Monday, September 30, 2019

Sci 241 Week 1 3 Day Diet Anaylsis

3-Day Diet Analysis Week 1 assignment 10/21/2012 SCI/241 Cassandra Cook I know that my eating habits are not that great. I work at a fast food restaurant full time so mainly my lunches are fast food. Lately, I have not been eating as much of what I usually due since becoming pregnant and I want to provide best for my unborn child. I like a lot of canned foods though such as chicken noodle soup and raviolis. I know there is not much nutrients in canned foods though. When I make dinners for my family I like to provide at least a meat and a vegetable. My favorite vegetables are corn, potatoes, and carrots.I am going to try to start eating more vegetables and healthier foods than the fast food sandwiches and the canned foods I have been consuming. For the Grains food group my target is 7 ounces. These past three days I have consumed 5 ? ounces. I am under the target for this group. For the whole grains I ate ? an ounce when I should be eating about 3 ? ounces. For the refined grains I at e 5 ounces. I ate over the limit for refined grains. For the Vegetable food group my target is 3 cups. I have consumed 1 cup of vegetables which is below the target. This food group is broken down into different groups.The first group is dark greens. My target for dark greens a week is 2 cups. This week I have eaten 0 cups. I have eaten under the target. The second group is red & orange. My target is 6 cups a week. This week I have eaten 1 cup. I am under the target. The third is Beans & peas. My target is 2 cups a week. I have eaten 0 cups of beans & peas. The fourth group is starchy. My target is 6 cups a week. I have eaten 0 cups. The final group is other. I should be eating 5 cups a week of other vegetables. I have eaten ? cup of other vegetables. For the fruits group my target is 2 cups.I have eaten five cups of fruit. I have eaten over the target. The fruit group is broken down into two separate groups. They are whole fruit and fruit juice. For these two separate groups there is no specific target. I ate 5 cups of whole fruit and 0 cups of fruit juice. For the dairy group my target is 3 cups. I ate 0 cups of dairy. It is under my target. The dairy group is broken into two groups. The first is milk & yogurt and the second is cheese. There is no specific target for these groups separately. For the Protein foods group my target is 6 ounces. I have eaten 6 ? ounces.This is right on target. The protein foods group is broken into three separate groups. The first is seafood. My target for seafood is 9 ounces a week. I ate 0 ounces which is under. The other two groups are the meats and the nuts. There is no specific target for these two groups. I ate 6 ? ounces of meats. For the oils group my target is 6 teaspoons. I ate 1 teaspoon of oils. This is under my target. I am going to try to add more nutrients in my diet. I need to add more vegetables to my diet. I need to have more of a variety. According to my chart I need to add different vegetables to my diet.I ea t mainly corn when I make foods. I think I will try to add green beans and peas to my diet. I also like the vegetables I just do not eat them often. I will try to add more of these. I also need to add more protein to my diet. I will eat more than just chicken or beef. I will add some seafood to my diet. My new diet and nutrient intake will affect my current health because it will keep me well and happy. It will help me in the future because it will help keep me from ending up with a serious disease. It could keep me from having a stroke and keep my heart healthy.There are six classes of essential nutrients. They are carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water. These nutrients are essential because your body cannot synthesize them. You must obtain these nutrients from your diet. The best way to make sure you get the nutrients your body needs is to eat a variety of different foods each day (Boyers,  2012). References 1. Boyers, L. (2012). Six types of Nutrients that w e eat. Retrieved from http://www. livestrong. com/article/511091-six-types-of-nutrients-that-we-eat/ 2. https://www. supertracker. usda. gov/FoodGroupCalorieReport. aspx

Sunday, September 29, 2019

An Analysis of ‘Giorgio Armani’

