Calveta’s Dining Services, Inc: A Recipe for Growth? Essay

Higher chances of attaining goals and will obtain desired market penetration Increases Calveta’s geographic coverage and market share GSD is presently in a good position, when the revenue generation is taken into consideration. Calveta would attain a great deal of customer potential as it was maintained by GSD. The organization hierarchy could be restructured so that it could accommodate significant growth while preserving the company’s core values. The disadvantages of choosing this option are: Very risky Plagued with labor issues and management turnover Quality of service may suffer. Higher debt load Does not have a strong balance sheet but has great income potential. Jennifer Calveta COO of firm: Could have been CEO instead of her brother Very detail oriented and concerned about preserving the company’s culture Is concerned about the acquisition of business for growth expansion Is concerned with the organizations structural modification 1. What role (if any) have Calveta’s values played in the organization’s success? Calveta has clearly defined values to guide the staff’s behavior. The immense growth of the organization confirms that Calveta’s is doing an excellent in embedding their values in their employees’ actions and management decisions. The values necessitate the inclusion of everyone and the exclusion of none. The organization’s values enabled all levels of management to usher the employees toward a continuous growth. 2. Does Calveta’s operating approach offer a sustainable competitive advantage? Calveta’s operating approach offered a unique competitive edge over many of its competitors. While their competitors focused on highly regularized systems and standards, Calveta chose to build local food service teams and menu offers to serve each facility distinctively. Additionally, Calveta’s wait staff treated the residents like family following their behavioral standards. This type of customer service garnered rave written reviews from the facility’s residents. Finally, implementing programs that increase efficiency while satisfying the needs of bed ridden or immobile residents confirm a very innovative operating approach that resulted in a sustainable competitive advantage. 3. Why haven’t other food service providers copied Calveta’s approach? Calveta’s competitors were not focused on conducting a profitable business without straying away from its core values. Passion, customer service and efficiency remained at the forefront of every decision. On the other hand, their competitors were focused on growth, meeting financial goals and increasing market share. Rarely do we find companies who keep both service and profit as a priority. 4. Given Calveta’s communication and internal organizational challenges, how important will training and development be to maintaining growth and culture? The internal challenges within Calveta confirm that the organization must continue to rely on training and development to ensure success. However, training and development should not be done in a manner that reduces quality or at the expense of the residents’ positive experiences. Upper management must create systems that focuses on the development of new managers and establishes a solid means of communication between staff and management. Growing pains is inevitable but it cannot become a deterrent to taking the company to the next level. 5. Calveta’s fifth goal is profitable growth. Goals one through four is more ethical in nature. Is goal five inconsistent with the first four? Establishing growth as a goal is consistent with Calevta’s other goals. However growth, whether by acquisition or market penetration, should not mean that â€Å"Antonio’s Way† is watered down in any way or removed from the way Calveta conducts business. Calveta’s unique approach to business cannot be lost while increasing revenues and market share. As long as Calveta’s values remain the guiding force to management decisions and employees’ actions, having growth as a priority should be expected. 6. How, if at all, should Calveta’s organizational structure be changed to resolve communication issues, preserve the company’s culture, and support future growth? Calveta’s uses the top-down management structure. This structure contains layers of managers (rank structure) which all communications must pass through. With each layer there is a risk of distorted information being sent to the next level. Each level adds to the communication becoming more confused and out of context. Therefore more layers mean a greater risk of distortion and confusion among the staff. Such distortions cause a lack of productivity, frustration, confusion, and inept management. Conversely, management is receiving feedback from the field that is invalid since the original plans, orders, and ideas were not acted on; the same risk of distortion exists with the return flow. The end result of this is that customer service suffers. The image and prestige of Calveta is damaged. Calveta should simplify its management structure, implement an information network, combine some positions and eliminate others. The implementation of a more flat management structure will reduce the chances of distorting communication. 7. Should Frank Calveta move forward with an expansion into the hospital sector? With the proposed acquisition? Calveta should focus on making serious internal improvements before piling on debt, increasing the chances of management turnovers, and getting into business with an organization known to not have the best reputation. Calveta has a great reputation and its ability to function and grow with little debt confirms that their balance sheet is in excellent condition as well. An internal restructure and a recommitment to its values and goals should be the number one priority. Calveta should not move forward with the expansion into the hospital sector at this time. On the other hand the acquisition of GSD may be an excellent move for Celveta. This acquisition will increase Celveta’s geographical presence and increase its assets without increasing its debt load. With some management restructuring done within GSD, Frank should be able to meet his father’s financial goal to double profit in 5 years.

Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 3

3. The Samurai of Jackson Street TOMMY When he first arrived in San Francisco, Tommy Flood had shared a closet-size room with five Chinese men named Wong, all of whom had wanted to marry him. â€Å"It's horrible-like being packed into a take-out box of Kung Pao chicken,† Tommy had said, and although it wasn't like that at all, and Tommy was just trying to use colorful language which he felt was his duty as a writer, it was very crowded and smelled strongly of garlic and sweaty Chinese guys. â€Å"I think they want to pack my fudge,† Tommy had said. â€Å"I'm from Indiana, we don't go for that kind of stuff.† As it turned out, the Chinese guys didn't go for that kind of stuff either, but were, in fact, very much interested in getting green cards. Fortunately, only a week later, in the parking lot of the Marina Safeway where he worked nights, Tommy met a gorgeous redhead named Jody Stroud, who rescued him from his confinement with the Chinese guys, by giving him her love, a nice loft apartment, and immortality. Unfortunately, little more than a month after that, their minion, Abby, had them bronzed while they slept, and Tommy awoke one night to find that despite his great vampire strength, he couldn't move a muscle. â€Å"I'd rather be trapped in a take-out box of Kung Pao chicken,† Tommy would have said if he could have said anything, which he couldn't. Meanwhile, right next to him, sharing the same bronze shell, his beloved Jody drifted in a dream-state, a side effect of being able to turn herself to mist, a trick she had learned from Elijah Ben Sapir, her vampire sire. Between the dead sleep of daylight, and the floating in a dream-world, she could endure decades inside the statue. Tommy, however, had never learned how to turn to mist. There had never been time to teach him. So come sundown, his vampire senses came on like neon, and he experienced every second of his confinement with an electric intensity that nearly had him vibrating in his shell-an alpha predator pacing the cage of his mind and shredding his reason. Of course, he did the only thing he could do: he went barking at the moon mad. CHET He'd have to lick about a mile of kitty-butt to get the taste of meter maid out of his mouth, but Chet was up for it. He raked a couple of hind-leg kicks through the dust that was the meter maid's remains, and headed across the street and into the alley, where he curled up in the dark and set about blunting the human taste. It was only a little over a month since the old vampire had turned Chet, but already he was losing all sense of his former self. Time was, that he spent his days on Market Street, napping next to William, the homeless man who made his living with a paper cup and a sign that said, I AM HOMELESS AND MY CAT IS HUGE. Chet was indeed very large, and while much of his volume had been fur, he had achieved a weight of thirty-five pounds on a diet of semi-used hamburgers and French fries donated by passersby outside of McDonald's. Now Chet hunted the night, taking down nearly any warm-blooded creature he encountered: rats, birds, squirrels, cats, dogs, and even the occasional human. At first it had only been drunks and other homeless, and the first time he had drained one, his old friend William, who turned to dust in front of him, Chet yowled, ran, and hid under a Dumpster for the rest of the night and all of the next day. There was no regret, simply hunger and elation of the blood rush. It was beyond the satisfaction of the kill, it was positively sexual, something Chet had never known as a normal cat, as he'd been neutered by the animal shelter when still a kitten. But along with speed, strength, and senses far more sensitive than even a human-based vampire, Chet, like his human counterparts, found that he was physically restored to perfection. In other words, his junk was working. He found that soon after the kill he desperately needed to hump something, and the more squirmy and wailing, the better. Above the smells of bus fumes, cooking food, and urine-bathed curbs that pervaded the City, he caught the scent of a female in heat. She might be a mile away, but given his newly heightened senses, he'd find her. A wave of excitement undulated under the fur of his spine, fur that had mostly grown back since the humans had shaved him, mated in front of him, and drank his blood, which served to traumatize his little kitty consciousness before he was turned vampire, and motivated a whole new feeling he'd grown into as a vampire cat: vengeance. For since his metamorphosis, it wasn't just his senses that had expanded. His brain, which before had run a loop of â€Å"eat-nap-crap, repeat,† was now growing into a whole new awareness, getting bigger, even as Chet grew. He was a good sixty pounds now, and roughly as smart as a dog, where before he'd only been a little brighter than a brick. Dog. The hated. There was dog on the air. Coming closer. He could smell it-them-two of them. And now he could hear them. He arose from his butt bath and screeched like an electrified lynx. In response, the neighborhood echoed with a chorus of yowls from a dozen other vampire cats. THE EMPEROR â€Å"Steady, fellows,† said the Emperor. He laid his hand across the neck of the golden retriever and scratched under the chin of the Boston terrier, who squirmed in the great pocket of the Emperor's overcoat, looking like a frantic, black-and-white, bug-eyed kangaroo mutant. â€Å"Cat! Cat! Cat! Cat! Cat!† barked Bummer, with a spray of doggie slobber across the Emperor's palm. â€Å"Cat! Murder, pain, fire, evil, cat! Can't you smell them? Everywhere! Must chase, chase, chase, bite, bite, bite, let me go you insane, oblivious old man, I'm trying to save you, for the love of God, CAT! CAT! CAT!† Unfortunately, Bummer only spoke dog, and while the Emperor could tell that the Boston terrier was upset, he had no idea why. (Anyone who translates dog knows that only about a third of what Bummer said actually meant anything. The rest was just noise he needed to make. Human speech is about the same.) Lazarus, the golden retriever, having battled vampires on and off for the last two months, and being steady by nature, was much calmer about the whole thing, but despite Bummer's tendency to overreact, he had to admit, the smell of cat was tall in the air, and what was more disturbing, it wasn't just cat, it was dead cat. Dead cat walking. Wait, what was that? Not cat-cats. Oh, this was not good. â€Å"He's right about the cat,† Lazarus ruffed, nudging the Emperor's leg. â€Å"We should get out of this neighborhood, maybe go over to North Beach and see if anyone dropped a beef jerky or something. I could sure use a beef jerky. Or we can stay and die. Whatever. I'm good with it.† â€Å"Easy, men,† said the Emperor, alert now that something was amiss. He knelt down, his knees creaking like rusted hinges, and as he looked around, kneaded the spot between Bummer's ears as if he were readying to make doggy-brain biscuits. He was a great, woolly, thunderstorm of a man-broad shouldered and gray bearded, fine witted and fiercely loyal to the people of his city. He had lived on the streets of San Francisco as long as anyone could remember, and while tourists saw him as a raggedy, homeless wretch, the locals viewed him as a fixture, a rolling landmark, a spirit, and a conscience, and for the most part, treated him with the deference they might pay royalty, despite the fact that he was a raving loon. The street was deserted, but a half a block away the Emperor saw the three-wheeled cart of an S.F.P.D. parking enforcement officer, stopped behind an illegally parked Audi. The cart's rotating yellow caution lights chased themselves around the surrounding buildings like drunken, jaundiced Tinkerbells, but there was no officer in sight. â€Å"Strange. It's long past time when a meter maid should be working. Perhaps we should investigate, gents.† But before he could stand, Bummer leapt out of the Emperor's pocket and made a beeline for the cart, trumpeting himself into the charge with a staccato barking fit. Lazarus took off after the black-and-white fur-rocket, and the old man ambled along behind, as fast as his great, arthritic legs would carry him. They found Bummer on the far side of the Audi, snorting and snuffling inside an empty police uniform, and covered with a fine gray powder. The Emperor's eyes went wide. He backed across the sidewalk and stood against the fire door of one of the industrial lofts that lined the street. He had seen this before. He knew the signs. But when he had seen the old vampire and his companions board an enormous yacht in the Bay over a month ago, he thought his city rid of the bloodsucking fiends. What now? There was a crackling static noise from the police cart: a radio. Call it in. Alert his people to the danger. He rolled to the cart, fumbled with the door catch, and reached for the microphone. â€Å"Hello,† he said into the microphone. â€Å"This is the Emperor of San Francisco, Emperor of San Francisco, protector of Alcatraz, Sausalito, and Treasure Island, and I'd like to report a vampire.† The radio continued to crackle and distant voices ghosted through the ether, uninterrupted. Lazarus padded to the old man's side and barked furiously, â€Å"You have to push the button. You have to push the button.† Unfortunately, while the noble retriever understood English, he only spoke dog, and the Emperor did not get the instruction. â€Å"Button! Button! Button! Button!† Bummer barked, springing up and down in front of the police cart. He scurried around to the door and jumped in on the Emperor's lap to show him. â€Å"Yeah, that helps,† growled Lazarus sarcastically. Golden retrievers are not a very sarcastic breed, and he felt a little ashamed and, well, catlike, using that tone of voice. â€Å"Okay. Button! Button! Button! Uh-oh.† â€Å"Button! Button! Button! Uh-oh, what?† barked Bummer. A short ruff from the retriever: â€Å"Cat.† Lazarus boiled out a low growl and laid his ears back against his head. The Emperor saw two of them: cats, coming down the sidewalk toward them. But they didn't look quite natural. The light from the police cart was reflecting back from the cats' eyes like red coals. A screech, there were two more coming across the street. Lazarus turned to face them, snarling now. A chorus of hisses from behind. The Emperor looked in the rearview mirror to see three more cats stalking from behind. â€Å"Quick, Lazarus, in the cart. Up, boy, in the cart.† Lazarus was spinning now, trying to watch all of the cats at once, warning them off with bared teeth and bristled hair. But the cats came on, baring their own teeth. â€Å"Come now,† said the Emperor into the microphone. Something landed hard on the roof of the cart and Bummer yelped. Another thump and the Emperor looked back to see a large cat in the bed of the cart, coming up on two legs and trying to claw around the back window. The old man pulled the door shut. â€Å"Run, Lazarus, run!† Lazarus caught the first cat in his jaws and was shaking it furiously when the rest fell upon him. STEVE â€Å"There's nefarious shit afoot, Foo,† said Abby. â€Å"Bring portable sun and fry these nosferatu kitties before they nom everyone in the ‘hood.† Steven â€Å"Foo Dog† Wong had no idea what his girlfriend, Abby, was talking about, and it wasn't the first time. In fact, much of the time he had no idea what she was talking about, but he had learned if he was patient, and listened, and more important, agreed with her, she would mercilessly sex him up, which he liked quite a bit, and occasionally he got the message. He used the same strategy with his maternal grandmother (without the sexing-up part), who spoke an obscure, country dialect of Cantonese, that sounded to the uninitiated like someone beating a chicken to death with a banjo. Just wait, and all would become clear. This time, however, Abby, whose tone ran from tragically romantic to passionately dismissive, was sounding much more urgent, and the patience gambit wasn't going to work. Her voice in his Bluetooth headset was like having a malevolent fairy bite his ear. â€Å"I'm in the middle of something, Abby. I'll be home as soon as I finish up here.† â€Å"Now, Foo. There's a herd, or flock, or a-what do you call a bunch of kitties?† â€Å"A box?† Foo offered. â€Å"Fucktard!† â€Å"A fucktard of kitties? Okay, sure, that could be it. A pride of lions, a murder of crows†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No. You fucktard! There's a bunch of vampire kitties about to eat that crazy Emperor guy and his dogs right outside on the street. You need to come save them.† â€Å"A bunch?† Steve was having a hard time getting his head around the idea. He'd only recently gotten his head around the idea of one vampire cat, but a bunch, well, that was more. He was just a couple of months away from having his master's in biochem at age twenty-one-he wasn't a fucktard. â€Å"Define a bunch,† he said. â€Å"Many. I can't count them because they're stalking the golden retriever.† â€Å"And how do you know they're vampire kitties?† â€Å"Oh, because I drew blood samples from them, ran it in that centrifuge thingy of yours, prepared some slides, and looked at the blood cell structure under a microscope, duh?† â€Å"No, really,† he said. She was flunking high school biology, there's no way she prepared blood slides. And besides- â€Å"Of course not, you douche nozzle, I know they're vampires because they're stalking a golden retriever and a homeless fuck who's hiding in the vaporized meter maid's cart. That's not standard kitty behavior.† â€Å"Vaporized meter maid?† â€Å"The one Chet ate-sucked her to dust. Come now, Foo, turn your sunbeam full-on and get your luscious ninja ass over here.† Steve had rigged the hatchback of his tricked-out Honda Civic with high intensity UV floodlights, which he'd used to flash fry a number of vampires, thus saving Abby and, for the first time in his life, having a girlfriend and someone who thought he was cool. â€Å"I can't come right away, Abby. The sun lights aren't in the car.† â€Å"Oh my fucking God, there's some little old guy with a cane coming out of the alley. Well, he's toast. Fuck!† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Fuck!† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Oh fuck!† â€Å"What? What? What?† â€Å"Oh-my-fucking-god-ponies-on-a-stick!† â€Å"Abby, you need to be more specific.† â€Å"It's not a cane, Foo, it's a sword.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Come now, Foo. Bring the sun.† â€Å"I can't, Abby. My car is full of rats.† THE EMPEROR The Emperor watched in horror as the cats leapt onto the back of his noble captain, Lazarus. The golden retriever shook himself violently, dislodging two of the fiends, but they were replaced by two more, and three more leapt on top of them, nearly bringing Lazarus to the ground. But they weren't pack hunters, and as each maneuvered for the throat, another attacker was pushed off, his claws shredding both predator and prey as he fell. Blood splattered the windscreen of the police cart. Bummer bounced around inside the tiny cabin, barking and snorting, and throwing himself against the glass, covering everything with angry dog slobber. â€Å"Run, Lazarus, run!† The Emperor pounded on the glass, then pushed his forehead against it as he tried to squint back tears of anguish and frustration. â€Å"No!† He would not do it. He would not watch his companion slaughtered. Outrage filled the ancient, boiler-tank of a man and condensed to courage. He was fighting the door latch when half a cat hit the side window and slid down trailing gore. The door handle snapped off in his hand and he threw it to the floor of the cart. Bummer immediately attacked it and broke a tooth on the metal. Through the haze of blood spray, the Emperor could see another figure in the street. A boy-no, a man, but a small man, Asian-wearing a fluorescent orange porkpie hat and socks, tight plaid trousers that looked as if they'd been teleported out of the 1960s, and a gray cardigan sweater. The little man was brandishing a samurai sword, bringing it down again and again on Lazarus in quick snapping motions, but before he could cry out, the Emperor saw that the sword wasn't even grazing the retriever's coat. With each stroke one of the cats fell away, beheaded or cut in half, both halves squirming on the pavement. There was no spinning, no wind-up or flourish to the swordsman's movements, just grim efficiency, like a chef chopping vegetables. As his targets moved, he pivoted and stepped just enough to deliver the cut, then snapped the blade back and sent it to its next destination. The weight and fury removed from his back, Lazarus looked around and whimpered, which translated to: â€Å"Whaaa-?† The swordsman was relentless, step, cut, step, cut. Two cats came at him from under a Volvo and he quickly retreated and swung the sword in a quick, low arc that approximated a golf stroke and sent their heads back over the car to bounce off a metal garage door. â€Å"Behind!† the Emperor warned. But it was too late. The low attack had thrown the swordsman off-a heavy-bodied Siamese cat launched itself from the roof of a van across the street and landed on the little man's back. The long sword was useless at such close range. The swordsman arched in pain, even as the Siamese clawed its way up his back. He spun, then threw his feet out before him and fell hard on his back, but the Siamese took the impact and dug its fangs into the swordsman's shoulder. A half-dozen vampire cats came scurrying out from under cars toward the struggling swordsman. Lazarus, his fur matted with blood, caught one of the cats by the haunch and bit to the bone. The cat screamed and squirmed in the retriever's jaws, trying to claw his eyes. The others fell on the swordsman with fang and claw. The Emperor threw his shoulder against the Plexiglas door of the police cart, but there was no room to move, to gain momentum, and while the entire cart rocked and went up on two wheels under his weight, the door latch would not give. He watched in horror as the swordsman writhed under his attackers. The Emperor heard a steel fire door hitting brick and light spilled across the sidewalk and into the street. Out of the doorway ran a thin, impossibly pale girl with lavender pigtails wearing pink motocross boots, pink fishnet stockings, a green plastic skirt, wraparound sunglasses, and a black leather jacket that looked studded with glass. Before he could warn her, the girl ran into the street and shouted, â€Å"You motherfucking kitties need to step the fuck off!† The vampire cats attacking the swordsman looked up and hissed, which translated from vampire cat, meant: â€Å"Whaaa-?† She ran right at the swordsman, waving her arms as if shooing birds or trying to dry some particularly stubborn nail polish and screaming like a madwoman. The cats turned their attention to her, and were crouching, readying to leap, when her jacket lit up like the sun. There was a collective screech of agony from the vampire cats as all around the street, cats and cat parts smoked, then ignited. Burning cats made for the alley across the street or tried to hide under cars, but the thin girl ran after them, darting here and there, until each ignited, then burned and reduced itself first to a bubbling puddle of fur and goo, and finally, a pile of fine ash. In less than a minute, the street was quiet again. The lights on the girl's jacket went dark. The swordsman climbed to his feet and fitted his orange porkpie hat back on his head. He was bleeding from spots on his back and arms, and there was blood on his plaid pants and orange socks, but whether it was his or the cats' was impossible to tell. He stood before the thin girl and bowed deeply. â€Å"Domo arigato,† he said, keeping his eyes at her feet. â€Å"Dozo,† said the girl. â€Å"Your kitty-slaying skills are, if I may say so, the shit.† The swordsman bowed again, short and shallow, then turned and trotted across the street, down the alley, and out of sight. Lazarus was digging at the Plexiglas door of the police cart with the pads of his paws, as if he might polish his way through to release his master. Abby scratched his nose, nearly the only part of him not covered in blood, and opened the door. â€Å"Hey,† she said. â€Å"Hey,† said the Emperor. He stepped out of the cart and looked around. The street was painted with blood for half a block, punctuated by piles of ash and the occasional charred flea collar. Parked cars were sprayed in red mist, even the security lights above several fire doors were speckled with gore. Acrid smoke from burning cats hung low in the air, and on the sidewalk greasy gray ash spilled out of the sleeves and collar of the parking officer's uniform. â€Å"Well, you don't see that every day,† said the Emperor, as a police cruiser rounded the corner, the red and blue lights raking the building. The cruiser stopped and doors flew open. The driver stood behind his door, his hand on his gun. â€Å"What's going on here?† he said, trying to keep his eyes on the Emperor and not look at the carnage that surrounded them. â€Å"Nothing,† Abby said.

