Nike Five Forces - 1573 Words

Five Forces Model (Highly Negative. Range from 1-5) Rivalry (3) 1. How many companies in industry? As Nike is an international company that has their product selling worldwide, they have countless of competitors, including many domestic local firm. However, not all of these companies have the power to compete with Nike, only a few international companies are Nike ¡Ã‚ ¦s major competitors, for instance, Adidas and Reebok. 2. How do they compete each other in term of 4P marketing strategy Product: As an athletic shoes producer, they try to provide better quality and more comfortable shoes that fit to the sport player through research and development. By claiming their shoes meet the physics need of different sports, which help the†¦show more content†¦People still wear Nike to play basketball and do the running. At the mean time, Nike obtains the way of its aggressive advertisement and pricing strategy. Example like this can be see in many places around the world, not only in Taiwan. For instance the unfair labor condition issues in Nike ¡Ã‚ ¦s factory at Indonesia also anger many customers; in addition, if you try to type the keyword  ¡Ã‚ §boycott Nike ¡Ã‚ ¨ and  ¡Ã‚ §anti-Nike ¡Ã‚ ¨ in the search engine, you will be able to come up with at least two thousand results. Yet Nike is always able to solve these kinds of problems to minimize the lost at the least cost. In the case of  ¡Ã‚ §Jordan ¡Ã‚ ¨ at Nike Taiwan, apologize almost don ¡Ã‚ ¦t cost anything for Nike, and to take care and maintain basketball court also can encourage more sport player, which is somehow related to their sale of basketball shoes. Most importantly, they can use these for tax deduction. Apparently, customer have the right to decide whether to buy the product or not, and this right should affect a firm ¡Ã‚ ¦s destiny. When Nike angers their customer, the customer can choose to boycott Nike and go to other brand instead of Nike for substitution. However, the unfair bargaining power between Nike and customer base upon this substitution. If we merely talk about the shoes ¡Ã‚ ¦ function, substitution sure does exist. Nike sport shoes ¡Ã‚ ¦ function can surely be replaced by similar brand like Reebok or Adidas, orShow MoreRelatedNike Porters Five Forces Analysis1756 Words   |  8 Pagesapparel tastes. Nike can re-establish a competitive advantage in the short-run by implementing an innovative design team and brand ambassador. Long-run competitive advantage can be achieved by fully committing to a sustainable innovative business model or by incorporating innovative technology trends into their retail structure. External Analysis: In order to properly discuss Nike’s issues, it is important to first look at the apparel industry and the economy as a whole to determine how Nike compares toRead MoreAnalysis of Nike by Porter Five Forces Model1430 Words   |  6 PagesFamily name Bao First name Cheng ( Steven ) Title: The analysis of Nike in athletic footwear market based on porter’s Five forces model 1. Introduction One and a half months ago, the biggest athletic event in the world  ultimately drew its curtains after a pitched one-month-long battle, which saw thirty-two teams vying for the roll of honor of being crowned the final kings of football – the World Champions – and earn bragging rights for four years at least. It was not onlyRead MoreThe Analysis of Nike in Athletic Footwear Market Based on Porter’s Five Forces Model3132 Words   |  13 Pagesanalysis of Nike in athletic footwear market based on porter’s Five forces model by Duke Introduction Given the demands of todays competitive and dynamic environment, it is quite challenging to understand strategic issues facing organizations and develop the capability for long term organizational success. Introduction in todays dynamic and competitive business environment, survival, growth and profitability are the essence goals of all industries. Nowadays, Porters Five Forces is currentlyRead MoreA Market Analysis Will Be On Nike, Inc.1336 Words   |  6 PagesThis market analysis will be on Nike, Inc. using the Porter’s Five Forces designed by Porter, (2008): 1) Competitive Rivalry within the Industry, 2) Bargaining Power of Suppliers, 3) Bargaining Power of Customers, 4) Threat of New Entrants, and 5) Threat of Substitute Products. Nike was founded in 1964 by Bill Bowerman a track coach at the University of Oregon who developed lightweight, durable running shoes along with Phil Knight one of his runners and a student of business at the University. AlmostRead MoreCompetiti ve Forces Confronting Under Armour, Nike, And The Adidas Group1726 Words   |  7 Pages1. How strong are the competitive forces confronting Under Armour, Nike, and The Adidas Group? Do a five-forces analysis to support your answer. Under Armour, Nike and Adidas are the top three brands known worldwide. These three companies were able to gain a strong brand to make a name for themselves in the sports apparel market today. On the other hand, Under Armour has become one of the top leading distributing companies to offer athletic apparel, footwear amongst many other things. â€Å"In 2013,Read MoreValue Chain and Competitive Forces Essay1247 Words   |  5 PagesValue Chain and Competitive Forces: Effects of Information Technology Module 2 Case John Dow ITM524: Fundamentals of Information Technology Management Dr. Somebody Somebody February 4, 2012 Introduction Businesses are established with the sole reason to provide a product or service to a customer with the intend to make a profit. The amount of time, effort, and resources spend should generate a profit. Then, the profit dependsRead MoreUnder Armour Is Gaining Market Share And Challenging Nike2043 Words   |  9 Pages Abstract Under Armour is gaining market share and challenging Nike in the sports apparel industry. However, Under Armour is having major issues with inventory management and managing cost. Inventory cost has increased steadily over the past three years and is now at the point where it is out weighing revenue. UNDER ARMOUR: CHALLENGING NIKE IN SPORTS APPAREL 3 CASE DESCRIPTION Under Armour, Inc., was founded in1996, by Kevin Plank, by a former University of Maryland footballRead MorePest - Assignment3279 Words   |  14 PagesPaper 2 2. Introduction 3 3. PEST Analysis 4 (3.1) Political Legal Environment 4 (3.2) Economic Environment 4 (3.3) Social Environment 5 (3.4) Technological Environment 5 4. Industry Analysis 5 5. The Michael Porter Five Forces 6 (5.1) Threat Of New Entrants 7 (5.2) Rivalry of existing firms 7 (5.3) Threats of substitutes 7 (5.4) Bargaining power of buyer 8 (5.5) Bargaining power of suppliers 9 6. Conclusion 9 7. Bibliography 10 8. ReferencesRead MoreUnder Armour Inc. Based2788 Words   |  12 Pagesincrease sales in North America as well as to enter international markets as swiftly as possible (Thompson). Porters 5 Forces Under Armour, like any company, is subject to a variety of external forces in the environment they do business in. Porters Five Forces model of competition describes the main external forces that affect businesses. The first of the five forces is the fact that there are always competitive pressures associated with the market maneuvering and jockeying for buyer patronageRead MoreUnder Armour Case Study1946 Words   |  8 PagesHow strong are the competitive forces confronting Under Armour, Nike, and The adidas Group? Do a five- forces analysis to support your answer. †¨ The analysis of the Porters five forces are very important to business entities. Based on the analysis a business can evaluate their current position and positions that they plan to progress towards as it relates to the industry they are operating in. The following is my five forces analysis of the competitive forces confronting the companies that

Buddhist Religious Traditions Sacred Elements and Meanings Free Essays

Buddhism, as a religion, has a set of beliefs and practices. Although there are many doctrinal divisions, also known as Buddhist schools, there are several concepts common to them. These sacred elements characterize Buddhist religious traditions as a whole: Gautama Buddha All Buddhist schools accept the Buddha as their teacher and founder of Buddhism. We will write a custom essay sample on Buddhist Religious Traditions: Sacred Elements and Meanings or any similar topic only for you Order Now Siddhartha Gautama is generally recognized as the Supreme Buddha and his teachings are considered sacred. Middle Way, Dependent Origination, Four Noble Truths, and Noble Eightfold Path These are practices common to all Buddhist schools. The Middle Way (also Middle Path) is their practice of non-extremism which means â€Å"moderation away from extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification and toward the practice of wisdom, morality and mental cultivation. † The doctrine of Dependent Origination (also Dependent Arising) states that phenomena arise together as part of a gigantic web of cause and effect. The most fundamental teachings in Buddhism are the Four Noble Truths. These are: The Nature of Suffering (Dukkha), Suffering’s Origin (Samudaya), Suffering’s Cessation (Nirodha), and The Way Leading to the Cessation of Suffering (Marga). The noble eightfold path is the way to cessation of suffering and achievement of self-awakening. Nirvana Buddhist religious traditions all point their life to buddhahood, which is considered to be the highest attainment as a Buddhist. Nirvana, which literally means â€Å"to cease blowing†, is used by Buddhists, particularly Theravadins, to describe the enlightenment and liberation of Gautama Buddha. References: â€Å"An Introduction to Buddhism. † Retrieved June 24, 2008, from http://webspace. ship. edu/cgboer/buddhaintro. html â€Å"Essentials of Buddhism: Core Concepts. † Retrieved June 24, 2008, from http://www. buddhaweb. org/ â€Å"The Religion of Buddhism. † Retrieved June 24, 2008, from http://www. religioustolerance. org/buddhism. htm How to cite Buddhist Religious Traditions: Sacred Elements and Meanings, Papers

