Sunday, November 3, 2019
Reading Response of the TWO readings Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Reading Response of the TWO readings - Assignment Example ng at their own homes to workshops and factories, where tea became part of daily routines, replacing gin and beer as the national beverage.2 In ââ¬Å"A Taste of Empire, 1600-1800,â⬠James Walvin argues that the demand for luxury staples, such as sugar, tea, tobacco, and chocolate, are products of social and economic changes in British life. He asserts that the demand for tea increased because Britain also became a world superpower who used slavery trade and wars to attain their economic ends.3 Both Pomeranz and Topik and Walvin agree that tea is related to trade and colonialism because it is a product of international trade and demand for it increased because of the need for other luxury staple products. Pomeranz and Topik and Walvin note the increasing demand for tea using the same information that tea became popular in Europe during the eighteenth century because of cheaper sweeteners. They are also similar in addressing the slave trade that became an important driver to reducing the prices of sugar and to highlighting the role of trade to expanding colonialism. Walvin asserts that the slave trade decreased sugar prices,4 and Pomeranz and Topik agree that the ââ¬Å"availability of cheap sweetenerâ⬠encouraged tea consumption.5 What is different between the two is that Pomeranz and Topik focus on workshops and factories as main social influencers of tea consumption,6 while Walvin is more general in emphasizing that even the poor in Europe, especially in Britain, dr ank tea in large amounts.7 Walvin further informs the text of Pomeranz and Topik by describing the slave trade, and how Britainââ¬â¢s rise as a commercial and military power played a role in its global trade goals and practices,8 whereas Pomeranz and Topik shows how the British used the Opium War to manage its tea trade with China.9 Pomeranz, Kenneth, and Steven Topik, eds. ââ¬Å"Brewing Up a Storm.â⬠The World that Trade Created: Society, Culture, and the World Economy, 1400 to the Present. NY: M.E. Sharpe
Friday, November 1, 2019
Electronic Surveillance at Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Electronic Surveillance at Work - Essay Example A section of the report is dedicated to assessing the positive and negative impacts of using the electronic surveillance technique in the public. The positive implications of using the electronic surveillance technique in workplaces are also mentioned. the conclusion is of the report is framed by evaluating the need for the electronic surveillance techniques and assessing how the employer groups can use the system in the most value-adding manner. There may be two types of surveillance that can be employed in an organization. These are covert surveillance and covert surveillance. Electronic surveillance is a common type of overt surveillance used by organizations to monitor the activities and behaviors of employees in the workplace. Electronic surveillance at work refers to the use of different kinds of technological devices like computers, Closed Circuit Televisions (CCTV) systems and other devices for the monitoring, recording, and tracking of the employee activities in their workplaces (Fuchs, Boersma, Alrechtslund and Sandoval, 2012). The electronic surveillance can be employed in real time as well as a record maintaining system. There are a number of electronic surveillance techniques that are used in the contemporary organizations. These include the use of computer and Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) systems and telephone loggings, GPS tracking, mystery shopping, electronic recruitment and drug testing (Foster, 2011). T he developments in the electronic surveillance systems employed in the corporate world include the use of accelerometers in cell phones to monitor the activities of the employees, enterprise-wide computing device applications which are used to compile and monitor the information in the company that are posted by the employees in the social media applications and which are also used by the management of the firm and the facial recognition applications developed by Microsoft Corporation for assessing the mood of the individual.
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Blue ocean strategy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Blue ocean strategy - Research Paper Example Due to these underlining causes, the strategy of BOS is offered high concentration by the organizations operating in this era, among many other rival players (Kim & Mauborgne, 2013). The product, Yellow Tail of Casella Wines of Australia needs to implement the strategy of Blue Ocean as it might prove effective in developing new markets as well as wide range of customers. Other than this, by implementation of Blue Ocean strategy, the organization of Yellow Wine might offer more concentration over wine market as compared to others. This strategy might highlights its market segments in a more effective way such as wine drinkers, easy to go drinkers like beer, cocktail, soft drinks etc as well as any individual desiring to attain a refreshing feeling. However, in order to increase its range of customers or to reach beyond the existing demand, extensive promotion or campaigns is essential. Other than this, the organization of Yellow Wine is implementing Blue Ocean in order to reduce driving cost by amplifying the values of the products. This might prove extremely effective for the customers, thereby amplifying their demand and loyalty over the brand among many other rival players. By doing so, maximum extent of the customers desiring to drink wine or beer might get attracted towards the product line that may increase its productivity in the market among others. Along with this, the position and loyalty of the product line of wine might also get improved to a significant extent. Hence, due to these underlining reasons, the organization of Casella Wines might try to implement Blue Ocean strategy so as to amplify its portfolio and brand value in this competitive market among many other rival players. So, the popularity and demand of Blue Ocean Strategy is increasing day by day. Red Ocean Strategy is a strategy used to compete with the existing rival players
Monday, October 28, 2019
E-Business Essay Example for Free
E-Business Essay Supply chain management is a battery of procedures that involve planning, executing and organizing the operations of a supply chain (Haag et al. , 2006). Such cluster of procedures covers all activities of a company, including management of raw materials, inventory and final products at both the point-of-origin and point-of-consumption. Supply chain management requires the modification of management from an individual-based level of performance to an integration of operations as key processes in the supply chain. One simple example involves the placement of purchase orders by the purchasing department of the company. This is then coupled by the communication of the marketing department with particular distributors and retailers. Such efforts in integrating several processes in order to maximize and speed up a general process may result in an extremely efficient company. The integration of the financing technology and supplier outreach services facilitates reduction in capital requirements and finance costs associated with the clients (Kemp, 2006). The reduction in requirements and costs is attained through the help of the supply chains, which permits retailers and suppliers to register with the website and interactive with the supply chain system. Such technological innovation of doing e-business helps them track down the payments of any transactions completed or still in progress (Timmers, 2000). In addition, suppliers and buyers are able to work in partnership to settle the final price and this is usually done through the receipt of credit memoranda. Such setting facilitates a faster process of trading. The integration of operations enhances the relationship between the supplier and the buyer, regardless of employment, gender and physical backgrounds.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Essay on Internet Privacy - Carnivore is an Invasion to Privacy :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics
Carnivore is an Invasion to Privacy Carnivore is the FBI's latest toy. All the time we hear about how it is an invasion to privacy, and while I do agree it does have serious problems it also has some moral dilemmas. For example who is subject to Carnivore and where is it located? How much and What kind of information is the FBI interested in getting? Lets start by looking at just what exactly Carnivore is. Carnivore is an actual piece of hardware that the FBI connects to an internet backbone. According to Compnet.com; "For Carnivore to gain access to this much data, its hardware must be plugged directly into the network at a central location. Because most Internet based communications in the USA flow through large Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the FBI would typically install a Carnivore box inside an ISP data center. Controlled physical and network access improves the system's overall security." Basically from the data center of the ISP Carnivore is able to acquire any information that it chooses to, or is assigned to. Typically a search warrant is issued and the device set to acquire information about a subject. Any email, or other form of communications that the person being viewed is recorded for the FBI to view later. Any information is intercepted once the FBI is in they know all and see all. Which begs the question what if they are getting search warrants on anyone they choose? Who reports them? Who holds the people accountable for spying on people later found out to be innocent? Because Carnivore is a "BLACK BOX" project a lot of information about the project is not being released to the public and if that is not scary enough for you, the people in charge of issuing the warrants and who the FBI labels and those that need to be "Watched" is also not readily available. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Without an internal regulatory system for the FBI to control the use of carnivore it looks as though anyone anywhere can be tapped. Carnivore also has other problems too. According to cnn.com; "Specific technical concerns noted by the scientists include a lack of analysis between the Carnivore code and its host environment and operating system, inadequate discussion of the remote access provided by the use of the "PC Anywhere" program, and no evidence of a systematic search for bugs or serious errors.
