Sri Lanka Tourism

Tourists Return to Paradise Isle a Year After War’s End By Amantha Perera COLOMBO, May 17, 2010 (IPS) – A year since Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war ended on May 18 last year, tourists are returning in huge numbers to a popular beach destination located over 300 kilometres from where the last battles were fought. Nowhere is the relief at the end of fighting more tangible than on the beautiful beaches of Hikkaduwa, south of the capital Colombo.The war against the secessionist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, fighting for a separate state for the minority Tamils, cost over 70,000 lives in over two and half decades and sent over 280,000 fleeing for their lives in its final phase. Hikkaduwa, famous for its coral reef, sandy beaches and swanky hotels, is on the rebound. Visitors who abandoned the sun and the beach when bombs started going off have begun to return. The best days may be still ahead of this famous tourist destination south of the capital Colombo. Already, it is bracing itself for huge arrivals during the next European winter season.Arrivals grew by an impressive 50 percent or an increase to 160,000 from 106,000 in the first quarter of 2010, compared to 2009, according to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, the government agency that monitors tourist arrivals. This year, the island known for its scenic beauty expects over half a million tourist arrivals, making 2010 one of the best seasons in the last half a decade. â€Å"We saw very good arrival rates this season (between November 2009 and April 2010),† Siri Goonewardene, president of the Hikkaduwa Hoteliers’ Association, told IPS. With the war no more, travellers feel safer visiting here and there were no unexpected security-related incidents that would have driven them away. † The general manager of Coral Sands, a 75-room luxury hotel on the Hikkaduwa beach, expects better results later this year when the next winter season starts. â€Å"The bookings h ave been good. If the trend continues the next season will be definitely better than this one,† says Goonewardene.He adds that operators expect about a 50 percent growth in arrivals next season. The upbeat assessment is shared by operators who run smaller hotels and restaurants and others who depend on the tourist trade. This season was good. We had a high number of visitors,† says Dhammika Silva, who runs a small hotel at Mirissa, a cove-like beach south of Hikkaduwa. He depends on individual tourists who visit the Mirissa area as his business is too small to tie up with tour operators. â€Å"I needed more people on the beach having a good time to make ends meet. This time it happened. † The same is true of Nimal, who sells traditional woodcarvings from a small shop near the beach. â€Å"We had a very good season. I made some good sales,† adds Nimal, who simply identified himself by his first name.These hopes for a bumper tourist season are a far cry from the beach operators’ downcast mood less than 18 months back. With the war raging in the north, by the time the winter season began in November 2008, arrivals were sliding. With earnings going down, in 2008, tourism fell to number six in the country’s top foreign revenue earners from the fourth slot, accounting only for 2. 8 percent of the gross national product. The industry supports a large workforce, much of it informal. According to a labour survey conducted by the Sri Lanka Census and Statistics Department in 2007, over 100,000 were employed in the trade, 56 percent of whom were nformal employees. It was the informal employees that felt the pinch when arrivals kept going down without the security of at least a small wage packet. In early 2009, business operators like Nimal were complaining that they could not keep their shops open and at least pay the utilities.Some decided to close shop. The downturn in arrivals due to the war attracted low spenders to the island. Silva says that many tourists from Eastern Europe and Russia began arriving in Sri Lanka when the big spenders from Western Europe stayed away. I have nothing against them. But these were budget travellers who travel through the region. They don’t spend much,† he told IPS. Nimal concurs. â€Å"They are not the type who buy souvenirs, let alone expensive carvings, they will show up in the number of arrivals, but have no money. † Goonewardene from Coral Sands warned that the high numbers should not be an indication that the industry has fully recovered. â€Å"When the numbers are analysed, we will see that there will not be a 50 percent increase in earnings corresponding to the increase in arrivals. â€Å"He says the government should launch an aggressive public relations campaign to attract high-end spenders and give incentives like tax breaks to the industry. The new government that took office last month has brought tourism under the purview of the Economic D evelopment Ministry, which has been tasked with accelerating development. It is an indication that tourism is to be a vital component in the new economic plans. â€Å"It is good that the government is showing signs of making tourism part of the bigger national plans. Whoever invests in tourism now will be making a lot of money come next season if we make the right decisions,† Silva

Qin Shi Huang, First Emperor of China Essay

Qin Shi Huang (or Shi Huangdi) was the First Emperor of a unified China, who ruled from 246 BCE to 210 BCE. In his 35-year reign, he managed to create magnificent and enormous construction projects. He also caused both incredible cultural and intellectual growth, and much destruction within China. Whether he should be remembered more for his creations or his tyranny is a matter of dispute, but everyone agrees that Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, was one of the most important rulers in Chinese history. Connect with over 120,000 suppliers from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan Fall of Rome London Family History Chinese Warriors Terracotta Army Dynasty Early Life: According to legend, a rich merchant named Lu Buwei befriended a prince of the Qin State during the latter years of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BCE). The merchant’s lovely wife Zhao Ji had just gotten pregnant, so he arranged for the prince to meet and fall in love with her. She became the prince’s concubine, and then gave birth to Lu Buwei’s child in 259 BCE. The baby, born in Hanan, was named Ying Zheng. The prince believed the baby was his own. Ying Zheng became king of the Qin state in 246 BCE, upon the death of his supposed father. He ruled as Qin Shi Huang, and unified China for the first time. Early Reign: The young king was only 13 years old when he took the throne, so his prime minister (and probable real father) Lu Buwei acted as regent for the first eight years. This was a difficult time for any ruler in China, with seven warring states vying for control of the land. The leaders of the Qi, Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, Chu and Qin states were former dukes under the Zhou Dynasty, but had each proclaimed themselves king as the Zhou fell apart. In this unstable environment, warfare flourished, as did books like Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. Lu Buwei had another problem, as well; he feared that the king would discover his true identity. Lao Ai’s Revolt: According to the Shiji, or â€Å"Records of the Grand Historian,† Lu Buwei hatched a new scheme to depose Qin Shi Huang in 240 BCE. He introduced Zhao Ji to Lao Ai, a man famed for his large penis. The queen dowager and Lao Ai had two sons, and in 238 BCE, Lao and Lu Buwei decided to launch a coup. Lao raised an army, aided by the king of nearby Wei, and tried to seize control while Qin Shi Huang was traveling outside of the area. The young king cracked down hard on the rebellion; Lao was executed in a grisly fashion, along with his family. The queen dowager was spared, but spent the rest of her days under house arrest. Consolidation of Power: Lu Buwei was banished after the Lao Ai incident, but did not lose all of his influence in Qin. However, he lived in constant fear of execution by the mercurial young king. In 235 BCE, Lu committed suicide by drinking poison. With his death, the 24-year-old king assumed full command over the kingdom of Qin. Qin Shi Huang grew increasingly paranoid (not without reason), and banished all foreign scholars from his court as spies. The king’s fears were well-founded; in 227, the Yan state sent two assassins to his court, but he fought them off with his sword. A musician also tried to kill him by bludgeoning him with a lead-weighted lute. Battles with Neighboring States: The assassination attempts arose in part because of desperation in neighboring kingdoms. The Qin king had the most powerful army, and neighboring rulers trembled at the thought of a Qin invasion. The Han kingdom fell in 230 BCE. In 229, a devastating earthquake rocked another powerful state, Zhao, leaving it weakened. Qin Shi Huang took advantage of the disaster, and invaded the region. Wei fell in 225, followed by the powerful Chu in 223. The Qin army conquered Yan and Zhao in 222 (despite another assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang by a Yan agent). The final independent kingdom, Qi, fell to the Qin in 221 BCE. China Unified: With the defeat of the other six warring states, Qin Shi Huang had unified northern China. His army would continue to expand the Qin Empire’s southern boundaries throughout his lifetime, driving as far south as what is now  Vietnam. The king of Qin became the Emperor of Qin China. As emperor, Qin Shi Huang reorganized the bureaucracy, abolishing the existing nobility and replacing them with his appointed officials. He also built a network of roads, with the capital of Xianyang at the hub. In addition, the emperor simplified the written Chinese script, standardized weights and measures, and minted new copper coins. The Great Wall and Ling Canal: Despite its military might, the newly unified Qin Empire faced a recurring threat from the north: raids by the nomadic Xiongnu (the ancestors of Attila’s Huns). In order to fend off the Xiongnu, Qin Shi Huang ordered the construction of an enormous defensive wall. The work was carried out by hundreds of thousands of slaves and criminals between 220 and 206 BCE; untold thousands of them died at the task. This northern fortification formed the first section of what would become the Great Wall of China. In 214, the Emperor also ordered construction of a canal, the Lingqu, which linked the Yangtze and Pearl River systems. The Confucian Purge: The Warring States Period was dangerous, but the lack of central authority allowed intellectuals to flourish. Confucianism and a number of other philosophies blossomed prior to China’s unification. However, Qin Shi Huang viewed these schools of thought as threats to his authority, so he ordered all books not related to his reign burned in 213 BCE. The Emperor also had approximately 460 scholars buried alive in 212 for daring to disagree with him, and 700 more stoned to death. From then on, the only approved school of thought was legalism: follow the emperor’s laws, or face the consequences. Qin Shi Huang’s Quest for Immortality: As he entered middle age, the First Emperor grew more and more afraid of death. He became obsessed with finding the elixir of life, which would allow him to live forever. The court doctors and alchemists concocted a number of potions, many of them containing â€Å"quicksilver† (mercury), which probably had the ironic effect of hastening the emperor’s death rather than preventing it. Just in case the elixirs did not work, in 215 BCE the Emperor also  ordered the construction of a gargantuan tomb for himself. Plans for the tomb included flowing rivers of mercury, cross-bow booby traps to thwart would-be plunderers, and replicas of the Emperor’s earthly palaces. The Terracotta Army: To guard Qin Shi Huang in the afterworld, and perhaps allow him to conquer heaven as he had the earth, the emperor had a terracotta army of at least 8,000 clay soldiers placed in the tomb. The army also included terracotta horses, along with real chariots and weapons. Each soldier was an individual, with unique facial features (although the bodies and limbs were mass-produced from molds). The Death of Qin Shi Huang: A large meteor fell in Dongjun in 211 BCE – an ominous sign for the Emperor. To make matters worse, someone etched the words â€Å"The First Emperor will die and his land will be divided† onto the stone. Some saw this as a sign that the Emperor had lost the Mandate of Heaven. Since nobody would fess up to this crime, the Emperor had everyone in the vicinity executed. The meteor itself was burned and then pounded into powder. Nevertheless, the Emperor died less than a year later, while touring eastern China in 210 BCE. The cause of death most likely was mercury poisoning, due to his immortality treatments. Fall of the Qin Empire Qin Shi Huang’s Empire did not outlast him long. His second son and Prime Minister tricked the heir, Fusu, into committing suicide. The second son, Huhai, seized power. However, widespread unrest (led by the remnants of the Warring States nobility) threw the empire into disarray. In 207 BCE, the Qin army was defeated by Chu-lead rebels at the Battle of Julu. This defeat signaled the end of the Qin Dynasty. Sources: Mark Edward Lewis, The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. Cambridge: Harvard University Press (2007). Lu Buwei, The Annals of Lu Buwei, trans. John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel. Stanford: Stanford University Press (2000). Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, trans. Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press (1993).