Short Stories From Different Cultures free essay sample

Opening Worlds â€Å"Short Stories From Different Cultures† All 12 stories can be examined for in English Literature Paper 2. This booklet covers the first six stories (‘Dead Men’s Path’ to ‘The Tall Woman and Her Short Husband). The second group of six stories (‘The Pieces of Silver’ to ‘The Winter Oak’) is used in Paper 2 of the English exam as well as the Literature exam. These are covered in a separate booklet. Questions can be about character, theme or culture. You also need to be able to say how the language the author uses adds to the reader’s understanding of character, theme etc, or how it adds to the overall enjoyment of the story, so you will be finding and explaining quotations. Questions always focus on two stories so it is useful to know some of the links between stories so you can see which ones are likely to be paired. The ‘Connections’ heading will help you here. You will have a choice of three questions. The first is always a context question, which prints an extract for you to focus on. Other questions may allow you to choose which stories you answer on. You will have a copy of Opening Worlds in the exam, but it will not be your own annotated copy; you will therefore need to get to know the stories well beforehand. Dead Men’s Path by Chinua Achebe Plot: Dead Men’s Path begins with Michael Obi being appointed Head Master of Ndume Central School. He wanted the school to be progressive and modern; he scorned traditional cultural beliefs. Mr Obi saw an old woman hobbling in the hedges and noticed that there was a path running through the school. He decided to ignore the cultural history of the path and cover it with fences and barbed wire. The village priest visited the Mr Obi to discuss the closure of the path; he said the closure of the path would prevent spirits entering and leaving the village. The priest asked Mr Obi to reopen the path to prevent quarrels. Mr Obi refused the proposal and said that the path was ‘against our regulations’. He suggested they build a new path that skirted the premises. A woman died in the village in childbirth and the villagers were angry that the closure of the path had angered their ancestors. They ransacked the school and tore down the fences and flowerbeds surrounding the path. An inspector came to the school and criticised Obi’s handling of the situation. Characters: Michael Obi is the main character in the story. While he has positive qualities like being well educated, young and enthusiastic, his arrogance, unwillingness to listen and refusal to compromise are his downfall. He believes that just because ideas are modern they are right and he laughs at and insults anything that he sees as old fashioned. In the end, this makes him look stupid; the story starts with him saying ‘what a grand opportunity we’ve got at last to show these people how a school should be run’ (43/44) and ends with the report which describes the tribal war situation developing between the school and the village, arising in part from the misguided zeal of the new headmaster’ (112/114). ‘Young and energetic’ (5), ‘many wonderful ideas’ (6), ‘with enthusiasm’ (6), sound secondary school education’ (7/8) ‘He was outspoken in his condemnation of the narrow views of these older and often less-educated (teachers). ’ (10/11) ‘His passion for modern methods’ (17) ‘The whole purpose of this school is to eradicate just such beliefs †¦ Our duty is to teach your children to laugh at such ideas’ (90/91). Obi’s wife shares his beliefs. She is a shallow person, more interested in showing off her status and impressing other people than making their lives better. ‘She began to see herself already as the admired wife of the young headmaster, the queen of the school. The wives of the other teachers would envy her position. She would set the fashion in everything†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (19-23) The village priest represents tradition and good sense. He is polite, reasonable and offers a compromise so that everyone can get along together, everything that Obi is not. ‘What you say may be true, but we follow the practices of our fathers’ (94/95) ‘What I always say is: let the hawk perch and let the eagle perch’ (96/97) Themes: The story is mainly about the clash between the modern and traditional ways of life, two different cultures, with Obi representing the modern and the village priest the traditional. Seen in this way, the story seems to support the traditional way of life, as it is more tolerant and seems to want to help and support people. The story is also about education. As Obi presents it, the school is there to destroy what people believe and replace it with what he thinks they should believe. The author, by making Obi fail at the end of the story, obviously does not believe this to be right – education is there to support and help people, not to criicise and destroy. This last point leads to another theme – the abuse of power or authority. As a headmaster, Obi has the trust of the community; children are society’s most valuable possession. His job is to support and serve the villagers, but because he is so arrogant and believes himself to be better educated, he thinks he knows what these people need and imposes it on them, which is why they rebel. He shows no respect for the beliefs of others (‘Our duty is to teach your children to laugh at such ideas’), in fact he is very insulting. Connections: Education and teachers: Mr Chase in The Pieces of Silver; Anna Vasilevna in The Winter Oak; Neo in Snapshots of a Wedding Abuse of Power: The Deputy District Officer in The Gold-Legged Frog; the Tailor’s wife in The Tall Woman; Mr Chase in The Pieces of Silver; the Police Inspector in Leela’s Friend Conflict between traditional and modern: Neo in Snapshots of a Wedding; Jing-mei and her mother in Two Kinds. Pride: Neo in Snapshots of a Wedding; the young man in Train From Rhodesia; Mr Chase in The Pieces of Silver; Ravi in Games at Twilight Snapshots of a Wedding by Bessie Head Plot: Snapshots of a Wedding is about a man called Kegoletile and two women, Neo and Mathata. They form a love triangle. Both women are pregnant but Kegoletile chooses Neo over Mathata because she is educated and therefore likely to earn more money. Neo is disliked by most of the people around her because she is arrogant and opinionated. Mathata, on the other hand, is a pleasant girl who is well-liked. An aunt, who can’t stand Neo’s behaviour any more, tells her how unpopular she is. This shocks Neo into trying to be more agreeable, so that she doesn’t lose her husband to Mathata. After the wedding, Kegoletile’s mother says to Neo â€Å"Be a good wife†. Characters: Neo, the bride, is the main character. She is an unpopular figure in the village – people feel her modern education makes her feel superior to others and she is spoiled by her mother. She gets a shock in the middle of the story when she realizes that Mathata, a girl that her future husband has made pregnant is a possible rival to her, and this causes her to try to behave more acceptably. ‘She was an impossible girl with haughty, arrogant ways. Of all her family and relatives, she was the only one who had completed her ‘O’ Levels and she never failed to rub in this fact. ’ (37-39) ‘(The shock) wiped the superior smile off her face and brought her down a little. She developed an anxiety to greet people and also an anxiety about securing Kegolitile as a husband. That was why she became pregnant†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢(112-115) Kegoletile is the man that Neo will marry. He is rich and seems nice enough – a good catch for a young woman. Although he prefers Mathata, he decides to marry Neo as she will be a money earner – perhaps a wife isn’t as important to him as the status money will bring. ‘He had about him an engaging humility and eagerness to help and please that made him loved and respected by all who knew him’ (90/91) ‘He knew what he was marrying†¦a new kind of girl with false postures and aquired, grand-madame ways. And yet, it didn’t pay a man these days to look too closely into his heart. They all wanted as wives, women who were big money earners and they were so ruthless about it! ’ (84-88) Mathata is a very pleasant young woman, but he social status is much lower that the others. She is independent and practical, telling Kegoletile not to bother bringing her expensive dresses as she can’t wear them. She represents the poorer members of society; not as well off in terms of money, but a lot happier in themselves. She was a very pretty girl with black eyes like stars; she was always smiling and happy; immediately and always her own natural self. (82/83) For Mathata, he (Kegoletile) agreed to a court order to pay a maintenance of R10. 00 a month until the child was twenty years old. Mathata merely smiled too. Girls like her offered no resistance to the approaches of men; when they lost them, they just let things ride. (64-68) Themes: The story centres on the arrogance of Neo and how pride could have led to a fall. Her way of thinking that an education made her superior to others makes Neo an unpopular figure, and shows that an education on its own does not necessarily improve a person; Mathata is uneducated but is a much nicer and more popular figure. The power of the family is also important. They are all involved in the preparations for the wedding and ceremony itself. It is one of Neo’s relatives that tells her what people think. Although she didn’t like what she heard, Neo believed the aunt and changed her behaviour as a result. The story ends with the aunt telling Neo to be a good wife – perhaps with the support of her family, she can be. There is also the idea of a conflict between traditional and modern. The bride and groom want a modern wedding, but there is a suggestion that they are ill-matched and the marriage will not be successful. It is the traditional role of the aunts that provides the opportunity for success, so maybe there is a case for keeping the traditional qualities of the marriage process. Connections: Education and teachers: Mr Chase in The Pieces of Silver; Anna Vasilevna in The Winter Oak; Michael Obi in Dead Men’s Path Conflict between traditional and modern: Jing-mei and her mother in Two Kinds; Obi and the priest in Dead Men’s Path Couples: Cathy and Naraian in The Young Couple; The Tall Woman and her Short Husband; the couple in Train From Rhodesia Family: Jing Mei’s family in Two Kinds; Bolan’s family in The Red Ball; the Dovecots in The Pieces of Silver; Naraian’s family in The Young Couple; Leela’s family in Leela’s Friend; Ravi’s family in