FASHION RESEARCH, MARKETING AND TREND FORECASTINGAn Analysis of ‘Giorgio Armani’ Victoria Joana Scherer Due: 14. 12. 2012 Word Count: 2219 +/- Abstract, Introduction and Conclusion not included Table of Contents Abstract4 Introduction5 1. Analysis of the socio-cultural framework6 Social trends6 PETA activists6 Size Zero7 Cultural evolution7 Economical evolution8 2. Analysis of the fashion trends/fads affecting the brand9 Mood-board9 Description of major fashion trends12 Colours12 Fabrics/ Materials13 Silhouettes13 3. Brand scan14 Analysis of targets/ customers14 Positioning14 Marketing Mix16 Analysis of fashion collections16 Competitive benchmarking compared to main competitors17 SWOT Analysis17 4. Definition of a forecasting plan18 Branding (image and recognition)18 Collection architecture18 Distribution plan19 Communications19 Conclusion20 Overall recommendations20 Appendix21 1. 121 Bibliography22 Articles22 Books22 Images23 Press Release23 Websites23 Youtube24 Abstract The following fashion brand forecasting plan stories Giorgio Armani’s previous and current designs, analyzing in terms of existing strategy, and market research. In the process of researching I paged through newspapers, extensively, many magazines, viewing past catwalks, scrutinized the internet media; in order to depict a sense of chosen colour, fabrics and styles, hence propose a new complete strategy. The project analyzes the four key aspects of: 1. Analysis of the socio-cultural framework (mainstreams in terms of social trends, cultural and economical evolution) 2. Analysis of the fashion trends/fads affecting the brand 3. Brand scan (analysis of targets/customers; fashion collections, competitive benchmarking compared to 2/3 competitors) 4. Definition of a forecasting plan The reason for me to choose this brand is that I did a summer internship which I greatly enjoyed and therefore had previous knowledge on the brand which I could integrate in my research. Further, did I use the same brand for my midterm assignment, having now the opportunity to make an even greater in-depth examination of Giorgio Armani. Introduction Giorgio Armani was born in 1934 in Piacenza, Italy. In the year 1975, he and his cohabite Sergio Galeotti founded the company ‘Giorgio Armani SpA’ in one of the worlds fashion capitals, Milan. Having studied two terms of medicine prior to the launch of the company, Mr. Armani completely changed his professional orientation when he started working as a visual merchandiser for department store ‘La Rinascente’. It was in 1990 when he first started to segment his company into sub-labels; ‘Emporio Armani’ & ‘Mani’. After some time he also created Giorgio Armani Prive, , Armani Collezioni, Armani Jeans, AX/Armani Exchange, Armani Junior, Armani Underwear, EA7, Armani Casa, Giorgio Armani Cosmetics, Armani Libri, Armani Flori, Armani Dolci and many more. The graph above, illustrates the various facets of Armani’s designs, having created a label which covers each category and customer interest. He is many celebrities favourite fashion designers; distinctive and famous for his elegant designs. His style is to be identified by unusual and unique cut combined with an elegant monochromatic colour palette. â€Å"Elegance doesn’t mean being noticed, it means being remembered. † – (Giorgio Armani) Armani is known for presenting himself in his signature simplistic style of jeans, silver/ grey t-shirt, black blazer. His look has become a holistic concept of life. Not only has he built an empire, he created a whole new world. 1. Analysis of the socio-cultural framework Social trends In fashion one â€Å"trend† chases the other. Nothing is as â€Å"old† as the collection of yesterday. Fashion trends are simply the surface phenomena of deeper social developments. They are the visual manifestation of desires and needs. The interesting question arises: What lies behind the current fashionable forms of expression and what kind of influence does society have on the fashion trends? What did constitutes for Armani and issues he had to tackle thereupon. PETA activists In the year 2009, PETA activists affronted Giorgio Armani, who promised to not produce any fur in his future collections. Anyhow, Armani failed keeping his promise. As a result PETA called for a boycott of his fashion – No Armani gowns at the Oscar ceremony! (February 22nd, 2009) Further did they publish a poster which shows Armani with a long Pinocchio nose. In several places such as Las Vegas, Milan, Paris, there were anti-fur demonstrations in front of the stores of the designer. See Appendix 1. 1) The social trend of fighting for animal rights was an issue Armani had to work upon. Instead, he claimed never to have made such a promise, anyhow apologized in public for any misunderstanding. It seems he did not deem it to be necessary to tackle this problem any further, as it is a small niche of society and would accordingly only have a small effect on Armani’s customers buying habit. Further, are other luxury brands, competitors using fur in their collections which makes the issue even less meaningful. Size Zero Size zero – a craze and controversy. As the 22- year-old Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos died after having starved herself to death, the organizers of the 2006 Madrid Fashion Week decided to ban skinny, size zero models. The World Health Organization is concerned that â€Å"the use of underweight models sends out dangerously wrong signals to girls, who look models as role models†. In November, the same year, the Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died at a young age of just 21 from anorexia. This tragedy made Armani being first of all luxury brands to introduce his own policy of only engaging ‘healthy-looking’ models with a BMI of 19. Many brands followed this social trend. Cultural evolution Today, regarding the ambience of lifestyle the Italians are seen as role models many societies: Espresso, Pinot Grigio, Tartufo Bianco, Gigli, Alessi, Armani. As any art mirrors design, whether for product or fashion, nothing represents a society more clearly. These mirrors are not placed in museums or elsewhere, we see them everywhere in life. Fashion is a sensual and rapid response to the now. Dealing with it, encounters the loving of surfaces, the study and cultivation which can be regarded as a profound thing. Milan, the origin and headquarter of Giorgio Armani, is one of the most famous fashion metropolis of the world. A mecca where various cultures come together, being inspiration for the designer himself and for society. Each trend emerges of society, having similar perception and emotions in different countries, can be combined together to then aspire a connectedness. Giorgio Armani receives lots of cultural influences of Asia for his designs. For example in 2010, he set the trend of an asymmetric neckline with a single sleeve (Sari), interpreted in a more modern way. When observing his catwalks, it is to mention that Armani engages ethnically diverse runway models. This emphasize the multi-cultural influence, Armani has on the world, as each customer, no matter which origin can feel connected to the brand. Economical evolution Due to the serious financial crisis that hit the world markets in 2009, Giorgio Armani proved outstanding staying power, when comparing it to the average performance of the industry. Giorgio Armani generated a turnover of 6â‚ ¬ billion at retail value (including licensed products), of which 4â‚ ¬ billion were made by their core business and 2â‚ ¬ billion from third party licences. The general slowdown in the fashion and luxury markets that also affected Giorgio Armani is largely due to a decline in GDP, in particular in North America, Europe and Japan†. Nevertheless, Armani succeeded and had stable increasing sales in China, a 32% boost, when comparing it to the year before which proves a momentum of recent y ears in the region. â€Å"I have to say that the interest of the Chinese public for Giorgio Armani is outstanding. I have experienced this through my stores and also through the welcome I was given in China. † (Giorgio Armani) 2. Analysis of the fashion trends/fads affecting the brand Mood-board The Timeless Description of major fashion trends The fashion maestro demonstrates in his haute couture a precision of unusual cuts, complex designs and valuable fabrics, all abiding the pure elegance in usual monochromatic colours. Elements of severe men’s wear are transferred to the women’s design, shaping the unmistakable Armani style. Colours Armani’s brand mark has always been the colour black, believing it gives a sophisticated and elegant touch to each and every design. Throughout the years, he complemented these with signal colours to create a modern look, being influenced by the Asian theme. In 2010, his collection emerges influences with a poppy red being its primary colour, as traditionally seen in ‘Qi Pao’s’. One year later, one could believe Mr. Armani himself has fallen in love. Into a theme which one would expect least of such a rationalist, the lascivious world of Boudoir. Powdery rose tones, a touch of grey complement his basis colour black. In the year 2012, mottled grey and black severe pantsuits harmonized with bright and vibrant colours such as pink, coral and tangerine. â€Å"Enlightened by bright ‘twinkle’ colours as in Tokyo†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Fabrics/ Materials When analyzing Armani’s collection from the previous year it is to recon that he has a distinct use of silk, categorizing it as his main fabric. Starting in 2010, where the fine lustrous fiber sticks superbly to the Asian theme, adding an incredible intense touch of elegance. Further, he used velvet which has a smooth dense pile and plain underside, creating a mysterious hint to the collection. Later in 2011, Armani uses flowing fabrics, such as chiffon and satin. Silhouettes The silhouette of Armani’s collection is based on the Asian culture, a theme which shows great influences on his collections in the past three years. In 2010, blazers, skirts and dresses are designed that fabrics overlap as seen in the traditional ‘Qi Pao’. Further, he gathered inspiration of the Sari; a long shawl which is wrapped around the waist and the end draped over the shoulder. The trend of an asymmetric neckline with a single sleeve (Sari), interpreted in a more modern way. The dresses are cut short, instead of long, slim cut – the western chic. In 2011, a paradigm of simplicity; straight-cut silk tops which is attached together with a brooch below the left breast and simply combined with matching silk trousers. 012 he referred back to his brand mark of transferring elements of men’s wear into severe pantsuits for women. Mottled grey ensembles on which huge rosettes of colourful pochettes are clinged together, complemented with diagonally placed trilby hats and men’s shoes. 3. Brand scan Analysis of targets/ customers Giorgio Armani has an iconic popularity amongst the elite of society, b eing one of many celebrities favourite designer. Nowadays, Giorgio Armani SpA encompasses a brand architecture of one corporate brand and five sub-labels, â€Å"each catering to different sets of target customers and at different price evels†. His main collection of apparel for ‘Giorgio Armani’ are of the ultra-premium price points, which accordingly more likely to target elderly consumers, therefore reaching the 35-50 year old age group segment. Positioning Defendability Operating in a small niche market, where 1st mover benefit and followers are at â€Å"disadvantage†. Erecting barriers to competition by discouraging entry through expertise, customer loyalty and continuous innovation of new designs, keeps the company ahead from its competitors. Differentiation Giorgio Armani’s brand concept is being sophisticated, targeting the upper-class with high-quality and innovative, elegant designs. â€Å"Elegance doesn’t mean being noticed, it means being remembered. † – (Giorgio Armani) Strategic Orientation Product leadership achieved through good performance having a clear mission for the company: â€Å"My mission has always been to help women and men feel comfortable and confident through the clothes they wear, rather than to create decoration for the sake of it. † (Giorgio Armani, Squidoo, 2012). Giorgio Armani’s symbolic expressive value appeals to consumer’s self-concepts and self-worth prestige, status image. Marketing Mix The 4 P’S demonstrate with what, where and how Giorgio Armani promotes his products in order to succeed with his marketing strategies. Analysis of fashion collections By means of the positioning and the marketing mix of the brand, it clearly illustrates how well Giorgio Armani integrates the concepts, making a clear statement through his collections towards his competitors. Due to the vast increase of sales in Asia, especially in China, after the financial crisis in 2009, the designer himself traveled regularly to the East for certain matters, by which he got the greatest experiences and influences for his pcoming collections. From 2010 onwards, one can indicate a strong emphasis of the Asian culture. â€Å"China approaches fashion with strong enthusiasm, and I believe that this enthusiasm can be translated into something interesting, economically speaking. Not only for my brand, but also for other brands†¦ We notice this, by wandering around in Shanghai â € ¦ Beijing †¦ and also smaller cities. † (Giorgio Armani) Competitive benchmarking compared to main competitors SWOT Analysis Even though Armani has high brand recognition, being well-known all over the world, faces fierce competition in its industry. Its greatest competitors are Hugo Boss and Gianni Versace since they target the same market. Especially the German brand, Hugo Boss is regarded as a great threat, since the brand implements stringent design and quality standards to produce superior products that deliver value for money. This is difficult to keep up with as Giorgio Armani’s price range is higher than that of Boss’. Further this strength may implicate the threat of brand duplicity. This is due as Armani is catering to a very small upper premium segment target group. An average salary in the UK amounts to approximate 30000? per annum (Council of Mortgage Lenders, 2012). This wage does not make it possible to purchase such expensive goods of Giorgio Armani wherefore brand duplicates seem as a good alternative for the customer. Especially in China, where Giorgio Armani seeks the opportunity of developing and expanding its branches, is considered as the mecca of fakes. 4. Definition of a forecasting plan Branding (image and recognition) Having sponsored the Italian team in the Olympics, Giorgio Armani made great awareness of its brand. Since, Armani is willing to have even greater brand recognition; the Olympics and the world cup in Brazil are a great opportunity to achieve so. Millions of people will be following these events, by interacting in such, Armani could gain a competitive advantage to Hugo Boss and Gianni Versace. Collection architecture The Asian theme appears throughout the years of Giorgio Armani’s collection. Being inspired by the ‘Qi Pao’s’ first, followed by ‘Sari’s’, both serve as great inspiration. In the year 2012, bright colours are combined with black and grey, which could be interpreted as the ‘up and coming’ colourful skyline of Tokyo. Due to the appearances of velvet and wave-like designs in 2010, it is to state that Armani could use these two variations as inspiration for the upcoming season in 2013. Blouses will be straight-cut with a balloon-like ending, such as seen in seasons 2010 and 2011. These will be combined with straight-cut trousers, edging it with a comeback of pointed shoes and a finish-off with trilby hats, as seen in the collection of 2012. These symbols represent power and being dynamic, as the fast-pasting metropolis of Asia. Colours will range from darker Bordeaux reds into degrees of purple, complementary to the beloved plain colour of Mr. Armani himself, black. Distribution plan Giorgio Armani employs 5500 in their direct workforce, having 13 factories and a perpendicular network of exclusive retail stores in 46 countries worldwide. In order to increase their annual revenue of 1,8 â‚ ¬ [=1. 453. 750. 000? (Exchange rate on the 13. 12. 2012) Press Release 2011] billion, Armani could increase their presence of branded flagship stores, with independent retailers and department stores, as well as increasing the availability of online distribution, as Brazil is not listed. Brazil definitely has to be included as this country will have great influence on future campaigns. Communications The world community will come together to celebrate the festivities of the Olympic Games and the World Cup in Brazil together. Brazil being host to many people around the world; creating a feeling of togetherness. Armani can be part of this by sponsoring the Italian team and making aware of themselves. Building up on this strategy, Armani should invest in advertising campaigns, billboards etc†¦, raising positive awareness and excitement towards the brand and the events. Conclusion Giorgio Armani is one of the most famous Italian fashion designers. His style is classic, elegant and discrete – this is reflected in each of his puristic designs. He is the creator of an empire which successfully operating due to efficient marketing strategies, using celebrities to raise awareness with advertising, engaging the company on events such as sponsoring the Olympic team or promoting the new James Bond â€Å"Skyfall† [Vogue, Germany Premiere), the movie in which he accouters the actors. To mention is the correlation between the movie and the designer’s inspirational Asian theme, as Skyfall’s settings partially take place in Shanghai, China (Movie Trailer, Youtube). By means of this, Giorgio Armani outperforms his competitors, bringing his competitive advantage to a new level. Armani, is that what one wants to wear – the oh so traditional, new trend. Overall recommendations When analyzing the world of Giorgio Armani, it seems nearly useless to give recommendation to the company, as he has been successfully managing the company, in all areas, since years. Anyhow, there are little areas where he could make some improvements. Even though Giorgio Armani is a luxurious brand, the brand could offer accessories slightly cheaper such as scarves, since these prices start from 248â‚ ¬ [=200,29? Exchange rate on the 13. 12. 2012) Armani Website] in order to make it possible for customers who desire the brand to make a purchase on a good which they could wear on a daily basis. This would increase even greater brand recognition and higher customer satisfaction, even for those who can’t afford Giorgio Armani itself. It makes them feel to be a small part of the world of Armani. Regarding the failure of interacting the social trend of â€Å"going green† and â€Å"being socially active† in 2009 where Armani presented fur in his catwalk, after making great announcements to PETA. To get rid of his negative image, and create a more valuable relationship to celebrities, he could get involved in social activities. Due to his great relations to celebrities, he might use these, to get those who are highly involved with PETA, such as Katie Holmes, to change his image. Appendix 1. 1 (PETA, 2008) Bibliography Articles| | | Fleuranvil, Fabiola. â€Å"Fashion Marketing Planning. †Ã‚  Ezine Articles. SparkNET, 11 July 2009. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. . | | Modeopfer. Modelabel Giorgio Armani. †Ã‚  Modeopfer 110. N. p. , 15 May 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. . | Books| | | McKelvey, Kathryn, and Janine Munslow. Fashion Forecasting. Chichester, U. K. : Wiley-Blackwell, 2008. Print. | Images| | | * â€Å"Google. †Ã‚  Google. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. | | * http://image. rakuten. co. jp/playerz/cabinet/ax/img55589066. jpg| | * http://www. citypictures1. com/Tokyo-Pictures/Tokyo-Night-483-588-picture. htm| | * http://www. google. de/search? ource=ig&rlz=1G1SVED_ DEDE394&q=logo+armani+jeans#hl=de&tbo=d&rlz=1G1SVED_DEDE394&sclient=psy-ab&q=logo+armani+collezioni&oq=logo+armani+colle&gs_l=serp. 1. 0. 0i30j0i8i30l3. 2513. 15980. 0. 17458. 17. 17. 0. 0. 0. 0. 395. 4859. 2-13j4. 17. 0†¦ 0. 0†¦ 1c. 1. d2_ergZZgEg&pbx=1&bav=on. 2,or. r_gc. r_pw. r_qf. &fp=6d03cd0ad1005791&bpcl=38897761&biw=1366&bih=667| | * http://www. italiadesignerbrands. com/ekmps/shops/annajones198/resources/Design/aj-armani-jeans-logo-56aa0ab37e-seeklogo-com-1-20120718143314-8b93d953. gif| | * http://www. outlet-cities. e/uploads/pics/armani-logo. jpg | Press Release| | | * â€Å"FASHION LEGEND GIORGIO ARMANI ON CNN'S ‘TALK ASIA' – Press Releases – Turner Asia. †Ã‚  FASHION LEGEND GIORGIO ARMANI ON CNN'S ‘TALK ASIA' – Press Releases – Turner Asia. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. | | * Armani SpA, Giorgio. â€Å"2009 Annual Report. †Ã‚  Giorgio Armani Press Release. 2010 Giorgio Armani SpA. Via Borgonuovo 11, Mila no. Printed in Italy, 2010. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. . | Websites| | | * â€Å"2011 Esc Pau Armani Final Ppt.   2011 Esc Pau Armani Final Ppt. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. | | * â€Å"Armani. com Online Store – Autumn-Winter Collection 2012-13. †Ã‚  Armani. com-Online Store. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. ;http://www. armani. com/gb;. | | * â€Å"ELLE a? â€Å" Home – Fashion, Kollektionen, Models, Designer, Mode, Style, Trends. †Ã‚  ELLE a? â€Å" Home. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. | | * â€Å"Fashion News, Latest Trends, Catwalk Photos & Designers (Vogue. com UK). †Ã‚  Vogue UK. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. | | * â€Å"Mode, Trends, Beauty Und People – VOGUE. †Ã‚  VOGUE. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 012. | | * â€Å"Oil Rich. †Ã‚  ELLE. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. ;http://www. elle. com/;. | | * â€Å"Peta. de. †Ã‚  :: Pinocchio Armani. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. ;http://www. peta. de/web/pinocchi oarmani. 1842. html;. | Youtube| | | * James Bond 007 Skyfall | International Trailer (2012) ; Gewinnspiel. †Ã‚  YouTube. YouTube, 31 July 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. . | ——————————————– [ 1 ]. This research is based on my experiences of the internship I took part during Summer 2012 in London.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