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Many of Steinbecks characters are crippled mentally or physically Essay
Many of Steinbecks characters are crippled mentally or physically. How far do you agree with this and how far are they made victims of society of the time? Lennie is probably the most obvious character of the book that is mentally crippled. He has brooder slopping shoulders and walks along heavily dragging his feet. Underneath Lennie is a child, he may look like and man but isnââ¬â¢t. Like a child Lennie has a fascination of small cuddle, cute things, especially rabbits. ââ¬ËI like to pet things with my fingers, sofââ¬â¢ thingsââ¬â¢. Lennie is also clumsy like a child and on the ranch others see him as a slow worker. George is like a father to Lennie and he looks up to him, and also fully dependant on him. He wont do anything till George says he can, he automatically turns to George in when in any danger, like a child dependant on his mother. Candy is the oldest of the characters and he is physically crippled, as he has lost his right hand as a young boy. He was one of the best workers of the ranch and everyone respected him in his younger days. But he is slowly becoming useless, with only a job of sweeping and has become very lonely with only the companionship of a dog. But soon found friendship in George and Lennie. However this does not stop him from being a nosy character and finds interest in others gossip. Candy loves his dog to pieces, but like candy the dog is getting old and weak, ââ¬Ë That dog of Candyââ¬â¢s is so god damn old he canââ¬â¢t hardly walkââ¬â¢. Candy has had to dog for most of its life, and itââ¬â¢s the only thing that reminds him of the good days on the ranch. Crooks is the only black man on the ranch and he is crippled physically as he has a bent spine. Considering how hard it was for black men in those days, they were not given any respect at all and were bullied. The people at the ranch were racist towards him. ââ¬Ë But I canââ¬â¢t play cards cause Iââ¬â¢m black and they say I stink.ââ¬â¢ He is also lonely like Candy and is rejected from the people at the ranch, he has his own cabin and spends most of his time in there on his own. Crooks seems to be a bit sensitive underneath his brave face and takes it all to heart. He trusts no one but himself, because he isnââ¬â¢t respected. Though at some times he has a slightly vicious streak, ââ¬ËYou got no right to come in my room, nobody got any right in here but me.ââ¬â¢ A lot of the people on the ranch take advantage of him because they know they can get away with it. ââ¬ËListen nigger you know what I can do if you donââ¬â¢t shut your trapââ¬â¢. I think that Crooks knows that people take advantage of him, but he canââ¬â¢t fight back. Curlyââ¬â¢s is the bossesââ¬â¢ son and he thinks he is a powerfully man. He has a constant eagerness to prove himself. One of his weaknesses is that he doesnââ¬â¢t like taller people because they make him feel insecure, threatened and small. Deep down he is a lonely character and is insecure. Curly copies his Dad like Lennie copies George. By taking on the future job of the ranch and has a future not like most of the workers, and wants to become powerful like his Father. Curlyââ¬â¢s wife plays a small part, though a crucial one. She is the only one of Steinbecks characters that is nameless. In those times it was hard to be a woman and were looked upon as staying at home all day and cooking for the husbands on return. She is a flirt of the ranch, what with being the only woman and the men on the ranch refer to her as a tart. No one really wants to talk to her as they are worried what curly might do if he found out, and this makes her lonely and isolated. ââ¬Ë Well I think Curleyââ¬â¢s married a tart.ââ¬â¢ Curlyââ¬â¢s wife wanted to make something of her life, so she is very disappointed that she hasnââ¬â¢t, this can make her feel very viscous. Though still she has the power, like her husband to make people feel small and unimportant, thatââ¬â¢s why people chose to exclude her on the ranch. She is young and niave and would believe anything she was told. ââ¬ËHe says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural.ââ¬â¢ I think that Steinbeck wrote his characters to be either mentally or physically crippled. He wrote this book to expose all of the racial and sexist prejudice. He succeeded in this by using the right characters and their every day life.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Education Sector Essay
In a globalized economy with a high degree of competition among countries, the success of a nation depends on the educational level of its workforce. Technology has rapidly transformed education by extending learning space beyond the four wall of a classroom. Even though school plays the main role of education, technology offers verities of opportunities to learn more. Such as, Distance learning, online learning communities and access to vast resources and databases, etc. with the help of Information and communications technology (ICT), it allows to improve quality of teaching and learning worldwide. (Bokova, 2013) There are both positive and negative impacts due to technological advancement in education sector. Affordability: Even though developed counties are able to afford this, most of the developing countries struggle to equip the basic ICT devices. However there are things which they can afford, such as mobile phone, it would help to connect teachers, students, parents and administrators. Capacities: National policy-makers sometimes may lack to formulate ICT in educational policies. In some developing counties teaching institutes frequently lack to trainer the teachers with ICT education practices. Which would lead to less ICT education in school levels. Inclusion: People who live in rural area, disabled people typically receives low quality educations, even though they have special educational needs. Introduction of ICT would favour inclusive education and reduce inequalities. Content: there are more teaching modules available by the help of ICT. Open Educational Resources (OERs) hold significant potential to accelerate free access to knowledge and facilitae the adaptation of content to local needs and languages. Quality Assurance: ICT can help the education system to be much easier, but some developing countries still havenââ¬â¢t been duly reformed to embrace these new learning outcomes. And issues such as quality of ICT-based learning and safety of children online needs to be addressed. (Bokova, 2013).
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Evolving The Gangster Genre Essays
Evolving The Gangster Genre Essays Evolving The Gangster Genre Paper Evolving The Gangster Genre Paper Essay Topic: Film Pulp Fiction The word Genre is used in film to describe and categorize the different types of films that have certain elements that make them the same as the other films that would fit into that genre. The audience of the films should be able to recognise what the genre is through the way the characters act during the film, the certain places that its set in, and the actors chosen. These are the code and conventions that make a genre film. There are different types of genre like Horror, Comedy, Sci-fi, etc, but a popular one is the gangster genre. This genre includes many classic films of the genre such as Public Enemy (W. Wellman, US, 1931), Ones that you think might be a bit of a parody on the genre such as Goodfellas (M. Scorsese, US, 1991) and the films that completely question whether it should even be part of the genre like Pulp Fiction (Q. Tarantino, US, 1994). However, all 3 of these films, use the same codes and conventions, which put them all together in the gangster genre, even though these three films are completely different When I think of a film within the gangster genre movie I think of things like lots of bloody and gory violence, machine guns, the expensive cars, and the mafia family. I also think of two main characters that take themselves from the bottom of the society food chain, and work their way up to be one of the top gangster in the family. The gang or gangs in every different film will always have a don who runs the gang overall. As part of one of the main codes and conventions for gangster films, revenge always plays a big part. There is never a happy ending in any gangster film. At least one of the anti-heroes ends ups dieing at the end or during the course of the film. Most films in the gangster genre are set in cities like Chicago, New York, etc and normally have the characters exposing the myth of the American dream by showing that you dont have to stick to the rules to get rich, and lead a good life quickly. In gangster films we see the actors that we look as gangster actors today such as Robert DeNiro. The narrative structure in a gangster film would be the same structure that every other film made would have. It would have equilibrium to start off with, followed by a dis-equilibrium which is the middle of the film and then end it with the new equilibrium. The first gangster film that we watched was Public Enemy. When you watch the film, you immediately know you are watching a gangster film because all of the basic codes and conventions that are used within the genre. It is set in the city of Chicago, and through most of the film you see the illegal dealings that you associate with the gangster films. In the public enemys case it the dealing of alcohol due to the fact that the film is set in the time where the prohibition in America was around. The Public Enemy boasts one of the biggest gangster stars to ever appear in a gangster film called James Cagney who plays the role of one of the main characters, Tom Powers. What makes Public Enemy different to the two other films (Goodfellas, and Pulp Fiction) that is that the main character Tom Powers is a very violent man and cannot stay settled down to one women at a time, as you see throughout the film when he jumps between two women. Public Enemy is not an Italian gangster film like most of the audience would expect before they sit to watch it. The gang members are mostly Irish, which shows they used to timing correctly when they made this film because at the time the film is set, the Irish were at the bottom of society in America, because they were the immigrants and had to do the things we see in the film, to give themselves power. The director also shows the Irish descent of the gangsters because Powers and Doyle are typical Irish names and their Irish descent is mentioned near the beginning of the film. The Public Enemy also exposes the myth of the American dream in great detail. They do this when they show Mike (Tommys brother) getting married working hard in the army and earning very little money whereas we have Tommy who purposely breaks the law and does no hard work whatsoever, yet hes earning a lot of money. Because of Tom doing this all through the film, it is giving the impression that he is telling the audience that you can get a job but you will have to work hard and never earn anything as much as you would being in a gangster movement through lying to people, robbing people, and performing heists. But what it doesnt say is that theres always a massive consequence if you choose the life that Tom and Matt chose. You see this at the end of the film when first off all Matt is killed by the rival gang, and as Tom goes to seek out revenge, he is beaten up, then kidnapped from the hospital and killed. This also shows the death of the anti-hero code that goes together with the gangster genre. The second film that we watched was Goodfellas which (in a lot of ways) is very similar to Public Enemy. Like Public Enemy, we have a character called Tom (played By Joe Pesci). He is very similar to the Tom from Public Enemy because they are both very violent and unhinged figures in both films and both of them are murdered at the end of each film. Tommy in Goodfellas is not one of the two main characters that you get in gangster films. However, he does play one of the most important parts in the film because he is so unpredictable. The film is set around two Irish Americans, Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and Jimmy Conway (Robert DeNiro). Both Henry (Goodfellas) and Tommy (Public Enemy) show no remorse when it comes to women. You see this when they both cheat on their partners and show violence towards them as well, and both have very similar childhoods where both films show them in their past getting beatings from their fathers. This gives out the message that they were bound to live for committing crimes. The main focus in both films (Public Enemy and Goodfellas) is that the main characters are part of the surrogate or the gang family that Tommy and Henry are both adopted into at a young age and that their lives subsequently belong to those families. As you would expect in the gangster film, there are illegal substances being shipped around in Goodfellas as there was in Public Enemy, the only difference is that in Goodfellas it is cocaine and in Public Enemy it was alcohol. Both of the main characters when the join their gangs are introduced to the group of gangsters and are told and shown how you have to work your way up the gang hierarchy. The don or the gangs leader acts as the second father to both Henry in Goodfellas and Tommy in Public Enemy. A massive similarity between Goodfellas and Public Enemy is that both main characters have brothers called Mike. It is things like this that we can use to back ourselves up when the point of Scorsese basing some of Goodfellas on Public Enemy comes into play. However, Goodfellas does have its differences. For example the film starts at a point thats also shown half way through in Goodfellas. But with Goodfellas, its a good way to start as it is a big part in the film where everything starts to go wrong and the fortunes change for Jimmy and Henry. However, after they do that, it does go back to the beginning to show the audience how they got into that situation and how they get out of it. Scorsese plays with the order of the film, by putting the dis-equilibrium at the start to keep the audience interested and make them want to watch to see how they got into that situation, and to make them think and get involved with the film. Goodfellas is set around the typical mafia family that you would expect to see in gangster films. As you see near the start, Henry messes his women about and cheats on them but eventually he settles down and marries Karen which you dont see with Tom in Public Enemy. In Goodfellas, our main character does not die but because he tells on his fellow gang members, he is forced to live in secrecy