Learning English Opinion Essary

———-Task———- The following statement was recently printed in a local newspaper: â€Å"English is the only foreign language worth learning. † Your teacher has now asked you to write a composition giving your opinion on this subject. ———-Compositions———- Nowadays there is an opinion that English is the most popular language and it is the only foreign language worth learning and I want to express the reasons for it.To begin with, English is an international language, which is known almost in every country, consequently it is used in different international negotiations, competitions, events as well as in airports and businesses. Furthermore, if you have a desire to be a successful and educated person it is better to learn English, due to the fact that when you are on a work, there are many international partners with whom you have to communicate and solve different problems. In addition to this, i f you know this language, you obviously have a perfect opportunity to occupy a position in a foreign company.Alternatively, it goes without saying that there are other languages worth learning. I believe that the importance of language depends on the economic development of the country, therefore nowadays the popularity of some other languages has grown, for instance Chinese. However, English continues being the most demanded. All things considered, if you know English you can not only easily cope with any difficulties in getting a job as you have an advantage over your counterparts, but also travel abroad everywhere you like.

Strategic thinking skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Strategic thinking skills - Essay Example While studying and working with a team, I am able to asses my skills and focus on how I learn. Using my own self assessment, I can decide which way of learning works best for me. Using the best learning skills helps to become more dependent and use my individual skills to benefit the business and the team. These learned skills can also be applied to everyday life scenarios and assist in positive decision making. Each skill requires a specific motive. Some have different motives then others. One of my biggest motives is to become a grade A, or exemplary student. Becoming a grade A student is important and a huge motivator. In order to receive high marks, it is necessary to study, form independence and practice critical thinking skills that are necessary to achieve academic goals. There is much to take from this learning experience. I can use my new critical thinking skills that I have developed toward my future employment. Careers at times require that one learns new skills to better themselves. Using Self Assessment skills can help to take the time to evaluate my performance and make changes if

Special Interest Tourism in Barbados Case Study

Special Interest Tourism in Barbados - Case Study Example At that time, cruise passenger arrivals were about 510,000 with 528 cruise ship calls in 2006. Part of the motivation for this strategy related to the clear indications that Caribbean nations were competing aggressively for cruise ship calls and that the traditionally strong position of Barbados (with its port facilities and long history of tourism activity) would lose market share. As its statistics indicate, there has been an almost 15% decline since 2006. Part of this is the increased competition Barbados expected. In addition, repositioning of cruise ship routes and itineraries has also contributed to the decline. The industry is always looking for new destinations to appeal to its markets (particularly repeat cruisers) and Barbados has the added disadvantage of being one of the oldest cruise destinations in the Caribbean. Of particular interest is the approach Barbados took in developing its cruise strategy. While cruise passenger arrivals declined in 2006, some believe that the partnership approach Barbados took in developing the cruise strategy helped to avoid an even greater decline. The key theme in the Barbados cruise strategy approach was a consultative and partnership oriented relationship with the cruise industry. ... Barbados went into the strategy with a conviction that the cruise industry was good for the country and that management and shaping of its benefits to complement Barbados' expectations for tourism sector benefits was the objective. With the cooperation of the cruise industry, Barbados undertook the following consultations as part of its cruise strategy development: - Interviews with cruise line executives, those responsible for itinerary development, cruise ship directors and tourism industry representatives in Barbados; - Surveys of cruise ship passengers and crew. Some of the key findings shaping the resulting cruise tourism strategy are described below. The following are excerpts from the 2006 Cruise Tourism Report prepared by ARA Consulting Group for the Barbados Tourism Development Programme and report on surveys conducted in 2006. From the point of view of cruise line executives, Barbados gets generally high markets. It enjoys very good market recognition, is well known, gets good reviews from passengers, provides good ground tours, and is above average in terms of safety. It has a good image, a high profile, and is considered a good traditional destination. It has potential for attracting up-market cruise passengers for high quality shore excursions like nature tourism, heritage tourism, golf, and similar activities. The cruise lines believed that services provided by the Barbados Port Authority are more than adequate and that the current cost structure is acceptable, although there is concern about cost increases. In general, they have little concern with congestion problems except for the typical mid-week situation when more than one or two large ships arrive. They were

International Student Support Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

International Student Support - Essay Example This research demonstrated that students from United Arab Emirates had little choice or input in the choice of course and college, and this affected the ability to motivate themselves for the course. Some of these students probably have no interest in learning English, and the research shows that there is a preference to learn more practical subjects such as engineering as they would be immediately useful in their home country. . The students from the United Arab Emirates are also restricted by their respective armies in terms of movement, and this restricts their ability to integrate with other students. For instance, the other part-time students will have experienced similar processes from pre-arrival to induction and this process would have allowed them to construct relationships. The part-time students are also able to work, and this experience increases their use of the English language as they are using it in the practical context. Therefore, the lack of integration and choice is severely hampering the ability of the UAE students to access the college's service support. Table of Contents Introduction The research on which this report is based concentrates on international students from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who are currently enrolled on programmes that focus on teaching the English Language. This group has been selected because of the unique enrolment process they undertake. They also constitute a significant proportion of full-time English language students at Salisbury College. Most of these students are this college as it has been chosen by the military organisation they represent, and therefore they have had no choice in the selection. Salisbury College is one of twelve colleges that receive army personnel for technical training through a private army contract. These students' first language is Arabic and they were selected in their respective states for tuition at this college. As the choice to attend Salisbury College was not an individual choice, these students have not gone through the normal application route, which would have involved contact with Student Services, which would have helped them arrange their visas, police registration and other details. Instead this has all been centrally, and all they had to do was to get on a plane and attend lessons. As a result of the omission of this important step, these students are presenting with a different set of issues when compared to other international students. For instance, they feel isolated because their English is noticeably poorer than other students, and this probably stems from the lack of integration and socialising which would have been arranged by the college's Student Services. They feel no arrangements have been made to involve them with

