Visual Thinking Strategies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Visual Thinking Strategies - Research Paper Example As I scanned my badge in, I turned to their teacher and politely asked, â€Å"Is this your first educational trip to the MFA, are you here to see the new Linde wing?† â€Å"No,† she replied, â€Å"we’re here for a VTS tour.† â€Å"That is wonderful,† I exclaimed. After pausing, I politely stated, â€Å"I am just about to write a paper on VTS, would you mind telling me where you are from?† Kindly responding, the teacher stated, â€Å"We are a social studies class from the Boston public school system, and we have a partnership with the MFA. This is our last lesson of the curriculum and it ends with a VTS tour at the Museum.† In my opinion, teachers in all subject areas find themselves with the challenge of bringing that subject to life for their students, especially students who struggle to grasp the concepts of the course. Constantly trying new strategies and educational techniques, the best teachers try to reach those students in an unconventional way. In this case, I presume the social studies teacher turned to Suzi Fonda, Manager of Teacher Programs and School Partnerships at the MFA, to help her students draw connections between the content studied in the classroom and the collection of American Art currently displayed at the MFA. Since the culture and environment of the museums considerably differs from those prevalent in the classrooms, educators frequently wonder whether the productive techniques used by the museum educators are applicable in the environment of the classroom. In this paper, I will examine the productivity of Visual Thinking, and its connection to the classroom. Upon providing an in-depth look at VTS itself as a teaching tool, I will then examine further the applicability of the technique to the school classroom, more specifically within the social studies curricula, and evaluate its results and make recommendations if any as to how it may be improved. In particular, I will utilize class readings, discussions, case studies, and museum curricula, and I will transfer these experiences into my evaluation. Finally, I will conduct interviews with two Directors of Education, both of whom are involved in the VTS implementation at their art museums, and I will discuss their concerns, results and issues of the program. Curriculum In a typical VTS lesson, students look carefully at a work of art, and talk about what they observe. This method uses art to build the capacity to observe, think, listen and communicate. The guiding principle is that self-discovery is a powerful way to learn, and that such self-directed learning is stimulated by discussion amongst peers.1 Th e curriculum of VTS is fundamentally based on the discussion held among the students. The role of a teacher in it is that of a facilitator of discussion among the students. There are three basic questions that the facilitator uses in order to guide the students towards the path of conducting the discussion among themselves. These three questions include; â€Å"What is going on in this picture?† (Walker), â€Å"What do you see that makes you say that?† (Walker), and â€Å"What more can you find?† (Walker). The facilitator identifies the responses of individual students by their respective names, and points towards the relevant parts of the painting while paraphrasing the responses. In addition to that, it is equally important for the facilitator to keep track of the various threads of conversation so that they can be interlinked and the students can be provided with the opportunity to connect their thoughts with the thoughts of their class fellows. These question s have been designed in a very prudent manner. â€Å"The wording of the first question gives tacit approval of the story-finding, playing to the beginner’

Adam Smiths Theory of Self-Interest

Adam Smiths Theory of Self-Interest Adam Smith is a fascinated moral philosopher and an expert of economic. He left two famous books. I can still get much enlightenment when I read his words in this modern society. His mainly research are on morality and economy. This essay will focus on how self-interest motivates individuals in these two aspects and what role does self-interest plays in the developing society. Having found this complex question, we should have a general understanding of what is self-interest? Many people may confound self-interest and selfish. Adam Smith thought people will do whatever good to themselves when they burned and selfish is a human’s natural action. (Smith Moral ex.) But actually those two words have huge differences. Selfish describe a kind of person who just care about himself of herself. They ignore others feeling or benefit as long as they can get something good from what they did. This is really a negative influence which we should abandon it. ‘Self-interest or self-love is derived from the selfish passions, but self-love is not identified with selfishness, because self-love, like other interests, can be virtuous (the virtue of prudence) or evil (greed or avarice).’ (Werhane, PH 1989, p. 671) Self-interest looks like selfish on the surface but indeed it can make an interaction between people. ‘To the selfish and original passions of human nature, the loss or gain of a very small interest of our own appears to be of vastly more importance, excites a much more passionate joy or sorrow, a much greater desire or aversion, than the greatest concern of another with whom we have no particular connection.’ (Smith Moral ex. 8). Everyone who chase them own profits and don’t do harm to others’ benefits in the meantime is called self-interest. Thus help other is helping themselves in fact and the more you get better the more you are willing to help others, which is a kind of huge power to make our society improve, so our society will become much more harmonious and plentiful eventually. That why Adam Smith said: ‘His interests, as long as they are surveyed from this standpoint, can never be put into balance with our own; can never restrain us from doing whatever may tend to promote our own self-interest.’ (Smith Moral ex. 8) On the other hand, although Adam Smith believes self-interest may make people seems selfish, but it will bring sympathy to them as well. Smith said: ‘The man of the most perfect virtue, the man whom we naturally love and admire the most, is he who joins, to the perfect command of his own original and selfish6 feelings, a real appreciation of the original and sympathetic feelings of others.’ (Smith Moral ex. 7) It is a natural when people burn, which let people take others feeling and their happiness or sadness into them own business, even though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it. (Smith Moral ex. 1) Smith thinks sympathy is kinds of sense which will make their emotion fluctuate with others feeling which can resolve the conflict between individual interests and social interests. ‘The man who feels the most or the joys and sorrows of others, is best fitted for acquiring the most complete control of his own joys and sorrows.’ (Smith Mo ral ex. 5) Furthermore sympathy not only means share feelings but understands and contain as well. We can acquire the same feeling when we in the similar circumstance that others had thus we will have a deeply communication with them. They will see the phase called help other is helping me. ‘Smith argues, sympathy, coupled with reason, imagination, and our natural desire for â€Å"what ought to be approved of† provide the conditions that enable us disinterestedly or impartially to examine and to approve or disapprove a motive, character, or action.’ (Werhane, PH 1989, p. 677). So what prompted the ordinary people on many occasions to sacrifice their interests for others bigger benefits? It is not a noble and grant human natural, it is a strong motivation; a self-satisfied; a self-interest! (Smith Moral ex. 11) Smith thought everybody burn with self-interests they only want to do the things good to themselves, which is the prime motive for human’s active. People help others want to achieve their own goal indeed so they will become better when they help others. ‘He will be more likely to get their help if he can interest their self-love in favoring him, and show them that it is for their own advantage to do what he requires of them.’ (Smith Wealth ex. 3) In this case the more individuals chase their benefits the more they motivate the whole society’s progress and the society include all walks of life will achieve a universal prosperity finally. Just as Smith argue that: ‘He is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an outcome which was not part of his intention.’ (Smith Wealth ex. 6) Each individual is thought to be able to perceive his or her own best interests; they act so as to gain pleasure or happiness in whatever way they choose.’ (Heywood, A 2003, p48)This is something that can be a win-win. ‘By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectively than when he really tries to promote it.’ (Smith Wealth ex. 6) So self-interest is a kind of catalytic of improving society to a great extent in this case. ‘In principle, individuals always seek their own economic advantage; and, in principle, they act strictly rationally to achieve this goal.’ (Skirbekk, G Gilje, N 2001, p 250) Smith call this the law of natural which is free competition actually, this invisible hand is a kind of power which make the market fairer. It is important to make a division of labor in the market; I think the competition is the direct reason which causes this phenomenon. ‘It is the necessary, though very slow and gradual, consequence of a certain tendency in human nature which has in view no such ultimate outcome; [this is] the tendency to deal, barter, and exchange one thing for another.’ (Smith Wealth ex. 1) Smith thought it is the division of labor that increases the productivity. Everyone can just accomplish his part of job; he can focus on his own business. There is an idiom called practice makes perfect, so the efficiency of the whole market must be improved. It is a kind of exchange, just as Smith said: ‘give me that which I want, and you shall have what you want. That is the meaning of every such offer†¦. we expect our dinner, but from their concern for their own interest.’ (Inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations extracts 6). People always have much more inter est in their own business than the society profits. ‘It was the conduct of individual human beings that led us into this mess, and it is the behavior of individuals as well as the structuring of systems that has to change.’(Garton Ash 2014) So as we can find from here it is self-interest that motivate people to work; to do those economic activities. Moreover, what is the simplest method to reach this boundary? Smith thought is the freedom and non-interventionism. It doesn’t mean no-government, their function is limited to the administration of justice, and they are night watchman. ‘He attacked economic protectionism: the government should meddle as little as possible in trade and industry.’ (Skirbekk, G Gilje, N 2001, p 249) So Smith strongly recommended creating a free-market. ‘In an ideal free market resting on private property, no individual can coerce any other, all cooperation is voluntary, all parties to such cooperation benefit or they need not participate.’ (Friedman 2014, pp. 122-126). He opposed the state intervention in the economy, because he thought the market will automatically adjust. This is what he called ‘the invisible hand’, it will help people maximum their own profits and the society will make progress with individuals in the meantime. So it can make a combine b etween self-interest and public-interest. When the businessmen work hard to do their own business this ‘invisible hand’ will let them to choose the best-fit for the society. This is also help other is help ourselves. ‘Altruism is relegated to no more than delayed self-interest, so, for example, the more we create a good reputation, the more we can exploit it for economic advantage.’ (Hutton Schneider 2014, pp. 13-17.) So as the analyses I have presented above, we can clearly find that self-interest is the necessary and sufficient condition of our society’s thriving and prosperous. The better market can’t leave self-interest, which means they can’t exist without each other. Smith described that the conflict between self-interest and public-interest can be solved by combining them. They made each other! Thus if everyone can motivated by their self-interest, they will try them best to acquire the profits, which can motivate our society’s economy and make the market much more efficient and fairer ultimately.

Understanding Emma :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emma, who is extremely wealthy and very beautiful and the youngest of two daughters lived twenty one years without a trouble to bother her. She was the mistress of her house in Highbury because her mother died when Emma was very young. The governess of the Woodhouse home Miss Taylor was very close to all three girls but, very close to Emma. Miss Taylor finally decided to marry Mr. Weston, the owner of Randalls.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the wedding her father said that he is extremely upset that Mrs. Taylor married Mr. Weston. Emma admited to her father that she is rather pleased that Miss. Taylor has married Mr. Weston. It was Emma’s idea to get the two acquainted. Emma’s papa asks her to not make any more matches and foretell things, and tells her that everything she says always comes to pass. Emma replied to her papa that she will not make any matches for herself but she must for other people. She told him that matching couples is a great amusement to her. She continues to boast about her success. Her father begs her again not to make any matches and Emma pleaded for his permission to make a match with Mr. Elton. Mr. Knightly who is the elder brother of Emma’s sister’s husband tried to make Emma think that she should not make any more matches and he told her that a man can take care of himself. Mr. Frank Churchill who is the son of Mr. Weston is the talk of t he town. He rarely comes to visit his father in Highbury but when Mr. Weston got married, Mr. Churchill attended.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emma had made a friends with a girl named Harriet who is a student at the boarding school, and has made a very good name for herself in the town. The girls would take walks together daily and talk . Occasionally, Harriet talked about a man named Robert Martin, Emma often wondered who he was. Harriet told Emma that she was very fond of Mr. Martin and may marry him. Emma tried to convince Harriet that she should not marry below her social status because she has made a good name for herself here. Emma mentioned Mr. Elton to Harriet and asks her what she thought of him. Harriet admitted that she had always been fond Mr. Elton and found him agreeable. Emma was fixed on putting Mr.

