MICROECONOMICS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MICROECONOMICS - Essay Example Economics, as stated is the study of both individual and the government and business behavior in terms of price, interest rates, jobs, poverty, employment, etc. As such, it has to deal with groups of people which is classified into categories namely households, business and government to facilitate the analysis of behavior. While individual behavior study is termed micro-economics, study of people at large is called macro-economics. Also, actual behavior of people falls under descriptive economics while advice or choices of economists comes under normative economics. It is evident that when policies and structures are to be studied in totality, individual responses can deliver highly variable results. As a result, economists have simplified individual responses by setting out average of a large number of responses and which behave in a similar fashion or towards a common goal. On the basis of this concept, assumptions emerge which turn into simplified models or theories of economics because they demonstrate a common and shared behavior of a large group of people. For instance, assumption of profit maximization relates to suppliers because in a particular situation, average response of a number of suppliers would be that of maximizing their profits. Likewise, assumption of satisfaction maximization applies to buyers as they tend to derive maximum satisfaction from their investments. Market in economics refers to the place where interaction between buyer and seller takes place. Level of scarcity in the production or delivery of a service determines its market value. Surplus product comes at lower price while scarce product is associated with higher price. When government intervention happens in the market due to price or supply concerns, it gets turned to public goods. Scholars of economics are continuously confronted with some difficult terms

Nigeria, a Multi Ethnic Nation Essay Example for Free

Nigeria, a Multi Ethnic Nation Essay Says : Cultures have been able to integrate drinking into a religious and symbolic context. Irish tend to have a serious drinking problem with drinking; Jews and Italians do not. There are two psychological explanations to be found for alcoholism-cultural and psychological. In a culture in which the demands for male supportiveness are high and there is low support for assertiveness in the male role, the author argues that drinking increases in men at least. The author also discuss the influence of drinking socialization on drinking patterns. Does : It provides the background knowledge required to understand the contents of the book. It introduces the proposition through specialized, concrete and qualitative premises. Chapter Three (Page 36-52) Says : Different cultures are evaluated on the he characteristics of power and support. The Irish and Italians are high on power and support, while the Swedes and Jews are low. Italians and Jews are high on support than are Irish and Swedes. On this basis, it can expected that the groups would rank themselves in terms of alcohol consumption in the following order : irish, Swedes, Italians, Jews. Thus, there is a striking difference in the drinking environment of each drinking group. Does : It provides reasons in support of the proposition. It provides concrete and qualitative examples. It also provides several descriptive examples and qualitative evidence. Chapter Six (Page 83-89) Says : The chapter examines whether the different ethnic groups may have different addiction subcultures. The Irish may drink more because they have an oral dependency subculture. While various groups do not differ enormously in their adolescent years in their levels of drug consumption, young people from the different groups seem to find their way into peer-group environments where the propensity to abuse alcohol and drugs is high. Does : It provides several specialized and concrete research findings. It introduces several implications of the proposition. Chapter Eight (Page 95-101) Says : There are different drinking subcultures among ethnic groups studied, which influence the drinking behavior and ones propensity to have drinking problems. These cultures are remarkably durable, persisting across generations. Does : It provides a conclusion for the book, and highlights the most important facts related to drinking and ethnicity.

Free Essays - A Life of Greatness :: Example Personal Narratives

A Life of Greatness Of all the characters that I' ve " met" through books and movies, two stand out as people that I most want to emulate. They are Attacus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird and Dr. Archibald " Moonlight" Graham from Field of Dreams. They appeal to me because they embody what I strive to be. They are influential people in small towns who have a direct positive effect on those around them. I, too, plan to live in a small town after graduating from college, and that positive effect is something I must give in order to be satisfied with my life. Both Mr. Finch and Dr. Graham are strong supporting characters in wonderful stories. They symbolize good, honesty, and wisdom. When the story of my town is written I want to symbolize those things. The base has been formed for me to live a productive, helpful life. As an Eagle Scout I represent those things that Mr. Finch and Dr. Graham represent. In the child/adolescent world I am Mr. Finch and Dr. Graham, but soon I' ll be entering the adult world, a world in which I' m not yet prepared to lead. I' m quite sure that as teenagers Attacus Finch and Moonlight Graham often wondered what they could do to help others. They probably emulated someone who they had seen live a successful life. They saw someone like my grandfather, 40-year president of our hometown bank, enjoy a lifetime of leading, sharing, and giving. I have seen him spend his Christmas Eves taking gifts of food and joy to indigent families. Often when his bank could not justify a loan to someone in need, my grandfather made the loan from his own pocket. He is a real-life Moonlight Graham, a man who has shown me that characters like Dr. Graham and Mr. Finch do much much more than elicit tears and smiles from readers and movie watchers. Through him and others in my family I feel I have acquired the values and the burning desire to benefit others that will form the foundation for a great life.

Competitive Strategies

The battle between Nike and Reebok lasted over three decades and created celebrity culture as we know today. Initially the two could not have been more different: Phil Knight, a former University of Oregon track star and a Stanford MBA, tossed his accounting career and formed a company to import running shoes to the U. S (Akhtar, 2011). He named it Nike after the Greek goddess of victory. Paul Fireman dropped out of Boston University to take over his family’s sporting-goods business (Akthar, 2011). He acquired the North American rights to British-made sneakers. Reebok, a line of white-leather women’s aerobic shoes named after an antelope, took off as jogging became a national craze. Fireman bought out the parent company in 1984 and took Reebok public the following year. Benefits Nike, which had risen to prominence by aggressively courting male customers and fostering a jock-laden management culture, missed the market for women’s sneakers. Reebok overtook Nike in 1987as the latter struggled to catch up. Eventually Nike regained momentum by signing the man who would become the most iconic athlete of all time: Michael Jordan. Nike gained not just a hero athlete but also a spokesperson who connected with audiences. On the back of Jordan and the massive popularity of his Air Jordan brand, Nike surged ahead. Air Jordan sales eventually surpassed $1 billion annually (Akhtar, 2011). Reebok responded by signing Shaquille O’Neal, who once showed up to a meeting with Nike wearing a jacket emblazoned with a huge Reebok logo—much to the dismay of Nike executives (Akthar, 2011). At the 1992 Olympics, Jordan controversially draped a U. S. flag to hide the logo on the Reebok-sponsored tracksuits worn by the U. S. s winning Dream Team. The move delighted Knight, who baited Reebok further by contributing $25,000 to figure Tonya Harding’s defense fund after she was accused of orchestrating a vicious attack on Nancy Kerrigan, a Reebok athlete (Akthar, 2011). Nike continued to snap up the most popular athletes, including Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, and later Tiger Woods, making Reebok seem lame by comp arison. In 2005, Adidas bought Reebok, but the new, combined company is still a distant second to the Nike juggernaut. Changes As the world is getting smaller now, many sport events are broadcasted globally. This leads to a more effective and efficient way of advertising internationally. Nike’s logos on athletes’ uniforms, signs, stadiums and television have attacked consumers at their subliminal conscious. The â€Å"swoosh† then comes to consumers’ minds quickly when they are in a process of shopping for athletic goods. The market size of Chinese plus other Asians is tremendous and these people are affected by these internationally advertisement by Nike. Athlete footwear market in Asia has not been saturated and fully developed yet, compared to those in America and Europe (Prathet, 2008). Most of Nike’s productions are based in Asian countries; therefore, there will be less cost in transportation, which creates an opportunity for a more flexible and competitive pricing method. The leading cause of Reebok’s recent tumbles stemmed from problems relating to poor marketing. Reebok’s shortcoming in the area of marketing is their key weakness. While other athletic shoe companies bombard the airwaves with commercials pushing their product lines, Reebok remains out of sight and out of mind. While Reebok’s competitors are known for familiar slogans like Nike’s â€Å"Just Do It,† Reebok’s, â€Å"Are You Feeling It,† does not equate to their brand name in the eyes of most consumers (Jenkins, 2009). Reebok, in terms of their products, is not entirely different from Nike. Reebok is involved in the design and marketing of both athletic and non-athletic footwear apparel, as well as various fitness projects (Jenkins, 2009). Reebok’s financial position has been gradually slipping for a number of years. This is evident in their declining stock price, which has fallen by over 80 percent in the last four years (Jenkins, 2009). The downfall of Reebok led to Adidas buying the company and adding its brand to their rising franchise. Nike ranked as the 25th top brand in 2011, according to Josh Sternberg, and the brand is working to bring the equity into the social sphere. On Facebook, it has 8. 96 million likes with 95,000 people talking about the company (Sternberg, 2012). Reebok has always been a step behind Nike in the sneaker wars, but it is trying to catch up using social media. On Facebook, Reebok has a little less than Nike’s 8. 6 million likes, clicking in at just a hair under 1 million, with 17,000 taking about Reebok (Sternberg, 2012). Fireman is keen on finding a place in minor sports overseas. The idea is to identify the sport that has an emotional hold on a particular country (Labich, 2010). Knight frets that the operating formula that has so enriched his enterprise could falter before long. Product development, manufacturing, and distribution seem to be rock solid, but the market power of sports celebrity is no longer a secret (Labich, 2010). Jocks are selling everything from pizzas to Cadillacs these days. Many advertisers are trotting out sports heroes and playing on the emotions of the athletic field.

To what extent can Lady Macbeth be seen as a female gothic protagonist at the start of the play?

