The Rise of the Anti-Slavery Movement in the US Essay

Throughout the history of America, the struggle between white and black Americans is by the far the most complex and long standing issue. Beginning with first contact between white Europeans and Africans during the English colonial period, Africans were immediately labeled with terms including savage and heathen. During the Antebellum period, institution of chattel slavery in America certain ideas of what the black man’s role in society became widely known and accepted. Stereotype such as the Sambo, the Zip Coon, the Buck, and the Mammy, became very common particularly after slavery was abolished. Although they are gross caricatures, these representations and images left lasting impressions which effects can be seen even in contemporary†¦show more content†¦According to Genovese, author of The World the Slaves Made (1974), he discusses how enslaved people created community within the â€Å"plantation setting†. This was an incredible accomplishment for people wh ose lives were ruled by forced labor. Slaves got married, have children, worked hard on plantation, endure violence to keep their families together. African American men, women, and children developed an underground culture through which they â€Å"affirmed their humanity†. According to Genovese, if not for occurrence of cultural values, slaves would have assimilated with their masters to an unimaginable point. With the end of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, slavery enters the antebellum period leading up to the civil war. Antebellum slavery was primarily located in the Southern state where it took on many different forms. Unlike the colonial period where slave were enslaved on mostly large Plantation , African Americans in the antebellum were enslaved on small farms, some large plantations, towns, inside homes and out in the fields. During the antebellum period, slavery dramatically changed as it become more racialize that before. Anti-slavery movement in the north created a hope of freedom for slaves in the south as white slave master took steps in preventing the abolishment of slavery in the U.S. With the growing number of African Americans and the dwindling number of European immigrants laws toward slaves became increasinglyShow MoreRelatedThe Civil War Of The United States1233 Words   |  5 Pagesnot a result of a single issue but that of numerous issues, which were tied together. So me events that occurred in America that led southern states to secede from the Union were half oppression in the Union, the compromise of 1850, the rise of the abolition movement, John Brown’s raid and the election of Abraham Lincoln. In some way or another, these events also led to the Civil war. The initial issue which caused this major conflict between the northern and southern states was the half oppressionRead MoreSlavery 1680-18601039 Words   |  5 Pagescommodities and traded. 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Fortunately, leaders of the black race have made tremendous strides in their efforts to level out the playing field between the two races.   The rise of abolitionism is were the journey for equality began with black political theoristRead MoreThomas Jefferson and the Meanings of Liberty856 Words   |  4 Pagesunlike the mainstream ideals of their time, both men held strong ideals of equality. Franklin did at the end of his life reverse his ideas about African Americans, and dedicated many of his later years to equality for blacks. Jefferson also believed slavery to be an atrocious blot on the face of America. Th eir strong opinions of equality resonate in today’s world but were not considered the correct morals in their time. 2. a.) The conspiracy between Jefferson and his affair with Sally Hemings, hisRead MoreThe Dred Scott Decision, And Abraham Lincoln1511 Words   |  7 PagesDuring the early 17th century slavery was being practiced in the South for over 350 years. They were forced to work the production of tobacco, crops, and later cotton. When the cotton grin was evented in 1793 along with the growing demand product in Europe. The slaves had become a use to the South and it formed a foundation for their economy. Going into the late 18th century there were problems with slavery and they are the abolitionist movement, the Missouri Compromise, the Dred Scott Decision

Comparing Fitzgeralds Great Gatsby and Eliots The Love...

Fitzgeralds Great Gatsby and Eliots The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock The Roaring Twenties bring to mind a generation of endless partying, which reflected very little of the morals of the generations preceding it. The world, for that generation, was fast-paced and thoroughly material, crowded with bizarre and colorful characters like David Belasco and Arnold Rothstein. Inspired by this eras spiritually exhausted people (Brians), F. Scott Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby and T. S. Eliots The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock address many of the same themes in attempting to restore the lost generation. In developing these themes, both authors utilize weather, the concept of illusion versus reality and the direction of†¦show more content†¦The main difference between Gatsby and Prufrocks illusions is that Prufrock recognizes that a fog is obscuring his vision and he accepts that, but Gatsby thinks that the past that he sees through the mist is reality for him. Consequently, both Gatsby and J. Alfred have problems confronting reality. As each story begins, both are satisfied to avoid reality all together. J. Alfred wishes to spend his evening, like a patient etherized upon a table (Eliot 708), rather than to tell his female companion how he feels. In Gatsbys youth, he is also content that, ...these reveries...were a satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality (Fitzgerald 105). Gatsby therefore prefers the imaginary world over the real one. The two men are also quite uncomfortable with what their realities hold for them. J. Alfreds anxious mind is revealed when he questions, Should I...have the strength to force the moment to its crisis (711). This man is very troubled over what he might lose. Similarly, Gatsby is quite overwhelmed with how his dream has progressed when it is noted, ...the expression of bewilderment had come back into Gatsbys face, as though a faint doubt had occurred to him as to the quality of his present hap piness (101). Gatsby is almost frightened by the chain of events he has set forth. In denial, both men use the excuse of time to avoid lifes confrontations. J.Show MoreRelatedComparing Fitzgeralds Great Gatsby and Eliots The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock661 Words   |  3 PagesThe Great Gatsby and Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock nbsp; So often, it seems, life can seem like a patient etherized on the table (Eliot, 3). Be it the apparent futility of existence as a whole, or the insecurity of those single moments of doubt; life is often fleeting. I believe life is best described as a fickle beast, always elusive; always turning down some new and unexpected road. This fleeting life is what both Jay Gatsby of nbsp;The Great Gatsby and Alfred J. Prufrock of Love SongRead MoreAnimation of a Statue2268 Words   |  9 PagesNothing gives one person so great advantage over another, as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances. -- Thomas Jefferson The Roaring 20’s are often viewed as an era of reverie and true American spirit. But, like the Gilded Age, the exuberance was superficial and fleeting. In revealing the progression of Jordan Baker’s character through the motif of her complex demeanor, F. Scott Fitzgerald illuminates the theme of authenticity in The Great Gatsby. Presenting Ms. Baker’s image