Games at Twilight The Train from Rhodesia by Nadine Gordimer Plot: A train pulls up at a remote African station. Local people wander over in curiosity, selling goods and trying to get money from the people on the train. A newly married woman sees a wooden lion and admires its splendour and beauty. She does not buy it, however. She has a flashback of the first few weeks of married life. It seems that she does not know her husband particularly well. The train pulls off, and slowly crawls along the track. The woman’s husband dashes into her cabin and waves the lion in her face. He has bought it despite her wishes for him not to. They start arguing about the cost of the lion; she believes its worth more. He does not understand that she handed the loin back to the vendor out of respect for its beauty and can’t understand why she is so angry that he got it so cheaply. Their lack of understanding suggests that this marriage won’t work. Characters: The young woman on the train is at the centre of the story; the reader is told her thoughts and feelings. She is quite a sensitive person, admiring the beauty of the carved lion and appreciating the skill that went into making it. She seems to be unhappy with herself and her life; she suffers a feeling of emptiness that she thought was to do with being single and lonely. Her recent marriage doesn’t seem real to her, just part of the holiday experience. She feels powerless and frustrated. The end of the story suggests that marriage was a mistake. Of all the whites in the story, she alone has a conscience, feeling shame at the way the black artist is treated by her new husband. Her feelings suggest that the whites have little culture or spiritual happiness in their lives; they are empty people unlike the blacks who seem full of life. If you wanted the thing, she said, her voice rising and breaking with the shrill impotence of anger, why didn’t you buy it in the first place? If you wanted it, why didn’t you pay for it? Why didn’t you take it decently, when he offered it? (151-154) The heat of shame mounted through her legs and body and sounded in her ears like the sound of sand pouring†¦She sat there, sick. A weariness, a tastlessness, the discovery of a void made her hands slacken their grip, atrophy emptily†¦She was feeling like this again†¦(171-178) Her husband, the young man, is a shallow figure in the story. He perhaps represents the majority of white men who don’t care about the native population and who happily take advantage of them. He is not a particularly sensitive person; he doesn’t appreciate the carving or understand his new wife’s frustration. He has little in the way of integrity or soul. ‘The young man swung in from the corridor, breathless. He was shaking his head with laughter and triumph’ (134/135) ‘He laughed. I was arguing with him for fun, bargaining’ ‘He was shocked by the dismay of her face’ (148/149) ‘He stood astonished, his hands hanging at his sides’ ( 158) The carved lion, although not a human, is still a powerful figure in the story. It symbolises the culture of the local black population, powerful, dignified, fearless, proud. ‘Between its vandyke teeth, in the mouth opened in an endless roar too terrible to be heard, it had a black tongue†¦round the neck of the thing, a piece of fur; a real mane, majestic, telling you somehow that the artist had delight in the lion’ (36-41) Themes: An obvious theme in the story is the difference between rich and poor. The whites live very comfortably; they drink beer and eat chocolate. The smell of their cooking food tortures the starving dogs. The locals, however, have no luxuries. The children go barefoot, dried meat hangs from the roofs, dogs and chickens have ‘their skin stretched like parchment over their bones’. This situation is reversed in terms of culture; the black artists produce work that celebrates their heritage and the landscape and wildlife around them, they laugh and joke, showing signs of enjoying life – despite their poverty they are rich in life. The whites seem poor in culture. They don’t seem particularly happy with each other or themselves, they are cut off and isolated from the real world, being behind glass on the train, the flower meant to be decorating the window is dead. For all their money, they are poor in spirit. Connections: Poverty: Nak in The Gold-Legged Frog; the Dovecot family in The Pieces of Silver; Bolan’s family in The Red Ball Isolation: The couple in The Tall Woman; Bolan in The Red Ball; Cathy in The Young Couple; Ravi in Games at Twilight Couples: Cathy and Naraian in The Young Couple; The Tall Woman and her Short Husband; Neo and Kegoletile in Snapshots of a Wedding The Gold-Legged Frog by Khamsing Srinawk Plot: The Gold-Legged Frog begins with a man sitting against a tree trunk in the blazing heat of a large expanse of land. We learn that this is Nak Na-ngam, making his way back to his village. In flashback, we learn the events of the day: Nak’s son was bitten by a snake while hunting for frogs. Nak was forced to leave his dangerously ill son due because the government was handing out money to families with five or more children. If he didn’t go, not only would he lose the money, but apparently might be jailed too. While collecting the money, he was made to wait and then humiliated by the government officials there. Nak gets up from the tree to cover the remaining distance to the village. He meets a group of neighbours who tell him he is lucky. Nak’s hopes are raised; he thinks his son has survived. What they mean is that he was lucky to get the money; if he’d waited he wouldn’t have got the 200 baht as his son has died. Characters: Nak is clearly a loving and committed father. He finds it extremely difficult to make the decision about whether to go to the district office whilst his boy is in such a perilous situation. Only the threat of jail if he doesn’t go, which would put the rest of his family at risk, decides him. He shows a proper respect for authority in keeping with his position at the bottom of the social scale, showing him to be decent, law-abiding family man. This makes what happens to him even more unfair. As a good father he doesn’t deserve to lose his son; as a decent citizen, he doesn’t deserve the abuse he gets from the deputy district officer. He seems used to his hard life, though, when he thinks, ‘All you do is suffer if you’re born a rice farmer and a subject. You’re poor and helpless, your mouth gets stained from eating roots when the rice has run out, you’re at the end of your tether and you turn to the authorities only to be put down. ’ (103-106) ‘†I won’t go†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ he yelled. â€Å"My kid can’t breathe and you tell me to go†¦It’s true I’ve never had two hundred baht since I was born, but I’m not going. I am not going. † ‘(72-75) The deputy district officer is the story’s other main character. He is described as having a ‘fat face’, suggesting that, unlike Nak, he has plenty to eat. Rather than being helpful to the needy peasants, he is rude and uncaring. ‘The deputy district officer raised his fat face to stare at him for a moment, then spoke heavily. â€Å"Idiot, don’t you have eyes to see people are working. Get out! Get out and wait outside. †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Themes: Poverty is perhaps the main theme of the story. Nak is so poor that his family is forced to hunt frogs, snails and clams to survive. When his son is bitten, he does not forget to take the frogs he has found with him – food is too important to abandon even in these circumstances. Back at the village, there is no question of finding a doctor and anti-venom; he must rely on faith healers and folk remedies, with little success. His lack of money means he has little importance in society and the deputy district officer treats him with little respect. There is evidence of luck and misfortune in the story. The first piece of luck is when the children find the large Gold-Legged frog, which then turns to bad luck when the snake bites the young boy. Another incident of luck and misfortune is when Nak collects his 200 Baht, against the contrasting with the devastating misfortune of Nak learning that his son has died. The theme of family is also present. Nak is a caring father who is horrified when his son is bitten and is later devastated when his son dies. His instincts as a father are to stay with his boy and it takes some serious persuasion, threats really, to get him to leave. Finally, the deputy district officer abuses his power. As a public servant, his job is to help, support and guide the people living in his area. Instead he abuses them and treats them as if they were nothing. Connections: Poverty: Nak in The Gold-Legged Frog; the Dovecot family in The Pieces of Silver; Bolan’s family in The Red Ball Family: Neo’s family in Snapshots of a Wedding; Jing Mei’s family in Two Kinds; Bolan’s family in The Red Ball; the Dovecots in The Pieces of Silver; Naraian’s family in The Young Couple; Leela’s family in Leela’s Friend; Ravi’s family in Games at Twilight Conflict between traditional and modern: Neo in Snapshots of a Wedding; Jing-Mei and her mother in Two Kinds; Michael Obi and the priest in Dead Men’s Path Two Kinds by Amy Tan Plot: Jing-mei’s mother, an immigrant from China, believes in the American Dream, that anyone can become what they want with some talent and a lot of hard work. The mother had left everything, including her family, behind in China and wanted only the best for her remaining daughter. After some false starts, and resistance on the part of the daughter, it is decided that Jing-mei would become a famous pianist. When the lessons start, however, the girl quickly becomes bored and finds shortcuts, partly made possible by having a deaf piano teacher. When she has to play in public for the first time she is awful and embarrasses her parents in front of friends and neighbours. After this humiliation, her mother is strangely silent. A major row soon follows, however, when Jing-mei refuses to play the piano again. Her mother insists on having a dutiful Chinese daughter but Jing-mei, in her anger, shouts that she wishes she didn’t have her mother, that she wished she’d never been born. This causes her mother to back away, shocked. This difficult relationship lasted until the mother died. When clearing out her mother’s clothes, Jing-mei finds and keeps some old Chinese silk dresses. She also finds the sheet music that she had failed to play years before. She realizes that the song is in two halves ‘Pleading Child’ and ‘Perfectly Contended’, and realizes there is a message in this about her own life; perhaps the two