Graffiti : art or vandalism Essay

Graffiti is a true art with different meanings that involves many styles and risks that can damage artists physically and socially. Graffiti is an art, not a simple tagging on a trash can or an alley wall but an actual mural that represents meanings in every detail, style, and even every color. How many times have you seen a graffiti mural and asked yourself: what was the inspiration of the making of the mural? Three arguments in favor of legalizing graffiti are that people shouldn’t judge graffiti also that it’s a way of expressing what the world is going through, and lastly graffiti artists are unfairly punished when they are not a danger to society. Don’t judge graffiti as â€Å"bad† if you don’t know what it stands for. One person who does graffiti in a meaningful way is Obey, who creates communist propaganda. He expresses how he feels and how many people feel about communism. Another person that takes time to express the people thoughts of life is Banksy, he’s one of the most known graffiti artists who’s murals actually make you think of how life is or what the worlds going through . One of many quotes that Banksy wrote is â€Å" People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish. But that’s only if it’s done properly†. I feel that when someone goes out on their own time to do posters or a mural representing how people from every society are feeling, they should be rewarded for standing up for their people they are also leaders such as the president standing for the country’s rights. Graffiti for many people is more then a simple tagging, it’s their way of life. These artists get up everyday and just draw whatever is on their mind. It could be about a dream, a future goal, or it can even be how they feel about our economy. As you can see in the pictures above, you may think how true are those two quotes. If you look past the quotes, it’s a graffiti mural expressing the daily thoughts of an average person in society. Read more:  Is Graffiti Art or Vandalism Essay Expressing what you think shouldn’t be a crime if you’re not hurting another peer ,a simple scribble could be considered a tagging any one from any age can do that just because they don’t consider them self taggers doesn’t mean there not able to write on a wall Graffiti artists go through a lot just to make a mural. Graffiti artists include adults as well as many teenagers who are trying to express their ways of life. Many get arrested and let go but many get put in jail or juvenile hall for minors-giving a bad reputation for the artist later in life. Many graffiti artist get injured by attempting to do a graffiti piece, anti graffiti citizens go out and attack many artists wile there writing on private properties in many cases gangs get involved causing taggers to get seriously injured and even get killed making a little problem become a big problem. Graffiti is more than a tagging in a alley, though it’s illegal without the property owners say, but with out the owners permission they could express their creativity. With many people against graffiti and not letting graffiti artists do murals in their property, graffiti artists also known as taggers go out and tag wherever they want, making it a crime. I don’t ask for you to take any actions forward graffiti art but to actually take your time and analyze what the graffiti piece signify and not only judge it, in most cases it was done illegally but really think how it would be if there were legal places where graffiti artist could express their thoughts .

An Analysis of the Contemporary Hollywood Film The Avengers Essay

In this analysis of The Avengers, a recent Marvel’s superhero blockbuster, we will be discussing a few of this films’ film narratives that are representative of contemporary Hollywood film. The Avengers is a 2012 American superhero film that was produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. The Avengers is the sixth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is directed by Joss Whedon and features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgà ¥rd and Samuel L. Jackson (Neumaier). In the film, Nick Fury, the director of the peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D., recruits Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor to form a team that must stop Thor’s adoptive brother Loki from defeating Earth in an alien invasion with the aid of a mystical alien cube weapon known as the tesseract. The team has to learn to work out their problems, both personal and within the group, and band together and save the world, which proves to be extremely difficult as the movie progresses. In this analysis of The Avengers I will be discussing the following film narratives of star actors; character driven stories; how the film takes place in a known, quintessential, American, real world setting; and how the film follows a specific genre formula. â€Å"For all the many strengths of â€Å"The Avengers,† there’s one important element that writer-director Joss Whedon can’t take credit for: the casting. Of the main characters, only one, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, hasn’t appeared in one of the previous five Marvel movies that have led to this point. Of course, for the most part, it’s to be expected: while there are a few newcomers in the mix, the principle cast have close to a century of experience in the movies between them, and countless great performances in their back catalogs† (Scott). The film narrative of star actors is a very prominent aspect in this movie. The Avengers is a movie with one of the biggest collections of star actors since the beginning of the contemporary Hollywood cinema era. Every main character  in this film can be and is considered a star actor. From Robert Downey Jr. who plays Iron Man, the rich, playboy, genius, to Scarlett Johansson who plays as The Black widow, a special ops spy, to Samuel L. Jackson, who plays as Dr. Nick Fury, the leader of the team. In a movie like this, having star actors is a crucial factor in the films success. By having these star actors in The Avengers, they achieved the fan bases of each individual actor on top of the fan base already revolving around the story line and the comics. Because of this, The Avengers has the third highest worldwide grosses made so far, coming in at $1,511,757,910 (Marvel’s). The only reason that this movie was such a success was due to it being a very character driven story. Each individual character had their own input in how the storyline progressed. They are all connected, yet also independent throughout the movie. In the beginning of this film the director made sure to focus on each individual character before intertwining them all. Due to Loki stealing the tesseract, Dr. Fury decides that its time to enact the Avengers program. So Phil contacts Natasha, aka The Black Widow, while she is working undercover, which introduces us to her character and some background information about her. He sends her to go find The Hulk in India, where he’s been hiding out, so that she can â€Å"recruit† him. This then introduces us to his story and starts the intertwinement between the individual characters. The next hero to be introduced is Captain America. Dr. Fury himself goes to â€Å"recruit† the captain and we are shown a preview of where he’s from and some of his backstory. The next character to be initiated is Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, and my personal favorite. The scene starts of with him and his girlfriend Pepper opening up the Stark tower with clean energy, when Phil comes to recruit him as well. All of the Hero’s, except for Thor, are introduced to each other when Loki attacks a crowd in Germany and they defeat and capture him. On the plane ride back to base, Thor captures Loki from the rest of the team, introducing his character and the relationship and background between the two brothers. The beginning of the movie is only one of the many examples of how this film is a character driven story. It goes into much further detail and continues to intertwine even more as the movie progresses. The next film narrative that was represented in The Avengers was how the film takes place in a known, quintessential, American, real world setting.  Ever since September 11th 2001, Hollywood has been portraying the United States being attacked again in many of their films, whether by terrorists or by alien invaders like in this movie. â€Å"These movies are reflecting a need to look back at why these other events started, to show American history in a more heroic light when it looks quite dark now† (Sà ¡nchez-Escalonilla). The last quarter of this movie is based in Manhattan, New York, one of the same cities as the 9/11 attacks. It revolves around an alien invasion destroying the city and killing hundreds of people, which can be representative of the 9/11 attacks. By the end of the movie, the Avengers, and specifically Iron man, save the city from both the alien attack and also from our own country bombing it with a nuke by guiding the nuke into space and destroying the invading alien army. Many people believe that these ending scenes are representative of the statement above how â€Å"American History is shown in a more heroic light† (Sà ¡nchez-Escalonilla), due to the heroic actions of the Avengers and the countless lives that they saved by protecting the city and eliminating the alien invaders. The last film narrative that I noticed in The Avengers was that this film follows a very specific genre formula of a classic, action filled Superhero movie. â€Å"Marvel’s The Avengers is awesomeness squared. It’s the apotheosis of the modern age of comic-book superhero movie, the epitome of everything that Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor were and were trying to be† (Greydanus). The Avengers is the first movie to combine all of the different Marvel’s Comic’s superheroes into one intense, action packed film. This movie was so well thought-out and planned that certain characters were mentioned and even appeared in other hero’s movies and at the end of each specific hero’s movie, there was a scene that connected them all to The Avengers. This movie is one of a kind and redefines the genre of the â€Å"superhero† film. â€Å"The Avengers makes superhero movies new again† (Neumaier). In conclusion, this film is a great representation of the contemporary Hollywood film of our time. The Avengers symbolizes all of the best film narratives of our era, such as Star Actors, like Robert Downey Jr., character driven stories, how the film takes place in a known, quintessential, American, real world setting, like New York, and how the film follows a specific genre formula of being a â€Å"Superhero movie.† This film is going to be considered a classic and a twenty-first century treasure, in the same way that Singing in the Rain, The Godfather, Grease  and The Wizard of Oz are considered of their film eras. Works Cited GREYDANUS, STEVEN D. â€Å"‘The Avengers’ Takes the Superhero Genre to Whole New Level.† NCRegister. EWTN News, n.d. Print. 08 May 2013. â€Å"Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) – Box Office Mojo.† Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) – Box Office Mojo. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013. . Neumaier, Joe. â€Å"Movie Review: ‘The Avengers'† Daily News [New York] 30 Apr. 2012: 16-17. Print. 08 May 2013. Sà ¡nchez-Escalonilla, Antonio. â€Å"Hollywood And The Rhetoric Of Panic: The Popular Genres Of Action And Fantasy In The Wake Of The 9/11 Attacks.† Journal Of Popular Film & Television 38.1 (2010): 10-20. Print. 08 May 2013. Scott, A. O. â€Å"Robert Downey Jr. in ‘The Avengers,’ Directed by Joss Whedon.† NYTimes.com. New York Times, 03 May 2012. Web. 07 May 2013. .