Case Study Grunfolds

Question: Describe about the complete risk management strategy to support the implementation of Grunfolds? Answer: Executive Summary Risk management is essential for any project Grunfolds World of Water Pumps is running their business successfully for years. Now they are expanding their business across the continents. So, they needs an integrated sales and manufacturing process, number of decision making approaches to analyze the performance of their business. Thus they are interested in implement an ERP system for their business. ERP systems can be proven beneficial for their business but they need to implement it properly and manage the project well. As a part of their project management they will need to build and follow some risk management process along with the project management process. There are several critical risk factors behind the project and organization, an efficient risk management should uncover those risk factors and associated risks. (Frenkel, Dufey, Hommel, Rudolf, 2005) Introduction Project management needs lots of resources and tasks to be completed within some stipulated time frame. It is not possible to foresee the risks in a project that may come in future. Hence, it needs a parallel risk management process. Regarding project schedule, cost and other resources there may be different types of risk. Risk management is the process of identifying risks, assessing those and finally following the risk management strategies developed from the risk assessment. There may be some risks that are called residual risks and these are harder to ignore. But a proper risk management strategy can optimize the impact of the risk on the project. Risk management process can be reactive or proactive. In this report, it will focus on proactive risk management. In project management and risk management, a risk is represented by a calculation of probability of occurrence of the risk as an outcome of the negative consequences that may occur in the project. So, in case of quantitative risk assessment, it calculates a risk as a function of its impact (represented as loss of revenue from the outcomes of the risk, if it happens) and the probability of occurring of the risk or likelihood of the risk. Now a risk creates hazards when it occurs, but a proactive safeguarding can reduce the amount of hazard from the risk. (McNeil, Frey, Embrechts, 2010) For any project there is a dedicated team of professional called project management team. Other than that there are some organization, staffs of those organization etc. that are also connected to the project. A risk can come from inside of a project team, organization or from outside of the organization. In any case it may harm the project. A risk coming from within the organization is called internal risk and a risk coming from outside of the organization is called external risk. In risk assessment both should be classified and assessed. In risk management process for some project, it should identify the internal risks of the project, prioritize those risks and do risk assessment. There may be different types of internal risks to a project. Such as financial solvency of the organization, availability of resources including staffing, equipment etc. There may be issues with personnel and their availability. For an information system related project like Grunfolds World of WaterPumps ERP implementation project additional internal risks may be associated with availability of IT resources like systems, applications, software, supply of electricity etc. Understanding and management of internal risks is necessary for a business because these risks are harder to find out. Generally internal project risks are stemmed from the organization, its structure, culture, policies, rules, decisions, behaviors, processes, actions etc. There may be many forms of internal risks. But in most of the cases these risks are associated to human behavior. Thus it is hard to manage. There are several hidden factors behind human behaviors and these factors controls the internal risks to some significant extent. Some of these hidden factors are, human beliefs, values, mental models etc. Predicting these factors earlier and making decisions based on those, is problematic. Thus estimation of prioritization will be also difficult. (Barber, 2005) All these risks tends to be unreliable and subjective. So, the characteristics of internal risks that makes those important to consider are, These risks are very common. Those can effect projects significantly and there are various human and hidden factors behind such risks. In most of the cases, the management of these internal risks are not very efficient and sometimes it leads to poor risk management. The maturity, culture, structure etc. of the project organization plays pivotal role behind internal risks. Internal risks are intangible and herder to be quantified. Using quantitative risk management process, it is harder to manage those risks easily. Describing, classifying and assessing such risks are very difficult. Sometimes organization overlook such risks without even understanding the significance of these risks. Some organization and project management teams considers internal risks with human factors as simple waste of time. Thus it leads to poor risk management. In this report, there will be discussion on different risk management models, risk registers and risk assessment. Risk Assessment Risk assessment is the process of identifying, evaluating and estimating the levels of risks that are associated to some project. The assessment is carried out by comparing the risks and outcomes against some benchmarking and determinants for the risk levels. In project management, risk assessment covers up the quantitative and qualitative value assessment of the risks. In project management there may be two types of risks positive risks and negative risks. Positive risks are considered as opportunities and the negative risks are considered as threats. Risk assessment process determines the impact of risks in either quantitatively or qualitatively. In Quantitative risk assessment process it required calculation of probability of risk and the cost for the risk. Cost is the magnitude of losses from the occurrence of the risk. An acceptable risk is a risk that is tolerated because the cost of implementation of the countermeasure of the risks is beyond the expected losses from the risk or the difficulty of implementing the countermeasures for the risks is high. Internal Project Risks As it has been already said, internal project risks come from inside of the organization. It can come from human and non-human factors related to the project. In the context of internal risk assessment for Grunfolds World of WaterPumps, we need to consider the organization, its span, the structure, culture, staffing, business processes and the ERP implementation project. The significant internal risks are, The structure of the organization The structure of the organization is spanned over multiple geographically separated locations beyond the boundaries of country and continent. Management of such an organization and implementation of an integrated ERP system across the organization connecting sales, procurement, business analytics etc. is a challenging work. The head quarter of the company is in Australia. Currently the business has expanded to China and planning to move to third world country like India. Each of the business sites has its own sales and manufacturing plants. ERP is a centralized and integrated system that integrates the business processes and IT for an organization. Business processes can range from CRO, SCM, HR, Business analytics, Finance, Accounts and many more. Now, in the current scenario the organization, there will be multiple business processes at each of these business sites. Integration of those will be difficult. The project management team have to identify business processes at each site, analyze those. This will be a time consuming process. Thus there are chances of schedule slippage, cost overrun etc. for extended and lengthy system analysis process. (A.M., E., F., V., M.A., 2000) Case Study This case study is a successful implementation of ERP (SAP) at a multi-national pharmaceutical company. The company has more than 100 thousands staffs and during 2004 (during the ERP implementation) the yearly turnover was $25 billion. There are multiple secondary sites of the business at multiple remote geographical location and there is a central site acting like the headquarter for the business. ERP was implemented at the secondary sites already, the business wanted to implement ERP at the primary site. The scope of the project was integrating business processes like manufacturing, procurement, planning, sales and distribution, engineering, finance, quality control management for the local secondary business sites. As a part of the project, their SAP implementation was supposed to roll out to their all business sites within next 5 years. There were total 18 secondary sites. The project leadership was given on the global core team, local project team and local steering committees. The project managers were chosen from the local sites and the team was available to the project for 18 months with a 100% availability rate. Around 40 to 70 people in the team were chosen locally and rest 45 people were in the core team. The core team was responsible to go to the local sites and working in the rolling out process there. This was independent of the IT organization. (Carton, Adam, Sammon, 2008) This case is an example of successful ERP implementation and they followed different best practices of the PMBOOK framework. The case study is an example of good project governance. This is very much needed for a multi-level and multi-site organization that is spanned globally. The structure of the project governance ensures that the ERP implementation was focused on reducing the possibilities of schedule slippage, delay, lack of direction etc. as a result the risks from these factors were also reduced significantly. In this case the structure of the organization helped in making decisions wuckly and wisely. This the possibilities of the risks were eliminated at the first place. This case sturdy is also an example of how good project team should be. They had given importance to all local and global sites and made those sited involved in the project. (Carton, Adam, Sammon, 2008) This case study have been selected because, there are some similarities in the organizational structure between the company in the case study and the Grunfolds World of water pumps. Hense, in terms of building project team or project governance the Grunfolds can have lessons from this ERP implementation success case study. Semi-autonomous business processes at different sites Because of the organizational structure of the organization. Different business sites at different locations runs as semi autonomous business units. At each of the semi-autonomous business units, there will be different managerial, sales, HR, manufacturing processes. Also all sites does not manufacture same products, because in different geographical locations the market for the products differ, for example, in a third world country like India, the market for green water pump is not very developed yet. Now, ERP will integrated all the business processes of different sites into a unified and centrally controlled business process. Thus, many of the business sites will require reengineering of their current business processes to fit into the ERP. So, reengineering of the business processes will need good change control management otherwise there are several risks like employee resistance, incompatibility with legacy systems, cost, time, lack of co-operation from management, lack of support from end users etc. (Valverde, 2012) Also, the company is focused on value added services and products to the customers. Thus there will be differences among customers at different geographical locations. So their requirements and choices will also be different. The centralized ERP system implementation will need to consider all such cases. (Al-Shamlan Al-Mudimigh., 2011) Sales and procurement processes The company has some unique sales and procurement process. It procures raw material from Korea, china etc. so that the costing for the raw materials are reduced. The sales is done in different countries also. Thus there is no centralized system for sales and procurement across different business sites. There are separated and legacy information systems at different business sites that deals with the sales and procurements at those locations. Now the company wants to have a central sales and procurement management system, a centralized decision making system that will allow them to analyze sales of a product at different locations, demands of the same etc. For that purpose, the ERP implementation will need to integrate all sales and procurement processes from different sites to a single and central systems. Now this task is significantly difficult. Because, the sales data at different legacy systems at different sites will have different formats. So, fetching those data, cleaning those and storing the same is a time consuming process. But this is necessary for implementation of decision making processes in the ERP implementation. (Leon, 2008) Diversity in organizational culture at different sites Each of the business sites of Grunfolds World of water pumps have diversity in their organization structures and cultures. For example, there may be different types of organizational structures at different sites. And the cultures at different sites will be different because the workforce at different countries will belong from different background, each country will have their own culture and the people will follow that. Thus there will be diverse range of organizational structure and culture. ERP is not just an information system. It integrates business with IT. And business process consists of human factors as well. As it has been already said, behind internal risks in projects, these human factors play critical roles.(Grabski, Leech, Lu, 2001) There may be different kind of risks like, communication gap between the management and the workforce, lack of participation of the users, fear of losing their jobs due to the ERP implementation etc. Organizational structure can be changes in an easier way than the culture. Because culture is more related to the beliefs and behaviors of the humans. Also there are high chances that, after enjoying years of semi-autonomous control, the management and staffs at different business sites may not be willing to changes of the business processes and control. So there may be chances of rising issues with lack of support and participation of management, employee resistance etc. (Epstein Buhovac, 2006) Internal controls and policies Each organization have its own set of internal policies and controls to manage its business processes. Organizational culture and structure plays and important role in making and implementing these controls. So there are chances that there will be different sets of internal policies and control at different business units. In the ERP implementation project at Grunfolds World of WaterPumps, there are risks that may rise from mismatches among the internal policies and control across the business units and implementation of the same at different units. Other than the internal rules and policies there may be many other changes on those due to governmental rules and norms in different countries. For example, there are different kind of labor rules at different country. Based on those the business units at different countries will customize their business controls. (DARPG, 2011) Managerial and Administrative issues There are huge chances of managerial risks in the project. Because, it will need participation of all management representatives from different business units, departments and headquarters. Now, according to the basic structure of the company. Each of the business unit manages their operation in their own way till now. On the other hand, each of the business units have sales and manufacturing units. Essentially there are different kinds of management for the same business process across the country. There are chances that there may be frictions among the opinions of the management from different business units, lack of co-operation and participation from them in the project. (Iskanius, 2009) Another risk in communication gap between the workforce and the management, between low level management and top level management. For example, the management across the business sites may not welcome the central control through ERP from the headquarter, because they are habituated with the other way. So there may be communication gap and that can harm the project. On the other hand, projects like ERP implementation, business process reengineering etc. creates confusion and fear about the job loss among the employees. Employees tends to resist the change. This is basic human nature. The management should handle this internal issue very carefully through proper meeting and communication with the employees. (Isaca, 2009). Risk Register A useful tool used in risk management for projects, is called a risk register. It can also be used for compliances with the risks in a project. In case of project and risk management, a risk register is similar to a risk repository. It holds information about all risks that have been identified and details about each risk. For an organization the risk register includes, each risk, its impact, probability of occurrence, mitigation method etc. (Hopkin, 2014) The risk register for the internal risks identified in case of Grunfolds World of WaterPumps are, Risk Event Probability of Occurrence Impact Mitigation Lack of funding Low Lack of funding may have severe negative impact on the project. As an outcome of this risk, the project may get delayed or even stopped. The mitigation process for the risk is, analysis of business process requirement, project planning, and cost-benefit analysis very carefully from the beginning of the project. (Wallace Keil, 2004) Schedule slippage Medium As a result of the schedule slippage the whole project plan may breakdown. And there may be serious consequences like wastage of effort and funding, lack of resources etc. This can also delay the project or in extreme case, the project may stop. The countermeasures for this risks can be planning and scheduling the project very carefully. There should be a proper risk assessment and risk management process. It will help to carry on the project successfully by revealing the risks before those happen. Employee resistance High Employee resistance can impact a project very badly. It can delay the project, the ERP implementation may fail to capture the business requirements properly as there may be lack of participation of end users. Thus the ERP system may not be even used by the employer. As the result the business process will suffer and there will be loss of lots of revenue. It needs proper change control management, communication with the employees etc. Employees need to be assured about the security of their job, they should get answer for all of their queries about the project. (Wallace Keil, 2004) Lack of communication across the business sites High Lack of communication may delay the project, the ERP system may not be developed properly thus there will be wastage of money and effort. There should be proper communication plan and it should be implemented well. Communication in a project movement is very serious issue thus it should be handled very carefully. Managerial issues High It may delay the project, even may stop the project. The organization should have a strong organization structure and administration to deal in such cases. Lack of resources Medium Lack of resources can delay the project, needs more cost. Proper use of resources is needed through resource planning and usage strategy. Mismatches in internal controls High It may delay the project, even may stop the project. There should be a proper change control and risk management framework and process to deal with such cases. Mismatches in data, information system etc. Very High It may delay the project. This is a technical issue thus it needs good technical support from professional to handle the issue in the best possible way. Thus the risk management strategy in case of Grunfolds will have the following process, Analysis of risks Classification of risks Assessment of risks Monitoring and controlling of risks Application of counter measures to deal with the risks. Summary In this report, the risk management process have been discussed in detailed by focusing on the risk management in the ERP implementation project at Grunfolds World of WaterPumps. In the process, the internal risks factors and risks are mainly discussed. During the risk identification process, six risk factors and corresponding risks have been identified. Then a risk assessment process using risk register have been used to summarize the risks, impacts of the risks, probability of occurrence and possible mitigation policies. Grunfolds World of WaterPumps will be beneficial if they follow the risk management process described in the report. It will help them to uncover and understand the risks associated with the ERP project and save from severe losses from the risks. (Hopkin, 2014) References A.M., A., E., C., F., C., V., L., M.A., R. (2000). Analysis of external and internal risks in project early phase. Al-Shamlan, H. M., Al-Mudimigh., A. S. (2011). he Chang management strategies and processes for successful ERP implementation: a case study of MADAR. International Journal of Computer Science, 431-435. Barber, R. B. (2005). Understanding internally generated risks in projects. International Journal of Project Management, 23, 584590. Carton, F., Adam, F., Sammon, D. (2008). Project management: a case study of a successful ERP implementation. International Journal of Managing Managing, 106-124. DARPG. (2011). Internal Control and Risk Management Framework: Volume 1. Epstein, M. J., Buhovac, A. R. (2006). The Reporting of Organizational Risks for Internal and External Decision-Making. CMA. Frenkel, M., Dufey, G., Hommel, U., Rudolf, M. (2005). Risk Management: Challenge and Opportunity. Springer . Grabski, S. V., Leech, S. A., Lu, B. (2001). Risks and Controls in the Implementation of ERP Systems. The International Journal of Digital Accounting Research, 47-68. Hopkin, P. (2014). Fundamentals of Risk Management. Kogan Page Publishers. Isaca. (2009). The Risk IT Practitioner Guide. Isaca. Iskanius, P. (2009). The ERP Project Risk Assessment A case study. Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2009. Leon, A. (2008). Enterprise Resource Planning. McGraw-Hill. McNeil, A. J., Frey, R., Embrechts, P. (2010). Quantitative Risk Management: Concepts, Techniques, and Tools. Princeton University Press. Valverde, R. (2012). Information Systems Reengineering for Modern Business Systems. IGI Global. Wallace, L., Keil, M. (2004). Software Project Risks and their effect on Outcomes. Communication of the ACM , 68-73.

