Feminism in Islamic countries

Argument Feminism in Islamic countries is probably among the sharpest issues nowadays, as the religious tradition to be broken is time-honored and legally enforced in the present day. Saba Mahmood, who originated from the state of this category, explores this situation from inside (Wadud, 2006) in her writings in general and her book â€Å"Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject† in particular.The paper is intended to study her argument in details and provide a critical response. The Saba Mahmood’s writing offers an interesting perspective on Islamic feminism – the so-called piety movement or Islamic revival. I would like to challenge this concept, as the term ‘feminism’ lies in a different dimension from the mosque movement. First of all, feminism refers to the movement, established by women and aimed at achieving equality in all spheres of social life: career, education, suffrage, marital life and so forth.This means, female s seek to raise their social status and gain the right to manifest their views and engage into different activities on the same basis as males do. Mahmood unfairly call the female participants of the Islamic revival â€Å"feminists†, as this movement was primarily initiated by Muslim males, who wished to reinforce their dominative position at the time of globalization and gradual egalitarization in terms of gender.In addition, Islam is a masculine religion that seeks to curb woman’s entitlement even in the most primitive daily routines (like walking alone around the city), i. e. it restricts her liberty – that’s why most feminists are known as secular. The Islamic revival is described in the following way: â€Å"Practically, this means instructing Muslims not only in the proper performance of religious duties and acts of worship but, more importantly, in how to organize their daily conduct in accord with principles of Islamic piety and virtuous behaviorà ¢â‚¬  (Mahmood, at press. princeton. edu, 2006, p. 5).These rules and daily activities must include one vital component: female’s obedience and observance of traditional androcenrtic principles, widely rejected by contemporary feminists, as such prescriptions are unlikely to result in the establishment of gender equality. As one can understand, the participants of the Islamic revival pursue to great extent converse goals, pointing to the increase of overall piety in Egyptian society. Due to this substantial divergence in opinions and attitudes it would be incorrect to characterize the women, who actively engage into the piety movement, as feminists, despite their active social position.On the other hand, I agree with the notion of women’s agency in Islamic countries, as numerous investigations have already proved that there are certain areas of life, which belong exceptionally to females: â€Å"Through a rich ethnography of women’s cultic practices, Boddy prop oses that in a society where the â€Å"official ideology† of Islam is dominated and controlled by men, the zar practice might be understood as a space of subordinate discourse† (Mahmood, at press.princeton. edu, 2006, p. 8). Mahmood therefore writes about the women’s secreted resistance to androcentrism, but the notion of feminism refers to broad manifestation of such opposition. Another questionable notion that relates to feminism is positive freedom: â€Å"Positive freedom is understood as the capacity to realize an autonomous will, one generally fashioned in accord with the dictates of universal reason.. † (Mahmood, at press. princeton. edu, 2006, p. 12).The scholar suggests that positive freedom is a domineering concept in feminism, as true liberty can be brought about only by the ability to understand and realize one’s own true will. On the other hand, this concept, in my, opinion, is valid only in European or Western-oriented countries, as Chr istianity as a religion and ideology supports such a deep and thorough search for one’s ‘self’ regardless of gender, i. e. Western religions are more egalitarian in this sense, comparing to Islam, which, in turn, assists only males in their self-discovery, whereas females are traditionally viewed as property in this doctrine.This means, Muslim females are not always able to realize their true will, as they have been brought up in the spirit of complete obedience and inequality since their early childhood. Due to the fact that feminism in Islamic countries is currently being at relatively lower stage of development, it would be more appropriate to apply the principle of negative freedom, or absence of restraints and numerous taboos in such countries, as the elimination of objective (social, political and cultural) bounds is the first step to cognitive liberation.Another important message conveyed by the scholar is following: â€Å"if the ability to effect change in the world and in oneself is historically and culturally specific [†¦], then the meaning and sense of agency cannot be fixed in advance, but must emerge through an analysis of the particular concepts that enable specific modes of being, responsibility and efficacy† (Mahmood, at press.princeton. edu, 2006, p. 15-16). This means, in order to initiate certain social change, it is particularly important to learn the cultural context within which the transformation will occur. In fact, cultural literacy and the ability to evaluate certain phenomena, which exist in certain culture from the position of this tradition, are important, as they allow preserving national identity.The only note to be done is that situational approach is relevant in any situation, so that sometimes it is necessary to perform radical intervention – for instance, if certain (hypothetical) nation suddenly introduces a violent practice (legalization of homicide or infanticide), it would be unwise to conduct a scrupulous analysis of the cultural context and the causes of such an inhumane innovation – on the contrary, more conscientious nations should interfere into the situation and resolve it in accordance with international legislation.Such cases of emergency should therefore be approached from more radical standpoint. Furthermore, Mahmood challenges the notion that the Islamic revival is a strategy, employer to resist the Westernization of the corresponding states: â€Å"While this interpretation is not entirely wrong and captures an important aspect of Islamist movements, it nonetheless reduces their complexity to the trope of resistance†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Mahmood, at press. princeton.edu, 2006, p. 15-16). The scholar does not adopt the term ‘resistance’ , but the issue she discusses in her book, females’ participation in the piety restoration, can be characterized as the opposition to classical European and American feminism that seeks to separate social life from religious rituals (Madud, 2006) and create new (and, more importantly, extensive) opportunities for women in terms of career development and university education.On the contrary, the Islamic movement is aimed at providing women with a ‘narrow’ chance to access mosque not merely as ‘parishioners’, but also as ‘preachers’. Nevertheless, the foundation of the piety restoration and the issues in Western feminism can be approached independently , as local events, reflecting the peculiarities of certain nation.The author suggests that the piety movement has certain political functions: â€Å"The political efficacy of this these movements is, I would suggest, a function of the work they perform in the ethical realm† (Mahmood, at press. princeton. edu, 2006, p. 37). In my opinion, Mahmood overstresses the importance of the mentioned movement in political discourse: although it operates in the sphere of ethics and to great exten t modifies the nation’s cognitive constructs and convictions, it is not directly involved into the current state of political affairs.Thus, the movement, being completely clerical, is not capable of intervening into the politics in the present day – and due to the fact that Islamic countries are now influenced by numerous powers and their development is therefore dynamic and unpredictable, it will be possible to assert the penetration of piety restoration into politics only after its members gain access to political power or achieve the introduction of ‘piety policy’ at governmental level – otherwise the efforts within the realm of ethics might appear in vain.The most doubtful argument of Mahmood’s writing is her confidence in the broad perspectives of the Islamic revival: due to the fact that women are nowadays entitled to serve in mosques (sacred places, or male domain) as ‘preachers’, they are likely to expand their political influence in the future. On the other hand, the nature of this revival points to the desirable abstention from politics, as the pure concept of female virtuousness to great extent excludes the woman’s participation in the affairs of the state.Clearly, the idea of neo-piety teaches females to behave in strict accordance with religious prescriptions and demonstrate modesty and humility, but these qualities are unlikely to enhance the person’s access to power. Historically, women were allowed to serve as priestesses in ancient, but this fact gave them no benefits except prestige – the situation seems to recur.To sum up, Saba Mahmood basically tries to link two incompatible issues – feminism and the piousness renewal, which, as I deem, operate in completely different dimensions. In addition, the scholar suggests that the penetration into the religious system is the primary prerequisite for women’s access to politics, yet it is still unclear in which wa y the movement will modify the existing ethical matrix so that it determines their ‘political weight’.Works cited Mahmood, S. Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005. Available online at: http://press. princeton. edu/chapters/s7888. pdf, 2006 Wadud, A. â€Å"Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject (review)†. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 74 (3), September 2006: pp. 815-818

Financial Crises Essay

I have literally found a solution for all Americans struggling to mitigate their personal financial crises this day. They cannot just sit back expecting the government and business to work wonders. It is time for them to take personal responsibility for the economic downturn. Orwell (1945) was correct when he wrote that â€Å"All animals are created equal but some animals are more equal than others,† actually referring to human beings whom scientists refer to as animals. Throughout the history of humanity, people have generally known that they were created equal. And yet, there have been separations, discriminations, dissimilarities, and inequalities, for the reason that God, Nature or Evolution – depending on what we choose to believe in – did not grant equal abilities, talents, and gifts to all human beings. Some men are richer and more intelligent than the others. Some are born deaf, dumb, and blind. And, some must rely on income support because they just cannot beat poverty on their own. Then there are those who neither care that others remain poor nor hold themselves back from buying things they may or may never actually use – simply because it is fashionable in our consumer society to purchase unnecessary things as these objects make the individual who purchases them appear as though he or she belongs to a high socioeconomic class (Twitchell). As though this is not ridiculous enough, our consumer society enjoys humorous advertisements about products rather than people as the source of all personal satisfaction (Kilbourne). No wonder the divorce rate is high, compounding personal misery during the current economic recession. Undoubtedly, advertising is a hallmark of capitalism. In other words, it is a representative of Mammon. We generally assume that we cannot imagine a world without advertisements because ads represent the human need to enjoy life to the fullest with the best of food, clothing, etc. But, Kilbourne’s article, â€Å"Jesus is a Brand of Jeans,† reminds us that this need does not have to exist beyond our changeable minds. Yes, it is possible to imagine a world where publicity is meaningless. In this view of the world, everybody must be satisfied, without some of the people envying others, some others enjoying chocolate cake, while the rest grieve because they did not get a piece. Most importantly, in a perfect world we would not have to hoard in order to appear rich and famous to the others. Rather, we would be content with ourselves without feeling the need to impress others with our higher incomes, statuses, etc. If we are able to change our mindsets in our consumer society, we would not even have to save up to attend classes in â€Å"happiness institutes† (Schumaker). This would definitely lighten our personal financial burdens through this economic mess confronting our nation. Moreover, regardless of what we possess at present – if we honestly long to get through our personal financial crises – what if we try to share the little that remains with us, be it our skills or funds, with those that are less fortunate? This seems like yet another scientific technique to change the mindset of the consumer society. It is all possible, after all. This is America. Let us get through our personal difficulties with the American Dream formula! It has worked. It still works. It would always work. Sincerely, Name References Kilbourne, J. Jesus is a Brand of Jeans. Chapter 11: Consumer Society. Orwell, G. (1945). Animal Farm. London: Secker and Warburg. Schumaker, J. F. The Happiness Conspiracy: What does it mean to be happy in a modern consumer society? Chapter 11: Consumer Society. Twitchell, J. B. Needing the Unnecessary. Chapter 11: Consumer Society.