halves of the song represent two aspects of her personality. Characters: Jing-Mei, as her mother calls her, is in many ways a typical western teenager. Whereas, in China, a daughter would be expected to be obedient, she wants to be more independent, make her own decisions and go her own way, to escape the control of her parents. This perhaps reflects the fact that she has grown up in America where children can expect more freedom, but this desire to be independent and escape the control of parents is typically adolescent. She is half way between childhood and adulthood. While she wants to be famous, like any child would, she lacks confidence in herself, but more importantly, she does not realize that success comes only with practice and hard work. Childishly, she takes shortcuts and as a result makes a fool of herself. At the end of the story, as an adult, Jing-Mei understands her mother better. She realizes that, old fashioned and heavy handed as she may have been, her mother had her best interests at heart, not wanting her daughter to cruise along and become lost in obscurity but to stand out and make the best of her opportunities. She also feels more comfortable with her Chinese heritage, shown by the fact that she holds onto the silk dresses. Perhaps these are also a reminder of her mother. ‘In the beginning I was just as excited as my mother, maybe even more so’ (36) ‘In all of my imaginings, I was filled with a sense that I would soon become perfect. My mother and father would adore me. I would be beyong reproach. ’ (44-46) ‘And after seeing my mother’s\disappointed face once again, something inside me began to die’ (77/78) ‘The girl staring back at me was angry, powerful. This girl and I were the same. I had new thoughts, willful thoughts, or rather thoughts filled with won’ts. I won’t let her change me, I promised myself. I won’t be what I’m not’ (86-89) ‘And right then, I was determined to put a stop to her foolish pride’ (217) ‘My mother’s expression was what devastated me: a quiet blank look that said she had lost everything’ (292/293) ‘No accusations. No blame. And in a way, I felt disappointed. I had been waiting for her to start shouting, so I could shout back and cry and blame her for all my misery (300-303) ‘For unlike my mother, I did not believe I could be anything I wanted to be. I could only be me’ (353/354) The mother in this story holds onto the life style and culture that she knew in China – it is hard for ‘an old dog to learn new tricks’. She slaps and nags her daughter which seems old fashioned. She does want Jing-Mei to do well, though, and to have the life and opportunities that she never had. She makes sacrifices for her daughter, doing extra cleaning jobs to afford the piano and lessons and has already made the considerable sacrifice of leaving her first family back in China, an unhappiness she hides most of the time but which is dragged to the surface during their final row – her response suggests that she is as human as anyone else. She wants to be proud of her daughter and her success, and if there is a little showing off competition going on with Auntie Lindo, it just shows that the mother is just as human as the rest of us. ‘America was where my all mother’s hopes lay. She had come here in 1949 after losing everything in China: her mother and father, her family home, her first husband, and two daughters, twin baby girls. But she never looked back with regret. There were so many ways for things to get better’ (9-13) ‘Just like you’ she said. ‘Not the best. Because you are not trying. ’ (129) ‘My mother had traded housecleaning services for weekly lessons and a piano for me to practice on every day’ (139/140) ‘Only two kinds of daughters,’ she shouted in Chinese. ‘Those who are obedient and those who want to follow their own mind! Only one kind of daughter can live in this house. Obedient daughter! ’ (332-334) Themes: The story examines the relationship between mother and daughter. There is both love and conflict as the daughter grows up in a different culture to that of her mother. Both sides have their faults and their strengths, but the story reflects the struggle that growing up, and being a parent, can be. The story is told from the child’s perspective; we get to know her thoughts and feelings, see things from her point of view. Having said this, the mother is described in some detail – we get a good impression of her response to major events like the rows and the concert. The mother is the dominant figure in the story. We see and hear relatively little of Jing-Mei’s father. This would be normal for the Chinese community, where men would take the main responsibility for working and the women for running the household. Connections: Conflict between traditional and modern: Neo and her aunt in Snapshots of a Wedding; Obi and the priest in Dead Men’s Path Family: Neo’s family in Snapshots of a Wedding; Bolan’s family in The Red Ball; the Dovecots in The Pieces of Silver; Naraian’s family in The Young Couple; Leela’s family in Leela’s Friend; Ravi’s family in Games at Twilight Experience of Childhood: Clement in The Pieces of Silver; Bolan in The Red Ball; Leela in Leela’s Friend; Ravi in Games at Twilight; Savushkin in The Winter Oak The Tall Woman and Her Short Husband by Feng Ji-cai Plot: A Tall Woman and her Short Husband starts with some thoughts on the force of habit something, the writer suggests, that shouldn’t be underestimated. The unusual couple at the heart of this story is an object of ridicule for their neighbours. One neighbour in particular, the tailor’s wife, can’t leave them alone and would love to know how such an apparently mismatched couple got together; she thinks that the wife must be a gold-digger after her husband’s money and that he couldn’t find anyone that would marry him. The couple themselves, however, is happy enough to produce a child. When the Cultural Revolution strikes China, the husband is suspected of anti-revolutionary behaviour. The couple is put through a kind of trial, although no-one can find any kind of evidence against them, despite the best efforts of the tailor’s wife. Mr Short is imprisoned and his wife continues to survive as best she can. Eventually he is released, but the year of solitary hardship had its effect on Mrs Tall who suffers a stroke. The community begins to realise that they were not freaks and try to be nicer to them. Mr Short does all he can to help her, but he health fails and she dies soon afterwards. The story ends with Mr Short missing his wife, holding his umbrella high to protect her out of habit. Characters: Mr Short is described as ‘a rubber rolypoly’ (29). Although he is quite flat, he is full of life and energy. He is a devoted and caring husband; after his wife’s stroke he works hard to rehabilitate her. After her death he continues on alone. He loved his wife and no-one can replace her; ‘There is a big empty space under that umbrella, a vacuum that nothing on earth can fill. ’ (333/334) ‘Solid and radiant†¦His eyes were like two high-voltage little lightbulbs’ (29†¦33) Every morning and every evening Mr Short helped her twice round the yard, painfully and slowly. By hunching up his shoulders he was able to grip her crooked arm in both hands. It was hard for him, but he smiled to encourage her†¦This was a pathetic yet impressive sight, and the neighbours were touched by it. (297†¦303) Mrs Tall is described less flatteringly; ‘dried up and scrawny with a face like an unvarnished ping-pong bat. ’ (24/25) She seems to be the opposite of her husband in every respect; tall where he is short, thin where he is fat, dull where he is bright. The author does this to show that, although they don’t seem suited at all, their genuine love for each other makes physical differences irrelevant. She says nothing but understands a great deal, behaving with quiet dignity. Mrs Tall neither nodded nor shook her head. She had seen through the tailor’s wife, too. Her eyes glinted with derision and contempt. (206-208) The author makes these two quite distant characters. They don’t say anything, either reported or direct, during the story and we learn little of their feelings. They are private, keeping themselves to themselves – probably they are used to being ridiculed and keep themselves apart to avoid it. The writer makes us view the couple from the same distance as their neighbours in the story; we are being invited to judge them on the same amount of information. Will we laugh at them or can we realize a loving, devoted couple? In this way, the story tests our own bias and prejudice. The tailor’s wife, on the other hand, is an open and obvious character – most likely, we know someone like her ourselves. She is a gossip, nosing in and interfering with other peoples’ lives. She judges other people by her own low standards, which is why she can’t accept the fact that the couple loves each other and there is nothing more sinister than that going on. The writer often uses irony to describe her – what sounds like a compliment is really an insult If she was unclear about anything she would leave no stone unturned to get at the truth. The thirst for knowledge makes even the ignorant wise. In this respect she was outstanding. (69-71) For some reason or other, ever since the sixties each housing estate had chosen someone like this as a â€Å"neighbourhood activist†, giving legal status to these nosy-parkers so that their officiousness could have full play. It seems the Creator will never waste any talent. (75-79) Themes: This is, at heart, a love story, describing a couple who stick together through thick and thin, who society has made outcasts but who have found belonging with each other. The two forget about usual conventions in order to best suit themselves; Mrs Tall holds the umbrella, Mr Short picks up anything dropped. They are victims of bullying, both the casual variety of neighbours mocking them, but also of the organized force of the Cultural Revolution. They are publicly humiliated, shunned and Mr Short is beaten and imprisoned, all without good cause; as the Revolution dies down he is released and his confiscated belongings returned. It would seem that their oddness makes them an obvious target. Connections: Abuse of Power: The Deputy District Officer in The Gold-Legged Frog; Michael Obi in Dead Men’s Path; Mr Chase in The Pieces of Silver; the Police Inspector in Leela’s Friend Couples: Cathy and Naraian in The Young Couple; Husband and wife in The Train From Rhodesia; Neo and Kegoletile in Snapshots of a Wedding Isolation: The young woman in The Train From Rhodesia; Bolan in The Red Ball; Cathy in The Young Couple; Ravi in Games at Twilight