Cultural studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Cultural studies - Essay Example One of these television shows is Bravo TV’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Since its inception in 2003, the show has rapidly gained popularity worldwide. This is clearly evidenced by the many spin-offs of the show that have been produced in various countries around the world. Since the show has been said to break down anti-homosexual stereotypes, it is vital to review and analyze the show based on certain elements. How does the show represent homosexuality? Does it suppress or support homosexuality in today’s modern age? What meaning does the show give to gay lifestyle? In this paper, a discourse analysis of the show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy will be undertaken to provide answers to the aforementioned questions. The discussion will focus on how the show depicts homosexuality in society. Likewise, the methodology involved in collection, coding, and analysis of the data involved will be discussed. In order to gather the necessary data for the discourse analysis to be undertaken, 5 episodes of the television show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy were viewed. While watching the said shows, certain elements were closely observed to determine how homosexuality was represented. Notable elements that were closely looked at were the manner by which the â€Å"straight† guy would interact with the â€Å"Fab five.† This included words, actions, and reactions towards the actions and words of the five gay guys. It was also of great significance to focus on what each gay character does in the show. Through the observation and analysis of such details, this study will aim to achieve a synthesis of the show’s representation of homosexuality. In turn, this study will provide a glimpse of how homosexuality is depicted in media particularly in reality television shows. Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is described as follows: â€Å"Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a

European causes of its 2012 economic crisis Term Paper

European causes of its 2012 economic crisis - Term Paper Example ased the political risks for EU governments and their leaders.6 The economic disaster was weakening the bond between the EU nations and challenging EU’s unity and shared goals. Rapid exhaustion of liquidity left the periphery with unsustainable shortfalls and monetary obligations larger than their GDP. In 2010, a sovereign debt catastrophe, particularly in Greece, stretched throughout the periphery and jeopardized any economic opportunity for the EU.  In 2011, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund took actions to rescue Greece, Ireland, and Portugal.7 Governments of Iceland and Latvia have disintegrated resulting from the public complaints over their administrations for mishandling their economies throughout the tragedy. Sparking the protests even more was the International Monetary Fund’s issuance of emergency loans to the following EU nations: Belarus ($2.48 billion), Bosnia and Herzegovina ($1.52 billion), Hungary ($15.7 billion), Iceland ($2.1 bil lion), Latvia ($2.35 billion), Moldova ($118.2 million), Poland ($20.58 billion), Romania ($17.1 billion), Serbia ($4.0 billion), and Ukraine ($16.4 billion). In February 2009, the World Bank in alliance with the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced a financial assistance grant amounting to $31 billion over two years to aid near-bankrupt banks and industries in Eastern and Central Europe.8 The economic turmoil caused a quick fluctuation in the Euro currencies of Eastern European countries and caused their government debits to climb, destabilizing the attempts of several countries to join the European Union. $1.5 trillion assets in EU banks were exposed in Central and Eastern Europe. In spite of the exposure of the major Western European banks for...This paper elucidates the real reasons behind The European debt crisis of 2012 and describes the effectual response of the EU to that negative economic situation. The five European co untries: Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain (GIIPS) that risked the future of the EU economy and caused various crises regarding the Euro are considered in the paper. Subsequent to the global downturn of 2007, the financial crisis in the peripheral states of the EU worsened: economic activity quickly dwindled; international trade plummeted; and prospects for Europe’s exportation industry diminished. Moreover, the rise of unemployment and distress over the economic chaos sparked protests and thus increased the political risks for EU governments. The response of the EU to the recession was fast and influential. Besides the intervention to steady, re-establish and restructure the banking sector, the European Economic Recovery Plan was commenced for re-establishing reliance and reinforcing demand by increasing the economy’s purchasing power through balanced tactical financial schemes and measures that would support the business and employment sectors. The entire economic incentive, as well as the outcomes of regulated fiscal stabilizers, totals 5 percent of European GDP. Greece, Ireland, and Portugal were given considerable financial supports by the IMF, the Eurozone and EU monetary institutions. Moreover, the generous contribution and dynamic mediation of the ECB to fiscal stability supported the European administration and banking system.

Summary Report Assignment - The World is Flat Essay

Summary Report Assignment - The World is Flat - Essay Example instead embrace these changes as a means of further specializing the work force and using these elements of a flat world to the competitive advantage of the skilled worker in the United States; to the same degree and extent to which skilled workers elsewhere throughout the globe are using the talents and skill sets of laborers elsewhere to promote industry and development. A further focus is placed upon seeking to make retirement benefits and insurance less dependent upon the actual employer and more dependent upon the government. This prescription is rather strange as Friedman can otherwise be understood as a laissez faire economist; however, this particular approach is one that allows the reader to come to the understanding that even though the economic principles that he supports and promotes are fiscally conservative, there is a strain of economic liberalism in his approach. This of course makes his view more balanced and palatable to those that might otherwise by put off by his more hands off approach to global

Streetcar marketing communication and Marketing mix Case Study

Streetcar marketing communication and Marketing mix - Case Study Example The strategy used by the streetcar company is very exceptional as it also works in a way to preserve the environment. The advocates for a greener environment have affirmed that indeed there is no need to have many cars on the road and having a business that offers car sharing and car rental services is very effective way of ensuring that the emissions are reduced. The elements that are involved in the marketing of any company are not conclusive since there are a variety of them. Insight to the buyer behaviour and their decision making process is entrenched in the core marketing concepts. Currently, marketers have been able to develop theories and prove them scientifically to explain the stable rules that apply to the marketing sectors and business communication. The major concern is addressing the observable features that are similar among all or most consumers and try to understand them vividly. It is very difficult for one to ascertain that marketing has a theory and that it is justifiable on the basis that it is logic and consistent. In the modern market regimen, the core concepts include the market strategy, eCommunication and eCommerce. Different methods of communication are involved by different companies to market themselves as this is the first process that will initiate the eagerness in customers to buy. When customers become aware of a certain product, it evokes a curiosity. Streetcar has established good strategy that incorporates eCommerce and eCommunication. These concepts are important in marketing because the strategy for marketing will enable a company to come up with a better marketing plan which is cost effective and successful. The understanding of human behaviour can enable streetcar to meet their marketing objectives which can be evaluated by certain aspects that are practical and measurable for instance the amount of sales, the profits, the market share and the ROI- return of investment. Objectives and Strategies The main objective of implementing communication strategies in a business is to increase the sales of the business and as a result increase its profits. The success of the marketing strategy will depend on the appropriate coordination and implementation of all the elements of a marketing mix which include pricing, promotions, place and the product. Business success is achieved by the realization of the business objective. The communication style in marketing is to give answers to the following questions about customers; who How When Where And why do they buy The streetcar company has integrated all the answers to the above questions and has established a strong customer base in the UK (Pelsmacker et al 2007). Evaluation of the market, control systems and use of direct communication allows interactive exchange of information and effective marketing of the products offered (Fill 2006). Streetcar is one of the biggest car sharing and car rental clubs in the United Kingdom and it was est ablished in 2004. The customers are mainly the people who do not have personal cars and those who don't use their cars regularly. Currently, the clubs has over 40,000 members all over the country and it is operating in seven cities with seven