Casey Anthony

Courtroom trials are very interesting to me and I really enjoyed clerking for judges and being able to watch everything from beginning to end. The case I have chosen is a jury trial and that jury ends up being seven women and five men. The criminal laws that were violated were many starting with Child Neglect, making false official statements and obstructing an investigation. Forging checks, fraudulent use of identification and petty theft, first degree murder, aggravated child abuse aggravated manslaughter and four counts of lying to law enforcement. Heading the prosecution was the District Attorney of Orange County Florida with several of the Assistant District Attorney’s. The defense has Jose Baez and what they were calling a ‘team’ of defense counsel, which actually ended up only being 3. Judge Belvin Perry was on the bench and all of the witnesses that were on both the states list of witnesses to call but the defense as well. The outcome of this trial rocked the nation as the verdict was read live which were Not Guilty of Aggravated Murder, Aggravated Child Abuse and Aggravated Manslaughter. The defendant was found guilty on 4 counts of the forgery of checks and was credited for time served, then released from jail. Casey Anthony made national news for several days and remained the top story. She had been charged and arrested with murdering her two year old daughter, Caylee Anthony. Casey denied ever knowing anything to the police of her whereabouts and told law enforcement that her nanny had taken Caylee by force and she had been looking for her in different avenues, to supposedly protect the child. Also stating she should have contacted police sooner than 31 days prior, but she was in fear for her daughter’s life was the story she stuck to. After being jailed and held without bond pictures of the young mother were posted all over My Space portraying Casey Anthony as nothing but a party girl. It wasnt until the actual trial started and the story took a huge flip and George Anthony who is Caseys father and grandfather of little Caylee, was being accused of sexually molesting his daughter since she was 8 years old and covering up the truth about the whereabouts of the two year old. Since Casey had been a child, she had been taught to cover up and lie about certain situations if it was going to cause embarrassment to the family. It was George who had found the lifeless body of Caylee Anthony, lying face down in their pool and the cover-up began. George Anthony did not want it to get out that the family was irresponsible and left the ladder out to get into the pool. Which the story reads, little Caylee climbed up that ladder and got in the pool herself, due to no supervision and drowned. Skeletal remains of a small child were found 3 months later within a mile of the Anthony home. The body had been discarded like a piece of trash, and her remains had been duct taped in a black garbage bag and tossed into the woods. It became media frenzy and, Orlando, Florida became the busiest it had ever been since the child had gone missing. It was in fact the remains of Caylee Anthony and to this day, the young mother sticks to her story and accuses her own father of covering the death of her child up and forced Casey to go along with it. She had been taught to obey her father and did not want to go against his strictness and allowed George Anthony to dispose of the body. The trial that began on May 24, 2011 went to the jury on July 3rd 2011. Deliberations were suspended over the 4th of July holiday and resumed July 5th. During its deliberations, the jurors did not ask to review any of the 400 exhibits, request any clarifications of the law or ask for any of the trial testimony to be read back. After deliberating for 10 hours and 40 minutes, the foreperson informed the court that the jury had reached a unanimous verdict that afternoon. More often than not when a jury returns a verdict that quickly and without asking for any type of assistance from the court, it bodes ill for the defendant. This jury, however, was about to prove the old maxim that juries are unpredictable despite what all the talking heads predicted it would conclude. The jury found her not guilty of murder, aggravated child abuse and manslaughter. She was however, convicted of four counts of lying to police officers. Judge Perry sentenced Casey to one year in jail and $1,000. 00 in fines for each of the providing false information counts. She was released from jail on July 17, 2011due to time already served. While Casey had been acquitted in her daughter’s death, Casey’s problems were not at an end. The defamation suit of Zenaida Gonzalez who Casey accused of kidnapping her daughter (one of the false statements) is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages. Gonzalez states she lost her job as a result of Casey’s allegations which led to the loss of her apartment by eviction and she and her 6 children continue to be harassed and threatened. (Kumar) It has changed how society works today by taking more child missing stories more serious and not to the facts of the case, but the simple fact that the 12 person jury could not convict her due to lack of evidence. The State of Florida had not proved their case and she was walking free except with a few misdemeanor charges of lying to law enforcement. How could this have happened, with all the circumstantial evidence of her guilt was obvious, the jury stood by the law? The evidence did not prove that Casey had been involved at all without finding any DNA or any other minute evidence. At almost the end of the trial, Casey asked to be evaluated by Psychologist and Psychiatrist to see if she was mentally capable to continue with the trial. She was found competent and the trial continued til the end finding her not guilty. All of America disagreed with the verdict except the defendant and the defense counsel and still held her responsible for her daughters death. Society even went to the extreme as to calling the jury idiots I believe Casey Anthony led a not so great life, but was also a spoiled brat who always got her way. So with the news that she was walking free didnt surprise me, as I couldn’t see any physical evidence either. Sad but true, she is out living her life without her daughter and it does not seem to bother her a bit. Casey is in hiding though as of today and knows there are people out there who hate her. She has started to learn and recognize her lies and what they did to people, and has told friends she has a lot of regards. Other sources say she plans to receive psychological counseling. She is young and optimistic and realizes she can’t change the past but she can move forward.

Case Study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Assignment - Case Study Example ement are involved in the operation of computers, and other applications works in the system, which does not jeopardize service provision by these facilities. It is in this note that the computer facilities should be operated with distinct order and adequate security of its servers. The Becoming Company in its networking utilizes the three topologies; that is the star topology, bus topology and the linear topology. It also uses a Sun Microsystems Blade 6048 with 48 server modules as an Internal Gateway helps ease the operation of the company, and beneficial to the company since operating it is easy. Its unique features make the blade powerful, efficient and reliable. The design of 6048 allows it to perform its duties such as database, enterprise operation, high-performance computers and data consolidating and visualization (Bicsi, 2002). These features are coupled to improve the performance of the system. The company has managed to increase and maintain its performance by combining the three topologies to form 3 Internet Gateway web servers S1, S2 and S3. The bus topology (S1), which is the simplest network, is made up of the trunk and segment connecting all computers in the network. The system acts as an operating system, which enables the company transfer data and business transactions carried out effectively and pass through the gateway for processing. In this topology, every system is normally attached to signals over the channel. One computer usually sends data at a time; bus topology, however, is slow in data transmission. This form of arrangement is cheap since it requires short cable and its simplicity and makes it efficient and economical to the company. Data collision does not occur in the system since all networks are connected to a cable terminator (lanoff, 2010). The use of ring topology involve connecting nodes to form a single closed data path, these enables the system achieve high transmission rates than when connections made using bus topology

Democracy in Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Democracy in Education - Essay Example This essay stresses that adoption of democratic approach to education provision is the suitable way of correcting the mess created by Ivy League. In a democratic society, students should join any school so long as they have a minimum academic qualification. Considering non-academic and non-financial measures in preventing others from accessing education anywhere is a lack of democracy. Furthermore, the democratization of education would see equality in the strength of degrees irrespective of learning institution, which give everybody a chance to succeed in life. This paper makes a conclusion that democracy promotes equality and fair distribution of resources by those in power. Fundamentally, democratic education systems support four aspects, that is, autonomy, diversity, openness, and interactivity. Broadly, learning is a product of societal interaction through the exchange of experiences and abilities. Currently, American society encourages education consumerism, a factor that facilitate inequitable distribution of resources. The emergence of Ivy League institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and Brown amongst the rest is disadvantaging some sections of society members. In other words, unfair admission in these schools locks out more disserving students just because they do not meet certain criteria, which is non-academic or financial. Overall, stakeholders should redesign education systems and structures to portray democratic orientation. Otherwise, quality of teaching will deteriorate significantly as institutions give soft sport to undeservi ng people due to favors.

The Fall Prevention Among High Risk Patients Research Paper

The Fall Prevention Among High Risk Patients - Research Paper Example to population at high risk, and one step closer to this goal is through this study by raising awareness about this problem and propose solutions in minimizing falls, more specifically for patients at high risk. Literature Review A fall is an incident when a patient â€Å"unexpectedly comes to rest on the ground, floor or another level† (Haines et al, 2007). Falls are a major safety concern for hospitals, which accounts to 32.3% of incidents related to safety, and 35.3% of those incidences resulted to harm and even death (Healey et al, 2007). Medicaid has a greater utilization costs resulting from falls (Shumway-Cook et al, 2009). Fortunately, there are already a vast number of studies which were addressed for falls and fall prevention is already a part of the nursing curriculum a long time ago. Researches in risk identification for falls are abundant especially the studies among the elderly population. The study of Rubenstein (2006) tabulated the risk factors for falls from th e most frequent to the less common; the most prominent risk factor is weakness, followed by balance deficit, gait deficit, visual deficit, limited mobility, cognitive impairment, impaired functioning and postural hypotension. Other risk factors identified by Faulkner et al (2009) are height, fear of falling, â€Å"fast-paced walking speed†. Lee & Stokic (2008) investigated the risk factors for falls in patient undergoing rehabilitation identified the diagnoses of stroke, amputation and large co-morbidities as additional risk factors for falls. Among the postmenopausal women, the risks factors for falls were related to age, education, hearing status, history of fracture and hypothyroidism (Barrett-Connor et al, 2008). In terms of visual deficit, visual field loss appears to be the specific risk... This study aims to reduce the incidence of falls among the populations who are at high risk for falls in the hospital setting. This study will take place at a community hospital in Maryland. This study is a non-experimental, retrospective, descriptive case study. This design is selected since the paper will identify the risk factors that are present in the study setting without any manipulation of the variables. This study will try to investigate the fall incidences and the risk factors present retrospectively rather than prospectively. It is a case study since it will attempt to investigate in-depth the institution selected by the researcher to understand the issues underlying the risk factors and fall incidents in order to come up with fall prevention strategies in response to the risks identified. This study has a major strength in data collection, which does not require experimental treatment and is convenience for the researcher to gather data using available records. However, weaknesses of this study is the sampling bias (though the convenience sample of the hospital selected), small sampling size and poor generalizability of the findings. The study will use descri ptive statistical measures through the use of SPSS. This study will only identify the risk factors and use simple statistical tables in determination of the most frequently observed risk factors and to be place on a graph. Relationship of the variables will be assessed using the product-moment correlation coefficient.