Compensation Plan Outline (Wal-Mart) Assignment

Compensation Plan Outline (Wal-Mart) - Assignment Example Wal-mart is widely known for its vast range of chain stores that provides the world with the best and most affordable and accessible forms of technology. It is more so known to provide some of the latest stellar digital forms of technology and other appliances that are vital for human use. However, Wal-mart success has been hanging on the balance due to its recent controversy on its compensation plan. For sure this has not been a piece of cake and exasperating has it been for the company to retain back its lost glory. It is because of this that this paper is written to providing stellar corrective measures on compensation plan. Compensation management is the strategic process of aligning pay, incentives and benefits of employees with the organizational goals and objectives (Bhatnagar,  2004)). Compensation management further aims at linking an employee and the organization though an employment relationship in such a way that the Company achieves its objectives and strategy effectively whilst the employee gets to be compensated well for making it possible. An effective and fair compensation to the employees is thereby vital in steering the employees to the path of greater productivity and optimized output. Wal-mart Company based in United States is one of the top retail chain stores that were known to incorporate compensation plan as part of its policy. This was done through sub paying the workers whilst providing an insurance scheme for its employees. Even though one could term the insurance scheme as being the best package for the employees of Wal-mart Company, the process did not do much in increasing the Company’s profitability and productivity. Instead, a great number of Wal-mart employees felt deprived of what they would say were their own hard work. Actually, Wal-mart Company was providing insurance scheme as part of compensating the employees due to the advent of

BSc Criminology - Criminal Justice and the Crime Problem Essay

BSc Criminology - Criminal Justice and the Crime Problem - Essay Example It is useful to compare the trends in the data series. For example both charts give property crime the largest section (78 and 75 percent respectively). Looking at Tale 4.06 women are more likely to be attacked than men and younger women are more vulnerable than any other group. Overall non-married persons are more likely to be victims than married persons. To a certain extent identifying persons who are socialising outside the home as being more at risk is nonsense, since if one is attacked inside the home that becomes a burglary. It would also be useful to know how many victims actually knew who the perpetrator was. On the figures given here one would assume that most crime is anonymous and yet we know this is not statistically true. Further, there is no breakdown by gender and we must ask the question are women more likely to be attacked whilst under the influence of alcohol or are they simply more likely to be victims of this type of crime regardless of sobriety? Whilst the survey states that people who had left the house for less than three hours a day were significantly less likely to have been victimised this actually tells us very little. As one ages one has fewer reasons to be away from home for extended periods of time. As noted earlier, if one is attacked in one’s home the name of the crime changes. The survey indicates that marital status affects the risk of being a victim of theft from the person. That is hardly surprising given that the majority of persons in England are beneath marriageable age and it is the non-marrieds who are more likely to have the time and spending power to be out socialising in urban areas. It is also more likely to be a reflection of the fact that 2 out of every 3 marriages in England/Wales end in divorce. The immediate difficulty with data presented in the format of Figure 6.3 is that it actually makes it difficult to determine what one is seeing. For example we are asked to view the data by

Playwright discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Playwright discussion - Assignment Example It is thus the investigators’ strong assertions that no reputable or successful author will create a story not embedded on a blueprint otherwise disjointed and unstable stories will be arguably inevitable hence attracting reviewers to rip such works to shreds. Based on Lenny Bruce’s Comedy gold Performance, the significant of playwright is revealed with respect to its unique and legacy set up. This performance managed to override other performance culminating to ‘standup comedy’. It is embedded on a proactive blueprint making it organized putting ideas cohesively peddled by some problematic guy on stage and cornered at deadlock with the establishment and solely has his wits as the weapon. Bruce climax is interesting as he is delighted by Carnegie Hall being in his palm, being funny with respect to marriage and brilliantly offers poised introduction to political philosophy. Its working playwright has allowed his ideas not to be disjointed and being stable compared to Living Colour’s,’Cult of Personality.’ In a snapshot, playwright is the blueprint that drives story development layers upon layers to weed out chances of disjointed stories and lack of basis for

Consert report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Consert report - Essay Example 4 separate Concertos Spring: Allegro, largo, Allegro Summer: Allegro non molto, Allegro, Adagio, Presto Autumn: Allegro, Adagio non molto, Allegro Winter: Allegro non molto, Largo, Allegro They were short and the music showed as if we were listening to the different seasons. Summer and Spring had the storms. About one minute after the allegro, perhaps at the non molto, the storm started. It kept starting and stopping Mozart Piano Concerto NÂ ° 12 K 414 about 25 minutes. Each movement was much longer than the Vivaldi. It was strange the comparison. I thought the Concerto form had 4 movements. Allegro Adante Allegretto. It sounded as though Mozart was making fun of us at several momemts. Vivaldi is known as the red priest because of his flaming red hair. In paintings he was shown wearing a wig. His Four Seasons is a perfect example of programmed music. It was unheard of at the time. Beethoven would be the next person to use it in his Pastoral symphony. Vivaldi received his first music al training from his father but was initially ordained as a priest. He was dismissed from the priesthood after a year and was able to devote his life to music. In the 17th century it was part of any religious training to have complete musical training. The girls orphanage had over a thousand girls who were trained to become nuns. This provided Vivaldi with an abundance of talented girls to with whom he had access to a constant orchestra and girls who could play a multitude of instruments. Perhaps this is why he was such a prolific composer. He set the precedent of baroque concerto of three movements ABA or allegro andante allegro leading to the longer classical concerto. Bach admired his work but it was only in the 20th century that many scores were found hidden in Turin, Italy. http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/vivaldi.html The Four Seasons were published in 1725 but Vivaldi alluded that they had been written well before. They were four concerto out of 12 to be published for t his patron. He actually wrote over 500 concerti in all. The theory that Vivaldi wrote the sonnets which correspond to the concertos is only confirmed on the basis that each sonnet is divided into three parts explaining to the player how the music is to be interpreted. There are some who say they were written afterwards http://www.sanbernardinosymphony.org/PDF's/ProgramNotesJan11.pdf Mozart's Piano Concerto NÂ ° 12 K414 represents one of his first compositions after he moved to Vienna. Mozart's father was his most avid fan, his teacher and his friend. He was opposed to his moving from his secure post in Salzburg to Vienna and basically become a freelance musician. It was common for musicians and composers to travel from London, Paris and Vienna in the 18th century. This is why so many different styles and influences of difference composers were part of the classical scene. http//www.questia.com/History Of Western Music Groves. 2001 New York Norton. In the last years of his life, he wanted to write something different and wrote the Vienna Concertos. "In Writing his father in 1782, the

Valourec Case Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Valourec Case Analysis - Essay Example The adoption of better technology in the production process yield stunning result in its outcome. If the company chooses most feasible and comfortable method of production in its operation, they can come up with unique feature to the market with modest feature.However its implementation process requires high cost and it cannot affordable to the small and medium scale enterprise due to heavy initial investment. Vallourec was a well motivated a strong personality who aimed to upgrade his production in to world class.The present world is considered as the era of science and technology. Hence due to his well wish, his company could reach countries top most metal tubing manufacturer within a short time. The chemical and gas field requires a huge investment, Technology, Skilled labor and mechanism. If the company follows modern technology and unique production method, they can come up with most efficient low cost product in to the market. The quickest process called by the injunction moldi ng process, which is a highly developed technology adopted by the Vallourec under its steel production process. So here the company was highly interested in developing the quickset process to reduce the production process and to increase the efficiency in the production process. Yet it is a unique production method and it is a adoptable to the metals due to its microscopic layer. The development of technology may incur several time with different stages throughout the process. However the strong desire of the management helped the company to become one of the major manufacturers of metal tubes in the country. However this case study is an attempt to give information on the adoption of modern technology and unique production method than the traditional method of production. Hence this case study reveals the truth, which is involved in the production process by the application of best practice in its operation. Identification of key issues, problems, and opportunities and Evaluation of alternative strategic approaches to deal with the identified problems Vellore's Venture case is one of the most successful cases in the Metal melting process industry. The ultimate aim of every business magnate is to maximize their wealth with a limited risk and prospects. So they require higher return to their heavy investment with in a limited period. Hence the business would modify according to its area of business and the best available methods to operate. Similarly in this case they corporation applied several techniques and methods to get higher return and outcome with a limited effort than the market competitor. The technological innovation gives most suitable and feasible solution to the conventional method of production, where the company can avoid the traditional method of production and come up with unique product to the market. Due to its operation it may suffer several internal as well as the external problems. Let us evaluate the main problems and how it helped to the Vellore's venture to become no one metal producer in the country. Similar to the other metal melting industry the Vellore's has its own issues and problems in the business mater. Yet the company could manage the problem with its effective future plans and strategies. The first and foremost issues related to the process are raising cost. The cost problem is common to almost all business enterprise in the world. However the cost is the major problem and it caused to rise in its price. The rising in the general price of Gas and its material would be a great burden to the Vellore's industry. The slumping sales in the major market hit a heavy burden to the company due to constant increase in the operational cost. So it leads the company in to the situation, where it couldn't estimate the operational cost of its north steel process. Yet on the ultimate stage it could recover its cost in to profitable on due to fell in the oil price in 1979. However it is generally reflecting the issues that the company had been following the conventional

The effects of lead contamination on fetal brain development Essay

The effects of lead contamination on fetal brain development - Essay Example Continuous exposure will fix lead to the bone in areas where the most growth is occurring. The half life of lead in the blood is 35 days, it remains in soft tissue for 40 days and is then stored in the bones for 20 or 30 years (Cullen et al, pg 9). The lead levels may not reflect an accurate count of the total lead in the system as lead is released when calcium declines and soldiers with shrapnel wounds may have resurfacing lead return to the bloodstream. Lead exposure can happen in some unusual ways such as having consumed homemade liquor or moonshine or from chewing on an imported toy. 90% of ingested lead is eliminated unabsorbed (Cullen et al pg 10). Children are also more susceptible to lead poisoning as they have less bone density than adults and thus the lead remains stored in soft tissues producing toxic effects (Cullen et al, pg 10). Osteoporosis can also lead to elevated blood levels as the decreased calcium releases the lead back to blood and soft tissue. "The effects of lead poisoning on the brain are manifold and include delayed or reversed development, learning disabilities, seizures, coma and even death (Marcus, pg 2). Adults with lead poisoning suffer from depression, aggression, low sperm counts and underweight babies. The problem is world wide and crosses all economic backgrounds with greater percentages in poor areas. The numbers of lead poisoning cases in children has declined over the decades since lead paint was banned and plumbing codes have been updated, however, it remains a concern for low income families living in older buildings in need of renovation. The pregnant women could absorb lead through the water supply and if... Lead contamination is not a phenomenon of the past and lead poisoning in newborns and young children still prevails. Old buildings are filled with outdated plumbing and leaded paint, parents work in lead related occupations and cultural traditions often use lead tainted home remedies.Through education and case management the Maternal Child nurse can use his/her role to prevent and provide early detection and treatment in lead poisoning. Lead poisoning is the most serious chronic environmental illness affecting children in spite of interventions to prevent it and cases of lead poisoning still present at hospitals and clinics in the twenty-first century. The Maternal Child nurse can aid the childbearing family with physical assessments, teaching self care and nutrition, environmental assessments, family teaching and fetal assessment. The guidance offered during the pregnancy and post partum newborn period can serve to prevent unnecessary exposure and absorption of lead. Parents can be made aware of the risks of lead exposure and the importance of early intervention and treatment for the child. While lead products are still being produced, many older buildings have outdated plumbing and ethnic products may contain lead, the Maternal Child nurse can offer services and support to decrease the numbers of poor children with lead poisoning. Monitoring of the home environment, education and case management can ensure that fewer babies are born with impaired brain functions leading to a life time of physical and behavior problems.