Corruption in Sudan Essay

Other cities like Omdurman have 2. 1 million, Port Sudan have a total population of 450,000. Kassala, Kosti, Juba are the capital of southern region. People from the country are called Sudanese and 2009 in July Population was 41,087,825: 2. 143%. There are two ethnic groups namely : Arab/Muslim, theses group of people live on the northern part of the country and black African or Christian on south. There are also two types of religion, Islam (official), indigenous beliefs (southern Sudan), Christianity. There are also many languages like Arabic which is official, English also official, tribal languages. Education in Sudan is compulsory for some years,8 Attendance(35%-40%). Literacy level is 61. 1. This country’s main natural resources include reserves of oil, gold, natural gas copper, iron ore and other industrial metals. Sudan got its independence on January 1, 1956 and the type of government they operate is the provisional government which was established by the comprehensive peace Agreement (CPA) and signed in January 2005. This offers power sharing as far as the national elections takes place. The national election took place starting from April, November 2010. Sudan became the largest debtor to the World Bank and IMF by 1993 this resulted to the suspension of their voting rights by IMF and withdrawals under operative and fully expended loans and credit by the World Bank. It was also said that â€Å"extensive petroleum exploration began in mid1970’s and might cover all of Sudan’s economic and energy needs†. This year according to martin † Sudan may need as much as $1. 5billion of foreign aid a year and plans 2 slash government spending by a quarter as it faces budget difficulties due to its recent split into two countries, its finance minister said† and according to the finance minister† we’re expecting 6 percent (economic growth) or a little more for 2012† There have been conflicts with the northern and southern part of Sudan that have killed 1. 5 million people and also driving many ethnic groups and people from their homes. Sudan had had several episodes of civil welfare since its independence, broke association and now rule with Egypt (this actually did not benefit them anything but further trouble). All regions of Sudan face problems, both the south and the north and corruption can be counted as one of them. The southern part of Sudan has separated as an autonomous region in July 2011 even though it is a different state but it is still a very poor nation with a very low human development. Media on the southern part of Sudan is very poor, undeveloped and not well equipped. A journalist(s) does not have the right to broadcast, report or give any news, information to Darfur (other part of Sudan) and if any journalist(s) violates that law, he/she/they would be severely punished and even be jailed. Today, many journalists are still in prison and only God knows when they might be freed and which will be out. For example, in October 2010, a radio station ’Dabanga’ in Khartoum after a movement of arrests was shut down by the government and seven of its employees have been alleged of exposing state secretes, breaking the constitutional system, the punishment foe this crime is a death penalty. The civil war of 1991 in southern Sudan destroyed almost all southern medical facilities except those that had been rebuilt to treat their people who have been wounded in Juba, Malakal and Waw, these three hospitals are controlled by the government. The facilities were impracticable to use because of the scarcity of the most basic medical materials and a similar problem is faced in the northern Sudan, health care facilities had been considered helpless by the economic situation. Sudan does not have the hard currency to buy basic drugs, such as antibiotics and anti-malarial drugs, and the most important equipment, such as syringes. Private medical care in towns still functions but was also hindered by the scarcity of pharmaceuticals. In conclusion, I think after analyzing these situations in the area of banking, finance, media and medicine, the conflicts and political instability and so one, those should or are the main reason why Sudan is rated as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Ethical behaviour of UK supermarket Tesco Essay

Introduction I carried out a research on UK supermarkets’ social responsibilities and business ethics, I decided I will use Tesco plc for this assignment. The reason being Tesco has a wide range of policies regarding their supplier, customers, shareholders and the community. â€Å"At Tesco, we aim to make a positive contribution to society. Our CSR programme builds on this commitment and is backed by our ‘Every Little Helps’ approach.† John Gardiner, chairman, Tesco Tesco adopted both the agency theory and the stakeholder theory and it has the intelligent self-interest (Mullins 2002). Tesco uses a combination approach of deontology, utilitarianism, teleology and egoism (Boddy 2002) to the ethical of the society. An ethical assessment will consider the position of the staff, the nature and interrelationship of activities, product and service ranges, mixes and balances, relationships with the community and the environment. Stakeholders of Tesco Stakeholder is defined by Mullins (2002:145) as â€Å"individuals or groups who have an interest in and/or are affected by the goals, operations or activities of the organisation or the behaviour of its members†. Stakeholders can be categorised into three main groups: Internal stakeholders * Employees – Social responsibilities to employees beyond the employment contracts. Employees need to face the implications such as job security, safe working conditions, fair treatment, the creation of rewarding work and personal development. Employees require equal opportunities, promotions, trade union, training and job satisfaction. * Management – Management concerns about the growth of the organisation and to achieve the organisational objectives. Management have strong influences on staff, lead by example and management by walking about can encourage its staff to produce their best performance. External stakeholders * Community & environment – The demands for the community and environment are: potential of pollution, noise and disposal waste should be kept to the minimum, raw materials are used economically and environment friendly production. * Society – Society is the broader place in which business operates. The quality of all our lives will depend on how well the organisation balances its profit and the environment. Connected stakeholders * Shareholder – There are three types of shareholders: short term investors, long term investors and ethical investors. Short term investors simply concentrate on the performance of the organisation, they will have no time for considerations of social responsibilities. Long term investors may be willing to consider evidence that managing in a socially responsible way helps long term profits. Ethical investors place social priorities higher than maximising their own personal wealth and are willing to invest in organisations that follow clear socially responsible policies. * Customers – Customers expect organisations to provide them with goods and services. They want the goods/service to be good quality, durable, good value for money, safety and performance. Consideration of Power All stakeholder groups have influence throughout the organisation. These influences effect the organisational performance and their existence within its market sector. * Employees – They can reflect their thoughts through the trade union, i.e. request pay raise, better working conditions, equal opportunities etc. If the employees are mistreated they can take industrial actions against the organisation or have an industrial strike to force the organisation to meet their needs. * Community & environment – If there is a potential of pollution, noise, disposal waste or the local county council can apply laws and regulations to limit those actions or to take legal actions against the organisation. * Society – If the quality of our life is affected by the organisation, campaigners can hold daily protests outside the organisation, this will attract bad publicity for the organisation. * Shareholders – They can simply withdrawn their investment from the organisation, i.e. selling their shares. Alternatively shareholders can attend the annual meeting and vote against the organisational suggestions. * Customers – They can simply stop consuming the goods or services from the organisation. I considered the customers have the main power over an organisation, without any customers the organisation simply cannot survive. Any organisation needs to take its stakeholders’ interests into account. A good balance of the decisions is vitally important, we can see how the influences have impact upon the organisation and any unbalance decision will affect the existence of the organisation. Tesco’s Mission Statement â€Å"Creating value for customers, to earn their lifetime loyalty† We can see from the above statement that Tesco concentrates on the long-term relationship with its customers. Tesco focused on providing exceptional value and choice for customers to ensure that they continue to grow market share. Tesco had expended significantly in the past 10 years, it started in non-food retailing in 1997 and now Tesco is creating value on a wide range of products from grocery to financial services such as personal loan, home and motor insurance and credit card services. From these evidences we can see Tesco is working very hard to follow its mission statement to achieve its goal. Tesco’s actions towards the society Tesco combined the agency theory and the stakeholder theory (Mullins 2002) when they make any ethical decisions. Milton Friedman’s view (Mullins 2002:148) suggested the agency theory is that â€Å"†¦the social responsibility of business is to make as much money as possible for the shareholders, within the rules of the game.† Mullins (2002:149) defined the stakeholder theory is that â€Å"†¦a business is for its stakeholders and its actions should be designed to balance stakeholder interest.† Tesco uses the agency theory to decide its main objective, it is to provide excellent goods and services to earn their customers’ loyalty. This will ensure their existence on the market and to maximise the shareholders’ investment. On the other hand, Tesco uses the stakeholder theory to act on behalf on its stakeholders interests, such as contribution towards the society, care for the environment and responsible to the supplier chain. Tesco also uses a combination approach of deontology, utilitarianism, teleology and egoism (Boddy 2002) to the ethical of the society. Deontology Approach â€Å"Deontology is based on the idea that we are morally obliged to follow fundamental rules of thumb or principles. (Frankena 1963)† Fulop & Linstead (1999:339) Part of the Tesco strategy of â€Å"Treat people how we like to be treated† uses the deontology approach to the ethics of the people, the policies are as follow: * All retailers, there’s one team†¦The Tesco Team * Trust and respect each other * Strive to do our very best * Give support to each other and praise more than criticise * Ask more than tell and share knowledge so that it can be used * Enjoy work, celebrate success and learn from experience Tesco acts only on those principles so that they are not only â€Å"Treat people how we like to be treated†, but also wish others to do the same. Utilitarianism Approach â€Å"Utilitarianism judges the moral worth of actions by the utility of their foreseeable consequences for each and every person affected by a certain set of actions.† Fulop & Linstead (1999:339) Tesco aims to be responsible in their commercial and trading activities. Tesco is a member of the Ethical Trade Initiative since it was founded in 1998, on top of that, it also supports the work of Fairtrade Foundation. They sell and promote Fairtrade production such as tea, coffee, banana and chocolate. Fairtrade Foundation was set to give better deal for third world producers, regardless of the world market conditions. There are several reasons why Tesco uses the utilitarianism approach to the ethics of the society. First it wants to build a strong relationship with its supplier and to maintain their reputation within the market sector. From the result of having strong relationship with its suppliers, they will have a stable supply for its goods and services. Teleology Approach â€Å"It considers whether the outcome of an action accomplishes the original goal.† Boddy (2002:133) Tesco uses the teleology approach to consider whether the outcomes achieve the original goals. Boddy (2002) suggested that if an act ensures the continuation of the organisation then it is right. From Tesco’s mission statement we can see that the original goal for Tesco is to keep its market share and continue to grow within its market sector by creating value for its customers. It is obvious that Tesco is performance very well in its industry, they keep expanding their services and products (from grocery to financial services), which indicates the continue growth for Tesco. Egoism Approach â€Å"This is the ‘ethics of self-interest, claiming that personal or corporate benefit is the only rational criterion for judging economic actions.† Boddy (2002:133) Tesco is a financial contributor to the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experimentation (FRAME), and they are seeking ways to end animal testing. Tesco also carries out the Computers for Schools vouchers, which support local school to improve their computer equipments, to create a better learning environment for children. Tesco is a national sponsor of Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, this is only part of the charity works that Tesco has, there is also a Tesco Charity Trust which helps local and national charities as well as voluntary organisations to provide practical support for children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Tesco uses this approach to take above actions to contribute towards the local community. Boddy (2002) suggested that if people follow this principle it will result in general good. Because of the contribution Tesco made (Computers for Schools vouchers and charity’s activities), customers are more happy to shop in Tesco because they are able to maximise their personal self-interest towards the society. Improvement in ethical behaviour of Tesco Tesco has a wide range of ethical policies to cover different areas, they include the following: * Human right * Local community sponsorship * Charity * Ethical trading * Fairtrade * Animal Testing * Environment These are only a small selection of Tesco’s policies which I can find on its website, there are many more policies to cover different area of the ethical aspect. Since we are in a dynamic business world and there is no set policy can cover all changes, Tesco should expand its policies and to improve and maintain its reputation. Conclusion Survival or long-term performance is the main ethical duty of the organisation, its staff, customers, community and other stakeholders. For this to happen, a long-term view must be taken. Organisation must distinguish between right and wrong. It is necessary for the organisation to recognise the nature and legitimacy of the interests of the different stakeholder groups and interested parties, and to take steps to see that these are widely understood and satisfied as far as possible.    Bibliography Boddy D, (2002), 2nd Edition, Management – An Introduction, Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow Fulop L & Linstead S, (1999), Management – A Critical Text, Macmillan Press Ltd, Hampshire Hannagan T, (1995), Management Concepts & Practices, Pitman Publishing, London Megginson L, Mosley & Pietri P Jr, (1986), 2nd Edition, Management: Concepts and Applications, Harper & Row Publishers Inc, New York Mullins L, (2002), 6th Edition, Management & Organisational Behaviour, Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow Pettinger R, (2002), 3rd Edition, Introduction to Management, Palgrave, Hampshire Robbins S & Coulter M, (2003), 7th Edition, Management, Pearson Education Inc, New Jersey Internet Resources: http://www.tesco.com/corporateinfo/ 14/03/2004 http://www.tesco.com/everylittlehelps/ 14/03/2004 Reference Boddy D, (2002), 2nd Edition, Management – An Introduction, Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow Fulop L & Linstead S, (1999), Management – A Critical Text, Macmillan Press Ltd, Hampshire Mullins L, (2002), 6th Edition, Management & Organisational Behaviour, Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow Internet Resources: http://www.tesco.com/corporateinfo/ 14/03/2004 http://www.tesco.com/everylittlehelps/ 14/03/2004