Motivation and Its Impact on Employees Commitment and Work Performance Essay

Motivation and Its Impact on Employees Commitment and Work Performance - Essay Example According to Gallup Organization research, â€Å"only 29 percent of employees are motivated and energized† (Daft 2007: 248). A similar Towers Perrin global survey reveals even lower results with only 14 percent of employees across the world showing high engagement levels in their jobs. Empowering employees promotes motivation which in turn increases their engagement and commitment to their jobs, these factors raise their performance levels, and ultimately increase the company’s competitive advantage. Employee motivation is inducement or incentive which may be self-generated or produced by external forces, that promotes satisfaction and an urge towards improvement in performance. Employee commitment is defined as the attachment, loyalty, and the â€Å"strength of the individual’s identification with, and involvement in a particular organization† (Armstrong 2006: 271), and includes the employee’s extent of engagement in his job. Productivity is define d as â€Å"the efficient as well as the effective use of resources to achieve outcomes† (Berman, Bowman, West & Van Wart 2005: 309). Productivity is related to the quality of human resources and their performance. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of empowering employees to increase their motivation levels, and with the help of relevant theories and examples explain how motivation can affect employees’ commitment and performance at work. The Empowerment of Employees to Motivate Them Empowerment is the process of increasing employees’ responsibilities while holding them accountable for outcomes. The purpose of empowerment is to get employees to take responsibility for producing results rather than merely â€Å"following rules and regulations without producing tangible results† (Berman et al, 2005: 316). It includes various factors such as re-engineering and re-designing existing delivery processes to make them less error-prone, more efficient, effective, and timely. Re-organization of the company’s operations to eliminate wastage of resources and personnel, and replacement of earlier methods of working with information technology are also reforms that empower the workforce. Replacement of old tasks with high technology equipment or new approaches would require staff training for new responsibilities. Any anxiety on the part of workers should be addressed by human resources personnel to help employees increase their skill sets, and when any jobs become obsolete the employees should be helped to find comparable jobs within the organization. An example of addressing employees’ concerns regarding management’s disinterest in their welfare, is the Scotland-based insurance intermediary Kwik-Fit Financial Services.

The technology marriage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The technology marriage - Research Paper Example There are, however, drawbacks of this way of meeting, including those from religious perspective, which will be considered in this paper. Internet has become an overwhelming source of any kind of information and it is capable of satisfaction of any requirements of the users. It offers such a wide range of the topics covered, resources available, and the ways the certain data are searched that it is possible to obtain any kind of knowledge and perform certain activities, for example, online shopping, that it has become unnecessary to go outside. There has also been introduced such an unusual way of meeting marriage partners as online meeting, which is, obviously, an easy way for this purpose, but, as any other thing, it also has its strengths and weaknesses, from the religious point of view as well, which will be given below in this paper. The methods for researching the subject matter of this paper are investigation of the marriage websites and their characteristics, such as success, efficiency, references, and religious opinions about their activity. There are marriage websites designed especially for religious people. The first one is www.christianmingle.com which will be analyzed. As it is obvious from its name, the website is designed for the Christian singles to meet and state relations with the same Christian singles. As per the website’s presentation, the relationships that it helps to build are not limited to just a romance, but also facilitate and encourage marriage relations establishing according to the Bible and the Christian tradition. (www.christianmingle.com, 2015). The site provides ergonomic interface and provides a simple registration process; another benefit is creating a profile with the possibility to control how much information about oneself can be shared and who to interact with.

Public Administration;managing sustainable communities. Midterm exam Essay

Public Administration;managing sustainable communities. Midterm exam - Essay Example This organic kind of development was to accommodate 30,000 citizens within roughly 6,000 acres. A major transport route connected to every division. Stops were situated within the heart of activity, linking each region. Government structures were held within special consideration and they were provided with the locations that seemed or were believed to be the most prominent and easy access. Ebenezer Howard is the founder of Letchworth Garden City and the Garden City movement. In the year 1898, Ebenezer Howard was disgusted at the very distasteful living and functioning conditions within the belatedly 19th Century cities and municipalities. He wrote a manuscript outlining his notions for a totally new system of livelihood. The paperback, Tomorrow, A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, was afterward published again as Garden Cities of Tomorrow in the year 1902. According to McKenzie (1996), Howard envisioned building his Garden City from scratch on an undeveloped six-thousand-acre plot of land. At the center would be a city one thousand acres in area, along with roughly one-and-one-half within diameter. The city is depicted as circular, and crossed from center to circumference by six wide boulevards. At the center would be a five-and-one-half-acre Central Park surrounded by public buildings such as the town hall. Around this park would run a circular Crystal Palace, a glass arcade not unlike the modern shopping mall. Outside this arcade a series of circular streets lined with trees, houses, schools, and gardens would encircle the center. At the edge of the circular city would be the industries, the factories, warehouses, and coal and timber yards, all of which would face outward onto a circular railway encompassing the town and delivering goods to and from the city and its businesses. Outside this perimeter would be a five-thousand-acre belt of agricultural land that would be home to an additional two thousand people engaged in farming. This greenbelt,

Measuring Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Measuring Performance - Essay Example It comprises of Strengths, weaknesses, Opportunities and threats. Strengths are internal factors that can be concluded as advantages to the business (current advantages). Factors such as a focused management, hardworking employees, low costs are positive points for the firm. For Jengo Ltd, a high regard for their clothes by the customers is an impressive point for the future of the business. Weaknesses are internal factors as well that maybe termed as disadvantages for the firm (current disadvantages). Negative factors like a poorly trained workforce, ageing equipment etc need to be evaluated for a solution to arise. For Jengo Ltd, the failure to produce budgets or forecasts for the financial year hints weak planning on the part of the management. However, Opportunities are potential areas for expansion of the business (advantages that can arise in the future). These areas are obtained after an external audit in the market the firm operates in. Identifying new markets, expansion of t he product portfolio and favorable government policies amalgamates in outdoing competitors. Moreover, threats are not to be forgotten while forecasting future business plans (problems that may arise in the future). These usually comprise of the macro environment factors that alter the economic environment, strength of the competition, globalization etc. Jengo Ltd should be careful about changing customer demands as it operates in a highly uncertain business. SWOT analysis draws the primary sketch for foreseeing the future for any business. It is an effective way of gathering information and generating interest in the business activities quickly, mostly used to plan the marketing strategy (Hall, D et al. 2004) Factors in the macro environment effect decisions by the top management. Demographic change, government laws, trade barriers etc are some examples of macro change (Varoufakis, Y. 2007). These factors can be categorized by the PESTEL (political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors). Political developments regionally, nationally and internationally might effect a business’s strategy. Political decisions can change vital areas of the company such as education for the employees, health benefits, infrastructure, and subsidies for instance. Economic factors may involve the effect of consumer demand patterns, willingness to spend, inflation, fiscal and monetary policies, exchange rates, fixed and variable costs, and changes in the labour market on the business. Businesses may also need to plan out the effects of government policies to haul out the country from a recession (Hall, D et al. 2004). Changes in social trends can create competitive advantages for businesses. Falling birth rate, ageing population, increase in life expectancy can all effect a business. An ageing population would mean a shift in the sort of products demanded and more pensions paid to employees. Pressure groups can also force a business decision leading to serious consequences. Technology uplifts products and processes. Online shopping, bar coding, CAD and CAM are all technological advancements that aid in the advent of superior products. Furthermore, environmental factors might include a legislation to control pollution or views of certain groups about the ingredients of the product. Major climatic changes due to global warming have significantly impacted many industries and external factors related to a

Ethics Essays Essay Example for Free

Ethics Essays Essay In this essay I will be comparing the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. Ethical development is an important tool needed in today’s society. Virtue theory emphasizes the need for people to learn how to break bad habit of character, like greed or anger. These are called vices and stand in the way of becoming a good person. Place emphasis on which rules people should follow and instead of focus on helping people develop good character traits such as kindness and generosity. Will, in turn allow a person to make the correct decision later on in life. Utilitarianism, the ethical doctrine that the greatest good; the ethical doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the criterion of the virtue of action. According to philosophy, an action is morally right if it consequences lead to happiness (absence of pain and wrong if it ends in unhappiness (pain). Deontological ethics focus entirely upon the actions which a person performs. Those theories focus on the question, â€Å"which action should I choose†? Here are some description of the differences in how each theory addresses ethics and morality. Utilitarianism morality is the result of act. Focus on the consequences. A moral act is what will bring the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. Virtue ethics morality stem from the identity or character of the person, rather than being a reflection of the actions. There are certain characteristics which a re virtue. People possessing these virtues is what make one moral, one’s actions are reflection of their own inner morality. Boylan (2009). There are two major ethic theories utilitarianism and deontological, that attempt to specify and justify moral rules and principles. Utilitarianism (also called consequencelism) is a moral theory developed and refined in the modern world in the writing of Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). Deontological ethics is in  keeping with scripture, natural moral law, and intuitions from common sense. Important point about deontological ethics is, first duty should be done. Humans should be treated as objects of intrinsic moral values. A moral principle is a categorical imperative that is univeralizables, that is, it must be applicable for everyone who is in the same moral situation. The difference between these three approaches to morality tends to lie more in the way of how moral dilemmas are approached, rather than in moral conclusions reached. A personal experience to explain the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts as they relate to one of the three theories. Utilitarianism is the one I would pick it deal with working in a team setting. As a scholar at University of Phoenix. I have worked in a team with several other classmate where we are assigned team work paper and presentations. A good teammate develop hands on skills that can lead his or her team to a success completed of all assignment. Reference Boylan, M. (2009). Basis ethics: Basic ethics in action (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. www. differencesbetween.net/science/health