Role of Women in Ministry Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Role of Women in Ministry - Research Paper Example It will also elaborate the challenges faced by women leader in the church as well as identify the different women serving in the ministry today. 2. Introduction There has been continued controversy concerning the role of women in the ministry. This has been created by the Biblical teachings on the place of the woman in the church. In the Scriptures of Paul to the Corinth church, women were expected to be silent and submissive to their husbands. However, in other Scriptures, women take an active role in the activities of the church. This conflict on the role of women has created an ongoing debate on the subject of women as leaders in the church. Many churches deny women the opportunity to take up an active role in the church while others only permits them to undertake specific positions. 3.1 Positions in the Role of Women 3.1.1 Resistance of Women in the Ministry The values and beliefs of the society are continuously evolving. This has been attributed to the globalization of the society which contributes to the exchange of culture and believes. The role of women in the society has continuously changed, especially in the Western World. Women in the society are fighting for equality in terms of job opportunities, duties and positions in the society. Currently, women in the western world are allowed to hold both social and political offices in the society. Therefore, it is inevitable that the women in the church will also fight for equality in the ministry. Traditionally, the Jewish traditions did not acknowledge the women in the church. The Jews believed that God intentionally created the woman from the man’s rib rather than from his head. This was because women were not created to be the head. They were expected to hide as they were extracted from the hidden rib of man. According to the Jews, women are not expected to voice their though ts or make people listen to them. Furthermore, the Jewish men prayed to God every morning thanking Him for not being born a woman. The beliefs and values of the Jews have had a significant impact on the modern church. Today, there are various schools of thoughts that disregard women in the ministry. According to this school of thought, the Bible does not acknowledge women as leaders in the ministry. They believe that if women were supposed to lead the world as well as the church, then Christ ought to have been female. In addition, they believe that the story of creation clearly elaborates on the societal position of women. This school of thought argues that allowing women to take up leadership in the church is a misinterpretation on the Biblical teachings.1 In his teachings, Paul greatly contradicted himself concerning the role of women in evangelism. In his letters to the Romans, he acknowledged the women as crucial people in spreading of the word. However, in his Letters to the Co rinth Church, Paul indicated that the woman should be silent and obedient to their husband. If they were to learn anything concerning the church, they should obtain consent from their husbands. These teachings from Paul have contributed to the

Lyme Bay and Tort Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Lyme Bay and Tort Law - Essay Example The case of teenager deaths of canoeing in the Lyme Bay in March 1993 should be considered in the context of tort law. There are different aspects of the case, which should not have occurred at all. The canoeing activity should have been reconsidered under stricter regulations. St. Alban's Centre lacked of a proper supervision of canoeing activity. Therefore, the individual from the company was accused of four teenagers’ deaths. The involvement and mutual cooperation of parental, educational, health and social organizations resulted in legal regulations changes in the field of outdoors businesses. On March 22nd 1993 the canoeing party was organized by teachers and pupils and they were under supervision of two instructors from the St Alban's Centre. They were intended to reach Lyme Regis by lunchtime. The raft was far away from teachers and students and they were protected by life jackets. Only at 18:40 the rest of party members were rescued by helicopter . Consequently, this c ase is an appeal for the publicity to better regulate safety of outdoor activities for pupils. The coastguard was accused of oversight of their rescue activities and there was a need to better develop rescue operations on the coast. The main emphasis is made on outdoor education, which has been provided by the charitable organizations and authorities. Tort law implications In terms of tort law there are different prospects on this study. On the one hand, participants of Lyme Bay accident were under protected. On the other hand, their deeds and actions were neglected by the employees, who were not informed on time. Thus, in order to give an unprejudiced evaluation of the situation, it is relevant to focus on safety standards of recreation regulations of 90s. The ACAC Code of Practice is one of the most essential steps in the area of recreational sphere protection. Both the implications of statutory regulations and self-regulations were much concerned2. There was a need for an effective research and survey in the field of health and safety protection in the area of recreation activities. The role of public was essential, because people had a chance to have an access to required information about the relevant inspections. Lyme Bay accident was a starting point for considerations taken by the Departments for Education (DFE) about safe ty and protection of teachers and pupils at schools3. Explicit regulations at the governmental level taken by the government are also considered to be safety and protection laws determinants for further implementation at the local level. Moreover, it was found out that it is relevant to "place Education Authorities across the country in an invidious and untenable position" and there is a need for existence of monitoring organizations recording serious violations of activity centers4. Otherwise the public concerns of parents would be dubious with respect to pupils’ safety at school. The role of public concern and its explication in the tort law led to positive changes in

Report Writing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Report Writing - Assignment Example The suspect was identified as Ricky Moon, a white male, aged 22 years; with a height, 6’; weighing, 192; at the moment he was wearing blue jeans and a ski cap. The officer immediately transported him back to the bank in an attempt of finding witnesses who would help with the suspect identification. Beamer and Katz who were both present during the process of the robbery positively identified the suspect. Following the positive identification, Judge L.C Green gave out a search warrant for the green Ford pickup that was bearing a New York licence TFH 789 and at that time was being driven by Ricky Moon and later found to be registered to the same man. The following items were obtained from the truck; 38 calibre blue steel revolver having serial number of 78695, a 4-inch barrel, black rubber grips, Green money bag, top zipper of First National Bank of New York, a Blue ski cap having eye holes cut within the fabric, a pair of blue jeans with red dye stains, black boots, pump shotgun, brown wood stock having the serial number of 436790 and $5,000 in $100 bills all of this materials were found in the suspects truck and are directly related to the above stated robbery. The witnesses at the crime scene; Frank Beamer and Jo Katz testified that on 20th of January, 2008 at around 1.30 pm a robbery occurred at the First National Bank of New York. The robber who carried out the offence was described as a white man, in blue jeans, wearing black shoes, in his twenties and also wearing a fabric on the head having holes cut in the fabric. Both witnesses stated to have observed that the suspected robber was in possession of two guns and also was wearing a jacket; moreover both added that the man was either in his twenties or early thirties. However there are some of the reported attributes by the two witnesses which are contradicting like Katz reported that the suspect had black hair and blue eyes, whereas Beamer reported the suspect to be having

Commercial Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico Research Paper

Commercial Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico - Research Paper Example The mainland shore of the Gulf is shared by the United States and Mexico and it covers more than 4000 miles from Cabo Catoche in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico to Florida Keys the US (GMP, 2011). According to GMA (2008, p5), the Gulf of Mexico covers an estimated area of about 600,000 square miles. Due to its unique location, the Gulf is rich in diverse natural resources that play a critical role in defining the economic, environmental, political and social dimensions in the region. According to GMA(2008, p2), the gulf offers aquatic resources that include recreation, navigation, commercial fishing, oil and natural gas in addition to rich habitats for diverse marine life. This paper investigates the problems associated with commercial fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and their impacts on the American culture. According to GMA(2008, p7), the five US states bordering the Gulf of Mexico have a total gross domestic product of over $2.2 trillion and much of the economic activities depend on the natural resources from the gulf. The economic contribution of the Gulf of Mexico to the United States is significant. ... These ports provide the country with a good infrastructural network of enhancing international trade. The population growth in the gulf region has been increasing, recording 103% growth from 1970 to 2008 (GMA, 2008, p 11). The region is highly attractive to job seekers and retirees because of the availability of many opportunities and favorable climatic conditions. By 2015, Polunin (2008, p 37), predicts population increase of 10 % in the gulf region compared with an average of 7% in total population of the United States. The rapid population growth in the region has resulted to a vibrant construction industry to cater for the housing needs. According to GMA (2008, p 11), 30 percent of the leading counties in building residential houses are located in the gulf coast region. The Gulf of Mexico is prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes but residential developments are on the increase. In addition to residential buildings, construction of seasonal homes is also gaining prominence in the gulf region. This is attributed to the scenic attractions that draw people from all over the country for vacations (GMP, 2011). The Gulf of Mexico is one of the largest water bodies in the world and it consists of a wide marine diversity ranging from shrimps to unexploited corals in the deep horizons of the water. Due to the wide ecological diversity of the region, many environmental activities have been established in the Gulf of Mexico. They include national parks, wildlife preservation regions and wetlands. According to GMA (2008, p13), half of all the wetlands in United States are located in the coastal areas in the gulf. The wetlands provide suitable habitats for a wide variety of biological resources including sea turtles, fisheries, nesting waterfowl in