Role of American Woman In a Puritan Society Essays -

Derek Borgsteede AML 2010 Benton Role of Women in a Puritan Society Women have long been thought as inferior to men. Some see this as a problem, some don?t. In a puritan society, women are looked upon as not as servants but something not far from it. The same purpose is disposed upon them as any other woman in the society. Their sole purpose is to serve their husbands and bear children. In Hawthorn?s journal and the transcript of Ann Hutchinson?s trial, this is the sole guideline everyone uses against women. Not a very exciting life it would seem, and to some women it was absolutely preposterous. Unfortunately women were not allowed to really ?think outside the box.? This has always been the reason that women were never used for anything outside their expertise. Most women lived happy and content lives running a household with their husbands handling everything else. The thought to rebel against these principles did not occur to most, but there were a few who decided to overstep their bounds and push for new rights in this society. Ann Hutchinson was one of these few. She was, for her time and place, canny and dicey in a way which allowed her to challenge men in a way they are not used to. Her replies to every accusation Hawthorn throws her way would have humbled any modern judge. How does this not completely countermand what he says when Hutchinson states, ?What law have I broken (Winthrop and Hutchinson. p30) Winthrop naively replies, ?Why the Fifth Amendment.?(Winthrop and Hutchinson. p30) This could not possibly be true when she is being charged with crimes under the church not the state and Hawthorn has no right to deal punishment for that cause. This all comes down to Hawthorn?s prejudice view of women not being credible so he just decides to make up his own rules to make sure Hutchinson is found guilty. Despite her shrewdness and her ability to countermand all accusations against her, she was still denied any right to truly defend herself all because of the fact that she was a woman and to most men, not credible to anything she said. Winthrop, who was governor of her colony at the time, would not listen to the true and crafty defense she set before them in court only because the simple fact that, again she was a woman and not to be deemed accountable for anything she said. Had she had been a man in that courtroom and said the same defense, she would have been most likely judged innocent even though the reason she was in that courtroom was the fact that she was a woman! Some women were not bothered by the daily ordeal of serving their husbands and bearing his children. They understood that men should be held on a higher stage because a woman could not accomplish the things that men do. Little did they know is the fact that woman are actually capable of many things that men would have almost no chance at accomplishing. Yet they did live happy enough lives, it?s not that woman were treating horribly, it?s just the fact that they had no right to an opinion and most of their judgment was not seen as accurate. To say that women were not as intelligent as men would be a jest. Franklin?s story of ?The Speech of Miss Polly Baker? clearly proves that women could easily outsmart men when pressed. She makes vital points to the court that precisely supports her cause though it has already been lost. She sarcastically states, ?But take it into your wise consideration, the great and growing number of bachelors in the country.? She really strikes a nerve with ever ything she refers to with this statement. She lays it down for the court that she should be seen as doing a great service for supplying this new country with new sons and daughters. This brilliant piece of work may not have been true but it definitely struck the core of the stupidity of men back then. Most women did not strive to gain freedoms they were long denied. They knew that women deserved to have more rights but did not openly

Adaptability of Huck Finn essays

Adaptability of Huck Finn essays In Mark Twains novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is faced with a handful of problems. Sometimes he has to lie to protect his identity, live off the land by hunting and fishing, and help Jim when needed. Huck makes many life-changing decisions as he grows and matures throughout the novel. Through the trials and tribulations that Huck must overcome, readers can see the ability of Huck Finn to adapt to any situation, even if it means lying or being deceitful. One of the first events that shows how well Huck adapts is when he fakes his own murder. Huck does not want to live in the cabin with his drunken father anymore, so he devises a plan to fake his own death. Huck is very methodical in the way he goes about it: I took an ax and smashed in the door...I fetched the pig in and took him back nearly to the table and hacked into his throat with the ax...I pulled out my hair and bloodied the ax good and slung it in the corner (p. 285) Huck thinks he did a good job and even wished Tom Sawyer was there to see his work. Satisfied, Huck leaves Paps cabin and sets out to adventure. The next event that shows Hucks adaptability is when he sets out on an adventure with Jim. They come across a small, rural town along the banks of the Mississippi River. Huck wants to go into town and see what the people are saying about his death. Huck devises a plan where he is to dress up like a girl so he will not be recognized. Huck describes the process of becoming a girl very vividly: So we shortened up one of the calico gowns and I turned up my trouser-legs to my knees and got into it. I put on the sun bonnet and tied it under my chin.(p. 298) Huck finds his way into an old shanty in the woods where he meets Mrs. Judith Loftus. Huck could have fooled her, but he didnt act much like a girl. Mrs. Loftus discovered that Huck was indeed a boy by the way he acted. She knew he was ...

The Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle The Golden Triangle is an area covering 367,000 square miles in Southeast Asia where a significant portion of the world’s opium has been produced since the beginning of the twentieth century. This area is centered around the meeting point of the borders that separate Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand. The Golden Triangle’s mountainous terrain and distance from major urban centers make it an ideal location for illicit poppy cultivation and transnational opium smuggling.   Until the end of the 20th century, the Golden Triangle was the world’s largest producer of opium and heroin, with Myanmar being the single highest-producing country. Since 1991, the Golden Triangle’s opium production has been outpaced by the Golden Crescent, which refers to an area that traverses the mountainous regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.   A Brief History of Opium in Southeast Asia Although opium poppies appear to be native to Southeast Asia, the practice of using opium recreationally was introduced to China and Southeast Asia by Dutch traders in the early 18th century. European traders also introduced the practice of smoking opium and tobacco using pipes.   Soon after the introduction of recreational opium consumption to Asia, Britain replaced the Netherlands as China’s primary European trade partner. According to historians, China became the primary target of British opium traders for financial reasons. In the 18th century, there was high demand in Britain for Chinese and other Asian goods, but there was little demand for British goods in China. This imbalance forced British merchants to pay for Chinese goods in hard currency rather than British goods. In order to make up for this loss of cash, British merchants introduced opium to China with the hope that high rates of opium addiction would generate large amounts of cash for them. In response to this strategy, Chinese rulers outlawed opium for non-medicinal use, and in 1799, Emperor Kia King banned opium and poppy cultivation completely. Nonetheless, British smugglers continued to bring opium into China and the surrounding areas. Following the British victories against China in the Opium Wars in 1842 and 1860, China was forced to legalize opium. This foothold allowed British traders to expand the opium trade to Lower Burma when British forces began to arrive there in 1852. In 1878, after knowledge of the negative effects of opium consumption had thoroughly circulated throughout the British Empire, British Parliament passed the Opium Act, prohibiting all British subjects, including those in Lower Burma, from consuming or producing opium. Nonetheless, illegal opium trade and consumption continued to take place. The Birth of the Golden Triangle In 1886, the British Empire expanded to include Upper Burma, where the modern Kachin and Shan states of Myanmar are located. Nestled in rugged highlands, the populations that inhabited Upper Burma lived relatively beyond the control of British authorities. Despite British efforts to retain a monopoly on the opium trade and regulate its consumption, opium production and smuggling took root in these rugged highlands and fueled much of the region’s economic activity.   In Lower Burma, on the other hand, British efforts to secure a monopoly on opium production succeeded by the 1940s. Similarly, France retained similar control over opium production in the lowland regions of its colonies in Laos and Vietnam. Nonetheless, the mountainous regions surrounding the convergence point of the Burma, Thailand, and Laos borders continued to play a major role in the global opium economy. The Role of the United States Following Burma’s independence in 1948, several ethnic separatist and political militia groups emerged and became embroiled in conflict with the newly formed central government. At the same time, the United States actively sought to forge local alliances in Asia in its effort to contain the spread of communism. In exchange for access and protection during anti-communist operations along China’s southern border, the United States supplied arms, ammunition and air transport for the sale and production of opium to insurgent groups in Burma and ethnic minority groups in Thailand and Laos. This led to a surge in the availability of heroin from the Golden Triangle in the United States and established opium as a major source of funding for separatist groups in the region. During the American war in Vietnam, the CIA trained and armed a militia of ethnic Hmong people in northern Laos to wage an unofficial war against northern Vietnamese and Lao communists. Initially, this war disrupted the economy of the Hmong community, which was dominated by opium cash-cropping. However, this economy was soon stabilized by the CIA-backed militia under Hmong general Vang Pao, who was given access to his own aircraft and permission to continue opium smuggling by his American case handlers, preserving the Hmongs’ access to heroin markets in southern Vietnam and elsewhere. Opium trade continues to be a major feature of Hmong communities in the Golden Triangle as well as in the United States. Khun Sa: King of the Golden Triangle By the 1960s, several rebel groups based in northern Burma, Thailand, and Laos supported their operations through the illegal opium trade, including a faction of the Kuomintang (KMT), which had been expelled from China by the Communist Party. The KMT funded its operations by expanding the opium trade in the region.   Khun Sa, born in Chan Chi-fu in 1934 to a Chinese father and Shan mother, was an uneducated  youth in the Burmese countryside who formed his own gang in the Shan State and sought to break into the opium business. He partnered with the Burmese government, which armed Chan and his gang, essentially outsourcing them to fight the KMT and Shan nationalist militias in the region. In exchange for fighting as the Burmese government’s proxy in the Golden Triangle, Chan was permitted to continue trading opium. However, over time, Chan grew friendlier with Shan separatists, which aggravated the Burmese government, and in 1969, he was imprisoned. Upon his release five years later, he adopted the Shan name Khun Sa and devoted himself, at least nominally, to the cause of Shan separatism. His Shan nationalism and success in drug production garnered the support of many Shan, and by the 1980s, Khun Sa had amassed an army of over 20,000 soldiers, which he dubbed the Mok Tai Army, and established a semi-autonomous fiefdom in the hills of the Golden Triangle near the town of Baan Hin Taek. It is estimated that at this point, Khun Sa controlled over half of the opium in the Golden Triangle, which in turn constituted half of the world’s opium and 45% of the opium that came to the United States. Khun Sa was described by historian Alfred McCoy as â€Å"the only Shan warlord who ran a truly professional smuggling organization capable of transporting large quantities of opium.† Khun Sa was also notorious for his affinity for media attention, and he frequently played host to foreign journalists in his semi-autonomous narco-state. In a 1977 interview 1977 with the now-defunct Bangkok World, he called himself the â€Å"King of the Golden Triangle.† Until the 1990s, Khun Sa and his army ran an international opium operation with impunity. However, in 1994, his empire collapsed due to attacks from the rival United Wa State Army and from the Myanmar Armed Forces. Furthermore, a faction of the Mok Tai Army abandoned Khun Sa and formed the Shan State National Army, declaring that Khun Sa’s Shan nationalism was merely a front for his opium business. To avoid punishment by the government upon his impending capture, Khun Sa surrendered on the condition that he be protected from extradition to the US, which had a $2 million bounty on his head. It is reported that Khun Sa also received a concession from the Burmese government to operate a ruby mine and a transport company, which allowed him to live out the rest of his life in luxury in Burmas main city, Yangon. He died in 2007 at the age of 74. Khun Sa’s Legacy: Narco-development Myanmar expert Bertil Lintner claims that Khun Sa was, in reality, an illiterate frontman for an organization dominated by ethnic Chinese from Yunnan Province and that this organization still operates in the Golden Triangle today. Opium production in the Golden Triangle continues to fund the military operations of several other separatist groups. The largest of these groups is the United Wa State Army (UWSA), a force of over 20,000 troops nestled in the semi-autonomous Wa Special Region. The UWSA is reported to be the largest drug-producing organization in Southeast Asia. The UWSA, along with the  Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in neighboring Kokang Special Region, have also expanded their drug enterprises to the production of methamphetamine known in the region as yaa baa, which is easier and cheaper to manufacture than heroin.   Like Khun Sa, the leaders of these narco-militias can be seen as both business entrepreneurs, community developers, as well as agents of the Myanmar government. Nearly everyone in the Wa and Kokang regions is involved in the drug trade in some capacity, which supports the argument that drugs are an essential component of the development of these regions, offering an alternative to poverty.   Criminologist Ko-Lin Chin writes that the reason why a political solution to drug production in the Golden Triangle has been so elusive is because â€Å"the difference between a state-builder and drug kingpin, between benevolence and greed, and between public funds and personal wealth† have become difficult to delineate. In a context in which conventional agriculture and local business is stunted by conflict and in which competition between the United States and China deter long-term successful development interventions, drug production and smuggling have become these communities’ path toward development. Throughout the Wa and Kokang special regions, drug profits have been funneled into road construction, hotels, and casino towns, giving rise to what Bertil Lintner calls â€Å"narco-development.† Towns such as Mong La attract over 500,000 Chinese vice tourists every year, who come to this mountainous region of the Shan State to gamble, eat endangered animal speci es and partake in the seedy nightlife.    Statelessness in the Golden Triangle Since 1984, conflict in Myanmar’s ethnic minority states has driven approximately 150,000 Burmese refugees across the border into Thailand, where they have been living in nine UN-recognized refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. These refugees have no legal right to employment in Thailand, and according to Thai law, undocumented Burmese found outside of the camps are subject to arrest and deportation. The provision of temporary shelter in the camps by the Thai Government has remained unchanged over the years, and limited access to higher education, livelihoods and other opportunities for refugees has raised alarm within the UN High Commission for Refugees that many refugees will resort to negative coping mechanisms for survival. Hundreds of thousands of members of Thailand’s indigenous â€Å"hill tribes† constitute another major stateless population in the Golden Triangle. Their statelessness renders them ineligible for state services, including formal education and the right to work legally, leading to a situation in which the average hill tribe member makes less than $1 per day. This poverty leaves hill tribe people vulnerable to exploitation by human traffickers, who recruit poor women and children by promising them jobs in northern Thai cities such as Chiang Mai. Today, one in three sex workers in Chiang Mai comes from a hill tribe family. Girls as young as eight years old are confined to brothels where they may be forced to service up to 20 men per day, putting them at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Older girls are often sold overseas, where they are stripped of their documentation and left powerless to escape. Although the government of Thailand has enacted progressive laws to combat human trafficking, the lack of citizenship of these hill tribes leaves this population at disproportionately elevated risk of exploitation. Human rights groups such as The Thailand Project assert that education for the hill tribes is the key to solving the human trafficking issue in the Golden Triangle.