Personal Emergency and Disaster Plan

Natural, accidental and intentional disaster threats While some disasters are natural, some are accidental such as fires while others are man-made. Since disasters, irrespective of their cause are prone to occurring, planning to how to deal with their effects is imperative. My disaster preparedness plan will focus on tornadoes as natural disasters, fires as accidental hazards and bombings as intentional threats.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Personal Emergency and Disaster Plan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Tornadoes and floods Tornadoes are localized and fierce rotating wind storms that move at extremely high speed of up to 300 mph and are said to be â€Å"the most violent storms on earth† (Kalman MacAulay16). They typically move in a southwesterly-to-northeasterly direction (FEMA). They leave unforgettable marks on their paths as we will see later. This illustrates the devastating effects that students in Indiana would suffer from in the event that a tornado strikes. Floods on the other hand occur because of heavy and steady rain pounding the ground for a long time causing ground saturation (American Red cross). Flush floods are a specific category of floods that occur abruptly because of fast rising water levels along a stream or in a low-lying area (American Red Cross). However, floods are among the most frequent and expensive natural disasters (American Red Cross). Fires The American Red Cross, U.S Fire Administration, and National Fire Protection Association, noted that home fire is a major disaster across the nation and 80% of Americans do not acknowledge this fact. The situation is even serious as the above agencies noted that annually, 20, 000 people get injuries in home fires and someone dies of home fires every two and a half hours (American Red cross, et al). Thus, in IUB, fires are also likely to occur.Advertising Looking for research paper on environ mental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Nuclear Bombing After the September 11 terrorist attack, it became apparent that attacks on the American soil can occur anywhere at any time (Crabtree 576). This calls for preparedness of all individuals and the general population to the threats of terrorism bombing. Three categories of bombing exists namely car bombs, package bombs and suicide bombs (Crabtree 577). The main aspect that is critical of all terrorism and homicidal bomb attacks is that they focus on causing more destruction to people than property (Crabtree 577). As students, one is prone to bombing either directed to the individual or to all students in the university. Student vulnerability to the specific disaster threats Student’s vulnerability to any of the above disasters is eminent. In the event that any of the above disaster strikes, the entire students’ community will feel the effects caused by the disaster. Disruption of communication, structural collapse, contamination of clean water supply, release of hazardous material such as radioactive elements, deaths and physical injury to people are a few of the probable effects associated with the disasters. For instance, bombings release radioactive materials that may persist in the environment for some time. Although the effects reduce with time, the damages are severe if one is exposed to radioactive materials even for the shortest time (Connor). In addition, tornadoes have devastating effects such as the one that hit Arkansas in 2008 causing destruction of homes and 12 deaths (Dougherty 1). Of the major outbreaks that have occurred in American History, Indiana has been affected by all the tornados apart from one tornado that occurred in May 3 1999 (Dougherty 1). Indiana was one of the areas affected by tornado outbreaks in Feb. 1884 that killed 1200 people; April,1965 outbreak that claimed 260 lives and April 1974 that killed 31 5 people(Dougherty 1). To this effect, preparedness on dealing with the disasters becomes imperative and therefore, a precise personal plan to cope with them becomes mandatory.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Personal Emergency and Disaster Plan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Specific plan of action for personal safety General preparation Good preparation is viewed as the best defense against disasters. Upon understanding the type of disasters that are likely in this environment, proper preparation is needed to reduce the extent of devastation. Firstly, I will learn how to disconnect appliances as a preparation step. A list of my property in order of importance and which are to be saved first in the event of a disaster will be prepared. Important documents will be added to the disaster plan so that they will not be forgotten. In addition, there are two kits that I should have in preparation for the di sasters namely, disaster supplies kit, and car emergency supplies kit. These kits will help me in case I will be homebound or compelled to evacuate. The Disaster Supplies Kit The kit will contain a 5-day water supply at the rate of 1 gallon per person per day, a pair of changing clothing and footwear, an updated first aid kit with medicine, batteries, a battery-powered radio, and flashlights, sanitary supplies (toilet papers, soap, personal hygiene items etc), credit cards, cash or traveler’s checks and extra spectacles. Others that I will include are food supplies including foods that can be prepared without cooking and important documents (mortgage papers, insurance policy, birth certificates etc) stored in water proof packets and kept in a safety deposit fire and water proof box as recommended by the American Red Cross. Car emergency supplies kit I will install the car with repair kit for tires, a map, a small shovel, bottled water and high energy foods that have a long sh elf life, first aid kit with a manual, a blanket, a fire extinguisher and a booster cable. The car’s gas tank will be filled as recommended by the American Red Cross. The first aid kit in the car will also be updated, and flashlights will be installed with new batteries. Preparation for tornadoes and floods Tornadoes come in strong storms and may carry any light objects in the homestead. Thus, American Red Cross recommends that the primary step is to ensure that everything that is airborne is brought in the house. Other things like boats that cannot fit in the house will be tied down. Thus, I will need to buy equipment such as ropes and anchoring devices to this effect. Preparing for fires To prepare for disasters associated with fires, I will install a smoke alarm on all levels of the home away from bedrooms. Smoke alarm has been proved to reduce the chances of death by 50% in case of fires (American Red Cross, et al).I will prepare a plan showing all possible exit points fr om the house.Advertising Looking for research paper on environmental studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In addition, a fire assembly point away from the house will be established just in case there will be other people in the house during the fire. All of them should be aware of the exit points. I will practice fire escape plans such as crawling low at least twice a year. Escape ladders that everyone in the house should know how to use will be placed next to the window on the third or second floor. In case of children, I will show them how to stop fire incase their clothes catch fire. Finally, I will learn all rules and safety precautions during fires as suggest by the American Red Cross. Preparing for bomb attack Apart from the supplies mentioned earlier, it is also imperative to plan for radioactive fallout that may be associated with bomb attacks. Radioactive fallout from nuclear explosion losses its intensity fast. Specifically, after seven hours of an attack, an explosion’s intensity reduces to a tenth and reduces to a hundredth in two days (Connor). Therefore shielding on eself from the effects is necessary. Using 2 ft of packed earth, a fallout shelter will be constructed in the basement of the house where occupants can be shielded. This has a potential to stop 99% of the radiation. Thus, with secure source of water, available food and radiation fallout shelter, the survival chance will have increased by 100- times (Connor). The fallout will be installed with mattresses, cushions, pillows, and blankets. Portable camp toilets will also be needed for disposal of waste while inside the fallout shelter. This will be constructed by modifying a 5-gallon bucket. Conclusions Information is key to the proper planning for disaster preparedness. Thus, the University should have training lessons on safety precautions during disasters and also warning signs for various disasters. The university should also ensure that there are radioactive fallout shelters, which can be constructed at considerable costs. This can prevent risks associated with nuclear bomb attack s. Assembly points should be clearly marked to ease location in case of a disaster. Works Cited American Red Cross. Flood Safety checklist. 2009. Web. American Red Cross, Fire Administration and The National Fire Protection Association. Fire Preparedness. 2007. Web. Connor, Shane. (2010). What to do if a nuclear disaster is imminent. 2010. Web. Crabtree, James. Terrorist Homicide Bombing: A Primer for Preparation. Journal of Burn Care Research, 27.5 (2006): 576-588. Print. Dougherty, Terri. Anatomy of a Tornado. Capstone Press. Minnessotta.2011. Print. Federal Emergency Management Agency, (FEMA). Preparing for Natural Disaster: Floods, Hurricanes, Tornadoes and Earthquakes. 2000. Web. Kalman, Bobbie and MacAulay, Kelley. Preparing for Disasters. Crabtree PC. Ontario. 2010. Print. This research paper on Personal Emergency and Disaster Plan was written and submitted by user Leonel Daniels to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Ethnographic Interview Research Paper Example

Ethnographic Interview Research Paper Example Ethnographic Interview Paper Ethnographic Interview Paper Ethnographic Interview: Taiwan Culture Experience 1 Ethnographic Interview: Taiwan Culture Experience Vntge Jayne Clark Atlanta University Communication Cultural Diversity, Professor Howell March 14, 2011 2 PRECONCEPTIONS Culture is defined as the traditions, customs, norms, beliefs, values and thought patterning passed down from generation to generation (Jandt 2010). The world consists of many different cultures. In this Ethnographic Interview, I was given the opportunity to explore and learn more about a culture different from my own. Through observation I’ve have seen how people of different cultures differ from mines.For example, the type of foods a person eats can sometimes help you to identify their culture. I interviewed fellow classmate of mines, Ting Yan Yang, who was born in Taiwan. Before I initially interviewed my informant I researched the culture of Taiwan. I expected to learn a lot more about the Taiwan culture through my research and interview, because prior to this assignment I knew nothing about the culture. However, I did have my preconception that in some way the Taiwan culture would be connected to the Chinese culture. This preconception was formed based upon my informer’s physical appearance.After research, my preconception proved to be fact. Taiwan’s population is mostly Han Chinese who was born on the mainland or have ancestors that were (Peggy 2009). My research overall gave me a very descriptive background of the Taiwan culture. The culture was described so vividly I could in some ways just picture it. Their value systems in some ways were similar to my own, so I could relate in a lot of ways. Most people in Taiwan have traditional values based on Confucian ethics; however, pressures from industrialization are now challenging these values.Still, some traditional values remain strong, including piety toward parents, ancestor worship, a strong emphasis on education and work, and the importance of face. (Ming-teh 200 6). INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE Before conducting this interview it was required to choose someone of a different culture from my own, and who has not been here for more than 10 years. Immediately one of my 3 classmates came to mind whom I felt I had socially interacted well enough to ask for a favor. I told him that this was a class assignment and describe his role in aiding me to complete it. I asked him how long he had been in America and he told me 8 years.He without hesitation agreed to be my informer. We sat up a date and time that which was suitable for the both of us. I offered to buy lunch at a local sushi restaurant, Chin Chin II, to compensate his time. Chin Chin II served the popular dish sushi, and from research I learned sushi was apart of the Taiwan culture. Sashimi (raw fish) and sushi are very popular in Taiwan (Ming-teh 2006). On the date of the interview I brought only a pad and pen with me. We choose a Saturday to meet up in the afternoon, 2pm to be precise. Before meet ing, I previously drafted a couple of main questions I wanted to address.Although, some questions were created as the interview took place. I avoided any questions of ethnocentrism, judgments towards his actions and ways of thinking, and overly too personal. I was truly convinced any questions of these natures could not in any way give me a true definition of the Taiwan culture. I wanted my informer to feel free to describe his culture, his way, without restrictions. I arrived to the restaurant before my informer. I felt it was respectful for me to initially be there before him which could alter him waiting on me to arrive. When he arrived he greeted me with a handshake and a smile.In the Taiwan culture greetings are formal, and handshakes are the most common form of greeting (Williams 2007). Before conducting the research we ordered our food. He ordered a sushi dish titled Hama chi roll. Usually the only sushi dish I was confident in eating was the California roll but, I decided to order the same dish which I believe could in some ways enrich my Taiwan experience. My informer also ordered a cucumber salad. I was familiar with the cucumber salad because I had eaten it before and it found it to be a 4 tasteful salad. He also ordered lemonade to drink which so happened to be a common drink I ordered when I ate out.I knew right than we shared some similarities. While waiting for our food to arrive I started the interview off with some introductory background questions. His demeanor during the interview was very comfortable. I felt he was being very open and honest with his answers. Our conversations flowed very smoothly. I felt as if I was speaking to someone from a different culture from mines, but the way he expressed his perceptions and experiences were not foreign to me. Plainly, I could see how people all over the world could share the same dilemmas. INTERVIEW 1. What was your initial reason to move to the United States?I have heard that united States have t he best education and the opportunity to do what I want. 2. Did anyone of your family members already stay in America before you moved here? My cousins whole family 3. If so what did they tell it would be like? They just told me the school is very easy over here in United States and people are interesting about the foreigner that about it 4. Before moving to North America did you have an idea of what you thought it would be like? I thought lifestyle would be interesting because I always have a fantasy about the America when I watch American movie, I thought it would be just like that. . Did any type of media via movies, television shows, and or any type of music influence you thoughts on how North America would be? Action movie and Hip Hop music. I love the action movie because they show the beauty of the United States. And hip hop music is very popular which assemble part of the United States culture. 6. How did you arrive to North America? (Airport, train, bus station etc)? Airpla ne 7. What was your experience like first arriving to America? I experienced somewhat of a culture shock. I was surprise the fact that Americans are friendlier and welcoming than I thought they would be. 8.What do you miss most about your original culture? I will have to say the food is what I miss the most from my culture. It is because the food in the united states just not the taste that I used to have. 5 9. Do you miss your homeland? Yes I do from time to time, however I have grown accustom to the United States. 10. Have you ever experienced racism and or discrimination  towards you in any way while in America? Yes (he says Yes very aggressively) I have experienced both racism and discrimination 11. If so can you give me a brief description of one experience? When I first came here, people in the school were not very friendly.The school was predominately white. In class other students tend to make fun of me in any ways they could because I was different from them. I remember w hen I was eating, people came up to me and ask for the food in my plate and if I didnt give it to them, they will create the rumor that make people keep distance with me. 11. What are some of your culture customs? (food, music, dances, rituals, etc) In the lunar Chinese New Year, each family comes together at once. The family will prepare the most luxurious food on the table, and all the dishes have to be finished. 12. Did you speak English prior to moving here?I barely understand the English language 13. If you didn’t speak English prior to moving here how did you learn the English language? Was it a difficult language to learn? I join all kinds of activities at school. And I join the sports team because I am a social person it was easier for me to make friends. When I first learned the language at first it is difficult but after a while, it became easier to understand and speak fluently.