Why is Chinas Economic Growth Slowing Down Essay

Why is Chinas Economic Growth Slowing Down - Essay Example China single-handedly accounts for approximately one-fifth of the total world economic output; thereby, a slowdown in Chinese economy will hinder a global recovery. In addition, several of Asia’s largest and emerging economies have struck deal with China as a trading partner; hence, a downturn in Chinese economy will adversely affect them. Until 2010, Chinas economic growth rate was more than ten percent, which encouraged officials to boost domestic consumption combined with a reduction in exports to accomplish sustainable growth. Consequently, while the construction and industrial boom decelerated, the retail sales held up strong. Many of today’s economic issues can be traced back to the global financial crisis period between 2008 and 2009 when China attempted to accelerate economic growth through injecting capital and boosting government spending. Back then, the central government pumped tremendous amounts of money in the economy by investing in infrastructure and con struction industries. However, on the downside, this created excess capacity, property prices soared sky-high with a simultaneous rise in inflation and consumer costs. Faced with these economic plights and the fear of Chinese economy overheating, policymakers then implemented measures aimed at curtailing lending and slowing down inflation. Unfortunately, these measures along with a sharp drop in the global demand for Chinese goods triggered the recent cycle of a slowdown. A fact that Chinese policy makers failed to take into account is that credit does no more good to economy than steroids do to body, every time bigger injection are needed to maintain the desired effect. In 2011, Chinese economic growth rate was 9.2 percent in contrast to the rate of 10.4 percent during 2010. Despite the imminent cyclical weakness that will decelerate China’s economy, even more, Chinese officials claimed that there is a way out. The World Bank has also supported this argument as it stated tha t the prospects for a soft landing appear positive, as China has largely mitigated the domestic property bubble invigorated by speculation. Chinese officials hold that they are working to temper the super economic growth towards more sustainable growth without triggering an economic recession. One of such simulative measures included the recent cut in interest rates after June by The People’s Bank of China. Likewise, the central government is striving to spur growth by relaxing reserve requirements so that bank lending could accelerate, which in turn would lead to greater injections of credit in the economy (Bradsher â€Å"Heavy Lending Creates a Surge in Chinese Economy†). Although, the construction and industrial sectors have registered a slowdown; however, retail sales have stayed strong. The Chinese government is determined to rebalance the economy by reducing reliance on investment and exports and escalating domestic consumption (Bradsher â€Å"Chinese Official R eaffirms ‘Rebalancing’ of Economy†). Policymakers hold that the government is empowered with myriad tools to prevent an economic collapse. They pointed out how unlike other major economies such as America and United Kingdom, China managed to survive through 2009’s recessionary period, marked by extensive layoffs and social unrest. Officials contend that they are deliberately aiming for sustainable growth after double-digit growth registered in the previous years that overheat the economy. Therefore, for them, the economic slowdown is solely a planned action. Official economic statistics released by China are futile in stopping the economic squabbling about the soft landing prospects for Chinese economy. The increasing

Number 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Number 3 - Essay Example here are some of the world’s most powerful religions that have embodied individual as well as collective eschatology as the part of their teaching such as Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity with some of the fundamental similarities. The goal of this paper is discuss the extent to which Zoroastrianism has influenced some of the claims made by monotheism. The faith in the events after death on this earth has also been confirmed by religion like Zoroastrianism. The faith in the life hereafter developed and turns out to be the basis of the later Zoroastrianism covering almost all the other aspects of religious life. This belief in life hereafter that developed in Zoroastrianism imposed a deep impact on the other religions as well, especially on Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Zoroastrianism has exercised great influence on the development of eschatological aspects in the Second Temple Judaism. Whereas Christianity is considered to be the offshoot of Judaism, it has also developed its eschatological notions from the Apocrypha of Old Testament, which is written by the Jews in the period before the initiation of Christianity. Not all the scholars accepted the idea which considers Persia as the origin of most of the Christian and Jewish eschatological beliefs. The major problem lies with the fact that some of the basic ideas related to th e Zoroastrian eschatology are only known to us in developed form that were extracted from the Pahlavi source, which are more recent than the first Jewish writings and contain some eschatological ideas (Antia). There are several arguments presented by the religious scholars that links the Jewish developments made till date in the field of eschatology with the influence of Zoroastrianism. There is no doctrine of the Jewish eschatology found in Old Testament till the end of the period about the individual or universal judgment. Judaism not till the end presents any idea of heaven, hell or the reconstitution of the

Utilization of Social Media in Arab Uprisings Essay

Utilization of Social Media in Arab Uprisings - Essay Example Both Tunisia and Egypt were revolutionized simultaneously because they were dividing sophisticated techniques of technologies in strengthening their results of rebellion. The civilians of these countries wanted to end and preempt numerous years of humiliation, bribery and exploitation. The crowded citizens in the streets did not gather to promote their political views or suggestions, but their main objective was to riot against social economic conditions; such as high cost of living and unemployment. The beliefs of citizens transformed due to their political involvements and this made both the juveniles and elderly to discover themselves both as patriots and rebels. Communication technologies were highly useful and this made a lot of people able to reach their groups in effective time. This essay encompasses all the supportive materials to explain the rebellion of Arabs, covers in details some of the techniques which were utilized in success of their uprising and also conclusions. Social networks were useful and played significant informational and organizational duties. The social platform such as Facebook facilitated the removal of Tunisia’s Ben Ali and Egypt’s Mubarak to digital platform. Assertions for example ‘‘This is Facebook Uprising† were regular in major lanes and cities, whereas root problems of corruption and exploitation of human rights in most of the Arab nations was a menace. Media of interactions such as Facebook, YouTube, and mobile phones were in plenty and were mainly used by a number of literate persons. Many of the Protestants in streets and cities lost their lives but the revolution groups prevailed persistence with their technological plans. Groups of networks generated friends, families and members of other networks.

NATURAL HAZARDS VOLCANOES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

NATURAL HAZARDS VOLCANOES - Essay Example (Adams, 1981). 2. Volcanoes are very likely to erupt on these islands due to the existence of ‘live’ volcanic centers. It is more likely to occur in other countries such as Nevis, Eustatius and Saba in the near future because they have live volcanic centers. (University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre) 4. When a super-volcanic eruption occurs, usually it covers extensive areas with volcanic ash and lava that results in a prolong weather change such as the reduction in the temperature of the atmosphere and the earth’s surface, referred to as ice age or glacial age, which can threaten the life of species. (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Volcanic eruptions, though disruptive and destructive to human, the environment and animal life, provides immense benefits to people who live near to them. The ash that is thrown when there is a volcanic eruption can be very harmful to the environment shortly after, however in the long term the ash layer converts to a very fertile soil, which contains many useful minerals. Volcanoes can produce very magnificent scenery like the beautiful sunsets from explosive eruptions.   They also create beautiful lava fountains, stunning eruptions and plant-rich environments. People will return and live after a volcanic eruption because of the fertile soil around the volcano, where they use the rich soil for farming.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The resources that are produced from volcanic eruptions are used for energy extraction, also called geothermal resources.   Energy is produced as a result of heat from the earths crust.   The great advantages are that this energy is very clean and the resources are almost inexhaustible. Another great economical benefit of volcanic eruptions is that it generates tourism. This translates to jobs and foreign exchange income. This can also result in an improvement in people’s standard of living.

Introduction to Game Theory Essay Example for Free

Introduction to Game Theory Essay Nobel Prize Citation, 1994: Game theory is a mathematical method for analysing strategic interaction. Problem What is strategic interaction? (Singapore Management University) Introduction to Game Theory Fall 2012 2 / 18 An Example of a Game | Flat Tire Two SMU students, Al and Bob, very con dent about their midterm exam performance in ECON 206, decided to attend a party the weekend before the nal exam. The party was so good that they overslept the whole Sunday. Instead of taking the nal unprepared on Monday, they pleaded the professor to give them a make-up exam. Their excuse was a at tire without a spare and any help. The professor, surprisingly, agreed. On Tuesday morning, the professor placed them in separated rooms and handed them the test. The test had just one question: Which tire? (Singapore Management University) Introduction to Game Theory Fall 2012 3 / 18 The GPA Rat Race All of you are now enrolled in ECON 206 that will be graded on a curve. No matter how well you do in absolute terms, only 33. 3% of the students will get As, and only 33. 3% of the students will get Bs. Therefore, you must work hard, not just in absolute terms, but relative to how hard your classmates work. All of you are smart enough to recognize this, and after the rst lecture you all hold a secrete meeting where all of you agree not to work too hard. What will happen in the end? (Singapore Management University) Introduction to Game Theory Fall 2012 4 / 18 Why Are Professors So Mean? Many professors have rigid rules not to give makeup exams and NEVER to accept late homework assignments. Students might think the professors are so hardhearted to behave in this way. The truth is. Most professors are actually very kindhearted (for example. ) They are willing to give their students every reasonable break and accept every reasonable excuse But most professors also know that this is a slippery slope (for example, ) | if they set very exible rules, what may happen? (Singapore Management University) Introduction to Game Theory Fall 2012 5 / 18 Another Example | Strategic Interactions vs. Individual Decision Problems Underlying story: two students (Alice and Bob) are taking a course together. There are three e ort levels for each student: work hard (utility = 5), work sometimes (utility = 2), shirk (utility = 0). Consider the following two grade schemes. Grade Scheme A: A students nal grade only depends on her own e ort level | if a student works hard, she will get an A for sure (utility = 10); if she works sometimes, she will get a passing grade (utility = 5); while if the student shirks, she will fail the course for sure (utility = 0). Individual Decision Problem E ort Level Utility Disutility Net Work Hard 10 5 Work Sometimes 5 2 Shirk 0 0 (Singapore Management University)