which because of this, it is as if he is dead, because he cant contact anybody from his previous life as a gangster. In Goodfellas, Henry is shown to be the nice guy gangster as he is really not into killing people and we see this in the scene with one of the other gangsters in the boot of the car. Henry steps back as the other two gangsters stab and finish the body off. At one point in the film, we get Karens point of view which shows a shift in representation and treatment of women from the 1930s in Public Enemy to the 1990s in Goodfellas. Also, in Goodfellas there are a lot more bent law enforcement people ranging from policemen through to lawyers, judges and also prison officers. You can still say that Goodfellas as a gangster film even though there are a lot of differences between the Public Enemy and Goodfellas. You can see that things used in a documentary are used throughout for example the voice over, and the freeze frames. There is also a sense with Goodfellas that Scorsese makes fun of the gangster genre with mockery and the fact that they are so well off they buy things even though they are tacky and horrible for example the T. V. area that turns around that Harry and Karen buy during the film, and with the name Jimmy two times because he ends sentences by saying the same word twice. Scorsese also puts a lot of upbeat music some shocking violence; this gives the impression that it is not such a big deal to kill someone in that kind of lifestyle. Also with the character Tommy we can see that the character is happy to kill anyone he can, so Scorsese is tries to make us happy and feel easier that the mafia is killing people in his film. The final film that we sat, watched and studied was Pulp Fiction. Pulp fiction is not like any of the other gangster films and some, may even say that you cant really class it as a gangster film. I personally think you can class it as part of the gangster genre; I think this because you can see that is doesnt have many things in common with classic gangster films like Public Enemy and Goodfellas which is what is good about the film, because it makes it completely different from the other gangster films, which would make fans of the genre want to sit down and watch it. Like Public Enemy and Goodfellas it has the basic elements of violence and guns, and has the main characters in men in suits, but hat makes them different are the fact that you can tell they are not expensive suits, because they look so tacky. And also another basic element with gangster films, are illegal substances, but this time they are getting used for personal use instead of being sold of to others by the gangsters. The gang has another don style character who is called Marsellus Wallace. There is also a revenge factor with Butch getting back at Marsellus. And just like Public Enemy our anti-hero, Vince, is killed. But for every similarity Pulp Fiction has with Goodfellas and Public Enemy there are also the differences that make it a completely different film. Tarantino plays mainly with the narrative structure of Pulp Fiction. By doing this he leaves the audience confused but thinking about what is going on and what is going to happen. He also has put multiple narrative structures into the film which focuses on the different characters. The reason Tarantino does this is because he knows that his own gangster film can be so much different from the likes of Goodfellas, and Public Enemy. Tarantino also plays with the basic codes and conventions that you would expect to be in a gangster film. A prime example of him doing this is when he puts in a happy ending which is not common in the gangster genre, because with gangsters you never expect a happy ending. There is no money making schemes at all in the film and we dont see any illegal substances being sold to other dealers. In another uncommon scene we see a different way as to how women in gangster films are shown with Mia Wallace (Uma Thurmann) being powerful and the subject of a rumour that is going around that makes Vince fear for her when he takes her out as a favour for Marcellus and also when she overdoses on the drugs she finds in his jacket pocket. I dont think that any of the 3 films I have descried are the same because I have shown so many differences between each of them, that in my opinion, can swing anyones views on these 3 films if they thought differently to me. I know that they are very different from eachother, because if every film of its genre was the same, then I wouldnt want to watch them because I would know what is going to happen and it would become boring. Also because of the changes in society that happen every single day, it would become very hard to make the same film because we see the changes that are representing the social groups such as women so if we were to make a film like Public Enemy, It would come under a lot of criticism because of what happens in public enemy when it comes to women, and it wouldnt happen nowadays to women. However, the similarities between the 3 films are needed so we can categorize them into the gangster genre but we also need differences to tell the genres apart and also to tell the films apart, so the films end up making us feel familiar with the genre that its part of, but at the same time, gives us some original ideas that could also help us define it as a gangster film, and the audience also like to be able to know what is going to happen in the film but at the same time they want to have the element of surprise that most of the time actually ends up making the film as good as its meant to be.
Monday, October 21, 2019
Our Influence on Global Climates essays
Our Influence on Global Climates essays The world's scientific experts agree that industrial and land use activities are having an adverse impact on our climate. Burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gasoline creates global warming pollution that acts as the glass in a greenhouse, reflecting heat back toward the Earth and warming our climate. If we do not take steps now to reduce our emissions of global warming pollution, we will suffer serious environmental, public health, and economic repercussions. We owe it to our next generations to leave them a healthy environment and economy. Industries must start reducing their emissions of global warming pollution before we seal the fate of future generations. The earth's climate is predicted to change because human activities are altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of greenhouse gases (primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide). Its functions are similarly to the walls and roof of a greenhouse, allowing sunlight to enter, but preventing heat from escaping. Sunlight passes through the atmosphere and heats the earths surface. The earth gives off heat energy, in the form of infrared radiation, which travels back toward the atmosphere. Instead of going into space, some of the infrared radiation is trapped by greenhouse gases (Schneider, 1989). The main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and ozone. The gases send infrared radiation back to the earth's surface. Some greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, while others result from human activities. Naturally occurring greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. Certain human activities, however, add to the levels of most of these naturally occurring gases: 1) Carbon dioxide is released to the atmosphere when solid waste, fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal), and wood and wood products are burned. 2) Methane is emitted during the producti...
Sunday, October 20, 2019
7 Simple Ways To Improve Your Email Open Rates
7 Simple Ways To Improve Your Email Open Rates Do you know what your email open rates are? Think about it: youve put the work into the email youre sending. Wouldnt it be nice if people actually opened it and read it? According to Campaign Monitor, aà 20 40% open rate for email is typical, depending upon who your audience is.à Higher open rates are associated with religious or sports content (dedicated followers), while e-commerce and marketing tend to hover around 20%. If your emails are less than the average 20% email open rates, what can you do to bring that up and get more eyeballs reading your email content? 1. Treat Subject Lines Like Headlines Creating the subject lines of your email follows similar rules as making great headlines. Like a blog post headline, your email subject line bears most of the responsibility of getting your email open rates up where they should be. Good subject lines have a few characteristics: 1. No trickery.à Your subject line should tell your reader what theyll read, and not use subterfuge to trick them into opening an email. Remember the boy who cried wolf? That kind of email subject line will only work once, if they dont unsubscribe. 2. No yelling.à It should go without saying that using all caps in your subject line is a poor idea. However, both title case and sentence case can work magic. Title case works when you are using a shorter subject line which has headline-like quality (e.g. The 5 Most Important Email Tips Ever). Sentence case works when you have a longer or more conversational subject line (e.g. Have you made these 3 blogging mistakes?) 3. Numbers do work. Using numbers in your headline has shown to increase reader engagement. The same can be said for your email subject lines. Dont shy away from a subject that contains a number. 4. Some words dont work. There are words you should avoid using, even if you arent using them in a scam way. Spam filters are already working overtime to protect inboxes. You dont want to give them something to work with on your emails. There are also words that spam filters leave alone, but so do your human readers. For these,à MailChimp identifies their three worst offenders as Help, Percent Off, and Reminder. Spammers have unfortunately desensitized a lot of readers; be sure you dont sound anything like spam. 5. Hit the ideal length. The general rule of thumb is that your subject line should be around 50 characters. Thats not to say 40 wont work, or that 65 is a bad idea. The key is that you must be aware some email programs might cut characters off and if you have your most important word at the end of a long subject you might lose them. Keep important words at the beginning if you have a longer subject line. 6. Story wins. Whenever possible, approach your subject line as a story. In other words, pique your readers curiosity in your email and get their emotions (fear, humor, curiosity, anger, joy, gain, logic) involved; anything that suggests there is more to be read gets readers to open your email. Our Latest Newsletter is much less interesting than Have You Missed The Biggest News Yet? Sometimes a statement-type subject line is necessary, but do try to ping emotions in the subject line when possible. 2. A/B Test Your Subject Lines We regularly test the subject line of our weekly Content Marketing Update. We do this to find out which subject line will get the most opens and perform the best for a limited number of random users before sending it out to our entire list. In the example below, using A/B testing, our sample group helped us select the most successful headline of the two wed come up with, and increased our open rate by an estimated 70%. Version A carried the subject line of Are You A Content Hacker? which forced the reader to ask themselves a question they likely didnt know the answer to, since it is a new term. They clicked to find out. Its similar to the quizzes we get sucked into in magazines or online; were curious to find out who and what we are. Version B carried the subject line of How To Make A Living Blogging which is a helpful topic with a very specific audience of those who actually wanted to make their living blogging. A/B test your email subject and let your readers tell you what works best.I was the one creating the email, and I thought that Version B would be the more popular option. After all, there seems to be a spate of people concerned about making a living and our list was likely filled with people who wanted to do it with writing and blogging. But I was mistaken. Our list has a broad readership, with many of them serving in professional content marketing and social media marketing capacities. They were less interested in making a living blogging than they were to find out about what a content hacker might be.à The email with Are You A Content Hacker was the winner of our A/B test, and it sent out to our entire list with good success. A/B is based on the very simple idea of having two ideas, and letting your audience tell you which one they like. Most email providers, such as MailChimp and AWeber, offer A/B testing that makes it simple to test your subject lines. 3. Consider The First Sentence Its easy to forget that some email programs show the first few words of the first sentence in the inbox. My Gmail doesnt show me the first sentence and I forget that other email software, such as Sparrow and Outlook, does. Why should that matter? Because some of your readers are going to use both the subject line and the first line to give an indication on whether its worth opening or not. The first line of your email will show in some email software. In the example above, you can see that our recent Content Marketing Update email, in this view, had a truncated subject line and the first sentence had to help sell it. How many bloggers use email software that places a notice at the top that says the reader can click here if the email does not appear correctly? The first words of your email should help sell the email, not take care of maintenance.à This particular situation is the case for my personal blogs RSS-driven email, and that means the great headlines I might come up with are followed by a mundane message that suggests theres a chance my email wont look correctly and might not be worth the hassle. Thats not very enticing.à Maybe it doesnt hurt, if your headline is unbelievably superb, but it certainly doesnt help. Think of the opening line of your email like the next level headline. Do what you can with your template so that the first words are valuable. Change your email template to reflect something that feeds the curiosity that the subject line started. 4. Make Email Personally From You The from portion of your email is a way to humanize your email. When we send out our weekly email, we send it from Garrett, not from . Why? Our emails are by people, from people, for people. They arent from vague brands, apps, or objects with a possible nefarious agenda against humans. People connect with people, not with inanimate objects.