Pop Music in Film

Pop Music in Film Music in film is one of those immensely involved but hugely underrated products. It comfortably sits in film going consciously unnoticed while it stimulates our subconscious, flowing freely through the narrative, to aid the emotional impact without overly changing the course of the film An indicator on how we should react in a film Music in films began with traditional scores in the silent film era. The reason it was called silent is because the film itself was silent and the music was made externally of the film, which was principally the piano, to reflect the various moods and emotions of characters and events. In conjunction to this it also covered up the noise emitted from the projector as well as being needed, psychologically, to smooth over natural human fears of darkness and silence (Brown 1994:12). The growing popularity of film lead to changes in the music and musical arrangements and lead to scores being written down to the various cliched typical situations in film. During the 1920s developments in technology saw the capabilities of film and music being broadcast internally and saw the introduction of sound films. Changing relationships between music and cinema has seen the introduction of pop music into the spectrum. It is this relationship between pop music and film and the way they operate in conjunction with each other is what I am going to explore. Diegetic and none diegetic Diegetic relates to the diegesis of the film and the sound source can be observed on screen for example, a band playing or the character listening to the radio. Non-diegetic appears outside of the film world and is used as background music, mood altering music or subconsciously adds to the suspense of the film until the use of sound started to appear in films the majority of music was none diegetic but the introduction of sound synced films added to realism of the film and gave diegetic music a sense of place in films Diegetic and none diegetic Diegesis refers to the fictional, imagined world of film, adverse to this non-diegesis refers to the objective world of the Film is represented by a series of events combined with dialogue, which is aided by actors. Financial and technical interests are taken into account and are concentrated on the actor, to not let anything overshadow the main character/s. The musical scripts are usually indefinite, thus music not being treated in the same way and potentially an outsider. Almost indispensable despite music currently playing a major part in film to make use of the silent scenes, for example a scene where the character is waiting for someone, no dialogue will be used and the only sound we can hear will be diegetic noises of his surrounding. This is a prime example of the use of non-diegetic music. The character could be waiting for a partner (therefore romantic music will be played over the top). Without the use of music the scene would be more realistic (we dont hear music when we are waiting for a partner) but the scene would not captivate the viewer and potentially make the viewer lose interest. On the other hand the music appearing in such situations could also be perceived as naÃÆ' ¯ve or childish and thus further distracting the view from the main focus. This issue is usually resolved by the characters involvement with the music , by singing, whistling, humming or even turning on the radio and the music goes from a transition of diegetic to none diegetic. Mass production of films has lead to a series of over elaborated typical events such as emotional crises that are ever reoccurring and standard methods that are formulated to arouse suspense. These events are aided by music, however the viewer has been made familiar with these events so the emotional response on the viewer is not always as intended. For the viewer the whole thing is ambiguous. If the screen shows a peaceful country side but the music over the top is sinister the viewer will expect something terrible about to happen. Does this intensify or alleviate the suspense? music in cinema has been determined by the practice of everyday life. It is adapted for the increasing needs of the film industry and reflected in clichà ©s and musical ideas that were considered to be in fashion. Subsequently standards have become entrenched through the history of film music into and including the current use of popular music in film. These clichà ©s continue throughout film and have gone from the standard classical score being use to the popular score being used. With the excessive use of such clichà ©s the powerful effect intended is not achieved because the listener has been made aware of such events through overuse by Hollywood. In todays standards popular music is being used in conjunction with classical score to aid in more dramatical scenes, such as the film Notting Hill. Anna Scott (a famous actress played by Julia Roberts) is doing her final press conference before leaving the UK to fly back home after being turned down by a lowly book seller, William Thacker (played by Hugh Grant), whom she fell in love and had a brief fling with. William realises his ways and races to the press conference to win her back. After some initial investigative and almost comical questions from William, who is imitating a journalist to find out if Anna really does love him, Anna announces she would have liked to have been mo re than just friends with William. Anna Scotts on screen agent then asks Dominic (a reporter at the press conference played by Andy De La Tour) Anna, how long where you intending to stay in here in Britain?, after a long suspended pause from Anna, then a transition shot to William, the camera moves back to Anna, she smiles as the camera zooms in on her face. Anna replies indefinitely as the classic cover of She by Elvis Costello (originally by Charles Aznavour). This speaks volumes and makes the viewer relate and feel more involved in the scene through the music and lyrics of the song. Solely from the music there is a sense of love and romance, but also mystery through the lyrics as a name is not mentioned, which indicates the track could have a sense of purpose on any romantic film scene. Upon writing the track in the 1970s Charles Aznavour would not have intended the track to be used in such ways, but with the use of popular music in film becoming more apparent and the increase of the same clichà ©s in film needing to have a sense of place and impact, the use of songs with lyrics are ever increasing. 50s and beyond the soundtrack to our lives The majority of people live with songs in their lives from all kinds of genres, music is neither racial or gender specific. There is something seemingly powerful and inspiring about people being able to fuse music and words together in such a way that songs can be infectious. The music we listen to constantly evolves and songs come and go, but there are songs that make up a soundtrack to our lives and we place value in these songs and seek out permanent versions of them through downloads, CDs and vinyl. The 1950s saw a flourish of soundtracks from films not only as a marketing tool, but as a cromo effect in its own right. Films such as Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting and Waynes World all contain music that could be listened to solely as a source of enjoyment without ever needing to have seen the film, but because the majority of people who have seen the film will remember the songs, its a great reflection of the film or a desire to watch the film again. The industry did not solely target the soundtrack market. When a film is released you can purchase all sorts of novelty, replica or clothing items based on the film and/or the music involved. Since the 1950s a great unification has been seen between the film industry and major record labels, each with their own specific interests but mainly cross-promotion is their sole goal. This interlocking is nothing new, both the film and music industry use each other to sell, which has lead to Hollywood investing countless efforts into the music industry, which is produced economic benefits. Film companies earn millions from the sale of records mainly through theme songs. This is one of the most lucrative cross-promotional tools. Hollywood are using established multi-million selling bands to write or endorse their film by using a song they have written specifically for the film or a previously written song. Linkin park are a prime example of a pre-recorded song and a song written specifically for a film. Transformers 1 saw the use of the Linkin Park track What Ive Done featuring heavily on the film and almost becoming the pinnacle song for the film. This song unofficially became kno wn as The Transformers Song which was a boost for the film companies. As well as getting major airplay because it was the first single off Linkin Parks new album, it was also a 3 minute advertisement for the film. This sparked the film company to hire Linkin Park to write the theme tune to the Transformers sequel, Transformers; Revenge Of The Fallen. After already establishing a mutual appreciation Linkin park agreed, this could only ever be a win-win situation for both parties involved through advertisement alone. With two major names collaborating, either could be mentioned and people would immediately pay more attention to both tracks featured on the soundtracks which in turn became a source of circulating the films title further through imagery and retails displays. popular music and film has had a long standing diverse and exciting relationship. It can give the scene the justification it needs by creating a sense of time or place, established through a few chords and lyrics. Kermode states, More than any other art form, pop music is a disposable, transient product which reflects, mimics and occasionally shapes the zeitgeist, (Kermode 1995:9), but music can help inspire, carry and advertise film, so does music have a greater importance than what we are lead to believe? And can sometimes structure the film to become what it is. Martin Scorsese said that the pop riddled soundtrack to Mean Streets (1973) consists entirely of songs from his New York youth and Which for him still evoke the milieu he was attempting to portray (Kermode 1995:13. In effect without the pop/rock music of Scorseses youth Mean Streets would not be (as time out described) as one of the best American films of the decade,. Did Scorsese make the film it is, because of the music and his youth? Time out also state that it was one of the few to successfully integrate rock music into the structure of film (Timeout n.d.). American Graffiti (1973) is another prime example of pop-laden film and soundtrack and was the first film to capitalise on a pop soundtrack. Up until this point pop songs were only used to give the film a sense of time and place and to give it that modern edge but to no availability in the retail industry. The idea of a modern soundtrack was starting to gain nostalgia and the youth market started to buy into a physical lasting memory of the film via the soundtrack. During the 1980s the relationship between pop music and film became largely symbiotic from a marketing point of view. They were also using classic yesteryear hits to revamp careers and provide titles to films (Stand by me (1986), pretty woman (1990). The marketing of pop songs became very omnipresent which had a profound effect on the market. Artists were beginning to use it to broaden their careers. Film Music the cross over from classical to popular score Without classical Hollywood the pop score used in films today would arguably have no meaning and could be just a random selection of current tracks to reflect the relative trend and used solely as a selling point, however as music in film has evolved so has the use and the function of music in film. American composer Aaron Copeland offers an insight to function of music in film from his perspective and suggest five general areas in which music in film serves its purpose: (I) It conveys a convincing atmosphere of time and place. (II) It underlines underlines the unspoken feeling or psychological states of characters. (III) It serves as a kind of neutral background filler to the action. (IV) It gives sense of continuity to the editing. (V) It accentuates the theatrical build up of a scene and rounds it off with a feeling of finality. (Smith 1998:6) As research by Lauren Anderson (referring to a case study of the British film Sliding Doors 1998 and the New Zealand film Topless women talk about their lives (1997) she concludes pop and rock music does not prohibit the compilation score from successfully fulfilling the functions of classical film score (Anderson:2003 115 (popular music and film book)). This is done in a slightly different way to traditional score as we have other elements to think about. These include: (I) The lyrics (II) The Songs structural independence (III) The wealth of extra-textual meaning The lyrics are the primary focus in these three elements and hold a great understanding of them over classical score, for example we can decipher basic terms, love, hate, happy, sad in both forms of score (aided by the visual elements of film), but only lyrics can convey those meanings on a deeper level Anderson notes (referring to Sliding doors): the songs words frequently reflect Helens thoughts of aspects of her character (Anderson 2003:112). Classical score, although deeply complex and varying, cannot portray such events in a manner than the average viewer would understand. Lyrics also have links to the other two elements but lyrics contribute dominantly to the songs structural independence: smith (1995:348) and Rick Altman (1999) both insist that popular music exhibits greater independence than classical music, in relation to the film as a whole (Anderson 2003:112). The popular score does have drawbacks. One of the drawbacks is that the pop score is not written specifically for the segment of film it features it therefore it is unlikely that its rhythm and its infliction will exactly match the action (Anderson 2003:113) whereas the classical score can be in direct synchronisation and contain unity through musical themes and or leitmotifs. The music chosen can also distract the viewer from the initial response the director is trying to achieve. Hilary Lapedis notes Pop songs in films use pops own emotional conventions and, in so doing, so place those films in a much wider context of popular culture than would be the case with traditional score (Lapedis1999:370) Lapedis points out that music although part of film, it is because they are popular and because the songs trigger familiarity to the members of the audience, by definition they trigger a set of different responses, different to those of the traditional score; Pop music, while having existence separate from the visual system, nevertheless posses its own confided meanings and associations (Lapedis1999: 370) Many others have this theory and have pointed out problems within the pop score. Karthryn Kalinak notes that pop music ignores the fundamentals of film (of which earlier discussed) and that pop music commits the cardinal sin of film scoring it failed to support the story and mood because it was the story and mood, (Kalinak 1992:186-7). Many of the songs chosen were originally pre-recorded and then later chosen for films and not written for the film which can potentially carry emotional baggage for the viewer as Jess smith notes not only was this potentially distracting but these associations might also clash with those established by the narrative (Smith 1998: 164). The other element frequently observed in pop score is extra-textual meanings. Behind each popular song is a sense of socio-historical meaning as well as fulfilling the functions of classical score. This is a two-tiered system which was developed by Noel Caroll, such system a system exists when one device (such as a popular song) can be read on two different levels, according to how much the viewer knows about that device and its associations (Anderson 2003:114). Such method was embraced by directors to give the film hidden depth and meaning to those who were informed as they recognise such things as lyrics, title and or performer and apply the knowledge to the context of the visual. The uninformed viewers however will not be able to access this meaning as they interpret the music as is, thus still being entertained and not distracted by the music itself. ___________________________________________________________________________ These functions can be carried over to pop music in film, as demonstrated in the case study of the film Goodfellas (1990) to which Martin Scorsese uses a soundtrack compiled entirely of pre recorded popular music. H (quote from popping the question). Martin Scorsese explores the thirty year span on the Italian-American mafia, from the adaptation of Nicolas Peleggis best seller Wiseguy , through his film Goodfellas. Martin Scorsese enjoys the use of popular and classical score throughout his films, he appreciated the messages and dynamics of both scores. He is one of the few directors (other being Quentin Tarrentino, William Wellman) who embrace popular music and use it to its full potential popular music has the potential to give movies a forceful, dynamic edge. It doesnt have to serve simply as mood music or be an unimaginative device for establishing a time period. (Scorsese 1995:1). More noticeable the film that has inspired many others has been Goodfellas. The score to the film consist of 40 popular songs, which span the thirty years of the time period of the plot as quoted Scorsese, does not use these songs solely for the purpose of time. The songs also reflect character growth, mood and they are placed intricately into the narrative to provide the informed viewer extra depth, but they also stimulate the un-informed viewer mainly through the range of songs. In some cases the songs act in the way similar to that of classical score, with using synchronisation. The music which chronicles the life of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) is an eclecti mix of songs from different genres ranging from Jazz to classical rock n roll. The opening credits begins with Tony Bennett singing the song Rags to Riches, as Henry Hill starts the voice-over narration of his life. This is one of the more noticeable uses of depth to the film using popular score. Henry Hill grew up in a poor working class area of New York and had a longing to be part of the organised crime syndicate As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster (Goodfellas:1990). The title is a great depiction and insight to the story ahead as the scene changes from Henry Hills family and home life to the Mob life across the road, with close up shots of shoes, suits and jewellery. The lyrics to the song hold an even deeper meaning, with expressions of love and romance But in my heart id be king, your love is all that matteres and hold me kiss me tell me that youre mine (Tony Bennett 1953), which is a core theme throughout the film (http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/72996/mean_streets.html Conclisuon popular music has enjoyed a ever evolving and intimate relationship with cinema. from the 1950s onwards, producers and directors have developed textual strategies for representing and incorporating popular music and its performers in the visual regime (popular music in screen page 222) Popular music on cinema lies closely related to music on all other commercial platforms, such as television and video, in turn these have aided the social consumption of technologies, which are tied closely to such platforms. With great advances in technology advertisers are boasting the cinema experience in your own home, with the advances in LCD/plasma screen technology, surround sound (2.1 all the way up to 7.1) and most recently blu-ray

