courses that they offer so as to making sure that the form of education that they offer are up-to-date and essential for the betterment of the students. The UK is considered to be holding the most capacity to attract international students among the western countries of the world. Although seven European countries have been identified to be placing stiff competition to the UK’s position, the extremely competitive advantageous position of the UK with respect to providing education to the international students have assisted this country to remain at the topmost position. Autonomy, funding, staffing of international students and assistance of the funding council are the four most advantages of the universities in the UK (Becker & Et. Al., 2009). However, in the future, the compe tition within the UK universities will increase since the recession has put a triggering blow upon the people striving for application for achieving degree from the UK universities. During September 2009, 465,000 people had applied for the acquisition of degree (Curtis, 2009). 3. UK Universities- Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise Innovation, creativity and enterprise are the traits that the European countries like that of the UK aim to foster among the people. The universities have been evaluated to be the best source through which these traits can be injected into the students or the prospective future entrepreneurs. The UK universities follow a number of principles, practices and processes for creating the entrepreneurial mindsets among the students. In this section of the report, the analysis of those principles, processes and practices will be undertaken so as to evaluate their effectiveness. The various noteworthy universities in the UK have adopted the process of innovativ e learning through creative thinking in order to develop upon the characteristics of an entrepreneur among their students. The practices undertaken within the universities are composed of various policies and guidelines for carrying out innovation management and enterprise skill development among others. The practices handle the several societal, economical, entrepreneurial and managerial

Ethnic studies Essay Example for Free

Ethnic studies Essay The students, united, will never be defeated! . This was the rallying call of students at San Francisco State University trying to save their Asian America Studies classes in 2008. 40 years after the first Third World Liberation Front protested and fought against discrimination and for their rights to have ethnic studies classes, the fight still continues. Students fought to have classes from the perspective of ethnic peoples, and not the Eurocentric point of view. In doing so, the struggle for ethnic studies from students and the community challenged and broke the status quo and construct of race in a Eurocentric America. Ethnic studies in the U. S. campuses started in the 60s along with the Civil Rights Movement, opposition against the Vietnam War, the fight for womens rights, and many other fights by the people for their rights. In March of 1968, The SFSU Third World Liberation Front was created by students of different ethnicities coming together. This was the longest strike in student history, and resulted in the creation of ethnic studies at SFSU, as well as increased admissions for students of colors to the university. The second longest strike occurred in UC Berkeley, with the strike more violent than the first. The clenched fist was the symbol for the strike, equality, power, unity, and change for the minority groups in America. Over the years, there have been many strikes and protest from students to have ethnic studies. California was a hotbed for the struggle of ethnic studies because it has the most immigrant and ethnic groups in the United States. It was a melting pot of African Americans, Asians, American Indians, Latinos, and so on. It was really only a matter of time before they stood up against discrimination. When people of color got up in unity and went on strike, it scared them. Them referring to the white political leaders of the schools. The first to stand up to discrimination is usually those that are educated and realize they can make a change through their actions. Students of ethnic background fought for social justice not only for themselves, but for a larger picture going back to their communities. Ethnic students are representatives to their families and communities. Many of these ethnic students were the first to attend college because their parents or families came to America in search for a better life and an opportunity for their children at an education. As these strikes were occurring, the community came to support them. Not only the communities of ethnic students, but white supporters as well. Supporters that understood the struggle of the ethnic groups, and came together to fight together. Quite a few white students had come to the point of understanding, what our cause was, what it meant, and that we did not want to take over the university, take over the country, we wanted ends. When we think third world we think of people that are improvised, poor, and lacking education. These third world people a Though they werent really third world students, inadequate access to classes that represented their ethnic background meant they had no way to really learn the struggle of ethnics people that came before them. Luis Alarcon made a point that he considered UC Berkeley his university, but the president of Berkeley disagreed and said the university was for the people of California. Although Luis is a person of California, the president did not consider the university for him. As a race of minorities, they were trying to free themselves from being third world citizens in the United States. What we got from this agreement were things that we as third world peoples deserved, and we as students, and we as citizens of this country deserved. But is there a scientific claim that makes certain people third world, or is it a political agenda to people ethnic people third world citizens? Ethnic people living in the United States in the were often discriminated against. As Laureen Chew said, of course I blamed it all on ourselves and our family for being born Chinese, etc. They blamed their race, instead of finding a fault in society for making them an inferior race that were mistreated unfairly. Even today, although racism is not as obvious, it is still alive and in place. Color-blind racism serves as the ideological armor for a convert and institutionalized system in the post-Civil Rights era†. Minorities can be discriminated against their morals, values, and character without whites sounding racist. But is being color-blind discriminating as well? By not seeing color, one fails to recognize that we still havent reached a level where we only judge from character, and not the color of our skin. Its apparent we today, have not reached that goal yet. Tom Horne Arizona superintendent of public instruction believes in cutting off ethnic studies classes because it will divide kids up and only teach them narrowly about the race