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Analytical reviews Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 4
Analytical reviews - Assignment Example His approach is to focus on the major ideas that bind a civilization together, rather than territorial advance through conquest or any technical achievements. Book 1 focuses on the geneses of civilizations and their disintegration. He does not have a universal explanation for this process, but rather explains how each civilization faces its own challenges and comes up with its own solutions. The variation in different outcomes is to be expected, and decline comes when a civilization ceases to produce the necessary resilience to face whatever problems it encounters. A similar undertaking was done by the German historian Oswald Spengler (1880-1936) but with a more pessimistic approach, looking at contemporary Western civilization and foreseeing its downfall. His book Decline of the West was written just before and during the First World War, which no doubt colored his view of things somewhat, given the slaughter of thousands of soldiers and civilians in the first fully mechanized war i n human history. Spengler conceived of civilizations as all following the same general pattern of rise, reign and fall, and proposed that this is a natural life cycle, much the same as that of a biological organism. He covers a much smaller range of civilizations, in a range of nine, culminating in Western civilization which he sees as being in a state of decline. An interesting and possibly prophetic perspective is given on the Islam and the Arab nations, (volume 2, pp. 191-193) which he regards as having been stopped in its tracks in ancient times by the advance of Graeco-Roman civilization. Spengler died before the worst of Nazi atrocities occurred and this may explain his rather pro-German stance. His approach is too broad-brush to contribute much to our understanding of history and both his work and Toynbeeââ¬â¢s more extensive study suffer from too much emphasis on philosophy and culture, and too little understanding of economic factors. Both authors also writer from a west ern perspective, and of the two Toynbee is the least objective, since he interprets moral issues from a strong Judeo Christian perspective. Their great contribution to the field of history is that they extended the perspective beyond national boundaries and tried to analyse things on a grander scale, even though they did not achieve a fully global perspective. Part 2: Culture and development. In the introduction to his book The Wealth and Poverty of Nations David Landes takes a global perspective and argues that an age of division between East and West in world history has now been replaced by a division between North and South. He contrasts the wealthy developed world (largely northern and western) with the less developed southern half of the globe and tries to work out why this is the case. Two common hypotheses are rejected as too easy, namely that the western nations were superior in ability and industriousness, which gave them an edge over other nations, or conversely the weste rn nations were more ruthless and greedy (p. xxi). Landes concludes that there is an element of truth in both, and that ââ¬Å"Things are always more complicated than we would have themâ⬠(p xxi) and proceeds with a Eurocentric approach, having acknowledged this fact at the very outset. Paul Gootenberg in the introduction of his book Andean Cocaine:
Friday, October 18, 2019
U08d1, u08d2, u08d3 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
U08d1, u08d2, u08d3 - Coursework Example The Sun is notà massiveà enough to ever evolve into a black hole; it will end its life in about 4.5 billion years as a white dwarfà star. But, in case if the Sun's mass was suddenly collapsed into a black hole then Earth's orbit then if a oneà solar massà black hole were to suddenly replace the Sun at the center of our solar system, the orbits of the planets would not change. This is because the physical laws that determine the orbital motion of the Earth depend only on the actual mass of the Sun, and not on whether it is distributed within a sphere (like the Sun) or at a point (like a black hole). 2. "There are 1011 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers." ââ¬âRichard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate When we think of an astronomical number ââ¬â we probably think of a sum thatââ¬â ¢s almost beyond human comprehension. We probably refer to huge numbers as astronomical because of the vast and seemingly infinite universe. But the universe may not be as big as it seems when compared to something like the national debt. This quote has been said towards the backhanded critique of government. Furthermore,à we can say that there are at least 100 billion galaxies in the universe and each galaxy containing around 1 trillion stars. Thatââ¬â¢s 1 x 10^23 or 100 sextillion stars in the universe. Hence this comparison is done against the size of the national deficit. It's a good point, and economics can provide some slightly more familiar analogies to people grappling with large numbers than trying to contemplate entire galaxies. The important point here is not that high finance is catching up with the sciences; itââ¬â¢s that the numbers we encounter everywhere in daily life are growing steadily larger. While the consumer was busy saving, the Federal U. S. governmen t was piling on debt at a much greater pace. In fact, during Q2 of 2008 Washington accumulated debt at a 24.4% annual rate! Therefore, even though households and state and local governments have hopefully begun to learn their lessons; D.C. still managed to increase the overall level of non-financial debt in the U.S. to a record $35.45 trillion.â⬠3. Picture of the week How are the stars formed within the nebula? What is causing these dramatic pillars? What thoughts and reactions do you have to the pictures and their descriptions? All stars are formed from nebulae (the plural of nebula). Nebula is a term for a cloud of gas, and stars form from gas. Many nebulae or stars form from theà gravitational collapseà of gas in theà interstellar medium. As the material collapses under its own weight, massive stars may form in the center, and theirà ultra violet radiation ionizesà the surrounding gas, making it visible at opticalà wavelengths. Star formationà is the process b y which dense parts ofà molecular cloudsà collapse into a ball ofà plasmaà to form aà star. These eerie, dark pillar-like structures are actually columns of cool interstellar hydrogen gas and dust that are also incubators for new stars. The pillars protrude from the interior wall of a dark molecular cloud like stalagmites from the floor of a cavern. They are part of the "Eagle Nebula" M16, a nearby star-forming region 7,000 light-years away in the
Describe the political situation in the south after the end of Essay
Describe the political situation in the south after the end of reconstruction - Essay Example They never had the peopleââ¬â¢s interests at heart. This was evident in the reign of the president Hayes and even president Garfield. In most cases, the president task is to ensure that they are loyal to their citizens without favor. However, that was not the case as most of them awarded jobs and other 1privileges to the people who voted them in. The rotten political landscape not only affected the political field, but also stretched into the other arms of government too.2 The American courts were not an exemption either. Its main challenge was to ensure that the state does not deprive the police the power to protect the welfare of the vulnerable citizens from those leaders who are self-centered. Politics being the song of American citizens especially in every event since the late 19th century, party loyalty was a serious issue. Republicans were considered as synonyms for patriotism while the democrats were self respected individuals. The post reconstruction politics was meant that the one party system of politics faced opposition mainly from the less fortunate whites and even the black republicans too. Racial violence was rampant and for such a reason the black Americans had no choice but to unwillingly submit to their white
Thursday, October 17, 2019
History of Islamic Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
History of Islamic Art - Essay Example In this area they formed the Caliphate of CÃ ³rdoba, which remained until 1031 before falling due to the Fitna of al-Ã ndalus. The Islamic art entails the visual arts that were produced by the people from 7th century and onwards. Thus, this art is tough to define since it covers various lands and diverse people for the time period of more than 1400 years. The vast capacity of Islamic architecture pertains to a distinctive article, belonging to various fields such as painting, textiles, calligraphy, ceramics, and glass among others. Some of the fields of art in the Umayyad dynasty are described below: Architecture: The building of the Umayyad dynasty is constructed with the local materials, generally of ashlars stone, which is usually combined with brick. The mosques and monuments with their austere exteriors provide the buildings a lavish interior decoration which is made of geometrically-patterned marble mosaics and revetment depict vegetal forms architecture, and objects with royal connotations such as vases and crowns. Carvings: The primary decoration components of the Umayyads art had derived from the late-classical customs of wall- and floor-mosaic, stone-carving and wall-painting. It also uses the plaster decoration, which was adopted from the Hellenised East. These designs are found across the complete range of mediums just like the geometrical deigns and vary from book illustration to plasterwork; in woodwork, ceramics, ivory-carving and metalwork, even in textiles and carpets. Metalwork: The art patronage has been a symbol of authority and kingship and has emerged as a theme from the creative appropriations from past and abroad (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History). Numerous luxurious objects including the boxes of bronze animal statuary, gilt silver and carved ivory, and luxuriously figured silks had been commissioned for
Engel vs Vitale Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Engel vs Vitale - Research Paper Example Amenâ⬠. The parents of the students filed a case against the school for violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Issue: Whether or not the recitation of the prayer violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Held: The Supreme Court held that the mandatory requirement of recitation of an official prayer in a public school in unconstitutional as it violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. ââ¬Å"The justices have observed that the place of religion in our society is an exalted one, but in the relationship between man and religion, the State is firmly committed to a position of neutrality. Students may pray silently as they wish. What the Constitution forbids is the sponsorship or encouragement of prayer, directly or indirectly, by public school authorities (Edwards III, Wattenberg and Lineberry, 107)â⬠. The Court has given an emphasis on the importance of separation between church and state. The promotion of a religious belief by the school through the recitation of a prescribed prayer creates a Constitutional infirmity. It is considered as a religious activity, and the promotion by the school of a particular religious belief to be adapted by its students is constitutionally impermissible. The Court did not agree with the defendantââ¬â¢s position that the promotion of the religious belief is not coercive.à It further explained that mere promotion such as recitation of an official prayer in school is sufficient to establish a violation. The civil liberty of the freedom of religion is a right guaranteed by the Constitution which must be upheld and respected by the school authorities. According to Judge Albert Rosenblatt, ââ¬Å"by Establishment, we mean state religion, in 1791, the framers of the Constitution recognized that the country (USA) would do better not with just a single religion, but a diversity of religion in relation to Madison and Jeffersonââ¬â¢s thinking and we value it today as Ameri cans, and felt good about the role of the separation of the church and the state. However, First Amendment prohibits establishment of a religion, it did prohibit state religion which means, when the government did support a national or state religion, which means all tax payers are paying to support a particular a faith or creed that is not yours. As Americans, we do not want the government to support one particular religion. It is not politically ideological, cultural and financial that we pay or support one particular religionâ⬠(State Court Watch). Rosenblattââ¬â¢s view that the separation of the church and the state is inviolable should be upheld. ââ¬Å"Thomas Jefferson has argued that the first amendment created a wall of separation between the church and the state, forbidding not just to favouritism, but also any support to religion at all (Edwards III, Wattenberg and Lineberry, 106).â⬠In this particular case, students should not be exposed to the practice of re citation of a voluntary prayer which is not in accordance with their religious belief. Every person must be given the freedom to choose their own religion and faith. Religious liberty is a right of a person recognized under the constitution. The principle of federalism teaches us that the government of this nation is shared by two sets of sovereigns,