Capitalization and Depreciation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Capitalization and Depreciation - Research Paper Example If a company, for example, pays $20,000 in cash for equipment, its financial statements will not show that it spent $20,000. The statement will instead show that it converted $20,000 cash into $20,000 worth of equipment which is an asset. Expensing costs refers to reporting them on the income statements as outflows of money. When a company pays $12,000 for rent arrears, its financial statements indicate that money has been spent. Expenses decrease a companys profit or net income. The more costs businesses capitalize on rather than expense, the higher the profits they report to shareholders (Bragg 2007). GAAP refers business assets as the things the business controls or owns and have measurable economic value. When something does not fit in the description of an asset, it cannot be capitalized. Buildings, land, equipment, stocks, bonds, and items held in the inventory have future economic value that is measurable hence can be capitalized as assets. Other costs incurred in advertising, research, development, and marketing should be expensed. Although such costs are meant to produce future value, such value cannot be measured or evaluated at present (Jarnagin 2006). GAAP enables a company to capitalize the costs of acquiring assets and preparing them for use. Suppose a production company purchases a $13 million machine from a manufacturer in Italy. The company can capitalize on the buying price of the machine and also capitalize on the costs incurred in transporting the equipment from Italy. Assemblage costs, costs due to necessary modifications on the machine, taxes and tariffs paid for the equipment can be included on the capitalized costs. On smaller scale businesses, if a factory buys $98 in stock for investment intentions and pays a $1 commission, the company can capitalize on the full cost of acquisition cost: $99 (Weiss 2006). When companies capitalize on assets, it does not mean or refer

Terrorism---criminal justice Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Terrorism---criminal justice - Coursework Example The conversation on this topic has largely been avoided and there is little understanding among the public on this issue. Amimut refers to the Israel official policy of concealing information on nuclear weapons adopted in 1969 in the Nixon-Meir deal. Amimiut is a Hebrew term that means ambiguity or opacity. Amimut evolved out of various decisions that were continuously implemented due to strategic and political needs of the country. In the mid 1970s Shalhevveth Freier and the team of Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) formed the rules of the national doctrine on nuclear policy. The reasons for the country’s possession of nuclear were varied. Some leaders were of the opinion that the country’s possession of nuclear is a symbol of the country having a weapon of last result. Other leaders were of the opinion that Israel should not be the first country in the Middle East to be in possession of nuclear. During the Six-Day War, the then chief of Mossad, General Meir Amit was of the opinion that if Israel had nuclear weapons, this would act as an incentive for Soviet Union to supply Egypt wi th nuclear weapons. After an accident that occurred in Dimona complex in 1966 that left one person dead, the then Prime Minister of Israel Eshkol was shaken about the nuclear project and was of the opinion American diplomacy could be a better method. However, after heavy casualties that Israel suffered in the Six-Day War he changed his mind and supported the idea of the country creating a weapon and testing it in the desert so as to demonstrate the country’s nuclear capability (Cohen, A., 2013). Israel was also forced to make a stance of not been a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This stance was because NPT was against the countries acquired nuclear capabilities. NPT also lacked adequate guarantees against protection by nuclear possessing countries such as the Soviet Union. Despite the heavy thought of the