Dakosaurus - Facts and Figures

Dakosaurus - Facts and Figures Name: Dakosaurus (Greek for tearing lizard); pronounced DACK-oh-SORE-us Habitat: Shallow seas of Eurasia and North and South America Historical Period: Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (150-130 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 15 feet long and 1,000-2,000 pounds Diet: Fish, squids and marine reptiles Distinguishing Characteristics: Dinosaur-like head; primitive rear flippers About Dakosaurus Like its close relatives Metriorhynchus and Geosaurus, Dakosaurus was technically a prehistoric crocodile, even if this fierce marine reptile was more reminiscent of the mosasaurs that appeared tens of millions of years later. But unlike other metriorhynchids, as these sea-going crocodiles are called, Dakosaurus looked like it was assembled out of the bits and pieces of other animals: its head resembled that of a terrestrial theropod dinosaur, while its long, clumsy, leg-like hind flippers pointed to a creature only partly evolved beyond its terrestrial origins. Overall, it seems unlikely that Dakosaurus was a particularly fast swimmer, though it was clearly just speedy enough to prey on its fellow marine reptiles, not to mention assorted fish and squids. For a marine reptile, Dakosaurus has an unusually long pedigree. The type species of the genus, initially mistaken for a specimen of Geosaurus, was named way back in 1856, and before that scattered Dakosaurus teeth were mistaken for those of the terrestrial dinosaur Megalosaurus. However, the real buzz about Dakosaurus began in the late 1980s, when a new species, Dakosaurus andiniensis, was discovered in the Andes Mountains of South America. One D. andiniensis skull discovered in 2005 was so large and fearsome that it was dubbed Godzilla by the excavating team, one paleontologist going on record as saying that this dinosaur-like reptile represented the most drastic evolutionary change in the history of marine crocodiles.

A Philosophical Understanding of Researching Gangs in the NTE Essay

A Philosophical Understanding of Researching Gangs in the NTE - Essay Example As postulated by Plato, the Greek philosopher (427-347 BC), knowledge can be distinctively considered as â€Å"Justified True Belief†. The theory encompasses major queries regarding the basis of knowledge, the methodical approach of its acquisition, people’s understanding level, and how & why is it necessary to know what one perceives. There is a subtle difference epistemologically between the theory and practical (of what is gathered by experience) aspects of knowledge. (Watson, 2004) John Locke advocates the idea of Innatism, which proposes that the knowledge accumulated in an individual through experience, is actually born of that person’s pre-existing sub-conscious knowledge base. Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that lays emphasis on the role of experience, especially the experience based on constant observations by the five senses. Some empiricists think that all the knowledge is empirical while others separate mathematics and logic from the stream. (Fum erton, 2005) The German philosopher Immanuel Kant of the 18th century states, "although all our knowledge begins with experience, it does not follow that it arises from experience" (Taylor, 1989, p.80). From here also we get the essence of â€Å"Transcendental Absolute† as guided by the theorists of Innatism. In his works of Personal Knowledge, Michael Polanyi attempts to bring out the distinction between â€Å"knowing that† and â€Å"knowing how†. The level of consciousness is heightened through the attainments of multiple experiences and different perception levels. The epistemological approach identifies two basic types of knowledge; one is â€Å"A priori† which interprets the structure of knowledge is independent of empirical experiences and the other one â€Å"A posteriori† is justified by the experiencing through the practical way. Hume’s epistemological treatise on natural knowledge

Memo 1-follow intructions below Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Memo 1-follow intructions below - Case Study Example According to an email sent, there were examples of adjustments made as a result of budget cut. It is better to understand these adjustments were not done intentionally but as a result of drastic change in Budget cost. Lake Clarke National Park offers services which everyone would look forward to enjoy. The mail was not written without the right consent. The relevant individuals had tried all they could squeeze the park’s budget in the new reduced budget. It is at times impossible to shift to a new budget line. Low service-adjustment caused by changes in reduced Budget cost can close down the company’s operations. Lake Clarke National Park was forced to lower some services it offered to its customers. Poor financial situation of the park led to changes in services it offered. My intention is to make the park’s customers understand the financial position of it. The mail used had good means to reach the

Human Behavior in an Organization Essay Example for Free

Human Behavior in an Organization Essay In an organization there are lots of factors to be considered for the company to achieve its goals and objective and succeed. These factors include communication, motivation, leadership skills, personal characteristics of employees, interaction between and among employees and teamwork. Communication is significant in transferring information because the information to be transferred must be precise and accurate to avoid miscommunication. Failure to communicate proper information might cause a negative long-term effect on the company. Furthermore, miscommunication may result to personal conflicts between members of an organization. Persons or employees in the organization must feel motivated to achieve the goals and objectives that should be met. This motivation may come from personal factors, such as for family and self-competence, or external factors, such as salaries or benefits are tied to performance of doing a job. Highly motivated members are the ones who mostly done their job efficiently. Management must motivate employees for them to do their jobs efficiently and effectively so as to lessen any probable negative impacts to the organization. There is always a person or a group of persons that will initiate any activities done by an organization and we usually call these people as leaders. A leader must be sensitive to feelings of others but not to the extent that it would prejudice any undertakings made by the group. We see different kinds of leaders, there are those who are autocratic or who don’t listen to what others has to say but there are also those that listens, hears and considers the point of view of others. Conflicts may arise in an organization primarily because of the personal characteristics of each employee that are not acceptable to others. This should not be done because everyone is different in his or her own way. Conflicts between employees would result to negative effects that would cause to fail to meet the objectives. These problems between members must be resolve to build a better relationship between them and to be able to prevent this problems to arise again in the future. In any activity that an organization should do, teamwork must always be present. This is very important to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives efficiently. In a team, each one must do their part to help achieve the goal and not help prejudice the activity. In a team, together everyone achieves more, which means that if members would just work together, all of the objectives, even the least important objective will be met. There are weaknesses and strengths inside a group and this must be taken into considerations, to eliminate these weaknesses and improve those strengths. Team building activities may be done by the organization to improve the relationship between and among members so as to have a team that works together for a common goal. Hence, goal congruence arises, which is very important factor that must exist inside the organization. Thus, proper communication, motivation, leadership skills, relationships between members and teamwork must exist within an organization. In this way, any goals and objectives of the organization will be met. As long as each one of the members do their parts well, nothing could go wrong and the organization will be successful in any activities they will undertake.