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
History of Islamic Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
History of Islamic Art - Essay Example In this area they formed the Caliphate of CÃ ³rdoba, which remained until 1031 before falling due to the Fitna of al-Ã ndalus. The Islamic art entails the visual arts that were produced by the people from 7th century and onwards. Thus, this art is tough to define since it covers various lands and diverse people for the time period of more than 1400 years. The vast capacity of Islamic architecture pertains to a distinctive article, belonging to various fields such as painting, textiles, calligraphy, ceramics, and glass among others. Some of the fields of art in the Umayyad dynasty are described below: Architecture: The building of the Umayyad dynasty is constructed with the local materials, generally of ashlars stone, which is usually combined with brick. The mosques and monuments with their austere exteriors provide the buildings a lavish interior decoration which is made of geometrically-patterned marble mosaics and revetment depict vegetal forms architecture, and objects with royal connotations such as vases and crowns. Carvings: The primary decoration components of the Umayyads art had derived from the late-classical customs of wall- and floor-mosaic, stone-carving and wall-painting. It also uses the plaster decoration, which was adopted from the Hellenised East. These designs are found across the complete range of mediums just like the geometrical deigns and vary from book illustration to plasterwork; in woodwork, ceramics, ivory-carving and metalwork, even in textiles and carpets. Metalwork: The art patronage has been a symbol of authority and kingship and has emerged as a theme from the creative appropriations from past and abroad (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History). Numerous luxurious objects including the boxes of bronze animal statuary, gilt silver and carved ivory, and luxuriously figured silks had been commissioned for
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Performance of Veolia Environnement in Fulfilling Social Needs Research Paper - 3
Performance of Veolia Environnement in Fulfilling Social Needs - Research Paper Example The company had undergone heavy debt which resulted in fire-scale of companyââ¬â¢s assets, dizzying financial condition, and an identity crisis. In the year 2002, the company had declared net loss of â⠬12.3 billion. As a consequence, the companyââ¬â¢s rate with regards to credit has turned into ââ¬ËJunkââ¬â¢ status. Vivendi Universal had sold a fraction of its large holdings to pay off the debt of stakeholders. The shareholders of the company sued against the former manager and claimed a price of 54 million USD. In the year 2002, due to the bad financial condition, Vivendi Universal was forced to sell parts of their stake in Vivendi Environnement. In order to retain the confidence of shareholders and also to reflect the organizationââ¬â¢s greater independence, Vivendi Environnement was named as Veolia Environnement (Public Citizen 2005). Approximately 70% of international privatized water business is ruled by two companies, i.e. Veolia and Suez. Both the companies have made a joint subsidiary company so that profit can be shared between them in lieu of competing with each other. Both the companies had created an uncompetitive business situation through joint ventures (Public Citizen 2005). Veolia Environnement though used illegal methods such as bribery to get water contracts. For example, two senior executives of Veolia Environnement was convicted for giving bribe to the Mayor of St. Denis for obtaining water contract in the year 1996 (Public Citizen 2005). Besides bribery, there are other critiques of Veolia Environnement, for example, in the year 2003 Veolia Environnementââ¬â¢s waste management was ordered to provide fine of 100,000 Euro for damaging of 3500 hectares scrubland by fire. In 2000, Veolia Environnement misled the investors for purchasing the US Filter plant. The loss of 2.25 billion Euros had been represented to the investor a profit of 625 million Euros (Chandra, Girard, and Puscas 2005). Veolia Environnement has a poor r ecord of societal and environmental issues. To counter these bad records Veolia Company made a good long term relationship with the United Nations and World Water Council in order to build a good image before society. The company has conducted several advertisings for promoting privatization of water. Veolia Environnement affiliated with various international agencies for searching new market and expanded their business. The International Financial Institution (IFI) provided Veolia Environnement a large amount of money for the infrastructure of service and developed many urban renewal projects internationally.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Evaluate factors that influenced the effectiveness of each interaction Essay Example for Free
Evaluate factors that influenced the effectiveness of each interaction Essay In this piece of coursework I will be analysing and evaluating the factors that influence the effectiveness of each interaction in relation to the one to one set at a GPââ¬â¢s for a patient that has really bad back pains and is complaining about how sharp the pain is. I based the one to one interaction on a patient with back problems and theyââ¬â¢ve come to the GPââ¬â¢s for something to be given to them. I thought of this because itââ¬â¢s something I went through and I thought it would be nice to let people know what process I went through and how hard it was. The first factor, I thought that influenced the one to one interaction was the patient and doctor taking turns while talking and not interrupting. Turn taking is a major factor that involves our everyday lifestyle and itââ¬â¢s helpful because you know you will get a turn at having your own say. Turn taking helps out a lot especially if you are with younger children or at a GP. For example, the patient came to her doctor and she told her doctor what was wrong with her and how much sheââ¬â¢s in pain, the doctor listened to her while she was talking and didnââ¬â¢t ask questions until she finished talking then, the doctor answered all her questions and asked her own questions trying to figure out what was wrong about that patient and what actions will need to be taken for the patient to feel better. Towards the end the doctor referred the patient to her local hospital for an x-ray to see whatââ¬â¢s going on. Whatââ¬â¢s good about turn taking is that everyone listens to each other and you donââ¬â¢t get interrupted also you know youââ¬â¢ll have enough time to talk while others have a chance to think about questions to ask you. The second factor I realised that influenced the one to one interaction was listening. Listening is letting people talk and you concentrating on just what they are saying, listening is a very important communication skill because if you donââ¬â¢t listen you may misunderstand something which may leads you to thinking differently and feeling insecure. Read more: Describe factors which may influence childrenââ¬â¢s development essay Listening was one factor that influenced the one to one interaction because if one of us didnââ¬â¢t listen while the other person was talking we may have not heard what they were saying or concentrated enough to understand what they were saying which can lead to giving wrong answers which could be a problem to the persons health thatââ¬â¢s why when others are talking you always have to listen. For example, in the one to one interaction Emily was my partner and she helped me concentrate listening toà her because little things distract me easily so I had to make sure I listened to her also, we had our script which was used as a prop if we missed out something we carried on listening to each other while looking at what was said to not give the wrong answer. We listened to each other because we knew how important listening is and we were successful at getting through the one to one interaction without not knowing what was going on because we listened to each other. The third factor that also had an influence on the one to one interaction was respect towards each other. Respecting each other shows you give them pride and you are happy about what they are saying or doing also, respect comes from learning to care about people from older ages because we have to respect people to get along with life if we donââ¬â¢t respect then there could be consequences. Respect is very important because we all have to respect everyone no matter what their race, gender, age or features are we have to because we live in a society that moves with respect. For example, if we didnââ¬â¢t respect the army that looks after the country for losing their lives to make the world a much happier place and for us to be safe then that will be a major consequence because whatââ¬â¢s the point of those people dying for us if we canââ¬â¢t have a little respect for them. The reason why I thought respect had a influence in the one to one interaction was because if we didnà ¢â¬â¢t respect each other we wouldnââ¬â¢t have been able to understand each other and we wouldnââ¬â¢t have been able to do the doctor and patient script because a doctor always has to respect their patients no matter what happens they have to so does the patient too. An example of this would be, when the patient walked into the room I felt the respect from the patient by the way they answered me and facial expressions. This had a big impact on the interaction because it made it less awkward to talk with the patient and not only was the patient comfortable with asking questions to do with her illness but as a doctor being able to have enough respect from a patient to ask them what areas of the back hurts and being able to have a look at the patients back to check whatââ¬â¢s wrong. The last factor that had an influence on the interaction was how professional I was. Being professional can be difficult because if youââ¬â¢ve always been in an environment thatââ¬â¢s unprofessional and you donââ¬â¢t know where to use what language that can be an issue. So being professional was key in this interaction because I was a person that had a reputation,à that had power to help people and look after them. If I didnââ¬â¢t act professional the patient could have not taken me serious but I did. The reason why being professional was an influence in the interaction because I realised the more professional you are no matter where you are you will always be looked up to and thatââ¬â¢s why I thought it was an influence because it made the patient feel secure with me, it made the patient understand no matter what happens I will always be supporting the patient which would make both of us happy. For example, the minute the patient knocked on the door I dropped everything I was doing and stood up and shock the hand then I made the patient feel welcomed and asked how they were then they started explaining what the problem was and the actions I was doing showed I was professional.