Sports equipment Essay Example for Free

Sports equipment Essay In this paper I argue that the globalisation of sport by international sports corporations, the media and sporting celebrities have through advertising altered the sporting landscape by imparting predefined and specific cultural and social meanings to the sports consumer. Abstract: Highly successful professional sports teams attract heavyweight corporate sponsorship deals and wide ranging media coverage that further broadens their supporter base. The subsequent globalisation of sporting clubs allows sports marketers to target sports consumers through media advertising to convey commercial messages and specific cultural meanings. Particular attention is focused on Nike and Manchester United and the precise use of sports celebrities to promote and endorse sporting goods/apparel. The transfer of meaning from the constituted world and sports celebrity to consumer goods and then to the individual consumer is analysed and discussed. Moreover, the social importance and cultural identities given to the consumer by the iconic celebrity sports star constitutes an attractive culture the sports consumer wants to be in possession of. This paper further explores and discusses the role of corporations and their association with advertising in a commercial-cultural nexus and how they are able to sell a way of life to the sports fan. Additionally, the advertising techniques used by corporations to create iconic sports stars and global brands are discussed as to how this effects the consumer and the traditional sporting landscape. Essay: In a culture preoccupied world, people from all walks of life are obsessed with the celebrity. In particular, the celebrity sportsman and sportswoman are amongst the highest profile individuals. Collectively, we are captivated by sport stars’ lifestyles, love lives, earning power and skill. It is from these characteristics that people want to have some form of connection with the sporting celebrity. The globalisation of sport by international sports corporations, advertising corporations, the media and sporting celebrities have created an environment for sports advertising to  flourish as an industry that is intent to monopolise the market with sporting goods and apparel. The direct relationship between the way sports organisations market their goods and how people consume goods is often considered by many commentators to be symbolic sports branding that shapes the desires and actions of consumers. Holt contends that for advertising to work properly a ‘symbiotic relationship’ is essential between the ‘market prerogatives’ and the ‘cultural frameworks’ that consumers acquaint, understand and interact with market offerings (2002, p. 71). With the main focus of globalisation and increased industry profit, sports corporations seek to become ‘cultural engineers’ to organise how people think and feel through celebrity endorsed consumer sports goods (Holt 2002, p. 71). In this paper I argue that all-powerful sports corporations such as Nike and Manchester United use endorsements by sports celebrities with sophisticated advertising techniques. Their objective is to seduce and manipulate consumers into participating in the accumulation of commodities that oversees the indoctrination of culture, values and social identity. Whats more, I will further contend that through the globalisation of sport and the mass production of sports merchandise, sport corporations develop specific meanings and a set of techniques that rationalises consumer culture as a commodity. Also, I assert that sports advertising agencies exploit sports stars and their ‘aura of authenticity’ so that they themselves and their products become cultural icons. The resultant increased role for the sports star into advertising moves the sporting field boundaries that effectively alters the sporting landscape. I further contend that the imbued cultural meaning from sports corporations to the sports consumer by way of celebrity endorsements leads to new variants of sport being played. Nike’s three-a-side soccer competition is used as evidence to support my claim that sports corporations combined with celebrity advertising effectively alters the way some sports are played. Therefore, modifying the cultural sporting landscape. In the end, the rapidly increasing entity of sports globalisation relies on the sports celebrity to sell a way of life to sports fan/consumer via a commercial-cultural nexus. This not only transfers organisational meaning and culture to the consumer but also creates immense wealth for sports corporations, advertising agencies and the sports star. With the realisation of the power associated with television as an advertising medium, it quickly went beyond radio, newspaper and cinema to be the most influential medium of mass communication. The television has provided a round-table for the sporting consumer to develop intimate, visually informed relationships with sporting celebrities (Andrews Jackson, 2001). Considering Andrews Jackson’s common but insightful cliche, ‘the medium is the message’, the television has come to the fore front of advertising with identifiable sports celebrities encouraging the audience (sports consumer) to develop a ‘faux intimacy’ (2001, p. 3). Consequently, advertising on television and in most media forums has become celebrity saturated (Andrews Jackson, 2001). The fostering of sports celebrities as maintained by Andrews Jackson has made it possible for sports corporations to link the culture of the celebrity with consumer capitalism to take advantage of the dual roles occupied by celebrities as both products (commodities) and processes (celebrity endorsement) (2001, p. 4). In doing this, advertising agencies and sports corporations are able to exploit sports consumers. Andrews Jackson (2001) agree with McCracken (1989, 1986) to assert that the optimum goal of advertising agencies and sports corporations is to ensure that celebrities pass on and orchestrate the various facets of a predefined sports culture to foster a ‘highly visible celebrity identity’ that the consumer can recognise and identify with. In a sense, these sports agencies and corporations have carefully coordinated plans of cultural procedures. The growing media technology such as satellite television and the internet has further accelerated the globalisation of sport and with it the growth and expansion of sports corporations. The ever expanding sports corporations are desperate to associate their brands and products with the unique ‘aura of authenticity’ that is found within the celebrity sports star, so that their products are endowed and visualised as cultural icons. Today, global sports events are indelibly associated with wide media coverage that sees the iconic sports celebrity be portrayed as role models and in high regard (Smart, 2007). Importantly, Smart points out the desires and aspirations of consumers to be similar if not the same as their sporting celebrity icons and also claims that global sport is now increasing important to the promotion of commodity consumption (2007, p. 130). As shown, the contemporary landscape of advertising plays an important role in cultural practices and the process of globalisation of sport. As a result, contemporary social life is determined by advertising moreover, it is defined by it (Jackson Andrews, 2004). Additionally, Jackson Andrews (2004) assert that advertising is a key process that connects meaning and language to culture, thereby constituting social identities in specific contexts (2004, p. 7). The significance of celebrity endorsers can be found in their salaries. Jackson Andrews (2004) highlight that sports stars earn more from endorsements that they do from their sporting profession. Studies have documented and as pointed out by Andrews Jackson (2001), endorsing sports celebrities were present in 11 percent of television advertisements during 1995 that received more than US$1 billion dollars. Throughout the second half of the twentieth century the uncontrollable clandestine relationship between television and sport grew to irresistibly influence the meaning and understanding of sport culture that left the end product of sport being media-driven by celebrities for entertainment (Andrews Jackson 2001, p. 7). Today, sports are constructed, mediated, advertised and seen as contests between identifiable and recognisable individuals or teams of individuals (Andrews Jackson, 2001). Andrews Jackson maintain that sports fans that watch and experience sport develop an intimate attachment with these sporting individuals (2001, p. 7). Sports corporations and advertising agencies intentionally take advantage of this developed intimacy to transform sporting events and the sports celebrity into stories with characters consisting of heroes and villains (Andrews Jackson, 2001). Moreover, Andrews Jackson recognise that the constructed personalities of the heroes and villains are integral to sports advertising that create a purposeful contemporary sporting culture (2001, p.7). The sports celebrity occupies and possesses many complex roles such as elite athletes, entertainers, marketable commodities and role models within the global cultural economy (Andrews Jackson 2001, p. 9). In addition, sport has become a highly commercialised and a capitalist culture. The sporting celebrity as described by Andrews Jackson is a commodity of commercial culture that is forcibly imbued with large corporate values and culture thattries to initiate and intensify sports consumers desires, identification and cultural awareness/development (2001, p. 9). As such, the sporting celebrity has become highly ‘systematized’ with expanded institutional boundaries that effectively increases their sporting fields that allows them to operate as ‘cultural and economic agents’ (Andrews Jackson 2001, p. 7). Accordingly, altering the sports field, equates to altering the sporting landscape through advertising and endorsement of products by celebrities. In understanding the importance of celebrities in the midst of sports globalisation, Andrews Jackson assert that celebrities are significant public entities who are responsible for the formation of meaning and ideologies that offer contextually grounded maps for the sports consumer as they endeavour to gain their individualism and identity (2001, p. 1). What’s more, Andrews Jackson note Marshall’s 1997 insightful understanding of the celebrity to be a descriptor incorporating various forms of public individuality including, hero, leader, famous and star from which the celebrity exercises within popular culture (2001, p. 2). Whats more, the dynamism of the complex celebrity indicates that individual celebrities can and frequently do move back and forth between these individual states making them all the more marketable to endorse sporting goods (2001, p. 2). Accordingly, the role of the media to promote sports stars to the status of celebrity is crucial for sports corporations when deciding on particular celebrities to convey their cultural message to the consumer (Andrews Jackson, 2001). In looking at and analysing Michael Jordan as an athlete and a sports celebrity, his greatness is not only confined to the wooden confines of the basketball court. Considered by McDonald Andrews (2001) as the first truly marketable sport celebrity, Jordan has amassed unimaginable marketing conquests. Jordan’s endorsement of Nike sport shoes and apparel have seen him earn unmatchable capital accumulation, US$45 million in 1998 (more money than he received for playing basketball) (McDonald Andrews, 2001). McDonald Andrews further highlight that Nike made in excess in of US$3 billion from sales on the back of Jordan while Gatorade more than doubled its revenue in 1991 to make an impressive US$1. 5 billion (McDonald Andrews, 2001). It can be noted from these statistics that contemporary cultures are constructed by sporting corporations and advertising agencies that allow the personalities, lifestyles and sporting cultures of sports celebrities to encourage sports consumers to ‘be like mike’. Consequently, McDonald Andrews point out that Gatorade increased its market domination of the nutritional sports drink to an 80 percent share (2001, p. 1). As can be seen, sports celebrities have referent power that enables them to influence and develop sporting cultures in consumers. Advertising agencies and sports corporations view this as a valuable advantage to increase the sports cultural economy (McDonald Andrews, 2001). Pointed out by McDonald Andrews, Bob Dorfman from the advertising agency Foote passed comments to suggest that ‘Jordan is such a superhuman talent that everybody aspires to his level of performance†¦Everybody wants to be that good and have that much success’ (2001, p. p24). With Jordan’s amazing skills and talent the Jordan name produced an amazing amount of ‘Jordan Wannabes’ all wearing Jordan branded shoes and apparel (McDonald Andrews 2001, p.24). These ‘Jordan Wannabes’ could be seen playing street basketball trying to ‘be like Mike’ and slam dunk the basketball. This form of street basketball differed in rules and in the way it was played from the original indoor game. Essentially, the street rules basketball transformed the sporting landscape. Consequently, sports consumers with altered and newly developed cultures and values are playing the sport differently on different sporting fields with newly acquired sports apparel to effectively change the sporting landscape. The transference of values from Nike to Jordan to the sports consumer not only imbues an altered culture, but it also allows the sports consumer to create their own individual identity (McCracken, 1989). As such, the consumer is viewed to adopt the values and culture of the sports celebrity to be more in line with Jordan’s own and that of Nike (McDonald Andrews, 2001). Smart (2005) maintains that sport stars are very visible to the public and potential consumers because of their on field skills and the associated media coverage for publicly demonstrating such a high level of talent. These sport stars are subsequently in the sights of advertising agencies and sporting corporations to endorse sporting goods and apparel (Smart, 2005). As a result, the so called sporting star is transformed into a sporting celebrity that at times may or may not be directly linked with their team or their sport. For example, the commercials of Michael Jordan endorsing the ‘Air Jordan’ shoe by jumping to the basket to the sound of jet engines, ‘constituted the beginning of his cultural ascent to iconic status’ (Smart 2005, p. 113). Although the advertisement made no mention of the ‘Air Jordan’ shoes, the image and the subsequent culture of Jordan in the air combined with his cultural on court athleticism, was enough to persuade and influence consumers to make the ‘Air Jordan’ line of shoes the all time best seeling (Smart 2005, p. 113). The globalisation of sport has always been associated with advertising and as highlighted by Jackson et al. (2004), advertising has been defined in many ways due the ever changing nature of advertising. However, Jackson et al.state that advertising has at all times been strategic within the culture and commodification of sports advertising (2004, p. 1). More to the point Jackson et al. (2004) claim that cultural commodities shape one’s experience and identities which parallels Smart’s (2005) claim that sports celebrities are able to influence and persuade consumers. Additionally, Jackson et al. (2004) argues that advertising is at the forefront of the global economy and post-modern promotional culture. Taking this into account, advertising plays a key role in consumer culture and within the culture of representation and identity formation (Jackson et al. 2004, p.2). Moreover, I put forward that advertising has altered the sporting landscape with predefined cultural meanings by way of celebrity endorsements. The eventual transference of cultural meaning from the advertising agency, endorsed by the sports celebrity and passed on to the consumer not only creates individualised identities and cultural meaning for consumers, but also changes the way sports consumers