Hybrid cars Essay Example for Free

Hybrid cars Essay Hybrid 1 Outline I. Introduction A. Gas prices are up, the environment is suffering, and Americas are fearful of relying too much on foreign oil. Are hybrid cars the answer? II. What a hybrid car is A. Description of a hybrid car B. The two types of a hybrid 1. Parallel 2. Series III. Advantages of a Hybrid car A. Environment 1. Carbon Dioxide 2. Global Warming 3. Effect on the human body B. National 1. Discussion on foreign oil 2. What America can do to reduce our dependence C. Federal 1. Tax Deductions on National level 2. Local incentives D. Mileage Hybrid 3 1. Why hybrids get more mileage 2. Calculator on my own car IV. Disadvantages A. Price V. Conclusion With all the advantages that hybrids have to offer, it’s something a new car consumer should seriously consider. One person can make a difference! Hybrid 4 Gas prices are up 23% from a year ago and global warming is a constant fear of scientists and people alike. What then can one person do to help the current situation of gas and pollution? Buy a hybrid car! Hybrid sales have doubled in the past year and according to J. D. Power and Associates, hybrid sale should hit 200,000 in 2005. Within 20 years, Toyota’s top guy in the U. S. , Jim Press, thinks almost every car on the market is going to be a hybrid. So what exactly is a hybrid car and what are all the things a consumer should look for when buying one? Here are some specifics; the good and the bad. A vehicle is considered hybrid is the source of power comes from two sources. A hybrid car combines gasoline and electric power. The car has a normal gas tank, but also a set of batteries. The batteries are recharged every time the person drives the car so there is no need to plug it in like very old, original electric cars. Instead of having just a transmission, the batteries provide electricity to an electric motor which then turns the transmission. There are two different types of hybrid cars. One is a parallel hybrid. This has a fuel tank and batteries and both the engine and batteries turn the transmission over at the same time. Both the electric motor and gas engine can provide power. The other is a Series hybrid, which has a generator. Gas turns the generator and that can either charge the batteries or power the motor. The gas engine never actually powers the car. The electric motor of a hybrid car is very sophisticated. It works as a motor and generator and draws energy from the batteries. The batteries store energy for the car and the motor can either draw energy from them or recharge them. Hybrid 5 So what are some advantages of owning a hybrid vehicle? This is going to look at environmental, national, federal, and economic advantages of having one. First is environmental. â€Å"A car that burns twice as much gas to go a mile will generate approximately twice as much pollution. † (Nice, Karim. ) A gallon of gas weighs about 6 pounds and when it’s burned off it produces almost 20 pounds of carbon dioxide. In the U. S. alone, cars and trucks consume 8. 2 million barrels of oil EACH DAY which calculates to over 300 million tons of carbon each year. This is the largest part of carbon dioxide emissions, even more then factories and homes. If cars and trucks improved by just 5 mpg, Americans could save 1. 5 million barrels of oil a day or 55 million tons of carbon a day. Decreasing fuel consumption therefore reduces emissions. There is also carbon dioxide that cars release into the air and that scientists believe contribute to global warming. Again, twice as much gas leads to twice as much carbon dioxide. If saving the environment still sounds like something too big for one person and one at a time, here is a more personal thing to consider, the effect that vehicle air pollution has on the human body. It can cause problems such as decreases in lung capacity, acute respiratory problems, reduces the release of oxygen to body tissue, contributes to birth defects low birth weight, infant death, and makes otherwise healthy kids 3 to 4 times more likely to develop asthma. There are also concerns on the national level. Even though our consumption of oil is ever increasing, our production of oil has gone down since the 1970’s. For most of the 20th century, we made so much oil that we had enough left over for export. But now Hybrid 6 America relies on imported oil. â€Å"In 2001, imported oil accounted for 55% of US consumption; this figure is projected to rise to 70% by 2020. † (http://www. hybridcars. com. ) Nearly two-thirds, or 80%, of the world’s known oil reserves are under just six Persian Gulf nations: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iran and Qatar. This forces the U. S. military to stay in foreign bases to oversee our free excess to oil, it arouses hostility from those in these countries who have anti-American feelings, and the production of oil in these countries only benefit world super-powers and make the rich richer and the poor poorer leading to more hostile feelings toward America. Some also go so far as to say us paying these countries for oil is providing terrorists with great sums of wealth, which they use for organized anti-American endeavors such as the plane high-jackings of September 11th. Ever since September 11th, Americans are leery of relying on gulf countries for our oil supply because rely is exactly what we do. The gas prices we pay reflect what other countries charge for their barrels of oil. Increasing efficiency of cars and trucks can play a role in reducing our dependency on foreign oil. By raising fuel efficiency by just 2. 7 mpg, Americans can save enough to extinct all oil imports from Iraq and Kuwait combined. By raising it 7. 6 mpg, Americans could eliminate 100% gulf oil imports! And, in President Bush’s energy bill proposal, he said he wants to use empty military bases as oil refineries in order to increase our supply, but instead of relying on government, individuals can really impact our part in buying foreign oil by getting better gas mileage and basically using less. Hybrid 7 There are also the federal level incentives the think about when buying a hybrid vehicle. The Clean-Fuel Vehicle Deduction tax break was given during this season. People who bought a hybrid in 2004/05 could claim up to a $2000 deduction when they do their taxes. In 2005/06, it’s scheduled to drop to $500, but if a new energy bill passes the number will go back up. There are also local incentives to buying a hybrid. If a person bought one in San Jose, CA, they are exempt from local parking fees. Colorado offers a tax credit. Connecticut exempts the sales tax on a hybrid meeting certain requirements. In Florida and Georgia people who have hybrids can use the high occupancy lanes at any time of the day and no matter how many people are in the car. And Illinois has a program called The Illinois Alternate Fuels Rebate Program which pays 80% or up to $4000 to convert your vehicle to an alternate fuel system. On to mileage. This is a big one that car consumers are looking at today. Instead of getting the average 15 to 26 mpg, a hybrid can get anywhere from 50 to 60 mpg! That’s a huge difference! This is achieved because hybrid vehicles convert energy that is normally wasted when a person coasts and breaks into electricity, which is then stored into the batteries until needed by the motor. The motor is also used to assist the engine when going up hills or when the car is driving in low speeds. Low speeds, like city driving are the least efficient fuel conditions. Some hybrids also automatically shut off the engine when the car comes to a stop preserving the fuel and energy. Some websites have online calculators that measure your own car up against a hybrid of your choice. I used one to measure my own car and got these results. If a person typically drives 10,000 miles a year and pay the national average of $2. 10 per gallon and gets 23 miles per Hybrid 8 gallon, this is what a person would save if they had a hybrid: 235 gallons of gas, 4,696 pounds of carbon dioxide, and $493 a year. (Stern, Linda. ) For this online calculator, I used http://www. hybridcars. com/calculator/index. php to compare my car with a new Lexus RX, which is a hybrid vehicle similar to my own. This website allows you to put in what make and model your car is and compare it to any hybrid vehicle to see the difference in consumption and cost. Hybrid 9 So are there really any downsides to owning a Hybrid? Almost every car review only state one flaw, and that’s the price. A 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid base cost $27,560. The Toyota Highlander Hybrid with four-wheel drive costs $39,290. And the most popular, Toyota Prius, cost around $27,000. The sophisticated computer control that makes everything work in these cars makes is what makes them expensive, at least more expensive then their non-electric counterparts. Also hybrid owners complain that they don’t actually get the mileage they are supposed to but that can be said for every car since too many factors go into affecting your mileage per gallon. With all the advantages such as helping the environment and saving ourselves from being so dependant on foreign oil, not to mention helping our health and our own personal wealth, most feel the added price of a hybrid vehicle is not something to hard to overcome. New car consumers should seriously look into whether a hybrid car is the right choice for them because this really is something that individuals can do to better our world. Hybrid 10. Bibliography Nice, Kerry.â€Å"How Hybrid Cars Work. † How Stuff Works. 1998-2005. http://auto. howstuffworks. com/hybrid-car. htm. Newman, Richard J. â€Å"Invasion of the Green Machines. † U. S. News and World Report. V138 (May 9, 2005) pg. 48-54. Stern, Linda. â€Å"Money: Is a Hybrid Worth It? † Newsweek. April 4, 2005. Berman, Bradley. 2003-2005. http://www. hybridcars. com/. No Author. â€Å"Spotlight: What’s a Hybrid Car? † CARE2 Make a Difference. 2005. http://www. care2. com/channels/ecoinfo/hybrid.