A Comparison Of A Certain Lady

A Comparison Of A Certain Lady The portrayal of women in literature has varied greatly as history has progressed. In the Jazz Age, women were seen as breaking free from being just a housewife and the shadow of a man. The flapper was a woman who closely resembles the women of today. She smoked, drank, wore revealing clothing for the time, and considered herself an equal to men. A woman who had a career that rivaled most men was Dorothy Parker. She was a founding member of the Vicious Circle meaning that some men even treated her as an equal during a time when women’s right were still new and the role of what was expected of a woman was changing. In the poems A Certain Lady, To a Lady, and The Lady’s Reward Parker explores the mind of a woman, and how said woman used what she had to get what she needed. The poem A Certain Lady depicts how a certain woman would act while a man told her of his exploits. The woman is expected to just listen and almost be happy that the man is having successful conquests. The woman is supposed to be passive and bat her eyes and be oblivious to the entire situation because historically women were thought of being not as intelligent as men. However in this poem it is obvious that the woman is extremely intelligent. The last two lines of the poems read, â€Å"And what goes on, my love, while you’re away, /You’ll never know.† It is obvious that the speaker knows how the man really is because it is implied that while he is away she has her own agenda. This also implies equality between them, at least in the speaker’s mind. The speaker believes that as the man is allowed to do as he pleases that she is equally as deserving to do the same. Despite this, the speaker seemed slightly upset at the man’s actions although she likely might be doing the same: And you laugh back, nor can you ever see The thousand little deaths my heart has diedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Nor do you see my staring eyes of nights, And when, in se arch of novelty, you stray. The speaker definitely seems hurt by what this man is telling her. It is as though every time the man tells her of his conquests, a little piece of her heart dies. It seems like it is slowly crushing her. The speaker goes on to say that the man does not see her â€Å"staring eyes.† Perhaps this means that the man does not see what he is doing to her or even that she stares into the night wondering what he could be doing at that moment. It seems that the woman lives by the saying â€Å"ignorance is bliss.† It seems that as long as he is not telling her of his exploits. She can go on with her life and do as she pleases. As long as she pretends she is not intelligent she can have pretend happiness or continue to try filling a void that is cannot be filled. A poem that continues with the concept of the woman being intentionally ignorant to what is going on is To a Lady. However in this poem, the ignorance is used with a different motive.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Strategic Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Strategic Business - Essay Example According to the official website of Red Cross, the history of Red Cross is very interesting and it dates back to 1859, when a Swiss Banker, Henry Dunant whilst travelling in northern Italy came across the aftermath of the battle of Solferino. The huge disaster encouraged him to found a nonprofit organization in 1863 with the name International Committee of the Red Cross and after about 140 years, more than 186 National Red Cross societies were present all around the world. In Australia, Red Cross was established in 1914 by Lady Munro Ferguson after nine days of First World War. Australian Red Cross office is located in Melbourne and it is offering services in more than 60 communities there. The different kinds of community services provided by Australia Red Cross include the disaster services, refugee services, first aid and health services and blood services. Australian Red Cross Shops have been established by Red Cross organization and they are offering stock of big fashion at very reasonable and small budget. More than 35 shops are operating in the state (Red Cross n.d.). Australian Red Cross Shops are offering a variety of products including new and pre-loved clothing, medical equipment, baby products, baby kits, electric homeware, car seat etc. The Red Cross Shops are staffed by the volunteers and the income generated from shops is a source of fund for Red Cross. The political factors directly impact the operations of the organizations in Australia. For example, on 2 May 2010, the Federal Government of Australia declared the agenda for future tax system of Australia and this announcement affected all companies, small businesses and nonprofit organizations (Third Sector Magazine 2010). The review specially focuses on not-for-profit organizations which according to the review face inconsistent state and federal regulations in Australia. Since the corporate sector is the major

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Education Infosystem Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Education Infosystem - Research Paper Example The research paper "Education Info system" talks about the development of a system developed to improve the quality of learning and research of a given region. The education system has a great influence on the kind of education and research that is carried out in a given country. It is noted that the nature of students determines the kind of methods of teaching, accessing the type of information. A country with a large China needs the sophisticated type of information system faster work, improve accuracy and efficiency in service delivery, for instance, it takes a better and advanced information technology and system to cater for the needs of an increased population. A similar survey also indicates that the size of the country determines the kind of system used to disseminate the information needed so as to deliver service in good time. In the current educational setup, there are a lot of changes all the way from classroom to the public, for instance, the manner of teaching and delivering by tutors has changed from traditional face-to-face to better and interactive technologies that lack human element such video conferencing. This enables different types of information from a diverse location to integrated and coordinated for a better decision making. It can be noted further that due top lack of system, information is wasted and blurred and myopic decisions are made in time and more accurately. In education, teachers’ salaries extrinsically motivate teachers from teaching and delivering the quality of service.