play sport. As highlighted by Ross, in 2002 Nike promoted a ‘three-a-side sudden-death’ soccer tournament ‘in a cage inside an abandoned tanker’ that highlighted the games elite branded player’s skills, talents and marketability (2004a, p.68). Nike exploited the games stars and consumers by focusing on the individual feats of the elite individual stars rather than on a team focus (Ross, 2004a). Additionally, Nike put into full swing three-a-side tournaments all over the world for teenagers. The immense popularity for this variant of the game altered the way the game was played, where the game was played and therefore changed the cultural sporting landscape. There was no mention of the clothing or footwear worn by the sports celebrities depicted in the commercials rather, Nike concentrated on the three-a-side game and its celebrities to transmit and instil Nike’s corporate cultural meanings on the sports fan and potential consumer to purchase Nike merchandise and construct an individual identity. During the globalisation of sport growth years of the early 1990’s, Manchester United in an effort to increase revenue of more than just gate receipts, tried to convert fans into customers thorough the selling of sports merchandise. The end result for Manchester United saw an increase of fans to more than 25 nations, television deals in 135, its own fashion label and three mega stores (Ross 2004b, p, 88). Consequently, the outcome of the globalisation of Manchester United saw it grow from a soccer club to a global brand. Evidence of being such a global brand is in 1992 when Manchester United and Nike decided to release new playing strips that were continually replaced almost every year. Although, the Nike ‘swoosh’ at this stage was indelibly associated with child labour, it did not stop the fans and consumers buying Manchester United sports appeal (Ross, 2004b). Nike and Manchester United through specific advertising with sports celebrities were able impart their morally and aesthetic pleasing culture onto the sports consumer combined with that of the sport celebrities own values and culture. Ross quite rightly points out that there was much public disgust and rage towards Nike for the use of child labour, however, he further claims that because of the silence and possibly even ignorance of the endorsing sports celebrity, Nike and other sports corporations were able to keep the entire celebrity/branding/sweatshop system of the sports goods industry from unravelling (2004b, p. 93). Fundamentally, it is the values and contemporary culture passed on by celebrities that are exploited by sports corporations such as Nike and Adidas that are transmitted and passed onto the consumer (Ross, 2004b). These imposed values and cultures that the sports consumer takes on allows for individual identities to be seen and heard along with their new culture. Smart formulates the globalisation of sport with consumer culture to suggest that ‘the development of modern sport is bound up with processes of economic and cultural transformation associated with the global diffusion of capitalist forms of consumption’ (2007, p.113). Similarly, the chairman of Nike parallels Smart’s assertions by stating that ‘sport was at the hart of contemporary culture and increasingly defined the culture of the world’ (Smart 2007, p. 114). It is not without reason to put forward that professional sport, the media and corporate sponsorship are all linked together to forge massive profit on the backs of sports celebrities and their endorsement of merchandise. More accurately, Smart refers to this as the ‘golden triangle’ that results with sport being directly coupled with advertising and celebrity endorsements (2007, p.114). Such a link between the sports celebrity, advertising and sport itself highlights the importance of globalisation of sport plays in the economy of the consumer, sports corporations, advertising agencies and the various forms of the media. To be more precise, the globalisation of sport is closely linked with the ‘economic interests and the promotion of consumer culture’ (Smart 2007, p. 114). Sport poses a popular culture appeal and a sense of realism that sporting corporations aim to exploit to increase consumer capital accumulation. The global brands of sports clubs and celebrities combined with global marketing and the promotion of sports merchandise with ‘iconic celebrity sporting figures’ only further contributes to the growth of the supporter and consumer cultures (Smart 2007, p. 114). One of the main purposes for making certain sports and sports organisations global is to make and increase profits. The increased level in spectators and consumers attracts media and advertising interest that further increases the demand for sports equipment and specialised sports clothing that is unashamedly endorsed by sporting celebrities. The large economic growth experienced by sporting corporations innately constructs cultural global sports brands that the fanatical sports fan can identify with and desires (Smart, 2007). For example, Nike’s ‘Air Jordan’ line of shoes endorsed by Jordan himself transformed Nike’s profile, basketball itself and the nature of sports representation that consequently altered the culture of the consumer and the sporting landscape (Smart 2007; McCracken 1989). Smart (2007) points out that sports corporations predicted and understood the effects of globalising sport and the endorsement by sporting celebrities would only increase their revenue. Therefore, is easy to make the assumption that this understanding can be equated to McCracken’s (1986, 1989) theories that symbolic properties and cultural meanings possessed by the celebrity endorser and those of the constituted world are transferred to the consumer goods and then passed onto the consumer. This results in new identities for consumers as well as new or modified cultures. Potentially, the newly formed cultures can change the sporting landscape and place by way of altering the attire worn by participants and also by changing the way the game is played. For instance, backyard or even beach cricket is not played on the traditional field nor do the participants wear traditional attire for cricket. It can be said that these participants are influenced by sporting corporations to buy specialised sporting equipment (plastic bats and stumps) and clothing (celebrity endorsed clothing) that is clearly an action of acculturation brought on by sporting corporations and advertising agencies. Rather than one singular cultural identity constructed from the globalisation of sport there are many and varied cultures. Similarly noted by Mitchell, the cultural sporting landscape becomes quite complex with the introduction of different cultures (2000, p. 28). Moreover, Mitchell adds that the ‘morphology of landscape’ constantly creates and recreates the places and landscapes where people play sport (2000, p. 28). This is echoed through the culture of consumer capitalism and the accumulation of sporting goods and apparel. Hence, the modified clothes and sporting equipment endorsed by the culturally endowed sporting celebrity permits the transfer of cultural meaning and symbolic properties to the consumer (McCracken, 1989). Bertilsson (2007) has the same opinion that sporting celebrities fashion culture and meaning to the consumer to emphasises the value and meaning channelled into brands (2007, p. 2). Pettigrew puts forward that, sport by its physical nature is a form of consumption that is able to provide ‘insight into the role of consumption in human social life’ such as sports advertising and the accumulation of sports consumer goods (2001, p. 1). What’s more, Pettigrew (2001) contests that the consumption of sport including sports advertising and consumer accumulation of sporting merchandise attributes to individual lifestyles and social networks. Moreover, the globalisation and ‘marketisation’ of sport has made sport extremely commercialised that places the sports consumer and fan at a disadvantage because of the over exposure of celebrity sporting endorsements that effectively mould and shape ones social life and culture (Pettigrew 2001, p. 2). Many commentators including Pettigrew (2001) consider sport to be vital to culture and as such, sport has been directly associated with the development of self-identity due to the active lifestyles of people following and participating in sport. For that reason, the promotion of sports merchandise by sports celebrities are able to create social interactions (aided by culturally effective advertising themes), with the sports consumer (Pettigrew, 2001). Such employment of sporting themes and sporting celebrities in advertisements facilitates social interaction that portrays an appropriate context for product consumption that allows for self awareness and identity development to take place for the sports consumer. Importantly, advertising agencies identify the potential social interactions and use sporting celebrities to convey precise emotions, values and culture that represent the needs and desires of sports consumers. For example, the Nike brand has become so trusted, consumers are willing to pay top money for what they believe and determine to be superior quality, style and reliability (East, 1998). Nike through its ‘Just Do It’ advertisements with their many celebrity endorsers was able to influence vast amounts of sporting and non-sporting consumers to purchase their footwear. East points out that 80 percent of the running shoes sold in the US were in fact never used for the intended sporting activities that they were designed to do, thus effectively changing the sporting landscape and sporting culture (1998, p. 2). The iconic status Nike was able to develop for itself tended to focus not on the products it was advertising but rather on the celebrity wearing the product (East, 1998). Through its celebrities, Nike was able to articulate to its consumers that Nike products were cool (East, p. 2). East (1998) suggests that the success of Nike’s campaign is attributable to portraying a culture of quality. Moreover, East states that Nike was able to reassure its customers on quality and perfection by using the following sport stars: Bo Jackson, John McEnroe and Michael Jordan (2001, p. 2). For instance, East suggests that celebrity endorsements appeal to consumers sense of belonging and ‘hipnes’ that led to the prophecy ‘if you want to be hip, wear Nike; if you are hip, you are probably wearing Nike’ (East 1998, p. 2). Nike’s sporting celebrities were able to impart desirability into owing Nike shoes that not only changed the sporting landscape but it also developed new cultures based on sports corporations and advertising agencies values. Advertising plays an integrating role in cultural practices and the process of globalisation (Jackson et al. , 2004). Advertisements of sport generally contain some form of sports setting, imagery and celebrities to promote sports clothing, sports video games and sports equipment that contributes to the development of the globalised culture of commodification and consumption (Hilliard, 2005). In addition, Hilliard (2005) asserts that sports’ advertising encompasses economy, politics and the media. Furthermore, he notes that sports corporations by way of their association with sport sell ‘a way of life based on consumption’ by means of sports celebrity endorsements (2005, p. 4). The use of sports imagery is essential for sports advertising to target specific product categories such as clothing lines and video games. Advertising agencies generally use specific techniques to persuade the intended meaning of sport to ‘rub off’ on their merchandise: Firstly, celebrity athletes are presented in ‘non-threatening’ relationships so as to connect with the intended audience; Secondly, advertisers represent ‘sport as a site for hedonistic consumption’; Thirdly, advertisers continually make reference to sports cliches and slogans that are generally disseminated broadly within the national or territorial culture; and lastly, sporting corporations sponsor sport so as to receive the ‘official sponsor’ tag that appears beside the actual sport logo (Hilliard 2005, p.33). Additionally, the recognition and star appeal of the virtual super-human athletic feats of sports celebrities are captured and transposed into the form of video and arcade games. As suggested by Hilliard, the advertising of sports video games may feed into the culture of sports fans of not participating in sport and thus, altering and transforming the sporting field/landscape from outdoors to the lounge room and subsequent TV (Hilliard, 2005). In conclusion, the globalisation of sport occupies an important part in the economy for the consumer, sports corporations, advertising agencies and the media. The ‘golden triangle’ as described by Smart (2007) illustrates the tactics sports corporations and advertising agencies use to exploit the consumer through intelligent marketing strategies and celebrity endorsements. The resultant symbolic sports branding not only shapes the desires and actions of the sports consumer but also transforms consumer culture and the sporting landscape. Furthermore, the globalisation of sport has seen it loose its playful character while its traditional playing field has been extended by the celebrity sports star to be a global media spectacle with a sizeable financial economy. Advertising as stated by McCracken, is the ‘conduit through which meaning constantly pours from the culturally constituted world to consumer goods’ that allows sports celebrities to become idolised and seen as role models (1989, p. 6). It is from these attributes that sport celebrities and advertising agencies are able promote sports merchandise using the sporting celebrity’s lifestyle and sporting culture to influence and develop sporting cultures in consumers. What’s more, the ‘golden triangle’ has altered the sporting landscape with predefined cultural meanings on the back of celebrity endorsements. The advertising technique of not mentioning the actual product but rather concentrating on the sports star and the actions of the sports star indelibly creates sporting icons and cultural meaning for the sports fan/consumer. Such exploitation by sports corporations allows them to focus on changing popular sports in both rules and the playing field so that the sports consumer will be subdued and manipulated into the capitalist consumption of sports goods that governs the indoctrination of culture, values and social identity. Moreover, the imbued culture and status of wearing and being seen in a particular sports brand combined with the endorsement by celebrities creates a level of trust for consumers. It is this built up trust that consumers are willing to pay top dollar for what they believe is superior quality and reliability, although, in some instances child labour may have been used. The ‘aura of authenticity’ of sports stars helps sporting corporations to achieve significant profit margins and significant wealth for themselves that further contributes to the globalised culture of commodification and consumption of sport. The immense wealth created by the globalisation of sport for sports corporations, advertising agencies and the sports star has seen sport become a highly capitalist culture. Noting this, sport and sports advertising is vital to the development of consumer identity, lifestyles and social acceptance from the accumulation of sports merchandise and also participating in sport. The unambiguous celebrity advertising techniques allow sports corporations such as Nike and Manchester United to create and sell a way of life based on consumer consumption to generate meaning, culture and identity for the consumer that can potentially change the sporting landscape at the same time. Bibliography: Andrews, DL Jackson, SJ 2001, ‘Sport Stars: The Cultural Politics of Sporting Celebrity’, in Andrews, DL Jackson, SJ (ed. ), Introduction: sport celebrities, public culture, and private experience, Routledge, London, pp. 1-19. Bertilsson, J 2007, The Enculturation of Young Consumers, Proceedings of the Nordic Consumer Policy Research Conference 2007, viewed 13 May 2008, . East, S 1998.