Ghost Children of San Antonio Essay -- Urban Legends Ghost Stories

Ghost Children of San Antonio The legend of the Ghost Children of San Antonio dates back to the first half of the 20th century, with the majority of accounts placing its origins within a period extending from the 1930’s to the 1950’s. The story is based on a supposed freak accident involving a school bus full of children. As the story goes, the school bus stalled over a set of train tracks and was subsequently hit by an oncoming freight train, killing everyone on board the bus. (Weiser) Not soon after this grisly event, it was said that, should anyone park their car on the very same train tracks and place the gears in neutral, the car will roll uphill (seemingly defying gravity) off of the train tracks to a safe distance away. According to legend, the ghosts of the dead children from the bus accident push one’s car to safety (seemingly uphill) so they may avoid a similar fate. (Mikkelson) This story was recounted to me by a 20 year old female student at my University. She is a Communications major, coming from an upper middle class family in the rural suburbs of New Jersey. I interviewed her in her apartment sometime in the late afternoon in an informal setting. Although she is skeptical about things such as urban legends and ghost tales, she explained to me that this story always unsettled her in an inexplicable way. Yeah, there’s one [story] that’s pretty scary that comes to mind. My one friend [name omitted] – I think you met her once – well she moved to Jersey from Texas about 3 years ago and told me about this place kids would go when they were drunk or just looking for something to do. I asked her if she’d ever been there, but she told me she’d only heard it from a friend of a friend kind of deal. Well, an... ... that the story is representative of how all ghosts behave. Society prefers to consider ghosts as â€Å"protectors† or â€Å"helpers† rather than as â€Å"frighteners† or â€Å"killers.† Works Cited Juliano, Dave. "Haunted Places in Maryland." The Shadowlands Ghosts and Hauntings. 09 Apr. 2006. http://theshadowlands.net/ghost/. Lane, Stephanie. "Cry Baby Bridges." Dead Ohio. 09 Apr. 2006 www.deadohio.com. Mikkelson, Barbara. "Helping Hands." Snopes. 24 Mar 2003. Urban Legends Reference Pages. 09 Apr. 2006. www.snopes.com. Sceurman, Mark. Weird U.S. Weird NJ, Inc. 09 Apr. 2006. www.weirdus.com. Wagner, Stephen. "The Haunted Railroad Crossing." About Paranormal. About, Inc. 09 Apr. 2006. http://paranormal.about.com. Weiser, Kathy. "Lone Star Legends: Ghostly Children." Legends of America. Oct 2005. Legends of America.com. 09 Apr. 2006. www.legendsofamerica.com.

Oil and wasser assignment Essay

The story began from two enterprises. The company Royal –biscuit, would like to merge Edeling, a company from Germany. Brighton, CEO of Royal-biscuit, had coordinated with Wallach for many times. When they decide to merge together, they should have known that both of their cultures are quite incompatible which might result in severe conflict. In this case, we can see that most of the difficulties are about cross-culture difference. The culture of Royal-Biscuit emphasizes â€Å"Active†, â€Å"Ambitious†, and â€Å"Fast-training†, and that’s the reason why it changed food industry in UK within 10 years. However, Edeling is a family owned business with 120-year history, and quite popular in Germany. Employee in Royal-Biscuit were afraid that they might make things slowly down if everything are well-prepared and step by step, while employee in Edeling were afraid that they didn’t respect their history at all, just eager to succeed in short term. Such situation not only happened in internal management, but also happened in human resource, like recruitment for talented. Brighton wanted to integrate two companies ASAP, so that they train they staff to own leadership by â€Å"Learning and doing†. They put them in the managerial position directly. On the other hand, Edeling has a successful business model due to their system and operation. They cultivate their leader by sending them to college of commerce and doing work from basic level. Not only culture difference in both company, but also about â€Å"Nation difference†.

Charlottetown Conference

The Charlottetown Conference By the early 1860s, the British colonies of North America were considering the benefits of a union. The American Civil War had created a new military power and a renewed threat to the small, divided colonies to the north. And British public opinion had been in favour of reducing, if not eliminating government spending in North America, especially for defence. In September 1864, British North American politicians met in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island to discuss the possibility of a union. (Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada)In September 1864, the Atlantic provinces – Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland – organized a conference to discuss a union among themselves. Governor General Monck asked that the province of Canada be invited to their talks, â€Å"to ascertain whether the proposed Union might not be made to embrace the whole of British North American Provinces. † Canada's most prominent p oliticians journeyed down the St. Lawrence River on a 191-ton steamer, with $13,000 of champagne in its hold, to attend the conference in Prince Edward Island. Those on board included John A.Macdonald, and George Brown from Upper Canada and George-Etienne Cartier, Thomas D'Arcy McGee and Alexander Galt from Lower Canada. Each journeyed to Charlottetown with a different motive in mind. Cartier felt that if he could persuade the Maritimes to join in a union, together their population would balance that of Upper Canada. In contrast, Brown wanted an end to what he considered French domination of English affairs – the end of a political stalemate. Macdonald was worried about American aggression and felt that the united British colonies, perhaps, could resist their powerful neighbour.In the 1860s, John A. Macdonald was instrumental in creating the Dominion of Canada and became its first prime minister. (Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada) The group of eight cabinet ministe rs and three secretaries arrived in Charlottetown on the same day as Slaymaker's and Nichol's Olympic Circus, the first circus to visit the island in 20 years. The harbour was deserted with most of the town at the circus. The delegates to the conference soon formed a different, political circus with a marathon of speeches, protests, lobster lunches, resolutions, picnics, alliances, flirtations and champagne balls.On the first official day of the conference, Macdonald spoke at length about the benefits of a union of all of British North America. The next day, Galt – a businessman, finance minister, and railway promoter – presented a well-researched description of the financial workings of such a union. On the third day, George Brown discussed the legal structure. And on the fourth day, McGee praised the nationalist identity, one that he saw bolstered by a vivid Canadian literature. Prominent politician George-Etienne Cartier was the leading spokesman for French Canada d uring Confederation negotiations. Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada) The original intent of the conference to discuss a Maritime union was overwhelmed by talk of a larger union. In a matter of days the Maritimers and Canadians had persuaded each other to create a new federation. The delegates were giddy with success and the celebration party continued in Halifax, Saint John and Fredericton. But the terms of the union remained to be worked out – a daunting political task. The delegates agreed to meet again in Quebec City the following month.