Harriet tubman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Harriet tubman - Essay Example Most were sold but she stayed on the plantation. When she was a teenager, she was told by the Overseer of the plantation to help him stop a slave that was running away; Harriet helped the slave instead. The Overseer was so angry about this that he picked up a two pound wait and threw it at the slave. He hit Harriet instead and almost killed her. She had headaches for the rest of her life (Bennett 50). At age 25, she married a free African American named John Tubman. Five years later, she was afraid that she would be sold somehow and quickly made her way to freedom, aided by a neighbor. The neighbor gave her a piece of paper with two names on it that were the first two safe houses on the Underground Railroad Route. Through a series of events after that, she escaped to Canada. She traveled to Pennsylvania where she met William Still, the "Stationmaster" of the Underground Railroad (History Net par 4). Many people say that everyone is destined to do something in the world and they must find what it is and do it. For Harriet, working as the "conductor" for the Underground Railroad was her destiny. Most people know that this wasnt an actual train, but a system of safe houses where slaves could stay on their journey to freedom. Slaves would listen to hear the code song: Once they heard this, they knew to get ready because the "train" was running and Moses had arrived. She was nicknamed Moses because her work was similar to what Moses did as he led the people of Egypt out of slavery. History reports that she made about 19 trips and helped 300 slaves escape to the North. This also included her family members. What she did was very dangerous because she had a price on her head that promised $40,000 for her -- dead or alive. During that time, she never lost a slave (Bennett, 52). After the war, Harriet moved back to her home in Auburn New York and opened the "John Brown Home," a home for indigent black people. She raised the money to buy the land and

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Reflection Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Reflection - Research Paper Example Increasing affordability of the smartphones is the most fundamental factor that has contributed to their growth in Philippines. MP3 players have already reached the stage of maturity in their lifecycle. One of the biggest drawbacks of MP3 players has been their short battery life. In order to sustain their sales in the contemporary age when products that contain the function of MP3 players along with many others of their own are omnipresent, MP3 players need to provide the customers with an added benefit that the new devices have yet not managed to. Extending the battery life of the MP3 players is a potential way to increase their life cycle because most of the new products contain a multitude of features but with a compromise over the battery life. Text messaging has been in use for all kinds of purposes particularly business since the middle of the first decade of the 21st century. To take the text messaging to the next level, mobile companies need to make the text messaging experience more convenient for the customers. Traditionally, customers experience inconvenience in text messaging because they have to deal with very short-sized keypads on the mobiles. Text messaging experience of the customers can be enhanced by enlarging the key boards on the mobile devices. If increasing the size of the mobile devices is difficult for some technical reasons, an alternative solution to it can be manufacturing portable USB keyboards to be connected with the mobile devices. To extend the lifecycle of the pressure cookers, companies need to add useful features to the pressure cookers. Features that the customers would like to see added to the pressure cookers may include but are not limited to the reading of pressure developed inside the pressure cooker varying with time, and the reading of temperature inside the pressure cooker. Pressure and temperature inside the pressure cooker are a key concern in

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Childhood Obeasity Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Childhood Obeasity - Research Proposal Example The overwhelming evidence of prevalence of unhealthy obese lifestyle among the American youth originates a serious issue related to health. Children with obesity have to cope with numerous diseases linked with obesity that are discussed in this paper. Some of the research presented in this paper also deals with the factors that explain why the incidence of obesity is increasing among the American youth. Increase in the availability of affordable junk foods and sedentary lifestyle are also highlighted in the paper that contribute to incidence of obesity. Some factors that make it difficult to decrease the likelihood of obesity in the youth are also identified in the paper and backed up with authentic evidence. 1. Introduction: For the past many years, research reports have been illuminating that more and more children are getting overweight owing to the increased adaptation of sedentary lifestyle and increased consumption of junk food and sugar beverages. Childhood obesity presents on e of the greatest health challenges to the world. Obesity is especially drastic and devastating for the youth owing to the many other diseases it develops like emotional disturbances, heart problems, type 2 diabetes, and increased blood pressure. Over the past years, decrease in the prices of beverages and fast food has made it convenient for the youth to consume these readymade products excessively. Affordability of such foods that are high in calories, fat, and sugar has made the likelihood of obesity among youth all the more potent. There are numerous alarming side effects associated with this growing epidemic which are highly capable of destroying the futures of many children. The rate of obesity among the American youth is so markedly high that according to a report by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity, â€Å"today, more than 23 million U.S. children and teens—nearly one in three young people—are either overweight or obese.† (Thompson, 2010). What aggravates the situation is that only a minimal percentage of youth is on diet that meets the national recommendations and even less percentage of youth considers the necessary 60 minute daily physical activity presently in America. Outdoor activity has been almost completely replaced with television and video games, and this greatly increases the incidence of obesity among the American youth. 2. Research review: a. Prevalence of obesity in the American youth: (Thompson, 2010) mentions that â€Å"obesity is becoming a problem at an earlier age, with 24.4 percent of children ages 2 to 5 already obese or overweight.† The problem of childhood obesity is prevalent in the American youth irrespective of race, religion, family income, and location. Still, some populations or communities are at more risk of childhood obesity than others because of their unhealthy lifestyle and increased consumption of foods that go against the recommended healthy diet. Some pa rticular races like Blacks, American Indians, and Latinos are at more risk of childhood obesity than other races owing to genetic factors. Sedentary lifestyle and social environments play more active role in increasing childhood obesity incidence than the genetic factors. Obesity significantly destroys the futures of many children because the adverse disease it brings with itself, cause a serious setback to such children. This epidemic

Monday, September 23, 2019

Cesim Global Challange Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Cesim Global Challange Report - Essay Example This situation made it extremely difficult for the company to be attractive to investors and thereby limiting shareholder participation. It would be admitted that the efforts of Team Ochre has clearly brought some levels of improvement but it has not totally solved the situation. Team Ochre’s success can be attributed to a relatively impressive fixed asset which stood at $766,581. Even though this could be higher, it is generally better than what most other groups recorded. A number of factors can be given to explain this, including the production based investments which have already been referred to. Team Ochre is focused on maximizing shareholder value through the provision of massive global representation. Using the unit sales volumes as an indicator for market shares for the company, it was found that the company recorded positive market share in three technologies globally. Unlike its competitors, Team Ochre’s financial performance was spread across three major technologies. These were Tech 1, 2 and 3 with 0.00% market share in Tech 4. Team Ochre is also able to achieve consistent performance by effective future forecasting of its market demands. For example for Tech 1, the total available products were 8,552,000, all of which were produced in the USA with 0 manufactured in Asia. Meanwhile the demand for both markets was only 1,799,000. For Tech 2 also, the situation was not different with 0 products manufactured in Asia with 5,975,000 USA manufacturing against 1,285,000 demands. This certainly shows the effect of poor forecasting on by Team Ochre, the result of which was overproduction. Looking forward, Team Ochre plans to continue to focus its attention on efficient and lean production. The reason for saying this is that even though the company has become marketable and lucrative to customers and thus attracted some improved levels of sales, profits are still low. As of round 9, the

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Argumentative Essay Essay Example for Free

Argumentative Essay Essay Governments should be more involved in citizens diets Modern age supermarkets selling off the shelve foods are normal nowadays. Unfortunately the knowledge of what is healthy and what is not had been effected by this. People should be better educated on what is healthy and what is not. Healthier diets make healthier citizens and healthier citizens will save a lot of money in health care, bad diets do cause expensive health problems. Although it is general knowledge that unhealthy products are cheaper than healthy products, it is not general knowledge that products claiming to be healthy are usually full of harmful and unhealthy ingredients. It is time the government steps in to protect the population. Firstly, health problems caused by bad, unhealthy diets weigh heavily on health care expenses. Several population-based prevention policies can be expected to generate substantial health gains while entirely or largely paying for themselves through future reductions of health-care expenditures according to The Lancet (Cecchini et al., 2010). Just by eating healthier a reduction will be made possible, this alone should be reason enough for a government to get more involved Secondly, people will be stimulated to choose healthier products when prices for unhealthy products will be raised. The current situation is just the other way around. The healthier choice is more expensive. â€Å"With proper nutrition and regular exercise, you can reduce the costs of health insurance premiums, the amount you spend on medicines and the number of co-pays for doctor visits† according to Livestrong (Ellyn 2011). However true this may be, as long as healthier products cost more instead of less people will be inclined to buy more unhealthy products. Thirdly, in order to make the healthier decision, information about unhealthy ingredients should be clearer and more visible. Reading food labels is strangely enough rather difficult, excellent vision and extensive knowledge on what the ingredients mean are necessary to understand the labels. â€Å"It makes it easier to compare similar foods to see which is a healthier choice† according to the Mayo Clinic (2012), however easier to understand labelling, easier to read labelling will enable more people to making that choice. In conclusion, if governments decide to invest in educating the population it will enable and stimulate citizens to make healthier choices. In order to reach this goal the government should demand clearer and more visible information on products concerning the ingredients put a fairer price on healthier products.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Business Level Strategies of Ashley Furniture