Why Britain reduced its Empire between 1939 and 1964 Essay Example for Free

Why Britain reduced its Empire between 1939 and 1964 Essay Assess the reasons why Britain reduced its Empire between 1939 and 1964 In 1945 the Second World War ended, the next thirty years were to see rapid disintegration of the European empires and the creation of many new independent states. In this essay I will attempt to explain for what reasons Great Britain decolonised, and the effects this decolonisation had for those countries decolonised. As a result of victory after WWI several former German territories in Africa and Asia were added to the British Empire. The British Empire was among the largest Empires the world had ever seen. It consisted of various territories conquered or colonised by Britain from about 1600. The British Empire was at its largest at the end of WWI, consisting of over 25% of the worlds population and area; including countries such as India, Malaya, Kenya, Ghana, Cyprus, Greece, New Zealand. World War I brought the British Empire to the peak of its expansion, but in the years that followed came its decline. Britain had growing economic problems and couldnt afford to continue governing its enormous Empire. There were threats of Civil War in countries such as India; the threat of the spread of Communism from China into Malaya and the increasing problem of racism and prejudice in Britains African colonies. The Empire faded gradually into the Commonwealth from the 1930s onwards as one by one former British colonies and protectorates gained independence but retained this last link with the Crown. It was incredibly important for Britain to retain its trade links with countries that were/had been part of its Empire. Britain needed to change the face of its Empire, one reason for such a change was due to the view of the U.S they were opposed to Empires and Britain did not want the Anglo-American relationships to even slightly grow apart. At the beginning of end of the Second World War Britain had the largest empire, which spanned the whole of the globe. But in the next thirty years this was dramatically reduced in size. The first country to seek independence from Britain at the end of the Second World War was India. India was seen as the Jewel in the crown of the British Empire and was of key significance to Britain. Even before WWI it was evident that the Indian desire for freedom would prove increasingly difficult for Britain to contain and control. Although British officials dominated the key posts in the civil service, barely one per-cent of the civil population was British. There were many disturbances and large unrest throughout India, the British government made some concession to the demand for a greater share by Indians in the local affairs. It was too late by now and this offer was no longer sufficient; the total withdrawal of British rule was now the aim of Nationalists. The Indian society was made up of varying and often conflicting races, castes and religions India had no single nationalist voice. Until some sort of unity could be achieved Indian aspirations would be frustrated, this frustration found outlet in increasing violence. This came to an end and then it was non-violence that now became the chief factor in the advance of Indian Nationalism. The move was called Civil Disobedience and was thought up by an Indian man named Gandhi. Gandhi was the single most important influence in the growth of Indian Nationalism. Gandhi was a devout Hindu although he sought mutual respect and tolerance between all religions and races. Gandhi became a type of figurehead and identified with all castes. For a time he was even able to gain Muslim support. Although fearing that independence gained on Gandhis terms would lead to the subjection of interests in favour of the Hindu majority, the Muslim Nationalists preferred separate to collective action. It became a question of not whether Britain should withdraw but when they would withdraw. The Japanese War effort by Britain interrupted the Indian problem. Many Indians, during the war effort, tried to overthrow British rule but the police and the army remained loyal and British control was unbroken. At the end of the Japanese War it was obvious to see that to keep control of India against the wish of her peoples would stretch Britains resources too far, Britain could no longer afford to do so and the will to do so had largely gone. The Muslim League, led by Jinnah, was increasingly suspicious of the Hindus, represented by the Congress Party and its leader Nehru, an upper class Anglophile. A sizeable Sikh minority was equally apprehensive of being swamped in an independent India. To such groups, federation within a single sovereign state was not acceptable. Partition seemed to be the only solution that would make the dominant religious groups happy. After much haggling and arguing the Hindu Congress and Muslim League agreed to the partition proposals: India, the sub continent, was to be divided into two distinct states; India, overwhelmingly Hindu; Pakistan and East Pakistan predominatly Muslim. The British method of partition was to set a date for British withdrawal 1947, and then work up until this date to achieve a peaceful partition. When the partition was created making India a Hindu state and Pakistan a Muslim state many people found themselves in the wrong area and there was a lot of mass movement of peop le between the two areas. To Britain the most valuable dependency of all was Malaya, which is an example of what the British were willing to do where the Empire remained worth while. In the latter half of the 19th century Malayas economy assumed many of the major aspects of its present character. The output of tin, which had been mined for centuries, increased greatly with the utilisation of modern methods. Rubber trees were introduced (Indian labourers were imported to work the rubber plantations), and Malaya became a leading rubber producer. In 1948 its net dollar earnings amounted to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½170 million and it provided over half the USAs imports of rubber and nearly all imports of tin. In the difficult days after WWII Malayas exports were vitally important in keeping the Sterling Area solvent. The Sterling Area was formed in 1939 to maintain the pound sterling as an international currency. It included the whole of the British Empire and Commonwealth, with few exceptions. This meant that Malaya had to buy goods from within the Sterling Area, meaning their money was tied up in the Empire. Malayas economic character, as well as its geographic position, gave it great strategic importance. The British built their fortifications accordingly at Singapore. The Malayans, anxious to regain their independence, had first to face an unexpected challenge from Communist Guerrillas, mainly Chinese, who were anxious to acquire control of the many raw materials in Malaya. The Chinese were a minority in Malaya and not popular. The Malayans didnt want to fall under the control of their great neighbour, Communist China. They were willing to accept the assistance of British forces and the Guerrillas, after about five years were expelled. After the defeat of the communists Malaya moved quietly to independence. The Malayans united behind Rahman. Rahman was the kind of courteous conservative with whom the British had always felt able to do business. The federation of Malaya became an independent state within the Commonwealth on 31st August 1957. Britain controlled many countries in Africa including the following; Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Uganda and Kenya. Kenya was one of the most important of the African countries. Strategically the Naval Base at Mombasa Port near to the Suez Canal was priceless. If the port fell into the hands of the Communists it would prove devastating. Climatically it was suitable for European settlement and the British saw it as a New Australia. British settlers went out in small numbers before and after WWI and in rather large numbers after WWII. Those that moved out there successfully introduced plantation farming of crops such as coffee and tea, the land was very rich. The British settlers believed that the country belonged to them and expected to evolve a government like that of Canada or Australia. Due to the large European population Britain didnt want to upset them, it was said that there would be an all white Kenyan Government. Despite this, the settlers received a major set back when they were told; Primarily Kenya is an African territorythe interests of the African natives must be paramount by the Duke of Devonshire, Colonial Secretary. Other than the European community there was another outside community within Kenya, an Asian community. The Asians were prosperous and sometimes became money lenders. They were hated by the Africans. Britain saw themselves and America as being superior to the Asian world and then again that the Asian world was superior to the Africans. The British did not think that the Africans were intelligent enough to be able to run their own country, this was seen as being a very racist and prejudiced viewpoint and there was a loss of confidence. The Kikuyu were farmers in the region where the capital of Nairobi had been established. They were more disturbed in the possession of their land than other tribes and they also came into contact with European ideas and European education. Jomo Kenyatta, later the leader of the Kikuyu, was first educated at a Presbyterian mission school. The first African organisation, the Kikuyu Association was formed in 1920 but was a very moderate body made up of the elders and the chiefs. In 1921 the Young Kikuyu Association was founded by the younger men, educated like Kenyatta himself in the mission schools, and was much more radical in temper. Kenyatta was abroad from 1929 to 1946. When he returned he found that the Kikuyu Central Association had been condemned as trying to undermine the Government during the war and that very little constitutional progress had been made. Only in 1952 were Africans elected to the Council and then by a complicated indirect system. The early 1950s saw the terrorist outbreaks known as the Mau Mau. With their fearsome oaths and occasional atrocities, they spread terror among the European community, although in fact most of the atrocities were against other Africans. It was unknown whether Kenyatta had any connection with the Mau Mau, he was arrested and banished to a northern part of the colony. The white colonists could not conquer the Mau Mau on their own and had to ask for troop reinforcements from Britain. This need for outside assistance ended any remaining thoughts that settlers might have had that they would be capable of running an independent state. During the Mau Mau troubles a new constitution was introduced into Kenya called the Lyttleton constitution. This was an extremely complicated system designed to allow the Africans to gain some ministerial experience. Many of the more die hard Europeans didnt like this at all. A new European Party was set up, the United Country Party, to work for a society which would be multi-racial yet would safeguard both the political and land rights of the Europeans. This was doomed, the tide was now firmly in favour of making Kenya an independent African country, although there were seats reserved in the Legislative Council for minority groups, including Europeans. There were now two main African parties, the K.A.N.U which drew its strength from the Kikuyu and Luo tribes and favoured a centralised system of government, and the K.A.D.U, supported by the Masai and a number of smaller tribes who wanted a more federal system of government. K.A.N.U, led by Kenyatta, won the 1963 election, the last before Kenya got independence on the 12th of December 1963. Economically Britain could not possibly to afford to maintain an Empire. It could not afford to defend its countries from outside attacking forces, let alone from enemies within. The threats of civil war, in terms of India, was a very dangerous one, it would have been impossible for Britain to control the entire population of India with its army. Britain without a doubt relied heavily on the trade links within its Empire, it couldnt afford to lose these links but it could not afford to keep them at the way things were going. By creating the Common-Wealth it made it possible for Britain to hand over Independence to countries, making them happy, as well as keeping them within a trading circle. Most of the countries in the Empire wanted Independence, Britain wanted the trade to remain, it was the best solution.