Compare and contrast the codes and conventions of sitcoms Essay Example

Compare and contrast the codes and conventions of sitcoms Essay Example Compare and contrast the codes and conventions of sitcoms Paper Compare and contrast the codes and conventions of sitcoms Paper A Situation comedy or sit-com as we know is based on real life non-fictional events and situations. There are many different elements that make sit-coms what they are. Sit-coms tend to revolve around two basic situations, within these situations, comedy is generated. These situations are usually located at home with family and at work. Some main sitcoms at present are Friends, My family and Alley Mcbeal. The family is portrayed as a stable situation able to bear the outside world because its strength comes from within. Despite the audience expectations a sit-com episode is mostly a self-contained classical narrative and is set in the same way. The settings tend to be interiors; this is usually because it is filmed in front of a live audience so they cant go from place to place. This also keeps down the cost of set construction and location shooting which makes sit-coms so appealing to television companies. The plots also tend to be based around very few characters. The characters themselves tend to be over exaggerated, stereotypical people, typical examples: The smart, witty, sarcastic character e. g. Chandler in Friends, Fraiser and Niles in Fraiser. There are usually un-intelligent and a not so bright, and there is usually somebody attractive whether it is a male or female to appeal to everyone. I will do a comparison of a British and American sitcom and see how their conventions work, based Fawlty Towers and Friends. During the mid 50s rivalry developed between the BBC and the fairly recently launched ITV. ITV was broadcasting the popular American sitcom called I Love Lucy, the BBC soon found that it was loosing viewers to ITV and therefore boosted production of sitcoms that include: Hancocks Half Hour, Dads army, Fawlty Towers, Porridge and many more which are still popular today. I love Lucy sparked off the production off these British sitcoms and maybe if it hadnt been broadcasted here in Britain then probably none of these famous British sitcoms would have been made. These sitcoms, however, differ quite significantly due to the country, which they originate from. The difference is due to the countrys culture and social background; we can explore this by viewing an American sitcom, Friends, and a British sitcom, Fawlty Towers. Fawlty Towers and Friends are two very successful sitcoms but if we investigate further into the two we find that they both have different impacts on the audience as some methods of creating humour differ. One of the main differences of the two, outside of creating humour, is that they are both based in different countries and different times. Friends is based on the youthful, vibrant city of New York, USA based in the late 90s, whereas Fawlty Towers is based in the retired, quiet town of Torquay based in the mid 70s. I will investigate both sitcoms by analysing each using characterisation, types of humour used, plot and mis-en-sci ne. Mis-en-sci ne is looking at how the sitcom is constructed, by setting, props, non-verbal communication and dress codes. Fawlty Towers is based in Torquay and is a hotel run by Basil Fawlty and his wife Sybil Fawlty also two other main characters are Polly and Manual who work at the hotel. Basil is a comic but key character; he plays a vital role in fawlty towers, Basil addresses a sarcastic approach most of the time when he is frustrated, worried or angered; when things do not go his way, and also when talking to people that he considers less respected than him e. g. : Manual, Polly etc. He also has the perfect image of what fawlty towers should be: successful and popular especially with the higher class. This causes him to constantly think about himself and the reputation of himself and the hotel. The humour which basil creates is usually physical; he is a tall man and walks with strides, which makes him stand out from everyone else. Sybil, Basils wife, who seems to be authoritative and firm with Basil this maybe due to the fact that she is usually more friendly and therefore more popular with guests and staff therefore they look up to her, more so than Basil. Basil also may be afraid that she might leave him and to prevent this he tries to be kind and obeys her commands but usually frustration or confusion get in the way which may create humour. Sybil herself is an elegant and well-presented woman, the fact that she is married to Basil, who may be the complete opposite, makes the sitcom more entertaining as it causes great confusion, lack of communication which leads to arguments between the couple which all create humour in different ways. Polly is a young well-mannered girl working temporarily at the hotel. She is polite and acts respectful to guests and staff a lot like Sybil but with a lot less experience of working in a hotel. The fact that she is a lot like Sybil again causes a slight inability to communicate to Basil, as he differs greatly, especially in front of guests, which creates humour. Polly is the youngest in the Fawlty Towers and lacks experience in the Hotel Business because of this she is usually ignored by Basil who considers her to be incapable of thinking of good ideas and doing things no matter how hard she works. Although she is the youngest main character in Fawlty Towers, she is actually not that young compared to Friends. This shows us that Friends is aimed at the youthful generation where as Fawlty Towers is aimed at the older generation. Fawlty Towers produces many different types of humour purely due to the characteristics of the main characters. If one of the characters were taken out of fawlty towers it wouldnt be able to achieve all of the types of humour it currently contains. For example, Basils role in the sitcom is to provide verbal wit, ludicrous and preposterous humour. Without this role its unlikely he could have made Fawlty Towers so popular. The humour used is very corny however is what works to make the audience want more, we hear canned laughter which also takes place a lot in Friends to prove when the audience should laugh and find something funny there is a laughter in the background. Friends is an organic plot. This means that the plots are not in such strict logic or structure, because of this it is apparent that we drop in every week to observe how each character is coping with their private lives and what they do in certain situations. The impression is given that the characters are there all the time but we view them at an unstructured and unedited part of their daily lives. This may be the case with friends but it is not, however, with fawlty towers. In fawlty towers the whole episode is based around a certain event and only, usually, contains one narrative whereas friends contains two or three narratives. In Friends various characters can relate to characters in friends; Joey and maybe Phoebe can relate to Manuel as they all create humour without meaning to. Chandler can relate to Basil as they both create sarcasm, irony and verbal wit therefore creating humour purposefully. Joey is a comic and youthful character as his main role in the sitcom is to create humour. This contrast of characteristics among the characters makes the sitcom more entertaining rather then them all being all the same which would make it less interesting as their lives would be similar. There are no main characters in Friends unlike Fawlty towers where the episode is normally set around Basil. In friends all of the characters are equal, there are exactly three girls and three boys and what one character has another one lacks. For example Joey is not clever but is fashionable and is a womaniser where as Chandler is clever but is not much of a womaniser. Both Friends and Fawlty Towers have the catchy theme tune in the beginning to set the scene, which gets the audience going before they start watching the sitcom. The aim of a sitcom is to make an audience laugh, by using stereotypes the viewer finds the characters funny due to them doing actions or saying something that reminds them of themselves or someone they know. The main contents of a successful sitcom are the characters, the way each character interacts with one another with a sitcom, the audience gets to know the characters, and know what to expect from them. The setting of a sitcom is generally in a similar environment that most people would go to, e. g. Scrubs is based in the workplace, Men Behaving Badly is set in a flat and the characters from Friends either meet up in a cafi or in their apartments.

The Affair of The Necklace, Marie Antionette s exubernat appetitte for exotic jewels has taken its toll on the 3rd estate .

The Affair of The Necklace, Marie Antionette s exubernat appetitte for exotic jewels has taken its toll on the 3rd estate . On Christmas day of the year 1783 the bluching 16 yrs old Austrian Princess soon to be Queen of France arrived at the French Court.As day strolled by the EMpire grew bigger under the newly appointed minister of Finance .As the EMpire Grew booth militarily and economically as did the Royals need for acquiring huge wealth.Wealth was everywhere in the exuberant building the expensive looking architecture the musems on the Rue Royale.Money was pouring in the economy so fast and half of which ended in the Royals hands .One Royal in Particular was so high mantineance that it took the equivelant of "four pieces of jewelery a week to satisfy her evergrowing apetitte for lush expensive diamonds and precious stones the world over." quotes her Estate Jewler.The Queen bored with the usual assortment of mounts and jewels her jeweler provided. Threatend him that if he does not come up with an interesting and exubernt necklace set soon he would wish he was brittish and that meant death.English: Mar gueritede Bourgogne,Queen of FranceMarie Antionette had seventeen toy dogs from a breed called Pug , they were always bejewled with diammonds and rubies when she was present.The Jewler using the governments tax money bought the most expensive jewles avaliable form India ,Eygpt , Turkey and South America. He spent nearly all the money acquiring the black gold and the jewels and mounts and the hands (jewlers from all over the world particpated in the design of this lavish necklace).Jaenne Elles Marques Le Luc , Daughter of the Marquee of Bath , was Marie Antionette's newly appointed stealthy Lady in Waiting.Jeanne went to the jewler to tell him about the deadline the Queen of France has set for the delivery of the necklace , wehn he surprised her...

Clues in the Pre-1850 US Censuses - How to Dig Details from the Early Census Records

Clues in the Pre-1850 US Censuses - How to Dig Details from the Early Census Records Most genealogists researching American ancestors love the detailed censuses taken between 1850 and 1940. Yet our eyes glaze over and our head starts hurting when we take on the columns and head counts of the pre-1850 census enumerations. Many researchers go so far as to avoid them altogether, or use them only as a source for the head of household. When used together, however, these early U.S. census records can often provide important clues to early American families. The earliest U.S. census schedules, 1790-1840, furnish only the names of the free heads of family, not of other family members. These schedules totaled the number of other family members, without name, by free or slave status. Free, white individuals were also grouped by age and sex categories from 1790 through 1810 - a categorization that eventually applied to other persons. The age categories also increased each year, from two age groups for free white males only in 1790, to twelve age groups for free whites and six age groups for slaves and free colored persons in 1840. What Can pre-1850 Census Records Tell US? Since the pre-1850 census records dont identify names (other than head of household) or family relationships, you may be wondering what they can tell you about your ancestors. Pre-1850 census records can be used to: track your ancestors movements prior to 1850distinguish between individuals with the same nameidentify possible children that you may not be aware ofidentify possible parents for your ancestoridentify possible relatives among neighbors By themselves, these early census records dont often provide much useful information, but used together they can generally provide a good picture of a familys structure. The key here is to identify your family in as many of the 1790-1840 censuses as possible, and analyze the information found in each one in conjunction with the others. Sorting Out Whos Who When I research in the pre-1850 census records, I begin by creating a list identifying each individual, their age, and the range of birth years supported by their given age. Looking at the family of Louisa May Alcott* in the 1840 census of Concord, Massachusetts, for example: A.B. Alcott (Amos Bronson Alcott), age 40-49 (b. 1790-1800) 1799Female (wife Abigail?), age 40-49 (b. 1790-1800) 1800Girl (Anna Bronson?), age 10-14 (b. 1825-1831) 1831Girl (Louisa May?), age 5-9 (b. 1831-1836) 1832Girl (Elizabeth Sewell?), age 5-9 (b. 1831-1836) 1835 *the youngest daughter, May, was born in July 1840...after the date of the 1840 census Tip! Men of the same name referred to as Sr or Jr werent necessarily Father and Son. These designations were often used to distinguish between two different people of the same name in the area - Sr for the elder, and Jr for the younger. This method can actually be used to sort out possible parents for your ancestors as well. In researching my Owens ancestors in Edgecombe County, N.C., Ive created a large chart of all of the Owens men listed in the pre-1850 census records, along with the members of their households and the age brackets. While I still havent been able to confirm exactly who goes where, this method did help me narrow down the possibilities. Narrowing Down Birth Dates Using several U.S. census records, you can often narrow down the ages of these early ancestors. To do this, it helps to create a list of the ages and possible birth years for each census year in which you can find your ancestor. Census records can help narrow down the birth year of Amos Bronson Alcox/Alcott, for example, to a range between 1795 and 1800. To be honest, you can get that range for him from a single census record (either 1800 or 1810), but having that same range possible in multiple censuses increases your likelihood of being correct. Amos B. Alcox/Alcott 1840, Concord, Middlesex, Massachusettshead of household, age 40-49 (1790-1800) 1820, Wolcott, New Haven, Connecticutone of the 2 males age 16-25 (1795-1804) 1810, Wolcott, New Haven, Connecticut1 male, age 10-15 (1795-1800) 1800, Wolcott, New Haven, Connecticutmale, age 0-4 (1795-1800) His actual date of birth is 29 Nov 1799, which fits right in. Next Digging Up Deaths from Pre-1850 Census Records Analyzing Family Members Birth Dates Digging Up Deaths Clues to death dates may also be found in the early US census records prior to 1850. The 1830 federal census, for example, lists Anna Alcott (mother of Amos) as head of household with Wd. (for widow) after her name. From this, we know that Joseph Alcott died sometime between the 1820 and 1830 census (he actually died in 1829). Using the age bracket method for the wife/spouse for each census year may reveal the death of one wife and marriage to another. This is generally just guesswork, but look for instances when her possible age jumps between one census and the next, or when the age of the wife makes her too young to be the mother of all the children. Sometimes youll find young children who appear to disappear between one census and the next. This could mean they were just living elsewhere at the time of the census, but it could also indicate that they died.