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Is Low Self Esteem Linked To Racism?
Is Low Self Esteem Linked To Racism? In the US, racism is a very familiar issue. Racism manifests itself in various ways including police brutality against minorities, racial profiling and affirmative action. Issue like the history of slavery and the rising resentment against immigrants are also quite well known. The truth is, racism is not a thing of the past. Perhaps it has reduced in the past century, but it is still quite alive today. Eradicating racism is one of those processes that cannot happen in an instant, but they happen over a long period of time. Slowly, but surely, we are moving in a positive direction. Low self-esteem has become a frequently repeated explanation for social and personal problems ranging from young peoples involvement in violent crimes to personal failures and racist behaviors. According to psychologists who have researched the topic, racism is about real power, it is not just something that people randomly think about. Social issues like racism are quite complex and multilayered. It partly has to do with issues of economics, political power, and domination. It is also based on how people perceive, interpret, and value differences. Basically, people act in ways that align with their perceptions. People define circumstances in ways that are real to them and also according to the values that they were raised with. It is true that racial groups have things that make them distinct; however people sometimes dwell on negative distinctions as opposed to the positive ones. We humans tend to emphasize stereotypes that relate to our most closely held values. For instance, a group that values intellect may be quick to see another group as inferior in intelligence. Similarly, if loyalty is valued by a group, then it may label others as disloyal. It seems that racism helps racists feel good about themselves and their racial group by focusing on comparisons with other groups. These issues are what give these groups an identity. There are many ways in which people try to feel better about themselves; as individuals and as a group. Seemingly, everyone likes to believe that their racial group is unique but people tend to overestimate the level of positive attributes present in the group. On the other hand, when it comes to negative qualities, people tend to underestimate those. Racism can develop because of limited information. As humans, we find ourselves putting people in categories like good versus bad and friend versus foe. Without these generalized concepts and categories, getting through the day would be highly demanding. Categorization helps us take shortcuts and helps us become more efficient in making decisions. Also, racism towards other groups often leads to feelings of anxiety when we encounter the members of other racial groups. When we are anxious, we tend to avoid what makes us anxious. We simply avoid contact with individuals by hiring someone else for a job, striking up friendships with someon e else we feel more comfortable with, and sitting down at the lunch table with those who seem to be more like us. Racism may help us feel better about ourselves, we avoid challenging our thinking. In other words, we become defensive and protective of our opinions and only reluctantly question our thought patterns. And these ways of thinking helps protect not only our self-esteem, but also privileges and benefits that we have as members of a racial group. For example, racist discrimination which in the past has limited slots available to minority groups at universities has benefitted the majority population by making more slots available to its members. So, maintaining our racist views of others allows us to feel better about our own group and to avoid challenging unfair social practices that benefit us. Furthermore, we as humans seem to put effort into maintaining our views of the world. For example, we may pay attention to information that supports our views. The more strongly we hold a stereotype, the more we tend to remember confirming information about that racial group. For instance, the more we believe that Asian people cannot drive, the more likely we will remember incidents which seem to support these views. We also discount or rationalize information that is contradictory to our belief system. People who do not act according to our stereotype of them stand out to us as different. For example the Black person who is intelligent articulate and the Asian man who is a good driver become exceptions to the rule, but the rule remains. It is almost like when we see someone from a different racial group, we look for those stereotypes that align with our thinking. Racism, Violence Immigrants in the workplace The U.S. legislative system is currently battling over the Immigration bill for workers. Resistance is fierce in the House of Congress to any plan to legalize the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants or to create a program of millions of guest workers who would in turn be put on a path to citizenship. No one accuses House leaders of acting out of racism, but some say they are responding to constituents who are. The House leadership needs to show some progress on the immigration issue to soothe angry anti-immigrant forces in the country. But the President and Senate want guest workers and a path to citizenship as part of any deal. The Democratic allegations of racism may sound like just another political strategy, but there certainly is a case to be made that racial fears are fueling some of the debate on the immigration policy. The political demand to seal the U.S.-Mexico border, and the Presidents new proposal to send 6,000 members of the Army to help, is supposed to be based on national security. But why then is no one proposing sending additional troops to secure the U.S.-Canada border? Most people want to know if the U.S. is trying to stop primarily undocumented Mexican workers rather than terrorists from crossing the border. Figuring out just how many immigrants, Hispanics or otherwise, to let into the country each year is exactly what lawmakers ought to be trying to do as they undertake immigration reform. Setting immigration targets that are in the countrys interest is, after all, the point of having an immigration policy to begin with. Policymakers should be asking questions like: what kinds of skills does America need to import? And how many of them do they need? What advantage is there is in allowing family members to join new citizens, as is currently the policy? Just as important, the debate could address the issue of race head-on: should ethnicity be a factor in granting citizenship? But until politicians define the goals of American immigration policy; who and how many do we want and for what reason, it will be impossible to eliminate the influence of ant i-immigrant forces who, whether racist or not, draw dubious conclusions and make misleading statements. In Canada, immigration reform needs to take place especially to protect long-term care facility workers who are immigrants. Long-term care facility workers include nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, administrators etc. Canadian long-term care facilities are violent and dangerous workplaces. This need not be the case, a study found that 43% of personal support workers endure physical violence at work on a daily basis, while another quarter face such violence every week. Most are women, and many are immigrants or from minority racial groups. Violence is a constant and ongoing part of their job. In contrast, they found that levels of violence are much lower in Nordic countries, indicating that the high level of violence in Canadian facilities is exceptional and not a necessary feature of work in long-term care. The study is part of a larger project comparing Canadian long-term care facilities with Nordic European countries. Violence in long-term care is not just a workers issue. It is an immigration issue. The vast majority of care-giving staff are women, many of whom are immigrants and women of color. Personal support workers are the ones who suffer the most. The fact is that much of the violence occurs during direct care activities. Because personal support workers provide the bulk of direct care, they are most frequently exposed to violence. This does not imply that violence does not have an impact on other workers. In fact, the researchers found that 16.8% of registered nurses and 24.6% of licensed practical nurses, and registered nursing assistants experience violence on a daily basis. These numbers are shocking, but they do not come close to the prevalence of daily violence for personal support workers (43%). Workers at 71 unionized long-term care facilities in Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia were surveyed about their experiences of physical violence, unwanted sexual attention and racial comments. They also took part in focus group discussions. The workers were nearly seven times more likely to experience daily violence than workers in Nordic European countries like Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Researchers also identified racism and structural violence. This stems from severe working conditions for caregivers who are committed to caring but robbed of the resources to do so. The researchers concluded that long-term caregivers work under conditions that not only foster violence but also render it invisible. Most violent incidents go unreported. Workers are afraid to report violent incidents, fearing that they will be blamed. Or they simply do not have the time to do so because of the paperwork involved. The verbal violence experienced by care workers often includes threats, screaming, cursing, racial insults, and demeaning remarks. The physical violence experienced by care workers typically includes being slapped or hit with an object. It frequently involves being pinched, bitten, having ones hair pulled, being poked or spit on. Having ones wrists painfully twisted is also common. Unwanted sexual attention was also frequently experienced by those surveyed. Approximately one third said they experienced unwanted sexual attention on a daily or weekly basis. Over 11% of the staff said they encountered racist comments on a daily or weekly basis. According to the research, this is likely an underestimation of workplace racism. A large number of workers from minority groups work in large urban centers with high likelihood of racism. Also, the questionnaires were available only in English and workers were required to fill them out alone, so workers with language barriers are underrepresented. In focus group discussions, many workers reported that they personally experienced or overheard racism at work. Long-term care workers link violence and racism with working conditions. Having too much to do, working with too little time and too few resources places workers in dangerous situations. Working short-staffed is a major contributor. Canadian personal support workers reported that they routinely work short-staffed. Almost half say they do so every day. And over one third felt that they are too often left alone to care for residents. When these working conditions were compared to those of the citizens of Nordic countries, they just could not match up. Immigrants and minorities are simply not treated the same as non-immigrants and non-minorities. What can one person do? I recently read the story of a lady who currently resides in Canada but was born in the Philippines. A few years ago, the woman had a very difficult decision to make. She gave birth to her son in Canada and had the impossible choice between an impoverished life for him in the Philippines, or leaving him with strangers in Canada. Now Salvador, a Filipino migrant domestic worker in Montreal, is campaigning against what she calls the systemic racism and sexism of the Canadian governments Live-in Caregiver program. Salvador entered Canada in 1995 as one of thousands of Filipino workers in the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP). The LCP is an initiative of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, allowing foreign workers (almost always women) to enter Canada as domestic workers living in their employers home. Salvador earns $271 for a 49-hour week and after taxes takes home $221. After completing 24 months of work within 3 years of arriving, caregivers are allowed to apply for landed immigrant status. For Salvador, the choice to come to Canada was a matter of life and death for her family. She felt that she had no choice but to move to Canada. Even with the LCP, applicants pay fees to their own government, to the Canadian and Quebec governments, to the employment agency, and for their travel. For Salvador this amounted to over $4700 Canadian. This was such a large sum of money for Salvador and she struggled to gather the money. Colonialism and global capitalism have created a situation in the Philippines where its economy is dependent on transnational corporations, where low-wage contract work, poverty and unemployment are rampant, and where 2000 workers leave the country daily in search of a