American History: The 1960s

American History: The 1960s Looking back through the annals of history, the 1960s stands out as a highly important decade in American History. During this decade, the United States was rocked by political scandal in the form of the Bay of Pigs incident and widespread terror and fear in the form of the Cuban Missile Crisis that followed in its wake. In addition, the African-American Civil Rights Movement hit its stride, becoming one of the most powerful and most frequently covered events in the media as African-Americans spoke out and protested against the racial inequalities and segregation that they had been forced to endure for so long. This was also a decade of great loss, and many prominent figureheads, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and John and Robert Kennedy in the Modern Civil Rights Movement were the targets of assassin s bullets and taken from this world. The 1960s was a tumultuous but undeniably important decade in American history and is easily one of the most important times in the development of our nation. The Bay of Pigs invasion was an attempt made by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on behalf of the United States government to lead trained Cuban exiles in a plan to invade Cuba and overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. This plan was a colossal failure on the part of the United States government which led to public embarrassment for the United States on the global stage. Relations between the two governments had already been quite strained after Fidel Castro came into power in 1959 but the Bay of Pigs incident strained relations between the two nations to their breaking point. In retrospect, it is amazing that the Bay of Pigs invasion was given approval by the President but some historical scholars have likened this problem to a lack of proper communication between the office of the President and the CIA. The Cuban Missile Crisis was an international incident that occurred when United States military intelligence discovered the existence of several nuclear missiles in various spots throughout Cuba that had apparently been supplied by the Soviet Union. The United States immediately began to try to convince Cuba to disarm and dispose of the missiles. This led to a period of short-lived but widespread fear that Cuba was prepared to launch these missiles at the United States and of a possible invasion. Faced with the wide range of overt political and economic maneuvers against the Castro regime, it was not unreasonable for Cuban and Soviet leaders to be concerned in 1962 over intensified U.S. hostile action against Cuba, including the possibility of an invasion (Steinberg). Once the missiles were discovered, the United States was in a very difficult political position in that it must be decided to either take offensive action against Cuba or do something less proactive while still achieving the same goal of Cuba s disarmament and disposal of the missiles. The only way in which domestic politics have been generally thought to have affected the U.S.s behavior was by providing a generalized incitement to the Kennedy administration to do something about Cuba and the Soviet missiles (McKeown). At this point, there was immense pressure on the President to act which resulted in what is considered to be poor decision making. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a very important event in American history to look back and reflect upon not only because of the event itself but because of the impact it had on American politics as a whole. This is the closest the United States has ever come to thermonuclear war and resulted in numerous changes to American foreign policy and other relations with foreign nations. In the 1960s, the modern Civil Rights Movement hit its stride in which several prominent figures rose into the spotlight and several nonviolent protests were acted out to secure the basic civil rights that African-Americans had been denied for so long. Led by many prominent and well respected leaders, these rights were hard won and required a great deal of effort from the African-American community as a whole. One of the earliest and most prominent protests of the 1960s was undertaken by African Americans taking rides on interstate busses heading into southern states, where the buses had yet to be integrated. The Montgomery Bus Boycott of the 1950s likely laid much of the groundwork needed for these Freedom Rides to be organized and carried out. Most of these rides were sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and were instrumental in integrating and de-segregating both seating on the busses themselves and the interstate bus terminals. These rides were highly dangerous for African-Americans at the time and many of the residents of those southern states did not take well to blacks attempting to circumvent the Jim Crow Laws which were the norm of southern states at the time. Despite being backed by recent federal rulings that it was unconstitutional to segregate bus riders, the Freedom Riders met with obstinate resistance as in Birmingham and Montgomery, where white supremacists attacked bus depots themselves (Gross). Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are widely regarded as two of the most prominent African-American figures during the Modern Civil Rights Movement but, as prominent as the two men were; their views on how the Civil Rights Movement should be carried out were vastly dissimilar. Dr. King was very outspoken in his fight against the injustices suffered at the hands of African-Americans at the time but despite the violence that African-Americans were typically met with in their protests, he asserted a policy of nonviolent resistance. In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King asserts that Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored (King). This speaks to his position of advocacy of nonviolent resistance that sends a powerful and unavoidable message. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. s Letter from Birmingham Jail is widely considered to be one of the single most important pieces of protest literature to be written during the modern Civil Rights Movement and one of Dr. King s biggest achievements. In this letter, Dr. King reasserted his stance on the use of nonviolent means of protest as the means of advancing the interests of the African-American people while appealing to his fellow members of the Alabama clergy. This letter was instrumental in the fight towards black civil rights and is widely regarded to be one of the most important pieces of such writing in history. Malcolm X on the other hand preached a very different policy in regards to the methodology that should be used by African-Americans in securing their civil rights. In his By Any Means Necessary speech, he asserts that We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary (Malcolm X). In saying this, Malcolm X is clearly asserting that African-Americans should fight for their rights and attain them at all costs, even if they must resort to violence. He also asserts during a speech at the Ford Auditorium. So I dont believe in violence thats why I want to stop it. And you cant stop it with love, not love of those things down there, no. So, we only mean vigorous action in self-defense and that vigorous action we feel were justified in initiating by any means necessary (Ali). During the mid and late 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement lost two of its most prominent figures. In 1965, Malcolm X, who had until then been a very outspoken figurehead of Black Nationalism, was assassinated in New York City as he was trying to deliver a speech. Malcolm X was largely considered to be a political and ideological leader of the Civil Rights Movement and his death was one that greatly impacted the movement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. s assassination occurred much later in the decade, on April 4, 1968. While standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. King was fatally shot. News of his assassination led to rioting in dozens of cities across America. However, the outcome of his assassination could largely be attributed as marking the end of the modern Civil Rights Movement. The United States government was essentially forced into abolishing the segregationist policies that existed at the time. The assassinations of these two individuals both had different effects on the modern Civil Rights Movement as a whole. The assassination of Malcolm X led to a different sort of impact on the Civil Rights Movement. Due to Malcolm X s highly publicized departure from the Nation of Islam, his assassination was largely attributed to members of the Nation of Islam, creating tension between black Islamic and Muslim groups. In addition, two other prominent figures in the fight for African-American civil rights were assassinated as well, and these two people were both brothers, John and Robert Kennedy. John F. Kennedy hadn t been a very vocal civil rights activist in his time as President and preceding his death but despite that, he was instrumental in passing key civil rights legislation and took a stand against racial segregation in many instances. For example, when former Alabama Governor George Wallace stood in front of the University of Alabama doors, barring two black students from registering for classes, President Kennedy intervened. Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach called President Kennedy and alerted him to what Wallace was doing; President Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard to help with the crisis. Ultimately, Wallace stepped aside and the two students were allowed to register for classes (Elliott). Robert Kennedy was a very outspoken figure in the fight for African-American civil rights and spoke publicly against segregationist policies and the racism that permeated many aspects of American culture and institutions. Robert Kennedy was a prime candidate for election in the 1968 Presidential election and built much of his campaign on the platform of African-American Civil Rights and believed that the foundations of American integrity should be based on equality for all American citizens. On April 4, 1968, after he had learned of Dr. King s assassination, Robert Kennedy delivered an impromptu speech in Indianapolis, Indiana which is largely said to be a prime contributor to the fact that, despite the riots that had broken out in dozens of cities across America when news of Dr. King s death spread, Indianapolis remained calm in the wake of such news. Unfortunately, on June 6, 1968, Robert Kennedy was assassinated by a man named Sirhan Sirhan. It is clear that the 1960s has had a great impact on American society and culture as a whole. From the United States teetering on the brink of nuclear war with both Cuba and the Soviet Union as a result of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in the Cuban Missile Crisis to the massive growth and successes of the Modern Civil Rights Movement to the loss of such key public figures that arose out of and around that movement, there were massive shifts in American politics. This was indeed a very tumultuous time in American history but it was also a time of great sociocultural and political growth for the United States and is unquestionably one of the most important decades in our history and study of this decade is highly important to further growth and prosperity. Journalism: Then and now Journalism: Then and now Is the divide between the British Tabloid and the serious, quality press narrowing? If so why? There are many debates concerned about the state of British newspapers today. Most recently, traditional news values have seen to become more reformed and revolutionized. The dominance of celebrity and social news, the blurring of the boundary between news and reality shows and other popular culture; and the advent of citizen journalism may all suggest that the nature of news and news values are evolving; and that traditional models of the news process are now only partially relevant. Replaced, are new sorts of values called the tabloid news values. Tabloid news values, in the press, are a question of both the angle and interpretive framework of the journalist. (Colin Sparks, 2000) News wins over that appeal to broad sectors of the public, scandals, crime, sports and pop culture will be given very high priority relative to items about politics and public affairs (Sparks, 2000). Equally, the stories will be highly personified and they will impart sensations and emotions. The presence of the tabloid news values in the British papers today is due to several factors such as advertisements and media ownership; which results a hierarchy in the profession involved in the making of newspapers journalism. However, it can be argued that the divide between tabloid newspapers and broadsheets are/are not narrowing, considering the dramatically changed features they include. In this assignment, I aim to distinguish if broadsheets are looking similarly like tabloids and if the quality press is focusing only on public interests. I intend to use relevant examples to assist my points of arguments, besides using academic sources which will finalize my findings towards this topic. It has been said that Broadsheets newspapers went through a process labelled tabloidization. Tabloidization is the term used to express tabloid style papers. It is, as stated by Pete du Pont a shift by the media away from government and foreign affairs to a more entertainment-style of journalism that focuses on lifestyle, celebrity, entertainment and crime/scandal (du Pont, 1998). Ken Sanes (1997) in his article, The News Medias Effort to Hide from Significant Truth (Transparency website) identifies a possible argument which explains the cause of tabloidization. He states that the people who own the newspapers are responsible for the happening of this process. du Pont agrees with Sanes and claims that owners of the newspapers themselves are primarily to blame and that he sees this as the corporate ownership theory. (du Pont, 1998) The newspapers are owned by well-known people such as Rupert Murdock, Scott Trust, Tony OReilly and it is thought that the news journalists follow orders t hat are sent directly from these owners in order to shape the news (du Pont, 1998) accordingly. The result is a news media, which manipulates informationto push the political agendas (du Pont, 1998) of the newspapers. The problem lies in the fact that the agendas of these newspapers are based on marketing themselves and their products, or more simply put on money. Covering up the news that may be detrimental to the economic health and/or reputation of the company (Sanes, 1997) can also be seen a part of this marketing. This is where tabloidization is seen to come in play. In order for the owners to push their own interests or to draw the attention away from the news that may prove to disadvantage them, the newspapers have created a news media that concentrates on attracting audiences through stories about sex, scandal and Hollywood (Pete du Pont, 1998). In 1995 the editor of the Guardian invented the word broadloid to describe a broadsheet newspaper with a tabloid editorial approach. (Peak and Fisher cited in Bromley, 1998). Bob Franklin (1997) determines to prove that both tabloid and broadsheet newspapers are impossible to differentiates and thus compares them to achieve his hypothesis. Franklin found that Broadsheets have degraded by the significant tabloid values they introduced to their paper. He defines a broadsheet as a large format newspaper, written and distributed for a national audience on the basis of a national news agenda. Franklin also believes that Broadsheet news values traditionally favour a mix of politics-plus-diplomacy-plus-war with sport on the back page; broadsheets aim at in-depth and comprehensive coverage; and are written using moderate and emotionally controlled language (assumedly) typical of the middle classes. Broadsheets tend to lead on the issue, or the substantive consequences, of a story rather than first-hand human interest approach more typical of tabloids; they tend to be print heavy rather than the more pictorial tabloids; and are less inclined to use more ethically dubious reporting practices, such as doorstepping or paying sources for stories. (Franklin, 1997) His statement reflects an appreciated view on Broadsheet newspapers as he claims that it is valuable newspaper which, by far, determines a persons status in society. Through his argument, it can be said that he does not accept the reason that Broadsheets would possibly merge into tabloids-style papers. Further, Colin Sparks (2000) believes that newspapers carry responsibilities towards the public interest. Their responsibilities are primarily to warn and protect the public. They are held through the media, where economy and political information are published to the public. The quality press provides this kind of information in abundance. (Sparks, 2000) This is crucial to Sparks that newspapers use this strategy, as the public are expected to exercise informed choices about how, and by whom, their society is being governed.