Analysis Of Ground Zero Tourism Essay

Analysis Of Ground Zero Tourism Essay In this section the author will analyse the different shades of dark tourism and analyse the shade and signification of Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum. In part of literature review, the author already has given out two main justifications for them, they are: memorial places and sign of the ugly side of war on terrorism. In this section, the author will have an in depth analysis these issues. Firstly, in previons section it is seen that dark exhibitions should be full of education, so the educational aspect will be looked at first. As people known, grief will damage the physical and mental health of human, and they should pay more attention on social activities, past memorises and get a vision for the future (Parkes 2002). Base on this theory, Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum they record the grief of 9/11 terrorism attacks, but the new building of museum and rebuild the World Trade Center is a sign for people to remember the people who died in the attacks (memories of the past) and meet the new life (vision for the future), thus the Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum confirm Parkerss (2002) point of view, telling people vividly about history and grief, thus these two places are not just places for people to remember, but also a sign for people to start a new life. In addition, in government website of 9/11 Memorial Museum they cooperated with New York City Department of Education and the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education (2011) to make teaching plans to offer useful educational programs to offer information and knowledge about the events of 9/11, history of attacks, and the post 9/11 world. Meanwhile, they also help people who have lost people in the terrorism attacks out of the pain and grief. The government website said they received many parents message that they do not know how to teach their children the history about 9/11 and what happened in the 9/11 terrorism attacks, in this way the 9/11 Memorial Museum offer a plan on their website to all parents, on how to tell the true history of 9/11 event to their children, and this information is all free. The objective is to face up to the history is necessary for the people, and everybody has a right to understand the history, thus the teaching and learning plans of 9/11 Memorial M useum offer an effective way for people to understand their history. From these, the 9/11 Memorial Museum provided a wealth of information is telling visitors the dangers of terrorism, stay away from terrorism, against terrorism and peace loving, has a strong role in education. There is another reason for people to understand the real terrorism attacks in the museum that is museum cooperation with StoryCorps to record the terrorist attacks of 26/02/1993 and 11/09/2001, which include the narratives from survivors, rescue workers, witnesses, service providers and other people impacted by these events, therefore the museum tries to restore the historical truth (9/11 Memorial Museum website). Rogers and Soyka (2004) suggest through an interview, that a survivors description, recording and voices from the scene, and pictures of the scene, are the best ways to show a true picture of 9/11. Based on these the Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum tells the real history which expands range of educational activities. Above mentioned which not only shows education function of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, but also expression the social function, that is restore the true history to people. Through education, they hope to publicise the harmfulness of terrorism. The other major significance of the Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum is tell people how terrible terrorism is and how human will always oppose terrorism (Espiritu and Moore 2008). Based on the voice of survivors which is on exhibition in 9/11Memorial Museum, reveals the dread, alarm, helplessness, hopelessness and pain when the attacks happened (Miller 2011). Ground Zero is rebuilding on the site of the World Trade Center, and when people pass the site, they can see the ruins, which shows the destructive effect of terrorism. Meanwhile, the pictures in the 9/11 Memorial Museum show the whole history of 9/11 and pass 9/11, it tells visitors the true ugly features of terrorism and how beautiful peace is, and the visitor will be shocked through these pictures ( Bohland 2004). To view the various of all kinds of pictures, and hear the voices in the 9/11 Memorial Museum, as well as the ruins of the World Trade Cent er, both show people the danger, destructive and terrible side of terrorism. In addition, apart from except the above section, one of the major significance of Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum is to provide a venue for people around the world to remember the 9/11, as well as to commemorate the people killed in this terrorism attack. After 9/11 in 2001, many visitors that go to the World Trade Center site have visited to grieve over the deaths. Especially in 9/11 2011, the ten years of 9/11 terrorism attacks, have seem the American people hold comment that memorial activities in the World Trade Center site. BBC News (2011) on that day many people went into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania to honour the victims. On September 10, former US president George W Bush laid a wreath to honour the victims and on September 8, there were two lights piercing the horizon from the World Trade Center site to honour the tenth anniversary after the terrorism attacks. The 9/11 Memorial Museum was opened on that day (9/11 Memorial Museum we bsite and NY1 news, 2011). The main 9/11 Memorial Museum chose to open on the tenth anniversary to honour 9/11 attack. That day, it opened for victims family and was opened to the public on 12/09/2011. Because many people go to Ground Zero to honour victims, in order to reduce the traffic, as well as not to affect construction work around Ground Zero, thus the government built the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum are centres of the people to remember the 9/11 terrorist attacks events. Another significance is the sign for the war on terrorism, as mentioned in the literature review. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the American government published policies against terrorist, and the World Trade Center was seen as the centre of the terrorist attacks, thus the new construction on the site of the World Trade Center has become one of the important symbol of the U.S. government anti terrorism (Melnick 2009). Education, restore true history, shows terrible of terrorism and sign of war on terrorism are major significations related to these two sites. Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum play a very important role on the fight against terrorism, and full of social function (education people, restore history) and service function (provide the pictures, videos, voice to people and provide places for people to remember) Based on the significations and the shade of dark tourism mentioned in the literature review, in the next section the author will use the table 1 to analysis the shade of the Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum. 4.2-2 Shade of Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum Referring to the literature review, Miles (2002) writes that authors should understand distinction between sites associated with death and suffering, and sites of death and suffering. Based on this theory, Stone (2006) gives an example of Auschwitz Birkenau as a site of death and suffering, but the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC is belong to sites associated with death and suffering. Because the Auschwitz Birkenau is the direct place that the Nazi imprison and massacre the people, however, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum is a museum to memorial the massacre, it is a place to memorial the events, thus the shade of the Auschwitz Birkenau isdarker than the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. In Stones (2006) paper, he suggests that, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦recent death and tragic events that may be transported in live memory through survivors or witnesses are perhaps darker than other events that have descended into the distant past Because of this, those dark events like the Auschwitz Birkenau and the Ground Zero which can be described as darker because of them can be proved by the survival and living the place could arouse a greater sense of empathy (Stone, 2006). As the above theories, the author considered the Ground Zero can be classified in darker and the 9/11 Memorial Museum is lighter than former, could be describe as dark. In the following part, the author will use table to analysis more details to explain why the Ground Zero is belong to darker and 9/11 Memorial Museum is dark Analysis through the table 1 from top to bottom, the first one is about polities. As known after 9/11 terrorism attacks events, American government implementation of a series of anti terrorism policies, and the strength is more strong than before the 9/11 events. The main and official aim is to exterminate al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. In 2002, the Bush administration will be the definition of state terrorism as the primary threat in the United States, and replace religious terrorism and defined Iraq and Iran as the main terrorism base because who have weapons of mass destruction (CNN U.S. 2002). Followed by March 2003, U.S. government sent troop to Iraq and announces the Iraq was a part of war on terrorism, it opened the prelude of the war on terrorism, and in April 2003 the Baghdad the capital of Iraq was fell and the government of Saddam Hussein was dissolved. After 9/11 events, former American President Bush, G. W. operation with former President of Pakistan to ag ainst the Taliban government in Afghanistan (USA Today News, 2006). In 2005, American government to amend the anti terrorism policy, and requalification terrorism objects, from original single al Qaeda expanded to more than 20 organisations (Argomaniz, 2010). Meanwhile, American government established Homeland Security Department to build a safer and more powerful structure of the Homeland Security Department (Department of Homeland Security website). This series of policy changes is the 9/11 events brought to American government, also caused changes in government policy. Based on table 1, it shows if the site has a higher political influence it will be trend to darker, thus Ground Zero as the events center it should be belong to darker. However, the 9/11 Memorial Museum as a new building to remember the people death in 9/11 it not influence the polities, but why it is also classified in the darker or dark, it can not just analysis one aspect, it will be explain from other element of table 1. The next element will be analysed is education orientation. At the first of this part the author already mentioned the signification of Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum, it include full content of education. Based on above information, Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum are have high education for people, and the 9/11 Memorial Museum also offer many useful action to show the educational significance to visitors, and some project in museum could help the parents to teach their children, this is also played a significant role in the education of next generation. On this element, Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum are have a very strong education role, thus them should be part of darker. From history aspect, Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum both are record the history. In the table 1, it say of the sites are trend to darkest which should be the history centric and conservation of commemorative. As know, Ground Zero is build in the site of the World Trade Center, the new building is witness of this history of 9/11 events and 9/11 Memorial Museum collected many pictures, voices, stories and videos about that events, it the best save of that events, shows real history and also can restore the truth history for future generations. In term of commemorative, the author already gives out many factors to proved Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum full of memorable. It is worth mentioning that based on the 9/11 Memorial Museum website the purpose and mission is better remember and memorial people who death in 9/11 attacks. Consequently, there is no doubt that these two places main function is memory. In this regard, they also trend to be darker. There is another side also can prove Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum are pertain to darker. Based on shade of dark tourism, if product include perceived authentic it could be belong to darker. Although, Ground Zero is building in the site of the World Trade Center, the new building will recover the site, but the face of terrorist attacks at this site will not be changed and many memorial activates in here could engender a degree empathy to visitors. The products in 9/11 Memorial Museum are the directly materials which related to the terrorist attacks, such as pictures of the scene of terrorist attacks, video recording of the World Trade Center which was attacked., photos of victims and people can share the story about 9/11 attacks, all of these are let people feel very directly of destructive of 9/11 attacks. These products of 9/11 Memorial Museum can make a strong resonance for visitors. Direct show 9/11 and make visitors feel a real 9/11 are the feature of products in Ground Z ero and 9/11 Memorial Museum. In the table 1, it mentioned the location authenticity. In this paper the author has been mentioned many times that Ground Zero is build in the site of the World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial Museum is near by the attacks site, in terms of location these two place are very close to terrorist attacks. The last one is tourism infrastructure and supply. The infrastructure is defined as basic facility and physical for an organization needed for operation or service to match the function and aim (Jeffrey, 2009). After Ground Zero build, it will be use as business it must include many high level and complete facilities and infrastructure for people, in the 9/11 Memorial Museum, in order to provide a good service to visitors the museum also use many high tech infrastructure. Concerned to supple of 9/11 Memorial Museum, the purpose is very clear, that is to remember the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as well as the victims. Based on these two aspects and table 1, Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum they are not trend to darker. However, consider the issued should from different perspective to analysis and then conclude. Based on analysis from above, in the vast majority of aspects the shade of Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum are trend to darker side, thus the author consider Ground Z ero and 9/11 Memorial Museum are belong to darker in the shade of dark tourism. 