Introduction To Business Strategy Of Cricket Marketing Essay

Introduction To Business Strategy Of Cricket Marketing Essay Organizational strategy gives an idea about the organization that what the organization want to achieve and the they the processing to achieve their wants. It basically includes the purpose of the organization. Its considering that goals and objectives, and the plans and methods to achieve. A strategy also involves the determination of the entire basic long term goals as well as objectives of the organization.   At the same time, it adopts the courses of action that is necessary and the allocation of all the resources needed to achieve the goals. A business strategy is a report that shows the plans of the entire business. It is a plan that is often used so that they can attract financing from big investors as well as creditors. This is a plan designed to give information regarding a new venture so that they can convince financial backers to invest in the said business. It describes the market opportunities that the business intends to develop, the process on how they are going to do it and the resources that are required to make it possible. Business strategies demonstrate the following roles: 1. It is applied to encourage people to invest in an organization. 2. It is also a tool used to assure creditors about the credit worthiness of the organization. 3. Another role is to persuade banks to lend or perhaps invest money. 4. Last, but not least, business strategy helps you stay focused on the important for your business in order to achieve your goals. It saves your time, energy and money. And since this is necessary, a strategy needs to: Show the lender or the investor that they have a big chance of being repaid and that they will be getting good returns on their investment. Build the necessary confidence for the firm and the capabilities of the owner. Show the investors that there is a very good market for the service or product that you offer. Show you a clear picture where youre heading and how to get there. A good business strategy is the base ingredient for a successful business. However, there are many different kinds of business strategies. The best business strategy should be able to guide your company into a direction wherein the expected internal pressure due to business continuity meets the great demand of the fast changing world for the revolutionary business plans. There are basically three types of strategies in which business holders must concern themselves: 1. The plain strategy or the strategy in general. This refers to how a specific objective will be achieved. The strategy in general mainly concerns the relationship between the results we want to have and the resources that are currently at our disposal. 2. Next is the corporate strategy which defines the market and the business wherein a certain company will operate. Corporate strategy is usually decided through the context of being able to define the companys mission and vision. This is the same as being able to recognize what the company does, why it exists in the first place and what it intends to become in the future. 3. The last type is the competitive strategy which describes a given business the basic that is needed for it to be able to compete. This type of strategy is centered on the companys capabilities, its strengths and weaknesses. This is used in relation to the market characteristics as well as the corresponding abilities, strong points and weaknesses of the competitors. Definition Johnson and Schools define strategy as follows: Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfill stakeholder expectations. Cricket The game Cricket is I have selected for this assignment. Cricket is a sport, which is played between two teams of eleven players each by bat and ball. There are 15 players in one team but only eleven can play. A cricket match is played on a grass field (ground), in the centre, there is a pitch of which is a flat strip of ground 22 yards long. At each end of the pitch, there is wicket of a set of wooden stumps. A player from the fielding team (called the bowler) drive forward a hard, fist-sized cork-ball in from one wicket towards the other. The ball usually bounce once before reaching a player from the opposing team (called the batsman), who defends the wicket from the ball with a wooden Bat. The batsman, making runs between the wickets, with the help of non-striker till he is not given out. Non-striker is standing in near the bowlers wicket and plays an inactive role, to make runs. The other members of the fielding team stands in various positions around the field as fielders. The match is won by the team that scores more runs at the end of the match. Cricket was established before approximately hundred years ago in England. Cricket is the most popular sport in the South Asia, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka,. It is also a major sport in other countries such as England and Wales, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Bermuda, and West Indies. Batting and bowling are the main factor of the cricket. The aim of the batting team is to score runs as much as possible. When both batsmen successfully move to their respective opposite ends of the wicket one run scored. The aim of the bowling team is to get each batsman out or dismissal and prevent the score of batting team. Dismissals are achieved in a different ways. The most directive way is that the bowler bowl the ball in such a way that it escape the batsmans guard and hits the stumps, unload the bails. While the batsmen are trying to get run and the fielders may to knock stumps by the ball before the batsman has reached the crease which is nearer to the stumps. Other way is that while the fielding side catches the ball before it touch the ground. Once the batsmen are not attempting to score any more runs, the ball is dead and is bowled again (each attempt at bowling the ball is a ball or a delivery). When a batsman dismissal on zero (0) run, called duck out, while batsman di smissal without facing a single delivery, called diamond duck out. The game is divided into overs there are six delivery of balls in each over. At the end of an over, the batting and bowling ends will be change and the bowler will replaced by another bowler of the fielding side. The two umpires also will change positions at this time, and sometimes the fielding positions also may be changed by the captain. When one batsman is given out by the umpire, he will replace by the another batsman to lineup his team. When the tenth batsman is given out, the innings of the batting team will end i.e. all out, since there are always must be two batsman on the pitch. ( in limited overs Cricket, the innings end either when the batting team is all out or the fix number of overs are bowled by the fielding. This type of cricket called as One-day-International. At the end of an innings the two teams exchange roles, the fielding team becoming the batting team and batting team becoming fielding team. The team which has score more runs at the end of the completed match, that team win the match. There are different types of the completing the match for illustrate there may be restrictions on the number of overs. The number of balls in each inning etc. A draw is not an uncommon result in Test cricket, if the team that is last to bat has not scored enough runs to win but has not been dismissed before the end of the play. Cricket is just a game between two teams, which are fighting for win. In cricket there are three types of format i.e. One Day International (ODI), Test Cricket, 20-20 cricket. In ODI there are limits 50 overs per an innings. Both team is bat and bowl alternately. Each team can play only one inning per match. Earlier there are 60 overs in an innings but now its decease up to 50 overs. Test Cricket is the five days game. There are 90 overs of limit in one day or one day ( 8 hours play ). In earlier there are six days game but now its decrease up to the five days. Both team can bat and bowl two time i.e. both team can play two innings. While in 20-20 cricket there are only 2 overs in an innings. This type of cricket recently started in 2007 to play. Pestle analysis It is very important that an organization considers its environment before beginning the marketing process. Environment analysis should be continuous and fees all aspects of planning. The organization al marketing environment is made up of : The internal environment e.g. staffs, office technology, wages and finance etc. The micro-environment e.g. external customers, agents and distributors, suppliers, competitors etc. The macro-environment e.g. political forces, economic forces, social cultural frces and technological forces. P Political Factors E Economic Factors S Social Cultural Factors T Technological Factors Pestle analysis of Cricket 1 Political Factors The political arena has huge influence upon the regulation of cricket and spending power of charm and other games. Now a days political affairs are increasing in the sports. The lead member of selection committee, selecting his state players for the team, though there are other guy is expected for that place in team. Some time selection committee selecting the players by receiving money i.e. corruption. 2 Economic Factors Economic factor is strongly affecting this game. People/players need to consider their economic power/budget. Economic factor is most affecting factor of the sports. If you want to increase our skills and ability and potentiality highly, you have to pay the high rates of fees. In India, many youngsters are good cricketer, but due t their financial problem they are not able to pay high fees. Even if you want to play in major tournament like Rangy Trophy and Tulip Trophy, there is also u have to pay lot. 3 Social Cultural Factors The social and cultural factors influences on games vary from country to country. Its important that such factors are considered. This factor is not more affecting in India. In the earlier, when cricket was discovered, many number of families are not ready to accept this game because its not our game. But today whole the situation is change. Cricket is most popular game in all over the world. 