Hinduism And Its Features Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Hinduism And Its Features - Essay Example Shaivism is known for systematic philosophy in its texts. For Shaivites, human predicament is full of differentiation and bondage. Many experience discrimination and restrictions. This is caused by superficial knowledge. They suppose that the truth is not attained because individuals are blinded by what they can only understand through their basic senses. Hence, the goal is to reach ultimate consciousness. This is characterized by enlightenment and freedom. Armed with this higher truth, people can be liberated from false perceptions. Vaishnavism asserts that literature should be interpreted more metaphorically than literally. Vaishnavites consider human predicament as depicted by unhappiness or false happiness. In addition, people do not experience the true essence of love. This is so because of greed and temporary pursuits. Therefore, the goal is to be united with the Supreme Being. When this happens, genuine love and happiness may be fulfilled. This can then be realized through renunciation of material fondness by prioritizing on spiritual development. After disciplined practice, divine maturation ensues and is followed by perfection. Like other beliefs, Hinduism generally aims to improve existence. Both Shaivism and Vaishnavism have religious goals for improvement. Though they may have variations, they believe in man’s abilities. Indeed, man has its numerous limits. Nonetheless, he also has the capacity to achieve greatness.

Failed states should be placed in the care of the Trusteeship Council Essay

Failed states should be placed in the care of the Trusteeship Council. Discuss - Essay Example Factors like government stability and social peace are taken into consideration for deciding the status of a state, whether it is failed or not. Current paper presents the context of failed state focusing on the following issue: should failed states be placed in the care of the Trusteeship Council. The role of the above Council is reviewed and evaluated, especially in regard to the interaction of the Council with the failed states worldwide. It is made clear that the Trusteeship Council could play such role but under certain terms: that the national identity and the control over the national territory will not be threatened. 2. Failed states and the Trusteeship Council 2.1 Failed states - characteristics In order to understand the potential need of failed states to be set under the care of the Trusteeship Council it would be necessary to explain primarily the characteristics of these states. In the literature the failure of states has been extensively explored. According to Harpviken , Enjolras and Sivesind (2010) a state can be characterized as failed only if certain terms are met. Reference is made, for example, to the view of Zartman (1995) who noted that a state is considered as failed ‘when the basic functions of the state are no longer performed’ (Zartman 1995 in Harpviken, Enjolras and Sivesind 2010, p.29). A state can be also characterized as failed if ‘it has not been able to establish the features associated with statehood’ (Harpviken, Enjolras and Sivesind 2010, p.29). In other words, a state can be failed either since its beginning, if it has not managed to implement the functions required for building its identity as a state, or at a later point of time, when its functions, which have been successful implemented, become inactive. This means that for all states no guarantee can exist in regard to their success or failure. Of course, as long as a state is carefully structure and its functions are closely monitored it is quite difficult for the particular state to become a failed state. From another point of view, Rotberg (2010) noted that failed states are characterized by ‘the collapse of government’ (Rotberg 2010, p.43), as this collapse can have many consequences, such as social disorder, threats against human rights, lack of necessary food and so on (Rotberg 2010, p.43). In other words, states can be characterized as failed not only because of the status of their functions but also of the status of their politics. Naude, Santos-Paulino and McGillivray (2011) claim that failed states tend to face specific problems, such as ‘weak governance and unequal distribution of goods and wealth’ (Naude, Santos-Paulino and McGillivray (2001, p.44). On the other hand, there are states that have no government due to the lack of necessary majority of voters, as for example in the case of Belgium; also, these states continue to operate with no problem being in a pre-election period for quit e a long period of time. This means that the view of Rotberg, as presented above, that the collapse of government results necessarily to the failure of a state, is not verified. Akpinarli (2009) argues that problematic states can be categorized as follows: failed and failing, a distinction also accepted by Herdegen (Akpinarli 2009, p.97). It is explained that the criteria used by each research for describing the status of a state that faces a series of

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example For long-term benefits to the organization, CSR should be made a part of the firm's strategic perspective and operations. This paper proposes to discuss Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), taking into account various factors including consumer rights, the significance of ethical consumerism, fair trade consumerism, ecological sustainability, and the cause commerce approach which promote the implementation of CSR. It has been recognized that the activities of an organization influence the external environment, hence it is important that the organization should be accountable to not only its stakeholders, but also to a wider community. This concept initially took root in the 1970s, and grew as a concern for the company as a member of society, with a wider view of company performance including its social performance (Crowther & Rayman-Bacchus, 2004: 3). Though community accountability was acknowledged as essential, the focus of big business on financial results was observed to be an impediment to social responsiveness, especially in the early years of the accountability concept taking shape. There is now an increasing move towards accountability of companies towards all participants, and this recent phenomenon of corporate social responsibility is becoming the norm with all organizations (McDonald & Puxty, 1979: 53).Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to a company including in its deci sion making and operations, ethical values, employee relations, compliance with legal requirements, transparency, and overall respect for the communities in which they operate. CSR is more than occassional community service action, it is a corporate philosophy that is the driving force behind strategic decision making, selection of partners or collaborators, hiring practices and ultimately brand development (Werther & Chandler, 2006: 8). CSR includes how businesses and organizations manage the impact that they have on the environment and society: particularly how organizations interact with their employees, customers, suppliers, and the communities in which they operate. Also significant is the extent to which they attempt to protect the environment, and solve new corporate problems such as the exploitation of child labour which may be occurring thousands of miles away as part of the corporate activity (Crowther & Green, 2004: 174)."Corporate social responsibility encompasses the ra nge of economic, legal, ethical and discretionary actions that affect the economic performance of the firm" (Werther & Chandler, 2006: 10). This includes legal or regulatory requirements faced in day-to-day operations. Being socially responsible and adhering to the law is an important aspect of any ethical organization. However, legal compliance is only a basic condition of CSR; strategic CSR gives priority to the ethical and discretionary concerns that are less precisely defined and for which there is often no clear or collective consensus from the part of society. Corporate social contract is related to the social responsibility that companies have towards the consumers and to the society at large. Thomas Hobbes' concept of social contract regards corporate activity as morally good if it maximises human welfare, in which collective welfare would be considered above

Political Concept of Property Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Political Concept of Property - Essay Example This essay outlines the importance of the legal concept of the ownership of a property in a society. That concept is a critical element that defines the difference between communism and capitalism – the two polar political ideologies. The ownership of a property involves the rights and obligations of the owner who claims possession of the property. Property is a possession essentially belonging to an individual or a government. The ownership of property is a major element that defines its legal, social, and economic aspects which itself is underlined by political regimes and policymaking in the field. Political frameworks and legislations exist to protect the rights of individuals. Therefore, property has a political aspect because it involves ownership, transfer of rights, and other variations in rights in which governmental authorities, legislations, and institutions play a vital role. Income and taxation are economic concepts associated with a property. Property in the form of real estate or livestock could earn income for a person. At the same time the income could be liable for taxation. But because property essentially involves a ‘proprietary’ component, it occupies a central place in the politics of rights and governance. It indicates that property is characterized by possession which is fluid in nature. Rights related to ownership and transfer of land remain sensitive issues that are guided by government laws. Another fundamental aspect of property ownership is the political ideology.

American history questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

American history questions - Essay Example It established the notion of an international justice system that can be resorted to in cases when criminal acts are committed by a country against the citizens of another country or when they are committed by a government against its own people. The relevance of the Trials was that they served as precedent to future cases. In the subsequent cases, for example, crimes against humanity like genocide and ethnic cleansing committed in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Indonesia, the principles of the Nuremberg Trials were employed to try the accused. At the close of the war, the threats to these freedoms were once again resuscitated by the actions of the USSR. Harry Truman who succeeded Roosevelt to office saw the Russians’ foreign policy as emphatic on the communist ideology, suspicious, aggressive and close to and of the world around it. Soviet seemed so suspiciously obsessed with its security. Truman then decided that the best way to deal with the Russians and Stalin was a hard-line approach to contain communism and defend American interests. Thus, there was a discarding of the policy of compromise and the adoption of the policy of containment. In addition, Truman took a lesson from the past. His ‘Iron Fist’ approach was a reaction to the appeasement approach that was employed by the British towards Germany and Hitler before the outbreak of the WWII. Since the appeasement approach seemed to have goaded Hitler into being an airhead and declared war against the allies. Truman thought that from then on such an approach is not only futile but also dangerous and so he took a different tact. Another threat that communism brought to the US is the fear that that it’s spread in Europe would curtail US trade in that market. The revival of Europe after the war was especially important to the consumer-based US and therefore it must be safeguarded from communism. Q8 Some historians argue that the

Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Science - Essay Example First and foremost, wind energy can be used to generate electrical energy. On the same point, this mode of production of energy is hugely dependent on the availability of wind since this is the means by which the turbines can rotate thus providing electrical energy. Notably, wind energy can produce a minimal amount of energy as compared to the water and solar energy. In addition to that, it is worth noting that this particular method of production off energy is not commonly used due to the simple fact that the amount of energy produced as compared to the amount of resources allocated to the purpose, the amount of resources allocated surpasses the amount of energy produced thus is viewed as a non-profitable adventure. Moreover, the other factor that has contributed to make this mode of production not common is the fact that it is expensive. On that note, in terms of man power and resources allocated for instance the setting up of a windmill and the appropriate machinery to support the exercise is expensive to purchase. In addition to that, it is worth noting that this form of production of the energy cannot be used as a steady source of energy. Apparently, since this form is hugely dependent on the weather conditions, that is wind to be precise which is hugely unreliable thus it is an unreliable source of energy. However, this form of production of energy can be used for small scale uses, in other words,house to house as opposed to industrial application since this form of business requires a huge amount energy available every time. Notably, research has showed that the amount of power produced is minimal as compared to the demand level for the commodity thus there is the need produce more form other methods of creation of energy. Consequently, the wind power can be generated for domestic purpose, in simple terms, house to house