At first meeting, Lady Macbeth appears to us as a ruthless predator, an emancipated woman driven by an all-consuming passion and displaying perfectly, the antithesis of womanhood. She has, it seems, acquired all the necessary requirements to fill the role of a female gothic protagonist. Whether or not she utilises these factors to the full extent and can really be called the protagonist will be discussed in further detail. Her character is not unveiled until Act I Scene V where, with the use of three speeches, she exposes the workings of her mind and lay it out for the audience. Her second speech displays perfectly the idea of Lady Macbeth as a ruthless predator. She calls on the supernatural to ‘unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty!’ She asks them to ‘Stop up the access and passage to remorse’ and to ‘make thick’ her blood. Here she displays a woman incapable of any feelings of love or amity, but it is important to think of her before she makes this request. If it is necessary for her to ask for the remittal of her remorse, then she must have had the ability to feel such feelings beforehand. We are given no background information on this woman and it is therefore difficult to say if she was always like this or whether it was Macbeth’s letter that changed her; this appeal she makes is one of few insights into her p ossible mind-set as Lady Macbeth before the play. Her status as a woman who displays the antithesis of womanhood can hardly be doubted, but Lady Macbeth would not have publicised these feelings. We know this from her relation with Duncan who refers to her as ‘our honoured hostess.’ The King of Scotland would hardly encourage a woman to act the way Lady Macbeth does on the audience’s initial meeting with her. Indeed, Lady Macbeth is a woman changed entirely when in the presence of people of such high status. She appears to be a domesticated woman, one happy to be at home while her husband goes out to war to serve as a loyal citizen. And yet, we know otherwise. In her second speech, she refers to her home as ‘my battlements.’ This presumption of hers, this idea that she should own her home and not her husband would have been a farcical one. The most menacing speeches uttered by Lady Macbeth occur not just when she summons iniquity, but when she does so with a language that refutes and distorts her maternal nature. In her second speech, she speaks to these ‘spirits’ and asks that they ‘come to my woman’s breasts, And take my milk for gall†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This line turns this universally natural feature of womanhood into something dark and troubling. Adding to this, the suggestion of changing a mother’s milk, what she feeds her children on, to poison, is a disgusting one. Further on in the play, Shakespeare manipulates this perversion of motherhood again when Lady Macbeth conveys a fantasy of infanticide: ‘I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, And dash'd the brains out†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ This horrific image is so against the searing love a mother feels for her child, that it is impossible for the reader to accept that Lady Macbeth fully comprehends firstly, what she is saying and secondly, that maternal love despite her previous statement of ‘I know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ However, Shakespeare has allowed the reader room for doubt. While we are certain that Lady Macbeth is a woman depraved of all the typical qualities of a homemaker, we do see a potential insight into the Macbeth’s sexual relations and Lady Macbeth’s ‘duty’ as a wife. Here, it appears she abides but it does become apparent that it is her who leads the way. Our insight into this idea is in her first speech where she talks of ‘pour[ing] my spirits in thine ear; And chastis[ing] with the valour of my tongue.’ The suggestion here that Lady Macbeth can impress things on her husband through the use of sex, would have been a shocking one. So while these sexual insinuations suggest the ‘wife’ side of Lady Macbeth, the knowledge that she can manipulate him as such, is once again the perfect display of the antithesis of womanhood. The gothic impact of Lady Macbeth’s indiscretion has less to do with her demonic entreaties, but rather more so with the reversals of her female nature, which show how willing she is to contemplate and fulfil her ambition for power. While certain aspects of her speech allow the reader to imagine her, for a second, as a woman happy to live and serve as a reclaimed wife, her ability to twist and distort words and ideas disallow the audience to hold these thoughts for long. This amalgamation of supernatural desires and her willingness to abandon her sex create, for the reader, a potent force of evil and the perfect female, gothic protagonist. disparagingly of her husband’s ‘human kindness’ but she summons demonic powers with her invocation: ‘Come, you spirits, / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / Of direst cruelty’ (1.5.38-41). She continues in similar vein: ‘Come to my woman’s breasts, / And take my milk for gall’ (1.5.45-46). Her communing with the forces of darkness is expressed in terms that seek to remove the ‘compunctious visitings’ of her female nature. Later, in one of the play’s most disturbing images, Lady Macbeth expresses a fantasy of infanticide: I have given suck, and know How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me. I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums And dashed the brains out However, when it comes to her manipulation of Macbeth, she adopts the powerful weapon of sexual taunting: Art thou afeard To be the same in thine own act and valour As thou art in desire? When you durst do it, then you were a man. Lady Macbeth’s evil allows her at one and the same time to deny her maternal nature and to control her husband by invoking her sexuality. It is this capacity to distort her female identity to gain her political ends that makes Lady Macbeth at once a potent force for evil and a transgressive figure of the female gothic.

Singapores Advancion

Singapores Advancion Introduction Singapore is a country in Asia and is known officially the Republic of Singapore. It is an island country which is at the south of Malaysia. Singapore is a small country which has a population of about 5 million people. The population mainly consists of people of Chinese origin, Indians and other Asians of diverse origins.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Singapores Advancion in Economy, Tourism and Other Economy Building Sectors specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is worth noting that Singapore has a busy port, one of the busiest in the world. Due to its small size, Singapore is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Her population has a large percentage of foreigners who go there for leisure, business and other activities. Singapore is also a leading financial center in the world. Living conditions Singapore has among the best living conditions in Asia. According to the curre nt statistics, the country boasts excellent living conditions in Asia. It has also been ranked as the world’s number 1 in city infrastructure because of how the city is planned (Contact Singapore 2010) Diet and nutrition Nutrition in Singapore is complete with proteins, vitamins and starch together with other nutrients. The major source of proteins is pork and chicken meat, calcium is also included in the diet. Crabs and fish are sources of calcium. Vegetables and fruits provide major sources of vitamins in their diet. Typical meals Typical Singaporean meals are meat and vegetable recipes. They range from certain traditional foods that are sources of proteins. Most common food Most common food in Singapore is meat dish and vegetarian dishes which come in a range of recipes. Crab, Mee Siam, Opor Sotong Bak KutTeh and crisps are among the common traditional Singaporean foods. Smoked spicy chicken, cucumber and Bak Kwa are also common at home and across major hotels in Singapore . Most of the mail meals are usually accompanied with strong chillie. Vegetable dishes of Singapore include, melons and mango salads, Malnutrition Malnutrition in Singapore is greatly reduced because of implementation of important health policies by the government.Advertising Looking for research paper on geography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Housing The real estate in Singapore is highly developed. The city has houses which it offers for sale or for rental purposes. Management of public housing is usually done by the housing and development board which is involved in building and maintaining public houses. Residential property in this city can generally be categorized into two, public housing and private housing whereby most of the population dwells in the more affordable public housing (Contact Singapore, 2010). Types of houses available The types of houses available are mainly apartments, bungalows, condomini ums, public housing flats, shophouse, semi-detached terrace house and townhouses. Shop Houses at Back Arab Street, Source: Travel guide Rent or own Rental properties are present all over Singapore. Own houses are also provided for by the real estate upon purchase. Single family/multiple family dwellings Most people in Singapore who have families usually live in larger houses. The houses may be mainly townhouses. The detached single family house is also common in Singapore. They are mostly found in the affluent areas of the city, in Singapore.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Singapores Advancion in Economy, Tourism and Other Economy Building Sectors specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As a comparison houses in America are mainly the Creole cottage, American craftsman house, conch house, cracker house and many others. Multiple family dwelling units are found especially in apartments and in flats. This is becau se they save on space and money. Single family dwelling units are usually more expensive thus preferred only to the willing and able (Travel guide 2010). Clothing There are both modern and traditional clothing in Singapore. Most clothing in Singapore depends on the weather. In hot sunny weather, lighter clothing is common. However if the weather is emotionally rainy, thick clothing is preferred. Modern clothing in Singapore Source: fash-eccentric.com Recreation, sports and others Singapore has a host of sporting activities. Leisure in Singapore is also highly developed. Horse riding, cycling, bowling, g-max reverse bungy and Cinemania are some of the examples of Singaporean sports. Social security Social security for retirees in Singapore is provided by the government and the private sector. This is present as a compulsory scheme for any worker in Singapore.Advertising Looking for research paper on geography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Health care system The healthcare system in this country is mainly placed under the government. The ministry of health is responsible in implementing health policies in Singapore. The country boasts a universal health care system where access to medical facilities because there are compulsory medical schemes that ensure that saving is a must for its citizens. Public health is much advanced in Singapore. Hospitals and major health centers are well equipped with world class facilities which offer services to the people around. Aesthetics Singapore has a lot of aesthetics for its citizens. When you visit the city, you will be encounter colorful buildings and scenery. Color is given priority in Singapore. Most street buildings are given a colorful finish such that there is pomp of color along one particular street Visual arts Currently there are more than 300 companies that offer the services of visual arts. This industry has been growing day by day such that since time immemorial, Euro pean painters and local talented people showcased their talents in Singapore. There are many people who are well known all over Singapore for being involved in the development of this industry. Some of them are, Chen Chong Swee and Georgette Chen who were teachers at some of the schools involved in this industry. The artists of Singapore are also well known worldwide. The industry of visual arts in Singapore has also made major global contributions (Flickr, 2010). Music Singaporean styles of music range from jazz, rock Indie music across to patriotic songs. Singapore has many religions which include Chinese and Indian religions. Singapore is tolerant with other types of music and cultures from all over the world (Teo et al, 2008). Musicians in Singapore have been involved with other artists to emerge at the top of the global scene. This is attributed to the mixture of cultures all over the country. Performing arts The presence of performing arts in Singapore and her neighbors is wel l known beyond her continental borders. Performing arts is much advanced in this country. It is mainly used as a leisure activity in entertainment and recreation (Flickr, 2010). Photo of performing arts in Singapore Source: flickr, Shotorphotography, (2010) Folklore In Singapore, folklore dates back from the years preceding its independence period. The period of colonial Singapore is characterized by the building of some parts of its city center. Since the end of the Second World War, Singapore has been experiencing a glorious growth from strength to strength. Singapore gained independence from Great Britain. Conclusion Singapore as this study reports is much advanced in economy, tourism and other economy building sectors. It is also a popular place for international visitors who go there for tour or investment. Therefore, life in this city is much favorable for many different cultures. Reference List Contact Singapore (2010). Living conditions. Web. ExpatSingapore (2010). Housing in Singapore. Web. (2010). Clothing in Singapore. Web. Flickr, Shotorphotography (2010). Performing Arts in Singapore. Web. Teo , T, Hargreaves, D Lee, J, (2008). Musical Preference, Identification, and Familiarity: A Multicultural Comparison of Secondary Students from Singapore and the United Kingdom. Journal of research in music and education, vol. 56, no. 1-18-32.