Business Level Strategies of Ashley Furniture Introduction of Ashley Furniture Ashley Furniture industries, Inc., founded by Carlyle Weinberger in Chicago in 1945 just as a sales operation, is a furniture manufacturing and distributing company, which headquartered in Arcadia, Wisconsin. Now the father and son team Ron and Todd Wanek own the company. Like many other furniture companies, Ashley Furniture Industries sells its products, such as home furnishing, accessories through two main distributions: one is independent channels; another is more than 400 Ashley Furniture Homestore retail furniture stores. All the stores are either owned by the company or licensed to other businessmen in North America countries, such as USA, Canada, Mexico, Central America and Japan. The mission to become the BEST Furniture Company reflects its proud past and shows the desire about future. And with over 60 years of innovation, creation and experience in the furniture industry, the company already became the leader in the industry which focuses on the quality of its furniture products. At present, the company has manufacture plants across the United States and Pacific Rim Countries, mainly in China. Business Level Strategies of Ashley Furniture One model can be used to give a full explanation of what happens in the real world at the level of the Strategic Business Unit and it can help identify those strategies which can be utilized to prevent the failure of business. The successful strategies can be illustrated as following levels: Low price/ low added value, Low price, Hybrid, differentiation without price premium and Focused differentiation. Low price/ low added value: providing lower price than it can be found elsewhere. Low price: based on a high volume with low margin product to bring cost leadership as its competitive advantage. Hybrid: Compete on price and seek to keep the margin by controlling the cost of products. Differentiation without price premium: Competition is principally on perceived benefits but not on price. Focused differentiation: Using unique qualities without substitution to get premium. The Strategic Business Unit chose for this research is the living room division of Ashley Furniture. According to what one of the Ashley Furniture Industries sales managers called Al Lopriore said, the business model of Ashley Furniture is different from other competitors, by establishing for over 65 years, the main business model of Ashley Furniture is the company design, build and deliver its own furniture, and the company is in control of all aspects to make sure the good quality. From the website of Ashley Furniture Industries, it can be seen from the homepage that the four cornerstones of its business models are quality, style, selection, service. They are all the foundations for Ashley Furniture making every decision and the guidelines and principles to help the company achieve the mission statement of being the best furniture company. Therefore, the main business model of Ashley living room furniture used to get competitive advantage is using Hybrid, which means by the methods such as outsourcing a series of its products from Pacific Rim countries to cut the cost of furniture and adding value to the products by quality, style, selection and service. Strengths and Weaknesses of Business Strategies The main strategy of Ashley living room furniture is Hybrid, which means that the division wants to compete other competitors on price and as well to control the cost of furniture to maintain the gross margin of the company. There are a series of advantages and strengths as follows: Strengths: Good price to attract customers: After the recession of economy crisis in 2008, the price of goods, especially furniture, become the main competitive advantage to attract customers to consume products on company. As the main reason that led to the economy crisis is the subprime lending which is related to the housing industry; and makes a drop in the sales of houses in North America, mainly in US. Although the recession had a negative impact on Ashley living room furniture, good price of its products keeps attracting the customers to purchase Ashley living room furniture. Variety of products: this means that based on variety of products, Ashley living room furniture is able to survive during the crisis. Even one product fails in the market, there are still other products succeed in the market to make up the loss that cost by the failure of that product. Besides, different kinds of products make those brand loyalty customers to purchase more and also increase the image of the brand. This helps the company achieve the mission of becoming the best furniture company in North America and even all over the world. Maintain the gross margin: Obviously, this technique assist the company to maintain the gross margin by controlling the cost of furniture. By using Hybrid strategy, the division still possesses the ability to control the cost of products. On the other hand, by adding more value through design, build and deliver the furniture to the customers, the products of Ashley living room furniture are still attractive. Weaknesses: Inevitably, there are some negative impacts by using this kind of business level of strategy, which can be identified as weaknesses. And the weaknesses of using Hybrid strategy are presented as follows: More funds spent on implementing the strategy: In order to supply and offer more furniture products to the customers, more funds will be spent on Research and Development, Design to find more solutions offered to the customers. Besides, the division possesses its own stores which cost much of its capital on investing in purchasing fixed assets, which may become a potential problem to the cash flow of the company. Competition of the similar products in the company: It can be seen from its website that the division provides more than 100 furniture products to customers to find out the most suitable furniture for their living rooms. Therefore, this results in the competition among the products within the same category. Although from some perspective, this attracts customers to purchase in Ashley living room furniture, it increases the competition in the products of the company, which can not be ignored. Lack of quality: It can be known that the products of Ashley living room furniture rely on quality and the mission of becoming the best furniture company in North America and even all over the world rely on quality; meanwhile, the business model of Ashley living room furniture depends on the quality of products. If the company concentrates on controlling the cost, such as the outsourcing price offered to those manufacturing companies in Pacific Rim countries, which may affect the quality of products of Ashley living room furniture. Then it will affect the paradigm of the division in the industry and then reduce customer brand loyalty. Report to the Board of Directors Dear Board of Directors: This report is a summary of the findings of the current research on the business level strategies based on the living room division of your company. And it will highlight the key information and findings; at the end, a couple of recommendations will be provided to help the division enhance the strengths and polish up the weaknesses. After analyzing the strategies used by your company, it can be viewed as Hybrid strategy. It do bring strengths to the division such as offering good price to the customers which helped the division survive during the recession of economy recession in 2008, offering different kinds of products which enhances the choice of customers, and the methods of controlling on the cost of furniture increase the competitiveness of the division. However, it brings a few negative impacts to the Ashley living room furniture. For example, it disperses the funds of the company to many different products; it also increases the competition among the furniture of the company, which is always ignored by many companies. The high intensity of cost control may affect the quality of products which will lead to a significant impact to the division. Therefore, Ashley living room furniture should pay more attention to this kind of issue and as well to enhance the strengths and polish up the weaknesses. The following will give a couple of recommendations. Enhance the strengths: Corporate with those plants in Pacific Rim countries. This means the Ashley living room furniture division collaborates with those plants in Pacific Rim countries. By using this technique, it is helpful for the division to control the quality of furniture. Besides, through collaborating with these plants, the division can share the information, knowledge and resources to achieve more competitive advantage to compete other competitors and make the mission of the company come true. Pay attention to the shipping cost. This is a significant part of the cost of the furniture, by outsourcing some products and manufacture at another side of Pacific Ocean, the division was charged a huge amount of capital on shipping cost. So it is necessary to use the strategy like preparing in South-east Asia, and assembling in US to cut down the shipping cost and then make the Ashley living room furniture more competitive. Polish up the weaknesses: Further design the products to differentiate them. The furniture needs to be design further and add more value functions to make it more attractive and valuable. By doing this, furniture can be classified to fit different size of living rooms, different kinds of decoration styles. Add TQM in Asia plants. Total Quality Management helps Ashley living room furniture to control the furniture quality and based on this, the division can have a vision of how the shipping furniture looks like; and based on this, the division can have an insight of the furniture quality to meet the customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ requirements. Funds spent on those more value-added actions. Donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t spend the money and capital on those non-value added processes, even those it is important to the division. In this case, it is better to outsource these processes rather than make it by the division itself. It is essential that the division pay attention to polish up the situation and make the products of the division more competitive and attractive. It is predictable that by enhancing the strengths and polishing up the weaknesses, it will accelerate the process of becoming the best furniture company in North America and even all over the world.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Paul Cezanne Essay -- essays research papers

PAUL CÉZANNE   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Post Impressionism, as the name would suggest, is the art movement that directly followed Impressionism. One artist, who led the Post Impressionism movement, was French artist, Paul Cà ©zanne. Much of his early work was pure Impressionism and, although he was introduced to the style and guided by Camille Pissarro, Cà ©zanne's works showed a distinctive uniqueness. Cà ©zanne broke away from Impressionism because of the lack of composition; he felt the desire to depict subjects in the third dimension as well as appearing flat. Cà ©zanne did not agree with the Impressionistic trait of portraying the world through light, instead, he built up images by a generous use of colour. Cà ©zanne would distort objects and his works would often consist of numerous viewpoints on the one canvas. Cà ©zanne worked with and was greatly influenced by other Impressionists he associated with, including Degas, Monet, Pissarro and Renoir. It was Pissarro who guided Cà ©zanne and convinced him to break up the colour and use shorter brush strokes when painting; among Cà ©zanne's friends, Pissorro was the only one patient enough to teach him. Cà ©zanne also admired Romantic painter, Eugà ¨ne Delacroix, who used colour instead of lines to define objects; this inspired him to endeavour his quest for composition using colour alone. Many aspects of Cà ©zanne's early works can be traced back to the compositions of Delacroix's works.   Ã‚  Ã‚  &n...

Introns And Exons :: essays research papers

Introns and Exons   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The finding of the Introns and the exons was one of the most significant discoveries in genetics in the past fifteen years. split genes were discovered when lack of relation between DNA sequences were seen during. DNA- mRNA hybridation. For all new mRNA, they must be transcribed by RNA polymerase enzymes. The transcription begins at the promoter sequence on the DNA and works down, thus the nucleotide sequence of the mRNA is complimentary to the one of DNA. In eukaryotes the mRNA is processed in the nucleus before transport to the cytoplasm for translation. In order for the mRNA to become true functioning RNA it must under go several stages of modification.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At first, when the mRNA is produced, a cap is added enzymaticully to the 5 ¹ end of the RNA by linking a 7-methylguanosine residue by a triphosphate bond this is called the G-cap. The G-cap is necessary for translation. The subunit of the ribosome recognizes the G-cap and then finds the initiation codon to start translation. As the mRNA comes finishes transcription, the Poly A tail is added to the 3 ¹ end. As the two ends are placed the mRNA becomes pre-mRNA.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The pre-mRNA consists of splicing and non-coding regions. pre-mRNA molecules are much longer than the mRNA molecule needed to code for its protein. The regions that do not code for amino acids; aa, are scattered all along the coding region. The genes are split with coding regions, called exons, short for expressed regions; in between the exons the non-coding region called introns exist. Before the translation of mRNA the introns must be spliced off. Splicing is an complicated process for the cell. It must locate every intron in the primary transcript. An average mRNA consists of eight to ten introns, some even contain sixteen introns. exons, like introns are also spread apart. Some of their codons may be split by introns, so information for a single amino acid could be some distance apart. Splicing takes place in the nucleus but also could take place in the cytoplasm and the mitochondria. After the splicing of the introns, the G-caps and the Poly A tails remain on the mRNA.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A single gene can code for multiple proteins by alternative splicing. A single strand was found to be coding for twenty different proteins, depending on how the exons are assembled. Different splicing combinations are regulated in t issue specific manner.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Most of the transcribed DNA are introns. ninety nine percent of the information contained in the gene transcript is destroyed when the introns are eliminated since exons are only translated.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Elizabeth Barrett-Browning and Virginia Woolf Essay -- Biography Biogr