American history questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

American history questions - Essay Example It established the notion of an international justice system that can be resorted to in cases when criminal acts are committed by a country against the citizens of another country or when they are committed by a government against its own people. The relevance of the Trials was that they served as precedent to future cases. In the subsequent cases, for example, crimes against humanity like genocide and ethnic cleansing committed in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Indonesia, the principles of the Nuremberg Trials were employed to try the accused. At the close of the war, the threats to these freedoms were once again resuscitated by the actions of the USSR. Harry Truman who succeeded Roosevelt to office saw the Russians’ foreign policy as emphatic on the communist ideology, suspicious, aggressive and close to and of the world around it. Soviet seemed so suspiciously obsessed with its security. Truman then decided that the best way to deal with the Russians and Stalin was a hard-line approach to contain communism and defend American interests. Thus, there was a discarding of the policy of compromise and the adoption of the policy of containment. In addition, Truman took a lesson from the past. His ‘Iron Fist’ approach was a reaction to the appeasement approach that was employed by the British towards Germany and Hitler before the outbreak of the WWII. Since the appeasement approach seemed to have goaded Hitler into being an airhead and declared war against the allies. Truman thought that from then on such an approach is not only futile but also dangerous and so he took a different tact. Another threat that communism brought to the US is the fear that that it’s spread in Europe would curtail US trade in that market. The revival of Europe after the war was especially important to the consumer-based US and therefore it must be safeguarded from communism. Q8 Some historians argue that the

A&E Home Video Essay Example for Free

AE Home Video Essay Of course, in the19th Century urban setting of Wilde’s English play, this upward push of class identity would not come without an enormous price, and in many ways this can be said to be what his play is actually all about. In order to enter the upper-class, one must display all the refinement that this newfound status was meant to betray. Jack, the protagonist of Wilde’s play seems altogether contemptuous of all the pomposity that London and modern life has to offer. But this is not at all lost on Gwendolyn, the woman that he intends to marry. It is to her for whom this new modern idealism is all just a part of what makes him such an attractive suitor. She seems to express this right away. â€Å"We live, as I hope you know, Mr. Worthing, in an age of ideals. The fact is constantly mentioned in the more expensive monthly magazines, and has reached the provincial pulpits† (Wilde, 1895) Thus at times Jack steals away to the countryside where he can be more of himself; even as he has convinced others that he is Earnest. When his best friend Algernon asks him why he goes away he tells him â€Å"When one is in town, one amuses oneself. When one is in the country one amuses other people. † (Wilde, 1895) It is almost as if he means to say that poverty or better, the remoteness of the country setting offers him a more realistic outlook upon life than the smugness of London. For a time, almost effortlessly he uses one identity to escape one world and another identity to escape the other. Soon, we discover that Algernon has incorporated the same manner of fantasy into his own life. In Sure Thing culture, class, and status are triggers which appear to deliver attributes to strangers meeting each other for the very first time. Betty sits in the coffee shop reading a book as Bill attempts to approach her. Here, the affirmation of what is good or bad worthy or unworthy is often elicited from the audience’s response to the dialogue, as if post modern urban Americans have all but learned to pimp a bogus sense of idealism no different from Great Brittan more than a century ago. This is a world where a first impression maybe all that you have, and thus win or loose you only get once chance at failure, as Ives takes us through a drama that often resembles several rounds of speed dating. We hear his instant desire for acceptance when Bill makes several attempts to correct his earlier mistakes, as in this exchange: â€Å"Where was college? † â€Å"Oral Roberts College† (Bell) â€Å"Tech† (Bell) â€Å"Metro† (Bell) â€Å"Harvard† â€Å"Do you like Faulkner? † (Ives, 1988) This is a play meant to involve the audience as a part of the cast as well. As we look on, it is the judgment of the bell that gets our approval one pick up line after another. Ives does not have to bring the cynicism; we all know that this is all simply about sex and nothing more. What else could it be? He leaves the rest up to us to decide. It is the familiar game of boy meets girl and predictably she holds all the cards. Still, we are intrigued by the scenario, because in a sense it forces us to take a cynical look at ourselves and just what governs what we consider to be proper in our own lives. There is really no escaping it. While Bill has to spend the entire play going through the motions in order to discover just what it will take to get next to Betty, Jack ultimately comes to realize in the end that he actually is. There is no shortage of symbolism in either of these plays. Indeed, perhaps the saturation of metaphor is put immediately on notice with the title of Wilde’s play; The Importance of Being Earnest. In the end, we discover that this has much more meaning that we may have been led to believe. Although they wrote one hundred years apart, both of these writers attempt to place male-female relationships in a number of ‘what if’ situation, and both in their very own brilliant way force us to look squarely into the mirror of our own lives. You just have to ask yourself at some point: What motivated my own relationships? What was I searching for? Have I gone about this in the right way? They make us question the world and they make us think; sometimes they do a good job of making us laugh as well. Isn’t this what any good literature is supposed to do? Both of these plays take pains to provide us a view of the sometimes agonizing acrobatics that can often attend an encounter of boy meets girl. They are bold statements about the weight that outside social forces often have on intimate relationships. We have seen how the rise of the middle class in 19th Century London society had a strong effect upon human relationships. In a sense, we have discovered just how The Importance of Being Earnest was actually a response to the pretentious neurosis of the landed gentry of the UK during that time. So too, in Sure Thing, we were made to examine what we have learned about relationships in the aftermath of the sexual revolution. Here, we saw just how the fast-paced exchange of two strangers encountering one another for the very first time, forced the issue of the social and class perceptions during the waning years of the 20th Century. Even though these two playwrights wrote a century apart from one another, through our analysis of the plot and the motivations that undergirded both of these masterpieces of the stage, we were able to see just how much they actually had in common. Bibliography AE Home Video (Release Date: July 26, 2005) Biography: Oscar Wilde Ives, David, (1994) All in the timing: Six on-act comedies. Dramatist’s Play Service. (2008) (Director) Jason Salazar. Sure Thing as performed by the pigeon player’s theatre company. Retrieved at: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=XliV9M7-If4 Wilde, Oscar (2004) The importance of being earnest. Ist World Library

Financial Management Of The Tottenham Hotspur Plc Finance Essay

Financial Management Of The Tottenham Hotspur Plc Finance Essay Tottenham Hotspur is one of the famous Football clubs in England; the club had huge fan base reaching 20 million people worldwide and almost 2.1 million in UK, how ever the current stadium capacity is only 36,500 fans. The one Hotspur membership scheme the club created attracted over 70,000 fans. Since one of the revenues sources is attendance, the club starts thinking of expanding or building new stadium to increase the number of fans attending the games. The quality of the strikers are also critical, and usually clubs loses some of their players during the year, therefore need to replace them with better quality if possible and that costly too. The current Enterprise value of the club is 156 million, with Net Debt / EV of 0.12 and revenue of 75 million, in addition to that, the club Avg.net Goals ( 1998-2007) was -1.9 (December 31, 2007)  [1]   Such situation ranks the club 6 among other clubs. Mr. Daniel the chairman is about to take a very important business decisions which will drive the success of the club in the coming 13 years. The chairman has to decide if the stadium development plans made sense, and how best to proceed in the player acquisition market as well  [2]   It goes without saying that any further investment should be justify by the return on investment, therefore the chairman should take in to consideration all the financial aspects such as revenue and cost. As one of the most a manager can make is the capital decision. This key decision requires spending now in order to acquire long-lived assets that will be source of cash flow in the future a successful capital investment program will contribute to the firms financial performance for many years.  [3]   Executive Summary: In this case analysis I will try to answer three important questions which can be considered as the base of above mentioned capital investment program Mr. Daniel can set for Tottenham Hotspur club for the coming years. Is Tottenham at the current stock price of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤ 13.80 fairly valued? And to answer such question financial evaluation using DCF should be conducted assuming that Tottenham continues in its current stadium. What will be the value of the chairman decision to build new stadium? And also a DCF should be conducted taking in to consideration the increase on Revenues and capital expenditure. What will be the value of the chairman decision to sign a new striker? Taking in to consideration the cost to be paid to the formal striker club and the running cost of the striker him self once he join Tottenham. Since the purpose of an investment is to get more back, over time, than you put in. One of the most common valuation criteria, which satisfy the above condition, is called NPV. Net Present Value (NPV) (NPV =Present Value of Cash Inflows Present Value of Cash Outflows Decision Rule:  [4]   If NPV>0, then accept the project If NPV=0, then indifference position, go no go situation If NPV Based on the above, and my deep analysis my findings and recommendations are as follows: Tottenham Hotspur current stock price is over valued, Their Enterprise value as a result of DCF is 107.14 Million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤, therefore the Value per share is 9.73 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤,  [5]   Tottenham Hotspur Enterprise value of 107.14 Million à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤, confirm its rank as No.6 Just after Newcastle United and before Everton,  [6]   Investing à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤250 million in building new stadium is not visible or profitable , DCF based on incremental increase in revenue and operating cost due to Stadium resulted in negative NPV (-60.12)  [7]   Investing à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤20 Million as a cost of acquiring new striker in addition to his high running cost also is not visible or profitable. DCF based on incremental increase in Broadcast and others, and operating cost due to acquiring new striker resulted in negative NPV (-23.5)  [8]   All these questions and comprehensive analysis and recommendations will be included in the main report. The main report and questions Answers : Part one: At its current stock price of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤13.80, is Tottenham fairly valued? To answer this question we should conduct a company valuation, and calculate the Enterprise value (EV) of the company then divide the EV on the total Number of shares. In addition to the available data mentioned in both the balance sheet (Dec.2007) and income statement of Tottenham  [9]  and in order to be able to calculate the change in working capital, the following major assumption has been taken during the evaluation, In order to calculate the change in working capital i calculate it for the first year, then calculate it as % or revenue then I apply the % for the remaining years,  [10]  using this assumption enable me to calculate the Free cash flow and then discount that cash flow using the discounted factor 10.25, to reach Enterprise Value (NPV) of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤107.14 million out of that the Terminal Value and the PV were calculated. Since the company under long term debt of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤43.08 million and having à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤26.29 million as Cash and equivalent their Equity value is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤90.35 million and accordingly their share value is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤9.73.  [11]   It is clear that Tottenham share value is over valued and may be that because of commercial issues related to stock market. As a recommendation the management should start looking to find solutions where by the revenue can be increased with a strict control in operating Expenses, in order to increase the cash inflow versus the cash outflow. This will be reflected on their Annual net Income, and consequently on their share price. Part 2: One of the major resources of Tottenham Revenue is the attendance, and their current stadium capacity is limited to 36,500 fans only, however they have about 2.1 million fans in UK, in addition to that they launch an incentive program to their fans One Hotspur Membership scheme which attract over 70,000 fans.  [12]  That is why the club start thinking to build a new stadium which will cost à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤250 million to be paid in two equal installments over two years, such a decision need to be challenged in term of the return as revenue and Net profit , therefore New stadium DCF analysis was conducted to obtain the NPV of the project. The whole scenario was built on the following assumption: Since the cash out (à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤250) will be paid to generate cash in as revenue, so I only took in to consideration the INCREMENTAL increase in revenue( Attendance and Sponsorship only) and the INCREMENTAL increase in operating Cost using the forecasted growth as mentioned in the case  [13]  due to the new stadium. The (à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤250) million were considered as cost of constricting new stadium distributed equally, 2008 and 2009; the increase in capital expenditure was taken as it is forecasted in the case. Since the construction will take two years, the cash in as revenue will start by (2010)  [14]   The DCF result was not satisfactory, NPV is negative (-60.2)  [15]  . My recommendation to Mr. Daniel is not to go with this option based on the given cost of construction, how ever he can think of other solutions to increase the capacity of the stadium at lower cost and I can suggest one of two options The first one is do some expansion to the current stadium if possible to increase the capacity to almost 60,000 fans and definitely this could be at lower cost, The other suggestion is to go in partner ship with one of the small size clubs as to share the cost and benefit from the revenue. Part 3: Do the club has to acquire new striker at the acquiring cost of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤20 million and salary of 2.6 million in the first year to reach à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤6.13 million in ten years or not? And what will be the impact of the new striker on Tottenham revenue and net income?. It goes without saying that answering these questions will depend on the financial analysis of the cash inflow as revenue versus cash outflow as cost. DCF To go with such Analysis I also took major assumptions in addition to what already mentioned in the case, the assumptions are: To consider only the Incremental revenue generated from Broadcast and others.  [16]   The new striker will enhance the team rank and then earned a greater share of league television broadcast revenue. The each moves up in the standings worth an estimated à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤670,000  [17]  . So The club will move one rank up during 2008 season and another move every three seasons due to the strong completions Based on the above data and assumptions, the result of the DCF was not encouraging and the NPV negative (-23.5) therefore the club should not sign with the new striker at these conditions and instead I have the following suggestions: Knowing the importance of acquiring professional strikers Tottenham should negotiate better deal with the formal club of the striker and the striker him self. They can spend some of that money in developing their current strikers and enhancing their performance. An aggressive incentive scheme based on profit sharing could be established to motivate the existing team to enhance their Avg. Net Goals which is currently (-1.9)  [18]  . Because Investment tie up cash, their value is based on the amount of future cash flows that will accrue to investors  [19]  