The 19th Century Bone Wars

The 19th Century Bone Wars When most people think of the Wild West, they picture Buffalo Bill, Jesse James, and caravans of settlers in covered wagons. But for paleontologists, the American west in the late 19th century conjures up one image above all: the enduring rivalry between two of this countrys greatest fossil hunters, Othniel C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope. The Bone Wars, as their feud became known, stretched from the 1870s well into the 1890s, and resulted in hundreds of new dinosaur findsnot to mention reams of bribery, trickery, and outright theft, as well get to later. (Knowing a good subject when it sees one, HBO recently announced plans for a movie version of the Bone Wars starring James Gandolfini and Steve Carell; sadly, Gandolfinis sudden death has put the project in limbo.) In the beginning, Marsh and Cope were cordial, if somewhat wary, colleagues, having met in Germany in 1864 (at the time, western Europe, not the United States, was at the forefront of paleontology research). Part of the trouble stemmed from their different backgrounds: Cope was born into a wealthy Quaker family in Pennsylvania, while Marshs family in upstate New York was comparatively poor (albeit with a very rich uncle, who enters the story later). Its probable that, even then, Marsh considered Cope a bit of a dilettante, not really serious about paleontology, while Cope saw Marsh as too rough and uncouth to be a true scientist. The Fateful Elasmosaurus Most historians trace the start of the Bone Wars to 1868, when Cope reconstructed a strange fossil sent to him from Kansas by a military doctor. Naming the specimen Elasmosaurus, he placed its skull on the end of its short tail, rather than its long neck (to be fair to Cope, to that date no had ever seen an aquatic reptile with such out-of-whack proportions). When he discovered this error, Marsh (as the legend goes) humiliated Cope by pointing it out in public, at which point Cope tried to buy (and destroy) every copy of the scientific journal in which he had published his incorrect reconstruction. This makes for a good storyand the fracas over Elasmosaurus certainly contributed to the enmity between the two menbut the Bone Wars likely started on a more serious note. Cope had discovered the fossil site in New Jersey that yielded the fossil of Hadrosaurus, named by the two mens mentor, the famous paleontologist Joseph Leidy. When he saw how many bones had yet to be recovered from the site, Marsh paid the excavators to send any interesting finds to him, rather than to Cope. Cope soon found out about this gross violation of scientific decorum, and the Bone Wars began in earnest. Into the West What kicked the Bone Wars into high gear was the discovery, in the 1870s, of numerous dinosaur fossils in the American west (some of these finds were made accidentally, during excavation work for the Transcontinental Railroad). In 1877, Marsh received a letter from Colorado schoolteacher Arthur Lakes, describing the saurian bones he had found during a hiking expedition; Lakes sent sample fossils to both Marsh and (because he didn’t know if Marsh was interested) Cope. Characteristically, Marsh paid Lakes $100 to keep his discovery a secretand when he discovered that Cope had been notified, dispatched an agent west to secure his claim. Around the same time, Cope was tipped off to another fossil site in Colorado, which Marsh tried (unsuccessfully) to horn in on. By this time, it was common knowledge that Marsh and Cope were competing for the best dinosaur fossilswhich explains the subsequent intrigues centered on Como Bluff, Wyoming. Using pseudonyms, two workers for the Union Pacific Railroad alerted Marsh to their fossil finds, hinting (but not stating explicitly) that they might strike a deal with Cope if Marsh didnt offer generous terms. True to form, Marsh dispatched another agent, who made the necessary financial arrangementsand soon the Yale-based paleontologist was receiving boxcars of fossils, including the first specimens of Diplodocus, Allosaurus and Stegosaurus. Word about this exclusive arrangement soon spreadnot least because the Union Pacific employees leaked the scoop to a local newspaper, exaggerating the prices Marsh had paid for the fossils in order to bait the trap for the wealthier Cope. Soon, Cope sent his own agent westward, and when these negotiations proved unsuccessful (possibly because he wasnt willing to pony up enough money), he instructed his prospector to engage in a bit of fossil-rustling and steal bones from the Como Bluff site, right under Marshs nose. Soon afterward, fed up with Marshs erratic payments, one of the railroad men began working for Cope instead, turning Como Bluff into the epicenter of the Bone Wars. By this time, both Marsh and Cope had relocated westward, and over the next few years engaged in such hijinks as deliberately destroying uncollected fossils and fossil sites (so as to keep them out of each others hands), spying on each others excavations, bribing employees, and even stealing bones outright. According to one account, workers on the rival digs once took time out from their labors to pelt each other with stones! Next Page: The Bone Wars Get Personal Cope and Marsh, Bitter Enemies to the Last By the 1880’s, it was clear that Othniel C. Marsh was winning the Bone Wars. Thanks to the support of his wealthy uncle, George Peabody (who lent his name to the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History), Marsh could hire more employees and open more dig sites, while Edward Drinker Cope slowly but surely fell behind. It didnt help matters that other parties, including a team from Harvard University, now joined the dinosaur gold rush. Cope continued to publish numerous papers, but, like a political candidate taking the low road, Marsh made hay out of every tiny mistake he could find. Cope soon had his opportunity for revenge. In 1884, Congress began an investigation into the U.S. Geological Survey, which Marsh had been appointed the head of a few years before. Cope recruited a number of Marshs employees to testify against their boss (who wasnt the easiest person in the world to work for), but Marsh connived to keep their grievances out of the newspapers. Cope then upped the ante: drawing on a journal he had kept for two decades, in which he meticulously listed Marshs numerous felonies, misdemeanors and scientific errors, he supplied the information to a journalist for the New York Herald, which ran a sensational series about the Bone Wars. Marsh issued a rebuttal in the same newspaper, hurling similar accusations against Cope. In the end, this public airing of dirty laundry (and dirty fossils) didnt benefit either party. Marsh was asked to resign his lucrative position at the Geological Survey, and Cope, after a brief interval of success (he was appointed head of the National Association for the Advancement of Science), was beset by poor health and had to sell off portions of his hard-won fossil collection. By the time Cope died in 1897, both men had squandered their considerable fortunes. Characteristically, though, Cope prolonged the Bone Wars even from his grave. One of his last requests was that scientists dissect his head after his death to determine the size of his brain, which he was certain would be bigger than Marshs. Wisely, perhaps, Marsh declined the challenge, and to this day, Copes unexamined head rests in storage at the University of Pennsylvania. The Bone Wars: Let History Judge As tawdry, undignified, and out-and-out ridiculous as the Bone Wars occasionally were, they had a profound effect on American paleontology. In the same way competition is good for commerce, it can also be good for science: so eager were Othniel C. Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope to one-up each other that they discovered many more dinosaurs than if theyd merely engaged in a friendly rivalry. The final tally was truly impressive: Marsh discovered 80 new dinosaur genera and species, while Cope named a more-than-respectable 56. The fossils discovered by Marsh and Cope also helped to feed the American publics increasing hunger for new dinosaurs. Each major discovery was accompanied by a wave of publicity, as magazines and newspapers illustrated the latest amazing findsand the reconstructed skeletons slowly but surely made their way to major museums, where they still reside to the present day. You might say that popular interest in dinosaurs really began with the Bone Wars, though its arguable that it would have come about naturally, without all the bad feelings! The Bone Wars had a couple of negative consequences, as well. First, paleontologists in Europe were horrified by the crude behavior of their American counterparts, which left a lingering, bitter distrust that took decades to dissipate. And second, Cope and Marsh described and reassembled their dinosaur finds so quickly that they were occasionally careless. For example, a hundred years of confusion about Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus can be traced directly back to Marsh, who put a skull on the wrong bodythe same way Cope did with Elasmosaurus, the incident that started the Bone Wars in the first place!

Why Long-Distance Relationships Are Hard

Why Long-Distance Relationships Are Hard Its no secret: long-distance relationships, especially in college, are incredibly difficult. After all, just being in college is hard enough, so adding a long-distance relationship to the mix is inevitably going to add some stress and difficulty. Whether youre deciding whether you want to give your relationship a shot across the distance or whether youre just trying to prepare for whats to come, it can be a great help to be aware in advance of the challenges inherent in any college long-distance relationship. It Can Be a Challenge to Share the Little Things Sometimes, its being able to share the little things with someone that matter the most. Grabbing a cup of coffee, pointing out how ridiculous your physics professor is, or sharing a giggle over something funny in the quad are all things that can be hard, if not impossible, with a long-distance partner. Not having the shared experience of a million little things can be both sad and frustrating, especially as time goes on and all of those little, unshared experiences start to add up. It Can Be a Challenge to Share the Big Things You landed an amazing on-campus job; you just totally rocked your campaign speech for student government during a dead hour in the quad; you finally got selected to write a weekly editorial for the campus newspaper. While these may all be a huge deal in your college life, they can be hard to explain to someone who is far away and not completely familiar with the context theyre happening in. Sure, a partner can be excited for you, but its never quite the same as being there with you to applaud your efforts and see your victories in person. And that can be hard sometimes. Trust Issues Can Be Difficult You both are far away and living your own lives ... which hopefully means meeting new, interesting people. You might be a little jealous about your partners freedom and frequent interactions with potential love interests; your partner might be a little insecure about how much time youre spending with people he or she sees as a threat to your relationship. While any relationship has to be based on trust, trust in a long-distance relationship can sometimes be harder to establish. Your brain may even be able to logically explain why you should totally trust your partner, and yet your heart just cant seem to get on board. So even if you know youre being a little silly, trust issues can still creep in and pose a major challenge for one or both partners in a college long-distance relationship. Holidays and Special Events Can Feel Lonely While major goals for college should be, of course, academic in nature, there are major moments that happen along the way that is made all the more meaningful because of the people you share them with. And when your partner isnt there, things can get pretty challenging. Whether its a major athletic victory, a large co-curricular event youre organizing, a religious holiday, Valentines Day, or even something that happens unexpectedly, being alone when you want to share a special moment with your significant other can turn even the best of moments into one thats also bittersweet. Distance Can Grow Without Either Person Realizing It Even if both partners in a college long-distance relationship have the best of intentions, things sometimes just dont work out. All your Skype dates, messaging, and attempts to stay close somehow just fall short. The challenging part of this situation can, unfortunately, be that it happens without anyone really realizing it or, even worse, with one partner realizing it well before the other. They Will Never Fully Understand Your College Life Even if your partner lived on the same floor in your residence hall as you do, you still wouldnt be fully able to explain all of the details of your life to them. So when you add distance to the situation, things can quickly become incredibly, if not overwhelmingly, challenging. Even the best communicators can find it difficult to accurately and adequately explain all the exciting things about their time in school. And a partner can quickly become frustrated at their inability to fully understand whats going on in their significant others daily life. So while it may not necessarily be anyones fault, it can be frustrating when neither partner fully understands the others life. You Just Miss Them It goes without saying, of course, that the biggest challenge of a college long-distance relationship is the fact that you just miss someone you care very deeply about. You can try your hardest to stay close and make the relationship work. And even if you do last during your time apart, youll undoubtedly miss your partner terribly during the journey.

What is Happiness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

What is Happiness - Essay Example Thus the utilitarian position argues very strongly in favor of the concept of the maximum happiness. This principle of happiness is considered correct irrespective of the fact that the act that whether the action is performed out of a pure intention and motive of helping someone or whether the act is performed for personal interest. That is the utilitarianism considers an act which brings about the maximum happiness even if the person who performed this act did not do it with the intention of doing something good (Mill 1867, McMahon 2010). The utilitarian concept explains that the key to leading a moral life is the consideration of the benefit of the maximum people. This concept explains that proper education and learning can teach a person that which acts will bring about happiness. This is because it is through experience and learning that a person knows how this world has evolved and what acts are moral and will be good for the maximum number of people. The arguments that are used to support this position are convincing but there are reasons which provide an insight into the flaws that have been overlooked by the utilitarian position. During the reign of Hitler in Germany, experimental work was conducted on the Jewish slaves. The purpose of these experiments was to learn about the pathological conditions that affected humans so that the life quality and expectancy of the human beings could be improved. These experiments provided the ground for many discoveries and many things were learned from them but many detainees on whom these experiments were performed lost their lives in the process. The purpose of these experiments was to serve humanity and they did work towards bringing about the benefit of the maximum number of people by improving their lives as well as the lives of the future generations. But this benefit was obtained at the stake of

Masquerades Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Masquerades - Essay Example The masquerades are dramatized to an extent with music and dances that it symbolizes power and infallibility. They are made in such macabre, grotesque yet illuminant manner that they at once evoke attention and awe1. The festivals and rituals surrounding masquerades have become regular part of the African culture. It is difficult to put a stop to them now. 1The attention and awe inspired by masquerades did not come because of their appearance. The masquerades were part of a system that ruled Africa for thousands of years. History reveals that the masquerades were silent witnesses to mayhem and murder. If you're thinking about getting a masquerade, make sure you are up to date with all the rest of the outfit that must cover your body. You must also familiarize yourself with the music and dance steps and movements that accompany the masquerade. Added to these, you have to take the precaution of consulting your witchdoctor without which the masquerade will only remain a mute part of your grotesquely stylized garment. The masquerades were part of large-scale mumbo-jumbo commanding obeisance of societies and nations. They were the cause of festivals and mass processions. They provided omens and cures in the hands of witchdoctors. They were ideal leverages in the hands of power-brokers. With such advantages, it was difficult to neutralize the influence of masquerades. The maThe masquerades are made in all shapes and sizes.1They may resemble the hyena or the vulture. These have their specific significance. The hyena is associated with possession of ethereal knowledge. The vulture, a flying bird of prey, is believed to bring knowledge from the spiritual world (Lamp, Frederick; 2010). It is not only the mask that prominently figures in the dancer's scheme. It is the entire outfit. The mask plays a vital role due to the importance associated with the countenance. The transformation in the dancer's behavior permeates every iota of his being. The head, bearing most sense, takes the cake. 1Whatever the shape and size, the object of the masquerade was to dominate and demand respect. They exist in the form of art today. But they cannot undo the havoc they wreaked in the millions of lives that even dared to question them. The Significance of the Masquerades' Longevity The African continent is over 26,000 years' old culture. That art has existed for such a long period of time in human history is mind-boggling. It is another matter that it has continued in this fashion till date. The African contin