4 Technological Factors Technological is vital for competitive advantage, and is a major driver of globalization. In earlier, there are no more safe guards for the batsmen, so its very tough for them and to play. But now a days, different sports companies are providing their best safe guards for the batsmen such as, helmeted, hand gloves, thumped, allured etc. So, its providing safety to the players and preventing their injuries. Five forces 1 internal game plan Every team have to clear their internal game plans. Batsmen are trying to scoring as much as they can, and bowlers are trying to take wicket and preventing the scoreboard. Here captain is play an important role, he has to change the game plan when its needed. So he should prepare and be ready with alternates plans. Fielders are also helpful to preventing competitors score. 2 External game plan Team should know the strangeness of their competitors. They should not under estimate their competitors. Every team should make proper game plan against their competitors. They should analysis on their competitors, and find out their strong nesses and weaknesses. 3 Environment Environment is most affecting factors in this game. They should know about the environment, where is they are going to play game. Different country are mostly playing in their country and also they are getting their coaching and trainings. Thus different teams are habitual to play in different environment e.g. in Asian Cricket teams such as Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan are likely habitual in high tempera where as the western or Wales country like England, Australia, New Zealand etc are likely habitual to play in cold weather. So when ever they are on tour to another country they should manage and settle their self in different weather. 4 Technology Technology is also important for players. Players can give their best performance by better technologies. Now-a-days new bats, are better than old, safety gourds are providing better safety rather than old on. Training is needy when new technology comes and players are unaware about it. So they need proper training of it that how to use it. 5 Training Training is one of the important factor. Every players or team members need training. Without training they cannot give their best performance. Selection committee prefer those players who are well trained by the technicians and coach. There is one guy who is regularly following them and notice their improvement, he is call as a coach. Success Factor The team has to make game plan for the match. Moreover they should make alternate game plans for the match. Alternates plan very useful when its needed. Batsmen are comes on the field to maximize the score as much as they can, bowlers are comes on the field to get wickets and prevent the score of competitors. Fielders are helping bowlers by their fieldings and preventing the competitors score. Team analysis For team analysis I have selected two teams. One is India and another is Australia. Both team are good, but only one team can win the match. In India, there are very experience players such as, Sachin Tendulkar, Veranda Sewage, Zaire Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh. Sachin hits 48 ODI and 51 TEST Century with 44 batting average approximately. He made more than 29000 runs in Cricket ( include ODI and TEST). Sewage well known for his classic outstanding starts. Sewage likely hitting the balls to pulling the scoreboard fastly. Harbhajan Singh and Zahir Khan are leading bowlers of India. Both were taken more than 200 wickets in ODI and Test respectively. Moreover, there is one guy who is leading the whole team i.e. MS Dhoni. He is good batsman. He always keep their mind cool in every stressfully situation. He take their own decision to win the match. Yuvaraj Singh and and Suresh Riana also can be hard hitter. They both are strong while they are on field. Other side, in Australia there is a one leading captain named Ricky Pointing. He won two times World Cup tournament for his team. There are very good batsman such as Shane Watson, Mike Hussey, David Hussey, Michael Clark, Cameron White. etc. They are very good batsman and all are able to change the game. Shane Watson is always keep his strike rate high that means team run rate is also high. Michael Hussey, Michael Clark and Cameron White can be hard hitter when its needy for team. Moreover there are Doug Bollinger, Brett Lee, Michael Johnson are good bowlers. While there talenders also can bat well. They all can good fields, while they are on ground. Conclusion Plus points are not necessary to win the match. May be some times a team has to lose the match though they have more plus points rather than their competitors. Some times their one mistake can be cause of your lost. Though only one team can win the match, which one will give their best performance in in stressfully situation.

Gender Gap in Cyberspace Essay -- Music Technology Papers

Gender Gap in Cyberspace Cyberspace as a frontier is open to all comers, but currently the majority of explorers and accomplished users appear to be mostly white males. Deborah Tannen, in her article "Gender Gap in Cyberspace," discusses some of her experiences and conclusions regarding this difference in usage of computers by males and females.(The full name of the author and of the article need to appear in the first couple of sentences. . .) She sums up her main point (main claim)when she asserts, "Men want to force computers to submit. Women just want computers to work" (141). (Claim is locked to a concrete piece of text to help show how the analyst is working. . .)This claim of fact is blunt and simplistic but works very well to attract the attention of her audience.(Names the claim and transistions in to the next paragraph about audience.) Some of the readers drawn to Tannen's work may be the very technophiles who serve as subjects, sociologists interested in any observations of gender influenced behaviors, teachers exploring how female students grasp technology differently than male students, or general computer users who are considering networking to cyberspace.(Sounds good and is complete regarding audience, but may be a bit long.) This specific article was published in a reader entirely made up of computer related material and written for use by first year college composition students. (Helps deepen the discussion of audience, but isn't terribly pertinent, might be cut later depending on length.)This purpose influences the argumentative style of heavy reliance on personal examples most readers can relate to and also the general language choices: easy to understand vocabulary, uncomplicated syntax, and conversationa... ...t is a full time job to be a good dad," and all listeners can hear his enthusiasm for taking on this role. At the end of the song, when he urges the child to "hold my hand, hold my hand," Stevie Wonder echoes in the background, "Whenever you need me, I’ll be there," and Smith ends the song with a final word, "for the rest of your life." Clearly Smith argues that fatherhood is a rewarding challenge that cannot be entered into lightly. Yet at no point does he shame listeners into being the kind of father he respects. Instead, he leads by providing easily understood words of guidance that offend no one and teach many. His evident joy in fatherhood is pleasantly inspiring. Overall, Smith’s smooth, conversational rap of "Just the Two of Us" is a successful rhetorical presentation encouraging fathers to be consistently loving and fully present in the lives of their sons. Gender Gap in Cyberspace Essay -- Music Technology Papers Gender Gap in Cyberspace Cyberspace as a frontier is open to all comers, but currently the majority of explorers and accomplished users appear to be mostly white males. Deborah Tannen, in her article "Gender Gap in Cyberspace," discusses some of her experiences and conclusions regarding this difference in usage of computers by males and females.(The full name of the author and of the article need to appear in the first couple of sentences. . .) She sums up her main point (main claim)when she asserts, "Men want to force computers to submit. Women just want computers to work" (141). (Claim is locked to a concrete piece of text to help show how the analyst is working. . .)This claim of fact is blunt and simplistic but works very well to attract the attention of her audience.(Names the claim and transistions in to the next paragraph about audience.) Some of the readers drawn to Tannen's work may be the very technophiles who serve as subjects, sociologists interested in any observations of gender influenced behaviors, teachers exploring how female students grasp technology differently than male students, or general computer users who are considering networking to cyberspace.(Sounds good and is complete regarding audience, but may be a bit long.) This specific article was published in a reader entirely made up of computer related material and written for use by first year college composition students. (Helps deepen the discussion of audience, but isn't terribly pertinent, might be cut later depending on length.)This purpose influences the argumentative style of heavy reliance on personal examples most readers can relate to and also the general language choices: easy to understand vocabulary, uncomplicated syntax, and conversationa... ...t is a full time job to be a good dad," and all listeners can hear his enthusiasm for taking on this role. At the end of the song, when he urges the child to "hold my hand, hold my hand," Stevie Wonder echoes in the background, "Whenever you need me, I’ll be there," and Smith ends the song with a final word, "for the rest of your life." Clearly Smith argues that fatherhood is a rewarding challenge that cannot be entered into lightly. Yet at no point does he shame listeners into being the kind of father he respects. Instead, he leads by providing easily understood words of guidance that offend no one and teach many. His evident joy in fatherhood is pleasantly inspiring. Overall, Smith’s smooth, conversational rap of "Just the Two of Us" is a successful rhetorical presentation encouraging fathers to be consistently loving and fully present in the lives of their sons.