E-Commerce: The Importance of Gaining the Trust of Consumers :: Personal Narrative Writing

E-Commerce: The Importance of Gaining the Trust of Consumers A crisp autumn breeze rustles through the trees, while I attempt to carry four bags of groceries up the two flights of stairs leading to my New York apartment. The anticipation I had previously felt while awaiting this important day, has now turned into extreme excitement. Today is the day of my interview with my possible future boss. Since I have just recently finished my fourth year of graduate school, I spent the entire summer searching the New York companies and firms for a reasonable job in the marketing business. I received my degree from Columbia University in the marketing aspects of online shopping. During school I studied techniques on how to effectively construct marketing websites. After three weeks of interviews and diligent searches for a respectable position, I became frustrated and overwhelmed. Fortunately, when I was just about to apply for a temporary teaching position at a nearby computer technical college, I met Ray Burke. Actually our very meeting was coincidence. After finishing a walk with my golden retriever, Benjamin, I was relaxing in a small street corner coffee shop when I first spotted Ray Burke. Benjamin became excited by a passing poodle, and took off knocking Ray Burke to his feet. Mortified, I dashed over to the spot where Ray Burke was now spread out on the ground, and observed that he was an older man around sixty. What was left of his gray hair was randomly dispersed and appeared to be stuck to his head with gel. His navy suite jacket was now muddy from his fall. I immediately started apologizing for Benjamin. However, to my surprise, Ray Burke was not mean and angry about the accident. Instead, he actually invited me inside and offered to buy me a cup of coffee. As we sipped our mocha lattes, he asked me about my work and I explained to him that I was n ow searching for a position as developing online markets and websites, but that I was struggling to find jobs in the market. Although I know that the situation was probably mere coincidence, that day I thought what followed next in our conversation was pure fate. Ray Burke turned out to be the CEO of a major marketing company in New York City that recently started a marketing branch concerning the construction of online electronic shopping sites.

Justification for Using Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Essay

On August 6, 1945 an American B-29 bomber named the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This was the first use of nuclear weapons in the history of human warfare and almost the last. Many people debate whether using nuclear weapons was a moral choice. I believe it was moral. Though many people died from the bomb, the amount of good that came from dropping it greatly outweighs the bad. A large issue that's brought up around the atomic bombings is the amount of people that were killed because of it. The total killed was 70,000 to 80,000 people initially and approximately 90,000 to 140,000 by the end of 1945. Though this number is catastrophic on it's own, it's relatively small comparatively. For example, when added with the number of people killed in the Nagasaki bombing (45,000) it comes to around 125,000 people killed in the first two blasts. Compare this with two firebombing raids over Tokyo, one raid killed about 125,000 people, the other nearly 100,000. That's approximately 125,000 killed with the atom bombs and 225,000 killed with normal...

Designer Babies

Abstract The term â€Å"designer baby† is used by journalist and media to refer to a baby whose genetic makeup had been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with in vitro fertilization to make sure there is a presence or absence of particular genes or characteristics (Designer Baby, n. d. ). Before, designer babies have been used to prevent genetic defects of offspring or to prevent a child from a number of mutations and diseases. Now, with our advancements in reproductive technologies, doctors are taking this to a whole new level by using genetic diagnosis or PGD to design their patient’s idea of a â€Å"perfect baby. In this paper I will discuss the reasons why I’m against the idea of designer babies. Genetically Engineering A Designer Baby Imagine going to a hospital and ordering a baby, just like you order a meal at your favorite fast food restaurant: â€Å"Hi, can I have a girl in the model category. Straight brown hair, brown eyes, and a bronze tan. Actually, make that green eyes, instead of brown and make her hair a little wavy, but not too wavy. Medium stature is fine, with a fit body type. Oh yeah, can you make sure that she'll have perfect white, straight teeth too.And that will do it! † Sounds a little ridiculous doesn't it? Well believe it or not, designing your idea of a â€Å"perfect† baby may be completely normal in the next few years because of the highly advanced reproductive technologies out there today. Some would argue that being able to genetically design their own child would be a blessing but here are my reasons why I think the idea of designer babies isn’t just morally and ethically wrong, but could eventually lead to the possibility of controlling the human population to ensure certain physical characteristics.On March 3, 2009 an organization called Fertility Institutes offered what journalists call â€Å"designer babies† (Designer Babies: Parents can Select Physical Tra its, 2011). The technology they use is called preimplantation genetic diagnosis or PGD. It's been used to improve the likelihood of a successful pregnancy and birth for couples with either infertility related to recurrent miscarriages or unsuccessful in vitro cycles and couples who are at high risk for passing on inherited genetic disease to their offspring (Preimplantation Genetics, n. d. ).Before, PGD was strictly used only for the couples who absolutely needed it. Now they are taking this technology that we've used since the mid-1980s to a whole new level. Wanting to fulfill the desires of their patients, Fertility Institutes said that their patients could not only select the gender of their soon to be child, but could choose their baby's skin, hair, and eye color (Preimplantation Genetics, n. d. ). This new technology sparked many questions and controversies. From conception and on, parents are viewed as risk factors in their child's life.Pregnant women are constantly being remi nded to eat the right food, get enough exercise, stay away from alcohol and cigarettes, and the list goes on and on. If she doesn't follow these guidelines, she is putting her child at risk (Debating ‘designer babies’, 2003). A child is the icon of vulnerability. In using their power over a vulnerable child, parents can do harm whether they mean to or not. Parents are constantly making decisions for their child in hopes that one day they will be successful. With the idea of designer babies however, parents might replace their love with a mentality of perfection.These parents will pay thousands of dollars to make sure their baby is born physically perfect so of course their standards of their child will be extremely high. If a child can't live up to his or her parents expectations, they might go through their whole life feeling like they're not good enough. Knowing that their parents have selected every trait about them from their gender to hair color, children will feel less free. What if parents really do replace love with wanting their child to be perfect? The child might grow up not knowing what love is since he or she has never experienced it.I know it’s a bit dramatic, but this just might be the ending of love and compassion. Eugenics is defined as â€Å"the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits† (Eugenics, n. d. ). We’ve all heard of the infamous Adolf Hitler. His plan was to create a world full of tall, blonde hair, blue eyed â€Å"perfect† people and to eventually obtain world domination.He tortured and killed thousands and thousands of people because they were Jewish, African American, homosexuals, handicaps, and communists. When I first read about designer babies this is the first thing I thought of. With all the n ew reproductive technology, there is a possibility that someday, there will be a perfect race. This also ties into who would be able to design their baby’s traits. Only the wealthy would be able to afford the luxury of designing a perfect child. So not only would these children be flawless and beautiful, but they would also be born wealthy.The average or poor people will have normal children while the wealthy have their perfect children. There is already a fine line between the wealthy and the poor. The wealthy are constantly getting richer, while the poor remains poor. Which brings me to my next point, if we start creating these designer babies, what happens to the â€Å"normal† children? These kids will be considered ugly and scary since they’re not perfect. The new generation of designer babies would hate anyone who doesn’t appear to have the flawless appearance they have and the normal children would hate the designer children because they’re n ot as good looking as them.The designer kids would act as if they are better and look down to normal people. Our society is constantly concerned with looks as it is. I can’t even imagine how the normal children will feel. They’ll hate themselves for not looking as beautiful as the others, blame their parents for them being â€Å"ugly,† and lose confidence in themselves. As you know, I’m against designing babies to achieve the perfect appearance, but I understand that sometimes using PGD to screen embryos is necessary. Take the story of Philippa for example. An interview done by United Kingdom BBC (2005) said that she had a problem with her DNA.It never affected her health, but it meant that most of her eggs didn’t carry genes needed for a baby to grow healthy. Every time she got pregnant, she miscarried. The doctors suggested that she try PGD. This ensured that her baby would be free from any genetic abnormalities. Nine months after using PGD she g ave birth to a healthy baby boy, named Ruiaridh (BBC, 2005). Philippa had no desire to design a perfect baby, so I don’t consider Ruiaridh a designer baby. In cases where a parent is preventing their future child from a disease, I think it’s 100% acceptable.If I was in that position I would do the exact same thing, without a doubt. All-in-all, designing perfect babies is something we shouldn’t be toying with. The results could be devastating. In my eyes, the bond between a parent and their child is something special. When I laid my eyes on my daughter for the first time, I was amazed at how much she resembled me. Her eyes, her nose, her lips, everything looked exactly like me. This is one of the best things about being a parent. I couldn’t imagine designing her with different features than God didn’t intend her to be born with.Children don’t need to be artificially selected by genetic engineering to be considered perfect. To a parent, every child should be born perfect no matter how they look. References Eugenics . (n. d. ). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved April 22, 2012, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Eugenics Johnson, P. (2012, January 20). Pros and Cons of Designer Babies. Buzzle. Retrieved April 20, 2012, from http://www. buzzle. com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-designer-babies. html Lee, E. (2008, April 17). Debating ‘Designer Babies'. Spiked-Science. Retrieved April 21, 2012, from www. spiked-online. om/Articles/00000006DD57. htm[->0] Luck, M. (2011, May 15). Designer Babies. ce399 | research archive. Retrieved April 20, 2012, from http://ce399eugenics. wordpress. com/2011/05/15/designer-babies-parents-can-select-physical-traits-at-fertility-institute-2/ Pray, L. (n. d. ). Embryo Screening and the Ethics of Human Genetic Engineering. Scitable. Retrieved April 20, 2012, from http://www. nature. com/scitable/topicpage/embryo-screening-and-the-ethics-of-60561 Who's Afraid of Designer Babies?. (n. d. ). BBC. Retrieved April 20, 2012, from http://www. bbc. co. uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/babies_prog_summary. shtml