4.2 3 Conclusion In this section, the author give out more details about the signification, shown that Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum are full of memorable and historical dark tourism sites. It also a major symbol of the war on terror. Especially the 9/11 Memorial Museum, is very suitable for school and parents to educate the children abut the 9/11 attacks, and make them know how horrible the terrorism is, at the same time is the best place to memorial victims. Understand the shade could help the author depth understand Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum as a multifaceted and complex tourism products. Based on Stones (2006) point, dark not means bad, the darker is closer to the actual event. In Stone (2006) paper says Auschwitz Birkenau can be described as darker. In this case study, the author based on elements of table 1 (the shade of dark tourism) to analysis Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum form many aspect and concluded Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum are trend to darker th at is rigorous and theoretical basis. Understanding of nature of Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum, enables the author better analysis the strategies which Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum they used in operations, and help the 9/11 Memorial Museum better to achieve the goals and aim. In the next part, the author will based on these information which mentioned above and through the main strategies for Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum from 2001 to 2011 to depth analysis details about strategies of Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum. 4.3 Strategies of Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum 4.3 1 Differentiation strategy In this section, the author will analysis the strategies of Ground Zero and 9/11 Memorial Museum. In the table 2, the author summarized the main strategies which used during 2001 to 2011, from the table it shows the main strategies of these two places is rebuild and build a new building to memory which decided by American and New York government. In 2001, after 9/11 attacks, American government decided to rebuild the World Trade Center at the site and quickly began to implement this plan, in same year announced the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) as the official commission. From this, American government officially began the reconstruction of the World Trade Center. Meanwhile, in the same year, after 9/11 attacks American government published some anti terrorist policies, this mean America declared war on terror, and rebuild the World Trade Center is also a reflection of the war on terrorism. The strategy of rebuild the World Trade Center is not only to memory the 9/1 1 attacks, to revive the confidence of Americans, it is also a reflection of terrorism by the American government (Melnick, 2010). During these ten years, the other main construction strategy is build the 9/11 Memorial Museum. In 2004 the official commission Lower Manhattan Development Corporation decisions design the museum and in 2005 design the mission of museum. Determine of mission is also determine the characteristically of the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Based on the 9/11 Memorial Museum website the museum has two main mission. The first is remembered and honor the victims by terrorists in the horrific attacks of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001 and this is a very important main mission of the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The second is respect this place made sacred through tragic loss. Based on the mission, it caused the author chose differentiation and cost leadership strategies to develop the 9/11 Memorial Museum which was mentioned in the literature review. In September 11, 20 11, the ten anniversary of 9/11 the 9/11 Memorial Museum was opened for victims families and September 12, 2011 opened for public for memorial and the museum will open in 2013 (Cohen, 2012). These strategies are specific actions of American and New York government, the author considered that need more professional strategy framework to analysis the Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum and give out more details. Because Ground Zero will be as a business center in the future (Watts, 2009) and the memorial function is a part of it, thus in this section the author will pay more attention on strategies of the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Based on the mission and Porters framework (Evans et, al. 2003 refer Porter, 1985) the author chose two strategies to develop the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The first one is differentiation. Evans et, al (2003) point that the main benefits for differentiation strategy are the following four aspect. The first is the products will be sale by a premium price, because the product is different from others, thus the product could be as an advantage for the organisation and the price will add more value. The second benefit is demand for its product will be less price elastic than demand for competitors products, that means the product is in a class by the organisation, the organisation could decide the elastic of price by themselves. The next is average profits can be earned. And the last one is can create good environment for entry the industry and new market. Distinctive product could help the organisation attracts more customer if the product meet the customers needs, and can be occupy domina nt position in the competitive. Meanwhile, Evans et, al (2003) also give out the some suggestions for organisations to help them how to achieve a successful differentiation strategy. There are five ways. The first way is creating a superior product than competitors, which is means the product will be excellent in the industry. Then is offer a superior level of service, the quality and characteristics of the product is important, but it is also very important for services, that include pre sale service, the services of sale, as well as after sales services. The third is the organisation should have a superior distribution channels, a good distribution channels could make the orgainsation occupy a better network and branches and will take more newcomer. The next one is creating a strong brand image, the status of the brand image in customers mind is increasingly important. In the same price, or a little bit of price difference, customers often choose the product which has a good bra nd image. The last one is offer a superior promotion, based on Evans et, al (2003) a successful promotion could give a very deep impression for customers, when they wants to buy similar products, their mind will think of the organisations products first and the choice of customers will take precedence. In this case study, as the Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum are nonprofit organisation, therefore main aim of them are not earn profit, thus the author will main focus on services, brand image and promotion to analysis. Primarily, the author will analysis the service of the 9/11 Memorial Museum. A high quality services could offer a good atmosphere to customers. In the 9/11 Memorial Museum, the organisatin should try them best to make a good environment for victims families and visitors memory. In this aspect, the 9/11 Memorial Museum offers many useful products for customers and also provides services for customers requirements. Firstly, the 9/11 Memorial Museum offers true information about terrorism attacks for visitors, it include pictures, video, stories from survival and others. In the website of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, the author found some people ask them do not know how to tell their children what is terrorism and how to tell a real 9/11 attacks for next generation, the 9/11 Memorial Museum based on visitors needs to offer many documents about talk to children about 9/11, and cooperation with the New York City Department of Education and the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education to offer 9/11 lessons for people and to meet the mission of the 9/11 Memorial Museum. For visitors come to the 9/11 Memorial Museum the main purpose is to memory, based on this, the 9/11 Memorial Museum hold memorial exhibition, and the exhibition provide an opportunity for visitors to learn about the men, women and children who died on September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993, the 9/11 Memorial Museum use a corridor to show photographs of the nearly 3000 victims form a wall of faces who died in the terrorism attacks to visitors. Visitor can better memory the victims through this way, and the wall of faces will help visitors more intuitive understand many people died in terrorism attacks and understand the destructive of terrorism. Not all the visitors can go to the 9/11 Memorial Museum to visit, in this reason, the 9/11 Memorial Museum use google earth to explore the 9/11 memorial within the context of the surrounding landscape of lower Manhattan. This is include mapping program, cre ates a virtual look at the World Trade Center site, dimensionally accurate 3D model and other planned projects at the 16 acre site. This can better meet more peoples requirements who want to memory 9/11 and victims, and also provides a good platform for visitor to know about the 9/11 and understanding terrorism. Then is brand image, as a memorial site the brand of 9/11 Memorial Museum is different from other organisations. The 9/11 attacks is the brand of the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Refer mentioned above, the brand image could help organisation attracts more customers, but for the 9/11 Memorial Museum it not want to attract visitors, it want to offer a real 9/11 to visitors. Frank (2008) refers that for a museum a strong brand image can be a major asset and should position of the institutional brand, and for a new museum it can try to establish with an unusual subject. For the 9/11 Memorial Museum, it certainly exhibition an unusual show. The 9/11 Memorial Museum as a one of the most important places to memorial of the 9/11, its position is unique. Mentioned 9/11 people would think about the World Trade Center and Ground Zero, and when mentioned where to memory the people will choose Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum, in the other hands the purpose to build the 9/11 Memorial Museum is t he government want to offer a dedicated place for memory. As a result the brand image of the 9/11 Memorial Museum is unique and it is a strong image in visitors mind who want to memory the victims died in 9/11 attacks. Frank (2008) also point out a good brand image can provide reinforcement of mission, operating stability and increased revenue. In this theory, the 9/11 Memorial Museum in order to meet the mission, it should keep and maintain unique brand, and through offer real information about 9/11 attacks and high level of service to improve the brand image to make more people choose the 9/11 Memorial Museum to memory and understand the 9/11 attacks. The last one is promotion. As a memory place the main purpose it make visitors get more experiences from the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Carman (2010) points out the important thing for promotion to museum status is understand why do people visit museums at all? In this case study the author mentioned many times, the visitors go to Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum is in order to memory and understand the real 9/11 attacks, thus the promotion of the 9/11 Memorial Museum should based on the purpose to decided. Also based on the website of 9/11 Memorial Museum it not try to attract many visitors through promotion, it just use promotion to publicity how threatening and destructive of terrorism, and will bring huge damage for human. In this reason, the promotion for the 9/11 Memorial Museum is different from other museum, in the website the 9/11 Memorial Museum established a special column about 9/11 attacks, people could share stories in there. This special column offer a platform for survivor, victims families, and visitors to deep feel 9/11 attacks, in this column there are many stories shared, and it is a effective way to stimulate people go to the 9/11 Memorial Museum to visit and to know more. Wherefore, the 9/11 Memorial Museum should show some experiences to people to motive them, make more visitors come to the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and achieve the aim for make more people understand 9/11 and approach the mission. 4.3 2 Cost leadership strategy Based on Evans et, al. (2003) the benefits for an organisation through strategy of cost leadership are summarised as following aspects, the first one is the organisation could earn high profits and possibility to increase both sale and market share in the industry. Then is help organization entry new market and particularly valuable in a market where customers are price sensitive. How to make this strategy successful? Refer to Evans et, al (2003) they give out some way to achieve this strategy: reducing cost : reduce cost is a effective way to occupy more market share, because the organisation has price advantage. using less expensive resource inputs: reduce the inputs could make organisation ensure the price advantage, eg: easyJet. Producing products with no frills, this way could reducing labour cost and increasing labour productivity. Achieving economies of scale by high volume sales: the high volume of sales is a good way to ensure the profits. For the 9/11 Memorial Museum and Ground Zero, they are nonprofits organisations, but they have many partner to support them, especially for the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Through the website, the partners are including: 9/11 National Day of Service, 9/11 Tribute Center, Project Rebirth, Story Corps and Voices of September 11th. All of them are helping the 9/11 Memorial Museum to enrich content. Evans et, al (2003) refer that the definition of cost leadership is organisation and managing its value adding activities so as to be the lowest cost producer of a product (a good or service) within an industry The information from the website of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, the budget for the 9/11 Memorial Museum funded by private and public funds, is $530 million, and in additional, New York State grant $80 million. A wide range of support for the government decided to build the 9/11 Memorial Museum to reduce the burden. Compare with other museums, the 9/11 Memorial Museum add and attach a lot of significance which was mentioned in the above. Special signification of historical and memorable for the 9/11 Memorial Museum makes this museum has a certain degree of competitiveness. Moreover, the 9/11 Memorial Museum provides various useful products, information and hold many activities (these are mentioned in 4.2 and 4.3 1) to meet visitors needs, all of these are make this museum as the choice to memory the 9/11 for many people. 4.3 3 Conclusion The 9/11 Memorial Museum as a nonprofits organisation, strategies for it not in order to earn money, the aim for these strategies are help the 9/11 Memorial Museum achieve the aim and mission. As a place for people to memory 9/11 attacks, the 9/11 Memorial Museum should provide a very high level and quality of service to people, and ensure the visitors could take experiences from the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Miles (2002) points out à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦dark tourism site must engender a degree of empathy between the sightseer and the past victim (or product) For the 9/11 Memorial Museum, many products are collection by primary resources, such as photographs, videotapes, voice messages, recovered property, clothing and other personal effects, workplace memorabilia, incident specific documents, and original writings including letters, e mails and diaries, all of them will stimulate visual sense, emotion, empathy and mood of the visitors. However, these strategies which mentioned above are useful way for the 9/11 Memorial Museum to engender empathy with visitors. In this section, the author anaysis how the differentiation and cost leadership strategies used in the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and give out the signification and functions of these strategies. Because of these strategies, which ensure the 9/11 Memorial Museum achieve the mission and the aim, and the continuous realisation of the aim and mission ensure the 9/11 Memorial Museum has been in a position to provide people with a positive sense. In the 4.1 the author analysis the negative and positive of dark tourism, avoid the negative aspects and develop the positive aspect is very serious for a museum, in terms of the 9/11 Memorial Museum, keep the positive mission and follow the mission to decide strategies could avoid negative aspects as much as possible. Chapter 5 Conclusion This chapter aims to bring together and conclude the main findings and procedures of this case study. The author uses secondary research to collect the information and data and uses theory for analysis, starting with characteristics and properties of dark tourism, Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum which include the nature, positive aspects and negative aspects, these analyse help the author achieve the objective about an evaluate dark tourism, and relate to Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum is closed to the case study. Then specific to Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial Museum, the chapter 4.2 analyse significance and shade of them. In this chapter the author began