Road to Independence Notes Essay Example for Free

Road to Independence Notes Essay People are reconsidering the policy of colonialism. 1. After WWII, people questioned whether dictatorship was a good idea. 2. â€Å"All nations should be free from the power of other nations. † 3. Keeping colonies had a high cost. It wasn’t worth it. 4. Colonized people pressed harder for freedom. Ex: British-held India II. A Movement Toward Independence A. The Indian’s strive to freedom intensifies. 1. British had power over India for 2 centuries. 2. Britain drafted Indians into WWII in 1939 without the consent of the the colony’s representatives. . Gandhi launched civil disobedience and many who followed were arrested. 4. To gain favor of the Indians, Britain promised government changes after WWII, but didn’t offer freedom. Besides colonialism, India struggles with internal conflict. 1. They have religious disagreements. 350 million Hindus 100 million Muslims 2. The Congress Party (aka Indian National Congress: India’s national political party) was made up mostly of Hindus, and a few Muslims. C. The Muslim League is created. 1. The Muslim League (1906) is the organization against the mostly Hindu Congress Party, aimed to protect Muslim interest. . (The leader) Muhammad Ali Jinnah asked all Muslims to leave the Congress party. He would not accept independence from Britain if it meant staying under Hindu rule. III. Freedom Brings Turmoil A. The decision of who receives power is being made. 1. The British lost much wealth after WWII, and was ready to turn over their power, since keeping up with colonies was costly. 2. The power will either be given to Hindus or Muslims. B. Muslims resisted Hindu domination. 1. Rioting broke out and in 1946, there were 20,000 casualties in a 4 day clash in Calcutta. C. Pakistan was created. 1. To maintain peace, Britain decided to partition (division of Indian religions into separate nations; idea first brought up by Muslims) India. 2. North western and eastern part of India became Pakistan which was dominated by Muslims. D. Everything in India was being divided. 1. British granted India and Pakistan a month of independence in July 16, 1947. 2. Princes had to decide which nation they’d join. 3. The civil service (courts, military, railways, police) was divided. 4. The differing religions had to decide where to go. E. One million people died during the move to their new nation. 1. Muslims killed Sikhs moving to India. 2. Sikhs and Hindus killed Muslims going to Pakistan. 3. Gandhi went to the Indian capital (Delhi) to ask for mercy, but was killed by a hindu extremist in January 30, 1948. F. Hindus and Muslims fight for Kashmir. 1. Kashmir is at the northern point of India next to Pakistan. 2. It had a Hindu ruler, but the majority of people living there was Muslim. 3. Fighting continued until UN arranged cease-fire in 1949. 4. One-third went to Pakistan (Muslims) and the rest to India (Hindus). IV. Modern India A. India has become the world’s largest democracy. 1. India gained independence in August 15, 1947. 2. Jawaharlal Nehru (the independent nation’s first prime minister) addressed India’s freedom. B. Nehru is the leader. 1. He served the first 17 years of India’s independence as leader. 2. He was a devoted follower of Gandhi. 3. He emphasized democracy, unity, and economic modernization, and became very popular with all Indian groups. C. Nehru pushed India forward. 1. He led newly independent nations into making alliances with other non aligned nations. 2. He reorganized the states by language and pushed for industrialization and social reform. 3. He raised the status of those in lower class (lower castes and women). D. A new leader came. 1. Nehru died in 1964. 2. His daughter, Indira Gandhi, became prime minister in 1966, left office, and was re elected in 1980. E. Challenges set on Indira caused more violent acts and death. 1. Sikh extremists wanted an independent state. 2. The Golden Temple was the Sikh’s religious center. 3. The Sikhs attacked symbols of Indian authority, so Indians troops overran the Golden Temple, killing 500 Sikhs and destroying sacred property. 4. Indira was gunned down by Sikh bodyguards and another murder spree occurred, killing thousands of Sikhs. . Indira’s son, Rajiv, became prime minister, but lost power because of corruption. He was then killed. F. Atal Bihari Vajpayee faced problems. 1. The leader of the nationalist party of India, Vajpayee, faced challenges of overpopulation and strife among religions. 2. The struggle between India and Pakistan was bad, now that they became nuclear powers. India exploded a nuclear device in 1974. For 24 years, India improved nuclear capability in private. In 1998, 5 nuclear tests were conducted. Pakistanis also showed they had nuclear capabilities. The nuclear weapons of both rival groups became an international concern, especially because of Hindus and Muslims continuous struggle over Kashmir. V. Pakistan Copes with Freedom A. Pakistan was already very turbulent and had differences between West Pakistan and East Pakistan. B. The two regions of Pakistan struggled with each other. 1. A tidal wave hit East Pakistan and killed 266,000 residents in 1970, calling for international aid that West Pakistan was not eager in giving. 2. East Pakistan protested and called to end all ties with West Pakistan. C. Pakistan undergoes its own partition. 1. On March 26, 1971, East Pakistan became Bangladesh. 2. Civil war broke out. Indians sided with Bangladesh and Pakistan surrendered. 3. 1 million people died. 4. One-seventh of area and one-half of the population in Pakistan was lost. D. Pakistan is instable. 1. After the death of the first governor general of India, the nation had no strong leader and went through many military coups. First in 1958 by Ali Bhutto Second in 1977 by General Zia Third Benazir Bhutto, Ali’s daughter, became prime minister. Fourth, Sharif in 1997. VI. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka Struggle A. Bangladesh faces many problems. 1. War brought economic and communication issues in Bangladesh. 2. Sheik Mujibur Rahman became the first prime minister of Bangladesh. Interested more in power than making reparations 3. Bangladesh tries to become democratic and fraud and corruption was common. Recently, it has been more stable and Begum Khaleda Zia became prime minister in 2001. 4. Natural disasters were troublesome. Bangladesh (low-lying) is subject to cyclones, tidal waves, massive storms which floods lands, ruins crops, takes lives, and homes. 5. Rapid growth in population put stress on the economy. There is civil strife in Sri Lanka. . Sinhalese Buddhists and Tamil Hindus make up the two main groups in Sri Lanka. 2. Tamils wanted to become a separate Tamil nation and violence occurred in order to do so. Rajiv Gandhi and the president on Sri Lanka made an agreement that called Indian troops to disarm Tamil rebels. A civil war between Tamils and Sri Lankans still exists. New Nations in Africa: Chapter 34 Section 3 I. Setting the Stage A. Africa was also a nation victim to colonization. B. Like India, they were unwilling to return to colonization after WWII, so they also won their independence and went on to creating new African nations. II. Achieving Independence A. A movement is made for Black Heritage. 1. The French-speaking Africans and West Indians grew pride for traditional Africa. 2. The Negritude movement (movement to celebrate African culture, heritage, and values) was formed. B. WWII changed the views of colonies and colonizers, which helped Africa gain independence from 1950s-1960s. 1. The African joined Europeans in WWII to defend freedom, and were unwilling to return to colonization. 2. The European colonizers developed morale and wondered whether it was a good idea to still hold colonies. In addition to morale, maintaining colonies was costly and wasn’t viewed as something worth losing money for. C. Africa achieved independence in a unique way. 1. Unlike other colonized areas that pushed for independence, Africa was colonized indirectly and directly. Those who were ruled indirectly were able to enjoy limited self-rule and were ruled by local officials. They achieved independence more easily. Those ruled directly were governed at all levels by foreigners and did not have any self rule. To get independence, they had to fight wars. D. Africa struggled even after they gained their independence. . They had to start from scratch: creating a new gov. , and establishing postcolonial economy. 2. Internal conflicts made it hard create stable nations. When colonized by Europeans, Africa was separated by random and many tribes who shared the same culture were divided and enclosed with rival groups, causing violence. III. Ghana Leads the Way A. The Gold Coast, a British colony, achieves full independence. 1. The Gold Coast (South of the Sahara) achieved independence, so British allowed for Africans to be nominated for legislative council. 2. However, they wanted full freedom and created a group. . Kwame Nkrumah (leader of the nonviolent group) organized strikes and boycotts, and was also imprisoned many times, (starting in 1947) eventually being able to liberate the Gold Coast from the British government. B. Good intentions called for opposition against Nkrumah. 1. The Gold Coast became Ghana (from the Ghana Kingdom of Africa) after it received its independence in 1957. 2. Nkrumah, th e first prime-minister and president for life, pushed for industrialization by building new roads, schools, and health facilities. 3. His programs were too costly, and people began to oppose him. C. Ghana still continues to struggle. 1. Nkrumah was criticized for neglecting economic issues. 2. When in China (1966) he was replaced by the police and army in Ghana. 3. The power shifts between civilian and military rule, and Ghana struggles economically. 4. 2000 marks the first open election in Ghana. IV. Fighting for Freedom A. The British is forced to allow Kenyan self-government. 1. The British were unwilling to give Kenyans independence because they’ve taken over prized farmland in the northern highlands of Kenya. 2. The Kenyans had 2 developments which forced British to surrender. Jomo Kenyatta’s (Kenyan nationalist) strong leadership. The Mau Mau, a secret society of mostly native Kenyan farmers forced out of the highlands by British people. B. The Mau Mau fight for independence. 1. Guerilla tactics were used to push out the British from the highlands. 2. Kenyatta had no connection to the Mau Mau but did not stop them from fighting for their freedom. 3. Kenyatta was imprisoned for about a decade. 4. Kenya was granted independence in 1963, however, 10,00 Africans and 100 settlers died. C. After gaining independence, Kenya still faced some struggles from poor leadership. 1. Kenyatta became the president and worked to reunite various groups in his nation, but he died in 1978. 2. He was succeeded by a weak leader, Daniel arap Moi. 3. Under Moi’s leadership was opposition to his one-party rule, corruption, and conflicts between ethnicities killing hundreds and making thousands homeless. 4. He left office in 2002, and a new party gained power through elections. D. Algeria wins independence through battle. 1. Algeria had a population of 1 million French and 9 million Arabs and Berber Muslims. 2. French did not want to share political power with the natives even after WWII. . The FLN (Algerian National Liberation Front) would fight for freedom, and upon hearing this, the French sent half a million troops to fight the FLN. 4. The FLN won and gained independence in July 1962. E. Uncertainty within Algeria calls for civil war. 1. The FLN leader, Ahmed Ben Bella, becomes president and attempts to make Algeria follow socialism, but is overthrown. 2. From 19 65-1988, Algeria tried to modernize, but failed. Religious fundamentalists wanted to make Algeria an Islamic state because they were dissatisfied with the current government and high unemployment rates. 3. The Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) won elections in 1990 and 1991, but the government and army refused the results. 4. Civil war broke out between Islamic militants and the government, and goes on and off until this day. V. Civil War in Congo and Angola A. The people of Congo were unprepared for independence, and it led to turmoil. 1. Belgians colonized and plundered Congo taking all its riches and resources such as rubber and copper. 2. They gave no social services to the natives of Congo, and did not prepare them for independence. 3. They granted Congo (aka Zaire from 1971-1997) independence in 1960, which cause upheaval, and civil war. B. Congo goes through two leaders. 1. Years of civil war sprung up, and Mobutu Sese Seko (aka Colonel Joseph Mobutu) seized power in 1965. He renamed Congo to Zaire and ruled it for 32 years. He held control over Zaire with force, one-party rule, and bribing supporters with gifts. He withstood rebellions. 2. In 1997, he was overthrown by Laurent Kabila (rebel leader). Zaire was renamed The Democratic Republic of Congo. C. Kabila wasn’t the leader people hoped for, and a new leader rises. 1. He became president and promised a democracy, but never delivered it. 2. Civil war broke out again, and rebel groups wanted to overthrow Kabila. . He was assassinated by a bodyguard in 2001. 4. Joseph Kabila, his son, took power and pushed for peace. 5. Rebels stopped rebelling in 2002 in hope that the peace may come. D. Angola (South West of Congo) fought for independence. 1. Angola was ruled by the Portuguese who were unwilling to let go of their colony. 2. An independence movement broke out and Portugal sent 50,000 troops to end it, which wiped out half of Portugal’s budget. 3. The cost of war and the war’s opposition in Portugal called for them to withdraw from Angola in 1975. E. Civil war broke out in Angola. 1. Angola became a new nation, and the MPLA (Communist leaning â€Å"Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola†) declared itself as the government. 2. Rebel groups fought against the government for power. 3. 50,000 Cuban troops and Soviet Union supported the MPLA. 4. South Africa and the U. S. supported the UNITA (the major opposition to the MPLA; â€Å"National Union for the Total Independence of Angola†) 5. The MPLA and UNITA abandoned many cease-fire agreements, but in 2002, a peace accord was agreed to and the civil war ended. Conflicts in the Middle East: Chapter 34 Section 4 I. Setting the Stage A. By the end of WWII, Jewish finally gained its own state, which proved to have bad consequences. 1. The Jewish gained a state that was located by the Mediterranean Sea. 2. It consisted of mostly Arabs who rejected the creation of a Jewish state. 3. Palestinians claimed Jewish states to be theirs, therefore opposing Jewish states. 4. Wars were fought between Jews and Arabs, and Jews and Palestinians. II. Israel Becomes a State A. Palestinians, Jews, and Arabs all claim the same lands (Israel, West Bank, and the Gaza Strip in modern day Palestine). 1. Jews’ reason: 3,000 before, Jewish Kings ruled the lands from Jerusalem. . Palestinians’ reason: land was theirs since Jewish exile on A. D. 135. 3. Arabs’ reason: their conquest of the lands in the 7th century (600s). B. The Jews wanted to return to Palestine and gain a Jewish state centuries after their exile. 1. The Jewish were unable to gain their own state after their exile, and dispersed around the world (Diaspor a). 2. Zionists (people who favored a Jewish state in Palestine) started returning to their homeland during the 19th and 20th centuries (1800s-1900s). C. A British idea of creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine cause sparks between the Jews and Palestinians. 1. The British directed Palestine (League of Nations’ commands) as a result of the loss of the Turkish Ottoman Empire in WWI. 2. Many Jews were in Palestine, and pressed for their own nation. 3. Palestinians opposed the idea, so when Secretary Sir Arthur Balfour of Britain proposed creating a Jewish state while keeping the rights of non-Jewish communities (Balfour Declaration) and the plan failed, tensions rose between Palestinians and Jews. D. The U. S. and many European nations felt sympathy towards the Jews, who were targeted in the Holocaust, so they devised a plan that would give Jews what they desired. 1. The UN General Assembly voted for partition in Palestine, one part being a Palestinian state, the other being a Jewish state, and Jerusalem being an international city owned by no one. 2. The Jews made up 34% of the population but gained 55% of the land. E. The partition was set, although Muslims and Palestines rejected it. 1. â€Å"The UN has no right to make such a proposal without first consulting the majority who will be affected by it. †- Muslims and Palestinians. 2. David Ben Gurion (leader of Jews in Palestine) announced that the independent nation of Israel was formed on May 14, 1948. III. Israel and Arab States in Conflict A. War broke out between Israeli and Arab states. 1. The first one (won by Israel) was a day before Israel became a nation, where Islamic states (Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi, Arabia, and Syria invaded Israel. B. The partition wasn’t fully effective because of fighting. 1. Israel seized half of Palestine in 1948-1949. 2. 600,000 Palestinians left to nearby UN sponsored refugee camps. 3. Arabs also seized Palestinian lands. C. War broke out in 1956 during the Suez Crisis. 1. Egypt seized the Suez Canal. 2. Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egyptian president) sent troops to seized the canal controlled by British because he was angry that the U. S. and British stopped financially supporting Egypt’s Aswan Dam. 3. Britain formed an alliance with France and israel to regain the Suez canal. 4. Israel defeated the Egyptians using air support of their European allies. 5. The war ended when the U. S. and Soviets forced Israel and Europeans out of Egypt, ultimately giving Egypt the Suez Canal by the end of the Suez Crisis. D. Another war broke out in 1967, called the Six-Day War. 1. Nasser and Arab allies, equipped with Soviet tanks and aircraft were ready to confront Israel and close off Israel’s outlet to the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba. 2. Israelis knew Arabs would attack, so the struck airfields in Egypt, Iran, Jordan, and Syria, and ground forces defeated Arab states in this Six-Day War. 4. Israelis gained the lands around them (Jerusalem, Sinai Peninsula, The Golden Heights, and the West Bank). 5. They served as buffers for future attacks. 6. Palestinians living in Jerusalem chose Jordanian citizenship, and others not living in Jerusalem went other Jewish control. E. A fourth War broke out in October 1973, called the Yom Kippur War. 1. Anwar Sadat,(Egyptian president who succeeded Nasser) planned an Arab attack on Israel during Yom Kippur. . Sadat was able to reconquer land lost in the Six-Day War. 3. Golda Meir (prime minister of Israel during the Yom Kippur War) counterattacked and regained most the land. 4. After weeks of fighting, a truce was declared. F. Palestinians pushed for recognition and its own state. 1. The UN had given Palestinians its own state during the partition, but the land given was seized by Is raelis during their vast amount of wars. 2. The PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) was organized by Palestinian officials in 1964, and initially consisted mostly of social workers, like teachers, lawyers.