How does communication device helps students in their studies Essay

Background Over the years as technology keeps improving, more and more people are using it in their daily lives. Over these past few decades, there has been a significant advancement in the field of technology. What is more obvious in the public eyes nowadays is the advancement of communication devices. Communication devices are equipment or hardware designed to move or convey information or data from one place to another. In other words, allowing one person to communicate with another. In the olden days, there is only one form of communication device which is the telephone. At that time, the phones can only be used to make calls or receive them. However, in this modern age, phones can do much more than that. In fact, there are many more sophisticated communication devices available besides phones. Communication devices have evolved over time. Besides making and receiving calls, phones nowadays are equipped with abilities such as taking pictures and connecting to the Internet. Humans have also developed various types of communication devices such as computers, smartphones, tablets and many more. What’s more is that most of these communication devices can access to the internet. Internet is what makes these communication devices flourish. This is because the internet is the most powerful, global data communications system making it the greatest invention of science because of its wide range of benefits and uses in the world today. The biggest benefit of the internet can be found in the educational sector. Educators can obtain learning material from it, prepare courses online and deliver audio and visual information to students. It is a valuable source for referencing material and tool in enhancing their knowledge. Example of one of the most effective and most used form of internet technologies in the educational sector is E-learning. According to (Ove, Salleh & Iahad, 2010): â€Å"E-learning is the use of Information and Communication Technology e.g. Internet, Computer, Mobile phone, Learning Management System (LMS), Televisions, Radios and others to enhance teaching and learning activities. E-learning is a unifying term used to describe the fields of online learning, web-based training and technology delivered instructions.† E-learning is a popular learning approach in higher educational institutions due to the fast growth of internet technology. Nowadays due to the competitive advantage, many universities have implemented E-learnings. By doing so, it left a huge positive impact on the students’ performance. The internet also provides a faster and more efficient ways of communication such as video conferencing, emails and more. With just the click of a mouse a person can be connected to someone who is in another city or even halfway across the world. Distance is erased within seconds and spatial boundaries have come crashing down due to instant messaging services. For a student, information such as the student details, notes, documents and etc. can be transferred instantly from anywhere with the help of internet. Besides that, students can also leave short messages or notification to others by using e-mails. This is both convenient for students, lecturers and also faculty staffs of the university. However, communication devices are needed in order to access to the internet. There is no way to connect to the internet without using communication devices these days. Therefore, this shows the importance of communication devices for people especially in the workplace and educational sectors. Reference: 1. N.D.Oye, Noorminshah A. Iahad, Madar, M. J., NorZairah Ab. Rahim (2012). The impact of E-Learning on students performance in tertiary insitutions. http://www.ijcnwc.org/papers/vol2no22012/2vol2no2.pdf. Accessed on 29th July 2014. 2. Shamsul Arrieya (2012). Student perspectives on M.Learning for local cultural studies in Malaysia. http://www.academia.edu/3129483/Student_perspectives_on_mLearning_for_local_cultural_studies_in_Malaysia. Accessed on 30th July 2014. 3. Computer Hope (2014). Communication devices. http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/communication-devices.htm. Accessed on 20th July 2014. 4. Teach-ICT (2014) Communication devices. http://www.teach-ict.com/gcse_computing/ocr/211_hardware_software/types_hw/miniweb/pg6.htm. Accessed on 20th July 2014.