Company Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Company Law - Essay Example On the footing of equitable principles and on some common rules, these general duties have been imposed on a director, and director has to act in accordance with the same without showing any negligence while performing his duty as a director of a company. The general duties will be construed and extended in the same way as under equity principles and under common law rules and due weight will be given to the appropriate equitable rules and common law rules in construing and applying the general duties. As per section 172(1) , a director of a company must function in the style he regards , in good trust , which is most probably to enhance the growth of the company for the advantages of its shareholders in its entirety, and in exercising so, should give due consideration to the following: The probable outcome of any business decision in the long run. The requirement to function fairly as between the shareholders of the company. Further, under CA 2006, statutory statements on directorsà ¢â‚¬â„¢ duties have been included, which covers the following provinces concerning the director’s duties. ... In other words, it is the duty of the director not to act negligently. However, casual failures or sincere commercial misjudgments will not tantamount to the claims of negligence. It is to be remembered that the directors owe their duty to the company and not to any individual. However, in Dorchester Finance Co Ltd v Stebbing,1 a director was found to be negligent in his duty as he left signed blank cheques with another director. In Cohen v Selby, 2 a director was held liable for assigning a task to a specific employee who is not fit for that duty assigned3. In case of business judgment, the courts have been ever unenthusiastic to interfere. Further, the CA 2006 is not precise about how board of directors of a company should report their adherence under section 172 in board minutes. It is advised that companies may find it secure to add a reference to the fact that the directors have adhered to the decision making provisions as demanded in section 172 in their board minutes to escape any charges of negligence later. 172 of CA 2006 demands that a director should function bona fide in a manner that would kindle the success of the company for the advantage of its member in their entirety. In Rgentcrest Plc (in liq) v Cohen , it was held that the directors should act in what they think and should not act in what the court may think, and it should be for advantage of the whole of its members4. The section 173 requires the director of a company to use his independent judgment while making business decisions. This section facilitates the director to take an opinion from experts or in certain case, if a director fails to take proper advice from an expert will be regarded as an infringement of their fiduciary duty. However,

Secondary Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Secondary Research - Essay Example Another justification is secondary data are more convenient to employ in the research because they are already compacted and organized. Furthermore, analysis and explanation are done more easily (Gill, 1993 and Israel, 1993). Using secondary data also leads to easy summarization of all the needed information, formulation of conclusion according to the null hypotheses and insightful recommendations focusing with subprime mortgages. One of the benefits of secondary data analysis is that researchers with research skills limit or technical skills limit can be taught to perform this type of analysis. The main issue in this process that the research chose is his skill to judge the quality of the collected data or information that has been collected (Novak, 1996 and Pritchard, 1996). Primary data are raw materials of the process of research, they represent the events in the subprime mortgages, while secondary data are based on primary data, they are already describe, analyzed and synthesize. The question is, if the source is secondary, does it accurately related to the information needed that can be answered by primary data Secondary data is basically called as outcome data. Because secondary data is usually characterize as the state or circumstance of phenomena or a group. On the other hand, these data do not tell the researcher why the state or condition exists. This is the limitation of using secondary data but can be solved by two ways, like analysis of more key data and indicators (Shell, 1997 and Trochim, 1997). This approach helped the researcher explained why the problem in his study exists. For example, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the downfall of AIG has been identified as a problem, there will be data on their finances, types of mortgages, different terms and payments of the borrowers, cost of bankruptcy and so on, this information can be paralleled to identifying ho this problem occurred and possible causes of the problems and solutions. Thus, cross-analyzing main indicators and utilizing information sources helped the researcher understands or make rationalization sound inferences about the immeasurable states or situations, this has allowed the researcher to have a better understanding of the events in answering the questions, what, where and why. Secondary data analysis can be taken out rather than rapidly when paralleled to structured primary data collection and analysis practices. The level of data desegregation, secondary analysis of data leads itself to pattern analysis as it provides a relatively easy way to observe change over time (Price, 2000 and Trochim, 2002). However, since secondary data is not basically collected by the researcher for the same objective as the original researcher, the purposes and goals of the original study can possibly brings out bias to the study. In this study, secondary data can be an important source of facts for acquiring knowledge and insight into a wide range of issues and situation. The review and analysis of secondary data can offer an efficient way of answering issues, practicing cross-national parallelization, understanding the events in the current state of the subprime mortgages, identifying the direction and extent of change. Finally, secondary data complements primary data

Market Strategy of Blue Cross Blue Shield Assignment

Market Strategy of Blue Cross Blue Shield - Assignment Example Conducive research indicates that even during the financial crisis of 2008, the organization has been stellar because of their high customer equity and premiums. Healthcare is one the elements that were always solid. Looking at the financial statements, the company made annual sales of $75.7 million. This allowed the company to leverage itself in the industry.   One of the major strengths of the organization is its ability to have a strong customer base supported by its technological infrastructure. The infrastructure is heavily supported by its business model and understanding how technology can serve its needs. However, the key benefit that the Blue Cross achieved was the fact that it allowed its customers to the accessibility of information without much delay. In an industry where information is vital, this organization was able to accommodate the needs of their growing customers as well as provide information that was compliant with HIPAA and ACA.   One of the major strengths, as mentioned before, was the fact that it had a strong customer and revenue base. The premiums that were being derived from the organization truly harnessed growth and allowed the company to get a strong threshold as a company.   One of the major challenges of the company was to expand its private and public cloud with compliance. It was evident that the risk management involved in the insurance business is a huge focal point.   Blue Cross had a huge dilemma of expanding their IT infrastructure boundaries by maintaining old records and creating space for new customers. Furthermore, the company’s auditing team was able to ensure the legitimacy of network passwords within their own IT infrastructure. When it comes to cloud computing, many flavors are present.

US government mngement budget plnning nd control Essay

US government mngement budget plnning nd control - Essay Example Budgeting describes whÐ °t governments do by listing how governments spend money. Ð  budget links tÐ °sks to be performed with the Ð °mount of resources necessÐ °ry to Ð °ccomplish those tÐ °sks, ensuring thÐ °t money will be Ð °vÐ °ilÐ °ble to wÐ °ge wÐ °r, provide housing, or mÐ °intÐ °in streets. Budgets limit expenditures to the revenue Ð °vÐ °ilÐ °ble, to ensure bÐ °lÐ °nce Ð °nd prevent overspending. Most of the work in drÐ °wing up Ð ° budget is technicÐ °l, estimÐ °ting how much it will cost to feed Ð ° thousÐ °nd shut-ins with Ð ° MeÐ °ls-on-Wheels progrÐ °m or how much revenue will be produced from Ð ° 1 percent tÐ °x on retÐ °il sÐ °les. But public budgets Ð °re not merely technicÐ °l mÐ °nÐ °geriÐ °l documents; they Ð °re Ð °lso intrinsicÐ °lly Ð °nd irreducibly politicÐ °l. The efficiency of budgeting is determined by the wÐ °ys it is plÐ °nned Ð °nd control. The following pÐ °per described the wÐ °ys thÐ °t US budget is cÐ °rried out, how scÐ °rce resources Ð °re Ð °llocÐ °ted Ð °nd the choice between potentiÐ °l objects of expenditure is chosen. Ð ll budgeting, whether public or privÐ °te, individuÐ °l or orgÐ °nizÐ °tionÐ °l, involves choices between possible expenditures. Since no one hÐ °s unlimited resources, people budget Ð °ll the time. Ð  child mÐ °kes Ð ° budget (Ð ° plÐ °n for spending, bÐ °lÐ °ncing revenues Ð °nd expenditures) when she decides to spend money on Ð ° mÐ °rshmÐ °llow rÐ °bbit rÐ °ther thÐ °n Ð ° chocolÐ °te one, Ð °ssuming she hÐ °s money enough for only one rÐ °bbit. The Ð °ir force mÐ °y choose between two different Ð °irplÐ °nes to replÐ °ce current bombers. ... For exmple, I my look t the min course nd sk bout the mount of protein for the dollr. I my compre the desserts in terms of the mount of cholesterol or the clories. Budgeting often lloctes money, but it cn llocte ny scrce resource, for exmple, time. student my choose between studying for n exm nd plying softbll nd drinking beer fterwrd. In this exmple, it is time tht is t premium, not money. Or it could be medicl skills tht re in short supply, or expensive equipment, or prtment spce, or wter. Government progrms often involve choice of resources nd sometimes involve combintions of resources, ech of which hs different chrcteristics. For exmple, some federl frm progrms involve direct csh pyments plus lons t below-mrket interest rtes, nd welfre progrms often involve dollr pyments plus food stmps, which llow recipients to py less for food. Federl budgets often ssign gencies money, personnel, nd sometimes borrowing uthority, three different kinds of resources. (Blnd, Rubin, 1997) Budgets hve to blnce. pln for expenditures tht pys no ttention to ensuring tht revenues cover expenditures is not budget. Tht my sound odd in view of historiclly huge federl deficits, but budget my techniclly be blnced by borrowing. Blnce mens only tht outgo is mtched or exceeded by income. The borrowing hs to be pid off. Borrowing mens spending more now nd pying more in the future in order to mintin blnce. It is blnce over time. Budgeting cnnot proceed without some kind of decision process. The process determines who will hve sy nd t wht point in the decision mking, nd frmes the decisions tht hve to be mde. Budget process typiclly involves estimtes of revenues nd limits on expenditures, structures the comprisons mong lterntives, nd regultes the flow of

Market Strategy of Blue Cross Blue Shield Assignment

Market Strategy of Blue Cross Blue Shield - Assignment Example Conducive research indicates that even during the financial crisis of 2008, the organization has been stellar because of their high customer equity and premiums. Healthcare is one the elements that were always solid. Looking at the financial statements, the company made annual sales of $75.7 million. This allowed the company to leverage itself in the industry.   One of the major strengths of the organization is its ability to have a strong customer base supported by its technological infrastructure. The infrastructure is heavily supported by its business model and understanding how technology can serve its needs. However, the key benefit that the Blue Cross achieved was the fact that it allowed its customers to the accessibility of information without much delay. In an industry where information is vital, this organization was able to accommodate the needs of their growing customers as well as provide information that was compliant with HIPAA and ACA.   One of the major strengths, as mentioned before, was the fact that it had a strong customer and revenue base. The premiums that were being derived from the organization truly harnessed growth and allowed the company to get a strong threshold as a company.   One of the major challenges of the company was to expand its private and public cloud with compliance. It was evident that the risk management involved in the insurance business is a huge focal point.   Blue Cross had a huge dilemma of expanding their IT infrastructure boundaries by maintaining old records and creating space for new customers. Furthermore, the company’s auditing team was able to ensure the legitimacy of network passwords within their own IT infrastructure. When it comes to cloud computing, many flavors are present.