Human Beings Are Capable of Both Great Good and Great Evil Essay Example for Free

Human Beings Are Capable of Both Great Good and Great Evil Essay A brutal persecution has been presented on the family, who of which appeal as kind natured people. As Felix finds an unconscious daughter of the late family, he executes a brave proceed, risking his own life for this young girl- ‘I haul the unconscious girl up onto my back, and stagger through the smoke and sparks. ’ Now not only does this young boy have himself to care for, to protect, to feed, and keep alive, but also a young girl, who has already seen too much. Great evil was surrounding the lives of many during the holocaust. The twitch of a trigger ending the life’s of hundreds of thousands of Jews. ‘The cobblestones hurt my face. The gunshots hurt my ears. I start crying. I don’t know what to do. I haven’t got any more stories. ’ As Felix has reached the city after being captured by the Nazi officers, His beloved friend Zelda, who he saved from a house fire, got captured by Nazi Germans with, walked for days in pouring rain, seeing far to deeper versions of evil, and assumed things weren’t right with; had just slipped through that slim line, of life and death. After a Nazi officer has held a gun to the young girls head, it has suddenly snapped to Felix, that the Nazis are evil, and want to see nothing less or more than pain. His brave self has once again put another before himself, speaking up, begging for her life to be unharmed, only for his plead to be replied to with a gunshot. Unaware of whether Zelda was alive, Felix laid on the cobblestone road. In this example, an act of both great good, and great vil have been perceived, whilst Felix was fighting for his life, trying to get his head around what was happening, Nazi officers are shooting at any Jew they wish, treating them like fish in the sea- plentiful. Their heartless selves laugh at the shooting bullets results. Felix doesn’t yet fully understand what is going on [ 1 ]. The holocaust was a time surrounding WWII, where genocide against all Jewish people in Poland occurred; the massive killing lead by Dictator Adolf Hitler. [ 2 ]. P. [ 3 ]. P. [ 4 ]. P. 73