they were born into. Ethnic studies is for the empowerment of not only ethnic students, but for all students who want to learn about the history of different peoples. It wasnt so long ago when minorities were second citizens in the United States. Many were segregated against, beaten, killed, and uneducated. But what were the terms that classified certain peoples as a different race from whites? Race is a concept with signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human bodies. So because people of different ethnicities have different bodies, specifically skin color they were disadvantaged in comparison to white Americans. The word domination reminds us that the institutional racism is a type of power that encompasses the symbolic power to classify one group of people as normal and other groups of people as abnormal, the political power to withhold basic rights from people of color and marshal the full power of the state to enforce segregation and in equality. To break this institution, learning ethnic studies brings out the truth of this country, which in turn brings out the greatness of the United States. Ethnic studies allows us to think critically about our relationship in terms of our relationship this country and our backgrounds. It gives us a basis to deal with historic racial issues such as the Zimmerman trial. Ethnic studies departments in the CSU are at the forefront in leading students to balanced, critical, and open discussions of racial and ethnic matters that, unfortunately, have yet to be resolved in the US. Its important to have a format in educating students so that we may form our own educated opinions and learn facts on the history of our ethnicities. People gave up their bodies for their right to have ethnic studies. I wanted to give you a poem, but I give you my body instead. As she finished her speech, her fellow supporters agreed with her with loud applause. She was only one of many proponents in decades of struggle by students to fight for their ethnic studies departments. The protesting for ethnic studies was intertwined with the opposition against the war, civil rights, and other social issues going on at the time. In 1999 the issue was California becoming increasingly wary against immigrants, using them as a scapegoat for the economy failing. Protesting at Berkeley meant defending affirmative action, defending the rights of immigrants. The protesting in SFSU was the longest lasting student protest. Their cries for we want the puppet! meant they wanted to discuss ethnic studies with S. I. Hayakawa who did not rally with the students even though he was Asian American. These students were subject to police violence, who went into the cafeterias to harass and attack the students. At Valley State University, Latino students with the black students protested in order to have more representation in and open up classes for Chicano studies and Black studies. So what role does race really play in all of this? We know that even if its not about race, its always about race. You can say that the student protests were all about race. When you ask people about which race they are, one normally gets a response like, asian, black, white, or so on. The two schools of thought, Primordialism and Instrumentalism, are opposing forces in which the former believes that races existed, that races are biologically determined and distinct from one another. The latter believes race as a man-made, human created reality. It is an instrument that was constructed sociohistorically in order to allocate resources. An outcome of the struggle for ethnic studies is that it challenged what the racial norm really was. By fighting for their rights, the protestors inadvertently chipped away at what really defines race; a racist invention to divide and allocate resources. But can we really ignore that our race has nothing to do with our genetic makeup and the way we look? Discriminatory and prejudiced behavior towards minorities was the cause of the student unrest, as well as gaining support from non-ethnical students and community. Jesus Rodriguez realized people can be so quick to attach certain characteristics to a persons race. The characteristics we attach to minorities are theyre lazy, they dont want to leave the bottom, theyre slow learners, etc. With this in mind, white people in power discriminated these minorities, saying they dont belong in their universities. Many white people believed in the status quo or race at the time and opposed the ethnic protestors. But what about everyone else that eventually sided with the protestors? Especially during the 60s and 70s, people began to fight for each others rights. The division between races between people were lessening, and the thought of a human race were expanding. They fought for their own rights and they fought for each others rights, because they realized all minorities at the time were going through the same struggle. I believe that it is important for every American to know their history, even if it has nothing to do with their color or ethnicity: since events such as the Third World Strike influenced some of your fellow Americans, these same events indirectly influenced you as well. Where would we be without ethnic studies today? Without the efforts and sacrifices of those student protesters, someone like me might not even appreciate and understand the struggle that so many went through. We stand on the shoulders of those who dared to challenge injustice and discrimination, and broke the barriers of race and racial equality. Leon, Teresa W. History of AAS at CSUN. N. p. , 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Shiekh, Irum. On Strike: Ethnic Studies Progressive Films. Progressive Films. Progressive Films, n. d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Ethnic Studies Ban Racist? YouTube. YouTube, 13 May 2010. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. CSUN Student Political Activism 1960s/70s The Storm at Valley State YouTube. YouTube, 27 Jan. 2009. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. Racism without Racists: Color-blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America. 3rd ed. Lanham: Rowman Littlefield, 2010. Print. SF State Third World Student Strike. YouTube. YouTube, 22 June 2007. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Save Our AAS. YouTube. YouTube, 09 Nov. 2008. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Leon-WIlliams, Teresa. Lecture Notes on The Historical Origins of Race CSU Northridge: Login to the Site. N. p. , 30 Sept. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Student Unrest at SF State College and S. I. Hayakawa. YouTube. YouTube, 19 Apr. 2008. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Leon-WIlliams, Teresa. How the Blind Perceive race. . . CSU Northridge: Login to the Site. N. p. , 30 Sept. 2013. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. Rodriguez, Jesus. Re: Race the Working Field. Weblog comment. N. p. , 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2013. Leon-WIlliams, Teresa. Prejudice Discrimination. Moodle, 16 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.