(Sparks, 2000) In other words, Sparks informs us that it is crucial that the public discover the norms and values of their society. The media portrays this to them in order to help them live a less complex lifestyle, with an easier decision to make when following, perhaps economic and/or political ideas. On the other hand, Franklin believes that the quality press has transformed into the popular press through the four ways he states. First, broadsheets now contain less news, especially foreign news, parliamentary news and investigative stories, preferring photographs to these expensive reporting formats. Second, views have increasingly replaced news, with broadsheets choosing to fill the pages emptied of international and investigative reporting with engaging opinion from columnists. Third, he suggests that broadsheets are increasingly allocating a high news priority to stories which until recently would have been dismissed and disdained as merely tabloid stories. Fourth, broadsheets are increasingly likely to include many editorial features which previously were the exclusive preserve of the tabloids (Franklin, 1997). To conclude the meanings of Franklins ideas, he is clearly stating that quality papers do focus on public interest but carry no political or foreign news as they switched to tabloids formats. Through his claim, it can be said that he sees Broadsheets as virtually tabloid paper. Richard Addis, the former Daily Express editor suggests broadsheets are a master class in daily journalism delivered in a thoroughly post-modern or post-ironic way (Addis, cited from the Guardian, 2008). Dominic Ponsford, editor of Press Gazette agrees with Addis and comments that broadsheets are a tidy, spacey, pacey and coherent package a paper positioned upmarket from the tabloids (Ponsford, cited from the Guardian, 2008). Broadsheets tended to have better written articles; with much less scandal and gossip, much less sensational headlines and people depended upon them for getting their quota of what could now be called serious news. However, when talking of tabloids newspaper; the term tabloid refers both to a specific type of newspaper, and to a specific paper size. Newspapers introduced the term when they started halving the broadsheet size. News tabloids are originally presented highly compressed and compacted news, as opposed to the more detailed and lengthy news in broadsheets. Tabloid newspapers were best known for a lower type of journalism that dealt with sleaze, corruption, sex scandals, celebrity gossip and sports. Nevertheless, the lines between the types of newspapers have blurred. Anthony Sampson, a member of the Scott Trust who owns the Guardian said: the frontier between qualities and popular papers has virtually disappeared (Bromley, 1998) Furthermore, Ian Connell follows to argue both Franklin and Sparks views. He declares that Broadsheets have not dumbed down. Connell says Franklins study was not a complete comparison between the poplar and the quality press. The misrepresentations have arisen, I think, because neither has compared like with like.(Connell, 1998) Connells quote shows he has a different perspective and interpretation into the debate of tabloidization. Connell compares both papers to see if Franklins views are somewhat arguably acceptable. He believes that there are substantial amounts of quality news in both broadsheets and tabloids (Connell, 1998) This quote is a directly opposing Franklins idea that international news has, yet, disappeared in the quality press. Connell also argues that Sparks ideology to tabloid papers, it that they reject any sort of international news. However, in his study, Connell claims that tabloids have much public interest stories and that some international news, still virtu ally exist. The Financial Times and the Economist. Together they contributed 36.4% of the international items. (Connell, 1998) Connell may agree with Franklin about sensational and gossipy news which appears in tabloids but does not see this present in broadsheets. Following to this, Connell states that broadsheets are not becoming broadloids and disagrees with Franklin as oppose to his argument that more broadsheet items were published without illustration, as broadsheets have began to use more pictures (Franklin, 1998) His statement here contradicts what he later claims that politics was the most frequently occurring main topic in the UK press. (Franklin, 1998) As known, broadsheets contain more political and foreign news while tabloids tend to mention politics through human interest stories. Connells observations explain that a traditional content is carried by broadsheets, yet they may use tabloid style to twist those traditionally written articles. In contrast, Franklin declares that the style and formats of broadsheets are changing (Franklin, 1998) but he appears to note only on the use of tabloid style language in the headlines of the quality papers. A comparison in the change of some British newspapers may help to conclude wither broadsheet have become broadloid. Martin Conboy states that newspapers which use the tabloid size but do not use its language, such asThe Independent and The Timesdemonstrate that it is the language which is more important in the make-up of a tabloid than the format itself. (Conboy, 2006) However Sanes defences and believes that tabloids have not come close to providing the range of material now regularly offered by the broadsheets. (Sanes, 1997) In 2003 The Independent started concurrent production of both broadsheet and tabloid compact editions, carrying exactly the same content. This paper is seen the most colourful paper among the other broadsheets. Articles include international and political news, but a great quantity of human interest subjects are varied in the news section. However, there is often some clearly identical language and format to tabloid style, with the use of pictures, pun headline and speech bubbles, which all indicate a tabloid style paper. The Sunday Times did likewise, but with less apparent success, with readers vocally opposing the change (Sanes, 1997). The format is big in size but the inside includes many adverts, which is seen to be the great values of a tabloid. They contain illustrations and big attractive picture nearly in every page but do not include much of the human interest topics. Yet most of the human interest stories and celebrity gossip are seen to be found in the news review, which makes this paper, indeed, broadloid. When the Independent launched its new tabloid format, it was a shock for the Guardians creative team, renowned for its strong design ethos and forward-thinking approach. Plans for its own reformat were thought about intensively. Wed always been the British paper that took design most seriously, claims Mark Porter, the Guardians creative director. Weve always had a reputation for that and I suppose we always liked to think we were the most innovative British paper. The Guardian had regained its laurels. Within two years, it was back on top with a new design and format: the Berliner format à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ midway size paper between a broadsheet and a tabloid. As the pressure to follow the crowd increased, Mark Porter spent a long period of time experimenting with a tabloid Guardian, but it soon became clear that it wasnt possible to convert a broadsheet newspaper to tabloid without radically changing both the journalism and the design. The idea that you could was absurd, he says. It wasnt going to be that straightforward and the editor, in particular, was very concerned that if we went down that route we would be forced, even if we didnt want to, to change the journalism and the way we presented the stories. Harcup and ONeil (2001) suggest that celebrity has become a major factor in determining whether a news story is selected for inclusion in a newspaper, and thus is the result of defining if a broadsheet becomes broadloid. They also conclude that The UK press seems obsessed with celebrities such as TV soap stars, sports stars, film stars, and, of course, royalty, (Harcup and ONeil, 2001) which may well predict the upcoming future of broadsheets. However, Porter was looking to create a newspaper where the pictures worked just as hard as the text, offering an alternative way for time-pressed readers to engage with the paper. The main motivation cited for the shifts in the analyzed papers above are that owners use human interest topics and illustrations to make the paper appealing to the readers, (Sanes, 1997) The Independent only needs to transform the language in order to become a tabloid paper. Conboy would probably disagree because the language shows a distant style to tabloids. Bromley believes that owners bring in tabloid values to the quality to attract more readers (Bromley, 1998). I would disagree as there are still people who carry more interest to broadsheets than tabloids. However, since the transformation of many broadsheet newspapers occurred, it gave the readers the choice which content they desired to read. (Sanes, 1997) It is presumably hoped that many readers will find the smaller formats of a tabloid, more convenient, in fact it remains to be seen how this shake-up will affect the usage of the term broadsheet' (Sanes, 1997). Newspapers, however, have always used free subscription trials and other promotions, with advertising platforms such as new or expanded feature sections, and with better home and newsstand distribution in order to sell a successful paper. However, struggling publishers often seek the quickest method to cut costs and increase circulation without harming ad revenues (McLahlan and Golding, 2000) Many in Britain see their salvation in changing formats; they believe that switching to a more compact one, such as the tabloid format, may lift circulation by attracting disaffected newspaper readers. Several important broadsheets across Britain have recently converted themselves into tabloids (du Pont, 1998) and the format have proved popular in the year following the transformation. Advertisements are necessary in the production of newspapers. The popular press, it is conventionally reckoned that only 20 percent of revenues come from advertisingthe quality press, on the other hand, receives 60 percent of its revenues from advertising. (Sparks, 2001) Advertising agencies give broadsheets their money as they believe the popular press target the working class, (Sparks, 2001). This is the only strategy they could possibly use with tabloids as it enables them to advertise in certain papers to target their specific customers. On the other hand, the quality papers aim at the middle and upper class. As a result, their pages include highly paid advertising products. In other words, if selling luxury goods, advertisers will pay much more to get to people who can afford high profile adverts. Alternatively, if selling ringtones, advertisers will not pay as much as they aim at vast readership. Notably, they follow this process as the middle/upper class people are able to afford those high-priced advertising products. Conversely, Spark argues that poorer readers are excluded from having niche newspapers aimed at them, unlike richer people. He follows to explain that democratic inequality based on income (Sparks, 2001) is the reason for the major barrier between the quality papers; as the tabloids do not carry the power of press freedom. It can be said that corporate ownership have played a role in the process of tabloidization and thus involved bifurcation in newspapers. When it comes down to it, the underlying goal of any corporation is to make profits. That is the nature of the business world. Marketing has become a large part of the news. Also what underlies this argument was the deregulation of television in the 1980s. Robin Anderson (1995) states: Before deregulation, corporate speculators did not purchase stations solely for the purpose of commodity trading. After deregulation, however, speculators who had no interest or experience in the media bought and sold stations simply to make a profit. Corporate investors would often cut corners to make a profit by cutting news departments, and giving into advertiser demands (Anderson, 1995). Deregulation here is what allowed the corporations to purchase the T.V. networks. This makes it a major contributor to tabloidization, even if it was an indirect one. In fact, not just in T.V networks does this happen but newspaper proprietors were also accused of treating their titles as business properties with a social purpose'. (Greenslade cited in Bromley). Bromley believes the problem with broadloid is from magazines. Magazines began to pursue an editorial mix of sex, celebrity and sleaze in a far more aggressive way.(Bromley, 1998) Market competition, advertisements and ownership are affecting the state of the media. There is a clear sign that broadloid is taking place. The format may be reducing to one of a tabloid but the contents majority contains hard news. However, it is seen that money is making owners revalue the public interest. In conclusion to my analysis above, it can be notified that broadsheets have not seen to dramatically change as Franklin argues, conversely, it merely depends on the readers to the type of news they choose to read. Arguably, there is, yet a division between the tabloid and broadsheet newspapers, but this division lies under the use of language and format; the papers chose to present. Whether tabloidization started all the above arguments, or vice versa, it is a question that we may never know the answer to. Perhaps, finding the answer to it may be the key to finding the true answer to what caused tabloidization. Whether we know where it came from or not, the fact that tabloidization is here; still remains and it appears to compete and challenge the success on British newspapers.