Elizabeth Barrett-Browning and Virginia Woolf      Ã‚  Ã‚   I chose to compare and contrast two women authors from different literary time periods.   Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) as a representative of the Victorian age (1832-1901) and Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) as the spokeswoman for the Modernist (1914-1939) mindset.   Being women in historical time periods that did not embrace the talents and gifts of women; they share many of the same issues and themes throughout their works - however, it is the age in which they wrote that shaped their expressions of these themes.   Although they lived only decades apart their worlds were remarkably different - their voices were muted or amplified according to the beat of society's drum.   Passages from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Aurora Leigh can be contrasted with Virginia Woolf's portrayal of Isabella in The Lady in the Looking Glass: A Reflection.    The Victorian Era is known as the Age of Inquiry when all the foundational truths of the past were open to examination and reconsideration.   Despite this new desire for certainty, Victorians were slow to release the safety of the past - trying rather to meld the old and the new together and struggling with the mismatched pieces.   Modernists, on the other hand, rebelled openly and loudly against their past which resulted in an extreme sense of loss and instability - reflected in the works of the time.   Elizabeth Barrett Browning writes as one who is looking through a rain drenched window at a scene that is vaguely familiar but quite unclear.   She is attempting to remove the distortion to see what the vista holds.   Rather than direct analysis, Victorian authors often tried to offer a form of practical advice f... ...ted forth..." but, "Isabella did not wish to be known".   Not because she knew herself to be a fraud but because she was inexplicably complicated and the embodiment of contradiction - a truly modern woman.    Both of these women were intuitive authors who had deep messages to convey through their works.   Elizabeth was able to probe the perimeter of difficult issues while maintaining one foot on the firm ground of her upbringing and faith.   Virginia abandoned all to forge into the complexities of Modern thought and despite her bravery she was herself a victim of the despair that comes with a loss of moorings.    Longman citations   refer to page numbers of Eng 103 course text, Spring 2001: Damrosch, David, et al., ed.   The Longman Anthology of British Literature:   Ã‚  Ã‚   Vol. B.   Compact ed.   New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Egypt’s Culture and Political System Essay

The Egyptian culture is considered one of the oldest cultures in human history. Surprisingly, it almost has some of gender equality except that it needs more to consider, in order achieving the third Millennium Development Goal, which talks of achieving gender equity/equality and women empowerment by 2015. I would recommend that the Egyptian constitution considers enacting and/or passing several legislations in favor of women and as well give recognition to the informal market sector, where bulks of the women are making meaningful contribution to the economy. I would also recommend that this ancient nation and culture acknowledges the home, where the men considerably have all the major decision making powers. I am of the conviction that women make sound and major decisions as well and can provide better and transformation ideas, realizing the remarkably undeniable work of the women of Liberia during the civil war. I believe that if our generation begins to identify the errors of past generations, relative to gender-related issues, and if we address those issues in more formal ways by beginning to give women their rightful places in society; ensuring that opportunities and privileges are equally and equitably distributed, our world can be the most enjoyable place even for generations unborn. In an effort to do this, we must begin with an identification of the problems as stated above, discuss them thoroughly as a way of enabling us to craft or design ideas that would amicably resolve them for the better of our general world, beginning with the Egyptian society. In Egypt the political system of policies and regulations of its political structure is based on its fundamental laws and practices. Most of which shows how the Egyptian government positions its power on the state and the society it governs. Egypt started out being a Republic adopting a democratic system. This system  defines the way i n which it uses its public authority. There are basically six parts to this system. The first is the constitutional system. There was a constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt in 1971 that was used but then had a written amendment to it in 1980. The actual amendment had commonality in the English Common Law which came from the Napoleonic Code. It simply explains that Egypt declares it’s self as an Arab Republic with a democratic system. The second part is called the Executive Branch. The president is called the Head of State. The head of state is selected by a minimum one-third majority of the Majlis ash-Sha’ab, which is the â€Å"People’s Assembly. The People’s Assembly must approve by a minimum of two-thirds and have to be elected by a majority referendum. The election term is for six years with the possibility for re-election with conditional reasons for return. Putting into to play the general state policy is made up and supervised by the Head of State. He also rules the Armed Force. The last elected president of the republic was Mohammed Hosni Mubarak. The supreme executive and administrative organ of the State is the government; they are comprised of the Council of Ministers. This is ruled by the Prime Minister and he is the overseer of the work of the government. The highest part of the government is the Executive and administrative part of the Egyptian Republic is the Council of Ministers. The Ministers are together responsible for the policy and procedure of the State before the People’s Assembly, every Minister is responsible for the performance of his Ministry and is held to accountability to do so. The Parliament has great power as well. They have the power to withdraw confidence from the Cabinet or from any Cabinet member and leave them powerless. The fourth part of this system is the Legislative Branch. This branch of the Egyptian Parliament is a reflection in character and consists of the People’s Assembly, or Majlis El-Shaab and the Advisory Council or Majlis El-Shourah. â€Å"The People’s Assembly is the legislative branch of the State consisting of 444 directly elected members and 10 members appointed by the President, who serve for a term of five years. It has the power to approve the general policy, new laws, the budget and the development plans of the government. It also has the authority to undertake investigations and to levy taxes, besides appointing the Presidential candidate and passing a vote of no-confidence in the cabinet. The Advisory Council with 140 members, out of which 70 members  are nominated by the President, is Egypt’s consultative council. It offers advices and consultation and proposes to the Assembly new laws and regulations† (Haas, F. 2008). The fifth part of the system is the Judicial Branch. The Judicial branch System was brought into the country introduced into the country in 1854 and predicated on the English common law, Islamic law, and Napoleonic codes system to go through for four categories of courts of justice. Almost like the United States the highest judicial body is the Supreme Constitutional Court, the Court of Cessation. There are seven courts of Appeal in the various systems, and the Summary Tribunals in the districts are the principal court system in Egypt. It guarantees the independence of the judicial system. The fifth system is the Party of Power. This system is ruled on a multi-party system. â€Å"The Law 40 of 1977 regulates the development of political parties in Egypt. Though there is currently 17 active political parties representing various stands across the political spectrum, the law prohibits the creation of religious-based political parties in the state. Presently the National Democratic Party holds the majority of seats in the People’s Assembly† (History. 2012). The sixth system is the local government. This is headed by a Governor who is appointed by the President which is very different as to how they are selected in the US. â€Å"Egypt is administratively divided into 26 Governorates. Within their districts, local government units establish and run all public utiliti es, provide services and designate industrial areas. Working closely at various levels with local government is the Local Popular Councils. The basics: Egypt is a large, mostly Arab, mostly Muslim country. At around 80 million people, it has the largest population in the Middle East and the third-largest in Africa. Most of Egypt is in North Africa, although the part of the country that borders Israel, the Sinai Peninsula, is in Asia. Its other neighbors are Sudan to the South, Libya to the West, and Saudi Arabia across the Gulf of Aqaba to the East. It has been was ruled by Hosni Mubarak since from 1981 until February 11th†( Pew Research Center 2011, November 17). As to what is going on today in Egypt. There has been fierce protest in Egypt that has been promoted by the recent protests in which led to the fall of the Tunisian government as well as getting rid of longtime Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The Egyptians have gathered momentum to get support of other protesters across the Arab world in Algeria, notably in  protesting their autocratic governments, high levels of corruption, and grinding pove rty. This is a big reason Why Egyptians unhappy and disturbed about the government. They feel they have no basic freedom than Tunisians. â€Å"Egypt is ranked 138th of 167 countries on The Economist’s Democracy index, a widely accepted measure of political freedom. That ranking puts Egypt just seven spots ahead of Tunisia. And Egyptians are significantly poorer than their cousins to the west† (Mislan, D. 2012). How did this all start? These protests started with the protests in Tunisia. Just like their Tunisian counterparts, â€Å"Egyptian protesters have pointed to a specific incident as inspiration for the unrest. Many have cited the June 2010 beating death of Khaled Said, allegedly at the hands of police, as motivation for their rage. But it’s also clear that the issues here are larger† (Prager, D. 2012). This seems to be complicated for the US more than Tunisia was. The â€Å"Tunisian regime was a key ally for the US in the fight against Al Qaeda. But the US government’s ties to Tunisia’s Ben Ali pale in comparison to American ties to Egypt. Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Institution, a centrist think tank, explains: Predictions that a Tunisia-like uprising will soon topple Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak are premature the Egyptian regime, with its well-paid military, is likely to be more unified and more ruthless than its Tunisian counterparts were. The U.S. is the primary benefactor of the Egyptian regime, which, in turn, has reliably supported American regional priorities. After Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel, Egypt is the largest recipient of U.S. assistance, including $1.3 billion in annual military aid. In other words, if the army ever decides to shoot into a crowd of unarmed protestors, it will be shooting with hardware provided by the United States. As Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations points out, the Egyptian military is â€Å"not there to project power, but to protect the regime (History. 2012)†. There was a movement started in Egypt called the Egyptian Movement for Change (EMC). It also has another name called, Kefaya which in English means â€Å"Enough†. This came about in 2004. Almost immediately its importance to Egyptian political life was recognized, though not understood. Both Egyptian and Western analysts have mischaracterized the movement. Interpretations have been too narrow, focusing on specific details and ignoring the movement’s broad vision, or too broad, mistaking Kefaya for a generic social movement in the Western mode. All such approaches fail to  appreciate Kefaya’s real contribution. This essay argues that Kefaya’s significance lies in its transformative potential as a broad political force that is uniquely suited to the needs of the moment in Egypt. It is at once a cross-ideological force that has the potential, in the long run, of creating a new mainstream and a movement of a new kind that is creating a distinctive and promis ing form of politics for Egypt. Egypt’s political system has reached a dead end in the early twenty-first century. The opposition political parties are locked in their headquarters, unable to communicate with the public. Virtually acquiescing to the siege of an arsenal of restrictive laws, these political parties have for years suffered from an increasingly diminishing membership, a lack of operational funds, and internecine internal feuds. The â€Å"illegality† of the Muslim Brothers (MB) has paradoxically liberated that organization from restrictions that come with governmental licensing. However, the ideology, posture, secrecy, and political tactics of the grassroots-based MB engender the mistrust of many political forces, including some Islamists. At the same time, the secularist-Islamist polarization hinders the possibility of reaching any meaningful consensus on critical issues. This blockage is not lost on the regime, the clear beneficiary of such divisions among its adversaries, and it does not augur well for the future of the brothers in a lead role in shaping Egyptian political life. Amid this political disarray, a new generation of Egyptians holds the promise for transforming politics in Egypt. They have found a home and an instrument in Kefaya and in the process have invented a new form of politics. Their innovations are historically grounded on the specifics of Egypt’s political life in recent decades. Unique Egyptian circumstances have shaped their experiences, aspirations, and vision for the future. With the seething political discontent on the one hand and the ideologically based mistrust and mutual exclusion among the political forces on the other, Egypt needs today, more than ever, a new form of politics that pulls together diverse ideas from across the political spectrum to forge a new national project. For more than a decade, a group of activists and intellectuals have interacted across ideological lines to reach a common ground. Kefaya emerged as one manifestation of these efforts and as an important illustration of the possibilities of this new politics.  While such collaborative work across ideological lines is not unique in democratic experiences around the world, Kefaya represents the first successful effort of that sort in modern Egyptian politics. This essay, based on primary sources, including open-ended interviews, statements, newspaper articles, and reports, as well as unpublished documents, is composed of three main parts. The first part explains in more detail the reasons why Kefaya has been widely mischaracterized; the second illustrates why and how Kefaya represents a new force with the potential of creating a new mainstream; and the third explores the new politics invented by Kefaya. There has been Misunderstanding Kefaya Since its early days, there have been various critical interpretations of Kefaya by politicians and intellectuals alike, at times citing deficiencies in the movement’s profile, actions, and approach, while at other times dismissing the movement outright as being a â€Å"foreign puppet† or the pastime of â€Å"a bunch of kids.† The most serious and widely noted critique of Kefaya is that it has been essentially a mere protest movement, targeting President Mubarak personally, without putting forward an alternative candidate or articulating a constructive vision for political transformation. The critique along these lines has gained more momentum since the 2005 presidential election. Because Kefaya’s main slogan expressed the rejection of a fifth term for Mubarak as well as the succession of his son, the argument goes that Kefaya lost its raison d’etre with the end of the election. â€Å"Except for rejecting the election results, symbolized by the slogan of ‘Batel’, nothing new was produced.† When Kefaya played a leading role in the formation of the National Front for Change on the eve of the subsequent parliamentary elections, it was criticized as passing the torch to the old opposition parties, the very same entities whose inaction it has been formed to face. (Haas, F. 2008)†.The EMC had been â€Å"dragged into sitting together with the leaders of the tamed opposition, instead of putting forward a demand for changing the electoral system.† While critics clearly question Kefaya’s contribution to Egyptian politics, even the more positive assessments of the EMC mischaracterize it. For example, the American Left sees Kefaya as the beginning of â€Å"the process of rebuilding an Egyptian Left crushed by decades of police oppression† and a reverse of its â€Å"political marginalization caused by the rise of political Islam (Haas, F. 2008)†. Some Egyptian analysts as well characterize Kefaya  as a â€Å"secular† protest movement and thereby implicitly expect its role to be the containment of the Islamists. Kefaya has been so widely misunderstood in the West as well as among the Western-educated elite in Egypt because of the reliance on Western social scientific classifications, notably the social movement literature, to make sense of a phenomenon emerging from the very different Egyptian context. This shortcoming is compounded by looking at Kefaya with an ideologically selective eye. While Kefaya has indeed demonstrated several of the characteristics highlighted in the literature on new social movements, it is neither single issue oriented nor concerned with identity two of the most important features of new social movements. Shoehorning Kefaya into a category derived from the experience of postindustrial societies obscures more than it illuminates. Nevertheless, the concept of the new social movement comes closest to capturing certain features of Kefaya. The movement is one of dissent, aiming in a constant and persistent endeavor toward the transformation of Egypt.4 It is a loose network of small groupings around the country. Like social movements, it aims at generating public attention and has emerged from a realization of the perils involved in conventional party politics in Egypt, marked by debilitating restrictions and dilemmas. In other words, Kefaya emerges out of realization that the institutional channels are neither neutral nor amenable to the demands for change. However, unlike conventional social movements and because of the specific necessities of the Egyptian context, Kefaya is not focused on a single issue. The same, incidentally, is true of the Islamic movement whose platform also embraces a range of issues. In addition to the breadth of the issues addressed by Kefaya, the movement is ideologically diverse. In this way, it differs from the Islamic movement. While the latter has a concrete ideology shaping its project, Kefaya goes beyond any single ideology to be the only movement in contemporary Egypt that emerged out of serious political interactions across ideological lines. Approaching Kefaya through the prism of the social movement literature, with its American scholarship emphasis on resource mobilization and political processes, blinds analysis to this distinctive feature, which is in fact one of the most important contributions of Kefaya to Egypt’s political life. There is concern about the momentum behind Egypt’s emergency law, and what it means for progress both the incredible progress that has already been  made and the equally incredible progress that has yet to be made. There is concern about the treatment and status of the Copts and other members of the Christian Egyptian minority. There is concern about the security of the Egyptian–Israeli border and about relations between the two countries in general. There is concern that the progress that has been made thus far could actually lead to a reversal of Egypt’s progress, should the freedom to elect lead to a government that constricts the freedom of the Egyptian people even more than we have seen over the past 30 years And the list could go on. Indeed, there is no shortage of things about which to worry. There is a fine line between worrying and believing. Similarly, there is a fine line between two, seemingly contradictory, truths: Some degree of discontent with our present circumstances is healthy and necessary, because discontent fuels progress; at the same time, being happy requires that we make a point of being happy wherever we are. There is a fine and difficult line between making the best of our current reality and not giving up. It is necessary to think through all possible outcomes, including the undesirable and even the remote ones. Both worrying and believing are the result of thinking. Worry and anxiety result from focusing on undesirable outcomes no matter how probable or improbable. Belief, on the other hand, is the result of focusing on the best possible outcomes again, no matter how probable or improbable. Whereas worrying fuels panic and skepticism, believing fuels faith and hope. Positive action rarely results from the chaos, fear, or feelings of scarcity that often accompany worry. Faith and hope lead to trust and courage; and trust and courage lead to positive, prosaically action. So, yes, there does seem to be a great deal to worry about right now. Even still, if there’s even the remotest possibility that believing instead of worrying will lead to continued progress, and then it seems to me that believing is what we have to do. Positive Psychology has been described by Martin Seligman and others as the science of what makes life worth living; of what is working for individuals, families, communities, and society more broadly. The Positive Psychology experiment with which we are now charged is to, together, choose belief over worry. At least between now and Egypt’s presidential election, let us together make a conscious, deliberate decision to focus on what is working and how it can lead to the best possible future for Egypt and for the world as a whole. References Mislan, D. (2012). Cross Cultural Perspectives. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Haas, F. (2008). German Science and Black Racism–Roots of the Nazi Holocaust. FASEB Journal, 22(2), 332-337. History. (2012). Germany Country Review, 7-14. Ninkovich, F. (2001). The United States and Imperialism. Wiley-Blackwell. Pew Research Center. (2011, November 17). The American-Western European Values Gap. Retrieved fromhttp://www.pewglobal.org/2011/11/17/the-american-western-european-values-gap/ Prager, D. (2012). Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph. HarperCollins.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Assignment #1:  Entrepreneurial Leadership