Metaphor Review Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Metaphor Review - Case Study Example unqualified and mediocre minds and this is the sole responsibility of working as a gatekeeper ( Ning, Yu.(1998) One of the challenges of the gatekeeper is that it tends to mask other dimensions instead of acting as a program me changing of the society in publishing companies it also acts as an obstacle of the publishing company. The solutions that gatekeeper provides are not the ultimate solutions because they tend to hinder to hinder other from joining the editor organization. This can be also assumed that it is the role of the pursuant to guide the organization success and failure and this should not be blamed to anyone in specific. The Gatekeeper works as a conceptual framework to solve already existing problem the issue with this is that it does not anticipate any future problem and also does not value any new change towards a new solution. The marriage metaphor the case study about the analyses the fact that marriage is one of the important life decision in business this reflects more about acquisition of new business and growth of it. It is in this circumstance that it wants to show that growth is inevitable and it is the role of the business to expand. One of the key identities of this metaphor is for organization to know how they should relate as partners when they acquire new business and also to understand key business decisions. (KÃ ¶vecses, Z.2010) In this look, it is essential to note that the business is a prevailing issue that tends to see the continuity of business and progress. There is a very big relationship of the business and it is in finding the strengths of business that shows that it is important for the future options. The solution to this is valid as the business and the world is becoming a global village and it is important to expand beyond its origin as that is the ultimate worth of expansion. It is important to note that this metaphor shows how getting the right partner is a very important strategy and it is due to this

Comparing the Last Song and Dear John Essay Example for Free

Comparing the Last Song and Dear John Essay Comparing Movies The last 2 movies I saw were The Last Song and Dear John. Considering both of these movies are sappy Nicholas Sparks books, they have a ton of similarities. They also have some differences. I saw both of these movies more than 4 months ago so I hope I can even remember enough to compare them. One similarity is about 2 people that meet in a beach setting. In The Last Song, Ronnie, who is played by Miley Cyrus and is the main character, is shipped to her fathers house in Tybee Beach, Georgia, with her mothers hopes of her losing her bad attitude due to her arents rough divorce. While she is staying there, she meets a boy named Will who she tries to repel, but she ends up falling for him. In Dear John, which is also set in North Carolina, John, who is played by Channing Tatum, is visiting his father before he goes off to the army and Savannah, who is played by Amanda Seyfried, is going to school in North Carolina spends a month in Wilmington to built a house for Habitat for Humanity. These two also meet on the beach and fall in love. Another similarity is that death happens in both of these plots. In The Last Song, Ronnies dad had been aced with a battle with cancer and in the end of the story, he lost it. Leaving behind an ex wife, a changed-for-the-better daughter, and a young, very sensitive son. In Dear John, Johns dad had been suffering from having many heart attacks and eventually died. One last similarity is how the couples in both movies fall in love over a short period of time. In The Last Song, Ronnie tries to resist Will but she falls for him anyway over about a 2 week period. In Dear John, Savannah and John meet when Savannahs purse falls into the water and John goes to retrieve it. There were sparks there from the start. They also fell in love over a 2 week period. One of the most famous lines in that movie is said by Savannah and sounds like, Two weeks together, thats all it took. Two weeks for me to fall for you. There are also many differences in these movies. One, is that in The Last Song, Ronnie and Will end up together but in Dear John, Savannah marries a man who is dying and John sells his fathers prized coin collection to get money for his treatment but Savannah still loves John as much as she did. Another difference is in Dear John, the guy in the relationship goes away and leaves the girl. That doesnt happen in The Last Song ecause Will stays around and continues to date Ronnie. One last difference between these two movies is that the girls in both plots feel completely different towards the guys in the beginning. In Dear John, it was basically love at first sight. Savannah was attracted to John from the start. In The Last Song, Ronnie didnt like Will and tried to stay away from him. Both of these movies were based on books written by the same author so it was rather easy to find similarities. The plots of these movies are different but also have some of the same aspects. Comparing the Last Song and Dear John By lucilleparr

Sociological areas of criminology on moral panic

Sociological areas of criminology on moral panic Before discussing the social areas of crime. We have to understand what crime is? if any body breaks the criminal laws it may be defined as crime. (sociology making..,2009,page- 556) In sociological aspect of crime sociologists believe that crime cannot be properly understood without examining the surrounding social, political and economical context. The sociological areas of studying crime is really massive. Sometimes the criminals may be caught and sometimes they may not. Some criminals use to advertise themselves and some keep silence. The numbers of crime is always high than the numbers shown. Sociological study of crime is basically the case study of those criminals who breaks the rules of society and not advertise themselves because ht behaviour is always much problematic and painful. The study of crime is always tough because the researchers need to find the subject. In sociological approach the study depends on the way which highlights that how anyone does crime. What social conditions compailed the person to do a crime and be a criminal. Sociological criminology seeks to explain crime`s relationship to social and environmental change. Another area of social criminology is based on marxism theory. It highlights that crime is ultimately the result of conflict between different social classes. This theory believes that basically laws are made by the group that is in power, to control people who are not in power. This is conflict theory of crime or critical criminology. Another sociological areas of criminology is social process criminology which explain that how people criminals. In this study basic focus is on criminal behaviour as learned behaviour. So, we can say that in sociological areas of criminology we emphasis on social situations responsible for crime. (sociology making..,2009,page- 557) Sociological areas of family Family is the strongest bond of society. It is the main institution of society which is found within the households. Family always changes across time and place and its a social construction. (mckie et al,2005,page- 445) In sociology areas of family we study the various theoretical approaches to the family. Some sociological approaches of families are functionalist, feminist and new rights perspective. The functionalist theory of family is based on socialization. It emphasis that the family socialise its members and this socialisation is beneficial for both family and the society. Feminist approach is the study based on the position of a men within a patriarchal society. The new sight perspective is the study that how family teaches its members that what is wrong and what is right. Another sociological areas of family is the study of decline in family. This area is based on the study of social problems related with family. This study is mostly based on western society. First part of this area is based on family violence. Family is a good and peaceful place but according to this study family can be a dangerous place to be. This problem is mostly caused in nuclear family. Domestic violence is another s ocial problem of family. Physical force applied on women and children caused by aggressiveness is the part of domestic violence. In simple words we can say that the sociological area of family describes both benefits and problems of the society caused by the family. Sociological areas of media Present age is the age of media. Media is unseparated part of today`s life. Most of the information we gathered from the media. In one hand media educates us and in other it is the real source of connecting people. Many types of media is present in today`s society like television, radio, newspaper, internet, etc. We can say that without media we cannot imagine the normal life. It is the accepted part of life. We spend our maximum part of time and money for using media. In (1998, brigs and cobley) extend his views to assert that as we more into the new millenmium the media are increasingly a central part of our lives, our cultures and global economics. (sociology making..,2009,page- 685) Because of this mass effect media has vast sociological area. It shows a very effective role in society different writers analayse and identified the different aspects of media in society. (Mcquail ,1994) drawed a red sketch on media`s social areas. As (mcquail ,1994) described some important social areas of media is as follows:- Information: à ¢-  Media circulates the information about different conditions and events of world and society. à ¢-  It indicates the relation of power. à ¢-  Media facilitate the innovations, adaptions and progress. Correlation: à ¢-  Media explains, interprets and comments on the meaning of events and information. à ¢-  Media provides support to established authority and norms. à ¢-  Media does consensus building. à ¢-  Media sets orders of priorities and signalling relative status. Continuity: à ¢-  Media expresses the dominant culture and recorganises subcultures and new cultural developments. à ¢-  It forges and maintaines common values. Entertainment: à ¢-  Media provides amusement, diversion and means of relaxation. à ¢-  Media reduces social tension by the resource of entertainment. Mobilization: à ¢-  Media campaigning for societal objectives in the sphere of polities, war, economic development, work and sometimes religion. (Mcquail, 1994:79), (sociology making, 2009, page-712) In conclusion we can say that media has the power to change the attitudes and behaviour of society. Media is an important factor of socialization. Media influences on the individual, the group, the institution or culture in general. Moral panics In the words of (stanlay cohen, 1987) moral panic is a condition, episode, person or group of persons became defined as a threat to societal values and interests. (http://en.citizendium.org/moralpanic) As (stanly cohen, 1987) described in his book (Folk devils and moral panics) some moral panics of society are:- à ¢-  Young, working- class, violent males, youth culture and juvenile delinquency. à ¢-  School violence. à ¢-  Bad drugs, wrong drugs used by wrong people at wrong times. à ¢-  Child abuse, sexual and satanic. à ¢-  Sex, violence and blaming media. à ¢-  Welfare cheats and single mothers. à ¢-  Pornography. à ¢-  Refuges and asylum seekers. (http://en.citizendium.org/moralpanic) The idea of moral panic was originally developed to explain the demonization of young people as a social problem and the scapegoating of certain subcultural groups in particular. (sociology making..,2009,page- 735) Jock young used firstly the term moral panic to describe the impact upon public anxiety of creation of `drug squads` in 1960s. Then this concept borrowed by (Stan cohen, 1972) in his classic study of mods and rockers and their treatment by the media and the police in the early 1960s. Stanley cohen, 1972 showed in his work that how media intervention gave from to different subcultural groups and represented them as threatening `folk devil`. In nineteenth century the famous sociologist (person, 1983) used the idea of moral panic to explore the fears generated by the emergence of urban gangs. As (person, 1983) conclude cited in (Toynbee,1983) that every era has its young gangs that catch the terrified imagination of the respectable. Every era also has its myth about a previou s golden age of traditional values, a time when it was safer to walk the streets. Intervention of media gives youth subcultures national exposure and degree of uniformity and definition. (sociology making, 2009, page-734-735)

Media Advertising - Societal Conformity and Advertisement of Cigarettes

Societal Conformity and Advertisement of PALL MALL Cigarettes Sloan Wilson did not publish The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, a classic on 1950's middle-class conformity, until 1955. But, by July 1953, PALL MALL cigarette advertisers appear aware that "society seemed to reward those who lacked rough edges and eschewed eccentricity" (Blum 794). This conclusion seems justified by a TIME magazine advertisement. Here, these promoters apply this conformity principle and other advertising techniques to a specific socioeconomic group. They seek to lure the expanding male, middle-class audience by presenting indecorous fun, an enticing social situation, and smooth smoking delight all stemming from their product. The advertisement's rich red coloring immediately strikes a viewer with exciting and salacious overtones. The red lettering, border, cigarette package, and swimsuit all emphasize social and physical pleasure. The other colors' absence only strengthens the red coloring's implications. Prominent curving lines support the coloring's implied connection between enjoyment and the product. The foreground woman's curvaceous waist, chest, shoulders, hair, and cheeks give the scene a fun and lively feeling. Further in the background, the other women's similarly curved bodies also emphasize the cigarette's fun. Even the arching beach umbrellas portray such a feeling. Finally, the small boat's billowing sails, pushed by the wind, show excitement and pleasure, an appeal directly to the intended audience. Other aspects strengthen the advertisement design's sexual appeal. The foreground woman's strapless swimming suit, highlighted in red, is the most notable example. Her chest prominently resides above horizontal boxes in both th... ...by asserting, "PALL MALL gives you a smoothness, mildness and satisfaction no other cigarette offers you." Of course, the audience need not accept the text's promise of pleasure. They can easily see that PALL MALLs bring happiness. The picture clearly shows that all middle-class white males frolicking on beaches with beautiful women carry PALL MALL cigarettes. After all, the advertisement's fun and sexy appeal, its enticement to social enjoyment, and its portrayal of the brand's pleasures certainly imply that PALL MALLs bring social happiness. Then again, cigarette advertisers notoriously ignore tobacco's detrimental effects, but who has time to consider negatives when viewing such an appealing scene? WORKS CITED Blum, John, et al. The National Experience: A History of the United States. 5th ed. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, Incorporated, 1981.