Rifle Poem :: Poetry Poems

Rifle There's a crack in the air, and I'm split by the sound the moment deadly still until it's broken by another crack. A long sinuous echo hangs in the air, so physical I might try to wave it away like smoke. Then a third and fourth crack, and I'm on my feet, even though shots aren't unheard of in hunting season, these rural woods overfull with deer. But instead of this, I think of the uneven unpolished grain in the stock of my first rifle, the weight of it on the shoulder, the trigger worn dull with use. That first sighting with the left eye looking out. wandering through the sights; the feel of the bolt in the hand as it snapped back, slid forward in its path and locked, readying the cartridge as it lifts into the chamber, secured, prepared. A second snap and it's released, out into the world where only a second before there was nothing, not even stillness. And then the flood of world returns.

Freedom of Speech -- Informative Essay

Our forefathers worked to ensure we could enjoy civil liberties that they were unable to under British rule. In the First Amendments one of the liberties detailed is freedom of speech, specifically in that Congress will not enact a law that is â€Å"abridging the freedom of speech.† In 1925 the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment applies to each state ensuring that the constitutional right to free speech is protected from interference by the government. Freedom of speech can only be upheld so long as the content of which does not violate the law. In 2002 a high school senior, Joseph Frederick, revealed a banner for the Olympic Torch Relay while it was in town on it's journey to the winter games. The banner read â€Å"Bong Hits 4 Jesus† and immediately attracted the attention of his principal, Deborah Morse. The banner was located off school grounds on a public sidewalk for the event, which was privately sponsored. Morse crumpled the banner up and immediately suspended Frederick for ten days. Frederick filed suit against the school board and Morse for violating his First Amendment rights. The court looked at the legal standards by which public school students are held responsible for as far as speech is concerned. Julie Hilden described the three Supreme Court cases that set the standards and their relevance to this event. â€Å"One of the cases...doesn't apply because neither Frederick's banner (nor the rally itself) was school-sponsored† (Hilden 676). Hilden dismisses the second case as it deals with the use o f vulgar and obscene language, neither of which was present on the banner. The third point states that speech can only be regulated or punished if â€Å"materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasio... ...YNE - WE BE STEADY MOBBIN'' LYRICS."  Lyrics. Web. 06 July 2011. . McCollum v. Board of Education. 203 333 212. 1948. Print. Sante Fe Independent School District v. Doe. 290 530. 2000. Print. "We Are Young Money."  Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 05 July 2011. . Wells, Tom. "Brit Ban for Hate Preachers | The Sun |News."  The Sun | The Best for News, Sport, Showbiz, Celebrities | The Sun| The Sun. News Group Newspapers Limited, 18 Feb. 2009. Web. 07 July 2011. . Westboro Baptist Church Home Page. Web. 07 July 2011. . "Westboro Baptist Church."  Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 07 July 2011. .

Bad news letter Essay

Thank you for bringing in your Mercedes-Benz C300. We greatly appreciate that you chose us to tend to your vehicle concerns and we fully agree with you that vehicles of this standard should not be experiencing problems two years after the original purchase. In this regard Nelson Automotive Limited provide our customers with excellent after service for their pre-owned luxury vehicles and offer one year warranty on all vehicle parts. The replacement of vehicle parts for your four year old 2010 model would commence after a period of five years under normal circumstances. However, upon inspection our engineers discovered that the recommended brake fluid as stated in your vehicle manual was not used and as such shortened the life span of the part which resulted in brake malfunction. Although your vehicle is past the one year warranty, we can and will help you restore your automobile to its original working condition. Our company is certified to conduct repairs on your vehicle and our approved mechanical engineers can source the required part in approximately three weeks. The cost of the part and installation is three thousand dollars ($3,000.00). The original part will be sourced from its manufacturer abroad to ensure the safety and efficient operation of your vehicle and our company is dedicated to pay all shipping costs and offer a warranty for a period of thirty days on repairs done. We also invite you to visit our showroom at the end of the year for our year end upgrade sale, where you can view and trade in for a more recent Mercedes Benz model at the best industry price. /†¦2 We will keep in touch and will update you on the progress of your vehicle repairs. For further inquiries, please contact Ms. Alice George, our customer service representative of the Repairs Department at 662-2369.

Compare Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson Essay

Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson all had similar values and ideas about America concerning politics and its economy. They all also had a knack for getting people to follow them. Benjamin Franklin, who had only died about 30 years before William Cullen Bryant wrote To Cole, the Painter, Departing for Europe, seemed to express different views about America vs. Europe in his letters. In a letter Franklin wrote to his grandson, he expressed how he wanted to return to America before his death but didn’t think he would be able to. He seemed so passionate when writing about America. It was as if there was nothing better than America. We also know that Franklin was very involved in politics and economics. He is one of the first people we read about who was very concerned with money and how it affected status and politics. Obviously wealth affects status in at least some aspect. Whether the wealth was measured by money or by land, it defined social class. Only people of the upper class took part in politics. Franklin was one of America’s founding fathers. He helped write the Declaration of Independence, which we still abide by today, over 200 years later. Benjamin Franklin listed 13 virtues with their precepts in one of his documents. He listed these to make sure he abided by all of them and just these 13. One of the precepts was ‘order’. He expanded on this by making a schedule of how his business and his life should run. It listed what should be done for the day, including when he should eat and sleep. He was definitely ahead of his time and set the standards for Americans today. Thomas Paine instilled his ideas onto others in Common Sense. He starts out by saying, â€Å"In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense†. Just by writing this, he has already captivated the reader and forced them to see his views and just ‘common sense’. Paine seemed to specialize in revolts and working for the ordinary person. This was Paine’s involvement in politics; getting the common person to see how they were oppressed and how things should change. He took action by forming revolutions. Paine felt that America should be free from British control. He stated, â€Å"We have boasted the protection of Great Britain without considering that her motive was interest, not attachment; and that she did not protect us from our enemies on our account, but from her enemies on her own account, from those who had no quarrel with us on any other account, and who will always be our enemies on the same account.† He used this to explain to Americans how Britain had created enemies for us because of their own personal reasons and when we were under attack, Britain didn’t care and sequentially, they had created enemies for both places. Thomas Jefferson took part in politics as well as Franklin and Paine and was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson, unlike Franklin and Paine, was born into his wealth. He was never a commoner and therefore never knew what it was like to be in that position. I find it interesting that someone of his stature would be allowed to help write the Declaration of Independence which helps guide everyone including commoners. He couldn’t possibly understand what would be best for them. This is probably why there are many things in the constitution that don’t seem fair to an ordinary person, such as the Electoral College. This system was basically created because a regular person could not have a vote left in their hands. Although Jefferson seems like he wants independence for America, it also seems like he doesn’t trust America to have this Independence. All three people that I have discussed seem to differ in their views of America vs. Europe from Bryant. Bryant seems to be thrilled that America is based on Europe. Places such as New York and New England were almost exact replicas of the originals. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson were trying to change the way America was to make it a better place to live. It is because of these men that America is everything it is today.