Fragile Families Essay -- Article Review, Family Policy

Fragile Families: Articles and How They Contribute to Family Policy This paper will review two articles pertaining to â€Å"fragile families† and assess how they help contribute to family policy. â€Å"Fragile families† are very pertinent to the core of family policy. In the 1990’s the term â€Å"fragile families† originated out of a need to describe families not fitting into the traditional married – unmarried couples with children (McLanahan, Garfinkel, Mincy, & Donahue, 2010). Over a 60 year period non-marital births of children increased significantly. In 1940, 4% of children born were to non-married parents. However, by 2007 this number reached a high of 40%. These families can be compromised of cohabitating couples, non-cohabitating couples, or single mothers (Kalil & Ryan, 2010). They are deemed â€Å"fragile† because they are more likely to experience difficulties economically and relationship wise. They tend to be more impoverished, experience material hardship, and have absent fathers. More importa ntly fragile families are of great concern because they often lack stability as a family unit. Yet, fragile families have become one of the new family types and seem to be a permanent structure steadily on the rise. Bogenschneider (2006) stated that one of the main underlying issues of the family policy debate is the conflicting ideas of families (types). These conflicts are evident when you look at the 3 perspectives with regard to family policy: Concerned, Sanguine, and Impatient. This is why there has been increased focus on this new type of family. One of the issues that need be assessed with regard to fragile families is mothers’ economic conditions and their support systems. (McLanahan et al., 2010). Kalil and Ryan (2010), discuss mot... ... Craigie, and Gunn, 2010). Second, address factors that place the child at risk such as a lack of parent involvement. Third, directly address children’s risk through early child hood education amongst other things. There are also policy changes that can be implemented with regard to mothers’ economic plights and the resources available to them. There should be a strengthening of community based programs that aid mothers and a focus on them working efficiently (Kalil & Ryan, 2010). Safety nets provided in the form of things such as food stamps need to be strengthened as well. Policies should support these resources and have an ultimate goal of economic self sufficiency for mothers in fragile families. The issues presented allow policy makers to be well informed of the possible risks associate with fragile families and the issues they face, especially economically.

Developmental disorders of renal disease

Some of the common developmental kidney disorders include polycystic kidney disease, congenital nephrotic disease, nephroblastoma, renal agenesis, duplication anomalies, fusion anomalies, malrotation, multicystic dysplastic kidney disease, renal dysplasia, renal hypoplasia, etc. Congenital nephrotic disease is an inherited disorder that may present at birth in which the infant has proteins present in the urine (proteinuria) along with swelling of the body (oedema). The condition is rare and is usually found in children born in Finnish families. Children born with the disorder have a protein found in the urine, known as ‘nephrin’.Several substances such as proteins, fats, blood proteins, etc are excreted in the urine. The individuals develops several symptoms including swelling, low birth weight, malnutrion, kidney failure, poor appetite, infections, presence of blood in the urine, poor general health, cloudy appearance of the urine, etc (Charytan, 2006). Nephroblastoma o r ‘Wilm’s tumour’ is a condition characterised by the formation of a malignant tumour in the kidney. It commonly occurs in infants and children. Wilm’s tumour is a very frequent tumour that develops in the abdomen in children.The condition is frequently related to other birth defects such as urinary tract abnormalities, enlargement of one half of the body, missing iris, etc. As the condition is more frequent in identical twins, it is considered to have a genetic link. The tumour seldom spreads to the other parts of the body. One in every 200, 000 children develop this disorder. The child may develop several symptoms including abdominal pain and swelling, presence of blood in the urine, fever, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, malaise, hypertension, constipation, cloudiness of the urine, etc (Nanda, 2006).Polycystic renal disease (Cystic renal development disorder) is a familial condition in which the affect individuals develop cysts in the kidney. The co ndition is an autosomal dominant condition and the symptoms less frequently develop in childhood. One in every 1000 develops the symptoms of polycystic renal disease. In childhood, an autosomal recessive version of polycystic renal disease can also develop. The child may develop severe symptoms along with renal failure with a fatal outcome. Lung function insufficiency is another frequent complication that can result in death.The common symptoms of polycystic renal disease include abdominal pain, abdominal swelling, presence of blood in urine, flank pain, excessive passage of urine, drowsiness, hypertension, joint pain and swelling, nail defects, cysts in other portions of the body such as testis, liver and pancreas, colon defects, swelling of the kidneys, bile duct defects, portal hypertension, fibrosis, brain abnormalities, kidney stones, anaemia, frequent urinary tract infections, renal failure, liver failure, rupture and bleeding of the cysts, etc. The child has a positive family history of polycystic renal disorder.The exact manner in which multiple cysts are formed in the kidney is not understood clearly. However, a genetic cause has been outlined. Once the kidney cysts are formed, they tend to swell, resulting in deterioration of the kidney function. The individual develops several symptoms (Silberberg, 2007). Renal agenesis is a condition in which the kidneys fail to develop. It can occur unilaterally as well as bilaterally. In the bilateral form, several other conditions such as pulmonary hypoplasia, oligohydramnios, facial defects, limb abnormalities, etc, occur resulting in fatal outcomes.In the unilateral form, the individual develops trigone and ureteral orifice defects, absence of the ureter, etc. This form is less severe compared to the bilateral version. The individual can survive provided the kidney function is managed appropriately (Merck, 2005). Duplication anomalies are conditions in which the individual develops extra collecting systems. Th is may affect one kidney or both, and may involve the ureter, calyx, ureteral orifice and the renal pelvis. These conditions have to be treated very carefully depending on the extent to which function is affected (Merck, 2005).Fusion anomalies are conditions in which the kidneys are united to one another. However, the ureters are separate and enter the bladder on either side. Several conditions such as vesicoureteral reflux, congenital renal cystic dysplasia, etc, tend to occur more frequently with fusion anomalies. A condition known as ‘horseshoe kidneys’ is characterised by the fusion of the renal parenchyma bilaterally. It is one of the most common kidney fusion abnormalities. The ureters tend to function normally. Sometimes the point at which the renal pelvis is united to the ureter is abnormal resulting in urinary obstruction.The second most common kidney union anomaly is ‘crossed fused renal ectopia’ in which the kidneys are present on one of the body , and the ureter crosses the midline of the body and empties into the bladder of the either side. Pancake kidney or ‘fused pelvic kidney’ is a condition in which the kidney is single or fused and is emptied into 2 ureters and collecting systems (Merck, 2005). In multicystic dysplastic kidney, the kidneys consist of multiple cysts, cartilage, primitive tubules, and multiple cysts. The individual develops several symptoms such as infection, swelling, hypertension, etc.Renal dysplasia is a condition in which the renal tubules, vasculature, collecting tubules, etc, develop abnormally, resulting in distortion of the normal kidney function. In renal ectopia, the kidneys are not placed in their exact anatomical position resulting in several problems such as obstruction. Renal hypoplasia is a condition in which the ureteral bud gives rise to an underdeveloped and small kidney. However, the size of the nephrons is normal. The individual can develop hypertension (Merck, 2005). Ur eterocele is a condition in which the ureter is enlarged at the point it is inserted into the bladder.At this point, the flow of urine into the bladder is seriously affected resulting in obstruction and hydronephrosis. In neurogenic bladder, due to a defect in the spine at the lumbosacral region, the nerves that supply the bladder are affected resulting in improper drainage of the bladder. The individual is at a risk of developing several problems such vesicureteral reflux, infection, renal hypertension, scarring, renal failure, etc. Hydronephrosis is a condition in which the ureter and the collecting system are dilated (Conley, 2007). References: Charytan, D. M. (2006). â€Å"Congenital nephrotic syndrome.† Retrieved on January 26, 2008, from Medline Plus Web site: http://wwwils.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001576.htm Conley, S. B. (2007). â€Å"Congenital kidney diseases.† Retrieved on January 26, 2008, from Alberta University Web site: http://cnserver0.nkf.med.ualberta.ca/nephkids/congdiseases.htm Merck (2005). â€Å"Renal Anomalies.† Retrieved on January 26, 2008, from Merck Web site: http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec19/ch290/ch290b.html Nanda, R. (2006). â€Å"Wilms tumor.† Retrieved on January 26, 2008, from Medline Plus Web site: http://wwwils.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001575.htm Silberberg, C. (2007). â€Å"Polycystic kidney disease.† Retrieved on January 26, 2008, from   Medline Plus Web site: http://wwwils.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000502.htm