Assignment #1:   Entrepreneurial  Leadership A Company cannot be innovative and competitive without understanding the importance of leadership. There are three main points to identify leadership which are, having people to lead, having certain skills to reach company's objectives, being focused on and accomplishing goals. In being a leader one possess quality and empowerment. In relation to leadership in a company, three outstanding renowned leaders are, Victor Kiam, Sergey Brin and Larry Page Victor, Kiam, has been known around the world for his vastly flourishing advertising campaign as the man â€Å"who liked the Remington Shaver so much, he bought the company. † But Victor Kiam is much more than a TV spokesperson-he is the man who took a money-losing corporation and quadrupled its sales and turned it around. He is a classic example of a successful leader and entrepreneur. Kiam demonstrates the democratic leadership style, by not only creating a great company all by himself but allowing others input, in helping make decisions for the corporation. The approach to the major business principles of a profit-oriented entrepreneurial in relation to Kiam gives way to the role of entrepreneur being crucial and critical in the context of building the enterprise. He plays many roles linking human resources, finance, production, marketing, operations, research and development and overseeing the same with a broad and big picture. He networks with bankers, major clients, suppliers and others thereby ensuring smooth functioning of the enterprise. Kiam identifies the opportunity, builds the base and leads the organization by attracting and retaining the precious human resources. He usually looks at the niche areas and goes by the road less traveled. In the sense, in order to have the goal of providing a great product and to make a profit he looks for novel and innovative methods so as to try and work out his idea. Kiam is an innovator, creator, risk taker and leader. A successful entrepreneur is one who senses the opportunities constantly, manages the risk, collaborates effectively for building strong teams, raises the bar, learns from mistakes and failures and constantly innovates and pursues the project with passion till the end. Sergy Brin and Larry Page are known for co-founding Google in 1998, and redefined the way people use the web. Now two of the world's richest people, they still play an active role in the company, encouraging resh approaches to Google's unique culture and its expanding suite of services. One would say Brin and Page’s leadership style is characterized from the participative style known as democratic because both individuals are involved in the decision making process as well as working together to solve situations within the company. Many of the same principles that intuitively guide the collective innovation of the Renaissance are now being deliberately and sy stematically applied within the world’s fastest growing companies. Google as a company still aims to continuously innovate to find new ways to organize and present the information that its users say they need and want. New products like GoogleMaps, GoogleEarth, GoogleNews, GMail, and GoogleDocs continue to keep the company at the forefront of the field. Social Responsibility plays a main part in keeping a business running smoothly The founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin believe that it is incredibly important for people to have access to information around the world and that this is something that Google can deliver. They have run into issues with foreign governments over censorship, but recently it has not been a major problem. CEO Eric Schmidt predicts that Google will become an unintended central focus around global copyright and ownership legal issues. It is essential for the entrepreneurial leader that people is the most important resource to manage and the most effective to use. Focusing on people, knowing the ways to motivate, inspires, and enabling people to act is what brings the leader to a new dynamic market level. The entrepreneurial leader is to be passionate about what he/she is doing. Every process has to be challenging with a devotion of time and effort. All researches in entrepreneurship view entrepreneurs as innovators. And this is the only way to face increased competitiveness. Innovation today aims at obtaining dominance in a market. When it comes to Victor Kiam who is the most innovative of all US business leaders and who possess, salesman in his bones, he went beyond social responsibility within his company. When Kiam bought the company from Sperry Corporation, Remington it was a loss-making company it was America's dominant electric razor manufacturer. Every salesman knows, a pitch above all has to have the ring of truth. In its first incarnation, the Remington ad featured Kiam in a suit. He notice the unrealistic, he performed the commercial in a bathrobe, only to discover that most American men did not wear a bathrobe when they shaved so he decided to use a towel. As Kiam related in a speech accepting the 1988 Outstanding Business Leader award, â€Å"I draped a towel over my shoulder and covered one breast, as two breasts would have been too much for the American public. † A part of the leadership style of a person is something the person was born with and the other part is formed by multiple factors, such as, society, experience, working environment, and cultural differences. Taking all of these factors in consideration, my leadership style can be described as a combination of democratic leadership and transformational leadership. I believe I posses some of the democratic leadership style characteristics because I make sure my group members are encouraged to share their thoughts, I can lead people around me to better ideas and more creative solutions to problems. Group members also feel more involved and committed to projects, making them more likely to care about the end results. I know I can bring the best out of an experienced and professional team. With being a democratic leader I know it capitalizes on skills and talents by others letting them share their views, rather than simply expecting them to conform. If a decision is very complex and broad, it is important to have the different areas of expertise represented and contributing input this is where democratic leader shines. Research on leadership styles have also shown that democratic leadership leads to higher productivity among group members. Transformational leadership style is also a character I possess. I can create a clear structure of a task that needs to be done always tied together with rewards or punishments. In its ideal form, it creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. I know that within myself I set the bar and others follow just like, transformational leadership which enhances the motivation, morale and performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms. These include connecting the follower's sense of identity and self to the mission and the collective identity of the organization; being a role model for followers that inspires them, challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers, so the leader can align followers with tasks that optimize their performance. I believe it is critical to use leadership power in a way that makes people depend less on the leader. Arising motivation and a sense of importance in followers plays an important role in leadership. Besides, the high competition and market perspective this makes me aspire after entrepreneurial leadership. The Small Business Administration (SBA) and SCORE are both useful resources for entrepreneurs. The SBA is set in place to provide funding and to provide entrepreneurs with information to assist in business operations. SCORE is a non-profit organization with chapters across the United States which has volunteers that either have been or are presently successful entrepreneurs and executives who give back by sharing their expert business advice. They provide an entrepreneur with a big range of priceless and unique to small business information, basic and general information, laws and regulations, statistics and researches are available to use in order to learn more and be a successful entrepreneur. Information presented and topics discussed make a process of opportunity searching much easier and less time and cost consuming. Furthermore, it has a live chat, blogs, and online advising system that help to find an answer or solve a problem. I will utilize the SBA to secure funding for my business. While the SBA does not make direct loans to businesses, it sets the guidelines for loans, which are then made by lenders, community development organizations, and other lending institutions. SBA guarantees that these loans will be repaid, thus eliminating some of the risk to the lending partners. The SBA also has a variety of training material on topics such as creating business plans, marketing and outreach, laws and regulations, and many other areas. The Small Business Administration will be instrumental in laying the foundation and funding for my business. SCORE will also be utilized to provide guidance and mentorship. I will utilize the expertise of SCORE’s volunteers to give me valuable input on best business practices, effective strategies for success, enthusiasm and support. SCORE also has an assortment of training material ineffective strategies to manage, grow, and finance, business. The Small Business Administration and SCORE both will provide assistance on the keys to creating an appropriate business infrastructure, keys to sustainability, and strategies for growth. If you were to create your personal principles of leadership, what would they be and explain why you would chose them. My personal principles of leadership consist of three elements, lead by example, have a sense of accountability, and inspire a shared vision. These principles are the most important components of leadership and are the essence of effective leadership. Reference page * ^ Victor Kiam Going for it! How to succeed as an entrepreneur, ISBN 0688060609 * ;http://investing. businessweek. com/research/stocks/private/person. asp? personId=376317;privcapId=26851117;previousCapId=26851117;previousTitle=Lia%20Sophia; * ;http://www. google. com/about/corporate/company/business. html; * ;http://www. sba. gov/; * ;http://www. score. org/;