Football as an Intramural Essay

Abstract Intramural sports present a fun way for students to spend their time at school, and provide an excellent opportunity to introduce themselves in the new world of college. Students get the chance to meet new people by playing against them in various sports such as softball, volleyball, and basketball. These sports are also co-ed, meaning that men and women can play on the same teams or against one another. Intramurals is also a great way to improve attendance or boost student’s motivation to improve their grades. However, there is only a select variety of options for sports. Most of the sports would fall under women’s sports, with their being softball over baseball and volleyball over football. There aren’t many options for men to get involved in intramurals with no men’s sports to play. Adding one sport that’s a men’s sport will give men more options in participating in intramurals. The addition of football may be what this school needs to get more people involved in intramural sports at Alexandria Technical and Community College (ATCC). With a chance for more men to participate, and more women to get involved in men’s sports, it’s a sport that cannot fail if the right conditions are met. Too much contact could be an issue, but if it were even touch football (2-hand touch), there wouldn’t be very many problems. Adding football to ATCC intramurals is what this school needs to not only offer more options for students, but to help attendance and boost student motivation to improve grades. It will be beneficial for the school, and fun for the students. 1. 0 Introduction Alexandria Technical and Community College is a great place to get to know other students. One of the ways to meet the students is by joining their intramural sports and getting on teams that compete against the other teams of the school. 1. 1 Problem With having intramural sports comes the privilege of choosing what you want to do with your time. However, there are not many options for intramural sports. There is softball and volleyball, just to name a couple, but not many options for the students. This may be why there are a lot of ATCC students not participating in intramurals. We believe that the addition of one particular sport will attract more students, and that sport is football. 2. 0 Discussion 2. 1 Benefits to ATCC One of the main focuses of ATCC is to get their students involved in the school and the community. One of the ways they stride for this goal is to encourage students to join in intramurals. Our idea is that if football is added to the intramural list, it may bring in more students to participate in intramural sports, and bring more students together. 2. 2 Benefits to Students According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Proposition 48, students who participate in school activities and sports must maintain a GPA of 2. 0 on a 4. 0 scale [ (Begnaud, 2007) ]. With that being said, this would prove that students who participate in extracurricular activities would have to motivate themselves and push themselves to maintain a high enough GPA to still participate. This motivation would be beneficial to students, and with more students wanting to play football, this would motivate more students to succeed in school. So now the question is, â€Å"How do you know football is a popular sport? † Well, according to studies done by many colleges such as MSU Moorhead, football has been ranked the number one popular sport in the United States [ (Walter) ]. This means that given the choice, football would be the top pick for the majority of the nation. With that being said, if football is added to intramurals then students would choose it for their intramural and would be motivated to do well in school to be able to participate in intramurals. Figure 1. 1 2. 3 Effects on Attendance As was stated in section 2. 1, students would be more likely to do good in school because they must maintain a GPA of at least a 2. 0 on a 4. 0 scale. If students are to good in school, they must attend school and do well. Attendance is important to do good in school, so intramurals must effect attendance, right? This can be proven if the rules of the NCAA Proposition 48 are followed. 2. 4 Effects on Grades Again, the NCAA Proposition 48 proves that sports do have a major impact on grades, but only because they have to. Students must do good in school if they want to participate in intramurals. Figure 1. 2 2. 5 Right to Give Students a Choice in Sports According to the Constitution, we all have the right to free speech (Amendment 1). If this is true, then it should also give us all the right to a vote. So shouldn’t students be able to vote on whether or not to include football in intramurals? In addition to that, students should also have the right to vote on whether or not to choose if they want to play football as their intramural if it is added to intramurals. The point to be made here is that we all have a right to vote, so we feel that there should be a vote at ATCC on whether or not to add football to the list of intramurals. Our voices should be heard if there is something that we truly believe will benefit the people and the school better. 2. 6 Comparison to Schools with Football as an Intramural Sport It is very difficult to compare ATCC with other schools with intramural sports, and especially since ATCC doesn’t have football as an intramural. However, according to the following website, these are the community colleges that do include football as a sport of choice: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/List_of_community_college_football_programs This website gives all of the schools that have football as a sport of choice. On this list, some of the schools are also listed on the list of the top community colleges in the US. ATCC ranked #8 on the list, while St. Paul College ranked #1, and they do have football as a sport [ (Washington Monthly, 2010) ]. So, could football actually help our students do better in school? It appears that it could, since 57% of all men in colleges played football [ (Heinlien, 2007) ]. 3. 0 Conclusion In conclusion, due to the facts given in the above sections, we believe that students should be able to participate in a vote for football as an intramural at ATCC. Also, whether the vote happens or not, football should be added to the intramural list to improve student participation, and to improve not only attendance, but grades too. 4. 0 Appendix 5. 0 Glossary Intramural-involving only students in the same school or college. That’s the only word we feel the need to define 6. 0. Works Cited Begnaud, B. (2007, February 15). The Effect of Athletic Involvement on GPA. Retrieved November 28, 2012, from Yahoo Answers: http://voices. yahoo. com/the-effect-athletic-involvement-gpa-benefits-201277. html? cat=25 Heinlien, E. (2007, October 28). The Benefits of Intramural Sports. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from Helium: http://www. helium. com/items/670511-the-benefits-of-intramural-sports Mueller, J. (2012, February 16). Do Sports Have an Affect on GPA. Retrieved November 29, 2012, from Stat Crunch: http://www. statcrunch. com/5. 0/viewreport. php? reportid=23966 Walter, T. (n. d. ). How Do Professional Sports in the US Rank in Popularity. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from Wiki Answers: http://wiki. answers. com/Q/How_do_professional_sports_in_the_US_rank_in_popularity Washington Monthly. (2010). College Guide. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from Washington Monthly: http://www. washingtonmonthly. com/college_guide/rankings_2010/community_colleges. php.

El Norte Essay

Gregory Nava’s El Norte debuted in the Telluride Film Festival in 1983 and presents the challenges and realities of migration and multiculturalism. Though the film’s settings are not consistent with today’s scenarios, it is still an important work because it provides and periodical anthology of the migrant issues as well as a background to today’s multicultural issues. A study of the film reveals not only the developments in the perceptions regarding immigration but also the development of niche cultural groups from the perspective of both original and adoptive societies. Moreover, El Norte suggests that cultural biases exist in various levels of society even in seemingly homogenous ones and that cultural disambiguation creates social vulnerabilities. Therefore, the movie can provide valuable insights on how multicultural psychology develops and changes in different settings. In turn, the insights that can be developed can help address the issues faced by the Xuncax family, particularly by the Rosa and Enrique in their quest to find their way and to establish a new life in the United States. In all three parts of the movie, cultural differences remain a dominant issue. Tackled closely with social issues, the film’s view is that culture is both a source of strength and a bane for the siblings. At the same time, the change in both Rosa and Enrique’s view of their experience and their prospects undergoes a metamorphosis that challenges them to find their place in the social schema. Immigrants or Refugees One of the major issues that are being explored in the movie is regarding the status of Rosa and Enrique as migrant or refugees. This issue is one that has become an interest in consideration of the political and economic persecution that became prevalent in autocratic and militarists governments in South America. Many countries, in the interest of controlling the influx of transnational established qualifications that can be considered as refugees, eligible for sanctuary and those that are to be considered as migrants. The general consensus seemed to be that political persecution was to be the basis for refugee status while migrants were associated with economic motivations. Furthermore, the status of immigrants requires legality where eligibility is based on an individual’s productive capacity. In the case of the main characters of the movie, they started out more as refugees. The circumstances that motivated them to leave Guatemala were because of persecution against indios their motivation was clearly not economic in nature. Rather, it was because of fear against threats against their life due to their ethnicity. At the same time, one classifies the siblings as refugees because they are not given the choice of staying or going back to Guatemala or to seek the protection of their government. However, they are not given this status but does not either fulfill the tenants of being considered as immigrants recognized by the United States. Considering these, Rosa and Enrique are to be considered as immigrants, however it should be noted that their lack of legal status makes such a classification problematic as well. In more contemporary terms, they are to be considered as illegal migrants, neither of their own country or the one they are currently in. Challenges and Implications It is understandable that there is reluctance to consider them as refugees since such a status, under the international charters, makes them eligible not only for residence in the United States but also makes them eligible for social assistance and placement. In contrast, immigrants are managed by the conditions of their migration or residence programs and there is greater leeway for their ejection when they are proven to be unproductive or detrimental to society. Thus, Rosa and Enrique can only turn to illegal means of entering the country as illustrated by their association with a â€Å"coyote† who smuggles them into the country. Though this bypasses the bureaucracy needed to gain both refugee and immigrant status, it also has left them vulnerable to abuse since they can not seek legal or judicial intervention if they need to. Furthermore, since they already entered the country illegally, the have burned their bridges in gaining legal recognition in the country. The siblings both offer perspectives on the institutions that migrants have to deal with. Rosa’s perspective is that their journey north has only led them from death to greater poverty and questioning if they have a place anywhere in the world except in death. Enrique reflects the sentiment that he is considered simply a factor of production, a â€Å"strong arm†, gaining no greater value than livestock or equipment. In either case, the siblings show that they see themselves apart from society, excluded by their circumstance and history. Acculturation Though the associates of the siblings are generally limited to their own community of migrants, this is not to suggest that they do not make an effort to become part of the general society. However, their efforts are often deterred by cultural and social preconceptions that box them into their roles as illegal immigrants. At the same time, they were being challenged to adjust to their roles within their won community as many of the racism they faced against their indigenous heritage in Guatemala persisted. The irony is that they heritage that they are being persecuted form is also the source of the philosophical perspective that give them the will to survive and bear the conditions and challenges of their journey north. The siblings peg all of their social interactions from their observations as well as each other’s perspectives. The issue of turning back from one’s cultural heritage is an underlying theme of the story since from the very beginning, perceived cultural inferiorities were the crux of the challenges faced by Rosa and Enrique’s family. Thus, within the socially excluded community they are categorized in by mainstream society they remain outsiders. It is then apparent from the observations and interactions of the siblings that their acculturation is always from and externalist’s perspective. Therefore, as Rosa and Enrique tried to adjust to their circumstance, there seems to be an acceptance that they will neither be able to be part of their community. Immigration Policies and El Norte The conjecture that the illegal immigrant trade is one that is protected and even encouraged is a perspective that is presented in the story. Illegal immigrants provide cheap labor, a blanket against social security requirements and a labor supply for jobs that are unwanted jobs. At the same time, immigrants are able to have livelihoods that allow them to subsist as they try to gain the tenure they need to apply for legitimacy. However, there is credence to Enrique’s sentiment that such a scenario has left them in a continued disadvantage. He points out that their situation has left them not only economically, socially or politically disadvantaged but also has made him question his worth as an individual and cultural heritage. The United States remains to be the preferred country for migration and there is still a great need for migrants particularly to sustain labor forces in jobs that are considered blue-collar in nature, However, the reality is that the country is already facing high unemployment among its citizens and there is a slow down of the economy. Thus, the need to control migration is also justified, if not necessary. At the same time, the persistence of ethnicity or culture as a bias still persists despite the establishment of political institutions that are to protect social diversity. The reality is that the issue is not so much regarding migration but the lack of viable opportunities and the inequitable distribution of wealth within nations and internationally.