Influence of Location on Ecology Views

Influence of Location on Ecology Views City, rural and Costal backgrounds: Does Location Influence our outlook on ecology? Rebecca Anne Chesser Summary Conservation has gradually gone from being an issue to a select few, to now a global phenomenon. The widespread harmful aspects of human activity on the biophysical environment have reached catastrophic levels. The amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is already above the threshold that can potentially cause dangerous climate change. â€Å"We are already at risk, its not next year or next decade, its now. Report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Although the damage up until now is largely irreversible, conservation is the key to limiting any further damage to the global environment. If these issues are not urgently addressed the list of animals on the endangered species list will exponentially increase at an alarming rate. The future welfare of the planet, flora and fauna depends on how the world responds to the current global crisis. Human beings are guilty of robbing the world of its natural resources, impacting ecosystems and habitats o f wild animals. Re-education of how we manage the earth and its resources, and the animals and planets which live in it, is vital for future generations. With this in mind, this study will look to see if location, either urban, rural or coastal, has a direct effect on one’s knowledge and understanding of the natural world around them, and whether or not this impacts their attitudes towards conservation and animal welfare issues. This will hopefully make way for future research in order to raise awareness of what communities are more likely to be lax about environmental issues, and could benefit from more information/conservation schemes to improve the world in which we inhabit. Research Background Much of the previous research in this area has focused largely on cross-cultural studies, which observed the relation between how people conceptualise nature and how they act in it. â€Å"Tragedy of the commons† is a theory proposed by Garrett Hardin, according to which individuals, acting independently and rationally according to each ones self-interest, behave contrary to the whole groups long-term best interests by depleting some common resource (Hardin, 1968). The concept is often cited in connection with sustainable development, meshing economic growth and environmental protection, as well as in the debate over global warming. Commons can include the atmosphere, oceans, rivers, fish stocks, national parks and any other shared resource. The tragedy of the commons occurs when individuals neglect the well-being of society in the pursuit of personal gain and thus it is this attitude, which varies largely across cultures, which has become one of the most central, yet diverse, problems in environmental welfare decision making. A number of researchers have however noted many examples in which commons have been and are being successfully managed (Atran, 1986; Berkes, Feeny, McCay, Acheson, 1989; Deitz, Ostrom, Stern, 2003; Ostrom, 1999). Key factors in these successes include a closed-access system and having social institutions in place to monitor use and punish overusers. This again shows that depending on the measures in a particular location, the outcome of people’s attitudes towards conservation and ecology can be influenced. Lo ´pez, et al, (1997) found that US undergraduates and Itza’ Maya of Guatemala showed a different pattern of responding on a category-based inductive reasoning task involving mammals, indicating a clear difference in knowledge and understanding the essential nature and underlying properties of animals ranging across two very different cultures. In a two part study carried out Schultz, results showed that participants instructed to take the perspective of an animal being harmed by pollution scored significantly higher in biospheric environmental concerns than participants instructed to remain objective (Schultz 2000). This implies that concern for environmental issues is fundamentally linked to the degree to which people view themselves as part of the natural environment. This implies a potential link between location and knowledge of nature, and levels of concern for both environmental and animal welfare which is what this future investigation aims to distinguish. Hypothesis In relation to the previous research carried out, which illustrated that there is a link between location and understanding the essential nature and underlying properties of plants and animals, it will be expected that [1] urban dwellers will have less experience of country, shore and sea life and will therefore have a lesser knowledge of the essential nature- and the underlying properties of both plants and animals, meaning they will score less than country and coastal dwellers on the knowledge of nature section of the questionnaire. [2] This will therefore lead to urban dwellers being less enthusiastic about conservation issues, due to rural/coastal dwellers witnessing, first hand, the effects of environmental issues damaging their surrounding areas more obviously than in less green urban areas- (oil covered birds, woodlands destroyed etc). [3] Urban dwellers will also be less passionate regarding issues to do with the treatment of animals, due to reduced contact with them, and mor e physical distance from many animals, compared to living in the countryside or coastally, meaning they will also score less on both attitudes towards conservation of the environment and attitudes towards the treatment of animals sections. The null hypothesis would be that participant’s location does not directly impact their knowledge of the essential nature and underlying properties of plants and animals, nor does it directly influence their attitudes towards conservation and animal welfare. Method Equipment Participants will be briefed and a consent form will be completed online. Participants will then be asked to fill in an online questionnaire which should take no longer than half an hour to complete. The software platform for this online questionnaire will be TypeForm. Participants Participants will most likely be both male and female university and college students around the age of 18-25, with varying races and socio-economically backgrounds. Participants will be mostly self-selected to participate; having chosen this study to fulfil a research participation requirement scheme (STREP) enforced By Heriot Watt University. The questionnaire may also be sent to several other students at different university and college campuses in and around Edinburgh. Data Collection Data will be collected using an online survey. The questionnaire will be organised to ensure that questions are grouped into 4 categories. Participants will receive a score for each section- [1] Location of the participant- including previous locations, location preferences, how often they visit coastal/country areas if they arent coastal or country dwellers etc [2] Attitudes towards conservation of the planet- such as recycling, which environmental issues they are concerned with, how green they consider their lifestyle to be etc [3] Attitudes towards how animals are treated- views on vegetarianism, hunting, animal testing, free range, animals as pets, animals in captivity etc [4] *Still developing a way in which I can assess participants knowledge of essential nature- and the underlying properties of both plants and animalsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹* Variables Due to this study being observational, no manipulation of variables has occurred. The predictor variable for this study will be location of the participants, and the three outcome variables will be [1] knowledge of the essential nature and underlying properties of plants and animals, [2] attitudes towards conservation, [3] attitudes towards animal welfare. Measures No ‘scales’ or ‘measures’ exist for either the predictor variable nor the outcome variables of this study, therefore the questionnaire will be tailored to attain sufficient information from each section to allow a score to be allocated to each participant for each of the four sections. Each section will have between ten and fifteen questions. Firstly the questions will be assessing the location of the participant- most importantly whether they consider themselves to live in an urban, country, coastal or suburban area. Also included in this section will be questions to do with the length of time the participant has lived in Great Britain, how often the participant engages with the outdoors, if they have any access to parks or country walks nearby, if they have a job that involves working outdoors for extended periods of time, and also basic factors such as gender, age and ethnicity. Secondly, questions will be asked about attitudes towards energy conservation . This encompasses recycling, travel, lifestyle choices etc, which all could be seen to negatively impact global warming and conservation. Thirdly, questions about attitudes towards the value of animals will be asked- dietary choices, opinions on animal testing, hunting sports and keeping animals in captivity. The fourth element of the questionnaire is going to be a picture match (similar to that previously conducted in â€Å"Cultural Dià ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â€š ¬erences in Children’s Ecological Reasoning and Psychological Closeness to Nature: Evidence from Menominee and European American Children† (Unswortha et al). TypeForm Software allows a picture match, so 4 pictures will be presented, two will be matched somehow- ie. Same diet, both give birth to live young, both live underground, both young are called ‘kits’ etc, the participant scores 1 point for every pair correctly selected. There will be other multiple choice questions in this section to further assess the participant’s knowledge and understanding of nature, animals, plants and the planet. Again, the point scoring will continue- 1 point for every correct answer. For all questions there will also be an option to pass on the question, this will be in place to minimise participants randomly guessing, or cheati ng in order to avoid feeling embarrassed by selecting the wrong answers. Sections will be scored using a point system: for example one question could be â€Å"Which do you use more- bath or shower†- due to a shower conserving water, if this answer was selected the participant would receive 2 points, if they selected bath they would receive 1 point and so on. Participants will end up with 4 scores- one for location, one for conservation, one for animal treatment and one for knowledge of nature. ie. Rural participant may score 32 out of a possible 50 for conservation, whereas an urban participant may only score 19. Procedure Participants who chose to take part in this study by either signing up on the STREP system or through email, will be sent a brief if the study and a consent form. The brief will outline what the study will entail and stated that the participants will remain anonymous, with the exception of providing information regarding their age and sex, and will explain that participants have the option to withdraw from the study and ask for the data t not be used at any point. Once the consent form is signed, the participants will be asked to complete the online questionnaire. The participants will then be given a debriefing and, if applicable, be awarded their STREP credits. Analysis The data will be analysed using SPSS. (***Unsure which tests to use***) Limitations There could be many problems and limitations to this study. With time and funds restrained sample size will be limited and not representative of the entire population raising questions of the validity and ability to generalise the findings of the study. Many of the students asked to fill out the question may answer the questions untruthfully or may ‘skip’ some questions, and some may drop out the study leading to missing data. References Atran, S. (1986). Hamula [patrican] organisation and masha’a [commons]  tenure in Palestine. Man, 21, 271–295 Atran, S., Medin, D. L. and Ross, N. (2005). The cultural mind: environmental decision making and cultural modeling within and across populations. Psychological Review 112, 744-776. Bailenson, J. N., Shum, M., Atran, S., Medin, D. L. and Coley, J. D. (2002). A bird’s eye view:  biological categorization and reasoning within and across cultures. Cognition 84, 1-53. Berkes, F., Feeny, D., McCay, B., Acheson, J. (1989, July 13). The  benefit of the commons. Nature, 340, 91–93. Dietz, T., Ostrom, E., Stern, P. (2003, December 12). The struggle to  govern the commons. Science, 302, 1907–1912. Gelman, S. A. (2003). The Essential Child. New York: Oxford University Press. Lo ´pez, A., Atran, S., Coley, J., Medin, D. (1997). The tree of life: universal and cultural features of folkbiological taxonomies and inductions. Cognitive Psychology, 32, 251–295 Ostrom, E. (1999). Coping with tragedies of the commons. Annual Review  of Political Science, 2, 493–535 Schultz, W. P. (2000). Empathizing with nature: The eà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ects of perspective taking on concern for environmental issues. Journal of Social Issues 56, 391-406. Walker, S. J. (1999). Culture, domain specificity and conceptual change: Natural kind and artefact  concepts. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 17, 203-219. SCHOOL OF LIFE SCIENCES ETHICS COMMITTEE Application Form (click on the grey boxes to insert text) Section A: Project Overview Project Title: City, rural and Costal backgrounds: Does Location Influence our outlook on ecology? 2. Approval sought: Full approval Re-Submission In principle Contact Information 3. Responsible Staff Member: a) Name: Thusha Rajendran b) Telephone: +44 (0)131 451 3456 4. Investigator (if different from Responsible Staff Member): a) Name: b) Telephone: c) Email: 5. Duration of Proposed Project: February 2014 6. Anticipated Start Date: February 2014 7. Does the proposed research involve human participants or living animals in any way? Yes No Note. Involvement of human participants includes obtaining information from people through methods such as experiments, observation, surveys or interview, or any use of previously obtained personal data, or any use of human tissue samples. If your answer to Question 7 is ‘yes’ complete the rest of the form; if it is ‘no’, simply sign the declaration at the end of the form. 8. Please provide a brief summary of the proposed study (if possible, in less than 300 words. Include an overview of the design, variables, and other ethically-pertinent considerations). Feel free to attach a document if convenient. Section B: Administration Section C: Ethical Considerations Section D: Further Information Regarding Ethical Considerations If you responded ’No’ to any questions in section B, or ‘Yes’ to any questions in Section C, please provide further information, indicating how you would address this issue. Please be as comprehensive as possible, as this will speed the process for the referees and may avoid the need to contact you for further information or clarification.