My Escape from Slavery :: Personal Narrative, Autobiographical Essay

I live on a car lot. My front yard is gravel and asphalt with intermittent splotches of eternally black oil unyielding to any cleaning agent natural or otherwise. Our house is built on the lot right beside iron train tracks. And of course there is the constant image of old cars lined up in rows, not junky just old. It's embarrassing to live under these conditions, but I wouldn't change the situation at all. My family moved onto the car lot when I was in seventh grade. My father had been in the used car business for only about five years. As an adult my father had switched jobs more often than most middle class parents are accustomed. Before taking on the title of a car salesman, he had held a well-paying state department position in which he trained the unemployed so they could find work. However, he claims that by the end his job had become more about paper work and less about people. You see, my dad is a businessman, or at least prides himself as one. People are his game. He saw the car business as the perfect profession to utilize his gifts that were so shamefully being wasted at his old job. Those first years of his being a car salesman, however, I almost never saw my dad. I would get up and be off to school before he awoke, and I would be asleep or at least in bed before he was able to drag his exhausted and overworked body in the front door and collapse in the bed. Often he would be unable to eat dinner until he slept for a couple hours. I can still remember a few times seeing him sitting on the couch at 2 o'clock in the morning in his pajamas eating cottage cheese and peaches and watching Headline News. Needless to say, my father grew tired of living such an existence. Sure, he was supporting his family, but I'm certain he felt horrible about his lack of time with his children. This case is of course what led to my father's suggestion that we move into the building next to his office on the lot. This "house" was actually just another office building with a kitchen. Furthermore this car lot had been erected in the same location as all the other dealerships in our community: downtown.

The Etiology of Autism Essay -- Psychology Neurology Disorders autisti

The Etiology of Autism Autism is a syndrome that is characterized by the impairment of social interaction skills, verbal and nonverbal communication, and a decreased interest in participating in a variety of activities. In 1943, Kanner, the man who is attributed with the identification of this disease, hypothesized that autism might be a biological disorder as opposed to a psychological one. Numerous studies have been conducted supporting Kanner’s hypothesis. These studies have ranged from examining the effects of rubella to investigating certain purine metabolic disorders as possible etiological agents. Recently, the areas of neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, and genetics have played a crucial role in developing a clearer picture into the etiology of this disease. Upon exploring the biological aspects of autism, the fields of neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, and genetics have offered new insights concerning their association with the onset of this disease. Neuroanatomy is one of the latest fields involved in uncovering the possible causes of autism. Many past studies conducted in this area found that autistic patients had enlarged lateral ventricles, however, this abnormality didn’t reveal any damage to a specific anatomical site. The most recent studies conducted on the cerebella of autistic patients showed much more dramatic results. In one specific experiment conducted by Dr. Courchesne, the cerebellar lobules of eighteen autistic patients were compared with the lobules of twelve subjects within a normal control group. The eighteen autistic patients were chosen on the basis that their autistic state was "... not complicated by severe mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, genetic abnormality, other neurologic dise... ... R. S. and B. H. Herman. A Novel Biochemical Model Linking Dysfunctions in Brain Melatonin, Proopiomelanocortin Peptides, and Serotonin in Autism. Biological Psychiatry, 28:773-793, 1991. Courchesne, E. et. al. Hypoplasia of Cerebellar Vermal Lobules VI and VII in Autism. New England Journal of Medicine, 318:1349-1354, May 26, 1988. Gillberg, C. et. al. Monozygotic Female Twins With Autism and the Fragile X Syndrome (AFRAX). J. Child Psychol. Psychiat., 29(4); 447-451, 1988. Herman, B. H. and Panksepp, J. Effects of Morphine and Naloxone on Social Attachment in Infant Guinea Pigs. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behaviour, 9;213-220, 1978. Lowenstein, P. R. et. al. Effects of Naloxone on the Nocturnal Rise of Rat Pineal Melatonin Content. Eur. J. Pharmacol., 98;26 Reiss, A. L. et. al. Autism and Genetic Disorders. Schizophrenic Bulletin.12(4); 724-38, 1986.

The Six Day War Essay -- Military History

The Six Day War Introduction History records the 1967 Arab-Israeli War (Six-Day War) as one of the most memorable on record. Israeli forces delivered a stunning defeat to a coalition of Arab forces that greatly outnumbered the much smaller Israeli force. Victory was made possible by the initial aerial attack launched by Israeli Air Forces. The elements of surprise, stealth, Operational Security (OPSEC), precision planning and flawless execution were essential to victory. The opening aerial offensive has been called â€Å"one of the most stunning successes in modern warfare† . This case study will review the history, preparation, execution, and lessons learned of this conflict. There is much profit for those who will study this war and consider the essential elements that made the impossible- possible. History The United Nations General Assembly voted for the establishment of an Israeli independent state on 29 November 1947. Independence was claimed on May 14th, 1948. Immediately, Arab nations were hostile towards the presence of a Jewish state. No peace was to be enjoyed. Arab legions surrounded Israeli camps and brutally attacked and slaughtered, even civilians. Uneasy relations continued and sporadic wars were to be required in order to preserve the Jewish state. In 1967, tensions were boiling; as another war was on the horizon. While the Jewish state was far out-numbered and surrounded by foes, the Jewish people were inspired to fight for their very survival. President Gamal Abdel Nasser, of Egypt, delivered unsettling, warmongering speeches that only served to further inspire the Israelis to fight with passion. â€Å"The Israelis had a courage and patriotism that made them try harder and more unselfishly† . The... ...ng design, which proved to be a detriment as they could easily be made unusable by a single bomb strike at the intersecting runways . In addition, nations invested in advanced technology, seeking better early warning radar systems. References Tucker, Spencer C., Battles that Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011 Weller, Jae, Israeli Armor: Lessons From the Six-Day War, Military Review Vol.51, No.11, Nov 1971 Rabinovich, Abraham, First Strike, The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Vol.2, No.3, Spring 1990 In Search of Peace: Part One 1948-1967. DVD. Moriah Films, 1997 Against All Odds: Six-Day War & Raid on Entebbe. DVD. A&E Television Networks, 1996 Dogfights: No Room for Error. DVD. A&E Television Networks, 2007 Dogfights: The Complete Season One, Volume Four. DVD. A&E Television Networks, 2006

Jasper Jones Essay

Values have been endorsed and challenged throughout the novel Jasper Jones written by Craig Silvey. The novel Jasper Jones was about a young, shy boy named Carlie who was confronted by an older, confident boy named Jasper Jones who needed his help. As Charlie says yes they set off into the night to where Jasper shows Charlie a young girl, Eliza Wishart, who has been beaten and hung. Throughout the novel they attempt to find out who has done this horrible act to Eliza. The values of equality and coming of age have been both endorsed and challenged. Values of equality, intelligence and acceptance of individuality have been both endorsed and challenged. The value of equality were endorsed through Jasper and Jeffery Lu who have experienced discrimination due to their differences. The values of intelligence and acceptance of individuality were both present through Charlie’s allusion and his differences. The value of equality being present within the character of Jeffery Lu was evident due to his characterisation. As he was a Japanese boy who lived in Australia during the time when there was large conflict between the Japanese and Australians. In the novel Jasper Jones you see Jeffery and the Lu family to be the recipient between of many racist acts towards them. â€Å"Jeffery’s parents are Vietnamese, so he’s ruthlessly bullied and belted about by the boys at school.† Through the characterisation of Jeffery it represents the way how Jeffery is being treated because of his differences, however he portrayed Jeffery to be a very lovable character in the novel. By doing this the readers like the character of Jeffery and reject the actions and discrimination that has been done upon him so they accept the value of equality. As Jeffery is represented to be unflappable which is portraying that all of the outcasts in the world to be strong and Silvey is depicting small Australian towns to be non-accepting of others with differences in race/ The readers are then challenging the values of the town and endorsing the values of equality. Jasper Jones has been shown by author Silvey to present the value of freedom. In the town of Corrigan Jasper is seen by the public to be a menace. All of the townspeople think that he is no good to society. With Jasper Jones you see the town’s people duality as they go around blaming everything that goes wrong in the town on him but cheer and shout his name out on the football field.