Role of port pricing

Role of port pricing Introduction Port pricing plays important role in the growth and prosperity of the ports. It influences port competition, investment decisions, development strategy etc. This paper presents the current pricing system of Kandla Port Trust and its impact on the traffic, intense competition, financial gains etc. Kandla Port Trust (KPT) is one of the 12 major ports of India under the Ministry of Shipping, Govt. of India (Location at Annexure I). Also there are 187 minor ports under the control of various State Maritime Boards. Kandla Port faces severe competition from 20 such minor ports (Gujarat Maritime Board Ports) and private ports around it on the 1600 kms coastline of Gujarat (Annexure II) whose total traffic during 2009-10 is 2.59 times of Kandla Ports traffic and 36.73% of the total traffic handled by all the major ports of India. The present tariff structure of Kandla Port Trust had undergone its last revision in 2005 which is taken as a base for presenting the pricing system for this paper. Accordingly the data presented is related to the year from 2002-03 to 2004-05 and projections from 2005-06 to 2007-08. Current Pricing System 1. Kandla Port has fixed the tariff for the various services which are classified as under : for the use of properties belonging to the port such as cargo handling, warehousing, storage, supply of equipments, floating crafts, dry docking and miscellaneous charges etc. The fees for the services such as pilotage, berth hire, hauling, mooring and other services rendered to the vessels and Port Dues on the vessels entering the port. Based on the above, the Scale of Rates of KPT (KPT website) has been divided into 4 Chapters. Chapter I-Definitions; Chapter II- Vessel related charges; Chapter III- Cargo related charges Chapter IV miscellaneous charges. 2. Pricing Strategy: â€Å"There are four usual tariff approaches for the determination of the port charges: Cost-based tariff, investment based tariff, comparative tariff, flexible and promotion tariff. Cost based and investment based tariff aim at achieving the financial objectives whereas comparative and flexible and promotional tariff are suitable for achieving the market needs† (Cariou Handout 2010 p-16). Pricing strategy is based on the objective that a port aims at: may it be the profit maximization, throughput maximization, trade promotion or minimization of the ships time in the port The Kandla Port has adopted a ‘cost plus return on capital employed approach while fixing the tariff to achieve the financial objective of the port. However, congestion pricing (for the priority berthing and ousting priority for berthing) and the other strategies such as comparative tariff and flexible and promotional tariff has also been adopted for certain commodities to attract the cargo. Thus the profit maximization and throughput maximizationarethe objectives of Kandla Port. Assessing and Forecasting Port demand: Traffic projections are one of the influential factors in deciding the tariff structure. It gives thebasis to decide whether the tariffs fixed are enough to cover the cost and the investment. Therefore, correct traffic forecasting is crucial in any port pricing system. In KPT, traffic projections made are in line with the projections in the five year / annual plans and the current / expected growth. (Annexure III) These projections are made after taking into consideration the various factors such as trend of cargo handled during previous years, capacity increase, economic growth, traffic handled by the nearby competiting ports, market survey based on the indications given by the port users, reports of the various associations such as Agricultural Product Export Development Authority (APEDA), Timber Association, Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-Operative Ltd. (IFFCO), Oil Coordination Committees report (OCC), reports from the important importers and exporters, Expert opinions, governments policies etc. The demand is also studied on the basis of size of the vessels handled at port (Annexure IV) based on the draft restrictions and future dredging plans of the port. Competition level Kandla Port Trust handles almost 80 million tons of cargo and has a sprawling hinterland of 1 million square kilometers right from the state of Gujarat to the Jammu and Kashmir. (MAP of hinterland and location of other major ports is placed at Annexure V). Port faces severe competition from nearby State owned 20 minor ports and private ports which handled 205.98 millions metric tons during 2009-10. The Herfindahl Index (H) calculated comes out 1 and clearly shows the monopoly pattern of these ports. Traffic comparison of Kandla Port and 20 minor ports of Gujarat and Herfindahl Index is placed at Annexure VI. There is also an acute competition faced by KPT from the Port of Mundra, a private port which is in the vicinity and handled almost 40 million tons of cargo during 2009-2010. Port takes this severe competition into consideration while fixing the tariff structure. Tariff rates are also made concessional and promotional if ashipper commits major volumes. Thus, tariff has been fixed considering the emerging competition by the private ports in the near vicinity in terms of traffic, tariff rates and the likelihood of losing of cargo. Comparison of tariff is important particularly so when the port compete for the same hinterland. It is observed from the comparison that all charges are abysmally low at Kandla Port Trust except the port dues, pilotage and berth hire charges which are little higher than the GMB Ports (GMB website), due to the huge expenditure of dredging cost. Kandla Port has less competition with the major ports as each major port has distinct hinterland without muchoverlap. Herfindahl Index (H) for these ports shows pattern of equality in the market share i.e. moderate concentration of competition with the Index of 0.09868. Traffic of all other major ports of India along with Herfindahl Index is placed at Annexure VII. However, Kandla Port puts lot of efforts to attract cargo from the nearby major ports such as Mumbai Port and Jawaharlal Nehru Port by providing the competitive rates. Cost Structure Attempts are made in Kandla Port Trust to evaluatecost of each component of port operations. It provides the consciousness that the inefficiencies are not passed on to the users. For the purpose of fixation of the tariff, it is necessary to know the operating cost of the port. Operating cost includes labour cost, material cost, maintenance cost, fuel cost and other expenditure such as management and administration, insurance, security. Expenses such as retirement benefits, write off of losses are also considered for the purpose of fixation of the tariff. For this purpose, the operations of the Kandla Port are classified into five main activities such as Cargo handling, Port and dock facilities, Railway working, Estate Rental and Township. ‘Caro handling Activity comprise sub-activities such as cargo handling, warehousing and storage, mobile cranes etc. and ‘Port and Dock facilities Activity comprise sub-activities such as Cranes, berth hire, port dues, pilotage, water supply, dry docking, dredging, flotilla etc. These activities and sub-activities are again divided into various cost centres where in the cost is booked. Based on these cost centres the ‘Direct Cost of each activity is booked/allocated under that sub-activity. The ‘Indirect Cost/overheads such as Departmental overheads, management and general administration overheads(such as store keeping expenses, labour welfare and medical expenses, engineering expenses, work shop overheads, insurance etc), security expenses, social welfare expenses, fire fighting expenses et. al are also booked under different cost centres and then they are apportioned to all the sub-activities. Thus based on the Direct and Indirect Cost, Total Operating Cost has been arrived at. To this operating cost, as stated above, the cost such as retirement benefits/ex-gratia payment, writing off losses etc. (which are called Finance and Miscellaneous expenditure) is added to arrive at the Total Cost. To the Total Cost arrived at, Return on capital employed (ROCE) calculated @ 15% is added to get the Price/Tariff of that activity. (Rate of return is calculated on the basis of CAPM). Specimen of the Cost Statement of Cargo handling sub-activity is placed at Annexure VIII which gives an idea as how the costs are booked under different heads. Based on all the above factors, the copy of the cost statement for the Port is placed at Annexure IX. Capital Employed comprises Net Fixed Assets (Gross Block minus Depreciation minus Works in Progress) plus Working Capital. Capital employed for each activity, return on capital employed (Annexure X) and cash flow statement (Annexure XI) are placed only for 2004-05. (Such calculations are done for 2002-03 and 2003-04 also). Cost statement also shows future projections. For income projections, traffic projections and present tariff rates are considered. Wherever the rates are mentioned in the dollar terms, the effect of foreign exchange fluctuation is given. For expenditure projection, latest expenditure is adjusted to the Wholesale Price Index for All Commodities announced by the Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India and applied to the traffic projections to arrive at the expenditure projections. Present Tariff Proposal As revealed from the tariff order for KPT (TAMP website) the tariff proposal is as below: â€Å"Based on the cost structure, the financial position reveals how much tariff is required to generate the [emailprotected]% and to make the activities self sustained. However, Port finds that such recovery of return will not be possible as it demands almost 38% hike and traffic can not bear such huge hike. Hence Port decided to recover only the short recovery/deficit of 286.40 millions (Annexure IX p-17). While doing so, however, port has considered various factors such as (i) severe competition by the nearby state owned and private ports on account of better facilities such as deeper drafts, speedy cargo handling systems (impacting ships turn around time which was the main reasons for getting diverted the Kandla Ports traffic) (ii) heavy capital expenditure incurred by the ports by addition of infrastructure such as quay, heavy duty cranes, godowns, road-rail network etc. since last revision and like expenditure in the coming years (iii)substantial maintenance dredging cost to the tune of Rs.400 millions p.a. (iv) increase in the operating cost by 23.68% etc. . Over the current rates, Tariff Revision considered a hike of 15% in cargo handling storage, pilotage, port dues and miscellaneous charges and 50% in the berth hire charges. Port has also considered cross subsidization in other the surplus activities while deciding to go for recovery of only the deficit. However, port further gives specific justification as below for the upward revision of tariff. For port dues, port considered the huge expenditure on account of maintenance dredging. Rates of the pilotage charges of the nearby ports which were 82% higher than the Kandla Ports rate justified 15% hike. Huge investments by developing infrastructure like berth and heavy duty cranes which benefitted the port users by reduction in turn around time of the ships reduction in the no. of gangs justified the hike of 50% in the berth hire charges. For pilotage, port dues and berth hire the GRT slab of 10001-30000 is focused more as 56%of the vessels visiting port falls in this category. For the storage activity also likely investment in the open storage area justified 15% hike. For the cargo handling activity however, it is observed that Port instead of giving flat 15% hike to the existing rates, used the proactive pricing by increasing the rate of those commodities in which port has monopoly in handling such as food grains, scrap, timber, salt and sugar and reducing the rates of the car go such as ores minerals, metals, oil cakes etc. which was getting diverted. Kandla Port expected additional revenue generation of approx. 304.30 millions p.a. after the tariff revision.†(Annexure XII) Recommendations on as to ho w the current pricing system could be changed to increase a) attractiveness of the port; b) the profit of the port . Emerging growth of the GMB ports during thelast decade in terms of capacity creation and speedy cargo handling has posed a severe competition to Kandla Port. Further, tariff of the State owned ports are not subject to approval of any Tariff Regulatory Authority like Major Ports and hence very flexible and attractive. With this backdrop, thefollowing recommendations are made to increase the attractiveness as well asprofit of the port by the cost control and cost reduction measures: Port should think ofworkingon the ‘normative costing principlewhere by standard costs and standard tariffscan be derived which could be bench-marked for pitchingthe right actual tariffs for each sub-activity and principal activity. This will give a strict control over inefficiencies and thus will help to reduce the tariff. Efforts are required to be concentrated in the areas where the potential savings are likely to bemaximum. Implementation of the cost effective systems will definitely help the port to overcome the redundant costs. Developing ‘satellite ports at new location with slimstrength of man-power and cost-effective systems can also be thought of by the port. Best solutions in terms of making a port cost-effective and attracting traffic is to develop the terminals under public-private participationmodel wherein the risks are optimally shared/distributed and costs are brought down witha right blend of public management and private management. Port, by taking up various productivity measures and specifically adding infrastructure, can reduce the turn around time of the ships and get benefitted by accommodation of the large no. of vessels. This will increase traffic at the port and thus through the economies of scale the price at the port gets reduced. Of course, coefficient of elasticity of tariff on traffic is to be found out to determine to what extent the tariff is to be reduced.(Generally ports in India are in oligopoly market and coefficient of elasticity of tariff on traffic is less than one) For cost reduction and adding infrastructure, Kandla Port has to work on the various areas such as massive mechanization through high capacity cranes, marine unloaders, transfer mobile equipments and commissioning ofspecialized terminals such as coal terminal, car terminal, container terminal etc. for speedy handling of the cargo. Increase in the capacity of the port is urgently required as the berth occupancy at the port is 89% (Ministry of Shipping, India website) which is much on the higher side impacting the turn around time of the ship which is almost 3.09 days (KPT website). Though Port has prepared dredging plan, it is required to reduce the time span so that larger vessels get accommodated within a short period. Port requires to work on procedural delays and thinking on modernizationin terms of ‘modern Gate-in Gate-out systems and web-based port community systems etc., in order to reduce transaction time and cost . Port can also take up the value adding services and ‘door-to-door solutions tobuild -up captive customer/clientele base. Conclusion: Pricing plays a prominent role in any organization. It is one of the determining factors to fetch the traffic at the port. As it is said that price makes and price makes, Port has to take into considerations holistic view before taking any pricing decision.