livelihood. It seems like the Canadian governments need for cheap labor and the Labor Export Policy of the Philippines makes the LCP a functional system. The government of the Philippines systematically pushes Filipinos out of the country, so that they can earn money abroad. Meanwhile, there are millions of dollars being sent back to the Philippines by these migrants. Salvador has been elected vice-chairperson of Pinay, a Filipino womens advocacy and support organization. Pinay gives caregivers information, advice, and guidance through the problems they may encounter with employers, agencies, and the government. Many of its members are current and former caregivers who call strongly for the LCP to be overhauled or abolished. The Canadian Filipino community in general also wants the program scrapped and campaigns across Canada on the issue. Critics of the LCP say that significant problems arise for migrant workers under the program. As caregivers live in the home, they often work unpaid overtime, including extra tasks such as cleaning, cooking and tutoring. Theoretically, live-in caregivers are granted basic rights such as access to employment insurance, pregnancy leave, overtime pay, vacations and paid holidays. The law states that people with complaints about their employers should file them with the appropriate Commissioner in Quebec. And if the caregiver is fired, they are still allowed to find another employer in the meantime. But there is a gap between the theory and the reality that caregivers face. One problem Salvador finds with this procedure is that if a caregiver is fired, whether or not she files a complaint, the 4-6 month waiting period for a new work permit is too long. In Salvadors case, when her employers learned she was pregnant, they fired her. She was not allowed to work between permits, eventually could not fulfill the 24-month requirement. She says some employers considered her to be unwanted. In contrast, a pregnant colleague heeded her employers suggestion to have an abortion, kept her job, and eventually became an immigrant. Salvador was unable to fulfill the immigration requirements because she was pregnant, gave birth and was fired. If she was a man, of course she would have no problem fulfilling the 24 months. Salvador did not comply with her first order to leave the country, as she has filed an appeal to remain in Canada on humanitarian grounds. She met with an immigration official, however, and was told to leave the country or be deported by force. According to Salvadors affidavit, the immigration officer found that the applicants volunteer work with three local community organizations did not show integration into Canadian society, because the organizations exist to help persons of Filipino origin. When a local member of the National Action Committee of the Status of Women found out about the situation, she was outraged. She could not believe that helping the Filipino Canadian community was not considered tangible. This is pure discrimination and racism. Furthermore, although an employer made known his willingness to hire her, the immigration officer expressed doubts that Salvador could find a job in Canada. But throughout her irregular employment, she had never let herself become a burden to the Canadian government. Neither was she ever a burden to the government of her country. Some of the caregivers were skilled workers such as nurses or accountants in the Philippines, but in Canada are confined to domestic care giving, jobs that Canadians do not want to do. Salvador was always willing to be a care giver, as long as she is able to obtain residency status. All she wants is a better life for her family. For example, when Canada brought in foreign nurses to fill demand, they were given status. In fact, the work of care givers allows both Canadian parents to work and contribute to Canadian society. Care givers also contribute taxes and fees to the Canadian government, which is if great benefit to them. Salvador points out that the Canadian government saves money importing the cheaper labor of women from developing countries, instead of instituting a national childcare program. Basically, the government is filling a public need with a private solution. Her affidavit states that the immigration officer suggested that her son should be left behind in Canada. It is believed that he would not suffer trauma due to separation from only one parent, as he has never seen his father. How outrageous this is. Salvadors lawyer argues that Salvador and her son should remain in Canada for humanitarian reasons. Her son is a Canadian citizen, and as a result he has all the rights accorded to a Canadian citizen, including the Constitutional right to live in Canada. If the mother is deported, his rights would be violated, either the right to live in Canada if deported along with his mother, or the right to security of the person if he stays in Canada because he would be separated from his mother, the only parent he has ever know. Salvador was refused an extension on her work permit. She should theoretically be granted all the rights and access to services of any other Canadian citizen, including access to health care. Salvador was not able, however, to renew her sons Medicare card when her employment authorization ran out. The Campaign to Stop the Exploitation of Melca Salvador has included many community members and students in research, letter-writing campaigns, media outreach, raising legal funds, organizing demonstrations, and distributing information. Petitions and letters of support have been received from migrant worker communities around the world. Their press release states that LCP critics insist deporting women live-in caregivers such as Salvador and others in several recent cases, is unjust on humanitarian grounds. These women are not disposable commodities that Canada can use and dump at will. Demands for the Canadian government include allowing Salvador to remain in Canada with her son Richard, recognizing the rights and contributions of foreign caregivers and nannies to Canada, granting Melca and all LCP workers residency now, and abolishing the LCP as it now exists. In many cases these women are overworked and underpaid but because they have to complete 24 months of work within 3 years just to apply for residency status, they put up with it. Campaign members are organizing a Canada-wide day of protest in support of Salvador, which is Thursday, October 19th. They hope to reverse her deportation order so that she can stay with her son. Unfortunately, the federal government does not seem ready to hear their critiques of the LCP. It does not seem like there are any changes planned for the LCP, not even a re-evaluation of the programs impact. Recently, several Canadian Filipino activists insisted on meeting Canadas Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, to discuss their co ncerns. Conclusion By changing our behavior, for example, putting ourselves in close situations with members of other racial groups, we increase our familiarity with these individuals. As we become more familiar with them, we naturally see that we are more alike than different. Not all contact will lead to positive attitude changes. It seems the contact is best if structured; encounters among equals who are cooperating to achieve a common goal. These kinds of behavioral activities are some of the most effective ways to change prejudice against people of other races.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Essay --
ââ¬Å"Awaking on Friday morning, 20 June 1913, the South African Native found himself, not actually a slave, but a pariah in the land of his birthâ⬠(Gish 18). Desmond Tutu is one of the greatest rabble-rousers for peace that there ever was. He maintains huge political and religious influences even to this day. Most people in South Africa and many more countries hear his voice. His impact on fixing the apartheid system in South Africa was a major one. This apartheid system was very segregated towards whites and blacks in South Africa. Blacks were being forced to move to so-called ââ¬Å"homelands.â⬠The blacks had very little land to live with such many people. These people were being oppressed only because they had a different skin color then white people. Despite growing up in the poverty of South Arica, Desmond Tutu used his religious and political influences to help black South Africans that were being segregated by the government of South Africa. Born is Klerksdorp, Transvaal, South Africa, Desmond Tutu was born under the name Desmond Mpilo Tutu. He attended multiple schools throughout his life, including Johannesburg Bantu High School. Tutuââ¬â¢s father was a schoolteacher while his mother was a domestic worker. Nowadays, Tutu rarely discusses his ethnic roots. While Tutu was in his early years, the government passed the Natives Land Act. Less than eight percent of the country was dedicated as ââ¬Å"reservesâ⬠for blacks. The black peoples only had this land to live off of. On top of this, Desmond caught polio as a young kid. Polio is a very deadly disease, so hid life hung by a thread. Luckily, he survived but with long-lasting effects. To this day, his hands still shake due to having polio as a kid. ââ¬Å"Life was actually quite full. It was funâ⬠¦al... ... and degrees in his lifetime, and the Nobel Peace Prize was one of them. This among many other medals shows his influence on the world. Desmond Tutu grew up in the poverty communities of South Africa. He overcame this to become on of the most influential man through both religion and politics. He can make his voice louder than many others, and he can voice his opinions throughout the world. He holds a major role in the religious community, having been archbishop in many places. Many strong and powerful government officials believe what Tutu has to say, and they voice his opinion through politics. Desmond Tutu is still alive today. He still strives to help the world become a better place. He was a major key in fixing the South African apartheid system. Maybe even without him, that system would still be present today. Desmond Tutu is a very influential and great man.
Friday, October 11, 2019
Biology unit 1&2 chapter 3 answers Essay
There must be a higher concentration of wastes in the dialysis tube than in the surroundings. Wastes must therefore be constantly removed from the surroundings to maintain a concentration gradient. b) What special features does it have? If the surrounding solution was not changed, the concentration gradient would become smaller and smaller until diffusion would no longer occur and the same amount of wastes would leave the dialysis tubing as wound enter it. 2. 3. When epithelial cells such as human cheek cells, are studied under a microscope, they are mounted on a slide to which a drop of ââ¬Ënormalââ¬â¢ saline (salt) solution, rather than tap water, has been added. Explain why this is the best method for preparing these cells. If the person drank the sea water, cells in digestive system would be surrounded by a hypotonic solution and would lose water. Cells would become dehydrated and cease to function. 4. Under what natural conditions might plant cells become plasmolysis? There will be a net movement of water into the Amoeba in freshwater environment. 5. Two cells have the same internal concentration of sugar solution. They are both placed in distilled water. Even though both cells expand over time, one expands faster than the other. What are some reasons for this observation? The disease will cause severe diarrhea. Human body will be infected with bacterium when drinking contaminated water, and sticks to the intestinal lining. . Intestinal cells start secreting sodium and chloride ions into the intestinal fluid. This upsets the balance of fluids, causing a net movement of water out of the intestinal cells into the surrounding fluid which is then excreted with faces, causing diarrhea. Dehydration of body cells may eventually kill infected people. 6. After eating a packet of slated potato chips your lips often feel dry. Explain why? Blood glucose levels are measured in mill moles of glucose per liter of blood (mmol/L). The normal level is around 5 mmol/L. A 5% solution of glucose is roughly equivalent to the normal level of glucose in the blood. If this concentration drastically increases (20%), body cells may be in danger of losing water by osmosis. Increased thirst and excessive urination are two of the symptoms of diabetes, a condition in which the amount of blood sugar rises to unacceptable levels. 7. A student places a living cell into a drop of liquid contains less than 5% sugar. a) Make a hypothesis to explain what caused the change in sugar concentration outside the living cell. It is hypothesis a living cell being placed into a drop of liquid contains less than 5% sugar can cause the sugar concentration outside the living cell. 8. A particle that has been drawn into a cell by phagocytosis is not truly inside the cell. Explain the statement. If salt levels rise, water tends to move from the root tissue in citrus trees to the surroundings by osmosis. There is a lack of water for photosynthesis, causing smaller yields of citrus fruit.