Theory and Practice of Urbanism since 1945

Theory and Practice of Urbanism since 1945Urban context Noteworthy development of metropoliss ; with the two facets: population and country ; has made the 19th century a singular period in Europe. The industrial revolution, population enlargement every bit good as the development of economic market were factors that contributed to this growing, which are familiar to history of urban in Europe. In footings of facing these force per unit areas of human ecology of urban substructure, with an purpose to retain political, societal, and aesthetic, metropolis functionaries put attempts into direction and ordinance of their metropoliss. Many Europe metropoliss has transformed with the developed planning during a 19th century, their districts were enlarged, walls and munitions were eradicated, and more unfastened infinites were provided for urban citizens. Almost half of the century from the terminal of the Second World War, the town planning theory had a figure of critical displacements and two singular alterations of town planning has been perce ived: † From the contriver as a originative interior decorator to the contriver as a scientific analyst and rational decision-maker† . As a affair of fact, the point of position of the town planning really dragged out back into the history. The be aftering itself occurred within a circumstance of urban development that was traveling to transport on, with program or even non. The metropolis functionaries tried their best to administrate their metropoliss enlargement and to represent that development every bit much as they could. Refering on the sectors of wellness, hygiene and flows of traffic, the position of the modern planning metropolis is seeable. At the terminal of the 19th century, the theory of several urban theoreticians as Camillo Sitte, Ebenezer Howard, Joseph Stuebben and Raymond Unwin was about Cities – particularly capital one – had been following the procedures that were modified in a period of the 19th century. Since 1970, Ildefons Cedra, foremost believing about the thought of a functional, hygienic metropolis, he combined and developed two theories, including: â€Å"Theory for the Construction of the city† and â€Å"General Theory of Urbanization† . Hence, his proposal led to the uniformity of all the signifier of colony. In instance of Antwerp, at the star of the 19th century, Nieuwstad became a military base during the first period of the 19th century. The emperor requested the building of Bonapartedok and Willemdok. Port activities lifting helped Nieuwstad holding the current visual aspect of dock country of het Eilandje. There was a pronounced lessening in utilizing recesss and canals for internal pilotage. Their chief map is for sewerage of families and fouling trades, therefore the canals turned into an beginning of diseases, and steadily befogged. At the terminal of the 19th century, the quays, borders of the River Scheldt was straightened. As a consequence, the whole country was destroyed, the new quays became the topographic point for developing heavy port activities but the relationship between the quays and the metropolis was cut by the wall along the quays.In the yesteryear, Antwerp faced with the growing of population and the hygienic job of lodging. Today, Antwerp has to face with the fact that the population will be decreased. Furthermore, Antwerp, today, is non every bit attractive as it was in the yesteryear and the fact that it becomes an derelict metropolis. Bernardo Secchi’s theory about Public Sphere mentioned that an attractive public infinites can assist to pull people and work out the job of the migration. More on that, he ever pays an attending on survey the history of the metropolis. †The whole history of the metropolis can be written maintaining in head the compatibility or mutual exclusiveness of the people [ †¦ ] Intolerance denies propinquity, it separates and creates distance between activities, edifices, public infinites, their dwellers and users† Bernardo Secchi. Besides, the supply of the theoretical edifice capacity and the mix-used inclination of development draw up the vision for the regeneration of Antwerp. Introduction Nieuw Zuid is the name of the undertaking which located between Scheldts Quays, Namenstraat, Jan van Gentstraat, Brussels Street and the Ring. The undertaking is the portion that extended from the Scheldt to Antwerp South Station and the bing Singel to the railway Antwerp Central-Boom Puurs. To be more inside informations, the undertaking graduated table is 70 hectare included 30 hectare of new residential development with about 2000 lodging units and comfortss in forepart of the quay. From get downing of the trading activities on the port in the 60s, the country was wholly disregarded. Until 2006, the gap of the Palace of Justice and the redevelopment of the former cargo station of Bank of Breda someway have positive consequence on this abandoned country. Since spring 2010, the proprietor of most of the country of New South and the developer of the country every bit good open the competition between interior decorators to happen the solutions and do the vision for the site and the victor is a squad on the Italian bureau planning Studio Associato Secchi-Vigano . Furthermore, Nieuw Zuid has an appropriate place in the metropolis of Antwerp. It creates the flexible joint between the 19Thursdaycentury metropolis and the present storage and the south issue composite of the Antwerp ring. To be more item, the country of the site is divided into four parts included: quays, undertaking Niew Zuid, Resruimtes and Konijnenwei. Nieuw Zuid are designed to be a mix-used territory – Covering more or less 2000 houses – 20000 to 40000 square metre are spent for local comfortss. -40000 to 70000 square metre will be local installations and offices. – Commercial maps occupy about 20000 square metre ( stores, eating houses, †¦ ) Green countries is one of the most critical standards that the Antwerp metropolis and Developer want to pay more attending in this country. Because the proportion of green infinite inside the metropolis is deficient. Therefore, 15 estates of park of Konijnenwei and about 5 estates of green country and a additive park on the quays are someway can be compensation for the deficit of Antwerp metropolis. In this paper, the elements, grounds and factors of this undertaking will be analyzed, examined and compared thorough the relevant theories of station war period. Strategy ( Structure Plan of the City ) Antwerp Zuid, today, is a really dynamic country in the metropolis with many â€Å"horeca† and cultural maps. In the Structure Plan of the metropolis, the ultimate mark is to do an effort to continue, stress and better these maps with the available financess of land in the local country. The development of Nieuw Zuid undertaking is the publicity of the procedure to work and do full usage of the value of the site. Through the yesteryear, the military substructure of the Citadel is still exist and, of class, it plays an of import function in the maps of the country. Furthermore, this site is considered as a boundary, an border to split and divide the 19Thursdaymetropolis and the outer life in southern small towns. In fact, Antwerp is the 2nd biggest metropolis in Belgium, therefore the land that still keeps its ain natural feature like Nieuw Zuid is truly value. Besides, it place is straight perpendicular with the Schedts river, the lone one river run through the metropolis and that give the footing and chance to repossess this site and make new image for Antwerp City. Since 1992, the international competition and exhibition named â€Å" Stad aan de Stroom† somehow showed the ability to alter and make the vision for this country is feasibleness. At that clip, the procedure was delayed and developed by its proprietors subsequently. The chief construct of the Structural Plan mentioned about how to make strong physical links with the 19Thursdaycentury portion of the metropolis and with the binnenstad every bit good. Furthermore, it besides about how to widen the connexion between the interior land with the quays and the river every bit good. To be more specific, the purpose of the undertaking is to make a mix-used metropolis, combine all facets of lodging, commercialism, services and somehow to go a topographic point to counterbalance for the city’s lacks. Besides, the public infinite and reorganisation the Spaghetti node can be a important func tion in the manner to organize the construction of this country. Evaluation: In general, the vision, the first attempt to restitute this urban country was taken in the yesteryear and the metropolis, developers somehow acknowledge the possible the value of the site. They already pointed out all the chief elements, positions and the manner to develop Nieuw Zuid for the hereafter. Some maestro program were made and some more of import things were showed but the most critical things is how to transform all of these things in to world? Bernardo Secchi, theory about the populace sphere and theoretical edifice capacity for Structure Plan Bernardo Secchi ( 1934 ) was an designer, theoretician and urban planning. For about 50 old ages, he was ac centre of all the statements and arguments of European and Italian about the urban design. His research was placed on the discant about the infinite and society and his theory was affected by station 68 Gallic theoretician. Harmonizing to his pattern, he designed and gave programs and vision for several metropoliss in Europe, consisting Brussels, Antwerp, Milan, Lecce, Paris, etc. In 1990, he and Paola Vigano established the Studio. Harmonizing to his theory, he believes that the capacity of adjustment of signifiers of appropriation over several clip period is one of the of import facet of the populace sphere. Critical to his attack was a trust that mundane activities are able to happen merely if there was sufficient clip, supply for the new wonts to detect. Therefore the design of public infinite must implicate â€Å"†¦a slower gait, in which mundane wonts can once more lawfully play a function. Too frequently there is a refusal of the infinite of life which is a uninterrupted building site, continuously traversed by mobile populations and activities, ne'er making a recognizable stable status. There is a necessity for a narrative which, as Wim Wenders says, â€Å"protects its ain characters.† One of the ultimate mark of the metropolis Structure Plan is deriving the denseness, FAR every bit good in the urban country and stressing the urban characteristic and that is the â€Å"solid† urban countries. â€Å"Theoretical edifice capacity is based on an stock list of all unbuilt tonss in 1998. Different classs are distinguished based on their characteristics and official denomination. A first estimation was made based on the densenesss of the specific built contexts. Some Numberss were adapted based on informations deducing from new undertakings ( Nieuw zuid, Eilandji, Prestibel, etc.† ( Beginning: SECCHI, Bernardo ; VIGANO, Paola, Antwerp Territory of a new modernness, Amsterdam SUN, 2009, pp-163 ) The degree of consummation was based on a rectification component, for secret plans by the side developed roads, examined vacancy and neglect rate, edifices have a consummation rate of 30 % over a decennary and 41,4 % over a period of 15 old ages ; and even ranges to 50 % over ten old ages if holding all right economic encouragement policies. The completion rate may increase to 70 % in lodging and urban development countries. It is able to construct 15.088 lodging units over 15 old ages with economic encouragement. The Striga the type of the lodging block that used to domain the construction of the maestro program. A high spot in this figure aims to demo the function and assortment of unfastened infinites. Besides, the agreement of unfastened infinites are make a signifier to form the handiness, that is means when come ining the edifices each one have cross the public infinites. On the one manus, public infinites, unfastened infinites play a important function based on the theory, unfastened infinites are the centre of the block, the connexion between two edifices and all of these infinites are unfastened to the street. Therefore the denseness, FAR every bit good can hold topographic point to be increasing. On the other manus, the denseness of the site is ever kept the balance with the porousness. The tallness of the edifices is limited and have a good agreement, the floors of edifices is limited by the breadth of streets and the huge infinites between edifices. It is a clear rule of the Striga . Besides, the transit web strategy in this site is complicated, the new construction helps to simplify the strategy of transit. With these theory and accommodating the demands of the metropolis of Antwerp, the squad of Secchi- Vigano won the competition on September 2012. Schemes that highlight the yesteryear as a cardinal component as the present. The urban undertakings must be done that based on the peculiar survey of the history of urban of the country, typically for bing spermous undertakings and programs, whether or non they have been finished. Precedences can be set up thanks to these programs and undertakings that needed for the growing of the metropolis and stairss are pointed out for the midterm. However, the hereafter of the metropolis does non hold to history, the purpose of the urban historical survey is giving the footing information for the design to vouch the integrating with the bing metropolis. â€Å"The aspiration is to an urban linguistic communication that reflects and demo continuity and discontinuity with the Antwerp tradition. That shows that an advanced and sustainable vicinity is besides a converting piece of architecture of the city.† The Striga, public and private. A mix-used urban country, flexible mobility As an against to the functional planning of the metropolis, the sensible combination all of the maps to make a mix-used metropolis is acquiring understanding of occupants, by the manner, making this thing can hedge the struggle of all maps. Between 19Thursdayand 20Thursdaycentury, the traditional mix-used metropolis of this period was become a paradigm for planned multi-functionalism. Because of its benefits, there is a strong inclination of urban development based on the mix-used thought. Decision