Poetic Techniques of Wilfred Owen Essay -- essays research papers

Wilfred Owen can be considered as one of the finest war poets of all times. His war poems, a collection of works composed between January 1917, when he was first sent to the Western Front, and November 1918, when he was killed in action, use a variety of poetic techniques to allow the reader to empathise with his world, situation, emotions and thoughts. The sonnet form, para-rhymes, ironic titles, voice, and various imagery used by Owen grasp the prominent central idea of the complete futility of war as well as explore underlying themes such as the massive waste of young lives, the horrors of war, the hopelessness of war and the loss of religion. These can be seen in the three poems, ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ and ‘The Last Laugh’, in which this essay will look into. The sonnet form is commonly adopted by Owen to tersely present his numerous ideas and to evoke contemplation. The elegy, ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, is written as a basic Shakespearean sonnet to mourn for the enormous loss of young soldiers from two distinct angles, the improper burials they obtained and the remembrance they deserve. The first two stanzas of ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ also adopt the sonnet form to explore two varying aspects of torment within war, the terrible conditions faced by all the men on a day-to-day basis and the sickening suffering of one particular youth. Owen uses this possible intertwining of contrasting thoughts within sonnets to emphasise that in every generation, there will always be different views with regard to the war. However, it is of key significance that the millions who died and suffered in this futility will be forever remembered. Their inconceivable experiences and horrifying statistics must be taken into... ... shells â€Å"wailing† their â€Å"shrill, demented† mourning. The last sounds these soldiers are forced to listen to are their killers’ ridiculing at their naà ¯ve decision to fight. Weapons in Owen’s poems are personified to mock the war and reinforce its futility. The poetic techniques used in Wilfred Owen’s war poetry sweep the reader from the surface of knowing to the essence of truly appreciating his ideas. Through sonnets, Para rhymes, ironic titles, voices and strong imagery, not only is the reader able to comprehend to the futility and the horrors of the Great War, but also they can almost physically and mentally empathise with those who fought. Through the three poems examined, it is evident that Owen goes to great effort to describe the conditions and thoughts of the First World War, thus his works are considered an invaluable asset to the modern literature.

Essay on Shakespeares The Tempest - Prospero and Shakespeare :: free essay writer

The Tempest, Prospero and Shakespeare There can be no doubt that The Tempest contains numerous references to the theater, and while many of Shakespeare's plays make reference to the dramatic arts and their analogy to real life (e.g., "all the world's a stage"), it is in this, his last play, that the Bard most explicitly acknowledges that the audience is viewing a show. Thus, in the play's final scene (Act I, scene i., ll.148ff), Prospero tells his prospective son-in-law Ferdinand that the revels at hand are almost at an end, that the actors are about to retire, and that the "insubstantial pageant" of which he has been a part has reached its conclusion. It is, in fact, tempting to equate the character of Prospero with that of his creator, the playwright Shakespeare. When Prospero sheds his magician's robes in favor of his civilian attire as the Duke of Milan, with the benefit of hindsight that this is Shakespeare's last work and his crowning achievement, we are disposed to associate the learned sorcerer with the Bard of A von. How far we are to take this identification, however, is moot. Prospero of The Tempest, like Shakespeare in his late Romance period, is a mature man with a daughter (Shakespeare, in fact, had two daughters, his only son dying in childhood) at the height of his intellectual and creative powers. Prospero is a polymath, a scholar with a magic book from an entire library that so absorbed him that it was, "dukedom large enough" (I, ii. l.110). Prospero displays a tinge of regret for having neglected his worldly office as Duke of Milan in favor of the life of the mind. Similarly, as virtually all of Shakespeare's biographers have observed, the Elizabethan playwright's knowledge was exceedingly broad, leading many to speculate that he pursued a number of vocations before settling into a life in the theater, and we know from textual correspondences that Shakespeare was broadly read and that he continued to absorb knowledge from diverse publications until his death. We can also speculate that Shakespeare regretted remaining away from his home in Stratfor d, at least insofar as his career in London kept him away from his children. Lastly, following The Tempest, Shakespeare, like Prospero, retired to civilian life, there being a period of five or six years between his composition of that play and his untimely death at the age of fifty-two.

Pro- Cell Phones and Ipods in School Essay

Alex Hightower Cell phones are taking over high schools, let’s face it. In this day and age cell phones and mp3 players are almost a necessity. Have you ever been sitting in the middle of class and you hear a cell phone go off? The common reaction is to look and see whose phone it was, then you lose focus and the teacher has to repeat what they were saying. This gets most teachers mad and many students upset. Students believe that teachers taking their phones away are not fair, when really you should have been paying attention to the lesson instead of distracting another student from learning. The teachers do not want to take the  cell phone  or mp3 players away from you but it is part of their job duties. They just want what is best for you and they want you to succeed in life. Many school administrators have taken the position that school rules should prohibit the use of  cell phones  and mp3 players during class, tests, and exams and in the bathroom. I disagree. I think that they should allow cell phones and mp3 players in school. For one, it is safer to let children have their phones so they can contact their parents during the day, that way the parents know that their child is safe at school. If there is an emergency or accident the parents would want to know about it and if everyone is okay. The school board can only send out a voicemail so quickly and it would have all the information that their child would. It also wouldn’t give specific information pertaining to the child. It would send them into a panic, worrying that their kid is injured. If they were allowed to use their phones, they would call their parents and tell them that everything is okay. That would also relieve the stress of the school board about having to tell the parents because the kids would have already done it. Most kids these days have low attention spans. Those same kids also listen to music in their spare time. For example, while they read or do homework and likely concentrate better while doing this. So if we let them listen to music on their iPods or mp3 players during silent work, they would talk to other class mates less and they would finish their work more accurately and faster. Using iPods in class during silent work would help the kids do their work more accurately. Another concern is that a class mate might steal another class mate’s cell phone or mp3 player. This can happen but might be less likely if the student is allowed to use it. If the student is allowed to text in class he or she is going to check their phone or mp3 player more often than they would if they weren’t allowed to text or listen to music in class. Cell phone and mp3 players can be distracting in class, while teaching, but that’s why, rather than banning them, there should be a guide line set. The cell phone or mp3 player doesn’t need to be out the entire day or the entire class period but they also don’t need to be banned altogether. They should be used appropriately throughout the school day and emergencies. They also shouldn’t be taken if the student is caught with a cell phone or mp3 player. The ones that get caught are usually the ones contacting a parent because they are sick and not paying attention to the teacher. Having the phone sit in the office makes the school directly responsible for whether or not the cell phone is stolen or broken, which could result in a law suit, depending on the parents and the type of cell phone. Whoever pays the bill for the cell phone wouldn’t be happy if they can’t get to it because they have to work and it just sits in the office, causing them to pay for something that’s not being used. There is no real downside to letting students have their cell phones mp3 players in class. It’s better for parents who may need to contact their kids during school hours. It’ll help kids concentrate in class. It could make them use their phones less; we are more likely to do something were not allowed to do. That’s why we should allow cell phones and mp3 players in school.