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Arguments Against Mandatory Voting Essay

Popular participation is often cited as one of the fundamental principles of democracy. The right to vote being a freedom that has, and continues to be, sought after by people all over the world. Despite the value of many political systems’ movement toward universal suffrage, the few countries that have confused the right to vote, with a requirement to, have arguably deteriorated the significance of this achievement. Australia is part of a considerable minority that implement obligatory voting laws, and of an even smaller subset that enforce them. Although the proponents of mandatory voting will be considered, the incompatibility of compulsory voting with implied freedoms, with broad theories of democracy and the overall inefficacy of producing a more engaged public, serve as perspectives that substantiate the notion that voting should no longer be compulsory in Australia. The Australian Constitution raises a number of questions about the constitutional validity of mandatory voting. Given this evaluation of an issue so pertinent to political rights, the implications of these challenges coming from a source as authoritative as this cannot be understated. The existence of a legal responsibility to vote can be perceived as incongruous with the implied freedom of political communication that was proved in Australian Capital TV v Commonwealth 1992 and recognised ever since. This inconsistency extends to the right to vote being proved as an implicit right in s7 and s24 of the Constitution, which, as reported by Dr. Anthony Gray, is an entitlement to vote that includes the freedom not to. Whilst advocates for the current system of compulsion may contend that voting is a civic duty, such reasoning can be seen as unconvincing as it fails to acknowledge that abstention is a perfectly valid form of political expression. Through an analysis of mandatory voting from a wider democratic perspective, the idea that compulsion is an infringement of free will becomes increasingly apparent. In addition to the obvious paradox that a democratic country forces its constituents to vote, a truly free nation should allow for the demonstration of dissatisfaction and make provisions for a refusal  to identify political beliefs. Although commentators in favour of compulsion may assert that the ability to provide an informal or ‘donkey’ vote facilitates this, the inefficiencies these contribute to as well as its inherent irrationality, given they are discounted, are persuasive arguments against such an opinion. Moreover, although there is a certain degree of legitimacy in the claim that obligatory voting serves to augment the democratic ideals of equality and participation, compelling a person to vote is ultimately, according to academic Katherine Swenson, antithetical to the concept of individual freedom. A common belief maintained by supporters of compulsory voting is that it creates a more politically active electorate. Whilst in theory this is conceivable, its practical limitations make the alleviation of indifference a distant reality. In support of this, a 2007 experiment conducted by Peter Loewen et al. in a Quebec election found that required voting had â€Å"little or no effect† on the knowledge and engagement of its participants. In the Australian context, despite the assumption that the problem of participation is solved by mandatory laws, in the last election around one-fifth of eligible Australians failed to cast a usable vote. It is argued that candidates and parties rely on these laws to get voters to the ballot. If this is the case, perhaps the solution is to abandon compulsory voting and thus force parties to organically incite a politically active populace through enticing and innovative policies. The dichotomy of democracy is that it demands both individual freedoms and equality. A great difficulty of modern politics has been the ability to strike a balance between these paradigms, and to determine at what point one must be truncated to enhance the other. Through an analysis of compulsory voting through a constitutional, democratic and practical context, it has become clear that such a regime has no place in a society that strives to exist as an epitome of democracy. The time has now come for Australia to abandon its paternalistic voting laws and entrust its political future with the voluntary voice of the Australian public, and not in a piece of legislation that commands it to speak. REFERENCE LIST/ BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. Chong, D, Davidson, S & Fry, T 2005, ‘It’s an Evil Thing to Oblige People to Vote’, Policy (St Leonard’s NSW), vol. 21 no. 4, pp. 10-16. 2.Gray, A 2012, ‘The Constitutionality of Australia’s Compulsory Voting System’, Australian Journal of Politics & History, vol. 58, no. 4, pp. 591-608. 3.Hoffman, R & Lazaridis, D 2013, ‘The Limits of Compulsion: Demographic Influences on Voter Turnout in Australian State Elections’, Australian Journal of Political Science, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 28-43. 4.Krishna, V & Morgan, J 2012, ‘Voluntary voting: Costs and benefits’, Journal of Economic Theory, vol. 147, no. 6, pp. 2083-2123. 5.Lever, A 2010, ‘Compulsory Voting: A Critical Perspective’, British Journal of Political Science, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 897-915. 6.Loewen, PJ, Milner, H & Hicks, BM 2008, ‘Does Compulsory Voting Lead to More Informed and Engaged Citizens? An Experimental Test’, Canadian Journal of Political Science, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 655-672. 7.Singh, S 2011, ‘How Compelling is Compulsory Voting? A Multilevel Analysis of Turnout’, Political Behaviour, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 95-111. 8.Swenson, KM 2007, ‘Sticks, carrots, donkey votes, and true choice: a rationale for abolishing compulsory voting in Australia’, Minnesota Journal of International Law, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 525-552. Gordon, SB & Gary MS 1997, ‘Cross-National Variation in the Political Sophistication of Individuals: Capability or Choice?’, Journal of Politics, vol. 59, no. ?, pp. 126-147. Hooghe, M & Koen,P 1998, ‘Compulsory Voting in Belgium: an Application of the Lijphart Thesis’, Electoral Studies vol. 17?, no. ?, pp.419-424.