Class Meditation

Gishin Tokiwo defined meditation as the science of knowing oneself. Samadhi or Dhyana are the means to reach a void within the self. The purpose of meditation is to identify our true nature. The aim of meditation is to remove obstacles of ignorance from our path of life. Meditation in class was an enchanting experience. It was difficult to sit still and not think about anything even for five minutes. Meditation improved with practice and constant efforts said the readings in the book. Those persons who had been practicing regular meditation had expressed the benefits of Dhyana. The procedure of meditation involved sitting on the floor with legs crossed in a squatting position. The posture was supposed to be straight and the head straight also. The eyes were supposed to be closed. The hands were to rest on the two knees. Palms upwards and forefingers of each hand to touch the thumb as shown in all the statues of the Buddha in meditation. It was difficult to close eyes and focus on the self. There were constant distractions of sound and breathing. There was a temptation of looking at other class mates. The eyes wanted to open after short intervals. Constant effort could finally give an experience of some short span of silence from all directions. The void was reached after about an hour or so of concentration on the self. The thoughts interfered with the focus on the self. They wandered from person to person. They kept moving from the past to the present to the future events of life. Insignificant people, places and incidents of life came before the eyes when closed for meditation. Trivial matters floated up in the mind and quickly swept out of the mind also. Faces of known and unknown people, class mates, girls and boys in and around, at parties, in the college canteen and in the apartment intruded the mind for no reasons at all. Sensations of hunger, craving for shopping, items on sale, dress in the window, make up, home, family, members, sad events and happy moments created a mixture of thoughts and feelings in the mind when it was trying to meditate. The effort to meditate became difficult because of all these thoughts entering the space of mind. Concentration was impossible and it showed how we are totally occupied with matters which are not important throughout our lives where as meditation showed the way to take charge of our lives for a positive cause of progress of the self and not to waste it in trivial matters that we give so much importance in every day life. The aim of meditation can be achieved if we can focus on the self. Reach a void within. Ponder in that empty space every day. And awaken to the meaning and purpose of our life on earth. Meditation is the means of understanding our true self. It is the way to remove our ignorance of our own self. It is the way to identify what we want; we should do in life in order to achieve our true aims in this birth. Meditation is the source, the cause and the effect of understanding our true self. Of removing the causes of our suffering and also of working towards a happy state of mind where our surroundings will cease to have control and effect over us. The experience of meditation lead to the understanding of writings by Gishin Tokiwo, Zen views of suffering exactly as it showed how we suffer for unimportant things in life only because of our ignorance of the self, we do not know what we want and so we seek what is not what we wanted in the whole life. Assignment two- Individual Meditation Individual Meditation offered more tranquillity than classroom meditation. I found a quiet place in the area. I sat in the lotus position as per the instructions for posture of meditation. I took the necessary steps to be able to have a meditation without any disturbance from my surroundings. I found individual meditation more effective than classroom meditation where I was conscious of myself and also aware that there were others watching me in the class. Thoughts of unwanted issues intruded my peace of mind. I shunned them aside so as to reach a state of total peace. I tried to achieve a status of void in my mind. I made attempts to stay in that hollow space for as much time as I could. The empty space inside, the state of thoughtlessness and the amount of energy I felt because of that short span of void gave me a feeling of happiness like never before. Meditation in isolation gave me a chance to meet my inner self. It offered me a place of privacy I had never ever realised before. The focus on this empty space gave me an opportunity of knowing myself, getting introduced to the person I was and to learn about the person I was, in this emptiness. For a few minutes I had no thoughts of others but about my self only. Other people, their behaviour and the events around me did not matter but I was alone and very happy to be alone without anyone to bother me about any matter except the one that mattered to me most. To know more of my self. I felt as though I was learning something without the need of books. It made me feel more confident about myself. Meditation gave me an insight about my inner strengths, my weaknesses, and my struggle to please others for no apparent reasons, my fears of failure and my feelings of insecurity in the society. Individual Meditation made me feel as though I was embodied with all the powers of survival in life. I felt better about my self. I got the courage to face my peers. I was not afraid of my results in the exams. I was not feeling any fear for my failure and I could realise that these were only temporary phases of my life. I felt that I was not the only one feeling like this and meditation opened the doors to inner doors of more important issues of self than just appearance, money or results in exams. Individual Meditation as related to the teachings of the Zen, made me understand that we are the creators of our own sufferings. We are the ones who create our own problems. That we are the ones who are the cause of our own suffering. The reason of our suffering is none other than ignorance of our own true self. Individual Meditation can unfold this mystery and lead us to awareness and knowledge which in turn would lead us to true nature of all human beings. That of supreme peace, freedom and fearlessness from all miseries of life. Meditation alone can lead us to the path leading to cessation of suffering. Meditation can open our minds and hearts to the knowledge that there are only four noble truths in life. They are desire, sin, evil and awakening of the self. One who can achieve victory over these four truths has reached nirvana, salvation in life. It is through Meditation that awakening is possible. Awakening lead to emancipation of ignorance. Ignorance lead to cessation of suffering and this end of suffering lead to the ultimate aim of Nirvana of all souls according to the Zen teachings of Buddhism. We are all born to achieve nirvana from this cycle of death and birth as per the teachings of the Zen. Assignment 3- Eat without company, arouse consciousness. Solitude and isolation from near and dear ones helped to remove clutter from daily life. We should endeavour to live with our self for some time of the day. Solitude helped me to connect to myself physically and mentally when I was without the company of friends. A simple activity like eating alone gave me so much information about my self and my behaviour that I had not realised before. It was as though I had never known myself at all. From the time I remember I was always surrounded by people at all times. Fearing to be left out of the crowd meant being lost to me. But after class meditation and individual meditation my perceptions had changed. I was eating alone and I was feeling very comfortable with myself without the company of all the familiar people. Food never meant so important to me, it was only a means of filling up the stomach so I could carry on the whole day. But it meant so much more when I was having it alone. It meant important to me what I was consuming as it was a source of energy not just a matter of gobbling up contents. I had never paid so much attention to what I was eating, how it tasted, what it was made of, who made it, what could have been the process of making it and who all must have been involved in its making. The depth of these questions came up to me only because I was eating alone. I was doing one thing at a time. I was fully focussed on it without the distractions of music, other people, without the serials or games on television. I was absorbed in the one activity of eating and it somehow gave me immense peace to do so. There was no disturbance of any sound while I sat and ate alone. I was looking at the food before me. I could smell the flavour of its ingredients. I could feel the taste without having put it in my mouth. I could feel the actual pleasure of consuming it and identify the sound my fork and knife made when I was cutting it into pieces and finally eating the small morsels of the dish. I was living the moment and understanding every aspect of it in total solitude. It was lesson in details of the present moment and I realised the importance of living in it with full concentration rather than trying to do too many things at the same time. The experience of eating alone gave me a powerful realisation of how much there is to every action that we perform every day a million times of our lives and yet are not aware of it. The experience gave me an awakening that I took everything important for granted and I wasted my time doing things that were not really so beneficial to my ultimate mental and physical growth and spiritual development like gobbling up food, watching too much television, keeping my ears filled with mp3 music all the time, keeping myself occupied with friends and their talks the whole day, browsing the internet for world wide information while I remained ignorant about my own self amidst so called technology, the pressure of studies and the company of my peers around me all the time. Eating alone was no different than meditation. It clarified the readings of the Zen and Buddhism as it taught me that self concentration or Dhyana is the ultimate aim of reaching a state of perfect bliss. Self concentration was the means of achieving focus on the self. According to the Zen teachings of Buddhism, Samadhi is the way of connecting to the self within and this connection is the source of all energy to accomplish all tasks of importance to an individual self. The experience of eating alone, in solitude and in total peace opened the door to yet another realisation of self concentration and its welfare on human beings as a whole. Assignment four- Washing dishes, alone. Washing dishes was a mundane chore of daily life. There was nothing so special about it. I would never have given it so much importance until I had the experience of eating alone. The immense pleasure and knowledge I gained by the previous experience inspired me to try to do things all by myself alone. I tried to pay attention to every little detail in the most ordinary situations like washing dishes. I had never realised that there was so much significance to doing simple errands in life. But I got a strange insight into myself that every fraction of a moment spent in total concentration lead to freedom from it and liberated me from my own ignorance. A person who has attained freedom from worldliness is the tathagatha according to the Zen view of suffering. I had not thought that small things mattered so much to the wellbeing of a person and that they lead to the ultimate emancipation of our deeds. Washing dishes all alone, without the accompaniment of any artificial sound of music, but the flowing of water from the tap. I had kept the television off so there was neither sight nor sound of television but I had total focus on the froth of soap in the sink. I watched my own hands move in beautiful systematic movements over the dirty dishes as though I was watching wonderful scenery from a window. The bubbles of soap created colours from no where and it seemed like magic to see them vanish one by one under the water. I saw the glass plates getting cleaned one by one and I could see the sparkle on them after washing. I saw my own fingers move over them as though they were not my own. I was so engrossed in the effort that I had no other vision but that of my hands, the water, sink, soap and the dishes. I heard no other sound but that of the water flowing out of the tap, the subtle sound of soap and its bubbles and the clink of glass dishes which sounded better than any node of any musical instrument I had ever heard. I saw all this as though I was watching from a distance. I was aloof and I did not feel the presence of my own hands on my body. I was totally involved in the activity which made me realise the power of truth to the self. Nothing else mattered but my activity that very moment. Everything looked beautiful even though it was nothing very extraordinary. I was at peace and I felt happy like never before. I had not felt like that in the best of moments with my friends in the best of parties I had ever attended. Washing dishes opened my inner eyes. Like the teachings of the Zen and view of suffering, I could feel the presence of an inner beauty in every little thing around me. I could sense a pride and pure pleasure in my simple actions. I could feel at peace with myself. I was totally free from pressures of performing my actions and the consequences it would bring upon me. True to the teachings of Buddhism in the Zen and view of suffering, I felt as though I had been liberated from my ignorance of false pride – the ego. By doing simple actions with dignity gave me a feeling of self esteem. It liberated my false notion that washing dishes was an ugly unimportant boring action forced upon me by others or by demands of time when I lived alone. Just like the Maya represented unawakened beings, not free from worldliness, the womb as the source of self afflicting passions, I felt as though I was born again. I was out of the womb of my inhibitions. I was born as a free minded person who had the power to break off from suffering. Washing dishes was a suffering till that day but it became a task of beauty, marvel and synchrony of my own body movements. My own hands and fingers gave me the feeling of capabilities of creating beautiful moments in my own life. Assignment five- un employed, un occupied, at attention in a Mall. Meditation awakened an insight into different types of self awareness. The technique of concentration could be practiced amidst crowds of strangers. The concepts of meditation can be practiced even when in a fully crowded area. And that self awareness was possible even while standing was another lesson I learnt from this exercise with relation to the teachings of the Zen and Buddhism. I walked to the nearby Mall. The shops were flooded with people as it was a Sunday. There was brisk activity of people shopping, eating, and moving around with little children. There were a lot of sound, different types but loud and noisy atmosphere in the Mall. I stood there alone. Isolated. I looked absolutely different that any person present in the shopping place. I was not moving. I had no shopping to do. I had no aim of meeting any one and I was all alone. Even in a crowd of people, I was all alone. I stood in the middle of everyone. They pushed me aside to make way to move. They said things to me while they did so. But I stood there undisturbed. Aloof. Un attached and un employed to any of the activities that would make me a part of the scene. I did not pretend to be a part of the world as I stood there in the Mall. I tried to connect to my inner self. It was a weird feeling at first. I could see that people gave me strange looks. But I was steadfast in my intentions of meditation while standing. I cut off all the sounds one by one with my inner self. I aligned my focus from the outside to the inside. I was in the same busy Mall but I was alone. I could feel the peace within. I had reached the void space that I was looking for. The people who touched me to make way did not affect me. Their words did not touch me or make me angry at all. They did not exist. I was standing there alone. All by myself. In total peace and tranquillity. Like a Tathagatha. In Samadhi. In Dhyana. The teachings of the Zen in his writings about suffering and Buddhism became very clear to me now. The teachings that we created our own surroundings by our ignorance and that we ourselves gave rise to our own suffering as per the teachings of the Zen became evident to me as I stood there in the Mall alone by myself surrounded by strangers and noise. I realised