Research on Ginger in Meghalaya

Report on the field study of Ginger and Turmeric in Meghalaya PREFACE Meghalaya is a state which is rich in natural resources, be it from flora to fauna to the mineral resources, the state has it in abundance. Agriculture, including crop and animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry and agro processing constitutes the very basis of socio economic lives of India. One of the major activities in the state is cultivation of horticulture crops which includes that of Ginger and Turmeric.Ginger is being predominantly grown in Ri Bhoi District while almost the whole belt of Jaintia Hills, the best quality of Turmeric found in the whole country with the reported cucurmin content up to 7. 6%. However amidst plenty of what we have, there are too many missing links in between for the state to realize the full potential in terms of commercial activities in revenues and most importantly to address the issues of the farmers to increase the income for better livelihoods in the villages.Therefore the mar ket access team from MBDA along with the staffs of Appropriate Technology India (ATI) made a visit to some of the important cultivation belt of ginger and turmeric of Ri Bhoi District and West Jaintia Hills District for assessment of production which includes cultivation practices as well as understanding the organic practices for the potential of organic certification for premium pricing of the products, post harvesting and processing aspects as well as marketing aspects for improving livelihood security in the state.The visit was spanned in six days and within these six days; the program was conducted in the following order: 12th February 2013 On this day the team comprising of three interns from MBDA and five ATI workforce under the supervision of Mr Iai Majaw, the Horticulture Officer with the Government of Meghalaya, left Shillong at around 10 AM and visited the Ginger belt of Ri Bhoi District. Firstly we visited the farm house which is located next to the Highway to Guwahati a t Umsning. There we met and interacted with around twenty five ginger cultivators in and around Umsning.These villages are located within the distance of 1 to 3 kilometers from Umsning. The farmers start sowing ginger from the last week of April throughout the month of May. We came to know that they inherited the ginger cultivation practices from their fore fathers seeing that the climate is conducive for the crop to thrive and that there is a market for all of their produce from year to year. The main area of concern for them is that, the plant is frequently getting infected with root and stem rotting, thus spoiling their effort in time and money.Stem rot is more frequent than root rot and occurs in between the months of June to September. They don’t have any solution to tackle these kind of infections, the only activity that they do is to uproot the whole crop and throw it as far as possible from the cultivation land and sometimes even burning that particular crop but it se ldom help the cause as the infection will start to spread to the whole row and even at times the whole field. They practiced Jhum cultivation with the belief that it softens the soil and helps in the ploughing activity.They also have a fair idea of the reason behind crop rotation and practiced it once in 3 years. They do give manure to the crop once in a while in the form of poultry, pig and cow droppings. They said that they have received training from the horticulture officers but most of the time they apply those methods being taught to them in the beginning phase but revert back to their traditional method of cultivation. They stored the seed in a proper way and have no problem with the occurrence of seed spoilage before the cultivation period.The nearest market for them is the Umsning market which is being held once a week. At the weekly market, traders which are middle men come to purchase their crop at rates of 1,100 – 1,200 rupees per 40 kgs which is a standard unit o f weight being applied in terms of ginger and turmeric in the whole area. However, when they feel that a better price is available at Iewduh market in Shillong or when there is a need to go Shillong for personal work, they carry along the ginger which fetched them a price of around 1,500 – 1,600 per 40 kgs.From there the team moved to Sohpdok village which is approximately 5 kms from Umsning. Here we interacted with the headman of the village and around 15 farmers in the processing unit which is next to the SSA school premises and found out that the ginger cultivation was enlarge by the intervention and help of RRTC, Umran. There are 3 driers, 2 slicers and 1 pulveriser at the processing unit which is not yet functional as they have just received the machines from North Eastern Hill University.The problems and practices regarding the cultivation practices are the same as the ones which have been described above. However, the people said that they rate of ginger that they sell at the village when traders come to collect from the village is around 900 – 1,000 rupees per 40 kgs. The last visit for the day was at Regional Resource Training Centre (RRTC) Umran, which is run by the Catholic Church and presently headed by Father James.The center spans around 400 acres campus and facilitates in imparting training to various livelihood and entrepreneurship program and one of the main activities is the food processing centre which includes turmeric and ginger processing. The ginger after undergoing a series of treatment which includes peeling, trimming, weighing, washing, and processing by boiling with citric acid is then mildly dried and mixed with fine sugar in specific proportions and then properly dried and added with sugar to add as topping. It is then packed and labeled as Ginger Candy.The ginger candy is retailed at an MRP of 35 rupees for 100gms. When asked about the costing, the staff who is taking care of the processing unit said that the whole c ost of labour and various activities from start to finish is around 120 – 150 rupees/kg, while the retail cost is 350 rupees/kg thus making a profit of 200 rupees/kg. The ginger is also converted into powder form firstly dipping the dried ginger in Sodium Carbonate solution to increase the shelf life of the product and then grind to powder and packed.The same goes for turmeric which is simply grind into powder form and retailed at the stores. Their main area of concern is marketing, which they say they have a limited penetration to the market through their retail outlet next to the national highway and some retail shops in and around Shillong. 13th February 2013 The team left for Nongpoh and along with the existing ERPs of MBDA went to Umkon village which is 23 kms away from it. Here we interacted with just around 5 farmers as there is a funeral in the village. Almost each and every ousehold practice ginger cultivation in large scale and turmeric cultivation for their own con sumption on a lower scale. Almost all of the households exceed 500 kgs of ginger production in a year with some of them going up to 3 or 4 tonnes. The main market is at Umden in which the price of the ginger is around 1,000 rupees/40 kgs while the seed is being sold at 35 rupees/kg. The seed is being sold among the farmers from nearby areas and new farmers while the raw ginger is being bought by middlemen and commission agents who then supply either to Guwahati or Kolkata directly.The main areas of concern for the farmers is again the same issue of their inability and lack of knowledge how to tackle diseases such as stem and root rot. However, they shared their success story of how ginger cultivation has improved the general living conditions in and around the area. There is no value added activity for the ginger being produced in the area. Then at around 4 pm we left for Byrnihat to visit the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (NERAMAC).There is a process ing plant to extract ginger oil from fresh or raw ginger. The plant capacity is around 3 to 5 tonnes per day, yielding 1. 5 liters of oil which retails at 7000 – 9000 rupees/liter. The major problem that they are facing is the availability of raw ginger as most of the ginger which is produced within the region is being sold to middlemen at a higher rate. 14th February 2013 The team left Shillong at around 8 AM for the turmeric belt of West Jaintia Hills District.We stationed at CTC hotel and then under the supervision of Mr Lyngdoh, a horticulture officer with the Govt. of Meghalaya, proceeded to Wahiajer village where we interacted with 2 farmers, one farmer just started the ginger cultivation activity since he saw that there is a market and the soil is very good for ginger to grow, so keeping in mind of the above factors he started cultivating ginger and after harvesting the produce, decided not to sell any of it but to keep it as seed for the next year.When we arrived ther e we interacted with him and asked him to show us the place where the seed is being store and when he dug up some of the seed, even though the ginger quality and size is good, it was found that the whole ginger is moist and wet and infected with fungus, budding has also begun to take place. He said that he has received no training on how to cultivate, harvest and store the ginger so he is not aware of what procedures and process to follow.Then we told him to take out the whole lot of ginger stored there and to dry it in the shade and treat it with organic chemicals which might be available at the horticulture office in the block. Being a starter in the activity he is unaware of the whole system, except the price that he might get if he is to sell the product at the local market. He also practices slash and burn cultivation like the rest of the farmers are doing in the whole area.We then met with another farmer who has been practicing the ginger cultivation activity for quite some ye ars but he confessed that he is quite disheartened with the activity as there is no help from the government side in monetary terms nor in training facilities, so he is contemplating of shifting his cultivation activity from ginger to that of tomato as there is a better market currently prevailing in the whole area. The horticulture department is also neglecting the ginger farmers in the area while promoting that of the tomato.We then proceed to Laskein grinding and processing centre which has a Federation comprising of 9 clusters, 30 villages and around 100 SHGs. The Unit was set up in 2007 with the objective of improving livelihood and income within the area. The processing unit was set up with the help of MRDS which also helps in the training of man power as well as marketing activities. The unit is well equipped with Dryers, Slicers, Pulverisers and for the first time this year an Oil extractor machine is being set up which will be functional from this year onwards, the staffs a lso are yet to get training how to utilize the machine.The steps in the processing of ginger in the unit here are as follows: WASHING BOILING SLICING DRYING GRINDING PACKAGING The production of turmeric powder last year was around 3 tonnes and this year they aimed at a higher quantity. Each and every cluster of villages which falls under the association have a commitment to bring the produce of raw turmeric to the processing centre and the Federation buys it at a rate of 30 rupees/kg, when the turmeric is being sold in powder form at 250 rupees/kg as of last year, 230 rupees is being given back to the farmer and 20 rupees is being kept by the federation.The packaging is done in quantities of 1/4th kg, ? kg and 1 kg for the local market while it is packed in gunny bags of 40 kgs each for the lot which is supposed to be transported to Guwahati. 15th February 2013 The team accompanied by Mr Remi from MRDS went to Umsalait village which falls under Iakitlang cluster, comprising of two v illages, Umsalait and Umsaroo which has 245 and 70 households respectively. There are 6 SHGs in the cluster, out of which 5 groups consist of women and 1 group that of men.The team interacted with around 30 farmers and learnt that they have been practicing the cultivation of turmeric from generation which they inherited from their forefathers but increased the activity to a larger scale as soon as they see that there is a market and it contributes to the generation of income activity. The problems faced by the farmers are almost the same throughout the state in which the major issues are that of diseases and not knowing how to tackle them.They are quite grateful to MRDS which helped them in imparting knowledge and funds even if it’s in small mount, the intervention has helped them to increase their income for a better living conditions. 16th February 2013 The team visited Mr W. Nongspung processing centre situated at Laitkor which is roughly 12 kms from Shillong. Mr Nongspung took advantage of the PMEGP scheme from DIC, Shillong and set up his processing centre there.However, fewer spices products are being processed at his unit since he only supply dry turmeric to a company in Guwahati known as Amalgamated Plantations, located at Christian Basti on a commission basis. His commission stands at 20 rupees/kg. He supplies around 30 tonnes of dry turmeric in a year and the company financed the money entirely in advance. Owing to this, he processed dry turmeric at a very less amount. He then started processing fruit juices such as star fruit, cherry as well as pickling of ginger, radish, chillies and bamboo shoots.His products have Organic tags along with them, while there is no proof of paper work that his products are organic certified. He sources the packaging materials from Industrial estate in Guwahati and get the label locally printed in Shillong. According to him, the major difficulty he is facing is that he doesn’t know how to market his produ cts in a big way and he has no idea about branding at all OBSERVATIONS Below are the few parameters of observation prevailing in the production areas where the team has visited a) AREA AND PRODUCTIONMost of the households in the villages which fall under the area that we have visited do not have a fair idea of the size of their respective plot under ginger and turmeric cultivation. From the conversation that we had we could make out that the minimum area of cultivation per family is around 1 acre up to 4 to 5 hectares. As far as production is concerned, the quantity that each household produces ranges from 750 kg to 5 tonnes. b) LAND USE The land that is used is normally rotational and at times shifting and bun cultivation is a normal practice which is traditional in nature.The area to be cultivated is first covered with the soil on top of the leaves and then slowly burned and often left overnight so as to soften the soil in the ploughing process thus easing the tilling process. Thi s practice also helps in sterilization of the soil. The agricultural land is mostly owned and controlled by individual farmers and some of them have been leased by people who are not engaged in agricultural activities who are mostly traders or government servants or who have migrated from the village on a nominal fee or in exchange for the products the cultivate. ) LAND PREPARATION Ginger and turmeric is normally cultivated in slopes and terrains under the shade of some trees. The land is normally not ploughed but just holed and dug up to 6 to 7 inches for the seed to be buried inside. Very few farmers added manure of animal dung to the crop while the rest just leave it as it is. There are no proper irrigation facilities to retain the water content during the rainy season, thus leaving the crop to absorb as much water as ossible during the rainy season and dried throughout the rest of the months. d) SELECTION OF SEED After the harvest is done, rhizomes which are large, healthy, free from any injury spots and more buds are selected to be stored as seed. The seeds in the case of turmeric are simply stored under the shade above the ground and normally very few infections would occur on turmeric seed, whereas in the case of ginger it is more complicated as the seed is normally infected with fungus and budding usually takes place before the sowing season.The method of storage is traditional in practice as the seed is stored under a pit dug below the ground and simply covered with a thin layer of soil thus attracting moisture and fungus to infect the seed. There are many cases in which farmers have complained that the seed gets spoiled before the sowing season starts. e) PLANTING Planting is usually done in the month of April to May just at the start of the rain. The rhizomes are planted in about 6 inches apart from each other and 6 to 8 inches deep and then covered with soil. During plantation the rhizomes are broken and make sure that they at least have 4 to 6 bud ding sprouts.The turmeric and ginger is normally cultivated along some other vegetables in the field such as beans, maize and pumpkin. f) HARVEST The harvest is done in when the crop attains maturity, the sign given by the death of the stem and leaves. It usually starts from early November and goes till the end of January. The seed is normally left till end of February to attain maximum maturity. Farmers also sometimes look at the market demand and when they know that there is a demand for the product in the market, they normally harvest the crop as and when required. ) MARKETING The marketing of ginger and turmeric usually happens in weekly local markets which are near to the villages and sometimes at Iewduh, in Shillong. Commission agents, middle men and traders purchase the products at a wholesale rate from local markets and then sort out and grade the lot according to the quality and packed them in gunny bags to be transported outside the state. In case of turmeric, trade happen s mostly as a dry material in the form of slices or in powder, whereas in case of ginger trade happens at the raw or fresh ginger state.Thus we can see that the middlemen control the market of ginger and turmeric in the whole state. h) COSTING 1) Cultivation-(umsalait) For 1 hectare land, they need around 10 people for 60 days and labour cost is Rs 200/day. (a) Labour 10 x 60 = 600 (b) Labour Cost 600 x 200 = Rs 1,20,000 (c) Seed Cost Rs 30 x 2000kg = Rs Rs 60,000 ————————————————————————– DIRECT TOTAL COST = Rs 1, 80,000The production from 2000kg seed is around 5 tonnes. And the cost of raw turmeric is Rs 30/kg PRODUCTION OUTPUT= 30 x 5000 = Rs 1, 50,000 Therefore we can see that the expenditure exceeds sale, thus instead of benefitting from the agricultural activity, the farmers are suffering losses, which th ey cannot understand as there is no costing method being followed. 2) Processing-(laskein) Cost of raw turmeric is Rs 30/kg. if 100kg is taken for processing, then cost of procuring raw turmeric will be Rs 3000. kg of raw turmeric when dried will produce only 1kg. Therefore 100kg will produce 17kg of dried turmeric. a) Cost of dried turmeric = 3000 / 17kg = Rs 176/kg b) Other Indirect Cost = Rs 100/kg (sorting, washing, drying, slicing, grinding, packaging, transportation, electricity bills and other miscellaneous fee) ___________________________________________________________ TOTAL COST PER KG = Rs 276SELLING PRICE OF 1kg POWDERED TURMERIC = Rs 250 Thus over here we can also see expenditure exceeds sale which results in a loss for the farmers. From the above analysis, it can be concluded that there is a need to reduce the DIRECT COST and to increase the Seed to Production Output in order to generate higher revenue. Interventions like introduction of power tillers, is not feasible because the cultivated areas are located in far away terrain and slopes, which are not motorable. ORGANIC PRACTICES AND SCOPE OF CERTIFICATIONAs the method of cultivation in the whole state is mostly organic in nature and with the awareness on importance of organic certification that organic products fetches a premium price in the market, there is a need to promote and to create awareness among the farmers to opt for organic certification so as to increase their income from selling their products. While discussing with various farmers, it is found out that organic farming, although practiced, is mostly done using traditional methods which consist mainly of slash and burn and composting.However, the â€Å"slash and burn† method is not considered as organic method because it kills the microbes which fertilize the field. Also, they have no access or awareness about organic pesticides like Trichogramma which is available from the State Biological Control Laboratory in Shillong. And Trichoderma which is use mainly for Ginger and Turmeric is still in the testing stage and will be available shortly. Some of the reasons that the farmers have not under gone organic certifications are mentioned below- 1) No awareness about organic certifications and its potential. ) The farmers have not received any training methods regarding organic farming. 3) They are also not aware of the market and its demand for organic products. 4) The certification process is quite long which takes up to three years. On top of that, the certificate has to be renewed every year. 5) It is also quite expensive. PROBLEMS FACED BY THE FARMERS/ PRODUCERS AT PRODUCTION LEVEL 1) Low yield of the horticultural crops in which the ratio is 1:2. ) Prevalence of bacterial and fungal infections which affect both stem rot as well as root rot 3) Unsuitable farming practices with poor drainage system to retain water 4) Very seldom crop rotation to replenish soil nutrients 5) Jhum cultivation in which the soil microorganisms died in the process 6) No organic manure is being given to the crops 7) There is no treatment of the seed before sowing 8) There is no capacity building measures being taken to tackle infections and other diseases.POST HARVESTING AND PROCESSING ASPECTS 1) 99% of the farmers sell ginger as a raw produce while turmeric is often converted to dry slices or at times into powder form but at a lower scale. 2) The market is being dominated by the middle men 3) There is no system of grading the ginger based on size and quality 4) The seed to be stored is not harvested at the right time so as it is mature enough to resist spoilage and not properly dried to resist fungal infection 5) Lack of knowledge and training how to store the seed ) Lack of knowledge regarding value addition activities which will fetch a premium price 7) Lack of appropriate technology and infrastructure in many aspects of modern storage. SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAINING/MBDA INTERVENTION CULTIVATION LEVEL 1) Treatment of the seed with organic chemicals such as Trichoderma, one day before sowing to control any seed infection later on. 2) Use of organic compost manure to increase the yield and productivity 3) Proper inter-culture activities from month to month ) Digging of horizontal drain-like pit of about ? ft depth perpendicular to the cultivation rows in terrain areas for water and manure retention. 5) Training in capacity building measures to tackle infections and diseases of both root and stem. 6) Practicing rotation cultivation of turmeric and ginger with leguminous plants on a yearly basis to replenish the nitrogen content of the soil 7) The seed which has to be stored needs to be harvested when it has matured. POST HARVESTING ) Grading and segregating the harvest if needed 2) Proper drying of the seed for a week under the shade to avoid moisture content in order to prevent fungus infection during storage. 3) Modern method of storage to maintain the health and freshness of the see d, by digging a hole up to 1 ? ft deep inside the ground and covered with lumps of soil up to 1 ft height and then plaster with a thin layer of wet mud to prevent entry of moisture. 4) Costing method should be taught. 5) Record keeping and internal assessment. ) Awareness of the importance of value addition process post harvesting. 7) Exposure visit. 8) The officers at various levels in District headquarters should play a pro-active role in imparting training and looking at various aspects where there could be an intervention. CONCLUSION In both cases of Turmeric and Ginger, there is hardly any value addition that is being done in the State. Middlemen control the market and influenced the fluctuation in price of both these items.In the case of Ginger alone, except for a meager percentage which gets converted into Ginger Candy at Regional Resource Training Centre (RRTC), Umran and North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (NERAMAC), Byrnihat, there is no other val ue addition activity being practiced in the State. The whole amount of raw ginger is being packed into sacks of gunny bags of 40kgs and transported directly to Guwahati and Kolkata, thus we are deprived of the real value of what ginger could have fetched if proper knowledge, skills and machineries are being set up for value addition activities within the state.Whereas in terms of Turmeric, people are more aware of the better price which powder turmeric fetches in the market. Beside few turmeric processing units at the village level which were set up by Self Help Groups (SHG) at the cluster or village level, such as one at Laskein Block in West Jaintia Hills and smaller individual Grinding units at Shangpung and Laitkor, there are many small entrepreneurs who take their produce of dry turmeric to grind at any of these grinding units and sell at local markets as well as in the main market, Iewduh in Shillong.Of what we observed, most of the farmers involved in cultivation of turmeric and ginger, are women which comprises of around 70 percent workforce, the men are usually involve during ploughing activity which is more related to strength but as soon as the sowing season started they shifted to other kinds of works or migrated to other villages in search of work. Thus there is a lot desired and to be done in order to improve livelihood security through integration in growth value chains and market linkages in Meghalaya. ______________________________________________________________________