Network security threats Essay

The purpose of this memo is to let you know the importance of network security. Here I will discuss the network security threats, law that affects network security and processes and procedures for disaster recovery, data backup, and data restoration along with future action plans. Network security threats can be defined as any method used to try to breach the security of a network or system (Tulloch 2003). The goal of network security is to sustain and defend three critical properties of information, which are confidentiality, integrity and availability. This threats originate from variety of sources such as External and internal. External threats are structured threats from malicious individuals or organizations and unstructured threats from inexperienced attackers such as script kiddies. Internal threats are threats from disgruntled employees or contractors. Various network security threats exist. Some of the threats are Firewall and System Probing, Network File Systems (NFS) Application Attacks, Vendor Default Password Attacks, Denial of service (DoS) attacks, Social Engineering Attacks, Electronic Mail Attacks, Spoofing, Sniffing, Fragmentation and Splicing Attacks, Easy-To-Guess Password Compromise, Destructive Computer Viruses, Prefix Scanning, Trojan Horses and Reconnaissance attacks. The top three security threats to a network are discussed in below paragraphs. Disgruntled Employees This is the most common network security threat. Disgruntled employees, who are the group most familiar with their employer’s computers and applications, including knowing what actions might cause the most damage can create both mischief and sabotage on a computer System. The disgruntled current employees actually cause more damage than former employees do. According to Parmar, the common examples of computer-related employee sabotage are entering data incorrectly, changing and deleting data, destroying data or programs with logic bombs, crashing systems, holding data hostage and destroying hardware or facilities. Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks According to Tulloch (2003), DoS is a type of attack that tries to prevent legitimate users from accessing network services. In this type of threats, the attacker tries to prevent access to a system or network by several possible means. Some of these are: Flooding the network with so much traffic that traffic from legitimate clients is overwhelmed; Flooding the network with so many requests for a network service that the host providing the service cannot receive similar requests from legitimate clients; and Disrupting communications between hosts and legitimate clients by various means, including alteration of system configuration information or even physical destruction of network servers and components. (Tulloch 2003) Malicious Code and Electronic Mail Attacks. According to Parmar, malicious code refers to viruses , worms , Trojan horses , logic bombs, and software (uninvited). Electronic e-mail attacks are emails that hackers send to compromise network systems and whenever companies accept this e-mail from the Internet that have exposed versions of the sendmail program are potential targets from this attack. NETWORK SECURITY LAWS As such, no network security laws exist for network security. However, some of the acts that are applicable for network security threats are discussed in below paragraphs. Privacy Act of 1974 The concept of information privacy has been one of the most critical issues. It takes into serious consideration. Imagine a world without information privacy. The lack of information privacy creates a breeding ground for technological sharing and distribution. In 1974, the Privacy Act of 1974, passed by the Unites States Congress, states that: No agency shall disclose any record, which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains (â€Å"Privacy Act of 1974† 88 Stat. 1897). CFAA – Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. According to Robinson (2003), the current United States law of information security is the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U. S. C). It was originally enacted solely as a computer crime statute, but in its present form, it imposes both civil and criminal liability for a wide variety of acts that compromise the security of public and private sector computer systems. DMCA – The Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U. S. C), provides that â€Å"no person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title [the Copyright Law]†. (Robinson, 2003) There are other laws (acts), such as the Wiretap Act, the Stored Communications Act, and the Computer Security Act are also applicable on network security threats. PROCESS AND PROCEDURES FOR NETWORK SECURITY The three important techniques used by companies to protect their network are firewalls, encryption and VPN, which are discussed below: Firewalls Firewalls are used to control access between networks. It separate intranets and xtranets from the Internet so that only employees and authorized business partners can access. Firewalls are implemented by Packet filtering to block â€Å"illegal† traffic, which is defined by the security policy or by using a proxy server, which acts as an intermediary. Encryption To protect against sniffing, messages can be encrypted before being sent (over the Internet). In general, two classes of encryption methods Secret Key encryption (DES) and Public Key encryption (RSA, public and private key are needed) are used today. Public Key encryption is incorporated into all major Web browsers and is the basis for secure socket layer (SSL). Virtual Private Networks (VPN) VPN maintains data security as it is transmitted by using tunneling and encryption. Tunneling creates a temporary connection between a remote computer and the local network. Tunneling blocks access to anyone trying to intercept messages sent over that link. Encryption scrambles the message before it is sent and decodes it at the receiving end. Another important area for companies are (implementing) Security policy, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity (plans), which are discussed in below paragraphs: Security policy Security policy is defined as rules, directives and practices that govern how asset, including sensitive information are managed protected and distributed within an organization. Every organization should define and document a security policy that defines the limits of acceptable behavior and how the organization will respond to violation of such behavior. Security policy defined should be concise, to the point, easy to understand and widely publicized in the organization. The security policy implemented should ensure compliance with all laws. The security policy should be reviewed periodically to respond to changes in technology or circumstances. There should be restrictions on playing of computer games on corporate computers and visiting of non-productive web sites using corporate network. In addition, employees should be monitored for prohibition against taking copies of certain corporate electronic document out of office, use of pirated software and use of corporate e-mail account for sending the personal e-mail. Proper Documentation for Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity There are various types of vulnerabilities associated with computer-based information systems. Now these days’ organizations are being more dependent upon their computer systems, therefore the survival of business depend very much on the security of these systems. Initially (few years back), physical disasters such as floods a hurricane, and fires were the most probable security risks. Nowadays, computer operations are also liable to loss or damage from hackers, computer viruses, industrial spies and similar causes which until recently were in the realms of science fiction. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, showed that there is a big difference between disaster recovery and business continuity. In the past, disaster recovery meant getting computers and networks up and running after a hurricane, flood, fire, or other disaster. However, September 11 taught a broader issue getting the business up-and-running. According to McNurlin & Sprague (2006), Business continuity broadens the discussion to include: Safeguarding people during a disaster; Documenting business procedures so that not dependent upon a single employee; Giving employees the tools and space to handle personal issues first so that they can then concentrate on work; Alternate workspace for people and Backup IT sites not too close but not too far away; Up to date evacuation plans that everyone knows and has practiced; Backed up laptops and departmental servers; and Helping people cope with a disaster by having easily accessible phone lists, e-mail lists, instant-messenger lists so people can communicate with loved ones and colleagues. CONCLUSIONS The goal of network security is to sustain and defend three critical properties of information, which are confidentiality, integrity and availability. The most common threats to network security comes from disgruntled employees, DoS attacks and malicious code attacks. All these threats try to breach the security of a network or system. Various information security and privacy laws exist, which must be followed by companies while installing and managing their computer network. Various techniques such as firewalls, encryption and VPN are used for securing network. In addition, security polices and disaster recovery and business continuity plan are implemented for securing network. FUTURE ACTION Below are some methods for securing network from the top three security threats to a network. Disgruntled employees type of threats can be limited by invalidating passwords and deleting system accounts in a timely manner by network (system) administrator. According to Tulloch (2003), defenses against DoS attacks can be done by disabling unneeded network services to limit the attack surface of companies network ; enabling disk quotas for all accounts including those used by network services; implementing filtering on routers and patch operating systems to reduce exposure to SYN flooding ; base-lining normal network usage to help identify such attacks in order to quickly defeat them ; and regularly backing up system configuration information and ensuring strong password policies. To prevent malicious code attacks from occurring, regular check with vendors to ensure systems are running a correct version of sendmail or some more secure mail product are necessary. Network Security through Software and Hardware can be implemented by: †¢ Modular and cheaper workgroup firewalls. †¢ By having host based and network based Intrusion detection systems †¢ Active security by providing auto mated responses to agents. †¢ Centralized management †¢ Content filtering †¢ Acceptance of PKI †¢ By having token, smartcard or biometric based access solutions. Some basic protecting tips for computer (in network) that should be provided to all the staffs in the organization are: †¢ Always use Anti-virus Software †¢ Download security updates and patches regularly and update computer systems. †¢ Do not check or download emails and attachments from unknown sources: †¢ Back Up your data regularly. †¢ Use Firewall †¢ Do not share access to your computer hard drives in network Attachments. REFERENCES Tulloch, M.2003, ‘Microsoft Encyclopedia of Security’, Microsoft Press, Washington, United States of America. Parmar, S. K. & CST, N. Cowichan Duncan RCMP Det (cmpl), ‘An Introduction to Security Manual’ McNurlin, B. C & Sprague, R. H 2006, ‘Information Systems Management in Practice’, 7th ed. , Pearson Education, New Jersey United States Congress, Privacy Act of 1974. Public Law No. 93-579, 88 Stat. 1897 (Dec. 31, 1974) CERT Training and Education software Engineering Institute (2006). Information Security for Technical Staff, Student handbook, Camegie Mellon University, USA Robinson, S, 2003, ‘U. S. Information Security Law’, accessed on October 20, 2007 from .