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Greek Life in American Campuses Essay
Why is it that the statement, no man is an island, is so astoundingly true given even the benefit of the doubt? Why is it that men and women alike have this profound need to be in a company of people? Theoretically, it all boils down to human nature. But somehow, it seems that we all want to have people around us. The statements that Greek Life in American colleges and universities merely consists of drinking sessions and parties and a factor that pulls down the grades of students are nothing but an unfounded assertion.à And although there are countless preconceived misconceptions about the Greek Life in American colleges and universities, the unprecedented reality is that fraternities and sororities have been fostering the growth and development of each of their members not just as a student but more importantly, as a person. There are a lot of negative assumption people have with regard to fraternities and sororities. These misconceptions have forced some fraternity and sorority members all over the country to go up in arms against what they consider to be a case of discrimination being hurled against them. The most common assumption is that the Greek life is nothing more than an excuse to party and drink. Moreover, there is also the assertion that the fraternities and sororities are the reasons for the declining GPAââ¬â¢s of students. In addition, even parents are frightened of the thought of their children joining any fraternity or sorority because they have the notion that these groups are bad influences to their children. All of these are somehow valid concerns. However, these statements actually make any member of a fraternity or sorority laugh than be angry. This is simply because they are somehow irrational. A student of Rutgers College, Andrea Cortland (2005)à has acknowledged in her article entitled, ââ¬Å"Paying for friendsâ⬠which has been published in February 9, 2005 issue of the Daily Targrum that Greeks in her school indeed ââ¬Å"drink and party.â⬠However, she has pointed out that non-Greek students also indulge in the same activities, explaining that drinking and partying are common modes of relaxation among college students not only at Rutgers but elsewhere in the country. She has even lamented the fact that people tend to be biased against fraternity and sorority members because of their greater visibility, claiming that ââ¬Å"itââ¬â¢s easier to identify members of a group than isolated individualsâ⬠(Cortland, 2005). Furthermore, there is no proof that joining a fraternity or a sorority will pull down a studentââ¬â¢s GPA. The grades of students go up and down regardless of whether or not they are members of a fraternity or a sorority. Lastly, the fear of many parents that fraternities and sororities are bad influences to students is mere conjecture. Kelly Jo Karnes, Associate Director of the Division of Student Affairs at the Old Dominion University (ODU) in Norfolk, Virginia, have written a letter addressed to the parents of new students explaining the advantages of their childrenââ¬â¢s joining fraternities and sororities while at the university. According to her, aside from friendship, academic support, opportunities of involvement in non-academic activities, the Greek community can provide their children a ââ¬Å"home away from home.â⬠As she has urged parents to allow their children to join fraternities and sororities, she has explained that the student leaders of the university, their leading athletes and scholars and the most successful alumni of ODU belong to Greek letter organizations (Karnes, 2006) There are so many ways in which the Greek life may change a person. The fraternities and sororities are viable means in which a person can actually be inspired. It can also be a chance for a student to reach out to those in need. Through this, those who have been helped are not the only ones who benefit but also the students as well. The truth of the matter is that while members of fraternities and sororities have ââ¬Å"their fair share of drinking and partying,â⬠they also engage in more noble activities like doing charitable work, performing community services, and looking after the academic well-being of students in their respective schools. In an effort to plead the case of the Greeks at Rutgers, Cortland in her article has pointed out that all fraternities and sororities recognized by the college are charged to engage in community service and philanthropic work as a condition for legitimacy. For instance, Sigma Chi fraternity has been raising funds for The Childrenââ¬â¢s Miracle Network by holding an annual event dubbed the Derby Days. For this project, Sigma Chi has enlisted the help of six other sororities and in 2003 alone, managed to donate $30,000 to the network. Another collaborative project organized by Greek organizations at Rutgers is the annual Dance Marathon, considered to be the biggest philanthropic event run by students in the state of New Jersey, the beneficiaries of which are needy families in the area (Cortland, 2005). On top of their commitment to philanthropic activities, the fraternities and sororities are also involved in improving the academic performance of students. For example, it has been their practice in Rutgers College to conduct study hours for their incoming members every pledging period ââ¬â a tradition which has been observed to result to higher grades for their pledges. Aside from offering scholarships and academic performance awards to qualified students, many Greeks have, as a matter of fact, high Grade Point Averages (GPAs). The misconception about Greek life being a cause for low GPAs is therefore repudiated by these evidences (Cortland, 2005). Aside from their philanthropic work, their have a strong involvement in community services, and a passionate commitment and interest in the academic well-being of students. In Rutgers, Greek letter organizations also serve as training grounds for future leaders of the country. Opportunities for leadership positions are available to members of fraternities and sororities within their local chapters, the ââ¬Å"Interfraternity Council [at Rutgers] or the National Panhellenic Council.â⬠In addition, the prospect of attending conferences on the national level is always present for interested Greeks, thereby enhancing their leadership qualities as well as their public relations skills (Cortland, 2005). To further prove her point, Cortland (2005) has made it imperative to mention the fact that out of the 47 justices who made it to the Supreme between 1910 and 2005, 40 were fraternity men. She has also declared that since Greek letter fraternities made their first appearance in American campuses, only two elected American Presidents and two Vice-Presidents have not been fraternity men; and that famous personalities such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Generals George C. Marshall and George S. Patton, Nelson Mandela, and Toni Morrison, to mention only a few, are all Greeks. All these are in fact only some of the benefits of being Greek. According to her, the most rewarding feature of Greek life is the ââ¬Å"brotherhood or sisterhoodâ⬠accorded to the members which they cherish as long as they live. After having said all these, Andrea took exception to the claim of some people at Rutgers that to be a Greek is to ââ¬Å"pay for friends.â⬠She pointed out that members of student fraternities and sororities spend only about 2% of their personal budgets for their monthly dues. If ever they make voluntary contributions, these are for the purpose of improving their organizations and enhance their capabilities to engage in community service and provide for academic scholarships (Cortland, 2005). There are a lot of good that fraternities and sororities can do to a student. At the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in Canada, Lindsay Satterthwaite, writing for the UWO Gazette, listed down the following advantages of joining fraternities and sororities: Philanthropy projects are events in which the Greek community, as a whole or as individual chapters, donate their time and efforts to raise funds for a worthwhile cause. Some events include Derby Days, Mr. Greek and Greek Games. The Greek community is dedicated to providing leadership opportunities to its members. Members have the opportunity to assume a wide spectrum of leadership roles including president, VP-finance and rush chairperson. This environment offers unique opportunities for individuals to achieve their leadership potential. Academic achievement is the first and foremost priority of Greek members. Each fraternity and sorority places strong emphasis on creating an atmosphere conducive to high academic performance. A scholarship plaque is awarded to the chapter with the highest average on campus annually. The Order of Omega is also a recognized scholarship program implemented to honour high achieving Greek members. Fraternities and sororities also provide balanced social programs for members including formals, date nights, grab-a-date, Greek Week and various parties with other fraternities and sororities. The most important goal of every chapter is to bring together a group of men or women and teach them values, traditions and honour while building close friendships (Satterthwaite, 2001). In reality, the fraternities and sororities have continued to grow and evolve redefining the very definition of what a fraternity or sorority is. This change has consciously and unconsciously influenced the lives of students, the image of colleges and universities and the society as a whole. Looking at the issue on a broader perspective, the claims which have been made by Cortland appears to be corroborated by events in other colleges and universities elsewhere in the country. Over in Iowa, the Greek community of Iowa State University (ISU) have also been emphasizing on academic performance. Some fraternity houses even have educational programs which are aimed at assisting new students as they go through their period of transition into college life. For instance, the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity has been conducting ââ¬Å"The Collegiate Success Programâ⬠which is aimed at teaching students to adopt ââ¬Å"smart study habits.â⬠Greek students are also trying their best to maintain study hours and attain good grade point averages. Philanthropic work likewise occupies much of their time. During the fall of 1998 for instance, fraternities and sororities at ISU ââ¬Å"have contributed 19,080 hours to philanthropic events and have donated $15,790 to charity.â⬠The Pi Kappa Phi fraternity also takes time to make its members aware of the evils of alcohol through a program of the Prevention Research Institute called PRIME (Pike, n.d.). à à à à à à à à à à à In Adrian, Michigan, fraternities and sororities are enjoying good membership at Adrian College where approximately 25 percent of students belong to Greek letter organizations. Membership in these organizations is widely perceived as enhancing the college experience of students at the college. The Greek chapters at the college, which are all affiliated with national organizations, are giving priority to philanthropic activities and community service, aside from the emphasis that they give to scholarship. The fraternities and sororities at Adrian College require their members and would-be members to meet certain grade point average (Adrian College, 2005). In 2003, a new publication has been inaugurated solely for the purpose of dealing with these misconceptions concerning fraternities and sororities. Aptly named Greek Life, its main objective is to cleanse the Greek communities all over the country of the negative impressions that other people have of them. Greg Woodman, Chief Executive Officer of Pennsylvania-based Affinity Connection which publishes Greek Life, has said that ââ¬Å"The beliefs most people have about fraternities and sororities [are] highly inaccurate. Our publication paints a more authentic picture of what really goes on within these organizations and focuses on the outstanding benefits of belonging to such a group.â⬠Woodman has explained that Greek-lettered organizations have been doing their members and the communities where they operate tremendous amount of service by teaching ââ¬Å"leadership, responsibility, integrity, honesty, and dedication to academics.â⬠He has explained that with Greek Life, which will be published once every year, an honest effort aimed at correcting the prevailing misconceptions about fraternities and sororities shall be attempted (Greek Life, 2003).
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