Affirmitive Action Essay -- essays research papers

The Facts   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson issues an Executive Order 11246 requiring federal contractors to â€Å"take affirmative action† to ensure that they do not engage in discriminatory practices against workers because of race creed, color, or national origin. Two years later gender was added to the list. Affirmative action is the practice, usually by institutions or employment in government and business, of giving preference to racial minorities and women. The politics were originally developed to correct decades of discrimination and to give disadvantaged minorities a boost. The diversity of our current society as opposed to that of 50 years ago seems to indicate the programs have been a success. Now, many think the policies are no longer needed and that they led to more problems than they solve.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One particular kind of affirmative action is racial quotas, or deciding on a specific number or percentage of members of a given minority group that a company or institution had to accept. These racial quotas improved diversity to some degree, but was considered too crude by many people. Now affirmative action usually involves involves using race, gender, socioeconomic background, and/or sexual orientation status as a positive factor in hiring or admissions decisions. Supporters   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  George E. Curry, a strong supporter of affirmative action (AA) knew it would happen when anti-affirmative action supporters would begin to poke fun at the decision made by the Supreme Court on the University of Michigan landmark case. A group of Conservative students at Roger William University in Rhode Island is offering a Whites-only scholarship valued at only $250 each. In addition to Whites-only scholarship, other attempts at humor include so-called affirmative action bake sales. At Southern Methodist University in Dallas, for example, Young Conservatives of Texas offered cookies at different prices. White males were charged $1 for each cookie, white women were charged 75 cents for each cookie, Hispanics were charged 50 cent and African Americans 25 cents. Similar bakes sale were held at Columbia University, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Texas, Northwestern University, the University of Michigan and the University of Indiana.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A ... ...till present discrimination today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  But at the same time, minority students in top colleges are disproportionately from middle and upper-middle class backgrounds, this it true for white college students as well. AA does not cure all of America’s social ills, but it can help eliminate the gaps between the average incomes and educations levels of different races. I think AA should be applied to not only race but economic background as well. I think the current system is out dated on both ends of the argument. However since we will never live in a colorblind society, I believe that there should be monitors to make sure that all admission and hiring is done on the up and up. No discrimination and no reverse discrimination. Curry, G. E. (2004, March 1) Affirmative Action War Still Rages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Retrieved June 25, 2004   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Http://georgecurry.com/columns/index1.shtml?id=1078378827 Connerly, W (2002, May 12) Ward Connerly and the American Civil Rights Institute Retrieved June 25, 2004  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.mediatransparency.org/people/ward_connerly.htm

Social Issues Essay -- essays research papers

Is Mcdonaldization Inevitable? George Ritzer’s, Mcdonaldization of Society, is a critical analysis of the impact on social structural change on human interaction and identity. According to Ritzer, Mcdonaldization â€Å"is the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as rest of the world† (Ritzer, 1). Ritzer focuses on four foundations of Mcdonaldization: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. These are the commandments of any rationalized corporation. However, they are not carried out from the point of view of the consumer. Efficiency, for example, may entail the placing of great inconveniences upon a consumer for the sake of efficient management. Calculability may involve hiding certain information from the consumer. Predictability and control may involve a company's ability to predict and control consumer behavior, not the consumer's ability to predict what kin d of product or control what kind of service he gets. Ritzer calls such breakdowns "the irrationality of rationalization." Ritzer points out the irrationality of rationality, as all of the supposed benefits of Mcdonaldized systems backfire: waiting in long lines, suspect quality, little or no customer service, little or no customer service, the illusion of large quantities for low prices, and severely limited selection of choice. Throughout Mcdonaldization of Society, Ritzer describes Mcdonaldization as largely negative and often destructive. While Mcdonaldization is rapidly taking over American society and spreading to the rest of the globe, it is not something unjustly imposed on the American people. The consumerist culture of America has groomed the public to seek efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. These principles grow in importance and value in contemporary America. Even when given the choice to avoid a Mcdonaldized establishment or product, peopl e will flock to it. I agree with Ritzer’s analysis of a Mcdonaldized society, but I feel that Ritzer has failed to provide any real solutions to the Mcdonaldization process. I will support Ritzer’s analysis of the Mcdonaldization process, but also show that it is inevitable and essential in the American society to have a rationalized system. Ritzer stresses that â€Å"Mcdonaldization† does not just refer to robotlike assemb... ...ety, companies are looking to maximize profits and managers are looking to maximize sales. Employers want efficiency and predictability from their workers. They want to be able to control their employees. With so much of the day spent at work and commuting, the only way people can get everything done everyday is to rely on time saving methods. With increasing productivity and development comes an increasingly rationalized system. Regardless of who benefits or to what extent, the universal result is homogenization. Rationalized systems have a pronounced tendency to squash individual tastes, niche markets, small-scale enterprise and personalized customer service. Differences are leveled, wrinkles smoothed, knots cut off -- convenience at the expense of character. An overwhelming sameness develops, along with a decrease in responsiveness. The system that seeks to mimic a machine becomes a machine, incapable of making exceptions or taking risks. I believe that the greatest loss is th at most people know of no other society than the rationalized society and therefore cannot even hope to deviate from it. For good or for bad, our social destiny is to live in such prepackaged settings.