Admiral Barbarossa of the Ottoman Empire

Admiral Barbarossa of the Ottoman Empire He began his naval career as a Barbary pirate, alongside his brothers, raiding Christian coastal villages and seizing ships across the Mediterranean. Khair-ed-Din, also known as Hayreddin Barbarossa, was so successful as a corsair that he managed to become the ruler of Algiers, and then the chief admiral of the Ottoman Turkish navy under Suleiman the Magnificent. Barbarossa started life as a simple potters son and rose to lasting piratical fame. Early Life Khair-ed-Din was born sometime in the late 1470s or early 1480s in the village of Palaiokipos, on the Ottoman-controlled Greek island of Midilli. His mother Katerina was likely a Greek Christian, while his father Yakup is of uncertain ethnicity - different sources state that he was Turkish, Greek, or Albanian. In any case, Khair was the third of their four sons. Yakup was a potter, who purchased a boat to help him sell his goods all around the island and beyond. His sons all learned to sail as part of the family business. As young men, sons Ilyas and Aruj operated their fathers boat, while Khair bought a ship of his own; they all began operating as privateers in the Mediterranean.   Between 1504 and 1510, Aruj used his fleet of ships to help ferry Moorish Muslim refugees from Spain to North Africa after the Christian Reconquista and the fall of Granada. The refugees referred to him as Baba Aruj or Father Aruj, but Christians heard the name as Barbarossa, which is Italian for Redbeard.  As it happened, Aruj and Khair both had red beards, so the western nickname stuck.   In 1516, Khair and his older brother Aruj led a sea and land invasion of Algiers, then under Spanish domination. The local amir, Salim al-Tumi, had invited them to come and free his city, with assistance from the Ottoman Empire. The brothers defeated the Spanish and drove them from the city, and then assassinated the amir.   Aruj took power as the new Sultan of Algiers, but his position was not secure. He accepted an offer from the Ottoman sultan Selim I to make Algiers part of the Ottoman Empire; Aruj became the Bey of Algiers, a tributary ruler under Istanbuls control. The Spanish killed Aruj in 1518, however, at the capture of Tlemcen, and Khair took on both the beyship of Algiers and the nickname Barbarossa.   Bey of Algiers In 1520, Sultan Selim I died and a new sultan took the Ottoman throne. He was Suleiman, called The Lawgiver in Turkey and The Magnificent by Europeans. In return for Ottoman protection from Spain, Barbarossa offered Suleiman the use of his pirate fleet. The new bey was an organizational mastermind, and soon Algiers was the center of privateer activity for all of North Africa. Barbarossa became the de facto ruler of all the so-called Barbary pirates  and began to build up a significant land-based army as well. Barbarossas fleet captured a number of Spanish ships returning from the Americas laden with gold. It also raided coastal Spain, Italy, and France, carrying off loot and also Christians who would be sold as slaves. In 1522, Barbarossas ships assisted in the Ottoman conquest of the island of Rhodes, which had been a stronghold for the troublesome Knights of St. John, also called Knights Hospitaller, an order left over from the Crusades. In the fall of 1529, Barbarossa helped an additional 70,000 Moors flee from Andalusia, southern Spain, which was in the grips of the Spanish Inquisition. Throughout the 1530s, Barbarossa continued to capture Christian shipping, seize towns, and raid Christian settlements all around the Mediterranean. In 1534, his ships sailed right up to the River Tiber, causing panic in Rome. To answer the threat he posed, Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire appointed famed Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, who began to capture Ottoman towns along the southern Greek coast. Barbarossa responded in 1537 by seizing a number of Venetian-controlled islands for Istanbul.   Events came to a head in 1538.  Pope Paul III organized a Holy League made up of the Papal States, Spain, the Knights of Malta, and the Republics of Genoa and Venice. Together, they assembled a fleet of 157 galleys under Andrea Dorias command, with the mission of defeating Barbarossa and the Ottoman fleet. Barbarossa had just 122 galleys when the two forces met off of Preveza. The Battle of Preveza, on September 28, 1538, was a smashing victory for Hayreddin Barbarossa.  Despite their smaller numbers, the Ottoman fleet took the offensive and crashed through Dorias attempt at encirclement. The Ottomans sank ten of the Holy Leagues ships, captured 36 more, and burned three, without losing a single ship themselves. They also captured about 3,000 Christian sailors, at a cost of 400 Turkish dead and 800 wounded. The following day, despite urging from the other captains to stay and fight, Doria ordered the survivors of the Holy Leagues fleet to withdraw. Barbarossa continued on to Istanbul, where Suleiman received him at the Topkapi Palace and promoted him to Kapudan-i Derya or Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy, and Beylerbey or Governor of governors of Ottoman North Africa.  Suleiman also gave Barbarossa the governorship of Rhodes, fittingly enough. The Grand Admiral The victory at Preveza gave the Ottoman Empire dominance in the Mediterranean Sea that lasted for more than thirty years. Barbarossa took advantage of that dominance to clear all of the islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas of Christian fortifications. Venice sued for peace in October of 1540, acknowledging Ottoman suzerainty over those lands and paying war indemnities. The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, tried in 1540 to tempt Barbarossa to become the top admiral of his fleet, but Barbarossa was not willing to be recruited. Charles personally led a siege on Algiers the following fall, but stormy weather and Barbarossas formidable defenses wreaked havoc on the Holy Roman fleet  and sent them sailing for home. This attack on his home base led Barbarossa to adopt an even more aggressive stance, raiding throughout the western Mediterranean Sea. The Ottoman Empire was allied with France by this time, in what the other Christian nations called The Unholy Alliance, working in opposition to Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. Barbarossa and his ships defended southern France from Spanish attack several times between 1540 and 1544. He also made a number of daring raids on Italy. The Ottoman fleet was recalled in 1544  when Suleiman and Charles V reached a truce.  In 1545, Barbarossa went on his last expedition, sailing to raid the Spanish mainland and offshore islands. Death and Legacy The great Ottoman admiral retired to his palace in Istanbul in 1545, after appointing his son to rule Algiers. As a retirement project, Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha dictated his memoirs in five, hand-written volumes. Barbarossa died in 1546.  He is buried on the European side of the Bosporus Straits. His statue, which stands next to his mausoleum, includes this verse: Whence on the seas horizon comes that roar? / Can it be Barbarossa now returning / From Tunis or Algiers or from the isles? / Two hundred ships ride on the waves / Coming from lands the rising crescent lights / O blessed ships, from what seas are you come? Hayreddin Barbarossa left behind a great Ottoman navy, which continued to support the empires great power status for centuries to come. It stood as a monument to his skills in organization and administration, as well as naval warfare. Indeed, in the years following his death, the Ottoman navy ventured out into the Atlantic and into the Indian Ocean to project Turkish power in distant lands.

10 Tips for Learning a Foreign Language as an Adult

10 Tips for Learning a Foreign Language as an Adult While the U.S. is home to over 350 different languages, according to a report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), most Americans are monolingual. And this limitation can negatively impact individuals, U.S. companies, and even the country as a whole.   For example, the AAAS notes that learning a second language improves cognitive ability, assists in learning other subjects, and delays some of the effects of aging. Other findings include that up to 30% of U.S. companies have stated that they’ve missed business opportunities in foreign countries because they didn’t have in-house staff who spoke the dominant languages of those countries, and 40% stated they could not reach their international potential because of language barriers.  However, one of the most striking and alarming examples of the importance of learning a foreign language happened at the onset of the 2004 avian flu epidemic. According to the AAAS, scientists in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries did not originally understand the magnitude of avian flu because they could not read the original research – which was written by Chinese researchers. In fact, the report notes that just 200,000 U.S. students are studying Chinese compared to 300 to 400 million Chinese students who are studying English. And 66% of Europeans know at least one other language compared to just 20% of Americans. Many European countries have national requirements that students must learn at least one foreign language by the age of 9, according to data from the Pew Research Center. In the U.S., school districts are typically allowed to set their own policies. As a result, the vast majority (89%) of American adults who know a foreign language say they learned it in their childhood home. Learning Styles for Children Children and adults learn foreign languages differently. Rosemary G. Feal, executive director of the Modern Language Association, says, â€Å"Children generally learn languages through games, songs, and repetition, and in an immersive environment, they often produce speech spontaneously.† And there’s a reason for that spontaneity. According to Katja Wilde, head of Didactics at Babbel, â€Å"Unlike adults, children are less aware of making mistakes and the associated embarrassment, and therefore, dont correct themselves.† Learning Styles for Adults However, Feal explains that with adults, studying the formal structures of the language is usually helpful. â€Å"Adults learn to conjugate verbs, and they benefit from grammatical explanations along with strategies such as repetition and memorizing key phrases.† Adults also learn in a more conscious way, according to Wilde: â€Å"They have strong metalinguistic awareness, which children don’t have.† This means that adults reflect on the language they learn. For example ‘Is this the best word to express what I want to say’ or ‘Did I use the correct grammar structure?’† Wilde explains. And adults usually have different motivators. Wilde says that adults typically have specific reasons for learning a foreign language. â€Å"Better quality of life, self-improvement, career advancements, and other intangible benefits are usually the motivating factors.   Some people believe that its too late for adults to learn a new language, but Wilde disagrees. â€Å"Although children tend to be better at subconscious learning, or acquisition, adults tend to be better at learning, because they are able to process more complex thought processes.† Try 10 tips for learning languages: 1) Know why youre doing it. 2) Find a partner. 3) Talk to yourself. 4) Keep it relevant. 5) Have fun with it. 6) Act like a child. 7) Leave your comfort zone. 8) Listen. 9) Watch people talk. 10) Dive in. Feal also recommends other ways for adults to learn a foreign language, such as watching TV shows and film in the target language. â€Å"In addition, reading written materials of all kinds, engaging in interactive conversations on the web, and for those who can travel, an in-country experience, can help adults make meaningful progress.† In addition to these tips, Wilde says that Babbel offers on-line courses that can be completed in bite-sized chunks, anytime and anywhere. Other sources for learning a new language include Learn A Language, Fluent in 3 Months, and DuoLingo. College students can also take advantage of study abroad programs where they can learn new languages and new cultures. There are several benefits to learning a new language. This type of skill can increase cognitive skills and lead to career opportunities - especially since multilingual employees can earn higher salaries. Learning new languages and cultures can also result in a more informed and diverse society.

Management Decisions Paper Term Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management Decisions - Term Paper Example On the other hand, increase of stock prices causes economic growth through investment and consumption channels. The finding of this essay shows the interrelationship between the increase in stock’s price and growth of the economy. This is enhanced through consumption and investment channels that exist in the product and financial market Management decisions Introduction Management in a firm entails board of directors who are entrusted by shareholders with responsibilities of running the business because they have the required expertise. Management should hire temporary workers and upgrade old machines in order to lower cost of input. Additionally, they should also ensure the optimal parts kept in the shelf have the capacity to sustain demand in the product market and give optimal profit. It is agreed in all business circles that a firm’s management should also look over shareholders’ interest. This is in an effort to maximize shareholders’ value by engagin g in decisions that that facilitate rise of value and economic growth of the firm. In order to have an efficient financial and product market, stock prices should be addressed because it holds the present and future information of the firm. This implies that great performance of firm’s managements should be focused and reflected in price stock. Therefore, every decision made by the management should address stock prices of the firm in the financial market. This is in an effort to maximize profits thus reflecting to the growth of the economy. In addition, the management should embark on decisions that that lowers the cost of the input in a firm. This is in an effort to increase profit margin, which is achieved when cost of inputs is lower while stock prices increases. This paper work focuses on management decisions to regulate stock prices and input cost in order to enhance economic growth of the firm. Value maximization in a firm The corporate objective of managers in a firm is to safeguard the interest of all stakeholders, who includes customers, employees and the general public who are associated with the company. During decision-making, the management is faced with trade-offs which makes them unable to serve all the stakeholders at the same time. On the contrary, it is elaborate that when the management takes the right decision, there is maximization of stakeholders’ value. In addition to this, they also make a substantial contribution in the growth of the entire economy which causes the prosperity of all stakeholders (Hayes, 2001). Management decision of lowering the cost of inputs and raise the stock price has a greater influence in the economy. This is because it increases the profit margin which is the main objective of firms in the economy. According to macro economics the profit margin in a firm can be achieved through investment and consumption channels in the market. Change in stock prices affects patterns of consumption in the economy thus increasing shareholders wealth. This assumption is based on the life cycle theory, which states that individuals consume a constant percent of their present value and future income. This indicates that stock price and level of consumption have a direct relationship in the economy (Offenbacher, 2007). On the other hand, the relationship