Shipping the Way We Teach English Successfully Practices

FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES MASTER'S DEGREE IN METHODOLOGY English Teaching Methodology – PMI 730 Reaction Paper PARTICIPANT: EDILTRUDIS GOMEZ Q. 4-724-19 FACILITATOR: AUGUSTO GUEVARA M. A David, Chiriqui 2012 My Reaction to the videos My Reaction about shipping the way we teach English successfully practices around the world video. I think that is a very good instructional video design for EFL education which basically has two main goals: 1- building pedagogical foundations and 2- improving classroom practice. I feel that this video is promoting a manual contains 14 modules. It seems that it is divided in four categories.Category A – approaching to language teaching foundations. It is made of the following modules1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Next category B – Focus in language teaching extension which is made of the following modules 6,7,8,9, and 10. Then category C – focus on the learner and category. It is made of the following module11 and 12. Finally category D â⠂¬â€œ focus on teacher professional development. It is made of the following modules13 and 14. In my humble opinion, it is good that all of the modules have videos plus supporting material and previewing activities which can help teacher to guide students.I agree that if we observe other teachers classes in both primary and secondary level, it can give us not only a variety of teaching stiles but also cultures reflected in these examples will provide a helpful aid for both teacher and student. In addition, I believe that there are several factors affecting the results of teaching such as personal reasons, motivations to use this material, fix practice and curriculum, degree flexibility, and creativity, moreover the willing to experiment and try with different ideas and techniques.However, I agree that the fact of taking in consideration the new ideas that it offers to everyone is essential to improve the way we teach. I concur that before applying these examples we have to do it bas ed on some aspects such as ours students? language, level, curriculum and institutional setting teaching style and culture to shape the way of teaching. The second video is about the module I – contextualizing language by organizing the language curriculum to the topics we are dealing with.Consequently, Language is constructed to purpose situations and social needs, a better learning outcome approach instructions integrated skills and pair work. Finally, Think as flexible as possible, Look for the examples of different activities for instance storytelling, dramatization, singing, student presentation projects themes or topics and look for the context and language. In conclusion, I do not have any disagreement with these videos since I do not have any experience in teaching. On the other hand I found them very useful for teaching both videos were excellent and encourage me to use them as soon as I have the possibility

George and Martha’s Essay

The very title of Edward Albee’s ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? ‘ has immediate connotations as to the relationship between the two main characters of the play, George and Martha. The well known nursery rhyme in fact goes, ‘Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? ‘ As we find out in further reading of the play, the ‘big bad wolf’ is obviously supposed to be seen as Martha, and the victim is George, her long suffering husband. However, in hindsight, both characters suffer just as much as each other. The title of Act one is ‘Fun and Games. ‘ This proves to be slightly ironic as the games Martha and George play, mind and verbal matches, do not seem at all fun, but appear as more of a power struggle. Apparent simple requests from Martha become games for both her and Martha to play. Martha says, ‘Why don’t you want to kiss me? ‘ whereupon George replies, ‘Well, dear, if I kissed you I’d get all excited†¦ ‘ As one critic of the play wrote, ‘They (George and Martha) club each other on the head with gleeful scorn and leave huge patches of scorched earth. ‘ Emotions from both George and Martha become integrated into an ongoing power struggle, and Martha dwells in George’s anger as she likes to see the stirred up effect she has on him. As the night wears on, more alcohol is consumed and the clearer it becomes that it is not blood running through Martha and Georges’ veins, but booze, spite, nicotine and fear. When Martha first rants about a Bette Davis film that she quotes from, ‘Hey, where’s that from? ‘What a dump,† it seems that George almost ignores her. Marthat ahs already appeared as the stronger character in the play, but in retrospect, she relies an George for a great many things, such as the name of the film that Bette Davis was in, and the name of the professor coming to have drinks. Both characters appear to totally confront one another. Martha, according to George, ‘brays,’ and George shows a passive display of apathy. However, this is not merely strength versus weakness due to Martha’s obvious reliance on George. In Martha and George’s relationship, Martha firstly behaves like a mother towards George, saying, ‘ C’mon over here and give Mommy a big sloppy kiss. ‘ She then acts more childlike, with (imitating a child), ‘I’m firsty. ‘ It is as though Martha cannot decide as to whether she is the controlling mother or the child who needs protecting in their relationship. The action of this Act takes place in George and Martha’s cosy yet cluttered home. In an outline, Martha is furious that George, an academic, hasn’t advanced at the college where her father is President, that is, George hasn’t become President himself. The fact that George didn’t even fight during the War, but stayed in the History Department at the college, makes George and Martha doubt his manhood all the more. In a sense, George almost feels below Martha’s father. Understandably so, as Martha calls him a ‘flop’ and continues to praise her father. George and Nicks (the slightly self contained younger guest) chosen departments in the college are again an example of total contrast in the play. George appears to be bogged down in his department and not going anywhere academically or in his career. He is almost a relic of the past himself. Nick, however, is at the forefront of new discoveries and is also young, handsome and extremely successful. This is the type of man whom Martha initially wanted to marry, yet the type of man to whom George could not fit the bill. George is therefore understandable threatened by Nick and his young, ‘liberal’ way of thinking. George pretends to shoot Martha in another of their ‘games’, but this is almost the opposite to the restrained George we are used to seeing. Laughter and arguments between the characters of Martha and George demonstrate to us the dialectic of love and hate in Act one. When Martha demands a kiss from George, a display of affection to his own wife, George knocks it back and rejects her. The fluctuation in their relationship demonstrates that hating each other hasn’t precluded form simultaneously loving and needing one another. Illusion appears to be a very important part of the play. George and Martha both had an illusion of what life would be like when they got married; they saw George becoming president of the college and living a happy married life under its roof. Clearly this did not happen, and both feel somewhat bitter for it. Honey and Nick also appear almost as an illusion of a happy marriage, so it seems. They seem to slip into the background in that they both pretend not to notice George and Martha’s arguments and laugh at things that they don’t particularly find funny. Another example of an illusion is that of Martha’s and George’s apparent son. Martha is always very keen to talk of him whereas George is not so, almost closing down the subject. We never actually see the son in Act One and there is even confusion between the two as to when his birthday is. The supposed perfection of the boy, blonde hair and blue eyes, and the fact that George refers states, ‘Don’t bring up the bit about the boy,’ depersonalises and deludes his actual existence. This is obviously a particularly sore point of conversation between George and Martha, as it results in a number of heated arguments. Martha and George constantly hurl abusive and hurtful words at each other, as though throwing knives. In striking out at those closest to them, that is each other, they represent the typical dysfunctional couple. However, in doing so the romantic notion of love keeps their relationship almost together. Both saw each other as the way to a new, ‘perfect’ way of life yet the fantasy was not fulfilled, and in verbally abusing each other, they take the blame from themselves and place it on each other. Albee has captured perfectly the way two completely different people can come together and the dramatic consequences it can have on each other, not always in bringing out the negative.

Bilingual Language Acquisition by Korean Schoolchildren

Bilingual Language Acquisition by Korean Schoolchildren Bilingual language acquisition by Korean schoolchildren in New York City Sarah J. Shin & Lesley Milroy Presented by: Cyndy Gomez Introduction The present study addresses to main topic of bilingual language acquisition in Korean-American children. Specifically researchers were interested in acquisition of grammatical morphemes and plural marking systems. The researchers addressed two main questions: (1) â€Å"do L1 and L2 learners acquire the grammatical features of a given language in the same sequence? (2) do L2 learners of different L1 backgrounds learn the grammatical features of a given second language in the same sequence?† (Shin & Milroy, 1999). Previous studies related to acquisition of a second language are reviewed in this article. The most important previous research was conducted by Brown (1973) that found a â€Å"common invariant sequence of at least 14 bound morphemes by children learning English as L1†. Studies since them have tried to see wheth er or not these morphemes are the same for English as L2. Most researchers believe that children and adult learners of L2 are more similar than children learning L1. (Wode, 1976).The most recent debates have been on whether or not L2 learners have access to universal grammar. Rationilist have said that they do not and stated fundamental differences in L1 and L2 acquisition (Felix, 1984,Clahsen 1990,Meisel, 1991).It is not yet clearly known whether or not acquisition of grammatical features for L2 is dependent on L1, and this is what the present study aims to find out. The hypothesis is stated in the questions stated earlier in the introduction. Method Twelve Korean first grade children from New York City were used as subjects in this study. Half were male and half were female. Six pairs were made to group two kids together who were on similar levels of proficiency in both English and Korean. The children were all in the same class and each spoke Korean as their native language. Data was recorded through a wireless radio microphone that was located in the classroom. A fieldworker was placed into the classroom as an assistant to be able to record spontaneous speech and to be able to observe the children’s free speech. The audio was recorded in three situations: storytelling, math and play. Only monolingual English data was used. Each recording lasted between 20-75 minutes. The morpheme scoring of Dulay and Burt (1974)were used in this study. 10 obligatory occasions morpheme items were measured in this study (Table 1). The items were scored and a group score was created (Fig. 1). The procedure was then to rank the 10 morphemes in a decreasing group score. A study for plural marking was also conducted. 48 flashcard were used and each flashcard had either a photograph or a colored drawing of an animal or a common object. Each card was presented in a way to manage how children perform plural marking. There was an experimental task (with two stacks of flas hcards, one in Korean one in English).The second, a game task, was used to see whether or not use of plural markers was the same in spontaneous speech. Discussion This article examined English grammatical morpheme acquisition in children who’s native Language was Korean. The main finding was that the children were not able to grasp grammar for third person – s , plural – s, and the article. Evidence of plural marking also showed that Korean L1 children do not park for plurals at the time as English L1 children. It comes later in development for them. A clear difference was also found when comparing this study to other morpheme studies in the order of how morphemes are ranked/acquired in English as an L2. When addressing the research question, this research found that there is a difference in how L1 learners of English and L2 learners of English acquire the English grammatical features. The researchers also found that there is in influence on English as L2 depending on what the L1 was. Questions related to universal grammar were not answered. This article is, according to Google Scholar, to be cited 49 times. There were no linked comments or discussions, but the linked cited papers all showed similar research in the field on bilingual language acquisition. I think this study helped to clear the debate of whether or not L1 affects the acquisition of L2, so this study helped guide research in the right direction. This study contributed to the field of bilingual language acquisition by showing that language acquisition patters need to be considered differently for bilingual children. Table 1 Fig 1 Fig 2 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 References Brown, R. (1973). A First language: The early stages. Harvard University   Press . Clahsen, H. (1990). The comparative study of first and second language development. Studies in   Second Language Acquisition, 12, 135 -153. Dulay, H. C., & Burt, M. K. (1974). Natural sequences in child second language acquisition.   Language Learning, 24, 37-53. Felix, S. W. (1984). Maturational aspects of universal grammar. University Press. 133-61. Meisel, J. M. (1991). Principles of Universal Grammar and strategies of language use: On some  similarities and differences between first and second language acquisition. Universal   Grammar in the second language , 231-276. Wode, H. (1976). Developmental sequences in naturalistic L2 acquisition. Working Papers on   Bilingualism, 11, 1- 31.