that the exterior did not matter as long as we stayed connected to our true self. What others say or do does not matter as long as we are true to our inner self. Being honest to the moment of the time was the lesson I learnt. The outside worlds was just an illusion created by our own minds where as the true self was always guiding us to the finer goals of life was the relevance of this experience to the readings in Zen, View of suffering. I had learnt to de socialise from the world. I was not afraid of being alone anymore. I was at peace with myself. I was not restless and self conscious as I stood alone in the Mall. I did not have to give vent to my stressed up or suppressed emotions through body language of moving uncomfortably. I was stronger than before. Least nervous of my identity and I had accepted what and who I was. I was not feeling engrossed by what others thought about me. I was focussed on my self. My inner space gave me freedom and security like no other person or place could ever give me before. The teachings of the Zen were true word to word after my experience of standing alone in the busy Mall. Assignment six- ride in an Elevator. The ride in an elevator is nothing unusual at all. To think that such an event could impart lessons of spirituality was absurd to me until I had begun to study Buddhism. I entered the elevator like always but this time I entered and did not turn my self towards the others in side the lift. I looked at the blank metal wall of the elevator. I could feel the strange looks the people around me gave me as I stood unlike them. I could feel their bodies against mine at some time. I could see them giving me funny looks as they entered and walked out at their floors. But I kept my posture and my back towards them just as I was supposed to. The experience in the Mall had given me enough courage to stand up to be an isolated individual who could not be affected by anyone or anything around him. I stood there until I had reached the bottom floor. I could sense the emptiness of the elevator as each one walked out of it. I could feel that there was no one in it. Then I turned and walked out of the elevator after everyone else had gone. I was self conscious for a few minutes and I could feel the pressure of being the focus of attention in the elevator for the first few minutes. But I soon recovered from my self consciousness as I awakened myself to the teachings of the Zen to suffering. Self concentration was the key to all freedom of existence I realised. I brought it to my realisation again and once the awakening had entered my mind I was at perfect harmony with myself with the other people who occupied the elevator with me. I was devoid of their presence. I felt bold inside me. I could sense the gravitation pull of the elevator going down. I could feel the presence of men and women inside the elevator without having to see them. I did not feel the urge to look around any more. I was not self conscious of my back to them. Their stares at me did not disturb me. I did not get affected by their back glances at me even though I could see with my back towards them. It was as though I had an eye on my back. I felt the sense of vision without my eyes. I could see without actually looking and I could feel without touching. I did not feel any presence of their bodies against mine but still I had a sense of presence like a living person. My awareness of my self had distinguished the difference of being self conscious and of being conscious of the self. I had attained the basic knowledge of the self. I felt so liberated to be away from people even when I was a part of them. I felt absolutely free. I felt happy. I felt fearless that nothing could touch me and that no one could bother me if I was aware of my own inner self. I realised that meditation was possible even in a standing position. I realised that I could find peace even when there was noise around me. I could understand that the others did not make a difference to my life and actions. And that they were not important at all. I was important. The self within me was of utmost importance and the true self was that mattered not the one people saw standing facing the blank wall of the elevator. My experience related to the teaching of the Zen that I was listening to the ultimate truth without relying on any other, anything without any form. That I was my true self alone. That my suffering was none other than the one I had given opportunity to and that I was in absolute state of happiness or without suffering if I could attain the void inside me. Assignment seven- the world of cruelty and selfish behaviour. The television news channels projected news of child abuse by a single mother. The newspaper story on the front page gave pictures of a young baby thrown out of the window by his own mother in a fit of rage. These two stories are just a few among other crime and violence that has risen in the world in the past few decades. The quality of human beings has deteriorated in modern lives. No one thinks of any one else but is focussed on the self. This self focus in not the same as promoted by the Zen and his view on suffering. Many people misinterpret the self with the ego and many practice the indulgence in their own self under the name of self focus. But Zen made it clear that the self attached to the four noble truths could never attain the real inner self and could never achieve a state of bliss or emancipation of suffering from meditations. I meditated on the event of the mother throwing her nine month old baby out of her tenth floor apartment window because he was crying and she could not handle him alone. I had focussed on the scene as I had read it in the newspaper. I reached the inner space of quietude and could see the event as though it was happening before my very own eyes. I could feel the body of the cuddly baby. I could see the shabby state in which the twenty-one year old mother lived on the tenth floor of a shanty tower. I could see that there was nothing to eat and drink for the mother. She was uneducated. She was jobless. She had no support. She had no one who claimed to be the father of her baby. The baby was starving and crying out to express his need. The mother had had a fight with her new boy friend and was upset that he had not helped her with money. She was angry at her own affairs and suffering and had lost control over her self. She had had none before also. She had lived up to satisfy her four truths, of desire, sin, and evil and had never found opportunity to awaken to her inner self. The young mother did not know what she was doing. His actions were mixed up with her past and future. Her present was out of control as he could not identify her present. She repeated the mistakes of her past by letting her present go astray. The baby was only living up to its survival needs but the mother could not cope with the demand of time. She had not identified with her true self and was engrossed in selfish aims in life so this led her to end her suffering by doing another evil deed to add up to the others she had always done. The baby was not in a position to govern his thoughts and actions as the mother is Maya who is totally responsible for the suffering or well being of her child until he is grown up enough to have his own thoughts and mind. This event played before my eyes when I meditated and it clearly awakened me to how ignorance of truth lead to misery of human beings. The perpetrator was behaving in a normal fashion of an ignorant un awakened person. She did not know what was true about her own self. She had not tried to connect to her inner self in order to identify her root cause of misery. She gave extraordinary importance to actions of short lived pleasures which had no ultimate welfare for human beings. I put myself in the shoes of the Perpetrator and I found that it was not so abnormal for her to be cruel to her child. On the basis that she herself had been raised in a similar unkind manner. The fact that society did not give her opportunity of learning about the finer virtues of human beings like compassion, honesty and truthfulness lead her to behave in a base manner un fit for human with a high intellectual capacity. The teachings of Buddhism, Zen and views of suffering enlighten this very basis of human behaviour and how it lead to suffering and misery. When analysed the story gives perspective of how the past catches up with the present and if not handled with knowledge lead to a worse future for the same human being. But on the other hand an individual who had been brought up with teachings of Buddhism or high values of life in his childhood would not react to a situation in this manner at all. A self aware person would concentrate on the situation and fulfil his responsibilities as a mother instead of shunning them like this mother did. A person grown up with meditation and self focus would firstly never get involved in short term bodily pleasures of creating babies without providing for them. The true essence of mother had been violated by this mother who aimed at satisfying her worldly pleasures all her life. She was devoid of any connection to her own self. She had no sense of direction to her life. Her aims were not aimed at her well being so she eventually created nothing but suffering for her self . She was the cause of her misery and she did nothing to elevate herself from it. The teachings of the Zen could have had a positive effect on her. People like her would rise above suffering and could contribute towards a superior self if they knew about the teachings of Buddhism. Assignment 8 – Act of compassion. There were so many destitute I had seen every day. They had failed to arouse my compassion any more. I was totally un aware of their presence and I felt un attached to their misery. The teachings of Buddhism and the practice of meditation gave rise to the sensitive aspects of my own self. I could feel the tingling of fresh breeze when I walked to college. I could hear the sounds of birds and bees through the park. I could see the people who lived in underprivileged circumstances in the same surroundings as I lived in my plush apartment on the 14 floor. They had never mattered to me for so long but meditation had awakened my finer senses and I had decided to reach out to them one day. It was Christmas time and I had planned a party at my apartment for all my friends. I had saved up enough money for the event. A week before Christmas I saw a child from this shanty town asking me for some money. I had asked him why and he had told me that he wanted to buy a new pair of socks for his little baby brother as he did not have any to keep him warm. This information had awakened me to the fact that I should rise above myself. I should rise above the four truths of the noble path. I decided to cut down my party by half the expense and donated the remaining money for the whole family of this little boy. I took him to a nearby sale with me and bought woollens for his baby brother, mother, father and the little boy. His face was overjoyed and for the first time I felt a strong sense of joy like never before. The connection to my inner self had become stronger. I did not feel the need to associate with the people who I wanted to help. They did not have to known to me nor related to me at all. Compassion was within us but we had to reach out to it by deep insight only possible through meditation. â€Å"If you realise that whatever you do, or however you are, ultimately fails to hold good, then what you do, you do† is the essence learnt from the Zen views of suffering and tenets of Buddhism. One had to rise above his own self, forget his physical form, his own identity with respect to others and only then humans could achieve freedom from misery. The teachings illustrated this realisation when I did what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. I had no connection with these people and yet they became a part of my life. I could feel happy by my actions and the same actions could have brought me misery once upon a time. The Zen teaching made me realise that we truly governed our misery and that we only could relieve ourselves from it. Compassion was a virtue that did not need special learning. We were imbibed with it and that we did not need to have extraordinary resources to perform acts of compassion. There were ample opportunities to acts of kindness if we were aware of our capability to do so. We could be kind to any one on the street without having to go out of our ways to help him or her in her time of need. The amount of positivity we earned by performing acts of kindness only strengthened the teachings of the Zen and his views of suffering in our daily life. It was possible to apply these teachings in every step of our day if only we were aware of our inner selves and if we connected to the source of origin of all energy within us. Assignment ten- give up something for the welfare of the planet. The very basis of Buddhism and its teachings is non violence, truth, acceptance and surrender of the self to the self and to the universe. The aim of Buddhism is to help every human being achieve nirvana. The goal of Buddhism teachings is to attain Samadhi or to reach a state of total bliss, emptiness through self realisation. To renounce ignorance and awaken to the understanding of the self as a part of the universe. The modern humans have used their brain power to enhance technology into our daily lives so much so that we are not aware of our total dependence on it everyday. We have destroyed tiny creatures inhabiting this planet with us to build empires of magnitude over the destruction of natural resources of the earth like mountains, rivers, sea and air, All these contradict the teachings of Buddhism. I decided to make my contribution to earth by planting more trees in and around my area whenever I saw deforestation for new buildings in the locality. I made sure I planted trees and shrubs that grew naturally in that area so that I could conserve the tiny species of insects, animals and birds that lived on these wild herbs. I did not want to beautify it with plants from the nursery but I wanted to preserve the natural foliage for saving the lives of all those who depended on it. I sacrificed my entertainment funds to buy trees and plant them nearby. I spent my time of partying on week ends to look after these trees instead. Every new leaf on the plants would revive my faith in my self. This action gave me confidence on how we could save the planet with small individual efforts rather than talk big and plan big for the government system to execute in the state. I have realised that when actions arise out of inner inspiration there is no sacrifice in them. There is absolutely no feeling of being deprived of neither time nor money when you are involved in an action which originated from your mind and heart for a noble cause you believed in. The money I spent to buy the trees did not pinch me a bit. I did not miss not seeing those movies and those outings with friends. I was nourished by an extra inner energy which boosted me for more such actions above my own self. The week end hours I sacrificed with my friends did not feel like a sacrifice but gave me immense satisfaction in the end of the day. I realised how much I could do to better the lives of all around me not just for my self but for the betterment of all. I learnt so much about environment I had never learnt through the internet. Physical work gave me good physique and I saved up the money I spent on gymnasiums instead. This activity in turn gave me an appetite for food so I cooked good meals and had sumptuous food instead of fast food junk I used to eat before. My overall health improved to an extent never before so how could I ever call this a sacrifice? I realised that the inner self was the source of well being. Not harming others and thinking of others gave rise to inner potential. I awakened to the fact that I had the capacity and the capability to do anything all alone. I understood that others did not create my misery. I felt free as I realised I had the power to create my own happiness. Meditation opened up inner doors to the treasures of human qualities that are hidden in each one of us. The Zen view of suffering unfolded all the ignorance I had about my problems. The teachings of Buddhism taught me to live free, fearless and with peace even if I was in the middle of a shopping mall, a crowded elevator or a class full of boisterous peers. I could still find my own space of perfect peace and tranquillity in the same world. I could connect to my inner self to be able to reach out to the universe in return.